ESPN Should Apply Mid-Major B-Ball Approach to Football

Spurred by increased media coverage, some talent dilution at top programs from players leaving school, and a run of NCAA tournament upsets mid-major hype hit new levels in college basketball the past decade. It led to an increased national platform, more money, improved recruiting, and overall, a more level playing field with the big boys. [...]

Versus Needs Big Football Splash

If any doubts remained, football’s booming start on television leaves no doubt that it is arguably the most dominant television franchise. The NFL was up across the board during its first week, even more telling it’s meaningless preseason games ranked near the top of the weekly primetime ratings. The buck doesn’t stop with the NFL [...]

Are Pro Sports Ready to Embrace Gambling?

Without betting, the NFL would not be far and away the most popular US sport. The NCAA tournament would not register the same mainstream impact that causes a major productivity drop for two workdays in mid-March. And most college football bowl games would fail to register on the public radar. Gambling is integral to the [...]

High Schooler Not Sacrificing Education with Euro Venture

Brandon Jennings decision to skip college in favor of playing professionally in Europe until he becomes eligible for the NBA draft raises many issues and controversial topics. Len Elmore, the superb broadcaster, former All-American player, and lawyer, took a strong stance on why the Jennings decision is wrong on many levels in this week’s Sports [...]

Mayo Incident Raises Question of NCAA Rules

Unless you have your head stuck in the sand, it’s no surprise to hear OJ Mayo received benefits from agents and other “business associates” as far back as high school. He’s not the first, not the only, and not the last – to think otherwise is naive. College football and college basketball are big business, [...]

CBS Tourney Success Glimpse at Multi-Platform Future

To steal the title line from the signature song of the NCAA tournament’s closing ceremony, CBS’s “one shining moment” of its coverage was the immense success of March Madness On Demand (MMOD). Plagued by uncompetitive games until the finale, and a growing fragmented audience, TV ratings fell to historic lows, yet online viewership grew by [...]

Sampson Must Go

“Zero tolerance” ended Bob Knight’s legendary 29-year run at Indiana University thanks to an incident that caused violated no NCAA rules, allegedly grabbing and swearing at one of his players, action that may have received no attention had it not been Bob Knight. Ironically, former IU President Myles Brand implemented and enforced the policy, now [...]

902 Wins and Out

Bobby Knight attracts controversy, why should his resignation be any different. Knight abruptly resigned as head coach at Texas Tech last week, only a few games after eclipsing 900 career wins. He cited no health reasons, no family reasons, simply tired and wanted his son Pat to get some game experience before next season. If [...]