There might not be a bigger sports week in America than what we're in the midst of right now. We crowned a new national basketball champion (or the same old one, Duke, ruining the "Hoosier" dreams of Butler), opened the Major League Baseball season and there's that thing called the Tiger Woods Coronational... er, The Masters in Augusta, Ga., where Globe-News sports editor Lance Lahnert is spending the week, presumably not as Tiger's wingman.
But where Lance is really needed is on the softball field as a member of the Ink Slingers, the team consisting of most of the Globe-News sports department, a couple of members of the newsroom and some various ringers. Due to various injuries to team members who will remain nameless, I caught both ends of a Monday night doubleheader, which we ended up losing. The effort was there (and I'm feeling a bit sore today), but the question is how physically we will hold up for the next four Monday nights.
Had somebody gotten injured in our second game, the possibility of a forfeit was very real, since there would have been nobody to replace an injured player. Forget winning, just fielding enough bodies for a game is going to be a challenge for the Slingers.
But there are other challenges to deal with as well. Sports are a lot easier to deal with when all you have to do is watch. And this is a good week for that, regardless of the physical toll.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Is NFL Going to Pot?
It's easy to be "high" on this year's NFL draft class.
OK, that was too easy a play on words, but what do you expect when a recent report claims that over one-third of all college prospects for this year's NFL draft have tested positive for marijuana use? Since marijuana is still illegal (like it or not), this on the surface doesn't look good for anybody who's involved. But should it really be all that surprising? And, bottom line, should it really matter?
In a bigger context, pot use barely registers on the controlled substances radar screen. I can't think of a single sport where marijuana is performance enhancing (unless maybe it's a hot dog eating contest) so it's not like these college athletes are toking up to become bigger, stronger, faster. That's where NFL GMs should be concerned if they think a marijuana smoker is prone to lethargy. It seems as if they're afraid of drafting another Ricky Williams, but pot has never seemed to affect his performance between the lines.
Keep in mind these are college kids we're talking about. Those are likely the most experimental times in a young man's (or woman's) life, for better or worse. If we were to look down upon everybody who partook in the chronic as young (or not so young) adults, some of the most accomplished and intelligent people in society might not have been allowed to rise to such, ahem, high positions.
The NFL draft is scheduled to start on April 22, or 4/22. But considering the level of marijuana use among those who are considered prospects, maybe 4/20 would be a more appropriate date. If you find that confusing, it just shows what end of the spectrum you stand on as far as marijuana awareness.
OK, that was too easy a play on words, but what do you expect when a recent report claims that over one-third of all college prospects for this year's NFL draft have tested positive for marijuana use? Since marijuana is still illegal (like it or not), this on the surface doesn't look good for anybody who's involved. But should it really be all that surprising? And, bottom line, should it really matter?
In a bigger context, pot use barely registers on the controlled substances radar screen. I can't think of a single sport where marijuana is performance enhancing (unless maybe it's a hot dog eating contest) so it's not like these college athletes are toking up to become bigger, stronger, faster. That's where NFL GMs should be concerned if they think a marijuana smoker is prone to lethargy. It seems as if they're afraid of drafting another Ricky Williams, but pot has never seemed to affect his performance between the lines.
Keep in mind these are college kids we're talking about. Those are likely the most experimental times in a young man's (or woman's) life, for better or worse. If we were to look down upon everybody who partook in the chronic as young (or not so young) adults, some of the most accomplished and intelligent people in society might not have been allowed to rise to such, ahem, high positions.
The NFL draft is scheduled to start on April 22, or 4/22. But considering the level of marijuana use among those who are considered prospects, maybe 4/20 would be a more appropriate date. If you find that confusing, it just shows what end of the spectrum you stand on as far as marijuana awareness.
Monday, March 8, 2010
It's Not Small-Time
For most of last week, I knew I'd be going down to Levelland for the Region I-1A boys basketball tournaments, an assignment which at first glance doesn't appear to be glamorous. Maybe not, but it was a rare opportunity to cover small schools playing at a high level, and it was every bit as rewarding as covering the larger schools in the area.
With four Panhandle schools playing at the Texan Dome (an excellent traditional regional tournament venue by the way), I knew I'd be covering four games during Friday afternoon and evening, making for a long day. But in all the years I've been covering prep basketball, I'm hard-pressed to find a more rewarding day of watching high school hoops.
I've covered two boys state tournaments in Austin with various classifications, and Friday's games in particular felt like being at the state tournament, perhaps largely because of the scheduling (the two Division II games played back-to-back in the afternoon followed by a short break with two Division I games in the evening) and the amount of basketball packed into one day. There might not have been any big-time college prospects, but that didn't mean the level of play was uninspired in the least.
The two Panhandle survivors from Levelland, Gruver and Nazareth, are headed to Austin to see how they stack up against the rest of the state. And yes, that's as big as it gets for high school basketball in the state of Texas. But even in Levelland players _ and fans _ can get a taste of what it's like, without having to fight unmanagable crowds.
Now if only Levelland would get a Stubb's Barbecue...
With four Panhandle schools playing at the Texan Dome (an excellent traditional regional tournament venue by the way), I knew I'd be covering four games during Friday afternoon and evening, making for a long day. But in all the years I've been covering prep basketball, I'm hard-pressed to find a more rewarding day of watching high school hoops.
I've covered two boys state tournaments in Austin with various classifications, and Friday's games in particular felt like being at the state tournament, perhaps largely because of the scheduling (the two Division II games played back-to-back in the afternoon followed by a short break with two Division I games in the evening) and the amount of basketball packed into one day. There might not have been any big-time college prospects, but that didn't mean the level of play was uninspired in the least.
The two Panhandle survivors from Levelland, Gruver and Nazareth, are headed to Austin to see how they stack up against the rest of the state. And yes, that's as big as it gets for high school basketball in the state of Texas. But even in Levelland players _ and fans _ can get a taste of what it's like, without having to fight unmanagable crowds.
Now if only Levelland would get a Stubb's Barbecue...
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Shooting the Messenger
Two incidents involving the sports media this week show how misguided that anger over revelations of transgressions can be on the part of players and coaches.
Easily the most appalling of the two incidents came in Commerce. Several Texas A&M Commerce football players removed copies of the university's daily from racks around campus because they revealed that some players had been arrested on drug charges. That in and of itself is kind of petty, and when you consider that most college publications (like many alternative weeklies) are available free of charge, the act could be considered, at worst, recklessly immature.
But the most egregious result of the incident was the reaction of head coach Guy Morriss. Not only did Morriss not elect to discipline those allegedly involved (who stand charged of petty theft and vandalism), but he actively applauded what his players did, saying it helped unity and team-building.
You have some of your players get arrested on drug charges, and when it gets reported publicly, you think it's OK for their teammates to stifle this information in the name of team-building? What's next coach, encouraging stealing candy from kids on Halloween as a harmless exercise in bonding? Where do you draw the line? Car theft? Date rape?
Was that the problem at Baylor, Guy? You went 18-40 there because you didn't have enough irresponsible thugs on your roster? Maybe a few more misdemeanors might have meant a Big 12 championship.
The other media-related incident is a little funnier. PGA train wreck John Daly "outed" a reporter from the Jacksonville Times-Union (a paper which, like the Globe-News, is owned by Morris Communications) for writing a story regarding Daly's various suspensions and warnings by the PGA Tour regarding his behavior. Never mind that it was public record, Daly also decided to make the writer's number public, somehow procuring his cell phone number and tweeting it to the world.
It's hard to imagine what Daly was trying to hide, since his life has been an open book long before Tiger Woods bimbo of the week revelations. Is this just a desperate grab for attention to promote his reality show on the Golf Channel? We already know more about Daly than we need to, so his resenting somebody digging up some dirt on him seems silly.
But unlike A&M Commerce, at least it doesn't seem criminal.
Easily the most appalling of the two incidents came in Commerce. Several Texas A&M Commerce football players removed copies of the university's daily from racks around campus because they revealed that some players had been arrested on drug charges. That in and of itself is kind of petty, and when you consider that most college publications (like many alternative weeklies) are available free of charge, the act could be considered, at worst, recklessly immature.
But the most egregious result of the incident was the reaction of head coach Guy Morriss. Not only did Morriss not elect to discipline those allegedly involved (who stand charged of petty theft and vandalism), but he actively applauded what his players did, saying it helped unity and team-building.
You have some of your players get arrested on drug charges, and when it gets reported publicly, you think it's OK for their teammates to stifle this information in the name of team-building? What's next coach, encouraging stealing candy from kids on Halloween as a harmless exercise in bonding? Where do you draw the line? Car theft? Date rape?
Was that the problem at Baylor, Guy? You went 18-40 there because you didn't have enough irresponsible thugs on your roster? Maybe a few more misdemeanors might have meant a Big 12 championship.
The other media-related incident is a little funnier. PGA train wreck John Daly "outed" a reporter from the Jacksonville Times-Union (a paper which, like the Globe-News, is owned by Morris Communications) for writing a story regarding Daly's various suspensions and warnings by the PGA Tour regarding his behavior. Never mind that it was public record, Daly also decided to make the writer's number public, somehow procuring his cell phone number and tweeting it to the world.
It's hard to imagine what Daly was trying to hide, since his life has been an open book long before Tiger Woods bimbo of the week revelations. Is this just a desperate grab for attention to promote his reality show on the Golf Channel? We already know more about Daly than we need to, so his resenting somebody digging up some dirt on him seems silly.
But unlike A&M Commerce, at least it doesn't seem criminal.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Why Not Football?
Maybe you got caught up in the final night of the Olympics from Vancouver (even with the silliness of the closing ceremonies) watching the U.S. and Canada fight it out for the hockey gold medal, and it was kind of easy to get emotionally involved. Our national pride took a hit with the overtime loss to Canada, but the news isn't really that bad. Hey, we won the overall medal count, and after all, hockey is to Canada what football is to Americans.
In that spirit I submit a modest proposal, one which when I've suggested before has people look at me as if I'm nuts, a look I'm used to. With the world becoming a "global village" more and more, I think athletically us Americans should leave our stamp on it every four years. So I'm suggesting adding a sport which the IOC or USOC has never even touched: Football.
With exhibition and regular season games being played in Britain, Japan and Australia and a developmental league which once thrived in Europe (and produced a Super Bowl winning quarterback in Kurt Warner), the sport is far more international than it's given credit for. It's about time that we see competition in an international arena.
I know what many of you might be thinking: The U.S. is the only "real" football nation, and we'd wipe the floor with anybody who'd even step on the field with us. Foreign athletes could be seriously injured, or even worse by Americans. Well, yeah.
But it can become an Olympic sport by taking baby steps. For the first Olympiad (or two), it could be flag football, allowing other nations to get their feet wet in the sport. Then once these countries have developed enough capable athletes to play full contact football, it could be played by North American rules, maybe with some Pro Bowl modifications (e.g., no blitzes) thrown in for increased offense.
That doesn't sound unreasonable, does it? Lets see those Canucks beat us then!
In that spirit I submit a modest proposal, one which when I've suggested before has people look at me as if I'm nuts, a look I'm used to. With the world becoming a "global village" more and more, I think athletically us Americans should leave our stamp on it every four years. So I'm suggesting adding a sport which the IOC or USOC has never even touched: Football.
With exhibition and regular season games being played in Britain, Japan and Australia and a developmental league which once thrived in Europe (and produced a Super Bowl winning quarterback in Kurt Warner), the sport is far more international than it's given credit for. It's about time that we see competition in an international arena.
I know what many of you might be thinking: The U.S. is the only "real" football nation, and we'd wipe the floor with anybody who'd even step on the field with us. Foreign athletes could be seriously injured, or even worse by Americans. Well, yeah.
But it can become an Olympic sport by taking baby steps. For the first Olympiad (or two), it could be flag football, allowing other nations to get their feet wet in the sport. Then once these countries have developed enough capable athletes to play full contact football, it could be played by North American rules, maybe with some Pro Bowl modifications (e.g., no blitzes) thrown in for increased offense.
That doesn't sound unreasonable, does it? Lets see those Canucks beat us then!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Canyon May Be That Good
That the Canyon girls basketball team is good qualifies as news along the lines of water is wet. The Lady Eagles are always good (at worst) and have often been closer to great, as 14 state championships would attest.
Nobody should make too much out of the fact that Canyon clobbered Big Spring 91-15 in Tuesday's bidistrict round, although the case for a basketball mercy rule and the case against four teams in the playoffs both got strong arguments from that game. And comparing scores may be a fool's game, but that might be the best evidence of why the Lady Eagles could end up in the state tournament.
Canyon closed out the District 3-4A season undefeated by routing Pampa 64-8 in the last game of the regular season. The Lady Eagles had already clinched the district title and closed out an unbeaten 3-4A season, while Pampa had already secured the district's fourth playoff spot. That game could be read as a precursor of the Canyon-Big Spring debacle a week later, and evidence that Pampa was an undeserving fourth place team, right?
Not so fast. In the first round of the playoffs against perennial power Plainview, Pampa led early in the game and was tied 11-11 at the end of the first quarter at the Hutcherson Center in Plainview, hardly a neutral court. Maybe the Lady Harvesters had a flashback to their ordeal in Canyon, and they went scoreless in the second quarter, a huge factor in a 63-42 loss to Plainview which ended their season.
Take away that second quarter, and Pampa played nearly even with Plainview. It was the second time I'd seen the Lady Harvesters play this season, the other time being a 63-33 loss at second-place Palo Duro, the only team to give Canyon a scare in district play this season.
In both of those games, the young Lady Harvesters struggled against teams who had superior experience and athletic ability. But not once did it seem to me that from a coaching or playing standpoint that Pampa was completely incompetent. That would be the image one would take away from Pampa's loss to Canyon, but considering how respectably the Lady Harvesters played against a good Plainview team, that had more to do with Canyon's ability than Pampa's lack of ability.
It's one thing to make too big a deal out of Canyon's destruction of a Big Spring team which won only one game in District 4-4A. Canyon's margin of victory was 29 points greater than the next biggest rout in Region I-4A's bidistrict round. But when you consider that Plainview actually had to fight to beat a team which the Lady Eagles defeated by 56 points a week earlier, what does that say about where Canyon stands right now?
Nobody should make too much out of the fact that Canyon clobbered Big Spring 91-15 in Tuesday's bidistrict round, although the case for a basketball mercy rule and the case against four teams in the playoffs both got strong arguments from that game. And comparing scores may be a fool's game, but that might be the best evidence of why the Lady Eagles could end up in the state tournament.
Canyon closed out the District 3-4A season undefeated by routing Pampa 64-8 in the last game of the regular season. The Lady Eagles had already clinched the district title and closed out an unbeaten 3-4A season, while Pampa had already secured the district's fourth playoff spot. That game could be read as a precursor of the Canyon-Big Spring debacle a week later, and evidence that Pampa was an undeserving fourth place team, right?
Not so fast. In the first round of the playoffs against perennial power Plainview, Pampa led early in the game and was tied 11-11 at the end of the first quarter at the Hutcherson Center in Plainview, hardly a neutral court. Maybe the Lady Harvesters had a flashback to their ordeal in Canyon, and they went scoreless in the second quarter, a huge factor in a 63-42 loss to Plainview which ended their season.
Take away that second quarter, and Pampa played nearly even with Plainview. It was the second time I'd seen the Lady Harvesters play this season, the other time being a 63-33 loss at second-place Palo Duro, the only team to give Canyon a scare in district play this season.
In both of those games, the young Lady Harvesters struggled against teams who had superior experience and athletic ability. But not once did it seem to me that from a coaching or playing standpoint that Pampa was completely incompetent. That would be the image one would take away from Pampa's loss to Canyon, but considering how respectably the Lady Harvesters played against a good Plainview team, that had more to do with Canyon's ability than Pampa's lack of ability.
It's one thing to make too big a deal out of Canyon's destruction of a Big Spring team which won only one game in District 4-4A. Canyon's margin of victory was 29 points greater than the next biggest rout in Region I-4A's bidistrict round. But when you consider that Plainview actually had to fight to beat a team which the Lady Eagles defeated by 56 points a week earlier, what does that say about where Canyon stands right now?
Friday, February 5, 2010
Why Not Play Twice?
Thanks to the peculiarities of Monday's UIL realignment, a four-team district was created in District 1-3A, which consists of Borger, Dalhart, Pampa and Perryton. This creates a major scheduling headache for football coaches at all four schools, since with only three district games on the schedule, they have to fill 6-7 available slots with nondistrict opponents.
Scheduling games throughout September isn't much of a problem, but once you get into October (and on paper, 1-3A might not start district play until the fourth Friday of October) there's a problem, as most teams are already into district play. Pampa coach Heath Parker said he was potentially looking at back-to-back open weeks before starting district.
While you can blame the UIL for creating such a conundrum, the superintendents in 1-3A can solve it easily _ by scheduling a double round-robin like all the other sports do. It may seem unusual for football, but it might be the best solution.
It would create six district games (more than the reconstituted District 2-5A will play) and would be completely fair in terms of scheduling, with each team getting three home and three away games. The way it stands now, some 1-3A teams will have only one home and two away games.
A four-team East Texas 5A district with teams in Longview and Tyler was forced into the same situation in 2002-03, and they went with the double round-robin format as a solution. Maybe teams won't like playing each other twice in a season, this is a clear situation where 1-3A should try to make lemonade out of lemons.
Scheduling games throughout September isn't much of a problem, but once you get into October (and on paper, 1-3A might not start district play until the fourth Friday of October) there's a problem, as most teams are already into district play. Pampa coach Heath Parker said he was potentially looking at back-to-back open weeks before starting district.
While you can blame the UIL for creating such a conundrum, the superintendents in 1-3A can solve it easily _ by scheduling a double round-robin like all the other sports do. It may seem unusual for football, but it might be the best solution.
It would create six district games (more than the reconstituted District 2-5A will play) and would be completely fair in terms of scheduling, with each team getting three home and three away games. The way it stands now, some 1-3A teams will have only one home and two away games.
A four-team East Texas 5A district with teams in Longview and Tyler was forced into the same situation in 2002-03, and they went with the double round-robin format as a solution. Maybe teams won't like playing each other twice in a season, this is a clear situation where 1-3A should try to make lemonade out of lemons.
Monday, February 1, 2010
After The Dust Has Cleared
The UIL realignment picture is now clear, a lot more so than the roads around Amarillo anyway. The grand 10-team experiment of District 2-5A is now over, and nobody anywhere seems to be shedding any tears over its impending demise. Amarillo and Lubbock schools are up here (as is San Angelo Central for football _ figure that one out) while the Midland and Odessa schools are down there. So we can put an end to the talk about who's better, West Texas or the Panhandle, when it comes to football anyway.
Old timers to the south thought the breakup of the Little Southwest Conference two years ago was akin to the Beatles breaking up, and now they're placated for the next two years. I do question how much they'd want defending state champion Abilene High back in their district for two years. But that might be as long as it lasts.
Considering that the low number for Class 5A dropped to 2,065 this past year, it's highly unlikely that it would drop again in 2012. For argument's sake, let's say it rises to 2,100, which could be a conservative estimate. Amarillo High is currently at 2,089 students, and is relatively landlocked on the west side of town. There doesn't appear to be a big spike in enrollment for AHS, which turned in a lower number this year than in 2008. AISD athletic director Brad Thiessen has even hinted that Amarillo High at the very least may drop to 4A in 2012, and Tascosa could also be on the bubble.
Put aside for a second the possibility of District 3-4A volleyball in which a fifth-place team could win most other districts in the state in any classification, and there are some tantilizing (or terrifying) possibilities depending on your point of view. If Amarillo High drops, that would probably force the Lubbock schools back with the Midland and Odessa schools and Central for an eight-team district, which would likely be nine teams if Tascosa stays up.
That would force Abilene High and perhaps Abilene Cooper (depending on some creative boundary drawings?) into a Metroplex district, signaling the end of the LSWC for good. So while we can celebrate the reduced travel which this realignment brings from the Panhandle to the Concho Valley, it could be just a stay of execution. Let's enjoy this dance while we can.
Old timers to the south thought the breakup of the Little Southwest Conference two years ago was akin to the Beatles breaking up, and now they're placated for the next two years. I do question how much they'd want defending state champion Abilene High back in their district for two years. But that might be as long as it lasts.
Considering that the low number for Class 5A dropped to 2,065 this past year, it's highly unlikely that it would drop again in 2012. For argument's sake, let's say it rises to 2,100, which could be a conservative estimate. Amarillo High is currently at 2,089 students, and is relatively landlocked on the west side of town. There doesn't appear to be a big spike in enrollment for AHS, which turned in a lower number this year than in 2008. AISD athletic director Brad Thiessen has even hinted that Amarillo High at the very least may drop to 4A in 2012, and Tascosa could also be on the bubble.
Put aside for a second the possibility of District 3-4A volleyball in which a fifth-place team could win most other districts in the state in any classification, and there are some tantilizing (or terrifying) possibilities depending on your point of view. If Amarillo High drops, that would probably force the Lubbock schools back with the Midland and Odessa schools and Central for an eight-team district, which would likely be nine teams if Tascosa stays up.
That would force Abilene High and perhaps Abilene Cooper (depending on some creative boundary drawings?) into a Metroplex district, signaling the end of the LSWC for good. So while we can celebrate the reduced travel which this realignment brings from the Panhandle to the Concho Valley, it could be just a stay of execution. Let's enjoy this dance while we can.
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