After last season, we knew the Golden State Warriors were good. Coming off of an NBA title, led by league MVP Stephen Curry, all was well in Oakland. They were able to avoid both the Spurs and the Clippers in the playoffs, and that surely helped. When they did reach the Finals, they faced a Cleveland Cavaliers team that was severely depleted by injuries, and Golden State was fully healthy, leading them to a series win and the team's first NBA championship since 1975. So, a detractor might say that the Warriors caught some breaks along the way. However, in the end, they were the ones lifting the championship trophy, and that is all that really matters. The team was young, talented, and coming off a dream season. Coming into the 2015-16 season, no one could take Golden State lightly, but I don't think anyone could have predicted the kind of start they have gotten off to so far.
Going into a game tonight against a very poor 2-11 Los Angeles Lakers team, the Warriors have a chance to win their 16th straight game to begin the season, something that has never been done before. Stephen Curry has been by far the best player in the league so far this season, and I think everyone not named Kobe Bryant expects the Warriors to win tonight and go to 16-0. In any sport other than football, it really isn't reasonable to look at the schedule and be able to predict each game because there are just too many games and teams and players are bound to have bad games here and there. At least, I think that is the case. What the Warriors have done out of the gate this year is making me give that a second thought though.
After tonight, the Warriors go to Phoenix to face a sneaky good Suns team, who have been led by a very formidable backcourt combo of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight. I wouldn't be surprised if Phoenix handed Golden State their first loss of the season there. After that, they get a below average Sacramento Kings team at home, and then go to Utah to face an average to maybe slightly above-average Jazz team. With the ups and downs of the NBA, and the daily grind of an 82 game season, anything could happen, but you have to say that the Warriors are clearly better than all of those teams, and that brings me to the real question. Is this team good enough to challenge Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls team for the best single season record in the history of the NBA? I think the answer is yes.
I will not go into a soliloquy on Michael Jordan, because lord knows we get enough of that anywhere you talk about the sport of basketball. Let's just say that team that went 72-10 was really, really good. However, what the Warriors are in the midst of doing is literally changing the way the game of basketball is played at the highest level. While this shift did not begin with Golden State, they sure are a prime example of how the game has evolved over the past few decades. In the 1990's and into the new millennium, so many teams were built from the middle out. The goal was to find a big man to hold down the paint, and then surround him with players who could get him the ball. The Houston Rockets won titles with Hakeem Olajuwon as their centerpiece. The Lakers had Kobe Bryant, but they didn't become a dynasty until they added Shaquille O'Neal to the mix. The Spurs did everyone one better by having two great big men when they had David Robinson and Tim Duncan in the middle.
Somewhere in between now and then, teams began to focus less on the center position, and more on the wings. No more Michael Olowokandi or Kwame Brown or Greg Oden. Teams wanted guys who could score inside, but score from the perimeter as well. The bogged down, low tempo style of play became a thing of the past, and guys like John Wall, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Derrick Rose were being picked at the top of the draft. Blake Griffin and Anthony Davis have been first overall picks, and they are big men, but they are two guys who can do more than just stand in the paint and wait for someone to get them the ball. They might be big, but they are far more versatile than guys their size were 20 years ago.
You now need a strong perimeter game to win in the NBA, and that is why the Warriors are 15-0 right now. They won last year because of their outstanding perimeter players, and that is a large part of the reason they are winning this year as well. Curry is the centerpiece, but his supporting cast is extremely formidable. Klay Thompson, who by his lofty standards, is actually off to a pretty mediocre start can knock down shots from all over the court. Harrison Barnes plays his role perfectly. Andre Iguodala might be getting a bit older, but he fits perfectly as well. Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli do what they need to do in the paint, and Draymond Green has to be one of the most overlooked stars in the league. Obviously, it is easy to overlook someone who plays alongside the reigning MVP, but Green fills up the stat sheet night in and night out.
So, is making a run at 72 wins really possible for this team? They have been very fortunate to be able to avoid injuries, and that will surely play a role in whether or not they can get there. We have seen the San Antonio Spurs rest their players somewhat frequently in recent years in order to stay fresh for the playoffs, and the Cavaliers have said that they will try to do the same with their guys since they were so devastated by injuries last year. As of right now, the Warriors do not have that to worry about. The core of their team is young. The older players are all role players who do not play a ton of minutes each night anyway, so keeping them fresh is much easier than it is for other legitimate contenders who have older rosters.
The next thing you need to look at is just exactly how significant trying to break Chicago's record is to Golden State. While most of their players will not say anything publicly, you know that behind closed doors, these guys have to be thinking about it. What started as a few wins could now turn into the best stretch to open the season in league history. Questions are already being asked, and they will only be asked more and more if the wins keep piling up like this. As I said before, the NBA season is a long grind. What really matters is what happens in the postseason, and that is when teams need to be at their best. But that doesn't render everything that happens in the regular season meaningless. 72-10 is the best it has ever been, but records are made to be broken.
Golden State is as good as it gets right now in the NBA. Stephen Curry is following up his MVP season with another one that seems like it may be even better. When I first read this I thought it could not have been correct, but he has actually already surpassed his father in career three-pointers made. Dell Curry was surely not an MVP caliber player, but he was a very good shooter in his day. In 16 seasons, Dell hit 1,245 threes. Stephen has connected on 1,265 and this is only his seventh season in the league. That is unbelievable. And did I forget to mention that all of this has gone on without their head coach even on the bench? Steve Kerr led the team to a title last year, and after back surgeries following last season, he is still not fully recovered and no one knows exactly when he will return. That is unbelievable as well. The team lost its head coach after he announced he was taking a leave of absence soon before the season tipped off, and they have not missed a beat. Luke Walton has taken his place, and at only 35 years of age, he is only three years older than Leandro Barbosa, who is his backup point guard.
I have been asking the question to all of the basketball fans I know for a week or two now. Is 70 wins possible? While it is still far too early to tell, I have not heard anyone say no. Over an 82 game haul, things might get dull or boring, but having a team like this able to seemingly make a run at history like this is something that will drive up interest each and every night they play. Injuries are always the ever-looming equalizer, but barring that, I don't see why this team should not want to make a run at 72 wins. In the end, what you do in the regular season doesn't mean as much if you don't end the season with a championship, but if the Warriors were able to do what the Bulls did in breaking the wins record and winning a title, they could go down as one of the all-time greatest teams in the history of the sport, and that is a conversation anyone should love to be included in.
Daily Giants Update: The bye week worked out pretty much as well as we could have hoped. Dallas won, and I still don't think they are out of the hunt (which is pretty sad since they are 3-7). If they win every game from here on out, I think 9-7 is good enough to win the NFC East. They get Carolina on Thursday though, and the Panthers are 10-0. The only way spending Thanksgiving with a big plate of food and family could be any better is if we all got to watch the Cowboys lose as well. Speaking of Carolina, they are coming off a blowout win over the Redskins, which dropped Washington to 4-6. The Giants get the Redskins next Sunday, and having already beaten them once, a win on Sunday for the Giants would go a long way in trying to finally finish off Washington's season. The news is just as good in Philadelphia where the quarterback situation is a mess, the team is coming off an ugly loss to Tampa Bay, and I heard radio clips today from Philadelphia of fans going off on Chip Kelly and the team. Hopefully the implosion continues and we can all laugh while Chip Kelly and the Eagles sink.
Daily Rangers Update: The Rangers shut out the Predators last night, and Rick Nash has come alive in the past few games. Next up is a battle between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, as the Canadiens visit Madison Square Garden tomorrow night. Montreal shut out the Rangers early in the season, so winning tomorrow would not only put the team alone atop the Eastern Conference, but it would be some nice revenge on the only team who has shut the Rangers out so far this season.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Still pretty much no news at all in the MLB offseason, but there are obviously discussions underway all over the league. The winter meetings are still a few weeks away, and that is usually the official beginning of the MLB offseason. Until then, I don't expect much news to come.
Daily NBA Update: Obviously, the Warriors go for history tonight, but aside from that, at the complete opposite end of the spectrum, the 76ers still have not won a game, and I really don't know why anyone would want to pay money to go see them play. They have a potential four picks in the first round in the upcoming draft, but until then, it is going to be painful to watch basketball in Philadelphia for quite a while.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
A change for the better?
The U.S. Soccer Federation recently announced that it was banning the use of the header in youth soccer for children 10 years and under, and only allowing it in practice sessions for children aged 11 and 12. When I heard this, I must say that I was pretty surprised. The one sport that I did play throughout my childhood and high school years was soccer, so I feel like this is a subject that I can speak on with some form of experience. The focus in recent years when it comes to head injuries has been mainly on football. Because of the violent nature of the game, we have seen a drastic shift, at every level, in not only how to handle head injuries, but how to prevent them as well. While people have all types of various opinions on what these safeguards have done to the sport itself, at the root of the movement is the goal to keep participants safer, and that is surely a good-natured goal. While football has been in the spotlight, this announcement by the U.S. Soccer Federation should make us remember that there are plenty of kids playing other sports who are susceptible to head injuries that need to be looked out for as well.
What this ruling does, in terms that might be easier to understand, is to completely disallow elementary school age children from heading the ball, and limit the number of times middle school level players can use their heads. Whether this is good or bad depends largely upon who you ask. At the most basic level, I think most outsiders would say that this ruling makes perfect sense. The first 18 years of a child's life are extremely important in terms of how that child will live as an adult. Bad choices or traumatic events that occur at a young age can cause irreparable damage that could last for a lifetime. A child's brain takes years to fully develop, and a soccer ball banging into their head surely cannot be a good thing. However, heading the ball is a fundamental skill that is vital to playing the game of soccer at the highest level, and it is a skill that is absolutely essential to master in order to play the game at that level. So then, is this ruling something that will do more good than bad? I still can't say that I really know for sure.
I started playing organized soccer around the age of five or six, and I played it through high school. During that time, the way I played the game, and the way all of my peers played the game changed quite a bit. At the lowest level, no one headed the ball. We would see it happen on television, but there was little to no focus on using the header as a legitimate skill. As I continued to grow and play, we would practice heading the ball, but that involved very little impact as far as the speed of the ball and the technique we used. I can honestly say that if I were a parent and my child played soccer as an 8-10 year old, I would be more worried about him or her sustaining a head injury on a bicycle or at the playground than playing soccer. So from that standpoint, it seems like this ruling would not have changed the way I grew and developed as a young soccer player.
Even as I reached middle school and began to play more competitively, heading the ball was still not an essential part of play as far as the games were concerned, but it was around that time that it became something that really needed to be learned if you wanted to continue to play soccer into high school. I honestly do not remember the first time I witnessed someone score a goal using a header, but I don't think it was before I was at least 12 years old, so that seems to be perfectly in tune with how the U.S. Soccer Federation came to this conclusion as far as the way the header is used in soccer in this country.
In the short time since this new rule was announced, I have heard more support for the ruling than disdain, and as I write this and think more closely about it as it applies practically to how I grew up playing soccer, I think I have no problem with it. People who are not in favor of the decision use the argument that heading the ball is essential to the game of soccer, and they are completely correct when they say that. I have heard some people say that this will allow children to focus more on footwork and skill handling the ball with their feet, but I really don't buy into that. There are plenty of times during a game of soccer that in order to make a play, your only option is to use your head. What I surely do remember about playing soccer when I was younger is that a "high kicking" rule was strictly enforced. Going up for a ball in the air with your head may be dangerous sometimes, but it is surely not as reckless as trying to win a ball in the air by swinging your cleats up near the eye level of your opponents.
Then what about helmets? Goalkeepers were required to wear helmets from the start when I played soccer in order to prevent head injuries, so then why not allow headers as long as all of the players wear helmets? In my eyes, this seems to be a valid answer. Like I said before with bicycle injuries, helmets were not always mandatory when riding a bicycle, but now any parent with any inkling of care for their child would not allow them to get on a bike without a helmet. Helmets did not always exist in football and hockey, and those sports eventually adapted and made them a requirement. Could that eventually happen is soccer? In my eyes, it absolutely could.
This newfound heightened awareness when it comes to head injuries will, in the long run, do nothing but good for athletes of all ages in all sports. Youth wrestlers and boxers were not always required to wear helmets, but now they are as well. Maybe soccer is next. And then after that, maybe basketball will follow. It may seem outrageous to think that, and "purists" may not like it, but if it helps to protect all athletes, and young ones in particular, then why is it a bad thing?
I wasn't really sure how I felt about this ruling when I first heard it, but I think now that I have given it some thought, I don't have a problem with it. While young children should definitely be aware that heading the ball is vital to playing the game of soccer, I also know that when it comes to actually using the header in a game setting, this ruling is really right on the money. Over 20 million Americans play youth soccer, and that number seems to be continuing to grow. There is a reason they call it the beautiful game, because at its highest level, soccer requires a wide variety of skills and traits, and when played by the best, it can be a beautiful thing to watch.
I will always believe that every kid should get out there and play some kind of sport. It doesn't have to be organized or competitive, but it should be fun, because it is fun. For the 1% that make it to the highest level, then congratulations. But for the other 99%, they should still enjoy the games even if they end up only being a hobby. When you do play sports, injuries will always be a possibility. That is an undeniable fact. However, is the everyday, working class person who never played a sport in their life but smokes a pack of cigarettes a day or goes home to a glass of wine every night just as much at risk as an athlete? Yes, they are. Plenty of people live their lives cleanly. They don't smoke, they don't drink, they don't put themselves at risk by playing contact sports, and that is totally fine. More power to them, and I commend them for living that way. But there are so many ways that sports and athletics can be a positive way to spend your free time that you will never find me campaigning against getting out there and having fun, no matter your age or ability. The safer it is, the better for everyone, and what the U.S. Soccer Federation ruled definitely, in my mind, will help make the game safer for anyone who ever wants to lace up their boots and step on the pitch from now until eternity.
Daily Rangers Update: The freight train that is the Broadway Blueshirts continued to roll last night, as the Rangers made it ten straight games earning at least one point, with eight of those games being wins. A very good and unfamiliar foe will come to town tomorrow night in the form of the St. Louis Blues, in what will be the first of only two meetings between the teams this season. The Rangers sit second in the Eastern Conference, while the Blues sit second in the Western Conference, so this will be a nice test for both teams.
Daily Giants Update: Losing Jonathan Hankins for the season will be a tough blow to a defense that is already questionable, and having to plug in a replacement with the Patriots looming surely is not a good way to start. The Giants opened the season defending the run very well, but without Hankins in the middle, that will definitely be a tougher task. The Patriots could come out and throw the ball 50 times, or they could run the ball 50 times. With this team you really have no idea. We will find out on Sunday.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Paul Goldschmidt won his second Gold Glove award yesterday, and A.J. Pollock earned his first, and both were well deserved. Goldschmidt was also announced as a finalist for the National League MVP, but I still expect Bryce Harper to win the award despite a great year by our first baseman. Matt Williams was also brought back in to coach third base after losing his job as the manager of the Nationals. That means the Diamondbacks baserunners better get ready to work on their turns around third base, because Williams is like a human windmill in the third base coaching box. Send 'em in, and send 'em often.
Daily NBA Update: The Cavs won again last night to move to 7-1 on the year, and Russell Westbrook notched another triple-double after Kevin Durant went down with an injury in a win for the Thunder. Durant's injury does not appear to be anything serious, so Oklahoma City still seems like they have the potential to challenge Golden State in the Western Conference. The Clippers visit Dallas tonight as DeAndre Jordan "returns" to Dallas after verbally agreeing to sign there this offseason before ultimately re-signing in Los Angeles. People are over-blowing this far too much, and they have been since it happened. Maybe, to get back at the Mavs fans, who will surely be all over Jordan, he can shoot above 40% from the free throw line tonight. However, that might be asking too much of a guy that makes Shaquille O'Neal look like Mark Price from the free throw line.
What this ruling does, in terms that might be easier to understand, is to completely disallow elementary school age children from heading the ball, and limit the number of times middle school level players can use their heads. Whether this is good or bad depends largely upon who you ask. At the most basic level, I think most outsiders would say that this ruling makes perfect sense. The first 18 years of a child's life are extremely important in terms of how that child will live as an adult. Bad choices or traumatic events that occur at a young age can cause irreparable damage that could last for a lifetime. A child's brain takes years to fully develop, and a soccer ball banging into their head surely cannot be a good thing. However, heading the ball is a fundamental skill that is vital to playing the game of soccer at the highest level, and it is a skill that is absolutely essential to master in order to play the game at that level. So then, is this ruling something that will do more good than bad? I still can't say that I really know for sure.
I started playing organized soccer around the age of five or six, and I played it through high school. During that time, the way I played the game, and the way all of my peers played the game changed quite a bit. At the lowest level, no one headed the ball. We would see it happen on television, but there was little to no focus on using the header as a legitimate skill. As I continued to grow and play, we would practice heading the ball, but that involved very little impact as far as the speed of the ball and the technique we used. I can honestly say that if I were a parent and my child played soccer as an 8-10 year old, I would be more worried about him or her sustaining a head injury on a bicycle or at the playground than playing soccer. So from that standpoint, it seems like this ruling would not have changed the way I grew and developed as a young soccer player.
Even as I reached middle school and began to play more competitively, heading the ball was still not an essential part of play as far as the games were concerned, but it was around that time that it became something that really needed to be learned if you wanted to continue to play soccer into high school. I honestly do not remember the first time I witnessed someone score a goal using a header, but I don't think it was before I was at least 12 years old, so that seems to be perfectly in tune with how the U.S. Soccer Federation came to this conclusion as far as the way the header is used in soccer in this country.
In the short time since this new rule was announced, I have heard more support for the ruling than disdain, and as I write this and think more closely about it as it applies practically to how I grew up playing soccer, I think I have no problem with it. People who are not in favor of the decision use the argument that heading the ball is essential to the game of soccer, and they are completely correct when they say that. I have heard some people say that this will allow children to focus more on footwork and skill handling the ball with their feet, but I really don't buy into that. There are plenty of times during a game of soccer that in order to make a play, your only option is to use your head. What I surely do remember about playing soccer when I was younger is that a "high kicking" rule was strictly enforced. Going up for a ball in the air with your head may be dangerous sometimes, but it is surely not as reckless as trying to win a ball in the air by swinging your cleats up near the eye level of your opponents.
Then what about helmets? Goalkeepers were required to wear helmets from the start when I played soccer in order to prevent head injuries, so then why not allow headers as long as all of the players wear helmets? In my eyes, this seems to be a valid answer. Like I said before with bicycle injuries, helmets were not always mandatory when riding a bicycle, but now any parent with any inkling of care for their child would not allow them to get on a bike without a helmet. Helmets did not always exist in football and hockey, and those sports eventually adapted and made them a requirement. Could that eventually happen is soccer? In my eyes, it absolutely could.
This newfound heightened awareness when it comes to head injuries will, in the long run, do nothing but good for athletes of all ages in all sports. Youth wrestlers and boxers were not always required to wear helmets, but now they are as well. Maybe soccer is next. And then after that, maybe basketball will follow. It may seem outrageous to think that, and "purists" may not like it, but if it helps to protect all athletes, and young ones in particular, then why is it a bad thing?
I wasn't really sure how I felt about this ruling when I first heard it, but I think now that I have given it some thought, I don't have a problem with it. While young children should definitely be aware that heading the ball is vital to playing the game of soccer, I also know that when it comes to actually using the header in a game setting, this ruling is really right on the money. Over 20 million Americans play youth soccer, and that number seems to be continuing to grow. There is a reason they call it the beautiful game, because at its highest level, soccer requires a wide variety of skills and traits, and when played by the best, it can be a beautiful thing to watch.
I will always believe that every kid should get out there and play some kind of sport. It doesn't have to be organized or competitive, but it should be fun, because it is fun. For the 1% that make it to the highest level, then congratulations. But for the other 99%, they should still enjoy the games even if they end up only being a hobby. When you do play sports, injuries will always be a possibility. That is an undeniable fact. However, is the everyday, working class person who never played a sport in their life but smokes a pack of cigarettes a day or goes home to a glass of wine every night just as much at risk as an athlete? Yes, they are. Plenty of people live their lives cleanly. They don't smoke, they don't drink, they don't put themselves at risk by playing contact sports, and that is totally fine. More power to them, and I commend them for living that way. But there are so many ways that sports and athletics can be a positive way to spend your free time that you will never find me campaigning against getting out there and having fun, no matter your age or ability. The safer it is, the better for everyone, and what the U.S. Soccer Federation ruled definitely, in my mind, will help make the game safer for anyone who ever wants to lace up their boots and step on the pitch from now until eternity.
Daily Rangers Update: The freight train that is the Broadway Blueshirts continued to roll last night, as the Rangers made it ten straight games earning at least one point, with eight of those games being wins. A very good and unfamiliar foe will come to town tomorrow night in the form of the St. Louis Blues, in what will be the first of only two meetings between the teams this season. The Rangers sit second in the Eastern Conference, while the Blues sit second in the Western Conference, so this will be a nice test for both teams.
Daily Giants Update: Losing Jonathan Hankins for the season will be a tough blow to a defense that is already questionable, and having to plug in a replacement with the Patriots looming surely is not a good way to start. The Giants opened the season defending the run very well, but without Hankins in the middle, that will definitely be a tougher task. The Patriots could come out and throw the ball 50 times, or they could run the ball 50 times. With this team you really have no idea. We will find out on Sunday.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Paul Goldschmidt won his second Gold Glove award yesterday, and A.J. Pollock earned his first, and both were well deserved. Goldschmidt was also announced as a finalist for the National League MVP, but I still expect Bryce Harper to win the award despite a great year by our first baseman. Matt Williams was also brought back in to coach third base after losing his job as the manager of the Nationals. That means the Diamondbacks baserunners better get ready to work on their turns around third base, because Williams is like a human windmill in the third base coaching box. Send 'em in, and send 'em often.
Daily NBA Update: The Cavs won again last night to move to 7-1 on the year, and Russell Westbrook notched another triple-double after Kevin Durant went down with an injury in a win for the Thunder. Durant's injury does not appear to be anything serious, so Oklahoma City still seems like they have the potential to challenge Golden State in the Western Conference. The Clippers visit Dallas tonight as DeAndre Jordan "returns" to Dallas after verbally agreeing to sign there this offseason before ultimately re-signing in Los Angeles. People are over-blowing this far too much, and they have been since it happened. Maybe, to get back at the Mavs fans, who will surely be all over Jordan, he can shoot above 40% from the free throw line tonight. However, that might be asking too much of a guy that makes Shaquille O'Neal look like Mark Price from the free throw line.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
The power of sports
In the eyes of most people, sports have no connection to any sort of legitimately significant part of the "real world." Many people view athletes as over-paid and ungrateful for the lifestyle that they live. These guys make millions of dollars to play games, and they have no business making exponentially larger amounts of money than the average, every day, 9-5 working class members of society. And, in some cases, those people are correct. There are definitely athletes who abuse the privileges that come along with the fame and money they may have earned. However, that doesn't mean that there are also many times in which athletes can use their platform to do good as well, and we saw that happen in an alarmingly short matter of time over the past few days in Missouri.
When I heard that the Missouri football team was in essence, "going on strike" until the president of the University was removed, I will be completely honest that I had no clue whatsoever as to why they were doing so. As I looked into the details of the reason for the announcement for the football team doing what they did, I realized that what these kids were doing was very risky. Black students on campus at the university were becoming more and more outspoken about what they felt were racial inequalities that were not being addressed by the higher powers at Missouri.
At a university with a student body that is less than 10% black, it seemed like these cries were coming from a small minority, and this was likely one of the reasons that the university paid little attention to it. However, no one can argue the fact that the reason colleges exist are to educate people from all different backgrounds before the students graduate and go on to find careers as true adults. A very important piece of the full college experience is to be able to be exposed to peers that may be different in many ways, but ultimately, have the same goal in mind. It is the responsibility of the university to make its entire student body feel included, and if that is not the case, then the school is not doing what it owes to each and every student on campus.
Growing up where I did, and being raised as I was, it really never ceases to amaze me that racial issues still can be so drastic in some places. New York is a place filled with such a wide variety of people from places all over the world, that it is impossible to live here without being able to coexist with people from all types of different backgrounds. Whether it is skin color, religion, education level, or simply attitude, I see a wide array of each every day. That is why it just seems so hard to understand how so many people still see race as such a defining factor in judging the character of people. What was happening on the Missouri campus proved once again that there are still far too many people who have such closed-minded and outdated ways of living.
Black students at Missouri spoke of a number of different racial issues that the university was failing to address, and their pleads were not being heard by anyone with any power to bring about any sort of legitimate shift. However, that all changed when the football team became involved by threatening not to play its game this Saturday unless the president of the university was removed. Suddenly, in what seemed like an instant, the story was gaining national headlines. As media outlets from all over the country flooded to the Missouri campus, president Tim Wolfe stepped down yesterday, effective immediately. Not only had the football team brought attention to a continually overlooked problem, it also brought about a truly significant change. Had it not been for the actions of the football team, it is highly likely that no one outside of the campus of Missouri would even care about the issues that this small minority of students was trying to address.
Cynically, if you look at this situation and you hear that the University of Missouri would owe its opponent this Saturday, BYU, $1 million for the game not being played, you would say that once again, all this was about was money. And in all honesty, I would not disagree with you. Any university staring at a $1 million loss is going to cringe and do everything in its power to avoid something like that from occurring, and you would be ignorant to think otherwise. However, I would also respond by saying that the only reason any of this ever happened was due entirely to the football team standing together and representing the feelings of the student body that it represents.
On the field, this Missouri team is having a subpar season, and they are now simply fighting to stay out of the bottom of the standings in the SEC. The amount of legitimate pro prospects on the 2015 roster can be counted on one hand. That means that most likely, at least 98% of the kids on this team will never go on to a career in the NFL. Playing college football will be the best it will ever get for them as athletes, and they will have to make a living doing something other than playing a game. With that being said, I would also submit to you that every member of this team will have experienced something in college that goes far beyond the field of play. These kids brought about a truly significant change in the way that a college campus operates. Whoever it is that replaces Tim Wolfe as president will now be in full focus of the students, the media, and the governing body of not only Missouri, but the entire nation, and it will force a change to be made in the way people conduct themselves at that school, from top to bottom.
I am not going to look at this situation through some sort of utopian viewpoint and say that what the football team did will end all problems at Missouri, because it won't. Nevertheless, it will at the very least address some problems that the governing body of the university was wrongly either overlooking, or just simply looking at indifferently. Racial problems will still occur at this school, just like they will at schools all over the country, but what this situation showed us was that sometimes sports are more than just a game. Sometimes, sports and athletes can truly bring about changes that would not be otherwise possible.
When anyone who graduates college looks back at their time in school, they all have their fondest memories, and for each individual, those cherished moments will never be forgotten. For the kids on this football team, this season will no longer be remembered for hard times on the field, but it will be remembered for the change they spurred off the field. When head coach Gary Pinkel goes on recruiting visits to the homes of prospective players, he can look into the eyes of young men and say without question that not only does he care about what they can do on the field, but he also cares about what they do off the field as well. While that may not bring about any national championships, it surely is something he can offer that should comfort high school kids and their parents.
Sports will always be games played that have no true bearing on the way our society operates, and I understand why so many people see professional athletes and look at them misanthropically. However, sports can still be used as a platform to bring to light real societal issues that, if addressed, can truly impact the way we go about our everyday lives. Athletes have brought about significant changes before, and they will continue to do so in the future, and you don't have to be a die-hard sports fan to appreciate that.
Daily Giants Update: After a nice win last Sunday in Tampa Bay, the Giants still sit alone atop a very mediocre NFC East as we play into the second half of the regular season. The task this Sunday will be daunting though with the undefeated and seemingly invincible Patriots coming to the Meadowlands. I hate hearing about how the Giants are the "kryptonite" of the Patriots, because I feel like it almost puts more pressure on the Giants to win and casts the Patriots as the underdog even though New England has been absolutely dominant over its first eight games. As is the case going into any Giants game though, I have absolutely no clue what will happen because this team is the definition of bipolar. They could play great, or they could get run off the field. Hopefully the former occurs, because the division is there for the taking, and all you have to do in order to win a Super Bowl is make it into the playoffs. No team has been a better example of that in recent memory than the New York Giants.
Daily Rangers Update: Through 14 games, the Rangers sit second in the Eastern Conference at 10-2-2. It is nice to see guys like Mats Zuccarello and Oscar Lindberg at or near the top of the team leaderboard in points, and Antti Raanta is undefeated in three starts backing up Henrik Lundqvist. If Raanta can come anywhere close to equaling what Cam Talbot did in relief of Lundqvist last season, it would go a long way in helping keep the King fresh and ready when the playoffs start and things really get serious. A middling Carolina Hurricanes team visits Madison Square Garden tonight.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Starting pitching will definitely be the main focus of the team this offseason, and there are a few big names that will be on the open market. Zack Greinke and David Price will most likely be too expensive, but adding someone like Jeff Samardzija or Johnny Cueto would be a nice surprise. It might be expecting too much, but the new regime with Tony LaRussa and Dave Stewart in control spent more money than I expected last offseason, so maybe they will be willing to open the checkbook again to address a starting rotation that is in big need of help.
Daily NBA Update: We are less than a month into the season, but the Golden State Warriors look even better than they did last year, and they won it all last year. We are still eons away from the end of the season, but the Warriors and Cavaliers are a combined 14-1, so the two Finals participants from last year sure look like they have gotten right back to business in 2015.
When I heard that the Missouri football team was in essence, "going on strike" until the president of the University was removed, I will be completely honest that I had no clue whatsoever as to why they were doing so. As I looked into the details of the reason for the announcement for the football team doing what they did, I realized that what these kids were doing was very risky. Black students on campus at the university were becoming more and more outspoken about what they felt were racial inequalities that were not being addressed by the higher powers at Missouri.
At a university with a student body that is less than 10% black, it seemed like these cries were coming from a small minority, and this was likely one of the reasons that the university paid little attention to it. However, no one can argue the fact that the reason colleges exist are to educate people from all different backgrounds before the students graduate and go on to find careers as true adults. A very important piece of the full college experience is to be able to be exposed to peers that may be different in many ways, but ultimately, have the same goal in mind. It is the responsibility of the university to make its entire student body feel included, and if that is not the case, then the school is not doing what it owes to each and every student on campus.
Growing up where I did, and being raised as I was, it really never ceases to amaze me that racial issues still can be so drastic in some places. New York is a place filled with such a wide variety of people from places all over the world, that it is impossible to live here without being able to coexist with people from all types of different backgrounds. Whether it is skin color, religion, education level, or simply attitude, I see a wide array of each every day. That is why it just seems so hard to understand how so many people still see race as such a defining factor in judging the character of people. What was happening on the Missouri campus proved once again that there are still far too many people who have such closed-minded and outdated ways of living.
Black students at Missouri spoke of a number of different racial issues that the university was failing to address, and their pleads were not being heard by anyone with any power to bring about any sort of legitimate shift. However, that all changed when the football team became involved by threatening not to play its game this Saturday unless the president of the university was removed. Suddenly, in what seemed like an instant, the story was gaining national headlines. As media outlets from all over the country flooded to the Missouri campus, president Tim Wolfe stepped down yesterday, effective immediately. Not only had the football team brought attention to a continually overlooked problem, it also brought about a truly significant change. Had it not been for the actions of the football team, it is highly likely that no one outside of the campus of Missouri would even care about the issues that this small minority of students was trying to address.
Cynically, if you look at this situation and you hear that the University of Missouri would owe its opponent this Saturday, BYU, $1 million for the game not being played, you would say that once again, all this was about was money. And in all honesty, I would not disagree with you. Any university staring at a $1 million loss is going to cringe and do everything in its power to avoid something like that from occurring, and you would be ignorant to think otherwise. However, I would also respond by saying that the only reason any of this ever happened was due entirely to the football team standing together and representing the feelings of the student body that it represents.
On the field, this Missouri team is having a subpar season, and they are now simply fighting to stay out of the bottom of the standings in the SEC. The amount of legitimate pro prospects on the 2015 roster can be counted on one hand. That means that most likely, at least 98% of the kids on this team will never go on to a career in the NFL. Playing college football will be the best it will ever get for them as athletes, and they will have to make a living doing something other than playing a game. With that being said, I would also submit to you that every member of this team will have experienced something in college that goes far beyond the field of play. These kids brought about a truly significant change in the way that a college campus operates. Whoever it is that replaces Tim Wolfe as president will now be in full focus of the students, the media, and the governing body of not only Missouri, but the entire nation, and it will force a change to be made in the way people conduct themselves at that school, from top to bottom.
I am not going to look at this situation through some sort of utopian viewpoint and say that what the football team did will end all problems at Missouri, because it won't. Nevertheless, it will at the very least address some problems that the governing body of the university was wrongly either overlooking, or just simply looking at indifferently. Racial problems will still occur at this school, just like they will at schools all over the country, but what this situation showed us was that sometimes sports are more than just a game. Sometimes, sports and athletes can truly bring about changes that would not be otherwise possible.
When anyone who graduates college looks back at their time in school, they all have their fondest memories, and for each individual, those cherished moments will never be forgotten. For the kids on this football team, this season will no longer be remembered for hard times on the field, but it will be remembered for the change they spurred off the field. When head coach Gary Pinkel goes on recruiting visits to the homes of prospective players, he can look into the eyes of young men and say without question that not only does he care about what they can do on the field, but he also cares about what they do off the field as well. While that may not bring about any national championships, it surely is something he can offer that should comfort high school kids and their parents.
Sports will always be games played that have no true bearing on the way our society operates, and I understand why so many people see professional athletes and look at them misanthropically. However, sports can still be used as a platform to bring to light real societal issues that, if addressed, can truly impact the way we go about our everyday lives. Athletes have brought about significant changes before, and they will continue to do so in the future, and you don't have to be a die-hard sports fan to appreciate that.
Daily Giants Update: After a nice win last Sunday in Tampa Bay, the Giants still sit alone atop a very mediocre NFC East as we play into the second half of the regular season. The task this Sunday will be daunting though with the undefeated and seemingly invincible Patriots coming to the Meadowlands. I hate hearing about how the Giants are the "kryptonite" of the Patriots, because I feel like it almost puts more pressure on the Giants to win and casts the Patriots as the underdog even though New England has been absolutely dominant over its first eight games. As is the case going into any Giants game though, I have absolutely no clue what will happen because this team is the definition of bipolar. They could play great, or they could get run off the field. Hopefully the former occurs, because the division is there for the taking, and all you have to do in order to win a Super Bowl is make it into the playoffs. No team has been a better example of that in recent memory than the New York Giants.
Daily Rangers Update: Through 14 games, the Rangers sit second in the Eastern Conference at 10-2-2. It is nice to see guys like Mats Zuccarello and Oscar Lindberg at or near the top of the team leaderboard in points, and Antti Raanta is undefeated in three starts backing up Henrik Lundqvist. If Raanta can come anywhere close to equaling what Cam Talbot did in relief of Lundqvist last season, it would go a long way in helping keep the King fresh and ready when the playoffs start and things really get serious. A middling Carolina Hurricanes team visits Madison Square Garden tonight.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Starting pitching will definitely be the main focus of the team this offseason, and there are a few big names that will be on the open market. Zack Greinke and David Price will most likely be too expensive, but adding someone like Jeff Samardzija or Johnny Cueto would be a nice surprise. It might be expecting too much, but the new regime with Tony LaRussa and Dave Stewart in control spent more money than I expected last offseason, so maybe they will be willing to open the checkbook again to address a starting rotation that is in big need of help.
Daily NBA Update: We are less than a month into the season, but the Golden State Warriors look even better than they did last year, and they won it all last year. We are still eons away from the end of the season, but the Warriors and Cavaliers are a combined 14-1, so the two Finals participants from last year sure look like they have gotten right back to business in 2015.
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