It's been awhile since I've posted, okay, it's been about a millenium.  But I thought I would throw this up there and let anyone interested know you can find me at www.featurepresentationonline.com.  This piece is cross-posted there under my real name.  If you like what you read, check it out.  Several other NGS alums are writing for the site as well and doing some great things.

 

The University of Tennessee athletic department announced on May 22 that women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt had signed a six-year contract extension.  The deal promises Summitt approximately $1.125 million a year in total compensation, making her the highest paid coach in NCAA women’s basketball.  But the deal marks more than just a watershed moment for salaries in women’s sports, it also serves as a quiet indication that the glass ceiling in college coaching may be cracking. 

Summitt, who has coached at UT for 32 years, is the winningest coach in NCAA Division I basketball.  Her 923 career wins are the best all time, ahead of Dean Smith (879), Mike Krzyzewski (750) and John Wooden (665).  She has amassed 25 Southeastern Conference tournament and regular season championships, made appearances in 16 Final Fours and brought six national championships home to Knoxville.  In addition, under her guidance the woman’s basketball team has a 100% graduation rate for players completing their four years of eligibility.

 

Summit made about $900,000 last season.  Contrast that with Krzyzewski whose total compensation package from Duke University was about $1.5 million.  The two coaches share a lot in common – unqualified success on the court and a reputation for demanding academic excellence off the court.  Their teams also both play on home courts dedicated in their names.  But while Summitt’s total wins outnumber Krzyzewski’s and her number of NCAA titles eclipse his (six to his three), she has made significantly less over the last few years.  Although a strong argument can be made that Duke has had to increase Krzyzewski’s salary to keep NBA teams with their deep pockets from poaching their coach, it just didn’t seem right that Summitt’s success doing the same job – on and off the court – was not being rewarded in the same way.

Economists and politicians have been predicting for years that as more women moved into the workforce and attained higher levels of education, the wage gap between the sexes would narrow.  But that has not proven to be the case.  Four decades after the Civil Rights Act banned gender-based discrimination in the workplace, women continue to earn less than men for the same work.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2003, the last year for which data are available, women earned $.76 on the dollar compared to men, and women’s median income was $30,724 compared to $40, 668 for men.

In college basketball at least, things are looking up.  The contract extension announced this week puts Summitt, possibly the most high-profile coach in women’s sports period, on par with her male colleagues.  UT Women’s Athletic Director Joan Cronan correctly called the deal “a landmark statement for women’s athletics.”  However, it is just one deal, hard won after a long and extremely successful career.  The true test will come as other women follow in Summitt’s footsteps and begin to build impressive resumes.  How will they be rewarded?  Let’s hope it’s in the same way that their male colleagues are – fairly, equitably and based on results.

Forty-one, that’s the number of goals Washington Capitals rookie Alex Ovechkin has scored so far this season.  That’s one less than league-leader Jaromir Jagr, and the second-highest tally for a rookie since Teemu Selanne put up a record 76 goals as a rookie in the 1992-1993 NHL season.

Scoring 41 goals in your rookie season is a remarkable accomplishment for any player, and considering the Caps have 22 games left to go this season, it’s conceivable that Ovechkin will finish with more than 50 goals and close to 100 points (he has a rookie-leading 76 points now).  The 20-year-old Russian has demonstrated great strength, speed and agility with the puck.  He’s also shown he not shy about giving or taking a hit.  His physical play and infectious, almost giddy joy in playing the game have quickly endeared him to teammates, DC fans and hockey fans in general.  What’s even more remarkable is that Ovechkin’s accomplishments have come with less than spectacular support.

Ovechkin’s outstanding rookie performance has been one of the few highlights of the season for Washington fans.  There will be no playoffs in DC this year.  But fans can still dream about next season and the “what ifs.” 

It’s no secret the Caps are in a rebuilding mode.  Right winger Dainius Zubrus has played well and complemented Ovechkin on the top line, but DC has no true first line center.  Brooks Laich has played admirably lately and may develop into a solid second line center, but he lacks the passing and playmaking ability of a top line guy.

The Caps are well under the salary cap and Ovechkin’s spectacular play and boundless enthusiasm should make DC a more attractive place to free agents in the off season.  Securing a first line center who can not only distribute the puck but take some of the defensive heat away from Ovechkin should be their first priority.

Imagine what the new Russian Rocket could do next season …

It's that time of year again kids.  No, not March Madness.  Not spring training.  It's NCAA lacrosse season!

What the hell is lacrosse, you say?  Lacrosse is the greatest sport you have probably never heard of.  Take the speed and hard hitting of hockey and the high scoring and bone crushing hitting of football and you've got yoursel####reat time.  Before you football fans dismiss it out of hand as a preppy pursuit, let me point out that the great Jim Brown played lacrosse as an undergrad at Syracuse and is commonly regarded as one of the best to play the game.  He's in both Canton and the lacrosse hall of fame.

For anyone not from the northeast or Canada, here is a quick introduction.  Lacrosse, commonly referred to as LAX, was invented by the Native Americans as a war game.  Today, it is commonly played at schools up and down the east coast and has developed a following in Colorado and Arizona.  Teams have 10 players each -- a goalie, three defensemen, three midfielders and three attackmen.  Players have sticks with a net at the head so they can catch and cradle the ball while running.  Attackmen and midfielders generally use short sticks, while most defensemen use longer sticks to give them greater reach.  Like hockey, the field, which is slightly larger than a football field, is divided into two and then into three zones -- the defensive zone, the midfield and the attack zone.  A team must keep its four defensive players in the defensive zone and its three attackmen in the attack zone at all times.  Midfielders can roam anywhere on the field.  Again, like hockey, faceoffs are used after scores and penalties to gain possession of the ball.  Body checking and stick checking are permitted.

The NCAA men's season offiically got underway last weekend.  Because the sport's popularity is mostly limited to the northeast, there is a limited number of NCAA Division I teams.  The old guard consists of Johns Hopkins, Syracuse and Princeton, among others.  As lacrosse's popularity has spread, the number of contenders has also grown.  Most recently, Virginia and this year's preseason No. 1 Duke have become power houses.  Because of the small number of D-I teams, schools play each other more often and the rivalries are intense.  It also means ranked opponents tend to meet throughout the season.  On Saturday, Duke will take on No. 2 Maryland, while defending champion Johns Hopkins, ranked fourth, takes on No. 7 Princeton.

If you live near a university or college with a team, check out a game this spring.  There's a lot of great action to come between now and the Final Four over Memorial Day weekend.  If you're longing for the hard hitting of football, I promise you won't be disappointed.

ESPN’s Page 2 is running another one of its hottest athlete polls.  I have no problem with these polls; I find them entertaining.  I can even appreciate the majority of the picks in the women’s top 10, which you can see for yourself here.  In fact, I find it refreshing when guys focus on healthy-looking athletic girls like Tanith Belbin rather than your typical anorexic-looking actresses.

But my friends and I agreed that the men’s list, which you can check out here, is in need of some editing.  Who selected the finalists?  We thought we shoudl chime in.  So without further ado, and in no particular order, our picks for the hottest male athletes …

Jeremy Bloom (Freestyle Skier/NFL Prospect) – The reigning World Cup champion failed to medal in Torino but his dating life isn’t likely to be impacted with abs like that.

Jason Taylor (DE, Miami Dolphins) – MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm, sorry, we lost our train of thought just staring at him.

Henrik Lundqvist (Goalie, NY Rangers) – What is it with Swedish hockey players?  There must be something in the water up there.  Swats away 100 mph pucks like they’re flies and plays in a rock band in his spare time. 

Brady Quinn (QB, University of Notre Dame) – Adorable, Irish and can throw for over 330 yards per game.   Makes us wish we were undergrads again.

Kelly Slater (Pro surfer) – The undisputed king of the waves.  Only gets better with age … just ask Giselle Bundchen.

Hines Ward (WR, Pittsburgh Steelers) – Best smile in professional sports, hands down.  And yes gentleman, a great smile goes a long way.

Michael Owen (Striker, Newcastle United) – Keep your David Beckhams, give us clean cut good looks over Mohawks and peroxide any day.

Dhani Jones (LB, Philadelphia Eagles) – He writes poetry, he paints, he designs bowties and, oh yeah, crushes quarterbacks.  What girl doesn’t love that?

Jim Jackson (Guard/Forward, Phoenix Suns) – This 6’6” swingman can do it all; smooth moves and amazing arms.

Giorgio Rocca (Alpine Skiier) – What woman can resist a rugged Italian man who likes life in the fast lane?

This represents the opinions of just a few of us girls.  Anyone else have thoughts?

Much thanks to my girls – Katy, Chrissy, Nga, Rachel and Laura – for their input.

NBC is letting viewers select one of the contestants for the next run of the Apprentice.  The kicker -- they get to select from 12 U.S. Olympic athletes.  Among the contestants are speedskater Chad Hedrick, who I'm sure would get the team player award, and bobsledder Todd Hays.  My vote goes for snowboarder Danny Kass.  If only because I loved in the run up show to the opening ceremonies how he answered the question "How has winning an Olympic medal changed your life?"  Kass' reply, "Parents seem to dig me a lot more when I ask their daughters out," or something to that effect.  Kass would make for good TV.

Check out all the contestants and vote here.

The U.S. and Canadian men's hockey teams were elminated from the Olympic tournament yesterday, by Finland and Russia respectively, leaving North America without a representative in the medal games.  Instead the Finns and Russians, along with the Swedes and Czechs will duke it out over the hardware.

This wasn't supposed to happen.  Canada, the defending gold medalists, were supposed to put up a better fight.  After all, they had a roster stacked with veteran NHL talent and scorign ability.  Likewise, the U.S. team was supposed to avenge several lackluster (and embarrassing) Olympic performances with a lineup of experienced NHLers. 

Notice a theme here?  Age.  Both the Canadians and Americans went with experience over younger talent, hoping that with scarce time to practice together and gel as a team, veteran leadership and game experience would be enough to propel them through.  So they went with the old standbys -- Chelios, Sakic, Hatcher, Draper -- instead of young guys like Crosby, Staal and Speeza, all having fantastic NHL seasons.

But there was a fundamental fallacy in their strategy.  On the larger international ice with little rest and back-to-back games, the old guys couldn't keep up.  Both the U.S. and Canadian teams, who had talked so emphatically about their goal scoring potential headed into the games, had trouble scoring.  Why?  They had no legs under them.  Both teams looked like they were skating through quicksand throughout the tournament.  They never got into rhythm, never got anything going, and fell back on trying to rely on their individual talent rather than working as a team.

Nowhere was that more evident than when both teams played Russia.  Bouyed by an influx of young talent -- 20-year-old Alex Ovechkin, 19-year-old Evgeni Malkin and 22-year-old Ilya Kovalchuk -- combining with veteran playmakers such as Alexei Kovalev and Pavel Datsuyk, the Russians out-skated, out-hustled and all over out-played both teams.

A lot of soul seraching and finger-pointing will be done in the USA Hockey and Team Canada boardrooms this week.  Blame will be hurled at the players, coaches and manegement.  While there is plenty to go around, a hard look back should be taken at the player selection process for both teams.  The strategy was obviously flawed.

Russia's Sergei Gonchar, who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins, seemed to get it, wondering aloud after the game why Crosby was left off the Canadian roster, "The big ice would be an advantage for a guy like him.  He has great speed, great vision.  He has the skills and it would be a great advantage for him to play. His style fits this game perfectly."

 

These guys are killing me.  Notre Dame's men's basketball team took No. 3 UConn into overtime before losing last night.  ND is now 13-11, 4-9 in conference play.  But the killer is they always come so close.  Their last 10 losses have been by an average of 4.3 points.  They've also come close to knocking off several ranked opponents in overtime, but they just can't close.  They may just be the best awful team out there this season.

The Czech Republic loses to Switzerland, the Americans skate to a tie with Latvia, the Russians lose to the Slovaks then thrub the Swedes -- what the heck is going on in the Olympic hockey tournament?!?!?!

Less than two full days into group play, the Olympic hockey tournament is shaping up to be a doozy.  Olympic hockey has historically had one storyline -- is it going to be Canada, the US or Russia?  But in the 1990's things got interesting with the Swedes taking gold in '94 and the Czechs winning in '98.  The way this year's tournament is shaping up it could be anyone's game.  So far the Slovaks look strong with two wins under their belts.  The Canadians are just getting under way with Germany and should have no problem dispensing them.  Although the struggled early against Italy, so who knows what could happen.

Some key injuries could further impact the way the tournament shakes out.  Czech Slinky Dominik Hasek left yesterday's game with a hamstring pull.  Peter Forsberg is in Turin but has yet to skate for Sweden due to a groin strain and may not play at all.  Much to the chagrin of NHL executives back home, more injuries are sure to occur as play goes on.

So far this tournament has more drama than anything NBC has tried to shove down viewers throats.  While the games are being broadcast during the day on MSNBC, it's sad that primetime viewers aren't at least being treated to highlight reels.  After all, if we're being subjected to roller derby on ice, couldn't we at least get 10 minutes of highlights of a sport most viewers know and possibly care about?

A great story came out of the Olympics yesterday.  Unfortunately it hasn't gotten nearly the amount of play that Michelle Kwan's withdrawl or Bode Miller's failure to medal have.

U.S. speedskater Joey Cheek won gold in the 500m event.  While the win was impressive, it wasn't the biggest story.  At the post-race press conference, Cheek announced he would be donating the entire $25,000 bonus he would receive from the U.S. Olympic Committee to Right to Play, a non-profit organization founded by former speedskating champion Johan Olav Koss that seeks to help children throughout the world through sports.  Cheek specifically requested that the money go to sponsor work in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan and called on corporate sponsors to match the gift. 

Cheek explained, "If I retired yesterday, I'd have gotten everything in the world from speedskating and from competing in the Olympics. So for me, to walk away today with the gold medal is just amazing. And the best way I can say thanks that I can think of is to try and help somebody else."

And with that Cheek personified what the Olympics are supposed to be about.

Every four years I seem to fall in love with some non-mainstream sport during the Winter Olympics.  It is usually something I would never sit down and watch at any other time; but once in four years I find it irresistable.

In 2002 it was the biathalon.  It combines cross country skiing and target shooting.  The best part is, if you miss a target you have to do a penalty lap.  We need more penalty laps in sports.  Who could dislike this sport? 

This year I have succumbed to snowboarding, specifically the halfpipe competition.  Let me state for the record that I am a  wanna be surfer/snowboarder girl.  But growing up in Maryland my opportunities for both have been limited to occassional trips to California and Colorado.  In short, I suck; I can barely make it down the mountain.  But that hasn't kept me from developing a strong affection for both the men's and women's U.S. snowboarding teams this Olympics.  These kids (and I do mean kids, they all should have endorsement deals with Clearasil) have unbelievable skills.  Watching the competition the last two nights I was blown away, despite the NBC announcer's annoying habit of using the phrase "throw down" after every run.  The kids can fly, twist, spin and otherwise contort themselves.

AS impressive as their tricks were, the best part was their attitude.  They were completely relaxed in their New York Yankees-esque pinstripes, hugging each other and mugging for the camera.  I half expected a dogpile or snowball fight at any moment.

And frankly the post-event interviews were the most honest I've heard in a long time.  There was no guile, no attempt at image manipulation, no savvy really.  They were just kids doing the thing they loved most and amazed at the fact that they'd won Olympic medals for it.  It showed on their faces, in their actions, and through their answers.

My only disappointment -- no one asked what they were all listening to during their turns on their iPods.

According to the AP, the new ESPN Monday Night Football crew will be Joe Theismann, Mike Tirico and Tony Kornheiser.  Yes folks, you heard that correctly, Tony Kornheiser.

Tirico did an excellent job filling in for Mike Patrick early on this season, while he recuperated from ehart surgery, and should be a welcome addition to the booth, but Kornheiser?!?!?!

This is going to be interesting.  Part of me says this could rival the Dennis Miller experiment for biggest booth debacle of all time, and part of me thinks it could be brilliant.  We shall see.

Either way, I will miss hearing Theismann and Paul Maguire kibbitz like old ladies.

Thoughts?  Will this be a bust or a boon for ESPN?

The TV ratings are in for Sunday's Super Bowl.  Interestingly, for a game the vast majority of people on this site said they had no interest in watching because Indy and/or New England was not in it, it scored the biggest ratings in 10 years -- nearly 91 million viewers, that's 5% more than last year's audience.  In fact, it's the second-most watched program of any kind in the last 10 years behind Super Bowl XXX, where the Cowboys beat the Steelers in front of a television audience of 94.1 million.  Seems the Steelers may in fact have a case for being America's team.

Let's take it from the top:

Condi Rice on ESPN pre-game show -- I would just love to see her dress down a bit.  Who wears a suit to a football game?  I saw her at a U2 show this fall, same thing.  Loosen up.  You've got style, use it. 

Opening montage -- Ummm, why is Harrison Ford reciting Dr. Seuess?  And furthermore, why does he look like a pirate?  And WHY, when they started the really cool Road to Forty ads with Don Cheadle this season, did they not finish with an opening montage based on that?

National anthem -- Why is Aaron Neville there?  Just let Aretha in her chinchilla coat belt the hell out of the song.  Neville's talent was completely wasted.

MVP introductions -- Tom Brady, what were you thinking with that jacket?!?!?!  Velvet is for little girls under the age of 10 and drunken secretaries at the office Christmas party. 

Coin toss -- Note the absence of Bettis.  No way Cowher was going to let him mess that up again.

Burger King commerical -- What the ..?

80,000 beer commercials -- Why do they all suck?

Half-time show -- Men should never wear sequins.  Especially 65-year-old men.  Same goes for spandex pants.  Did anyone find this entertaining?  Even Charlie Watts looks embarassed to be there.

MI-3 movie trailer -- Suprisingly, I find myself wanting to see this.  I hate Tom Cruise but I'll watch Phillip Seymour Hoffman in anything.

The game itself -- I was actually finding it hard to concentrate on the game.  Too busy making sure my husband wasn't puking or alternately passing out from the stress of watching the Steelers largely play like #### but maintain a lead.

I have to admit that the NGS judges’ first assignment this week rubbed me the wrong way.  And I was surprised after reading the finalists’ submissions that no one else seemed to feel the same.  See, the notion of one team “deserving” to win a game in any sport, let alone the Super Bowl, strikes me as ridiculous.

The beauty of sports is that winner is decided on the field.  Two teams or competitors duke it out for an allotted period of time, and, in the end, one emerges victorious.  Each team is provided the same opportunity to prove itself – the same rules apply, hence the term, “level playing field.”

Sure some things might not be completely even – a key player may be injured, calls may get blown, etc. – but that’s the way life is.  We all have different levels of skill and ability and obstacles that we must overcome to succeed, and so do athletic teams. 

The team that “deserves” to win is the one that puts it together on the field in the course of competition.  Each game is a clean slate.  It doesn’t matter what you did last week, or the week before, or 10 games ago.  It doesn’t matter whose home town the game is played in or whose fans are rowdier.  What matters is how, at that precise moment, each team plays.  Worthiness is decided on the field. 

To paraphrase Kirsten Dunst in what is possibly my favorite guilty pleasure movie, you've got to bring it.  The person or team that does "deserves" to win, plain and simple.

 

I have to admit I got a kick out of seeing several of the Steelers arrive in Detroit wearing Jerome Bettis'  No. 6 Notre Dame jersey.  Of course, I saw Hines Ward in one and thought, "Oh, if only..." but then realized, knowing how ND managed talent at the time, we probably would have tried to turn him into an option quarterback.  Oh well.

But the best line goes to my husband, who upon seeing his team in the green jerseys on ESPN, yelled, "Those damn green jerseys better not jinx us!"