Posted on June 29th, 2011
BOBBY LUCAS
By DERON SNYDER
Jan Vesely’s magic moment came when he kissed his girlfriend on ESPN and shook hands with NBA commissioner David Stern. Bobby Lucas‘ magic moment came when he attended a pre-game reception at Nationals Park and shook hands with team owner Mark Lerner.
Consider that yet another difference – about No. 53 – between NBA draftees and their MLB counterparts.
Granted, Vesely (introduced Monday at a news conference) was selected by the Washington Wizards with the sixth pick overall, while Lucas was tabbed by the Nats with the 817th pick. Doesn’t matter. Baseball’s top picks also experience a sliver of the attention and high life that’s heaped upon newly minted NBAers. Even the Bryce Harpers and Stephen Strasburgs head toward relative anonymity after the draft, sent to toil in outposts such as Hagerstown and Harrisburg.
Lucas, a left-handed pitcher out of George Washington University, enjoyed a special night with the Nats’ brass a week after the draft. The 27th-round pick met fellow alum Lerner and was recognized during an alumni event. Lucas had signed his contract that day and carried it with him. Lerner joked that he would personally deliver it to general manager Mike Rizzo.
“That was pretty cool,” said Lucas, who led the Atlantic 10 with 95 strikeouts this year. “Mr. Lerner came up to me and said hello and we talked and got to know each other. That was one of the coolest things about being drafted.”
It surely can’t compare to being feted in New York for a couple of days and strolling across a stage like Vesely did. But that figures, since “cool” and “MLB” are rarely in the same sentence unless you’re discussing weather.
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Posted on June 24th, 2011
By VANESSA W. SNYDER
I’m grateful and humble that my daughters enjoy reading. However, there are times when I fear the computer and other technology might be hampering their interest in reading. Since I’m a teacher and since it’s summer I’m really concerned about the amount of time they spend reading.
Weak reading skills can result in a lack of comprehension, critical thinking, fluency and vocabulary. Furthermore, the learning and knowledge that is lost over the summer is well documented. Teachers and parents lament this issue every year. Reading can go a long way in minimizing this loss of learning.
Summer is the perfect time to focus on reading, which really spans all subject areas. Students love to say how much they hate to read, but the reality is there are things they’ll like to read if we point them in the right direction. Here are some tips for keeping your child reading during summer break, and all year long:
Be proactive. Don’t just tell your children to find something to read, present them with choices. Visit the public library and find out what’s popular among teens. Spend time researching your child’s interests. And, yes, reading magazines is okay, too.
Establish incentives. If you have a truly reluctant reader. Try offering incentives. This might be in the form of gifts, special privileges, cash, etc.
Read a book with your child. I read Twilight and hate to admit I actually enjoyed it. One benefit of reading books with your child is that you can have conversations together about the book. You can even do this as a family.
Search summer reading lists. Most schools or districts provide these materials, but if not, look online.
Find/form a teen book club. This can be a lot of fun if you can use a book that other teens are reading. Meet every couple of weeks and serve snacks. Prepare questions and try to hit all of “Blooms Taxonomy.”
Read a book online. The digital generation is more apt to read a book this way and it’s perfectly fine. If you happen to own a Kindle or another such device, then certainly use it.
Have a family reading time. This is similar to the Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) strategy that is popular among many educators. A certain time every day, everyone stops and reads. There’s no reason this can’t be done at home.
Set up a special reading space. This might be a bean bag in the bedroom, a rocking chair on the porch or a comfy chair with a foot rest.
Posted on June 23rd, 2011
BY DERON SNYDER
The world’s best golfers have convened in greater Washington, causing me to reflect on a personal mystery inside an enigma. Surely there must be others in the same position, wondering why they haven’t joined the legions on the links.
I don’t golf.
Not that it’s been a definitive, conscious decision. I just haven’t done it yet. But I want to try … I think.
Part of me is tired of being the odd man out, who can’t relate to friends and family talking about their chips, putts and drives. Part of me is envious of the way they lose themselves for hours on those beautiful golf courses.
But part of me is scared, too. Scared of a game that’s obviously maddening. Scared of its addictive nature and time demands. Scared of whom might get hurt — self included — if I ever start playing.
Thankfully, former pro golfer David Feherty is just the man to help me and other golfophobes.
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Posted on June 20th, 2011
By DERON SNYDER
An open letter to my father, Stanley Howard Snyder:
Hi. Another Father’s Day has come and gone, yet another that I spent wondering how it would’ve been having you in my life.
Ma says that you liked sports, especially the New York Giants. I wonder what you would’ve thought of my childhood allegiance to the Giants AND the Dallas Cowboys. It caused a terrible conflict whenever they played, but their disparate reputations back then helped ease the discomfort. The Cowboys always were good while the Giants always stunk, so rooting for the hometown underdogs was easy to do, with little reason to believe they’d actually win.
I guess my true loyalty showed when the Giants finally started winning in the ‘80s. They hadn’t reached the playoffs since the early ‘60s, so I was pulling hard for them against Dallas.
Your love for sports must’ve been passed to me genetically. You certainly weren’t there to nurture it or direct it. Poor Ma, bless her heart, was too scared to let me play football, my first love.
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Posted on June 16th, 2011
By DERON SNYDER
You don’t have to be a LeBron James/Miami Heat hater to be glad that the Mavericks won the NBA championship. You don’t have to detest the conspiracy among James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to be happy that Dirk Nowitzki stuck it out in Dallas and prevailed. And you don’t have to despise the Heat’s preseason celebration in Miami to enjoy the irony of the Mavs’ celebration Sunday night in the same arena.
Holding those sentiments might help, but they’re totally unnecessary.
All you really need is a love and appreciation for basketball as it was meant to be played.
“I just want to say this is a true team,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after Dallas defeated the favored Heat in six games. “This is an old-school bunch. We don’t run fast or jump high. But these guys had each other’s back. They played the right way. They trusted the pass.”
This isn’t to suggest that Miami isn’t a true team. Though many observers foolishly claimed as much, games against the Heat aren’t five-on-Big 3 affairs. No championship squad ever hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy without significant contributions from seven, eight or nine players. Miami would’ve been no different had it won.
While I never bought into the notion that the Heat were less of a team due to their star trio, or they somehow were the “bad guys” for self-directing their careers, there’s a certain satisfaction in the Mavs’ victory.
Nothing against the Heat, but Dallas winning the championship this year was better for basketball and the NBA.
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Posted on June 15th, 2011
By DERON SNYDER
Their high-profile positions give them access to gifts and services not available to everyone else. They know they’re not supposed to accept the extra benefits, but they do so anyway, often bringing shame to their institutions when caught. Despite numerous examples of prohibited perks leading to a downfall, the cycle continues, with new reports surfacing on a regular basis.
No, not quarterbacks and point guards in college dorms, but politicians and CEOs in halls of power.
Paul Magliocchetti, head of a powerful lobbying firm on Capitol Hill, pleaded guilty last fall to campaign-finance fraud. Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, was convicted in November of illegal contributions and money laundering. Jack Johnson, former Prince George’s County Executive, pleaded guilty last month to accepting bribes. And in my home state, New York, the scandal-scarred Legislature is crafting a bill to address an unprecedented string of corruption and ethics cases.
When adults are willing to risk criminal charges and jail time for hundreds and thousands of dollars, we shouldn’t be surprised when teens and 20-somethings risk their collegiate eligibility for tattoos, autographs and sweet deals on a car.
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Posted on June 10th, 2011
BY VANESSA W. SNYDER
T
he other day I overheard my daughters arguing about the childish behavior of one celebrity.
“Anybody can make a mistake!” one argued.
“Yeah well he’s old enough to not be having a tantrum for all the world to see,” the other retorted.
“Look I used to have tantrums…does that make me a bad person?”
“Used to?”
The conversation dissolved from there, but you get the idea. I was about to intervene until I realized they were repeating things I’ve said to them or someone else.
Have you ever just listened to your kid and heard yourself talking? My husband used the word “idiot” once to describe the actions of another driver in traffic, and the girls couldn’t wait to come home and try it out. I can recall many statements that flew out of my daughters’ mouths after originating in mine. Some of them good and some I wish I had kept to myself.
So if you’re inclined to use curse words, don’t be surprised when yours kids use them, too. Or if you like to gossip, don’t be annoyed when your kids pick up the habit.
It’s easy to forget they’re listening and paying attention because there’s not always an outward indication. And it goes beyond gossiping and cursing. For instance, math is not my favorite subject. I have terrible memories about trying to master math concepts in school. This isn’t something I want my daughters to pick up, so I’m careful not to whine and go on about it. But it’s a challenge, especially when I see one struggle with her math.
Despite the way kids often behave and despite what they say, they watch and listen more than we think. The influence we have on them is real and not to be taken lightly.
I have to watch myself every time I make a comment about my weight, my hair or anything else for that matter. They’re listening even when I don’t notice. They even pick up our sarcasm and try it out on us – which just isn’t pretty sometimes.
So remember the old lesson, especially when children are within earshot: Think before you speak.
VS
Posted on June 7th, 2011
By DERON SNYDER
The folks at Nike were amazingly prescient in November 2005 when they unveiled a 110-foot high by 212-foot wide billboard to introduce their new ad campaign for LeBron James – “We Are All Witnesses.” Yet they couldn’t have imagined how much the proclamation would evolve over five seasons, twisting and turning as James morphed into arguably the NBA’s best player and sports’ most-hated superstar.
Along the way, it has become difficult to determine exactly what was being seen, especially by the legions of newly minted “hostile” witnesses. Their account differs sharply from sympathetic observers, which is only natural. But the venom and vitriol from those who would testify for the prosecution is so acute, neutral onlookers can be pushed into the defense’s camp. It’s enough to make you sound like an apologist when you’re not even convinced there’s been any wrongdoing.
That’s the position I keep finding myself in, baffled by the level and extent of criticism heaped on James since he joined the Miami Heat. Previously, I enjoyed James as a player but was neither a fan nor a detractor. When he left Cleveland to team with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, I figured there’d be championships in their future, though I didn’t want them to enjoy instant gratification by winning it all this season.
But now, I’m virtually rooting for James and the Heat, simply to spite all the haters against them.
Continue reading…
Posted on June 2nd, 2011
By DERON SNYDER
Fifty or so years ago, before they became commonplace at major colleges such as Louisiana State, the University of North Carolina and the University of Florida, the nation’s top African-American student-athletes played at HBCUs such as Grambling, North Carolina Central and Florida A&M. Professional scouts knew where to find them, too, traveling to black schools to watch future all-time greats on the basketball court, football field and baseball diamond.
But HBCUs no longer serve as black athletes’ primary pipeline to the pros. That function is left to big-time programs in the major conferences regularly featured on TV. Fine. Part of progress includes the right to attend any school, and if prime-time athletes largely abandoned HBCUs, so be it. However, it’s not fine if HBCUs fail to adequately educate the athletes they receive.
According to the NCAA’s annual Academic Progress Rates, HBCUs aren’t getting the job done for their athletes in the classroom, ostensibly the schools’ most important battleground. The APR, which measures the eligibility and retention of student-athletes, is calculated for every team at each Division I school, using data collected over a rolling four-year period. Teams are rewarded for retaining athletes and for having athletes make progress toward degrees that year. Low scores lead to penalties, including bans on postseason play and a reduction in scholarships.
In this year’s report, spanning the academic years from 2006-2007 to 2009-2010, 103 teams at 67 schools were sanctioned for poor academic performance. Of those teams, 33 hail from HBCUs. Of the eight teams that suffered postseason bans, half hail from the historically black Southwestern Athletic Conference.
The numbers are alarming because they’re so disproportionate. More than 340 schools were evaluated for APR, but only 24 — about 7 percent — are HBCUs.
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