Mike Ditka for Governor?

It’s a sad period for the state of Illinois — so sad that there is talk of putting our only recent symbol of football glory into the state’s highest office. Yes, if you haven’t heard Mike Ditka is being bandied about as a candidate to replace “Johnny Rotten” a.k.a. Rod Blagojevich as governor upon his likely resignation. It was reported in today’s Chicago Tribune that a 27 year-old suburban Chicago man, Shaun Radecki, has launched an internet campaign to get Ditka into office. If you go to dagovernor.com you’ll find the covenant:

“We da people of Illinois are sick and tired of scumbag politicians who think dat it’s their job to lie, cheat and steal. No more! We deserve somebody in charge who we can trust. Somebody who we can depend on. Somebody who we know understands the difference between right and wrong and won’t be afraid to kick corruption in the ass harder than da ’85 Bears beat down da Patriots in da Super Bowl! “

And of course the site is driven by an assortment of “featured products” all bearing the mustachioed pseudo-mobster sillouette of “da coach”  and reading “Ditka for Governor.” The effect is oderously similar to California’s “The Governator” yet slightly more tongue-in-cheek.

Given that I’m a long-time resident of Chicago’s Cook County (others say ”crook county”) I’m predictably not amused. Where others see “crusading” here, I see American greenbacks. Indeed given the stridently idealistic tone of the project, it’s ironic that products feature so prominently on the site. And there’s no indication that the funds reaped will go towards the campaign. Just in time for the Christmas rush I might add…

Bogus as Radecki’s endeavor may be, Ditka is no stranger to politics. He campaigned for the recent McCain/Palin ticket and was briefly considered as a viable opponent to Obama in the 2004 Senate elections. But does the 69 year-old Ditka with a history of heart trouble have the fortitude to operate within the Byzantine halls of Illinois politics? Likely not. Furthermore, he’s good at one liners but he doesn’t have the temperment for sustained debate, as witnessed in his clumsy attempt last year to get the NFL to fork over for ailing players of his generation.

At the end of the day, as with all things in Illinois politics, the outcome of Ditka as governor, will come down to money. He’s got a good thing going with his commercial ventures — particularly his three restaurants, which have thus far proved to be recession-proof. Why would he want to jeopardize his good name on such a position of ill-repute?

Mark Cuban’s Insider Trading

We are led to believe that the November 17, 2008 charges of insider trading levied against Mark Cuban are politically motivated. As the story goes, they are payback for his commission of the anti-Bush movie, Spare Change, which suggests that George W. Bush somehow conspired to affect 9-11. Cuban himself pushed this angle in a knee jerk public defense by leaking an email, sent to him in May 2007 by SEC Fort Worth office lawyer Jeffrey B. Norris, in which Norris slams Cuban’s movie for impugning the patriotism of the President. Norris CC’ed the email to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. Connect the dots and voila!

Inside Man, Mark Cuban (askmen.com)

But are all the dots connected? I believe not. The role of Major League Baseball (MLB) has been uncritically examined here. In so far as it’s mentioned in the mainstream media, MLB is connected with pronouncements that Cuban’s well-publicized bid to buy the Chicago Cubs is now scuttled. After all, who would take a chance on a guy who bears the stigma of insider trading? True, but the picture can be enlarged, if only speculatively on circumstantial evidence. Cuban in my opinion is the victim of destiny – the destiny of our 43rd President to realize a lifelong dream to be Commissioner of Major League Baseball.

Bush’s childhood friend, Doug Hannah, revealed this much in a July 2007 Vanity Fair interview that, when it comes to his former play mate, “Running for President is a resume enhancer for being the commissioner of baseball.” And the President’s second term slump seemed not to have dampened this ambition: Hannah was “still convinced that is his goal.”

Certainly, Bush’s career trajectory has at times pointed in that direction. In 1989 he became owner and managing partner of the Texas Rangers. In 1992, then commissioner Fay Vincent was forced out by owners. Milwaukee Brewers owner, Bud Selig succeeded him as acting commissioner. According to his 2002 book, The Last Commissioner, Vincent – a long-time friend of the Bush family – claims that W. asked him if he would make a good commissioner. Furthermore, Bush intimated to Vincent that Selig had told him he could “make it happen.” Selig himself went on to become permanent commissioner in 1998. By that time, Bush had moved on to other things: he was elected Governor of Texas in 1996; and then of course President of the United States in 2000. In late 2007, the window opened again: a 73-year-old Selig was due to retire in 2008 and it was reported that Bush would succeed him. But destiny again was thwarted as Selig renewed his contract until 2012. Who could blame Selig for trying to stall for time so he could clean up the mess he made from neglecting the Steroid Era.

Back to Cuban, it’s well known that Selig and most team owners don’t want the brash billionaire Cuban in their club. During this year, current Cubs owner Sam Zell has been trying to strong-arm Cuban through the door. Furthermore, SEC Chairman Cox, a former Texas congressman and Bush appointee, is on the hot seat with his boss for failing to prevent the subprime crisis. Taking Cuban out of the running may very well pave the way for Bush to the commissionership in the near future by currying favor with the baseball establishment, not least Bud Selig.

As a child George W. Bush wanted to be the next “Mountain” Keneshaw Landis, the paragon of moral virtue who cleaned up baseball in the 20s and 30s and commissioned it toward its golden age. In its post-Steroid Era slump, Baseball has new need for such a figure. Destiny could be fulfilled at Mark Cuban’s expense.

Book Review:

Arsènal: the Making of a Modern Superclub by Alex Fynn and Kevin Whitcher (Vision Sports Publishing, 2008)

Courtesy of Vision Sports Publishing

As the first Arsenal book I’ve fully read, this one had a wonderful introspective quality. Many of the local contours I’ve groped for in five consecutive years of fandom are illuminated. Arsenal, in its recent history, is a story of aspiration, audacity and footballing purity. This comes out wonderfully in this book.

The book is written by two inside trackers: the “football guru”, Alex Fynn, Editor of the “fanzine” The Gooner;  and Kevin Whitcher, a famous football pundit. It contains lots of interesting information, much of it gathered from primary sources. To give you an idea of the intimacy, Whitcher reported from Manager Arsene Wenger’s living room while his wife cooked dinner.  

It’s 245 pages, but reads well due to the wide margins and uptempo pace. Sounds like the English game, I’m surprisingly happy to say; naturally, however, it progresses as if ideas were longballs, thematically instead of chronologically. As an Historian I find this messy. Regardless, the details run logically enough to give it fluidity.

Up until the early ’90s, Arsenal were a relatively parochial, working class North London soccer team, albeit with a rich history. The book begins with the arrival of a self-made maverick to the Arsenal board in 1983. A “football man,” as described by the authors, David Dein’s lofty ambitions for his beloved team took real shape with the formation of the English Premier League in 1992, and the subsequent merchandising and broadcasting windfall for the ”Big 5″ teams (of which Arsenal were included). Foresight drove Dein to hire an obscure Frenchman as manager in 1996. That would be Arsene Wenger, the other dominant character in the story. The two were to form an inseparable bond until Dein’s uncermonious ouster as Vice-Chairman of Arsenal in 2007.

The meat of the book is contained between these two dates; and financial matters take precedence in the narrative. By utilizing Wenger’s brilliance for finding, growing and selling young talent, Arsenal formulated an unconventional model for success. While the other big teams spent tens of millions to acquire mature stars, the astute Wenger could assemble his roster from “gems in the dirt” at deflated prices. He would then sell these players once they approached their potential. The trasfer fees would be reinvested to sign more players. The result: for a paltry deficit of £44 million, a sucession of young teams that won five Premierships and four FA cups over Wenger’s first nine years. Just as significant, in the process they shed their boring boring Arsenal label from the 80s and early 90s in favor of some of the most beautiful soccer the world had ever seen. Indeed, the authors put Arsenal on the level of Hungary in the 1950s, Holland in the 1970s and Brazil in the 1980s — and rightfully so.  With their quick, incisive passing and fluid movement Arsenal convert the field into a virtual circuit board of electric activity. Of course, this all required a rigorous, sophisticated scouting system which the book unfortunately doesn’t expand on.

The other financial engine the authors analyze is “England’s first truly 21st Century stadium,” Emirates Stadium. Getting it built was certainly a collective effort, involving the circumvention of zoning laws, development of surrounding infrastructure and property, and raising of hundreds of millions of capital. Here is where we get a glimpse of much boardroom backbiting, especially between Dein and Managing Director, Keith Edelman. Throughout it all — from the final decision to build in Ashburton Grove in December 2001 to the opening of The Emirates Stadium in July 2006 — Wenger’s uncanny ability to field “Top Four” teams on a shoestring budget never faulters.

The authors do, however, pose a moral dilemma to Arsenal’s rise. They use the Emirates to paint a sympathetic view of the regular fan’s predicament. The skyrocketing ticket prices, distant seating and multitude of corporate boxes seem a worrying trend; so too, Wenger’s chinese walls placed between the fans and players; and then there are the naming rights sold to a foreign airline (ie. Emirates Airlines) rather than the physical place, Ashburton Grove. Perhaps this is why the authors are somewhat sympathetic to the Arsenal board in its unanimous condemnation of a Dein-initiated takeover by American sports magnate, Stan Kroenke. The paradox of Arsenal’s vibrant footballing purity and their increasing homogenation as a corporate brand was never fully grasped here.

The chief criticism I have for this book is that it doesn’t give us a broad context? If Arsenal is truly a “global” team it should be described in this scope, rather than a North London cauldron of financial tensions and shifting personal relationships. Tell us about Arsenal supporters in Africa of which there are many; or the legions of celebrity fans such as Fidel Castro and Osama Bin Laden (reportedly).

Regardless of its lack of scope, Fynn and Whitcher’s book exposes at ground level the interplay between identity, pride, tradition and money that make European soccer teams irrisistable assets to today’s well-heeled billionaire. And even though Arsenal have fallen agonizingly short of championships in recent years, I think we can draw inspiration from Wenger’s ability to do more with less. He certainly is a man for these lean times.

Barack Obama’s Basketball Trail

On the eve of what is perhaps the most important election in decades, most of us are probably thinking in terms of HMOs, taxes, gas prices and college tuition. Me? I’m thinkin’ pick-up basketball. I’m not trivial. I just happen to know how important hoops is in the life of the front-runner, Barack Obama. He grew up playing on cracked up asphalt courts in Hawaii’s less scenic environs. It was there, he indicated in his autobiographical Dreams From My Father, that he formed his sense of belonging. Indeed, this was the only place at that time he could meet other black people. Not much later, he was a member of the high school team (although not a starter) that won a Hawaii State Championship. At Harvard Law he and a few classmates played games against Massachusetts state prison inmates. And to this day Obama is an active hooper.

Pick-up basketball is how I came to know Barack Obama in the mid-1990s. I played a few games with him at the University of Chicago’s Henry Crown Field House. He was then a young law professor. Since then he’s moved on to more exclusive gyms, like downtown’s East Bank Club. And here is where we diverge sharply. It appears that through the years Obama’s early posse of young professionals has in recent years morphed into a clique  of movers and shakers who gallavant around the nation playing what the L.A. Times calls “movable basketball games.” Some of the members of this sporting cabal are not well known nationally. Yet, if I were a betting man, I’d wager they’ll all get plum jobs in an Obama administration. They include Arnie Duncan, Chief Executive of the Chicago Public Schools, and a former pro basketball player in Australia. And there’s Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois State Treasurer, who owes his current position partly to Obama. Of course there are friends from law school like Eric Whitaker and Steven Donziger. Whitaker is now Executive VP of University of Chicago Medical Center and Donziger is a New York lawyer. There’s also money men like Marty Nesbitt and John Rogers. Nesbitt is currently treasurer of Obama’s campaign and Rogers is founder of the investment firm Ariel Capital. And of course there’s the basketball experts that impart on the Obama clique an air of sporting legitimacy: Craig Robinson, Obama’s brother in law and coach Brown University’s men’s team; Rickey Green, a former NBA All-Star, who played with Obama in a 2004 Senate campaign fundraiser; Reggie Love, Obama’s personal aide, who played basketball at Duke.

"Not nice to box out Mr. President"

When the New York Times uttered, in June 2007, that “Basketball has little to do with Mr. Obama’s Presidential campaign” I suspect they were just fortifying themselves against charges of racism. After all, the disclaimer was written into a story about his basketball exploits (see “One Place Where Obama Goes Elbow to Elbow” by Jodi Kantor, The New York Times, June 1, 2007). In an election year where lipstick on pigs, bridges to nowhere, pregnant daughters, eight houses and patriotic pins have become political fodder It’s safe to say that Obama’s basketball playing can also be seen through a political frame; in fact, it already has: McCain was quick to release a video of Obama as a “celebrity” playing basketball during his trip abroad last July; and Obama is equally buffeted no doubt by youtube videos showing him draining a 3-pointer on the first try in front of applauding servicemen in Kuwait.

During this campaign Obama has made a ritual of playing pick-up basketball on momentous days. It started the day of the Iowa Caucuses and has continued with few exceptions throughout all the primaries. He even played the night before he was to be nominated at the Democratic convention. On the eve of this election–even though his Grandmother passed away just hours ago–It’s highly likely that the nation’s first Black President is moving off a pick somewhere in downtown Chicago.

In sum, if you want to know what Barack Obama will do next–who he’ll hire, how he’ll connect with people, what friends he’ll make–I don’t suggest you look at his ties to firebrand preachers or radical 60s leftists. Instead, I suggest you follow his basketball trail.

Happy Holloween From Boca Juniors Fans

To pious Americans Argentina’s most popular club, Boca Juniors, has got to be the freakiest of sports institutions. I’m not referring to their rabid, painted fans known the world over for their hooliganistic antics, especially vis a vis their arch-rivals, River Plate. Nor am I referring to their nickname Los Boteros (manure handlers in spanish) which they wear with pride. Indeed the crap-spewing brick factory which their stadium supplanted has recently given way to a more irreverent industrial imagery–coffin making. So, in the spirit of Holloween, let me exhume a ghoulish story that first circulated two and half years ago.

In May, 2006 BBC News published a story that has since been way underreported. The gist of it was that Boca Juniors fans were having coffins built for themselves designed with their club colors. For the basic order, solid blue or yellow; but for the more discriminating, a tailor made coffin with blue and yellow design and a matching silk lining on the inside. The more particular cost up to $800 and a few extra for the club logo on the front.

Comes with club logo for a few extra dollars

Let it be stated that Boca fans are not the first to produce club coffins. Many teams in Mexico have long had similar accomodations as do some in the Columbian city of Medellin. But none have the global profile of Boca, a club that claims 40% of Argentine fandom and equals AC Milan in international championships.

And now Europe has caught on to the trend. This year Hamburg SV has won the morbid distinction of being the first European club to have a cemetary for its fans. They are buried like military heroes with coffins draped and painted in the team colors. There is also the option of having their ashes buried in club urn.

So it seems these days, professing loyalty to a team “til you die” makes you a fair weather fan.

Maradona Becomes Coach of Argentina

I know, stranger things have happened; nevertheless, this story is pretty strange. Diego Armando Maradona, the man who brought us such classics as “The Hand of God” and the ”Goal of the Century” has reportedly been selected as coach of the Argentinian national soccer team. He will begin his tenure in December, 2008. He turns 48 today, and looks to be in for another adventure in his charmed life.

No one questions Maradona’s bona fides as a soccer icon. With the gift of hindsight, many fans now rate him above Pele as the greatest player to ever play the game. His dizzying runs and close ball control now populate youtube for all to see. His double against England in the quarter finals of the 1986 World Cup was his most salient moment; but let’s not forget that he shepherded a raggety southern Italian team, Napoli, into an era when they won their only two Italian Championships–not to mention an Italian Supercup, Coppa Italia and UEFA CUP. And while Pele won two World Cups with the likes of Rivelino, Carlos Alberto, and Tostao (indeed his supporting cast was so good they won the 1962 cup largely without him), Maradona won one (1986) and carried an average team to the finals of another on one good leg.

But there was always something subversive about Maradona: he is friends with radical Leftists like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez; he has a long history of quarelling with coaches and FIFA officials; he’s even been sentenced for shooting an air gun at reporters. But most ignominious, he has a history of drug abuse going back to the mid-80s. In 1991 he was suspended for 15 months for testing positive for cocaine; and then in the 1994 World Cup for ephedrine. He spiralled out of control after retiring in 1997. His weight ballooned and he was frequently in detox. In 2004, he suffered a heart attack following a cocaine overdose. A spell of alcohol abuse soon followed. Then in May, 2007 he announced he’d quit drinking and furthermore had not used drugs in two and a half years. Since then he’s appeared to get his life in order.

Before: Maradona, circa 2003

After: Maradona in 2008

Hence, the news of Maradona’s appointment as national coach comes as a surprise. He’s not the figure of authority that usually inhabits the position. He’s only had two brief coaching stints in which he’s spuddered. Nevertheless, he’s got two things going for him. First, his General Manager will likely be his World Cup winning coach Carlos Bilardo, a wise head. Second, his talismanic presence can infuse the team with the raw energy that they’ve recently lacked in this qualifying campaign. At present, Argentina are third in their South American qualifying group with 8 matches to go. The top four qualify automatically for South Africa 2010, but first-place Paraguay and solid Chile are shaking up the calculus. Argentina will need to maintain focus until the qualifying campaign resumes next Spring.

If not ideal, the selection of Maradona is at least interesting. He’s a national icon who’s called upon to deliver his nation back to its previous glory, a Charles de Gaulle of soccer if you will. I predict he’ll be a shot in the arm for a few months, but as he turns from hero to disciplinarian he’ll be overwhelmed. When compared to Dunga, the former player and new coach of Brazil, Maradona was affronted: “I didn’t play like Dunga–he kicked, I didn’t” (Reuters). Somehow, I reckon he’ll have to do more “kicking” in this job than he realized.

Dennis Green is NOT Who We Think He is

In October 2006, I remember watching my Chicago Bears play the Arizona Cardinals in a Chicago dive bar. It was a close affair to put it mildly. Despite turning the ball over 6 times, the Bears surmounted a 20 point lead in the last 20 minutes to eek out a 24-23 win; something about a winning 83 yard punt return from then rookie Devin Hester. Nuff said.

Yet those were the ashes; the lava soon followed. The normally cherubic coach of the Cardinals, Dennis Green, blew his top in the post game interview. Refer to the video below:

 

This was part of an 8 game losing streak for Green, once an accomplished, long-tenured coach of the Minnesota Vikings. The sound was turned off on the television in the bar, but just observing the violence of Green’s gesticulations, I knew this would be a classic rant. Two years later, it has…more than anyone could’ve imagined. In fact, Green has trademarked what seem to be the only clean phrases from his spew and gone on to commercial success. He was featured in a Coors Light commercial earlier this year spoofing the moment. His website (dennisgreen.com) now sells hats for $19.95 with “they are who we thought they were” and “we let them off the hook” respectively. He’s showing up on CNN and CNBC and is a key talking point on ESPN.

At first glance this seems like a “roll your eyes” moment. Some lamentations about the current state of our society, the media, and American Capitalism should soon follow. Personally, this story first reminded me of that episode of The Simpsons from the 90s where Bart became a celebrity simply by uttering the phrase “I didn’t do it” to packed halls. The senselessness–even depravity–of this kind of opportunism in our times of Credit Crunch, Culture Wars and political logjam should be thoughtfully considered. As a sportsman I also find it a bit affronting that someone could market a loss for financial gain. Shouldn’t the victors reap the rewards? Yet, before passing judgement, I believe one should take into account the character and intent of the profiteer.

If you recall from my ’Lil Wayne post a few days ago, I was not wholly opposed to the crass sensationalism of the rapper’s booming sports blog. Indeed, I ended the article by stating that in the blogosphere it’s often necessary to hoot and holla to build an audience. In this medium, getting attention is 90% of the battle, and it just so happens that appealing to base popular tastes is the most expedient path. I qualified this by saying that exposing readers to what I call “valued content”–real, meaningful material–should be the ultimate goal. In sum, if you want to influence an ignoramus you must begin so on his terms. I see Dennis Green’s reductionist enterprise in this light.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that Green wants to cash in; but I can glean from his website and his well-documented personal history that he’s also a man of substance. He was born and raised in segregation era Harrisburg Pensylvannia. He lost his father at 11, his mother at 13. As a star running back for Iowa, he was also prominent in anti-segregation activities. He then went on to coach at Northwestern University in 1981, where he was the second African-American coach in division 1-A history. His trailblazing path took him to his pinnacle in 1992 as the second African-American head coach of the modern NFL as coach of the Vikings. In 1998, his Vikings achieved a 15-1 record, one of only 4 teams in NFL history to win that many regular season games.

If Dennis Green is a winner, he’s also much more. His website, dennisgreen.com, reveals a man of simple tastes and solid principles. Of course, the background is green, first off; and his personal statement starts off by imparting his “5 F’s”: Faith, Family, Friends, Football, and Fishing. It is also revealing of his folksy business ethos: he’s sells personal products, such as a fishing instruction DVD (featuring himself) and the aformentioned caps; but he also sells “consulting services” through his umbrella company, Greenlight Sports Marketing. And of course, it’s fused nicely with a committment to community work in the inner cities.

A sign that Dennis Green’s strategy of putting the donkey before the carriage is working came just a few days ago. On October 20th a group of San Diego State college students named Green a teacher at their university. He will teach BA 703 – Strategic Management in SDSU’s Sports Business Management Program. There is no doubt in my mind that his name came up because of his recent pop appeal. Once again, more evidence that in this media driven world–if you want to say a lot–say a few iconic words first.

Arrivederci David Beckham

Arrivederci Beckham

 Well, it had to happen. The Beckham revolution begun with a bang, on July 13, 2007, with his official unveiling as an L.A. Galaxy player may be coming to an end. It surfaced yesterday that Italian powerhouse A.C. Milan is in the final stages of negotiating a deal for “Becks” to play in Italy for four months. He would begin in January. Ostensibly, the deal is to be a loan–a common arrangement in soccer–whereby a player is obligated to play for another team for a certain period, but remains under contract with the loaning team. Hence, we could be seeing the unceremonious departure of the second most famous number 23 in American sports history.

On the surface, the deal is touted by Galaxy officials as a way for Beckham to increase his fitness ahead of some crucial England World Cup qualifiers next Spring. The MLS season is also winding down and the Galaxy are well out of contention. It’s well known that Beckham places a premium on his national team, after recently regaining a spot on new coach Fabio Capello’s squad. He has 107 caps and needs one more to tie the England record for a non-goalkeeper. Once his loan period is over, he’ll be back with the Galaxy in May, 2009 as the story goes.

Yet, to skeptical eyes this sudden flight from the MLS seems more portentous than the official line indicates. In two full seasons with the Galaxy, Beckham has failed to lift them into the playoffs. True, he’s been hobbled, but his play on the field has been wanting. Adding to his frustrations is the turnover in personnel: the GM who signed him (Alexei Lalas) has been fired; and he’s playing under his third coach at the club. And of course there’s the American sports establishment which will pretty much ignore him when he’s not in the company of his Hollywood friends. At the end of the day, the Galaxy retain the right to sell Beckham–and much of his $250 million contract–and may very well do so.

Enter Milan, with its world renowned fashion scene–a candy shop for his high maintenance wife. And after being in the soccer wilderness Becks may find the familiar rhythms of European soccer soothing to his mind and body. In the past decade, A.C. Milan has earned the reputation as a fountain of youth. Many a thirty-something player has been rejuvenated there–Seedorf, Maldini, Pirlo, Nesta, Shevchenko, Gattuso and Inzaghi to name a few. Beckham, at 33, is now reaching retirement age for a “footballer.”

It should be pointed out that A.C. Milan is not in need of Beckham’s soccer skills. He’ll be competing against Pirlo, Gattuso, Ambrosini, Flamini, Emerson and Seedorf in only a three-man midfield. And with Kaka, Ronaldinho and Pirlo already on board his dead ball skills are superfluous. His main upside is of course financial. When he left Manchester United for Real Madrid in 2003, Beckham, spawned a four year orgy of merchandising totaling $600 million (Forbes Magazine). His stint with the Galaxy has been highly profitable as well, even though he’s been ineffectual on the field. Milan Vice President Alberto Galliani admitted euphemistically that Beckham is a cash cow, saying, “Our team is very competitive and will remain as is, but Beckham is something different and intriguing.”

Indeed so…

Lil Wayne, The Sports Blogger

I have long since learned that, when it comes to cyberspace, fools run the world. Sites like myspace, youtube and the blogosphere are dominated by the most silly or outrageous content, often having to do with sex or violence. The world of sports media is no different. Sure Peter Gammons and Vince Skully are accorded a certain veil of authority…but the microphones gravitate to people like Charles Barkley, Chad Ocho Cinco, Terrel Owens, Mike Tyson, Manny Ramirez and Michael Irvin. Indeed, as a blogger, you can run the most brilliant site on speculative sub-atomic particles but chances are you’ll never even approach the stature of Perez Hilton.

My Machiavellian take on this biz means I’m not surprised to learn that the world’s best-selling rapper is rapidly blazing a trail to sports blogging notoriety.  After launching an ESPN blog on September 24th, Lil Wayne has nearly set records for views. One post received over 1,500 comments! He posts about once a week, each about a page and a half.

Lil Wayne

Apparently the idea came about after an ESPN writer mentioned how popular Wayne is with MLB ballplayers (he was voted most listened to) during an interview. To show his dedication he had the ESPN logo tattooed on his arm three months ago.

I have read Wayne’s blog. If I may indulge in what hip hoppers call “hatin”, the toad-sounding, dirty-locked, ink-covered son of New Orleans comes off more like a dilettante. His observations are simple and he offers few insights. For instance on the heels of Brett Favre’s six touchdown performance a couple weeks ago, ‘Lil Wayne writes,

“He’s getting better with time, as scary as that sounds. He still takes those shots. He still takes those risks. And those receivers were amazing, and the line, man, the offensive line was unexplainable.”

You’re not in the studio Lil “Weezy”…you can’t write a sports blog like one of your rap songs.

Although the analytical side is wanting, I think Wayne’s at his most compelling when he unleashes his arsenal of personal sports anecdotes and experiences. For instance, he relays a story about a hometown buddy who wanted to play for the Lakers. After heeding Wayne’s advice not to party, he got injured and was summarily cut. His one shot was gone. And Wayne surprises us by revealing he’s a huge tennis fan, and threw a Wimbledon bash last summer and people “went crazy.” He also claims to watch NASCAR–perhaps on one of the five adjacent T.V.’s he has set up in his home for sports days.

The best material I found among the personal stuff, are the glimpses into the crazy life of a rap star albeit through the lens of sports. He mentions that Chad Ocho Cinco wrote on his blog; and Chris Paul phoned him griping that he’d neglected to mention him on his blog. The “freshness” about Wayne’s blog here–that reporters refer to–is perhaps a twist on the everyman approach politicians take to sports. Obama and McCain will mention the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals respectively to connect with ordinary people. ‘Lil Wayne is telling us something more complex. He gives us a warped view of our ordinary sports-loving selves–a glam rapper’s version. Take for instance this passage he writes which combines a seemingly mundane Sunday football gathering with a lobster-cooking personal chef:

“I always have people over watching the football games, because we’re all in fantasy leagues. I have a wonderful chef and he cooks whatever I like. During the games it’s usually steak and lobster.”

What, no nacho chips and soda?

Lil Wayne gets lots of material for his blog from his fantasy football indulgence…like a regular joe right? Well, not quite. He does use his real name, Dwayne Carter, in his ESPN league; but the players he rolls with aren’t like Bob Fitzelberger from Human Resources. In 2006, for instance, his MTV Fantasy Football League held its 2006 draft at Jay Z’s 40/40 Club in New York City. Other players included rappers Dr. Dre, Tyrese, Uncle Luke and Method Man. When Uncle Luke got mocked for a pick, he called up Arizona Cardinal’s Running Back Edgerrin James and put him on speakerphone. 

Lil Wayne (far left), with other famous rappers, at the 2006 MTV Fantasy Football Draft at the 40/40 Club in NYC

Lil Wayne’s ambitions in sports look to have a high ceiling. In addition to blogging, he hasn’t ruled out ownership. His four week journey to the pinnacle of sports blogging is instructive to all us struggling bottom-feeders: fame and outragiousness will take you a long way on the blogosphere. Because the act of building an audience has its own logic, intelligent bloggers on the make need to realize that a little sensationalism can hook readers to the valued content.

Is PROVIGIL Baseball’s Next Drug of Choice?

One of my aims in creating this blog is to catch upcoming trends in sports and fitness. For example, after learning about Acai wonder berries last summer I came close to writing a self-congratulatory blurb about them, and was only thwarted when I learned that I was a year too late–and centuries late if I was in Brazil.

Perhaps I’ve ventured in more promising pastures with this one, involving a trendy new drug out of California: on July 15, tech power blogger, Michael Arrington, speculated on his popular blog, TechCrunch, that PROVIGIL is the drug of choice among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. It’s manufactured by Pennsylvania-based Cephalon and approved–via prescription–to alleviate various cases of sleep disorder, including Narcolepsy, Sleep Apnea and shift work disorder. The magic substance of PROVIGIL is Modafinil, a stimulant which spurs the release of monoamines but also elevates hypothalmic histimine levels. This makes it especially valued as a wakefulness agent as opposed to high side effect-inducing amphetamines. Hence, modafinil is classified a Schedule IV drug, in the more mild family of the five FDA classifications.

When Arrington writes, people listen. He’s a major spokesman for the “Web 2.0″ generation of tech gurus that’s getting a second wind in our otherwise shrinking economy. Magazines such as Forbes and Wired have named him one of the most powerful people on the internet. In 2008, TIME Magazine went one better and named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. The 38 year-old former corporate attourney apparently gets his edge from a  “vast network of Silicon Valley sources—many gained through his legendary parties” (TIME Magazine).

So how, you might ask, can I make the jump from techies to baseball players with regards to PROVIGIL? Admittedly, my argument is highly speculative; yet I believe the drug is well-positioned to make an entrance into Major League Baseball. First, the effect of the drug is to increase focus with minimal side-effects. Major League ball players travel a lot and have to maintain high levels of concentration due to the nature of the game. Second, mental drugs don’t leave a physical imprint the way steroids did; no one’s hat will swell three sizes–but their brain may act like it did so. Last, most of our major drug scourges have started in California. Some key examples: San Francisco LSD-popping hippies in the 60s and San Diego meth labs in the 80s. And let’s not forget, the steroid era started with the late-eighties “bash brothers” of the Oakland A’s.

As the reputed drug of choice of leading technology opinion makers it’s not hard to see PROVIGIL spreading to other spheres, as cocaine once branched out from investment bankers. Indeed, there are already signs that it has global acceptance–at least among scientists and physicians. In April, 2008 the prestigious scientific journal Nature published an online poll of its readers (mostly scientists) on their attitudes towards these so-called “smart drugs”. One in five of the 1,400 respondents said they took mental performance drugs to increase their productivity. 80% said they should be allowed; and 70% said they’d personally use them if that was the case. On the popularity scale, Ritalin came first (62%), followed by PROVIGIL (44%).

Modafinil is currently not on Major League Baseball’s list of banned substances. Given the subtlety and lowered risks of mental drugs like PROVIGIL–as well as their growing cultural acceptance–it’s conceivable that ball players might wise up and start taking advantage of them. In a “game of inches” small advantages can generate large upswings. Having the added focus to wait on a breaking ball may be the difference between a .250 and .300 average.

So, next time you hear managers remark on how “smart” Manny Ramirez is and how he “sees the game in slow motion” you should wonder if it’s more than ”Manny being Manny.”