Sports Illustrated dedicated a few pages to this question in an article published in 1955.
There was never any question that *men* were good sports, trained to be so after decades of competition. But women? Well...'they were learning.'
Seems to me that being a good or poor sport is as individual as the athlete. Anyone wanna tell me Ty Cobb was a good sport?
The Question: Norbert L. Harms Of St. Louis, In His Answer To The Hotbox Question, "should Women Hunt?" Said: "...basically, Women Are Poor Sports." Are They?
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1129995/2/index.htm
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
High Fives for stepping on an opposing player's face
Aubrey Coleman of Houston is the "man" doing the stepping, Chase Budinger of Arizona is the man being stepped on. Arizona ended up winning the game.
(Note, after a couple of replays, we see the reactin of the Houston bench. Aubrey, laughing like he just did somethign to be proud of, gets a high five from a teammate. However, he apparently was ejected from the game.)
Christian Laettner did something similar, but at least he stepped on the guy's chest, not his face...(though he still deserved to be suspended).
(Note, after a couple of replays, we see the reactin of the Houston bench. Aubrey, laughing like he just did somethign to be proud of, gets a high five from a teammate. However, he apparently was ejected from the game.)
Christian Laettner did something similar, but at least he stepped on the guy's chest, not his face...(though he still deserved to be suspended).
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Geno Admits He Was Wrong
Many people, in commenting on the Geno Auriemma - Nicole Michael situation, said that Geno had no business trying to teach manners to another coach's players.
In his weekly TV show, Geno admits that he made a mistake.
http://soxanddawgs.com/2009/01/24/geno-admits-he-was-wrong/
This site has the relevant video from Geno's show.
It's very rare for someone to admit, publicly, that they made a mistake, so kudos to Geno for doing so.
I wonder if Nicole Michael will come out and say she made a mistake in trying to trip Geno? After all, she is 21 - old enough to know better. It's one thing to get into a verbal altercation with someone, quite another to actually physically attack them - that should never be acceptable.
In his weekly TV show, Geno admits that he made a mistake.
http://soxanddawgs.com/2009/01/24/geno-admits-he-was-wrong/
This site has the relevant video from Geno's show.
It's very rare for someone to admit, publicly, that they made a mistake, so kudos to Geno for doing so.
I wonder if Nicole Michael will come out and say she made a mistake in trying to trip Geno? After all, she is 21 - old enough to know better. It's one thing to get into a verbal altercation with someone, quite another to actually physically attack them - that should never be acceptable.
Kay Yow, coach of North Carolina State, has died
http://www.cbssports.com/ncaawbasketball/story/11297089
Her story was one of courage and hope. Despite having breast cancer for many years, she endured chemotherapy and then came to coach her team.
I know I shouldn't make atheist hay out of such a tragic event, but I must say I've got a bewildered twist to my lips right now.
Just checked the two main WCBB message boards I read on a regualar basis, and everyone expressing their sadness and saying farewell ends with a "God bless" or a "Receive God's grace in its fullest" if you're actually a priest as well as a basketball fan.
And I'm thinking... this woman has suffered with a terrible disease for a decade, but now that she has fulfilled God's plan and died she'll receive his grace in the fullest.
On the other hand, apparently she was a deeply religious person herself, and the fact that that didn't prevent God from bestowing this terrible disease on her never made her waiver in her faith.
Also today on one of these two boards, a couple of people have family or a friend who is also going through a health crisis, and so they are making posts saying "Prayers needed," and requesting prayers - from total strangers - for their own loved ones. And the people are responding, assuring the requestor that they will keep this other individual in their prayers.
And while that's certainly very nice, I'm thinking.... why bother? Did prayers help Kay Yow? Miraculously cure her of cancer because she was such a great person? (Which she was - don't mistake me on that.)
I must confess I don't understand the mind of a religious person, whether Christian or Jew, and definitely not Muslim!
But what's easier to believe, that there is no God, and that these diseases are horrible mutations that have to be cured through science, or there IS a God, and he goes about laying these horrible diseases on people as part of his plan to test them and make sure they won't waiver in their faith. And after a few years of suffering for most, and perhaps one "miraculous" cure for every one in ten thousand, the individual gets to die and go up to heaven where they'll live eternally in God's love. Oh, yeah, that'd make me feel better.
Her story was one of courage and hope. Despite having breast cancer for many years, she endured chemotherapy and then came to coach her team.
I know I shouldn't make atheist hay out of such a tragic event, but I must say I've got a bewildered twist to my lips right now.
Just checked the two main WCBB message boards I read on a regualar basis, and everyone expressing their sadness and saying farewell ends with a "God bless" or a "Receive God's grace in its fullest" if you're actually a priest as well as a basketball fan.
And I'm thinking... this woman has suffered with a terrible disease for a decade, but now that she has fulfilled God's plan and died she'll receive his grace in the fullest.
On the other hand, apparently she was a deeply religious person herself, and the fact that that didn't prevent God from bestowing this terrible disease on her never made her waiver in her faith.
Also today on one of these two boards, a couple of people have family or a friend who is also going through a health crisis, and so they are making posts saying "Prayers needed," and requesting prayers - from total strangers - for their own loved ones. And the people are responding, assuring the requestor that they will keep this other individual in their prayers.
And while that's certainly very nice, I'm thinking.... why bother? Did prayers help Kay Yow? Miraculously cure her of cancer because she was such a great person? (Which she was - don't mistake me on that.)
I must confess I don't understand the mind of a religious person, whether Christian or Jew, and definitely not Muslim!
But what's easier to believe, that there is no God, and that these diseases are horrible mutations that have to be cured through science, or there IS a God, and he goes about laying these horrible diseases on people as part of his plan to test them and make sure they won't waiver in their faith. And after a few years of suffering for most, and perhaps one "miraculous" cure for every one in ten thousand, the individual gets to die and go up to heaven where they'll live eternally in God's love. Oh, yeah, that'd make me feel better.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Regret Sometimes Rings a Little Hollow
A Texas high school girls basketball team on the winning end of a 100-0 game has a case of blowout remorse.
Now officials from The Covenant School say they are trying to do the right thing by seeking a forfeit and apologizing for the margin of victory.
http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=903780
Okay - here's probably what happened. The girls were enjoying destroying their opponent, so much so that they had absolutely no qualms during the game of dropping 100 points on them.
AFTER the game, the outrage about what they had done made the coach and players feel uncomfortable... "Hey, we'd better apologize about this so these people criticizing us will think we're sorry we did it."
They could have stopped at any point in that game and taken it easy... to feel sorry afterwards just sounds bogus to me.
On the other hand, clearly that other team did not belong on the same court, and whoever scheduled the two, made a mistake.
Now officials from The Covenant School say they are trying to do the right thing by seeking a forfeit and apologizing for the margin of victory.
http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=903780
Okay - here's probably what happened. The girls were enjoying destroying their opponent, so much so that they had absolutely no qualms during the game of dropping 100 points on them.
AFTER the game, the outrage about what they had done made the coach and players feel uncomfortable... "Hey, we'd better apologize about this so these people criticizing us will think we're sorry we did it."
They could have stopped at any point in that game and taken it easy... to feel sorry afterwards just sounds bogus to me.
On the other hand, clearly that other team did not belong on the same court, and whoever scheduled the two, made a mistake.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Clemson fan bodyslams Chas McFarland
Wake Forest-Clemson battle, Jan 17, 2009
Wake Forest center Chas McFarland goes into the stands, falling, tries to get up, and a Clemson fan, who'd been "speared", body slams him.
Wake Forest center Chas McFarland goes into the stands, falling, tries to get up, and a Clemson fan, who'd been "speared", body slams him.
Does Geno Get Tripped
On Saturday, January 17, the Syracuse Orange Women played the UConn Huskies, coached by Geno Auriemma.
Before the game, the Orange Women, in various pre-game interviews, sounded confident, and like they expected to be able to win.
The UConn players proceeded to double them up on the score, and Geno left his starters in, and they continued to bomb threes, until practically the end of the game.
According to the announcers and the UConn fans watching the game, Syracuse played "dirty" the entire game. Although, when one of UConn's stars, Caroline Doty, went down with what everyone hopes is not an ACL injury, it was on a fast break and no Syracuse player can be held responsible.
In the clip you see above, Nicole Michael, junior forward for Syracuse, seems to turn toward Geno and either kick him or try to trip him. Or perhaps Geno just accidently steps on her foot as she attempts to confront him. Whatever happens, she certainly turns and walks away very quickly.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Candace Parker Still Has Nightmares...
about LaToya Pringle guarding her.
So said North Carolina Tar Heel coach Sylvia Hatchell, when Pringle's number was retired a fwe days ago.
And this has got The Summitt - the Lady Vols message board, all up in arms.
They have gone back through the record books, and Parker's career low in points apparently came facing other teams, not the Tar Heels and Pringle.
Therefore, these rabid fans say, Hatchell was lying! She was trying to pump up Pringle at the expense of Candace Parker, and she should be ashamed!
What none of these foaming-at-the-mouth fans -- who are all outraged by this -- seem to want to consider, is, maybe Candace Parker, learning that Pringle's jersey was t be retired, called up Hatchell and gave her that little anecdote. Or maybe Parker and Pringle, who are in the WNBA together, albeit on different teams, are friends, and Parker told Pringle that and Pringle told her coach, and that's where the quote came from.
Now - I dont' know whether that's true or not, but I'd certainly give Hatchell the benefit of the doubt rather than getting my knickers in a twist about it, the more so because...it's no big deal.
But, as any sports fan knows, to rabid sports fans, any slight, imagined or otherwise, is a big deal, and absolutely must never be forgiven, and must be brought up, over and over and over again.
The Summitt is certainly not unusual in having these types of fans, but I just do have to laugh every time I read that board, because most of the people there do wear orange colored blinders.
For example, in particular during the off-season when there's no basketball going on, discussion at The Boneyard would have a few threads on the Lady Vols.
So, over on the Summitt, you'd get people making snarky comments "We should call The Boneyard The Summitt II, because they sure are obsessed with us."
Not seeming to realize the fact that they are obsessed with the Boneyard - why else read a rival team's board to begin with?
But of course, if you go to the Summitt, you see an equal number of threads discussing the UConn Huskies, but if someone jokingly refers to the Summitt as the Boneyard II (coff, coff) they are met with outrage! They aren't obsessed with UConn, it's the other way around.
I just have to laugh...
So said North Carolina Tar Heel coach Sylvia Hatchell, when Pringle's number was retired a fwe days ago.
And this has got The Summitt - the Lady Vols message board, all up in arms.
They have gone back through the record books, and Parker's career low in points apparently came facing other teams, not the Tar Heels and Pringle.
Therefore, these rabid fans say, Hatchell was lying! She was trying to pump up Pringle at the expense of Candace Parker, and she should be ashamed!
What none of these foaming-at-the-mouth fans -- who are all outraged by this -- seem to want to consider, is, maybe Candace Parker, learning that Pringle's jersey was t be retired, called up Hatchell and gave her that little anecdote. Or maybe Parker and Pringle, who are in the WNBA together, albeit on different teams, are friends, and Parker told Pringle that and Pringle told her coach, and that's where the quote came from.
Now - I dont' know whether that's true or not, but I'd certainly give Hatchell the benefit of the doubt rather than getting my knickers in a twist about it, the more so because...it's no big deal.
But, as any sports fan knows, to rabid sports fans, any slight, imagined or otherwise, is a big deal, and absolutely must never be forgiven, and must be brought up, over and over and over again.
The Summitt is certainly not unusual in having these types of fans, but I just do have to laugh every time I read that board, because most of the people there do wear orange colored blinders.
For example, in particular during the off-season when there's no basketball going on, discussion at The Boneyard would have a few threads on the Lady Vols.
So, over on the Summitt, you'd get people making snarky comments "We should call The Boneyard The Summitt II, because they sure are obsessed with us."
Not seeming to realize the fact that they are obsessed with the Boneyard - why else read a rival team's board to begin with?
But of course, if you go to the Summitt, you see an equal number of threads discussing the UConn Huskies, but if someone jokingly refers to the Summitt as the Boneyard II (coff, coff) they are met with outrage! They aren't obsessed with UConn, it's the other way around.
I just have to laugh...
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Betting on Basketball? You need this!
Okay, i don't really approve of sports betting... but it's better than black jack or slots where it's all luck!
With sports betting, if you know your stuff, you can make money. (The main reason why I don't approve is, the more money laid on a game, the more the guys with mushed noses don't want to lose... but if you wager carefully...
So anyway, check out this betting system: Sports Betting Champ.
I don't know that I'd call the info he shares "Explosive secrets" - sounds like standard internet hype to me... but the system works. (On paper, I hasten to add. All my money is in FRE, the stock of which I thought would go up after the bailout and which is still in the tank!... I should have stuck to sportsbetting!
Anyway, check it out.
Aha - I see it's demonstrated - well, a whole minute - on Youtube as well:
With sports betting, if you know your stuff, you can make money. (The main reason why I don't approve is, the more money laid on a game, the more the guys with mushed noses don't want to lose... but if you wager carefully...
So anyway, check out this betting system: Sports Betting Champ.
I don't know that I'd call the info he shares "Explosive secrets" - sounds like standard internet hype to me... but the system works. (On paper, I hasten to add. All my money is in FRE, the stock of which I thought would go up after the bailout and which is still in the tank!... I should have stuck to sportsbetting!
Anyway, check it out.
Aha - I see it's demonstrated - well, a whole minute - on Youtube as well:
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Women's basketball - PLEASE put names on jerseys!
There were two women's college basketball games on TV today...
I watched the Tennessee Lady Vols vs the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
I won't say a word about the abysmal first half the Lady Vols had - scoring a team-history low 13 points in that first half, or the abysmal second half Rutgers had. Except to say that anyone knew to women's basketball who just wanted to see what it was all about would not have become a fan after watching this game, I don't think.
Excuse for the Lady Vols is that actually they are the "Baby Vols" - 4 freshmen starting. They looked like it was their first game (and they were without their top defensive player) and they had more turnovers than points in that half...
But, anyway, the point is, neither the Lady Vols or the Scarlet Knights had their names on the back of their jerseys. So unless you are fans of the team, you wouldn't know who any of these players are! This was the first time I'd seen these girls play (normally I listen on the radio) and the only one I recognized was Angie Bjorkland. When they showed their faces at the line, I was able to put names to faces, but when they're running around, hard to tell. My memory for their numbers isn't that great - would've been a lot easier with names!
Same for Rutgers of course, only more important since I'd never seen them before!
It is really short-sighted of these coaches not to put names on jerseys! I suppose it's supposed to be "team-building" but all it does is make it harder for potential fans to care about the team they're watching. Everyone's anonymous!
It doesn't matter with a team like the New York Yankees, but for women's college basketball, where most teams hardly get anyone to turn out to games, being fan friendly is all important.
I watched the Tennessee Lady Vols vs the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
I won't say a word about the abysmal first half the Lady Vols had - scoring a team-history low 13 points in that first half, or the abysmal second half Rutgers had. Except to say that anyone knew to women's basketball who just wanted to see what it was all about would not have become a fan after watching this game, I don't think.
Excuse for the Lady Vols is that actually they are the "Baby Vols" - 4 freshmen starting. They looked like it was their first game (and they were without their top defensive player) and they had more turnovers than points in that half...
But, anyway, the point is, neither the Lady Vols or the Scarlet Knights had their names on the back of their jerseys. So unless you are fans of the team, you wouldn't know who any of these players are! This was the first time I'd seen these girls play (normally I listen on the radio) and the only one I recognized was Angie Bjorkland. When they showed their faces at the line, I was able to put names to faces, but when they're running around, hard to tell. My memory for their numbers isn't that great - would've been a lot easier with names!
Same for Rutgers of course, only more important since I'd never seen them before!
It is really short-sighted of these coaches not to put names on jerseys! I suppose it's supposed to be "team-building" but all it does is make it harder for potential fans to care about the team they're watching. Everyone's anonymous!
It doesn't matter with a team like the New York Yankees, but for women's college basketball, where most teams hardly get anyone to turn out to games, being fan friendly is all important.
Friday, January 2, 2009
The new Gatorade commercial - crap!
How do you know a Gatorade commercial? Athletes running around, then refreshing themselves with the drink in the green bottle, eh?
Take a look at this - and tell me, if you hadn't been told it was a Gatorade commerical - would you even know it?
http://neswsports.com/2009/01/02/whats-g-g-commercial-gatorade-commercial/
They're talking about something called "G". No mention at all of the fact that it's a Gatorade commercial, no sight of a Gatorade bottle, plus there's the bad taste of a very frail Mohammed Ali...then the weirdos in the faceless hockey masks at the end.
If I drank Gatordate, I'd stop drinking it after seeing this commercial.
_______
And after a little research, I find that the whole blogosphere is talking and praising this ridiculous commercial!
"How clever of Gatorade," they say, "to not specify what they're advertising, so that peope will go to the web and search under "Lil Wayne" and "G" to see what it is."
Something that would never have worked without the internet so people could actually do that.
But I have to admit I'm surprised. I thought it was a repulsive and stupid commercial - just various athletes standing around while the camera pans past them, then the three guys in masks at the end doing the sinuous arm thang. Just looked stupid.
Take a look at this - and tell me, if you hadn't been told it was a Gatorade commerical - would you even know it?
http://neswsports.com/2009/01/02/whats-g-g-commercial-gatorade-commercial/
They're talking about something called "G". No mention at all of the fact that it's a Gatorade commercial, no sight of a Gatorade bottle, plus there's the bad taste of a very frail Mohammed Ali...then the weirdos in the faceless hockey masks at the end.
If I drank Gatordate, I'd stop drinking it after seeing this commercial.
_______
And after a little research, I find that the whole blogosphere is talking and praising this ridiculous commercial!
"How clever of Gatorade," they say, "to not specify what they're advertising, so that peope will go to the web and search under "Lil Wayne" and "G" to see what it is."
Something that would never have worked without the internet so people could actually do that.
But I have to admit I'm surprised. I thought it was a repulsive and stupid commercial - just various athletes standing around while the camera pans past them, then the three guys in masks at the end doing the sinuous arm thang. Just looked stupid.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Why is John Daly so popular?
After the report that John Daly had been suspended from the PGA tour for 6 months (he can still golf in non-PGA events), a few people chimed in on the subject at CBSSportsline.com.
Most of them see Daly as a waste of space and a disgrace to golf, but quite a few are actually defending the guy, seeing him as a "regular guy" and a "colorful guy" - and the fact that he puts himself into a position where other people have power over him doesn't seem to matter.
By that I mean - if you get so drunk that you have to be arrested, and get to go places and do things dressed in an orange jump suit, you're hardly your own man, and there's nothing admirable about it.
Representative of young people, perhaps, they don't mind getting wasted and trashed every day, accomplishing nothing with their lives, and thinking that they're "free" because they dont' have to answer to anybody, not realzing that the only reason why they're not starving in the streets is because misguided governments give them welfare and free needles so they can continue their parasitic lives...
(Yes, I feel strongy about this. I have health issues myself, which have prevented me from accomplishing the great things I'd once dreamed of. To see perfectly healthy people, who could do anything they want, wasting their good fortune on drink and drugs when I'd do anything to have that health, just really, really pisses me off.)
Most of them see Daly as a waste of space and a disgrace to golf, but quite a few are actually defending the guy, seeing him as a "regular guy" and a "colorful guy" - and the fact that he puts himself into a position where other people have power over him doesn't seem to matter.
By that I mean - if you get so drunk that you have to be arrested, and get to go places and do things dressed in an orange jump suit, you're hardly your own man, and there's nothing admirable about it.
Representative of young people, perhaps, they don't mind getting wasted and trashed every day, accomplishing nothing with their lives, and thinking that they're "free" because they dont' have to answer to anybody, not realzing that the only reason why they're not starving in the streets is because misguided governments give them welfare and free needles so they can continue their parasitic lives...
(Yes, I feel strongy about this. I have health issues myself, which have prevented me from accomplishing the great things I'd once dreamed of. To see perfectly healthy people, who could do anything they want, wasting their good fortune on drink and drugs when I'd do anything to have that health, just really, really pisses me off.)
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