Posted on March 12th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
With his favorite tournament just three weeks away, Tiger Woods was playing some of his best golf in recent memory. He finished second in the Honda Classic last week, with a closing 62 that represented the best final round of his career. The second-place showing marked his best finish in a PGA Tour event in 30 months.
If Woods wasn’t all the way back from that fateful Thanksgiving night in 2009 — when an early-morning accident and revelations of adultery blew up his marriage and life as he knew it — he was getting pretty close.
But Woods’ troublesome left leg caused him to withdraw Sunday from the Cadillac Championship. That brings into question not only his prospects for the Masters but also his long-term goal of eclipsing Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 wins in the major tournaments.
“I felt tightness in my left Achilles warming up this morning, and it continued to get progressively worse,” Woods said in a statement. “After hitting my tee shot at 12, I decided it was necessary to withdraw. In the past I may have tried to continue to play, but this time I decided to do what I thought was necessary.”
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Posted on March 11th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
The brackets for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament have been filled, meaning we can forget about the regular season … except it seems to be forgotten nowadays way before Selection Sunday.
Once the bubbles burst and arguments about who did/didn’t get in die down, the tournament itself should be fine. It consistently produces some of the most drama, excitement and raw emotion that sports can offer. But while the final destination remains enjoyable, the road in getting there is a growing concern.
This might be the wrong time to mention college basketball’s problems, such as dwindling attendance, mediocre teams and limited stars. We’re still digesting where teams are headed and their potential matchups en route to New Orleans. We don’t want to hear about “saturation” and “overexposure” right now. At this time of the year, we relish the opportunity to see every game.
Conference tournaments continue to serve as tasty appetizers, giving us flavorful upsets this season in the SEC, Big East, Big 12 and ACC. The nation’s top four teams going in — Kentucky, Syracuse, Kansas and North Carolina — were dumped by Vanderbilt, Cincinnati, Baylor and Florida State, respectively. No. 7 Ohio State and No. 8 Michigan State engaged in a delightful, back-and-forth tilt for the Big Ten championship, before the Spartans prevailed to earn the final No. 1 seed.
But even those tourneys seem to have lost some luster in recent years. Barely a handful of teams are capable of playing their way into the main event, while the power-conference heavyweights lose little ground in defeat, as evidenced by Kentucky, Syracuse and North Carolina earning No. 1 seeds.
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Posted on March 9th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
College basketball seems to have the same ugly problem every decade or so, when the integrity of its games are brought into question by gambling allegations.
It happened in the 1950s, when the City College of New York was involved in a scandal that eventually reached seven schools and 32 players. It happened in the 1960s, with the arrests of 37 players from 22 colleges.
It happened in the 1970s, when gangster Henry Hill of Goodfellas fame orchestrated Boston College’s game-fixing scheme. It also happened in the 1980s, when Tulane University players engaged in shenanigans, and in the 1990s, when players at Arizona State and Northwestern did likewise.
Now, on the eve of college basketball’s showcase event — the NCAA tournament, aka “The Big Dance” — officials might be on the verge of another black eye, courtesy of Auburn University. According to Yahoo Sports, suspended guard Varez Ward is under investigation by the FBI in an ongoing point-shaving probe.
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Posted on March 8th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Fans in several NFL markets are working themselves into a lather, becoming hot and bothered at the thought of Peyton Manning saying “I do” to their team. Manning’s departure from the Indianapolis Colts was expected, but that didn’t lessen the excitement anticipation once it became official.
The Washington Redskins are considered a leading suitor for Peyton’s services, which means D.C. sports fans will experience the emotional wringer for the second time this year. The Nationals were presumed to land prized slugger Prince Fielder a mere six weeks ago, before the Detroit Tigers swooped in unexpectedly.
I like the Miami Dolphins‘ chances in the Manning sweepstakes, which figures to be the most-scrutinized dating process since a certain NBA free agent took his talents to South Beach. While LeBron James‘ ill-fated TV special was a bad decision, the run-up was captivating as he visited with five teams and Cleveland held its breath.
Manning might jet from city to city — wining and dining with owners, coaches and general managers — but that seems unlikely. Considering the leverage he commands in the upcoming bidding war, don’t be surprised if a decision comes quickly with little advance notice.
Nonetheless, if there’s a chance to get footage of him debarking from a private jet, being whisked away from the tarmac or exiting a fancy restaurant, someone will have the shot. And if there’s a lack of news, no problem. We’ll hear numerous reports on the dearth, with rampant speculation thrown in as filler.
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Posted on March 8th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
The media-relations office within Harvard University’s athletic department was bombarded with requests last month as Jeremy Lin became a national sensation. Everyone wanted to know more about the Class of 2010 alumnus who was breaking racial and academic stereotypes as the New York Knicks’ newfound point guard.
“Linsanity” has died down, but Harvard’s sports-information officers are bracing for another surge of publicity: The Crimson is headed to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the first time since 1946. “It’s as tremendous a feeling as you can imagine,” coach Tommy Amaker told the Boston Globe. “It just gives you a great sense of pride for not only our team but for so many teams before us.”
Amaker, an African American who helped bust stereotypes when he played at Duke, has done an extraordinary job since arriving at Harvard in 2007. His win totals have risen from 8 to 14, 21, 23 and 26. This is the third consecutive season in which the Crimson set a school record for victories. It also earned the program’s first national ranking this year, rising as high as No. 21 in the ESPN-USA Today Coaches poll and No. 22 in the Associated Press poll.
“We had a vision about this school when we came here that this could be a special opportunity,” said Amaker, who was named District I Coach of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association. “Harvard has so much greatness all over. We still have a long road ahead of us.”
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Posted on March 7th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
On one hand, the story that has roiled the NFL since Friday is a complex study in meaning, intent and extent. On the other hand, it’s a simple open-and-shut case of the New Orleans Saints continuing to violate league rules after being warned to cease and desist.
The Saints, rightfully so, will pay a heavy price for their cash rewards program. It doesn’t matter if similar programs exist on every team to varying degrees. It doesn’t matter if pay-for-performance kitties have been around for decades. And it doesn’t matter if the Saints‘ opponents suffered no long-term injuries as a result of the policy.
The league said “quit it” and New Orleans refused to comply. Stiff punishment is warranted.
And thus concludes the black-and-white portion of this topic. The rest is a mess of multi-hued grays, with subliminal messages like “hypocrisy” and “naivety” flashing across your mind’s eye.
Part of the problem resides in the sport itself. Football requires participants to suspend conventional wisdom about self-preservation, namely that you shouldn’t run into other human beings at full speed, and certainly not repeatedly. Those who master the art can earn college scholarships before proceeding to pro careers and fat paychecks.
Defensive players on the Saints and other teams are paid to hit often and hit hard, in hopes of separating opponents from the ball. If opponents are separated from their senses as well, that comes with the territory. As long as it’s done cleanly, within the rules and spirit of the game, there’s nothing wrong.
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Posted on March 5th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
The case against Gregg Williams, the New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator from 2009 to 2011, continues to grow. After admitting and apologizing on Friday for a bounty pool that rewarded his players for “knockouts” and “cart-offs,” Williams was expected to meet with NFL officials on Monday.
Their discussion will cover much more than his three seasons with the Saints. Prior to arriving in New Orleans, he was the defensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and Jacksonville Jaguars and head coach for the Buffalo Bills. Since news of the Saints‘ bounty program broke last week, players on Williams’ former teams said that he instituted similar systems there, too.
The case shines a harsh light on a thin line: the difference between hitting as hard (and cleanly) as possible and hitting with malicious intent in hopes of causing an injury. Players who engaged in the latter have done a tremendous disservice to themselves and their fellow players, countering a recent push to make the game safer.
“I know players hate [the new rules],” Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday, a member of the players union’s executive committee, said during Super Bowl week. “We get fined and we get suspended and all kinds of things. But if this saves a guy from his wife having to take care of him when he’s 50 years old, I’m all for it.”
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Posted on March 3rd, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Football is an extremely physical sport by nature, filled with violent collisions between players who are big, strong and fast. Defenders are conditioned to hit often and hit hard, in hopes of separating opponents from the ball and maybe their senses, too.
All of that is well within the rules and the spirit of the game. But rewarding players with bonus money for certain hits encourages dirty, reckless play, which is why the NFL forbids the practice. Now that the league has uncovered a New Orleans Saints bounty system, it should issue harsh penalties to make an example of the team.
The Saints are accused of paying players $1,500 for “knockouts” and $1,000 for “cart-offs,” with payouts doubling or tripling during the playoffs. The team is also accused of targeting players such as former quarterbacks Brett Favre and Kurt Warner.
“The payments here are particularly troubling because they involved not just payments for ‘performance’ but also for injuring opposing players,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement released Friday. “The bounty rule promotes two key elements of NFL football: player safety and competitive integrity.
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Posted on March 1st, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
If TV ratings, Internet articles and column inches in print media are any indication, “The Big Miss” should be a huge hit when it goes on sale March 27, a week before the subject shoots for his fifth green jacket at Augusta National.
Tiger Woods hasn’t won the Masters since 2005, a major championship since 2008 or an official PGA tournament of any kind since 2009. In his last five PGA Tour events, he has tied for 17th, tied for 15th, tied for 30th, missed the cut (at the PGA Championship) and tied for 37th. He’s at the Honda Classic this week, a tournament he hadn’t deigned to play since 1993, three years before he turned pro.
But we not only remain fascinated by Woods, we’re arguably captivated like never before.
The upcoming book by his former swing coach will only increase the magnification on Woods since that fateful Thanksgiving night in 2009, back when we couldn’t imagine him as a more compelling figure. Yet, stuck on 14 majors with Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 looking safe once again, Woods is even more intriguing, thanks to the turmoil in his personal life and his struggles on the golf course.
Whether it’s his swing, his putter or Hank Haney’s take on those subjects and more, the scrutiny grows while the wins stagnate.
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Posted on February 29th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
With its revenue, TV ratings and popularity continuing to grow unabated, the NFL is in its own galaxy compared to other sports leagues.
NFL games accounted for 23 of the 25 most-watched telecasts last fall, and a total of 37 games drew at least 20 million viewers each. A Harris poll taken earlier this year asked about 2,200 adults who follow at least one sport to name their favorite. Pro football was chosen by 36 percent of the respondents — nearly thrice the number who chose baseball and college football (13 percent apiece).
Commissioner Roger Goodell knows that competing TV programs are regularly crushed by NFL games, especially highly anticipated matchups. But whether Goodell is reluctant to battle for viewers or eager to promote civic engagement, he has rescheduled the league’s season opener from Sept. 6 to Sept. 5. By doing so, the NFL avoids a conflict with President Obama, scheduled to give his speech at the Democratic National Convention on Sept. 6.
The only loser is Vice President Joe Biden, whose speech on Sept. 5 will be overshadowed by the game featuring the New York Giants, beginning their Super Bowl title defense, versus an opponent that hasn’t been announced yet.
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