by Timothy Weisberg | Oct 28, 2010 | Blog
If you were to tell me that the University of Baylor football team would be 6-2 and atop the Big 12 South division in August, I would have given you the stink eye, laughed hysterically and then officially concluded that you were living in a fantasy world.
Funny how evident fantasies turn into a sudden reality. The private research institution in Waco, Texas has shocked everyone. Let’s put it in perspective, and hope this explains why I never saw this coming:
At 6-2, the Bears are bowl eligible for the first time since 1995 and could play in their first bowl game since 1994. That’s right: I was five the last time the Bears were in a bowl game.
The win propelled the Bears into the USA TODAY Coaches Poll for the first time since 1995, currently ranked No. 24.
At 3-1, the Bears are atop the Big 12 South this late in the season for the first time since the league was formed in 1996.
There have been plenty attempts to revitalize the program. Everyone can remember the Kevin Steele hire, and even Guy Morris’ hire, but the Bears still remained the laughing stock of the Big 12.
But Art Briles? He took over the program from Guy Morris in November 2007. What did he inherit? A team that had a 30-game Big 12 losing streak during one stretch and a team that had won 11 games in league play from 1996 to 2007.
The third year in the Briles era has proven to be the charm, as the Bears have already matched the amount of conference wins they had (three) the past two seasons.
The major “X” factor has been the play of Bears quarterback Robert Griffin, who has thrown for 2,373 yards and 18 TDs this season while rushing for 384 yards and six scores. He has accounted for 24 of the Bears’ 30 offensive touchdowns, and is the main reason the Bears are 6-2.
He showed signs of matriculation as a true freshman in 2008, when he threw 28 touchdown passes, but a knee injury in 2009 sidelined him for most of last season.
Texas coach Mac Brown said that Griffin should be in the Heisman Trophy race. This is a compelling statement coming from a program that has dominated the Big 12, and produced stock loads of talent over the years.
The Bears play Texas Saturday, and they are going to win. Are we living in a dream world? Texas could be 4-4 after Saturday and Baylor 7-2? I think I feel a third arm growing out of my side.
Okay maybe not, but this has never happened before. Baylor was the program everyone joked about; the school known more for track and its doctorate program than football.
They were so bad in my lifetime I often wondered what they were even doing in the Big 12. After all, they are the only private school in the conference. But even then, Northwestern is the only private school in the Big Ten but they manage to play consistent football.
The parity of college football is that much more evident, but that’s the beauty of sports. Any team from any conference can beat any school, no matter the time or place.
For the Bears football program, the time is now.
by Timothy Weisberg | Oct 28, 2010 | Blog
Record attendance and owners are struggling to break even? $400 million dollars in revenue loss last season in the NBA alone ponders questions as to where the money is being lost. Owners claim its the escalating expenses of player’s salaries that are crippling financial growth.
The NBA and NFL collective bargaining agreements expire in 2011, and its evident that the meetings between owners and the player’s unions are not a good sign. The bigger question begs whether or not there will be a lockout next season in the NBA.
My answer: most likely. Just like the NFL, it might only be partial or could be for the whole season. All I know is that by the looks of it, the NBA is about as close to a new collective bargaining agreement as Palestine is to signing a peace treaty with Israel.
NBA Commissioner David Stern wants a reduction of $750 million-$800 million in annual player salaries, or around a 25 percent decrease.
That’s like telling a security guard making twenty dollars an hour that they want to pay him fifteen dollars an hour instead. Let’s do the math on a realistic scale, considering some NBA players make seven figures in one week.
Five dollars an hour in reduction of pay for forty hours a week equals 200 dollars a week in reduced pay, or 800 dollars in a given month. Account a year’s reduction in wages, and thats a 9,600 dollar cut in someone’s annual earnings. That could be enough for a brand new Kia. Granted its a Kia, but the precedent has been set. 25 percent is a huge cut in pay.
As much as I agree that players get payed an absoutely absurd amount of money, I can understand how this would not fare well with them. If the owners are so concerned about money, how would they be able to sign Drew Gooden to a multi-year worth a little over five million a year? Or sign Amare Stoudamire to a 5-year, $99.7 million dollar deal?
Bryant signed a contract extension worth $30 million a season, and Carmelo Anthony was offered a three-year, $65 million dollar deal this past off-season.
Along with the players, I want to see where the losses are coming from. If anything, the owners need to take baby steps, and gradually decrease player’s salaries over the course of years.
When someone asks for an appetizer, the waiter/waitress doesn’t give them a three-course meal. When someone asks for a snack, you don’t take out every food item from the cabinet.
All Stern and the team owners come off as is people tired of paying increasing players’ salaries. They look as selfish, if not more selfish, than the players.
Games are selling out, NBA merchandise sales are through the roof and TV ratings are certainly not down.
The role of the owner is to manage the financial affairs of the team, which entails getting networks to air the games and getting advertisers to buy ad spots during commercials.
If you don’t expect a baby to start crawling within its first few days of life, don’t expect players to accept something that benefits the owners.
Granted the 60-40 cut is in the player’s favor, but its their talent that markets the fan base and clientele. But at the same time, owners make it happen for them. Without them, the players would not be where they are.
It’s a two-way street that is congested with many repairs that need to be made. The question is whether or not construction will resume, or if it will be delayed.
Life is about compromises and the player’s union and owners alike need to find a happy medium. Otherwise, they will both lose and there will be no NBA or NFL season.
Talk about decimating one’s profits–no streaming revenue, no fan base to follow the teams, no network deals, nothing. All you have is an empty arena.
Sooner or later, someone will have to give in. This isn’t the grocery business. There are no basketball “scabs.” Fans want the best, and expect the best.
Southern rapper T.I. once said, “Life’s a Catch-22, either you lose or you lose.” Simply coincidental the saying is a football reference.
So what’s it going to be? This is real life. No Hollywood ending. Expect a lockout.
by Timothy Weisberg | Oct 27, 2010 | Blog
It started with a hobble off the field of the Louisiana Superdome in January, a foreshadowing event that the end of Bret Favre was that much nearer.
A 28-24 loss Monday night to the team he led to two Super Bowls marked a bitter way for Favre to go. That same ankle he hurt in the NFC Championship game now is fractured in two places.
The Vikings are 2-4 and Favre is in jeopardy of ending his streak of 291 consecutive games played. But for now the streak is irrelevant.
The fall of Bret Favre began with a stumble in 2007–an interception in overtime during the NFC Championship game that put the Packers one game short of the Super Bowl, a slip up in 2008–three turnovers in a game that with a win could have put the Jets in the postseason, and a losing of one’s footing in 2009–interception at the end of regulation when Vikings were in position for game-winning field goal, but the massive fall happened in 2010–three interceptions that turned into 14 points in a loss to the Packers.
He’s been pushed down and this time, it appears he will not be able to get back up. 10 interceptions through six games, erratic throw after erratic throw, making people forget that he only had seven interceptions last season, and that the Vikings have matched last year’s lost column…in six games.
And is it simply coicidental or flat out ironic that the team to knock him down one last time is the team that helped shape and mold the persona that is Bret Favre, the player that all fans admired and adored, the epitomy of the franchise player.
Add the accusation of his lewd photos and voicemails sent to a former Jets employee when he was on the team in 2008, and you might call it karma.
But that’s not likely. Not from a player with so much swagger, a competitive drive and above all, a will to win like any other. But now the man who once led his team to victory is hindering his team’s ability to win. And so he limped off Lambeau Field, probably for the last time, in a different uniform and in a losing effort.
And with the same hobble that accompanied his walk to the locker rooms of the Louisiana Superdome; Favre limped off the media podium, hardly able to walk, as he gingerly went down the steps, a sight to see from someone who had never heard of the word injured. The gun slinger, ironman, franchise player, now limping away from the game, and gracefully is certainly not the best way to describe it.
And what has he decided?
“I’m willing to give it a try,” Favre told the USA Today Wednesday afternoon.
Give it a try? How about give it your all? Doctors might think he will not do any more damage to his ailing ankle, and season for that matter, but this is what we like to call the ceiling effect–the level of damage and pain has reached the highest peak, the top of the room, the highest shelf; nothing can make it any worse, but give it a try?
I love Bret Favre. I always have. But it’s kind of like when grandpa is in his 80s and is 75 percent blind in one eye, forgets to put the car in park, and drives on the wrong side of the road. Sure he can “give it a try,” but we all know its time for him to no longer have a license.
Favre might be able to try, but as the commander of the offense, when you kill the leader, they all fall down. Call it tough love, call it coming to terms with reality. But Bret Favre is not the same quarterback, and frankly never will be.
It’s time for Vikings coach Brad Childress to hand over the reigns to Tavaris Jackson, as hard as it may be.
Who said taking away grandpa’s license was easy?
Try telling a future Hall of Famer and someone who has never missed a game in his life that its time.
by Timothy Weisberg | Oct 23, 2010 | Blog
The Yankees might have had more talent–Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Andy Pettite, Jorge Posada–a star-studded cast of veterans, but how does the saying go? Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work.
The Rangers certainly have talent, and it might have worked in their favor, but the veteran leadership of the Yankees was uncanny. With the league’s highest payroll, multiple franchise players and future hall of famers, the Yankees were ideally the team to beat. Not so ideal anymore.
And how did it end? An Alex Rodriguez strikeout–rookie closer Neftali Feliz versus a 35-year-old, 17-year veteran. The same guy who left the Rangers to chase the allure of a winning franchise is the same guy who ended it for them in six games.
The tables were turned, and maybe the earth stopped spinning for just a second, but the Texas Rangers are going to their first World Series. A non-winning franchise beats the storied franchise.
But has it really been a Cinderella story for the Rangers? Maybe if you include manager Ron Washington’s failed drug test, Josh Hamilton’s struggle with drug addiction and the uncertainty of franchise ownership and sustainability.
But all it appeared to be this season was a story where they finally found the shoe that fit. They tried on many, and many were close, but not quit the right size. Factor in rookie play, strong pitching, hard work, and you get a shoe that slips on perfectly.
The slipper wasn’t lost, it was simply misplaced. The Rangers have found that slipper, and the only thing that will mark this a Cinderella story is if the clock strikes midnight and Washington and crew find themselves without a ring this postseason.
Last year the signs and potential was there, but the Rangers soon faded and the AL West crown was awarded to its traditional winner: The Los Angels of Anaheim.
But this year, the Rangers have exceeded expectations. They have restored a dormant franchise, and put the Dallas/Fort Worth area on the map.
“X” marks the spot, the Rangers can saddle up for a ride in the World Series.
A-rod will wonder if it is simply coincidental, or a dramatic twist in irony; Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd will wonder why he ever left the state of Texas; but above all, Cliff Lee probably does not feel so bad now about being on three teams the past two seasons.
The Rangers wild run simply poses society with the ultimate question: what do we value more? Talent and tradition or the underdog hard at work. As great as it is to witness dynasties in action, a talented group that excels year after year, the word dynasty is becoming more of a dying breed in the professional sports world.
The term underdog is no longer under. The unfavored are now the favored.
What should it be called now? The Underdog Dynasty? Is there such a thing? We are about to find out.
by Timothy Weisberg | Oct 15, 2010 | Blog
It’s very sad to say that journalists, people who work in college athletcs, even fans for that matter, are not surprised by the unveiling of a confession from former agent Josh Luchs that he gave money to players during a six-year span from 1990-96.
I am sorry, but the entire nation has become desensitized by the concept of agents and boosters permeating campuses across the country, that we can only nod our heads in acknowledgement, as well as shake our heads in disgust.
So Luchs gave us a trip down the yellow brick road of controversy, brought us to the Emerald City, and it didn’t even take a dog to pull the curtain away for us to unveil the true mastermind behind the agent and booster market. Luchs is simply the one with all the gadgets and gizmos like the Wizard had in the Wizard of Oz.
Except there is a place like home, and thats the home coaches offer for prospective recruits when they hand out scholarships to top-tier recruits like George Bush was handing out stimulus checks. Who’s playing the market now?
If anything Luchs simply gave the priest of America a confession about his wrongdoings. And so if he gives the Lord seven hail mary’s is he now forgiven? Possibly, considering that Luchs makes the NCAA look bad, as if the NCAA hasn’t been naive about the whole situation for decades.
However less alarming it might be for us desensitized fans and journalists, it did do some good. We went from suspecting something, vaguely believing something to be occurring, to hearing a real story.
The cat went right out of the bag. The illegal player marketing scheme has been unveiled by someone in on the game himself.
If this is what it takes for the NCAA to leave a state of blissful ignorance, this is quite disturbing on so many levels.
Viruses are tough to stop, and the rule-breaking virus of collegiate sports is spreading like wildfire.
What the NCAA must do now is bring in the defenses. A group that is much stronger than human helper-T cells, and one that can destroy it, not simply make it go away.
According Rand Getlin of Synrgy Sports, a company that helps educate college athletes on their professional futures and an agent watchdog, believes that Luchs’ coming-out party is monumental.
“This is unprecedented,” said Getlin. “The impact of Luchs coming out now, when coupled with the the intense focus on agent issues throughout college athletics right now, won’t be fully realized until much further down the line. Suffice it say, it’s nothing short of monumental. No longer can anyone in a position of power stand in front of the cameras and act as if the issue is isolated to one school or another, or that it is any less pervasive than what has been exposed…”
My recommendation: each athletic department should hire a committee whose sole purpose is to be a watchdog of the players and coaches. They act as enforcers of the law, and teach players about the seriousness of receiving benefits from boosters and agents. Because what it comes down to is being educated and staying well informed.
If watching the players and coaching staff like the Big Brother is what it takes, so be it. Obviously a precedent has not been set by the NCAA or athletic department. So you cut scholarships, rescind games that had ineligible players, ban postseason play. Little slaps on the wrist don’t solve the problem. You still find coaches and players participating in the scheme.
Athletic departments and the NCAA have failed to set any precedence on the matter and have let this go on for too long. There’s somebody to blame on every level–the NCAA Infractions Committee, the NFL Player’s Association, agents, universities, athletic departments, coaches, even down to the players.
With the curtain unveiled and the problem fragmented, is it too late to fix? It really might too late. Like the stages of cancer, the later you catch it, the lower probability of stopping the spread of it. If we were to compare this epidemic to HIV, its an AIDS virus now.
We might not be able to stop it. However, with enough policing and watching these athletic departments, composed of players coaches and administrative personnel, we might be able to put it in remission.
But as for now, Luchs simply stated the obvious. A real agent, telling a real story, about a real problem in college sports.
by Timothy Weisberg | Oct 14, 2010 | Blog
Washington wizards guard Gilbert Arenas sure has one thing in mind. Like M.I.A., all he wants to do is (gun shots) and fake injuries. Okay so maybe its sort of ironic that the next line of the song is take your money, considering Arenas is the one who is forking over the change.
Arenas decided to bring more attention to himself, admitting Wednesday that he faked an injury to keep from playing in the Wizards’ preseason opener Tuesday night.
Right out of the frying pan and into the fire, he be basketball’s number one fake injury supplier. Want to guess the reference to this song?
Arenas stole the headlines again, albeit a dubious way considering the last time he made news was when he decided to bring an unloaded gun to the Verizon Center and store it in his locker. Apparently guard Javaris Crittenton owed Arenas some money, but nothing a handgun can’t solve. Well maybe an unloaded one?
But the damage is done, and Arenas has been fined an undisclosed amount by the Washington Wizards. I am going to make a rough guess and say its 25,000 dollars. The amount of money they might need to increase security at an arena that let one of the team’s players bring in a firearm.
And Arenas was not afraid to have a big enough butt for the whole world to kiss, when he used his hands as handguns in a Wizards pre-game routine following the allegations.
A month at a halfway house and one game into the preseason, Arenas is now faking injuries.
According to Arenas, he was simply doing teammate Nick Young a favor by getting him some more minutes on the floor.
“I told [Young] I’d sacrifice playing tonight so he can get some time in because I know he’s kind of frustrated he’s not getting a chance to crack the [small forward] position, especially since we’re going three guards,” Arenas told ESPN Tuesday. “So I told him I’ll go and fake an injury or say something’s wrong with me so you can start.”
It is pretty evident Arenas has not been thinking clearly about his actions over the past half a year or so, because no precedent is being set by faking an injury. Sure you might think you are doing a teammate a favor by allowing him to get ample playing time, but faking an injury will probably leave your teammates questioning your motivation and integrity.
But then again, maybe Arenas needs a Webster’s refresher of what that word even means, considering he stocked up on some arsenal against his own teammate.
Agent Zero has already blown his cover. He leaves his target like a marksmen, finding more ways to portray his irresponsibility.
Time to get smart Arenas. After all, you are Agent Zero.
But in the meantime, you mess with a bull, you’ll get the horns my friend.
The media has a tendency of playing that role, especially when you wave a red blanket in front of it.
