Archive for the 'College Sports' Category

OJ Mayo: Who’s to Blame?

Published
by
Anthony Iafolla
on May 14, 2008
in College Sports
. 0 Comments

As everyone already knows, there is another scandal involving a USC player receiving illegal benefits.  The only surprise is that the player is not from the storied football program, but from their basketball program that is trying to put themselves on the same map as conference and city rival UCLA. 

Unless you have been pulling a Rip Van Winkle, you now have heard that OJ Mayo has been accused of receiving thousands of dollars, a flat screen TV, hotel rooms for his friends, etc.  My guess is that not too much in the way of penalties comes out of this for USC.  Big shocker.  Although the NCAA has said they have “new information” on the case and an investigation will be forthcoming.  The school, athletic department, coaches, and anyone associated are playing dumb and denying any knowledge of any wrong doing.  Same thing they did in the Reggie Bush case. I, for one, do not buy a word of it.  Obviously, we have no concrete proof yet, and an investigation is underway, but this seems to be a growing problem in college sports today. 

I could sit here and rant about USC and all the shady things that seem to be going on, but I won’t.  We can easily lay blame on all sides here.  It’s easy to point fingers at OJ Mayo and USC, and I have no problem with anyone that does.  In my opinion, however, the main problem lies in the society and culture that has been created in amateur basketball.   All over the country, there are kids developing amazing talent, while at the same time being swarmed by money hungry agents and sponsors.  It starts for some of these kids as early as 12 years old.  This is a sickening trend that continues to get worse.  In the OJ mayo case, it has been obvious for years that he was going to become a millionaire in the NBA.  The only question was, who was going to win the race to latch onto his coattails and make millions. 

Allegedly, Louis Johnson and Rodney Guillory acted as “runners” for BDA, a sports agency.  This is an all too common practice in the world of high school basketball.  There have been discussions recently blaming the NBA’s age-limit.  Some might even say that the old argument of paying college athletes some sort of money would solve the problem.  None of these things are at the root of the problem.  The practice of scumbag agents and runners hanging around high school gyms has been going on well before the NBA instituted an age limit. 

I am not sure what the solution is.    Maybe someone needs to be made an example of.  We live in a society where money, power, and greed are center stage for many.  A society where, unfortunately, many people will do whatever it takes to get ahead, even if it means cheating, stealing, or just using someone else to benefit themselves.  So, we can blame kids like OJ Mayo for accepting money, gifts, and allowing these people into their circles.  We can blame schools like USC and coaches like Tim Floyd who seem to turn a blind eye in order to boost their program and save their jobs, even when it was obvious to many in the basketball world that OJ Mayo was already being paid for his talent.  We can blame ourselves for demanding so much out of a college program that it has become as high pressure as professional sports.  All of these are contributing factors.  But, we need to start looking at the society and culture we have created where kids can be taken advantage of.  Where agents, boosters, and runners have way too much to do with amateur sports.  A culture has been created that has taken the purity out of amateur athletics, and it continues to spiral downward.  Maybe we are all to blame.

Where’s the Madness?

Published
by
Chris Iafolla
on April 6, 2008
in College Sports
. 0 Comments

A few days ago, like many others, I was getting ready to write a post about how this was the greatest Final Four in tournament history. The numbers support that assertion. For starters, this is the first Final Four with four number 1 seeds. But the numbers don’t stop there. The combined record of these teams was 141-9 going into last night’s games–you guessed it, the best in tournament history. And perhaps most impressively, these teams are not the typical up-and-comers that permeate the tourney. No, these teams have 17 national championships and 48 trips to the Final Four combined. These are basketball juggernauts.  I’m glad I never got around to writing that post because last night’s games did not live up to the hype.

So what did we learn last night? We learned what I suspected since UNC struggled to beat Duke at the end of the regular season–the Tar Heels do not have the pure scorers needed to get past a team like Kansas. The Achilles Heel (pun intended) of UNC turned out to be its half court offense. Kansas had the athleticism to keep pace with UNC and force them in to a half-court offense. The result? An offense that looked lost and reverted to playing a game of one-on-one every time down the court. Sounds strange that a team averaging close to 100 ppg in the tournament could be doomed by their offensive inabilities–but that was exactly the case. Of course, their apparent disregard of defense didn’t help matters.

But hey, I’m not complaining, I have Kansas winning it all in my bracket.

On the other side of the bracket, we learned two things we should have known all along.

First, decades of college dominance amounts to squat once game time rolls around. Analysts, experts, commentators…you name it, all fell into the trap of giving UCLA an edge simply because they are the Blue and Gold. Well, John Wooden be damned, but UCLA teams of yesteryear had as much impact on the outcome of last night’s game as I did–zero.

The second thing we learned is guard play once again ruled the roost in the tournament. As has been proven time and time again, solid guard play is the key to making a long run in the NCAA tournament. Last night, the best guard in Derrick Rose, perhaps the best player in this tournament, carried Memphis to victory.

So with a thrilling finale, can this tournament still amount to the greatest Final Four in history? It depends on how you measure greatness. Going in, the thing that was so unique was that you really couldn’t consider any team winning an upset. There seemed to be unparalleled parity. If last night’s games proved anything, the parity was nothing more than a mirage.

Sunday Smattering

Published
by
Chris Iafolla
on March 9, 2008
in College Sports, MLB, NBA and NFL
. 0 Comments

A smattering of sports nuggets from the week:

The top story of the past week has to be the retirement of Brett Favre. As I wrote here earlier in the week, Favre brought a passion to the game of football that will be sorely missed. That passion was again on display during his press conference. It is those times and that passion we will sorely miss.

Sunday Smattering

Published
by
Chris Iafolla
on March 2, 2008
in College Sports and NFL
. 2 Comments

Sunday Smattering

Free Agency and Rumors:

  • Lance Briggs re-signed with the Bears. The Bears quietly entered free agency with little indication as to what their game plan was. After all of the controversy around Briggs last season, the team managed to lockdown one of the game’s top young linebackers.
  • Bernard Berrian landed with the Minnesota Vikings. The WR market started out slow this week, with most playing the waiting game to let Berrian set the market. Berrian is a very good receiver, but he lacks the ability to dominate a game. He has the speed to get vertical, but is limited in the red zone due to his average size. Nonetheless, this is a good signing for the Vikings and will add a legitimate passing threat (provided someone can get him the ball, but hey, Berrian is used to that) to their running attack.
  • In the biggest signing of the early-period of free agency, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Asante Samuel to a six-year deal (more on this when we get to the rumors section). In addition, the Eagles added some firepower to their pass rush with the addition of Chris Clemons. As the Giants proved in the Super Bowl, a solid pass rush is the key to slowing down any quarterback.
  • Justin Smith, considered by many as the top DE on the market, signed with the 49ers. While Smith is a solid player, I think the 49ers overspent to acquire his services. Smith is a classic example of a “right place at the right time” player. He received big money simply because viable alternatives on the market were scarce.
  • With the Berrian signing out of the way, the rest of the free-agent market for WRs has begun to fall into place. Donte Stallworth signed with the Cleveland Browns. This is a good deal that will add depth to the Browns already solid receiving corps. Stallworth can stretch the field and is lethal with the ball after the catch.
  • The Raiders signed Gibril Wilson.
  • In an effort to shore up some holes on their offensive line, the Jets agreed to a deal with Alan Faneca.

There was certainly more moves made in the free-agent frenzy, but the above encapsulates the biggest moves thus far. For a full list, check out ESPN’s free agent tracker.

Rumors:

  • With all this movement early in the free agency period, there still remains some intriguing storylines running through the league, not the least of which involves one Mr. Randy Moss. When the Patriots decided not to franchise Moss, it was widely assumed that the team had a deal in place that would be signed as soon as free agency opened. The move was peculiar at the time, because even if there was a deal in place, why not use the franchise tag to protect yourself in the interim? Well, the Patriots failed to do that and they may end up paying the price. Garry Cobb is reporting that the Eagles and Cowboys are the front runners to land Moss’ services after the Patriots. My gut tells me Moss will end up back with the Patriots, but he currently feels slighted that the team won’t pony up top dollar for his services. Teams have an opportunity to swoop in and offer a contract he might not be able to turn down-and you can bet those teams will answer the bell.
  • As far as the Eagles are concerned, they have been aggressive in the early-going of free agency, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see them take a run at Moss. But there has been no indication from the team so far that it is interested in acquiring Moss’ services. With the Asante Samuel signing, the Eagles have a plethora of options to work out. The most likely seems Lito Sheppard will be traded. Eagles fans are calling for the front office to use Sheppard as trade bait to acquire Larry Fitzgerald. The likelihood of this happening is minimal, because Fitzgerald carries a massive contract that should never have been signed in this day and age where the teams have all the leverage. Another scenario is to move Sheldon Brown to safety and keep Sheppard as the starting corner opposite Samuel. This would potentially give the Eagles the best secondary in the NFL. It will be interesting to see how this saga plays out. Stay tuned.
  • There have been reports that the Vikings could make a run at Brady Quinn. With the multi-year deal signed by Derek Anderson, the Browns have a decision looming on the horizon on the future of their quarterback position. The Vikings might try to nudge them along into making that decision.
  • The market for Javon Walker’s services appears to be hot, with as many as 10 teams in the bidding.

As many expected, the market for free agents was short, with most of the best players off the market in the early going. But plenty remains to be figured out.

Final Roundup from Week: