Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Haden good choice @ USC

USC could have done far worse in its choice of a new athletic director.
From appearances on TV and judging from his background, Pat Haden will do just fine as the new athletics boss at his alma mater.
Mike Garrett can go off into the sunset thinking everyone was envious of his beloved Trojans. But when someone offers the phrase "lack of institutional control" as a description of part of your watch, there can't be a lot of envy involved.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

ESPN gets hammered – and rightfully so

Whether it wasnt to admit it or not, ESPN sold its journalistic soul for the LeBron James epic decision a few weeks ago.
It basically paid for the exclusive interview and the content, a no-no unless you are TMZ or the National Enquirer.
Visit espn.com, click on "columns" and then the Ombudsman link. Don Ohlmeyer wrote a wonderful recap of the ESPN debacle ... it's a long read but worth every ounce of energy and second of time.
I'm not surprised .. sad but not surprised. It's all about ratings these days, especially at ESPN, without regard for anything resembling good old-fashioned reporting and avoiding things like paying for stories.
What amazes me is that there are no solid guidelines for ESPN and its reporters to handle such things. And they've been in the business for 30-something years.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Love those Trojans

First Pete Carroll bolts USC for a league where he had no success.
Then the NCAA uses really flattering words like "lack of institutional control" to describe most of Carroll's reign at USC and the shenanigans of a basketball player to boot.
Then Carroll says the penalties don't fit the facts.
The athletic director, Mike Garrett, tells a group of supporters everyone else is envious. Some of the supporters don't buy it.
Lots of heads are in the sand in Trojan land these days. The problem is the holes are getting smaller, the sand is filling in. And if Garrett keeps his job, then pigs really do fly.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

All Star changes due?

Perhaps it's time for the baseball all-star game to change its rules.
After seeing an American League roster controlled by teams from New York and Boston and remembering the mandate that every team has to have one player on board, it makes it kind of silly to subject this exercise to a fan vote every year.
So -- here are some thoughts. The boss, Kevin Denke, had the best one. Get rid of the one-player-per-team rule. No one on the East Coast (the slant is in that direction, obviously) cares about the Seattle Mariners, nor should they. If the East Coast bean counters and fans want to see the Yankees-Sox take on the rest of the majors, have at it. I'm sure the ratings would be great. But don't masquerade it as an all-star game.
Thirty-four players a team? That's absurd, unless you plan to play 15 innings minimum so everyone can play. Everyone from the 25th player on down won't play, even if the game does go 15 innings.
The Eastern Division is stronger than the West in both the NL and AL. No problem there. The East Coast is where the fan base is. No problem there either. But to continue this exercise of an all-star game where fans' votes count doesn't hold water.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Count me out

So LeBron James is buying an hour of time on ESPN (where else?) to inform the world of his new choice of basketball team.
Big deal.
It smells of Tiger Woods' mea culpa from a few months back -- "I'll pick the spot, the interviewers, the questions." Just in case you're curious, buying an hour of time is more commonly associated with infomercials.
I can find other things to do instead of watching an hour of ESPN's breathless hyperbole (they are quite good at it) and then another hour of dissecting their created hyperbole. Most intelligent people will.