Spring Break Mashup

Ehsan Azad

Spring Break Mash-Up

                Well it’s been awhile since my last article; spring break had me relaxing a little too much. Well I am back, and it’s time for a little mash up of hot sports opinion.

·         Is there any sports even that is more hyped than March Madness?  I mean every March, the entire nation becomes engrossed into the NCAA tournament and I swear every person I run into is filling a bracket.  President Obama even has his bracket televised by ESPN.  What gets me is that it makes everyone a college basketball expert around this time of the year. They all of a sudden care about who wins or loses or they tell others how to pick your bracket. Where were these guys in the regular season?  In reality the tournament itself is overblown. In recent years, the teams have become so evenly matched that the whole draw of the Cinderella has worn out. Plus, with the best players leaving so early now to the NBA, the draw of the superstar also has vanished from the tournament. But, I will admit, it still has my attention somehow and I did fill out a bracket, so I guess March Madness won’t go away.

·         The Miami Heat are proving that they are the best team in basketball led by the greatest player on the planet right now. We can debate Lebron vs. Kobe vs. Jordan another day, but right now no one is playing better basketball than King James.  He is averaging 26.6 points a game, 7.3 assists per game, and 8.2 rebounds per game. Numbers aside, he has total chemistry with his team right now and he is leading the Heat’s historical win streak currently at 25. But, you need to look closer to see how Lebron James is taking control of his team. Multiple times in this win streak, the Heat have found themselves down by inferior opponents and in the 4^th quarter every time, it’s James leading the charge and putting the game into his hands. He single handily pulls the team out of their funk and gets them back to playing lights out. I think it’s going to break 33 wins and they will have the longest win streak in NBA History. Oh and add in another title for the King. The pressure is off; this is just purely fun now for Wade and himself.

·         Cowboys fans don’t worry about the lack of moves by Jerry Jones. Remember, the cap situation isn’t so suitable with only five figures below the cap number. But, I think this will be a good thing for the team. Now, with certainty that the team can’t go spending crazy on guys on the market, this forces them to make their impact through the draft. Meaning there won’t be crazy Jerry moves in the draft, it will be take the best available person on the board. That is the only way to bring in fresh talent to the team and help it get over their mediocrity curse.

·         Rangers announced that Matt Harrison will be the Opening Day starter.  Yay! Who cares about that? Wake me up when it’s August and we will analyze the team then.

·         I will go into full length on my next column about this subject but I thought it be a good time for a little preview. Soccer vs. American Football has been a great debate among the international sports scene for years. Clearly, Americans love their football and deem it the best sport on the planet. The rest of the world thinks Americans are stupid and want them to start calling soccer by its real name, futbol.  So which sport really is better? I am a big football fan, but I can see why soccer has such a passionate fan base. More on that next time, but I will be asking fellow sports fans which is better and why.

 Well I hope you enjoyed this little mash up and enjoy March Madness.

The Ryan Express Out Of Town

Ehsan Azad

The Ryan Express out of Town

                Ranger fans just love Nolan Ryan and what he brings to their team. I mean its Nolan freaking Ryan.  He is a hall of fame pitcher, a former Ranger great, a hot dog guy, and a Texas legend. It’s just badass to see him sit right behind home plate and watch his team kick ass. I mean he is Nolan Ryan, the smartest baseball guy on the planet and he is the reason why the Rangers become the contender they are today. Give me a break people. Ryan is nothing but an over blown fraud.

                Don’t get me wrong, I think he is an ok guy. Definite hall of fame pitcher that was tough son of a gun that won Texas Rangers over with his amazing personality. I mean that fight with Ventura was awesome to watch, he really kicked that guy’s ass.  But let’s not get carried away with the notion he is the driving force behind the Ranger’s recent success.

                As many people know now, Ryan is supposedly either being forced out or contemplating leaving the organization because of General Manager Jon Daniel’s recent promotion to President of Baseball Operations, a title used to have. Also, they promoted another man to run the business side of the team as well. Ryan still has the title of CEO and is a part owner of the team, but clearly has lost a lot of power. Now the debate has been raging on  in the DFW about who would you rather have running the team, Daniels or Ryan.  The answer is pretty simple here. Jon Daniels is the answer.

                Look, Nolan has done a lot for this team since he took over as President. He has hired some great guy, shown leadership to the public and helped save the franchise when it fell into bankruptcy. But, honestly the team we have today has nothing to do with Ryan.  Jon Daniels has been the real man orchestrating the building of the team even before Nolan was even a part of the Rangers Organization.

                Since the youngest GM in baseball arrived in Arlington, he has built one of the most impressive farm systems in the game, has done trades to bring in impact players like Nellie Cruz, Elvis Andrus, and Colby Lewis. He brought in Josh Hamilton, Yu Darvish, Matt Harrison and even Ron Washington. Daniels is the key reason the Rangers have done so well in the last few years. Ryan really had no part in building this team.  Jon Daniels is the future and will most likely help continue to play smart and not get carried away with idiotic decisions.

                Look, I hope Nolan Ryan stays and contributes to this team with strong leadership and a business sense. He easily will bring the fans in who adore him and we will have a face for the franchise for years to come. But, we know who runs the show behind the curtains.  So a little advice for the great Nolan, sit down, smile and don’t get in Jon Daniel’s way.