Note to NCAA: Do Not Expand!!

The NCAA wants to rake in more money from the tournament because CBS has declining revenues in the current television deal. And their simplest solution is expanding the 65-team tournament to 96, adding an extra weekend and as many as two extra games for some participants, meaning a champion may have require eight consecutive wins to earn the title.

This is ridiculous. The NCAA, as usual, is attempting to mess with a formula that doesn't need meddling because they are trying to scrape more money out of the system. College basketball is an effective and attractive entity already and the tournament reaches all sectors of America because of the popularity of the office pool. Even Jane from accounting is enthralled by March Madness, but the product and the excitement would be diluted with 96 teams.

Can you imagine the five or six teams who had a legitimate gripe about being included in this year's tourney -- Illinois, Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, William & Mary, Arizona State -- along with 26 other teams being included? The first-round games would lack intrigue because many of the participants would be teams barely over the .500 mark. The standard for the NCAA Tournament has always been high and there have been many occasions where I was disappointed my Cal Bears were not selected, but each time I could point to three or four concrete reasons they fell short.

Of course, the NCAA believes the best way to earn more money is feeding the audience with more games, regardless of the quality. While the amount of Division I teams grows yearly, there needs to be perhaps a few more spots added to accommodate conference tournament winners and deserving at-large teams but 96 would turn the NCAA Tournament into a nearly month-long sojourn that would lose viewers and interest because it would take weeks to reach its apex.

Look at the NBA Playoffs as an example. The five-week process bores the non-diehard basketball fans, who want to be awaken when LeBron faces Kobe. They'll pass on a Milwaukee-Orlando seven-game first-round series. The NCAA has so many revenue streams it can figure out another more creative way to make money and keep the integrity and excitement of the NCAA Tournament. Things are OK just as they are now, just as Jane in accounting.

Mentoring is missing in pro sports

Can you hear their cries? They are piercing my ears?

You can hear the screams each time an athlete decides to test his own mortality or decides to live the life of a thug/gangta/athlete that sounds good on rap lyrics or in fantasy but doesn't quite resonate in reality.

If it isn't Gilbert Arenas branding guns, it's Shawne Williams selling syrup or Delonte West carrying three guns on a motorcycle -- where was he going? And there is a common thread in all of these challenges to authority, these players lack not only discipline but guidance.

Covering professional sports, it's difficult not to build a personal relationship with the players you cover. You want to see him succeed. You want to see them make good decisions. You hope they are managing their money properly and are not swayed by the temptations of their lifestyle.

And when you see their mistakes, you cringe because in many cases, in knowing these young men, you realize they don't know any better. They were treated as kings on their college campuses and allowed to roam wherever they players, as long as they averaged a double-double. And in the real world, they are mostly surrounded by yes men who call themselves friends but are more like leeches who only benefit from the financial wealth of the lifestyle.

What the NBA, NFL and even Major League Baseball desperately need to do is increase their mentoring programs. There are so many former athletes looking for work, an opportunity to give back -- with some type of compensation, of course -- would could help and perhaps save the lives of these young men, some of whom grew up without father figures or whose fathers are their "business managers" or living off their child's success.

In talking with many of these young man, you realize how little they know about people skills, proper behavior and ediquette. Life is difficult enough for those 20-somethings without the lure of women, money and hangers-on and professional badly needs to address these issues for the healthy of not only their league but of the young athlete.

Both the NFL and NBA have collective bargaining agreements that are set to expire soon and both leagues have allowed their respective players association to handle issues such as mentoring or help with finances or substance abuse, etc. But it's about time for the leagues and players association to unite and form a mentoring group for individuals who seek help. It's acceptable to say that players can always reach out, but how many of these kids will before they cry out with an egrgeous act?

Mentors can serve as guides and examples for these young athletes. We assume because of their financial status and the fact they have agents, that many athletes receive proper instruction and consulation. Hardly. Many agents rarely contact their clients or represent so many other athletes they have little time to focus attention on those with problems.

Sometimes the solutions are basic. Perhaps if Arenas had better direction, someone he trusted in his circle who wasn't on his payroll, he would have made better decision and not banned for the NBA for a series of foolish acts. Because these young men look grown, doesn't mean they are grown and I'm not sure how many examples we need to see before the powers that be in professional sports change the system and reach out to these crying babies.

Do you think they hear them like we do?

It’s showing time for Lakers - The Boston Globe

It’s showing time for Lakers - The Boston Globe

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It’s showing time for Lakers - The Boston Globe

It’s showing time for Lakers - The Boston Globe

Posted using ShareThis

It’s showing time for Lakers - The Boston Globe

It’s showing time for Lakers - The Boston Globe

Posted using ShareThis

It's Showing Time for the Lakers

Woods' quest for perfection should reach beyond golf course

Tiger Woods should be embarrassed and ashamed right now. He was caught in a humiliating situation last week when he crashed his car outside of his Orlando, Fla., area home and was found unconscious by his wife Elin. Woods sustained only minor injuries but the bizarre accident created so many questions and theories -- such as a cheating Woods attempting to escape from his golf-club wielding wife and crashing -- that he felt inclined to address the accident.

That only prompted media sites such as TMZ and National Enquirer to dig further into his personal life and it took only a few days to discover a chilling voice mail message Woods delivered to another woman asking her to call with a "restricted" label to prevent his suspicious wife from checking his cell phone and calling the woman.

It cemented the rumors that Woods had been unfaithful and he released a statement on his website apologizing for his "transgressions."

This should be the end of this story. While Woods is a brilliant golfer, the best of all time and has been a model citizen during a career that began as a child prodigy and continues into his mid-30s, we should not expect Woods to be a perfect role model off the course. Woods was unfaithful and he was sloppy about it, but because he strives to be a perfect golfer and faces constant scrutiny regarding his every move on the course does not mean that Woods should be judged on a level higher than any elite professional athlete.

Are you looking for Woods to help raise your kids? Should he be vilified because he fell into a pretentious trap of flattery and passion that falls men and women? Woods proved he is no different that many people who know who have conveniently found excuses to be unfaithful and in the end, really have no reason for their "transgressions" besides greed and insecurity. Woods proved he has a lot of growing and developing to do as a man, and such evolution is difficult when you have the financial and social means to obtain nearly anything you desire, including seedy women who don't mind being part of the infidelity.

Woods owes his public nothing besides an apology but he owes his wife the promise to become a better man. He should be left alone for that journey because no one can aid his maturation.

This story is much more serious than a millionaire athlete whose unsavory lifestyle was discovered. This is a story of a man who went through the motions, succumbing to pressures to get married, have kids and put of a facade when it was not in his heart, and it has marred the lives of those who loved him the most.

He doesn't need our judgment, he needs our prayers.