Tag: sports

From Peter King’s weekly football column:

Interesting contrast in your column [from the story about the British book heist that I posted last week] that the 1566 Latin edition of Copernicus’ world-changing theory was valued at $293,000. Meanwhile, the Tom Brady rookie card from 2000 was priced at $2.3 million.

Actually, I think this is a good sign. By the time the West hits rock bottom, the only value of the original Copernicus book in most people’s eyes would be for kindling.

And this is why you should subscribe to Castalia Library while the printing presses still function.

Okay, that’s just ridiculous. My high school didn’t just win its fourth consecutive state title in basketball last night, it demonstrated that it really should be playing in 4A.

Top-ranked Minnehaha Academy won its fourth state tournament championship in as many tries, besting Alexandria 80-29 on Saturday at the Target Center.

The Redhawks (20-1) ending the past three full seasons with Class 2A titles. They moved up to Class 3A last season and won the Section 4 title. But coronavirus canceled the state tournament. Winning Saturday makes Minnehaha the fourth program to win at least four consecutive titles.

Redhawks senior Chet Holmgren, a 7-1 matchup nightmare considered the top college recruit in the nation, made his share of plays. So did freshman Mercy Miller, who scored 15 points. Older brother Hercy poured in 24. Holmgren added 18.

The excellence of the basketball team seems utterly bizarre to me because back in my day, the only winter sport in which MA was even remotely competitive was the ski team, and Minneapolis North was the dominant basketball program. For example, if you remember when UConn won the NCAA title, they were led by a North player, Khalid El-Amin.

That being said, I’m glad that there weren’t so many different levels of competition when I was in high school, even though it prevented me from ever winning a state title. In track, I had no trouble consistently beating all the 1A state champions from Brooklyn Center and Mahtomedi in our conference, but came in third behind two North sprinters in the 2A Regional finals. And while my soccer team was unexpectedly – and unjustly – knocked out in the state semifinals in overtime, beating our archrivals at Minneapolis Washburn in the first round remains my absolute favorite out of all the hundreds of soccer games I’ve played.

Now that was a truly memorable game. It was the only time I can recall a high school soccer game making the 10 o’clock news, as the massive brawl that took place on the field immediately after the final whistle was one of the biggest disruptions to take place in Minneapolis prior to the George Floyd riots. As a result of the two games that season, there was so much bad blood between the teams that the school had to change the annual Super Soccer Day tradition where every team from the C-squads on up would play each other by replacing Washburn with Southwest.

If I’d wanted a state title, I suppose I should have stuck with tennis. The guys with whom I played JV as a freshman before switching to track won state our senior year. But I think titles are considerably less meaningful than the experience of the competition. That’s not sour grapes talking either, as I’ve won nine conference championships, both as a team member and as an individual, at the top high school and NCAA levels.

Anyhow, I think it’s always best to compete at the highest level available to you, even if that means you can’t walk away with a victory. Fortunately for the MA players of today, they’re getting the chance to play against – and even beat – the nation’s top teams outside of the state high school league.

Deshaun Watson is done:

Tuesday’s press conference caused many to view the ongoing controversy involving Deshaun Watson differently. Among the many now viewing the situation differently, apparently, is Nike.

Via CNBC.com, the sports apparel giant has suspended its endorsement deal with Watson.

“We are deeply concerned by the disturbing allegations and have suspended Deshaun Watson. We will continue to closely monitor the situation,” Nike said in a statement.

It’s simply astonishing how people, and organizations, think they can somehow bluster their way through things when they know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, what the other side knows about them.

This isn’t actually about an NFL quarterback….

It’s nice to see a former Minnehaha graduate doing well. At this point, it’s apparent that I’m no longer my high school’s most well-known alum. But I’m almost certainly still the most infamous… not that the academy is any more eager than my university is to acknowledge me as a graduate of their august halls.

He earned his first Division I offer in sixth grade, joined the varsity team at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis as a seventh grader, nabbed his first high-major offer a year later, and won three straight state titles in high school, missing out on a chance at an elusive four-peat after COVID-19 cut short his senior season. He won three gold medals with USA Basketball’s youth teams, and became the highest-rated recruit in Gonzaga history when he committed.

It’s a little surreal for those of us who remember Gonzaga as the ultimate Cinderella team to seriously credit the fact that they are serious contenders for the national championship. I’m not a big basketball fan, although I’ll never forget the 1983 championship when NC State upset Phi Slama Jama on the same night that my church team beat Elim Baptist, a team that had beaten us by 47 points during the season, for the Baptist League title. If I recall correctly, I even scored eight points, which may well have been a season high for me as a non-shooting shooting guard.

Anyhow, good luck to Gonzaga. Favorites or not, they’re still the sort of team you almost have to cheer for come March Madness, like Cleveland State, Richmond, and, of course, Bucknell.

Apparently seeing how the NBA ratings have cratered, Major League Baseball has decided that it needs to follow suit and go after that sweet, succulent Social Justice demographic:

Major League Baseball announced Friday that it is moving the 2021 All-Star Game and 2021 draft out of Atlanta in protest of a new Georgia law that has raised concerns about its potential to disproportionately disenfranchise minority voters.

In a statement, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the league is “finalizing a new host city and details about these events will be announced shortly.”

A source told ESPN that the All-Star Game is still planned for Los Angeles in 2022 and won’t be moved up to fill the void this summer.

“Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views,” Manfred said as part of his statement. “I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft.

I’d like to say that I’m going to boycott baseball to express my contempt for MLB’s convergence, but unfortunately, I haven’t seen a baseball game since 1991. 

The Olympics have embraced social justice too, but that’s practically redundant.

 It’s not just crazy for feminists to insist on equal pay for women’s sports, it’s literally ruinous: 

The NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship budget for the 2018-19 season was $28 million — almost twice as much as the women’s budget.

Information provided by the NCAA to ESPN on Friday shows the men’s tournament brought in a total net income of $864.6 million that season, while the women’s event lost $2.8 million — the largest loss of any NCAA championship.

The men’s tournament budget for the 2018-19 season was $28 million, while the women’s was $14.5 million.

The demand for equality is why literally hundreds of men’s college teams have been eliminated. It also demonstrates why catering to it is going to destroy any organization or institution that does, including the universities and militaries.

The point is not that women can’t produce work of superlative quality that sells very well. Castalia Library’s newest book, written by a woman about a little girl, looks as if it is going to be out of stock faster than we’d anticipated. But if we were to insist that half our books be written by female authors, more than a few of our subscribers would rightly stop subscribing due to our failure to respect their demand.

It’s informative, is it not, that the sports media will openly admit that they’d rather defend a black SJW who sexually assaults women than a white man with right-wing views:

The Deshaun Watson that we thought we knew probably does not exist. We all need to commit to that reality and act accordingly. This includes the media, which has largely (though not entirely) tiptoed around the allegations. I suspect it is in part because Watson has spoken up about social justice issues, and he has fought to get away from a dysfunctional franchise, two causes that have endeared him to many in sports media. I don’t think people are giving him a pass for the assault allegations, but if you think most people in the media will go after him as hard and fast as we would go after, say, Curt Schilling, if he faced these kinds of allegations, you are fooling yourself.

At least this one journalist is admitting the obvious. Give him credit for that, anyhow. The SSH angle of this case is particularly interesting, as it indicates that Watson will almost certainly be a failure as a team leader. Many will see Watson as a predator, but I see him more as a psychologically broken and pitiable creature, a rare Gamma in Alpha clothing.

Not that it excuses any criminal activity, only that it suggests his NFL failure was always all but inevitable even if the whole thing were to go away tomorrow. 

Before Texans QB Watson became severely damaged goods:

Tony Buzbee says he now represents 12 women who will have claims against Deshaun Watson. “We are now representing 12 women and we will file five more cases in due course,” Buzbee said Friday. “we have spoken to more than 10 additional women.”

Other information learned during Buzbee’s Friday press conference:

7 African Americans / 2 Hispanic / 3 Caucasian

3 married / 1 engaged / all others single mothers

One was referred to Deshaun by Texans

Quincy Avery (HOU QB coach) referred Deshaun to one of his clients

Agent/lawyer for Deshaun showed “dismissive behavior and incredible arrogance,” so had to go public with lawsuits

Buzbee said he doesn’t need the fame & the women don’t want it

Buzbee adds that the Houston Police Department is now looking into the allegations that are being made

An incident happened as recently as THIS month — AFTER they had been in contact with Watson’s camp

Took shots at “Arm Chair Quarterbacks” who wouldn’t say stuff to his face

Buzbee stopped counting after the 10th death threat

Buzbee says he lives near McNair family, but wouldn’t know them if he saw them

As promised, trial lawyer Tony Buzbee filed more sexual assault lawsuits in Harris County, Texas on behalf of Jane Does who claim Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson engaged in inappropriate behavior during massage therapy sessions. Lawsuits No. 4-7 were filed on Thursday and follow a similar pattern as the first three lawsuits brought against Watson, who has remained silent on the matter since releasing a statement on Tuesday claiming he’s done nothing wrong.

We’ll see. But in answer to everyone who says “well, why didn’t they go to the police?” the answer is simple. The police never do anything about credible accusations like these when sufficiently rich or famous people are involved unless they’ve been ordered to do so. So no one bothers going to them.

Notice that the police are suddenly getting involved now….

Another old medical standby is vaporized by the evidence:

As the official old guy, you might be interested that what we were always taught to ice injuries and use the RICE protocol turns out to be as accurate advice as a low-fat high-grain diet or clear soda and crackers for a cold.

Just recently discovered this myself through this article.

The inventor of the RICE protocol has even admitted he was wrong.  From the forward to Gary Reinl’s book, ICED!  The Illusionary Treatment Option

Almost 40 years ago, I coined the term RICE (Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation.) as the treatment for acute sports injures (The Sportsmedicine Book, 1978, page 94).  Subsequent research shows that rest and ice can actually delay recovery.  Mild movement helps tissue to heal faster, and the application of cold suppresses the immune responses that start and hasten recovery.  Icing does help suppress pain, but athletes are usually far more interested in returning as quickly as possible to the playing field.  So, today, RICE is not the preferred treatment for acute athletic injury.

– Dr. Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

Another example of something that makes perfect sense when you stop and think about it, but I never did because literally everyone my whole life told me use RICE for injuries.  And of course I advised others the same way.

I never iced anything but a badly sprained ankle, but mostly because I simply didn’t like icing. And I figured out very quickly on that the best way to avoid post-exercise stiffness was a) a hot shower, b) movement, and c) stretching. While we had ice baths on the university track team, I never once took one. I mean, why would you ever get in an ice bath when they’ve got perfectly good jacuzzis next door? 

One of the hard things about veterans’ sports is that it’s only a matter of time before the old guy retires. It’s strange, because it’s not like anything changes all that much, but somehow, it’s never quite the same once a player stops showing up for practice. Sometimes it’s a job, sometimes it’s family circumstances, but usually it’s an injury of some sort that is the cause. Sometimes it’s serious and there is no choice. More often, it’s a nagging minor injury that the player simply can’t manage to shake, and which reminds him of his mortality.

Soccer is a young man’s game. Veteran status over here begins at 32. I was already quite old for a player when I joined my current team 10 years ago, but somehow I’ve managed to hold my own despite slowing down a little and being moved from striker to the wing. I even scored a few goals in the most recent season, including one game-winner. But I was never the oldest on the team, in fact, I’ve never been the oldest player on any team dating back to when I first started playing at the age of 7 for the North Suburban Soccer Association.

I am 11 months younger than my teammate S, a tough defender who deceptively looks about 10 years younger than his 53 years – he also looks exactly like the Bond actor Christopher Walz – although unfortunately, he is now my former teammate, having announced his retirement from the club to the team tonight. So, as of now, I am officially “the old guy”.

I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep playing. When I was 45, an opposing player of the same age and I agreed that we would try to play until 50. Five years later, we both had a good game against each other, and declared that we could easily make it to 55. But tonight, after S’s announcement, the end of the road suddenly feels as if it is looming just a little bit closer than before.

I’ve been very, very lucky. I’ve been fortunate to play at a higher level than I ever imagined, to play against better competition than I ever expected, and to have been a part of five championship teams since I moved to Europe. There are still few things I enjoy more than the intoxicating thrill of finding the open space, kicking the ball and seeing it flash past the keeper into the back of the net. I don’t want to stop. I have no intention of stopping. But I know that Father Time always wins in the end.

Nevertheless, I’ll play as long and as hard as I can, until it comes time for me to take off my jersey for the last time and pass the burden of being the old guy onto the next player in line.