The Pacers: Indiana’s Babies

Lance Stephenson is in LeBron James’ head? The Pacers beat the Heat in Game 4 if the refs don’t give it away, according to Paul George? Roy Hibbert would have scored more than zero points (again) if the game plan called for it?

Let’s try an exercise, fellow readers. Point your finger. Point it anywhere. Just one…. Now look at the other fingers on your hand. Old sayings become old because they are timeless and true: whenever you stop to point a finger, there are three more pointing right back at you.

George has 25,000 reasons to learn from his past mistakes. 1

THEATER vs DRAMA CLASS

I’ve always said that the NBA Playoffs make for the best theater of the major North American team sports. The NFL has the best action. MLB offers more unexpected twists. But the NBA delivers the best theater.
There is a difference, however, between adult delivering an athletic theatrical performance and people acting like they’re in a high school drama class. If you’ve followed the 2014 NBA Eastern Conference Finals and/or the Indiana Pacers for any stretch of this playoff run, you know where they fall. It would be funny if it weren’t so silly.


GREAT EXPECTATIONS

The Pacers were one game away from advancing to the 2013 NBA Finals. In 2014, they raced to the best record in the Eastern Conference. They split the four game regular season series with the three-time defending conference champion Miami Heat, with the home team winning every game. The Pacers set themselves up to dethrone the two-time NBA champions.

Indiana has a young team. Power forward David West is the only Pacers’ starter over the age of 28. He is one of only five players on the entire roster over the age of 30. He appears to be the only grown up in a Pacers’ uniform. In a game in which the most respected “talking” is done with one’s game on the court, too many of the players appear to have gotten that concept backwards.

The Pacers began to wilt near the end of the regular season. Conspicuously poor performances, a lack of accountability, attention grabbing headlines in the media, and an undertone of finger pointing threatened to derail the regular season goal of clinching home court in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Indiana started off with a 46-13 record. They limped to the end of the regular season with a 56-26 record, nipping the (coasting) Miami Heat by two games for the top seed in the conference.

Seeing zeros in Hibbert's box score is becoming less unusual with each occurrence. 2

HUH?

The Pacers fell behind the 8th seeded Atlanta Hawks, 3 games to 2. The Hawks had a sub-.500 record in the regular season. Nonetheless, with center Roy Hibbert becoming an offensive black hole and players looking disconnected, the Pacers went into Atlanta for Game 6 facing elimination.

The Pacers are vastly superior to the Hawks in talent. They couldn’t drop a best-of-seven to the Hawks if they tried (though it appeared they were at times). The Pacers cleaned up the glaring messed a Forrest-Gumped their way into the second round against the Washington Wizards, offering more of the same underwhelming basketball in Game 1 of that Eastern Conference Semifinals series.

The Pacers appeared to return to their pre-meltdown form in Game 2, with small forward Paul George and Roy Hibbert having breakout playoff performances. After beating the Heat in Game 1 of the Conference Finals, the NBA appeared to have the showdown that it expected between these two teams for much of the regular season.

Yes, David West. It's like that. 3

THE CREAM RISES TO THE TOP

Miami is leading in this series three games to one. In each of Miami’s three wins, they appear to get better and beating Indiana and Indiana seems to get better at beating itself. For all of the talk that the Pacers have done leading up to and during this series, all they have to show for it is a trip home for Game 5 facing elimination and Paul George’s pockets being $25,000 lighter after criticizing the officials following a Game 4 romp by Miami, 102-90, that was never as close in the 4th quarter as the final score may indicate.

Here are the cold, hard facts, Pacers Fan: The Heat are a better NBA basketball team. The Pacers have a better, younger collection of basketball players. NBA championships are won by teams. They are led by their starts, but the titles are won by teams. The Pacers appear to be drowning in their own immaturity and searching for a key to beating a two-time champion with three or four future Hall of Famers on the roster. They will never find that key until they tune out the superficial and trivial and focus on beating their opponent in every possession, every quarter, and in each game.

The Pacers are not going to sniff the Finals until they stop reading their own headlines and, instead, write the headlines that they wish to see themselves. Thirty-three year old All-Star David West is the team’s veteran leader and an example the younger players should follow. Much like one can only lead a horse to water, West can only show his younger counterparts how (and how not) to carry themselves deep in the post season. The Pacers will never drink the refreshment of a conference championship until they grow up and focus. It is not a coincidence that the key players of the two front runners in each conference, the Heat and San Antonio Spurs, are either near or over the age of 30. It shows.  

Don't pack up for the summer yet! The Heat cheerleaders have a few more games on their schedules this season. 4

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LIFE!

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced moments ago that Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has been banned for life from the NBA. Sterling may not participate in any league activities, including games, practices, and team or league operations decisions and activities. Sterling was also fined $2.5 million, the maximum allowed under the NBA Constitution.

GET IT HOW YOU LIVE

Ultimately, this story is about unequivocally offensive,vile, and disturbing remarks made in a private conversation that were leaked to the public. Silver noted however, that the remarks are now public and reflect Sterling’s views. With great power comes great responsibility. People of the highest profiles have to be acutely aware that they are under a constant microscope.

While I personally find unsettling the means by which we learned of who the real Donald Sterling is, that bell cannot be un-rung. To allow continued association with the NBA as an owner would permanently damage the image of the NBA. Silver had no choice but to act swiftly and decisively. Boy did he…!

COULDN’T HAPPEN TO A BETTER GUY

This is not the first incident of racism involving Sterling. This is not the first incident involving Sterling that reflected poorly on the NBA and its business. Sterling has repeatedly been documented for engaging in questionable and unethical business practices involving his treatment of and timely payment of money owed to employees. He paid out a record settlement in a housing discrimination lawsuit, in which, among other alleged violations of the law, Sterling made sweeping and offensive racial generalizations. This is not a good guy.

On record, Sterling has built up very little good will with anyone over the years. I never heard a kind word about the man before the racism scandal broke over the weekend. In fact, what I have read and heard about the man from any source anywhere has been almost entirely negative. As an NBA owner, his tenure was absolutely laughable until the arrivals of All-Stars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, and 2008 NBA Champion Head Coach Doc Rivers. Prior to the 2011-2012 season (and Paul’s arrival), the Clippers were the perennial laughing stock of the NBA, rarely afforded the slightest possibility of having a season that was not abysmal by anyone in the know in the NBA. Even a broken clock is right twice per day.

The means leading to Sterling’s last straw was foul, but the outcome was fair and, regardless of what prompted the ban, the NBA is better off for it.

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Brew Ha Ha!

I enjoy sports. I play sports. I like baseball. I’m not a fan of WWE. I don’t think excessive brawling, long term, is good for any sport. I hate moments when I am involved in rec level sports in which one or two guys get carried away with elevated testosterone levels and an altercation ensues. I thought yesterday’s Easter Sunday brawl between the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates was awesome!

MLB...it's epic! 1

NOSTALGIA

Perhaps there is a subconscious part of me that craves a little sports nostalgia. The morning before the Brewers’ brew-ha-ha with the Pirates at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, I watched the “30 for 30” documentary “Bad Boys” on ESPN, about the Detroit Pistons teams of the late 80s and early 90s, including consecutive championships in 1989 and 1990. The Pistons were the villains of the NBA at that time. Nowadays, words like “thug”, “goon”, and “dirty” are often overused and misused. Those labels were perfectly fitting for the Bad Boys Pistons. The documentary was full of video highlights supporting that assertion.

Shortly after watching the program, I found myself craving little more aggression in my sports viewing than normal. I watched the Game 1 first round of the NBA Playoffs between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers – two teams that do not like each other. The game officials kept the players on a short leash, dishing out fouls like people dish out candy on Halloween for the least, little sign of aggression. Blake Griffin of the Clippers and Andre Iguodala fouled out of the game. Five of the other eight starters would finish the game in foul trouble.

Ordinarily, I would complain that the officials were trying to control the game and exerting too much influence. Given the two teams participating and their recent histories, however, I understood the reasoning and it worked; there was only one technical foul and zero flagrant fouls during the game. While there were several moments in which I could see players exchanging some choice words (not “Holy Saturday” or wishing one another a “Fun Easter”), the extracurricular contact between players was minimal, to my temporary disappointment.

In the 80s and 90s, flared tempers followed flying fists or at least strong shoves were no uncommon between rival opponents with mutual contempt. Concerned for the image of the NBA, former Commissioner David Stern led the charge to put rules in place in the late 1990s that would bring the hammer down on players turning the basketball court into a boxing ring, including fines and suspensions for leaving the bench for a skirmish, let alone putting one’s hands on another player. The days of the NBA tough guys, as we knew them (especially in the Eastern Conference at that time), were over.

This was Bill Laimbeer being nice. 3

BOYS BEING BOYS

Major League Baseball, reactive rather than pro-active as usual, followed suit within a few years. In the 20^th century, bench clearing brawls in baseball, especially between division rivals, were just a part of the game, albeit much less frequent, as fights are in ice hockey. Fines, if any, were of a token nature and suspensions were extremely rare unless malicious injuring resulted from a team fight. Lengthy suspensions were almost unheard of. However, with the NBA making pro-active strides to rid its game of thuggery and even NHL hockey tightening its controls over glove-dropping goons, MLB codified fines and suspensions into its rules that would make players feel more than a pinch if they incited or inflamed a fracas.

The “bench clearing brawls” that I grew up with, in which disrespect from a rival often ended with a few punches in the faces of one another, were replaced my mass player meetings on the diamond and stern talking-tos exchanged. Maybe someone might get pushed…perhaps even pushed to the ground. That’s it. Scenes of punches and pandemonium were being cleaned up in America’s Pastime.

THE CODE

So why am I talking about what happened yesterday? What happened exactly and what was so awesome about it? One would expect me to applaud the efforts to remove fighting from the sport and frown upon the caveman antics of two jocks in chest-thumping measuring contest gone bad. Right?

Pirates starting pitcher Geritt Cole served up a two out pitch in the 3^rd inning that was smashed into center field by Brewers centerfielder Carlos Gomez. Gomez’s reputation for running hot precedes him. Yes, it’s that Carlos Gomez who was ready to single-handedly tangle with the entire Atlanta Braves roster in a similar incident last September.

Gomez gave his bat a little flip (which can tantamount to a little bird flip to the pitcher depending on the situation, past histories, and body language), began a less-that-full-speed jog to first and the ball watched (also a potential violation of the unwritten “baseball code”), presumably because he thought it would either be a home run or a long fly out. It was neither. The ball hit the wall and was in play, at which time Gomez began to high-tail it around the bases, stopping at third base with a triple. 

Cole went to back up third base on the play. On his way back to the mound, Cole uttered some choice words to Gomez about his conduct on the bases. Gomez took umbrage and told Cole what he could do with his “career advice” and tempers began to flare. Like a flash-bomb, words became heated, personal space was violated, and within seconds, both benches emptied.

This is not Gomez's first rodeo. 2

I DIDN’T KNOW YOU CARED

People were holding one another back, shoving, cursing and the coup de gras was Brewers reserve catcher Martin Maldonado delivered a knuckle sandwich to Pirates outfielder Travis Snider’s dome, both of whom left the bench when the fireworks started. Gomez, Snider, and Brewers bench coach Jerry Norton were ejected and a multi-game suspension of Maldonado is imminent.

While I doubt management of either club approved of the incident, sometimes you need to start a fire to stay warm. The excitement of season-opening April baseball tends to subside after a few weeks. It’s a long season and October is a F..A..R away. The NBA Playoffs and its related storylines dominate the front and back pages of the sports section (as well as the middle). Only the most die-hard of baseball fans have much motivation to pay a lot of attention to MLB until late June, leading up to the All-Star break, after the NBA Finals are over.

More so, too many baseball players look like they’re just going the motions until the September races heat up. Modern day players are so brand an image conscious that fans seldom get anything juicy in the sound bite department. Where’s the passion? Why should I care as a fan if every day is just another day at the office for the players?

Then…BAM! Two division rivals meet up. One team, the Brewers, is hot, in first place and off to a surprisingly fast start. The other, the Pirates, was a playoff team from last year with eyes on the division title and the pennant, yet is slumping early in the year with a sub-.500 record. The short fused player on the hot team dishes out a little more misfortune to the slumping team and the fireworks fly!

Sometimes you have to punch a guy in the face to keep the peace. 4

APPOINTMENT WORTHY SPORTS (SORT OF)

Yesterday’s blowup insured one thing: these division opponents, who meet each other no less than any other teams on their schedules, have upped the interest in their future games this season. Familiarity in sports mixed with contempt always makes for a better spectacle than without those two elements. For a sport that often drags behind the rest of the sporting world in evolving during a time of year in which the game is competing with the playoffs of two major sports leagues (NBA, NHL) and the ramping interest in next month’s NFL Draft, a good, old-fashioned brawl was just what the doctor ordered for MLB. 

The game ended in a Brewers win after a 14 game marathon. Free fights...free baseball...what do they do for an encore? 5

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The Riley Situation

For those of you who have no interest in daily sports news whatsoever and happened across this blog from random Twitter surfing (@ech1997) or for those of you who have been in a coma since Wednesday morning, a video of Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper using a racial slur at a Kenny Chesney concert was leaked to the media last week. Cooper used the slur reportedly after being denied backstage access by a black security guard. Cooper, who is white, can be seen on a cell phone video saying he would climb “over that fence and fight every nigger” at the concert.

The is not much room for a misunderstanding.

FIRE!

The video went viral almost immediately.  The fallout mushroomed exponentially by the minute. The topic became topic #1 in sports media almost immediately. 

Cooper offered a very contrite apology at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. He was fined by the Eagles, who said they were sending him to sensitivity counseling. The NFL announced it would take no further action. Riley Cooper was excused from training camp to attend counseling on Friday.

Eagles training camp has been a lonely place of late for Riley Cooper. 1

WHAT COOPER DID

There is very little that can be said in Cooper’s defense. The word “nigger” is pervasive in the arts, pop culture, and urban vernacular. The word is used very frequently among black people, especially young black men. Every first-hand account and many dramatizations of an NFL locker room that I have heard regarding the word “nigger” includes that word or a derivative of the word (“nigga”) used frequently every day for a multitude of purposes. 

“Nigger” is used by black players as a greeting to a synonym for “buddy” or “pal” to a replacement for the phrase “motherfucker” when expressing displeasure with another person to its original pejorative connotation.  The word is never used in any polite conversation, but has some positive intentions when used as well as negative and ugly intentions. Ultimately, everyone is held accountable for what other people hear them say.

Riley Cooper wasn’t dropping rhymes during a freestyling session. We wasn’t high fiving someone while exclaiming, “My nigga!” He wasn’t referring to himself. Riley Cooper was intoxicated and angry with a black man who would not let him have his way and, in response, expressed that anger with an expression of violence which included the word “nigger” rolling off of his tongue the way sweat rolls off of a farm hand’s forehead in August. 

His words were violent. His words were filled with vitriol. His words were ugly. His words were offensive without mitigation.

You never know what is in someone's head or heart, but I think that his mea culpa was sincere.

WHAT COOPER DIDN’T DO

In spite of his tough talk, Riley Cooper did not hop over any fences. He did not beat anyone up. As far as I am aware, he did not make trouble for anyone else at the concert. He was not videoed launching into any more any tirades. He wasn’t arrested. He wasn’t asked to leave the performance.

By all accounts, Cooper’s interactions prior to this incident with other teammates, black or otherwise, were of the positive, bonding experiences one would expect among professional athletes. He was as involved in the Philadelphia community as much as any other Eagles player, as I understand. Not only does Riley Cooper have no prior record of creating racial animosity, from was I can gather he was a good teammate and a good representative, like most players, of the National Football League. 

WHY HE’S IN HOT WATER

If not for modern technology, there would be no story. However, the Internet has been available to consumers for 20 years. Video cameras have been ubiquitous in cell phones for at least the last five years. The majority of American adults have Facebook accounts. There are close to a billion Twitter users in the world.

If you are a public figure, it should come as no surprise that you are not only being observed by someone every minute of every second of every day, but there is a high probability that you are being documented, including by use of audio/video media. Riley Cooper has walked into a room hundreds of times, going back to when he was playing football at the University of Florida, and people in the room have known who he was and that he was there. This is not new to Cooper.

In spite of the aforementioned, Cooper neglected to exhibit self-control. He was angry. He verbally lashed out in the most malicious and incendiary manner possible, targeting race. He isn't a victim and, having seen the video, I cannot even give him the benefit of the doubt of suggesting that he let out a Freudian slip. This is not lost on his teammates.

Simply put: Riley Cooper allowed the world to see his verbal interactions with another human being, using an entire race of people to single that person out, in one of the worst manners imaginable. He did nothing to distance himself from his vulgar and hurtful behavior until after he was caught, not even the cat-ate-the-canary look that people have when they realize, right away, they say something they immediately regret.

Nobody wants to be tied to bigotry. Nobody in their right mind would want to be associated with hatred towards black people in an occupation in which 70% of his peers are black and that job legally encourages opponents to hit you as hard as possible. 2

THE TEAM IMPACT

We've all done stupid things. We've all said things that we profoundly regret. We all have biases, good, bad, or otherwise, based on ethnicity, gender, appearance, and mannerisms. We all have to own them and be accountable for those things. 

Unfortunately for Riley Cooper and the Eagles, Cooper opened the door of race in America when he reached a behavioral nadir at the concert. He was seen doing it on video. His anger triggered unvarnished racial hostility for the world to see. It isn't like farting in church. 

Quarterback Michael Vick, a 33-year-old, 11 year NFL veteran who is black, attempted to mitigate the fallout and stand up for Cooper. It is what a team leader is supposed to do. Vick said he knew the kind of man Cooper is, the “real” Riley Cooper, and that he forgave him. He said the team was ready to move forward. A day later, Vick said he tried, but that internal tension wasn't simmering down. 

Running back LeSean McCoy gave a very measured, reasonable, cool-headed opinion in which he said that they will work with him and aid Cooper as a teammate, but his friendship and respect for Cooper has changed for the worse. Multiple reports surfaced saying that Cooper was excused, asked to leave training camp on Friday to attend counseling due to the tension that situation caused.

Cooper is lucky that he has talent. Like other talented people in our society, his talent is buying him some currency. If Cooper were a fourth or fifth receiver with limited special teams value battling a rookie out for a low roster spot, he would be cut. But the Eagles need Cooper. In light of Jeremy Maclin's season ending knee injury, Cooper was/is expected to be in the starting lineup this season.

On the field, his team needs him. For that reason, he will probably have an opportunity to redeem himself among his Eagles colleagues. That is fortunate because, in light of this flap, no other team would invite Cooper and his inevitable attached distractions into camp.

He is...the most OSTRACIZED EAGLE in the WORLD! 3

SOCIETAL IMPACT

This is yet another high profile incident in American current events in which race is key issue; in this case it is the central issue. The Riley Cooper situation has awaken discussion about the word, "nigger," and the perspectives on race, racism, and race relations. From my vantage point, I have heard the same old stale talking points from all points of view.

What is inescapable, however, is the Riley Cooper allowed the world to see how he behaved in a contentious situation with a black man when (I sincerely hope) he thought nobody was watching. His black teammates have every right to ask, "What does he think about me? What does he think about my family? What does he think about my friends and people who look like me?". His other teammates have a right to ask similar questions, such as, "How would he treat me if I looked different...didn't look more like him?" Football fans, writers, and stakeholders have the right to ask the same.

The supply on the Internet seems almost infinite. 5

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Fool Me Once, Shame On You; Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me

The verdict is in and Sheriff/Judge Roger Goodell has handed down his sentence. Saints Head Coach Sean Payton has been suspended for the 2012 season. Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis got 8 games. Assistant Head Coach Joe Vitt got 6 games handed down to him. The team was fined $500,000. The Saints had their second round picks in 2012 and 2013 taken away.

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WHY SO SEVERE?

I’ve made absolutely no secret that I was raised in New Orleans and am a die hard Saints fan. I love the Saints and am as heartbroken as a football fan can be. But, Sean Payton and his gang brought this upon themselves and the fans.

Goodell approached the Saints in 2009. He told them that they suspected that the bounty practice was happening. He ordered the Saints to stop it if that was the case. The Saints effectively patted him on the head, basically threw the finger at Goodell and kept doing it for two more seasons. When the Commissioner’s top priority, during the last two seasons, has been "player safety, player safety, player safety" and the man in charge is willfully disrespected on that topic, tough consequences can be expected.


ON THE FIELD

This is a crippling blow to the Saints Super Bowl XLVII prospects. The biggest operational part of an NFL Head Coach’s job is to manage his position coaches, who manage the players, first-hand. Without a doubt, Payton's staff is first rate. But there is a reason Payton is the top coach and his organizational excellence is ultimately why the Saints won a Super Bowl.

Talent goes a long way in professional sports and I expect the Saints, with Drew Brees at quarterback, will more likely than not have a winning record and more likely than not get into the playoffs. But the Saints' road to winning the big prize without Payton is filled with peril. I cannot see the Saints, with very little time to prepare for or adjust to these penalties before the draft, minicamps, and training camp, going deep into the playoffs in the coming season.


LONG TERM IMPACT

I am willing to bet no other coach tries this, going forward. I am disappointed, but the Saints asked for this. The only person for whom I have sympathy is Saints Owner Benson, who, from all accounts, had nothing to do with this. I cannot imagine that Payton and Loomis, under the circumstances, would not have been fired were it not for the Super Bowl success to which they led the team.

The Saints program was run by coaches, who are managers and leaders by example, not players. This is a key difference in what the Saints did and most player run, under-the-table bounty programs. Today, the league is much tighter on player safety issues. The NFL is being sued for withholding information vital to player safety by a number of former players, who suffered concussions and other head injuries. The Saints could not have picked a worse time to run afoul of league rules with a bounty program.


WHO’S NEXT?

When the New England Patriots were fined $500,000 and docked a first round draft pick for their involvement in the “Spygate” sideline video recording scandal, I thought the league sent a very loud and clear message that it would not tolerate an organization’s disregard for the Commissioner’s office. The penalty was the harshest, ever, handed down to a team from the NFL commissioner. Apparently, that wasn’t enough.

Perhaps the Saints’ brass thought a half-mil and a lost pick was simply a cost of doing business. Perhaps they thought instructions to cease and desist a potential league-image-wrecking practice were guidelines and not actual rules. After these severe penalties, I do not know what more the Commissioner’s office can do to show that it means business. I would not want to be the team to find out, either.

No place to be.... 2

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Bounty, the Quicker Picker Upper

For those of you who completely tuned out all sports media over the weekend, the New Orleans Saints got into a little trouble. Reportedly, former Saints Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams, under the supervision of Head Coach Sean Payton, implemented a bounty program for his defensive players. Allegedly, players would be paid cash bonuses for delivering hits to opposing players resulting in those players having to leave the game.

This topic hits home for me. The New Orleans Saints are my home team. So while I will not pretend, for a moment, to be completely unbiased, I will be as objective as I possibly can.

CHA CHING! 1

MAN’S GAME!!!

This is football! It is the one sport in which there is very little tolerance or expectation among fans, players, or coaches for softening up the game. While there is a legitimate and critical business reason, the multitude of NFL rules protecting quarterbacks and wide receivers have come under criticism from fans, the media, and, perhaps most vocally, players for being too protective and soft. It is not surprising that the reaction among many players, as well as fans, was, “It’s football. Sack up!”

The practice of players receiving (relative to most salaries) token bounties as a reward for laying out an opposing player is decades old. Former NFL Head Coach Buddy Ryan (father of New York Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan) was exposed for instituting a bounty program when he was the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Allegedly, Gregg Williams implemented similar programs when he was the Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills and an assistant with the Washington Redskins. It isn’t new.

What do Randy Moss and Gregg Williams have in common? Straight cash, homie! 2

LET’S NOT LOSE OUR HEADS

Regardless of the violent, macho nature of football and the bloodlust among fans, players, and coaches, player safety has nonetheless become paramount in the NFL during the past few years. In 2010, the issue of concussions made headlines. Repeated, graphic images of players absorbing blows to the head and requiring assistance to leave the field of play resulted in swift and significant changes implemented by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to further enforce player safety rules.


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Therein lay the public relations and potential legal problems for the NFL. Even the most thrill seeking NFL fans do not want to see players carted off of the field from suffering brain or spinal injuries. In addition, the NFL has witnessed a rash of former players suing the league for willfully promoting unsafe playing conditions and withholding information about the dangers of concussions for its own benefit (i.e. players returning to the field too soon). A scandal involving a bounty system runs directly against the direction the NFL has taken regarding player safety.

If you have a big head against the Saints, you could lose it. 4

IT’S NOT THE CRIME; IT’S THE COVER UP

Ultimately, the Saints are going to experience the most painful consequences from the Bountygate flap because of the below-board nature in which the program was conducted. The Saints allegedly engaged in this practice during all of Williams’ tenure in New Orleans, between 2009 and 2011. According to media reports, the Saints were discovered and warned about this practice in the past. They were instructed to discontinue the program. They didn’t.

Even the most casual observer of Roger Goodell’s reign as Commissioner knows that Sheriff Goodell gets what Sheriff Goodell wants. If he doesn’t, woe betides the people in his way. The New England Patriots were fined a total of three quarters of a million dollars and docked a first round draft pick for a scandal involving improper filming of game footage (also after previously being warned by Goodell).

Nobody was injured in the so-called “Spygate” scandal. In an era of pro football in which player safety is a top priority of the league, the Saints can expect worse…much worse. A year long suspension of Gregg Williams and some type of suspension of Sean Payton, on top of fines and lost draft picks, would not surprise me. Players most prominently involved should not sleep too soundly either. The rhetoric in the media of the league office and league officials has made it clear to me that the Saints players and coaches involved in this series of incidents can expect to have a glaring example made of them.

5

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Kyle Busch: Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem?

NASCAR has ascended prominently into the realm of mainstream sports in recent years. It is not long ago that that a typical NASCAR race, other than the Daytona 500 or other signature event, could only be seen in the middle of the day on a weekend on ESPN or another cable network affiliate. Today, races can be seen regularly in prime time on major networks such as Fox.

The sport is guided by more technically specific rules. More drivers are marketable than at any time in the past due thanks, in part, to their personalities and racing styles. NASCAR has effectively supplanted IndyCar as the fastest growing and most popular motor sport in America.

Perhaps Busch did need to have his ass whipped. That doesn't always make it a good idea. 1

HAVE AT IT, BOYS!

Not long ago, NASCAR’s image, in the eyes of many, may have be along the lines of professional wrestling, appealing to niche audiences, concentrated in the South, and appealing to lower common denominators. Its drivers, justified or not, may have been pigeonholed by mainstream sports media and racing fans as low tech, low rent grease monkeys who were no more than glorified drag racers from the street. Spectacular crashes and sensational altercations among participants were often the most attention grabbing highlights of many races.

With the influx of sponsorships and expanded media coverage of the sport over the past 10 years, NASCAR has continued to cultivate a family friendly image, suitable for the world of mainstream sports. In fact, its recent mantra, “Have at it, boys!” was coined with the intention of ADDING some spice to the NASCAR experience. Perhaps the boys should not have at “it” quite as much.

This isn't the first time in sports an older man has put a younger man in the headlock and roughed him up. 4

KYLE BUSCH'S JUDGMENT: POOR AND STUPID?

Kyle Busch, a member of Joe Gibbs' racing team, has had his name in several recent headlines due to some questionable and checkered behavior, not a checkered flag. Busch was involved in an early June altercation with 65 year old NASCAR owner Richard Childress. Last month, Busch was involved in an incident in which he pushed Kevin Harvick’s car with his car while on pit row, with Harvick responding by throwing a punch at Busch through his window.

These are just two examples of Busch’s raceway shenanigans. The list continues. Just yesterday, NASCAR announced it would penalize Busch and Gibbs six points for a technical violation. In 2008, Busch instigated a post race incident with Carl Edwards involving the ramming of Busch's car into Edwards and Edwards responding by spinning Busch's car out.* In 2007, Busch was disqualified from a race in Pensacola for technical violations.

Busch's bad boy image follows him off the track. Last month, Busch was cited for speeding, going 128 MPH in a 45 MPH zone on a rural road in Mooresville, North Carolina. Busch apologized for the reckless behavior and the danger he caused. That bell, however, cannot be unrung.

If NASCAR is to successfully transition its image fully into the mainstream, it cannot have regular periodic instances in which racers and owners get ready to “take it outside”. Such incidents make a mockery of the intense preparation and competition involved in stock car racing. As much as an occasional brouhaha may spark the interest of the casual sports fan, gaining attention with antics that can be seen on the Jerry Springer Show does not advance the interests of a NASCAR organization attempting to expand the brand of and interest in RACING.

Apparently, Kyle Busch's truck (#18) got too up close and personal with Childress' assets (#22). 2

ONCE IS A COINCIDENCE, TWICE IS A PATTERN, AND THREE TIMES IS A TREND

Every sport has villains and bad guys. Every sport has enforcers and goons. Unlike football, basketball, baseball, and even ice hockey, however, NASCAR is still establishing its acceptance as a legitimate, competitive, mainstream sport of skill among casual sports fans. It has made significant progress toward this goal in the last decade. The Kyle Busches of NASCAR push the sport two steps backwards after a step forward with highly publicized and sensational altercations.

Busch, already on probation by NASCAR for the Harvick incident, was not punished for his role in this weekend’s altercation. NASCAR determined that Busch had not provoked the incident with the 65 year old Childress. Childress was slapped with a $150,000 fine for his actions. If this were an isolated incident, I would think nothing further about NASCAR’s inaction. But this is not Busch’s first rodeo, featuring other NASCAR personnel as the metaphorical bull. Where there is smoke there is fire. NASCAR must get a handle on these incidents, even if it means suspending popular drivers like Busch, to keep its spectacle a sport and not like a rodeo (or a steel cage match) in the eyes of the public.


Childress put Busch in a headlock and gave Busch a few knuckle sandwiches. I wouldn't mess with this old man! 3

*Source: ESPN.com
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2) Image from bleacherreport.com
3) Image from latimes.com
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The Other “F Word”

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Last night, in Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat, Bulls center Joakim Noah picked up his second foul midway through the first quarter. As he took he seat on the bench, clearly frustrated, Noah’s mouth appeared to form the two “F words” that should not be said on live television.

Later in the broadcast, it was confirmed that others appeared to see the same words being formed. By this morning, it was reported on ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike in the Morning that a fan in Miami’s arena had been heckling Noah, and Noah returned fire. To be clear, the words in question would rhyme with “ducking maggot”.

Oh NO, Mr. Noah! UH OH! 2

NOWHERE TO HIDE

Just last month, Los Angeles Lakers star guard Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 for being seen saying the same two words in the direction of a referee with whom Kobe had a difference of opinion. Once is a coincidence; twice is a pattern; three times is a trend. Bryant apologized and recanted quickly after his fine was handed down. Noah, only in his fourth year in the NBA, earns nowhere near the salary that Bryant earns, yet I would not be surprised to see the NBA hand down a fine of a similar dollar amount to deter this pattern from becoming a trend in the NBA.

To be clear, I am not attempting to paint Noah as some gay bashing, homophobic Neanderthal. Sports are intended to be competitive and, by their nature, the competition can become heated. Add to the equation a fan, possibly a fan on the Liquid Courage Diet, and the most gentlemanly person could let out utterances that would never be heard on Sesame Street.

In addition, basketball is different than the other three major North American team sports. Football players’ mouths are obstructed by helmets and face masks. When on the bench, they are dozens of feet away from the front row of spectator seats. Baseball players are seated underneath the fans and below the field surface in a darkened dugout. Hockey players are separated from fans by a tall layer of fiberglass.

NBA basketball is unique in that it is far more up close and personal with the players than any other sport. There are no helmets or pads. The most expensive, prestigious, and profitable seats in the entire area are at courtside. Fans can literally sit behind and (almost) next to the players.

Sorry, Kobe. You can't say "filth flarn flarn filth" in front of people. 3 

WHO TO BLAME?

What the NBA has is an immensely popular sport that sells its players’ personalities to fans paying top dollar to sit as close to the action as possible. These players are participating in a sport, like all sports, that is highly competitive, can get very heated, and can produce very colorful language from the participants in the heat of battle. It is also a sport, unlike other sports, in which more fans, many of whom feel entitled to say what they want because they purchased a ticket, can speak (or scream) within earshot of players than in any other sport. Finally, we live in a time in which broadcast technology allows us to see players more closely than ever and more clearly than ever. We also live in a time in which the slightest incident that garners attention can be shared and discussed with millions of people in seconds because of the Internet, especially Twitter.

Athletes, especially NBA players, no matter how heated, have to be mindful of their actions and the image it projects to fans about them and their sport at all times. NBA players have a heightened degree of liability and accountability. They also have significantly higher average salaries than other professional athletes*.

Fans pay a premium for tickets for seats closer to the court. Ticket sales enable franchises to pay for a substantial portion of players’ salaries. This does not, however, necessarily make the fan “the boss”. The customer is not always right when he harasses employees, often well beyond a harmless verbal barb.

Regardless, the NBA is trying to sell a family friendly image. Words like the traditional “F bomb” are not family friendly, but tolerable in moderate doses when not audible on television. These are alpha males, basketball is a sport, and fans expect intense competition. Four letter Anglophone profanities can be expected. The gay slur, on the other hand, has absolutely no place in the NBA. It is a word that encapsulates hatred of and bigotry towards other human beings. Regardless of one’s personal feelings on the topic of alternative lifestyles, no mainstream business wants it product associated with hatred of other people.

Twitter has even turned The Bieb's world upside down. 4

WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY

NBA players are the immediate extension and face of the league itself. While it may not be fair, relative to the privacy of other pro athletes, that basketball players, due to the logistics of the game, are under constant observation and therefore must be continuously aware of all of their actions, they are nonetheless responsible for their observable actions.

The only constant in life is change. NBA salaries have changed for the better of the players. Interest in the sports has changed for the better of the players. Media coverage and exposure of the sport has changed for the better of the players. Basketball players have empowerment parallel with that of small to medium sized businessmen, as evidenced with the joining of forces in Miami by Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade. With great power comes great responsibility. NBA players, like Bryant, Noah and hundreds of others, have no choice but to be more aware of their surroundings and change their standard of behavior, specifically their language, in the heat of battle.


*Source: Sports Illustrated via freemoneyfinance.com (2006)
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