Defying Comprehension

There are plenty of things that defy comprehension in sports; here is a list of recent things that I can’t explain. This could become a recurring segment on the blog.

• I understand that radio hotheads like Colin Cowherd go after John Wall for dancing during his intro because it is easy material for radio talk, even though the coaches asked Wall to do it to pump up the crowd and Wall seems as down-to-earth as any 20 year old in the NBA can be. What I don’t understand is why Cowherd used Rajon Rondo as the standard for NBA point guards instead of Chris Paul or Steve Nash. Don’t get me wrong, Rondo is a great player and at least one of the top-five point guards right now, if not top three. But he is also the guy who got cut by Team USA in favor of Derrick Rose, Chauncey Billups, Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, and Stephen Curry because he can’t shoot. Cowherd even said that Rondo is headed towards the Hall of Fame—maybe that is true, maybe not. But the odds are better for that being true for Paul and Nash, who have a longer span of greatness than Rondo—especially when it comes to shooting.
• A 1980 “Miracle on Ice” gold medal was sold for $310,700 in auction on Friday. It seems hard to believe that you can buy/sell Olympic gold medals—it just seems wrong. Isn’t this against the entire spirit of the Olympics, that anyone with the will, desire, and talent to compete at the highest levels of Olympic sports can win an Olympic medal—that it isn’t something that only the rich and powerful can get? Or is that all just a marketing pipedream? Either way, this seems like a sad day in regards to that Miracle on Ice team and the Olympics in general.
• The Golden State Warriors are 4-1! I’m guessing they can’t keep it up no matter how well Curry and Monta Ellis keep on playing, but it sure would be exciting if they made the playoffs (especially if they were to face Dallas).
• Patrick Sharp is tied for the lead in goals scored in the NHL with ten and has 16 points on the season…and yet is a -10 in +/-. This is partially explained by the fact that he has four power play goals, four power play assists, and one shorthanded goal which do not factor in his +/-, but his -10 is also the worst mark on the Blackhawks.
• Only four of the top ten players in shots on goal have a positive +/- (Alex Ovechkin, Bobby Ryan, Jeff Carter, and Martin St. Louis). You would think that more shots on goal and more time in the offensive zone would lead to more goals for and fewer goals against, but that does not seem to be entirely the case so far. I realize +/- is a flawed individual statistic, especially this early in the season, but it still is interesting to look at.
• Vince Young is ranked first in Quarterback Rating, with a 103.1 mark! Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, David Garrard, and Tom Brady round out the top five. I have no idea how quarterback rating is calculated, but if it ranks VY as the best quarterback, well, I have to believe the system knows what it’s talking about.
• The only quarterbacks with a lower QB Rating than Brett Favre this season are Derek Anderson and Matt Moore. The mighty have fallen in Minnesota this season.
• Brandon Lloyd leads the league in receiving yards with 878 yards, and the next closest is Roddy White with 747 yards. Remember when Lloyd couldn’t catch a ball for Washington—seems like yesterday. Well, it was actually 2007, when he was last with the Redskins, but he somehow stayed in the league, in 2008 with Chicago, and then Denver last year and this year. He is finally putting it together, something I thought would never happen.
• Antonio Gates is third in the league in receiving, which isn’t a big deal except that he is a tight end! But he goes deep, as he has the second-most reception of 20+ yards, behind only Lloyd.
• That Derek Jeter hasn’t signed a 4 year, $100 million deal with the Yankees yet. George Steinbrenner never would’ve let the Red Sox get the spotlight with their 1 year, $12.5 million signing of David Ortiz.