HOLD ON TO YOUR GATOR TAILS!

Now that the BCS has picked the Gators to play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, the University of Florida will have a chance to be the first Division I, II or III college/university to win consecutive basketball and football championships. Looking ahead, the Gators hoops team could very well repeat as their entire starting lineup is back and chompin'. That would really be something!

On the flip side, if the Buckeyes beat Florida on January 8th, and then go on to win the NCAA Final Four in April, they'll be the first college to crack open a football and basketball title in the same school year.

I'm still shocked that USC lost to UCLA yesterday, but looking ahead, USC can be another university to win both football and basketball championships. Football is a near-given every year, but now that hyped hooper O.J. Mayo signed with the Trojans, he could potentially pave the way for other blue chips to follow his lead. And so on, and so on...

THE FUTURE SHAPE OF SPONSORSHIP

I was talking to a friend the other day who works in the business of airport advertising. She told me that airports are thinking about taking off with the idea of selling runway inventory. In other words, the entire runway might be an iPod or a Budweiser bottle. Can you imagine landing and the pilot saying, "We've just begun our initial descent into the New York area. We'll be landing in about 30 minutes on the Budweiser Runway where we, as pilots, know how to drink and fly responsibly." How ridiculous would that sound? But that's what it's come to. The Chicago White Sox recently reached a sponsorship deal with the convenience store chain 7-Eleven, and now every one of their games next year will start at 7:11 p.m. As Sports Illustrated would say, that's a "sign of the apocalypse."

Here are some untouched spaces I believe sponsors will snatch up in the future. Let's just hope they're never really sold.

1) Your neck. I would've said "your head," but I think society will be kind enough to let you keep your hair. But when you're born, you'll get a tattoo of a company's logo on your neck, such as a Nike swoosh, that you will have to sponsor for the rest of your life. You'll be like a walking billboard. Then, when you fill out any legal paperwork, you'll have to write, "Your name sponsored by company name." That will be the official name on your birth certificate, and if you write it wrong the form won't be processed.

2) NBA jerseys. Oh, sponsors are coming, don't you worry. Look at it this way: Some of the best NBA players in recent years have come from overseas where basketball jerseys are already decorated with sponsor logos. Perhaps that's because foreign players are pressured to play better at an earlier age to make all the companies represented on their jerseys happy and interested in continuing doing business with their teams.

3) "It's like, you know." Considering like the popularity of like the phrase, "It's like, you know," marketers will eventually jump on this phenomenon head-on. Because the words "like" and "you know" are perceived to be annoying and used poorly in spoken language, Hollywood will try to make it cool to say, "It's like, you know." Perhaps even a celebrity will create a fashion line called "It's like, you know." Remember when Paris Hilton filed a trademark on the phrase, "That's hot," in 2004? Boy, these days, anything is possible.

4) Designer implants. Companies will be able to sponsor breast and butt implants. So, let's say you're going under the knife for some new plastic, you could choose from a selection of designer implants. For an everyday, low price, you could buy a Wal-Mart implant and for a Fifth Avenue mortgage-like payment, you could purchase a Gucci one.

5) Sports lingo. Taking it a step further with sports lingo, companies will sponsor words that associate with a particular sport. For instance, a basketball dunk might be sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts; a golf tee shot might be sponsored by Lipton Tea; and a tennis singles match might be sponsored by Match.com or another online dating service. So there could be Lipton Tea signage at the tee shot or the game commentator could say, "Welcome to the men's singles final brought to you by Match.com, where singles meet their true match and come out on top.

6) Everywhere else.

Got any crazier ideas?

ANALYZE THIS: DARTFISH

Think you need a physical therapy degree to get involved with Dartfish Video Software Solutions? “No,” says Dr. Gregory Combs, a sports management professor at Methodist College who also owns a video training analysis company called Velo Smart Coaching. “It’s just like knowing how to use Excel and PowerPoint. I think it’s something else that students can really benefit from having on their resume.”

Combs, who retired from the military in 1996 after serving as an aviator during the original Gulf War in Somalia, now lives in North Carolina and is a member of the Cross Creek Cycling Club based in Fayetteville. Most of his clients are cyclists, triathletes and duathletes.

I spoke with Dr. Combs to find out more about Dartfish and video training analysis, what athletes can benefit from using it and why he stresses to his students to learn the innovative technology.

Q: What exactly do you do when you video train an athlete?

A: What I do, it’s not that complicated for me to check a rider’s position on the bicycle in accordance with his flexibility and range of motion. Video analysis really helps [riders] visualize what it looks like to be on the bike, and that way they can actually feel it and listen to their body. It just helps me analyze what they’re doing, how they’re compensating, what they’re doing right with the pedal stroke and how they’re positioned on the bicycle for better efficiency.

Q: What kinds of things do you test?

A: You can compare someone’s initial application to the sport to the drills that they’ve applied and show them the comparison – how they’ve improved. Or you compare them to other players by superimposing them. In the most recent Winter Olympics when you saw the downhill skiers, they would show one skier, superimpose him on another player and compare them on their turns, on their speeds. You can analyze the angles, the foot placement and how they contort their bodies. You can use it for the prevention of accidents. You can save an athlete’s career. You can use it for risk management to possibly reduce someone’s insurance costs.

Q: How do you find your clients?

A: A lot of the guys that I coach on the [Cross Creek Cycling] team are my clients. But I work with anybody: recreational riders to elite guys. I live in Southern Pines and it’s also a huge golf and equestrian community because it’s right outside of Pinehurst. I can go to the driving range when there’s a golf pro giving a lesson and say, “Listen, if you’re trying to explain to this guy what a swing looks like, I’ll video it for you and show you right there live and analyze it. I can give you tracking angles, I can actually track the golf head on how you’re pulling back on the backstroke and how it’s coming forward, hand placement, arm, angles, back.” And then the golf pro can say to his student, “Here, this is what you’re doing.” And I can put another client photo or video right next to it and say, “This is how it should look.” And then you video the guy how he used to golf, his swing and placement and then show the improvement – you can actually superimpose them. You can really show him where he’s lacking or what he’s doing well. So I can say, “Hey golf pro, I’m just going to enhance your services. Pay me $25 to come out per person, and I’ll even burn the videos to CDs.” Some of these golfers are spending big bucks just to reduce their handicaps.

Q: What are some of the general costs you charge?

A: The positioning and power test analysis is $370. Monthly training programs are $100 per month.

Q: How long has the technology been around for?

A: It’s been around for quite some time, but they’re just now enhancing the applications to where you can track angles while someone’s moving. You can put different labels on the joints and actually say this is where most of the energy is going to. It’s been around for quite some time, but they’re now bringing it into the U.S. market. Have you ever heard of Velocity Sports? They do a lot of speed camps and agility, and Dartfish does a lot with them. It’s a great business all in its own depending on your location. I mean, you can go to tennis camps, golf camps, equestrian, soccer, you name it, and help the coaches who would be the experts in the sport and just provide them a service. That’s what I’ve been trying to get my sport management students to get involved with this year. I’m actually trying to institute the Dartfish software into the curriculum. That way, they have an additional skill set. The New York Mets are using it. The folks at SUNY Cortland, their sports management program is actually the one who spearheaded Dartfish. A lot of their interns and graduates go on and work for pro teams. So it’s a huge skills set to have. I think it’s something else that students can really benefit from having on their resume. They can actually help facility managers earn additional income by helping grassroots programs and colleges with video analysis services.

Q: Do you need a physical therapy degree to get involved with video analysis?

A: No. Even if I had no coaching background, if I understood the application of going out there and video taping and collaborating with coaches, it would be an equivalent of a sports management major who’s really interested in a certain component of facility management, such as game day operations. And you can have an additional skills set to able to say, “Hey, I know how to run Dartfish.” It’s just like knowing how to use Excel and PowerPoint. Just having that skills set and saying, “Hey, I can actually go out and set up your cameras and videos, and burn CDs.” The coaches can say, “I want everything filed this way, that way,” and you can actually track the angles the coaches are looking for and help them analyze it.

Q: What bicycle brands do you recommend?

A: I’m a big fan of Cannondale. It’s American made, it’s fairly inexpensive. It’s an entry-level bicycle. You can get up into the thousands of dollars with that. But it’s just a really good machine. That bike I highly recommend to anyone. Litespeed is another really good bicycle that I recommend.

Q: How often do you have your cycling clients train during the week?

A: The clients that I’m working with, I have them riding anywhere from four to six days a week. If it’s earlier in their riding season, I’m increasing the duration but I’m decreasing the intensity. That’s when they’re getting in a lot of base miles and a low intensity. It enhances their pedal stroke ability, builds their endurance, increases their mitochondria development in the muscle system, which is a great thing to have, so when you’re trying to put out the power you have the mitochondria that’s doing that. It also enhances recovery, so the base foundation is really important. When the season starts building, then they get into doing more tempo-level rides.

Q: How do you decide a rider’s level of training?

A: There are a few things I look at. Their age and ability – how long they have been involved in the sport. With power ranges, I can actually say that these are the types of races you’re training for. I can really synthesize and get to the nuts and bolts of what they need to be working for. If they cannot reproduce that power and stay at that power range, I tell him, “Training’s over.” And that really takes the guess work out for me to tell them when they should back off on training.

Q: For someone who is picking up cycling for the first time, what would be your most important instruction?

A: Before I coach any athlete, I want to make sure they’re on the bike right. There’s what you would call a Ferrari syndrome. People feel, “Hey, if I buy a bike that looks nice, has top technology, I’m going to go fast.” Technically they’re going faster than they were in their older bikes, but they’re still in bad position. I’ll see athletes on bicycles with numb hands, shoulders, lower back, crouch. It’s all based on old technology, old wise tales so-to-speak on how you should be on a bicycle, not taking into consideration flexibility and range of motion. But you know and I know that there are Mustangs out there that don’t have a GT engine, but they may have a 4 cylinder and they may take 10 seconds to go from 0 to 60. And so, I see a lot of people out there on bicycles – six, seven, eight thousand dollar bicycles – that are in a position that I would call the paper-boy route. Their seats are way too low and their knees are flopping way out. It’s basically the equivalent of choking up on a baseball bat trying to hit a home run. They’re not getting full range of motion. So I would rather see my clients on a moderately expensive or inexpensive bicycle and get on it right, so they can use their muscles appropriately. And then, I work on their physiological system. I use the video analysis to enhance my explanation and visualization for their purposes. I also use power meters – I test them physiologically by heart rate, I get their speed, I get their RPMs, their power output. Then I’ll do a pre-test, post-test with that as well. And I’ll show them that this is their initial application to the bicycle and how they were performing. And then after I make the adjustments based on their strengths and weaknesses and their range of motion, and I show them their improved methods. They’re in a more efficient position on the bicycle and more aerodynamic.

Q: What is the biggest challenge you face when you work with your clients?

A: The main thing with most people is it’s not telling them to go fast; it’s telling them when to quit or recover. A lot of people will over-extend and they won’t allow themselves to recover. That’s usually the biggest problem. There was a quote, “There’s a marriage between a bicycle and a human being. Unfortunately the bicycle is only somewhat adjustable and the human body is only somewhat adaptable. So there has to be a positive synergy between the two.” Very few coaches really understand that, especially in cycling. So when I started getting into coaching more seriously, I started looking at the positioning application as the core of coaching. If you can’t get the person on the bike right, if you can’t get them to understand the technique of how to use their body appropriately, you can’t really build from there.

To learn more about Dartfish, go to www.dartfish.com.

NBPA SAYS THE LEAGUE NEVER CONSULTED THE PLAYERS

The article below is from today's Sports Business Daily. National Basketball Players Association Director Billy Hunter (pictured left) said, "We think both the union and the players should have been consulted prior to making the changes." NBA Commissioner David Stern (pictured right) is reviewing the situation and may deflate the decision for a ball change (click here for my reaction several days ago to the ball change).

NBA Commissioner David Stern “conceded for the first time that reverting to the old leather ball is a possibility if the rigorous testing he has just ordered validates the widespread complaints” about the new composite ball from Spalding, “particularly its tendency to become slippery when wet,” according to Ian Whittell of ESPN.com. Speaking before Sunday’s exhibition game in Paris between the Spurs and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Stern said, “Right now our plans are to stay the course, but we will monitor it and if we find there is something to it and it is a serious issue, we will take the appropriate steps because the most important thing to us is the game.” Stern: “Spalding came to us and said they had a technology that will improve the ball. They said that we are the only sport, professional or college, the last sport using leather and that they had a way to improve it. They came to us several years ago and we said we would have to see the technology working. ... They wanted to launch it one year ago, but we said no. We used it in the D-League, used it in the summer league, had players test it individually and, a year later, they said they had improved it even more. We said, ‘OK, let’s go’” (ESPN.com, 10/8).

STU JACKSON: NBA Exec VP/Basketball Operations Stu Jackson maintains the new ball is of higher quality than the old, all-leather model, and he told THE DAILY the switch was not a sales-driven decision. Jackson: “The introduction of the ball was not motivated by game-ball sales. In fact, the game-ball sales for Spalding is a very tiny fraction of their business, and actually represents less than 1% of their overall unit sales.” He said the league sent one ball to each of the teams to use between March and the end of the season, “then we used the ball in our summer league. Each player that was a roster player in the NBA last year received a ball to work out with during the summer.” Jackson said reverting to the old ball is an option the league is keeping open, but added, “Our plan is to go forward with this composite ball during the ’06-07 season, subject to further testing and feedback. If we decide going back to the old ball is the best option, we could make that adjustment at any time. We’d want to start the regular season with the ball that we’re going to play with for the year” (THE DAILY).

TEST ME, TEST ME: NBA VP/Marketing Communications Mike Bass said that Spalding, “in conjunction with league officials, will conduct the additional testing -– particularly during preseason games” (USA TODAY, 10/9). Spalding VP/Marketing Dan Touhey said that former NBAers Mark Jackson, Reggie Miller and Steve Kerr were the “primary testers” of the new ball. The only NBAers who tested the ball in competition were those competing in the All-Star Game this past season (N.Y. TIMES, 10/7). Jackson added, “The more the players play with the ball, the more they will get used to it and they will come to understand that this ball is better than the old ball” (WASHINGTON POST, 10/10). While NBA rules “dictate only one ball can be used during a game,” an NBA official said that the rule “could be altered to allow the new synthetic balls to be switched out when they become too slick” (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 10/9).

FROM THE UNION: NBPA Exec Dir Billy Hunter said, “The players have been livid. They are very much against changing the ball.” He added that the union is “investigating a protest.” Hunter: “We think both the union and the players should have been consulted prior to making the changes.” In N.Y., Liz Robbins noted some players “wondered whether the league changed the ball to boost sales.” But the NBA and Spalding said that they “changed for progress rather than profit” (N.Y. TIMES, 10/7). T’Wolves F and player rep Mark Madsen said that he would call the union to “share feedback and encourage discussion, steps that might have been neglected” before the new ball was introduced. Madsen said Heat C Shaquille O’Neal is “like the captain of the whole league. I’m hoping the league will take his concerns very seriously.” More Madsen: “This is like giving an accountant software that isn’t great, where he’d say, hey, the old software allowed us to do special things” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 10/7). In Boston, Mark Murphy wondered, “Did it occur to the folks in the home office or at [Spalding] ... to seek an opinion from the people who will actually use this new ball?” (BOSTON HERALD, 10/8).

SOME INSIGHT: ESPN’s Ric Bucher cited sources as saying that the reason the NBA’s official ball changed from leather to a composite is “because Spalding simply didn’t want to make leather balls anymore. Whether that was (because of) a leather shortage or (because) they’re not very marketable outside the NBA teams, they weren’t going to make them anymore. And the NBA chose not to look at going to a different company and breaking their deal with Spalding in order to continue to play with a leather ball, because by and large, around the world, almost nobody in any league is playing with a full leather ball anymore” (ESPN.com, 10/9).

NBA SHOOTS A BIG BRICK

So the NBA has had some problems in the last few years. So the NBA went ahead and tried to address them. The brawl, the hip-hop image, reviews of last-second shots. Psychologists stress that for every problem there is solution, but for every solution there is also a problem. But what if the problem was never a problem to begin with, and now it's a problem? That brings us to the NBA's decision to change the game ball this year.

From what I read, I saw no complaints from any player about the leather ball that had been used since 1970. So why would the NBA go ahead and get rid of it, and introduce a new composite ball made by Spalding? Not only that, why wouldn't the league test the ball with its players and get their reactions before introducing it to the game? The simple answer is that the new ball is similar to what most high schools and colleges use. But isn't the point of professional sports to test players with new obstacles and situations?

I'm disappointed that the NBA alienated its athletes, especially when usually all the negativity is pointed directly at them as the league's ratings have dropped significantly. I'm not sure if this even happened, but the NBA should have consulted with each team and player individually to get their feedback on the new ball. Seeing players come out this week and complain about the change and say things like "it sucks" or "that was a bad decision," puts David Stern and his management at a serious disadvantage. It's not just the NBA's marketers and equipment executives who work for the league, the players are employees too.

Where were they in all this? Definitely not in the meeting room. For the NBA, this problem is not like steroids. Just get rid of the new ball, and let's move on. Sometimes it's best to leave a good thing alone.

SPORTS NEED MORE COMMUNITY COVERAGE

Can you think of another week that was as hotly contested as last week? Here in New York City, and pretty much across the entire nation, we had to deal with several it's-too-hot-to-even-think days, prompting the city to conserve energy and, thus, causing a panic that its underground trains would shut down. Across the Atlantic, Israel had to, once again, fight as if it were the underdog, a fight that may soon be a success this time but is otherwise just another obstacle to make peace with Arab populations. And then there was Floyd Landis and Justin Gatlin who wrongfully took steroids to withstand the heat that comes from the competition. Who knew global warming would influence steroid use, too?

I hope everyone managed through the heat wave. I was planning to write this column several days ago, but I couldn't even think straight. I ended up prostrate on my couch watching Groundhog Day several times, meaning that I watched Groundhog Day about 50,000 times. I felt like there was a 50-pound weight on my chest, pressing me further down into my couch. That's how tired I felt, thanks to the absurd heat venting into my apartment, creating a sweat-bead headband around my forehead.

There was another reason why I was stuck to my couch. I was bewildered over the fact that Tour de France winner Floyd Landis was caught using steroids, and was very interested in reading and listening to reaction. The overall consensus was that enough was enough, stemming from MLB's steroid suspensions. Seriously, did you ever think that a cyclist would get busted for steroids? On top of that, the ESPN sports culture that we live in now is getting out of hand. First it was the World Series of Poker. Now it's darts tournaments. Fantasy gaming is blowing up, and now there are tons of sports publications solely dedicated to this hysteria. Go to Borders or Barnes & Noble and see for yourself. It's mind-boggling; not to mention, trivial and boring.

Of course, if you're a college student, sports is screaming your demographic. But not everyone wants this kind of sports coverage, especially as peoples' lifestyles have changed in recent years. No one works 9 to 5 anymore, and leisure time has never been more desired. For many people, the chaos, concrete and commercialization of big-city life is too overwhelming. More and more of them are choosing to relocate to small pastoral cities that combine the vibrancy of the city with the comforts of the suburbs. Money magazine recently ran a feature on America's Best Places To Live, saying that "Americans want two things: the opportunity for themselves and their children to prosper, and a quality of life that lets them enjoy the fruits of their work."

It's time for sports to fully embrace the stories, the games, the players and even the Mom's and Dad's in the communities who make it their full-time job to give their children an enjoyable upbringing. The biggest sports media giants should dedicate more coverage to these communities, perhaps designating a section on their websites called "Communities" and hiring freelance writers from all over the country to report on local amateur and recreational sports. They could even hire student interns who may be active within their community sports leagues.

SI back-page columnist Rick Reilly wrote an article this week about how a youth ball coach walked the other team's star player so he could face a scrawny batter to win the game (supposedly the coach didn't know he was a cancer survivor). These are the stories that we should really be worried about, the ones centered around the kids - our future. These are the core human-interest stories that make us cringe, make us cry, make us celebrate.

The last couple of days have made me wither in the overheating of sports coverage.

Oh, what a week it was.

HOOP DREAMS FOR NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTHS

They aren’t just streetballers from inner-city projects who hope to one day overcome their oppression and earn a college scholarship, their potential ticket to playing in the NBA. Rezballers from Native American reservations share that same dream, but the difficulties of living in desolate quarters have made their skills and vision virtually undetectable. But thanks to NABI, the Native American Basketball Invitational, American Indian teenagers now have a reason to rejoice within their tribal communities.

This past week marked the fourth straight annual NABI tournament (the Final Four was held in Arizona at the Phoenix Suns arena, the US Airways Center). I spoke with Gina Scarpa, NABI Co-Founder and Tournament Director, to learn more about NABI’s humble beginnings and how it’s continuing to grow.

Q: Where did the idea come from?
A: We decided to start a tournament for Native American athletes because of the lack of showcasing they get in college and pro sports. I mean, you don’t see a lot of Natives in collegiate or pro sports. It’s not that they’re not talented; it’s just that they don’t have the same opportunities to be showcased. Reservations are desolate. A lot of the coaches from colleges hit the larger cities – they can hit many high schools in one day, but it would take two to three days to get to a reservation. There were all these obstacles for Native American athletes, so we decided to create a tournament and bring the talent to them. And that’s how NABI was created.

Q: How did you promote NABI?
A: We started first really just promoting the idea to the tribes in Arizona because that’s where we’re from – the Phoenix area. We approached the Phoenix Suns because at the time Mark West was there – and still is there – as the GM and he was a former player. And they loved the idea. The next thing was to fly up to Beaverton, Oregon, and meet with Nike. And we got a meeting with them and they loved the idea. And then the Phoenix Mercury came onboard and, boom, NABI was born. So we first just promoted the event to the Arizona tribes and in our first year we also got an interest from tribes outside Arizona. So we sat and talked about opening up a tournament for tribes outside Arizona. Half the tribes are from Arizona. Our first year in 2003, we had 24 teams. Our second year, we had 45. Our third year, we had 97 teams apply within two weeks of open registration. And this year, we’re keeping it to 64 teams – 32 boys’ teams and 32 girls’ teams – because it’s more manageable and quality-wise. They’re from all over the country, including Canada. We’ve become the largest all-Native basketball tournament in the country.

Q: Is NABI a non-profit organization?
A: We were originally going to put the tournament under a non-profit, but we would’ve lost control of it because there are no guarantees with a government board. Our intentions – Mark and I – were always to give back to the Native country if it became successful. So we chose to do it under a LLC and have a non-profit entity where profits go into. This way, we always maintain control over the trademark and everything. Everyone was like, “Why didn’t you just do it under a non-profit?” Because we could have easily been voted out and lost all control of the event. And our relationships to make the event successful came from Mark’s relationship with the NBA and Nike. In order to maintain those relationships, we had to keep it under a LLC.

Q: Does the NBA help fund the event?
A: No, not yet. I was going to approach them because of how big the tournament has gotten. We were going to give it a couple years. I call it fermenting to just really get us flavor. It’s now the biggest thing in Native country among the kids, especially rez ball players. This year, we were going to approach the NBA’s sponsors to support this event, and I think we’re not going to have a problem with that.

Q: Are the headquarters in Arizona?
A: Yes. The Final Four games are played at the US Airways Center, which is the home of the Phoenix Suns. That’s another big thing. The kids just fight to play on an NBA court. And then, of course, the championship games are held with all the flash, the lights go out, the spotlights are on the kids. We get all the game opportunities from the Phoenix Suns, so it’s just like an NBA game. The kids are in all Nike uniforms and they stay at the nearby Hyatt Regency. The time they have out here is just amazing.

Q: When you say kids, what’s the age range?
A: High school.

Q: Is there a cut-off age?
A: Yes, 19. The whole purpose of the event is to showcase Native American high school athletes for the purpose of creating college scholarships. We’ve had some college scholarships awarded already from scouts and coaches that come out – mostly from tribal universities and junior colleges. We’re hoping to become NCAA-certified, but we had some trouble with the demographic rules this year. That’s why we couldn’t be certified.

Q: What kind of trouble?
A: The NCAA needs to become a little bit more sensitive to Native countries, their demographics and the sovereign nation issues. The reservation team can be from the same city or high school, but they can’t be outside of 100 miles. There are a lot of tribes that don’t have high schools on reservations, so the kids go to BIA [Bureau of Indian Affairs] boarding schools, which sometimes are cross-country.

Q: So you mostly focus on the reservations?
A: Yes. They have to be Native American, they have to prove it with a CIB (Certificate of Indian Blood) or Tribal Enrollment Card. And they have to be enrolled in high schools. Those are our only requirements. So the team can be an All-Star team made up of multi-tribes, but it has to consist of all Native American players.

Q: Do you have rules on academic standing?
A: We really encourage the coach to make those rules. In part of BIA rules, they have to have a certain grade point average. They have to maintain a good attendance record, so they use the NABI tournament as a tool for the coaches to get their kids to do better in school.

Q: Are educational programs included in your organization?
A: We have what we call “Native Circles” and we try to get Native role models whether they’re doctors or attorneys to come and talk to the kids about the importance of education and giving back to the reservations. Because now with all the Indian gaming and casinos, the Native tribes are buying all kinds of different enterprises, but they’re all being run by non-Natives. A lot of these kids don’t go on to further education to have the experience or education to run the casinos. So we’re trying to stress the importance to these kids, because the tribes make so much money from the enterprises, that they need to go back and run these enterprises on behalf of the tribes.

Q: What venues does the NABI use during the tournament?
A: Well, Phoenix is surrounded by reservations. We work with all the reservations around Phoenix, mostly Fort McDowell, which is the Salt River reservation. And we use all their high school recreation gyms. So we have like 120 games in five days. And then the Final Four will go on to play at the US Airways Center.

Q: How has the graduation rate been?
A: It’s been great. The first thing with NABI when we first started in 2003 is we were hoping within our first maybe three years that we would get recognized as a tournament that has some incredible talent for college coaches to scout. It happened in our first year. We had six scholarships awarded to the kids who played in NABI. So since our inception, we’ve had over 20 scholarships. And those are just the ones I’ve heard of. I keep hearing every year kids went on to get full-ride scholarships by playing in NABI that weren’t even reported to us. Scouts come out from a lot of the tribal universities and junior colleges.

Q: Describe the reservation basketball culture.
A: It’s rez ball. It’s a totally different style of play. Native American kids… When I say unbelievable athletes, they just have the endurance and the agility. I always say, “Off-the-charts!” They don’t like taking time outs. They’re always in the zone. We were televised live last year for the first time and it was really hard for them to take TV timeouts. It’s non-stop action. It’s an incredible game of basketball. It’s incredible.

Q: Do you anticipate any future TV deals?
A: We’re hoping. I think as the tournament gets bigger and bigger, ESPN2 will be knocking on our doors because they do a lot of the high school games already. And NABI is getting that big. Like I said, we had live television for the first time last year with the local Arizona KAZ-TV. They span out to urban Phoenix, metropolitan Phoenix, out in the northern area, Tuscan. So they have a really good audience. It was over a million viewers.

Q: What kind of sponsors do you have?
A: Tribal sponsors. Nike’s one of our biggest sponsors. A lot of the tribes sponsor us, especially in Arizona.

Q: Are you a former player yourself?
A: Actually, no. I played ice hockey. I’ve been working with kids, though, in non-profit fields for years. I was formally the executive director of the A.C. Green Foundation for like 10 years working with kids. I just love doing what I do. So it’s basically me and Mark West who’s an advocate for education and the idea of using your athletic ability to secure a college scholarship. That was his goal. He never really thought about the NBA – it just happened because he was prepared. So he tells the kids, “Yes, the NBA is wonderful, but do NABI first and make this your goal, and everything that happens after that is like icing on cake.” So my biggest thing with the kids is just… I grew up in a housing project back east. All the odds were against me and it was just because people stepped in and cared enough about me to change my life. So I’ve always had to stick my heart out for other people. That’s what I wanted to do with my life. And it just happens that I see a need in the Native community. I really can’t understand what they go through – the oppression in some of the reservations. But I can understand what it’s like to be treated differently because of where you come from.

Q: Is it fair to compare the oppression in the reservations to that in the inner-city projects?
A: I think oppression is oppression. I can’t say they’re similar because they’re not. African Americans struggle with things different from how Native Americans struggle with things. But when you start to look at the common denominator, it’s oppression. It’s loss of hope, loss of the dreams and not having the role models they need to succeed. I can recognize the oppression because I came from an oppressed area and I know what that did to me as a kid.

Q: For some of these kids, is basketball their last hope at getting into college?
A: Yeah. I think there were some kids who came into NABI never dreaming of going to college. Before stepping on a court playing in the NABI, they were just ready to graduate high school and do whatever their life took them. They were just going to accept that. But we’ve had kids who have just really changed their lives.

For more information, check out www.nabihoops.com.

REFLECTIONS ON THE SPORTS SCENE IN EUROPE

"Soccer, it appears, is the only thing we don't want crammed down our throats. What does this attitude toward the World Cup say about the U.S.? It illuminates many of our least flattering qualities as a nation, not least of which is a breathtaking incuriosity about the rest of the world."
- Steve Rushin, Sports Illustrated, June 12, 2006

While I was recently on vacation with my family in Europe - specifically Spain, Italy and France - I was curious to get a sense of each country's sports culture. Here are some of my reflections (in chronological order):

1) After our Delta Airlines flight landed at Aeropuerto Internacional El Prat de Barcelona and we walked out of the gate and through customs, I noticed right away several sports shops. From the looks of them, they were all speaking futbol to me - only soccer uniforms and balls were on display in the front window. Around the airport, I saw several FC Barcelona jerseys (Spain's most prominent club team) with the name "Messi" on the back for Lionel Messi, FCB's young star who has been touted as "the new Diego Maradona" because of his Argentinean roots. Besides soccer represented in the terminal, there were no other sports signs of life.

2) After we checked into our hotel, Citadines, we strolled down Las Ramblas, the city's most popular strip lined with trees and featuring scores of mines, entertainers, cafes and kiosks. One street artist was dressed in soccer attire doing tricks with a ball, including one where he kicked it over his head onto the back of his neck where he balanced it for some time. During our walk, I stopped by several newsstands, called La Vanguardia, to see what kind of sports magazines they sold. Most of them were soccer publications, but I came across two for baloncesto (basketball), which I bought for about three Euros each. One was called Gigantes and the other was Revista Oficial de NBA, the Spanish version of the NBA's Hoop Magazine. Gigantes, to no surprise, covers European basketball, its top teams and players. In the issue I picked up, there were several two-page pull-out posters of some of the top players in Europe. Most of the advertisements, which ran at the lower portion of the right page, promoted summer basketball camps throughout Spain. There was only one section featuring the NBA, which discussed the playoffs. With Revista Oficial de NBA, I noticed the staff from the masthead all work in Barcelona. What stuck out for me about the magazine was its focus on NBA forward Pau Gasol, who's from Spain and plays for the Memphis Grizzlies. There was an article recapping Gasol's season with the Grizzlies and a section in the back called "Las cartas de Pau Gasol" ("Pau Gasol's Letters") where Gasol himself wrote his predictions for the NBA Playoffs and explained who he thought should be the 2006 MVP. His pick was another foreign player Steve Nash, who was born in South Africa and grew up in Canada.

3) On our way to the Port de Barcelona to start our seven-day cruise, on the Norwegian Jewel, I asked the taxi driver, "Como es popular es el baloncesto en Espana?" He said, very ecstatically, "Muy popular!" I then asked him, "Sabe quien Pau Gasol?" And again he responded with a lot of excitement, "Oh, si, si!" Finally I asked him about the World Cup. He pointed to a schedule he had taped to his dashboard, which listed the days and times of when Spain was playing. We definitely got a kick out of seeing that.

4) One of the first things we did after we checked into our cabin was head toward the cruise's information center to inquire about the NBA Finals. We wanted to see if the sports bar was going to be airing Game 1 on Thursday (3 a.m. Friday our time). We asked a stodgy man at the desk several questions, but he kept repeating, "Sir, if enough people put in a request for the game, we may carry the broadcast. We're not sure right now." It was like we were speaking a foreign language to him. Perhaps if we had said, "World Cup," he would've understood better; as it is, most of the ship's employees were not from the U.S. but from the Philippines.

5) As newer and bigger cruise ships enter the overall fleet, there seems to be one component about them that keeps on expanding: Sports. On the Norwegian Jewel, which debuted last year, there was one game I had never seen on board a ship: Shuffleboard. Other than that, the regular activities included a gym, basketball/tennis court, golf cage, running track, sports video games in the arcade and card games in the casino. Several times during the week, the kids' center organized a late-night dodgeball contest on the basketball court. If you think about the all-included food you eat and midnight buffets you can't resist, there better be numerous ways to burn off that fat.

6) On our first sightseeing day, we took a tour bus up one of the mountains in Sicily into a small town called Taormina. As we walked through the quaint streets bordered by low-rising buildings with terracotta roofing, we noticed a lot of Italia soccer gear being sold. But what really caught our attention were several Miami Heat hats and shirts worn by tourists from the cruise. As we passed each other, we yelled in unison, "Go Heat!" Because of the Heat contingent on the cruise, we felt more optimistic that the Jewel would have no choice but to air the Finals.

7) The next day we went on a guided tour of the old city of Pompeii, which was buried under 21 feet of volcanic ash 2,000 years ago by Mount Vesuvius. Seeing the excavated ruins was probably the highlight of my vacation because you're able to walk through the most of the original streets and the remains of the foundation. One landmark we saw was the city's main amphitheater, which was the oldest in Roman times erected in 70-80 BC. Inside the 20,000-capacity arena were gladiatorial contests. The city also had a workout area where there once was assorted free weights and several swimming pools. On our way back to board the ship, we stopped at a newsstand by the dock in Capri. To compare with the Barcelona basketball magazines, I picked up an Italian publication called Superbasket. It contained mostly feature stories with hardly any pictures or advertisements, a bit boring to look at since I couldn't read it, of course. There was one article about Andrea Bargnani and his Benetton Treviso club team. Many say that the 7-foot, 250-pound Bargnani is the best player ever to come out of Italy and the potential No. 1 pick in this Wednesday's NBA Draft.

8) Back on the cruise later that night, we made a pass by the information desk one last time to get an update on the NBA Finals situation. A nicer man said that unfortunately the cruise wouldn't be showing the game because ABC, the host broadcaster, hadn't sold the television rights to the Norwegian Cruise Line. We asked if there was a way we could buy the game individually for our room, but that also wasn't a possibility. We were disappointed, but then again, we probably would have passed out before the tipoff at 3 a.m.

9) The following day we headed to Rome. When we got there, our tour bus parked a few blocks from the Coliseum, right next to a soccer field where two teenagers were practicing a penalty-shot situation. Although the playing ground was uneven dirt, the kid who was kicking was extremely accurate with every attempt, bending the ball perfectly like Beckham. I thought about all the dreams of American streetball players back home and the long hours they put into shooting into hoops with no nets or backboard squares. And what do a lot of them end up having in common? Some serious game.

10) The last stop on our cruise was Villefranche, France, located on the magnificent French Riviera. From there, we took a 10-minute train ride to Monte Carlo where we walked on the street used in the Formula 1 Grand Prix just a week earlier. Part of the track rides along the marina packed with 60-foot yachts, goes up the hill around the famous Casino Royale and then comes back down near the five-star Hotel de Paris. Just to get some perspective how expensive the hotel is, when we had lunch in its outdoor cafe we ordered three club sandwiches, two orange juices and two Cokes, and it was 71 Euros. That's around 90 dollars! After we left Monte Carlo, we took a 15-minute train ride to Nice, France. We didn't have much time there because we were running behind and didn't want to miss our cruise, but I was able to browse one of the train station's newsstands. I was in a hurry, so I quickly grabbed one called Le Foot (pictured above). Under its heading, it said, "Special Mondial," which was a reference to the issue's World Cup preview. Inside, the pictures of the players were as tall as the size of the page, an underlying theme as to why soccer is as big as it is in Europe, and still kickin'.

* * *

The day after I arrived back in my apartment, I picked up the New York Times outside my front door and turned to the sports section. The top headline was: "Americans Are Ready, Without Excuses." Although I missed my European whirlwind tour, I was proud that my country was participating in the World Cup after being immersed for a week overseas in a soccer-frenzied environment. This is a time, only once every four years in sports, when unbridled patriotism sweeps across the globe as millions of fans reach for their face paint, costumes and musical instruments. The World Cup can bind or break a nation. Aren't you just a little bit curious?

SHAQ MORE ON THE PATERNITY ATTACK

Shaquille O'Neal's wife, Shaunie Nelson, is due to deliver the couple's fourth child - a girl - today at South Miami Hospital. That will be six kids for Shaq (he has a daughter and Shaunie has a son from previous relationships).

No signs of a letdown from the "Shaq Daddy" department, but he sure can't get his feet off the ground like he once did as a Blue Chip. To make matters worse, in the years to come, Shaq (pictured) may be celebrating his upcoming daughter's birthday during the same time the Miami Heat embarrassingly lost to the younger Chicago Bulls. Yesterday, the "Baby Bulls" tied the series at two games apiece. In Game 3, Shaq had just eight points to go along with seven turnovers against a weak frontline of Malik Allen and Michael Sweetney.

Speaking of the "Baby Bulls," Shaq should name his infant Beth - the closest female version to Ben - after Bulls guard Ben Gordon who has completely ripped through the Heat perimeter defense like a scissor. Respect is due and it should be wrapped in Shaq-a-Claus' pink blanket.

"40 MINUTES OF HELL" AT MISSOURI SPELLS MISERY

When Mike Anderson (pictured) was introduced as the University of Missouri's new men's basketball head coach several weeks ago, he said that "the fastest 40 minutes in basketball" were coming to campus. What he failed to mention was how long until those 40 minutes were going to be on display for antsy Mizzou fans who haven't seen their team reach the NCAA Tournament since 2003. Well, it's going to be more than a year until, at the very least, Missouri is back on the Big 12 basketball map. That's because the Tigers are coming off a year where they finished second to last in their conference. It doesn't help that they face a year of recruiting probation for off-the-court issues. That begs the questions: Did the university rush too quickly to find a replacement for Quin Snyder and was Anderson the right choice?

After Snyder resigned midway through last season (many thought he was pushed out), Athletic Director Mike Alden organized a search committee to find his successor. Alden's advisors included Assistant AD Gary Link, Senior Associate AD Mario Moccia, Deputy Chancellor Mike Middleton and former All-American Tiger guard Jon Sundvold. One of the candidates they interviewed was Mike Anderson because they were attracted to his "40 minutes of hell" style of basketball. And they figured high school prospects would feel the same way.

Well, that hell is definitely on its way. The team has to deal with a loss of one scholarship and being hit with one year of recruiting probation due to Snyder's off-the-court issues. Several years ago, he recruited point guard Ricky Clemons from junior college who turned out to be a huge problem. Clemons choked his girlfriend and ended up in jail. Later, while on house arrest, he crashed his car. Snyder was obviously not the one breaking the law, but his recruiting antics had brought in a hot head. You could make the argument that Snyder did his job by leading the Tigers to the tournament in 2003, but in the last two years, the team has nose-dived to near bottom of the Big 12 conference. He had problems maintaining consistency in the team's work ethic and style of play. That's why Snyder had felt the wrath from Alden who is now on the hot seat himself. Tigers basketball is long overdue from returning to the glory days when legendary coach Norm Stewart was at the helm. These days, there's more buzz around the football team - this past season, they won their first bowl game in 20 years.

So, how does Mike Anderson fill the void left by Snyder? From a statistical standpoint, very well. In four seasons at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, he was 89-41, guiding the Blazers to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and even going as far as the Sweet 16 in 2004 after upsetting No. 1 Kentucky. Credit goes to his hard-nosed defensive philosophy, which is where the "40 minutes of hell" expression derives. From the first year he took over at UAB, he brought the team instant success, and Missouri hopes he can do the same for its underachieving men's basketball program.

Anderson also has a reputation in the recruiting world. It's no coincidence that he's getting paid $850,000 per year – one of the highest salaries in college basketball. Anderson has contacts in some of the hottest basketball areas for rising stars, including Chicago, Memphis and cities in the Southeast – a mostly chartered region for football talent, not basketball. Having Anderson is a breath of fresh air, not only in the sense that he's been successful in such a short period of time. You see, Anderson is the first black coach at Missouri, which is a very attractive situation for young, black athletes who are looking for a demanding father figure who demands discipline and relentless hustle until the final buzzer sounds. It's not that white players won't want to come to Missouri; having a black coach with a wider network of contacts will open new recruiting doors.

But it sounds like the Tigers team is turning into a family tree, which is a cause for a concern. Anderson decided to keep Melvin Watkins, the interim head coach last year after Snyder stepped down. Melvin's son, Marcus, will be a senior guard in the fall. In addition, Anderson hired his nephew T.J. Cleveland from UAB to be one of his assistants. Perhaps Anderson is doing all this just in case the team does poorly, so he'll have the support from his coaching staff – I mean, family. Thinking nepotism? Well, it all sounds too chummy in my opinion. At the same time, the family system could work. Think of the Bowden brothers at Florida State, the Shula father-son combination with the Miami Dolphins and the Thompson generation at Georgetown.

A major threat, though, to Anderson's success lies within the upcoming Big 12 conference forecast, which calls for an increase in competition. Watch for it to reach new heights in 2007 when Kansas State should land the top two prospects in the country, O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker from Ohio's North College Hill High School. They're very interested in playing for Bob Huggins, who recently became head coach of the Wildcats. Huggins spent the previous 16 seasons at Cincinnati where he went 399-127, including 14 straight NCAA Tournament selections and a Final Four trip in 1992. Furthermore, he coached a handful of NBA prospects, including Kenyon Martin, Nick Van Exel, Ruben Patterson and Danny Fortson.

Anderson may not have been the best choice for Missouri basketball, at least not now. The team is in its rebuilding stage and will struggle next season without any blue-chip prospects. The school could've waited until next season to hire a new coach and let Melvin Watkins handle the reins for one more season, but that wasn't going to happen for two main reasons. First, Alden needed to make a quick and smart decision because he was on the verge of getting fired. Second, there were a bunch of solid coaches on the market and they all were going to be snatched up. If the Anderson project doesn't work right away, look for Alden to be axed.

Anderson will be able to keep his office longer, but in what kind of condition will it be? Huggins should've been the choice even though, like Snyder, he was cited for off-the-court incidents (Huggins was charged with DUI). Missouri probably wanted to shy away from previous run-ins. But Huggins' track record speaks for itself. In addition, he's about to land the nation's best recruiting class in 2007, which is when Missouri basketball will regain its scholarships and won't be on recruiting probation. Unfortunately, by that time Missouri will be in misery. In college sports, coaches are really known as figureheads as their name alone boosts recruiting possibilities. Huggins is one of those guys. And unlike Anderson, Huggins has had long-term, consistent success.

CAN SPORTS SACK LOCAL NEWS?

Since I've been working at CBS in New York City, several of our weekend local newscasts have been canceled - either Saturday at 6 pm or the Sunday 6:30 pm show - because a sporting event ran longer than expected. Sometimes, the game would feature teams cross-country from the Tri-State area, but the network would still commit to the final buzzer. That just shows you the overall power of sports in our society. A hard-working, deadline-driven, pressure-filled team of writers, editors, producers, reporters and anchors can create a 30-minute show down to the second, but a last-second, game-tying three-pointer at the end of regulation can completely erase someone else's purpose for going to work on a given day. Quite interesting.

Well, I spoke with former CBS Sports Senior Vice President of Production and Programming, Rick Gentile (pictured), to learn more about the local news business, how it's adapted to emerging electronic media technologies and its future in competition with sports television.

Mr. Gentile, who was previously a 10-time Emmy Award-winning sportscaster, headed CBS' coverage of the Winter Olympic Games from 1992 to '98 in Albertville, Lillehammer and Nagano. Currently, he is a sports management professor at Seton Hall University where he recently directed the Seton Hall Sports Poll, the first-ever university-based, ongoing polling service.

Q: What are your thoughts on the current state of local news in regards to quality and viewership?
A: I think local news has not changed all that much in quality over the years. It's obviously easier to get live feeds from the field and local stations have all increased the number of live-field reports. I find that true not just in the New York market, but in smaller markets as well. I have a house in Pennsylvania that receives Scranton local stations, and while the quality is not up to New York standards, they still feature multiple live or taped field reports throughout the show. I think viewership has probably not suffered as much as overall network viewership - too many choices, etc. But the landscape is extremely competitive, and even if viewership decreases, quality will continue to improve, especially technologically.

Q: What factors go into deciding whether a sporting event should extend into the local news time slot? Who makes those decisions?
A: The decision as to whether sports will run over into news time is made ultimately by the local station. It always has the ability to pull the plug on the network, but rarely does so to avoid incurring the wrath of the viewers. It's hard to justify cutting off the last few minutes of a close contest or even a blowout to go to local news. In the case of sports running into the network news, that decision is made jointly by the sports and news divisions of the network. Again, usually sports wins and stays on and the news broadcast is shortened or completely eliminated. That's not a big deal on the network level, but a local news show that is eliminated carries a significant cost factor. In some cases, with the PGA Tour and NFL for example, the networks are contractually committed to stay to the end of the event.

Q: Do networks see that 30-minute news window, which is a couple of times per day, as a blockade from adding more sports programming?
A: I do not believe the networks see the local news show as problematic. If an event needs to be scheduled past the news window, such as the Masters and the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, the network will notify stations well ahead of time. Networks are generally capable of scheduling comfortably, allowing for an off time of 6 pm on weekends except for the examples I mentioned before, such as the Masters. Runover is another issue as I discussed earlier.

Q: If networks add more sporting events to their programming, can local news see its demise? If not entirely, what about news during the weekend when most games are going on?
A: I do not see more sports programming on the networks affecting local news, and rarely does it impact weekday news broadcasts. The issue is almost exclusively a weekend issue except for those rare weekday sportscasts which are scheduled well in advance, so the stations know what's in store for them. Affiliated stations need that local news time for revenue purposes. They make more money on the 30 minutes of local news than on the local spots they would get in those corresponding 30 minutes of network sports. If the network sports divisions want the continued cooperation and clearance of local stations, they need to respect the financial needs of those stations. And local news is a big part of those financial needs.

Q: With the advent of streamline video, newscasts are transitioning into webcasts. Is this reason enough that networks can say, "There's a higher financial demand for sports television, so if you want to watch the news, turn to the Internet?"
A: But the problem is that there isn't necessarily more money in sports, certainly not for the local stations. Networks need cooperation from the stations; the majority of stations are not owned by the network. If the stations revolt and refuse to carry the network's sports programming, which raises all sorts of other issues, the networks will be hard-pressed to command the kind of advertising rates without the 100 percent clearance they're accustomed to. Those sports programs generally do not make money for the local stations. They add an audience that carries over into local programming, like news, that does make money. It's a symbiotic relationship, but there's a delicate balance that has to be maintained.

Q: Would you say the Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw era of news anchors is ancient now?
A: I think the days of the "Voice of God" anchor are probably coming to an end. The audiences for those shows have really eroded over time at a higher rate than general network programming. I think network news will continue to try to be more entertaining and start to resemble morning news shows more and more - more teases, more promotion, more women correspondents if not anchors, etc. The networks will try whatever it takes to get more people to watch. Obviously, simply presenting "hard news" as Dan Rather used to say isn't getting it done.

Q: Do young people, 18 to 34, really care about who's anchoring the news? Aren't they more attuned to sports TV personalities who nowadays act more like entertainers?
A: I don't think young people care whether Tom Brokaw or Bob Schieffer or whoever is anchoring the network news shows because I don't think young people are watching at all. If they are watching anything it's CNN and FOX News, but more likely they're going to the web for their news fix if they're going anywhere at all. I think, for the most part, the networks have given up trying to get young people to watch network news shows, or news magazine shows for that matter. They probably are more attuned to sports personalities - not necessarily TV sports personalities. I don't think they care if Jim Nantz or Bob Costas is hosting a show. It's the show or event that counts and has to be compelling. Very few on-air personalities can command an audience: John Madden to some extent in football, John McEnroe in tennis, maybe Dick Vitale in basketball and possibly Charles Barkley. For the most part, the game's the thing.

Q: Do you think the local news broadcast will change its format in the future? If so, how?
A: I think local news broadcasts are always changing to adapt to or try to attract new audiences. Graphics are always changing and music is becoming more and more a presence. That's not a new phenomenon. It's the constant mandate for local news to try to attract new audiences - attempts to hire younger, hipper anchors and more minority representatives depending on the market. But keep in mind that local news is not network news - two completely different animals.

Q: If 24-hour local news channels exist, such as New York 1, why do networks still compete with each other over their local news programs when they're essentially airing the same content?
A: Because there's money to be made in broadcasting local news. The costs are controllable to a great extent and it gives the local station an opportunity to brand itself in the community. For example, this past weekend the Scranton CBS station preempted all the network basketball games on Saturday to air the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Scranton from 1 to 4 pm. [The parade] is sold all the time and [the station] keeps all the money. Local news gives stations the opportunity to endear themselves to the local market. So yes, they all air the same stories, but they all try to give [their audiences] the personality of the station. There is often a combining of news shows - two or more stations in the same market might air the exact same news show - but each sells it separately. Local news is critical to local stations.

Q: Right now, the FCC restricts the number of hours per day and per week a station can air network programming. The only exceptions are long-running sporting events and major news events. Do you think these rules will change?
A: The FCC rules are always changing to some degree, but no, I don't think they will change too drastically. The point is to avoid monopoly of news distribution - allow for many voices in each community. In giving networks the right to own more stations representing a higher percentage of homes in the U.S., the FCC is already granting the networks more power over public opinion. If the only voice the viewer hears is the voice of Viacom or G.E. or Disney or FOX, we're all in trouble. That's why local stations are important bearers of information to the community. There are other FCC rules covering public service announcements, equal time and access to candidates prior to elections, obscenity issues, etc. Each network has a program practices division stocked with lawyers overseeing programming and issuing proclamations.

Q: If sports can't entirely take over local news, can reality shows be added to the equation, especially when you consider "American Idol" dominated the Winter Olympics in ratings?
A: I don't see reality shows cutting into local time any more than sports. "American Idol" beat the Olympics this time around. Maybe next time the Olympics beat "American Idol," but they lose to the next great sitcom or drama. Who knows? But the one thing I think will continue as long as the TV environment stays on the same course is that local news, and generally local programming, will continue to be a cash cow for the local stations. Many stations would rather run "Oprah," or "Jeopardy," or "Wheel of Fortune" than any network show.

NBA ANNOUNCES CURE TO ARRHYTHMIAS

Since my recent interview with Miami Heat cardiologist Dr. Edward Neff regarding this season's NBA arrhythmias, the league has passed a rule that requires every team to check for cardiovascular disease.

Sports Illustrated reported in its March 6th issue that the "NBA established guidelines for player physicals, after a spate of heart-related problems in the last year. All players must now undergo echocardiograms, heart imaging exams that can detect defects missed by the electrocardiograms players now take. The change is meant to address a string of cardiac incidents: In October the death of Hawks center Jason Collier was traced to an enlarged heart. Former Timberwolves guard Fred Hoiberg and free-agent forward Robert Traylor are out for the year with heart ailments, and Lakers top draft pick Ronny Turiaf missed most of the season. The NBA is the first pro league to make echocardiograms mandatory."

STILL SPORTS SAVVY AT 98 YEARS OLD

South Florida resident Ray Mooney was watching this year's NBA All-Star Game, but like everyone else not at the Toyota Center in Houston, she was unaware of an unusual occurrence in the fourth quarter. During a timeout, the Miami Heat's 51 to 80-year-old dance group called the Golden Oldies stole the spotlight with a performance to the hip-hop song "Gold Digger." But back east, Ray hardly missed a move, heating up her own sports fever as a super golden oldie. Just shy of her 98th birthday, she is the oldest member of a sports-simulated aerobic class at her Forest Trace retirement community in Ft. Lauderdale. It seems as though she couldn't control her game-time emotions solely on the edge of her couch.

"I can't participate in sports, but by watching sports, it stimulates me," Mooney says. "It stimulates me mentally, it stimulates me physically. I get excited. I jump up and cheer for my players, my teams. And when I go to exercises, even our exercises simulate organized sports. We do it sitting down in a chair. In one of our exercises, we pretend that we're rowing. We bend forward, move our arms back, move our arms forward. And then we pretend that we're swimming and we do the breast stroke, we do the overhand stroke, we do the back stroke. So even our exercises simulate sports."

She thinks it's a wonderful idea that the Heat showcases a senior citizen booty-shaking troupe, especially when most in-game entertainment uses a youthful, tootsie-roll approach. But the sports audience is aging as the baby boomer market expands. I spoke further with Ms. Mooney to understand why sports has stuck with her through the years, how her senior residence promotes game-time participation and how she thinks television can market more toward the elderly.

Q: Tell me about how you first fell in love with sports.
A: Until I was about 14 years of age, I was never interested in sports. But while at Erasmus High School [in Brooklyn], I joined a field hockey team. Those of us who went to high school were all required to enter some sport. There we met young men who were into basketball, so we learned about basketball. We became cheerleaders for the team. We became involved with the sports. It was activity that was pleasurable and we enjoyed it. It was fun. I remember when I was 16, I had a boyfriend who played basketball for his high school. And although I never saw him play, he would tell me about his games and I became very interested in them. Actually, as an aside, he suffered a very serious injury and developed infections and they were not able to cure him and eventually he had to have his leg amputated. But when I was about 17, I had a date to a Columbia versus Navy football game. I was working at that time as a bookkeeper and one of my early boyfriends was attracted to me and took me to the game. I was wearing a raccoon coat - in what those days you used to wear - and it was very cold. I had never been to a football game - that was the first time I ever had, which is why it's my greatest sports memory. He enjoyed teaching me about football and I enjoyed learning about football and watching it, so it was pleasurable for both of us. And then, if we married - as many of us did - to a man who was a lover of sports, they introduced us to sports as my husband, David, did to me. When I met David, he was a basketball player. He played center for his team. He was one of the tall ones. In that generation, six feet was very tall. Of course, I went to all his games and learned more about the games and the more you learn about a sport, the more interested you become in it and the more you want to see more sports. That's what it's all about. If you're exposed to it when you're young, you continue with that love that you seem to develop when you are young. And it continued on.

Q: How did it progress?
A: Later on, my two sons contributed to my interest in sports. When Steven became an oarsman, we went to see all his boat races. When Leonard became a swordsman, we went to all his fencing meets. When my grandchildren participated in their sports - basketball, track and field, etc. - they increased my love of sports. And my husband and I became interested in all those sports and the more we knew about them, the more we watched them on TV. From that, I went to the newspapers and started to read about sports. I owe my interest in sports, and the fact that I am keeping up with sports today, to the fact that along the way people taught me the rules and what to look for and why certain things were important - what the scoring was about, who some of the referees were, etc. Sports have really sustained me through the years when more or less now I'm committed just to watching them on TV and I continue to read about them in the newspapers.

Q: What sports do you like?
A: I enjoy tennis, I like baseball, I like basketball, I like football. I don't care for wrestling, I don't care for boxing. I think ice hockey is too frivolous. I've been watching the Winter Olympics and some of those feats that they're performing are absolutely death-defying.

Q: How would you say Forest Trace and its residents view sports?
A: I live in a retirement home where we are between 70 and 102 years old. Many of us are ardent sports fans and enjoy watching the games. As an example, I sit at a table with six people for dinner and out of the six people, and we're all women, three of us enjoy sports. Our management is also sports-minded and, because they are, it keeps us alert, stimulated and happy. They turn our residence into a "sports stadium" on special sports event days, such as the World Series, the All-Star Game and the Super Bowl. On these occasions, our dining room is decorated with pictures of the sports teams with pendants, and even our staff as well as all the residents come to the dining room dressed in T-shirts with the name of their favorite team or favorite athlete emblazoned on the back. The food served in the dining room is what we would be getting at the arena: hot dogs, hamburgers, soft drinks and even beers. After dinner, we all enjoy watching the game together on [Forest Trace's] giant TV screen. The cheering, the applauding, the booing make it seem as if we are right there at the stadium. We're so proud of our young athletes - their skills, their athleticism - and we only wish that more of them would remember that there are many, very young people who are also proud of their prowess and look up to them. It is the responsibility, I feel, of these star athletes to lead law-abiding and healthy lives - free from drugs - and to be good role models for these youngsters.

Q: Are there notices posted for upcoming sporting events?
A: They make announcements, it's on the bulletin board, it's in our newsletter. Although there are over 400 people living here, many of them are home-bound and can't come down to watch. Or sometimes it's too cold and they don't go out. But we had about 60, 70 people who came down to see the Super Bowl, so it's a big turnout for us because they have to walk outside to go across to the TV room. Sometimes, the TV room is too small and we go into the big theater.

Q: Is there any betting going on?
A: [Forest Trace] allows us to bet a dollar on the winning score or the score at the end of the half or the particular player who is scoring the most points.

Q: Does Forest Trace provide transportation to sporting events?
A: They've taken us to the horse races. They've taken us to the casinos.

Q: Have you ever gone?
A: I went to the horse races. In fact, one time I was one of the people chosen to appear with the winning horse. They took pictures with us and everything.

Q: When you attend a game or watch it on television, do you feel that your demographic is under covered?
A: No, I don't think so. I think they give us a lot of pleasure. They make us feel young, they make us feel that we're not old at all, that we're back in our youth at the stadium itself enjoying the roar of the crowd, the excitement. No, I don't think they leave us out at all. They appeal to my generation as well as to the middle-aged generation. They appeal to all ages. They appeal to all races. You don't even have to know the language to enjoy them. I think that sports is a wonderful thing.

Q: What are your thoughts on sports ads associated with alcohol?
A: That doesn't bother me. But I don't like to see people drinking anything to excess. I don't enjoy them throwing bottles down on the field and sometimes injuring some of the players because they were angry when the players didn't do something right. I don't mind moderate beer drinking or a cocktail or two. I don't think that's offensive to any of us. I don't think they should be guzzling beer - that would be awful and if they showed pictures of that, I wouldn't like it at all.

Q: So, what would be your ideal commercial?
A: I think older people have a lot to offer to younger people because most of us have led good lives, most of us have supported children, grandchildren, sacrificed our roles for better living. They can make a commercial like that. That would be good. I mean, there are many people here who can be role models for the younger people to see what happens after living a life of poverty and who were working hard and succeeding at what we do. Certainly, they would have a lot to contribute in a commercial. Absolutely. In the world, at least the United States, the average age is up in the 70's. The life span used to be like the 55 range, but now you have many 100-year-old people. My two sisters died at 103.

Q: Sports attitudes and perspectives have also significantly changed within the last 10 years. Does anything jump out at you?
A: I think everything changes as sports have changed also. The rules have changed. I think that in some instances the rules have been an improvement and in other instances, I feel that not enough attention is paid to physical things. I mean, some sports are too physical and it's heart-wrenching to us to find somebody ending up in a wheelchair because of something that happened on the field. I feel that some of the fouls that they call are not punished enough. They should absolutely take somebody off the field all together if they use violence. I don't like that at all. That is not something that has changed for the better. Years ago, you didn't see that.

Q: Do any of the residents surf the web for sports news and scores?
A: No, there are very few residents who use the computer. They would like us all to be computer literate. They have three computers downstairs. But I don't think you can get enough older people going to websites. Their memories aren't good. From one lesson to the next, they'll forget. They do what they can for them, but their memories... Even I - I'm looking for words that I can't even find - common-usage words I've used all my life I have forgotten. I just don't remember. Our memories don't last very long. It is what was in the past that we remember. We don't remember the present so much. They did give us lessons for a while, but they've stopped now. Last time we had someone to teach us, three people showed up. The people here, at our age level, they're more concerned with their daily living - getting by without getting into trouble. Last night at dinner, one of them dropped dead right in the dining room. They cordoned off the whole area. They gave him CPR, they used a defibrillator, they did all kinds of things to him, but he was gone. So, you know, these are the things you see. If you see a person today, tomorrow the person might be gone or at the hospital.

Q: I understand. Well, for the ones who are able and healthy, what would you recommend to get them more involved in sports?
A: There needs to be more teaching of the sport itself and you'll get more older people watching. Old people, who can be home-bound or who just have no other form of entertainment, spend a lot of time watching TV, so if they learned more fine points about the games, they would watch them more often. At least I would. That's what old people need to know - they need to understand the games in order to develop an interest in them. For instance, I've been watching poker on TV. They play some kind of strange poker, Texas-style poker. But before every broadcast, they explain exactly the importance of certain cards, what a pair is, what's better than a pair, what's better than a flush. When you watch the actual play, they show you the cards in the hands and it's very interesting because you know that one hand is better than the other hand.

Q: Overall, what are the benefits of being part of a sports-friendly family?
A: I think it kept us together as a family. We all shared a common interest. When my grandchildren grew up, they joined the little leagues. We all went to watch them play ball. We were united by watching them play and enjoying the sport. It's very important for families to share things together, especially in today's times when people are so far apart. When I talk to my family when they're in New York and I'm in Florida, we're talking about sports and this is a wonderful thing. It's something that we're both interested in and we can share together.

RIDDEN OUT? HOLD YOUR HORSES

Baseball, boxing, track and field, and thoroughbred horse racing. What do they all have in common? Those were the four biggest sports at the turn of the 20th century. But what about in recent years? Well, baseball is still America's pastime - even with all the steroids stuff. Boxing can still call the media its best friend with all the pre-fight hype - even though most of the matches are on pay-per-view. Track and field is still a staple in sports culture from middle school to the Olympic Games - even with nearly no national coverage.

Then, there's thoroughbred horse racing - the so-called "sport of kings." Though baseball, boxing, and track and field are struggling to attract fans with their various misfortunes, nothing compares to the sudden bobbles at the races. Experts say the business is looking extremely washy and something needs to be done to soak up the sweat. Let's grab the reins.

Way before there was Secretariat - considered to be the greatest racehorse ever - and the Kentucky Derby, there were the first organized horse races around 4500 B.C. throughout Central Asia and the Mediterranean. By 638 B.C., the sport involved chariot racing during the ancient Greek Olympics, which became extremely popular later in the Roman Empire.

It was not until the 12th century when the origins of modern racing really developed. Arabian stallions were imported and bred in England where two-horse races were arranged for private wagers. This concept grew to a professional level in the 1700's when facilities were built to race several horses at one time and hold a number of spectators. As a result, breeding and racing became very profitable.

During the next 200 years, horse racing became, indeed, the "sport of kings" (for the pleasure of the royal courts). Major races were staged, including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, which make up the Triple Crown. Spacious tracks opened with the smell of stables and the sound of hoof beats, including Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Belmont Park. And several famous stallions shined in the national spotlight as multi-million dollar investments, including Man O' War, Secretariat, Citation, Kelso, Count Fleet and the diminutive Seabiscuit (a recent movie star).

But within the last 20 years, horse racing's growth has dwindled just about as drastically as the species of brightly-colored harlequin frogs in Central and South America. Take New Jersey for example. According to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, the number of equine-related farms went from 400 in 1987 to 125 in 1997. During the same time frame, the number of racing dates shrunk from 324 to 120, the number of thoroughbreds dropped from 13,200 to 4,000 and the number of foals, or newborns, plummeted from 1,252 to 295.

What's going on? Well, first of all, breeding has become very expensive. Michael Harrison, president of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association of New Jersey, says it can cost between $15,000 and $20,000 to qualify a horse to race. Breeders, who tend to work very long hours (sometimes well past dark) are becoming impatient not only because they aren't selling their stallions, but they also know that it takes several years to nurture a quality horse farm.

"It's like planting a fruit tree," says Joe Kennings, who owns a 170-acre horse farm in Monmouth County. "It takes three, four, five years for it grow. People don't want to wait that long. They want a piece of the action. And there's a lot of risk. We don't get crop insurance as if we're raising beans."

It's also pricey to keep a track going - around $100 million - which is another reason why horse racing has a significant impact on the local community. That hefty price includes an enormous economic investment. On the other side of the coin, New York, for instance, had been nesting $1.3 billion from its racing product, which provided 152,000 jobs for owners, service providers, employees and volunteers to name just a few. Not anymore.

In Florida and California, it has been hardly any different. Though a 2003 study conducted by the Horse Racing Association determined that horse racing in both states yielded billions of dollars, attendance had nose-dived from 17 million in 1980 to 2.7 million in 2003. Research showed that fans were flocking elsewhere, especially in Florida where expansion teams were knocking on people's doors: the 1988 Miami Heat, the 1993 Florida Marlins and Florida Panthers. In addition, with the advent of simulcasting in the 80's, gamblers didn't have to go to the tracks to place wagers - they could do it online or over the phone from home.

So, what then is the solution to salvage the horse racing financial empire? For starters, it's imperative to implement slot machines and video lottery terminals at the tracks. Greg Melikov, who has been covering horse racing for decades, says if casino-style gambling can flourish in Las Vegas - the number one vacation spot in the country - then it can do the same at the race tracks.

"Slot machines are picking up where simulcasting left off," Melikov says. "Louisiana tracks that have them are doing much better than Texas tracks that don't. That's because purses for racing climbs as revenue from video slots rolls in."

Of course, one major diversion to having more centralized gambling is competing deregulation. And this is the reason why state governments need to create consistent racing laws, such as stricter penalties for off-shore wagering and higher insurance policies for jockeys. The four largest horse racing states - California, Florida, Kentucky and New York - need to have a management makeover and ultimately work together to deliver more synergy integrity, quality and most importantly - a better product.

Speaking of consistency, there needs to be a well-defined horse racing season and increased brand awareness, so there is more fan loyalty like with NASCAR. As a result, the horses will perform better instead of grinding their hooves 365 days a year. There also needs to be more host sponsorships (Yum Brands recently made the 131-year-old Kentucky Derby its first), more corporate signage along the tracks and more attention paid to local broadcast rights.

By the way, do you know who Jerry Bailey is? Probably not. Well, he was the "Jordan" of jockeys who retired this year after earning a shade over $300 million in his 31-year career. Case in point: the jockeys, just like their compensation, are under-represented and I'm not just talking about their small frames.

Another component missing from the tracks is the families, especially those with younger children. Even though the minimum age to gamble at most states is 18, there aren't enough activities for the under age. Furthermore, the facilities need to cross-promote by adding extra events to their calendars, such as a concert or amusement fair. That way they could not only advertise their venue, but also upcoming races. When the Belmont Stakes arrives annually on a Sunday in June, 100,000 people crowd the stands, but by Wednesday that Michigan Stadium-like number lowers to about 9,000.

The good news is that the horse droppings are being cleaned up. Casinos are being added as amenities at several tracks, most notably in Louisiana. The Kentucky Derby - known as "the most exciting two minutes in sports" - just received a host sponsor, which could create a trickle-down effect in the business. And just last week, the California Horse Racing Board passed a motion that may change the nature of the horse-betting game. The organization declared that all major tracks in the state must install Polytrack - a new, synthetic surface - by December 31, 2007, or else have their licenses revoked. Whether that's seen as a positive or negative, it will create buzz at the tracks to see how the horses will react to the new all-weather coating.

And how will the business side react? Well, first there needs to be some heady guidance. Remember when Michael Jordan retired from the NBA in 2003 and the league was looking for a new face to represent its players? But it wasn't just one guy. It was the young stars - the Lebron's and the Wade's and the Carmelo's. Horse racing needs the same - a collective unit of new leaders - to help recrown the "sport of kings" and bring it back to the finish line as a financial champion.