Out With 2009, In With 2010

As I haven’t written anything in awhile and the new decade stars in approximately 5.5 hours, I thought I might share some of my wishes for sports in oh-ten (I would do a retrospective of the year, but let’s face it, that takes much longer and there is revelry to take part in).  I apologize in advance for demonstrating my proclivity to include my favorite teams and to repeat some topics I may have already discussed, but hey, it’s my blog and my wishes.  Here we go:

1. A revision, almost any revision, of the BCS system

2. The Big Ten regaining some dignity and actually winning some bowl games (unlikely I know)

3. Rich Rod finally getting things sorted out over at Michigan and producing a team that goes to a bowl game (see wish 2)

4. Someone, anyone, other than the Lakers winning the NBA Finals (aside from the Celtics of course)

5. The new Chicago Cubs ownership maintaining the tradition associated with the team and the stadium and overhauling pretty much everything else.  100+ years is way too long

6. The US having a respectable showing in the World Cup.

7. The Bears making it to the playoffs (next season) by whatever means necessary.

8. The Yankees putting together another championship caliber team with all the changes and trades (I’m still nervous about letting go of home-grown guys like Melky.  You know Cano is secretly crying himself to sleep)

9. Professional athletes managing to keep their philandering out of the news.  We all know some pro athletes cheat, they’re no different than the rest of us and probably experience more temptation than the average Joe/Jane.  I just don’t want it to dominate my sports coverage for weeks on end (ahem Tiger).

10. A job as a sportscaster (highly unlikely, but arguably more likely than some of the other items on my list)

Happy New Years everybody!  Thanks for a great 2009 and hear is to an even better 2010!

Last Licks

I apologize in advance for the lack of high quality video documentation of the epic brawl between the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays last week.  Unfortunately this is all I had to go off of as I was in L.A. for work (damn the time difference and shout out to Brian for keeping me in the loop).  A full recap of the bench-clearing brawl and its implications for both teams can be found on ESPN.  This particular fight is only an example of a larger issue that I am choosing to address today.

The issue of the day is sportsmanship.  Anyone who has played any sport, even if only in gym class, knows how the practices of sportsmanlike behavior are extolled in sports from a very young age.  There are various practices involved in conducting oneself in a sportsmanlike manner; not fighting being paramount. There are rules against it in varying degrees at all levels of sporting and across various activities.  We have rules in college football for over celebration, to fines for brawling Bombers and Blue Jays (although a few thousand is likely a drop in the bucket to the likes of Posada), to even even a mild tolerance for spats in hockey.

I believe in the virtues of sportsmanship, especially in youth sports, however I can’t deny the pleasure of the occasional brawl on the professional level.  I know I probably shouldn’t say this, but I can’t help it.  Just listen to the fans in the background of the video.  They were loving it too.  The raw physicality of sports brings this out in us.  The rules are there to keep games from running amok, athletes safe and performing as the role models they ought to be, however we can’t seem to turn down a good fight.  Heck, some of our sporting events are fighting (MMA, I’m talking to you).  Where is the line drawn?  Sporting events are entertainment and many of us are entertained by a bit of aggression and violence, however sports are also provide lessons to us all on the value of hard work and honorable behavior.

I’m not condoning it, or trying to provide some sort of moral compass regarding the issue, but I do think it is an interesting issue for discussion in the sporting world.  On paper do I encourage unsportsmanlike, aggressive behavior? No! But I can’t deny I that I do enjoy watching it.

A Time Before ESPN (say it isn’t so)

Due to an unfortunate oversight by my “friends” at TimeWarner, I was left last evening without cable or internet access.  Now how is a girl supposed to watch the Yankees game? (Props to them for having a near flawless run since the All-Star break, 11-1 last night against the Mariners last night in case you too missed it.  The picture above is a relic of the Yanks of old) 

Lacking any form connection to my preferred method of tracking sports I got to thinking about life before ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, YES, SNY and even broadcast sports coverage.  Obviously there were other outlets from which people could follow their favorite teams, but unless physically present I can only assume that sports during the early 20th century lacked the interactivity that we take for granted today.  How could one possibly fully enjoy the thrill of a 11th inning walk-off or the devastation of a 4th inning slaughter without streaming coverage and highlights?

Perhaps the during these simpler times we had a bit more imagination, however I still can’t seem to wrap my head around this one.  It clearly speaks to the passion and pleasure that sports derive even if one is only able to follow through newspaper and WOM (word-of-mouth for those not in a marketing field) that sports have survived and flourished throughout history.  That energy has carried various sporting activities to the 21st century and beyond, but boy am I glad that I grew up in the cable era!

Update: Cable turned back on today. First order of business; SportsCenter.