Giants re-sign Nick Hundley

I really didn't like him that much when he was with the Rockies, he always seemed to find a way to hurt the Gigantes. The fact that he won the Willie Mac award in his first year with the team shows the impact his leadership and spirit had on teammates. This is a good re-sign. Hopefully, he sticks around for longer than one more year.

The Giants seem to want to lavish more riches and security on guys that haven't done a lick for the franchise, rather than for those who have been around for a while.

That dynamic really has to change and fast. Congrats to Nick Hundley.

Giants News Giants News December 19, 2017 View as web page Giants re-sign catcher Nick Hundley to a one-year contract The San Francisco Giants have re-signed free agent catcher Nick Hundley to a one-year contract, club Senior Vice President and General Manager Bobby Evans announced today. Per club policy, financial terms were not disclosed. "We are glad to welcome Nick back to the Giants," said Evans. "We appreciated his contributions last year and we look forward to him wearing a Giants uniform again in 2018." Hundley won the 2017 Willie Mac Award, an annual honor bestowed upon the most inspirational player on the team, as voted upon by Giants players, coaches, training staff, and Giants fans. Read More  Highlights  Schedule  Buy Tickets  Shop © 2017 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All Major League Baseball trademarks, service marks and copyrights used herein are the property of the applicable MLB entity. All rights reserved. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners. Please review our privacy policy » You (theslav1959@yahoo.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages from sfgiants.com. Please add feedback@mail.mlblists.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from sfgiants.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions. Postal Address: sfgiants.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 75 Ni​nth Avenue, 5th Floor, New Yo​rk, NY 100​11.

What is the value of doing things right? Ask the NFL for a distorted view

This is what NFL personnel directors have to sift through when making draft decisions after all the data they get from the combine. Now you have to figure out if the guy will be on the field for you, not just factoring in the risk of on-field injury, but the risk that you lose playing time due to the self-inflicted injury of poor decision making.

Good luck. It sounds as if we're just parsing levels of criminality and measuring it against ability in the ultimate risk vs. reward balancing act.

rom USA Today:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/story/2012-04-20/NFL-draft-criminal-study/54433122/1

The study was done by Hamilton student Kendall Weir as his senior thesis for an economics degree and is being overseen by Wu. It included every player (around 1,200) taken in the 2005-2009 NFL drafts and their results at the scouting combine. Then it divided players into four groups based on comparable results and tracked their performance through the 2011-12 season. The four groups:

1.) Players with no suspensions or legal problems in college;

2.) Players suspended one game or more for violating team or university rules;

3.) Players arrested and charged with a crime;

4.) Players arrested, but not charged.

If you wanted the biggest bang for your buck and this were a multiple-choice quiz, the best answer would be No. 4.

Players in that group are usually drafted in the same spot as comparable players in the No. 1 group, yet wind up averaging two more starts per season. Suspended players dropped the farthest in the draft, 25 spots on average. They also fared the worst in performance terms when compared to the "clean" players, averaging two fewer starts per season, as well as having shorter careers. Players in the arrested-and-charged group tended to perform exactly the same as the clean group, but ended up being drafted 15 spots lower.

OBTW: Charles Manson is still on the board. I'm not sure what his most recent 40 time clocked in at.

 

The conclusions of this study are somewhat disturbing, not as disturbing as the Manson .gif, but,
"if you're on the fence about a player and worried about his criminal record, the data says take a chance" seems to me to be a recipe to eventually having your team owner testifying as a character witness at a murder trial.

Wait, that already happened right?

Put that in your "PR-nightmare scenario calculator" and smoke it. If there's no penalty....the behavior continues. If it is incentivized, which this study portraying the "convicts as draft bargains" implies, you get more of it.

The choir-boys are being over-valued relative to the convicts. Ain't that a kick in the head?

 

So good luck to those hoping for the cultural landscape to improve and shame on those who want to turn a blind eye and act like it doesn't matter. It does.

The NFL wants to pay lip-service to these issues as they occur rather than doing anything to prevent them from occurring in the first place. It's not so much what you say that matters, it's what you do. And in many of these matters, the NFL does more harm than good.  

What the hell, what time is kick-off?

from thebiglead.com
http://thebiglead.com/2012/04/21/nfl-draft-study-on-character-issues-does-not-add-up/

A research study from Hamilton College claims that drafting players who have had legal incidents pays off.

“So if you’re on the fence about a player and worried about his criminal record,” said Stephen Wu, an economics professor at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., “the data says take a chance.”

Not so fast. I know the words “regression analysis” make journalists’ eyes gloss over, but I went and found a draft of this study. I’ll go through it in a moment. Before we get to the numbers, though, take a look at this paragraph and consider whether the best teams are the ones employing this smart strategy.

Of the teams mentioned above, Arizona used 27 percent of its picks during the five-year span on players in the last three groups. Cincinnati, which has become a sort of “Boys Town East” for troubled free agents as well as draftees, was second at 25 percent, with San Francisco and Chicago tied for third at 20 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, Seattle drafted no players with character issues, followed by Atlanta (2 percent), Baltimore (3) and Green Bay (6).

On to Day 2:

from Yahoo Sports:
Randy Gregory, slew of defenders lead list of best available Day 2 players | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo Sports:

Even with Jameis Winston, Marcus Peters and Shane Ray going in the first 23 picks, it's clear that teams valued character seriously on Thursday.

Our top 10 best-remaining players include a few players who were taken off teams' boards — either for Round 1 consideration or altogether — with serious red flags for their off-field indiscretions. Here's our list: 

Nebraska DE-OLB Randy Gregory — Electric edge rusher who has had trouble keeping on weight and likely projects best to a 3-4 defense. He could be special if he keeps out of trouble and proves to his next team that's he's accountable and trustworthy.

Virginia DE-OLB Eli Harold — Thin-legged edge rusher with good burst off the ball and a frame that could handle more bulk in time. He brings energy to the field and would be an ideal 3-4 outside rusher.

Alabama FS Landon Collins — Athletically gifted, bulked up safety who can't play in space as well as he can up near the line of scrimmage. Those limitations likely are the reason he slid out of Round 1, but he could be a good player if used correctly.

Florida State DT Eddie Goldman — Bull-strong nose tackle or 1-technique who can play with force and leverage and should fit into most schemes. Goldman never will be a big sack producer, but he can block out the sun with his mass and be a factor stopping the run.

Arizona State WR Jaelen Strong — Linear "X" receiver with strong hands and good route-running and high-point ability. Similar to Jordan Matthews a year ago, Strong could end up being a Day 1 starter in the NFL and productive in the right system.

LSU CB Jalen Collins — Long-armed, super athletic press corner with some character concerns and limited experience (10 college starts).

UCLA LB Eric Kendricks — Excitable, playmaking linebacker who overcomes his size deficiencies with high effort and outstanding instincts. But Kendricks must be covered up and can't shed blocks against powerful offensive linemen that well.

Mississippi CB Senquez Golson — Undersized playmaker who has great ball skills and terrific confidence. A true game-changer if he can play in a scheme where he's not asked to match up, one on one, against massive receivers.

ex-Missouri WR Dorial Green-Beckham — Athletically blessed, mercurial, unreliable receiver with rare gifts and top-10 ability. His short, occasionally brilliant and often frustrating career at Mizzou showed both his potential as a receiver and his need to mature greatly.

Indiana RB Tevin Coleman — Straight-line home-run hitter who has great toughness and workhorse traits and can thrive in the right system. Behind a bad offensive line and with few playmakers around him, Coleman was a weekly wonder for the Hoosiers.

Gregory (positive drug test prior to the scouting combine), Jalen Collins (multiple failed drug tests in college) and Green-Beckham (kicked out of Mizzou following domestic abuse allegations) all had first-round physical traits and rare measurables for their respective positions. But their character issues knocked them down into a range where teams are more comfortable rolling the dice on players.

'via Blog this'

Take me out to the Ball Game

This article from 2008 seems almost quaint in the current youth sport environment. It does ask what is many times posed as the big ticket debatable question, "Does involvement in sports promote character or produce characters".

This goes back to the quote from sportswriter Heywood Hale Broun:
"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."  

If that is the case, it seems like we are spending a lot of time as coaches and sports administrators attempting to jam square pegs into round holes. Maybe that is the most maddening part of the problem.

from vision.org
http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=4710

Society & Culture 

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

March 11, 2008

Early seasonal sightings in North America of the blue-beaked shortstop and the red-breasted right fielder foretell of flocks sure to follow. As winter gives way to spring, town parks and area playing fields will sprout youth sport programs—a bevy of brightly-colored, budding ball players eager to strut their stuff.  

Laden with lawn chairs, picnic baskets and pets, proud parents leave their nests to assemble and enjoy the adorable exuberance and athletic exploits of their offspring. The cheerful scene of children at play in a safe and well-supervised setting is a delight to behold and a credit to communities that care for their fledging citizens. 

For many moms and dads, going out to the ball game is a welcome diversion from daily duties, a time of wholesome family fun in hometown America. If you buy them some peanuts and cracker jacks, they won’t care if they ever go back to the harried pace and hectic regimen of routine responsibilities.


In the Big-Inning

Early in the 20th century social agencies like the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) began sponsoring sports and structured recreational activities, ostensibly designed to keep boys out of trouble. 

In 1938 an oil company clerk named Carl Stotz had an idea for an organized baseball league for the boys in his hometown of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. With some help from family and friends, the first official Little League game was played on June 6, 1939.  Over the past six decades, Little League Baseball has become the world’s largest organized youth sports program with over 180,000 teams in all 50 U.S. states and 80 different countries. 

Little League Baseball describes its mission, unchanged since 1939, as being to: “provide a wholesome, healthy activity for children using the ball field as a classroom, to instill discipline, teamwork, sportsmanship and fair play, and to establish a set of values to guide them into adulthood, and hopefully responsible citizenship. These are the reasons Carl Stotz founded the program, and they are the reasons it exists today.” 

Since the middle of the 20th century, adult-organized athletic activities for youth have grown dramatically. The view that these programs convey values, and cultivate character has been generally accepted in American culture. 

A 2001 National Council of Youth Sports report indicates that 63 percent of boys and 37 percent of girls in America participate in an organized youth sports program for an average of five years. Over 38 million children participate in structured sports programs annually.

It’s Only a Game, Isn’t It?

Why do parents continue to register their kids in record numbers? Is it all fun and games?  Or is there an expected return on their investment of time and money? At a time when warnings of childhood obesity abound, the obvious benefits of additional activity and exercise are attractive. Some have fond memories of their own childhood experiences and wish the same for their kids. Others express hope that physical abilities learned through structured play with peers will foster confidence and enhance social skills, teamwork, cooperation and the ability to deal with disappointment.


But are we asking too much of sports and extracurricular activities? Is it reasonable to expect fields to function as classrooms of character? If we claim that sports can assist in building character, must we concede that if abused they can damage and destroy character? 

By nature, competitive sports involve determined effort and emotional intensity. It is this inherent pressure to push oneself to perform that attracts some parents to enroll their kids in these activities. They anticipate that the discipline demanded by competition will promote physical and mental toughness, produce character and prepare children for the rigors of life.


But does competition promote Character or produce characters?

Daniel E. Doyle, Jr. is founder and executive director of the Institute of International Sport at the University of Rhode Island. Widely-acclaimed institute initiatives include National Sportsmanship Day, The World Scholar-Athlete Games, and the Center for Sports Parenting. Doyle holds a master of arts degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He has addressed sports ethics with student athletes for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on over 100 college campuses and has received two honorary doctorates for his work in sports education. 

Doyle recently discussed the relationship between sports and character with Vision. When asked if competitive sports can deliver the much-desired benefit of building character in children, he replied: “Sports can teach traits that transfer into skill for success in life, but athletic prowess alone is not a guaranteed path to good life choices.” 

In his recently released book, The Encyclopedia of Sports Parenting, the first in a three-volume series that can serve parents as a comprehensive guide for navigating the youth sports scene from novice to the NCAA, Doyle declares: “As a youngster playing sports in Worcester, Massachusetts, it was common to hear a well-meaning coach say, ‘If you’re a success on the court, you’ll be a success in life.’ This is not necessarily true!” 

“For those unable to transfer athletic excellence to other undertakings, there seemed to be a revealing common denominator: their success as young athletes had given them a false, even delusional sense of self-importance. For many, athletic success was accompanied by the passivity and even complicity of parents, coaches or teachers who permitted the young stars to take shortcuts and neglect their academic and character development.  When parents encourage balance and perspective, sports can have a wonderful impact on a child. Without such balance and perspective, sports can produce detrimental, sometimes devastating consequences.” 

Sadly, a lack of perspective causes some to perceive the young player’s rite of passage as the first encounter with the formidable forces that determine winners and losers in the game of life. To these folks this is more than mere child’s play. Their offspring’s identity, and no doubt their own, is at stake.


Cheers, Jeers, Tears and Fears!

Unfortunately, all is not fun and games in Norman Rockwell’s America. Social commentators continue to express concern about the coarsening of contemporary culture. That trend reveals itself as a lack of sportsmanship by coaches, athletes and spectators at sporting events. Although unsportsmanlike conduct is not new, it does seem that appropriate standards of behavior were less ambiguous to previous generations.  

Why do we tolerate trash-talking, taunting and baiting of opponents by young athletes? Are we unwittingly acquiescing to an adversarial “in your face” attitude? Emboldened by the cover of the crowd, some fans revel in hurling crude comments and abusive attempts at humor toward players, officials and each other. 

Ironically, some adults expect organized sports to help develop good character in their children while they themselves demonstrate insidious incivility and lack of self-control on the sidelines. Are they unaware that their crass conduct undermines the credibility of the claim that sports competition is a classroom for responsible citizenship? 

Is good sportsmanship becoming an endangered ethic of a bygone era? 

Doyle believes that balance and perspective come from constructing a values-based sports parenting philosophy. He advises parents to adopt an anchors/aspirations approach to child rearing. 

“My anchor/aspiration approach to child rearing is simple. It proposes that aspirational goals such as excellence in sports or the arts are wonderful—they ennoble our lives. But the aspirations must be fortified by two anchors—character development and training the mind—or serious problems can develop. The objective is not to suppress a child’s desire to excel but rather to support the desire by making sure that the two anchors are safely moored. Failure to demand consistent effort toward achieving proficiency in the anchor qualities is very detrimental to a youngster’s long-term development. Aspirational sports goals should never be mistaken as substitutes for, or interchangeable with, the anchor values.”

The Honorable Competitor

Can opponents clash in a competitive contest and demonstrate mutual respect while challenging one another to be and do their best? Doyle suggests that they can indeed if they are taught the true meaning of honorable competition.

“Teach your young athlete that the word competition comes from the Latin word competere, which means to strive together, not against each other. Respect is an important part of this concept. Impress upon your young athlete that the honorable competitor respects opponents and, when an opponent tries hard and plays fairly, one often ends up both respecting and admiring the opponent.” 

If we want sports and extracurricular activities to contribute to the good character of our children, then we must have a predetermined values-based parenting philosophy that we require our children adhere to both on and off the field. Doyle emphasizes, “Parents should punish their children for unsportsmanlike conduct, whether officials do or not. Parents who fail to discipline a young athlete often rationalize their failure with excuses such as the umpires are unfair or the other team plays dirty. Dads and moms must let their athlete know that misconduct will result in home discipline. Parents who ignore problems send the message that misconduct is acceptable. If you fail to actively and consistently teach your child the right values, you are, by default, leaving your child open to learning the wrong values. Harmful values include a win-at-any-cost mentality, outright cheating, arrogance, selfishness, acts of aggression and taking shortcuts to get ahead.” 

Parents seeking to promote the positive and neutralize the negative components of the contemporary competitive sports scene will benefit from the practical advice in Doyle’s The Encyclopedia of Sport Parenting. 

Parents seeking a code of conduct—a core set of virtues for formulating their parenting philosophy—need look no further than the Judeo-Christian ethic. Its golden rule provides a solid basis for a principled philosophy, good sportsmanship and quality of character. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you! This one brief statement promotes balance and perspective, expounds empathy, reveals the secret to graceful winning or dealing with disappointment, and champions the cause for class and character. 

TOM FITZPATRICK

 

BBWAA says none are worthy, not even one

This was fairly predictable for the main protagonists Bonds, Sosa and Clemens, but Craig Biggio too? C'mon guys?

Baseball -- via the powers vested in the BBWAA and the Hall of Fame -- seems bound and determined to continually this annual rite of public flagellation and humiliation over the PED issue.

The NFL addressed this when Lawrence Taylor was up for induction and -- with no huge public outcry or retribution -- Taylor was admitted under the premise that the Hall of Fame is not the Hall of Saints. Given the baseball Hall of Fames ridiculous adherence to the following "character clause" we can expect more of the same debate in coming years.


from foxsports.com
Morosi: Simple change to MLB Hall of Fame ballot could help deserving players - MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN:

PEDs enter into play when we consider the evolution of voters’ thinking. Of course, the actual criteria, set forth by the Hall of Fame, remain unchanged: “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.” The BBWAA isn’t easily convinced, enshrining more than two players in a year only once during the past two decades. But now it seems successful candidates must check three boxes.

How many guys have actually been elected to the baseball Hall on the basis of integrity, sportsmanship or character without superlative playing ability and contributions to winning? Anyone? Is there a "Miss Congeniality"  that has been elected who didn't pass the usual playing ability tests? I didn't think so, although I thought I heard a couple of Phil Rizzuto whispers back there, but WDIK?

If you're not willing to take open and avowed racists (talking to you Cap Anson) or guys who padded their stats by competing in a segregated league, then don't go all high and mighty now.

The Hall is a museum and should speak to the history of the game, warts and all. If you're not scrubbing or ignoring the racists past, it seems rather silly, childish and petty to only punish players of this era for their sin in participating in the "culture of the game" within the context of the era in which they were participating. By that standard, you should yank Babe Ruth out for not speaking up against segregation.

Why MLB insists on turning what should be an annual celebration of the game into an annual black eye, to appease a small minority of self-avowed "purists", who truth be told are not all that pure themselves, is a joke.


from the MLBPA:

Michael Weiner, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, released the following statement after the BBWAA failed to vote in a single candidate for 2013:

"Today's news that those members of the BBWAA afforded the privilege of casting ballots failed to elect even a single player to the Hall of Fame is unfortunate, if not sad. Those empowered to help the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum document the history of the game failed to recognize the contributions of several Hall of Fame worthy players. To ignore the historic accomplishments of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, for example, is hard to justify. Moreover, to penalize players exonerated in legal proceedings -- and others never even implicated -- is simply unfair. The Hall of Fame is supposed to be for the best players to have ever played the game. Several such players were denied access to the Hall today. Hopefully this will be rectified by future voting."