GROW UP, CAM

A wise man once told me, “If you’re gonna take shots, back it up!” I will do so now...

My fellow BYB'er, Erica Morales wrote a great piece defending the recent post game behavior of Panther’s QB Cam Newton. I too agree that it is ABSOLUTELY understandable to be totally disappointed after a Super Bowl loss. It’s what you dream about as a little kid playing in the backyard. The biggest game there is for an NFL player. The biggest stage! Against one of the greatest QBs to play the position…sure, we’d all be pissed, saddened and in a foul mood. But how you handle it is the measure of the man/ woman.

Cam Newton is an extremely gifted athlete. He plays the game with passion and is a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Do I mind the celebrations? Not one bit…after a touchdown. But after a first down? Yeah, just do YOUR JOB and keep the chains moving. That’s my opinion. Maybe it’s not yours…that’s OK too.

My biggest beef with Cam is he wants it both ways. He’ll claim that people don’t like him because he’s a black quarterback…all due respect, BULLSH*T! Yeah, I KNOW there are some simpletons out there that look at the color of a man’s skin, but believe it or not Cam some don’t like you because you seem like a bratty showboat who is all about the name on the back of the jersey. And the behavior displayed after the game Sunday was PROOF positive of that. End. Of. The. Story.

I am a big fan of the player who can be a leader on and off the field. Think back to Tim Wakefield after the 2003 Aaron Boone walk off. Is there a greater defeat as a pitcher? He gave up a dinger to the New York Yankees with the Boston Red Sox inches from reversing the imaginary curse! And did Timmy give a moody teen’s excuse for a presser? No, he faced the music, tipped his cap to the Yankees and vowed to be back. I’m I nuts to expect a similar response from a National Football League QB? NOPE!

Look, Cam wants to be the man…well, ACT LIKE ONE! You got beat by a defense that was absolutely relentless. They were BETTER than you, they just didn’t play better. They abused Carolina’s bigger O line! They pursued like a pack of hungry wolves and covered like a squadron of F-18 Hornets. The BRONCOS are Champions for a reason. Tip you cap and quiet your critics…not as a black quarterback, but as an NFL MVP quarterback that took it on the chin.

This is pretty simple. Cam Newton has the talent to be in the conversation with names like Marino, Montana, Aikman, Favre and Young. But maturity and accountability are PARAMOUNT to being in the company of those men. 

And as of this moment Cam Newton is closer to Johnny Football than Johnny Unitas. To defend him is to enable that type of behavior…I’m not making that play. When it comes to backing the young Carolina QB I’ll punt.

** I think Cam is the NFL equivalent of this kid. Talented? Sure, but who cares…he is just a solo act that who we all got tired of quick. **

  



 
--Mike O'Hara Senior "Features" Writer
Twitter: @mikeyoh21
















 

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SOME GUYS YOU DON'T BET AGAINST

If you listen close you can hear the whispers. Listen. Do you hear that? They’re faint and you might miss them under the heartfelt cheers and well wishes showering Derek Jeter each time he steps foot on the field. Spring Training crowds at “The Boss” and around the Grapefruit League are taking every chance they can to catch The Captain one last time…but as the old  saying goes, “Your fans are in the streets and your critics are in the weeds.”  And there are some already reading Jeter his last rights…softly.

It is true that this spring has been an ugly one offensively for the Yankees’ 40 yr old shortstop.  He really has to rebuild it all from the ground up. Once the ankle mended and he was able to get his legs under him again, Derek needed to play catch up after basically missing an entire season. This would be a tough task for a 26-year-old coming into his prime, and unfortunately for Jeter and the Yankee faithful…Jeet is the Big 4 0 in June. Did you hear that? The whispers were joined by snickers…probably folks from Boston. Figures.

Joe Girardi and others in the New York ranks have deflected any and all “Are you concerned about Jeter” questions. They may be doing it out of respect, but I think they know that there are just some guys you NEVER bet against. Derek Jeter is one of those players.

I grew up emulating San Francisco 49ers’ legend Joe Montana…which caused me some abuse living in the Tri-State area. My Dad has always been my coach, and at an early age he told me to model my game after Joe. He wasn’t the biggest. He wasn’t overwhelmingly fast and didn’t have an arm like Marino or Elway…but Joe knew how to win. He took the frame and physical attributes he was born with and made the most out of them.

He was also a Patton-like field general. He instilled confidence in his teammates and made the entire unit better just taking the field. In my opinion he was the best ever to play the position. It’s up for debate I know, but what is not is the FACT that you could NEVER count Montana out. Even when the Niners pushed him off to Kansas City Joe still showed them and Steve Young that he was still the man and that 8 was only half of 16.

There have been others cut from this same cloth. They never let up. Even in the face of Father Time these players always come through in the end. I don’t care if you are in the sad, delusional sect that calls Jeter overrated or chose not to like him outright. I don’t care if you are an absolute Hall of Fame naysayer and clown like Skip Bayless. You can’t take it away from Mr. Jeter. He is special. A once in a lifetime type winner and this season he WILL show up. Bank on it.

As the Yankees get ready to break camp, Derek Jeter’s last, you can almost hear a powerful John Williams movie soundtrack starting to build. It haunts you like the lone French horn in the intro to “Superman”.


The season will be memorable for sure, but I think it will be more than that. On the day he captured his 3,000th hit (a dinger by the way) he also went 5 for 5. He mentioned that he couldn’t have scripted that way. But think about it, could it have been any other way for “#2 From Kalamazoo”?

Jeter, like Montana, isn’t the strongest. His entire career he’s heard that there were better shortstops all around him (Miggy Tejada in Oakland, “No Mah” in Boston and that suspended guy that played next to him at 3rd). But ask yourself, would they have been there to flip the ball to Jorgie in time to tag Jeremy Giambi? Would they have thrown themselves into the stands for a pop fly against the Sox? Would they have sent a rocket over the right field wall as the clock struck November in 2001.  I can’t say for sure, they were all great players, but I’m leaning towards a big ol' NOPE.

What will Jeter’s numbers be at the end of the 2014 season? I couldn’t say. Will he go out hitting over .300 with a Gold Glove and World Series Title? Well, it’s Derek Jeter, it might seem impossible to those whispering in the weeds, but for those of us cheering him in the streets, we just won’t bet against it.

 

--Mike O'Hara, MLB Fan Cave Host, Season 1
   Twitter: @mikeyoh21
"Paulie was always my favorite player."



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