Oh Albert Haynesworth...You again

Redskins defensive tackle, Albert Haynesworth, will be added to the long list of professional athletes who have had run ins with the law; two of the common problems athletes find themselves in trouble for are sexual abuse/harassment, and assault. He was indicted on a misdemeanor charge of sexual assault Tuesday, April 26, for an incident that occurred with a waitress at the W Hotel in Washington, DC. Allegedly he caressed the breast of the waitress white she was clearing his table in February and he will be arraigned on May 10 for his charges. Haynesworth, was also recent charged with assault in connection with a road rage incident on the Fairfax County Parkway, in Northern Virginia February 2. He allegedly hit the driver while he was sitting in his vehicle. The trial to settle this dispute is scheduled for May 26.
After reading this short story in the local section of the post it brought a few

things to mind. First, did Albert think the man sitting in his car on the parkway was an offensive lineman from the famous Skins rival the Dallas Cowboys? Even though these charges are "alleged" what in the world was he thinking. Second, I thought about the charges of sexual assault. Not only can he not "allegedly" drive in the active lanes of a four lane parkway, but he also can't "allegedly" keep his hands to himself. Has he officially gone over the edge? Last summer when Albert was having trouble passing the team conditioning test in order to participate in training camp team practices the team should have really decided if he was worth keeping around. And with all these misdemeanor charges and local press attention he isn't contributing to the rebuild of his reputation with Washington Redskins fans and local sports enthusiasts. Third, I thought about the website we looked at in class today listing all the arrests in professional and collegiate sports. Have we created a society that celebrates athletes arrests and criminal activity of sports and celebrities, while downplaying their positive contributions to their local communities? Yep! When you're watching a TV show and a disclaimer taking up the bottom fourth of the screen says "Lindsay Lohan is back in Jain for 120 days" with frequent interruptions updating you of the progress in the story you realize this just might be the case? Do you think we do this because we would rather see someone, we feel has it all, fail than succeed culturally? Is it because we prefer to talk about all the bad versus all of the good? Or do you think the bad is more exciting?

Fernando Torres Finally Gives Chelsea a Return

It took nearly three months and 732 minutes in a Chelsea uniform, but Fernando Torres finally scored his first goal for the West London club on Sunday, after Liverpool on an $81 million transfer in late January.

It seemed that since he moved to Stamford Bridge, the soccer world had been enjoying the Spanish forward's struggles. For the amount of money that Chelsea had paid for his transfer, the club desperately needed him to contribute as they lingered around the coveted fourth position in the Premier League standings. Pundits have long had a problem with the way that Chelsea spends its funds, and Torres' struggles epitomized the miserable season that the club had been having. Everyone was quick to label the the 27-year-old a "bust," despite the fact that he's still recovering from knee surgery and didn't have the full opportunity to prove himself, as manager Carlo Ancelloti didn't start Torres in five of Chelsea's previous six matches.

But in the last month, Chelsea has surged to second in the standings, only six points off the lead. Torres' goal on Sunday staked the club to a 1-0 lead over West Ham, and Chelsea cruised on to a 3-0 victory.

No matter what the sport, players will hit slumps. Torres just got the timing of his wrong-- right after Chelsea shelled out all that paper to get him. This is the same player who scored 33 goals in all competitions just three years ago. He's struggling to find his form, but his presence on the pitch is one that all opponents must respect, and opens things up for Chelsea's other world-class forward, Didier Drogba.

Not to say that one goal makes him worth one of the highest transfer fees ever paid, but it's certainly a start.

The MLB All Star Game: Deciding Home Field Advantage?

In most professional sports, the all-star game is a time for fans and the sport’s top players to get to together and have fun celebrating their accomplishments. The NFL has the pro bowl where the best players get to hang out with each other instead of ripping the other’s head off each Sunday. The NBA All-Star game is one of the most sponsored events in sports and has all types of different competitions that highlight the performances of basketball’s greatest players. Yet, there is something different about Major League Baseball’s All-Star game; the winning team gets home field advantage in the World Series.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig decided a few years ago that it would be a good idea to grant home field advantage to the winning team between the National and American leagues. In professional sports and especially in the postseason, being able to play on your home field or court is a huge advantage. It is where teams feel most comfortable playing and comfort is the first step in being successful in sports. So how does it make any sense to allow a game that does not mean anything to most players involved to decide which league gets home field advantage in the World Series? Keep in mind that in the MLB all-star game, at least one player from each team gets to play in the game. There are players representing each league that play for teams that have no hope at getting to the postseason. That means that there are representatives from the 30 MLB teams helping decide the fate of the 8 teams that will play for a World Series ring. Game 7 of the World Series is being determined by an all-star game where it should be decided by the best record between the two teams. Allowing for the MLB All-Star game to decide which city game 7 of the World Series is played in is basically a two and a half hour coin flip.

The all-star game in professional baseball is supposed to mark a period where baseball is half over and players get a chance to unwind from the rigors of a 162 game season and revitalize themselves. In most professional sports’ all-star games, we see the game’s greatest players not going full speed like they usually would because there is that risk of injury in a meaningless game. However, now we have these players giving 100% to decide the outcome of a game that means nothing to less than a third of the players involved. To me, that is one of the worst decisions that Commissioner Bud Selig has ever made.

Maryland Star Jordan Williams: Is Entering the 2011 NBA Draft a Mistake?

Coming into Maryland’s nationally known basketball program, power forward and center Jordan Williams was one of the lesser known recruits in America. Actually James Padgett, a teammate of Williams, was a more coveted recruit coming out of the high school powerhouse, Lincoln high school in New York’s Coney Island. Two years later, there are now talks of Jordan Williams entering the NBA draft after only his sophomore year, leaving a gaping hole in the Terp’s tournament future. Terp fans are upset by this, and will tell you why this is a mistake. Now, we cannot fault Williams for his decision. The NBA leads to a life of wealth and stardom from only playing the simple game of basketball, and it is Jordan’s decision as to if he feels his dream can come true this year. However, this is not the way Terp fans see it. Having the privilege of watching Williams grow as one of the nation’s most dominant big men over the last 2 seasons, we are all aware of the great potential he has. Now is not the time though. While Williams may do good things in college, the NBA is a totally different story. These are world class athletes that can do it all, and if you have watched Jordan Williams closely, you have seen he is not a world class athlete.

In order to be a big man in the NBA, you must be able to do multiple things than just being a big body down low; much like Williams is in college basketball. You have to be able to shoot the ball from 15 feet, you have to be able to have a vast variety of basketball moves, you have to be a good foul shooter because of all the contact you will receive down low, and you have to be able to run the floor at a fast pace throughout the entire game. If you have paid close attention to Williams, you have noticed that even though he is a good player, he does not possess any of the qualities stated above. He rarely makes or even attempts a jump shot. He rarely uses anything other than his sheer size to get to the basket. He rarely makes his free throws, and he rarely is able to run the court at a fast pace on a consistent basis. This is not saying he won’t one day be able to do these things, but right now is not the time where he is ready for the NBA. Jordan has a chance to be a great pro player, but that is in the future, not right now. If you told me Jordan Williams would be a first round draft pick after his senior season, I would agree. If you said he would be a first round draft pick after this year, I would be skeptical. Williams will get manhandled in the NBA by some of the big men he would go up against. In my opinion, he should stay here at Maryland where things are looking to only get better with this program and strive for a long run in the NCAA tournament. Leaving for the NBA now will only lead to a career of mediocrity, much like former Terp John Gilchrist did.

2011 track and field acc championships

This past weekend in durham north carolina at duke university the 2011 mens and womens acc track and field championships took place. There were strong performances shown on both the mens and womens side for the maryland terrapins. On the mens side freshman thrower josh hagighi placed top eight again in the shot put. His 7th place finish is one place better than his indoor performance and he bettered his personal best by around 6 inches. Also in the field, high jumpers jon hill and dwight barbiasz placed 4th and 1st. In the pouring rain dwight barbiasz jumped 2.13 meters to place first;his teammate jon hill jumped 2.07 meters to place 4th. Jon hills height of 6'9.5" was tied by 4 or 5 other jumpers but becasue of one miss at 2.07 he placed fourth while 2 other competitors clearing the same height placed 2nd and 3rd. On the track, football star avery ghram appeared in his second collegiant track meet competing in the open100 m and the 4x100. the mens 4x400 team showed a lot of heart with runner summanth kupalli participating. Kupalli is a distance runner and filled in for an injured 400 runner for the relay. ON the womens side there was an equally impressive effort displayed. Senior thrower kristen batts placed 1st in the discus and also top 5 in the ehammer throw. Thrower moriah young had two personal bests in her respective events. She pr'd in both the shot put and the hammer throw. On the track, runner deanna brown had a galient effort in her events. She made it to the finals in the 100 and had a leg in both the 4x100 and 4x400. Next weekend the terps will participate in the famous penn relays and for those who havent qualified for the regional meet, they will try to do so there.

Mike Leake caught stealing $60 worth of T-shirts

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6384863

Yesterday ESPN reported that Mike Leake, the 23 year old Reds pitcher, was arrested yesterday for shoplifting and could serve jail time for up to 180 days. For a young pitcher that makes just under 500 grand a year, why would he steal $60 worth of t-shirts from Macy’s? To me this makes no sense. Why would someone who makes as much money as Leake ever even take the chance of being caught and have his career in jeopardy? Obviously nothing will ever come of this in court or really jeopardize his career because of who he is, but why even take the chance? When you see something like this I can see why people stereotype athletes as being entitled. Decisions such as this one are the reason why athletes get the rep of doing dumb things for no good reasons. Many athletes get upset when a little thing they get in trouble for is magnified through the media. However that’s the risk they take when their successes can also be magnified. So many young kids these days look at professional athletes as their role models and people to look up to. When you have a young, successful athlete doing something dumb like this it affects the kids that look up to the athletes. Professional athletes have a lot of perks and privileges that come along with their money and fame, but they also have to realize they live in a house with glass walls. Professional athletes, especially young ones, need to realize the responsibility they carry along with their large contracts.

Black kickers in the NFL

I came across this on the ESPN website and found it very interesting. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft2011/news/story?id=6336567 Its an article that discusses why black kickers are rare.

Most of the ones that have come through have been Africans who had a soccer background. The article speculates that kickers must go to expensive camps to get noticed and get opportunities to even play at the college level.

The article speculates that black athletes would rather play a skill position and not the kicker spot. Its not an 'intelligent' position or one that demands superior athletes. That's what makes this entire piece and thought very interesting. Its not a prototypical racial line because its neither mental or physical (like with the traditional social darwin theory)

Why do you all think there are so few black kickers?

Could heavyweight class have diamond in the rough?

With the NFL lockout still in the midst players are looking for other job opportunities. Chad Johnson going to soccer is probably the example that most people know about, perhaps because of his character and flare he has gotten more publicity than others. Soccer isn't the sport that some other players are looking towards. Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski has already won his first two fights in the boxing ring. Another player that is looking towards the sport of boxing is the defensive end from the the Minnesota Vikings, Ray Edwards. Ray Edwards is 6'5'' and weighs around 270lbs. As with most defensive ends in the NFL he displays extreme athleticism for such a big man. In an interview with ESPN he said, "I can be the greatest that ever did it" referring to boxing. In the article about Edwards he is compared to Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. From what I could tell by the interview that he had with ESPN this is based solely on his physical attributes because he was very well spoken and did not make any (Tyson-like) statements. For Ray Edwards and boxing this could be a great opportunity. He said that he has always done some boxing training and feels great in the ring. He already has a fight scheduled for May 20 which will be his professional debut with an undetermined opponent. The sport of boxing has been falling for some time now and this could be a revitalization, especially for the heavyweight division. This class is not very competitive right now and needs a young superstart to be the man. Edwards could possibly be this guy. He said that he didn't believe that anyone could get close to him because of his jab, which is most likely true because the length of his arms. I am looking forward to his debut. On another note the real news is that players are out and about looking for other job opportunities. Other that boxing Ray Edwards also is pursuing a career in modeling, and as mentioned earlier other players are looking in other places as well.

A call for Kemba

This year’s NCAA tournament turned out to be one of the most interesting tournaments of all times for several reasons. To start, as always around 6pm on selection Sunday, the great debates start, who should have gotten in, and what schools lucked up and received gifts by receiving bids. Adding 6 extra teams not only made this year’s debates more interesting, but also more intriguing. The NCAA decided to add an 11^th and 12^th seed play in game. Many felt that this was extremely unfair as why would a seed as high as 11^th or 12^th should have to play this extra game. As most people, including myself believed this was just a way of drumming up more revenue by adding extra game, no one would have imaged that one of the teams from this “added tournament”(VCU) would be a participant in this year’s Final Four. But the real story in this year’s tournament came from the likes of Kemba Walker and Jimmer Fredette, they darlings of this year’s tournament.

As both had excellent years, it was Jimmer that received the AP 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball player of the year. Kemba, even after leading his team to the championship, has never received the accolade that his counterpart has received. Agile, and discipline are just a few of the glowing descriptions that Jimmer has been given, whereas Kemba has been described as tenacious, fiery and quick like a fox. As both athletes are great and contribute a great deal to the sport, I just see Jimmers attributes as one of a settled well rounded athlete where as Kemba could be perceived as a caged man just waiting to unleash a wrath of terror on his subjects. Now I am not knocking Jimmer’s abilities or accomplishments that he displayed this year, but the year does not stop once we get to March Madness. This is the time that the “player of the year” really needs to turn it on. Kemba lead his team to an unprecedented 5 games in the Big East tournament, then took part in the West Region of the tournament and won 4 games, only to cap it off by winning two more in Houston, to win this year’s championship.

I think the NCAA and other sports venues, feel the need to push Whites in sports that seem to be dominated by African-Americans. We have seen the battle many times and in several sports, Bird-Magic, Tiger (and he is questionable on whatever race he wishes to call himself) - Couples, Bonds-McGwire, and the list could go on and on. Kemba led a team that going into the Big East tournament had a 9-9 record in one of the best leagues in the NCAA, loser of 4 of the last 5 regular season games, and was too many on the bubble to get into this year’s field. They shocked most of the sports world by not only winning the big dance, but winning it the way they did. Their team was saturated with underclassman, and to get the job done someone had to step up, and Kemba Walker was the man that did. He single handed, carried the Huskies through the Big East Tournament (scored a record 130 points and played 190 out of 205 minutes) and consistently kept his team focused in rout to cutting down the net on April 4 after a 53-41 win over Butler. This to me is what not only make a champion, but are the attributes needed to crown the AP Player of the Year.

Cam Newton Controversy

As the NFL draft draws near, it is interesting to look back at the previous 2010-2011 NCAA season. The national championship, Auburn tigers were led by Cam Newton who lined up as the signal caller. Although before priding himself under the "War Eagle" cry and wearing the navy and orange, the path for Newton's success was affected by a series of incidents.

In 2007, as a dominant high school recruit from the state of Georgia, Cam Newton orginially signed his letter of intent to become a gator at the University of Florida. However after becoming involved with the theft of a laptop computer, Newton would withdraw from the university. After withdrawing, Newton would attend Blinn College, a junior college in Texas where he would lead his squad to the National Junior College Championship. After enrolling at Blinn College, Newton made it possible to get his name back on the recruiting boards of big-time football powerhouses across the United States. Upon being a heavily-touted junior college recruit, Newton would find his calling as he decided to enroll at Auburn University, where he would be the starting quarterback for the 2010 season.

The 2010 football season brough much more to Cam Newton, than a National Championship win over Oregeon Univ, as well as winning the Heisman Trophy. Despite being a monstrous figure lining up as the tiger's quarterback, Newton possessed all the skills essential for reaching Heisman Status. However the majority of Newton's dominant season had little to do with his performance on the field. The NCAA spent much of the 2010 season investigating the inovolvment of Cam Newton's father, Cecil Newton with receiving roughly $100,000 from the Mississippi State university during his son's recruiting process. The investigation determined that Cecil Newton, solicitated his son's athletic ability in exchange for about $100k. The acts of Cecil Newton with accepting money from a college were by all means an NCAA violation. Therefore the NCAA would rule Cam Newton ineligable for the remander of his season prior to the SEC Champiosnhip, National Championship and Heisman Trophy ceremony. However, Auburn University challenged the NCAA and asked for Newton's reinstatement, which was approved.

Cam Newton would then lead the Auburn Tigers to a SEC and National championship as well as winning the Heisman Trophy by a unanimous decsion.

The story of Cam Newton is an engaging story to say the least. However what is interesting to notice is the fact that the NCAA investigated the path to star-dom of Newton after he attained his success. Soliciting of athletes goes on at a variety schools throughout the U.S. through bribery and incentives, however you have the decision to accept/decline these offers, Cecil Newton just got caught in the act of accpeting moeny in exchange for his son's talent, which resulted in pure dominance on the gridiron.

Cam Newton's success provided the platform for his father's actions to be investigated by the NCAA.

maryland track meet

This past weekend at the university of md the terps hosted their invitational meet. The terps had some good and mediocre performances. IN the thorws the lady terps took 1-2-3 in the hammer. Moriah Young Kristen Batts and Jessie echard placed 1-3 and are looking giood heading into conferences. Amina smith placed first in the high jump with a solid jump of 5'6" which is far off her pr but well enough to win the meet. The womens 4x100 squad got first looking very strong in their race. On the mens side, freshman josh hagighi placed first in the shot put on his last attempt. Although banged up, he is looking to place high at the conference meet. Sensational high jumper jon hill did not compete. He is trying to perserve the torn miniscus in his knee for the rest of the season in hopes of placing high at the conference, regional, and nationbal meet. Team mate dwight barbiasz also did not compete and is training hard to win acc's hopefully break the school record. The mens and womens terps will be competing at duke for the acc's in 2 weeks and look to show a good performance.

Manny Ramirez

Manny Ramirez walked away from baseball this week, electing to retire rather than face a 100-game suspension following his reported positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.

It's the perfectly fitting cap to a career that saw the best of both worlds: it featured arguably one of the greatest power hitting right handed hitters of all time and ends with speculation of how much of Ramirez's statistics were accumulated with natural power.

Buster Olney of ESPN.com wrote a great article about Manny. He says that Manny gets the last laugh because people will argue back and forth about his Hall of Fame worthiness or how great of a player he truly was, but Manny never cared.

How can one argue about his statistics when, at the end of the day, he just did not care? As Olney puts it, "He won. He's like the guy who robbed a bank of millions and was sentenced to 10 hours of community service."

I personally feel foolish for caring or even feeling hurt by the issue, but the game of baseball that I grew up knowing and loving and following is completed tainted. Ramirez is just one more link on the chain of supposedly "great" baseball players that have played the public for a fool.

It's not an issue of race, either. Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro are two prominent white baseball players who took PEDs. Manny Ramirez joins Barry Bonds and others as players of color who are suspected of taking these supplements.

In the end, baseball will move on and be better off for gutting itself of the steroid era and all performance-enhancing drug users. However, it's going to take some time and more steps to explain to fans like myself how players like Ramirez got away with this for so long. This wasn't "Manny being Manny" this was "Manny being a jackass who thought he could get away with anything" and it finally caught up with him.

Lebrons' Mom

Recently Lebron James' mother was arrested in Miami for assaulting a hotel valet, because he did not bring her her vehicle fast enough. Following the arrest of James' mother I began to think about a rumor that I had heard last summer as to why Lebron and the Cav's did not make it far in the postseason, despite the fact they finished the season 61-21. The rumor I heard was that Lebron James' mother had sex with his teammate Delonte West. Although this may sound completely ridiculous, if you think about the fact that his mother was just arrested for drunkenly beating up a hotel valet, then the story becomes a whole lot more possible. In my opinion, anyone who will assault a valet for taking too long to get their car, would probably have sex with their sons' teammate prior to his biggest NBA postseason of his career.

Now if we assume that Mrs. James did in fact have sex with West, Lebron's subpar playoff performance makes a significant amount of sense now. Furthermore, Lebrons' mother's actions may have in fact helped determine whether or not King James stayed in Cleveland. Although we can only speculate as to why Lebron sucked in the playoffs last year, despite the fact of having one of the best regular season performances of his career, it is interesting to think about whether or not his mother would actually do such a atrocious thing. I am also curious as to whether or not African American professional athletes are more likely to face public family issues than are white athletes.

Race and Basketball: Why whites lose interest

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/18/nba-race-buzz-bissinger_n_825284.html
^
Read this article before continuing, emailed courtesy of Jonathan England.

This article points out some things that are problematic of the NBA in that white fans can not connect to the players because they do not see hard working individuals, but slackers that slide by on being physically gifted. The author also makes other claims and though I agree with some of the issues that he brings up and also the reality of the situation of white fans, I think that being a fan of sports means liking a player for where they are from, what situations they have overcome and where they are today. To say that white fans are losing interest in basketball because the majority of players are black is a ridiculous claim.

Another claim the author makes is that whites look at black men as lazy asserting that some think that "they don’t have sufficient desire, their body language during timeouts connotes boredom, they are always looking in the stands for the next concubine, [and] they just don’t have that blue-collar work ethic that makes great white athletes great". This again creates problematic assumptions because if black athletes were so disconnected and had a lack of work ethic, then why do white men still fail to usurp black men as the best athletes. Black men are not out there to look around and cruise by. If the sport had more racial parity then we would probably see black and white men who were lacking in work ethic. We would see great white players and black players instead of feeding into the stereotypes that we do today.

Though scouts may be looking for black players to play the sport, white men can still work to show that they have the skills to be great players. Saying that black men are just naturally better has no basis. Black men may put more effort into the sport from a young age but do we say that about white men in golf. They put in years of hard work to get to the level that they play at and are not pointed out as just naturally gifted to play the sport. If anything, white men are learning of the hardships that many African Americans go through to interview for a front office job in a major company or the lead role in a huge Hollywood production. The few main people will get a shot such as the Denzel's but the new talent will have to struggle to find a way into the spotlight. One can even go so far as to say that white American men are too lazy to compete against the work ethic of the African American basketball player. There are white men all over the globe that are superior athletes, yet it is basketball that is singled out as the sport of slackers.

This article was weakly thought out and should be better constructed to consider both sides of the problem. The only thing I agreed with totally, was the last paragraph which stated that basketball is "a game that is embedded more than ever with beauty and grace and strength and acrobatics". The author should go back to his notebook on this one and rethink his strategy of attacking loaded issues.

Worst Sports Fans

I recently read GQ's article, The Worst Sports Fans in America and my immediate reaction can be best described as a sense of pride, and I guess that’s why Philly fans are the number one worst sports fans. Despite this feeling, I have to admit that some Philly fans have made it very hard for Philadelphia fans to be respected. And those incidents have happens more than once which only adds to the problem. Philly fans definitely earned the number two and number one spots, die hard fans that show no mercy to the opposing team’s fans, no matter the age, gender or race.

It’s ironic to me as a student of Maryland and also a resident of Philadelphia, that Maryland basketball fans are also included on the list, and in the top five. The irony is that when I went to one of my first basketball games at Maryland during my freshman year, I thought to myself that the derogatory way that Terp fans were acting reminded me of my high school basketball games. During high school basketball games we would always yell at the opposing players and fans, which was just an extension of how we would act at professional sports games.

All violence aside, you won’t find fans more passionate anywhere in sports than you’ll find in Philadelphia. Many of those fans should learn how to express themselves more politely, but in the end, they’re only cheering and supporting the team they love through good times and bad. And besides, what’s considered one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Worst sports fans to GQ, best sports fans to Philadelphia.