Gooseys Gabbings-The World of Weird Bizarre and Odd News

> Gooseys Gabbings-The World of Weird Bizarre and Odd News

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Students to get college credit by attending Final Four

ATLANTA (AP) -- Some students may skip classes this week to attend college basketball's Final Four, though at least a dozen have managed to score class credits out of the trip.

The students are sports management majors at Lynn University in South Florida. As part of a course titled "The Final Four Experience," they will be traveling with a couple of professors to Atlanta to get a firsthand look at what goes into the major sporting event.

And get this, each student gets three credits for the excursion.

"It's a chance for us to meet people with high positions and see how they got to where they are now," junior Emily Lipman said. "Then we'll be able to feed off that."

The group arrived Wednesday and won't just attend the Final Four. They will tour the city's pro and college sports stadiums, network with team executives and some sponsors, including representatives of The Coca-Cola Co.

The trip cost $3,250 per student. It may seem pricey but the total covered the cost of the class, a hotel room for six nights, food, roundtrip airline tickets, two rental minivans, a Georgia Tech baseball game and Thrashers hockey game, along with the Final Four and championship games at the Georgia Dome.

Though it may sound like a sports fan's dream, the students will be required to put in some work. They'll take a couple of exams, keep a diary and will hold a presentation after the trip.

"We said to ourselves, 'What's the best way to teach our students?"' professor Theodore Curtis said. "We knew they needed to see something and experience it, rather than sit during a lecture and listen to us."

Professor Charles Barr, who has escorted Lynn students on overseas study tours, said attending the Final Four was something that couldn't be missed.

"Since it's in our backyard, why not?" he asked. "With the attention the Final Four gets, it provides a perfect opportunity. It gives them a closer look at what they will do in the future."

Sports management majors typically pursue front-office positions with professional or collegiate teams.

"This trip is a stepping stool for us," said senior Joaquin Smits from New York, who has never visited Atlanta. "That's why I don't mind doing any extra work."

Out of 30 applicants for the course, Barr and Curtis picked 12 students they thought showed the most work ethic and dedication in their major.

Lipman was an easy choice. The Atlanta native, who is president of the university's sports management club, wants to work for a major league baseball franchise -- preferably for her hometown Braves.

Goosey's Gabbings...

I wonder if they will get credit for how much body paint they can put on, beer they can drink, how loud they can scream obscenities at the referees, and whether spending 3K on a trip was worth Mom and Dad having to once again go into their 401Ks and wait for another year to retire.

technorati tags:news, sports, atlanta, final-four, funny-humor, weird, odd, bizarre, students-get-college-credit-for-going-to-final-four, florida, lynn-university, offbeat, offbeat-news, quirky, funny, humorous

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Labels: atlanta, basketball, bizarre, final four, florida, funny, humorous, lynn university, news, odd, offbeat, offbeat news, quirky, sports, students get college credit for going to final four, weird

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Seattle area softball team wins game 64-0

Woodinville High School's 64-0 fastpitch softball win over Franklin last week prompted the KingCo 4A coaches to meet Tuesday night to discuss ways to avoid any kind of repeat performance and led to some soul-searching by Woodinville coach Jim Weir.

"Baseball and softball have been part of my life since I was 7 years old," Weir said. "The last thing I want to do is disrespect any opponent, disrespect the game. What happened is unfortunate. I have been questioning myself these last four-five days."

"I have so much respect for this game," he added. "What hurts me the most is maybe I hurt that [respect]. That was not my intention."

Weir said he was "shocked" by the final score after the March 21 game ended. He said he was concentrating more on making sure his players were playing the game right and had lost count of the score.

"If anything positive can come out of this, it's that we can implement some new rules so this never happens again," Weir said.

The meeting, held at Juanita High School, was closed to the public but Tim Crowder, Juanita athletic director in charge of KingCo 4A fastpitch, said one proposal was to change the "mercy rule" — when a game is ended early because of a lopsided score.

A 15-run lead after three full innings would be the new standard, replacing a 10-run lead after five innings. Fastpitch games normally last seven innings, and state rules require a game to go at least five innings for it to be official.

Several other recommendations will be part of the overall plan presented to conference principals and athletic directors, who will make a final decision in the next few weeks. Crowder declined to comment on the other recommendations.

"Everyone's on the same page in terms of trying to do what's best for the kids and still compete," Crowder said.

Eight of 11 coaches attended the meeting and agreed unanimously on the recommendations, he added.

Another suggestion at the meeting involved moving Franklin to a full-time junior-varsity schedule for the rest of the season. The Quakers' struggling program has been beaten 30-0, 24-0 and 13-0 in its three other games.

But Crowder said Washington Interscholastic Activities Association rules prohibit such a move.

Franklin principal Jennifer Wiley said her school's softball team will have to learn how to define success for itself, apart from the scoreboard.

"Our program is about taking kids where they are and growing them from game to game," Wiley said. "We're not measuring success by wins and losses. ... Sometimes that puts us at the top of the heap, and sometimes it does not. There's so much more to athletics than winning, and we need to make sure we're cultivating all those things."

Wiley said there was no indication from her coaches or players at the game that Woodinville was running up the score. Weir said his team stopped being aggressive — hit-and-runs, taking extra bases, tagging up — after going up 7-0.

Weir isn't sure where the line should be drawn.

"At what point is it just too much? Twenty, thirty, forty runs?" he asked in a letter on the team's Web site. "If this game does anything positive, it will point out the inequities in our league, rules that need to be changed and the role umpires can take in such an unbalanced game."

Goosey's Gabbings...

That last synopsis and philosophy was a joke. Does this guy honestly believe that this can teach anyone anything other than the fact that his sportsmanship is basically so far gone that it takes being embarrassed by it to really make a difference?

I understand that there are situations where teams just can't compete, as it seems this team can't, but there's also a line where you trade dignity for out and out giving a psychological wedgie to these individuals. Give me a damn break here...

technorati tags:Seattle, news, softball, sports, odd, weird, offbeat, offbeat-news, bizarre, team-wins-64-0, bad-sportsmanship, Woodinville, Washington, humor, humorous, quirky, strange

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Labels: bad sportsmanship, bizarre, humor, humorous, news, odd, offbeat, offbeat news, quirky, seattle, softball, sports, strange, team wins 64-0, washington, weird, woodinville

Friday, March 16, 2007

Man Bets $4 on Horses--Wins 1.4 Million!

Ladbrokes said the odds of Archie Evans' successful accumulator bet were nearly 350,000 to one.

It is the bookmaker's biggest payout in Wales and a bonus bet this Saturday could even see Mr Evans, 59, increase his winnings to over 1 million dollars.

The father-of-three has been invited to be a VIP guest of the bookies to the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday.

Ladbrokes described Mr Evans' correct six-horse bet last weekend as "extraordinary".

"This is the most phenomenal betting performance we've seen in many years," said a spokesman.

Mr Evans said: "It's fantastic to have won and it's so exciting to think I could be a millionaire by Saturday night.

"It's a huge amount of money and if I'm honest it's not sunk in yet."

He said everyone kept asking him how he planned to spend the money, adding: "I've not decided yet but I know I'm going to take my wife on a bloody good holiday."

Goosey's Gabbings...

Take that, Carleton Sheets!

Labels: betting, bizarre, dumb news, england, funny, horse racing, odd, quirky, sports, sports gambling, weird

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Wisconsin and Ohio St. Post a classic NCAA 1-2 matchup

As an avid fan of basketball and the Big Ten, it made it sweet to see the 1-2 matchup this late in the season be Ohio St. and Wisconsin. For one, it just gives an absolute tribute to the coaches and the talent that the Big Ten has top to bottom, and for another, it's basketball the way it should be--intricate, executed, and a grind-it-out finish that left fans gasping for more.

Mike Conley's shot to win 49-48 in Columbus was nothing short of spectacular; but what I loved was the competitive nature of the game and the mark it should leave on college basketball. When we are surrounded day in and day out by something going wrong in the NBA or a million dollar player screaming for the ball more and more, to see these teams go at it was pure pleasure.

While I have said since the beginning of the year that I have felt Thad Matta's team is the best in the country, I have been very, very impressed and in awe of what Bo Ryan puts together year in and year out. Ohio St. obviously has the recruiting prowess and the big names like Oden and Conley. Ryan, on the other hand, rarely has that blue-chipper that can jump from the college ranks to the NBA without missing a beat; still, his teams every year are at the top of the Big Ten and foes don't ever want to face Wisconsin at the Kohl Center, no matter who you are. Why? Because Ryan typifies what college basketball used to be and what it should be now, the kind of Gene Keady-ish Bobby Knight old school "defense first" motto that can be taught but rarely executed.

His players look to him for guidance, and he gives it with exclamation points. He scowls on the sidelines, but still has the ability to motivate when it's needed. I just love this guy for being in the same conference as my favorite team, the Illini. While I have always liked Bruce Weber, I am not sure if coaching-wise he has all of the tools that Ryan represents. Weber is an offensive-minded coach nowadays, even though he does come from Keady's breeding and his SIU teams were thuggish in their defensive skills. Now, it's more finesse and to out-athleticize teams for Weber's Illini, a huge difference from the dream team Illinois had in 2004-05.

To see the Buckeyes and Badgers slug it out like Ali-Frazier was a classic, and I am proud of both of these teams. Wisconsin proved that they are no fluke despite losing the game and the #1 ranking, but I think both of these teams have legitimate shots at cutting down the nets in April. I am super excited for the Big Ten tournament and all the competition that should bring. I only hope my Illini don't embarass themselves!!!!

Congrats, Buckeyes. And thank you, Badgers!! You made this one of the games of the year!!

Goosey

Labels: Badgers, basketball, Big Ten, Bo Ryan, Bruce Weber, Buckeyes, Greg Oden, hoops, Illini, Mike Conley, NCAA, Ohio State University, sports, Thad Matta, University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Chief Illiniwek OUT, Fascism IN

The war is over for Illini fans. OVER.

The Chief is officially going to be retired. Just like so many people have been asked to "retire" from companies because of all of their great service, right? Yeah..uh huh.

For years, there has been the back and forth battle of whether the Chief should be a symbol of the University of Illinois. Supporters of Chief Illiniwek have contended that it was a proud icon of history that every one could use as the pride and love for their University. However, anti-Chief sentiments have claimed that the Chief has been a racist symbol of degradation of the Native Americans and being a mascot was completely against all civil rights of the culture. There have been so many cries out, so much anger, so much mud slinging back and forth, I could write and write and write for days about every move each side has made. The level that things sunk to were so appalling (including one professor that WORKED for the university sending propoganda to potential recruits telling them NOT to come to Illinois) that most kids that fight on a playground wouldn't dare lay claim to such antics.

Lo and behold, it's over. After the NCAA told the U of I that they would not be able to host any post season games as long as the Chief still did his ceremonial dance at half time of sporting events, the Illini appealed and fought the decision to no avail. So, this week, they announced that after the last men's basketball home scheduled game, the Chief would be forever a memory.

Here is what the problem is... Is the Illini the only potential team out there that is "offending"? Of course not. When the NCAA handed down its decision, there were 18 other schools that were named alongside the Illini that were "banned" from hosting post season events.

But the real issue is that instead of issuing a reprimand and standing up with a final decision, the NCAA took a cowardly way of taking away future windfall dollars in a "phantom ransom" to force Illinois to make a final stand. Instead of giving the University, which is already under heavy jurisdiction and policy, the proper due in terms of institutional control, the NCAA has to weigh in their "ideology" and play this game with these schools--it's downright shameful.

But, again, even so, besides those 18 other schools, there are STILL other potentially infringing teams out there. Florida State, for example, has a Seminole Indian riding a horse into the middle of the field and throw a flaming arrow into the ground, and stays on the sidelines the entire game. They, however, have not been mandated by anyone to change anything. In fact, the Seminole tribe has endorsed what FSU does. On the other hand, the Illini never have the Chief travel, and the only time that he is "seen" is at half, when the same ceremonial dance is performed, and then he exits. This ceremonial dance is taught to whomever portrays the Chief by descendants of the Illini tribe--we're talking actual Native Americans here.

Yet--here we are. How does this make sense?

I don't necessarily disagree that their may be those offended; however, why in the world isn't EVERY SINGLE TEAM being dealt with? Why is there a professional football team named the "Redskins" that has been operating for almost 100 years?

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. What the NCAA has done is nothing short of fascism, and I have lost an icon that I have rooted on for over 30 years. Am I Native American? No. Do I have even a smidgeon of understanding what their culture has endured for centuries? No. Do I love Chief Illiniwek for the pride that it gives me in supporting my favorite team? Yes.

Why then, do hundreds of thousands of Illini fans who love and respect the Chief, despite these issues named above, have to suffer?

Isn't this the same type of treatment and indignity the anti-Chief ideologists and NCAA claim the Chief has represented all along?

Forgive me for my passion if I offended, but give me your thoughts on this.

Goosey

Labels: bans on teams, basketball, Chief, Chief Illiniwek, college controversy, football, Illini, Illinois, Native American culture, NCAA, sports, University of Illinois

Friday, February 16, 2007

NBA All-Snub Weekend

Let's talk sports, one of my favorites things to do. The subject at hand is the NBA All-Star weekend.

Once one of the jewels of the sport, this antiquated popularity contest has become the laughingstock of professional sports. While baseball's all-star game has similarities in terms of some starters being voted in based on mass blasts from their fans, the NBA's circus of a weekend makes it even more laughable. At least I can fathom having Marcus Giles voted in for baseball if he's having a halfway decent year as opposed to some of the stupidity that has followed the NBA voting scheme.

First of all, let's look at the starters for the teams. On the West, you have Kobe, T-Mac, KG, Tim Duncan, and Yao Ming. Ok, the West looks pretty good...except for the glaring error in having Ming as a starter. Ming has played a grand total of 27 games this year, which means he barely made it past turkey time, and yet was voted in as an all-star. HELLO!!! How does a person sit there and fill out a ballot knowing full well whom they are voting for won't even be able to step foot on the court? They might as well have wrote in 2 million votes for Pete Maravich--it would make as much sense.

On the East, we have D-Wade, Gilbert Arenas, King James, Chris Bosh, and Shaq. I will give the East voters some favor here because voting in Bosh was great--recognizing a player for their attributes and contributions for that year is the way to do it, and Bosh is having a bang-up year. But Shaq? Come on!!! That's even worse than Yao--even though Diesel has rings to back it up, he's so out of his prime and league, per se, that this is one of the largest travesties of all. The fact that it almost seems by his actions that having to play basketball is a nuisance to him makes it even more sickening.

Within all of the voting, here are some of the thing I have observed: Caron Butler was 9th in the forward voting, even though his numbers are far superior to several names in front of him. In the East guards, Michael Redd got more votes than Ben Gordon yet again, has been hurt for a long period of time. For centers, Eddy Curry got a whopping 200,000 playing for a large market team like the Knicks, yet is having a career year. I know, I know, that's like being cocky for losing 20 lbs when your 200 lbs. overweight, but you see my point.

The Western conference voting is a little harder to figure out because of the huge amount of talent--but how in the world does Carlos Boozer rank 10th in forwards, following such basketball powerhouses as Shane Battier and Lamar Odom (again hurt much of the year). The guards look solid, although I still don't understand how in the world Deron Williams got snubbed from this team and Tony Longoria, er, Parker, got in. Give me a freakin' break.

So, what's the story, morning glory? First of all, I believe there should be a rule that if a player misses at least 1/3 of the season, that they are not eligible even to be voted for. Once they hit that magic number--*poof*-their votes are nullified. And even one more thing--if you vote for a player who is hurt or is not in the top 10 statistically for the position, you automatically lose all of your voting capabilities and have your name and face blasted across NBA.com just as we do for sex offenders--ok, maybe that's a bit much. I've gotta lay off the caffiene for a while.

Ok, much better now. Let's be honest here--having fans vote for this is not working out...I mean, come on, is the national championship for football decided by the fans? Nope. It's by the media and coaches. And even when it comes to NCAA Basketball, the polls mean little when a gang of men sit around for three days and decide where the seeds are for March Madness.

It just doesn't make sense that so much is made of this when it's about as logical as snow skiing in Illinois.

So, enough of venting about the ineptness of the voting process. Let's move to the surrounding games and media frenzy this all involves.

It used to be back in the day (which by the way was a Wednesday..thanks Dane), that there were two key events around the all-star game, the 3-pt. contest and the dunk contest. Not only do those still exist, but now we have a Rookie game, a Celebrity game, a skills challenge, shooting stars challenge, and a D-League game. I'm just waiting for next year for their to be a week-long scavenger hunt sponsored by CBS' Survivor and a reality game that allows for someone to win a starting spot on one of the teams. It could happen, and I don't think that my sarcasm is really something to laugh at considering how many stupid things now accompany this once-great game. It's just a matter of time before the All-Star game is owned by Barnum and Bailey.

I miss Bird-Magic. I miss Jordan and Isiah playing together. I miss seeing Spud Webb defy all odds to win a prestigious contest. I want to see Kareem playing his heart out against Moses Malone.

Scary thing is that I may end up seeing that again someday. All they have to do is put their name on the ballot.

Until next time....

Goosey

Labels: all-star, association, basketball, commentary, editorial, game, hoops, humorous, musings, national, nba, pro, professional, sarcasm, sports, voting