YOUTH BASEBALL

KILLING DREAMS

As baseball season has officially started in most parts of the United States, we have reached the time of the year where we lose some of the best players in the country do to stupidity. Every year kids with hopes and dreams of becoming the next Clayton Kershaw or Noah Syndergaard will go through something that ruins their baseball career. Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) damage might not sound very familiar to you, but as baseball fans, Tommy John surgery is all too familiar. As I sat and watched a baseball tournament last weekend, I saw part of the problem. Watching a pitcher during a 13-year-old game, it was very noticeable with the constant stretching in between pitching and the “shaking it out” type movements when stepping off the mound. He was done, he might have had something left in the tank but his arm was physically done. He finished that inning and then came back out and pitched two more innings for his team. I was shocked, not only did the coaches throw him back out there, where were his parents?

So what is the big problem? First, it is overuse. Kids use to play three sports a year if nothing else it kept them in shape and ready for the next season. Now you can play baseball throughout the whole year. It’s awesome, indoor tournaments during the winter and as soon as the sun pops back out during the spring, tournaments every weekend starts. The true three-sport athletes are gone, not too many do three sports at all. You will still find two-sport athletes, but baseball still seems to be in their agenda for most of the year. Overuse is a huge deal with new studies that have come out that says over 75 pitches in a game or over 600 innings in a year increases the risk of elbow damage dramatically for kids 9 to 12 years old. If you play year around, 600 innings can be reached rather easy.

Second, as a parent understanding is a big part of it. With your child playing year around for a travel team, throw in school ball, and pick up a tournament here and there with other teams it is important for parents to talk to their child’s coaches. Let them know what you are comfortable with. The best preventative method of Tommy John surgery is educating yourself. Understand your child’s actions, watch him or her, you will be able to notice when their arm starts to hurt. With children, Tommy John surgery has a 33% success rate, with 40% of them having some sort of complications.

There are several ways to help your child. First, find someone to teach him or her the correct fundamentals of pitching. Bad mechanics can create huge problems. Then understand that the forearm helps stabilize the elbow. I would personally never tell any 9 year old to hit the gym and lift weights, but understand the wear and tear of someone that pitches a lot, resistant training is great for our youth. Wrist curls and other forearm exercises are just as important as working out the shoulders, legs, and back. Teach your children the importance of allowing your body to recover. If you can take a day or two off from throwing, then do it. Most kids, who love baseball can’t stay off the field, so focus more on hitting for the two days after pitching.

Finally, one of the most common things that parents and coaches allow to happen is to let kids throw any type of breaking ball. The twisting of the wrist and strain on the elbow that a breaking ball demands is horrible for our youth. The best pitchers that you face is not the one with the nasty curve ball, it’s the one that can hit the outside corner of the plate with their fastball and their changeup.

I am not trying to discourage you from letting your child play baseball or be a pitcher. If you get with the right 10 or 11 kids, it could be one of the best summers of their life. Just be aware, and do your own research on the matter. Don’t ruin your child’s baseball career because they were trying to help win games at 10 or 11 years old. Let them have fun and talk to them about the importance of listening to their body.

MAYDAY JAY JAY

Twitter @MayDayJJSports

MVP Cam Newton

Love Him Or Hate Him, It's one or the other

Common Sense,
not in the NFL front office. 

Cam Newton might have the athletic ability that the NFL has never seen before, but he is like so many other quarterbacks. The thing is, Cam Newton and Tom Brady are identical twins, you either love them or hate them. Tom Brady is either the best ever or the biggest cheater ever. It is no different with Cam Newton, you think it is awesome that someone can go out and have fun playing football, or you think he is a cocky arrogant player. However, we have to remember, when someone is having fun, it comes at someone else’s expense. As people, winning is easy, it is simple to win and let other people talk about you when you are having fun, but losing is not the same. Losing means that someone is having fun at your expense, and how you act during that is what makes up your character. If you talk the talk you must walk the walk both through the good and bad. Newton’s famous saying all year was that if you don’t like it then stop me, well Denver did that in a dominant way.

After the dominance from the Denver Broncos defense, Cam Newton gave a very short post-game press conference, which was not even three minutes long. After spending hours with the media throughout the week talking about everything under the sun and doing it with a smile on his face, the post game was anything but that. This creates two opinions, haters will cry that he is fake and lovers will say you have never been in his shoes before. However, the biggest problem, might be the one reoccurring problem throughout the NFL season and that’s the NFL itself. Newton’s press conference was right next to the Broncos press conference. You can clearly hear Denver’s defenders saying they did what they wanted to do and they wanted to force Newton to throw the ball because they didn’t think he could beat them. Not saying Newton should have left the press conference like he did, but do you really blame him.

It was a perfect ending for the NFL, after having nothing but problems all season long. Problems started with Tom Brady having his deflate gate suspension removed and followed by the Patriots owner calling out the NFL for how they handled the situation. Then you had the Bengals and Steelers in round one of their two-round bout. Next the highly criticized Odell Beckham Jr and Josh Norman UFC fight that took place in the later part of the season and how that was handled. Then round two of the Bengals and Steelers during Wild Card weekend where the NFL used the same referees that lost control of the first game, only to see the same thing happen again. Then the NFL forgot about all the things that needed to happen for teams to move and said if the owners approve the move it trumps everything else. Now putting the winning defense and losing quarterback right next to each other in the post-game Super Bowl press conference. Nobody could have thought that would be ok. One team is celebrating and the other is devastated. 

Although Newton should look back at this moment and learn from it, suck up his pride for five minutes and give a reasonable interview like most losing quarterbacks do. The young MVP will get his chance if this team stays together, he might even get several chances very soon. However, i

f he didn’t walk out of the interview, we might not be talking about this, but for the NFL, it ended perfectly with no common sense involved in another decision.

MAYDAY JAY JAY

Twitter @MayDayJJSports

Daytona is Roaring: 

The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona

Unlike any other racing event in North America, The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona is by far the most interesting. As we sit around waiting for the Super Bowl next weekend, flip the channel to the Rolex 24 and watch four different classes of cars all going around the track at the same time for close quarter racing the whole race. Don’t believe me, look at the finishing times from last year. The Prototype class, which is the fastest class in the field, had a second and a half gap between first and second. The GTLM class winner won by less than a half a second and the GTD class was just over seven seconds between first and second. Remember that this is after 24 hours of racing. As most owners bring three or four drivers together to make up a team, watching drivers adjust from day to night and back to daytime is impressive. Also impressive, the pit crews, who will change brakes throughout the race and fix anything you could imagine that could happen to a car, all while trying to keep their car in front. There are plenty of famous world known drivers in this years field to hit the high banked corners, the long straightaways, and the low speed turns of the Daytona road course, which is guaranteed to see a lot of action and some heartbreak.

PROTOYPE CLASS

Scott Pruett has left his long time race home of Chip Ganassi Racing and has not won since 2013. Pruett is tied with Hurley Haywood for most overall wins at 5 and has moved to the #5 Action Express Racing Corvette, who was the 2015 runner-ups and the 2014 winners. Pruett is joining other veteran drivers Christian Fittipaldi, and Joao Barbosa as well as team newcomer Filipe Albuquerque.

Scott Dixon is looking for overall win number 3 with the defending race winning #02 Ganassi Racing Ford. The #02 Ford is this years all-star car for Ganassi, with Dixon teaming up with Tony Kannan, Jamie McMurray, and Kyle Larson. All four drivers are back from last years winning team. If we look at history though, Ganassi has not won back to back since winning 3 in a row in 06, 07, and 08.  

Michael Shank Racing has been off since the big win in 2012, where AJ Allmendinger rallied back the #60 car with an unbelievable last stint to pull off a big upset at the time. Since 2012 the #60 car has not been around to contend for the win at the end of the race. Last year they ended up 35 laps back of the leader, but three out of the four drivers from that 2012 team are back in the car this year looking for another win.  

The big question with the Prototype class in 2016 is how far has the DeltaWing Racing team improved since last year. The trike looking race car is by far the most unique in the field and got a lot of hype last year only to drop out of the race an hour and twenty-two minutes in, finishing dead last.

Another team to keep your eye on this year is the third place car from last year, the #10 Corvette for Wayne Taylor Racing. Bringing back all three drivers who finished third last year, Wayne Taylor Racing has been inching his way to an overall win for years.  

Predicting a winner in the Prototype class is crazy considering after 24 hours last year the top three ended up a minute and seven seconds from each other. However, with a record six owner wins in this event, it is hard to go against the Ganassi teams, but win number six for Pruett will finally come.

PROTOTYPE CLASS PREDICTION: #5 Action Express Racing Corvette

PROTOTYPE CHALLENGE CLASS

The Prototype Challenge Class is the smallest class in the field and could be the easiest to pick. The class is the only class last year that didn’t provide us with last lap racing to see who was going to win, due to a late race problem with the #54 Core Autosport Car. The #54 car, like every year, is by far the favorite again. Why not, they win the series championship year after year and usually wins this class in the Rolex 24. The main reason for this year though, Jon Bennett, Mark Wilkins, and Colin Braun are back in the car this year and they had the fastest times in the field during the Roar before the 24 test weeks ago. Throw Prototype superstar Martin Plowman on the team and you have a favorite.

PROTOTYPE CHALLENGE CLASS PREDICTION: #54 Core Autosport Chevy

GT Le Mans (GTLM) Class

            The GTLM class has 11 cars this year and making a big entrance to the class is the Chip Ganassi Racing Team.  With two cars entered in the field, Ganassi has brought in big names like Joey Hand and Sebastien Bourdais, who are both previous overall winners, in the #66 car. Ryan Briscoe, who won this class in the #3 Corvette Racing car last year, switches to the Ganassi Ford and heads up the #67 car.

            This class is expected to be the most competitive as last years winners won by less than a second. With Ferrari, BMW, Porsche, Chevrolet, and Ford all battling it out for the class win, it could be the most interesting class in the field and defiantly the favorite to come down to the wire.

To say there is a clear cut favorite would be a crazy thing to say. As in the Prototype class, this class has several teams with the ability to pull out the win. Throw in the fact that they have to make it 24 hours to get the win, and it is hard not to go with the resources that Chip Ganassi Racing has, even though this is his first time running this class. Although Briscoe won the class last year, the experience of Hand and Bourdais will come in handy during this event.

GTLM PREDICTION: #66 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford

GT Daytona (GTD) Class

            The GTD Class is the biggest class by far with 22 different entries and with a seven second difference from first to second last year, another very competitive race is expected. Last year we saw the Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper and Porsche of Alex Job Racing battle the whole race. Stevenson Motorsports and Magnus Racing have moved to the new Audi R8 LMS GT3. Stevenson Motorsports will field two teams, #6 and #9, with the new Audi and will be interesting to watch. Andy Lally, who has won 4 times in this class and has found a home with the #44 car, will anchor the Magnus Racing Audi.  Aston Martin is also coming back in 2016 with two cars from two different teams.

            As the GT Class is fun to watch with all the different manufactures, Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, Dodge, Ferrari, BMW, and Ashton Martin, the competition should be just as good as it was last year. It should be a fight with the Vipers and Porsches again this year for the class win. The uncertain is the new Audi, but the disappointment of many problems last year should have the #44 car hungry for a win. Lally will be joined by team owner John Potter and Rene Rast, who were the drivers that won the GTD class in 2012.  

GTD CLASS PREDICTION: #44 Magnus Racing Audi

The Rolex 24 starts at 2pm Saturday January 30^th and is being broadcasted throughout the entire race. Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 will carry the majority of the daytime hours. The nighttime, from 10pm to 7am, will be available on the IMSA website. The website will also have the radio broadcast of the whole event.  

MAYDAY JAY JAY

Twitter @MayDayJJSports

"The Great One"

Wayne Gretzky Turns 55 Years Old

On January 26, 2016 it is easy to look at sports and think history. The Golden State warriors are off to a 40 and 4 start, chasing Jordan’s Bulls 72 win season.  The sheriff, Peyton Manning is headed to his fourth Super Bowl and maybe his final game of his record breaking career. On the other side of Super Bowl 50 is Cam Newton, who has looked like a Steve Young on steroids this season. For kids these days, sports are better than ever. Even tennis is being highlighted on sports channels, every interview from your favorite player can be seen on the Internet, and independent reporters with their cell phone cameras cover everything else. Even college conferences have their own TV channels. What else can you ask for in today’s sporting world? Nothing. Well, maybe nothing because the only major sport that is not up to par with the others in America is Hockey. Hockey is struggling, it does not get the attention of other sports. Any other day of the year Hockey can take the back seat in my car, but not today.  Today is the 55^th birthday of the GREAT ONE, Wayne Gretzky.

To kids and a lot of other sports fans in 2016, Jordan is the greatest to ever play basketball, everyone has an opinion on quarterbacks, and baseball has even bounced back to become a standard on household televisions. Hockey has continued to fall down the charts and it is a shame because one of the most dominant athletes to ever play any sport is almost forgotten by this generation.  By dominant, I would compare Gretzky as “better” at his sport than Jordan was at basketball. Gretzky has 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 all-star records. The most impressive thing that can be said is that Gretzky has more assists (1,963) than the person in second place on the all time points list (Messier, 1,887 points and assists combined). Scoring his 50th goal just after turning 19 years old, Gretzky is the only player to ever reach 2,000 career points (894 goals and 1,963 assists) and he had over 3,000 career points (1,016 goals and 2,223 assists) if you include the playoffs.

As you can imagine, the trophy case in Gretzky’s house is full, with 9 MVP awards that came within a 10-year period (8 in a row), 2 Finals MVPs, and 4 Stanley Cup wins.  With 50 hat tricks in his career, the records can be typed out until you get tired of typing. The Great One was just that indeed, "GREAT" and maybe one of the greatest athletes in any sport to ever play any game. He dominated his game like nobody has ever done and there is a good possibility that nobody ever will. As some of his records will fall with the new rules that come and go in Hockey, the points record will never be broken.

If you are not familiar with Wayne Gretzky, I challenge every child, adult, male, or female that has a love for any sport to YouTube or Google "The Great One." Find out for yourself that the most dominant athlete to ever play on this earth is one of the most forgot about athletes of all time.  If there is anytime that Hockey should be a lead story in sports, out of respect for Wayne Gretzky, it should be January 26, every year.

MAYDAY JAY JAY

Twitter @MayDayJJSports

Aaron Rodgers: 

Numbers might be down but greatness is soaring

Although it is playoff time in the NFL and we seem to continue to see the same quarterbacks leading their teams to the post season, I am starting to wonder why Aaron Rodgers is underrated when it comes to great quarterbacks to ever play the game. When it comes to legends in the NFL right now, of course the sheriff, Peyton Manning comes to mind, although his playoff woes have stuck with him throughout his career. Tom Brady is another one and rightfully so, he has plugged in skill players his whole career and continued to win at a high rate. However, Rodgers is doing something this year that can only be considered as “greatness.” Willing his team to win with most of his weapons off the field or just not showing up to play. Randall Cobb is one of his only targets back from last year that is still suiting up, James Jones was brought back to fill a void, but as everyone knows nobody wins vs. age. The run game has been nowhere to be found in the majority of the games. The offensive line is bad to put it nicely and somehow, someway Rodgers still led his team to a ten win season with 31 touchdowns and quarterback rating of 92.

In years past Rodgers has had good defenses, explosive receivers, and a run game, but he is doing exactly what Tom Brady has done in years past. They can be compared in the way that they both have slot receivers to get the ball too, but the real difference is that when things get rough, Brady tosses the ball to Gronk and Gronk rumbles over some people. When watching Rodgers, it is obvious that most of his throws gets his receivers open, as they cannot create space on their own. While doing this under tremendous pressure, being sacked 46 times this season (2^nd most in the NFL), the numbers of years past are not there but the winning ways continue.

Although the Packers have created a tough draw if they wish to make a run to the Super Bowl this year, the year that Rodgers has had should be ranked as one of the most impressive in his career. The will to win and the drive to continue on course must have been put to a test this year, but Rodgers has succeeded with flying colors. Even if the post season comes up as a disappointment to the Packers organization this year, everyone involved has to look at Rodgers in a different way and getting Jordie Nelson back next season might allow the balance to come back.  

MAYDAY JAY JAY

Twitter @MayDayJJSports