Tanking

     Christmas time is here once again folks. From my family to everyone's, I hope you have had a Merry Christmas and a happy holidays throughout the month of December. One thing Christmas time does in sports, is it marks the end of one of the most popular seasons in professional sports, the NFL Regular Season. With that, it is revealed what teams have been naughty and what teams have been nice. There are those 12 (barring more additions via Commissioner Roger Goodell) teams fortunate enough to make the playoffs, and then there is everybody else. There are teams that are up and coming and middle of the pack, and then there are the teams that are in contention to be the worst of the worst. For these bottom feeders, the "goal" now would be to begin preparations for next year. That starts with evaluations from the front office, to the coaching staff and finally the players. Some seek to "fix" their woes with free agency, and others prefer to "clean house" with whole sale changes and a rebuilding structure through the draft.
     One of the "rewards" for teams in the tank, is a better draft pick order position, assuming they have a pick and didn't trade it away. This brings up an interesting situation. If a team is at the bottom of the standings with a few games to go, does that team then try to lose out to secure a top pick in that following draft? Makes sense on paper; if you aren't going to make the playoffs, does it really serve you to win that 5th or 6th game and possibly slip out of prime draft position? Plenty of fans seem to want their team to tank for the future. I myself have grown up a Vikings fan, and found myself in the position last year facing the decision to root for or against my team to stink it up the last month of the season. There was the "Suck for Luck" slogan that floated around last year as well while Indianapolis was garbage and still, it was obvious that they continued to play hard and risked losing out on their top pick in the draft status.
     So with all of this out there, why would anyone consider winning under these circumstances if you won't make the playoffs? Why did the Colts continue to try to win games when it was clear that the season was lost? The answer is the first part of the rebuilding project, the evaluation. Coaches are coaching for their jobs. Players are playing for their jobs, and in some cases, brand new contracts. So why coach and play for next year, when there may not be a next year? Down here in Tennessee, the 2012 Titans are the prime example of this. After an embarrassing home loss to the Chicago Bears, owner Bud Adams basically put everyone from coaches to players on notice. After week 16's disaster at Green Bay, Adams couldn't even watch the end of the game. This doesn't sound like the sentiments of a team that has nothing to play for. This team still has everything on the line.
     I would be lying if I claim that no team actually "tanks", however, I also believe no one will ever fess up to it, no matter how obvious it may seem. I personally don't like the idea of teams tanking, even if it is for the better of the team long term. In my opinion it takes away from the integrity of the game. And yes by the way, I feel the same way about teams resting their starters for the playoffs. However, I think more of the latter, just because the teams are still trying to win, even if they are resting some starters for safety reasons. If I was a coach, player, or front office personnel, I would be weary of what is expected of me, because if I don't have job security for next year, then forget about draft picks and free agency. It is the playoffs! It is win or go home.... for the back of the pack! Tell me I'm right, or tell me I'm wrong. Either way, this debate is going to be around for a while.
     So.... everybody fasten your seatbelts, because there is more at stake in Week 17 of the NFL schedule than playoff births and positioning. Let the Carousel begin!

Problems in Sports

This is my first Sports piece. There are plenty of great things that go on in sports, but I would like to talk about some of the examples of sports being powerful enough to offset some of the negative things that sometimes surround them. Sports are great, but there is a fine line between sports and real life matters, and too often it is tightly walked and sometimes even crossed. There have been a lot of things going on in the world of sports over the last few years, from the Tiger Woods Saga a few Thanksgivings ago as well as "Spy gate" in by the NFL's New England Patriots, to the more recent Jerry Sandusky Sex Scandal at Penn State, and now "Bounty Gate" with the Saints. Plus no one should forget about improper benefits and dirty recruiting with college athletes, such as the accusations facing the University of Miami.

Sometimes I fear that even though those who are Sports Figures are supposed to be held to a higher standard than those who aren't, this is simply not the case at times. Take the Sandusky situation at State College for example. These were horrific crimes that allegedly went on for more than 15 years. If there is any truth to these stories of child molestation, especially on campus, I don't buy that someone did not know something and I think a lot of people would agree. But the public knowledge of such crimes might create a problem for or cloud the image of the storied football program. I really hope this wasn't the thinking. Not only is Football NOT bigger, and more important than protection of children, but in the grand scheme of things, hiding a secret like this made it worse and ultimately blew up in their faces. I am not making accusations, but I am making a point that in the times we are in, sometimes more important issues can take a backseat to sports, and it certainly makes a scenario such as this possible.

To me, as far as the Bounty Gate with the Saints goes, I think it is very sad that these are the levels that some teams, especially good ones like the Saints with good coaches like Sean Payton and yes even Gregg Williams, can sink to in order to win a football game. Taking steroids in baseball is one thing, but you are talking about paying players to intentionally injure opposing players and that is just unacceptable. I understand that injuries are part of the game, but to pay players to intentionally injure is wrong. Lets not even acknowledge that with salary caps in place, it is illegal to do this kind of unsanctioned payment.

Finally, illegal recruitment of student athletes in college is a big topic now. I remember watching a very good documentary about the "DEATH PENALTY" for college teams with SMU, called the Pony Excess. One of the people said that "when you pay an athlete, you don't really own the athlete, the athlete owns you." He was refering to the possibility of the athlete blowing the whistle anytime on his illegal recruitment, if things don't go their way. This is similar with the booster Nevin Shapiro, who did all the illegal recruiting (paying players, giving gifts, throwing parties, and even paying for an abortion). When he went to jail for the Ponzi scheme, Miami "turned their backs", in his mind, therefore he was ready to come clean.

In conclusion I am aware that i only referred to the final 3 things I listed in the opening. I believe they are worse offenses than the first two, considering the Tiger Woods thing is a more common than many think and it is pretty much settled at this point since both he and his wife are better off now that they are moving on. The reason for my focusing on the final 3 things is that they are more recent stories. I think these situations are really something to watch for in the future. I also really hope these things being worse aren't signs of things to come down the road. The term "Jock" is not a positive one for athletes, and I would hate to see a "negative" stereotype develop eventually describing the common negative things about sports.