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Mark Lemke and The NBA's Parity Problem

Who is the basketball equivalent of Mark Lemke?

Find me an NBA player who was totally obscure, a bench guy who had done little of note in his career, who inexplicably carried a team in the postseason. 

Find me the NBA equivalent of Carlos Ruiz from the 2008 World Series. Or Scott Podsednik from 2005. Or Scott Brosius from 1998. 

Good luck searching. 

The fact is, no such players exist in the NBA. The NBA is not a league that allows for rags-to-riches, where-the-heck-did-this-come-from performances. 

Occasionally, you may have a guy play well above his level for a few games. You may have an obscure player hit a key shot, or provide helpful energy for a quarter or a half. But NBA playoff games are ultimately decided by stars. How did Kobe do? What did LeBron put up? Did Ray Allen really hit all those threes? 

If the Lakers come back to win Game 7 tonight, it will not be because Adam Morrison came out of nowhere to put up 40 points. It will not be because Luke Walton had the game of his life and carried the team to glory. It will not be because of Sasha Vujacic going nuts. 

No, the Lakers will win because of Kobe. Or, if Kobe has a bad game, they will lose. It's pretty much that simple. Perhaps Pau Gasol will bail them out. Perhaps Derek Fisher or Ron Artest will put up big numbers. But don't expect greatness from anyone who hasn't been great up to this point. 

And that's why the NBA has a parity problem. 

Since 1984, only seven franchises have won an NBA title. Compare that to 17 for baseball, a league that does not have a salary cap. 

It's the nature of the playoffs and the nature of the sports that make the difference. In baseball, anyone can come through at any time. And a light-hitting catcher placed in the 8-hole will have roughly the same number of opportunities to blast a game-winning hit as a leadoff guy or cleanup hitter. 

When Mark Lemke nearly carried the Atlanta Braves to the 1991 World Series title, he had 26 plate appearances. Terry Pendleton, the MVP of that season, had 31. So Mark Lemke, a guy who batted .234 during the regular season, had about 84 percent as many opportunities to hit as the guy considered the best in the league. 

Roughly translated, that would be like Morrison getting more than 30 minutes a game. Which would be absurd. If the Lakers were to give Adam Morrison 30 minutes a game, they'd be awful. 

But if Adam Morrison were to get 30 minutes in a game, there's a chance--a chance he'd come through with an incredible performance. He might pour in 40 points on a night when Kobe and the other stars are off their game. He very well might shoot the lights out and put up one of the more memorable performances in history. 

But there are only so many minutes in a basketball game to go around. And only five guys are on the floor at any given time.

So as fans, we're stuck watching the expected. We're stuck knowing that games will come down to the performances of a handful of players. We're stuck knowing that we probably won't be surprised by anything. 

And that's no fun. Really it isn't. Kobe's great and all, but give me an out-of-the-blue Lemke performance any day. 

The Grand Stage of the World Cup, But Nearly Invisible

Soccer is a tough sport for advertisers. With few commercial breaks during games, companies don't have a lot of chances to get their marketing message out. 

I'll admit to not being the biggest soccer fan in the world. But I have tuned in to most of the games played in South Africa this week. And here's all that I've learned:

-Budweiser is the official beer of the World Cup and produced a mildly entertaining online show on YouTube. 

-Adidas is the official sporting goods manufacturer, but I only know that because players complained about the ball. (Otherwise, I might have assume Nike was the official FIFA partner.)

-Hyundai is the official car. I think. 

Aaaaand, that's pretty much it. I don't think I was aware that Coca-Cola is a FIFA Partner. Same goes for Visa, Sony and Emirates Airlines.

McDonald's is a sponsor. I would have assumed that, but can't say that I've seen a commercial. I've seen nothing from Castrol, which is also apparently a sponsor. 

Just about every other official sponsor is an African-based company, which means they may be getting considerable exposure in arenas and on television in South Africa. But they are invisible to the American audience. 

This inability to really break through to an audience makes it easier for ambush marketers to make an impact, and FIFA has tried to crack down on that. 

But from a pure return on investment standpoint, one wonders if the official partners of FIFA are getting their moneys worth.

Conference Craziness

Wow. So Boise State's going to the Mountain West. Colorado's to the PAC-10. Nebraska's to the Big Ten. And there may be more changes coming. 

It's no secret all of this movement is because of money. Conferences benefit from size, particularly if they can add competitive, high profile teams. 

But it will be very interesting how this all will play out from a marketing/branding standpoint. Let's assume that there are no more changes and that the Big 12 is left with 10 teams. Well, they can't exactly call themselves the Big 12 anymore, can they? But calling themselves the Big Ten seems out of the question, too. 

Then again, the Big Ten now has 12 teams, and there are rumors of expanding to 16. We'll acknowledge that the Big Ten never changed its name when it went to 11 teams with the arrival of Penn State in 1990. But they may have to consider some sort of name change now. 

What's sort of a shame about all of this is that now the Big Ten, Big 12 and even the PAC-10 are losing their identities. 

What's a Big Ten school? Well, you know one when you see one. Geographically, they fit into the same general area. And there are some commonalities in terms of size and academic reputation. Add in Nebraska, and is that still the case? 

A Big 12 school? You think of wide open spaces. You think of cowboy country. Places like Oklahoma. Kansas. Nebraska. Texas. They all just fit together. But all of these schools may end up scattered in conferences across the country.

And the Pac-10? Last time I checked, the "PAC" was for "Pacific." Colorado hardly fits the mold. 

One big fear is that these conferences move toward creating happy-sounding names that tell you little about the schools. The Summit League, Horizon League and alphabet soup conferences like the MEAC and MAAC are the most egregious offenders. 

Tradition is being thrown out the window here, and that's sad. Let's hope the new conferences find a way to establish some permanence with whatever arrangements they come up with. 

On the Closing of ESPNZone

It was the last day of the baseball season in 1998. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were making history. The Yankees were finishing up one of the best regular seasons ever. The Cubs were looking for one more win to reach the playoffs. It was an exciting day.  

My buddy John and I, both students at Maryland, headed to downtown College Park to watch the action. We had no cable on campus at the time, so we figured we would be able to catch some of the baseball on TVs at places like Ratsies, Cornerstone, Santa Fe or Bentley.

But we hit some roadblocks. Our main obstacle was that it was Sunday. A Sunday in October. So the Redskins were playing. The lousy, 0-3 and on the way to 6-10 Redskins. 

Every place we entered had the Redskins game on their television. 

"Can you switch over to ESPN so we can see the baseball?" we'd ask.

"Nah, Redskins" was the reply from the surly bartender or whomever declared themselves masters of the remote. 

This happened at several establishments. We finally got one fella to begrudgingly allow us to watch baseball during halftime of the Redskins game.

During this small period, ESPN decided to do a live look-in of a game involving the Tigers and Blue Jays. Some kid named Roy Halladay was pitching. He had a no-hitter going into the 9th. But Bobby Higginson went yard with two outs. Too bad. I had never heard of Roy Halladay, but I had a feeling he might have a nice career. 

Anyway, John and I missed McGwire's two home runs, which gave him 70 for the season. But the Redskins loss to the Broncos got top billing. 

It was an annoying Sunday afternoon. 

About 10 years later, my buddy Greg came to visit from Philly. The Eagles were playing the Giants in the playoffs. We went to ESPNZone in D.C. We watched the game. There was no argument, even though this was Redskins territory. I never had to fight to see the game I wanted there. People were friendly and understood we were there to watch sports. Yeah, the food was kinda expensive and not that good. But that's true for most sports bars. 

This is a long way of saying that I'll miss ESPNZone. It's too bad they are going out of business. It was a neat concept, maybe a bit too commercial, maybe a bit too overdone. But I could always see the game I wanted. ESPNZone, I salute you. 

Strasburg Night At Nationals Park: Pre-Game Scenes

The Nationals credentialed more than 200 people for tonight's debut of Stephen Strasburg. I am among the fortunate ones to be at the ballpark for this historic night. There's a lot of buzz. Here are a few shots of the media contingent. The first two show the crowd around Nationals manager Jim Riggleman.  

And here's Scott Boras, Strasburg's agent, who talked to the media for a long stretch.  

 

From the Melwood Prince George's County Open

I've decided to spend part of the day out at the University of Maryland to watch some of the best players on golf's Nationwide Tour. 

It seems like there is more buzz about the tournament this year, now that it's been moved to College Park from nearby Woodmont, C.C. 

Woodmont is a beautiful course, but this year the tournament has been able to leverage the relationship with the University and get some big names to promote it. Maryland basketball head coach Gary Williams, a noted golf fan, has been shuffling back and forth from his campus office. Under Armour CEO and Maryland grad Kevin Plank was also here. 

There are definitely some recognizable names in the field, too. Even casual golf fans will have heard of Frank Lickliter, Kirk Triplett, Skip Kendall, Bob May and Jason Gore. I have some personal affection for Dicky Pride, who made big headlines when he won the St. Jude Classic in 1994 as a rookie playing as the third alternate into the field. 

You can see the large "M" carved into the grass off the first tee. 

Below is Jason Gore ready to tee off at Hole #1. Remember Jason Gore? He teed off in the final pairing with Retief Goosen at the 2005 U.S. Open, but faded in the final round. 

  























 And...here's Gary, talking to some reporters. He was in very good spirits.   

Soccer Ball Nonsense

Many players in soccer's World Cup are crying foul over the new ball being used for the games in South Africa. 

The so-called "Jabulani" balls manufactured by Adidas have been called "weird," a "disaster, "difficult to control," and "appalling."

The hi-tech ball, was described by the London Telegraph as having "eight thermally-bonded, three dimensional panels which are spherically-moulded from fromethylene-vinyl acetat."

Whatever.

According to Adidas, it's the most advanced ball ever and will fly straight and true. Many players, on the other hand, say they don't like the way it flies and that it can be unpredictable. 

One could argue that the players need to stop whining, and that everyone is playing with the same ball and that evens the playing field. How different can one ball be from the next anyhow?

But let's look at it a different way. 

When Roy Halladay pitches, what does he throw? He throws a Rawlings baseball. Leather. With red stiches. Rubbed down with river mud. It's the same every time, and has been as long as anyone can remember. 

(Yes, I know, some people will say that the ball was somehow "juiced" during the 1990s, but there was no significant change in design or materials from Rawlings.)

When Adam Vinatieri kicks a field goal, what is he kicking? It's a Wilson football, made in Ohio in the same way it's been made for decades.

The NHL puck has been the same since the 1990-91 season. 

Basketballs? Well, Spalding tried to change it by introducing a synthetic material, but the players revolted and now it's back to the original leather. 

For reasons most likely tied to sales and profits, Adidas has felt the need to introduce a new ball for every World Cup. And every year there are complaints. While it's true that those negative comments die down once play begins, one can sympathize with a player who is forced to quickly grow accustomed to the feel and flight of a new ball as he enters the highest-pressure matches of his career. 

 Growing up, I always thought a soccer ball was supposed to look like this: 

No more. Now, the design is whatever Adidas wants it to be, and the materials in the ball change from year to year. 

Soccer is the most popular game in the world. The object of the game, elegant in its simplicity, is to kick a ball through a goal. And yet, very few people on earth can accurately say what that ball looks like or what it's made out of. 

Adidas: stop messing with the ball. Manufacture one that the players can be on board with, and stick with it. 

A New York Super Bowl: A One-Time Deal or Sign of Things to Come?

The NFL broke away from decades of precedent in deciding to hold the 2014 Super Bowl in New York, away from the balmy temperatures of the south or the climate-controlled comfort of a dome. Barring some funky February weather, this will be a cold-weather Super Bowl.

I personally feel this is a great move, simply because it could add an element of excitement to a game that is often lacking in energy. I've always said the most exciting games in football are the divisional playoff and championship games, because there's a greater sense of desperation, greater enthusiasm by the crowd and, in many cases, weather that has an impact on the game. Who can forget Adam Vinatieri's kick against the Raiders in the snow? 

But the New York Super Bowl is unlikely to lead to a flurry of northern cities hosting the big game in future years. The Big Apple is probably the only cool-weather city where hosting the Super Bowl would make sense from a business perspective. You could maybe-maybe-make an argument for Washington, D.C., but even that's a stretch. 

The Super Bowl is not just a game. It's a multi-day festival of football, complete with heavy sponsorship activation, corporate entertaining, parties, fan fests and media blitzes. The NFL loves holding the game in places like Miami, Tampa and San Diego because the warm weather allows for these types of activities to happen more easily. People want to come to Florida and Southern California in the middle of February. Convincing them to go north is a harder sell. 

Detroit did a decent job of hosting the Super Bowl in 2006 inside the domed Ford Field. City officials tried to go with the theme of a "winter festival" and it was not a complete flop. But compared to a week-long celebration on South Beach? No chance it would stack up. 

New York, of course, has some things going for it, aside from a brand-new stadium. It's big, it's alive, there's plenty to do and plenty of places to hold events and keep sponsors, fans and media folks happy. There are restaurants, there's nightlife. There would be a definite buzz about it. One wonders how much activity would take place at the Meadowlands and how much would shift to Manhattan or other places in the city. But New York could work. 

Weather-wise, New York would work better than, say, Boston or Buffalo because the threat of a big snowstorm would be relatively small. It also wouldn't be as cold as Cleveland or Green Bay.

What about Washington? That's Dan Snyder's dream. Certainly, he could make a philosophical argument that the nation's most popular game should be played in the capital city. And FedEx Field would hold the 90,000+ fans that the NFL likes to see. But it's not a new facility. If the NFL were thinking of coming to Washington, it probably would have done it back when Jack Kent Cooke built the thing. 

Of course, there are always those pesky rumors that the District of Columbia wants the Redskins to move into a shiny new facility to replace RFK Stadium. But those talks have never gotten past the "wow, wouldn't it be cool if..." stage. 

Other possible cold-weather candidates: 

New England - Bob Kraft is a very influential owner, and Gillette Stadium is nice. But the facility is too far away from Boston and there's still only one good road in and out. Plus, New England can have some nasty weather.

Buffalo - Only if the Bills get a new stadium and can somehow prevent a blizzard. 

Green Bay - Would be a nice story, but it's too dang cold. 

Philadelphia - Great football town, but Lincoln Financial Field is not really big enough, and Philly may be perceived as too rough around the edges. 

MLB Tickets: How to Get the Best Value

Hat tip to Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel for finding this. 

Secondary ticket pricing aggregator Seatgeek.com has published a series of charts analyzing the best days and times to find cheaper tickets in for Major League Baseball games. Here are some of the key conclusions. 

-The cheapest day to go is Wednesday, when tickets average $50.81

-The most expensive day is Saturday, when tickets average $73.58.

-Saturday sales represent 25 percent of the sales for the entire week, and sales volume on Saturday is double the daily average. 

-Not surprisingly, night games during the week are more in demand than day games during the week. 

-The cheapest time to go is Tuesday during the day, when tickets average just $34. Of course, there aren't many Tuesday day games.

The American Needle Case

So, the NFL doesn't get an antitrust exemption. 

The Supreme Court today unanimously ruled against the league in the case of American Needle v NFL, arguing that the NFL is not a single entity when it comes to negotiating licensing contracts.

I will point you to some excellent analysis by Marc Edelman at the Above the Law blog, to the always helpful Sports Law Blog and to Michael McCann's column at SI.com. 

The court's basic ruling was that each of the teams in the NFL was a "substantial, independently owned and independently operated business," and that while the teams do collaborate on rules and structure to create competitive balance, such collaboration isn't necessary when negotiating licensing deals.