networking 3/26/12

My name is Connor Dodd a I am a freshman at Slippery Rock and i am majoring in sport management.  My career interest area is either being a general manager or a sport agent.  I am also somewhat interested in sport broadcasting.

Saints Bounty Penalties

The Saints have been punished for there involvement in a bounty program created by former defensive coordinator Greg Williams.  The penalties handed down by Roger Goodell included a year suspension for head coach Sean Peyton defensive coordinator Greg Williams who is now with the the Rams has been suspended indefinitely and it will be looked at again after the season is over.  Other penalties include a six game suspension for assistant coach Joe Vitt and an eight game suspension for general manager Mickey Loomis.  The team is being fined 500k and the league is taking two second round draft picks on this year and one in 2013.  Many have said that these are fair and that Roger Goodell is setting an example for the rest of the league.  What does this mean for the Saints this year and in the future?  It doesn't look like the Saints will have an easy time this year with a new coach and the penalties they have been handed. But with a quarterback like Drew Brees who knows what the Saints many be capable of this year.

      

Tebowmania in New York

With the Denver Broncos signing Peyton Manning it didn't really leave a spot for Tim Tebow on the team. From the minute Peyton Manning became a Bronco it was made apparent that the Broncos were looking to move Tim Tebow.  Teams such as the Miami Dolphins and the jacksonville Jaguars were said to be interested in Tebow.  A day or two later the New York Jets jumped into the conversation within a day or to the deal was made with the Jets.  With Tebow on his way to New York many people question why the Jets did this and if the Jets were really committed to Mark Sanchez.  The Jets made it clear to everyone that the starting Quarterback is Mark Sanchez and that that wasn't going to change and that Tim Tebow was going to have his own package and run the wildcat for offensive coordinator Tony Sparano.  Many people have said that this is a bad idea that you can't lead from the bench.  That the huge fan base of Tebow's will be calling for him to start after Mark Sanchez has one bad game.  Teammates have also said why are we getting another quarterback when what we need is more threats for Mark Sanchez.  While this is true Tebow is also a threat to defenses in a different way.  While all of this could be true these are all just the negative things that could come out of this move.  Tebow could help with the locker room problems the Jets are experiencing and could significantly help the Jets around the goal line and on third down and short. While this trade could back fire on the Jets it also has the potential to work for them.  I think this is a good move by the Jets to get a good football player who could potentially help this team.

Big NFL Moves

Now that teams know that Peyton Manning is up for grabs it looks like teams are starting to make their moves to give themselves the best opportunity to compete for a championship now and down the road.  As of tonight the Redskins look to be picking up the second overall pick in the upcoming draft from the Rams with will likely be used to pick QB Robert Griffin III or Andrew Luck.  Many teams have been in contact with Peyton Manning looking to instantly put themselves into championship contention.  One of the teams that was in the talks of picking up Peyton Manning has now looked to drop out of contention having extended their quarterbacks contract.  This team being the New York Jets they have extended Mark Sanchez's contract to now be five years and around the area of 50 million dollars with about 20 million guaranteed.  How will the two big moves that just happened effect other teams in this conversation for Peyton Manning and how does it effect the chances of these two teams winning a championship.  With the Jets having extended Mark Sanchez's contract it is apparent they are staying with him for the long run and while having gone to the playoffs and the AFC Championship game two of the three years he has been their quarterback their still seem to be a lot of questions.  Their have been growing pains and while Mark has consistently improved is the team around him good enough to get to the Super Bowl?  While his leadership skills have obviously improved he isn't a Peyton Manning who can almost single handedly put the team on his back when needed.  With the Redskins looking to rebuild in some ways and looking to pick up a young quarterback in the draft is seems to almost take them completely out of the talks for Peyton Manning as well.  With the likely hood of then=m having a young quarterback it may not be expected they have a great year coming up.  With the number of serious contenders for Peyton Manning dwindling it looks like it could be between teams like the Broncos and the the Dolphins.  Going back to the Jets and their option to extend Mark Sanchez's contract if Peyton Manning were to go to Miami this would make the chances of the Jets going to the playoffs and winning a championship smaller.  Not to say that it cant be done as Sanchez has shown he can beat both Manning and Brady at times.  But having to play in an already tough division in the AFC East and then adding you have to play Peyton Manning twice a year as well as Tom Brady twice a year it makes it that much more important to win the other games as the Dolphins record would surely get better.  There is a lot of different situations of how these things can work out still and it will be interesting to see what happens this offseason and in the season to come.  http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:7668403

Is Peyton Manning a Colt in 2012

     With Peyton Manning due to be payed a lot of money on Thursday March 8th will he be staying with the Colts?  If a decision is not made by Thursday the Colts have until Sunday to restructure his contract release him or pay him the money.  With the Colts having the first pick of the draft it is expected they draft Andrew Luck and possibly Robert Griffin III.  It wouldn't make sense for the Colts to be paying $50 million to two players at the same position when only one is going to be playing.  The least likely situation is that they pay Peyton Manning the money people expect that he will be moving on while their is the chance he restructure his contract.  If Peyton Manning is released then he will be the highest profile free agent this offseason and possibly in the history of the league.  If he becomes a free agent where will Peyton Manning be playing next year?  While obviously many teams are interested some teams that have been mentioned are Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks. While obviously only one team would be able to get Manning some teams would be more interested than others.  Teams like the New York Jets wouldn't necessarily need a starting quarterback but would possibly like an upgrade.  Teams like the Bills, Dolphins, Redskins and others are in need of a quarterback and may show more interest.  Manning has been working out at Duke University throwing the ball hard and looks to be making progress and getting back to the old Peyton Manning.  If Manning were to go to a team in the AFC East it could cause some interesting games having to play Tom Brady two a year every year it would also make it very hard for other teams to succeed.  It has been said that he could end up going to a team like the Redskins with a veteran coach and a established system.  However this situation works out it will no doubt be interesting.

networking 3/5/12

My name is Connor Dodd and I am a Sports Management major at Slippery Rock University.  I am originally from Albany, NY . In high school I ran track and cross country.

MLB Playoff Expansion

     The MLB plans on adding two more playoff teams on each side of the bracket.  The expansion of the playoffs to the 10 team version will add one more set of games before the division series starts.  The two wild card teams on each side will play each other in one game to decide who will move on to the division series.  I think that this is a good idea for the MLB to expand their playoffs because it allows fans to see more games and allows two more teams to experience the playoffs that year.  One thing that i think may confuse people and may not be liked by the players is that it is just a one game series.  Many people and players may feel that it would be more reasonable to have the to wild card teams play a best of three series. Their is a lot of work and planning that goes into traveling for a game and preparing.  MLB teams do not usually play one game series during the season they play them in groups of three or four games.  Why have a one game series where the team that loses goes home when most other games in the season consist of three or for game series.  During the playoffs the are not any one game series so why change that now.  While I think that it is a very good idea of the MLB to expand their playoffs to 10 teams I also think their are things that may work better if they are changed.  We will have to see if the system works this year when the playoffs roll around or if things will need to be changed.

The Yankees Payroll Problems

     The New York Yankees are usually the team with the highest payroll in the MLB.  This year doesn't seem like it will be to much different as the Yankees payroll is said to be in the area of $210 million.  With the additions of Hiroki Kuroda, Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez and Michael Pineda the payroll doesn't look to be getting any lower. Due to the high payroll the Yankees are subject to the luxury tax imposed by the MLB in 2003 and it doesn't look like Hal Steinbrenner wants to pay as much anymore.  Hal Steinbrenner the managing general partner of the New York Yankees said he would like to get the payroll down to $189 million.  While this seems to be a big gap to close the Yankees may be on their way in 2011 they payed $13.9 million in luxury tax which was the lowest amount since the tax was imposed in 2003.  While that is a step in the right direction there are many other stats that make it hard to believe that this feat is possible.  One of these stats is that between four players Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and Derek Jeter they are committed to $118 million in 2013 alone and in 2014 they are committed to $75 million just between these four players.

With veterans like Jeter and the others it
is hard to see the Yankees at their goal
of $189 million in the next few years.  

 They also have to resign young players like Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson who based on recent play will be demanding big contracts.

Whit young stars who's contracts
are up in the next few years will
the Yankees be able to achieve
this goal in the near future?

 When you see stats like this it is hard to believe that a team like the New York Yankees are going to be able to keep the payroll under $189 million.  Based o the numbers it sure doesn't look like this a goal that can be achieved next year or maybe even in 2014.  This goal looks like it is possible in the years after 2014 as the team is getting older and some stars may start to retire.  With a young and up and coming team after the veterans depart the Yankees may be able to keep the payroll under $189 million for a while.  As I see it this is a team that has been spending a lot on players throughout the history of the club.  I think its great if they can spend less while still being as successful as everyone expects but this is what some people have come to know them for and why change if you don't need to.