SPORT AND SOCIETY -- BROADCASTS

An archived directory of past broadcasts

SPORT AND SOCIETY--BROADCAST OF FRIDAY APRIL 19, 1996
ON WUCF-FM 89.9




So many subjects, so little time.
What a week this has been. Greg Norman provides us with one of the great collapses of all time. Magic Johnson provides us with shattered glass from his house. While the Orlando Magic both collapse and shatter. And questions abound about the refs in the NBA, those wonderful marvelous fellows who everyone was anxious to have back on the court when they went missing at the beginning of the season.
I said during the strike that anyone who thinks that these refs were better than the scabs, wasn't paying attention, and after the euphoria wore off the regulars would prove to be as bad as they always were. The term "good official" has been an oxymoron i n the NBA for as long as I can remember, and that goes back to the days of George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers.
The events of the last few weeks in the NBA in regard to the officials have been disturbing. Dennis Rodman, Nick Van Exel, and now Magic Johnson butt, shove, and bump officials who have somehow driven them to distraction. No one can justify these actions, but maybe its time for someone at NBA Central to try to understand what is happening and examine what provokes these incidents.
Two weeks ago Penny Hardaway was slapped with two technical fouls within less than a minute, and neither involved any direct contact with the official, physical or verbal. It is clear that in that game the official was looking for an excuse to get Hardaway out of the game. It is also clear that Hardaway was not very smart. The official sent him packing. Without Shaq and Penny the Magic did not cover the high-priced spread and eventually lost the game.
In the case of Van Exel it is now clear that there was a history to his relationship with the official. Do officials carry grudges like real human beings? I think so.
In the case of Magic Johnson the parameters of the incident are not all that cut and dried, although Magic has already apologized. It would have taken considerably more contact to have been a foul in the NBA. Magic's embarrassment must be enormous given his criticism of Van Exel. It may be that the problem is not simply the new athlete in the NBA as Magic suggested before his own ejection. It may, in fact, go a bit deeper.
There is much talk about the need to respect the game, preserve the authority of the officials, and protect the integrity of the game. However it is also time for someone to point out that officials have an obligation here as well. They too must carry themselves with dignity, keep their cool, and pay some attention to the integrity of the game.
In some quarters it is accepted as a given that NBA games are routinely subject to point shaving, and that this is done by players, coaches and referees. It is a simple matter in the long season when scheduling can easily explain an off-night, or when technical fouls and expulsions could affect the ability to cover.
This is not a subject that those in the NBA or in College Basketball like discussed in polite company, but Charles K. McNeil, the high school math teacher who invented the point spread, left the game with a major problem. It is one of both perception and reality, and one that requires vigilance at all times.
The integrity of the game is also affected by the general perception of the fairness of officials. For years now I have been able to enjoy NBA basketball only by learning to ignore the officials. I accept on faith that the inconsistency of calls, the unde finable nature of violations, and the variable standards for stars and rookies, evens out over the long haul. I have concentrated on the game and treated the officiating as a bad joke.
In the past few weeks it has become clear that the officials themselves will no longer allow us to ignore them. This is not good for the game. Let's hope something is done to rein in those egos that seem to be on the loose everywhere.
Finally what is happening with the Orlando Magic? Horace Grant criticizes the effort and maturity of his teammates and then takes a punch at Danny Ferry. Shaq shows up late for the Bulls game, and it is reported as the crime of the century. At one point I feared that I might pick up the morning paper and see the headline, "Shaq's grandmother sighted in New Jersey mall." Brian Hill seems to have lost control of everyone including Anthony Bowie. Suddenly they can't win at home, the crowd is booing, and worst of all fans are leaving early like this is Los Angeles. Then the Magic go on the road and lose to Milwaukee.
If the Magic don't get their act together soon it will be a painfully short playoff season and Brian Hill may become an anonymous face in the crowd once again.
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don't have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.

SPORT AND SOCIETY--BROADCAST OF FRIDAY APRIL 12, 1996
ON WUCF-FM 89.9



Baseball season is here. Those of us in Florida have said good-bye to spring training, which once had the ambiance of relaxation and play, and now is a speck on the major league entertainment juggernaught. The last players have been cut, the minor leaguers no longer wear major league uniforms, some dreams are over and others soon will be. The cry of play ball has been heard across the snow covered landscape.
Two Sundays ago the traditional opener took place in Seattle where the King Dome evokes memories of seasons past, the enjoyment of the fresh air and sunshine, the emerald green of the infield glistening in springtime. You can almost touch history. Through out the game I waited for the appearance of the Seattle Albatross, W.P. Kinsella's mascot creation, but it never descended from its nest at the pinnacle of the dome to grace the top of the dugout.
Instead we watched as tradition unfolded inside this mausoleum of poured concrete, testimony to the total emptiness of 20th century public architecture. No Green Cathedral this. Just an ill-conceived misconception adopted by local politicians who have no inkling of civic greatness. Did a vice-president from Nintendo throw out the first pitch?
The only thing missing was Acting-Commissioner-For-Life Bud Selig who chose not to bless this opener of openers, and assures us that all is well with baseball: fans are coming back, a great healing has taken place. The fans somehow managed to remove themselves from spring training games at a rate of thirty percent below that of 1994. But it doesn't matter. This is why he is Bud Lite, the trailing end of Fehr and Loathing.
And speaking of the front end, where is Donald Fehr these days? Does he spend his time calculating the difference between his leadership and Marvin Miller's? Or is he preoccupied with weightier matters such as the DH and interleague play, while he awaits the arrival of the next affront from the owners?
Indeed there is no collective bargaining agreement after all these months, and apparently neither side cares. There is a new TV contract bringing in revenue in larger sums than seemed possible a year ago, and Bud says all is well. That somehow seems enough. The new model apparently is the NFL which played on for years with no collective bargaining agreement, while people still made money and the fans begged for more. In the meantime mother nature sends snow storm after snow storm, but no one will get the message.
What have we done to deserve all of this? Perhaps we are being punished for having accepted Fantasy League Baseball. And accept it we have. Millions of dollars are spent on entry fees to join these bogus leagues. Grown men spend hours pouring over reams of statistics preparing for the player draft. Computer software and statistical services are a major growth industry.
In the twelve team league that I belong to the draft was a five hour ordeal of cigarette smoke, toilet humor, dreadful puns, junk food, beer, cigars, and even one laptop computer. Everyone, it seems, looks for that winning edge.
There is a strange comradery to this association built on statistics, which is related to real baseball in the same way as bull fighting is to agriculture. It changes forever the way in which you watch a game. Players become much more important than teams, individual hitting achievements, ERA's, and strikeouts, transcend the significance of wins, losses, or pennant races. Any resemblance to baseball living or dead is purely coincidental.
For all those who lament the greed of players who seem willing to forsake any aspect of the game for money or fame, or for those who denounce the owners for having lost all sense of tradition, for those who condemn both their houses for destroying the sacred rituals of baseball, it may be time to look in the mirror. The enemy might just be there.
Fantasy Baseball Freaks may be just as guilty of disfiguring the game as the DH, astro turf, domed stadiums, night world series games, the peddling of autographs and collectables, owners or players, and soon the Fox Network. Even David Okrent, the Doubleday of Duplicity, who invented Rotissere Baseball as an adult beyond the age of reason, is having second thoughts about the monster he created. For him the law of unintended consequences must have special meaning these days.
And so during these opening weeks of the season, the hope is already full of shadows, and maybe it is time for everyone to repent. But first you may want to try to find a power-hitting first-baseman to strengthen the home run category, look for a middle reliever to bolster strike-outs, and take one last look at the DL, just in case.
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don't have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.

SPORT AND SOCIETY--BROADCAST OF FRIDAY MARCH 29, 1996
ON WUCF-FM 89.9



As we approach the Final Four, the Big Dance, and the New Jersey swamps, I am reminded of Al McGuire's comment that professional basketball is a player's game, while college basketball is a coaches game. Nearly all the great programs are associated with great coaches: Wooden at UCLA, Smith at North Carolina, Rupp at Kentucky.
It also seems that there are different coaching types that have made their mark over the years, and observing them has been a study in human quirkiness. Some are amusing, some appalling, some evoke admiration, others disgust.
There can be little doubt that John Wooden was one of the best, and one of the most interesting to watch. Never losing his cool, the rolled up program in hand, he seemed always in control of himself and his team. But of course when you have the best team in the country, these things come with more ease. Another of the great quiet coaches was Ralph Miller of Oregon State whose teams always controlled the tempo of a game, and always mastered the fundamentals.
Among those who taught great team defense was Hugh Durham at Florida State and then Georgia. His 1972 NCAA Final's team at FSU played as good a team defense as I have ever seen, and in fact only Al McGuire's Marquette teams matched that level defensively. Wooden's Bruins too were noted for their intimidating and destructive zone press.
The coaches that are most interesting are those from the lunatic fringe. One of my all-time favorites in this category was Torchy Clark of UCF who looked absolutely psychotic when he had a twenty point lead, and was in total control when it was a two point game. He was a real treat to watch from behind the UCF bench, particularly when he spoke to the crowd seeking advice while feigning total exasperation with his players.
Also in this group is the king of sideline madmen, Bobby Knight of Indiana. Not only does Knight provide fireworks on the bench berating both players and referees, he can light up a press conference with his deranged behavior and total contempt for the press. His public behavior over the years has been marked by arrogance and the size of his ego seems infinite. Throwing tantrums and chairs, busting up telephones, pushing security guards, Knight has managed to be persona non grata in Puerto Rico and simultaneously the Crown Prince of Indiana. In short he is one of the most unpleasant human beings ever to occupy the coaches position in NCAA history, while the enigma of Knight is that he is a person of high ethical and academic standards in a world where such a thing is less than commonplace.
Cincinnati's Bobby Huggins, whose need to berate and humiliate his players seems to be boundless, is the newest of the Knight clones. In interviews last week he talked about the need to teach his players to be men, to motivate them to extreme effort, and to do this by crushing them under a diatribe of verbal abuse. Those who use these methods like to talk about themselves as teachers and educators, and I wonder what the consequences would be if I tried these teaching methods in my classroom.
Another type is the slick fast talking used car salesman exemplified by Bobby Cremins, John Calipari and Rick Pitino. When you see them the instinctual reaction is to clutch your wallet. In a world without sport they would be selling bogus land deals, used cars without warranties, or patent medicine. Beneath the slick veneer one senses a commitment to nothing but winning pursued without scruple or restraint, and with no sense of human values.
Then there is the Father Flanigan of Long Beach, Las Vegas and now Fresno State. Jerry Tarkanian seems to specialize in troubled youth and marginal students. But he does win, and regardless of the tendency to look behind him for cash dripping out of his pockets, and despite the trail of tears of NCAA violations and prohibitions, he seems always to find a job at yet one more institution of higher learning willing to pay any price to reach the glories of the Big Dance.
My favorite coach remains Al McGuire who at Marquette seemed adept at conning everyone including himself. More importantly, for all the steetwise veneer, he knew the value of a college degree for his players, and he believed that an athlete was still a student. He knew that college sport, and especially college basketball, was more about fun than winning, although he was not adverse to the combination.
On Sunday when Syracuse beat Kansas there was Al in the middle of the floor doing a dance with the Syracuse players enjoying the moment as if he were eighteen again. Retired and in his early sixties, McGuire still understands that in its purest form the NCAA basketball tournament is about fun. It can be more, but should never be less.
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don't have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.

SPORT AND SOCIETY--BROADCAST OF FRIDAY APRIL 5, 1996
ON WUCF-FM 89.9



The opening of Baseball Season is a time to celebrate, a time of renewal and hope. It is in some ways one of the most joyous days on the American Sports Calendar. Full of optimism this day offers the promise of summer, the renewal of spring, the spectacle of a great and grand ritual.
This year in Cincinnati the joy of opening day was marred by death. John McSherry, a veteran National League umpire of 25 years suffered a massive heart attack and died at age 51. Following the seventh pitch of the game, McSherry who was working behind the plate, turned his 328 pound body toward the stands and beckoned for assistance. He took a few steps and fell face down to the ground. The crowd stood in silence, the players and other umpires were in shock, and finally at the insistence of the players the game was postponed.
This will an opener that will not soon be forgotten for those who were there at Riverfront Stadium.
John McSherry was a respected umpire who seemed to have the jolly disposition of a large man. He often joked or talked with players, was said to be able to admit when he was wrong, and had an excellent reputation for competence and fairness. On the Braves' telecasts Skip Carey always referred to McSherry as his favorite umpire because of the weight problem that Carey shared with McSherry.
With his death I began to think about the umpire and his role in the game, as well as his evolving image. It once was an axiom that the best umpire was the one that you did not notice. That of course is gone and now the common complaint is that umpires have assumed too large a showbiz posture and have become too obtrusive.
Back in the late 19th century with the rise of professional baseball, and the prevalence of gamblers around the game, the umpire was a figure of mixed images. He was the authority figure, but often his authority was ignored. He was the enforcer of rules, but could himself be a victim of fan and player lawlessness. Physically threatened by players, spectators, and gamblers, umpires had to be strong, brave and/or fleet-of-foot to survive.
In the early 20th century, especially with the emergence of the American League under the leadership of Ban Johnson, the lot of the umpire began to improve. Johnson was determined to elevate the status of umpires in the new American League and the overall result was an improved life for the men in blue.
However they continued to be the subject of public vilification. Sometimes on the field by managers and players, sometimes by fans, sometimes in the press. John McGraw, the legendary Giant's manager, was especially nasty to the men in blue.
Umpiring was and still is a difficult life. On the road for nearly the entire season the umpire's life can be a lonely one. He must be careful where he goes, where he stays, who he is with, always guarding his integrity and the integrity of the game. He is the great arbiter, and the fairness of his decisions are central to the credibility of the game.
Unless you have umpired it is difficult to imagine how much responsibility you feel for the game, how much you feel the game is in your hands. It is at once a wonderful feeling of responsibility, while at the same time a bit frightening. The game literally cannot go on without you, and yet you are considerably less than a centerpiece of the action.
Over the last fifteen years, years that were encompassed by John McSherry's career, the role and life of the umpire has changed considerably. After the umpires succeeded in unionizing, their salaries increased and their life on the road improved, with more expense money, time off for R and R, and a strong union to air their grievances.
Umpires have come out of the shadows to become celebrities. Joe West has build a career in country-western music, while Ron Luciano hit the best seller lists with tales from on and off the field. He became a regular on the late night talk circuit, and Luciano turned umpiring into a form of show business. Some would argue that this has not been a positive development, that the umpires have become too visible.
In addition the coming of instant replay has been both a blessing and a curse, revealing how often the umpire is right, but at the same time leaving them vulnerable to the slow motion revelations of human error for all to see.
But whatever the changes one thing remains constant, and John McSherry illustrated this as well as anyone, umpires are essential to the game and we probably don't appreciate them enough. John McSherry will be missed because he was a good umpire, but even moreso because he brought joy to the game, and that is the one thing that cannot be allowed to die.
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don't have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.

SPORT AND SOCIETY--BROADCAST OF FRIDAY MARCH 22, 1996
ON WUCF-FM 89.9



The major flap over the suspension of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf from the Denver Nuggets by the NBA for failure to stand at attention for the National Anthem has been settled. In the midst of the controversy there was considerable discussion, and a great deal of misinformation was tossed around about the history of this ritual.
First, it is important to note that there was no official National Anthem until 1931 when The Star Spangled Banner was declared so by an Act of Congress. However during World War I President Wilson had declared the S.S.B. the unofficial national anthem, and the intense display of public patriotism during World War I meant that the Star Spangled Banner was played on many public occasions to stir patriotic feelings.
It is generally accepted that the S.S.B. was first played at a baseball game during the first game of the 1918 World Series. It was played under the shadow of an atmosphere that saw considerable public discussion of the patriotism of baseball players who had failed to go off to Europe and Defeat the Dreaded Hun. The charge of "slacker" was heard across the land and the baseball establishment was most sensitive to this charge.
To demonstrate major league patriotism baseball teams had the players march in formation during pre-game military drills while carrying bats on their shoulders. During the seventh inning stretch of Game One of the 1918 World Series when the band spontaneo usly began to play the S.S.B., the Cubs and Red Sox players stood at attention facing the center-field flag pole. The crowd sang along, even without Harry Cary, and when the singing ended there was applause. Given this reaction in Chicago the S.S.B. was played during the seventh-inning stretch for the next two games.
When the Series moved to Boston the great theatrical Red Sox owner Harry Frazee pumped up the show biz, brought in a band, and the S.S.B. was played before the start of each game.
When the war ended the practice did not, and on those occasions when a band was present such as opening day, special holidays, or the World Series, the playing of the S.S.B. became common practice. Opening day in Washington saw it played in the presence of the President of the United States, and in other cities local politicians participated in the events. The Seventh Regiment Band under the direction of John Philip Sousa played the Star-Spangled Banner as part of the pregame festivities at the opening of Yankee Stadium in 1923 before the largest crowd to ever see a baseball game. But it was not done everyday because the lack of sound systems and the expense of having a band present on a daily basis made it impossible.
Although the Star-Spangled Banner was played on these special days, it did not become a daily practice, even after the song was declared the official National Anthem in 1931, and even though by 1934 some ball parks had public address systems.
The coming of war in the late thirties changed all of that. During the 1939-40 National Hockey League season the Canadian Anthem was played at games in Canadian cities as Canada was already at war. Then the practice spread to Madison Square Garden and from there it was transferred from hockey to baseball.
In 1940 with the fighting underway in earnest and America becoming more conscious of the possibility of war there was increased talk of a need for the national anthem before baseball games. This was suggested by The Sporting News in June, while at the same time the President of the International League called for the anthem in league cities in the U.S., as was already being done in Canadian cities. By 1941 the practice of playing the anthem before sporting events had achieved nearly universal status. At some games the pledge of allegiance was added on, and by 1941 "I Am an American Day" became a feature at major league parks.
It would be nice to say that all of this was pure patriotic expression, but of course much of it was PR conscious owners making sure that in World War II there would be no questioning of the patriotism of athletes who played games while others went off to serve their country. Four years of war, followed by the Cold War and the emergence of the American Empire solidified the practice and made it into a national ritual.
In recent years the National Anthem has lost its patriotic air in most sports venues. It has become an occasion for entertainers to display their talents or lack thereof, fans to create new cheers, and the networks to run commercials. It's symbolic significance has been overshadowed by commercial purposes and public indifference.
It might well be time to end this practice which has lost its patriotic purpose
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don't have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.

SPORT AND SOCIETY--BROADCAST OF FRIDAY FEBRUARY 8, 1996
ON WUCF-FM 89.9



It is the season for comebacks. The return of Magic Johnson to the Lakers last week was certainly the biggest news since the return of Michael Jordan to the Bulls last year. Thus far Johnson has been impressive in his Laker uniform, while Michael has been leading the Bulls to one of the greatest seasons in NBA history. Both comebacks seem to be successful and both are great sports stories.
There has been another comeback that has been even more impressive, and a fourth that is about to begin.
Last season Mario Lemieux did not play hockey. In the previous season Lemieux had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease and it was doubtful whether he would ever play hockey again. Following radiation treatments Lemieux was left in a weakened condition and even after several months of recovery he was still too weak to execute normal everyday tasks. Not surprisingly Lemieux retired from hockey.
Now two years after his original diagnosis there are very few signs that Super Mario has been through a battle for, if not his life, certainly his career. Today Lemieux is once again the greatest player in hockey and being compared to Wayne Gretzky, who is the greatest to ever put on skates.
To see him play it's impossible to detect any difference between the Mario Lemieux of two or three years ago, and the Lemieux of today, expect today's Lemieux is better. In addition to recovering from the radiation treatments and having the Hodgkin's dise ase in remission, Lemieux is in better physical shape today than at any time in his life. The back problems that plagued him during his career have been overcome by physical therapy, after two surgeries had failed.
Before the season started the statistics showed that Mario Lemieux had the highest career goals per game average, and that he was second to Wayne Gretzky in assists per game and points per game. This season he has done nothing but improve on those numbers. Through his first 44 games he had 45 goals, 65 assists, 110 points, and led the league in each category.
Lemieux's return was to be tempered with days off to avoid some back-to-back games, but at mid-season he had only missed six and had seldom missed a shift on the ice. If this was happening in any other sport Lemieux's remarkable accomplishment would be regarded as the greatest sports story of the decade. It is hard to believe that it has gotten as little attention as it has, and the hope is that Mario Lemieux's story will get both the national and international attention it deserves.
The other comeback that is about to begin in Paris is that of Jennifer Capriati. Still only nineteen years old, although turning twenty next month, Capriati's story is all too familiar to women's tennis where burnout seems almost as frequent as tennis elbow.
Capriati dropped out of the tennis tour after losing in the first round of the U.S. Open in 1993 in the midst of much comment on her weight, not exactly a confidence builder for a teenager.
Since leaving the tour in 1993 Jennifer Capriati's life has been a slide from one problem to another. She has had elbow surgery, been through two drug rehabilitation programs, dropped out of high school, ran away from home, been arrested for shoplifting in Tampa, and been arrested for possession of marijuana in a drug raid.
Her career before the crash was storybook. At age thirteen she reached the finals in her first pro tournament. At age fourteen she was the youngest player ever to reach a Grand Slam semi-final and followed that up by being the youngest player to win a match at Wimbledon, and at age fifteen was the youngest player to reach a Wimbledon semi-final. In 1992 she won a Olympic Gold Medal.
It was estimated that Capriati was earning about $5M a year from tennis endorsements, and nearly a million in competition. But all was not well. Pressures from family and from the public led her early on to talk about burnout. Many times before it actually happened, she talked of leaving the tour. And finally it all came apart.
Now at the old age of nearly twenty Jennifer Capriati begins her comeback. Perhaps she can turn to Michael, Magic or Mario for inspiration. Perhaps she will make it and if she does it will offer some hope.
Unfortunately the tennis courts, gymnastic mats, and ice rinks of America are littered with the wreckage of little girls, and comebacks from this social disease have been rare.
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don't have to a good sport to be a bad loser.

SPORT AND SOCIETY--BROADCAST OF FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16, 1996
ON WUCF-FM 89.9



In one of the more remarkable developments in the history of sports franchise movement, the National Football League has struck a deal with the city of Cleveland. The city gets some money and a promise, but in fact they still lose their team. In the meant ime the moving vans are rolling out of Seattle. In both places the stadia have been decreed inadequate by owners of the same description.
Also we now know how quickly a sports facility can become obsolete. In San Antonio three years after opening, the Alamo Dome is declared inadequate and the Spurs are making noises about going to New Orleans.
If you think it couldn't happen here then you haven't been paying attention. The noises about the O-rena's deficiencies have been getting louder as the Magic and the City moved to expand the capacity of the O-rena, by decreasing the capacity of the seats. Almost 2,000 new seats have been added, and at considerable cost to the city as well as the Magic, not to mention the discomfort to overweight fans.
There have been suggestions that the O-rena is not big enough and that a new arena is needed. But these rumblings remained largely on the horizon until last week.
The Magic rental agreement with the city is only two years away from expiration. On Friday The Orlando Sentinel reported that the Magic were exploring options in preparation for negotiations on a new contract. They have commissioned a $100,000 study to see how they might squeeze more income from the facility, which means the fans and the taxpayers.
One problem is that the current agreement is so good for the Magic that it is very difficult to conceive of how things might get any better. At present the city makes less from the Magic than Jon Koncak does.
Over the last seven years the O-rena has managed to clear $4.3M over operating expenses, but when the debt payments are included in costs, losses run close to $10M. The city and its taxpayers still owe $18.5M on the building and will not pay it off until near the end of the first decade of the 21st century.
Do the Magic have a problem? Well, yes. The price of success is going up, geometrically. The Shaq's contract comes up this year and he will be paid considerably more than his current $4.8M. Most estimates say the Big Guy's next salary will be in the neigh borhood of $10M per year. In addition Horace Grant's contract is coming up, and over the next few years the contracts of Hardaway, Anderson, and others will be coming around for renewal. The success of the Magic will continue to drive salaries skyward.
How can this be paid for? How will the Magic increase revenue? No doubt ticket prices will go up, radio and television contracts will increase, and merchandise sales will continue to rise, but comparatively these are nickel and dime items. One balloon being floated by the Magic is the idea of turning over O-rena management to them, allowing the Magic to make more money off the building, but requiring them to contribute no more to debt repayment. This would be left to you the taxpayer.
Not surprisingly no one will comment on this at One Magic Place or at City Hall. This deal will be done behind closed doors and the people of Orlando will be presented with a fiat accompli when it comes down.
Now I don't want the Magic to go elsewhere, and I don't want to drive Rich DeVoss into bankruptcy, and I don't want to suggest that the Magic haven't been important to the City of Orlando. But what I do suggest is that before the city gives away any more of your money they ask a few simple questions.
How much should the taxpayers be required to give the Magic, so that the Magic can give Shaq and his teammates several hundred million dollars? Can we put a figure on this thing? What exactly is it worth to the City of Orlando to have the Magic here, and specifically to have the Big Guy here? How much money is enough for any athlete no matter how good? How much should go to Horace or to Penny? Let's see if the people of Orlando can arrive at a figure, and then see if they are willing to let Shaq go to Los Angeles.
When we recruit faculty at the unversity we are told that they should be willing to take less money than they would get at other universities because Orlando is such a wonderful city, with such a wonderful climate and a great place to raise a family. Let's apply that rule to the NBA.
I have no doubt that many people in Orlando are willing to part with considerable sums for a winning team, but I would like to see some public discussion of just how much per capita people of this city are willing to shell out to keep the Magic competitive. It could be an enlightening discussion.
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don't have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.

SPORT AND SOCIETY--BROADCAST OF FRIDAY FEBRUARY 23, 1996
ON WUCF-FM 89.9



Outrageous. Brilliant. Ignorant. Arrogant. Tasteless. Farsighted. Reactionary. Hilarious. Maddening. Mindless. Creative. Innovative. Destructive. He was all of these. And on Monday when I heard the announcement of his death, I was reminded of how much I enjoyed and how much I was disgusted by Charles Oscar Finley owner of the Kansas City-Oakland Athletics of the American League.
Charles O. Finley made his money writing insurance for doctors. By the mid-1950s he was a multi-millionaire and like so many frustrated major leaguers who get rich, he decided to buy a major league baseball team. When he purchased the Kansas City Athletics in 1960 they were known for their futility, and without expectations he could do whatever he wanted with them. And he did.
Finley began the practice of marketing baseball as entertainment much to the dismay of the purists who still regarded Yankee Stadium as one of America's holy places and Lou Gehrig as a martyr and saint. In 1963 Finley introduced colorful uniforms, the now familiar gold and green. Behind home plate a rabbit popped out of ground to deliver new baseballs to the umpire. Out beyond the fences on the grassy slopes were the sheep and goats, they too sporting the green and gold, while mowing the grass in nature's way. There was even a mule named "Charley O" who was the team mascot and often traveled with his namesake.
In 1968 he took his team from Kansas City to Oakland and within four years he built a championship team, and one of the greatest baseball teams in the post-war period. And make no mistake about it, this was Finley's creation, as he was both owner and gene ral manager of the team now called the A's rather than the Athletics.
The A's championship teams of 1972, '73, and '74 were built largely from the draft and trades at the lower levels. They were built without big money or free agency. Charley O assembled Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, Blue Moon Odum, Ken Holtzman, Rollie Fingers, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, Bert Campaneris, Dick Green, Gene Tenace, and many others who made the A's dynasty.
Like their owner the players too were unpredictable and controversial. They brought long hair and facial hair to baseball, fights to the locker room, and shock to many in baseball. The A's were identified with the counter-culture of the Bay Area, and their World Series with the Cincinnati Reds of short-hair and conservative suits was a melodrama of the early seventies. Middle America was defeated by the longhairs, the counter-culture was superior to the heartland. The A's were one reason many young people came back to the game that was declared in decline with rise of the NFL.
Charley O offered $300 to any player who would grow a mustache and nearly the whole team did. He put his players in white shoes, gave Hunter the nickname of "Catfish," and even tried to get Vida Blue to legally change his name to "True." Anything to catch the eye or ear of the public.
Finley could be outrageous and reckless. During the 1973 World Series he tried to release Mike Andrews when the second baseman made two errors in the second game against the Mets. Commissioner Kuhn reinstated Andrews and the A's players wore black armband s to protest the actions of their boorish owner. He was booed lustily by the fans and of course the A's won.
He could be infuriating, but you had to love a guy who called Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn "the Village Idiot." This was prompted by Finley's attempt to unload his best players and cut his payroll in 1976. He was the original downsizer, and almost downsized the A's out of existence.
Charles O. Finley will be remembered as a great innovator in the game. It was Finley who brought us night World Series games, which although criticized today, were welcomed amidst great praise in the 70's. It was Finley who championed the Designated Hitte r, and even tried the designated runner when he signed trackstar Herb Washington. He advocated orange baseballs for night games and television, and went through managers almost at the same pace as George Steinbrenner.
Finley dismantled the great A's team when agents and free agency took the fun out of the game for him, and when profits were no longer there. In August of 1980, six months after hiring Billy Martin as manager, he sold the A's and left the game. By that time the game he loved was gone, and the great teams he built had faded in memory. His greatest insight was ignored by his fellow owners, when in the face of free-agency he advocated making everyone a free agent, flooding the market, and driving down salaries.
Whether you consider him a farsighted leader or an outrageous buffoon, it is easy to agree that he was one of a kind, and that is either a shame or a blessing for the business and sport of baseball.
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don't have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.

SPORT AND SOCIETY--BROADCAST OF FRIDAY MARCH 1, 1996
ON WUCF-FM 89.9



Over the past few weeks there have been several incidents and developments in the world of sport that offer some insight into the culture of sport as well as broader American attitudes toward sport.
On the Olympic front two recent cases raise questions about attitudes toward drugs. The Olympic sports scene has seen the development a veritable smorgasbord of drug usage and an amazing array of drug masking techniques. In the Olympic movement drug usage, although admittedly widespread, is equally condemned by the establishment. Drug tests have been developed to detect illegal usage, urine samples are taken with the same frequency as temperatures of a feverish baby, and athletes have been banned for life -- defined as a period from a few weeks to several years.
Into this atmosphere came the Chinese women's swimming team breaking records with frequency and by wide margins. No one in the United States swimming establishment was willing to accept the Chinese claim that it was training technique that made the difference. So stringent new rules were adopted at American insistance requiring frequent drug testing.
Naturally the first one to be caught in the new anti-drug campaign was an American. Jessica Foschi was found with steroids in her system, and was banned from competition for two years even though the authorities admitted that Jessica had steroids introduced to her system inadvertently. A few days ago that ruling was changed and Jessica was put on two years probation.
This week another case surfaced in which olympic sailor Kevin Hall was placed in jeopardy by the fact that he is getting testosterone shots as a treatment for testicular cancer. Testosterone is a banned substance because it enhances performance. Hall has been in training for ten years and has been through three operations for cancer in the last five years, but the U.S. Olympic Committee ruled that a waiver could not be granted.
What both cases demonstrate is the rigid and hypocritical character of Olympic sport. On the one hand common sense cannot be employed in extenuating circumstances without great difficulty. On the other hand the appearance of a strict enforcement of the drug rules must be given, because drug use is so widespread. The combination of suspicion, mistrust and hypocrisy is daunting. And in the case of swimming the American unwillingness to accept the notion that they could lose to anyone legally, is a form of hubris that is as questionable as it disgusting.
The second major story of the past few weeks reveals the still strange and mixed responses to the AIDS virus. When Tommy Morrison tested HIV positive the cry that he must quit boxing came as rapidly as it did for Magic Johnson. There is so much blood in b oxing, he could not be allowed to compete. As it was with Johnson, the reaction to Morrison is more emotional than rational. The chances of transmission of AIDS by boxing is just as remote as it is from basketball, but fear dominates over medical science.
Morrison himself admitted to a promiscuous life-style as the likely explanation of how he contracted the virus, and there were suggestions of too many women in too many towns. Again as with Johnson the medical evidence is ignored, because it shows that transmission from females to males through intercourse is a very long shot, and the more likely scenario involves male to male transmission. But somehow if our sport heroes contracted the virus from womanizing, it is preferable to what the statistics and me dical evidence tell us is more likely. The implications that this carries in terms of attitudes are both disturbing and instructive about a culture that still hasn't sorted out its reactions to AIDS, nor its attitudes toward women.
Finally in a much less serious vein, although I would argue not a totally unrelated one, comes the news that the NCAA has adopted tiebreaker procedures for college football. For those who believe that "winning is the only thing," and "we're number one," are the dominant ethic of American sport, here is more evidence.
Isn't it odd that we cannot conceive of the sporting event in which two teams or individuals compete at equal levels and therefore the only sensible outcome is a tie? How often have you heard someone say near the end of a close game, "Gee it's a shame someone has to lose this one?" These words are one of the great lies of American sport. We want winners and losers, both short-term and ultimate, and this is why the tie-breaker has arrived in college football. Indeed, Roller Bowl is something more than a fictional sports concept.
The fate worse than death in American sport still is "kissing your sister."
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don't have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.

SPORT AND SOCIETY--BROADCAST OF FRIDAY MARCH 8, 1996
ON WUCF-FM 89.9



It's the first week in March and in sporting terms that means it is the time of the first sounds of spring. No not the crack of the bat hitting ball, but the sounds of dogs barking and men and women urging them on down the trail. These are the sounds of " The Last Great Race on Earth," the Iditarod.
This 1,159 mile dog-sled race from Anchorage to Nome has been contested in Alaska, where spring in early March is but a rumor, for over two decades now. The race commemorates the transportation of serum by dog sled to Nome to fight a diphtheria epidemic in 1925. Dog-Sled racing itself goes back into the late 19th century as a competitive sport, while the Iditarod was organized in the 1960s by Dorothy Page and Joe Reddington Sr. to save mushing from the growing trend toward snowmobiles.
The first race in 1966 consisted of two twenty-eight mile heats and was named the Iditarod Trail Seppala Memorial Race after Leonhard Seppala one of twenty drivers in the Great Race of Mercy in 1925. Seppala was a transplanted Norwegian who was already famous for having won the All-Alaska Sweepstakes of Nome three years in a row. The race was the first major mushing competition in the world.
The name "Iditarod" comes from the gold rush town of interior Alaska which sat on the major transportation and communications corridor linking mining camps, trading posts, and other towns.
This race evolved into the full-blown event we now watch by 1973. Thirty-four drivers and their dogs took on the course that year, in a race billed as 1,049 miles long, the last 49 miles symbolizing Alaska, the 49th State. The winner was Dick Wilmarth of Red Devil with a time of 20 days, 49 minutes, and 41 seconds.
The challenges are many. The elements often display their frury along the trails. Four years ago 150 miles into the race teams were bunching up because the trail ahead had been buried by blowing and drifting snow. A few days later strong winds and a rough trail had been compounded by overnight temperatures near minus 35 at Finger Lake.
In the 1990 race it was in turn too warm, too cold, the snow drifts were insurmountable, there were Buffalo on the trail, and two sleds were attacked by Moose, who tangled the lines and stomped the dogs. The mountains and the tundra offer challenges of epic proportion. This year five time winner Rick Swensen has already been disqualified because one of his dogs died on the trail.
The place names along the trail are expressive and exotic. Finger Lake, Rainy Pass, Koyak, Shaktoolik, Skwentna, the Yukon River, Cripple checkpoint. This is a test of man and animal against the power of nature in which the unexpected is always expected. This winter is no exception. Snow has been as rare as sunshine, and plans were being made to use snow-making machines to prepare the trails for the race. Training was taking place mostly on frozen lakes. But then in early February several feet of snow buried the trails turning them into a quagmire of unpacked snow.
Some sixty mushers and their teams began the race last Saturday, and no one looks for a repeat of last year's record setting pace. Doug Swingley of Simms, Montana, was the first non-Alaskan to win the Iditarod, and he did it in record time of 9 days, 2 hours, 42 minutes and 19 seconds. This smashed the old record held by Swiss-born Martin Buser of Big Lake by nearly 33 hours, and was over ten days shorter than Wilmarth's winning time of 1973.
Buser will be heard again this year singing to his dogs, Swingley will be back to defend his title. Not competing is four-time champion Susan Butcher, who in 1990 was also the last woman to win the Iditarod. At age 39 Butcher, the all-time money winner and new mother, has retired.
During the last half of the 1980's the Iditarod was known for its battle of the sexes between Swensen and Butcher. T-shirts proclaiming "Alaska-where men are men and women win the Iditarod" were said to have irritated Swensen no end.
This year's competition has 60 mushers and their dogs, but prize money is down by $50,000 from last year as a shoe company, pet food firm, and the Chrysler Corporation have backed away under pressure from animal rights groups. Five Alaska Dodge Dealers stepped in where Chrysler stepped out, and other Alaska firms have increased their corporate involvement.
Despite this sour note "The Last Great Race on Earth" really does live up to its name. The Dogs and their best friends challenge the elements and one another in a test of skill, power, and endurance, over the course of 1,159 miles, almost any one of which can claim the life of a participant.
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don't have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.

SPORT AND SOCIETY--BROADCAST OF FRIDAY MARCH 15, 1996
ON WUCF-FM 89.9



On March 17,1946 the Montreal Royals played the Brooklyn Dodgers in a spring training game in Daytona Beach and Jackie Roosevelt Robinson wore the uniform of the Royals. History was made that day as Jackie Robinson broke the color line in organized baseball. Although overshadowed by Robinson's first game as a Brooklyn Dodger a little over a year later, this game in Daytona was an important step on the road to the desegregation of both baseball and America.
This weekend in Daytona, Bethune-Cookman College is sponsoring a gathering of historians, former Robinson teammates, family and fans, who will assess the meaning of this important event of fifty years ago, and celebrate this day which is so significant in the history of both Daytona and America.
The city fathers of Daytona Beach, unlike those of so many other Florida cities in the Spring of 1946, welcomed the social experiment that was being conducted by the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey, and Jackie Robinson. Mayor William Perry welcomed Robins on and the Dodgers to his city, and along with City Manager Jim Titus worked diligently to prepare the way. In addition Rickey and his secretary, Bob Finch, spent the winter addressing civic and business groups.
It would not be accurate to say that everything was sweetness and light in Daytona Beach for the Robinsons, but when compared with the incidents in other Florida cities like Sanford, Deland and Jacksonville, or with the reception that Robinson received in International League cities like Syracuse and Baltimore, Daytona Beach conducted itself in exemplary fashion.
Nonetheless there was some anxiety the morning of March 17 as Robinson and John Wright, the forgotten man in the Great Experiment, prepared to become the first Black players to break the color line in baseball. The anxieties fell away when the overflow se gregated crowd of 4,000 cheered Robinson's first appearance at the plate. It was altogether a rather uneventful day, but at the same time a very significant one.
For baseball and for America this was the beginning of a series of events of both symbolic and practical importance. In a symbolic sense it represented the breaking of the color line, the rigid lines of segregation, in a basic American institution. Baseball was afterall the national pastime.
In a country that had just fought a major war in which the racial theories of Adolph Hitler had been a central issue, the continuation of racial segregation was clearly a national contradiction. A public attack on segregation in a major American institution such as baseball was an extremely important public act. It gave notice that on matters of race in America, major changes were in the wind.
As a practical matter this event had important consequences for both Black and White Americans. In the Black community Jackie Robinson's quest would be of major significance affecting the future of segregation and the opening of opportunity. It was followed by old and young, baseball fans or not, with great intensity. For young Black men and boys who played baseball it opened up new dreams. As Elston Howard later recalled when he heard the news as a boy of sixteen, "I felt like dancing all over the floor. The path was opening up. Maybe I could become a major league player." Willie Mays put it more directly, "Every time I look at my pocket book, I see Jackie Robinson." For many others beyond the playing fields, Robinson joining the Dodger organization was a sign of hope that the days of segregation and discrimination were coming to an end.
For White America the impact of Jackie Robinson was profound. Not so much in its immediate consequences where both the best and worst traits of the society could be seen, but over the longer span of time. For young whites of impressionable age the coming of Robinson and other Blacks to baseball brought into question the racial myths of their society. The superb performances of Robinson, and then Newcombe, Campanella, Mays, and so many more that followed, gave the lie to all those folk myths that filled the air in white America. Questions were raised about accepted truths for the first time, but clearly not the last. When a Black man became a hero for a white child, the days of segregation and racial myth were clearly numbered.
For baseball too there were important consequences. The talent pool for the game was widened significantly as both Black Americans and Black Latin players found opportunity in America's national pastime. Baseball itself was transformed into a game in whic h the elements of speed and power, previously thought mutually exclusive, were combined, adding new excitement on the field. The years of hypocrisy were finally coming to an end, as the national pastime, was now truly national both on and off the field.
On Sport and Society this is Dick Crepeau reminding you that you don't have to be a good sport to be a bad loser.