Today, NCAA President, Mark Emmert, came out and said he will be asking the NCAA Division I Board of Directors to okay a $2,000 hike for NCAA Division I student-athletes. Well, hmmmm, I wonder why the NCAA Prez has all of a sudden come to this conclusion. Stating that student-athletes do not have the opportunities to work outside of the classroom and playing field, he believes this will help "to more closely approach" the cost of attending college. This is just more proof that the NCAA really has no idea what is going on here.
The arguments for (and against) paying college athletes really has little to do with "more closely approaching the cost of college." It has a lot to do with the fact that universities are banking mega-millions on the athletes that bear their colors. Everyone buys their favorite players number, without the name on the back, and that is just one way schools are banking on a players' likeness. CNBC Sports Business guru Darren Rovell @darrenrovell has come up with an interesting proposition that seems to make sense to me:
On Sunday, Rovell tweeted: "On my NCAA jersey proposal player would get 4% of gross = $1.20/jersey. Gross price is what retailer pays, not what you pay." Therefore, with that proposal and his estimation of the number of Tim Tebow jerseys sold during his career at the University of Florida, Tebow would have made roughly $40,000 dollars. But remember, that is only 4% of what the school is actually making.
But, let's be honest, the schools are not really making the big bucks on jersey and merchandise sales, the real money is in the TV deals. And, there is no better example of this than the 2011 Sugar Bowl between Ohio State and Arkansas. Everyone knows, Ohio State is currently waiting to hear from the NCAA Infractions Committee about what punishment it will receive for the "tattoo" scandal. And, most know that Ohio State, as a school, has already given up its wins from that entire season. However, I would argue that Ohio State should have given up all of the wins, EXCEPT, the Sugar Bowl win. Before the teams played in that game, the NCAA ruled all of the players listed in the scandal ELIGIBLE to play. Regardless of what the NCAA did, and did not know at that time, they said those players could play, and the main reason why they decided that was TV.
Nobody outside of the respective schools fans was going to tune in to watch the Sugar Bowl if three of Ohio State's top players, and most marketable ones at that, were not going to be on the field. It was a BCS game ($$$), between two top-ten ranked teams ($$$), on prime time TV ($$$), and the NCAA was not going to cost FOX any ratings.
The BCS distributed $174 million to conferences last bowl season. The Big10 and SEC made $27.2 million each for sending multiple teams to BCS Bowls. And, for some unknown reason, Notre Dame received $1.7 million from the BCS?!? Notre Dame hasn't been to a BCS bowl game since 2006, why they are receiving money each year from the BCS despite not making it to a BCS bowl game seems deficient. But, you have to realize, its all about the TV deals, and yet, nobody seems to realize that without the players, nobody would watch the games. Without the players, FOX, ESPN, and CBS wouldn't pay huge sums of money to broadcast the games, because nobody would watch.
I understand that scholarships that these athletes get pay their tuition to a higher education institution. But the price of the scholarship compared to the amount of money that schools make on the athletes (especially football and basketball players) doesn't add up. I am just not sure if 2,000 extra dollars is going to make up the difference either.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Washington's Orders
You could feel the intensity in Busch Stadium. For five innings it mounted, and mounted until it reached the lights of the stadium. Up until the 6th inning there had been no runs and only 4 hits combined between the two teams. Momentum for the series hung in the balance, and the Rangers desperately needed a split on the road.
The Fall Classic is all about limiting mistakes, timely hitting, and solid pitching. And it's the managers job to make the best decisions for his team. In game one, the Cardinals' Tony LaRussa made all the right moves: pinch hitting for his ace after only 6 innings which resulted in the game winning RBI single, in game two he rode the hot hand and pinch hit the same guy in the same exact situation and it worked again!
On the other hand, the Rangers' Ron Washington made a few questionable calls during both games, and it is surprising to me that the Rangers aren't in a 0-2 hole. In game one with the tying and go-ahead runs on base, Washington pinch hit a guy who had not played in the final 20+ games of the season. Needless to say he struck out, stranding the runners on base, and the Rangers lost game one 3-2.
However, the most questionable call, to me, that Washington made was to pull Colby Lewis, in the bottom of the 6th inning of game two, in favor of Alexi Ogando. Ogando, the same pitcher that gave up the base hit in game one that cost the Rangers the game, had a chance at redemption against Allen Craig, and gave up another go ahead single to the Cardinals pinch hit specialist. At the time the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead and that looked to be insurmountable.
Here is the problem I have with Washington's decision: to that point in the game, Lewis had thrown less than 100 pitches, had given up no runs, and only allowed 4 hits! If I'm the manager, it's Lewis' game to lose, if he would have been losing 2-0 or 1-0 then, yes, make the switch and let your bull pen keep you in the game. But in a scoreless game I'm living with my starter who has thrown a gem. Not to mention the fact that Washington compounded the poor decision by bringing in the same reliever to face the same hitter who won the game the night before.
Colby Lewis was throwing masterpiece and the only reason more people weren't talking about him was because Jaime Garcia was matching him pitch for pitch. But to take a pitcher out of a game in which he is throwing a shutout is an extremely questionable call to me. And the fact that the pitcher was not even to the 100 pitch mark made it even more questionable.
Luckily for the Rangers, the Cardinals bull pen had its first lapse of the post season and allowed the Rangers offense to come back and win the game. The win was big for the Rangers who were able to earn a split on the road, but maybe even more demoralizing for the Cardinals whom showed its first chink in its armor, and the bull pen is the last place you want to have a chink.
The Fall Classic is all about limiting mistakes, timely hitting, and solid pitching. And it's the managers job to make the best decisions for his team. In game one, the Cardinals' Tony LaRussa made all the right moves: pinch hitting for his ace after only 6 innings which resulted in the game winning RBI single, in game two he rode the hot hand and pinch hit the same guy in the same exact situation and it worked again!
On the other hand, the Rangers' Ron Washington made a few questionable calls during both games, and it is surprising to me that the Rangers aren't in a 0-2 hole. In game one with the tying and go-ahead runs on base, Washington pinch hit a guy who had not played in the final 20+ games of the season. Needless to say he struck out, stranding the runners on base, and the Rangers lost game one 3-2.
However, the most questionable call, to me, that Washington made was to pull Colby Lewis, in the bottom of the 6th inning of game two, in favor of Alexi Ogando. Ogando, the same pitcher that gave up the base hit in game one that cost the Rangers the game, had a chance at redemption against Allen Craig, and gave up another go ahead single to the Cardinals pinch hit specialist. At the time the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead and that looked to be insurmountable.
Here is the problem I have with Washington's decision: to that point in the game, Lewis had thrown less than 100 pitches, had given up no runs, and only allowed 4 hits! If I'm the manager, it's Lewis' game to lose, if he would have been losing 2-0 or 1-0 then, yes, make the switch and let your bull pen keep you in the game. But in a scoreless game I'm living with my starter who has thrown a gem. Not to mention the fact that Washington compounded the poor decision by bringing in the same reliever to face the same hitter who won the game the night before.
Colby Lewis was throwing masterpiece and the only reason more people weren't talking about him was because Jaime Garcia was matching him pitch for pitch. But to take a pitcher out of a game in which he is throwing a shutout is an extremely questionable call to me. And the fact that the pitcher was not even to the 100 pitch mark made it even more questionable.
Luckily for the Rangers, the Cardinals bull pen had its first lapse of the post season and allowed the Rangers offense to come back and win the game. The win was big for the Rangers who were able to earn a split on the road, but maybe even more demoralizing for the Cardinals whom showed its first chink in its armor, and the bull pen is the last place you want to have a chink.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Bye Week Blues..
So the Browns have a bye this week, which means I'll have absolutely nothing to do on Sunday, except of course, listen to CBS analysts drool over the Patriots vs. Jets game. But I digress, since the season is a quarter of the way through, I decided to look at where the Browns are and make my assessment.
2-2 is nothing to scream about, and honestly it would look a lot better if the week two win had come against a Peyton Manning led Colts, but a win is a win and you take them however you can get them.
Through four games it look like Heck&Holms hit a home run in last years daft, and pair it with their first draft it looks like not just a solo homer either. In 2010 they took Haden, Ward, Hardesty, and McCoy, all of whom started week 4 for the Browns. This year they weren't flashy but solid in adding Taylor, Sheard, Little, Marecic, Pinkston, and Skrine. Right there is 10 players who we have all seen on the field this year.
As I just stated, the 2011 draft wasn't flashy, we didn't get that big, shiny name everyone thought we would with the 5th overall pick, but we may have made the best trade in Browns history. The trade the brass pulled off with the Atlanta Falcons was what might make the Browns a great football team. Instead of taking Julio Jones we added 4 draft picks, including another 1st round pick in 2012. That should have Browns fans really excited! (I'll get back to this later)
Looking at stats, here's something I found really interesting...
Here's the stat lines for two AFC North quarterbacks:
1) 49%, 973 yards, 7 TD, 3 INT
2) 58%, 984 yards, 6 TD, 3 INT
Quarterback #2 is the starting quarterback for your Cleveland Browns and quarterback #1 is Joe Flacco. Everyone wants to judge McCoy and wonder if he is the franchise quarterback, but it's clear to me, given those stats that he can be. Flacco has many more weapons at his disposal on the outside than McCoy does.
Those stats bring me back to the two first round draft picks point I had earlier. It's easy to see the browns need a wide receiver who can make catches in traffic, win jump balls, and stretch a defense. And it is hard not to like Justin Blackmon out of Oklahoma State University. He is 6'1", 215 pounds and has the best hand in college football. Don't believe me? He won't the Belitnikoff award last year, as a sophomore! I know the front office has said they like the wide outs we currently have, but it would be hard not to like Blackmon lining up with Little on the outsides.
And since I'm on next years draft, and we have two first rounders, if you haven't seen LSU's defense play yet, you need to! I would love to see cornerback #17, Morris Claiborne, lining up opposite Joe Haden for years to come!
Ok, back to this years team..
Browns fans have been all in a tizzy with this Peyton Hillis situation, and the fact that he hasn't been rushing for large amounts of yards. The fact is, and all of us Browns fans will have to get used to this, that the days of grinding out yards for four quarters are gone! Holmgren is a west coast guy, Shurmur is a west coast guy, they throw, a lot! Those short, quick passes are like glorified hand offs.
It is nice to have a guy like Hillis who can drain clock when you have a lead, but those methodical, boring drives we've come to know and love are over! It's almost like we were brainwashed watching the old regimes, and that's what we've come to know. But that is not what Shurmur does, he throws, and throws some more. Luckily for us, Peyton Hillis has better hands than most of our receivers so we can continue to find ways to get him the ball!
With all that said, this team would probably look a lot more fluid offensively had the lockout not hijacked the new coaching staffs training camp work. We are getting to the point now where the coaches would have been by preseason had they been able to work with the players on the playbook over the summer. I feel like coming out of the bye week, the offense, should look much better from here on out. Which is good, because starting week 12 we have to run the gauntlet. We'll find a lot more out about this team in the final 6 game of the season.
2-2 is nothing to scream about, and honestly it would look a lot better if the week two win had come against a Peyton Manning led Colts, but a win is a win and you take them however you can get them.
Through four games it look like Heck&Holms hit a home run in last years daft, and pair it with their first draft it looks like not just a solo homer either. In 2010 they took Haden, Ward, Hardesty, and McCoy, all of whom started week 4 for the Browns. This year they weren't flashy but solid in adding Taylor, Sheard, Little, Marecic, Pinkston, and Skrine. Right there is 10 players who we have all seen on the field this year.
As I just stated, the 2011 draft wasn't flashy, we didn't get that big, shiny name everyone thought we would with the 5th overall pick, but we may have made the best trade in Browns history. The trade the brass pulled off with the Atlanta Falcons was what might make the Browns a great football team. Instead of taking Julio Jones we added 4 draft picks, including another 1st round pick in 2012. That should have Browns fans really excited! (I'll get back to this later)
Looking at stats, here's something I found really interesting...
Here's the stat lines for two AFC North quarterbacks:
1) 49%, 973 yards, 7 TD, 3 INT
2) 58%, 984 yards, 6 TD, 3 INT
Quarterback #2 is the starting quarterback for your Cleveland Browns and quarterback #1 is Joe Flacco. Everyone wants to judge McCoy and wonder if he is the franchise quarterback, but it's clear to me, given those stats that he can be. Flacco has many more weapons at his disposal on the outside than McCoy does.
Those stats bring me back to the two first round draft picks point I had earlier. It's easy to see the browns need a wide receiver who can make catches in traffic, win jump balls, and stretch a defense. And it is hard not to like Justin Blackmon out of Oklahoma State University. He is 6'1", 215 pounds and has the best hand in college football. Don't believe me? He won't the Belitnikoff award last year, as a sophomore! I know the front office has said they like the wide outs we currently have, but it would be hard not to like Blackmon lining up with Little on the outsides.
And since I'm on next years draft, and we have two first rounders, if you haven't seen LSU's defense play yet, you need to! I would love to see cornerback #17, Morris Claiborne, lining up opposite Joe Haden for years to come!
Ok, back to this years team..
Browns fans have been all in a tizzy with this Peyton Hillis situation, and the fact that he hasn't been rushing for large amounts of yards. The fact is, and all of us Browns fans will have to get used to this, that the days of grinding out yards for four quarters are gone! Holmgren is a west coast guy, Shurmur is a west coast guy, they throw, a lot! Those short, quick passes are like glorified hand offs.
It is nice to have a guy like Hillis who can drain clock when you have a lead, but those methodical, boring drives we've come to know and love are over! It's almost like we were brainwashed watching the old regimes, and that's what we've come to know. But that is not what Shurmur does, he throws, and throws some more. Luckily for us, Peyton Hillis has better hands than most of our receivers so we can continue to find ways to get him the ball!
With all that said, this team would probably look a lot more fluid offensively had the lockout not hijacked the new coaching staffs training camp work. We are getting to the point now where the coaches would have been by preseason had they been able to work with the players on the playbook over the summer. I feel like coming out of the bye week, the offense, should look much better from here on out. Which is good, because starting week 12 we have to run the gauntlet. We'll find a lot more out about this team in the final 6 game of the season.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
A MOST Valuable Player
The weeks have flown past and the NFL season is already a quarter of the way over! Hard to believe sometimes. What is also hard to believe, is the Indianapolis Colts are the worst team in the AFC! (I know that the Dolphins are also 0-4, however the Colts have a worse point differential so I am giving them the nod).
I am, believe it or not, ready to anoint a MVP for the 2011 season. I know it's only been four games, but this player is clearly, without a doubt the most valuable player to his team. My MVP of the NFL for 2011 is Peyton Manning. Yes, the same Peyton Manning that has not taken a snap this season, the same Manning who might not play at all this year, the same Manning who, whenever the Colts play, gets more airtime in the coaches box than the QB that is actually out on the field (for those of you who don't know it is Curtis Painter).
How can I make such a crazy claim, you ask? The Colts are currently 26th in the league in passing, and averaging a little over 15 points a game. That's just two scores a game! Unheard of in the previous eight seasons with Peyton at the helm.
To me, the most valuable player, is that player that means the most to their team. The player that, if you were to remove him from his team they would be the team that is affected the most negatively. Clearly the Colts are that team. Three out of the last six years the Colts started the season 9-0! This year, they are well on their way to 0-9, maybe even 0-for-the-year? (the schedule gets no easier including trips to New Orleans, New England, and Baltimore)
Clearly, Manning's value is not overshadowed. But, while I see him as the MVP, I also have another award to give out, and this award also goes to the Indianapolis Colts, it is the Least Valuable GM award.
In a state of the NFL that we are in, how could the Colts front office fail to do a simple task, get a viable back up? In a game where each and every snap puts you one snap closer to your final snap the brass in the Colts office failed the team, and the fans miserably.
I'm sure they didn't think Manning would get hurt, he had started 227 straight games. And yet a non-football injury might derail his 2011 season. However, it is the front office's job to stop that injury from derailing the team's season. And they did a terrible job at doing that (yes, I am saying that signing Kerry Collins two weeks before the season does not suffice).
Through four games the Colts have started two different quarterbacks, Kerry Collins, and Curtis Painter. Collins had completes 48% of his 98 pass attempts before giving way to painter who, in two games has completed 44% of his pass attempts. Peyton probably cringes when he looks at the stat sheets. But shame on the Colts for not having a long term plan, and looking for a young QB to be groomed by Manning.
This is nothing other teams forget to do. The ten years ago the Patriots had Drew Bledsoe go down only to watch a guy named Brady (who will probably end up winning the MVP this year) take over and well the rest is pretty much history. Three super bowls later Patriot fans are saying Drew who?
All I am saying that Peyton Manning is THE most valuable player to his team. And the Colts front office was too naive to think nothing could happen to him.
I am, believe it or not, ready to anoint a MVP for the 2011 season. I know it's only been four games, but this player is clearly, without a doubt the most valuable player to his team. My MVP of the NFL for 2011 is Peyton Manning. Yes, the same Peyton Manning that has not taken a snap this season, the same Manning who might not play at all this year, the same Manning who, whenever the Colts play, gets more airtime in the coaches box than the QB that is actually out on the field (for those of you who don't know it is Curtis Painter).
How can I make such a crazy claim, you ask? The Colts are currently 26th in the league in passing, and averaging a little over 15 points a game. That's just two scores a game! Unheard of in the previous eight seasons with Peyton at the helm.
To me, the most valuable player, is that player that means the most to their team. The player that, if you were to remove him from his team they would be the team that is affected the most negatively. Clearly the Colts are that team. Three out of the last six years the Colts started the season 9-0! This year, they are well on their way to 0-9, maybe even 0-for-the-year? (the schedule gets no easier including trips to New Orleans, New England, and Baltimore)
Clearly, Manning's value is not overshadowed. But, while I see him as the MVP, I also have another award to give out, and this award also goes to the Indianapolis Colts, it is the Least Valuable GM award.
In a state of the NFL that we are in, how could the Colts front office fail to do a simple task, get a viable back up? In a game where each and every snap puts you one snap closer to your final snap the brass in the Colts office failed the team, and the fans miserably.
I'm sure they didn't think Manning would get hurt, he had started 227 straight games. And yet a non-football injury might derail his 2011 season. However, it is the front office's job to stop that injury from derailing the team's season. And they did a terrible job at doing that (yes, I am saying that signing Kerry Collins two weeks before the season does not suffice).
Through four games the Colts have started two different quarterbacks, Kerry Collins, and Curtis Painter. Collins had completes 48% of his 98 pass attempts before giving way to painter who, in two games has completed 44% of his pass attempts. Peyton probably cringes when he looks at the stat sheets. But shame on the Colts for not having a long term plan, and looking for a young QB to be groomed by Manning.
This is nothing other teams forget to do. The ten years ago the Patriots had Drew Bledsoe go down only to watch a guy named Brady (who will probably end up winning the MVP this year) take over and well the rest is pretty much history. Three super bowls later Patriot fans are saying Drew who?
All I am saying that Peyton Manning is THE most valuable player to his team. And the Colts front office was too naive to think nothing could happen to him.
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