Revolution

"There is going to be a revolution" or so says the old Beatles song, and this time I think they were right.  There is a revolution a foot in big time college athletics.  Anarchy is the rule among the titans of college sports.  The NCAA is being blasted from all corners, money has become the only ideal that seems to be adhered to by these powers that supposedly put the "student athlete" first, and foremost in their credo.  Look what just happened at Miami, Ohio State, and countless other universities across the NCAA landscape.  Lack of institutional control, or lack of governmental control?  The NCAA has legislated themselves to near extinction and all the while adopted an attitude of being above these dirty little affairs.  Most sports fans see through it!

Revolution is every where these days.  Schools are moving conferences to gain their bigger piece of the pie.  The new catch words are "Super Conferences" and "BCS".  The old way of geographic conferences are fast becoming a thing of the past and the NCAA has little power to stop it.  Talk of paying athletes is gaining legs, playoffs in football are moving toward fruition, and all the while the NCAA fiddles while their Rome burns. 

Other questions arise, such as what happens to mid-major conferences, and where will the revenues come from if all of the television monies are spent on the super conferences?  They will never be able to afford to pay their athletes, and I don't advocate that they should, but it will drive a greater wedge between the major and minors.  Times are changing and when this dam breaks lets hope that the current way of enjoying college athletics is not swept away with it.  Anarchy is brewing and revolution seems inevitable, but there is the old saying of "be careful what you wish for" it could be worse then what you have.

Football Crush

This morning was the annual media day for University of Kentucky football at Commonwealth Stadium.  I always enjoy the event because of the renewal of old acquaintances from print, electronic, television, and radio media.  It's still has the feeling of the first day of school.  The members are catching up on what has transpired since we last got together during basketball season.  Food is served in the Wildcat Den, one of the things that gets so many people to come from all over, and suddenly football is on every ones mind.

Optimism reigns supreme, a mean feat for Kentucky Football.  The coaches are spewing positive spins, the players get their team pictures taken in their uniforms, looking fit and ready to go.  Out on the field reporters flock to coaches and players usually in order of perceived importance.  The atmosphere is just down right jovial.  Can the team go 9-3, is the schedule as tough as last season, and for sure there must be another bowl game at season's end.  Hope is the theme of the day, injury and heart aches, the bane of any football team, is still in the future.  Media day is a time for a new beginning, a renewal of one of the fun things that makes us all enjoy being a Wildcat fan.

Now the football "crush" begins,  two a days, studying the playbook, training regiments, getting use to your teammates and coaches.  The members of the media start the onslaught of gathering information and speculating on every aspect of this brand new edition of Kentucky Football.  Gone will be the giddy atmosphere of this mornings meeting of coaches, players, and the people who bring news of the team to the fans.  Who knows what this season will bring, probably not as good as the most optimistic predictions, and probably not as bad as the most negative observers, just somewhere in between.  One prediction is sure to come true, there will be moments of heart stopping excitement, moments of anger, mixed in with downright despair, but that's football and the real reason that anybody cares at all.  As long as I am at it, can we go 12-0,. win the SEC and challenge for a National Championship?  Maybe, it's early yet.

Tarnished Star

The 82nd Major League Baseball All Star game has come and gone, with out much interest it would seem.  T.V. ratings were down 19% from last year and some are even calling for the end of this summer classic.  Players bolted at an alarming rate, and the "buzz" that once drove argument and excitement is no more.  This amid a game that actually means something now, like home field advantage in the World Series.  What's wrong?

Some blame inter league play, some player's salaries, and some say baseball is simply in decline.  I remember in years past the anticipation of being able to see a galaxy of baseball stars, all gathered in one location, ready to do battle, and uphold the honor of which ever league, National or American, that you happened to root for.  They never seemed to disappoint.  What changed?

For one thing the way we watch T.V. has changed.  Multiple channels of diverse interests has given Americans an endless choice.  I don't think America has turned against baseball I think it's just to easy to push a button and see what's happening up or down the spectrum.  It's summer, people are more mobile now then they ever were in the past.  Most people are under the threat of constant distraction.  Players as well as fans fall victim to the same temptations.  It is a long season and maybe they need a vacation like everyone else.  Where do we go from here?

I don't have the answer.  There are many suggestions out there but it will take someone with more insight then me to find a fix for a declining American Classic.  I continue to watch with mild interest to see how my hometown boys will do,  but never with the fervor that once existed.  Whatever happens with the MLB All Star game, count me as one who misses a time in the past, when I looked forward to a summer evening of pure escapism.  Maybe I am just distracted too.

Bluegrass Pauper

Horse racing has long been known as the "Sport of Kings", primarily because the great races have been contested by owners that are among the wealthiest people in the world.  People who spend millions on horse flesh and expect millions in return for their investments.  However, at most racetracks the "under cards" are cheaper horses owned and trained by people that are no where near being captains of industry, or kings.

Horse racing is a dying sport!  The racetracks care little about the cheap horses or the small horsemen, who dwell just as hard trying to grind out a living in a sport they love but seldom loves them back.  Casino gambling seems to be the only pursuit of racetracks these days, in fact, racing appears to be a nuisance.  Purses for cheap races continue to decline so that most of the money can be diverted to a chosen few that can compete in the bigger races. 

I have owned, trained, and bred thoroughbred racehorses for many years, not to win classic races, but to compete in a sport that is just as much a part of my heritage as the connections that run in the Kentucky Derby.  A bale of hay or straw costs no more for a million dollar horse then it does for a five thousand dollar claimer.  Yet we, the small horsemen, are sacrificed to insure that the racetracks can put on a great show for the public, whom they hope will soon become customers in their casino.

The racetracks may need the small horsemen some day, especially if casino gambling doesn't realize their dreams of riches.  They may find that one day they might need a race filled to complete their "under card", so  they can brag about the quality of choices the bettors have, but you will never catch them increasing purses to attract us.  Horse racing is still the Sport of Kings" only because it has serfs who are willing to do the heavy lifting,  in a sport that apparently has forgotten, or doesn't care, that most of the players are turning into paupers.

Golden Age

Here we sit in the veil of summer, the NBA season and draft are finally over and football is still weeks away.  Only baseball is our everyday friend.  Here in Kentucky it's never not a good time to think about basketball.  Fans are waiting impatiently for the start of another Kentucky basketball season and hopes are always at a fever pitch. 

Since John Calipari arrived nine players have gone to the NBA and a Final Four is still fresh in the minds of fans.  He has managed to recruit some of the best talent in years to play for the Wildcats and the pool seems limitless.  After years of Tubby Smith and Billy Gillispie the Wildcat faithful are wearing a pride that has not been seen around these parts since the 1990's.  Most fans don't remember the great decades of the Adolf Rupp era, that's only a name that is attached to their favorite arena, much like famous leaders in history have their picture on our money.  Joe Hall was never appreciated for any of his accomplishments, and Eddie Sutton will remain an underachiever who squandered his chance at the apex of college basketball.

Which brings us to Rick Pitino.  No more affection and accolades could have been given to a Coach who led a once proud program out of despair and firmly stationed it at the pinnacle of success.  Wildcat fans were once again proud and content that they could brag about the accomplishment of a program that had been the source of so much enjoyment over the years.  Once again Wildcat fans were in the midst of a golden age at Kentucky.  Then he left.

For a decade the once proud program flirted with success only to fall victim to upset and disparity.  It seemed that they would never enjoy a golden age of basketball again.  In steps Coach Cal with his optimism and his stable of young stars, his Elite Eights, his Final Fours, and once again the wild ride of magical seasons restored the faithful.   Never mind that he infuriates the NCAA and all of the other coaches and fans, of every other team in the land.  What Wildcat fans are in the midst of is another Golden Age of Kentucky Basketball.  Appreciate it this time and enjoy the ride.

Color Radio

I grew up in rural Kentucky and my only connection to big cities was through their sports teams.  I remember hot summer nights sitting in the backyard with my grandfather, star gazing and listening to the Cincinnati Reds on the radio.  The radio became my eyes and ears for what was happening in the big leagues.  I imagined Ted Kluszewski, partly because I had seen pictures of him in the newspaper, strolling to the plate to perform some Herculean feat.  I fantasied about the blazing fast ball of Jim Maloney and the slick fielding of Roy Mcmillian.  I had been to very few baseball games so the sound of the announcer's voice painted a vivid picture in my mind of what it was like to be at Crosley Field.

To this day when I go to a game I think back to those summer nights in my backyard with my grandfather, learning about life and baseball.  Not all of my lessons where for the best like which beer or tobacco product I should choose, but the stimulation of my imagination from the radio are still with me today.

Now I complain because a game is not in High Definition, or that I have to push the DVR button between innings.  All of us seem to sit with a high tech device in our hands even while we are watching the game.  While I sit in my home looking at big screen television in full stereo, I wonder if this was ever as good as those summer nights, sitting in the backyard with my grandfather and my imagination, listening to color radio.

Front Runner

"Morning Glory" is a term in horse racing given to a horse that lights up your stopwatch in morning workouts but runs poorly on race day.  Many times these horses are gifted, super star athletes that wilt under the pressure of racing, and often times to inferior or less talented horses.  That expression got me to thinking about the Dallas Maverick's win over Lebron James and the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. 

I will not call Lebron James a "morning glory" but I will call him a front runner.  Front runners are horses that have great speed and run like the greatest of all time,  as long as no other horse challenges them, but just as soon as another horse looks them in the eye, they wilt under pressure and fade back into the pack.  This is what Lebron did during the Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.  Dirk Nowitski has nowhere near the athletic talent that Lebron possesses,  but when the game was on the line, in the fourth quarter, he looked Lebron in the eye and he wilted. 

What is it about less talented horses and athletes that give them the will to win when they probably should not?  Why do they call on an inner strength and leave the more talented foes in their wake?  Could it be that they have not had it as easy as the more gifted, anointed ones have?  Sometimes when these gifted athletes rest on their laurels they forget that all glory is earned,  not handed out like so much fan fare.  Front runners do occasionally win, but when they do, they better never forget that there is always a stalker of the pace, lying in wait, for a show of weakness, ready to strike with a vengeance on those that think they will  always have everything their own way.