Jose Reyes is the Mid-Season NL MVP

I was listening to talk radio about how historic of a season Jose Reyes is having for the Mets. The host said that if the National League MVP vote were held right now, that Reyes would be the runaway winner of the award. The co-host chimed in saying, "He won't win MVP, he won't win MVP." The host asks, "Why not?" and the co-host replies, "Because he just won't. He's having a great year, but he won't be MVP." Great job of making a case guy.

Reyes is having a career year just in time for a big contract.

Clearly, the co-host had no clue what kind of year Reyes is having. "Because he just won't" is not a good enough reason for why he won't win MVP. He's having a beastly year. If he plays the second half like he played the first, Reyes is a sure-fire bet to win the MVP. Maybe it has something to do with this being a contract year, or maybe it's that Reyes is finally completely healthy and showing what he is capable of doing. Whatever the case is, Reyes is winning this MVP the same way Ichiro Suzuki won AL MVP his rookie year -- with hitting, stolen bases, and run scoring.

Now, there is a case to be made that National League middle infielders rarely win MVP's anymore. Sluggers like Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols usually take those kind of awards. In the NL since 1980, there have only been two shortstops named MVP (Jimmy Rollins in 2007 and Barry Larkin in 1995). There has also been one second baseman win NL MVP (Jeff Kent in 2000).

But look at the stats. Heading into tonight, Reyes led the league in batting average at .341, runs with 61, hits with 113, and triples with 14. He is second in stolen bases with 28, tied for seventh with 20 doubles, and is 11th in on-base percentage at .385. What is even more astounding is that despite having hit only three home runs for the season, Reyes is 10th in the league in slugging percentage. What's more astounding is that Reyes has scored 18.1 percent of the Mets' runs, the second-closest in the National League is Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers at 16.6 percent.

Then there are the intangibles: the combination of his ability to run around the diamond when he puts the ball in play and the threat to steal a base at any time, makes Reyes the most entertaining ballplayer in baseball. On top of that, the Mets are playing .500 ball with a decimated lineup that has played without Ike Davis and David Wright for most of the season. Sure, Reyes is getting help from Carlos Beltran who is himself having a great year, but Reyes is the heart and soul of the team.

The strike against Reyes is that his fielding is average at best in comparison to other shortstops, which is true. He ranks in the middle of shortstops in fielding percentage, but he ranks in the top 10 in all of baseball in putouts, assists, and zone rating. So when people suggest he won't win MVP, they better come up with a better reason than to say, "He just won't." If he keeps playing at this pace he will.

And when Mets owner Fred Wilpon said this to the New Yorker: “He thinks he’s going to get Carl Crawford money. He’s had everything wrong with him. He won’t get it.” Well, maybe the Mets won't give Reyes Crawford-type money (7 years, $142 million), but with this season someone will pay to have one of the three best shortstops in all of baseball. Let's just hope the Mets don't see him putting up these kind of numbers in another jersey.

P.S. My list of the top five mid-season NL MVP candidates in order is:
1. Jose Reyes
2. Matt Kemp
3. Ryan Braun
4. Prince Fielder
5. Joey Votto

Women's World Cup is Almost Here

Some of the toughest women I've ever met were soccer players. When I was in college I had the privilege of covering the Florida Gators' women's soccer team for a semester and those chicks were tough. At their practices I'd see them take each other out, spit like men, and run until their lungs burned. I'd hear some of them get angry at other girls and calling their opponents "bitches." Ever since those days, I became a big women's sports fan. I get made fun of for this, but when there's a big women's sporting event, I am as interested as I would be for most men's games.

Which brings me to the Women's World Cup. I have many sports images tattooed in my memory, but very few of them relate to women's sports. I can recall Theresa Witherspoon hitting a halfcourt shot against the Houston Comets in the WNBA Finals (it's true), I can remember Gail Devers running like crazy in the hurdles events at the Olympics, and of course, I remember watching Kerri Strug landing on a sprained ankle to win gold for the United States. But when I think of women's sports, I think of Brandi Chastain taking off her shirt and dropping to her knees in complete euphoria after scoring the game-winning penalty shot against China. That's it, that's the image for women's sports, and it's a great one.

One of the best outcomes of the game was that women's sports had truly arrived on the scene. I remember feeling the energy of a completely packed Rose Bowl audience through a television. Women's sports arrived at that moment when the United States was the best at the world's most popular sport because of its women athletes. It should matter to all men too, because I hope that my daughter (if I should ever be blessed with a daughter) plays sports and that there are many opportunities available to her as a girl, teenager, and woman.

Surprisingly, the United States hasn't won the World Cup since Chastain stripped down to her sports bra. Only two World Cups have passed by since then, but 1999 sure seems like a long time ago. This is especially true considering that the U.S. women's team has been the "Brazil" of women's soccer. In between 1999 and 2011, they've won two Olympic gold medals and a silver medal in 2000. Luckily, the rest of the world has gotten better, and the "immortal" American soccer women have long since retired, I'm talking about Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Kristine Lilly, Julie Foudy, Joy Fawcett, Tiffeny Milbrett, and Chastain. Since then, they've given way to more incredible players like Abby Wambach (a Gator alum), Heather O'Reilly, Stephanie Cox, and Shannon Boxx.

The newer wave of players has been successful, but only Captain Christine Rampone has won a World Cup. I'm hoping that this group can again take the United States to the top of the sport. I'll be watching because unlike back in 1999, there are so many other countries that have invested in their women's sports, particularly in soccer, and every game is now a tough matchup for the U.S. I'm excited to see how this year plays out, and hopefully Wambach and almost all of her teammates can win their first World Cup. Hopefully the rest of the United States and the world will be watching too.

Who Will the Miami Heat Pick?

Besides the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves, no other team will have a more interesting draft than the Miami Heat. That's because the Cavaliers are hoping to get their version of Chris Paul in Kyrie Irving, and the Timberwolves are going to get a better shooting version of Amar'e Stoudemire in Derrick Williams.



 First off, let's not talk about whether the Heat are going trade either LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or Chris Bosh. Any mention of that is absolutely absurd, unfounded, ridiculous, and inflammatory. To suggest such a thing is to suggest that Pat Riley is an imbecile, which he is not. The Heat's draft will be interesting because even on a team with two of the best five players in the league, and three of the best 40 players overall, you would think that this team has very minor gaps to fill out. They do and they don't. They've got to find a player that will fit right into their system and contribute right away. True, the Heat will get better next year, but so will the Bulls and Thunder, and the Mavericks, Lakers, and Celtics will still be in the way. Plus, if the Knicks find a way to play defense, they can be really scary.

We all heard about how the Heat were only two games away from the championship, so there's not much that they should tweak in the lineup. It's true, look at the core of their team. You can put just about anybody around them and they'll scare the entire league. But the Heat's run last year showed one of two things, 1) that they really need a big man in the middle to score for them, and 2) they need another guard to complement Wade and Mario Chalmers. Mike Bibby was good for about 5 minutes, Mike Miller was hurt an old, Juwan Howard was just old, and Eddie House was good for about 6 minutes.

Personally, I think the Heat are going to go for a guard, even though they're awful at center  The Heat's big men included Dexter Pittman, Jamaal Magloire, Erick Dampier, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The Heat are high on Pittman, but who knows how the kid is going to bounce back from a knee injury. Joel Anthony proved to be a great shot blocker, but his offensive game needs work and he's not a natural scorer. Udonis Haslem is a good player, but he is not a natural center the way Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O'Neal were for the 2006 Heat.

With guards, the Heat should look to add a player that can come in right away to knock down shots, play tough defense, and help to facilitate the Big 3's attack. Here are five guys I think the Heat will either trade down for or get with the first pick of the second round:

G Shelvin Mack (Butler) - a college veteran, highly respected, watched him play at Butler and he's got heart
G Darius Morris (Michigan) - good size and great ability to distribute the ball
G Reggie Jackson (Boston College) - good scorer, jump shooter, and defender with good size
C Jeremy Tyler (Tokyo Apache (Japan)) - a project but can add depth to a team with old centers
C Nikola Vucevic (USC) - a scorer and rebounder, 7 footer with decent size, but possibly a one-year wonder, he's projected to be a mid-first round pick

P.S. I'm terrible at predicting things like this, but it'll be interesting to see if the Heat utilize their draft pick for legitimately improving the team next season.

Defending Rory McIlroy

I don't pretend to be a huge golf fan. Most of what I know about golf has to do with Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and that Arnold Palmer makes some damed good iced tea. Trying to be an interested sports fan, I was watching the final round of the 2011 U.S. Open and I changed channels after about five minutes. One of the main reasons was because Rory McIlroy had all but secured the title after the third round, making the fourth round a mere formality. But the main reason is because watching golf on television, for me, is absolutely pointless. Back to McIlroy....

The guy is 22 years old and already has a major championship to his name. By comparison, Phil Mickelson didn't win his first major until he was 33, Greg Norman was 31, Fred Couples was 32. Nicklaus was 22 when he won his first major, and we all know how that played out. I'm not comparing McIlroy to Nicklaus, but what McIlroy did was fantastic. Still, many golfers criticized the course for being too "soft." Which means that golfers escaped trouble when a ball strayed off the fairway, and the greens kept the balls on the green instead of rolling them back into the rough or into bunkers. The result was that a whopping 20 golfers finished with scores under par.

The critics have said that at the end of the day McIlroy's name will go on the trophy, but it was a soft Open that didn't demand much from its participants. The golf experts pointed to statistics about how historically soft the course was (Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, MD), and how it wasn't a mentally challenging and demanding course like most courses are. They say McIlroy is champion, but his is a watered-down championship.

Excuse me, come again? This 22-year-old guy shot a -16 and led from wire-to-wire, the second-best golfer was at -8. In other words, while the course may have been soft, he destroyed the field. McIlroy dominated the course in Tiger-esque fashion. Secondly, look at the list of golfers that finished above par and you'll see that a number of very good players struggled with this "soft" course, including Mickelson (+7), Rory Sabbatini (+1), Zach Johnson (+2), Martin Kaymer (+3), and number-one ranked Luke Donald (+5). Aaron Baddeley, the 15th ranked player in the world, didn't even make the cut. K.J. Choi, ranked 2nd in the world, also failed to make the cut.

Golf is a funny game when even the best players fail to make the cut. I wish I could tell all these golf experts to give credit where credit's due. Perhaps the golfing establishment is jealous that such a young guy won a major championship, who knows. Let's just quit coming up with excuses for why what McIlroy did wasn't great. The fact is he crushed a loaded field in one of the four biggest tournaments of the year, that alone speaks for itself.

Reaction to Terrelle Pryor Apology

Yesterday, Terrelle Pryor apologized in public for the first time about his undercover arrangements at Ohio St. He didn't point out any specifics, but he did specifically apologize to Jim Tressel for feeling that it was his fault the former head coach resigned from Ohio St. Admittedly, I am not an Ohio St. fan.  I always found there to be something suspicious about the Buckeyes ever since Maurice Clarett made allegations that he was getting paid and earning money from non-existent jobs set up by Tressel himself.

I also found Tressel's sweater vest to be both partly disingenuous and obnoxious. He created a persona contingent on clean, by-the-book, blue-collar work ethic. Yet, it turns out that there was nothing clean about his program, and that his pick-and-choose approach to the rules reeked more of white-collar privilege than blue-collar concession.

For the record, I am not absolutely stunned by what happened. The fact is that Tressel, is a coach at a football factory -- just like at Texas, Florida, Alabama, Florida St., Miami, Penn St., and USC. I'm sure these kind of things happen at these schools and there are ways that booster payments, illegal gifts and transactions, and even academic fraud is in one way or another swept under the rug for fear that it may bring down a program. It's just that Tressel got caught, and he had to rightly pay the price for it. It was only a matter of time before he was gone, and it was sad to see Tressel slowly relinquishing his grip on the program. He seemed very desperate when he self-imposed a five-game suspension on himself. 

I also don't blame Pryor for doing what he did. The man is a part of a team that brings in millions of dollars to Ohio St., the Big Ten, NCAA, and ABC. He is an elite athlete with an opportunity to capitalize on his talents but the NCAA has all sorts of ways to keep capitalism on its favor at the expense of its labor force. Pryor should have been more mature, should have been more considerate, and should have been more honest when he was getting paid to sign memorabilia and make public appearances. Then again, that's asking a lot of a young kid who every football weekend has hundreds of thousands of people telling him how great he is.

This may come out harsh, but Pryor was just a symptom of what was really wrong at Ohio St., and what was really wrong was Tressel. I have no doubt that Tressel was a good man, but he played by his own rules and taught some of his players the worst lesson they could learn -- that they are outside the spectrum of the rules and laws that apply to everyone else.

Thanks Terrelle for apologizing to Tressel, it took a lot of guts to do that. But you know what? I think Tressel owes you an apology for leading you down the wrong path these past three years.

Bigger Villain: Dwyane Wade or LeBron James?

It occurred to me after these Finals passed that as much vitriol as James has had to endure, could it be all along that America is going after the wrong guy? As much as everyone loved to see the Miami Heat go down last night, especially after seeing LeBron fade into oblivion once again during the fourth quarter, I couldn't help but feel more satisfied knowing that Wade was denied his second championship.

Of course James is a superstar with an oversized ego that at many times lacks humility and even remorse from his comments, but Wade is the mastermind behind the Big 3. It was Wade who persuaded James and Chris Bosh to join him in Miami to try and capture as many titles as possible for the next six to seven years.

It was Wade who threw a verbal punch at Dirk Nowitzki after the 2006 Finals by saying he wasn't the leader he was supposed to be for Dallas. Then it was Wade again who sent a verbal jab at Nowitzki by mocking his 101 degree fever just before Game 5. LeBron was in on it too, but he was in the background, where he seemingly prefers to be, while Wade was the instigator. It was Wade in this series who posed in front of the Dallas bench after the Heat went up by 15 points in Game 2, only to have the Mavs come back in a historic and almost unbelievable sequence of events at American Airlines Arena.

It was also Wade who made an "angry" face as if the Heat were going to win Game 5 after he made a late three-pointer in the fourth quarter to give the Heat a two-point lead. Of course, we all know how Game 5 ended -- with Nowitzki putting his team on his shoulders once again on the way to the series-clinching Game 6.

I hold no ill will toward the Heat, a team that was only two games away from possibly going down as one of the greatest teams in NBA history because of the sheer talent of just two of its players. But in this series you either hated or loved the idea of the Heat, and I for one hated the idea of the Heat. I much preferred the team game the Mavs brought to the table, and the patience their players had in order to capture their first championship.

I don't know Wade, and I'm sure he's a good guy, but if there's a villain in this entire series, it's not so much James as much as it's "Flash." His big smile could fool a lot of people, but don't think for a minute that Wade's ego is any less formidable than LeBron's, he's just better at disguising it. At some point, maybe even next year, James, Wade, and Bosh will win their title together, but for now, let's hope these guys eat some humble pie on the way to becoming champions.

Dirk Wins His Title

He had just won his first NBA Championship and what does the great Dirk Nowitzki do? He calmly walks off the court and into the the visiting team locker room at American Airlines Arena. We didn't get to see tears like we saw when Michael Jordan won his first championship against the Lakers. What we saw was the cool, steely look of satisfaction in typically understated German fashion. I can't think of a more redeeming championship win since Jordan held onto the trophy like it was his baby. Think about what Nowitzki did all at once: avenged the loss to Miami in 2006, put down his critics, defeated the biggest villains in basketball, and got the last laugh against the faux-sick Wade and James.

The story line doesn't even include Jason Kidd, a future Hall of Famer, getting his first title at 38 years of age, and after last appearing in the Finals in 2003. Jason Terry wins his first championship in his 12th season in the NBA and he can now complement that with his 1997 NCAA title with Arizona. Has there ever been someone as good and as understated as Jason Terry? The guy has only been with two teams his entire career, has averaged 16.2 points per game, and has never been an All-Star.

Dirk won his title. But this Dallas team has got to be one of the most well-liked champions in recent memory. They're not an upstart group of guys that caught fire, they were a collection of outcasts and mistakenly labeled "soft" players who came together for a historic season to defeat the likes of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Kevin Durant, Lebron James, and Dwyane Wade. Wow! What a season Mavs.

P.S. Class move by Dallas owner Mark Cuban to allow David Stern to present the championship trophy to Dallas' first owner, Donald Carter. I knew Cuban was a great owner that built the Mavs into one of the NBA's great franchises, but every time I looked at him I could only think of Donnie Darko. Congrats to Cuban for his championship, and for staying behind the scenes through it all. As we saw Dirk mature as a player, I think we've also seen the maturation of an owner.