Call Him What He Is

Last Tuesday night near the end of a Atlantic 10 game between Temple and St. Jospeh's, Temple head coach John Chaney sent out a 6'8", 250lb benchwarmer to "send a message" to St. Joseph and also to the officials for their "poor officiating" during the game. The kid did just that, and hurt an opposing player in the process.

On Wednesday Chaney suspended himself for Temple's next game against UMass, a move that not many people payed much attention to, but a few noted as a proper move for a "distinguished" coach to set an example.

But now on Thursday we really found out the truth about the whole ordeal. And the truth is that the goon Chaney sent out onto the floor broke a player's arm and ended his career. And the truth is Chaney stated even before the game was played that if the refs didn't call the game his liking, he was going to employ his own justice.

So now we have a kid with a badly-broken arm and his playing career is over. And all because some crazy old man can't control his temper -- a man that should have been taken to task for his past actions already and held accountable. And if he had been held accountable already, maybe Chaney's not allowed to get to this point, and maybe a kids' playing career isn't over early, and maybe another kid isn't put in a tough situation of having to choose to either obey coach or do what's right.

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Korn Guitarist Leaves Band

I was going to let this one fly by because I thought Korn was pretty much irrelevant to music anymore. Judging by the response to this though, they're apparently not (and that surprised me a bit).

"Head", one of the two guitarists for the band who, with fellow guitarist "Munky", helped create their weird sound, has announced he's become a christian and is leaving the band.

The event has spurred an absolute wide variety of reactions from the music community and Korn's fans. Some fans are furious, some fans are happy for him, others don't know how to react. In general most seem to be wishing him the best are trying to not begrudge him too much.

I have to admit -- this came out of left field. Like I joked on IRC last night, if there were a "Korn Event Betting Pool" out there somewhere I'm pretty sure this sort of event wasn't included in it.

A lot of people seem rather unsurprised though in some ways. I've heard a lot of reactions along the line of "Well, what do you expect after playing nothing but weird, depressing, angry music for a decade? You can't be that way your whole life", and maybe there is something to that... and maybe not. Who knows. It's also true that for a hard band, they have a lot of musicians with backgrounds very different genres. Have to wonder if being Korn is wearing on all of them.

I'm also hoping the rest of the band really doesn't harbor something over it all. They're saying the right things right now... hopefully they can continue to do so because it's genuine and not just good PR. I'll also be curious to see what he does -- my hopes would be that he does NOT try to immediately turn to a christian music project or something because I don't see a ton of good for anyone in that at this time.

He speaks of "happiness after anger". I know there's a school of thought that christians or people into any religion can't be angry and such... but they can and do, and there's some pretty angry music out there made by religious and christian bands (including some angry, frustrated lyrical content too), and human beings are human beings so masybe it's not such the shock and stretch we think it is. And he seems to giving the impression that his leaving has less directly to do with "that he can't stay with them now because he's a christian" than the fact he just plain wants to do something different with his life.

I don't know. A lot of rambling and no real good stream of thought here I guess. I know some of you don't know who Korn is or don't care, others do know and think they suck, and some others maybe like them. I found this very interesting though because it's indicative that you never know where life will take you, and that if you're not truly happy with what you're doing you eventually have to do something different with it to become happier and more-comfortable. Even if it's totally out of left field and people might not understand.

At any rate, good luck to him and hopefully he finds his calling and that he's in it for the long haul... and glad he's maybe found hope in something instead of just being stuck in the stereotypical angry, depressing rocker bit.


-- Primis.

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25 Years Later

25 years ago today (February 22nd), people across the country woke up, went about their jobs and everyday lives like they always did. They did their chores and errands, chatted up neighbors and friends, it was truly a day like any other day. What possibly could happen to us today? In fact, it all started out so mundane that ABC never even thought to carry it live...

Well, it was mundane at the start at least...

By that night grown men across the United States would be weeping, absolute pandemonium would be breaking out in upsate New York, and two kids named Jim and Mike would secure their place in U.S. history and lore forever.

"4-3".

Now a quarter of a century ago today.

On this date in 1980, 25 years ago at the height of the Cold War, the US Men's Hockey team did the unthinkable and defeated the Soviet Union 4-3 in Lake Placid, NY -- a Soviet team that had not lost a single game in Olympic competition since 1968.

The Miracle on Ice.

Two kids named Jim Craig and Mike Eruzione would become household names and still are today, despite neither ever really making a mark as professionals. Al Michaels screaming at the top of his lungs "Do you believe in miracles?... YES!!" would become probably the most-famous call in US televised sports history (and one of the most-famous televised calls around the world period). The US would go on to defeat Finland in the Gold Medal game -- the country's first since 1960.

The event's tangible impact on the sport of hockey in the US is evident.

It single-handedly pulled the sport of hockey out of the gutter. College and high school hockey would not and could not be where they are today without this game. In 1980, 14% of NHL players were American -- today nearly 25% of them are. It is why, even with an onging NHL stoppage, hockey is still flourishing in the AHL, ECHL, NCAA, OHL, WHL, QMJHL, UHL, and dozens of other leagues with US involvment across the country, including now hundreds and hundreds of rec and youth leagues and organizations. NCAA Division I men's hockey is now being played in outposts like U. Alabama-Hunstville, and American-born NHL propsects are now regularly drafted in the Top 10 of the NHL Entry Draft. Europeans are now slowly beginning to come over to play NCAA hockey.

And as for the overall impact, well... grown men still cry at the thought of it, or at seeing the replay of the final seconds on TV. Those kids are still household names. When someone mentions Lake Placid, people immediately associate this event with it. And Al Michaels' call still rings in everyone's ears.

All 25 years ago today.

I'd tell you to never forget it, but I know you won't anyways.


-- Primis.

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NHL:EHM 2005 Early Sneak Preview

Riz placed an innocent-looking post onto the FHockey forums announcing the first look and screenshots at the upcoming new version of the EHM series... NHL:EHM 2005.

We've been waiting for the first glimpse at the new game. The 2004 version of the game was a pretty hot topic of debate amongst the hardcore EHM crowd -- some loved it and others though it was moving towards everything they considered wrong. So now we finally get to see what's up their sleeves for the new version. More...

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"NHLPA Needs Credibility Badly..."

"NHLPA Shot a Food... NHLPA Is About to Die". The war is over, the owners have won, and the NHLPA has no options left -- save for admitting how wrong they were.


So... here we are.

The NHL finally cancelled the season like we all knew was inevitable for a couple months now. No Stanely Cup Playoffs, no Stanley Cup winers, no excuses from Leaf fans as to why they blew it yet again this year.

So now the Players' Association has lost any little bit of leverage it may have percieved to have, and what we may be seeing is a turning point in how leagues handle player unions.

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Cuban: "Sports Business/Marketing Is a Sham"

I don't agree with everything the guy does in terms of how he deals with his Dallas Mavericks and the NBA.

But the fact of the matter is that Mark Cuban is dead-on on a lot of other things.

One of things Cuban has been doing for while is blogging.

In his latest post on his blog, Cuban has some good advice to all the would-be Sports Business/Marketing program enrollees:

Get into a real business or marketing program instead.

"Let me let all Sports Marketing majors in on a secret. There is nothing at all special or different about running, managing, or working in a sports organization. It runs the exact same way as any company that sells widgets , service or entertainment of any kind.

If you really want to work for a sports organization, get as broad based a business education as you possibly can. Finance, accounting, sales, more sales, more sales, management, etc. The better the understanding you have of our customers and how they work, the better value you will be able to provide to the sports organization. To repeat, its more important to know how our customers’ businesses operate than how the sports business operates

What we do is easy."

He also tells people "If you can sell, go out and sell and get a sales job". This may seem incredibly-obvious but... it's amazing how many people don't get this fact. I know all sorts of people who could and would be very effective salesmen or pitchmen, and who inexplicably continue in some other area in which they're not as good at.


-- Primis.

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Nash is Cash

This is the first in a series of semi-theme-based columns this month. If you read them all, you'll begin to understand why -- there's a lot more going on in the article here than you think. Especially once you catch on to the style. I'm going to get bashed *unmercilessly* for this I guarantee, but only by people who don't Get It. And for those that don't Get It, I really couldn't care less, and it's my dang website anyways... go ahead and register and flame me, thus proving you didn't read the article.


Nobody understands the guy.

Perhaps they hate on him because he's a crazy Canadian-by-way-of-South Africa.

Or maybe they see that wild, untamed hair and naturally think the worst.

And he might play it off, like it ain't no thing. But he sees the people whispering, pointing at him like he's out of place. Snickering at his hair that makes him more-recognizable than the #13 on his chest.

Maybe you even hate on him because of what he is, what he does, and where he's at. People always lookin' at him thinking "What's he doin' here, who does he think he is?".

Well, lean over here and let me tell ya'.

*pssst* He's Steve Nash, point guard for the Phoenix Suns... and he just may be the NBA's MVP this season.

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