LA Superstars Sit Out: Do Basketball Officials Have Too Much Power?

For this weeks post, I have altered my methodology slightly in order to become more engaged within the blogosphere. Instead of the usual editorial discussing a recent sports issue, I have written comments pertaining to two other insightful blogs. Hopefully, this will encourage and direct some traffic towards my fledgling blog and improve the overall authority of my website. While the topic for this week is about related events that occurred at the beginning of February, these are events are of utmost importance because many believe it delegitimizes the sport of basketball. During my allocated research time, I discovered two blogs from Slam Online and AOL’s Sports Blog which I found to be particularly appealing due to their thought-provoking observations. Firstly, about two weeks ago, high school hoops hero O.J. Mayo was suspended from two upcoming basketball games after unjustly receiving two technical fouls from referee Michael Lazo. On the professional scene, Kobe Bryant was forced to sit out without pay for the LA franchise’s one match in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks. Bryant was punished for elbowing Spurs’ Manu Ginobli in a prior game. My comments are available below for your reading pleasure, as well as the permanent links to the related blogs.

The unwarranted suspension of OJ Mayo (as shown on the left) for the upcoming two games is very much unreasonable. In less than a minute, referee Mike Lazo had penalized Mayo with two technical fouls for rather questionable reasons. Mayo was obviously infuriated by Lazo’s officiating and approached the referee presumably to demand an explanation for his bogus calls. In doing so, the high school hoop star made slight contact with Lazo who in turn came crashing down to the hardwood floor. The flop was exaggerated, to say the least. This incident displays the excess power basketball referees hold in this sport. It is nonsensical for a single individual to possess nearly absolute authority on such important decisions. This power needs to be better distributed. The implications from Lazo’s crooked calls are noteworthy, as it could jeopardize Huntington High’s top spot because of Mayo’s absence in upcoming games. Moreover, if evidence is found that Mayo intentionally bumped Lazo, he could be suspended for up to a year. Also, this event has somewhat tarnished Mayo’s image for no legitimate reason. In my opinion, it appears that Lazo disliked the 19 year old to begin with. Lazo wished to use the immense power included in his job description to his advantage, and perhaps even make money from the incident even though Mayo is still an amateur. Although he currently does not have much money to offer, as an extremely high profile athlete, Mayo is sure to become an instant revenue generator in the near future from endorsements and eventually the NBA.

Technology is undoubtedly improving the monitoring of sports, and basketball should capitalize on this advantage in order to foster an environment of fair play. However, this is still only high school basketball. The NBA needs to initiate a movement towards better officiating by categorically following other sports in their use of technology to settle debatable calls. The NFL boasts some of the best referees in sport, which can be partially attributed to the fact that they rely on technology for some of their calls. Tennis is yet another example of a sport that uses technology to make close line calls; as such athletes and critics are for the most part silenced by the digitized replays.

Permanent Link: Slam Online

In my opinion, Bryant was unfairly and harshly punished for elbowing Ginobli on the face. The Spurs are not known for playing the cleanest defense, and in addition to that, this type of foul happens quite frequently in basketball. The foul happened in the final 2.7 seconds of the game, as Bryant (depicted below) was attempting to make the basket and also draw the foul, but by no means strike a player in the face. Furthermore even Ginobli concurred that the foul was inadvertent. Interestingly, the two partakers in the incident believe that it was accidental; while Stu Jackson found it unsportsmanlike enough to render a one game suspension, claiming it was an “unnatural motion.” Great basketball players often make such unnatural motions, and this in fact, contribute to the entertainment factor of basketball. It is another reason fans watch the game. The punishment was a tough blow on Bryant since Madison Square Garden is his favorite place to play. As the teams lead scorer, Bryant’s absence was definitely detrimental to the outcome of the game, resulting in a Laker loss by five points. Not only did the NBA commission perform a disservice to the Lakers, but also to the fans. There is no doubt that people love to watch Kobe play, even haters secretly enjoy his exceptional talent. Fans were expecting to witness the superstar in action, but were left disappointed due to the poor decision making capabilities of Jackson. This incident also leads one to question the consistency in officiating of the NBA. In a recent game versus the Miami Heat, LeBron James of the Cavaliers clotheslined Dwayne Wade, but was called only for a flagrant foul. Perhaps, if James was suspended for this, it would somewhat legitimize Bryant’s punishment. However, upon analyzing the situation - James would be playing on national television the next day, which translates into high viewer ratings, so obviously he could not be suspended. Clearly, officials have too much weight in determining NBA rules and regulations, because unfair calls can cost important games. With the advancement of technology, the NBA, like the NFL, should turn to some of this machinery to contest debatable and controversial calls which will prevent the transformation of basketball into a cheap sport.

Permanent Link: AOL Sports Blog

College Sports: The Athletic Arms Race

Oregon State University spent more on renovating its stadium in 2005 than the annual US government effort to prevent AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. To be more precise, 80 million dollars were used for the expansion of the Reser Stadium (displayed on the right). Two years later, OSU has recommenced its athletic development program. This time the figure is 35 million dollars, a fairly colossal price tag for phase two of the project. The new money will go towards full time nutritionists for athletes, further expansion of the stadium, and a larger than life video screen. The screen will be the largest screen in the Pac-10 Conference, measuring 30 by 120 feet. Frankly, this may just be overkill.

OSU is not alone in this venture of big budget investment in their athletics. Oklahoma State is spending $165 million on an athletic village, while the University of Southern California’s newly opened Galen Center costs a hefty $143 million. These facilities are viewed as “infrastructures to success” and are intended to help enhance and perhaps even change athletic programs. Already, Trojan Basketball looks to have a promising season because for the first time, the men’s team is ranked number 25 by the AP Polls. Moreover, top high school recruit O.J. Mayo (shown on the left) will be joining the Trojan family next year, and Brandon Jennings the year after that. Interestingly, Mayo scouted USC out instead of vice versa, due to its new athletic facility and more importantly because of its proximity to the Hollywood limelight which should generate further buzz about the young athlete’s superstar potential for the NBA. However, state-of-the-art complexes are not a prerequisite to victory. Duke University’s basketball team practices in a modest facility across campus, yet they have managed to win three national championship titles since 1991. The University of Miami also enjoys a successful football program without having spent large sums of money on a new stadium.

According to Greg Johnson of the Los Angeles Times “NCAA data show that spending at big-time college athletics programs has increased at two to four times the rate of spending elsewhere on campus -- even as the rate of revenue increases slows.” Colleges devote a large part of the budget to athletics for a variety of reasons. In college sport, winning is everything. Top teams generate a substantial cash flow and the athletic departments of college sport powerhouses earn the most money compared to any other department. Moreover, since most of the other academic institutions are investing in their athletics, it is difficult to simply put a halt to development of their sports programs. To cease funding could mean never winning a basketball or football game again, which in itself has many implications such as depleted school spirit, insignificant revenue or even losses from athletics, and perhaps a drop in national rankings. Another reason for an enormous athletics budget is due to Title IX which required equal representation of both sexes in sport. Women’s sports do not make nearly as much revenue as men’s. Therefore, institutions choose to heavily invest into their money making sports in order to facilitate the less popular sports. Institutions that decide not to partake in this athletic arms race must search for other monetary solutions to Title IX.

In fact, in large sports colleges, the coaches are better recognized as the face of these institutions than the institutional leaders. This is also reflected by the disparity in their salaries. For instance, Coach Pete Carroll earns approximately $2.5 million per year, while President Steven Sample receives about $762,000. Should coaches be running the universities? Clearly the answer is no, but their paychecks tell a different story. Another example would be University of Alabama’s Nick Saban (pictured on the right), who earns a cool $4 million while President Robert Whit pockets a relatively modest $572,620. Soon, it will be the norm for coaches to be earning about $5-6 million dollars. Yet this facet of the arms race is yet less worrisome than the explosion of stadiums and arenas.

Many benefits await a university with a championship sports team, namely increased applications and eased recruitment of athletes. This phenomenon is known as the “Flutie Effect”, which according to the LA Times refers to a “jump in Boston College admission applications sparked by quarterback Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass in 1984 that gave his team a last-second victory over the University of Miami in a nationally televised game.” Students and athletes alike choose to apply to universities that win. An increase in applicants to a university translates into increased admission selectivity. It is not unreasonable to say that success of the Trojan Football
team has contributed to the surge in applications and also USC’s increase in national rankings according to US News and the World Report . Academically however, some institutions are suffering as athletes are accepted at the opportunity cost of more intelligent and diverse students. Furthermore, because of the high training demands of a student athlete, these individuals cannot maximize the educational and extracurricular opportunities (other than athletics) that colleges have to offer. Finally, the money could be better spent on research and improvement of academic facilities. team has contributed to the surge in applications and also USC’s increase in national rankings according to

As a rather rambunctious and extremely devoted sports fan, I most definitely concur that college sports deserve to hold a treasured and even revered position in a university. In fact, sport is often the crux of an institution’s identity. However, it appears that the primary purpose of academic institutions – to educate and research, is being eclipsed by the desire to develop and invest in a premiere athletics program.