Commentary on who won, who lost and who cares.
From free parking and bring-your-own food allowances to a total attitude adjustment, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have been doing more than talking a good game.
Now add one more touch: Bringing in Al Lopez Jr. to toss out the first pitch at the Rays’ opening game on Friday, April 10. It’s a classic win-win. A classy gesture to honor the memory of the area’s only Hall of Famer – and an astute, inclusive move to reach across the bay to the Tampa market.
The World Baseball Classic was obviously far from perfect in its debut. For everybody but Cuba, this is the pre-season. That means timing and conditioning is an issue. That’s why there were pitch-count limits. Spring-training inconvenience and concern for injuries prompted a number of players to beg off. Sometimes at the behest of their Major League clubs. That’s why we didn’t see the best at their best.
The round-robin rules precluded the team with the best overall record, South Korea, from even making the final. There were the “Abajo, Fidel” signs in San Juan.
And yet it was interesting — and kind of refreshing in a sense.
The 2006 salaries of the players representing the USA, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela totaled $471 million. Those from Cuba about 7,200 pesos. Only Cuba made the final, where it lost to Japan.
And as for the Major Leaguers, notably the Americans, who don’t bring their “A” games until early April – well, tell that to Jorge Cantu, who played for his native Mexico. The Devil Rays’ second baseman actually performed with the skill and intensity of a Big Leaguer – and the can-do Cantu personally accounted for the runs that eliminated the U.S.
Whether USF did the right thing by keeping head basketball coach Robert McCullum through at least next season remains to be seen. In all likelihood, the university has deferred by a year what seems inevitable: the replacement of a good guy who can’t get it done at this level. It will mean only two – not three — seasons of a contract buyout next year.
Under McCullum USF has played 86 games and won 27. The Bulls have lost 20 games or more in two of his three years at the USF helm. In its first season of Big East play, the Bulls went 0-15 – pending the outcome of the season’s finale against Georgetown. The team was on a year-long collision course for a worst-in-its-history season. Nostalgia for the Seth Greenberg era is never a good sign.
But what has been determined is that USF, however tempted, will not be going after former University of Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins.
Good. Huggins gives “outlaw” a bad name.
Allowances – notably injuries and departures for various reasons – can be factored into McCullum’s woeful record. He’s had success earlier in his career, and he comports himself in a dignified fashion. His Bulls were never criticized for work ethic and scared some really good teams along the way. He could yet return this program to respectability, if that’s the goal, although he would have to do it in the country’s toughest conference, the Big East.
In short, don’t count on this being anything other than a one-year reprieve. He’s still not shown the ability to recruit competitively, and that’s truly the name of this game. It’s especially critical in basketball where a program can literally be turned around over night with a couple of prized recruits.
But at least USF, desperate as it is to escape its embarrassing rock bottom-feeder status in Big East hoops, has shown it’s not about to make a deal with the devil. At least for next year, McCullum will be the coach – not Faust.
Aubrey Huff, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ outfielder/first baseman, has been popping off of late about how the organization should either trade him or stop talking about it.
Two points.
First, not even a team gag order could prevent major media speculation about Huff and several other Rays with market value, substantial salaries and approaching free agency.
Second, trading Huff is more problematic than it should be. It’s no secret that hustle isn’t part of his game – nor is he a positive presence inside the locker room. If Huff wants to effect a trade or improve his peace of mind, he should play like it: be more productive and less obstructive.
When Armwood High head football coach Sean Callahan was going through the interview process at Valdosta (Ga.) High, there was more than speculation that he might leave. There was also – abetted by the media – criticism that greater appreciation hadn’t been lavished on Callahan and his ultra-successful program that had earned two state championships and a runner-up the last three years. And make no mistake, “appreciation” meant Hillsborough County doing more to keep him – like adding some perks.
Wasn’t it a disgrace, went the reasoning, that Armwood’s Lyle Flagg Stadium had, for example, no field house. Moreover, the locker room wasn’t air-conditioned and the weight room was unconscionably undersized. There wasn’t even a separate office for Callahan. And Armwood’s coaches were still subject to the countywide supplement of $3,200. If the program wanted something extra, such as trophy cases, nicer signage, or new practice-field sod, it needed to go the fund-raising route.
Two points.
First, there’s a lot to like about high school football, not the least of which is excellence achieved through effort, perseverance and teamwork. In some cases, it leads to scholarships that otherwise wouldn’t be forthcoming. And amid all the options open to young people in an increasingly churlish culture, this is still among the healthier avenues for having fun.
Having said that, we’re still talking about a game. An extracurricular activity like no other to be sure, but still a game. It’s not why students are in school. It’s not more important than most other school activities. It shouldn’t be yet another reminder that we live in a society skewed toward deified, double-standard athletes.
And, frankly, I’m glad we’re not Valdosta, where the head coach can make nearly $100,000 a year and doesn’t even have to pretend to “teach.” And where the facilities rival many college programs. All of which is absurd, and that genie of priorities run amok can never be rebottled.
The Hillsborough County School District has myriad challenges, including overcrowding and underfunding. It doesn’t need to underwrite pricey perks for sports programs, no matter how laudably successful.
As for Armwood, per se, pride, pep rallies, proclamations, banquets, scholarships and success for its own sake will have to do.
Does anyone pay any attention anymore to anything that Rafael “I have never taken steroids. Period.” Palmeiro says about his positive steroid test last season? He still suspects the B-12 vitamin he received from Baltimore teammate Miguel Tejada. “I’m going to take the responsibility, me being careless and taking something (not) knowing if it was clean
Out with the eggnog, in with the green tea. The overindulgence season is over. And once again, it included too much football after again vowing to cherry pick only the games that were really, really worth watching.
These leftovers:
*Orange Bowl: An endurance test even for this hard core Penn State alum. The game that wouldn’t end. In regulation. In overtime. In a second overtime. A Penn State offense that looked like it hadn’t played in more than seven weeks. A barrage of penalties. An onslaught of commercials and network promos. An inanely interminable half time. An exhibition of awful place kicking.
Unfortunately, someone had to lose more than sleep. It was the gracious Bobby, not the grumpy JoePa.
Speaking of college football’s legendary elder statesmen, enough on the ongoing endgame about who will ultimately have more victories among Division 1-A coaches. Bowden, 76, still has 359; Paterno, 79, now has 354.
It shouldn’t be ignored that Bowden is the beneficiary of 31 wins while coaching Howard College (now Samford University). For the record, that means that a Paterno win against, say, Florida State counts as much as Bowden wins against Maryville and Millsaps.
*Outback Bowl: “Urban Renewal” is more than a cliché now. But Iowa got hosed.
*Meineke Car Care Bowl: May Santa soon grant Jim Leavitt’s fondest wish. A quarterback.
*Rose Bowl: In a game with the unprecedented inclusion of two Heisman Trophy winners, it was Texas’ Vince Young who was a man among boys.
After the death of Pat Tillman, the NFLer turned Special Forces enlistee, there was a moratorium on use of “warrior” to describe football players. But it’s seeping back. It’s not just dumb; it’s disrespectful.
When a team comes from behind to win or make a game competitive, certainly give it props for the effort. But, please, no more references to “they could have just given up” at some point. That’s the faintest of praise. For the pros, worst than an insult. Playing, even from behind, is their (obscenely well-compensated) job. Putting forth less than maximum effort – even with an imposing deficit — is fraudulent.
Outback postmortem: For hoteliers still smarting that Florida Gator fans didn’t fill nearly as many hotel rooms as South Carolina fans would have, here are some statistics – if not solace. According to the Wall Street Journal, which did a study of Nielsen ratings for 15 bowls over (as many as) 15 years, teams such as Florida (with or without Steve Spurrier) consistently bring home the TV ratings, which drives advertising rates, which pays a lot of bowl bills.
“To nobody’s surprise, among the best draws were schools like Michigan, Florida and Penn State, which have great football pedigrees, large alumni bodies and are located in populous states,” notes the WSJ. “These schools tended to boost ratings by as much as 8 per cent above the average. On the other hand, schools that are isolated from big cities (Virginia Tech, LSU, West Virginia and Syracuse) suppressed ratings by as much as 21 per cent.”