Of Cheaters and Liars

Lance Armstrong riding to victory at L'Alpe d'Huez. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are plenty of people in our daily life who have abused the public's trust at one time or another, and don't feel the need to apologize for it:  politicians, religious figures, business leaders, and so on.  Now you can add sports figures to the list.

When Lance Met Oprah

Lance Armstrong, the disgraced cycling champion, admitted to Oprah Winfrey on national television that yes, he did take all those performance-enhancing substances that helped him to win many a Tour de France.

The much-hyped interview accomplished a couple of things:  (A) It helped Armstrong state his case and why he did what he did in the closest forum he could get without having to swear under oath, and (B) it brought eyeballs and free publicity to the former Queen of Daytime Talk's struggling Oprah Winfrey Network, so much so that she extended the interview over two nights.

Armstrong is by no means out of the woods.  He still faces charges based on what he said--or didn't say--on TV.  He just lost his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics.  And even if what he did say is the truth, does anyone believe him now after he has hurt and intimidated so many people?

Imaginary Lover

Now we know why, in the same BCS Championship football game where ESPN's Brent Musburger made an idiot of himself over a beauty queen in the stands who happened to be Alabama quarterback  A.J. McCarron's woman, Manti Te'o and his Notre Dame teammates played a lousy game against the Crimson Tide.

It turns out that Te'o's "heartwarming" tale, which the sports media had bought hook, line and sinker, of a girlfriend of his who died of a fatal disease was starting to unravel.  There was no girlfriend, living or dead.  Te'o claims he had been the victim of an elaborate hoax, in which he had been set up by some supposed pals of his.

Not to play amateur psychologist, but maybe there's something going on in Te'o's life that neither he nor Notre Dame cares to talk about.  Is he part of the hoax?  Are there issues about his sexuality that caused him to create a girlfriend?  Are there aspects of this case that might interest the NCAA, local authorities and the federal government?

Whatever the case, the least of Te'o's problems is how high he'd go in the upcoming NFL draft.  Now he has to wonder if there's any future in football at all for him.

An Empty Hall

The Baseball Hall of Fame faced a dilemma.  When the time came to elect new members, should they include those whose career numbers didn't come naturally?  We're speaking, of course, about Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens and others who stand accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, and are now eligible for admission into Cooperstown.

The baseball writers who were charged with making this decision ended up making a statement of their own this year.  Rather than elect members with questionable methods of how to achieve greatness, they chose to admit no one.  Not even former players whose careers pre-dated the Steroid Era.

So the likes of Bonds, Sosa, Clemens, et al, will have to wait another year to get inducted.  Or maybe they'll end up like Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, who never got into the Hall at all.

Wild 2013: The Wait Is Over

Minnesota Wild (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now where were we when we were so rudely interrupted?  Oh, yes . . 

Welcome to the most anticipated NHL season in Minnesota Wild history, made even more so by the recently concluded lockout.

You remember last season, under first-year coach Mike Yeo, where the Wild started out spectacularly good at the beginning, then took a just-as-spectacular nosedive that ended with their missing the playoffs again.  Well, owner Craig Leipold did something about that over the summer, throwing a July firecracker over the rest of the NHL with the signings of free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to megalong, megabucks contracts.

The Wild will belatedly open their season Saturday, January 19 at home against the Colorado Avalanche, as part of the made-for-TV "Hockey Day In Minnesota".   With a 48-game schedule against Western Conference opponents that runs from January to late April, this time there's no margin for error.  One long winning streak can send you into the playoffs.  One long losing streak can take you out of it.

That means more goal scoring from Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Dany Heatley and Mikko Koivu, in addition to Parise and Suter.  That means a better year in the nets for Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding.  And that means improving the power play, staying out of the penalty box, and staying healthy--something that would be more difficult to do in a shortened season.

This is not the year for the Stanley Cup to take up residence in Minnesota, because there are already too many teams with more talent and playoff experience than the Wild do.  But this shortened season can be a good first step towards becoming a team that can do more than just get by on a seventh or eighth place finish.
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Since the lockout ended, the NHL and its teams have been on an apology tour of sorts.  Everyone from commissioner Gary Bettman to the players on the ice have been telling anyone who will listen how truly sorry they were for screwing up the season.  You'll notice, of course, that they've stopped short of saying that they'll never do it again.  Some fans will claim that (in the words of Taylor Swift) they will NEVER EVER EVER go to a game again.  But most will take the NHL back, because it's hockey.  And the NHL knows it.

A couple of reminders:  In case anyone's forgotten, the Los Angeles Kings are the defending Stanley Cup champions.  And the Phoenix Coyotes are still in the league, still waiting for a buyer.  Here's who we see as the next contenders to the Kings' throne come May:

Eastern Conference:  Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers.

Western Conference:  Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Phoenix Coyotes, Edmonton Oilers.

NHL Lockout: January Thaw

English: NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman in 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It took four months, 113 days and over 500 canceled games, but the National Hockey League and its players association finally came up with a tentative agreement to end the owner-imposed lockout that threatened to cancel an entire season for the second time in a decade.

The agreement, pending approval of both the owners and the NHL Players Association, goes like this:

• A 10-year collective bargaining agreement with a mutual opt-out for both sides after 8 years.
• Player contracts are limited to seven years.  If you're a team that wants to re-sign a player, that'll be eight years.
• The salary cap will be between $60-70 million.
• Revenue sharing will be around $200 million.
• The date of free agency remains July 1, though it will be slightly later this year due to the lockout.
• Participation in the Winter Olympics and realignment isn't part of the agreement, but they will be decided on at a later date.

What people really want to know is when the puck is going to drop.  That hasn't officially been determined, but the most likely scenario is a 48-game schedule (similar to the one that followed the 1994-95 lockout) starting January 19, with teams playing within their own conference.  The Stanley Cup finals won't begin until mid-June.

There are a few questions we have about this long, unnecessary lockout.  The first is why did it take until five days before the drop-dead date to cancel the season to get a deal done?  Will this new agreement mean the end to mega-contracts, such as the ones the Minnesota Wild gave to free agents Ryan Suter and Zach Parise?  Will NHL commissioner Gary Bettman keep his job after presiding over the third lockout of his tenure?  Will NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr keep his?  How long can some of the league's franchises in the South and Southwest expect to survive in the lockout's aftermath?

Most of all, for the fans who have felt abandoned by this and other sports labor disputes in the past, the end of the lockout has generated mixed emotions.  Some of them have vowed to boycott games, while others claim they've found something better to do than watch hockey.  That's a noble sentiment, given that the average fan will not make the kind of money in their lifetimes that pro athletes do in one year.  But that attitude can only last for so long because, once you're tired of "Storage Wars" and "Pawn Stars" reruns, you're gonna hit that remote, find a hockey game and get hooked again.

We are now entering a decade of labor peace in pro sports, which is how long the new CBAs and most TV contracts will last.  Who knows how they will be used and abused before the next round of negotiations begin?

'Bama Blowout

English: Alabama Crimson Tide Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Those of you who were hoping that top-rated and undefeated Notre Dame would end Alabama's (and the SEC's) recent dominance of the BCS national college football championship must really be disappointed.  The Fighting Irish were no match for the Crimson Tide, who scored 28 points in the first half on its way to a 42-14 victory at Miami's Sun Life Stadium.

The Tide had run up over 500 yards of offense during the game.  Quarterback A.J. McCarron threw for four touchdowns, and backs Eddie Lacy and T.J.Yeldon contributed one each.

For coach Nick Saban, this was his third BCS title in four years at Alabama (four in all).  For the Southeastern Conference, this is the seventh consecutive year that one of their schools has won the national title.  That should tell you something about competitive balance in major college football.

Vikings 2012: Room for Improvement

Adrian Peterson (Photo credit: Mike Morbeck)

The Minnesota Vikings ended their 2012 NFL season on the first weekend of 2013, losing a Wild Card playoff game to the Green Bay Packers on the not-so-frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.  In losing 24-10, the Vikings laid another egg on national prime time TV.

The Vikings were all but doomed from the start when an elbow injury forced quarterback Christian Ponder to the sidelines, meaning all those folks who wanted to see Joe Webb take over for him got their wish.  Webb, unfortunately, played as if he hadn't snapped the ball all season--which happened to be true.  It also didn't help that the defense made too many mistakes, and that the Packers did a much better job of shutting down Adrian Peterson than in their previous two games.

Having finished 2011 with three victories, you would have understood if the Vikings were in rebuilding mode, preparing themselves for future runs at glory.  But this so-called "rebuilding" year resulted in coach Leslie Frasier's team going 10-6, with significant wins over the San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans, Chicago Bears and the Packers--enough to earn a sixth seed in the NFC playoffs.

Yes, we need to mention Adrian Peterson, who stopped nine yards short of the all-time single season rushing mark set by Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams in 1984.  Various football fans and pundits have been campaigning for Peterson to win the NFL's Most Valuable Player award.  Peterson may have had a stellar season, but the fact that the Vikings aren't going to the Super Bowl may have hurt his chances for the MVP.

There were times when Peterson propped up the Vikings' offense.  Ponder had an up-and-down season that caused some to question whether he really was the quarterback of the future.  That is, until his sudden December marriage to ESPN sideline reporter Samantha Steele.  Then he started playing better.  We'll leave it up to researchers and psychologists to figure that one out.  Also, Percy Harvin had been complaining about the lack of playing time he was getting up until he was injured and out for the season.

There are some things the Vikings' brain trust can do to improve their fortunes on the field as they transfer out of the Metrodome/Mall of America Field and into their new digs:  Find an experienced backup quarterback for Ponder.  Plug holes in the defense.  Harvin either needs to be mollified or be sent packing, preferably with good draft picks.  The team needs to play better outdoors, where they didn't win a game all season.  And how long are they going to put up with punter Chris Kluwe's antics, on and off the field?  How do they really feel about him being a gay rights advocate?

OK, enough about the Vikings.  Here's who we think will make the trip to Super Bowl 47 in New Orleans:  San Francisco vs. Denver.