Category Archives: Sports news

Sports news

When did golf become rowdy?

You hear the term “golf clap” and you think it’s a polite reaction to someone sinking putt to make par on the golf course. The term isn’t always meant as a compliment, but rather as a testament to the lack of emotion surrounding an activity built on good manners, decorum and decent behavior.

Then you have the Ryder Cup, an international event that occurs every other year pitting American pro golfers against golfers from Europe. This past weekend, the European team came to the United States and promptly throttled the Americans. For an American fan of golf — and I’m one of them — it wasn’t pretty. If you hail from across The Pond, it was a thing of beauty.

But what happened on the course is worth mentioning here. There weren’t many golf claps to be heard … not above the vulgar insults hurled at the Europeans by the American fans.

What we saw over the weekend was a shameful display of boorishness beyond belief. It fell to Irish golf star Rory McIlroy to declare he never will play in a tournament again in the United States. Well, I am not sure he’ll stick to that pledge.

However, he did term the fans’ behavior to be “unacceptable.” He said his wife received vile threats. He wasn’t the only European to feel the rancor.

I am left to wonder: When did golf become a sport akin to professional wrestling. You watch a professional bowling tournament these days and you see where the bowlers end up jawing at each other in the manner of a Hulk Hogan or The Rock.

McIlroy made the point that golf is a game built on teaching life lessons, on how to compete in a friendly atmosphere, on facing down obstacles built into the terrain of the course on which you are playing.

The Ryder Cup resumes in 2027 in Ireland. My hope is that the European fans take seriously the message their superstar athlete has delivered … and that they behave like civilized human beings.

Sports news

Covering pro sports requires an MBA

This blog post is a rant, but not the kind of rant that High Plains Blogger readers have come to expect … and some of whom actually like to read from little ol’ me.

This one deals with sports writing and the special expertise that has become evident in the facts that reporters have to possess. They need master’s degrees in business administration to report accurately on the comings and goings of pro athletes, on the decisions made on where they pursue their craft … and the huge amount of money they earn while hitting a baseball, shooting a basketball or tossing a football and tackling those who do.

I must restrict this blog to just men’s sports, because that is where the money issue is spiraling into outer space.

I was reading recently about the Dallas Cowboys’ decision to trade defensive lineman Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. I cannot even begin to recite the terms of the trade, because it soared way over my pointed noggin. I saw terms like “salary cap,” and “franchise tag” and assorted other rhetoric that made the facts of the trade totally foreign to me. I don’t even know the sticking points that made the Cowboys dicker for the trade, other than I presume Parsons wanted more money than the Cowboys were willing to pay.

Whatever …

This is just the latest such story that goes way over my head.

I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s when it was a huge deal to read about a pro baseball athlete earning 100 grand a year. Stan Musial was the first, I think, to crack that barrier. Then came Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron. Who else? I remember when quarterback Joe Namath signed with the AFL’s New York Jets for $400,000. You would’ve thought the planet had just spun off its axis.

It’s all chump change these days when we talk about that bygone era.

As for sports writers who have cover these issues for anyone with an interest in the amount of money that goes to these people, they now must bring financial expertise to be able to boil it all down to the lowest possible level. They used to tell us to write our stories so that a fifth grader can understand it.

Does a child actually understand the wealth that pro athletes command?

Sports news

What about other MLB cheaters?

Now that I have more or less done an about-face regarding the late Pete Rose’s former lifetime ban from baseball, I suppose I should come clean with some of other cheaters who have been kept out of the Hall of Fame.

We ought to look at them on a case-by-case basis.

Barry Bonds likely ought to go in. Dude did hit 762 home runs over his career, but I still consider the late Hank Aaron to be the homer king with 755 because he did without steroids. I remember during the 2022 season when Albert Pujols was seeking to join the 700-home run club and announcers kept reminding us that “only three men have done so, Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth.” I don’t like putting Bonds in the same stratosphere as the Hammer and the Babe.

Same for Roger Clemens, the former Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher. Still not sure what Clemens did that was so egregious.

Alex Rodriguez? Same thing. He hit home runs for the Texas Rangers, the Seattle Mariners and the Yankees. He hit a lot of ’em, in fact. The allegations against him also have seemed a bit murky.

Others, not so sure. Mark McGwire hit 583 homers for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Oakland A’s, but the rest of his career stat line is mediocre. His Bash Brother in Oakland, Jose Canseco, brags about using the drugs. Rafael Palmiero lied to our face about drug use. Sammy Sosa? Keep him out, too.

I guess my old age has softened me just a bit. I’ve listened to the Bonds/Rodriguez/Clemens fans long enough to be persuaded that they ought to be in the Hall of Fame. Their stats would be worthy even had they not cheated a bit to roll up those big numbers.

One final point. I am frankly a bit surprised at the negative reaction to baseball’s decision to lift the ban on Rose and on “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, who got involved in the 1919 Black Sox scandal in which he conspired to throw the World Series.

But … everyone has an opinion.

Sports news

MLB calls my name

This is going to be the season, I am preparing to commit, when I will attend more than a single Major League Baseball game over yonder in Arlington, where the Texas Rangers play hardball.

I attended a Rangers game two seasons ago when they were contending for the American League pennant. They won the pennant and went on to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games.

The most astonishing aspect of the Rangers’ championship run was how they managed to win every road game they played en route to defeating the D’backs.

A friend took me to that game in Arlington. We had a huge blast watching the Rangers rally big late in the game to score a blowout win.

I have lived near MLB franchises before. My wife, sons and I lived in Beaumont, only about 80 miles east along I-10 from Houston, where the Astros once played ball. The ‘Stros had a pretty decent pitcher on their staff … by the name of Nolan Ryan. Did I ever traipse down the road to see the Ryan Express toss heat at the oppositon? Nope … and I regret failing to do so to this day.

Arlington isn’t too terribly far from Princeton. I gotta make the effort to see a ballgame or three while the season is in progress. The Rangers have some work to do if they intend to return to the World Series.

Still, they play in a fabulous venue. The fans are loyal. Moreover, I want to return to cheering for a favorite Major League ballclub. I hope the Texas Rangers can step up.

Sports news

Season over … try again next time

OK, I’ll be candid: My interest in the college football playoff ended with the end of the Oregon-Ohio State game last night.

The Buckeyes brought their “A” game to the Rose Bowl, while the Ducks played like, well, they didn’t belong there. The final score was 41-21, but it easily could have been a wider margin than that.

I realize the season isn’t really over. We football fans have two more sets of games to watch. Since I have lived in Texas for more than 40 years, I have to toss my love at the Texas Longhorns to win the college football title when all is done.

Texas awaits the Buckeyes on the semifinal game next week.

I’ll have to admit that my allegiance to Oregon stems only from the fact that I was born in Oregon, came of age there, wanted at one time to attend college in Eugene and have rooted for the Ducks since I was old enough to know what “rooting” for a team meant.

Events got in the way of my attending school at U of O.

The other element that puzzles me is this “transfer portal” business. Athletes come and go using this method of transferring to various schools. The Ducks appear to be among the masters of attracting blue-chippers to Eugene to play ball. They aren’t necessarily students, having finished their academic requirements already. But they do play good tackle football.

There seems to be little local connection with these individuals. So, why cheer for them just because they fit into a uniform associated with the University of Oregon?

Whatever. The season is over. I moved to Texas at the age of 34. I have lived here most of my life. So, I’ll save my cheering for the Longhorns when they suit up — in the Cotton Bowl, no less — to play the Buckeyes.

Hook ’em, Horns!

Sports news

Talking football with stranger

1 Comment

For those of us who have watched folks from all over the country enjoy college football success, I was struck this morning with an opportunity to talk a little tackle football with a guy I didn’t know from the Man in the Moon.

I was riding an elevator at a Barnes & Noble Booksellers store in Frisco, Texas, when a fellow wearing a bright green shirt with a bright yellow “O” emblazoned on its front walked into the elevator.

I looked for just a second at the guy’s shirt and blurted out “Go, Ducks.” His face lit up like my Christmas tree at home … or likely at his home, too. “Yeah, it’s going to be a great game on Wednesday,” he said. Yep. The “great game” will feature the No. 1- ranked Oregon Ducks against The Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl.

We both chuckled at the notion that the Ducks now belong to the Big Ten football conference, which he and I admitted we had learned to hate growing up in Oregon. He hails from Klamath Falls; I was raised in Portland. “All my friends have moved from K Falls to Portland,” he said, “so I still have a lot of friends in Oregon.”

Why hate the Big Ten? Because the Ducks belonged to the Pac-12 but then gravitated this past year to the Big Ten. The Ducks won the Big Ten championship and will represent that conference as its champs against Ohio State, a perennial Big Ten powerhouse. The Ducks had beaten the Buckeyes earlier this year in Eugene, a 32-31 nailbiter. Our goal every year was to cheer on the Pac-12 in the Rose Bowl, which historically pitted the Pacific Coast conference against the Big Ten champs.

The Pac-12 is now down to the “Pac-2,” with just Oregon State and Washington State remaining in what once was a proud football conference. “It’s better than being in the Pac-2,” he said. Indeed …

We went our ways. I am sure we’ll end up metaphorically in the same place on Wednesday afternoon, in front of our respective TV sets cheering on the University of Oregon against Ohio State.

Go, Ducks!

Sports news

Allen makes it to baseball’s HoF

Wherever he is, a former colleague of mine, the late Kenton Brooks, no doubt is smiling today as the word came out that a former baseball bad boy Dick Allen has been inducted into MLB’s Hall of Fame.

You see, Brooks — with whom I worked while at the Beaumont Enterprise — was an avid, fervent, dedicated fan of Dick Allen. He never could accept that Allen had been snubbed for induction into the Hall of Fame.  Brooks succumbed to the COVID virus a couple of years ago.

Allen came to the Bigs as Richie Allen. He began his big-league career in Philadelphia, where he led the Phillies in many hitting categories. He was known as a powerful slugger who swung a heavier-than-normal bat.

The guy could hit, not just home runs but for an average that routinely topped .300 for a season. He moved around a lot during his years in the Bigs. He played for the LA Dodgers, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Chicago White Sox, the Oakland A’s.

He led the American league in home runs twice, in 1972 and in 1974; he also was named the AL’s most valuable player in 1972.

Allen was a tempestuous fellow, getting into a locker room brawl one year with a teammate. I don’t recall the circumstances, or who started it. My hunch is that Allen finished the fight. He battled with managers, team owners and teammates fairly routinely.

As I look back on his career, I am going to side with my old pal Kenton in applauding the old-timer’s committee for bringing a certifiable force of nature into the Hall of Fame.

Sports news

Game takes on mercenary look

2 Comments

Those of you who follow High Plains Blogger might know already that I oppose paying college students for playing high-dollar sports such as football and basketball.

I mean, these young people already are getting a free college education because the school where they are enrolled provides them with “full-ride scholarships.” I believe those scholarships are payment enough for these students.

I watched the football game Saturday between the Oregon Ducks and the Penn State Nittany Lions and was struck as I watched every snap of the game how much the announcers referred to players who had entered that “transfer portal” to enable them to play another year or two of football. So many of the higher-profile players have no particular allegiance to the school but are playing for them because the school threw enough money at them to lure them onto their campus.

It’s all about the money … you know?

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel enrolled initially at Central Florida, then transferred to Oklahoma, then transferred again to Oregon. Am I the only sports fan who doesn’t feel as though the game has taken on a mercenary quality.

I still love college football. I prefer it over the pros, a game that is played by multi-millionaires with oversized egos to match their oversized wallets.

However, the college game is beginning to look more like the professional version and it’s a trend I find distressing.

Sports news

Welcome back, rivals

Most of us who live in Texas realize that our state has some unusual cultural quirks, many of which revolve around football.

The term “Friday night lights,” for instance, was born in West Texas, in the city of Odessa, where Friday night has become a rite for all Texans to enjoy while cheering on their local high school football teams.

Accordingly, rivalries take on special meaning at the college level. To that end, a longtime college FB rivalry is being renewed this weekend, when Texas A&M University lines up on the same field as the University of Texas in a game to be played in College Station.

Trust me on this: the Kyle Field crowd, aka The 12th Man, will have cleared its collective throat and will be bellowing in ear-piercing fashion cheering on the Aggies as they seek to upset the Longhorns.

Hey, this is a big deal to ex-Longhorns and Aggies. I attend neither school, but I surely know my share of ‘Horns and Aggies. They revere their schools and root hard against the other guys when they suit up to play tackle football.

They used to play this game on Thanksgiving Day. This year, with both schools now competing in the Southeastern Conference — as the Southwest Conference no longer exists and as A&M bolted 13 years ago to the SEC — the game will take place on Thanksgiving weekend.

Hey, it’s all right. The game still will be a big … deal.

Welcome back to the way it used to be.

Sports news

Rarified air in grid polling

Allow me this brief admission, which is that a long-suffering fan of the University of Oregon football program is finding it hard to breathe while the Ducks are perched at the tippy-top of a list of elite programs.

Yes, the Ducks have been good for some time now. They were ranked No. 1 briefly during the 2012 season. Then they ran into the Stanford Cardinal, which knocked the Ducks off their lofty perch.

I didn’t attend the U of O. I attended Portland State University. However, as a red-blooded American patriot who loves college football, I am enjoying the dickens out of watching the Ducks take care of business on the field.

A couple of points need to be made about Oregon’s rise to the top of the heap. One is that the Ducks now compete in the Big Ten, which for us Pacific Coast natives is akin to cheering for the enemy on the battlefield. In the old days, the Pac 12 competed for the right to play in the Rose Bowl, in which the other team was the Big Ten champion.

It’s all a mixed-up jumble now, with the Rose Bowl game tossed into the mix of bowl games designed to determine the national football champion.

The other thing is this “transfer portal” that seems to dominate college athletics. Student-athletes now are able transfer to schools just to compete in football or other top-drawer sports. The Ducks ‘ lineup now features a kid named Dillon Gabriel, who transferred to Oregon from Oklahoma.  Last year, the stud was QB Bo Nix, a transfer from Auburn. This transfer business makes it hard for fans like me to latch onto players who only are there for a season or two. They have zero loyalty to the school.

Marcus Mariota played QB for the Ducks and won the Heisman Trophy as the best college football player in the nation. He entered school as a freshman and stayed until he earned his degree … and then used up his football eligibility.

However, all this is just chatter. The college football know-it-alls think the Ducks are the top college team in the country and have them ranked No. 1. Those of us who remember all those lean years in Eugene will accept this new “elite” status happily … and with pride that the gridiron glory brings to the state of my birth.