A Threat to the Best

Brief Intro

When I do this blog, I plan out some ideas that I want to discuss each week and then add in things that happen in sports to the overlying theme. Coming into today I wanted to do a piece about the characteristics of what makes someone the best at something. From skill set and work ethic to natural talent and confidence under pressure. But, last night and this morning, three stories unfolded and made me decide to slightly alter this conversation to talk about the threat to the best. 

The Best Bat in the Yard

Over the past several days a transcendent talent has appeared in baseball. A savior if you will. Yasiel Puig is a talent that makes people stop and stare at the TV when he is at the plate. Even though he has only played a little over a week in the majors, it's obvious that he is a talent that is few and far between. The kid possesses a raw talent that is capable of being sculpted into something the game of baseball hasn't seen in 20+ years. 

Remember though, he's an MLB player and baseball always does whatever it can these days to ruin good things. Last night, Puig and the Dodgers played the Diamondbacks. Arizona pitcher, Ian Kennedy, and his great 3-4 record with a 5.49 ERA decided to throw a ball right off of Puig's face in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

Are you kidding me baseball?!? 

This 22-year-old phenom has people interested in your sport and this idiot Kennedy is going to fire a bullet at his face. I think it's time that baseball ends this archaic practice of throwing at people's heads and playing beanball. Massive fines need to be implemented. This has no place in a legitimate sport. There is no room for attempting to injure someone. Especially not the new face of the league (no pun intended). 

What would baseball do if this kid got his nose broken from that pitch, or worse, had some type of serious concussion that jeopardized his career from a pitch to the head. I think I know the answer to that. They'd become irrelevant again, just like they were heading toward before Puig. 

Yasiel Puig's Talent

Now that my rant about the idiocy of baseball is over, let's talk about what makes Puig such an amazing talent. He's a physical specimen. He looks different than anyone else on the field. This is what makes him the best player currently playing in the majors for me. He is the most athletic guy on the field every game. He doesn't need to have every nuance of the game down right away because he can allow his raw talent to carry him. He is one of those athletes who could play any sport successfully because he is just naturally gifted. Baseball better count their blessings every night that he chose them. And, they better hope idiots like Ian Kennedy don't ruin his career and the interest that he brings to the game. 

The Best Loses by 36

Two posts ago, I talked about how amazing LeBron James is and how I think the talent of the Heat will help them to win a second consecutive championship. Well, I didn't realize at the time that all of the players would flat-line in San Antonio. The Miami Heat's loss by 36 was a joke. They looked lackadaisical and apathetic most of the game. Other than a few spurts here and there, the Spurs were the dominant team. I have loved LeBron James since the second he entered the league and really embraced his move to Miami when so many people hated him. Last night was a stab in the heart for me, though. I couldn't even watch the game to its entirety because of the lack of care and effort Miami seemed to give. 

One of the best things that I heard last night was from Coach Erik Spoelstra. He said that San Antonio "outplayed us, and outclassed us from the very tip." 

He told the media that Miami got what they deserved. That gives me hope that he can focus these guys into a game 4 win, but what about game 5? Is Spoelstra going to have to excite his team into playing like it's the NBA finals how my mom did to get me to eat broccoli when I was a kid?

Here's what the conversation would look like:

"C'mon LeBron. If you play your hardest and we win three of these next four games then you get a ring. Doesn't a pretty ring sound nice?" - Coach Spoelstra

"I don't know coach. I already got one last year. Plus, Chris and Dwyane got mad at me when I willed us to victory against Indiana. So, I think I should just give them a turn to win it for us. - LeBron James

You are the most athletically gifted talent to ever play the game, surrounded by many capable players and several future hall of famers, but you can't get motivated to work your asses off on the biggest stage of your sport in every game? 

It's pathetic. It's amateur. It's everything that is wrong with our society. Instead of going out and playing as hard as you can and probably winning in five like you did last year against Oklahoma City, you'll just show up for four of the seven games and hope that it's enough? 

I hate to be the overly critical guy after something small happens because that would be hypocritical of me since I bashed on people like Magic Johnson for saying the Heat are in trouble after game one. But, there seems to be something wrong with the Heat. They could still win this series. All they have to do is win one game in San Antonio and they will have two home games to close it out. 

King James

I have been saying it for three years now. When it's all said and done, LeBron will have a great resume that says he is the greatest player to ever play the game, and I will support that claim. When you have a sports obsession with someone like I do LeBron, you tend to be overly supportive or critical of what they do. I try to stay away from extremes. So, now that I've gone on my rant of how disappointed in Miami I am, let's look at what they have going for them.

LeBron James is the best player in the league. He has the body to bang in the low post and aggressively dominate the paint. He doesn't want to do that, though. He would rather work from the outside in. He'd rather make a clean pass to a teammate over a great inside finish. But, LeBron is going to have to step out of his comfort zone to beat the Spurs. He had to do it last series to beat the Pacers. He had to do it last year to beat the Celtics and Thunder.

I'm not sure what's going on in the Heat locker room but I feel like LeBron's "go back to my Cleveland days" statement made the likes of Wade and Bosh butt hurt. It wasn't like he was lying when he said that. He had nobody contributing help to him in any substantial way. He had to take over games and do things on his own. He got a good contribution from Wade in game 7 against the Pacers, but Wade isn't nearly the player he was three years ago. 

In order for Miami to win this series, LeBron is going to have to take over in an aggressive way. He can't spend the first half of the game looking to get his teammates involved. He has to attack. He has to score 35 or 45 points with 8 assists and a bunch of rebounds. He has to be a part of every play. He has to be more than that. He has to be the key part of every play. Sorry to tell you this King James, but you have to go back to your Cleveland days. The only difference this time is that you better pieces around you. Your two elite teammates aren't playing to that level, but can still contribute. Plus, Ray Allen, Birdman, Mike Miller, and Mario Chalmers are all giving you just as much or more than Wade and Bosh.

I predict that LeBron comes out in game 4 angry and aggressive. If he can be successful at attacking the Spurs then Miami should win this series. If he continues to defer to his teammates in order to keep them happier, then the Big-3 in Miami will be a failure. 

The Best on the Bench

The final story that happened in the past 24 hours of sports was the contract extension of Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. He was granted an extension through the 2015-2016 season. I'm not sure why he was given this extension. Cue up typical Pittsburgh fan. "He's taken us to the playoffs year after year and he knows how to handle all them talents out there." Oh...does he? 

Is that why Jerome Iginla came over and was played out of position the entire playoffs? Is that why no major adjustments were made in the series against Boston to get some scoring? Is that why the lines changed every game and no chemistry was ever built? Is that why you have arguably the two best offensive players in the league on your team and only scored two goals against Boston. Well, if Bylsma did a job worthy of receiving a contract extension, i'm going to get into the Penguins organization tomorrow. 

"Hey Tim, in this web content position for the Penguins store we have the capabilities to write about 30 product descriptions per day. We expect you to average around 20-25, though." 

Two weeks go by, my average is 10 per day. 

"Tim. Great job you're doing out there. We've decided to promote you to web content manager and we're going to give you a big raise. Great work out there." 

I don't care if the guy won a Stanley Cup for Pittsburgh in 2009. I don't care that they had the second best record in the league this season, or any of that. The Penguins GM Ray Shero makes a ton of moves to add talent every year at the trade deadline and Bylsma hasn't been able to handle it since 2009. 

So, what's this Bylsma situation have to do with being the best at something when I clearly don't think he is? 

Illusion. The ability to conceal your flaws behind the talent of others. That is what Dan Bylsma has done with this team. I once compared him and Erik Spoelstra because they both were younger guys with a ton of talent around them. I'd like to take a moment to apologize to Spo. He holds his guys accountable. He tells them that they got thrashed because they didn't give enough effort and he's going to put in the work to make them better. Bylsma watches his goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, get thrashed and says he'll be back next year as the starter. He'll be the one in goal in the playoffs winning games for us and we won't need Vokoun like we did this year.

I understand trying to give your guy some confidence but don't throw the guy who helped you get to the finals under the bus. Be a good coach and evaluate your guys over the off-season. Understand that if Fleury stays in goal, the Penguins exit in the first round again. Look back at all of the game play and see what each guy brings you, then make a statement like that. Or ship Fleury off to the Colorado Avs and call it a day. Apparently, Bylsma perfectly fits with the Pittsburgh attitude. 

"You've underachieved with exceptional talent for four years in a row? Great. Here's a promotion. See you eliminated from the playoffs before the Stanley Cup Finals again next year!" 

End Credits

Thanks for stopping by and reading another Sports Microcosm! Tomorrow is going to be a great post that touches on the life and death nature of everything by the sports media. Is it really as big of a deal as they make it out to be...I doubt it! See you tomorrow! 

- Tim