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Educational Priorities

A Plant High swimmer, Amy Donahue, just signed a national letter-of-intent to attend the University of Florida. Donahue was a double winner at last fall’s state championship and has serious 2016 Olympic potential. And Florida is certainly a powerhouse in swimming.

Congratulations. Well-earned. Go, Amy. Go, Gators. Go for the gold.

But I have to admit to conflicting feelings on this one.

Still a junior, she will graduate early and forgo her senior year at Plant to train at a major swimming school. Sure, being even better prepared for an Olympic shot is understandable, but so also is allowing a kid, however talented, to stay a kid a little bit longer and finish her high school years in, well, high school. One more homecoming, one more prom, one more opportunity to max out on the only opportunity she’ll ever have to be a high school senior.

Sports Shorts

* After a handful of games, the pattern is already a familiar at Tampa Bay Rays’ games at the Trop. If it’s not opening night, a notably cool, bobble-head (Wil Myers) giveaway or a weekend series with the Yankees, attendance remains a challenge.

* How weird was that Friday night win over the New York Yankees–and not just because the Rays finally scored a lot (11) of runs. Yankees reliever César Cabral had a score line that hadn’t been matched in 100 years. In just 23 pitches, Cabral managed to give up three hits, yield three runs and hit three batters without recording an out in the eighth inning.

Cabral was ejected from the game by home plate umpire Joe West after hitting Evan Longoria, James Loney and Logan Forsythe. West was afraid Cabral would hurt–not just hit–one of the Rays and retaliation could jeopardize some Yankee players. West did the right thing.

Yankee manager Joe Girardi, however, was not pleased with West’s ejection of Cabral. He didn’t like having to further deplete his bullpen. Too bad. Joe Maddon is too classy to say it, but it should have been Girardi’s job–not West’s–to remove a player who was becoming, for whatever reason, a danger to those around him.

Sports Shorts

* Do any markets with professional sports franchises have a classier group presiding over their teams than this one? Joe Maddon set the bar high with the Rays–with being so much more than a baseball “lifer.” He’s articulate, educated, involved, respected and liked by those he manages.

The Lightning’s Jon Cooper and the Bucs’ Lovie Smith are cut from the same classy cloth. In a business–in effect, a parallel universe–where winning is everything and half the teams lose–these legitimate role models reflect well on their organizations. And by association, on this market.

* I’ve never been a fan of the president of the United States welcoming championship teams, notably professionals, to the White House. It’s become a pro forma cliché. The exception: Olympians and World Cup players. They actually represent their country–not a franchise or a sponsor.

Case in point: The White House recently feted the Boston Red Sox for having won the 2013 World Series. In what no longer appears to have been a spontaneous gesture, Boston’s David Ortiz took a selfie with President Barack Obama on his Samsung smartphone. Then shared accordingly. Just days earlier Ortiz had signed a promotional deal with Samsung, which was reportedly pleased with the selfie publicity.

Boston Strong: yes. Ortiz product promo: no more.

* We all know that USF sports’ fortunes ride with the two highest-profile, revenue sports: football and men’s basketball. And we’ve seen a predictable hiring-and-firing dynamic when they’ve fallen far short. Is baseball, always important in the hotbed that is Florida, next?

Mediocrity has been the hallmark of baseball during head coach Lelo Prado’s 8-year run. The Bulls haven’t made the NCAA tournament since 2002. And Prado’s contract is up this year. If the Bulls don’t turn this around and qualify for 2014 NCAA post-season play, look for rookie Athletic Director Mark Harlan to act on Doug Woolard’s last prominent, contract-extension holdover.

* Time was that when a college athlete left school early to turn pro, it was because he was ready to cash in. Ready as in accomplished at the university level. We get that, even though we abhor the “student athlete” sham that too often accompanies these scenarios.

Now we hear that University of Florida basketball forward Chris Walker, thought to be headed early to the NBA, has announced that he will, instead, return to Gainesville. “I’m happy to say I will be joining the gator-nation again for one more year!” he recently tweeted.

Some details: Walker has been projected as a possible (late) first-round draft pick. His “one more year” at UF will be his sophomore season. His “accomplishment”: After joining the Gators late because of academic issues and NCAA violations, he went on to average 1.9 points, 1.3 rebounds and 4.8 minutes of playing time. He was not the first player off the bench. But it was his call, not the NBA’s, that he needed to, well, actually accomplish something before turning pro.

This says something about more than the options of certain “student-athletes.” It also speaks volumes about the quality of the NBA.

Crucible Greets New USF AD

By all accounts, Mark Harlan, 44, the former senior associate athletic director at UCLA, is a good catch as USF’s new AD. He was praised by his UCLA boss Dan Guerrero as a “true leader,” a “hard worker” and a “star.” When he was introduced locally, he made good impressions all around and talked about the USF “fan experience” as a prime goal.

But talk about hitting the ground stumbling.

His starting date was moved up to better accommodate imminent USF priorities. Then shortly after unpacking, he was confronted by DiplomaGate. The all-but-fully-vetted Steve Masiello of Manhattan College was all but hired as the new basketball coach until there was a late-breaking revelation about his résumé misrepresentation. He never did get that communications degree from the University of Kentucky. Oops.

To some, it might seem almost incidental, if not excusable, for a fast-tracking, hot-shot, marketable coach, but it should matter mightily in a world where big-time “student-athlete graduate” is too often oxymoronic. If the coach, who was a seldom-used sub as a four-year, Kentucky player, never got his degree, he’s necessarily in a hypocritical mode whenever–or if ever–he encourages his players to keep up with their studies. USF couldn’t countenance that.

But nobody looked good on this hiring debacle, even though due diligence was ultimately done. The Bulls, as we know, went back to square one, re-doubled their recruiting and vetting efforts and landed Orlando Antigua, 40, the high-energy, bilingual, top assistant with the University of Kentucky as their new head coach. He’ll be on the job as soon as Kentucky finishes up with the Final Four.

The Dominican Republic-born, Bronx-raised Antigua is known as an accomplished recruiter. He has played for the Harlem Globetrotters and been the head coach of the Dominican Republic’s national team. And, yes, he has a college degree: a B.S. in social sciences from the University of Pittsburgh, where he played from 1991-95.

Antigua’s hiring has taken the spotlight–and heat–off of Harlan. Because the Masiello mess had happened on his watch, however incipient, Harlan had been taking more than his share of public criticism. And it wasn’t fair.

Masiello was the one who lied about his qualifications. USF’s recruiter, Texas-based Eastman & Beaudine, didn’t check a key credential until it was almost too late. And Manhattan obviously didn’t vet at all.

Bottom line: USF, a big-time university with more potential than success in the revenue sports of football and men’s basketball, needs to turn this thing around. Too many losses, too many bought-out contracts ($7 million to coaches it no longer employs) and too few fans at games have been weighing on everyone who cares.

Ultimately Mark Harlan will be judged on how he plays the crucible hand he’s been dealt. That now has everything to do with Orlando Antigua and nothing to do with Steve Masiello. In the first big upset of the Harlan-Antigua era, the Bronx topped Manhattan.

Chris Del Conte, the AD at Texas Christian University, knows Harlan and put it this way: “The University of South Florida got better the day they announced Mark Harlan as their athletic director…His word is gold. When he tells you something, you can count on it.”

Harlan didn’t tell anyone that losing teams and dwindling attendance would be acceptable. But he did promise that a positive “fan experience” was a top priority. And that only comes with winning.

Good luck, Mark.

And buena suerte, Orlando.

Sports Shorts

* Good thing this has been the Year of the Gators in basketball. UF suffered through that beyond-awful 4-8 football season and was embarrassed on its home field by FSU. Now U.S. News & World Report has released its annual law school rankings, and FSU (No. 45) was ranked ahead of UF (No. 49). You can bet that UF’s Levin College of Law will be filing an appeal.

* Yeah, it’s March Madness and I’ve been all in for the Florida Gators. The number-one ranked team in the nation won both the Southeastern Conference and the SEC Tournament. But 67 other teams, the majority of whom won neither a conference nor a post-season tournament, were also invited to the “Big Dance.”

Frankly, I liked the NCAA Basketball Tournament better back when it was 24 teams. Every team, whether from a major conference or not, had won something. And for those conferences, such as the Southern and the Atlantic Coast, who held post-season tournaments, it was all or nothing at the end.

That’s why, in a given year, Davidson or VMI–not West Virginia–represented the Southern Conference, or why Clemson or Wake Forest–not Duke or North Carolina–represented the ACC. Nobody went to the “Big Dance” by being the sixth best team in a power conference.

* Richie Incognito: Has there ever been a more ironic name for one of the more highly publicized, notorious people in our pro sports culture?

* A quick check of the ATP World Tour Rankings in tennis yielded this reminder of America’s erstwhile male dominance. There is one American, Tampa’s own John Isner, in the top 25. He’s ranked 13th. Spain and France lead the way with four players each. There are as many Latvians and Bulgarians as Americans–one.

Sports Shorts

* Yeah, it’s March Madness and I’m all in for the Florida Gators. The number-one ranked team in the nation won both the Southeastern Conference and the SEC Tournament. But 67 other teams, the majority of whom won neither a conference nor a post-season tournament are also invited to the “Big Dance.”

St. Louis Bolts From Tampa Bay

Now that the emotion has faded from that less-than-classy exit from the Lightning orchestrated by Marty St. Louis, we can take a more dispassionate look at the context.

We know St. Louis, 38, had wanted to move closer to his home in Greenwich, Connecticut. That’s why the New York Rangers, an hour’s commute away, made sense for him. And we know that he thought about this back in 2009, during the pre-Vinik, chaotic-“cowboy” ownership days.

We also know that the chemistry between St. Louis and Bolts’ general manager Steve Yzerman had been devolving since St. Louis was initially left off of the 2014 Canadian Olympic team. Yzerman was Team Canada’s executive director and cast a key vote in personnel decisions.

St. Louis felt snubbed–by his own GM. (For what it’s worth, the Philadelphia Flyers complained publicly that their man, Claude Giroux, was passed over when St. Louis was later named to replace the injured Steven Stamkos.)

But there’s another aspect to selecting a national team. It’s choosing the best combination. More of a priority than pure skill is complementary skill. Nobody knows that better than the coach. In this case it was Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings.

Reportedly, he’s not that keen on St. Louis. Hardly coincidental: St. Louis didn’t make Canada’s 2010 team that was also coached by Babcock and directed by Yzerman. The case can certainly be made that while Yzerman was St. Louis’ boss, he also owed Babcock a major say in picking the players he would actually coach.

Moreover, when St. Louis was added to replace Stamkos in Sochi, he played sparingly: 37 minutes total. He was scratched for one game and dressed, but didn’t play at all, in another: an embarrassment for an elite player. But he picked up a gold medal.

But nothing, ultimately, matters more than this: The captain bolted on his teammates, franchise and fan base with only 20 games left and the Lightning struggling to stay in the playoff hunt. After 14 seasons, six All Star games, a Stanley Cup, MVP awards, scoring titles and countless choruses of “Louie, Louie”: Marty, we hardly knew ye.

USF’s New AD

Among the things that universities reference when bringing in a new athletic director is the new hire’s commitment to actually graduating “student athletes.” The new guy at USF, Mark Harlan, had been senior associate athletic director at UCLA. And the Bruins have one of the better reputations among the big-time players.

UCLA’s current student-athlete graduation rate is 87 percent, second only to Stanford in the Pac-12 Conference.

Sports Shorts

* Those new Bucs’ uniforms: NASCAR, only not as subtle.

* No one knows exactly how to weigh the factors that resulted in Marty St. Louis forcing the hand of Tampa Bay Lightning management in orchestrating that trade to the New York Rangers. We do know this: The captain walked out on his teammates, this franchise and the fan base with 20 games left and the Bolts heading into the playoff crunch. Never thought we’d see these words in the same sentence: No class, Marty.

* The Tampa Bay Rays are a consensus pick for World Series contender this season. The online Bovada site is not atypical. It lists the odds of the Rays winning the World Series at 12-1 or sixth overall. The top five: Los Angeles (13-2), St. Louis (8-1), Detroit (9-1), Boston (9-1) and Washington (9-1).

* It says something about turnover in a volatile business: Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman now reign as MLB’s longest-tenured manager/general manager tandem. It also says something about performance: Since 2008, the Rays are the only team to post at least 90 wins five times.

Sports Shorts

* Once again, the Rays, not unlike a number of other Major League Baseball teams, are still a few players short well after spring training officially opened. Not because of injuries, but because of visa problems. We’re talking the Dominican Republic. Again.

Put it this way: If your main export is baseball players, the visa process has to be a priority.

* I loved that Russ Cozart quote during the run-up to another Brandon High state championship in wrestling. The Eagles’ coach, in assessing the intangibles of a program that is the standard of excellence on the mat, said: “Confidence is part of the sport, but being cocky isn’t.”

He said nothing about his team wrestling with “a chip on its shoulder” or bringing some “swagger” to the competition. When you’re good, as in really, really good, your talent will say it all. Why render it annoyingly redundant and classless?

How old school. How refreshing. How much basketball and football could learn from the Brandon Eagles wrestling team.

* USF’s All American Conference home football games for 2014: Connecticut, East Carolina, Houston and UCF. With last year’s understandable drop in attendance, the Bulls can use all the help available and having UCF, the Bulls’ only rivalry game, is a decided plus. The Knights, who made a major splash on the national scene last season and have always drawn well, have never mattered more to USF.