Tag Archives: sports

September 7, 2012 · 12:50 am

Art Modell dies: still unsure about why exactly he moved the Browns…

I don’t have a favorite NFL team. I haven’t since I was ten years old. In 1995, I was still in the early stages of forming my love of football. Growing up in Columbus, I loved the Buckeyes while the Cleveland Browns had become my favorite NFL team. It was in that same year where Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announced that he was moving the team to Baltimore.

Since that time, I’ve never rooted for an NFL team. Pittsburgh was still to be hated and Cincinnati was still to be pitied. When the Browns returned in 1999, I struggled with apathy. I wanted to be a fan of the team. I watched games, but I never really cared. Eventually I stopped trying to pretend to be a fan. For me, the magic was gone. Continue reading →

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June 1, 2011 · 2:49 am

Stop making excuses for Tressel

The NCAA was aware of the rules violations of five Ohio State football players and affirmed five game suspensions for them earlier this year.

Then things got much worse. It came to light Tressel knew about the violations and lied, and now there are reports that even more players had done the same thing.

Pryor and everyone else who got this started should just be kicked off the team! Right?

No. That’s crazy. If we do find out that there were additional violations by Pryor of which the NCAA was unaware, then that may be justified. But the NCAA has already decided what the appropriate penalty is for these guys based on what they did. A week ago, most Buckeye fans would have been happy with the penalty they received, but now that the situation seems so much worse than we had originally thought, those guys deserve to be punished to a greater degree?

I just don’t see how that logically follows and that this is a knee jerk reaction.

Well…. Tressel had to resign for what they did. If he can’t coach, they shouldn’t be able to play.

Actions of the players were definitely the original sin in this debacle of a situation, but the scale to which people were breaking rules and high profile players were breaking rules with Tressel fully aware and lying to the university and to the NCAA on multiple occasions and running a program over which he had lost control was one in which he could no longer reasonably remain as the head coach.

The players are isolated entities in themselves. They broke the rules and that was wrong, but those who had already been caught have received their punishments for the rules they had broken individually.

The fact that this was rampant in the program with Tressel at the helm doomed him.

But some make the mistake of viewing Tressel as a martyr or the one who took the fall. If it is ever found that university president Gordon Gee or athletic director Gene Smith knew this was going on, they too will be forced out.

Tressel built a program around integrity with a philosophy of teachable moments through the game. When he found himself in a situation where he could have (and should have) done the right thing, he lied and misled again and again.

Even now as he resigns. It’s not because he suddenly became honorable. It’s because the university was tipped off by Sports Illustrated  that another shoe was about to drop, and you can be sure that they told him to take himself out like how the Nazis took down Erwin Rommel.

People are making too many excuses for Tressel. It’s not because of some tattoos that he no longer gets to be coach. It’s because he lied and withheld information. There is no excuse for that. This program was never going to seriously regain credibility with him at the top.

Throughout Tressel’s career, players had issues with rules. While I know that no program is perfect, when there is proof that he lied and it was rampant, how many more chances were we going to give him?

In a couple of years when someone else got in trouble, was that going to be the time he was fired? It was going to be an inevitability.

While I don’t think these players should be kicked off of the team unless more information about them comes to light, I do think Luke Fickell needs to lay down the law that from this day forward, any player caught selling personal items will be thrown off of the team.

Earlier in this post, I said that the punishment for players should not suddenly be made more severe because more information is coming out about more rules violations from other players. But I do think that Tressel should be out.  Am I not guilty of the very thing about which I am complaining? No. Because I don’t think Tressel should have resigned over these latest details about the scandal. He should have resigned in March when it initially broke that he knew and lied, just to protect start football players.

jrb

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December 14, 2010 · 1:27 am

Things I won’t watch this year: Heisman and NCAA title game

The NCAA is the most legalistic entity that man has ever created, with the possible exception of the Sanhedrin. The fact that Cameron Newton is eligible is unconscionable. It was no surprise this weekend when Newton was awarded the Heisman Trophy, but i did not watch. Just as I will not be watching him play in the national championship game next month. Why? Because I’m not in the mood to watch auburn win knowing that the title will likely be stripped away from them in the future. If that happens, it is as if this game will have never happened, so what is the point of waisting my time now to see something that will have not have officially ever existed in the future?

Did Newton have the best season of any player in the country? Absolutely. But in the same season when Reggie Bush became the first Heisman winner to return the award ever as a result of being ruled ineligible for the 2005 season, giving the Heisman to someone who has a high likelihood of later being ruled ineligible is highly irresponsible.

But that’s not fair to Cam.

Fair? Fair? This entire situation is completely unfair to the fans. College football is not a perfect mirror of the civil society, and I think organizations should be looked at from a more utilitarian view. In the NCAA, if an athlete’s family receives funds, the athlete is ineligible. Regardless of if the athlete knows.

If Cam’s father, Cecil Newton took funds, Cam is ineligible. But that’s not fair either. No, it’s not fair, but it’s not worth the entire sport taking another major credibility hit for the sake of waiting until we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that he broke the rules when we do know that they attempted to break the rules.

That’s the price you pay for trying to break the rules.

The NCAA knows the Cecil Newton solicited money from Mississippi State. Mississippi State was originally Cameron Newton’s top choice after he left Florida, and his father wanted to get a six figure sum of money. Mississippi State wouldn’t pay.

It’s interesting. It’s interesting that Mississippi State was Cam’s top choice but they wouldn’t pay, however Cam went to Auburn. If Cam’s father didn’t receive money after he solicited money from Mississippi State, but Mississippi State was Cam’s top choice, why is Cam at Auburn?

Let’s recap:
top choice: Mississippi State.
Then your dad tries to get money from Mississippi State.
Mississippi State says “no.”
Newton goes to Auburn.
If Mississippi State was your top choice and wouldn’t pay you, why wouldn’t you still go there?
Could it be that Auburn boosters were willing to pay?

I know Cam doesn’t know about what’s going on. But he also transferred away from Florida before the university could have an expulsion hearing for academic dishonesty. Newton said that he had transferred, not because of the fact he faced expulsion but because Tim Tebow was coming back.

Interestingly he transferred before Tebow ever said he was returning for his senior year.

The feel good part of the Cameron Newton story has, for a long time, been a story about a bond between father and son and how Cameron has said on multiple occasions that he had given his father the reigns of selecting where he would play football. However this weekend, Newton cont stayed he had decided himself.

There was the stolen laptop.

There is a history of times when we know he has lied, where he has done things that are shady, where we KNOW that his dad tried to get money, and where a church of which his father is pastor seemed to magically receive a donation in order to keep its doors open.

But everything is on the up and up.

It is not Worth further diminishing the NCAA for the sake of being “fair.”

The NCAA has strict rules about families taking money and the rules are in place regardless of if the athlete knows. As I’ve said before on my website, this is the way it has to be. Otherwise, the athletes could play dumb, or even legitimately be unaware, but in either situation, the family’s could take bribes. As a result, the rules must be very strict and enforced across the board.

If the NCAA keeps throwing away its credibility, it is going to get progressively harder to get back. If Cameron Newton and his father truly are innocent, I think the fact that they attempted to break the rules is enough to make him ineligible. Their original sin was when Cecil Newton initially attempted to break the rules. That action, and their previous histories give a lot of circumstances that bring their honesty into question and it is because of all of the controversy which they have brought upon themselves, that people should not have cast Heisman votes for Newton and why he should not be playing for a national championship.

John Stewart Mill would be proud of me.

jrb

sources: some of the points in this article, I have heard made by local Columbus radio show host Scott Torgerson.

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December 2, 2010 · 1:28 am

Rant – the NCAA, Cam Newton, and favoritism

As a fan of sports, I am absolutely appalled by the NCAA announcement this afternoon as it relates to Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. For the last several weeks, Cam Newton has been maligned in a scandal alleging that while he was being recruited, his father was seeking substantial sums of money from the programs which Cam Newton was considering.

I believe that the NCAA has made a snap judgement because they prefer Auburn playing in the national championship game next month over Texas Christian. Why? Auburn will draw better ratings and an Auburn – Oregon national championship game will make more money for the NCAA than a TCU title game.

If information comes to light at a later point that Newton did actively break the rules, the NCAA would then have to punish someone whom they had already declared is eligible. This is troublesome because they claim to have already investigated the matter. Especially curious is this considering that the NCAA ruled Newton ineligible two days ago, revisited the issue yesterday and today says “Actually…he’s eligible.”

How the NCAA, which is notorious for working at a snail’s pace investigated and ruled an ineligible player eligible in the course of a day is pretty amazing. I don’t understand how one day, they have sufficient evidence to declare an athlete ineligible, and then the next day, somehow the thing which rendered him ineligible doesn’t matter.

Did the NCAA re-investiage and say “Oh. Wait a minute. The thing that we said was against the rules…actually that’s allowed, so he’s eligible?”

This thinking is completely devoid of integrity. Is Newton innocent? No. Because his father is guilty of violating the rules and that makes Cam guilty too. That is the way it has always been. That’s the way it has to be. If family could accept money as long as the student athlete is unaware of it occurring, if that were actually allowed by the NCAA, it would open the flood gates to relatives and other close associates taking money.

The SEC bylaws section 14.01.3.2 states:

“If at any time before or after matriculation in a member institution a student-athlete or any member of his/her family receives or agrees to receive, directly or indirectly, any aid or assistance beyond or in addition to that permitted by the Bylaws of this Conference (except such aid or assistance as such student-athlete may receive from those persons on whom the student is naturally or legally dependent for support), such student- athlete shall be ineligible for competition in any intercollegiate sport within the Conference for the remainder of his/her college career.”

The NCAA does acknowledge that his father did in fact try to solicit money in order for Cam to sign with Mississippi State. So even though it’s a rule that family can’t take money, and even though it says the athlete will be ineligible, and even though the NCAA acknowledges that the older Newton solicited money, they rule Cam eligible. How in the world does that make any sense?

If you are honestly looking at this, how can you look to the NCAA with any credibility any time they sanction a program for rules violations? I feel like the NCAA is basically giving Newton a pass because he’s the star quarterback for the number one team in the country because they feel like the immediate product is better with him.

It’s shameful.

If the Tide could have just hung on to their lead on Friday, none of this would matter.

jrb

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November 27, 2010 · 3:11 pm

Ohio State vs. Michigan

Today is a holiday for every Ohio State fan. The day of the Ohio State – Michigan football game. I am very excited to be going to the game in Ohio Stadium this afternoon. I have had the good fortune to go to this game on two other occasions.

I’ve had an interesting discussion with a couple of other people this week about the state of today’s game and whether you would like to see Ohio State win by 3 or 30. While I think the natural inclination is to say 30, I would rather have a competitive, close fought game for a number of reasons.

1. It’s more fun to watch. I was in attendance during the 2008 route where Ohio State beat Michigan 42-7. I grew up during the John Cooper era where wins against Michigan were rare. The ’08 game was surreal, because seeing Ohio State belittle Michigan the way in which they did was honestly something I thought I would never witness. Once in a blue moon, it can be fun. 2008 domination and the 1968 50-14 route where Woody Hayes famously went for two because he couldn’t go for three are good – once in a generation – type beatings.

But in general, I feel like you should want a good game. In general, would you rather watch a 42-7 game or, say, a 27-21 game that’s close?

2. It’s bad for the rivalry. Ohio State and Michigan is not considered the best rivalry in college football (best in all of sports according to some people) for games in which one team dominates the other.

If Ohio State crushes Michigan this afternoon, seeing a good team beat up a bad team does nothing to advance the rivalry.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that I want to see Ohio State lose. I just want to see them win a close game.

I know that some Ohio State fans like to root against Michigan just because it’s Michigan, but if you appreciate this rivalry, and know anything about football, you should want Michigan to be good.

2006 was a prime example. Both teams went into that game undefeated, ranked 1 & 2. By halftime, it was clear that Troy Smith had wrapped up winning the Heisman trophy and the Bucks won 42-38. Now that’s a game! Would you take a five or six touchdown shellacking of Michigan over that?

Michigan has had a three year stretch that is as bad a three years as they have had in the history of their program. Their defense has shown an ability to stop advancing offensive assaults about as affectively as the Maginot Line.

This is bad for the rivalry.

My hope for this game is that even though this isn’t a very good Michigan team, I hope that they can salvadge some of the tradition by playing a good game.

I’m not saying I want Ohio State to play bad. I’m saying I want Michigan to play better than they have all season.

O…H…

jrb

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