Thoughts On The World of Sports

Baseball has begun (who cares) and hockey is headed for the playoffs (so what).  Let's take a look at what is really going on in the world of sports.

BOBBY PETRINO

  

Nice job, Bobby Petrino.  You hire the 26 year old woman you are having an affair with to work in your football program but forget to tell your boss this.  Then the two of you hop on your motor cycle and crash it and again you forgot to tell your boss she was with you.  You claim you were only trying to protect your wife and kids who you happen to be cheating on and expect us to believe you.  And now you tell the public you are going to cooperate fully with the University of Arkansas and the police investigations of your accident.  Oh, and you just so happen to be the highest paid state employee in the state of Arkansas.  Congratulations, you managed to supplant Bill Clinton as the all time Arkansas Government Employee Tool.

TOM BOONEN'S GREATNESS

Those of you who follow professional bike racing in Europe know that Tom Boonen is having a terrific spring season.  Today he became only the second rider in history to win Paris-Roubaix for the fourth time and his margin of victory, 1:39, is the equivalent of a golfer winning the Masters by ten shots.

CANCERS

Doctors have discovered a rare form of cancer that appears to only strike young tall black men.  Known as Bynum-Howard's Carcinoma, it is believed to primarily strike only those who play center for either the Los Angeles Lakers or Orlando Magic.

STAYING PUT FOR NOW

Kentucky basketball coach John Callipari says he is not interested in a coaching job in the NBA.  Smart move.  He can make just as much money coaching at the University of Kentucky and know that his earnings will be more than what his players receive under the table from boosters.

ANOTHER EX JOCK BROKE

  Then there is week's broke athlete award winner, Warren Sapp, a player who made millions over the course of his playing career and who currently earns over 100 thousand dollars a month as an ex-jock.  Times are tough on the guy who can't make his alimony or child support payments.  Who is his ex, Octomom?  And why the 240 pairs of Jordan athletic shoes?  Warren only needs a left shoe to stick in his big mouth every time he opens it and says something unfounded and a right shoe to use to kick himself in the butt.  I am sure if he asks, Jeremy Shockey will gladly help with a much needed ass kicking.

SHOULDN'T HE BE A SAINT?

So Tim Tebow is now the Easter messenger too.  He might as well be the Easter Bunny for all the eggs he will drop in New York.  I see him as the face of the NFL Network in three years when he is a former NFL quarterback.

DEFENSIVE COACH VERY OFFENSIVE

Gregg Williams, right, the former defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints accused of placing bounties on opposing players may never coach again in the NFL now that audio has been released of him instructing his players to injure several members of the San Francisco 49ers.  It's not the end of the world for him.  The audio tape will come in handy if he ever decides to apply to the mob as a hit man.

KICKIN' IT WITH TIGER

  So Tiger Woods kicked his golf club out of frustration and now he faces discipline from PGA officials.  Somehow I think it will pale in comparison to his last incident with a golf club.  Of course, he was on the receiving end of his ex-wife's swings rather than dishing out the carnage.

The NCAA Violates Title IX

As the Super Bowl draws near and we get ready to crown a new champion of the NFL, don't forget how the NCAA has not only failed to provide its fans with a much desired football playoff, they have also failed to comply with Title IX in the process.

On June 23, 1972, the Supreme Court ruled "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance..."

Title IX was designed to bring about equal opportunity to females at a time in which males were being rewarded at their expense. Among the changes ushered in under Title IX were equal opportunities, facilities, and money for female athletic programs, which for decades had to settle for table scraps.

Today, colleges have to offer an equal number of athletic scholarships to males and females as part of their compliance to the law. This has resulted in a boom for female athletic programs at the high school and college levels while causing many schools to cut back or eliminate some male programs.

Football is the cash cow of NCAA Division I athletics but it also uses up the most scholarships of any program, as many as 85 at a time. Colleges with major football programs now offer many female sports that lose money but provide females with an equal number of athletic scholarships. Many colleges offer female sports like wrestling, golf, gymnastics, and water polo even though they continually lose money each year just so they comply with Title IX. A profitable football program will more than pick up the cost of those sports.

That's all well and good. Women deserve the same athletic opportunities as men and it is not their fault if the public has not embraced their sports to the level they have with football. However, it should also be pointed out that all female college athletic programs and all male athletic programs, except for one, share something in common. Their national champion is decided as a result of a playoff system. The lone NCAA Division I sport that does not have a playoff system is football. In fact, it is the only college sport that does not have a playoff. Even the lower division colleges crown their football champion after a playoff.

Why then is the NCAA allowed to violate Title IX? The courts claim there is no proof the NCAA uses any of the federal funds it receives to determine who their national champions are. That may be true. However, it is not true of its member colleges which also receive federal funds and as such should not be able to deny any student male or female, "the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education system..."

Male student athletes who participate in Division I football are just as entitled to a playoff system as their female counterparts who play volleyball or soccer. To not offer one is to discriminate on the basis of gender which is a direct violation of Title IX.

I believe if there is going to be a true playoff system in Division I college football, it will require participating athletes to begin suing their university for failing to comply with Title IX. As these lawsuits begin to mount, colleges will have to endure the cost of court fights for something the public wants but the colleges will not offer. Some universities may have to decide whether or not to drop football which would then kill most of the other athletic programs on campus since most operate at a loss. They can not afford to pay 85 football players on scholarship damages rewarded by the courts or pay the cost of beginning a new organization to oversee their sports while offering a playoff system.

So university presidents will have to pressure the leaders of the NCAA to drop their ridiculous Bowl Championship Series and replace it with a playoff system. It is the only way colleges can continue to receive the hugesums of money brought in by a football program while giving the public what it wants and what the student athletes are entitled to under Title IX.

Lets's Hear It For Yellow

I am boycotting the color pink. In fact, I am boycotting anything that comes close to resembling pink so fuchsia, you're out too. You can also toss in the singer, Pink because I am sure she loves what is going on.

October used to be one of my favorite months. The days shorten and the leaves turns numerous colors but never pink. The weather cools off and there is Halloween to celebrate at month's end.

It used to be when October arrived you saw lots of orange, brown, and black. Now, it's just pink.

Go to a grocery store and your favorite brands of food are colored with pink labels. Turn on a Sunday football game and the players are wearing pink wrist bands, shoes, and chin straps. Heck, even my morning paper was printed on pink paper yesterday.

Why? Because somehow we have allowed breast cancer research to steal an entire month and paint our nation pink. I'm surprised the White House is not painted pink this month or that congress does not require all government buildings to fly a pink, white and blue flag dawned with 50 pink ribbons instead of stars.

Go to any store and try buying a product in its original label instead of pink. Women will look at you as if you are Satan. The female clerk at the checkout stand will remind you when you buy pink labeled items part of your money goes to breast cancer research hoping to shame you into submission.

However, I will not be broken. It's not because I oppose finding a cure to breast cancer. I hope and pray we do. I also hope and pray we find a cure to colon cancer (my mother), rectal cancer (also my mother), prostate cancer (my father), stomach cancer (my grandfather) and all other cancers for that matter.

One of the biggest supporters of a pink October is the National Football League. They devote an entire month trying to sell pink NFL replica jerseys, wrist bands, and anything else they can stamp NFL on because it helps them expand their fan base to women.

You say I am being cynical. Then why hasn't the NFL selected another month, say September, and another color, perhaps blue, to devote to finding a cure to childhood leukemia? I say it is because they know children do not have the money to purchase NFL jerseys, season tickets, or cable television game day packages and could care less about curing a disease.

And am I the only one who notices that if an NFL player tries to wear pink any other month he gets find thousands of dollars for being out of uniform. Why is it okay to wear pink cleats one month but not another?

I will, however, wear yellow. I proudly wear my yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet and support Lance Armstrong's efforts to rid the world of all cancer. July should be the month of yellow. It represents the month in which Armstrong won seven straight Tour de France titles. Yellow is also the color of the leader jersey worn in the Tour de France and it represents the sun which without there ceases to be any life on this planet.

Join me in my pink boycott this month. Wear yellow instead. Watch college football instead of the NFL. Listen to any musical artist except Pink (you may have to do without Pink Floyd too although they were around long before pink Octobers). Remember, none of us are exempt from any of a number of cancers and we should be working toward finding cures to all and not just one.

Thoughts From A Vacation

After a nice two week vacation to Lake Tahoe, Chico, and the Bay Area, I realize the following:

1. July and August in Lake Tahoe are hard to top. You get perfect weather with plenty to do and it is tremendously affordable when you compare it to other popular vacation spots.


2. Congress and the debt ceiling issue shows us just how little our elected leaders do for us. They prefer to play a game of political chicken knowing the only losers will be the people they represent.


3. I may have to enter next year's Death Ride. 139 miles and five passes; each more than eight thousand feet above sea level now seems possible with my new bike.


4. Roger Goodell is not so honorable after all. How can he claim an agreement is in place when he has not run it past the people he is negotiating with? Al Davis and the Raiders were actually right for once by being the only team to not vote on the agreement.


5. This year's Tour de France is shaping up as one of the best ever in its history. Tomorrow's final time trial will determine the winner. The top three places are separated by a mere 57 seconds and that's after two thousand miles of racing.


6. I can't feel sorry for three tourists who ignore a posted sign and set foot in a raging river to get a photo taken only to be swept over Vernal Falls in Yosemite. How long before their families sue the National Parks for not preventing their act of stupidity?


7. The space shuttle flew its final flight and now what? Maybe we can make education, health care, job creation, and poverty our next frontiers.


8. U.S. women come up short against Japan in the Women's World Cup final but somehow I think there will be a lot of advertisers looking to sign Hope Solo to deals.


9. Breaking Bad began its newest season last Sunday and my DVR did not record the opener. I'm hoping it records a replay before this week's show.


10. I've said it before and will say it again: Do republicans really think they can win a presidential election next year with the group they have right now? Like many others, I am beginning to think they are doing everything they can to wreck a second term for Obama just so they can win the White House in 2016. Bipartisan politics is dead.


11. The NBA has a labor lockout too. No one cares. In fact, no one will care if it continues into next year. However, if the NFL does not start up in September, Americans will insist the president gets involved.


12. Back to the dept ceiling and the NFL. How uninformed are we? Most Americans can tell you how they feel about the NFL and its labor issues but don't have a clue as to the ramifications of what will happen if our debt ceiling is not raised.


13. A balanced federal budget sounds great but is not possible in our present form of government. When presidents have a line item veto to eliminate pork from bills; when we stop getting ourselves into so many costly wars; when we understand the difference between needs and wants; when we quit thinking we are entitled to everything we want; maybe then a balanced budget becomes possible.


14. I still do not like the idea of making the rich pay more taxes. Why? Because they are on the receiving end of almost all tax loop holes. Lets just make them pay their fair share like the rest of us. I still think a flat federal tax rate is in order and it is to be collected monthly and not yearly.


15. Tiger Woods fires his caddie. Why is this news? Are we so desperate for controversy that we can not let a golfer make a change as to who carries his clubs? The Giants fan who was beaten on opening day in the parking lot of Dodger stadium just had to have more surgery. Two more men were arrested and yet we make a bigger deal about Tiger looking for a new caddie.


16. Who do you find more repugnant, Casey Anthony or Nancy Grace?


17. I caught Justin Timberlake on Conan the other night. How can you not like this guy? He can sing, dance, act, and he more than held his own in the humor department with Coco. Now if only women found him good looking he'd have it made.


18. So Charlie Sheen will be getting a new television show based on the Jack Nicholson character in Anger Management. Lets hope this does for Charlie what the movie did for Jack. That way we won't have to listen to Charlie any more.


19. I caught Bristol Palin's interview with Dr. Drew last night. If she was an honor student in Alaska then that state is leaving a lot of its children behind. She has no business being a spokesperson for anything.


20. If you are a bicycle enthusiast like me, then South Lake Tahoe is the place to ride, especially if you enjoy climbs. Angora Lake Road, South Upper Truckee Road to the top of Luther Pass, Meyers Grade to Echo Lake, and Heavenly Valley will all leave you in awe while gasping for air. Also, not to be out done is the climb up Honey Run Road from Chico to Paradise. In two hours, I saw three cars and one deer.

NFL: No Fan League

It is beyond my comprehension why anyone would worry about the possibility of an NFL lockout or cancelled season. In this day and age when a multi billion dollar industry is able to thrive while the people who follow it struggle to pay their mortgages or to put food on the table, if it wants to close up shop, let them. It's clear the NFL does not care about their customers -- the fans.

Both players and owners are making record money during the worst economic crisis since the great depression. During the Depression, if you played in the NFL you also worked another job during the year because you were never going to get rich as a player. Owners ran bare minimum operations and the game's popularity paled to the popularity of professional baseball and college football. Today, the NFL is the king of American sports and it wants to shut down so it can continue to thrive. This doesn't make any sense.

During the Great Depression, the cost of game tickets, hot dogs, beer and parking were so cheap they were affordable to just about anyone. They remained that way for another forty or more years. Today, however, two game tickets on the forty yard line cost more than a pair of season tickets cost my dad to Raider games in the 1970s. In those days, you could bring in all the food and drinks you could consume rather than having to pay eight bucks for a beer, five for a hot dog and the equivalent of college tuition for season tickets.

The National Football League does not care about the game's future as much as they do their cut of the pie. Long snappers make a million dollars a year just to snap a ball to a punter or the holder on field goals. Owners use their teams as cash cows to line their wallets with more money than even they dreamed and still both the players and owners want more. It's why tax payers have to agree to finance new stadiums every twenty years or risk losing their team to another city. Roger Goodell will never be happy until television viewers have to pay to watch any game on the tube. The league is like those two shady "boyz from the hood" sketch on In Living Color. All they want is "Mo money, mo money, mo money."

The league showed its true colors at the most recent Super Bowl when they over sold tickets and left hundreds of fans to watch the "Big Game" (The NFL owns the rights to the words Super Bowl and actually makes you pay to use them) on large screens set up outside the new Cowboys stadium in the cold. Then, they had the nerve to try and low ball the victims into quick settlements to avoid an embarrassing lawsuit for the fraud they pulled.

The NFL can count me as one of its former fans. I do not intend to return to the game anytime soon, not when both the owners and players insist on a larger piece of the pie that can only come by costing fans more of their money. Players can hold out all they want; I don't care. Owners can restructure the game any way they choose; it doesn't matter to me. Roger Goodell can spin any issue any way he wants; it won't make a difference to me.

The NFL is now just as irrelevant to me as Major League Baseball and the NBA, two other leagues I have quit following. When every decision that is made results in a more expensive game for the average fan to watch it becomes obvious the game is not about the fans.

So go ahead guys, take each other to court, lock up facilities, and cancel entire seasons. I am now among those who are no longer a follower of the No Fan League. I can enjoy a lazy Sunday afternoon or Monday night watching Modern Family, The Office, or a good movie I have on Tivo knowing that the only thing that matters is my enjoyment.