Racism or Business Decision?

The LPGA is one of the most racially diverse organizations in all sports as there are currently 121 international players from 26 countries on the LPGA Tour. 11 of the last 13 tour events have been won by international players and of the top 20 money earners more than half are international players. With all these international players on tour it would seem odd that Tour officials would want to do anything to upset them. None the less this is exactly what they did however.

Earlier in the week the LPGA passed a new policy that will require players to speak English starting in 2009, with players who have been LPGA members for two years facing suspension if they can't pass an oral evaluation of English skills. The rule is effective immediately for new players.

People everywhere are outraged at this decision because they feel that it is racist and unfair to force people to learn a language. I couldn't disagree more. The LPGA is a business whether these players like it or not. The tour is there to make money and is trying to provide a product to sell to everyone. Most of the fans of the LPGA are North Americans who speak English as well as most of the sponsors are American companies. I think it is only right that after a golfer wins an event they can take a microphone and thank the fans for their support and thank their sponsors.

The LPGA has come under heavy fire for their decision and have been forced to try and justify their actions. "Why now? Athletes now have more responsibilities and we want to help their professional development," deputy commissioner Libba Galloway told The Associated Press. "There are more fans, more media and more sponsors. We want to help our athletes as best we can succeed off the golf course as well as on it."

Besides just fans and sponsors there are people to pay top dollar to play in Pro-Ams with these women. Imagine spending $10,000 to play one round of golf with your favorite golfer on the LPGA and not even being able to ask them how it is going? These players have a responsibility to make themselves accessible to the public and if that means learning to speak English than I think its justified.

Some golfers who have won tournaments before can't even give an interview after their round. Imagine if Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson couldn't speak English? The PGA would be ruined because so much of their business comes from sponsors and selling these players as a commodity.

I think what a lot of people are not seeing are the opportunities that learning English will provide to some of these young golfers. If they learn to speak English now than they could get a new sponsor and do TV commercials and gain exposure and earn more money. Its not as if the LPGA is attempting to assimilate them into Western culture they simply want to try and enhance their business.

The players themselves are already starting to get with the program and seem to have accepted the decision without much of an issue. Angela Park, born in Brazil of South Korean heritage and raised in the United States, said the policy is fair and good for the tour and its international players. Seon-Hwa Lee, the only Asian with multiple victories this year, said she works with an English tutor in the winter. Her ability to answer questions without the help of a translator has improved in her short time on tour.

All in all I think that the decision is a fair one and from a business standpoint makes perfect sense. If only everyone would stop being so sensitive and see that in the end sports is a business and needs to put profit ahead of some peoples hurt feelings.

Repeat Not Looking So Good

The odds of repeating as Superbowl champions are never very good. The odds of repeating without your best player on defensive are almost impossible. These are the odds that the New York Giants are going to have to beat this year as in their last pre-season game against the New York Jets defensive end Osi Umenyiora went down with a season ending injury.

Now Head Coach Tom Coughlin and the rest of the Giants franchise are in panic mode trying to find a replacement for Umenyiora. Luckily for the Giants they have a future Hall of Famer on speed dial who is very loyal to the team, Michael Strahan. The problem? Strahan is retired and has spent his entire off-season visiting NFL training camps preparing for his transition into broadcasting.

"We are going to go forward with the players that we have," Coughlin said. "And we are always looking for and searching for people who can help our team. And nothing is going to change with regard to that."

Now the Giants are acting very calm and collected about the whole situation because they claim that they have an insurance policy for such an occasion. An insurance policy named Mathias Kiwanuka. Kiwanuka is a former 1^st round draft pick and is a true defensive end who was drafted to eventually replace Strahan.

"I was told all along that if something were to happen that this is a position I could find myself in," Kiwanuka said. "I am ready to step in there and hopefully there won't be a letdown at all."

Moving Kiwanuka to defensive end would leave a hole at linebacker where Kiwanuka has been playing since being drafted back in 2006. Kiwanuka started nine games at defensive end as a rookie and had four sacks so we know that he can play end but that still doesn’t address the linebacker problem. They do have some options but none that can match the talent of Kiwanuka.

As for Strahan he is currently on vacation in Greece but it has been reported that he has been in contact with the team. However Strahan’s former teammates don’t that he will be coming back anytime soon.

"As I know it, he is probably on a beach somewhere sipping on some pina coladas, so I doubt football is the first thing on his mind today," said Justin Tuck, who replaced Strahan at left end.

As for the Giants it seems that things are going to be more difficult for them than they imagined this year as so far this off-season they have lost Strahan (retired), Umenyiora (injury) and Pro Bowl tight end Jeremy Shockey (trade). These three players were team leaders and will be sorely missed on the field. At least they still have a Manning at quarterback which is always a step in the right direction.

Dream Team vs. Redeem Team

After yesterdays win all any basketball fan wants to talk about is how great the US Mens basketball team is. Some people are saying that they are the greatest team of all time and they are better than the Dream Team from '92. To those people I say put down whatever you are smoking and come back down to reality.

I don't want to take anything away from the '08 team because they came together and played hard and beat some excellent competition but a comparison to the Dream Team is just not fair. Before we start the comparison just know that it is strictly about basketball and basketball only. The rosters alone speak volumes but I will go a bit more in-depth.

Dream Team vs. Redeem Team

Pos.	Player	Pos.	Player
G	Magic Johnson	G	Jason Kidd
G	Michael Jordan	G	Kobe Bryant
G	John Stockton	G	Chris Paul
G	Clyde Drexler	G	Dwyane Wade
G/F	Scottie Pippen	G	Deron Williams
F	Larry Bird	G	Michael Redd
F	Charles Barkley	F	LeBron James
F	Karl Malone	F	Carlos Boozer
F	Chris Mullin	F	Carmelo Anthony
F	C. Laettner	F	Tayshaun Prince
C	Patrick Ewing	C	Dwight Howard
C	David Robinson	C/F	Chris Bosh

Margin of Victory

This is usually the best way to compare teams and in this particular instance it is not even close. The Dream Team won by an average of 43.8 points per game while the Redeem Teams margin of victory was only 27.9. This clearly shows that the Dream Team was far more dominant and absolutely destroyed their opponents. Now I know that the level of competition is higher these days as basketball is more of a global game and foreign countries produce much better players but the stats cannot be ignored.

Best All-Around Player

The best overall player on the Redeem Team was LeBron James (in the '08 NBA season it was Kobe Bryant). The best overall player on the Dream Team was Michael Jordan who is much better than Kobe and LeBron at both offense and defense. The reason I bring this up is because when times are tough teams draw strength from their best player and when your best player is Michael Jordan you are going to draw a lot of strength.

Interior Players

If these two teams played each other the game would be won and lost in the paint. Dwight Howard would foul out in the first half trying to stop the likes of Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. Also Charles Barkley and Karl Malone would have no issues imposing their will on Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer. The Dream Team brought true centers who could dominate inside and win games single handily if the guards were having an off game, which they never did. Howard was a force in Beijing but his skills would look amateur compared to some of the greatest big men of all time.

The Point

Here is where the debate will get interesting because many people love the point guards on the Redeem Team and with good reason. Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Deron Williams are amazing point guards and can run the offense with 0 issues. However the Dream Team had Magic Johnson and John Stockton who are two of the best point guards ever. The Dream Team also had players like MJ and Scottie Pippen who could easily run an offense that was more versatile than the Redeem Team.

Defense

The '08 team played very hard on defense (though it had few answers for Spain in the final), but the Dream Team was better at that end of the court. If you saw Jordan shut down Lithuania's Sarunas Marciulionis or Pippen put the clamps on Croatia's Toni Kukoc -- both of the international players were world-class at the time -- you would have to give the advantage to the '92 team in a close game. And that's not even to bring up how Robinson and Ewing would protect the paint.

Once again this is not intended to bash the Redeem Team who played amazing and were a great team. In this day and age its hard to bring massive egos together and make them work as a unit. It is merely to say that it would not beat the once and future kings who set a standard that will probably never be matched.

The Passing of a Legend

On Wednesday night NFL Players Union boss Gene Upshaw passed away at the age of 63. He died due to pancreatic cancer, a disease he only learned that he had on Sunday. He is survived by his wife Terri and his sons Eugene III, Justin, and Daniel.

Upshaw played guard for the Oakland Raiders for all 15 years of his playing career and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987. Upshaw was the only player in Pro Football history to play in three Super Bowls with the same team in three different decades and was a 7 time Pro Bowl selection and was named to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time team.

"The Raider organization, the National Football League, and the world have lost a great man," Raiders founder Al Davis said. "He is as prominent a sportsman as the world has known."

Despite his excellent playing career Gene Upshaw will always be remembered as the executive director of the National Football League Players' Association (NFLPA). Upshaw brought unimaginable wealth to all players of the NFL as he introduced free agency and a salary cap to the league allowing players to earn more money.

"If you look at the history of the NFL you're going to find out that he was one of the most influential people that the league has known. He did so much, not only for the players, but also for the owners, the teams, and the game of pro football," John Madden, who coached Upshaw when Oakland won its first Super Bowl, said in a statement.

Upshaw's influence on the game will be felt forever as with his actions ushered in a new age of prosperity where both players and owners benefited tremendously. However he was criticized heavily by his stance towards retired players. When former players who felt their pensions were insufficient attempted to have the league and the Association consider their plight, Upshaw responded: "I don't work for them. They are not union members and they have no vote." It was even suggested that a campaign was being led by Ravens kicker Matt Stover to oust Gene Upshaw as head of the NFLPA.

Even though he wasn't loved by everyone he was certainly respected by all as he was always trying to do what was best for the players of the NFL. Even the men that he had to sit across from at negotiations had respect for Upshaw.

"Gene Upshaw did everything with great dignity, pride, and conviction," Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the NFL said. "He was the rare individual who earned his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame both for his accomplishments on the field and for his leadership of the players off the field. He fought hard for the players and always kept his focus on what was best for the game. His leadership played a crucial role in taking the NFL and its players to new heights."

Many of the younger players today know Upshaw only for his role with the NFLPA and had no idea that he was such a great player. Brandon Moore, the New York Jets player representative was 2 years old when Upshaw retired and said simply: "From what I hear, he was a pretty good player."

Upshaw will clearly be missed by everyone. His effect on the game will still be felt years from now and every player in the NFL right now that has a mansion and 5 cars should thank Upshaw because he made that all possible. He is a true legend of the game both on and off the field and someone that the NFL will sorely miss.

Replay is In

How many times have you been watching a baseball game and saw a terrible call made by an umpire that changed the game or cost your team the game? I know that there is nothing more annoying then when a player gets called out who was clearly safe or an umpire blows a call and claims no home run when it clearly hit the top of the fence. Well worry no more because this problem may be resolved by the end of the summer.

Baseball umpires and management signed an agreement on Wednesday that will allow the sport to start using instant replay to help determine calls on the field. Major League Baseball still hasn't determined when the use of replay will start but installation of equipment has been going on at almost every ballpark in the MLB. MLB officials have said they hoped to start using replay in August and have been testing the technology at the Little League World Series.

Replays will be limited to boundary calls, such as determining whether fly balls were fair or foul, or whether they went over fences but not to argue balls and strikes.

One of the main reasons that replay hasn't been implemented yet is because some umpires feel that it is an insult to their judgement. John Hirschbeck, World Umpires Association president, tried to explain how replay is a positive thing for the game. "I told our members that it's just another tool that we can use to get the play right, not to look at it as a negative, but a positive,"Hirschbeck said. "As hard as you try, as much as you hustle, sometimes with just the landscape of the ballparks nowadays, it's hard to tell. So if we can get it right, you know what, let's use it as a tool to get it right."

Another roadblock to replay being instituted was Bud Selig who felt that implementing replay would simply slow the game down. Selig has always tried to make the games go by faster by making mound meetings shorter and not giving batters as much time between pitches to stand out of the box. Eventually Selig caved however as too many calls were being made incorrectly that were heavily affecting the outcome of games.

I think putting in replay is a great idea because although it may slow down the game a bit at least the right call is being made. Also replay in baseball will be much quicker than in football as in baseball things are often more cut and dry than football. For example when the refs review whether a catch was made or not they often have to look at the feet, see if the receiver had control, and then where the spot was. This is a lengthy process and also takes personal judgement into account. In baseball if an umpire reviews if a ball went over the fence it either did or it didn't so the replay should take only seconds.

Umpire crew chiefs will determine when replay will be used and will make the final decisions on calls. Up to three umpires will be able to look at the replays, which will be provided from a "war room" at Major League Baseball Advanced Media in New York. It's possible as many as five umps could review the replays during postseason.

It is nice to see baseball joining the 21st century and adding this new technology and as far as Bud Selig is concerned, baseball is a slow game no matter what you do about it. Adding replay isn't going to ruin your game it will only make it fairer for everyone playing it.