The weekly assembly of who is hot, mad, and just down on their luck in the sporting world

Lyle Morissette

Sports Editor

The Good

“The Dog Pound”: It’s not the Cleveland Browns’ fans, but rather a 14-bedroom, four-bathroom house near the campus of the Ivy League University of Cornell. Its residents include thirteen players from the program’s basketball team, as well as a team manager. Talk about a bonding experience! The house hosts everything from TV episode parties to video-game competitions, and it does not diverge from what you may find at any regular frat house or dorm room: empty pizza boxes and mounds of garbage. Clearly this bonding experience is working, as they recently won their third straight Ivy League Championship, upsetting two higher-ranked opponents during a strong showing at the NCAA’s March Madness National Championship tournament.

The Mad

Samuel Eto’o: The Inter Milan striker recently learned why most people don’t loan their €150,000 Bentley GT, or any other luxurious vehicle for that matter: good things don’t happen. Throw in a 20-year old teammate who has been labeled the “Austrian Cristiano Ronaldo” (in other words, a lady killer), and you are just asking for trouble. What happened? Well, the car was stolen while parked in the streets near the Sheraton Hotel in Milan, Italy. I wonder what he was up to… Hopefully Samuel has learned his lesson: never, ever lend a car that is worth more than most people’s homes out to a playboy teammate who does not need to focus on his “paid” job in hand.

The Downtrodden

Derrick Lee: Now, it’s never funny to laugh at other people’s misfortunes, especially when the person in question has had a laundry list of injuries in his career, but when it happens to occur after finding out the oft-injured Chicago Cubs star Derrick Lee recently was having a pregame meal when, out of nowhere, the chair he was sitting on collapsed, leaving him with a sore back and an embarrassment that seems all too similar to a common sight gag. The 34-year-old did play in the Cubs game that night, but left early to seek treatment for his back.

A look into the world of athlete superstition: the hidden OCD?

Lyle Morissette

Sports Editor

Superstition: (from cracked.com)

[a] an irrational belief arising from ignorance or fear.

[b] An irrational belief, practice, or ritual that a person feels he needs to embrace or perform in order to bring about good luck or a desired outcome.

[c] A belief, not based on reason or scientific knowledge.

From these varying definitions of superstition, options B and C seem most fitting for the sporting world and its many athletes. Accordingly, whether one believes in superstitions or not, it is nigh impossible not to come across them while watching or playing sports—they are omnipresent. Some athletes wrap the tape around their bat a certain way; others tuck their jersey just so into their pants; and a few just have to wear their lucky boxers or t-shirt. Despite the subtle differences, every sport – and seemingly almost every player – seems to have some sort of clear-cut superstition that they hold in high regard. To many, superstitions make them believe they are in control; in control of both their emotions and performance.

In reality, the fascination athletes have with superstition really could be considered as a form of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). To break it down into dollars-and-cents, is an athlete wearing the same boxers game-in-game-out or dribbling the ball exactly three times before a free-throw any different than an individual who must have everything organized or taken care of in a certain way or else they may snap? Frankly, no.

And while athletes’ superstitions are not commonly deemed as being “problematic”, they really should be taken more seriously as they can be likened to a psychological disorder.

Nevertheless, athlete superstitions are often quite interesting and even baffling. We all have our vices (and, arguably, our superstitions) without even realizing them. The only difference is that athlete superstitions are often broadcast to the world, whereas the neuroses of the “common” people are relegated to being behind closed doors. Yet some athletes have not avoided the OCD label, and have actually been diagnosed as having a problem. The most famous of all is soccer superstar David Beckham, whose superstition, practicing his free kicks for hours after everybody has left, led to him being diagnosed as having OCD.

To that effect, here are some of the most interesting and bizarre athlete superstitions in sports history.

Wade Boggs (MLB; retired)

Boggs may just have had the most superstitions of any athlete—ever. He would eat poultry before every game; would have to take exactly 150 ground balls during infield practice; entered the batting cage at exactly 5:17 pm and ran wind sprints at 7:17 pm; and before each at-bat, he would write the Hebrew word “Chai” into the dirt of the batter’s box. That’s not all though, between pitches while on defense in the field, he would swipe the dirt in front of him with his left foot, tap his glove two or three times and adjust his cap. Apparently he had even more that he did not mention, or that people did not notice.

Turk Wendell (MLB; retired)

Wendell brushed his teeth between every inning he pitched and always chewed four sticks of liquorice while pitching on the mound.

Mike Bibby (NBA)

A lot of athletes bight their nails nervously. Atlanta Hawks guard Mike Bibby takes it a step further: he cuts his nails with fingernail clippers almost every time he is given a breather from the action—timeouts, substitutions, etc.

Kevin Rhombergs (MLB; retired)

Rhomberg’s had to, if someone touched him, touch them back. If he was tagged out, he’d wait until the defense cleared the field and chased down the player who tagged him.

Serena Williams (Tennis)

Serena proves that even the biggest stars have their superstitions, as she stoutly believes that her wins come as a result of a routine she must follow. She brings her shower sandals to the court; ties her shoelaces a specific way; bounces the ball five times before her first serve and twice before her second; and she even wears the same pair of socks throughout a tournament. She has confirmed this “obsession” by even blaming losses on not following this routine correctly.

Patrick Roy (NHL; retired)

Roy, one of the greatest goalies of all-time, would skate backwards towards his net at the beginning of every game before turning around at the last second to the effect of, which he thoroughly believed upon, making the goal shrink. During the action, he would also have in-depth conversations with the posts, and thanked them when a puck was deflected. He often even touched or caressed them.

Lyoto Machida (UFC)

Machida believes that drinking his own urine helps cleanse his body and does it on a daily basis. Oddly enough, this may actually be true.

Other Notable General Superstitions

- Playoff beards

- The Madden cover curse

- Style guides (Wayne Gretzky’s jersey tuck; Michael Jordan’s UNC basketball shorts; certain colours worn on certain days; lucky jersey numbers or shirts)

Lyle Morissette

Sports Editor

This week: bowing out and giving thanks

So here we are, the last “Sport for Thought” of the year. It’s certainly been a lengthy and event-filled year in sports, ripe with enough material to easily satisfy the needs of this column. Thankfully, that will seemingly never end as there will always be either an idiot athlete who sparks a conversation or an overzealous fan who does something so idiotic that it demands to be addressed.

70,000+ words: that is what I have published this past year (with a little help). Crazy, no? I used to struggle writing one or two 2500 word essays or projects on a semester basis, now 3000 words just for The Argus sports section was a requirement for me – and that’s not including school work. Never in my life did I think sports would be the avenue I would use to attack and put aside my fears and struggles with writing; they have certainly put them into perspective, to say the least. I also never thought I could even handle it. Frankly, I was wrought with fear going into the first week, but now it has become routine, and I owe thanks, once again, to sports. They have helped bridge the gap, and here I am still standing.

Making the transition from making the headlines earlier in life to writing them has also been a blessing in disguise. Sports really can build bridges and open up doors to numerous career opportunities, or even life altering decisions that one would never think they would actually make. Sport for thought = endless possibilities. That’s my conclusion.

And as this is the last “Sport for Thought”, I feel as though I must thank everybody for putting up with my development as a writer; hopefully it was not too faulty and arduous. I also hope you have enjoyed what I’ve dug up, either online or locally, as much as I have in writing and reporting it.

While I’m at it, I must also thank The Argus for giving me this opportunity, and to all my colleagues who have been great, and most importantly, easy to work with this year.

So, without further ado, and surprisingly without a question to ponder, I can now happily bid you adieu, arrivederci, and ciao. And don’t forget: there are more to sports than meets the eye; dig deeper, question things, and never doubt yourself. Sports can do more than build character, they can build an appreciation for things you may have feared or never even perceived as attainable. Think about that next time sports are brought up: you don’t have to be playing them or watching them to learn something.

(Along with 5 that should be left behind)

Lyle Morissette

Sports Editor

If one were to truly boil down sports to their core basics, they could ascertain the fact that sports have much more in common with the videogame and movie industries than what commonly meets the eye.

Yes, videogames do have their yearly sports tie-ins—Madden ’10, NBA 2K10, and so on—as well as numerous sports dramas like *61 and Miracle that are “based upon actual events”. But at the basic level, sports also have sequels, reboots, character changes (trading), and twists in common with these two entities.

These events not only shock the immediate viewers, but they often change the dynamic of the way these industries cooperate as well as the way people utilize and combine them in hopes of making the overarching sporting experience that much more insightful and engaging.

Think for a second: don’t teams put out “sequels” every year, hoping for a different ending? They usually return favourite stars and introduce new actors (players) to the fold; sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. This sure sounds familiar. As do series reboots in the entertainment industry, they can most certainly be likened to the sports equivalent of cleaning house or rebuilding a franchise.

So, where is this all going? Well, now that this “sports universe is not much different than the video game and movie universe” mind-frame has been put in place, this question beckons to be answered: What videogames based on sports deserve a reboot or sequel? Here is an arguable top 5:

NBA Jam (SNES, 1993):

Not surprisingly, this arcade basketball classic actually already is in the process of (re)development and will be hitting a console near you sometime this summer. Oh, the yearning for the renewed days of “he’s on fire”, “boomshakalaka”, and triple front flip summersault dunk are coming close to an end. With revamped and updated rosters and team databases, along with the likelihood of a homage or two to the original game and its contingent of NBA stars (the Seattle Supersonics and Shawn Kemp anybody?), the “new” NBA Jam looks primed to charm and captivate fans once again with some 2 vs. 2 action. Fast fact: The original arcade release generated revenue of $1 billion in quarters alone at arcades.

Barkley Shut-up and Jam (Sega Genesis, 1994)

In what was really a prelude, or prequel if you prefer, to the NBA Street series that most recently has catered to the street-ball crowd, Barkley’s Shut Up and Jam had some enjoyable game-play mechanics. These include trash-talking and street-ball style action at its best. It stayed close to the formula that NBA Jam introduced —tournament style play as a means to an end—and included colourful teammate choices such as “Sweet Pea” and “Stonewall”. When “Sir” Charles or Charles “The Round Mound of Rebound” Barkley endorses a game, you know it should be ripe with controversy, laughter, and fun.

Blades of Steel (Nintendo Game-Boy, 1988)

Do you covet the Konami Cup? How about the chance to play as any one of the NHL’s…8 teams (what)? Despite these oversights, the game was one of the first of its kind and it provided a fun waltz through the hockey universe while on a long road trip (batteries pending). Regardless of a lack of teams, and stone-age graphics, the game was nevertheless a blast—it needs an update.

Tecmo Super Bowl (NES, 1991):

While Madden has the monopoly over NFL-licensed football games these days, this original was one of the first sports games to sport the full licensing privileges of both the NFL and the players association. It was named one of the Top 100 video games of all-time by various magazines and outlets and was really the predecessor for the popular Madden franchise. A remake of this would not only appease its fans, but it could also cater to those looking for an alternative to the sole video-game football dictator that is Madden football.

Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City (SNES, 1994)

Google it (Wikipedia) and then laugh at its premise; Jordan as Super Mario says it all.

Games that should never see the light of day again (nor should they have in the first place):

- Shaq Fu (SNES, 1994)

- Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup (PS2, 2003)

- Any type of fishing or horse racing related game

- Brett Hull Hockey (SNES, 1994)

- Olympic associated tie-ins

Photo by Cole Breiland

Thunderwolves men’s basketball coach and OUA West coach of the year talks with The Argus

Lyle Morissette

Sports Editor

Argus: Prior to this past season, you stated one clear goal: making the playoffs. Clearly the team far surpassed that goal. Are you at all surprised by what transpired this year? And, as a result, will the team’s goals be on the loftier side for next season?

Morrison: If you would have told me in the pre-season that we would be playing in the Final 8 as the #6 seed, I would have been pleasantly surprised. However, as our team took shape throughout the season, each win grew our confidence and our belief that the opportunity to exceed our goals was knocking at our door.

In respect to next season’s goals, they haven’t changed much in my mind. We began the 2009/10 season working on a two-year plan to raise a banner in the Thunderdome. While this goal has not yet been reached, the experience gained this year will only help us as we continue to work towards that ultimate goal next season.

A:   The team’s balanced scoring must have been a delight for both you and the players, what with everybody factoring in on almost a game-by-game basis.

M: I think we have found a winning formula in the sense that we want to build our team to be versatile and deep. We can sacrifice individual talent for a balanced group that is hard to contain. The factoring of each player provides an opportunity to foster closeness on the team, which has always been one of our strengths at Lakehead.

A: What has it meant to you to be named the OUA West conference’s Coach of the Year?

M: The Coach of the Year award is the biggest ‘team’ award out there as it reflects on the progress and success of the program. Because of that, it was special to accept on behalf of the players, assistant coaches and staff. Personally I look at it as a sign of respect from my peers within the conference for some hard work put in over the last 7 years.

A:   The team’s one individual award that seemingly sticks out is that of Greg Carter winning OUA West defensive player of the year. Just how important was Greg’s defensive wall to the team’s performance on a nightly basis?

M: Greg’s ball pressure usually sets the tone for us on every defensive possession as he makes it difficult for the opponent to get into their offense while having to deal with him buzzing around. He also contains the opponent’s top perimeter scorer every weekend. These two qualities were both major factors in our major defensive improvement as a team from 2008/09 to 2009/10.

A: 6-16 to 17-5 in the regular season? To what do you attribute that?

M: Many factors have contributed to our stronger season, including finding the right mix of players who are willing to commit themselves to being better as a unit. We made sacrifices as a team all season long in order to be better prepared to win each weekend, and those efforts paid off in a major way. The key now will be to raise the bar for next year so that our success level will also be to the next step.

A:   Looking towards next season, do you have any particular recruitment plans or voids to fill with players graduating?

M: In CIS basketball, a program must always grow and develop or risk being pushed to the bottom. We return most of our roster and as a result have adjusted our recruiting patterns slightly for this season. In the past we focused on young players with potential and time to develop in order to form a strong core unit. This has been accomplished and now we are looking to bring in 1-2 more experienced players that can fit in with our personnel and help us get to that next level.

A:  After this year’s successes, will anything below what you accomplished this year be a letdown, in your opinion?

M: Our goal since 2003 has been to raise a men’s basketball banner in the Thunderdome. This year we had an opportunity to do so for the first time but fell just short. Next season’s preparations have already started and the goal will remain the same but with more experience on hand to reach that goal than ever before.

A:   Any regrets from this year?

M: There were many mistakes made by everyone on the team this year including myself. So far we have handled them well and become stronger as a result each time. My only regret would be if in the future we forget these learned lessons and repeat our mistakes.

A:  And finally, your pick for NBA champions this year?

M: Knicks in 2010-11; while we are waiting I hope Toronto gets to the Conference finals.

The weekly assemble of who is hot, mad and just down on their luck in the sporting world

Lyle Morissette

Sports Editor

The Good

Chad Ochocinco: The rambunctious Bengals wide receiver just loves the spotlight, and it loves him back. Not content with just being a multi-millionaire playboy football star, Chad has taken his sideshow to network television. You can find him bustin’-a-move on the current season of Dancing With the Stars—with whom he is competing against a wide array of stars, including Buzz Aldrin—or you can catch him later this summer when he launches his own Bachelor-esque dating show called “The Tournament”. The premise: Chad will go through 85 (his number and roughly translated last name Ochocino) women vying for his love and affection in hopes of finding the “one”. While those shows are often contrived hoaxes, it’s hard to argue with his objects of choice: women, women, and more women. He really is damn entertaining.

The Mad

Robert Whaley: The ex-NBA player was recently busted with weed between his buttocks…weed between his buttocks; that is not a typo. The funniest (stupidest) thing is that it was discovered after he was pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt. Seriously, you’d think if someone was “transporting” contraband that they would be smart enough to at least buckle up. Apparently not! Oh, Whaley also had an outstanding arrest warrant out on him as well. Congrats on the trifecta Robert: ticket for not wearing a seat belt, busted for “crack” smuggling, and arrested for fleeing from a previous charge.

The Downtrodden

Ben Roethlisberger: “Big Ben” once again finds himself between a rock-and-a-hard-place as he was recently accused of sexually assaulting yet another young female. This time it is a 20-year old college student in Georgia, where the Steeler’s QB resides during the off-season. To add to his quickly diminishing public profile, and possibly his career, is the fact that his own coach, Mike Tomlin, is now stricken with anxiety over the situation, which is never a good harbinger of events to come. “My concerns are many,” Tomlin said, “but I think at this time it’s kind of appropriate to watch these things and let these things run their course. I think it would be inappropriate for me to have strong feelings one way or another with the investigation being ongoing and so forth. Like everyone else, you watch these things unfold.” The 20-year old woman accused Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting her in a Georgia nightclub earlier this month. Not surprisingly, Ben already faces a lawsuit filed last July by a woman who says he raped her in 2008 at a Lake Tahoe hotel and casino, an allegation he strongly denies, along with the most recent one. Lightning often strikes the same area twice for a reason Ben. Playing along with the “innocent until proven guilty” assumption, he has not been taken into custody, nor has he been criminally charged in either case. For a hilarious take—or not—of the situation take a gander at the South Park season 14 premiere, which takes a shot at athlete infidelity with reference to Roethlisberger—and Tiger Woods, naturally.