This post is the greatest of all time

When Appalachian State beat Michigan this past weekend, people started immediately saying that it was the greatest upset of all time. Michigan came into the game ranked number five in the preseason polls and the Mountaineers are in the Football Championship Subdivision (or The Football Division Formerly Known as Div I-AA, iconic symbol pending), although they are two-time defending Football Championship Subdivision Championship Game Champions (no, that is not an error). When Corey Lynch blocked Michigan's field goal attempt to seal the game, history was made: for the first time ever, a Div I-AA team (I'm not going through that again) defeated a Top 25 opponent. But was it truly the greatest upset of all time?

Ever notice that we've had a lot of 'greatest of all time' moments lately? The Heat's Finals comeback over the Mavs was called the greatest ever. The 2004 Red Sox ALCS win over the Yankees after falling behind 0-3 was too. The 2006 NCAA basketball tournament was called the greatest of all time, at least until the later rounds when everyone found out that huge upsets early in the tourney means good, not great, teams in the Final Four. The 2005 USC Trojans were hailed as the greatest team of all time, then lost the Rose Bowl and the National Championship to Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns. Then that game was called the greatest of all time and Vince's performance was called the greatest individual performance of all time.

OK, I won't argue with that last one.

We've even turned it into an ironic acronym: G.O.A.T. Used to be, if someone said, "Who's the goat?" the answer was Bill Buckner. Now it's Alex Rodriguez. Come to think of it, Barry Bonds could arguably be the answer to both questions.

Why do we feel the need to attempt to validate today's sporting events, teams and athletes by naming them the greatest of all time? Is it not good enough to put on a great performance? Why do we need our teams to defeat not only their opponent, but also history? Is it because we live in a world of mass media, the internet and SportsCenter highlights? Is it our arrogance to believe that we live in the greatest era of mankind? Or is it simply a desire to feel as though we are witnessing history at every turn? Whatever the case, we have become a society of statistical outliers, the tapered ends of the bell curve, where the greats of today (and the worst--it works that way as well) will be quickly replaced by tomorrows G.O.A.T.s (or goats, as the case may be).

App State's win over Michigan was not the greatest upset of all time, but it was a great game, and that's good enough for me.

And another thing on Imus...

Don Imus has been ripped for his racist comments and has paid for it. But there is another suggestion in his comments that I haven't heard being mentioned that I also find disturbing.

Imus referred to the Tennessee team as 'cute' and the Rutgers team as, well, you know what he said. This seems to imply that Imus thinks women's athletics exists purely to be eye candy. This shows a blatant disrespect for the women on both teams, who were playing for the national championship.

Unfortunately, Imus is not alone in this opinion. There are many sports fans who were disgusted by the racist aspect of his comments, but feel the same way regarding women in athletics. Here are a few other examples of female athletes not being taken seriously:

• Anna Kournikova got attention despite never winning a tournament.
• Jennie Finch was a winner, but got much more attention for her looks.
• Some players on the LPGA feel the need to 'sell sex' to promote their tour.
• How often have you heard about Playboy offering a female athlete X dollars to pose?
• Sports news websites occasionally run lists or contests for the 'Sexiest Woman in the _______'.

Imus got what he deserved, but perhaps there are plenty of others who need to thing about how they view female athletes.

Finally, a confession of sorts: Before this situation, I had never heard of Don Imus. Maybe I've lived a sheltered life. I'm pretty sure I was happier not knowing him.

I wish I played golf like a girl

Yet again, comments have prompted a new post. Heather tried to get me to write about women in sports when I originally wrote the Sabathia post but I resisted because I don't see that as being the same issue. It gets its own mention here.

Sabathia was saying that African Americans are choosing not to play baseball for various reasons and that baseball would eventually suffer because of the shrinking talent pool. For the most part, this is not the problem faced by female athletes. Their issue is a glass ceiling.

There are few opportunities for excellence in women's athletics. Golf, tennis and the WNBA are the only major sporting venues available, and each of these are female-only competitions. Generally speaking, I don't have a problem with a woman attempting to compete on the men's tour. I had no problem with Annika Sörenstam playing Colonial in 2003 and would have no issue if she tried again. She may not have made the cut, but she didn't come in last, either—she finished as good as or better than fifteen men. Should those fifteen be banned from future PGA events? Annika has proven herself on the LPGA tour and deserved the chance. But Vijay Singh shot his mouth off and others with their 'maybe I should play a LPGA event' comments acted the fool, too. Quick reminder, Vijay et al, it's not the MPGA—the lady can play.

But past record and accomplishments is why I do have a minor issue with Michelle Wie playing men's events. I think she would be better served (and would have more credibility) if she proved herself a winner on the LPGA before attempting men's events.

Danica Patrick is another female athlete who has broken into an individual sport. While it is not hard to find references to the fact that she has never won an IRL race, it is not as often mentioned that she finished twelfth in the points standings her rookie year and improved on that her second year, finishing ninth. Not too shabby.

In team sports, however, is where the real problems arise because of a lack of legitimate leagues for women. If a female athlete wants to play, she has to break down that barrier. It's one thing for Sörenstam, Wie or Patrick to compete against men; it is quite another for a female to compete as a teammate.

There are levels of resistance to female athletes competing with men. The first is a gentle nudge. If a female, particularly a young girl, shows an interest in playing a 'boys' sport, they are encouraged to play softball instead, or join the cheerleading squad, or some other 'safe' viable alternative. The next step is resistance. Girls are told that locker room facilities aren't available, or that a proper uniform can't be ordered. Or even worse, they are put through a sham 'tryout' process to weed them out. The next step is outright denial: 'No you can't play. Go away.'

But if the athlete perseveres through all of that and actually make the team, there is one final step: harassment. They can be bullied by their coaches, their teammates, their opponents and their fans. Case in point: Katie Hnida, the Colorado kicker. Charges have never been filed, but allegations of sexual abuse and rape remain. Her former coach Gary Barnett made statements on the record that cannot be denied.

See, it doesn't begin at the pro level. Just as Sabathia implied with African Americans in baseball, it starts with the kids. A kid from the projects who never plays ball won't play ball in MLB. And a girl in the suburbs who is never allowed to play with the boys at the local park, on the playground or on a middle school team is effectively denied the chance to play as a professional.

Please don't misunderstand: I don't think women should be given a free pass to play football or any other sport in a traditionally mens league. But I do think these leagues should represent the best athletes in the game, regardless of gender, and that women deserve a fair opportunity to compete. If she can play, she's only going to make your team better. But this is a deeply rooted barrier in our society that is going to take time to overcome. It's going to take more than Wie making the cut and Patrick winning an IRL title. It's going to take more than Manon Rhéaume playing a couple preseason NHL games. It's going to take more than Billy Jean King beating Bobby Riggs in the 'Battle of the Sexes'. Throughout our history, various women have proved themselves capable of competing on the brightest stages. Hopefully one day, it won't be such a novelty act.

Racist kneejerks

espn.com posted an article headlined 'Sabathia pitches for more African Americans in game' that has drawn a very strong response judging by the comments posted about it. Basically, Sabathia said that the number of African Americans is baseball is declining and that this is bad.

Unfortunately, about 90% of those commenting missed Sabathia’s point. The vast majority were quick to accuse Sabathia of reverse racism (whatever that means—something is either racist or it isn’t). Let’s detail Sabathia’s statements and the typical overractions to it.

The biggest issue centers around where the blame lies. Most were quick to accuse Sabathia of blaming baseball, which he does not. Quite the opposite, actually; he says that African Americans themselves have chosen to play other sports, notably football and basketball. He feels that MLB needs to find a way to build interest in baseball to attract some of these athletes that are slipping away to other sports.

A few recognized this—they ripped Sabathia for putting the responsibility of bridging the gap on MLB and said he should shut up and do something himself. If you read the article, Sabathia says that the programs MLB currently has in place are good but are still coming up short and that he sponsors a program that supports 175 kids in his community.

Some people argued that if African Americans choose to play basketball or football rather than baseball then so be it. That baseball is not obligated to let in some inferior players who happen to be black in order to boost the percentages. Again, Sabathia never proposed such a thing. What he suggested is that in the near future, the quality of the game will suffer because African Americans who had the potential to be star ballplayers would have never realized their talent—in other words, the talent pool is shrinking, and that's why MLB should be concerned.

And I can't tell you how many people regurgitated the 'there are no whites in the NBA' argument. While this may be true (although the numbers are not as bad as they would have you believe), it is not because of a lack of opportunity or exposure. Just a lack of talent.

And it didn't get any better when I moved onto other pages. While researching some of the figures and percentages quoted, I found out there is someone out there who plays 'Spot the Black' when they watch commercials on TV. Someone else plays a game he calls 'Bullshit' when he watches TV with his wife: they try to be the first to say 'bullshit' when they see three or more people of different races hanging out together in a commercial. Oh, but don't worry—they said they don't play it in front of the kids. (Somehow, I think they are still going to pick up on that attitude.) Their point is that people from different races don’t go to the movies, eat at restaurants or go bowling together. I'll be sure to mention that at dinner tonight, where, depending on who shows up, up to four races from six or seven countries will be represented.

When you read through the comments, a pattern emerges—there is a correlation between racist comments and spelling and grammar mistakes and cursing. It is a nearly flawless connection. This would seem to indicate, to no surprise, that the problem is a lack of education. People who are educated tend to be more tolerant of those who are different; those who are uneducated feel threatened. Some people were even threatened by the way Sabathia wears his hat. This reveals an irrational insecurity and deeply rooted fear of anyone or anything different. With education comes the knowledge that our differences should be embraced and celebrated, not covered up and forgotten. With education comes the knowledge that quality is improved when more people are in the talent pool. And with education comes the knowledge that sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zone and lend others a hand. If the youth today, no matter their race, don't want to play baseball that is their choice. But they at least should have the opportunity to play before they make that decision.

The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in 1865 and the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964, but sadly we still have a long way to go.

So, when exactly do they get in trouble?

The big sports news here in Nashville is Adam "Pac Man" Jones, a cornerback/ kick returner for the Titans. It is the only thing being talked about on the local sports talk radio show. It even leads the 10:00 news. It follows a pattern of about every couple of months or so since I moved here in March of last year. If you don't know about Pac Man here is the story. During the NBA All-Star weekend (which by the way sounds like it was a train wreck), Pac Man went to a strip club with $81,000 in bills and began to shower them on the strippers, called making it rain. Apparently, he did not consider this shower to be for those nearby, because when the strippers began to pick up this money, Pac Man slammed one of the girls head on the the stage. This began a ruckus that ended with shots being fired by a member of Pac Man's group and three people injured, one paralyzed. Of course, Pac Man has plausible deniablity in the shooting. He didn't pull the trigger and none of his guys are going to say that he ordered the shooting. He is their gravy train. But this has been a pattern of behavior that goes all the way back to his time at West Virginia.

Here are two brief lists of Pac Man Jones misbehavior, one from the Tennessean and one from Wikipedia.

As you can see, this a pattern of behavior that goes back years and is not liable to get any better. There is no question that he is a premier talent. He is perhaps as good or better than Devin Hester returning punts. He is premier cover corner in the NFL and easily the best defensive player for the Titans last year. There are a number of questions that come up. What do the Titans do with him? Why does he continue to persist in this destructive behavior? How has this guy not done any prison time?

It seems to me that this is a bad guy. One of the big problems with sports these days is that money is so huge and the payoff for a talent like Jones is so rich that no one has the audacity to tell this kid do. And he is a kid, he's only 23 years old. It's sad to see this guy seem to be trying desperately to waste his talent.

I'm not trying to tell the Titans how to live their life, but you know Jeff Fisher is wondering when am I gonna get a phone call saying that Pac Man is either dead or has killed someone. I don't know the salary cap implications. I do know that if they let him go, they will need, not one, but two cornerbacks next year. There will also be another team who needs a cornerback who will give him another chance. I also know that if he comes back and plays for the Titans next year, all these folks that are calling into the talk shows and saying "We gotta get rid him. He's cancer!" are going to be cheering for him when he returns a kick or an interception for a touchdown. Because, really what's more important in our society? If you can score, you can do whatever you want.

UPDATE: It looks like the NFL is going to investigate the incident. Evidently, they are "extemely concerned" about the behavior of players over the past year. Between Tank Johnson and the 2/3 of the Bengals whole team, the NFL has suffered a number of black eyes over the past year. I bet if they find anything wrong, they come down hard on Pac Man.

Let me give one caveat. The owner of the strip club has been everywhere. He was on both Nashville sports talk radio stations two days after the incident and then on Dan Patrick and on any number of other outlets. Now, I didn't listen to any of these interviews, but it seems like an opportunity for this guy to get as much pub as he possibly can for himself and his club. I heard that it has been having money problems (although I would think that a strip club in Vegas is about as gauranteed a business venture as one could come up with) and this is great chance to get his name out there. I'm just saying.