Here we are, just a few months into 2014 and I've already learned five very important lessons in the world of sports:
1. Dominance, for lack of a better term, is good...except in women's sports. Normally, a dominant program in some sport or another leaves opposing teams with two very simple choices: keep getting your heads handed to you or do what you can to improve. Whether its the NFL, NBA, NASCAR or some other sport, the presence of a team like the Miami Heat or a competitor like Jimmy Johnson forces the others to work harder. This doesn't, for some reason, seem to apply as much in women's sports. Certainly lesser women's teams are working as diligently as possible to catch up to UConn in basketball, for example. It's not really working. The women's college basketball final featured two previously undefeated teams and the result wasn't even close. Had two unbeaten men's teams played in the finals and one team defeated the other by 21 points, pundits would have called it the biggest anticlimax in the history of sports. And it's not just UConn in basketball. Penn State has won five of the last seven championships in volleyball; North Carolina has won half of the championships in soccer in the past 10 years; and with only moderate additional diversity, Pac 12 schools have won softball titles in 11 of the past 15 years. Women's sports, in that light, still have some progress to make. When Mercer beats Duke in the women's basketball tournament, then we'll know we've made progress.
2. Baseball umpires can wreck anything. The 2014 MLB season started with the lure of more conclusive and correct calls and fewer arguments with the introduction of expanded instant replay. While all parties agreed there would be some necessary tweaks over time, few thought a major flaw would be illustrated just two games into the season. During a game between the Diamondbacks and Giants, San Francisco pitcher Matt Cain tagged a runner at the plate attempting to score. The umpire ruled the runner safe. Upon further review, Cain clearly applied a tag. It was the sort of clear-cut, plain-as-day review that the process dreams about. Except...there was no further review. The Giants had previously (and unsuccessfully) challenged a play at first base and lost their challenge. The umpire couldn't review it on his own. The Giants couldn't challenge, so the plain-as-day video was meaningless. And what is the purpose of instant replay, you ask? It's so the umpires can get the call on the field correct...except...
3. A Duke education is not worth much. Now, this is a ridiculous statement. Sure, I'm no fan of Duke basketball, but even I'm willing to concede that Duke can dispense a top-level education. Or can it? I read recently that Duke freshman Jabari Parker is "seriously contemplating returning to Duke next season..." If that's true then Duke must not be capable of imparting wisdom to its students after all. Parker is easily--and I mean easily--a top five draft pick in the upcoming draft. The purpose of college is to prepare you for the future. Mission accomplished. Only bad things can come from an extra year at Duke. Such as, you ask? A minor injury, which could raise draft questions. A major injury, which, at worst, would end his career and rob him completely of any NBA potential. A freak situation off the court--like what? Who knows? That's why it's a freak situation. Freak situation-plus NBA-equals some money. Freak situation-plus Duke-equals questionable future. Duke will also have a deeper team next season, which means either fewer chances to showcase his abilities and growth or a greater insistence to not have fewer touches, thus painting him as a selfish player who puts the team second. Any or all of these factors will cause his draft stock to fall. Very few things I can think of will cause it to rise appreciably. Either Duke cares about its players and will convince him its in his best interest to go to the NBA or Duke cares about itself and won't.
4. NASCAR is both smart and stupid. NASCAR, above all other major sports, does more to alter rules so races are more competitive and as entertaining for fans as possible. They've done a pretty good job, as well. New rules this season have motivated riskier decisions by crew chiefs and drivers, opening the door for a wider array of drivers to win races, keeping the folks dressed in M&M's shirts, Mountain Dew hats and carrying Lowe's coolers to leave the track happy. But I don't understand their race pattern. The season starts in Daytona. OK. Got it. Start with a bang at the biggest event of the year. Races in recent weeks have taken place in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Texas, Tennessee and Virginia...though not in that logical of an order. Does NASCAR simply hate the car hauler drivers? West coast, east coast, back to west, then east, now to Texas. Why not just go LA, Vegas, Phoenix, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia? The hauler drivers can't be trusted in Vegas for 2-3 days? Who can, really? I get that there's a "third Saturday in October" element to race scheduling, but surely a few minor adjustments can be made.
5. The NFL is powerful. The NFL is powerful...really, really, super powerful. Not moments after the Super Bowl, fans were looking forward to pro days, owner's meetings, free agency, the combine and everything else leading up to Draft Day. I don't mean the day when players get picked one after another, I mean the new Kevin Costner movie, Draft Day. The film was made with an unusually high amount of NFL licensing involved. How else, after all, do you make the film seem as real as possible, mimicking authentic NFL draft day war room experiences without NFL licensing and stamp of approval. But the movie had something else I, as a creative process person, had never heard of before, and that's the NFL stamp of disapproval. A scene, in which Kevin Costner is hanged in effigy--one can suspect for his work in The Postman--added to the overall authenticity of the film. A stuffed GM being hanged by the fans of a losing franchise is about as real as it gets. But the NFL cut the scene. Not the production company, the studio, the editor, the director, the focus group, or even Costner. The NFL cut the scene. Wow. The NFL didn't believe the scene was in keeping with the general image and overall tone they want to project, which is understandable. But wow, though. Hollywood is massively powerful. You know what's more powerful than that? The NFL. No Hollywood, no film about the NFL. No NFL, no film, period. And guess who got what they wanted? What's the national pastime? Entertainment? Sports? Money? Passion? The NFL owns all of it.
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