SportsNetUSA Blogs

You often will hear on SPORTSNETUSA.NET the bantering of Title IX, Pedal to the Metal, Big E, Stick boy, and The Franchise about sports; where they were, how far they have come and where they might be going as a viable, competitive, watchable product to the public. Some of our honored group would go so far as to tell you that Hockey and Pro Basketball are on the rise.  But let us be realistic, the more butts you can plunk into seats the more whatever product you are watching will look more popular.

Take for example this past Sunday (3/7/2010), just in the LA/O.C. market alone on cable television, you were offered 20 college basketball games. Throw in four high school games and three pro games and you would say the sport is popular. But how true is that statement and how true are those numbers? If a marketer were to call the average sport’s viewer and ask if they watched a basketball game there is a very good chance that they watched a few moments of one of twenty games. If you do that in enough markets it makes the game seem as if it is growing in popularity. This kind of chicanery is played by many major sports throughout the country and we, the viewers, are supposed to buy into popularity over boredom.

STATEMENT FROM NEILSEN RATINGS: 
The National Basketball Association has achieved a rapid rise and fall in television ratings since the 1997-1998 NBA season, when ratings for the NBA Finals achieved a record high, to the 2002-2003 NBA season, when ratings for the same event hit an all-time record low.

Blame for this rise and fall has been pinned on the destructive NBA lockout which occurred right after the 1998 season. The lockout wiped out thirty-two games of the 1998-1999 season and caused fan apathy. As well as heavy competition from prime time programming such as American Idol, the CSI franchise, and Dancing With The Stars.

Despite the fall in ratings, the NBA’s regular season ratings average is only slightly lower than Major League Baseball’s, and ratings for the finals continue to outdraw competing events that occur during the same month, golf’s U.S. Open and the Stanley Cup Finals.  So why do my compatriots continue to try and tell me how popular a sport is that seems to have no popularity at all?

It is this, my partner TITLE IX is the voice for one of the more successful woman’s program in college basketball, Vanguard University. He has the luxury to watch a product that is superior on a daily basis and that influences his perception of the game. On the other side of the table is The Franchise who works with a major professional organization in basketball and also has the
pleasure of touting some of the best young talent on the high school level. Ah, to wear rose colored glasses. The trifecta of this group, is the wishful announcer of Cal State University Fullerton Basketball, the Big E. Okay, I know that is a giant leap from the other two; at least they have something to root for on a high school, pro or college level. Let me give credit where credit is due. CSUF has made it to the tournament before and Big E is a “half full glass” type of person.

But gentleman, the door is starting to close and it will continue to close on your sport and others when the foundation of your sport and its fans forget what made yours and other sports famous … history.  History is a lost story in basketball, we only hear of number 23. History is a lost sport in hockey, we barely ever hear of number 99. And in baseball, the history stopped.  So guys, your sport is not as popular as you’d like to think, because no one cares about who did what whenever. Well I guess I should not say that. I, at least, know three who care.  It’s just that they need to yell a little louder.

By the way Mr. Neyland my all-GSAC team is the following:
Teresa Kamp: Fresno Pacific
Becki Huddle: Vanguard University
Kelly Boeke: Vanguard University
Lisa Faulkner: Vanguard University
Kelly Schmidt: Vanguard University
Erin Kella Point Loma
Colleen Planeta: Point Loma
Lindsey West: Azusa Paciific
Stephen Patten: Azusa Pacific
Sonia Ackerman; Cal Baptist
Gittie Mejer: Concordia
(Whomever I missed I know TITLE IX covered)

Black History month is here and, for many of you that have listened to us on SportsNetUSA.net and to Friday Nite Mics, you have heard us discuss the plight of black athletes and coaches on a variety of topics. We have discussed Negro baseball and have wondered out loud how good some of the old Hall of Famers would have been in baseball if they would have had to face every athlete of their time. If we go back in time we have wondered how many NCAA Championships would have been won by certain teams if segregation had not been the law of the land. We still wonder about golf (country club) policies across this country that, in 2010, some clubs are still closed to people of color.

As for coaches of color, no one has hollered louder than TitleIX and the Buddha of Babble about equality in the coaching ranks for college and professional teams. So to all of the great athletes of our time, the ones from the past and to those of you in the future, we throw in our thoughts and the thoughts of others on Black History Month:

Here’s a link to “Top 75 Althletes and Pioneers of Sports Inclusion” an article written by Leland Stien III originally published by the Los Angeles Sentinel.  http://www.afrogolf.com/top75blackathletes.html

This is a great weekend for the NFL.  I really like all four teams that are left with three teams I expected and one surprise.  Last week I admitted I was a lifelong Cowboy fan and I still am.  They stunk and were defeated by a superior Viking team.  Usually as a fan I personally like to cheer against teams as well as for teams.  In these two championship games there is not a team I dislike.  The Washington Redskins are a team that I will usually root against.  I used to root against the Raiders but they have been so bad that I actually feel sorry for the team and their fans.  It is bad when at the end of the season your most hyped player is your punter Shane Lechler!  This year I like all four teams so I am having trouble deciding which match up I would like to see in the Super Bowl.
 
Let’s start with the AFC first.  I am on record as I said when the season began that I like Rex Ryan as a coach.  He has breathed some fresh air into the league and does not always resort to using pat coaching answers.  Coaches usually say how good the opposition is and boy we are lucky to be on the same field with them.  We have a lot of things to work on and, well you know how they talk.  How many coaches have you heard say, I think we should be favored to win the Super Bowl!  Rex said it even though his team was lucky to make the playoffs.  I also like Mark Sanchez and I normally like to root for a California connection.  You had to love the dig he threw at Pete Carroll and Pete’s choice to go back to the NFL.  That was classic and I am happy that it has worked out for him.  I did not expect the Jets to be here.  Did the Chargers really give Norv Turner a contract extension?
 
I like the Colts and love Peyton Manning.  I was for him a few years back when they won the Super Bowl, as he and Tony Dungy both were able to shed the “Can’t win the Big One” label.  There was so much uncertainty coming into this season and then Peyton wins his fourth MVP.  I love Dallas Clark who is from Iowa and amazing.  Dallas may be headed to the Hall of Fame.  I will root for a player like Pierre Garcon from Division III Mount Union College.  Finally there is Austin Collie, a rookie from BYU and Oak Ridge High School in Northern California.  I have to root for this player and he even took two years off to go on a mission!  How many players are there that would take two years off and maybe lose a shot to play in the NFL?  I like both teams but I will be going for the Colts in this one.  The great thing is that if the Jets got in that makes for great story lines as well.
 
Over in the NFC we have the two best teams in the conference meeting up.  I have supported Brett Favre before the season began.  I have been amused this week in the way the talk has changed.  The Favre only came back to stick it to the Packers has given way to he came back to win the Super Bowl.  Do you wish sportscasters would admit when they were wrong?  I know that I do.  No big deal, if you were wrong so what.  Most of these guys now are raving about what a season Brett has had.  I have not heard that he will throw a pick and lose the game.  I have not heard that he cannot make it a full season.  He has had a memorable season and who knows about next year.  The Vikings have never won a Super Bowl and they have great fans that deserve one.
 
What is not to like about the Saints?  This franchise has never even been to the Super Bowl even though they have hosted it numerous times.  The Super Dome has been home to some of the biggest sporting events of all time.  These fans are hungry and they deserve to have their team as in the Super Bowl as well.  I loved Drew Brees at Purdue and with the Chargers.  What he has done in New Orleans is stunning.  Sean Payton was an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys and it was my hope that he would be the head coach there.  The timing was not quite right.  So I guess I do not have to say how much I like Payton.  If Reggie Bush has another game this week like last the Saints will win.  Where has that Reggie Bush been?  I thought that Reggie would be an all time great running back.  Is last week the game that maybe brings him back?  This one is tough but I will be pulling a little bit more for the Saints.  Enjoy this weekend because sometimes one or both of these games are better than the Super Bowl.

Final 2009 

1.   Jimmie Johnson  200.38 (1) - 2009 Champion

2.   Tony Stewart  172.14  (2)

3.   Jeff Gordon  170.28  (4)

3.   Mark Martin  166.15  (3)

5.   Denny Hamlin  163.80  (5)

6.   Kurt Busch  124.93  (6)

7.   Kyle Busch  111.57  (7)

8.   Juan Pablo Montoya  92.88  (8)

9   Greg Biffle  92.51  (9)

10. Kasey Kahne  89.49  (10)

11. Carl Edwards  82.60  (13)

12. Matt Kenseth  79.45 (11)

13. Ryan Newman  79.14  (12)

14. David Reutimann  61.01  (14)

      Brian Vickers  61.01  (16)

16. Clint Bowyer  60.41  (15)

17. Jeff Burton  50.96  (19)

18. Kevin Harvick  49.59  (19)

19. Joey Logano  45.36  (17)

20. Marcus Ambrose  43.15  (18)

Denny Hamlin wins the last race of the season for FedEx, but Jimmie Johnson already was the 2009 champ.  There was some movement in the standings as they finalized.  Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon couldn’t catch Tony Stewart for second place, but Gordon did move past Martin to take third.  Hamlin’s victory put him within 3 points of Martin, however he still had to settle for fifth.  Some signs of life from Carl Edwards as he went by Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth, but couldn’t get into the top 10.  Jeff Burton finished strong and passed a couple of drivers to get to 17th.

Only three drivers led more than 1000 laps in 2009:

Jimmie Johnson     2238

Denny Hamlin       1380

Kyle Busch             1157

Top teams (this was over months ago)

Hendrick Motorsports    532.90

Stewart-Haas                 325.31

Roush-Fenway               300.91

Nike’s much ballyhooed and equally lambasted SQ Sumo2 driver ($480) is leading the charge into the engineering breach, pushing the limits of golf equipment. This behemoth club’s size (460c), shape (square) and moment of inertia (or MOI; nearing 5,900 g-cm2) are all pushing the USGA’s specified limits on design.

WOW, the world of technology, the advancement of sports, bigger, better, faster. Yet does one ever wonder if it is technology that makes the athlete better or has the athlete become so good that no matter what the level of the technology he would be superior to the athletes of yesteryear?

Just think of playing football in the 1960’s, Sam Huff, Jim Brown both wearing flak jackets and the latest GPS device that measures impact on a tackle. I am sure they would get up after a rough and tumble play and start conversing about the numbers on their impact meters and how the levels exceed suggested impact levels on a open field tackle.

The talk during this last Wimbledon was how the better players in the world were reducing the size of their rackets. They were scaling back down to the days of Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe. Even John McEnroe has said on numerous occasions he would love to see players have to go back to the same standard size rackets that he, Connors, Laver and others in the past had to play with on a competitive level.

At our last U.S. Open in golf many questioned not the difficulty of the golf course, but the fact that the majority of professional golfers can no longer hit a 1, 2, or 3 iron if they had to save their lives. Tiger, Jack, Arnold and especially Gary Player have suggested that the USGA needs to look at where technology is taking the game of golf.

As for the great National past time, people decided to use technology, it was called medical technology (steroids) and for some reason the sport of baseball turned their back on this technology after a period of time. Many believe that this technology was delivering a cluttered message that said “how do you look at a participant in a sport and compare them to the hero’s of the past if there is not somewhat of a level playing field for comparisons.”

Yes, sport after sport accepts technology to hopefully keep the game as entertaining as it was in the past. Plus the sporting world not only wants us as viewers of athletes on the world stage, but they also want us to feel as if we could play on the world stage. So advanced technology may not be so much for the games we view as it is for what we will buy to participate.

Does that mean I am against technology for safety reason? No ….nobody wants to see an athlete get hurt. But I do not want it used to mislead our attitudes about good athletes, not great athletes. You see I came from a sports era where every quarterback could be tackled, pitchers could brush back a hitter, tennis players could play at the net and golfers needed to know how to use every club in the bag.

Remember technology is a system that provides its members with those things desired not necessarily needed.