The Big Mac Back in St. Louis?

“Would you rather spread manure, or play hockey in Madison Square Garden in front of 20,000 people?”- Youngblood

Anyone remember back in 1998, the great homerun race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa? Who would of thought baseball’s comeback was because of these two great sluggers? Well little would anyone know about 10 years later, steroids would be baseball’s new topic of discussion. As I recall McGwire and Sosa were the topic of a baseball investigation, The Mitchell Report. Both denied taking steroids and McGwire said he did not want to talk about the past but focus on the present. All in all, both were one time first ballot Hall of Famers. Now, they are both lucky if they get into the Hall at all.

Interestingly enough, the Big Mac is back in St. Louis. This time, McGwire will become the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. Surprisingly move? I would love to hear what Cardinals fans think. Who knows maybe a public relations move to clear up McGwire’s image? Then again, if the whole team starts to smash homeruns, people are going to start thinking steroids. In my opinion, McGwire may actually be a smart, hitting coach for the Cardinals. I am sure there are plenty of St. Louis fans who still appreciate all McGwire did.

Still I wonder what this move does for the St. Louis Cardinals and McGwire. If somehow McGwire proves he was steroid free, is baseball’s legacy changed forever? Think about Pete Rose and his situation. He was banned from baseball because of betting. Why is baseball allowing McGwire back in the game after he refused to talk about “the past?” I understand McGwire was never found guilty of steroids but the man disappeared from the game. Anyone else see that as a sign?

Well best of luck to you, Mark McGwire. I hope you prove baseball wrong. Honestly, since this hiring has occurred, I think it is time baseball looked at Pete Rose.

However, as a Cubs fan, I hope McGwire ruins Albert Pujols’ swing.

Friday Night (No Money to Spend On) Lights

“You know what Coxy let me ask you a question. Why'd you wanna play college hockey? Isn't it obvious? For the girls.” -Miracle

This past Monday, Megan and Morgan talked about sports being cut out from high school budgets. Megan gave an example of her high school near home. Megan was telling the class about how the high school completely cut sports from their budget and effects this decision had on the community. I personally went through this situation and it is not a fun one. The community really becomes too paranoid. My parents were looking into other private schools for me. Then they would fight over whether paying for school was in their budget. Luckily, in my case, I played hockey and Illinois High Schools Association did not support my sport due to insurance reasons. In other words, I did not have to go to a private school. However, there may be teacher and class cuts at my high school. This situation quickly became a mess.

Interestingly enough, there was one solution to stop this problem that my high school district did not consider. Sometime after 2000, Pepsi had come to our school district with an offer. My teacher, who taught my business law class, was telling our class Pepsi Co. wanted to end the Coke line products in our district area. Pepsi was willing to offer around $7 million dollars to the district under certain circumstances. One of the requirements for this deal was each high school within the district had to put in special field turf with Pepsi logos in each endzone. Another requirement was Pepsi Co. products are the only products allowed in the school.

Now I am sure there were other details. According to my teacher, she was saying the district was afraid the community would not like the Pepsi logo around the school. In fact, our vote did pass and taxes were raised around the area. Then again, last year, the high school changed their field to the special field turf even though money was tight. The district simply could have considered the offer and had a couple of Pepsi logos. Plus, the community would not have to raise taxes and elderly people would not have to complain. There would have been enough money for improvement in both sports and education. Our district would have been put on the map, as well.

Maybe its time high school districts should look into sponsorships!

Athletes Deserve the Same Jail Time as Everyone Else

“Hey... Goldberg! I bet if that puck was a cheeseburger, you'd stop it! Hahaha!” –Mighty Ducks 2

First of all, I thought Josh’s presentation was a good topic to talk about with all the upcoming “jail time” events for professional athletes. I, personally, would have added Lance Briggs slamming his $250,000 Lambo into the side of the Edens Expressway in Chicago and leaving the scene in the presentation. Now only if I was smart enough to be driving with someone in Chicago on the Edens at 3:00am, I probably could have had myself a nice car. Then again, I guess that’s how we do it in Chicago. First Lance Briggs and then this summer we had Chicago Blackhawks star, Patrick Kane, punch a cab driver over a near $.20 in change. Come on buddy, did you forget you had to tip him? Kids these days!
Overall I thought Josh made a good point about Donte Stallworth. The man (Stallworth) was drunk and driving. He killed other drunk man walking across the street and was only sentenced to 24 days in jail. Now, how does that work? I mean I completely understand he is under house arrest for the next two years (I believe) but really, that’s all? Anyone else would not be this lucky in their jail sentence. I do believe part of the reasoning is Stallworth’s money and lawyer. However, I do not think the court systems want people to know the more money you have, the better sentencing you will get.
Even Plaxico Burress is another unacceptable case. As matter of fact, I think he is an embarrassment to the NFL. Again I am not biased because I play hockey, but when was the last time you heard of a NHL or MLB player getting into a jail type situation with the exception of the steroid users? The NBA and NFL seem to have countless problems. Maybe the problem for these two leagues is the time in between the next games. NHL and MLB players seem to be always traveling with not a lot of down time during the season. In addition, NHL players, this year, have to play a regular season, playoffs, and compete in the 2010 Vancouver games for the Olympics. The MLB players have 162-game season to play each year.
Still, I do not really believe down time between games in the reason. In my opinion, I do believe everyone deserves a second chance in life. However, when a professional athlete is getting paid millions of dollars and are role models to society, they do not need a second chance because they have millions of reasons not to screw up. If I worked for a high paying job and well-known company and got arrested for shooting myself, do you actually think the company would rehire me after spending two years in jail? I don’t think so. We are all fans of the game and smart people, is it really fair?

Why soccer will not survive in the U.S.?

“You know what Gordie Howe got for a signing bonus? A team jacket!” -Youngblood

In class last Wednesday, Dr. Spencer talked about the popularity of soccer/futbol in Europe compared to the U.S. In Europe, futbol games are jammed packed with fans supporting their team. Futbol games have been known to even cause riots because the fans are so passionate. The U.S. has a different outlook. In the past, the U.S. has tried to establish a soccer league but has failed miserable. The latest league, Major League Soccer, has become a pleasant surprise. However, the league’s new all-star, David Beckham, has not worked out so well. Recently, Beckham has been booed by fans from the L.A. Galaxy. Beckham was signed to a five-year contract. The deal went south when Beckham wanted to be loaned to AC Milan. Beckham’s loan brought displeasure to American fans.

In Europe, the teams have sponsorships that pay a lot of money to be worn by the teams. A lot of money is spent on some of the top futbol players in the World. Their games are on European channels just as much as basketball, baseball, and football in America. For the most part, futbol seems to be played all year long unlike soccer in America. Soccer in America will not survive because a lack of sponsorships and how long the season lasts. The MLS cannot afford to pay the same top dollar that European futbol players are paid.

My solution is when the MLS plays there games, the teams should play in stadiums with a retractable roof. While games are played in summer, the roofs will stay open. Then the season can continue into early fall as the roof can be closed and the field is still in good condition. Major League Baseball has looked into new stadiums having retractable roofs so there are not a lot of make-up games due to bad weather. My other suggestion to this solution is to have primetime games like the NBA has for Christmas and NFL has for Sundays.

The True Meaning of Fighting in Hockey

With the start of the October month, I felt it was necessary to begin a new set of famous movie quotes from hockey movies.

“Did you really Quack at the Principal?

Yeah! Are we Ducks or what?” –The Mighty Ducks

Last week in class, Rei gave a presentation about fighting in hockey. His presentation was very interesting because he talked about how National Hockey League (NHL) players’ fights affect younger children. Rei showed a YouTube clip of an eight year-old hockey fight that occurred during the game. He explained how kids want to fight because their favorite NHL players fight. This issue has lead to many NHL officials trying to cut down on the fighting that takes place during a game. However, I feel there is one problem with that.

Hockey is a physical game. Yet, the fighting still sends the wrong message to kids. In my opinion, kids do not understand the meaning behind fighting. When it comes to fighting, most of the fighting is done because there is need to stick up for a teammate or trying to get your energy back into your team. Shaun Buynack wrote on his blog, “Even though fighting seems cruel, it is needed to keep order on the ice. It helps players from taking cheap shots and liberties towards the opposing players.” I agree completely with Shaun’s statement. Hockey is a fast, intense game where momentum can switch from one team to the other in an instant.

Now, think of this issue with a couple of other issues in mind. Shaun and I both agree fighting is necessary and not as big of an issue as people make it. I believe I would rather see fighting in hockey than steroids in baseball. I would also rather see fighting in hockey than performance-enhancing drugs in baseball and football. The same could be said for basketball players. I would rather witness a hockey fight than NBA players running into the crowd and starting a fight. I think before people get all raddled about fighting in hockey, people need to understand the reasoning behind fighting. I am not saying all this because I play hockey. I truly believe I would watch a fight, which is meant for momentum or sticking up for a teammate, rather than someone cheating in professional sports. When is the last time you heard a hockey player taking steroids or performance-enhancing drugs? Hockey players play the game for their passion and love of the sport.

Do not believe me? Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkr1yHOpoeg