Is anything for sale nowadays? The owner of the Chicago Cubs says that he will not hesitate to sell the naming rights of Wrigley Field, the home of the Cubs since 1916. In a day where arena and stadium naming rights change as often as the seasons of the year, a select few venues have somehow escaped the corporated naming rights disease.
The newest stadium to be built is the Dallas Cowboys new 100,000 seat, retractable roof stadium that will be completed in a couple years. This new stadium, which total cost is around $1 billion, has more parking spots, 30,000, then Wrigley had seats during it first 13 years of operation.
Given the choice to visit the two, I would pick Wrigley for its history, uniqueness, and small town feel surrounded by a large city.
How much more money do these owner need that $20 million over five years is worth putting a name on a stadium like Wrigley that people will continue to call Wrigley no matter what corporate name gets tagged to it?
Across town, the White Sox changed their stadium name to U.S. Cellular Field, but everyone calls and knows it as (New) Comisky Park. Anyone remember what the Houston Astros called their stadium when it first opened? Enron Field. Think they regret that decision?
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Guitar Hero
If there is a game that I can not stand, it is Guitar Hero. Or maybe it's just the people that play it. The guy across the hall from me last year played it for a week straight for eight hours a day, skipping all his classes. I haven't had the pleasure of being awoken at 2 in the morning by the riff of a plastic electronic guitar in a few months now, so I am hopeful that this phase in American pop culture is over.
Jacks in the WNIT
After a Western Illinois loss Monday, the Jacks have clinched a return birth to the WNIT. Now the speculation can begin; will the Jacks get the first round bye they deserve, or will they have to play a first round game. It's a double edge sword because if the Jacks get a first round bye they have better chance of winning the tournament. As we all know, we play to win the game.
If they don't get a bye, they will likely host the game and will have an amazing sellout crowd. I have been to a sold out Minnesota Twins game and a sold out Sioux Falls Storm playoff game where the everyone stood up the entire game, but I have never seen, felt, or heard anything like the two WNIT games last season at Frost. Student lining up at 10 in the morning for a 7 p.m. game. Just crazy stuff. If SDSU were to host five or six home games with sell out crowds or 5,500-6,000, it would be something unprecedented in the state of South Dakota. Only a handful of WNIT outdraw the Jacks, which is sad. A new Division I program with about 11,500 students averages better attendance than schools three-times their size.
The bad part is that if we don't get a bye, we will have to play two games over spring break. It would be interesting to see the student turnout for a WNIT game over spring break.
Final thought: I feel sorry for Centenary on Saturday night.
If they don't get a bye, they will likely host the game and will have an amazing sellout crowd. I have been to a sold out Minnesota Twins game and a sold out Sioux Falls Storm playoff game where the everyone stood up the entire game, but I have never seen, felt, or heard anything like the two WNIT games last season at Frost. Student lining up at 10 in the morning for a 7 p.m. game. Just crazy stuff. If SDSU were to host five or six home games with sell out crowds or 5,500-6,000, it would be something unprecedented in the state of South Dakota. Only a handful of WNIT outdraw the Jacks, which is sad. A new Division I program with about 11,500 students averages better attendance than schools three-times their size.
The bad part is that if we don't get a bye, we will have to play two games over spring break. It would be interesting to see the student turnout for a WNIT game over spring break.
Final thought: I feel sorry for Centenary on Saturday night.
Monday, February 25, 2008
And the best tap water goes to ... L.A.?
When I was looking for something to blog about, I came across this article that said that Los Angeles has the tastiest water in the country.
A few years ago, my family went on a vacation to the west coast. When we got to the Southern California area, we did not drink the water that was in the hotel room. It was cloudy, dirty and had things floating around in it. It may seem like a stereotype to say "Don't drink the water in Mexico", but it's the truth.
It does make sense for the second largest city in the U.S. to have some of the cleanest drinking water since there are so many people and businesses to service.
The video that you see of the L.A. skyline with a permanent, cloudy smog doesn't scream clean drinking water to me. Maybe L.A. could share some of their clean, tasty water with their friends to the north and south.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Spygate
How smart is NFL Commissionor Roger Goodell? Smart enough to know when the right time is to schedule a meeting to talk about the illegal video taping that the New England Patriots were involoved in?
Sen. Arlen Spector wrote a letter to Goodell asking why the tapes were destroyed and why the penalty was given before the evidenct was even looked at?
Goodell said that he would happily meet with Spector. It just happened to be the same day that the baseball steroid hearings would take place. On any other sports day, this meeting might lead off SportsCenter. However, most people probably didn't even know that the meeting took place.
After meeting with Goodell, Spector is not satisfied with the answers that he recieved so he will investigate further.
The Roger Clemens in this case is New England coach Bill Bilichick who is dening that the destroyed video tapes helped him that much outside of halftime adjustments. The role of Brian McNamee is being played by former Patroits video assistant Matt Walsh, who says that he has video of the Pats illegally taping teams.
I think that this may be more serious then the recent steroids in baseball story. The steroids story is old news and hundreds of players throughout the last three decades have used some sort of substance. Why is a cortizone shot or any other substance that helps a player get on the field when he otherwise wouldn't be able to legal and steroids and HGH are not? Taken in moderation, steroids and HGH can have positive effects. I would bet the too many shots of cortizone (I know too many pain pills can be habit forming) would have ill effects just as too much of anything, steroids, HGH, food, alcohol, etc., is not good for your body. Everything in moderation.
The Patriots are the only team known to have cheated by video taping their opponents signals during the game. In baseball, every team had at least one player who was getting an "unfair" advantage. Remember, when most of these player took steroids, they were not aganist the rules of baseball and no drug testing policy was in place.
Sen. Arlen Spector wrote a letter to Goodell asking why the tapes were destroyed and why the penalty was given before the evidenct was even looked at?
Goodell said that he would happily meet with Spector. It just happened to be the same day that the baseball steroid hearings would take place. On any other sports day, this meeting might lead off SportsCenter. However, most people probably didn't even know that the meeting took place.
After meeting with Goodell, Spector is not satisfied with the answers that he recieved so he will investigate further.
The Roger Clemens in this case is New England coach Bill Bilichick who is dening that the destroyed video tapes helped him that much outside of halftime adjustments. The role of Brian McNamee is being played by former Patroits video assistant Matt Walsh, who says that he has video of the Pats illegally taping teams.
I think that this may be more serious then the recent steroids in baseball story. The steroids story is old news and hundreds of players throughout the last three decades have used some sort of substance. Why is a cortizone shot or any other substance that helps a player get on the field when he otherwise wouldn't be able to legal and steroids and HGH are not? Taken in moderation, steroids and HGH can have positive effects. I would bet the too many shots of cortizone (I know too many pain pills can be habit forming) would have ill effects just as too much of anything, steroids, HGH, food, alcohol, etc., is not good for your body. Everything in moderation.
The Patriots are the only team known to have cheated by video taping their opponents signals during the game. In baseball, every team had at least one player who was getting an "unfair" advantage. Remember, when most of these player took steroids, they were not aganist the rules of baseball and no drug testing policy was in place.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Congress and Steriods
I am pleased to find out that Congress has solved all of the country's problems that they can now delve into the world of sports. With another Congressional hearing yesterday on steriods in baseball, all eyes in the sports world was turned to Washington D.C.
After Mitchell Report on steriod in baseball came out in December, the only player mentioned in the report that has denied use is Roger Clemens. After numerous athletes have denied use and later found out to be lying, it is hard to believe what Clemens is saying. He has never wavered from his original position of innocence, but pitchers in their late 30's and early 40's do not have the type of seasons that Clemens have had.
One moment in the hearings that I thought was comical was one board member berating Clemens' former trainer Brain McNamee for lying. He goes through a long list of answers that McNamee answered falsely years before he told the truth to the Mitchell Report. THIS IS A CONGRESSMAN ACCUSING SOMEONE OF LYING! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
It comes out today that the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Henry Waxman, regrets that the hearings ever took place.
If you watched the hearings, you could clearly see a line drawn down party lines. Democrats were harder on Clemens and Republicans were harder on McNamee. It was almost embarrassing listening to one woman member from New York gush over Clemens thanking him for all that he has done for New York while he was there with the Yankees.
Was anything accomplished by having this hearing? Nothing has changed since before the hearing took place to now that they are over.
There are rumours that President Bush would give Clemens a pardon even before a possible perjury charge could be filed. Bush even called Clemens and told him to "to stay strong and keep your head up high. I think that it would be fitting for Bush to pardon Clemens on his way out of the Oval Office to put a nice bow on the corrupt and catastrophe that has been the last eight years in American history. Bush even mentioned fighting against steroid in a past State of the Union speech. Makes you wonder if Barry Bonds would be so fortunate to receive a pardon if he would ever be convicted of the same crime.
If it wasn't for Jose Canseco's biography a few years ago, we probably never would have had the first Congressional hearings on baseball three years ago. Admitted juicer Canseco has done more to expose the drug culture than anyone. There were always whispers, but Canseco turned the volume up so that everyone could hear them.
What started as Commissioner Bud Selig's attempt to clean up baseball and uncover past transgressions that he turned a blind eye to is now a lead story on the national nightly news and is overshadowing the start of spring training. This saga will not be ending anytime soon.
After Mitchell Report on steriod in baseball came out in December, the only player mentioned in the report that has denied use is Roger Clemens. After numerous athletes have denied use and later found out to be lying, it is hard to believe what Clemens is saying. He has never wavered from his original position of innocence, but pitchers in their late 30's and early 40's do not have the type of seasons that Clemens have had.
One moment in the hearings that I thought was comical was one board member berating Clemens' former trainer Brain McNamee for lying. He goes through a long list of answers that McNamee answered falsely years before he told the truth to the Mitchell Report. THIS IS A CONGRESSMAN ACCUSING SOMEONE OF LYING! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
It comes out today that the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Henry Waxman, regrets that the hearings ever took place.
If you watched the hearings, you could clearly see a line drawn down party lines. Democrats were harder on Clemens and Republicans were harder on McNamee. It was almost embarrassing listening to one woman member from New York gush over Clemens thanking him for all that he has done for New York while he was there with the Yankees.
Was anything accomplished by having this hearing? Nothing has changed since before the hearing took place to now that they are over.
There are rumours that President Bush would give Clemens a pardon even before a possible perjury charge could be filed. Bush even called Clemens and told him to "to stay strong and keep your head up high. I think that it would be fitting for Bush to pardon Clemens on his way out of the Oval Office to put a nice bow on the corrupt and catastrophe that has been the last eight years in American history. Bush even mentioned fighting against steroid in a past State of the Union speech. Makes you wonder if Barry Bonds would be so fortunate to receive a pardon if he would ever be convicted of the same crime.
If it wasn't for Jose Canseco's biography a few years ago, we probably never would have had the first Congressional hearings on baseball three years ago. Admitted juicer Canseco has done more to expose the drug culture than anyone. There were always whispers, but Canseco turned the volume up so that everyone could hear them.
What started as Commissioner Bud Selig's attempt to clean up baseball and uncover past transgressions that he turned a blind eye to is now a lead story on the national nightly news and is overshadowing the start of spring training. This saga will not be ending anytime soon.
Monday, February 11, 2008
MySpace/Facebook
MySpace reported increase traffic for the January and average time spent on the site is the highest it has been since August 2007. Meanwhile, Facebook saw a decline in unique visitors over the same period.
Personally, I perfer Facebook since it is simplier and I don't need anything like an unofficial, personal website that MySpace offers. Tons of celebrities and rock bands have MySpace pages since they are free and don't really cost anything like an official website would.
What I don't understand is why high school and college students would post pictures of themselves drinking underage. Some employers are now checking these sites of future employees. What positive can come from that?
Personally, I perfer Facebook since it is simplier and I don't need anything like an unofficial, personal website that MySpace offers. Tons of celebrities and rock bands have MySpace pages since they are free and don't really cost anything like an official website would.
What I don't understand is why high school and college students would post pictures of themselves drinking underage. Some employers are now checking these sites of future employees. What positive can come from that?
Sunday, February 10, 2008
2008 Election
When candidates for the 2008 Presidential election started to announce their candidancy, it was one of the largest fields ever seen. Almost a dozen candidates for each party started out and now we are down to three. With John McCain having the Republican nomination pretty much sown up, more attention will be placed on the Democratic side. With Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama in a virtual tie in delegates, primaries and caucuses that occur late in the election process will now place an important role. And if the election is still not decided by then, which is likely, superdelegates will decide who the Democratic nominee will be. Most people have never heard of superdelegates because they have not played a big, crucial part in deciding a parties nominee.
My question is why do we decide big, national elections by delegate count instead of popular vote. This method already cost someone the Presidency in 2000 and it could do the same to either Clinton or Obama in 2008. In what other election does popular vote not count. At the local, county and state level, all elections are decided by popular vote. School board elections are not decided by giving certain parts of a town more influence then others based popular or income. If the delgate/electoral college method was used in statewide South Dakota elections, Minnehaha and Pennington counties would be the only ones that would matter.
I think one reason why the system isn't changed is because it has been used for over 200 years and it is easier to figure out what state a candidate needs to win when going by the electoral vote instead of popular vote. If a candidate is so many delegates behind, it is easy to look at the map and say "Candidate A needs to win state A, B and C to win the election." If popular vote was the deciding factor, it would be less interesting to watch the election all night if one candidate had a decisive lead national wide of a few million votes. To throw in a sports analogy, it would be like counting all field goals in a basketball game during the first quarter worth one point, in the second quarter worth two, in the third quarter worth three, and during the fourth quarter worth four points. Or in a simplier analogy, the way that the CBA did quarter points.
My question is why do we decide big, national elections by delegate count instead of popular vote. This method already cost someone the Presidency in 2000 and it could do the same to either Clinton or Obama in 2008. In what other election does popular vote not count. At the local, county and state level, all elections are decided by popular vote. School board elections are not decided by giving certain parts of a town more influence then others based popular or income. If the delgate/electoral college method was used in statewide South Dakota elections, Minnehaha and Pennington counties would be the only ones that would matter.
I think one reason why the system isn't changed is because it has been used for over 200 years and it is easier to figure out what state a candidate needs to win when going by the electoral vote instead of popular vote. If a candidate is so many delegates behind, it is easy to look at the map and say "Candidate A needs to win state A, B and C to win the election." If popular vote was the deciding factor, it would be less interesting to watch the election all night if one candidate had a decisive lead national wide of a few million votes. To throw in a sports analogy, it would be like counting all field goals in a basketball game during the first quarter worth one point, in the second quarter worth two, in the third quarter worth three, and during the fourth quarter worth four points. Or in a simplier analogy, the way that the CBA did quarter points.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Blackberry #1, iPhone #2
The Blackberry has recently overtaken the iPhone as the number one smartphone in the U.S. market.
This just makes me wonder what will come next to replace the Blackberry and other devices like it. There always have to be something to replace what we have now. When Microsoft came up with Vista, many people disliked it because it was different, new and complicated at first. Microsoft had to come out with a new application to keep up with other companies. Was Vista better than what Microsoft previously had? It doesn't matter. A few years from now Microsoft will come up with something to replace Vista once the public is comfortable and have just figured out the Vista program.
It's amazing to think of the technological advances made in the last 20 years, let alone the last 100.
What other applications would you need that isn't already on a smartphone. I don't have one, mainly because a laptop and a simple cell phone is enough for me. If I did have an iPhone, I would maybe use a small percentage of all the functions that are available.
What will come next in televisions now that all stations will broadcast in HD starting early in 2009. While it has taken considerably longer for televsion to transition out of an analog signal, it is almost impossible to image something coming along 50-100 years from now to replace HDTV. But one thing is for certain; it will happen.
This just makes me wonder what will come next to replace the Blackberry and other devices like it. There always have to be something to replace what we have now. When Microsoft came up with Vista, many people disliked it because it was different, new and complicated at first. Microsoft had to come out with a new application to keep up with other companies. Was Vista better than what Microsoft previously had? It doesn't matter. A few years from now Microsoft will come up with something to replace Vista once the public is comfortable and have just figured out the Vista program.
It's amazing to think of the technological advances made in the last 20 years, let alone the last 100.
What other applications would you need that isn't already on a smartphone. I don't have one, mainly because a laptop and a simple cell phone is enough for me. If I did have an iPhone, I would maybe use a small percentage of all the functions that are available.
What will come next in televisions now that all stations will broadcast in HD starting early in 2009. While it has taken considerably longer for televsion to transition out of an analog signal, it is almost impossible to image something coming along 50-100 years from now to replace HDTV. But one thing is for certain; it will happen.
Friday, February 1, 2008
More postseason tournaments???
If you are a college football fan, the bowl season is a special time of year where for a two week stretch, there's at least one game on each day if not more. In recent years it has become too much as this past bowl season 64 teams qualified and that's not even counting the handful of teams that qualified, but were not picked for bowl games. That's over half of the teams in Division I.
In D-I basketball there are over 300 teams eligible for postseason play, but only 65 are selected for the NCAA Tournament while another 30 or so are selected for the less prestigious (W)NIT. This makes going to the NCAA's a big deal for teams, especially players from mid-majors that get to experience what other big time programs like North Carolina, Duke and UCLA experience every game.
That will change this season as the NCAA has introduced the WNIC, a 32 team single-elimination event held March 24-30 in St. Petersburg, Fla. That expands the teams in post season tournaments to 144. A number that is closely closing in on half of all D-I basketball teams, much like football.
The full article can be seen here.
In football, the bowl games are done for money purposes. The BCS bowl teams have received anywhere from $15-17 million for playing in the game. In basketball, some smaller schools will lose money this March, but the experience is priceless.
"Teams chosen for the WNIC will be responsible for the costs of travel, food and hotels and be required to purchase 100 tickets at $10 each. Interested schools that have a chance to meet the tournament's 12-win minimum must complete a participation agreement by Feb. 15. The field will be announced March 17."
A 12-win team will have close to 20 losses, but will still have a chance to compete in a postseason tournament. I thought that the whole point of gaining a post season birth was to reward a team for having a good season, not winning 40 percent of their games.
It also sounds that the WNIC will not be a money making venture as the school will already be $1,000 in the red just based on purchasing tickets. The sound strategy might be to not accept a bit at all or if you do accept a bit, lose as quickly as possible to save money.
I don't think that SDSU will be affected by this since a strong weekend showing on the road and with five of their last seven game at home, the Jacks have a good chance to win the Summit League regular season and earn an automatice birth in the much more lucrative WNIT.
In D-I basketball there are over 300 teams eligible for postseason play, but only 65 are selected for the NCAA Tournament while another 30 or so are selected for the less prestigious (W)NIT. This makes going to the NCAA's a big deal for teams, especially players from mid-majors that get to experience what other big time programs like North Carolina, Duke and UCLA experience every game.
That will change this season as the NCAA has introduced the WNIC, a 32 team single-elimination event held March 24-30 in St. Petersburg, Fla. That expands the teams in post season tournaments to 144. A number that is closely closing in on half of all D-I basketball teams, much like football.
The full article can be seen here.
In football, the bowl games are done for money purposes. The BCS bowl teams have received anywhere from $15-17 million for playing in the game. In basketball, some smaller schools will lose money this March, but the experience is priceless.
"Teams chosen for the WNIC will be responsible for the costs of travel, food and hotels and be required to purchase 100 tickets at $10 each. Interested schools that have a chance to meet the tournament's 12-win minimum must complete a participation agreement by Feb. 15. The field will be announced March 17."
A 12-win team will have close to 20 losses, but will still have a chance to compete in a postseason tournament. I thought that the whole point of gaining a post season birth was to reward a team for having a good season, not winning 40 percent of their games.
It also sounds that the WNIC will not be a money making venture as the school will already be $1,000 in the red just based on purchasing tickets. The sound strategy might be to not accept a bit at all or if you do accept a bit, lose as quickly as possible to save money.
I don't think that SDSU will be affected by this since a strong weekend showing on the road and with five of their last seven game at home, the Jacks have a good chance to win the Summit League regular season and earn an automatice birth in the much more lucrative WNIT.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)