Category: Sports

USF has done the right thing in getting serious about extending the contract of its first, only — and highly successful — football coach Jim Leavitt. The deal, when signed, would be worth $4.3 million over seven years. It would take him through 2009.

Call it a reward for a job well done; no one could have taken a start-up program farther and faster.

Also call it an exercise in enlightened self-interest. Leavitt is an extremely marketable commodity. Don’t forget, he came close to being on the Alabama sideline in USF’s opener this Saturday in Birmingham.

And pay even closer attention to what happens this season in Tallahassee and Gainesville.

If it doesn’t get any better for FSU, Bobby Bowden may decide he doesn’t want to die on the job. And Gator Nation — and by extension Jeremy Foley — won’t tolerate another season like last year’s under Ron Zook. At least one of those head coaching jobs could open up.

As for Leavitt, who genuinely loves his local roots, he makes the short list at both schools — possibly topping one or both. And Florida is still his home state.

And then there’s this. FSU and UF can pay Leavitt more. They also can offer the reality of sell-out crowds, a national limelight and the prospect of something other than a lower level bowl game that’s tied in with the lower-level, non-BCS Conference USA. And both the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference control their own destinies in this era of grid greed and conference hopping. C-USA doesn’t.

And there’s also this. Leavitt’s buyout remains a mere $50,000.

Jon Gruden isn’t exactly motivation-challenged as he gets the Bucs ready to do what few Super Bowl champions have done — repeat. If the Bucs don’t do it, it will be because of parity and luck — not complacency. This season’s mantra is “Turn the page,” as in put last year behind you and do it again.

But if Gruden is looking for more fodder to underscore the anti-complacency theme, he need look no further than the USA Today sports page. USA Today oddsmaker Danny Sheridan has already installed the Philadelphia Eagles as 3 1/2-point favorites over the Bucs in the Sept. 8 season opener in Philly.

So much for the Bucs’ 27-10 butt-whipping of the Eagles in Philly in last season’s NFC championship game. So much for the Bucs, with the league’s best defense, being better in year two of the Gruden offensive system, and the Eagles arguably less formidable with a couple of key defections through free agency.

So much for respect.

And complacency.

And Danny Sheridan.

You can’t blame the University of South Florida — oops, USF — for wanting to get out from under that geographic misnomer of a name. So, not unlike UCLA, it will go strictly by its initials, USF. And, frankly, whatever confusion ensues with the University of San Francisco, a two-time national champion in basketball, is an acceptable tradeoff.

What’s been hard to fathom is that “South Florida” has hung on for nearly half a century. But there are fates worse than geographical imprecision. Former Gov. LeRoy Collins, who voted for “South Florida,” actually preferred Florida Temple Terrace University — FTTU.

The times they are still a changin’ in college football.

Conference expansions and implosions are more the rule than exception. Congressional inquiries into cartel-claims about the Bowl Championship Series are looming. Scholarship limits and early-outs to the NFL are helping to level the playing field.

Now this: CollegeFootballNews.com has come out with a ranking of the “most desirable” college football coaches to run a program these days. The results? Not all that surprising — and not a good time to be an icon. The yardstick: What have you done lately?

Of the 117 coaches ranked, the two winningest are no better than the top one third. Penn State’s Joe Paterno is listed at 39; Florida State’s Bobby Bowden; 40. And Ron Zook, the embattled University of Florida coach who has never been confused with an icon, is ranked 49.

And, oh yes, USF’s Jim Leavitt is 36. With a bullet.

And you heard this here first.

One of the reasons that Leavitt has stayed at USF is because he loves coaching where his roots are. The other reason is that the FSU and UF jobs could open up at any time, and he would be well positioned for a run at either.

Bowden, struggling with consecutive disappointing seasons and beset by internal issues, could decide to step down sooner than expected. He doesn’t have to die on the job.

As for Zook, if he presides over another five-loss debacle, Gator Nation will demand his ouster — and AD Jeremy Foley will bite the buy-out bullet and do the deed.

Should Leavitt maintain the impressive momentum he has created at USF, he would top either school’s short list. And then move up even higher than # 36.

Everything surrounding the legal morass of former Florida State University quarterback Adrian McPherson– not just what happened in court — reeks.

McPherson’s attorney, St. Petersburg-based Grady Irvin, made a lot of whistle-blowing noise about the FSU booster program — as in the Seminoles go down with his client. He threatened to subpoena FSU players and expose alleged improper payments for autographed items. It could have spelled big trouble for FSU with the NCAA.

But it never came to that; there was no trial on felony charges; adjudication was withheld on gambling charges; and McPherson walked away from a plea agreement with the opportunity to have his criminal record expunged. And maybe play again at the college level.

He also walked away under a code of silence, according to Irvin, regarding what he may know about FSU boosters and players that may be of interest to the NCAA.

Only adding to the unseemliness was Irvin’s rationale for why another university, USF, (which recruited McPherson out of high school) would be well-served to recruit him again.

“The University of South Florida is an up-and-coming program, and I quite frankly feel Adrian would be a financial benefit (to USF) as well,” noted Irvin, as quoted in the Tampa Tribune. “I’m certain when he finally takes the field again, at least four games could be televised nationally, and that would have some economic benefit to the University of South Florida

Sunday’s Tampa Tribune had a prominent piece on Warren Sapp that included a sidebar of Sappisms. Included is one that we will all see again. And again. It will be airing in the Philadelphia media and posted on the Philadelphia Eagles’ bulletin board from now until Monday night, Sept. 8. That’s when the Bucs begin defense of their Super Bowl championship against Philly in the debut of the Eagles’ new stadium, Lincoln Financial Field.

“My first victory in the NFL was at (Veterans Stadium),” recalled Sapp. “I opened the Vet with a (butt) whooping, and I closed it with a (butt) whooping. And I love it. I’m going to get to open their new house with a (butt) whooping. It’s coming.”

Unless Sapp ups the rhetorical ante, that quote likely will run like a continuous loop over the next two months–right through the Monday Night Football pre-game hype. Red meat for the revenge-seeking Eagles, their love-hate Philadelphia media and Philly’s carnivorous, mutant fans.

And Sapp wouldn’t have it any other way. No buts about it.

First the good news. Devil Rays’ pitcher Lance Carter has been picked for Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game.

Now the bad news. Devil Rays’ pitcher Lance Carter has been picked for MLB’s All-Star game.

Look, Carter’s a nice guy who’s made a remarkable recovery from major elbow surgery, but he’s not that good. In another era, he’d be another journeyman. Maybe in the minors.

He’s a closer with an ERA over 4.00 and 30 per cent blown saves. He closes for the D-Rays because Esteban Yan was run out of town. He closes for the D-Rays because there’s nobody else.

Carter’s selection is Exhibit A for what’s wrong with the All-Star game. Every team, no matter how bereft of talent, must be represented. That’s a farce. So Carter is in — and David Wells, Mike Mussina, Mariano Rivera and Roger Clemens are out.

And to compound the already fractured, MLB Commissioner Bud “Lite” Selig has declared that the winner of this meaningless exhibition will have a bearing on the World Series. The winning league will see its World Series representative accorded home field advantage.

Imagine, in retrospect, a save or blown save by, say, Lance Carter, determining whether or not the New York Yankees, for example, are home for the seventh game against Atlanta.

Unless, of course, the All-Star Game ends in another tie.

That unfortunate, unnecessary death of the “Toughman” woman in Sarasota is now a national story. A key focus is the typically nominal oversight and supervision of such events, where mismatches frequently occur and unskilled fighters are often injured and sometimes killed. In fact, 12 men have died in such events since the “sport’s” inception in 1979 — three in the last nine months, according to the Associated Press. That’s why five states outlaw such “competition.”

The issue arising from the recent death of 30-year-old Stacy Young, an overweight, out-of-shape, untrained wife and mother of two daughters, is that a Toughman boxing-style competition could be held at all in this state. They’re basically illegal — but only where the participants’ payout exceeds $50. The obvious rationale: Who the hell would do it for not much more than gas money?

It’s apparently a loophole that people such as Young — and her husband, Chuck, who also did it and was knocked out in 29 seconds — can’t resist. A macho thing for guys. A what-the-hell lark for women such as Young. And for no more than $50. And the ersatz fighters keep on coming; they’ve been doing these gong-show slugfests in Sarasota for years.

Professional bouts are regulated by the Florida Boxing Commission. There must be two ringside physicians, an ambulance with emergency med techs and a ringside oxygen tank. Fighters must undergo physicals and be pre-approved by the commission.

And no one, of course, has ever accused regulated boxing of being risk free — or even sleaze free.

In Toughman competitions, participants pay an entry fee (waived in Young’s case), sign a waiver of liability, and have their heart rate and blood pressure checked (by a doctor). If they own up to having won five amateur bouts in the past five years, they’re ineligible. Head gear and kidney protectors are required. They punch with 16-ounce gloves.

The unregulated version — given its pool of unskilled, bravado “talent” — is a life-threatening — or ending — outcome waiting to happen. And that’s what happened in the ring at Sarasota’s Robarts Arena.

But while Stacy Young died under a hail of punches to the head, the outcome of that fatal bout — one witnessed by her husband and kids — isn’t over yet.

The Young family has retained a lawyer. Alas, what they really should have retained was some sense.

You can sue for just about anything in this society, but no lawyer is ultimately able to protect you from yourself.

A husband is now without his wife and two young girls are without their mom. Loopholes and poor supervision may have contributed. But stupidity caused it.

Beneath the clever “Say it ain’t So-sa” headlines are theories of what really happened. Call them skeptical, cynical and realistic.

Skeptics would say that it’s unlikely that the first time Sammy Sosa is caught with a corked bat is the first time he used one. And, yes, it does taint his iconic reputation as a prodigious home run hitter.

Cynics will note that the corked-bat incident deflects attention from more serious — and sinister — speculation. Namely, some of Sosa’s awesome power is produced by a diet of steroids and expansion-caliber pitching. Especially the former.

Realists see Sosa, now in his mid-30s, on the flip side of his legendary career. He’s not the hitter he once was. He recently returned to the Cubs’ lineup from the disabled list. His relative lack of production has continued — and has frustrated Sosa.

Faced with that reality and an almost obsessive desire to perform and please, Sosa resorted to using a corked bat for an edge. A corked bat is lighter and creates a bit more bat speed than the lumber he normally uses. Its value is negligible in the hands of a marginal player. In the hands of such a superb athlete and power hitter as Sosa, it can make a difference. Even if mostly psychological.

There’s your likely answer.

Sosa’s never been 34 before and hasn’t seen such puny production since the early days of his career. He made a mistake. But he didn’t pick up the “wrong” bat. At 505 homeruns — and seemingly no longer counting — he took the “wrong” approach.

That’s what he should apologize for. And that’s most fans would understand and forgive him for. Say it’s so, Sammy.

Here’s what Operation Golf War or the “Annika Sorenstam Open” was really about.

First, it was a marketing coup. The Bank of America Colonial, which typically doesn’t excite the national media, was off the charts with coverage. More than 600 reporters and the MetLife blimp hovered over and probed the event’s main attraction: Annika Sorenstam. Galleries engulfed her. Sponsors could not have been giddier had Tiger been playing.

Moreover, Sorenstam will cash in with the sort of celebrity endorsements no performance on the LPGA tour could have produced.

Second, we need to remember that this was no Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs “Battle of the Sexes” sham that should have been covered by Barbara Walters. This wasn’t some made-for-TV Fort Worthless burlesque. This was legit, and not just because Sorenstam is that good. While the Colonial is not the most demanding PGA course, this was a bona fide men’s tour event with a number of world class players such as Sergio Garcia.

Third, the game, remember, is golf. Players compete against themselves and the course. It’s not a contact sport, nor is it one where sheer power is a determinative element. At the Colonial, Sorenstam’s average driving distance was 268 yards. The two-round average for the guys was 279. If anything, it was, not surprisingly, her putting that let her down — not an average driving deficit of 11 yards.

Golf is more about eye-and-hand coordination, technique, touch, experience, consistency and mental toughness. These qualities are not the exclusive province of the Y-chromosome crowd. Saying Sorenstam couldn’t compete would be like saying Chi Chi Rodriguez was too slight to play golf for a living, which would have teed off a lot of guys.

While Sorenstam didn’t make the Colonial cut, she did prove she could compete. She shot a 5 over 145 for 36 holes. And there’s no telling how many strokes the saturation media coverage and attendant distractions were worth.

By the way, Sergio Garcia, unimpeded by a media crush, shot a 143 and didn’t make the cut either.

Just one of those days for Sergio.

Just one of those media cross-hairs experiences for Annika.