There are times it seems like the NFL and NBA do not live in the same universe. Despite all the negative press, the NFL now generates $14-billion per year in revenue. The NBA, which is viewed more favorably, will finally cross $8-billion mark this season. Still, NBA players generate by far the most endorsement money […]
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The Oscars have arrived! After months of buildup, the Academy Awards will finally air live on Sunday night. The Oscars are the Super Bowl for movies. I, along with millions of other fans, will tune in to have our dreams crushed when A Star Is Born loses almost every major category. That’s the way the cookie crumbles, folks. […]
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New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft has been charged with soliciting prostutition from a day spa, which was part of a multi-week investigation into sex trafficking in Florida. Just weeks after the Patriots won its sixth Super Bowl Championship in the Tom Brady era, owner Robert Kraft, 77, is in legal trouble. Jupiter Police Chief […]
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Jussie Smollett, the self-titled “Gay Tupac” and actor who portrays Jamal Lyon on the hit tv show Empire, is in hot water. Smollett, who filed a police report for having been the subject of a hate crime is being charged with a Felony count of disorderly conduct. Disclaimer This is some bullshit. On so many […]
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Sports movies are very tough to get right. Like any movie, the script, acting, and directing all have to be in sync with each other. However, the bigger challenge lies in the portrayal of the sport. In other words, how accurate is the play on the field, course or the court in the movie? Is […]
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The women’s college basketball season is in full swing! The race to the Women’s Final Four has begun. Hopefully, the upcoming Final Four will be as exciting and as the last one. The 2018 Women’s Final Four was one of the most exciting college basketball has ever seen. It was groundbreaking in the way its unpredictable nature reinvigorated the excitement of women’s college basketball. Each game was a thriller. The 2018 Women’s Final Four made history by way of viewership and attendance. 7.62 million people watched the series on ESPN.[i] The total attendance was 36,123 fans (which was an increase from 2017).[ii] However, there was one area where the 2018 Final Four was not groundbreaking or progressive and that is in the area of women college coaches.
Even though it was the premier women’s college basketball tournament, only one out of the four coaches were female. The others were white males. UConn, Louisville, and Mississippi State all had male coaches, while the victor of the tournament Notre Dame, had a female coach. The makeup of the coaches in the tournament highlights an unfortunate reality in many women’s collegiate sports. It highlights the lack of women coaches in college athletics.
A study conducted by the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota and the Alliance of Women Coaches found that only 20 percent of all college coaching positions are held by women.[iii] However, the percentage of head coaches in women’s Division 1 college basketball is roughly 56 percent.[iv] Unfortunately, the number of female head coaches in Division 1 women’s basketball is declining. In 2017, the data showed that for the past six years the number of female head basketball coaches decreased by 11 percent.[v] The number of male head coaches in women’s basketball increased by 33 percent.[vi]
Additionally, there is a lack of female head coaches in other sports as well. For example, in NCAA Division 1 track and field women only hold 10 head coaching positions compared to the 83 held by men.[vii] Similarly, in cross-country women hold only 17 head coaching positions compared the 86 held by men. The overall lack of female coaches in college athletics leads to two questions.[viii] First, why are there so few female college coaches? Second, what should be done to increase the number of female college coaches?
There are several factors that contribute to the lack of female college coaches.
The first factor and probably the most important is the nature of the job. Coaching is a very time intensive and demanding job. To effectively coach, one must be able to give adequate amounts of time to recruiting, mentoring, and actual coaching. Each of these aspects of the job is extremely time intensive. Furthermore, coaching requires an extensive amount of travel. The time and travel demands do not lend itself to a woman who may have just started a family or who wants to start a family. Though it is not impossible, it is very difficult to have young children and be fully immersed in coaching the way the job requires. Hence, this one factor has a trickle-down effect to the other factors.
Unfortunately, the nature of the job does not lend itself to women who have young children or to women who plan to have children. As a result, the field has been left to men and the majority of coaching jobs are filled by men. As previously stated, the decline of female head coaches in women’s basketball has led to an increase in male head coaches. Why are men better able to navigate the world of coaching? One reason is that in many cases it is easier for men to balance their family life with work. In many cases, women take on the brunt of family life and caring for children as society dictates. Due to this, men often have more time to dedicate to the profession. Hence, this reality leads to the next factor.
Men dominate the field. Therefore, young female athletes do not get to see themselves represented as a coach. As a result, not many former female athletes go into coaching because they do not see it as an option. Even at the youth sports level, there are not many female coaches. According to a study conducted by the Aspen Institute, only 22.5 percent of youth coaches were female.[ix] This number is down from the 28 percent in the previous study.[x] The lack of female coaches at the youth level is also likely low because women do not have the time to dedicate to it.
Increasing the number of female collegiate coaches needs to start at the youth level. An increase of female coaches in youth sports will entice more women to go into coaching. Being coached by a woman at a young age will allow young female athletes to see themselves represented at the coaching level. It will make them believe that they can do it too. The resulting new interest in coaching that young female athletes will have will put more women in the pipeline for coaching positions.
Additionally, there are things that can be done administratively to help increase the number of female coaches. Those things include implementing the Eddie Robinson Rule and the Judy Sweet Rule. However, those measures would not mean much without increasing the number of youth female coaches. Therefore, increasing the number of youth female coaches is necessary to get future generations of women into coaching.
[i] 2018 Women’s Final Four Make History in Columbus, NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball
(Apr. 13, 2018),https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-women/article/2018-04-13/2018-womens-final-four-makes-history-columbus.
[iii] Manie Robinson, Clemson, University of South Carolina get a C on Coaching Staff Gender Equality, Greenville News (July 13, 2018, 8:50 AM), https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/sports/2018/07/13/clemson-usc-sports-earn-average-grades-gender-equality/777088002/.
[iv] Layne Saliba, Female Head Women’s Basketball Coaches in NCAA on the Decline, The Red & Black (Apr. 25, 2017), https://www.redandblack.com/sports/female-head-women-s-basketball-coaches-in-ncaa-on-the/article_34e21388-29c2-11e7-a5ad-c7589fe72cce.html.
[vii] Erin Strout, American Running Needs More Female Coaches, Outside (Sept. 14, 2018), https://www.outsideonline.com/2342711/why-we-need-more-female-coaches.
[ix] State of Play 2018 Trends and Developments (2018), available at https://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/2018/10/StateofPlay2018_v4WEB_2-FINAL.pdf?_ga=2.30622070.81258157.1541265952-407175075.1523447928.
[x]State of Play 2017 Trends and Developments (2017), available at https://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/2017/12/FINAL-SOP2017-report.pdf.
Unexpectedly, Colin Kaepernick officially ended his collusion lawsuit against the NFL today. The former NFL quarterback has withdrawn his collusion complaint against the league and will take no further action in his case. Kaepernick had alleged the NFL owners conspired to keep him out after he began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016. The final hearing in his case against the NFL was set to take place this month. So, the timing of this withdrawal is a strong indication that the league reached a significant financial settlement with Kaepernick. People within his circle had previously spoken off the record that he would withdraw his lawsuit if the league compensated him significantly. The terms of the deal are subject to a “confidentiality agreement”.
The NFL and its owners would have been tremendously motivated to make this lawsuit go away if they believed it could be proven Kaepernick had in fact been blackballed. There is a provision within the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NFL and NFLPA that could have voided the deal if the league was found to have colluded against players. An immediate work stoppage and a legal battle would have ensued that could have put the 2019 season and future of the NFL in jeopardy. This begs the question, how much money did it cost to make Kaepernick go away?
His protest against social justice and racial inequality issues started alone, but many other NFL players and athletes from all sports have picked up the torch. NIKE stated a campaign with Kaepernick as the spokesman.
The end of this lawsuit likely marks the end of Kaepernick’s career. If a team was unwilling to sign him to prove he was not colluded against, then why would they sign him after they likely paid him to end the lawsuit? Commissioner Goodell said at the Super Bowl, “I think if a team decides that Colin Kaepernick or any other player can help their team win, that’s what they’ll do,” he added. “They want to win, and they make those decisions individually in the best interest of their club.”
“I think if a team decides that Colin Kaepernick or any other player can help their team win, that’s what they’ll do,” he added. “They want to win, and they make those decisions individually in the best interest of their club.” -Roger Goodell, 1/30/2019
It is January 2019 and Colin Kaepernick being unsigned continues to be a misrepresented. In his January 30th press conference, Roger Goodell was asked why Colin Kaepernick has remained unsigned for the past two seasons. His answer was not only false and misleading, but he dodged the proceeding questions inquiring about Kaepernick.
Colin Kaepernick is an NFL-caliber quarterback and the stats back it up every time. Maybe Goodell is trying to keep his story straight for his deposition in the collusion lawsuit.
Before we go repeating arguments, narratives and facts about Colin Kaepernick, please note the following UnafraidShow articles from 2017 and 2018:
“The Truth and Lies of Colin Kaepernick”
Quick Refresher: 5 common lies that surrounded the Kaepernick controversy were dispelled quickly. The lies were that:
*Lie #1: Kaepernick sucks and can’t play anymore
Kaepernick is still a younger quarterback that led his team to 2 NFC Championship Games, 1 Superbowl, and ranked 11th in career Quarterback Rating among active quarterbacks (as of July, 2017)
*Lie #2: Kaep is a bad guy
Kaepernick donated over $1 million of his own money to inner city programs and charities. He hasn’t gotten a DUI, committed domestic abuse, beat his kid, violated the league’s drug policy, been surrounded by rape or murder investigations, or plead guilty to insider trading. All he did was
*Lie #3: Our military is offended
We fight to protect freedoms from everyone. But if people are still worried about offending military, they should call their congressman, volunteer, or raise money to help the many servicemen and women that are homeless, unemployed, and struggling.
*Lie #4: Sports are not for protests
Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Billie Jean King, Venus Williams, and many more have protested. The NBA, MLB, and NFL have all gone on strike. This isn’t something new.
*Lie # 5: Kaepernick needs to clean up his image
Calls for Kaepernick to clean up his image are ridiculous. He donated his own money, sacrificed his time and energy to community service, and stood up for the rights of others. Then the arguments for changing his hair to look better come from those with racial-bias against black athletes. Cornrows date back to 3000 BCE. The afro dates back to the 1860’s in America. However, because they are not white hairstyles, they are not clean-cut. Ryan Fitzpatrick gets praised for his large beard, but Kaepernick, whom has almost always kept his facial hair neat and stylish, is looked at differently.
“Colin Kaepernick and Nike – Did Nike Just Do It or Just Blew It”
Quick Refresher: There were many protests and proposed boycotts of Nike when they announced that Colin Kaepernick would be the face of their 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign. People claimed Nike would be hurt and the NFL would drop them. Has the NFL dropped them? Nope. Are they hurt? Well, they did just sign a new contract with the MLB. Nike is now the official uniform supplier for the NFL, NBA, and MLB, in addition to countless collegiate programs. It appears that they are thriving and anyone that wants to boycott them will have to go through a lot of trouble to do so.
So the NFL hasn’t dropped Nike, why haven’t they picked up Kaepernick yet? As Goodell stated earlier today, he thinks that teams would have signed Kaepernick if they thought he could help them win. With that being said, let’s go ahead and review the two seasons Kaepernick has been absent to see if he could have helped teams win more games.
In Kaepernick’s most recent season (2016), he had an average to below average season for an NFL starter. Per numberFire’s NEP (Net Expected Points) metric, his Passing NEP per drop back was only 0.04. That may sound low, but it actually still ranked 28th of the 39 qualified passers. This might not make him Tom Brady or Drew Brees, but it still makes him a starting quarterback. But we all know that Colin Kaepernick isn’t a one-dimensional quarterback because he can always win with his legs. He was 8th-best in quarterback Rushing NEP per attempt in 2016, which ranks his Total NEP per opportunity 22nd of 39 qualified quarterbacks. Again, that is a starting quarterback. But, this becomes even more compelling when you review the target leaders for the 2016 49ers: Jeremy Kerley, Quinton Patton, Garrett Celek, Torrey Smith. He played above replacement-level without receiving threats to help him.
Continuing with Ron Yurko’s EPA (Expected Points Added), Josh Hermsmeyer of FiveThirtyEight closely reviewed why “The Stats Say Washington Should Have Signed Colin Kaepernick”. In his post-week 14 article, after Mark Sanchez was benched for Josh Johnson, Hermsmeyer highlighted the mistake(s) of Washington. Looking at their careers, Kaepernick was superior to Sanchez in EPA. He also outperformed Josh Johnson, whom had a staggeringly low EPA as a quarterback. According to Hermsmeyer, “Plays with Johnson under center have resulted in negative value for his teams.” These stats and analytics are not hard to find, yet Kaepernick remained unsigned in 2018 as Mark Sanchez and Josh Johnson recorded just 1 win in 4 starts.
Last, why don’t we strictly look at wins? If you don’t believe in any other stat and you are a football guy (or girl) that believes it all comes down to wins, wins, wins, this spot is for you. As was stated earlier, Kaepernick not being signed to any team is a refusal to believe that he is even worth a backup quarterback roster spot. As Nick Foles proved, having multiple competent quarterbacks is very, very valuable. In 2017, 56 different quarterbacks started a game in the regular season. In 2018, there were 54. I examined every backup quarterback that started 1-9 games in 2017 or 1-9 games in 2018. Their combined record was a dismal 48-85. If we remove 4 quarterbacks (Patrick Mahomes, Nick Foles, Jimmy Garoppolo, Lamar Jackson) from that list, the record drops to 30-82. Yikes. Kaepernick’s record is 30-28. Granted, that’s not great, but it’s certainly better than 30-82. However, keep in mind that Kaepernick boasts a 4-2 post-season record and led his team to 2 consecutive NFC Championships and was 5 yards away from a Superbowl title.
Colin Kaepernick is not being overlooked based off of his talent or experience. He is plainly being blackballed. His stats show that he is, at worse, a low-tier starting quarterback or an elite backup quarterback. Kaepernick boasts the ability to throw over 3300 yards and 21 touchdowns, while also rushing for 600 yards and 5 touchdowns. His NEP or EPA career statistics show that he is valuable to an NFL team. If NFL teams truly believe that Nathan Peterman, Jeff Driskel, Mark Sanchez, and Josh Johnson, they are locked in denial that has and will cost them wins.
On Sunday, football fans witnessed one of the most exciting NFL Championship Sundays ever. Both the NFC Championship game and the AFC Championship game went into overtime. There is nothing better than watching two teams fight it out so effectively that the game ends in a tie and is forced into overtime. Overtime is almost like a second game where both teams get an equal shot at becoming the victor. However, that is not exactly true for NFL overtimes.
To no one’s surprise, the teams that won the two coin tosses won the games. The implementation of the “sudden death” rule on Sunday left many fans upset that each game was essentially decided by a coin toss. The games were decided by a coin toss as it was an almost certainty that the team that won the toss would take possession, score first, and win. Both teams did exactly that.
Although some may argue that the NFC Championship game was decided by a blown call at the end of the fourth quarter, the game still went into overtime. The team that won the toss, the Los Angeles Rams, won the game without the New Orleans Saints ever getting an opportunity to score. In the AFC Championship game the team that won the toss, the New England Patriots, won the game without the Kansas City Chiefs ever getting an opportunity to score. Accordingly, fans were upset that the NFC and AFC Championship games were essentially decided by a coin toss.
The NFL needs to change this. This is especially true as it pertains to championship games. The team that does not take possession at kickoff (usually the team who loses the toss) is essentially at an unfair disadvantage. Some may argue that there is no disadvantage because the defense should be able to hold off the opposing offense. This is a fair argument. However, it would be better if both teams were guaranteed a chance to perform on both offense and defense. Such a change would ultimately make the game more competitive. It would force both teams to prove they deserve to win offensively and defensively.
The college football overtime rules are much better than the NFL’s. The NFL can certainly learn from college football in this area. Like the NFL, overtime in college starts with a coin toss. Where it differs is in the fact that both teams are guaranteed a possession. This means that both teams will have the opportunity to play both offense and defense. This is better because it forces both teams to earn the win on both ends of the field.
If the team that gets the ball first scores, they must defend it and hold off the other team’s offense. The college overtime period starts at the 25-yard line.[i] If the game is still tied at the end of the overtime period it keeps going until a team wins.[ii] However, once the game reaches a third overtime period, the teams may no longer kick after a touchdown and are forced to attempt a two-point conversion.[iii] This goes on until a team wins.
Some may argue that this type of overtime makes for a long game. That is true, a game could be extremely long if both teams keep scoring. However, that is an extremely rare occurrence. Even with that possibility, the NFL needs to consider some variation of college football’s overtime rules. Allowing who gets to advance to the Super Bowl to be determined by a coin toss is simply unacceptable.
[i] Chris Chavez, How Does College Football Overtime Work? Rule, NFL Differences Explained, Sports Illustrated (Aug. 14, 2017), https://www.si.com/college-football/2017/college-football-overtime-rules-explained.
The Baseball Writers Association of America has yet again tarnished the Baseball Hall of Fame by leaving out Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling. They weren’t left out because there is any question about their place amongst the greats. They have been denied because of their controversies with PEDs or writers who are punishing them for not being “nice guys”. Denial of these greats is not only unfair and biased, but it also crushes the integrity of the Hall of Fame itself.
The criteria for entering the Baseball Hall of Fame: Can you tell a history of the era without mentioning this player? If we are talking about Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, or Kurt Schilling, the answer is a resounding no! It is laughable that neither Bonds, Clemens, or Schilling received more than 60% of the required 75% votes.
First and foremost, the MLB league office, owners, coaches, writers, and even fans have completely fumbled the handling of the PED/steroid era of baseball from the beginning. This includes commissioner Bud Selig who is in the Hall of Fame. The best approach would have been to put the past behind them with a strong hand moving forward. Let the league know you will have strict drug testing, but you can’t change the past. This would have gotten rid of the retroactive witch-hunts. When you look back in sports history, actively searching for “misdoings” such as performance-enhancing drugs, it is almost impossible to do so fairly and unbiased. Hindsight detectives narrow their search on the biggest names of the eras. They aren’t searching through the thousands of MLB players during that time. There is no chance to find all of the people who used PEDs.
The league turned a blind eye to steroids/PED usage while capitalizing financially from the home runs chases after the 1994 strike. Then the league turned on its players after the Mitchell Report came out. It has let the writers conspire to keep some of the games greatest players out.
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were baseball titans. Bonds is not only one of the best players from his generation, but he is also considered by many, the greatest hitter of all time. Bonds, in his 22-year career, is a 7-time MVP, a 14-time All-Star, in addition to setting many records in his time. Clemens was an 11-time All-Star, an MVP and tallied 7 total Cy Young Awards. When fans thought of hitters, they thought of Barry Bonds. When they thought of pitching, Roger Clemens came to mind. They defined the era.
However, because of baseball“purist”, neither Bonds nor Clemens has been entered into the hall because of their PED scandals. It is a travesty to the game to leave these greats out. Especially when the Hall of Fame has inducted players such as Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, and Tim Raines. Even the commissioner Bud Selig who presided over the “steroid era” was voted in. Piazza has admitted to having used Androstenedione and amphetamines during his career before they were listed on the banned substance list. Bagwell likewise admitted using it, but only admitted using it up to the 1998 season. Jose Canseco, in his book “Juiced”, accused Pudge Rodriguez of using PEDs. Most absurd of all is the case of Tim Raines. Raines confessed to playing while under the influence of cocaine, while also concealing a vile of cocaine with him on the field. He did this for years. While many performance-enhancing drugs are “illegal” in accordance to the rules of professional baseball, Tim Raines used drugs that are criminally illegal. Each of these players, as good as their numbers were, have drug controversies surrounding them.
With that being said, let’s review Clemens and Bonds pre-1999. As Piazza and Bagwell have defended their drug use in the steroid-era, we can also defend Bonds and Clemens. Before the 1999 season, Bonds already had 3-MVP awards, 8 Gold Gloves, and had become the first MLB player with 400 stolen bases and 400 home runs. Clemens himself had 3 Cy Young Awards, an MVP Award, led the league in ERA four times and strikeouts three times. This was all before the 1999 season. Before the circus. Before the controversies. Those stats alone would be argument for his Hall of Fame enshrinement.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not arguing against players like Piazza, Bagwell, Rodriguez, or Raines. They were great players. Pudge was the 2nd-best catcher of all time and the others certainly have their numbers. But Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens lifted the league higher than any of them did. But because the PED stories surrounding Bonds and Clemens were louder than the others, they are denied their glory. It’s another case of sports history becoming a shadow of itself due to “morality”.
Unlike Bonds and Clemens, Curt Schilling finds himself without induction due to his personality. The writers and many fans don’t like him for some of his political and public remarks and posts. He’s certainly said many things that would disqualify him for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. While this may be true and his character may be in question, that should not hold any weight in voting on his play. His stats and accomplishments should put him into the hall, yet he was refused acceptance.
The Baseball Hall of Fame needs to be consistent. It can’t give into identity politics, popularity contests. This is professional sports, not election season, or a good guy of the week award. Retroactive research and biased opinions should equally lack validity in defining the greats of their times. Baseball needs consistency and a stance. Doing otherwise is a disservice to the game.
