Retooling the Worldwide Leader

For two days last week, the sports media had almost everybody across the country convinced that the St. Louis Cardinals were going to the World Series. After Albert Pujols crushed a Brad Lidge hanging slider in Game 5, the Cardinals were suddenly rejuvenated and would easily take the next two games at home en route to a second straight Series appearance. Game 6 came and went, and surprisingly, there was no Game 7 the following night, which left everyone scratching their collective heads.

How dare the Astros spit in the face of the sports media who had so caustically written them off days earlier! Don’t they know about momentum? You can’t stop momentum— it is the single most powerful force in all of sports. Once a team gets momentum, forget about it, it’s over.

There’s an obvious flaw in this little theory–if one team suddenly gets momentum, it must be at the expense of the other team. But if momentum is so damn great, how did the other team lose it in the first place? The Astros didn’t buy into this momentum hype and proceeded to blow up Busch Stadium a few weeks earlier than scheduled. I would daresay momentum might be just a tad overrated. Didn’t the Yankees have momentum in the ’04 ALCS? Up three games to none after clobbering the Sox in Game 3, the Yankees had about as much momentum as you can get. Despite this, they completely choked and the Sox triumphed.

So there goes that theory, if it even could be called one to begin with. The overall lesson here is that today’s sports media likes to attach a lot of value to vague romantic premises that can’t be proven one way or the other.

We could argue for hours about whether momentum means anything and still not come out any better than when we started. There’s not anything wrong with that, but it’s an argument that’s more appropriate for two friends watching the game to be having – it shouldn’t be the focus of SportsCenter’s analysis of the game.

This sort of oversimplification of sports will only have a negative effect on the intelligence of future sports fans. It’s a byproduct of the highlight culture–we want everything processed into 10-second sound bites and matched up with a witty catchphrase. Unfortunately, the highlight loses its appeal when that’s the only thing you’re watching.

There needs to be a better balance between the 10-second highlight and the in-depth analysis show. ESPN tries to accomplish this with specialized shows like Baseball Tonight and NFL Live, but these are often aired at inconvenient times (early afternoon and after midnight). ESPN.com offers scores of articles with its Insider service, but it will set you back $7/month. Maybe the solution is, dare I say it, another ESPN network?

Looking at the current programming across the Worldwide Leader, it’s pretty clear that there’s a lot of deadweight programming being aired. Pool, fly fishing, timber sports, cheerleading, stock-car racing–these niche sports should be moved off of ESPN2 and onto another channel (maybe ESPN could trade the rights to these sports to OLN for the NHL rights). That should free up some space on ESPN2. ESPNEWS is somewhat unnecessary with the amount of information available on the Internet. I don’t think we really need to see the press conference announcing the new NBA dress code.

And while I’m sure many people are clamoring for the second season of “Tilt,” that timeslot could be put to much better use (although I was sad to see “Playmakers” cancelled). We could also do without those sappy profiles on SportsCenter; they don’t really do anything except stir up people’s emotions and give Tom Rinaldi a job.

Instead, ESPN should air more strategy based shows, like EA SPORTS NFL Matchup. This program showcases football strategy and plays using the latest Madden game and could easily be ported to the other sports. What are the odds that this will happen? Probably slim, given that the ESPN brass has currently slotted NFL Matchup into the prestigious Friday night and early Saturday morning time slots.

So while you’re waiting for ESPN to do a massive content reorganization, try to spend less time watching highlights and more time watching entire games. The top-10 play is much more meaningful when you’ve experienced it in the context of the actual game. If we continue down this path any longer, we’ll reach a level of sports intelligence equal to the typical sports radio show caller.

The NHLPA’s Failed Bluff

Bluffing is an extremely important element to the game of poker. By representing that you have a better hand than you actually do, you may be able to take down a much bigger pot than your cards should actually win you. In order to bluff successfully, you must convince the other players that you have pocket aces, instead of the unsuited 7-2 you were actually dealt. Bluffing, however, is not limited to card games, and recent labor disputes in professional sports have taught that it is often not without risk.

Every year, some NFL players threaten to skip training camp if they do not receive a better contract. Sometimes this strategy works and other times, like this year, the owners call the players’ bluffs, and they are forced grudgingly to report to camp. Terrell Owen’s attempt in August to renegotiate a new contract, while generating an inordinate amount of media attention, ultimately failed to get him a new deal.

Another group tried a similar tactic in the past year but ended up losing on a much larger scale – the NHL Players Association. Trying to negotiate a favorable new labor agreement, the players’ union instead lost the entire season and gained almost no concessions when the new collective bargaining agreement was finally reached.

After negotiations stalled between the owners and the NHLPA last fall, the owners instituted a lockout on September 15. The main point of contention between the two sides was the owners’ insistence on a salary cap linked to team revenues. The players strenuously objected to the cap, initially proposing a 5 percent salary rollback and a luxury tax, which the owners quickly rejected.

Negotiations stalled as game after game was canceled. Finally, in mid-February, with only hours to go before the season would be officially canceled, the players’ union made a major concession – it agreed to a $49 million cap per team, which was $6.5 million higher than the cap offered by the owners. When the two sides refused to meet in the middle, commissioner Gary Bettman cancelled the rest of the season on February 15, making the NHL the first major sports league in North America to lose an entire season over a labor dispute.

While an extremely- shortened season wouldn’t have been practical anyway, the union and the owners needed to quickly resolve their dispute and agree to a new CBA before another season was wiped out. On July 13, nearly 10 months after the lockout began, the two sides finally agreed to a new labor deal. Looking at the terms of the deal, only one conclusion can be drawn – the players got fleeced.

First, the salary cap. Instead of the $42.5 million cap that the owners initially offered back in February, the new cap will be between $37 and $39.5 million and is linked to league revenues. Of course, the cap can increase or decrease from season to season if the revenues increase or decrease.

Second, there will be a 24 percent rollback of existing contracts. Now, here’s where the players start looking like fools. The union originally offered the rollback as an alternative to the salary cap; they never intended both things to happen. So not only are the players stuck with a salary cap, which they originally said they would never agree to, their existing salaries will also be considerably reduced. Maybe next time, the union will remember to take a condition off the table.

Third, a player can make no more than 20 percent of the salary cap, so say good-bye to $10 million plus salaries. The salary of the league’s best players will max out at $7.9 million, which isn’t so bad until you compare it to the monstrous salaries that are being paid to NBA deadweights like Allan Houston, Penny Hardaway, and Keith Van Horn. (You know what other NBA player is making more than the NHL max? Maurice Taylor, who clocked in with a salary of $8.45 million last season. Does anyone even know who this guy is?)

In addition to these three major wins for the owners, entry-level salaries also were rolled back and bonuses were limited. The only minor concessions the players gained were a salary floor, an increase in the minimum player salary, and the lowering of the unrestricted free agency age. Were these gains really worth the loss of the entire season? Few would say yes.

With the return of the NHL last week, the players, owners, and fans can start to put this sorry mess behind them. The sport has a long way to go to recover its standing among the three other major sports leagues. The institution of new rules will hopefully make the game more exciting and watchable to the casual fan. More importantly however, both sides need to take away a valuable lesson from the past year – when the new CBA expires in six years, bluffing may only lead to hockey’s quick exit from the American sports scene.

Scalping Sunday Ticket

Football season can be a confusing time for those fans away from their home market. The lazy Sunday you used to enjoy is now gone. Instead of being greeted by your team when you roll out of bed at noon and turn on the TV, you are greeted with the horror that is Baltimore v. Tennessee (no offense, Ravens or Titans fans). Of course, the NFL has provided a solution for its displaced fans for many years in the form of the Sunday Ticket package. For $280, DirecTV subscribers get (almost) every game live every week.

But there’s a catch. Unlike the other full season sports packages, NFL Sunday Ticket is only available on DirecTV. With a customer base of 13.5 million subscribers, DirecTV pal es in comparison to the approximately 90 million cable subscribers in the country. This means that a large portion of the television-viewing population cannot get the Sunday Ticket package. Even worse news, don’t expect Sunday Ticket to be available on cable anytime soon. Last year, DirecTV renewed its exclusive Sunday Ticket agreement with the NFL through 2010. The Rupert Murdoch- controlled company will now pay $700 million annually for the rights, while in contrast, CBS and Fox pay $622 and $715 million, respectively, for their games. While cable would have loved to get in on the action, DirecTV’s bid went above and beyond what any of the cable companies were willing to pay.

If this exclusivity deal seems a little monopolistic to you, you’d be right. In fact, one particularly litigious DirecTV customer brought a lawsuit against the NFL in 1998. In Shaw v. Dallas Cowboys, the plaintiff argued that the NFL’s joint agreement with DirecTV was a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The NFL countered with the argument that the selling of the rights was exempt from antitrust law under the Sports Broadcasting Act, which grants an antitrust exemption to “sponsored telecasts.” Sponsored telecasts refer to broadcasts financed by advertising, which is the category the regular broadcast games fall under. The NFL argued that the games available through DirecTV also fell under the exemption; however, the district court ruled that to apply the exemption to the Sunday Ticket games would effectively make the exception into the rule (this was later affirmed by the Third Circuit).

The suit evolved into a class action encompassing all Sunday Ticket subscribers. The parties eventually settled, with the plaintiffs getting a share of $7.3 million, discounts on NFL merchandise, and the opportunity to buy access to Sunday Ticket on a weekly basis. This initial agreement, however, was rejected by the district court because it was too favorable to the league (the NFL could rescind the weekly Sunday Ticket option after one season), and the attorneys’ fees were too high for the amount the plaintiffs actually received in the settlement (the attorneys got $3.7 million in fees while the 1.8 million members of the class had to split the settlement). The agreement was revised to increase the settlement pool by $1 million and also forced the NFL to offer the weekly Sunday Ticket package up until 2004.

So where does that leave you, the diehard football fan? Pretty much back where you started. For the immediate future, Sunday Ticket will still be in the firm grasp of DirecTV, but there are several possibilities for opening up Sunday Ticket access to the masses. While the simplest solution would be for the NFL to let cable companies offer Sunday Ticket, this could end up hurting cable customers in the long run. With Sunday Ticket available on cable, there would be a mass exodus from DirecTV, which could severely affect the ability of DirecTV to compete with cable. With less competition, cable companies would resort to their old monopolistic ways. This scenario is unlikely, as the NFL would not want to give up a single huge payment for several smaller payments. The NFL is also against the widespread offering of the Sunday Ticket package because it feels it would hurt ratings for the local broadcast games. So, any possible solution would have to balance the concerns of the NFL over local ratings, the necessity of maintaining a legitimate cable competitor, and the needs of the consumer.

Fortunately, a solution that satisfies all three of these concerns is already being utilized by another sport—baseball, with its MLB.TV service. MLB.TV, which, as of last year, already has a subscriber base of 850,000, provides streaming video of live baseball games to out-of-market fans, and this model easily could be adapted for the NFL. Instead of offering access to every game for every team, pricing instead could be on a per-team basis. This would prevent a decrease in local ratings and also insure that DirecTV’s subscriber base remains stable. Watching football is more of a social event than watching baseball, so many fans would prefer to watch the game on a regular television than on a computer. Still, by allowing broadcasting games online, the NFL would be able to give fans who don’t or can’t get DirecTV another viable viewing option.

For now, though, you’ll have to be content with heading out to your local sports bar to get your football fix. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Despite the overpriced food and drink, there’s nothing quite like taking in a game surrounded by tons of rabid football fans. Just try not to get into an argument with the guy wearing the Joey Harrington jersey sitting at the table next to you; he’s suffered enough.

GW's Second Best Sports Columnist

After reading the first issue of Nota Bene, the law school student newspaper, I noticed the extreme lack of a sports column, and, feeling I could to a better job than a bunch of space that didn't currently exist in the paper, I sent an email to the editor and was soon given my very own sports column, under the new moniker: Left-Wing Lock.

This new post left me as the single published sports commentator in the entire law school, and with it, a billionfold increase in editorial control. Also, I could make up my own column titles.

A Final Reflection On Cornell Sports

During my visit to Cornell as a junior in high school, I attended a Q-and-A session with other prospective students. While most of the questions were in the typical mold of the sort you would expect to hear (What’s the core curriculum? Are the students really competitive?), one girl asked, “Can the students playing intramurals use the same fields as the varsity athletes?” At the time, I thought this was the most ridiculous question that anyone could have asked. “Who cares about intramural fields? I’m here for the academics,” I thought at the time.

It is ironic that, five years later, I have spent a large portion of my time here at Cornell at both the intramural and varsity fields. Coming in as a freshman, I had no idea that I would stand in the pouring rain during a football game, get frostbite covering an evening soccer match, or play ice hockey in Lynah Rink. I’ve experienced a lot of things here as a fan, a reporter, and an athlete, and it’s these memories that I’ll look back upon years later and smile.

Thinking about how sports as a whole has impacted my college experience, I remembered those commercials on ESPN – the ones that asked, “Without sports, how would we know what we’re made of,” or “who would cheer for the Nimrods?” I’d like to that ask -- and answer -- that question now, based on my four years on the Hill.

Without (Cornell) sports….

Why would we hate Harvard?

Sure, they’re ranked higher than us in the USNWR rankings (along with every other Ivy for that matter), but how much can you really dwell on those numbers? The Ivy League, after all, is an athletic conference, not a research convention. We can complain all we want about Harvard’s grade inflation, but once a year when the men’s hockey team provides a beatdown of the Crimson in Lynah, we can forcefully assert our dominance. There was never a time that I hated Harvard more than after they beat us in overtime at Lynah East my freshmen year. When they came to Lynah three months later, the atmosphere and crowd noise was unbelievable, and Cornell got its revenge with a 6-3 thrashing of the Crimson. But then of course Harvard went and won the ECAC title in double-overtime, setting off another round of hatred.

How would we brag to our friends at other schools?

I’m sure your friends at USC or UNC really cares that Cornell’s nano-genomic research department is regarded as the best in the country. They’ll really lose sleep over that fact after watching their school’s highlights on SportsCenter. While people don’t normally think of athletics when they hear “Cornell,” the athletes and teams here have been making a huge splash on the national scene in the past four years. The wrestling team finished fourth in the entire country this year at the NCAAs, and senior Travis Lee won his second national title in three years. The men’s lacrosse team is currently ranked fourth in the country after posting its first undefeated Ivy season since 1987. They’ve also reached the NCAA quarterfinals in two of the past four seasons. Of course, the men’s hockey team has had an amazing run the past four seasons – a Frozen Four appearance, three NCAA tournaments, two ECACHL titles, and four Ivy League titles, not to mention two Hobey Baker finalists. We’ve also had a slew of All-Americans in hockey, lacrosse, wrestling, track, cross country, and softball.

What would we wear?

ESPN already touched on this question in one of their commercials by showing a clip from Nelly’s music video for “Air Force Ones.” While I sadly don’t own a pair of these coveted shoes, I do have an inordinate amount of Cornell sports clothing. Let’s tally it up – one Lynah Faithful shirt, three Cornell hockey hats, two Cornell hockey jerseys, one ECAC Championship t-shirt, three Frozen Four t-shirts, three Cornell hockey long sleeve shirts, three Cornell basketball t-shirts, two Cornell lacrosse t-shirts, and one Cornell football t-shirt. That’s two weeks worth of clothing right there.

How would we give it our all?

For those of us non-varsity athletes on campus, we are fortunate enough to have the largest intramural sports program in the Ivy League. I can think of no better activity that lets you take a much-needed break from studying and also lets you demonstrate to your classmates that you are, indeed, the best horseshoes player on campus. Thinking back to that Q-and-A session, I never thought the answer to that girl’s question would actually have any importance to me. Of course, now I know the answer – sometimes, depending on the sport and/or how far into the playoffs you are.

As this is my last column, tradition holds that I explain what my moniker, “I Never Kid,” actually means. To understand the relevance, we must travel back to the fall of 1968….

It’s the first day of class, and my father, a high school senior, is sitting in college physics (it’s a double period). The teacher was Mr. Landau--

the most nasty, ornery teacher in the school. He had a bad reputation and everyone hated him. Landau had a short gray crew cut and mustache like Adolph Hitler. His complexion was gray – gray mustache, gray face, gray hair. After a lecture for the first period, the bell rings, and Landau tells the class to sit quietly until the start of the next period. In between periods, a student comes into barging in, and flings open the door. The class, who had been sitting quietly, looks up at this kid. Landau then looks at the kid and asks, “Who are you?”

“I’m XXXXX,” the student says.

“Where have you been?”

“I’ve been in study hall.”

“Well, this class is a double period and you missed the first period.”

“You’re kidding!”

At this point, Landau bangs his fist on the table and screams,

“I NEVER KID!”

And he never did.

35 years later, this seemingly irrelevant story inspired the name for my column. As a kid, my dad would retell similar stories about Landau. Whenever I questioned the fairness of one of my parent’s decisions, my dad would quip, “I never said it was fair,” another Landau-ism, this one born after a student complained that he only got two points on a test even though he had the right answer (but the wrong work). This was in stark contrast to his usual grading policy of full credit for the correct answer and no credit for the correct work, and so the student protested about the unfairness of the new policy. However, the student was lucky to have received such a comment, as Landau typically answered an argument with, “So?”

While this story has nothing to do with sports, it’s a fitting title because of my preferred use of sarcasm in my columns. At times, I took the sarcastic route in my columns (such as my suggestion that hockey bring back the rover position as the solution to its labor woes or when I previewed the 2004 baseball season by comparing teams to their animal nicknames). Other times, “I Never Kid,” can be taken at face value (see my actual suggestions for repairing the game of hockey after the season was cancelled). Overall, I tried to take the middle ground because too much sarcasm gets old too quickly and too much seriousness makes a column boring. No one wants to be lectured about sports – people prefer to be entertained.

Though I had no central theme for my column topics, I always tried to write about something that was just outside the game itself, whether it be the sports media, business, or history. By the time you pick up a copy of the Sun, you’ve already heard everything you need to know about how the Yankees can get out of their slump, so you certainly don’t need another reiteration. Hopefully, I’ve given you a fresh take on some sports issues you may not have been thinking of.

At this point in the column, some thanks are in order:

To my mom: You’ve read every article I’ve written for the Sun over the past four years, edited my writing, talked sports with me, and always reminded me to do my work, thanks for your support.

To my dad: I know sports aren’t at the top of your list, but you still read most of my stuff anyway. I’ve relied on you for help with physics and computer science, and I appreciate it a lot. Thanks for your sense of humor and the stories above.

To Alissa: Every other week you ask if you’re going to be in my column, and at last, here you are. You never fail to impress me with all you’ve done in high school, and I’m sure you’ll continue to impress me once you get to Cornell this fall.

To my grandfather: For first cultivating my interest in sports and for quizzing me endlessly about sports trivia.

To the current Sun Sports Editors – Chris, Brian, Bryan, and Olivia: You guys work incredibly hard every day to put out this section. You’ve still got a lot of work ahead of you, so try to get some sleep.

To the past Sports Editors: Thanks for editing my columns and for molding me into a better sports writer.

To Mike Pandolfini: We’ve covered many sports together and have gotten two free t-shirts out of it. Good luck next year getting a reservation at Dorsia.

To the Cornell coaches and athletes: It’s been a pleasure covering your teams the past four years. I’m awed by your hard work and dedication.

To Sports Information: Your enthusiasm and friendliness has made my job a lot easier.

To my friends: You sometimes read my column; that was nice of you. Thanks for the experiences and the memories these past four years.

Finally, to the reader: Thanks for reading down this far. The best part about being a columnist is the positive feedback I’ve received from you.

Well, that’s it. I would like to leave you with one final piece of wisdom – the best water fountain on campus can be found in the ACCEL lab in the engineering library.

The Other Student-Athletes

The field lies empty as the sun rises on a Spring morning. As 1 p.m. approaches, droves of people appear in the distance. Soon, the once quiet field is alive with the sounds of softball, as teams begin to warm up for the upcoming games. With the blast of a horn, play begins. It is Sunday afternoon, and the intramural softball season is underway.

Cornell's intramural sports program, which has been around since the early 1900s, offers students the chance to compete against each other in some of their favorite sports throughout the school year. Intramural sports not only provide great exercise, but they can also help students blow off steam after a bad prelim grade. According to a study conducted by Professor David Kanters of North Carolina State University, participating in campus recreational sports can help college students lower stress-related anxiety.

Intramural records indicate that the All-Around Intramural Championship Trophy was first awarded during the 1927-28 academic year to Delta Chi, but recreational sports have had a presence on the Cornell campus since as early as 1904. Cornell's third president, Jacob G. Schurman, wanted to give non-varsity athletes the chance to participate in a variety of sports under the direction of the varsity coaches.

Nicholas Bawlf, who coached the men's ice hockey team from 1920-1947, was the first known director of intramurals, holding that position from 1937-1947. Before the advent of a full-time director, students were the ones responsible for organizing the intramural competition, and still play an important administrative role in the current program.

After being male-only for its first 70-odd years of existence, the intramural program at Cornell began offering competition for women during the 1974-75 academic year. Sigma Delta Tau and Alpha Phi were the first sororities at Cornell to organize teams in the women's division.

When the program changed its rules to allow men to compete on a single-sex team and a co-ed team, the number of co-ed teams competing increased dramatically. Rules were modified to encourage the utilization of women during the co-ed games. In co-ed basketball, a normal two-point shot is worth three points if a woman makes it, and a normal three-point shot is worth four points.

Dave Pearson is entering his second year as the Robert D. Kennedy '54 Director of Intramurals at Cornell, estimates a student participation level of 6,500 to 6,800 during the 2003-04 school year. Pearson, whose position is the only endowed one of its kind in the country, came to Cornell after working at Washington State and the University of Nebraska, where students take intramural sports very seriously.

"There was one particular individual at Nebraska who was on his ninth or 10th year as an undergrad. He had a degree, but he would sign up for one credit a semester so he could continue to play intramurals," Pearson said.

Pearson and new assistant director Betsy Johnson oversee the program, which offers over 30 different sports and events. Students are also involved in the day-to-day functions, as supervisors and referees. Seven senior supervisors and 13 student supervisors are responsible for overseeing the 150 officials during the games and solving any problems that may arise.

"We always tell the students that work for us that it's their program and we're just there to facilitate it," said Andrea Dutcher, who served as the director of intramruals from 1988-1996.

Jill Mikolayczyk '05 has been working in the intramural program since her freshmen year. After serving as a referee and scorekeeper in volleyball, basketball and floor hockey, she became a student supervisor her sophomore year and is currently a senior supervisor.

"Trying to keep everything on schedule and running smoothly and having enough officials on each field, that's probably one of the hardest things that I have to do," she said. "You have to take into consideration the ability of your referee and the level of the game they're going to be refereeing. You don't want to put a referee who's only had two games under his or her belt in a very intense fraternity game."

Running an intramural program the size of Cornell's takes a large organizational effort. While a software program takes care of scheduling games for the different sports, assigning referees to individual games is trickier, as there are not always a sufficient number of referees available. Being an official can be stressful at times, as some Cornell students are very competitive during intramural sports.

"They want intramurals to be, I think, as competitive as some varsity sports," Mikolayczyk said. "They see all these great referees on television and expect students that are just like them to be top-notch. Our officials are very good. A lot of them come in with no sports knowledge whatsoever, and I think that by the end of the year, their improvement is amazing."

One of the factors that must be considered when running an intramural program is risk management. The staff must ensure that the participating students are safe during the games. For sports like ice hockey, this means strict equipment requirements for all players and the use of non-contact rules. Riskier sports that were once offered by the intramural program at Cornell, such as fencing and box lacrosse, have been discontinued.

At the University of Notre Dame, the only school in the country to offer tackle football (most schools offer flag football as an intramural sport), extra safety considerations are extremely important. Equipment must be in excellent shape, interested players must sign a waiver form, and there are EMTs at every game. Despite the hazard involved, tackle football has a high participation level.

"This program is by far our most popular men's intramural sport," said Rich O'Leary, the director of intramurals at Notre Dame. "We do not have fraternities or sororities, so the dorm competition is quite intense. Dorms hold barbecues before or after the games, and some halls provide half-time entertainment. The championship game is played in Notre Dame Stadium."

Intramural athletes at Cornell also compete in the varsity facilities. The entire intramural ice hockey season is played in Lynah Rink, and the championships for flag football and basketball are played in Schoellkopf Field and Newman Arena, respectively. Basketball was an extremely popular sport last year, as a maximum of 160 teams registered to play across all divisions.

"I talk to the old intramural director about once a month, and when I called him and told him how many basketball teams we had, he just said, 'Holy cow!'" Pearson said. "He moved on to the University of Maryland, which is a basketball school, and we had more intramural teams than they did."

While intramurals provide great athletic competition for non-varsity athletes, every student hopes to one day win an intramural championship and the trophy that comes with it -- a T-shirt. Dutcher recalls one student who, having never won an intramural championship T-shirt as a student, purchased two intramural championship T-shirts at the Quill and Dagger Charity auction for $48. For those students at Cornell who have yet to win, another opportunity is just around the corner, whether it be in softball, indoor soccer, or dodgeball.

Never-before Published Column

Note: I wrote this column about the NFL Draft and then scrapped it in favor of an article I had written in my Writing for Magazines class about Cornell intramurals.

With the NFL Draft this weekend, we’ll be finally rid of those annoying Tom Brady commercials on ESPN. You know the one, “Tom Brady—didn’t even make the All Big 10 First Team, picked 199^th in the 2000 draft, made the team in camp, won three Super Bowls in four years, hosted an awful episode of SNL last weekend, despised by everyone outside of New England. The draft matters! You’d better watch all 2258 hours of coverage on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, and check out past year’s drafts on ESPN Classic!”

Thanks for pointing out the obvious, ESPN; that commercial definitely persuaded me to watch all seven rounds of the draft. That way, when the Jets’ sixth-round pick develops into an amazing player in four years, I’ll be able to say, “Hey, I knew taking C.J. Leak was a great move.” I’m surprised that ESPN hasn’t hired a psychic as one of their draft day commentators, so we would immediately be able to find out if Maurice Clarett will be the second coming of Ricky Williams.

The NFL Draft has the distinction of being the second-best draft to watch on television, but this is not that high an honor. First, you’ve got the NBA Draft, which generates so much buzz that we all tune in to watch the draft order a month ahead of time. Plus, it’s much, much shorter. With only two rounds and five minutes to make a pick, the NBA Draft is a sprint compared to the NFL marathon.

The NHL Draft is third on the list. This one is really exciting. Combine foreign players that you’ve never heard of and never seen play with Canadian junior hockey players that you’ve also never heard of and never seen play, and you’ve got all the makings of a ratings hit. (Oh wait, this year’s draft was cancelled a few weeks ago. Never mind). Finally, you’ve got baseball’s draft, which is conducted by general managers over a speakerphone. Plus, it’s a whopping 50 rounds. Yikes.

That brings us back to the NFL. Seven rounds, 15 minutes for each pick, 12 different teams of analysts, and … Mel Kiper, Jr. Yes, it’s going to be an exciting weekend. In the past two years, viewers have been treated to several interesting storylines. Two years ago, the Minnesota Vikings forever cemented themselves in draft day lore when they failed to make their selection in the allotted time. This led to a mad scramble as Carolina and Jacksonville submitted their draft selections in mere seconds, kicking Minnesota down to the ninth pick. Thankfully, this also gave everyone 30 minutes of their life back.

Last year’s draft featured Clarett’s failed legal battle and Eli Manning complaining about going to San Diego. However, with the dust settling on the 2004 NFL season, we can all see that the Chargers’ pick of kicker Nate Kaeding in the third round had much more of an impact on their season than Philip Rivers. What do we have to look forward to this weekend? Umm … the draft’s new location at the Javits Center? When Clarett will be taken? My mouth is watering.

I’m not too concerned what team ends up taking Alex Smith or Aaron Rodgers. In fact, I don’t think I’ll make it to the end of the first round, when the Jets finally get to their first pick. Besides, according to Mel Kiper’s bio, his first-round predictions are sometimes 80 percent accurate. You don’t even need to watch the draft at all with that kind of accuracy. Too bad you’ll have to pay for ESPN Insider to read anything Mel Kiper has written. While we’re on the subject of Mr. Kiper, is there anyone else in the sports world who spends so much time analyzing something that when you think about it is pretty meaningless? I mean, tracking the draft stock of college players is kind of pointless when he could be doing actual analysis during the season. Or, maybe he could be working as an actual scout for an actual NFL team. We don’t have an NBA equivalent of Kiper; maybe because it’s Jay Bilas would rather be doing analysis and color commentary during the college basketball season. Even though he’s not holed up in an office watching games via satellite all season, Bilas still does a great job during the NBA Draft coverage.

So there you have it—the NFL Draft is overrated. There’s no allure to who gets picked first (only two players picked first overall since 1998 are actually bona fide superstars right now) and it’s way too long. Instead of spending four hours inside this Saturday afternoon, I’m going to be at the Cornell-Princeton lacrosse game at Schoellkopf. Maybe you should be too. [I ended sleeping in and not going to the game]

Mets Fans Caught in the Middle of Television Dispute

"I can see Shea Stadium from my roof, but I can't watch a Mets game in my living room? That's just crazy!" opines Andre from Corona, Queens. Yes, it's a difficult time for New York sports fans. Thanks to the squabbling of Time Warner and Cablevision, 2.4 million New Yorkers have been without MSG, Fox Sports Network NY, and Cablevision's other sports networks since March 7. This of course also affects the 350,000 Time Warner subscribers here in upstate New York. While one would normally expect to see the FSN NY and MSG networks on channels 24 and 100, respectively, they have been replaced by College Sports TV and NBA TV while the two parties duke it out.

Up until Monday, many of you were probably unaware of the channel pull, because, let's face it, no one really wants to watch the Knicks right now. However, with the start of the baseball season on Sunday, many of you were anxiously waiting to see the new-look Mets play their season opener on Monday against the Reds. Alas, that never transpired.

You probably first tuned into ESPN and ESPN2, but there were other games on instead. "Oh, it's probably on MSG," you thought. But wait, NBA TV was there in its place.

At this point, you were probably screaming at your television set. You would not be able to see Pedro's and Beltran's first games as members of the Mets. You were going to have to wait to see the highlights on SportsCenter. While you were listened on the radio or constantly updated the score on the Internet, you missed the Mets doing what they do best-losing the game after the bullpen squandered the lead.

Now that we're all familiar with the pain that Mets fans are experiencing, let's get to the actual dispute between Time Warner and Cablevision. According to givebackmsg.com, a website run by Cablevision:

"MSG has attempted to negotiate a fair and reasonable rights deal with Time Warner Cable for MSG Network and FSN New York. Time Warner Cable has declined the offer to keep games on while the dispute is brought to binding arbitration. Instead, Time Warner Cable has pulled the plug on MSG Network and FSN New York. MSG is still prepared to live by the decision of an independent arbitrator and call[s] on Time Warner Cable to give the fans back their games."

Right on, MSG! Fight the good fight! Interested to know more about the "reasonable deal" that MSG had offered, I perused the site for a few minutes, only to find that there was no other information about this deal. Instead, there were only video testimonials from such impassioned Mets fans like Gregg from Queens, who proclaimed that "We deserve to be able to see ... the Mets; The Knicks too. I mean, c'mon."

Gregg has chosen to invoke the classic "I mean, c'mon," argument, which can be very convincing. However, that wasn't enough for me, so I sought out a different source. According to the New York Daily News, Cablevision wants Time Warner subscribers to pay 30% more per month for FSN NY and MSG. Time Warner refused this increase because no one wants to pay more to watch the Knicks' drive for a lottery pick, and Mets games are not worth nearly as much as Yankees games. Cablevision's offer to settle the dispute via binding arbitration was rejected by Time Warner because the company felt that going to arbitration would only lead to higher prices for its cable subscribers.

While each side has been involved in similar disputes in the past (Cablevision with the YES Network in 2002 and Time Warner with Disney in 2000), I can't really in good conscience side with a company that tried to derail New York's Super Bowl and Olympic bids, stop the Jets from getting a West Side stadium, and run the Knicks and the Rangers into the ground.

Let's not forget that this whole dispute was probably caused by Time Warner's investment in the new Mets network, which debuts in 2006. With the Mets off of MSG and FSN NY, Cablevision will only have the pitiful Knicks and Rangers to show on its networks. Who is going to pay 30% more per month to watch those games? Not me.

While the Mets may have self-destructed on Monday, it would be very ironic if the team completed a huge turnaround this season and made the playoffs when a large portion of its fan base only got to see a third of its games. However, don't despair, dear Mets fans. If you send a copy of this column into DirecTV, you'll get free installation and free HBO for six months, as well as all the Mets game you can handle. If you're still angry at Time Warner for taking away your Knicks and Mets games, you can find solace with fellow Knicks fan Harold from Englewood - "I'm a real diehard Knicks fan. Not being able to see any of the new Knicks and things like that, [not] being able to see Sweetney and all that other stuff, it really makes me mad."

March Madness Bracketology

March -- a time when a young man's fancy turns towards the thoughts of creating the perfect bracket for March Madness. No other sporting event has such a massive appeal to non-sports fans and no other event wastes so much time. Why fill out your bracket at home on Sunday night, when you can pretend to be working on Monday? Besides, if you have been following college basketball all season, it really shouldn't take you that long to fill it out anyway.
If you're not a hoops maven, there are several fallbacks you can rely on to win your office pool. You've got the classic coin flip, favored by many Americans for its sheer simplicity. For those people who want to do a little more research, there's the mascot and color comparisons method. Next, we've got the higher seed technique, which is almost as good as not even filling out a bracket. If none of these options sounds appealing, random guessing is always a fallback strategy for the lazy American.
Or, you could listen to the sports analysts. Over on Yahoo! Sports, there's twelve "experts" predictions. Included in this group are three NASCAR writers, three fantasy sports experts, and Cris Carter. Needless to say, it would probably be better to follow the advice of someone who doesn't have Kentucky making it to the Final Four. ESPN.com's Andy Katz has Wake Forest winning the championship, while the National Bracket (a compilation of picks from everyone who entered ESPN.com's bracket contest) has Illinois winning in the majority of the entries.
The best option, however, would be to listen to my "expert" advice. I have watched over five complete games this season, and I also finished third (or fourth or fifth, I can't remember) in last year's Daily Sun pool. Here's a breakdown of the four regionals, along with my bold predictions.
Chicago Regional
The No. 1 overall seed Illinois was not surprisingly placed in this regional, which means we only have three more weeks of CBS and ESPN showing the same stupid map of how far the Illini have to travel for each round. Out of all the repetitive nonsense that frequently plagues sports analysis, this travel point about Illinois is really stupid. Thank you, Digger Phelps, Dick Vitale, Jay Bilas, Greg Gumbel, etc. -- we got the point when you first mentioned it a month ago.
A less annoying story out of this regional is whether Penn can become the first Ivy team to win a first-round game since 1998 by knocking off Boston College, who exited the Big East tourney in the quarterfinals. You've also got three of last year's Cinderella teams -- Alabama, Nevada, and UAB -- in this regional, which could cause some shakeups. However, Illinois will be the team coming out of this region, thanks to its veritable "home court advantage." (The Illini only have to drive 120 miles to its first and second rounds games, and then only 133 miles to Chicago for the Sweet 16! Wow! Let's see that visualization on a map again!)
Albuquerque Regional
Washington snuck its way to a No. 1 seed after a Chris Paul-less Wake Forest squad lost in the ACC tourney quarterfinals. However, the Huskies have not impressed anyone other than the selection committee, as ESPN.com's National Bracket has Louisville knocking them off in the Sweet 16. How the Cardinals ended up with a No. 4 seed even though they are currently ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll is a little puzzling.
ACC runner-up Georgia Tech (which was robbed on Sunday, but more on this later) will most likely be in the unenviable position of facing Louisville in the second round. However, Mike Wilbon of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption seems to think highly of the Yellow Jackets, as he has penciled them in for a spot in the Final Four. Yeah, somehow I don't think so. As long as Chris Paul decides not to go medieval on another player's crotch again, the Demon Deacons should advance to St. Louis.
Syracuse Regional
Unlike in the NCAA hockey tournament, the host city's team does not get to play in the regional, so the Orange were sent to Austin. Arguably the toughest regional with UNC, UConn, Kansas, and Florida as the No. 1-4 seeds, it's probably a bad move to jump on the Northern Iowa bandwagon. UNC will have a pretty tough game against Oakland (we're talking about a team that only lost to Illinois by 31 points and also have a losing record), but the Tar Heels should survive to face UConn in the Elite Eight. The defending national champions would have stood a better chance had they not lost the No. 2 and 3 picks in the 2004 NBA Draft, so UNC will be headed back to the Final Four for the first time in five years. For those Cornellians who will be Ithaca over break and want to check out the games at the Carrier Dome, you can buy two seats on eBay for the low price of $560.
Austin Regional
Everyone's favorite team, Duke, stole a No. 1 seed after Wake, UNC, and Kentucky faltered in their conference tournaments. The Blue Devils also stole the ACC championship, as the refs decided to call a foul against Georgia Tech in the closing seconds, when my favorite player, J.J. Redick, actually committed the foul. Instead of the Yellow Jackets getting a chance to take the lead, the best free throw shooter in the history of college basketball got to go to the line. But, I'm not bitter.
Back to the bracket, Duke will lose in the Sweet Sixteen as will Kentucky. (Do not, under any circumstances, pencil in the Wildcats to go far into the tourney. While you may like it when the camera pans to Ashley Judd in the crowd, this is a team that has destroyed my bracket the last two seasons, and probably cost me the Daily Sun crown last year. Plus, they just got destroyed by Florida in the SEC tournament final). Look for Syracuse to knock off Oklahoma in the Elite Eight.
So there you have it: Illinois, Wake Forest, UNC, and Syracuse in the Final Four. As for who wins it all, I'm going to say Illinois over UNC, just like all the other analysts in the country (They're only 180 miles from home! Zounds!). Happy bracketing.

Bonds Makes More Problems

You've got to hand it to Barry Bonds. After refusing to comment on the results of his recent grand jury testimony, Bonds came out firing on all cylinders at his press conference last week when he arrived at San Francisco's spring training. In only a few minutes, Bonds graciously provided the media with a year's worth of sound bites, sounding off on such topics as Sanford and Son, steroids, lying reporters, and Babe Ruth.

It's not easy being Barry. This is a man who's been stuck with many labels over the years, almost none of them positive. You can start out with "greatest hitter of all time," "seven-time MVP," and "record breaker." Of course, there's also "cheater," "steroid user," bad teammate," "hothead," "liar," and "team cancer." Those are pretty harsh words, and it's easy to see why Bonds would not be too friendly with the media -- if this is the way he is being labeled.

Bonds has never been a media darling, and he really didn't endear himself further last Tuesday when he accused the media of lying.

"All you guys lie, all of y'all, in a story or whatever, have lied. Should you have an asterisk behind your name? All of you have lied. All of you have said something wrong, all of you have dirt. All of you. When your closet's clean, then come clean somebody else's. But clean yours first, okay."

Bonds' reaction here is both puzzling and irrational. What is he talking about? What are reporters lying about? Of course, people have secrets. However, members of the media aren't public figures like Bonds is. No one cares about the personal life of a reporter, but people care if one of the best professional athletes in the world is cheating by taking an illegal substance.

Not satisfied with his rant so far, Bonds continued into shakier logical territory.

"The sports world is bad as it is because this is the only business that allows you guys in our office to begin with. You can't just go to Bank of America, walk in the office, and start interviewing employees."

This analogy is, in a word, awful. There's a huge difference between a professional baseball player and a bank employee. A bank employee does not get paid millions of dollars, have his work broadcast on national television, or have millions of people rooting for him to finish a loan application. His salary is not contingent on people buying tickets to see him do his job.

Bonds fails to see the simple connection between the media and his salary. If it weren't for the media coverage, the television broadcasts, or the sports networks, people would not be able to follow sports at all. No fans equals no money for Mr. Bonds. It's not that complicated, and that's what's so irritating about his comments. He seems to think that the fans are lucky to watch him play.

He also thinks he's worth more than the other players, as evidenced by his refusal to sign the MLBPA group licensing agreement in November 2003. The agreement allows the union to negotiate licensing deals on behalf of all the players, with each player getting a share of the profits. By not signing the agreement, Bonds can negotiate separate licensing arrangements for more money. Because he rejected the group agreement, Bonds did not appear in several baseball card sets and video games last year. This is a big blow to the union, and could open the door for other players to opt out as well (Michael Jordan and LaVarr Arrington are the other two notable athletes who have not signed their union's group licensing agreements in the past).

All of these things are not conducive to a positive media image. Most of the time, a player can act like a jerk to the media and it won't make that much of a difference. Unfortunately for Bonds, he happens to be caught up in one of the biggest sports scandals in recent memory. With his grand jury testimony uncovered, maybe the recent press conference would have been a good time for Bonds to answer some questions about steroids. Jason Giambi apologized last month (although not directly for taking steroids); would Bonds have it in him to do the same?

Reporter: Jason Giambi felt the need to make an apology. Is there anything that you need to apologize for?

Bonds: What did I do?

When asked if he thought steroids were considered cheating, Bonds summoned his inner politician.

"I don't -- I don't know what cheating is. I don't know cheating, if steroid is going to help you in baseball. I just don't believe it. I don't believe steroids can help you, eye/hand coordination, technically hit a baseball, I just don't believe it and that's just my opinion."

Deny. Deny. Deny. It's a great way to argue. So all that's required to hit a home run is hand-eye coordination? Really? So muscle strength has nothing to do with hitting a ball far? I suppose steroids won't help you get your bat on the ball, but I'll bet they can make you hit the ball a lot farther.

With the baseball season starting in a month, the Barry Bonds talk is not going to die down in the slightest. Bonds had a chance to gain some sympathy in his press conference, but he instead further alienated himself from the media and the fans. Until the BALCO case is resolved, reporters will continue to ask Bonds about steroids and Bonds will continue to dodge key questions. Hopefully, one day, he'll give the fans a straight answer.