I am back; back like jorts...

To whomever, for whatever reason, still reads - or, more likely, still has an RSS feed - when this blog is posted to;

I had surgery on my wrist three weeks ago. And, since then, I have been lying to strangers as to why I was casted - more often than not it was a ploy to keep a conversation that I knew was sullied. I settled on three scripted explanations; three stories equipped with background, character development, a climax, and even a moral lesson, as well as a presentation full of pathos, logos, and a even a little ethos.

There was the obvious story of an alcohol induced incident involving a bar stool, a martini glass, a cosmopolitan, say 45-year-old couple celebrating their anniversary, and a bad joke about Dustin Hoffman's early career - this was only semi-believable. There was the quite elaborate story where a Las Vegas goon exercised a bit of corporal punishment on my hand after I was discovered cheating in a casino - actually, this was neither elaborate nor believable; I just stole it from a scene in Casino. Then, there was the believable story, the one most refined, and the one best articulated while holding a drink in your other hand; "I injured it blogging." "Yes, blogging." "No, it wasn't carpal tunnel surgery." "It was wrist surgery from blogging."

Then I would change conversations.

The real story is that it is s related to surgery on the same wrist three years ago, which was needed to correct a reoccurring injury, which was caused by my inability to quit golfing.

Anyway; so after telling, and re-telling this story (when you are always traveling and hosting large events; you only meet strangers), I decided that rather than repent I would alleviate my transmogrified soul and resurrect the blog.

So; I apologize for my absence and my, if what should be obvious already, total disregard for the pillars of grammar and word choice going forward. I am kidding. I am only rusty.

Cheers for now; I will be back soon with an explanation and analysis of my employment (sic) this past 7 months. In reality, I feel like Dustin Diamond these days; remember when he played Screech, for the third installment, of Saved by the Bell, Saved by the Bell: The New Class. I just cannot seem to move on and have a career.

-Michael

                                     

Photos: Mrs. Robinson, Screech

The EA Sports - Tiger Woods Relationship: Conflicting ideals

As companies have disassociated themselves with Tiger Woods since he apologized for his "transgressions," inevitably the decision to end their respective corporate affiliations with Woods has been a result of diligence and concern over whether the company's image would be scarred by a man who has lost so much public face.

While the true negative value of a continued relationship with Woods is likely to remain contested, corporations can hardly be criticized for their concern over a potential public relations disaster.

Thogh it would seem that corporations would be reluctant to drop Woods, even amidst his transgressions, because of his former reputation and status as the world's most popular figure, several companies have ran away from him faster than Democrats left Joe Lieberman.

Both Accenture and AT&T ended their relationships, Tag Heuer dropped its US Woods campaign; Gillette said it would downscale Tiger's presence; Gatorade discontinued its Tiger Woods drink, but stated that the company had made the decision before the car accident; General Motors said Tiger will no longer loan vehicles to Tiger for free; and, Golf Digest suspended Tiger's monthly column.

Yet, some companies have formally  expressed statements of support for Tiger. Upper Deck said it "Stands by Tiger Woods;" NetJets is "proud to have him involved with NetJets;" TLC Vision said their "relationship with him continues without change;" and Nike said Tiger and his family "have Nike's full support."

Tiger's other significant endorsement, EA SPORTS -- maker of the internationally popular Tiger Woods PGA TOUR video game -- has faced a whirlwind of media coverage over the last 48 hours as a leaked survey seems to symbolize doubt of their future relationship.

Since 1998, the Tiger Woods PGA TOUR video game, which is released in new version every year, has been offered for PC, PlayStation, Game Boy, PlayStation 2, XBox, GameCube, Mac OS, Nintendo DS, XBOX 360, PSP, Wii, PlayStation 3, and the iPhone. The game has become the quintessential golf video game for all gamers -- it's yearly anticipation is perhaps only rivaled by the Madden football series of video games.

On December 2, EA SPORTS, in their original statement of support, stated: "Our relationship with Tiger for more than a decade remains unchanged. We respect Tiger's privacy, we wish him a fast recovery and we look forward to seeing him back on the golf course."

On December 17, an EA SPORTS spokesperson stated: "We respect that this is a very difficult,and private situation for Tiger and his family. At this time, the strategy for our Tiger Woods PGA Tour business remains unchanged."

On January 4, President of EA SPORTS Pete Moore wrote in his blog: "Our relationship with Tiger has always been rooted in golf. We didn't form a relationship with him so that he could act as an arm's length endorser. Far from it. We chose to partner with Tiger in 1997 because we saw him as the world's best, most talented and exciting golfer." Moore announced that EA SPORTS would continue with the new Tiger WOODAS PGA TOUR Online game.

Tuesday evening, it was revealed that Greenfield Online (via Kotaku) released a survey with the following two questions:

"EA SPORTS makes a Tiger Woods video game. Has the controversy made your impressions of EA SPORTS more or less favorable, or has it had no impact?"

"Has the controversy made you more or less likely to buy a Tiger Woods related video game in the future?"

Where many corporations may cite the immorality of Tiger Woods, specifically with reference to him as a role model for children, as rationale for terminating their relationship with him, EA SPORTS stands unique in the breadth of impact that the company alone has on children. Video games are the dominating hobby of today's generation - appropriate or not. While many adults do play video games, particular EA SPORTS' line of sports games, the dominating constituency for EA SPORTS is clearly children.


Parents buy Tiger Woods PGA TOUR golf. 

With this, it may be that EA SPORTS does "need" a morally clean spokesperson. While EA Sports does not make and distribute any other video games with a title name featuring an athlete, it's most popular games, Madden and NBA Live, feature athletes on their covers.

The Madden series of football games, since 2001 when it began using NFL players on its cover, has featured: Eddie George (2001), Daunte Culpepper (2002), Marshall Faulk (2003), Michael Vick (2004), Ray Lewis (2005), Donovan McNabb (2006), Shaun Alexander (2007), Vince Young (2008), Brett Favre (2009), and Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald (2010).

In 2005, Daunte Culpepper wash charged with indecent conduct, disorderly conduct, and lewd or lascivious conduct for the sex boat cruise scandal; in early 2004, two men were arrested for distributing marijuana in Michael Vick's car, in Oct. 2004 security cameras showed members of Vick's entourage taking a watch from an airport security screener, in 2005 a woman filed a civil suit against Vick claiming that she had contracted herpes from Vick, and in 2007 Vick was charged for operating an interstate dog fighting venture; in 1996 Brett Favre went into treatment and rehabilitation for an addiction to vicodin; and, in 2008, the mother of Larry Fitzgerald's child filed for an won an order of protection against Fitzgerald citing that she had been a victim of domestic abuse.

Since 1996, NBA Live has featured: Shaquille O'Neal (1996), Mitch Richmond (1997), Tim Hardaway (1998), Antoine Walker (1999), Tim Duncan (2000), Kevin Garnett (2001), Steve Francis (2002), Jason Kidd (2003), Vince Carter (2004), Carmelo Anthony (2005), Dwayne Wade (2006), Tracy McGrady (2007), Gilbert Arenas (2008), Tony Parker (2009), and Dwight Howard (2010).

In 2007, Tim Hardaway publicly made homophobic comments; in Jan. 2009 Antoine Walker was arrested for suspicion of drunk driving and again arrested in July 2009 for writing bad checks; in 2000, before Jason Kidd was on a cover, he was arrested and pleated guilty to a domestic abuse charge for ASSAULTING his wife; in 2004, Carmelo Anthony was cirted for marijuana posession, although his friend later signed an affidavit taking responsibility for the drugs, later in the same year he appeared in a documentary entitled "Stop Snitchin'" which showcased a culture of refusal to talk with police authorities, in 2006, Anthony's friend was cited for marijuana posession and three traffic violations in Anthony's vehicle, in 2008 Melo was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence; and Gilbert Arenas is currently suspended over a gun controversy.

This is not presented as a condemnation of athletes, but rather as precedent for EA SPORTS to maintain its relationship; although none of the aforementioned athletes are showcased with the same prominence in their respective games as Woods is in his.

It seems EA SPORTS has the following options:

1) Drop the "Tiger Woods" in the video game's name.

2) Drop the "Tiger Woods" in the name and remove his prominence throughout the game.

3) Continue the series as before.

A prevailing issue here is that Woods has not been featured in a television commercial or "new" advertisement since the car accident; EA SPORTS is in the process of widely distributing its new Tiger Woods video game. EA SPORTS is not just a player in today's golf video game market; their Tiger Woods PGA TOUR video game is THE golf video game market. 

Obviously, EA SPORTS is asking themselves whether Tiger's transgressions are going to hurt the game's sales and whether a continued relationship with Tiger is going to hurt EA SPORTS' general sales?

I'm reluctant to say that EA SPORTS can simply offer a "PGA TOUR" video game, but, just the same, they already dominate the market and clearly can advertise the game as no different without the Tiger Woods affiliation. Yet, the culture clearly revolves around "the new T.Woods" video game.

My Recommendation:

I'd suggest that EA SPORTS maintains their affiliation with Tiger, but eliminates any reference to the game allowing users to walk in Tiger's shoes. Separate the idea of playing as Tiger Woods from being Tiger Woods. Further, while commercials/advertisements should include Tiger, EA SPORTS should explore showcasing multiple players on the cover as well as in its ads.

Photo(s): Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2010, Madden 2004, NBA Live 2003,

Today's Tuesday (Daily Recap)

Tuesday Jan. 12, 2010 daily recap of what was read, watched, and listened to . . .

Read:


Andrew Feinsten's "Decade of Change: 10 Ways to Usher in Another NBA Golden Era" from SB Nation

Jason Sobel's "Keep an eye on these golfers in 2010" from ESPN

A Sports Scribe's "Owners' Thought Process & the Rooney Rule" from A Sports Scribe

Fang's Bites "Our Tuesday Linkfest"

Sport Business Daily's recap of the McGwire admission: "McGwire's Steroid Admission Was Carefully Executed, Planned"

Richard Deitsch's "Media Power Rankings: December" from Sports Illustrated

Tripp Mickle & Terry Lefton's "SBJ: Winter Classic's a success; where does NHL take it from here?"

Ed Sherman's "Expect Woods to follow McGwire road map" from Crain's Chicago Business - a piece that I vehemently disagree with.

Christopher Byne's "Updated 2009-2010 College Football Television Ratings" from Eye on Sports Media

And, a very interesting piece by the NY Time's Doug Glanville: "Not Just Tiger's Temptations"

Watched:

Replay: Birmingham City v. Manchester United

Replay: Roma v. Triestina

Listened to:

On the DL Podcast: #307 - Big Mac. McNabb. Togo. Replay

For Mark McGwire Research:

Ryan Hudson's "McGwire Sits Down With Costas, Says Steroid Use Began Consistently in 1993" from SB Nation

Dan Shanoff's "Shanoff's WUC: What Mark McGwire Didn't Say" from The Sporting Blog

Richard Sandomir's "The How-To of an Admission in the Steroid Era" from The NY Times

SB Nation (AP)'s "Congressman says McGwire wanted to tell truth"

Dan Levy's "Mark McGwire Did Steroids, Not Let the Cheaters in the Hall of Fame" from The Sporting Blog

Mark McGwire's Admission: Missteps in Controlling the News Cycle

The sports world was bombarded yesterday with an anti-climactic display of "well-crafted" public relations and pseudo apologies as Mark McGwire shocked (sic) the world with his admission of performance enhancing drug (PED) use throughout the 1990s.

Since the now infamous "I'm not here to talk about the past" testimony before the House Committee on Government Reform on March 17, 2005, McGwire has become somewhat of a national joke, while being an utterly sad testament to the PED era. In the midst of his nearly five years of reclusion, his only impact on the sports news cycle has been leading up to the Hall of Fame voting (with 75 percent of votes needed for election, McGwire received 23.5 percent in 2007, 23.6 percent in 2008, 21.9 percent in 2009, and 23.7 percent in 2010).

Yet, his silence seemed to be futile after Tony La Russa announced on Oct. 26 that McGwire would be joining the St. Louis Cardinals coaching staff. As McGwire was suddenly propelled forward from his shadows of seclusion, it seemed inevitable that controversy and salacious commentary would characterize much of the upcoming season. Would McGwire be excused from media obligations destined to encompass questions surrounding his PED use? Would he simply recapture his infamous congressional testimony?


Where society had already given a guilty verdict on McGwire's alleged PED use, his single-day plan of revelations yesterday -- masterminded by former White House press secretary and current St. Louis Cardinals executive Ari Fleischer -- seemed an attempt at starting the news cycle and fueling it for a maximum of a few days. Seemingly, the plan was to admit fully and leave pundits with a day or two of conversation. Though the next few days will reveal the successes of the plan, a certain cloud of further uncertainty seems looming following yesterday's collection of ambiguity and off-putting statements.



Breakdown of the Bob Costas interview on MLB Network (Via: Ryan Hudson @ SB Nation)


ON WHEN EXACTLY HE USED STEROIDS:

"I believe it was the winter of 1989 into 1990. I was given a couple of week's worth, tried it, never thought anything of it. I just moved on from it. But as far as using it on a consistent basis, it was the winter of 1993 into 1994."

ON WHETHER HE THINKS HE WOULD STILL HAVE PERFORMED AS WELL WITHOUT STEROIDS:

"I truly believe so. I believe I was given this gift. The only reason I took steroids was for my health purposes. I did not take steroids to get any gain for any strength purposes... I've always had bat speed. I just learned how to shorten my bat speed. I learned how to be a better hitter. There's not a pill or an injection that is going to give me -- or any athlete -- the hand-eye coordination to hit a baseball. A pill or an injection will not hit a baseball."

ON EXACTLY WHAT PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS HE TOOK:

"The names I don't remember. But I did injectables. I preferred the orals. The steroids I did were on a very low dosage. I didn't want to take a lot of it. I took very, very low dosages, just because I wanted my body to feel normal. The wear and tear of 162 ballgames and the status of where I was at, and the pressures that I had to perform, and what I had to go through to try and get through all these injuries, it's a very, very regrettable thing."

ON REGRETTING HIS STEROID USE:

"I wish it never came into my life. But we're sitting here talking about it. I'm so sorry that I have to. I apologize to everybody at Major League Baseball, my family, the Marises, Bud Selig... Today was the hardest day of my life."

ON CALLING ROGER MARIS' WIDOW THIS MORNING:

"Well, I think she was shocked that I called her. I felt good...I felt that it was...that I needed to do that. They've been great supporters of mine. She was disappointed. She has every right to be. And I couldn't tell her how so sorry I was."

Other Pertinent Quotes:

"I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era."

"This has nothing to do with the Hall of Fame. This has to do with me coming clean, getting it off my chest, and five years that I've held this in."

And, the killers:

"There's no way a pill or an injection will give you hand-eye coordination or the ability or the great mind that I've had as a baseball player. I was always the last one to leave. I was always hitting by myself. I took care of myself."

"I truly believe I was given the gifts from the Man Upstairs of being a home run hitter, ever since . . . birth. My first hit as a Little Leaguer was a home run. I mean, they still talk about the home runs I hit in high school, in Legion ball. I left the nation in home runs in college, and then all the way up to my rookie year, 49 home runs.

"I'm sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids. I had good years when I didn't take any, and I had bad years when I didn't take any. I had good years when I took steroids, and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn't have done it and for that I'm truly sorry."

The Mis-Steps:

Likely, the goals of the admission were to plainly admit and leave as few questions for discussion as possible. The obvious questions left, with even a simple "I took PED" admission, would be: 1) Will this change McGwire's Hall of Fame chances? 2) Does this add to the steroid era / asterisk conversation? 3) Can fans accept this apology?

Fans, and Hall of Fame voters, have equated PED use with increased strength, stamina, and health which, quite obviously, results in a benefited performance. Truly, there is no existing debate about whether or not PEDs aid performance, while fans also accept that MLB players, even those who have used PEDs, have immense talent. Yet, McGwire's refusal to admit that his performance was benefited by PEDs has already created another tension; another question left to be debated: is McGwire right in his statements that he was talented, gifted by "the Man Upstairs,"and PEDs didn't impact that?

Where there's an obvious reluctance for any athlete to admit that his or her achievements were impacted by anything other than talent and work, McGwire is past that stage in his career and the contextual difference portrays this attitude as childish and embarrassing.

Further, McGwire spoke of his apology to the Maris family, yet, if McGwire didn't believe that PEDs impacted his performance when breaking Maris' record, then why apologize?

Also, this very notion of McGwire "telling" his family is utterly inconceivable. Is McGwire really telling us that his wife never asked about the use? That his son never made a comment? Unless McGwire consulted with a legal team, early on, and his family were instructed to not discuss the PED use in case of future investigation, nobody believes this to be true.


Ultimately, where the PR strategy was meant to leave pundits only discussing larger thematic concerns or what the future holds for McGwire, the conversation today, and likely to follow, remains focused on the substance of his apology/revelation.

What I would have had him say:

Q: Did you PED use impact your performance?

A: PEDs made me stronger and healthier. I had talent and without that talent I wouldn't have accomplished what I did before my PED use and, likely, what I did during my PED use. While I was talented enough to hit home runs, PEDs obviously made my body better conditioned to do so.

Side Note:

MLB Network was a, perhaps, surprisingly astute journalistic entity yesterday in their interview and coverage of Mark McGwire. Where some may say MLB has much to gain from McGwire's admission, others, including myself, see the entire "Steroid-Era" conversation as a skeleton that MLB is desperately trying to separate themselves from. MLB Network behaved like a news agency yesterday. Props.

Essential follow-up(s):

Richard Sandomir's breakdown of the PR strategy: "The How-To of an Admission in the Steroid Era" from the NY Times

Dan Levy's "Mark McGwire Did Steroids, Now Let the Cheaters in the Hall of Fame" from The Sporting Blog 

Jan 12. 2010 On the DL Podcast

Photo(s): Got Milk?, Mark McGwire Congress

Ma Monday - Daily Recap

Though I spent most of my day recreating the former "Never Three Putt" into "Delusional Efficacy," here's what I listened to, read, and watched:

Listened To:

FreeDarko's Bethlehem Shoals (aka Nathaniel Friedman) discuss basketball and jazz on The Jazz Sessions.

Monday, Jan. 11 edition of On the DL Podcast with Dan Levy

Steely Dan - Aja

Jackson 5 - I Want You Back

Read:

Buzz Bissinger's "Tiger in the Rough" from Vanity Fair Feb. 2010 (reread)

Mark Bechtel's "The Year in Sports Media" from Sports Illustrated Dec. 2009 (reread)

Fang's Bites "Big Dozen Sports Media Stories of 2009"

Kevin Drum's "A Free Lunch" from Mother Jones

Glenn Greenwald's "Political reporting means royal court gossip" from Salon.com

Jay Busbee's "Geoff Ogilvy tops the list of winners at the SBS"from Devil Ball Golf

UPDATE - A Sports Scribe "Owners' Thought Process & the Rooney Rule"

Watched:


Manchester City vs. Blackburn Rovers (4-1)

MTV's Jersey Shore Ep. 6 "Boardwalk Blowups"

UPDATE - Sunday Jan. 10 "60 Minutes"

The Sports PR Machine: Arenas & Tiger

On today's edition of the On the DL Podcast, Dan Levy is joined by Emil Steiner of the Washington Post's "The League" and "Off/Beat" to discuss yesterday's NFL action and, more importantly for our purposes, the continuing Gilbert Arenas saga. Their Arenas talk begins at the 26:40 mark.

Yesterday, Dan Steinberg wrote in the Washington Post's D.C. Sports Blog that Arenas' teammate DeShawn Stevenson had written "Agent Zero" (Arenas' nickname) on his ankle tape in Sunday's game and reported that Washington Wizards staff had confiscated "Free Gil" posters at the Verizon Center -- updates stated that Wizards PR staff admit that a security guard acting on his own accord had confiscated an Arenas poster.

Arenas did not have a public relations response, but rather made himself into a clown and made a mockery of public relations in general.

The NBA's response to the allegations surrounding Gilbert Arenas have been widely scrutinized -- an original inaction by the league office, followed by inabilities to curb the news story, followed by attempts to hide the story, and, for now, ending with an indefinite suspension and a multitude of questions left to be answered.

Rather than sculpting their response around a picture of Arenas as a rogue ball player (forgetting Javaris Crittenton altogether) -- a measure that leagues ALWAYS rely on -- in an attempt to diffuse a larger picture discussion, why not in a moment of proactivity admit to a -- real or not -- element of gun violence that permeates throughout the league, but more importantly throughout a culture that the NBA speaks to?

This "skeletons in the closet" doctrine of public relations can only be successful to an extent; ultimately the door is going to break and a profligatory portrait is going to be painted.

The NBA expects the public, once it has outcasted Arenas and the news story dies, to move past the incident and resume its normal fanhood. By diffusing and moving on, the NBA faces a not dissimilar journey to Tiger Woods.

With Tiger Woods return, either freshly divorced or not, the public will be left circumventing both fact and fiction while clinging to the remnants of one of sports' all-time dominant athletes. It will be expected that Tiger is accepted back into a conflicting golf culture by a generation of fans he molded and by a generation of fans that perhaps never accepted him and him as the catalyst for the game's changes; Tiger Woods Inc. will likely expect this, as will his endorsers, as will the PGA Tour, as will the game in general.

By remaining silent in the shadows of tabloid dreams, Tiger Woods continues to dehumanize himself in the midst of the most humanizing period of his (private and public) life. Vice, ostentatiousness, remorse, personal struggle, and demons are at the foreground of life; where we (fans) long for our superstars to be better than we are -- to fit into some exemplification of idealism/exceptionalism -- we also crave for those humanized moments: the losses, the tears, the scandals. Tiger's PR model has been to save grace by broadcasting him in such depths of regret that he's neither fit for public eyes nor concerned with anything aside from saving his family.

From an idealistic perspective there needs to be some connection with fans that, frankly, allows for some healing of a wounded relationship, from a pragmatic perspective the news story needs to be controlled when it can be. As there seems to be a widespread belief that Elin is going to ditch Tiger and head back to Sweden, what would be the fan response, today, if a post on TigerWoods.com read:

I'm doing what I can to save my family; I don't want my children growing up in a broken home. My apologies to Elin will never make up for what I've done, but for now they're what I have.

And, next week a post read:

I'm not certain that our marriage can survive the things that I've done, but I'm not going to back away from it. I took advantage of Elin and what I've done will forever embarrass my children, but I'm not ready for this to be its final chapter.

Why not be candid? Why not accept a forever change (maybe transmogrification) of an image and seize an opportunity to be human, not robotic, to have a face, not to be a corporate face?

Silence is a poisonous tree methodology.

Side Note:

I'll admit that I have presented conflicting perspectives on Tiger Woods, but, truthfully, it's because I'm conflicted. Where I wish he would have made a rare stop in Hawaii this past weekend in the SBS Championship and resumed his quest for history, I don't believe that a brash return would be in his long-term best interests or in the best-interests of golf and the PGA Tour. Tiger needs to save face if he doesn't want biographical book-jackets to mention the scandal in the third sentence, if he doesn't want to be a punch line as Wilt Chamberlain's 10,000 women are, and if the PGA Tour is to resume its exponential growth amidst a changed economic climate. But, I want to watch his mastery at work again, as soon as he'll be able to illustrate it again.

Soap Box Rant:

Regarding the NBA and Gilbert Arenas, there are the unmistakable racial undertones and supposed "hip hop" culture that NBA critics cite perpetuates throughout the league. Where many issues with similar black/white considerations may be an accurate lens, a racial perspective need not necessarily be the commanding perspective. Yet, the reluctance of the mainstream media/entertainment industry to give a racial lens its due platform seems persistent in the world of politically correct oversights -- where the fear of a Pandora's Box of racial considerations dominates the discussion.

While athletes should not be used as pawns of social change, sport most certainly can be a beacon of social responsibility and an instrument of social progress. In 2006, there were nine White deaths per 100,000 Americans by firearm, while there were 20 African American deaths by firearm per 100,000 Americans -- while African Americans only comprised 12.3 percent of the population, as opposed to 74.3 percent for Whites (Census).

The NBA's culture has an unquestionable African American influence, if not the predominant influence. Where the NBA collective bargaining agreement permits NBA players to legally own firearms, it does not permit them on NBA or team property. Why can't the NBA take measures to stem the tide of gun violence in this country, most specifically amongst the African American community, through policy and community relations?

Inevitably, any controversy surrounding an athlete is exacerbated by the "a hero is failing children" proclivity; a notion of "athletes as heroes" that professional sports has long exploited for its gain. With the election of Barack Obama, a conversation ensued that Black mothers may now take their child's hand and lead them to Obama as a Black role-model; a generation of young Black men may now have a like-raced hero that wasn't an athlete or entertainer (for some reason, Colin Powell and -- ugh -- Condoleeza Rice didn't fill the need).

It all relates to an ultimate discussion of heroism and leadership; the league can't permeate sentiments of responsibility and role-model-ship to its fans while remaining steadfast in its alienation of social concerns.

Photo(s): Washington Wizards Huddle

Apologies to the faithful

Sorry for my apathy and laziness of late, it's not that I've forgotten about my five or six faithful readers or that I've gone Roman Polanski, but that my computer remains water-logged and I've been contemplating and reflecting on my post-college life.

My computer may be back and operational as soon as the end of the upcoming week and I can assure you that I'll reclaim my moments of delusional efficacy and I'm sure to retain my pedanthood as soon as able.

In my missed 3 weeks, there has been so much in the world of sports and sports media: Tiger Woods has lost his pedestal in the world of TMZ.com and E entertainment news, Gilbert Arenas brought guns to the locker room, got into a confrontation with a teammate and a loaded weapon, tweeted about it, made fun of it, then was suspended by David Stern for all of it, some professional and college football games were played -- eh -- and the PGA Tour resumed this weekend in Hawaii.

Going forward, as I've lost many of the constraints (sic) of the scholastic assignment nature of Never Three Putt, look for significant changes in format and topic, as well as a more unbridled enthusiasm about my writing. There will be more conversation of the general sports media, increased hyperlinking to those whom both write better and are more informed on their subjects than I do and am, and likely a bit more of a catty attitude about certain media matters.

So; have a cup of coffee in the morning, a snack at midday, and a libation in the evening with me and, as always, send all comments, thoughts, ideas, rants, raves, tirades, and tyranny to michaelott23@gmail.com.