Dwight Shih: Sports

testing

Wed, 05 Nov 2003 23:27:16 GMT

Tue, 28 Oct 2003 11:58:49 GMT

If you're reading this, then please update your links. The new home is http://www.ideoplex.com/blog/topic/sports/ with a new rss feed.

PS I could use some google juice at the new site.

The lights are On

Fri, 03 Oct 2003 13:00:40 GMT

The lights are on at my new digs. Unfortunately, I don't know how to implement http redirects from the Userland Radio Community Server. Please update your links to the new location.

Going Dark

Wed, 01 Oct 2003 13:50:35 GMT

Take the First Step will be dormant for a few days. I'm in the process of moving to my own domain and will be posting infrequently until the process is complete.

Sat, 27 Sep 2003 22:38:43 GMT

In my comments, Mark Beaty suggests that Tyler Hamilton will be the successor to Lance Armstrong. I don't think so – cyclists peak in their late 20's and their early 30's are a fight against the inevitable decay. Tyler will be 33 during the next Tour de France and the clock is running fast. I just don't think that he has time to become Lance's successor.

Welcome to the Neighbloghood

Wed, 13 Aug 2003 12:51:08 GMT

I was doing the usual obsessive compulsive review of my referrals when I came across fredshouse.net. Gene and I go waaay back, and I'm happy to welcome him to the blogroll (maybe this will get him off the snide at Technorati).

In other blogroll news, the BallBlog is joining the blog gang at FanBlogs. I think that we're going to see more blogging confederations as individuals find themselves unable to write as frequently as they'd like.

Maybe it's a function of the tools, but I'm surprised that I don't see more confederations formed by a central blog linking to contributor blogs. It's hard for an individual to maintain critical mass over multiple categories — just take a look at my Sports Category for July. But a group can easily maintain an on-topic critical mass while letting the individuals maintain a more eclectic style at home.

What Next, US Postal?

Sun, 03 Aug 2003 20:59:55 GMT

I'm running a bit behind the times, so excuse my belated congratulations to Lance Armstrong and the US Postal team for it's 5th consecutive Tour de France win. I thought Lance was done when he showed weakness on l'Alpe d'Huez. But he proved that he was made of tougher stuff and rallied to a fine win. Lance will return next year in a quest for six, but what happens to US Postal when Lance retires?

Many think that US Postal shouldn't sponsor a bicycle team. I disagree — I think that it has been an effective advertising tool. But I also think that Lance Armstrong, as both an American and a cancer survivor, is a major part of that effectiveness. How effective will the advertising be without Lance?

USPS desparately needs to find a successor to Lance. I think that he needs to be an American and he needs to be a threat to win the Tour. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any qualified candidates. And I doubt that they will have more than two years to find one before the budget is dramatically slashed.

Fear of Failure

Fri, 01 Aug 2003 22:14:49 GMT

We've all heard the sports bromide play to win. So it's quite interesting that scientists say that managers, coaches and players are too cautious for their own good. It seems that their focus on the worst-case scenario prevents them from following the optimum strategy – fear of failure trumps cold logic.

Contrast that with Silicon Valley — the characteristic that is hardest to duplicate is it's acceptance of failure. A stint at a failed company is a black mark in most places. In Silicon Valley, it's a degree from the school of hard knocks.

Cracks in the Armor

Sun, 20 Jul 2003 13:46:36 GMT

At the start of this Tour de France, Lance Armstrong was the clear favorite. But Jan Ullrich is breathing down his neck, just 15 seconds back after 13 stages. There's a lot of racing to be done before a winner is crowned in Paris, but I think that it is interesting just how quickly cracks can appear in the Tour de France.

We've seen it before. Miguel Indurain was favored to win a 6th consecutive tour in 1996, only to finish 11th. Big Mig turned 32 during the '96 tour — Lance turns 32 this September. The conventional wisdom is that skill and guile allow athletes to compensate for the loss of physical ability in the early 30's. But perhaps the sheer physicality required by the tour trumps conventional wisdom.

ESPN, Welcome back to the CWS

Mon, 23 Jun 2003 13:00:28 GMT

The College World Series comes down to a single game tonight between Stanford and Rice. This is the first time that the championship will be decided by a 3 game series and the first time that a team with 2 CWS losses (Stanford) has a chance at the title. Originally, the CWS was a double elimination tournament. The format was altered in the late 80's to match an undefeated team against a team with one loss in a single championship game for network TV. And now that the championship is back on ESPN, the single championship game has been replaced by a 3 game series.

While I must confess my fondness of the original double elimination format, the 3 games series is a great improvement over the single championship game. So ESPN, welcome back to the College World Series.

2003 National Amateur Retriever Championship

Sun, 22 Jun 2003 15:44:58 GMT

After 7 days of trials and a lifetime of training; FC-AFC Adams Acres Cherokee Rose, handled by John Russell, is the new National Amateur Retriever Champion. I know next to nothing about retrieving and retrievers; but I am pleased to say that AFC Freeridin Wowie Zowie, owned and handled by Ted Shih, was a finalist in this competition. An excellent result in their first national championship event.

Devils Win!

Tue, 10 Jun 2003 12:49:10 GMT

The Devils won their third Stanley Cup last night in typical Devils style — opportunistic scoring and smothering defense. Stylistically, it was an odd series: all games won by the home team, first two games won by the Devils their way, next two games won by the Ducks their way (in overtime), next two games split with uncharacteristicly high scores, and the final won by the Devils their way again. I was pulling for the Ducks, but my hat's off for the Devils. Their style may not be pretty, but it has proven effective with Stanley Cups in '95, '00 and '03.

Now that's Hockey

Fri, 06 Jun 2003 12:57:38 GMT

I started the night expecting another Ducks/Devils defensive struggle when all of a sudden a hockey game broke out. Now, I don't need to see a lot of goals to enjoy a hockey game; but I do need to see a lot of potential for goals. And I got my money's worth yesterday. It was a wide open game with pretty goals, lucky goals, disallowed goals, and disputed goals. The only thing it didn't have was mind boggling, out of this world goaltending. But there's still time for that in the next game.

Quack, Quack, Quack

Sun, 01 Jun 2003 14:18:11 GMT

The Ducks pull themselves back into the Stanley Cup Finals with a 3-2 win over the Devils last night. Giguère's force fields have yet to make an appearance in the finals, but the rest of the Ducks have started to resemble the players that shocked the Red Wings and the Stars. It was beginning to look like a short series, but things are looking a bit more interesting now.

Faster, Higher, Stronger

Sat, 24 May 2003 17:19:22 GMT

You have to win it on the field. You have to enter the field of play and stand up and be counted. And so it was just and proper for Annika Sorenstam to compete in the Bank of America Colonial Invitational.

Now it is done. Sorenstam has proven that she can compete with the best players in the world on the right course. And the PGA has demonstrated that the best woman player in the world is not a threat to win, even on a hand picked course.

Sorenstam doesn't plan on playing in a PGA event again — she has learned what she needed to know. The PGA may change their bylaws to prevent a repeat. That would be a mistake. If they aspire to be the best in the world, then they need to stay open to all comers.

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 14:21:35 GMT

Only one 16 seed has ever beaten a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. It's something that I would like to forget, but someone always reminds me that the 1998 Stanford women were the unlucky 1 seed. In defense of that 98 squad, I'd like to point out that two starters (Kristen Folkl and Vanessa Nygaard) went down with injuries in the week before that game. With a handful of practices to adjust to a missing 30+ ppg, Stanford lost 71-67. If any 1 seed loses two starters to injury this week, feel free to pick the upset.

Fri, 21 Feb 2003 13:52:19 GMT

What is the college experience? It is always brought up as a reason for high school athletes to go to college instead of the pros, but I don't recall any discussions of what it is. To me, the college experience is a late night tunnel tour, tossing pennies to Tecumseh for good luck, senior ditch day at Caltech, a kiss on the Stanford quad under an October full moon, and igloo bridge after the blizzard of 78. Bringing it back to sports, it's a bonfire the night before the big game, and it's Ralph Sampson walking outside to a shower from his room on the lawn. I doubt that it has anything to do with two-a-days in August. What memories make up the college experience for you? Unless you were a participant, I doubt that any of them have anything to do with the quality of your football or basketball teams.

Paying college athletes may come in under the guise of rewarding the athletes, but to me it has the bad taste of justifying even more sacrifice from the athlete. The football and basketball teams already spend too much time in their own world separated from the general student population. Community is build upon shared experience, and I want to see the athletes and the students share more, not less. I doubt that Ralph Sampson would have been chosen for a room on the lawn if he was paid.

Fri, 14 Feb 2003 14:07:07 GMT

I'm not worried abut LeBron James. The system may be working him hard, but I think that he's working just as hard back at the system. From all reports, he's ready to go to the NBA, he wants to go to the NBA, and the NBA wants to give him a lucrative contract.

We talk of paying college basketball and football players, but we never talk about paying baseball players. There are probably more complicated explanations, but I attribute that to the presence of the minor leagues. Colleges have been forced to act in that role because of the absence of developmental leagues for basketball and football.

Why is it that signing a professional contract has become equivalent to eating the forbidden fruit? What is the harm in having college athletes who have washed out of the professional leagues? I think they would return with a greater appreciation for a college education. We may not want to have college athletes who are currently under contract to the pros. But what is the harm in having each year as a pro only cost a year of eligibility?

Mon, 10 Feb 2003 22:59:24 GMT

Why have College Athletics? Yes, I know that it is an important part of the college experience, but that just begs the question. Anyhow, I've been thinking about pay for play in college athletics and it seems to me that we need to start by understanding why we have them in the first place.

I accept that participation in sports helps teach teamwork and leadership. I concede that it helps promote self respect, that participants learn to take calculated risk and to handle failure as well as success. But how does that provide a justification for intercollegiate athletics? A strong intramural program would be more cost effective and apply to more people.

It seems to me that the purpose of college athletics is to build community. What other event can draw thousands of students together in a common cause? What else can bind alumni to their schools decades after they have left?

And that is why I am a starry-eyed idealist when it comes to college sports, and that is why I object to pay for play. The current state of big time athletics has already strained that community by introducing a separate class within the student body. There are already too many athletes who ignore academics and think they're better than their fellow students. Introducing paid athletes into the mix would be too great a stress on the community.

If you're coming from the BallBlog, I've added a follow up here.

Sat, 08 Feb 2003 23:45:23 GMT

Keep the Professionals out of College. The recent LeBron James flap has reignited talk of paying college athletes. Ok, maybe I'm a starry-eyed idealist, but count me dead set against.

The fundamental argument for paying college athletes is that they produce a lot of revenue for the college and the athletes should share in the bounty. I think the math on this topic is quite suspect and that once the cost of facilities is included most football programs and many basketball programs lose money.

Let's ignore the money question and take a look at the participation numbers for football and basketball. There are over 300 Division 1 mens basketball teams, over 100 Division 1 football teams and only 29 NBA teams and 30 NFL teams. Keeping in mind that a Division 1 roster is about twice the size of an NFL roster, fewer than 10% of these college athletes will make a living as a professional. To my way of thinking that means that over 90% are student-athletes not athletes (whether they know it or not). And letting the needs of the athletes outweigh the needs of the student-athletes is letting the tail wag the dog.

Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:52:54 GMT

280 to Have a View From the Green Monster

I'm ready. How do I get tickets?

Wed, 29 Jan 2003 18:26:53 GMT

I'm from the US government, and I'm here to help.

Not words that you're normally hoping to hear. But the USOC is so fouled up, that they're looking to the government for assistance. Right now the USOC is imploding around a massive bout of "He said, She said". Maybe a common enemy will help things out.

Tue, 14 Jan 2003 20:42:05 GMT

First Post

I confess. I worked myself into a state of complete writer's block. I frittered away my 30 day free trial of Radio Userland.

And then I remembered one of my first lessons as a freshman:

1 >> 0
n + 1 > n

This first entry may not be very impressive, but it's a heck of a lot more impressive than nothing. And it will get better as I go.

That's how I got a title and a first post.

[15 January] I switched

[23 February] When I started this blog, I expected to talk about Content Management and Software Development. As events have unfolded, this blog has been about Sports and Software Development and Content Management.

[28 February] My Sports Allegiances