With the resignation of Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel for impropriety's and rules violations of NCAA regulations, I wondered why so many coaches and universities seem to fall on such hard times. I know coaches, as well as fans want to win so they push the envelope of opportunity and operate in as many grey areas as possible. Winning certainly is important, after all that's why they play the games, or is it about something else.
Have you noticed how much the big time college programs pay their coaches? Have you noticed how much money ESPN and other major networks pay college sports programs for the right to televise and broadcast their games? Have you noticed how much money the NCAA earns each year? It's billions!
As a fan I want the best facilities, the best coaches, and the best players. Before the NCAA hammered out their billion dollar contract with the major networks, there were these same impropriety's, coaches and fans still wanted to win, and every few years we would hear about a program that had crossed the line. Now it's a monthly occurrence. The NCAA claims that they have the best interest of the student athlete at heart, but only if it's not at their expense. They never think they are the bad guys, after all they are just looking out for the integrity of armature athletics. But somewhere along the way, while they were harboring a culture of integrity in athletics, what they didn't see was the culture of greed, and now they are stuck with lots of money and a culture of cheaters.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Bluegrass Horses and Basketball: Baseball and Life
Bluegrass Horses and Basketball: Baseball and Life: "I am a big Cincinnati Reds fan, in fact I watch more games then I should, and the great thing about baseball is during the season there's a ..."
Baseball and Life
I am a big Cincinnati Reds fan, in fact I watch more games then I should, and the great thing about baseball is during the season there's a game every night. So, a baseball season is like life, you live it every day. When your team is playing well you are happy and content, but let them get in a loosing streak and every thing seems to go wrong. Much like life.
If you love the game as I do then you know what I am talking about. Some times in your everyday life things go well, which means you're nicer to your friends and family and your outlook is bright. But let one little thing go wrong and you think the whole world has got it in for you. Much like baseball.
It's my conclusion that baseball and life are somewhat intertwined. Baseball is a sport that let's you live an alternate life in the midst of your real one. The worst thing about this scenario is if both are going bad, well, you know what I mean. The thing about a baseball team is your fortunes can suddenly turn on a 3-1 fastball that goes sailing into the stands and all is well with the world. The real problem with your real life is you never seem to get enough turns at the plate. Just be prepared in both baseball and life that when your time comes at the plate that you are poised to hit one out of the park.
If you love the game as I do then you know what I am talking about. Some times in your everyday life things go well, which means you're nicer to your friends and family and your outlook is bright. But let one little thing go wrong and you think the whole world has got it in for you. Much like baseball.
It's my conclusion that baseball and life are somewhat intertwined. Baseball is a sport that let's you live an alternate life in the midst of your real one. The worst thing about this scenario is if both are going bad, well, you know what I mean. The thing about a baseball team is your fortunes can suddenly turn on a 3-1 fastball that goes sailing into the stands and all is well with the world. The real problem with your real life is you never seem to get enough turns at the plate. Just be prepared in both baseball and life that when your time comes at the plate that you are poised to hit one out of the park.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Preakness
The second leg of the Triple Crown comes as a surprise to most people. Most think it is a little race that is run after the Kentucky Derby and before the Belmont. Most don't know that the Preakness Stakes is two years older then the Derby, was named after the very first colt who won on the first day of racing at the fabled Maryland race course, Pimlico. That colt was named after a township in New Jersey and the rest they say is history. Heck the Preakness has not always been run at Pimlico and for that matter, in the state of Maryland. It has always been the little sibling sandwiched in between it's overachieving, more famous American icons.
The Preakness has managed to endure despite the deterioration of "Old Hilltop" and the declining state of horse racing. Tradition is a funny thing and come Saturday the Woodland Vase(sports most expensive trophy) will be dusted off, a blanket of Black eyed Susan's(the state flower of Maryland) will be draped, and they will paint the silks of the owner of the winner on a weather vain in the Pimlico infield. Thousands of horse racing fans will show up for the party, minus the pageantry of the Derby, but a high old time none the less. Oh, I almost forgot. A young colt will show up, one that just raced two weeks prior down in Louisville, and he will be the one that most have come to see. The Preakness has something that the Kentucky Derby doesn't have it has a Derby Champion running in it. The Preakness has only one potential Triple Crown Winner competing on Saturday, and that's what so much of this is all about. Can this special horse capture won of the great races in America on it's way to becoming a racing legend. Those hopes this Saturday are riding on, a young colt born in the bluegrass of Kentucky, and taking another giant stride toward horse racing immortality.
Go Animal Kingdom!
The Preakness has managed to endure despite the deterioration of "Old Hilltop" and the declining state of horse racing. Tradition is a funny thing and come Saturday the Woodland Vase(sports most expensive trophy) will be dusted off, a blanket of Black eyed Susan's(the state flower of Maryland) will be draped, and they will paint the silks of the owner of the winner on a weather vain in the Pimlico infield. Thousands of horse racing fans will show up for the party, minus the pageantry of the Derby, but a high old time none the less. Oh, I almost forgot. A young colt will show up, one that just raced two weeks prior down in Louisville, and he will be the one that most have come to see. The Preakness has something that the Kentucky Derby doesn't have it has a Derby Champion running in it. The Preakness has only one potential Triple Crown Winner competing on Saturday, and that's what so much of this is all about. Can this special horse capture won of the great races in America on it's way to becoming a racing legend. Those hopes this Saturday are riding on, a young colt born in the bluegrass of Kentucky, and taking another giant stride toward horse racing immortality.
Go Animal Kingdom!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Lilies and Roses
Flowers have always been synonymous with the great horse races. A garland of lilies for the fillies in the Kentucky Oaks, a blanket of roses for the Kentucky Derby. It seems quaint that beautiful flowers would come to symbolize some of the greatest sporting events in the world, but they have and a horse standing in the winners circle with a blanket of roses seems as natural as hoisting a trophy. I still have a rose from the blanket of Spend A Buck when he won in 1985. And who can forget jockey Calvin Borel tossing handfuls of roses in the air after he wins the Derby.
The wining owner of the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby will get lots of money, as well as a trophy, but I bet the flowers from the garlands will be something they keep forever. With all the glamour that is associated with this great weekend, it might just be the quaintness of a flower that means the most.
This is our most cherished time in Kentucky, a time when the world renews itself with spring. That's why we love all things Derby and the promise of something special. Maybe a flower is the best symbol of that feeling.
The wining owner of the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby will get lots of money, as well as a trophy, but I bet the flowers from the garlands will be something they keep forever. With all the glamour that is associated with this great weekend, it might just be the quaintness of a flower that means the most.
This is our most cherished time in Kentucky, a time when the world renews itself with spring. That's why we love all things Derby and the promise of something special. Maybe a flower is the best symbol of that feeling.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Jockey Race
We always remember the horse that wins the Kentucky Derby but sometimes the Jockey gets lost in the shuffle of memory. Most people can tell you who Calvin Borel is because he is fresh on our minds from winning three of the last four Derbies, but I bet you can't remember who won the one Derby that Calvin didn;t? It was Kent Desormeaux on Big Brown. However, when you get twenty starters, as we have in the last several Derbies the best horse does not always win. In fact it's the horse that gets the best trip that wears the garland of roses, and if he happens to be the best horse, so much the better.
The Derby attracts the best three year olds in the world but it also attracts the best jockeys as well. My friend Chris McCarron, Gary Stevens, Pat Day, Jerry Bailey, Jose Santos, and Mike Smith just to mention a few, shared the Winners Circle with such Legends of yesteryear as Bill Shoemaker, Angel Cordero, Jr., Bill Hartack, and Eddie Arcaro. These guys are household names in sports history. So, when we pick our Derby horse on Saturday just remember who the rider is because he may have as much to do with winning the race as the horse. No jockey can make a horse run faster than he can, the old saying goes "Did you ever see a jockey carry a horse across the finish line" but a little racing luck and a good ride can sure make a difference.
The Derby attracts the best three year olds in the world but it also attracts the best jockeys as well. My friend Chris McCarron, Gary Stevens, Pat Day, Jerry Bailey, Jose Santos, and Mike Smith just to mention a few, shared the Winners Circle with such Legends of yesteryear as Bill Shoemaker, Angel Cordero, Jr., Bill Hartack, and Eddie Arcaro. These guys are household names in sports history. So, when we pick our Derby horse on Saturday just remember who the rider is because he may have as much to do with winning the race as the horse. No jockey can make a horse run faster than he can, the old saying goes "Did you ever see a jockey carry a horse across the finish line" but a little racing luck and a good ride can sure make a difference.
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