How SOPA can hurt sports

In the past week or so Ben has been doing a good job of covering the issues surrounding the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) on this blog (post 1, post 2) and on the podcast. It's a piece of legislation that has the potential to substantially regulate the internet and the way we interact with the internet's content. Today companies around the web are blacking out their content in protest of the legislation in hopes of raising public awareness.

GOOD has recently pointed out a way that SOPA can affect us that I hadn't previously considered. It has the potential to severely hamper the way we interact with professional and college sports:

Of all the ways technology has changed the sports world, the ability to post and watch game footage online is arguably the biggest. It wasn’t that long ago that you actually had to see a game to see its greatest play. Even after ESPN became “The Worldwide Leader,” missing SportsCenter meant missing the play that everyone would be talking about the next day. Now? You can find at least half a dozen versions of any important play—ranging from shaky FlipCam images of someone’s TV to footage swiped from an illegal streaming website—on YouTube within half an hour. That shift has made sports fandom way more fun, and SOPA’s sponsors want to take it all away.

I know I shouldn't be surprised, but ESPN and all four major sports leagues are in support of this legislation. So the people who make the content don't feel they are getting enough revenue and they are willing to restrict your access to it in hopes that they can make more. Take our internet, fine. Take our football! Now you've got our attention!

Winner of the Bowl Pick'Em!

Alright folks, now that the bowl season is behind of with a yawner of a national championship game, we can announce who was the greatest of them all in picking the games.

1st - Paul with 25/35 picks
2nd - Ed with 24/35 picks
3rd - Dean with 23/35 picks
4th - Pat with 22/35 picks
5th - Jordan with 21/35 picks
6th Ayala with 20/35 picks

Congrats Paul! And stay tuned for more Pick'Em type contests. We'll have an Oscar Pick'Em contest coming up soon, and we're going to host a March Madness where we will award another Amazon gift certificate to the winner!

Podcast Episode 3: Electile Dysfunction

The guys welcome Ben A. to the podcast as a guest host to discuss the the transition into 2012, the Republican primaries/caucuses, and a trivia quiz about big events from 2011.





Links from this podcast.

• Americans Elect
• The SOPA Bill
• Caucus/Primary Schedule
• Nominate a charity in the blog post

Featuring the songs "Just Had To Let You Know" (Lorenzo's Music) / CC BY-SA 3.0 and
"Roulette" (Lorenzo's Music) / CC BY-SA 3.0

Bowl Pick Em' Update

Alrighty folks, we're 10 games into the bowl season. Time to see what the Leaderboard looks like.

Ed       -   8/10 correct
Jordan -   7/10 correct
Paul    -    7/10 correct
Dean  -    7/10 correct
Patrick-   6/10 correct
Ayala  -   6/10 correct

Way too close to call at this juncture. But, with a huge weekend coming up I expect the wheat will separate from the chaff soon enough.

A Free Market Solution for American Sports?

Interesting piece from Freakonomics suggesting that a promotion and regulation system currently in place in European soccer leagues might be a fruitful replacement for the current "central planning" system used by the major American sports leagues:

In a league such as the English Premier League, the bottom three teams in each season are demoted to the Championship League (a lesser league). The top three teams from the Championship League are then promoted to the Premier League. Consequently, losers in the Premier League – as we see in a capitalistic market – are punished financially. And success in the Championship League is clearly rewarded.

This type of system would let the markets in each city determine the placement of teams rather than the central planner. Essentially areas could have a team as long as they had enough fans and the team was successful.

It's a fun thought experiment:

For example, let’s imagine that multiple basketball leagues were created in North America. Currently, beneath the NBA is the NBA Development League (which could be the Championship League equivalent). Beneath the NBADL, one could create another league. Any city or part of a city (i.e. Long Island in New York could have their own team) — could enter a team in a lower league. If that team was successful it could eventually join the NBA. And the teams that fail in the NBA would be removed.

Probably never would happen, but as a person who has a passing interest in sports and economics, I felt it was thought provoking.

(thx to Melissa for bringing this to my attention)

Podcast Episode 2: "Student" Athletes

Jordan, Ed, and Dean offer smart suggestions, discuss the smart and not-so-smart moves of the week, debate the merits of paying college athletes, have a smart showdown, and offer an apology for the last podcast. Featuring the music of Baba Brinkman. Links from this podcast:

Smart Suggestions

• Baba Brinkman's Rap Guide to Evolution (Videos | Music)
• Penny Arcade
• Downcast App

Smart/Not So Smart

• Albert Pujols/Ryan Braun
• Amazon's 5% day (Also: mTurk)/Rick Perry's "Strong" Ad (Also: Brokeback Comparison)/The Romney-Perry Wager (Also: Poverty Line)
• Alec Baldwin's SNL Appearance/NASA Missing Moon Rocks

Smart Showdown

• Proposed Element Names
• Siri Abortion Clinic Glitch
• Herman Cain Puts Campaign On Hold
• "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays"
• Top Baby Names of 2011

Giveaway: Win $25 in Amazon cash

SSPPLL : Bowl Pick'Em

Alright folks, it's that time of year again, time to make your annual bowl picks. Show us how smart you are by picking who will win in such thrilling matchups as Florida International vs Marshall in the Who Gives a Fuck Bowl.

We want to see who can actually wade through the garbage that is 80% of bowl season and smartly pick the most correct games. The winner will be crowned the champion of the inaugural SSPPLL Bowl Challenge. To join go to Yahoo Sports Bowl Pick Em and join league # 23976 with the password 'smart'. Hope to see you there!

Keep Em Safe Or Let Em Play: Brain Injury in Sports

In recent years the big sports in the US have taken steps to curb head injuries sustained by their players. Some examples are the NFL making helmet to helmet contact a penalty, or the NHL mandating that a player who has a potential head injury must undergo an evaluation from the team doctor before returning to the game. The question remains, are these measures enough to bypass potential irreversible brain damage to players that will affect them later on in life? Or perhaps even sooner than they realize.

Today the NYT published a story about hockey player Derek Boogaard, who died from drug and alcohol overdose at the age of 28. This wonderfully written piece details how the family agreed to let researchers examine their son's brain post-mortem. What researchers found was frightening, a level of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) that had never been seen in someone so young. CTE is a progressive degenerative disease that is similar in symptom presentation and tissue loss to dementia. So, in this case imagine the brain of an 85 year old with Alzheimer's dementia in the the body of a 28 year old. Higher rates of CTE are seen among athletes in contact sports, more so in those who have a history of fighting or concussions.

That being said, what should sports leagues do about this potential threat? Does hockey try and curb fighting? Does the NFL do more to keep athletes with concussions out of action until they have fully recovered? Or, do we say that it's all part of the game, and who are we to mess with tradition?

Biggest sports stories of the year (So Far)

The Atlantic has a pretty good list of the biggest sports stories of the year so far. Here's what they have:

• Penn State Scandal
• NBA lockout
• NFL lockout
• St Louis miraculous game 6 in the World Series
• Aaron Rodgers and the Packer's Perfect (So Far) 2011
• Dirk Nowitzki's NBA title at the big three's expense
• Bruins win first Stanley Cup since 1972
• U.S. women just miss world cup
• VCU makes the final four
• Johnson's reign ends with best NASCAR race ever

I have some minor issues and a few omissions that I would like to point out. 

An open letter to Mike McQueary

By now, I'm sure you've heard more than you care to about the child sex abuse scandal at Penn State. Obviously, in the months and maybe years to come, you're going to hear a lot more. In the meantime though, I would urge you to read Jane Leavy's open letter to former graduate assistant Mike McQueary, the man who testified to a grand jury about witnessing Sandusky sexually abusing a child in a shower room at Penn State. It's one of the most well-written and thought-provoking pieces I have read on the scandal.

Is college football to blame for sky-high tuition?

Some sobering facts:

• Collectively college football made more than a $1.1 billion profit last year 
• The average college football coach's salary at top schools is over $1.47 million dollars a year
• The college graduation rate is 38% -- with most dropouts citing money as the cause
• Between 1998 and 2008, tuition and fees for a public school increased by nearly 130 percent, while income for the middle class has pretty much been frozen

How can it be that college football generates so much revenue but tuition continues to soar? We are so drunk on college football -- literally and figuratively -- that we think this is normal. Something needs to change. 

New MLB Fashions for the Discerning Fan

Just another exciting week in the Major League Baseball off-season. While many busy arguing about awards handed out for play during the past season, a couple of notable changes for the upcoming season may have been missed. During the last week, both the Marlins and the Blue Jays premiered new logos and uniforms.

News Roundup 11/14/11

Ok, a little different than our original posts, but I didn't want to clutter up the front page with several posts in the span of an hour. So, here goes:

- The NBA Player's Union has rejected the latest league offer and is in the process of disbanding the union so that they can sue the NBA in an anti-trust suit. In related news, people still don't care. Good luck playing overseas where the players actually know how to play defense gents.

- The Hunger Games movie trailer debuted today! Based on the popular series by Suzanne Collins; this movie is expected to be one of the biggest blockbusters of 2012. I don't have any snarky remarks for this, I loved the series.

- A study released in early publication from The Lancet shows very promising results from stem cell treatments following heart failure in patients. The article was later reported on by CNN. In this study the stem cell treatments actually REGREW HEART TISSUE! Trust me folks, I'm almost a doctor who has stayed in a Holiday Inn at some point, this is groundbreaking. Researchers are confident that there is hope for the millions of people who wish to recover heart function without learning the true meaning of Christmas.

- Last, as long as you "totally respect women" you are incapable of sexual harassment. Whew, I'm glad that's all behind us now and we can focus on the real Herman Cain. Like, his total lack of foreign policy. Heck, how about his total lack of respect for foreign nations. "And when they ask me who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan, I'm going to say you know, I don't know. Do you know?"

Whew, that' sit for today folks. Stay tuned for an original post to the tune of "Something Smart People Despise" in the very near future as I undertake a literary venture that will test the limits of my ability to tolerate inanity. Oh, and if you haven't done so, check out the podcast.

Bring On The WNBA!!

A recent poll of Americans revealed that a whopping 76% of respondents said they really don't miss the NBA as games are being missed in the lockout. 12% responded that they did in fact miss the NBA season, the remaining 12% declined to answer as they were contracted to play overseas.

In related news, experts predict that the WNBA will enjoy as much as a 100% boost in ratings and attendance. To prepare for the increased attendance most teams have added 3 folding chairs to each sideline.

As Howard Cosell Would Say

Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Looks like Smokin Joe has hit the mat for the last time at the ripe old age of 67 when liver cancer hit him harder than a Muhammad Ali anchor punch. Too soon?

Redefining "Tebowing"

If you haven't heard of Tebowing, get educated. After Tim Tebow's horrendous performance against our own beloved Detroit Lions GOOD suggests we redefine the term as such:

Tebowing (verb): To collapse under the weight of the world's out-of-control expectations.

"3 Women Beat Some Men in Run"

That was the headline after 19-year-old Julia Chase-Brand and two other women became the first of their gender to run the Manchester Road Race. According to the New York Times, the entire sex were barred from running races of any length beyond a half mile.

"Even in the Olympics, women were not allowed to run more than a half-mile lest, it was believed, they would risk their femininity and reproductive health. The most alarmist officials warned that a woman who ran a more ambitious distance might cause her uterus to fall out."

No kidding, direct quote from the story. "Well, that was so long ago," you might be saying. "They didn't even have catchy headlines back then, what was it turn of the century, the teens, hmm? Clearly no one understood anatomy or medicine, the twenties perhaps?" No, the year was, wait for it, this will blow your mind - 1961! Yes, the same year JFK challenged the nation to go to the moon with science, people still feared a woman's uterus could just pop out. It never ceases to amaze, the lengths people will go to justify discrimination.