This Makes Things... Better?

News came out today that former Charger Antonio Cromartie fathered seven children by six different women in five states, four in bed, three in a car, two in California, one he actually likes, and zero condoms (Hint: only the first three numbers are true, and possibly the last). The New York Jets organization has fronted Cromartie half a million dollars to settle an upcoming paternity suit before training camp. And suddenly, the Charger organization's reasons for the trade have become a little clearer. There had been rumors of Cromartie being a trouble maker before (anyone remember the bottle throwing incident back in November?) but this suggests that the former Charger may have been as stupid as he was reckless.

Now I'm going to use this to deal with a much bigger issue that has angered me for a while. And that's the concept of the "high character team." Everyone seems to think that character and chemistry are these magical concepts that guarantee winning regardless of talent. You want to know what happened to the Chargers when Cromartie was traded last week? Net character went up, and net talent went down. The end result? The Chargers are a worse team now than they were at the end of the season. As long as guys in the locker room aren't killing each other and everyone is willing to do their job, chemistry means nothing. People always point out success stories like the 2009-10 Saints or the 2007-08 Boston Celtics as teams that got along really well and won championships, but the fact is it's the other way around. It's simply easier to get along when you're winning. You know who's a great group of guys? The Indiana Pacers. Players like Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Granger are by all accounts some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. But they still suck, because Granger is the only guy on the team capable of putting the ball in the basket. Antoine Cason could be the second coming of Gandhi, but if he can't cover a receiver as well as Antonio Cromartie (which he can't) the Chargers secondary just got worse.