The Merrill Dubrow Blog

Ok…tomorrow is opening day for the Boston Red Sox. Yes March 25 is opening day. Not sure the season has ever started this early nor this far away. The Sox take on the Oakland A’s in Japan–thousands of miles away from Fenway Park. The defending World Series Champions will actually have four opening days this year in three different countries. They will celebrate in Japan and then have opening day for the A’s in the US before they fly to Toronto and celebrate with the Blue Jays and the following week, open up at Fenway Park against the Detroit Tigers (this game is not to be missed) when they unveil the championship flags.

Ok so here we are. Almost five months ago my beloved Red Sox swept the World Series against a Colorado team that was hot, and captured their second ring in four years. So what has happened? I must say not a ton from my standpoint.

The Red Sox did what they had to do. They signed their free agents, but didn’t really add much of anything else. From where I sit, the Sox have a solid group of starters. Beckett (assuming his back doesn’t cause a problem) will be solid. Daisuke will have a great second year, Tim Wakefield is a solid number three and Jon Lester and Clay "No Hitter" Buchholz will be the best number five in baseball. The hitting will be better this year. Ortiz is healthy, Manny is in a contract year, Drew is in his second year, Ellsbury will be an enormous surprise and most of the other hitters will continue to do their thing. We have plenty of intangibles like trading Coco Crisp (who will get them a decent starter or a top prospect).  And then there’s Bartolo Colon. Who knows what you might get from him. Not to mention a great–yes great–bullpen with Papelbon, Timlin, Okajima and others to hold the opposition off in the late innings.

Yes losing Schilling will hurt. He is fantastic and clearly a great money pitcher in the playoffs. Which by the way, when he returns–I believe he returns in August–and makes a few starts, the playoffs will be upon us.

The Yankees didn’t do much either. Yes they lost Clemens (which is probably a good thing). Their defense at first isn’t good and AROD can’t possibly improve on last year’s stats! He was awesome. Their pitching staff is weak at best and no longer scares anyone. Rivera is still in the top five closers in the American League but doesn’t dominate the good teams anymore. When the Yankees play the iron of the AL, like the Angels, Indians, Red Sox and Tigers, they will need their pitchers to go seven innings and then Chamberlain and Rivera shut the door. With the exception of Wang, their starters are old and unreliable. Clearly the Yankee supporters could say I would match up Hughes and Kennedy against Lester and Bucchholz, and the Sox fans would say the same. That is why this debate and rivalry is the greatest in sports and will continue for many years to come. We will see who is right.

Before I sign off , no one can tell me the Yankees are better off without Joe Torre. Nothing against the other Joe (Girardi), but Torre was all class, could handle the players, the media and the Steinbrenners. Girardi won’t be able to do that. His departure costs the Yankees three games in the standings.

Yes the Red Sox will win the division for the second year in a row and if the Yankees aren’t very careful they won’t make the playoffs.

Let the games begin.

I look forward to reading your comments throughout the 2008 baseball season!

• What are your thoughts?
   
• How do you really feel about your team?

Let’s play ball.

As you know, I love sports. A few weeks ago I received an email with 15 great sports pictures. I pared it down to 6 and wanted to share them with you today.

Yes these are all classics. I love baseball, but the player getting accidentally punched in the face wouldn’t make my top two. The Yao Ming picture is funny but again doesn’t make my top two. I think the diver looking frightened is the best! His facial expressions are amazing! My other top one is the soccer ball crushing the face of the player. How fast was that ball going to have that type of impact? 60mph? 70 mph? Call me crazy but that had to hurt a ton and leave the player in a need for many Tylenols.

What are your favorites?

In 2006 over 141 million people in the United States watched the “game”. Lots of people have parties, some people go away on trips, while others are very fortunate to be able to go to the “game”. The “game” I am referring to is The Super Bowl.  It is played in early February and people watch it for different reasons. Some watch it because their team is playing in the game.  Others may watch it because it’s a fun time to watch all of the commercials, while others watch it because they are just fans of the sport.

I remember reading that on Super Bowl Sunday, more pizza is sold than any other day in the year, out selling New Year’s Eve, Halloween and New Year’s Day.

I love Super Bowl Sunday. I enjoy the game, the food, the halftime show — everything about it. The thing I enjoy the most is I know who I will be with every year. This day has turned into a family day–almost a reunion of sorts–for my cousin, brothers-in-law, friends and college roommate. About 12 years ago I had this idea of getting everyone together and going away for the Super Bowl. For many years we have gone to Las Vegas (destination this year), but recently we have gone to Mexico and last year we ended up in the Bahamas. We always have a great time, see a number of shows, play poker, get very little sleep and cheer our teams on.

So now you know where I will be and what I am doing.

• What do you do for the Super Bowl? 
   
• Do you have a family reunion?
   
• Do you cook up a storm?
   
• Do you order in pizza?
   
• Do you look forward to the commercials?

I look forward to hearing your comments.

As you know I am a sports fan and have attended lots of games. Yes I have been to the World Series, a number of all-star games, the Stanley Cup finals, the US Open in both golf and tennis and tons of other sporting events.

When I think about sporting events, most of them are in the United States. Yes I have gone to a Canadian football league game. I’ve seen rugby on an island in the Caribbean. Yes I have gone to a bullfight in Mexico — something I would only do once and we left early. But not many others.

The question is if I could go to any sporting event anywhere in the world which one would it be? I have friends like Mike M. and Ed S. who love soccer overseas and beam with excitement when they talk about world cup games in other countries. Owen J. is the same way with soccer teams he grew up watching as a kid.

• Is it golf’s British open?
   
• Is it the Australian Open or Wimbledon in tennis?
   
• Is it the Monte Carlo grand prix in auto racing?
   
• Is it the Olympics?

I think for me it would be Wimbledon. I love to watch tennis and that event looks incredible. I would love to go and watch tennis on the out courts and eat strawberries and cream for breakfast as I watch the matches. I am sure they have some type of store that is filled with memorabilia that I would like to look at for hours.

• What about you — what would your choice be?

I look forward to reading your comments.

You probably need to give some thought to this one. Who is the biggest character in sports? By character I don’t mean someone who is playing someone on TV like Billy Dee Williams who plays Gale Sayers in Brian’s Song. What character means to me is someone a little different, who might be a little strange.

The reason I thought of this is recently Evel Knievel passed away. To me he was a character, part human, part showman, part daredevil and clearly part crazy.

I thought about Andre the Giant in Wrestling, William "the refrigerator" Perry in football and John Daly in golf. In my mind all great choices and worthy of consideration but didn’t get my vote.

To me the biggest character in sports has to be Dennis Rodman. He was a GREAT athlete. He was a fantastic defensive player who specialized in rebounding and led the lead for many years. He clearly did things his way. He changed his hair often, he had piercings and tattoos everywhere. He dressed up as a girl to promote a book. He criticized owners.  And as a player, he would start a fight if he had to, or throw an elbow while rebounding. He had it all. He appeared to party all the time and had the cops show up at his house many times to shut down the parties to prove it.

He was involved in professional wrestling and was married to Carmen Electra. He even made a few movies, appearing with Jean-Claude Van Damme in Double Team and also starring in Simon Sez.

He also had the best nicknames:

• "Dennis the Menace"
   
• "Rodzilla"
   
• "D-Rod"
   
• "Rod the Bod"
   
• "Worm"

He did all that and in his spare time won 5 (yes I said 5) NBA Championships. To me, Dennis Rodman gets my vote as the biggest "character" in sports!

• What do you think of my choice?
   
• Who gets your vote?
   

I look forward to hearing your comments.

As most of the readers know I am a sports fan. That’s not exactly true. I am a HUGE sports fan. That feels better and is probably more appropriate. I have literally gone to hundreds and probably thousands of events and have the ticket stubs to prove it. Something recently happened that I wanted to share.

I was at the recent NBA game between the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns. The game was played in Dallas and was the featured game between two of the top teams in the western conference. At halftime I was walking around the arena for a while. I returned to our company seats which are five rows off the court. As the third quarter started, I began hearing this loud voice a few rows behind me yelling, screaming and rooting for the Phoenix Suns. This fan had a beer in his left hand and his girlfriend on his right and was wearing a Suns shirt showing off his muscles. As the game went on this guy kept yelling at fans and some people started to yell back while others couldn’t be bothered. Lots of people were yelling at this guy to sit down. I didn’t notice but apparently he was standing the entire game and was taunting the Mavericks fans. A number of ushers came over to this fan (at least twice) and politely asked him to relax a little bit and sit down. His quick response was "I PAID $600 FOR THESE SEATS AND I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT". First of all let me clarify he must have purchased them through a scalper because the seats aren’t close to that price. As the game continued I saw two older ladies seated behind him calmly ask him to sit down so they could enjoy the game. What followed was additional yelling, swearing and lots of other meaningless dialogue from this fan.

I turned to one of the guys I was with and said this is going to turn ugly and he has no shot of leaving here before a fight starts or he will get tossed out of the arena. We now have about seven minutes to go in the game and his girlfriend is trying to calm him down when all of a sudden I see an usher call for assistance. I lean over and say here we go. Two gentlemen wearing nice suits arrive on the scene and basically say, "Sir please come with me." He quickly waves them off and says "These are my seats and I can do whatever I want and did nothing wrong". They get out the walkie talkies and lo and behold, three police officers arrive on the scene to help. Frankly they didn’t help - they needed to call in three more. The six officers proceeded to handcuff this fan and drag him up the stairs as he was swearing, kicking and yelling.

Let me say that I love the American Airline Center (AAC) and really enjoy the creativity of the marketing team from the funny videos, drum line and of course the Mav Maniacs (which are heavy set gentlemen–all who have big bellies–dancing around) Mark Cuban and his team do a great job with this. This situation never should have escalated and should have been dealt with forty-five minutes earlier. Mark, your ushers and security staff missed on this one. There were ladies and elderly people around this fan — all season tickets holders. Your season tickets holders and the security staff waited way too long.

I know that they make announcements prior to games that say you can’t throw things or go on the field/court. But what else aren’t you allowed to do?

• What are the rights of this unruly fan?
   
• What are the rights of the fans around him?
   
• Has this happened to you?

I really look forward to hearing your comments and will be asking my friends AL and KT to respond since they work for sports teams.

I thought that title might grab your attention. As I am writing this, history is in the making in the National Football League. The question is how do you feel about it?

When I travel around, people can tell where I’m from fairly quickly. If my accent doesn’t give it away they sometimes look down and see my red elastic bracelet that is always on my right wrist. The bracelet is for The Jimmy Fund (children’s cancer) and the Boston Red Sox. Shortly after they find out I am from Boston they give me their opinion on something. Typically it isn’t always about the Red Sox or even the sport of baseball. They switch gears and move to football.

They give me their opinion on the New England Patriots, and most times it’s a very strong opinion that isn’t positive.

Why is that?

• Is it because they have won three super Bowls this decade?
   
• Is it because they dislike the all-American look of Tom Brady
   
• Is it because Bill Belichick shows little to no emotion
   
• Is it because they have never liked Randy Moss?
   
• Is it because they hate the city of Boston?

Or is it really because of SPYGATE?

When you review the history of this franchise:

• They only have three people in the hall of fame
   
• They have only seven retired numbers
   
• They have never had the NFL defensive or offensive player of the year
   
• They have never had the NFL MVP

I am a fan of the Patriots - you could say it is because I am from Boston. That is certainly part of it but not all of it. They have won recently because they have been over-achievers. They clearly NEVER have the best individual talent. They are able to mold players and make the team a winner. They have won in an era that it is very hard to keep players. They have been able to lose star players and coaches year after year and replace them quickly and continue to have success.

This team is 14-0 and quite possibly could have the first undefeated team in over 35 years.

• How do you feel about them?
   
• Aren’t they loveable?
   
• Don’t you want to cheer them on?
   
• Don’t you want the record to fall?

I do.  What about you?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Have you ever had a bad month at work? You didn’t feel well and couldn’t perform at your normal level. How about you had a few things happen in your personal life that you couldn’t block out and it spilled over at the office. If you said yes to either of those scenarios and you work for The Atlanta Spirit, LLC and Bruce Levenson you might get FIRED!

Yes, I said fired.

Out of a job!

Shown the door!

Bye bye!

That is exactly what happened to Bob Hartley.

Bob was the coach of the Atlanta Thrashers, an NHL team. Unfortunately, the Thrashers lost their first six games this season. Bob was head coach for over three years so it wasn’t like he was a rookie on the job. You are probably asking yourself, "how was his team’s performance prior to this year?" Good question! Last year his team finished first in the Southeast Division.

When General Manager Don Waddell was asked about a replacement, his response was "he might look for a coach that is less intense than Hartley" I wonder if Waddell didn’t like Hartley’s intensity last year while he was winning the division.

I must admit I am not a huge fan of the NHL or the Atlanta Thrashers nor am I a BIG FAN of firing someone if they have had a bad month.

• What do you think?
   
• Do you agree/disagree?

I look forward to your comments.

P.S. I have had a bad month before and I didn’t get fired!

Let the debate begin.

As I write this blog, Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez (AROD) can be on your team. Kobe is unhappy in Los Angeles and wants to be traded and AROD opted out of his contract earlier in the week — ooooops I meant in the middle of game four of the World Series and can be signed as a free agent.

Congrads! You are the owner of an NBA and MLB team! What do you do?

Some of Kobe’s awards and achievements are:

• 3-time NBA Champion
   
• 2-time Scoring Champion
   
• 9-time NBA All-Star: 1998
   
• 2-time NBA All-Star Game MVP
   
• 9-time All-NBA Selection
   
• 7-time All-Defensive Selection:

Here are some of AROD’s achievements from 2007

• Ranks 1st in AL in HR (54)
   
• Ranks 1st in AL in R (143)
   
• Ranks 4th in AL in OBP (.422)
   
• Ranks 1st in AL in OPS (1.067)
   
• Ranks 1st in AL in RBI (156)
   
• Ranks 7th in AL in BB (95)
   
• Ranks 1st in AL in SLG (.645)

AROD had a great 2007 and will be named MVP of the American League very shortly.

Yes both are GREAT players! Both are probably the best in their leagues! Let’s NOT debate that. The real question is, as an owner of an NBA and MLB team, which one–if any–do you want on your team?

For me……drum roll please…neither one.

Let me start with Kobe. He won three championships all with Shaq and then ran him out of town. He appears to be very fickle and will do the same thing for any other team he plays for. I don’t believe he makes people around him better and frankly probably loves and needs all the attention which means he is challenging in the locker room to have as a teammate.

Now AROD. Everyone forgets that AROD played with Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson — three great players that didn’t win a ring! Just think about all that has surrounded AROD in NY. He got into a fight with Varitek, slapped the ball out of Bronson Arroyo’s hand, and elbowed Dustin Pedroia while supposedly sliding into second base and then yells something as he is rounding the bases in Toronto. Each time he looked around the stadium and said, "Who me? What did I do?" Setting all that aside he is still a great talent, but in my opinion will NEVER win anything other than individual awards. He will not get a ring. He is the best player in baseball and now is about to play for his fourth team! You need to ask yourself why? Is he a good locker room guy? No idea since I am not an athlete but I would say no.

For me the decision is easy. In fact very easy — I wouldn’t trade for Kobe or sign AROD!

• What would you do?

I look forward to your comments.

Over the years the marketing departments of colleges and professional sports teams have been very creative with making the game more enjoyable. Contests, races, dances and on field activities are now an important part of sports and in minor league parks and colleges are very important.

What is your favorite mascot?

• Is it the Philly Phanatic?
   
• Is it the San Diego Chicken (who was one of the first mascots)?
   
• Is it Wally the Green Monster?
   
• Is it Detroit’s Paws?
   
• How about Wisconsin’s Bucky the Badger?
   
• Is it Notre Dame’s Leprechaun?
   
• What about Penn State’s Nittany Lion?

Now that I have kids who are old enough to go to sporting events, mascots have become more important to me and I am on the lookout for them at games. They put smiles on kids’ faces, they make people laugh and frankly they add a tremendous amount to the atmosphere of a game.

My favorite is and has always been the San Diego Chicken. The Chicken has been performing since I was a kid in the early 1970’s. I can remember the Chicken having a TV show with Johnny Bench. The Chicken was named one of the 100 most powerful people in sports for the 20th century by The Sporting News.

Are you a fan or foe of mascots?

What’s your favorite mascot?