The Death of the NCAA?

NCAA athletics have spiraled out of control. In just the past few days, the biggest problems in the association have shown themselves. Over the past year many have marveled at the resurgence of Baylor University's athletic program; once an afterthought in one of the nation's strongest conferences, suddenly the Bears boasted an impressive football team complete with Heisman winner Robert Griffin III, a National Championship Women's Basketball team with the most dominant female player ever in Britney Griner, and a top 10 men's basketball team with a roster packed with talent. Less than a week after the Women's team hoisted the trophy after completing a perfect 40-0 season, news came out that major infractions had been committed. Suddenly, three years of probation loomed ahead of the athletic department, the mood went from celebratory to sullen.

Baylor's infractions are just the most recent in a long line of violations by many of the nation's most prominent universities. Schools currently on NCAA probation for major infractions, those which lead to an extensive recruiting or competitive advantage, include: Baylor, Boise State, Cincinnati, LSU, UNC, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, Florida St., Michigan, and Texas Tech. A number of other universities just finished up their probationary periods. This list includes Alabama, Arizona St., Illinois, Kansas, Ohio St., Oklahoma, Oregon(which is under investigation again and may be placed back on probation), South Carolina, and USC.

But Baylor wasn't the only university making headlines for all the wrong reasons this year. Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino go himself fired for a lying about a joyride he took with his 25 year old mistress. Arkansas knew they were getting a coach with plenty of character issues when they hired Patrino, but the lure of a championship caliber team outweighed the potential embarrassment that eventually was brought upon the university. Arkansas isn't the only school that has recently fired coaches who were misbehaving, we're only a few months removed from the disaster at Penn State. In that case a coach abusing young boys was protected because of his skill as a linebackers coach, and sometimes hidden in the shadow of the Nittany Lions embarrassment is a similar scandal at Syracuse University involving an assistant basketball coach.

These issues have come up because the NCAA has turned into a collection of schools who will stop at nothing for success on the court or field. In the entire history of NCAA football, only 2 schools have won National Championships while avoiding official sanctions. One of those schools is Penn St., which obviously has worse issues; the other school is the 1984 champ, BYU. Schools across the nation have sold their reputation so that their ill-gotten teams can bring in more money through on field success. The problem here is that the NCAA states that one of it's main goals is to uphold the highest level of integrity and sportsmanship. One of it's main goals is being undermined by some of it's most well known institutions, and these are only those who have been caught in their dishonesty.

What then can be done to fix this problem present in so many colleges across the nation? It seems that the problems has completely sewn itself into the fabric of the schools. The only way to fix this problem is for a complete divorce between our institutions of higher learning, and the athletic programs their names are attached to. Will it ever happen? Probably not, it's a very drastic step. But maybe when these schools remember their purpose is not to fill ever growing stadiums in order to make ever growing amounts of money, but to provide an opportunity for all of their students (not just the ones wearing jerseys) to grow their opportunities in life, something will be done to curb their appetite for athletic money at any and all costs.

A Lockout Shortened Season....Every Season?

The 2011-2012 NBA season almost didn't happen. The combined greed of millionaire players and billionaire owners almost kept arenas across the country closed to the fans of the league, but at the last minute the sides cooperated just enough to squeeze in a shortened season so they wouldn't lose more money for the benefit of the fans. The result has been at times extremely sloppy due to the fact that rookies missed out on their usual summer leagues to get them up to professional speed, and training camps and the preseason were both truncated; but, it has also provided some great advantages that we haven't seen in past seasons. No I'm not suggesting that there be a yearly scare that we won't get to watch our favorite ball players for a year, but there are a few things the league can learn from this lockout shortened year.

Christmas Day Opening Day:

As negotiations between the leagues owners and the players association wore on to late fall, the general consensus was made that if a deal couldn't be reached in time for games to tip-off on Christmas Day, the entire season would be scrapped and all we would see of the best basketball players in the world would be limited to shaky videos on outdoor courts. Greed took over when both sides realized how much money would be lost with a cancelled season, and a deal was struck just in time.

Christmas Day tipped-off the new season with 5 highly anticipated games. Those games provided the league with some of the most watched regular season games in league history. TV ratings are a great boost for the league, but the holiday opening is a great boost for fans. The usual November start for the NBA regular season gets lost in both the NFL and College Football season. And when basketball competes with football, football wins in a blowout. By late December, College Football is playing meaningless bowl games, and in the NFL playoff positions have mostly been determined. In normal years, most people don't start paying attention to the NBA before Christmas anyway. Why not wait and start the season when people will actually take notice, instead of playing two months largely being ignored?

Less games = Each game means more.

As we come down the home stretch of this NBA season, players are playing games with more hard nosed defense and even harder fouls. This was on display in a recent Heat-Thunder game, a possible preview of an Finals match-up. These highlights show just a portion of the intensity of the game.

Generally, there are so many games in an NBA regular season that players coast through a significant part of the season. With this years shortened schedule, each game matters more(66 games are being played as opposed to the usual 82). This has made for a more exciting season as essentially 16 games which would have been played halfheartedly were thrown out and we were able to get to the games that mattered more quickly. Fans don't want to watch games where the players aren't putting forth their best effort, we want to watch ones like the video above, where all ten players are putting forth maximum effort all game long. Less games means more meaning in each game, a concept which our beloved football has perfected.

Although the greed of the lockout nearly left us without an NBA season, in the end it showed some ways that the league could improve their product. In the end the same thing that caused the lockout and brought about it's eventual end, the greed of those making millions of dollars every year, will likely prevent these changes from being made. With less games and a shorter season: less tickets will be sold, television revenue will be down, the league will be in the limelight during a smaller portion of the year, and owners won't make as much money. So although the pursuit of the all important dollar will probably prevent us from enjoying a more streamlined NBA season anytime soon, at least we got to enjoy it for one year; and maybe in ten years when the Collective Bargaining Agreement is up for negotiation again we'll enjoy another one of the NBA's most exciting seasons.

To Block Or Not To Block?

In the last post I highlighted the Buster Posey injury early last season. Here's the video:

It seems that every year a catcher gets injured in a collision at the plate. Posey's injury sparked a debate over what should be done about these sometimes season changing crashes. Despite the obvious risk involved, many are convinced that no changes need to be made. Even football, our most brutal sport, is cracking down on hits likely to cause injury. Here is a video put together by the NFL specifying illegal hits, most of which are more mild than when Scott Cousins launched himself into Buster Posey.

Following the injury, multiple team and general managers advised their catchers to avoid these collisions. But how can you convince a highly competitive athlete to just step out of the way and allow the opponent to score when their entire career they've had it drilled into them that they are the last line of defense? Posey himself had been warned in his rookie year to stay out of the base path and let the runner score if he must, just one year later, heeding that advice would have saved his season. But, the order to avoid plate-blocking gets overwhelmed by instinct as the catcher tries to help his team win.

It's likely the only way catchers can be protected is if the rules are changed. Fat chance of that happening in Major League Baseball, which is notoriously stubborn when it comes to changing rules. The argument is that home plate collisions have always been a part of the game and banning them would get rid of one of the most exciting plays in baseball. But is it really worth the risk of season or career ending injuries to see one exciting play? For the Giants in 2011, one exciting play turned their season around and essentially ended the possibility of countless more exciting plays in the playoffs.

Yes, home plate collisions have always been a part of the game. But at one time, collisions throughout the diamond were common. Rules were changed to prevent our national pastime from becoming a contact sport. Why not treat home plate like any other base? Force the runner to slide if a close play is likely and make the catcher provide a clear path to the plate. Baseball should take a page from football's playbook, the excitement of one play and possibly changing the outcome of the game isn't worth ruining a season, or possibly a life.

The BCS is...Broken.

The BCS is broken. Ok, so I don't completely like the word broken there. Broken, to me, suggests at some point it was working. That phone number with only 6 digits that you got from that pretty girl? It's not broken because it never worked. She knew it, and figured you wouldn't notice until it was too late.


The same goes for the BCS, it was introduced as a better way to determine the best team in FBS football each year. While it has provided match ups between top teams that previously wouldn't have occurred in the old system, it's still only 6 digits when 7 are required to place a call.


The good news is, change might be coming. Variations have been discussed and possible new models are expected to be presented by June. Despite the growing support for a change in the system, some argue that everything is working and change will only make things worse. I decided to check out what the BCS itself claims to be, and came up with a few things that the current system just isn't accomplishing.


The following statements come from the Bowl Championship Series official website.

• "[The BCS] is designed to ensure that the two top-rated teams in the country meet in the national championship game, and to create exciting and competitive matchups among eight other highly regarded teams in four other bowl games...It has been undeniably successful in achieving those goals."
• Undeniably successful? I'm really interested to know what their definition of undeniable is, because I think mine(and Webster's) is much different. Consider the Orange Bowl this year. Competitive? Not at all; and the only reason it was exciting was the chance that West Virginia's football team could score more than the basketball team had earlier that day (Final: WVU basketball-85, WVU football-70). If you want exciting and competitive in college sports you'll have to wait for March Madness. At least in a playoff situation if a blowout occurs, it just brings that much more excitement for the winning teams next game. Sorry WVU's blowout Orange Bowl victory doesn't have me absolutely giddy for it's September 1 match-up with Marshall...
• The other point here is that the two "top-rated teams" play for the national championship. And I guess I can't argue that one, because they get to decide who is top-rated. But what about "most deserving" or "the 2 best teams". I don't want a championship with the two top-rated teams when these ratings are determined by computers and people who don't even watch the games, I prefer to see a championship between two teams that proved they deserve to be there by outperforming all other competitors on the field. Which leads us to their next argument.
• The BCS allows for preserving the significance of the regular season
• Most BCS supporters will say that the every regular season game is a playoff game. As far as I'm concerned, after the events of this season, this argument can never be used again. If it were true, then Alabama obviously lost their playoff game to LSU in the regular season and should have been knocked out of contention(or did I miss the clause where SEC teams get a double elimination regular season playoff). The real problem here, is that for most teams in the country, the regular season loses most of it's meaning(as far as national championships are concerned) very early in the regular season. For 52 teams, their hopes at being crowned the best team in the nation ended before they played their first game this year. Let's face it, under the current system non-AQ teams aren't going to get to the big game. Since the inception of the BCS in 1998, 11 non-AQ teams have finished the regular season undefeated(Tulan '98; Marshall '99; Utah '04 and '08; Boise State '04, '06, '08, and '09; Hawai'i '07; and TCU '09 and '10) without being given an opportunity to play for a national championship. And by mid-season, all but a handful of teams have been eliminated from the discussion. In reality, as the college football season rolls on, it becomes more and more meaningless. And don't try to argue that all the other bowl games are meaningful...oh, they already did.
• All bowl games provide meaningful season-ending opportunities to teams.
• These people really need to check the definition of meaningful. How many times each bowl season do we hear those announcing the game say something along the lines of "these guys don't seem like they want to be here." with their partner responding "you're right, these guys had their sights set on something bigger and to find themselves here is a bit of a disappointment." A program with a long bowl drought will find the game meaningful, and of course we want our team to win each of their games, so we get excited about a bowl victory. But every bowl game, except one, means nothing more than the rest of the regular season(and most would be 4th or 5th on a team's list)don't let anybody convince you otherwise.

The BCS really isn't accomplishing what it was created to do, and America is frustrated. Here's to hoping the that powers that be will take note and help to make our beloved college football more exciting and meaningful from the first kickoff of the season until the best team(not top rated) lifts the crystal football.

All He Does Is Win

Tim Tebow won a playoff game. That's a statement that most of us never thought we'd hear, and after three straight losses even the biggest Tebow supporters must have wondered if they'd ever see their favorite quaterback and his odd throwing motion start another NFL game.

But he won a playoff game! Against the mighty Steelers! Now, before we go any further, let's be clear that Tebow DID win this game. Unlike in other games this season, Tebow wasn't bailed out of an unimpressive statistical performance by a stingy defense or an amazing field goal. He burned the Steelers defense right up to the final(and first) play of overtime. Coming in to the game the Steelers had allowed just 6 completion of 30 yards or more on the year, opposing quarterbacks had a completion percentage of 32.4% and 7.8 yards per attempt. Tebow ended the day with 54.5% of passes completed, 25.1 yards per attempt, and 5 completions of more than 30 yards(one shy of all the other Steelers games combined!). Maybe he loses occasionally, but he sure seems to pull out the W whenever his team really needs it.

As I watched the last few minutes of the game on Sunday I slowly got more and more excited that maybe we'd see another Tebow miracle. Overtime started, then suddenly it was over. One Play. When the ball was caught, I clapped, thinking this'll be a good 30 yard play, now they just need to finish the drive. But Thomas finished it himself, with a well timed stiff arm I was on my feet, and as he crossed into the end zone I was jumping up and down yelling "How'd he do that!?!?!". In mid-jump I thought to myself, "wait, why am I cheering for the Broncos and Tim Tebow, I don't even like either of them."

You see, growing up in Utah where we have no NFL team, people tend to choose either the closest team or the most successful one. In my case the Broncos happened to be both, but I adamantly refused to cheer along with everyone else as they won two Super Bowls in a row and converted every last one of my friends. Maybe it was because my best friend told me I had to like them and I refused to listen, maybe it was because I couldn't stand the smirk on John Elway's face, maybe it was because I was jealous that Denver got the Mile High moniker when my little town of 7,000 sat at a mile above sea level too. Whatever the reason, I strongly disliked the Denver Broncos and secretly rejoiced every time they lost. I'd never had warm feelings toward Tim Tebow either. I disliked Florida simply because of Urban Meyer( I KNOW I couldn't stand the smirk on his face), and that dislike spread to all the players there too. I took solace in the fact that Tebow would have a short NFL career and I wouldn't have to hear about him, except maybe in the occasional "Where are they now" article detailing the former Heisman winners that had disappeared from the sport and were unceremoniously forced in to used car or insurance sales.

So, what is it that turned me, and sports fans throughout the nation, into Broncos supporters and all out Tebow fanatics? Just dust off your worn out copy of "The Little Engine That Could" and replace that determined little train with Tim Tebow. Of course we all love that little train that moved a load the bigger trains   refused to help with. This is the same character that Tebow has become. He's the unimpressive thrower in a world of awe-inspiring field generals (Rodgers, Brady, Brees, Manning, Manning, Roethlisberger, and even soon-to-be pro Andrew Luck). In some sense, we've all been in the former Gator's shoes. We've all been floundering and stumbling, trying to look like we belong, somewhere along the way. At this point we hope that others will forget our shortcomings and recognize the good things we do. Tebow certainly still has his weak points, which analysts and opposing fans will continually point out, but most of us forget when the fourth quarter(or overtime) rolls around and number fifteen can do no wrong, we just want to sit back and enjoy the show.

So whether you're a fan of the team, the man, or just a fan of underdogs who think they can; enjoy the Tebow train as long as it's chugging along. Because, in a way,  we're all little engines on the tracks of life, waiting for our own personal Tebow Time.