MLB's Indians learn an NFL lesson

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- On the day the NFL owners meetings were convening 53 miles northeast of here, in Orlando, Cleveland Indians general manager Mark Shapiro stood behind the batting cage before the Tribe-Pirates tilt and said, "I think we can learn a lot of lessons from the New England Patriots."

Draft rumors of the week 1. Detroit is on the hot seat at No. 3 in the first round. Matt Millen wants to trade the pick, but no one wants to dance with him just yet.  2. The Raiders and Joey Harrington. Hmmm. Multiple high picks. Rich Gannon is getting old and is entering the last year of his deal. Jon Gruden, not Al Davis, picked Marques Tuiasosopo last year.  3. More NFL people than I can count right now think that even though Julius Peppers will be a top-three pick in April's draft, his North Carolina linemate, the 6-foot-4, 311-pound Ryan Sims, will be a better pro. "Sims," one coach said Sunday, "is Warren Sapp without taking plays off."  4. Houston, at No. 1, is solid on David Carr. The Texans will likely go to school with Carr as offensive coordinator Chris Palmer will change his delivery from three-quarters to more over the top. Sounds like a red flag to me.  5. Interesting that so many people seem to prefer Harrington to Carr. Harrington might be the poor-man's Peyton Manning, has a personality that draws players to him, plays great when it counts, and can make all the throws.  6. No player has as wide a disparity of opinion on him right now than Pitt receiver Antonio Bryant. Detroit thinks he's a high- to mid-first-rounder while New England wouldn't touch him with a 10-foot pole.  7. Teams don't know if Syracuse pass-rusher Dwight Freeney is the next Mike Mamula, a smallish guy bulking up for the combine, or the next Hugh Douglas, an effevescent rushing force.  8. Eric Crouch sounds like a fourth-round pick of the Broncos, a third-down back and special-teamer to start. To me, though, he'd be a perfect Mike Martz player, because Martz loves the option pass so much.  9. The player no team questions: Texas corner Quentin Jammer, who will step in Opening Day and start 16 games as a rookie for someone. Dallas maybe.  10. There is no question the first running back picked will be Boston College's William Green, who will overcome his questionable combine speed (4.59 seconds in the 40) to be a top-10 pick.

Team lessons, he was saying. I wonder how many teams in all of sports realize how special it was that the Patriots, a Joe Schmoe of a team, won the Super Bowl. Shapiro, a big football fan, realized it.

"What really hit me," said Shapiro, from behind his wraparound Oakleys, "was when the Patriots were introduced before the game, and the announcer said they were coming out as a team. That gave me goose bumps. To me, that's what sports are all about -- the team. Then they went out and beat a very good team in the game, and as I sat there at home watching, I thought, 'This is an affirmation of how we'd like to do things here.'"

The Indians allowed Juan Gonzalez to leave via free agency and traded Roberto Alomar to the Mets. They replaced Gonzalez and Alomar with low-salary guys who'll be better clubhouse guys. Not better players, not at all. And not even close. Matt Lawton and Ricky Gutierrez are your basic Larry Izzos and Mike Vrabels. Will this work in baseball? Will work-ethic guys and good-character guys keep the Indians in Contenderville? We'll see.

Shapiro also invited old friend Scott Pioli, the Pats' director of player personnel, to camp last week to talk to his players. When Pioli asked the Indians how many had been on an all-star team, hands went up around the room. When he asked how many had won a World Series title, two hands went up -- those of coach Eddie Murray and reliever Mark Wohlers. And Murray went on a riff about how huge winning a World Series is, about how that's what he'll remember most when he leaves the game.

"The Patriots took criticism for not signing a bunch of big names before last season, which is what has happened to us this winter,'' Shapiro said. "They built a team on a set of values -- hard work, team players. We're building a team based on team-guys motivated by pride. When the Patriots won the Super Bowl, they not only won -- they made a statement. That's what we're trying to do."

I told Shapiro that four of New England's top-five-paid players last year -- Drew Bledsoe, Terry Glenn, Willie McGinest and Ted Johnson -- had either little or nothing to do with the team's championship run. And he started talking about how eventually it's personal pride and a love of the game that determines who's going to win. Yet that's the thing I wonder about. Is it true? Are the Patriots one-year wonders, a team of rent-controlled ballplayers who caught lightning in a bottle for one season and will end up back in the pack this year? Will Shapiro have a new way of doing business if the Tribe goes 79-83 with a bunch of hard-working Snow Whites?

It'll be interesting to watch. But if you like sports, and you like the concept of we instead of me, you're rooting for the Tribe, at least a little bit, this year.

On spring break in my junior year at Ohio University, on a mission to see the Red Sox, I slept for two nights in a sleeping bag beyond the center field fence at Chain O'Lakes Park when Boston trained here.

1. I think the strangest sight of spring training might have been Martz perched on a stool next to Tony La Russa and the Cardinals' braintrust outside the dugout in Jupiter, Fla., Sunday. "I'm sitting there all geeked out in my flowered short, looking like Joe Tourist," Martz said Monday morning. "It was really interesting. I never realized so much strategy went into playing a baseball game."

2. I think I wish I didn't have to give new Falcons owner Arthur Blank such a rude welcome to the NFL. He seems like a nice fellow and is certainly a welcome sight to the fans of Atlanta because he's going to try hard to win. But this guy got taken to the cleaners by agent Leigh Steinberg in his first free-agent foray. Blank gave Steinberg client Warrick Dunn, a six-year, $28.5 million contract the other day. Two points: One, that's a ridiculous sum of money for a situational player. Two, Warrick Dunn is not Barry Sanders. Never will be. In this market, he's a $2.5 million player, tops, not the $4.75 million man the Falcons have made him. The Eagles were the smart ones, dropping out of the bidding early, which shows they're good cap managers who know when to say when. Warrick Dunn is a nice player, a difference-maker on a small scale but not a man who has ever proven in five NFL seasons that he can do what the Falcons are planning to have him do -- touch the ball 20 times a game with electricity for 16 weeks. He averaged 2.7 yards a carry last year. He's averaged 3.9 yards a carry in his career. I understand the Falcons are trying to get the fans back. The fans will be excited when Dunn breaks a 33-yarder and jukes through a couple of grasping linebackers. The fans will love his hard-driving play. The fans, though, will not buy 8,000 season tickets because Warrick Dunn is on the team. The fans will buy season tickets when the franchise wins, Mr. Blank. And spending six percent of the salary cap on Warrick Dunn is not the wisest use of your money.

3. I think, and this is just a guess, that Ron Wolf will turn down a deal that would have paid him $4 million per year over the next three to run the front office in Atlanta. The deal also would have cost the Falcons their second-round pick in this year's draft. I wondered why Wolf would take a job where he might have to fire a coach a year into it, where he isn't a long-termer.

4. I think, not to pick on ESPNers because I do tend to ESPN-addictedness at times, I actually heard these quotes from employees of the worldwide leader in sports in the last few days:

a. From Digger Phelps: "Let me tell you, Kent State can flat-out play."

b. From Rob Dibble, prefacing a question while interviewing Jason Giambi: "I know you don't care about the money ..."

c. From Dan LeBatard, on Nolan Richardson, whose Arkansas basketball program had a poor graduation rate for players: "He seemed to me, first and foremost, an educator."

5. I think, however, that sitting behind Peter Gammons at a baseball game, which I did Sunday, is a pretty rare treat. Aside from pressing him on some rotisserie questions for the Montclair Red Sox, who draft Friday night back in New Jersey (Me: "Maddux or Mulder?" Gammons: "Mulder"), he taught me a little bit about the strange case of Cardinals prospect/Cowboys quarterback Chad Hutchinson.

6. I think, speaking of interesting quotes, this is why so many Hall of Fame balloters don't trust Bill Parcells: He quits the Jets after the '99 season and says, "I've coached my last football game. You can write that on your chalkboard." He unexpectedly turns down the Bucs' coaching offer last January and says, "This is it. Forever. I'm out of coaching." And this weekend, when asked about coaching again, Parcells says, "You never know." Sheesh.

7a. I think Michael Strahan and the Giants will make a deal, eventually. It makes too much sense for both sides not to.

7b. I think, speaking of deals, Leigh Steinberg, repping Ricky Williams, will sit down with the Dolphins at the meetings on Tuesday and begin to iron out a long-term deal so Williams won't have to play for the NFL minimum this year.

8. I think these are my personal thoughts of the week:

a. Coffeenerdness: While hustling for a plane in Atlanta in January, I found a lousy Starbucks in the airport and ripped the barista for taking all day to make my drink -- and then handing me the wrong one. A couple of weeks later some free Starbucks coupons came my way from the apologetic manager of the place. And last week, Starbucks vice president for customer solutions (now there's an interesting title for you) Larry Gluth lettered me thusly: "Your comments have resulted in some changes in the management team in Atlanta ... I want you to know something: Starbucks' commitment to quality -- in the cup and in service and customer satisfaction -- is no less today than it has ever been. True, we are rapidly growing, but we remain steadfast in our efforts not only to maintain, but improve, the quality of each customer's experience ... This company is committed to making sure that every store delivers the highest-quality product, with the best service, in the cleanest and most hospitable environment -- every time, one cup at a time, one Peter King at a time." Gluth sent along five coupons for free drinks. Wow. Real customer service. Thank you. Now if they could just get the baristas to clean the pods after every espresso brewing so the drinks don't have the old-coffee taste. There's your next priority, Mr. Gluth.

b. Montclair (N.J.) High School Softball Note of the Week: The Mounties, prepping for the 2002 varsity campaign, have gone 2-1 in scrimmages against some of North Jersey's finest. And one of those W's had a couple of Mary Beth King firsts, witnessed by her father. Last Thursday, on a warm and sunny March day, Mary Beth, a sophomore pitcher/first baseman, took the circle for her first start of the spring against Passaic Valley, the 2000 state champ. In a sportswriter's delight of a game (one hour and 16 minutes), with some great glove work by junior shortstop Kaitlin "Derek Jeter" Giannetti, Mary Beth threw a seven-inning four-hitter and won, 1-0. First seven-inning shutout of her life. First no-walk complete game of her life. She threw 77 pitches, only 18 balls. (Yes, I'm a sicko. I chart the pitches.) And as I sat there watching, I thought of an old Bill Parcells line from NFL Films. He yelled at a bunch of his players during one game, "Hey, this is why you lift all them weights." For seven years, mostly on Tuesday nights all through the fall and winter and early spring, Mary Beth has been taking pitching lessons. Eighty percent of the time, I've been her catcher. She's thrown her share of balls 10 feet over my head in the batting cages in Fairfield, N.J., 10 feet in front of the plate, and 10 feet to either side of me. She's hit me in the forehead with a bouncer. She's had a bum rotator cuff, a broken elbow. She's gone through periods where she never wanted to throw another pitch. Three years ago, as her travel team went on a season-ending Virginia trip, she walked 16 in a total of three and two-thirds innings and said to me with hopelessness, "I just can't do this. I can't do this." She kept coming back. And then she four-hits a good team and walks no one. I'm pretty sure there's a lesson in here somewhere.

c. Remind me never to move to Florida.

d. You won't have to remind me.

e. I had Gonzaga in my Final Four pool. I did not have Southern Illinois. See how much we have in common?

9. I think this is my press-room-wag's comment of the day, from ESPN.com's John Clayton: "Have you done your preseason ratings yet? Where do the Redskins rank in the SEC?"

10. I think, as we sit here on March 18, there is an absolute lack of interest around the NFL for Drew Bledsoe.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Monday Morning Quarterback appears in this space -- no kidding -- on Monday mornings.

 

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