The Final 4 is set. #1 overall seed Florida gets a chance at redemption against UConn, one of just two teams to beat the Gators this year. Wisconsin, the other team who has beaten Florida, will play Kentucky.
Florida is a team with a lot of experience., The Gators made three straight Elite 8s before finally cutting down the nets in Memphis Saturday. Congratulations to Billy Donovan, one of the best coaches in college basketball, for getting his team over the hump and into the sport's final weekend.
Wisconsin is making their first trip to the Final 4 under Bo Ryan. UConn is making their first trip under new coach Kevin Ollie. Both teams have star upperclassmen in Shabazz Napier and Frank Kaminsky who have grown into bonafide superstars this year. There's plenty to like about both teams as they square off to play SEC opponents in Texas next weekend.
But I find the timing of this year's NCAA tournament to be very ironic.
This year's NCAA tournament has served as a distraction from a much larger issue: the Northwestern football team's victory with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Regional Director on March 26, in which they successfully qualified themselves as employees of Northwestern University--employees with the ability to unionize and bargain collectively. This may very well be another nail in the NCAA amateurism coffin.
A few things to note about the decision.
First, Northwestern is a private university, and the decision therefore does not yet apply to the public universities who are, in large part, the worst offenders. The large public schools profit most off the free labor NCAA amateurism provides.
Second, Northwestern graduates close to 97% of their "student-athletes," one of the highest graduation rates in the country. This means athletes at private schools with lower graduation rates will have an easier case to make in showing they are employed athletes for their institutions and not just students.
Third, it should be noted that the NLRB decision will have to stand up to appeals at the national level. The Northwestern players have already indicated their intent to take the case that far, and a few of them are traveling to Washington to meet with Congress this week.
Finally, it also should be mentioned that at this point, the Northwestern players have not indicated they will be seeking any share of the football program's revenue, and instead have focused on obtaining health insurance from the university to cover football-related injuries. But eventual monetary compensation seems to be the logical end as the NCAA and their "student-athletes" start down this path toward reclassification.
This classification was a long time coming. In fact, it took some clever rhetorical changes in the 1950s and 60s to delay the "employee" classification for as long as it has.
In 1953, University of Denver football player Ernest Nemeth successfully argued that collegiate football players fit under the definition of "employee" under Colorado's workers compensation statute, meaning the university was required to provide worker's compensation for Nemeth's football injuries. This decision was upheld by the Colorado State Supreme Court, a decision which shocked the NCAA.
In response, the NCAA changed their language to re-emphasize academics. They invented the term: "student-athlete."
Walter Byers, who served as the NCAA Executive Director at the time, later wrote:
"[The] threat was the dreaded notion that NCAA athletes could be identified as employees by state industrial commissions and the courts. [To address that threat, we] crafted the term student-athlete and soon it was embedded in all NCAA rules and interpretations as a mandated substitute for such words as 'players' and 'athletes.' We told college publicists to speak of 'college teams,' not football or basketball 'clubs,' a word common to the pros."
After slapping on a brand new "student-athlete" label, the NCAA suffered another blow 10 years later.
In 1963, the California Supreme Court ruled that Cal Poly football player Gary Van Horn (who died in a 1960 plane crash when returning from a football game) was an employee of the University, meaning his widow and dependent children were eligible for death benefits under California worker's compensation law. In the decision, the California Supreme Court indicated that a clear connection could be drawn between Van Horn's expected participation in the Cal Poly football program and Van Horn's athletic scholarship. The decision established a precedent in which a college athlete could have a contract of employment with a university where the scholarship was the only form of compensation for services.
So when the "student-athlete" label did not resolve the issue on its own, the NCAA then decided to promote new verbage in their scholarship "contracts." The NCAA encouraged this specific language:
"This award is made in accordance with...the principles of amateurism, sound academic standards, and financial aid to student athletes...Your acceptance of the award means you agree with these principles and are bound by them."
This contract language meant athletes could only receive compensation (in the form of the scholarship) in exchange for renouncing all commercial or pecuniary rights that could arise in the course of the athlete's relationship with their university. Because there is no significant competitor to the NCAA for collegiate athletes in the US, college athletes had no choice but to accept the terms that the NCAA provided.
The new language had the sole purpose of allowing NCAA member institutions to avoid legal responsibilities as employers. And as NCAA commercial revenue has risen exponentially in the 50 years since Gary Van Horn, the NCAA has collected an immense amount of unjust profits as a result.
But the course of conduct between the universities and their athletes never changed.
Scholarship athletes were still expected to participate in athletics, or else risk losing their scholarship. The employee-employer relationship still existed, and the NCAA simply took advantage of a strong bargaining position to contract over the issue. This strategy paid major dividends to the NCAA for over 50 years.
The recent NLRB decision by Regional Director Peter Sung Ohr recognized this. His decision went into great detail on the revenue and benefits received by the school, revenue that is wholly dependent on the participation of Northwestern football players in the football program. Ohr also noted that the Northwestern coaching staff exerts an inordinate amount of control over their players lives, devoting nearly half of a 24-page opinion to Northwestern practice schedules, required workouts, final say on living arrangements, vehicle registration, control over player use of social media, dress code, restrictions on off-campus travel, and other elements of increased institutional control over football players. Ohr surmised that this amount of control was much more analogous to an employer-employee relationship than a typical school-student relationship. And he decided that Northwestern athletes should be allowed to unionize accordingly, as employees.
While the ruling won't change the landscape of college athletics any time soon, it can certainly be viewed as a strong victory for college athletes and a resounding loss by the NCAA. The athletes have won a significant battle here. As the case progresses through appeals at the federal level, only time will tell if they will win the war.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Premier League Review March 30
It was a good day for Liverpool, no matter your color. Everton beat Fulham 3-1 at Craven Cottage and the red half of Merseyside went top of the league with a dominant 4-nil win over Spurs at Anfield.
Fulham 1 - Everton 3
Fulham equalized with a superb goal from Ashkan Dejagah in the second half, but substitutes Kevin Mirallas and Steven Naismith made the difference with two late goals to take the 3 points for Everton.
Everton is in a very good run of form, winning their last 5 matches. The Toffees are now just 4 points behind Arsenal for 4th place, with a game in hand. Everton hosts limping Arsenal (the Gunners have merely taken 2 points from their last 3 matches) at Goodison this Sunday. Having drawn against a much healthier and stronger Arsenal side at the Emirates early in the season, Everton will be a very difficult opponent for the Gunners next weekend.
Manager Roberto Martinez has his team playing extremely well, but for me, the most interesting aspect of this season's race for fourth place is Everton's Belgian attacker, Mirallas. Two years ago, it was widely reported that both Arsenal and Everton had bids accepted for Mirallas, and that Mirallas chose to play for Everton over Arsenal after consulting with his countryman Marouane Fellaini. A year later, Fellaini is gone, Everton only looks better without him, and Mirallas's explosive pace and clinical finishing has been a problem for opposing defenses all season. Given Arsenal's woeful lack of attacking options (especially the lack of fast attacking options after Walcott's injury) one can only wonder how different both team's seasons would look had Mirallas decided to play in North London instead.
Liverpool 4 - Spurs 0
Amid strong rumors that Louis Van Gaal was poised to take Tim Sherwood's job this summer, the Spurs manager got his setup all wrong today, opting to play an attacking 4-1-4-1 with Nacer Chadli and Gylfi Sigurdsson centrally and Eriksen on the wing. Frankly Sherwood has done nothing to suggest he deserves to keep the job, as Spurs were horrible at Anfield, and have only managed to take 1 point against the top 4 teams this season.
Defensive mistakes from Younes Kaboul and Michael Dawson led to 2 Liverpool goals in the first half. But Spurs struggled to create anything the entire match. And Liverpool were unlucky not to score more.
I must say I am astonished by Liverpool's performance this season. I did not foresee Gerrard adapting to a defensive midfield role as well as he has, Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge improving as much as they have, and I thought that the Liverpool defense would never be good enough to win anything with players like John Flanagan playing a majority of the matches.
Liverpool has many players with pace, and they take full advantage of that pace by spreading their players out and constantly switching the ball to keep the opposing defense from organizing themselves in a compact way. But in Suarez they possess a true talisman. A player who makes everyone around him better. A player who can turn games in his team's favor single-handedly. And a player who has finally matured, it seems.
Much like with Mirallas, watching Suarez makes the Arsenal supporter in me think of what might have been. Not just because Arsenal refused to pay over 40 million pounds for the want-away Suarez last summer, but also what might have been had the Gunners taken as ambitious a stance as Liverpool when confronted with a similar situation with Robin van Persie two summers ago.
Refusing to allow Suarez to join an English rival upped the stakes for Liverpool this summer. It was a clear signal of their ambition. An indication that Liverpool believed they could defy the odds and win something this season. That belief has permeated from the top-down, and Liverpool now have the title in their hands with just 6 games remaining. The Premier League is theirs to lose.
I can only admire their ambition.
Fulham 1 - Everton 3
Fulham equalized with a superb goal from Ashkan Dejagah in the second half, but substitutes Kevin Mirallas and Steven Naismith made the difference with two late goals to take the 3 points for Everton.
Everton is in a very good run of form, winning their last 5 matches. The Toffees are now just 4 points behind Arsenal for 4th place, with a game in hand. Everton hosts limping Arsenal (the Gunners have merely taken 2 points from their last 3 matches) at Goodison this Sunday. Having drawn against a much healthier and stronger Arsenal side at the Emirates early in the season, Everton will be a very difficult opponent for the Gunners next weekend.
Manager Roberto Martinez has his team playing extremely well, but for me, the most interesting aspect of this season's race for fourth place is Everton's Belgian attacker, Mirallas. Two years ago, it was widely reported that both Arsenal and Everton had bids accepted for Mirallas, and that Mirallas chose to play for Everton over Arsenal after consulting with his countryman Marouane Fellaini. A year later, Fellaini is gone, Everton only looks better without him, and Mirallas's explosive pace and clinical finishing has been a problem for opposing defenses all season. Given Arsenal's woeful lack of attacking options (especially the lack of fast attacking options after Walcott's injury) one can only wonder how different both team's seasons would look had Mirallas decided to play in North London instead.
Liverpool 4 - Spurs 0
Amid strong rumors that Louis Van Gaal was poised to take Tim Sherwood's job this summer, the Spurs manager got his setup all wrong today, opting to play an attacking 4-1-4-1 with Nacer Chadli and Gylfi Sigurdsson centrally and Eriksen on the wing. Frankly Sherwood has done nothing to suggest he deserves to keep the job, as Spurs were horrible at Anfield, and have only managed to take 1 point against the top 4 teams this season.
Defensive mistakes from Younes Kaboul and Michael Dawson led to 2 Liverpool goals in the first half. But Spurs struggled to create anything the entire match. And Liverpool were unlucky not to score more.
I must say I am astonished by Liverpool's performance this season. I did not foresee Gerrard adapting to a defensive midfield role as well as he has, Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge improving as much as they have, and I thought that the Liverpool defense would never be good enough to win anything with players like John Flanagan playing a majority of the matches.
Liverpool has many players with pace, and they take full advantage of that pace by spreading their players out and constantly switching the ball to keep the opposing defense from organizing themselves in a compact way. But in Suarez they possess a true talisman. A player who makes everyone around him better. A player who can turn games in his team's favor single-handedly. And a player who has finally matured, it seems.
Much like with Mirallas, watching Suarez makes the Arsenal supporter in me think of what might have been. Not just because Arsenal refused to pay over 40 million pounds for the want-away Suarez last summer, but also what might have been had the Gunners taken as ambitious a stance as Liverpool when confronted with a similar situation with Robin van Persie two summers ago.
Refusing to allow Suarez to join an English rival upped the stakes for Liverpool this summer. It was a clear signal of their ambition. An indication that Liverpool believed they could defy the odds and win something this season. That belief has permeated from the top-down, and Liverpool now have the title in their hands with just 6 games remaining. The Premier League is theirs to lose.
I can only admire their ambition.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Premier League Review March 29
Just another day in the Premier League...
Man United supporters expressed their displeasure with David Moyes in the most dramatic way possible. Jose Mourinho got so upset while getting beat by Tony Pulis that he threatened a child. Cardiff gifted West Brom a go-ahead goal in the 94th minute, only for the Baggies to return the favor a minute later. Alan Pardew was finally allowed back in a football stadium only to see his Newcastle side get mauled at Southampton. Hull lost to Stoke and Swansea throttled Norwich. And Arsenal rebounded from a terrible week to earn a point that very few expected them to get against title favorites Man City.
Man U 4 - Villa 1
Moyes's team responded to their many detractors with a good performance today. After falling behind early, Man United scored 4 unanswered goals to win 4-1 against a Villa team that posed a lot of problems, but failed to capitalize on their chances.
I believe Moyes deserves more time to turn the ship around at Man U, as I do not think the squad he inherited was truly that great. While I do think Man U mismanaged the transfer window this summer, I also think Moyes has taken an unfair share of the blame for a squad that frankly overachieved the past few seasons. Replacing Sir Alex Ferguson was never going to be easy, and I think Fergie didn't do his successor any favors by relying on many players over the age of 28 in his final title run. I plan to go into further detail in defense of Moyes later this week.
Crystal Palace 1 - Chelsea 0
While Mourinho's interaction with the Palace ballboy will take most of the headlines, to me the most glaring observation to take from this game was how poor Fernando Torres played, and how much Chelsea misses Samuel Eto'o. Chelsea leads the league despite not having a complete squad. Their lack of quality strikers is obvious to everyone. But Eto'o was in good form when he went out injured against Arsenal last week, and Torres struggled yet again to replace him.
If I ran Chelsea, I would explore the possibility of swapping Torres back to his boyhood club, Atletico Madrid, for the excellent Diego Costa. The problem is Torres's form has been so bad that Atletico may not even want to take him back. Now aged 30, the explosive quickness that used to terrify defenders is long gone, and Torres's decline is as steep as I can remember for a player who cost Chelsea 50 million pounds just a few seasons ago.
Even though John Terry's own goal proved to be the only goal in the game, Crystal Palace could (and should) have scored a few more. Joe Ledley had a few great chances, as did Jason Puncheon, and Cameron Jerome struck the post. This looked like a Chelsea team that was more worried about their midweek game vs PSG than Crystal Palace, and Tony Pulis's team took advantage. This may be the result that keeps Palace up.
Arsenal 1 - Man City 1
Arsenal rebounded from a slow start to draw with Man City in the late game. Thoroughly dominated in the first 50 minutes, Arsenal nearly conceded another embarrassing own goal before scoring the equalizer through Mathieu Flamini in their next possession.
Lukas Podolski put in his usual "Jekyl and Hyde" performance, as he assisted the crucial goal, but his inability to track back proved problematic for most of the game. City had their way down Arsenal's left hand side through Jesus Navas and Pablo Zabaleta. In fact, it was City's own decision to sub Navas out in the second half that changed the game more than anything, as they struggled to deal with Arsenal's high pressure when missing Navas as an outlet late in the game.
Give credit to Arsenal for coming back and taking hold of the game after a very trying week. Cazorla, Rosicky, and Flamini particularly impressed, and although Arsenal showed signs of both mental and physical fatigue, perhaps the home fans were able to provide the adrenaline boost to overcome that fatigue. The Gunners will take momentum into a crucial game at Goodison next Sunday.
Everton/Fulham and Liverpool/Spurs to come tomorrow. Liverpool will win the league if they win their remaining 7 matches. Tune in and enjoy the show.
Man United supporters expressed their displeasure with David Moyes in the most dramatic way possible. Jose Mourinho got so upset while getting beat by Tony Pulis that he threatened a child. Cardiff gifted West Brom a go-ahead goal in the 94th minute, only for the Baggies to return the favor a minute later. Alan Pardew was finally allowed back in a football stadium only to see his Newcastle side get mauled at Southampton. Hull lost to Stoke and Swansea throttled Norwich. And Arsenal rebounded from a terrible week to earn a point that very few expected them to get against title favorites Man City.
Man U 4 - Villa 1
Moyes's team responded to their many detractors with a good performance today. After falling behind early, Man United scored 4 unanswered goals to win 4-1 against a Villa team that posed a lot of problems, but failed to capitalize on their chances.
I believe Moyes deserves more time to turn the ship around at Man U, as I do not think the squad he inherited was truly that great. While I do think Man U mismanaged the transfer window this summer, I also think Moyes has taken an unfair share of the blame for a squad that frankly overachieved the past few seasons. Replacing Sir Alex Ferguson was never going to be easy, and I think Fergie didn't do his successor any favors by relying on many players over the age of 28 in his final title run. I plan to go into further detail in defense of Moyes later this week.
Crystal Palace 1 - Chelsea 0
While Mourinho's interaction with the Palace ballboy will take most of the headlines, to me the most glaring observation to take from this game was how poor Fernando Torres played, and how much Chelsea misses Samuel Eto'o. Chelsea leads the league despite not having a complete squad. Their lack of quality strikers is obvious to everyone. But Eto'o was in good form when he went out injured against Arsenal last week, and Torres struggled yet again to replace him.
If I ran Chelsea, I would explore the possibility of swapping Torres back to his boyhood club, Atletico Madrid, for the excellent Diego Costa. The problem is Torres's form has been so bad that Atletico may not even want to take him back. Now aged 30, the explosive quickness that used to terrify defenders is long gone, and Torres's decline is as steep as I can remember for a player who cost Chelsea 50 million pounds just a few seasons ago.
Even though John Terry's own goal proved to be the only goal in the game, Crystal Palace could (and should) have scored a few more. Joe Ledley had a few great chances, as did Jason Puncheon, and Cameron Jerome struck the post. This looked like a Chelsea team that was more worried about their midweek game vs PSG than Crystal Palace, and Tony Pulis's team took advantage. This may be the result that keeps Palace up.
Arsenal 1 - Man City 1
Arsenal rebounded from a slow start to draw with Man City in the late game. Thoroughly dominated in the first 50 minutes, Arsenal nearly conceded another embarrassing own goal before scoring the equalizer through Mathieu Flamini in their next possession.
Lukas Podolski put in his usual "Jekyl and Hyde" performance, as he assisted the crucial goal, but his inability to track back proved problematic for most of the game. City had their way down Arsenal's left hand side through Jesus Navas and Pablo Zabaleta. In fact, it was City's own decision to sub Navas out in the second half that changed the game more than anything, as they struggled to deal with Arsenal's high pressure when missing Navas as an outlet late in the game.
Give credit to Arsenal for coming back and taking hold of the game after a very trying week. Cazorla, Rosicky, and Flamini particularly impressed, and although Arsenal showed signs of both mental and physical fatigue, perhaps the home fans were able to provide the adrenaline boost to overcome that fatigue. The Gunners will take momentum into a crucial game at Goodison next Sunday.
Everton/Fulham and Liverpool/Spurs to come tomorrow. Liverpool will win the league if they win their remaining 7 matches. Tune in and enjoy the show.
Welcome!
Welcome to Ramblin' Gooner!
I am starting this blog to share my opinions on world sports. Sometimes they will get long and ramble-y. Who knows, maybe 1% will be insightful.
But I'll ramble on anyway.
Enjoy!
I am starting this blog to share my opinions on world sports. Sometimes they will get long and ramble-y. Who knows, maybe 1% will be insightful.
But I'll ramble on anyway.
Enjoy!
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