ISL’s Chuck Samples shares random thoughts about sports world
By CHUCK SAMPLES
ISL Correspondent
Some things running through a sleep-deprived brain (in no particular order):
1. Let’s start with football. It’s good to have the college season underway. It also never ceases to amaze me that football can energize a university and community like no other sport can in this country. Think about it. If your school or university is a “football school” and by some set of circumstances there is any slippage, the world comes to an end. If your school isn’t a “football school,” administrators had better be doing their best to turn that around…or else… If you don’t believe me, look at the facilities race at campuses large and small.
2. Nice to see smaller football programs get some run as the season began last week. Have you seen the video of the water balloon fight at Emporia State (Kan.) University? Great way by Coach Garin Higgins to break up the monotony — and to build up what was apparently a very bad practice before a special team-building exercise. The team is talented, but it will have to play to its potential and get a few breaks along the way to go above the 5-6 mark it has amassed the past two years and climb in the MIAA, by far Division II’s toughest conference. Hornets got off to a good start Thursday with a 41-18 thrashing of Ft. Hays (Kan.) State.
Here’s the video:
3. Replacement NFL referees? Seriously, the NFL is OK with this? And no widespread video replay in MLB?
4. Not all is right in my baseball universe, but the ascendancy of the Baltimore Orioles is bringing back fond memories of the days of my youth. My family lived near Baltimore when I was very young, and my introduction to the sport was in part by watching grainy black-and-white moving pictures of Jim Palmer against Reggie Jackson, Ken Singleton becoming a star and Brooks Robinson stealing yet another double down the line. I’m not sure if what I’m seeing will falter before the season’s out (it might) or whether this will return next year (stats and Buck Showalter’s career track suggest it won’t), but it’s nice to see the O’s near the top of the heap and beating the Yankees with the season now officially on the line. Now if the Red Sox and Royals were having a better year, then my baseball world would be in perfect order. Not that I really prefer having the Yankees and Red Sox near the top of the heap…
5. Speaking of the Royals, one of the maddening things about this year has been the win-loss record — and not just because of the apparent step backward by the club. The marketing campaigns picked this year by the Royals, honestly, could not have been much worse. Staffers may deny it, but “Our Time” was designed to ride a wave of enthusiasm with younger players making their mark and the Royals perhaps reaching .500. A horrid April ended the enthusiasm, but the ad campaign continued through the All-Star Game. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Royals now have a new marketing scheme where the club concentrates on its stars, tells listeners and viewers they are all about several legitimate qualities like passion, heart, determination and leadership, and tags the commercials with the line: “It’s what he gives because it’s what it takes to be a Royal.” Obviously, and unfortunately, winning is not on that list.
6. Remember all the hullabaloo about the NFL labor situation last year? Are you seeing that with the potenital NHL lockout? Didn’t think so. I’m not here to opine on whether the league or labor proposal is best. I’m just saying, as a hockey fan, pleeeeeeeassse do not halt the season, if even for just a few hours. Hockey is an awesome sport, although in most cases you have to watch it live and in living color to appreciate the speed and degree of difficulty involved. Hockey is also largely irrelevant to most casual sports fans, and a lockout would only send those fans to other sports (my guess would be NFL, college football or NASCAR) in larger numbers. For years, I have been disturbed by the NHL’s approach to its TV contract, saying the Versus-NBC package was better for the sport’s visibility than ESPN. It’s almost as if hockey leaders are saying publicity from any venue is a good thing. The problem is the NHL is barely getting any publicity at all. From anywhere. I know the NFL season is a few days away, college football is right on top of us now and the baseball season has seemingly been in near-playoff mode for weeks, but that’s a bad sign for the sport’s future.
And so, to quote Gary Larson — until next time, adios amoebas.
Follow Chuck Samples on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ChuckSamples
