Four Singles is a Lot Better Than One Home Run

As I have before, I'm going to rant about sports before I tie it in to the subject of buying and renovating old houses.  I'm a big sports lover and I like to have it on the radio while I'm working (see Appreciation for the Radio), but this lead-in will help me make a point about fixing up houses that are in really bad shape.

Charlie Hustle

A batter steps to the plate and hits one over the fence for a homer.  The next three batters strike out, the team grabs their gloves, and hits the field.  Consider the title of this post and understand that it would have been better if all four batters would have just hit singles.  Same score, 1-0, but then they'd have no outs, with the bases loaded.  That's better than a lead-off dinger chased with three K's by far.  Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth will be remembered as two of the best baseball players ever, but Pete Rose is right there with them.  He may have gambled away his spot in Cooperstown, but I'm a Cincinnati Reds fan, so for me, 4,256 will always be greater than 755 + 714.    

Now on to football.  I'm listening to sports radio today and they're not talking baseball, they're talking NFL, which I love.  To carry my baseball example into pro football, many of the executives and owners are all trying to hit a home run as they approach this year's draft.  They're hoping to find the next star quarterback to build their team around.  They don't want base hits.  They want the big payoff now, even if the odds are against them.  They want to swing for the fences.  

I get what their doing, but it's not a smart move.  Not in the long run.  Playing the lottery is brilliant if they pick your numbers just like drafting John Elway is a great decision if he leads you to five Super Bowls and retires after back-to-back victories in the season finale.  This helps make and break my point at the same time since the Denver Broncos didn't draft Elway, the Baltimore Colts did and Elway used his leverage as a good baseball player to inspire a trade.  Plenty of teams have put all their eggs in one basket and seen that move backfire on them.  I'm not going to list all the QB draft busts over the years, but some of the games greats flew under the radar at draft time before emerging when it counted.  If you're part of an NFL front office, you should make the most of the cream that rises to the top of your organization (Joe Montana, Brett Farve, or Tom Brady) but why put the hopes of your franchise on one guy who had a dozen great games in college? 

Four base hits is better than one hit over the fence.  Having a Michael Vick, a Tim Tebow, a Denard Robinson, (and some other QB that's not a pocket passer) all on your squad for less money is better than a Ryan Leaf if he doesn't pan out or a Greg Cook if he gets hurt mid season.  Why don't the NFL executives consider putting their eggs in multiple baskets?   (See Tim Tebow + Michael Vick + Denard Robinson = the NFL's Moneyball)

Now, to the subject at the heart of BSAPE and extremely run down homes.  I'd love to hit a home run and snatch up an historic antebellum or classic Victorian to buy and renovate... a big, gorgeous half million dollar property.  Truly and with all sincerity I would, but I love to renovate and I'm not willing to spend my life waiting for the stars to align and the perfect property to materialize into my life.  I'll take on a This Old House type home when I get the chance, but until then, I'm going to keep hitting singles and along the way I'm going to keep learning and finding the best ways to do it.  I'll just keep enjoying those base hits, and maybe an occasional double.  And, I'll also be ready to trot around the bases with a grin on my face when my perfect pitch comes and I hit it over the wall.

Maybe you're holding out for a chance to transform something like this...

  

...into this. 



...when you could be doing this.
Kudos. 
This is a big home run too.
I love it.  Well done.





I'm not going to encourage any one to dream small, but don't wait for a Pig's Ear that will be your dream home when you can buy and fix up something on the cheap while you're waiting.  You'll make some mistakes (See Vinny Had the Right Attitude) and be better prepared if/when your ideal home becomes available.  Consider buying a small and available house in a really great neighborhood.  If you take into account that square footage sales prices are going to influence the home's value when your done, this makes solid economic sense.  Plus, it might just be the best way to get your feet wet.

Have a great weekend.

Trent
bloodsweatandpigsears@hotmail.com    

Tim Tebow + Michael Vick + Denard Robinson = the NFL's Moneyball

This blog is about renovating extreme houses, but I like to listen to sports radio (see Appreciation for the Radio - Jan. 26, 2012)  while I'm working so the Tim Tebow story is once again in my head.  (See Tim Tebow Is Fascinating Us Because He's Doing the Impossible - Jan. 12, 2012.)

Some think my investments have been risky and they've tried to talk me down from the ledge.  Family, friends, and co-workers have made blatant attempts to get me headed in the other direction, to take a safer, easier course.  However, to the credit of the majority of those in my circle of influence, they've been excited for me when I've succeeded in turning the 'Pig's Ears' into silk purses.  They've been proud to tell people that I bought the worst house on the street and transformed it into the most valuable.

My wife isn't a big football fan, but she loves the Tim Tebow story.  For this reason, we talk about TT and his status with the New York Jets regularly.  Earlier this year she was following his dismissal from the Denver Broncos and wanted to know what I'd do if I was a decision maker for one of the remaining 31 NFL teams.  This question and the discussion that followed helped me realize that I am a bit of a risk taker.  I think there is some risk to bringing Tim Tebow into your club as a quarterback, but like the condemned or abandoned properties I've bought to rehab, I see a large, potential upside.  So, if I was a top shelf NFL guy, I'd pull the trigger on the Tim Tebow thing.  However, I wouldn't just go for it by plugging him into a somewhat traditional system or the often mentioned wildcat formation, I'd come at the challenge from a different angle and do something others weren't thinking about.  

When I was in High School, I was recruited to play college football.  One of my coaches suggested that I consider Denison University in Central Ohio, because they had a unique, old-school offense that had the center hiking the ball directly to a runner in the back field.  He thought this might be the school and the team for me.  Now I understand why he suggested it and I agree that the Big Red would have been a cool team to play for.

So all this wordiness get's me to the Tim Tebow Dilemma.  I like the idea of matching Tim up with a stable of other scrambling quarterbacks like himself with the throwback Denison U.-type offense.  Michael Vick is struggling in Philly so there's a potential match.  How about a team putting Vick and Tebow back there together and drafting some more college QB's that have had tremendous success, but little hope for an NFL starting spot because of their size.  For example, the University of Michigan's Denard Robinson.  He just broke Antwaan Randle El rushing mark (October) from when ARE was running and passing as the QB of the Indiana Hoosiers (before he went to the pros and played wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers without a shot taking snaps under center.)  Russell Wilson has gotten off to a good start as the signal caller for the Seattle Seahawks, but the jury is still out on him.  

I'd like to see an NFL team take the approach of replacing traditional running backs with proven scrambling QB's who can play differently than the traditional pocket passers.  Change it up.  I don't think a team should put all their eggs in one basket and rest the seasons hopes on one guy who's running for his life half the game.  (If he gets hurt, you have to have someone just like him to come in and try to duplicate his style.)  I am all for some NFL team thinking outside the box and doing something different with Tim Tebow in the mix.  (Like the Oakland A's did when they lost their star players to free agency and starting playing Moneyball in 2002 ...and winning.)  Who wouldn't tune in to to see Tebow, Vick, Robinson, and three or four other players who could run and pass switching in and out, down after down, as they march the ball down the field like no other team ever has?

I think it could work  because the scrambler with the ball creates exciting opportunities to hit receivers and people would love to see it... just like friends, family, and neighbors like watching me renovate an overgrown, abandoned property that no one else wants.  Teams don't want Tebow?  Folks think Mike Vick is at the end of his career?  We'd like to see some Billy Beane of the NFL emerge and show everyone how to win in a different way...with Tebow and talented quarterbacks like him.     

bloodsweatandpigsears@hotmail.com