It's The Coverup

From: sportsillustrated.com


With his resignation, the shoe finally dropped on Jim Tressel of Ohio State today, hours before Sports Illustrated released a damning report on the violations that occurred under Tressel's watch. What started out as suspensions for five players for five games of the 2011 season (after they were allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl) has spread to 28 players over 9 years.

That Tressel resigned should come as no surprise to anyone who has been reading any of Sports Illustrated's coverage in the last few months. According to Andy Staples' count, nearly every coach who has been in the same situation as Tressel has resigned or been fired.

Add this to another chapter of the book It's Not The Crime, It's The Coverup.

Guilty?

I showed this "60 Minutes" video to my classes today regarding Lance Armstrong and doping. Lance has passed 500 drug tests without a fail, but now is weathering allegations from former teammates Tyler Hamilton and George Hincapie that he did, in fact, drug it up to win all those Tour de France titles.

One of my buddies and former co-workers is a huge cycling fan, so I was familiar with all the names in this story. Our class had an interesting discussion about Hamilton's motivations and veracity in the video. Bottom line, I think he's telling the truth as he knows it, albeit at gunpoint (i.e. federal subpoena). Whether all of these allegations hurt Armstrong remain to be seen. I wonder if the public will be as cynical about Armstrong as they seem to be about the baseball sluggers of the late '90s.

Does LiveStrong mean anything anymore?

RIP, Macho

I spent the day showing my kids videos of Randy "Macho Man" Savage, the old wrestler who was one-of-a-kind. A lot of my Saturday mornings in the '80s were used to watch Macho battle other classic '80s wrestlers, like Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, and Macho was always the guy that grabbed your attention, whether in or out of the ring.

Many of my students laughed at the match vs. The Dragon, due to its blatant "fakiness." As I pointed out, everyone in the (sold-out) audience knew the matches were scripted, but that didn't stop them from cheering their heads off.

Randy "Macho Man" Savage, you were truly one of the greats!

For a great write-up of the Macho Man's career, make sure to check out the article on deadspin.com.

Thy Name Shall Be...Kegasus

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

I'm not a big fan of horse racing, but the marketing campaign of the Preakness Stakes caught my eye this year, and apparently many other eyeballs as well.

The Kentucky Derby is noted for its stateliness: the hats, the mint juleps, etc. The Preakness, on the other hand, has gained a reputation for the opposite: a beer-swilling, Port-a-Potty racing infield crowd. When the Preakness reigned in these folks a few years ago, attendance dropped.

Horse racing isn't as popular as it used to be, so when the crowds stopped coming, the Preakness knew it had to do something in order to bring them back. It started with $20 bottomless beer mugs. Now, Kegasus--half man, half horse, all party manimal (or something like that). Kudos to the Preakness to thinking outside of the box: they received tons of publicity, scorn from Maryland lawmakers, and most importantly, increased attendance at the race this weekend.

What do you do next year for an encore?

Think Before You Speak

I saw this commercial during an NBA game, which makes sense since their are multiple NBA players in it. Basically, it encourages the viewer to avoid using the phrase "that's gay." That phrase, and variations of it, are bandied about frequently in my class, despite my attempts to stop it.

No one will ever mistake me for a gay rights activist, but it's interesting to observe my students and their attitudes on the subject. On one hand, we have several openly gay students (and couples) that don't seem to be bothered or bullied. On the other hand, stories about LL Cool J's alleged tryst with a transsexual freak them out--so, which is it?

I'm not sure how this campaign is going to pan out, but there seems to be a lot of talk lately about this issue, from Charles Barkley in particular. At the very least, I'd love to see it change what's said in my class.

Gentlemen, Place Your Bets

I showed my students the video above about gambling on youth football. People in the video talked about bets of $20K on youth football games--yikes! Many of my students said rather matter-of-factly that bets go on during our local youth games here in town. That doesn't surprise me, but I'm still not sure why people would put so much of their money on 8-year-olds, who we all know are never full of surprises! Aren't there enough college football and NFL games to bet on?

One student didn't understand why people were making such a big deal out of gambling. It was nice to see that the rest of the class corrected him, letting him know that gambling is, in fact, illegal.

One part of the video that generated a lot of reaction was an interview with a coach who claimed he never gambled on games. After he was shown video of exchanges he made with other gamblers, the coach was near the point of tears with shame. I wonder if he would have continued to lie had he not been shown the video...

It's Why They Play The Game

It must kill ABC/ESPN and the NBA to see the Bulls beat the Heat in the first game of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday. What, with the Heat Index and all. Even Vegas was on the side of the Heat, favoring the #2 seeded Heat over the top-seeded Bulls. Once again, this proves that basketball is a team game, and just because one side has more superstars, it doesn't mean they have the best team (see Pistons, Detroit 2004).

A Real Perspective

Photo by Desmond Thomas

It's been a rough week--I'm sure everyone's had one. Even my good kids went bad. It would easy to feel sorry for myself...until I look back at the photos one of my students took last week of the tornado destruction in Bertie County, NC.

The tornadoes killed over 10 people and destroyed numerous houses. Looking at the photo gallery that we posted on our school's web site reminds me to be thankful for my life, no matter how chaotic or bad it may seem.

Have At It, Boys

There's nothing in NASCAR like a great feud. There aren't any new ones in NASCAR like the ones from the '70s, but it's not for lack of trying, especially by Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.

Busch is one of those guys that people either love or hate. Most race fans I talk to hate the guy, but I'm kinda partial to him. Harvick's had run-ins with multiple drivers over the years, and after Darlington, it must be Kyle Busch's turn to tangle.

The old school drivers like Earnhardt, Allison and Petty drew a decidedly blue collar audience, but the growth of NASCAR in the last 15 years precipitated a preponderance of corporate, speak no evil, cookie cutter drivers that never did the wrong thing. With the recent ratings slide, maybe NASCAR is interested in drivers that will spice things up, on and off the track.

What is High School For?

Good question, Seth Godin. I enjoyed your list, including:

An insatiable desire (and the ability) to learn more. Forever.
Most of all, the self-reliance that comes from understanding that relentless hard work can be applied to solve problems worth solving.

It would be nice if students learned this in high school. I believe I do my best to teach this, however, sometimes I'm not sure what, if anything, some of my students do in the year they're with me. I've always thought my job is to prepare students for a job and/or higher learning, but it seems like more and more of them are interested in neither.

Dear Teachers,

From: upra.edu

In recognition of Teacher Appreciation Week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has sent out an appreciation letter to teachers. It's a nice thought, but the comments below the letter are telling (and brutal).

Criminal Minds

From: criminalmindsroundtable


It was Friday, and I was trying to leave, but I had to talk to my principal first...after two police officers got through with him.

First, it was a parent that came to the school to threaten a student(!). Then one of my students was involved in a theft. Then an altercation between a teacher and someone that came to campus to pick up a friend. Is handling this supposed to be part of our job description?