Handling College Scandals

In light of recent allegations made by convicted felon Nevin Shapiro, the University of Miami is looking at a bleak future. In claims made to Yahoo! Sports, he has claimed to have given money, prostitutes, and even paid for an abortion for over seventy former and current players at the university. Shapiro had access to places that most people were not allowed to go into, and was often seen out with players at nightclubs, parties, and other venues.

As such, there are rumors that the University of Miami could be given the death penalty, which would set the program back for a long time. The days of the U being one of the preeminent college football factories would be all but over. The brunt of the punishment would fall upon players and a coaching staff that had nothing to do with the situation, but would be forced to play under the realization that they are essentially screwed.

Yet, is this the best solution? To punish a team, and subsequently players, for years that may not have had anything to do with the scandal? Often, the coaching staff that was in charge during the payoffs and scandals has long since left. The players are no longer with the university. Regardless, the institution and their football team bares the brunt of the punishment while those responsible walk away without any repercussions. Is this truly in the best interests of the NCAA?

There is a better way. Place these sanctions on the coach and, if he has knowledge of the situation, the athletic director that were there during that time. The coach leaves, the sanctions follow the coach and athletic director. Do not place the punishment upon people that had nothing to do with what was happening. Put the punishment where it belongs – on those responcible.

By doing so, it takes away the safety net of being able to move to another program and not have to deal with the problem. For instance, why should Pete Carroll be able to go to another college with a clean slate when his former school is paying for transgressions that occurred under his watch? It is not right. Make Carroll pay for what happened, not people that were not even there.

This would be the best course of action, and would cause coaches to pay more attention to what is actually happening off the field. However, this is a logical solution, and any entity that thinks a playoff to determine a national champion is wrong obviously cannot be expected to do the logical thing.

Time To Let It Go

Well, that was anticlimactic.

Two days into the Roger Clemens perjury trial, the judge declared a mistrial as the prosecution showed a videotape that had been previously ruled inadmissible as evidence. Now, Clemens gets to walk free until at least September 2, when another court date is scheduled to determine whether or not the federal government will attempt to try him again.

Now, the total cost of this two day waste of time? Millions of dollars and several years of the government's time. Yeah, that was worth it. The United States is $14,500,619,727,103 in debt as of right now, and climbing. The government is having problems agreeing on putting together a budget that will attempt to curb federal spending, yet they can waste all that time and money on this?

And do not believe the garbage that Congress is spewing about how this is about showing that no one is able to get away with lying to them. Back in 1994 in a hearing chaired by the same Harry Waxman that was chairing the steroids hearing, the CEOs of seven tobacco companies all declared - under oath - that they believed that nicotine was not addictive. Seventeen years later, none of them have been brought up for perjury. Guess their summons got lost in the mail. Or maybe it isn't glamorous to prosecute the CEOs of companies that spend so much money on Capitol Hill, making sure that their lobbyists get the bribes to the right people.

This was never about steroids or trying to 'clean up the game', as these people claim. This was about face time. This was about being able to make pithy comments that would get replayed over and over again, as they claimed 'moral outrage'. This was never about protecting the youth of America, and making sure that their heroes remain untarnished. This was about hypocrisy, since everyone in Congress lies to one another on a continual basis. If lying to Congress is such a big deal, then every single Congressman should be prosecuted. These people are basically getting free advertising while wasting the taxpayers money.

In the end, nothing got resolved. Clemens walks free due to a legal error, and no one aside from him knows if he lied to Congress or not. And at this point, no one really cares either.

Tiger Woods Did PEDs

The evidence is circumstantial at best, but where there is smoke, there is usually fire. Let's connect the dots here.

We have here a person the likes of which his sport had never seen before. A person who could, seemingly without exerting any effort, could drive a ball to incredible distances. A person who would seemingly win an event that he showed up for, just based off of his intimidation presence alone. A golfer who was built more like a linebacker. A golfer that actually lifted weights, as opposed to being the out of shape hobbyists that the rest of the PGA Tour consisted of. An actual athlete that happened to play golf. That person was Tiger Woods.

Fast forward to October of 2009. Dr. Anthony Galea, who just so happened to be the personal doctor of Tiger Woods, was charged in federal court for bringing Human Growth Hormone and similar substances into the United States, as well as lying to border guards to avoid being caught. Now Dr. Galea, who plead guilty in court on Wednesday, admitted that he brought these substances in to treat athletes.

Woods claims that HGH and steroids were never a part of any treatments that he received from Dr. Galea. So, we are to believe a guy who is a known liar and cheat when he claims that he never took or received any of these drugs from this person, who is an admitted that such things were a part of his healing medicine? Or is it just coincidence that the other athlete from the list of 20 golfers, baseball players , and football players that he treated just so happened to be Alex Rodriguez? Oh, and by the way, A-Rod is an admitted PED user, only he claimed his cousin got them for him. Sure, cousin. That cousin wouldn't have happened to be a disgraced Canadian doctor now, would it? Wait, we understand you won't answer honestly - don't want to blow up your golden goose now.

Now, let's look at the Tiger Woods timeline here. The last tournament he won was back on September 13, 2009, at the BMW Championship, were he defeated the field by eight shots. Now, on Thanksgiving of that same year, he crashed his SUV into a shrubbery (the Knights Who So Formerly Said Ni! were not pleased with this development), a fire hydrant, and finally a tree. He then conveniently removed himself from any other tournaments for 2009.

Now, let's look at 2010. Zero victories. In fact, he even failed to make the Ryder Cup team, an event for which his name had previously been penned in. He would skip events. He would claim his equipment was hindering his performance. Meanwhile, the rest of the tour was mysteriously starting to catch up to him, to the point where he finally relinquished control of the top ranking in the world of golf, dropping to second. Did the effects of all of those golf courses 'Tiger Proofing' themselves finally start to work all of a sudden? Or was it that Woods no longer had the PED advantage he previously had, now that his doctor was busted?

So, we move forward to 2011. Once again, Woods has not won an event. In fact, he has barely been able to finish an event he appeared in, leaving twice due to 'injuries'. Recently, he announced that he would not return until he felt right. Now, HGH and other PEDs can not only help one accumulate muscle mass and strength, but they also help decrease recovery time from various injuries and surgeries. Suddenly, Woods seems to have a lot of 'minor injuries' and other ailments that he never had before. He has been having issues with his Achilles tendon and his left anterior cruciate ligament, which is ironic since steroids have suggested to increase the risk of tendon tears and injuries in athletes.

With everything added up, and with his sudden fall from the pinnacle of his 'sport', there is plenty of evidence suggesting that Tiger Woods has done PEDs. Just because no one has actually seen him get injected means absolutely nothing. Now, the PGA Tour does have a PED testing policy, and a player was caught under the system. However, the PGA Tour is run by THE PLAYERS, and since it is, how serious are they about actually testing for such things? They are smart enough to know that if one of their cash cows got caught, it would ruin golf's image. So, point to the fact that Tiger Woods has never tested positive for PEDs all you want. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Andy Pettitte never tested positive for them either.

Tiger Woods did PEDs. It is just that no one wants to admit it.

The Tour De Farce

With the coming of July, the attention of the sporting world turns ever so slightly toward an event so dirty that even a Kardashian sister thinks that it has an image problem - the Tour de France. In this farce of an event, 'clean' cyclists race across France, striving for the ever elusive Yellow Jersey of Leadership and ultimate victory.

This grand event of cycling prowess has lost a lot of it's luster over the past few years. Since Lance Armstrong and his one testicle ripped off seven consecutive victories, allegations of doping have circled the race like so many vultures over a dying animal. In fact, it has gotten to the point where claiming that someone on the Tour de France is using PEDs is not even news. If someone is actually running that race clean, they are at a major competitive disadvantage. Even though they do occasionally catch someone doping, it seems that is more likely to have happened because they actually tested that one person's blood during the event. They can't test them all and have everyone come back dirty - after all, they have a race to run and corporate sponsorship money to receive.

As it stands, the Tour and professional cycling may as well come clean about the entire situation and be a lot more transparent. Sell the naming rights to the event to BALCO. Bring in Victor Conte and Greg Anderson as experts, giving tips on the best way to use PEDs for maximum effect. Have disgraced former winner Floyd Landis as a commentator, detailing each cyclists doping regiment. In fact, you can even bring Charlie Sheen in as a celebrity guest. He used steroids when filming Major League, so he knows all about PEDs. Plus, there would be the unintentional comedy of watching him try to ride a bike.

The Tour de France is nothing more than a farce. It's time they admit it.

Isiah Thomas Returns - Part Five?

Imagine for a moment that you own a business. In the past, this business had been rather successful, ranking near the top in it's respective field. However, the business has fallen upon hard times recently, and needs help to achieve it's former level of greatness. As such, you are looking for someone to lead the business back.

Amongst your candidates, there are people that have been successful in the type of business that you own, there is someone that has learned the position by working his way through the ranks, and then there is someone that destroyed the last four companies he has been a part of over the last ten years. Obviously, that last person is not someone you would seriously consider, right?

Unless, apparently, you happen to be the Detroit Pistons. Their present head coaching search is down to four people - Mike Woodson, Kelvin Sampson, Bill Laimbeer, and......Isiah Thomas. Yes, that Isiah Thomas. The same Isiah Thomas that managed to bankrupt the Continental Basketball Association two years after purchasing it. The Isiah Thomas that took a talented Pacers team that had just come off an NBA Finals appearance, yet was unable to get them past the first round. The same Isiah Thomas that ran the New York Knicks into the ground, both in the front office and as a coach - yet was almost brought back last year as an advisor. And yes, the same Isiah Thomas that is presently attempting to coach in college basketball without anything resembling success.

All of this does not take into account the various scandals that have marked his career either. From his attempts to freeze out Michael Jordan during the All-Star game, to his being sued for sexual harassment while with the Knicks, to his being hospitalized for an overdose of Lunesta (and trying to cover it up by claiming his daughter was the one getting the medical attention), to the Knicks having illegal workouts with draft prospects while he was in the front office, Thomas is toxic. Stay away at all costs.

We here at Mr. Dave's Sports Blog are aware that making fun of Isiah Thomas is roughly akin to beating up Helen Keller - too easy. Yet, despite his long list of failures, Thomas continually returns in the ranks of basketball. Either he has pictures of someone in the NBA that allow him to continue getting employment, or he is David Stern's version of the retarded kid that works at McDonald's washing dishes for $3.00 per hour. Nice to know that the NBA's favorite charity involves watching Thomas pretend to be a competent basketball coach/executive/towel boy while not having the capabilities to manage my cat.

So, Detroit, bring Isiah Thomas back as your coach at your own peril. Just expect failure at an epic level.

Don't Blame Tressel

After a five month saga involving investigations into Ohio State University and several of it's players, Jim Tressel resigned on Memorial Day. The fact that he left the university is not surprising on it's own, but what is surprising is that he left of his own accord.

Tressel was originally suspended for two games by the university due to his players getting deals on cars, selling championship rings and jerseys, and parting with team items for money. Meanwhile, the players that were mainly involved were suspended for five games. With all of the outrage over the token suspension that he was given, Tressel added on another three games to his own punishment. Now, as the scandal continues to deepen and his knowledge of the situation has proven to be more extensive than previously thought, Tressel has resigned rather than continue to face the scrutiny that he is under.

Sure, it is easy to vilify Tressel for looking the other way, and not being forthright with investigators. It's easy to make him the bad guy in all of this, and the fact that very few people are running to his defense speaks volumes. But what is lost in all of this is that Ohio State University and Jim Tressel are not the only ones doing these things. This happens everywhere.

Colleges provide scholarships for their athletes - this is true. But what do they provide for housing and for meals? Where do these kids get the money to go out and have fun? It's easy to say that they should get a job, but if they are expected to carry a certain GPA, AND practice forty hours a week, where is the time to be employed? The rigors of a full-time college schedule can be quite daunting on their own, never mind trying to learn a playbook and be a part of a team expected to contend for a national championship every year.

If the NCAA really wanted to dig into every program, they would find skeletons in every closet. However, the NCAA likes the status quo, where they slap down a few schools dumb enough to get caught and turn a blind eye to the rest. If Tressel is truly guilty of anything, it is getting caught.

The NCAA and these schools make obscene amounts of money from their college football and basketball athletes, yet none of the players see a dime of it. If the NCAA was serious about stopping these situations, they would give the athletes a weekly stipend to take care of their day to day, and not have to resort to selling a jersey to make rent. If the choice is to break the rules and have a place to stay or follow the rules and be homeless, which would you do?

But the NCAA is more concerned with upholding the facade of the 'student-athlete' and the supposed amateur aspect of their game, claiming that it is for the good of these kids. If they truly cared about the students, they would find ways to keep them from having to worry about whether or not they should be signing an autograph to get food.

Tressel, while at fault, is hardly the only bad guy in all of this. The entire system is rotten to the core.

1918 World Series Fixed?

Everyone that knows baseball knows of the infamous Chicago Black Sox scandal of 1919. Eight players, most notably Shoeless Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte, were banned from baseball for life as a result of their throwing the World Series. However, a court disposition from 1920 shows that Cicotte and the others may have gotten the idea from an outside source - the cross town Chicago Cubs.

While he did not name any specific players and was intentionally vague, Cicotte mentions how during train rides to the east coast, players would discuss how a member or members of the Cubs got $10,000 for throwing the series. Incidentally, $10,000 is the same amount of money that was left in Cicotte's hotel room for him to throw the 1919 World Series.

Going through the statistics for the 1918 World Series, there are no significant dropoffs in production for any of the players. Despite this, research on plays during the 1918 World Series shows that there were several suspicious incidents involving outfielder Max Flack. During game 4 of the series, Flack was picked off twice. In game 6, he turned a catchable fly ball into an error, leading to two runs scoring in a 2-1 defeat, causing the Cubs to lose the World Series. There was another instance where Flack was playing Babe Ruth shallow in the outfield, and the pitcher, Lefty Tyler, waved for him to move back. Flack stayed where he was, and Ruth hit a two run triple over his head.

Major League Baseball did not investigate the 1918 World Series, as they claimed that gambling was removed from the game following the banishment of the eight players from the White Sox. However,  one former member of that team, Phil Douglas, was banned from baseball for 'treachery,' as he was reported as saying that another team in the pennant race pay him to leave and 'go fishing'. Douglas faced one batter in the 1918 World Series, and committed an error on a comebacker, throwing the ball far over the first baseman's head.

Perhaps the 'curse' on the Cubs is not the result of a goat. Perhaps it is karma striking back for the forgotten misdeeds of the Cubs players over nine decades ago.

The Bonds Verdict

Well, that was a waste of time.

Out of the four charges facing Barry Bonds, he was found only guilty of one - obstruction of justice. Yet, this verdict is confusing as there was a deadlock on the other three charges of perjury. Essentially, what the jury was saying is that they could not determine if Bonds lied to a federal grand jury, but he somehow managed to impede the federal investigation into the steroid scandal. Not sure how that would be mutually exclusive to lying to the grand jury.

In the end, this is a victory for Barry Bonds. Not only does he get some semblance of vindication when he stated that he 'never knowingly used steroids,' but he can now claim that the allegations against him were fabricated by those who were trying to get revenge against him. As if to punctuate this, Bonds flashed a victory symbol as he exited the courthouse yesterday, as he now can rest easy knowing that the federal government really has nothing on him.

It is still possible that the obstruction conviction could be thrown out, should the defense successfully argue that the conviction does not make sense in light of the deadlock on the perjury charges. Either way, Bonds has managed to win yet again in the steroid era.

Ohhhhh Manny!

Some people have a gift in life. For Anton Chekhov, his writing was his gift. For Grant Wood, painting was his gift. Johnny Cash gave us the gift of music. Manny Ramirez has the gift of being able to hit a baseball. And it's a good thing he has that gift, because he is too stupid to do anything otherwise. To prove that he is truly an idiot savant with a bat, he has become the first player in the major leagues to face suspension twice under the Major League Baseball drug testing system.

Rather than deal with the 100 game suspension that he faces, Ramirez has decided to retire from baseball. In a statement from the MLB, "Major League Baseball recently notified Manny Ramirez of an issue under Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Rather than continue with the process under the Program, Ramirez has informed MLB that he is retiring as an active player. If Ramirez seeks reinstatement in the future, the process under the Drug Program will be completed." Way to walk away from taking responsibility, Manny! You have done the athletic equivalent of quitting before you could be fired for either gross negligence or a serious ethics violation.

Now that Manny will have all this free time, maybe he will now be able to deal with other personal problems. After all, his first suspension under the MLB substance abuse policy was for hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin, a women's fertility drug. So, now that he's no longer subject to testing for 'performance enhancers' Manny should be able to use Viagra. Remember how Rafael Palmeiro used to be the spokesperson for that drug? Remember for Palmeiro got busted for 'performance enhancers'? I see the connection there.

Or, perhaps the reason why he was using a women's fertility drug had a deeper meaning. Maybe Manny secretly wanted to be a woman. Maybe Manny had dreams of dressing like RuPaul when going to bat. Maybe this latest violation is simply due to increased levels of estrogen in his system, which is being used to kickstart his transformation. But then again, this would require Manny to be able to concentrate on something for longer than ten seconds. After all, he does have the attention span of a four year old on coke at a petting zoo. Or it would require Manny to think. He continues to prove that breathing is a natural reaction.

It takes a special kind of stupid to be caught under any sports PED testing guidelines. It takes a truly epic lack of intellect to be caught twice. Or, perhaps it was an amazing amount of apathy. Maybe Manny just didn't care if he got caught or not, and continued to do what he felt like. Either way, it's too bad. Ramirez had one of the classic swings in baseball, and may have been a Hall of Fame caliber player without the PED's. Now, his legacy is tarnished, and the Hall of Fame is probably as far away from Manny as a textbook on quantum physics.

So, farewell Manny. Yours should be a cautionary tale for other major leaguers on why it's important to be able to do something other than hit a baseball. It's also important to be able to think.

Major League Baseball - Model Sports Organization???

For years, Major League Baseball has been criticized, and rightly so, for it's inability to get out of it's own way. They have had a multitude of labor stoppages over the past 40 years (8, to be exact) - the most infamous being the one in 1994 that cancelled the World Series. Baseball took the brunt of the wrath spewed forth by opportunistic congressmen when the steroids scandal erupted thanks to Jose Canseco's book. There is the enduring image highlighting the general ineptitude of baseball, with Bud Selig looking confused as the All-Star Game ended in a tie.

And yet, suddenly baseball appears to be ahead of the other sports in terms of handling their issues. Since 2002, there has been labor peace. Even though their collective bargaining agreement is up after this year, there are no threats of a lockout, unlike the NFL and the NBA. In fact, both Selig and the player's union are optimistic that a new CBA will be agreed upon in the near future.

Despite the bad rap that the MLB gets for steroids and performance enhancing drugs, the truth is that baseball not only has the strictest penalties for using such substances, but they appear to have fewer players using them. It is not uncommon to hear that a football player got suspended for PEDs, yet no one really seems to care. Meanwhile, if a baseball player gets caught, it's a travesty and an affront to everything that society holds sacred. Little bit of a double standard there, and a completely undeserved one.

And now, the MLB finds itself on the forefront of the concussion issue. Although concussions are a much bigger problem in the NFL and NHL, baseball has created a new seven day disabled list strictly for players who have gotten a concussion. This way, rather than lose a player for 15 days when they could be ready to play in a week, the team can get that player back when he is healthy. With all the talk of the NFL trying to force an 18 game schedule down the player's throats, why has this concept not been brought up in their meetings? Why has the NHL not adopted something like this, so that players that will be gone for a game or two do not take up a roster spot?

Bud Selig and Major League Baseball make for easy targets when one looks to rip a sports organization for mismanagement. However, baseball actually has it's act together. Shocking, is it not?

The Barry Bonds Witch Hunt

Finally, after nine years of investigation, the trial against Barry Bonds for lying to a grand jury in regards to his usage of steroids has begun. This witch hunt, perpetuated in part due to his standing on the all time home run list, has been going on for far too long.

Bud Selig, in sanctioning the Mitchell Report and subsequent steroid investigations, did so with the possibility of keeping Bonds from surpassing Hank Aaron as the all time home run leader. Aaron is an ambassador for the game of baseball, likable and affable. Bonds, meanwhile, is rather unlikeable, surly, and arrogant. Yet, for all of the effort put into the report, nothing specifically stated that Bonds knowingly took steroids. In fact, Harvey Shields, Bonds personal trainer from 2000 to 2004, stated that "Greg Anderson provided Bonds with a cream to use on his elbow, which Shields said he believed was an over-the-counter 'arthritis cream.'" In addition, in regards to a clear liquid that Bonds was ingesting which he believed was flaxseed oil, Shields said "(I) believed the clear liquid was flaxseed oil. (Shields) claimed to have taken the clear liquid himself, and he said that it tasted like flaxseed oil he had obtained from health food stores in the past."

The crux of the indictment is that Bonds intentionally lied to the grand jury when he said that he never knowingly took steroids. Greg Anderson, the man who the government is claiming provided him with the steroids, refuses to testify against Bonds, to the point of being imprisoned four times for his refusal to co-operate. Yes, Anderson has been friends with Bonds since childhood, but keep in mind that this works both ways. If your trainer that you have known since childhood provided you with substances that he stated were flaxseed oil and arthritis cream, would you have any cause to doubt him? People can claim that Bonds should know everything that he ingested or took, but where is the rationale for this?

The main witnesses for the prosecution have major character flaws as well. Kimberly Bell, Bonds' ex-mistress, used her fifteen minutes of fame to pose naked for Playboy. Steve Hoskins, a former partner of Bonds in the autographed memorabilia business, was fired by Bonds after Hoskins stole money from the business and forged his signature to several items. In fact, Bonds assisted the government in 2003 in their prosecution of Hoskins for forgery. The third witness is Kathy Hoskins, Bonds former personal shopper, who just so happens to be the sister of Steve Hoskins. Not exactly the most credible of witnesses.

In the end, Bonds will end up being vindicated, despite all of the circumstantial evidence supporting steroid use. Yes, his dome may have increased in size to be of Sputnik proportions, but that is not evidence enough to convict him. Bonds may just become the first athlete officially found to be not guilty of steroid use.

Why Does Everyone Hate Duke?

Seemingly every day in sports news, there are new allegations of recruiting violations at major colleges. Athletes are continually getting into trouble, be it for sexual assault, drugs, alcohol, or even murder. More and more, we wonder where all the coaches that do things the right way went to. We wonder where the athletes that we feel comfortable for our children to look up to are. We wonder if major college sports schools care about their athlete's education more than to just pay it lip service. Turns out that there is still such a place - Duke University.

Since arriving at Duke in 1980, coach Mike Krzyzewski has built a program based on getting solid athletes that are actually good citizens. Duke will not have the thugs, the trouble makers, or the players that refuse to realize that it is about team. The Army, where he played college basketball, has an award named in his honor - the "Coach K Teaching Character Through Sports" award - given each spring to cadets and coaches who display superior ethics and character through sports. For the most part, his athletes finish their educations. He brings back former players as coaches, helping them out to find jobs.

Yet, Coach K and the Duke basketball program are almost universally despised. Why is this? Is it due to the continual run of NCAA tournament appearances, missing the tournament once since the 1983-84 season? Is it due to the perception that Krzyzewski is a smug, arrogant individual? Is it because they seem to produce the exact same players year in and year out? Shouldn't the fact that they manage to win while upholding ethics and getting actually good citizens matter?

Duke is everything we want a program to be. So why the hatred for this program?

Six Months Too Late

On October 27, 2010, Notre Dame student filmmaker Declan Sullivan died while filming practicee from atop a hydraulic lift during a windstorm. Yesterday, the university announced that it would no longer use these lifts to film football practices, and would be installing a camera system. Mounted on fifty foot poles, these cameras would record the practices and use fiber optics to relay the images back to the control room across the street, where the films can be analyzed.

Rev. John Jenkins, president at Notre Dame, stated "I said in the days after Declan's death that we would do everything in our power to make changes to ensure that such an accident does not happen again -- here or elsewhere," Jenkins said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press in regards to the new system. What is left out of that statement is that everything in his power involved waiting six months after the tragedy occurred.

What is left unsaid in his statement is whether or not the hydraulic lifts were used after the incident involving Declan Sullivan. For all the handwringing, promises to change systems, and tributes for this student, did it really need to take so long to change the dynamic? These practices were still filmed for the coaching staff - probably by some other student who was placed upon another elevated platform.

This declaration, while dressed up as a positive for Notre Dame in keeping a promise made, is really nothing more than a poor joke. If they were truly interested in 'doing everything in their power' and 'making changes to ensure such an accident does not happen again', then the camera system would have been installed within a couple of weeks. This should not have taken six months. The only logical explanation? That Rev. Jenkins did not want to disrupt the staff of the football team and make them adjust to a new way of obtaining data until after the season.

Notre Dame, the football staff, and Rev. Jenkins failed both Declan Sullivan and his family when he died during the windstorm. Six months later, they have failed him again.

Things really aren't so bad.

These days, in the realm of sensationalization in the media, there is a tendency to regard any potentially controversal story as a scandal. Yes, PEDs, the NFL concussion problem, and the Mitchell Report were all valid news items, and should have been brought to the attention of the fans. However, that does not mean that, years later, they are still relevant. One should not crucify, or doubt the accomplishments of, someone who is not responcible for these events, and did not cause any of the problems. These are in the past, and until they become relevant to the present, should be left there.

When one looks at some of the people and incidents that have occurred in the past, these things seem minor. Yes, the Black Sox scandal and the NCAA point shaving situations deserve the publicity that they received, but that does not mean that everything else is on par with thosse situations. Below are five random events that transpired that are relatively unknown, and would provide fodder for the press for months if they occurred now.

1. Marty Bergen.
Marty Bergen was a catcher for the Boston Beaneaters (now the Atlanta Braves) from 1896 until 1899. Known for his strong throwing arm and hustling play, he was a fan favorite. However, Bergen also had a lot of personal demons. During a team dinner, he slapped ace pitcher Vic Willis for no reason while he was eating breakfast. He had hallucinations that people were trying to poison him, and refused to take his medication for it because assassins discovered who his doctor was. He would sit in peculiar positions and walk sideways, so as to spot these assassins. During a road trip in mid-1899, he walked off the train and vanished, leaving the team with just the backup catcher. He then reappeared several games later, only to disappear again in September. This time, he reappeared just before first pitch, put on his gear, and went behind the plate without speaking to anyone. On October 9, 1899, he had to be removed from a game when he dodged pitches as opposed to catching them, because he was too busy trying to avoid knife thrusts from an invisble assassin.
Bergen's tale ended tragically, as in January of 1900, he murdered his wife and two kids with an axe, then killed himself by slitting his throat with a straight razor. He used enough force in committing suicide that he almost decapitated himself. A snippet of an article from the New York Times gives a description of the scene: "The little boy (Bergen's 3-year-old son) was lying on the floor with a large wound in the head. Mrs. Bergen's skull was terribly crushed, having evidently been struck more than one blow by the infuriated husband. The appearance of the little girl (his 6-year-old daughter found on the kitchen floor next to Bergen) also showed that a number of savage blows had been rained upon the top and side of her head. Bergen's throat had been cut with a razor, and the head was nearly severed."

2. Charlie Sweeney and Old Hoss Radbourn
Sweeney was another player from the 1800's (I notice a theme here). He, along with Old Hoss Radbourn, pitched for the Providence Greys in 1884. Both pitchers legitimately hated one another, with tensions reaching their boiling point when they got into a fight in the clubhouse. Radbourn left the team, leaving Sweeney as their only pitcher. However, Sweeney eventually missed a morning practice after an exibition game (during which it was reported that he was drinking heavily), and showed up tot he park completely drunk. He pitched for five innings, after which the manager tried to remove him from the mound, but Sweeney refused. He pitched two more innings, then, when the manager attempted to remove him from the game again (and threatened a $50 fine if he did not leave the mound), Sweeney walked off the field, changed into street clothes, and watched the remainder of the game in the stands while in the company of two known prostitutes. At that point, Sweeney's career was practically over, although he did pitch in the California League for a while. In 1894, he killed a person in a saloon, and died in prison in 1902 after being convicted of homicide.

3. Paul Hornung and Alex Karras
Gambling is considered to be the ultimate sin in sports. The Black Sox and Pete Rose are still banned for their involvement in gambling. However, back in 1963, both Hornung and Karras were suspended indefinately by then-commissioner Pete Rozelle for betting on football games and their own teams. Five other members of the Detroit Lions were fined $2000 each for placing a wager on a game that they did not play in. However, since both Hornung and Karras were considered to be forthright in their guilt and showed what was felt to be legitimate remorse, Rozelle re-evaluted them before the 1964 season, and reinstated them both to the NFL.

4. Ugueth Urbina
This story occurred in 2005, but somehow did not receive a lot of attention. On October 16, 2005, Urbina and several other men attacked farm workers at his family ranch in a dispute over a gun that was alledgely stolen. The farm workers were attacked with machetes, and had gasoline poured over them as Urbina and the people he was with attempted to light them on fire. On March 28, 2007, Urbina was sentanced to 14 years and 7 months in prison in Venezuela for attempted murder, illegal deprivation of liberty, and for violating a prohibition against vigilante justice. Despite his continual insistance that he was asleep during the confrontation, no appeals were ever filed on his behalf.

5. Rube Waddell
Rube Waddell was someone that would not be permitted to exist as he did back then. A strikeout pitcher on the Louisville Colonels, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Orphans (Cubs),Philadelhia Athletics, and the St. Louis Browns, Waddell was an extremely unpredictable being. He would leave the ballpark to chase fire trucks if they passed by. Fans of opposing teams would hold up shiny objects and puppies when he pitched, since they put him in a trance like state. He constantly fought with teammates that he felt were 'ill-tempered'. He performed as an alligator wrestler during one offseason. During exhibition games, he would wave his team off the field, then proceed to strikeout the side.
To best sum up the life of Rube Waddell, here is an account of what happened during 1903 by Cooperstown historian Lee Allen: "He began that year (1903) sleeping in a firehouse in Camden, New Jersey, and ended it tending bar in a saloon in Wheeling, West Virginia. In between those events he won 22 games for the Philadelphia Athletics, played left end for the Business Men's Rugby Football Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, toured the nation in a melodrama called The Stain of Guilt, courted, married and became separated from May Wynne Skinner of Lynn, Massachusetts, saved a woman from drowning, accidentally shot a friend through the hand, and was bitten by a lion." Waddell died in 1914 on April Fool's Day from tuberculosis, which he caught while helping to save the city of Hickman, Kentucky from a flood in 1912.

These five people and incidents, if the events were to have happened today, would be considered far worse than anything that has happened recently. Sometimes, perspective is needed when looking at the 'scandals' in sports.