Everything You Need to Know About Tiger Woods

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What’s Wrong with Baseball

As we prepare to continue this series here is a review of numbers 7-10 of the list. Click on the titles to read the articles. Number 6 to appear soon.

10: Wimpy Pitchers

9: The Designated Hitter

8: Cheating

7: The Concept of the Closer

Don’t Give the Evidence to Goodell!

Bill Belichick is talking … finally. And, while he’s apologizing, he’s also implying it wasn’t much of a big deal.

But what’s more important is what former Patriot employee Matt Walsh has to say. Walsh says he had evidence that the Patriots taped the St. Louis Rams’ walk-through before the 2002 Super Bowl.

Belichick recently minimized “Spygate,” saying, “I take responsibility for it. Even though I felt there was a gray area in the rule and I misinterpreted the rule….”

Here is the rule he misinterpreted. Tell me how someone who is consistently called a “genius” could misinterpret such a rule.

NFL Constitution & Bylaws Article 9:

Any use by any club at any time, from the start to the finish of any game in which such club is a participant, of any communications or information-gathering equipment, other than Polaroid-type cameras or field telephones, shall be prohibited, including without limitation videotape machines, telephone tapping, or bugging devices, or any other form of electronic devices that might aid a team during the playing of a game.

How on earth could someone who is not even a genius misinterpret that, much less a genius?

Meanwhile, Belichick is denying the Rams incident and Walsh is keeping the evidence until he has stronger assurances from the NFL.

Walsh! Don’t give the evidence to Roger Goodell! Remember what happened to the previous evidence? Heaven know has much incriminating evidence Goodell has already destroyed. Don’t give him any more.

Justice! Giants Take Down Cheatriots in Super Bowl

Cheatriots fall.

Giants destroy evil empire.

Roger Goodell puts up greatest act of his pitiful career, pretending to be happy that the Giants won.

Have been away from the blogosphere for a while. My last blog post (read below) lamented the Giants narrow loss to the Patriots in the regular season. I ended that post by saying this:

One’s only hope is to pray for a miracle … an upset in the playoffs. For that to happen, three things need to take place: Pats have a bad game, opponents have a great game, refs call the game fairly.

Those three things happened … as deep into the playoffs as you can get. After I wrote that post, one comment from a New England fan told me, and I quote, “GET OVER IT.”

I’m over it.

The 1972 Dolphins stand alone. It is justice that this cheating, condescending Patriot team and coach lost. And not surprising that Belichick was not courteous enough to be on the sidelines for the final play.

Now, Senator Arlen Specter and Congress, go after Roger Goodell.

Nothing he has said in defense of destroying evidence makes sense. He was quite simply, protecting the Patriots. Their spy-gate surely goes far beyond what we have heard. We’ll never know what Goodell destroyed. But, if justice is on a roll, other evidence will surface.

Congratulations to the New York Giants. They have saved the sports world … for now.

Refs Hand Game to Cowboys; Officiating Partial?

“The pass interference play that wasn’t.” —Bryant Gumbel 

No neutral viewer (which I was in this game) could go away from this game thinking both teams got an even shake. Call after call went against the Carolina Panthers, who would have upset Dallas without the apparent complicity of the officials. It was obvious the refs were calling marginal penalties against Carolina while ignoring egregious violations of the rules against the preferred ‘Boys, especially the obvious pass interference, run repeatedly on the NFL Network, that Gumbel and Collingsworth both agreed had to be a penalty and totally reversed the fortunes of the game. 

Even with all the refs did for them, Dallas could only muster a 20-13 victory.

They didn’t earn it. Dallas fans can’t be proud about this one. It was a shameful display by the officials and, for at least one game, put the Cowboys on the same moral low-ground as the New England Patriots. Appropriate, I guess, since the two teams may meet in the Super Bowl. Only something has changed, at least for me. Up till tonight I would have been rooting for Dallas in that game. After tonight’s preferential, shameful display, I’ll have a hard time watching that game, if indeed it does materialize. 

John Fox, you’ve got a right to be angry. The officiating system, in front of the whole world, let you down, and cast doubt upon the integrity of the system.

Cowboys fans, hang your heads.

Belichick, Patriots Prepare for Jets

Bill Belichick today, when asked how he would prepare for the next game, replied that it would be just like they have been preparing for their games. Since their next game is a divisional contest with the New York Jets, we have to wonder if that includes the use of illegal videotape, which they needed to use earlier in the season when they played their first game in order to sufficiently embarrass them. Since New England will be at home, it should be easier for them to find an alternate way to cheat.

James J. Braddock Wins Heavyweight Title

Underdog James J. Braddock, dubbed the Cinderella Man for his remarkable fairy-tale comeback, won a unanimous 15-round decision tonight against the overwhelming favorite, Heavyweight Boxing Champion Max Baer, to win the world heavyweight crown.

OK, so it didn’t really happen tonight. I just saw the movie Cinderella Man for the first time. Here was this overwhelming underdog, an honest family man, facing off against the arrogant, womanizing champion. The world wanted him to beat all odds and win. It defied reality but he did it. And this was not fiction; it really happened.

So I’m thinking, there’s a parallel here with the NFL this year. Braddock: All the massive underdog, honest teams. Baer: The dishonest, arrogant, womanizing Patriots. There is hope! If Braddock beat Baer, some decent group of guys could beat the villainous Pats.

Then Hollywood can make it into a movie.

Sports Soaps Top 5 of the Week

The U.S. sports scene has been providing a bumper crop of soap operas.

1. Barry Bonds: Finally indicted.
2. A-Rod: Mr. Not-October slinks back to New York.
3. O.J.: Is America ready for another trial?
4. Stephon Marbury: AWOL egoist pays.
5. Ricky Williams: Desperate Dolphins tap sober former-superstar.

Dishonorable Mention:

Joe Glenn/Kyle Whittingham: Coaches prove they can be less mature than the students they coach. [story]
Michael Vick: Continuing saga.
Belichick/Patriots: The coach fans love to hate.

Bonds Indicted: Career Over

Barry Bonds has been indicted for multiple counts of perjury and obstruction of justice four years after his testimony before the grand jury that he did not knowingly take performance-enhancing drugs. The baseball world is wondering, Why now?

Did they wait for him to break the record? What do they suddenly have now that they didn’t have before?

Regardless, his career is certainly over. A debatable value as a DH, most likely in nearby Oakland for the A’s, Bonds has lost his options. No g.m. is going to want to add a circus to their 2008 schedule. And, of course, he may not be at liberty to play anyway.

It’s a sad day for baseball. Some fans, mostly in San Francisco, were holding out hope of his innocence. And while those hopes have not been entirely dashed—he could still be found innocent—most expect a guilty verdict to be inevitable.

Now we can look forward to months of news dominated by the Bonds and O.J. cases. Remember when sports were what mattered in the sports world?

What’s Wrong With Baseball #8: Cheating

Cheating would come in at No. 1 if I were currently doing a series on What’s Wrong With Football. And there would be something about Belichick and video tape. But baseball is far from being above the cheating fray. And it never has been. While Bill Belichick has taken cheating to a whole new level of sophistication, similar things have been done in baseball for a long time, though not quite in such a refined manner (e.g., binoculars in the scoreboard stealing signs).

The cheating that stands out right now … I mean right now … is steroids, and related substances. I really hope there is a way Paul Byrd can be found innocent. (See “Byrd Revelation Casts Pall Over Indians-Red Sox Game 7.”) Barry Bonds is still on the hook, though nothing has yet been proven. Then we have Giambi.

Perhaps the most disappointing is Mark McGwire, who has disappeared since his sworn testimony evaporated.

Let’s be honest about cheating. It has been part of the national pastime in more ways than can be enumerated from memory.

There was the out-in-the-open dirty play … Ty Cobb sliding into the bag with his spikes high.

Gamblers fixed games … whatever one believes about the Black Sox … perhaps the worst form of cheating.

There was one that was so universally used that they had to create a rule to prevent it … the spitter. Gaylord Perry, where are you now? We even hear about little edges that Hall-of-Fame greats like Whitey Ford used to get … digging a wedding ring into a ball, for example.

My goal is not to list all the types of cheating in baseball. You can stretch the whole ethics issue here. How about a catcher framing a pitch to try to fool the umpire? I remember once playing first base in a pick-up game. One of our infielders tossed me a ground ball, which arrived at about the same time as the runner, but clearly beat him. I had to come into the line to get the wide throw and the runner slammed into me. I went sprawling, tearing a brand-new pair of pants (in the days before rips became desirable).

The runner jumped off the ground. “He didn’t touch the bag,” he yelled repeatedly. Everyone considered him out. I was the only one who knew he was right. But I was ticked about the pants. I didn’t say I did touch the bag, but I didn’t say I didn’t either. So he was out. That was unethical … and now it’s finally off my chest.

My point is … even little forms of cheating, like trying to get an edge with the umps, are cheating.

We would all love it if we could free the game of the big cheats and forms of cheating. But how about we just expect adults who play baseball to be honest. Now, wouldn’t that be refreshing?

Byrd Revelation Casts Pall Over Indians-Red Sox Game 7

I have said that game sevens are heaven—seventh heaven if you will—for baseball fans. It is unfortunate when anything takes away from those magical games. But a blog called Sports and Ethics can’t ignore the current revelation about Cleveland starter Paul Byrd.

“Byrd, whose win in Game 4 of the ALCS moved the Indians within one victory of the World Series, bought nearly $25,000 worth of human growth hormone and syringes from 2002 to 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.” (Read the full report here.)

Baseball doesn’t need this. One normally associates steroids with power hitters, like the accusations against Barry Bonds. But a non-superstar-type player seems to have the most to gain from such use. Byrd has denied the accusations in the past. The timing of this revelation seems political, like something that would happen near election time. Game 7 is the closest to election time in baseball there is. It is a shame to see this now. It is even a worse shame if it is true.

No matter what happens, we will be hearing a lot more on this. If the Indians pull one out tonight, it will become front and center until the end of the World Series.

The Juice in Hot Water

Out of principal I have resisted doing anything about O.J. Simpson up to now. But a blog called “Sports and Ethics” has to eventually get to the most unethical of sports figures.

When he confronted two sports memorabilia dealers, according to a co-defendant Walter Alexander, who has copped a plea and will testify against the Hall of Famer, “O.J. said, ‘Hey, just bring some firearms.”‘

Simpson said the guns were “so that these people know that, you know, we’re here for business.”

Apparently one of Simpson’s men got carried away and flashed the gun, but there is no proof O.J. tried to restrain him.

Co-defendant Charles Cashmore has also agreed to a plea deal. And the Juice is in trouble.

How the mighty have fallen. There are plenty of accounts of wayward superstars, a few who have gotten into crime. But O.J.’s true story reads like bad fiction. The things he keeps getting involved in—alleged murder, If I Did It, this incident and more—just boggle the mind. No one would believe this if it were fiction.

Michael Vick has rightly been the target of a lot of disdain; but the “alleged” O.J. makes Vick look like a Boy Scout.

Decent folk everywhere are hoping this is the last wacky saga from the one-time king of football.

(Read the AP report here.)

Give the Devil His Due

(Or is it Dew?)

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots look unbeatable. The Cowboys never really had a chance, though they kept it close. The only real question about the game is … just where is the video camera now?

Game over. Give the Devil his Mountain Dew.

Boston Up 2, Down 1

No this is not the Red Sox-Indians score. The Red Sox breezed to a 10-3 first-game win. This is the city’s score.

Up: Boston Red Sox, back in the running.

Up: The city of Boston. I have walked the Freedom Trail, sampled the clam chowdah, and a lot more. It’s one of the best cities in America.

Down: Patriots, the team that didn’t need to cheat, but did. The team that tries to make NFL fans believe it didn’t matter. The coach that besmirched his team and damaged the league. The coach who is not “the best coach in NFL history.”

It would be easier to enjoy the Red Sox run if the Patriots weren’t still around, bothering sports fans.

(But wait; it’s really Foxborough, isn’t it?)

“World’s Fastest Woman” Can’t Outrun Steroids Scandal

She’s been called “The fastest woman on Earth, and arguably the best female athlete in the world.”[1] But Marion Jones’ long-distance run against steroid accusations ended in defeat earlier today.

The AP reported:

Marion Jones’ … words rang out in the silent, stately federal courtroom.

She was a liar and a cheat, she told the judge….

And so ended years of angry denials by one of the world’s most celebrated athletes.

The owner of three Olympic golds and two bronze medals, Jones came clean Friday and admitted she used steroids. She pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs, then announced her retirement in a tearful apology outside the U.S. District Court.

“It’s with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust,” Jones said, her voice cracking as her mother stood behind her, a strong and supportive hand on her shoulder.

“I have been dishonest and you have the right to be angry with me. I have let (my family) down. I have let my country down, and I have let myself down,” she said, pausing frequently to regain her composure.

Time, one of many to put Jones on their cover, said:

You wanted to believe her. She made you believe. She was good like that. Marion Jones, TIME cover girl, winner of five medals — three gold — at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and now an admitted steroid user, sat in a sweltering press tent at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials in Sacramento, and put on an Oscar-worthy show.

Five Olympic medals are history. In a dark day for athletics of any kind, much less the Olympics, Jones takes her place in the Olympic Hall of Shame alongside Canadian Ben Johnson, whose 1988 malfeasance was discovered much more quickly.

Yes, Marion, you have let your country down. In a day when we need all the positives we can get, you tied the name Cheater, not just to Marion Jones, but in the eyes of many around the world, to the U.S.A. Of course, Ben Johnson’s cheating didn’t make Canada a cheating nation. We know it was Johnson alone and not his team or country. And we know our country is not a cheating nation either. We don’t want to win that way. But that won’t stop others from saying it.

Honesty and ethics in sports go far beyond the individual. This case shows that someone who cheats for herself can reflect poorly on an entire nation.

Let the light of truth shine. The U.S.A. wants no wins it doesn’t deserve.

Endnote:

1. Infoplease.com, “Marion Jones: The first woman to win five medals at one Olympics”

Coaches Influence Youth

The utter collapse of sportsmanship and ethics seen in the Bill Belichick/Patriots scandal can be discouraging. Our culture today has enough role models who are “bad guys.” Sports figures, whether it’s right or wrong, probably command the most attention among young people. When young people see Patriots condoning the unethical behavior of their coach, it leaves an emotional impression upon them. If the Pats think Bill Belichick is “the best NFL coach ever,” then that’s how to play the game. Belichick and the Patriots have done a lot more damage than simply blackening the name of pro fooball.

There are people out there who are concerned about building character through sports in young lives. Here are a couple of excellent quotes.

Everything a Coach Says or Does Sends a Message About Values. Coaches are often the most influential adults in the lives of youngsters and adolescents. What they say and don’t say, do and don’t do – on and off the field – sends a message about values and reveals something about the coaches’ priorities and character. Thus, coaches must always ask themselves: “What message am I sending?”

—Michael Josephson

We know what message Belichick sent.

Coaches are, first and foremost, teachers; they are among the most influential people in a young athlete’s life. Because coaches are such powerful role models, young athletes learn more from them about character than about athletic performance.

goodcharacter.com

Needed: More coaches with these qualities. If certain pro coaches today had had coaches like this when they were young, perhaps they wouldn’t be cheating today, and besmirching the game.

Belichick on Belichick: “Some of the things I do are pretty dumb”

“Yes, I think it’s pretty amusing. Some of the things I do are pretty dumb. I appreciate the compliments, but I wouldn’t use that adjective.” –On being referred to as a genius

On film study:
“I think I had an appreciation for it early. A lot of times, guys don’t watch film until they get to college. But I was 10 years old and studying it. Film was important to me.” (24 Oct 2004)

We now know it’s very important to him.

being defending champions
“We’re not defending anything.” (30 Jan 2005)

And that goes for today, too. Mum’s the word.

“If preserving the integrity of the game and presenting it in the right way involves getting lower ratings, then that’s what we’re going to have to accept. If that’s what we have to do to, if that’s the deal, then that’s the deal. This can’t become the XFL.” (19 Nov 2004)

I think he forgot he said this.

Why he doesn’t do his own taping:
“I’m kind of a detail-oriented person, and I don’t mind doing the details. But I found through time that I’m better off not getting involved in those things, so I can do a better job of managing the team. What I found out is that a lot of people do those jobs better than I would have done anyway.” (31 Jan 2002)

Selected quotes from http://www.allthingsbillbelichick.com/.

Patriots Can’t Prove They Won Fairly

What Roger Goodell thought he did by destroying the Patriots’ illegal tapes is exactly the opposite of what he actually did. Goodell thought he made it impossible to prove the Pats cheated in their Super Bowls. Instead, he made it impossible for New England to prove they didn’t. Everyone (rightly) assumes Belicheat’s boys profited from ill-gotten info in their three biggest wins. What the fans need is evidence that they didn’t. Until we see proof Bill’s boys are clean, we should assume they’re not. But they had to do it. Knowing they are guilty without the evidence is just a little bit better than knowing they are guilty with the evidence. There was no way to prove their innocence from the tapes … because they’re not innocent.

Roger Goodell has succeeded in something. He has successfully extended this ethics scandal/integrity crisis to the league office. Now, who’s guarding the hen house?

Evidence In (and Gone): Pats Cheated in Super Bowls

In “Pats’ tapes are gone, but questions remain,” Gregg Easterbrook begins:

Reader Abhijit Kumbare of San Jose, Calif., writes, “It is very fishy that the NFL immediately destroyed all the evidence submitted by the Patriots.” Steve Libenson of New York writes, “Consider what the press reaction would have been if David Stern had collected all the evidence about the ref altering games, then immediately destroyed that evidence without saying what it showed, and did so four days after going on national television and promising to get to the bottom of things.”
Fishy, indeed. On Sunday, Sept. 16, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell went on national TV and promised he would get to the bottom of the Patriots’ sign-stealing. Four days later, the NFL announced all videotapes and other spying materials compiled by the Patriots had been obtained by the league and destroyed. Goodell, who until then had been very upfront in addressing the Beli-Cheat scandal, didn’t go back on television to say what the tapes contained; the commissioner has been in radio silence about the Patriots since the files arrived at the NFL’s Park Avenue headquarters. The league acted in a hurry to dispose of damning documents, but has not revealed what was in the tapes and notes, nor said why there was a rush to get rid of them.

The lack of answers leaves several questions hanging out there. Chief among them: Is it possible the Patriots’ tapes showed some evidence of New England cheating in a Super Bowl?

Fishy yes. Maybe even illegal. No doubt whatsoever: The Pats have cheated at the maximum throughout all their championship runs, including the Super Bowls. The evidence was on the tapes. Which is why a pitiful man, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, had them destroyed. The NFL has gone to H in a handbasket on his watch. “Forget the integrity of the game,” Goodell might have said behind closed doors (or in silent prayer), “just save my job.”

So an unscrupulous villain, Bill Belichick, gets a pass and football gets the shaft.

Fire Goodell.

(More here.)

Are there no honest athletes left?

Colleges are for education.

Today, in “23 Florida State athletes accused of cheating,” the AP reported:

Two athletic department academic assistance employees have resigned and 23 Florida State University athletes were implicated in cheating on tests given over the Internet, school officials said Wednesday.

The athletes represent nine sports and 17 of the students are or have been on scholarship. Officials could not identify the students and could not say which sports are involved because of federal confidentiality restrictions.

University President T.K. Wetherell reported the findings in a letter to the NCAA. He indicated inquires are continuing although an internal investigation failed to find conclusive evidence of a more widespread pattern of cheating.

Cheating on the Internet? How hard can that be? The honor system is dead in big college sports. It’s time that colleges were used for education.

(Read the AP report here.)