Cleveland Sports

I did this last year and predicted the Cleveland Indians would have a great year..... they had one of their worst years in franchise history and finished in a tie for last place in the division with the lowly Kansas City Royals and fired their manager Eric Wedge. So to say the least no more predictions for me, but do we as Cleveland fans have anything to look forward to? It always seems we are in a rebuilding year no matter what the sport. We are quite close in basketball, but we are Cleveland so I am not holding my breathe. The Browns are currently 2-11 (we did just beat Pittsburgh!), and the Indians are in the process of another rebuilding year (traded two Cy young award winners two years in a row), while the Cavs are struggling with the new pieces they picked up in the off season. Saying this I still have faith, and when the day comes that the pieces come together and we the city of Cleveland win a championship it will be the most glorious day I can ever imagine. I do not even know how the city of Cleveland will react, shock, awe, who really knows? I do know where ever I am in the world at that time I will make it back to the city to celebrate though. I am 22 and it has been a life time I do not want to wait any longer I can only imagine what the people born in 1965 feel. One day though, one day we will have ours.

Conclusion

After all is said and done Sports and Gender 425 opened my eyes to a lot of issues I had not given much though to before. My favorite topic was that of the guy on the girls field hockey team, and how he received so much opposition, even from parents with daughters on the same team! It was really interesting to hear other peoples opinions, and what they think of matters such as these and then being able to come on here and read what people thought about issues in class. We only met twice a week so if you did not get to speak in class I think this was a good venue to get your thoughts and opinions out for other people to see and agree or disagree with you. All in all I found this class to be very informal. I had done blogging last year in History and Philosophy, and I think I will continue too. Sports is a never ending story with new issues everyday. Look at the Tiger Woods fiasco, who could of seen this coming? It is just nice to see what other people think and also voice your own opinion and see what others think of what you put. I know for a fact I will be writing about Cleveland teams in the near future, hopefully good things, but we know how that goes. Again overall a very informative and eye opening semester that I enjoyed very much.

The LeBron Effect?

We have discussed the Jordan effect and how he transformed the sporting world, but does Jordan have a predecessor and if so who is it? Kobe, LeBron, or Wade? Personally if LeBron can start winning some championships I think he can be bigger than Jordan and even have a larger effect globally as Jordan did. Kobe I think right now is the closest with all his rings but I think being in L.A. hurts him. Being on the west coast I don't think the casual basketball fans get to see him play much, plus he has a spotty history. Dwayne Wade has a ring already but his team has been rebuilding the past few years and injuries have kept him down quite a bit the past few years. This leaves LeBron James the savior to the city of Cleveland. If he can bring Cleveland a championship (last time 1964) it will propel him to legendary status here in Ohio, but in order for him to reach global icon status he needs multiple rings. Not only was Jordan marketable he was the best and his teams dominated. That is what LeBron needs to do in order to "be like Mike". The competition in this day and age may be tougher, but people at the end of the day don't care, they look for rings and trophies in the trophy case. When LeBron gets his third ring then maybe we can talk, but until then the greatest is still Jordan.

Win or Rest?

Two teams 13-0 this deep into the season, literally unheard of and history in the making. The Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints are the two teams undefeated right now, and the huge question on fans in general and fantasy owners are will the starters rest for the playoff run, or will they play and go for the undefeated season? I think a lesson was learned from the New England Patriots a few years back where they went undefeated up to the Super Bowl and lost that game to the New York Giants. Now a great season but they lost the game that counted and I am sure they would have liked to lose a game or even two and won the Super Bowl. And just think if Drew of Peyton are playing in a pointless game because at this point they have locked up home-field through out the playoffs. People would be sooooo mad, and rightfully so. I am sure any fan and player would give a game or two up in the loss column, and win a Super Bowl. It is a tricky, tricky question but overall I think coaches will choose to rest the starters and key players, disappointing fans and fantasy owners alike.

Come on Tiger

I am sitting here cramming for finals and working on final papers and such feeling sorry for myself but at least I am not Tiger Woods.?. Just think about a month or so ago Tiger Woods was the man, everyone wanted to be him, numerous endorsements, the exemplary role model for kids, rich, beautiful wife, and the list goes on. Well look what a simple car crash (at the time) has turned into. At first it was a simple car crash, then Tiger might be cheating on his wife with someone, then it was with more than one person, and the latest is steroids. Geeeeeeeeeeez, it is crazy how this has snow balled. Now people like Ron Artest of all people are offering advice to Tiger. A month ago could you ever link Tiger and Artest together? I think not. I mean this information was out there before the crash correct? Was the media waiting for him to slip up to reveal all the dirt on him? I just find it really crazy how everything is going wrong for him. Sponsors have dropped him, he is being accused of seeing a doctor who is linked with steroids, cheating on his wife, and all at the same period of time. It just makes you wonder, if people dig deep enough what will they find???

BCS Bowl but Coachless

This topic has intrigued me for quite some time. Coaches who build programs up from no where to power houses just to leave them and go else where to do the same or better there positions. Understandable at times, but at times it leaves me scratching my head. Why is Notre Dame such a prestiged job still? They have not been good in about a decade (good in Notre Dame standards). People still say that is one of the best coaching jobs out there. Brian Kelly has just recently went to Notre Dame and has left his former team the University of Cincinnati who went undefeated this year and are in a BCS bowl. That is horrible, leaving his team after leading them to an undefeated season. A few years back a similar thing happened with Rich Rodriguez and West Virginia. In my opinion there should be some sort of rule implemented that teams looking for new coaches can not talk to current coaches until after bowl season. You are cheating the universities, fans, and most of all the players. It is like bullying, a lot smaller schools have been bullies. Everyone is saying poor Cincinnati, which is true but for the second time they have taken Western Michigan's coach. No one really cares about the trickle down effect. These players have ran through walls for these coaches and got them the opportunities they have and they have the audacity to leave before the bowl game. It to me is disrespectful and a rule or something should be done about it. The NCAA should step up and implement some sort of rule so in the future people will not be cheated out, working so very hard for a coach, getting them to a BCS bowl game and then for the coach to leave......unbelievable to me.

Caster Semenya Issue Reslovled??

This was a large part of discussion for a few classes and thought it would be a good idea to post the follow up on what happened. It was stated in class that she was something other than female but in the follow up article it stated that the gender tests she took will be kept confidential. She also gets to keep her gold medal she won in the 800 meters at the world championships, and also gets to keep her prize money. So this makes me question if the rumors, or I do not know what to really call them at this time about her gender are true? The article is on espn.com and I am fairly positive they would not post something that was incorrect, but here is the article you guys can read for yourselves and see what actually happened to Caster Semenya. The remaining issue though is to whether or not she will be able to compete as a female. I mean if she does I would imagine the results of the gender test will have to be revealed. This is a touchy topic and I am sure we will be hearing more about it in the near future, especially when the summer Olympics begin again.