Did you know that of all college sports, the men's lacosse final over the past five years has had the third highest attendance behind only football and men's basketball? This year's final between Johns Hopkins and Duke, which was played in M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, drew 48,443 fans, which establishes a record for an NCAA men's lacrosse championship game.

There are plenty of reasons for this. Lacrosse is a very exciting, fast-moving sport with plenty of action. It combines the best aspects of both team and individual play, and is fun to watch. It's also a lot of fun to play, and is equally accessible to both boys and girls.

Lacrosse used to be a sport played primarily in the Mid-Atlantic region. That is beginning to change, in large part because of the exposure lacrosse has received from the ESPN family of networks, College Sports TV and others.

It's a sport I wish I had access to as a kid, and my kids have had fun playing with miniature lacrosse sticks. At a time when many of our kids are overweight and hooked on TV, computers and video games, lacrosse is a great alternative. Expose your kids to lacrosse and see where that leads.

Posted by Chris Lindsley at 11:17 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The Dallas Mavericks were clearly the NBA's best team this year. They won 67 and lost just 15 before entering the playoffs, and as the Western Conference's best team, they earned the right to play the lowest-seeded team, the Golden State Warriors, in the first round.

The real question before this series started was how many games it would take Dallas to win this best-of-seven series. Golden State, then promptly went into Dallas and took the first game, and home-court advantage. The Mavericks had three chances to win at Golden State and regain home-court advantage, and they figured to do so. After all, Dallas was an amazing 32-10 in road games during the year.

The Warriors' confidence seemed to grow after they won the series opener, and after Dallas won game two, Golden State went home for games three and four. The Warriors' fans literally willed their team to two straight wins, and all of a sudden people began to imagine an outcome that few thought possible before the series began.

After almost winning the series in game five in Dallas, Golden State returned home and finished it with a convincing win. The Warriors' upset has captured the nation's attention, and I for one am rooting for them to win the NBA title. It very well may not happen, but it will be fun to watch them try. Nothing was expected of them, and they have nothing to lose, all of which makes this a great story, and must-see TV for me.

Posted by Chris Lindsley at 08:56 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The NFL has a problem with the criminal conduct of its players. In 2006 alone, at least 35 NFL players were arrested, and players continue to make headlines for the wrong reasons in 2007. These players include Tennessee Titans defensive back Adam "Pacman" Jones and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry.

Jones, who is facing charges from a highly publicized brawl at a strip club during the NBA's All-Star weekend in February, has talked with police about 10 incidents -- including marijuana possession, assult, vandalism and obstructing police -- since being drafted in 2005.

Henry has been arrested four times in little more than a year, pleading guilty to charges like drunk driving, providing alcohol to minors and having a concealed weapon.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said enough is enough on April 10, when he suspended Jones for the entire 2007 season, and Henry for the first 8 games of this season. Goodell also deserves credit for working with NFL Players Association chief Gene Upshaw, who supports the suspensions.

For too long there's been a double standard for high-profile athletes, in which they can get away with doing things others would be punished for as long as they produce on the field. Goodell's decisive action has sent a message to NFL players that this will no longer be the case, which is a good thing. 

Posted by Chris Lindsley at 07:41 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

One of the great things about being part of a team are the bonds you form with your teammates. You quickly learn that, as the saying goes, there is no I in team, and that teamwork, and counting on your teammates, increase the team's chances of success.

These bonds and friendships often extend long after the games end. Take the case of former Dallas Cowboys Everson Walls and Ron Springs.  The two were teammates from 1981-1984, and have been friends ever since.

Walls knew that Springs suffered from severe diabetes, and had been on a national kidney transplant waiting list for three years and would die without a kidney transplant. When two of Springs' relatives were not able to donate, Walls stepped forward to be tested.

It turned out that Walls was a match, and he was determined to do all he could to help his friend. He literally gave him the gift of life. Just days after the procedure, the two former teammates announced that they planned to start a donor-awareness foundation to capitalize on all the media attention their case has received.

This, to me, is another reason for parents to consider exposing their children to youth sports, as the lessons they learn and friends they make can last a lifetime.

Posted by Chris Lindsley at 10:20 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

With the number of kids who look up to professional athletes, you would think the pro leagues like Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League would keep this in mind when establishing their rules of conduct.

One rule in each sport, though, makes me think otherwise.

In baseball, major league players are allowed to use chewing tobacco during games. Chewing tobacco is not allowed in the minor leagues, because people who use it are at increased risk of oral cancer and other health problems. This ban, however, does not extend to baseball's highest level, in large part because of baseball's strong players' union.

The trouble with this is that it sets a terrible example for kids, who may think it's cool to chew and spit like their favorite major leaguer without being aware of the health risks.

For similar reasons, the NHL should ban fighting, or increase the penalties for fighting so that players think twice about it. Such penalties are in place in hockey's minor leagues, but in the NHL fighting is usually either a two- or five-minute penalty, and really not discouraged in any way.

For example, last night's brawl between Buffalo and Ottawa, which even involved the teams' goaltenders, was a disgrace. Yet it was the lead story on ESPN's SportsCenter, and shown three of four times during the hour-long telecast. This sort of publicity sends the wrong message to young fans.

Hockey without fighting, like you see in the Olympics, is a graceful and fast-moving sport that's fun to watch. Fighting, though, totally disrupts the flow of the game, does nothing to promote sportsmanship and in fact encourages the idea that fighting is a good or acceptable way to solve your problems.

It's time for these rules to change, for our kids' sake.

Posted by Chris Lindsley at 12:06 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Much has been made about the fact that Sunday's Super Bowl features the first two African-American head coaches to make it to the NFL's championship game. This is not much ado about nothing.

Indianapolis's Tony Dungy and Chicago's Lovie Smith are considered by many to be among the NFL's best coaches, regardless of color. They are also close friends. It's fitting that they will make history together.

Dungy and Smith, though, are two of just four African-American head coaches in the NFL (Kansas City's Herman Edwards and Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis are the others). The lack of diversity was such a problem that the NFL instituted a policy several years ago stating that an African-American needed to be interviewed for any head coaching vacancy.

This same diversity issue also plagues college football. There are only a handful of African-American head coaches among the 117 Division I schools. Just as importantly, there are relatively few African-American assistant coaches at the pro and college level.

Given that NFL head coaching openings are usually filled by either top NFL assistants or college coaches, the lack of African-Americans in these positions limits their chances for advancement.

Dungy and Smith's facing each other on Sunday sends a strong message about the need for more diversity in pro and college football. They also both serve as role models for African-Americans who may aspire to be an NFL or college coach someday.

It's been a long time coming.

Posted by Chris Lindsley at 09:18 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Earlier this month the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY announced the former players to be inducted in 2007 (you need to be retired for five years to be eligible). The two players to receive baseball's ultimate honor -- former Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken and former San Diego Padre Tony Gwynn -- both figured to make it (players need to get 75 percent of all votes cast to be elected) in their first year of eligibility.

It was another player eligible for the first time, though, former Oakland and St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire, who received much of the attention. McGwire, fifth on baseball's all-time home run list with 583, is suspected by many of using performance-enhancing drugs to bulk him up and make him stronger. He was chosen on only 25 percent of the ballots, compiled by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, far short of the 75 percent he needed.

There is something fitting in all this. In a year when Barry Bonds, another suspected user of performance-enhancing drugs, closes in on Hank Aaron's career home run mark, honoring a tainted McGwire in Cooperstown this summer would have sent the wrong message. Instead, the baseball writers said by their vote that they had serious questions about whether McGwire is derserving.

They had no such questions about Ripken and Gwynn. In an era when most players move from city to city for bigger contracts, Ripken and Gwynn spent their entire careers playing for just one team. They were also both scandal free, and were in fact great role models for kids throughout their careers.

Ripken is best known for playing in an amazing 2,632 consecutive games, spanning 16 seasons. Few players now go even one season without missing a game, but Cal was a true Iron man, never taking a day off despite playing one of the game's most demanding positions -- shortstop -- for much of the streak. His consecutive games streak overshadows the fact that he was a 19-time all-star, and revolutionized the position of shortstop from small players known for their fielding to tall players -- Cal's 6-feet-4 -- who could field well and hit for power, something you see much more today.

Gwynn is considered to be one of the best pure hitters in baseball history. He won 8 National League batting titles and hit .338 over his 20-year career. Gwynn, though, also won five gold gloves for his defense as an outfielder, and he was a 16-time all star.

These players are throwbacks to another, simplier era. At a time when it's hard to tell which players have or haven't used steriods or other performance-enhancing drugs to help their play, this summer the National Baseball Hall of Fame welcomes two superstars who are above reproach. Their induction is an event worth watching with your kids. 

Posted by Chris Lindsley at 09:52 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

ESPN's recently announced 8-year TV rights deal with Little League Baseball to televise the Little League World Series baseball and softball events through 2014 is good for youth sports.

The games will be shown on ESPN's various networks as well as on ABC. This season for the first time, all 32 games of the Little League Baseball Wold Series will be televised. The fact that ESPN is also showcasing the Little League Softball World Series is great news as well.

It's one thing for our youth sports-minded kids to watch pro and college games, but a totally different experience to watch people their own age playing in an international competition. This increased coverage is bound to drive up interest in and participation levels of both sports, much like the Olympics does for a wide variety of sports every four years.

I'm looking forward to watching some of these games with my kids, and seeing what happens as a result. My guess is that before long they'll be asking to go down to the park to play ball, which would be OK with me.   

Posted by Chris Lindsley at 11:20 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Heidi Musser wasn't allowed to participate in physical education classes in high school because she was blind. Musser has heard that same "you're blind, so you can't play" message most of her life.

Musser, though, was determined to prove otherwise. And prove it she has. Musser has competed in more than 20 triathlons, competitions which combine swimming, biking and running. She's also finished one Ironman Triathlon, which consists of a 2.5-mile swim, 112-mile bike and a 26.2-mile run, which is a full marathon.

Few sighted people have competed in a triathlon, much less an Ironman, and Musser's example shows what can be accomplished through determination and perseverance. It's also just one of many stories of people with disabilities being able to accomplish great things in sports by putting their mind to it.

Musser may have had more to overcome than most of us to get there, but that's what makes her story, and her lesson to all of us, so compelling.

Posted by at 09:13 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)