Controlled Chaos

Fantasy Football Team

2008-09-01T15:03:00.004-04:00

Here's my Fantasy Football Team for 2008-2009:

QB Donovan McNabb
WR Reggie Brown
WR Torry Holt
RB LaDainian Tomlinson (1st pick)
RB Laurence Maroney
TE Chris Cooley
WR/RB Justin Fargas
K Adam Vinatieri
DEF Seattle

Bench: Chester Taylor, Darren McFadden, Reggie Williams, Philip Rivers, Anthony Gonzalez

Olympic Medal Count

2008-08-27T14:15:00.004-04:00

Here are some of the final results for the 2008 Olympics:

Category: Most Gold Medals
Winner: CHINA
1st Runner Up: USA
2nd Runner Up: RUSSIAN FEDERATION
3rd Runner Up: GREAT BRITAIN

Category: Most Medals Overall
Winner: USA
1st Runner Up: CHINA
2nd Runner Up: RUSSIAN FEDERATION
3rd Runner Up: GREAT BRITAIN

Congratulations to all of the Olympic Champions and Medalists. Here's a website that shows all of the athletes who won GOLD MEDALS for the United States: US Gold Medals.

Lightning Bolt

2008-08-22T10:51:00.003-04:00

If you had a chance to see Usain Bolt of Jamaica win the gold medal in the 100m and the 200m sprint events, then I'm certain that you would agree that his performance was amazing. I'm not an expert when it comes to sprinting, but I can safely say that Bolt was clearly much faster than any of his closest competitors. In fact, during the qualifying events, Bolt was actually jogging while other sprinters appeared to be struggling. So, it's pretty clear that Bolt is the fastest sprinter in the world and deserves to be given credit for his achievements.

Even so, the International Olympics Committee was not amazed, nor were they amused, by Bolt's post-race behavior. The president of the IOC, Jacque Rogge said, "That's not the way we perceive being a champion," making reference to some of the gestures Bolt made following his victories as well as Bolt's behavior toward other athletes after the race. Granted, Bolt's behavior was showy and somewhat immature; he definitely could've been more respectful toward the other sprinters by at least offering a handshake; and he didn't win as quietly and as gracefully as the IOC expects of Olympic-class athletes--but that doesn't alter the fact that Usain Bolt is the best sprinter in the world. In fact, he's the best sprinter in the history of the modern Olympics, and now his name is being mentioned alongside such legendary athletes as Carl Lewis and Jesse Owens.

I understand that certain celebrations are viewed as unsophisticated amidst the backdrop of such a high-class venue as the Olympics, but Usain Bolt pounding his chest and dancing around draped in the Jamaican flag are actually far-removed from the over-the-top antics performed by NFL wide receivers on an almost-weekly basis. NFL WRs make a bigger deal of scoring 6 points--- via Sharpie markers, cell phones, hall of fame jackets, etc.---than Usain Bolt made of breaking two world records, breaking two Olympic records, and winning two Olympic gold medals. So, if anything, Bolt's celebration was quite subdued considering the extent of his accomplishments.

Considering Bolt's size and speed, I can't help but wonder if any NFL teams have given serious consideration to offering him a contract for the 2008 season. Oddly enough, I'm not the only one who's thought of this. Check out the following article: "Could Olympic Sprinter Bolt to the NFL?"

(ORIGINALLY POSTED at Controlled Chaos: NFL)

Olympic Champions

2008-08-17T15:57:00.005-04:00

Congratulations to ALL of the U.S. Gold-Medal Olympic Champions thus far. Although there are many American medalists, all of whom deserve credit for their accomplishments, I would like this particular post to concentrate on saluting the select few Gold-Medal Champions. Here they are (as of August 17):

SWIMMING
Natalie Coughlin: Women's 100m Backstroke
Rebecca Soni: Women's 200m Breaststroke
Aaron Piersol: Men's 100m Backstroke
Ryan Lochte: Men's 200m Backstroke
U.S. Men's Relay Team: 4 x 100m Freestyle; 4 x 200m Freestyle; and 4 x 100m Medley
Michael Phelps: 100m Butterfly, 200m Butterfly, 200m Individual Medley, 200m Freestyle, 400m Individual Medley, plus three medals won by the U.S. Men's Relay Team

TENNIS
Venus and Serena Williams: Women's Doubles

FENCING
Mariel Zagunis: Women's Individual Sabre

GYMNASTICS
Nastia Liukin: Women's Individual All-Around

ROWING
U.S. Women's Team: Women's Eight

SHOOTING
Walton Eller: Men's Double Trap
Vincent Hancock: Men's Skeet

CYCLING
Kristin Armstrong: Women's Individual Time Trial

U.S. Women's Gymnastics

2008-08-16T21:56:00.007-04:00

Congratulations to Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, who gave an amazing effort to earn the GOLD and SILVER medals, respectively, in the Women's All-Around Gymnastics event. Liukin's total score was 63.325 points while Johnson earned 62.725 points. Yilin Yang of China took the BRONZE medal with a score of 62.650. Although the gymnasts all did an amazing job, I think Bela Karolyi inadvertently stole the spotlight when he nearly jumped out of his chair while watching Nastia Liukin's floor show.

Beijing Olympics 2008

2008-08-14T22:06:00.008-04:00

1. Opening Ceremony Redux: In a previous post, I mentioned how I really enjoyed watching the opening ceremony. Even so, I must admit that I'm disappointed in the Chinese officials who decided to allow a girl to lip-sync the "Ode to the Motherland" while the real singer was kept behind the scenes. Of course the most disappointing thing is the reasoning given: the real singer "wasn't cute enough." Here's a quote taken directly from CNN.com: "The reason was for the national interest," said Chen Qigang, the ceremony's musical director, in a state radio interview. "The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression. Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects." The CNN article can be found right HERE.

2. Chinese Women's Gymnastics Team: Prior to the start of the Olympics, there were allegations that some members of the Chinese Women's Gymnastics Team were too young to compete this year. The USA Today article can be found HERE. According to the rules, gymnasts must turn sixteen during the same calendar year as the Olympic games. At one point, there was evidence that showed one of the Chinese gymnast's birthdates as January 1, 2004, making her fourteen this year and thus ineligible to compete. On the other hand, her passport says that her birthday is January 1, 2002. So, the International Olympic Committee considers the matter closed. I realize it's not an exact science to judge someone's age based on his or her appearance, but I would say that the Chinese gymnasts definitely look younger than 16. I'm making this assessment based on watching them on TV as well as taking a look at the picture on the National Post website HERE.

Addendum: Never a stranger to outspoken commentaries, Bela Karolyi, the world-renowned gymnastics coach, sounded off on this issue a few days ago. Check out his comments HERE.

3. Michael Phelps: Clearly, Michael Phelps is the greatest swimmer to ever compete in the Olympics, and his accomplishments are unparalleled-- but I disagree with the media's description of Phelps as the "greatest Olympic athlete of all time." Certainly his record-breaking accomplishments and his collection of gold medals warrants bestowal of the title of "Greatest Swimmer in Olympic History," (even over Mark Spitz)-- but "Greatest Athlete?" Not so fast.

Although swimming requires extraordinary physical skill and rigorous training, the fact is that swimming doesn't punish an athlete's body as much as other events. Take, for example, boxing, hockey, weightlifting, or even gymnastics, sports in which the athlete's body is under an enormous amount of physical stress. Compare that to swimming, where the very nature of the sport requires the athletes to glide through the water with the least amount of resistance.

Am I claiming that it's easy to become an Olympic-class swimmer? No, surely not; it requires intense focus and dedication, but swimming is low-impact compared to many other sports, thus allowing swimmers to recuperate more quickly and compete in numerous events over a series of days. It's also worth noting that many of the other Olympic sports don't incorporate a multitude of events like swimming does (e.g. 100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke, etc.). An interesting commentary about this issue can be found HERE.

Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

2008-08-11T21:59:00.004-04:00

A couple of nights ago, I watched the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Here's an interesting article about it: Beijing Opening Night.

Some key thoughts:

1. I always enjoy watching the Parade of Nations. This year's event was actually more interesting than any previous year because the countries were not announced in alphabetical order. According to what I heard, the countries were being announced based on the strokes in the symbols of the Chinese alphabet.

2. Also about the Parade of Nations: I like how the Greek team gets to march first each year. I can attest to the fact that the Olympic games are a very important aspect of Greek culture. When I was in Olympia in 2007, I had a chance to admire the ruins of the original games, which were held as early as 776 B.C. I also learned that, in Ancient Greece, the Olympic games consisted of five events: discus, javelin, running, jumping, and wrestling. Other events such as chariot races, horseback riding, and boxing were added some time later.

3. The 2008 Chinese drummers and/or martial artists definitely kept my eyes on the TV screen. I think the countdown, which relied on individual drummers to know exactly when to hit their drums, was amazing, and the Tai Chi was impressive as well. (Here's another article about the opening ceremonies).

4. At one point, a group of children sang the Olympic Anthem in Greek! I was astounded by this. The anthem begins: "Arkhaéo Pneúma athánato," which translates to "Ancient Immortal Spirit."

5. I read that weather modification was used to prevent rain during the opening ceremony. According to Wikipedia, over 1000 rockets were launched to keep rain clouds away from Beijing. Scientifically speaking, I'm not sure how anyone can control the weather, but I have heard of scientists using silver iodide to promote rainfall in certain areas.

6. The Chinese flag-raising was interesting, particularly because the soldiers put the flag in place, raised it slightly, and then one of them thrusted his arms forward in a motion as if to push the flag up the pole. It seemed like a symbolic gesture more than anything.

6. Overall Grade: "A."...... So far, the actual Olympic events have been great, too. Check them out on NBC, USA, MSNBC, and CNBC.

Controlled Chaos

2008-08-11T21:37:00.001-04:00

Q: Where did the phrase, "Controlled Chaos," originate?

A: Think Philadelphia Eagles in 2003. Think Brian Dawkins, AKA "Weapon X."

Dawkins, describing the Eagles number-four ranked defense, said: "All of us are real confident in what we do. I call what we do CONTROLLED CHAOS. We go out and try to attack as much as possible. We try to confuse you a lot with disguises and moving around. We have a real good front four that can really get to the quarterback, but it all starts with the disguising."

Controlled Chaos: NFL Edition

2008-08-08T00:37:00.001-04:00

Check out Controlled Chaos: NFL Edition HERE!

Baseball Hall of Fame

2008-07-30T10:39:00.004-04:00

I recently watched an episode of Costas NOW on HBO in which Bob Costas, Dave Winfield, Jim Palmer, and Pete Rose discussed issues related to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

For anyone who doesn't know, Pete Rose was banned for life from baseball by Commissioner Bart Giamatti in 1989. The league spent considerable time and effort investigating allegations that Rose had bet on baseball, including allegations that he had bet on his own team, the Cincinnatti Reds. Although the allegations of Rose's gambling turned out to be true, it's worth noting that no evidence was presented indicating that Pete Rose bet against the Reds.

One of the key points of the discussion on Costas NOW was that athletes who are suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs have a better chance of making it into the Hall than Pete Rose, whose Major League career rankings I found at Baseball-Reference.com:

#1 in Hits w/ 4256
#1 in Singles w/ 3215
#1 in Games Played w/ 3562
#1 in At-Bats w/ 14053
#1 in Plate Appearance w/ 15681
#1 in Times on Base w/ 5929
#2 in Doubles w/ 746 (#1 Tris Speaker)

Still, this list doesn't even take into account his contribution to baseball as one of the most versatile players in the game, both at the plate and in the field. He played for twenty-four seasons, was a switch-hitter, earned two Gold Gloves, was selected for seventeen All-Star games, played numerous positions in the infield and the outfield, and served as a team manager. Even his nickname, "Charlie Hustle," is a testament to his work ethic and determination as a fierce competitor with a never-say-die attitude. It's also worth mentioning that, although he broke the rules of baseball, Pete Rose's gambling never had a significant impact on the way he played or coached the game. For all of these reasons, I am suggesting the following two courses of action:

Firstly, the current commissioner, Bud Selig, should allow Pete Rose to be reinstated into the game of baseball. This should be done with no pomp and circumstance but with a simple press conference, similar to the one in which the ban was announced back in 1989. As a condition of the reinstatement, I would suggest that the League have Rose sign a contract with three important stipulations: (1) Peter Rose may never be voluntarily involved in any baseball-related gambling activities for any reason whatsoever; (2) if at any time there is evidence to prove that Rose has, through his own free will and accord, gambled on baseball again, his reinstatement will be immediately revoked; and (3) if such revocation occurs, Pete Rose will be banned from baseball for life without any possibility of future reinstatement.

Secondly, after Rose has been reinstated, the Baseball Hall of Fame panel needs to give him fair consideration on the first ballot. I say this because I am convinced that certain members of the panel will withhold their votes on the first ballot as a punitive measure. Certainly they will argue that their withholding is not punitive but rather a protest against the League's decision, but I would argue that the effect of their protest would be punitive nonetheless--and after being banned from baseball for the past nineteen years, I am hard-pressed to find a good reason why further punitive measures against Pete Rose would be necessary.

Rutgers in the News

2008-07-29T23:33:00.007-04:00

Topic: Greg Schiano, Head Football Coach for Rutgers University

Background Information:
With earnings in the range of $2.25 million, Greg Schiano is the highest paid public worker in New Jersey. In fact, he makes about five times the annual salary of the President of the United States; or about 12 times the annual salary of the Governor of New Jersey; or 25 times the median household income for New Jersey residents; or about 40 times the average annual salary for New Jersey public school teachers.

Many would argue that Schiano doesn't deserves to be paid so much, but that's not the issue I'd like to focus on today. I'd prefer discussing a recently developing news story about Schiano's salary for 2008--i.e. that it was increased from $2 million to $2.25 million through a sidebar agreement. The original Star-Ledger article can be found HERE on the NJ.com website.

Critics are claiming that a sidebar agreement for $250,000 "lacks transparency" because the additional wages were not made public. I agree that the deal sounds a little sneaky, but the key question is: Were public funds (i.e. taxpayer dollars) used for Schiano's supplemental wages? Rutgers has stated that Coach Schiano's additional compensation was paid by Nelligan Sports Marketing, a private firm. Barring evidence of money laundering or other illegal dealings through Nelligan, Rutgers is more than likely within its rights to supplement Schiano's wages--secretly or otherwise.

As of right now, I'm not convinced that Rutgers has done anything wrong by maintaining secrecy about private funds paid to Schiano. Of course, if it turns out that the funds were actually public, the situation changes entirely, but no such evidence has been presented whatsoever. Still, the situation is kind of messy. Secrecy just doesn't play well in the court of public opinion, and that's something Rutgers needs to seriously consider when it decides to engage in such dealings.

Check out Dave White's opinion of the Rutgers-Schiano dealings HERE.

Check out another article about Coach Schiano HERE.

Philadelphia Soul

2008-07-27T18:20:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Soul, who just won Arena Bowl XXII a few minutes ago.

To say that I watch AFL games even occasionally would be an overstatement, but I watched this game because it involved a Philadelphia team. In all honesty, as a Philadelphia Eagles fan, I'm a bit jealous of the Soul's recent victory, mainly because The Birds haven't won an NFL title since 1960, not to mention the fact that they've never won the Super Bowl.

Either way, the Soul deserve credit for their accomplishment. Well done!