What are the Implications of the Lions’ Jameson Williams Suspension?

A few years ago, various state legislatures saw fit to make sports gambling legal in their jurisdictions.  Aside from the financial windfall, this brings to many communities, it can also bring unwanted consequences to the sports themselves. A prime example of this occurred this week when 4 NFL players were suspended for engaging in gambling activities that were against NFL policy. Because of these occurrences and other problems that could arise, it would be prudent to ban sports gambling altogether once again.  Though this is the best possible solution to ensuring these issues don’t become more widespread, the chances of it happening are slim and none.

Jameson Williams, an Ohio State alum, was one of four players on the Detroit Lions’ roster disciplined for their role in some league prohibited gambling activities.  It is against League policy to place bets on any NFL happenings.  Moreover, it is considered unacceptable to place money on anything at any team or NFL facility.  To me, the play in this rule is preposterous, either gambling by NFL personnel should be eliminated totally, or bets should be allowed to be placed anywhere, as long as, it doesn’t relate to NFL matters.  As one can see, current rules can be misinterpreted or misunderstood quite easily.

Two of the four Lions suspended were done so indefinitely as a result of gambling on NFL football activities.  However, they will be permitted to apply for reinstatement at the beginning of next season.  It’s likely that their punishment will conclude at that time, as other players have been reinstated to the league after similar offenses.  Because the Lions brass chose to release these two players, they won’t be returning to the NFL in a Lions uniform.  If the current punishment for betting on sports becomes the standard, Pete Rose, former manager for Major League Baseball’s Cincinnati Reds, is owed an apology, along with reinstatement to MLB.  In his case, he claims he bet on baseball, but not his own team.   Similar to Rose, Williams did not bet on team related activities, therefore, he received a greatly reduced penalty of only 6 games.  His infraction arose due to placing bets on team property.  Short of banning gambling altogether, it’s imperative that NFL management create clear guidelines that are easily followed to prevent the need for such discipline in the future.

Needless to say, it’s clear the financial cash flow that sports betting creates is enormous.  At the same time however, it allows for a clear path for corruption and fraudulent activities.  The financial boon to communities and teams isn’t worth the risk of compromising athletic competition.  Yes, there are safeguards in place to prevent such events, but undoubtedly, workarounds can be found, so misconduct can be masked.  Therefore, the best solution is to cease sports gambling.  If this isn’t possible, make sure rules are clear and concise to eliminate fraudulent behavior.

Given the prominence of the NFL, it’s necessary that they have clear and concise regulations in all areas to avoid intentional or unintentional violations of policies.  When it comes to sports betting and NFL players and personnel, it is crucial that clear policies are developed to maintain the integrity of the game.  Because of the actions of Jameson Williams and others, the league still has work to do.  If these issues are not addressed, problems such as these will continue to arise.

Current Version of Pistons Could Determine Tom Gores Ownership Legacy

 When former owner of the Detroit Pistons Bill Davidson passed away in 2009, his widow Karen Davidson made the decision to sell the franchise.  After some brief overtures by the late Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch to buy the organization, it was ultimately sold to Genesee, Michigan native Tom Gores for $325 million.  Obviously, everyone hoped that playoff runs, and championship drives would become a staple under the new boss.  Unfortunately, however, things have not gone as planned under Gores leadership so far.  With some new blood recently in the organization, the owner and Pistons fans hope fortunes will change.

Since taking the helm in 2011, success has been hard to find for Gores.  Despite numerous coaching changes and roster overhauls, the Pistons have only made the playoffs once under the new owner.  Along with this, their record is well under .500.  Marquee signings have not worked out, or have been unable to get the Pistons on the right track on a consistent basis.  It’s difficult to assess whether it is bad luck or a lack of the knowledge that would allow Gores to give the proper attention to the right areas that create a successful basketball organization.

With the hiring of new General Manager Troy Weaver a few years back, it appears Gores is committed to building an organization completely through the draft.  These next few years may cement whether history will deem Gores successful as an owner.  Will he be able to put a consistent winner on the court.  With the additions of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, and others, he and Pistons sure hope so.  Many of these players have shown flashes of success, but can they put it all together to bring a Championship or two to Detroit?

One major flaw in the ownership style of the Michigan Native, is that he appears more focused on facility matters than building a championship team.  For starters, shortly after taking over the franchise, he made the decision to move the team to Little Caesar’s Arena to share the property with the Detroit Red Wings.  In addition, this would include a new practice facility for the Pistons.  What’s the problem with this?  Their former home, the Palace, was only 25 years old and had a state of the art practice facility of its own. Furthermore, it was much more accessible than a downtown arena.  If you have top of the line amenities, but put a poor product on the court, it isn’t a recipe for creating a successful sports organization.  It’s now imperative that Gores concentrate on building a quality product on the court, if he wants to bring Championships to Detroit, as he says he does.

To say Tom Gores ownership has been tumultuous would be an understatement.  This team has woefully underperformed under his leadership.  One of the reasons for this is because Gores is attempting to run a world class organization from his California home.  Yes, that’s right, this owner is trying to operate an NBA organization from afar.  If Tom genuinely wants success in Detroit, he needs to be invested in the day to day operations of the ball club.  This means being present frequently, and knowing first hand what decisions need to be made, and how to make them.  Until he comes to this conclusion, it’s quite possible the Pistons will continue to flounder.

What Did the Tigers See in Javier Baez?

 Beginning in the 2021 season, the Tigers seemed destined for some desperately needed successful seasons.  Therefore, they were ready to add some corner pieces to build a team around.  One of those major pieces was supposed to be Javier Baez.  He was supposed to contribute with his offensive and defensive abilities to this team.  Unfortunately, so far with the Tigers, he has been unable to put it all together to have success on the field.

In studying his career statistics, it’s difficult to determine what the front office of the Tigers saw in him that deemed him deserving of a of a long term contract.  In a brief look, you find that he has never played more than 160 games in one season.  In fact, for most of his career, he’s played well under 100 games per season, while having a mid .200 batting average most of the time.  Furthermore, in his 9 year career, he has never had a .300 batting average.  Obviously, these numbers indicate that Baez should have never been considered a marquee player.

With his lack of playing time, it may be difficult to know how he could perform if he were able to string together years of significant playing time.  Looking at the sample we do have however, we see he has struck out well over 100 times per season, and has been unable to attain 500 plate appearances in any particular season.  In order to be considered an elite player, you must hit close to .300 rather consistently.  In Baez’s case, his highest average in any season was .299.  With these numbers, it’s hard to see why the Tigers wanted to make him a foundational piece of their organization.

Not only do Javier Baez’s offensive performances not meet the standards of what is expected of him, but his defensive statistics even further bolster the premise that he does not deserve to be labeled a great player.  In 2022, he lead MLB in errors, and appeared to struggle throwing the ball accurately. To further display his defensive shortcomings, he ranks 133rd in defensive play in MLB.  Unfortunately, Baez has fell far below what was expected of him by the organization.  It’s difficult to find what the Tigers did, in order to place such high expectations of him.

To develop great teams, you must build around players that have great track records offensively, defensively, or both.  You can’t depend on players who have had brief periods of success here or there to become elite players.  It was quite apparent that this may have been what the team expected Baez to do.  To give him an incentive, they gave him a hefty contract that may come back to bite the organization in their hind quarters.

What Will Be the Long Term Impact of New MLB Rules?

 Ever since Major League Baseball has been in existence, its bedrock rules have remained relatively unchanged, except for minor tweaks here or there.  That all changed at the beginning of the 2020 season, when a ghost runner began being placed on second base in extra innings.  Fast forward to the 2023 campaign, and we now have several other regulations in place to speed the pace of play, and increase the action of the game.  The impacts on the manner in which the game is carried out will be felt for the rest of the game’s existence.

One of the most consequential rules added in 2023, was the implementation of a pitch clock.  As one might surmise, under this regulation, a pitcher has only so much time to deliver a pitch to home plate.  If the time is exceeded, an automatic ball will be assessed to the pitcher. Because of this rule, so far this season, the duration of games have been dramatically shorter.  In fact, games have gone from an average of 3 hours last season, to 2 hours and 38 minutes in 2023.  On the field, a pitch clock enforcement could cause pitchers who take longer to deliver pitches to not perform as well as they normally would.  Therefore, it is likely that more runs could be scored, as a direct result of the pitch clock.  Traditionally, baseball has been an untimed sport, and now a clock addition could directly impact performances.  In my estimation, history will not reflect well on MLB for altering the way the game is played in such a dramatic manner.

Continuing in the vain of accelerating game times and increasing scoring, MLB saw fit to create a “disengagement” limit on pitchers.  In other words, the pitchers can only step off the rubber, or throw to first base twice per batter.  On the 3rd “disengagement,” the pitcher must record an out, or a balk is called.  Inevitably, this will and has led to more stolen bases.  In fact, on opening day alone in 2023, there were 23 attempted stolen bases, 21 of which were stolen.  Compare this to the same day in 2022, when there were only 9 stolen base attempts, 5 of which were stolen.  What changed you ask?  Base runners now know when they can steal, with no threat of a throw over by the pitcher.  To me, this is “sanctioned cheating,” and eliminates an important strategic aspect of the game.  We should never mess with the foundational rules of the game, because it is what makes the game great.

Simultaneously, while tearing at the fabric of the game, MLB reinstated a statute of the sport that has existed for all time.  MLB mandated that two players must be on each side of second base.  In other words, the first baseman and second baseman must stay on the left side of second base, while the shortstop and third baseman must remain on the right side.  Consequently, this will lead to more base hits, and more runs.  In my opinion, implementing this singular rule could increase scoring in an ethical way.  In fact, this is the only change that affects baseball positively.

Making such radical changes to a sport for efficiency and entertainment purposes does irreparable damage to the purity of the sport.  To me, other measures could have been taken that do not so blatantly erode the foundational facets of baseball.  It could have been done in a way that doesn’t alter the strategies of the game. Clearly, all of this was executed because of our society that demands instant gratification.  Sad.