Monthly Archives: February 2011

The NFL CBA dispute

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/thelife/music/news/story?id=6149286

As March 4th, the expiration of the current NFL CBA, approaches a lockout is looking more and more imminent. This article does a great job in simplifying a very complex situation and it puts it into the viewpoint of a fan. It is true, for the average fan the fiscal aspect of the NFL is irrelevant. We enjoy sitting on our couches on Sunday’s watching grown men battle it out on the gridiron. The off the field activities that make Sunday’s possible are irrelevant. For me, as a student hoping to start a career in the sports business world this is not so. Still, if we examine the misconceptions surrounding professional athletes we can see why these issues are so pertinent. It is hard to see a player earning millions of dollars a year and envision him struggling for money, but it is the case. It is true that the players do not see a large portion of the money guaranteed to them in the contracts, but that is not the problem. The problem is that many of these kids do not know how to manage money. They see big numbers and immediately feel the need to make big purchases. A college graduate who goes into finance making a similar salary does not usually go out and buy a new car even though they have much more job security than an injury prone athlete, unfortunately in the NFL and the world of sports extravagant purchases are commonplace. The league should do a better job at educating the players on how to handle money. The biggest problem that I see with the CBA dispute is that the players are getting smarter. Even though people in suits run the league, the players are the ones going out and putting their bodies on the line every week. They do not know how long their careers will last and thus they want to make sure that they are getting the most out of their time and that they will be taken care of afterwards. Transparency is the biggest problem. The owners keep their expenses hidden from the players. Information is the gateway to success and currently the owners are trying to keep their information private. I still believe that the two sides will come to an agreement before next season, but I am less and less optimistic that the agreement will be reached before the deadline on Friday. This is going to be an interesting week. It is evident that the NFL is not solely about playing football it is a business.

Millennials and the Single Parent

Millennial’s are a group that is said to have a unique relationship with their parents.  We are from a new generation, a younger, more inspired, more technologically savvy generation and yet we are believed not to be condescending or disrespectful, just unique.  Both Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars take the relationship between adult and millennial and exemplify it in a unique way.  Both shows encounter a daughter being raised by a single parent and both series show the relationships as strong and mutually beneficial.   In Gilmore Girls the parallels are so strong between mother and daughter that they share the same name.  They also both have a strong liking for coffee.  When Luke warns Rory to stop drinking coffee so that she doesn’t wind up like her mother, she comments “too late.”  Rory is not your typical teen; she loves the concept of private school because at a private school, “everyone’s there in boring clothes, just to learn.”  This may not be the attitude of a traditional, stereotypical teen, but it can bee seen as the attitude of a Millennial who is keen on advancing her knowledge and doing something with her life.

Veronica Mars is an example of a teen that is doing something with her life.  Veronica takes matters into her own hands and solves cases.  In this episode she recovers money that a girl in her school was conned out of.  Much the same way that Rory acts like her mother, Veronica is quickly following in the career path of her father as a private investigator.  There are many instances in Veronica Mars where technology, such as microphones or GPS trackers, aid in this investigating career path.  The most powerful image in the episode was the video tribute to Lilly.  It began depicting her in all of her parental sanctioned recorded life events, and then it cut to a private video the night of a school dance.  This video helped to show that our recorded selves and our true selves are not always in line.  This can be drawn parallel to our Internet, virtual identity and how it does not always match our real world identity.  Technology is a powerful tool, but it enables us to have split personalities.  This ability to represent oneself in more than one way is one of the best and most dangerous things about being a Millennial.

Madoff and the Mets

Madoff: Mets Owners \’knew nothing\’

There is a bond between sports and finance that runs far deeper than initially meets the eye.  This link has been magnified in the scandal regarding the Mets owners, the Wilpon’s, and Bernie Madoff.  The Wilpon’s had money invested with Bernie Madoff before his ponsi scheme got found out.  Currently, the victims from the Madoff debacle are trying to get back over a billion dollars from the Wilpon’s in money they are believed to have made from Madoff’s advice.  The owner’s of the Mets are already in serious debt, this massive blow if upheld by the courts could force a change in ownership for the historic franchise.  Presently, the Wilpon’s have tried to sell 25% of their team.  The shift in attitude shows us that even in sports, money still talks.  It is remarkable to think that families as powerful as the Wilpon’s are still struggling.  I personally find it hard to believe that the Wilpon’s were entirely innocent in this matter; still I do not believe they will have to pay reparations.  I feel that they should’ve been able to see that their earnings were too high, and they should’ve known to get out.  Conversely, as said in the article, the security and exchange commission didn’t initially recognize the problem how could a regular person have been expected to see it?  Still, the Wilpon’s have a history of investing in ponsi scheme’s and they should’ve known better than to put themselves in a questionable situation.  After constructing a new stadium for a mediocre team with a massive payroll it appears as if the Wilpon’s may have been relying on the Madoff money in order to stay afloat.  It will be interesting to see how this dilemma plays out.  I am interested to see if anyone buys a stake in the Mets and if they do, what their relationship with the team and front office will be.  This incident has shown us that baseball may be America’s national pastime, and it may be called a ball game, but the game and what happens on the field is only a minor player in the larger business that is baseball and sports.

steroids vs word of mouth

Paul Lee, president of ABC Family Channel refers to online networking as “word of mouth on steroids.”  It is human desire to constantly better oneself and get ahead, common workout plans call for being bigger, faster, stronger.  Social networking is providing a means by which communal interactions can become bigger, faster, stronger.  The possibilities of technological advances are endless; no one knows what’s next.  Still, with all the upside comes fear and uncertainty.  As described by Kyle in ABC Family’s millennial audience targeted show, Kyle XY, he is scared of everything.  In a world that moves this quickly we can easily get left behind.  Kyle is a mathematical genius, his brain activity is far more advanced than anyone the doctors have ever seen, and yet he has such an appreciation for facial language, eyes in particular.  He understands the power of in person interactions.  These face-to-face exchanges are lost when we put the “word of mouth on steroids” and use online networking.  This is an important note to remember as we progress forward.  Facial expressions are the universal language and although the Internet can simplify our lives, we have to be careful not to allow it to replace them.

Kyle can be viewed at initially as a computer.  He is able to finish and hour long test in five minutes, he can out fight a cop, and he doesn’t need to sleep.  Still, although he is able to perform some tasks with incomprehensible ease he falls short in other categories.  His personal interactions are at times painful to watch.  He urinates after his first fight, he mimics, out of context, what others around him have said, and he raids his host family’s refrigerator during the night.  If we view Kyle as a symbol of evolving technology we can see that nothing is perfect.  While some aspects are improved upon, others are lost.  Someday Kyle may integrate into society the way we hope technology will, but in the end he will always be different and technology will never be able to completely substitute basic human interactions.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=6112756

Great that Cal reinstated rugby.  How could the premier program in the country not be a varsity sport?  Cal rugby makes so much money the school would be dumb to not make it varsity.  Title IX is a horrible rule that is not being applied in the manner in which it was written.  Administration needs to take title IX as a guideline not as an end-all.  Even at the collegiate, amateur level, money still drives sports.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6107737

It’s unbelievable that a league as strong as the NFL cant come to an agreement.  There is so much greed on both sides, they make so much money being around a game they love why cant they reach an agreement.  Its unfair that the owners get paid even if there is no season.  Still, it is good that neither side is caving it means they understand the seriousness of the dilemma.  It’s funny that in a sport money still is the driving factor.  They’ll eventually come to an agreement and the season will happen.  Best quote is my mother always said safety first but with the NFL grievances thats probably second or third now.

the new youth

In an age defined by media and constant access to information television is reaching to ever-imaginative realms.  Veronica Mars depicted the story of a high school girl faced with inordinate responsibility and problems.  In the first episode we witnessed her stand up to bullies both from a biker gang, the law, and another social group.  She also was raped and lost her best friend.  She continued to maintain good morals, helping out a fellow kid in need.  Veronica depicts a teenager that I do not believe exists.  In the information age we have grown up in, kids are on their own more seldom than ever.  Yet, Veronica exemplified the cunningness and maturity of a girl far beyond her years.  It is true that technology allows us to grow up more quickly, but it also gives our elders a means with fwhich to keep an eye on us.  The youthful image her father tried to portray in his “whose you’re daddy quotes” irritated me, but in a sense showed that our parents are not as “hip” and able to keep up with the times as they believe.

Freaks and Geeks follows the more traditionally accepted mold for a teenage youth struggling in high school.  It is a show that deals with bullies in a traditional sense with geeks needing to assert them and stand up with physical confrontation.  Freaks and Geeks shows how an academic can get mixed up with a faster, more dangerous crowd and how the appeal to be accepted can drive one to do uncharacteristic things.  Still, in the end, as evidenced by Linds’s dance with Eli, ones true colors will eventually shine through.

In Veronica Mars, Veronica is able to change; circumstances all her to adapt and she remains determined to find out what happened to her best friend.  In Freaks and Geeks Linds tries to change and although some things alter, her true character shines through.  Both of these shows exemplify the common trend through adolescence that nothing goes according to plan.  In seeing Veronica’s fast paced modern complex life, I felt envious of the characters in Freaks and Geeks, of their ability to worry about dilemmas like bullies and girls and the concepts that should concern average highschoolers.