Why to follow the rules:

Administrative mistakes have knocked high school basketball teams out of state tournaments in areas I'm familiar with, and places I've never been. Both these errors should have been caught, especially in Jersey.

Shabazz, which had won 56 consecutive games against in-state competition, was forced to drop out of the sectional tournament after state officials learned the team had played its 27th and 28th games at the Essex County Tournament last weekend. State guidelines limit teams that play in three tournaments during the season to 26 total games.

Hopefully both cases are lessons to athletic directors everywhere.

What's the Lexington line?

Seventy-one people have entered the MIAA's boys basketball prediction contest, which is linked off its tournament pages. Whether that many entries is a good thing (hey, it's popular) or a bad thing (uh ... it's a high school hoops bracket) remains to be seen.

Who's sucking up?

Jeff Pearlman's recent ESPN.com piece the differing career paths of Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. isn't exactly germane to this blog as a whole. But there was one line -- two words, really -- that bugged me, and should bug an awful lot of writers and readers.

In his column, Pearlman composes a mock story by "Joe Schmoe," a fictional writer who, apparently, doesn't realize that the cool kids are supposed to hate Bonds. In fact, poor Schmoe is so out of the loop that Pearlman lists his affiliation as "Baseball Suckup".

Schmoe's sin? Pearlman has him writing this:

After years of alienation, Barry Bonds seems to be having more fun than ever. Now nearing the end of his career, he appreciates the game like never before, and has attacked spring training with a renewed vigor.

"You can just see the difference," says Biff Sniff, a Giants teammate. "Barry is relaxed and at ease. He's just one of the guys."

Hacky? Absolutely. Misinformed? Probably. But Suckup? Suckup? Hardly.

Pearlman, of course, wrote "Love me, Hate me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero". And he's certainly no stranger to the Giants' anti-social superstar in his ESPN.com Page 2 columns. So, naturally, he's often at the head of the Bonds-as-enemy-of-humanity bandwagon -- more vitriol toward the erstwhile left fielder equals more cash in his pocket.

But neither that nor the fact that he's at least tried to avoid the kneejerk righteous indignation that plagues sports writing in other circumstances seems to explain why his mindset in his latest column is to call anyone who doesn't bash Bonds a "Suckup." We get it -- he cheated. We get it -- he seems to try every year to rehab his image in Spring Training, only to quit as soon as the first pitch is thrown in San Francisco. We get it -- he's a bad dude, and people don't like him. Really, though: Does the world need another "BARRY BONDS SUCKS!" story? Do we really not have enough? Misguided as the attempt may be, is anyone who attempts to show another side of the slugger a Suckup, as long as he tries honestly?

This applies to all writers, on all levels. I cover MLS' New England Revolution, and I don't like all of the players on a personal level. I think a few of them are jerks, and I know the feeling is shared with others in the press box. Some of us have pointed it out in print. What's the point, though, in simply piling on with more "He's mean and doesn't like to talk to me" columns? It's no more original than writing about how Barry Bonds is ruining baseball and should be banned.

As long as the attempt is honest, there's nothing wrong with trying to find another angle on a difficult story. Of course players' personalities should come through in print -- that's why we're in the locker room in the first place. But, positive or negative, every story that's told (and overtold) enough times becomes hackneyed and cliche. And, once something has been done to death, it's our job to do something different. Chastising a writer for daring to try something different (again, as long as it's truthful and real) is counterintuitive at best, and harmful to sports journalism at the worst.

Tips for coaches

Full disclosure: I’ve never coached a game in my life.

I’ve played under plenty, in a half-dozen-odd sports, both team and individual. But, formally, I’ve never once picked up a clipboard or written out a lineup card or dealt with an overbearing parent.

I grew up the son of a Pennsylvania high school basketball coach, so I know the kind of hours the job entails. But, again, I’ve never done it myself.

What I have done is covered coaches for newspapers and magazines. Plenty of coaches in plenty of sports. Some, I’ve genuinely liked. Some, not so much. Hardly any, though – especially the younger ones – knew a great deal about the particular in’s and out’s of dealing with us sports media-types.

Horror stories abound: the “just a score” phone calls, the tongue-lashings after innocuous stories and, on occasion, the complete lack of information of any sort. Some of the nicest, most honest headmen I’ve dealt with have been among the most clueless in how to help me do my job – which, when covering prep sports, is essentially promoting each coach and his charges. So, to try to facilitate the process on both ends, here’s a quick checklist for coaches at all levels on dealing with the media, straight from the source:

1. We’re not out to get you. While there are some bad apples in the sport writing bunch, we, for the most part, prefer to dwell on the positive – it’s more fun (and easier) to write. Dirty little secret here: If you’re decent and genial to us, we’ll be the same to you in print. Nice guys make for nice copy and, unless you’re out-and-out awful to us, we like you. A little decency goes a long, long way.

2. Personally, we don’t care who wins. I don’t mean that as a grandiose statement on how the media tries to be “unbiased” and “Fair and Balanced” – I simply mean that, in half-a-dozen years, I’ve never seen someone out-and-out root for a team to win or lose for personal reasons. There’s nothing more ridiculous than phone calls telling me we’re OBVIOUSLY biased toward team X or team Y because of reason A or reason B. Chances are, we’ve gotten the exact opposite call at some point.

3. Access and information from you lead to copy inches from us. It’s not rocket science that it’s easier to write about a team that I know a lot about, and, with some three dozen schools in my paper’s coverage area, the only way we find out a lot is straight from the source. One of your kids is having a great year? E-mail us stats! Kid coming up on his 1,000th point? Call! Close to clinching your first league title in a decade? Let us know! We can’t write about what we never knew about. The Red Sox pay a lot of money to media go-betweens; as a high school coach, the job is yours. If we know about it, we will write about it, and that’s to both of our benefits.

4. Make yourself available. If we have your contact information (home phone, cell phone and e-mail address), it’s that much easier for us to get your voice out there. There are a few dummies who will bug you during dinner or late at night, but, for the most part, we’re not going to be waking up your family with 1 a.m. phone calls. And no, we won’t give it out to the public, even if someone asks.

5. Get us your results, win or lose. There are no coaches we respect more than those we hear from after every game, meet or match, regardless of the score. They’re the ones who get the publicity, and whose kids consistently get the recognition in print (and, perhaps, a little extra pull in our award selections). Conversely, we absolutely look down upon coaches who only get us scores and highlights during hot streaks and winning seasons.

6. Be complete, and be ready. When you call/e-mail/fax in information, try to have first and last names and any relevant stats ready. Getting your kids’ names in the paper shouldn’t be a painful or time-consuming process for either of us. It’s as simple as reading off a score sheet and spelling out the difficult stuff.

7. When we’re wrong, correct us. The worst mistake in a newspaper is one that’s repeated, day after day. If we screw up a name/misstate your record/give the wrong kid credit for a goal/any of the other myriad mistakes we make, let us know. It’s your right, and we won’t hold it against you.

More Blade

The Blade has another Web show! Sadly, this one can't be bothered with Provo High.



It's more than dull to a non-BYU fan, but at least "Game On" has the little things. You know ... production values, relatively relevant guests, that kind of stuff. And, of course, the host rocks.

The politeness ... it burns ...

Youtube celebrity isn't easy to come by.

Anybody can set up a camera and film themself doing -- or discussing -- anything. Of the millions of the videos on the site, only a few draw wide attention, and those are usually about Anna Nicole Smith.

These guys deserve to be:



From what I can gather -- amid the odd facial expressions, friendly banter and utter dearth of charisma and humor -- "1-on-1" is two sports writers from Utah's Daily Herald going at it, "PTI style regarding high school athletics in Utah Valley."

I'm obsessed with it. It's perhaps the most inane thing I've ever seen, and I can't get enough.

1-on-1 has everything. Bad nicknames? Check -- they're "The Blade" and "The Zuke." Arguments that tend to take the form of deciding which team is "really good" and which is "really, really good"? Check. Extensive wardrobes? Check-and-a-half. Slightly different shirts ahoy!

Thrill as The Zuke sports a long-sleeve version of his grey polo:



Marvel at The Blade's best sweater, with bonus plaid (and a highlight!):



You can even play along, at beatthezuke.com. I know I'll be trying. Go Provo!

Jerry Miller, in high def

There isn't a major paper in the country (so far as I know) that doesn't use headshots of its columnists. It lets readers know who's "talking" to them, and certainly strokes an ego or two. But, generally, they're small.

Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) school sports blogger Jerry Miller's isn't. And, if the massive photo isn't enough, his tagline is roughly the length of a Dickens novel.

Jerry Miller is the High School Sports Editor at The Daily Progress in Charlottesville and hosts three radio shows in Virginia: football infused “Shuman Says” and John Wooden inspired “In the Paint,” which are both aired statewide on Saturday mornings, and Charlottesville’s own “SportsRap,” which is aired Monday, Tuesday and Friday afternoons at 3 p.m. and Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. on WKAV 1400 AM. Contact Jerry at jmiller@dailyprogress.com

Hooray, self-promotion!

(Adam Smartschan is a writer for The Patriot Ledger in Quincy and doesn't host any radio programs, though he occasionally appears on some. Contact Adam through the comment section of this post.)

Killing a cop tends to offset winning the World Cup

Slate's Robert Weintraub has an interesting take on why Italian soccer is unlikely to undergo the same resurgence as the English game a few decades ago.

There's also a fundamental difference between the hooliganism in Italy and England. The U.K. version is essentially gang warfare—where you are from and the colors you're wearing are all-important. English violence is fighting for the sake of fighting, not for any particular cause other than pub glory and bragging rights.

The Italian ultras (the catch-all phrase for rowdy fan groups) are politically motivated. They're often aligned with a particular movement, be it communist, fascist, or center-right. The political parties and the clubs are commingled to the extent that it's difficult to tell where one begins and the other ends—since most Italian teams are publicly held and traded, the ultras often literally own the clubs.

AI on the football field

I've seen a lot of high school football players in the last decade or so. None have been as good as Denver Nuggets guard Allen Iverson apparently was.

Talk about putting in time

The Weston High girls basketball site is keeping up-to-date records and potential tournament brackets for Eastern Massachusetts basketball teams. His work is definitely appreciated -- coaches have told me they're looking at it regularly, and one, talking about the time the webmaster must put in, said "He must not have a job."

Whether he has one or not, it's a special endeavor.

'Round more ice than a hockey skate

No better time than a National Team win to post everyone's favorite rapping US player, Clint Dempsey. On the same note, no better time to shamelessly plug some archived MLS stories of mine.

MLS schedule out

... and Beckham will play in almost every market.

Check out all the national TV coverage!

Speaking of TV, ESPN did a knockout job on tonight's US-Mexico match, with a few exceptions.

Good: Skycam. Nothing wrong with 19 different overhead views of Jimmy Conrad's goal.
Bad: No HD coverage. I was hoping that would change after the Denmark game.

Good: Five commentators.
Bad: One of them was Bruce Arena.

Good: Plenty of mics on the 63,000-strong crowd.
Bad: Gotta get a camera position where confetti isn't flying all over the screen for the last 15 minutes. Unless it's HD confetti.

At least Peyton Manning won't win the MVP

The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team hosts Mexico at 7 p.m. tonight on ESPN2.

Rex Grossman will somehow choke in the second half.

Still on the schools ...

It's National Letter of Intent Day (when the bulk of early-committed recruits sign with colleges), and scout.com is doing a nice job with its coverage. They're trying hard to put together a comprehensive list of each school's football recruits, and appear to be updating their signing class rankings every two hours.

Just in case you were worried about how the Temple Owls will look in a few years, their class was ranked 69th as of 11:27 a.m., with their top recruit a 6-0, 200-pound running back named Joe Jones from Hollywood, Fla. who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.50 seconds, hadn't yet signed a letter of intent and committed to the school on Feb. 5. He went to South Broward High School in Florida and is the 51st-highest ranked running back in the nation. Why, I ask you, wouldn't you want to know these things?

More Mayo

ESPN.com's Pat Forde seems to share some of my thoughts on O.J. Mayo.

Cheap commercial time!

Not watching the Super Bowl? That's a little weird. But check out the awesome sports programming up against it tomorrow:

ESPN: ISU European Figure Skating Championships (It was taped Jan. 23-28 in Warsaw, so it must be good!)
ESPN2: World's Strongest Man marathon (These come from Sanya, China. It's a poor man's Warsaw, if you ask me.)
NESN: Charlie Moore (Fishing. Joy.), then Boston vs. New York Poker.
FOX Sports: Assorted college basketball (Including the Ohio at Bowling Green women's game and San Francisco at Gonzaga. It's Northwest-tastic!)