Texsox

Do we know if Frank writes his own tweets? He just doesn't seem like a Twitter guy to me.

Are they certain the foul ball wasn't damaged hitting a wall or something? The article is a little unclear.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 10, 2014 -> 10:02 AM) Nothing from the school's perspective, and I agree with you that enforcement would be an issue, but let's say there's a monetary penalty that they have to pay back a portion of their scholarship or school bills. Again, from the universities point of view, that's a breach of their agreement and the expectations they have for their "student-athlete." One of the interesting points about this is athletes have been in favor of 4 year scholarships, it is the colleges that do not like the idea. They like being able to pull an unproductive athelete's scholarship and give it to a different athlete.

Philosophically I prefer solutions where the NBA and the NCAA decisions are distinct from each other. Any collusion seems wrong. I have a hard time restricting the job opportunities of an 18 year old.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Apr 8, 2014 -> 11:08 PM) In 10 years some rich guy is going to fund a developmental league for basketball. make maybe 10 teams and just sign people right out of high school to 2 or 3 year deals. Give them $40k and some insurance, play your games and make it part of the contract that the league also becomes their agent. Then the league recoups its costs with agent fees. you can get all the guys who can't even spell their name to join so they can skip the pretense of being a 'student athlete', you have them sign contracts ( with an X if need be!) so they can't leave after a year. At first the games would have to be played among the 10 teams you have, but after a while you will get the best players anyway, so the players coming out of your league will be the best prepared when they can enter the pros. You rep them to the pros after the contract is done, either by draft entry of as free agents. College basketball will go bye bye. How would that be different than this? http://www.nba.com/dleague/

So what's the ripple effect? Who will have money taken away from to pay players? Fewer scholarships? Cut non revenue sports? Will it kill athletics at smaller universities?

http://www.texasmonthly.com/content/hut-hu...hike?fullpage=1 Excellent article on the subject of football coach salaries.

Katy, Texas pays their football coach $116,000 per year. A fair number make over $100,000. Some may have to teach a class, usually football. They will supervise a staff of 12 to 15 varsity assistant coaches, plus the lower level on down to the 7th grade football coaches all pitch in to help with scouting, etc. Yes, the private schools recruit, nationally in some cases. When Hurricane Katrina hit a lot of Texas communities opened up their hearts and homes to some of the top players from Louisiana. Amazing how the top athletes wound up in the football factory schools

What does some chick know about baseball pitching? Interesting read. Thanks for posting.

^^ Until a player is in Paulie's position, I want a guy that thinks he should be at the next level AND is willing to work to get there.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 6, 2014 -> 06:15 PM) Maybe I am spoiled by 15 years of Paul Konerko, but that is a play a 1B should make in his sleep. Maybe not in his sleep, but I'll agree he should have made a couple of those. Oh, well add another DH to the team.

I agree. And I especially agree with the sense of entitlement that some athletes feel that you just want to stop.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Apr 6, 2014 -> 03:57 PM) It's his sixth professional MLB game. I agree with you. I think he needs some time to adjust to life here, his team, the expectations, etc. I'm not going to judge until next year.

I'd be interested to know what fans in KC think.

All the same arguments fit for college athletes. The baseball, swimming, tennis, golf, lacrosse, wrestling, etc teams are losing money. College athletes should also be there for an education. High School football is becoming a year round sport with spring practices, conditioning, football "class" each day. etc. What do you teach?

QUOTE (kev211 @ Apr 6, 2014 -> 08:36 AM) Because then they stop being STUDENT athletes which just isn't right in high school What are college players? Aren't they student athletes? Or are we just going to allow colleges to hire employees to play for their team and not attend classes?

I was at the UT Pan American v. Grand Canyon game last night. Both are small D1 schools playing in the WAC. Total attendance on a drizzly night was a couple hundred, maybe. The attendance was swelled by a couple dozen GEAR-UP high school students and their chaperons. It was open admission, sit anywhere you like, and with so few fans in attendance, you could have your pick of site lines. The early drizzle played in favor of the hitters, it was 5-2 GCU after 2 innings. Then the drizzle stopped and the UTPA pitchers came around. The game ended 7-6 for UTPA. I was thinking how much I just love to watch baseball. The teams are evenly matched. Friday's game ended in 10 with UTPA winning 2-1. There were some great plays in the outfield that major league players would have made look simple. But they still looked spectacular last night. There was a runner thrown out at second trying to steal. The ball and the runner arrived at about the same time. Yeah, MLB the runner would have been faster, the throw thrown with more velocity, but the result, bam-bam at second would have been the same. No traffic jams. No lines at concessions. No lines at restrooms. No lines getting in. No lines. A few local kids on the squad (wait, it that Juan and Jasmine's son?), more players from around Texas, along with guys from Australia and the Bronx. Now if they would just get rid of the "ping" of the bat and add beer when it gets warmer, I'd be content.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Apr 6, 2014 -> 02:59 AM) No to HS, that's just absurd. Yes to college. If the argument is that some athletes generate profits for their school and deserve a cut, why should it stop in college?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 4, 2014 -> 10:53 AM) At least one distinction is that these mega-programs are rare edge cases in HS sports, and we're still mainly talking about public high schools that all kids are free to attend and don't need scholarships. The opposite is true for college. Which is an interesting point. It seems you are suggesting that if the athlete, who is generating profits for his school, receives something (scholarship) for his efforts, he should also receive additional money in the form of a stipend or salary. But an athlete who receives nothing, should continue to receive nothing. It would be interesting to think about a college sports model without scholarships. You play who can afford to attend and who meets your institution's rules for entrance.

Most of our really big stadiums service multiple high schools and are used for regional games, etc. And of course in some cases for soccer. Gym class??? The horrors!

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 4, 2014 -> 10:29 AM) That's such an insane amount of money to watch mediocre football. It is, but this is Texas football and far from a mediocre entertainment experience. For example it takes well over 250 students to put on a varsity football game. We have a total school enrollment around 2,000. There will be 80 players on the varsity roster. The band will have 80 to 100 members. There will be 20-25 cheerleaders, the pep squads will have another 30 or so. Then all the various extra acts and stuff. Teams will arrive in 6 or more buses being led by police from their town with sirens and lights blazing. The band will typically have a semi-trailer of stuff to be unloaded. There are large inflatable helmets or other device to be run through, smoke, fireworks, music. I am not exaggerating when I tell you I was in a coaches meeting where they unveiled the plans for a new $2,000,000+ scoreboard. They asked if anyone had seen anything as cool. I of course said YES! The White Sox have an exploding scoreboard that fireworks go off whenever the good guys hit a home run. I swear he took notes and I have no doubt he looked into having fireworks for the new scoreboard. The local radio station has reporters at every area game, typically 25 on a Friday night. The TV stations will lead with HS football and fans know the rosters of the opposing teams as well as their own. It's crazy.

That email distribution list sends out some cool stuff most days.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 3, 2014 -> 09:33 AM) Does the cost vary if they come direct from the school? In Indiana the cost of a basketball or football game is $6, no matter what, if the ticket comes from the school. That doesn't change until the post season, but it still has a set cost structure that is the same at all venues which are hosting the same round of the tournament (ie all Regional games cost the same ticket cost, no matter where you go to a Regional game). Each school is able to set their prices as I understand it. They even charge opposing coaches in some arenas. We offer a special student section that is student only for reduced cost I believe $3 until the playoffs.

So pay high school athletes in places where it generates profits, like Indiana basketball and Texas football? Isn't that the same argument for college, some of the colleges aren't making money. Outside of D1 schools, I doubt many of those programs are barely breaking even.

http://nowiknow.com/take-me-out-to-the-mayhem/ This is today's offering from a regular email list I am on and usually filled with some very interesting items from around the world. Rarely do I know much about the event, person, item, etc. I was a huge Steve Dahl fan, I wanted to go to the game but it was sold out when I decided to buy tickets, something that had never happened to me before in all my years as a Sox fan. This is a rarity in that the Veecks seem to share some of the responsibility. Usually uit is the Stever who takes the hit.