A Star Is Born

Jason Collins photo from his SI article

Jason Collins spent the first half of the 2012-13 NBA season playing for my beloved Boston Celtics. He was not a player I particularly cared for even though I know he was a good locker room presence and someone who always gave their all, using his somewhat limited talents to do what he could for the team when on the floor.

A decade ago when he was the starting centre for Jason Kidd’s back to back Finals bound New Jersey Nets, I and others often joked about him being the worst starting centre in Finals history. He played solid defence and always knew his role in the team, but he was never going to be a player you could give the ball to in the paint to get you a bucket.

Today however, Jason Collins is a superstar. In fact, Jason Collins is one of the most important players in NBA history and even American sporting history. You see, if you haven’t read the news yet, Jason Collins just came out as gay in an article he wrote for Sports Illustrated.

The article itself was beautifully written, articulate and basically everything you could hope for from the outing of the first openly gay active athlete in America’s “Big 4” sports of the NBA, MLB, NFL or NHL. It is not the first time a player from those sports has come out, but it is the first time a current one has and the difference between it happening in retirement or during their active career is huge.

When an athlete comes out in their retirement it means they never have to deal with any potential backlash that could await them as they take the field or court or ice the next time they compete. It is unfortunate that there would be any backlash, but there are players, administrators and fans that simply won’t be all that approving or understanding. They may be a minority, but a minority can still be hurtful as well as potentially making the life and career difficult for the athlete coming out.

Also, when an athlete waits until retirement to admit their sexuality, it always raises questions about just how necessary it was to wait. Is life going to be that difficult for an athlete who comes out during their career? Had John Amaechi come out as gay when he was still playing, would he have found himself out of a job? Or is it simply a matter of era and timing so the backlash that may face Collins in 2013 will be significantly less than if Amaechi had come out prior to his retirement a decade ago?

I would like to think that the reaction even a decade ago would have been surprisingly positive, but honestly I think a lot has changed in the last decade, both in society and in the locker room. Now is the right time for this day to have arrived and Jason Collins should be applauded for being the pioneer that he is. Whilst Collins will deal with a lot of ignorant bigots, including the likes of ESPN’s Chris Broussard, the support and adulation he receives will hopefully make this a positive experience for him and encourage more and more gay athletes to speak up.

Some people will wonder why this matters at all. If we truly lived in a world where sexuality was no one’s business but your own, why does it matter if an athlete is gay or straight? But I think we are unfortunately years away from that point. As Celtics play-by-play announcer Sean Grande tweeted ‘Proud to have worked with Jason Collins this year, great guy. Will be prouder when this issue becomes less "who is?" and more "who cares?"’

One day it will be a matter of ‘who cares?’ but to get to that point we need pioneers like Jason Collins. Athletes, as much as some hate it, are role models to millions of people around the world and there is a history of athletes being at the forefront of civil rights. Athletes like Jackie Robinson and Bill Russell played an important role in the civil rights movement and Jason Collins can now truly be discussed in the same conversation.

Athletes play a real role is shaping society, culture and public opinion. As more and more athletes come out about their sexuality, it will encourage more and more young people to do the same as well as influencing other people to be accepting of those coming out.

Here in Australia of course we have already had a famous active footballer come out, when Ian Roberts announced his sexuality in 1995. Roberts received a very supportive response from the football community and played another few years, always regarded as one of the toughest players in the league.

Had he have done this during the social media era we live in today, Roberts would have been a massive story around the world. It’s a shame Roberts is only known locally as what he did, especially as a higher profile star of his sport, may have encouraged this to occur sooner in the US as well.

Of course the US is a very different beast to Australia and they needed to get to this point in their own time. Collins will now be watched closely by other athletes considering coming out to see what impact it has on his life and career. It’s possible this news will not only be positive for him in terms of the statement he made, but maybe even in terms of his fame and even sponsorship income.

I think you’ll find numerous companies wanting to tie their brand in with an openly gay athlete and hopefully Collins get financial benefits out of this announcement along with all the other benefits. It is opportunities like that which will really encourage other athletes to come out themselves as they will not only not lose career opportunities, but in fact could gain even more.  Long term, the sponsoring of gay athletes because they are gay will subside as the issue of being gay becomes less of a talking point. But as we currently live in the world Sean Grande described of ‘who is’ rather than ‘who cares’ the gay athletes should be able to capitalise on these opportunities as much as they can.

Jason Collins opened the closet door today and I hope he is the first of many to walk through it.

Eggs in One Basket

Jamie Soward won't be wearing the Red V from 2014

Building a sports team in a league with a salary cap is complex. It’s about educated risks and trying to keep good players at a price that is equal to or perhaps even better than their on-field value.

When clubs sign players, the signing has to be judged not only on the ability of the player, but also on whether the club is getting value for money for that player. You might think that as long as the player is good, it doesn’t matter if he is overpaid because he is still contributing, but that would be incorrect.

We live in a world where clubs are all very even and need every little edge they can get. If you are paying a B player the money of an A player, you are losing the ability to pay that money to an actual A player.

The Brooklyn Nets in the NBA have a solid team. They are built around several big names and clearly are a playoff team. Unfortunately, they also own some of the worst contracts in the NBA and therefore will never be able to go from playoff team to true contender, unless their good players turn into great ones. Not only that, but as these players regress with age, they will be paying mediocre players the money of great ones and will have to go many steps backwards before even being in a position to rebuild.

Several successful teams have had to break up their championship winning groups when their players all expect more money in their next contract and only so many can be re-signed. It’s done to prevent dynasties and to keep the competition even and fair.

In rugby league, because there is no draft system, spending money correctly on retaining the right players and signing the right players externally is the main way to build a successful roster. The Melbourne Storm have kept their core of stars, but they also very wisely bring in unwanted guys from other clubs on reasonable contracts and then get the most out of their investment. Sure the team is reliant on Smith, Cronk and Slater to win championships, but they wouldn’t get there without the contributions of unheralded players like Brian Norrie and Ryan Hinchcliffe who were signed from elsewhere without much fanfare.

That brings me to the reason I am writing this article in the first place. The Penrith Panthers have just announced they have signed Jamie Soward from the Dragons for 2014. Ok, the Panthers clearly need a playmaker and Soward needs a change of scenery. It’s not the worst signing in the world in that regard.

The problem is that the Panthers have signed Soward on a four year deal from 2014 through to the end of the 2017 season. This is a bad decision in my opinion for several reasons. First and foremost Jamie Soward has not been playing at a high level since 2011 at best and really since his lead the Dragons to the premiership in 2010. Yes he has the talent and has been there before, so clearly he isn’t as bad as some people like to say about him, but again it matters that we are talking about the past and not the present.

Secondly he is going to be 29 years old when his Panthers contract begins and has done nothing in the last year or two to suggest he should just be handed a long term deal. Unlike a situation where you give a speculative long term contract to a young player who has shown potential, such as Parramatta signing Corey Norman, Jamie Soward by all accounts should have reached his peak by now and the majority of his Panthers years should be the downside of his career.

When you add his age to the fact he has already seemed to slip as a player it obviously means that signing him is a big risk. But ok, let’s say the Panthers think he simply needs a fresh start and can be the Soward of 2010 again… it still doesn’t justify handing him a four year deal.

Was the competition to sign him so fierce that they had to give him such security to get him to sign? I understand he was linked with Japanese rugby, but are the Panthers so super confident in Soward being their missing link that they are going to put all their eggs in his basket?

Why not offer him a one year deal to re-find his mojo and if he refuses that maybe you give him a second year to sweeten the deal?

The Panthers and specifically Gus Gould had done a fantastic job starting the Panthers rebuild. They brought in good players like Josh Mansour, Sika Manu and James Segeyaro. They are also dominating in the lower grades and age groups, which gives them great hope for the future. On top of that they had cap room to bring in the star they needed. They tried and failed to sign Johnathan Thurston and then were linked with Jarryd Hayne and John Sutton. All three players stayed with their current clubs and I’m sure the Panthers don’t begrudge them of that.

But in their desperation to find this star playmaker it appears as though they have given that long term contract being offered to the above names to Jamie Soward, who many believed was on his way out of the NRL altogether.

Again, I have no issue with offering Soward a lifeline and perhaps if things work out perfectly he re-finds his form and fixes the Panthers. But why commit so long term to him when it’s just as likely that he isn’t the answer and they are stuck for four years with a player they don’t want anymore.

Obviously we don’t know the dollar figure Soward has signed for, but I think it’s fair to believe that it’s not a small figure, especially if he is turning down the lucrative Japanese rugby offers. The best case scenario for the Panthers is that Soward equals that contract and they get their money’s worth, however in my opinion the risk for it to fail is too great.

I would have offered him a short term contract with the chance to prove himself and then renegotiate and if he wouldn’t go for it I would have looked elsewhere.

The Panthers just went all in and many will say they could have done it on a better hand.

Finding Their Bite

The Bulldogs need more of this from Tony Williams

Last season’s beaten NRL Grand Finalists the Canterbury Bulldogs came into the 2013 with high expectations. It is now year two of the Des Hasler era and along with their recruitment of Tony Williams and progress of their young players, it seemed like 2013 would be a year to give the title a real shake.

We knew they would be without James Graham for the first couple of months after he took the team mascot too seriously and bit Billy Slater in the Grand Final, but then came the injuries and the Ben Barba saga to throw a spanner in the works.

Despite those issues, most thought the Doggies would still be solid and hold the fort until all their names were back. However, after a 1-4 start to the season, including an uninspiring performance last Friday against Manly, we have to wonder if or when they will re-find their mojo.

Ben Barba ended up only missing three games and was back in time for the big match against the Rabbitohs in round 4. He went ok in that match given the circumstances and I thought the Bulldogs overall were good in a losing effort against a top opponent. But they followed that up with the Manly performance, where Barba looked like he had little interest in being there and certainly didn’t seem in a position to contribute positively to his team.

Speaking of having little interest and not contributing positively, Tony Williams has been less T-Rex and more Barney the Dinosaur since moving from Brookvale to Belmore. I don’t know if it is a fitness issue or a motivation issue, but he has been not only a bust in terms of the money he is being paid, but he is actually worse for the Bulldogs on the field than if he were not playing at all.

His defence is mediocre; he is not running hard and worst of all he doesn’t even stand correctly in the attacking line so he can receive the ball. Last year at Manly he would hit the ball at pace and put the defensive line on the back foot; this year he is standing in front of his teammates so any pass to him would be a deliberate forward pass penalty.

Right now I would imagine he is zero chance of playing in the upcoming Test match or for NSW in State of Origin and it would take a massive turnaround to get him his Blues jersey back. But for the Bulldogs to get back to contending for a title, turning Williams back into the T-Rex will be crucial.

With Inu and Graham both still a few weeks away from returning from suspension and Kasiano still not ready to go, the Bulldogs have a tough few weeks ahead of them. Being 1-4 is a salvageable position if it is turned around relatively quickly. They have been slow starters in the past and managed to contend, however the elastic band only stretches so far before it snaps.

What is very unlucky for the Bulldogs is that in a season where they were going to be under the pump with players out to start the season, they also managed to have the most difficult draw imaginable. In the first five rounds of the season, they played the four teams that finished directly below them in positions 2-5 on the ladder last season. The only other team they played was Parramatta and that of course is their lone victory.

The Storm, Rabbitohs and Sea Eagles have been the benchmark teams once again this year and whilst the Cowboys have not been great either, they played well enough in Round 1 and got the points. When you combine the missing players with the quality of their opposition, the Bulldogs have been up against it from Round 1.

That brings us to Round 6. This Friday night the Bulldogs travel to Allianz Stadium to take on the Sydney Roosters. The Roosters had been looking fantastic and with an impenetrable defence until their second half collapse in Canberra last weekend. Now both teams will be desperate for the victory.

With a logjam in the middle of the table, the difference between the Roosters going 4-2 or 3-3 at the Anzac Test week off is massive. Had they held on against the Raiders, there might have been less urgency to the match for the Tri-Colours.

For the Bulldogs, this match is everything. Not only is it the difference between being 2-4 or 1-5, it is Sonny Bill Williams’ first match against his old side and the Doggies’ fans will be calling for blood. When Willie Mason faced a similar (if not quite as hostile as this Friday will be) reaction in his first match for the Roosters against the Bulldogs, he delivered probably his best performance for the Roosters in a one sided affair. If Sonny Bill Williams’ does the same then we might be seeing the Bulldogs digging a hole from which it will be very difficult to get out.

Either way, we are going to learn a lot about both teams on Friday night. The Roosters are clearly good, but how good? At this point I think they are a playoff team without being a real threat to the Premiership. They will destroy bad teams like they did to Parramatta, but good teams won’t back down against them. If the Roosters can start beating the good teams, then maybe we will have a real contender on our hands.

The Bulldogs at their best are clearly contenders. But by the time they reach their best, if they ever get there at all, it might be too late. Not every team can go on the run Parramatta went on in 2009 to the Grand Final and the Bulldogs season needs to start on Friday night before the Test Match and City vs. Country weekend.

Come Friday night their bite needs to be as big as their bark once again.

On the Road to the Holy Grail

Gary Ablett gets a clearance against St Kilda

The return of footy season is now complete with the AFL having gotten through a full round after two weekends. There were a few big upsets and much like in the NRL, whilst we don’t want to read too much into one game, there are still certainly some takeaways and observations to make after a very interesting round of matches.

Starting with the matches that took place over a week ago now, Essendon surprised many by putting all their off season controversy behind them and beating a very good Crows team in Adelaide. Whilst they may have lost a star in Kurt Tippett, there was and is no reason to think that Adelaide will not continue to be a force in 2013, especially with the continued development of players like Dangerfield, Sloane and Talia.

I expect the Crows to turn it around going forward, but it will be interesting to see if Essendon are actually for real or if they simply had one super performance in them as they were galvanised by the emotion of all the scrutiny they are under.

Even further west, the season saw the first Derby of 2013 with Fremantle looking the good against the Eagles. Both teams should be solid in 2013, but watch for Freo to really take a step up into the elite of the competition. They have a legitimate home field advantage, a coach who brings a very strong culture and a list of real talent, even if people don’t pay enough attention to them. This could be one of those years where the top 8 is dominated by non-Victorian teams.

On Thursday night we saw Richmond finally win a close game and get one over Carlton in their traditional Round 1 match. All three matches to this point had seen a team kick at least three early goals only to go on to lose. I think both Carlton and Richmond will be in a similar position this season, both fighting to make the 8 and at the end of the season and that could be a very handy four points for the Tigers. 2013 might finally be the year they actually get to play in September, however I think that’s about the best they can hope for this year. But I rate Hardwick as a coach and they are headed in the right direction.

Carlton is a hard one to judge. They have the mighty Mick Malthouse at the helm now and with a great coach, a champion in Chris Judd and other stars, they should be a very good team. But there is just something lacking there. They drift in and out of games and they must be very frustrating to support. Malthouse being Malthouse will get them on the right path, but fans will be expecting that to happen sooner rather than later.

On Saturday we saw the Bulldogs annihilate the Lions in a game many thought would be Brisbane’s coming out party. If you ever needed yet another reminder of how irrelevant the NAB Cup is, look at the Lions performance in this game. Preseason form could not mean less in AFL and the Swans have known that for years.

This is the year the Lions need to show they are moving towards a spot in the 8 or else Michael Voss might be looking for a new job. They have some absolute gun young players, although they also don’t have a huge amount of depth across the squad, so they still have a long way to go. I love me some Jack Redden though.

On the other side of the field, what a great performance by the Bulldogs. Many predict they will be real strugglers in 2013 but they didn’t get the message, at least for one game. Brett Goodes debuted at age 28 and put on a show his brother would be proud of. I am also proud of him as I smartly played in in my fantasy team on debut. Keep it up Goodesy!

The Swans as expected beat the Giants in the Sydney derby. The Swans were completely underdone and were not impressive in victory, but I expected as much. They are clearly taking a slow build into the season and looking to find form at the right time, much like Hawthorn did last season after a slow start. If the Swans can have a decent record when Tippett comes into the side half way through the season, then watch out for the champs on the road to September.

The Giants continue to show development and whilst they likely won’t win many games this season, they will make teams work hard to beat them. Patton and Cameron will be a dynamic forward duo and their midfield kids like Toby Greene are studs in the making.

The Gold Coast Suns are one year more advanced than the Giants and they had a big win over St Kilda. I don’t know why but I actually saw this one coming. I think St Kilda is going to struggle this season and it is time Gold Coast were actually competitive. It is year three for them in the AFL and they have no excuses for not being at least decent. Plus they have Gary Ablett and it really isn’t close for who the best player in the AFL is. He’s basically LeBron or Messi at this point.

Collingwood won running away from the Kangas on Sunday and I think that went about as expected. North showed heart but the Pies are just too good. No news there.

Port Adelaide put a beat down on the Demons as well in a game that showed a lot about the direction of both clubs. Port look like they will be competitive at least under new coach Ken Hinkley, whilst Melbourne is an abomination. The only bright light for the Dees’ fans was the performance of their debutants Jack Viney and Mark Jones. Viney in particular looks to be an absolute gun, but it is pretty damning when your best player is an 18 year old kid playing his first game. Half that team should be dropped.

Finally we have the big game between Hawthorn and Geelong. The Hawks started favourites but some things are bigger than that and the Kennett Curse is one of those things. When Geelong started to come back in that game I genuinely think it got into the heads of the Hawks players and they folded like a cheap suit. I expect the Hawks will still be a better team than Geelong this season, but head to head I am tipping the Cats until the Hawks prove me wrong.

It’s so great to have the AFL back in full swing and between the AFL, NRL, Super Rugby, A-League, Premier League and the American sports (March Madness in particular) that was one hell of a sports long weekend. My Dad and I barely moved for four days and I regret nothing.