Friday, August 31, 2012
Stadium Escalator Horseplay Claims Another Fan
Horseplay is the stated cause of last night’s fatal fall from a Reliant Stadium escalator of 25-year-old Jonathan Kelly, who allegedly tried to slide down the escalator’s outside rail and fell three stories to the pavement below. Kelly — who was taken by private ambulance to a hospital, where he died, according to initial reports — was attending the Houston Texans’ final preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings when the accident occurred near the Coca-Cola Gate at the northeast side of the stadium.
The fall appears eerily similar to one that took place in May 2011 at Coors Field in Denver, where 27-year-old Robert Seamans fell 20 feet to his death while attempting to slide down a stairway rail. A medical examiner’s report released months later indicated that drugs and alcohol played a “significant” role in the accident. No links to drugs or alcohol have thus far been reported in the Kelly case.
“Most accidents on escalators are caused by misuse,” an escalator industry spokesperson told AB in 2008, after 36-year-old Antonio Narainasami’s fatal four-story fall from an escalator rail at Shea Stadium in New York. “When they’re maintained and used properly, they’re a very safe conveyance.”
That fall was the second from an escalator in the now defunct Shea’s 45-year history. The old Yankee Stadium experienced one in 1999, and mechanical escalator failures have caused injury at the former Giants Stadium (2000 and 2007), Miami’s then Pro Player Stadium (2000) and Coors Field (2003).
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Blog: This Week in Sports Venue Statuary
In months past, I’ve reported on a statue-erecting surge among conference rivals, the honoring through sculpture of fallen athletes, coaches and fans, and the recently debated fate of a disgraced coach’s likeness within its stadium home of nearly a dozen years. But I have never seen so much sports venue statuary news take shape in a single week.
First came word that 6-foot-9 Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird will by next fall be standing 15 feet tall outside the Hulman Center at Indiana State University, where Bird starred as a collegian. The reason for the much bigger Bird, according to sculptor Bill Wolfe, is to outsize any statue of longtime on-court rival Magic Johnson.
Meanwhile, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Johnson’s former teammate with the Los Angeles Lakers, will — after some public lobbying last year — get his own statue alongside those of Magic, Jerry West and broadcaster Chick Hearn outside Staples Center at some point during the 2012-13 season.
But the item that really caught my attention was the announcement that today, at 1:30 p.m. central, a statue of former big-leaguer Bob Uecker — career .200 hitter, Hall of Fame radio voice of the Milwaukee Brewers since the 1971 and namesake of my recently deceased Dalmatian — will be unveiled outside Miller Park, joining statues of Henry Aaron, Robin Yount and MLB commissioner and former Brewers’ owner Bud Selig. I’m not sure how many more seasons Uecker will call (can tolerate) Brewer baseball, but it seems altogether fitting to this longtime fan that “the man who made mediocrity famous,” as his book Catcher in the Wry proclaimed, lives on — if silently — in bronze.
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Tuesday, August 28, 2012
UT Arlington Latest Beer-Selling Athletic Program
Beginning with a volleyball match last Thursday against Savannah State, the University of Texas at Arlington has become the latest college to sell beer at sporting events.
“We want people to come to our games,” Gregg Elkin, UTA’s senior associate athletic director for external relations, told the Star-Telegram of Fort Worth. “Beer sales at sporting events are a pretty common thing.”
It’s still fairly rare at the college level. According to CBSSports.com, only 21 FBS football programs sell beer at their games, and only 11 of those do so in on-campus, university-owned stadiums.
UTA doesn’t sponsor football, but will instead make beer available at volleyball and basketball events held at the $78 million College Park Center, where Aramark holds the concessions contract. (The new policy does not impact UTA’s softball and baseball complex, which is outside of Aramark’s purview.) UTA’s share of proceeds on sales of $6 and $7 beers will go toward the new arena’s operating costs.
All arena concessions stands will offer beer, though several alcohol management controls will be in place, including checking the identification of any customer who appears to be 40 years old or younger, selling no more than two beers per customer per visit, and stopping all sales midway through volleyball matches and at the beginning of the second half of basketball games.
Elkin said the idea is for fans to enjoy beer in a “safe and responsible manner.” West Virginia University, which began selling beer at home football games last season, found that its goal of reducing unruly fan behavior (often the result of excessive tailgating) was realized.
In addition to arena beer sales, UTA has established a designated tailgating area for fans. UTA student body president Jennifer Fox, who doesn’t drink alcohol, told Star-Telegram writer Diane Smith, “I do understand the game day experience and hope that both of these new policies will encourage more attendance and school spirit at games.”
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10:13 AM
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D.C. to Regulate Fitness, Yoga Classes in Parks
As park-based yoga and fitness boot camps continue to gain popularity, more communities are taking note. Washington, D.C., is the latest to raise concern about such gatherings, which are actually illegal in D.C. parks under a law that prohibits private companies from conducting commercial activity at parks.
Lawmakers don’t object to the activities, applauding the focus on healthy lifestyles, but they do want a piece of the action. The district’s parks and recreation committee is working on a proposal that would allow personal trainers to continue to hold classes in parks, with a permit. The income from the permit fees would support park maintenance.
"There's two ways to look at this," Tommy Wells, chair of the D.C. parks and recreation committee, told WAMU. "One way is you're providing a service. It's great you are offering something otherwise not being offered for people to get fit and healthy. The other way to look at it is you are making money, and shouldn't you share some of that revenue with the government?"
Chicago and Irvine, Calif., are among the list of cities that already have special requirements in place for exercise classes in parks, not just for financial reasons but liability issues, as well. In the event that someone is injured during a group exercise class, cities may be held responsible if the organization leading the activity does not carry adequate insurance.
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Monday, August 27, 2012
Javelin Accident Claims German Track Official
A reminder of just how dangerous the staging of field events can be comes to us from Duesseldorf, Germany, where 74-year-old official Dieter Strack died early this morning after a javelin struck him in the neck late yesterday during a youth track meet.
The competition was ended immediately after the accident, and the 15-year-old athlete who threw the javelin is receiving counseling, according to an Associated Press report.
An athletics association serving Duesseldorf and Neuss stated on its website, “The popular and experienced sports judge was the victim of a tragic accident while carrying out his duties on Aug. 26. All of us who were there are horrified and in shock.”
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Utah City Scraps Park Profanity Ban
Officials in Ogden, Utah, have ended a plan to institute a profanity ban in city parks and playground areas. The ordinance, introduced in early August, was aimed at improving sportsmanship at sporting events, stating that no person was to “disturb the peace by using obscene or profane language, in any park, playground or recreational facility owned or used by the city, or at any recreational event that is organized, operated, managed or sponsored by the city.”
The proposal faced opposition from free-speech advocates, and while the ordinance would not necessarily be a violation of people’s First Amendment rights, experts warned that the wording was too broad to withstand legal challenges.
“It kind of snowballed and wasn't worth the anxiety it was causing,” Mark Johnson, Ogden's chief administrative officer told the Deseret News. The city is now looking for advice from the National Alliance of Youth Sports, as well as seeking input from other cities that have dealt with the issue.
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Friday, August 24, 2012
Rabies Scare at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium?
Officials are warning fans who attended the Aug. 17 preseason game between the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions about possible rabies exposure. During the game at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium, a bat reportedly landed on a fan. Though the bat was brushed away and disappeared without incident, authorities are advising anyone who may have come into contact with a bat at the game to contact their local health department. Not only are bats common carriers of rabies, animals infected with the virus often demonstrate changes in behavior, wild animals often becoming friendlier, which could explain why the bat landed in the crowd.
Open-air facilities are no stranger to pest problems; birds especially have plagued maintenance teams, and rodents are the bane of any concessions worker. More recently, a common and annoying pest has been raising concern. Once a mostly harmless nuisance, communities are taking action and spraying parks and playgrounds to curb the mosquito populations as the nation experiences the highest number of West Nile virus cases in more than a decade, and health officials are urging both athletes and fans at sporting events to take protective measures to avoid exposure during games and practices.
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Calif. Senate Passes Landmark Athlete Welfare Legislation
Lawmakers in California this week passed landmark legislation that
would force certain universities to provide academic scholarships to
scholarship athletes no longer able to compete for their schools due to
injury. It is the first legislation of its kind in the nation.
SB1525,
which passed the State Senate by a 24-10 vote, awaits the signature of
Governor Jerry Brown. It would affect only institutions receiving $10
million or more annually in media revenue and would require those
schools to cover insurance deductibles and insurance premiums of
low-income student-athletes in addition to the scholarships. State
schools that would be affected by the law as of this year include Cal
and UCLA, as well as private institutions USC and Stanford, which are
chartered in California and offer state and federal scholarships. San
Diego State is expected to reach the $10 million media revenue
threshold next year.
“We wanted to make sure that this bill is fiscally responsible,” says
Ramogi Huma, president of the National College Players Association,
which championed the bill. “We didn’t want to impose a
one-size-fits-all solution on schools that would really face a
financial burden to comply.”
Huma educated lawmakers that the Pac-12 Conference’s current media
contract will provide each member school with $15 million in new
revenue each year for the next 12 years. “The new money is more than
enough to pay for some of the modest reforms that we’re talking about,”
he says.
Though the bill was not debated, it has its
detractors — among them, Stanford interim athletic director Patrick
Dunkley. “It applies just to four universities out of scores of
institutions of higher education in California and fails to protect the
rights of the vast majority of student-athletes,” Dunkley wrote in a
letter of opposition last month, as reported by the Associated Press. “Why should a Stanford football player have protections provided by law that are denied a football player at San Jose State?”
Huma considers the argument disingenuous. “If the athletic director is
being honest, then I expect Stanford to push hard next year for all the
other schools to grant their players protection. I don’t think that’s
going to happen,” says Huma, whose own football career at UCLA was cut
short by injury. “If Stanford has such a concern about
student-athletes, this is the first time we’ve ever heard of it.
Stanford not only has opposed these protections for their own players,
they have never, ever expressed interest in making sure all the
colleges in California are protecting their players. I think it was an
excuse to kill the bill, because they didn’t want to have that type of
accountability.”
Huma has helped advocate for similar legislation in Indiana and
Oklahoma, though bills in those states stalled. He sees the California
precedent as perhaps giving additional states the confidence that these
particular student-athlete welfare issues have been fully vetted. It
will also provide incentive to neutralize a clear recruiting advantage.
“If I’m a coach in California, I’m going to make sure that my recruits
know that by law they have these protections, whereas anywhere else
it’s discretional. Anywhere else, they’re gambling,” Huma says. “I’m
hoping that that will help raise the standard.”
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Pregame Prayers Under Attack at High Schools, Colleges
Football teams and fans in Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee have responded in a variety of ways to warnings from a Madison, Wis.-based national state-church watchdog group targeting pregame prayers. For months, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has been sending letters to school superintendents and college chancellors objecting to the practice of opening football games and other school or university functions with a prayer.
In one such letter sent to 151 public school districts in Mississippi, FFRF co-presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker reminded superintendents that "it is illegal for a public school to organize, sponsor or lead prayers at public high school events. The Supreme Court has continually struck down formal teacher or school-led prayer in public schools. … Prayers imposed by schools over loudspeakers at athletic events or other school-sponsored events bear the imprint of the state." The letter also cited several Supreme Court cases to back up FFRF's assertion, including Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000), in which the nation's highest court ruled that student-initiated prayer at football games was unconstitutional.
But schools and parents are not taking those demands kneeling down. As Brian Freeman, superintendent of Mississippi's Forrest County School District, told the Hattiesburg American, "For generations, [pregame prayer] is a practice that's been followed throughout the South."
At the season opener against North Forrest last Friday night, Purvis High School cheerleaders handed out copies of "The Lord's Prayer" for fans to read to themselves during a moment of silence held before the game in lieu of a prayer. And in Tennessee, where school districts also have received letters from the FFRF, parents took matters into their own hands at Cherokee High School's home opener in Rogersville last week. A volunteer group calling itself "Expecting God's Help" led spectators in a pregame prayer. "As long as it's not a school-led prayer, we can do this," Blaine Jones, one of the organizers, told Knoxville's WBIR-TV, adding that he was encouraging parents from other schools to follow suit.
Additionally, the FFRF turned up the heat this week on Mark Mariakis, football coach at Ridgeland High School in Rossville, Ga., alleging several violations of the First Amendment in a letter to Walker County Schools superintendent Damon Raines. They include holding pregame meals at a local church where a “preacher sermonizes to the players about the Christian religion," leading pre- and postgame prayers, using Bible verses on team gear and in motivational speeches, and pressuring players to participate in a Christian football camp that players must pay to attend. That last allegation, according to the FFRF, endangers the district's federal funding. According to WRCB-TV, Mariakis — who led Ridgeland to several regional titles — survived brain cancer in 2008-2009, and is known for being vocal about his faith. A Facebook page has been created to show support for the coach.
High schools aren't the FFRF's only target, as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga found out. Its practice of allowing pregame prayers — something it has done for years — has been called out by the foundation. "While students, athletes, and athletic event attendees may choose to gather privately in prayer, a public university has no place in encouraging or endorsing religious ritual," wrote Gaylor in a letter to UTC Chancellor Roger G. Brown, dated May 15, 2012. "Whether to pray or not, whether to believe in a deity who answers prayer, is an intensely personal decision protected under our First Amendment as a paramount matter of conscience. The University of Tennessee should not lend its power and prestige to religion, amounting to a governmental endorsement of religion."
"There's no obligation for us to respond or make a decision," Chuck Cantrell, UTC associate vice chancellor, told WDEF.com last week. "They've asked us to consider it and we're considering it."
"Prayer is going to continue to happen," predicted Jay Fowler, director of the Chattanooga arm of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. "Many players will continue to pray; people in the stadium will choose to pray. It's just a matter of whether UTC is going to continue."
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9:33 AM
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Thursday, August 23, 2012
Blog: $14.5M Settlement Revives Debate Over Metal Bats — and the U.S. Legal System
News of yesterday’s $14.5 million settlement of a metal-bat injury lawsuit has already ricocheted from the newswires to the anti-legal system blogosphere. The denunciations of the amount given the family of Steven Domalewski for his ongoing care (and to pay the family’s attorneys) have been as hard, swift and predictable as — well, as the flight of a line drive off the barrel of an aluminum bat.
Domalewski took a batted ball to the chest while pitching in a Police Athletic League game in June 2006, when he was 12 years old. Sent into cardiac arrest, the boy was rushed to a New Jersey hospital by paramedics who arrived within minutes, but he was left essentially brain dead.
His parents sued Hillerich and Bradsby (the bat’s manufacturer), Little League Baseball (because the group certifies that specific metal bats are approved for and safe for use in games involving children) and The Sports Authority (the national sporting goods chain from which the bat was purchased), alleging that the bat was unsafe because baseballs could carom off it at much greater speeds than wooden bats. The latter two defendants had no immediate comment yesterday, while Stephen Keener, president and CEO of Little League Baseball Inc., said only that the settlement guarantees that "Steven Domalewski will receive the lifetime care he will require as a result of this tragic accident, a type of accident that is extremely rare in youth baseball." (The family’s attorney said the settlement precluded him from discussing its details, including whether any of the defendants admitted liability.)
Are line drives struck off metal bats an obvious and inherent risk of playing baseball? Have bat manufacturers added to the risk by progressively improving bat technology? Little League Baseball says that an agreement reached with the major manufacturers in the early 1990s to limit metal bats' performance to that of the best wooden bats had led to a drop in injuries to pitchers from 145 a year to roughly 20 to 30 annually. Has the organization, the states, state high school activity associations, and other groups such as the NFHS and NCAA, done enough to protect ballplayers from unreasonable risk? These are the types of questions that have gone before past juries in batted-ball cases. The California Court of Appeals found 10 years ago that certain bats increase the risk to ballplayers, and said in remanding a case back to a trial court that evidence put forward by a college-age pitcher “raises a triable issue of material fact.” (That case was eventually settled for an unspecified amount in 2002 with no admission of liability.)
Domalewski’s family never had to have its day in court to bring similar evidence forward. To some, this demonstrates that, having gone after every deep pocket in sight, the family has offered up more proof of the most fundamental flaw in the American legal system. To others, this shows that after decades, and scores of catastrophic injuries, metal bats are still manufactured and sold and certified by sports organizations in a way that puts athletes at increased risk — and that the legal system offers the only redress for families whose children have been maimed or killed taking part in America’s pastime.
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Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Tennessee High School Football Player Dies After Practice Hit
A 15-year-old Tennessee high school football player who lost consciousness after sustaining a hit in practice died en route to the hospital Tuesday. Dana Payne, a 143-pound, 5-11 sophomore wide receiver and defensive back at Millington High School, is at least the third prep player to die this season — before most teams have even played their first game.
Investigators told WREG.com in Memphis that it was just a matter of minutes between the time Payne was hit and the time he was pronounced dead. At 5:11 p.m., he complained of chest pains, and at 5:13 he was unresponsive and taken to the hospital. Upon arrival at 5:48, he had passed away. An autopsy is expected to be performed.
"I heard the lick, but I didn't see it," Frank Sharp, a family friend who often attended practices, told The Commercial Appeal of Memphis. "He got up but then he stopped breathing. They did CPR there on the field and they got him back ... but they lost him about two minutes before they got to the hospital."
Reaction to Payne's death has been swift and troubling. A meeting of the unified Shelby County School Board ended abruptly Tuesday night when members heard the news, and the paper reported that no fewer than eight Millington students were taken to area hospitals Wednesday morning. Brent Perkins, spokesman for the Shelby County Fire Department, said those treated appeared to be dealing with "an emotional reaction" to Payne's death. "It's rough up there," added Millington Mayor Linda Carter, referring to the scene at the school. "The kids are emotional. ... The football team is having a real hard time, as well as the coaches."
At least three other high school football players have died so far during this young season, although one death has been deemed unrelated to the sport.
On Aug. 8, Daniel Lule, 17, collapsed and died following the first practice of the season for Hall High School in Spring Valley, Ill. An autopsy revealed an enlarged heart — something that is not necessarily found during routine physicals. Officials say heat was not a factor in Lule's death, as temperatures were in the low 80s the day Lule died.
Nicholas Dellaventura, a 15-year-old lineman for St. Joseph by the Sea High School on Staten Island, N.Y., collapsed during a 90-minute evening conditioning practice in high temperatures on July 23. He later died at an area hospital. CBS New York reported that the practice did not include equipment or physical contact, and autopsy results have proved inconclusive.
Jason Holland, a sophomore football player at Ola High School in McDonough, Ga., died Friday after a brief hospitalization. Results of that autopsy also were inconclusive, but school district spokesman J.D. Hardin told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Holland's death was unrelated to football. "Whatever led to his hospitalization did not occur at school, during football practice or immediately thereafter," he said.
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10:17 AM
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ASCE to Create Sports Lighting Support Pole Standard
Three years ago this month, when AB first reported on a rash of sports lighting support pole failures, one source admitted that the industry had long seen little regulation or consistent design guidance. That appears to be changing.
The American Society of Civil Engineers, the nation’s oldest engineering society, has announced it is working to create a national consensus standard for the proper specification, design and system support of these structures. “In the United States, current practices related to the specification, fatigue design, installation and ongoing maintenance of athletic field or other area lighting structures are very inconsistent,” says Brian Reese of ReliaPole Inspection Services Co., chair of the ASCE Athletic Field Lighting Structures Standard Committee, which was created last fall. “When we started looking at these failures, we surmised that fatigue resulting from wind-induced vibration, as well as a lack of inspection and maintenance programs, are believed to have played critical roles in these failures.”
In the past, some design professionals have used the International Building Code as a design guide, but that code is not particularly adaptive to lighting support structures, Reese adds in an ASCE press release. He says other designs rely on the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Standard Specifications for Structural Supports for Highway Signs, Luminaires and Traffic Signals. Still others rely on commercial grade specifications developed by the individual lighting system suppliers.
Until a formal standard takes shape, the committee recommends the following interim measures:
1) Design professionals should use the AASHTO Standard Specifications for Structural Supports for Highway Signs, Luminaires and Traffic Signals, fifth edition, with 2010 and 2011 interim revisions.
2) Designs should be made for a minimum life of 50 years and Fatigue Category I as it applies to the AASHTO Standard Specifications.
3) Owners should be encouraged to develop routine scheduled inspection and maintenance programs and contact qualified inspection professionals if cracks or corrosion are observed.
The committee is actively seeking new members, particularly those individuals directly affected by its activities. For information, contact Reese (breese@polesafety.com) or the ASCE’s Lee Kusek (lkusek@asce.org).
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Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Changes Coming to High School Concessions Stands
A mandate by Portland (Maine) Public Schools that all food served at school events meet federal nutrition standards will be felt at football concessions stands throughout the district this fall.
Last spring, the Board of Public Education approved new policies that will remove sugary sodas, potato chips and other unhealthful items from classrooms, school vending machines and concessions menus. But as football season approaches, the new policy is generating some buzz. As Fox News Radio declared on Monday, "Attention high school football fans in Maine: B.Y.O.C. — Bring your own Coke."
In a statement posted on the district's website, PPS explains that "the new standards apply to food and beverages sold or served by a school or school organization regardless of location. Food served on field trips, sold by sports teams or offered at events sponsored by parent teacher organizations (PTOs) all must comply with the policies."
That means no birthday cupcakes or ice cream parties, either. But Chanda Turner, school health coordinator for PPS, told The Portland Press Herald that students and teachers are not prohibited from bringing soda or chips to school to consume on their own; they just won't be able to purchase any from a vending machine. Turner, who added that the policies have been five years in the making, was a little more forthcoming with Fox News, telling reporter Todd Starnes that "we are not making any restrictions on personal choice. The only thing we are affecting is what we as a school system [are] going to sell or provide. It's not a complete restriction on anything considered non-healthy. We didn't want to go too far."
While some residents clearly feel the district went too far — as evidenced by reader comments posted to a Press Herald editorial praising, in particular, the soda ban — Portland is not alone. This week, the wellness policy that has been in place for almost six years at Durham (N.C.) Public Schools might undergo changes that could eliminate unhealthy food as rewards and at parties, as well as require at least three healthy options on concessions menus. In June, the district removed sugary drinks from a food vendor contract. Meanwhile, public high schools in Mankato, Minn., will begin selling turkey dogs, pizzas with whole wheat crust and other similar items beginning at home volleyball games on Thursday.
To help students, parents and high school sports fans better understand the changes put in place in Portland, the district posted several documents explaining the new rules — including a flow chart that takes into consideration almost every conceivable scenario in which food and beverages are sold or served on school property. Officials stress that the nutrition policies do not apply to such non-school groups as community athletic leagues using schools outside of the school day or to non-school groups providing concessions at school events that take place off campus.
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NFL Adds Online Course to Fan Conduct Code Enforcement
Four years after implementing a league-wide code of conduct for fans, the NFL has announced the addition of some significant enforcement teeth.
As reported by ESPN’s Darren Rovell, any fan ejected from a game this season will receive a letter encouraging him or her to apologize to the team and complete a four-hour online education course covering alcohol abuse, anger management and crude behavior. If the fan refuses to comply and is caught on stadium grounds, he or she may be arrested for trespassing.
Under the policy in place since 2008, fans faced only the revocation of future ticket privileges. However, some teams had been piloting the online education component in recent seasons, and the league decided this summer to adopt best practices from those programs for all of its 32 franchises. Offending fans must pay to take the course, too, with costs ranging from $50 (Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions) to $100 (New England Patriots).
“For decades, some fans have believed that when they put on the jersey of their favorite player on their favorite team and they enter a stadium, they can behave any way they want,” said psychotherapist Ari Novick, who designed the course with MetLife Stadium security director Daniel DeLorenzi. “This program was designed to say to people, ‘We want you to have fun when you come to a game, but you have to understand that your actions can affect people and there are rules to abide by.’ ”
Approximately 7,000 fans were ejected from NFL games last season. Tracking ejected individuals will vary by club, but may one day include facial recognition technology, according to Ray DiNunzio, the league’s director of strategic security.
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Monday, August 20, 2012
Blog: Why You Should Watch the Little League World Series
My 12-year-old son’s four-year Little League Baseball journey came to an end last month with an extra-innings loss on a misty field with no lights and darkness approaching. Tyler’s team was declared the local league’s year-end tournament runner-up. I was the team’s official scorekeeper, and Tyler and I both agree that game (despite the loss) was probably the most fun we've had together in Little League.
Multiply that amount of fun by 10, or maybe even 100, and I imagine that’s what it must be like for players, coaches, parents and fans at the Little League Baseball World Series, which began Thursday in South Williamsport, Pa., and runs through Aug. 26. Between Friday and Sunday, Tyler and I watched nine televised games, either in part or in their entirety, and when the final out came in one game, we were ready for the first pitch in the next. We saw plenty of action (27 combined hits in Canada’s 13-9 victory over Mexico, a six-inning game that lasted longer than three hours) and a pitching duel (the nine-inning marathon in which Chinese Taipei and Japan combined for 30 strikeouts before a walk-off two-run homer gave Japan the 2-0 win).
Batters consistently run out ground balls to first, and they don't make everybody wait 30 seconds between pitches while they adjust their batting gloves. At least one coach, New Castle, Ind.’s Bret Mann, fist-bumped a player from the Gresham, Ore., team after robbing Mann's own batter of a base hit with an exceptional catch, and Panama pitcher Julio Goff trotted over to first base and shook the hand of Ronald Olaa — the Uganda batter he had just beaned. As one of ESPN2’s announcers facetiously remarked, “You see that a lot in the majors.”
More riveting than the games are some of the stories behind the teams and individual players. Uganda traveled 7,200 miles and 22 hours to be the first African team to participate in the Little League Baseball World Series in the event’s 66-year history, and even though the team — whose members come from extreme poverty, include several orphans and usually play barefoot on unkempt fields — lost their first two games, thousands of fans in the stands chanted “U-gan-da! U-gan-da!” And the team from Mexico, which beat Uganda 12-0 on Saturday with the mercy rule, stood and applauded the Africans after the game, embracing the boys and posing for group photos. The image of Uganda coach Henry Odong carrying Mexico’s tiny Joel Turrubiates in his arms while shaking hands with the rest of the Mexican team said more about the spirit of Little League Baseball and the universality of the game than any pundit could.
Want more emotion? Danny Smekens coached New Castle, Ind.’s team from when the players were eight years old until the day he died from colon cancer on March 13, 2011 – his dream of taking the team to the LLWS unfulfilled. Before his death, he asked his best friend and assistant coach Bret Mann to finish the job, and Danny’s son, Cayden, was the starting pitcher in New Castle’s 4-0 shutout of Gresham on Friday night. Earlier this year, the family of another player on the team, Bryce Pinkard, lost everything in a house fire. Yet, what LLWS team has organized a clothing drive for the Ugandan players and their friends back in Africa? New Castle.
Sure, it’s hard not to feel bad for teams like Germany, which committed six errors against Curacao in a 14-2 loss, or Kearney, Neb., which got slammed by a combined score of 24-1 in its first two games. But the Little League Baseball World Series still has to be considered one of the best feel-good events in all of sports, especially now that the Olympics are over.
So consider tuning out Major League Baseball’s pennant races this week and instead watch motivated groups of 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds from around the world teach the rest of us a thing or two about sportsmanship, perseverance and dreams.
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Blog: The Fans Have a Say in Their Own Safety
How do sports fans perceive the risk/safety conditions that surround them? The Patron Management Institute, of which I am executive director, recently concluded its first Fan Safety Index, which found that fans engage in a variety of risky conduct, are somewhat fearful of their environment at various events, have biases as to how safe certain events are, and are willing to engage in conduct that might in fact increase the risk of physical harm to themselves or other fans.
The survey of 155 respondents (two-thirds male, one-third female, only one in five of whom were season-ticket holders) covered concerts as well as sporting events. About 26 percent of respondents reported having felt threatened or intimidated at sporting events, with 13 percent saying they had been subject to threats of physical harm. Just under 40 percent said that they had had verbal altercations, while 6 percent reported having been involved in physical altercations.
When respondents were asked whether they had ever contacted security personnel or event staff during an event to report a risk or safety concern, 28 percent responded that yes, they had. Thirteen percent said that they had also reported safety/risk concerns after the conclusion of events. Could fans find staffers when they needed their assistance? Respondents answered that they felt there was enough security presence in the parking area (44%), concourse (72%) and seating area (72%). Respondents in general felt that there is a decent presence that can help minimize or prevent potential altercations, it seems. Almost two in three respondents said that they would utilize an anonymous texting service to report a potential problem, but only 7 percent had actually used such a service.
Three in four respondents felt they could rely on staffers to resolve any potential problem they had with another spectator, while half felt they could resolve an issue directly with an offending fan. Since nearly two in three respondents indicated that they consume alcohol at sporting events, one wonders whether fans have an optimistic view of their own peacemaking abilities while under the influence.
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Friday, August 17, 2012
Blog: Cheer These Pro Athletes for Giving Back
Assuming your membership in the Latrell “I have a family to feed” Sprewell Fan Club has expired, may we suggest a couple of options.
Consider Jonny Gomes, the Oakland A’s outfielder from Petaluma, Calif., who has donated money to help cover the cost — estimated at $2,500 per person — of parents wishing to travel to Williamsport, Pa., to watch their kids compete for Petaluma this week in the Little League Baseball World Series. (The team defeated Fairfield, Conn., in its series debut Thursday, 6-4.) Moreover, Gomes has granted numerous interviews encouraging additional donations, even sending an autographed photo of himself to anyone making a donation at www.petalumanational.org.
“I think it’s part of being a professional athlete to use your star status, if you will, or use the media outlets that you’re granted, to give back,” Gomes told A’s beat writer Joe Stiglich of Bay Area News Group. “If I was lucky enough to go to Williamsport when I was 12, there would be no chance my family would have been able to go on their own dollar, and how bummed out I would be about that.”
Gomes, who has spoken regularly with Petaluma manager Eric Smith, would do more if he could. He gathered Nike cleats, Franklin batting gloves and Oakley sunglasses to send to the team, only to find that it receives new gear upon arrival in Williamsport courtesy of Little League sponsors Easton and Russell Athletic. Little League International also foots the bill for players and coaches traveling to Pennsylvania.
In Michigan, meanwhile, Saginaw Public Schools students have been asked for the first time ever to scrape together $75 each for the mere opportunity to start a sports season. That’s where Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley, a former Michigan Wolverine and graduate of Saginaw High, has quietly stepped in to fill a sizable budget gap.
Woodley’s donation of $60,000, made through a foundation established only weeks ago, will cover the pay-to-play fees of every would-be middle, junior high and high school student-athlete in the district for the entire academic year. “When LaMarr was playing sports, if his family had to pay $75, they probably could have done it, but it would not have been a simple thing,” Malcom Staples, Woodley’s uncle and business advisor, told Hugh Bernreuter of The Saginaw News. “It would be a hardship for a lot of people, even if they could come up with the money.”
In the past, Woodley has provided Saginaw students with everything from football camps to food, sweatshirts to haircuts. The 27-year-old is expected to return Aug. 29 for a back-to-school event for boys entering grades one through eight. The event will feature free food, shirts and backpacks filled with school supplies.
No matter which teams, if any, have your allegiance as the professional baseball and football seasons collide in the coming weeks, how can you help but root for players like Jonny Gomes and LaMarr Woodley?
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Thursday, August 16, 2012
Soccer Coach Retires Early After Namesake Field Deteriorates
Let the story of Davis (Calif.) Senior High School boys' soccer coach
Ashley Yudin serve as a warning to athletic directors who
don't properly maintain playing fields during the summer months.
Yudin, who coached the Blue Devils to six Sac-Joaquin Section Division I
championships (including last season) during his 26-season tenure, is
considered a soccer icon in the area and is the namesake of the school's
Yudin Field. But the coach retired one year earlier than planned after
that field's condition deteriorated over the summer. In fact, the field
has been temporarily closed since Aug. 1 to accommodate construction
projects at the school, during which it reportedly went without water for weeks and died.
"I knew this was going to be my last year," the 64-year-old told The Sacramento Bee.
"I was planning on making an announcement as the season progressed. But
when the condition of the field nose-dived, I just felt it was time to
let somebody else be the coach. … Watching that field die was
heartbreaking to me."
In an email to Bee
blogger Bill Patterson, Davis athletic director Dennis Foster wrote:
"We have wonderful facilities here at Davis ... While this situation has
been stressful for our grounds personnel and athletic department,
[Davis Joint Unified School District] is exhausting maintenance
resources to restore our facilities. I wish our historically successful
coach, Ashley[,] the best in retirement..."
Meanwhile, as Yudin Field is nursed back to health by school district crews,
Foster said the boys' soccer team will practice off campus; some games
might be played at a nearby football stadium that has synthetic turf.
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Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Utah City Considering Ban on Swearing in Parks
City leaders in Ogden, Utah, have proposed an ordinance to prohibit profanity in city parks. One expletive after a missed shot on the tennis court won’t get you in trouble, though. The rule’s target would-be fans at sporting events who “get a little bit too emotional,” as one Ogden resident put it. “If people are disturbing the peace or disturbing the people around them — whether it’s another team, a coach or between parents — that is the behavior that we’re looking at,” Mara Brown, chief deputy city attorney, told the Deseret News.
As youth sports have become more competitive, spectators’ language has grown more heated, and increasingly, city officials say, the abusive language is turning violent. The city already has an ordinance in place that allows police to interfere with physical altercations, but officials want the ability to defuse a situation before it escalates.
Much like rules prohibiting smoking or pets, the “sportsmanship ordinance” would not be actively enforced but serve as a tool for coaches and spectators to combat unruly behavior. “If there’s a person engaged in this kind of loud and disruptive language that seems to be leading toward a fight, an official would go over and ask them to stop the behavior,” Brown said.
Signs placed in parks to make visitors aware of the policy also would act as a visual reminder to keep their language in check. “The goal is to encourage and further an atmosphere of civility at recreational events, where spectators, officials, parents can feel comfortable,” Brown explained. The policy, city officials hope, would also help maintain crowd control and ensure safety at parks and public events.
It all sounds good in theory.
While some may cry foul at the perceived violation of their First Amendment rights, Utah Municipal Code grants cities the power to set punishments for “using obscene or profane language in a place or under circumstances which could cause a breach of the peace or good order of the city.” The real blurring of the line comes when defining just what language may cause a “breach of the peace.” Also in question is what would constitute obscene or profane language, or whether any threatening or aggressive talk would be punishable. And at what point, and by whose definition, would language cross the line from that of an enthusiastic sports fan to something threatening or disruptive?
“They’re really regulating speech a little too broadly,” Ogden attorney Zane Froerer told KSL.com. “Because the city doesn’t have adequate limitations on the circumstances in which this can be used, I think they’re gonna have problems.”
The ordinance is based on one already in effect in nearby West Valley, and if written carefully to avoid any ambiguity about what constitutes inappropriate language, could be successful. Still, if the aim of the ordinance is to encourage sportsmanship, opponents of the ordinance argue, a better solution would be to address the issue through sports leagues, giving coaches and officials the power to remove disruptive fans or players at their discretion, and outlining appropriate player behavior for any athlete playing as part of a city-run league.
Then, of course, there’s the crazy idea of common courtesy — namely, expecting someone to respond to a request to watch his or her language without the threat of punishment.
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PEP Grant Winners Announced; $27M to 56 Winning Groups
The U.S. Department of Education has announced the 2013 recipients of more than $27 million in Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) grants. New PEP grants will be distributed to 56 school districts and community-based organizations across the country, including the Yukon-Koyukuk School District in Fairbanks, Alaska, the YMCA of Southern Indiana and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Va.
Additionally, nearly $51 million will be used to fund the second and third years of PEP grants awarded for FY 2011 and 2012. The average new PEP grant will be approximately $482,000, and funds typically are used to purchase fitness and sports equipment and to train PE teachers in innovative methods of physical education.
According to the Department of Education, grant recipients must implement programs that help students make progress toward meeting their state standards for physical education and offer instruction in healthy eating habits and good nutrition. The money also goes toward opportunities for professional development for physical education teachers.
Click here to see the complete list of the 2013 PEP grant winners, posted on the U.S. Department of Education’s website.
Click here to see all previous PEP grant winners, as well as eligibility and application information.
The Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP), founded by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, has provided more than $620 million to deserving schools and organizations since 2001.
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Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Blog: NRPA Comes Up with Another Winning Initiative
Now that kids have seen plenty of Olympic athletes, and one hopes, have plenty of new role models, it's time to harness some of that energy and enthusiasm, and use it to get them to commit to physical activity.
I know — easier said than done, right? Kids like the idea of going down in history, but when confronted with the idea of training, they tend to move back in front of the TV. Come to think of it, the same holds true for adults.
Here's the good news, though. There's a great initiative out there to get kids and adults active, and it looks easy and fun. Oh, and did we mention the possibility of appearing in the Guinness Book of World Records?
The National Recreation and Parks Association and National Geographic Kids are teaming up to produce Run for the Planet. It asks kids and adults to pledge to run, or even walk, 100 meters between noon Eastern Time Friday, Oct. 26, and noon Saturday, Oct. 27. They'd like to set the world record for the most people doing a 100-meter course during that time, and they're encouraging schools, fitness clubs, parks and others to get involved.
100 meters. Same distance run by the likes of Usain Bolt. It's only one-fourth of the way around a standard running track, for anyone who is keeping count, although NRPA and NGK don't require you to use a track. All they want is a pre-measured, level and safe course with marked start and finish lines. Anyone around the world can participate by signing up at the site.
The bait on the hook, according to both organizations, is the possibility of knowing you were part of an official world record, which is something that we've seen has an undeniable attraction, as with the recent World's Largest Swimming Lesson.
Something else cool is that if all goes well, two records will be broken over that period. One is the running record, but a second one will mark the longest chain of used athletic shoes ever collected. When kids and adults come to participate in the Run for the Planet, they'll be asked to bring a used pair of sneakers. The only qualifications are that they be athletic shoes, and that they have laces, since all the sneakers collected will be tied together by their laces to form the chain. After they're all collected and the length of the chain has been verified, the shoes will be recycled by the organizers.
The fact that this event takes place on both a Friday and a Saturday means schools have a chance to get in on the action. Even if it turns out to be a rainy day, kids could run their course in a gym. Fitness facilities can accommodate adult participants by marking out a course and leaving a container out for old shoes. Since it's a change of season, it's certainly possible people are ready to shed their old running shoes, cross trainers or court shoes, and that kids have a pair or two they've outgrown. Organizers welcome those with more than one pair to spare.
The site for the event includes all kinds of information, as well as tips on how kids can get their schools involved, how to attract media attention, how to get the proper paperwork for the event, how to have the course measured, and more. There's even a downloadable form about shoe donation.
For kids and adults who spent two weeks over the summer watching world records fall, this is a great chance to establish fun bragging rights of their own, and to watch their used shoes get repurposed — and made famous. If there's a better plan than that, I can't think of it.
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Olympic Stadium's Fabric 'Wrap' To Be Repurposed
One day after the London Olympics were declared closed by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, the manufacturer of the 306 polyester-based fabric panels surrounding Olympic Stadium announced plans Monday to repurpose the material for charitable organizations in three regions of the world.
The Dow Chemical Company, the "official chemistry company of the Olympic Games," is partnering with Axion Recycling and UK building and development charity Article 25 to assist projects in the UK, Uganda and Brazil (site of the 2016 Summer Olympics). Each fabric panel measures approximately 82 feet high by eight feet wide and stretches from the concourse ground to the upper tier of Olympic Stadium — which was designed to be partially dismantled to significantly reduce its maximum capacity.
Photo courtesy of The Dow Chemical Company
The move is part of the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games' strategy to stage the world's first truly sustainable Games. In Brazil, Dow and Article 25 are exploring opportunities with the Bola Pra Frente Institute to construct a shaded community area at the organization’s new facility in the Santa Cruz neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. The Institute was created in 2000 to help children and teenagers from underprivileged communities through social programs focused on education, sports, arts and professional training. The same sheltering solution will be used as part of Article 25’s work with Jubilee Action at a vocational training and counseling center for former child soldiers in Uganda. The stadium wrap panels will remain as much in their current shape as possible to retain the look of the Games. Dow also is working with Manchester-based Axion Recycling to implement additional projects for reuse or recycling of the wrap within the UK.
“These projects will build understanding about the importance of the use and reuse of materials in the global community,” said Robin Cross, director of projects and CEO of Article 25. “London won the honor of hosting the Olympics in 2012 by promising to inspire a generation of young people around the world to greater heights of personal and sporting achievement. By using the stadium wrap to build essential community facilities in Uganda and Brazil, we hope to deliver on this international promise and bring part of the London Olympics to some of the most marginalized youngsters in the developing world.”
According to a statement released Monday afternoon by Dow, the company and its partners "created the innovative new material for the stadium wrap, conducted extensive performance and application testing and identified viable post-Games use options. … Dow Elastomer technology made it possible for the wrap to achieve a unique combination of durability, flexibility and fire performance. The total wrap system, including steel cables and fixtures, accounts for less than half of one percent of the stadium’s total carbon footprint, making it a low-carbon solution for enclosing and decorating the structure."
Other green efforts during the games included the use of compostable packaging by food vendors and a special emphasis on recycling programs, including testing of a new "zero waste" management system by Coca-Cola that may serve as an example for future sporting events.
The Olympic Stadium wrap generated controversy in London last year when critics tried to stop Michigan-based Dow's involvement with the London Games because of the company's links to Union Carbide, which was accused in the 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, India. As The Independent of London reported in April, Dow bought Union Carbide 16 years after the 1984 accident that killed an estimated 15,000 people. Dow maintains it was not responsible for the catastrophe and that legal claims on the case in India have long been settled. "It's not our issue," George Hamilton, the executive in charge of Dow's Olympic operations, told Reuters. "We weren't there and we did not acquire any of the liabilities."
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T-Shirt Criticizes 'National Communist Athletic Association'
While the Penn State football program attempts to move on from scandal and rebuild, evidenced in part by the first overhaul of the Nittany Lion’s uniform in 60 years, fans still upset with the perceived severity of the NCAA sanctions can also express their feelings with a fashion statement. The independent Student Book Store in State College, Pa., has tapped into what it considers the sentiment of many Penn State fans with a shirt featuring the NCAA logo that replaces the “C” with a communist hammer and sickle and reads “National Communist Athletic Association.”
The shirt’s back reads, “Overstepping their bounds and punishing the innocent since 1906.” The design was created by Smack Apparel, a company specializing in pro- and college-sports smack talk. The shirt is one of many offered by the company expressing support for Joe Paterno and the Penn State football program, but it is the most controversial. The shirts are not licensed by the university nor sold by a university-sponsored bookstore, and the university itself has been doing its best to distance itself from the shirts.
While the shirt is not intended to be a defense of Jerry Sandusky but a criticism of the NCAA, it is still a questionable fashion statement. Aside from the issue of how exactly the NCAA sanctions are communist, fans looking to support their team would be better off following the example of the football program as it puts the past behind it and moves on.
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Monday, August 13, 2012
Blog: Damned Either Way on Cancellations
Recently, we posed five real scenarios regarding members who asked for special treatment regarding membership cancellations. What we didn’t mention is that in each of those cases, we resolved the issue in the member’s favor. What we also didn’t mention is how little business value we see in those resolutions because those members had no appreciation for the fact that they were asking us for an exception. They just wanted us to do what they wanted.
Had they appreciated it, and maybe gone out to tell their friends how wonderful we are, or maybe just said “thank you,” it might have made us feel better. But the truth is that we simply caved to make the problems go away. The sad truth for us, and we believe for many health club owners and managers, is that we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t.
Or, to use another phrase, no good deed goes unpunished.
Here’s a great example of that. This email exchange is with a member (we’ll call her Member) who at one point was having financial difficulties. In order for her to keep her membership active, we offered her half off our regular dues for three months. Pretty nice, huh? When her three months of half-off dues was completed, she continued with her membership for another year. Then she called and told us she had cancelled by phone six months ago, but just noticed she was still being charged (how much financial hardship could she have had if she didn’t pay attention to her bills?). Even though we only take cancellation requests in writing, which made us dubious of her claim, we cancelled her immediately and gave her six months of credit to use whenever she wanted to start again. VERY nice of us, right?
She rejoined in Feb. 2012…and here’s how it ended:
From: Rob Bishop
To: Member
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 10:40 AM
Subject: Membership Cancellation
Hi Member,
I saw your cancellation request and we are sorry to be losing you.
Unfortunately, you will be responsible for your August dues. As I'm sure you are aware (since you have been a member for a long time and it is also specified on the form you filled out online) we require 14 days notice for any changes to your account. Your August dues are due on the second of the month. Since your regular account has been closed, please call the club (or stop by) with your new account. If I am not here, any staff person will be able to help you.
Member, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me again.
Rob Bishop
Elevations Health Club
570-620-1990
From: Member
To: Rob Bishop
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 8:13 PM
Subject: Re: Membership Cancellation
Hi Rob,
When I thought I could use my credit of 6 months, I told the receptionist that I would ONLY USE THE CEDIT, I can't afford to continue. Unfortunately I couldn't use ONE day of my credit, check the records, I didn't come ONE day. So I was quite surprised of your email stating I would have to pay for August. I told them from day one it was the credit only! I am sorry I can't afford to come, I can't afford it at this time. Please understand.
From: Rob Bishop
To: Member
Cc: Barry from Elevations
Sent: Wednesday, August 1, 2012 12:01 PM
Subject: Re: Membership Cancellation
Member,
Now I'm a little confused. I looked up the paperwork you filled out when you came back in February. At that time you signed up for another year in the club--half of it already paid for with your credit. You signed (and initialed) the membership application indicating that billing would start on 8/2/12. You even provided your new billing information. If you would like me to mail you a copy of your paperwork, please let me know where to send it. (I will not hold you responsible for the other 5 payments that you agreed to.)
I'm sorry that you were unable to get here to use your credit. Whether or not a member attends the club and how often, is an individual matter that we obviously have no control over.
Member, as I'm sure you are aware, the club has tried very hard to be accommodating so that you could continue as a member. And we were happy to do that. Our members, and their health, are very important to us. We made it possible for you to pay a reduced dues fee for several months. After that, we made arrangements for the 6 month credit. At this time, I'm afraid it would simply be unfair to our other members to make another exception for your account. You will be responsible for the August dues because your request to cancel did not arrive in time. If you would like to set up a payment plan or arrange to make a payment on a later date, please let me know.
Also, please feel free to contact again with any other questions.
Rob Bishop
Elevations Health Club
570-620-1990
From: Member
To: Rob Bishop
Sent: Wednesday, August 1, 2012 5:05 PM
Subject: Re: Membership Cancellation
Rob, I was taking care of my mom, who has since passed away, I didn't realize that billing was still going on. I spoke to you about a refund and you said I could have a credit. When I went in Feb. I told the girl I had a credit and I was only going to use that up. She checked and noted the credit. She had me initial the paper and said I would be billed again in August, but I said I am ONLY using the credit, so that is why I sent a note to make sure I wouldn't be billed. I never used 1 day of my credit.
I think the mix up came in Feb, when I told her credit only. I too am sorry I couldn't go to the club but sometimes things happen. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Member
From: Rob Bishop
To: Member
Sent: Wednesday, August 1, 2012 5:38 PM
Subject: Re: Membership Cancellation
Sorry to hear about your mother.
Rob Bishop
Elevations Health Club
570-620-1990
From: Member
To: Rob Bishop
Sent: Monday, August 6, 2012 8:15 PM
Subject: Re: Membership Cancellation
I checked today at my bank and the $56 was not put back into my account.
From: Rob Bishop
To: Member
Cc: Barry from Elevations
Subject: Re: Membership Cancellation
Sent: Tue, Aug 7, 2012 2:06:39 PM
Member,
At this time, I have no reason to refund the August dues charges. I am going to put a copy of the membership application you signed in February (when you returned to the club) in the mail to you today. Please look at it carefully. Then feel free to contact me again.
The application you signed (and initialed twice) indicates that you were joining the club for 12 months, 6 of which were paid for with your credit. You then provided billing information for the remaining 6 months. While I think it is somewhat unfair to our other members, I will cancel the remaining payments that you agreed to. However, with only 3 days notice to stop billing on the August dues, I think it is completely unreasonable to expect the club to make yet another concession on your account.
Member, as I said, please take a look at the contract when it arrives to you, and then feel free to contact me again. I would hate for any member to leave the club under less than ideal terms.
Rob Bishop
Elevations Health Club
570-620-1990
And yet the next time something like this happens, we’ll cave and try to do the right thing for each member. Sometimes we wonder why we bother.
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Friday, August 10, 2012
Families Left to Pick Up Tab for Blue High School Turf
Jim Reis and four other members of an Oxford (Mich.) High School booster group will need to pay AstroTurf an estimated $300,000 by Sept. 1, after fundraising stalled for a $400,000 blue field that opened last year. When the boosters financed the project, five of them personally pledged to cover any budget shortfalls. "We're stuck," Reis told The Wall Street Journal, adding that he could sell a motor home in a worst-case scenario but that he doesn't want to take equity out of his house. "We pledged to pay the money. We signed our names. We are going to have to pay [AstroTurf] back."
"I thought we would have the community behind us," added Randy Reason, coach of Oxford's middle-school football team and another booster who backed the loan. "We thought the money would be attainable fairly easily." Others on the line for $60,000 each include Detroit Lions executive Bill Keenist and Oxford parks and recreation director Ron Davis.
Oxford is a prosperous community, but voters there rejected a 2010 bond issue to raise money for a new synthetic turf field, an amenity many rival schools already had. Voters, did, however, approve a measure to improve the field's drainage system and replace the track. Boosters then began raising money for a new field themselves, the Journal reported, securing the loan and selling sponsorships to local companies that could have their names and logos stitched into the turf. They also collected $1,000 from individuals and businesses.
As the Journal's Neal E. Boudette writes:
A committee began working with ProGrass LLC of Pittsburgh, which produced engineering work and a design for the field. To make Oxford's field unique, they decided to go with blue turf — similar to Boise State University's football field — plus yellow end zones, the colors of the Oxford Wildcats. In June 2011, as work on the track and drainage system started, sponsorships were lagging behind, and ProGrass pulled out.
With the 2011 football season a few weeks away, Mr. Reis and the Oxford turf committee turned to AstroTurf, of Dalton, Ga. Mr. Reis and four other committee members personally pledged to back the loan, and the school board approved the arrangement, Mr. Reis said. ...
Fundraising topped out at about $86,000. In recent weeks, boosters have been selling advertisements in football game programs.
Earlier this week, this message was posted on the Oxford Community Schools' website: "We need the help of everyone who ever wore a Wildcat uniform or hailed the blue and gold in Oxford’s most celebrated venue. Help us keep the color in our competitions!"
"It makes us a little nervous," Reis admitted to ClickOnDetroit.com, which ran a story in the hopes of soliciting donors. "It's not about us five. It's about the people and the kids that get to use this field for years to come."
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Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Blog: Olympic Gold Medal Cheater Riles Former Swim Ref
For three years, I was a USA Swimming-certified stroke and turn official, which means I stood at the end of a pool for hours making sure each and every swimmer in my lane (or, as was more typical, my lanes) legally executed their strokes. If not, it was my duty to disqualify that swimmer. Most of the DQs I issued were to kids 14 and younger, and I'm pretty sure the majority of them knew they screwed up before I even raised my arm to report the infraction to the head referee.
So it didn't surprise me that 24-year-old South African Cameron van der Burgh admitted he took three underwater dolphin kicks — instead of the one allowed under FINA rules — at the start of his gold-medal-winning, world-record-setting 100-meter breaststroke final at the Olympics last week. The dolphin kick is a whip-like motion generated from the hips that aids in propulsion.
At least he didn't deny doing what video (van der Burgh is wearing the green cap) clearly indicates he did. What left me feeling unsettled, especially as the father of a 12-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter who are both competitive swimmers, is that van der Burgh felt compelled to defend his cheating because, he claims, everybody else is cheating, too.
‘‘If you’re not doing it, you’re falling behind. It’s not obviously — shall we say — the moral thing to do, but I’m not willing to sacrifice my personal performance and four years of hard work for someone that is willing to do it and get away with it,’’ van der Burgh told The Sydney Morning Herald. He even called out Australia's Brenton Rickard, who was in the lane next to him in the same race. "In the underwater footage, … he's doing the exact same thing as me."
The South African swimmer went on to claim that "99 percent" of world-class swimmers do an illegal number of dolphin kicks. (SwimmingWorld.com reported that in the second semifinal heat of the 100-meter breast at the London Games, Australia's Christian Sprenger and Lithuania's Giedrius Titenis each did dolphin kicks into the finish before their hands touched the wall. At last year's world championships, an illegal dolphin kick at the finish of the 50-meter breast final by winner Felipe Silva of Brazil was never appealed or disputed during the meet.)
FINA, swimming's international governing body, does not use underwater officiating or video technology to DQ swimmers, and stroke and turn referees can't see everything that's going on underwater — especially when that water is being agitated by eight of the fastest, strongest male swimmers in the world. Waves, glare and the very real possibility that the official overseeing a given lane is looking at another part of the swimmer's body at the time an infraction is committed are valid arguments. Plus, as all stroke and turn officials are reminded at every swim meet they work, benefit of the doubt always goes to the swimmer.
I missed some calls during my days as a swim official, no question; so have the officials in lanes next to me and my former colleagues around the country. But, to use van der Burgh's logic, others missing calls doesn't justify any of us blowing them on purpose.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday afternoon that FINA is considering the introduction of underwater video to observe illegal kicks and other infractions. No word yet on the logistics involved, but a move like that would certainly get guys like van der Burgh to shut up. "If you can bring in underwater footage," he told the Morning Herald, "that's when everybody will stop doing it because that's when you'll have peace of mind to say, 'Alright, I don't need to do it because everybody else is doing it and it's a fair playing field.' "
As opposed to the peace of mind that comes with cheating to win Olympic gold.
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2:51 PM
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Arkansas State Police Set Game Security Protocols
Believed to be the first policy of its kind in the nation, the Arkansas State Police have outlined new protocols for officers serving as security personnel at collegiate sporting events in the state.
Under the policy, state troopers are no longer allowed to accept free tickets from athletic programs or any gift with a value that exceeds the $100 limit set by state law. In addition, troopers are to limit their activities to law enforcement and avoid any activity that may present the appearance of the trooper being part of the team. They are not to use state police vehicles in the transportation of athletic team staff or team members, unless it relates to the security assignment.
State police sergeants, rather than the highest-ranking officers, will be given first consideration for security detail assignment.
In late June, the Arkansas Ethics Commission found probable cause to believe State Police Capt. Jeffrey Lance King violated the law by accepting more than $4,000 worth of gifts, including game tickets and a Sugar Bowl ring, from the University of Arkansas athletic program over a two-year period.
King, a state police troop commander who provided game-day security for the Razorbacks, transported then Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino to the hospital after Petrino’s much-publicized motorcycle accident in April.
Petrino was fired when it was discovered he had been involved in an extramarital affair with an athletic department employee, who was with him at the time of the wreck, and later lied about it. King received a letter of caution from the ethics commission and was disciplined for accepting the gifts, though the action did not include termination.
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Posted At
10:16 AM
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Blog: Kids Triathlon Volunteers Need to Tri Harder
It's not all that common for me to rant. I try not to. But I'm on a roll now.
My niece, Charlotte, completed her first triathlon recently. She's nine. I couldn't be more proud of her. She and a group of friends from school decided to register for the local children's triathlon after a classmate's mother, an experienced triathlete, died of cancer. Her daughter, who is in Charlotte's class, had decided to do her first tri in her mom's memory. Charlotte and the other girls decided to do it, too, to support their friend. So really, I was proud even before she started.
Charlotte and Katie
Charlotte finished dead last. This in itself doesn't upset me, as I have had plenty of last-place finishes in my time, and in a variety of sports. I'm an epically mediocre athlete. The genes were just there, waiting to pounce on Charlotte. Poor kid.
What really got me worked up, though, was the fact that the race had multiple problems, all indicating a lack of accountability — not so much among the organizers, but with the volunteer staff. And these problems interfered not just with one kid's enjoyment of the race, but that of a large group of kids.
The swim went just fine for Charlotte. But she lost ground in the bicycle leg after she stopped to help her friend, whose bike had broken down. A pedal, which had been loose to begin with, came off entirely and threw her off-balance, causing her to fall.
My sister, who had shepherded Charlotte and her friend through training for the race, was not pleased. All parents were required to have their children's bicycles inspected (which was fine), and the inspection was free (also fine). But, apparently, the volunteer doing the inspection wasn't all that attentive.
"This kid's pedal was actually rattling around and loose going into the race, but it passed inspection anyway," said my sister. "Some inspection. Glad that was required."
Charlotte's friend got scrapes and bruises. Charlotte stayed with her until someone arrived to fix the bike and patch up the skinned knees. Then they continued on together until they reached the running segment. As with most kids' triathlons, this race was set up on a closed course to keep the kids out of traffic. Unfortunately, one of the teenagers who was volunteering as a course marshal wandered away from her post to start texting her friends, rather than pointing kids in the direction they were supposed to run. You can probably guess what happened next. A bunch of kids completely missed the turn and were running through the local streets, dodging traffic. It took a local resident to notice and to call police, who came and picked up the kids and drove them back to where they had missed their turn. "No mother,” as my sister said, “wants to see her daughter get out of a police car, and particularly not in tears."
When Charlotte finally made it over the finish line, she was flustered and angry. I congratulated her on finishing the tri.
"I finished last," she said.
I tried the obvious lines of encouragement: Finishing was a win. She had shown great character by becoming involved in it to support one friend, and by stopping to help another. Besides, a lot of people wouldn't even have signed up, much less competed.
"Last," she repeated, as though I were stupid enough to have missed the word the first time. I sighed.
It's awfully hard to convince a kid that you're proud of her, and that she didn't fail by being last. It's harder still to convince her that she didn't let anyone down or waste anyone's time. My biggest fear is that she'll let this sour her on registering for next year's triathlon. Adults, after all, would probably sign up for a different race the following year. Kids tend to think the whole experience is bad.
The problem was not with the organization — this one was great. It was with the volunteers who apparently weren't taking their responsibility all that seriously. A children's race is no less important than an adult race. If anything, it takes more care and supervision, so many participants are first-timers, and all are underage.
Organizers need to convince volunteers that even though they're not getting paid, they still have the responsibility of a paid staff member. In this case, a texting teenager and an inattentive bike mechanic fell down on the job. In doing so, they let kids down as well.
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Posted At
9:18 AM
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Tuesday, August 07, 2012
AB Columnists Honored with Editorial Award
Rob Bishop and Barry Klein's monthly "For-Profits" column has been honored by the American Society of Business Press Editors with one of the 2012 ASBPE Awards of Excellence — or the Azbee Awards, as they're informally known. Rob and Barry won the Gold award in the Midwest-South Region for "The Big Payback" (April 2011) and "Sales Pitch" (December 2011).
It's the seventh regional award for AB in the past five years, following national Gold awards in 2006 and 2007, and the first for Rob and Barry.
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Posted At
5:56 PM
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Blog: First Female Scab to Officiate NFL Game
Congratulations, Shannon Eastin! Congratulations to the NFL for breaking one of the glassiest glass ceilings in professional sports! Scab!
Yesterday's news, that this veteran of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference "will be the pioneer and perhaps an inspiration for others to follow" (USA Today) by officiating as a line judge in Thursday's preseason game between the San Diego Chargers and Green Bay Packers, is in fact an opportunity to show that women and men can perform this vital role with the same professionalism and dedication. That gender should not come into play when seeking qualified individuals to referee athletic contests between two teams of men. That when the immensely profitable league and its employees square off over pay, might makes right and the league will prevail. Equal rights — yes! Better pay and working conditions — no!
The NFL locked out its officials after last season, and supposedly has been negotiating with them since last October. The issue is money — the NFL's part-time referees start at a salary of $78,000, and in spite of record revenues and profits, the league is offering them a five- to 11 percent raise, their first since 2006. Tony Michalek, an NFL official and the league's director of officiating, noted on Facebook last week that the league's addition of an eighth on-field official without raising its overall budget for officials will depress collective pay, and this after the league froze and then eliminated the officials' pension system that it had established in 1974 and administered since then.
The league counters that it's a recession, and we all have to tighten our belts. But the league has also, in this age of concussions, determined that its referees will now be trained as the first line of defense in the fight to maintain player safety. That means that officials' job descriptions have gotten significantly more complicated and time-consuming, adding concussion awareness training to the estimated 25 to 35 hours of weekly preparation time the typical referee spends between July and January studying rules changes and new, league-directed points of emphasis; maintaining physical fitness to be able to run up and down the field during games; and traveling around the country weekend after weekend.
Others' take on this sorry situation will no doubt be different than mine. NFL officials only do this part time, and many have other, more lucrative jobs (Ed Hochuli, for example, is a successful trial lawyer). On a per-game basis, an NFL official will start at a little less than $4,000 — an impressive amount for three hours of work.
Ed Hochuli
But it's obviously more than three hours of work…and meanwhile, the NFL is nakedly working to build resentment among its largely blue-collar fan base by fomenting the same kind of outrage as it has managed to do in all its dealings with the NFL players' union. (Why don't those millionaire players just shut up and play! I'd do their job for free!) And while it does this, it is hiring replacement workers like Shannon Eastin in the greatest insult to its longtime officials and to fans' collective intelligence, claiming that these relatively inexperienced new officials are just as good as the ones they replaced. That's page one in the league's Labor Relations playbook: That's our offer. If you don't like it, leave.
Since my inclination in those past battles has been to back the millionaires against the billionaires, I'm not about to back the billionaires over this group of 120 officials who under normal conditions the league would be touting as the best in the world, deserving of our admiration if not more of the league's huge piles of cash.
So when Shannon Eastin takes the field Thursday, I'm going to cheer for her for breaking through all barriers and joining the boys' club. Way to go, Shannon! You're an inspiration to me and countless girls and women all over the world! Scab!
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Posted At
9:15 AM
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Monday, August 06, 2012
Blog: Race Should Have Been Stopped Before Lightning Struck
On Sunday, one fan was killed and nine others were injured, one critically, as a result of a lightning strike at Pocono Raceway. The lightning strikes came right after the scheduled 160-lap race was called on account of rain on Lap 98, shortly before 5 p.m. While lighting is considered an “Act of God,” and therefore damages are generally not recoverable from resulting injuries, a facility does have an obligation to warn those attending a race of potential dangers. Officials at Pocono Raceway said that, shortly before the strike, a warning was issued on the public address system that inclement weather was on the way, but no order was given to evacuate the stands. In addition, facility personnel issued warnings on Twitter and Facebook at 4:21 p.m. that severe weather was on the way and, shortly before 5 p.m., that fans should seek shelter because heavy winds and lightning were in the area.
So, the question is, did track operators do enough?
Sending warnings on Twitter and Facebook is clearly not enough: You need to tell every spectator at the race of the immediate danger, not just those with a smartphone. Second, it is clear from press reports that not every spectator heard the warnings over the public address system before the lightning struck.
Based on this evidence, Pocono Raceway and NASCAR, whose duty it is to stop a race with inclement weather in the area, will be hard-pressed to avoid a negligence claim for not giving spectators enough of a warning of the impending weather and determine an evacuation process.
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Posted At
4:27 PM
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Friday, August 03, 2012
Lifeguard Receives Financial Help After Off-Duty Rescue
John Clark's instincts as a newly certified (albeit off-duty) lifeguard kicked in while visiting Rockaway Beach, Ore., last month — and it cost him $2,600.
Upon hearing screams for help from a 12-year-old boy named Robert flailing in the Pacific Ocean, the 17-year-old from Vancouver, Wash., dove into the choppy breakers and helped keep the boy afloat until help arrived. Both were eventually rescued by personal watercraft and transported by ambulance to Tillamook County (Ore.) General Hospital.
The Columbian of Vancouver reported Friday that Clark declined x-rays on his lungs despite swallowing a lot of saltwater, and he said he never signed any paperwork. A few weeks later, the Clark family received a bill from the hospital for almost $2,600 — $450 for the emergency room, $230 for the doctor's fee and more than $1,900 for the ambulance. “I thought getting into the ambulance was standard procedure,” Clark, who at the time was five days removed from receiving his certification for lifeguarding at the Firstenburg Community Center Pool and the Marshall Community Center in Vancouver, told reporter Patty Hastings. “I figured I was just going along for the ride. I was fine by that point.”
Two anonymous donors quickly stepped forward this week after Clark's story on KOIN-TV's website went viral and offered to pay his hospital bill in full. The station reports that Clark also has received "countless offers" to help with the tab from people in states as far away as Arizona, Wisconsin and Florida. "People like that need to be rewarded when they do something like that," Philip Doyle said, calling the station Thursday from Florida. "This was a total, selfless thought. A lot of other people would have walked away, but he did what any sensible person would do in this situation: He guarded someone's life. I am totally moved by this story."
Meanwhile, reports indicate that Robert suffered hypothermia, and Clark's father, Dan, told The Columbian that any additional donations received for John’s medical bills will be donated to the boy's medical expenses.
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Posted At
9:54 AM
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Blog: There's a Simple Explanation for the Madden Curse
Must we? Yes. In the interest of putting this peculiar obsession to bed, preferably with a stake through its heart — there is a Madden Curse. It is the bastard son of the NFL Curse and the Media Curse, and therefore, not a curse at all.
The 13th installment of John Madden's EA Sports videogame features Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, and Madden turned up yesterday to dispel the whole notion of the player appearing on the box being doomed to injury and, probably ignominy. “I was on the cover for several years, and I never once even pulled a hamstring,” Madden quipped to the Detroit Free Press, before noting that football is a violent sport in which players regularly get injured.
That's the NFL Curse in a nutshell. When you look through Time magazine's photo essay, "The Madden Curse: A History," you see an assortment of players tabbed to appear on the video's cover, many of whom did suffer an injury right afterward. Madden's right, of course — you could put pretty much any player on there and the odds would be good that he'd miss some playing time in the next year (or two — Time's explication of the curse shows that many players had stellar seasons after appearing on Madden's cover, only to get injured the year after that). And EA did put "any player" on there. Dorsey Levens? Did anyone think that he was a budding star? Peyton Hills? Seriously?
If you can fault EA, it's that they've put so many running backs (7) on the cover. The average NFL lifespan for an RB is four years. Running backs are always on the verge of a career-ending injury, losing their speed or retiring (Barry Sanders famously retired at the top of his game right after Madden 2000 hit the shelves bearing his likeness in the background behind a portrait of John Madden himself).
The other half of the curse's DNA, the Media Curse, can be summed up in four words: The media is dumb. Famously lazy and months if not years behind the Zeitgeist, by the time they get around to anointing someone, that someone is about to crash and burn. Peyton Hills was the one time EA went out on a limb and chose someone "promising," and while it didn't work out last season, you shouldn't be surprised if Hills now justifies the selection in year two. The funny thing about that selection is that people would have expected Peyton Manning on last year's cover — and look what happened to him.
Sportswriters are an even lazier and slower-on-the-uptake subset of the media, and therefore EA's honchos are screwed if they take their cues from them. One of my favorite summer pastimes is reading the NFL Preview in Sports Illustrated — every year, those guys basically pick all of last year's division champions, even though every year six of the NFL's eight divisions completely turn over. Sports guys write the hype, and yet they fall for their own hype every time. It's really comical, and the reason SI has a famous 'curse' of its own.
Last year's champions and stars mean nothing this year, especially in a league celebrated for its parity. Calvin Johnson could build on last year's insane numbers (1,681 yards, 16 touchdowns), but I wouldn't put any money on it. With his newly signed eight-year, $132 million contract, my expectation would be that his output will drop this season. And he'll get injured. And retire.
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Posted At
9:12 AM
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Translating the Olympic Social Media Buzz
The 2012 Olympic Games have been dubbed the “Social Media Games,” the latest feats and failures never more than a click away. The relevance goes beyond the simple ability for millions of people to react and share in real time. For many, tracking the buzz of the interwebs is just as exciting as tallying the medal winners.
The social media marketing company Wildfire has been analyzing Facebook references to the Games to find out which country’s fans have the most vocal presence. Jamaica’s 650,000 registered Facebook users represent some of the most involved fans, contributing an average of 11.4 likes each to their athletes’ pages, for a total of almost 7.5 million likes. The second- and third-place fans combined don’t come close to matching. Switzerland’s population offers up 4.03 page likes per user, while Russia comes in at 1.44.
When it comes to the athletes, Wildfire found that German gymnast Marcel Nguyen’s performance garnered him not only a silver medal but a 574 percent increase in Facebook fans, and American gymnast Gabrielle Douglas’s page saw a 378 percent increase, motivated largely by a kudos from President Barack Obama.
Not satisfied with simply quantifying the social media stream, three graduate students from MIT spent four months engineering the iconic London Eye to change color to reflect the country’s collective mood, based on Twitter commentary. Tweets referencing the Games are analyzed for emotions such as fear, sadness and amazement, and for an hour each night, a light show depicting the mood of the day can be seen on the wheel.
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Posted At
9:09 AM
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