A Negative Perception

(published in The Davidsonian, 8/30/06)

Fall is upon us. A new school year has started. The days are beginning to get shorter, and the leaves will soon be turning. For the past 20 years of my life, this has signified one thing: it’s football season. Somehow, that fact always seems to get overlooked at Davidson. Maybe it’s because we don’t have all the pageantry of our neighboring Southern colleges and universities. Maybe it’s because we don’t have to actually go to the football games, but can rather watch them from the union while we do our Saturday afternoon studying. Or maybe it’s because somewhere along the line we collectively agreed not to care about Davidson football.

When Tripp Merritt agreed to become Davidson’s head football coach in the summer of 2005, he knew that there was work to be done. It had been five years since Davidson’s perfect 10-0 season, and a combined record of 5-15 over the last two seasons had created a pall over the program. Merritt knew that his football squad needed to establish a positive image both on and off the field.

“I talk the guys all the time about our image,” said coach Merritt. “There are certain things they should be doing on campus to put this team in a positively light, both academically and socially.”
Last season, Coach Merritt re-ignited the ride-in program where football players had to ride alongside campus police for their nightly patrols. Not only did players garner a greater appreciation for the responsibilities of law enforcement on campus, they were also able to cultivate a greater sense of community and better image.

This season, the ‘Cats will unveil a new helmet design that references the design from several decades ago while still being trendy and energizing. The white helmets with the block D will be a bold statement that this team embraces Davidson’s rich football history while at the same time looking forward and not accepting an image of mediocrity.

“The design harkens back to the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, but it’s also us putting a physical mark on this program and on this campus,” said Merritt. The uniforms serve as physical reminders that Davidson football cares about image and the success that is required to cement that image.

Like all sports at Davidson, Wildcat football has always fought an uphill battle with financial support. Several teams in Pioneer Football League have recently opted to supply scholarships for their players and move up to D-I scholarship football. With every one of our football players essentially being a walk-on, one has to wonder about the success potential for this program. How much can they really achieve?

When major college football is plagued with excessive scandal, bribery, and sanctions, perhaps playing good football for its own sake is good enough.

“Davidson needs to be the beacon for non-scholarship I-AA football,” said Merritt. “Our kids do it because they love the game and the academics. That’s something that is hopeful and appealing in and of itself.”

Underneath all of the talk of image and ideology, Merritt knows that his team will speak for itself when it goes on the field this year. With 15 returning starters from a team that upset Georgetown in its final game last season, the Wildcats look to link their off-field images with on-field improvement.

“You don’t change negative perceptions overnight. We’re just trying to put ourselves out there a little bit at a time.”

If the pre-season confidence and image can translate into victories on the field, those perceptions might be changing more quickly than we thought.

JJ a prospect

Len Kosmalski. Brian Winters. Dell Curry. Could Michael Jordan be next? Everyone knows that Davidson has a tradition of attracting the sons of former basketball players. We just have one of those "coach's sons" type of program. According to this, MJ's son Jeffrey is considering Davidson. This would not be surprising considering the Jordans' ties to North Carolina and now the Charlotte area.

Wouldn't that be something to have MJ show up in Belk Arena. Does he have secret service?

Panthers Preview

The Carolina Panthers started their 2006 season with a 14-13 victory over the Buffalo Bills in front of 62,000 fans at Bank of America stadium on Saturday. Jake Delhomme went 5-6 for 64 yards including a 14-yard TD strike to Drew Carter and two completions to newcomer Keyshawn Johnson. The Panthers' other TD came on a 23 yard interception return by Ken Lucas.

The Panthers are the "trendy" pick to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl this year, and since everyone in North Carolina has written pre-season Panther previews, I figure that I might as well join in.

Much has been made of Jake Delhomme's tendency to have tunnel-vision at key points of the game. With such a foursome of receivers as Smith, Johnson, Carter and Colbert, he will have a hard time justifying not looking to secondary routes. The focus of the passing game this year needs to shed a glance at the tight ends. Marty Hurney has always tried to utilize Kris Mangum and Michael Gaines in deceptive seam routes and late releases that take advantage of zone coverage. With secondaries focused on multiple threats on the outside, the middle of the field could be wide open for these tight ends. Let's hope that Jake can find them.

For the last several years, the name DeShaun Foster has been synonymous with potential, injury, explosiveness, and "maybe this year". With DeAngelo Williams lurking in reserve, the pressure will be on Foster to become a solid NFL running back. However, in this sense I am not using solid in reference to staying healthy. Foster is going to need to continue to hone his ability to be all types of backs in all situations. Last year, he demonstrated fantastic growth in not waiting to juke people in the backfield, but rather diving into holes to take the 4-5 yards that was created for him. If Foster can continue to commit to holes while utilizing his cutback ability on toss plays, the Panthers won't have to worry about bringing in the inexperienced Williams or Eric Shelton to diversify the running game.

On Defense, the Panthers just better not get hurt. The depth isn't really there at linebacker with Dan Morgan being the only remaining starter and Keith Adams being more fit to a special teams slot than a starting weakside linebacker. If Thomas Davis can learn the position the starters will be solid in the Panthers weakest defensive area.

Overall, this group of Panthers better lose some games and early on. The Panthers have never played well as the favorites. They have an underdog mentality. We aren't the Patriots or the Seahawks or the Colts. "We dont have quote stars," Delhomme famously states in the 2003 Super Bowl highlight video. With Steve Smith going first in most fantasy drafts and Keyshawn's "give me the damn ball" fame, this group isn't hidden anymore. Maybe this year they can learn to play as the favorites.

The Business of Basketball, part 2

So we are left with the NCAA. I think that it's pretty apparent to everyone that people like T.J. Gassnola are out to screw our kids and our high schools in return for some power and success. But in the end, as long as parents see him getting their kids signing on the dotted line and helping buy them a few nice things along the way, who are they to argue with the system. Besides, if you can make money, who needs education right?

Well I think that for all intensive purposes, the NCAA has its hands tied when it comes to dealing with people like Gassnola. He is not giving gifts in order to get kids to come to a certain college and who's to say that someone out in the world can't give you money. Plus, the NCAA is already obtaining a reputation for overreaching too much. Just look at Oklahoma's Rhett Bomar. While getting paid money to do a nothing job seems in line for rules violations, there are more than a few whispers out there that maybe we shouldn't tell these kids that they have to live in a bubble and never talk or do anything but study, practice, and play.

The problem is that the culprit in that situation wasn't Bomar, it was the auto dealership. But we can't punish them. All of this is to say that NCAA compliance officers have enough cases on their desk to be worrying about what high school kids are doing.

During the summer, I heard the suggestion of levying policy against coaches who recruit from certain leagues, coaches, sponsors, what have you. One Davidson coach suggested that NCAA coaches shouldn't be able to recruit at these money-tinged summer tournaments. That was quickly rebuffed by the observation that those tournaments are great timesavers for small schools with limited budgets and manpower.

The other approach, or lack of approach, is to do nothing. Where no laws exist, no crimes are committed. It's a free country and if parents and kids choose to go with the sketchy guys who pull them off their high school teams, then that's their problem. Because for so many Americans, especially minorities, basketball is the way out. Basketball can get you the money to get out. Education doesn't even factor into the equation.

This is where we are left with William C. Rhoden's new book: Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Black Athlete. The post on that one might be long in coming, I have enough books to read already.

The Business of Basketball, part 1

The state of college basketball recruiting has changed immensely in the last decade. With the advent of lightning-fast technology, it has become easier for players to be interested in a wider range of schools, and for schools to have more information on a wider range of players. However, the most important new factor in all levels of American basketball is the growing number of "recruiters" who use money from shoe companies to entice young players to let them be their "agent," so to speak.

Widely thrown into the pot of AAU basketball (in the same way that a soda is called a coke), these teams, leagues and recruiters are becoming the mainstream approach for a high school basketball player to get into college or the NBA. Players join regional teams for summer play where they travel around the country, play at shoe-sponsored tournaments and catch the eyes of college coaches and NBA scouts.

At first glance, the system seems helpful. Coaches at small colleges like Davidson are able to see hundreds of players play in one place at one time. Also, young athletes get to play against top competition and get to travel the country and widen their horizons.

After that, things begin to get iffy. With so much money pouring in from shoe companies to sponsor travel, expenses and gear the line between professional and amateur athlete begins to get skewed. In a recent Boston Globe article by Bob Hohler, he describes the "business" of amateur basketball and lays out the nasty truth of egomaniacal recruiters who claim to represent the interests of young athletes.

These recruiters have become important due to their "connections" and influence and so more and more athletes are committing their souls to summer basketball instead of winter basketball. They routinely skip high school games and practice to travel to winter tournaments with their teams. High school coaches, who used to be able to have so much positive influence on a poorer kid with bad schooling and parenting, are now being replaced by money-hungry recruiters who manipulate and con impressionable kids into making decisions that are ultimately not in their best interest.

These recruiters' financial well-being is directly tied to their ability to find the next LeBron James and convince him to give some money back to their leagues and tournaments. One such coach actually worked in operations for the Boston Celtics and had numerous kickbacks after several of his former players signed with the team. Although this stirred up many NCAA and AAU officials, nothing has been done about it.

Basketball has become a business, there is no doubt about it. However, within that business are organizations like the AAU and NCAA that are still trying to maintain high standards of amateur athletics. The question has become whether these organizations should try to exert more power on things that are ultimately out of their jurisdiction or shore up more isolation with what they can control. Come back for part 2.

Practice shouldn't be hell

I'd like to take a moment and retreat from my recent criticisms of the press and team organizations, as well as my mutterings on social ideologies and talk about a subject that has always been close to my heart: football. I read an article today about how summer camps in the NFL are universally cutting back on practice time and the strenuousness of practices.

Having played football all through high school, I can testify to the mental and physical toll of two-a-day practices. Two and a half weeks with 6 hours of football a day can really wear players down. Although I can only remember two or three season-ending injuries happening in training camp, there were certainly mental prices that were being paid in October and November.

While the NFL is justified in cutting back practice time to preserve player health, high schools should also realize the importance of player psyche. The NFL spends the entire year getting its players in shape and there isn't much difference between a six year vet and a 4 year vet in terms of football knowledge. Players really don't get that much better in those camps.

While high school is different in the improvement aspect, there is certainly more of a psyche factor for 15-18 year olds. After my team lost a heartbreaker in the first round of the playoffs, nearly half of my senior class rolled into the locker room proclaiming that they wouldn't ever have to run sprints anymore. How on earth can you justify having players that could possibly not want to win in the playoffs because they hate practice so much? Now certainly you might say that the team just is full of wimps who don't love the game. But if these guys are skilled and willing to play, there is some responsibility on the coach to get them to love the game. These guys aren't getting paid. They also aren't fully matured. But there has to be a finer line between getting players in shape and making them hate the game they are playing.

I think that a lot of that would emanate from the attitude that once camp begins in the summer, fitness has to be remarketed. Coaches and teams promulgate the sensibility that two-a-days are hell. Football is hell. Somehow in November it will all be worth it. Unfortunately, my teammates had had enough. They didn't care anymore. For that I blame the coach and his approach to the game. Practice has to be informative, skill-building, fit-building and fun. I know it sounds cliche, but watch every football movie on the planet. Practice always looks like hell, but then something happens and it's fun. When it's fun the players magically do better. Somehow that's always lost on people. Maybe because the football gods would curse them as being pussies.

I spent one week at basketball camp this summer and saw all of this play out in little microcosms. Every morning my league of 10-year olds had to go outside in the morning humidity to do basketball drills. The first couple of days involved a good bit of yelling, telling them not to do something, and pushing them to complete the drills. I will be honest and say that their performances were pitiful. By Wednesday, I was trying to be as positive with my group as I could. I made my drills competitive instead of draining. I repackaged the experience for them, while essentially making them do the same things. As a result, my group was throwing better passes, hitting more shots and running harder than any other group out there.

Don't come away from this opinion with the impression that here's another pussy who's sour over having a losing football team, probably being out of shape, and certainly is a lily-livered liberal (don't know why I threw that in there, maybe because of that picture of Kerry not being able to throw a football). Fitness can't always be fun, and yet it is integral to being able to play the game well. But in practice situations, fitness has to be re-packaged and re-integrated. Players shouldn't spend the entire practice scared at how many sprints they will have at the end. When that's the case, they will never practice loose and pick up the skills that the scrimmages and drills are meant to teach. When coaches can establish a different mental approach to training - especially with younger players - they will be able to reap better results from their guys.

World Cup Final


The World Cup that supposedly changed everything is finally over. For the last month, Bono has come on commercials and previews and told us how much this mattered. On Sunday, over a billion people simultaneously watched the World Cup final. That is more viewers than any event in the history of the world. An excellent game that was marred by an outburst of anger by Zidane, the World Cup final crowned Italy in PK's and brought soccer to the US for good. With U2 ringing them in, the United States has finally joined the rest of the world. We needed it to be flashy, and we needed it to be self-important like everything that is American. And in many ways the World Cup was all that, and in many ways it wasn't. Somehow it was simply two lines of men that walked onto a field with shirt, shorts, cleats and one ball. We didn't need ESPN to have high-tech graphics to make these warriors into pseudo-men. Highlights of their bending shots and incredible moves did that for the editors. They didn't need for the stadium to blow up in smoke before the game, everyone knew how important it was. I just wish we didn't have to wait four more years.

Charleston should be ashamed

Unfortunately, the Post and Courier is making people purchase this story on the internet. It was on the front page of Saturday's Charleston paper. For those of you who can't tell by the preview, the article essentially takes every rip on Rock Hill and sardonically ask why anyone wouldn't want to come to Charleston. The Post and Courier did well to hide this behind a subscription price.

Very simply, because that city (where I grew up) is full of entitlement. They believe that they deserve the best arts, best food, and best basketball. Ever since they came to the SoCon, the Cougars have believed that they are the cream of the conference. The last several years were just a bump in the road. They believe that anyone and everyone would want to come coach there, because of their excellent basketball tradition.

I think that winy article two days after Marshall's snub is completely representative of the shamefulness of the College of Charleston. They need to wake up and realize that they need new facilities. They need a new President. They should have asked John Kresse who he wanted four years ago. They need to recruit disciplined athletes and not dunkers. And they need to stop publishing front-page articles that write off the rest of the state. I would take Winthrop over the College of Charleston any day. At least on the basketball court.

I just spent the last week at basketball camp at Davidson. When one asks why coaches don't take high-profile jobs at Seton Hall and CofC, all you need to do is watch Bob McKillop at basketball camp. I think that his experience is very comprable to Marshall's down the road. In the end, if you don't have a supportive community around you, you set yourself up to fail. Charleston might be posh, but it can be lonely if you aren't winning.

I think that it's going to take another several years of misery under Bobby Cremins before the College of Charleston goes and fixes the problems that have chased away the good coaches. Heck, John Kresse wouldn't want to coach at CofC now. And until there is an active investment in that program to support smart players, good facilities, and community interaction, there will never be another John Kresse. Or Gregg Marshall. Or Bob McKillop. They are staying put.

Tom Sorensen, you idiot

Wow. I just got really distracted. I’m sorry that I’m posting twice in one afternoon but this one may be too good to pass up.

I just finished reading the back-and-forth banter of the Charlotte Observer’s Tom Sorensen and his loyal fanbase. For the uninformed, Sorensen wrote an article on the day after the Hurricanes’ Cup victory that ranked the game as the 299th sporting event in NC history, behind every Panthers’ game, the ACC tournament, the Hornets, the Sting and Ric Flair. Meant to show that he wasn’t about to “jump on the bandwagon,” Sorensen elicited tons of emails from disgusted readers. As a result, Sorensen published a counter-article this morning that essentially said that he isn’t sorry for bashing a sport that is aired on OLN. While I disagree wholeheartedly (I didn’t appreciate the dig on the Tour de France), I am more interested in the interplay surrounding NC regional rivalries.

With the Panthers and Hurricanes having the all-inclusive modifier of Carolina, these organizations are obviously meant to be regional teams in an area without super-city hubs. Professional teams in the south cannot be supported by single cities alone and their relative ability to be regionally followed is a good determiner of success. However, in this new fan enviroment of team ownership (see Fans), fans have become more and more jealous over who actually gets to celebrate. Does this championship belong to Raleigh or NC? What about SC? Does NC even deserve a hockey championship (many Canes players were singing the Canadian national anthem before Game 7)?

Looking over many comments that have been posted online, there is a lot of anger between the cities of Raleigh and Charlotte. When a man like Tom Sorensen becomes the face on a large community, it is difficult to sort out the heated emotions. "Well they can have their Panthers and stupid Bobcats, we have real champions up here." Unfortunately, for the emotions, it doesn't work that way. My sister in Prague will be celebrating when the Heels win the College World Series. Fandom can never be taken away from someone, although Tom Sorensen might try to quantify it. In the end, all it takes is a good team and good people to high five after the W. Raleigh will never be able to withold it, and neither will Charlotte. Maybe that's what makes it special.

U.S. falls in World Cup

I don't know anything about soccer. I really don't. I only played once in first grade and that was because the jerseys were red and we got to keep them. But since I watched the game and have a computer in front of me, I might as well join in the fray.

Americans think they are the s***. Plain and simple. And when it comes to sports, we like to add World Champions to all of our National Championship bestowments. We really do think we are the best in the world.

So what do we do when we know that we're not. We can't blame the refs for only scoring 1 goal in three games. We can't blame our fans for not traveling to support us. And we need to stop blaming our country for not caring about soccer. The problem is that there are more kids playing soccer in the midwest than there are in the whole country of Ghana. We have some excellent soccer programs at universities around the country, and our national soccer league has good attendance and very quality players that partake.

What we don't have is a star. That lacking seems quite vexing when one thinks about it. We are the land of the ballhogs aren't we? Aren't we the people who go around celebrating too much after TD's and taking on three defenders in the paint by ourselves?

Well not in soccer. In soccer, we are the team without the international wonderkid. We'll put Landon Donovan on our posters, but anyone who watched his play these past two weeks knows that he doesn't rank near the Essiens, Nedveds, Gerrards, Beckhams or Ronaldinhos. Heck, I don't watch soccer and I know these guys.

Maybe it is in a better spirit of teamwork that we watched Donovan give up goal-scoring opportunities to cross the ball to his teammate. Even if he did kick it 10 miles over his head. Maybe we shouldn't have an international superstar who demands god-like status on his own soil. Perhaps that is the last thing that the U.S. needs for its soccer program. Maybe there just isn't room for a Nedved when we've already got Shaq, T.O., Pujols, whoever.

What I do know is that to be successful in the World Cup, you have to have someone to turn to. Teams need leaders to make each player on the team better. The U.S. doesn't have that person and their team wasn't competitive. It will be four more years before we deal with this again. Let's hope that we learn a little bit.

Liberal Episcopalians

Today I figured I will deviate a little bit from the sports and post some controversial content that will make you want to post a comment about me (please! I haven't had a comment in years! Hehe).

Over this weekend, the national Episcopal church elected a woman as their next presiding bishop of the American denomination of Anglicanism.

For those unfamiliar with the Episcopal situation, the American denomination elected a gay priest to become a bishop in 2003. That move splintered the church, leaving individual American dioceses isolated as they felt that such a decision flew in the face of biblical doctrine. Allied with a larger conservative majority from around the world (especially in Africa), those few dioceses formed a network of Anglican churches that recognized their own commitment to a biblical faith that would not recognize a gay bishop.

Now after several years of heated discussion and division, the American Episcopal denomination has taken the debate a step further by electing a woman as the next presiding bishop.

While I am certainly one of the first to espouse the leadership of women within the church, I am cautious to adamantly proclaim this to be a great step forward. While I don't know much about Schori apart from the fact that many conservative groups label her as the "liberal of the liberal," I do know a little bit about Eugene Robinson (the gay bishop) and his self-proclaimed agenda.

I believe that the church is about providing a community to individual believers that establishes the proving ground and foundation for the essentials of the Christian life: love, forgiveness, integrity, faith and hope. While there are times when that community has to make decisions about its physical organization, it should never lose sight of its commitment to human beings. In the end, God isn't really God until we all get to heaven and know for sure. For now, God is merely a product of faith, and all of us humans are subject to the same contexts here on earth. Thus, the Christian community needs to remain steadfast in its goal of providing a place of love and support for all persons and beings.

While those persons most certainly should include various forms of sinners and saints in all shapes, colors and sizes, the community must decide how best to elect its leadership. I believe that Eugene Robinson was not fitted to be a bishop, not because he was made as a man with certain sexual desires and inclinations, but rather because he wanted it to be about him. He wanted to be the point-maker and he wanted the conservatives to leave the building. He didn't want acceptance, he wanted isolation. All of these things were inherent in the way that he talked about God's special calling for him to do these things and about how God told him and no one else what to do. In that light, he sounds like Pat Robertson and we all know how big of a crack he is.

Right now, this church's liberals are so obsessed with the final product, that they do not care about the repercussions of their methods of getting there. Personal faiths all over the world can be shattered forever all because certain groups of leadership decided that conservatives and dissidents aren't worth being meticulous around. In the same way that Martin Luther King criticized black leaders who didn't care what any white person thought about civil rights, the liberal Episcopalians in America should be criticized for their lack of love and dedication to solidarity. There is a silent majority of Christians around the world who are disgusted by the anger and the passion with which these groups intend to destroy each other.

Yes, women should be given leadership roles in the church. Yes, gay individuals should be afforded the same rights of marriage and church membership that every individual can achieve. However, those truths do not give liberal church leaders the authority to be a bull in a china shop and seek to destroy dissidents whom they deem as backwards.

In his time, Martin Luther King Jr. was judged by many as being too soft. He was criticized for taking steps to make himself speak whiter and present a more agreeable image to white citizens that watched the Civil Rights movement unfold on television. However, the care that King took to establish the foundation of the Civil Rights has made equality in America a reality that will be attainable in a sooner time. It provided for a leader and a movement that was radically attainable and radically mainstream.

Maybe the liberals should take some notes.

Weekend

I have been tinkering lately with a few ideas for blog entries, but none of them came out well. I decided to go ahead and post so that people wouldn't think that I'm not paying attention to things.

-MJ has decided to take a partial ownership role with the Charlotte Bobcats. With some good rookie moves and a short-term push for good press, this team might be able to get into the playoffs in a few years. Look what Cleveland did with Lebron; one player can make a remarkable difference in this league. I would love to see the Bobcats and Hurricanes join with the Panthers in terms of state-wide popularity. That would be incredible.

-JJ Redick and Ben Roethlisberger get screwed over. I won't say anything else. I actually liked them as players and don't feel like joining the media throng telling them how stupid they are.

-The U.S.A. sucks. Big time. OK so maybe soccer isn't our biggest contribution to the world in any way. And maybe the Hurricanes are now in jeopardy of not bringing home the Cup. Am I fairweather fan? Hey, you mind your own business. (In the spirit of karma, the US really stinks at soccer. Cmon Italy).

-College of Charleston's Tom Herrion is fired. In June? With 5 years left on his contract? Wow, Lunardi better take them off his '07 bracketology. This returning group of starters/punks will have no one to tell them not to kill each other (not that Herrion was all that good at discipline anyway). Will this open the door for a Wildcat repeat? Watch out for Chattanooga, even though Shulman says that his team is not one that likes to shoot (I love that, so much!).

-This weekend is Father's Day. Go share a beer with the old man and watch the College World Series. Nothing like those metal bats. Go Clemson!

Small Sports Big Time

America thinks it knows everything about sports. OK, we all know where there this is going. The US is playing the Czech Republic in soccer today and it's time for me to get on my high horse and tell everyone that all work should cease at 11:55 this morning.

Actually, this morning I am interested in American college sports. I am amazed how there are only two: football and basketball. At least only two that have their own pages on ESPN.com. Only two whose full seasons are covered by cable television. Only two with any real clout in our Wide World of Sports. Outside of soccer, two incredible sporting events are transpiring within my close web of sports allegiances. The Carolina Hurricanes are up 2-1 in the Stanley Cup playoffs over the Edmonton Oilers (I watched game 3 this weekend and hockey is really sweet! But I will save that for later). And three (possibly 5) regional baseball teams have made it to the College World Series with my Clemson Tigers ranked #1 in the country. North Carolina and Georgia Tech also made it, while Miami and South Carolina have to win today.

While baseball certainly isn't an obscure sport (I can understand why college field hockey doesn't get much coverage), college baseball cannot begin to compare to college basketball and football. There is a large fanbase, the quality of play is excellent, and baseball is America's pastime. But the baseball draft comes and goes without even the blink of an eyelash, and there is never a nationally televised college baseball game until the super-regionals. In basketball, Duke playing Davidson in November is apparently important enough to have to show in California.

I was recently at a Davidson Copperheads game when this enigma of college baseball was unveiled before my eyes. First off, the Davidson Copperheads are a semi-pro baseball team made up of college players from around the region. There are dozens of summer leagues around the country where college kids can keep working on their game while playing with good competition and wooden bats. Suddenly, that's when it hit me. Actually, it was when the Copperhead's shortstop sawed off his bat on a fastball inside and the catcher stood at home plate and stared at the handle shard. It was like he was studying the Ten Commandments. Bats. Metal bats.

College baseball is unlike the other big two because it is so different from its professional equivalent. Watching Reggie Bush run over Stanford cornerbacks will never compare to the NFL, but he's running on grass with a football for 100 yards. The dimensions are the same. The technique is the same. Using metal bats in college baseball is nearly the equivalent of rubbing flubber to the bottom of ballers' shoes. The game is totally different and a college slugger may never be able to get the ball out of the infield in the major leagues with a wooden bat.

The question then becomes, "why are we cheating college players?" Why not give them the major league experience and make this sport a little more legitimate. Hehe...you know what comes next. The punchline that every good liberal is always forcing down someone else's throat. Money. It's all about money, and colleges don't have it. Well at least that is what we're told. Unfortunately, it is rarely the case that any entity with supposed financial strains (government, your company, the parents) actually doesn't have enough money. It is just that they don't want to spend it on you.

Every year, Davidson spends tons of money bringing in influential speakers and performers to half-filled auditoriums (Bill Kristol, Black Eyed Peas). While sometimes that money wouldn't necessarily be able to go to our athletic department, it is still being spent on unsuccessful ventures. Before you close your browser, I will admit that shelling out thousands of dollars for wooden bats would not necessarily change lives or our school or even our horrendous baseball attendance, but that money is more about priorities and less about quantity.

Anyway, I just thought you should know that I do care about more than football and basketball. I also care about college baseball, professional hockey and international soccer. We'll work on African AIDS and the environment next week.

Biggest Problem in Sports: Fans?

I was recently watching a show on CNBC called “The Life and Times of Donny Deutsch.” The topic of the night was the 10 things wrong in Sports. While these ranged from ridiculousness of NCAA rules to the disappearance of boxing and racial hypocrisies, I was surprised to see that the number 1 problem in sports was fans.

That’s right, fans are the biggest problem in sports, according to this roundtable discussion which included Mike Greenberg, Tiki Barber and Robert Klein.

The panel made the case that alcohol and media coverage have destroyed fan etiquette as they only want to make shows of themselves. However, Barber’s point on the subject seemed the most intriguing. He claimed that as a result of media saturation, ridiculous contracts and extravagant lifestyles, athletes are more detached from fans than ever before.

As a result, there is a subconscious envy by which every fan wants to be that person scoring the TD down on the field. Every fan feels the ultimate significance of the game because the players are so important and the outcome is critical. Through the power of the internet, fans across the country can keep constant track of scores and stats and fantasy leagues have put fans in the driver’s seat. Barber claimed that fans have to know that they are crucial to a community that is growing more and more surreal and ridiculous. As a result, they feel privileged and even obligated to insult refs, pick fights, and be drunk for the good of the team.

And as an interesting finishing touch, Klein pointed out that despite our stadium raucousness (three fights broke out in my section at the Panthers v. Bucs game last year), European fans are dangerous to the nth degree. Fights, deaths and destruction are norms at most soccer arenas. I wonder why the hatred? Why the lack of reason?

I think our culture, which is so often both reflected and generated by the sports sub-culture, has adopted a newly different sense of carpe diem. While past generations have taken stands and marched on DC, this generation needs to seize the day because they are scared. We are a generation of fear and I think that sports reflect that. We fear to lose. Sometimes we fear to win. We fear missing out on the opportunity. Our new motto has been stolen from Eminem: “You gotta lose yourself in the moment.” The operative terms being “lose yourself.” Being out of control is praised and desired because that is apparently the only way to live.

Our culture takes it cues from our sports culture (you watch any other channel, especially news, on TV and I can tell you how SportsCenter set the precedent for each program is presented). Our sports culture takes cues from our players. Our players take cues from the media, which takes cues from our culture. Somehow, somewhere, someone decided that everything matters now. Losing oneself is highly desired and all the rules were meant to go out the window.

Basketball News

Finally, after many edits and changes, the Wildcat Report has been sent to the printer. An online version should be up by the end of the day (click on the link on the right).

Here is what you will find inside:

-An exclusive interview with George Mason's Jim Larranaga on the state of the mid-majors and the role that Davidson will play in the future of NCAA basketball.

-The Season in Review

-Player Profile on fifth year senior Eric Blancett

-News and Notes (preview of next year's schedule, coaching moves, international update)

-Season Stats and Accomplishments