My Five Sports Wishes

As the end of the decade approaches, and everyone looks back at what was, and forward to what will be, I decided to outline five sports wishes for the future. These are by no means guaranteed to happen, but have to have at least a shot of coming true. I will start with number five and work my way up to number one.

5) Pete Rose is inducted into the Hall of Fame. Everyone knows what Pete Rose did, and no one is condoning his gambling on games. Even knowing about his gambling as a coach however, isn't it time to honor one of the greatest players to ever play the game of baseball? If you saw someone with the resume of: 17 All-Star Games at five different positions, the all-time hits leader in baseball, and an MVP award, wouldn't you think that player deserves to be honored? Some of the greatest players in the history of sports were not the best people off the court including Michael Jordan (gambling), Wilt Chamberlain (womanizing and selfish), Charles Barkley (Gambling, alcoholism), Ray Lewis (murder?), Lawrence Taylor (steroids), and most recently Tiger Woods (unfaithfulness). Does this change what any of them did on the field, court, or course? I don't think so. Let us end this ridiculous grudge and nominate one of the all-time greats to the Hall of Fame.

4) Bill Belichick actually uses his draft picks. This is a personal request as a Boston sports fan. I watched the 2009 NFL draft where the New England Patriots began the draft with tons of picks and watched Bill pass up such talents as Clay Matthews and Ray Malauga (both having productive seasons). Here are the Patriots good/decent draft picks: Pat Chung, Sebastian Vollmer, Darius Butler, and Julian Edalman. The Patriots non-existant draft picks: Brandon Tate, Tyrone McKenzie, Ron Brace, and Daryl Richard. The Patriots season has been a struggle this year and I believe a better rookie class could have been assembled. I am not saying that different picks would have changed the season completely, but they certainly would have helped. For this year's draft, help at linebacker, cornerback, running back, and defensive line would be great.

3) Urban Meyer takes an (actual) extended leave from coaching. Definitely one of the weirder sports stories of the year. Urban Meyer, arguably the most successful college football coach of the decade, announces his retirement because of health concerns. Apparently the stress of year-round college coaching had caused him to have chest pains that he had ignored for several years. In an emotional statement from his family, Urban's two daughters said that they were excited that their Dad was retiring and that they would finally be able to see him after several years of him not being home for extended periods of time. This was truly a sad retirement, but with the family and health concerns, most certainly the right decision. In the days following however, Urban started to rescind his statement. The retirement became an extended leave, which became a summer away from the game. Now, I do not know how much the Florida athletic department played a part in this, especially when thinking about recruits, but these recent announcements have felt wrong. When Meyer's wife was asked about her husband's change of heart, she claimed that she had no knowledge of the change in plans.

If this is true, shame on Urban Meyer. Regardless of how much the game means to you, he seems to have reached a point where it has surpassed his family in terms of priority. His daughters, days after being exstatic about their Dad coming home, learned the harsh reality that this may only be a short vacation and then the ball coach will return to work. There are some things that need to take precedence in life, and family and health are at the top of the list.

2) Peyton Manning and Tom Brady retire in the same year. I think fans of any great individual rivalry will agree with this notion. Although Tom and Peyton were never on the field at the same time, they always seemed to bring the best out of the other. In all my years of watching Patriots-Colts games, I have never seen a boring game, and I always make sure to circle this game on the yearly NFL schedule. When it comes time for both of these men to retire, I hope they hang up the cleats together, because I cannot imagine a league with only one of them. Pats-Colts with only Manning? Only Brady? This seems hollow, and I would not be as excited. Peyton-Brady has reached Bird-Magic potential in terms of personal rivalries and the league needs both of these superstars playing together, not separately.

1) Instant Replay is fixed out in football and baseball. Football is probably the closest to having it figured it out. There are a few situations however where they have gotten it wrong, such as the infamous Chargers-Broncos game at the end of the 2008 game where respected official Ed Hochuli whistled a play dead when the play should have been a fumble. Then because of the NFL's rule of referees whistling plays dead taking precedent over everything, the play was not reviewable. The coaches already have a set number of challenges, so eliminating these rules would not create more challenges or slow the game down more.

In terms of baseball, any play involving home plate and home runs should be reviewable. These plays directly involve runs being scored or taken away, and therefore should be directly viewable. If the MLB thinks that this will slow the game down more, than give coaches a limit on number of review requests, and there will be less complaints.

As stated above, I do not expect these wishes to necessarily occur, but I would love to see them happen. Regardless, I am looking forward to another great year, both related to sports, and with everything else.

Review: Out of their League

Out of their League by Dave Meggyesy is an inside look at the problems associated with the game of football. Meggyesy, who played football for Syracuse University and the then football associated St. Louis Cardinals, gives an unapologetic look at why he believes the game was unethical, immoral, and an overall atrocity. His time in football spanned the 1950's and 1960's, although he believes many of the problems outlined in the book still exist today. Dave now works for the Players Association working to fix many of the problems that he faced during his tenure in football. Sports Illustrated named Out of their League #63 out of 100 of their top sports books of all time.

I wanted to read this book because I believe in order to truly understand something, you must come to terms with both the positive and negative aspects of it. Although football is my favorite sport and I have a passion for it, I do find it interesting to study the darker details in the game. Dave without a doubt understands these dark aspects.

Throughout his childhood, Dave struggled with a physically abusive father, and the inability to thrive socially because of his family's social and economic status. Finally, when good fortune allowed it, Dave moved out of his home, and moved in with a much wealthier and healthier family, and this allowed Dave to grow as a person. Meggyesy also picked up the game of football, and his willingness to hustle and give outstanding effort at all times immediately gained him acceptance from coaches and the attention of scouts.

Dave however, never allowed himself to be part of the team. The other players on the team already had a negative view of Dave because of his family life, but then when he moved in with his new family, they noticed that Dave now both dressed well and associated himself with a higher class. This along with Dave's unbelievable practice ethic, and his constant need to impress the coaches, gave him a sour reputation with the team. Although most of those things are out of Dave's control, he never gave, what I would call, a convincing effort to hang out with the other players, and often avoided the social scene.

When college recruiting commenced, Dave found out just how intense colleges pursue their top recruits. Syracuse, LSU, and Miami of Ohio all put the full court press on him, and would pick him up on their private jets on a moments notice if he had any doubts about their program. When Dave had essentially given his commitment to LSU, Syracuse flew him out to their school, had him meet with every coach, alumni, and player they could find and completely pressured him to sign with them. Although Dave was excited, the way he discusses the process lead me to believe that he would have been much happier at LSU, and the way they approached Dave was much more ethical. Never the less, Dave signed his scholarship with Syracuse, beginning his four years there.

Dave's time at Syracuse began similarly to his high school career in that he immediately impressed all of the coaches and scouts, but gave a sour impression to his teammates. The players again felt that Dave's primary goal was the acceptance of coaches and not fellow players. Meggyesy's objectives in football were to always be better and to beat both the fellow teammates at their position and his opponents. This approach is completely understandable and not necessarily a bad thing. Where it got him into some trouble however, was that Dave never focused on what he could do to make the whole team better. Individual achievements were a huge motivating force, and then when the other players were not quick to hang out with him, Dave became depressed. This is when he began to question his commitment to football.

Many unethical and immoral circumstances were highlighted by Dave during his four years in collegiate football. Most disturbing was the role that the Athletic Department played in relation to the athletes. According to Dave, the Athletic Department had two roles; Keeping the players eligible and out of legal trouble. Although Meggyesy constantly mentions the severity of each of these, and gives several examples of each, he ends up using the Athletic Department for both of these things. During one of his years there, Dave amassed over $800 dollars (Remember this was 50 years ago) in parking tickets, about 55 tickets in all. The legal penalty for this is a significant fine, and jail time. Dave however, knowingly allows Syracuse to influence the judge in his case towards his side, as long as Dave promises that the team will do well this year. Then, during Dave's senior year, he realizes that has has to take 26 credits of course work in order to graduate, which is well above the allowed amount. The Athletic Department again comes to his rescue and informs Dave that he will be given passing grades in all of his classes, and does not need to show up to any of them, which Dave completely agrees with.

Moving onto his professional career, Dave again participates in what bothers him most about the sport. With the St. Louis Cardinals, Dave takes performance enhancing drugs (although they were not banned at that time), smokes marijuana and takes acid, and again does not make an effort to know his teammates. The more and more he questions his participation in the sport, the more unethical his behavior becomes. Only towards the end of his tenure in football, where he is only participating for the financial benefit, does he start to fight against the things he hates. He questions the racial problems in the sport and within the organization, he pursues his own education, and he begins to care more about other things in life, like his family and politics.

My main problem with Dave Meggyesy in this book is that he was too angry when he wrote it. The key to making any convincing argument is knowing what the other side would say in response to your point, and knowing how to counter it. There is no question that Dave presents a well-crafted and thorough set of evidence that the game of football has dehumanizing aspects and that there were many things that absolutely needed and needs to be changed. In my mind however, Dave never owns up to his own mistakes and admits that he became a pawn of the system, regardless if it was entirely his fault or not.

As stated before however, I did very much enjoy reading about the evidence Dave presented. It is a well-written book that does outline a darker side of football that hopefully has had some positive strides since this book was written. I very much admire Dave's participation as the Western Regional Director of the NFL Players Association and that he continues to fight for what he believes in, and that makes a lot of what he did better for me. Out of their League is a solid book that is both very educational and interesting, and I would definitely recommend it.

Tis the Season

As Christmas approaches, and I realize just how unprepared for it I am, I thought it would be fun to determine my favorite Christmas movie. I started by looking at some surveys online and found that America has movies that consistently rank among the top spots for favorite Christmas movie. Those five are It's a Wonderful Life, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Christmas Story, and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

It's a Wonderful Life, released in 1946, is a classic Christmas movie starring Jimmy Stewart. Stewart's voice is my favorite part about him, and it seems to make every movie that he is in and every line he delivers better. Without a doubt my favorite line in the whole movie is when Jimmy Stewart says, "What is it you want Mary, you want the moon?". This followed by the old man telling him to kiss her is truly classic cinema. The reason I cannot rank this movie as my favorite however, is because I did not grow up with it, and never established a love for it. Christmas movies become better every year that they are watched, and because I have only seen it twice, it never entered my classic Christmas movie category.

Moving on to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, this movie was one that I did watch every Christmas and have grown to love. Claymation Christmas movies always seem to thrive and this one is no different. My favorite scenes are anything with Yukon Cornelius, the part where Herbie's elf supervisor makes fun of his dentist aspirations, and when "the Bumble bounced!" I always enjoy this movie, and it is definitely one of my favorites. I cannot name it as my favorite although I cannot give a definite reason why not. Maybe it is because it deals with a reindeer and I cannot relate, maybe just because I like other movies better, or maybe because I hate the dentist. Whatever the reason, it cannot be named as my all-time Christmas movie.

Next is How the Grinch Stole Christmas. A classic combination of Christmas warmth and humorous scenes, this movie has become a favorite among many families. Although I do enjoy the Jim Carrey version of the movie, I do prefer the animated movie solely because I grew up with it. "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch" is one of my favorite songs ever, not just among Christmas songs, and the Grinch is too funny while he is stealing all the presents. I would have to say this is among my top-two Christmas movies, and it will be moving on to my final decision.

Fourth, there is A Christmas Story. I know a few people who absolutely despise this movie, but I have always loved it. Some of my favorite parts are when the Dad yells at the neighbor's dogs, "Oh, fudge! Except I didn't say fudge", "You'll shoot your eye out!", and when Ralphie comes downstairs in the pink bunny suit. His face of utter disappointment, hatred, and embarrassment kills me every time. This movie, along with the Grinch, moves on to my final decision.

Last but not least, there is A Charlie Brown Christmas. I mean, who can say that they don't love that little tree? I know I can't. My favorite scene in the movie is actually very easy for me to choose, and my brother and I recite this all the time. My favorite is the part where Lucy demands Schroeder to play Jingle Bells. After several attempts of beautiful versions of Jingle Bells and disapproval by Lucie, Schroeder plays it with one finger, which Lucy loves. That along with my love of Snoopy, regardless of what he is in, will always make me love this movie. The reason I cannot put it in my top-two however, is that I enjoy other Charlie Brown episodes more than A Charlie Brown Christmas. When Woodstock has a football team, when the gang travels to Europe and sees the D-Day beach, and when Charlie Browns narrates the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad all hold a deeper place in my heart, and therefore overshadow A Charlie Brown Christmas.

This leaves me with the final decision between A Christmas Story and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Both are very funny, end with heart-warming moments, and have been a part of my yearly Christmas for as long as I can remember. Here is the distinction for me. How the Grinch Stole Christmas creates its own world in Who-ville. The odd-looking people, the green and fuzzy grinch, along with a over-sized Christmas tree allow me to lose myself in the movie every year. Regardless of age, I always feel like a kid watching this movie, and to me that's the best part. Although I love A Christmas Story, it is almost too realistic, and the Grinch allows more of the magic of Christmas to shine through, and therefore has to be named my favorite.

So there it is, with my favorite movie decided upon. Regardless of what movie you treasure the most, I hope everybody has a great holiday season, and is able to watch every one of the great Christmas movies!

Pepsi for the Win

In the incredibly competitive beverage industry, it is inevitable to have to make the personal decision between Coke and Pepsi. Very rarely will someone say they have no preference and many of those people are just avoiding the issue to minimize conflict. I too had to make this choice, and I chose Pepsi.

I have never once regretted this decision, although I have definitely felt in the minority with other people my age. I never the less have held my ground, and enjoyed the sweeter, bubblier Pepsi products.

Going back to the carbonation competition, the year's most competitive advertising events in quickly approaching, the Super Bowl. 30 spots during the Super Bowl are currently priced at $2.6 Million and big companies need to decide whether this exorbitant amount is worth it. The Super Bowl is without a doubt America's best advertising vehicle for big companies but now can cost almost the entirety of advertising budgets of large companies. According to previous numbers, "It is estimated that between 130 and 140 million viewers tune into some part of the Super Bowl". It is this year however, that Pepsi has done the unthinkable. They have decided to not advertise on the Super Bowl.

Usually one of the most prominent Super Bowl advertisers, I'm sure their decision shocked many marketing, advertising, and sponsorship experts, but delving deeper, we find out why they made the decision. Pepsi will be beginning a new campaign in 2010 called the "Pepsi Refresh Project" that hopes to be a long-term campaign. The campaign is built around giving millions of dollars in grants to charitable organizations and causes chosen and proposed by consumers. They decided that the money spent on the SuperBowl could be better put towards this new campaign.

Now, am I aware that this move is in itself advertising for their campaign? Yes. Does this change my feeling about it? Absolutely not. Pepsi's campaign should be, if executed correctly, a wonderful campaign that pours money into some great organizations and causes around the country. Plus, Pepsi will gain all sorts of positive press for each announcement of another charitable organization funded. If Pepsi truly sticks to this mission, I believe it can be a ground breaking campaign for them, and will continue their pursuit to catch Coke in the beverage industry.

America is a country that thrives on competition, and the beverage industry is one of the most competitive out there. Pepsi's Refresh Project is a great campaign that both helps their position and dire causes around the country.

So, well done Pepsi. These types of moves are why I keep feeling better and better about my initial preference of Pepsi products.

To read the CNN article, click here.

In today's world of sports there are those who hold interest and those who demand it. Then there are the rare individuals who hold their own category, such as Tiger Woods.

Tiger Woods, probably the greatest golfer to ever live and one of the most influential athletes of all time (Not to mention the recently named Athlete of the Decade) stands alone in the world of sports. When Tiger is in a groove, there is no one in the world who can stand on the same golf course as him. What makes him different is although seen in numerous commercials and interviews a day, Tiger has always kept a decently private personal life. Even with the instant gossip craving news media of today, there has always been an understanding between the media and Tiger; I give you all the interviews and media spots you need, and you will stay out of my personal life. Shockingly this has worked, and beautifully so. Tiger remained relatively private because he was always cooperative with the media, and therefore never had them panicking about whether they would see him again. Always professional, Tiger was put on a pedestal as the greatest athlete and role model in the world. Until now.

Recent developments, as I'm sure everyone knows by now, have shed light on the unfortunate news that Tiger has not remained faithful to his wife and has had many, as Tiger put it, "indiscretions". Never has an image taken such a hard fall in such a short time. The news drew many different opinions from celebrities including support from Charles Barkley and disappointment from Jesper Parnevik.

Here is my take on what needs to happen now: Leave Tiger alone. Tiger Woods, who I have always been a fan of, was correctly named athlete of the decade this week. This, and only this, is what he deserves to be judged for. Tiger is, in my opinion, the greatest golfer of all time. That is why I watch him on television and always check the scores of the latest golf tournament. People fell in love with him not because he was a role model, but because he was and is a great talent. Rick Reilly of ESPN put it well when he talked about how the media could not stop at Tiger being the best golfer, they created his image into being the best person in the world. Tiger had to have the whitest teeth, the fittest body, the best swing, the most attractive wife, and the most money. In the earlier mentioned marriage between the media/public and Tiger, both sides were working just a few weeks ago.

Now, although I very much disagree with Tiger's affairs with other women, and I hope he does end all of them, the distrust caused by Tiger's affair must be reevaluated. The media and the public have betrayed Tiger as much, if not more than he did them. He does not get paid to be the perfect person, and he will never be the perfect person. It is personally reasonable to not respect what he did. All I am asking is that we remember why the marriage of the media and Tiger began, with his golf game. If Tiger is able to put his life back together, we need to be there, together again, cheering on the first tee.