How to Improve Football Selection Committee

Don’t get me wrong…the new playoff system dwarfs the BCS in efficiency and fairness.  Giving more teams a chance to play for a championship in college football will be must-see TV.  Amazingly, however, the calls for a playoff system ignored the use of higher technology in the process, preferring the human element of a selection committee or some other body.  In the days of instant replay, helmet radios, and coach’s challenges, the computers failed in college football.  A mish-mash of polls, human and computer, might bring the top two teams together, but gives no transparency to how exactly those teams reached a championship game.

For that reason, I’ve been uncomfortable with the idea of an NCAA Football Selection Committee.  Transparency increases slightly, but the committee will meet behind closed doors and emerge with the alleged top four teams in the sport.  As great as the system sounds, do we really want a Bubble Watch every December?  I envision teams packed into a small room waiting for the Selection Committee’s unveiling, probably during an ESPN special where they announce one team every 30 minutes.  As recently as 2003, USC claimed to be a champion based on a #1 rating in the AP poll.  A poll like that with many voters acts like a selection committee in my mind, without the tense waiting period we see with the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, whose entrants are also selected by a committee.

The further we progress down this road of committees, the problems will likely multiply.  In contrast to the BCS system, however, the team that finishes at #5 can now point the finger at someone to complain, rather than blaming a complex computer rubric that no one understood.  In that sense, accountability increases dramatically.  Will that force increased transparency as well?  Possibly.

My objection notwithstanding, we have a Selection Committee.  Now, who should be on it?

I’m not a huge fan of athletic directors making this call.  For that matter, I don’t believe in any university or former university official making these kinds of judgments.  Bobby Bowden, the octogenarian and former coach of Florida State, said last week when confronted with a decision between an equal Southern team and a West Coast team, he would pick the Southern team.  Doesn’t sound like much, but the truth is inherent biases will reign supreme in that room come selection time.  And, unlike the men’s basketball tournament, there are only 4 slots, not 30 plus.  Also dissimilar from basketball will be the amount of money for these games, possibly triple the current BCS revenues, which means biases on the committee’s part mean a lot financially.

And given that revenue, the BCS and NCAA should consider paying committee members.  If colleges might make that much money through a four-team playoff format, spending a couple million to get the selection process right.  Give some sheckels to the committee members and create the added incentive to really make sure all that money goes to the deserving programs every given year.  No incentive works better than money.

Overall, I’m sure the NCAA would never adopt a committee that didn’t contain athletic directors and university officials.  ADs, however, will have the same conference and school biases you might expect from coaches and any attempt at logrolling or vote exchanges in the committee room will be decreased significantly given the small amount of teams in the competition.  So, let’s add some of the more distinguished press members to that committee.  Sure, it sounds ridiculous, but press members from national media outlets will be less biased and better prepared than most athletic directors.

Perhaps I’m over exaggerating the bias of a committee of 15 members, but unfortunately bias exists and might easily color the high-stakes selections of football semifinalists.  At this stage, the NCAA has done a lot to make the system fairer and more exciting.  But with increased fairness, the powers that be should also watch for biases inherent in any committee.  Athletic directors obviously worked hard to achieve their positions in college sports, but how often do they pay attention to the national landscape over the course of a season?  Enough to truly pick the four best teams?  I doubt it.

Bit #1: New Head Coach for the Caps

On Tuesday, the Caps announced the hiring of a new head coach: former captain Adam Oates.  Being able to remember Adam Oates separates longtime Caps fans from Red Rockers of the past 5 years.  He led the Caps to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1997 as the central pivot on star Peter Bondra’s line.  Even more important for coaching, he has been an assistant in New Jersey the last three years, reaching the Finals a month ago in a losing effort.

I like the hire, mainly because Oates made his NHL mark through assists, not necessarily high-flying offense.  He might be considered the Nicklas Backstrom of the 90s for the Caps, a fantastic center who could dominate either side of the ice.  He will be one to emphasize shot blocking for this team that rode their defensive efforts to a great effort in the playoffs.  If all reports from New Jersey are to be believed, Oates formed a great relationship with Russian star Ilya Kovalchuk, boding well for his future with Alex Ovechkin in DC.

Bit #2: Dwight Howard reaps what he sows

Reports out of Houston point to the Houston Rockets stockpiling draft picks in order to trade for Dwight Howard, a prospect that does not appeal to him.  He wants to be in Brooklyn, playing with Deron Williams and taking advantage of the Big Apple media market.

I don’t blame him for that, but when he bought in to the next year with Orlando he opened the possibility of being traded somewhere else.  Howards seems to have no understanding of the business side of basketball, believing he can get his way whenever he asks.  An early post of mine lampooned Howard for acting half his age, and in that trend he’s progressed further.  A player might be able to demand a trade, but to make that request, buy into the next season when not traded, and now complain about possibly being traded makes very little sense.  In the star-driven NBA, Howard has tried to make his wishes known but refuses to hear any location other than Brooklyn and maybe Dallas.  I don’t understand who’s advising him, but they need to be fired for bringing their client through the public opinion mud.  First he waffled on his desire to leave Orlando, then orchestrated tacitly or explicitly the firing of a top-5 head coach, depriving the Magic organization of a central plan for the next three years.

Bit #3: Another argument for replay in baseball

During the Indians-Yankees game on Tuesday, Yankees right fielder DeWayne Wise appeared to make a foul ball catch in the stands, despite the ball hitting off his glove and ending up in a fan’s hands.  The umpire called the out without checking for the ball in Wise’s glove, and then threw the batter out for arguing after the fact.

Obviously, a 4-0 midseason game will not provide much impetus for replay in baseball, but this kind of play could happen in a playoff series with higher stakes.  While the argument for instant replay remains fractured, one aspect to consider would be using manager’s challenges.  Give each manager two challenges each game.  With the large amount of umpire calls in a game, challenges would be a good way to use replay without eliminating the human element valued by so many baseball purists.  Regardless, this was a horrendous call that has no place in any baseball game, midseason or otherwise.

Bit #4: Who Will Be Number Two pick in NBA Draft?

The NBA will draft players on Thursday night, a one night affair that will provide some intrigue for the underachieving teams of last season.  While Kentucky star Anthony Davis will go to the Hornets with the first pick, the Charlotte Bobcats must decide their course with the #2 pick.  They should be able to move down in the draft, but the press releases over the last few days have been very interesting as to the media part of draft strategy.  The Bobcats want Thomas Robinson of Kansas, who they can move to #4 to get, according to them.  Well, all of a sudden the Wizards want Robinson too at #3.  And that’s the beauty of any draft: a franchise could find their next superstar, so these decisions can have a huge effect on the future of some teams.  Watch the intrigue unfold on Thursday.

Bit #5: Euro Semifinals

Starting with Portugal-Spain on Wednesday, the Euro 2012 semifinals begin.  The Iberian peninsula will be alight on Wednesday with patriotic fervor, as countries ravaged by lagging economies can focus on their athletic achievements.  Cristian Ronaldo will be the key to this game…his play during the tournament has been exquisite, cashing in at the proper times to give Portugal critical goals.  I’m picking Portugal to score a great upset.

For Germany-Italy on Thursday, the overriding factor will be Germany’s ability to score against the staunch Italian defense.  After Italy’s inability to score against England on Sunday, a team they outplayed, Germany should win this game.  Very little can beat the semifinals of a major soccer tournament, so be sure to watch.

Why You Should Be Happy for LeBron

I watched Game 5 of the NBA Finals with a sense of resignation.  From the opening tip the Heat looked hungrier, meaner, and better than Oklahoma City, much like they had the previous three games.  Mike Miller’s knees remembered how to function for 48 minutes, as his play created the separation vital to a Heat victory and championship.  At the end, LeBron James hugged the trophy with the same look a puppy gives a chew toy.  He reveled in the triumph, a winning performance complete with his first triple-double of the season.

For a long time the sports world has ridiculed, scrutinized, criticized, condemned, and judged LeBron James.  Choke, selfish, lazy, and arrogant are all words I’ve used to describe him privately during his time in Miami.  The litany of terms used by the full sports media would take up a phonebook.  Some of that scrutiny abated this year, with many in the sports media giving up on irrational LeBron haters and focusing more on his accomplishments as one of the best players in the game’s history.  Seriously, listen to ESPN Radio during the Finals and many hosts spent an hour at least talking to LeBron haters via phone and doing their best to undermine those sentiments.

My position will continue to be the same: I never wanted LeBron to win with the Heat.  The collusion in Beijing, the lack of any sort of bench, the Decision, and subsequent pep rally all drew my ire from the early goings.  While all understand he made a business decision, the manner could not have been more unprofessional, sacrificing transparency with the Cleveland fans who invested in him for the auspices of a charitable event (when he could have just written a check) that ultimately proved more of a one-man circus than anything remotely involved with charity.  He made it sound so easy on that Miami stage to win more than one championship, when many greats would give a pound of flesh just to play in a Finals game.  In a word, disrespectful.

And yet, that was two years ago.  During that time, LeBron James has epitomized the model NBA citizen.  He speaks with the media always, doesn’t trash teammates in public (unlike Kobe), and plays as hard as he can.  His time in the league has been truly revolutionary, as his physical talents could apply equally well to any sport you can name.  Were LeBron to retire tomorrow his career would still garner a Hall of Fame berth.  Three MVPs, one Finals MVP, and the fastest player to 15,000 points all mean he would prance into Springfield.

And that’s precisely why I am happy for him: all the greats need at least one championship.  While many consider Charles Barkley to be one of the better forwards ever, he cannot claim to be a champion.  People are more likely to know him for outlandish analysis on TNT (or lack thereof if discussing his awful attempts during the NCAA Tournament) despite his incredible play during his prime.  The same goes for Karl Malone, one of the best players ever but one kids would not know if they perused the list of NBA Champions.  At the end of the day, we as fans must know that winning makes all the difference in the world.  Lombardi famously quoted “winning isn’t everything but it’s the only thing” and in a sense he’s right.  We must prioritize winning as much as sportsmanship, because prevailing in competition cements legacies and strikes pointedly at why youngsters even begin to play sports.  Competition means very little without the chance of beating your opponent. 

Henceforth, LeBron apologists can breathe easier.  Winning a championship makes greatness much easier.  While Dirk Nowitzki (last year’s champ) may not go down as one of the greatest players ever, his lone championship in conjunction with his stats will forever put him on the fringes of that conversation.  If we as a culture don’t establish winning as a pathway to greatness, the ability to determine which players are great and which are not becomes infinitely more difficult.  Anyone watching LeBron can agree he deserves to be part of that conversation forever.

Another great reason to be happy for LeBron however, is he won in such a way to silence all but the craziest of his critics.  I wrote a piece here after the All-Star Game and in Round 2 of the playoffs begging readers to be careful before calling LeBron a choke artist.  His efforts in the final two rounds mean those critics have no further leg to stand on.  His momentous Game 6 in Boston while facing elimination will likely go down as one of his best performances ever.  The bank shot he hit in Game 2 of the Finals off the wrong foot at a critical time sealed that victory for them, as did his three-pointer in Game 4.  These are both clutch shots, even if the clock read only one minute remaining or more.  He fully dominated the games in the Finals, ending it all with a triple-double to win the NBA Championship.  If you can imagine all the people who dislike you in your life, wouldn’t it be great to achieve personal greatness in such a way to prove their contentions baseless?  If you can’t relate to that, maybe you don’t know how many critics you have.

And the best reason to be happy for LeBron…we can now stop discussing it.  No longer will the conversation be “what’s wrong with him?”  It will take a much more positive tone, more like “how many more can he win?”  The guy who paints curbs for a living and calls into the radio shows dissing LeBron will finally have his calls screened.  I’m excited for that prospect, even if I wanted the Thunder to win it all.

He finally did it, and now I’m going to revel in the relative silence that greets the end of the NBA season.  The game’s best finally has a ring that he won while leading his team, not playing second fiddle to anyone.  I didn’t want him to win but as I said, every great player deserves a championship.  He’s got his.

Bit #1: Please hold onto the Cup-winning puck

I am so tired of this storyline, mainly because it makes me wonder why some athletic organizations can’t see the details.

After winning the Cup three weeks ago, the Los Angeles Kings announced today they don’t know where the Cup-winning puck has gone.  Camera replays show Devils forward Patrick Elias picking the puck up at the end of the game, but nothing else has been fully determined.  Based off a grainy homemade YouTube video, the Kings have asked the Devils to discuss with Elias where the puck might be, if he still has it.

This story is not new…when the Blackhawks beat the Flyers to win the Cup, that puck disappeared too.  As did the pucks from the previous five Cup winners.  Wayne Drehs of ESPN called each of the winners and learned none of them had the winning puck anywhere in their vaults or display cases.  His saga of the Chicago puck makes for very interesting reading, since theories abound as to who might have taken it.

While I understand players don’t care about the small black rubber thing after winning the greatest trophy in sports, I’m shocked somebody wouldn’t find the puck immediately afterwards.  I’m also amazed some of the Cup losers are vindictive enough to take the puck off the ice, after being beaten fairly at the highest stage.  While it might be surprising how much value we attribute to such artifacts, those pucks mean a lot to franchises who will relive the glory days for as long as they can.  Hopefully, next year’s Cup winner does better.

Bit #2: Another English penalty loss

By now, diehard English fans know where this is going.  After their penalty shootout loss to the Italians yesterday in Euro 2012, the English are 1-6 in penalty shootouts in major tournaments.  And what makes this loss so awful was the incredibly timid shot by Ashley Cole.  He walked up to the ball, hesitated a little bit, and weakly went for the right side.  Italy’s keeper Gianluigi Buffon might be the best international goalkeeper in the world…he’s always going to stop drivel like that.  The previous penalty by Ashley Young might have hit the crossbar, but he stepped up and struck the ball solidly, knowing where he wanted to go with it.  Cole’s shot sunk English hopes.

While England had no business winning this game, penalty shots at the highest level like that leave a bad taste in my mouth.  I have to wonder if the best team wins in that situation as the result becomes so arbitrary.  The NHL also uses penalty shootouts during the regular season, but the postseason features unlimited overtime, first goal wins.  I support the same arrangement in soccer, as the World Cup matters enough to be decided on the field, not based on who hits the crossbar or mishits the ball into the goalie’s hands.

Bit #3: Boston stalwart leaving

Kevin Youkilis, a Red Sox player known for his amazing ability to get on base, was traded to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, ending speculation since April that he fell out of favor with Boston management and would be traded.  While his batting stance suggests minor leaguer, Youk won the World Series twice with the Red Sox, ending the long Curse of the Bambino.  Again, he does everything wrong at the plate, but he has a top-five on-base percentage since joining the majors.  I think this move by Red Sox officials makes it clear that they are not willing to keep veterans that cannot play.  Youkilis has flirted around the .200 number for his batting average this year and was unable to distinguish himself at third base compared to raw but talented Will Middlebrooks.  Previous departures of Boston stalwarts like Terry Francona, Mo Vaughn, and Nomar Garciaparra all deeply affected Boston faithful, who take great pride in relating to their team.  Youkilis embodied the blue collar, lunch pail attitude of so many Boston fans and will be sorely missed.  Fans at Fenway, however, should get used to it as the champions of the 2000s gradually filter out of town.

Bit #4: June 24, 2012 – Mahut-Isner Match at Wimbledon

The Championships at Wimbledon begin today, one of the classiest affairs you’ll see in the sports world.  All contestants must wear white at the All-England Club, eliminating the ugly neon colors we see at the U.S. Open.  About this time two years ago, John Isner and Nicholas Mahut played the longest tennis match ever.  Over three days, eleven hours and five minutes of playing time, and 183 games, Isner finally beat Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set.  Amazingly, the first 118 games of the fifth, all played on June 23, took longer to play (7 hrs. and 6 minutes) than every other professional tennis match in history.  And that’s just one set.  Truly an epic, and a good Bit for the beginning of a great fortnight in sports.

Death Knell of the Mitchell Report

I have railed against the Roger Clemens trial for a couple of months now, and its recent conclusion finally spares sports fans from a monstrosity: a trial funded by taxpayer dollars which exposed baseball’s largest steroid report to date as unsubstantiated and changed nothing about general opinion towards Roger Clemens.

First and foremost, the Clemens trial seals the fate of the Mitchell Report.  Baseball’s largest effort to illuminate steroids in the sport found the spotlight amid tons of pageantry, attention, and the all-important “wow” factor.  George Mitchell, a former Senate Majority Leader hired by Commissioner Bud Selig, spearheaded the investigation, resulting in a 400+ page report complete with names and histories of steroid usage in baseball.  Coupled with the release of Jose Canseco’s book Juiced, the sports world exploded.

The report marked a first step because it named players explicitly.  Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Erig Gagne, the demon Chuck Knoblauch, Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, and Miguel Tejada highlighted the names of 89 players mentioned in the report.  Amazingly, investigators obtained all this information without the subpoena power, meaning they could not coerce anyone to discuss steroids.  As a result, plenty of players entered the report’s rolls through two guys: Kurt Radomski and Brain McNamee.  While others undoubtedly provided some information, most information came from those two former trainers.

Congress sprung into action, deciding to avoid the bigger issues of the country and instead holding a series of hearings on steroids, brining in Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, and others to learn more about the problem.  At the time, Congress didn’t see any issue with the lack of subpoena power in the report, choosing instead to directly ask players if they ever knowingly took steroids.

The recent not guilty verdict for Clemens effectively dooms the Mitchell Report to relative obscurity.  McNamee, the chief witness for the prosecution, proved unconvincing and speculative in rehashing his allegations towards Clemens, boring the jury rather than swaying them (three jurors were excused for sleeping during the proceedings).  Baseball and federal prosecutors pegged their accusations on the word of one man, who being a firsthand witness should have been able to make events clearer.  For fairness sake, prosecutorial misfires doomed the first Clemens proceedings to a mistrial, but McNamee provided the majority of information in this case and in the report 5 years ago.

The verdict immediately throws the entire Mitchell Report into doubt.  Clemens saw his name in those pages over 80 times, but the accusations are unable to hold up in a court of law?  When the biggest allegations can’t stand on their own merits, the whole process by which Mitchell investigated steroids looks clouded.  Add the not guilty perjury verdict for Barry Bonds in the last two years, and the impact of the Mitchell Report looks more in question.

The Clemens trial, however, does not change his standing in the court of public opinion.  Before these allegations, he would waltz into the Hall of Fame, one of the most dominant, most tenured pitchers since the days of Nolan Ryan.  Now, that looks much more questionable.  He’s almost guaranteed not to receive a first ballot invitation when he appears on the ballot for the first time six months from now.  But, what voters do in the future will decide his fate.

Some are quick to point to his numbers before the alleged steroids use, saying his numbers with the Red Sox and the Blue Jays deserve Hall of Fame recognition.  I couldn’t agree more.  Clemens won five Cy Youngs during that time and one AL MVP award as a pitcher, no small feat.  Add in his numbers after the supposed use, and Clemens would be guaranteed a spot.

But, there’s an inherent inconsistency with letting Clemens into the Hall after one not guilty verdict…that needs to be applied elsewhere.  Pete Rose still holds the all-time hits record and can’t get into the Hall because baseball banned him.  He never had a chance for a not guilty verdict, and the allegations against him spawned from the Dowd Report, a comprehensive look into his gambling finances (baseball loves these reports).  While Rose admitted in the past few years to gambling on games, his playing career deserves its own room in Cooperstown.  In his case, baseball voters blocked him for years despite an absolutely incredible playing career and betting after he concluded playing.  He never had a not guilty verdict, and now Cooperstown won’t take one of the best players ever because of his actions after playing.

The same holds for Barry Bonds.  People forget Bonds also received a not guilty verdict for perjury.  But few say he should be voted into the Hall yes?  I’ve met very few myself, and I discuss sports with the homeless man on the street.  Like Clemens, Bonds had multiple sources accuse him, but, unlike the Rocket, he receives no love from fans.

Often, smoke means fire.  Multiple people named Clemens as a user and the government thought enough of it to press charges.  That might not be legally conclusive but culturally Clemens will have to erase some serious stain.  What the Hall of Fame voters do now will create the posterity of the steroids era.  Should Clemens and Bonds be voted in because no one could legally prove they did not use steroids?  The Pete Rose model seems to say they shouldn’t be voted in, at least for a long time.

As for the Mitchell Report, it revolutionized the testing process in baseball, introducing stricter regulations to weed out improper drug usage.  After the Clemens verdict, it doesn’t look to be much else.  What was once hailed as the biggest moment in baseball history now looks misguided and cloudy, worth little more than the paper used to print it.  The game might be improved in the future through strict regulations, but do we as fans have any closure from the Steroids Era?  Do we know how baseball will view those years in the future?  If you have an answer, write a report.

Bit #1: Sandusky Trial Proves His Character Decrepit

Over the past two weeks, jurors in State College, Pennsylvania have listened to lawyers make claims, present evidence, and question witnesses during the trial of Jerry Sandusky, the former assistant for Penn State football accused of child molestation.  Given the basketball and hockey postseasons as well as the possible Triple Crown competition, it’s easy to lose sight of this trial.

But details from this trial truly fascinate and disgust at the same time, simultaneously evoking emotions of sadness, anger, and interest, all of which hope the abuser of these young kids, Sandusky or not, will receive recompense for inherent ugliness, the taking of innocence away from young children.  When these allegations aired last year, many Sandusky defenders cried “Witch Hunt!” claiming campus police and administrators blamed Sandusky as a scapegoat.

While Sandusky’s lawyer Mr. Amendola can perpetuate that theory, Penn State already found its scapegoat in the late Joe Paterno, sacking him unceremoniously last year.  I also find it inconceivable that survivors of these abuses would be part of a giant conspiracy.  For one thing, survivors of sexual assault rarely lie, with only 5% of survivor allegations being unsubstantiated.  In addition, masterminds of a great conspiracy would play with fire basing their case on the testimony of young kids.

And that testimony has proved damning for Sandusky.  At one point, a survivor said Sandusky would refer to himself as the “tickle monster.”  (For those who still doubt, this man admitted to showering with young boys last year, so I’d say there’s a screw loose to begin with.)  Stories like that deepen the horror at what transpired behind closed doors, and most likely will also disgust members of a jury as well, currently deliberating as I write this.

Overall, Sandusky proved to be as much a coward as we thought.  Rick Reilly wrote a great piece this week on Sandusky’s refusal to testify, a refusal to answer questions about his alleged behavior and, in the eyes of public opinion, a tacit admission of guilt.  For my money, the recent report by MSNBC that his adopted son was ready to testify against him about events he observed means Jerry Sandusky likely did act as he’s accused, with cowardice, greed, and cruelty.

Bit #2: Soccer needs goal-line technology

Another major tournament, another call for soccer to adopt goal-line technology.  In the 2010 World Cup, England scored a goal on Germany, only to be denied because the referee did not see the ball fully cross the goal line.  This past week, England again saw the need for goal-line technology, this time denying Ukraine a goal when video replay appears to show the ball fully crossing the goal line.

The NHL made the switch to goal-line technology after the contested Cup-clinching goal by Brett Hull in 1999, deciding to send video replays to the Toronto office.  Those replay officials then determine if the puck fully crossed the goal line.  Soccer has the same goal-line rule, requiring every part of the ball to cross the goal line.  For the Euro Cup, there are extra referees on the endlines to watch for balls crossing the goal line.  Well, the first time they are needed, they botched the call.  A goal in the game might have given Ukraine a chance to advance to the next round, whereas right now they must watch like the rest of their countrymen.

A camera above the net would be very easy to implement for major tournaments.  While England did not win in 2010 against Germany, calls as easy as this should not have such major implications in major soccer tournaments.  Hopefully FIFA will take notice.

Bit #3: Thunder not deserving of championship now

I’m not a fan of the Heat.  I don’t want a team with such a thin bench to win a championship, especially after their stars colluded to take the NBA by storm.  But, at this point, they deserve the championship.

They have outplayed the Thunder in more games this series.  A team cannot score 2 points in the first ten minutes of one game, give up a 17 point lead in another, and win the championship without a supreme effort.  Competition has been decently equal in this series, but how many good quarters have the Thunder played in total?  Of the 16 possible quarters, they’ve played maybe 5 quality quarters of basketball.  If that continues, this team will be done, perhaps dooming the NBA to a few years of Miami dominance.  They cannot keep an offense going and also cannot contain LeBron James defensively.  He’s averaged more than 30 points in this series and, most importantly, has made players like Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers better due to his efforts.

While I hate to say it, a Heat victory would end the talk about LeBron not being clutch, one of the dead horse topics currently in sports.  I fully believe the greatest players need at least one championship to their name.  The added benefit of not hearing about LeBron will bring a welcome reprieve for sports media and fans alike.

Bit #4: Wizards trade for Emeka Okafor makes excellent sense

What’s been the worst part of DC sports?  The Wizards interior defense.  This team regularly gave up more than 100 points, even when they gained a top 5 seed in the Eastern Conference.  With so many young players, offense has been at a premium for the Wizards, so trying to outscore the opposition no longer presents itself as a smart strategy.

Thursday’s trade for Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza will help the Wizards immensely.  Not only will Okafor now be paint defender extraordinaire, and Ariza brings a championship pedigree to the team after starting for the Lakers.  Financially, the trade looks genius, as Rashard Lewis’ mega contract now leaves the books and the Wizards still have their amnesty clause, the right to release any player without taking a salary cap hit.  That means we might be rid of Andray Blatche, one of the least motivated players you will ever see in the NBA.

European Soccer Proves More Than "Just Sports"

My predictions on anything European have gone awry this week.  First, I picked Ireland to advance in Euro 2012, impossible now after a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Spain.  Then, I selected a few Englishmen to win the U.S. Open, one of whom looks guaranteed to go home early while the other needs to string together decent rounds to stay in contention on a difficult course.

But, amazing to me this week has been the fire and passion shown by European fans in Poland and Ukraine.  We hear often about soccer being “the universal game”, the one sport played by everyone and watched by almost everyone, most Americans excluded.  And consider why: to play soccer you need a spherical object, two goals or scoring areas, and friends.  Very little dangerous contact compared to other sports, meaning you can play for a while.  Soccer applies to the least common denominator, allowing impoverished children and families all over the world to play, an appreciation that deepens with age.

International soccer has its own niche in the sports landscape.  Certainly every country supports their nationals at the Olympics, World Championships, or other international events.  Perhaps for some duty dictates support.  Others might relate to these athletes, vicariously living through them to defend the country’s pride on the pitch, field, or court.  And that’s what fascinates me: the willingness of fans to not only support their national team but use sports to buttress collective honor.  No grand political decision, whether it be treaty or trade agreement, occurs on the soccer pitch.  You wouldn’t know it, however, looking at fans at Euro 2012.

Last week, police detained 100 people after fighting between Russian and Polish fans.  Why Russian fans assumed they’d be well-accepted in Poland is beyond me, but the brawl between the two belied old passions and rivalries.  Russia’s Soviet past dogs them in Eastern Europe to this day, most especially in two former Soviet satellites hosting the tournament this year.  Add in the awful history of Nazi occupation and the plight of both Polish and Ukrainian Jews during World War II, and old hatreds must die hard.

But brawling during a soccer tournament?  Should we ever be visited by aliens, I wonder if they would understand our raw emotion associated with men kicking a ball around a large rectangle of grass?  The truth is, though, we as fans want the chance to go out there and beat international rivals at anything.  Sports provides the perfect outlet, a mix of compelling storylines with championship pedigree.  For Poland, a country bedraggled for much of the past century between two great powers, soccer allows them a chance to claim victory over mighty Russia, the dominating and imposing Mother Land from years ago.  Politics begone…on the field, it’s war.

Yet it doesn’t stop there.  Sports also provides a unique way to make your cultural and political opinions felt.  A lasting image will be Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fist at the 1968 Olympics during the anthem, protesting injustice against black Americans, minutes after winning the gold and bronze medals in the 200 meter dash.  This week, Croatian fans burned a European Union flag, signaling their displeasure at the structure and practices of the EU, an organization currently rife with financial worries (in case you hadn’t heard) that might be contracting or expelling members in the coming months.  Truly fascinating, however, is the use by some of a sporting event to make a political statement, sending a message to their respective leaders and the world about their feelings.

Writing that previous sentence, I realize this seems so elementary.  It sounds so normal for this kind of thing to happen at international events (we’ve all seen the protesters), but when you try to explain it, difficulty arises.  Is it all about the attention?  Do dissidents and activists know more people pay attention to sports than Parliament and use the event for making a statement?  Undoubtedly they do, but I will venture a second theory that meshes better with Polish fans fighting Russian fans.  Those who seek to make political statements must feel empowered during a tournament such as Euro 2012.  Barring some kind of disaster, it remains a unique point because every citizen has a common desire.  They want their soccer team to win.  That kind of guaranteed unanimity creates a more expansive, deeper drive to change cultural objects outside of sports.  If you know everyone can feel as one about soccer, and therefore about national pride, why not use these events to push for reform in other areas?  (this argument assumes a society where ideas can be expressed without reprehension from the state).

Unity behind the national team matters when countries compete at the Olympics or the World Cup.  For many with downtrodden backgrounds and resources, sports provides a ray of happiness, even more poignant when the entire nation, rich or poor, agrees with you.  Even your worst enemy down the street wants the team to win.  I think that attitude of unanimity provides a valuable insight: a nation can unite for something, even when times are bad or it’s only sports.

But that’s the point: to many, it isn’t just sports.  It’s pride in your country, and that takes precedence above all else.  Add in soccer’s global popularity, and there might not be a better way to express pride in your country than cheering your national team.

Bit #1: I’m tired of playoff games coming down to fouls

I know there may not be any way to change this, but NBA referees need to create a heightened awareness when playoff games enter the final minute.  No-calls in the Boston series and last night in Game 2 when fouls clearly occurred impacted the game in very meaningful ways.  Yes, both calls helped the Heat but the point is these calls should be made.  Nothing prevents a ref from blowing his whistle all day long during the first 46 minutes, but these playoffs have proven the final 2 minutes have a different standard.

I’m fine with that, but both Rajon Rondo and Kevin Durant (arguably Westbrook on the rebound) were fouled when the game hit a crossroads late.  Human error dictates refs might not see the contact due to the angles of their vantage point.  No issue here, but if so the NBA should consider adding another referee for the playoffs.  Baseball does it for foul balls down the line and since we’ve seen the same 7 refs for the last two rounds of the playoffs, some must be willing to add another perspective.

OKC deserved to lose with their pitiful first quarter yesterday.  That they lost makes total sense considering they couldn’t make a basket for the first 7 minutes of game time.  But, when push comes to shove, referees need to decide to either get involved late or not.  Either call everything that classifies as a foul, or call nothing.  Durant deserved a chance at the line last night and would have likely tied the game up that way.  It’s too bad when officials make their presence demonstrably felt.

Bit #2: NHL Likely to Lockout Again

The CBA between the NHL and the NHLPA expires in September.  Amazingly, NHL players receive the highest share of revenues compared to any other major sport, at 57 percent.  Owners already have a bad taste in their mouth from those numbers, but a more recent trend also guarantees a lockout this summer.

I refer to the 7+ year contracts that NHL stars sign now.  Ilya Bryzgalov, Rick DiPietro, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Chris Pronger, Alex Ovechkin, Marian Hossa, Roberto Luongo…all these players saddle teams with huge contracts, making the trade of such players incredibly difficult should their performance lag (hint: I would say maybe one of these guys deserves that kind of long-term investment).  When the news came this week that Sidney Crosby and the Penguins might agree to a 10-year, $90 million extension, the truth became evident.  While Crosby’s concussion issues also make such a contract risky, why would the Penguins give out that kind of contract life when so many of them have failed?  DiPietro, the erstwhile Islanders goalie, signed his big deal and has played a pittance of games since.  But the Islanders cannot unload him because he represents a huge cap hit and no team wants him.

Owners don’t like these kinds of contracts for the huge liability they represent.  Add in the high revenue share for players, and owners will want to renegotiate the collective bargaining agreement, hopefully without much fanfare to not eliminate an entire season like in 2005.

Bit #3: A-Rod grand slam record tainted?

On Wednesday, Alex Rodriguez tied Lou Gehrig for most grand slams in a career, a seemingly cool milestone except for one fact: A-Rod will always be associated with the steroids era.  We heard all about his cousin when he admitted to steroid use while playing for the Texas Rangers, and yet very few mention it normally.  Well, this most recent record will likely be the first in a string of big records A-Rod will likely break, possibly including the all-time home run record, another record tainted by steroids already.

We need to get used to this and figure out our response when players from the late 90s or early 2000s start breaking records.  A-Rod will be the only one for the next little while, but considering McGwire, Bonds, and Rafael Palmeiro before him, and plenty of big records evaporated as steroids entered the game.  McGwire still has no place in the Hall of Fame, not even approaching the necessary vote threshold for votes, despite years as a dominant power hitter.  A-Rod admitted his usage early, seeing the writing on the wall should he be outed by a nosy journalist, hoping to preserve some legacy.  The question remains what baseball will think as he marches toward some exclusive records.

Bit #4: Early U.S. Open thoughts

I can’t stand the publicity showered on Tiger Woods as if he’s the only guy out there, but I watched the majority of his shots in the first round Thursday.  I’m calling it now: Tiger will win this tournament.  He did not wow anyone, but played precise golf, hitting fairways and avoiding miscues with his irons for the most part.  He looks good, and will win.

Second, I wonder why Bubba Watson even has a caddie.  This guy must be a great conversationalist, because you watch Bubba and he barely consults his caddie, deciding instead to read his own putts and determine his own shots.  Watch Bubba out there, and he hits every shot differently, so his caddie sees rabbits out of the hat, not the easiest thing to advise on when you’re a caddie.  So what exactly does he do all day long?  Gives yardage, talks to Bubba, and unwraps his sandwich for him.  Not a bad job, considering he gets to walk majors and earn 10% of Bubba’s earnings.

Bit #5: Isiah Thomas Rolling in the Mud

A documentary aired this week on the Dream Team, the best basketball team ever assembled, which played for the U.S. at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.  MJ, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird…basically any great players of the time you can think of played for the team.

Except Isiah Thomas.  Players revealed on the documentary that they blackballed Isiah, at that point a two-time champion with a serious attitude problem.  Thomas’ Detroit Pistons were basically scumbags, one of meanest teams to play in any sport.  They relished their “Bad Boy” nickname and played with that kind of style.  Before people begin sympathizing with Isiah, we must remember his leadership of a team that always angered opponents, from not shaking the Bulls’ hands to beating up Larry Bird in the post.  With Isiah on that team, the biggest names would not have played on the Dream Team.

That said, Isiah deserved a spot based on his stats.  At the time, he was the most recognizable figure save MJ, Magic, and Bird in the NBA.  Considering Christian Laettner, a college kid (albeit a great one) played on the team, there would have been space for Thomas.  But, he tanked his chances through his attitude and image of a pest, without scruples or morals on the basketball court.

Bit #6: NCAA Finally Wakes Up

On Friday, the NCAA announced it would discontinue the regulation of text messages and phone calls to recruits freeing up substantial man-hours for investigators in the future.  As of Friday, coaches can make as many phone calls or as many texts as they want, even sending private messages through Facebook or Twitter.

This step needed to happen 7-10 years ago, when cell phones skyrocketed in popularity and the NCAA could not regulate them all.  That programs lost scholarships for using standard communication modes of the day reeks of dilapidated, antiquated regulation.  While coaches might sicken you by sending “BFF” and “LOL” to recruits, the kind of contact necessary to bring a recruit to your school requires this kind of contact via text or phone.  Thankfully, Mark Emmert did well to eliminate one of the larger motivations for past NCAA investigations.

The Best Playoff Run Ever

On Monday night, the Los Angeles Kings hoisted the Stanley Cup after shellacking the New Jersey Devils in a 6-1 Game Six victory, capping one of the more improbable runs for any playoff team ever.

The Kings entered the postseason as an 8-seed, the lowest possible seeding in hockey, and even then LA waited until Game #80 before clinching their spot in the playoffs.  Being the 8-seed does not doom a team, but the NHL’s playoff structure deliberately stacks the cards against you.  Unlike the other 16-team format in the NBA, hockey’s postseason dictates the highest seed left plays the lowest seed left after each round.  So, theoretically, if the #2 and #3 seeds keep advancing, the 8-seed will have to play them all in successive rounds to advance.

LA did that, and achieved a stat so remarkable it bears a paragraph.  Forget the overall win-loss record briefly and think on this: the Kings went up 3-0 in each series they played this year, never needing more than six games to close out an opponent, and even that happened just at the end of it all in the Finals.  No NHL team can claim that and, for my research, only the 1982 Lakers and 1983 76ers can claim that stat in the NBA.  Even then, the NBA format did not require four rounds for the top team.

The win-loss record, much quoted afterwards, ties for the second best in NHL history behind the behemoth 1988 Edmonton Oilers of Wayne Gretzky.  But, most impressive and more newsworthy: the Kings had a 10-1 record on the road in the postseason, tied for the best ever.  Unquestionably, home ice means a little less in the NHL compared to home-field advantage in other sports, but to travel to Vancouver, St. Louis, and Phoenix, all a fair distance from LA, and win 10 games defies the odds, especially for an 8-seed.

That point makes this the best postseason run in the history of sports.  We’ve all seen lower seeds win before.  I still remember the Warriors beating the Mavericks in the late-2000s, only to lose the following round.  Or the 2006 Edmonton Oilers, who lost in Game 7 of the Finals after advancing all the way through as an 8-seed.  Recent NFL history shows wild card teams are more likely to win it all after the Packers and Giants won as 6-seeds, albeit still good teams.

But no 8-seed has ever won it all, and definitely has not won like this.  The 3-0 series lead, the dominating road play, and the Kings’ scoring in the third period or overtime (22-8) put this team in the driver’s seat every step of the way.  At no point did they play like the underdogs they should have been or were forecasted to be.  During the season, the Kings averaged 2.29 goals per game, good for second-worst in the league.  In the playoffs: 2.85 goals per game, third among all postseason participants.  The offense hummed and brought the Kings good fortune, an occurrence many thought would characterize the team all year.

Some might say the Kings got hot at the right time and clearly weren’t the best team in the league.  Many in the sports media this week continue to applaud the NBA for bringing its two best teams to the Finals, despite the principle being the same: leagues use the best-of-seven series to find the best team, arguing that the best teams wins four of seven games.  By that logic, the Kings are clearly the best.  In addition, who’s going to say the Celtics are better than the Heat?  No one, and yet it took the Heat seven games to advance, so they were close to losing.  But given the outstanding goaltending of Jonathan Quick and the sheer domination of the team in the face of all opposition, the Kings deserve to be labeled the best for this year.  (On a sidenote, if we are really concerned with crowning the best, we should have the top two records play each other at the end of the regular season…which would totally defeat the purpose of a postseason, something everybody loves).

The only postseason run that might contend with the Kings would be the 1985 Villanova team that won the NCAA Tournament, which as an 8 seed beat two #1 seeds and two #2 seeds to capture the title.  Even then, however, their run included close shaves with defeat, something the Kings never had to worry about.

Looking across the wide expanse of sports, past and present, there have been tons of unlikely winners that no one expected to win.  At the beginning of the playoffs, no expert gave LA a chance, some thinking they might beat Vancouver in the first round but would eventually fade into the sunset.  No team seeded so low ever won before Monday night, and even top-seeded teams have more difficulty winning in the playoffs.  Hockey found a deserving champion, who endured the downs of a sub-par regular season to find their production as the best and most dominant team in hockey.

Bit #1: People finally waking up to D-Wade’s disappearance

One of the most fascinating aspects of the NBA and sports in general remains the hatred of LeBron James, the belief he can’t be clutch and always passes up the big shot (footage of either Steve Kerr’s or John Paxson’s winning shots in the Finals show Jordan also passed it occasionally, but no matter).  Last year, he received tons of blame for how the Heat played in the Finals.

This year, it seems such vitriol has cooled a little and the sports world, while not forgiving of LeBron, has begun to see his full talent and just how singlehanded the Heat are.  It’s refreshing to wake up on Wednesday and hear not that LeBron lost the game but that D-Wade couldn’t produce in Game 1.  He scored 19 points on 7-for-19 shooting and did not get to the line enough for a guy who can play as aggressive as he did against Indiana.  Add in Bosh’s 10 points and LeBron outscored the other two by himself.  Add in the 29 points combined from Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers and it’s clear: while LeBron can always score more points, Wade and Bosh need to step up.  Battier and Chalmers likely won’t score like that again, so offense must come from elsewhere.

Bit #2: Best feature of Thunder win

Besides Kevin Durant’s monster dunk over pine-warmer Joel Anthony (a #3 center on any team with a decent bench), the most impressive part of the Thunder win was the absence of James Harden in the fourth quarter.  Much has been made of the OKC Big Three, the highest scoring trio in the NBA this season.  But the depth of the Thunder rendered Harden unnecessary for Game 1, as Thabo Sefolosha and Nick Collison created second-chance opportunities and turnovers while chipping in offensively.

The depth of Oklahoma City became most apparent in the West Finals, when coach Scott Brooks used different role players in different games to create an impact.  Kendrick Perkins, Sefolosha, and Collison all left their individual mark on at least one game in that series, not to mention James Harden who can score in bunches off the bench.  Add in Derek Fisher and the Thunder can create a legitimate 8 or 9-man rotation while the Heat play 7 players at most.  The offensive and defensive depth for OKC will give Miami problems in this series, especially if the Heat continue the Game 1 trend of settling for jump shots instead of drives to the basket early in the game.  I bet the Thunder win this series in six after what I saw last night

Bit #3: Tony Gwynn must not receive mail

It’s unfathomable to think that professional athletes end up owing tons of back taxes when they make more money than all but Richard Branson would ever need.  While that already puts a burr in my saddle, I wonder if athletes who owe lots of back-taxes don’t check their mail.

In the real world, tax notices come in the mail.  Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, one of the better hitters to play in recent years, reportedly owes $400,000 in back taxes to the government from years 2003, 2007, and 2009.  Think about that: at some point he paid his taxes in 2004 without paying 2003, so clearly he knows he has back taxes to pay, meaning the mail must be reaching Tony somehow.  I worried he might have issues lugging himself down the driveway at 2 PM during the week, but it appears someone’s getting that mail to him, probably with a large box of donuts as well.

My point being: I never understood why people bathing in money can’t pay taxes.  Any good financial advisor will plan for taxes, and these athletes can definitely afford a good financial advisor, so taxes really should be part of their personal finance equations.  Perhaps I just want to be rich and famous to show them the straight and narrow, but that’s a dream for another day.

Bit #4: Finally a good incentive to eliminate reckless hockey hits

In a scoreless Game 6 on Monday night, Devils fourth liner Steve Bernier, a role player and grinder, boarded Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi from behind, bloodying him severely.  For the hit officials assessed Bernier a five minute boarding major and ejected him from the game.  The Kings scored three goals on the ensuing five minute power play, leading to an eventual rout.

While I generally do not favor referee interference in big games, a hit like that needs to be dealt with severely, and the best way to send that message is to throw a player out in a Cup final elimination game.  Bernier made no attempt to play the puck, hit Scuderi straight from behind, and made his way off the ice.  Should he blamed for the loss of the Cup?  Not in my mind, since New Jersey dropped the first two at home and put themselves in a hole immediately.  But for that game itself, losing a player for five minutes and handcuffing the Devils cadre of forwards, Bernier’s hit was ill-advised and incredibly costly.  Players must know when to let up on hits like that, and deserve criticism for taking that kind of penalty, especially in Game 6 of the Cup finals.

Bit #5: Pete Carroll continuing to play the lottery game

I grew up a USC fan, my mom’s alma mater and coached by one of the classiest guys in the game, Pete Carroll.  At least I thought so then, long before he skipped town to return to the NFL, where he had been woefully unsuccessful, in advance of huge sanctions imposed on USC for recruiting violations on his watch.  Raised my eyebrows then, but now Carroll continues to play the NFL lottery as coach of the Seahawks.

Carroll tried out wide receiver Anthony Bryant this week, a 31 year old out of the league since 2009.  At one point, Bryant could spread the field with the best, but knee and disciplinary issues hampered his availability for free agency.  Should he do well, Seattle might sign him to a modest deal, keeping all the leverage over Bryant as he attempts to return.

I understand where Carroll’s coming from.  He brought former USC wideout Mike Williams off the junk heap two years ago to become a respectable NFL receiver.  But, this same guy also traded for Charlie Whitehurst as his QB, signed Tarvaris Jackson after his awful season with the Vikings, and then used the 3^rd round pick this year to pick another QB when the Seahawks desperately needed another starter elsewhere.  Not to mention picking the least versatile first round pick in 5 years from the worst conference in college football, Bruce Irvin.  The record for Carroll is not inspirational…he’s betting on players at every turn.  Sure he won the division two years ago, but with a 7-9 record.  If the Seahawks don’t compete this year, I expect Carroll will receive his walking papers or at the very least lose his GM responsibilities.

Bit #6: Jorge Soler signs with Cubs

A weird thing can happen in baseball…international phenoms receive tons of attention from MLB teams, who must submit bids to hire the player’s services.  Cuban prospect Jorge Soler, 6’3” and 225 pounds, will sign with the Cubs after vetting bids from them and other teams.  He’s supposedly a great hitter who can also play outfield but will need some time in the minors.

That might explain the weirdest looking contract numbers you will ever see in baseball: 9 years for $30 million.  Most players with contracts that long usually make over $100 million, including Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols.  I’m talking about the best players in the game, so the Cubs must want Soler for the long haul but also know he’s a prospect at this point and not a sure thing.  Averaged out, he’ll make just over $3 million a year, a pittance compared to others with such a long contract life.

I think we are seeing the beginning of Cubs GM Theo Epstein’s philosophy: build the team using farm systems and prospects.  He will have this kid for a while if he wants and can use him as a bedrock for the future.  Personally, I’m skeptical since very few folks have seen this guy play, but for Epstein the move needed to be made as a way of reassuring Cubs fans in the middle of a dismal season.

Bit #7: June 13, 1996 – Cal Ripken breaks baseball’s consecutive game record

Ripken broke the all-time baseball record (not MLB’s) by playing in his 2,215^th consecutive game, breaking the mark held by Sachio Kinugasa of Japan.  I think often about records that will never be broken, and I think Ripken’s eventual 2,632 straight games played will never be surpassed in baseball.  The sport might not include as much contact, but the mental acuity and toughness necessary to play every game for 16 seasons, not to mention peak physical performance, deserves tons of credit.