Discrimination was at the core of the Bartman saga

After watching ESPN’s documentary on the Steve Bartman saga, I was left feeling worse about the human condition of many Chicago Cubs fans more than I felt sorry for Bartman.

At least Bartman left the ordeal with some dignity intact.

The same can’t be said for the hordes of downtrodden Cubs devotees who still blame Bartman for their team’s fate in the 2003 playoff series against the Florida Marlins.

“Catching Hell” was an intriguing addition to the network’s mostly entertaining “30 for 30” film series. The documentary about Bartman’s train wreck with fate as he attempted to snag a pop-up that Cubs outfielder Moises Alou might have had a chance to catch gave viewers some uncomfortable reminders about the ugly side of human nature.

What struck me as most disturbing was not only how so many people associated with the game – including Alou himself – are still shameless and unapologetic for using Bartman as their unofficial punching bag, but the core motivator behind the depths of their venom.

It’s the purest form of discrimination. Bartman’s biggest sin isn’t that reached over and tried to catch the same baseball the Cubs outfielder was trying to track down. He has been crucified because he’s the prototypical target for bullying; he appears shy, reclusive, nerdy and awkward. Like many of us, I can relate.

There’s little doubt anyone in Bartman’s shoes would have been the subject of the fans’ ire, but let’s face it: Had Bartman... [More]

Fully tilted by Full Tilt

This blog is about seven years overdue, but I suppose now is as good a time as any. Back then, I intended to write a piece using this exact headline to let the world know how I felt after I suspected I had been duped by the poker website.

Well, life went on and I didn’t get around to it. Now, I wish I had. As it turns out, I was far from the only one who had this sort of experience with online poker.

While interviewing poker legend T.J. Cloutier earlier this week for a piece on this site, he relayed a story to me in which he lost money under “suspicious circumstances” while playing online poker. He didn’t go into detail, and I didn’t pry, because it seems anyone who played the cyber game for any period of time has at least one similar tale.

But the exchange got me thinking about that incident seven years ago, especially since it involved Full Tilt, which earlier this week was accused of operating a “Ponzi scheme” that lined the wallets of its executives to the tune of $440 million.

At the time, I had just ventured into the online game for the first time. I decided to try both PokerStars and Full Tilt. I had heard better reviews of the customer service at PokerStars but decided to give Full Tilt a try, too, in no small part because of the star power behind the site. One of my favorite players, Phil Gordon, was a pro on the site, and I was also a fan of Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey and Jennifer Harmon, among others.

Here’s what happened: I de... [More]

Top 5 Myths in College Football

While I am thinking of it, I’d like to dispute a few myths that have reared their ugly heads early in this college football season. For whatever reasons, the vast majority of college football observers seem to believe these to be true, despite strong evidence that suggests otherwise.

Without wasting any more space in introductions, here are the Top 5 pervading myths in college football and why they are not true:

1) Oregon State’s Mike Riley is a “great” coach. How do you figure? Riley is nice to the media and smiles easily, so the media showers him with adulation in return. Whenever the Beavers are mentioned, commentators never miss a chance to tell you what an awesome coach they have.

The Riley cheerleading is getting old. The bottom line is, his teams rise up and win a game they aren’t supposed to win once a while – the USC upset of a few years ago comes to mind -- but they also lose far too many games that they are supposed to win. His 2009 team that went 8-5 had the talent go 11-2 but came up way short of its potential. Riley is 69-56 (55 percent) at Oregon State and hit a new low by losing to Sacramento State in the season-opener. Last week’s 35-0 humiliation at Wisconsin was supposed to be the type of game for which the Beavers give an inspired performance; they aren’t even doing that anymore. 

2) Georgia’s Mark Richt is a “bad” coach. The idea that Richt needs to start keeping an eye on his inbox for the pink slip that might b... [More]

Thinking of fading the SEC? Think again

To listen to the pundits, you’d think acknowledging that the SEC is by far the best conference in college football is an idea that’s … oh-so 2010.
 
Think again.

With a couple of noted exceptions – Kentucky and Georgia come to mind –- the SEC proved again in Week 1 that it is the strongest top-to-bottom conference in the country.

To argue otherwise is misguided at best, foolish at worst.

The numbers prove this, both on the field and at the sports book. The SEC was 8-4 against the spread over the weekend, and the West particularly was strong at 5-1 (Auburn’s near-upset loss to Utah State was the lone loser).

I’m thinking if you placed 12 bets and cashed in eight of them, it would make for a happy Labor Day weekend.

Now, the idea that other conferences have improved surely has some merit, but to connect this notion as coinciding with some sort of decline in the SEC would be a mistake.

Sure, Ohio State had a nice win over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl, Oregon was more than respectable in the BCS title game and Boise State just clobbered Georgia in Atlanta. I’ll give credit where it’s due.

Even so, a broader-picture view shows the SEC still sits atop college football’s perch. The conference has won five straight BCS titles and six of the last eight. The SEC has covered in each of the six wins and two of the clubs –- LSU in 2003 and Florida in 2007 -- did so as a touchdown underdog.
 
Granted, in last year... [More]