betED.com - The View from the Couch - by Gavin McDougald!
November 15th, 2006 - Slap Happy Wednesday
A reputation is the hardest thing to change, so the chances that Bobby Knight is going to catch some slack after reportedly bitch-slapping one of his players are slim to none, and slim just went into the witness protection program.
So when you hear the hoy poloy in a communal dither over this, you gotta think, ?here we go again, Bobby?s being Bobby.?
However, upon further review, does another Bobby Knight fiasco warrant all the attention? The answer is obviously a resounding, ?Yes!? According to the approximate 1,100 columns written thus far on the incident, it is anyway.
Clearly, this was a slow news week? or was it? These are some of the other "big time" sports stories happening this week:
Item: Nike opened up what they figure is the new must-see establishment in the Big Apple's SoHo district called IV. So what is it? A LeBron James museum. The same LeBron James who has never actually won anything - and is 21 years old. Memorabilia from James' childhood and his high school years (ah, the good old days of 2003) are there including his baby shoes. By the way, they were not the Nike ?Fruity Pebbles? version that were also on display.
Item: The second (?!?) annual Naked Curling Calendar has just been released for Christmas. Canadian curler Christine Keshen, seen here warming up for the shoot, was asked why she posed for photographer Ana Arce's effort called "Fire On Ice."
"We need to sexify curling because sex sells."
Sex and Curling in the same sentence. Whooda thunk that possible?
Item: According to SoundScan, a music-tracking firm, the lovely and talented Ron Artest sold only 343 copies of his debut album, My World in its first week of release. Considering he is an NBA player, those were probably all his immediate family. Certainly not his friends.
Item: How much would you pay for the chance to sign a pitcher who has no North American experience, cannot speak English and whose signature pitch is the "gyroball?" If you are Boston, $51.1 million. Now the Red Sox have 30 days to finalize a contract with the Japanese star Daisuke Matsuzaka. $51.1 million just to talk ? the most expensive 1-900 call ever!
Item: Poker?s huge surge in popularity has the National Hockey League to thank. Moving on?
Oh, you want to know why? According to a McMaster University marketing guy named Marvin Ryder, cable networks were left scrambling for winter sporting events during the NHL lockout and filled broadcast time with televised poker. It shocked the TV dudes that televised poker drew up to three times the audience of the NHL! So ? if you ever wondered why guys running sports networks repeatedly insist on broadcasting stuff you have no intention of ever watching ? there is your answer! They?re stupid.
Item: Raiders wide receiver Randy Moss deigned to concede that he is dropping more passes than usual. And according to the Oakland Tribune, he also knows why:
"Maybe because I'm unhappy, and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so my concentration and focus level tends to go down when I'm in a bad mood."
Oh the humanity! I mean how can this man be expected to be satisfied doing his job ? which is catching four or five passes on average - for only $437,500 a game! How about we all get together and show this guy some much needed love!
Quotes of the Week:
Spurs guard Brent Barry, when Sports Illustrated asked a bunch of NBA players to name the pet they'd most like to have: "Miss July 2005."
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, to the Deseret News of Salt Lake City, on the sports-talk radio phenomenon: "If you start listening to the fans, pretty soon you'll be sitting with them."
Witty Wags:
Greg Cote, Miami Herald (again): ??Unbeaten Rutgers? has just been voted the second-most unlikely phrase in the English language, after ?Academy Award winner Will Ferrell.??
Jim Armstrong of The Denver Post, on the Knicks reaching a severance settlement with nomadic coach Larry Brown: "Let me guess. A lifetime supply of suitcases."
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: ?Tiger Woods and Ernie Els are helping to finance a Bahamian luxury resort. The hotel will accept cash, credit cards or giant cardboard checks.?
Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: ?The NBA bans Orlando Magic fan Hooman Hamzehloui for an entire season after he shouts a racial taunt at Dikembe Mutombo. After investigation, NBA officials determine that the incident was caused by Hooman error.?
?and finally:
Basketball was originally called "Duck on a Rock." Basketball's founder, James Naismith's granddaughter, Hellen Carpenter, went down to her basement to find an old family photograph.
Instead, Carpenter found documents, journals and typewritten rule sheets including the rules from Duck on a Rock, a Canadian game he played as a child that he used to base his new game that we now call basketball.
The NDOARA ? It?s Fantastic!
See what most sports journalists missed by jumping all over the easy target Bobby Knight? Let?s get our eyes back on ball boys and girls.
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
Get your NCAA Basketball Wagers in here!
November 15th, 2006 - Slap Happy Wednesday
A reputation is the hardest thing to change, so the chances that Bobby Knight is going to catch some slack after reportedly bitch-slapping one of his players are slim to none, and slim just went into the witness protection program.
So when you hear the hoy poloy in a communal dither over this, you gotta think, ?here we go again, Bobby?s being Bobby.?
However, upon further review, does another Bobby Knight fiasco warrant all the attention? The answer is obviously a resounding, ?Yes!? According to the approximate 1,100 columns written thus far on the incident, it is anyway.
Clearly, this was a slow news week? or was it? These are some of the other "big time" sports stories happening this week:
Item: Nike opened up what they figure is the new must-see establishment in the Big Apple's SoHo district called IV. So what is it? A LeBron James museum. The same LeBron James who has never actually won anything - and is 21 years old. Memorabilia from James' childhood and his high school years (ah, the good old days of 2003) are there including his baby shoes. By the way, they were not the Nike ?Fruity Pebbles? version that were also on display.
Item: The second (?!?) annual Naked Curling Calendar has just been released for Christmas. Canadian curler Christine Keshen, seen here warming up for the shoot, was asked why she posed for photographer Ana Arce's effort called "Fire On Ice."
"We need to sexify curling because sex sells."
Sex and Curling in the same sentence. Whooda thunk that possible?
Item: According to SoundScan, a music-tracking firm, the lovely and talented Ron Artest sold only 343 copies of his debut album, My World in its first week of release. Considering he is an NBA player, those were probably all his immediate family. Certainly not his friends.
Item: How much would you pay for the chance to sign a pitcher who has no North American experience, cannot speak English and whose signature pitch is the "gyroball?" If you are Boston, $51.1 million. Now the Red Sox have 30 days to finalize a contract with the Japanese star Daisuke Matsuzaka. $51.1 million just to talk ? the most expensive 1-900 call ever!
Item: Poker?s huge surge in popularity has the National Hockey League to thank. Moving on?
Oh, you want to know why? According to a McMaster University marketing guy named Marvin Ryder, cable networks were left scrambling for winter sporting events during the NHL lockout and filled broadcast time with televised poker. It shocked the TV dudes that televised poker drew up to three times the audience of the NHL! So ? if you ever wondered why guys running sports networks repeatedly insist on broadcasting stuff you have no intention of ever watching ? there is your answer! They?re stupid.
Item: Raiders wide receiver Randy Moss deigned to concede that he is dropping more passes than usual. And according to the Oakland Tribune, he also knows why:
"Maybe because I'm unhappy, and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so my concentration and focus level tends to go down when I'm in a bad mood."
Oh the humanity! I mean how can this man be expected to be satisfied doing his job ? which is catching four or five passes on average - for only $437,500 a game! How about we all get together and show this guy some much needed love!
Quotes of the Week:
Spurs guard Brent Barry, when Sports Illustrated asked a bunch of NBA players to name the pet they'd most like to have: "Miss July 2005."
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, to the Deseret News of Salt Lake City, on the sports-talk radio phenomenon: "If you start listening to the fans, pretty soon you'll be sitting with them."
Witty Wags:
Greg Cote, Miami Herald (again): ??Unbeaten Rutgers? has just been voted the second-most unlikely phrase in the English language, after ?Academy Award winner Will Ferrell.??
Jim Armstrong of The Denver Post, on the Knicks reaching a severance settlement with nomadic coach Larry Brown: "Let me guess. A lifetime supply of suitcases."
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: ?Tiger Woods and Ernie Els are helping to finance a Bahamian luxury resort. The hotel will accept cash, credit cards or giant cardboard checks.?
Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: ?The NBA bans Orlando Magic fan Hooman Hamzehloui for an entire season after he shouts a racial taunt at Dikembe Mutombo. After investigation, NBA officials determine that the incident was caused by Hooman error.?
?and finally:
Basketball was originally called "Duck on a Rock." Basketball's founder, James Naismith's granddaughter, Hellen Carpenter, went down to her basement to find an old family photograph.
Instead, Carpenter found documents, journals and typewritten rule sheets including the rules from Duck on a Rock, a Canadian game he played as a child that he used to base his new game that we now call basketball.
The NDOARA ? It?s Fantastic!
See what most sports journalists missed by jumping all over the easy target Bobby Knight? Let?s get our eyes back on ball boys and girls.
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
Get your NCAA Basketball Wagers in here!
