Bleacher Report - Articles by Stephen Hennessey

ESPN's Coverage of Accenture Match Play Championship Fails

Stephen Hennessey — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:00:04 -0500

After Tim Clark’s birdie putt rolled into the par-3 15th hole, so did ESPN’s coverage of the golf’s world match play championship.

Clark, a South African native ranked 33rd in the world, knocked out Tiger Woods in the second round of the Accenture Match Play championship Thursday afternoon.

Although this tournament is one of few world championships played in the United States, ESPN failed to give it the justice it deserves, only mentioning it for a few moments in its 6 p.m. Sportscenter segment. Australian Geoff Ogilvy played seven rounds of nearly perfect golf, shooting 25-under par in 66 holes.

ESPN had commercials, Sportscenter segments, and experts featured on its channel leading up to this tournament for one reason: Tiger Woods’s return.

All week long, we heard about how incredible the recovery time was for Woods. After undergoing ACL surgery this summer, experts predicted he would make his 2009 appearance at April’s Masters. Instead, he announced he would play in this weekend’s tournament.

Although he looked impressive in his first-round victory over Brendan Jones, he did not follow that up the following day. On Thursday, his approach shots and putting was shoddy at times, marked by a tee shot that hit the cart path and skipped over a fence out of bounds.

It is unfortunate the media storm around Woods’ return only focused on him, because other great golfers shined in this WGC event.

Ogilvy now owns the highest winning percentage in the tournament’s history, eclipsing Woods with a 17-2 record. Always known as one of the most solid ball strikers on the tour, the Aussie displayed an incredible short game—he pitched in shots from off the green three times on the weekend. His flawless play now places him first on the FedEx Cup leaderboard.

Rory McIlroy, a short 19-year-old with long, curly hair from Northern Ireland was equally impressive this weekend. Even though he was playing in his first tournament in the United States, the teenager showed no signs of nerves, as he made it to the quarterfinals of the tournament, only to lose to Ogilvy.

Commentators on The Golf Channel compared him to Tiger Woods, even saying that his game may be more advanced than Woods’s was at this age.

It’s too bad that ESPN could not show the world one of the sports’ rising stars. Swing after swing, McIlroy placed the ball on the fairway with remarkable consistency. Unfortunately, ESPN wasn’t equally consistent covering this championship.

Despite conceding his match because of a wrist injury, Luke Donald made his presence known this weekend. Donald defeated last year’s FedEx Cup champion Vijay Singh, runner-up at the U.S. Open, Ben Curtis, and brought veteran Ernie Els to the last hole. In five starts this season, Donald has placed in the top 25 in all of them, including three top 10 finishes.

The audience for these type of golfers are potentially watching Sportscenter, except they aren’t fed Tiger only footage on a daily basis. Of course, Woods is one of the most popular professional athletes in the world, the best golfer of our generation, and one of the best golfers of all-time. He deserves to be covered extensively.

However, when he is out of a tournament, and still dominates the headlines of a world championship, this is foolish. Instead of focusing fully on Woods, give people the headlines about up-and-coming golfers.

It doesn’t take a lot of work, because the stories are out there—these amazing golfers are making them happen.

Oregon State Beavers: Showing the BCS World Why Games Are Played

Stephen Hennessey — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:48:19 -0400

The University of Southern California was the undisputed best team in the nation. They received virtually every No. 1 vote in the AP poll last week.

But Mike Reilly, coach of the Oregon State Beavers, must have thought his team had a chance, creating the perfect game-plan as a supposedly inferior opponent.

After all, Penn State had just defeated the Beavers by 31 points. How could an upset ever be possible?

At a different venue, in Corvallis, Ore., it all became possible. The legs of freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers shredded through the USC defensive line, perhaps the most physical defense in all of college football. But it was possible.

USC's defense broke down and is in shambles, especially with the injury of star linebacker Ray Maualuga. His injury came late in the game, but it will be the most haunting loss for the Trojans as they go on.

Eight teams in the Top Five lost last year and this is the first casualty for the 2008 season.

But it wasn't possible, right? Down 21-0 at halftime, the Trojans looked unjustifiably confident, breaking down in a huddle before they broke for the opening kickoff. Must have been a great halftime speech by Pete Carroll, but to no avail.

It was possible.

It just goes to show you how a sleeping team, as clearly the Trojans' offense and defense were, can be stopped in its tracks by an determined, opposing squad. These superpower teams seem to have trouble against the small, annoying teams.

So now the college football title is up for grabs. Sure, LSU lost twice last year and still were national champions, but are we going to see the same amount of upsets by Top Five teams as we saw last year?

This certainly opens the door for Oklahoma if they run the table in the Big 12. What about Georgia, Florida and LSU, all in the Top Five and in position to make a run in the SEC? They'll probably beat up on each other as they did last season.

Now the Big Ten looks great. (Let me take that back...Michigan is pitiful, Ohio State can barely beat the likes of Troy and Ohio University.) But seriously, if Wisconsin or Penn State puts together a strong run, they must argue that they belong in conversations.

Especially Penn State. Their offense is unbelievable, scoring more points in a four-game span than any team in the history of Nittany Lion football.

Their defense has been very impressive, keeping games out of reach all season long. Could Joe Paterno be in position to coach in another national championship game as an 81-year-old coach?

The great part of all this is, one little determined game plan from Riley allowed all this speculation to now occur. The college football aura has been restored for the 2008 season.

Open Mic: Baseball Needs Instant Replay

Stephen Hennessey — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:59:16 -0400

Three nights after Carlos Delgado's home was incorrectly called a foul ball by the umpire crew, another missed call occurred last night at Yankee Stadium.

Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez hit a screaming line drive to right field in New York's 8-0 victory over Baltimore. The ball appeared to carom off of a foundation located behind the right-center field wall, which would result in a home run. However, the umpires thought differently, as they said the ball stayed in the yard.

I was sitting in the left-field stands, and it was quite obvious that the ball ricocheted way too hard to have just hit off the outfield wall. Sure enough, fans got their cell phones out and called friends who were watching at home, who told them television replay confirmed it hit off a stairway located in the bleachers.

This replay, however, was not available to the four umpires attempting to determine if the ball was a home run or not.

Boos from the 50,608 fans in attendance echoed down from the majestic seats of the stadium, letting the capped men know they got the call wrong.

A-Rod was forced to take a double instead of a home run, which would have been his third in five at bats.

With such a blatantly obvious blown call, instant replay must be considered an option for MLB umpires. While these officials are some of the best professional referees, it is very difficult to judge with the naked eye where a ball struck 314 feet away from where you are standing.

If MLB executives want to see calls made accurately, and not see their teams get screwed out of calls, then why not bring instant replay to baseball?

In the NFL, instant replay has become a huge dimension of the game. Coaches are given two challenges that they can use to question a referee's call, and referee's can even use booth reviews to determine the justified outcome of a play.

The NBA and NHL have also implemented assets of instant replay to the game to ensure accuracy. So why is the MLB so far behind?

First of all, it seems as if baseball fans believe baseball to be some ancient, pure game. Baseball traditionalists argue that you would take away the human element of baseball by implementing replay, which is a part of the game that is beautiful. So, it's beautiful when calls are incorrectly assessed and could potentially cost your team a game, and potentially a playoff bid?

Then there are the arguments of slowing the game down. It is true that baseball is a long game already, and non-baseball fans will tell you this by calling it "boring." Of course it's not boring, but MLB executives have stressed the importance of keeping the game fast-paced in the past.

An attempt at maintaining the entertainment of its fans is no surprise.

What is a surprise, however, is the complacency of letting inaccurate calls simply occur. If the technology exists, why are they not using it?

The NBA doesn't stop to replay every single questionable out-of-bounds call made. They only use it during questions of clock management and players leaving the area in a fight. The MLB could possess a similar sort of system.

They could only stop to replay balls that appear to be fair but are called foul. Maybe even examine whether or not it would be possible to review plays on the basepaths that call the runner safe or out. The replay review of balls and strikes would be out of the question, because that definitely would be unbearable to watch.

But at some point, you have to draw the line where you are willing to give up accuracy for entertainment. Falsely-called foul balls could occur during crucial situations, costing a team enormous shortcomings.

Umpires are only human, but cameras don't lie.

Remember that, Bud Selig.

With Integrity in the Balance, Professional Leagues Need To Take Action

Stephen Hennessey — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:21:11 -0400

This is a crucial period of time for sports.

Years from now, people will look back to this time as a disaster. If trends continue, these people will see why the sports world is in a state of emergency. Performance-enhancing drugs, video taping coaches' signals, and paying collegiate athletes tens of thousands of dollars in benefits.

We are watching the demise of former stars such as Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Michael Vick, Tim Donaghy, and mega-coach Bill Belichick.

We have watched the Clemens-Brian McNamee congressional hearings on television.

We have turned our heads when Bonds broke Hank Aaron's home run record, only to act upset when he actually held the record.

And we have honored the New England Patriots' "dynasty" run, until the Spygate scandal was exposed and we watched the video tapes released by ex-cameraman Matt Walsh.

People in all walks of life will do anything in an attempt to give themselves an advantage. That is no secret.

However, witnessing the corruption and cheating of our most revered sports stars brings a sour taste. We cannot trust the sports we are watching. We cannot wallow in the sports that have been our escapes since childhood.

Is that elusive running back on steroids? Is this newly emerging home run hitter taking Human Growth Hormone? Does this Super Bowl champion team know what play is coming?

Trust is gone—we are now forced to question every miraculous event. What used to be celebrated by genuine fans will now be met by skeptics.

In order to regain the trust of its loyal fans, each professional league must take enormous steps to prove that its integrity is trustworthy.

The NFL must place security guards with each team, ensuring that video-taping cannot occur. The NBA must do extensive background checks on its referees, in order to make sure there are no hidden interests for these officials. And the MLB must come up with a full proof testing policy to ensure that its athletes are not on steroids or HGH.

If these leagues do not take such action and levy penalties, then we will forever remember this time as that in which professional sports lost its integrity for good.

2008 Cinderella Team: Marquette Golden Eagles

Stephen Hennessey — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:46:44 -0400

2008 will be the year of the eagle.

The Marquette Golden Eagles, coached by Tom Crean, will advance to the Sweet 16 in this year's NCAA tournament by beating Kentucky and Stanford.

The Golden Eagles get the Kentucky Wildcats in the first round, a favorable draw for them. The Wildcats have a depleted roster, playing without freshman phenom Patrick Patterson and sophomore role player Jodie Meeks.

This has hurt the Wildcats tremendously—giving them only two real playmakers, seniors Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford.

While both have the experience and talent necessary to make clutch plays, they are the only playmakers on this squad who can create their own shot.

If you've watched Kentucky recently you know their offensive sets consist of Bradley running off of pick-and-rolls with sophomore Perry Stevenson, with Ramel having to force drives to the hoop and putting up more shots than he should be.

This lack of depth will doom Kentucky to losing to Marquette, who embarrassed them in 2003 with the dominance of Dwayne Wade.

Marquette will then face the Cardinal of Stanford in the second round. I have not been overly impressed with Stanford this season.

Brook Lopez is not all he is hyped to be. Lacking a real playmaker and stellar guard play, Marquette's senior Dominic James and junior Jerel McNeal will dominate the Cardinal.

The Golden Eagles may not have a truly talented big man, but the lack of size is made up for by their ability to control the tempo of the game with their outstanding guards. Implementing their fast-paced style on the Cardinal will be crucial to being able to upset Lopez and Co.

Marquette is a battle-tested team who has played a tough non-conference schedule. Although losing to Duke 77-73 in late November, it was a road game and showed Marquette's ability to hang with the big guys.

They also pulled off a victory at Wisconsin, 81-76, on December 8th in Madison.

Marquette to the Sweet 16!