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Careers in Jeopardy – Who Controls That?

Wednesday, November 16th, 2022

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by B. Austin

 

Meyers-Leonard-and-Kyrie-Irving

Tolerance in sports is directly correlated to the cost of production and the return a franchise or club receives. Meyers Leonard commands about $10,000,000 per season for 6 ppg, 4rpg, and I’m not sure what his defensive production looks like.  He shoots over 36% from three, which gives him a slight bump in value.  But, at $10 million he becomes expendable.  Can’t tolerate the market/masses’ response for that production, at that cost.  Kyrie Irving IS a superstar.  At $15,000,000 per season, Kyrie will have 20 teams interested.  Kyrie, by talent and on court ability is looking for a max deal that would go from 4-years/$192,000,000 to 5-years/$240,000,000.  Based on who feels insulted, Willie becomes correct because Kyrie, based on pride, ability, and talent, won’t consider playing for much less than a max deal, considering the production he is putting out.  And the group he insulted are woven into the fabric of American sports, media, and banking.  If Kyrie won’t accept a number underneath $20,000,000 per season (maybe less), he won’t get a job.  Their power is that they control and manipulate the institutional power structures – they perceive that you insult them, your net worth can go from $6 billion to $400 million in a week.
I believe said community is well-positioned within American business and financial infrastructure.  I say that with no malice or hatred.  I say that being completely open to dialog and discourse on whether or not that is factual or fallacy.  As a black person, an African diaspora – a descendant of slaves, I am well aware of the impact of racism, bigotry, and the derogatory words that come with that.  Hell, I am insulted by the Star-Spangled Banner when it plays.  I am insulted by a system that can rob a man of a job based on him kneeling as a sign of protest against systemic racism.  If the Semitic community has the ability to lead the charge and punish people who they feel insult, demean, or harm them – using the tools afforded them – I am not mad.  I wish Black people in America had that power to exercise that retribution in tandem with reparations.
Personally, I feel as though Kyrie’s post was irresponsible and without context surrounding the specific thoughts and feelings he had on the content posted.  The backlash received is understandable.  A messenger is responsible for clear, effective, efficient articulation – or, suffer consequences.
Meyers Leonard used a racial epithet.  The consequences are, whether he is a bigot, racist, or “innocently” using a derogatory term, the consequences of his actions are his NBA career is in jeopardy.  Kyrie, may be in the same boat, as far as his career is concerned.  Not for using a slur, but posting something that he didn’t take the time to provide context on, research, or ask questions about.

I have not yet watched the movie or read the book.  If it denies the Holocaust, celebrates a certain German dictator, or quotes KKK members, then at best it is historically inaccurate and demeaning.  At worst it IS perpetuating something hurtful.  I will also say this; Because something “HAS SOME TRUTH to it”, doesn’t make it right or righteous as a whole.  Three or four drops of mercury contaminates a million gallons of water.

 

B. Austin, of War Room Sports

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The Most Overhyped Award in Sports

Thursday, December 19th, 2019

by Gus Griffin

gus

 

 

 

 

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LSU QB Joe Burrow is the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner.

WHO CARES!

For years, I have felt that the college football Heisman Trophy award is the most overhyped award in sports for many reasons, to include the following:

IT ISN’T REALLY FOR THE BEST PLAYER IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL.

It’s the best quarterback or running back in college football. Tim Brown and Desmond Howard won as primarily receivers. Charles Woodson, who also was a return man, is the only primary defensive player to ever win the award. How can we take any award seriously that espouses that the best player in college football has never been an offensive or defensive lineman, or a linebacker? I realize that there are various awards for various positions. The others are appropriately named. The Bednarik award goes to the best defensive player. The Outland award goes to the best lineman. They are what they purport to be. The only one of these awards that purports to be something it clearly is not on all too many occasions is the Heisman. This is a serious insult to defensive players, and especially lineman on either side of the ball. If games are won and loss in the trenches, why aren’t the players in those trenches considered to be the best?

HOW CAN THE BEST COLLEGE PLAYER AWARD BE SUCH AN UNPREDICTABLE GAUGE OF NFL SUCCESS?

Over 95% of NFL players come from the American College ranks. And yet, since the first Black Heisman winner in 1961, only 56% of its winners have been able to produce an NFL career of any note. That 56% does not include the only 2-time winner, which is Archie Griffin. That is to say that they either were a Pro-Bowl selection or won Rookie of the Year…something to say that the award was warranted as a predictor of NFL success. This is not mere hindsight analysis. At the time of many awards, clear superior players have been omitted in favor of the winner. In 1992, anyone with the slightest football acumen knew that Miami QB Gino Torretta was not better than Nebraska offensive lineman Will Shields. History barred that out as Torretta was a mere footnote in NFL history while Shields was recently inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Florida QB Danny Wuerffel wins in 1996 instead of the great Ohio State Tackle Orlando Pace. Pace is a Hall of Famer while Wuerffel was a hood ornament on the Steve Spurrier (another Heisman winner that amounted to nothing in the NFL) football Cadillac. Finally, Ohio State QB Troy Smith wins in 2006 instead of the great Wisconsin offensive tackle Joe Thomas. Thomas will be in the Hall of Fame soon. Smith will not, nor ever had a case to be. Maybe history will validate that Burrow is better than Defensive End Chase Young, his former teammate at Ohio State. But who among us can say you are convinced of that today?

This is not to say that the award has always been a wild card for NFL success. Its golden era in this regard were the winners from 1977 (Tony Dorsett) through 1988 (Barry Sanders). Others in this group included Marcus Allen, Billy Sims, Earl Campbell, Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson, and Tim Brown. To show that white winners did not have the market cornered on being flops, it was Andre Ware in 1989 that stopped the streak of greatness.

GATH 1/88: Football player Paul Hornung poses with the Heisman Trophy, December 1956. GNEG Heisman notebook (no number)

GATH 1/88: Football player Paul Hornung poses with the Heisman Trophy, December 1956.
GNEG Heisman notebook (no number)

Speaking of race, THE 3RD PROBLEMATIC ASPECT OF THE HEISMAN IS ITS HISTORY ROOTED IN JIM CROW SEGREGATION. The late great sports writer Dick Schapp gave up his Heisman vote in protest of the committee refusing to recognize the obvious best player in the country in 1956. The winner was Notre Dame QB Paul Hornung.

It was not because of how good Notre Dame was that year. They were 2-8.

It wasn’t because of his individual stats: He threw 3 TD passes against 13 interceptions.

It was because Schapp’s all white colleagues refused to vote for the “other guy”, who was a running back at Syracuse named Jim Brown.

In this case, Hornung would go on to be a Hall of Famer with the Packers and league MVP in 1960. The issue is that the racist attitudes of the times gave him a public relations head start, via winning a Heisman that he never should have won.

Why is any of this important? Within the context of sports, if independent thinking is not relevant to you, perhaps it is not. Both within and beyond sports, the “prestige” of the Heisman Trophy is yet another example of how all too often, folks in America are told what to think and value rather than engaging in the process of coming to conclusions for themselves. There is an intellectual herd mentality that too many follow for one of two reasons: either they are too lazy to actually do the work to vet the ideas being promoted as “gospel”, or they actually know that they are being fed BS, but simply don’t care to pay the price for calling it what it is.

I do not subscribe to the notion that the enjoyment of sports requires blind acceptance of traditional ideas. After all, tradition merely for the sake of tradition is often propaganda. To that end, I cannot think of a better place to intertwine the critical second guessing of traditions in sports than the prestige of the Heisman Trophy.

 

Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports

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Chicken Little and the SB-206 Victory

Friday, October 4th, 2019

by Gus Griffin

gus

 

 

 

 

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By now, most of you are aware of SB 206, the California bill which allows college athletes in that state to profit off THEIR image without risking losing their scholarships or eligibility. Foreseeably, the entire NCAA industrial complex opposed this and insist a protracted fight, likely to the Supreme Court. The defenders of the current NCAA model always go into their Chicken Little act when anything is remotely suggested to bring about a more just system. I call them Chicken Little because their response is very similar to those who resist raising the minimum wage with baseless scare tactics.

The following are their most common fear-mongering tropes and why they are ridiculous:

THEY GET PAID IN THE FORM OF A SCHOLARSHIP

First of all, the data has been clear for years and indicates that a college degree is declining in value. More college graduates are unemployed than at any other time in American history. It just is not what it once was, but even if it were, this response implies as if it is largess on the part of the college. Let’s be clear; be it community college, division 2 or 3, or the big-time revenue-generating programs, being a college athlete is a job that requires, between practice, games, and travel, in excess of 40 hours per week. As college athletic advisers, I can tell you that we would NEVER advise a full-time student to work that much and yet the defenders pat themselves on the back as if the scholarship is a handout for which the athletes should be grateful. They earned their scholarship and more.

IT WOULD BE UNFAIR TO OTHER COLLEGE STUDENTS

Why? Does the college marching band generate millions for the college? How about the gaming team? If they do and have commercial appeal, they should not be hindered either. But the honest truth is that neither gaming, though growing very fast, nor the marching band are generating the kind of revenue that big-time football and basketball generate. In fact, the revenues generated by football and basketball routinely fund the entire athletic department.

IT WOULD UNDERMINE TITLE 9

Title 9 is the 1972 amendment that requires gender equity on college campuses and is often used as a scapegoat by reactionary defenders of the status quo, to pit the genders against one another.  Payment would come from what athletes can independently negotiate. College-based budgets would not be affected at all. In fact, female athletes with commercial appeal could profit off their likeness, just as the males could. The great WNBA star and former UConn Huskie, Diana Taurasi, talks about how her alma mater still makes money off her and she has been gone for 15 years now.

IF THEY ARE PAID, THEY WON’T BE MOTIVATED TO STUDY AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO DROP OUT OF COLLEGE

BS! The data is clear. The number one reason students drop out of school is not a lack of motivation and it is certainly not having too much money. To the contrary, the number one reason students drop out is cost. So, how is paying them going to dull their interests? The student athlete who only came to make it to the pros is unlikely to graduate whether he/she is paid or not. And still yet, he/she will be enhanced by merely being exposed to the college environment.

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament-Harvard PracticeOf course the ultimate issue is the non-profit industrial complex of college athletics. Like big time organized religion, it is structured in such a way that allows it to have the protection of being tax exempt while raking in millions of dollars. It is a thinly veiled derivative of the capitalist model and thus inherently prone to such exploitation. Until that is replaced, college athletes ought to be able to do what those who endorse the “free market” system say they believe in, which is to profit off their talents. College sports in America generates revenues in excess of $1 billion annually. The charade of amateurism will no longer be allowed to keep a portion of those revenues away from the primary generators of them, which are the athletic labor.

The cries of the status quo defenders are falling on deaf ears. The reality will soon be that the 5-star football recruit pondering Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, or USC will likely go to sunny Southern Cal, but not just for the sun. That basketball recruit pondering Kentucky, Duke, Carolina, or UCLA will do the same. They won’t be able to beat them so they will have to join them. If they need a nudge, it may come in the way of federal legislation, which is already being crafted by former Ohio State and NFL receiver Anthony Gonzales, who is now an Ohio Congressmen.

This victory did not happen in a vacuum. It is a result of a movement all around the country from graduate students to Walmart and fast food employees to unite against an increasingly oppressive work place. The sleeping giant of exploited labor is waking up. For college athletics as well as other aspects of the the dying capitalist model, the message is clear: the gig is up!

 

Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports

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Posted in Basketball, Football, General, Gus Griffin, NCAA | 2 Comments »

Other Basketball Hall of Fame Cases

Tuesday, May 7th, 2019

by Gus Griffin

gus

 

 

 

 

HOF

My position on Vlade Divac being a Hall of Famer generated a robust discussion. I stand against his Hall of Fame selection but appreciate the opposing perspectives. Let us look at five others who are NOT in the Basketball Hall of Fame (HOF) and make a determination.

BHOF

Before we began, let me clarify my thinking on the matter. The HOF, regardless of the sport, is an individual honor and not a team honor. I therefore give much more weight to what a player has done individually. I always feel if the first evidence presented for a player’s HOF credentials are team based, it is a good chance that he has a borderline to weak case.

Therefore, here are my reviews:

2001: Chris Webber#4 of the Sacramento Kings soars to the basket for a slam dunk against of the Portland Trail Blazers during the NBA Game at The Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory copyright notice: Copyright 2001 NBAE Mandatory Credit: Sam Forencich /NBAE/Getty Images

Mandatory copyright notice: Copyright 2001 NBAE
Mandatory Credit: Sam Forencich /NBAE/Getty Images

Chris Webber: YES! 20.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, and over 4 assists are numbers alone that warrant HOF induction. However, Webber’s impact is much bigger than stats. He grew up in Michigan watching 6’8” Magic Johnson at Michigan State prove that a big man need not be restricted to paint play. I believe that greatly influenced his game and notion of what was possible for a big man and would eventually make him a pioneer of what we call today the “stretch four”. While I do not like what the trend has taken away in the traditional back to the basket post player, its impact cannot be denied. Also, being the best player on the “FAB 5” at Michigan showed how quickly a college player can be pro-ready. Throw in fashion with the baggy shorts and Webber’s impact and contributions are easily HOF worthy.

RH

Robert Horry: NO! 7 points, 4.8 rebounds. Yes, he earned the nickname “Big Shot Rob” for his exploits in Houston and Los Angeles. No, he was not just along for the ride on seven NBA title teams. However, consider the big men whom he had the fortune to play with; Olajuwon in Houston, Shaq in L.A., and Duncan in San Antonio. Why is that important? Because they insured that no team had the luxury to game plan for Horry hitting a three. They also gave the team the flexibility to allow Horry to spread the floor. It is no coincidence that his least productive stop was in Phoenix, where they had no such interior presence. Furthermore, Horry, though listed as a power forward, never averaged over eight rebounds a game. He was one of the early stretch fours and a great accessory, but not a Hall of Famer. His individual body of work just does not measure up.

LH

Lou Hudson: YES! 20.2 points, a nearly 80% FT shooter, and nearly 49% FG. He had multiple seasons during which he shot over 50%, while averaging over 25 points. Of the 12 other non-post players to do this, only Mark Aguirre is not in the HOF. Hudson was amazingly efficient. In fact, those 20.2 points per game came on barely 17 shots per game, which is among the greatest efficiency rates ever. I am at a loss for why Hudson is not already in the HOF. My only guess is that he played in the NBA purgatory called Atlanta and after several early career playoff seasons, the team was not very good. He was a 6-time All-Star with the pre-Dominique Wilkins Hawks. He finished his career with the Lakers…a year before they drafted Magic and won the NBA title. He had multiple years averaging over six rebounds a game from the guard position.

TC

Tom Chambers: NO! 18.1 points and 6.1 rebounds. A four-time All-Star and All-Star Game MVP in 1987. He was a very good NBA scorer…and not much else.

Though listed as a power forward, he averaged over eight rebounds only once in his entire career. One cannot explain that away by calling him an early stretch four because he barely shot 30% from 3-point land. Chambers was a classic one trick pony…a good trick…but one trick nonetheless.

CB

Chauncey Billups: MAYBE! 15.2 points, 5.4 assists, nearly 90% FT. I must admit when I first chose Billups to review, my inkling was no. I thought of him much as I did Horry, which is to say a great situational support player that benefited from being on a great team.

I was wrong.

I did not realize how good he was in Denver after leaving Detroit. Nor did I realize that he was a five-time All-Star and two-time All-Defensive Team player. Finally, he was the 2004 Finals MVP. Though his overall numbers are not great, his case is stronger than I initially thought.

There are so many more to consider; Kevin Johnson, Bobby Dandridge, Rasheed and Ben Wallace as players, and how about Rick Adelman and George Karl as coaches?

So, have at it and tell me where AND WHY I am wrong or right?

I will come up with a list of baseball players to review in October during its postseason.

 

Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports

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Vlade Divac a Hall of Famer?

Wednesday, April 24th, 2019

by Gus Griffin

gus

 

 

 

 

VD SK

Vlade Divac was a good NBA player. He averaged a double-double (double digits in points and rebounds) during 3 different seasons. He was one of the greatest passing centers in the history of the game. Late in his career he averaged over 5 assist per game. Any player, not a point guard, who averages over 5 assists is exceptional. There are more a than a few current NBA teams that would love to have Vlade Divac as their center today.

Recently, Divac got “the call”, which in professional sports lingo is to say, he has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Vlade Divac is not even remotely worthy of being a Hall of Famer!

The Hall of Fame is supposed to be for the game’s greatest players. Divac was not even one of the greatest players of his time, much less all time. He was an NBA All-Star a grand total of once! In addition, while he was indeed a great passing center, his primary legacy was his affliction with OFD (Obsessive Flop Disorder). No single player is more responsible for the NBA adopting fake flop awareness more than Vlade Divac.

VD LADivac came into the league with my Lakers for the 1989-90 season to replace Kareem Abdul Jabbar as the team’s center. My Lakers have a long and glorious history of centers from Mikan to Chamberlain to Jabbar to Shaq. I did not accidently omit Divac from that list. The following is a list of that year’s upper echelon centers: Akeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, and Brad Daugherty, all without question better than Divac. Even Moses Malone and Robert Parish were still playing at a level higher than Divac ever did. Over the next 15 years, the course of Divac’s career, Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Tim Duncan, Rasheed Wallace, and Yao Ming would enter the league, overlapping Olajuwon, Robinson, and Ewing. In other words, there was NEVER a time when Divac was a top 5 center in the league. How can that possibly translate to being a Hall of Famer?

Divac was traded after the 1996 season to the Hornets for the rights to a pick that would become Kobe Bryant. Other than that, and replacing Jabbar, his claim to fame can be best described as a hood ornament on the Cadillac of other great players, specifically Magic and Worthy in LA and Chris Webber in Sacramento. He was a good hood ornament…but a hood ornament nonetheless.

Speaking of Chris Webber, adding insult to injury in this whole episode, is the fact that Divac will be getting in before Webber. In addition to being as exceptional of a passer from the power forward position as there ever was, Webber was .2 rebounds short of averaging 20-10 for his career.

VD CW

The statistical basis for those who support Divac as a Hall of Famer is that he is one of seven players with at least 13,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists, and 1,500 blocked shots. The other six are either in the Hall of Fame or sure bets to get in eventually.

 

Sounds impressive right? It is actually cleverly misleading and an artificially exclusive list for the following two reasons:

 

1) The unique stat is blocked shots, which were not tracked before the 1973-74 season; and

 

2) It does not consider ABA stats. What this means is that the list is actually longer than seven players, and surely has more than a few who, like Divac, were good, but not Hall of Fame caliber.

 

There are always debates about a player or two’s Hall of Fame credentials, regardless of the sport. Many did not feel that Harold Baines was deserving in baseball and I too was surprised. But at least one can find career comps to that of Harold Baines that are already in such as Orlando Cepeda and Tony Perez. I cannot think of any NBA center comp that would warrant even consideration of Divac. The best comp I could come up with is a player named Billy Paulz. Paulz came up in the ABA in 1971. He averaged a double-double his first 4 years in the league and 5 years overall. He was a 3-time All-Star. He compares to Divac for scoring, rebounds, and assist as follows:

Divac 11-8-3

Paulz 11-8-2

Divac was a better passer but Paulz was the better rim protector, actually leading the ABA in blocked shots during the 1975-76 season. Other than those two distinctions, they were virtually the same player. Billy Paulz was a good player but not Hall of Fame worthy, and neither is Vlade Divac.

This is not some anti-European player rant. In five years, the greatest European player ever will go into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot and no one will object or debate because Dirk Nowitzki was better than pretty good. He was great and that is what the Hall of Fame is supposed to be about.

So the question is how did this happen? The international wing of the Hall of Fame elected Divac, which is as much about the marketing of their players as their qualifications for induction. I don’t blame them for advocating for their guys. It’s the Hall of Fame itself that needs to look at this. I make no argument against Divac belonging in the [international basketball] FIBA Hall of Fame. He probably does. I make no case against the Kings retiring his number for being a cornerstone on one of the most exciting teams in league history. He was. But the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame? Let’s not get carried away! SMDH

 

Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports

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A TALE OF TWO COLLEGE SPORTS SCANDALS

Friday, March 29th, 2019

by Gus Griffin

gus

 

 

 

 

Once upon a time, there was an NBA player named Chuck Person. He was a very good NBA player. He was the 1987 NBA Rookie of the Year and averaged over 14 points per game over a 13-year career. They called him the “Rifleman” because he could flat out shoot. He was one of the great 3-point shooters of his era. Many remember the classic duel between Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins in the 1988 playoffs. Person had his own, less celebrated, showdown with Bird during the 1991 playoffs, during which Person averaged over 26 points per game, clearing 30 in 3 of the 5 games.

Chuck Person had a very good career.

Chuck Person is going to jail!

The “crime” is that he received over $91 thousand to steer players with NBA potential to a Pittsburgh financial advisor without revealing his relationship with the business to the recruits. Part of his plea deal will require him to forfeit that amount. While he has not actually been sentenced…that comes in July…it will be a mere formality. The sentencing guideline recommendation is for 2-2.5 years in federal prison. One typically does at least 90% of his/her federal time. He has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in a Manhattan federal court. Person is one of four former college basketball assistant coaches to plead guilty to similar charges. They all most certainly will go to jail!

CPCP2CP3CP4

 

 

 

More recently, yet another college sport scandal has been exposed, which alleges that some very wealthy parents have been paying bribes to coaches, admissions employees, and even to imposter test-takers to ensure that their kids get into such elite colleges as the University of

Southern California (USC), Stanford, Georgetown, and Yale. The parents apparently paid $200 thousand and up to $6.5 million to have, their children admitted. In the case of Yale, the allegation is that the soccer coach accepted a $400 thousand bribe to accept an applicant who did not even play soccer.

According to court documents, over 50 have been implicated, among those are the following:

  • Current Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer
    • Former Yale women’s soccer coach Rudy Meredith
    • Former Georgetown tennis coach Gordie Ernst, now at Rhode Island
    • Current UCLA men’s soccer coach Jorge Salcedo
    • Current Texas men’s tennis coach Michael Center
    • Current Wake Forest women’s volleyball coach William “Bill” Ferguson
    • Former USC women’s soccer head coach Ali Khosroshahin
    • Former USC women’s soccer assistant coach Laura Janke
    • Current USC Senior Associate Athletic Director Donna Heinel
    • Current USC water polo head coach Jovan Vavic

Other implicated individuals of note include:

  • Mark Riddell, the Director of College Entrance Exam Preparation at IMG Academy, a private college preparatory school and sports academy in Bradenton, Fla.
    • Igor Dvorskiy, the Director of West Hollywood College Prep School
    • Actress Lori Loughlin, of Full House fame
    • Desperate Housewives actress Felicity Huffman, and…
  • William “Rick” Singer, CEO of the Edge College and Career Network

The charges could add up to 20 years’ incarceration and a fine of up to $239 thousand, although federal prosecutors have said they will recommend punishment “at the low end of the scale!”

Other than Singer, the alleged mastermind, who has already pleaded guilty to a number of charges to include racketeering, conspiracy, and money laundering, very few of these folks will go to jail.

CPCP2CP3CP4

 

 

 

 

CPCP2CP3CP4CP5

 

 

 

 

CPCP2CP3CP4CP5

 

 

 

 

There are several distinctions to take away from comparing and contrasting these two scandals.

One is more evidence to debunk the myth that merit is the primary ingredient in upward mobility in America. There is a largely false narrative in America that says the haves achieved due to hard work and sacrifice. Subsequently, those who do not achieve have no one to blame but themselves and their own lack of initiative and work ethic. This scandal shows that even those who promote this narrative do not believe it themselves or are acknowledging through their wallet that their kid is a slacker. Or maybe they just feel that all in life should go their way by both birthright and bank account. Their children are born with all the advantages necessary for them to build an academic and life resume that would get them into the schools they want to attend. That was not good enough for their parents. They want it guaranteed or as the political right in America often call an ENTITLEMENT!

Simply put, to use a baseball analogy, even though they have been “born on third base”, they still want to cheat to get home.

Some of these same parents will rail against race-based affirmative action in college admissions, even though it has NEVER been a guarantee.

On the contrary, the student athletes from the first scandal are overwhelmingly from poor backgrounds and participate in the largest revenue generating college sports: football and men’s basketball. Football and basketball athletes, overwhelmingly Black, generate the revenue, which funds the tennis, golf, crew, and lacrosse athletic scholarships, which overwhelmingly go to white students. What that means is that this completely sorry episode is a form of income redistribution.

A silver lining to this all may be a class action suit filed by several students seeking over $5 million in damages and accusing the schools of negligence in guaranteeing the fairness in their admissions processes.

I hope that the Asian students who have joined white student grievances about race-based affirmative action in admissions now realize that Black and Brown folks are not getting the spot at Yale to which they feel entitled.

 

Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports

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The Madness is Back and Who Will Win

Saturday, March 23rd, 2019

Updated: Originally published on March 21, 2019

by Gus Griffin

gus

 

 

 

 

NCAA

I have a lot of different column ideas backed up that I hope you all find interesting and thought provoking. That said, to write about anything other than college basketball this week makes about as much sense as a preacher giving a celibacy sermon in a brothel.

The “Madness” is back. I call it the single greatest sporting event in the world. Even the peripheral college basketball fan completes a bracket. The most OCD and micromanaging supervisors on the job realize the hope of any meaningful work being done this Thursday and Friday is futile.

Colleges that have little to no sports history of note, get on the big stage and unlike college football, actually have a chance to win. In addition, when the “little guy” like the UMBC Retrievers do win, it gives a college the single greatest recruitment tool it could hope to have. Underdogs who win typically experience about a 25% increase in applications the following year.

Magic & Bird - 1979 National Championship Game

Magic & Bird – 1979 National Championship Game

And still, with all the interests and the access to more comprehensive data than ever before, it remains, in my mind, the hardest major sports title to win or pick. I have never picked all four and rarely get more than two. It is difficult for those of us who follow the sport all year long, as I do and have for about 40 years. Speaking of 40 years, this is the anniversary of the Magic Johnson/Michigan State vs. Larry Bird/Indiana State showdown in the 1979 Finals, to which many suggest is the origin of the modern-day tournament popularity.

This year promises to be no different.

There is never a shortage of storylines. This year, for me, the most intriguing story line is the number of teams that have a chance to meet for a fourth time. This has always been rare but even more so now as conferences have grown. This growth made it impossible for all teams to play one another in the traditional home and away format. Then there is the chance of meeting in the conference tournament and then NCAA tourney. The most memorable (and painful, as a diehard

Maryland Terrapin fan) of these for me was 2000-01 between my Maryland Terrapins and the hated Duke Blue Devils. Duke overcame a 10-point deficit with 96 seconds left to beat Maryland in game one. Then won in ACC tourney and overcame a 22-point deficit in the Final Four meeting. Ironically, the only game my Terps won was at Duke. But all four games were absolute wars. Duke would win it all that year. Maryland would win it all the next year.

There are five potential fourth matchups this year and they are as follows: Michigan/Michigan State; Cincinnati/Houston; Seton Hall/Villanova; Tennessee/Kentucky; and of course, by far the most anticipated being Duke/North Carolina.

I am dropping Michigan and Michigan State since Sparty is 3-0 over the Wolverines. You have to win one of the first three to keep me interested (I was hoping San Diego State got in, which would give them a fourth crack at Nevada, whom they beat two of 3).  The remaining four are all 2-1 and none can meet again until the Final Four. That is drama.

With that, here are my Final Four teams:

Out of the South, I am going with the Tennessee Volunteers…in spite of their chronically underachieving coach Rick Barnes.

Out of the West, I pick Buffalo to be this year’s Loyola of Chicago. They are very good and have recent tournament experience.

Out of the Mid-West, the Tar Heels of North Carolina, if for no other reason than it is the one team that has no fear of Duke.

Finally, out of the East, as much as I hate to say it…Duke.

Some argue that Duke is vulnerable because they do not shoot the three well, nor are they very good free throw shooters. For your average talented team, I would agree that both flaws would undermine a team’s title hopes.

This is not just another talented team.

ZWZion Williamson (short of the ridiculously premature LeBron comparisons), is every bit as good and exciting as advertised. Both RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish will also be first round picks in the NBA draft someday. Tre Jones would be the best player on about 95 percent of the other teams in the tournament. They are all, technically speaking, freshman. However, in reality, there are no more freshmen playing this time of year. Having said that, maybe a lack of experience is a more valid concern than 3-point or free throw shooting. If either were such an “Achilles Heel”, they would have never been able to comeback from a 23-point deficit on the road to beat a good Louisville team. Furthermore, Virginia is easily the best defensive team in the country, giving up over 70 only 3 times this year. Two were to Duke and the Blue Devils were the only team to score over 80 on the Cavaliers. Most teams struggled to score 60 on UVA.

For all of the above noted, I pick Duke to beat UNC once more in an epic Final. Take a prop that it will go to overtime.

Do not get annoyed if I gave you a sheet with three different Final Four teams. I told you this stuff is hard and anyone with a lick of sense will hedge. LOL. Let the “MADNESS” begin.

 

Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports

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Zion Williamson and Where Collective Thinking Ends

Saturday, March 2nd, 2019

by Gus Griffin

gus

 

 

 

 

ZWI

When the likely number 1 draft pick for the NBA, Duke’s Zion Williamson, hurt a knee against arch rival North Carolina about a week ago, we got the foreseeable debate: Should he stay or should he sit for the remainder of the season?

The cases for both perspectives are pretty clear. He should sit for the year because to keep playing would be to risk his stock and millions of dollars in NBA earnings and endorsements. He should feel no more guilt about abandoning his commitment to the program than coaches feel when they leave for more money at another college or the NBA.

ZWHe should stay and play out the season, if healthy, because athletics are about more than money, but teamwork and a commitment to something larger than any one individual. His teammates are counting on him for Duke, as is often the case, to win a national title. That is not something Zion will have the opportunity to do ever again, should this be his only year in college.

I get both arguments and would not invest a lot of energy in debating against either side.

What does interest me are the mindsets of those who say he should not only stay, but feel an obligation to stay.

This is clearly collective thinking or a “put the group over yourself” plea.

In general, I am not opposed to that concept at all. In fact, I believe American society would be greatly improved if it were adopted on a more widespread level, both systemically and culturally. The conflict, of course, is that the American ethos is one of “rugged individualism” and that such rights trump the collective interests.

And that leads to some questions I have for those who are emphatic that he should stay:

Question 1: Do you equally believe that you should give up some of your weapons, or at the very least, tolerate more comprehensive background checks in the effort to mitigate the epidemic of mass shootings and gun violence?

Question 2: Would you be ok with a slight raise of your taxes to insure that we have universal health care?

Question 3: How about that same raise in taxes to insure proper funding for the schools in the same impoverished neighborhoods which produce more than a few of the college basketball talent that entertain us?

Surely you will agree that public safety, health care, and better education are far more important than whether Zion Williamson plays again this year at Duke, or if they win a 6th national title.  Endorsing any one or all would at least reflect a consistency in the “put the group over yourself” mindset.

But we all know that very few will.

The fact is that it is easy to advocate putting the collective over the individual when you are not the individual that would have to make the sacrifice. The disconnect is compounded when a significant number of those who insist Zion should continue to play believe the Black athletes’ primary role in society is to be their entertainment. Simply put, all too many sports fans believe that athletes should put the team over their own interests. But when it comes to the well-being of humanity on a far more important level than sports, the collective thinking ends.

It is for these reasons that I lean toward hoping that Zion does not return. I get a certain satisfaction in observing the disappointment of hypocrites.

Besides, it’s already too much that the Patriots and Red Sox have won titles over the past year. We don’t need Duke to follow suit. So, I say, SHUT IT DOWN ZION, SHUT IT DOWN!

 

Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports

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So Much for Alabama or Duke Beating Pro Teams

Sunday, January 27th, 2019

by Gus Griffin

gus

 

 

 

 

AD

While I was away, two things happened that hopefully finally put to rest a narrative that never had any credence to begin with: the utterly ridiculous notion that a great college football or basketball team could beat the worst pro teams.

Clemson took the big bad Alabama Crimson Tide to the woodshed.

An unranked Syracuse team went on the road into Cameron Indoor to beat Duke.

This is not to take anything away from Alabama or Duke. The high-level performance of both programs is the gold standard for greatness….at the college level. Leave what is already great alone and stop trying to make it something that it fundamentally is not.

I confess that this is a fun bar room discussion. However, you will have to have been in the bar too long if you actually believe a team of college athletes, even the most talented, at 18-22 years of age, are going to beat a team of GROWN ASS MEN, who play the game for a living.

2001 Miami Hurricanes

2001 Miami Hurricanes

Nevertheless, for entertainment purposes only, let us go with the bar room vibe for a minute. The 2001 Miami Hurricanes is the greatest college football team of my lifetime. Consider their depth at running back alone: Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee, and Frank Gore. Other future NFL stars included Johnathan Vilma, DJ Williams (his father and uncle were teammates of mine), Ed Reed, Vince Wilfork, Bryant McKinnie, Jeremy Shockey, and Kellen Winslow Jr. So, with that talent, how can I be so sure that it would not have stood a chance against the Carolina Panthers or Detroit Lions, who won a combined three games between them that year? Two words: Ken Dorsey. He was their QB and very good at the COLLEGE LEVEL. However, he was a total dud at the pro level. In other words, he could not beat anyone once he did become a pro. Why on Earth would you believe that he could beat pro teams while he was still in college?

On even the greatest and most talent-rich college team, maybe a 3rd of the starters become NFL players of any note. Simply put, most college starters, even at the highest level, simply are not good enough to play professionally. But you believe that they would beat the pros?

GTFOOHWTBS!

LA

Let us consider basketball. The gold standard historically is without question the Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) era UCLA Bruins. He was there from 1966-69 and I am positive that we will never see another team dominate college basketball as it did. The worst team in the NBA during the 1968-69 season was the Phoenix Suns, winning only 16 games. Yet that team had seven players average double-figures, led by a future Hall of Famer named Gail Goodrich. UCLA would not have stood a chance. Jabbar was going to be Jabbar. Pros could not have stopped him as a freshman. However, they would not beat pro teams.

The only exception to this rule…and it would only be for one game, would be baseball. A college baseball team with a young stud like Roger Clemons from Texas or Sandy Koufax out of Cincinnati, on the rare days he had his control at that stage of his development, could shut down a professional batting lineup. However, no college team will have more than one.

I guess what baffles me most of all is why do we even care? Why this obsession with forcing apples to compete with oranges? Can’t we just appreciate the greatness of Serena Williams and the Lady UConn Huskies basketball team without asking could they beat men?

Greatness is too rare to be subjected to steroid-laced hypotheticals for our unquenchable amusement.  Alabama is the the greatest college football dynasty ever. Duke has been the most high performing college basketball program for 30 years. That is good enough for me.

 

Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports

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Sports’ 4 Most Overhyped Rivalries

Friday, November 23rd, 2018

by Gus Griffin

gus

 

 

 

 

Image courtesy of The Purple Quill

Image courtesy of The Purple Quill

As college football goes, this is rivalry week. Alabama vs. Auburn is among many that rarely disappoint.

However, some of these matchups that folks have been convinced are rivalries are overhyped frauds. I am going to list the biggest four, but to get where I am coming from, you have to know what makes up a rivalry. There are six primary elements: history; familiarity; regional proximity; greatness of the players; fan passion; and competitive balance.  Now a good rivalry need not necessarily have all of these elements. For example, the Steelers and Raiders, 49ers and Cowboys have history, but familiarity has dropped because they do not necessarily play every year, as opposed to Dallas and Washington. Regional proximity makes them compelling, but USC and Notre Dame, as well as the Celtics and Lakers have proven that regional proximity is not a necessity. In fact, it can be overplayed, as was the case in Northern Cal when I was growing up. Cal-Berkeley vs. Stanford was considered “the big game”. I could never understand what was so big about a game between two teams with a combined record of 4-14.

The one of these six elements that is necessary for a full-fledge, hype-deserving rivalry is competitive balance.

That is the factor missing from the four biggest frauds on the rivalry Mt. Rushmore.

FRAUD RIVALRY 1) Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson:

Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

I know they have the $9 million match play on Friday and the $200K side bet that “Phil Appeal” would birdie the first hole. Far be it for me to deny an interest in an ill action, so I may tune in for that alone. However, to call it a rivalry is an insult to rivalries. It has been reasonably close when they have been paired, with Woods holding an 18-15-2 edge. That is the end of the statistical balance. Though they have both played in nearly all four majors since 1997, they have finished first and second in only one major (the 2002 U.S. Open, won by Woods, by three strokes over Michelson). Their careers for wins has Tiger with 14 majors to Phil’s 5, and 80 tour wins to Phil’s 43.

What rivalry?

When Tiger and Phil are paired together atop the leader board on a Sunday of a major, then give me a call.

 

FRAUD RIVALRY 2) Serena vs. Maria:

Photo courtesy of The Telegraph

Photo courtesy of The Telegraph

It should have been great. When 17-year-old Maria Sharapova took two of her first three matches from the undisputed number 1 Serena Williams in 2004, it included an absolute beat down of the Queen at the Wimbledon finals. There was every reason to believe that it would be a great rivalry for years to come. Since that year, Serena has beaten Maria like a drum, to the tune of 18 matches in a row, 15 of them in straight sets. The only reason Maria broke the streak is that Serena retired due to injury in this year’s French Open. Serena has twice as many tour wins (72-36) and over four times as many majors (23-5).  Rivalry? GTFOOHWTBS.

 

 

 

FRAUD RIVALRY 3) Patriots and the Steelers:

Photo courtesy of Inside the Pylon

Photo courtesy of Inside the Pylon

It pains me to point this out, and I may be risking sedition charges at the hands of the council of Steeler Nation. But the record is what the record is. During the Belichick/Brady era, my Steelers are 3-10 against the Patriots, including 0-3 in playoffs. Their only win in New England was when Brady was hurt. Five of the losses have been in Pittsburgh. Stevie Wonder could see that this is not much of a rivalry.

 

 

 

 

FRAUD RIVALRY 4) LeBron vs MJ:

Photo courtesy of Type One

Photo courtesy of Type One

I suppose if we include social media and/or a bar to be qualifiers, this would be a real rivalry. We cannot. Cyberspace is no more of a venue for a rivalry than porn is for one’s Walter Mitty sexual exploits; NEITHER IS REAL! How on Earth could there be a rivalry when the two never competed against one another? Their careers have literally never even overlapped. Jordan’s last year was the year before LeBron’s debut.  They do not even play the same position.

 

 

 

 

It is easy to understand how these four have come to be presented as something their records clearly show that they are not; ratings! All are marquee within their sports and even beyond, and all move the marketing meter. I get it. But let’s not get carried away, least we take away from real rivalries such as Duke and North Carolina, or my Giants and the Dodgers, etc. The good news is that an overhyped rivalry can get an upgrade. Until 1985, the Lakers and Celtics was overhyped. Then the mighty Purple and Gold put that work in on the lil green bas##@$&. Until 2004 the Yankees and Red Sox was overhyped, until the Red Sox gave the pin stripes the business and have been doing so ever since. Until last year, the Penguins and Capitals was overhyped. You know it is not a real rivalry when only one side of fans is obsessed with it, while the other side just takes winning for granted. That is how Penguins fans felt when they met the Caps in the playoffs……….until last year.  Now it is a good rivalry. Nothing gets the attention of an arrogant fan base more than when your team unexpectedly beats them. So none of the above is eternally locked into fraud rivalry purgatory. However, one must change the narrative and the only way to do that is to start winning.

So, here’s to hoping that the Michigan Wolverines read this and finally beats the Ohio State Buckeyes this weekend. Otherwise, that rivalry may be soon on this list.

 

Gus Griffin, for War Room Sports

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