Boxing: Where Everyone Can Be a Champion

Professional boxing is the one major sport without an established league. Household acronyms need no introduction to what sports leagues they represent: NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, UFC. There’s no confusion over who the best is in each sport because we have one champion in each. Then there’s boxing – WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF, IBO. How can boxing have 5 different champions (or more if we count titles from individual countries or continents) at any weight division? It’s because there is no single recognized league for boxing fans or fighters to look to as the one true league. And with the millions of dollars at stake with licensing fees, no league is willing to amalgamate for the sake of boxing if it costs them even the tiniest cut of financial income. At this point, it’s up to Ring Magazine to be the voice of who the recognized champion should be. However, one has to take these rankings with a critical eye, as the magazine’s owner, boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, is also a major player in promoting boxers with Golden Boy Promotions. Though he has promised not to influence the editorial content, there clearly is a conflict of interest between ownership and journalistic independence.

Povetkin (left) is the WBA Heavyweight Champion, while Klistschko (right) is the WBA 'Super'-Champion

The major leagues aren’t doing themselves any favours either. It is widely recognized that Wladimir Klitschko is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. He has defeated every major challenger - with relative ease. When David Haye won the WBA Heavyweight Championship over Nicolai Valuev, everyone knew he wasn’t the real top heavyweight. When Haye finally stepped up to the challenge of Klitschko, he was embarrassed and ridiculed for his scared tactics. While Klistschko added the WBA belt to his already full wardrobe less than two months ago, it wasn’t long that we found out Ruslan Chagaev (who was brutally beaten up by Klitschko not so long ago) and Alexander Povetkin (who had signed to fight Klitschko but backed out of the fight at his trainer’s discretion, fearing Povetkin was not ready to fight the champion) were fighting for the same WBA Championship belt this past weekend. How is this possible? The WBA decided to elevate Klitschko’s status to ‘Super-Champion’, while Povetkin’s victory earned him the distinction of WBA Heavyweight Champion. The reason it sounds so silly is because it is.

The 100m Mistake

Sprinting is all about milliseconds, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to records or podium finishes. This past weekend in Korea at the World Track and Field Championship, Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man and biggest draw in track, was disqualified in the 100m finals after just one false start where he jumped out of the blocks a fraction before the gun. One mistake is all it takes to get disqualified under the new rules of the 100-meter sprint, and Bolt’s error cost those who spent hundreds of dollars to be in the stadium, as well as the countless people watching at home, a chance to witness greatness - all for the sake of television programming.

Usain Bolt exits early from the 100m finals

The idea for the ‘zero-tolerance’ with starts is partially due to the fact that TV executives didn’t like excessive false starts forcing their program to go over the allotted network time slot. Each false start forces the run-time to take an extra few minutes for the runners to get set back in the starting blocks. Imagine three or four false starts from different runners, and the program might run over the TV schedule by 10-15 minutes. The new rule forced the runners to be completely disciplined in their blocks for the penalty of disqualification is too great. After this weekend, we know see clearly that the penalty is too much.

Pre-seaon Benchclearing

It used to be what separated professionals from amateurs. It was what separated coaches from players. The recent soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid blurred the lines with their petty brawl and coaching scuffle. To its credit, it solidified a rivalry that has and will last for generations. Nonetheless, it was a disgrace for the sport.

Soccer is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans, or so the saying goes. While the hooligans are typically the fans, go to any amateur game in the city and ask any referee how often he refs a game that ends with punches, threats, or benches being cleared after a nasty tackle. The frequency will shock you. In fact, the lower the quality, the more fights occur it seems. This is why fans are so surprised at the brawl that took place this past Wednesday in Spain.

It's just a baseball.

Tragedy struck first. A few days later, it was just stupidity.

Baseball fans are already well aware of the fate of Shannon Stone the Texas Rangers fan who fell 20 feet from the stands while reaching out to catch a foul ball being tossed to him by left-fielder Josh Hamilton. The father was just trying to catch the ball as a souvenir for his 6-year old son sitting next to him. The events that occurred after he reached out for the ball have been heard around the sporting world.

Keith Carmickle was looking to catch his 3rd baseball of the Derby.

Despite the events at the ballpark in Arlington a mere week before the All-Star game and Home Run Derby, it seems some fans didn’t learn anything from the news. At the Derby, Keith Carmickle tood barefoot on a table next to a 20-foot drop, in hope of catching a baseball. He slipped, fell over the railing, but was saved by his brother as well other fans holding his 250lb. frame and lifting him back to safety. Afterwards, even Carmichael had to admit of his own lack of judgement and luck in surviving. It is absolutely crazy what people will do for a small souvenir.

Doing Away with the Hard Slides

Tsuyoshi Nishioka was playing in his sixth professional MLB game, as a member of the Minnesota Twins, when he was injured in a hard slide from New York Yankee Nick Swisher. In a successful effort to prevent a double play, Swisher slide hard at the legs of Nishioka in order to force a wayward throw. What Swisher also did slide right into Nishioka’s left leg, breaking the fibula, and the second baseman has been on the disabled list ever since.

Nick Swisher, 33, breaks the leg of Twins 2B Tsuyoshi Nishioka on a hard slide.

Jayson Nix came to the Toronto Blue Jays from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for ‘cash considerations’. That doesn’t sound like the makings of a superstar baseball player, and Nix isn’t a star. What he is, however, is a good utility player and journeyman on his fourth team in as many years. This season, Nix finally found himself as a regular day starter after strong performances at third base in the first month. With injuries present in the Jays’ infield, Nix was moved to second base for a game versus the Tampa Rays. During a routine double-play ball, the Rays’ base-runner slide legs up and cleated Nix on the shin. The runner was successful in preventing the double play, and Nix went off injured with a left knee contusion, and onto the 15-day disabled list. When he comes back, who knows if his starting spot is still there for him?

When Soccer Goes Wrong and a Missed Opportunity to Make Amends in Glasgow

When I was younger, my parents got me a sweatshirt that said: “Soccer is Life... The Rest is Just Details.” I loved wearing that shirt, but I soon found out that every other kid at school had one just like it, though with his or her own sport of choice. “Volleyball is Life”? Who would actually believe such a silly thing? Though I was for ‘Team Soccer,’ I was always fully aware that life does not revolve around soccer, or any sport for that matter. Many soccer hooligans revolve their lives, however, on hate and violence towards opposing fans. For them, soccer is life, and there is a serious problem with that.

When it comes to rivalries, no two teams are more dominant in domestic soccer than Celtic and Rangers, both from Glasgow. They are the only two strong clubs in Scottish football and the proof is in the championships. Historically, both clubs have won a record 9 consecutive championships, since the league’s inception in 1890 only 19 times have neither Celtic nor Rangers won the championship (again, that’s since 1890!) and the most recent time a non-Glasgow team won the Premier League was way back in the 1984-85 season when Aberdeen won back-to-back titles. To add to the tension between both clubs, their fan base has a strong religious divide; Catholics support Celtic, while Protestants favour Rangers. Back to present day soccer, with 4 games remaining in the season, Rangers leads the Scottish League by 1 point over their rivals, though Celtic does have a game to spare. Their head-to-head match-up this past weekend resulted in a relieving 0-0 draw. I say 'relieving' because no one was killed. Seriously.

What's Next for the Dunk?

After watching Blake Griffin soar over a car to win this year’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest, the common question was: what can we expect for an encore? In order to increase the grandeur of Griffin’s final throwdown, he not only needed his teammate to pass him the ball from the sunroof below as Griffin flew overhead, but also needed a massive choir at centre court singing “I Believe I Can Fly.” It does make for great highlight reel material, and the fans do go home with something to talk about, but other people are questioning whether the use of props cheapens the event by making it about but the dunk.

XLV

This Sunday is a day for celebration for everyone. Super Bowl XLV is upon us after an agonizing two weeks where the only football seen was the consistently lackluster Pro Bowl. The Media Day is now of the past and everyone can rejoice. Wives and girlfriends await the return of their men after the hypnotic spell of football will lose its grasp come Monday morning. Advertisers await to see which commercials will be enshrined in Super Bowl history, a topic I spoke of this past Monday. Teachers across North America are finally seeing the only remaining use of roman numerals (it’s Super Bowl 45). Fans of neither competing teams realize that come Monday, everyone is undefeated again. And one of the historic franchises, either the Green Bay Packers or the Pittsburgh Steelers, will add yet another Super Bowl title to their trophy cabinet, while the other will quickly be forgotten amongst other mere Super Bowl finalists (and their Quarterbacks). Does anybody remember these Super Bowl attendees? Jake Delhomme, Carolina Panthers (2004); Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle Seahawks (2006); Rex Grossman, Chicago Bears (2007). History only looks kindly upon winners it would seem.

This Sunday is the only day where every major network dedicates full day pre- and post-game coverage. It is the only sport where amid the major news events in Egypt, Sudan, and Tunisia, it will still earn its place on the front page of almost every newspaper. It is a larger than life event.

After the Super Bowl, there is a sporting void that neither hockey nor basketball combined can make up for. Even the addition of baseball’s opening week is not enough for fans to feel the void in while waiting for next September. So ladies, enjoy the next three months of a productive husband/boyfriend. Draft Day is less than three months away.

Leaving Early: A Comeback Story

It’s the 4^th quarter and the game coming down to the wire. You are at home just wishing that you were at that game live, just to feel the energy and excitement of the crowd at the end of the game. And the sad truth is that many of those at the game live are heading for the exits, relegating themselves to finding out the winner on the radio, for fear of being stuck in traffic a half-hour longer.

This past Monday, the Toronto Raptors played host to the Memphis Grizzlies. Granted, neither one of these teams is a big attendance draw, but professional basketball still gets its fair amount of fans. The Raptors are down by as much as 12 points with less than 9 minutes to go. Cue the comeback. A strong 16-3 run puts them ahead by a single point with just under 4 minutes left. And at that point it seemed the best for many fans to head to the exits. Why? Why would anyone pay $50 or more to come to a basketball game, a game where all the excitement lies in the final minutes of the 4^th quarter, only to leave once the game is approaching its peak? This seems to be a common practice for Toronto sports fans.

Poker: Not a Sport.

I will never debate against the popularity of poker (there were over 7,000 entrants for the 2010 World Series of Poker Main event with an entrance fee of $10,000). I will never debate against the difficulty of winning or even contending amongst countless professionals be it at a live table or online. The mental stamina required is extremely high and the margin for error extremely low. What I will say, however, is that poker; despite all the glitz, glamour, and TV time on notable sports channels; is the furthest thing from a sport.

Some may argue that poker is in fact a sport. Let me explain why it isn’t.

The One True Winter Tradition

The NFL owns American Thanksgiving, with several featured football games on a late November Thursday. The NBA has taken on Santa for Christmas Day focus, providing a full day of major basketball rivalries, allowing all the star teams to play one another on one big day. Both holidays are very special, but the sports games are just like any other regular season game, on a day where the focus is far from sport. Only professional hockey has started something that is not only different, but also exciting. Every New Year’s Day since 2008, the NHL has hosted the Winter Classic, a single game played outdoors in the dead of winter. While all leagues have found success with their special sporting days, only the NHL has created something different, something exciting, and not diluted the event to take away from the moment. 

There are three major reasons why the NHL has outdone the other major sporting leagues with the Winter Classic.

It Takes an Athlete To Be a Politician

The natural progression for most retiring athletes is into the broadcast booth. Sports fans watching TV at home are now privy to panels of four or five retired players or coaches, all giving expert analysis and inside takes. But what happens to those who weren’t outspoken enough during their playing careers to get into broadcasting? Not every professional athlete wanted his share of the limelight, creating a personality for the everyday fan. Nowadays, there seems to be a second career athletes can turn to besides sports broadcasting: politics.

In early November, there were a few big political events that took place. In terms of local politics here in Toronto, we elected a new mayor, as well as many new city counsellors. In the United States, the midterm elections in early November saw a surge of Republicans winning many seats in the Senate as well as congress. And when we look at these political results, we can conclude that: (a) former athletes are great at winning political races, and (b) mere sports personalities are not.

Jon Runyan (left) U.S. Congressman, New Jersey

The Right Time to Retire

Brett Favre is the ultimate Iron Man of the NFL. He has played for four different teams spanning 20-seasons and surpassed Jim Marshall’s record 270 consecutive starts in the NFL. He has won 3 MVP awards, been to the Pro Bowl 11 times, and is a Super Bowl Champion. He holds the record in every major NFL passing category including passing yards, touchdown passes, and career wins. Despite all these accomplishments, Favre will not retire. Although he has ‘retired’ at the end of each of the past three seasons, Favre has quickly jumped back at the opportunity to play again on multiple occasions. Over the past three years, we’ve seen him shipped from Green Bay to New York to Minnesota, where the 41-year old is often injured and failing to live up to any expectations, exemplified by the Vikings’ current 4-7 record and Favre’s QB rating of 71.0, the 4th lowest in the NFL. The longer Favre continues to play, the more he is tarnishing his reputation, and his health.

Brett Favre (left), Barry Sanders (right)

 Barry Sanders is widely regarded as the best Running Back in the history of football, yet tops zero all-time rushing categories. Despite making the Pro Bowl every year during his 10-year career with the Detroit Lions and winning one NFL MVP award, Sanders is 3^rd on the all-time rushing yards list, and 3^rd in the Single Season Rushing Yards list. He never even played in a Super Bowl, let alone win one. After ten years of football, Sanders shocked the football world, retiring when he was less than 1500 yards from breaking Walter Payton’s all-time rushing record. To keep put this into perspective, Sanders was averaging more than 1500 yards a season over his 10 years. Sanders stated he did not care about records and simply wanted to retire. There were never any serious talks of coming out of retirement, and his legendary status on the field has been enshrined.

These two Hall of Fame football players have gone about retirement in completely different ways. Favre has every record, but Sanders has the respect of every single player and fan that has witnessed him play. When it comes to retirement, you only have one chance to do it right.

The Neo Samurai - The World’s Greatest Entertainer

He's been a geisha, an African tribal leader, and a futuristic sci-fi warrior. He's entered the ring with a smoking KFC bucket on his head. He's even dressed up as Charlie Sheen's "Wild Thing" from the movie Major League. The entertainment value of sport typically comes from within the playing surface. Very rarely does an athlete come along where his goal is not only to win, but also to entertain. This is especially rare with the confines of mixed martial arts. Whenever Genki Sudo fought, be it in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or the Japanese equivalents Pride and K-1, Sudo has become renowned not only for his incredibly unorthodox fighting style, but also his elaborate ring entrances. Most fans of fighting want only the action within the ring, finding long drawn out walks to ringside a waste of time from the eventual fight. For Genki Sudo, it was different; here he could really express himself. And entertain.

click here to watch his entrance
December 31, 2006

The Hair vs. The Shampoo

A recent article in the New Yorker, entitled "The Hair" by Kyle Leighton, spoke of the significance of Tom Brady's hair in his rise to supremacy in Boston and the sporting world. To give the star quarterback of the New England Patriots' hair even more news time, teen pop sensation Justin Bieber also made time to take a shot at Brady's hair in a recent rap video. Despite sporting fans love/hate relationship for Tom Brady (love if they live in New England, hate if they live in any of the remaining 46 states), Brady's hair is not the big story in the NFL as Leighton claims it is. The real story in the NFL this year is of Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu and his hair. Even non-sporting fans know of his memorable, though less than creative, commercials (#1,# 2, #3) for Head & Shoulders, and the current insurance policy taken out on his hair. Truth be told, the fact that the shampoo giant has invested $1 Million into the security of his hair is perhaps more well-known than the commercials themselves. Perhaps this insurance policy is in case NFL regulations are changed so that Polamalu is forced to cut his hair, or maybe Head & Shoulders fears his hair might get ripped clean out during an intense game. In other words, Troy Polamalu is Samson as far as the shampoo giant is concerned: with his hair, he's unstoppable, but if any Delilah comes along to get cut his locks, our football star will become worthless. At least this way Head and Shoulders can get some money back.

Hair has not been without it's controversy in the NFL over the past years.

Some Teams Don't Deserve Their Fans... and Should Be Punished

I am just going to come out and say it and deal with the backfire of diehard fans afterwards.

The following teams should not be in the National Football League (NFL): Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills.

The following teams should not be in the National Basketball Association (NBA): New Jersey Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves.

The following teams should not be in the National Hockey League (NHL): Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Islanders.

The following teams should not be in Major League Baseball (MLB): Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles.

Now let me explain why.

Can We Really Live Without the Ticket Scalper?

    It will forever be a part of sport. Whether you are a baseball, football, soccer, or basketball fan, there is one thing they all have in common. As you are slowly making your walk up to the majestic stadium, feeling the energy of the throngs of people around you, getting lost in the crowd of excitement, there is always one common sound echoed outside every stadium or arena:

"Tickets! Who needs tickets? I got two. How 'bout you? I got good ones. Who needs tickets?"

Scalpers: whether you like them or not, they are and likely will forever be part of the sporting experience.  Sure, you hate them for how they buy up all the good seats and typically charge you well above the regular price, especially if it's for an important game. But how many of us sports fans have never bought tickets from a scalper? Isn't it nice knowing that although the game might officially be sold out, we can always show up and get tickets? It's just a matter of paying their price. You get the excitement of haggling a good deal that you can later brag about to others (who honestly don't really care much to hear about it) or the disappointment of getting ripped off for what turns out to be an eventful game. Winning or losing before the real game you went down to see has even begun: that's the thrill with scalpers.

Agent Zero Must Be Stopped

Gilbert Arenas is one of the most talented basketball players in the world. He also brings the most drama, disappointment, and sheer stupidity into a league that needs to rid itself of its head cases.  The nine year veteran is a 3-time NBA All-Star, has scored over 10,000 career points and is one of only twenty players to ever score 60 points in game, a feat accomplished against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2006. Few can deny that Arenas, number 0 and therefore dubbed “Agent Zero,” is full of ridiculous talent. The problem is the baggage and embarrassment he brings to the league with regularity. The 2 most current issues involving Arenas include pulling an unlicensed gun hidden in his locker on his teammate, and most recently faking an injury to not play in the Wizards’ preseason home opener this year. How is this tolerated, not by the NBA, but within the Washington Wizards organization?

A Call To Losing Sports Teams

What do you do if you're a die-hard fan of a losing team?  Six weeks into a 17-week NFL season; the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions have a combined 4 wins. Between the six teams, they have played 33 games and have again, 4 wins. If history teaches us anything, it typically takes 10 wins for any team to make the NFL playoffs. Sure, realistic expectations weren't for any of these teams to compete for the Super Bowl, but fans at least want a competitive product on the field. But 'how competitive?' is the new question.  With no realistic chance at the playoffs, what are fans now to do? Most fans would (and as they should) do the same: come out every week and cheer on their team in hopes of a victory. The reality in modern football, however sad some might feel about it, is that fans some will cheer, albeit quietly or perhaps secretly, for their team to lose in order to secure a better draft pick once the season ends. With some fans, you won't hear it aloud, but if you look at them closely the morning after a meaningless win, you can see a sense of bittersweet disappointment as they look at the updated standings in the newspaper and they realize that that win lowered their team's draft pick by 4 positions. The team could fall even 1 spot lower on the draft ladder with a win, but still fans will realize that the odds now of getting that star quaterback from college next year are still that much lower. It's past the point of no return. These fans can't be pleased and they can't be saved.. until the next year.

So what remains for these diehard fans to get excited about with a losing team?

Expanding on the Ryder Cup Tradition

To start off October this year, golf fans were treated to their closest version of a World Cup, the Ryder Cup, an event allowing the best golfers of the United States to fare against Europe's best. While golf is typically seen as a sport for individual accolades, with stars such as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson owning most of the headlines, this tournament is a pleasant change of pace where players team up with each other, providing more than one sole winner at the end of the weekend. The Ryder Cup features 12 men from each team, in which golfers match up against one another over 3 days in both foursome and singles matches, while trying to earn points for either USA or Europe with every individual/team victory. This year, fans were treated to Team Europe regaining the Ryder Cup in a 1-point victory over Team USA and bringing the trophy home for the 9th time over the past 13 competitions. 

There is much vested interest in this tournament for both the Americans and Europeans (mostly British), and for good reason.  It seems golf fans love nothing more than history, and this tournament has a rich history since its inception in 1927 where it started as U.S.A. versus Great Britain. As the fans and players alike look forward to the next Ryder Cup to be held on U.S. soil in two years time, perhaps it's time fully expand on this tournament idea and let golf greats like Ernie Els, the 10th best golfer in the world according to World Golf Rankings, join this illustrious tournament. You see, the unfortunate Mr. Els is not permitted to partake in this tournament simply because his nation of South Africa, a nation with a rich golfing history in its own right, is not part of this highly exclusive tournament.  Other continents, such as Asia and Australia, are also producing plenty of competitive talent on the PGA Tour (Professional Golfers' Association), but still find their nations absent from a highly publicized world tournament. It is time for the PGA to look past the exclusionary nature the tournament provides and instead flourish into a highly competitive worldwide tournament, where all nations and continents finally get to compete against one another as teams.  Let's finally have a tournament where the main focus isn't "U.S.A. versus Golfing Conglomerate X".