The RAC

     I spent what felt like half my weekend at the major indoor athletic facility on the campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ. I attended 2 events, one each on Saturday and Sunday, both starting at noon. Plus I drove by it on my return home after eating lunch on Saturday. If I had bought tickets for the Saturday night performance by the Harlem Globetrotters, the masters of basketball showmanship, I might have been able to stay overnight and avoid another $10 parking fee.

     I went to the Rutgers Athletic Center on Saturday for the men's basketball game versus the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, a close contest but in the end, another loss for the struggling Scarlet Knights. Sunday brought the final home match for the 12th ranked Rutgers wrestling team, who won handily against an undermanned Northwestern University squad.

   The crowd on Saturday was announced as 6,002. Sunday's attendance was 2,527. Capacity for the building is 8,000. There was more noise on Saturday because of the crowd size, the presence of the Rutgers Pep Band and a whole complement of cheerleaders and the Dance Team. The die hard wrestling fans made themselves known to the participants with their enthusiasm during the matches, but the atmosphere was decidedly in need of a smaller venue to look and feel better.

     Undoubtedly, The RAC, like High Point Solutions Stadium a couple of minutes away, visually defines RU major sports.  It is home of the flagship state university of New Jersey's wrestling and two basketball teams, who play in one of the most dominant athletic conferences in this country, the Big Ten.

     In comparison with its companion, High Point Solutions Stadium is shiny, big and shows an earnest investment in the future of RU football. Football is the dominant sport at RU--it should be, given the fact that the first intercollegiate football game was held in New Brunswick in 1896, resulting in a Rutgers 6-4 victory over Princeton.

     This November, The RAC, which is formally called the Louis Brown Athletic Center after a former Rutgers golf team member who made a sizeable bequest in his will, will be 40 years old. A mid-sized arena in the Eastern Eight, Atlantic 10 Conference, Big East Conference and the American Athletic Conference before Rutgers left each one, it now has the smallest capacity in the Big Ten. While its size is considered small, the former home for Rutgers basketball was the 3,200 seat College Avenue Gymnasium, which had seats on three sides, with the wall where the team benches were located  dividing the court from the from the swimming pool.

     So, when The RAC was ready, this was a big upgrade from Rutgers' previous winter sports home. The RAC was a beautiful place back in 1977--modern, gleaming. Featuring trapezoid sides at two ends, the building looks like a giant, truncated tent. Given its size, The RAC was not huge but still evidence of a meaningful arena. Upon entry, there was a concourse at the east end, which was also home to athletic offices above concession stands and the ticket office, which also had a row of windows outside for day-of-game sales. There were restrooms on both ends of the concourse. Standing centered on the concourse presented a clear view of the arena floor.

     The seating area in 1977 and today consisted of folding chairs at the lower level, so that practice could be conducted on the entire floor; then permanent seating from the entry or 200 level; and then bleacher-like seats at the 300 level. At both ends of the basketball floor there are folding beachers--the west end being bigger to accommodate the student section. There were also areas on the floor for other teams to practice including netting for baseball. The dominant color is scarlet red, which is the main Rutgers color. An overhead scoreboard, fairly recently updated to have video on its four sides, hangs over center court. Since the roof is supported by four ples to the sides of the main stands, Rutgers wisely placed auxiliary scoreboards on them, which have been upgraded to full length, state of the art matrix boards. Pennants for the conference schools have been on the end of the arena over the student section; now they hang over the main stands, replacing banners for the post-season successes of the Scarlet Knights teams. There are bigger banners for the numbers of the players who have achieved All-America status as well as banners commemorating women's coaches Theresa Grentz and C. Vivian Stringer who have been enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Other banners of note are for former player and coach Eddie Jordan and for the teams who have made it to the National Championship level. At the east end, the American flag is suspended from the rafters, accompanied by the New Jersey and Rutgers flags.

     Because of its unusual shape, the noise levels when the arena is filled to capacity make it one of the loudest and more intimidating places to play. The new sound system makes a loud and noticeable presence when recorded music is played. The Rutgers Pep Band is a predominantly brass group emanating from the student section, which helps to supercharge The RAC when there are time outs.  Announcers and players have acknowledged that the fervor of the fans is a big factor in how games are won and lost.

     Another tenant of The RAC was the NBA's New Jersey Nets, who played there from 1977-81 after relocating from Long Island, while awaiting completion of their arena in the New Jersey Meadowlands. There have been concerts, graduations and even a Professional Bowlers Association tour stop held inside of The RAC.

     Parking has always been an issue. The lots are large, but they are shared with student vehicles. There are two directions to go in and out of the lots on parallel two lane roads, creating some large traffic tie ups when there is a big crowd.

     Personally, I have gotten very used to The RAC. It has that homey kind of look to it. I like when it is filled, but with the teams in decline, that is not happening unless another Big Ten power is playing and has a strong local following. When Rutgers was in the Big East Conference, The RAC was nearly filled to the rafters if the University of Connecticut, Syracuse University or other national championship-caliber teams visited. With the good teams in the Atlantic 10, championship games versus Penn State and Massachusetts were wild affairs which the country viewed on ESPN.

     Coach Steve Pikiell is trying to revive the semi-dormant Scarlet Knights following. That will take time. But one of his hindrances in recruiting top flight talent is The RAC itself. Compared to the other Big Ten arenas, The RAC looks like a freshly-painted, very large high school gym. For games at which attendance is not very big, the place looks not very pretty. Bryce Jordan Arena at Penn State is a much more beautiful and modern facility which can hold 15,000 fans when needed. And Penn State is , like Rutgers, a football school, and the teams are perennially second tier in the Big 10. The massive Beaver Stadium dominates the State College skyline. Yet abutting Beaver Stadium is the saucer-like roof of the basketball arena, clearly visible next to its gigantic kin.

     That scene can be repeated at most every Big 10 school. Wisconsin and Ohio State play in newer, dual purpose buildings. Even Minnesota, Rutgers foe this past Saturday, plays in a musty old place dubbed The Barn, which is still larger than The RAC. With such attractions as large crowds and separate practice areas, Rutgers cannot presently compete evenly with other, more established basketball powers. The talent in New Jersey and the New York metro area is among the best in America. Unfortunately, they flee to places like the University of Kentucky with its 22,000 seat Rupp Arena and accumulation of nationally recognized players, or Duke University, whose noisy old arena, Cameron Indoor Stadium, outranks Rutgers academically and has the attraction of legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski. Tradition and facilities have trumped Rutgers repeatedly when competing for the homegrown players.

     Just like in football, it will take an influx of New Jersey kids willing to stay home and play for RU. Once that starts to happen, then once more The RAC will be regularly filled and be intimidating as it was in the past. Then, When Rutgers has more of the revenue stream which the Big 10 will offer after 2021, long-standing plans to either increase The RAC capacity to a still smallish 12,500 or to build an entirely new arena, will be warranted.

     For now, there is always hope. Every time I go to The RAC, I still enjoy the atmosphere. No matter how small a crowd. I long for the days of Rutgers basketball success and larger crowds becoming the standard, just like in the 1960's and 70's at the College Avenue Gym. Their high level of play packed the building and made The RAC possible. Winning teams in the 2010's-20's will reprise the fervor for the games and thereby demonstrate the need for a larger capacity, whether it be The RAC or a new site.

     All of this overdue. The foundation is there. The architect is in place. The shortcomings of the Rutgers program can be outweighed by what Rutgers has to offer both athletically and academically. And the outdated RAC can be an advantage for the teams in close games. No matter how it pales in comparison with the other Big 10 schools.

     Call me a dreamer. A realistic, pragmatic one. This is what I thought about when I spent my weekend at The RAC.

                                                                                               
   
   

                                                             The State of the NFL

     The National Football League is feeling pretty good about itself right now in the immediate afterglow of Super Bowl LI. A drama-filled game with the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history culminating with a masterful drive engineered by the New England Patriots and Tom Brady, the most hated team and player in the league (outside of New England). While the partisans of the Atlanta Falcons wonder what happened and team owner Arthur Blank seemed mortified while he watched from the sidelines in disbelief that he was not going to receive the Lombardi Trophy given to the winning team after trekking down from the joyous luxury box the owners sit in.

     Commissioner Roger Goodell, who in an obviously rehearsed answer, had weathered the media storm from the New England media earlier in the week about his decision in Deflategate, the probe of under inflated game footballs which led to Brady's suspension of 4 games to start the season. So there he was, merrily shaking Tom's hand after the epic game, as if nothing had happened, then presenting the trophy to owner Robert Kraft while being soundly booed by the Pats fans. The first words out of Kraft's mouth were a vilification of Goodell by a powerful force withing the League's cabal of millionaires for the Commissioner's seemingly unfair role in protecting the integrity of the game. It was great theater, if not somewhat awkwardly absurd. Those who wanted to see how the scene would play itself out were not at all disappointed.

     The NFL triumphantly struck gold (again) in Houston in 2017. More than 100 million people in the United States viewed the game on FOX. The halftime show, starring the incredibly talented Lady Gaga, symbolically opened the second act of this game when the roof on NRG Stadium was parted exclusively for her widely-anticipated extravaganza. While enriching the Harris County economy with this game, the advertisers and networks made a bundle for their coffers, too. Nationally, food emporiums--from sub and pizza shops to restaurants and markets--thrive on this day. Then there is the ton of legal (in Nevada anyway) and illegal betting (in the form of pools at parties and in offices). Not to mention, most of all, the windfall that the NFL itself garners as part of this American ritual.

     From its humble roots in the Los Angeles Coliseum, the ancient temporary Olympic home for the transplanted Los Angeles (nee St. Louis) Rams, where the first Super Bowl was held before a sizable but certainly not sold out venue, the NFL has tirelessly marketed themselves into the multi-billion dollar institution through the celebration of its championship as a national holiday. The other 30 owners of franchises in various cities joined the league for exactly this--to make even more money in a closed corporation akin to a country club for rich people  where football, not golf or tennis, is played for high returns.

     Make no mistake--from its tax-exempt status to its tie ins with the United Way to its licensing agreements which are rigidly enforced--the NFL is a capitalist's dream. Captained by Goodell as the highly-compensated corporate head, the sixth commissioner of the league since its inception, the motives of the NFL are singular in its pursuits--to make money while promoting itself to the rabid fan base and, on Super Bowl Sunday, the more casual observer. Very few people do not know who Tom Brady, or for that matter his supermodel wife, or that he allegedly conspired to deflate footballs and received punishment outside of a courtroom for his dastardly deeds. That was ongoing, voyeuristic national news.

     No, this is a corporate giant immune to anti-trust laws because of its legal status and the need for cities and states to ingratiate themselves to the league in the form of subsidies for stadiums with luxury suites and low rents, thus allowing the teams to further profit, while burdening the populace with the cost of building these monuments and the transportation infrastructure needed to move 70-80,000 people on game day. Sure, there are jobs that are related to the day of the game and the teams, but overall, the profits enriching tax coffers pale in comparison to those generated by the NFL teams.

     I do not blame the owners of any sports team in any league for trying to make as much money as they can. The NFL epitomizes this aspect in all its glory. It is first and foremost a business.

     But with all the merchandising money and the immortalizing its great players for their efforts as demonstrated by the announcement of 7 new members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday night (including Jerry Jones, the bombastic owner of the richest franchise in professional sports, the Dallas Cowboys), plus the constant media presence on its own network  and ESPN, to being the lead story on all broadcasts last night, the NFL faces serious problems in the near future.

     Football is a violent sport. Seemingly the masses of this country are in love with violence. Look at the multitude of commercials for the Super Bowl that touted violent behavior. Or the FOX merchandised transformer man who was a metaphor for the powerful nature of the sport. This is a nation which has glorified Mixed Martial Arts and persona like Rhonda Rousey, who pummel each other into submission with devastating kicks and utilizing gloves that even boxing does not use. People go to NASCAR for the crashes, not necessarily the thrill of the race. Hockey fights are still cheered vociferously.

     Nowhere is aggressive physical contact with the disregard of safety more evident that in football. And nowhere is it more aggressive than in the NFL. The artistry of throwing and catching a football is offset by the combativeness of running and being tackled or fighting an opponent for a pass. These are big, strong men in protective gear trying to knock each other out of the game through collision after collision.

     It takes a rough mentality of a person who understands and accepts these conditions, in this case, for significant pay. Which is why the sport is so beset with domestic violence--the psychology of such actions are a direct correlation to the nature of the game. We look at Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Josh Brown, the kicker for the New York Giants--all with varying degrees of unfathomable behavior.  Moreover, how many players or former players have been murdered or been involved with a murder---former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez  comes to mind here, as does the iconic O.J. Simpson.

     It is hard to say if this is a microcosm of society as a whole. While race may be pointed to as a factor, it is a nullity, for the vast majority of fans are white and they riot and act out at political rallies in unacceptable ways. Again, I point out the vast number of science-fiction action commercials during the game.

     The NFL reacts to this, as they do with every violent or drug-related action-after the fact as a sort of self-policing, above the law unit. On the field offenses are penalized and can come with suspensions and fines also being imposed.  The New Orleans Saints had a system in place a couple of years ago whereby defensive players were rewarded for violent hits. The head coach was suspended as well as the defensive coordinator, but both are still employed in the NFL. Yet Ray Rice became the poster boy for domestic abuse throughout the NFL--a pariah who still should be playing football despite having atoned and made the necessary amends to society for his actions.

     It is a flawed system which desperately needs to be revamped, except it never will be.  With the money that pro football accesses, coupled with the public's requirement for head bashing, even with the concussion protocol  in place--with rules that have been enforced and selectively overlooked in a venue which fought clinical studies about the nature of head trauma in the sport notwithstanding the overwhelming numbers of former players who have died prematurely as a result of dementia from their head injuries.

     Let the NFL run a campaign for showing us how tackling at Dartmouth College is so much more refined at less likely to cause injury--I surely did not see that on display by either sides defenders. Let them show us how artificial fields are better constructed and safer--except when behemoths are involved. Legs and joints can only withstand so much torsion. Rhetorically--how many cripples are there among the NFL alumni? No contest here--the game is what it is--a violent sport which almost was paradoxically disbanded in the early 20th century because it once was too ferociously played.

    This aspect is obviously accepted by so many people given the popularity of the sport. The rush to build new temples to worship these players beating up on each other is at a crossroads. Three venerable franchises have sought to relocate because they could not reach agreements with state and local politicians or in the case of San Diego win a 60% majority on a referendum for a new edifice. The fans in St. Louis--who willingly accepted the Cardinals from Chicago before they abandoned the city for greener pastures in the desert of Arizona, only to accept the Rams when they fled Los Angeles/Anaheim because Southern Californians didn't flock to their home games--cried foul when the Rams owner took off for his own self-financed complex in Inglewood  and his team became the Los Angeles Rams reincarnated.

     San Diego's team, the Chargers, is "reluctantly" leaving to share the Rams fine new building when it is ready as a co-tenant because the citizens of San Diego did not wish to underwrite billionaires. Oakland and the Raiders, a team who split from Oakland for L.A. only to return to Oakland with a renovated building which now they can no longer find any comfort (luxury suites and amenities), is now seeking to land in the comfort of Las Vegas, seduced by a new stadium financed in part by billionaire gambling magnate Sheldon Adelson, Clark County and the State of Nevada. Except that underwriter, Goldman Sachs, a dubious financial institution itself, is no longer interested in the venture, nor is Adelson. Nor was the ever virtuous NFL seeking gambler involvement from the likes of the politically-involved activist and casino owner.  Which leaves the Oakland franchise in a quandary, even though, in an odd ironic twist, the San Diego mayor would welcome the Raiders to the Chargers old stadium and then see what develops.

     Plus the NFL still maintains a global interest, with ideas of playing more games in Mexico and England, taking some of the weaker franchises in terms of attendance and plunking them in a foreign country to enhance the NFL's marketability. Ergo, more games are available nationally through Thursday Night Football, so that games are seen all day Sunday, Monday night and Thursday night along with Saturdays once the college football season has morphed into bowl games. Then there is live streaming which involves Google, You Tube, Twitter and Facebook.  The games can be seen virtually everywhere.

     While the NFL seems to be in good shape, there are numerous cracks in its foundation. Right now there is peace with the NFL Players Association. At some juncture the NFLPA will be seeking a greater piece of the revenue pie, which could lead to a strike, something that dreadfully hurt the NFL previously in the eyes of the public.

     No, the NFL is not breaking apart like the Humpty Dumpty commercial for TurboTax. They have not fallen off the wall of their own doing. Nonetheless, the stressors are there and the fault lines could become more pronounced.

     Until then, the National Football League will chug along its merry, money-making way. With all the turmoil and chaos surrounding the product itself, the honchos at the NFL still find a way to put on a game for the ages.

     I am certain that the vast majority of people were not talking about anything else but Super Bowl LI in some form on the day after the game. Therein lies the state of the National Football League circa 2017.

   

                                                        Requiem for a Heavyweight

     This is not about boxing. Although boxing was heavily covered along with other sports and issues of the day. I am talking about ESPN's The Sports Reporters.

     After 30 glorious years, ESPN has pulled the plug on this most venerable show. Slotted at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time on Sundays (and replayed at 10:30 a.m. on ESPN2), it loomed large in its scope and breadth. The weekly sessions were topical and discussed in the down-to-earth intellectual style which attracted both the educated as well as the everyday fan. The opinions provided rarely made headlines; they were, after all, the legitimate comments of a stable of well-respected journalists who made far more noise for their respective newspapers.

     Now broadcast from the ESPN main studios in Bristol, Connecticut, up until 1999 the show originated from Manhattan, subsequently settling into the ESPN Sports Zone in Times Square until 2010. The format was simple--a roundtable-like discussion on a small range of topics--a current events of sports for the past week or into the near future. Four sports reporters from a stable of very respected columnists, reporters and media personalities comprised the panel with a moderator leading the activity. The show was formatted to a degree after a show from Chicago known as Sportswriters on TV.

     First hosted by Gary Thorne, attorney-turned-broadcaster and presently the play-by-play man for the Baltimore Orioles, it was Dick Schaap who gave the show its energy and credence.  Schaap, a Cornell University grad where he played lacrosse as a goalie and a prestigious Columbia University School of Journalism-trained author and reporter, both in print and on NBC and ABC, as well as a respected theater critic, had the uncanny ability to bring out the best from the panel on a weekly basis. For me, it was must see TV for the varying insights and opinions of the panelists were incredibly on point.

     What a cast of panelists presided over the half hour discussions. They covered every major sport and had plenty to say about the games and the participants. Regular contributors to the show included Mike Lupica, a gifted and brash columnist from the New York Daily News; Mitch Albom, the award-winning novelist and musician who wrote for the Detroit Free Press; Bob Ryan, the well-traveled and widely-quoted essayist from the Boston Globe; and William C. Rhoden, the Mississippi-born lead sports columnist for the august New York Times.

     Other contributors to the show included large presence of Jason Whitlock from the Kansas City Star; the highly-opinionated Stephen A. Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer and now of ESPN;  the erudite Bryan Burwell who wrote for the St.Louis Post-Dispatch; and Michael Wilbon, the Northwestern-educated writer from the Washington Post. Along with Bill Rhoden, the black journalist was well-represented on The Sports Reporters.

     Women were not involved very much at the outset, for there were not many female sports reporters when the show began back in the late 1980's. Christine Brennan of USA Today led the list of females who appeared on The Sports Reporters. Hannah Storm, Rachel Nichols, Jackie MacMullan,  formerly of the Boston Globe and now an ESPN columnist and personality; Jane McManus, who trained at Newsday and was one of the original writers at ESPNW;  and Jemele Hill, all of ESPN, later served as notable panelists.

     Noteworthy is the legacy of The Sports Reporters. The heralded opinion show Pardon The Interruption, starring the aforementioned Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser, also a fairly regular panelist on The Sports Reporters when he was with the Washington Post with Wilbon, was a direct descendant of the ESPN stalwart. Last week, when it was announced that The Sports Reporters would end in May, Kornheiser and Wibon each declared their undying thanks for their starts in broadcasting via Dick Schaap.

     So, too, just preceding PTI daily on ESPN is Around the Horn, filled with regular and fill-in participants who are either newsprint columnists or appear on-air for ESPN. And leading up to Around the Horn is Highly Questionable, originating from Miami led by Dan Le Batard, the fine writer for Miami Herald, along with his very funny father and Bomani Jones from ESPN. This is a lot like seeing the successful spinoffs from N.C.I.S.

     On September 16, 2001, the show expanded to one hour for a take on the sports perspectives following the September 11 attacks in both Washington and New York as well as the crash of the third plane in Pennsylvania. That show would be the last for Schaap, whose untimely death three months following a surgery he delayed until after that particular episode, cast a big hole in the program.

     John Saunders, the Canadian-born hockey player turned ESPN announcer took over as moderator until his death from a heart attack in 2016. Saunders was a witty and worthy successor to Schaap, permitting continuity that The Sports Reporters required. Lupica and Jeremy Schaap, Dick's son, a journalist in his own right, have hosted the show since then.

     Broken down into 4 segments, Blocks A, B and C focused on three current topics of significant interest. The program always ended with a segment called "Parting Shots," where the 3 newsmen would opine on a sports subject dear to them. The moderator, whether it be Schaap or Saunders, would offer his own reflection on something that happened in the sports world, thereby neatly wrapping up the program. The format was tested and true.

     Now it seems that ESPN is courting a young demographic and, sadly, The Sports Reporters does not offer the necessary vibes. The essence of The Sports Reporters is soon to be left to its heirs, the remaining assemblage of knowledgeable sports personalities on many other ESPN programs, who will convey opinions which dedicated sports fans would debate in countless places--arenas, bars or dens. The loss of a program like The Sports Reporters is another signal that print journalism is dying a not so slow death.  ESPN, by its visual recapping of all sporting events, usurped the newspaper coverage, thus setting the landscape for future generations as to how they receive their sporting news. Ironically, The Sports Reporters ultimate demise was the predestined success of ESPN itself.

     Let us not mourn the upcoming passing of a literary giant. Hopefully the sendoff for The Sports Reporters will be about its huge positive effect on the American sports journalistic landscape. 

     Perhaps that is what Dick Schaap and John Saunders would have said in their final commentaries. 

   

                                                       The Cost of a Game

     On Saturday, we attended the Rutgers-Nebraska basketball game along with over 6,000 other people hoping for a Scarlet Knights victory. Which, in thrilling style with 1.0 seconds left, sophomore guard Corey Sanders banked home a tipped ball from his previous errant shot to put the Knights ahead for good at 65-64. Thus, RU was able to secure its first Big 10 victory of this season under new Coach Steve Pikiell.

     The Rutgers Athletic Center was alive, abuzz with the enthusiasm of a large student contingent along with a game where the Knights were not being outclassed. For a simple midseason conference matchup of two teams who have very little history between them, this was good theater. We could not have been happier with the result and the way it came about. A team effort on defense coupled with a not-to-be denied effort by the effervescent point guard Sanders. For a school which had a 3-33 Big 10 men's basketball conference record heading into this season and with a football team that could not win in the league, this amounted to a big, positive step in the right direction.

     Athletic Director Patrick Hobbs came to Rutgers with a mandate. To make the school competitive in the Big 10. Hobbs had a sterling resume and reputation, last being the Dean of the Seton Hall University School of Law. He may have singularly been one of Governor Chris Christie's best appointments as an independent ethics ombudsman in a tenure that has been dismal at best. Dr. Robert Barchi found him on a strong recommendation and Dr. Barchi tasked Hobbs with the rebuilding of Rutgers athletic fortunes which had been decimated by former AD Julie Hermann and Head Football Coach Kyle Flood and may ultimately lead to NCAA sanctions for lack of institutional control.

     Very few Rutgers teams have been successful in recent years, most notably the failures of its flagship teams--football and men's and women's basketball. The only teams which have encountered some modicum of success have been the women's soccer team and wrestling. While that is good that these teams have won with distinction, it is not merely enough to overcome the drought created by the major sports at Rutgers.

     Evidently the way to compete is to have gleaming new facilities for the top tier sports. The mantra of being able to compete with the big boys--Ohio State, Michigan and the other conference brethren--is to have stadiums and arenas which are modern and with all of the bells and whistles. Moreover, the practice facilities must be top notch too. No more practicing in the RAC for basketball--they need a separate building for their endeavors. Head Coach Chris Ash, recruited from Ohio State, determined that almost every aspect of the football program required an upgrade. To be able to recruit big time athletes and become competitive, thereby sating the fans thirst for winners, necessitated a change in the culture of how these teams comported themselves.

     Armed with a vision and the understanding of President Barchi that he needed to do what would be optimal to engender RU as a winner, AD Hobbs had to do what most athletic directors do--become a fund raiser. Which led to the start of the R Big10 Build program. Designed to raise $100 million dedicated principally to athletic facility improvement, this is an ambitious undertaking by the school where it was duly noted that thee had not been a new building built for athletics in 22 years. This, in the estimation of Hobbs and Barchi, would allow RU to level the playing fields against its more entrenched Big 10 rivals and the money they currently receive from the conference, a piece of the pie RU is not entitled to in full until the 2020-21 season due to an integration program which was agreed upon as a condition of entry into the Big 10. So while a new agreement with FOX Sports will permit the existing members of the Big 10 to garner more than $50 million a year starting in 2017, Rutgers will have to continue its gradual increase in Big 10 revenues until 2020-21. While $11 million in the next 2 years is significant and the over $19 million which RU stands to receive in 2019-20 is even better, it is paltry compared to what the others will make. This will leave RU in a vicious cycle of trying to catch up with a slingshot while the conference foes with the exception of Maryland are armed with bazookas.

     Make no mistake here. The concept of being competitive in big time college athletics is tied to financial well-being. Whatever academic laurels Rutgers attains as a prestigious member of the Big 10 is certainly not to be scoffed at. But RU did not court and finally enter the Big 10 for academic reasons. The Big 10 is an athletic conference and RU sought to be with the big boys, while the Big 10 saw the New York market via Rutgers to enrich its coffers. Rutgers understood the finances surrounding this pivotal move and they eagerly agreed to be ransomed in exchange for a deferred piece of the action. Which is why the teams are at such a disadvantage now and will continue to be as the full partners will benefit at the tune of $50 million plus for the next 3 years while Rutgers adheres to its entry agreement.

     Whether this alignment was worth the money which Rutgers must raise to offset the lack of full Big 10 money until 2020-21 is debatable. The landscape of college athletics is so out of control and driven by huge television rights packages. Or the ungodly number of bowl games now sanctioned by the NCAA so that teams can justify barely winning records in order to share some more revenue. Or that the NCAA is thinking of further expanding its Division I Men's basketball tournament to permit more power conference teams to get some more money from the networks. This mindset exists notwithstanding that the vast majority of the programs are in the red and have to obtain alumni, outside benefactor or state government relief; Rutgers is definitely among those schools.

     Rutgers went into this venture with their eyes wide open. They knew that programs of begging like the RU Big10 Build were a requirement. The payoff would be in 2020-21 and beyond. It was a bold opportunity which Rutgers felt it had to be involved with--no matter how outrageous the price tag was.

    I wish Rutgers well in this quest. I do my part in having a partial season plan for men's basketball. This is the level of my financial commitment for a school I did not attend. This is my investment in the future of RU athletics.

    I just wish they had not sought to squeeze every cent form the fans as evidenced by the new policy that no outside food is permitted in the RAC or High Point Solutions Stadium despite no update to the policy on the web site. Either you eat early for a 12 noon start for a basketball game or afterwards at 2:00; unless you buy the lacklustre food sold in the arena. I can, for the moment, bring food to Yankee Stadium, where making money has always been number one, and despite some of the most diverse food vendors in professional sports. If the Yankees can permit food and drink to enter its cathedral, it boggles the mind to believe that Rutgers will not allow it.

     Sadly, this is the cost of going to a game at Rutgers these days. When will the powers that be decide that alcohol will be sold at RU sporting events inside the stadium or arena is only a matter of time; that is a steady, significant cash cow. I worry that they will soon charge for parking or even bringing a chair to sit beyond the outfield fence on a sunny spring day for a RU baseball game. For it is sure that Rutgers needs the money. Seemingly without regard to tradition and an absence of compassion for its loyal fan base.

     After all, with astronomical figures on the table like it is in college sports, business is business.

                                                         This Past MLK Weekend

     For the sports junkies like me, this weekend proved to be exactly what the doctor ordered. Restricted to home with an ear that had been cleaned out of wax and dried blood but which continued to ooze, throb and be clogged, the past weekend afforded me the optimal time to stay in and watch games.

     My slate included 1Division III basketball game on Saturday and 2 NFL playoff games. Sunday provided 2 more NFL playoff contests, another college hoops matchup. MLK Day left me with a rematch between the last 2 NBA champions, the defending champs, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors.

     Between watching the Seattle Seahawks visit the Georgia Dome for what proved to be the next to last football game to be held there, I went to the computer to see my Franklin and Marshall Diplomats travel to Swarthmore to play the #16 ranked squad. While the Garnet Sports Network certainly was not the highest caliber webcast, it provided me with enough video and commentary to more than adequately follow the Dips as they trounced an undermanned Swarthmore squad in a reprise of last year's Centennial Conference Tournament final won by F&M at home in Lancaster. It has been my pleasure to watch the Glenn Robinson-coached teams for over 40 years--Robinson is the coach with the most wins on the Division III level, now nearing 920. His kids scrap and play the game in a representative manner--unlike Coach Mike Krzyzewski and his most recent bad boy, Grayson Allen.

     As to Seattle-Atlanta, the Falcons ripped apart and exposed the Seahawk defense repeatedly as MVP candidate Matt Ryan exploited the passing lanes with this trio of excellent wideouts which includes Mohammed Sanu Sr, formerly a Rutgers Scarlet Knight, who came to Atlanta from the Cincinnati Bengals as a free agent. Moreover, the Falcons' defense repeatedly stopped Russell Wilson and kept the game slanted in the Falcons favor. They seem to be a formidable foe and appear hungry to reach the Super Bowl.

     The night cap to the trio of games I watched on Saturday was a matchup between the Houston Texans, who had defeated the deflated Oakland Raiders the previous week, visiting the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots. Houston's defense, the key to their success despite missing their superstar, J.J. Watt, was supposed to give Brady, coming off a regular season where he had tossed only 2 interceptions in the 12 games he played due to his Deflategate suspension. The Texans managed to pick off 2 Brady throws from deflections, but in the end, the superiority of the Pats' offensive juggernaut and their stellar defense which included interceptions by the their 3 Rutgers defensive backs, proved to be too much. Most impressive to me was the running game the Patriots displayed and the quickness of Dion Lewis both running and passing. Given that the AFC Championship will be held on Sunday in Foxborough, absent a practice catastrophe, New England is the prohibitive favorite.

     At noon on Sunday BTN broadcast the Rutgers men's basketball team meeting the Indiana Hoosiers on the IU home court in Bloomington. IU has been inconsistent this season, beating some of the best opposition in the nation while losing to others who they never should have. They possess the talent and the coaching, which is why the 1-3 Big Ten record appeared to this observer to be an aberration. While RU started out well as they have lately in a number of conference games, their inconsistency plus a horrid day of foul shooting did them in. Had Rutgers had the talent to match up with the Hoosiers and made some more free throws, then the 76-57 score would have been a lot closer. No matter what the talent gap, Coach Steve Pikiell has made his kids believe that they can compete at the highest levels. Try some more zone defense, Coach along with some upcourt pressure and trapping. These Big 10 teams aren't invulnerable to turnovers when pressed.

     After the hoops appetizer, the game of the weekend was next. The Green Bay Packers, fresh off dismantling the New York Giants, invaded AT&T Stadium for a highly-anticipated contest with the Dallas Cowboys. Which did not disappoint at all. In fact, it was one of the best games ever. Not unusual for these two storied NFL franchises when they meet it the playoffs.

     Green Bay, behind all world quarterback Aaron Rodgers, leaped out to a sizeable lead. Only to have the Cowboys rookie tandem of Zak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott lead the Cowboys back to tie the game. It was a hard-hitting, offensive game with some real good defense thrown in.

     It was the fourth quarter, though which made this game memorable. Down 15 points at the start of the period, Prescott engineered a tremendous comeback, capped by a quarterback draw for a vital 2 point conversion. Then Rodgers took over for one final drive. Moving his team down the field with precious little time, he survived a jarring sack which would have led many other quarterbacks to fumble. And THEN he had the presence of mind to roll over and call a timeout. Rodgers' final pass of the evening went to Jared Cook, who managed to keep both feet barely in bounds as substantiated on replay, which then allowed Mason Crosby to eke a 51 yard field goal within the uprights as time expired. It was the 3rd field goal of over 50 yards in the last 1:33 of the game--Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey had one and Crosby had two, one negated by a last second Cowboys timeout. The "Half Mary," dubbed such in reference to Rodgers' ability to throw "Hail Mary" passes in to the end zone with some degree of success, will go down in the lore of the great Packers-Cowboys contests, akin to Bart Starr's sneak in the "Ice Bowl" so many years ago.

     The GB-ATL match promises to be exciting. The Packers have beaten the Falcons once in the Georgia Dome this year. It will be tough to pick a winner. Maybe the hot hand that Rodgers possesses is the difference maker.

     Almost immediately after the conclusion of the aforementioned game, Pittsburgh and Kansas City teed it up in frigid Arrowhead Stadium, delayed some 7 hours because of the terrible ice storm in the Midwest. While it did not reach the heights of the Packers-Cowboys game, the Steelers, behind rock solid defense and a playoff record 6 field goals, were much better than the Chiefs for much of the tilt. Nonetheless, KC behind the throwing of quarterback Alex Smith (I still don't understand how the 49'ers gave up on him), scored a touchdown and were poised to tie the game on a 2 point conversion. The pass was caught in the end zone, but so was the Chiefs' left tackle,  Eric Fisher, caught for holding Steelers 38 year old marvel at linebacker, James Harrison. The ensuing conversion pass from the 20 yard line as a result of the penalty, failed. Pittsburgh then ran out the clock. While the Steelers may be considered the other Cinderella team after Green Bay, I simply do not see them overcoming the Patriots to make it to the Super Bowl.

     The ratings were sky high for the NFL with these games, especially Green Bay and Dallas. It almost made me forget the greed that persists in the NFL embodied by the Chargers vacating San Diego for Los Angeles because they did not receive a favorable deal for a new stadium. Or the Raiders wanting to abandon Oakland for the paradise of Las Vegas. Almost.

     My final game on this loaded weekend was that rematch between the Cavaliers and Warriors. Golden State had lost 4 straight to Cleveland-all close games and the one on Christmas Day was an officiating blunder or two making a difference. This budding rivalry game was over in the first quarter. The Warriors were way too talented with Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Steph Curry and Draymond Green, who added a triple double; it exposed the flaws in the Cavs--they miss J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova badly. While this was a beatdown, it means very little until and if they meet again in the NBA Finals.  

     I went to bed last night, sick from a head cold, but eminently satisfied. I love being a sports junkie.

   

   

                                                                The Best City

     This is purely empirical. And probably a bit inane, too. Then again, aren't all sports opinions kid of inane?

     I am a New York sports fan. Raised here since age 6 months, never really choosing anyone else to root for over the New York teams. Within that gambit, I have varied a little, for while in law school, I had a passing fancy to the expansion New York Islanders. That would dissipate when I had New York Rangers season tickets form the mid 1980's into the mid 1990's. I had an early fascination with the hapless expansion New York Mets, but not over my beloved New York Yankees, the winningest franchise in professional baseball. I started out with the New York Giants before the onset of the old American Football League and the arrival of the New York Titans who morphed into the New York Jets when they moved to Queens nearby La Guardia Airport. Plus I liked the Nets because they were in New Jersey after a short stint on Long Island, but they never measured up to the New York Knickerbockers.

     So I start out with a definite prejudice towards New York teams. When the prime teams of my rooting interest--the Yankees, the Jets, the Knicks and the New Jersey Devils are not playing, I will cheer for one of the other teams bearing the New York logo (although I am struggling with the Brooklyn Nets right now).  I like going to Mets games at Citi Field. While I haven't been to Madison Square Garden for a Rangers game in 30 years and probably 25 years ago for the Knicks, I always loved the atmosphere at the Garden.

     New York fans are rabid and passionate. The intra-city rivalries are very intense, both for the teams as well as their supporters. Witness the Islanders-Rangers battles in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Or the Mets-Yankees World Series in 2000. Even to a degree when the Giants and Jets get together for their pre-season game every August. I have seen a fair number of these tilts--Islanders-Rangers at both Madison Square Garden as well as the Nassau Coliseum; Devils-Rangers at the Garden and at the Meadowlands. I see Giants-Jets games from the Jets perspective due to my being a 40 year season ticket holder. I have seen the Knicks and the Nets in both of their arenas. I have only seen the Yankees host the Mets at Yankee Stadium, which, while the attendees were decidedly for the Bronx Bombers, resonated with enough Mets fans to make some significant noise.

     There are a whole slew of significant inter-city rivals like the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox; the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals;  the Kansa City Royals and the Cardinals; the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers; Los Angeles Dodgers- San Francisco Giants to name some of the more well-known ones. But that is involving 2 cities or 2 regions.

     In the cities that have two teams in one league, there are a number of blood feuds. The Cubs and the White Sox are tough battles. So too are the Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim when their Freeway Series is played. The Giants fans and Oakland A's fans have no love lost for each other. Oakland Raiders denizens, normally crazed, have no regard for their San Francisco 49'ers counterparts. I believe that the rivalries between the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks is played at a fever pitch. Plus the Los Angeles Lakers share the Staples Center with the now resurgent Los Angles Clippers, allowing the once-moribund Clippers fans to rejoice over the Lakers woes in the past couple of years.

     Winning and losing adds to the equation. Beating a winning team helps to assuage the otherwise bad team's fandom. And when they are even and playing for something meaningful, the fervor is ratcheted up to insanity.

     While Chicago fans may disagree and some Bay Area people might tout their rivalries, the sheer craziness associated with New York games cannot be matched. I am not saying that the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills nor the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers don't have a rivalry--they do. Very few colleges have such rich local rivalries--only USC and UCLA and Duke-North Carolina come to mind in terms of close proximity; forget the intra-state lunacy of Alabama-Auburn in football or Michigan-Ohio State in anything. Many others compete yearly for split state audiences like in Kentucky, Oklahoma or Arizona.  From that perspective, conferences have eviscerated once treasured matchups like Texas-Texas A&M or Pitt-West Virginia.

     It is just not like what emanates from New Yorkers or New Jerseyans, Long Islanders or those from southern Connecticut. New York has its own brand of intensity--the city that never sleeps. Costs are high, money is made here in larger sums and the teams by and large have long histories and areas that they divvied up in terms of a fan base throughout the five boroughs let alone in the Tri-State area.

     I am glad I live here and have experienced the New York major sports market. To me there is nothing like it. Never will be either. Maybe some day these teams can win another championship, too.  It's a pretty long drought for the Mets, Islanders, Devils, Knicks, Nets right now. One can only hope. At least before they win another in the Bay Area with either the Warriors or the Giants and before the Cubs become a dynasty.

     Yes, one can hope.

   

                                                             2017 Rose Bowl Game

     I am a member of the Temple Sha'arey Shalom Board of Trustees by virtue of my having been the Temple President from 1998 to 2000. I am able to attend meetings and vote because I show up, passing the mandate that the By-Laws have set. I attend the meetings regularly--tonight was one that I missed for a reason. As is tuned out, a very, very good reason.

     My daughter's alma mater, The Pennsylvania State University, had its football team, the winner of the Big 10 Championship game versus the University of Wisconsin, playing in the Rose Bowl against the Trojans from the University of Southern California, representing the Pac 12 Conference. Tradition had the winners of the Big 10 facing the winners of the Pac 12--until the College Football Playoff format came into existence. Thus, the best teams from each conference might not meet in the Rose Bowl--the University of Washington team who won the Pac 12 title went to the 4 team playoff, as did The Ohio State University eleven even though they did not win the Big 10 crown and actually lost to Penn State.

     But this year, precedent sort of held true at least as with Penn State. USC certainly would be a formidable opponent sent to Pasadena to represent the Pac 12. Two very traditional football powers, each scarred from scandals involving a legendary coach at Penn State, Joe Paterno, and the guy people love to hate, Pete Carroll, who was very successful while at USC, but left Los Angeles for his current gig as the Seattle Seahawks head coach in the National Football League when it was clear he had bent the rules too much.

     Many fans have not forgiven Penn State and the immorality of its abuser during the Paterno era--Jerry Sandusky. Under Coach Bill O'Brien, now the head coach of the playoff-bound Houston Texans in the NFL, the school and the team survived the loss of scholarships and players. James Franklin, the brash coach at Vanderbilt University, who engineered winning teams at the consistent loser within the Southeastern Conference, took Penn State further, and 5 years removed from the scandal, improbably to the Rose Bowl.

     USC, a multi-winner of mythical National Championships, righted itself under the guidance of Pat Haden, a star quarterback of much renown, who left the practice of law to resurrect the Trojans. It took a number of coaches, but this team, mentored by Clay Helton, who rose from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator to interim head coach before the title was made permanent.

     So here we were, 100,000 jammed into the Pasadena oval, half seemingly clad in red for USC, and white for the Nittany Lions. The pageantry of the day is some of the beauty of the Rose Bowl, which followed the Rose Parade through the streets of Pasadena earlier in the day. While the weather was cool and damp, with only brief hints of sunshine, this game would outshine all others.

     After the 3 Olympic Grand Marshals joined in the coin toss (won by Penn State as the PSU side of the commemorative coin landed for them), the game went on in resounding fashion. Led by incomparable redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Darnold, the Trojans raced out to a quick 13-0 lead.

     Opposing quarterback Trace McSorley of the Nittany Lions, managed to keep PSU within hailing distance, aided by some circus catches and the fleetness of  Saquon Barkley, the heralded New Jersey running back.

     The halftime score was 27-21 in favor of USC. Penn State had dodged a missed Trojans field goal at the end of the first half. Darnold had ungodly passing yardage and seemed to be unflappable and maybe unbeatable.

     USC received the ball to start the 3rd quarter. They could not move the ball. Penn State took over. Did they ever.

     Aided by miscues and missed tackles, McSorley, Barkley and Penn State managed to score 4 touchdowns on 4 consecutive offensive plays from the 2nd quarter into the 3rd quarter. Suddenly it was 42-27 PSU.

     Darnold was not done. He led the Trojans to a score and they made the two point conversion, making the score 42-35. PSU countered with another score and it was 49-35 entering the final stanza.

     On two incredible drives, USC rallied to tie the score on a Darnold pass with 1;20 left to play. Penn State had the ball.

     Mc Sorley attempted two passes. The first was almost intercepted. the second, nearly in the same vicinity, was  picked off and the return put USC, out of time outs, within field goal range. Deftly managing the clock until :05 was left, kicker Matt Boermeester had a chance to redeem himself for two prior missed field goals. As time expired, he split the uprights and USC emerged the winner of a hard-fought game worthy of the oldest bowl game in the United States.

     The individual efforts of Darnold--over 400 yards passing on 33 completions in 53 attempts for 5 touchdowns; McSorley hitting on 18 of 29 passes for 254 yards and 4 scores; and Barkley, who rushed for 194 yards, scoring 2 TD's and accumulating 55 more yards on passes with 1 more TD to his credit.

     Individual and team efforts were remarkable in this game that lasted to nearly 9:30 E.S.T. Someone had to win and it was USC. Penn State should hold its head high. This was a game for the ages.

     I recall the 1963 Rose Bowl game--#1 USC behind Pete Beathard defeated Ron Vander Kelen and the #2 Wisconsin Badgers in the first Rose Bowl between the top tow ranked teams. That was my standard. Emphasis on was. the 2017 edition is now the best Rose Bowl game I have seen. Amen.