As Vince Shupe Lombardi once said…“If it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep Scores open so damned late!?”
Jeter is more of a lead-by-example guy. He won’t call a team meeting, doesn’t stand up in a team meeting and doesn’t take the forefront of the floor and say, “This is what we have to do.” His leadership comes from playing hard and approaching the game. I don’t question the heart of the veterans on this ballclub. What I’m saying is sometimes your team needs a jolt of energy, a spark, something to re-adjust the focus. Nobody has given the Yankees that boost. If the Yankees were, for example, a Lou Piniella team, he would have kicked over something and tried to provide a spark. If this was a Kirby Puckett team, one with vocal leadership, guys would close all the doors, stand in the middle of a room and remind the team that we are the Yankees and we are a championship team, so let’s go play like it.
There’s nothing like an inspirational speech. Some of the greatest speeches ever spoken, ala Vince Lombardi, have energized a group. Who has given that inspirational speech to the Yankees this year? Nobody. Jeter is like my little brother and if I have to win one game, I want him on my team. But a speech to energize a team? He’s not giving it. You have a captain who is laid back in personality with a lot of fire and drive on the field, but he’s not a vocal leader.
Today, these players don’t have anything to rally around other than playing for the Yankees and the Yankee mystique. You need more than that. There is no way in the world you should be a bit more than a .500 team since May. They’re better than that. Look, I love Joe Girardi. The Yankees should not fire him, but he has to figure out a way to get this team to take the field with the energy like the Joe Torre or the Bobby Cox (Atlanta) teams. And I think Jeter has to become more vocal. He knows what it takes to win. Express it. He has the respect of each of his teammates, so vocalize it.
Repoz
Posted: September 13, 2008 at 12:23 PM |
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1. alskor Posted: September 13, 2008 at 12:54 PM (#2940093)As we all know, that sort of wussy, "lead by example" type team leadership only takes you so far - like eleven, twelve consecutive playoff appearances at the absolute most.
CALM EYES
SMIRKY GUM CHEWING
FIST PUMP
Yup. Reminds me of when Mickey and Whitey's nightlife caught up with the Yankees in the mid-60s. You could tell that a team built around those guys would never amount to anything.
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