Poking, Prodding Behind the Scenes

Last weekend, after Adam Scott won a PGA Tour tournament, who did the media focus on? Steve Williams, of course, Scott’s caddy. What made Williams noteworthy was that he also was the fired caddy of Tiger Woods, and the media was intrigued by the irony of Scott winning with Williams’ aid, while Tiger struggled to a 37^th-place tie.

“The public’s right to know!” is the standard cry of the media. Maybe so, but who really cares? The traditional role of the media (including sports) is to report the news, not to make the news. But increasingly, the media seems to be deciding for us what is the news. And then they’ll beat us over the head with it, whether we like it or not.

Few fans lose sleep over whether Brett Farve is going to un-retire one more time, but the media keep harping at the question. They simply must inform us what Lebron tweeted between bites of pasta at the famed Miami restaurant. They rant over ethical molehills until they transform into mountains before our eyes. ‘Cause the public’s gotta know, right?

Now the media's spending time watching the every move and listening to every word of…a caddy! What’s next? Asking the water boy exactly how many cups of Gatorade were consumed by the Cowboys in their game against the Broncos – and how it affected the game? Interviewing the batboy about how he felt when Slugger Smith tossed his bat halfway down the first base line after the popup?

Cornering the exercise girl and asking whether she thought she might have walked the second-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby too fast prior to the race? Inquiring of the gas can man whether the fuel flowed as smoothly as usual during the last crucial pit stop?

What’s in a Name – the Name Game of Sports

“What’s in a name?” Juliet asks in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” At least in the world of sports, having the right name’s a big deal.

Take Tim Tebow, for example. From the time Florida recruited him, “Tebow” carried mystique. The name sounds athletic all by itself. No wonder he won two national championships and a Heisman Trophy. Now if he can just make a name for himself in the NFL.

Years ago, Chad Johnson changed his name to Ochocinco. But in his case, it hasn’t helped much. Maybe it’s because the correct Spanish for 85, his uniform number, is ochenta y cinco. To have the right name in sports, you have to get the name right. Something like “Peyton,” maybe?

How about Jimmer Fredette? He scored points galore for Brigham Young, and now "Jimmer" must prove he can do it in the NBA. But do you think he would have gotten as much attention if his name were Joe Wilson?

Maybe the best sports name of all is Dale Earnhardt Jr. When his dad died tragically at Daytona International Speedway in 2001, many NASCAR fans presumed “Junior” would fill his shoes. “Little E” has had a respectable career to date, with 18 Sprint Cup wins and nearly 100 top 5’s, but do you really think he’d have gotten all the media focus he’s received if his name were George Bartlett?

Amazingly, Jeff Gordon’s had a stellar career with an ordinary name. Would Danica Patrick, who’s not won in NASCAR yet, grab as much attention if she were Jill Smith?

Baseball has always been big with names, preferably nicknames: “The Mick,” Yogi, “Hammerin’ Hank,” the “Say Hey Kid,” “Joltin’ Joe,” “the Splendid Splinter,” A-Rod. It’s amazing Albert Pujols is as good as he is – there’s definitely no magic in his name.

Then we have the NBA’s divas, typically with only first names: Lebron, Kobe, Carmelo, Shaq. Perhaps the greatest of them all, Michael Jordan, was known as either Michael or MJ. But some of us still remember Wilt, Kareem, and Magic.

All great names. The Bible says names are important, too. Particularly one: Jesus. Think about it. You just read that name and had an immediate reaction – pro or con. Reading “Jesus” either just turned you off, or made you smile.

To my knowledge, Jesus Christ is the only spiritual leader whose name is used for swearing. When was the last time you heard someone cussing and say, “Oh, Muhammad!”? Or, “Buddha!”? “Confucius!”? “Vishnu!” anyone?

The Bible tells us, “…for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). And, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). Many people don’t believe it, but that’s what the Scriptures say.

So, what’s in a name? Apparently, a lot!

Oh! . . . What a Relief It Is!

That sudden wind you felt yesterday was the collective sigh of relief from fans coast to coast. The NFL lockout is over.

The United States might still be under the Atlantic Ocean in debt, and unlike any responsible person, can’t settle on a workable budget. But there will be football! The specter of global terrorism continues to loom. But yes, boys and girls, there will be NFL football. Gas prices might continue to soar, unemployment remains at alarming levels, and some states are virtually bankrupt – but hooray, we’ll be able to watch NFL football!

But what does it really mean? Well, bookies and gambling establishments will resume bang-up business. Moribund office pools will be revived. Men can revert to boys as they compete in their little fantasy football contests.

Networks with billions of dollars already committed in NFL TV commercials can reap their riches. The Peyton Mannings, Troy Polamalus and others will again collect their endorsement checks. The Terrelle Owenses and Ochocincos will perform their foolish antics for another year.

The rise in national obesity will continue as folks desperately in need of exercise remain anchored to their recliners and couches, except for occasional forays to the refrigerator and quick trips to the potty. In the process, marriage relationships will virtually be put on hold until next February.

Inner city youths can continue to ignore the value of education while dreaming about being among the fraction of 1% of young men that even get a hint of NFL glory. Many with athletic prowess will advance to universities not thirsting for knowledge, but only to bide their time while waiting to move to “the next level.” They will, however, diligently practice saying, “Hi, Mom,” from the sidelines.

And perhaps best of all, with all the NFL news to catch up on, sports media will finally cease rehashing the supposed wickedness and deceitfulness of the Ohio State Buckeyes. (At least OSU did them a favor and helped fill many boring days during the spring and early summer.)

Was there really any doubt the NFL season would be saved? The players could only hold out for so long. When you acquire champagne taste, it’s hard surviving on a Kool-Aid budget. And everyone loves the NFL, don’t they? If the lockout had continued, both the President and Congress would have intervened.

They might not be able to reach consensus on how to run the country, but we must have our football. Says so right there in the Constitution – somewhere! (Doesn’t it?)

Yup, before long we’ll be answering the question we’ve longed to hear: “Are you ready for some football?”

Champion . . . or Chump?

One week ago, no one had heard of Christian Lopez, except for family members, some friends, and his girlfriend. Saturday, with one simple act, his national status leaped to folk hero – or phenomenal chump. Depends on who you ask.

All Lopez did was catch a homerun in Yankee Stadium. The homer happened to be hit by the Yankees’ Derek Jeter, and it just happened to be the 3,000^th hit of Jeter’s illustrious career.

Lopez could have held the ball in a death grip, waiting to see how many thousands of dollars he could squeeze out of it. Instead, he gave the ball back to Jeter, saying the Yankee captain should have it. In some minds, Lopez became a champion, exhibiting selfless character. But to others, he became a chump, a fool unwilling to capitalize on his moment of serendipity.

In the end, Lopez wasn’t left empty-handed. The Yankees rewarded the 23-year-old with a personal meeting with Jeter (shown in the Associated Press photo above), season tickets for the remainder of the year (including post-season, if the team qualifies), and bats, balls and jerseys signed by the future Hall of Famer. Not a bad reward for selflessness.

Amazingly enough, many people still chastised Lopez for his magnanimous act. It’s understandable, I suppose, in a time when it’s seems common practice to take advantage of others whenever possible. “Ya gotta look out fah numbah one,” as they say in New York City.

Even some sports talk show hosts jumped on the bandwagon, questioning Lopez’s sanity in surrendering the ball without the promise of anything in return.

This last part astounds me the most. Sports commentators pontificate ad nauseum about athletes and coaches that act in self-interest. But these same “experts” seem to believe for ordinary people to act out of greed is not only normal but expected.

So it’s okay to be greedy, as long as your income is below a certain level? What level is that? If Donald Trump or Bill Gates had caught the ball and held onto it, that would have been greedy, right? But because Lopez wasn’t greedy, he’s an idiot?

Fact is, greed is an equal opportunity vice, and no respecter of income levels. A well-known billionaire once was asked a revealing question: “How much is enough?” To which he purportedly replied, “Just a little bit more.”

Frankly, I find it refreshing to hear about someone who did the right thing, rather than trying to calculate what he could get simply for being in the right place at the right time. I guess you could say that for him, it was the Christian thing to do.

The Trouble with Tangled Webs

Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott offered a timeless commentary when he wrote, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!”

TV and cinematic comedies have drawn from this truth – a small deception leading to another to conceal it, then another…until finally the protagonist is up to his or her neck in deceit run amok. Viewing such fictional calamities, we laugh. “Ha, ha, how silly. Ha, ha, he should have ‘fessed up in the first place and he wouldn’t have dug such a deep hole. Ha, ha.”

Unfortunately, web-weaving in real life is usually not as hilarious. It’s sad, even tragic. Such is the case with Jim Tressel, now-former head football coach at Ohio State who about six months ago was the toast of the town in Columbus. Seven consecutive victories over Michigan, six straight Big Ten championships, one national championship, and expectations for another in the near future.

Today, Tressel is unemployed, having resigned under intense pressure for having withheld information from superiors and the NCAA about players that broke rules. No crimes were committed, no laws violated, but NCAA rules were disregarded – and therein was the rub.

Tressel, having built a reputation for integrity, forthrightness – and faith – besmirched it all when he elected not to report the violations. As time passed, the cover-up deepened and the media outcry intensified.

Early in 2010 the coach probably thought it a small matter easily swept under the rug for the sake of a greater good. We might never know his actual reasoning. But with today’s 24/7 eyes-are-always-watching-you media and internet coverage, someone eventually checks under the rug.

Walking with integrity is a fine line, a delicate balance – especially in a high-profile positions. But it’s true for all of us. It’s a sobering reality to know regardless of our status in life, big or small, people are always watching and eager to pounce when we fail. “Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity and seek to kill the upright” (Proverbs 29:10).

Even more than that, we have an audience of one that knows our hearts, as well as sees our actions. In the Old Testament of the Bible, King David wrote, “May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you…. Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth” (Psalms 25:21, 26:1-3).

How many of us can say the same?

Crime Rates and the Gridiron

Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports have collaborated on an investigative report that determined seven percent of the 2,837 student-athletes on SI’s 2010 preseason Top 25 teams had criminal records, with nearly 40 percent of those offenses being serious crimes.

Is it time for wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth, learning about the “criminal element” in college football? Who knows? What’s the context? How does this compare to the student body at large, or society as a whole? I read one report that six percent of every 100,000 youths, ages 10 to 17 in the USA had been arrested. So in light of that, seven percent of college football players doesn’t seem that far out of line.

Almost like doing a study that shows 50 percent of all people in traditional marriages are female.

I remember one national sports radio commentator observing that U.S. legislators have a higher rate of crime, bankruptcies and other legal problems than the so-called “thugs” of the NBA.

Of course, we’d like to think each of our Saturday gridiron heroes spends his off-field hours studying diligently to ace every exam, helping old ladies across the street, visiting ailing patients in hospitals, feeding the homeless, teaching Sunday school and crusading to protect endangered species.

But let’s be honest: Many of these athletes come from disadvantaged homes, often absent a positive male role model. Survival, not upholding high ethical standards, has been their reality. For them, collegiate athletics provide a means for escaping the ghetto.

And football, as we all know, is a violent sport. Saturday game time’s are punctuated by cries from fans demanding the home team destroy the opponent, yet during non-game hours we expect these same players to forsake such dastardly demeanor and behavior, exhibiting less aggression than the Pillsbury Doughboy.

Many, thankfully, do seem able to separate gridiron hostility from their personal lives. But not all. The greater issue, it seems, is what happens to those young men once they step onto college campuses. Do their coaches take the effort to mold into them strong character qualities, along with insisting they take full advantage of the educational opportunities presented to them? Or do they simply reinforce the notion that superior athletes are above the law?

Frankly, having only seven percent with criminal records doesn’t seem all that startling. Seventy percent, certainly. Or even 17 percent. But seven? Not enough to merit screaming red headlines to announce the outcome of a “six-month investigation.”

But then, after expending lots of money and time in this study, and evidently already armed with a conclusion they wanted to document statistically, the SI and CBS powers-that-be obviously had to report something. To say “no big deal” would have been anticlimactic.

Right On Schedule

E. Gordon Gee, The Ohio State University’s animated, opinionated president, created a stir last week when he declared Boise State and TCU don’t play schedules worthy of consideration for the BCS Championship. Boise State made Gee’s statement a bit moot when it lost to Nevada.

But TCU remains undefeated and in the mix, pending the outcome of Oregon’s visit to in-state nemesis Oregon State and Auburn’s rematch with South Carolina in the SEC Championship game. If the Ducks or Tigers lose, that could launch TCU into the crystal football tussle, to Gee’s chagrin.

We need a major college playoff. It’s time for academics to give up the hypocrisy, admit major college football is big business, select the best four (or eight) teams each year and set up a playoff system, somehow incorporating the traditional bowl system.

But Gee has a point. Imagine if Alabama, Southern Cal, Texas, Ohio State (or name your favorite big-boy college football team) were to announce the following schedule for 2011: Wyoming, New Mexico State, Toledo, San Jose State, Louisiana Tech, Hawaii, Idaho, Fresno State, Nevada, Utah State, Virginia Tech and Oregon State. Except for the last two entries, even ardent fans would have to admit that’s cupcake city. Exactly what Boise State’s 2010 lineup looked like!

Or what if your team had the following slate for next year: Tennessee Tech, Baylor, SMU, Colorado State, Wyoming, BYU, Air Force, UNLV, San Diego State, New Mexico, Oregon State and Utah. Not your basic “murderers’ row,” but funny thing – that was TCU’s schedule this year.

Besides BYU, a lot of those games were the equivalent of BYE (as in, “bye week”).

Granted, Ohio State scheduled Ohio University and Eastern Michigan, a couple of cream puffs, as did all the traditional powers. But they also played a number of games against formidable opposition.

So in one sense, Gee was right. But in opposing a National Champion determined by playoffs, Gee is very wrong.