Welcome Back NBA: A Look at the Upcoming 2007-08 Season

The NBA is back, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Baseball season is over, and the build and hype concerning this season culminated at the perfect time just as preseason basketball was ending. There are so many stories concerning this year’s NBA season. The San Antonio Spurs are looking to repeat as Champions, something that their franchise has never been able to do. Since 2002, they have won the championship every other year, just never two seasons in a row. Kevin Durant is looking to live up to his hype as “the guy who should have been picked number one but wasn’t.” The Boston Celtics made some blockbuster moves in the offseason, and now have a new “Big 3” in Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett. And then there’s Kobe Bryant. Kobe, once again, has decided that he wants to be traded. It seemed for a little while that he would be going to the Chicago Bulls, but he promptly vetoed that trade. The talk of a Kobe Bryant for the world trade seemed to be the hot topic of many NBA fans, so I decided to explore the blogosphere and see what other bloggers were saying. Posted below are two links to blogs that I commented on concerning Kobe Bryant and his possible trade to who-knows-where.

Comment on: "The time has come" by Jackie Christie

I’m as excited for this basketball season as you seem to be, and am excited to watch Kobe Bryant work his magic on the court, but in all honesty, can you really call him a “team leader” as you do in your blog entry. Sure, he leads the team in almost every scoring category and has the ability to put the team on his back and carry them to victory, but in the end, you could also call him a ball hog. I live in Los Angeles, and watching him play on a regular basis, it seems as if he’s playing only for himself and not for the good of the team. He wants to improve his own stats, almost because he feels that winning with the current roster of the Lakers isn’t an option. Clearly he is wrong in this assertion. Kobe has been asking to be traded from the Lakers for over a year now, and it seemed as though he was going to get his wish with the Chicago Bulls deal, but at the last minute, he vetoed it himself claiming that he didn’t like the way the deal panned out for him in Chicago. Granted, he would’ve been a one-man team over there as well, but it seems as if he has talent around him this year with the Lakers, but he is just too selfish to see that. Kobe just doesn’t seem like a team player to me as a fan of the game – he seems more of a “what can I do for myself” kind of player, and while he is one of the best in the game right now, it is hard to say whether or not that is the type of attitude you want on your team.

I agree with you that this will definitely be an interesting season for the NBA. The Spurs look amazing, but so do many others. The Celtics are 2-0, but the big question is whether or not the new “Big 3” will be able to carry them all the way to championship glory. And Kevin Durant out in Seattle looks amazing. He could be a huge star on a team that seems to lack the luster that they once had, possibly due to all the talks and deals going on surrounding the team moving to Oklahoma City. I enjoyed your post, but in the end, I just don’t know if I’d put Kobe Bryant in that “team leader” category. He seems to care too much about himself and not as much about the team in order to really fit that mold right now.

Comment on: "Kobe’s bad read on Lakers" by Laker fan32

I really enjoyed your post and could not agree more with you it looks as if Kobe Bryant is starting to make up excuses just to try and get out of Los Angeles. He has a very good, talented young team around him. Luke Walton and Jordan Farmar don’t look like the star-struck new guys that they have in the past, but instead like they can become decent scorers on a team that has lacked depth in the past. And the big guys for the Lakers will show up too. Ronny Turiaf and Andrew Bynum will come into their own with more experienced perimeter players, and will have an easier time working their way into scoring positions down low. As you mentioned, even without Lamar Odom against Phoenix the Lakers were able to move the ball around really well and get it to their scorer(s).

I feel like Kobe Bryant isn’t playing for the Lakers anymore, but instead he is on Team Kobe. He only seems to care about himself and how many stats he can rack up. Kobe is not a team player- end of story. Hopefully in the very near future he will realize that the team behind him can actually contend, and with a few good front office moves, they can become an even bigger contender. And what you said about the front office is absolutely correct. They have done such a good job with that team in the past; Kobe really has nothing to complain about. The pickup of Derek Fisher was a great move not only for the team, but for the city of Los Angeles in general. Who else other than their last second scoring hero could you ask for to add the final ingredient to the semi-new look Lakers? Overall, I really enjoyed your post and sincerely hope that Kobe Bryant realizes that the Lakers are a legitimate contender this season.

The 2007 Boston Red Sox: The Product of a Good Front Office

There seemed to be little hope that the Boston Red Sox would make it to the World Series. Down three games to one to the Cleveland Indians, they were one game away from an offseason full of fishing trips and relaxation. But instead of accepting this idea and rolling over in Game 5, the Red Sox went on to win seven straight games including the World Series. Josh Beckett pitched that decisive Game 5, and while watching, it almost became clear that the Red Sox would come back from this hole and go on to win the World Series. Beckett was unhittable, going eight innings and giving up only five hits while striking out eleven. His performance completely turned around not just that series, but also the entire post season for the Red Sox. They became a powerhouse. Beckett took that team on his back and delivered an overpowering performance. If Beckett hadn’t been pitching that game, would the Red Sox have surmounted this incredible comeback and gone on to win the World Series for the second time in four years? I guess we will never know, but having a gplayer like that on your team is something that a lot of GMs wish they could have. It’s guys like Theo Epstein who get guys like Beckett, and many others for that matter, that make such a difference on such a big stage.

There are so many guys who you can attribute this World Series victory to. There’s not just one guy that came out and dominated. Josh Beckett won every game he started in the post season, but he didn’t do everything. Mike Lowell seemed to have an RBI in every at bat. Jacoby Ellsbury hit so many doubles it was hard to keep count. Dustin Pedroia looked like a World Series veteran in his first post season ever. David Ortiz was… well… David Ortiz. And Manny was Manny. This entire group went out and did their job to perfection. But it’s not just coincidence that brought these guys together. Theo Epstein, General Manager of the Boston Red Sox, did a lot of things right in the past few years in order to assemble a team that would work as well as the Red Sox do. While the Yankees were going after Carl Pavano, who they eventually got, the Red Sox got Beckett AND Mike Lowell. Since signing with the Yankees, Pavano has posted a record of 5-6 over the past 3 years. He didn’t even pitch in 2006. Currently he is on the disabled list waiting to get Tommy John surgery (an operation on the elbow of a pitcher, possibly ending their career). Meanwhile, Josh Beckett has gone 36-18, and had 4 post season wins this year. Mike Lowell was apart of the Josh Beckett trade with the Florida Marlins in 2006, as the Marlins refused to pay the remainder of his contract. I’d say everything has worked out well for the Red Sox, as Lowell earned himself the World Series MVP this year hitting .353 with 15 RBIs.

Then there are the stories of David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Dustin Pedroia. Ortiz was released by the Minnesota Twins on December 16, 2002, and was subsequently picked up by the Red Sox as a free agent in January. Since joining the Red Sox in 2003, Ortiz has hit 205 HRs, had 642 RBIs, and batted .302, a staggering amount of offense for a man who was simply dropped by a team. Jacoby Ellsbury was drafted by the Red Sox in the first round of the 2005 draft with a pick that the Sox traded for Orlando Cabrera. In the World Series this year, he hit .438. Dustin Pedroia was drafted out of Arizona State University by the Red Sox in the 2005 draft as well, and it seems that he has worked out well for the team too. In the ALCS hit he .345 with 5 RBIs all coming in the decisive Game 7 against the Cleveland Indians. All of these guys have played an important role in bringing yet another World Series Championship home to Boston. It hasn’t been just “a one man wrecking machine” as Guster would say, but rather a group of hard-working men who got together to achieve a common goal. And it was Epstein who brought these men together.

It seems as if the popular thing to do in sports these days is to bring in the one gigantic All-Star to solve all of your problems. Example: The Chicago Cubs and Alfonso Soriano. Soriano helped the team offensively, but once they got into the post season, all of the holes in their lineup and their lack of depth in the pitching rotation were exposed, leading to their departure after the NLDS. Teams around the league need to realize that it takes more than just one player to fix a problem. It takes time, money, and the will to study the game in order to find the guys you’ve been looking for. The 2007 Red Sox were able to do this and came away with a championship. And from what I’ve seen, they’re here to stay.

Dear Major League Baseball: Let Mark Cuban Buy the Chicago Cubs

If there’s one thing that needs to happen for baseball at this point, it’s letting Mark Cuban (at right), the current owner of the NBA franchise Dallas Mavericks, buy the Chicago Cubs. Mark Cuban purchased the Dallas Mavericks in 2000, and up to that year, the Mavericks had never made it out of the first round of the playoffs, assuming that they even made it there with their abysmal regular season records. However, once Cuban took over, the Mavericks have made it to the playoffs every year, and advanced to the NBA Finals in 2006. He has put enough money in the team over the course of the past couple of years to allow this to happen, something that needs to be done with the Cubs.

The Chicago Cubs are the lovable losers of the National League. They haven’t won a World Series since 1908. They’re like the pre-2004 Boston Red Sox. Except now, they still don’t have a World Series ring. One thing that can be said about the Cubs though, is that they have extremely loyal fans. Tickets to games routinely sell out, even when the team is playing poorly. Fans that aren’t attending games pack bars and clubs throughout the North side of Chicago just to watch the game and cheer on their team. If there’s any team, or fan base alike, that deserves to win a World Series, it’s the Chicago Cubs.

In 2006, the Chicago Tribune announced that they were going to sell the Chicago Cubs. This was big news in the baseball world. Immediately, speculation as to who was going to buy the team became the hot topic of the sports business world. A franchise like the Cubs has a price tag of nearly $700 million to $1 billion, so there were obviously only a few candidates. So far, there are two options: Mark Cuban, and John Canning Jr., a partner in a high-powered law firm based in Chicago. Canning Jr. is a personal friend of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. It seems as if a lot of factors are weighing in against Mark Cuban ever owning the Chicago Cubs. In the end however, Cuban owning the Cubs could be one of the best things to happen for baseball in recent years.

Cuban has said that if he were to purchase the Cubs, whose final sale will be in the Spring of 2008, he would opt out of sitting in lower box seats, the usual area where owners and front office executives sit, and instead take up residence in the bleachers. The Wrigley Field bleachers are notorious for having some of the craziest fans in baseball. They drink beer. They yell at opposing players. They scream and high five whenever anything good happens for their “Cubbies.” It’s like sitting in the student section of a college football game, except all the people sitting around you can be found in a business suite during the day. To have Mark Cuban sitting out there would be something to behold. Saying that he would sit out there is evidence that Cuban is a fan of the game. Sure, he could sit in this posh luxury box and entertain guests, but instead he wants to be out with the die-hard fans, screaming at players, and getting the full Wrigley experience at every game. This would be an awesome sight to watch. Now I don’t know about you, but I just can’t see Canning Jr., a partner in a prestigious equity firm, sitting out with the Bleacher Bums yelling at the other team’s right fielder with his shirt off and the fans taking him seriously.


The only knock on Cuban from current owners is that he is TOO passionate about his teams, and that he comes off in a bad light when seen screaming at officials at Mavericks games and getting in on team huddles during the game. Cuban has been fined at least $1,665,000 for a total of 13 separate incidents. He has criticized officials. He has thrown tirades when his team has lost. He has criticized players. He has done almost everything a regular fan does, but since he’s in the spotlight, he gets fined for it. He’s the bad boy of the NBA owners. He’ll do anything that will help his team win. He’s a self-made man, and has said, “I happen to make the personal choice to reinvest 100 percent of [all revenues] into players and organization,” something the Cubs could truly use.

It looks as if the odds are against him. It looks as if he stands less chance of owning the Cubs than David Spade does of ever being taken seriously as an actor. And this is a sad fact. The Cubs could really use an owner like Mark Cuban. He’d put absurd amounts of money into the team. He’d make them perennial contenders. They might even win a World Series (knock on wood). But instead MLB looks as if they’re too antiquated to let him buy the team. They’ll end up being sold to Canning Jr., who in turn will sit in his posh, luxury box seat, entertain guests, and not know the score of the game by the 5th inning. Well done, Major League Baseball. The opportunity to really bring in a new era of ownership and new ideas is right in front of you and you’re just letting it pass you by.

Pressure in the Bronx: The Unraveling of the New York Yankees

With the Major League Baseball off-season fast approaching, it’s hard to think that the New York Yankees aren't going to have a completely different look come next season. The front office, mainly George Steinbrenner (at right), is ready to make drastic moves to completely revamp the team. The most influential moves being getting rid of long time manager Joe Torre, who in his 12 seasons with the Yankees has made it to six World Series and won four of them. He has made it to the playoffs every single year he has managed the Yankees, but still, the front office is calling for him to be fired. And if Joe Torre leaves, what other Yankees may leave along with him?

Before Game 3 of the ALDS this past week, George Steinbrenner issued an ultimatum to Joe Torre (pictured at left) – win this series or you’re fired. What kind of front office does that? Already down two games in a best of five series, the Yankees had their backs against a wall. And on top of that, the starting pitcher of the night was an aging Roger Clemens, who lasted all of two innings. The next day, Clemens was placed on the disabled list for the rest of the series. Now Joe Torre had a lot of talent on his team, no one is going to argue with that, but he also had a lot of aging and one-sided talent. The starting rotation was old, with no clear-cut ace. The lineup was filled with a lot of big bats, but a lot of the guys who swung a big stick were a liability on defense. While George Steinbrenner did indeed pay for the best hitting team in baseball, $215 million dollars a season to be exact, he left his manager with gaping holes to fill and make up for.

This post-season could see the departure of such Yankees as Jorge Posada, Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Mariano Rivera, Jason Giambi, and Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez and Mussina have the ability to opt out of their contracts, but that decision could be based highly on the firing of Joe Torre. Replacing all of that talent would be extraordinarily difficult. Alex Rodriguez is possibly the best player in the game. Mariano Rivera is one of the most dominant closers in the game. Mike Mussina and Roger Clemens, while still old, have the ability to anchor a team’s starting rotation if healthy. Replacing these players will not be easy, and as a result of this, we could very well be seeing the end of the Yankee dynasty.

George Steinbrenner accepts nothing less than winning from his team. However, the near future may become highly frustrating for him as he tries to rebuild this beat down Yankees squad with only his checkbook. With the possibility of so many stars leaving the team, it could be a while before the Yankees are seen as a perennial powerhouse. And this fact is going to be hard to accept for a lot of New York fans, which have become so accustomed to winning over the years. But who is to blame for this complete overhaul that is just waiting in the wings? No, it’s not that man that is going to lose his job here in the next week or so, it’s the man who will be firing him. George Steinbrenner’s demand for success and need to stop at nothing to win has caused this turmoil in the Bronx, and getting this team out of this hole may take a small miracle.

Brett Favre: All-Time Touchdown Leader Deserves Never-Ending Respect

This past weekend, Brett Favre (at right) of the Green Bay Packers broke the all-time touchdown record previously held by Dan Marino. This record has stood for a long time, and few thought that it would be possible to break, but here stands Brett Favre, an old-fashioned gun-slinging quarterback who’s never been afraid to hurl the ball downfield. Brett Favre is the NFL’s all time winningest quarterback, and holds the record for most number of consecutive games started by any player at 241. Favre is a man to look up to for sports fans of all ages, and in a time of Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, and Mike Vick, Brett Favre breaking the record is something that this sport needed dearly.

Brett Favre is old school. He started playing in 1991 with the Atlanta Falcons, was traded to the Green Bay Packers the next season, and hasn’t looked back since. He has led his team to two Super Bowls in that span, winning one and losing one. He celebrates every touchdown as if he just won the Super Bowl. He’s not afraid to take a hit. And winning a game is more important to him than any record. Why is this important? Because the media is obsessed with records. The coverage surrounding Barry Bonds home run chase to break Hank Aaron was ridiculous. Every game switched over to Bonds’ at bat just to see if he would break the record. Favre on the other hand, downplayed his achievement, claiming that he was happier that his team was winning than he was that he was about to break the all time touchdown record. His team, and I do mean HIS team, is now 4-0 after going a mediocre 8-8 last season. This offseason, there was speculation that Brett Favre might hang up his cleats and retire. He’d thrown a lot of interceptions, his team was young and inexperienced, and it looked like there was no chance of the team having a real significant season. Despite all this, Favre stayed around and decided to play. And look at all the amazing things that have happened.

Brett Favre is headed to the Hall of Fame, there should be no doubt in anybody’s mind about that. He has set amazing records in his time in the NFL, and has been a role model for fans of the game throughout his career. When he broke the record on Sunday, however, Favre still paid homage to the great quarterbacks of our time, stating “I would never put myself up there with Dan Marino. He’s one of the greatest of all time.” I don’t know anybody who has this kind of humility in sports anymore. Just the other week we saw Chad Johnson sport a jacket in the endzone after he scored claiming “ Future [Hall of Fame] 20??.” That is the opposite of humility and respect for the game. The most Brett Favre has ever done to celebrate one of his 422 career touchdowns in run down the field with his arms over his head and celebrate with the receiver (seen at right), or just pat the linemen on the helmet, praising them for a job well done. This is something rarely seen in sports and Brett Favre should be acknowledged for his never-ending respect of the game.

In a time of so many sports scandals going on, Brett Favre breaking this record with pride and humility couldn’t have come at a better time. He is a well-respected player; both by the fans and players alike. He has never asked to be put in the limelight, but rather lets his play do the talking for him. He is a stand up guy, and hard worker, and a man that deserves unending respect. In the words of one of the greatest coaches of all time, former head coach of the Green Bay Packers Vince Lombardi (pictured at left), “hard work is the price we must pay for success.” Brett Favre has showed us this truth through his illustrious career. This record could not have come at a better time for a sport that truly needed it. And for that, Brett Favre, the sports world as a whole gives you thanks.

City of Seattle sues its own team: Something is wrong

Today, the city of Seattle filed a lawsuit against the current owner of the Seattle SuperSonics, Clay Bennett (at right). The lawsuit claimed that Bennett must agree to keep the team in Seattle until 2010 like it stated in the contract that he signed when he bought the team, instead of moving them to Oklahoma City like Bennett has implied post-purchase. Bennett issued an ultimatum stating that if the city did not vote to build a new arena for the team by this fall, he would opt out of the contract, pay the remainder of the money due to the city from the team, and move to Oklahoma City where his company is based. Doing so will most likely significantly decrease fan support in the team until they leave, thereby losing even more money for the city of Seattle. After all, who do they really have to cheer for if they know that the team will be gone before they know it?

Now I can see how this would anger the fans in Seattle, so I set it upon myself to explore the blogosphere and see what other bloggers were saying about these recent events. I found two bloggers, one a group of lawyers, and another a talk radio host, who had opinions on these events. I posted my reactions to their comments on their blogs, which are both displayed below.

Seattle suit has a familiar ring
The moment I saw that Seattle had filed this lawsuit against Clay Bennett and the Seattle SuperSonics, the first thing I thought of was that lawsuit that you referenced with the Minnesota Twins. The Twins wound up staying in the Twin Cities, but I don’t feel that this is going to be the case with the SuperSonics. There’s now going to be perennial bad blood between the ownership and the fan base, most likely resulting in a significant drop in attendance.

Will the new presence of second overall pick Kevin Durant (at left) make a difference? I don’t think so. The city of Seattle feels that it have been misled by the new owners. I don’t think that the new group ever felt that they were going to stay in Seattle, and had always planned on going to Oklahoma City as soon as possible. To do this, they set an impossible date for the city to match in order to agree to a lucrative new arena deal. The city has spent exorbitant amounts of money in the past years building two new stadiums – Safeco Field and Qwest Field – for the Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawks respectively.

Like in the case of the Twins, “the Twins got the state to pony up for a new stadium, so the team is now here for the long haul.” There’s no way that this will be the case for the Sonics. In the end, I think Bassett’s group will opt out of their contract as soon as possible because the city of Seattle isn’t ready to pony up even more dough for another professional sports team – especially a losing team like the Sonics. Give it one more year and the Seattle SuperSonics will be the Oklahoma City “insert generic professional sports team name here.” And after that, there’s no chance that a team will move into Seattle. With the lawsuits filed today, within a year, professional basketball in Seattle will be done.


It’s about to get real ugly in Seattle – City sues Sonics
I couldn’t agree more with you that “Bennett has been lying since day one.” He never intended for the team to stay in Seattle, but instead had his own best interests in mind and wanted to move to Oklahoma City as soon as possible. Thus he set an arbitrary, unobtainable date for the city to come up with enough cash to erect a new arena. He knew that Seattle had just paid for Safeco Field and Qwest Field, two very expensive, state-of-the-art stadiums for two amazing and well-loved Seattle franchises. The Sonics, on the other hand, have had atrocious years recently. Why would the city of Seattle want to pay for a new arena for a team that has made the playoffs only 3 times in the past 10 years? Especially when they already have a very nice facility in the Key Arena, pictured on the right.

How do you think this will affect the team in the long run? I can almost guarantee that attendance will go down, but will the team even try anymore. Will they be the laughing stock of the Western Conference? Granted they now have one of the more electrifying players to come into the league since Lebron James, but can that really make that big of a difference to a team with absolutely no leadership? This team is a train wreck waiting to happen.

You pose the question as to whether or not the city of Seattle will ever be able to lure another professional NBA franchise to the city or not. I don’t think they will. The city feels betrayed by Bennett’s group and the team in general. I can’t see a lot of support from the city when another franchise comes calling and their only demand is that “the city brings together enough money to build a new arena.” That definitely is not going to happen. Good luck getting another franchise, Seattle, this one is over.

CameraGate, Donaghy, A-Rod, and Bonds: Does Anyone Respect the Game Anymore?

Every Sunday the New England Patriots gear up and get ready to annihilate whatever NFL team is in their path led by their fearless leader, Bill Belichick, head coach of the New England Patriots (pictured at right). Belichick was under fire in Week One of the NFL season due to the uncovering of “CameraGate.” In the opening week of the 2007 NFL season, the Patriots were caught using video cameras on the sidelines to record the defensive signals of the New York Jets. The Patriots routed the Jets 38-14, leaving no doubt as to who the better team was, but with everything that has happened recently, it leaves us wondering one thing: Where have the ethics gone in sports?

There is nothing more than I would like to see than for this whole “CameraGate” thing to blow over. In all honesty, it is not that big of a deal. The Patriots are a good club. They were going to win the game anyways. Bill Belichick must have had a good reason to do what he did. There’s absolutely no evidence saying that he did such things while winning the three Super Bowls in four years. Bill Simmons, columnist for ESPN.com writes “I always thought Belichick cared too much about his legacy to risk tainting it like this.” This statement holds so many truths to it. For instance, Belichick is probably the best coach in the NFL these days. He had no reason to be taping the Jets, and the reason he was doing it was probably petty and insignificant, but yet, the media plays it like it is a huge deal. The media loves to blow things like this out of proportion and instill doubt in the fans, and at a point like this in all of sports, that is the exact opposite of what is needed. The Patriots are the only undefeated team in the nation at 12-0. The Jets are currently 3-9. There is no doubt that the Patriots would have won that game. But was it necessary for them to tape defensive signals? It is instances like this that could possibly taint a great season. While there will be very few things said about this “CameraGate” occurrence if the Patriots can go undefeated and go on to win the Super Bowl, it just seems as if there is a small lack of respect there.

So much has happened in the past couple of months regarding morals and ethics in sports, fans have begun to wonder where the ethics have gone. Which also makes you wonder: Do fans respect the game more than the players do these days? For example, perennial MVP Alex Rodriguez (at left) of the New York Yankees was reprimanded by the third baseman of the Toronto Blue Jays about two month ago when it was obvious that Rodriguea called the third baseman off of a fly ball as he rounded third base, thus causing the third basemen to miss the fly ball, Rodriguez to score, and the Yankees to win the game. Rodriguez claimed that this had happened to him in the past, and was nothing out of the ordinary. However, this does not necessarily make what he did right. And not surprising at all, the next time the two teams met, Rodriguez was promptly hit in the square of his back with the first pitch he saw. Was it warranted? Maybe. Should he have done what he did? Probably not. But regardless, actions like this make the fans wonder what the motivation of the players is these days. Is it to win for the sake of the team, or is it to win by any means possible, leaving morals in the dust?

Another example of this moral dilemma in baseball is the use of steroids. And the first name that comes to mind when you think of steroids in baseball is none other than home run king Barry Bonds. Maybe we’ll never know if he actually used steroids at any point in his career. It is the fact that there is even a remote possibility that he did that makes this tarnish so unbearable. Barry Bonds has adamantly denied any use of or knowledge of use of steroids, and as a fan of the game, I want to believe him. But with so much doubt being spread from the media and the league itself, it is hard to do so. Major League Baseball needs to get their policy straight, not leaving an ambiguous line. Doing so would let the fan base trust in their players again, and not have to sit back and wonder what type of actions they’re condoning by supporting their favorite teams.

Moral and ethical lapses haven’t only been seen in Major League Baseball recently, but also in such places as the National Basketball Association. Tim Donaghy, a professional NBA referee was found to be fixing games on the orders of different sports gambling bookies, allowing him a share of the money made from profits. Tim Donaghy couldn’t have done anything worse for the NBA if he had tried. Fans now are always going to wonder what classic games were fixed just so some low-life bookie could make an extra buck. Tell you what, if there’s one job that I would not want to have right now, it is the job of David Stern, Commissioner of the NBA (pictured at right). The NBA is going to struggle to keep its fan base with the allegations that have come out with referees betting on the games that they are officiating. Soon boos and cries of “Is that Donaghy out on the court” will ring throughout arenas across the United States. Stern must do something drastic in order to ensure that not all trust in the officiating in the league has gone to naught. I honestly feel bad for Stern, and hope that he can reconcile this by the beginning of the season, because American sports really doesn’t need another reason not to trust its athletes.

Sports in the U.S. needs to do all it can to regain the trust and idolization of its fans because in the recent past, those two characteristics have definitely been lacking. Whether it is playing the game fair, admitting that you have done wrong, or just going out and playing the game it was mean to be played, sports in general need to do a better job at reconnecting with their fans. Because once they lose their fans due to greed and lies, who else do they have to play for…