Cam Newton: Return to Sender

    "T'was the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse." Actually, no there was a creature stirring, but it wasn't a mouse...it was a panther, a Carolina Panther to be exact. Panthers QB Cam Newton has been stirring all season long, and it may be time for head coach Ron Rivera and the Carolina Panthers organization to find the receipt and return the gift that was Cam Newton.

     The Panthers have had a down season since the opening kick. Sure, they fought a good fight against their Super Bowl opponents, the Denver Broncos, only losing by a point in Week 1, and put up 46 points on an abysmal 49ers team in Week 2, but make no mistake, oh how the mighty have fallen. They Panthers have fallen so far, in fact, that they were out of the playoff hunt weeks ago, and aren't even favored in a Week 17 matchup against the Buccaneers, a team who, a year ago, was the basement dweller in the weakest division in football, with the exception of the 15-1 Carolina Panthers. But a lot can change in a year.

    Don't let the blame fall on the head coach for this one, no. Ron Rivera is the reigning Coach of the Year for a reason. The man knows what he's doing. The problem, as I alluded to in the opening paragraph is Cam Newton. Sure, many Carolina Panthers players have underachieved this year, but look no further than their ring leader for your answer.

Newton after Super Bowl 50 loss

    Cam's problems really started last year, in Super Bowl 50. Cam had his worst game of the season in the season's biggest game. Understandably Newton was frustrated when, late in the game, he was stripped of the ball by Von Miller, which lead directly to the Broncos touchdown that would seal the game for Denver. It was a rough day for Cam and the Panthers, one I'm sure he'd rather forget, but during the course of that forgettable day, Newton threw not one, but multiple tantrums on the field. Then, in a post-game press conference, he memorably walked out in the middle of it because he could hear a Broncos talking about him in his press conference next door.

    And those are the memories we had of Cam Newton coming into the season opener against the Denver Broncos once again. And if we didn't forget his actions, you can bet Denver didn't either. Cam Newton got hit hard that night. Some hits were legal, and some were not...and even fewer were called. After the game, which the Panthers also lost, the real trouble began. Cam complained in a press conference about being hit too hard, not having fun, and being scared to go out there again. Six years into his NFL career, a franchise quarterback looked and sounded like he never wanted to play another down of football again. That's bound to be a morale killer for your franchise. On top of that, defenses, see it as a sign of vulnerability, and they took advantage, hitting Newton even harder in future games.

    To be fair, after being hit as hard as Newton was the first few weeks of the season, it would be normal to be a little nervous, but as the franchise quarterback of the defending NFC champions, don't admit it in a press conference and say you don't want to be out there...with your teammates. As a result, Cam's mechanics got sloppy, and the team suffered, starting the year 1-5.

    Despite all of this, even though Cam Newton is having statically the worst year of his career, with career lows in every major category, the on-the-field stuff is not the reason that I think the Panthers should dump-yes, dump-Cam Newton. That reason is this:

Newton and head coach Ron Rivera

    Prior to a Week 13 matchup against the Seahawks in Seattle, Cam Newton realized that he hadn't packed a tie in his luggage. League dress code dictates that he wear a tie prior to the game. Knowing this, Newton told Ron Rivera that he didn't have a tie, and Rivera told him that if he didn't wear one, he would be benched for the first series against Seattle. Cam chose not to wear a tie and was benched for the first series of what turned out to be a 40-7 drubbing at the hands of the Seahawks. Now, I'm sure that one series would not have made a difference of what was a 33-point beating, but it's the principal of the thing. Cam Newton didn't pack a tie in his luggage. Okay? He was in Seattle. I'm sure that the Starbucks capital of the world had at least on place where the millionaire quarterback could have purchased a tie. He chose not to. His pride got in the way, and he put himself and his fashion choices ahead of his coach and his teammates.

    That, in my opinion, should be the last straw for the QB formally known as "Superman". Cam Newton has become a liability, a nuisance, a punching back, and most of all, a lousy quarterback with a defeatist attitude. His last infraction shows that he's not only not there for his teammates, but that he doesn't respect the authority of his head coach, who by the way, is one of the best in the league.

    It may be time for the Carolina Panthers organization move on from Cam Newton. He has chosen not to stand with them, so I can't imagine they'll stand with him much longer. If he's scared, if he no longer wants to play the game of football after six years, find someone who does. If given a choice of stocking stuffers between a lump of coal and Cam Newton...the choice is becoming a lot closer than it should.

   

This One's For You Chicago

The Chicago Cubs are the 2016 World Series Champions

    Legendary Cubs broadcaster Harry Carey once said, "Sure as God made green apples, the Cubs are going to be in the World Series...". Well, Harry was right. The Cubs made it, and I'm sure all of the baseball world wishes Harry himself was around to see it.

    The Chicago Cubs not only made it to the World Series, but in the early morning hours of November 3, 2016, the Chicago Cubs recorded the final out in Game 7 of the World Series, ending their 108-year title drought. Cubs fans were littered throughout the stadium in Game 7 despite the game taking place in Cleveland. Fan-made signs, such as "No More Wait Until Next Year" and "Now I Can Die Happy" took center stage as the celebration was on. The day Cubs fans worried would never come, the day Cubs fans of the past never got to see, was finally here.

The Cubs have won their first title since 1908 (108 years)

    Never before have we seen a team begin the World Series with this much pressure weighing on them. Ever since the Cubs hired Theo Epstein in 2012-the same man who ended the Boston Red Sox 86-year title drought in 2004-Cubs fans had been holding their breath. Each time Theo made a move from then on-trading for Anthony Rizzo, hiring Joe Maddon, drafting Kris Bryant, signing Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist....and the list goes on-the feeling got stronger that something incredible was about to happen.

   
    And after a 103 win regular season, a strong postseason run, and an amazing 7 games against a very talented Cleveland Indians team, something incredible did happen. In Chicago, with their team on the road, Cubs fans filled the street in front of an empty Wrigley Field and, in the shadow of Harry Carey's statue and other Cubs legends that couldn't be there, they just watched the scoreboard. For the first time in our lifetime, America woke up this morning with the Chicago Cubs as World Series Champions.

Cubs fans gathered outside Wrigley Field just to watch
the iconic scoreboard

   
    As a baseball fan, watching that game, I can say I have never experienced anything like it. This is what sports are all about, moments bigger than themselves. 108 years of curses, losing seasons, "Wait 'Til Next Years", Billy goats, black cats and Steve Bartmans. 108 years of waiting, hoping, dreaming, and unrewarded loyalty is over. Many sports analysts, included myself wondered during the course of the series, if maybe the Cubs losing this series and extending the drought to 109 was the best thing for the sport of baseball, but if you were watching last night, you will never forget where you were when that final out was made, and THAT is the best thing for baseball.

    The next generation of Cubs fans will never have to worry about "Next Year", they won't have to suffer the thought of their beloved team being cursed. There is no more curse. The goat is dead, the black cat has been scared away, Steve Bartman is a shut-in, and the Chicago Cubs are finally on top of the baseball world. Everyone one is a Cubs fan today. Will Ferris Bueller take another day off to celebrate this championship? Will the cast of According to Jim reunite to sing "Go Cubs Go?" Will NBC's Chicago Fire, Med, and PD tip their caps to the North Siders in future episodes? Who knows, but Cubs baseball has been a part of Chicago pop culture, real-life and fictional for generations, usually as the punch line of countless jokes, but finally, on the afternoon of November 3, 2016, Cubs fans are the ones laughing.

This flag has been flown after every home
win since the 1940s. #FlytheW

    Chicago: Remember those who couldn't be around to celebrate this with you and hold their memory a little closer today. It is finally time to Fly the Ultimate W and let it fly all winter, because the wait is over. This one's for you Chicago! As Harry Carey also said, "The impossible is possible." The Chicago Cubs are the 2016 World Series champions!

Most Valuable LeBron

    LeBron James is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars in NBA history, and he has four MVP awards to prove it. Earlier this month, after Stephen Curry was named the first unanimous MVP in NBA history (Curry's second straight MVP award), LeBron got a lot of grief regarding his comments about the status of the award. The problem is: He's exactly right.

James, a 4x MVP, averaged 25 points, 7 rebounds
and 7 assists this season

    Every league likes to have a villain, and somehow, LeBron is viewed as the villain of the NBA. People love to hate LeBron. But in this case, let's give him a break. His comments were that the term "Most Valuable Player" needs to be re-evaluated. It came across to the public like LeBron James was being petty about coming in 3rd in the MVP voting, behind Curry and the Spurs' Kawhi Leonard. In James's defense, he did say that Stephen Curry was deserving and even cited his stats and said that there was no question who the best player was this year.

    There's the problem. The award is not called "Best Player", it's called the "Most Valuable Player". If you look at those two titles at face value, there's an obvious difference. Curry was definitely the best player in the NBA this year, averaging 30 points, leading the league in steals, and becoming the first player in NBA history to make 400 3-pointers in a season (shattering his own NBA record by over 100), but he was not the most valuable.



Harper: 1st MVP voting- Nationals (83-79)
Goldschmidt 2nd- Diamondbacks (79-83)
Votto 3rd- Reds (64-98)

   Anyone who has heard my podcast, Empire Sports Talk, knows that I had a similar gripe about this same thing at the end of baseball season. The Most Valuable Player award is given to the best player in the league for a given year. However, the title is misleading. The league's best player should be rewarded, but under a title that is just that, best player. Most Valuable Player paints a picture of the league's most irreplaceable player, the person whose team would be nothing without them, or at least that's how it should be defined. Last year in the MLB, as was the subject of the podcast in question, titled "V is for Valuable", Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals won the National League MVP award. He was the best player, numbers-wise, but he, along with the other two candidates for the award, Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds, were on teams that missed the playoffs.
    Now, let me pose this question for perspective: How "valuable" were these players to their teams if, even with them and their numbers, they still didn't make the playoffs-and in the case of Goldschmidt and Votto, they weren't even close?

    I'm not so naïve as to believe that these guys could make these teams good by themselves, because it's baseball and baseball is heavily a team sport, but still. Sticking with baseball, in the American League, Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson took home the MVP award. In this case, the Blue Jays did make the playoffs and without Donaldson's numbers, they probably wouldn't have. THAT is the definition of valuable. There IS a difference between Most Valuable and Best.



Leonard: Back-to-back
Defensive Player of the year (2015-16)

    So, back to LeBron. Given the example above, LeBron James probably was the Most Valuable Player this year. Why? Kwahi Leonard may be the best player on his otherwise aging team, and let it be said that I'm not ignoring the fact that he did win Defensive Player of the Year...again, but as of right now, he's not even the leader of his team. Until he retires, the Spurs are still Tim Duncan's team. Would the Spurs have made the playoffs without Kwahi? Probably, given that they finished with a 67-15 record, second only to the record breaking Warriors, and were 26 games clear of missing the playoffs. In the past two years since LeBron has been in Cleveland, the Cavs record in games that LeBron doesn't play in is 4-13. Even with the talent of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, the LeBron-less Cavs have a win percentage of .235. That means, if they played an entire season without LeBron, their win total would be right around 19. A record of 19-63. The Cavs would be much closer to the first pick in the draft than raising a banner. Now, that record is a stretch because the team would take the necessary measures if they knew they would be without LeBron, but here's another fact. The Cavs did go from playoffs to first pick once already...when LeBron left for Miami. The following season, the Cavs had the league's worst record and drafted Kyrie Irving with the first pick.

    Would the current Warriors team go from first to worst with Stephen Curry? Absolutely not. During the regular season, Curry sat out the entire 4th quarter 18 times (4.5 games total) and the Warriors still finished with the best record in NBA history. With Stephen Curry missing a handful of games in the playoffs due to injury, the Warriors still moved on to the Conference Finals without so much as a hitch, losing only one game in their first two series, series in which Curry did not play a large portion of the games. The Warriors are fine without him.

Curry: First unanimous MVP in NBA history

    I, like LeBron am not taking anything away from Curry or Leonard. They are fantastic players who are deserving the awards they receive. I don't even think LeBron was necessarily going to bat for himself, like it's being portrayed. As an ambassador of the NBA, he sees a flaw. The Most Valuable Player award is misleading. There is a difference between the most valuable player and the best player, and all of our major American sports leagues are guilty of not making the distinction. If you would like to keep the award of Most Valuable Player, judge it the way you may judge Most Improved Player, or Sixth Man of the Year, because that's the kind of award in would be. Give the current MVP Award a new title. A more accurate title worthy of its stature: the Best Player Award or the Michael Jordan Award (similar to how the Hank Aaron Award goes to baseball's best hitter).

    A mix-up like this is an honest mistake and we shouldn't blame LeBron James or call him a sore loser just for pointing it out. LeBron is EXACTLY right in his comments. The MVP award needs a new name, and congratulations to Stephen Curry for being the NBA's Best Player in 2016.