The Merrill Dubrow Blog

As I write this post, the New York Yankees are 2 1/2 games ahead of the Boston Redsox. The question is, how do I feel about that? Well of course I would rather be ahead, but I am NOT that concerned. The Yankees have been very hot and the Sox have gone into a hitting funk. Okay I said it. A funk. Recently the Yankees have had lots go right–like winning close ball games while the Redsox have struggled. Yes, both teams have had major injuries and both teams have had stars not contribute much, but I still feel great about the Redsox.

In fact they are STILL the best team in the American League and at the end of the season you will see that I am right.

The Redsox have the best pitching in the American League.  They have given up 412 runs which is tops (Seattle is number two.) The Yankees are about to start on a difficult 20 game stretch and my prediction is that at the end of that stretch they will have seen first place for the LAST time this year!

By the way, the 20 game stretch I am referring to starts July 27, and 19 of the next 26 games are on the road–where the Yankees are slightly above 500. Yes the Redsox make the playoffs and maybe the Yankees do as well.  But it will be as a wild card and they will need to come to Fenway Park for a chance to play baseball for the first time in November!

Just so I am clear — in fact crystal clear. AJ, Jennie, Jeffrey, Jon, Mark and many other Yankee fans, this Redsox fan isn’t worried one bit!

Now your turn.

• What is your prediction?
   
• How are you feeling about the season?
   
• Is it the Yankees or Redsox in the World Series?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted in Sports | Post Comments (40) »

Some pro athletes make great managers and coaches. They were leaders in their respected sport and now lead teams. People like Joe Torre, Dave Cowens, Pat Riley and Kevin McHale have all done that. Some athletes have great intuition, insight, solid TV presence are very attractive and are fantastic communicators.

Those are the people I want to talk about today. Let’s identify professional athletes that will follow in the footsteps of Bill Walton, Charles Barkley, Isiah Thomas, Chris Weber, Steve Lyons, Jerry Remy, Dennis Eckersley and Joe Morgan.

Here are four of my choices:

1. Shaquille O’Neal – big personality, million dollar smile, loved by many, enormous following on twitter won’t hurt – ok maybe they won’t have a chair big enough for him but everything else works
    
2. Rodney Harrison – great player, very respected in the game, looks good on camera and seems to be very smart and a great communicator
    
3. Curt Schilling – very opinionated, smart guy, always has something to say. Was a guy you wanted on the mound when the game really mattered, would need to tone it down a lot.
    
4. Greg Maddux – no brainer in my book. Already looks like a sportscaster. One of the all-time greats who is smart and very soft spoken.

Ok your turn.

• What do you think of my 4 choices?
   
• Who do you have on your list?
   
• Who is the best athlete turned sportscaster in your mind?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Posted in Sports | Post Comments (22) »

If you decided to read on you probably are very curious about where I am headed with this posting based on the title. To me the sports "untouchables" are the athletes that no matter what they do, get a pass from the fans and media. In some ways their private lives aren’t discussed, it’s off limits respected by fans and the media and that’s just the way it is. They aren’t hounded by the media if they do something wrong and their reasoning is accepted and everyone moves on. Let me give you a few examples:

• Derek Jeter – in my opinion the king of NY.  If he is at a night club in the wee hours of the morning I would be surprised if it is reported. If he is seen out at a fancy restaurant with a date, it isn’t reported and if it is it isn’t a headline.
   
• David "Big Papi" Ortiz. Big smile, big burly guy who always seems to make time for the fans and media.  Was pretty much in a season-long slump. It took him a very long time to hit his first homer of the year. The amazing thing is I recall listening to Steve Phillips on ESPN saying this is what David needs to do: he needs to stay back, go the other way etc. I never heard one person or read one article say he was done, his career was over, he was washed up.
   
• Dirk  Nowitzki. Great basketball player – one of the best in the league. Recently during the playoff series vs. the Denver Nuggets his girlfriend (maybe fiancée) at the time was arrested at his house. When the media asked him questions, he said "no comment, I am not emotionally ready to discuss this yet." The media said fine and accepted that.

All three examples I gave I believe are athletes that are considered untouchable. Unlike Terrell Owens, AROD, Plaxico Burress and many others.

The questions I have for you:

• Are some athletes untouchable?
   
• Why is that?
   
• What do you think of my choices?
   
• Who else makes the list?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted in Sports | Post Comments (21) »

I actually believe the media has a tough job. They need to try and be the first one to get the big story. They want to be the first one to get a juicy quote and be the first person to toss out that perfect question. The reality is they can do all that but then they need to deal with an athlete. Not just any athlete–a professional athlete that is getting paid a ton of money and in this day and age could be very emotional.  Sometimes interviews go very smoothly and other times I am sure the media feels from time to time that they need to enter at their own risk when dealing with professional athletes.

Last month I had this exact discussion with a friend of mine (thanks ES) about who makes his all time list of athletes that hate the media. It was an interesting debate. I won’t answer for him but here are a few of my choices.

• Steve Carlton – never had any use for the media. Clearly one of the best lefties of all time, wanted to pitch and not deal with answering questions
   
• Jim Rice – was one of the greatest ballplayers I ever saw. During the 1970′s he was the guy every night. Except the guy never wanted to do interviews and basically hated everything to do with the media. Clearly that cost him going into the Hall of Fame years ago. I am glad he finally got in.
   
• Barry Bonds. I heard he isn’t a big fan of the media and I heard a rumor that he even wore different color arm bands that described his mood.

Am I right on these choices?

• Who makes your list?
   
• Who hurt their chances to get into the hall of Fame because they didn’t play nice?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Posted in Sports | Post Comments (11) »