Opinion

Even the fabulously wealthy Tom Brady gets his illegal stream on.

I’m not saying I would ever, ever, ever stream sports online. But I totally understand why people like Tom Brady do it. Whether you’re watching the Super bowl in Costa Rica like Brady did or  you’re a helpless victim of the NFL’s notorious blackout rules, or you just want to see the damn Sixers play the Heat and you don’t have Philadelphia CSN, live streaming sports can be key to the plugged-in sports lovers experience.

For bloggers like myself live streams can be key to being able to speak to the sport with authority. We don’t get free game film from the NFL or NBA etc. I personally rely on NFL game rewind to make sure I saw what I thought I saw, or to get caught up on a team before I write about them. In a perfect world I’d have satellite TV and could DVR games using NFL ticket. But guess what? I can’t get a satellite where I live, I have to have cable. And the NFL has an exclusive deal with DirectTV. My cable provider is Comcast.

Obviously SOPA and PIPA and ACTA and other legislation have really put “piracy” on the map again. So now the government has seized about 16 sites that stream live sports. More have popped up already but I can imagine the government is going to go all Whack-A-Mole here (at least for a little while). I can only hope for the sake of sports fans everywhere that this is like every other government crack down—they send a message for a while and then realize there’s no way they can possibly keep up with the internet’s steady-moving targets.

I wish that sports leagues (and record companies for that matter) would just get with the times. Nobody wants to pay $10 for a shitty cd with two good songs on it. And, nobody wants to pay 2389042038 to buy NFL ticket or 2389042038 to go to games + concessions + parking (not to mention traffic headaches in many areas of the country). Sometimes you just want to catch a good game without all the hassle and expense, and as long as ticket prices and cable prices are sky fucking high that’s not going to change.

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You know what they say…there are lessons to learn everywhere you turn.** So I figured Id share some of the things I learned watching this years playoff games.

Always Fall on Balls. Forget Ed Reed and Ray Lewis getting a Super Bowl together. Had Lee Evans held on to the ball for just a nano-second longer, I wouldn’t be suffering through yet another round of “Is Eli better than Peyton” as I travel through my google reader. Whether you understand “ball control” rules or not, one thing is clear: players who fall on balls usually get the benefit of the doubt. Whether you are playing football or hanging out with your boo at home, if there’s an opportunity to fall on a ball I say go for it. It likely will save you and others a lot of grief in the future. I’m currently looking for a ball to fall on and when I find one, unlike Evans, I will be ready!

“Karma” may be a bitch, but so is her sister “Life.” One of my favorite bloggers @phillygameday was asking if people really believed in Karma the other day since good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. I can say that I definitely don’t believe other people are victims of karma but I’m always afraid I will be and so I behave (aka cover my ass) accordingly. I have no reason to believe that Lee Evans, Billy Cundiff, Kyle Williams or Jacoby Jones for that matter have done anything in life to deserve the humiliation they experienced on national television. Life is full of people doing dumb shit, but most of us are lucky enough to do it in private. This is good for me since in a 24 hour period, I had to google “pseudonym” cause I spelled it 12 different ways and it still didn’t look right, I screamed like a maniac because I thought I saw a roach but really it was a leaf (I had each of my contacts in the wrong eye), and I fell up the steps and hit my mouth on the floor trying to hold on to my McDonalds cinnamelt while balancing my iphone and a bottle of cherry limemade mix. If Jon Gruden would have seen me he would have screeched “Come oonnnnn!! You just can’t do that!!!!”

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Cincinnati Bengals rookie Andy Dalton has shown a lot of poise and promise, but Cam Newton deserves the ROY nod.

I have this theory-some people don’t watch sports for the love of the game…they watch just to have something to argue about. And in my mind, arguing for Drew Brees to be MVP or Andy Dalton to be offensive rookie of the year is an example of that. There’s no doubt that Drew Brees and Andy Dalton have been impressive, but there’s also no doubt that Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton have redefined the word.

If you want to know why I think there’s no debate about Rodgers being MVP, look no further than the New Orleans Saints games against the Tampa Bay Bucs and the Saint Louis Rams. Both were embarrassing displays. New Orleans looked like a team without any identity in particular on offense and that can be traced back to poor performances by Brees. Brees finished both of those games with a quarterback rating below 74. Brees has had 5 games with multiple interceptions-NFL listed his number of interceptions at 14 but I think it might be 13. Either way, it’s more than double Rodgers’ number which is 6. Brees threw three INTs against Tampa Bay which certainly doesn’t have anything approaching a great defense.

And this has been the issue with Brees-among a lot of very brilliant games he throws in some serious doozies that are rare enough as to be uncharacteristic but common enough to be expected. This year Rodgers was by far the most consistent quarterback in the league-with only two games in which his passer rating dipped below 100- and he shouldn’t have to share honors with anyone else.

I realize that stats don’t tell the whole story but in the case of Rodgers they come mighty close. Not only is Rodgers consistent numerically he’s been largely consistent across game quarters as well.

Onto the darling rookies. I think we’ve all been pretty surprised by both Dalton and Newton. I’m actually more surprised by Dalton than Newton though…I guess because I was aware of the fact that Dalton had little experience taking snaps under center, I thought he’d be a slow moving target for a lot of professional front lines, and his personality on Gruden’s QB camp just didn’t strike me as formidable. But Dalton has had very little trouble adjusting to the pro style offense (and, more importantly the speed of the pro defense) and he’s better than many of the 2nd year guys that are playing right now. And, quite frankly, though still mistake prone he may be in some areas outperforming some 3rd and 4th year dudes like Mark Sanchez and Joe Flacco. But he is certainly not outperforming his fellow rookie Cam Newton.

In the past few weeks as Newton stormed through a slew of records including Peyton Manning’s rookie passing record, those championing Dalton over Newton have quieted a bit. I’m glad, because there simply should be no debate about Newton’s worthiness.

Newton has single-handedly reinvigorated a franchise that had barely been relevant since jailed wide receiver Rae Carruth pathetically stuffed himself in a trunk in an attempt to avoid capture for the murder of the mother of his child. Now, even volatile-but-talented wide receiver Steve Smith can’t hide his delight in catching Newton’s passes. it hasn’t calmed his temper, but it’s ignited his enthusiasm for sure. Newton has been on fire and he’s done it all with a defense that barely gives him 5 minutes to catch his breath in between possessions.

Beyond passing yards and rushing touch downs, Newton and Dalton are neck in neck statistically. But Dalton has the benefit of a more balanced team-including a MUCH better defense- and some scary weapons on offense including the talented rookie AJ Green and the high flying acrobatic Jerome Simpson. Thus it’s no wonder that Dalton is headed to the playoffs his rookie season while Newton is headed home.

Dalton will get his due. But this year Newton has really made a name for himself. And I’m thinking that sooner rather than later Newton will be among the youngest to ever join the much talked about cadre of elite quarterbacks.

I usually write about the 5 Things in the NFL I think should be stopped…but this is my very first video version.

This time I talk about Nnamdi Asomugha’s hair, Ray Lewis’ toe, firing coaches before Christmas, the idea of a tie-game, and James Harrison’s poor wallet!

I feel justified in blogging about this because it’s loosely sports related. So bear with me.

Every time a new product comes out, the more self-righteous among us use their precious little free time in between rising and grinding to let the rest of us know that we’re irresponsible with money. Cause obviously everyone who stood in line or pre-ordered Michael Jordan’s new Concord shoe is on some form of welfare, mired in credit card debt and battling the common urge amongst impoverished people to stab people on sight. There’s zero possibility that the vast majority of people who ran out to purchase Concords are average people who splurge on some things (maybe too much) and save on others.

But enough about that, I want to talk about the rumors of violence and the power of twitter. Yesterday, people started posting names of people on twitter saying that they died during some violent confrontation while or after purchasing the shoes. Someone even went so far as to post a facebook page  (that at this posting has 17 THOUSAND likes) memorializing the dead complete with tacky ass “from – to” lettering over the picture of a dude who bares a striking resemblance to the rapper Soulja Boy but apparently, according to the Baltimore Sun, is a model in a stock photo.

After the initial tweet about that guy dying, other people mocked the tweet and made up additional (and hilarious!!) names and death circumstances. Unfortunately, there are a great bit of people who are so engaged with twitter that they forget google is just one browser click away. If you googled “Jordan’s + shoe + death” nothing came up. The initial “dead dude” was supposedly in Washington DC, one of the major market areas in the United States with one of the largest and most notable papers of record—The Washington Post. The Post, to date, hasn’t posted anything in their local or crime section about the tragic death of a young man associated with buying Jordan shoes.

Make no mistake, there seems to have been a few violent episodes—stores being vandalized and crowds being controlled by police.  Let’s remember, Christmas is in two days   and it is the American way to put undue pressure on yourself in a number of ways. The holidays are often a time of depression and desperation for folks with race being only a minor factor in terms of cause and degree. We’re all affected by the holiday rush to travel, cook, consume, purchase, and give of time, emotion and cold hard cash.  It’s a perfect set of circumstances for something like a shoe going on sale to drive people right up to the edge. And this seems to have resulted in a few arrests, but no deaths to speak of.

The rumors of deaths smacked of Willie Lynch. For those who are unfamiliar, some asswipe professor found a letter supposedly written by a slave owner telling, in graphic detail, how he poisoned black folks against each other. Despite being written like Gucci Mane-meets-Masterpiece Theater , using a name meant to embarrass the believer (Will He Lynch) and using a lot of MODERN post-war contrived rhetoric, the letter has been taught in AMERICAN SCHOOLS for years . The letter itself was most likely written by someone who wanted to motivate black people into some sort of soul searching by pointing out, in familiar fashion, the flaws  of the community and pointing the analysis back to the only people whose opinion matters—WHITE MEN.

Unfortunately, as has become all too common in America, when we know things aren’t true we still persist with them. One of the biggest arguments people have in support of the Willie Lynch letter is that “even if it’s not true, it’s still valid.” Well actually no, lies invalidate arguments. Lies shouldn’t be taught or defended rather merely accepted as what they are and moved past. The only reason ever to discuss Willie Lynch is to speculate about why some were so eager to embrace the document’s existence.

I think that’s an important discussion. Because here we are with yet another situation where, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, people couldn’t wait to believe something that supported their theory of blacks being more materialistic than whites and willing to harm people to satisfy their savage urge to consume. The death rumor was most likely started with the same intention as the Willie Lynch letter was written—to legitimize inadequately developed opinions and to attempt to prove something by virtue of “well, it coulda happened!”

We have to do better than that. We also have to realize that as much as twitter can inform, it can also misinform. It takes seconds to verify the validity of news items online. And if you don’t have time to do so, perhaps your participation in related conversations should be appropriately delayed until you do.

Sam Hurd was allegedly supplementing his football income with an illegal part time job.

If you’re looking for some holier than though blog post on how athletes are idiots and why can’t they be happy with their money and these guys are savages you have come to the exactly the WRONG place.

Onto the story:

There are a lot of nervous professional football players right now. Little known wide receiver Sam Hurd is accused of being a major drug dealer in the Chicago area and supplying a lot of cocaine and marijuana to other players including some teammates. The rumor is the police have an extensive list of names of players who purchased from Hurd.

It’s sort of interesting that we find out that Hurd was selling up to 1000lbs of marijuana a week right after I tweeted something that probably dashes my dream of working for NFL network. What was it? You can read it here. But basically I said that football players would benefit from medical marijuana and that I wish the NFL would use some of its infinite power to help push that legislation along. I believe marijuana will be legal in the next few years anyway, and I hope that athletic doctors will integrate it into their treatments when it is.

Full disclosure: potatoes are my drug of choice. 3 glasses of wine puts me on the floor. I’ve never tried marijuana or any other drug besides those disgusting cherry black and milds me and my cousin used to smoke in middle school. Hey, I’m from Virginia, what do you expect?

Enough about me. Studies have shown marijuana to be better and safer than many prescription medications. Football players use a lot of prescription medications, and one medication in particular has resulted in a law suit against the NFL by former players like Joe Horn. I say, if a man needs something to relax or numb the pain of running into other people daily, I think they should be able to use the safest thing available.

NONE of what I just wrote should be surprising to anyone. But we do live in a society where stating the facts isn’t always welcome.

I’m not advocating anyone breaking the law, but it never surprises me that football players in particular would supplement legal drugs with illegal ones whether for fun or for specific medical reasons or both.

Still, it’s not okay to break the law or whatever **insert ABC after-school special music**. Trust me, I know. I was just in court for speeding. Due to that fact, I am now an expert on the law. So, I recommend that any football player who is investigated for buying drugs from Hurd should just tell the cops they did it for basketball reasons. That excuse seems to work for others.

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When former NY Giants CB Jason Sehorn wasn't (allegedly) almost being shot by Jayson Williams, he was a pretty good white cornerback.

Every now and then I run across an article that I simply must share. This one was in the NY Times and touched on racial stereotyping by position in the NFL. I loved it cause this came up a little last year with Peyton Hillis, a white running back, having a great season last year-and ending up on the Madden cover. Lots was made of the fact that white running backs are pretty much an endangered species. A week or so ago, I blogged about Green Bay Packers Jordy Nelson and his teammates saying people underestimate him cause he’s a white WR.

Even though there are still quite a few white WRs, the idea that black ones are more athletic still prevails. So to hear that there are zero white cornerbacks in the NFL right now and zero black kickers wasn’t surprising. I’m glad someone decided to take a look at the reasons.

By the time Bernie Parrish, a white kid from Florida, and Walter Beach, an African-American from Michigan, joined the Cleveland Browns as cornerbacks in 1959 and 1960, the majority of cornerbacks were white. There were unwritten rules and practices designed to keep it that way.

“We were still in that era of the quotas,” said Parrish, referring to the unwritten practice of allowing a select number of African-Americans on a team. “In 1959, I believe the quota of black players was 7; then it went to 13.”

There was also the practice of stacking, making sure African-American players competed for the same positions.

“There would be six or eight guys competing for my spot and nobody competing for his,” Beach said, referring to Parrish, who has become one of his closest friends. “That’s where the stacking concept comes from. They would stack black cats behind each other; that was a reality. If you came to the Cleveland Browns and you wanted to play cornerback, there were going to be five brothers over there behind me.”

All 167 cornerbacks listed on active N.F.L. rosters last Monday were African-American, although Julian Edelman, a receiver who is white, has played a few snaps at cornerback for the injury-plagued New England Patriots. The evolution to today’s rosters began with the emergence of the American Football League in 1960. While the N.F.L. maintained quotas and engaged in steering and stacking, the rival A.F.L. was snatching up talented players wherever it could find them, especially at historically black colleges.

“You had more black guys coming into the league who were receivers who could fly, and they had to have defensive backs who could fly with them,” Beach said.

At some point, white players stopped believing they could fly. No more protection from open competition; everyone had to prove himself on a level playing field. Like the success of black fighter pilots, the presence of 64 African-American starting cornerbacks in the N.F.L. is an American triumph of meritocracy over protectionism.

Now this hit home:

Young white athletes who might aspire to be N.F.L. corners can’t see themselves in that role.

“They’re going through the same thing that I went through when I wanted to play quarterback,” Newsome said. “ ‘Yeah, you can play cornerback, but by the time you get to college, they’re going to move you to safety.’

“I think the stereotype can affect your mentality. If you grow up not seeing something and hearing something your whole life, that starts to impact you: ‘I can’t do this, I’m not good enough to do that.’ And that becomes a part of your life.”

A similar phenomenon is seen in the kicking game. There are no African-American punters or kickers in the N.F.L. While white athletes shy away from cornerback because, in their minds, it requires too much athleticism, many African-American players eschew punting and kicking because it is not athletic enough.

I’ve heard lots of black folks make fun of kickers and punters as though they’re not a part of the team. So unfair. It takes a lot of skill and ability to do those jobs especially the way kickers are putting out 52+ yard field goals like it’s nothing.

Anyway I suggest you take a look at the article here, the author makes some pretty compelling comparisons.

So essentially the MLB and apparently some reporters think that the MLB press boxes have gotten too casual and the league has released a dress code. They include men under their umbrella since no one wears suits or suiting jackets and ties anymore, but most of what’s included in the dress code is really about keeping women covered up.

I have no issues with the dress code, but I have to mention why I find it funny.

The whole idea of “dressing professionally” at work or having dress codes at clubs is spurred by the same concept-that dress clothes attract higher quality. Higher quality people, higher quality behavior and thus higher quality work. And many times that thinking does hold true and I’ve been known to complain about colleagues attire in the past. I do think people are more conscious of themselves and their surroundings when they’re more appropriately dressed.

So yeah I get it, although I’m curious as to what professional behavior the MLB is trying to encourage or if they’re just working to prevent a “Sainz scene” which one reporter on the dress code panel all but admitted. Remember, Inez Sainz was wearing tight jeans when she showed up at Jets practice but her behavior was also light-hearted which led to what appeared to be a mutual flirting back and forth that most would consider unprofessional on both sides.

Or would they?

Some reporters, like Sainz, are hired to dress the way they do and to add sexual tension to sports reporting (like it or not!). In Latin America they’re more open with it (I once had a colleague who was a reporter in Colombia and she said she was encouraged by her boss to get breast implants that they would pay for), but in America is not all that different. And it’s partly why many female broadcasting roles are on the sidelines where networks can take advantage of full body shots without having to add a real female opinion on the game to the fray.

Again, that’s not all hires. Let’s be clear on that. But certainly the MLB doesn’t seem to be on the same page as the networks that helped create the dress problem in the interest of ratings.  All of this is relevant to women reporters who shoot live footage at a ballpark which is a good majority.

After those Sainzish reporters of course, bloggers were the next to be blamed.

The skimpy attire worn by some of the TV reporters covering the Marlins in Miami drew particular scrutiny.

“We just thought it was time to get a little organized, to put it in place before there was an incident,” said committee member Phyllis Merhige, an MLB senior vice president.

“There’s no one who expects reporters to wear a suit and tie,” she said. “But with the advent of different media, there are now individuals who are not part of a bigger organization that may have a dress code.”

Cause you know bloggers are soooo much less informal and unprofessional than those networks who WANT women to dress sexy. As a blogger myself I appreciate the freedom I have now not to look like a sex pot-not that I could cause I don’t have the ability. But my point is the reporting world and blogging world aren’t nearly as separate as they once were so that was kind of bogus to me. But in my view female bloggers (many of which do not even vlog) have less incentive to wear sexy stuff to the park.

And I don’t know who is wearing footflops, also now banned, but that seems more indicative of being silly than being a blogger vs. being a reporter.

As far as professionalism is concerned, Jessica Quiroli, who writes for Baseball Digest and tweets under the name “Heels on the Field”  brought up some good points on her twitter page.

Essentially, professionalism only seems to be a concern when it comes to a specific thing. We’re worried that women may be wearing a one-shoulder top (no, really, one shouldered tops are banned. That just eliminated part of my wardrobe!) but not that men may be (even if unintentionally) sexually harassing women or otherwise making them uncomfortable. That is why I scoff at the professionalism angle the MLB is spouting.

And oh by the way, I can’t speak for all women, but I’m not a fan of those ill fitting khaki shorts so many guys are a fan of. ICK!!!! Can the MLB and all leagues ban those in stadiums (not just the press box).

Where was I?

Oh yeah…Dress code: Whatever. Intentions: Questionable. Impact: ???.

Bright side: a tight knee-length pencil skirt and blazer on the right body blows ripped jeans and a tank top out of the water on the right shape. Just a tip.

Even if you never heard of the LSU Tigers or the Arkansas Razorbacks, if you looked at USA Today’s latest list of College Football Coach salaries, you’d know right away the upcoming game between the two is a huge deal. LSU’s coach clocked in over 3.7 million in school pay with Arkansas’s mercurial leader Bobby Petrino coming in at just over 3.6 million.

Both schools have a lot on the line this weekend with LSU aiming to remain undefeated and both teams wanting a division title, conference title and a crack at the national title. The stakes for this game are pretty high, and if each teams’ performance thus far this season is any indicator it should be a battle to the end.

For those who don’t regularly watch college football you may not understand why this is a big game and why you should at least care a little teeny bit. Maybe I can help.

Summary:

LSU is undefeated this season. Arkansas has lost one game. Alabama has lost one game…to LSU. All three teams are in the SEC West. All three teams are in the top 3 of the BCS rankings-LSU (1) Alabama (2) and Arkansas (3). Yes, all 3 teams. If Alabama and LSU play for the national title Alabama can get revenge on LSU for snatching their undefeated season from them in OT. If Arkansas beats LSU (which could happen) and Alabama beats Auburn (which is likely), it sets up an uncomfortable 3 way tie for the SEC West division title (ew!). It also would put Arkansas in a difficult but not untenable situation when it comes to a chance at playing for the national title. But before the national title sit-choo-way-shon is settled, one of these teams must come out of the SEC West to play in the SEC Championship Game against SEC East’s Georgia. See how neatly the SEC East has already been wrapped up? How you not get into this SEC West drama. ow!

If you hate the SEC, like many (most???) hot-blooded college-football watching Americans (I kid! Or…do I?), then forget about everything I just wrote and know that I think this is going to be one of the few big games that will live up to the hype.

AR’s QB Tyler Wilson averages 292.3 yards passing per game and LSU’s defense has wracked up 27 sacks and 15 interceptions-6 of those by two of their corners. LSU’s secondary is no slouch and neither is it’s pass rush. I’m itching to see what Petrino cooks up on offense. On the flipside, LSU has done very well rushing with three running backs sharing carries. Spencer Ware has 160 carries for 650 yards-an average of 4.1 yards per carry. I don’t see LSU struggling for first downs if Ware can get back to form along with the other two leading rushers for the team all of which are returning from a one-game suspension. OOPS.

NFL Trivia: Which NFL team has both one Arkansas Razorback and one LSU Tiger that both played at the schools last year? hmm there may be more than one. But I’m thinking of the New England Patriots and QB Ryan Mallett and RB Stevan Ridley. Wonder if they will catch the game together.

I’m definitely not in the camp that think the NBA lockout is irrelevant to most fans. I just think it’s really really hard to get riled up about the possible loss of a sport BEFORE you would actually begin to watch. Obviously, the NFL is a little different because it has managed to ingrain itself so much into our daily lives via fantasy football, holiday showings, watch parties etc etc that even the first day of the NFL lockout inspired some panic.

But just cause football has become a religion of sorts doesn’t mean nobody cares about the NBA. It just means nobody cares…yet. Including advertisers.

“Advertisers are somewhat concerned, but it’s much easier to plan around the lack of an NBA schedule than the lack of an NFL schedule,” said GroupM chief investment officer Rino Scanzoni. “Those viewers can be recaptured in other programs.”

November’s games have already been lost, but ad spending on the NBA is heavily back-loaded to the second half of the season and the playoffs, when ratings and fan interest surge. ESPN is shifting early-season ad dollars into its menu of college football and basketball games, while Turner, whose TNT broadcasts were set to add Shaquille O’Neal as a commentator this season, is eyeing avenues such as TBS and Adult Swim programming to keep the ad spending in-house.

“Turner has a diverse portfolio of programming and platforms to provide our advertising partners with a broad range of options for their distinct brand message,” Turner spokesman Sal Petruzzi said. “Turner Sports is working together with our advertising partners on alternative programming options which reach the NBA-targeted demos across the company’s portfolio of brands, programs and platforms, including TBS, Adult Swim, truTV, and Conan.”

And so far, there’s no indication that advertisers are running much for the hills.

“There’s not that many people lying awake at night worrying about this,” said Peter Farnsworth, a former NBA executive who heads sports marketer Foxrock Partners and advises league advertisers. “With the NFL, people would have been rushing Capitol Hill.”

The attitude advertisers have right now is pretty expected given the fact that, like the article points out, games have only been lost through November and most NBA advertising is loaded on the back end of the season. You know, after the all star break when, you know, people…like…actually start watching. If people really paid attention to the NBA prior to the break you’d see more intensity on the part of everyone to get a deal done. I don’t think advertisers are alone in their delayed concern.

If you’re wondering which advertisers spend the most during NBA season, Ad Age has a handy chart: