I love college sports, but if this is the double-standard these kids face, no thank you.
Now I don't have all the facts here. I don't claim to be a legal expert. But when I hear weekly of another college athlete, namely football players, in trouble for taking improper benefits, being in trouble for on-campus indiscretions, facing petty drug crime charges or actually facing allegations of actual serious crimes, I cannot help but think that this never seemed to be such a visible issue. Sure, we can blame much of that on social media. But the social media needs a culture to drive it and regurgitate it. Those stories of Jameis WInston stealing crab legs or Shabazz Napier saying he went hungry at night while at UConn were not actually stories. Ok, theft does end up in the police blotter, no matter how much Florida St. tries to cover up every crime and indiscretion. ALLEGEDLY. The fact is we are guilty of making big deals out of these usually small issues because even at 18-20 years old, these are guys and sometimes girls we put on a pedestal and assume that just because you can throw a football really well or run really fast, that makes you something other than a dumb kid. Now it comes out that a star player at Georgia might have received $400 for signing autographs from some sleazebag who tried the same scheme on other college stars who turned him down. This unlucky and dimwitted Georgia player might not play again this season as they investigate his sin. FOR $400 What a bunch of malarky! If he were treated fairly by his university and the cartel that is the NCAA he might not need anything from that autograph dealer. Or the same could be said about Shabazz Napier saying he went to bed hungry. The NCAA's regulations sort of put these kids in a bubble. You'll never be just like every other student, but if you do anything the least bit fun or infamous, it's all over tv. God forbid, you get in trouble. Now you stand to face two juries: the jury of international social media and then a jury of your peers.
I love college sports, but if this is the double-standard these kids face, no thank you.
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What's the difference between interference and any actual by-name penalties?
I rest my case. Anyway to give them their moment, i will try to preview the Red Wings 2014 campaign. The Wings' defense is what they will have to rely on this season with young defensemen Danny DeKeyser and Brendan Smith to turn around a team that floundered much of 2013 with injuries and instability. And that;s about as much as I know. My hometown Grand Rapids Griffins, the Wings' AHL affiliate, will be getting plenty of calls for guys up and down this season just as they did the season before. Of course, you all want predictions. One of the articles I read had them and liked the Wings in most writers' opinions to at least make the playoffs. That's fair. I think so too. It's the NHL -- where the word 'parody' was invented. But do I think they're any good? Not really. Not until they figure out the scoring and what to make of goalie Jimmy Howard who remains the starter but who more and more is asked of every season but he continues to not deliver. Coach Mike Babcock might be on his way out too, so the media will tell you. Better enjoy the memories this season then, Red Wings fans. It might be a dark time in the team's history just like every Detroit team eventually hits. References Detroit Free Press Staff. (2014, October 8). Detroit Red Wings predictions: They'll be better but not great. Retrieved October 10, 2014. Kevin Garnett "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!" Interview (6.17.08). (2008, June 8). Retrieved October 10, 2014. Savage, B. (2014, October 8). Defensemen are key to success of Red Wings' season, according to NBC Sports broadcasters. Retrieved October 10, 2014. The MLB playoffs have been off to a rousing start, seeing some scintillating finishes, dramatic moments, and of course lots of buns. Thanks Kansas City.
But it's already league championship series time, after last night wrapped up to Divisional rounds. let's take a look at the matchups. ALCS - Kansas City vs Baltimore Baseball fans might have laughed you out of the building if you forecasted this matchup months ago. The plucky Royals look to knock off another favorite while the Orioles look to further improve on their resume having already secured the 2nd - best record in the AL and knocked off Detroit. Turns out Kansas City's offense might play right into Baltimore's strength and this series could feature some really tense matchups. The Orioles power offense even without Machado, Crush Davis, and Weiters should prove too much for KC especially at Camden Yards. Prediction: Orioles in 6 NLCS - St. Louis vs San Francisco The Giants and Cardinals are no strangers to this time in the MLB Playoffs. Both are regular contenders with a wealth of Playoff experience, unlike their NLCS counterparts. The Giants came in having taken out the best team in the NL the Nationals and the Cardinals arrive having defeated the Dodgers and their ace Clayton Kershaw. Regardless of which team advances of the two, that team with have to be the odds-on favorite to win the World Series based on their savvy. Prediction: Cardinals in 7 There was not a lot to be happy about watching the Detroit Lions pull a defeat from the jaws of victory Sunday afternoon. Several key players got hurt. More still were nursing injuries already. The kicker missed three field goals which all would have lead the Lions to sure victory. He lost his job today because of it.
But one nice story came out of the game. Running Back George Winn was active for the game due to a lack of healthy running backs and he actually ended up seeing a good portion of the carries due to the game situations, his own success, and incumbent Reggie Bush's ankle injury. WInn finished the day with 48 yards on 11 carries, leading the Lions in rushing on a day where no one could run the ball effectively on either side. He had a couple key dropped balls but the fumbles that plagued him in the preseason did not appear. Winn's story is one of perseverance. The 23-year-old back from the University of Cincinnati was an undrafted free agent out of college who saw time with 5 practice squads in 2013 before the Lions gave him an extended look in the preseason in 2014. Winn is a local story, growing up and going to school only 30 miles from Ford Field in Detroit so he had a wealth of family at the game to watch his first ever regular-season game. Winn looks to see more consistent playing time after he passed this audition this week; RBs Bush, Bell, and Riddick are all recovering from some kind of injury with each man's return as yet unsure. But what we do know for sure is that a hungry, young local kid is ready and able to fill in if the need arise. References Buffalo Bills vs. Detroit Lions on Sunday, October 5, 2014. (2014, October 5). Retrieved October 6, 2014. Conway, T. (2014, October 5). George Winn's Updated Fantasy Outlook After Reggie Bush's Injury. Retrieved October 6, 2014. Michigan football was not in a good place this past week. Heck, it has not been in a good place all season. As a fan, I am just numb to it already. But I am not numb to what happened last weekend. In a home loss to lowly Minnesota, Michigan quarterback Shane Morris was taking a beating. He was noticeably limping from repeated shots to the leg which was certainly affecting his ability to make plays and get out out of the way of hits. Then this happened: Morris was hit in an ugly shot by a Minnesota tackler which the television announcer quickly denounced as targeting, which should have incurred a penalty, an ejection, and most likely a suspension. Instead, no one seemed to notice the hit including Michigan coaches as they left Morris out there to wobble and struggle. He proceeded to throw one more pass, then get pulled. However, when new quarterback Devin Gardner promptly lost his helmet on a play and had to sit out a play (per NCAA rules designed for SAFETY), there was Morris touted back in some kind of sick irony. The cameras even showed the 3rd-string quarterback getting quickly ready to enter for the play only to have a stream of miscommunication and then before you knew it Morris was back out for the play to hand off the ball.
But the damage was done. Not only was damage done to the man and his health, but to the state of precautionary safety in college football and to the coaching staff at one of college football's most hallowed institutions. The coaches all say they did not see the hit. How that is possible is questionable at best. But to then see a player struggling like Morris was physically and just assume he's good to stay in the game is awful. That could have cost him even more if he had been hit again! Brain injuries are not anything to make light of and the coaches at a school like Michigan should be at the cutting edge of the treatment, not the ass-end. Head Coach Brady Hoke says he didn't see the hit. Hopefully he sees it coming when he is terminated. Maybe not this season and maybe not directly due to this lapse of leadership and sense, but it will come eventually. I just hope he doesn't turn a blind eye to that too., The Detroit Tigers play in beautiful Comerica Park, named after a bank or perhaps what people would have us call our shallow, consumerist country. Anyhoo, they have a massive scoreboard/3-story billboard that makes up most of the left field sight lines. This got me wondering: what goes into the design and placement of a focal-point scoreboard? I suppose I should clarify: I mean video boards, not traditional scoreboards with solely the score on them. A little research got me this awesome inforgraphic that shows the way the video boards have only gotten bigger and very recently. The stat they show is that out of 28 stadiums with one distinctly-focal video board in the outfield, 50% of them are in center field, with 29% in left field, and 21% in right. I guess I did not know this because my gut did not say center field. But think about it: you want to attract the most eyes for your brand and for the brands and sponsors on that video board. Where else makes more sense than dead center? It almost makes you wonder why 50% of clubs chose to not put the video board in center.
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Baseball stadiums by the board. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2014, from media.trb.com/media/acrobat/2013-04/176488360-14165153.pdf Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees retired this past week. I don't know if you had heard about it. He retired at the end of an emotional and disappointing 2014 Yankees campaign that saw the Bronx Bombers come up short in a failed bid to skulk into the Playoffs as a beaten and tired bunch of free agents. Jeter played most of the 2014 season after a disastrous 2013 campaign that saw him lose much of the season to injury, slashing .256/.304/.313/.617 and knocking 147 hits in 145 games played. Very respectable for a guy his age, He managed quite the career's batting numbers:
Jeter did it all with class for his whole career, no real off-the-field exploits. He eventually was not the slickest fielder in the League or the best lead-off hitter. His numbers at times were overshadowed by the power numbers of possibly-tainted home run hitters. But he did it all with a quiet reservation that would have made him as comfortable in Milwaukee as he was in the Big Apple.
So thank you Mr. Jeter. Thanks for the memories. We will see you in Cooperstown. References Derek Jeter Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jeterde01.shtml?redir The sporting world has been blown away by the series of allegations, legal troubles, and apologies by the NFL, its players, and staff over the next few weeks. The Ray Rice scandal, the Adrian Peterson allegations, several other players being involved with domestic altercations, and the way the NFL has handled them have all made for a lot of bad pub and worse feelings for the fans and the league. Some people are calling for heads to roll. They want people fired, namely the Commissioner Roger Goodell and the players who have committed these alleged infractions. Due to backlash and scrutiny, the league and teams have all made good and at least taken the players off the playing fields and active rosters. But what will satisfy fans, rights groups, or advertisers? Will contrition and self-imposed penalties do the trick? The Commissioner made a press conference where he read an apology for his actions in handling the Ray Rice scandal. Most observers made a point to say that the Commissioner on behalf of the NFL dodged most or all direct questions and did not really tell us anything we didn't already know. An apology like that as students of apologetic ethics might tell you, really could do more to hurt the person than help them. Goodell looks like a guilty man trying to earn himself breathing room while hiding behind the legal process knowing that he had to make a comment. In my opinion, the NFL has not done nearly enough to make this right. They announced like always that they will be forming a committee to work on domestic issues and player conduct that is made up of mostly women. How novel. They announced stiffer penalties for domestic violence convictions (6 games for 1st offense, lifetime ban for 2nd). But the real damage may already have been done. How can sponsors trust the NFL as a brand or a partner if their employees are engaging in illegal, immoral behavior? Some sponsors have already stopped their partnership with specific teams or as a whole. But for the long-term health of the league, how can they be trustworthy to not make more mistakes that sully their reputation? Really, they best answer is to bring in someone who can act as a disciplinarian Commissioner or Director of Player Conduct to take the reigns from Goodell. Goodell has been a great CEO for the NFL if you will, but his record with discipline is spotty. Too harsh sometimes, not harsh enough other times. If you bring in someone with some knowhow and football background (say a revered old coach) I think you would increase the chan ces of positive stories outweighing negative ones.
On the field of sport, it is common to see taunts and celebrations. Our favorite athletes can actually create an image and a brand by separating themselves on the field with some colorful gyrations. There has been the Icky Shuffle, the Dirty Bird, the Lights Out, and Aaron Rodgers' title belt pose, endearingly known as the Discount Double check from Rodgers' role as pitchman for State Farm Insurance. Well sometimes imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and sometimes that imitation is a bad idea. Enter Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch. In Sunday's game between Tulloch's Lions and the Packers, Tulloch secured a key sack of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and lept to his feet to celebrate. He left his feet appearing to mimic the Discount Doublecheck move but as he landed his leg gave out and he crumpled to the ground. He rose quickly but would not return to the game. It was later found that he had torn his ACL in that leap and is done for the season to recover. The Lions now have to forge ahead on a promising 2014 season without the leader of their defense. They have since been linked to a a couple linebackers to fill the void a little but the damage is done and it remains to be seen just how much they accomplish without him. All because of one silly, throwaway dance and some throwaway bravado. Sometimes you got to know when to dance and when to get off the dance floor. I am all for the humor and the fun of the the regular, harmless dancing and taunting of football. Even as they make more and more rules against it, I dig it. But if you are going to leave your feet or physically exert yourself in any way, you better be sure you can handle it and you won't be putting your health and the team in jeopardy.
It can be said that if you have a gift but cannot find the ability to use it, then you have no gift at all. This is the case of Cincinnati Reds speedster Billy Hamilton. Hamilton has been a fixture of the struggling Reds offense all season, posting a .256/.298/.364/.661 line in 2014 with 56 SBs in 79 chances ("Billy Hamilton Statistics and History", 2014). His speed sets him apart from his peers as one of the most explosive players in baseball capable of making a run all on his own,. You might say "what's the big deal?" Well those 23 Caught Stealings notwithstanding, Hamilton just has not been as productive as the Reds need him to be. Sure, the Reds offense has been wracked with injuries this year and failed to hit consistently. Manager Byran Price has had to use "99 total lineups (130 when including pitchers)" ("2014 Cincinnati Reds", 2014). But Hamilton has been there in 148 games, batting leadoff 132 times. In September, "[h]e's batting just .150 (6-for-40) this month and what's worse is that he's got just one stolen base in 12 games" (Bender, 2014). That doesn't get it done. His talent is obvious. But for the Reds to succeed and for Hamilton to flourish, he is going to need to play some winter ball, fall league ball, something. pitchers have figured out his tendencies in a little over one full season of big league ball. He needs to learn to better make contact to best utilize his blazing speed and cut down on his 114 Ks.
Otherwise, it;s like he has no gift at all. References 2014 Cincinnati Reds. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2014. 2014 Cincinnati Reds. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2014. Bender, H. (2014, September 1). Billy Hamilton drives in two with eighth triple | Fantasy Alarm. Retrieved September 20, 2014. Billy Hamilton Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2014. |