Category: Sports

My go-to memory of Muhammad Ali was being glued to the radio in our Philadelphia kitchen listening to his 1964 upset win over Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship. There then followed a career like no other. A braggadocious, charismatic, graceful, hybrid athlete-showman like no other. He owned the media, inside and outside the ring.

But for all his accomplishments and controversy, nothing made more of a gut impact than his stand for civil rights and his position on Vietnam. He gutted his own career–at its peak–by refusing induction in the military draft. He explained–in inimitably Ali fashion–his unvarnished reasoning.

“I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong,” he famously said. “Shoot them for what? They never called me nigger.”  He pulled no punches.

* The SEC, as we know, has been embarrassed into doing “something” about athletes–OK, football players–with a proclivity for, and often track record of, sexual assaults. That means looking at tougher guidelines for whom it accepts–out of high school and via transfers.

Two points.

First, given the big-business that is college football, we can’t expect big-time programs, with big-time budgets, big-time expectations and big-time swagger to suddenly get the religion of only recruiting legitimate “student athletes.” Won’t happen. That genie will never be rebottled. Blue-chip predators will still find a place on a college campus.

Second, enough of the behavioral euphemisms, such as “mistake” and “bad decision.” That’s insultingly disingenuous. A “bad decision” is not studying hard enough for a final exam. A “bad decision” is joining the wrong fraternity. A “bad decision” is not sexual assault.

* For those of a certain age, the name Brad Culpepper–as in Culpepper Kurland TV ads and billboards–means high-profile personal-injury attorney. But for a lot of us, there was a gridiron before there was a courtroom for Culpepper. In fact, the former Florida Gator and Tampa Bay Buccaneer defensive lineman has made the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame class of 2017.

* When the Rays played the Arizona Diamondbacks of the National League this week, they were playing, of course, under NL rules–and thus no designated hitter. They were also, as a result, at a disadvantage. Another reminder that MLB has allowed this major rule disparity since its American League debut in 1973. Now virtually every collegiate and professional league uses the DH. But not the NL.

It’s as if the NFL agreed to let conferences determine whether they would permit the 2-point PAT. Or the NBA shot clock or the NHL overtime rules varied between conferences.

The designated hitter is no longer an experiment. It’s been around for 43 years. This is not about baseball purists. If it’s the same game, then the same, standardized rules should apply across the board.

* Rays utility infielder Tim Beckham has shuttled back and forth to the minors the last two years. There’s a reason. The other day I was watching the Rays-Twins game and saw Beckham, given a rare start because of injuries, get a rare hit. Then he got picked off. Last week he cost the Rays with a nonchalant play in the field.

After each such occurrence, I can’t help but hearken back to the 2008 MLB draft, when the Rays took him No. 1 overall–and passed on the likes of first baseman Eric Hosmer of the Royals and catcher–CATCHER!–Buster Posey of the Giants. Yeah, it’s second-guessing, but, yeah, it still hurts because the ripple effects are still so blatantly obvious.

* No, the Lightning didn’t make it to the Stanley Cup finals and, no, the Bolts weren’t named the top professional sports business team of the year by SportsBusiness Journal. But they came close on both. They made it to game seven of the conference finals with only token appearances by Ben Bishop and Steven Stamkos, and they were the top-rated franchise in the NHL. And let’s not forget that the Lightning was ranked No. 1 in the ESPN Ultimate Sports Rankings last year for stadium fan experience.

Safe to say that the Lightning is seen as a professional sports model. Just ask the Rays and Bucs.

* Speaking of the Rays, they are not conceding bad attendance until there’s a facility change. They remain very proactive in their marketing. In fact, what they’re doing in Clearwater breaks new promotional–and societal–ground.

The Rays have donated hundreds of vouchers–good for four seats to any home game the rest of the season–to the Clearwater police. Officer may use the vouchers to reward car owners who lock their vehicles–and discourage auto theft. Whatever it takes, apparently, including what residents should be doing in their own self interest anyhow.

* Zika, water quality, rampant crime, crippling recession, presidential impeachment. There are multiple reasons why the Summer Olympics in Rio is beyond poor timing. Wouldn’t this be an appropriate time to reconsider Olympic venues? Too often they’re a product of corruption in the selection process and nationalism at the expense of infrastructure priorities.

How about holding the Summer Games in Athens, the birthplace of the Olympics, every four years? Money not spent on bribes can help the Greeks do the hosting.

* A detail often ignored when baseball-stadium scenarios are scrutinized is the role of Major League Baseball, per se. The NFL helps pay for stadiums; MLB doesn’t. Doesn’t this business model need to change?

* The Rays have well-documented issues with injured players and those brought in who haven’t measured up. Stuff happens. But nothing is as frustrating as the inconsistent performance of All-Star pitcher Chris Archer, the ace of the staff. He has a losing record with an ERA that’s embarrassing. His post-game comments amount to: “I have to execute better.” Yada, yada.

Here’s another theory. Maybe the well-compensated, lengthy-contracted 27-year-old has been too caught up in other roles and image. He’s the team’s union rep–usually the province of a more senior player. He’s the good-looking, articulate face and voice of the franchise. He has a well-noted, protean Afro look, sports cleats with gold trim and is the Gatorade go-to guy who splashes teammates during post-game TV interviews. ESPN followed him around in Cuba, although he didn’t pitch and doesn’t speak Spanish. He’s gets involved in community and charity work. He travels as an MLB ambassador. He’s special.

But maybe he should just go back to being Chris Archer, a young pitcher with a ton of obvious talent.

* Maybe it won’t matter, but the Lightning, as we know, do not have home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference finals with Pittsburgh. The Penguins finished the regular season with 104 points and the Bolts had 97. Seems fair enough, although teams from different divisions don’t play identical schedules.

But then there’s head-to-head competition, a seeding tie-breaker in various sports. The Lightning won all three regular season games against the Pens. A series sweep, arguably, should count for something beyond confidence boost. But it could be a moot point–unless, of course, it comes down to a game seven in Pittsburgh. Go, Bolts.

* Baseball fights are often oxymoronic exercises, with much more yelling, pointing and restraining than actual fighting. Except last Sunday when the Texas Rangers Rougned Odor cold-cocked Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays. That was a bat-flippin’ shock.

Because of the Odor haymaker, much less was made of another story line. Winning pitcher Matt Bush of Texas recorded his first big league “W.” Yes, the same Matt Bush, 30, who was once with the Rays organization. The same Matt Bush who recently finished serving 3 1/2 years for a DUI accident in Charlotte County in 2012 that caused serious injury and involved leaving the scene of the accident.

Bush is still in Alcoholics Anonymous, has a curfew, has to avoid alcohol and can’t drive. A Rangers official or his father are constant companions off the field.

No, Bush’s story didn’t warrant the media coverage accorded the Odor-Bautista punch-out, but stories of redemption–and possible inspiration to others needing to turn around their lives–are more important.

* There’s a good reason why in professional sports it’s often said that some of the best trades are the ones that aren’t made. Lightning General manager Steve Yzerman wouldn’t argue. Exhibit A: Jonathan Drouin.

Yzerman would never have gotten market value for the heralded but underperforming young forward. Within months, Drouin, 21, has gone from sulking, soft wannabe with major potential to a gritty, graceful NHL adult with franchise-player potential. You can’t script this stuff.

* Former University of Florida  head football coach Will Muschamp, now the first-year coach at South Carolina, has wasted no time in putting his imprint on Steve Spurrier’s former team. He just fired the long-time equipment manager and his staff. Prior to that, he had jettisoned the team chaplain.

Now he has to do something meaningful if he doesn’t want a repeat of his Gator experience. But that would mean better recruiting, a more congenial personality and a less dismissive attitude toward the media. Getting rid of the equipment manager and the chaplain was the easy part.

* MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is in a tough marketing position.

The nature of his game is to be relatively pedestrian paced–and video replay (more on that later) hasn’t helped. Baseball isn’t perceived by younger demographics to be as “cool” as basketball and football, although modern players have been injecting more personality and publicity of late.

It has to do with “bat flips” and various, emotional on-field gestures that have prompted some older fans and Hall of Famers to criticize some modern players. As in “disgrace to the game.”

Manfred stood by his younger players. “I suspect that you will see more exuberance from our players on the field,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing.”

Manfred said what he had to say–given baseball’s challenge to market to a younger, more diverse audience that doesn’t relate to how the game used to be played. But he also needs to differentiate between “exuberance” for the game and respect for the game. Call it the difference between self-confidence and “swagger,” or among showing animation, showing off and showing up your opponent. We know it when we see it. Regardless of generational lens.

* Brian Anderson does color for the Rays, and is one of the best in the business. He knows the game, has a sense of humor and enjoys great chemistry with play-by-play partner Dewayne Staats. He also has a way of candidly channeling viewers thoughts and comments. To wit: “You’re destroying this ball game.”

He said that during a recent Rays-Red Sox game that involved multiple, lengthy video-replay delays. The kind that ironically reminds you that baseball, of all games, truly needs speeding up–not slowing down. And in the end, in this instance, it wasn’t clear whether the call on the field was right or not. There was no MLB political correctness on Anderson’s part. He explained what the video showed–and didn’t show–and dialed directly into the fan frustration. He did his job; I kept watching.

* Former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel has made embarrassing headlines, been cut by the Cleveland Browns and been indicted for misdemeanor assault. But arguably, he just hit a new low. He was officially dropped by agent Drew Rosenhaus.

Rosenhaus is one of the top agents in the game. He chooses clients carefully and goes to the mattresses for them in hard bargaining with management. He’s been doing this for 27 years and had never terminated a contract with a player–until Manziel.

* Is there a better custom in professional sports than the formal handshake line at the end of a best-of-seven NHL series?

* Unless it’s opening day, a killer concert or a Bosox flashmob, attendance at Rays’ games is often not far from four figures. Now, apparently, we can add another variable: something to do with popular, Golden Glove outfielder Kevin Kiermaier. More than 30,000 were at the Trop on Saturday, which featured a Kiermaier bobblehead giveaway, and nearly 22,000 turned out the next day as fans under 14 were gifted with blue Kiermaier gloves.

* Speaking of Boston, it deserves a shout-out for being one of four major league cities to ban smokeless tobacco–as the Rays chewers found out this week. It’s been long overdue, and the remaining 26 MLB cities need to get on board.

It’s not just a stupid part of baseball’s “culture.” It’s spit-prompting and off-putting on TV. It can have perverse role-modeling impacts on younger viewers. And then there’s that salivary-gland and oral cancer thing.

* Forget about a two-county tax scenario and CSX subplots. The Rays will not leave the Trop to relocate to Oldsmar. Doug Bevis, Oldsmar’s mayor, thinks it has possibilities. But that’s the way tiny-town mayors think. It was interesting, however, that encouragement was provided by some local, non-St. Petersburg-based state lawmakers: Rep. Jamie Grant, R-Tampa; Rep. Larry Ahern, R-Seminole; and Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater.

* I’ve never been a fan of sports such as basketball, soccer and tennis in the Olympics. Not when there’s the NBA championships, Wimbledon and the World Cup, which are so much more meaningful for those sports. Plus you have the mega millionaires among the divers, pentathloners and wrestlers, a potentially weird dynamic if underscored.

It will be in Rio in August. Once again, NBA players won’t be staying in the Olympic Village. Too much like the dormitories they were forced to live in for that one year in college. Word is they will stay on the Silver Cloud cruise ship that markets itself as the “Leader in Luxury Cruising.”

“We don’t stay in the village because we don’t feel it’s the best way to prepare for competition,” explained a USA Basketball spokesman. It’s also a way of compensating the players for agreeing to give up off-season lifestyle time to represent their country.

* Once again, Tampa acquitted itself well on a national stage for hosting its second “Frozen Four” at Amalie Arena. It’s worth an estimated $10 million in economic impact, plus all those ESPN cutaway shots to highlight an area that looks particularly alluring in early April to major markets up North.

By all accounts, the NCAA loved everything from the sell-out crowds and the facility to the chamber-of-commerce weather and local hospitality. Bids for future Frozen Fours will be accepted this fall, and it hardly hurts that Brian Falson, chairman of the NCAA Division I men’s hockey committee, is also the athletic director at the University of North Dakota. And UND is the school that just won the national championship.

* Among those in town for the Frozen Four was former Lightning captain Marty St. Louis. We all know the circumstances, hardly classy, that he orchestrated in order to leave two years ago. So plaudits to Lightning owner Jeff Vinik for having St. Louis as his suite guest. Vinik recognized him for all he did for the franchise for more than a decade. Classy move.

* Chris Archer: He’s the face, voice and go-to marketing image of the Tampa Bay Rays. But right now he just needs to be a reliable starting pitcher.

* When Villanova won the NCAA men’s basketball championship, it started three seniors. Its point guard was described as a “small white guy with choirboy looks.” Nobody on the team is a future NBA star. At this level, that is an anomaly among today’s sham student-athlete, one-and-doners. For Villanova, call it won-and-done right.

* MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was at the Trop for the Rays home-opener.  Even while being generally diplomatic and upbeat, he was still pragmatic in discussing the Rays’ gut stadium issue. “I think the geography here would suggest it’s possible to have a stadium that would be more centrally located for the overall Tampa Bay metropolitan area,” noted Manfred.

* Given that baseball is a 162-game marathon of a season, there are no “must win” games till the September pennant drives. But opening day at the Trop is as close to “must win” as you can get in April. It’s the one–and maybe only–game of the year sure to be a sellout. You’d like to make the experience as good as possible for those in attendance. Good enough, possibly, to think about coming back for more Rays games. Alas, it was a 5-3 loss to Toronto.

* This is the last season for Boston’s David Ortiz. It’s been dubbed an official “farewell tour.” It also begs a question. Ortiz is not Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera. So, will opposing fans and players, especially pitchers, pretend they like him? Or just show that they’re glad to see his showmanship hit the road?

* Sometimes it’s easy to forget that this is 2016. Case in point: the U.S. women’s soccer team is going to court for equal compensation with their male counterparts. Their arguments: They are manifestly better (winners of three World Cups and four Olympic gold medals), and they generate twice as much revenue. If anything, they should be paid more–a lot more.

* Every year there’s some controversy about who did–or didn’t–get into the NCAA basketball tournament–with a chance to play for the national championship. I agree with ESPN’s Dick Vitale that teams should at least have a winning record in their conference–no matter how powerful a “power conference” it is–to get an invitation. I’d even go further. No more than three teams from any one conference.

Put it this way, if you’ve already proven that you’re no better than the fourth best team in your conference, what are you doing competing for a national championship? Accomplishment matters more than parity rationales.