This year challenged many of our beliefs about sports issues and the athletes who play the games. The highlights and the lowlights of 2010 offered us important insights into what athletes face, and what fans expect and are willing to accept. How the games are played and what we think about sports going forward will most certainly be shaped by what happened in 2010.
Share on FacebookArchive for December, 2010
2010: What a Year in Sports
Posted: 31st December 2010 by DavidBurnett in Basketball, football, Golf, NBA, NCAA Tournament, Quarterback, Tiger WoodsTags: Brett Favre, Butler, Cam Newton, concussions, Duke, Final Four, LeBron James, Michael Vick, Tiger Woods
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The President and Michael Vick
Posted: 29th December 2010 by DavidBurnett in NFLTags: Michael Vick, President Obama, Redemption, second chances
Redemption has a friend in President Obama, and that’s a very good thing. My hope is that what the President said about Michael Vick will not become so politicized that people wlll misunderstand what the President is really trying to convey.
Share on FacebookHating the Heat
Posted: 28th December 2010 by DavidBurnett in Basketball, NBATags: Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Miami Heat
Still, of all the professional athletes in the universe LeBron has had more leverage than Magic, Bird and Jordan had combined – particularly so in Cleveland – to affect the caliber of personnel of his team. He clearly didn’t’t have to leave Cleveland to play with great players; he could have simply had them come to him. More importantly the history of the league shows that no assembling of dream team players has ever resulted in the awarding of the Larry O’Brien championship trophy.
Share on FacebookSilencing the Critics: Tim Tebow Makes His Case
Posted: 27th December 2010 by DavidBurnett in NFL, QuarterbackTags: Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Quarterback, Tim Tebow
To those who think Tebow has no business in the NFL, I point to this breakthrough game against the Texans as evidence that Tebow can be an effective, if not very good NFL quarterback. Does this one game say everything about Tebow? No, but it does give us an indication that he won’t be a disaster, as so many have predicted. I continue to believe Tebow was too much of a leader, and a winner, at the University of Florida to say otherwise.
Share on FacebookAll About the Money
Posted: 24th December 2010 by DavidBurnett in Bowl Games, College Football, NCAATags: bowl game, NCAA, Ohio State, penalty, tattoos
By selectively, suspending five Ohio State players this week, the NCAA revealed itself for what it really is, an arrogant, hypocritical, dysfunctional organization.
The crime: Five Ohio State players, including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor, are caught selling awards, souvenirs, autographs and other trinkets in exchange for cash and tattoos.
But how is it that the five-game suspensions of these Ohio State players are postponed until after the upcoming bowl game? The rules are pretty clear – gifts/prizes cannot be sold for profit – or tattoos.
Share on FacebookUConn’s Ladies: A Different Game
Posted: 23rd December 2010 by DavidBurnett in Basketball, College Basketball, Female Athletes, Women's basketballTags: 89 straight, Geno Auriemma, Maya Moore, UConn, University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut women steamrolled Florida State 93-62 on Tuesday night. They have now gone 89 straight games without losing.
The streak started 25 months ago against Georgia Tech. No college basketball team, men’s or women’s has ever won that many games in a row. We could say – “so what – they’re just girls.” And Connecticut is at or near the top every year anyway, what’s the big deal?
A Concussion To Remember
Posted: 21st December 2010 by DavidBurnett in Concussions, football, NFLTags: Austin Collie, concussion, head injuries, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaquars, NFL
So who is to blame if Austin Collie continues to play and is again seriously injured? The Colts? The team desperately needs his pass-catching skills to make a run through the playoffs. Collie? I’m sure he is wondering right now if his career is over. No player in his prime wants to stop playing if he thinks he still can. What about NFL commissioner Roger Goodell? Is he thinking about Austin Collie? Goodell certainly talks loudly about head injuries. Here is the one case the commissioner should monitor with a high-tech microscope, and hold it up for all of us to see.
Share on FacebookCam Newton Cleared As NCAA Washes Its Hands
Posted: 3rd December 2010 by DavidBurnett in BCS, College Football, football, Heisman Trophy, NCAATags: BCS, Cam Newton, Heisman Trophy, NCAA
The culture of big-time college sports is poison and corrupt and everyone knows it, most of all the NCAA. To me it appears the decision to clear Cam Newton is basically an admission by the NCAA that hypocrisy, double-standards and cash under the table, have always been a part of college sports, and that there is very little that can be done about it, except in the most obvious of cases.
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