Very interesting article by Rick Cleveland of the Clarion Ledger (Jackson, Mississippi) – all about college football coaches and the high salaries they receive, especially when compared to those of professors.
Rick says that big-time college athletics is a business, but seems skeptical at the inherent culture.
He’s exactly right about the business part. But why do people go into business? To make money. Yes, it can be hard to digest for academia, but the money educational institutions make from their participation in this “business” allows for the betterment of the school as a whole.
Also see, The Business of College Sports, a True Hoop blog entry.
And I’m sorry, but starting the first defensive play of the game with only 10 men on the field was NOT the way for the Redskins to honor Sean Taylor. If they wanted to feel his presence on the actual field, they should have put his number 21 on the grass, and not allow Freddie Jackson to bust a 22 yard run down the left side. Doing this also put the Buffalo Bills in the awkward situation of receiving comments from announcers to the effect of, ‘The classy thing for the Bills to do would be to take a knee.’ Uhhh….no! Sean Taylor played to win. Both teams should be out there doing the same.
Read more »
UPDATE: Very good blog post by Marc Fisher of the Washington Post, Listener: Two Stations, Two Sean Taylors, which discusses the differing coverage of the Sean Taylor tragedy from DC’s two main sports radio stations.
The passing of Sean Taylor was a pretty surreal moment for me. I went to bed on Monday evening, probably like many of us, thinking that he would be okay. The coverage on Washington, DC’s Comcast Sports after the Wizards-Mavericks game seemed to indicate that the positive signs shown from Taylor meant that recovery was imminent. Part of my morning alarm routine involves my bathroom television coming on at a certain time, to coincide with my blackberry alarm. On most days, except for after Redskins losses because I want a little separation from the sports world, the station is tuned to ESPN 2 for the Mike & Mike In The Morning broadcast. Today, Tuesday November 27th, I woke up to the sentence that Sean Taylor had died about an hour earlier that morning. Yes, a surreal moment. Yet, I can’t begin to imagine how shocking the news of his death was for family, friends, teammates, coaches, the entire Washington Redskins organization, and anyone who ever had personal contact with Sean Taylor. When I first heard of the incident on Monday morning, the shooting itself, I was taken back a little, but casually figured that Sean Taylor would survive.
The thing is, I wasn’t even shocked that Taylor was shot in the first place. And I can’t pin-point the exact reason for this feeling. Even Michael Wilbon, in one of the several versions of Pardon the Interruption leading up to Monday Night Football, said that he was not surprised when he heard about the shooting. I’d be willing to bet that this was the case for many of us, but why?
The very first Washington Post online story released around 11:26 am on Monday, November 26th could not yet provide any details outside of the fact that Taylor had been shot in his home, and that he’d been air-lifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital. The article went on to give a brief account of Taylor’s time with the Redskins, along with the fact that he grew up in south Florida, the son of a police chief. Then followed the run down of Taylor’s troubles since he entered the NFL, including the ATV assault incident, the suspicion of drunken driving, the skipping of off-season workouts, the absence from the NFL mandatory rookie symposium, and the spitting in the face of Michael Pittman.
In an email chain among friends, my boy Chris expressed his displeasure at the simple fact that the article mentioned Taylor’s previous run-ins with authority:
Read more »
Here are the points: Yes, Gilbert’s knee is bothering him, and the 07-08 Washington Wizards are not the same as a result. But this should not be the case.
Now the facts: The Wizards are not playing any defense and they have shown glimpses of quitting on their coach, Eddie Jordan. The solace taken is that the players, the team, know this. Do they have the desire to change the course? We will see today at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Like no dancing for Chad Johnson ’till .500, no keys to the game until a Wizards win.
Just win baby. Hey, at least the Skins seem to be gaining steam after a slow start. They’ve got a 12-7 lead with just under 2 minutes left in the half as the Wizards and Hawks tip it off.
1st Quarter
The Hawks have promising youth on the inside in Horford and Josh Smith, but the Wiz do well in trying to establish a Haywood inside offensive presence early. Reliable, easy, points need to start coming from somewhere. In fact, I’d be curious to give a detailed look at all NBA rosters. I’m willing to bet that the Wizards are the only team in the entire league without a consistent post scorer. If you’re looking for some answers, you could start there.
A lot of run ‘n’ gun to start the 1st. A fast pace is something the Wizards need to get used to doing again. They show a little rust, with a hint of sloppiness….Caron Butler also needs to be getting himself better looks at the basket. But a 16-11 lead with 5:40 left is not bad.
Read more »
