Memorable Night

Well, I finally made my way down to my alma mater of Spaulding High School to see the boys' basketball team play, and I really had no idea all that would happen tonight. For one, Evan Tullar put in his 1000th career point much to the enjoyment of the crowd. Ever since he arrived at Spaulding as a sophomore, he has become one of the more dominant players in Division I. So, congratulations Evan on a great night tonight and a great career so far! I told you that I would come to the game, and I guess I picked a good one! What must have made tonight more memorable was the fact that Spaulding knocked off Burlington by 12 which was excellent. I have sat in that gym many times only to see us fall to the Seahorses. Incidentally, what kind of team situated on a lake rather than a sea is named the Seahorses? Shouldn't they be the Lakehorses? I never understood how that came about. Anyway, what made it even greater than that was that the Crimson Tide had to make a comeback in the process. Not that I ever want them behind, but come-from-behind victories are especially awesome. So, congratulations to everyone else as well! There is something about high school basketball that is just amazing.

Photo by chillihead on Flickr

Sports Abound

Happy New Year to all of my readers! 2011 is now here, and today must be one of the best days ever because it is 1/1/11! How cool is that? Anyway, today would be resolution day for millions of people around the country and world. That leads me to wonder, what should my resolution be? I'm not sure somebody because I am not that much different than most other people. I have a great idea for a resolution, but it lasts about five days before I don't worry about it anymore. New Year's Day is also a big day in the sports world. Of course, football is huge today with probably the second most popular football game of the year, the Rose Bowl which is second only to the Super Bowl of course. Also, we have outdoor hockey in Boston. That seems pretty cool, but I might only enjoy it this year because it is warm outside. I really have little love of freezing or being cold in general, so watching people skate on ice while sitting outside would not be my ideal day. However, the weather is beautiful and pretty warm today in New England, so I hope everything goes off well!

Photo by dsearles on Flickr

In America

As I was sitting at my sister's soccer game last night, I had to think about how so many people play soccer, but if you look at our international reputation, it doesn't correlate with how many people play. With so many players playing, you'd think that they might be more competitive in international competition. However, I think that the main difference is cultural. If you look outside the United States, soccer is much more cultural. Soccer is simply much more important in other countries just as football or baseball are much more important here. However, I wonder why that is? I think that in America, we tend to prefer faster sports with higher scores. Even though football is a slow sport, it is much higher scoring. Baseball is the anomaly as it is even slower than soccer but is still relatively popular in America. (As a side note though, I think that baseball is losing popularity sadly, but that is another story). However, soccer has had problems catching on the professional level as the MLS is nowhere near the Premier League. I don't really know why, but I hope that soccer catches on at a more competitive level in America.
Photo by Beth Rankin on Flickr

Some Comedy in the News

I have been surprised before. I admit, I am not usually a good guesser. However, there have been a few surprises in the sports world lately that have caught me off guard.
• Number one, Roger Clemens had just been indicted for perjury. You know, you'd think that after years of keeping hitters honest, he might've picked up some tips. I guess steroids affect more than just muscles (although people always talk about exercising the brain, it is not a muscle).
• Number two, Brett Farve is coming back. I guess I understand not wanting to end your career on an interception. However, I'd rather leave it on that than when I need to use my Medicare to pay for my latest injury. There is always an end even if it is not a desirable one, and I think that Brett should Pack up his Viking ship and Jet into the Hall of Fame where a player of his greatness belongs.
• Finally, apparently Fresno State and Nevada are being "selfish" for wanting to leave the WAC to join the Mountain West according to the commissioner of the WAC. So who loses out if these schools leave? Everybody else gets picked up by a different conference, but all of the jobs fall out of the conference. Does somebody want to keep his job maybe? I know I wouldn't want to go job hunting in this economy.
These are a few items that caught me off guard in the media. Kind of ironic I thought.
Photo from http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-clemensindicted081910

Phillie All-Stars

It is pretty interesting how the Phillies might actually have two All-Stars starters this year. As of yesterday, Chase Utley and Placido Polanco were leading second and third base respectively in the All-Star voting. Utley is not really a surprise since second base is a pretty shallow position, but I am a bit surprised about Polanco. We had him in Philadelphia, got rid of him to make room for Chase Utley, but now we have him back potentially playing beside Chase Utley on the All-Star team. It's kind of odd the way that things work out.

The Phillies might also have two more All-Stars as Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino or fourth and fifth respectively in the outfield vote. Again, I'm not overly surprised by either these, but who would have thought that a Rule 5 pick would turn into an All-Star or a failed prospect from the Dodgers would turn it around in Philadelphia? It's an exciting year to be watching the All-Star game hopefully, but I wonder about the regular season. At least we won last night and scored seven runs. Maybe this is the start of some offensive surge that will carry us to the World Series again.
Photo by dougtone on Flickr

Be Recruited

The Phillies are back to losing, but we won't talk about that right now. I also wanted to have you all check out the Vermont Chargers Power Soccer Club website because we actually now have a logo designed by Chris Brosky. There is a link on the sidebar to the website. However, that isn't really what I wanted to talk about either. Today, I wanted to talk about the website berecruited.com. I had heard of this website because one of my friends was using it, but I never really explored too much. Last night however I was wasting time looking around the website and noticed how extensive it really was. If it is used right, it can provide it a pretty good picture of an athlete, but of course it falls because of self reporting. I could say whatever I wanted on there to attract attention. Once a coach explored deeper, the lie would become obvious. However, I would like to say that most people are honest, so making this assumption would dramatically raise the value of this website. When you have 700,000 athletes all on one website, I definitely think that it is an impressive feat, and they have done a good job of presentation.
Photo by kitykity on Flickr

Continued...

To continue from yesterday, I left the power soccer defense in a predicament with a three on two situation. Again, one of the defenders needs to step up and stall to give the player who got burned a chance to get back into the play. What should the other defender be doing? He or she should be aware of any potential forward passes that could be made. If the offensive player makes either a backward pass or a horizontal pass, it will take enough time to allow the player who got burned to find the opening on the floor and defend it. However, the forward pass will just leave that burned player farther behind and make a potential goal much easier. Again, as I said last time, power soccer is a constantly moving game. Therefore, the offense will continue to move forward unless you aggressively try to stop them. Power soccer is also a contact sport. Therefore, because any guard to guard contact is allowed, an oncoming defender can be very distracting to the offense and maybe even lead to a breakaway if there is a steal. All in all, I think that power soccer while primarily an offensive sport has the potential for lockdown defense at any time.

World Cup Soccer vs Power Soccer

The Phillies won yesterday which is always good, but the bad news is that the US World Cup team is tied for second behind Slovenia. Somehow I doubt that Slovenia will be able to hold that top slot for very long with the United States and England right behind them, but it's kind of ironic anyway for the time. I was watching Germany versus Australia yesterday afternoon, and I began to wonder about some of the differences between soccer and power soccer. The biggest difference I noticed is that power soccer is much more dribble oriented while the World Cup match was much more focused on passing. However, I think that this difference can be accounted for by the fact that it is very difficult to lift a power soccer ball. I've only seen it lifted once or twice on YouTube and was only able to be elevated one or two inches. Therefore, power soccer players cannot make runs and try to beat the defender one-on-one while waiting for a pass to come over the top from the midfielders. Any long pass will probably get picked off by some defenseman without ever getting anywhere near its target.

Another difference I noticed was that almost every attack was based with some sort of cross to get the ball into the middle. We do cross sometimes in power soccer, but we mostly attack the middle of the field to challenge the goalie. I think this difference can accounted for because there are many fewer people on a power soccer team, so it is much easier to penetrate the middle. Since only one chair can be playing the ball at a time, why not take it to the goal?

The World Cup continues, a hopeful America can finally live up to the hype that it has brought to the past couple of Cups and put together a nice run.
Photo  by 1Happysnapper (photography) on Flickr

Enterprising

I wish I were a talented computer programmer. If I was, I think that I could make a lot of money. The reason I make this claim is because the world is becoming largely Internet driven. The easiest way to become a presence on the Internet is to be able to create some device that nobody else has and then market it effectively. What I would like to create a social networking site specially designed for athletes. There are websites out there that are for sports fans, but I think that athletes should have one network so that college or professional coaches can find everyone who might potentially be. However, what I would like to do to differentiate my product would be to make sure that every entrant on the website would have video uploaded of certain skills. For example, for the basketball section, I would want to see a video of the player taking a jump shot, dribbling at full speed, or performing lay-up drills. Watching an in-game video is obviously beneficial and would have a place on the website. However, I feel like the videos of each player performing fundamental skills in isolated instances would allow coaches to see a direct comparison between players.

While ideally the service would be free, until I garnered enough sponsorships, I would probably need to charge simply to have enough money to buy the webspace to store all of these videos. However, this is all just in my head, so if you want to rip off my idea and create it, there's nothing I can do to stop you. However, remember me when you get famous.
Photo by websuccessdiva on Flickr

1990 is Old School

It was very funny today when I opened up my Facebook and saw a group that was dedicated to people who grew up in the 90s. The particular item that caught my eye was the Chicago Bulls being the best team ever. However, I thought that tonight I would add a few more important events that happened in the 90s that I feel are just as important.
• The home run gains new meaning as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa duke it out in 1998 in order to best Roger Maris' almost 40-year-old record.
• Michael Jordan retired twice.
• Magic Johnson and Larry Bird both retire only once though.
• Steroids begin to become some sort of plague; at least they're finally recognized as a problem somewhat.
• Tiger Woods emerges as golf's new phenom.
• Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman make the Cowboys one of the most exciting teams in the NFL.
• Christian Laettner nails an amazing buzzer beater for the Blue Devils as they triumphed over Kentucky.
• The Dream Team is created.
• Major League Baseball survived the strike.
• Most importantly, I was born.
I hope you all enjoyed this brief trip down memory lane. If you have a favorite sports moment from the 90s, please feel free to add your comment or e-mail me, and I'll post them as comments anyway. Sometimes, you just get that feeling of nostalgia and have to let it out.
Photo by sling@flickr

What Is An Athlete Anyway?

I was thinking about the concept of the athlete after writing about a potential honor code in athletics. What exactly is an athlete? Merriam-Webster defines athlete as "a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina." This is a purely physical definition however; today, we expect athletes to be much more than just physically talented people. They should have some level of moral and ethical behavior as well as being a talented enough orator to handle the often overly critical media with grace and charisma. However, is this expecting too much from these athletes who are still obviously human? I think about how, in high school and college, the athlete needs to hold his or her grades up as well as perform at a high level on the court or field. However, what if the most talented athlete in the school had no desire to study? He or she would not be able to play on the team and therefore could not be an athlete representing that school. I think that these measures are valuable as they encourage the athlete to be more than just an athlete. We all get sick of hearing the term "student-athlete" because it is long and somewhat awkward, but that is what we expect of athletes while they are in school. They should be able to perform as a student as well as an athlete. I do not know what you would term a professional athlete because we expect them to obviously be an athlete as well as a role model or perhaps an example. Therefore, should the athlete be termed as the "example-athlete?" Personally, I think that even if we do not use this term, the athlete should be aware of the position that he or she holds. When I was a young child, I conformed to the rest of society by saying that Michael Jordan was my favorite player. I never raised him to the idol-like level as some people did, but in the mid-90s, who didn't want to Be Like Mike? With a player with such great media exposure, he or she will be will be perceived as a role model to follow even if he or she hasn't done anything worthy of following (this is a general statement, not targeted at Michael Jordan). Here is where the problem lies; some athletes who are perceived as role models are really not people children should be emulating. How to solve this? It is either going to take a change of the values of professional athletes or a more discerning eye from the public to see through the athletes who are just plain athletes, not "example-athletes." There are plenty of role models in the world today, but not everyone who happens to be in the news and be extraordinarily talented in one area is by necessity a perfect example to follow otherwise.
© 2009 Jean-Marc Kuffer / CC BY 2.0

Sports History 101

How important is the NCAA tournament in America? Well, it is at least important enough to gain the attention of both the President and the voting public. What does this say about the popularity? I guess it speaks for itself; sports are incredibly important in American life. However, how did athletics become so prevalent in American culture? If I am recalling somewhat hazy memories from AP US History, sports as popular culture began in the 1920s. With the rise of stars such as Babe Ruth and increased leisure time due to more productivity, Americans wanted enjoyable pastimes. From there, sporting events continued to rise as the NFL was established in 1922, and the NBA was established in 1949 (although basketball has been around much longer than this). With all of the athletic options available, more and more people became involved. You didn't just need to play baseball; new sports were being introduced that better suited different skill sets. Because of this, sports continued to grow and multiply until they reached the point where we are today.

This is definitely a brief overview of the history of American sports, but I hope it shows how sports have become such a large part of American culture. Granted, I am no fortuneteller, but I feel like sports will not be going anywhere anytime soon. Even people who traditionally would not be able to play competitive sports, like myself, can get into the game and enjoy games like power soccer. Even countries are beginning to use sports as a method of rebuilding (see my article on Sri Lanka). So, I want you to remember that as much as you may try to avoid sports, you will never be able to in a culture that is as sports oriented as America is.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xero79/ / CC BY 2.0

Budget Increase

Recently, I wrote a story about how the war-torn country of Sri Lanka is using sports as a main medium for national recovery. It is interesting that this country can potentially use athletics to stimulate the economy while in America sports are cut because of the bad economy at places such as the University of Vermont. An article in the Christian Science Monitor mentioned the fact that the University of California -- San Marcos students recently voted to increase fees by $120 per year to help support the athletic program. Personally, I was surprised at this simply because sports are normally one of the first things that get cut when the belts are tightened. However, San Marcos must see some intrinsic value in preserving the sports program that many other colleges have not valued. I think I might see where they're coming from. For one thing, this campus obviously values the athletic department, so cutting it would most likely damage student morale. And, to be honest, college education is so expensive anyway that I bet most students would not mind paying an extra $400 to make their time on campus more enjoyable and filled with more activity. Honestly, what is the difference between $100,000 of debt and $100,400 of debt? It is still crazy. Also, there are just about 9200 students on campus. However, only about 1300 came out to vote. Therefore, it seems as though the only people who voted are the extremes who either really wanted to keep the teams afloat or who really did not want to pay that extra money. Therefore, I am glad that San Marcos did not cut the Cougars; I don't know much about the city of San Marcos, but I would bet that there are be a whole lot less to do without the athletic program.

An Athletic Nation

Here's proof that sports can be more than just a game. As many of you know, Sri Lanka has had intense civil war for about 30 years. However, according to a report on BBC News, a new era of political stability is coming to this nation. How then do they propose to revitalize this war-torn nation? According to Maxwell de Silva of the Sri Lankan Olympic Association, "A nation has to be healthy to achieve anything and sport is the best path to get there." This may seem like a bold statement to many of you, but I like to propose a few reasons as to why this strategy to nation building might not be quite as radical and outlandish as it sounds.

First, this statement is being made by a representative from the Sri Lankan Olympic Association. There's nothing like worldwide competition to stimulate national pride. Think about events like the Olympics or the World Cup. By evaluating how well you stack up against the rest of the world, a spirit of competition is inspired. As I learned in my Modern European History class, nationalism can bring a country together regardless of their past or the seeming sustainability of their future. Helping build a sense of national pride seems to me like it will help bring the nation together as one cohesive unit.

Also, this article seems to indicate that people in Sri Lanka that sports are already a major part of the culture. It states that most children know how to play sports but do not often have organized teams or leagues to play in. Therefore, they never learn the values of teamwork, fair play, leadership, and other skills that are inherent in organized athletics. While it might not seem like this investment in youth sports would pay dividends immediately, think about another generation of Sri Lankan youth who would be brought through a system that would be inherently beneficial for their character development and would therefore help them develop into the kind of leaders that a redeveloping nation would almost surely require.

I think I have made an investment in sports seem much more reasonable in the process of nation building. I realize that many people will see him that sports are simply entertainment and are not essential to the national development. I would argue in this situation that sports are highly relevant because Sri Lanka, at least from the impression I received from this article, is not in a terrible economic state. They are not starving the poor simply to provide sports for the rich. What this country really needs is people to get behind, people who they can cheer for, people who inspire them to see what unified Sri Lanka can do. See, sports can be more than just fun and games...

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

It was a good year for sports movies as The Blind Side and Invictus being nominated for many Oscars. According to a blog post I read by Len Berman, only three sports movies have ever won the Best Picture. For any of you who were wondering, these movies were Rocky, Chariots of Fire, and Million Dollar Baby. However, I decided to dedicate this post to some of my favorite sports movies. So...
• First and foremost, Remember the Titans is at the top of my list and should be on the top of everybody else's. While this movie primarily focuses on a newly integrated football team, football is less important than the seemingly inevitable racial conflicts that were unfortunately all too common in that era. Also, when a white coach was replaced by a black coach in the South at this time, the results almost destroyed a team that would go on to become one of the best in the nation. In my opinion, this seamless weaving of athletics and culture makes Remember the Titans the best sports movie if not my favorite movie.
• Another movie that could be seen as more than sports movie is Miracle. As anybody who was alive at the time understood, the 1980 Winter Olympics meant more than who walked home with the more valuable medal. At the height of the Cold War, America and the Soviet Union met in the men's hockey semi finals in a game that has been considered one of the greatest in Olympic history. Again, this movie could be just about hockey, and it would be a great story. However, by intertwining historical events with one of the most famous hockey games of all time is a recipe for a great movie.
• This is not one movie because in order to give this trilogy due credit, The Mighty Ducks must be viewed as a series. Any of the individual movies are great, but the development that becomes evident through watching all three movies makes the characters personalities become much more multifaceted. For example, the character of Charlie Conway in Mighty Ducks one appears to be nothing more than a young kid who is very dependent on his coach. In Mighty Ducks two, Charlie develops into the type of leader who is willing to sacrifice his own fame for the betterment of the team. Finally, in the third installment, despite the adversity that Charlie faces, he rises above these confrontations to become the hero we knew he could become. This and many other reasons are why The Mighty Ducks trilogy ranks among my favorite sports movies.

These are just a few of my favorite sports movies. As long as sports remain such a large part in American society, I hope that we will continue to see a flood of more great sports movies for years to come.