Huskers: How To Not Fuck It Up This Upcoming Fall

1. The QB situation: Martinez, Leadership, etc. 2010 was a two-part season: the filling in and out of love with Taylor Martinez. What did we like? His lightning speed, his dual-threat dynamic (of running inside or outside), and his fresh swagger. But after he quickly rushed for 1000 yards at the beginning of the season, defenses started to figure it out: Martinez likes to pull the ball, he tries to make something out of little, and, when he rushes, he doesn't put get his body low enough to protect himself. And they developed blitz-heavy schemes because Martinez--whose throwing motion and instincts as a passer were underdeveloped anyways--couldn't keep his composure under pressure, wouldn't stay in the pocket and instead ran around like a chicken with its head cut off.


Even worse, though: when he got hit, and eventually got hurt, he carried himself like he was the only one to carry. When he got hurt vs. Mizzou, instead of going straight to medical examination room (in the home team's locker room), he first made a roundabout trip to get his cell phone on the opposite side of the stadium so that he could call his dad. While there's a heart-warming element in that, it also showed that he was in little hurry to get back to a team that needed his presence.

Of course, that may be understandable, since some of the coaching decisions really prevented him from ever being the offensive head last season. "Who's going to start?" was the lead question going in last season. And it was a question that kept getting asked as the season went on. If, as a coach, you're going to give so much leadership responsibility to a QB, you have to give him a surer spot; he has to know his place.

With all of that in mind, here's what needs to change: Martinez needs to get in sync with his wide-outs during spring work-outs. He needs to learn both how to protect himself, and that there are times when you have to risk taking a hit. And all of that needs to happen under the assumption that, supposing Bubba Starling doesn't go in the MLB draft, there isn't a pre-season starter. Once September 3 comes around, there needs to be, if not a definitive decision, at least an impression of who's the team head. In the meantime, Watson's got to fine-tune that new offensive system to coordinate with the skills we've got at QB.

2. Not get shit on by the Big 12. Oh, hello Big 10. It's nice to finally meet you. And even though you've given a bit of a cold welcome (i.e. the toughest schedule in the conference, maybe in the league in general), at least we're confident that you won't totally fuck us come time to arrange bowl appearances. And no more Texas omens.

3. Find a replacement for Henery. For a defensive-minded coach like Pelini, special teams are everything. So I hope our head coach goes through the stats and realizes how many games we eeked a win out of by a mere field goal, oftentimes from the 50+ range. He was a sure shot for 3 points.

But he was also one of the most successful punters we've had in recent memory, not only in net punt average, but also in the number of times he put the ball inside the ten yard line (and, at the same time, out of bounds, safe from the reach of the return man). He swung the field position in our favor most every game.

Invest in that, Pelini. It's one of the most overlooked recruits we'll need for this upcoming year.

4. Discipline from top to bottom. You can't expect to finish up well when you're among the most top 20 most penalized teams in the league. When, in any given game, you've committed as much as 5x the amount of penalty yards as your opponent. Watson, get your offensive linemen ready to go on Saturday--too many false starts, holding penalties, personal fouls, God damn.

But I think this also starts at the top. Pelini, you've got more fervor than I saw in the Solich and Callahan eras combined. But you've got to control that hot head. You make yourself media fodder when you go off on the officials, players, or even when you give a pale interview to the media.You'll keep out of public criticism, and get a group that doesn't stray into its own way of things: that is, everyone will have more trust.

And we should. You've got some good things going.

Grab some popcorn, it's time for a show!

Ok, it's time to talk about a team that we actually know, not just from watching Sports Center, reading sports blogs, or following Twitter posts. I am going to talk about my peers (hopefully I don't need permission or written consent or something for this). Specifically, I want to talk about the Northwestern College Women's Basketball Team.

Let me just start off by saying that these girls are absolute STUDS and are incredibly entertaining to watch. I am not saying this as a basketball expert by any means, I am just a person with a general knowledge of the game that can appreciate when a team can kick some serious butt, yes butt. I will be honest, I have not watched every home game that the women have played this year, but when I do go to the games I am always thoroughly impressed and amazed by what they can do on the court. They may not be able to dunk or throw passes that turn into alley-oop dunks, but they play the game quick and aggressively and with an extreme amount of hustle and passion. GPAC Players of the Week are not made of anything less than those characteristics and our women have been able to boast of a few Players of the Week this year along with GPAC Player of the Year, Becca Hurley.

I may be speaking with some bias as a female athlete myself, but often times I think people tend to look past women's sports and not give the full amount of credit that the women are due for their accomplishments. One example that backs up this claim is the fact that the Bultman Center Gym is waaaaay less crowded when the women play a game than when the men do. I think, in terms of pure talent and skill the women are completely up to par with the men, which makes me wonder why the fan base is quite a bit smaller for the women compared to the men's team. But, I just want to focus on the women's team and try to avoid comparing them to the men's team.

I watched the Raider Women play for the GPAC Championship on Tuesday (March 1st) against the Morningside Mustangs, definite rivals of all Raider teams. This was an incredible game. It was back and forth and tight in score the entire time. The range between scores for both teams was never very far and quite often the score was tied. Towards to end of the game the Raiders had pulled ahead by about 8 points with not much time on the clock. Sitting in the crowd I was actually getting a little nervous because the Mustangs were getting a few drives and making some points. But, I could tell that our girls were completely keeping their cool. They knew they just had to finish the game strong, keep up both the defense and the offense, and make their foul shots if the opportunity presented itself, which it did a few times and the Raiders were able to secure the lead with even more of a cushion. The Raiders won the game with a final score of 84-74 to win the GPAC Women's Basketball Championship.

Seriously, if you have not watched these women play you need to because they are outstanding. And, their season is not over because they are headed to the National Tournament along with the men's team. Good luck to both teams as they compete next week in this prestigious tournament!

Glory Benson

Land of the free, home of the Muskies

Over the weekend I attended what was my third ever hockey game. The first game I went to was a high school all-star game about five years ago, and since it was an all-star game it wasn’t all that exciting. The two most recent games were part of the annual Heemstra and West All Hall Date Night. I’ve attended the past two years, and while you would think that I would learn a little more about the sport with each game I attend, that is not the case.

This particular game was between the Sioux City Musketeers, Muskies for short, and the Fargo Force of the United States Hockey League. The Muskies have won only two of the seven games they’ve played against the Force this season, but since they lost the game I went to last year, I was hoping they could pull through with a win this time around. Spoiler alert: they didn’t.

The Muskies' version of the Bash Brothers.

The game started out great. Like I said before, I know nothing about hockey, so instead I amused myself by yelling phrases such as “Puck off!” and quoting lines from D2: The Mighty Ducks like “Wu Wu Wu Kenny Wu!” and “It’s knuckle-puck time!”

Fargo went up early 1-0, but the Muskies came back with a goal from Max McCormick three minutes into the second period, tying it 1-1. Muskies goaltender Matt Skoff stopped shot after shot after that, but eventually Fargo got past him making the score 2-1 just before the end of the second.

Into the third period, the Muskies tried to make a comeback, but the Force were too much and scored a third and fourth goal late in the period, putting the game away for good. Stats compiled after the game showed the Force taking 43 shots on goal, while the Muskies took an embarrassing 16. Fargo’s 4-1 win leaves them tied for second in the USHL West Division standings.

I understand scoring, and I understand penalties, but everything else about the game was foreign to me, so I took the liberty to look up the meaning to a couple hockey phrases:

1. Icing - When a player shoots the puck across at least two red lines and it remains untouched. It is not icing if the puck makes it into the net, it is counted as a goal.

2. Goal Crease - The area directly in front of the goaltender. It can only be entered by offensive players who have possession of the puck.

3. Power Play - When a team has a one- or two-man advantage due to the other team’s penalties.

As exciting as hockey is (I mean come on, fighting is encouraged), I had a hard time getting into the game, and I found myself watching the fans more often than the game itself. Hockey seems like more than just a game, it’s almost a lifestyle for its fans. Muskie fans are loyal, and from what I gathered they’ve been going to games for years and will continue to for years to come, even though the Muskies are average at best. Players grow up in the game from the time they’re little, and it seems natural for them to pursue it as a career.

That’s great, and I’m sure if I took the time to really get into hockey, I would love it, too. If I understood the game more, I could become a true fan. I appreciate it, and I know I could never skate as well as those guys while handling a puck and getting slammed into the boards. I want to love hockey, but something in me just struggles to grasp the game. It was an enjoyable experience though, even though the Muskies were not victorious, and I would not be opposed to going again sometime.

One of the times when I would have yelled "Puck off!"

Now, if you would please excuse me, I have to get back to D2. Team USA is about to play Iceland in the championship of the Junior Goodwill Games.

Atypical Results

Again college athletes made news today…but they weren’t out doing service projects or donating to the poor like everyone expects.  A study done by Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports revealed some very surprising findings.  The people at SI and CBS did a background check on every player on the roster of the top 25 teams in college football.  Since we always hear about how athletes are such upstanding citizens and all around great people, it was surprising to hear that 7% of the players sampled had criminal records.  If I were to guess, I wouldn’t think any of those guys would be involved in that kind of stuff!  We never hear of an athlete in trouble with the law. 

The article went on to report that most of these coaches do not perform any sort of background check on recruits.  Since that last paragraph is a load of BS, I think it’s high time to start them.  According to the article, players come in to a program with charges ranging from assault and battery to sex crimes.  Many of these players have multiple arrests.  The funny thing is that many coaches don’t even know it.  There were two programs that ran background checks of their recruits and those that don’t gave reasons as to why they don’t.  They reasoned that they could get the necessary information from coaches and from interviews.  Well obviously they don’t have the right questions.  “Have you ever been arrested?” would be a good start. 

I don’t believe these background checks should be the determining factor however.  They could serve as a single factor in the recruiting equation.  Coaches should make it a priority to get to know each and every player at a personal level.  Not just athletic ability.  Coaches need to find players’ true character.   

I’m not saying that any athlete with a record should never be allowed to play.  I’m not trying to judge, as I haven’t been a perfect citizen either.  There are several success stories of players who turn their life around after going to college.  Everyone makes mistakes; it’s those that learn from them that are truly successful.  I am a firm believer in second chances and everyone should get one but it’s getting out of hand. 

Taken straight from the NCAA website:

The Association – through its member institutions, conferences and national office staff – shares a belief in and commitment to:

• The collegiate model of athletics in which students participate as an avocation, balancing their academic, social and athletics experiences.

• The highest levels of integrity and sportsmanship.

• The pursuit of excellence in both academics and athletics.

• The supporting role that intercollegiate athletics plays in the higher education mission and in enhancing the sense of community and strengthening the identity of member institutions.

• An inclusive culture that fosters equitable participation for student-athletes and career opportunities for coaches and administrators from diverse backgrounds.

• Respect for institutional autonomy and philosophical differences.

• Presidential leadership of intercollegiate athletics at the campus, conference and national levels.

I don’t think the results of this report bring a positive light to the NCAA.  They aren’t recruiting according to these standards.  They are more concerned about athletic ability and if the player will help them on the field.  Coaches are evaluated by their wins and losses-not by the percent of players that graduate. 

Again, I don’t believe background checks will solve everything, but I think it will be a step in the right direction.  They need to have more guidelines on who should be recruited to play.  They need to get at the true character of the player.  Who knows, maybe some day ESPN won’t be flooded with allegations and court cases.

ar

An Impassioned Defense

I realize upon posting this that most of you don't have the time to plow through this many words regarding sports, what with spring break rapidly approaching and all. So you know what? Feel free to watch the videos, ignore the words, and decide for yourself if my mission here was successful. (Of course, I like to believe the words will further my case as well.) With no offense meant to a fellow blogger, my mission is simple. I'm here to convince you that the NBA, despite allegations to the contrary, is well worth your time.

Don't get me wrong, to follow the NBA as much as me, you need a whole new level of commitment (insanity?). You need to drop $200 to watch every regular season game online. You need to actually sit down and watch two or three games every night. You need to frequent NBA blogs, ESPN.com, and other sites in search of nuggets (and Nuggets) yet unwitnessed. Those of us who treat the NBA like it's our lives often give up our lives in return.

But casual NBA fans have never been in a better position to enjoy the game. Don't take my word for it. Ask Blake Griffin.

Basketball is the perfect mix of pure grace and brute force. Soccer has never caught on in the US because of its lack of aggression and violence, despite the grace and athletic ability on display. Football is built on short bursts of violence, which in turn lead to long periods of inaction, often lasting two or three times as long as the action itself. Basketball meshes the two together, through violent dunks, hardnosed defense/blocks, and beautiful movement, passing, and teamwork.

No team wins when it isn't a team in basketball. In the 90's, after Larry Bird and Magic Johnson retired, a ridiculous amount of teams tried to follow Chicago's model for winning championships, in which one perimeter player dribbled out the shot clock in an isolation before trying to create a shot. These teams had apparently forgotten that the Bulls had MICHAEL FREAKING JORDAN playing for them, and everybody else, well, didn't. It made for bad offense. It made for final scores of 80-72. It made for bad basketball. But fortunately, for all of us, the NBA figured itself out.

For starters, let's put to rest the allegation that the NBA is full of players standing around on offense.
Putting aside the difficulty level of that assist...you can't put it aside? I don't blame you. Not only did Rajon Rondo know EXACTLY where Ray Allen was, but he was off balance and he still caught Allen DIRECTLY in his shooting rhythm. Now watch the clip again, try reeeeally hard not to watch Rondo, and instead watch the rest of the team. Exactly ONE player on offense didn't move during the clip...Allen, the guy who ended up swishing the three. He didn't move because, well, he was WIDE open. There was nobody within shouting distance of him. The rest of the team? Rotating and trying to create openings for each other. Turned out they didn't need to, Rondo had it under control.

Sure, the Celtics are known as a team with a ton of chemistry, who play as a team as a general rule. So let's talk about a team sporting the greatest individual basketball player in the world today.
So much for isolations. So much for superstars being unable to share. So much for one on one basketball. As a matter of fact, LeBron is averaging over 7 assists per game this year (two more than Jordan's career average). He is also 13th in the NBA in assists, the only non-point guard in the top 15. So if we may, let's just say so much for LeBron the selfish basketball player.

As for defense, it is becoming increasingly popular to be a great defensive team, since great defensive teams like Boston and Los Angeles keep winning NBA titles. As a unit, players are taking an incredible amount of pride in stopping the other team from scoring. And it's working. The team allowing the fewest points per game so far this season is Boston, who also happens to be the number one team in the Eastern Conference. Miami, Orlando, and Chicago are all in the top 6 in defense as well as being the top 4 teams in the Eastern conference. But it's also popular to be a top defensive stopper as an individual player. Take it away LeBron!
Many players take so much pride in the defensive end of the ball, they refuse to even allow players to score after a whistle, swatting away shots that are utterly meaningless. Dunks and layups are almost always contested. Defense is very much alive and kicking in the NBA. Don't believe me? Last year's NBA All Defensive First Team included LeBron, Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, Kobe Bryant, and Gerald Wallace. 4 of these players made deep playoff runs, including Bryant who won the championship. Every single one of those players played in the 2009-2010 All Star Game.

Ahhhh yes. The All Star Game. The bane of the NBA existence. And unfortunately, for many people, it's also the only game they watch during the regular season. What they witness is the NBA's best performing like the NBA's worst, all offense, no defense, only one or two players really trying, and they are selfish players making a run for the All Star Game MVP award. Smarter players who made the team often request to sit the bench to avoid injuries and extended minutes in what is nothing more than a well attended exhibition game. Judging the NBA on its All Star game is like judging a beautiful woman for having an ugly henna tattoo, and blowing her off upon seeing it. Ultimately the henna doesn't matter. It actually has nothing to do with her as a person, and it can be ignored until it fades away.

Now, I realize that I've been using only the most elite players as models, but for a casual basketball fan, these are the players you SHOULD be able to watch on a regular basis. And honestly? If you do sit down and watch a real game, instead of seeing one on one offense and no defense you are much more likely to see something like this...

I won't argue the fact that there are selfish, lazy basketball players in the NBA. But that was true from 1950-1999 as well and not just from the NBA, but from the NFL, Major Leage Baseball, the NHL, you name it. And you know what? Those players weren't successful at the pro level. Success in any professional sport requires dedication to every aspect of the game, attention to detail, wonderful athletic ability, and the correct mindset in which working towards anything less than winning is failure. In no sport are these requirements as naked and obvious as the NBA, meaning that when they are broken, the player looks especially bad. But when a player (or a team) puts it all together, it's something truly special. And if that player happens to be your favorite player of all time, there's even a chance you might get to witness this.

The NBA: Where Amazing (and Hell Yeah, It's Worth It) Happens.

Birkie Blitz

While most rational people spent most of the past weekend inside, bundled up with blankets and cursing that damn groundhog for getting our hopes up and letting us down once again this year, a group of 8,850 crazed Olympic stars and ski- legend wanna-be’s went deep into the snowy forest trails of northern Wisconsin to race 50 kilometers in the 38^th annual American Birkebeiner cross-country ski race, which  began at 8:00 a.m. the morning of Saturday, February 27^th, while the temperature was around negative 10 degrees.

The whole concept of the race has probably left you with many questions, such as: “What were they thinking?!?” “Did an Eskimo win?” and “Why would anyone willingly choose to spend their Saturday in Wisconsin?”

I really can’t come up with a good answer for that first question, so let’s go on to the second. No, an Eskimo did not win. And by the way, they prefer to be called Inuit, not Eskimo, and not everyone from Alaska skies or is qualified to be a politician, contrary to rumors.

Caitlin Compton, from Minneapolis, won the women’s 50K skate course with a time of 2:15:26.0. Compton’s time not only got her the first place finish, it also got her the honor of setting a new course record that was almost three minutes faster than the previous record set by Rebecca Dussault in 2010. The second and third place finishers, Morgan Smyth of Utah, and Evelyn Dong of Oregon, also finished under Dussault’s former record holding time of 2:18:18.1.

In the men’s 50K skate race, the first place title went to Norwegian native Tore Martin Gunderson, who finished with a time of 2:00:32.8. Gunderson said the Wisconsin course was “fantastic,” further evidence the guy is a naïve foreigner who has not yet experienced Minnesota.

And for those of you who thought skiing 50K, or basically 31 miles, was easy enough- don’t worry! There was also a 54K classical ski race, fondly known as the Birkie Classic.

Winning the men’s Birkie Classic for the second year in a row was Juergen Uhl of Vermont. The man got first- place, but did little to break stereotypes for other little boys growing up with the name Juergen.

Another Minneapolis native, Jennie Bender, won the women’s title for the Birkie with a time of 2:50: 09:3.

Back to that last question you were wondering earlier (why would anyone go to Wisconsin, ever, and then go skiing outside for over two hours?)…This race is considered the most prestigious and is the largest cross- country ski marathon in North America, larger than races in Canada even! So I can only imagine the answer the reasons people have for wanting to participate: Pride. Guts. The same reason people go bungee jumping or eat at Taco Bells. The thrill of doing something unbelievable.

And what is the significance in all these results of the American Birkebeiner Championship? Well, if you haven’t caught on so far, I had an agenda to prove to you all that Minnesota girls are the best, and the results of the Birkie did an excellent job of backing me up.

Boring............

The National Basketball League sucks.  Plain and simple.  No offense to a fellow blogger, but it’s boring, selfish basketball.  ESPN is cluttered with NBA trade news, “the decision” and salary news .  Rewind twenty years and that’s when basketball was at it’s finest.  With the likes of Jordan , Johnson, Ewing, and Bird it was fun to watch.  There was real offense, real defense, and it was about the game. 

I was bored on All-Star weekend and ESPN Classic had the 1992 All-Star game playing.  I actually sat and watched half the game.  I don’t remember the last time I sat and watched a professional basketball game.  The game was fun to watch.  Even though it was an All-Star game, there was offense and even defense.  It had all the flair of an All-Star game but it had pick-and-rolls that ended in alley-oops, give-and-goes with a Jordan reverse lay-up. 

Compare this to the most recent All-Star game.  Their offense was LeBron against the West and Kobe against the East.  There weren’t enough basketballs to go around that night.  Kobe Bryant finished the game with 37 points and was basically a black hole.  He wasn’t gonna give the ball up. 

This is basically the story of every NBA game.  It’s one-on-one, go to the hole even when there are three guys standing wide open waiting for a chance to prove he’s worth playing in the NBA, or pull up bombs from 30 feet.  I was no Kobe, but I woulda sat my ass on the bench if I pulled up for three off the first pass.  I was also taught that in a basketball offense, you needed to move without the basketball-set screens, cut to the basket, get some one else open.  I’m no NBA coach, but I think this philosophy would still apply in the league, but apparently not.  Whenever Kobe, LeBron, or Carmelo have the ball, the other four players are frozen.  They could just as well find an empty seat , spend $30 on a couple beers and hotdogs and enjoy the show. 

 Another thing the NBA is lacking is defense.  There is none.  I see better defense watching sweaty old men trying to re-live their glory days.  They at least have a little bit of shame when someone blows by them for a lay-up. 

Back in the good ol’ days even the stars played defense.  In the last ten years, the only “star” players to win the Defensive Player of the Year were Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard.  If you go farther back, Jordan won one, David Robinson won one, and even Payton.  LeBron doesn’t have any, Kobe-none, Wade-zero.  Even the stars realized that they have other players on their team.  Jordan knew that Pippen was a deadly weapon and that Steve Kerr could bury three’s from anywhere on the court.  While Jordan averaged 30 points per game, he also averaged 5.3 assists.  Larry Bird averaged 24 points and 6.3 assists.  Carmelo Anthony averages 24 points and 3 assists a game. 

The NBA blows.  It’s boring and hard to watch even in the playoffs.  The greats cared about winning not how much they money they made.  They let their championships do the talking, not their endorsements.  It was fun to watch.  They cared, they hustled, and they made the extra pass.  It was when basketball was at it’s greatest.

Better Safe Than Not Sorry Enough

As much as possible, I try to avoid any pastime that risks my entire skeletal frame at once. I don’t “cruise” often, and when I do it’s in a ’93 Caravan that, despite having the aerodynamics of a tortoise, also has its impenetrable, if dented, shell. No, not an exciting drive; just A to B.

I’m of the opinion that there’s ways to live a not-boring life that wouldn’t have my heart over-pumping like a 16 oz. can of Monster would. Or like dirt moguls taken at 50 mph on an off-balance MotoX bike would.

And I’m a little queasy when it comes to the always adrenaline-spiked X-Games culture and its definition of a success story. 

Recent pin-up Cam Sinclair for instance. At the 2010 X-Games, Sinclair re-attempted the double back flip, a trick that he couldn’t pull 8 months earlier—the crash left him in a coma for 7 days. When he landed it in his more recent go ‘round, his was blazoned the greatest comeback in action sports history. As if demise were flirt-worthy, something to be fucked with. 

But maybe I'm just being dull; these guys have sold themselves to a hobby that pretty regularly leaves a person with half the bones in his or her body broken, and I’m sure they’ve done it with some sense of acknowledgement.

At the event, Sinclair wore Rockstar in a customarily busy, electric red and gold design. Like a vibrant cloth variation of the tattoo on his right arm, and equally inseparable in his public image. Search him on Google Images: he’ll be wearing a flat-billed ball cap with a big yellow star.

So not only is he (like so many of them) an icon for the “Are out of your mind?” He’s also branded. And, colorful, he’s branded to a product that’s been a notorious recent news item for its link with “heart palpitations, high blood pressure and even cardiac arrest and death,” especially in young people.

The X-Games’ “bulls-eye” demographic is 12 to 17 year olds. To make them a similar brand of self-threatening jitterbugs, apparently.

Of course, while Sinclair was successful at this year’s Big Air—an event aired commercial-free on ESPN because of a Monster sponsorship—not everybody was:

He’s dead. That’s what I thought when I saw this live last summer. ESPN kept replaying Paris Rosen’s four-story fall because he didn’t move for five, ten, fifteen minutes. Go to a commercial, go to a commercial, I kept thinking. But our favorite caffeine-boosting drink made sure to replay the crash as the medics tended to an unconscious Rosen. The commentators who usually voice over with spunky energy reacted with aghast hush. Rosen was eventually carried off on a gurney. The crowd applauded.

            Paris Rosen suffered several injuries: a dislocated hip, a bruised lung, torn cartilage holding his ribs together, and a break in one of his lower vertebrae. With a set like that, it seems inappropriate to say that he got off lucky.

            His heart is still slowly pumping away. I’m glad for him, though he might think that fact a little boring.

Jordan Langer

Nice Guys Don't Always Finish Last

Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig is a baseball legend. He was the Yankee first baseman from 1923 until 1939. He was forced to retire at a relatively young age due to ALS, a neurodegenerative disease, which would slowly eat away at his motor skills, along with other things. Once he was diagnosed there was no chance that he would ever be able to play baseball again. He was beyond incredible at the plate with a bat in his hands. He set records. Some of which, to this day, have not been broken.

He was the first athlete to have his number retired; Yankee jersey number 4 was retired in 1939 in conjunction with Gehrig's retirement from baseball. This precedent has continued in most sports since that time. He was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame, by a unanimous vote, in 1939 when he retired. There is a usual two-year waiting period after a player retires before they are put in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but because of Gehrig's disease it was waived and he was inducted immediately.

On July 4th, 1939, which had been declared "Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day" in his honor, Lou gave his farewell speech to upwards of 62,000 fans in Yankee Stadium. Fighting back tears and strong emotion he gave a heart-felt speak in which he claimed he felt like "the luckiest man on the face of this earth." He finishes his speech by saying, "So I close in saying that I may have had a bad break, but I have an awful lot to live for." He was a humble man that was filled with talent and a passion for the game. He did not let his "bad break" sour his incredible career or positive outlook on life. He was thankful for all of his experiences, his fans, and all the other people around him, especially his wife, and he will always be remembered as an amazing baseball player and even more of an amazing man.




Jackie Robinson

 Jackie Robinson is a baseball legend. He is undoubtedly one of the most important and influential names, not just in sports, but in America. He was the first to break the color barrier that had been segregating baseball since 1889. At this time (1947) baseball was the dominating sport in America, so for the norm of segregation to be challenged it was a huge opportunity to start integrating all sports as well as other facets of life.

He was an incredible player. He stole bases like a mad-man, he was an amazing infielder, he had an outstanding bat. He, like Gehrig, set records and did really awesome things on a baseball field. But more than that, Jackie did incredible things off the field. He fought to make life better for people, not just African-Americans, but everyone. He was a businessman that was involved with many aspects of society even after his retirement from baseball. He was on the board of directors for the NAACP for ten years and served in many campaigns while working with that organization.

He was extremely talented when it came to baseball and he was able to use his talents to impact history. He was a man that continued to make an impact even after the days of wearing a jersey were finished. He will always be remembered as the man that changed American sports for the better, and he deserves this recognition for both his passion and skill as a player and also for his passion and drive as a man.



Armando Galarraga

I am going to argue that Armando Galarraga is (or hopefully will be) a baseball legend. A perfect game in baseball is no easy thing to come by. There have not been many throughout history to pull off what is able to be labeled as perfection in this sport. On June 2nd, 2010, Armando Galarraga, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, was one out away from perfection. The Galarraga and his defense behind him had sent Cleveland Indians back to the pine 26 times; perfection comes after the 27th. Galarraga was at this pivotal moment in the game...in his career. 2 outs bottom of the ninth...and then the ball is hit to the right side but the second baseman is able to cut it off and Galarraga himself runs over to first base to cover the throw...he catches the ball before the guys foot hits the bag, but the runner is called safe and there goes the perfect game...gone.

Instant replays proved that Jim Joyce, the umpire, had made the wrong call, but nothing changed. Galarraga and his teammates fought so hard for perfection and it was all shattered by a blown call. But, we all know this story, and we know that the real story does not lie within the missed call. It lies within the reaction of Galarraga, the player who was stripped of receiving the label "Perfect."

So often the sports world is covered in the grime of the scandals that athletes always seem to entangle themselves in. It gets tiring reading about sex scandal, after sex scandal, after sex scandal, with the occasional animal cruelty case thrown into the mix. To say the least, it can leave a bad taste in the mouths of fans that look up to these athletes. And that is why I love the story of Armando Galarraga. He had every right to be pissed and completely lash out at an umpire that ruined his game, but instead he takes pity on the man and recognizes that everyone makes mistakes. His response to this unfortunate situation is one of the most beautiful things I have seen in sports in awhile. He will be remembered, at least by me, as the man that deserved a perfect game, but when he did not get it acted with more class and sportsmanship than anyone would have ever expected, or even remembered to be possible.


Baseball is America's sport. It is beautiful and I love it. These three men are just a few players who truly exhibit what it means to be a man and a role model. They have class and did things that were against the norm and unexpected. They love the game and they play, or played, to the best of their abilities and remained men of strong character even when life threw them some serious curveballs.

Sad ending to a great career

Athletes dream of long, illustrious careers, and hope that when it’s time to call it quits, they can do so on a high note. Unfortunately, this is not the case for Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima, known simply as Ronaldo, one of the greatest players in soccer history.

Ronaldo announced earlier this month that he is retiring from football due to nagging injuries and complications with hypothyroidism, a condition that makes it difficult for him to keep in shape. This announcement comes only a few days after his Corinthians team was eliminated in the Copa Libertadores, Latin America’s biggest tournament. With all of the great things Ronaldo has done throughout his career, he’ll be remembered by Corinthians fans because he failed to lead his team to victory in one competition. Sad, really.

Ronaldo was a member of four World Cup teams for his native Brazil. His teams won in 1994 and 2002, and was their star player during their march to the final in 1998 before seizures prevented him from playing in the championship match. Although his team was eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2006, he scored his 15^th goal in World Cup play, a record that remains unbroken to this day. Ronaldo scored 67 goals in International play for Brazil, and over 400 goals in his 18-year career.

His former Inter Milan teammate, Youri Djorkaeff, speaks for many when he was quoted as saying, “Ronaldo is the best player I ever played with.” He was an idol among fans and other players alike, with incredible footwork and an accurate finishing touch that allowed him to net those 400 plus goals, and establish himself as one of the best.

He was one of the greats, but he could have been even better had it not been for injuries that plagued him throughout his playing career. He suffered three major knee injuries, each one threatening to retire him early, but each time he fought back. He was unlucky, and fans are left to wonder what could have been for Ronaldo, whose nickname was “The Phenomenon.”

His numbers on the pitch are astounding, but unfortunately Ronald was not without scandal off it. In 2008, Ronaldo was caught-up in a sex scandal after picking up prostitutes than turned out to be men, who then tried to exhort money from him. I was saddened when I learned about this. Here is Ronaldo, three-time FIFA Player of the Year, one of my favorites to watch, getting caught up in such a horrible incident.

Despite these off-pitch troubles, Ronaldo remains one of the best to ever play the game. Not to be confused with Cristiano Ronaldo, the pretty young thing from Portugal, Ronaldo looks more like the Brazilian Steve-O. His 18-year career saw him play for clubs like Inter Milan and Real Madrid, but his time on the Brazilian national team is what made him a household name.

Ronaldo had a long, illustrious career. If only it could have ended on a high note, not a forced retirement.

If you’ve never witnessed Ronaldo in action, here’s a video showing each of his 15 World Cup goals. Enjoy.

The De-Evolution of Female Swimwear

For those of you that have not been watching this season of the reality show “The Bachelor” (shame, shame), you missed out on seeing the photo shoots of three outrageously sexy, scantily clad women in tight red bikinis.

            The women rolled in the sand, splashed themselves and let the water trace over their curves, and were easily persuaded to remove their tops.

            Instead of featuring these provocative photos in a fashion or celebrity gossip magazine, the shots were done for this year’s issue of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition.

Swim-suits: check. Sand: check. Water:…ummmm

            Funny, I didn’t see any of the women doing any actual swimming in those suits. Then again, I suppose it would be difficult to do serious swimming while holding seashells in place over your chest. The butterfly would be more difficult if you had to focus not only on your kick, but also on making sure that nothing pops out.

             Imagine a Sports Illustrated cover featuring a woman in a racing suit. The suit would smush anything that might drag in tightly, cover thighs, and allow the woman to reach her full, athletic potential.  Yet, it would be the cause of several (hundred? thousand?) nasty letters to the editor from men who look forward to their yearly dose of porn in a sport’s wrapper.

            Why have women let their swimwear de-evolve in order to please men?

            Way back when, women were arrested for wearing far less insufficiently- covering swimwear. Annette Kellerman, the first women to attempt to swim the English Channel, was arrested in 1909 for indecency while wearing a one-piece fitted swimsuit. She wore this suit not to seduce the men on the beach, but in an attempt to swim unhindered by the flabs of extra fabric found in the typical woman’s swimsuit of her day. Annette went on to become not only a fashion icon, but an inspiration to women who admired her guts.

Oh, Annette! You skanky devil, you!

            Way back when, women took off their tops, not just to show Brad Womack that they were fun, open- minded, or willing to go to extreme lengths to please him. They took off their tops at soccer games. They burnt their bras in protests for Women’s rights. They did these things to show their equality with the “superior gender.”

Brandi Chastain: the girl looked up to for taking it off

            Why have we let the respect and gender-equality our foremothers fought for slip so easily through our fingers? Why have modern women come to the point in which they would rather wear an ineffective two-piece that makes them more self-conscious than just put on a modest suit that will actually allow them to swim more effectively?

Chantal O’Brien struggled with personal insecurities about her body during her photo shoot.

One of the biggest controversies on the male side of the world of swimsuits is over Michael Phelp’s World and Olympic records and whether or not he should replace the records of his predecessor who did not have his advantage of specially designed swimwear.

Fair or not, Michael is looking HAWT.

Imagine if the biggest controversy surrounding female swimsuits was over whether or not they made the gals too darn fast.

Maybe the shrinking of the female swimsuits is a sign that girls are free from being repressed into unwillingly covering up their beautiful, God-made bodies. Maybe. More than likely, it’s a sad sign that women are being more and more influenced by men to be eye-candy, and to wear less and less.

The Hall of Fame(Ish)

The Basketball Hall of Fame is fucking worthless.

Let's play a little game I like to call "Identify This Hall of Famer!" Ready? See if you recognize these names. Hortencia Marcari? Drazen Dalipagic? George Yardley? How about Joe Fulks? No? None of them? Me neither. Know why? NONE OF THEM ARE FAMOUS. And yet they all currently reside in the players section of the Basketball Hall of Fame, in Springfield Massachusetts. 

Take a look at how brainless that last paragraph was. Hortencia Marcari was a renowned Brazilian women's basketball player (no, she never played professionally in the states, but hey buddy, she was a LEGEND in Brazilian women's ball, you watch yourself.) Drazen Dalipagic was, I'm quoting here from his Hall of Fame info page, "one of the most decorated players in Yugoslavian history." From the same page, "Dalipagic...didn't start playing basketball until the age of 19." (Hey, do you live at home with your parents at the age of 19? Are you going nowhere with your life? Move to Yugoslavia, and you too can be a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame!) George Yardley was described, creatively enough, as a "scoring machine" by teammates, so if nothing else, he pioneered one of the most over-used basketball terms in history. Go George! But according to his numbers, he was nothing of the sort. He averaged roughly 19 points per game. Never fear, Elton Brand! Your career averages might still be enough to enshrine you! Yardley's teams never won a championship, not even in the watered down leagues of the 1950s, when there were only 11 teams even competing. Joe Fulks, I've never heard of. I know nothing about him. I have no idea what he looks like. As a matter of fact, neither does the Hall of Fame. Don't believe me? Go look at his page. His face appears to be drawn on, which means he could have been the ugliest bastard in human history, but he will be forever enshrined as a baby faced individual, staring upwards in a gaze of wonder. None of these players were famous. All of them are in the Hall of Fame.

All of which brings me to my point: if you are going to enshrine Drazen Dalipagic, WHY WOULD YOU NOT ENSHRINE REGGIE MILLER? 

Reggie Miller was eligible this year for induction. And the voters, in their infinite wisdom, didn't even include him on the ballot.

This is wrong on so many levels. For starters, he played in the fucking NBA. You know, the group of the most accomplished basketball players in the world. But i digress. His resume included 15 playoff berths and an 18 year career with the same team, as the alpha dog best player. He was, at the time, an unprecedented 3 point shooter, and a crunch time killer, the kind of player you dreaded playing against in a tight game. His legendary playoff battles with the New York Knicks were so full of drama and great story lines that ESPN made a documentary called "Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs the New York Knicks" (top that, George Yardley!). ESPN's Indiana Pacer-related blog is named Eight Points, Nine Seconds after one of Miller's most dazzling playoff performances, when Reggie absolutely detonated on the Knicks, scoring (you guessed it) 8 points in 9 seconds to win. He also had a famous performance in which he and legendary Knicks fan Spike Lee had an on-court verbal battle, yelling at each other throughout the game, finally culminating in Reggie draining a back breaking three pointer, staring straight at Lee, and putting his hands to his throat in the universal sign for "choke".

Miller was famous. He was talented. And he was incredibly memorable. New York City, widely considered the greatest basketball city in the country, will forever hate him. Indiana, widely considered the greatest basketball state in the country, will forever revere him. And any rational basketball fan would agree that Miller deserves a spot in Springfield more than the names I mentioned before, unless you are either a Brazilian woman or a lazy Yugoslavian teenager. I'd include fans of the NBA back in 1950's, but if you were around back then, I think you would have been too offended by the first sentence in this post to make it all the way to end.

Gym Rules 380 (This ain't your 101)

1.      Get to know the staff

That lady scanning your card as you walk in, that high-schooler loading towels onto their shelves, the guy upstairs wiping down equipment- get to know these people. Talk to them, ask questions about their lives, tell them about yourself. Not once, but each time you see them. Soon enough, they’ll start remembering your name, letting you in even if you forgot your card at home, encouraging you to finish that last rep, and providing you with a menagerie of other perks.

2.      No flirting

Nothing is less sexy than trying to work-out while trying to be seductive and failing at both.

3.      iPods can be your best friend

Unless you have a work-out partner, invest in an iPod. If you can’t afford an iPod, buy headphones and tuck the loose end discretely into your pants so people think you have an iPod. When you enter the gym with headphones in, people know you’re not there to chit-chat. That lady on the treadmill next to you who wants to tell you about how she got all bent out of shape by birthing three wonderful children, ages- silenced by the headphones. That creepy guy flexing his biceps and whistling in your direction, or the pack of preteen girls giggling and pointing your way- silenced by the headphones. Even if your battery dies, or you’re not really plugged in to anything and you can hear everything going on around you, nobody has to know.

4.      A quick guide to stains

Dirt, Mud, or Grass Stains: Okay in moderation, but try not to brag about how much fitness you get outside the gym. Too much will make people question your honesty and your balance

Paint Stains: a nice way to say “Hey, I’m an artist, fuck no, I can’t lift that! But at least I’m trying to broaden my horizons, unlike you homophobic narcissistic assholes!”

Sweat Stains: complicated. Sweat after you’ve been working hard is good, unless it has encovered your entire shirt. Multiple and repeated sweat- discolorations that make your white shirt go yellow, not so good.

5.      Show some modesty

You know that guy that cuts people off as he passes them on the track, subtly, but in a way that clearly marks him as a dick? Don’t be that guy.

6.      Watch what you eat

So you just finished a great work out and now want to reward yourself by eating a king-sized Kit-Kat. That’s good- goals and rewards are great. But wait until you leave. Vending machines can be tempting, but nothing can make people distrust you more. People seek consistency in other people. They don’t want to see that healthy guy that just spent an hour on the treadmill in front of them drinking all his calories back through that can of Pepsi. And even if you are the type that can eat as much of anything they want, don’t brag about it. Many people at the gym are not. Wait until you leave, stop at Coldstone, and then pig out.

7.      Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

We get it. You have a cell phone. I have one, too, and so does my mom and so does my grandpa. But you have people to talk to you on your cell phone! Wow! I mean, OMG. Yet, no one is impressed. And they definitely don’t want to listen to you gabbon all afternoon. Leave your phone in your bag until you are out of the gym. Unless your last name begins with an O and ends with a bama, you can let people wait an hour to hear that beautiful voice of yours.

8.      The Unwritten Pool Rule

Never Never Never refer to the lifeguard as the “towel girl.”

9.      It’s not a Will Ferrel movie

As much as you want to laugh at that puny little high schooler struggling to bench the bar, or the overweight woman trying hard to make it to that tenth minute on the elliptical, remember these are real people. They have feelings. Contrary to what you might think, they are not there for your entertainment. So smile at them. An encouraging smile, not a giggle- hiding grin, you jerk.

10.  Stick to what you know

The gym is not the place to try new things all alone. If you’ve never used a machine, spare yourself the shame. If you have never used an exercise ball, dear Lord, please ask for directions! You became friends with the staff for a reason- now is the time to ask for an orientation to that new boflex, or tips for using an exercise ball. Nothing looks sadder than trying to figure these things out on your own.

Wrestling a Girl?

Headlines this week on ESPN included “Rather than face girl, wrestler defaults”.  Joel Northrup defaulted his match at the Iowa wrestling championships after being matched with Cassy Herkelman, a female from Cedar Falls.  He claims to have defaulted for religious reasons giving a statement that explained that he believed that because of his faith, he should not engage women in this manner. 

Northrup was entitled to his own beliefs and it’s hard to criticize him for personal beliefs, but it’s also too bad that he was put in this position in the biggest stage of high school wrestling.  He came into the state championships with a 35-4 record but after defaulting his match with Herkelman, lost another match and was eliminated from the tournament.

Much debate about this decision has made national news and each is entitled to his opinion, but one question I would like to raise is: Should Herkelman been allowed to participate in wrestling in the first place?

There are two different angles to take in this question:  a male participating in the sport and the female who wants to participate.  Put yourself in the male’s shoes.  From day one, little boys are taught not to physically harm girls.  It goes against everything guys have learned to put a girl in a headlock or twist her arm to the point of dislocation.  If a boy has to wrestle a girl, he is in a no win situation.  If he wins, he could be seen as the bully who beat up on a girl, but if he loses, his friends would have a hayday making fun of him.  One other thing to consider:  since wrestling is a violent sport, injuries happen often.  How would a guy feel if the girl he was wrestling got hurt?  I know I wouldn’t want to be the guy to blow a girl’s knee out. 

The other way to look at is through the girl’s eyes.  She wants to participate in the sport.  She knows what wrestling means, including but not limited to having your knee bent in ways it’s not meant to bend or having your arm pulled so far behind your back your shoulder explodes.  She knows all the possibilities and yet chooses to wrestle. 

I feel that if a girl wants to participate, let her.  If she wants to put herself through the practices and the matches even if it means having guys as her opponents then more power to her.  Most likely, this girl can hold her own on the mat and understands the sport of wrestling.  I just know I wouldn’t want to be the one to have to wrestle her.  I would be in the predicament I mentioned earlier.  Unlike Northrup, I would be too competitive to default.  I also know I wouldn’t want to get beat.  I don’t think I could handle the verbal abuse that would come my way if I got beat, and I think it would motivate me more to not lose.  It would be a tough decision, and could get a little awkward on the mat, but I think if it came down to it, a state title would be worth it.

Preventing a "Bad Day"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMVOWlY6yBk

Everybody knows how it feels to have a bad day. There can be a series of events on those days when nothing seems to go your way or maybe there was just one really bad moment that ruined your whole day. Whatever the case may be, it is something that every person in one way or another can relate to. The people in this video probably had bad days after either a serious dose of embarrassment or in other cases physical pain.

There is something inside all of that at first does not want to laugh at the expense of others but we almost always eventually end up laughing anyway. Embarrassment fades and injuries can heal but a good laugh can brighten your day and maybe even prevent a “Bad Day.”

This video includes not only athletes, but also fans, bystanders, and even reporters or anchors doing something funny set to the song “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter. It is entertaining when we are reminded that not even professional athletes are perfect on the field all the time. It shows their human side, which fans can often forget because athletes are so easily idolized. That has shifted slightly recently now that fans can be involved in almost all aspects of a sports icon’s life, even the worst parts. But, nevertheless, we still enjoy seeing these bloopers and getting a good laugh out of a big mess up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3Kbc-LSGvI

Again, everybody has bad days, but this video shows a different type of bad day. In most cases these people were frustrated and angry, for whatever reason, and decided to take their anger out on water coolers, each other, and even fans. Maybe if these people had laughed a little more that day their anger would not have escalated so quickly. It is definitely more entertaining to watch accidental embarrassment as opposed to purposeful and uncontrolled anger, but there is still something delightful to this video as well. Maybe it is the fact that these people too are embarrassing themselves, but they are doing so in a way that they could have had control over, if they had chosen to do so at least. They are making fools of themselves by giving in to their heightened emotions that sports, so often, do such a good job of bringing out in people.

I would argue that I would rather be on a video entitled “Bad Day” that depicted people having embarrassing accidents as opposed to a video entitled “Top 10 Angry Moments in Sports.” It is easy to laugh at yourself, even after an extremely embarrassing moment, but it can be hard to escape the fact that you have a very short temper and are prone to physical violence just because things aren’t going your way. So, next time you feel like you are having a bad day remember that the best medicine may be to find a way to make yourself laugh. Find a funny sports video or crack some jokes with a friend, but try not to throw any punches because that will just make everyone’s day even worse.