As one gets older, one’s priorities change; what would have once been an absolute must, is now just background noise. I am in the midst of a period where this is happening twice.
First comes the NCAA Tournament – when I was younger, I used to draw a bracket on poster board, keeping track of not just winners and losers but the scores also. I have been to the first round games at the Allstate Arena (then it was the Rosemont Horizon) and the United Center. I have even been to a Final Four – 1991 in Indianapolis (it was Duke’s first national championship, having upset UNLV in the semi-finals after losing to them in the 1990 Final game). Needless to say, I was a big fan. When I first starting working a “real” job, I’d take the first weekend off and do nothing but watch basketball.
Long time readers know that I have been bored with basketball for a very long time. In the past, I would at least watch a little bit of the first weekend, and usually some of the Final Four. This past weekend was the first two rounds of this year’s tournament; the Indignant Women were all out of town visiting relatives and I was at home alone. I spent 32 hours between Friday and Sunday working on a massive categorization project of stuff left over from a flood we had two years ago. When I was younger, this would have been the perfect opportunity to watch television while working and I did. Instead of basketball however, I started a Game of Thrones marathon, and I watched no ball at all. I learned of all of the results, upsets and controversies through the newspapers and ESPN recaps yesterday.
The second instance would also have appalled a 25 year old Tony Fernandez. This year, the NFL Draft will be held outside of New York City for the first time in 50 years; this time at the Auditorium Theater here in Chicago. I used to spend hours in front of the television watching the draft, especially the first three rounds. Later in life, I used to check in periodically to see if any Northwestern players had been drafted in the late rounds. While I never would have dressed in a Bears jersey and yelled and screamed and booed who I thought were poor picks by the Bears like rowdy Giants and Jets fanes on television, a much younger me would have found a way to be there, at least for the first round.
Today, they announced the lottery process that will be used to allow fans into the draft. There is still a part of me that would like to experience the draft, but my work prevents me from going – I won’t be in Chicago for most of the draft, so the point is moot, but in younger days, I would have been pissed off having to miss this opportunity. However, the older me isn’t – do I feel like being in the loud, noisy, crowded Auditorium with people who are much more geeked about the draft than I am. (Although the chance to razz Mel Kiper, Jr. is almost too much to give up, although it would be hard to decide to yell at him over his stupid picks over the years or his more-than-perfect hair.)
Like everyone else on the planet, I am aging. Things that I used to enjoy no longer do, for various reasons. There is a small part of me who will be envious of missing out on the Draft, but I will see some of it on television. I didn’t miss the Tournament, but I still will probably watch some of it. However, I don’t think I’ll watch as intently or with the same enthusiasm.

Sports fans have very little love for team owners, but often, the owners and fans can come together in distrust of one group of people: sports agents. Agents solely exist to get as much money as they can for their clients, which of course means more money for them because they get 10% or more of that contract. About the only agent that people like was Tom Cruise in the film “Jerry Maguire.”
There is no agent more reviled than Scott Boras. Boras, who has negotiated probably billions of dollars for clients including Alex Rodriguez, uses bluster, intimidation and unremitting hard ball tactics to bully general managers. At one point, things were so contentious between Boras and Chicago white Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and the front office that free agents represented by Boras were never contacted and players in the system that had him for an agent would be allowed to leave.
Boras is back at his best with Chicago Cubs prospect Kris Bryant. The young third baseman/outfielder is the number one player on most prospect reviews. He is hitting tape measure home runs in spring training; only a tired shoulder has kept him from showing what he can do in the field (fortunately, the NL is allowing designated hitters in spring training this year).
In separate interviews Tuesday with Fox Sports and USA Today, Boras blasted Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts for allegedly not making a full effort to win by not promoting Bryant to the majors last September, and it is unlikely that Bryant will be on the Opening Day roster this year.
Why? The collective bargaining agreement between the MLB Players Union and the league is that if Bryant had been brought up last September, and if he is on the roster at the start of the season, he become eligible for arbitration and free agency that much earlier. In other words, if Bryant is in AAA for the first two weeks of the season, in which the Cubs play nine games, the club gets Bryant’s rights for another whole year.
It’s not like Bryant will need to buy Kraft Macaroni and Cheese dinner in squalor – when the Cubs drafted him as the second overall pick in the 2013 draft, they gave him a $6.7 million signing bonus. (For the record, Bryant has stood behind Boras, but has also been very appreciative of the way the Cubs have treated him.) Plus, why bring the kid up in September last year? The club was safely in last place, let him finish the season in the minors and get ready for the next spring training.
All of this is permitted under the collective bargaining agreement. It sucks for Bryant and thereby Boras, but for Boras to be bitching and complaining because the Cubs are doing what is in the team’s best interest and in the short term may be costing Bryant some money, but if he pans out at the star everyone expects, he will make millions of dollars. If this was such a bad deal for players, why would they have agreed to it?
Scott Boras needs no lessons on the intracacies of baseball’s CBA. He knows what the deal is, and, like people in every business in the world, there are risks and rules to doing business. Boras should still be living off the A-Rod millions along with all of his other clients – he has plenty of money and access to more. I wish someone would tell him from the rest of the baseball world, that these are the cards he was dealt – shut up and play ‘em.

Last week’s announcement of severe sanctions against the Syracuse basketball program and Coach Jim Boeheim in particular, many pundits thought that this would be the end of the coach’s tenure that started in 1976. Most people thought that the “farewell tour” had already begun – after his nine game Regular Season ACC suspension, I thought that Boeheim would announce his retirement at the end of next season. Whether it was Boeheim’s decision or if there were footprints of the school’s administration on his rear end, I thought that Boeheim would be gone one way or another by the summer of 2016.
I am surprised by the announcement that Jim Boeheim will retire in three years, Syracuse University announced via Twitter. School chancellor Kent Syverud released a statement explaining how the decision was ultimately made: “…Coach Boeheim has also told me that he intends to retire as Head Coach in three years. His goal in making this decision and announcement now is to bring certainty to the team and program in the coming years, and enable and plan for a successful, longer-term transition in coaching leadership. Coach Boeheim’s commitment to ensuring that the men’s basketball program remains strong even after his tenure is just one more example of his deep loyalty to our University.”
As I wrote before, I always thought that Boeheim was a whiny coach and only when he had teams so stacked with talent did he win his one and only NCAA Tournament Championship. Never beloved by current or ex-players like the late Dean Smith, Boeheim was a coach that having decent teams for a very long time, so his records were longevity, not necessarily merit. Now we find out that he has been running a corrupt program for many years, spurring a penalty for the university, which is normal, but also a penalty for the coach himself, which is uncommon and said that the 70-year-old coach was personally involved or knowledgeable of the violations.
I know one thing – I think its only 50/50 at best that Boeheim is still coaching Syracuse in three years.

If you use the search engine on this site and look up “Tim Tebow” and read the articles, one might think that I can’t stand the young man. When the Florida college star was with the Broncos, he showed minimal skills, and a lot of luck on the field. I knew that would take care of itself. My problem with him was his self-righteous, extreme Christian Fundamentalist stance, which he would bring out at every opportunity. You have a right to your beliefs, just don’t start spouting them on ESPN.
Tebow went to the Jets, played very little, and eventually was cut and has been out of football. He has become a halfway decent college football television analyst from what I hear (I don’t watch much of the studio programs), but Tebow reportedly has been working with former major league pitcher Tom House, who is now a co-owner of 3DQB, a performance center for quarterbacks and pitchers whose past customers include Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Carson Palmer. According to Bleacher Report, he has been working with House for over a year, working with House’s method which emphasizes efficiency, timing and “sequencing,” the transfer of throwing power through the legs, hips and shoulder to the ball.
This week, it was reported that Tebow has worked out for the Philadelphia Eagles and a return to the NFL seems a very real possibility. As I wrote above, one would think that I am rooting against Tebow, but I am not. I hated all of the Bible-thumpers who saw his wobbly touchdown passes as “Acts of God,” and Tebow himself was pompous and seemed like he started to believe the hype.
However, Tebow seems to have been working really hard to improve his mechanics, and perhaps humbled by the experience of being out of the game, maybe he can stop trying to give sermons on the mount at every press conference. I have always said that Tebow, like every other athlete, deserves a chance to play, and if Tebow has improved and some team sees a way he can help them win, then he should be out there playing.
If he wants to preach however, he should go to divinity school and find a church so that I can ignore him properly.

Regular readers may remember last week when I wrote about the retirement of quarterback Jack Locker and other NFL players. While none of them said that the potential of head injury played any role in their decision, I wondered if that did have some, perhaps small part in their decisions.
Then, this week, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland has retired from professional football over worries that a prolonged NFL career could lead to long-term effects from head trauma:
Borland, 24, only just finished his rookie year in the league, and says that he has suffered only two diagnosed concussions: in high school and once in college. Borland notified the 49ers on Friday after consulting with family members, concussion researchers, friends and current and former teammates. He studied what is known about the relationship between football and neurodegenerative disease. “I just honestly want to do what’s best for my health,” Borland told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” “From what I’ve researched and what I’ve experienced, I don’t think it’s worth the risk.”
Already people like LeBron James and even ex-NFL players and even some Hall of Famers like Mike Ditka have said that they would have concerns if they had a son considering playing football. For some young men, the appeal of the fame and riches is enough. Young people think they are immortal, and many players who have been hyped into thinking they are more special than special have drunk the Kool Aid and think “it can’t happen to me.”
Some young men though are rethinking their commitment to professional football regarding their ability to think and remember. Chris Borland has taken a courageous stand. I don’t think he will be the last one.

Some people are making a big fuss over a photo of a kiss between ESPN College Basketball analyst Dick Vitale and actress Ashley Judd, a huge supporter of the University of Kentucky basketball.
Vitale called it a “fun moment. Under no condition did I plant a kiss on Ashley,” he said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. “It’s the other way around. We’ve been friends for over a decade. It was simple as can be.” Asked about the photo during an appearance on MSNBC on Monday, Judd, a Kentucky graduate, said she thinks of Vitale as “an uncle.”
I understand concern about old men taking advantage of young women, as a father of two daughters, I understand concerns. However, there are limits to outrage. First, Vitale and Judd have known each other for years. Second, both of these people are grown adults; Ms. Judd understands what is acceptable and what makes her feel uncomfortable.
Let’s learn some perspective people! Please?

Well, the biggest wagering mechanism in all of commerce started last evening: bettnig on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Admit it, how many of you have done little work this morning because you were researching Wofford? (And don’t discount Wofford – the 5 seed vs. 12 seed matchup always ends up with upsets.)
Personally, I have not done any review because, as long time readers know, I have been bored with basketball for over a decade. I did want a couple minutes of yesterday’s Big Ten Conference Tournament Championship Game between Michigan State and Wisconsin, but I was quickly bored and changed the station. (It also doesn’t help that I hate conference tournaments because they completely demean the value of the regular season. And, if there is an upset in one of these tournaments, a poor team takes the place of a better, more deserving team because the bad team got hot for three days. Finally, I refuse to give the Big Ten any more of my money, and conference tournaments are only another big cash grab for the conferences.)
There is one story that I have wanted to address all season and I never had the opportunity until now: the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats. John “The Nomad” Calipari’s team has not lost a game all season and is trying to become only the second undefeated team in NCAA history. Fortunately, we don’t see Scott May and the other members of the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers rooting for them to lose like Nick Buonoconti and the classless 1972 Miami Dolphins do every year when the last undefeated team loses.
So, yeah, Calipari has worked his recruiting magic, getting the best players in the country to commit to one year at Kentucky before going pro. It’s a talent, and Calipari only has to keep them eligible for 2/3rds of a season, then they can drop out and prepare for the NBA. This short-term commitment also lessens the chances that Calipari will get caught in any NCAA rules violations regarding student grades, which can allow him to keep coaching there for a long time. Unlike Calipari’s previous college tenures where he has constantly left for another job just before the NCAA sanctions hit his previous employer.
Since I haven’t watched them play, I have no idea who is on their team, but I do have to give Calipari credit for getting young men to play together effectively in a very short period of time. However, if I were a Kentucky fan, like number 1 fan Ashley Judd, I would be worried. An undefeated team has a bull’s-eye on its back larger than any other team. They are under pressure to keep the streak going, and unlike a loss in the regular season or even in the conference tournament, one loss and its season over. At this point, to non-Kentucky fans, it’s 63 against 1.
I have always been a believer that teams need a loss occasionally: to ground them; remind them that they aren’t unstoppable; to listen to the coaches more diligently. If Kentucky comes out flat or bored against some team that has nothing to lose, they could easily get beat, and then the whole state of Kentucky is depressed until the mint juleps start getting made at Churchill Downs.
So, if the streak continues, there is a much higher chance that I will watch at least one of the Final Four games. I may even learn who is on the team, but only to see who is going to be drafted in the NBA Draft.