Stormin Norman Rumack

Should so called “advocacy” ads be run during the Super Bowl ? An excellent story focusing on that potentially explosive subject was printed in the Toronto Star on Friday, January 29, by sports writer Cathal Kelly. The story revolves around the University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, and his mother Pam, who are anti- abortion, and will share the story of Pam’s decision not to get an abortion when she was carrying Tim,even though a physician advised her too, while on a religious mission in the Philippines, where she became ill while pregnant. According to the Star story, the word “abortion”, will not be used in the advertisement. The theme being addressed in the spots is “Celebrate family;celebrate life”. The ad is funded by Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group.

In the newspaper article, a CBS spokesperson explained the broadcasters position, on accepting the reported $2.5 to $3 million U.S. for the 30 seconds of air time. Said Dana McClintock: “ We have for some time moderated...

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This is the not widely publicized story, of two former Syracuse University football players, who endured some of the worst kind of racism, at a time when it was allowed and encouraged, as part of mainstream society.  Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, was an African-American basketball and football player, who experienced segregation in collegiate level sports, while playing football at Syracuse. Sidat- Singh died tragically, while training as a member of the elite Tuskegee Airmen, during the second World War. Marty Glickman was a track and field star in addition to being an All-American football player at Syracuse, and later in life, a very popular sports broadcaster.

Glickman was an elite sprinter, and a member of the 1936 U.S. Summer Olympics team in Berlin, Germany. While in Germany, he practiced as part of the 400 yard relay team. As documented in Wikipedia, the day before the competition, Glickman and teammate Sam Stoller, two American Jews, were replaced on the 4x100 relay team. According to Glickman, the switch...

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Good for NBA Commissioner David Stern, for suspending for the rest of the season, both Gilbert Arenas, and Javaris Crittenton.  It’s difficult too imagine that he had any choice. Stern had to send a strong message, that weapons violations can not be tolerated under any circumstances. It’s still hard to believe, whether its the two Wizards players, or Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants,the foolish decisions made by these very wealthy athletes. It just doesn’t make sense, that millionaires like these men,can’t find or afford private security. I just cant imagine why they wouldn’t do the easy thing,and hire professional security staff, instead of risking themselves, and perhaps the lives or well being of others. I wonder, aside from personal security, what the thrill is in having a gun ?  It’s difficult to figure out where celebrities would go to socialize,especially if they might feel threatened by an individual, or groups of people.How about doing the right thing, and not going to places, where their tends...

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Maple Leafs fans have seen yet another team that has gone about rebuilding the right way, which has been proven to be the only way, that of course being primarily through the draft. Los Angeles was one of the teams that I wrote about in my NHL preview, as one of those so called sleeper teams to watch out for. They’ve had some ups and downs, but with their nucleus of young talent, their future looks bright. Just browse through their statistics, and it’s easy to see how their core players are starting to carry the weight of the franchise.  If you watch Kings games on TV from Los Angeles, it seems that their is a bit of a buzz returning to the Staples Center. The fans are catching on to the sense of a bright future, probably for the first time since the end of the Gretzky era. With the supremely talented Drew Doughty, to go along with, Dustin Brown,Anze Kopitar, Wayne Simmonds,and Jonathan Quick, just to mention a few,the Kings are getting closer to being one of those teams other fans will be worried about as an...

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CARRIER DOME,SYRACUSE,N.Y.

Monday January 25,2010.

 

As I arrived at the Carrier Dome, around 5:00 pm, there were already long lines of mostly students, and others, anxiously awaiting their turn in line, to purchase tickets for the most anticipated game on the Orange schedule, so far this season. The rivalry between the two Big East original members, goes right back to the birth of the conference in 1979, including a Georgetown win in the final game of the first home of the Syracuse basketball team,the Manley Field House. The Orange have called the Carrier Dome their home since its opening, in the fall of 1980. A crowd of nearly 30,000 has been talked about as a possibility for this evenings game. To the best of my recollection, the all time record for a crowd at the dome for a college basketball game is around 33,000, which was for a game with Notre Dame, when guard Gerry McNamara, a hero from the 2003 national championship team here, was still playing with Syracuse.

 

The Orange...

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Leafs need to show some guts; Cormier should pay even more

It’s not everyday of the week that you get a hole in one,( ok , I didn’t get a hole in one, but probably closest to the pin.) figuratively speaking, but with your permission and understanding, I wanted to reiterate that in my NFL picks last week, I did predict the Colts would win 31-17, and that the big difference would be at quarterback. This,by the way, is no suggestion of disrespect for Mark Sanchez, who executed some tremendous pass plays with exceptional  poise for a rookie. Jets coach Rex Ryan really said it all in his post game comments, that the biggest difference in the game was the MVP, Peyton Manning. With his Colts down 17-6, and the Indianapolis defense looking vulnerable against some surprise plays by New York, the future Hall Of Famer slowly but surgically began shredding the Jets defense, something he’s done so many times before, to so many teams. Manning broke an NFL postseason record he shared with both Kurt Warner and Joe Montana, by surpassing 300 passing yards for the 7th time in his storied...

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It’s the weekend and the Late Night Vampire is heading back to Syracuse University, where I graduated from the Masters program in Telecommunications

from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, in 1981. I’m looking forward to to seeing the Orange basketball team host Georgetown on Monday night

as it is the continuation of a long and memorable rivalry, dating back to the formation of the Big East conference in 1979. I am also looking forward to watching a

a couple of the team’s practices as well, which Coach Jim Boeheim is kind enough to allow me to take in. They are in the midst of as good a season as they’ve

had in quite a few years, with only one loss so far, to go along with 18 wins.

 

A few of the players I’m looking forward to watching,include forward Wesley Johnson, who is one of the stars of U.S. college basketball so far this season. He

transferred from Iowa State, and redshirted last year, although he was able to practice with the Orange,...

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No subject pertaining to hockey evokes more emotion, or passionate discussion the last few years, than that of what can or should be done about hits to the head from an opposing player. I think it’s safe to say that everyone agrees, that any deliberate attempt to injure another player, especially where it concerns a blow to the head, requires a severe punishment. That could be in the form of a year long suspension, or some thing even more drastic, like expulsion from the league.  What makes this discussion a little more difficult, is that in less obvious situations, where a legal but tough hit takes place, and it is to the head area, the answer is not so simple.

To illustrate the difficulty in making a black and white rule, with no grey areas, what happens if Boston’s Zdeno Chara is trying to make a clean hit on a smaller player ? It would be very easy with his size, for a player being checked cleanly by Chara, to have ones head on the receiving end, only because of the Bruins defenseman’s extreme size....

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