Detroit Should Emulate Cabrera's Crowning

I don't know if a city needs a superstar athlete more than Detroit needs Miguel Cabrera.

The newest member of baseball's elite Triple Crown family represents transformation, sacrifice, and excellence.  He may never be honored with a Joe Louis fist-type statue, but if the Motor City follows his lead, the impact may be even more powerful.

Cabrera's talent has never been in question. Any baseball expert will tell you he's always had the potential to be MLB's most feared hitter, but it took him awhile to understand how to elevate his game to that level.

Miggy exploded on to the baseball scene about a decade ago as a central piece of the Florida Marlins 2003 World Series championship run.  He became a perennial All-Star and one of the highest paid players in the game.  But, as impressive as he was, Cabrera left many desiring more.

He was often criticized for being out of shape.  You know what, let's not pull any punches, Cabrera was fat. After signing with the Tigers, he was arrested several times as he battled problems with alcohol and, subsequently, anger issues.

He is even good at mugshots!

Cabrera's off-field problems were an embarrassment to him, the franchise, and city and held him back as a player from turning the corner from good to great.

At some point, he said 'enough' and decided to get out of his own way. Cabrera changed his life.  Miggy stopped drinking, got in shape, and is now the deadliest player to step to the plate.

Less than two years after his last legal run-in, Cabrera became the first player in 45 years to capture the Triple Crown. He did so in a season in which he switched positions.  Cabrera moved from first to third base this spring to make room for the Tigers to bring in $250-million man Prince Fielder.  Miggy knew the value of having another power hitter in the line up and sacrificed his role for the greater good of the team.

He slimmed down and dedicated himself to become a solid defender on the hot corner, while not loosing focus of his job at the plate.  The combo of Cabrera and Fielder is a big reason why the Tigers won back-to-back division championships, something the franchise hadn't done since the mid 1930s.

Not only has Cabrera become a GREAT baseball player and teammate, he has become a great man.  Earlier this week, Major League Baseball awarded the Tigers' slugger with the Roberto Clemente Award which is given to the the player who best represents baseball through positive on and off field contributions, including sportsmanship and community involvement.

Miguel Cabrera is a perfect, vivid example of checking himself, correcting himself, and now enjoying the fruits of his transformation.

You would think the city he plays in and represents so proudly would take notice and follow his lead.  You would think....but, sadly, that's not the case.

This week, Miguel's smiling face covered the front pages of the Detroit Free Press and News.   His accomplishments are certainly reasons to celebrate.  Unfortunately, he shared the front pages with "leaders" who are submerged in scandal and embarrassment.

May Godbee with you...

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing placed police chief Ralph Godbee Jr. on a 30-day leave for a sex scandal involving another officer who isn't his wife.  (Side note: fellas, if you are cheating on your wife with a woman who takes pictures like THIS?! you need to re-evaluate what you are looking for in a woman, but I digress.)  Oh, and not to mention, Godbee is a pastor.  Amen.

So, on one side of the front page we have a historic achievement, on the other we have a playboy police chief, and then if you look down a few lines you will see another gem, the corruption trial of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.  The Hip Hop Mayor already spent time behind bars and appears likely to be on his way back.

Kwame...oh, Kwame

Between Godbee, Kwame, and the on going "efforts" of the circus that is the Detroit City Council, it's not a surprise the city, my hometown, continues to be a punchline and struggles to get back on its feet.

While there has been progress to rebuild one of the cities hit hardest by the recession, Detroit still has a long way to go.

There is no clear cut solution.  It takes a collective effort, but it starts with realizing the current path isn't leading to one of true prosperity.  It may be good, but not great.  It's not Triple Crown worthy.

The city needs to continue to commit to educating its youth and make sure all students leave high school not only with a diploma, but with a solid educational foundation where they can be a valuable member of the community.  Allowing more than a third of Detroit Public School students to drop out ends poorly for those children, their families, and the community as a whole.  In short, no one benefits.

Detroit needs to demolish its dilapidated homes. Take pride in the city's appearance or no one else will.

And most importantly, Detroit needs real leaders.  That means those who care about the overall health of the city, now and in the future, and not their personal notoriety and satisfactions.

Those who lead Detroit have proven selfish and not committed to the greater good of the city.  And as Detroit goes, so does the entire state of Michigan, and in many ways, the United States.

Instead of being fat, out of shape, and lazy, Detroit's leadership needs to look at the city's current brightest star and commit to the same transformation made by Miguel Cabrera.

The resulting change will be fit for kings, the kind with three crowns.

Too Big To Fail, Fails

The National Football League doesn't have an officiating problem, it has a culture problem....OK, OK. It does have an officiating problem, but that's not the league's MAIN problem.

The travesty that happened in Seattle, Monday night, is less a reflection on the replacement referees as it is on an organization that has become too big to fail.

I can't add much to what has already been said about Russell Wilson's game winning interception.  Golden Tate clearly pushed off and never had control of the football.  M.D Jennings picked the pass off.  The Packers should have won. They didn't.  They were robbed.  And such is life.

This game may come back to haunt Green Bay or unfairly help Seattle in their quests for playoff spots.  But, it's also just a Week Three game and there is a ton of football to play.  Both teams will have plenty of opportunities to overcome this officiating blunder.

The question is why are we here in the first place?  Why is America's favorite sport being labeled a joke?

I place little blame on the replacement referees.  I believe they are trying their best, but simply aren't cut out to officiate at this level.  I tried my best to be a great basketball player, but sadly my meager stature and non-existent vertical jump put a wrinkle in those plans.  Sometimes you just don't have it.  These refs don't.

The real problem is greed.

The NFL is slated to pull in about $9-billion this year alone.  The referees on strike are asking for changes to their retirement plan and a pay increase.  The officials are definitely paid handsomely already.  They make an average of about $150,000 for calling games on Sundays. That's a ridiculously good rate for part-time employees. The requested raise would bring that figure up to about $200,000 over the next seven years.

But, the collective bargaining deal that recently expired was constructed in 2006.  Believe it or not, the NFL has grown in popularity and financially by leaps and bounds since.  In fact, according to the referee's union, NFL revenue is up 50-percent in that time frame and is expected to grow even more when new TV contracts take effect in 2014.

Players are getting paid more.  Owners are raking in the more.  It seems appropriate that referees should, as well.  They are a part of the game and, from what we learned Monday night, a very critical part of the game.

Yet, it comes as no surprise to me that the NFL is playing it cheap, because it can.

Professional football in this country has transformed from a game to an obsession.  Struggling families find ways to justify shelling out $50 to park at a game they paid $100 per ticket for to sit in the nosebleed section.

Fans waste hours throughout the day analyzing and adjusting their fantasy rosters.  Television networks call it "breaking news" when a starting quarterback throws a pass that hits a backup quarterback in the head.

We are obsessed with football.  I'm no exception and it's disgusting.

It's also the reason Roger Gooddell and 31 of the league's owners (Green Bay excluded, because they are publicly owned) can continue to be cheap and diminish their own product and brand.

They know we football fans will tune in anyway.  We will gripe and complain about bad calls all week, but come Sunday, you better believe we will be at the stadium, or bar, or on the couch wearing our $80 jerseys, tracking our parlay bets, hoping a third-string tight end can manage a touchdown to help our fantasy team and, oh yea, even our real teams win.

We need the NFL. It's too big to fail.

Reform is needed.

Fans and players are being forced to accept an inferior product.  With the replacement referees, that's what is being rolled out on Sundays.  (Well, also Thursdays, Wednesdays, Mondays, and later in the season Saturdays, but you get the point.)

The league has compromised quality and its integrity to save a minute percentage of revenue. 

That's what happens when the powerful become too powerful.  They pull the strings and those below them dance.  But, if the show is unwatchable, is it worth it?

The NFL flexed its power muscle with its sanctions on the Saints Bounty Gate.  I actually didn't have a problem with these, because the league is pushing for more safety, so it had to come down with penalties that punish those making the game less safe.

But, at the same time it pushes for safety and quality, the NFL contradicts itself by proposing longer seasons, exposing players to more chances of getting hurt.  It also has been slow to assist those who built the league with post-career health care.  And now, it is opening players to danger with officials who don't have a firm understanding of the rules and are determining outcomes of games.

Despite the public outcry to end the referees lockout, the NFL has little incentive to do so.  Why? Because fans keep coming to the games and the money continues to flow in.  (Apparently, the final play Monday shifted as much as $250-million in bets in Vegas, WOW!)

Change needs to come from the bottom, because it clearly won't come from the top.  Players aren't going to hold out because of officials.  I don't blame them.  I wouldn't give up that kind of game check either.

The NFL has proven it doesn't have much regard for the quality of its product. It has us sucked in.  The NFL experience is not to benefit the fans, its to feed the pockets of those who run the show.

If change is to happen, it may be time to tune out until the league and Roger Goodell get the message that being too big to fail, fails.