To enter the giveaway, please click on this link. This contest runs until Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 6pm. A winner will be selected at random by Tickets For Charity.

Best of luck!

To learn more about my partnership with Tickets For Charity, read this earlier post. The organization sells popular sports and entertainment tickets and uses the profit to support a variety of charitable groups.

When I was growing up, the group of elite NFL quarterbacks included two men who promoted advocacy for two diseases that were woefully under funded at the time (cystic fibrosis and Krabbe’s disease), a law school student, and men who worked to be the face of a franchise and never would dream of leaving.

I am not saying they were saints (for example, Jim Kelly’s wife’s recent book shatters most of our good conceptions of Kelly thanks to his infidelities), but we were shielded from it while they played. Instead of talking about their most recent rape charge at a stoppage of play, they would talk about Boomer Esiason’s son’s progress as he battled cystic fibrosis, something Dan Marino did for the community, or Steve Young’s bar card. We only knew Joe Montana as Joe Cool, not the anti-social teammate who laughed at his tough-but-tiny teammate at Notre Dame, the one and only Rudy. We bought candles to support Kelly’s son Hunter as he battled a rare disorder. Drew Bledsoe was a good guy from Washington state, and John Elway made Colorado relevant beyond skiing. Quarterbacks weren’t bad – they were golden.

In comparison, today’s elite quarterbacks are well known more for their misbehavior, lousy personalities and poor choices than anything else. Roethlisberger and Mark Sanchez have been accused of raping women, but are in the process of “overcoming” those charges (whatever that means.) Peyton and Eli Manning are stereotyped as angry, egotistical daddy’s-boys. Vince Young has more problems than Boston public transportation on a subzero day. Michael Vick pitted dogs to the death against each other for his own enjoyment. Tom Brady had a kid out of wedlock and married a supermodel who refuses to be paid in US dollars. Cutler “isn’t tough” and sits out the second half of the NFC Championship game due to an injury my athletic trainer friend has seen 14 year olds play on. And Brett Favre – the quarterback who straddles the line between the generation of “well behaved” 90s quarterbacks and today’s troublesome terrors – sends women photos of his private parts and propositions them, all while his wife was battling cancer. They are all good quarterbacks, but their athletic performances are no longer the first thing we think of when we hear their names.

The quarterbacks of my youth may have been horrible, but we didn’t necessarily know it while they were active. Plus, the media is looking for, expecting the negative when it comes to a quarterback. What changed? When did quarterbacks go from being treated as well-meaning leaders to being horny representatives of all that is stereotypically wrong with athletes? Was it the invention of the Internet and the never ending news cycle to fill? Was it that the current free agency model doesn’t endear cities to their players and players to their cities, thus giving the athlete no accountability and the fans no reason not to turn them in to TMZ? Is it that people en masse are behaving much worse than ever before, and the microcosm of NFL quarterbacks represent that?

Or did just all of us 1990s football fans grow up and learn that no one is perfect?

Just a quick note for those of you who were intrigued in my July interview with Rival Films’ Matt Fults on the Boston University-Boston College documentary, The Battle of Comm Ave. A pre-sale of the DVD begins today and ends on October 9. During this time, you can get the Director’s Cut DVD for half price, with free shipping. The DVD will ship November 1st.

The made-for-TV version – minus the Director’s Cut’s 32 minutes of extra footage – will air several times on NESN in November.

Even if you despise both BU and BC, you can never go wrong with supporting mainstream media coverage of college hockey, especially when the DVD is the price of one beer at an arena.

Given that both BC and BU have combined to win the last two NCAA Division I Championships, their tradition-laced rivalry has started to receive additional national attention. Sure to add to this national spotlight will be the November release of The Battle of Comm Ave, a documentary on the rivalry by Utah-based Rival Films. The film will premiere on NESN, with an DVD release following. Rival Films’ Matt Fults agreed to answer some questions about the film, the company’s use of social media, and about his own favorite sports documentaries.

Kat: You are a film studio based out of Utah – given your geography, what made your company want to produce a film about the Boston College – Boston University rivalry?
Matt: Utah is our base camp. A majority of our work is done elsewhere. We’ve filmed in Austria, Switzerland, Chile, Germany, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Michigan, California … the list goes on. So what we look for are compelling stories. I’m a big hockey fan, and while the BU-BC rivalry is well known in Massachusetts, it’s not as well known in the rest of the country. Plus my mom is from Reading, MA. That’s a plus.

Kat: I know you don’t want to give away a lot about the film yet, but is there any one part that you can mention that will excite fans of these teams (for example, any new information, a story no one has heard before, etc)?

Matt: I think there’s a couple of good stories that maybe haven’t been told. One involves former BU captain Jack O’Callahan, coach Parker and a coin. There aren’t a lot of secrets when it comes to these schools. What you’re going to see is the origins of the rivalry, how it became so intense, what drives it today, and finally just some terrific anecdotes and stories from players, coaches and others.

Kat: Do you see The Battle of Comm Ave spurring national interest in this storied rivalry, given that college hockey seems to be growing in popularity right now?

Matt: I hope so. One of the reasons we decided to do this was the belief that college hockey is undersold and undertold. It’s a great sport with strong traditions and true powerhouse programs.

Kat: Rival Films is quite active on Twitter and Facebook.  How are you using social media to promote this film and engage with the fanbases of the respective schools?

Matt: Being active doesn’t mean we’re successful. Our Twitter following isn’t impressive! Social media as a tool is new to us – literally within the last couple of weeks. Given the subject matter and the audience, it seems like a worthwhile endeavor. Our hope is to build an early buzz that will translate into greater interest when Fall rolls around, and ultimately the start of college hockey season. We are going to use Facebook and Twitter for contest giveaways and more importantly to announce a DVD presale. Sometime in October you’ll be able to find a link that will enable you to preorder the DVD at half price. So if you’re not following us on Twitter @RivalFilms or not a Fan on Facebook, that’s one less Christmas present for your brother.

Kat: Since you are in the business of creating sports films, what qualities do you think make a great sports documentary? What are some of your personal favorites?

Matt: You mean other than my own? Just kidding. To me, it’s all about storytelling. The quality of the story – and its storytellers – make or break any movie. In the end, the subjects of your film need to be the best storytellers. Narration is there to fill in the gaps. If your subjects aren’t compelling, you better hope the underlying story is or you’re done. One of my favorites is “Step into Liquid” by Dana Brown. On the surface, it’s a surfing movie. But it’s more than that. It examines a culture and a lifestyle. Visually, it’s gorgeous. I’m also a Bud Greenspan fan. He’s a master storyteller.

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Keep up-to-date with The Battle of Comm Ave by following the company on Twitter (@RivalFilms), becoming a fan of the film on Facebook, or checking the company’s website.

Shawn Johnson and Nastia Lukin at the 2008 Olympics

Two weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times published a pair of articles contrasting the current careers of U.S. gymnasts Shawn Johnson and Nastia Lukin. The Times spoke to the “graceful” Lukin about the three Marta Karolyi run training camps she has attended since the Beijing Olympics, and her agent about the offer she turned down from Dancing with the Stars. They then profiled a Dancing with the Stars rehearsal that Johnson, not necessarily renowned for her artistic ability as a gymnast, was participating in, quoted her mother as saying as Johnson never wants to leave the Left Coast, and mentioning that serious gymnastics training doesn’t seem to be in the cards at the moment.

The short, less artistic little kid looking to take advantage of her 15 minutes of Olympic provided fame.  The lankier-only-by-comparison, more artistic, older teenager who looks to stay in the sport.

One would think we were back in 1998.

Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan at the 1998 Olympics. (Photo: Jamd.com)

Following the 1998 Winter Olympics, similar articles were written about Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski. Graceful and lankier-looking Kwan, disappointed by her Olympic silver medal, had not made a concrete decision about whether or not to remain figure skating, but kept her options open and continued to train. Lipinski, the gold medalist at the Nagano Games, the shorter, less artistic and younger one, was seemingly led by her mother and agent to take advantage of every professional opportunity afforded her due to her medal finish, and stopped training for Olympic competition. (Years later, the figure skating community would learn that Lipinski had quietly battled serious hip injuries, which would eventually end her ability to skate on even the show circuit, during her Olympic season as well.)

Led by such articles, many jumped onto the Kwan bandwagon, thinking of Lipinski as the less-talented, less-determined, less-serious athlete. Kwan was persistent and continued on, while Lipinski seemingly let the promise of a payday determine her next steps. If Dancing with the Stars was around in the fall of 1998, and both skaters were offered the chance to join the cast, one could surmise that it would be Lipinski competing for the mirrored ball trophy and Kwan declining the invite in order to attend training camps.

But a decade later, both athletes are nearly unknown and having to pursue other areas outside of their sport – Kwan, the field of international relations (although according to the Washington Post, she may consider a comeback), and Lipinski, acting and voiceover work. Taking advantage of the time immediately following the Olympics, in either way they did, gave them a cushion to fall back on once their time as athletes ended.

And now we are in 2009, and the two teenage stars of the Summer Olympics find themselves beginning to be portrayed in a similar light. Is Johnson wrong for taking high profile mainstream media opportunities while she can? In a report this week, it was reported that Dancing with the Stars participants make $200,000 for the season.  Is Johnson, a 17 year old who doesn’t know a world outside of gymnastics and probably can not even think about what she could have a career in as an adult that does not involve the sport, wrong for earning that while she can? Is Lukin, who has also taken advantage of a few lesser profile mainstream media opportunities (modeling and a small appearance on Gossip Girl) right for continuing to subject herself to the svengalis that are the Karolyis and continue on a path towards the World Championships later this year? Both paths take into consideration that these girls are in the “twilight” of their competitive careers,  but one has decided to continue on the known path for at least one more year to boost her resume a tad more, while the other realizes that her time as a gymnast is winding down, and that it may be prudent to take advantage of what she can while she can.

Essentially, aren’t Johnson and Lukin, like Kwan and Lipinski before them, just two teenagers who are taking advantage of the comparative variety of opportunities available to them, given the limited scope of their life experiences and the lack of relative choice in their opportunities at other points in their life? Although the paths may vary, both take advantage of the limited amount of time they have to either compete in their sport or cash in on notoriety gained from their sport. And when you’ve been doing the same exact thing since you were three, training for a singular goal since you were three, and dreaming of stardom from that activity since you were three, can you blame them for taking advantage of the opportunities available to them while they can?

To kick off our series, I am reposting an oldie-but-a-goodie I wrote about Senior Day for the Binghamton University men’s basketball team in 2004. I was a senior about to head off to Boston University for graduate work, and the Bearcats’ opponent that day was the Terriers.  The original post – edited to take out the non-basketball stuff that followed the original post – is after the jump.

If you are interested in contributing a piece to the series – be it about senior days for your team or about this year’s Terrier seniors, email me at sportsgirlkat@gmail.com.

The Battle of the BUs–A Senior Day In Every Sense

Today’s men’s basketball game at the Events Center was not only the last home game of the season for the men, but also senior day. And I found it fitting that the senior day game opponent was Boston University.

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention to my away messages, profiles or who haven’t spoken with me in the past…oh, year, I am currently in love with Boston University. Sure, I applied to five graduate schools, but since I decided I was going to go to grad school, Boston University has been one of my top choices. They were the first school to accept me (the letter was waiting for me two days after my birthday in my school mailbox). They might not have the best program in Higher Education, but they have tons of opportunities for internships and assistantships (especially in new facilities management–they‘re in the process of building the “Student Village,” a huge building project for athletics, residential life and student affairs, which working with would look soooo good on a resume), and they are just such a cool school in general. I walked around there in August and just couldn’t believe how much I liked it–I didn’t want to come back to Binghamton for another year. I was tempted to finish up my credits at Binghamton in the fall and start at Boston University in January, but I was talked out of it by a lot of people, seeing that I wanted to try for Harvard and Boston College as well. But the more I think about it, the more I want to go to Boston University. But I have to wait and see what happens.

So I attended today’s game and couldn’t decide who to cheer for–my current school, who I’m becoming increasingly disenchanted with knowing that there’s so much else beyond Binghamton, or what very well may be my new school. Well, seeing that I had student tickets and didn’t feel like being beat up (which could happen, as evidenced by what occurred at last week’s Nazareth/Fisher basketball game), I put my Boston University shirt away and wore the green Binghamton hoodie and went along with the “Let‘s Go Bearcats” chants.

The Terriers (Boston University) are currently #1 in the America East conference, and this game showed why. Marsha, Jamie and I were watching the warm-ups when Marsha remarked, “They just don’t miss,“ gesturing to the Terriers’ free throwing. They don’t–they only missed once that I recall during the game. While the first half was close, with Nick Billings being the whole Binghamton team as usual (it’s not that he can play, or that the others can’t, it’s just that he’s seven feet tall), the Terriers dominated in the second half, working with leads between 10-20 points most of the time. The final score was 69-53, but if our two seniors hadn’t been inspired to get in there and make the best of their last minutes on the Events Center floor, it probably would have been more like 75-50. The Bearcats turned over the ball constantly, and their shooting was way off most of the game. They couldn’t make a free throws at all in the second half, and easy points weren’t made because they were over-shooting the net. They announced that the official attendance at the game today was 4,823 at the end of the game. However, the end of the game lacked so much hope that people began to leave in droves after the 8 minute mark. I turned to Marsha. “Official attendance, 4,823. Official attendance after the 5 minute mark: 1,000.”

It had been noted all week that the Bearcat men had never defeated the Terriers since joining the America East three years ago, and I think the pressure of trying to overcome that in the new building on senior day was a bit too much for them. There are so many expectations for this team to do well so early on in their Division 1 career, seeing that we just built them this new venue, and we moved into a conference that caused us to eliminate one of our traditional sports (wrestling). They’re growing well, but to expect them to have beat the number one team in the conference right now wasn’t really feasible.

On another note, the Events Center is a bit…small? I was disappointed somewhat, and I don’t know why. I imagined an arena…which to me congers up mental images of the Blue Cross Arena up in Rochester. This was on a much smaller scale–the BCA holds 12,000 for concerts and the Events Center, when completed, will seat 8,000. Right now a sell out for basketball in the Events Center is 4,823. The Center is pretty sterile right now, more than likely due to the fact that they’re not really done with it. I fear that it’ll become out of date quickly, but I could also see how it could be easily renovated if that did happen. I don’t know. Did I expect more? Yes. Do we need more as a mid-major D1 school with more student apathy than the Yankees have money? No. On a semi-side note, one of my biggest fears as I leave Binghamton is that the backlash from students and faculty about the alleged “overspending on athletics” is going to deter any more growth in that area–we need more athletic opportunities because unlike what most Binghamton students think, athletes do possess brains. Also, with the local community being as stubborn as it is, I think athletics is going to be the school’s only way to make its point that we are now the economic center of the Broome County area, and therefore, should be accommodated as such.

As the crowds left the Events Center this afternoon, I felt like this was the beginning of the end. It was Senior Day for the two graduating players, but it was Senior Day for me as well–watching my last Binghamton basketball game, having what could be my new school defeat my current school. The next time I’ll be in the Events Center will more than likely be 77 days from now for Commencement. Binghamton may have been where I spent the last two years, but I’m ready to move on.

And where does basketball fit into all of this? Is there a particular team that people in Western New York prefer to root for? I’d imagine that the Knicks–not even factoring in their past seven seasons of futility–represent everything that upstaters hate about downstate. There is the connection between the old Buffalo Braves and L.A. Clippers, but not even the most ardent fan of the A.B.A. would retain that kind of loyalty.

Now, I have been in quite a few relationships in my day, including some of those of the on-and-off, back and forth, toxic variety.  (Who hasn’t in their day?  The degrees of severity vary, but everyone’s had at least one.)  But none come close to the toxic back and forth relationship that professional basketball has had with my home region of Western New York.  Professional basketball took Western New York and toyed with its emotions – “You want an NBA Championship? Here you go. Oh, wait – you aren’t “big enough” to support professional sports!  Sorry, let’s move the team away.” – until a whole generation and their children decided enough was enough, and ceased following the NBA all together.

Professional basketball of the CBA, ABA, and NBA variety has awarded six franchises to the Western New York area since 1925.  It began in 1925, when the Buffalo Bisons and Rochester Centrals started play in the American Basketball League.  Both franchises were short lived – the Bisons lasted one season and Centrals lasted until 1931.

Rochester would get another stab at a professional basketball team in 1945 with the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League.  The Royals – still spoken about in Rochester to this day – were very successful, winning the National Basketball League regular season and championship titles each year from 1945-57.  Due to a series of league mergers, the Royals found themselves in the NBA in 1948.  They maintained their success, winning the 1951 NBA Championship over the NY Knicks – a victory which some Rochestairans (my father among them) still hold near and dear to their hearts, ingraining a dislike of the Knicks to their kin.  Despite continued competitiveness, the Royals moved to Cincinnati in 1957, with the NBA claiming that Rochester was not considered “major league” enough to continue supporting a team. (And Cincinnati is?)  The franchise eventually ended up the Sacramento Kings.

Meanwhile down the Thruway, the Nationals had called Syracuse home since 1939.  Originally an independent team, the Nationals joined the National Basketball League in 1946. After the series of league mergers that took place in the late 1940s, the Nationals became members of the NBA in 1949.  The Nationals made the NBA Playoffs every year of their membership (1949-63), winning the NBA Championship in 1955.  Despite their massive success, in 1963 the Nationals franchise was purchased by brothers who wished to move the team to Philadelphia in an effort to replace the recently departed Warriors franchise.  Yet another NBA Championship winning team had left Western New York for a more “promising” location.

The NBA would give Western New York one more franchise – the Buffalo Braves, who were part of the 1970 expansion of the league.  Playing at the old Aud, the Braves struggled for a few years until finally earning a playoff spot in 1974, losing to the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals.  The Braves made the playoffs for the two following seasons.  In 1976, the team’s ownership, lead by founding owner Paul Snyder, started shopping the Braves around to cities in Florida, claiming that Buffalo was a “hockey town” who couldn’t support the team.  The City of Buffalo (rightly, in my opinion) put up a significant fight, and got the Braves to agree to a multi-year lease at the Aud.  However, a clause in the agreement gave the owners an escape option if ticket sales fell below a set amount.  So what happened during the next two seasons? The team tanked, trading its best and most popular player, Bob McAdoo.  Ticket sales dropped due to the poor performance, and the agreement with the Aud could be voided.  In 1978, the team’s leadership, then lead by John Y. Brown Jr. (who would soon become Governor of Kentucky), switched teams with then Celtics owner, Irv Lavin. Brown had a hand in the very successful Celtics, and Lavin, in the Braves, had a team that he could now move to his home state of California.  The Braves became the San Diego Clippers.  Western New York had lost their third NBA team in nearly twenty years.

Rochester tried two times after the loss of the Royals to reestablish a professional basketball team in their city.  The Rochester Colonels played eight games in the Continental Basketball Association in 1958 – a fact largely unknown until three years ago, when Rochester sports historian brought their existence to light. In 1977, the Rochester Zeniths joined the All-American Basketball Alliance, eventually moving to the Continental Basketball Association.  Attendance for the Zeniths was some of the highest in the CBA.  Although winning the league championship twice and making the playoffs in every year of their existence, the franchise would fold due to financial issues in 1983. (In a random note, in researching this post, I realized that as a teenager, I taught the Zenith’s founding owner’s daughter dance.  It’s a small, small world. My parents bought TVs from him, I taught his daughter dance, and his wife made my solo costume one year. Why didn’t anyone bring this up earlier?!)

Rochester is still flirting with professional basketball – they are currently home to the Rochester Razorsharks, who have spent time in both the Premier Basketball League and American Basketball Association, setting attendance records and winning championships in both. (Using my analogy, one could say that Rochester is that girl who, despite having finally broken up with a guy, keeps semi-stalking him, hanging out with his friends, and dating guys that look just like her ex. Yep, Rochester is that crazy girl.  Gotta love my hometown.)

Essentially, Western New York and professional basketball had a toxic relationship in the 20th century.  Despite success on the court and fan support, the NBA told Western New York three times that they weren’t a large enough market to support a basketball team.  Back and forth, the cities of Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse kept showing support and fandom for basketball, and the NBA kept breaking their hearts by allowing their teams to move.

Professional basketball had little influence on me and my friends growing up in Rochester in the 1980s and 1990s – we had no team to idenitfy with, and our parents were still bitter over what happened in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.  This is why I say Western New Yorkers could care less about the NBA.  The NBA showed that it never cared about them, so why should a Western New Yorker return the favor?