Luke Warm Sports Opinions Has Moved

So I found a new home for Luke Warm Sports Opinions.  Sorry for the movement but I just found a better home that makes it easier for me to write and easier place for you guys to find this place.  I hope you continue to read and I will try to continue to write. Thanks!

LukeWarmSports.com

Coming Out of the Sports Closet.

By
Brad Calhoun

Left, Teammate of Michael Sam not caring that his teammate is gay. Right, Michael Sam

 

I might not even have many jokes for this post.  I usually love finding the humor in sports and in life.  I will start off by saying this should be an absolute non issue.  Who ever the best player is should play and if that player turns out to be gay, who cares? Right now from what I can see a majority of people are in support or apathetic to the fact.  I'm not sure what the logical reason for keeping homosexuals out other than scripture from a very old book.  Gay athletes aren't there to pick up guys/or girls they aren't there to push their beliefs on their teammates, they are there to compete just like everyone else. Its silly to even have to say that, of course they are just like us. We are the same and oh so different, that's beautiful.

Michael Sam is not a name I knew before he made his announcement.  He has been placed as undersized defensive end who could go in the 3rd or 5th round.  Will he be a great player? Its unlikely but it doesn't mean that it isn't significant.  Here is why I believe this is kind of a big deal.  Football is the manly sport and one of the last place you would find a homosexual (at least we thought).  I'm not one of the folks who want people to hold in their feelings and in my opinion locked in the closet.  Locked in the closet with fear.  What kind of life is that to live? I'm sure would feel great living in fear of some thing so simple as love.  Some argue that, "who cares? I didn't have to come out as straight".  I agree, who cares, but the fact of the situation is that people do care.  There are parents who "care" if their kid is gay.  There are employers who "care" if their employees are gay.  Acceptance is the domino that brings the whole house down..  I'm seeing more and more that society isn't allowing people to say whatever they want about homosexuals anymore without some social consequence.   I'm not a big politically correct guy but the views expressed by people who don't accept homosexuals is become less accepted by the masses.  I think elections have even shown that recently.

I never meant for this to be some political rant about my socially progressive views.  I love sports and sometimes sports helps with social change. This week I was proud of my sports and proud of society.  Especially during the sports cast of my local sports anchor, Dale Hansen.  I'll show the video that has become viral lately.  I posted this video before (currently as I'm typing almost 2.7 million views. Wow!) it become viral on my Facebook. I posted it not to be controversial but mostly because Dale said it better than I ever could.  When I heard the news I had similar thoughts to Dale but I couldn't make the comparison of the players who committed such awful acts and still accepted into the NFL. Well I posted it and I thought there is no way anyone who actually watches this will come away with a negative view to this. I was wrong.  Apparently one of my daughter's friend's dad did not like that AT ALL.  He went into a tirade and at first I gave him his time and then he went over the line.  I responded with "Ok" (which is my automatic response to end a debate I don't wish to continue) and ran to the "unfriend" button.  I wasn't going to allow anybody like that in my life.  I don't have time or patience for it.  I'll post his comment just so you know what I was dealing with.  Let me clarify though, I respect the right for people to be against gay marriage and gays in general but I have no respect for hatred.

Comments from my Dale Hansen post.

Who we go to bed with and who kiss has nothing to do with how we do our jobs.  A team that can't handle a gay player, probably isn't that good anyway.  A player that can't handle a gay team, probably isn't that good either.  Media distractions because you have a gay player, if you can't handle that either....you know.  I can't say I've always been comfortable with homosexuals, and I can't say I fully understand it to this day.  But its not about me.  I have a gay family member and I have friends who are gay, this issue is personal.  I'm ready for the day when this kind of "announcement" is like hearing someone's age.  Let's celebrate our differences because we all know this world would be quite boring if we were all the same.

Gribble To ESPN. Jake Kemp to produce. Who is Mino?

It looks like the higher ups are trying to salvage that ESPN radio station they acquired management rights.  Gribble is obviously going over there to help them out.  Jake Kemp is moving further up, seems like yesterday he was doing fill in Tickers.  Chris House was the catalyst for his success (not really).  The bad news about this is maybe no 1920s reporter guy and no Jake on the Hardline except for on WTDS.  Now some people might be asking about David Mino taking over the board op position.  Who is he? Well he has been a solid Ticket spare for the last few years.  Solid Twitter follow.  Let's hope he jumps in quickly to fill the big shoes of Grubes and Jake.  Jake was able to take over quite easily and make it entertaining.  I like this move but I also hate this move.  As my good friend Sean Bass told me "nobody got fired".   This is true.  The Ticket keeps on trucking.

Cowboys Are In Trouble

Everyone is waiting for the glory days to return.  When will the Cowboys finally dominate again?  Don't expect that anytime soon.  This dysfunction starts with the pizza rapping GM/Owner and Its only going to get worse before it gets better.  I know the running joke is "when is Jerry Jones the Owner going to fire Jerry Jones the GM".  Well that ain't happening so lets move on.  Jerry though has creatively hamstrung his team with his personnel decisions, signing aging players to contracts that are so impossible to dispose of not even a mafia hit man would have trouble.  I look at these contacts and I scream.  I wonder why we are locked up with Miles Austin for a bunch of money. Doug Free, who hasn't been absolutely horrible this season, is still not worth a $6.5 million hit to the cap.  Jay Ratliff should of never happened. Jerry signs the players and then a year later they have regressed and have to ride out player not worth his contract.  There is also no way out because if you want to release a player it would hurt the cap even more.  Its as if Jerry won't be able to find another player like the one he has, so what does he do?  He locks him up so no one else can have him. Jerry also interacts too much with his players and develops relationships and has a hard time letting go.

I remember watching players who were there from the 90's Cowboys who carried on to the late and should of just been let go.  Now we have instead of Jimmy guys, we have Bill's guys over staying their welcome.  Tony Romo, who I've been his biggest supporter, should be having his last year of his contract this year.  Well Jerry Jones doesn't have contingency after Tony, so he locks him up to make more room in the cap to sign Sean Lee.  I'm not a business specialist but I'm a huge fan of the GM mode on Madden, you have turn your roster over.  Cowboys are traditionally the worst in roster turnover.  Instead of letting a player leave 1 year early, Cowboys keep a player 1 year late.

Do I want to see the Cowboys rise back to prominence? HELL YEAH! We all want to see the Cowboys in the playoffs.  The reason I don't believe the Cowboys will do anything.  THE DEFENSE.  I was watching the NFL Turning Point on NBC Sports Network (check it out) and during that recap, that is a fluid offense that should win ball games in the league.  Defense is the one breaking records this year for giving up the most yards.  Its pretty laughable, yeah the injuries suck.  Maybe stop putting injured guys on your team.

Cowboys are my least favorite team to discuss because it all leads back to one man.  Talk about Garrett, it goes back to Jerry.  Talk about the linebackers, It goes back to Jerry.  Jerry Jones will keep this team hand cuffed financially. These 8-8 seasons.  Enjoy them.  I think the 5-11 seasons are coming.  I'll leave you with this, I believe Jerry Jones the Owner......Just kidding.

Twit's End

So I did something very foolish. I gave Richie Whitt $4.95.  Well here is what I found.  Not exactly the riveting stuff.  I'm apart of some pay walls and they provide insight and even inside info. The only thing that was "inside" was the ratings which can easily be found.

Richie talks about a radio show or something that he heard from a "friend" that heard it sometime Sunday I guess.  I have never heard of this show and if someone can give me some insight let me know. I don't know if they aired an episode of the Broadcast as a trade off. Whatever but Richie said, " For a rabid fandom that constantly trashed The Fan for having the audacity to give air time to the likes of Sybil and Jane Slater and Jasmine Sadry, surely this type of show - even as a weekend time-filler - won't be embraced. Right?"  


Did the Ticket trash chicks on the radio, yeah probably. Mostly because most of them are awful at it. Well that was worth it right.  Hearing that he heard from a friend that The Ticket was playing a "chick show".  I'm sure glad I paid for that, and that was his great big tease. 

Richie then quote some Mandela quote which I don't have the interest to even quote. I paid for that. Richie then leaves you a link to check out his FREE blog on NBC 5.  Then write two sentences about defending the ban of tailgating at the Superbowl. He then commented on the throwing contestant that threw like a jerk wad. He's being topical guys.  He also wants the ice to melt, which I actually tend to agree with him.  Thanks Richie for all that. I'll leave you a quote from him.

"Today? Let's all thaw out. And hopefully chill out. Maybe some quiet time in the sauna. I mean, if I had a sauna. Don't be a stranger."

I also wanted to talk about his ratings blog which revealed the poor ratings of The Fan and the complete dominance of The Ticket. 
            
             October/ November

Morning
Ticket	6.8		7.1
ESPN	3.3		2.6
Fan	2.5		2.1
Mid-Morn
Ticket	8.1		7.9
ESPN	3.5		4.2
Fan	2.8		2.4
Midday
Ticket	6.7		6.6
ESPN	4.8		5.5
Fan	3.3		2.8
Afternoon
Ticket	6.9		6.8
ESPN	4.7		4.1
Fan	2.4		2.1

 courtesy of DFW Sportatorium

"Meanwhile, 105.3 The Fan and its bozo of a boss failed to capitalize on the Cowboys' dramatic season or the Oct. 7 departure of ESPN's Randy Galloway. From October to November The Fan suffered ratings losses across the board, including its new midday show, GBag Nation."

Real interesting to see a slight drop in ratings by The Fan even by G-Bag Nation.  Its crazy that Ben & Skin hasn't been able to gain steam.  I'm still rooting for those guys. 

How's That Pay Wall Working Out??

No worries, guys I'm not putting a pay wall on Luke Warm Sports Opinions.  I would never. Nor would anyone pay for this crap.  Well Richie Whitt, former writer for the Star Tele-gram and Dallas Observer and failed radio host on 105.3 The Fan, he had other plans.  Whitt came out last week with a pay wall for his site, DFW Sportatorium.  If you were wanting to read little quick hits about radio rumors or what he heard from his Cowboys sources, you gonna have to pay.  I just want to start off telling you I have no problem with anyone charging for content, everyone has the right.  If you have ever gone to his site, its full of advertisements from that bless your heart guys, a strip club, Richie's own pizza joint and I think a moving company.  Not sure exactly the amount you can charge to advertise on Richie's sports website and I'm not sure how much it cost to keep a site like that running. Well apparently he was operating at a loss, so he decided the best way to bring in some money is to charge readers $4.95 a month. (by the way you have to have a google account)

Here is my opinion on the situation.  It ridiculous to pay for this website.  He offers opinions and some "rumors" and that is content you can receive for free on numerous websites.  I believe this won't last, only from reading the readers in the comments section, which Richie Whitt replies with a snarky remark.  He are some of my favorites.

AnonymousDecember 4, 2013 at 8:15 AM

GREEDY BASTARD

Richie WhittDecember 4, 2013 at 3:46 PM

Wait, so you want me to provide you with daily content? And then you want it for absolutely free? But I'm the greedy one. Do I have that right?

AnonymousDecember 4, 2013 at 9:22 PM

um yeah, because media is based on advertising, if you have a million page hits you sell that to your advertisers and get them to pay, not your consumers...the business model is to make it so good that traffic comes to you and you monetize that with ad buys, cmon you know this

Not that's great but maybe this one is better. 

AnonymousDecember 5, 2013 at 10:38 AM

I wouldn't pay 5 cents for life to read this blog. This proves once and for all that your are the shithead I always deemed you to be. Hit the pavement and get some more advertisers you lazy SOB.

Richie WhittDecember 5, 2013 at 2:17 PM

Wait, because I want to be paid for my work makes me a "shithead"? You may refuse to join my site and that's cool. But a "shithead" seems a tad strong.

AnonymousDecember 5, 2013 at 2:28 PM

Wanting to get paid doesn't make you a "shithead". Thinking you will get paid for the level of content you provide for the price you are asking makes you a "shithead". http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shithead&defid=5232203

The friggin guy actual sent him a link to urban dictionary so he knew what "shithead" meant. 

AnonymousDecember 5, 2013 at 10:43 AM

Just what I have been waiting for! A poorly designed "blog" where I get to pay a monthly fee for some exclusive HSO's from some schmuck that works at a struggling pizza joint!

Richie WhittDecember 5, 2013 at 2:24 PM

I find it amusing that when my content is free you visit daily and comment and are generally satisfied. When my content costs 25 cents a day suddenly I'm a "schmuck who works at a struggling pizza joint" and my content is flatly unreadable. Ah, perspective.

Here is one of my favorites and I'll end you with this. 

AnonymousDecember 5, 2013 at 1:48 PM

Me too, I've liked the RW for years. May not agree with everything he sees right, but everyone has their own opinions. But I feel like a friend kicked me in the nuts and now wants my lunch money. Good riddance RW

(Sybil, better reconsider...)

Richie WhittDecember 5, 2013 at 2:29 PM

The comments in here will always be free. And, yeah, you're probably right, Sybil's reconsidering marrying me because I'm profiting from my blog. Deal-breaker.

Again I'm not mad at the guy, I just think its funny that he believes his content is something someone would pay even $0.25 a day for.  I hear Richie is actually an extremely cool in person but even some of his former Fan buddies are cutting him lose.  Probably stemming from his "reporting" on radio station rumors that aren't apparently true.  Richie is obsessed with breaking news instead of providing actual insight.

Texas Rangers Pre Preview

Right to left: GM Jon Daniels, New 1st basemen Prince Fielder, Manager Ron Washington

Right now the roster is still being constructed so I know everyone is wondering why I would even start looking.  It's because I can. I hate predicting who might or might be on the team.  I just want to have a preview of what the team might look like.  I will preface this with saying, I think I will be completely wrong about this.  Let's just go base by base and see what our red shoed Rangers will look like in 2014.

I want to start with the Catcher position because I believe that this position is set.  Rangers signed JP Arencibia on Friday and Geovany Soto has been pretty much named the starting catcher. Soto in my opinion had a pretty decent year backing up AJ Pierzenski.  Soto's numbers as far as OBP and SLG were pretty respectable.  Yes the sample size is a little small, he was pretty productive.  Behind the plate, he is no gold glover, he is pretty decent at throwing base runners out.  His high marks are for the way he deals with the pitching staff.  Pitchers respond well to him and I think it shows.  JP is a different story.  His bat took a severe hit this year with Toronto.  He batted a whopping .194 with an OBP of .227, holy crap man, how do you let it get this bad? I would say in most baseball minds, he would be considered a complete bust.  His best year he hit 23 home runs and was able to crack .233 BA.  He is going to be a back up catcher for the rest of his career.  He is just a gap until Jorge Alfaro, Rangers number 1 prospect is ready to come up.


First base is going to be a little easier this year finally after the trade of Ian Kinsler for Prince Fielder.  I'm going to admit at first I didn't like this because of what Kinsler has done in the past.  I finally came to the realization of the regression of Kinsler and that it was in the Rangers best interest to move on from Kinsler.  Prince Fielder wasn't exactly my first choice because of his stature and his poor season last year.  Prince has been known for that in the past.  He has had some killer years with a WAR over 6 but as low as 1.7.  Its hard to say he hasn't been consistent but he has for sure  been reliable.  Yes he doesn't get injured or miss games.  Yes he is fat, slow on the base paths and pretty crappy at first. Mitch Moreland is Mitch.  He will be a bat off the bench and will be great to have at first when we give Prince a DH day off.

Second base, barring any crazy ass trades involving Elvis Andrus,  Jurickson Profar will be the opening day second basemen.  Profar is going to give the line up some pop on occasion.  Profar its time to put up or shut up.  Kinsler has been shipped out to give him a full season at one position.  My expectations are actually pretty low for the kid. I think Profar has been slightly over rated and I was never a fan of getting rid of Andrus so Profar could play shortstop.  Profar should do fine this season but don't be disappointed if he runs into some problems against major league pitching.

Shortstop with Elvis Andrus.....Need I say more? Well I probably should calm some people who feel uneasy about Elvis's performance last season.  The glove, no one has a problem with, the best in the game. Andrus had a pretty inconsistent season in 2013. He was up and down and at times mostly down.  At the end of the season he had a career low OBP.  I know what he has done and at 25, I'm not seeing any type regression.  Its just a run of the mill "down year".  I'm expecting Elvis to get on base at a more regular pace and hitting more extra base hits.  His OPS should should be at around .700 instead of where it was last year at .659.  Elvis is 25, so lets relax. 

Third Base we have Texas Rangers's most consistent player. Adrian Beltre.  He had another stellar year at the plate hitting 30 home runs, 88 runs scored with an OPS of .880.  What you want from your top guy.  Now this is something people don't wanna hear and I can tell you Adrian doesn't want to hear it either.....he could possibly be regressing.  Actually I'm pretty certain he is. Adrian will be 35 at the end of the 2014 season so there is no shame in not being as good as you were the season before.  It happens. I'm looking at his batting and it doesn't look like it has stats have dropped dramatically there, even though I believe we could see a slight drop this next season.  The significant drop we are seeing in his defense.  I know that may seem crazy but he just isn't the man he use to be.  Adrian's UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating in runs above average (Arm+DPR+RngR+ErrR) has been hovering around 10-13, his 2013 season he had a -1.2.  What brought it down so much?  I'm thinking his range was significantly cut down because of his injury.  Is Adrian Beltre a below average fielder like UZR shows, hell no.  I believe he just had an off year with his reduced mobility.   Adrian is not a guy I like to bet against. I thought his career was on a down fall when he left the Mariners.  Adrian has two years left on his contract with a vesting option.  Don't be surprised if you see a slight drop in production from Adrian.

Outfield should be a lot of fun this year, good coverage all around the field.  Right now from what I'm seeing,  the opening day outfield should be newly acquired Michael Choice in left, Leonys Martin in center and Alex Rios in right.  I'll start with Michael Choice,  who I've heard and read a little on the guy so there is a little insight on what we are getting.  Choice has a decent arm and has average speed in the outfield. He is a big guy and he will hit for power.  Time will tell, he is very young in the league and needs to get his at bats in. He will struggle at times but it should be fun to see how he develops. Alex Rios had a pretty standard year for himself.  His OPS was .772 which is pretty respectable.  Rios is going to be a plus defender which the Rangers right field hasn't seen in quite a while.  Rios isn't going to be All Star material and isn't going to hit a ton of homers.  He is going to hit extra base hits and get on base, that's all you can ask.

Leonys Martin, oh Martin.  I'm very interested in seeing what kind of full season Leonys can have.  I pegged him last year to have a break out season and I would like to say I WAS FRIGGIN' RIGHT! Leonys showed us he had power, he could slap the ball around, he could run the bases efficiently and that he had an arm better than anyone in the league.  Some will miss Craig Gentry in center and I believe he was slightly better when tracking down balls, but in the end Leonys will be much better all around.  I'm not sure how great he will be at the lead off spot because last year he wasn't great at getting on base.  He is right now between average to below average in OBP last year.  I think he should do better in his 2nd full season.  But if this persist, they should start looking for an alternative in Elvis or maybe even Alex Rios. (Shin Soo Choo too if they Rangers sign him)  

While saying all this, I'm not sure if the Rangers get Shin Soo Choo or resign Nelson Cruz.  Right now I think their outfield is pretty decent but we all know that just won't cut it around here. I'm not sure what the Rangers do to add another piece.  Another bat will be welcomed though. We might not want to be stuck with watching Michael Choice figure MLB pitching out.  A bat will be welcomed by this guy.

Should be another fun season, with some added pop.  There is still speed but the only thing that should be alarming is there is no serious on base guy since Kinsler left. 

Possible opening day line up*:

1. Leoyns Martin CF
2. Elvis Andrus SS
3. Prince Fielder 1B
4. Adrian Beltre 3B
5. Alex Rios RF
6. Michael Choice LF
7. Geovany Soto C
8. Mitch Moreland DH
9. Jurickson Profar 2B

*not actually opening day line up. I'm just screwing aroun, so I do not wanna hear it.