Offsides with Christina

Did you know the University of California was looking to cut five sports at the end of the year?  They cited budget reasons as the main cause of the cuts but after much student protesting they decided to reinstate three of the five:  women’s gymnastics and lacrosse, and men’s rugby.  Interestingly, Cal was able to save the two women’s sports because of rugby; the money that was donated to save rugby was used to help fund the women’s programs.  Cal reasons that they had to bring back the women’s sports in order to be in compliance with Title IX even though the other two sports on the chopping block – baseball and (men’s) gymnastics – have won national championships, six combined; gymnastics and lacrosse have won zero, and forgetting that the men’s sports have a history and tradition; baseball won the very first College World Series in 1947 and gymnastics has produced 11 Olympians.

There’s been recent talk of Title IX thanks to an in-depth article by The New York Times essentially saying schools are fudging numbers because it's hard to generate interest in women’s sports.  Schools have three ways in which they can comply with Title IX:

1. show proportionality of athletes to students on campus
2. demonstrate a history of increasing sports
3. met the interest and ability of the underrepresented

Some of the tactics colleges have used to get around the rules are to add athletes to rosters that never competed and count men as women on women’s rosters; included in this were the 2010 Women’s NCAA Basketball Champion Texas A&M Aggies.

I've actually witnessed this firsthand.  I coached a young woman who is heading off to school in the fall and she decided to play golf figuring it would be less time consuming so she could focus on school.  The swim coach at the college found out she swam and approached her on several occasions to join the team.  (In full disclosure, this girl is a not a standout in the water.) The college coach said that the girl should just join the team so that she can at least get her equipment in case she changes her mind and that she did not have to make every practice because of scheduling conflicts.

As an athlete, being told that I don’t have to come to practice, it’s basically an open invitation to skip whenever I don’t feel like going and as a coach, in a sport that demands constant practice (typical colleges have two-a-days), I wouldn’t want someone that isn’t fully committed and putting in the effort.

Sadly, things like this go on all the time because the fact is the interest in women’s sports just isn’t there.  By forcing schools to comply with Title IX, they’re doing exactly what the law was suppose to eliminate – discrimination.  Keeping Title IX the same, without any changes, will continue to hurt the arm that feeds it.  At most school’s the men’s programs financially support the athletic department and by continuing to cut programs, and count football which dwarfs all other sports in bodies, the NCAA will continue to have schools lying, aside from Jim Tressel of course.

As for Cal, they were able to raise enough money to save the baseball team which is currently ranked 37th in the country.  Gymnastics hasn’t been so lucky, they have raised about $2 million which is half of what they need, so for all the pommel horse and floor exercise enthusiast out there, go here and you can help save some Bears.

That video cost a $100,000 dollars; isn’t that what’s truly the 'offensive and inexcusable' crime here?

Kobe Bryant saying the words ‘f---ing fa--t’ wasn’t that big a deal but yet it somehow's been made into an overblown homophobic firestorm.  I’m one of the most liberal people when it comes to equal rights but for the way this has been handled, it’s absolutey insane.

Where is the perspective in all this?  Steeler's linebacker James Harrison for all his destruction in 2010 was only fined $120,000 and he actually caused injury to people; Bryant said a few words that happened to be caught by some TV cameras.  (If I were him I’d go to the camera guys and buy a few gifts so this never happens again; and we all know Kobe’s good at buying things to cover up mistakes).

This fine sets a precedence, that in sports you now have to watch what you say on and off the field.  Has anyone even broached the subject that the official this was directed at, Bennie Adams, might actually be gay and Kobe just happened to be commenting on it?  Or maybe ‘f---ing fa--t’ is his word choice when upset.  And lost in all this is that he wasn’t just going off because of getting a technical foul, he was upset because he had already had a number of T’s this season and was looking at a suspension; something I’m guessing the organizations that attacked him knew nothing about. 

Kobe has handled this like the superstar he is; he took responsibility, though has every right to fight back, loudly AND proudly, but apologized and is ready to move on.  No matter what someone thinks of him, he handled this like a true professional and more athletes should look at his example, or more importantly athletes' mothers.

As some of you know, I hail from the great state of Pennsylvania and am an adopted Phillies fan from my time living in the City of Brotherly Love.  Philadelphia sports fans have been accused, from not only the media but players as well, that their fans are some of the toughest and meanest in the game.  From the snowballs, to batteries, to the many boos; Philly gets a tough rap and rightly so.  But in all this, there aren’t too many incidences of Philly fans turning on other teams’ fans to the point of unconsciousness.

Bryan Stow, a 42-year-old father of two, was beaten to the point of a medically induced coma by a couple of Dodger fans on Opening Day.  According to USC Medical Center’s Dr. Gabriel Zada, 'Stow is undergoing treatment for a severe skull fracture and bad bruising to his frontal lobe, and is showing signs of brain injury and dysfunction and could have permanent brain damage'.

Stow, a Giants season ticket holder, drove to L.A. for Opening Day to cheer on his World Champs.  Ultimately the Giants ended up losing but in the parking lot he was attacked from behind by what police describe as men in their early 20’s.  During the game he had sent a text message to a cousin saying he was ‘scared inside the stadium’.  Stow is a paramedic; he has been trained and knows how to handle difficult situations.

The lesson in all of this other than the obvious:  violence is not the answer; is that sports have created such a culture that grown men are scared of being inside venues wearing opposing teams paraphernalia.  

Should it matter that Stow was wearing a Giants jersey?  Not at all.  This is America, this is just sports and not everyone roots for the same team.  The argument that Stow or anyone asks to be harassed or attacked while at a sporting event is asinine.  A six year old wearing a Derek Jeter jersey to a Red Sox game is not doing so with malice, it’s because Jeter is his favorite player. 

Sporting events have gotten so out of hand that parents have refused to bring their kids to games because of the violence.  That’s just sad.  You can’t take a group of boys to a baseball game because you’re worried they might get heckled or have beer thrown on them.  

Of course the next question is…who’s to blame?  In the case of the Dodgers situation, it appears that this has been a problem for some time now.  Over the past few years (during the tenure of Frank McCourt) the violence has gotten so out of hand that Dodger fans don’t even want to go to games anymore.  And that’s been the sentiment in many football stadiums as well.  Fans with families don’t want to bring their kids to games because of the violence, and language, and overall debauchery from the drunken idiots.

The answer to all the problems, or at least most, because there’s always that ace in the hole who doesn’t need anything to be a crazy person, is alcohol.  In order to curb the violence at sporting events it's time to limit or end the sale of alcohol.  The sad, simple truth is that too many drunk people have ruined it for the rest of us.  I should mention that not every stadium and sports arena is like this.  I have been to a number of Reds games in and with people in opposing teams gear and have never been scared for a minute; same goes for Bengals games.   

In order to bring back a more civilized and ultimately fan-friendly feeling at the ballpark or stadium is set limits.  End beer sales at half-time of games and during the 5th inning of baseball, and limit the time of tailgating to two hours before a game not five or six hours before.  I know these rules seem extreme but I’d rather be safe and slightly intoxicated then blitzed out of my mind being hauled off in handcuffs.

On Monday night the Dodgers visit the Giants.  There will no doubt be fans of the Dodgers at the ballpark; hopefully the Giants fans show more respect and restraint then was shown to one of their own.



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Baseball is back! Yes!  Now let’s fast forward 162 days or so and talk about the playoffs.  (You know in about three weeks you’ll be bored with the season anyway.)

It’s time for baseball to embrace more changes, some have been good (wild card) some have been stupid (all-star game) but they need to make some changes to the playoffs and that’s why I think adding another wild card team would make perfect sense.

It’s too easy for the wild card to make it to the World Series.  The wild card team didn’t win a division; they shouldn’t have the same advantage or in some cases an advantage over another team.  In the past 10 seasons, a wild card team has made the World Series eight times, winning three.  In some cases the wild card team is the better team but there should be a disadvantage for not winning your division so that is why I propose...

wait for it…

a play-in game.

Brilliant I know or you can thank the NCAA Tournament for giving me the idea.  The basic formula would go like this:  instead of just two wild card teams have four and do a one-game playoff.  Single elimination is something rarely seen in baseball but it not only puts the wild card team at a disadvantage but also gives the division winners time to put their rotation together and an extra rest day.

We’ll call it ‘Wild Card Night’ and both wild card teams from both leagues would play; think of the drama…think of the ratings… 

After all it’ll make watching the regular season worthwhile because in the end when you only have a third of your league making the playoffs it instantly turns off every city except New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and L.A.  Let’s give hope to the little guy!  Get the fans excited for an actual race; most of the time the divisions are locked up by the start of September, give people a reason to watch baseball and care.  There’s nothing more disheartening then being a Pirates fan year after year after year; now instead of giving up on the season in May fans can stop caring in June.






 

It’s been basketball overload for awhile now and I wanted to shift my focus on something a little…prettier.  Plus, Butler screwed me and then VCU added the icing on top, so I’m not much interested in talking about the tournament.

That said, the always fun to look at Erin Andrews was interviewed the other day about a number of pressing topics including "The Bachelor", "Dancing With The Stars", and burping.  They eventually made their way to a sports related question but since we aren’t talking about that particular madness, we won’t mention it.

As we all remember, Ms. Andrews was on "DWTS"...

 
(If you want to see more cha-cha-ing go check out Hines Ward at the Video of the Day)

and is apparently a fan of ABC reality shows as she was quick to mention "The Bachelor".  She said she had e-mailed her publicist during the show’s finale about doing a ‘bachelor type show’.  This was clearly not the first time the sports reporter has thought about it because she had a show idea all planned out.

It’s been rumored for sometime now that Erin Andrews has been looking to expand her role and branch out from sports.  Bravo to her if she does but in the mean time, since she just signed a contract with ESPN to continue doing sports, then all I want to hear from her is sports. 

Andrews has been fighting an uphill battle ever since she joined the sports world because she is attractive and likes to flaunt it.  More power to her, but lately she’s being going even more off course; that whole Mountain Dew ‘challenge’, "DWTS", now this bachelor idea.  She needs to just stick with sports; she sounds less and less interested by the day and when you get to the point where you no longer care what your audience thinks, then its time to move on. 

ESPN has pimped her out to about the best of her abilities.  (If we’re being honest, Erin Andrews is about 10th on the list of talented females over at the worldwide leader.)  It’s time for the two to part ways.  The sports world doesn’t care who she’s dating, or what show she wants to be on.  All we as sports fans care is that she shows up, looks cute and says something that may or may not be helpful. 

If that’s asking too much then hey, I’m always available.