The Paw Print

A news publication created by Baruch's College Now high school journalism class

Sports

Equal pay for women’s soccer teams

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“We believe that fighting for gender equality in sports is a part of that responsibility. As players, we deserved to be paid equally for our work, regardless of our gender,” female soccer player Alex Morgan said to The Associated Press.

In today’s society, we have the constant problem of unfair pay for women’s soccer teams. The women’s and men’s USA national soccer teams have the same amount of training and play the same number of games. It is expected that if two people do the same work, they will get paid the same amount of money, but this is not the case for the women’s soccer team. The wage gap between men and women is tremendous and not much is being done to get this fixed.

Soccer teams, or any sports team should be paid by how good their stats and wins are compared to other teams. Unfortunately for the women’s national USA team, because of the gender and according to The Frederick News Post they rarely get paid 20% of the salary that the US national men’s soccer team receives. Why should their gender continue to determine how much their wage is when it is clear that they are far better than the USA national men’s soccer team?

In the 2018 Men’s World Cup hosted by Russia, the USA men’s soccer team did not even qualify to enter. Yet the men’s pay continues to be higher than the women. On the other hand, the women’s national USA team who have been champions 3 times before, highly qualified for the World Cup that was hosted this year in France. Not only did the women’s team make it into the World Cup, but they won every single game they played in this tournament until they became the World Champions. Despite this tremendous victory for the women, their salaries are going to stay the same. After so much work and so many victories the women only won a title and trophy. 

The gender discrimination continues to grow. There was a $34 million difference between women’s and men’s World Championship prize. The men’s National French soccer team, received $38 million to divide amongst each other for winning the 2018 World Cup hosted in Russia. The men also take a minimum $8 million per team for only participating in the World Cup, with no games or goals scored. Meanwhile the US Women’s National soccer team who won, only received $4 million as the total prize to divide amongst themselves as well as $3,000 minimum per team for participating in the tournament according to Fox Business. NBC’s reporter Claire Atkinson states, “The match drew 22 percent more viewers than the men’s World Cup final played between France and Croatia last year.”

As it is constantly proven, there needs to be something done for the women’s soccer team wage. It is not right that some women’s teams such as the USA, are far better than most men’s teams, and yet get paid less than the worst qualified men teams that were in the Men’s 2018 World Cup. We need to put a stop to gender discrimination and fight for equal rights, which is what we all deserve. 

There are some changes being made but we should try and do more. The time has come to genuinely reward the women soccer players for all their hard work.

Who is to blame for the Mets’ disappointing 2019 season?

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New York Mets Manager Mickey Callaway (left) and General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen (right)
New York Mets Manager Mickey Callaway (left) and General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen (right)

 

This article was written shortly after the All-Star Break in mid-July. Please note that this article was written at that time and the Mets have been playing much better baseball and are currently in playoff contention. 

“Come get us.”

New York Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen issued this rather bold statement in mid-January, calling out to the team’s National League East division rivals that the Mets were ready to contend and bring a championship to Queens for the first time since 1986.  

And now, in July, with the trade deadline approaching, the Mets have gone in the opposite direction, holding the second-worst record in the National League. The bullpen has imploded with a league-leading 21 blown saves, according to ESPN; manager Mickey Callaway has made several costly game decisions, and players haven’t been performing as well as they should be (with the exception of Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, and Jacob deGrom).  Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the New York Mets. 

“They came and got us” Brodie Van Wagenen told the media before their first game back from the All-Star Break. 

As a Mets fan, it’s been extremely painful and unbearable to watch. During their last playoff appearance in 2015, the Mets made a magical run where Daniel Murphy carried the Mets to the World Series (unfortunately losing to the Kansas City Royals 4-1 in a best-of-seven series). The 2015 baseball season will be something I will never forget and it was definitely a great time to be a Mets fan. Ever since then, the Mets have gone back to their losing ways, finishing below. 500 for the last two seasons. With the Mets living under the Yankees’ shadow for decades, the Mets have always been the underdogs and never lived up to the standards of a big-market team. 

With all this being said, who should Mets fans blame for their struggles?

Front Office

For years, the Mets have been seen as the inferior team in New York, partly because the front office has always been cheap and hesitant to sign superstar players. Instead, the Mets settle on mediocre players who play subpar baseball and when the Mets do spend, players either suffer injuries that last many months (or even seasons) or never perform at the same level they once did (a case of bad luck). 

Jeb Lund of The Rolling Stone ranked the Wilpons 14th in his “15 Worst Owners in Sports” article, mentioning how the Wilpons would “repeatedly structured deferred payments into player contracts and handed over the funds to fraudster and family friend Bernie Madoff to invest.” Ever since the Madoff scandal, the Mets have had financial troubles, resulting in having one of the lowest payrolls in MLB. 

Mets fans have been more than unhappy with the Wilpons, who have repeatedly ignored their fanbase and deceive the media by forcing their own employees to take the bullet for them. This has been the case this year with the Wilpons shifting the blame away from themselves and toward Brodie Van Wagenen and in some cases, Mickey Callaway. 

In my opinion, the Mets should have never hired Brodie as their general manager. Before, he had been an agent representing numerous players, negotiating deals with teams and making sure his clients were getting paid. It was clear that his inexperience at a team management role would be detrimental to the team. For someone to say that his squad was capable of winning a championship just months after getting the job is very puzzling. 

Brodie’s first move as general manager was the trade for All-Stars closer Edwin Diaz and second baseman Robinson Cano. However, the price was very high as the Mets gave away two of their brightest prospects for Diaz, who had led the league in saves last year with 57, and Cano, an old player who had a huge contract and was coming back from a 90-game suspension. 

And now, all the moves Brodie has made in the offseason has blown up in his face. Whether it’s free agent signings gone wrong or bad trades, the implosion of this team lies in Brodie’s hands, but the Wilpons share some of the blame as well.

Mickey Callaway

With the Mets eight games below .500, it’s hard to understand why Mickey still has a job. His management of the bullpen has been dreadful and for a former pitching coach, that’s pretty ironic. 

 

What can’t be forgotten is the whole confrontation between Callaway and pitcher Jason Vargas and a team reporter that sparked headlines across sports. In the incident, the team reporter questioned Mickey for not putting Edwin Diaz into the game which cost the Mets another game. After the interview  a shouting match erupted and Vargas threatened to beat up the reporter. Both Vargas and Callaway were fined by the team but after all this, it’s clear that Callaway can’t handle the team or the media and it’s safe to say that he has done much worse than his predecessor Terry Collins. 

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With all this being said, the Mets still have a promising team. They have a great young core with Alonso, McNeil, Conforto, Rosario, and Nimmo and don’t forget the 1-2 punch of the 2018 Cy Young Award Winner Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. While this team is currently in shambles, rebuilding is not necessary. Instead, Brodie needs to be aggressive and smart in the offseason along with finding a new manager.

Injured Sluggers Return: Gary Sanchez and Yoenis Cespedes

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By: Russell Stern

Ailing sluggers Gary Sanchez and Yoenis Cespedes returned to their respective lineups Friday night, as the Bronx Bombers faced off against the New York Mets before a sold out crowd at Yankee Stadium. However, while Cespedes powered the Mets to a 7 to 5 victory over the Yankees, Sanchez fizzled at the plate, leaving several runners on base in key situations.

Cespedes, who was on the disabled list for 57 days with a hip and quadriceps injury, came into Friday’s game batting .255 with 8 home runs and 28 runs batted in. Normally a left-fielder, Cespedes was instead used as a designated hitter to avoid aggravating his injury. Sanchez missed 25 days because of a right groin strain but was healthy enough to catch the entire game for the Yankees. Prior to his injury, he was struggling with a .190 batting average, 14 home runs, and 41 RBI’s.

The time off seemed to only benefit Cespedes, who appeared rejuvenated and boosted the Mets’ weak offense.

Cespedes went 2 for 4 with a walk, shooting a single into right field and smacking a home run off the Yankee rookie right-handed starting pitcher, Domingo Germán.

After the game, Cespedes said he felt well and that his timing was good, according to the Daily News.

Sanchez’s performance, on the other hand, was a different story. Out of the 14 runners the Yankees left on base, he stranded six. Sanchez went 1 for 5, stroking a meaningless single while striking out swinging two times, softly grounding out to short, and lazily popping out to second. He failed to capitalize on various opportunities the Yankees had throughout the game.

After the game, Sanchez said to a reporter through an interpreter, “Definitely don’t feel good about it. Had opportunities to help my team and I didn’t help my team tonight. I’ve got to put that aside and move toward tomorrow and hopefully find myself in a situation where I’m able to do my job tomorrow.” He said that he hopes he will be able to perform well against Mets’ pitcher Steven Matz on Saturday.

Friday’s game was the 16th Yankee home sellout of the 2018 season, hosting a crowd of 47,175 people. This Subway Series game was of particular interest to New York baseball fans because Mets’ fireballing starting pitcher, Noah Syndergaard, was making his Yankee Stadium debut. Syndergaard, whose average fastball velocity hovers around 97.9 miles per hour, also recently returned from an injury to his right index finger.

Despite not pitching at his best, Syndergaard still pitched effectively, giving up only one run on eight hits and striking out four. He didn’t walk any batters, and mostly threw strikes.

In contrast, Germán had a difficult outing. In only 3.2 innings, he allowed four earned runs on five hits. Although he struck out three batters, he also walked two.

Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone commented on the young starter’s performance at a post-game press conference. “You could tell he was really struggling to find that fastball command, and if you don’t have that, you know, you’re going to be in trouble,” he said.

Boone added, however, that Germán showed potential and could develop to be a very good pitcher. He had several excellent starts with the Yankees but struggled in recent outings. On account of this, the Yankees sent him down to the minor leagues shortly after the game.

The Yankees continue their homestand against the Mets on Saturday afternoon with their right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray facing off against Steven Matz. The series concludes on Sunday with Masahiro Tanaka pitching against Mets’ ace Jacob DeGrom.

Can Phil Answer Our Question?

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Phil raising his Coach of the Year award.
Phil raising his Coach of the Year award.

Knicks fans have been desperate for change in the Knicks organization because it has had no NBA titles since ‘73 and questionable signings and moves over the years. Phil Jackson, aka The Zen Master, won 13 NBA championships which makes him on top as a player and coach of all time. In 2014, the Knicks announced that Phil Jackson would return to the Garden as president. This move gave Phil Jackson have full control of the coaching staff, player contracts and exploring trade options to make the Knicks as good as possible. Phil Jackson won 2 of his championships as a defensive minded player on the New York Knicks back in 1970 and 1973 and played alongside Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Willis Reed.

He was then hired as head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1989. It took Phil, Michael Jordan,Scottie and their supporting cast 2 short seasons to win their first championship in franchise history. The Chicago Bulls went for a 3 peat from 1991-1993 and 1996-1998 which solidified Michael Jordan as the greatest player of all time and Phil Jackson as a basketball genius. Phil retired as a coach in 1998 but signed with the Lakers in 1999 and won the 5 championships in the span of 11 NBA seasons as coach which also solidified Kobe Bryant as one of the greatest of all time. Phil retired in 2011.

The New York Knicks had been in a terrible slump for almost 16 seasons after losing the NBA finals against the Spurs in the 1998-1999 season and only making the playoffs in only 11 of the last 16 seasons. In his first move as president he fired the entire coaching staff and hired someone who he’d coached for 10 plus years Derek Fisher. After this huge signing, Phil Jackson and the Knicks organization brought a lot of hope to their fans because a lot was expected from Phil.

Heading into the 2014-15 season, the Knicks were projected to be a playoff team but things didn’t go as planned. Phil’s first major move was trading a fan favorite, Tyson Chandler, and Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks. Some Knicks fans thought it was a great move but the majority thought it was pointless.

The Knicks ended up 15th in the east and 29th (out of 30) in the standings, with a record of 17-65. The Knicks later got a lottery pick in the NBA (4th overall) and Phil Jackson put all his trust on a 19 year old Latvian named Kristaps Porzingis. Many people automatically lost hope on the Knicks after this random pick by Phil.

Kristaps’ first season (2015-16) recently ended and he ended 2nd in votes rookie of the year and averaging 14 points, 7 rebounds, and roughly 2 blocks per game. A lot of people doubted the overseas star but they also saw him evolve under Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony who guided him on the floor.

The NBA started the offseason in July 1 but the Knicks started to make power moves with a blockbuster trade acquiring Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose while sending Jose Calderon, Jerian Grant and Robin Lopez to the Bulls. As free agency began, the Knicks made another huge signing by acquiring free agent big man Joakim Noah who was Derrick Rose’s teammate in Chicago since 2008 that could bring in good team chemistry.

I’ve asked 10 basketball fans who live in New York if the Knicks can be contenders for the championship and three people thought they could and 7 they couldn’t. My personal opinion is that the Knicks could become a playoff team next season but it might take some time to be contenders for the championship.

Knicks fans are starting to have hope and starting to believe in the Zen Master aka Phil Jackson to make the Knicks a championship team once again.

DeAndre Jordan was held hostage by his own team

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On July 8, 2015 DeAndre Jordan, the starting center of the Los Angeles Clippers, had to make one of the hardest decisions of his life, whether to stay with the L.A Clippers or sign with the Dallas Mavericks. After Jordan made his decision to sign with Dallas the Clippers had another idea and decided to hold Jordan hostage in his own home to keep him with the team.

 

DeAndre Jordan is one of the best big men in the NBA now. He averages 11.5 points per game, 15 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game in his 82 regular season games. At the end of the season the Clippers lost to the Houston Rockets in the playoffs after being up 3-1 in the series. The franchise once again failed to earn a spot in the 3rd round.

 

During the off season DeAndre Jordan decided to explore his options as a free agent and look at other possible team that would interest him. DeAndre saw that the Dallas Mavericks as a better fit for him. Jordan decided to go to Dallas mainly because of some personal issues he had with his teammate Chris Paul, the starting point guard of the Clippers. “Jordan and Chris Paul had gotten into it more than once, which led Jordan to start seriously contemplating what it might be like to play elsewhere in 2015-16,” Kevin Arnovitz, a staff writer for ESPN, wrote in a story. “He was tired of Paul’s constant barking and petty gestures, like distributing high-fives to the three other guys on the floor following a timeout but somehow freezing out Jordan.”

DeAndre then turned down a 5 year $109 million contract with the Clippers for a 4 year $80 million with Dallas. Although, DeAndre verbally agreed to sign with Dallas, he never did. When it was time for him to fly to Dallas to sign his new contract, the Clippers saw that losing their prized center would decrease their chances to getting past the second round of the playoffs. The Clippers went to Dallas and try to find a way to convince DeAndre to stay with them. On the night of the signing the Clippers kept DeAndre hostage at his home for the night.

 

“Clippers believe DJ is returning to LA but I’m told they are staying at his house until he can sign at midnight.” Ramona Shelburne a senior writer for ESPN.com tweeted.

 

Another tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski an American sports columnist, said, “So far, Clippers able to keep everyone else out of house, including Cuban, agents. Everyone. They’re in four-corners until midnight Eastern.”

 

Blake Griffin one of DeAndre’s teammates posted on twitter “Don’t agree with the furniture layout but I’m not an interior designer,” a picture of a chair blocking the door preventing anyone from leaving or coming in.

 

Another tweet which said “Alright everybody goodnight!” with  a picture of a tent showing that they were camping out there for the night.

 

DeAndre however didn’t  look like he was  making an attempt to stop them. Reports from Yahoo shows that they were enjoying themselves and having fun. “Clippers, DeAndre Jordan meeting was short. It was clear he was returning to them. Then they started to play cards”. Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted.

 

DeAndre Jordan is now returning to the Clippers. Under the current circumstances this was probably the best way to handle the situation because now the Clippers are in a position to finally get to the 3rd round and maybe a shot at the championship. Clipper fans should be excited for the season ahead. As for the Dallas Mavericks, they need to find another overpowered center to fill their starting role because DJ is coming home.

 

Maradona: The Greatest Soccer Player

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File: Diego Maradona Napoli 1987-1988.jpg
Maradona playing for Napoli.

 

In June, Lionel Messi and his Barcelona team won their fourth Champions League (European Soccer Club Cup) final together. Messi was the deciding factor in the game against the Italian side, Juventus and immediately comparisons were made to the all time greats, Pele and Maradona. Many fans and pundits alike began to ask, is Messi the best of all time? Despite Messi’s unquestionable ability that title can go to only one player, Diego Armado Maradona.

The usual candidates for the best player all time are the Brazilian Pele, the Argentine Maradona and his compatriot Messi. All three players were dominant in their respective leagues and time periods. All of them have an uncountable amount of trophies and goals. However, at the end of the day Maradona wins out for the best ever.

In terms of goals scored, Maradona lags behind Messi and Pele. Pele scored an incomprehensible one thousand goals in his career. Likewise, Messi has scored an astonishing four hundred goals so far. When compared to these two legends, Maradona’s mere hundred goals seems poor.

However, one must take into account the players’ different positions. Pele was a striker and his chief objective was to score goals. Likewise, Messi plays as a false nine, a form of striker, and is also expected to score goals. In contrast, Maradona played as an attacking midfielder and as such had other responsibilities than scoring goals. His main role was to set up his teammates and apply pressure on the opposition’s defenders with his speed and dribbling.

One must also take into account the league and era in which each player played. In his prime in the 1960s, Pele played in the Brazilian league for Santos. At that time, and still today, the Brazilian managers put a greater emphasis on attacking than defending. As a result games were often high scoring, which inflates Pele’s stats. Messi plays in the Spanish league in which the games are balanced between attack and defense, as managers often put their emphasis on the midfield. In contrast, Maradona played for the Italian team Napoli during his prime in the mid to late 1980s. At that time the Italian league was considered to be the most competitive league in the world, and managers put their priority in defense. This lead to low scoring games and deflates Maradona’s stats.

Finally, one must look at the trophies that the players have won. The most important trophy is the World Cup, of which Pele won two, Maradona one, and Messi none. By this logic Pele would be considered the best player, but further analysis is required. Pele won the World Cup with Brazil in 1958 and 1970. Both teams are widely considered among the best teams ever, and included many other legends. For example, Brazil’s second striker Rivelino scored more goals than Pele in the 1970 World Cup. By contrast, Maradona almost singlehandedly won the World Cup for Argentina in 1986. There were no other household names on his team and he was the sole driving force behind their victory, scoring five goals and winning the player of the tournament award. Steven Pye of the Guardian said, “ It may be a little simplistic to state that the man single-handedly won the World Cup for his country, but that is what it felt like at the time. Think of Mexico 86 and Maradona always springs to mind.”

While Messi and Pele are both wildly good players, Maradona takes the title of the best player of all time. In the 1986 World Cup he was unstoppable for Argentina and he dominated the Italian league throughout the 1980s. Despite being a cocaine addict, cheat, and tax evader Maradona has survived to the age of fifty. Even today his name evokes emotions in soccer fans all over the world. Steven Pye said, “I may have detested the little genius at the time and wasted Blu-Tack on him, but if I’m ever asked who I think is the greatest footballer ever I always answer Diego Maradona.”

 

Champions Out Of Brooklyn

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            Deep in the heart of Brooklyn, there is a basketball team that has been a consistent champion, and you’ve probably never heard of them.

            The men’s basketball program at LIU-Brooklyn won three Northeast Conference Championships in a row from 2011-2013, and earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament as well.

            LIU plays their home games at the relatively new Steinberg Wellness Center, where the team moved after playing for decades at the old Brooklyn Paramount Theater.  The sparkling new gym played a big part in LIU’s success according to Nelson Castillo, a writer for Blackbirds Hoops Journal, which undoubtedly has the most in-depth coverage of LIU basketball. “Once they were able to move to their current home, they were able to consistently land quality players and help build a program that can stay competitive year after year,” Castillo said.

Castillo also believes that the few home games that LIU gets to play every year in the even newer Barclays Center draws fans and recruits as well.

            Once LIU was able to attract quality players from outside New York, they were on their way to a dynasty.

            One of these quality players was Jason Brickman, the star point guard who anchored all three championships, and played his last game in an LIU uniform this year. Brickman came all the way from San Antonio, as part of a Texas pipeline that was built by former LIU coach Jim Ferry, and has continued under current head coach Jack Perri. The pipeline also brought in other important players such as Julian Boyd, Kenny Onyechi, and EJ Reed.

            Speaking about his recruiting trip that he went on five years ago, Brickman said that he was “excited to be in New York,” and also stated “Brooklyn is a great area that is continuing to grow and get more popular.” There is no doubt that as Brooklyn and more specifically Fort Greene has grown, the program at LIU has grown.  

            In his 4 years at LIU, Brickman dazzled on the court, making assist after assist, and by his senior year, the basketball world knew he had a chance for 1,000 career assists. Despite the team’s disappointing 2013-2014 season, Brickman became the 4th player in NCAA history to accomplish the feat.

            Even though the last game of the season had no meaning for LIU, as they were buried in 9th place in the Northeast Conference and mathematically eliminated from qualifying for the NEC Tournament, the Steinberg Wellness Center was packed as many basketball fans wanted to see Brickman attempt to get assist number 1,000. He walked off the court one last time to a standing ovation, and after the game many fans lined up on the court to meet Brickman.

            “I had no idea there were so many people who came to watch me reach the milestone of 1,000 assists. Even though we lost the game it felt like we had just won a championship,” said Brickman. Brickman garnered national attention for the feat, receiving congratulations from all over the country from the likes of commentators such as Jay Bilas.

Brickman’s impressive four years at LIU have led to a spot on a professional team in Russia, Dynamo Moscow.

            And while Brickman and his teammates are grateful to the Brooklyn fans, the fans of Brooklyn feel the same way about the team.

            Phil Butleman, a Brooklyn resident and fan of the LIU basketball team has “had the pleasure of watching this team win three consecutive NEC championships.” Butleman also likes the “great view” of the game at the Steinberg Wellness Center, as well as the close proximity to Junior’s Restaurant.

            Right now the connection between the fans and the team is very strong, as the team has been among the lead leaders in attendance according to an article written by Castillo on his blog. But coming off a tough 9-20 season, and without the attraction of Brickman, it will be interesting to see if LIU can continue to draw large crowds this season. Castillo says that for the connection with the fans to grow, that the team will have to stay “consistent and competitive year after year.”

The New York Knicks: Nowhere to Go But Up

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After earning 11 championship rings as an NBA coach, Phil Jackson has confronted a new obstacle, achieving a championship with the New York Knicks as an executive — one of his biggest challenges yet. On Tuesday, March 18th, 2014, the New York Knicks announced Jackson as their new president of Basketball operations.

Jackson, age 68, has thirteen rings, thirteen more than every current Knicks player combined. He will not have much to work with, and has to clean up the team that went 37-45  last season. A poor season for what seemed like a promising roster ended without the Knicks making the playoffs.

Acquiring Jackson was clearly a positive move for the Knicks. He has already made serious changes to this lackluster roster and staff by getting rid of coach Mike Woodson, whose poor coaching made the Knicks miss the playoffs for the first time in three years. To replace Woodson, Jackson hired former point guard Derek Fisher as head coach. Jackson will be taking Fisher under his coaching wing after leading him to five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.

After hiring Fisher, Jackson suggested he wear all five of his rings when first sitting with the Knicks’ ringless best player, Carmelo Anthony. This small detail was one of many tactics used to seal the deal and keep Carmelo on the Knicks. Carmelo is changing and proving himself as a team player, taking $5 million off of his contract to help the Knicks pick up better players and formulate a more solid roster.

The New York Knicks are already looking like a better squad than they were last year, with Jackson making moves to promote chemistry that was certainly lacking last season. Jackson told ESPN he picked up on that, “Watching them play I saw guys that looked at each other like, ‘You didn’t back me up, you weren’t here when I needed help.’ There just wasn’t the right combination or feel (where) it felt like everybody was in sync all the time,” he said.

Jackson traded center Tyson Chandler and point guard Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks. In return for these two, the Knicks obtained guards Jose Calderon, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington, and center Samuel Dalembert. He also acquired two second-round draft picks used to obtain Clean Early and Thanasis Antetokounmpo. Losing one of the most overpaid centers and worst guards in the league for a six solid players was clearly favorable for the Knicks.

Newly hired coach Derek Fisher also has high hopes for the Knicks, stating in a press conference “My opinion is, based on our roster and who we’re going to become, we can compete for playing in the playoffs and playing for a championship in the Eastern Conference…When that happens, putting dates on it, that’s not my job.” Fisher has good reason to feel positive about the Knicks, considering the fact that one of basketball’s most intelligent men is spearheading their operations.

With Phil Jackson’s extensive basketball I.Q. and 13 championships under his belt, the Knicks are bound to be a championship contender in the coming years.

FIFA: A History of Corruption

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As of June 2014, the 2014 World Cup is Facebook’s most popular event ever, generating 3 billion interactions on Facebook, according to the Mail Online. Even Americans, notorious for their indifferent attitude towards soccer, got into the World Cup madness. “Average U.S. viewership for all this year’s World Cup games was up by 39 per cent on 2010 games”, with “17.3 million viewers on ABC, 9.2 million on Univision and 750,000 people online,” the Mail said.

This worldwide enthusiasm has been great for the World Cup’s governing body, FIFA as it generated 2.36 billion dollars in 2014, according to Business Insider. But the increased attention has also comes with unforeseen consequences. Since the 2014 games, people are much more aware of FIFA’s gross and unethical practices.

Before the 2014 games, Brazil’s slums erupted in violence with police over Brazil’s hosting of the World Cup. Many Brazilians were furious over the government’s decision to spend 13.3 billion dollars on the games while around 1/3 0f Brazil’s population lives in poverty.

Included in the 13.3 billion is a 260 million dollar stadium in the town of Manaus, deep in the heart of the Amazon jungle. Due to the harsh jungle terrain the stadium was both expensive to build and almost impossible to use now that the World Cup is over. According to ABC News, the next use of the stadium will be on July 20th between two local teams and despite the 40,000 seats, “officials are hoping for 4,000 fans.”

Contrary to popular belief, Brazil will make very little money from their hosting of the World Cup. As reported in The Guardian’s article World Cup 2014: who’s cashing in, “ratings agency Moody’s estimated that the lasting effect of the World Cup on Brazil’s economy would be, approximately, nothing.” This raises the question, if Brazil isn’t going to benefit from the hosting the World Cup, is it worth it? For many countries, it is.

For many countries with developing economies, like Brazil, FIFA’s promises of economic benefits for hosting the games is extremely enticing. Unfortunately, these promises blind these countries leaders and often lead to exploitation.

In 2003, Brazil’s government passed legislation prohibiting the sale of all alcoholic beverages in football arenas. For years, Brazilian football games were plagued with extremely high death rates among fans. According to the BBC, “the ban was introduced as part of measures to tackle violence among rival fans and hooliganism.” But this potentially life saving legislation was changed in 2014, removing all mention of alcohol sales, just before the World Cup due to pressure from FIFA. Why? Wouldn’t FIFA want the World Cup to be as safe as possible? As always safety takes a backseat to profits.

According to FIFA’s website, Budweiser, one of the world’s largest beer companies is the official sponsor of the 2014 World Cup. Budweiser’s money, not the health and wellbeing of fans prompted FIFA’s General Secretary, Jerome Valcke  to address the Brazilian Congress, telling them,” Alcoholic drinks are part of the FIFA World Cup, so we’re going to have them. Excuse me if I sound a bit arrogant but that’s something we won’t negotiate.”

Despite calls from Health Minister Alexandre Padilha and other members of Congress to keep the law, FIFA’s lies of jumpstart to Brazil’s economy were too good to refuse. The law was passed by Congress and signed by President Rousseff.

For most Westerners, living in nations with strong stable economies, it’s hard to imagine an organization like FIFA exploiting a nation like the United States or England. But for developing nations, this happens all the time.

For the past two games, FIFA has held the World Cup the developing nations of South Africa in 2010 and Brazil in 2014. FIFA forces these nations to spend money they don’t have on stadiums they don’t need in return for money that they never receive. When June ends and the games finish, FIFA leaves and takes the money with them.

 

The Third Rate Game

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Dutch player Arjen Robben wants the third place playoff to be abolished.

          This past Saturday in Brasilia, the Netherlands defeated Brazil in the third place playoff at the World Cup. Although the players were 468 miles away from where they wanted to be — in Rio de Janeiro for the final — they undoubtedly felt worlds away.

           As is usually the case with these games that closely resemble exhibition games, the players and coaches had no interest in the match. There are exceptions to this, such as in 1994 when a fired up Swedish team easily defeated Bulgaria 4-0. But lets face it, Brazil, the country that has won more World Cups than any other country and paid millions of dollars to win a title on its home soil, and the Netherlands, who yet again came close to winning its first World Cup but fell short, had zero interest in 90 more minutes of football.

            If you don’t believe me, just listen to Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal, who is eager to get started coaching Manchester United and Dutch player Arjen Robben. “I think this match should never be played,” Van Gaal said. He went on to say, “After a tournament in which you’ve played so marvelously well, you go home as a loser just because you’ve lost the last two matches. This has got nothing whatsoever to do with sport.”

Robben was equally unexcited for the opportunity to claim third, “They can keep it. Only one prize counts and that is becoming world champion.”

 The only thing in common between Brazil’s humiliating 7-1 loss to Germany and the Netherlands’ crushing Penalty Kick shootout defeat by Argentina was the aftermath. Players on both sides were crying and probably wanted to think about anything other than soccer.

 The men’s basketball NCAA Tournament did away with its consolation game, and so did the NFL. The Euro Cup no longer has one. So why is FIFA so insistent in having this game? Many will tell you that it is tradition. But let’s not forget that FIFA really is just a business.

The third place play-off is one last marketing opportunity for FIFA. According to Soccernomics, a book written by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, the Third Place Play-off gives a 4.9% boost to the World Cup’s television ratings. That is obviously hard to resist for FIFA.

George Black of the New Yorker magazine recently penned an article titled “The Third-Place Game Is Often The Best Game.” He cites that the games are more close and exciting than the finals.

 The problems with Black’s comments are obvious. A close game does not mean a better game if less is on the line. Most teams and their fans do not care about the match, so it may be closer statistically, but the excitement is taken away because they are playing for a meaningless prize.

FIFA constantly attempts to remind its fans that everything it does is for the better of the game. If that were true, it would get rid of a game that the players and coaches express every four years they have no interest in playing. Players can get injured and miss time with their club teams, and are less rested as well.

Right after the Dutch finished off Brazil Saturday, one look at the players involved in the game told the story. The Dutch players who had just won had smiles, but no excitement. Sure they were happy they had won, but most would have been happier had they been spending to be with their families regrouping for club action. Meanwhile, the Brazilian players were humiliated. As Van Gaal said, nobody should lose two games in a row after such a great tournament. Brazil’s awful ending to their country’s World Cup was now much worse. 

            This game needs to go and it needs to go now.