Summary: A recent survey about the youth sports experience yields results both reassuring and troubling.
More than one-quarter of adults have witnessed a physical confrontation involving coaches, officials or parents at a youth sports practice or game. That's among the more startling findings of a recent survey by the National Alliance for Youth Sports, which asked moms, dads, volunteer coaches, officials and program administrators to answer 20 questions about the youth sports experience.
From reasons why parents want their kids to play sports (enjoyment was the top answer) to why they eventually quit (disliking their coach was the most common reply), the survey captures the personal observations of 2,130 respondents. The results are both reassuring and troubling, according to John Engh, chief operating officer of NAYS. Read Article
The truth of the matter is that the NFL is better suited for a BCS-type method of determining a champion than college football. There are significantly fewer teams, so there are more common opponents to use as a basis of comparison between two teams. The NFL regular season (16 games) is 33 percent longer than the college regular season (12 games), so there’s a larger sample of games by which to evaluate teams. And with the league’s TV package, it would be much easier for voters — if the NFL actually had them — to watch every game played each week.
But as fate would have it, the league with 32 teams narrows down to a 12-team playoff, while the division with 119 teams gives only two of them a chance to play for the title.
If the NFL had made the move to a two-team playoff model along with college football in 1998, the Steelers would not have played in last season’s Super Bowl. The Seahawks might not have either (it would have been tight between Seattle and Denver for the right to play Indianapolis). The Eagles would not have played in Super Bowl XXXIX. The Panthers would not have played in Super Bowl XXXVIII. The Patriots definitely would not have won Super Bowl XXXVI. And those are just the ones that are certain. It’s possible that more than half of the Super Bowl teams over the previous eight seasons would not have ended up there in a system like this.
Now, one could argue that a single elimination tournament where an 8-8 team that’s suddenly hot has a chance to knock off a team that worked since training camp to go 14-2 is unfair. Any given Sunday and all that. No one seems to be dissatisfied, though, with the outcome of a playoff. Few are happy with the NCAA and it’s “integrity of the regular season” model. Then again, neither seems to be hurting for people willing to shell out for tickets or watch games on television. Americans love their football, regardless of how the champions are crowned.
Remember that the BCS stands for B(ig) C(ash) S(cheme)
The NCAA approves bowl games. That is about the limit of their wisdom and authority with the selection of a BSC national champion. The BCS was created by television, the bowl corporate sponsors, and the six "power" conferences. This is a closed society of schools that play semipro football. For some sense of fairness they will occasionally allow a Boise State or Hawaii to get in the act - but with a reduced payout.
The rich get richer and the others stay as they are. It is a pitiful way to do business. And business it is, first and foremost. It has very little to do with education, scientific research, students or degrees and graduation. Comments
Some NFL media gurus predicted Oklahoma State's, and Chattanooga native, Adarius Bowman as the first wide receiver chosen in the resent NFL draft. Because of a question of character, Bowman instead is undrafted. Lots of talent. Good size. A bit slow by NFL standards. Allowed his romance with the weed to cost him a possible lucrative NFL career.
... From beautiful to Ugly - Again! Three words ... Oregon Ducks Uniforms.
If I were a duck, I would be offended.
More or less serving as Nike’s guinea pigs when it comes to designing uniforms, Oregon football and basketball simply look awful. With hundreds of different combinations to wear on the gridiron, it is amazing that almost everything they come up with looks terrible, but the Ducks somehow pull it off. The black and green jerseys with yellow lettering and strange patterns on the knees and shoulders are bad enough, but the highlighter yellow uniforms make one wonder if this isn’t all some cruel joke Nike founder Phil Knight is playing on his alma mater. And the new greenish gold helmets? Words can only go so far.
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7.3 million: Athletes competing in high-school sports
$1.4-billion: Amount awarded annually in athletics scholarships by colleges and universities
399,000: Athletes in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III
123,000: Athletes in Divisions I and II who receive athletics scholarships
SOURCES: National Collegiate Athletic Association; National Federation of State High School Associations
Exxon shatters profit records. Oil giant makes corporate history by booking $11.7 billion in quarterly profit; earns $1,300 a second in 2007. February 1 2008: 2:26 PM EST
Exxon Mobil booked the biggest quarterly and annual profits in U.S. corporate history Friday, helped by higher oil prices.
Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said fourth-quarter net income rose 14% to $11.66 billion, or $2.13 per share. The company earned $10.25 billion, or $1.76 per share, in the year-ago period.
The profit topped Exxon's previous quarterly record of $10.7 billion, set in the fourth quarter of 2005, which also was an all-time high for a U.S. corporation.
"Exxon can put out some amazing numbers and this is one of those cases," said Jason Gammel, senior analyst at Macquarie Securities in New York.
Exxon also set an annual profit record by earning $40.61 billion last year - or nearly $1,300 per second in 2007. That exceeded its previous record of $39.5 billion in 2006.
In the fourth quarter, the company said revenue rose 29.5% from a year ago to $116.64 billion.
Analysts were looking for the company to report quarterly profit of $10.36 billion on revenue of $114.9 billion, according to earnings tracker Thomson Financial.
We are all too familiar with this news. I certainly do not understand all the economic ends and outs except I know that Exxon officials and their stockholders are happy. They are also thinking the rest of us are fools to be had. On any day there are hundreds of scams threatening us - on the Internet and other places. There is one that rips off our older mothers and fathers, by someone on the phone promising to rush their tax credit checks to them, but they need social security numbers and bank account information to directly deposit the checks. The scammer then wipes out your mama's bank account.
These scams are against the law and perpetrators can and do get prosecuted. If caught, Internet scammers face the same risks and punishment.
But oh, baby the oil companies can and do scam us everyday! Are you mad? I am. I feel like the worst fool when I have to purchase gas. And in this industry there is no competition. You can visit five outlets in any area, with different brands, and the price is the same. An hour later, you can visit the same ones and the price has increased.
Let's see now. From the limited knowledge of a Southern boy, let's see if we can go further with this. The local retail outlet purchases gas from a dristibutor who buys it from the producer. Now the producer has purchased it from a refiner who I guess bought it from the driller (simple terminology). At each stage there is a markup so that each makes a little money along the way. Now if the Exxonmer owns a little of each stage - or likely a lot - then they rip us off the entire journey. Does Exxon own the fields it drills? How about the drilling company? Enough. I am confusing myself now.
It doesn't take an Ivy League grad to know we are getting it shoved where the sun don't shine. (an Ivier would have typed the word dosen't for my last don't). I know 'at, but I want all the Oregon football fans to understand what I'm a sayin'. Click here, Fellow Fool, to read the rest of this.
The NCAA has released Academic Progress Rate data for the 2006-07 school year and 218 teams from 123 schools face penalties for not making the grade. In addition, 26 teams were warned that they could face postseason bans if their APR scores don't improve next year.
The NCAA’s announcement Tuesday of the latest step in its multiyear campaign to assess the academic progress of Division I teams may not persuade the stingiest skeptics of college sports that the NCAA and its leaders care as much about academics as they assert; association officials continue to play down the likelihood that athletes are meeting its eligibility standards through watered down courseloads or the sort of academic shenanigans that have been revealed in recent controversies at Auburn and Florida State Universities and the University of Michigan.
