My central disagreement with Bartlett is that I don’t think it’s very sensible to interpret political history as a series of psychodramas. One could present the same facts in a very different matter, e.g., noble congressional Republicans only passed the Medicare prescription drug benefit because they feared demagogic attacks from the left, which threatened a massive political defeat that would impair their ability to pursue pro-growth policies. This is a specious and self-serving narrative. But is it any less specious and self-serving than congressional Democrats who blame demagogic attacks from the right for their own failures on the fiscal policy front? For those who believe that we need to sharply increase taxes on middle income households, this view is a commonplace. Democrats would take precisely this step, the narrative goes, if only they didn’t have to fear ferocious attacks from the Republican spin machine.

Because Bartlett is a public intellectual who intends to persuade others, it’s worth asking about the effectiveness of his rhetorical strategy, e.g., referring to Tea Party activists as “dimwitted.” I’ve met a wide spectrum of people who identify with the Tea Party movement, and I can’t say I’ve met anyone I would describe as “dimwitted.” As I understand it, the basic goal of the Tea Party movement is to restrain the growth of government.

The only exchanges I’ve had with either Reihan or Bruce have been friendly ones, but I admit to coming down on Reihan’s side on this question. I understand that Bartlett is angry at the current crop of Republicans and feels betrayed by George W. Bush and dismayed by the Tea Parties, but at a certain point Bartlett’s rhetoric really begins to sound a lot like those he’s been critical of himself. Indeed, I would say that fiery rhetoric is a problem that Bartlett and many Republicans actually share.

When he writes:

I don’t think it’s very sensible to interpret political history as a series of psychodramas.

…I think Reihan stumbles on more than just Bartlett’s rhetorical problem. He’s stumbling on the central problem with conservative messaging in the age of Obama.

I think politics should be more like sports and less like psychodrama. Competitive, interesting, and – at the end of the day – not quite so terribly important that you lose sleep because your guy lost the election.

Of course, the only way to do this is to make government less important to our day-to-day lives in the first place. And maybe that’s how Republicans can salvage their messaging problem: government isn’t the answer, it’s the problem. And not only that: politics itself isn’t the answer, it’s just part of the answer and not a very big part of it in the first place. Your family, your job, your vacation time, your charitable works – these are all more important. And here’s how we can keep it that way…

Right now, for conservatives, politics are an all-consuming thing. The rise of the Tea Parties is partly a response to this fear that government is growing inextricably bigger. There’s nothing wrong with this. Politics may be super important to Tea Partiers, but if they do achieve some of their goals, maybe politics will be less important to Americans in the future, because the movers and shakers in Washington, D.C. won’t be able to move and shake quite so much.

But the rhetoric on the right is all too often angry, bitter, even conspiratorial at times. This is partly because there’s so much fear packaged into the idea that the actions of the political class will have such an enormous effect on the nation. The message is all too often that what happens in Washington will determine what happens everywhere else. The fate of ordinary Americans lies in the pockets of our politicians. Obama is making the country a socialist dystopia! Nancy Pelosi is going to brainwash our children!

The message is divisive, when it ought to be one that unites that broad cross-section of America that doesn’t really want to care about politics so much.I know plenty of people who are lifelong Republicans that hear some of the things diehard conservatives are saying and just don’t know what to make of it. They may not like the course of events in this country, but they like even less a sense that the proper response is perpetual anger.

If I had to craft a new message for the right, it would be that what happens in Washington should be of tertiary importance to our daily grind. It should sit right behind the sports page in our local newspaper. Congress should be a footnote in our daily meditations on life. Local affairs should be more important than the outcome of the day’s debate on Capital Hill.
Reagan is invoked too often in modern political discourse (I’m invoking him twice in one day!) and all too often as some exemplar of a pure conservative ideology. But we should invoke Reagan for his leadership regardless of his politics, and for his ability to unite rather than for the myth that he represented some Utopian brand of American conservatism. He was a great unifier of people – a man who knew how to present the country with a positive message and point the country in a positive direction.

There’s no simple answer to the right’s messaging problem, of course. This is partly because the ‘right’ as it now exists is in a state of political flux. Different factions within the broader coalition are vying for political and media influence. It’s only natural that this results in a few ideological cage matches. But to truly move forward and lead the country toward a fiscally sound, limited government where politics is no more important than the outcome of the Cowboys game, we need conservative leaders who can unite us rather than divide us.

And that remains no easy task.

Not bloody likely.

Since starting this blog on Dec. 31, 2008, I’ve been able to connect with an audience passionate about the issues surrounding youth sports, a multibillion-dollar industry built on the backs of child labor, with none of the guilt or legal hassles of sending them into coal mines or shoe factories. I’ve written about people good, bad and ugly, and speaking for myself, learned more about youth sports parenting and coaching than being an actual youth sports parent and coach by itself would have taught me. (Warning: my fourth and youngest child, my daughter who turns 5 in August, is becoming the last of my brood to enter the youth sports world, as a soccer player next month. And showing I haven’t learned that much, I’ve agreed to coach her team.)

I caught a break in June 2009 when True/Slant agreed to bring me aboard, and the people here have been nothing but great to me. And thanks to them, and to you readers, I’ve been able to discover what I thought was true in December 2008 — that there was an audience for youth sports stories that were about the youth sports machine itself, and what it does to all of us, and what we can do to it. I thank Kashmir Hill, Michael Roston and Coates Bateman for bringing me on board and supporting this here blog, Andrea Spiegel for her support and tech wizardry, and Lewis Dvorkin for starting the whole shebang. Mostly, though, I want to thank all the great writers on True/Slant who inspired me, commented on my work, chatted to me about whatever just for the hell of it, and, if I may be craven, attracted readers that would have never discovered Your Kid’s Not Going Pro.

Many of these writers have typed their goodbye messages, what with Forbes electing not to have them continue under the new regime. Let me be among the many to say: That stinks.

However, my message is more of a “see you later.” It appears Your Kid’s Not Going Pro might live on under the new stewardship, though details are still being worked out. I presume one condition is that I stop using profanity. Fuck.

Whatever happens, I plan for Your Kid’s Not Going Pro to continue. Everything you’ve seen (or haven’t seen) on True/Slant also has a residence on the original WordPress site: yourkidsnotgoingpro.wordpress.com.

See you later.

Image via Wikipedia

Amir Khan and Timothy Bradley are generally regarded as the best 140lb fighters in the world. Both brim with confidence and both believe they have each others number — and both aren’t afraid to talk a little smack. Check out this hilarious twitter war between the two junior welterweights that has got the boxing world buzzing about a potential fight. Here’s the transcript of the juicy bits:

Bradley - Amir Khan said he will knock me out. Bring it on baby I will fight you next! If your a man face me next and not [Juan Manuel] Marquez.

Khan -  Your turn will come, just get in the que. I want to face a better bunch of opponents first.

Bradley – Until you face me you will never get the respect…period! So who you [are] going to face next then?

Khan – Tim Bradley is dying for a pay day. Tell him get in the que of better opponents and wait his turn to get KO’d.

Bradley – Dude what you talking about? Believe in my own hype? I’ve beaten [Kendall] Holt, [Lamont] Peterson, [Junior] Witter, [Nate] Campbell. I deserve a pay day.

Khan – Remember one thing, I’d beat everyone who you beat. I’d KO them. Infact, you avoided [Andreas] Kotelnik and [Dimitry] Salita. Who’s the bitch now?

Bradley – I avoided Kotelnik and Salita?? Please explain how I avoided them? I think you’re the ducker. Who’s your mandatory? [Marcos] Maidana.

Dude I highly doubt you would have beaten Kendal Holt in 2009, maybe now but not when I fought him.

If you face Maidana next fair enough, he’s your mandatory but if you face Marquez you know there will be a backlash against you about. You gotta be a man and tell Richard Schaefer you wanna face legit 140 pounders not blown-up lightweights.

Khan – Maidana has a bad back. I wanted him. You say you want to fight but indirectly you don’t. You overprice yourself and say I’m scared…come on!

Bradley – You paid Maidana step-aside money. You’re the ducker son!

Your ego is too big. Humble yourself before someone shatters your glass jaw!

Overprice myself? What are you talking about? Gary Shaw and Richard haven’t even discussed financial details.

Image by greyloch via Flickr

As the T/S farewells pile up, and tears are shed and toasts are made (midnight July 31 is endgame; even Gawker gave kudos), I have realized one thing about all my outdoorsy bloggin’: I never once talked about duct tape.

The reason being is that duct tape is as regular as air and water to the outdoors person. You really don’t think about it. It’s just there.

Look, I don’t know if you can repair an SR-71 or a Formula-1 car with duct tape, but tonight I did indeed duct-tape shut the inseam of my bathing suit in preparation for a day of kayaking tomorrow. Is that a total bachelor move, or just pure River Rat? Yeah — both.

Check this out: The duct-tape wallet –

Like many of you, I’m guessing, I always have a roll of duct tape nearby. I carry a roll in my vehicle, training bag, and on the boat. I’ve used it to do everything from secure a pheasant wing on a bumper to patch a leaky wader during a duck hunt to cover a blister on my big toe in the backcountry. But while on vacation recently my older brother, Christian, showed me a new use for duct tape.

It wasn’t an emergency and it had nothing to do with dog training, but it was pretty damn creative. He made a wallet from a few strips of duct tape. Not a clunky, sticky bunch of tape but a genuine wallet. In fact, he’s been using his own duct tape wallet for two years.

To be honest, I’m not too sure of the benefits of a duct tape wallet, but I do know you can peel some tape off if you need it in a pinch. And if you get tossed in the pond after you win a field trial your wallet will be fine. Or if your dog takes a liking to chewing on it, the replacement cost isn’t very high.

Four feet of duct tape and a pair of scissors. That’s all you need

That’s from Dave DiBenedetto, who writes the “Man’s Best Friend” blog over at Fieldandstream.com, all about his training his Boykin spaniel, Pritchard (he also wrote a great striper-fishing chronicle, On the Run.) Dave’s your man when it comes to Boykins, fly fishing the flats, and, clearly, duct tape. Read on.

And with apologies to Caitlin Kelly and Laurie Essig, whose posts I’ve read daily since I joined T/S, the photo choices that the Wordpress service offered for “duct tape” were a plain-old roll of duct tape and a young woman who had made herself some duct-tape underwear.

I selected for creativity.

Oh, and here’s a Hello Kitty AR-15, in case you wanted one.

via What is the Ultimate Use for Duct Tape? | Field & Stream.

A new study by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Cambridge University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has found that even light or moderate intensity physical activity, such as walking or cycling, can substantially reduced the risk of early death.

The study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, combined the results from the largest studies around the world on the health impact of light and moderate intensity physical activity. It showed that the largest health benefits from light or moderate activity (such as walking and cycling) were in people who do hardly any physical activity at all. Although more activity is better — the benefits of even a small amount of physical activity are very large in the least physically active.

The good news from this study is that you don’t have to be an exercise freak to benefit from physical activity. Just achieving the recommended levels of physical activity (equivalent to 30 minutes daily of moderate intensity activity on 5 days a week) reduces the risk of death by 19% [95%confidence interval 15% to 24%], while 7 hours per week of moderate activity (compared with no activity) reduces the risk of death by 24% (95% CI 19% to 29%).

(Of course, if you get off the raft and jog around the lake, the benefits rise. Who knows, there could be a further reduction in the risk of death, as long as you aren’t jogging in traffic. Over on his Coloradoan blog, senior runner Jon Sinclair points out that runners of a certain age — Sinclair introduced this writer to the “pre-boomer” designation — have been at it long enough to have proved this point: “Everyone stand up. All of you that began running after 1976 can sit down. Those that still are standing can smirk proudly at those sitting. I’m sure there aren’t many of you standing. For us ‘pre-boomers,’ or pbers, the current state of running is amazing and we should all feel happy about it.”)

But the best news of all, especially for those drawn to summertime laziness, is just in from the SportsGeezer. It is the suggestion that if you invite a bunch of friends to join you on the raft, possibly planning for cocktails and dinner later, you might do just as well skipping the walk/jog altogether:

More powerful than exercise, better than giving up smoking, extensive social networks have been shown to increase longevity by 50 percent. The Scientific American reports on research conducted at Brigham Young University that reviewed the results from 148 studies—which included a total of 308,849 participants—going back to the early 20th century. Most studies assessed survival in contrast to mortality from all causes. Sciam reports that the analysis also assessed what kind of studies best predict a person’s survival. Questionnaires that had asked participants at least a few in-depth questions about various social connections (such as, “To what extent are you participating or involved in your social network?” or “To what extent can you count on other people?”) were more effective at pinpointing a person’s overall risk of mortality from all causes than those that simply determined if a person was single or married or lived with at least one other person. The researchers found that when the questions delved deeper, complex social networks increased survival rates by 91 percent.

Prospects for a pleasant summer and a long life just went up.

Image via Wikipedia

Boxing is called the sweet science for a reason – the best are experts at hitting others and not getting hit themselves. The art of defense is incredibly difficult to learn as it requires reconditioning innate reflexes to do something that seems completely unnatural.

When someone tries to hit you in the face, our natural instinct is to pull backwards away from the punch. But in boxing, every defensive move must set up a counter attack, so the body must be conditioned to move laterally instead, creating an angle so that a counter punch can be landed. At its highest level, this can mean using the shoulders to deflect punches and set up counters, or even parrying and counter attacking at the same time. Also, if you must take a punch full on, the best way to absorb a blow is to lean head first into the punch with your chin down so that the power is absorbed into your back and legs rather than your neck. These movements take years of conditioning, but once ingrained, they can separate good boxers from great ones.

The best defensive fighters are an absolute joy to watch for boxing purists. Their ability to effortlessly navigate their way around trained athletes trying to take their heads off is a sight to behold, and the combination of nerve and physical geometry is nothing short of amazing. Here’s a brilliant highlight of some of boxing’s finest defensive specialists:

Here are a few highlights:

DODGEVILLE, Wisc., July 26 — The winners of the losers’ bracket in the Ohio Valley Regional is going to the Babe Ruth Senior World Series because of a game-ending brawl between the two teams in the first game of the best-of-three championship.

About the only detail not being argued is that Noblesville (Ind.) came back from three runs down in the sixth inning to lead the Hammond (Ind.) Chiefs, 11-10.  Oh, the only other detail not being argued is that Babe Ruth headquarters in Trenton, N.J., ruled both 16-18-year-old teams out of the tournament. In between, it gets messy.

According to the Noblesville coach, talking to the near-hometown Indianapolis Star, all three Hammond coach freaked the fuck out when the game-leading run was scored on an obstruction call against the Chiefs, and all three got ejected. With no adults left to coach Hammond, the umpires declared Noblesville the winner. The Noblesville coach said the teams lined up to shake hands, and while his team was “excited,” the Hammond team was in a rage, the flames being fanned by one of their coaches. A Chiefs player jumped one of the Noblesville players, and the brawl was on.

What happened in Dodgeville with the Chiefs, as re-enacted on ice. (NSFW language)

The Hammond coach copped to nothing, and in fact said he was trying to keep the peace and separate players, according to his interview with the near-hometown Northwest Indiana Times in Munster, Ind.

Meanwhile, the Dodgeville police said they arrested one fan on disorderly conduct charges, allegedly because he punched a Noblesville coach.

So congratulations to Cross Plains (Wisc.), which advances to the Babe Ruth Senior World Series for not punching anybody.

VALLEJO, Calif., July 21 — Vallejo Babe Ruth coach David Davis was booked in the local hoosegow on a charge of battery against a sports official. He allegedly punched a first-base umpire during the state 15-and-under championship tournament. Davis was arrested at the local police station as he was filling out an assault report — against the umpire, David Abbitt, a 26-year veteran.

Abbitt said Davis sucker-punched him — knocking him out and requiring him to be taken by ambulance to a hospital — as he argued a close call against the Vallejo team at first base. Davis, meanwhile, citing scratches on his arm he said were made by Abbitt, said he was only defending himself, and that the knockout punch never happened. Davis told the San Jose Mercury News:

[After the umpire kicked him out] Davis then describes a highly emotional situation between the two men, with alleged spitting, swearing, racial epithets and self defense.

“I thought it was a make-up call, so I went down to my knees and came up and he said ‘You’re outta here,’” Davis said, claiming that the knockout punch never happened. “All I did was defend myself. I just put my hands up as a reaction. Guy falls down, looks at me from the ground and puts on a tirade like he was hurt. It was weak and it was fake.”

Apparently there were no police or security at the July 18 game because of cutbacks by the city of Vallejo. After the Davis-Abbitt incident, somehow, some way, security was found for the tournament.

GURNEE, Ill., July 17 — Unlike the other two incidents, this was not a playoff game. But it doesn’t have to be one for tempers to get out of hand.

According to the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Ill., police were called after a fight broke out a 15- to 18-year-old Colt (Pony League) game. Two opposing players wrestled at the plate — a runner trying to score, and the catcher who tried to block him (without the ball in his hand) during the last out of the game. The umpires did not get involved, and player tempers cooled.

However, parents started screaming and fighting with each other. That’s when police were called. But no arrests were made. The presence of the authorities inspired a lovefest, according to the Herald:

[Gurnee Police Commander Jay] Patrick said the players on both sides hugged as the three cops left the field. The teams were not named.

“It could have really gone south,” Jacobs said. “But when (police) got there, everybody started to calm down quite a bit.”

For an incident like this, that counts as a happy ending.

My analysis, however, along with the entire business model around which specialty running shoe stores are based, might be fundamentally flawed.

In fact, according to a report on the NYTimes.com Well blog, running shoe advice given by everyone within the industry – from medical professionals like podiatrists and physical therapists to coaches and marketers – is almost entirely based on unscientific findings.

When scientific method is applied to examine whether running shoes serve their essential purpose – to prevent injury – studies consistently show no difference between “proper” and “improper” shoes.

Over the course of three large studies, the most recent of which was published last month in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, the researchers found almost no correlation at all between wearing the proper running shoes and avoiding injury. Injury rates were high among all the runners, but they were highest among the soldiers who had received shoes designed specifically for their foot types. If anything, wearing the “right” shoes for their particular foot shape had increased trainees’ chances of being hurt.

Among the concepts the studies debunk are whether pronation is an inherent injury risk. Pronation, the inward rolling motion of feet and lower legs upon striking the surface (caused by collapsing arches) is a distinguishing factor for determining what the “right” shoe is for runners.

The majority of runners pronate to some extent, which is why moderate stability shoes like Asics 2150 and Brooks Adrenaline, are the most oft-purchased shoes in any specialty running shoe.

But there’s a biological reason humans naturally pronate. To sustain the high impact that running has on the body, pronation naturally dissipates shock over a larger surface area of your foot, rather than being concentrated in one part.

Although it looks physically traumatic to the body, when viewed in slow motion, there aren’t much conclusive findings to connect pronation to an increased injury risk. Meaning, the in-store gait analysis process that specialty running promote so heavily would be based on little more than a marketing ploy.

There are a couple caveats to consider before you throw out your $100 running shoes and convert to barefoot running, however.

First of all, the NYTimes.com article doesn’t specify what kinds of shoes the subjects used in the studies. Are they all high-end shoes, in which the only variable is functional category (neutral vs. stability vs. motion control)? There’s a big difference between high-end shoes, which cost between $85 – $140, and low-end pairs, which usually cost less than $50 and fall apart within a month of heavy use. It’s likely that a noticeable difference would emerge if the sample size compared shoes by price rather than functionality. In which case there would still be merit to purchasing high-end running shoes, albeit less merit in the gait analysis process.

Secondly, any running store staffer who tells you that shoes will exclusively prevent an injury is either ignorant or lying. It would be an easy sale, telling customers what they want to hear,  that their injury is as quick a fix as buying new running shoes.

Unfortunately, like training itself, injury prevention requires a holistic approach. Stretching and strengthening exercises, which build up flexibility and support in the muscles, ligaments and tendons that running stresses the  most, are essential. So are regular massages, if you can afford them. If you can’t, pick up a cheap substitute, like a foam roller, a rolling stick or one of Trigger Points special density rollers.

Above all, don’t go into the shoe-buying process without your own information and perspective. Try on shoes in all of the functional categories, not just the ones your sales associate recommends. Try to feel the difference between the shoes and ask your associate what their purposes are. And remember that the best fitting shoe in the store will likely be the best fit for your training, regardless of whether it is the one subscribed to you.

(Hat tip: Puck Daddy.)

Image by Getty Images North America via @daylife

For whatever reason, Floyd Mayweather has refused to fight Manny Pacquiao this year. Instead, fight fans will be treated to a more entertaining but less marketable and less ethical fight pitting the dynamic Filipino against the brawling WBC 154lbs champ Antonio Margarito.

This isn’t particularly good for the sport for a number of reasons. Firstly, Margarito doesn’t deserve a fight with Pacquiao given his disgraceful use of illegal hand wraps in his fight with Shane Mosley. Margarito has only just come off a year long ban and has yet to receive a license to fight in any of the big fighting States. Secondly, Margarito was pummeled by Shane Mosley in their fight back in 2009, barely winning a round and leaving many skeptical that he hadn’t cheated in any of his other fights.

However, this fight will be a lot of fun.

Margarito is a come forward pressure fighter who does not know the meaning of retreat. While his skills are also underrated, Margarito’s will sets him apart from other fighters and he has the ability to make any fight competitive. The fight with Pacquiao looks to be set at 154lbs (although Pacquiao will most likely demand a catch weight) giving the Mexican an inherent advantage. Margarito is immensely strong, and given Pacquiao was fighting at 130lbs only two years ago, he will carry well over 15lbs of extra muscle on fight night.

Pacquiao’s incredible speed and pin point accuracy should negate most of these advantages, but it will take a few rounds to slow the oncoming freight train. And for those rounds, expect an all out war as Margarito asserts his will and Pacquiao defends his territory.

I don’t give Margarito much of a chance against Pacquiao given the discrepancy in talent, but in terms of pure action, you couldn’t really ask for more.

So yes, buy the PPV. You will certainly get your money’s worth.

This Saturday found Vladimir Putin in Sevastopol, a city made famous by Tolstoy and the fact that this Ukrainian Black Sea port has a large Russian population that once spoke openly of seceding.

The press has mentioned this historic visit because, at a press conference there, Putin confirmed that he had, in fact, met with the 10 Russian spies deported from the U.S., and even sang patriotic songs with them. (The cause of their downfall, the premier said, was “treachery” and, as we know, “traitors always end badly…either from drinking, or drugs” they end up, he said, “in the gutter.” He also sympathized with how hard spying is: “Just imagine: you have to acquire the fluency of a native. You have to think in [the language], speak in it, and do that which has been assigned in the interests of your homeland.” He added that the 10 Illegals will have “bright futures” in Russia and will work in high-level positions.)

Anyway. The visit, I would argue, was important in the world-historical sense for a different reason: Putin attended an international biker convention.

He rode in like a conquering knight on a three-wheeler Harley Davidson, dressed in black and sporting black gloves. The Russian Prime Minister tore up the chalky dust before taking the stage and expounding on why he loves bikes.  You guessed it. FREEDOM.

“The important thing,” he said, “is that the bike gives its owner a sweet feeling of freedom. And that’s why we can say, without any exaggeration, without any tenousness, straightly and bravely, that the bike is a symbol of freedom.”

Opposition leaders, I hope you were listening: bikes.

via Gazeta.ru, Thompson Reuters

Cal Ripken Jr. sold his name to an existing baseball league and has done plenty to promote it, but the rapper-Katy Perry sidekick has built a successful youth football league from the ground up, and has done so in the inner city, where most leagues usually go to die.

Now Chicago kids are going to learn what it’s like to play in a Snooper Bowl. He came to Chicago on July 23 for a football clinic as a precursor to expanding his Snoop Youth Football League to the city. The low-cost league will be geared toward kids in public housing in a city where the violent crime rate is double that of New York or the birthplace of the Snoop league, Los Angeles. From NBC Chicago:

“I’m bringing football out here so they can take their energy, their anger and their attitude and put it in the right source of environment, which is the football field,” he said. …

Snoop Dogg, a former high school quarterback, started the program in 2005 with a $1 million investment. He’s coached his son’s youth and high school football teams.

The league, which will offer a lower cost to participate, is still looking for funding.  But the rapper said recent violence in the city shows how much Chicago kids need alternatives like his league.

“I just feel like Chicago needs me right now.  And I need Chicago,” he said.

In an interview with Time Out Chicago, Snoop Dogg said he started an assistant coach for his son, became his head coach, and decided to start his own league because he didn’t like all he saw with organized football, particularly expenses that froze out those from poorer neighborhoods. He also said a league like his might have prevented him from his long path of trouble, though on the other hand without it he wouldn’t have had the career and the money to fund a league keeping other kids out of trouble.

Snoop Youth Football teaches kids to go 1-8-7 on tha undercover cop only in their minds. However, a safety can go 1-8-7 on a receiver across the middle. (NSFW lyrics)

Snoop Dogg just received a VH1 Do Something award for his football league. He also should receive some sort of award for trying to decrease football head injuries by getting his kids state-of-the-art helmets and training them on avoiding head injuries, which is a hell of a lot more than just about anyone else inside the sport is doing. So if the money he gets for slumming on “California Gurls” is going toward this, then who’s to care if he hooks up with Ke$ha or Miley Cyrus later? If it’s Snoop, it must be worthwhile.

Lucky in that Ryan’s broken leg, suffered during a collision in the field in his local Pinto (Pony League) World Series, led to the discovery of a cyst. Ryan is a cancer survivor, so he’s had worse. Actually, his cancer had something to do with the broken leg, which helped in finding of the cyst.

From the July 23 Mt. Vernon (Ill.) Register-News:

Palmer, a cancer survivor, was rushed to a local hospital where Mt. Vernon physicians discovered a growing cyst near the fracture. The boy was then taken to Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, where he had surgery Tuesday morning [July 20].

“They got some really good news. The cyst came back benign,” said B.W. Bruce, coach of the Marion team on which Palmer plays. …

Bruce said Palmer has a strong disposition due to what he has already endured.

“He’s a tough kid. He’s been through a lot,” he said. “It was a situation where you know that he’s not going to complain or whine about anything unless it’s serious, which it was. The kid turned pale white and grabbed his knee. He knew exactly where it hurt. It was right above the knee where he broke the femur.” …

If the fracture had not occurred, the remaining cyst may have remained hidden, possibly causing future problems.

“It turned out that the break really happened because there was a cyst growing near that part of the bone,” said Bruce. “The chemotherapy that he went through a few years ago helped to weaken the bone.”

Ryan Palmer — you are made of tougher stuff than the rest of us, no matter how brittle your bones.

Image via Wikipedia

On August 28th, veteran boxer James Toney will face off against MMA hall of famer Randy Couture in a 5 x 5 minute round fight at heavyweight at UFC 118 in Boston. The fight pits boxing against MMA in a battle that promises to settle the score as to which sport is the toughest.

UFC President Dana White was reluctant to put the fight on given his adamant opinion that the UFC should not turn into a ‘freak show’ has basically admitted that he knows it is a bit of a fair ground attraction.  James Toney has zero MMA experience, and at 41 isn’t likely to have picked up enough to face off against a wiley operator like Couture. Yet White made the fight because Toney’s credentials in boxing are so widely respected he felt it would have been wrong to deny someone of his stature a shot in the UFC.

If standout college wrestlers like Brock Lesnar are given a fast track into UFC, it stands to reason that former world class boxer should be shown the same courtesy.

So does James Toney have a serious chance of beating Randy Couture?

Yes, but not for the reasons Toney would have you believe.

While the former boxing champion thinks he will take Couture apart because ‘boxing is better’, the truth of the matter is that Toney might win because Couture is 47 years old. The aging warrior has shown little ability to take heavy blows in recent years, and has been hurt badly in 4 of his last 5 fights (something Toney’s team has picked up on) and is nowhere near the athlete he once was. Couture is a very, very smart operator and knows his way around the cage the same way Toney does a ring, but his punch resistance is so low now that lesser fighters are always in with a shot. And against a world class boxer, Couture will have to be extremely careful. At 47, Couture simply cannot go in for take downs with same speed and aggression he once did. If he pauses for a second, Toney will answer with a well timed punch and Couture could find himself on queer street very early on in the bout.

This isn’t to say that Toney should be considered a favorite. I wouldn’t hold out much hope for him if Couture rams him up against the cage or gets him on the floor. While Toney can sit on the ropes and counter all day long in a ring, the cage is a different story and Couture will be stamping on his feet, elbowing him in the face and working for a take down all at the same time. And if he gets the former middleweight champion on his back, I wouldn’t give Toney more than a minute against a Greco Roman wrestler of Coutures ability, no matter his age. Couture specializes in making his opponents do the things they don’t want to do, and even at his advanced age, he has enough left in the tank to make a 41 year old boxer more than a little uncomfortable.

The fight should be fun, and I would actually expect a competitive fight. Toney is apparently preparing hard for his foray into MMA and he won’t go in expecting an easy fight. It’s unlikely he will win, even with Couture’s advanced age and diminishing punch resistance, but he will make it entertaining while it lasts.

But make no mistake about it, should Toney somehow beat Couture, he should think very carefully about taking on one of the younger heavyweights in the UFC. Fighters like Brock Lesnar, Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez would dump Toney on the floor so fast he wouldn’t know what had hit him. And while Toney is an expert at trading punches with bigger men standing up, there’s not much he could do with a 265lb wrestler raining down blows while lying on his back.

Enjoy Toney’s bout against Couture, and let’s hope he gets out of MMA without sustaining any serious injuries.

You're not athletes! (Image via Wikipedia)

That’s not me saying cheerleading isn’t a sport, even if I did type that headline my ownself.

That’s a Connecticut judge, ruling whether Quinnipiac University could count competitive cheerleading as a sport in order to meet requirements under Title IX, the federal law that prevents gender discrimination in educational institutions receiving federal funding. U.S. District Judge Steven Underhill, sitting in Bridgeport, ruled in favor of the school’s former women’s volleyball team, which sued after the school announced it would chop (as well as men’s golf and men’s outdoor track) in favor of competitive cheerleading for 2009-10, a lawsuit that Underhill later expanded to a class-action case.

Actually, the lawsuit looked at all sorts of questions about roster-size manipulation Quinnipiac, in the judge’s mind, made to comply with Title IX, but the headlines are uniformly about how cheerleading is not a sport. And why not, after Underhill made this statement, reported in the Hartford Courant:

“Competitive cheer may, sometime in the future, qualify as a sport under Title IX; today, however, the activity is still too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic participation opportunities for students.”

The immediate result of this case is that the Fighting Pollsters have 60 days from the July 21 ruling date to get in compliance with Title IX, and specifically must bring back the women’s volleyball team.

However, while Underhill unequivocally declared that cheerleading is not a sport, no matter how much paralysis it has caused, like the current U.S. Supreme Court he made his ruling narrow enough so that everything isn’t 100 percent settled.

After all, Underhill, by saying “sometime in the future” it could qualify as a sport, ruled that cheerleading isn’t a sport not because it’s doesn’t have a ball or stick. It’s because it’s not organized enough.

So I’m thinking the takeaway for those in the cheerleading community — or the public school community — that want sis-boom-bahing declared as a sport would be: Get organized. Start leagues. Have conference championships. Get to the point where people are playing football on the sidelines to fire up the crowd into rooting harder for the cheerleaders.

Image via Wikipedia

From The New York Times:

Whether on a hair-raising rural road in the Pacific Northwest or in teeming Midtown traffic, longboards have become the fastest-growing segment in an otherwise sluggish skateboard market. In recent years, they have lured new participants to a pastime traditionally dominated by teenage boys and young men performing perilous stunts.

“There’s a real neo-hippie, everybody-welcome kind of vibe to longboarding,” said Adam Goldstein, 43, who skates with his 10-year-old son around Manhattan.

Goldstein, who directs commercials, says he takes a longboard to commute while working in Los Angeles or Toronto. “You can just go anywhere,” he said.

With decks usually 34 inches or longer; trucks (axles) adapted for easier turning; and big, soft wheels, longboards provide a smoother skating experience than boards designed for performing tricks. Their size and stability make longboards well suited for cruising streets and college campuses. The price of a good longboard starts at about $150.

Yet last week, several newspapers featured stories on Glenna Evans, 28, killed while longboarding after she failed to negotiate a turn and slammed into a van:

“Glenna Evans was a serious longboard skate competitor for several years and has placed well in international competition in the US and Canada,” her family said. “She was practicing in full racing gear at Mount Seymour.”

The Vancouver woman, who had raced competitively in the past, was an Honours student in the Fine Arts program at Emily Carr University.

Comments of grief and sympathy were pouring in Saturday for their “coast sister” on online forums for longboarding communities.

Mike, a 25-year-old North Vancouver longboarder, told The Province that “everyone is really shaken up” over the death.

“It’s like losing a sister because it’s a really small community of longboarders,” said Mike, who did not want to give his last name.

This is one of the times it helps to read more than one media outlet, let alone across borders. The Times piece offers a cool, fun new sport — while the Vancouver Sun obituary column (where I first noticed Evans’ picture and age) tells a very different story.

Have you tried it?

Would you?

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• Longboarder Glenna Evans dies in North Van crash (globaltvbc.com)
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Image by Getty Images via @daylife

So much is up in the air heading into training camp for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year. Of course, they have to deal with the whole giant f*ckmess created by Ben Roethlisberger who, justifiably, is suspended for the first four games of the season

Coach Mike Tomlin will have to deploy either Byron Leftwich or Dennis Dixon in his place (or some combination of the two), to get through the first four games, which means he has to have one of those guys ready to play quarterback, plus he has to find a balance to get Ben ready, too, for when it’s his time to step back in. That’s a tough task. Who gets the reps? How many? How much? Because Tomlin has to do two things – try to win at least two of the first four games without Roethlisberger and then pray that Roethlisberger can play like he did in 2008 and through much of 2009.  It’s a helluva task.

So Tomlin has to deal with all that is unholy coming from the #7 jersey and those offensive players left to clean up after him, plus he has to find a way to hold together a defense that was the best in the league in 2008 and looked aged and decrepit through much of 2009. There is no escaping this:  that Steelers defense is old and one of the most productive young guys is pissed off.

ProFootballTalk.com is reporting that linebacker Lamarr Woodley is unhappy with his contract. Woodley is scheduled to make $550,000.00 next year, a situation he characterizes as “all jacked up.” I kind of agree. But re-negotiating in the current CBA limbo is kind of jacked up, too. Which is to say there is a 30 percent rule, meaning that the Steelers could renegotiate and give another 30% over the $550,000 they are to pay Woodley, which would bring his salary to $715,000.

Of course, there are ways around that. Naturally, the Steelers could give Woodley a big fattie of a signing bonus (as the Eagles did with Kevin Kolb), but with the 2011 season up in the air, they might pay a lot for one year if they did that.

Still, the Steelers need to deal in good faith. Woodley is, in my estimation, the most productive player drafted in the Mike Tomlin era, which means he’s not only good, he’s young and good. This combination is invaluable.

The presumed starting defensive 11 players (as indicated by the Steelers own depth chart) are:

On the line, they’ve got Aaron Smith who is 34 and coming off a devastating shoulder injury. This guy is great and if anybody can come back from injury, it’s him; nevertheless, at 34 and playing such a physically grueling position, he does not have too many seasons in front of him. Casey Hampton is 32.  Brett Keisel is the youngest starter on the line at 31.

At linebacker, the aforementioned Woodley (25) and James Harrison (32) on the outside. Inside, there is the venerable, wily James Farrior who is 35 and who, despite his greatness, looked every bit of 35 during the Steelers dreadful five-game losing streak last year. And Lawrence Timmons, who is 24 and was selected one pick ahead of Woodley in the 2007 draft, but who hasn’t produced as consistently as Woodley. Yeah, I know he was playing on a sprained ankle (or two) last year, but the guy looked lost half the time. Still, he’s young, so we’ll give him that.

In the defensive backfield, there is the wondrous, magnificent, Troy “Better than Jesus” Polamalu, who battled injuries much of last year. He is 29 years old. Seriously, the guy is better than Jesus, if Jesus had played football, that is. When he’s healthy, he’s the best there is in the league and Dick LeBeau has constructed his defense around this sure knowledge. But without him? They are ordinary. It showed last year when they didn’t have him. The other safety is Ryan Clark who is 30 and who, like Jesus, leads with his head, which leads to a few concussions. That does not bode well for a long career.

Then there’s Ike “Swaggin” Taylor who is 30, but plays like he’s 22 and I don’t mean that in a good way. And William Gay who is only 25. He’s young, but you know, he’s just not really very good. Seriously. Not really very good.

If you’re counting at home, that’s four guys on the whole defense under the age of 30. One of those guys is God. One of them has underperformed but still has tremendous potential. One of them kinda sucks. And the last one is Woodley. Combine past performance with the fact that great players like Farrior, Smith and Harrison cannot play forever, and Woodley is, right this second, their best young defensive bet.