Draft video of Arizona prep catcher Tommy Joseph is up, as is a scouting report on RHP Jake Barrett. Off to see Team Japan today at Scottsdale.
Also, infinite sportswriter theorem has a great takedown of a Florida sportswriter who jumps through all manner of verbal hoops to defend Bobby Bowden.
Keith – if you get a chance, check out Joe’s in Gilbert. The Address is: 301 N Gilbert Rd Gilbert, AZ. I would like to know what you think as you are a connoisseur of the Q.
That was obviously community patronizing journalism, but I don’t think they should strip the wins unless the coaches knowingly played ineligible players. There is an academic support staff that helps all athletes and they were the people who dropped the ball. There was NO WAY a coach could have known about this.
I am in grad school at FSU and don’t really care about the wins (personally I’m ready for Bowden to move on and stop chasing the record anyway) but the writer of that blog also alludes to JoePa’s interest in his players off the field activities in the comments. Then maybe Bowden’s program can finally reach this level of perfection off the field:
Since 2002, 46 Penn State football players have faced 163 criminal charges, according to an ESPN analysis of Pennsylvania court records and reports. Twenty-seven players have been convicted of or have pleaded guilty to a combined 45 counts
Matt:
W/r/t the Paterno reference in the comments– that was the joke.
Oh, my bad then
I made a comment there referencing how the reporter excused Bowden by touting the fact he has no idea what goes on off the field. The response was a sarcastic one pointing out JoePa’s equally bad track record in this regard. While you make a good point about the limits on a coach knowing what is going on in individual players’ classrooms, he is ultimately responsible for the guys he brings in (both players and coaches/support staff). I don’t think there is much merit to claiming ignorance. I also think that the fact that Bowden is chasing the record is entering into the conversations regarding a rules violation is disgusting. Would this same reporter say Bonds should be excused because he was chasing a record (assuming Bonds did something against the rules, blah blah blah… just making an analogy).
I just checked out the draft videos for the first time, and wow, I really do not miss the crappy music most college stadiums play. Also, I was somewhat disappointed because for some reason, I thought I was going to hear a classic Klaw analysis on the player (voiceover-ed on the video). Still interesting to see clips of these guys up close and without grainy cameras.
I think the Bonds analogy is ridiculous and I will not address it. I personally know graduate students (my roommate) in the acedemic support arena (with no connection to any coach on any sport, and no tie to the probation)so you can claim coaches can’t have ignorance but your assumption is without merit. Period.
The record doesn’t matter. Oklahoma got all their wins reinstated with the Bomar situation, so have other schools. ESPN is blowing up the record/appeal situation and thats what makes people sensitive and think it is “diggusting”. Get a clue.
Again, the article was patronizing to ignorant Seminole fans (which are prevalent in Tampa/St.Pete) but the average beat writer or blogger doesnt know the actual situation.
Coaches are not “ultimately responsible” like you say. He has absolutely no say in the support staff which is hired by the college of education, and he tries to bring in the players he thinks are good for the program (if that doesnt work out it is bad. But FSU is FAR from the worst on player arrests or violations)
Honestly the writing on this sounds like BBWAA writing on college football. Please do not talk about what you do not know about.
If you honestly think you have anything to offer over knowing coaches, mentors, players, and other acedemic staff (currently not 2006) please let me know and e-mail me at mth04@fsu.edu. Otherwise please do not pretend that you have any clue what is going on.
That article was bad, but listening to Sportscenter and pretending to understand the situation is worse.
Keith – I’m headed to Scottsdale in a couple weeks. Will you be posting a food review, or do you have any recommendations? As always, thanks for the entertainment.
Keith – I’m headed to Scottsdale in a couple weeks. Will you be posting a food review, or do you have any recommendations? As always, thanks for the entertainment.
Keith,
I’ve been meaning to ask you how you determine the list of high school prospects you’re going to scout. Do you go to specific showcases or do you utilize a network of scouts to get an idea of who’s who among draft worthy players?
So Matt, you can blast BSK on this blog for everyone to see – but if he wants to respond you expect him to keep it private? Ridiculous.
Grant: I’ve done a few posts in the past on Phoenix/Scottsdale and will write something in the next few days as well.
FQ: I go to events each summer like the Area Code Games, the AFLAC game, the Under Armour Game, etc. I would do the East Coast Showcase but it’s right on top of the trade deadline. I also talk to dozens of scouts who tip me off on guys I might not know, tell me if they think I’m too high/low on a kid, and so on. And I look at BA’s top 100 lists (they had one for HS kids and one for college) to see if I might have overlooked anyone.
Matt-
I’m not sure it matters if Bowden knew or if he should be held responsible. I think the issue is this: did these players help FSU win games when they should have been ineligible.
Whether Bowden knew about it or not, if they helped win football games (and I’m not talking about a specific play here or there. I’m talking about playing in the game) then that win should be vacated, because they shouldn’t have been on the field.
The NCAA does not care if the school did not know about the players cheating. The NCAA is not going to get into the game of “did they know or didn’t know”. Because, it is hard to prove that type of thing. Of course school officials will says “we had not idea”.
The NCAA is very cognizant of setting precedants, and I have a feeling they will do what they have always done: which is if an ineligible player plays, the team forfeits the game.
Keith,
Do you see any opportunities to improve the scouting process? How would you go about getting the best players playing each other? It seems most of these showcases are regional. Are the current crop of games enough data points for you to see the best compete against quality talent?
On a flight from EWR to SNA, I sat next to a Brewers scout – a “cross checker.” He showed me his book, (he was going home after watching the SEC tournament and Porcello in NJ) and explained to me some of his responsibilities.
To me, it seems really difficult to draw strong substantive conclusions from reams of qualitative analysis provided by numerous sets of eyes. Is the process more systematic than I perceive?
What kind of punishment is forfeiting a game? I really don’t have an opinion either way on this and that’s not a smartass statement. Seriously, after all the money was made on those games, what does changing the result in the history books do?
Off topic: Caught this story today where Papelbon goes off on Manny. It’s not so much what Papelbon says as how the publication plays it:
“It just takes one guy to bring an entire team down, and that’s exactly what was happening,” Papelbon told Esquire. “Once we saw that, we weren’t afraid to get rid of him. It’s like cancer. That’s what he was. Cancer. He had to go. It (stunk), but that was the only scenario that was going to work. That was it for us.”
So, apparently, you’re allowed to refer to a person as a disease that kills people. But if you use the word “sucked,” it will be edited.
Surprising? No. And yet … still baffling.
PT: I noticed the same thing, I thought it was an interesting edit, but more than that, an interesting choice of words by a guy who is supposedly close friends with Jon Lester.
I just read your writeup on Team Japan. I can’t wait for your analysis on Yu Darvish.
I never said that Bowden is in a position to know. Rather, philosophically, I think that a coach should be involved in more than just a player’s on-the-field performance while employed by an academic institution. The original writer of the article seemed to act as if Bowden had no responsibility to know what went on with his players away from the field and maybe his contract supports this. But I think that as a leader of young men and as a representative of the university, to say, “Well, I just coach football and don’t know anything about the rest of it,” is wrong and irresponsible. Now, did Bowden say this? NO! I am not attributing these views/beliefs to him. I was commenting on the original writer’s statement, calling him out for acting as if Bowden’s apparent lack-of-awareness of the situation excused him from any responsibility.
I cannot speak to Bowden’s actual level of knowledge or involvement. I cannot speak to how Bowden’s relationship with his players reflect the responsibilities he is charged with or compares to other coaches at other schools. If you read what I wrote, I did not attempt to speak on any of this. My comment was directed at the assertion that he shouldn’t be expected to know about what his players do off the field. As an educator, if my interest in my students was limited to the time they spend in my classroom, I would feel as if I was not fulfilling my obligations. If Bowden is not asked or not interested in knowing about his players off-the-field, than I think the priorities and goals of a college football coach are out-of-whack. And the writer asserted that this was the case, so I think his priorities for the coach are out of whack, and that is what I took THE WRITER to task on.
As for the comparison to Bonds, my point was that Bowden’s pursuit of the record should not factor into the decision one way or another. I have seen/heard people bring this up, saying it’s not fair to him BECAUSE of his pursuit of the record. Ridiculous. The punishment is either fair or not, regardless of the record. You can argue that the punishment is wrong, but this should be the case whether Bowden has 800 wins or 8 wins. You cannot change the argument from case to case. My analogy to Bonds was to point our how absurd that argument was. I was not comparing Bowden to Bonds. I was trying to demonstrate how foolish that argument (that the punishment should be reconsidered because of his pursuit of the record) looked by pointing out another situation in which a player was pursuing a record and was under suspicion for cheating. Reconsider the punishment for a million legitimate reasons, but NOT because he is going for a record.
PT/Jeremy-
Interesting point. I think that’s a tricky thing to think about. Some terms, like gay, are clearly used in an insulting way when used to disparage another person. There is nothing disparaging about being gay, so using it in such a way is insulting/insensitive to those who are gay. Cancer is a bit different. There are ways in which an individual’s behavior can mimic what cancer does to a body. It is an apt analogy at times. But, it still runs the risk of being insensitive and comparing a life-or-death disease to a testy clubhouse. Thanks for bringing that up. It might be a word that needs to be revisited when used in that context.
Chuck:
The games are not the only punishment for the football program..they are also losing scholarships.
I would agree, forfeiting the games probably will be forgotten about, but Bowden sure as hell might care haha.
Yeah, it’s not so much about the use of the “cancer.” In the (sports) parlance of our times, “cancer” is accepted, like it or not, like saying “war” or “battle” or “gunned down at third base” or “Alexei Ramirez was a train wreck at the plate last night.”
The interesting issue to me is the discrepancy involved. Plus … “sucked”? Offensive? Really?
(Although, re: Lester and cancer, yeah …)
Brian – the problem is that Gilbert isn’t close to any ST facility, and I’m staying in north Scottsdale. I won’t be near Gilbert unless a HS kid happens to be out there.
PT-
There are ridiculous discrepancies. Personally, I don’t believe in ANY form on censorship (with the possible exception of when dealing with children). I think your point is a sound one, though. We accept terms with much larger implications such as “war” or “gunned down”, but get our undies in a bunch over “sucked”. Perhaps if offends the drinking-straw-makers of America? There is also all kinds of language loaded with racism or sexism that is permissible, but asshole is not allowed. But, very smartly, when bleeped out, it always sounds like ass-BLEEP. Very effective.
Ah, profanity. Words that are bad because they’re bad.
At least it makes for some fun TV edits:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQUdJ6FdUQ0
Well, if you ever have the time, it is worth the trip.
Hope you are enjoying AZ!
Keith,
Any plans to watch Strasberg at SDSU this season? I’d be glad pass on numerous San Diego food recommendations if you do make it this way. Lots of good eats here, from seafood to Mexican.