Sunday, July 22, 2012

Removing the Statue Good; NCAA Penalties Not So Much

ATLANTA, Georgia—On Sunday morning, after much deliberation, Penn State University removed the statue of Joe Paterno. On Monday the NCAA announced major penalties against the university—penalties which involve fines, loss of scholarships and bowl appearances. Whether or not either decision was proper will remain a subject of controversy.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Photo
as Paterno statue goes down

Whenever questions arise such as those related to the Jerry Sandusky/Joe Paterno tragedy, it’s always a good idea to listen someone with an insight into the psyche of big-time college sports and someone who knew the individual involved.

To me that man is Bobby Bowden. I had a chance to chat with Bobby earlier this year on a flight to New York, had interviewed him numerous times in the past and always found him to be knowledgeable, articulate and a straight shooter. He was consistently cordial to the media and appreciative of what we did. In addition if there is anyone who could relate to Paterno’s position as an iconic figure and the face of a major state university, it would be Bowden, who roamed the sidelines at Florida State for 44 years and is now the winningest coach (377 wins to Paterno’s 297) of all time. Paterno lost 112 victories dating back to 1998 as part of the NCAA sanctions.

With all this in mind, it was interesting to hear Bowden’s comments on the Penn State mess made during an interview with Cory Giger on 1450 ESPN  Radio in State College Pennsylvania and later relayed in a story in USA Today. They came before the recent news regarding the statue and the sanctions, but he did address the former and we can pretty well guess how he felt about the latter.

Bowden began by saying, “It's really sad, and now the facts are out, there's no more dodging the issue.“ He said that “I hate that it came out like it did. It's sad because it could have been stopped. It never should have happened after the first incident.

"We were pretty close as coaches and everyone has such great respect for Joe," Bowden added. "Still, you must look at it as a man who made a mistake --not a little-itty mistake, but a very serious mistake.

"To cover it up, that's a tough one," said Bowden.

Regarding the statue, Bowden noted, "When it comes to fields, statues, and names on trophies, everytime somebody looks at them, it might bring up a bad picture."

It’s obvious that Bobby thought the statue should go and even though he didn’t express an opinion on sanctions, it would be surprising if he does not feel they are too strong, especially as they relate to the athletes, No one was ever more supportive of his players than Bobby Bowden and to see the NCAA penalize a group of players and coaches and fans who had nothing to do with the crime is grossly unfair. I can live with fining the university for the administration’s failings, I can’t see penalizing current players, which the loss of scholarships and the bowl game prohibition will do. I suspect Bobby might feel the same.

Quick takes…congrats to director Bob Bryant and all involved in the BB&T Atlanta Open. The move to Atlanta Station was a huge success despite some rain delays. Sunday’s finale with Andy Roddick coming off a slow start to win the title was great theater. Roddick, along with 12 other BB&T participants, is on his way to London. The Atlanta Opening will return to Atlanta next year. If you missed it check my story in the July 1 issue of the Atlanta Business Chronicle on how Mayor Reed helped move the event to the city…So many developments with the Braves. The most painful of which was watching Jair Jurjjens disintegrate again today. He just has not regained his form, nor his confidence after being injured last year…The Braves also let a golden opportunity slip away. After an epic win on Friday, coming from a 9-0 deficit, they won again Saturday and had the Nats on the ropes until losing the final two. The schedule is easier now in the next two weeks—with home and away series against Miami and two other sets at home against Philly and Houston.






Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Ferry Makes Waves in First Week with Hawks

ATLANTA, Georgia--Experts say when you first take a job, you have about ninety days to make an impression. For Danny Ferry the process took a little over a week.

Ferry looked squarely at his biggest problem, the lack of cap room, and unloaded the biggest obstacle in his way by sending Joe Johnson to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Johan Petro, Jordan Farmar, Anthony Morrow, Jordan Williams and a signed-and-traded DeShawn Stevenson. The Hawks also received a lottery-protected first-round draft pick via the Houston Rockets that turns into a second-round selection if Atlanta doesn’t use it by 2017. No sooner had that deal been completed when Marvin Williams was traded to the Utah Jazz for guard Devin Harris.

Both moves were good from a cap standpoint, but they also served to unload players not living up to expectations on the court.

Johnson went from averaging over 25.2 points in his second year in Atlanta to averaging 18.8 in 2011-2012. He also failed miserably as a finisher. Counted on as a take charge guy at game’s end, Johnson came up short far too many times.

As far as Williams goes, he never lived up to his potential as a No. 2 draft pick. Marvin had streaks, but overall he wasn’t close to being the player the Hawks bargained for when they took him over Chris Paul in the 2005 draft.

Despite all the hoopla over Danny Ferry’s first moves, the “proof in the pudding” will likely not come until the 2013 season when Atlanta can take advantage of that cap room to make some major free agent acquisitions. Some have speculated Atlanta will try to follow the Heat formula of building a core of three key players—perhaps Josh Smith, if they can keep him; maybe Dwight Howard, if he becomes a free agent in 2013; and maybe Paul, also free-agent eligible after next year.

Whether that scenario comes about remains to be seen. Even with those three, however, there would be a potential downside, particularly in the case of Howard. But that’s putting the cart first. Let’s just be satisfied that the Hawks finally have a solid basketball guy at the helm and one who very quickly showed that he was in charge.

Tiger’s Back, Will Sponsors Return Too?

No matter how you slice it, having Tiger Woods back is the best thing that could happen to golf. Regardless of what you think of Tiger he has apparently regained his focus and is once again the most electrifying player on tour.

Should his play continue, and he’s able to add a major to his current string of victories, it wouldn’t be surprising to see some of those sponsors who jumped ship think about coming back. As it is he still has a number of marquee names backing him including, according to his website: EA Sports, NetJets, Nike Golf, TAG Heuer, Tatweer: The Tiger Woods Dubai, TLC Laser Eye Centers, and Upper Deck.  The sponsors who dropped Tiger from advertisements and ended endorsement contracts were Accenture, AT&T, Gatorade and Gillette. In a world where business interests often beget forgiveness, don’t be surprised if a few of the companies that jumped ship return to the fold. The bigger question is whether or not Tiger will want them back since, undoubtedly, a plethora of others will be waiting in the wings.

Erin Go Bragh

As this is being written we just returned from a week in Ireland where they say if you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute. That was the case for the entire week we were there as sunny skies and warm weather gave way to clouds, rain and wind in a matter of minutes.



What an enchanting country, though, from the old world charm of Dublin to the scenic Cliffs of Moher to the Silicon Valley feel of Galway. As with most parts of the world, Ireland is a country that relishes sports. With an emphasis on local rivalries, the Irish have a very personal rooting interest in their parish teams, many of whose players are neighbors and friends. The Irish love their Gaelic football, rugby, hurling, and soccer and cricket to a lesser extent. Even American collegiate football will be played in Ireland again this fall as Notre Dame tangles with Navy at the new Aviva Stadium on Sept. 1. Aviva, with a capacity of 57.200, opened in 2010.