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 |