The Noble Pundit

Opening Night

Tonight is opening night for Major League Baseball. The Red Sox are opening at Baltimore.

I watched exactly one at bat.

All I had to see was Johnny Damon to know that baseball should still be considered in critical danger of becoming the national punch line.

At the beginning of his career he was touted as such a clean-cut, upstanding, role model type player.

For some reason the bushy dreadlocks, scraggly beard, and general homeless look don't exactly inspire confidence that he is a decent role model. His Frisch's Big Boy look of a year and a half ago was almost as comical.

If he is still considered one of the best baseball has to offer then baseball is in pretty dire straits. He's a mediocre player, at best and a questionable role model on his best days.

My prediction for the Red Sox: Damon will start out well enough, but come mid-season when other considerations start to take over his attention, as they seem to every year, he'll pull off a year end swoon to make the Miami Dolphins proud. As soon as he's no longer getting on base for the guys behind him to drive in the Sox will implode and sputter to another year of failure.

And all over Red Sox country, people will be saying: just wait 'til next year. Again.

For me, Johnny is the epitome of all that is wrong with baseball. He's overpaid for average performance, swooned on like the next coming of Ted Williams, and portrayed as someone he is not. His appearance tonight just reinforces my belief that this year nothing has changed.

I can't wait for football season to start up again. At least I have NASCAR until those wonderous weekends of fall come about again.

The Daytona 500

Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for winning the Daytona 500. I was at the track the day his Dad won and was pretty emotionally charged to see Jr. pull it off even just watching it on TV. It reminded me of just how special that race 6 years ago was.

I don't like the new scoring system - or the change from Winston Cup to Nextel Cup - but, if NASCAR keeps having races like the 500, it'll be a pretty good year.

Who Has Failed The Student-Athlete?

Earlier this week, there was a federal court ruling that cleared the way for Maurice Clarett, former Ohio State running back for a total of one season, to enter the NFL draft, effectively nullifying some NFL rules about draft eligibility. The NCAA is, to be expected, up in arms about the ruling, claiming that it will further harm young men who simlpy aren't capable of playing at the NFL level. The real question here, isn't the one surrounding the draft eligibility ruling. No, the real question is:who is failing the student-athletes?

Is there really any blame that can be placed on the NFL here? You can maybe make the argument that they should have put stiffer eligibility language in the last collective bargaining agreement. But in the end, the league was trying to keep the youngest of the young out of the league. Education may not have been their top concern, but they certainly were not attempting to poach the cream of the crop. Their rules were applied fairly across the board.

Did the court system fail the student-athletes? Perhaps. A little common sense applied by the judge probably would have gone a long ways here, but the judge followed the letter of the law. If blame were going to be placed on government, it would probably be better placed on the legislatures that passed the laws the strictly interpreted.

No, the real failure was by the NCAA and the colleges themselves. How can a graduation rate of 54% be called successful? There are now college football games on ESPN or ESPN2 nearly every day of the week. It's nice as a football fan, but it is terrible for the student-athletes.

Why? Money.

College football generates a huge amount of revenue for both the schools and the NCAA. At many universities, at least some of the money coming in from football is used to improve the quality of education for all students. But is the trade-off worth it?

I don't think so. It is exploitation. Many of these "student-"athletes are kids that really are ill-equipped to be in school in the first place, much less taking on the added stresses of athletics along with their studies. It is not fair to the athletes and it is not fair to the rest of the student body that school funding is being spent on these kids that shouldn't have made it out of high school much less into a major university.

If the NCAA and the universities are looking to place blame, they need to look no further than the closest mirror. The biggest failure of the student-athlete comes from programs that try to convince kids that they are student-athlete material when a 10 year old can read better than they can. Yes, the argument can be made that they are giving underprivleged kids opportunity. But it can also be argued that these same kids are being lied to. Do the ends justify the means?

The state of the student-athlete is deplorable. Something needs to be done to fix the system. Blaming courts and the NFL is not the way to do it.

The NCAA needs to get its own house in order. The 54% graduation rate is their fault - and no one else's. It's time for the NCAA to own up to its failings.

TCU: Finals Over Football

Quite a while ago (right around the beginning of college football season), I wrote a post lambasting a number of colleges for not recognizing that even football players are student-athletes. Now comes a report, first reported in the Washington Post, that Texas Christian University may forego a bid to the GMAC on December 18 because it would interfere with finals.

"I have to be sensitive to our young people," [Athletic Director Eric Hyman] told the newspaper. "They are student-athletes, but they are also students, and they are coming to school to get an education. We cannot disrupt their exams. It's not fair to them."

Now the cynic in me says that if this were a BCS bowl bid, TCU would have figured it out and that this is all a bit of posturing because the GMAC Bowl has a much smaller payout for the schools. But at the same time, TCU did lose to Southern Miss and really wasn't a BCS caliber team so they really don't have too much room for being upset. They were Cinderella and the clock stuck midnight as it struck 0:00 on the scoreboard in the Southern Miss game. The GMAC Bowl isn't in the same league as the Orange Bowl, but it's still better than sitting home (and more profitable to the school).

But at the same time that I'm feeling cynical about the motivations I also think here's a guy who's actually making the unpopular statement that football players are students first.

It's tough to decide whether or not this is motivated by a true concern for the educational welfare of the students or by the hubris of a 9-1 team that feels they deserve better than a pre-New Year's Day bowl. But regardless of the motivation, in the end, the AD is supporting the very core of college athletics - the student-athlete concept.

It's going to be real interesting to see what happens when the invitation is formally extended by the GMAC Bowl officials. Does AD Hyman have the strength of conviction? Or will he accept the bid despite the statements made in these reports?

For Sports Fans

Ok, so I'm a day late (almost two), but the Friday Fanfest over at SportsBlog might be of interst to you. It's a compilation of sports related posts from general interest blogs.

Go take a look sports fans!

A Night In The Life Of A 'Canes Fan

I figure Red Sox fans spend their entire lives telling the world how terrible it is to be a BoSox fan, so I thought I would give a little window into the world of a longtime Miami Hurricanes fan.

Last night the Miami Hurricanes defeated West Virginia 22-20 in the cozy confines of the Orange Bowl. But West Virginia was really beat by the Orange Bowl Mystique.

Now I have friends, Gator fans specifically, who don't believe that there is an Orange Bowl Mystique. The believe that the Orange Bowl is no more special a place than the Swamp, than the Doak in Tallahassee, than the Horseshoe in Columbus or the Big House in Ann Arbor. They all keep telling me, the Orange Bowl is just another stadium - an old dirty one at that.

But look at what happened last night. For 48 minutes and 14 seconds, Miami played West Virginia football. For 48 minutes and 14 seconds, Miami looked mortal and the Orange Bowl looked like just another stadium.

I was standing in my living room, yelling at the TV. My girlfriend asked me if I was going to be upset for a week if Miami lost. I told her I would be pissed until next Saturday when they played FSU. She called me crazy saying it was just football. I had to correct her: it wasn't just football - it was Miami football.

At the same time, Lee Corso is jabbering on ESPN about how the Orange Bowl was quiet and how the 'Cane fans were scared. Sure we were scared. Sure we were concerned. This was not Miami football.

And then after three horrible plays left Miami in a 3rd and 13 on their final drive, Larry Coker called time out. At that point I was ranting and raving and sounding irrational, but during the time out, it all changed.

The Orange Bowl came alive.

The Super Bowls. The National Championships. The Perfect Season. The 52 game home winning streak. The images of Bob Griese, Dan Marino, Larry Csonka, Jim Kelly, Michael Irvin, Warren Sapp, Ray Lewis, and countless other Dolphin and Hurricane greats all started to make their presence felt. The history of the stadium, of Miami football, made itself real and palpable. The Orange Bowl reared itself up and said "Not in my house."

When the 'Canes broke from the timeout, there was no question anymore. They were going to win. They knew it. West Virginia knew it. The fans knew it. The Orange Bowl knew it. Call it confidence. Call it swagger. You could even call it arrogance. It was the Orange Bowl Mystique at work.

Immediately, even in my living room, I felt it. No more throwing a fit; no more being upset. Instead there was the feeling that Miami would live up to the tradition of Miami football and would not lose.

Don't convert 3rd and 13? That's ok. Throw it to Winslow on 4th and 13 and let him forever become one of those ghostly images on the field. March it down to the 6 yard line without a shred of doubt. For 1 minute and 46 seconds, Miami played Miami football.

As they made the march down the field, ESPN kept showing images of the West Virginia players laying on the turf along the sideline. Their eyes did not exude hope. Their eyes did not betray confidence. Their eyes were full of fear. After that timeout, West Virginia knew it was over. They were done. They were watching with awe and terror as the final drive played out. They knew the heart wrenching kick was coming and that it would be good. There would be no Wide Right for Miami. There would be no Wide Left. The Orange Bowl would not have allowed it last night.

West Virginia played well enough to beat Miami last night - had the game been in Morgantown. But it was in the Orange Bowl - that old dirty stadium that is full of history and mystique.

Last night The Orange Bowl said "Not in my house." The Hurricanes may have defeated the Mountaineers and got the W, but it was the Orange Bowl that beat West Virginia.

This will also be cross-posted at SportsBlog.

They Are Student Athletes

This morning I was reading along through Sports Illustrated.com and came across an editorial by Mike Fish: Graduation rates still a problem. And as I look through at the list of worst schools for graduating athletes, I find my alma mater, the University of Central Florida, on the list at #6.

Now I can sit here and explain why that number for UCF is probably a bit deceptive. Bit that would ignore the more important point:

These are the numbers for the student-athletes.

Most of these kids are attending school on our (the Public's) dime via an athletic scholarship. We are not (in theory) paying them to play football or baseball or track or softball or soccer or whatever. We are giving them an opportunity to gain an education. If they happen to be able to turn their opportunity into a professional contract, great.

But while they're in school, they should be studying. Earning that degree that we're paying for has got to be their top goal. A scholarship is not an opportunity to go play - it is an opportunity to go and learn, to gain that education that is going to put you ahead in the world if, like over 90% of all student-athletes, you don't get that multi-million dollar pro contract.

Yes, football brings in huge amounts of money. Yes, fans and alumni want to see the best athletes on the field, not necessarily the best student-athletes. Yes, you can lose huge amounts of bowl money by sitting out your star for a week or two.

But at some point the question arises: what is the goal of the university? Is it to produce educated students or is it to produce professional athletes?

The goal of the university is to educate. Sometimes the goals of the university’s purpose and the athletic department will be in opposition. Sometimes a special athlete comes along who is academically challenged. At what point does education trump athletics?

Most universities do a good job of providing tutors for those athletes that aren't having an easy time in class. And I have absolutely no problem with the athletic department using its funding to provide these tutors as it works towards the overall purpose of the university. And for those athletes that just can't make the grade, the NCAA does have a standards requirement which will force the athletic department to remove from the program an individual who is not living up to the student-athlete name.

But what about a department that isn't graduating its students? Should there be sanctions against a school that manages to graduate less than half of its student-athletes in six years?

I think that there should, but that the statistic should be modified somewhat to take into account the players that have gone on to the professional leagues. The percentage needs to be figured based on the number of athletes whose future earnings will be based on their educational exploits, not their athletic ones.

Bottom line, however, is that a school that is now graduating less than 45% of their students won't make the grade even taking out the kids that went on to the pros. And with the ultimate goal of the university experience being to educate, an athletic department that is failing in that primary job needs to be penalized.

College athletics may be a big business for the university, for the conferences, and for the NCAA, but in the end they should not be allowed to trump the purpose of the school. They should not be allowed to take precedence over education.

Heart Attack Time

I wrote that last post over the course of about 3 hours while alternately watching the Miami-Florida game on TV and being so ticked off that I had to do something else (so I wrote). You can catch my thoughts on the game over at SportsBlog.

I know my friend Joe, a Gator to his death (which may have happened tonight), reads this site regularly, so Joe: I take back every snarky comment I had about Ron Zook. The Gators came to play tonight. It was one of the best games in a long, long time - at least since the double overtime loss to OSU (okay, not that long ago, but it was a great game.)

New SportsBlog Post

I have another post up over at Sportsblog looking at the Miami Dolphins final preseason roster moves.

Another Moral Victory For UCF

Well, the game is still going and it's 42-21 Virginia Tech. But the score belies how close the game really has been.

UCF has once again aquitted themselves pretty well against the top competition in the country. They were supposed to have been blown out, but early in the 4th quarter they were only down by 7, 28-21.

They have also played Beamerball better than Va. Tech today, blocking a field goal and nailing some incredible punts.

They played an excellent game and even in defeat, they can walk away with their heads held high.

If UCF played a cake schedule like a lot of other teams, they would be 9-2 or 8-3 most years. But instead, they've elected to play the big boys and they've shown that they can hold their own. They just got to get past the slow starts that always seem to put them in the hole to start.

As an aside, I saw the new Big East commercial at halftime. It had all these little kids and a caption showing a future career and their future school. I thought is was interesting that the University of Miami wasn't mentioned.

Glad to see there are no hard feelings from the Big East.

UPDATE: Final score was 49-28. But it was still closer than it sounds. Really not too bad for a team that was supposed to get blown out without scoring. I'm just going to hate the news tonight with all the local sportscasters whining about what could have been. UCF played a great game and they lost. It's ok.

Go Knights! (SportsBlog Alert)

I've got another new post over at SportsBlog. Take a look if you're interested.

Posting may be light today as I have to my UCF Knights taking on Virginia Tech this afternoon. I don't expect that we'll win, but I hope they put on a good show and put the fear of Florida into the Hokies (after all they still have to play Miami later....)

New SportsBlog Post

I've got another new post up over at SportsBlog, this time about Butch Davis, head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Comments, sinde remarks, etc are, of course, welcome.

Berlin, Miami & The Ball Coach

I've got a new post over at SportsBlog on Brock Berlin, the University of Miami Hurricanes and Steve Spurrier. Take a look and leave comments letting me know what you think.

New Sportsblog Post

Got my first post up over at SportsBlog. It's my observations of the potential fortunes of the University of Miami Hurricanes this year.

Take a look and tell me what you think.

A Hurricane Blowing Into The ACC?

Yeah, I do have other interests outside of politics and current events.

The Atlantic Coast Conference has formally invited three new schools to join the conference. One of those three schools is the University of Miami.

I've been a Hurricane fan for nearly 20 years. It's been a long, glorious ride to where they are today. But I don't like the idea of them joining the ACC.

The Big East is actually a pretty solid conference. Schools like Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Boston College, and Pitt have always managed to provide Miami with some pretty good competition. The scariest game is almost always when Miami has to play Va. Tech in Blacksburg. It creates even more tension than Miami-FSU.

And if Miami joins the ACC, games like that would go away. FSU is good, but Miami already plays them every year anyways. By moving to the ACC, Miami would have an easier time getting to a BCS bowl, but it wouldn't be as impressive to make it. Essentially, whoever won between Miami and FSU would be going to the BCS. Kinda takes all the fun out of it.

Who in the ACC really compares to Virginia Tech? Clemson? Maryland? Georgia Tech? Those are all solid second tier football teams, but they are not a Va. Tech.

Unless the ACC brings in Va. Tech and another powerhouse (Penn State maybe?) Miami needs to pass on the invite. The Big East, even for its nickname of the Big Least, still provides a better level of competition for the Hurricanes.

And I'd rather see them lose in a competitive conference than to dominate a non-competitive one.