The Last Post

One of the hardest questions a general manager of any sport ever has to ask themselves is what to do with an aging veteran whose production has steadily dropped. The average veteran will be cut as soon as they stop producing but I'm talking about the guys who have had great careers and have given so much to the organization. It become very difficult because to what extent do you compromise winning just to pay thanks for sometimes a decade or more of success.


In sports like hockey and baseball it is easier to keep an aging veteran. Since there are so many position players you can reduce the play of an older player but still keep them on the roster. Football though is different. Because the shelf life of an NFL players is only 5 to 10 years, teams will quickly abandon their veterans for unproven younger prospects. The most recent case of this was with the Jacksonville Jaguars. They dumped pro bowl runner Fred Taylor just because he is getting old. It will prove to be a huge mistake in the long run.

Although it is tough for teams to drop these types of players we must remember that in the end it is a business and teams have to do what is in their best interest. This is all I have to say on this topic, but before I go I just want to let all my viewers know that this will possibly be my final blog. I want to thank you all for your input and feedback and I hope you guys learned a little bit about sports. I sure know that I have. I would like to thank ESPN for the inspiration for so many of my postings and thanks to Nelly who inspired the whole theme or Heart of a Champion. Most importantly thank you Mrs. Stoklosa for giving this assignment. It helped me to come in touch with a form of communication that is becoming very popular and I have greatly improved my writing skills through all my postings.

Michael Vick

When thinking of sports only one name comes to my mind at this very point. That name is Michael Vick. Today at 4:00 in the morning Michael Vick was released from federal prison after serving 21 of his 23 month sentence for hosting a dog fighting ring. Vick will be returning to his house in Hampton, Virginia where he will serve the final 2 months under house arrest.

Two years ago Michael Vick was one of the premiere players in the league. The man made a horrible mistake and has served his jail time for it. The question now becomes should he be aloud to come back and play in the NFL or should a further punishment be handed down from the league. Organizations such as the Humane Society and PETA will do everything in tehir power to make sure he never sees the field again. While tehy are right to protest he admittance back to the league because the crimes he committed were inexcusable is it fair to ban him foreve from the league?

Personally I no problem allowing him back into the league as soon as his house arrest is complete. The man has paid his debt to society and everybody deserves a second chance. Also Michael Vick owes so many millions of dollars to the Falsons and to some of his former endorsers. He will be in debt teh rest of his life if he doesn't get the chance to play again in the NFL. Last he is only 29 years old. I honestly believe the man has some gas left in the tank and I know whoever signs him will be greatly helping their team.

All this being said I take back everything if he steps out of line but once. He should be on teh shortest of leashes (no pun intended) and should be banned forever if he does anything less than act as a model citizen. Michael Vick has the opportunity to actually do some good for the community and influence young men and women of the adverse affects of dog fighting. He deserves a second chances but noting more than that.

Title 9

Playing hockey and being captain of the Cypress Bay the Cypress bay Roller Hockey team there is one word and one number that I have come to hate over the years. It is Title 9. Title 9 under the school code and regulations requires every sport and club to be opened up to both boys and girls. It requires that if there is a team it must either be integrated or there must be a team for all boys or all girls.

While i see why it is important to have Title 9 it has really affected our hockey team. We were required the past few years to play a girl on our team even though she was not very capable of playing. Each year our team has tryouts and for the most part only guys show up. Then every year we are forced to cut some quality male players and replace them with a girl who is required to play a certain amount each season. Title 9 can be avoided though if no girls try out or show interest so basically that was our plan this past year. To avoid this my teacher who is also the team sponsor and I decided to create a girls team. I would be the head coach and It would be my responsibility to teach them how to play. Needless to say only a few girls showed up and they lost interest very quickly.

Overall it is important that Title 9 exists. It provides equal opportunities for both boys and girls to get involved in school athletics and allows any person to participate in an activity if they would like to.

Steroids part 2

Just when Baseball thought that it has cleaned up its act and rid the sport of steroids another huge star tested positive on a random drug test. On Sunday, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Manny Ramirez failed a drug test and later admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. This comes after Manny had been given a 20 million dollar new contract during the off season.

Along with the recent admittance by Alex Rodriguez, and the positive testings of Andy Pettite, Jason Giambi, and Roger Clemmens it is becoming a safe assumption that many more players than we can imagine have used steroids during their career. The question then becomes is the era that has come to be known as the Steroid Era completely tarnished. Should every record set during this time be thrown out.

While that might be radical many people are proposing that we should put an asterisk next to any record set over the past decade. Personally I don't have a huge problem with records being set with players who were on steroids. First of all so many players were doing it at the time that it was basically an even playing ground. Barry Bonds who allegedly took steroids hit seven home runs off Andy Pettite, which is tied for second most against any pitcher. Andy Pettite has already admitted to taking steroids and Bonds clearly won that battle.


Last, steroids were not illegal when all these players were using them. How can we discredit the achievements of players who were only giving themselves an advantage by something that was legal at the time. Although we should not look highly upon past steroid users we should in no way let it taint their records.

Life of the Rich and Famous

When we first moved into my new house about three years ago our new neighors stopped by to introduce themselves. When they saw us moving in all our hockey equiptment into the garage they proceeded to tell us that Florida Panther's winger Chris Gratton lived in the house three doors down. I got so excited. All I could think about for the next few days was what I would say to him when I met him. So about a week later as I was getting ready for a hockey game I saw him jog by. He had obviously been running for a long time and looked really tired. I didn't want to bother him so I just kind of half waved and yelled good game last night to him. He then stopped and came up to me and we talked for a little while about the Panthers. I was so excited to actually talk to a real Panther player that I forgot about practice and showed up 20 minutes late.

In reality Chris Gratton is really not a good player. Just the fact that he plays in the NHL is what impressed me so much. I often wonder why we get so excited when we meet someone famous. In reality they are just a human being and happen to be good at something. Actually now a days people don't have to have any talents to be famous. On my street there are people that are far more educated and successful than Chris Gratton. There are doctors and lawyers and even the mayor of the city live a few houses down. In the end it just comes down to the fact that human nature is intrigued by fame. This is the way it is and the way it will always be.

The Collapse of the Bubble

Two years ago on teh corner of University and Nova Drive the Miami Dolphins opened up their new parctice facility. It was named "The Bubble" due to it bubble like appearence. In reality it is a massive dome fully light and air conditioned for the players to use during bad weather conditions.

The Dallas Cowboys have a very similar practice facility or at least they had one. This past Monday a storm packing winds nearing those of a tornado ripped through their practice facility leaving the place in ruins. There were around 20 players in the building and around 40 staff and media members present at the time of the collapse. Video images show the roof of this air inflated structure shaking profuciously. Light can theyn be seen crashing to the ground as the whole structure began to fall apart. Players and staff began frantically running towards the exits, many of which had been blocked off.

Within a few minutes everyone had evacuated the building. 11 people had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital. While most people escaped with only a few scratches Cowboy's special teams coach Joe DeCamillis had a portion of his vertibrate severed and has been paralyzed from the waste down.

There is alot we can learn from what happened. First off we must be thankful that the building was not more crowed as usually there are upwards of 150 people present in the dome at all times. Next we must consider moving team practices to an actual indoor facility while it is raining. These bubbles just arn't safe and its not work risking the live of players and staff just to save a quick buck. Another alternative is better tracking systems. If tornado force winds were heading in the direction of the facility practice should not have been held there.

Giving Back...A touching story of a player who cares

Now a days every professional sports league has a program in which they give back to society. It is a very nice gesture but I often ponder the motive of these programs. Are these programs designed to actually give back to the people who need it most or is it just to make the league and teams look good in the eyes of the public? While ticket sales might be the reason for the teams funding them I believe that the players really feel that it is their duty to give back to society.

Miami Heat superstar Dwayne Wade showed what caring and giving back can really do to help someone in need. The following clip is of a 10 year old boy named Michael Stolzenberg whom my brother knew. Over the summer Mickey contracted a rare and potentially fatal virus. In order to survive doctors were forced to Mickey's hands and feet. This video will show what a professional athlete can give to a kid that has had so much taken from him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIBawxlMOio

Undrafted...No Problem

Now that the NFL draft has come and gone the next few weeks will be spent analyzing who were the winners and losersof the draft as we head into mini camps. Football analysts will explore every pick rank each team on what they did and did not do. Personally I believe the team that had the best draft was the Philedalphia Eagles. The team with the worst draft by far was the Oakland Raiders who squandered the seventh overall pick on a mediocre receive.

This being said I am not going to write about the players who were chosen in the draft but rather the ones who were passed up on by all 32 teams in all 7 rounds. This year in particular there were an abundance of very skilled players who were not drafted. Here is the list of my top 5 undrafted free agents:

1) Graham Harrel- Threw for an all time high total of 134 total touchdown passes in his college career. He also posted multiple 5000 yard passing seasons. Additionally he was named the Walter Campman award winner as well as he won the Johnny Unitis golden arm award.
2) Chase Daniels- Threw for over 100 touchdowns in his career as well as over 12,500 yards. More importantly he helped bring a struggling Tigers program back to contention in the Big 12.
3)CJ Spiller- This free safty out of Marshal is one of the fastest players in the country. He is also a great cover safty and his a strong hitter. Spiller also had the second highest vertical jump forr a safty at the combine. How this did not propel him ino the draft I dont know.
4)Javon Ringer- This year the Spartan running back lead the nation in touchdowns and in rushing attempts. He is a work horse and ran for over 1,600 yards. The man can also block very well.
5) Drew Willy- The signal caller out of Buffalo led the Bulls to the best record in team history. He also had the best passer rating in the country. The guy has a rocket arm and has the size and arm strength to be a quality quarterback in the NFL.

While it is unfortunate for these players that they didn't get drafted some of the best players in the league were undrafted out of college. Guys such as Kurt Warner, Willie Parker, and James Harrison are just a few of the many that have wen on to have pro bowl careers. Another up side is that by not getting drafted a player can choose to sign with who they want to play with. This will allow a player to pick a team they like with a system they fit in. So while all the hype is centered around the big name drafted players the undrafted players who fly under the radar might actually have it better off.

Post draft...A Game of Numbers

The date April 25 is one of the most important days every year for any NFL franchise and for all football fans regardless of the team they root for. At 12 pm every year on this day the NFL rookie Draft begins. It instills hope in every single fan and lets every team say this may be the year.

In total 256 players are selected in the draft. Of these 256 players only 32 will receive the illustrias title of being a first rounder. Not only are these players almost guaranteed a spot on the team they are also guaranteed a huge contract. Most of these players will be making upwards of 20 million dollars of guaranteed money. I have a serious problem when unproven rookies are receiveing such huge contracts before they ever step onto the field. Mean while veterans who have been in the league for years are lucky to make in the 7 digit range. These men have proven themselves to be quality professionals and they are being being payed dirt (reletively speaking of course). If anything these are the players who should be making the big bucks. Rookies should have to earn their salaries from hard work and long term sucess in the league. This should eventually lead to a big contract.

All this being said I can see why rookies do receive the massive contracts they sign straight out of college. Because football is such a physically demanding sport the guys most suited to play are the younger players who have not yet have to deal with the grind of playing in the NFL. These guys are least prone to injury and are therefor safest to give a long term contract to. Also if a player shows a team enough promise to succeed why not sign him to a big contract. If you don't sign him then someone else will.

Write in and tell me if you think rookies are being payed too much...

The Art of Broadcasting

Many people over look the difficulty it takes to create a sporting game. All the players, coaches, and stadium staff must work together to have a function event. TV personell go through the same difficulties in order to broadcast a sporting. One of the toughest most underrated in difficulty jobs in sports is commentating a sport especially a sport like hockey. In this blog I will try to commentate a few minutes of a playoff hockey game. I will have the game on mute so I don't get any idea. Wish me luck......and excuse the spelling errors, this will be difficult.

Hi and welcome to today's broadcast, my name is Josh Orlan and your tuned into game three of the playoff series featuring the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals. There is currently 14: 25 left int teh second period and the Capitals have just brokent the game open to a 2-0 lead. Now lets get you down to the game action...

Alex Ovechkin win the draw...Its sent into the low boards, back around to Lombardi who sends it back in...Dubinsky with the puck and he gets tripped up....There is a delayed penalty on the ice. The net minder Lundquivst leaves the net for an extra attacker... and Federov touches the puck to stop play.... Jurincawill be serving two for tripping.... The puck gets dropped int ehj Washington zone... Naslund wins the draw to Avery.. He hands it off to Redden who blasts a shot... ITs blocked in front of the net....Puck comes back out and gets sent down by Mike Green...There is a little scrum in the boards and Avery takes down Semin... That will be another penalty for one of the most heavily penalized men in the game.... The Puck gets dropped in the neutral zone and it is won and brought in by Federov....Federov passes it into Backstom who passes it back to Federov...The puck gets sent to the left boards for Ovechkin who makes a nice move and gets stopped by Lundquivist....The Rangers Naslund then takes it out of the zone...He has some speed and he goes offsides....

This officially ends my broadcast of the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers... That was about 2 minutes worth of broadcasting. Not only is it missing so much detail a conventional listener would get but it is also only two minutes worth of broadcasting. I was already tired of broadcasting at that point. Anyway the moral of this blog is that we need to appreciate the jobs that commentators do because very few people have the ability to do the job....

Oh and btw the Capitals just scored again making it 3-0 looks like a blow ou to me.

Coming off the Bench

In football more than any sport the favorite player on a bad team tends to be the back up quarterback. The back up quarterback is the guy who everyone looks to as the possible savior of the franchise. If the main guy is struggling the fans make it immediatly known who they want in the game. Being the back up quarterback if you ask me is the absolutly worst position on the team. I know this from personal expience.

It has been my dream for longer than I can remember to play organized football. I had played for years in the street with my friends but I had always desired to be the quarterback on an actual football team. Finally come sophmore year my parents finally let me try out. Because Cypress Bay Football is a walk on program I made the team and for all of spring and most of the summer I was the starting quarterback. At this point my confidence was high and I was performing very well on the field. Then towards the end of the summer a new guy came in. His dad was a football coach for the University of Miami and he had far more expirience than I did. From day one we started splitting reps and within a week he was named the starter. This shattered my confidence and no matter how hard I worked from then on I was never the same. Come the end of the season the kid who took my spot hurt his knee. It was the toughest thing to have to come ino the game completely cold and be expected to preform.

It was from this point on that I have the utmost respect and sympathy for back up quarterback and back up players for any sport. It is one of the most difficult tasks to be expected to preform at a top level even after sitting on the bench an entire season. There are a few advantages to being a back up. First off it is a very humbling expirience. Next it allows you to learn from the startes mistakes so that when you get your chance you don't make them. Last it teaches you to be a stronger individual. Being able to fight off the emotions of being second was tough for me as it is for any competiter. Overcoming these emotions not only makes a person a better athlete but also a better person

2009 Masters Recap

While the names of Tiger and Lefty echoed through the greens and fairways at Augusta National this weekend, it was neither of these names that would be making a sound come the end of the 2009 Masters Golf Tournament. Rather this event belonged to three relatively unknown PGA tour members. Angel Cabrera, Kenny Perry, and Chad Campbell were able to outlast Tiger and Phil Michelson and were all tied for the lead at the end of 72 holes at 12 under par. For only third time in Masters history and seventh time in a major event had the championship come down to a three way tie break. After one playoff hole Argentinian born Angel Cabrera came out victorious when he scored a birdie on 18 will both other players got par.

While I was happy to see Angel Cabrera win his second ever green jacket, I was very much rooting for Kenny Perry to win. The man is turning 50 years old at the end of the month and is running out of time to win a major tournament which has eluded him for the past 30 years. Realistically this was probably his last chance to win a Masters especially since he will most likely join the senior tour in just a few months. Kenny Perry is one of the most down to earth people in sports. He has three daughters and still lives in the same Virginian town that he was born in. The population in this town is roughly 7000 and Kenny Perry has devoted much of his winning to building and maintaing a public town golf club. A man like this deserves to win such a tournament, and I would have liked to see him pull off the upset.

The question for many aging sports athletes is when to hang up the cleates or in this case the clubs. While Kenny Perry says he would like to try agin later this year for another Masters win it is highly unlikely that he will ever get the chance that he just had to finally get over the hump and win a green jacket. The question then becomes is it better to end off a career so close to the top or risk continuing to play knowing that chances are you will never win but there is in fact still a chance. NHL players like Ray Bourque or Dave Andrychuch or NBA star Alonzo Mourning will attest to the best career move they made was to come back even past their prime and these men finally one championships. NFL quarterback Brett Farve might tend to disagree. No matter what there is never a right answer you just got to hope that what ever and athletes decision is they choose not to regret it.

Sports and their Vidoe Games

The name John Madden has become a household name over the last decade. The reason for this is not because he is both a hall of fame player and coach in the NFL, or becuase he is a commentator for all Monday Night Football games. Rather it is because it is his name that headlines the cover for every single version of the best selling sports video game in history. Sports video games have revolutionized how we perceive sports. These games have helped nealry every sports venue reach out to a broader audience and attract more viewers. These games attract some many more viewers that I ofter find myslef wondering if sports video games have become bigger than the sports themselves.

Games like Madden, NHL 09, and MLB the Show are played by world wide audiences. Many gamers who play these games have never seen an NHL or MLB game let alone actually been a spectator at one. This brings me to a second question that I always ask myself. Should professional sports leagues be spending more money on promoting themselves or promoting a video game that represents their sport?

I truly believe that professional sports would be greatly benefited by putting a greater emphasis of advertising their video games. The reason for this is because these games are played primarily by young children and by teenagers. The people in this demographic group are the future fans of the sport. Children especially will be encougaged to watch and play a sport that they enjoy playing so much on the television.

Video games also bring attention to many of the league's players who otherwise would not get nearly as much attention. This will help increase both jersey and memorabilia sales. Similarily to a greater player exposure is more team exposure. Many gamers find favorite teams while playing video games. This in the long run helps to sell more tickets as well as to increase TV ratings.

Overall, video games as significantly aided many sports and have helped them appeal to a new and greater fan base. As the popularity of these games grow as should the popularity of the sports that they represent.

Cat's Season Comes Down To the Wire

With only six games remaining in the NHL season it is crunch time for many for the teams who have aspirations of making the post season. One of these teams that is on the cusp of playoff contention is my beloved Florida Panthers. If the season were to end today the Panthers would be the best team in the Eastern Conference not to make the playoffs. Currently they trail the Montrael Canadians by one point and the New York Rangers by 2 points. Because in hockey two points are given for every victory the Cats (Panthers) are fierce contenders and will be in the playoff race down to the wire. The following are some of my keys to success if the Panthers want to make the playoffs.

First off, the Cats must take care of business at home. Four of the remaining six games will be played down here in South Florida at the BAnk Atlantic Center. Of these games two of them are against below .500 teams that have nothing to play for but pride. The Panthers cannot not view these games as blowoff games and must win them both. The other two home games are against the Penguins and the Capitals, two of teh NHL's best teams. The Cats objective should be to win both but realistically a win in one of these games would be a success.

Another key to making the playoffs for the Panthers is to stay in everygame. Some of these games are against very talented teams and if we are not careful these games can get ugly very fast. The Panther's objective should be to be down by no fewer than one goal entering the third period.

Another key to making the playoffs is getting production from every player. Every man on the team should give it 100% everytime they touch the ice. This being said players should not try to do too much. If the hitters hit and the playmakers make plays the Cats will have a really good chance of leap frogging some of the teams in front of them. Also part of getting production from every player is getting quality play from the goaltenders. While I prefer to start back-up Craig Anderson for the remaining of the season, both he or Tomas Vokoun must be ready to step up to the plate.

Last, In order to make the playoffs the Cats are going to need leadership. Whether this comes from head coach Pete Debore or from players who have been to the playoffs before someone needs to take control of the locker room. The Florida Panthers are a young team and need all the veteren leadership the can get in order to make the playoffs for the first time in eight years.

Sports and Politics

Thanks to President Barrack Obama I get to combine my love for sports and politics into one post (yay). Yesterday, President Obama filled out the first ever presidential college basketball bracket. The whole nation watched as he filled up his wall sized bracket, and while I don't agree with many of his picks I still view it as an important event.

When you break it down, you will find that politics and sports are very tightly fused. From the moment Obama took office he promised to address amny sports related issues. He promised he would take action to lobby for a college playoff system and guarenteed to help build more public sports facilities. He even decided to turn a room in the white house into a basketball court. Obama though is not the only President to have a profound love for sports. Gerald Ford was an All American center at University of Michigan, Dwite Eisenhower was a linebacker at Army, George H. Bush was a pitcher at Yale, Ronald Reagan played football for Eureka College, and Teddy Roosevelt was a boxer. Even George W. Bush played baseball until he decided that he was a better cheerleader. Not a surprise of course.

Lately policits has been getting very involved with managing professional sports. The most recognizable situation of this is the on going Barry Bonds and Roger Clemmens investigations. After baseball realized that steriods and other performance enhancers were destroying the game they had congress step in and hold grand jurys to find out who had been using steriods. Bonds and Clemmens were the two most notable people who many considered have led to the court. For this reason federal investigations are going on and both men face up to 5 years in prison for 14 counts of perjury. To me this is an example of congress overstepping their boundaries. The MLB should have implimented harsher drug testing in the first place and it should not be for congress to clean up their mess. Besides congress has more important things to do. Perhaps they shoul deal with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and then worry about baseball.

Another example of congress getting involved in professional sports is the spy gate scandal. Last year in the NFL the NEw England Patriots were found to have illegally filmed their opponent's practices. This led to so much controversy, that senator Arlin SPector stepped in. Although the NFL had already punished the Patriots, he felt this punishment was inadequite. He conducted his own investigation and found absolutly no more evidence than had been presented. Once again I'm sure there were other things Senator Spector could have been doing that would be much more beneficial.

Overall sports and politics will always be very closely tied together. This in my opinion can be good and bad. Let me know how you feel on the matter

Madness in March

The end of February means one thing for both sports fans and gamblers alike...MARCH MADNESS! By far the most exciting sports tournament in the world, the NCAA men's basketball tournament is any sporting fanatic's dream. Containing over 120 ulta-competitve basketball games the tournament gives fans non-stop action for three straight weeks.

There are currently 319 teams elligible to play in the tournament. Of these 319 teams of 65 of them are invited to go the big dance (the tournament). As expected many teams get snubbed from the tournament. This year there were three teams in particular that I found were extremely deserving of a bid to the tournament.

1) Saint Mary- This team went 26-6 over the course of the season. They also went 10-4
in their conference. This record included two loses to highly ranked Gonzaga.
2)Penn State- Penn State went 8-8 in a very hard Big Ten conference. Led by guard Taylor
Battle and forward Jamelle Cornley the Nitty Lions should have been a lock
for the tournament.
3) Virginia Tech- VT went 9-7 in ACC conference play in the ACC which is arguably the
toughest confereces. They also went to teh third wound of the
ACC tournament only to lose to Duke the eventual champions.

Next to the good stuff. My tournament picks. As of now I have the Final Four containing Pitt, Louiville, Oklahoma, and Uconn. All of these teams have superstar players and big men down low to control the paint. In college basketball this is essential in order to go far in the tournament. From here I have Louiville and Oklahoma fighting for the national championship. When it's all said and done I have Louiville winning a close game 66 to 60. Although Oklahoma has the best player in the cuntry in Blake Griffin, the play of Earl Clark should be enough to put the Cardinals over the top for the victory.

World Baseball Classic

While I consider baseball to be one of the most mundane sports known to man, I find it necessary to comment on the second ever World Baseball Classic that begun this past Friday. For those of you that don't know, the WBC is a worldwide baseball tournament made up of 16 international teams that have qualified over the past three years. These 16 teams are broken up into four groups and the top two teams from each will advance. From here the remaining teams play in single elimination games to deterime a Champion.

To me the WBC is just a poor man's version of the World Cup of Soccer. The format, the teams, and the method of qualification are basically the same for both of these events. The biggest difference is that very few people actually care about the World Baseball Classic. While the entire world stops for the phenomenon that is the World Cup of Soccer, very few people care to tune into the WBC other than a few die hard baseball fans. Its actually pathetic how little interest there is in this tournament. Only a few thousand people fill stadiums that seat nearly 50,000 people. The teams are also so unevenly matched. Teams like the United States, Venezuela, and Japan are destroying other teams. The games are just not exciting and the tournament is not obtaining worldwide excitment like it was planning on doing.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the WBC is that so many professional players are getting injured and are wearing themselves out. The MLB is unlike any other sports league in the world. Because professional baseball players play in an unprecedented 162 game season these players really cannot afford to play in an addition 15 games before the season even starts. Its unfair for the teams who these players play for and the fans that pay to watch their athletes play at an optimal level.

Personally I think that baseball is wasting its time putting so much time and money into globalizing the game. Teams are already struggling financially in this country and the MLB should be focusing in helping out its teams in this country rather than spending to build the game in other countries. This is just my opinion though. Let me know what you think about the WBC and if we should continue having one in the future.

The Game Experience

With new HD TVs, surround sound, and plasma screeens watching sports at home makes you feel like your in the action. While this may be true, nothing can trump the experience of actually going to a sporting event. The sounds, the colors, and the fan interactions are all things that cannot be matched on even the best televisions.

The one thing I would like to focus on today is fan interactions. In every corner of the Earth sports are celebrated in the same manner. People cheer when their team does well and boo when their team isn't doing so hot. We all even make the same had gestures. Clapping signifies satisfaction for a play while thumbs down or the middle finger represent dissatisfaction. What i'm trying to get at is that fan interaction is universal and this allows any person from anywhere in the world to go and enjoy a sports game.

Perhaps the single greatest thing that can only be expirienced by actually going to a game is the enthuisiasm and pride fans take in their team. Seeing the excitment in a fan's face after a goal or the anxiety that comes from a close game is priceless. Watching the fans is a form of entertainment itself, an entertainment well worth the price of admission.

Salary Cap

This post is a bit of a follow up to my last one. I have clearly voiced my distaste for the amount that professional sports players make. For this among other reasons more and more professional sports leagues are implimenting a salary cap. I often wonder though if salary caps are beneficial for sports.



The positives of a salary cap are that every team has an equal shot. Even small market teams have a chance to compete with the New York Yankees of the world. Players are also forced to play at their best everytime they step on the field because teams cannot afford to be employing unproductive players. This makes games more intense and competitive.



Currently of the four major sports the NHL, NBA, and NFL all have salary caps. The MLB is the only one without a salary cap. The benefits of not having a salary cap is that big market teams can consistantly put great teams on the field. This is great for tv ratings and is important in order to globally expand the sport. Another benefit is that teams can retain their best players for a long time. A salary cap greatly discourages the signing of big long term contracts. The reason for this is because if a player stops being productive the teams would have to take a huge hit to the cap to release them. Without a salary cap a team can still retain their big contract players and sign additional large contracts if needed.

Clearly both sides have legitimate agruments. Personally I think sports are better off with a salary cap because I like seeing every team have a chance. Comment on this blog and let me know whether or not you feel that a salary cap is a good idea for sports.

22 million, 48 million, 100 million. These numbers represent the contracts signed yesterday by NFL players Matt Cassel, Brian Dawkins, and Albert Haynesworth. Also yesterday the Dow Jones dropped 119 points and thousands of people lost their jobs. This has become a huge topic of discussion lately. Should athlete be getting paid in the obscene amounts that are given to them?

If we minipulate the figures it looks outrageously unfair. 100 million dollars is enough to fill the wages of over 2000 teachers, 750 doctors, and over 3000 minimum wage workers. The 100 million dollars that Albert Haynesworth will be making over the next 7 years is also just his base salary. He will almost surely make half of this through endorsments, advertisments, and jersey sales. So at the end of the day he will be walking away with a modest salary of 150 million dollars. While the rest of the country is struggling to buy a house, Albert Haynesworth can buy the entire community.

What makes it even worse is that professional athletes only work half of the year. Players basically workout half the year and do nothing the other half except complain that they want a bigger contract. While I understand that players should be making a very nice living 100 million dollars for a half a year job seems a little excessive to me.

Sports weren't always like this. There actually was a time when people played for the love of the game and when going to college before you played pro ball was important because you would need to have a job after you retired. Now that teams so easily give out lucrative contract players are purly motivated by extrinsic incentive. This need to stop. Players need to stop thinking they are above everyone else and actually give back to the fans by taking pay cuts.

On the night of President Obama's address to Congress, I felt it only fitting to tie this next blog in with an issue he has concerned himself with. While the Predsident's main focuses right now lie with fixing the economy, Barack Obama has many times expressed his desire for a college football playoff system. I could not agree with him more.



The current BCS system is severly flawed. There are 119 teams who are eligible to play in the national championship game. The BCS then chooses the two teams that it feels were the best and gives them the exclusive rights to fight for the national championship. The problem with this is that there are more than two teams that are qualified to play in the title game. This past year Florida and Oklahoma played for the national title. Each of these teams had one lose during the regular season. The thing is 4 other teams had one loss each and Utah had an undefeated record. How can you possibly not give an undefeated team the chance to play for a national title. It just makes no sense. You can't do any better than undefeated yet two teams with one loss were chosen to play over them.

Another issue I have is how the bowls are decided. The bowl games have become more about making money than watching the two best possible teams play. Teams who are not form the most well known conferences will never stand a chance of getting a bowl bid even if they have a better record than a team from the SECor ACC for instance.

The question now becomes what would be the best solution to this problem. A playoff system is the obvious answer to me. The type of playoff system I would like to see would involve 8 teams. These 8 teams would be determined by record, strength of schedule, and last by the style of their victories as well as their defeats. This playoff system would gurantee that everybody has a fair shot to call themselves national champions.

Welcome Back Tiger! Or Not?

This past week Tiger Woods announced his return to golf. After seven months of intense rehab, Tiger's surgically repaired knee is finally ready to be tested on the big stage. This is amazing for the PGA Tour whose TV ratings have fallen nearly 55% percent since Tiger's last appeaence, and attendance for this years Championship was less than half of what it was when Tiger was in the running.

While the Tour sponsors, officials, and fans are all extatic for his return, I greatly question if the other players on the tour are as excited. Over the past 7 months 17 players have won PGA events. Last year only 10 won. Of these 17 players, 4 have won two or more events. When Tiger was playing only one other player ( Paddrick Harrington) won more than one event. Tiger Woods not only wins more than a third of the events he enters but he also steals the spotlight from everyone else even when he is losing.

All this being said golf cannot continue to be a mainstream sport without Tiger. Tiger Woods is the real life Happy Gilmore of golf. He gets all the fans and media attention, but i the process is bringing attention to everyone else on the Tour. While the players might hate the fact that Tiger always wins, he does bring more sponsors and more fans to the sport. This makes prize money for all places bigger and in teh long run benefits all the players.

So while most of the players love to hate Tiger Woods, he is the one thing that is keeping the sport of golf in the eyes of the average sports viewer. When it comes down to it the PGA Tour is a business and having Tiger Woods on teh Tour benefits everyone financially.

You Too Alex? Just another addition to the Steroid Saga

While I in no way consider myself a baseball fan, I believe it necessary to comment on the latest chapter of the steriod saga. This past Tuesday, Sports Illustrated leaked out confidential information that Superstar Alex Rodriguez was one of 103 players who had tested positive for steriods during the 2003 season. This report was later confirmed by Rodriguez himself, who claimed that he was "Young and neive and that the pressure to succeed forced him to do something he would regret." This announcement sent shock waves throughout the sports world. This confirmation did alot more than just tarnish Alex Rodriguez's name, it took a home run sized swing at baesball's reputation. If not even their poster child Alex Rodriguez could be clean from steriods , who can they expect to be clean.

As for Rodriguez, he will most likely not make it into the Hall of Fame. Any records he breaks will be thrown out or have an asterisk placed next to them. More imporantly no matter how well he does people will always look at him as someone who was guilty of using steriods. Personally I believe this steriod issue is being made into way too big a deal. To begin with, at the time guys like Rodriquez, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmaro, and Barry Bonds (probably) took steriods it was not an illegal substance. If it was not illegal and it clearly gave players and advantage then I see no reason why players would not use steriods. Another issue I have is that these players were being given steriods by their club house trainers. This is like a teacher giving you a "cheat cheat" for a test. While its not fair to students in other classes who don't get one, its not illegal, and if their teachers wanted to they could give them one. Last , baseball claims that steriods made the game an unlevel playing field. This would be true if only a few players did steriods. The fact is every month more and more names are coming out. If so many players did them, then the playing field should in fact be even.

Everyone has different opinions about steriods in baseball. Let me know how you feel about them.

Big Z! Big Comeback!

On February 13, 2008 one of the scariest, most unthinkable things happened in the NHL. Florida Panther's forward Richard Zednik was skating to the puck when the skate of his teamate Olli Jokinen was uplifted slicing Zednik's carotid artery. Blood began to gush everywhere and the medical staff immediatly came to his aid. With in minutes he was rushed off the ice to Buffalo General Hospital, where emergency surgery was performed to possibly save his life. Meanwhile at the arena stunned players and fans stood in silence praying for the best yet fearing the worst. It wasn't until 20 minutes later that the Buffalo Saber's stadium announcer came on and let everyone know that Zednik was in stable condition. This announcement was followed up by both chears and sighs of relief from everyone in the stadium as well as everyone at home. All this being said Zednik's chances of ever playing hockey again looked very slim.

Fast forward exactly one year the February 13, 2009 and Zednik was back on the ice. Doubters said he probably wouldn't live and he proved them wrong. Doubters said he would never play hockey again, and he was once again back on the ice. And even after he proved all these people wrong many people doubted that he would ever be able to play on the level that he once did, and on this night, the one year anniversary of his accident, he proved all of them wrong. With exactly 5 minutes left in the game the Panthers were trailing theToronto Maple Leafs two goals and they looked all but out. Someone needed to step up and be the hero and that person was Richard Zednik. He scored the final 2 goals to send the game into overtime and then scored the game winning goal in the extra period to seal the victory as well as cement his name in history as one of the greatest comeback stories of all time.

Sports has seen many comeback stories. Write me and tell me which comebakc story you believe is the best.

High on Michael Phelps

The cliche "A picture is worth a thousand words" is what has been used to describe the past week for Olympic swimming sensation Michael Phelps. This past week a picture of Michael Phelps holding and smoking from a bong was sent to NBC. This picture shocked the world. People had view Michael Phelps as an icoon and a role model for their children. I guess now we just realize that he is human after all.

The consequences of the exposure of this photograph have been huge for Michael Phelps. He has been suspended from swimming competitions for three monthes and has been dropped by many of his endorsments. More importantly the public's perception has drastically changed about him. The question now becomes does he deserve such a strict punishment? Personally I don't think he does. First off, this picture was taken over three years ago. This means Phelps was still in high school when the incident happened. Everyone can attest to the fact that they did regrettable things in high school. Now at 21 we have to give Michael the benefit of the doubt that he has matured since the picture was taken. Additionally, sports superstars are found all the time to have done alot worse things than smoking pot. These athletes do not lose all their endorsements and get suspended. In all four major professional sports a first time drug offense results in either a warning or a minimul fine. This is for failing a random drug test from the day before not three years earlier.

Let me know what you think about the punishment. I'm interested to see if you believe its too harsh, not harsh enough, or that the punishment fits the crime.

Hey Coach! You're Out!

The most influential and important person on any sports team is the head coach. The coach is the one responsible for motivating the team and setting them on the track to success. Every coach in any sport has a system and it is their responsibility to make sure that the players buy into the system. If a team constantly is changing their head coach it leaves no time for the players to buy into the system. The result is chaos and chaos leads to losing.

There is a very disturbing trend that is sweeping across both professional and Collegiate sports alike. That trend is the firing of head coaches during the middle of the season. There are a few reasons that I have a problem with this. First off, at the beginning of the season ownership is making a commitment to its players that there will be order in the locker room. Players are completely habitual. They prefer to stay in the same hotels everywhere they travel, they room with the same person on every road trip, and most even eat the same pre-game meal before every game. By firing the coach you are disrupting the order in the locker room. Players expect to see the same coach at prectice everyday and getting rid of a coach half way through the season can be problamatic.

Next, by firing the head coach half way through the season you begin to place doubt in the player's minds. They begin to ask themselves well if he can go I might be next. Professional athletes are already under an enormous amount of stress to preform at a top level and putting doubt in their minds to whether or not they will be on the team the next day can hinder their performance.

Last, firing head coaches mid-season on he college level is completely unacceptable. In college the prioryity for a program is to develop their athletes into better men. Winning should come second. By firing a head coach you are bringing in a totally different philosophy, and this can hurt a player's development as a human being.

Federer vs. Nadal part 1

Greatly overlooked by the Superbowl, another sporting event of legendary proportions was taking place on Sunday. Sunday marked another chapter in what is becoming one of the greatest tennis rivalries in history. In the 80s it was Connors and Macanroe, in the 90s we had Sampras and Agassi, and now we have Federer and Nadal and they were back at it again for the finals of the Australian Open.

As of late this match-up has been dominated by Rafael Nadal. He has beaten Federer in 3 straight Grand Slam finals and was going for a 4th on the hard courts in Austalia, the only Grand Slam that had eluded him to this point. Once again it ended up being an amazing match, with players alternating sets. As the sun went down and as the duration of the match increased, the younger, faster, and better conditioned Nadal was able to gain the edge and win in the 5th set.

When i all comes down to it, an great match between too amazingly talented and classy athletes got overlooked. Because tennis is no longer a main stream sport it gets very little media attention. I have to believe that with more matches of the quality of this Australian Open, tennis will eventually gain the attention it deserves.

Clutch

Clutch!! Perhaps one of the greatest words that can be used to describe an athlete. Being clutch is being able to come up with the big play in the big moment. Clutch players are the ones who everyone can count on in the final moments of a game. Clutch plays not only determine the outcome of a game, but define a player's career. Every great sports legend has had a defined clutch moment. Michael Jordan with his famous fade away, Joe Montana with his memorable touchdown throw to Desmond Clarke, and Michael Phelps with his last second stretch to help seal the deal for his record breaking 8th gold medal all defined their greatness with a clutch performance. With the completion of Super Bowl 43 a new name will be added to this list of clutch performances.

Under the brightest lights, on the grandest stage Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers took the field. Down by three with only two minutes left it appeared like it would take a miracle to win. It was at this point when Ben Roethlisberger went from being just a good quarterback to a legendary quarterback. With composure and poise he drove his team down the field completing pass after pass. Finally with 30 seconds left he completed a 5 yard touchdown strike to receiver Santonio Holmes. It was one of the most amazing throws anyone had ever seen. The Steelers went on to win the game and are now Champions of the football world. That touchdown pass will forever be known as one of the clutchest plays of all time.

Post- Concussion Syndrome

We always view the life of an NFL player as extraordinary. We see all the attention they receive due to their fame and all the power they command due to the amount of money they make and many people envy this lifestyle. When it all comes down to it though, the average career of an NFL player is 4 years. A good player might make it through 7 years and very few players make it past 10 years. After retirement many of these players are forgotten and if they were not smart with their money many of them have financial issues. The one thing almost every former NFL player has for sure after his career is some type of physical problem. Many of these players have had multiple surgeries and will have pain in some part of their body for the rest of their life.

One of the most severe physical and mental injury that is arising in many former NFL players is post-concussion syndrome. In 2007 it was determined that 63% of the players playing in the NFL had received a concussion. 21% of the players had experienced multiple concussions. A concussion refers to a traumatic brain injury as a result of excessive contact to the head. The affect of one concussion is minor, and it normally takes between one to three weeks to recover completely from one. The problem is many professional athletes are not given three weeks to recover from an injury that does not show many physical affects. These players know their job is on the line and will do anything to get back on the field. There is also pressure from coaches, teammates, and fans to return to the playing field. The problem with this is once you have had one concussion the risk of having another one if you are not completely healthy is drastically increased. After receiving more than one concussion your chances of developing post-concussion syndrome in the future becomes very high. Post-concussion syndrome affects everyone in different ways. Symptoms may include depression, fatigue, anxiety, sleep disorders, loss of movement in limbs, and or many other neurological disorders. Even more serious is that death can occur. Hall of fame Defensive tackle Ted Johnson is the latest to die due directly from post-concussion syndrome. This raises the total to 6 deaths in the last 2 years due to this disorder.

We need to make changes so that we can limit the number of people receiving disorders such as post-concussion syndrome. Coaches need to understand that their player's live are more important than the final score on the scoreboard. They must ask themselves "Was winning this game worth potentially losing someones life?" New regulations must be implemented so that a doctor's consent is needed to play. Most importantly precautions to avoid this disorder must be taken on the lower levels of football. There is no excuse why a high school player should ever be diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome. Coaches on that level need to realize the game is just for fun.

When Enough is Enough

On Friday January 23 the Covenant High School and Dallas Academy faced off in one of the most memorable and most talked about girl's high school basketball games in history. Unfortunatly for all the wrong reasons. Never before had anyone thought it possible to beat another team by 100 points in a 48 miute high school game. It had never been done, it never had seemed like a feasible feat for that matter. On this day everything changed. On this day the final score read Covenant 100 points, Dallas Academy 0.

When I look at this score I see everything that is wrong with sports today. Reflected in this score I see a team of players who have lost sight of the power of sportsmanship and the honor that comes with representing your school in athletics. I also see a coach who is preaching the wrong morals and whose own insecurities are negatively influencing the minds of teenaged girls who need guidance. Last I saw fans who enjoyed the mockery that was supposed to be a basketball, not a single one saying as the score hit the century mark"Maybe its enough, maybe we should let up."

What makes this whole situation worse is the background behing the girls attending the Dallas Academy. This school is made up of 20 girls in total, 8 of which are on the basketball team. Worse of all Dallas Academy is a school for people who have witnessed tramatic events in their life. Covenant school was quite aware of of their opponent's pasts and yet they still found it necessary to slaughter their opponent I have a serious issue with this and have to question not only the leadership on the Covenant team but the upbrings of the players. Covenant School in my opinion is not the only one at fault. Why would the Athletic Director approve a game against one of the best schools in the country. He had to have known this was coming yet he did nothing.

In all many people are to blame for this situation, the best thing we can do is learn from the situation and better ourselves as athletes but more importantly as human beings.