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.