Winning At All Co$t

Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi on his way to court, where titles are won or lost in today's sports world.




Today, as we speak (or as I write), Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is giving a press conference in Madrid to defend his innocence in the face of a positive drug test that has already overshadowed his amazing victory and may even lead to the loss of his title, a lengthy suspension, and - combined with his hip problems - the end of his career.

In San Francisco, Giants slugger Barry Bonds has seen his chase for Hank Aaron's home-run record ruined by constant allegations of steroid use, the incarceration of his personal trainer, and a possible indictment of Bonds himself in the coming days and weeks.

Last week in Rome, an appeals committee reduced the punishments handed out to Serie A sides Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina in the Italian league's much-publicized match-fixing scandal. Juve, the most popular and successful team in Italian soccer, has been relegated to Serie B and penalized 17 points in the coming season. The other three teams will all remain in Serie A, but will also have their own point penalties to overcome this year. Juve's general manager "Lucky" Luciano Moggi was banned from the game for years, as were a number of the referees with whom he and other team administrators were in cahoots. Even the coach of Italy's World Cup-winning side, Marcello Lippi, has been implicated in this controversy and his resignation following the tournament undoubtedly stemmed, at least in part, from the fall-out from this match-fixing investigation.

Testosterone limits, steroid use, indictments, investigations, match-fixing...does this sound like a sports article to you? Well, today, these aren't just excerpts from articles - these are the headlines jumping off the cover pages. In what should be a golden age for sports, what with all the money, media attention, and technological advancements that have made worldwide sports so profitable, plentiful, and accessible via TV and internet, a dark cloud of cheating threatens to tarnish the sports world for the indefinite future. How can this be? How is it possible that these glory days of sports might end up becoming a time to forget?

Unfortunately, it is the newfound riches of modern sports that are the root of the problem itself, as they frequently prove too enticing for others to resist. The sports world began to experience phenomenal growth in the 80s and 90s, as leagues like the NFL, NBA, and English Premiership rose to prominence; meanwhile, international events like the Olympics and the World Cup became worldwide showcases, highlighted by magnetic teams and players such as US basketball's Dream Team and Argentina's Diego Maradona. Sports were booming, fame and fortune was always just one win away and, although this was a positive development in many ways, for some individuals it would prove to be their undoing.

In the early 90s, it was Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson who found the lure of Olympic glory too tempting; a juiced-up Johnson, looking like he was literally about to burst out of his skin, raced to gold in the 100-meter dash before testing positive. In the late 90s, it was Mark McGwire, whose beefy upper-body made Popeye look anorexic, who was unable to resist the fame and fortune that came with being the new home-run champ of baseball; after lasting for 37 years, Roger Maris' record of 61 home runs was suddenly shattered as juiced-up roidheads like McGwire, Bonds, and Sammy Sosa began jacking balls over the fence as if there were honing devices inside them. At the start of the new millenium, it only got worse. Premier cyclists like Jan Ullrich, Richard Virenque, and Marco Pantani were all suspended for drug use; even Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour winner, continues to be suspected of foul play. Top tennis players like Mariano Puerta and Guillermo Canas were caught for doping. Track star Marion Jones was reported to have taken steroids before the 2000 Olympics in which she won two gold medals. A veritable Hall-of-Fame group of baseball players such as McGwire, Sosa, and Rafael Palmeiro were forced to testify in front of Congress after another steroid-user Jose Canseco wrote a book outlining rampant steroid use in the sport; Yankees slugger Jason Giambi was also implicated in this case. Even at levels of sports where the innocence of it all is the main attraction, Little League baseball stars like Danny Almonte were found to have lied about their age in an attempt to become the best in the world by any means necessary.

As athletes went to new extremes to get an edge on the field, sports administrators were also caught up in a growing web of corruption off the field. In Germany, referee Robert Hoyzer was sentenced to two years in jail for his part in Germany's biggest-ever match-fixing scandal. In the 2002 Olympics, a French judge admitted that she had been part of a plan to award the gold medal in figure skating's pairs competition to Russia in exchange for a return favor from the Russian judges in the ensuing ice dancing competition. In the US, as evidenced by comments by the Dallas Mavericks' Mark Cuban and the Seattle Seahawks' Mike Holmgren, it has become commonplace for owners and coaches to question the honesty and integrity of referees.

In today's sports world, that poisoned apple of fame and fortune is simply too hard to resist for most people. Rather than ushering in a golden age for sports, all of the newfound riches have only caused people to go to new extremes for success. Today, there is just too much at stake, whether it be money or fame or power, for people to resist putting their reputations and careers on the line for a shot at becoming the best in the world. (And in the case of the East German female swimmers of the 80s, even becoming a man was a realistic option) It might not be what anyone wants to hear, but it's becoming awfully hard to enjoy any victories in sports anymore. Nothing is sacred. From baseball's record books to Serie A titles, everything comes with an asterisk. Even the best stories, like Landis' courageous effort in the Tour, seem to come with a grain of salt. For the past month, everyone made a conscious effort to forget about doping in the Tour or match-fixing in Italy to savor the impressive triumphs of Landis and the Azzurri, but now it's back to reality. And, sad but true as it is to say, reality in sports isn't about epic comebacks or inspiring performances anymore. Not today - in today's sports world, cheating is the name of the game.

Dallas Mavericks Win Virtual NBA Title

While EA Sports and 2K Sports are competitors in the sports videogame business, both publishers agree on one thing--the Dallas Mavericks will be NBA World Champions this year. Both game companies ran simulated NBA Final series on EA Sports' "NBA Live 06" (shown here on Xbox 360) and 2K Sports' "NBA 2K6." Dallas emerged the victor in both simulations.

According to 2K Sports, Dallas will win the NBA Title in five games, while EA Sports predicts the Heat will be a more worthy match in a full seven game series. Both simulations have Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki taking home the MVP award.

In the EA Sports simulation, Dallas won Game 1 at home 97-90 thanks to Nowitzki's 27 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Miami rode Dwyane Wade's 28 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists to a 101-97 overtime victory in Game 2. Game 3 wasn't pretty for the home town fans, as Dallas snuck by Miami 93-90 on Nowitzki's 32 points (including 11 for 12 free throw shooting) and 12 rebounds. Shaquile O'Neal's 22 points and 11 rebounds weren't enough for Miami. Game 4 brought another overtime contest, which Dallas won 102-101. Nowitzki's 30 points and 8 rebounds edged out Wade's 29 points and 6 rebounds for the win. Miami won Game 5 93-81 on Antoine Walker's 22 points (including 6 for 10 from the three-point line) and 5 rebounds. Miami returned to Dallas with an 87-84 win. Shaq contributed 28 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots and Wade had 21 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds in the win. Game 7 went down to the wire with Nowitzki dunking the winning basket at the buzzer for a 90-88 victory. Nowitzki had 27 points (including 8 for 9 at the free throw line) and 11 rebounds in the clincher.

2K Sports' simulation made it a lot easier on Dallas. The Mavericks won Game 1 97-90. Miami evened the series in Game 2 with a 110-86 victory. But that was all the Heat could muster. Dallas takes the next three games by scores of 107-93, 101-97 and 119-101.

Ironically, both "NBA 2K6" and "NBA Live 06" feature Miami players on their respective covers. Shaq graces the cover of "NBA 2K6" and Wade is the cover boy for "NBA Live 06." Look for one of these two games to feature Nowitzki on the cover for this fall's version.

HP Personal Again, Mark Cuban

A very nice commercial of Compaq nc6400 Business Notebook performed by the Dallas Mavericks boss for HP!

Tags: hp personal commercial mark cuban dallas mavericks boss business notebook laptop computer

Six Nations Fundraiser Wrap

Here is a final report-back from one of the organizers on the fundraiser for the Six Nations land reclamation that I encouraged people to go to and enjoyed very much myself:The July 6 "6N" benefit concert raised over $1,000 to support the Six Nations struggle in Caledonia.The concert was a public gesture of support, one of the few public solidarity actions in Hamilton since the land re-claiming began, and a way to financially support the dedicated work of Six Nations' activists seeking justice and recognition of their rights as a people. From the moment singer/guitarist Kim Koren stepped onto the Casbah stage until Mark LaForme's band closed the place five hours later, the hundreds in attendance were treated to some of the finest music in the city. Between Koren and LaForme, performers Katie Caron, Linda Duemo, The Ray Materick Band, Harrison Kennedy, Martyn Verral, Raphael Keelan, Tim Gibbons, Jack Pedlar, and Daniel Lanois and others filled the Casbah with music as they loaned their considerable talents to support the land claims struggle just a few minutes down highway 6. Wes Elliot and Hazel Hill spoke to the audience about the ongoing struggle they face in holding their ground in the face of adversity and deeply ingrained racism. Elliot, while thanking people for showing their support, went further and invited supporters to come to the site and see for themselves what is going on. An info table set up at the club had a wealth of information available for free, including backgrounders delving into the historical roots of the Six Nations Confederacy and the current land claim.Thanks go out to many people for making it happen, especially Mike Hampson who did the brunt of the work bringing the line-up of performers together, and to Brodie and the staff at the Casbah who supported the event from the start to finish. The all-volunteer effort included the talents of Keisha Quinn who designed the poster, Sandy and Mike for putting us in contact with Mark LaForme (himself a member of the Mississauga of the New Credit band), Cheryl Walker for setting up the info-table, Al Loft and Julie Gordon for initial enthusiasm for the idea and Al for helping MC the event. Thanks go out to Ric Taylor at VIEW and other media like CHML, CFMU, the Hamilton Spectator, and CKRZ for advance publicity; of course the performers and finally, the people of the Six Nations for their courageous stand.The concert subsequently generated some letters to the editor in the local daily (for and against) and the evening created an opportunity to open up lines of communication between aboriginal and non-aboriginal groups in the area. Support came from as far away as Calgary Alberta, Kanehsatake and Las Vegas, Nevada.For more information about the land-re-claiming please visit www.reclamationinfo.com, sisis.nativeweb.org/actionalert/#updates, www.ckrz.com, or take up the sincere offer to visit the site.[Quoted text from an email from RK.]

Sally and Lance

Lance Armstrong's story has been told a fair bit over the seven times that he won the Tour de France. Sally Jenkins, resident of New York, but writer for the Washington Post, helped write the biography of Lance Armstrong as he recovered from cancer. She admits she's not very objective when it comes to covering Armstrong. Imagine, after all, talking to someone about a sport that was considered something of a second tier American sport, where most Americans had no idea about the rules of the sport, and it wasn't even televised.

Then, single-handedly, Armstrong brought recognition to a sport that, while many still don't follow, now has fans that await the results of the three week event. It didn't hurt matters that Armstrong won it so many times. Had he won it, say, five times even, a substantial effort unto itself, would people have cared nearly as much? Seven times meant that for at least four years (from his fourth to his last win), fans would pay attention to Armstrong. His first two wins were, in itself, not enough to resurrect interest.

Even the third win, equal to that of Greg Lemond, and enough to be quite respectable was probably not enough. At four wins, he was close to tying the record, and networks, like OLN, could envision following the event from start to end, and expect some reasonable number of folks to watch.

Once there was five, then there was "could he win six in a row?", then seven.

One person that's been missing from the discussion of this year's tour is Sally Jenkins. In general, she didn't cover the tour, given her background with Lance Armstrong, but apparently, the tour wasn't really her event. She wasn't to be heard from pining in on Floyd Landis or anything. It may say as much to her autobiography, that she was more interested in the man, than the sport he came to dominate. Perhaps the Post didn't see fit to track the event without its most prominent poster boy. For whatever reason, this year's event was without Sally.

It seems, too, that the U.S. media was less interested in the ongoings when it seemed like Ullrich or Basso, neither Americans, were the top contenders, with Floyd a prohibitive favorite.

The sport requires Americans train in Europe. Phonak took the Postal Service/Discovery Channel strategy of focusing on the Tour de France to the exclusion of other events. Landis and Zabriskie spend a great deal of time in Spain training, when they aren't in the United States. Lance spent more time in Europe than he spent in the U.S. to train for the one race that mattered to him most.

Really, the one way the U.S. might be able to gain interest is to host a tour of its own. Nothing too big, initially. Perhaps a one-week race. It's too hard to compete with a three week race each year and too much to expect bicyclists to abandon the king of road races. Indeed, Landis himself won the Tour de Georgia this year (which is in Georgia, US, not in old Soviet Union). He's also won the Tour of California and Paris, Nice. This has been his most successful year, even without the Tour de France.

This race would require some national coverage, and perhaps a big prize. The goal would, at the very least, be to gain interest among Americans, to participate. True, road racing is still far more popular than its cousin, mountain bike racing, which Landis used to do, until he realized he was a much better road racer. This is similar to the inline skating race community vs. the ice speed skating which gets coverage from the Olympics.

It's interesting how some sports are so fringe that few people follow it. To be fair, even road cycling is obscure enough that most people had heard of neither Landis nor Pereiro before the Tour began. Levi Leipheimer was considered an American that might contend, but he was almost twenty minutes behind. George Hincapie, the loyal Armstrong lieutenant, was over an hour behind. Landis was worried about Menchov, but he was some 7 minutes back. Landis's buddy, David Zabrisikie, was 78th, nearly two and a half hours back. Axel Merckx, co-rider of Landis on Phonak and the son of famed Eddie Merckx, the five time Tour winner, came in 31st, a little over an hour back. That's not so surprising, as the support team often expends energy and the win for the leader.

Still, there are plenty of other sports people train hard for, with not much press.

These days, bicycling can do live monitoring of the bicyclist and get valuable information about how hard to go for it, and at what level to go for it. Allen Lim of CycleOps was helping to monitor Landis during the tour, providing him information that lead him to believe that he could mount a successful attack on Thursday that would allow him to take the lead and hold it.

What might seem like a herculean effort of will and energy is often surrounded by a great deal of planning to arrive in France in optimum conditions. While everyone fretted over Landis's hip, Landis knew his hip better than anyone, and that he could deal with the pain over the three week period. After all, he had done it the year before, and the two years before that. Everyone else was far more worried than Landis was.

Now that the Tour is over, will cycling learn any more about Landis or will he fade to second tier obscurity until the next Tour. He hopes to compete again next year, after his surgery in August. Most of the training takes place in Spring. We'll see how the recovery proceeds.

Six Nations Fundraiser Wrap

Here is a final report-back from one of the organizers on the fundraiser for the Six Nations land reclamation that I encouraged people to go to and enjoyed very much myself:

The July 6 "6N" benefit concert raised over $1,000 to support the Six Nations struggle in Caledonia.

The concert was a public gesture of support, one of the few public solidarity actions in Hamilton since the land re-claiming began, and a way to financially support the dedicated work of Six Nations' activists seeking justice and recognition of their rights as a people.

From the moment singer/guitarist Kim Koren stepped onto the Casbah stage until Mark LaForme's band closed the place five hours later, the hundreds in attendance were treated to some of the finest music in the city. Between Koren and LaForme, performers Katie Caron, Linda Duemo, The Ray Materick Band, Harrison Kennedy, Martyn Verral, Raphael Keelan, Tim Gibbons, Jack Pedlar, and Daniel Lanois and others filled the Casbah with music as they loaned their considerable talents to support the land claims struggle just a few minutes down highway 6.

Wes Elliot and Hazel Hill spoke to the audience about the ongoing struggle they face in holding their ground in the face of adversity and deeply ingrained racism. Elliot, while thanking people for showing their support, went further and invited supporters to come to the site and see for themselves what is going on. An info table set up at the club had a wealth of information available for free, including backgrounders delving into the historical roots of the Six Nations Confederacy and the current land claim.

Thanks go out to many people for making it happen, especially Mike Hampson who did the brunt of the work bringing the line-up of performers together, and to Brodie and the staff at the Casbah who supported the event from the start to finish. The all-volunteer effort included the talents of Keisha Quinn who designed the poster, Sandy and Mike for putting us in contact with Mark LaForme (himself a member of the Mississauga of the New Credit band), Cheryl Walker for setting up the info-table, Al Loft and Julie Gordon for initial enthusiasm for the idea and Al for helping MC the event. Thanks go out to Ric Taylor at VIEW and other media like CHML, CFMU, the Hamilton Spectator, and CKRZ for advance publicity; of course the performers and finally, the people of the Six Nations for their courageous stand.

The concert subsequently generated some letters to the editor in the local daily (for and against) and the evening created an opportunity to open up lines of communication between aboriginal and non-aboriginal groups in the area. Support came from as far away as Calgary Alberta, Kanehsatake and Las Vegas, Nevada.

For more information about the land-re-claiming please visit www.reclamationinfo.com, sisis.nativeweb.org/actionalert/#updates, www.ckrz.com, or take up the sincere offer to visit the site.

[Quoted text from an email from RK.]

All Things in Time...

With one year and then some behind me as a published writer, there is much I've enjoyed about the experience. First it is a blessing to have been able to share a story that meant a lot to me. I've gotten numerous e-mails and been invited to some great events (though I could only make two) as well. And, I've gotten to meet some great folks, other authors and readers as well. I've also gained confidence as a speaker and learned to even enjoy booksignings and other venues.

Memorable highlights would have to be:

1. Virginia Festival of the Book - Wonderful event, great people!
2. Baltimore Trip - Great discussion and booksigning. And, fun with new friends!
3. Indianapolis Black Expo - Though I wasn't so experienced here I still enjoyed the event and the concert with my Aunt and the family vibe was wonderful.
4. Faith and Fiction Brunch - Fun event. Got to meet my publisher and Denise Michelle. We had a great talk about writing.
5. Book Intro and Signing at my Church - What a wonderful send-off and the turn-out for the book signing was overwhelming! Thanks church!

Two other things are even more encouraging to me...

1. "Plenty Good Room" is now in over 400 libraries across the nation! It's great to know folks across the country have access to the book and it still checks out quite well at many of them.
2. Over 150 libraries have either the CD or audio version of "Plenty Good Room" as well. Cool, huh?

But, along with the positives I've observed other things that aren't as positive and that I didn't know existed until entering the publishing arena. Before being published I knew NOTHING about the industry and, some situations encountered have truly surprised me, which is probably why I still think about them.

1. Overcompetitiveness - it's clear some have a 'win-at-all-cost' mentality. I think competition is natural, and sometimes even a healthy way to meet goals, but its ugly when it comes from the wrong place. It's alarming that some seem willing to pull out all stops to be number 1.

2. Celebrity-Seeking - folks looking to meet authors to 'like' or to emulate. While I think it kinda cool folks come out to booksignings, in some cases they seem almost like popularity contests, which is just weird because whether or not a person likes you has little to do with writing. Some seem to want you to act like a diva, because truthfully they want to 'be' you. Not necessarily because of the writing part, but they want the attention they think you are getting by being an author. Kinda silly to me, because I like WRITING and accept attention so I can discuss the stories I've WRITTEN.

3. Everybody has a story - I've never met so many writers in my life, till I became one! Who knew, all these people were out here with a story to tell? While of course I've met other authors and journalist who ARE writers. It's amazing how many others want to be writers and are looking for help to get their foot in the door.

And, last what I think about most is this, because truth is regarding my other concerns, people are going to do what they do and like a good friend advised, all I can do is do 'me.' In a sense, it's like figuring your way around in a new job and now I know the scenario better. Anyway, books are divided into genres and in the genre of so-called 'black books' high drama rule as far as sales go! Next, comes romance or relationship drama. Along with these young folks love street-lit (hip-hop in book form to me) and of course erotica. And, so as I think about my new offerings, I can't help but wonder, where do my stories fit in? With sales placing me firmly in the 'mid-list' of things I wonder, can low-drama books about everyday folks find audience (codeword for 'sales') in this group? As a writer, I can write about anything, and wondered if I could purposely include these market-proven elements to fashion a story more sell-able? Actually I don't think so. Not that there's anything wrong with it, because it's legit to write books purely to sell, but it's not the kind of writer I am. I write because I'm prompted by something I want to say and to explore issues of interest. I create books that would entertain me and I am a lover of mystery, family drama, and books that leave me thinking about the characters once finished. So, to write a book I didn't have real interest in would be difficult and then to have to promote it, when that's my least favorite job anyway, would be impossible.

And, I take solace that there are other black authors who have managed to find an audience and talk about what's important to them. To name a few, Walter Moseley, BeBe Moore Campbell-who is a favorite, there is an author featured in Essence this month who write the Alex Powell mysteries, Pearl Cleage who's relationship books have a decidedly socially-conscious edge and Connie Briscoe is not too far out there and more. These type books are not deemed Christian fiction, but I'm not interested in 'preaching to the choir' anyway. I'm hoping all folks will read stories I write whether Christian or not. And, so far that's happened. And, perhaps one or two may be introduced to the concept of a loving God in the process. Additionally, I'm hoping folks will read my stories whether black or not. And, thankfully, that happened too, with my first offering, "Plenty Good Room." And, I'm especially blessed to have a wonderful publisher who believes in me and my work at Walk Worthy Press.

So these are my observations on the year in retrospect. And, my prospective for the coming year is to continue to hone technical writing skills as I offer the stories that enjoy writing. I've got a couple things and half simmering with my publisher, and a lot of other stuff on my plate right now. "Plenty Good Room" comes out under new cover in trade paper next year, and, I've realized I would consider I've had a great writing career if I put out 5-6 novels that I really care about in a lifetime. So, I'm in no real hurry; all things in time...