Alfie Dogs

       Listen, I get a hard on for steadily available players. I feel that the skill set of rock solid consistency is just as rare as the special individual talent. I would argue that the talent to be a touch stone reliable player is in its own way a manifestation of elite athleticism. Obviously, I am eluding to Jerome Baker who in his 5 year career HAS NEVER MISSED A GAME. Furthermore, he has lead the Miami Dolphins in combined tackles every year of his career except last year, where the teams leading tackler broke the NFL record for tackles at his position (DT Chris Wilkins). I realize that all of this may seem as circumstantial evidence of what I feel is a grossly underrated, or dare I say, disrespected talent. So, I would like to present some historical perspective. Baker the Tackler When you focus on the top 50 tackles in Miami Dolphins history, Jerome Bakers career influence might surprise you. For Example: Jerome Baker is 5th all time in Dolphin...

In the historical realm of team sports, there have been many great athletic phenoms, but only a chosen few create their own gravitational pull. The gravitational athlete is a unicorn that generates uncommon attention because of their unique and individual skill set. In my opinion, the three greatest gravitational players I have ever seen are, Lionel Messi, Tyreek Hill & Carli Lloyd.   Lionel Messi  Lionel Messi with his diminutive stature isn’t your classical athletic phenom. However, his dominance over the ball, his precision passing, and his elite vision creates a nightmare scenario for opposing defenses. Lionel Messi is the ultimate team soccer player, because the attention that he generates opens up the game for all of his teammates. Furthermore, his game translates as he ages because it is predicated on precision, and balance, and not elite athleticism. Lionel Messi is a marvel when you consider how he may be the greatest soccer player of all time while not possessing...

The nature of evaluating NFL defenses influence on the final tally is a theoretical exercise of quantifying infinite variables. In 2017 The Washington Post wrote an article where they quantified a sack as the equivalent of 1.75 points. The conclusions of their advanced analytical study is difficult to argue against.  Yes, if we where to only look at total sacks as an individual stat in relationship with scoring outcomes then 1.75 seems reasonably accurate. However, if you expand your calculations to include turnovers and points directly related to a QB sack, then the point influence changes drastically.  In my deep dive of the relationship between sacks and scoring outcomes I am of the opinion that a sack is worth on avg. 3 points. Exhibit A Miami vs Buffalo Wild Card Game 2023 Final Score: Bills 34 - Dolphins 31  Statistically the Bills won almost EVERY team stat. However Miami won in TWO very influential stats, Sacks and Turnovers; both teams registered two int's but th...

With the 18th pick in the NBA draft....     The Miami Heat selected with their first round pick the "Mexican American" Jaime Jaquez Jr. a forward from UCLA. Jaime also has a sister who plays for UCLA and the two siblings made history as the only two siblings to make the sweet sixteen in the same year as brother and sister and every published narrative is quick to classify them as 'Mexican American".  Parents: Jaime Jaquez Sr. and Angela Sather (Jaquez)     It is technically true that the Jaquez siblings can be classified as "Mexican American" however it is also true how myopic and manipulative the label implies. If you where to do a superficial search on the origin of these two accomplished sibling athletes you would easily stumble upon the overt publicity of the Mexican nationality of their father. However, the nationality of their mother requires motivation to unearth her origin. Angela Sather's family lineage remains a mystery, but Sather is a Nordic...

  The Fangio defense core philosophy is to prevent/discourage big plays from the opposing offense. How exactly does he tailor his scheme towards that goal?  1. Zone Match Coverage  Simplistically, unlike traditional zone coverage where the defender patrols a zone and not the player, Zone Match instructs the defender to play man coverage once the opponent enters their zone responsibility. You may ask why is this small distinction impactful? In a traditional zone coverage an offense can effectively recognize and adjust in real time, however Zone Match can easily be mistaken for man coverage as a play unfolds therefore forcing the QB to hesitate on his initial read. 2. The Play-action Neutralizer The Defense plays primarily from a 2 safety shell. However the safeties play about 4 yards closer to line of scrimmage than your basic 2 deep, WHY? The defense wants the safeties involved in run support and more importantly the defense is designed to adjust coverage post snap. If yo...

In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe, a fervent slavery abolitionist authored the most influential literary work of the 19th century, Uncle Toms Cabin. In fact, the only book to outsell Uncle Toms Cabin GLOBALLY in the 19th century was the Bible. The story was so influential that upon meeting Stowe, Abraham Lincoln fondly commented she was "the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war." in reference to the Civil War.  Harriet Beecher Stowes’ purpose was to highlight the inhumanity of slavery. Her vehicle was to humanize the principal character, Tom, as a man of principal, integrity, honor, and most importantly a Christian that was agnostic to race.  Uncle Toms Cabin isn’t about race, it is the story of a Christian with unflappable faith. Tom befriended his kind owners with grace, he was a trusted ally to his fellow slaves, he risked his life to save a white child from drowning while being transported on the Ohio river for SLAVE AUCTION, and most importantly, he s...

  Jan 12th, 2020 The KC Chiefs, after rallying to overcome a 24-0 Deficit in the first half of a home playoff game, miraculously cut the lead to a manageable 3 points with less than 2 minutes left in the half. The stage was set for Mahomes to educate me on a talent I never considered as tangible, a manifestation of something I always perceived as a platitude. As the first half was about to end, he scrambled for a TD, it may seem like a common play, but it was as if he was going in slow motion it was confounding how he navigated to score while seemingly exhibiting no explosion. In that moment the game slowed down for Mahomes, Like Spider Man that sees his surroundings in a slower frame rate.  Mathew Tkachuck I will admit I have an untrained eye for hockey, that being said, I have watched plenty of Panther Hockey. A primary reason for my lost of interest is that I simply didn’t truly believe in the talent. When the Panthers posted the best record in the league, I saw a wild sens...