College Sports and the Evil of Money

There was a time when college sports was truly for amateurs who played the game because they loved it. It was pure and untarnished but somewhere along the way, that all changed.  Money became an issue.  Bowl games are now sponsored by multi-million dollar corporations. Some of these corporations were even putting their names on stadiums.  Players are getting cash, cars, houses, and other benefits.  TV and exposure are huge.  Athletic Directors, conference presidents and officials, school presidents, and coaches make money off of the players. Sooner or later they get caught up in it.  What happened?

Perhaps the one famous example of corruption happened at Southern Methodist University in the 1980s.  From 1980-1985, the Mustangs football program was 55-14-1 and won three conference titles.  During that time there was rampant corruption including paying players.  The result of an NCAA investigation was the implementation of a "death penalty" which led to the cancellation of two seasons of competition, revocations of scholarships, and banishment from bowl games and live TV. It nearly destroyed the program.

The death penalty has made news again recently at the University of Miami.  A booster named Nevin Shapiro revealed his involvement with the football program.  He alleges that from 2002-2010 he provided players with improper benefits.  Many of these players are playing today in the NFL.  Shapiro himself is in prison for running a Ponzi scheme.  There is talk of using the death penalty and for a high profile university like Miami, that would certainly be devastating.

There are other examples of programs running afoul.  At Ohio State, several players received free tattoos in exchange for signed memorabilia.  Their head coach, Jim Tressel, resigned as a result of this.  At the University of Southern California, star running back Reggie Bush forfeited his Heisman Trophy and the team was stripped of its 2004 national title.  Bush had received $100,000 in cash payments and a house.  Also, basketball coach Tim Floyd resigned when it was revealed that he gave cash to a person who gave him star player OJ Mayo.  There is an ongoing investigation at Oregon, who lost in the BCS title game last season, about contact that head coach Chip Kelly has with a recruiting service and money paid to them. At issue at the University of North Carolina, are financial transactions made from an agent to a former assistant coach.

Money isn't the only benefit provided in some cases. At the University of Connecticut, a basketball recruit was provided with lodging, transportation, and meals by an agent and former student manager.  Assistant coaches also had phone and text conversations with this agent which exceeded the number of numbers of calls and text that can me made to a recruit.

These are just some of the documented cases and who knows what is going on at other schools.  Other violations have been committed, some minor and and some major.  What is going on in college sports today? Is time to pay the players and end this nonsense or should the NCAA have stiffer rules and penalties?

(research taken from Wikipedia and Yahoo Sports)

Interesting article from Forbes on the necessary evil of profiting for for financing athletics.

Football Profiteering

MLB Playoff Expansion

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has said that an expanded postseason may happen in 2012. The idea is that each league will have one additional playoff team and those teams will meet to decide who would go on to the the next round against the division winners.  The proposed format would be a best of three or a winner take all.

Baseball last expanded the playoffs in 1995 with the addition of the wildcard round. A realignment in 1994 (implemented in 1995 because of the strike) created three divisions in both leagues and the need to add a wildcard. This angered many purists who preferred the old format where teams met in their respective League Championship Series and then advanced to the World Series. 

I for one am satisfied with the current system. I think it is fair.  I'm not really sure about expanding the playoffs further.  Clearly the motivation is money. It waters down the competition a little more with teams who in the past would not have qualified.  Bob Costas in his book Fair Ball: A Fan's Case for Baseball criticizes the current system saying that it diminishes the significance of winning a divisional championship. Costas proposes that a way to make it more competitive is to have just the three divisional winners in each league and the one with the best record gets a bye. Personally, I don't think the current system diminishes the divisional championship and for one reason I use my favorite team the LA Angels.  As of this writing, the Angels are two games behind division leader Texas in the AL West. That is really all they can realistically achieve as they are eight games back in the wild card standings.  It's divisional championship or bust for them. 

An expanded postseason looks inevitable but the question is, can it succeed?

Lockout Fallout

In a previous post, I looked at the ramifications of an NFL lockout.  With some inroads being made to a potential deal, the lockout us now in its 114 day and with the calendar now flipped to July, training camps and preseason games loom ever close to being cancelled.  If the lockout ended now, it would be interesting to see how fans respond and how revenues and attendance are affected.  Both the NHL and NBA have gone through lockouts (with the NBA currently in one now).  What is interesting is that both had contrasting results.

The last NBA lockout was during the 1998-1999 season.  It lasted from July 1-January 20, 1999.  It lasted 204 days.  It was the first time in NBA history that games were cancelled.  When play resumed, attendance was down 2.2% and TV ratings and ticket sales declined.

The NHL has had two lockouts in the past 20 years.  The first one lasted 104 days from October 1, 1994 to January 11, 1995.  The season was shortened to 48 games.  The second lockout happened 10 years later and lasted 310 days from September 16, 2004 to July 13, 2005.  That lockout cancelled the whole 04-05 season and was the first time a major pro sports league cancelled a complete season.  The lockout had the reverse effect as 25 of the 30 teams had increased attendance and there were records in total and average attendance.  In addition, new regulations and strict enforcement and existing rules along with adding shootouts were also a boost.

It's too soon to tell what kind of impact the NFL lockout will have on attendance and TV ratings. The sooner that a deal is reached, the less of a negative impact it will have.

The Prevalence of Performance-Enhancing Drugs

Recently I read an article about Lance Armstrong, the former U.S. cyclist, and his gripe against 60 Minutes.  Armstrong won seven Tour de France races after having beaten testicular cancer.  While his feats are in no doubt remarkable, he has been dogged in recent years by doping allegations and taking PEDs.  He was submitted to 24 unannounced drug tests from the fall of 2008 to March 2009 with all the tests coming out negative.  Armstrong has denied the allegations and went as far as to demand that 60 Minutes issue an apology due to the inaccuracies of their story featuring former teammate Tyler Hamilton saying Armstrong took PEDs.  Another former teammate, Floyd Landis, was stripped of his victory in the 2006 Tour de France for doping.  He at first denied it but admitted in 2010 to doping and also accused Armstrong of doing the same.

The history of athletes using drugs goes back to before World War II.  The Nazis supposedly tested anabolic steroids on prisoners and even Adolf Hitler.  In 1954, a Soviet doctor admitted that he gave the power-lifting team testosterone injections.  In 1960, Sports Illustrated published Our Drug-Happy Athletes which detailed the use of amphetamines, tranquilizers, cocaine, and other drugs in sports.  Nine years later, Sports Illustrated did a three-part investigation about performance-enhancing drugs in sports.  Sources predicted that the use of drugs would explode into an epidemic.  In what now is seen as eerily prophetic, Los Angeles Dodgers team doctor Robert Kerlan said then, "The excessive and secretive use of drugs is likely to become a major athletic scandal, one that will shake public confidence...." How true that would soon become.

In 1973 and 1976, the East German women's swimming teams dominated at the World Championships and at the Montreal Olympics.  In 1975, the IOC added anabolic steroids to its banned substances list.  At the 1988 Olympics, sprinter Ben Johnson's gold medal in the 100 meters is stripped and his record time is deleted from the books after a urine sample has the anabolic steroid Stanozol in it.  Female sprinter Marion Jones won five medals at the 2000 Olympics but was later stripped of those medals when she admitted to taking PEDs. She served six months in prison after pleading guilty of lying to federal agents.

Baseball would soon fall victim when in 2002, Ken Caminitti admitted to taking steroids in 1996.  Jose Canseco admitted in his book in 2005 that he took steroids and they were also used by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.  The Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball was released in December 2007 where Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte drew the most attention.  Clemens' personal trainer testified that he injected HGH and testosterone into Clemens on numerous occasions. The company BALCO and its founder Victor Conte are thrust into the spotlight when it is revealed that the company made and distributed an undetectable steroid. Several athletes including Jones and Barry Bonds are subpoenaed to testify. Bonds, despite being the current home run king, has denied using any steroids.

What has become painfully clear is that today's athletes want that extra edge to be better than everyone else.  Feats like Lance Armstrong's and Barry Bonds' eventually fall victim to scrutiny as is any other remarkable feat or achievement.  No sport is immune to the effects of steroids when even cyclists are doing it. Steps have been taken to curb its use and punish those who abuse the rules.  The damage, however, has been done as the athletes that we have looked up to are just cheaters. How damming is that? Is anything sacred anymore?

Excerpts for this blog taken from sportsillustrated.cnn.com

One Play That Altered Baseball Fate

The title can refer to a number of plays in baseball history but I have decided to focus on three particular plays that bouyed one team, and devastated the other. Two of them are in direct relation to each other.

The first happened in the 1986 American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the California Angels.  The Angels entered Game 5 up three games to one and looking to end the series at home and go to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. In the ninth inning,  Angels closer Donnie Moore came in to face the Red Sox Dave Henderson. With two outs, Moore was one strike away from ending the game but Henderson hit a two run homer to put Boston up 6-5. The game eventually went to extra innings where Boston would prevail. They would win the next two games to move on to the World Series.

In that same World Series, the Red Sox faced the New York Mets.  In Game 6 and with a three games to two lead in the series, Boston led 5-3 going to the bottom of the 10th inning.  New York rallied to tie the game and were down to their last out with Mookie Wilson at the plate.  After working the count, Wilson hit a slow grounder to first base. Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner was there to field it but the ball went through his legs to score the winning run for the Mets. New York would win the title in Game seven.

In 2003, the Chicago Cubs faced the Florida Marlins in the National League Championship Series.  The Cubs were up three games to two on the Marlins and had a 3-0 heading into the eighth inning and were only five outs from going to their first World Series since 1945.  With a runner on second base and one out, the Marlins Luis Castillo hit a foul ball toward the left field wall. The Cubs' Moises Alou came toward the wall to make the catch but as he leaped to get it, Cubs fan Steve Bartman tried to get it and the ball bounced off his hands. Fan interference was pleaded but not granted and the at-bat continued. Castillo then walked on a wild pitch which advacned Juan Pierre to third.  What proceded was the Marlins scoring eight runs in the inning to take a 8-3 lead and eventually win the game. They would go to win Game 7 and advance to the World Series.

All three of these single plays dramatically altered the fate of the three teams involved.  The Angels never made the playoffs again until 2002 when they did win the whole thing.  Boston's struggles continued as the "Curse of the Bambino" lived on until 2004 when the Red Sox had a miracle of their own when they beat the New York Yankees in the ALCS and eventually won the World Series. The Cubs have not been as lucky as their struggles still continue and they have not won a playoff game since then.

If Donnie Moore gets that last strike, the Angels face the Mets in that World Series and not the Red Sox. 2002 maybe never happens. In the same respect, if its the Angels advancing, then Buckner's error doesn't happen.  If Buckner does field that ball, the Red Sox would have already ended the curse and 2004 never happens (or isn't as special).  As for the Cubs, if Alou does catch the ball, then there are two outs.  The game would be tied as Jeff Conine's sac fly is just a fly out and its anyone's game from there.  Who is say though that Alou could have really caught that ball in the first place. 

One play that will forever live in baseball history and forever be celebrated by one team, and cursed by the other.

The Sacramento Kings- Twist of Cruel Fate

The Sacramento Kings may have for all intensive purposes played their last game in Sacramento.  The team may be moving to Anaheim next season.  Their final game was against, who else, the Los Angeles Lakers.  The Kings rallied from 20 points down and Kobe Bryant's three-pointer forced OT where the Lakers prevailed in the end 116-108.  Oddly enough, it was nearly 26 years to the day that the Lakers beat the Kings in their final game in Kansas City before moving to Sacramento.

While on the subject of these two teams, it brings me back to the 2002 Western Conference Finals.  The Kings were the #1 seed in the conference and many thought they would win the title.  Three particular games stick out to me. Game 4 is one.  The Kings had a big 24 point lead in the first half.  The Lakers came back to cut the lead and it was down to two points on the final possession.  With time winding down, a missed layup by Shaquille O'Neal was swatted away by Vlade Divac and the ball went straight to Robert Horry who won the game on a three-pointer.  Instead of Sacramento being up 3-1, the series was tied 2-2.

In Game 5, it was a Mike Bibby jumper with 8.1 seconds left that gave the Kings the win but only after Kobe Bryant missed the potential game winner.  Game 6 was controversial as many calls went against the Kings and the Lakers shot 40 free throws including 27 in the fourth quarter.  The Lakers won the game 106-102. Game 7 was tense with 16 ties and 19 lead changes.  The Kings were done in by poor free throw and three-point shooting and lost 112-106.  The Lakers, not the Kings, were headed to the NBA Finals. 

There are plenty of What If scenarios here.  What if Divac just grabbed the rebound and not batted it to Horry?  The Kings would have won the game and eventually the series in Game 5 which would spare any of the dramatics of Game 6 and 7.  Of course if Bibby missed the shot in Game 5 or Kobe makes his shot, there would not have been a Game 7 at all.  If Game 6 wasn't fixed (allegedly), the Kings probably would have won.

Instead though, the Lakers came out on top.  While the final game may have been meanningless to the Kings, for one moment it brought back memories of that series.  Once again, it was the Lakers driving the dagger into the Kings hearts.

The USFL and Its Impact on the NFL

The United States Football League operated from 1983 to 1987.  While the league did not last long, it did spur the careers of some notable players including some from my favorite team, the Bills:

Jim Kelly

Kent Hull

Scott Norwood

Ray Bentley

Doug Flutie

Marv Levy

Other notable players included Steve Young, Reggie White, Doug Williams, Bart Oates and Gary Zimmerman among others.  What is of note is that a lot of these players made significant contributions to their respective NFL teams over the course of their careers.  Without them, it is probably safe to say that their teams would not have been as successful as they were.  Kelly, Hull, and Levy were major parts of the Bills success in the late 80s and early 90s and the main reason they went to four Super Bowls. Without them, the Bills may still have been a moribund franchise that might not even had stayed in Buffalo.  Flutie was a part of a Bills revitalization in the post-Kelly years as he led the Bills to the playoffs in 1998 and part of the reason the team was able to stay in Buffalo.

Reggie White is one of the all-time sack leaders who had success with the Eagles and Packers and won a Super Bowl with Green Bay in 1997.  Steve Young led the 49ers to their first Super Bowl win in the post-Montana era in 1995.  Doug Williams was the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl.  Bart Oates was part of a Giants and 49ers offensive line that won three Super Bowls. Gary Zimmerman was a seven-time Pro Bowler and eight-time All-Pro who played for both the Vikings and Bronco and won a Super Bowl with Denver in 1997.

What if the USFL never folded or never existed and the players still were in the league or never played in the NFL?  I think it is quite obvious that their respective teams would not have been as successful without them.  Kelly’s time in particular in the USFL actually benefitted him as he was able to gain valuable experience that helped him in his Bills career.  While the USFL did not last, the players mentioned above and others used that short period of time to find long-term success.