By Paul Gotham
Passing of Brookshier and Salinger
With the passing of Tom Brookshier and J.D. Salinger, so went a tiny piece of my youth.
Growing up during the sports-starved decade of the 1970s, any televised sporting events were required viewing. Before cable television, sports fans had to plot their schedules according to that rare television broadcast.
Sunday afternoons in the fall mandated a hunkering down in front of the tube. Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier always had the early game. It was those guys who educated millions on the intricacies of football. I was sad to hear when CBS chose to not continue Brookshier’s contract. Sadder still this week to learn of his passing.
Ironically, it was Brookshier, a former Philadelphia Eagle, who nurtured my love for the New York Giants. A former defensive back, much of Brookshier’s analysis of the Giants focused on New York’s ability to stop the ball. Of course, in the 70s he would not have had much of a choice. The Giants’ offense personified ineptitude. The thought crossed my mind that it was Brookshier who introduced the influence of defense to me.
I always enjoyed Brookshier’s wit and his ‘call-’em-as-he-saw-’em’ attitude.
If imitation is the finest form of flattery, then J.D. Salinger has received his share of props here on the Pine. I have used Salinger’s wisdom on more than one occasion. I am not the only one to make reference to The Catcher In The Rye. JD has taken the novel’s cover for his profile picture. Fans have been been promised that upon his death, we would see more of his work published. I look forward to it.
Sweet Sixteen
With his straight-set victory over Andy Murray, Roger Federer nabbed his 16th Grand Slam title. While he is not my favorite, there is no questioning Federer’s singular talent. The guy takes on all comers and continues to win. It will be interesting to see how history treats Federer. Because tennis lacks the American influence of decades past, Federer’s accomplishments seemed to get dismissed by the casual fan. Many will contend that Federer has no one out there who can truly test him. A serious viewing of one Grand Slam tennis tournament would prove differently.
West lobbying for contraction
N.B.A. hall-of-famer, Jerry West wants the Association to reduce its number of teams. For a variety of reasons – on the court performance, market size, revenues, and overall improvement of the game, ‘The Logo’ wants the NBA to cut back from its current number of 30 teams. West’s arguments make sense, and people are listening.
Instead of an all out contraction, I would love to see the NBA consider the tier system of English Football along with relegation. I have suggested this idea before, and it could work well with the NBA and give the game a niche.
Free of the minor league systems of MLB and the NHL, the NBA could trim 10-12 teams and create and second tier league. Then the developmental league could also come into play. With relegation at the end of the season, teams would move up or down according to performance on the court. This format could have an immediate impact on play. First off, teams would be less inclined to lose by design for the purpose of gaining a favorable draft position. Second, young players might think twice about skipping college. If a teenager knows he might end up with a second tier team and not make much money, college might become a more attractive option.
Speaking of losing by design
New Jersey’s Nets seem in position to get the most ping pong balls for next June’s draft. Can you imagine IF the Nets get John Wall. Then, can you imagine IF the Nets swing the deal to get LeBron. Heavy on the ifs, but food for thought.
Duquesne cuts four programs
In a cost-cutting move, Duquesne University cut its baseball, wrestling, men’s swimming, and men’s golf programs. This is just another in a line of small schools not being able to keep up with cash cows of the big conferences. Hofstra eliminated its football program as did Northeastern. And these are just the ones I know of. When a free-market system becomes survival of the fittest, there is something wrong. I am not going to contend that Duquesne baseball is vital to the American fabric. But when programs like this go away, opportunities go with them. Something needs to be figured out, so that any other programs considering termination can avoid such a fate.
Got any rebounds and putbacks? Post them here.
I would like to get everyone’s take on what is happening to the Boston Celtics. Is this team aging before our eyes? Atlanta has already done something that they haven’t done in 10+ years – sweep the season series between the Hawks and the C’s.
Sure Paul Pierce, Marquis Daniels, Kevin Garnett, Big Baby Davis and Kendrick Perkins have already spent time on the injured list this year and one would have to wonder if that has prevented this team from coming together. Rondo has been playing with a bad hammy and the C’s guard play has been lacking at times.
Just wondering if this team is getting too old, too quickly to make a run at another championship.
The passing of Salinger was much more quiet than I expected it. I guess a recluse who hasn’t done or written anything in decades doesn’t garner all that much attention, and plsu it seems like the famnily has given him a quiet passing like he definitely wanted. I was one who found ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ after my high school years, but still a teen. That really weird and hopeless time when you’re a college freshman but haven’t really taken on a major. Just coasting by taking introuctory courses and wondering where your youth has gone. Rye became my anthom of angst for a while. It was really my first introduction to truly great modern prose. I’ve read Rye more than any other book and have the last piece he ever published. Found it one day roaming the MANY used book stores in Philly. I even dragged my wife to Cornish NH on our honeymoon just to say I was where JD Salinger spent the final decades of his life. Creepy, I know.
Completely changing the topic. I heard watching a recent match that Manchester United is now $1 BILLION in debt! This is getting ridiculous. How do these EPL teams do it. Here we have the NBA and college talking about consolidating, but the Prem is spending more and more. Crazy stuff. I got a C in economics for a reason.
Smitty
I did not see the game. How is the Celts defense looking?
Rey – dragging the wife to Cornish on the honeymoon will need some explaining. It would not have been as creepy as if you had actually managed to find his place. Some scary stories from that place. NBC nightly news gave JD five good minutes the other night. It was great.
First off I would like to apologize for my recent hiatus. I have been very busy here at school with tons of things but now I feel like I’m back to stay.
Rey- Not ALL college students like to “coast” along hahah
Smitty- The C’s are falling into the trap of growing old AND their lackluster off-season is starting to catch up with them. Think about it, the Cavs added Shaq, Hawks added Jamal Crawford, Lakers added Artest, Magic added Vincanity, and even the Nuggets are getting quality production from guys like Ty Lawson. What did the Celtics do? NOTHING, and now is the time where it will start to show.
I would like to now bring your attention to the wonderful world of college basketball. The Men’s game contains far more parody than the Women’s. It doesn’t take a genius to see that. For instance, The Men’s number one ranked team just two weeks ago (Texas) has lost three of it’s last four and only played one team ranked in the top 10 over that span (Kansas State). Meanwhile, the number one ranked women’s team has won 60 in a row!
I understand these are different leagues with much different personnel and standards, but we all know that when filling out the Women’s bracket come March, we rarely pick those upsets. Needless to say, that can not be said for the Men’s side.
What is the reasoning? Recruiting? Fan support? Coaching? What do you guys think?
UCONN’s woman surely deserve all the respect they are being given. With Jim Calhoun taking a leave of absence it is surely being discussed more and more.. But to answer Dougs question as to what it the motive behind the success, I think the much wanted blame could easily be placed on the recruiting aspect. UCONN’s Woman College Basketball has fielded a top 5 recruiting class each year this decade! now… throw that in with some intensity, and moderate coaching and u have a dynasty.
Here’s an answer that more often than not is the answer to most of our sports questions these days. $$$MONEY$$$
We’ve spoken about this a lot recently, especially the NFL, but I think it’s incredibly applicable here.
It’s as simple as this…
How many women’s college basketball games are on tv??
Who has been one of 3 feature teams over the last 5-10 years??
Who do aspiring girls basketball players watch??
They get tv coverage, they get money, they get fame, they get Recruits!!!
Not enough “elite” women’s players to go around. When one team has the monopoly on those players, the results are obvious.
This lack of PARITY is true with many of the 2nd tier sports in college. i.e. Penn State Volleyball, etc.
There are not enough programs with “elite” reputations.
Men’s basketball, professional sports, men’s football…PARITY exists because there are many top tier programs.
Take note of MLB and the Yankees. Why are the Yankees like UCONN basketball????………………..$$$MONEY$$$
No arguing with Dan’s assessment.
As long as American culture continues to treat money as God than we will see programs like Hofstra football, Duquesne baseball, and Northeastern football be put to sleep.
Wasn’t too long ago that Florida won back to back titles with a starting five that left school with a year of eligibility remaining. At one time the Miami Hurricanes dominated college football as did Nebraska.
UConn women have momentum. Everything goes in cycles.
Speaking of cycles and money, back when I was at ND, the ice hockey team was demoted to club status and the field hockey team, on which my better half starred, was forever eliminated the year after we graduated due to “money concerns”. I think wrestling also got the boot. Now this was happening at a school with an endowment somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 BILLION … or at least it was sometime in the last decade before “the crash”. And the football program generates more revenue than possibly 3-4 other schools. Mind you, this is a school with only ~8,000 students.
Now the cyclical part … the men’s hockey team was subsequently reinstated to varsity status, they got a good coach … and over the past decade, they’ve been to a few Frozen Fours and several top 10 rankings nationally. To my knowledge, the Field Hockey program was never re-started … WHY NOT?? At least my wife will forever be the career assist leader 😉
Wow! Hockey was a club team at ND in the mid 80s? They really have rebounded. Did ND drop those programs because of lack of participation / interest?
Casey —
No … they had full participation and interest. I’m pretty sure it was strictly about money. And most of the non-revenue generating sports back in the ’80s either weren’t fully funded with athletic scholarships or didn’t have any at all. Of course, they complied with Title IX … but Field Hockey had no scholarships (zero) and they were “pretty good”. Back then, Baseball only had 4 full scholarships (fully funded meant you could have 12) and we were okay … about a .500 club give or take during my 4 years. I’m pretty sure hockey back then, when they were varsity, was like baseball … only partially funded … and they were a decent team, but nothing like they are now. Hockey is of course quite expensive to run, but they also generated some revenue. Baseball is now fully funded to my understanding … they became this way in the early ’90s when a wealthy benefactor, possibly related to coach Pat Murphy, gave them a lot of money. Since that time, they’ve been one of the best programs in the midwest, and even went to College World Series about 7-8 years ago.
I think it all boils down to a “football is King” mentality … but there’s no excuse for such a wealthy school, esp when you look at per capita, not to be participating on all the sports and fully funded in most. There’s still no wrestling (that’s OK) or field hockey, but they do have Lacrosse for both men and women now.