Yankees fans, congratulations on your 27th world championship. I’m sure I’ll be hearing about it not only for the rest of the winter, but all through next year and until the next World Series is won, and if the Yankees don’t win that one, I’ll keep hearing about how they should have. Yadda yadda.

My issue is not that the Yankees won; it is how they won.  At the risk of taking this beyond sports, how the Yankees won and have won over the past two decades bridges to a great social divide about how success can be achieved in our society.

Obviously, if you have an unlimited source of funds, money can buy you anything. In a realm, such as sports, where a championship is the measure of success, having an unlimited source of money to achieve that success when the competition does not is inequitable at best.

If a professional league cannot provide an equal opportunity for achievement (aka salary caps), in my opinion, it should not be considered a professional league because a majority of the teams competing in that league fundamentally do not have the opportunity to achieve success.

I’m not saying it is only the Yankees creating this situation…it is other teams as well, but when comparing baseball to the other major professional sports, there is less parity in baseball than any other sport, and that is because of the lack of a salary cap.

I’m not saying this out of being a Yankee hater. I don’t like the Yankees, being that I grew up in Queens as a Mets fan and adopted the Marlins as my team when I moved to Florida, but my point is not to bash them because they are the Yankees…it is the greater social implication.

The point is, the way MLB as a league and baseball as a sport is run, it is a representation of the political views of some to win at all costs, even if winning means making the system unfair to those less fortunate. I don’t believe that is the right way in any situation…in sports, or in life in general.

Something about playing fantasy football really puts me at ease.

This fall bodes to be one of the busiest times of my life with quite a busy load at work, completing and defending my thesis, putting together the college course I’ll be teaching starting in January, travel of both the personal and professional nature, and, well…Saturdays taken up by watching my Gators defend their national title.

So the idea of playing fantasy football…well, not just playing, but having 11 teams…might sound crazy.  Anyone who has played knows that it can be difficult to keep up with two teams, let alone 11.  It is a serious challenge, both with myself (to be able to manage so many teams and players successfully) and with my friends, with whom I play in most of my leagues.  It probably sounds time consuming, and it is, but I enjoy it, and when you’ve got so much else going on around you of a stressful nature, you need that release.  Fantasy football is my release each fall.  That and Gator victories.

My goal is to get all 11 teams into the playoffs, with 4 of them winning championships. I feel pretty confident I can achieve that.  That, of course, means taking my friends down in the process, but they are probably used to that by now since I’ve had pretty good success over the past few years.  In one league, I’m so confident of my impending success following the draft, I’ve named my team “14-0 Like the Gators.”

*knocking on wood*

Lane Kiffin Admits Wife Is a Gator Alum

Just when I thought the legend of the two-time national champion, two-time SEC championship winner, and 2007 Heisman Trophy winner couldn’t get any bigger, Tim Tebow’s prophetic speech from last season is now a permanent fixture on the campus of the University of Florida. Makes me want to pay the alumni association to place my brick on campus even sooner now!

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tim Tebow’s speech following a home loss to Mississippi last September motivated Florida the rest of the season.

Coach Urban Meyer hopes it can do the same for anyone else in Gainesville.

Meyer had Tebow’s speech engraved on a plaque and placed outside the front entrance to the new football facility at Florida Field. Although it might seem like a strange move since Tebow still has one year remaining with the Gators, Meyer said he didn’t want to wait.

“I’m not interested in 10 years from now because who knows if we’re — I might be toes up somewhere,” Meyer said Wednesday as Florida opened spring practice. “I’m not a big fan of, ‘Hey, let’s wait down the road.’ It was a speech that everybody in Gator Nation has a right to see on the side of the building.”

Tebow’s speech was an emotional promise he made after the Rebels upset Florida 31-30 on Sept. 27. Fighting back tears, Tebow vowed that no one would in the nation would work harder than him and his teammates the rest of the year. The Gators responded by running the table and beating Oklahoma 24-14 to win the program’s second national title in three years.

Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, said Wednesday he hadn’t seen the plaque that was put up two weeks ago. He already has a replica of his jersey hanging on a wall inside the stadium, part of a tribute to the school’s three Heisman Trophy winners, so getting his speech immortalized might have been a little ho-hum for the 6-foot-3, 245-pound quarterback.

“I guess it’s nice because it’s the university honoring our team and what we accomplished and what that represents and all the work that we put in,” Tebow said. “I guess it’s cool to have something you said up there. It means a lot to some people, so I think that’s cool.”

Tebow said he has been too busy to check out the plaque. He spent spring break on a missionary trip with his family in the Philippines, speaking at elementary schools, high schools and colleges and visiting marketplaces and the orphanage his father helps run.

“Just doing a lot of ministering everywhere possible,” Tebow said.

Tebow returned last week, watched several of his teammates work out for NFL scouts, coaches and general managers and then counted down the day until he could get back on the field. He opened spring practice looking to replace receivers Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy and both offensive tackles, but without many more questions.

The Gators return their entire defense and everyone else on offense.

Offensive lineman Matt Patchan was one of a handful of players who missed practice. Patchan injured his left leg in a scooter accident, but Meyer said he could return next week. Defensive tackles John Brown and Torrey Davis, two high-profile recruits two years ago, have left the team. Meyer said neither will be back this fall, but hinted that Davis could return after possibly attending a junior college.

Tebow, meanwhile, took snaps from under center and started work with new quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler in the hurry-up offense. The Gators want to take a look at the hurry-up this spring after seeing how it helped the Sooners reach the title game last season.

Tebow believes it could make a difference, and given what happened after his speech last season, his teammates certainly won’t question him.

“I felt like he was a prophet for saying it,” linebacker Brandon Spikes said. “He just said it and we got it done. He was a prophet.”
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

As I prepare for my first fantasy baseball draft of the 2009 season later this afternoon, I have a confession to make.  I, David Feinman, have been taking performance-enhancing drugs to inflate my statistics, and therefore, my success in fantasy baseball.

I’ve just been under so much pressure these past years.  I’ve been playing fantasy baseball for over a decade, and eventually I rose to a level where I needed to perform at an even higher level.  My fans, and the teams I was playing against in my fantasy leagues over the years, expected me to accrue these stats, and I was not capable on my own of reaching that level, so I cheated.  I chose players for my rosters, like Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte and Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds, who were using steroids to enhance their statistics and fool the fans into thinking they were better then they actually are.  In that way, I inflated my stats as well, and thus the success of my fantasy baseball teams, and while I was unaware that I was doing anything illegal or immoral, I am truly sorry.  Fantasy baseball, like the game of baseball itself, should be played on an even playing field.

I can’t correct the err of my ways over the past years, but as this season approaches, I take a vow to not draft anyone on any of my teams who is known to have used performance-enhancing drugs in the past or who is seriously suspected of doing so.  My teams might suck as a result, and with that list of 103 more players who tested positive waiting to be released, I may still end up with a few, but as a baseball purist, I can at least feel that I did it the right way.

Here’s to honest play, last place, and hoping Alex Rodriguez and the rest of them don’t ever get into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Michael Phelps

Most of us, sports fan or not, were in awe of Michael Phelps and his accomplishments in Beijing last year.  He is truly an amazing athlete, and when you look at the lifestyle and regiment he has forced himself into in order to achieve those accomplishments, it puts it, at least for me, into even greater perspective and becomes that much more admirable.

The news last week of his marijuana use was saddening, and it is by no means something he should be doing, but let’s be serious here.  Does he really deserve the crucification he is getting?  In my opinion, it is being overdone.

My main reason for feeling this way is that he did something that hardly any other athlete, or for that matter, any other public figure, whether it be a politician, actor, music artist, or any other famous person has done: he admitted his guilt.

As soon as the photo surfaced, he came out and admitted it was him, and apologized for what he automatically acknowledged was something he should not have done.  When discussion of the possibility of him being charged by police in South Carolina for using an illegal substance hit the press, he didn’t get on TV crying about how sorry he was, or why he should be given a second chance, or why he should be treated differently because he is this super-human athlete.  He knows he was wrong, he will have to live with this tarnishing of his reputation, and if anything, it is likely to just make him more hungry to train harder for 2012 and be a better role model.  To me, he has handled it with class, and as every person held in high regard in society should.

Now, you could say…Dave, there was photographic proof…he couldn’t deny it.  Sure there was.  But that didn’t force him to admit his guilt.  He still could have been immature, like most public figures, and denied it.  He could have made excuses for his actions.  He could have cried fowl about it, complaining about how he was being treated as a result of the photo, or even justified his use based on the incredibly regimented life he has led.  He did none of it.

He was wrong.  He deserves to lose sponsorships as a result, and his suspension by USA Swimming was warranted.  If he ends up being charged, he deserves it…any of us would have been charged.  But the tabloids, and even the mainstream press, need to get off his back. We’ve all made mistakes, and we shouldn’t throw stones in glass houses.  Especially if those stones are 14 gold medals.

If you know me, you know I’m a fan of the Miami Dolphins.  It’s not easy being a fan of the Dolphins, and with exception for a blip on the radar in 1984 when a young Dan Marino misled us into thinking we’d be perennial Super Bowl contenders, Dolphins fans haven’t had anything to get too excited about since the mid 1970s.  Being that I was born in 1979, that means I’ve never really been able to get excited about the Super Bowl.

So, why do I watch the Super Bowl each year?  Am I just a glutton for punishment, watching franchises like the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants win multiple championships while my Fins begin their golf vacations early?  Not really.

Do I really enjoy the halftime shows that much?  Not really.  Janet Jackson’s nipple slip was the biggest highlight of any of them for me, and while I’m sure I’ll enjoy Bruce Springsteen tonight, its not my reason for watching.

Commercials?  Nah.  With very few exceptions, they don’t excite me.  I do confess I skip bathroom breaks on the hope there might be one or two worth Monday morning conversation as we walk down for breakfast, but I haven’t been that interested in any commercials since they had those Bud and Bud Light bottles playing a game on commercials during the game.  I eagerly awaited the end to see which beer won that year.  I was also maybe 14 when those were on.

I watch the game because I, like I believe many guys (and some girls too) wish we were playing in it.  You imagine yourself having such an opportunity and rising to the occasion, and there’s something about watching that person rising to the occasion that gives you a warm and fuzzy moment.

The closest I’ve ever come to that was in hockey.  I was best in hockey of all of the sports I played over the years, and I was fortunate to play on some great teams.  I was the small (yet fast), scrappy (yet underestimated) center who annoyed the big kids, and they were convinced I could never play well when needed.  This particular season, we were underdogs for the championship, and I was their top scorer, but I was given no respect.

So, I went out there, scored 4 goals in the championship, and we won 7-2.  Since then, unless my team is the favorite, I tend to go for the underdog.  In that light, I’m pulling for the Cardinals tonight, and I hope some little guy…maybe Steve Breaston, scores three touchdowns and shocks the hell out of the Steelers’ D.  Whether its him or someone else though, a part of me will wish that was me, and watching that person take the spotlight will make the game worth watching.

Took a few days off, have barely had a second to breathe, let alone blog.

2008 National Champions!

Thursday night was incredible.  This time around was a lot more nerve-wracking than against Ohio State two years ago.  Oklahoma gave them a hell of a game and regardless of the fact that the press likes to stir up BCS talk, I am certain after watching that game that those were the two best teams in the country.  In any case, the Gators shut down an offense that had scores 702 points over the course of year, and 60 in the past five games.  They earned it, and I’m now celebrating my fourth national title (2 football, 2 basketball) in the past three years.  Gator Nation is quite spoiled.

While that night was very enjoyable, I’m glad I did not have to stay home to watch it, because I’ve had an annoying issue with my living room TV.  I have a large flat screen HDTV that is connected to the HD box via HDMI.  I also have my Wii connected through component cords.  Out of the blue, the HDMI connection is causing trouble.  When I try to watch TV with it connected by HDMI, the screen flashes back and forth from whatever is on the channel to a snowy screen every second.  No sound either.  When I have them connected via component cables, however, everything is fine..  I’ve replaced the HDMI cord, even went to Comcast today and replaced the box, and have troubleshot with Comcast online to no avail.  They’re sending a tech out tomorrow to check it, but I have a feeling it might be my TV’s HDMI port, which sucks because it only has one.  I’m in no mood, nor do I have the money right now, to get that repaired or to get a new TV.  For now, I have them connected with component cables, but that’s a pain in the ass when I want to play Wii because I have to move the TV unit, disconnect the TV, connect the Wii, and then repeat that when I finish playing.  Very annoying.

Work has been busy also.  Half of the office was out for various reasons the last two days of the week, and we have a pretty big project going revolving around pushing for funding for non-profit organizations in the next stimulus package, so I’ve been kept plenty busy with that.  I was out much of today running errands, but I’m going to try to relax as much as possible tomorrow since this will be the last restful weekend I’ll have for a few.  Next week, Jeannie and her friend are coming by for a day or two, then my dad comes into town for the inauguration, then two days later Chris comes for four days.  No vacancy in Hotel Dave for a while!