Sport: March 2008 Archives
Fernando is such a prima donna, I don't know if that would be a foregone conclusion:
"I'm at Renault because I wanted to get back to winning, like in 2005 and 2006, if not this year then next year," Alonso told Spanish newspaper As. "But I have an option to leave so I can be in the best possible car, and it is clear Ferrari is one of the best."It's hard to see Ferrari buying out Kimi or Massa just to get Alonso.
but it's an odd weekend, because the four English teams in the Champions League face off in two EPL matches tomorrow. Arsenal was the last team to beat Chelsea at home in a league match, so I have a $5 bet with my son on that one. I'm pulling for the Scousers, mainly because denial of three points to MUFC helps Arsenal's cause.
The Beeb is a much better home for any sporting event:
The BBC has secured the television rights to show Formula One in the UK from the 2009 season. The five-year deal for an undisclosed fee marks F1's return to BBC screens 12 years after it switched to ITV. The contract covers all platforms and will see F1 broadcast on the BBC Sport website, as well as on TV and radio.I'm looking forward to much better on-line/streaming coverage from BBC.
On NPR's "Morning Edition" this morning, Frank Deford discusses how American sports champions are becoming younger and younger, citing in particular , who is the US Women's Figure Skating national champion. Nagasu is not at this week's world skating championships because she's too young to compete internationally. The worlds in figure skating require that competitors be at least sixteen. Deford argues that it makes no sense to not allow Nagasu to compete, since she won her national competition. At face value this makes sense, but he hits the nail on the head for figure skating in particular further on in the commentary:
This is well and truly the bottom line, that pre-adolescents don't make for exciting athletic competition. Under-14 futbol is fun for the kids and the parents, but it's not something I'm going to get up and go to the park to see on a Saturday morning, and it's not going to be on the boobtoob. The problem we have here is a conflict between the leaders of the various sporting federations, who want to maximize the exposure and profitability of their sports, and the parents of young athletes, who want them to do their thing, win high-level competitions, then cash in and get on with their lives. In sports like women's figure skating and gymnastics, the pre-adolescents have a decided advantage over older teens and young adults. Mirai Nagasu is a classic example of this. She's 4'11" tall, and weights 78 pounds. She can do the triple jumps and such that make her a world-class skater because she has so little body mass to move around.
This philosophy is almost the direct opposite of our thinking in male athletics. We would never dream of assembling a team of 14-year old boys to play in La Copa Mundial or in Olympic basketball. Women's sports gives the advantage to the littles, though. A 16- or 17-year old post-pubescent girl is putting on weight and developing curves. She's no longer the toothpick that she was at 12-14. If she is, it means she's deliberately maintaining a practice schedule that is delaying puberty. The belief is that these girls can grow breasts and hips after they win gold medals and get on the Wheaties box. If a girl like Nagasu can't compete internationally until 16, that means she's got to keep up the pace she's on now for 2 more years. Private coaches, tutors, travel to competitions, etc., aren't cheap, and this is all coming out of her parents' pockets now. The payoff will hopefully come but no doubt they'd rather it sooner than later.
But it's just not all that enjoyable to watch these little girls. One of the only saving graces of taking your kid to a "Disney on Ice" show is the grace and good looks of the female skaters. They're adults, and they look like the Disney Princesses they are portraying on the ice. While the young skaters at least wear outfits that are at least a bit girly-looking, the gymnasts are the really scary ones. Some of these girls look like they should be in a "Save The Children" ad. I don't care what they can do on the balance beam, or how many flips and twists they can do in the floor exercise, they look like little boys. If you want to see gymnastics as it should be, watch the SEC women's gymnastics tournament one year. You'll see grace, skill, talent, and curves. The young women in a collegiate competition are dance students. They're musicians. They've been around a bit longer on this planet and put their life experiences into their competitive routines.
That's what we went to see at "Disney on Ice." Nobody wants to see a toothpick on "American Idol" or "Dancing with the Stars." We want to see adults. Women don't want to look at 13-year old boys in tight shorts on a futbol pitch, they want to look at Christiano Ronaldo's ass. You have to put adults front and center if you want a good product on the television screen or in the arena.
Pushing little girls to be world-class athletes is greedy and wrong-headed.
Deford's thoughts on high school athletics are interesting as well, and I'll respond to them in another post.
Not everybody is happy with this development. In particular, women's figure skating, which was once the most popular female sport on TV, has plummeted in the ratings as the tiny teens have taken over the sport, jumping about the ice but unable to display the grown-up grace and elegance once displayed by Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill and Kristi Yamaguchi.Shorter Frank Deford: watching pre-teens in tiny outfits makes us feel like pedophiles, so we turn the TV off.
This is well and truly the bottom line, that pre-adolescents don't make for exciting athletic competition. Under-14 futbol is fun for the kids and the parents, but it's not something I'm going to get up and go to the park to see on a Saturday morning, and it's not going to be on the boobtoob. The problem we have here is a conflict between the leaders of the various sporting federations, who want to maximize the exposure and profitability of their sports, and the parents of young athletes, who want them to do their thing, win high-level competitions, then cash in and get on with their lives. In sports like women's figure skating and gymnastics, the pre-adolescents have a decided advantage over older teens and young adults. Mirai Nagasu is a classic example of this. She's 4'11" tall, and weights 78 pounds. She can do the triple jumps and such that make her a world-class skater because she has so little body mass to move around.
This philosophy is almost the direct opposite of our thinking in male athletics. We would never dream of assembling a team of 14-year old boys to play in La Copa Mundial or in Olympic basketball. Women's sports gives the advantage to the littles, though. A 16- or 17-year old post-pubescent girl is putting on weight and developing curves. She's no longer the toothpick that she was at 12-14. If she is, it means she's deliberately maintaining a practice schedule that is delaying puberty. The belief is that these girls can grow breasts and hips after they win gold medals and get on the Wheaties box. If a girl like Nagasu can't compete internationally until 16, that means she's got to keep up the pace she's on now for 2 more years. Private coaches, tutors, travel to competitions, etc., aren't cheap, and this is all coming out of her parents' pockets now. The payoff will hopefully come but no doubt they'd rather it sooner than later.
But it's just not all that enjoyable to watch these little girls. One of the only saving graces of taking your kid to a "Disney on Ice" show is the grace and good looks of the female skaters. They're adults, and they look like the Disney Princesses they are portraying on the ice. While the young skaters at least wear outfits that are at least a bit girly-looking, the gymnasts are the really scary ones. Some of these girls look like they should be in a "Save The Children" ad. I don't care what they can do on the balance beam, or how many flips and twists they can do in the floor exercise, they look like little boys. If you want to see gymnastics as it should be, watch the SEC women's gymnastics tournament one year. You'll see grace, skill, talent, and curves. The young women in a collegiate competition are dance students. They're musicians. They've been around a bit longer on this planet and put their life experiences into their competitive routines.
That's what we went to see at "Disney on Ice." Nobody wants to see a toothpick on "American Idol" or "Dancing with the Stars." We want to see adults. Women don't want to look at 13-year old boys in tight shorts on a futbol pitch, they want to look at Christiano Ronaldo's ass. You have to put adults front and center if you want a good product on the television screen or in the arena.
Pushing little girls to be world-class athletes is greedy and wrong-headed.
Deford's thoughts on high school athletics are interesting as well, and I'll respond to them in another post.
This definitely merits a full-scale examination:
The lack of offers to Barry Bonds will be examined by the baseball players' association as part of its annual review of the free-agent market. Less than two weeks before opening day, the 43-year-old home run king remains unsigned.They should hire me to do this review. I'd print out the rest of this article and submit it along with my invoice:
Bonds was indicted in November on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice, charges stemming from 2003 grand jury testimony in which he denied knowingly using illegal performance-enhancing drugs. The seven-time NL MVP pleaded not guilty.I'd feel justified in submitting the bill based on just this, because, you know, there just might be a tiny connection between a criminal indictment and the lack of interest among teams.
We have this problem whenever there is a big sporting event on the other side of the world. The Olympics this year will be a complete pain in the rear for NBC once again, just like Seoul and Sydney. But the teevee audience on this side of the world shouldn't be the main consideration. If we are going to be a world community, we have to include Asia and Australia.
Of course, events like La Copa Mundial or the Olympics can call their own shots and tell the teevee people to make it work. Sports with smaller audiences don't have that kind of clout, and F1 is the latest to put squeeze on:
Of course, with motorsport, there's more involved than just staging an event in the middle of the night to accommodate the European viewers. There are legitimate issues with holding a race at night. Daylight means a much safer environment for drivers, crews, and spectators.
Hopefully the safety issue will bring Ecclestone to his senses.
Of course, events like La Copa Mundial or the Olympics can call their own shots and tell the teevee people to make it work. Sports with smaller audiences don't have that kind of clout, and F1 is the latest to put squeeze on:
State officials have ruled out staging a night Grand Prix in Australia, despite Bernie Ecclestone saying the future of the race may depend on it.
Formula One boss Ecclestone wants a race under lights to satisfy European television viewers
Of course, with motorsport, there's more involved than just staging an event in the middle of the night to accommodate the European viewers. There are legitimate issues with holding a race at night. Daylight means a much safer environment for drivers, crews, and spectators.
Hopefully the safety issue will bring Ecclestone to his senses.
Yes, gentle readers, even though all four English clubs are still alive in the Champions League, those are the pairings for the FA Cup Semifinals.
I was just thinking to myself that this referee's positioning is dangerously close to the action, which is good and bad. Good because these bandits can't get anything past him, bad because players of this calibre can run right over him. Not a minute goes by that the guy books Alexander Hleb of the Gunners for taking a dive, when clearly he was tripped.
That should have been a decision between a free kick at the 18 or a PK, not a card for the attacker. Bad call.
That should have been a decision between a free kick at the 18 or a PK, not a card for the attacker. Bad call.
