The Sporting Life category archive
There Is No Right Turn for NASCAR 0
Today, yet another article appeared in my local rag wondering where, amid declining attendance and TV ratings,* NASCAR is heading.
Some persons blame the younger drivers for not having “star quality” (whatever that is), while those younger drivers charge the tracks with being outmoded and old-fashioned (whatever that means for an asphalt oval). Others argue that NASCAR should reach out to minorities, somehow not grasping that the sea of Confederate flags in a typical NASCAR track’s parking lot renders that notion somewhat beyond ludicrous. This particular article focused on the Commissioner, the grandson of NASCAR’s founder, and his seeming lack of interest in proselytizing for the sport.
No one, of course, mentions that NASCAR race cars long ceased to be “stock cars” in any sense of the word. And no one has mentioned the underlying cause.
Young folks these days are just not into cars. They don’t customize cars or models of cars; they don’t take them apart and repair them; they don’t buy broken down old heaps with a gleam in their eye to make them run and soup them up. I got a dollar to a doughnut that they don’t subscribe to Motor Trend or Sports Car Graphic (which I think is no longer with us), as I did when I was a teen.
Very Foul Ball 0
In the Des Moines Register, Mike Wellman notes that Congress has consigned minor league baseball players to penury. A snippet:
Yes, big leaguers long ago became millionaires*, but the overall pay scale of the game is feudal.
(snip)
Much more at the link.
______________
*And most team owners are billionaires.
Cheaters Do Prosper . . . 0
. . . but, for once, not tonight.
Super Stray Thought 0
It’s not that contest’s stated purpose, but nothing illustrates the inanity and vacuousness of television sports commentary more than comparing it to a segment or two of The Puppy Bowl.
The Stink 0
Click for a larger image.
I have wondered before in these electrons which is most corrupt, the IOC, FIFA, or the NCAA.
My question has been answered.
Tales of the Trumpling: Snapshots of Trickle-Down Trumpery 0
A Sign of Sporting Sanity 0
The Austrian state of Tyrol, which contains the city of Innsbruck, has voted against bidding to be the site of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The Olympics long ago went from being a celebration of athletic prowess to become a branding frenzy of corporate greed, in the process morphing into more trouble than they are worth.
And then there’s the tantalizing question of which is more corrupt, the IOC, FIFA, or the NCAA.
Illegal Procedure Move Along Now, Nothing To See Here
0
For years, the University of North Carolina ran phony classes to help athletes maintain academic eligibility.
The NCAA has decided that it is incapable of enforcing any penalities against the UNC because argle-bargle. Mostly it has looked for reasons to not see what was right in front of it.
Dan Kane comments on the argle:
(snip)
Stuart Brown, an Atlanta lawyer who specializes in NCAA matters, said the committee followed its rules in making its decision. But he said the public is right to be concerned about the NCAA’s inability to act.
UNC-Chapel Hill escaped NCAA sanctions, in what was one of the longest-running academic scandals in college sports history, in large part by refusing to identify as fraudulent 18 years of classes that had no instruction and were graded by a secretary.Follow the link for the bargle.
Afterthought.
I think the answer to Mr. Brown’s question is quite clear. The NCAA’s deeds betray it.
The NCAA’s purpose is marketing broadcast rights to media outfits.
Setting an Example of Sportsmanship 0
According to my local rag, the assault was prompted by Iapelli’s son being rotated out of the position of quarterback.
He has been banned from the league.
Peewee football is first- and second graders, folks.
Plus ca Change 0
Don’t think that this is anything new.
Here’s a bit of historical perspective for all you youngsters out there.
The Professional Is the Political 0
Responding to a Wall Street Journal article whose author wistfully yearns for the good old days of “apolitical” big time sports, Justin Levin points out that such times exist only in Never Never Land. He explains why the national anthem is played before every pro baseball and football games (hint: it was a politicized decision). An excerpt:
“Illegal Procedure” 0
I suspect that Donald Trump’s decision to energize NFL players, teams, coaches, and owners to protest his petty potty mouth will not work out well for him as he tries to move downfield.
Aside:
My two or three regular readers know that I have lost interest in big time football, primarily because of how players are exploited in the NCAA and mistreated in the big leagues (think CTE).
This does not mean that I cannot admire and respect individuals who participate in those endeavors.