Weekly Sporties

-When Jeremy Lin hit restricted free agency, everyone assumed it was nothing more than a formality - a way for the Knicks to let another team decide how much he would get paid before they matched the offer sheet. But, a funny thing happened to those plans as Lin signed a complicated deal with the Rockets which would have cost the Knicks a lot more money over the life of the contract due to their being over the luxury tax threshold. Since the Knicks haven't shown any problem spending money in the past people still thought Lin would end up back in New York, but a couple days ago the Knicks changed their thinking and he was allowed to leave for Houston. As always happens when players change teams, reports are being leaked that Lin was unwilling to play hurt and the Knicks owner James Dolan was annoyed Lin signed the deal with Houston considering it was structured to make his return difficult, because Dolan felt as though Lin owed him more than that since the Knicks gave him his big break. Even Knicks fans are turning on him, pointing out he only played 26 games and was probably over-rated by the media compared to his actual skill level (ironically, if you had said any of this to them in March they would have punched you). Frankly, I think Lin has to be measured as much for his off-court impact as for what he can do on the court (and, like most New York athletes, he is not as good as first believed, but not as bad as they are now saying). Reports are the Knicks made $600 million based on marketing Lin and their stock has gone down almost $100 million since he left for Houston. Considering they will try and fill his void with 39 year-old Jason Kidd and an out-of-shape Raymond Felton, I fully expect that number to sink even lower. But, there is a silver lining for Knicks fans - at least James Dolan still has his pride.

-As the USA men's Olympic basketball team continues to get ready for this month's games in London, people have been impressed with the play of some of the younger players. NBA Commissioner David Stern has been so impressed that he has floated the idea of an age limit of 23 for the Olympic roster going forward. Stern has the backing of several NBA owners who feel as though the extra wear and tear on the players during International competition is too much, especially for the veterans and risks the chance of these guys getting seriously hurt while playing for someone else. Kobe Bryant for one thinks it's a stupid idea, saying that players are going to play basketball in the summer either way, so you may as well have them play against good competition and in a controlled environment. Bryant makes a tremendous amount of sense, but the other thing I think David Stern doesn't realize is that the USA would get crushed if we sent a team of nothing but young players. First off, it isn't like other teams would suddenly change their mind and start sending young players - they would keep sending teams of grown men. On top of that, Stern may be a little too wrapped up in this team's youth to see the big picture. There are four players on the roster at or under the age of 23, but one of those players (Anthony Davis) is seen as the team's weak link, only on the roster due to injuries, and Kevin Durant is a once-in-a-generation talent, so it is not like we can count of sending players of his caliber every four years. Plus, wouldn't you want to market your best players to an International market more than one time, which is all this age limit would allow? I'm sure there are plenty of people who would rather see the Olympics going back to having only amateurs, but that cat is out of the bag and there is no turning back now. And if the US is going to send pros, we may as well send the best ones we have.

-In last Sunday's Boston Globe there was a small note about how the Patriots have gone to star tight end Rob Gronkowski and told him to end the "Summer of Gronk", which has seen Gronkowski partying from coast to coast and show up at all sorts of events - usually shirtless. Now, I'm all for a young football player having a little fun in the offseason and since the average NFL career lasts for 3 seasons I would tell Gronk to get while the getting is good because the doors which are open to him now are not going to be open for very long. Some people seem to think this is just the Patriots trying to crush individuality in the name of the "Patriot Way". However, I think the Patriots have let Gronkowski go on long enough. We are quickly approaching training camp, so asking him to be mentally ready when football activities start doesn't sound like a particularly insane request. Plus, when every sports gossip site has a plethora of pictures of a shirtless Gronkowski to choose from when writing their latest story, it is probably a sign he could use a few quiet nights indoors. On top of that the Patriots just made Gronk the highest-paid tight end in history, so they have every right to try and protect that investment. Lastly, people need to remember that Gronk has set a very high bar for himself in respect to a standard of play. If he has even a slightly down year many people will point to the "Summer of Gronk" as the reason why. Better to remove that as an excuse as early as possible. And the good news is that if he replicates last season on the field the Patriots will be only to happy to let the "Summer of Gronk" go for as long as he wants next offseason. But for this year, I think it's time to settle down.

-In light of the Freeh Report released last week, there are still some people who are calling for Penn State to suspend their football program for a couple of seasons. While that debate probably has a long way to go, what the university has to deal with in the short term is what to do with the statue of Joe Paterno outside the football stadium. Many people think of the statue as a lighting rod for the controversy - a literal monument to a man who it turns out may have been covering up what Jerry Sandusky was doing for years. Early in the week a plan flew over the campus pulling a banner with a rather ominous message: "Take down the statue or we will." Now, normally I hate it when people who didn't go to a school tell people at that school how they should behave but I'm breaking my own rule for this one. Even if Penn State officials don't want to tear down the statue, they should at least move it (after the plane flew over Penn State students began guarding the statue themselves, which should tell you where they fall on the issue). Perhaps they could temporarily put it in front of the library which bears Paterno's name to try and remind people of some of the good he did in his 60 years there. The reality is Penn State can't afford to guard the thing 24 hours a day and leaving it in front of the football stadium is asking for every visiting fanbase to either vandalize or take mocking photos with this thing. And if it's not the fans it will be the media, as you can pretty much guarantee one shot of the statue as B-roll during every nationally televised game, which is just going to lead to more discussion about the scandal. Penn State may have brought these problems on themselves through inaction, but there is no need to help people keep it in the news - by leaving the statue front and center that is exactly what they would be doing.

-Freeh and his team of investigators haven't been hitting all homeruns lately, though. Recently they were hired by FIFA to investigate bribery charges against one of their officials, Mohammed bin Hammam. (I admit to not being a particularly large soccer fan, but I imagine it can't be a good sign when the first thing most casual fans know about your organization is that is it unbelievably corrupt.) A native of Qatar, it is widely speculated that bin Hammam bribed everyone he could think of to bring the World Cup there in 2022. (Hey, give him credit, because at least it worked. You'd hate to spend all that money and then not get the World Cup.) Also, it has been established that bin Hammam later tried to bribe his was into the Presidency of FIFA, literally sending envelopes full of money to various voting members (this time he fell short). After his failed bid to buy the position, FIFA banned him from the sport for life. But then this week something called the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban, effective immediately. It is not that they think bin Hammam is innocent of all this bribing, it is just that Freeh and his team didn't do a very good job of proving it. Though, it probably fitting that even when a FIFA official is cleared of charges like this it is not because he is innocent as much as he is simply not guilty (and for all we know he bought that decision as well). I know I tend to complain about a lot of things which go on in professional sports in this country, but every now and again I like to read stories like this because they remind me to be thankful for what I've got, because things could easily be much worse.

-Whenever there is a largely-hyped rookie in any sport, you can expect the veterans to take it upon themselves to mess with the kid a little and take him down a notch, even when he isn't on their team. Early in the year Washington Nationals' phenom Bryce Harper was plunked in the back by Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels, who admitted it was a 'Welcome to the Majors' message. When Harper stole home following the plunking, most people thought that would end his league-wide hazing. However, last weekend Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen interrupted one of Harper's at-bat to complain about the amount of pine tar on the bat and later flipped out during Harper's next at-bat when he thought the rookie pointed that bat in his direction. I've seen the replay dozens of times and I have to say I didn't see anything close to an act worthy of Guillen's tirade. Again, the kid handled it well, as the Nationals later sending Guillen an autographed bat slathered in pine tar. (Lucky for them Guillen thought it was funny or Harper could have been in for another beanball next time the two teams played.) Honestly, I can't tell if this was supposed to be some kind of hazing to break Harper's rhythm or just Guillen being crazy. I'm all for a little gamesmanship but I think Ozzie, who already got into trouble for making some pro-Fidel Castro remarks before the season and whose team is now kind of floundering despite adding a lot of payroll during the offseason, should probably keep his mind on what is going on in his own dugout, otherwise he might not be around long enough to haze the next group of over-hyped rookies who enter the league.

-There was a strange story in boxing this week. A part-time fighter named Martin Tucker was arrested after his DNA, taken from a swab which had been used to stop a bloody nose during his latest fight, matched the DNA found on a hat left by a man who robbed a bank back in 2009. Obviously Martin had to be a suspect, otherwise no one would have gone through all this trouble to collect a bloody Q-tip. (Also, the report didn't say who did the collecting, but I would imagine that was not the high point of that person's day.) It sounds rather shady, but every expert asked said the practice was totally legal by police. If you think about it, this type of elaborate planning sounds more like something which would only happen during some crime drama on the USA Network where they were trying to capture a super-crafty cat burglar, not a one-time bank robber. Apparently, police are stepping up their game a bit. So, to any criminals who are reading this: if you are trying to avoid being arrested for a crime where the police have DNA evidence, I recommend not having a hobby which can lead to you leaving blood in random locations where anyone can come along and collect it. I mean, you don't have to make it that easy for police to capture you. You would think this guy would have thought of that, but considering he is (allegedly) a criminal who chooses to get punched in the face for fun (because he clearly isn't a good fighter), I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he isn't much of a thinker. The good news is that at least Martin, who had been 0-6 in his six previous fights, won the fight where he got the bloody nose. I'm sure that makes the entire night worth it.