Publicity, Is it always good?

Just want to start off by first wishing my buddy Rob a happy 22nd birthday! Sorry I missed your birthday weekend but maybe I can make it up to you somehow.

Lane Kiffin has been the head coach for the Tennessee Volunteers for about ten months now, and it would be harder to find another coach that has been in the media more in those ten months. In his first press conference he said that he couldn’t wait till next year when they beat Florida. Well ten months later he had his chance, and even though they didn’t win a lot of people see this past weekend’s game as a moral victory, if those even exist.

The next day Kiffin fired at Florida again in the media. A lot of people are turned off by Kiffin’s actions, but I personally don’t have a problem with it. Sure it can be annoying but he is getting air time, something that the University of Tennessee’s football team desperately needed. Tennessee has not been the power house that they are used to being in quite some time. So even though he has said things that some people have a problem with, he has done what he needed to do to get people talking about Tennessee again. He brought in a top recruiting class and got the Alumni excited. Kiffin is currently the youngest head coach in college football.

They say all publicity is good publicity, so my question is when does bad publicity stop being good publicity? What is he going to have to do or say that is going to go too far? I am sure his wife loves him and his father-in-law supports him, but I want to know what they honestly think about what he has said about Florida. For those of you that don’t know, Kiffin’s wife and father-in-law both graduated from Florida. I am sorry, but if my wife said something bad about my school I would still love and support her but I would not be happy.

Young kids have been turned on to Kiffin’s style and it looks like he is going to be successful at Tennessee, but I would hate for him to take it too far and push the wrong button. I do have to say that he should be ok since his father is the defensive coordinator and I believe he will keep Lane grounded. I am willing to bet that people are already talking about the Florida game for next year, which will be in Tennessee.

More than Sport, It is Life.

Leave it on the Field

You are always told “leave it on the field”. No matter what happens during the game, leave it on the field. This concept should go both ways. If a fan does not like what happens during the game then they have the right to boo. If there is a bad call or a bad play then by all means, boo your hearts out! After that, it is over. Get it all out of your system at the game, leave it on the field.

Leodis McKelvin of the Bills could be blamed for the loss on Monday night when he fumbled the kickoff late in the fourth quarter. The fans were crushed, but at the end of the day it is one game. McKelvin had his home’s lawn vandalized after the game by a disgruntled fan. This act of vandalism is absolutely inexcusable. With football players being killed inside their homes, and in drive-bys, vandalism of a player’s home because of a loss is sick. It is not funny at all. A player fumbling in a game does not mean he deserves for him and his family to feel unsafe.

The person that did this needs to be punished and made an example of. Sure, it just a front lawn, but the principle is what is the matter with this situation. Fans have no right to invade these players privacy and make them feel less safe. If the fan truly cared about his team he would not have done this. Now instead of McKelvin getting over what happened and focusing on next weeks game, he now is distracted my police reports, media questions, and other unnecessary distractions.

Fans need to learn where the line is and take two steps back from it when they do find it. These athletes are people just like the fans and they need their private lives to be private when they actually get the opportunity to have a private life. Fans need to learn to leave it on the field!

More than Sport, It is Life.

Nothing to do today? Why dont you sue someone!

I stumbled across an espn.com headline this morning about American Indians wanting the Supreme Court to look at the Washington Redskins name as offensive. American Indians have been on a war path, no pun intended, the last ten years or so to get sports teams and universities to change their nicknames. I know a few smaller schools have changed their names, but the larger universities and professional sports teams refuse. Think about it, what would Washington be without the Redskins? Florida State without the Seminoles? For some reason Florida State Lions or Florida State Manatees just does not work.

I feel for Indians, and I can see how some of these names could be offensive, but I honestly don’t think that there is any disrespect being displayed with these names. The truth is everyone could find offense with every team’s nickname. Off the top of my head, I could see how Asian especially Chinese people could find offense with the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers get their name from the 1849 gold rush that took place in California. The Chinese people were hated by gold miners and often treated poorly. San Francisco has a large Asian population and I am surprised no one has said anything about it yet.

It seems that our country has become one that loves to attack each other if we feel like we are not treated equally. EHarmony, and online Christian dating site, was sued last year by a gay man because eHarmony didn’t offer same sex dating. There are gay online dating websites, why is it necessary to attack one that isn’t. That would be like suing Chick-fil-a for not serving hamburgers. You know what you are getting when you go to that restaurant. You know what you are getting when you go to a Christian dating website!

So is it really necessary for American Indians to be suing over these team’s names? People are now suing just to sue. It gets so annoying and I am tired of hearing about it. Washington has always and should always be the Redskins, even if I don’t like them it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t make sense for them to be anything different. People need to grow up and do something with their lives so they don’t have to rely on suing people to fill the emptiness in their lives.

More than Sport, It is Life.

You think they like me now, wait until the lights hit me.

Melanie Oudin has been the story of the U.S Open so far. She had upset her way to the quarterfinals before losing last night to #9 in the world Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets. It was her first match under the lights in New York, and it seamed to take a toll on her. Her forehand wasn’t working for her and she was frustrated the whole match. The thing is this post is not about her amazing nine day run. This post is about the sad things that happen to young people when they gain a little fame.

Oudin found out quickly that she is no longer a 17 year old from Georgia; she is now America’s 17 year old superstar. She tried to go practice on the practice courts but was bombarded my people and needed heavy security. She had requests for interviews from everyone. She was even bumped from her hotel because her reservation had run out. All of that doesn’t sound that bad, but then I went on espn.com and si.com and what I read bothered me. The headline was “John Oudin's divorce filing cites daughter Melanie's coach”. Although these sites think that people want to know about this, the truth is they don’t. People fell in love with the innocence of Melanie Oudin. They want to watch her develop into a superstar. They don’t care about her parents divorce.

I know people are doing their job, but come on. This girl is 17; she just had one of the great runs in sports. She is the real deal and America has already fallen in love with her. I don’t understand our society. It seams that we always have to test the mental stability of our young stars, athletes and entertainment. I don’t know if it’s that we feel like we need to make sure they can handle the pressure of the spotlight, or people just want to dig up everything they can to get their name out as a writer. For once, can we just let this girl be a tennis player? She is a sweet heart and she loves tennis. If I had the chance to talk to Melanie I would tell her, good job and keep it up. Get ready for the ride of your life.

More than Sport, It is Life.

Crank that Crabtree

I was sitting in my apartment last April watching the NFL draft and I watched as Michael Crabtree fell to the 49’s at pick #10. I liked Michael Crabtree and was surprised he fell that far. As I was sitting there I started to think though, this could be the best thing for him.

No one thought he would fall past Oakland at #7, but when Oakland took Darius Heyward Bey everyone was shocked. How could they pass on Michael Crabtree? After a minute or two, as a fan of Crabtree I was happy he didn’t go #7 because Oakland has not been the best place to play the last couple of years.

When he did get picked at #10 I was really happy for him. Sure, he wanted to go higher in the draft but 49’s are a team on the rise. Crabtree would be the perfect pick for them. They are a little shaky at QB but they are set at running back, and their defense is getting there. Over all I was optimistic for Crabtree and I looked forward to what he could do this season.

Well as of right now it doesn’t look like I am going to see what he can do. I guess they don’t teach you how to be a professional at Texas Tech. Crabtree has not signed with the 49’s yet, and is threatening to hold out and go back into the draft next year. He wants to get paid more than the #7 pick because everyone knows that Oakland is dumb and Crabtree is better than Bey. Even if that is true, the NFL doesn’t work like that. He should get more than #11 and less than #9, that’s just how it works.

Holding out and going back into the draft? Do you know how stupid that sounds? For those that don’t know the process of the NFL Draft and stuff like this… If he did hold out the 49’s would still own his rights all the way up until the day of next years draft. He would not be allowed to work out for any teams! What NFL team is going to take a player higher than 10 that has not played football in a year, and that they haven’t seen work out in a year? The answer is no one!

Michael Crabtree has already lost so much money, money that he will never be able to make up! The best thing for him to do, if he wants to restore his image and save his football career, would be to suck it up and sign with the 49’s so he can get on the field. Right now I have lost all respect for Crabtree. He has gone from being an elite WR to an elite idiot. He should fire the person that is feeding him advice. Come on Crabtree, play the game we thought you loved!

More than Sport, It is Life!

Fantasy football, good or bad for the game?

Fantasy football has become a phenomenon. Men get together drink some beer and draft their teams. John picks a tight end two rounds too early, and everyone gives him a hard time about it. I was at my live fantasy draft last night and had a good time. I meet six new people and had a good time for two hours (no beer mom). At one point one of the guys was just making terrible picks in my view and I made a comment that if he wins this year I am never playing again. Fantasy adds a different element to the game of football.

Sure you are going to cheer for your favorite team, but you are also going to cheer for the players that are on your fantasy team. Some football purists hate the idea of fantasy (Skip Bayless) because they are afraid it takes away from the game. I have to argue the other side.

I believe that fantasy adds to the game of football. Calvin Johnson receiver for the Detroit Lions is a top 5 receiver in the NFL. I know that only one of the Lions games will be on national TV this year, but if they were on more, how many people would watch the Lions after a 0-16 season? That is were fantasy football helps the game of football. If someone had Calvin Johnson on their fantasy team or Kevin Smith the running back (like me!) they would be more interested in the game, and more likely to watch the game.

ESPN has embraced the idea of fantasy football. They have websites, TV shows, live stat trackers, and magazines dedicated to fantasy football. They realized that fantasy has become part of football. Other websites that are not usually associated with sports have jumped on to the fantasy football bandwagon. CBS, FOX, and now even Yahoo offer free fantasy football. So the question asked is, does fantasy football help or hurt the game of football? I believe it helps, what do you think?

More than sport, it is life.

What makes a real hero?

Kids are asked all the time, “Who is your hero?” Most boys will respond by saying an athlete, and I wouldn’t be surprised if girls said an athlete as well. What makes these athletes heroes? Is Lebron James a hero because he can dunk a basketball? Is Tom Brady a hero because he can throw the deep ball? Is Michael Phelps a hero because he dominates in the pool?

The reason I ask this question is because I was recently watching sportscenter, and there was a piece about Brandon Inge, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. The segment was about how he donates time and money to a children’s hospital. I won’t explain the whole thing because all of you should check it out, but on two different occasions a kid asks him “Hit a home run in the game for me?”, and he does. At one point he breaks down and can’t believe that he had just hit a home run after the kid had asked him to. There are plenty of stories about athletes giving back, but for some reason this one made me stop and think about things. Things like this are the real reasons why athletes are heroes. Sure, kids love athletes for what they do on the field, but what they do off the field is what makes them real heroes.

It’s funny, when athletes get in trouble for off the field issues they always have a press conference and say sorry to the kids for letting them down and for being a bad influence. If the athlete really cared about being a good influence they would spend more time with those kids in the first place and less time doing things they shouldn’t.

These athletes need to realize that whether or not they want to be, they are heroes in the eyes of these kids. It is their responsibility to become a true hero for all of those kids. They should know best that a true hero made them become the player they are today. Ask any athlete today who their hero was when they were growing up, and I am willing to bet they would say an athlete in the same sport that they are playing. Once upon a time they were kids, and they needed heroes. So I ask, when are all athletes going to realize that they needed a hero when they were a kid so now it is their job to be someone’s hero?