tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30691616895932830242023-11-16T07:59:19.322-08:00The Truth according to HectorI love sports and I always have. I am sure that some of you have a similar passion for these hobbies and I am here to speak my mind about these topics and likely much much more.
I tend to have an opinion that's different from most, I don't always buy what ESPN and the other dirt bags are selling and I love to walk the unbeaten path.
Join in the fun, write what you love or just come along for the ride.Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-74116224067223617342013-02-27T10:34:00.000-08:002013-02-27T10:34:31.248-08:00Smart decisions are often easyIn April of 1993 the greatest quarterback in the history of professional football was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. For Niner fans, it was a day of mourning. The story behind that trade goes something like this. 49er brass preferred to trade their greatest asset a year before he couldn't play anymore as opposed to hanging on to him for another year, knowing he was on the downside of his career. Oh yeah, they also had a future hall of famer gripping a clipboard with both hands and ready to kick some ass!!!<br />
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On February 27, 2013, another 49er quarterback was traded to Kansas City. Alex Smith is far from Joe Montana and the comparison between the two players stops at the fact that they were traded to the same team. Fans of this franchise have been split most of the season with a good chunk of the fan base saying that Alex deserved to start after his injury and the other half bidding him a good riddance. The 49ers did the right thing today and despite the fact that we don't know exactly what they will receive in the trade (it's said to be the first pick of the 2nd round and possibly another; the deal won't be official until March 12, 2013) we do know this much. Alex Smith was due $8 million and the team would be stupid to keep him, pay him that much cash to be the backup, knowing they have starters on this roster who deserve the cash instead.<br />
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The media loves this stuff. They are already labeling this as a fresh start for Alex with a new coaching staff in Kansas City. A fresh start is something a high school bully gets when he changes high schools. A fresh start is something the prom queen gets when the high school jock ditches her. Alex Smith is n't getting a fresh start; Kansas City is getting a tired, soft and ineffective player who is not good enough to be The guy. When Jim Harbaugh looked to Kaepernick instead of Smith, knowing this team needed to get to the Superbowl no matter what, it told us all we need to know. Alex is a stand up guy, he's respectful, a good clubhouse guy, and a great teammate, but to quote my all time favorite guy, Charles Barkley, "he just not very good."<br />
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<br />Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-13675860227330176552013-02-25T11:38:00.000-08:002013-02-25T11:38:05.332-08:00A-Rousey Suspicion <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The UFC made history on Saturday night at UFC 157. Dana White, just a few years back, clearly stated that women would "never" fight in the UFC. I would imagine based on the buzz, the turn out at Honda Center in LA and more importantly, based on the fight itself, he is glad he changed his tune. In the weeks leading up to this historic fight, I thought it would be foolish to spend $54.99 to watch a couple of women I knew nothing about. Luckily I decided to pay closer attention to the story behind the fight and HBO Real Sports aired an in depth look at the life of Ronda Rousey the week leading up to the fight. I've heard her on Jim Rome a few times and she is a very entertaining listen. She's a really cool cat that's easy to like and her story, from the moment she was born up to the moment she stepped into the octagon for the first time, was about as amazing as anything I've ever heard. I am confident that if you really care, you will do some research to find out what I am referring to. She worked very hard to get to this place and the opportunity she received was earned, not given to her.<br />
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I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I don't think it takes a genius to say the majority of fight fans are men. A step further, a great number of those men would be classified as male chauvinists. It's a very sticky topic that a lot of us would refuse to address, but I strongly believe that's just how it is. That makes it extremely difficult to take women seriously when it comes to fighting in the octagon. Most guys can get down with them swimming in the Olympics or playing soccer, but MMA is an entirely different beast. One of the mediums I use to judge popularity is social media and based on the posts to Facebook shortly after this fight went down, a lot of guys have changed their tune. Yes, a good number of those posts were simply "damn, Ronda Rousey is hot" but a lot of them were centered around her ability, not just her beauty. In the same breathe, I would imagine that a lot of male fight fans feel strongly that this was nothing more than a circus act and not worth the time or effort it takes to give women credit where credit is due.<br />
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A few thoughts on the fight. Ronda Rousey was wearing a serious mean mug on her way into the cage. Her eyes were burning a giant hole into the heart of Liz Carmouche and clearly both women were all business. Ronda sped her ass down the aisle, hopped in the cage without cracking as much as a smirk or smile and was ready to get this fight under way. She was in trouble early on and it should be mentioned that he opponent, former U.S. Marine Liz Carmouche, was a tougher match up than Vegas gave her credit for. Carmouche was on Rousey's back, cranking her face and attempting to sink a rear naked choke. She nearly had it locked in and for about 90 seconds, Rousey was in serious trouble. The fight seemed to be over and I was curious to see how much pain Rousey could endure, and then she shed Carmouche from her back, got on top and for the reminder of the fight was trying very hard to lock in her signature arm bar. The fight ended with about 19 seconds left in round number 1, Carmouche submitted by Rousey with that arm bar locked in really tight. It was easily the fight of the night, (fight of the night and $50,000 bonus was given to Dennis Bermudez v. Matt Grice) laced with excitement, energy and most importantly, these women showed off their skills. Both of them competed at a very high level from the moment the fight began to the moment Carmouche tapped out. It was an electric event that I thoroughly enjoyed.<br />
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When the fight ended the raw emotion we saw from both of these women was truly incredible. Rousey was nearly brought to tears and Carmouche was not far behind. Rousey broke out that signature smile that we've seen plastered across the internet and made some funny comments to Joe Rogan in the post fight interview. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Rousey's phone will be ringing off the hook in the weeks and months that follow with countless endorsement opportunities. There is also no doubt in my mind that she belongs in the UFC because of her ability to fight, her dedication to her craft and most importantly, her desire to be, not the best female, but the best fighter in the history of the sport. I'm hopeful that if you watched this fight it changed your opinion about women in the UFC, but I definitely understand if it didn't. The UFC made history, the media attention was reportedly stronger than ever before and the next question to ask is simple. What's next for the women of UFC and will fight fans watch if Rousey isn't the headliner?Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-34542669275081532162013-02-05T11:34:00.000-08:002013-02-05T11:34:56.713-08:00Second Guessing Greatness The San Francisco 49ers accomplished what was said to be extremely difficult. Prior to the 2012 NFL season, many experts and talking heads were convinced that the 49ers would stumble and couldn't possibly repeat the performance from the year before. Those experts cited a much more difficult schedule, the team being the hunted rather than the hunter and of course, they claimed that San Francisco was somewhat lucky and that luck wouldn't strike this franchise twice. In the off season the GM addressed positional holes that were problematic in 2011. They brought in Randy Moss, signed Mario Manningham, drafted LaMichael James and A.J. Jenkins among other moves. With the exception of Jenkins, the players listed above contributed to the success in 2012 and improved the team as a whole. Randy Moss may not be the greatest of all time, as he claimed to be, but what he did was provide leadership for the younger guys in that locker room.<br />
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There is absolutely no way around the fact that 2012 was an up and down rocky road for this franchise. They didn't play well every time they took the field, they lost games they should have won and also won games they were tagged to lose. Jim Harbaugh made a very difficult decision during the season when he benched a healthy Alex Smith in favor of a young, unproven kid in Collin Kaepernick, which proved to be a decision that led this team to New Orleans. From the perspective of the media, this team was really good but laced with flaws. From the perspective of fans who followed this team daily,we saw how hard this team worked to accomplish their goals, to avenge the loss to New York in the NFC Championship game. We bought what Jim Harbaugh was selling and we bought it in bulk. He's our guy and for the most part, we saw him as the man we were looking for all the years that we suffered through countless 10 loss seasons.<br />
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Entering the home playoff game vs. Green Bay many fans were skeptical and many others were convinced that the team would lose that game. Could Collin do enough to beat Aaron Rogers and the vaunted Green Bay Packers? Could the team win a shootout against a hefty opponent? They did more than win, they dominated the football game in all three phases by doing what this team does best. They played a very physical game and forced the opponent to be uncomfortable. Heading to Atlanta, similar questions were raised and the Niners beat up on the NFC's #1, in their house, on their way to Superbowl XLVII. It wasn't pretty at times, it definitely wasn't easy. They overcame adversity once again by playing their brand of football. Physical on both sides of the ball, smash mouth running game and an excellent performance by a young and exciting Kaepernick.<br />
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The two weeks leading up to the Superbowl media types across the land were guzzling the Harbaugh kool aid. San Francisco was now the favorite to win the Superbowl and just about every person asked about the match-up favored San Francisco. They were younger, more talented, more physical and the overall theme was that San Francisco was much better than Baltimore. I heard former head coach Brian Billick on 95.7 The Game prior to the Superbowl and he claimed that San Francisco was head and shoulders better than Baltimore and the Niners would likely win going away. The team and the fan base were riding high, feeling good about themselves and it brought a lot of us back to the glory days. The days when San Francisco was the most successful and hated franchise in the NFL. We were right back tot he goold ole days of Superbowl or bust and back then, the idea of bust didn't even cross our hemisphere because the team was so damn good. We were peppered with stories of Jim Harbaugh's greatness and what I took from the many stories I read and heard was that San Francisco has taken on the identity of their head coach. A tough minded, physical football team with a competitive edge and a team that worked harder than many others in the game.<br />
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Monday morning after the Superbowl loss to Baltimore was a very tough day for fans of the San Francisco 49ers. A lot of us wanted to second guess the offensive play calling, the coaching, the way the players performed or didn't perform. It was almost too easy for us to head back down the path we walked when Mike Nolan, Dennis Erickson and Mike Singletary were in charge of our football team. So many of us were riding Jim Harbaugh's coat tails all the way from a lockout shortened off season to the Superbowl in the Big Easy and we couldn't see what was right in front of our faces. After a very difficult loss we were ready to jump ship and tag him as a failure. Some of the fans were posting "Faithful for Life" pictures to Facebook but for every one of those there were ten people questioning the game plan, the play calling, the coaching, the preparation and the worst thing, we were bitching and crying that the refs did a job on us. Take a moment to reflect on where we were before Jim Harbaugh signed a 5 year deal to coach this football team. We were a fan base that went from expecting to win a Superbowl every season to a fan base focused on the NFL draft when the weather changed in the month of December. It's very difficult to accept that we lost and as much as we want to finger point and place blame, the fact remains that this football team had an amazing season. The core of this group will return in 2013 with similar aspirations and goals. Superbowl or bust is once again the expectation of the great fans in The Bay Area and rightfully so. However, I would like to focus some energy on what we did accomplish this season, rather than what we didn't.<br />
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When the final seconds ticked off the clock and the confetti rained down on the Mercedes Superdome, I was stunned. I wanted the result to be different and of course, I wanted to call in sick today, Tuesday February 05, 2013 to attend the biggest party in the country. The San Francisco 49ers Superbowl parade. But here I sit, at work and listening to Jim Rome talk about Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens Superbowl parade. It's a tough pill to swallow and the pain in my gut will be there for a very long time. On the flip side, the fans know who their quarterback will be going into next season and we won't be forced to spend $8 million on Alex Smith because we don't know what Kaepernick can do. Jim Harbaugh, the quarterback guru, will have an entire off season to work with Kaep and to improve upon what we already know to be a highly talented and valuable asset. The 49ers are one of the youngest teams in football right now and the core of this team is under contract for the next few seasons. The team is poised to take the next step forward and will have 14, yes 14 draft picks to work with. We made it to the top of the mountain and when we got there, another guy was already planting his flag. I'm OK with that and a step further, I am proud of the accomplishments in 2012 and not looking to place blame. I'm looking at this glass knowing it's half full and as high as my expectations are for the 2013 season, my praise for the 2012 season is just as high.<br />
<br />Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-87833668087982263042012-06-22T13:50:00.000-07:002012-06-22T13:50:49.919-07:00One down, just Seven to go<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">"Not one, not two, not three, not four, NOT FIVE, not six NOT SEVEN." Those were the words uttered by Lebron Raymone James on July 8, 2010 when he joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Allow me to start by saying, congrats Lebron. The first ring is said to be the hardest one to obtain and countless hall of famers played their entire career and made tons of money, enjoyed the fame and lifestyle of a professional athlete and would trade it all today for one ring. This is a great win for the Miami Heat franchise and for their fans, but is it a great win for Bron Bron?? </span><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KYprPd6R1Ts/T-STCq8QWgI/AAAAAAAAATA/ClsQ_T_RAAo/s1600/Heat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KYprPd6R1Ts/T-STCq8QWgI/AAAAAAAAATA/ClsQ_T_RAAo/s400/Heat.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="400" /></span></span></a></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">It's no secret that I can't stand the sight of Lebron James, the sound of his voice, the cut of his jib and the simple idea that so many declared him the greatest basketball player of all time before he stepped foot on the hardwood of The Association. All of those things were starting to dissipate when he took the Cleveland Cavs on his back and nearly won a championship ring for his hometown. I felt like he was doing it the right way, building something special in Cleveland and the idea of hating a guy for doing that started to seem a bit ridiculous. Had he chosen to stay in Cleveland, forced owner Dan Gilbert to spend some serious money to get top flight players to join him, I would probably have stopped hating him so much and settled for disliking him. Hell, if he would have left Cleveland respectfully instead of in the middle of the night with a bunch of Mayflower moving trucks like Art Model, maybe I would respect that. But he didn't and he felt the need to make a spectacle unlike any other athlete in the history of professional sports. I don't need to rehash The Decision and go into great detail about how pathetic that was, but I do need to address the insanity of predicting eight championship victories. If Rafa Nadal predicted 8 grand slams, nobody would care. Not only because he plays tennis and few people care about that sport, but he plays an individual sport. It doesn't take an MIT Graduate to recognize that the odds of winning 8 championships in a team sport is highly unlikely. That being said, I will answer the question I posed earlier. Is this a great win for Bron Bron? No, it's not. Had he kept his mouth shut and predicted that he would bust his ass for this franchise, leave everything on the court and make sure he got a ring, I'd say it was an incredible victory, but he didn't do any of that. He flat predicted 8 championships and for that, I have to point out that he's only an 1/8th of the way to the promise land. </span><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span><br style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GkEEFLFl_vU/T-STEakScKI/AAAAAAAAATI/Z9WQM_IDZOc/s1600/Bron+Bron.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GkEEFLFl_vU/T-STEakScKI/AAAAAAAAATI/Z9WQM_IDZOc/s400/Bron+Bron.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="266" /></span></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">To make matters worse Lebron is delusional enough to believe his own bullshit after he won his first ringwhen he said and I quote "I'm really glad I did this the right way, no shortcuts and because of that it makes it that much more special." I disagree with all of that and feel like this is one of the reasons why I can't be onboard the Bron Bron train and never will. You did this the right way? You joined forces with 2 of the best ballers in the league and ditched your hometown team to buy a ring. You didn't take any shortcuts? You are the same guy who deflected blame after you tanked the 2011 NBA Finals and said</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">"At the end of the day, all of the people that were rooting for me to fail, tomorrow they will have to wake up and have the same life they had before they woke up today. They got the same personal problems they had today and I'm going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things I want to do." I'd define that as a shortcut and a gut punch to fans who pay for you to live the way you live. That's wrongfully taking out your failures as a pro on the fans and pointing the finger of blame at anyone and everyone but yourself for choking away a chance at your first ring. I'm confident that Lebron can handle the success better than some professional athletes but it's the failures that have bit at his ass all these years. He has an extremely difficult time facing adversity with class, dignity and respect. Now that you've won the first ring, I gotta ask it Bron Bron. Can you do it 7 more times as you predicted?</span></span></div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-52841834653634513572012-06-22T09:44:00.003-07:002012-06-22T13:35:21.739-07:00Is the no-hitter becoming so common that it's losing its luster?<br />
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The title of this blog post is stolen from a professional sports writer named Tom (Todd) Verducci. More often than not I prefer to think up a creative (or not so creative) title that's original and fresh. However, the article featured below was not posted today or even over the weekend. It was posted Thursday June 14, just hours after Matt Cain turned in the performance of his lifetime, tossed only the 22nd perfect game in the history of major league baseball and his feet hadn't even hit the ground, but ole Tom was already puking all over this amazing accomplishment.<br />
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I'm a young guy with an old heart and old soul. I have learned that I was likely born in the wrong generation because for all of my life I've wanted my baseball served up the way it was generations ago. Simple, clean, by the "book" and stats are for fans to enjoy while sipping coffee. Currently, statistics in baseball have become completely out of touch with the game that's played on the field and I refuse to indulge any further than that. What I will say is that I don't care that of the twenty-two perfect games in major league baseball history, five of them have been thrown in the last three years. That's none of my business and I refuse to play ball here. In my book, a perfect game is an amazing accomplishment and each and every time a guy gets one, it should be given the respect and credit it deserves. Reading this article the day after Matt Cain pitched the best game of his life, the first perfect game in the history of one of the proudest franchises in baseball history, made me sick and I am not even a Giants fan. If you have enjoyed any of my work over the years, you know a few things. I don't toe the line and I refuse to take marching orders. I am not the guy who forms an opinion based on what the majority feels or thinks; I think for myself and I know my thoughts are in the minority, but I do know this. Diminishing a perfect game is something I will never engage in and I can't help but think that because Matt Cain plays on the West Coast, this article hit the internet before the fans at AT&T Park made their way home. I know for a fact that if Josh Beckett or CC Sabathia threw a perfect game last week, Tom Verducci would be sucking knee caps not pointing a fire arm at them.<br />
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<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/tom_verducci/06/14/no.hitter.craze/index.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/tom_verducci/06/14/no.hitter.craze/index.html</span></a></div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-75831024104660764272012-04-23T11:11:00.001-07:002012-04-23T11:11:38.813-07:00Rivaling pure Dominance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">In the event that you missed UFC 145 in Atlanta over the weekend, allow me to explain what happened in the main event. Suga Rashad Evans spent months running his mouth, talking trash about Jon Bones Jones and was hell bent on taking back "his" belt. he crawled into the ring as Jones does and for the record, it was not nearly as slick as cool as when Bones Jones does it. From the word go, Jones was dominant. </span></div>
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The fight was not nearly as exciting as we had hoped and the feeling out process lasted the entire fight. Some would lead you to believe that this was a boring fight, but I am here to disagree with that and explain what really happened in the octagon. Jon Jones prevented Evans from engaging him by slamming elbows in his face. He prevented Evans from using his tremendous wrestling skills by keeping his distance and it was nearly impossible for Evans to even attempt a take down. When Evans did attempt to take Jones to the ground, he was met with a fierce knee to the chest and that was followed up by even more vicious elbows that put fear in the heart of a once fearless Evans. I forget the exact moment that it happened, but Jones had Evans in a guillotine choke, it appeared as though Evans' was going to have the life choked out of him, then jones let him go, pounded him with leg kicks, more flying elbows and pure dominance. At the end of that round I realized that Jones did something that's rarely done in MMA. He decided not to finish his opponent. Not because he couldn't, not because Evans countered with something he couldn't handle and not even because it was too late in the round for a submission. He let him go because he wasn't done torturing Evans.<br />
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I can understand how you might disagree with that last statement, but only if you didn't watch the entire fight or simply watched the highlights on TV. Jones was dominating this fight from the get go, throwing elbows that looked like closed fist punches, landing them square in the face of Evans and then he did something I've never seen before. He got Evans in the clinch and began to "throw" shoulders at his chin, stunning his opponent maybe five or six times consecutively before Evans even knew what was happening. It was pure brilliance. It was plain to see that Evans couldn't get anything going. When he did throw punches that landed, they seemed to have very little impact on Jones and a step further, they were single punches, not thorough combinations.<br />
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Jones won the fight by unanimous decision after a five round masterpiece and it leads me, as well as many others, to ask the question. Who will be the next victim to face Jon Bones Jones? Sunday morning I read an article that stated Dan Henderson would be next up, but by the time the fight happens he will be 42 years of age, far from in the prime of his career and not unlike every single man who steps in the octagon to face Jones, he will have a significant size disadvantage. Many rumors are circulating that Jones may be asked to gain some weight (or not drop so much weight before a fight) and compete with the heavyweights. As exciting as that sounds, I think Jones has earned a chance to compete as a light heavyweight for at least another 4-5 fights, despite the lack of competition in that division. I say this because the kid, yes kid, is still just 24 years young and is still learning the sport. His body will continue to grow, he will gain some weight as he matures and before we know it, he will be smacking around the likes of Junior Dos Santos, Cain Velasquez and the other giants of that division. But for now, he's the greatest light heavyweight champion this sport has ever seen and he's far from hitting the peak of his abilities. </div>
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<br /></div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-71837432735695212322012-04-17T15:37:00.000-07:002012-04-17T15:37:09.111-07:00Giant ObservationsI made my way to AT&T Park last night with one purpose. To watch Roy Hallday dominate the San Francisco Giants. Yes, Tim Lincecum was pitching but I couldn't care less. In my opinion, he's an overrated, over hyped kid who's best days are behind him.<br />
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I got to the park early enough to watch both pitchers prepare for their start. Having never seen Halladay in person I was curious to watch his pregame routine. It was really cool to watch. He starts out stretching is body and then he plays catch with his catcher. They start tossing the ball from about 20 feet and with every few throws Halladay moves back a few feet. They ended up about 180-200 feet apart playing long toss for the better part of 20 minutes. Then, Halladay slowly walks over to the mound, gets comfortable and throws a few to his catcher, while his catcher is standing upright. The catcher gets into his crouch and that's when Halladay gets his game face on. The picture below is from my seat and it's obvious that I wasn't close enough to analyze his every move, but I observed a pitcher with a plan of attack. He threw about 12 fastballs in a row, then switched to offspeed pitches. After about 12 of those, he gets in the stretch and mixes it up a bit. Fastball outside corner, followed by breaking ball and then a fastball to the inside corner. I was impressed by his efforts and it gave me an insight into the routine of one of the best pitchers in baseball.<br />
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As Halladay finished his throwing, I noticed Lincecum stretching along the third base line so I paid close attention to him as I was literally 100 feet from him. He started off by stretching his legs out a bit, kinda like we did back in the day. Just enough to stretch and tell coach we stretched, but nothing serious. He headed straight for the bullpen mound and began to toss the ball to his catcher. It didn't appear as uniform or deliberate as Halladay, but he looked to have good life on the ball. Quickly he got up on the mound and started throwing fastballs, which missed the target at least five times in a row as I noticed Buster reaching for the ball and his glove moved, a lot. He wasn't in the bullpen for longer than five minutes and he was gone.<br />
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In the first inning, both pitchers struggled. Lincecum didn't have his command, his fastball was between 88-91 and he threw a good amount of sliders. He got hit around a little bit, his outfielders didn't help him much and he struggled. I noticed something very interesting. It's fair to say that neither pitcher had his best stuff going last night and that's actually a great opportunity for a fan to see what his pitcher is made of. When Lincecum isn't on his game, his body language tells the entire story. He appears to be frustrated, his facial expressions are priceless as his snaggletooth appears more and more frequently. He moves his body around a lot as if he's not feeling right. Halladay on the other hand is flawless. His facial expressions are the same regardless of the situation. He was giving the homeplate umpire the mean mug as he wasn't getting the call on balls that were close to the strikezone, or so they appeared. He didn't have his best stuff, but he got guys out. He worked through difficult innings and that's the sign of a true professional. Lincecum did a pretty good job after the first inning, but to be completely honest, it doesn't appear as though he is comfortable on the mound right now and I feel like it's because he doesn't do well when things aren't going his way. I don't like him, I don't think he's nearly as good as Giants fans would have you believe. I'm curious to see if he learns how to pitch out of jams in a different way than he has this month. I know it's April, but if i were a Giants fan, I'd be concerned.Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-25717424190343080662012-04-02T15:42:00.003-07:002012-04-02T15:42:47.125-07:00Mega Numbers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
No, I am not about to discuss the insanity of the United States largest lottery jackpot in history. I bought a few tickets and dreamed the good dream, but it's not something worthy of discussion just 5 days prior to The Real opening day of major league baseball. I'd like to discuss the contract that Matt Cain signed with the San Francisco Giants today. 6 years $127 million and the language can be found at your favorite sports website, but I won't dissect each year and the actual money being paid. I will say that his agent is an extremely smart cat, getting San Francisco to sign off on a deal this large that includes the ever important no trade clause. </div>
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The Giants are in the stretch run of the Barry Zito contract disaster and most Giants fans likely would have assumed that never again would the Giants offer a pitcher than much guaranteed cash and lock them off for that long. Yes, this is a different beast. Matt Cain is a professional in every sense of the word. If you didn't watch him every fifth day and you only knew his name from watching his highlights on ESPN, you would assume that a guy with a career record of 69-73 and an era of 3.35 is not worthy of a contract that large. But, if you live in the Bay Area and are a Giants fan (or if you are a guy like me who just watches a lot of their games) you know what he means to this club. His career record should be expunged from the record books forever because the Giants have provided 3.73 runs for him, lowest in all of baseball. That doesn't do justice because I can't begin to explain how many times I'ver seen him lose 2-1, 3-2; 4-3.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">This contract is a microcosm of who the San Francisco Giants are and clearly who they will be in the future.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span> At this stage in the game, the San Francisco Giants have $57 million of their payroll locked up in 3 guys, all starting pitchers. Barry Zito makes $22 million, Matt Cain $15 million and Tim Lincecum $20.25 million. In recent years, the 2010 World Series championship included, offense has been an issue for the team and has prevented them from taking full advantage of their all star caliber pitchers. San Francisco avoided Albert Pujols, for good reason. They turned their heads when Prince Fielder was on the market for them to enjoy and this has been the pattern ever since they signed Barry Bonds way back in the stone age. For the next 7-10 years this team has decided to grow their own players on the farm, avoid huge contracts for sluggers and that's terribly disheartening news for Giants fans across the country. I understand that pitching wins championships and the blueprint for success in San Francisco is crystal clear. This team will win or lose based on how their pitching performs. Unless this team is willing to spend more of the money they claim they don't have and spend it on guys who can hit and drive in runs, they will continue to fall short of the gold ring. </div>
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I thought for sure the Giants would allow Matt Cain to reach free agency and let him walk next winter. I practically guaranteed that he would wear a Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox or even Dodgers jersey in 2013, but I admit I was wrong. I will continue to believe that San Francisco doesn't have enough offense to compete at the highest level and until they break down and start spending some of their "rainy day" fund, the fans will continue to be frustrated and angered by the lack of offense put forth by this club. </div>
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<br /></div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-82594131288025006382012-03-21T13:43:00.000-07:002012-03-21T13:43:01.131-07:00The Hunger Games<br />
No no, I am not talking about the Suzanne Collins book series that hits the big screen this Friday, but I hear that's gonna be a good one. I am talking about Alex Smith and his hunger for an NFL superbowl ring. A lot has been published on the internet about Alex meeting in Miami with the Dolphins, his ego has been bruised because SF pursued living legend Peyton Manning and now it appears as though Alex Smith is playing hard to get. Alex has every right to be butt hurt. He had a very good season in 2011, played a very important role in a successful season and two weeks ago it appeared as though Alex would return and it would be business as usual. As a fan, I am more butt hurt at Alex than he can ever possibly be at this great, proud franchise. The guy had 6 seasons of crappy football and the team gave him more money than he or his family could ever spend. At the end of that deal, they gave him an opportunity to continue his football career, handed him more money and asked him to put up or shut up. Why am I speaking so much about money? Because this is a business after all and to quote the great Gordon Gecko "don't get emotional about business Buddy boy, it clouds your judgement."<br />
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Alex Smith has an opportunity to return to a franchise that has the greatest stable of stud QB's in the modern era of professional football and to bring Superbowl #6 to this great town. If he signs the current deal that's on the table today, (it's been reported that San Francisco has offered him 3 years $24 million with $10 guaranteed) he can attempt to bring the coveted Lombardi trophy back where it belongs. Also, he will be the first San Francisco 49er QB to start a season in a new stadium, assuming the stadium in Santa Clara opens on time to start the 2014 season. If you want to prove a point, prove it on the football field. You will not win in Miami and the current Niners roster is set up perfectly for you to succeed. Get your ass back to SF, sign the deal they have waiting for you and prove to the fans that you are better than we think you are. Complete some more 3rd downs, get us back to the playoffs with a much tougher schedule and a target on the teams back, win ring #6 that we have been chasing since Gary Plummer ripped the monkey off Steve Young's back and all will be good with the world. Stink up the joint as you have for 6 of your 7 years as a pro and we will run your ass out of this town. That being said, good luck with it Alex.<br />Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-56541344264789343422012-03-12T13:20:00.002-07:002012-03-12T13:20:27.436-07:00Conference tournaments suck, don't they?That's what ESPN and the talking heads are saying today but that's only because Kentucky and North Carolina lost the title games and were beaten by teams that were fighting for their lives. Let's dissect this with an open mind though.<br />
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If you are St. Mary's and coach Randy Benett, building a program from scratch in a small town (Moraga to be precise), in a conference that is known by most as the conference Gonzaga plays in and you win a conference tournament, does that suck? Does it suck that you were on national TV (quite possibly an international affair) for all the world to see? Does it suck that the players on that team are able to relive that moment for decades to come, knowing that for their seniors it could be the last time the play organized hoops at a very high level prior to entering the workforce? It doesn't suck. In fact, taken a step further, it's truly an incredible experience for a team that has been building itself from the ground up, has made the NCAA March Madness tourney 6 of the last 8 years and coaches of that program get an opportunity to tell prospective recruits all about this when they settle down for cake and coffee in the living room of their family. West coast biased you say? Read on friend.<br />
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Let's talk about Vanderbilt (also known to the bracketologists as Vandy) for a second. Vandy knocked off the #1 overall seed Kentucky on Sunday and punched their ticket to the dance with a glorious and exciting victory. Would they have gone dancing had they lost that game to top ranked Kentucky? Sure, they had a great season and were likely a sure thing, but that's not how it looked in this video. <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=320710096">http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=320710096</a><br />
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See, conference tournaments are not simply an opportunity for the likes of Duke, Carolina and other top rated teams to take a few days off to recharge their batteries before one of them goes on a 6 game winning streak to cut the nets down in New Orleans the first Monday in April. It's about bringing excitement to a fan base, punching a ticket to the most exciting playoff (take note here BCS chumps) scenario that is easily the most amazing tournament known to mankind.<br />
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Let's go further East and talk about what UCONN shall we. UCONN is a powerhouse program that doesn't need to put themselves on the map. They know first hand what happens when a team gets hot. This time last year, they won the Big East tournament and went on a ridiculous run to win the 2011 National Championship title. Yes, they won 12, yes 12 consecutive games and that was as impressive as anything I have seen in recent years. In fact, it also improved the draft position of their biggest stud, Kemba Walker.<br />
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I strongly disagree with so many of the "experts" today who claim that conference tournaments are meaningless. They might be meaningless for the big programs and in all honesty, who really cares about Kentucky, Carolina, Duke and Syracuse anyway? I don't. I care more about Cinderella ensuring that her dress fits just right and the conference tournaments do just that and they also provide an opportunity for us to see if her slipper fits just so. Conference tournaments are a grand opportunity for college basketball to rev their respective engines before the DJ starts jamming tunes at the big dance.Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-37159140084103746862012-02-10T16:43:00.000-08:002012-02-10T16:43:53.136-08:00Nick Diaz falling fast, no end in sightNick Diaz is likely the most misunderstood fighter I've ever come across. I remember watching Mike Tyson as a young sports fan, wondering to myself "what the hell is wrong with this guy?" It wasn't until years alter and his career played out for all to see that we learned about Iron Mike's dark past. Nick Diaz is a lot like Mike Tyson, with one very large exception. Iron Mike loved attention from the media. If you stuck a microphone in his face he would go on and on about, well, often nothing at all. Nick Diaz is not that way. Prior to his Welterweight title fight with Carlos Condit last weekend in Vegas, UFC did something very smart. They pretty much stole the HBO 24/7 format and called it UFC: Primetime and followed both fighters in the weeks leading up to their scheduled championship fight. It was pure genius. We got a chance to hear about Carlos Condit and his childhood, we saw his father, the media attention starving former aide to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson ( I honestly think they mentioned that like 13 times) and we got a glimpse into his plush life. Nice house, almost cute wife and young child. On the other hand, we learned about Nick Diaz, the real person under the hard and seasoned exterior that he wants you to think is the guy you hate. I watched all the episodes and never once did he mention his mother or father. In fact, the only time he mentioned a family member (other than UFC lightweight champion brother Nate) was when he mentioned that his aunts and uncles were kinda crunchy granola and often ate rice cakes because they were concerned about their diet. I never imagined that I could relate to an athlete as fierce as Nick Diaz, never thought for a second that we had anything in common, until I realized that we are a lot alike. I wrote an article yesterday breaking my anonymity and telling the world of the demons I faced and the addictions to alcohol and drugs. When I watched Nick Diaz sit in front of the camera and attempt to explain why he is so angry, I couldn't help but accept that we may have walked the same path, just in a different part of town. I heard the darkness of his past when he spoke of his childhood; the desperation to fit in with other kids and the inability to make friends because he felt angry all the time.<br />
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If you follow UFC closely, you already heard about Nick Diaz testing positive for marijuana after his loss to Carlos Condit and the 1 year suspension that may follow because this is the second failed drug test of his career. I can't help but feel for this guy and wonder if he is able to be saved from his dark passenger. Far too often, we see an athlete on TV and we automatically label him a bad guy based on public perception and leave it at that. I feel compelled to admit that I think Nick Diaz is actually one of the good guys. He's genuine, authentic, and that's a tough pill to swallow primarily because he's the polar opposite of who we want him to be. GSP fans would prefer Nick Diaz to wear a suit and tie to press conferences, answer questions with a large vocabulary and smile for the cameras. It begs the question. If Nick Diaz is real then are the other fighters fake? That's a topic for another day and clearly we will never have a crystal clear answer, but in short I think the answer is yes.<br />
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Nick Diaz has made it known that he doesn't like his opponent, in fact he hates them. He doesn't like media attention, following rules, acting like he is someone he is not and he hasn't exactly done much to change, despite UFC President Dana White's endless encouragement to change. Nick Diaz is likely out of the fight game for the duration of 2012 and that's a shame. Not because I won't get to see one of my favorite fighters whoop some ass, but because the further out of the picture he falls, the more unlikely it is that he will get the help he so desperately needs. But then again, I presume he wouldn't be a big fan of getting the help he needs either. I would enjoy nothing more than watching Nick Diaz return to the octagon in 2013 a new man, a changed man, but that's likely not how this story ends. More than likely Nick will never find himself because more than likely, he's not looking for himself.Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-69224860862802240202012-02-09T13:33:00.000-08:002012-02-09T13:41:08.916-08:00Josh Hamilton's fall from the top, an understanding of the unknownJosh Hamilton, major league baseball player. Josh Hamilton, AL MVP, homerun derby champion and superstar millionaire athlete. Josh Hamilton, recovering drug addict and alcoholic. A good old fashioned Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde story, as the story of most addicts tends to be. How does a man with this much talent separate those characteristics? That's the question that the average fan is asking himself each time they read or hear that Josh Hamilton has relapsed and pictures of a shirtless Hamilton taking body shots off of a woman, not his wife, flood the internet. The other question that fans are asking is a simple one, in their eyes. Can't the guy just not drink? That's a very difficult question to ask if you do not have personal experience with alcoholism and drug addiction. If you have a 9-5 job, love baseball, played the game your entire life and never made it to the professional level, you probably think that $80 million and all the perks that come with being a professional athlete would keep you from drinking, no matter what the circumstances. The reason why an average Joe is able to say that with conviction is because he doesn't suffer the Ism. I have personal experience with alcoholism and drug addiction and I speak for myself only. $80 million, all the fans kissing my feet, countless women adoring my every move, playing the game I love so much would never, ever be enough for me because once I get it in my head that I want a drink, none of that matters. Not the family who loves me, not the team that signs my paychecks, definitely not the fans kissing my feet. All of those things I just mentioned become white noise and my mind is unable to concede that all of that really does matter to me. On an intellectual level, I can probably understand it, but my heart and soul don't have the ability to make sense of it, not even a little bit. I know what you are saying, he has a wife and kids, isn't that enough to prevent him from drinking? He knows that each time he drinks he ends up in terrible situations, isn't that enough? Honestly, it's not and never will be enough. As an alcoholic and drug addict, I know that my mind works different than a normal drinker. A normal drinker is able to go out and have a few drinks, feel that they are getting a bit too intoxicated and simply stop so that nothing bad happens. They are able to wake up with the worst hangover of their life, turn over and say "I'm never gonna do that again" and not take a drink for months! As an alcoholic, maybe I was able to do that once in a while, but more often than not, I was not able to think of the consequences of my actions, the thoughts or feelings of spending every last dollar on alcohol, the pain I put others through when I drank too much, verbally abusing my girlfriend, family and friends doesn't even cross my mind; it just doesn't. I get this feeling that no matter how many times I have shown that I cannot drink like a gentleman, that each and every time I put a drop of alcohol in my system, I turn into a different person, the person I told you and everyone else I never wanted to be. So, that brings us to the other night. When Josh Hamilton entered the bar to meet a teammate for dinner, it's definitely possible that he thought to himself, this time it's going to be different. Despite every example to the contrary. It's also possible that he walked into that bar spiritually fit and was confident that he wasn't going to drink and of course, it's entirely possible that he planned this in his head for hours, days or even weeks. Nobody knows the answer to that difficult question, but I do know this. Unless you have worn the pair of shoes he walks in, you don't know anything about what it takes to not take a drink, one day at a time and God willing, you never will know.<br />
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I didn't write this blog today to point fingers at others, to tell people that I know better than you do. I actually started writing this today to do the exact opposite. To help people understand or at least try to give people a better idea of what went down and how this works. It's easy to ask simple questions like "why doesn't he just stop drinking if it's so dangerous?" " how can he continue to put his family through this pain and suffering?" It must be difficult to accept the truth, which is he doesn't know why and can't control the outcome once he takes the first drink. I heard a sports talk radio host talking about this topic and comparing it to his chewing tobacco addiction in college. I wanted to jump through the radio and strangle the guy with both hands until every last breathe was taken from him. Why? Because addiction is one of the most misunderstood topics of discussion in the world today and unless you have personally experienced the pain and suffering that walk hand in hand with addiction, I don't think you are allowed to talk about it as if you have experienced that deep, dark, emptiness that we have.<br />
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I would like to give credit to his team, The Texas Rangers. I hate that team, I really do. I hate all teams from Texas. What I have for the Rangers today is a great deal of respect and admiration. They have taken a calm approach to a situation that could easily have turned into chaos. Shayne Kelley was hired today as a major league staff assistant to the team, in other words, he will act as a babysitter for Josh Hamilton. This may work out great or it may not work at all. For all we know Josh will be drinking again in a few days, weeks, months or years. The reality of the circumstances are very simple. Alcoholism is crippling and kills people every single day of the year and it's not pretty. Many of us who suffer from alcoholism never recover from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body, despite our greatest efforts to rid ourselves of the obsession to drink. I haven't had a drink or a drug in 1,255 days and while to some that may seem unimportant and to others who know me, that seems like a miracle, I can't say for sure whether or not I will drink today. A lot of medical folks like to call alcoholism a disease, but unlike most diseases, there isn't a cure for what I have. I can't take a pill or radiation treatment or anything else to ensure that I won't drink again. Early on that was the most crushing blow I ever felt, knowing that I will never get better, that I will never be normal. After a little time and some experience, I find that to be the greatest gift I've ever been granted. It reminds me that today could be the last time I enjoy the birds chirping outside my window, the last time I feel the sun shining on my face or the last time I write a blog entry for you to read. The unknown is often perceived as scary or it can be perceived as a gift. It's your choice.Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-71772449139265306752012-01-18T13:28:00.000-08:002012-01-18T13:28:14.948-08:00Respect this ESPNThe road to the Superbowl goes through San Francisco, as it did in the late 80's and early 90's when The San Francisco 49ers were building a legacy and achieving greatness under legendary head coach and Hall of Famer Bill Walsh. If you visited the ESPN website today, you wouldn't know a thing about it. The Niners have been off the national radar since San Francisco won Superbowl XXIX and Gary Plummer ripped the imaginary monkey off the back of Steve Young after they dismantled a pretty good San Diego Chargers team 49-26.<div>
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Since those days, the internet has become the most valuable asset for sports fans across the planet, sports talk radio has become bigger than ever before and twitter is the most popular avenue for players to run their mouth and flap their collective gums. Jerry Rice, the greatest football player in the history of the NFL was brought to Bristol Connecticut this week to talk about, you guessed it, the New York football Giants. Linda Cohn had the balls, yes the balls, to ask him six questions about the New York Giants and one question about San Francisco. </div>
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It's easy to say that San Francisco has not been given enough credit nor have they received the respect they deserve. But let's be honest, we are 49ers fans. We don't need ESPN or any other national sports company to validate the success of this franchise. We are easily the toughest group of fans in professional football. If you doubt that statement, allow me to explain. Name another fan base that grew up with 5 superbowl championships, the greatest quarterback in the history of football, who threw balls to the greatest football player in the history of the game who were both coached by a man who single handedly revolutionized the game of football as we know it. I am that fan. Is it even humanly possible to have higher expectations than Niner fans? Allow me to take this one step further. Let's discuss Alex Smith for a moment. The guy has been absolutely dreadful for the six years he has played in the NFL and just a few short days ago, he dropped the New Orleans Saints, the team every single expert claimed would come to San Francisco and break their 0-4 road playoff drought and threw a TD pass to Vernon Davis that many ( I hate nicknames so I refuse to play that game) are calling The Catch III. He has this team and it's first year head football coach playing in the NFC Championship game and the first thing out of my mouth on Sunday morning after that amazing and incredible victory. Can he do it again? </div>
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Slice this pie however you want, but the reality of the situation is extremely simple. East Coast biased exists and more importantly, I don't give a damn! ESPN, Sports Illustrated and every group of nut jobs in between can avoid my team all they want. They can disrespect this team, it's fans, it's players and it's success all they want and I don't care. I know Niner fans better than any of those organizations ever will and I know this much. We live, die and bleed 49ers football and this town has higher expectations for their football team than any other franchise in the NFL. We know who we are, we know what we want and we won't be happy until the final second ticks off the clock in Indianapolis on Sunday February 5th and Jed York takes the Lombardi trophy from the hands of Roger Goodell. That's when others will give us respect and by that point, we still won't give a damn because it will be too late. </div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-74779348721007846982012-01-16T13:38:00.000-08:002012-01-16T13:38:04.591-08:00Alex freaking Smith!<br />
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For the past 6 seasons, Alex Smith has been called every name in the book by Niners fans and in my opinion, he deserved the criticism. As a kid growing up, I admired two of the greatest QB's in the history of professional football. Joe Montana, the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL and Steve Young, a hall of famer who shined starting the moment after he appeared from behind the shadows of Joe Montana's legend.<br />
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I followed CAL football and Aaron Rodgers was the star of that team. When he entered the NFL draft, I was excited at the idea of San Francisco drafting him with the number one overall pick of the 2005 NFL draft, but we got Alex Smith instead. A QB who ran a spread offense, didn't perform very well at the NFL combines but was off the charts when it came to the wonderlic test. He was a very smart guy with small hands. A guy who had never taken a snap from under center, played his college ball at Utah, a school that didn't play anybody. He was basically set up to fail and fail is exactly what he did.<br />
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At the end of the 2010 NFL season the San Francisco 49ers fired head football coach Mike Singletary and owner Jed York promised this proud franchise that the team was set to move in a different direction and return to the success we experienced in the late 80's and early 90's. Jim Harbaugh was meeting with the Miami Dolphins in the morning and San Francisco in the evening and many fans were told by ESPN and countless other East coast biased outlets that Harbaugh had already signed a contract with Miami. Well, he didn't and he signed a 5 year $25 million deal with The Niners to become the next head football coach, fresh off a stellar coaching career at Stanford, which reminded so many fans in San Francisco of the late great genius Bill Walsh's journey to San Francisco.<br />
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Almost immediately Jim Harbaugh announced that once the NFL lockout ended, Alex Smith would be his QB. As a fan of this team, I thought a lunacy commission should be appointed to take Harbaugh to an insane asylum. I couldn't believe that we were going to start a new season with old baggage, but Harbaugh was convinced that Alex was his guy. I know Harbaugh's path to success very well and it's been made perfectly clear what he has done to get his first NFL coaching position so I decided I would trust him, even though I didn't want to.<br />
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Throughout the 2011 season, Alex Smith proved that he could "manage the game" very well and he did just enough to win games, but he won. He wasn't flashy, he didn't put up the numbers that Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady did, but he won; plain and simple. On Saturday January 14th, 2012, he did the unthinkable. He went to to toe with Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, he wasn't intimidated or scared, he showed up and had the biggest game of his entire career and he did it "in spectacular fashion."<br />
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I can't say that all the criticism I laid at the feet of Smith were unwarranted, I can't take it back and don't feel like I should be forced to, just because he won a big game. I believe in him more today than I did going into the game on Saturday. To be completely honest, when New Orleans took the lead late in the 4th quarter, I had absolutely zero confidence in Alex Smith's abilities and thought for sure we were destined to lose. I've never had faith in him and I am sure that when the NFC Championship game starts, I won't have much faith in him either, but he did it. Alex freaking Smith is one of the main reasons why we beat New Orleans in the divisional round and the 4th quarter of that football game will never be forgotten. It was a game for the ages as well as a coming of age for young Alex Smith. I give the guy a ton of credit for having the stones to make some big plays and get his first signature win, but i still have my doubts. As is almost always the case in sports, the next question to be asked is simple. Can he do it again?<br />Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-85706365299911007272011-12-20T11:00:00.000-08:002011-12-20T11:00:03.640-08:00Niners turn the lights out on Steelers, win biggest game of the century<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Monday night was a big test for this 49ers team. With the entire world watching, visiting Pittsburgh seething at the chance to clinch the AFC #1 overall seed, these two proud franchises did battle. It was the first time in NFL history that two teams faced off with a combined 11 superbowl rings between them. It was an opportunity for San Francisco to prove, in front of the entire world, that they belong, that they are as good as their record and a win would improve their chances of obtaining the #2 overall seed in the NFC. </div>
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Ben Rothlisberger, as everyone on the planet knew, was injured. He was a game time decision and just before kick off was cleared to start at QB. At this stage in the season every team is banged up and has players hurt, injured and or playing through pain. That's a fact of life in the NFL. On the opening possession, Big Ben limped his team down the field, completing passes with efficiency and it looked as though Pittsburgh would get in the end zone and take a 7-0 lead early in the game, but that's when Big Ben threw his first of 3 interceptions in this big game. The 49ers defense set the tone of the game in that moment and continued to pound away at the Pittsburgh offense, getting to Big Ben at will and making it nearly impossible for him to make plays. The defense has been incredible all season, but it was even more important last night, against a very good Steelers team and they handled this team with ease. Aldon Smith, who is likely set to be the defensive rookie of the year, man handled offensive lineman Max Starks, an 8 year veteran who had absolutely no chance at stopping the bull rush of Aldon Smith.</div>
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It's easy to focus a lot of energy on the defense because they dominated the game from the word go, but that wouldn't be fair to this offense. Alex Smith and the offensive line have taken a lot of heat in the past 4 weeks and for good reason. They allowed 18 sacks in the past 3 games and made Alex Smith's job almost impossible. Facing the second best defense in football was not an easy task, but the offensive line met the challenge and far exceeded expectations. They didn't allow a sack, they gave Alex Smith time to get the ball to his receivers and they created holes for the running backs all night. Alex Smith missed a lot of targets and left at least three TD's on the field and the team settled for field goals far too often again, but he manufactured touchdown drives in crucial moments of the game, made some amazing throws and deserves a lot of credit for doing more than managing the game and not turning the ball over. He faced the biggest challenge of the season, looked the Pittsburgh defense in the face and absolutely picked them apart.<br />
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ESPN "experts" were quick to point out that Big Ben was hurt, James Harrison didn't play and San Francisco didn't get the best Pittsburgh team last night. They failed to mention that San Francisco is playing without the captain of their defense, all pro signal caller Patrick Willis. The refused to acknowledge that Frank Gore is playing hurt and refused to make excuses, making damn sure he did everything within his power to give his team 150%, as he always does. They didn't want to accept the the offensive line of San Francisco has been banged up in recent weeks and didn't use that as an excuse and played better than they have all season and punt returner Ted Ginn Jr. left the game with an ankle injury early in the 2nd quarter. A quick note about injuries. If you are injured or hurt as a player, you have a choice. Play hurt or don't play at all. If you decide to play and things don't go your way or your performance was not up to par, you can't turn around after the game and claim that the injury prevented players from performing. It's actually pretty simple. If you play and you are hurt, good for you, but don't make excuses for your performance because things didn't go your way. Yes, Big Ben should not have played in that game but he did and he got killed. I didn't hear Frank Gore complaining after the game that he didn't perform better because he's been playing with a twisted ankle and bummed knee all season. The better team won the game and the excuses are falling on deaf ears this morning. San Francisco is playing at a very high level and will need to maintain that swagger as the head to Seattle this Saturday to play in a very loud and tough environment.<br />
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<br /></div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-65794941532985902272011-12-16T09:21:00.001-08:002011-12-16T09:43:12.138-08:00Have the Niners peaked?<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WFTm5DlZc1A/TuuCc_MF5RI/AAAAAAAAAMk/AUYYCvNidBY/s1600/Alex%2BSmith%2Bsacked.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WFTm5DlZc1A/TuuCc_MF5RI/AAAAAAAAAMk/AUYYCvNidBY/s320/Alex%2BSmith%2Bsacked.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5686782388995482898" /></a><br /><br />Leading up to a brutal matchup versus the only team in NFL history with more superbowl rings than the San Francisco 49ers, fans are beginning to show concern. San Francisco has allowed 18 sacks in the last 3 games, more than it allowed during any 3 game stretch during it's previous 8 non winning seasons and it looks even worse than that while watching them play. Alex Smith takes the brunt of the criticism because A) he's Alex freaking Smith and B) when you are the QB, you take the heat when the team loses and get lots of praise when the team wins. <div><br /></div><div><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4kxVESqRR8A/TuuDHWbzOnI/AAAAAAAAAM8/QfVJ7sj0tVI/s320/Akers.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5686783116789889650" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 225px; " /></div><div><br /></div><div>David Akers is set to break Jerry Rice's single season scoring record, a stat that makes many Niner fans cringe. We really don't care about Jerry's record being shattered, but we are very disappointed that it's being broken by a kicker because it highlights what we already know. This team leaves way too many points on the field, they settle for field goals far to often and our chances of beating playoff teams with field goals are not good. Early in the season we won games ugly, we won road games many thought we had no business winning. But now we have lost 2 of the last 3 and the team is not only injured, but not playing up to expectations of fans and of their head coach and his staff. Has the team peaked? It's easy to forget that this season was supposed to be a rebuilding season, with a new head coach, a new philosophy for running a football team and tempered expectations. That being said, this team got out fast and has overachieved, which leads fans to want more and more. Primarily because we are still living the dream of the super bowl parades and parties that followed, but this team is much different and we need to show some patience. To answer the question, no, they haven't peaked. I believe in this team and I know that they can play better, beat teams up in the trenches and make the fans proud, but I will admit that we now have very high expectations for this team. Sadly, with high expectations come even bigger letdowns and I won't be shocked when this team gets their butt kicked in the first playoff game in almost 10 years. </div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-82958162124397760432011-12-05T13:13:00.000-08:002011-12-05T13:29:19.637-08:00A long time coming<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nm3QJ9Xn7NA/Tt00OOZGBEI/AAAAAAAAAMY/mHPVsvk3fN4/s1600/Harbaugh.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nm3QJ9Xn7NA/Tt00OOZGBEI/AAAAAAAAAMY/mHPVsvk3fN4/s320/Harbaugh.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682755723797595202" /></a>The San Francisco 49ers clinched the NFC West with a 26-0 win over a bad and beat up St. Louis Rams team yesterday and it's been a long time since Niner fans have been this happy. The celebrations seemed a bit less fruitful than some may have imagined, considering it's been seven long, sad years since this franchise tasted a playoff birth, but it comes as no surprise to anyone who has followed coach Harbaugh this season. His style is much different than any coach who has ever stalked the sidelines in San Francisco and he has goals that have not been met. Making the playoffs is obviously the first step to the Superbowl, but he also recognizes that just getting a ticket to the dance is not enough; not for these players, these coaches and definitely not for these fans. Harbaugh was calm and collected, as usual, after the game and gave us the same speech he has been giving all season. "We left a lot of plays on the field and we need to improve." This coming from a first year head coach who took over one of the proudest franchises in all of sports, when the team was down and out, playing some of it's worst football in franchise history. He stepped in with a very short amount of time, because of the NFL lockout, and got this team to play hard, to play with heart and to think of the team first, of themselves last. He is hands down the coach of the year and I am more impressed by his ability to coach under adversity than I am with his win loss record.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tJIx50a8Cbg/Tt00Ie5BfdI/AAAAAAAAAMM/Ygi-4u2PkBE/s1600/Frank%2BGore.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tJIx50a8Cbg/Tt00Ie5BfdI/AAAAAAAAAMM/Ygi-4u2PkBE/s320/Frank%2BGore.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682755625147268562" /></a>Sunday December 04, 2011 was also a historic day for 49ers running back Frank Gore. He passed the late great Joe Perry and became the franchises leading rusher. More importantly, Frank Gore is the face of this franchise and you can't find a face that better defines what this franchise has been through since he was selected 65th overall in the 2005 NFL Draft. He was one of the great talents coming out of that draft, but was injured so frequently that many scouts and teams were unwilling to take a chance, but San Francisco did. Frank has played for losing teams in each of his 6 previous season and has rarely made a fuss about it. In fact, he was criticized by many for crying after a tough loss his rookie season. The man played injured, he has played hurt and he has never asked for anything other than an opportunity to play and his primary goal is to be the best teammate he can be. I have a great deal of respect for Frank Gore and yesterday was yet another example of his dedication and team first mentality. It has been a long time coming, but this man was patient and now he has a chance to do something special once the playoffs begin. <div><br /></div><div>Congrats to the Niners, to the players, the front office, the ownership group that I have been extremely critical of and most of all, congrats to the greatest fans in professional football. </div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-58331549481303834012011-11-28T09:50:00.000-08:002011-11-28T14:16:55.452-08:00Elitist mentality has returned to San FranciscoThanksgiving night was the biggest challenge this Niners team has faced all season and the Niners flat out got their ass kicked in every aspect of the game. Some fans latched on to coach Harbaughs excuse machine, claiming the short week and cross country flight would prevent them from playing their A game. Last time I checked, professional football players don't travel Southwest, despite the "your bags fly free" promotions. They fly on chartered jets, shack up in 5 star hotels and get treated like royalty. Yes, if guys were banged up in the game versus Arizona, then likely guys were not playing at 100%. <div><br /></div><div>I don't want to spend much time on the game itself, because sadly, I didn't get to watch much of it. What I'd like to talk about today is the mentality of some of our fans. Some of the fans have reverted back to the mid 80's and 90's, a time in Niners history when the team was favored by double digits every week, went on the road in the west coast time zone, east coast time zone, against good teams and bad and beat the living crap out of teams regardless of when and where they played. This team is not that team. Not only are they not made up of future hall of famers they way those old teams were. This is a team that had 10 seasons of mediocrity, a number of 10 loss seasons and practically gave up once the team was losing a game. The entire franchise was a complete disaster and they were clearly a laughing stock in the NFL. Jim Harbaugh has changed the mindset and focus of his team, in a very short period of time, but let's keep in mind that he has only been around for half a football season. It's easy to forget this because the team has been playing so well, winning games on the road and si.com had them ranked #2 in their power rankings going into the game at Baltimore. Let's not lose sight of the fact that this franchise is in the process of rebuilding their reputation, rebuilding the winning mentality of it's players, coaches and fans. </div><div><br /></div><div>All of that being said, I am guilty at times. I am overly critical of Alex Smith when he doesn't play well and refuse to give him credit when he does play well. I still want to see Steve Young on the field, dropping back to pass, avoiding the pass rush and refusing to take a sack and rushing toward contact, beating up linebackers before he takes a vicious hit fromt he safety because he refuses to slide. That's what is still fresh in my mind as a Niners fan it's very difficult to accept anything less, but this team isn't the team I watched growing up. It's a new team, with new coaches and players trying to make a name for themselves and I need to embrace that because despite a tough loss to a very good Baltimore Ravens team, we still have an opportunity to clinch the division this coming weekend and that's a beautiful thing, if I allow myself to accept it, which I probably won't. </div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-78550727494711053522011-11-14T15:30:00.000-08:002011-11-14T15:40:50.256-08:00Play of the gameThe final play of the Niners/Giants game on Sunday was truly incredible. Yes, Justin Smith got his hands up and blocked that ball, preventing a completed pass. But, if you watch the play again, you will see Giants tight end Jake Ballard, who made two great catches during the game and runs 6'6" 275 lbs. covered by Patrick Willis, the best linebacker in the entire league. Willis didn't just cover him, he was all over him. He stuck with Ballard's every move and prevented Manning from being able to make a big play to tie the football game. Patrick Willis was quoted in the San Francisco chronicle recently, saying " To be on track the way we are, to be able to be winning, I'll do whatever it takes. I don't care if I have to go back and play in the middle of the field." Well, that's EXACTLY what he did on the final play of the most important game in Niners football this decade. He covered the guy that was going to get the ball, he made sure that there was absolutely no way the ball would be completed to his guy and he put his teammates in a place to make a big play, which Justin Smith did. <div><br /></div><div>Willis was asked about his stats (he is on pace for a career low 123 tackle season) and it was brought to his attention that his stats were down and he wasn't on track to have as many tackles as in years past. He said "It's not about the tackles or sacks or stats, It's about winning, that's what we're doing and that's what I am all for." Often times we hear players say that and then with their actions on the field, they tell us a different story, but not Willis. He's the team MVP on defense, he's the captain of men, but he's the consummate team player on a football team that has proven that this is not about one guy, it's about everyone on this team pulling in the same direction, doing what's best for the team. </div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-56460836412385728752011-11-14T08:42:00.001-08:002011-11-14T09:08:34.922-08:00Seeing is believing<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><u><br /></u></span></div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BtkboB1VYxM/TsFFDM0aE0I/AAAAAAAAAL0/_yMtBOJjPRI/s1600/Willis%2Bsack.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BtkboB1VYxM/TsFFDM0aE0I/AAAAAAAAAL0/_yMtBOJjPRI/s320/Willis%2Bsack.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5674892926746497858" /></a>Leading up to the week 10 matchup between San Francisco and The New York football Giants, I was anxious, excited, nervous and uncertain of our chances to beat a very good football team. Eli Manning is a top flight QB in the NFL and our defense hasn't face anyone like him this season. Across the sports world, specifically on the East coast, we are lead to believe that the Giants are the better football team and San Francisco is just not good enough to win this game. As much as I wanted to believe this team would win, but honestly, I was doubting our abilities. Alex Smith has been a player that fans have blamed for the dreadful offensive play over the past six years and I was starting to think that the old Alex Smith would eventually show his face. As a fan, I always want my team to win; as a Niner fan, I expect my team to win. That includes all the seasons when we lost ten plus games, when Mike Nolan and Mike Singeltary were coach, it didn't matter. During yesterdays game, I still had this feeling deep inside my gut that lead me to believe that we would lose.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ieRV8V9Gg8k/TsFE8f4xdlI/AAAAAAAAALo/1sPkby2Sisg/s1600/Brooks.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ieRV8V9Gg8k/TsFE8f4xdlI/AAAAAAAAALo/1sPkby2Sisg/s320/Brooks.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5674892811605997138" /></a>As the game began to unfold, I started to think that maybe this team was different. Maybe they would step up when the game got tough and when New York started to drive the field, score points and inflict their strengths on this great defense. I kept thinking that they would find a way to lose this game, as they have so many times before. I was unable to sit still, the stress was overwhelming, I was screaming at the TV, yelling when things went bad and fist pumping and screaming at the top of my lings when the team made big plays to shut down the Giants. It was easily the most incredible football game I have watched in the last ten years. All of that being said, I needed to see this team win a big game, when times were tough and a great QB was trying to rip victory from our hands. I needed to see Patrick Willis sack Manning, I needed to see Carlos Rogers step between the ball and the Giants receiver and take the ball away. I needed to see how this team responded when Manning threw a touchdown pass and put the pressure on Alex Smith to score again. All of things I saw, lead me to believe that this team has what it takes to make a deep run in the playoffs and cause problems for the elite teams in the NFL.<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JAWUKjBDXls/TsFFH8baGNI/AAAAAAAAAMA/jzzwDcGW7aI/s1600/Crabtree.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JAWUKjBDXls/TsFFH8baGNI/AAAAAAAAAMA/jzzwDcGW7aI/s320/Crabtree.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5674893008246020306" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 225px; " /></a><div><br /></div></div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-68919526409401760022011-11-10T08:24:00.000-08:002011-11-10T09:43:33.883-08:00Paterno and school president fired; Investigation begins<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MSBOjdg9F74/TrwK0scYHWI/AAAAAAAAALc/3Vp40WqBdhc/s1600/Old%2Bballs.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 187px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MSBOjdg9F74/TrwK0scYHWI/AAAAAAAAALc/3Vp40WqBdhc/s320/Old%2Bballs.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673421530979638626" /></a><br />I put a few soap boxes together this week, stood atop them and shouted for Paterno and the entire athletic department to be fired, effective immediately. Last night a board of trustees in Pennsylvania ended the 61 year career of college football legend Joe Paterno and fired the school president, Graham Spanier. This is the first step forward and the first clear sign that Penn St. is taking this matter seriously. <div><br /></div><div>I understand that we live in America and the phrase "innocent until proven guilty" has been uttered by many in the past few days in regards to Paterno and also to the man charged with over 40 counts of sexual assault on minors, Jerry Sandusky. In this particular case, after reading all the grand jury testimony, of which I consider to be the facts, I believe that Sandusky is guilty until proven innocent. This case has brought up a lot of emotions that I'm not used to feeling when writing about sports. Before I read the grand jury testimony, I was shocked and frustrated. After reading those documents, I became angry and wanted to hurt all the people named in those documents. I felt deep sadness for the victims of these terrible crimes and somehow wanted to step up on their behalf and do something, anything to help. The reality of the situation is far more complicated than that. All I can do is have a voice, express my concerns and help make others aware of how serious this matter really is. </div><div><br /></div><div>Two of my friends, who don't sit in front of a computer all day as I do, feel strongly that Joe Paterno is innocent and did everything he was supposed to do as a football coach. As I was trying to help them understand and asking them to read the grand jury documents, I had to come to terms with the idea that not everyone sees this the way I do; not everyone wants to know every last detail and not everyone feels the deep sadness and anger that I do. That's a tough pill to swallow, but I am doing my best to accept that this is a case that has rocked the entire country, not just the sports world and not just a small town in Pennsylvania. </div><div><br /></div><div>The investigation was literally set in motion within the last 24 hours and this case will get much uglier before we have a resolution. We will definitely have more questions than answers in the weeks, months and years to come. The violence that broke out last night was a simple reminder that college students are not as smart as they think they are. The streets filled with cops, cars and news vans flipped over, a city burning because the football coach of their college was fired. Were those people really out in support of former coach Paterno or have they been wrongly inspired by the occupy movements taking place across the world? I believe it's the latter and that makes this even more disturbing. I will continue to follow this case, with a heavy heart and open eyes because This is not about players taking money from boosters, it's not about Terrell Pryor driving a brand new car for each day of the week and it's not even close to what many called the "tragedy" of recruiting violations at USC. In my mind, it's not about football, coaches, legacies or wins, it's about protecting our children and standing up when we know something just isn't right, instead of looking the other way. </div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-7598811175026107392011-11-09T15:22:00.000-08:002011-11-09T15:28:27.547-08:00Jerry Sandusky Grand Jury Report<div>If you have only heard bits and pieces from the talking heads on the radio and actually want the facts centered around the 40 sexual assault charges against Jerry Sanduski and the Penn St. scandal, click on the link below and read for yourself. I must warn you, this is the most disturbing, graphic and brutal document that I have ever come across in my entire life. As a little side note, I am the guy who likes to read the 9/11 commission report, the transcripts of high profile murder cases, etc. That being said, I want to warn my followers that this document will blow your freaking head into a millions pieces, but it was necessary for me because I tend to look for facts, not opinions. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/11/07/sandusky-grand-jury-report/">Grand Jury report </a>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-78442359647060995382011-11-09T08:14:00.000-08:002011-11-09T10:17:55.431-08:00Not good enough<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nwp2vsZbExI/Trqq_p3Y60I/AAAAAAAAALQ/Y0TvyqvuGSw/s1600/Old%2Bballs.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 244px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nwp2vsZbExI/Trqq_p3Y60I/AAAAAAAAALQ/Y0TvyqvuGSw/s320/Old%2Bballs.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673034691173215042" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Below you will find a giant, hot, steaming pile of dog shit, which was released by Joe Paterno this morning and likely drafted by his son, who is a lawyer. I want to make myself perfectly clear. That is not enough for me! Many familiar with Penn St. football have pointed out that Paterno is king in that part of the country. His power over the entire state and all the people in Pennsylvania was given to him because he brought in tremendous amounts of revenue for a state run football program and when he wanted something, he got it. If he said the sky was falling, everyone ducked for cover. I am absolutely disgusted by his disregard for all that went wrong on his watch and his apology is not accepted by me nor do I believe a word that comes from his mouth. For the past 16 plus years, he tried to make the sexual assault and rape of children go away; he forced his friend to retire to avoid criticism of the football program and to make sure the program was able to thrive despite the presence of multiple felonies taking place on campus, in HIS locker room and he turned his back. To apologize now sounds more like "I'm terribly sorry we got caught, not I'm terribly sorry for my friend raping young boys and I can't imagine living each day thinking of how I was raped by an adult."<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Penn St. brass need to step in today and shut down the football program until the investigation is complete. If that means forfeiting games, scholarships and millions of dollars, then so be it. That school cannot continue to walk around and act like these acts are not important, not anymore. If anyone at Penn St. wants to take the first step to resolve this disgusting and horrific tragedy, they will step forward and shut down the entire football program, effective immediately, and that includes firing Joe Paterno and every single person involved in this case. Also, let us not forget that these are state employees who are set to receive a very nice retirement package, which they do not deserve. Rip their retirement package, their parking pass, keys to the locker room, etc. and leave them with nothing! How is it even possible that Joe Paterno and everyone who knew about the rape walked through life without a care in the world? How do you go to work each day for fifteen years, knowing a child was raped in your locker room? How can the players take a shower in that locker room from this day forward? I will say it again, the entire sports program at Penn St. should be shut down right this second! Forget about investigations, rules, protocol, and all the other politics involved, this is the worst scandal in the history of college sports. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">"I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That's why I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can. This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">My goals now are to keep my commitments to my players and staff and finish the season with dignity and determination. And then I will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can to help this University."<o:p></o:p></p>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-33216243454186755682011-11-04T10:21:00.000-07:002011-11-04T10:33:24.968-07:00Smart MoneyThe San Francisco Giants fans are excited about the possibility of signing a big bat now that free agency has begun. Giants brass, on the other hand, have other plans. When it's your responsibility to make a team better, your blueprint may not be in line with that of the fans. When CC Sabathia signed an extension with The Yankees, I would imagine that got phones ringing across baseball. However, the people on the other end of that phone were not players, but agents for Time Lincecum and Matt Caine. Here is where things get complicated for San Francisco. For the last four or five years, the team has been successful strictly based on their ability to send great pitchers to the mound each game and that's how they want to continue playing the game. The agents for the aforementioned pitchers will likely hit up SF for huge contracts or they will find teams willing to pay them what they are worth. That means that SF will not be able to sign Prince Fielder, even though they need to. They won't be able to sign Albert Pujols, even though they want to. They won't even be able to sign a guy like Jimmy Rollins, who isn't a top tier free agent, but is a free agent that could definitely find comfort in a terrible lineup in SF. So, I want to make this crystal clear for those of you who have extremely high expectations for the Giants during the hot stove season. You can get on your soap box and scream and yell and beg all you want, but you will not see Fielder, Pujols or any other substantive free agent bat in the lineup in 2012. What you will likely get is more of the same. More bats who are on the cheap either because they are hurt (see Grady Sizemore) or because they can't play at a high level anymore, as has been the case for many years in SF. The smart money will be spent to sign the young pitchers to long term deals and the fans will have to face facts. This team pulled off a miracle in 2010 and in order to taste champagne again, this team will have to do it all over again, which they will not do.Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069161689593283024.post-48788472240457204422011-11-03T08:33:00.000-07:002011-11-03T10:16:23.608-07:00Student Athletes are different from College AthletesCollege athletes are often referred to as Student Athletes, but let's get real. Most of them get paid to play and they get a free education, if they actually care to show up and use those brand new books they were given. For example, USC hosted the Stanford Cardinals in a thrilling game last weekend. This is an extreme example of course, but an example nonetheless. USC has the highest paid players in college football and that isn't my opinion, that's a fact. Just ask the current players why they are not allowed to play in a bowl game this year. If they won't budge, allow me to expand on that. They are serving a one year probation for numerous players taking money from boosters. Now, let's talk about Stanford for a moment. Stanford has the highest academic standards of any FBS school in the entire country. Simply put, if you don't have what it takes to meet the academic criteria, it doesn't matter if you have Lebron James' jump shot, you can't get in. If you are accepted to the school and play sports, but don't meet the criteria, you don't play and likely won't last long because they will rip your scholarship and give it to a kid who meets the requirements. Oh, you also won't be handed envelopes of cash by boosters, you won't be given cars, homes, jewelry, tattoos etc. They likely handle this in a different way. I would presume that if you get in good with boosters, you are good at your chosen sport and you graduate on time, you might get an interview for a job and it's likely you will get that job because of the people you have met while playing sports at Stanford. That's a far cry from what's happening at USC, LSU and hundreds of other schools across the country. <div><br /></div><div>Stanford football has climbed the ladder faster than anyone could have imagined. When Jim Harbaugh took over this program, they couldn't win games, they didn't play hard and they were over their heads in every possible category. Just five years later, they sit 4th in the BCS standings and have the longest winning streak in the nation at 16 games. The program is flying higher than ever before and for the most part, they are beating college athletes with student athletes and have raised the bar in their conference. This team and it's student athletes are kicking the crap out of bigger, faster, stronger athletes and to make things even more embarrassing, they are beating the other team mentally. Before the game even starts, these players have worked harder in the classroom than their opponent, then they hit the football field, bus their humps out there and after all of that, they hit the film room and figure out how to outsmart the other team. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that Stanford has the #1 NFL prospect in 20 years taking snaps from center. A kid who has an NFL pedigree and came back to school for this season because he wanted two things, in this order. He wanted to graduate from college (he's an architectural design major) and he wanted to win a national championship with his teammates. I don't know if he is going to win a Heisman or a national title, but I know he will graduate and that's what student athletes really care about when they leave college. </div><div><br /></div>Macho Camachohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03378415331558608593noreply@blogger.com0