The just-wrapped weekend, ending January 30, was a great sports weekend. Tennis, golf, the NBA, and college basketball all had terrific events to satiate any balanced sports fan's needs for excitement and competition. The surprise loser of the weekend was the normally triumphant NFL, where once again the hulks impersonated football players and teams impersonated playing a significant game known as the Pro Bowl. Some observers noted that the game was exciting with so much scoring (the NFC won, 55-41). They didn't see the game. The NFC led 42-0 before the AFC got rolling. Taking its cue from the AFC defense, the NFC defense played dead in the second half to allow the AFC to almost catch up.
You can't blame the players for treating it more like a Hawaiian vacation than a serious game. You can't blame the league for encouraging patty-cake tackling to avoid serious injury in a meaningless game. Well, if everybody's blameless, why should the game be played at all? It isn't for home-field advantage in the Super Bowl. Everybody knows the teams can't learn new offensive and defensive schemes in one week and feign competence. It is an exhibition with far less meaning and cohesion than even the first preseason games. The Pro Bowl remains an annual affair where the league's best players not involved in late playoff runs show off individual talents with showboat plays featuring trademark moves. Gee, sounds like the NBA.
What about the good news? There was GREAT TENNIS, courtesy of the Australian Open. Federer and Nadal were upset, but finalists Djokovic and Murray played hard the entire tournament. True, the men's final was a rout, 3-0. On the women's side, Kim Clijsters knocked off the Chinese marvel Li Na after losing the first set.
Other good news over the weekend? There was GREAT GOLF, courtesy of the San Diego Open. With a backdrop of Torrey Pines' beautiful 36 holes and almost-perfect weather, old school Phil Mickelson and newcomer Jhonathan Vegas battled young veteran Bubba Watson down to the last hole. With Tiger Woods fading fast over the last 36 holes and 14 months, the PGA can use a couple of new stars in Vegas and Watson. Phil showed he still has the magic with his late charge as well. Golf's image only took a hit when players huddled desperately under umbrellas when a brief rain shower passed through. True, it's not the NFL, but do we really need to see players running from the rain and hiding under umbrellas held by their caddies? The Senior/Champions Skins game from Maui was fun for watching big names still hacking away and showing more personality than the new breed of drone-golfer. At least thrre's now a Bubba to replace a Fuzzy. Nicklaus and TOM Watson won the Skins match (anybody surprised?)
Basketball had a good weekend , too. In college basketball, New Mexico beat BYU in a classic contest at The Pit. The Lobos held Jimmer Fredette to less than 40 points, and that made the difference. In the most exciting game of the weekend, UC Davis beat UC Irvine in two overtimes in a fast-paced game, 108-107, with Mark Payne scoring the winning basket with less than three seconds left. The Anteaters of Irvine suffered a worse loss when leading scorer Eric Wise went out in the first overtime with a leg injury.
In the NBA, the lowly Sacramento Kings upset the Lakers in L.A. on Friday night, and then won again against the Hornets on Saturday night at home. DeMarcus Cousins is shaping up with Blake Griffin and John Wall as the league's next superstars. Count me in when league contraction puts these players on more competitive franchises.
What a great weekend for sports, no thanks to the NFL.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
The Uniform Issue: NFL Has Another Winner
The National Football League championship games yesterday generated two winners and two losers. In actuality, all four teams won. In turn, the NFL won. I'm not talking about the questionable reluctance of Jay Cutler to return to action after allegedly twisting his knee after verifiably having a sub-par first half. I'm not talking about the questionable eagerness of Ben Rothlisberger to allegedly manhandle every other co-ed he encounters at college bars or mountain resort towns. I'm talking about the uniforms. All four teams--Jets, Steelers, Packers, and Bears--were wearing their traditional colors and traditional designs. They don't need to radically change one or the other every other year to boost merchandise sales or look "cooler."
The Monsters of the Midway looked like the Monsters of the Midway. Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka, Mike Singletary, and Jim McMahon could have stepped out there and not felt out of place. The Pack was the Pack. Aaron Rogers looked like Bart Starr. Win or lose, the Packers never change their look. In the AFC championship, the Jets, still green and white, resembled the 1969 Miracle Jets of Joe Willie Namath, Don Maynard, and Matt Snell while the Steelers, still black and gold, resembled the 70's Steel Curtain brigade of Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, and Mean Joe Greene.
The NBA is the opposite of the NFL. There, change is good. Winning and losing franchises both experiment and reboot. It's understandable why perennial losers change their colors and logos, but to watch the Lakers play in white jerseys is curious, at best. That's not adding black to the color scheme in order to appeal to gangs and boost sales. It's white. Mindboggling.
Major League Baseball has its usual tweaks (add black, Cardinals?), but the Giants sure looked good in the World Series wearing their orange and black caps and trim. Not much has changed since Mel Ott, Willie Mays, and Juan Marichal. MLB loves tradition, we're told. So why did they allow that egomaniacal super-agent to change the colors and design of the Diamondbacks uniforms when he took control of the team? It's not like the Diamondbacks were a bad franchise. They had only been around about ten years, with one World Series championship behind them, when Mr. Superagent (who shall remain nameless here) bragged about resculpting the team in his image. Gone were the distinct pinstripes and purple trim. In was generic cream and red. The Diamondbacks haven't been winners since. The previous owner, Jerry Colangelo, was terrific for both the city of Phoenix and the team.
I wonder if the Oregon Ducks ridiculous grey and green outfits for the championship game were a bad luck charm for them. Just because they can afford change, and change frequently due to the Nike connection, doesn't mean they should. Penn State, USC, and Alabama do it right. They believe in tradition. So does the NFL. Winners all.
The Monsters of the Midway looked like the Monsters of the Midway. Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka, Mike Singletary, and Jim McMahon could have stepped out there and not felt out of place. The Pack was the Pack. Aaron Rogers looked like Bart Starr. Win or lose, the Packers never change their look. In the AFC championship, the Jets, still green and white, resembled the 1969 Miracle Jets of Joe Willie Namath, Don Maynard, and Matt Snell while the Steelers, still black and gold, resembled the 70's Steel Curtain brigade of Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, and Mean Joe Greene.
The NBA is the opposite of the NFL. There, change is good. Winning and losing franchises both experiment and reboot. It's understandable why perennial losers change their colors and logos, but to watch the Lakers play in white jerseys is curious, at best. That's not adding black to the color scheme in order to appeal to gangs and boost sales. It's white. Mindboggling.
Major League Baseball has its usual tweaks (add black, Cardinals?), but the Giants sure looked good in the World Series wearing their orange and black caps and trim. Not much has changed since Mel Ott, Willie Mays, and Juan Marichal. MLB loves tradition, we're told. So why did they allow that egomaniacal super-agent to change the colors and design of the Diamondbacks uniforms when he took control of the team? It's not like the Diamondbacks were a bad franchise. They had only been around about ten years, with one World Series championship behind them, when Mr. Superagent (who shall remain nameless here) bragged about resculpting the team in his image. Gone were the distinct pinstripes and purple trim. In was generic cream and red. The Diamondbacks haven't been winners since. The previous owner, Jerry Colangelo, was terrific for both the city of Phoenix and the team.
I wonder if the Oregon Ducks ridiculous grey and green outfits for the championship game were a bad luck charm for them. Just because they can afford change, and change frequently due to the Nike connection, doesn't mean they should. Penn State, USC, and Alabama do it right. They believe in tradition. So does the NFL. Winners all.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Review of College Football Bowl Season: Solid Analysis and Solid Waste
The college football bowl season was so long that even the BCS homer ESPN announcers were calling for a shorter season next year due to the sloppiness/rustiness of play in the "Championship" game between Oregon and Auburn. Apart from a bonehead decision to wear grey, white, and florescent green uniforms (what's wrong with the trad green and gold?) and a bonehead decision to go for it on fourth and goal (what's wrong with three points?), Oregon did many things right in going toe to toe with the SEC champ before falling in the last minute due to a fluke play/call. Of course, the Ducks were overmatched in sheer tonnage along the lines. But is the SEC really so dominant just because the past five NCAA champs hail from that conference? According to the ESPN broadcasters, it is. According to my analysis, it isn't.
While 10 of the 12 SEC member schools qualified for bowl games, doesn't that bring up the old argument that there are just too many bowl games designed to showcase bowl sponsors, half-empty stadiums, and mediocre 6-6 teams? A few bowl teams wound up with 6-7 records, and the diluting down of American sports quality continues. In the SEC, besides Auburn's squeaker, LSU, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi State won convincingly. On the other hand, Georgia lost to Central Florida, Tennessee fell to North Carolina, Kentucky was smashed by Pittsburgh, Arkansas was crunched by Ohio State, and South Carolina was bushwhacked by Florida State. The SEC finished with a .500 bowl average. Domination? I think not. When are they going to become a REAL conference like the Pac-10/12 by scheduling NINE conference games rather than all the cupcakes they intersperse between their sparse conference duels?
Other conferences that finished with .500 bowling records include such powerhouses as the WAC and the Mid-American, as well as the Pac-10/12. Which conference fared best? The soon-to-reconfigure, non-BCS Mountain West, with a sterling four wins and one loss, or .800 record, finished numero uno. Utah's pounding at the hands of the great Boise State was no embarrassment, either, while TCU's pancaking of Wisconsin should have embarrassed at least one BCS college president (paging Gordon Gee).
Other winning conferences from the bowl season include the non-BCS Sun Belt and BCS Big East, tied at a .667 percentage. Thanks to Notre Dame and Army, football independents finished with a .667 percentage as well. From there, it's all downhill. While the non-BCS Conference USA finished at a lowly .333, the so-called BCS power conferences of the Big 12 and Big 10 finished at 3-5 each, while the ACC finished 4-5. Many observers in the mountain and pacific time zones were elated on the first day of 2011, as the Big 10 went 0-4 on New Year's.
A final note on the solid waste of the bowl season: is it possible to require teams to have WINNING final records BEFORE becoming bowl eligible? This serves a threefold purpose. First, it prevents a bowl-appearing team from winding up with a sub-.500 overall record due to a bowl loss. Second, it would eliminate some of the incredibly cheesy and superfluous bowl games with titles like the GoDaddy.com Bowl, the uDrove Humanitarian Bowl, the R & L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the Beef o' Brady's Bowl, the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, the Little Caesars Bowl, and the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl. Third, with the subtraction of several mundane and mediocre match-ups, it would encourage ESPN and the BCS to condense the bowl season so that it ends no more than a couple days after New Year's.
While 10 of the 12 SEC member schools qualified for bowl games, doesn't that bring up the old argument that there are just too many bowl games designed to showcase bowl sponsors, half-empty stadiums, and mediocre 6-6 teams? A few bowl teams wound up with 6-7 records, and the diluting down of American sports quality continues. In the SEC, besides Auburn's squeaker, LSU, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi State won convincingly. On the other hand, Georgia lost to Central Florida, Tennessee fell to North Carolina, Kentucky was smashed by Pittsburgh, Arkansas was crunched by Ohio State, and South Carolina was bushwhacked by Florida State. The SEC finished with a .500 bowl average. Domination? I think not. When are they going to become a REAL conference like the Pac-10/12 by scheduling NINE conference games rather than all the cupcakes they intersperse between their sparse conference duels?
Other conferences that finished with .500 bowling records include such powerhouses as the WAC and the Mid-American, as well as the Pac-10/12. Which conference fared best? The soon-to-reconfigure, non-BCS Mountain West, with a sterling four wins and one loss, or .800 record, finished numero uno. Utah's pounding at the hands of the great Boise State was no embarrassment, either, while TCU's pancaking of Wisconsin should have embarrassed at least one BCS college president (paging Gordon Gee).
Other winning conferences from the bowl season include the non-BCS Sun Belt and BCS Big East, tied at a .667 percentage. Thanks to Notre Dame and Army, football independents finished with a .667 percentage as well. From there, it's all downhill. While the non-BCS Conference USA finished at a lowly .333, the so-called BCS power conferences of the Big 12 and Big 10 finished at 3-5 each, while the ACC finished 4-5. Many observers in the mountain and pacific time zones were elated on the first day of 2011, as the Big 10 went 0-4 on New Year's.
A final note on the solid waste of the bowl season: is it possible to require teams to have WINNING final records BEFORE becoming bowl eligible? This serves a threefold purpose. First, it prevents a bowl-appearing team from winding up with a sub-.500 overall record due to a bowl loss. Second, it would eliminate some of the incredibly cheesy and superfluous bowl games with titles like the GoDaddy.com Bowl, the uDrove Humanitarian Bowl, the R & L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the Beef o' Brady's Bowl, the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, the Little Caesars Bowl, and the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl. Third, with the subtraction of several mundane and mediocre match-ups, it would encourage ESPN and the BCS to condense the bowl season so that it ends no more than a couple days after New Year's.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Heisman Winners and Losers: Is Character a Factor?
Why did Auburn's Cam Newton win the Heisman trophy as college football's best player? Was it because he owned most of the votes east of the Mississippi River as Heisman's only credible candidate from the Mideast, East, and South while Kellen Moore of Boise State, Andrew Luck of Stanford, and LaMichael James of Oregon split the votes from the West? Was it because of his awe-inspiring statistics as both running quarterback and passing quarterback? Was it because of his team's unblemished record up to voting time? Or was it because of all three?
One thing is certain: while voters are told character counts in considering the candidates, most voters overlooked character as a factor. Perhaps most voters find stolen laptops, test cheating, and play for pay ultimatums as minor mistakes, not true character flaws. Maybe most voters have stolen and cheated somebody or some institution themselves, and therefore they relate better to the seriously flawed Newton. On a lighter note, maybe most voters just like a good comeback story, and Cam Newton's story certainly fits that bill.
Was Jake Locker of Washington found with a stolen laptop? No, but he was found to have the character and integrity to return for his senior season while watching his draft status decline precipitously. Was Andrew Luck found cheating on an exam? No, but he recently shocked the sports world by indicating he would return for a redshirt junior season to help his recruiting class complete its four-year cycle at Stanford with another winning season. Was Kellen Moore's family found to have issued play for pay ultimatums to interested schools while he was being recruited? No, but he has indicated that he will return for his senior year, even though his Boise team will be weakened by the loss of several starters and the Broncos have to face a much-tougher schedule as a new member of the Mountain West conference.
Who with any moral perspective is happy about Cam Newton winning the Heisman trophy? I don't know. Ask the Westphobic voters who voted him in.
One thing is certain: while voters are told character counts in considering the candidates, most voters overlooked character as a factor. Perhaps most voters find stolen laptops, test cheating, and play for pay ultimatums as minor mistakes, not true character flaws. Maybe most voters have stolen and cheated somebody or some institution themselves, and therefore they relate better to the seriously flawed Newton. On a lighter note, maybe most voters just like a good comeback story, and Cam Newton's story certainly fits that bill.
Was Jake Locker of Washington found with a stolen laptop? No, but he was found to have the character and integrity to return for his senior season while watching his draft status decline precipitously. Was Andrew Luck found cheating on an exam? No, but he recently shocked the sports world by indicating he would return for a redshirt junior season to help his recruiting class complete its four-year cycle at Stanford with another winning season. Was Kellen Moore's family found to have issued play for pay ultimatums to interested schools while he was being recruited? No, but he has indicated that he will return for his senior year, even though his Boise team will be weakened by the loss of several starters and the Broncos have to face a much-tougher schedule as a new member of the Mountain West conference.
Who with any moral perspective is happy about Cam Newton winning the Heisman trophy? I don't know. Ask the Westphobic voters who voted him in.
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