Old School

Not sure if you guys saw any of the Nationals series against the Mets, but it got me pretty excited (probably overly so) about the the team's prospects this season. Not only did Ryan Zimmerman (our new franchise player) go deep off a Billy Wagner fastball to send a game into extra innings, Nick Johnson and his porn stauche launched two 3-run shots in back to back days, and Jose Guillen almost beat Pedro senseless with his bat after an overt beaning. BUT... my favorite moment was when Frank Robinson benched Alphonso Soriano for not running out a routine pop-fly in the 7th inning of a close game that the Nats ended up winning. Soriano may be a perennial all-star and may make $10 million a year, but Frank has serious issues with his attitude and wanted to send him a message. In an age of "players' coaches", when a coach or manager's popularity stems from how much they cater to their team's primadonnas, it's refreshing to see someone that is old-school in every sense. That's what a true "players' coach" should be all about, and those are the type of coaches that players should be lining up to play for...disciplinarians who want to win and aren't worried about hurting feelings or brusing already bloated egos.

The best remedy for an Iverson, a T.O., or an Alphonso Soriano, may just be a Bobby Knight, a Bill Parcells, or a Frank Robinson.