Sporting World Reeling From Misconduct

There are so many allegations of disgraceful sporting conduct taking place all over the world it makes you wonder if everything is tainted. Maybe WWE Raw is as as honest as it gets, and frankly, that is scary. We know of the reports of the Alberto Contador doping scandal from the Tour de France, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Making big headlines right now is the story of Cam Newton, the Auburn quarterback, being offered to the the highest bidder for between $100,000 to $180,000. Newton's father, Cecil is reported to have made the pitch and said that his son's enrollment was "not gonna be free this time." If this proves to be true it will rip open the NCAA governance of collegiate sport and probably negate any chance of Newton claiming a Heisman.

Topping that we have the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the Zurich-based soccer governing organization, saying on November 17 they will announce the ethics committee’s decision on whether to expel Nigeria’s Amos Adamu and Tahiti’s Reynald Temarii. The two were suspended on October 21, 2010 after the duo allegedly told undercover reporters they would exchange their World Cup votes for cash. If they are expelled, 22 members of the executive committee will vote on the 2018 and 2022 hosts for sport’s most-watched event.

On a lesser scale but bad enough, we have Ted Forstmann, the chief executive officer of IMG Worldwide Inc., making a $40,000 wager on Roger Federer, to beat Rafael Nadal in the 2007 French Open final. IMG is the sports agency that represents athletes including golfer Tiger Woods and Federer, said in an interview that he regretted betting on Federer to win the match against Nadal, also an IMG client. The ATP has sent the message very clearly to Mr. Forstmann that we consider his behavior inappropriate and that he will be in violation of the rules if he engages in such activity in the future,” the ATP said. Forstmann’s bet, which was criticized by Federer, may form part of a lawsuit that accuses the executive of using company funds to cover gambling losses, the New York Times said. Forstmann denies wrongdoing and said the bet was legal. It may have been lawful but it wasn't right and he should have known better.

What is going to take to get this garbage out of sport? I guess maybe it's impossible, but I sure hope that the governing bodies make examples of those proven to be breaking the rules. Greed seems to be the guiding factor in so much of sport and it is sickening. Sport is supposed to be the great leveler, where talent speaks for itself, it is supposed to be the arena where any person can shine and earn their way. There is nothing wrong with making a good living out of sport if one has the ability; as a player, scout, coach, referee or administrator. But not at the expense of the team, the league, the fans and the game. Thankfully we still have personalities with integrity, like Federer who set the right example and lead the way.

Why Experts Failed To Predict Cowboy’s Failures And Why Phillips Had To Go

Republished from Forbes SportsMoney: When I heard Wade Phillips was fired from the Dallas Cowboys, I did what all sports fans do – run to business appraisal principles to explain what just happened. Two terms jumped immediately to mind. If both terms were part of the pre-season predictions the so-called experts would have tempered their high expectations that the Cowboys were likely to go deep in the playoffs and perhaps be the first team to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium. Both business valuation terms, if included in their analysis would have lowered expectations. That is important because I have lived long enough to disappoint often, and can testify that disappointment is often a function of unrealistic expectations. With lower expectations, the bubble would not have been so large, and the burst would not have drowned the players and fans so irrepressibly and fatally. And perhaps the weight of those lofty expectations may not have crushed the Wade Phillips career so abruptly.

Term one: Entity Synergy. It has been defined by businessdictionary.com as when two or more entities work in concert “in a particularly fruitful way” that produces an effect greater the sum of their individual effects, i.e. “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” The example provided is when two or more employees excel when working together but who, when working alone are ordinary.

The Cowboys have great talent at many positions. So much so, the experts said, “End of story, talent wins out – see you in the Super Bowl.” They have not one but two All-Pro cornerbacks from last year, Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman. They have not one, but two All-Pro receivers in Miles Austin and Roy Williams, not to mention the super-talented Dez Bryant waiting on deck. Then there is Marion Barber to run the little pigskin, and All-Pro Leonard David to open holes for him to run through with the little piggy. And to keep the opposition from scoring there is linebacker DeMarcus Ware. But he may not have to tackle anybody because All-Pro Jay Ratliff is on the defensive line.

But if something was amiss amongst the players as a whole, or between the players and the coaching staff, or with ownership, they may well get it backwards. Instead of ordinary players becoming excellent through synergistic magic, they were excellent individuals that became ordinary. Based on their current 1-7 record, they are less than ordinary. The ability to “work in concert” for qualitative business synergy is the same harmony needed for a successful football team. The good quarterback can be ordinary without an effective offensive line. Without holes to run through, the running back becomes the run-down back, and the receiver gets no passes if the QB is sacked. They need that well-oiled oneness and hugability that does not come from just an assemblage of plant and equipment – or in this case individual player assets. The great predictions of the excellent Dallas defense failed to incorporate whatever lost faith that caused the implosion over the most recent games where they gave up over 30 points a game. Perhaps at some level they gave up before the points were actually scored.

The other business valuation term is “going concern value”. It refers to a type of value – the operational value of the entire enterprise. This incorporates the tangible assets (e.g. land, improvements, and fixtures) and intangible assets. In both cases what really makes the entity valuable and successful is the very special way the intangibles and tangible assets come together to generate a present value of future net income.

Simply put, the Cowboys did not have those intangibles coming into the season, and appear to have less of them now. The experts would have been wise not to myopically look at whether the “assets” are individually impressive. Yes, the aforementioned list of 2010 All Pros arguably presents more individually valuable assets than any other team in the NFL. But as corny as it sounds, the team is not as successful if the intangibles are not there. This may be the biggest unrecorded asset collapse since the Wall Street mortgage crisis. The lesson I hope to remember in making sense of this is that the way the players, coaches, and owners come together still has to be “special”.

We hear players from great teams say all the time, “we believe in each other”, “we’ve got each other’s back”, “if he needs to go the bathroom, I’ll hold his… locker open.” And because the experts have heard it before they discount it. Perhaps that is because they either never played at that level or never felt the power of that synergy and operation as a going concern. But most truth has simplicity and longevity. The axiom that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts is exactly what the Cowboys needed to succeed, no matter how many All-Pro caliber individual players are in the locker room. They need to hold it open for each other on and off the field to have a going concern value that generates future wins.

It is not the same as just adding up all the telephones, plant and equipment. It is not just lining up All-pro talent. This is not fantasy football. Until we see that beyond talent, there is synergy, we should be careful about glorious predictions. Before this past Sunday’s Farbonoics, the Vikings were a Super Bowl prediction that was also about to be buried in embarrassment for much the same lack of those fruitful intangible attributes.

But Wade still had to go, don’t you think? Some of us will blame the players, or the owner. But Wade had the ultimate responsibility to generate wins. And for an owner to remain confident there are wins in the future, you don’t want to see the inability to even compete with a team of substantially similar talent in Green Bay. No confidence oozes from a 45-7 loss, coming on the heels of a 35-17 loss to a team, Jacksonville, which is struggling to stay 500. Traditional wisdom is you don’t make a mid-season head coaching change unless things are really, really, bad, as in “can’t get much worse” bad. That would seem to be the case. But before the experts claim next season’s Super Bowl contestants before the season starts, I hope they remember to value the synergy and going concern value of the enterprise.

To read the full article by Roger Groves, please click on the title link, "Why Experts Failed To Predict Cowboy’s Failures And Why Phillips Had To Go".

Sports shorts

India found an unlikely batting hero in tailender Harbhajan Singh, who produced a match-saving maiden Test century to steer his team to safety alongside VVS Laxman as the first cricket Test against New Zealand ended in a draw on Monday. The gutsy Harbhajan (115) notched up his only first class century and combined with veteran Laxman (91) as the duo dented New Zealand's push for victory with a solid 163-run partnership for the seventh wicket.

Sir Alex Ferguson labelled Owen Hargreaves latest injury a "disaster" after Manchester United struck a last-gasp winner to beat Wolves 2-1 at Old Trafford. Hargreaves, making his first start for the club in over two years, only lasted five minutes before coming off with a hamstring injury. Park Ji-Sung hit the winner in injury time to prevent United slipping further behind Chelsea in the title race.

A bidding war could erupt for Spurs starlet Gareth Bale, with the Inter Milan president signalling his interest in the Welshman. Massimo Moratti did not rule out launching a bid to prise Bale from White Hart Lane. "If he plays like he did, then why not?" said the Inter president after Spurs beat his club 3-1 last night.

Russell Crowe has pulled off his greatest coup yet after Brisbane withdrew the contract they offered to superstar Greg Inglis. South Sydney's attempts to poach Inglis are ''all but a done deal'', despite growing concerns over how the foundation club can afford to cram one of the world's best players under the salary cap

He may have helped set-up Hosea Gear's try with a trademark offload, yet All Blacks debutant Sonny Bill Williams refused to flip cartwheels about his performance in his test debut at Twickenham this morning. The massive centre gave the international rugby world an early glimpse of his abilities in the 15-man game when he unravelled one long arm to put Mils Muliaina in space during a movement that led to Gear scoring in the 26-16 win over England.

Promotion and Relegation of Soccer Referees

Professional soccer referees, like the players they manage, should be graded under a fair, equitable and transparent system; and promoted or relegated according to their performance. This sounds ideal and possible for adoption in any sporting code. But this idea, recently tabled by manager Tony Pulis of English Premier League club Stoke would I am sure have its critics. Not me though, I think it is a workable solution to the perception that some referees are not up to top flight work, or favour larger and more established clubs over their poorer or newly promoted cousins. Pulis was angry Stoke were denied a penalty on Saturday when Sunderland's Lee Cattermole appeared to handle Kenwyne Jones' header on the goal-line and advocated the introduction of a relegation system for referees to stop poor decisions.

This is not referee bashing, it is a practical way of lifting the standard of football across the league, with referees, players and clubs benefiting. I have refereed at fairly high level myself, albeit in a vastly different sport, and can see the advantage of being evaluated and rated according to set criteria that are open and reasonable. Not only would poorly functioning referees be sent to a lower level, they would also be properly trained and nurtured. Conversely, those referees in lower competitions could be promoted upward to match their skill level. Both the Premier League and The Championship would profit from this arrangement. A similar scheme currently exists in England, with clubs having the opportunity to comment on referee ability, but tighter regulations and promotion or relegation would spark better results.

Who Dares Wins

I have just finished watching one of the most embarrassing debacles in National Football League with the final burial of the cancer-riddled Dallas Cowboys. The Green Bay Packers absolutely put the Cowboys to the sword, killing them 45-7. This is not anything I lament because I detest the Cowgirls, but I comment because of an interesting phenomenon, a bemused Jerry Jones who has basically done nothing to help his team for the last year. Abrogation of responsibility is just something I didn't expect from the micro-manager of the century. Wade Phillips is a nice guy, he has a great footballing brain, and is probably a good coach! Just NOT for the Dallas Cowboys.

I keep hearing commentators, many of whom I highly respect, saying 'categorically' that changing a coach in mid-season does not work. Well, aside from the fact that Wade should have been fired as ineffective by the end of last season, what a load of manure! The argument is usually something like... well, the change can't make any difference now, so why do it? Because the now is the present, and the Dallas Cowboys don't have a present! They have a glory filled past, with heavily expectant fans, and future! But this season is done. Kaput.

That leaves next year and beyond. The reason you let Wade go now is so that someone can come in and starting laying a guiding hand of the helm (the rudderless one that Dallas has right now). Any owner or general manager worth his salt would have had a replacement shortlist for some time, so it shouldn't be a guessing game. Get someone in to right the ship. Even if the its a temporary Head Coach at least it is change, stops the rot, and gives that new guy a chance to stamp his brand on the steers hide. Pardon the pun. It could be Jason Garrett the Offensive Coordinator or Bill Cowher, it doesn't matter, just do SOMETHING. DARE to do something positive. The one smart observation that came out of tonight commentary, from Cris Collinsworth, is that Dallas responds best as a team to a demanding taskmaster. So Jerry let's great cracking, times-a-wasting!

Post note: It happened. NFL Network: Cowboys fire Wade Phillips as head coach, promote Jason Garrett.

Definition of Slaughter

Slaughter
–noun

1. The extensive, violent, bloody, or wanton destruction of life; carnage.
2. The act of killing cattle or other beasts for market.
3. What Texas Christian University did to the University of Utah football team on Saturday, November 6, 2010 at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The Utes on the other hand, went as lambs, to the slaughter!
   

Misfits that Win

The San Francisco Giants have won the World Series, kudos to them, what an effort. Nobody would have given them a snowflakes chance at the beginning of the season, which makes the feat even more exemplary. Giants Manager Bruce Bochy, said the team won because of it's the diversity and a contribution from everybody. Bochy said in response to being asked what stood out to him about this particular team. "This is not a team that has one star carrying it. It took 25 guys to do this. They set aside their own egos or agendas." With the utmost respect, he called them a "bunch of misfits". And what a band of misfits, the World Champions of Oddballs; it sort of gives us all a sense of being able to win something when thrown together. And even more fitting, they won their solitary title since moving to San Francisco, without Barry Bonds, that pimple of a player, who was a great slugger but a surly, horrible man. What a great tale. As my buddy said on Facebook the other day, "Thank ... for MY misfits!"

Rescued Chilean Miner Prepared for NYC Marathon

Republished from ABC News/ESPN Sports: Edison Pena has prepared for Sunday's New York City Marathon like no other competitor: running each morning and afternoon in steel-tipped electrician's boots that he cut down to ankle-high shoes. Pena ran back and forth along a 1,000-yard (1-kilometer) path through the darkness and stifling heat and humidity inside the collapsed gold and copper mine where he and 32 other men were trapped for 69 days before last month's dramatic rescue. Pena ran to clear his head, to push away his anxiety.

And he ran, fellow miners said, because he wanted to be ready to represent them in a marathon, where he might be able to spread a message about what he hopes will be the legacies of their ordeal: safer workplaces, closer families and more trust in God. "If I had to run barefoot, I would have done it," Pena told Associated Press Television News after his rescue. "Life has given us a new challenge — to care more deeply, to be more present with the people we love." Pena, 34, has been among the more outspoken of the rescued miners, a man willing to show his emotions, even tears, as he talks of his intense desire that Chile's mineral riches don't come at the expense of working people ordered into mines known to be unsafe.

"I would like things to change," he said. "It was for something that I ran inside the mine. I think that things can be done. I think we suffered too much, that this too has to be worth something." Marathon organizers who learned of Pena's subterranean exercise routine had invited him to come to New York to watch the race. They were shocked when he asked to run instead. "Edison Pena will be one of the stars of this year's marathon as he will be among the 43,000 or more runners at the starting line on Sunday," said New York Road Runners spokesman Richard Finn in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Fellow miners weren't surprised that Pena wanted to run in the marathon.

To read the complete article by Eva Vergara, please click on the title link: "Rescued Chilean Miner Prepared for NYC Marathon".

The Rock JOINS the Hard Place

One of the best pieces of sports news to come out of last week was the announced merger of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting, to happen in 2011. This is a wonderful surprise for mixed martial arts fans, a legion that keeps growing and growing. It brings the two biggest organizations under one roof and will deliver a number of pluses to spectators, fighters, and moneymen alike.

Here is what ESPNs Jason Lagendorf says that we can expect from the merger:

• Deeper fights card - UFC cards have become undeniably leaner over time, especially as fan sophistication grows and expectations are raised. You want us? Fine, you got us. Now give us enough reasons to stick around.
• Greater appreciation for 'outside' promotions - it won't overlook the good stuff happening in some of the other circuits, most notably Strikeforce and Bellator.
• A lightweight royal rumble - the UFC has divisional hierarchies and matchmaking that are mostly fair and transparent.
• No more Napoleon Complex - the lower weight classes routinely put on some of the best fights around, at least they'll get a chance to enjoy the same exposure as the big boys.
  
• OK, it's all about Jose - one subject has captivated MMA fans in recent months, when will Aldo make the jump?

This is what boxing should have done years ago instead of degenerating into the farce that the sport has become. In the way of that happening are huge egos and too much money to ever let go. The principals have become the sport. But with the merger of UFC and WEC the fans get top fighting and better class of promotions. All the best stuff possible. MMA is here to stay, now bigger and better than before.

Randy Moss is a Square Peg Looking for a new Round Hole

Bizarre happenings in the frozen north! I know gloomy-gray skies and forever snow can make a guy grumpy and irritable, but come on, there's no cause for incivility. But it seems that the Randy Moss and Brad Childress marriage is going though an annulment quicker than Britney Spears and Jason Alexander. Randy was only in Minnesota less than month so what caused such a shocking change of heart?

If you believe the various things that are being broadcast around the NFL, then Randy may have only himself to blame. Especially when the team knows how well he can play. He had little production as a receiver in the four games he plays and seems to many observers that he only plays hard when he, Randy, feels like it. Well in professional sport, that kind of princely attitude will only get you fired and push away other suitors. Is it a wide receiver thing recently, like being a jerk and not really trying to be part of a team? Look what happened to outfits that played Terrell Owen; they weren't happy unions neither.

Of course you gotta have two to tango. There is also a lot of chatter in the team and around the league that Coach Childress not the deeply loved leader that the front office would like us to believe. I have heard of comments the bemoan the lack of football understanding that the boss actually has, or knowledge of the game to take a team forward, Whatever is actually the case, things are not close to being good in the Land of Vikings. Time for coaches and senior players to grab their spears, draw a line in the sand and put their pasts behind them. Time to win a berth in the playoffs through just sheer hard work and guts.