First off, I know what I am - I do not get paid by a major publication to write about sports - if I did however, I would take a little bit more time before I trashed a league and its players using players of a bygone era trying to prove a point about today.
Montgomery need look no further than LAST WEEK to the Dallas Cowboys or heck a few weeks prior to Plaxico Burress in the NFL, or how about Kobe Bryant or… You get my point. That article should have and could have been written about many other sports other than hockey. Calling out the NHL players because of Avery is like calling out the PGA TOUR players because of Steve Williams.
If this had been written on a sports blog I would pay it no mind and write it off as linkbait - but for it to come out in the USA Today I call it editorial carelessness at best and Yellow Journalism at worst. Montgomery could have at least maybe used a more modern example, say like Todd Bertuzzi to make his point, but he doesn’t. He uses his space to trash the NHL and say that the league has issues based on old examples that have about as much relevance as Cricket.
The NHL has it’s issues. Trust me as a lover of hockey I am not blind. But the players ARE NOT the problem. The players, I would argue, are usually some of the best-classed pro athletes, who have more reverence for the history of the game and their role to carry on the traditions of players past, than any of their other pro counterparts.
Maybe Montgomery has an axe to grind with the NHL, that is fine, but do it with management, ownership or the league office if you have to, but calling the players to the mat because of one stupid remark is idiotic.
Ted Montgomery I know you don’t care but I know where I won’t be getting my hockey news from now on.
I have a question. When did our sports become soap operas? When did a group of men (and women) become addicted to the utter stupidity that happens between games? It used to be that sports happened on days of actual games. Sure you would get the injury reports and trades etc but it was never about who hated whom, who got shot, who hit their wife, who was doing what drugs. It was about the competition on the field.
Of course the latest episode made more for Lifetime than ESPN surrounds the cast of characters in Dallas - the love triangle between Romo, T.O., and Witten. Somehow between Chris Berman’s debut on ESPN nearly 30 years ago and the invention of sports blogging and the internet we have turned sports into daytime drama. It became O.K for media to invent friction - or at least hype - it to drive ratings, traffic, sponsors etc. Sure the players do enough of the damage on their own and the constant stream of “Plax’s” “Pacman’s” and Sean Avery’s etc. do nothing to help players gain any credibility, but it has gotten to the point where we have created a subset of sports fans who are more interested in watching the warm-ups and handshakes to see who disses whom instead of the actual games. We treat Monday through Saturday of the NFL season as a prolonged episode of “The Hills” on steroids and hope to catch a catfight over playing time instead of who has slept with who’s girlfriend.
I am sure that there is enough blame to go around - the advent of sports blogging *cough, cough* - a “look at me” culture - and so much more, but I have to wonder if we can ever just get back to playing the games? I doubt it. I guess I’ll just have to tune in to ESPN next week for the next episode of The Hi.., I mean, NFL football.
The legendary Penn State Football Coach will be turning 82 on Sunday, yes, the coach that I said should step down. I still think that Coach Paterno is nearing the end of his career, and though I often vacillate on my stance on whether he should still be coaching, I do, and will always, believe that he is one of the last great coaches. A coach who has done it the right way and who has stood for all that is good in college sports.
In honor of Coach Paterno’s birthday a group of people have started a virtual surprise party for the legendary coach. I heard about it on Twitter from Lisa Hoffman. It is a site that has been set up to honor the coach and let fans submit stories, videos, pictures etc. It is a cool use of social media to honor an old school coach in a new school way. Check it out and submit your favorite memories!
Even though I often criticize the NHL for how they have managed to bury a great game here in the U.S. I have to give them some mad props for this year’s Winter Classic. The Winter Classic is an outdoor hockey game, this year played at Wrigley Field between the Hawks and the Red Wings.
They have started to role out some of the marketing for the Winter Classic and the commercials they have released thus far are awesome. Below is the newest one - enjoy and make sure you tune in on January 1st and watch what could be an incredible event!
What do you think of the new commercial? Let me know in the comments below!
One of the reasons why I like sports so much is because I think that sports can provide valuable life lessons and can teach kids important lessons that carry on outside the lines. It is something I have already written about this week and have written about many times before.
I was emailed a great story from one the editors over at GoCollege.com about an athlete at Duke who realized many of those same things. Parker Goyer is a former Duke Tennis player who was frustrated that her many commitments to athletics had left her short on time to make an impact in other areas of her life. Not being one who gives up easily, she started to look for ways that she could use her athletic background as a way to give back.
She has created the “Coach for College” program which allows college athletes the ability to travel to other Nations and use sports as a method to teach lessons on leadership, physics, English and more.
It’s amazing the interesting people that you meet on Twitter and the web. Most of the people who I’ve met are your average everyday people. Folks who are trying to live their lives the best way they know how and trying to just make a solid go of it. Then there are people who are taking their lives one step further and using the web to try to do some good in the world.
Adam Sherlip is on of those people. I “met” Adam when he was working for an NHL Team and happened to be using our form builder in some of their marketing activities. I started following Adam on Twitter and recently saw a tweet about a project/mission that he is trying to accomplish.
Adam wants to use his passion for the great sport of hockey along with his personal feeling that he should be doing more with his life to go to Ladakh, in the Kashmir region of the Himalayas, to help volunteer and teach the sport of hockey. Adam needs some support to reach his goal of $4,000 (the cost of his trip). If any of you can help Adam reach his goal I know he would appreciate it.
It’s not every day that someone is willing to travel across the world because he feels that there is something more that he should be doing with his life. Go on and help Adam do some good for this world - it will probably make you feel good too!
Sylvester Croom recently “resigned” as the Mississippi State football coach, leaving behind only 2 black college football coaches. TWO schools out of 119 Division 1A teams have a black coach. This is for a sport where close to 70% of its players are black.
That number is absolutely mind boggling to me. But what is more mind boggling is how little attention, at least publicly, the NCAA has shown for this huge disparity. The NFL has had the Rooney Rule since 2003, which mandates that at least three (I believe) minority candidates be interviewed for any coaching vacancy. The NCAA has not attempted to institute any such rule nor publicly addressed the issue with any real vigor.
I am not one that would advocate affirmative action, however, I think that the way that college coaches are hired severely hinders minority candidates from getting a fair shot. Many times a “hot” coordinator from a successful program or a highly regarded up-and-comer from a smaller school become the target for University President’s looking to fill a position. Because there are still few minority coordinators and high profile assistants they aren’t even getting a swing at these vacancies.
More needs to be done by University Presidents to foster an environment, much like the NFL, where a wide variety of applicants are interviewed before filling a position. The NCAA has to address this issue and do so soon if it wants to retain and keep talented young black coaches from fleeing its ranks to the NFL.
College Football is big business, and over the last few years there has been increased scrutiny of the the role athletics play in higher ed and their tax exempt status. The more money that rolls into the sport and the higher level of scrutiny placed upon it, whether about hiring practices, money or any other facet of the programs should be enough to force change. But as a matter of right and wrong you would think that the NCAA would take this matter seriously before it becomes about inquiries and lawsuits.
In a time when we can elect our first black President to lead our Nation you would think that we could get a few more than two coaches to run our spread offenses.
This week is Jimmy V week over at ESPN. The V Foundation is a foundation that honors the great Jim Valvano and raises money for Cancer research. So in honor of Jimmy V week, take time to watch the video below and if you are so moved and fortunate enough, please donate to help fight cancer.
Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.
There is much debate about whether or not College Football needs a playoff. Here are five reasons we don’t!
5) The Season is the Playoffs: It is a 12 game gauntlet, adding playoffs would only diminish the season and the excitement that each Saturday brings. Each Saturday can create a rising superstar or dethrone a fan favorite. Fair? Maybe not, but we watch because we know each game is crucial.
4) The Bowls: Yes, they are a money maker. But the bowls are a payoff to the players and fans as well as a monetary payoff to the schools and conferences. Young men get to enjoy a week of team and fan experiences in (usually) warm, fun locales. It is a way to reward them for a great season. It also creates great fan experiences. A week of lunches, dinners and parties allow alum and fans to interact with their team, and each other in a fun, unique environment.
3) It’s more than just about winning: Total bullshit right? Well, hear me out. One of the beauties of college football is that it is a great accomplishment and everyone’s goal to become “bowl eligible”. Sure there are more bowls than nations but programs can measure and tout success based more than just winning a national championship. It’s about getting the privilege to play in a bowl and have that experience. Take that away and it becomes about just how many National Championships you have.
2)It’s a “mythical championship” anyway: Despite what many believe the college football championship is not an NCAA Championship. The NCAA does not actually crown a champion, so unless you move it under the governing body any sort of playoff is going to still be “mythical”.
1) There is always going to be someone left out: Many people are advocates of the “plus 1″ system. A system where you would play the major BCS bowls (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange) and then the winners then play for the National Championship. However, there is still going to be controversy. Right now in the BCS standings the top 8 teams have either one or 0 losses. The number 9 team — 0 losses. Even worse 10 - 14 each have two losses and the 15th ranked team has 0 losses. So how do you choose the top 8 without leaving someone out? If you really want to have a playoff system you have to open it up to either a 32 or 64 team playoff like March Madness. Anything short of that, in any given year, you are going to leave out some very deserving teams, thus making any playoff not a “real” playoff. Once you do open it to 32 or 64 teams you have to lengthen the season thus creating less drama in the regular season (see point 1).
A Bloomington girl is suing the Indiana High School Athletic Association so she can play baseball for her high school team. Logan Young has been playing baseball since she was little and now wants to play at the high school level. Because the school also offers softball the Athletic Association is contending that she is not allowed to try out for the baseball team. Her attorney’s are arguing that under Title IX she should be allowed to try out for baseball.
According to Title IX organizations cannot deny or discriminate, based on sex, any activity receiving Federal funding, so it would appear on the surface that the high school IS discriminating. However many of the Title IX cases have been about schools not providing an equal alternative for girls. Hence the reason for many high school and college athletic programs cutting men’s sports to add women’s sports. And according to Wikipedia (bolding is mine):
With respect to athletic programs, the Dept. of Education evaluates the following factors in determining whether equal treatment exists:[7]
(1) Whether the selection of sports and levels of competition effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of members of both sexes; (2) The provision of equipment and supplies; (3) Scheduling of games and practice time; (4) Travel and per diem allowance; (5) Opportunity to receive coaching and academic tutoring; (6) Assignment and compensation of coaches and tutors; (7) Provision of locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities; (8) Provision of medical and training facilities and services; (9) Provision of housing and dining facilities and services; (10) Publicity. Unequal aggregate expenditures for members of each sex or unequal expenditures for male and female teams if a recipient operates or sponsors separate teams will not constitute noncompliance with this section, but the Assistant Secretary [of Education for Civil Rights] may consider the failure to provide necessary funds for teams for one sex in assessing equality of opportunity for members of each sex.
The real question here is, should a girl be able to play with the boys? I don’t agree that this is a Title IX issue. The girls are given equal access to sports and are provided the opportunity to participate.
I am torn, because as a father who hopes to one day have a little girl, I would hope that if she wanted to play hockey, football, baseball, etc, that she would have that opportunity. I think that it is important that we give girls any and all opportunities to play and participate in sports. I also believe though, that we are too quick to legislate to the minority through legal action. Too many times lawsuits are a first step and not a last resort. I have to believe that there is an answer beyond a lawsuit, the school and the parents should be able to come together and find a suitable solution.
It will be interesting to see what happens in this case, because it could in essence redefine the meaning AND intent of Title IX.
What do you think? Is the school discriminating, and should Logan be allowed to play ball?
I have a question. When did our sports become soap operas? When did a group of men (and women) become addicted to the utter stupidity that happens between games? It used to be that sports happened on days of actual games. Sure you would get the injury reports and trades etc but it was never about who hated whom, who got shot, who hit their wife, who was doing what drugs. It was about the competition on the field.
The legendary Penn State Football Coach will be turning 82 on Sunday, yes, the coach that 
Even though I often criticize the NHL for how they have managed to bury a great game here in the U.S. I have to give them some mad props for this year’s 
