Monthly Archives: January 2010

Coach Cal is one cool (Wild)cat

  By Chris Speziale | 01/26/2010 - 1:56 pm | Musings
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"Wildcats can totes take Tigers...I'm out!

John Calipari is the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team.  He’s been a college head coach since 1988, and he has had one losing season—in his first year.  He has won his team’s conference ten times, and seven times he’s taken his team to the Sweet 16 or beyond.  And while he’s never won the big one, he has won an NIT Championship.  Last year Kentucky lost 14 games—Calipari has lost more than 14 games only twice in his career.  At the end of last season, Kentucky fired its head coach, Billy Gillispie, claiming that the coach and management were “incompatible.”  They refused to admit that his firing was linked to performance, but we know better.  The Kentucky basketball program is legendary; the first season tipped-off in 1903, and since then they have a .763 winning percentage.  Losing is simply not an option. Enter Calipari.

I could never be a head coach; you have to go into people’s homes and sell them on the school that you’re working for.  This is such an important decision for these kids; the school you go to could dictate the rest of your life.  Think about it: you’re a top high school prospect.  If you go to the big basketball school, you’re competing with all of the other big-time recruits.  If you go to the smaller school you run the risk of not being scouted as highly by the pros.  It’s a big deal.  And that’s what makes J.C. so damn good.  Calipari is fantastic on the recruiting couch.  He’s always been able to find the right words to lure the top talent to his teams.  And he knows that you can’t turn a program around without bringing in the big names; that is why the emphasis has ALWAYS been on recruiting.  Coming into his first season with Kentucky, he signed 5 of the top 10 basketball prospects in the country, including the top 2.  John Wall (PG, 17 points, 7 assists, 2 steals per game) has been absolutely lights out as a freshman this year.  He will be, without question, a top pick (if not THE top pick) in the NBA draft this summer.  Add to that, DeMarcus Cousins (C, 15 points, 10 rebounds per game, along with 34 blocks), who could also go as a top ten pick in the draft.  But a coach’s job is never done, and that’s what will continue to be tough for Coach Cal.  As long as he keeps bringing in the big-time players, he’ll have to maintain his recruiting record.  They all leave for the NBA!

Once you get the kids to commit, the practices begin, and that’s when the real work starts.  So much emphasis is put on Calipari’s recruiting strengths that people forget—this guy is a great coach!  His philosophy is simple: get every kid on the team to have a career year, and play with/off each other.  Unselfish play is characterized in so many different ways, by so many different people; I look at assists.  To me, the pass is the ultimate sacrifice, especially in the college game. College players have so much to gain by shooting; if a coach can get a team to pass the ball, in my mind, they have created an unselfish team.  In Coach Cal’s two Final Four runs, his teams averaged over 15 assists per game.  This year, his Wildcats are averaging over 16 a game.  Those numbers put Calipari’s teams just outside the top ten in that category (looking at the last ten years, teams leading NCAA Division 1 averaged 18 assists per game).  Along with the assists philosophy, he’s gotten “Player of the Year” type seasons from a number of different players.  Put those things together and you’ve got your Calipari recipe for success.

Now I know what you’re thinking: He’s completely ignoring the fact that Calipari has had two final four appearances vacated!  Yes, we’re all aware that controversy has followed the coach from school to school.  At UMass, Marcus Camby was declared ineligible, and therefore the Minutemen were forced to vacate their 1996 Final Four appearance.  And at Memphis, a test score scandal involving Derrick Rose forced Memphis to vacate their championship run in 2008.  But what’s being lost in all this is that Coach Cal has taken two programs from obscurity to greatness, AND he’s in the midst of reviving one of the most storied basketball franchises in the history of the sport. All the scandal aside, his effectiveness is something that you just can’t deny.

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The Seven Step Post Post-Season Hangover Cure

  By Chris Speziale | 01/13/2010 - 1:52 pm | Musings
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The Pats performance made little Johnny Cry

There comes an inevitable time in every sports fan’s life when his or her team, the team that was supposed to play for the big one, puts up a big fat stinker. Cough, Patriots, Cough. It hurts– let’s not play around here. It’s a long off-season, and if you’re a Pats fan like me, you now have 8 months to stew about the sieve that is the offensive line. Brady was sacked 3 times, hit 6 more, and threw 3 interceptions. He saw pressure all day. They came out flatter than the last glass at the bottom of the pitcher; it was over by the end of the first quarter. The Pats have needs, but we’ll get to that a little later. Right now though, it’s time to mourn. Seven simple steps to help cure the Post Post-Season Hangover:

1. Alcohol – It sounds a little crazy to cure a hangover with alcohol, but at the conclusion of the game in which your team has lost in the playoffs, there will be an immediate need: beer. If you’re at home, crack a new one. If you’re out at a bar, immediately get the attention of the bartender and order another.
2. Change The Channel – When the game ends, make sure you change the channel as soon as possible. Some people take this a step farther and hit up the remote with just a few seconds left in a game. I have always been in the “You gotta watch to the end” camp, so I’m a ‘game over’ channel-changer. This is an important step; no one wants to hear those stupid broadcasters talk about your team blowing the game, or the records that have been snapped, or how long the off-season is, or who’ll be back next year, or if the dynasty is over, or if Belichick is losing his mystique, or…. I could continue, but I’m depressing the hell out of myself.
3. Look Ahead – There are other sports! Pitchers and catchers report February 23rd.
4. Facebook – In the modern sporting era there are a MILLION ways to reach out to other fans, but one of the most effective is Facebook. There will be the obligatory “I don’t know what happened, worst game ever” posts, and that’s okay. This will allow your fellow fans to grieve with you, without the interference of the mainstream media. Just remember: there’s no crying in baseball, or any other sport for that matter. Just be wary of the possible opposition taunt, and while it is rude, it does happen. If you’re lucky, they’ll give you some peace– as well they should, every fan’s been there. (Side Note: Quick thank you to Googs. I was expecting you to rag me pretty good after the Jets won and Pats lost. Thanks for letting me wallow for a bit.)
5. The DVD – This is crucial. When you return home from the bar, and you’re feeling down about your team or sports in general, you must pop a good sports movie in the DVD player. Personally, I’m watching Game 4 of the Sox/Yanks series in ’04. Nothing gets me in a better mood than seeing Dave Roberts steal that base. Fiction works too. May I suggest Rudy, Miracle, Hoosiers, Remember the Titans, For the Love of the Game, Field of Dreams, The Natural, Bull Durham, or if you’re really feeling crappy, Caddyshack. Settle in with some popcorn and your beverage of choice and let the silver screen bring back your fan mojo. Just avoid Fever Pitch at all costs.
6. The Next Day – You’re going to feel that itch, but I beg you not to scratch. Turn off the tube. You’ve made it through the day of demise– now you need to keep it going through day two. This is where a lot of people relapse and fall back into the Post Post-Season coma. It usually takes about three days before the average fan can watch a sports highlight show. Local news stations are pretty bad, but Sportscenter is the major culprit, especially on a slow sports day. They’ll start with the breakdown of all your teams’ screw-ups, and then hit you with the truly debilitating preview of your opponent’s next matchup.
7. And Finally – Did I mention, baseball starts in 6 weeks?

The Mission: Lower Concession Prices

  By Chris Speziale | 01/08/2010 - 3:31 pm | Mission Statement
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This month I wanted to write about something that has been personally irking me as a sports fan.  I was lucky enough to attend the Bruins/Rangers game at Madison Square Garden earlier this week (because my fiancée is awesome and she got me tickets for Christmas), and I was completely blown away by the price tag that connected itself to the evening.  The tickets were $37 a piece, and the seats were decent, but then we hit the concession stand.  Here’s the final run down: 4 beers, 1 hot dog, 1 order of chicken fingers w/ fries, and a pretzel.  $80 bucks!  And here’s what it costs, per sport, to take a family of 4 to a game:

MLB: $191 ($100 for tickets)

NBA: $293 ($200 for tickets)

NHL: $301 ($200 for tickets)

NFL: $421 ($300 for tickets)

In this era of economic turmoil, that is completely unacceptable.  I understand that sports are a business, and that teams are trying to make money.  But if they continue to jack up prices fans will start to turn their backs, as well they should.  The cost of attendance has been rising steadily at a 3% clip every year, and now we’re being threatened with TV blackouts if fans don’t pony up the dough to go to a game.  I’ve had enough, have you?

Dear Commissioner(s),

My name is Chris Speziale, and I write a blog on ChrisSpez.com.  The blog is centered around fans and the fan experience.  Once a month, I explore an aspect of the sports world that has been bothering fans, write a letter to a person in a position of influence, and then send that letter along with all of the readers’ comments to that person.  This month I’m tackling concession prices at major sports arenas, and I think you can help, which is why you’re receiving this letter.  We’ve had problems with TV blackouts, particularly in the NFL, in areas of the country that have been hit harder by the economic downturn, because broadcasts are tied to ticket sales.  But it’s wrong to assume that the average fan has lost interest in a team because they won’t buy tickets to see them play live; people just don’t have the expendable income.

The average sports fan who takes his family to one NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL game a year will spend almost $1200 dollars.  That’s the equivalent of paying rent for a month in New York City!  And while a large portion of this money will go towards the cost of tickets; that family will still have to spend more than $100 per event on concessions.  For that amount of money you’d expect to receive a pretty nice meal, but unfortunately we’re talking about 4 hot dogs, 2 sodas and 2 beers.  Aside from the loss of television coverage, the incentives for people to attend simply aren’t there.  But even in blackout scenario, it’s become a double-edged sword.  You attend the game at the stadium to fill the stands so that the games can be broadcast on local television.  But if you need to attend the game to get it on TV, how are you going to save money?  You need to be sitting at home on the couch to keep it in your wallet.  It’s unfair; fans are being asked to choose between dropping $400 dollars a game, and missing the game entirely.

Until our economy stabilizes, we may not see the live sporting event make a complete comeback.  But to get us by until then, we could simply lower concession prices.  I realize that the price of food and drink is not a league wide mandate in any of the four major sports, but pressure from the man running the league would help push owners to lower prices.  From there, the domino effect takes over.  Owners look good because fans appreciate the lower prices, and they start to come to games.  As more people push through the turnstiles, fewer games will be blacked out.  Money is then generated through ad and commercial sales on local broadcasts.  It puts money in the owners’ pockets, the leagues coffers, and most importantly, back into the wallets of the fans.  All of this, because you cut the cost of a hot dog at the stadium.

The American sports fan is, and always has been, hungry for quality, family friendly, live sports entertainment.  But our wallets are hungry too, and if the price of food at a game keeps rising, the leagues will be hungry for fans.  Will you help us put pressure on the Owners and GM’s?

Thank you so much for your time,

A Concerned Citizen of Sports Nation

Making Sweet Ice

  By Chris Speziale | 01/05/2010 - 3:31 pm | Impress Your Friends
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I had the opportunity to take in the Bruins/Rangers game at Madison Square Garden last night.  And while I watched the Bruins play horribly for 50 some odd minutes, I got to thinking.  How the heck do they make NHL Ice?  I knew that it was complicated, and then I read an article that made me realize how truly incredible the process really is.

An NHL rink consists of 4 layers of ice measuring only 1 inch thick.  The first and second layers are 1/32 of an inch and are sprayed on the chilled concrete floor by a paint truck.  The paint truck then switches out its water for actual paint to spray the whole surface white.  They then add a 1/16 of an inch layer to seal the white paint and prep for the lines and logos.  Those are painted on by hand using stencils before the final layer of ice is put on using a hose to flood the arena with 10,000 gallons of water.  The ice in NHL rinks is usually tap water that has been run through a purifier and then mixed with chemical additives to maintain pH levels.  And while the freezing point on a regular thermometer is 32°, the ice in hockey rinks is kept between 24° and 26°.  This prevents it  from getting to soft.

It’s also pretty freaking cool how they re-ice the skating surface during intermissions.  Zamboni’s were invented by Mr. Frank Zamboni in the 1940’s; they resurface the ice after pre-game skates and between each period of a hockey game.  The process is crazy, to say the least:

  1. The machine first scrapes the top layer of ice off the surface
  2. Then, using augers moves the shaved ice from the razor to the bin at the front end of the vehicle where it is melted and cleaned.
  3. As the ice is being shaved it is also being heated so that when the cleaned water is put back onto the rink it will bond with the ice deeply.  This prevents the top layer from simply cracking and chipping off.
  4. A squeegee is then used to smooth the melted ice and clean water that has been added to the top layer.

It takes about 3 minutes from start to finish for two Zamboni’s to clean and resurface an entire NHL rink.  Most teams have two, and they run about $55,000 a piece.

So as my mind wandered last night, induced by the complete snooze-fest that was the Bruins offensive game-plan, I thought of this.  Completely useless, I know, but man-oh-man will you be popular at cocktail parties when you bust-out this knowledge all up in someone’s grill.  Plus, it led me to this completely ridiculous YouTube video.  Obsessed much?  I guess you can’t argue with 48,000 views.