No Hope!

Stephen Wade, Sports writer for the Associated Press, reported in an article that “U.S. coach Greg Ryan tossed goalkeeper Hope Solo off the team” (http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-wwcup-usgoalieflap&prov=ap&type=lgns ). Oddly enough, later in that same article is the statement “Solo hadn't allowed a goal for almost 300 minutes when she was benched.” The removal of Solo from the USA women’s soccer team followed a 4-0 loss to Brazil in which she did not even participate in. She was replaced by the more experienced Brianna Scurry who had success against Brazil a few years back. After the game, Solo said during her press conference that Coach Ryan made “the wrong decision”. This statement is what had her removed. Now, maybe I could understand some type of punishment if Solo was simply criticizing the coach’s decision to bench her, but I still don’t think that she should have been removed from the team. However; in my opinion things change completely when the player making the complaint has such a strong argument. What gives the coach the right to punish a player so harshly for stating her opinion and basically just saying that she would have given the team a better chance to win….especially when the coach has no matter that helps him argue against her point? Solo later included that fact that she was not trying to talk down the performance of her former teammate, only the decision to start her; particularly after Solo had been performing so well in recent games. I feel that, not only Coach Ryan but all coaches are out of line when they punish a player for criticizing the coach’s decision, especially when it seems that the players have a valid point.

Get Well Soon

We have all heard about the horrific injury suffered by Buffalo Bills’ tight end Kevin Everett, and if you haven’t, here the situation. While playing on the kickoff coverage team during the Bills’ season opener, Everett was involved in a major collision in which he suffered a major spinal injury. Everett was taken to the hospital where the doctors began to perform surgery almost immediately, saying that the injury was actually life-threatening. Afterwards, most people were confident that Kevin would be alright, but the doctors were very doubtful that he would ever walk again, claiming that he was paralyzed from the neck down. However; according to several sources, including AP writer Juan Lozano, leading doctors are saying that it is not only possible, but very likely that we could see Everett walking again in as little as a few weeks (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070921/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_bills_everett_hurt;_ylt=AtKjYnqo6P.eqXP8k_YhoKoLMxIF). Throughout the entire time he has been in the hospital, Kevin has been reported as being in “great spirits” and he has been bombarded by cards and letters of support. Now it is obvious that Kevin Everett was in (prior to his injury) better physical condition than the average person, but could the fact that he has had so much support and remained in a positive state of mind, been a contributing factor to his speedy recovery? I have my own personal experience being around a person with a spinal injury, my father, who is paralyzed from the waist down and has been in a wheelchair for over three years. He too has constantly said that he is going to get out of that chair, although he has yet to make any progress, he has not lost hope. Everett on the other hand is recovering very well from an injury that was technically worse than that of my father’s (Everett’s injury was higher up towards his neck). Could it simply be a case of luck, or is it that Kevin’s physical condition, web of support, and “great spirits”, has lead him towards what seems to be an almost full recovery. So my question is, by not only getting in shape, but by having people to provide support, and by thinking positively; can the average person provide themselves with a better opportunity to stay healthy and injury free, or can doing these things help someone recover from an injury or health problem? I think it can….
‘

not Cheating.....not Trying?

Only two words are needed to describe a surprising situation that we have all heard too much about over the past week or so....Patriots...and...CHEATING! Who would have thought that one of the most dominant sports franchises of the twenty-first century could have possibly reached their status by way of video camera? Now I’m no fool, and I realize that there are probably a few other teams employing the same tactics as Bill Belichick’s Patriots, but the point is that the Patriots are the one’s that got caught. If Belichick is supposed to be some kind of “genius”, why did he get caught having a team of people recording the sideline of the New York Jets…..let’s think about that for a minute…the Jets…coached by Eric Mangini…who was an assistant coach under none other then….Bill Belichick! Wow, there’s a true “genius” for you! As Nick Bakay of NFL.com said, “It probably wasn't the brightest move to steal signals against former disciple Eric Mangini, who might have been hip to the protocol from his days in New England.”(http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8024a0d5&template=with-video&confirm=true). So it seems that the man that so many people have praised for his “genius” game planning and play calling; is nothing more than a regular yet poorly dressed coach and a cheater(not the best one either, seeing as how he got caught). But how long has the organization been going at it; how many wins should be accompanied by an asterisk? How many Super Bowls? Now the NFL has to deal with the fact that not only are there individual players cheating (via steroids & HGH), but there are entire teams giving themselves an unfair advantage as well. Perhaps the most confusing part of the entire ordeal is that the Patriots are looked at by many as a top contender for the Super Bowl, so why would they have to cheat? This can be looked at as confirmation to the idea that the strong want to be stronger and the rich want to be richer; and they will do what they must in order to accomplish their goals. Or we could look at this situation as the reason why the Patriots have had so much success over the past few years. The Patriots have always been looked at in such awe for taking a lot of players that were all considered to be “average” athletes, and putting them together into this incredible team. Perhaps the team is not what it is made up to be and their winning ways can be attributed to a crew of guys in the stands with a video camera. It all comes down to your personal opinion and whether or not you believe this to be a one time thing, or do you believe the reports that this has been going on for a longer period of time?

Why be a Holdout?

In this day and age it is not uncommon for rookie professional athletes(particularly in the NFL) to hold out prior to signing their initial contract in order to pressure the team to give them the money they want. Lets take, for example this years number one overall pick, Jamarcus Russell, who has yet to sign a deal with only two days remaining before the Raiders season opener. NFL Network's Adam Schefter reported today that "It will be their first face-to-face meeting in almost two weeks", the term "their" referring to both, the Raiders and Russell's representatives. For the most part we have been seeing one or two holdouts like this for each of the past few years, but why? What is it with the young men these days, that they feel that they have the right to try and leach every possible cent out of a huge contract that realistically, they will not even complete for one reason or another. The only real problem is, that with the salary cap, in order for the young, talented and yet unproven player to get what he wants; often times it is the proven veteran players who's salaries suffer. And lets be reassured that this does not happen solely in the sports world, although the most well known situation, not nearly the most common. How many teenagers out there claim that the reason that they don't have a job, is because they can't find one that is exactly what they want, for the pay they want? Then once they finally get hired, they don't take into consideration that there are much more qualified people out there, who probably would have been willing to do the same work, but for less money. I feel that people should be more grateful that someone is even giving them the opportunity to make a good living, and in an athlete's, a great living; doing something that they claim to enjoy doing. Hopefully the NFL, and other major sports organizations, can come up with some kind of policy that will limit the amount of athletes that hold out, because in the end they are not only hurting the team and their teammates, but themselves as well.