The Sporting Life category archive

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.

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:

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.

(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.

“If the NCAA can’t adjudicate this kind of issue, what is its real purpose?” he said. “Carolina institutionally used these sham courses for years and years to assist and maintain the eligibility of student athletes who then competed on behalf of the university and [UNC] gained advantage over schools where this course work, so to speak, was not available.”

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.

Closter’s school business administrator is banned from a youth flag football league after he allegedly put a 16-year-old coach into a chokehold this past weekend, according to police.

Peter Iappelli, 50, of Closter (New Jersey–ed.) approached the teenage coach during a peewee game at Westwood Middle School on Saturday morning, Detective Warren Morrell said. Iappelli grabbed the boy in a bear hug that turned into a chokehold, Morrell said.

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.

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.

Bob Molinaro, sportswriter extraordinaire, observes:

There are few things phonier than media insisting that hot dog eating contests – like the Coney Island July 4th Nathan’s gorge-fest – are a sport. The notion is too hard to swallow.

He thought that there was only one born every minute. Bob Molinaro, sportswriter extraordinaire, reports (emphasis in the original):

Cha-ching: The Chicago Cubs have crossed the fine line between rewarding fans and exploiting them. After collecting 2,016 falling leaves from Wrigley Field’s famous ivy-covered walls following their World Series victory, the Cubs packaged them individually for season-ticket holders at a price of $200 each, plus $15 shipping. Caveat emptor and all that. But how much money is enough for a franchise like that?

For once, football’s “winning is the only thing” invisible plastic shield proved vulnerable.

Graham B. Spanier, the former Pennsylvania State University president once considered one of the nation’s most prominent college leaders, was convicted Friday of endangering children by failing to act on signs that Jerry Sandusky was a serial sex predator.

After nearly 12 hours of deliberation, a Dauphin County jury of seven women and five men found Spanier guilty of a misdemeanor count of endangerment. He was acquitted of a second endangerment count, as well as a felony conspiracy charge.

That it’s a misdemeanor is irrelevant. That it’s a conviction is everything.

Meanwhile, in related news of “Get Out of Jail Free” cards . . . .

Big-time sports leaves Gina Barreca scratching her head. A snippet:

. . . I feel about sports the way that Dorothy Parker felt about skiing: “Skiing is very difficult and none of my business.” Big sports is none of my business.

So you can imagine how I felt when I learned that the football coach at my university was recently awarded $3.4 million when it was decided he was no longer right for the job. My first thought was to compare this coach to Marla Maples, who married Donald Trump and gave birth to a Trump child. Ms. Maples was reportedly paid as much as $2 million when her relationship terminated. It seems to me that with a $3.4 million payout, the football coach didn’t get severance; he got alimony. And he didn’t even have to go through labor.

As my two or three regular readers may recall, I got fed up with the corruption of big-time football and stopped paying attention to it several years ago (and please note, I do not allege that the players are corrupt, no it’s not them, not at all).

I will tell you something, well, two somethings. After a very short while, you don’t miss it, and it’s amazing how many wonderful things you can find to do on a weekend afternoon when you’re not glued to the tube watching large men run into each other at high speed.

Bob Molinaro, sportswriter extraordinaire, contributes two example of dis coarse discourse in today’s column (emphasis in the original).

Groan-ups: Regarding Harbaugh, there’s a difference between a coach speaking out against perceived injustices to his team and a grown man throwing a public hissy fit. We’re learning that in today’s climate – sports and political – there’s nothing too embarrassing for the internet and Twitter audience. But there are still some of us who would like to hang on to the old-school principle that says leaders who preach discipline should practice it.

(snip)

Name game: My friend Mike added up all the Thanksgiving week men’s basketball tournaments that carried the grandiose title of “Classic.” The total came to 19. They included the Gildan Charleston Classic, Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic and High Point University Classic. Words just don’t mean what they used to.

Frankly, I doubt the coarseness of the discourse is any greater than ever. What’s changed is that there is no escape from the stupid, for there are no longer any filters either from or for it.

Aside:

You don’t have to be a sports fan to enjoy Molinaro’s writing. He often says in a sentence what others fail to say in a page. Follow the link and sign up for the RSS feed.

You’ll be glad you did.

Yeah, right.

Sportswriter extraordinaire Bob Molinaro highlights the hypocrisy of big time college sports.

In the first 20 days of the season, Tom Izzo’s Michigan State basketball team will have traveled 13,000 miles for games, including trips to Honolulu, New York City, the Bahamas and Durham, N.C. What about this itinerary, most of it programmed by TV for the benefit of TV, suggests that Michigan State’s players are supposed to be students, too, not members of a money-making barnstorming troupe? Looking at Michigan State’s far-flung schedule – and those of other programs – how can anybody buy into the pretense that the college’s No. 1 goal is to provide the athletes with a proper education?

Penn State has to pay for protecting a pederast.

In case you wonder why I no longer pay attention to college football, follow the link for one example.

I can no longer ignore the corruption. Like Crabby Appleton, it is rotten to the core.