Failure to Cooperate

What we have here... is a failure to communicate.

Brett Favre was fined $50,000 yesterday for "failing to cooperate" in an NFL investigation. The NFL seems like the bigger failure in issuing this fine though. Favre allegedly sent lewd pictures and sexually harassed Jenn Sterger during the 2008 season. She had photo evidence and her own personal testimony, but that proved little versus the power of the NFL.

The NFL protected its most talked about star by slapping him on the wrist for not cooperating. The NFL fined Favre for not being forthcoming, thus ending the investigation without any answers. Favre is free to send more pictures to more ladies because he is done with the NFL and it only cost him $50,000. I think starting 297 straight games can help cover that cost. The NFL blew it on this one and it could be due to Favre's imminent "retirement". I'll believe it when he's sitting on a couch next season. No one would be surprised if he came back for another season, especially if there is a lockout and he is given that much extra time to recover from this season.

The NFL had a big opportunity here to not only rid themselves of Brett Favre for good, but protect women's rights for those working for the NFL and other organizations surrounding the National Football League. This was the second case of harassment in this season alone - second case of harassment on the same team! And neither involve feet. (So far as we know). The NFL needs to implement strict rules protecting the safety of women, who need to work harder than men to be successful in the business of sports. This was a perfect opportunity and the NFL showed they could careless about their female employees and reporters.

This fine is a cop out by the NFL, according to ESPN, the fine is only 5% of one game's paycheck. Favre will walk away as the winner, but barely. He worked hard to build and then tear down his own legacy. While on the Packers, he was the most beloved player in the NFL. The only fans disliking him were probably Bears, Vikings and Lions, but even they had to respect the talent. Now, after retiring and returning countless times, playing for the Packers' hated rival, the Vikings, this scandal has turned Favre into probably the most hated. He is selfish, and cares nothing for his wife, his family, his peers, or his teammates.

His egotistical behavior is shown in playing this season. He needed to have his teammates beg him to come back, even though it was clear he wasn't retiring. He led a team that underperformed. He played hurt even when the season was lost. While some can commend that, I condemn it. And now, with a concussion, he cares more about playing his last game than giving Joe Webb a shot to prove he can be a starting QB and giving Leslie Frazier a chance to take the interim off from his job title.

Brett Favre probably learned little from this other than to not send pictures of his man parts. I hope Sterger can and does take him to court, if only just to provide an annoyance to Favre because that is all this was. He was not distracted by it during games so it was clearly pushed to the back of his mind and he knew little would come of it. We will all be much happier when Favre finally does retire. Maybe it'll be good if he plays on Sunday so that Ndamukong Suh can officially end his career by adding on to that concussion.

Well Hello, Ladies

The University of Connecticut Lady Huskies won their 89th consecutive game yesterday, solidifying their spot in the record books for what is likely to be eternity. They have eclipsed the men's record set by the UCLA Bruins in the 1970s under legendary coach, John Wooden. The women of UConn deserve immense congratulations, but the question that plagued the double rainbow remains; what does it mean?

The media has written the story of UConn surpassing UCLA for the record of most consecutive college basketball victories, so comparisons must be drawn. To me, the only comparison is that they play basketball. And because of that, it is fair to say UConn holds that record. They have played their heart out for 89 games against the best that D1 NCAAW has to offer. They have not just won all of these games, they have dominated, destroying the average teams and easily beating most of the title contenders.

You can't really compare much after that because you can't even compare the men's game today to John Wooden Era. The Bruins then, like the Lady Huskies now, were stratospheres above everyone else. They were both led by coaches that can seemingly lead any team to the promised land. Now, most men's teams will be great for a couple of years, then drop off while trying to recruit the next best player. The best coaches, Coach K, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim, etc., are able to recruit the better players, thus they are able to stay near the top on most years. Wooden was able to do that as is Geno Auriemma for UConn.

One big difference between the teams of yesteryear, and today is parity. Just as the New York Yanks and the Boston Celtics dominated; the Bruins dominated and now the Lady Huskies are dominating. It seems every sport goes through a stage of lone dominance, followed by parity. The Bruins won seven straight titles, and now it seems a team can't win two in a row, (though Duke seems like a possible candidate this year). The Yankees won five in a row, and now need to buy baseball just to compete.

Dominance, rivalries, and underdogs are what keeps a sport moving. The dominance of UConn has a formidable rivalry in Tennessee and a growing one in Baylor. UConn will be beaten at some point and while some disagree, I think their streak is fantastic for women's basketball. The streak is great for two reasons. It made women's basketball a headline on ESPN and other news outlets for probably the only time other than to announce national champions. And secondly, their streak has other teams' level of play improving just to match UConn's.

You can't compare yesterday to today. The "old school" athletes may have been more talented, and had more passion, but today's athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, and better. Instead of selling furniture in the offseason, baseball players now play in winter leagues. WNBA players play year round in European Leagues. The training is intensified and thus making the athletes better. Coaches now have learned upon the mistakes of the coaches in the past and due to that, I would take the 2007 Patriots over the 1972 Dolphins. Give me the 2010 Lakers over the Bill Russell Celtics. Sure, Bill Russell would dominate Pau Gasol, but the Lakers still have the Zen Master and the Black Mamba.

If you can't compare a sport to itself, how can you compare records of one sport to another? Men's basketball is different than women's basketball, just like baseball is different than softball and football is different than lingerie football. There is no need to compare until women can match man in height, speed, strength, etc. Men are different than women. Women's basketball is a perimeter game, with skill shooters, while most of the men's game is decided inside the paint. The UConn ladies keep winning because they shut down the opponents' shooting percentage.

As far as records are concerned, they are in the eye of the beholder. You can choose to believe the women's game is meaningless and only consider the Bruins as having consecutive winning streak. You can choose to believe Hank Aaron or Barry Bonds hold the all-time home run title when really it's Sadaharu Oh. There will always be discussion and asterisks because we, the people, can never agree on anything. One year we elect Obama, the Democrat, and two years later, we change our minds and elect a bunch of Republicans in the Senate. No matter what you believe, the University of Connecticut Lady Huskies are amazing. So amazing that they may be saving the game of women's basketball from a possible dismantling due to the NBA's troubles.

Hope

Due to a death in the family, it has not been an easy week for me, which makes sports seem trivial. But being such an avid sports fan, I look to sports for a variety of reasons; entertainment, excitement, joy, and most importantly, hope. I watched "The Road" over the weekend (probably not the best movie to watch when dealing with a loss). I did not enjoy the movie too much because it lacked hope. If you haven't seen it, the film follows Viggo Mortensen and his son, trying to survive after the end of the world. There is little to live for and the situation is completely hopeless. Being a New York fan, this week has seemed pretty hopeless.

Starting with the Jets' loss and Patriots' domination on Sunday, the week just started with gloom. The Jets' sole reason for their good season is swagger. They overloaded on it and have ridden that throughout the season. They then went to Gillette Stadium and were demolished by the Patriots. Rex Ryan buried the game ball, and the team had "moved on". Miami came to town and the Jets, given their Super Bowl aspirations should have easily beaten the Fins. Their defense stepped their game up, but Mark Sanchez gives Jets' fans high blood pressure. Too many turnovers, specifically the early fumbling resulting in a Miami touchdown, cost the Jets a win.

All season I have questioned offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer and his play calling. He has a dominant running game and stellar receivers that are underutilized. Mark Sanchez can become an elite quarterback but Schotty seems to be developing him poorly. Sanchez rarely looks downfield, even in two-minute drills. Instead Sanchez throws screens and check downs to the running backs as if the team is scared to see him throw. You do not trade up in the draft to acquire a QB to manage a game, you draft a QB to win games, as Sanchez has done.

Compound that with the Patriot's sheer domination of "elite" defenses. The Patriots, led by likely MVP, Tom "Bieber" Brady, are playing as well as their undefeated* season. Not only are they the clear favorite to win the Super Bowl (right now), the Patriots are the Jets main rival. It stings that much more. The only thing making it worse is Danny Woodhead. Mr. Entertaining could barely make the Jets' roster and now he is tearing it up for the Pats. And to make matters worse, the Jets are accused of cheating because of their indefinitely suspended, strength and conditioning coach, Sal Alosi. He thought it would be a good idea to make a wall of players on the sideline and intentionally trip an opposing player. This is leading to a season ending collapse by the Jets.

Moving on to phase two of a bad sports week, enter Cliff Lee, the new most hated man in NYC. He clearly was just stringing the Yankees on from the beginning, just as LeBron James did to NY, Cleveland, LA and Chicago. No amount of money could have brought him here as he would rather play in Philadelphia than anywhere in the US. A good few months in the city turned him away from experiencing new things with other teams. The Yanks lost the bid for a much needed lefty ace and most likely lost any chance at the World Series with it. The season is over before the new year began.

It will be a tough season to watch and this year will be Joe Girardi's toughest year. Without new toys, and busted up old ones, what can Girardi and the Yanks accomplish? The Red Sox bolstered their lineup and assuming their pitching can remain less injured than last season, the Sox are clearly the favorite to win the American League pennant. The Yanks will struggle to maintain a winning record.

Meanwhile, in the National League, the Phillies are the clear favorite to win the pennant. On paper, they may have the best rotation ever. Of course they have to actually play and prove they are worthy of that title, but right now, the NL has got to be scared. I said during the season that if Brian Cashman failed to bring Cliff Lee to NY, he should be fired. I don't want to hear the argument that he was able to resign Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera; those were gimme's. He failed to nab the biggest prize and saw the Red Sox nab two. I don't blame the Lee misstep on him though. He could not have foreseen the Phillies swooping in, offer him less money, but still win the lottery. Cashman did all he could, and then some, offering Lee seven years. They still need help though as five of the best six hitters in the Boston lineup are lefties, (Ellsbury, Crawford, Ortiz, Gonzalez, Drew.)

And for the trifecta in the bad NY sports week, enter the New York Knickerbockers. The Knicks, who I gave up on when LeBron went to Miami, were playing the Celtics, the best team in the East, last night in The Garden. Even though the Knicks had won eight in a row, led by 30+ points by Amar'e Stoudemire each night, this game would be the first real test for the Knicks. While I was excited for the game as the team seems to be relevant for the first time since Ewing, I had little hope they would win, and my prediction was true, they lost.

But what a game!

The Celtics were without Jolly Green Shaqtus, Kendrick Perkins and the other O'Neal, Jermaine, Rajan Rondo was hobbling down the court, the Knicks looked sloppy on defense and nowhere near as disciplined overall than the Celtics, but hot damn, what a game. There was a five minute span in the 4th quarter when it seemed no shots would be missed, Paul Pierce made his typical fade away shot with time expiring, that I have never seen him miss, and the game ended with a made 3-pointer by Amar'e that did not count because he did not get it off in time. Even though the Knicks lost, they renewed my hope in NY sports.

Before the game, I was worried that 2011 would be my worst sports year ever. The Eagles and Patriots both have legitamite shots at being in Dallas for the Super Bowl. The Celtics are on top of the East, beating Miami twice and proving the Eastern Conference title goes through Boston. The Flyers are backing their Stanley Cup loss with another good season. The Phillies and Red Sox may meet in the World Series. And to top a Phillies/Red Sox series off, football and basketball may not be played next season. I would get to let that marinate in my head for months.

After that game, the hope was renewed. The Knicks can possibly pull off a 4 or 5 seed and make a decent run into the playoffs. Something that hasn't been seen since Patrick Chewing. The New York Rangers are gaining steam and could make a run at the Stanley Cup. The Jets and Giants, (while you can't trust Eli or Sanchez), are both in line to make the playoffs, where anything can happen. And the Yankees could see a turnaround in AJ Burnett and a quick maturation into an ace by Phil Hughes. Amar'e gave me hope. Championships are not won in the newspaper, and they are not made in the offseason. Games still need to be played and teams need to prove themselves winners.

Thank you Amar'e. Basketball is back in NY!

BCS Mess

Yes, there is still an argument for a playoff in college football. Just because Boise State lost one game last week and knocked themselves out of the BCS Championship running does not mean the system works. They joined the multitude of one loss teams looking up at Auburn, Oregon and TCU; the last of the undefeated teams. The BCS system only works when there are two undefeated teams from the super conferences, SEC, Big 12, etc. If that is not the case, such as this year with three undefeated teams and many one-loss teams, the BCS is a failure and a playoff would remedy that.

TCU is the odd man out in the BCS Championship. Their undefeated season will go unrewarded, and college football needs to change bowl season into playoff season to fix future disappointments.

The biggest obstacle in starting a playoff is money. The current bowl system is a profit machine. Playoffs would reduce the number of teams eligible for bowls and possibly the number of bowls as well. I think you can keep the number of bowls, though getting rid of a few would not be a bad thing. Some teams are just undeserving of playing in a bowl game, just as an NFC West team will be undeserving of hosting a playoff game this year.

A team deserving of a bowl game, but not an automatic BCS game is UConn. They went 8-4 on the season and finished unranked, but because of the current system, all UConn had to accomplish in obtaining a BCS bid was to win the Big East. UConn received a BCS bid over teams with one loss and will receive a massive amount of extra money. They are in a BCS game and Temple, who beat them and finished with the same record, was left out of any bowls.

NCAA has a mess to deal with, both with apologizing to TCU for not allowing them a chance to play for a national championship, and cleaning up the "pay-to-play" controversy. NCAA makes a fortune off collegiate athletes and the athletes are not allowed to make a dime. This does not seem fair. Athletes deserve some type of compensation for the amount of time put in to their practice. Other students are told to get internships or summer jobs pertaining to their major. If football is essentially the athletes' majors, why shouldn't they be paid accordingly.

This opens a "Pandora's Box" that the NCAA is avoiding. To say student athletes should be paid over regular students, also is not fair. Something needs to change though, because there will always be Cam Newton's or Reggie Bush's who have family members trying to get a piece of the pie. A pie that the NCAA is not willing to share.