Category: Sports

* I like the take of Rays’ pitcher Chris Archer on the race-based protests of some prominent athletes. “We could all pick and choose something that we don’t like about America,” said Archer. “I choose to pick the things that I do like. That’s how I look at America. … I look at the half-full while addressing the half empty.”

Professional athletes, by virtue of the forum they have in American society, are uniquely positioned to speak out against racism and police brutality. They are also well positioned to speak to meaningful, racial context. How do you take a knee to protest the policing in Baltimore without taking a stand to denounce frightful, black-on-black murder rates in Chicago?

I also like the take of Lightning forward J.T. Brown, one of about 30 African-Americans in the NHL. “While I don’t plan on sitting during the National Anthem,” said Brown, “I will look for more opportunities to positively impact my community and bring awareness to racial issues.”

A shout-out to Colin Kaepernick, the 49er’s QB who has been the catalyst behind these National Anthem protest gestures. He has now called an audible–and pledged to give $1 million to communities “underserved” by law enforcement. Figuratively standing up for justice is symbolically important; literally stepping up for justice is game-changing.

* It’s mid-September, and both the Bulls and the Bucs are undefeated. We’ll take it.

* It’s hard to watch an entire NFL game on TV even when you have partisan interest. It’s the optics. Network cameras are directed to follow play-concluding players after every whistle. They know it. They act it. But home crowds love it.

* Local college football fans know that this is a critical year for the University of South Florida. Among other subplots, will USF be extended an invitation to join the Big 12 conference?  It would be a major upgrade from the second-tier American Athletic Conference. Among the competition: fellow AAC member University of Houston.

And, BTW, Houston just drew the college football world’s attention last Saturday with its big win over No. 3-ranked University of Oklahoma. Even the universities’ presidents weighed in on the significance of the result. Oklahoma president David Boren: “Can they compete? How can you keep them out?” Houston president Renu Khator: “This was our showcase on the national stage, and we did it.”

Renu Khator? Yes, THAT Renu Khator. Until 2008, she had been at USF. By the end of her 22-year tenure, she was provost and senior vice president. Now she is president as well as chancellor of the University of Houston system. She is also the first Indian-American to lead a major research university in the U.S. and a classy person. Go, Cougars–except when you play the Bulls. If it happens this year, it would be in the AAC championship game with a lot riding on it.

* Say what you will about the right exercised by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick–who has been sitting out the National Anthem in protest against racism and police brutality–but the reaction of the Santa Clara, Calif., Police Department is worse. Its union sent a heat-seeking missive to the 49ers saying its officers might stop working team events unless the team takes action against Kaepernick. No, you don’t stop doing your job to protest a constitutionally-protected stand, however controversial, that you disagree with.

* Nine years ago I was among the late September Ray Jay crowd of 67,000 who witnessed USF’s 21-13 win over West Virginia that helped propel the Bulls of Jim Leavitt to a national ranking of No. 2 a few weeks later. That, and a 23-20 road win at Notre Dame under Skip Holtz in 2011 are arguably the biggest wins in USF history.

This year the Bulls have an opportunity for another signature win–this time one that could also impress Big 12 officials scrutinizing expansion candidates. The Ray Jay date is Sept. 24; the opponent, Florida State, is a top-5 pre-season pick in both the AP and the Coaches Polls.

BTW, USF is the pre-season pick to win the Eastern Division of the American Athletic Conference and is coming off of Willie Taggert’s first winning season and bowl-game appearance as Bulls’ head coach. If it doesn’t happen Sept 24–in front of a packed, rocking Ray Jay–a program-defining, big-time win will likely not be part of Taggert’s legacy.

In short, USF, a team with a reputation for unfulfilled potential, really needs a statement victory to separate itself from other non-marquee AAC members. But it can’t afford to overlook Syracuse–in the Carrier Dome–the week before.

* It’s called the Ponle Acento campaign, and it’s been a long time coming for Major League Baseball. Ponle Acento is Spanish for “put the accent on it.” In short, it’s about MLB’s Latino players having their uniform names properly spelled–with accents and tildes (~) included. It would represent linguistic accuracy–and cultural respect.

* The Rays continue to do their due diligence on a new stadium site. The pragmatic approach is reflected in what they say–about location, business-community involvement and interactivity with fans.

It’s also reflected in what they prudently don’t say. As in, downtown St. Petersburg is not where a regional MLB franchise–one that must contend with a transit-challenged, asymmetrical marketplace–will stay.

* Re: 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick and his conscience-driven decision to sit out pre-game national anthem protocol. It’s his right. Leave it at that.

* The names are now etched in Olympic history: Bolt, Biles, Phelps, Ladecky. Best of the best. Incredible, iconic athletic achievements.

And yet, there’s no room on the modern Mt. Olympus for Ashton Eaton. Who? Precisely.

Eaton, by virtue of winning the Olympic decathlon, is universally acknowledged as “the best all around athlete in the world.” The decathlon–from sprinting and pole vaulting to javelin tossing and 1,500-meter running–is that challenging, that lung-busting, that special. And that uniconic.

And Eaton, 28, also won the decathlon in 2012 in London. And he holds the Olympic record at 8,893 points. Well, maybe if he threepeats in Tokyo, he’ll get more recognition–and a Wheaties box.

* Imagine, that outrageously talented, USA women’s basketball team could still have won the gold medal had it only played University of Connecticut grads.

* Olympic sprint gold medalist Usain Bolt of Jamaica is amazing. No need to go into the details for the best who has ever competed. But when your abilities and achievements–and those nine career gold medals–speak for themselves, why add redundant self-compliments?  “I am the greatest” is manifestly true–and truly unnecessary.

* Tampa resident Tianna Bartoletta won two gold medals at the Rio Olympics–the long jump and lead-off leg of the women’s 400-meter relay. St. Pete’s Trayvon Bromell briefly had claim to a bronze for his anchor leg of the men’s 400-meter relay, but lost it when the U.S. team was ultimately disqualified for a bad baton pass between the first two runners.

* Just 77 weeks until the next (Winter) Olympics in South Korea.

* It never fails to amaze: There are point spreads for NFL pre-season games. Games that obviously don’t count in the standings. Games that will largely be decided by players who won’t even make the team. Who the hell bets on these games?

* Nine years ago I was among the late September Ray Jay crowd of 67,000 who witnessed USF’s 21-13 win over West Virginia that helped propel the Bulls of Jim Leavitt to a national ranking of No. 2 a few weeks later. That, and a 23-20 road win at Notre Dame under Skip Holtz in 2011 are arguably the biggest wins in USF history.

This year the Bulls have an opportunity for another signature win–this time one that could also impress Big 12 officials scrutinizing expansion candidates. The date is Sept. 24; the opponent, Florida State, is a top-5 pre-season pick in the AP and the Coaches Polls.

BTW, USF is the pre-season pick to win the Eastern Division of the American Athletic Conference and is coming off of Willie Taggert’s first winning season (8-5) as head coach. If it doesn’t happen Sept. 24–in front of a packed, rocking Ray Jay–a program-defining, big-time win will likely not be part of Taggert’s legacy.

In short, USF, a team with a reputation for unfulfilled potential, really needs a statement win to separate itself from other non-marquee AAC members. But it can’t afford to overlook Syracuse–in the Carrier Dome–the week before.

More than ever, I’m really liking the idea that the summer Olympic Games occur in the same calendar year as U.S. presidential elections. Thank you, gymnasts, swimmers and Usain Bolt.

And thank you Team America for providing a sense of patriotic escape. For representing what is best about us–from goal orientation and work ethic to competitive spirit and classy deportment. Nary a mention of needing to “Make America Great Again.”

Imagine, a “USA, USA” chant for Olympic success and national pride–not as a partisan, political put-down. What a concept.

* Baseball (along with softball) will be back in the Olympics at the 2020 Tokyo Games. It will be a six-team tournament. I say why bother? The Olympics should represent the ultimate competition and achievement in a given sport–such as gymnastics, swimming, track and field, wrestling or field hockey. That would eliminate baseball, which has its World Series; soccer, which has its World Cup; basketball, which has its NBA championship; and golf and tennis, which have their four majors.

* BTW, the U.S. women’s softball team will be coached by USF’s Ken Eriksen.

* If you’re going to have ping pong (sorry, table tennis), why not shuffleboard, billiards and darts too? Imagine the niche crowd that would draw.

* Shooting sports have been part of the Olympics since the Games’ rebirth in 1896. But do we really need nine events–from air pistol, rapid-fire pistol and rifle prone to skeet and trap?

* Whether it’s archery, water polo or fencing, whether NBC pays attention or not, there is something admirably authentic about the participants. This is true love of a sport and quintessential competition–without marketing-bonanza opportunities. There is no cashing in when you have a real job to return to after your team handball Olympiad experience.

* African Americans obviously are–and have long been–an integral part of the U.S. Olympic team, only now it’s much more than basketball and track and field. It prominently includes swimming (gold medalist Simone Manuel) and gymnastics ( gold medalists Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas). And the Olympics themselves, of course, are a picture of diversity and inclusiveness.

But let’s go back to the era of Jesse Owens, America’s uber iconic Olympian. The African-American sprinter won four gold medals (a record even Bolt will never surpass) at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. No newspaper south of the Mason-Dixon line would deign to publish a picture of him. No, this isn’t “post-racial America,” but imagine that sort of embedded racism.

* For myriad reasons, these are arguably the worst of times for Puerto Rico. But some semblance of solace has come from the Olympics. Monica Puig, 22, won Puerto Rico’s first gold medal in any Olympic sport with her crowning achievement in tennis. While some might have conceded gold to Serena Williams or other highly-ranked champions of the Wimbledon-U.S.-Australian-French Open circuit, Puig, a Miami resident ranked 34th in the world, was the last one standing.

* The Olympic Village is 32 high-rise apartment buildings housing 200 delegations and approximately 18,000 athletes, coaches and officials. Virtually every one has flags and banners hanging from balconies and walls displaying national identity and pride. The U.S. building is an exception. It has no identifying markings–to reduce security risks. It’s the world we live in. Equally unadorned is the building housing Israel, which suffered a horrific terrorist siege at the 1972 Munich Games.

* While the Olympics are all about competition, there is also a sense of global mingling among athletes from diverse geographic and cultural backgrounds. That has been virtually non-existent for American basketball players. The wealthy, high-profile players have not been housed at the Village, where you would find, say, Biles, Bolt, Michael Phelps or Novak Djokovic. The hoopsters are staying on a luxury cruise ship, the Sea Cloud.

It’s meant to be as stand-offish as it looks, and U.S. Olympic officials are on board with it.

“Our players are probably the most recognizable athletes in the world,” explains Jerry Colangelo, the director of U.S.A. Basketball. “…We have to protect them. They’re very valuable assets.”

* Congrats, Tony Dungy for making the NFL Hall of Fame. Dungy made history as the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl. He also made friends and earned respect everywhere he went. There is no classier representative of the NFL.

Nice touch to see the three Glazer sons in prominent attendance at Dungy’s induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio. Ironic too. The Glazer-owned Buccaneers fired a HOF coach.

* It was impossible for Alex Rodriguez to have retired without it looking awkward and hypocritical. Hall of Fame numbers, hall of shame integrity.

* The IOC decision to not totally kick Russia out of the Rio Olympics has disappointed and surprised a lot of observers. What shouldn’t surprise anyone, however, is that Russia has been exposed for a top-to-bottom doping program involving the Russian government.

Call it an extension of President Vladimir Putin’s “Make Russia Great Again” agenda. In-your-face, anti-West, anti-NATO nationalism motivate Putin. Corruption and authoritarianism have been the thematic pillars of his three-term presidency. Putin spared no cost in securing the Sochi Winter Olympics of 2014. After obscene budget overruns, environmental indifference and bribery on steroids, Sochi is now referred to as “Putingrad” by many Russians.

* Speaking of the Olympics, we’ve been seeing references of late to the “Black Power”-salute of some American athletes at the 1968 Mexico City Games. We’ve all seen the iconic photo that shows 200-meter gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos with upraised, gloved fists on the medal stand. A notable postscript, nearly a half-century later, remains: Are Smith and Carlos, who used that forum to protest racial inequities in America, due an apology for having been expelled by the U.S. Olympic Committee?

I say any apology should also include Peter Norman, the Australian silver medal winner who beat John Carlos. His moment of glory–for himself and country–was forever marred by the cascade of boos aimed at Smith and Carlos that largely drowned out both national anthems.

* Admittedly, I’m no fan of David “Big Papi” Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox. He has Hall of Fame numbers, but they’re offset by off-putting, showboat antics. Non Bosox fans get it.

But, you know, let’s do give it up for Big Papi for retiring at the top of his game. He announced it at the beginning of the season.

Few uber prominent athletes–think Muhammad Ali, Willie Mays or Hank Aaron–can leave center stage and a few more big pay days with their reputations unsullied. It takes a major measure of class to walk away while you still have game. David Ortiz is going to do that.

Unless, of course, he changes his mind after a career-year “finale.” I wouldn’t put it past him.

* Whatever else the Rays do this season, nothing will top its recent Pride Night tribute and fundraiser for the Orlando shooting victims. That it was the largest crowd (40,135) in a decade seemed only fitting.

It’s hardly happenstance that the Rays President, Brian Auld, sets an enlightened agenda at the top. “This is the civil rights issue of our generation,” says Auld, in underscoring the Rays’ LGBT commitment.

* University of Florida fans, understandably, have football and basketball at the top of their priority list for national championships. That’s not changing. But even though the softball and baseball teams fell shy this season, let’s not forget that the Gators did win a 2016 national championship: the men’s outdoor track and field team did it. Its third national title in five years.

* With all the attention surrounding Steven Stamkos and LeBron James and where they might sign, there has been an inevitable, accompanying discussion–or debate–about whether it comes down to business or loyalty. It’s both.

It’s about contracts and dotted lines, states and income taxes, agents and lawyers, payrolls and salary caps, profit and loss. It’s a business, professional sports. Of course, it is.

But there’s a difference between Stamkos and, say, Tod Leiweke, the Lightning’s former CEO, who was wooed by the NFL last year and finally signing on as its chief operating officer. It was a “bittersweet day,” according to Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, who knew what he was losing: an invaluable executive and key conduit to the community.

But that’s business. More responsibility, better compensation, higher profile. A career move for a talented exec. Next rung up. We all get it.

But the Lightning never marketed Tod Leiweke. His likeness never graced the outside of Amalie Arena. He was never the face of the franchise. He never grew up in front of fans who cheered him on like an adoptee who had embraced his new family.

Sure, sports is a business–unlike any other. You go, Tod. You stay, Stammer.

Amid the cascade of commentary and celebration-of-life retrospectives about Muhammad Ali, I’ve been reminded of a candid interview I had with Ali’s former trainer, the late Angelo Dundee. Some notes you keep. Here are a few outtakes from the iconic corner man who was also the on-set adviser to Will Smith, who played Ali on the big screen.

* “You know all that ‘poetry’ that Ali was famous for? It was mostly mine. And it stunk.”

* “What did I teach Ali? How to move in the ring. But I made him think it was his idea.”

* “What did he lose after being out of boxing in his prime? He lost his edge. He never regained it.”

* “The greatest boxer ever? Willie Pepp. The greatest impact on the sport? Ali.”

* “The Muslims really didn’t affect me. I did my job. I don’t get involved with things like a person’s religion.”