NCAA President Mark Emmert, who recently received a ringing endorsement from the NCAA Executive Committee despite being the central figure in an enormous lack of institutional control, explains the NCAA's mission thusly: “Our mission is to be an integral part of higher education and to focus on the development of our student-athletes.” 

Tell that to the Montclair State University women's basketball team that, despite an undefeated season, may have to play the NCAA tournament in hostile territory while Emmert and his NCAA cronies wage a political battle with the state of New Jersey over legalized sports gambling. 

It's interesting how often the NCAA lets politics get in the way of student-athlete development. (We're not talking about the Miami debacle.)

I wish all I meant by politics was the typical bureaucratic "office politics" of, for example, what the NCAA says is or is not a violation. (Last I checked, giving a kid a bagel at your house is OK, but buying a bagel at a deli or putting cream cheese on it is a violation. I'm not joking.) 


The NFL Scouting Combine has become an event as big as Super Bowl media day, with hundreds of media members flocking to Indianapolis to watch the country's top college football prospects run around in spandex shorts and t-shirts, beginning the process of NFL matriculation.

The NFL combine used to be a closed event for scouts and NFL team personnel, but smartly sensing an offseason marketing opportunity, the league has opened its doors and television cameras to fans. For the last few years, the most ardent NFL supporters are given total combine access.

Well...almost total combine access.

The NFL does an incredible job of promoting the results that come out of the combine, showing nearly every participant of the four-day event on the NFL Network, while constantly updating its website dedicated to the combine with up-to-the-minute results of each drill.


Has Arsene Wenger been fired as manager of Arsenal yet? No.

(How about now? Not yet? OK, I'll check back in a few paragraphs.)

Arsenal fans have been clamoring for their deep-pocketed but spend-thrifty owners to finally jettison the manager in favor of new blood, new energy and a better chance at winning a title. Arsenal fans, perhaps the most passionate and loyal lot in England, have become spoiled brats.

Did you know Arsenal haven't won a trophy in more than eight years? Talk to any Arsenal fan and it's the first thing they mention. Eight years? Some clubs have been waiting eight decades.


The NBA All-Star Game has proven once again to be the best All-Star competition of the major American sports, showcasing the game's biggest stars in a game full of highlight-reel shots and a fourth quarter where the players are actually trying to win the game.

There's pride at the NBA All-Star Game. The game has become incredibly exciting, leaving fans to hope that pride and excitement would carry over to the skills competitions on Saturday night.

The NBA Dunk Contest is an abomination. The Skills Challenge, or whatever the NBA calls dribbling around cones shaped like Jerry West and throwing a few passes into round targets before hitting a layup, is performed at half speed with little energy. The event where the NBA tries to remind us the WNBA exists by teaming up a current player with a female professional and a legend has never worked, yet the NBA deflates all the energy in the building—and on TV—each year by forcing fans to watch that nonsense.

Truth be told, the only event the NBA hasn't really sanitized to unrecognizable proportions is the three-point contest, which, let's face it, is just a bunch of jump shooters hitting shots they should all hit with nobody guarding them.

Hannah Johnston/Getty Images

"I am the bullet in the chamber." 





There is a certain spirit around the start of MLB spring training. The familiar sounds of a ball popping into a new catcher's mitt, the snap of fresh chewing gum, the faint buzz of a mower clipping the outfield grass...and the screech of a microphone being hastily set up in a makeshift media tent to address the latest performance enhancing drug report. 

The spirit of the game has evolved over time, but is still here to remind us that baseball has returned for another year, warts included. 

For many sports fans, the day pitchers and catchers to report to MLB camps in Florida and Arizona signifies the unofficial start of spring. It's like seeing the first budding flower of the year, knowing we're six weeks away from the first passing glance at an actual petal.

Still, there's excitement when everything is clean and new, when the Kansas City Royals have a better chance of making the playoffs than the New York Yankees. It's an exciting day for everyone in baseball.


Robert Griffin III carried himself with such poise and maturity during the 2012 NFL season, it was easy to forget the dynamic quarterback was just a rookie. 

After his first season, in which he led the Redskins to the NFC East division title, Griffin has the challenge of rehabilitating a knee injury that could hamper his development from standout rookie to bona fide franchise savior. The kid doesn't need any more pressure. 

It's true that Griffin was more than just a standout rookie, bordering on savior before ever taking a snap in Washington. Before last year's draft, RGIII became somewhat of a cult hero in our nation's capital after it was made clear the franchise had traded up to get him.

During the season, as his potential began to manifest, Griffin's lore grew exponentially as he led the Redskins to seven straight wins and the division crown. 


With the January transfer window in the rear-view mirror, we take a look at some of the high-profile moves and grade their debut performances.

Chelsea sent seldom-used striker Daniel Sturridge to Liverpool and signed Demba Ba from Newcastle, who took the money from the Ba transfer and signed half of France.

Which clubs—and which players—have made out the best so far? It's possible that all three teams made themselves better, but which players had the best debut performances for their new clubs?

The biggest transfer out of England was Mario Balotelli's return to Italy to star for AC Milan. With two goals in his debut, is there a higher grade than A-plus for the enigmatic striker?

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Diversity, or the lack thereof, within the NFL coaching ranks remains a hot topic. In 2013, not one minority coach was hired despite eight teams looking for new head coaches to lead their franchises.

In most cases, teams complied with the absolute minimum requirement of the Rooney Rule, interviewing a minority candidate to fill the league-mandated quota before hiring the coach they wanted all along.

The NFL consistently gets high marks for its commitment to diversity, yet this year will have fewer minority coaches than 2012. 

This column takes a look at the NFL when compared with other major American sports. Is there diversity among coaches in any major American sport? The data is rather striking.


There are ready-made excuses for why the United States Men's National Team lost, 2-1, at Honduras on Wednesday, but none of them should matter.

Yes, it was nearly 90 degrees at game time. Yes, the grass on the field was thicker than any of the players are used to. Yes, it was a tough CONCACAF World Cup qualifier on the road. Yes, the lineup didn't have much time to work together. And, yes, there are still nine matches left to go in the Hex round, making this result relatively inconsequential to the greater goal of reaching the 2014 World Cup. 

Yes, all of those excuses are true. No, none of them really matter.

The USMNT lost because Jurgen Klinsmann chose a team that was ill-prepared for the circumstances, turning those excuses into reasons why the United States was burned by a late Honduran goal in a match that looked destined for a draw at the halftime whistle.