LeBron Back To Cleveland??

So it begins… LeBron opts out of his contract. Where will he end up? Well only LeBron, his wife, his mom, the barber, the car salesman, the cousin of LeBron's mom etc know. You get my drift. Cleveland fans are getting hooked and are ready to welcome LBJ back to Cleveland. Time has really helped the fans and media members of Cleveland. It was not too long-ago EVERYONE hated LBJ and never wanted him back in Cleveland. Fast foreword 4 years and two NBA titles later…. Cleveland is ready for the return. Cleveland is ready for the return because they are hungry for a "winner" and a title. There are still some fans who wish he does not return. I understand Cleveland wants a "winner" and a title. But is this the way you Clevelanders want to win a title? Having the guy who left and won two titles with another team? "Only in Cleveland" would the fans welcome back the person who ripped their hearts out four years ago.

The 92nd PGA

WOW! What a tournament. I was not a fan of this course to begin with and this tops it off. There was a moment during the week where I thought to myself "This is boring". It was not till Sunday afternoon at about 4:30 eastern time did I focus in. We had a five way race with D. Johnson, Z.Johnson, R.McIlroy, BuBBA and M.Kaymer. Sure others made a push. When Dustin Johnson came to the 18th green, I had this feeling. The feeling was he was going to hit a bad drive. Sure enough he went 20 rows deep into the crowd. He found his ball in a "bunker", or was it? Dustin Johnson did not think it was a bunker nor did his caddy. But the rules sheet did say --"All areas of the course that were designed and built as sand bunkers will be played as bunkers (hazards), whether or not they have been raked. This will mean that many bunkers positioned outside of the ropes, as well some areas of bunkers inside the ropes, close to the rope line, will likely include numerous footprints, heel prints and tire tracks during the play of the Championship. Such irregularities of surface are a part of the game and no free relief will be available from these conditions."--

This is a dumb rule! What courses allow fans to walk through bunkers? Oh I guess this one does. It is like the folks from Whistling Straits wanted to prove a point. Wanted to be like we have 1200 bunkers and we are the best! This bunker should have been a waste bunker. Yes, after watching the replay, you can see the lip of the bunker. But I see grass and such, it looked like a "manger" said CBS golf analysis David Feherty. What a classic quote. But overall this rule was dumb and should have been in effect! It will be interesting to see what happen in 2015.

Brett Favre

What a game last night! Yeah Favre tossed a INT when he was driving down the field. Yeah you don't throw across your body .. EVER. But what a season Brett Favre had. He tossed for 4,202 yards with 33 TD and 7 INTS. He turned Rice into a star and made the Vikings better. At the begging of the season all talks were AP was going to have to carry this team. Turned out Brett had to carry the team. He won a lot of games this season was the reason why the Viking were only seconds away from a Super Bowl.

Brett took so many hits last night and kept getting back up ! What a STUD. He showed how everyone should play the game. When Brett Favre is back there anything is possible. Will he come back next year? Who knows. When will we know? Not sure. I would love to see him come back for another season.

Missing The Old ABC Sports Theme

Yes, I still like watching the new ABC on ESPN. But who misses the old ABC theme song with Brent Musberger doing his thing? I sure do! Like this...

But you have to like the " You Are Looking Live"

Bone Head Of The Week...

Well this is my first Bone Head Of The Week... It belongs to all the student athletes who fail to get the job done off the field and in the classroom..

My Bowl Pick...

Yeah... I am three games late. I am 1-2 with my only win coming in the Rutgers game.
- Fresno L
- S-Miss L
- Rutgers W
- Oregon State L
- Utah W
- Nevada L
- Ohio L
- Pitt W
- USC W
- Clemson W
- Texas Am L
- UCLA W
- Wisconsin W
- Bowling Green L
- Nebraska W
- Houston L
- Stanford W
- Mizzu L
- Minn L
- Va Tech W
- Auburn W
- West Virgina L
- Penn State W
- Ohio State W
- Florida W
- South Florida W
- Uconn W
- Ok State
- Ark W
- Texas Tech W
- TCU L
- Ga Tech L
- C Mich W
- Bama W

STUDENT Athletes..

As the college football season comes to an end we hear about the student athlete's eligibility. It is the same every year; we hear about how some students have not made the grades to play in their bowl game. Most recently USC has said they have three players ineligibly. I do not understand why year in and year out we hear about issues like this. They have all the help they need. There is no reason these athletes should be failing class. The help and tutors are all there and are just a flash of an eye away.

Also we always hear about players who accept gifts from boosters. It has happen again and it involves a USC running back. He has been seen riding in a very expensive SUV. According to the running back the car belongs to his girl friend which was given to her by a business man in L.A.

Along with that there are two Ohio State players who have been in and out of Jim Tressel's dog house. They have been doing so well this season and they have now the two are back in the dog house. I do not understand how athletes who have all the resources and everything going for them find a way to screw it up. There will always be a select few who think they are above all. And they will continue to get caught and get in trouble.

As The Semester Ends..

I have really enjoyed taking this class. To be honest I did not know what to expect in this class. I thought a lot of it would be about Title Nine and such. But it was not like that at all. I learned so much about masculinity and intersex. I really enjoyed the class discussions. It was great to write a blog and very fun. Fun to talk about topics we talked about in class and then comment on our classmate’s blogs. A lot of the things I wrote about I have experienced the issues or had some background and opinion on the topic before hand. Reading and writing about disabilities in sport was one of my favorite topics. I love seeing the stories on the news about kids or adults who have worked so hard at something and see it pay off. The story on J-Mac and his great basketball adventure was an amazing story. I still get goose bumps watch the clip. Learning about how people took Magic Johnson’s announcement about AIDs , I would have never thought people would act that way. It makes us think what would people say about Kobe or LeBron having AIDs?

I also enjoyed reading about the NCAA and how women are not marketed as well. Which is something that needs to change because the women’s college game can be really fun to watch at time? Bowling Green has a great women’s program and they are fun to watch. They get more fans at their games then the men. I also enjoyed reading about the Korean Golfer’s in the LPGA. I have experienced what was said first hand. I believe I have become a better writer with better knowledge in sport and gender. It sure was not what I expected.

I will continue to blog on a weekly if not daily basis. I have also wanted to blog and this class gave me the opportunity. If it was not for this class I would probably still not have made a blog yet. I will remember all the topics we talked about in class from start to finish. I found out this class was more than just talking about Title Nine.

Brian Kelly To Notre Dame!

Coaches leaving schools to go and coach at another school; it has happen again. Brian Kelly has left Cincinnati and will now coach Notre Dame. This is an excellent hire for the Irish, but what about the kids at Cincinnati? Those kids have to go play in a BCS bowl against Florida without the coach that got them where they are. After watching the responses from all of his former players, they are very upset and left the meeting right in the middle when Coach Kelly said he was taking the Notre Dame Job. I do not like the fact that coaches leave the school they are at to go coach at another still during the season. It is like dumping a girl for another just because she looks better. This is not the first time we have seen coaches leave right before their bowl game. The most recent was Rich Rod from West Virginia to Michigan. We all know how that has unfolded thus far. When he left West Virginia they were going to play in a BCS bowl as well. I understand coaches have to get to the new school to start recruiting, but that really is the schools problem and not the new coaches in my opinion. Maybe to start recruiting the new coach can send one of his assistants or recruiting specialist. I do not just like the fact that coaches can pick up and leave right away and if players want to transfer they have to sit out a year. What if Cincinnati was playing for a National Title would Brain Kelly stay? Would Rich Rod had stayed if West Virginia had not lost to Pitt?

Late For A Team Meeting..

Why do athletes show up to practice or team meetings late? I do not understand why they do it. They get all this kinds of money to play a sport (job) they want to do and have passion for. Athletes feel because they are in the which ever league they have it made and they do not have to work at it. I am referring to Randy Moss who this past week was late to a team meeting along with four other teammates. That is unacceptable for an athlete of Moss’s caliber to be late for a team meeting. Team meeting make teams better and closer together if Moss wants to be a team player than it starts off the field. Yeah they meeting might be boring or lame, but they are very beneficial and help with improvements to the team. Hey Randy just because you won a few Super Bowls and were undefeated two seasons ago doesn’t mean you are excused from these types of functions. This is not the first time a star athlete has been late for a team meeting. We see it all the time, star athletes think they are above everyone else on their teams. I just want star athletes to be honored and humbled to be where they are. I want them to feel like they can always be better and be a role model to the young crowd. Granted there are some athletes who do the right things on and off the field and are good role models.

The Heisman !?

The Heisman Trophy will be given out Saturday in New York City. There are five finalist, RB from Stanford Toby Gerhart, RB from Alabama Mark Ingram, DT from Nebraska Ndamuka Suh , QB from Texas Colt McCoy and everyone’s favorite Tim Tebow. The award for the most part goes to someone on a winning team (playing for a national titles) and who has the best stats. We will see two of the finalist in the National Championship game (Ingram, McCoy). Out of those two Ingram is the better of the two and has a much better season. But I do not thing he or McCoy should win it. Nor do I think Tim Tebow should win the Heisman Trophy. He does not have the stats he had back when he won it during his sophomore year. If he does win I blame the media for being his spokesman. The media makes him way better than he really is. I am hoping that RB Toby Gerhart wins the award he leads all of college football in rushing yards and has made his team the best. If you take him off of Stanford than they are most likely not making a bowl this season. As for the other players, if they are taken off their teams the team would not be affect as much. It would be great to see Suh win the award. He has very cool story and difficult background. He would be the first defensive player to win the Heisman since 1997 when Charles Woodson won it.

Allen Iverson… Hes BAACK!

Oh Allen Iverson is back and ready show we can still play. After a short stint with Memphis A.I. is back where he was an All Stare and MVP in the 2001 finals, Philadelphia. Is he going to practice? Because practice makes perfect and A.I. needs practice at his old age. The past few years A.I. has been a bit of a drama queen and a diva. He has become person who does not take team first, rather it is him first. The 76’s took him in not to win a championship, but to sell tickets. I understand why the 76ers did this but once he starts opening his mouth all will go down hill. He will have some short of problem and he will go public with it and it will be Detroit and Memphis all over again. I think it is time for A.I. to retire and just enjoy his time off. He is not that go to man any more he will not be able to bring a championship on his own. If he ever wants to win a championship he has to become a role player and I do not think he can expect that role at all. Like I said before he is all about himself and not the team aspect of things. It will only be a matter of time before the 6er fans start to leave the seats empty. There is only a certain amount of time A.I. has to capture the fans and he better start now.

Ohh the BCS

The BCS should just take the C out and be BS. This is the worst system that has ever been made. Before this system we just had people vote for the winners through the AP. That is not the best way either but either is the BCS. This really bad system is leaving out the Mid Major conferences who have proven they can compete with the big boys. We saw Boise to this against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl and when they beat Oregon this past season. Utah has proven this twice and TCU as well has proven they can compete. We have had seasons end with 2 undefeated teams. There is no other sport that has more than one undefeated team left at the end of the year.
A few years ago we saw a team from the SEC get left out of the National Title game. That was Auburn, they got to see USC and Oklahoma play. Utah twice has been undefeated and Boise once I believe. Why is it so hard to get a playoff in college football? I know .. I know…. THE MONEY issue schools want their money. GARBAGE! A playoff eliminates so much confusion and a 8 or 16 team playoff would be great. This for sure would come into play this season. What would have happen if Texas would have lost to Nebraska? We would have a problem folks, a mix up in the BCS.
As for people saying the Mid Majors need to play someone, I say well the big schools do not want to play them. They much rather play 1AA schools and play the Citidal, Chattanooga, or Alabama State. Why would they want to risk their undefeated seasons against a Boise, Utah or TCU. As for this years Fiesta Bowl, we have a problem. The BCS made sure Boise and TCU would play each other so there would be one less team at the end of the year. They also did not want the top dog like Florida to have the chance to lose to TCU. I would bet $10 TCU would be Florida and Boise would beat Georgia Tech.
It seams not matter the situation the BCS will get what they want.

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods, what an athlete and for the most part a pretty good role model. When I first heard news of the accident I was in shock. I got the message from ESPN through a txt. From there I got one from my brother and a few friends. I couldn’t believe my favorite athlete was in the hospital and at first word it sound serious. After I got out of the movie I was in my girlfriend and her family I made a send a few txt messages to my friends to try and get the latest. Some heard alcohol could have been a factor. I didn’t want to believe it. That ended up being false and then domestic abuse came about and the story about Tiger’s wife bashing out the back windows of his SUV. Why would she bash out the back windows when clearly she could have gone to the passenger side to get him out. I thought at one point that Tiger and his wife had an argument and as Tiger was driving away she smashed out his back windows and they got Tiger to lose focus and crash. Them having a fight now makes sense now because of the most recent news of Tiger having an affair with a women from L.A. for 2 and half years. Not to mention the voice mail Tiger sent here a few days before the crash.

Am I mad at Tiger? Yes, but he is a person too and people make mistakes. He will work this out with his wife and his family. Tiger will need to get some help but he will be just fine. Tiger will play again in January and once he wins that first event all will be forgotten. Sports is “what have you done for me lately”. Lets look at Kobe… All has been for gotten.

Women's Media Coverage

Media coverage for Women is not very good. We do not hear much about their sports on ESPN and such. The WNBA is hardly ever on television at all. But, when it comes to the NCAA tournament they get a lot of air time. All the games are on ESPN family of networks. Sure that is unfair to someone who does not have cable, but through out the season the Men have the same issues. During the season and during the week games for men are on the ESPN family of networks. There just is not that want or need to put women’s college basketball on CBS or ABC on a Saturday afternoon. Who will watch? No one. If a men’s game was on ESPN the same time as a women’s game was on CBS… The men’s game would win out 9 out of 10 times no question.

Men get the greatest opportunity because they produce, they produce money. Money is what keeps the sponsors and networks coming back. The other reason for so much media coverage during the NCAA tournament is due to the fact of upsets. Upsets happen every year and causes so much Madness. In the women’s game there is only that handful of teams who will win it all and there are usually never any upsets. It sets up for a pretty boring NCAA tournament. The men’s game has that Cinderella story, while in the women’s game we have barely have a good game.

LPGA and English?

For the most part I am going to have to agree with Jan Stephenson’s comments about Koreans and how English should be learned. Her quote about “Asians are killing our tour” (Shin and Nam, 2004, P. 224). I disagree with 100%. In fact they are running the tour from top to bottom. Sure there is Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Kristie Kerr and many other Americans. But the Koreans are winning week in and week out. Where I agree with Jan is with this quote “Their lack of emotion, their refusal to speak English when they can speak English. They rarely speak. We have two-day Pro Ams were people are paying a lot of money to play with us and they say hello and good bye” (Shin and Nam, 2004, P. 224).

I have seen this happen on a first hand account several of times. The past five summers I have caddied in the Jamie Farr Pro-Ams and also for a pro golfer two summers ago. I have been in groups where the Korean golfer rarely talked to the group at all. The golfers paying the big bucks had to approach the golfer first with questions. On the other hand I have seen Korean golfers be the first to approach the golfers. With that being said I also have caddied in groups where it was been an American golfer and they are so kind and full of joy. It is so much fun to caddie in a group like this. When I caddied for a pro two summers ago she was Korean and spoke okay English.

Williams Sisters and Racism..

I believe Venus Williams and her father drew the attention to themselves. They both knew after she (Venus) dropped out of the match people were very upset. But they still walked down the 20 or so steps to their seats on court level. There had to have been a different way to get to their seats, but they picked the way that would cause a scene. By doing this they flustered Serena Williams for the first two sets of her match. Yeah she came back and won, but she was trying too hard at first to try and quit the crowd. I also do not think it was necessary for the Williams father to put up the “black power” sign. He was trying to egg on the haters. I do feel the Williams sisters should go back to Indian Wells to compete. You have to be the bigger person and show you are bigger than the situation.

Moving on to something that Dr. Spencer talked about just before class ended last Thursday about the N Word and there being a speaker saying it should be eliminated. I would agree with that, the N Word should not only be used by whites but not by the blacks. I do not understand why all of a sudden it is okay to say this in the black community. When ever I am near or around two or three blacks talking the N word is dropped about three or four times. I do not understand. Also whites are discriminated against as well. Racism works both ways.

Athletes asked of too much

Being an athlete draws a lot of attention to yourself. Especially if you are Michael Jordan or LeBron James. When someone like Michael Jordan becomes famous they expect them to do things they are not educated in. For example many were upset when MJ would not support a candidate for Senate from North Carolina. Why? Why should he have to pick to endorse someone? I thought his job was to play basketball not to speak politics. If Michael Jordan wanted to be involved in politics then he would have gone to school for it. Getting someone involved in something they are not educated in can be hurtful because they may not have a clue on what they should say. If giving money to various charities is not enough than people have high standards and expect WAY tooooo much from athletes. What about going to speak to sick children or help co host an event? Athletes do their fair share of those activities. It only makes sense to have someone involved in something they are educated in. It seems that politicians or organizations are maybe trying to use athletes; “If Michael Jordan is supporting me than so should you” type thing. I do believe sometimes athletes are asked of too much sometimes. And it is always the famous athletes who are getting criticized. They are human too, they have families and life’s to live outside of their sport. There is only so much that someone can do. There are bigger things in life to worry about people.

Jason McElwain (J-MAC)

It stinks that people have to be born with a disability. Why does this happen? Why can’t everyone be equal, but different ? I am blessed to not have any physical or mental disabilities. The story I would like to talk about is about a young man who caught everyone’s attention just three years ago. His name is Jason McElwain or “J- MAC” and he has autism and that enabled him to play sports at a high level. As at very young age J-MAC had trouble interacting with other kids, but was able to develop social skills by his teen years. J-MAC loved basketball, and became the manager of his high school’s team in New York. He accepted the fact that he was unable to compete, but being around the game very helpful to J-MAC. It was not till February 15, 2006, the last home game of the year, that J-MAC got to show off his basketball skills. J-MAC played in the last four minutes of his high school’s division title game. He made a total of six three pointers and one two pointer for a total of 20 points a game.
When I first heard this story I probably watched it ten times on ESPN and then on Youtube. It was just an amazing story with a truly sweet ending. This just shows nothing is impossible, reach for the stars no matter what stands in your way. A few weeks after the game J-MAC met former President George Bush. There is also a book that has been written by J-MAC called The Game of My Life. There is also a movie in the works, which will be produced by Magic Johnson. The time line for the movie is still in the works as contracts and scripts still have to be finalized.

Homecoming Symposium

For the Homecoming Symposium I attended two events, Michael McClave of IMG and Jordan Strack of WTOL/BCSN. I went to see Michael McClave because he works in the golf division at IMG and the golf business is what I am looking to go into. Going to see Jordan Strack was just for fun and to see how he got his career started at such a young age at 24. I will be telling you about my experience with Mr. McClave of IMG.
Michael McClave got his undergrad in Accounting from Bowling Green State University and continued his schooling at BG earning his MBA.M.ED in Sport Administration. During college Mr. McClave was very pro-active in getting experience. He worked for the Cleveland Browns and also interned with IMG. He later was hired by IMG after posting his resume on Monster.com and had an inside connection at IMG.
At IMG his main job is to invoice all clients and their agreements, which means who sponsors his clients. He has to analyze the contracts of his athletes and collected funds from customers and his clients. Mr. McClave is responsible for making payments to his clients, projecting revenues on a quarterly basis, understand tax laws and treaties of other countries and communicate with managers regarding clients and they upcoming obligations.
I learned that IMG was formed with a hand shake with golfer Arnold Palmer and founder Mark McCormack, which started a contract. I also learned that IMG got rid of their football, baseball and hockey divisions. They then picked up college sports to replace those three divisions. Another fact that I learned was IMG represents 1,200 athletes, models and celebrities. I liked the fact that I was able to learn about another job in the golf business and this opens up my horizons. Also he was able to give us advice on finding a job and to dream big. I would have liked to hear more about other jobs at IMG that are in the golf business, but other than that it was a great time.