2013 ESPYS Recap: Go Titletown 2012-2013 season awards

The 2013 ESPYS were last night and frankly, any show that kicks off with a Hollywood actor hating on nearly every disliked professional sport team on earth is one that has me hooked.

Beginning just after 9 PM last night, actor Jon Hamm began his pre-show monologue referencing the fact that this show was now the 20th anniversary of Pro Sports Grammy awards, yet as with almost all of these comedic opening speeches, Hamm reduced you to laughter almost instantly all at the expense of our beloved former Celtic Ray Allan.

"This is the 20th anniversary of the ESPYS that means when they first aired Ray Allen was only 35 years old" Expanding on those painfully funny insults he went on to reference the fact that "It great to be here in LA but apparently we don’t all think so because Dwight Howard just signed a deal to LEAVE!" 

Yet last but not least, his most Bostonian shout-out came at the conclusion of his monologue by simply saying "Its moments like the Bruins Game Seven comeback that really show how amazing the plot twists of sports can be."

Fact is, that Bruins comeback was the only Bostonian moment or player up for an award at last night’s ESPYS and while in the end they were beaten out by the Heat's Game Six win in the NBA Finals below are my picks for the 2012-2013 Athletic Awards all be it, slightly biased towards a specific city ;)

Best Moment: Bruins fans sing Star Spangled Banner at first home game after Marathon Bombing

On April 15th 2013 two deranged men lost their mind and detonated 2 lethal pipe bombs killing three and changing the lives of 264 people who were mauled by the brutality of these bombs. On April 15th those attacks ripped Boston and the USA apart yet just 2 days later, the Boston Bruins transformed the TD Garden into a rallying point for a city tormented by tragedy and for 4 consecutive home games invited fans to sing the national anthem aucapella style earning them my pick as the team behind the Best Moment of these past 2 seasons.

Best NFL Player: Adrian Peterson 

Best MLB Player: Mike Trout

Best NHL Player: Alex Ovechkin 

Best Soccer Player: Abby Wambach

On June 20th, Abby Wambach made history scoring her 159th goal in a 4 tally first half to break the long standing international scoring record of Mia Hamm. She has done it time and time again putting the shot in via her head and it was only fitting that the biggest goal of Wambach's career was scored in that coveted fashion. 

Biggest sports sacrifice: Gregory Campbell AND Kevin Ware

On March 31st of this season's March Madness tournament, Kevin Ware fell awkwardly and made a nation cringe as one as his shin snapped in half inducing horrified reactions on the part of his teammates and one captivating plea on his part directed towards those teammates. "Just win the game" he said "I'm fine, just win the game." 

On June 5th, Gregory Campbell went down to block an Evgeni Malkin shot breaking his tibia all before remaining on the ice for 45 seconds in unimaginable pain as he worked to finish his team's penalty kill.

Best Rookie: Russel Wilson

Best Humanitarian moment: Jeff Baumen's march through Boston Sports

On April 15th, the USA was torn apart by the Marathon bombings yet over the next few weeks, America's 4 favorite sports rallied together to give it hope and distraction from the horrors of that brutal Monday. Regardless of that, no moment of sympathy expressed by a sports team outweighed a historic gestures of the Bruins and Red Sox to allow Bombing victim Jeff Bauman to drop a ceremonial puck and throw a ceremonial first pitch at Fenway.

Most shocking sporting event: Bruins vs Leafs Game Seven.

Best Olympian: Michael Phelps

Best International athlete: Ussain Bolt

Biggest blooper of season: Replacement Refs botch Seahawks vs Packers final play

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The Mount Rushmore of Boston sports: Patriots

Over the past few weeks, the NFL network has been compiling the "Mount Rushmores" of different teams, in reaction to that, I thought it would be fun to do a similar collection for different members of Boston's sports lore.

Patriots:

1) Tom Brady: In the minds of many across the NFL world he is THE greatest quarterback in the history of football and when he retires in 4 or 5 seasons, as much as Pats fans deny it, they will be hard pressed to see the kind of results he had given them with any other guy.

2) Bob Kraft: It seems crazy that an owner should be on this list livid with so many super star players but nevertheless, Bob Kraft deserves every bit of recognition he is given. He brought a kind of winning to New England that this team had never known and no part of that can be understated.

3) Bill Belicheck: Well it seems like the only thing keeping Belicheck from standing alone as the greatest coach of all time remains as 1 scandal named Spygate and a terrible signing named Aaron Hernandez. Belicheck won 3 super bowls in 4 seasons and that reigns supreme.

4) Teddy Bruschi: Well, fact is, Bruschi's career was cut short in 2009 by a heart wrenching stoke that ended one of the most offensively minded defensive career's in the history of the NFL.  

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The Mount Rushmore of Boston sports: Front office members

Over the past few weeks, the NFL network has been compiling the "Mount Rushmores" of different teams, in reaction to that, I thought it would be fun to do a similar collection for different members of Boston's sports lore.

Front office members:

1) Bob Kraft: It seems crazy that an owner should be on this list livid with so many super star players but nevertheless, Bob Kraft deserves every bit of recognition he his given. He brought a kind of winning to New England that this team had never knew and no part of that can be understated.

2) Terry Francona: Much like the tainted legacy of Bill Belicheck, the remembrance of Terry Francona was tarnished 2 seasons ago by that heart wrenching September collapse that took what many belelived to be the greatest Red Sox team in franchise history out of contention.

3) Claude Jullian: He saved the Bruins. Fresh off one of the worst stretches of pathetic hockey in team history, Jullian came to Boston, picked up the pieces of a shattered team and in the words of NBC announcer Doc Emeric: "The coach lead them to the high road was the road to the cup!"

4) Bill Belichck: Well it seems like the only thing keeping Belicheck from standing alone as the greatest coach of all time remains as 1 scandal named Spygate and a terrible signing named Aaron Hernandez. Belicheck won 3 super bowls in 4 seasons and that reigns supreme.

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Yoenis Cespedes wins Home Run Derby: Why this night of unexpected performances saved baseballs marque event

Cano didn't advance past the first round, Fielder didn't advance, David Ortiz didn't hit.

Bryce Harper shocked the MLB to advance to the finals while Johannes Cespedus leaped ahead and never fell back as he won the Derby off of a monstrous home run total through the first 2 rounds.

Going into last night, not much was expected of this Derby and when Feilder and Cano fell from grace in the first round that stock sank even further. Yet in the span of almost 3 hours last night, sponsored trucks were pelted with baseballs, records were threatened and a 2013 Home Run Derby Champion was crowned.

Beginning in the first round, he came to the plate immediately following a disappointing 5 home run performance by Prince Fielder and immediately followed him up with 17 in his first round at bat, and while numbers like that would actually be enough to carry him all the way to the final, for the other 4 or 5 batter right in the thick of things as they contended for the second round, their ride was anything but easy.

 "During the first round when I took my first five swings, I felt I was really in a rhythm and felt that I could put on a show like I did tonight," Cespedes said through a translator.

You see last night was really a showcase of the MLB's best underestimated talent as between Cespedes, Harper and a man named Michael Cuddyer the league's group of budding stars combined for a total of 71 of the 103 long balls loosed last night. 

Nevertheless as the second round came to a close, it was a different number that took center stage. While slated to bat last and while your first round score is added onto your second round score, the Derby came to Cespedes in that second round with him really not obligated to hit. Yet as he pondered whether or not to hit, it was made evident that in the team home run category his American League was losing 38 to 42 meaning that if he could put together at least 4 home runs, things would be all tied up for the final thus setting up a winner take all situation.  

Knowing this, Cespedes put up those 4 home runs before slowing down yet even in his laid back later second round swing he still managed to put up an additional 2 for good measure before stepping away. 

"He's a stud, an absolute stud," Bryce Harper's dad and pitcher throughout the night said about Cespedes "He's got a great swing. I love his swing. He's great for the game." 

Fact is last night WAS great for the game, I mean when a guy hits the most home runs in a Derby round, second only to Josh Hamilton and Bobby Abreu that ought to be fun and when you have two very promising second year players facing off to win the Home Run Derby, that WILL be fun. 

Batting first, Harper put up a respectable 8 homers while batting first yet had to cringe as Cespedes came storming into form scouring 8 blasts on just 3 outs. 

In the end, Cuban born Oakland outfielder Yoanis Cespedes would go "back back back back and GONE" 32 times to win the Home Run Derby yet in the end it was a joint effort between him and guys like Harper and Cuddyer that really created a story. 

You see going into last night, many feared that due to a great size of the outfield at City Field in Bronx, the result would be fewer home runs, the answer: 103 long balls, the longest since the 2008 Derby at Yankee Stadium. 

Another fear? Yup, in addition to that, once guys like David Wright, Robinson Cano and Prince Fielder fell, fans immediately feared that the competition would take a turn for the worse going slightly stale with short home runs and minimal scores: WRONG! 

And last but not least, in a Derby premeditated with the talk of stars like David Ortiz not participating and other who were participating holding back, Yoenis Cespedes made you forget about those fears just 2 batters into the Derby. 

Through 3 hours of competition, Cespedes and Harper pelted the hoods and windows of a truck in the outfield  Never hit a ground ball and delighted fans of the New York Mets (who really at this point don’t have much regular season fun to cheer about) something to cheer about. 

"This probably is the first time it really hit me. It's like, 'Wow, this is what it's all about.' It's really cool, the camaraderie with these guys, even though they're in different leagues, different teams, they're still rooting each other on no matter what.'' Harper's dad said following the Derby and I truth, what he realized last night is truly the way this Home Run Derby was meant to be held.

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The Mount Rushmore of Boston Sports: Bruins

Over the past few weeks, the NFL network has been compiling the "Mount Rushmores" of different teams, in reaction to that, I thought it would be fun to do a similar collection for different members of Boston's sports lore.

Bruins:

1) Bobby Orr: Number 4 Bobby Orr, has long been in the running for the title of greatest NHL'er in the history of the game. He scored the greatest goal in league history and actually led the league in scoring back in both 1969 and 1974.

2) Ray Borque: If it were not for Orr, Borque would be the greatest D-man in Bruins history. He played 21 seasons in the league and scored 395 goals before his desperate chase for a cup ring lead him out of Boston and off to Denver.

3) Tim Thomas: Oh Tim. All be it, his legacy was tainted by the fiasco that was his final year in Boston but simply going by his 2011 playoff performance alone, one would know that he is completely deserving of a spot on the Bruins Mount Rushmore. 

4) Patrice Bergeron: Fact is in this 2013 Patrice Bergeron completed then won perhaps the most historic comeback in the history of Boston Hockey. He has scored 153 goals as a Bruin and will undoubtedly end his career in Boston.

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How to make headlines the RIGHT way: What John Farrell has done to better Bobby Valintine

“It’s almost exactly the way it was back then [under Francona],This is the way our clubhouse used to be. Players get treated with respect, like a professional. That’s the way it should be.’’ ~ Clay Buchholz on John Farrell.

One season ago, the Red Sox were so bad that they had gone beyond being the laughing stalk of the MLB. At this time last season, the Boston Red Sox had won 44 games Bobby Valentine had basically become public enemy number one in his own town not to mention being hated in his own clubhouse.

2 an a half months later things were not much better as the Red Sox had gone from so bad they were funny to the point where they were so bad it was getting increasingly sad. In August Dustin Pedroia complained that "We are the f*****g Boston Red Sox [why are we loosing?]" and later that month, Valentine threatened to punch radio host Tody Mazzorati in the face, all before in the last days of September and early days of October, the Sox finished the season losing 12 of their last 13 games and finished the year a measly record of 69 and 93 - their worst season in 47 years. 

Yet oh how times have changed:  on year after the conclusion of that pathetic 44 win 2012 first half, John Farrell has given the Red Sox far more than they expected, reviving John Lackey and grooming Clay Buchholz back into the all-star that he has always had the potential to become. Yet through this all one defining difference remains more shocking than any other: in 162 games last season, Bobby Valintine won 69 games. In the first 95 games of John Farrell's Red Sox managerial career, he has won 58 games, 11 fewer wins in 67 fewer games. 

So what has Farrall done to turn this team around? More like what hasn't he done? 

Fact is, as good as Farrall is, the job he holds frankly is regarded by many to be one of the most overrated in all of sports. With that in mind, all a baseball manager needs to do to be successful is to be well, not Bobby Valentine. Nevertheless as we learned last season with guess who, that simple idea of "shut up manager" didn't seem to get to Valentine as it seemed that through his 6 months in Boston Bobby V was never off of the front page. In 2012 Bobby Valentine talked openly about well everything to do with his team, on 2013, John Farrell has been the polar opposite of the man many believe to have had the worst managerial season in decades. 

In truth as profiled by Dan Shanughassy earlier today, after asking Farrell who would be the starting pitcher for this Friday's meeting with New York Farrell simply replied “We’ll announce that as soon as we tell the guys who are making starts for us." 

Really, it is moments like that that serve as a difference between Farrell and Valentine. For Valentine he probably would have answered that question candidly annoying his fan base and giving the Yankees time to prepare for whoever they would face. With Farrell though, well it seems that he just plans to keep that a nice little surprise for them. 

“I’m forever grateful for the opportunity I had in Toronto. I’m appreciative of it and those two years of experience are very helpful to me today." John Farrall who originally spent time as Boston's pitching coach.

In the world of managing a baseball team not talking is everything. And while Valentine might not have known that, John Farrell seems to have had his priorities straight fight from day one: and well, 58 wins later, that has seemed to pay off for him and his team. 

“John has demonstrated extraordinary leadership ever since he became our manager last winter," Sox chairman Tom Werner said in words of serious praise of his current manager. “John has the team focused on winning, the clubhouse is happy, and as Dustin [Pedroia] says, the players grind out at-bats. Credit also should go to the coaches and to Ben [Cherington] and his front office, but John has been key. His skills range from his calm nature to his in-game strategy. Whether communicating with our core group of stars or the role players coming up and down from Pawtucket, he has everyone’s trust." 

John Farrell has everyone's trust and he sure earned it. 58 wins later the Sox are on pace for 97 wins on the season and remein in contention to play for the World Series come October. John Farrell has been the savior that the Sox have been looking for ever since that September collapse that sunk the ship on Terry Francona. John Farrell has picked Boston up after 2 seasons in the doldrums of the MLB and as it stands he remains a prime candidate for the title of AL manger of the year. 

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Down with the Derby: The case against the MLB Home Run Derby

In the regular season, there is no play in baseball that continuously rouses fans from their seats like the home run. Fact is for as long as this game has existed, it has been that way and fact is for as long as this game has existed, the guys who swing the hardest and hit the farthest have always been the ones who go down in history as the greats of the game.

Babe Ruth and Ted Williams, Mark Maguire and Sammy Sosa, Yastemski, Barry Bonds, David Ortiz, Prince Feilder: so many names so many different traits yet for those 8 men one underling commonality remains ever so prominent     the ability to hit home runs.

So naturally, in a game punctuated by the crack of a bat and the roar of a crowd as a ball goes yard the great minds of the game devised a competition focused entirely on the long ball.

In 1985, those minds created the Home Run Derby and to this day it remains one of Baseball’s most watched events. 

As said before, the Home Run Derby began in 1985 after the MLB would struggle to keep fan’s attention during the long all-star break with just one event (the all-star game) scheduled. Nevertheless in its first years of competition, the league struggled to build a following of the event as due to the fact that no major television networks were willing to air the competition, fans would be hard pressed to really get into watching the derby.

But TV troubles were not the only thing holding the event back. Through the first  6 years of its existence, the Home Run Derby was structured in a very odd fashion consisting of a two inning affair and coordinated in such a way that would allow for ties for the win, thus taking a lot of the suspense out of the event.

Yet things like rules and logistics surrounding the event were far easier to fix than the live coverage problem that was not under the leagues control. Nevertheless at that time what the MLB did not seem to notice was that the basic layout of the Derby and the lack of coverage were closely intertwined

But regardless of how long it took, that all changed in 1991 when the Derby was switched to a format much closer to the one used today.

Prior to that 91’ derby it was agreed upon that while ties for 2nd or 3rd still would be allowed to stand, two players could not win the overall title in the same competition meaning that when tied after the final, the involved players would compete in a 5 pitch “swing off” to decide the winner.

Fact is, over the next few years, the MLB and its fans would realize that, in truth that was all it would take to bring the Home Run Derby to the next level of greatness as in the days before the 1993 edition of the event, ESPN announced that they would sponsor and broadcast a delayed version of the Derby, finally bringing more and more fans to the event.

Yet for the MLB while they might have been happy with finally getting some extra revenue from the Derby, having a network broadcast what is supposed to be your marque event 4 hours after the fact is not cool. They wanted live TV and in 1998 well: the got just that.

From 98’ on the popularity of the Home Run derby exploded as within just 10 short years, the Derby went from being the laughing stock of professional sporting events to holding the title of, at least in 2008, “the most watched show on basic cable”. 

Nevertheless, as the Derby’s popularity grew, so did the pressure to preform and take part in the event thus initiating a weak controversy that has hung over the MLB for over a decade now.

Fact is, since ESPN’s first live broadcast of the Home Run Derby, it has done what many initially hoped it would do, aka, bring in the best hitters in the game together and have them smack together ALOT of home runs.

So therefore why all this controversy? One word: fatigue. 

Obviously, no part of the all-star festivities are more important than even 1 regular season game. But nevertheless, the lure and awe of the thought of winning the derby along with the imminent bragging rights and possible endorsement deals such a  victory could bring remain key factors in bringing players into the competition. 

These athletes love competing in the Derby yet over the past few years the fatigue brought on by participating has obviously taken its toll on them.

In 2005, Bobby Abreu hit 18 homers in the first half of the season and then demolished the field in the Home Run Derby with 41 long balls, all before mustering a meager 6 home runs following the all-star game.

Pretty big drop-off there.

One year later, Mets 3rd basemen: David Wright suffered an even greater loss via the Home Run Derby as even while hitting 20 homers pre all-star break, he dropped off in the second half and managed to put together just 6.

The stats are there for Abreu and Wright and while they are not the only casualties of the Derby, some did not even go so far as to participate fearing similar drop-offs: most notably, Ken Griffey, Jr. back in 1998 who initially declined to participate in the Home Run Derby but was finally convinced by ESPN to join.

Throughout the world of pro sports there is nothing like the MLB Home Run Derby. With its annual output of normally upwards  80 homers, fans love the thrill of watching balls go yard and players love to brag about the whopping 30 they hit in the competition. There is nothing like the home run derby but if it is to stay on the course of greatness it has set for itself major changes will need to be made, major changes.

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