Semester in Review

Looking back at the semester, we have covered lots of material throughout the history in sports. Coming into this class, I had no idea what to expect. I am not a sports management major, but being an avid sports fan, I thought this would be a fun and enjoyable class to take for fun. As it turned out, I did enjoy this class. I think that the book and articles that were used in the class were helpful in understanding the material that was covered in class.

There were two main things I really enjoyed about this course. I really liked doing the blog and enjoyed listening to all the presentations each day in class. The blog was a great tool in allowing me to express my opinions and interests about sports and topics that were discussed in class. It was nice reading other peoples blogs as well and seeing their opinions and how they felt and reacted to certain situations. This is the same for the ethical issues presentations. It was interesting to hear about other people's take on different ethical issues. It also makes you realize how many ethical issues exist and can arise in the sports community. The presentations were also good for starting class discussions. These discussions were great for the class as they got a lot of the class involved and were able to share their personal ideas with the class and the group presenting the ethical issue.

Although this is a great course, I wish we could have spent more time on more current events in sports history. I do think that the whole history is important because the way the games were developed and the athletes that played back then have developed what the game is like today. So, without the founders of sports, who knows how sports would be played. Also, it had never really occurred to me until Dr. Spencer had mentioned it in class about bowling. I'm avid bowler and have been bowling my entire life. I know it's not the most popular sport out there, but it is the most participated sport in the U.S. Around the 1950s an 1960s, bowling was extremely popular among Americans and was possibly more popular than other major sports. I know most people probably wouldn't have been too interested but it would have been fun to devote a portion of one class to bowling.

So, will this course help me in my future career? This is tough to answer right now. With not being a sport management major, I don't think that this course will directly have an impact in my career. I'm a business major with specialization in Accounting and Finance and currently have a job lined up with Primerica doing financial consulting and financial services. However, in the future, I'd love to work in the business end of a professional sports organization. So, in the long run, this course may help me have a better understand of the history and philosophy of sports and help me land that job in sports.

Overall, I think this is a great course and would recommend it to everyone. Even if you aren't a huge sports fan, this class is still enjoyable and allows you to express your own views and ideas about different issues that arise in the sports world.

One of the Greatest College Players of All-Time...Tim Tebow

So, I've browsing Facebook the past couple hours and probably over half my posts on the news feed are about Tim Tebow. They all deal with how people are loving how Tebow was crying after their recent loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. Really? Lay off of Tim Tebow. I can understand that not everyone loves Tebow or the Gators but to have this kind of reaction to his emotions is kind of sad.

Personally, I'm not really a fan of the Gators but I have tons of respect for Tim Tebow. He is an absolute amazing player, leader, teammate, and person. He is the ideal collegiate athlete and then some. He has put up statistics that no other player in collegiate history has. This year he broke Herschel Walker's SEC record for rushing touchdowns and Tebow is a quarterback. Although he is not the greatest passer, he is still efficient and is able to beat teams with his arm as well as his legs. I feel he is the most versatile player in college football and is one of the toughest players to defend against. If you drop back and play the pass, he will beat you with his feet, and if you load the box to stop the run, he is capable of beating you with his arm. I have witnessed this in person. Two years ago, I saw him play at the University of Kentucky and the Wildcats had absolutely no answer for Tebow. I think he is so valuable to Florida and that they wouldn't be where they are without his presence at QB. He is arguably the greatest player to ever play collegiate football.

Not only is he an amazing player on the field, but he also has his impact off the field. He is a great leader to his teammates and I think is the key to their run as National Champions last season. He made that inspirational speech after the loss to Ole Miss that got his team fired up by saying no player or team would play harder than they would the rest of the season. And they proved that. He also does a lot of mission work in third world countries and has made an impact in many lives, not only at Florida but across the globe. I know he also has made speeches at prisons to inmates who are seeking that inspirational person that they can look up to and can help them make positive changes in their lives.

So, I don't really understand why everyone is so excited to see him crying after the loss. Like I said, you don't have to be his biggest fan or like him, but this kind of behavior is a sign of disrespect. He's an emotional guy and plays the game with passion. It was his last regular season game of his collegiate career. The last time he will step on the field for an SEC title. The last time he had a shot for a national title. Possibly the last time to make a statement for a second Heisman Trophy. I think that Tebow has proven so much to everyone across the country throughout his career and deserves nothing but the utmost respect and should be able to wear his heart on his sleeve and show his emotions. You can bet that the loss has lit another fire under him and they will come out gunning against Cincinnati. So, I wish Tebow the best in his career and hope he can have a successful career in some role in the NFL. If not, I know he will be a great leader in whatever career path he chooses.

Tiger Woods

Initially, I wasn't going to comment on this topic but over the course of the past week, there has been some developing and interesting aspects of this story. Personally, I was just so confused on the situation and that it was a complete mystery to me. Such as, how could his car be so smashed up and the lacerations he suffered from leaving his driveway? I was confused as to how fast could be possibly going leaving his driveway. And the fact that his wife smashed in the back window to "save" him, when the car was still in tact and she could have easily accessed either the driver or passenger doors.

Anyway, I was at a friends house of the weekend and one of them had a somewhat different view on what had happened. It is as follows. I think it's in just about everyone's minds that Tiger had been caught cheating on his wife and that is what had led to this entire situation. According to my friend's story, he said he heard that Tiger and his wife, Elin, had been in an intense argument that was escalating and could have led to physical altercations, which may have already started given the scratches and slight bleeding on Tiger's face. He said that Tiger knew the situation could possibly escalate and get real ugly, real quick, and decided to get out of the house before that situation occurred. As he was leaving, Elin chased him out of the house with a golf club and proceeded to smash in the back window and other parts of the car. Then, Tiger drove off and purposely wrecked his vehicle to make it look like an accident to hide the truth from the media. My friend also said that there was an imprint of the Nike Swoosh on Tiger's forehead, which could have been the result of Elin chasing him with a club. To me, this explains the part of the story when medics arrived and found Tiger going in and out of consciousness, possibly resulting in a blow to the head with a Nike iron. But no one may ever know what truly happened that night.

Personally, I had not heard about the part of the Nike imprint on his face, but I think it's an interesting aspect that could be true. I also think that the media blew up this story way too much. Yes, it's an intriguing story and is a pretty bizarre story, but I think the media is digging too deep into Tiger's personal life. I think that if Tiger hadn't crashed his vehicle and that it was just a domestic dispute, I'm not sure if this story would have even become an issue. What Tiger does in his personal life is his business and his family's business, not ours. Yes, if he cheated, that's morally wrong and don't agree with his choices in that department. But, I'm sure that many pro athletes are guilty of this as well and no one ever knows. I think since he is such a high profile athlete and one of the biggest role models in the world, that this has become such a big issue. However, I don't feel that this will tarnish him image. I mean it was a personal matter that no one should really have business knowing, and think he is and will be the most dominant player in golf and will continue to win and set records.

And...the NCAA Coaching Carousel Begins

Over the past few weeks, there has been nothing but talks about the future of many college football coaches, mainly at Notre Dame and Florida State. Just in the past few days, these positions have already changed, with Charlie Weis being fired at Notre Dame and Bobby Bowden deciding to retire from Florida State. Both schools are experiencing completely different situations, with Notre Dame in hiring mode and Florida State already having a coach in place.

The Notre Dame position is currently open and is considering to be a high profiled position at an elite and prestigious school. The school has already created many rumors of potential coaches that could be hired to fill the vacancy. These names include Florida's Urban Meyer, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops, and Cincinnati's Brian Kelly. Meyer and Stoops have already publicly announced they are not interested in the Notre Dame coaching job. However, Brian Kelly has not made such a bold statement. Now, the question is, should schools be allowed to "recruit" coaches of other schools, while their school's teams are still playing? I don't think they should. With the example of Cincinnati's Brian Kelly, the Bearcats are creating school history this season by being 11-0, with possibly the school's biggest game coming up against Pittsburgh with BCS bowl implications on the line. So, is it fair for Kelly and Cincinnati to be tied up in this during such an important time? No. I was at the Cincy-Illinois game last weekend and Cincy seemed to struggle a bit against the Illini. I don't know the reason, whether they were looking ahead at Pitt or if it was caused by all the media distractions surrounding Kelly and Notre Dame, but I don't feel it's fair. I think Kelly should stay at Cincy. He has built a great program there and the university and community fully support and are committed to him, and the school would be devastated if he decided to leave.

As for Florida State, their position has already been filled by Jimbo Fisher, the "coach-in-waiting" once Bowden left. This makes me want to touch a bit about the whole "coaches-in-waiting" situations and whether they are good for college football programs. I can only think of 3 school that have these "coaches-in-waiting", Jimbo Fisher at Florida State, Will Muschamp at Texas, and Joker Phillips at Kentucky. Now, does naming these coaches of the future have an impact on the program? I think it does for two of these three programs, with the exception of Texas. At both FSU and UK, the teams have struggled in the past couple years. Now, UK was good a few years ago, but Phillips was named the future coach in January 2008, just after their remarkable season. I think these coaches have an impact on recruiting, as incoming recruits may not know who they will be playing for within the next year or two, possibly turning them away to more stable programs. I think these future coaches also adds more pressure to the current coaches to win now. Bowden and Florida State had been struggling since the turn of the decade and being 80 years old, maybe it was Bowden's time to go and the future coach may not have had much of an impact. But, with the struggles at Kentucky lately, has naming Joker Phillips the "coach-in-waiting" put too much pressure on and possibly running current coach Rich Brooks out of Lexington? The only exception I have is at Texas, where the program has been a powerhouse over the past 5-6 years and that decision doesn't to seem to have had an effect on the program. We will see as time goes on. Overall, I think these "coaches-in-waiting" and premature coaching rumors are bad for coaches and programs. It has them worrying too much on the future and not on the present.

NBA Age Rule

Last week, we had a presentation in class dealing with the rule of players entering the NBA Draft at young ages. Within the past few years, the NBA has implemented the rule where a player must be at least 1 year removed from high school before entering the NBA. This is in an effort to bring in more mature players and allow players more time to develop their skills to help prevent high draft pick busts.

Personally, I don't fully like this new rule. However, I do agree that players should not be allowed to enter the draft straight out of high school. I feel that the 1 year rule should be extended to more years or just abolished altogether. Does a player leaving high school really gain much maturity and skill improvements in just one year? I think the NBA should adopt a rule similar to the NFL's, where a player needs to be 3 years removed from high school before turning pro. I feel this will allow players to become more mature and have multiple years to improve their games before testing the NBA. Also, if the player chose to attend college, a term longer than 1 year will provide the player with more game experience and more life "lessons" while attending college. By spending more time in college, it prevents the school from losing that scholarship money that could be used elsewhere if the player was a "one-and-done". However, I do feel if there is a 1 year rule, maybe the player should play internationally. If the player isn't fit for college classes, then international competition would be a better route. I feel that being in a foreign country quickly causes someone to "grow-up" so to speak. I personally spent 8 weeks studying abroad in a foreign country, not knowing the language, and being a big step outside my normal comfort zone. But you learn to adapt and have to do many things on your own.

As to every discussion, there is always another side. From the personal standpoint of the player, why stay in school for multiple years when there is the opportunity to make millions at such a young age? Money is a big temptation and everyone wants to be well compensated for their efforts. And if it's a high profile player coming out early, there will be a big guaranteed contract as well as many endorsement companies lined up to sign them. This is a highly debatable issue, that can also lead into another lengthy discussion. If players are forced to go to college, should they be compensated for their efforts and revenues players generate for universities?

Overall, I think the NBA needs to keep an eye on this rule, as I feel they are moving in the right direction by at least implementing the 1 year rule. I don't know the exact solution or right solution for these situations, but I just don't feel that 1 year really serves much purpose.