I Want the Universal Designated Hitter and I Want It Now

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With Major League Baseball Spring Training now underway, it was no surprise to hear that the league and the Player’s Association were once again discussing potential rule changes for the game. It’s an almost annual occurrence now, with the limiting of mound visits last year and the expansion of the playoffs in 2012 examples of recent proposals that were ultimately implemented. This spring, one proposal in particular seems to be receiving the most attention – the universal designated hitter.

It’s high time that both leagues play by the same rules, and I strongly support the idea of a universal designated hitter. Twenty years ago, when teams were scoring runs at record levels, there was no call for a universal designated hitter. Actually, there were calls for the American League to repeal the designated hitter rule. In 1996, teams scored 5.04 runs per game and it was the first time runs per game topped 5 in 60 years. Runs per game spiked to 5.14 in 2000, but have been steadily decreasing ever since.

In 2018, teams scored 4.45 runs per game. In 2014, teams scored just 4.07 runs per game. That 2014 number was the lowest runs per game number since the strike-shortened 1981 season (4.00) and the third-lowest number of the DH era (1973-present). A universal designated hitter would provide more offense to the game and help reverse this trend.

A universal designated hitter would also provide more action to a game desperately in need of it. Pitchers like David Price taking 40 seconds between pitches is certainly an issue, but the long time between balls being put into play is a bigger issue. Balls in play are way down and strikeouts are way up. Last year’s National League Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom hit .164 at the plate. He struck out 25 times – and had just 11 hits – in 74 plate appearances. Number 9 hitters with stat lines like that don’t make the game more fun to watch.

A universal designated hitter would also speed games up by removing most double switches, cutting down on pinch hitters, and maybe even cutting down on relief pitchers if managers can keep their starters in the game longer and go to the bullpen later.

From a competitive standpoint, National League teams and fans should be clamoring for a universal designated hitter. In 22 years of regular season interleague play, the American League holds a 3032-2732 record and a .526 winning percentage. The American League has won more regular season interleague games in 17 of the 22 seasons that have featured interleague play. American League teams have also won 18 of the 32 World Series played since 1986, when the current World Series designated hitter rules were adopted (both teams use a DH in games in AL ballparks, pitchers hit in games in NL ballparks). Clearly, AL teams don’t lose much when they lose a designated hitter. David Ortiz could always play first base 5-6 times a year. NL teams don’t gain much, though, when they get to insert a light-hitting utility infielder or fourth outfielder into their lineup as their designated hitter du jour.

Because the current baseball collective bargaining agreement runs through the 2021 season, it’s unlikely we see the designated hitter at places like Dodger Stadium or Wrigley Field before 2022. Still, it’s an easy chip for Major League Baseball to trade to the Player’s Association in exchange for something else they want. Compared to the alternatives of banning shifts or other more dramatic changes to the fabric of the game, though, a universal designated hitter seems like an easy way to modernize and refresh the game.

The 300s Continues to Grow: Introducing Two New Bloggers

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As The 300s continues to grow its footprint in the sports entertainment world we’ve been creating more and more content so naturally I’ve been on the lookout for additional personalities. Guys that are funny and knowledgeable yet possess a healthy dose of sarcasm; guys you’d want to have discussions from the cheap seats with. With that being said we’ve brought on two new bloggers that will jump in and help us build out our writing, podcasting, and videos. More updates on the specifics coming soon, but without further ado lets meet the new guys!

Jimmy Lips
@Jimmy2Lips

Bringing you a New York state of mind from the Jersey side of the Hudson River. I moonlight as a researcher for MLB and NHL Network. In my spare time I like to perform “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” for karaoke.

Dom

Will be moving to DC and then to some foreign country soon to live out my life as a Boston curmudgeon abroad. Went to QU for a film degree I used twice.

 

#RushHourRap – J. Cole – NBA All-Star Game Halftime Show

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If you’re a frequent reader of #RushHourRap then you know I am a J. Cole stan. Ever since I first heard The Warm Up mixtape in 2009. J. Cole has always been one of the best live performers in the game. I’ve seen him live multiple times from small venues like the Paradise in Boston where I saw him for $1 to watching him at the Garden where he performed his entire show sitting on a stool. And every time Jermaine brings it. Every damn day. He did just that last night in the place I least expected it; the NBA All-Star game.

Performing in his throwback Hornets starter jacket just a few miles from his hometown, J. Cole played for over 10 minutes straight with maybe 2 or 3 breaths taken the entire time. He didn’t show up and just play some of the hits and the hooks, he rapped some of his best stuff showcasing his lyrical ability to a bunch of people who probably weren’t expecting it. He legitimately killed it at an event best known for partying, mediocre dunk contests, tampering player recruitment, and the absence of defense.

Even LeBron had to stop and watch the show.

Have a weekend J. Cole. First it was helping out Dennis Smith, then nearly showing up every scrub in the NBA dunk contest to now putting on the best halftime show I’ve seen in a long time.

Patriots 2018 Report Card (Part 2): Defense

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The new league year starts in less than a month (March 13), and the Pats will have a lot of decisions to make in the coming weeks, especially considering the fact that 18 (!) guys from this year’s championship squad are set to hit unrestricted free agency.

But again, before we hop into the future, I’m here to bring you Part 2 of our 2018 Patriots report card. Last week, we focused on Brady and the offense; this week, we’re grading out the defense.

Overall, the Pats finished with the league’s 21st-ranked defense, but they did allow the seventh-least amount of points per game. As we’ve seen with most Belichick defenses over the years, the boys played a lot of “bend but don’t break” ball this year, giving up some yards but still finishing with the fourth-best opponent’s scoring percentage, only behind Chicago, Baltimore, and Houston. They also had the fourth-best turnover percentage, hauling in 18 interceptions on the year. And they even grabbed 10 fumble recoveries, too, which was good for 12th.

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Now the new official head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Brian Flores did a great job with this unit in 2018.

The point is, the defense doesn’t get enough credit for just how important they were to the team’s success this season – especially in regards to the secondary, which featured First-Team All-Pro Stephon Gilmore and the dynamic McCourty twins duo.

To be honest, some guys (or groups) played much better than others, and, just like with the passing offense, the team certainly wasn’t without its flaws on the defensive side of the ball either.

Let’s look at the grade sheet…

Defensive Line: B

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The play of the defensive line starts and ends with Trey Flowers. Both Red and I have never made any secret of our love for the do-it-all defensive end, who has been the leader of the team’s front seven for the past three seasons. In fact, Flowers was so good in 2018 that Pro Football Focus ranked him at No. 21 on its list of the 101 best players from this past season. Primarily a defensive end, Flowers is actually one of the more versatile D-lineman in the league, playing almost a quarter of his snaps from the inside and wreaking havoc no matter where he lines up. It seems as though he finds his way into the backfield on almost every play, and his 78 pressures (including the postseason) were the second most in the league. His 7.5 sacks also led the team. (SPOILER ALERT: Flowers was the team’s defensive MVP this season; yes, even over Gilmore.)

The team has a gigantic decision to make this offseason, as the 25-year-old is set to hit the open market. Belichick needs to open up the purse and lock this guy down for the long term, as he truly could serve as the foundation of the team’s D for much of the next decade. Usually pretty frugal as a franchise, the Pats HAVE TO change course and do whatever it takes to bring this guy back. PLEASE.

Lawrence Guy was also outstanding, even though most casual fans may not know who the hell he is. That’s no disrespect to the big fella, but most run-stuffing defensive tackles don’t usually get the love they deserve. The Pats struggled mightily as a team against the run at points this season (which I blame mostly on the linebackers), but they still finished 11th in the league against the opposing ground attack. Guy was a huge reason why, finishing with an elite 91.1 run-stuffing grade from PFF and coming in at No. 83 on the same list of best players Flowers found himself on this year.

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This “Guy” deserves a ton of credit for his play this year. (Sorry, I had to.)

Malcolm Brown, another unrestricted free agent, was up and down this year. He lost more playing time than anticipated to second-year man Adam Butler. But overall, Brown was pretty consistent, or at least reliable, often taking on double teams that freed up others around him. Still, I wouldn’t say he did anything particularly special, and I’m predicting the team lets him walk this spring. (Also, Butler is a very underappreciated player on this line. Unlike Brown, Butler can rush the passer from the inside and has five sacks over the past two seasons. He came on strong as a rookie UDFA last season, and he could take a big leap forward with another solid showing in 2019.)

I thought Danny Shelton and Adrian Clayborn would’ve played a bigger roles after the Pats started last offseason off with a bang by bringing both guys in. Both were expected to make a much bigger impact, especially Clayborn. But, for some reason, each of them struggled to earn playing time in a crowded rotation, and Shelton was even benched entirely for one stretch of the season (before coming on strong in the playoffs). Both had their (brief) moments this year, but overall they were a major disappointment.

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Clayborn played nowhere even close to how a guy making over $6 million per year should.

Finally, injuries slowed the trajectory of young guys like Derek Rivers and Deatrich Wise, Jr. this year, but I’m still excited about their potential. In fact, Wise, who finished with 4.5 sacks on the year, was my pick for defensive MVP this preseason after a solid rookie year. I’m looking forward to what these two can still do next season if they start off with a good camp.

Linebackers: D+

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I really don’t have many great things to say about the team’s linebacking corps, and I’ve felt this way ever since the summer.

Let me just start by saying that Dont’a Hightower is one of the most overrated Patriots players in recent memory. Yes, he’s made some pretty big stops in his career in some pretty big moments, but the 28-year-old has noticeably slowed in recent years, often struggling to keep up with speedy opponents. He can still lay the wood on opposing ball-carriers, but that is only if he’s able to get to them first. And forget about pass-coverage, as both he and Kyle Van Noy allowed almost 70 percent of the passes they were targeted in coverage this postseason to be completed – and this was after the Pats already allowed the 11th-most receiving yards per game to opposing running backs throughout the regular season. There were also six games in which the Pats gave up over 130 yards on the ground.

At least Van Noy makes up for his poor coverage skills by being an above-average to excellent pass-rusher at times. His 3.5 sacks may not jump off the page, but he continuously applied pressure to opposing signal-callers all year, particularly in the postseason. He and Flowers were easily the team’s two best guys off the edge, and I believe Van Noy does play a pretty key role on the team’s D.

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For as much flak as I give Van Noy, he can be pretty important at times.

Elandon Roberts – literally the only other linebacker to see significant playing time in 2018 – is entirely forgettable at this point. While once looked upon to be a potential piece for the team’s future, he struggled to even stay on the field this year. There’s really nothing more to say about him.

Fortunately, the Pats still have preseason standout Ja’Whuan Bentley, a promising rookie who was lost for the year due to injury in Week 3 against Detroit. I’m excited about what he can bring to the table. But again, this unit is in desperate need of an upgrade this offseason, especially in terms of guys with sideline-to-sideline ability. This should be one of the team’s main areas of focus over the next few months.

Defensive Secondary: A-

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It shouldn’t come as a surprise that this is the unit receiving the highest grade, as the secondary was dominant at times this season. Remember, stats can be misleading; I realize the team finished 22nd against the pass, but that only means that they gave up a lot of yards – not points. Because truthfully, Stephon Gilmore routinely eliminated the opponent’s top weapon; in the 13 games he tracked receivers this year, he only allowed 42 catches on 90 targets for a measly 466 yards, per PFF. He was also selected as one of the league’s top two cornerbacks this season, earning his first All-Pro honors.

But it’s not all about Gilmore. As a team, the Pats finished 12th against thier opponents’ No. 2 receiver and fourth against “all other” wide receivers in terms of DVOA. Safeties Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung, and Duron Harmon (who also served as a hyrbid linebacker at times) helped locked down the back end of the defense all year. They helped the team finish as the eighth-best against the tight end position as well.

Rookie J.C. Jackson was also a revelation. The undrafted free agent out of Maryland used a surprise standout preseason to springboard himself into a starting role opposite Gilmore as the season wore on. He did not come without his struggles, but his rapid ascension shows a lot of promise for him going forward.

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The rookie far exceeded expectations in 2018.

And finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give some special shine to Jason McCourty. The Pats went out and brought him in on a flyer this offseason, trading a low draft pick to snatch him away from the Cleveland Browns, who were likely going to cut him otherwise. While he was still a serviceable corner in 2017, he was on his second team and looking at a career crossroads before coming to New England. But in 2018? He finished with the 11th-highest coverage grade at the position, per PFF, and the seventh-best mark against the run. He also played the most snaps he’s played since 2012, and he is another guy the team must make a priority to re-sign this offseason.

Much like the offensive line, you could argue that this group also deserves to be a collective MVP. They were absolutely fantastic.

(Defensive MVP): Trey Flowers – Many might want to give the nod to Gilmore here, but I’ve said pretty much all I needed to say about the star defensive end above. Flowers is the engine that keeps the defense running. He was an absolute stud again in 2018.

(Biggest Surprise): Jason McCourty – For a guy who many weren’t even sure would make it out of training camp, he was vital to the team’s final outcome this season. Perhaps revitalized playing with his twin brother, here’s to hoping the double trouble continues in Foxborough moving forward.

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(Biggest Disappointment): The Linebackers – I’m really hoping the team makes an investment at this position this offseason. I’m just plain sick of watching these guys out there. Plain and simple.

Be sure to stay tuned to The 300s for all your Patriots offseason talk, which should ramp up even more in the coming weeks. No rest for the weary! On to 2019!

I’ve Had it Up to Here with Kyrie

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This is a really difficult thing to write, but deep down in our hearts, I think most of us as Celtics fans know the truth. It’s time to move on from Kyrie Irving. Let me first say I love Kyrie the basketball player. On the court, he’s one of the most exciting, acrobatic, clutch guys I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching on a daily basis. In my mind he’s the best ball handler of all time. The shots he can and often does make are ridiculous. 

That being said, not only do the numbers show that we play better without him, but I think his attitude is toxic to the Celtics locker room culture. First, the numbers. In 11 games without Irving this year, here’s how we’ve looked:

  • With Irving, Boston has shot 46 percent from the field. Without him, that number improves to over 48.5%
  • When it comes to scoring, the Celtics average 112.8 with Irving, 113.9 without him. 
  • On defense, Boston is allowing 107.3 points with Irving in. But that drops all the way to 103.4 points per game when he’s out. Last year it was the same, allowing 4 less ppg with him out.
  • Without Kyrie, Celtics are 21-3 at home since he’s joined the club

Now I get that 11 games is a small sample size and a lot of those games are against bad teams, and I also get that typically high scoring guards like Westbrook and Lillard have similar effects on their teams defense, but this is only the first point in my argument. Now you can say that last year our offense scored 7 less points per game without Kyrie than with, but it’s clear from watching this team our offense has taken a big step forward, especially in 2019. Rozier, Tatum, Brown, Hayward (obviously) are all significantly better offensive players right now than they were this time last year. And we saw what they could do as a team in the playoffs. Although they couldn’t beat Lebron, having that experience is only going to make them better in the years to come.

I also understand that as currently constructed, this team benefits from Kyrie being on the floor. His clutch gene in the playoffs is up there with the best, plus having a backup PG like Rozier is huge. BUT, when I say time to move on, I mean it’s time to move on from treating Kyrie like the Crown Prince of Boston.

It’s time for Danny Ainge, the media and everyone else to stop acting like Kyrie’s ego is the only thing that matters. And here’s why:


KYRIE IS A FUCKING HEADCASE.

Listen to his interviews throughout the season and you’ll see what I’m talking about. First, he says if you’ll have me I want my number hanging in the rafters at the Garden. Then you having him calling out teammates, whining to the media, having hissy fits on the court to his coach and to a guy who’s leg snapped in half 15 months ago, saying we need veterans cuz these young bucks can’t cut it, saying he doesn’t owe anybody anything and only cares about himself. On top of that, all anyone wants to talk about is whether or not he’s getting traded, if he’s staying put, if we’re going to trade and pair Davis and Kyrie. It’s like he’s bipolar and he’s using the media as his shrink, but instead of doctor-patient confidentiality it’s the exact opposite of that.

The trade talk alone is enough to rattle young guys like Tatum and Brown, but when you also don’t know which version of Kyrie you’re going to have to talk to after the game that night, I can only imagine how that wears on these guys. Kyrie is like one of those crazy girlfriends from Entourage who you can’t stand to listen to but can’t look away from because they’re just that sexy. 

With all of these things to consider, it’s no wonder why Marcus Morris said nobody is having fun. They don’t know if they’re gonna get yelled at for not being serious by a guy who needs to sit out a week because he ran around a screen the wrong way. He’s got everyone on edge and half these guys are too young to know how to handle it. Do you remember the first couple times you got yelled at on the job? When it happened to me, I was somewhere between “I want to punch this dick in the face” and “Holy shit I can’t believe I made a mistake,” so I just froze. Kyrie is not a good leader, and it’s no surprise because his role model in Cleveland was King Diva himself. Earlier this season Jaylen Brown, in response to Kyrie’s locker room ranting, said. “We can’t make comments. We can’t point fingers. We just gotta empower each other. If we don’t everybody’s going to go into their own little shell.” And Kyrie has been doing exactly…not that.

The icing on the cake with this whole thing is that Kyrie is going to play in the All Star game tonight after missing a week with a knee sprain, a part of his body he’s had trouble with his whole career predating the NBA. And this motherfucker wants to go play grab-ass with Lebron and AD in some bizarro-world Lebron’s All-Star Recruiting Night? It’s completely astounding to me that Danny and Brad have no problem with this, and are just like, “he’ll have a trainer with him so it’s cool.” Fuck off Kyrie. 


*Side note: It’s very possible I have this all wrong, and it’s actually Kyrie doing the recruiting of Davis. I’ll eat my words if, months from now, Davis says talking with Kyrie at the ASG changed his mind and convinced him to come to Boston. Also, Kyrie can make this all better by shutting up with media and taking over for the rest of the season. Less ego, more hoop.

Have You Ever Messed Up One Thing at Work So Bad That They Fired You?

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ESPN – The New Orleans Pelicans fired general manager Dell Demps on Friday, clearing the way for a new top basketball executive to oversee the Anthony Davis trade talks, league sources told ESPN.

This is laugh out loud funny, ridiculous, and just plain sad all at once. Dell Demps screwed the pooch SO bad on trading Anthony Davis that the Pelicans used this one catastrophe to straight up can their GM. Scouting, personnel, all those important decisions now have to be handed to one person because of the handling of one player. #Sports man, they are wild.

When it all gets boiled down, I think this really has to do with the fact that, supposedly, the talks with the Lakers fell apart because of how petty Demps was. I guess he got pissed the Lakers publicized/leaked everything and just for that tanked trade talks with them. You cannnnn’t really do that when the future of your franchise is at stake. Just a big fat no bueno. And now Dell Demps has a big fat no jobo.

I like to teach lessons when I can. Leave some wisdom for the next generation to pick up. So I say to those youngsters out there who want to go into sports management, the key to be successful is to not fuck up the most colossal deal you’ll ever see. It will indeed hurt your career.

-Joey B.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is Part Steve Jobs, Part Wizard

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This digital jersey witchcraft comes just a couple of days after ESPN reported how badly the NFL has been trying to convince him to sack Roger Goodell and become commissioner of the NFL.

Just look at the growth of the NBA under Silver:

“League revenues have increased from $4.8 billion to a projected $9.1 billion in Silver’s five years.”

and the growth of individual teams as well:

“Team valuations have increased by 267 percent, from an average of $509 million in 2013 to $1.9 billion in the latest Forbes Magazine valuations.”

The NBA has become the most popular sport in the world for anyone under the age of 25 and its not even close. The NBA and Fortnite are what kids care about and not necessarily in that order. I went to a youth basketball game last night and the effect is real:

A lot of that credit has to go to Adam Silver. Sure players not having to wear helmets that hide their face helps, but he’s made the NBA the most marketing friendly sport we’ve ever seen. It routinely embraces cultural trends, technology, and social media, and he’s had the NBA at the head of the line for two of the biggest opportunities in America: esports and legalized gambling.

I’m calling it right now. As the most progressive league in professional sports, the NBA will be the one to partner with the first national marketing campaign for recreational cannabis. Oh the NFL banned a marijuana commercial? Well Adam Silver will use that opportunity to make anyone even associated with the league even more money.

Just patently absurd how good this man is at his job and he ain’t resting. I still hate the advertising patches on jerseys and expect it to only get more distracting, but hey money talks.

NFL Draft Mini-Blog – NCAA All-Time Leader in Sacks Jaylon Ferguson Gets Offer to Combine Rescinded

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So I’m not linking to an article. Why you ask? Well, because I don’t have a ton to write about on the situation so pasting a blurb explaining it would pretty much dry out my quill. Elaborate I shall.

Jaylon Ferguson became the NCAA’s ALL-TIME LEADER in sacks this past season. The 6’5 262 lbs defensive end wracked 45 Involuntary Knee-Downs over the past four years, ending his career with 17.5 this past season (in 13 games). The reason you may have not heard of Ferguson, or of the record being set, is that he plays at non-powerhouse Louisiana Tech. The Bulldog program has most famously produced Super Bowl winner and HOF QB Terry Bradshaw, but has also turned out a solid smattering of talent throughout its years including HOF Offensive Tackle Willie Roaf. That said they obviously aren’t a name brand school and play in a small conference so when of their D-Ends goes off like this, it gets overlooked and chalked up to playing against lesser competition, etc.

As for the NCAA’s new record holder in career sacks and his recent banishment from the combine, well I call bullshit. Basically, he got in a fight his freshman year and picked up a  battery conviction for it. I’ll answer the two question possibly at the tip of your tongues right now. And NO I did not do any research (apart from the one story I read about this) – I am a man of honor – you can just learn a lot from the first couple of lines of stories in the list of Google results for a man’s name.

1.) There is no indication whatsoever this involved a woman or was any kind of domestic altercation. I feel like especially in this day and age that would be called out in black and white and up front if it was the case.
2.) In case you’re softer than a baby’s ass, there is also no indication this was any kind of “bullying” incident. I saw nothing that made me believe Ferguson gave a member of the band a pink belly or something like that.

This was literally described as a “scuffle.” An 18 year old kid got in a fight and got charged for it. He also got convicted. The fact that he has indeed been playing football tells me he indeed paid some sort of penalty as well. So why the fuck, pray-tell, four years later does the NCAA not only not allow him to participate in the combine, but really stick it to the guy in the form of inviting him then rescinding the invitation. From a thousand foot view of the philosophy of punishing people for stuff in order for them to learn to not do it again and that it was wrong, how does fucking this kid over four years AFTER HE HAS ALREADY BEEN PUNISHED really help anything? It doesn’t. It just potentially screws him out of hundreds of thousands of dollars (he’s looked at as a mid-late rounder so I’m not going to go overboard saying they cost him millions).

Really, how many times can we say “this is the NCAA at its worst.” It just sucks that such a corrupt, ridiculous organization is allowed to run something as lucrative as college sports. I have not voted once in my life but if a presidential candidate got up right now and said “if I win in 2020 I am going to punch Mark Emmert directly in the face” BOOM the Joey B lobby goes directly in his or her direction.

And yes I am now a huge Jaylon Ferguson stan. Let’s go Belichick do the smart thing.

#RushHourRap – Kanye West – The College Dropout is Now 15 Years Old

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15 years? Preposterous. The College Dropout, Kanye’s debut album, dropped on Feb. 10, 2004 when I was all of 15 so Yeezy has been in my ear for about half of my life. I still remember seeing the video for Through the Wire on MTV and immediately thinking two things: 1.) This is incredible and 2.) Who is this guy because it seems like he’s already a force behind the scenes.

If you’ve never seen some of the behind the scenes footage, this is a good place to start the YouTube rabbit hole. A then unknown Kanye just blowing Jay-Z’s mind with the beat that would later become Lucifer on HOV’s 2003 classic, The Black Album.

All Falls Down is still one of my favorite tracks and the video itself was just Kanye’s POV of a day in the life dropping his girl off at the airport. A pretty uninspiring concept when you say it out loud, but that shot of him rapping in the mirror of the airport bathroom is stilled burned into my brain for some reason. Having Stacey Dash in your video never hurts either.

It seems we living the american dream
But the people highest up got the lowest self esteem
The prettiest people do the ugliest things
For the road to riches and diamond rings

Say what you want about him now, but you can’t deny the guy changed the game as the ultimate standout. You could just as easily call him a contrarian for his self described “pink-ass polos with a fuckin’ backpack. But everybody know you brought real rap back.” In an era when EVERY rapper was rocking baggy jeans and throwback jerseys, Kanye was trying to make it cool to dress dorky. And it worked.

Just read this excerpt from an excellent piece about The College Dropout that I found on Sabotage Times:

He might be a superstar now, but he represented the underdog in the beginning. Back in early 2004, when 50 Cent was hip-hop’s undisputed king, street credibility was a prerequisite to success. The son of a photojournalist and an English professor, Kanye had a middle-class upbringing and didn’t fit into that mould. Sure, people loved his production work, but no one was convinced about him as a rapper. Where would this goofy dude fit in? What did he have to rap about?

…He got his record deal at Roc-A-Fella, Jay Z’s label, because co-founder Dame Dash wanted to use his beats for a compilation, not because they believed in him as a rapper. Unbeknownst to anyone at the company, he instead worked on College Dropout, an album that would transform the genre and dispense with those narrow preconceptions about rappers entirely.

So here’s to 15 years of The College Dropout.

WEEI Can’t Decide On One New Red Sox Broadcaster, So They Hired EIGHT

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WEEI – Entercom, the unrivaled leader in sports radio and one of the two largest radio broadcasters in the United States, today announced the new all-star team of play-by-play sportscasters for 2019 Boston Red Sox games on WEEI in Boston, the flagship station of the team. Broadcasters participating this season will include Sean McDonough, Josh Lewin and Mario Impemba, who will rotate in the radio booth alongside veteran broadcaster and Red Sox Hall of Famer Joe Castiglione, who has signed a multi-year extension with the WEEI Red Sox Radio Network and will begin his 37th season…

In adition to McDonough, Lewin and Impemba, Chris Berman, broadcaster for ESPN; Lou Merloni, on-air personality for WEEI; Dale Arnold, on-air personality for WEEI; Tom Caron, studio host for NESN; and Dave O’Brien, television voice of the Red Sox for NESN, will also call select games as part of the broadcast play-by-play committee. O’Brien will call a select number of nationally televised Red Sox games.

The WEEI broadcast booth needed a replacement to put next to longtime Red Sox play by play man, Joe Castiglione. Someone that could call the game, provide insights, have a regular conversation (don’t you dare call it a talk show), and essentially just create a more entertaining product.

But they couldn’t decide on one guy, so they hired EIGHT.

There’s a few familiar faces in here with current WEEI names like Lou Merloni and Dale Arnold as well as NESN personalities Tom Caron and Dave O’Brien. In addition to them, WEEI brought back fan favorite and Mass native Sean McDonough, Josh Lewin, and Mario Impemba.

Wait.

Is that what I think it is?

THATS CHRIS BERMAN’S MUSIC!

Chris Berman is back back back back baby! I honestly don’t know how many “backs” Berman is gonna be able to squeeze in when Mookie hits a piss missile over the Monster. There’s really not enough time, but he’ll adjust he’s a professional.

In all seriousness, I only really listen to the Red Sox radio broadcast if I have to. If I’m stuck in traffic or I’m crushing a few Bud Lattes win the old man in his backyard. So I don’t really care who they bring in, but it does scream indecisiveness. I know they probably wanted to test out a few guys to try and jumpstart a broadcast they had grown tired of, but there’s something to be said for familiarity. Having 8 different guys in there on any given night could do 1 of 2 things. It could provide excitement because you’re always hearing different voices and opinions. Or it could quickly create favorites leading to fans tuning out when they hear that Lewin’s calling the game and not Merloni on a given night.

Credit to them for trying something new, but it won’t be easy to build a rapport with Castiglione if some of the new guys are only working a game a week.

Just give Jonny Gomes the job and be done with it.

PS – It’s spring training and I just made a Jonny Gomes reference so get your Jonny Gomes Duckboat shirt before the season starts!