Sports Christmas Wish #4

I wish for: the NBA to man up and run their own minor leagues

And no, the NBA D-League doesn't count. 

This is easily the most far reaching and sweeping wish I've made, and as such, also would probably require the most intervention from "Santa".  The current arrangement in which college basketball functions as the de facto minor leagues for the NBA is mutually beneficial (translation: lucrative) to both parties, and so has about as much chance at being dissolved as I do of becoming the next commissioner of baseball.  The NCAA and its member schools rake in the dough that comes to having the next best thing (or even a better thing, in some minds) to the NBA, and the NBA and its teams save the money involved in running their own minor leagues, along with getting a yearly in-flux of well-known, instantly marketable players who have made their name on the national scene in college.

I get why it is this way, and why it will never change, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.   People like to romanticize the student-athlete (and I won't hesitate to do that in the right circumstances) , but major college hoops stopped having any meaningful connection with academics years ago.   This is not to say that there aren't athletes out there playing big-time basketball that take academics seriously.  This isn't even to say there aren't a number of programs out there that put a strong emphasis on making sure their players making the most of their education.  It is, however, to say that say that major college hoops is about basketball first and foremost, and about having the best and most entertaining product out there.

Even without a minor league system, the NBA almost had it right until a few years ago.  Kids who were talented enough, or on the verge of being talented enough, to play in the NBA out of high school were allowed to head there right away.  But the NBA got tired of having to teach kids whose games were far from ready, so the now famous age limit of 19 was put into place.  Since the NBA doesn't have a legitimate minor league system, the only viable option for 18 year olds who dream of NBA glory?  Go to college.  You know what?  A kid who is only killing time until he's allowed to enter the NBA has no business on a college campus, no matter how much his basketball skills entertain us.

And, please, don't tell me it's about the importance of education.  It's not - almost all of the 18 year olds who decided to forgoe college prior to the age limit made a ton of money in doing so, at least for a time.   They're fine.  If we really concerned ourselves with kids bypassing an opportunity for an education, we'd look squarely at baseball, where every year many, many high schoolers who are destined to never see the big leagues, and who don't get big signing bonuses, choose pro ball over a free ride to college.  Hockey is the same way, heck, many of those athletes are heading out to play juniors before they even finish high school.  As a whole, people care about players leaving school early, or forgoing it altogether, because they want to watch them play at college, or because (in the case of the NBA), they want someone else to take responsibility for teaching them how to play.

Baseball has this thing right, or at least as close to right as is currently out there, if you ask me.  You can go pro after you graduate high school, but if you go to college, you're committing to at least 3 years.  That preserves the right of the athlete to choose his career path, and preserves continuity at the college level, because coaches don't constantly have to be playing the "what if" with their rosters and the players who may be talented enough to make the early leap.  Do I think that a lot of the kids who make these jumps early would be better served by heading to college and getting some form of education?  Sure I do, but I don't think it's my job to mandate their decision-making from them.  If an 18 year old athlete thinks he would be better served playing pro ball, then that should be his call.

That's what I want - for the NBA to adopt such a system, and the corresponding changes that would go with it: a real minor league (not just a collection ground for guys who aren't good enough for the bigtime and likely never will be) and an expanded draft.

So, having made that wish, I will now sit back and wait for hell to freeze over...

Sporting World Christmas Wish #3

I wish: for Mark Cuban to buy the Pittsburgh Pirates

I've been beating the drum on this one for probably 2 years now, and Cuban having been recently brought up on insider trading charges hasn't really changed my opinion.

I'm actually being somewhat altruistic with this wish, because from a selfish perspective, my real wish would be for Cuban to buy the Phillies, were he to buy a baseball franchise, but a) Cuban has Pittsburgh roots and has been connected to other dealings in the city, and b) it would be much better for baseball as a whole if Cuban grabbed the Pirates.

As you probably know, Cuban was actually bidding for the Chicago Cubs, but did not make it to the second round of bidding - likely much to the joy of MLB ownership.  I was pleased too, because it also means my wish still has a chance of coming true.   I understand why existing ownership is afraid of Cuban, but it's my opinion that he would be spectacular for baseball, and much more so in Pittsburgh as opposed to Chicago.

Why Pittsburgh, and why Cuban?  Because Cuban would do something in Pittsburgh that people swear up and down can't be done in the current baseball setup - he would win, and he would make money doing it.

Look, I get that there are serious built in inequities in terms of revenue potential across the various MLB markets.  And I also believe that, if we're committed to this large league model that characterizes American pro sports leagues, then there has to be some sort of sharing of the pie in order to keep the league viable from top to bottom.  This is why I'm not against the current concept of revenue sharing, at least in prinicple.  However, I firmly believe that all the current franchises have the available resources to be competative under the current setup, but there are a number of franchises that are either just woefully run, or have ownership that's content to sit back and make a profit of other owner's revenue.  I'm not here to debate which of these is most prominent in the current Pittsburgh setup, but there's no question they are characterized by some combination of the two.

However, Pittsburgh is also a fine sports town, with a pretty storied tradition in baseball, and an absolutely beautiful baseball venue in PNC Park.  With ownership that was committed to winning, willing to spend money to make money, and to selling the team to the fans, I firmly believe they could be a competetive franchise again.

Enter Cuban.  I'm not sure, from a pure fan's perspective, that there's a better owner in sports.  Cuban is passionate, willing to invest in his teams, and really strong about catering to the fans.  I think just his sheer presence as owner would spark interest and attendance notably in the early years, even before much changes on the field.  Let's look at what Cuban did in Dallas: when he took over, the Mavs were in the bottom 5 of the NBA in yearly revenues, last year, they were 7th.  They were in the bottom half of the league in attendance, now they are consistently top 5.  And, while they've yet to go over the hump and win a title, and currently seem to be in a bit of a rebuilding mode, they've been one of the better teams in the Western Conference for a number of years after years as a perennial doormat.  

And never fear, MLB owners, due to the realities of geography, the Pirates would likely get the benefits of Cuban as owner, without having to deal with some of the drawbacks that come with the hands on, upfront sytle he employs with the Mavericks.   I'm sure he'd still be quotable here and there, but you won't have the equivalent of him sitting courtside and bawling out the refs at every opportunity.

This is a winning situation, but I think it even goes beyond Pittsburgh, because with Cuban in Pittsburgh demonstrating what you can do in a small market if you're willing to make the right efforts, the excuse factor would be gone for similar small market ownership groups who have convinced their fanbases that it's the MLB system, and not them, that keeps their team from winning.   In Chicago, Cuban would have been a more entertaining version of George Steinbrenner - a big personality with big pockets in a big market.  In Pittsburgh, Cuban could be transformational for baseball.

Do it Mark!  I dare you!

Sports World Christmas Wish #2

I wish: for Bob Knight to take Dick Vitale's job

Yup, that's right.

Bob Knight was a polarizing figure throughout his coaching career, and rightfully so. The man was a brilliant and successful coach, whose teams were disciplined and whose players graduated. And yet, his own temper and lack of self-discipline at times led to a series of highly regretable actions. Love him, hate him, pity him - everyone has an opinion on Bob Knight the coach.

Now, with his coaching career at least on hold, and perhaps over, Coach Knight has moved to the broadcast booth, as a studio and game analyst for ESPN. The sheer irony of Knight becoming a member of the media, after his career long run of contempt for it, is awesome enough - but that's not the most important item in play here - Coach Knight is an absolutely brilliant game analyst. I knew this to be true when, in the first game I ever heard him call, I was very aware of his analysis, and it was because of how good it was. That's a very rare thing - I usually judge an analyst by how little I notice him, because when I'm noticing the analyst, it's almost invariably for what they are doing wrong. Coach Knight, however, is putting the brilliant basketball mind that made him the winningest coach in NCAA history on full display. He'll break down what just happened in such a simple and profound way that you'll wonder how you never noticed that before. I feel like I would understand basketball much better than I ever have if I watched games that he called on a regular basis. And, unlike a number of other former coaches in the booth, Coach Knight has enough personality to be interesting, without being so over the top as to completely overpower the game.

Unlike Mr. Vitale. Now, I used to hate Dick Vitale, but I'm long past that. Dickie V is what he is - an excitable, passionate man full of genuine enthusiasm for college basketball. I've read a lot about college hoops in the last year or so, and everything I read about Dick Vitale the guy comes back the same way - that's just who he is. I get that, I appreciate it, and it's made watching games he calls more bearable - which is good, because he calls virtually every Duke game of note. But here's the thing about Vitale - he just doesn't enhance the game. He gets so excited and enthused about everything that his analysis (and I really think he knows the game very well) gets buried in his gushing. He doesn't provide me with real insight into what is going on out there. He can be entertaining, but he doesn't tell me anything I don't already know.

Dick Vitale is a great personality, and he belongs around college hoops, but not as a lead analyst for the dominant sports network, despite his seniority. The man who was made for that chair now works for ESPN, and if this Christmas wish comes true, he'll be in it in short order, as opposed to buried with Brent Musberger (ugh) on one Thursday night game a week.

My Christmas List for the Sporting World - Part 1

So, I, along with my partner, have been failing in the way of regular posts to this blog. I've been trying to get back into a posting groove, but hitting a writer's block in terms of material to talk about. So, it occurred to me today that, in the spirit of the season, I could start a list of things I'd like to ask Santa for, in terms of changes in the world of sports. This will be a series, and I have no clue how long it might last. If we get past Christmas, I'll roll with it and change to "Proposed New Year's Resolutions for the Sporting World", or something like that. So, basically, I've come up with an excuse to tell you all about the things I don't like in sports, and what I would do to change them. Some will broad, well-known, sweeping, and meaningful, whereas others will just be personal pet peeves. And I hope to at least keep somewhat original (ie, don't expect to see my wish for a major college football playoff)

Jeff, feel free to chime in with your own additions, I think this could be fun.

Okay, so without further adieu, here is the first item on my sporting Christmas list.

I wish for: A new way to end tied soccer games

Like I said, these aren't all going to be something that most people care about, and given the relative lack of popularity of soccer in this country, I guess I'm proving my point right from the get go.

But I do enjoy soccer, and the penalty shootout used to decide soccer games in playoff scenarios is probably one of my biggest pet peeves in all of sports. I'll be honest, my original frustration with the practice came because for years, anytime my alma mater, Messiah College, went to a penalty shootout, they lost, and shootouts almost invariably came after games where the Falcons were clearly dominating, and would have been the ones to score given enough time. However, the Messiah boys just used a shootout to win their 6th national title (with one of the coolest stories I've ever encountered, check out my personal blog for more info if you haven't heard about it), so I'm past all that, and I stand by my belief that penalty shootouts are, without question, the dumbest tie-breaker used in major sports today.

Let me summarize for those not totally in the know on this issue. If, in a playoff scenario, a soccer game is tied after regulation and the requisite overtimes (2 10 minute periods in college, 2 15s in the international/pro game), we stop playing actual soccer, and to determine a winner, each team, in alternating fashion, has 5 players take penalty shots against the opposing goalie. In a penalty shot, the shooter is stationed 12 yards from the goal, and the keeper is not allowed to move off his line until the shooter strikes the ball. At the highest levels of soccer, penalty shots are not converted for only 1 of 2 reasons: the goalie makes an incredibly lucky guess on where the shooter is going, or the shooter makes an incredibly poor shot. (Okay, there's a 3rd reason, and that's if the keeper cheats forward off his line and doesn't get called for it...)

For comparison's sake, this is roughly equivalent to ending a tied baseball game with a home run derby (which, by the way, is how they SHOULD end a tied All-Star game). You're taking an beautiful game of skill, precision, endurance, and teamwork, and deciding it with a 1 on 1 type showdown that might as well be a glorified coin flip. Just off the top of my head, I know that this is how the last 2 NCAA D-III men's championships were decided, and also how the '94 and '06 World Cup, and I also believe the 2008 European championships as well. And that's ignoring the many other games in these and other tournaments that were decided in such fashion prior to the title games.

Soccer haters who are at least quasi-informed about the game love to use shootouts as one of their favorite points of attack, and I hate that I can't even begin to defend the sport on this point. It's as lame as it gets. I appreciate that, at least in the pro/international ranks where there are limited subs, you just can't keep playing and playing, because eventually no one will be able to move, but there's got to be other options.

I'll leave it to Santa (and the soccer powers that be) to come up with the actual solution, but here are a few suggestions of mine:
#1. Just keep playing. This is obviously the simplest. In the college world, there's really no reason to not keep playing, because substitution can occur very liberally. I understand the objections in the pro/international setting, but they can be addressed. Allow teams to field a new lineup at the beginning of OT, and reset the substitutions.

#2. Play OT with fewer players on the field. Field hockey goes to 7 on 7 for OTs, and I believe that the NHL now goes to 5 v. 5 for regular season OT. The principle here is that you open up the game and increase the number of scoring opportunities, thus limiting increasing the possibility of the tie being broken. This would suffer the same objections as "keep playing" in the pro and international world, objections which could be met with the same modifictations.

#3. Run some sort of alternating 5 on 3 (or similarly configured setup) contest, in lieu of a shootout. I haven't thought this one all the way out yet, in terms of the rules, timing, etc. But at least this would preserve some team aspects and end the game playing something that actually resembles soccer.

#4. Go to a judge's decision at the end of overtimes. I hate this for a number of reasons, but assuming it could be implemented fairly, giving the win to the team judged to have had the better of play would still be better than a shootout.