The Valley Advocate: Free Sport

NFL As Charitable Non-Profit?

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:54:00 PM MST

Sports, as professional athletes routinely remind us when they are traded from one franchise to another, are a business. Yet several major sports leagues, like the NHL (National Hockey League) and NFL (National Football League), have for years been operating as non-profit charitable organizations.

“Basically we're subsidizing with tax breaks the NFL's ability to leverage big stadium deals that we often wind up subsidizing directly with local taxes,” Deadspin reports. “We're also subsidizing with tax breaks the salaries of such notable nonprofiteers as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman ($4.3 million), PGA commissioner Tim Finchem ($5.2 million) and the NFL's top eight executives ($51.5 million).”

But a new bill proposed by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla) proposes to change these non-profit designations, and have the leagues pay their fair share.

Sen. Coburn “introduced an amendment to a bill called the Marketplace Fairness Act,” continues Deadspin, “that would revoke the tax-exempt status of sports leagues.”

In his “Wastebook 2012,” released last October, Sen. Coburn highlights “egregious ways” up to $18 billion in potential “taxpayer dollars were wasted in 2012,” his website reads.

First on his list: professional sports leagues like the NFL, NHL, and PGA (Professional Golfers Association), which he says cost taxpayers $91 million in unrealized revenue.

“There is no question we can find hundreds of billion dollars of waste in our budget,” says Sen. Coburn. “Until Congress has the guts to cut specific programs we will never get our debt under control.”

As a comparison to the embellished salaries received by executives at many professional sports league non-profits, this month's Charity Rating Guide & Watchdog Report has published the American Institute of Philanthropy's list of top 25 "compensations" earned at charitable non-profits. Top salaries include Edward J. Benz, M.D., CEO/President of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Jimmy Fund), at $1,245,790; Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association (NRA), at $972,000; and Steven E. Sanderson, CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society, at $870,642.

Low Oxygen Fight Night at the Top of the World

Tue, 07 May 2013 12:40:00 PM MST

It is extremely difficult for our human bodies to operate in the thin air and low levels of oxygen experienced in high altitude mountain climbing. But that didn’t prevent a near brawl from breaking out at the Mount Everest base camp earlier this month.

“Three European men were involved in a brawl at 24,000 feet when a dispute over climbing procedure turned into a violent, near-death scuffle that raises new questions about the overcrowding of the summit,” Dashiell Bennett writes for The Atlantic. “Local officials are investigating the matter and say it's the first time they ever heard of such an incident at the world's biggest mountain.”

Apparently, “a group of Sherpa guides instructed the three climbers not to touch the ropes that the guides were placing on the way to the summit,” The Atlantic continues. “Witnesses say the three Europeans—one Italian, one British, and one Swiss climber—ignored the request and started climbing above them on their own. One of them may have also knocked some ice loose, hitting one of the Sherpas.”

(CNN's story appears below:)

“Sherpas are a small ethnic group that share many cultural, racial, and linguistic features with Tibetans, who live to their immediate north,” Broughton Coburn of National Geographic explains. “About 3,000 Sherpas reside in the drainage areas immediately below Everest; a population of 20,000 or more live in villages to the south.”

“Mountaineering is their livelihood, and they do it to support their families,” National Geographic continues. “It's tough, seasonal work—similar to the role of commercial fishing in Alaska … They approach the task with good cheer, and the pay is exceptional by Nepal's standards (high-altitude Sherpas earn several times the prime minister's monthly salary).”

Impoverished Sherpa communities are dependent on the international climbing community, local Valley journalist Jonathan Green tells the Advocate. “Wealthy climbers often get winched up, tied in to Sherpas, and basically dragged up the mountain,” says Green, author of Murder in the High Himalaya: Loyalty, Tragedy, and Escape from Tibet (see “Gunshots on the Roof of the World,” Valley Advocate, 9/6/12). “Then [the climbers] go back and make all this money speaking about character and courage.”

“There’s such an income disparity between the Sherpas and these luxury adventures,” continues Green, “there’s bound to be animosity.”

This year marks the 60^th anniversary of the first-ever successful summiting of Mount Everest, by British climber Sir Edmund Hilary, and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Since then, reports The Atlantic, “more than 4,000 climbers have scaled "the top of the world" … [while] at least 220 have died trying.”

May the Fourth Be With You! (Star Wars Yoga Edition)

Sat, 04 May 2013 4:47:00 AM MST

The theatrical 3D release of Attack of the Clones has been postponed. But the very existence of the prequel trilogy still causes a cultural identity question of existential proportions. Specifically, does the disappointment of the prequel trilogy offer any worth to the devoted Star Wars fan?

"What does your heart tell you?" asks Shmi Skywalker.

"I hope so. Yes. I guess," a young Anakin replies—an answer that seems applicable to our dilemma as well.

Jar Jar Binks. Hayden Christensen. Computer-animated Yoda. George Lucas' film direction ("Louder! Faster!"). There is much in the prequel trilogy to be discouraged about. And while the experience of re-watching the prequels will never be as easy as shooting womp rats in Beggar's Canyon, there is indeed a new hope for those of us who find ourselves powerless against the giant tractor beam that is the prequel trilogy: we may achieve a more enlightened appreciation through the practice of Star Wars Yoga.

"Eventually you get all the Jedi benefits without the endless intergalactic travel," Yoga Master Matthew Latkiewicz tells me over coffee in a nearby Valley cafe that, suspiciously, looks nothing like the Cantina Bar in Mos Eisley. "Eventually you will be able to calm your stress with the prequels," he promises.

I am taken aback by his bold statement. Couldn't we just warm up by moving Luke's X-Wing out of the Dagobah swamp? The prospect of peacefully enjoying the prequels, however, is too tempting to allow me to be dissuaded by skepticism. Breathing deeply, I listen to the midi-chlorians strengthening my resolve as they move through my system. Or is that the caffeine?

"Star Wars Yoga is a form of Bikram, or hot yoga," Master Latkiewicz instructs me. "But really, it's a brand more than yoga. A branded yoga."

I am already confused. I know little about yoga. And too much about Star Wars.

"It's yoga in the service of the brand," he clarifies, "rather than spiritual or physical betterment, if not physical appearance."

The brand developed when a series of secret marketing memos were obtained by Valley local Latkiewicz, who has since posted them in their entirety on his website. The memos were sent to George Lucas from Lucasfilm brand strategist and marketer Steve Jones, who was expressing concerns that Lucas' marketing department had tapped dry their DVD boxed set, lunch box and LEGO Star Wars revenue streams. Looking for ways to more effectively reconnect with the 30- and 40-something Star Wars fan, Jones suggested infiltrating the health and lifestyle market.

"It might be real," Master Latkiewicz notes.

Based on the memos, it appears that Lucas had a difficult time conceptualizing a move from Yoda to yoga. Jones's marketing proposals were rejected outright by the bearded, plaid-shirted one. Latkiewicz, conversely, became the brand's most devout practitioner and teacher, eventually conferring the rank of Master upon himself.

As we focus all our energy on not moving while we are studying poses and drinking coffee, my instruction of Star Wars Yoga begins with TIE Fighter Advanced.

"Darth Vader's TIE Fighter is actually called TIE Fighter Advanced," Master Latkiewicz notes. "The pose is a more difficult version of the TIE Fighter pose, where one squats down, holding arms out with elbows bent at a right angle and fingers straight [Master's emphasis.] To move to TIE Fighter Advanced, you bend your hands inward at the wrist, imitating the slanted wings of Darth Vader's TIE Fighter Advanced."

The pose, a favorite for Latkiewicz, is so effective because, in addition to providing a bit of Star Wars trivia, it also plays on the language of yoga, where an advanced pose is a natural extension of its non-advanced position. Or so I am told.

TIE Fighter Advanced, while highly developed on an intellectual Star Wars level, is less strenuous when considered from the physical perspective. So our conversation moves on.

"R2-D2 is challenging," Master Latkiewicz admits. The pose requires students to compress their bodies into the smallest squats possible while keeping their heads up, then pushing down with their hands, gorilla-style, so that one's arms act like R2-D2's robotic legs. "It requires a lot of core strength," adds the Master.

Not as much strength as One-Armed Dagobah Handstand, though. "There are people in the yoga world who can do it," Master Latkiewicz assures me. But I have a hard time envisioning a more difficult pose to achieve on a physical level, and wonder if Yoda would be involved in an Advanced One-Armed Dagobah Handstand. Most difficult, that would be.

For Latkiewicz, however, the most challenging pose is X-Wing. Sitting down with your legs spread out as wide as possible, you lean forward while keeping your head up and reach for your toes. "It requires the most flexibility," states Master Latkiewicz. Not as much flexibility as is needed to hold X-Wing Extended, though, where you bring your arms up from your ankles and out from your shoulders, creating an X-formation as "you go into fighting mode."

But physical challenges pale in comparison to the spiritual ones, as is often the case, which is why Half I Am Your Father might be the most difficult of all the poses in the Star Wars Yoga syllabus.

"Half means an intermediate step along the way," Master Latkiewicz informs me. "Half is the prep for the harder full pose."

In Half I Am Your Father, the student stands upright with an arm extended longingly, in the manner of Darth Vader reaching for Luke Skywalker at the conclusion of The Empire Strikes Back.

"The full I Am Your Father requires Luke to believe you," Master Latkiewicz states. "You must go inside yourself and will Luke Skywalker to believe you."

The pose is an exhausting concept. I finish my coffee and grab some water. Time to rehydrate.

I begin thinking of the yogic aspect of the Jedi, and of their training. I ask Master Latkiewicz which Star Wars characters would be the best at Star Wars Yoga.

"Yoda," he answers simply. "In all forms, the most advanced practitioner is a meditator. Yoda would take it to that level of really, really letting the force flow through him.

"Physically, it would probably be Luke," Master Latkiewicz continues. "But I have a feeling Han Solo would show him up."

While Latkiewicz has taught Star Wars Yoga at Central Park in New York City, he hopes to instruct in the Bay Area as well. "The end result of this saga," he says, "is if I get asked to teach a class at Skywalker Ranch."

Based on the correspondences between Jones and Lucas, one concludes that that prospect might take some time to develop. In the meantime, Latkiewicz will continue to develop poses for his particular school of yoga.

"I am taking ideas from legitimate Star Wars nerds through my website," Master Latkiewicz notes.

The astute student will note that there aren't any prequel poses as yet. I ask Master Latkiewicz why this is.

"I may create one pose from the prequels," the Master responds. "It would be called 'Disappointed.'"

Former Celtic Jason Collins Becomes First Openly Gay Professional Male Athlete

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 9:06:00 AM MST

History has been made.

Twelve-year NBA veteran Jason Collins has become the first openly gay male athlete to come out while still playing a major American sport. Regardless of what does, or doesn't happen over the remainder of his career, he will now be forever known for his important role in the sports equality movement.

"I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport," Collins tells Sports Illustrated. "But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different.' If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."

Collins played center for the Boston Celtics earlier this season, before being traded to the Washington Wizards (along with Leandro Barbosa) for guard Jordan Crawford.

A free agent after this season, Collins needs to be signed by a new team if his playing career is to continue.

"Collins writes [in Sports Illustrated] that he first thought about coming out in 2011, during the NBA lockout," reports SBNation. "That period of his life "wreaked havoc on my habits and forced me to confront who I really am and what I really want," he writes. At that point, he confronted his aunt to tell her the news. He then thought about coming out publicly after a college roomate marched in the 2012 Boston Gay Pride parade. Collins was playing for the Celtics at the time. The 2013 Boston Marathon bombing convinced him that the time was right, which prompted the news."

Former NBA player John Amaechi came out several years after his playing career was over. As a member of the Orlando Magic, Amaechi played for Doc Rivers, current coach of the Boston Celtics. "Rivers had been one of the first people to publicly support John Amaechi when he came out of the closet in 2007," Cyd Zeigler reports for OutSports.com.

NHL Partners with Anti-Homophobic You Can Play Project

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 1:16:00 PM MST

Earlier this month, the National Hockey League (NHL) took unprecedented historic strides on behalf of the athletic equality movement by announcing its partnership with the You Can Play Project, an organization dedicated to confronting and challenging homophobia in sports.

“The official partnership with You Can Play includes a significant commitment to education and training for teams, players, media and fans plus the production and broadcast of more public service announcements,” You Can Play’s website says, noting the move marks the first time a “major American professional sports league [has officially partnered] with an LGBT advocacy group on this scale.”

You Can Play was founded just over a year ago by Philadelphia Flyers scout Patrick Burke, in part to honor his brother Brendan, who came out a year before passing away in an auto accident. Burke’s father Brian, a career front office hockey man, most recently was the General Manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Today marks a historic step for LGBT equality in sports,” Patrick Burke said in a statement. “The NHL and the NHLPA [NHL Players' Association] are stepping up to ensure that the hockey community is welcoming—not begrudging, not tolerant—welcoming to LGBT players, coaches, management or fans.”

As The Nation sports editor Dave Zirin points out, "welcoming" is much more ambitious (and worthwhile) than "tolerance." And this is now a goal (no pun intended) of the league. Which is notable.

“NHL players have supported the You Can Play Project since its inception,” said NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr. “The players believe [this] partnership … will foster an inclusive hockey environment from the grassroots level to the professional ranks.”

"If you can play, you can play."

Indeed.

Wicked Awesome Sportsworld Responses to Marathon Bombings

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:21:00 PM MST

One of the more heartening results of last week's tragic bombings at the Boston Marathon has been the overwhelming support both in the Bay State and elsewhere, from everyday Joes and celebrities alike. There have been too many to note them all, but here's a quick rundown of some sports-centric responses.

The national anthem performed before the Bruins-Sabres game, by Rene Rancourt and the Garden faithful. The first sports spectator game since the bombings:

New Patriot's receive Danny Amendola (aka Wes Welker's replacement, gulp) tweets: "I will donate $100 for every pass I catch next season to whatever "Boston Marathon Relief Fund" there is. And $200 for any dropped pass." (Here's hoping Brady targets him often.)

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft pledges to donate $100,000 to the victims of the Marathon bombing. Boston Red Sox owners do the same. (As does Boston's favorite Irish punk band, the Dropkick Murphys, through sales of their "For Boston" t-shirts.)

During an interfaith memorial service, President Obama referenced all the past championship parades that have gone down Boylston Street, the site of the bombing in downtwon Boston. Then "further suggested that one day soon, one of the Boston teams would once again win a championship," notes Only A Game's Bill Littlefield, "providing the city’s residents with another traditional parade down Boylston Street."

Members of the UMass football team wore the names of the bombing victims on the backs of their jerseys during last weekend's Spring Football Game at McGuirk Stadium.

And, of course, Big Papi emphatically swore on the microphone in front of a packed Fenway Park (to say nothing of everyone listening and watching, and re-watching, elsewhere): "This is our fucking city!" Ortiz proclaimed. "And nobody's going to dictate our freedom! Stay strong!"

Wicked awesome.

Marathon Monday: The Last Great Sports Festival Event

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:31:00 AM MST

Some time last week, I was going on about how great Marathon Monday is. Talking about this unique Boston (and state, but mostly Boston) holiday where Beantown takes on an almost Carnival-like atmosphere, as this event of such historic and sporting (two of the most embedded aspects of Boston culture) significance ushers in the arrival of spring in the most communal of ways.

"The Boston Marathon matters in a way other sporting events simply do not," Dave Zirin writes at The Nation. "It started in 1897, inspired by the first modern marathon, which took place at the inaugural 1896 Olympics. It attracts 500,000 spectators and over 20,000 participants from ninety-six countries. Every year, on the big day, the Red Sox play a game that starts at the wacky hour of 11:05am so people leaving the game can empty onto Kenmore Square and cheer on the finishers. It’s not about celebrating stars but the ability to test your body against the 26.2 mile course, which covers eight separate Massachusetts towns and the infamous “Heartbreak Hill” in Newton. It’s as much New England in spring as the changing of the leaves in fall. It’s open and communitarian and utterly unique. And today it was altered forever."

It is important to note that the marathon experiences its greatest crowds around 2 to 3 p.m. (the point at which the bombs were detonated), a couple of hours after the world class runners cross the finish line. As Zirin says, attending the Boston Marathon is not as much about seeing who wins, but about appreciating the effort of the thousands who participate. Everyone in Boston knows someone who has run the marathon. And everyone, at some point, takes their turn lining the sidelines to cheer on and support those runners. In that sense, everyone is a participant in the event.

So today I find myself appreciating its collective, accessible nature even more.

"The Marathon [is] the old, drunk uncle of Boston sports," Charles Pierce writes for Grantland, "the last of the true festival events. Every other one of our major sporting rodeos is locked down, and tightened up, and Fail-Safed until the Super Bowl now is little more than NORAD with bad rock music and offensive tackles. You can't do that to the Marathon."

Regardless of what the Marathon is next year, it clearly won't be the same.

"I do not know what happens now," Pierce continues. "I know the event will never be the same. It is marked now, and it will be marked in the future, by what happened on the afternoon of April 15, 2013."

For more commentary by Pierce, and then Zirin, click on the 38 minute mark of today's Democracy Now broadcast below:

Now That Sox Are Done Selling Out, Are They Done Selling Out?

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 2:50:00 PM MST

Let's hope so. Because so far this season, this team (and maybe the organization as well?) has done a great job of getting back to being a baseball team - one that promises to be a pleasure to watch throughout the long season.

Last Wednesday night, the game immediately following the home opener (a given sellout at ballparks across the majors, no matter what their level of attendance or fan interest for the rest of the year), the Red Sox home sellout streak of 794 regular season games (820 including playoffs) came to end. The streak, which dated back to May 2003, was the longest in major league history.

It was unbelievably impressive, and undoubtedly a testament to the fanatical baseball following in and around Boston, but I, for one, am happy it's over. During the past couple of seasons, the streak felt like an obligation rather than an occurrence, a marketing distraction rather than an accomplshment.

It was time to move on.

It's been nice, in a nostalgic sort of way, to see some empty seats around the ballpark. (Though never behind home plate, unlike the uber-expensive box seats at the new Yankee Stadium.) Just as it is nice to know that, a couple of times this season, I'll be able to go to a game with a few other people, and we'll all be able to sit together, and we won't have to plan it out months in advance.

In the sense of Fenway being there for the casually obsessive fan, baseball is back in Boston. And that is a good thing.

Happy Patriot's Day / Marathon Monday!

Private Prison Company Withdraws Football Stadium Naming Rights

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 1:40:00 PM MST

After weeks of protest from students and human rights activists (not to mention commentary from a certain comedian) the private prison company GEO Group has withdrawn its $6 million offer to purchase the naming righs of Florida Atlantic University's football stadium (which will now continue to go by the less controversial moniker, FAU Stadium).

"The university," reports the Huffington Post, "had been seeking a corporate sponsor for two years to pay down the debt on its newly built stadium, and the GEO Group pledged to pay $6 million over 10 years in exchange for the naming rights."

Worth billions in revenue (see "New Hampshire Says No to Private Prisons," Valley Advocate, 4/4/13), the GEO Group owns or manages close to 100 correctional facilities encompassing over 70,000 beds in Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, the company’s website says, with the majority of their business (approximately 60,000 beds in 60 facilities) being done Stateside.

"Florida Atlantic President Mary Jane Saunders," continues the Huffington Post, noted that "the GEO Group's decision was made entirely on its own, without input from the university. But, she agreed that the stadium naming deal had become a distraction from other university initiatives."

So for now, it appears stadiums named after corporations will not include any private prison companies. But, as Stephen Colbert points out, the exercise may not have been a waste of time or effort for the GEO Group. Because when you start paying "millions of dollars to have people pay attention to your company," Colbert observes, "people start paying attention to your company."

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March Madness, The NCAA, and the Ugly Underbelly of Kevin Ware's Broken Leg

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:56:00 PM MST

Looking to support the Louisville Cardinals hoops team in the weekend's Final Four Tournament? You may want to slap down $24.99 to purchase a "Rise Up #5 On Court T-Shirt" (so named for Kevin Ware, the player who horrifically broke his leg during last Sunday's win versus the Duke Blue Devils). "A portion of the proceeds" of the Addidas shirt, the website notes, "directly benefits University of Louisville Athletics."

Of coure, if you're looking to support Kevin Ware, who suffered the awful injury, or his family, who could be saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, you probably don't want to buy the shirt. Because neither Ware nor his family stand to benefit from this appalling exercise in heartstring consumption "disaster capitalism" (to invoke Naomi Klein's phrase) at all.

"No non-profit does buccaneer profiteering quite like the NCAA," Dave Zirin writes at The Nation. "What other institution would see a tibia snap through a 20-year-old's skin on national television and see dollar signs? In accordance with their rules aimed at preserving the sanctity of amateurism, not one dime from these shirts will go to Kevin Ware or his family. Not one dime will go toward Kevin Ware’s medical bills if his rehab ends up beneath the $90,000 deductible necessary to access the NCAA’s catastrophic injury medical coverage. Not one dime will go towards rehab he may need later in life."

Indeed, Ware's college education is even in jeapardy, because the NCAA doesn't guarantee the scholarships of its student-athletes in cases of physical injuries incured while playing the sports the organization makes millions from.

Louisville "won’t even say publicly, if rehab doesn’t go as planned, whether he’ll still have a scholarship waiting for him when he returns in the fall," continues Zirin. "The official word from Louisville is that the question is irrelevant because “doctors are expecting a full recovery.”"

No matter, though. "The multi-billion-dollar slop bucket of March Madness money," Zirin notes, "which makes up 96 percent of the NCAA’s operating budget, will pay organization president Mark Emmert's two million dollar salary as well as the paychecks for their 14 vice presidents, each of whom make at least $400,000 a year. They will also to be able to continue to pay off the mortgage on their new $50 million, 116,000-square-foot headquarters in Indianapolis."

March madness, indeed.