The Official Visit

The official visit. This is an opportunity for a prospective student athlete to experience their potential future institution at the expense of the school. The student gets to experience many great aspects of their ensuing academic year. They attend classes, tour facilities, meet with coaches, eat with the team, etc. The problem with the official visit is the bad activity which generally goes on when the players stay with a member of the team that night. It has almost become a tradition for the players to take out the recruits, get them drunk, and show them a good time that hopefully will sway them in their decision making process to attend that certain school. This raises the question as to whether or not this is ethical and proper. I personally feel that it is just another factor in the recruiting process and as long as players and recruits don’t get in trouble, so be it. But my mindset changed a little after I talked about the recruiting process with Dr. Heather Lawrence, a professor of Sport Management here at Ohio University. She has done a lot of work pertaining to the official visit and I found it interesting to hear a professional perspective on the matter. She explained to me that most schools do not condone the alcohol side of things and do their best to eliminate the possibility of it. She said only about 10% of schools actually have the inappropriate activity that is portrayed in the media. Schools like Colorado, who had a big recruiting ethics scandal a few years ago, are the ones who give the black eye to the recruiting process. This made me realize that maybe drinking shouldn’t be a factor in the recruiting process. Maybe the players should just get a feel for how their experience will really be: sober. This will be the best way for the best athletes to go to the place most suited for them to fulfill their ultimate purpose in school, which is learn and perform.

End To The Innocence

It has dawned on me that the purest form of athletics anymore is probably when kids are in sixth grade or so. This is something many will argue, but I feel that beyond middle school, sports are a business. Professional athletics are for people to make a living. At the college level, the same problem occurs. My brother-in-law did not enjoy his playing time at 1AA (excuse me, Football Championship Subdivision) New Hampshire. The coaches were there making their living, so the only thing that ultimately mattered was winning. I used to think that high school was the purest form of athletics, where it was all for the love of the game. But nowadays you see all these athletes who could care less about their team and are only working to get a college scholarship. So it could be argued that junior high is where athletics are at their finest. But I realized that by their 8th grade year, players are being watched by the high school coaches to consider whether they will be moved up to varsity as a freshman. Thus, junior high is another proving ground that is cut throat. This brings us back to sixth grade, where hopefully the athletes aren’t being scrutinized too heavily before they reach the next level. These youngsters are playing in their final chances to simply just play. After that point, it all becomes a proving ground. Everyone is becoming more and more competitive to win that starting spot, unlike in elementary school where pretty much everyone gets playing time. I think we need to put the focus back on the team and the learning experience players get from it. This way, kids will be able to enjoy their whole high school career. I understand beyond high school that it is a business and I agree with that. But until that time, don’t allow the game to become a business and lose the element of fun.

Men in Skirts?

Should men be able to partake in women’s field hockey at the high school level? Each year in my home state of Pennsylvania this issue comes up. PA is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, states for high school field hockey. Evidence would be that 6 out of the 20 players on Ohio’s roster alone are from PA. Only two are from Ohio. But regardless of how good these young ladies are, it is still difficult for these girls to compete with the opposite sex. At my high school we had a guy who was a year older than me who played for the team. He eventually went on to be the only player on the US national team from the east coast. This guy was bigger than pretty much all the linebackers I faced in my high school career. When put next to a female it looked like Shrek and Princess Fiona. The safety of the girls is at risk when they collide with players of their own sex, let alone another. Also, the ball will travel faster when hit by males. It’s often controversial that some teams would field half or more of their team with males against schools that had no males at all. One local school, Antietam, does not boast a football squad due to being such a small school. They would usually field a field hockey team, consequently, with multiple males. Many schools would choose to forfeit their game with Antietam for the safety of their players (http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=59856). Others had administrations who wouldn’t hear the end of it from angry parents if they didn’t forfeit. There is only one right and clear solution in my eyes. Men should not be playing high school field hockey. They are physically overpowering and it is just not fair for the wellbeing of the young ladies trying to play the game.

Soccer, I mean football, across "the pond"

Should the Super Bowl be even considered to be played in London? (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3065254) That’s like asking if we should move the 4th of July to Asia for a year. The idea of the British stealing our biggest sporting event for a year is preposterous. I think Roger Goodell is doing a great job with the NFL. He is handing down fairly correct punishments, aside from the gaudy fines I argued against last week. He has run the league smoothly since he took over for Paul Tagliabue. But for him to have the audacity to decide to move the Super Bowl, a national cash cow, out of the country would be simply wrong. The host city of the Super Bowl is chosen and it is looked forward to in that area for a great deal of economic impact. I think it is great that the NFL takes the opportunity to expand their horizons by playing games each year overseas. I think the idea of a playoff game might even be lucrative to ponder, assuming the conditions are correct. The notion of going overseas is certainly spurred by the fact that the NFL could GREATLY expand its international presence if it elected to play the Super Bowl in London. And undoubtedly people would travel to London from the United States to attend the game. But the NFL is the United States’ league and the Super Bowl is the United States’ showcase for the game which it developed. It would not be right for the NFL to take its biggest game out of the states and overseas, at least not until a MUCH bigger international presence has been established and until they have the appreciation for football the way we do here in America.
Posted 10:11 PM Saturday.

The Fine-al Straw

I’ve noticed over the years that professional sports leagues tend to fine their athletes ridiculous amounts of money for petty actions. One example that sticks into my mind is from earlier this season when the NFL fined Terrell Owens $7500 for mocking the videotaping incident which occurred the week before in New England (http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10361315). $7500 for a little fun!?! I would like to say that I STRONGLY DISLIKE (my mom taught me to not say hate or I would) Terrell Owens. The way he left Philadelphia makes him like a living Satan where I’m from in PA. But the fact that the NFL is making fines like this just makes me laugh. They are not allowing players to have some fun and individuality out there on the field. I understand some actions need to be reprimanded but there also has to be room for these players to keep the game as a source of entertainment. $7500 is a ridiculous fine. Imagine if your boss at work fined you $7500 because you made a bad joke or snide comment. An even worse example would be that of Brian Urlacher at last year’s Super Bowl. Urlacher, one of the league’s best linebackers and not a boisterous player in any way, was fined $100,000 for wearing a hat that said vitaminwater on it and drinking the matching beverage (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2841997). Now I don’t know about you, but I find this fine to be OUTRAGEOUS! I mean the in season fine alone for this is $10,000 according to the article. I think the NFL and other sports leagues need to reassess their stance on fines and the amount levied against each individual. I wonder if Roger Goodell would be willing to take $100,000 out of his salary if he did something wrong. The fines are ridiculous. One final example is that players get fined if their shirt is untucked. You have to be kidding me. I’m not going to even discuss that matter, as I find it laughable. All I feel is that the fines need to come down and things will be more reasonable.

The missing of the three I's: Intensity, INTEGRITY, Intelligence

Marion Jones admitted this week to using steroids before her participation in the Olympics years ago (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21138883/). Her repeated denial of usage came to an end when she publically admitted to the usage of steroids. I think it is disgraceful that she chose to compromise the legacy of her sport and the integrity of the Olympics. More so, by lying to federal investigators, she in a way lessened the legal system of our country. All in all, her actions were embarrassing and uncalled for. I do, however, feel she should be applauded. I think that by coming forward and admitting to the wrong she did, she proved that she had some sort of conscience. Alot of people lie in the world. It is just a part of life, whether we like it or not. Though Jones' integrity is apparently minimal, at least it proves she has some traces of it. It is unfortunate too because Jones did not need the steroids to make her a world class athlete. She was able to win without the drugs. However, her intense hunger to win and set records drove her to sacrifice her moral standards and do something VERY regrettable. At least we now know the truth. Maybe if we're lucky some of our other premier athletes will come out and admit their usage of steroids as well (cough Bonds cough). Then, maybe then, we would feel as though we know the whole truth behind the BALCO scandal. Hopefully Marion’s admission will start a trend.
This post was posted at 11:03 on Saturday night. I say this to ensure that there is no confusion due to the problems with the timestamp that coincides with this website.

Where To Draw The Line

When does the influence of the media begin to be detrimental to the mindsets of our athletes? The incident which occurred with Mike Gundy, the coach of Oklahoma State football, brought to the forefront how sometimes a statement must be made (http://youtube.com/watch?v=5VytIZZzee0). I, personally, stand behind coach Gundy in his handling of the incident involving a writer’s criticism of one of his players on a personal level. After watching ESPN’s SportsCenter this week following the rant, one of the commentators said that an outburst like this seems to happen once or twice every season. That made me think to myself how maybe the media looks to cause these stirrups every once in a while in an attempt to create a news story when the times get slow. I think we as a society like to witness these types of rants, even if they are brought on by something we feel is wrong. There also has to be consideration given to how coach Gundy dealt with this situation. It may seem as though he did the right thing by calling this reporter out on a national stage. However, there are also arguments as to how he could have done it differently. One suggestion is that he could have met with the writer in private and discussed this matter in a more civilized way. Others say he could have responded to it with a ‘no comment’ or something of that nature. I personally feel what he did was the right thing, because it provided a shock value to be seen all across the country. I applaud Mike Gundy for what he did and stand behind his actions, if that means anything to him.