Monthly Archives: October 2014

What’s up with the Legion of Boom?

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By Nick Muhl

The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks have been the topic of many headlines this season. Unlike last season, this year’s Seahawks have been the subject to trade rumors, locker room disputes and their mediocre start at 4-3.

The Seahawks’ serious issues began with the early headline noise that wide receiver Percy Harvin simply did not fit in to the team, both with coaches and his fellow peers in the locker room, since joining them late March 2013.

In a surprising move, the Seahawks traded Harvin to the New York Jets for what will most likely be a fourth round draft pick. The Seahawks gave up 3 draft picks including a first and third round pick to the Minnesota Vikings to acquire Harvin.

Following the trade, and a 28-26 loss to the 2-5 St. Louis Rams, more headlines were scattered of a divided locker room in the defending champions locker room. As we approach the trade deadline, Seattle’s All-Pro running back Marshawn Lynch has been subject to the new trade rumors, a week after Harvin’s trade. While a trade involving Lynch is unlikely to happen this season, reports say signs now point to the 29-year old running back not returning to Seattle next season.

In his article published on ESPN, NFL reporter Chris Mortenson cited the following reasons as to why he believes Seattle will move on from Lynch next season:

“The organization has grown tired of his ways, including pulling a no-show at the White House Super Bowl ceremony, his training camp holdout and his possible contribution to locker-room distractions.”

Later in the same article, Mortenson reported that Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson had known about the possibility of a Harvin trade a month prior to the actual trade. Earlier in the same week, ESPN also reported the quarterback Russell Wilson was shocked to hear Seattle decided to move on from Harvin, the day before their lose to the Rams.

Seattle’s cornerback denies the team has any discomfort in the locker room or concern regarding the team’s record , “If three losses were to ruin the season, then it would have ruined last year’s season, too, because we lost three then, too,” Sherman said following the press conference after the loss to the Rams.

However in many ways the NFL in recent years has been spoiled by multiple Super Bowl winners including the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots and New York Giants. in NFL history only 5 teams have started out 3-0 after winning the Super Bowl. There has also only been 7 NFL teams to ever repeat a Super Bowl championship the following year.

So why are so many headlines and fans shocked by the early mediocre record by the Seahawks? They do play in arguably the best division in the NFC, currently if the season ended today the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals would make the playoffs over Seattle.

Don’t put much into media headlines and articles surrounding distress in Seattle’s locker room. The team still maintains a winning record and we are not even halfway through the season. Writer Ryan Gamble for The Examiner put in his article titled, “Marshawn Lynch trade rumors: ESPN causes a stir with Seattle Seahawks Fans, Gamble cited an article written by Greg Garber of ESPN to be the original source of the Lynch trade rumors that spread through headlines the next day.

Garber, an ESPN NFL Insider writer, hypothetically wrote that the San Diego Chargers would be a great place for the running back to land should Seattle ever choose to move on. Garber went into detail what he believed the Seahawks and Chargers would have to give up to make the trade happen. Shortly following the publishing of his article, Lynch trade rumors began through multiple sources of media.

However, Lynch just signed a new deal and is coming off another Pro Bowl season capped with a Super Bowl Championship. The “downslide in Seattle” is merely another case of the media taking a rumor and running with it. This is a great example of how every source needs to checked and follow through before reporting such rumors, especially in this case the defending champions.

Seattle’s remaining schedule includes 5 of their 6 total division games still. They are also coming off a win last week v. the Carolina Panthers 13-9. The Seahawks take on the winless 0-7 Oakland Raiders next week at home.

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Social Media and the firing of Ted Bishop

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The use of social media in sports is a breeding ground for controversy. Once you hit “send” in social media, someone will screenshot it and record it, for there is no telling how big of an issue it may become. Social media is also dangerous because there are different ways in which potentially controversial statements are worded. In the last two days, Ted Bishop, former President of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) of America has been ousted because of social media. His comments were both controversial, and were taken in a negative light though he may have not meant it that way.

The issue at hand with Ted Bishop was a tweet that he sent out regarding Ian Poulter, an eccentric golfer from England. The tweet was in response to Poulter’s criticism of Ryder Cup Captains Tom Watson and Nick Faldo. The context of Poulter’s comments were that his Ryder Cup and major performances were superior of Faldo’s. Bishop responded through Twitter with “Yours v. His? Lil girl.” Basically, Bishop was belittling his comments and saying that his accusations were completely wrong. BBC Sport also pointed out there was a Facebook post written by Bishop saying: “Really? Sounds like a little school girl squealing during recess. C’MON MAN!” Bishop is American, and Poulter has been known to show his emotions, especially in Ryder and Presidents Cups. This may have been a result of mounting tensions after the American Ryder Cup loss just a month ago. Ultimately, tensions spilled over for Bishop, and is something that cost him his job.

The Golf Channel had a similar take on the situation as BBC Sport, however they emphasized that Twitter was a large factor in the situation escalating. Bishop was not the first prominent golf executive to misuse social media and cause significant damage to their career. A prominent Australian golfer, Steve Elkington, also had issues with social media. Regarding a helicopter crash in Australia, he joked that “there was no beer spilled on board.” His comments were extremely insensitive. He is now synonymous with this tweet, and there will always be a black eye on his reputation. Finally, they also emphasized the views of Poulter and other prominent golfers. 2010 Cup Captain Corey Pavin told his players to be careful with twitter, as he did not want any additional distractions for the team. There are so many forces that may be tempting to tweet or post something on Facebook, but these instances have made it a nightmare for both the PGA and Ted Bishop.

NHL Honors Canadian Soldiers

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By Ellen Chlumecky

October 22nd, 2014 is a date that will now live in infamy in the hearts of all Canadians. At 9:52 a.m. when Michael Zehaf-Bibeau entered the Canadian National War Memorial, everything changed. Zehaf-Bibeau fatally shot Corporal Nathan Cirillo and then attacked the members of the Canadian Parliament. Two days before, a terrorist attack occurred in Quebec which resulted in the killing of another Canadian soldier. This tragic week has hit Canada like a wrecking ball. Citizens of Canada’s lives were put on hold while they tried to absorb what happened. During this time, everyone tried to put activities on hold until people could grasp what had happened, notably they cancelled the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs game.

This Saturday, October 25th the same week of the tragic shootings, Canada held a commemorative night honoring the fallen soldiers at the Ottawa Senators and New Jersey Devils game.  In combined efforts with the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Ottawa Senators and the New Jersey Devils organized the game at Canadian Tire Centre to be a night dedicated to the two Canadian soldiers who had fallen in order to protect others and their country. The ceremony honored not only them, but the Canadian soldiers who were first respondents to both of the shootings.

The Ottawa Senators and the New Jersey Devils stood shoulder to shoulder on the center ice circle for the ceremony. In the middle of center ice were representatives of the Canadian military. The anthem singer sang “O Canada,” which the crowd joined in singing loudly with him. The Senators also showed on the video board the Montreal and Toronto arenas pregame where the crowd sang the Canadian anthem as well.

While the shoulder to shoulder is not something you usually see in these types of ceremonies, it was conveyed a powerful message. That message was the unity of these players symbolized the unity of the players and the unity of America and Canada. This message of the ceremony was to honor the fallen soldiers who gave their lives to protect the lives of other citizens. However, the NHL was also trying to make the statement of unity through hockey.  Hockey holds great importance in Ottawa and Canada as a whole, and for the NHL to come together to show support towards Ottawa says a lot about the power of sports and the compassion that the NHL organization holds for these fallen soldiers, their families, and all that were affected.

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Mad Man At Courtside

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This is part of an ongoing series of guest posts by those in academia and in the professional world of sport. This week’s post is written Dr. Jacquelyn Cuneen, a retired Professor of Sport Management at Bowling Green State University. 

Viewers of the Emmy winning AMC series Mad Men are taken back to the 1960’s in America — an era of stringent social order when all individuals were branded by gender conformity. Even the most unattractive of males were able to swagger as if they were Frank Sinatra and even the brightest of females were expected to sashay as if they were Marilyn Monroe. Sport, of course, was the domain of males. Females were tolerated in certain “gender appropriate” activities (see Eleanor Metheny’s essay on Connotations of Movement in Sport), and women in some of those sports (e.g., golf, tennis, bowling) were starting to establish their place in athletics.

The Olympic Games provided the biggest stages for 1960’s athletes who happened to be female and some of the most visible athletes at both the summer and winter games were women from the former Soviet Bloc countries. The Soviet women were particularly dominant in track and field. They were highly trained, highly fit, very serious, and very muscular. Their appearances prompted the American media, particularly the print media, to focus more on the athletes’ bodies rather than their performances. Amid questions related to doping, chromosome testing, and sexuality, the Soviet athletes were chided for being too masculine. In other words, they were too good to be women. And, the collective Ministers of Sport from the Soviet countries were outraged over these insulting questions and accusations.

Fast-forward to half a century later when some of the best and most popular athletes in the world are skilled, strong, forceful, muscular women and the era of Mad Men is far behind — except perhaps in Russia, the principal country of the old Soviet Bloc. In October 2014, Russian tennis official Shamil Tarpischev appeared on his country’s late-night talk show Evening Urgant and, due either to unbelievable ignorance or a dim-witted attempt at comedy, referred to Venus and Serena Williams as The Williams brothers.

The Williams Brothers! Venus, who can walk a fashion runway to rival any Vogue model. Serena, so dazzling that she can walk on to the CBS Late Show set and render host David Letterman speechless. Brothers? What could prompt a coach to refer to such women as brothers? Could it be that, in his Mad Men mind, they are too good and too powerfully built to be women?

It is appalling that the Williams’ or any females who work to reach the top of their sport must hear such comments from their sports’ insiders. It is particularly disconcerting to hear such denigrating remarks from someone who has worked so closely with skilled women and ought to know their capabilities. A person such as Tarpischev, of all people, should know the success that comes to women who are accountable and committed to their sport and prepare themselves for excellence. He behaves like a mad man.

A final word to Shamil: Watch Mad Men and be happy you live in an era when you have accomplished women to coach. Then, get yourself off the talk show circuit, go back on court, leave social commentary to Gloria Steinem, leave comedy to Chelsea Handler, and start coaching better so some of your Russian players can come up to the Williams standard.

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The International Impact of the NFL

By Savannah Malnar

Soccer has always been a major sport in Europe but a different kind of football may invade that market soon enough. The NFL recently said that they are still on track with their plans to have an American football team placed in London, the capital of England, by 2022. With the upcoming Lions and Falcons game being played there this Sunday and the Cowboys and Jaguars playing there on November 9th, attention is again being drawn to the possibility of an international team.

This plan to expand the NFL internationally has been in the works since 2007, when they first started playing games overseas. NFL executive Mark Waller said in an interview with Reuters, “We’re at the midway point of that 15-year journey. I think we’re exactly on track.”

While the NFL seems exceedingly hopeful that they can relocate a team to London within the next 7 years, there are some drawbacks being highlighted by both American and English media.

The London Evening Standard projected the relationship of the NFL and the city to be very good. The Chancellor George Osborne is quoted saying that he believes bringing an NFL team to the city would “…cement London as a global sporting capital as well as a global financial and business and cultural capital.” Besides these benefits, some are concerned that the field in Wembley Stadium that is currently being used to host these games would not hold up well against the additional use; it is already used to host both soccer and rugby matches.

American media seems to be a little more hesitant about the possibility of relocation; many articles cite downsides including increased travel and time zone differences. There remains the possibility of, instead of stationing a team in London, playing roughly 8 games a year there. NFL teams selected would have to be okay with sacrificing a home game.

Despite these drawbacks, the games being in hosted in London have high attendance numbers and are gaining more popularity. The one concern I have is that if a team is relocated to London, it would not be a novelty anymore. Currently there are few games played there each season; if that became a normal event throughout the season, would the team still see the same attendance numbers of about 84,000 fans that they have?

Waller is convinced that American football is popular enough in the UK to thrive. We will see if this opinion stands true as the NFL attempts to grow its market throughout the next several seasons.

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Punk’d: Cowboys Edition

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By Kaleb Page

Remember the show on MTV where Ashton Kutcher would pull pranks on celebrities or essentially ‘punk’ them. It is safe to say that this year many Cowboys fans are sitting back thinking where and when are the cameras (along with Ashton)  going to come out and say gotcha on what so far has been a great start to the season.

Right now the Dallas Cowboys are sitting with the lead over the NFC East and have a 6-1 record. In comparison to years past where at this point they would be 4-3 (2013), 3-4 (2012), and 3-4 (2011); this start is something to look at in optimism. Especially when to begin this season the buzz around this Cowboys team was one of downright despair.

Before this season started there were question marks all over this team and what they could even do in all three phases of the game (offense, defense, special teams). It centered around the engine of this team Tony Romo, who at the time was still recovering from back surgery after injuring his back last season. Without really receiving any big hits or preparation on the season beating that most quarterbacks take, many wondered if he could even last through the season and what the team would do if he went down.

Another big question that had people thinking the Cowboys were canoeing upstream without a paddle, was the defense that lacked much talent or big names. When you think of the Dallas Cowboys you think of a team Jerry Jones assembled with big names up and down the roster. Defenses’ of old had Deion Sanders, Darren Woodson, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, DeMarcus Ware, and the list goes on. With today’s group it is hard to off the top of your head go about naming any one big name on that defensive unit (unless you look it up or have some close tie to the team).

Even though these question marks were there and with good reason, the reality is this team is playing hard and inspired football. The offense is playing at a high level, ranking 14th in the league in passing and 1st in rushing with DeMarco Murray on pace to break all sorts of rushing records. The defense that is a thrown together bunch with little name power and mid-range talent, is ranked 12th in passing yards allowed and 16th in rushing yards allowed. A lot of what the defense is doing can been credited to the defensive mind of Rod Marinelli the team’s defensive coordinator. A man who has been credited with doing more with defenses than what he is given.

The stats are nice but the eye test of actually watching this team shows that the potential is there to go farther than anyone expected. Beating teams like the Saints, Giants, and Seahawks (on the road) is quite impressive when considering that, when this schedule was printed out, many people would go against the Cowboys nine times out of ten in those games. Now sitting at 6-1 these Cowboys can control their destiny. Especially when the next three games they play before their bye week are all winnable games (Washington, Arizona, Jacksonville).

If you are a Cowboys fan you might look around and ask “what’s the catch?” When is the heart going to be torn out after these Cowboys epic fail once again, like they have done almost year in year out for the past several seasons. Possibly this is a change of season and this team is actually for real. Deep down though, if we know anything about the show Punk’d from the past, the best sketches have the real unexpected events still to unfold. So for this Cowboys team to be just another episode of Punk’d playing out before us, be ready for an epic unexpected serious of events to end this Cowboys season. For the Cowboys fans reading, be ready to have that prank happen to you and your team and a guy in a trucker hat coming out yelling “You’ve been Punk’d!”

For your sake though Cowboys fans, lets hope that doesn’t happen.

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Miami Marlins Fan Causes Controversy at Game 1 of World Series

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By McKenzie Whiteman

Being the big Cleveland Browns fan that I am, I know firsthand what happens to fans that are brave enough to show up to a game wearing a an opposing team’s jersey. While I do respect their bravery and dedication to their team, you can’t help but wonder if they know the consequences they undoubtedly have coming. It’s always been this way. Show up to game wearing the enemy’s apparel, get ready for drinks to be thrown, violent words to be exchanged, and you better think twice about standing up and clapping with a sea of glaring eyes around you. Wearing a controversial jersey typically just goes to the extent of offending the home team fans, however I never thought this type of attire would ever cause front office personnel to take action. After all, it is supposed to be for the love of the game…right?

This World Series took on this concept, but with a twist. If you watched Game 1 of the World Series you HAD to have seen the bright orange shirt in the sea of royal blue behind the backstop. Now the orange was not that of the San Francisco Giants, but of a jersey baring the Miami Marlins logo. After doing more digging I found that Miami lawyer, Laurence Leavy, is an avid baseball fan and had spent over $8,000 in post-season tickets, totally disregarding the fact that the Marlins were nowhere near making it to the playoffs. However, this did bring about an interesting controversy.

Kansas City staff was so adornment about trying to set a certain scene for the country. They obviously didn’t want him sticking out like a sore thumb where the media captures the majority of its broadcast. They offered Leavy everything from a private suite to World Series apparel, but were declined on every offer. Instead of letting a true fan enjoy the year’s two best teams in baseball, they were distracted by trying to give off a persona that Leavy’s apparel obviously wasn’t fitting into. It wasn’t the person himself…it was simply his clothing, something that visually affected how the Royals organization wanted the nation to view their environment. It seems as if they wanted to depict an atmosphere where dedicated Royals fans flocked to in order to support the once lowly regarded team in their nearly undefeated quest for the World Series title. But at what point do organizations worry too much about “setting the scene” and not nearly enough about the love of the game?

While I agree it’s important for organizations to create a certain atmosphere, front offices are now going to extreme lengths in order for society to view them a certain way. As depicted by this recent event, they’re trying to persuade fans to take different action in order to achieve the atmosphere that they want to portray. I’m conflicted as to whether this action by the front office was ethical or not. It’s something, however, that should be in the back of an organization’s mind…when is it less about public relations and atmosphere and more about the pure love of the game? I realize that the atmosphere they create is what encourages profits, but it’s something to be evaluated.

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Slava Voynov Suspended Indefinitely: NHL Holds Firm Ground

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By Ellen Chlumecky

On Monday morning, Salva Voynov of the Los Angeles Kings was arrested on a case of domestic violence and has been suspended indefinitely from the Kings. They are waiting on a formal investigation by the NHL. The Police Department that arrested Voynov is expected to meet with the Los Angeles Country District Attorney’s office at some point this week.

While the details are still hazy on the next steps to occur to Voynov, the NHL made the clear decision to suspend him indefinitely. While the NHL has not responded as quickly or as appropriately in the past with certain cases such as  Seymon Varlamov where they continued to let him travel and play with the Colorado Avalanche while his case was being tried through the judicial system. With the course of action currently being taken with Voynov it looks as though the NHL wants to improve their methods of discipline.

Gary Bettman stated that the league had been working with the union on the policy for over a decade to improve their policies. He stated that their main focus for the league is counseling and education.  The NHL has a joint program with the Players Association and they provide counseling and educating on domestic violence for more than a decade. The security department holds annual meetings with each individual team. They not only talk about domestic violence but hold substance abuse programs, behavioral health programs, and programs targeting counseling and educating the players on many other issues.

With the recent problems happening in the NFL recently, the NHL clearly needs to show the sports world they can handle their problems with a firm, steady hand. The NHL has the opportunity to show their fans and other spectators that they will not stand for this kind of behavior in their athletes.

Voynov is currently suspended, but after the trial the NHL needs to seriously look into removing Voynov from the league whether or not he was pronounced guilty. By removing a player who was involved in this situation shows the dedication to removing this kind of behavior from the league. The NFL is receiving all kinds of slack for their lack of action with these behavioral problems and domestic violence instances. The NHL needs to act quickly and show the rest of the sports world that this type of problem should not be welcome on teams. When any future players see problems like this in the media, they shouldn’t aspire to be like these players which is why action to remove players like this is the best plan in the long run.

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Mid-American Conference to Back Up Quick Lane Bowl

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By Kate Roth

The Mid-American Conference has just announced their agreement to be the back for the Quick Lane Bowl being played in Detroit. This agreement says that the MAC will be the backup to the Big Ten Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference if they cannot provide a team. For now this is a 6 year deal ranging from 2014 to 2019.

This may not seem like a huge deal to anyone right now, but in the long run could be very big for the MAC.

The B1G Conference has struggled over the past couple years to supply bowl eligible teams to all of the bowl games they have contracts with. If this continues the MAC will have a chance to send one of the conference’s best teams to the Quick Lane Bowl to represent the conference against an ACC team which happens to be one of the top conference’s in college football.

Not only will this be good for the MAC because they will be able to send one more team to a bowl game, but it will help them start to get some of the national media recognition they deserve.

All of the staff working for the MAC and the teams within the conference are working just as hard as all of those in the SEC or ACC. The players in the MAC are putting in the same amount of time and work as the rest of the players around the nation, but receive almost no media attention compared to the other conferences.

By gaining this partnership with the Quick Lane Bowl the MAC has a chance to step up and show the nation what MACtion is all about.

The MAC also has a partnership with 5 other bowl games for the 2014 season with guaranteed spots and 3 with back up spots. Of the bowls that the MAC has agreements with, the Quick Lane Bowl would be one of, if not the biggest. This being based upon the opponent and location of the bowl game.

Since the 5 bowls that the MAC has guaranteed spots with will be played in Alabama, Florida, Idaho, and the Bahamas, the Quick Lane Bowl (played in Detroit) would be the best option for fans from the MAC to travel to. This will help produce larger crowds for these teams to play in front of giving them the chance to feel a much different atmosphere than they are used to.

This bowl will also attract a lot more media attention because of the opponent the team from the MAC would be facing. The media likes to revolve around teams from the power 5 conference, which the ACC and B1G are a part of. Since the MAC would be playing against a team from one of these conferences compared to a WAC or Mountain West team as usual the game would receive more attention in turn giving more attention to the MAC team.

I think the MAC made a great move by gaining a partnership with this bowl, even though it is not a guaranteed spot, there is still a great chance that they could get the opportunity to send one of their teams to this bowl and make a name for the conference. I think it’s time that the rest of the nation got in on some of the MACtion and a spot in the Quick Lane Bowl could be a great way to do so.

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Jim Rome on Showtime Well Worth the Subscription Fee

By Matt Rogers

For those of you that have not caught an episode of Jim Rome on Showtime, whether it be because cable is an added expense you can’t afford to take on, or that Showtime is an added fee on top of whatever it is you may pay for cable, you are definitely missing out. Personally, I do not subscribe to Showtime at my own home, but I was able to catch an episode of the show while visiting my family, and it is nothing short of phenomenal.

By now, most people who follow sports or listen to sports talk radio are familiar with Jim Rome. He has been a radio personality for almost two decades, and he had a show on ESPN called Rome is Burning, but neither of his other endeavors compare to his show that airs on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.

In the episode of the show that I caught, Rome sat with a three-man panel consisting of former NFL Running Back, and winner of the 1995 Heisman Trophy, Eddie George, NFL Hall of Fame Wide Receiver, Michael Irvin, and former NBA forward, Brian Scalabrine. During this segment, Rome and the panel discussed a few of the most controversial current issues in sport. These issues were the case of the sexually assaulted athletes in Sayreville, New Jersey, the increase in domestic violence cases in the NFL, and their thoughts on what LeBron James would accomplish in his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The most interesting topic that was covered during the show was the Sayreville incident. During the segment covering the incident, Rome read a quote describing the incident that I have not seen or heard on any of the national media outlets. The quote read: “[A] freshman football player would be pinned to the locker room floor, his arms and feet held down by multiple upperclassmen. Then, the victim would be lifted to his feet while a finger was forced into his rectum.” Being that this case was initially reported as a case of hazing, this quote reveals that there was much more to what was being widespread through the most viewed national media outlets.

This plays into what I believe makes this show more interesting than what you would see on ESPN or any of the national networks. Showtime does not filter the language of responses of Rome or his guests. This helps Rome and the guests deliver thoughts and responses that are more indicative of what they are actually thinking at the moment, rather than needing to stop and filter their answers of any profanity or any other language that the people watching may not agree with.

This element of the show implies that it is geared more toward adults rather than the watered down version of Rome that children would view on ESPN, which would explain why the show appears in a weekday, prime time slot, on a premium cable channel. This element also creates a more genuine feel to the show than that of the shows that air on weekday afternoon cable or television shows, where the responses in interviews seem scripted.

Jim Rome on Showtime is also an example of how the freedom of press, in regards to sport, is expanding. Although the show appears on premium cable, it pushes the boundaries that exist when covering sports, especially when dealing with the issue of what can, or cannot, be said publicly.

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