Which Commish has the biggest problem on his hands?

[24champ]

Roger Goodell/NFL - Vick situation, not able to keep players off of police blotters

Gary Bettman/NHL - Bad TV deal poor ratings and general disinterest in the sport

Bud Selig/MLB - Steroid cloud hanging over the most hallowed record in the game, among other things.

David Stern/NBA - Ref betting on games and possibly affecting spreads.

Be heard.

[Garcia Bronco]

Gary Bettman hands down, the others are all solvent operations.

[Crushaholic]

Baseball used to be America's Game. Now, the steroids deal and other factors make baseball look like a second-rate sport. Selig has the biggest headache because he needs to figure out how to get baseball back to the lofty position it once held in the eyes of America.

[Smiling Assassin27]

Gambling is like a bullet to the brain. After that Suns-Spurs debacle (officiating-wise) and the long standing belief that refs control the games Stern's got the biggest problem, especially if more refs are outed.

[crowebomber]

Everything is going to be questioned in the NBA for years to come. Every bad call will be scrutinized and the dirty ref gambling issue will come up for a long time. Fans are going to question the league's integrity and each game's validity.

[Jason in LA]

I was going to say Stern, because a points shaving scandal is the worst thing that a sport has to deal with. But then I read Bettman, and didn't even know who that guy was. The NBA has a major issue on their hands, but at least they are relevant. The NBA will be able to get through this. Where is the NHL?

[epicSocialism4tw]

Go back and watch some tape of the NBA.

The NBA has an awfully long way to go to keep questions out of the minds of viewers while watching the games.

The 2006 NBA Finals being the most glaring example, the NBA looks like a fixed product and it will take generations to set the viewer's mind at ease.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

I was going to say Stern, because a points shaving scandal is the worst thing that a sport has to deal with. But then I read Bettman, and didn't even know who that guy was. The NBA has a major issue on their hands, but at least they are relevant. The NBA will be able to get through this. Where is the NHL?
The NBA, to me, hasn't been relevant for years.

[Jason in LA]

Go back and watch some tape of the NBA.

The NBA has an awfully long way to go to keep questions out of the minds of viewers while watching the games.

The 2006 NBA Finals being the most glaring example, the NBA looks like a fixed product and it will take generations to set the viewer's mind at ease.

Is the 2006 NBA Finals the worst, because your favorite team happened to lose that one?

[Jason in LA]

The NBA, to me, hasn't been relevant for years.

It's certainly not what it used to be, but I'd say that the only sports that are more popular are pro and college football. An argument could be made for college basketball because of the NCAA tournament. Basketball is more relevant than baseball, and the NHL isn't even in the conversation.

[Rock Chalk]

Stern.

Bettman isnt the commish of a good sport so doesnt count.

I mean, the fixed ref thing, people dont realize, if this is a big issue, like multiple refs, this can ruin the sport permanently. The NBA will NEVER recover.

Even as an isolated event, now the doubt will be forever in our conscious. Already allegations had occured of fixing games in the NBA, now they are going to rise and its never going to end.

[epicSocialism4tw]

Is the 2006 NBA Finals the worst, because your favorite team happened to lose that one?

After watching the way that the officiating changed throughout the course of the series to the benefit of the Miami Heat, my suspicions were confirmed. Anyone who watched all 6 games of that series should have been able to draw that conclusion.

...and of course its the worst example. It's the freakin' CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES. A fix in a championship round would be setting a new precedent for depravity since the Sox fix.

[Taco John]

Goodell has it on easy street compared to Stern.

[epicSocialism4tw]

I dont think that Selig has much of a problem.

Everyone has already made up their minds about Bonds. We all know that he's a cheater. You either rationalize his cheating away, or you dont.

Bonds' "record" will always be tainted. It isnt a true accomplishment.

We'll all forget about that guy when ARod passes him up anyway.

[vancejohnson82]

hockey is on the verge of being extinct

[Jason in LA]

hockey is on the verge of being extinct


That's why I voted for Bettman.

[gunns]

Stern, as point shaving is the all time low and it goes right back to his office and effects the whole league. Then to say this is an isolated incident tells me that he's still not dealing with reality. How does he know? He didn't even know this guy was doing this, just handing out fines for speaking about the refs.

[Northman]

NFL- Goodell will actually make it better by cracking down on seedy players who run rampant and give the game a bad name.

NHL- Bettman cant do anything to fix this, it is what it is. Just too much competition and it will always play last fiddle to the big 3.

MLB- Baseball will survive but will never regain its dominance especially after Bonds breaks the record. Selig turned his head when he shouldnt have and now has to live with those consequences.

NBA- To me, Stern has the biggest issue. Having a corrupt official (officials) will decimate a league. Fans were already getting fed up with a lot of the nonsense that exists in the NBA and now will not trust the outcomes of games for a VERY long time. The fact that Stern has been cocky and arrogant about his boyz doesnt help his cause either. Stern better pray that it was only one ref who was corrupt otherwise the NBA will fall apart a lot worse.

[Bladerunner]

I voted Bettman...I was going to pick Stern, but at least the NBA a) makes money, b) has a solid fan base, and c) can be seen on TV in most of America.

The NHL is absolutely reeling from the strike. Their fan base is tiny and they have no exposure to get better by. Their life-blood teams aren't at the top of the heap anymore (look at the last two Stnaley Cups).

Crosby and Ovechkin are the only things going for it right now.

The NBA is the most primed for a fall from grace, but the NHL is in more dire straits.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Stern...it's a no-brainer. All you have to remember is this; 88 years later people still talk about the Chicago Black Sox scandal. Once your sport gets tainted with mob money conections to organized gambling, you're never going to be without that cloud of suspicion hanging over you. The NHL hasn't been a money maker in years but they still survive. People will forget Vick and even Bonds to some extent...but corruption by officials? That's the stake through the heart. Every time you see a questionable call or a game decided by a last second game changing whistle, you'll wonder if it was legit or if somebody got paid.

[theAPAOps5]

I agree with footsteps its not one of those things that is important for its immediate future. This is something that will talked about for generations like the Black Sox.

[24champ]

hockey is on the verge of being extinct

really? Then why did the NHL raise it's salary cap if it is on the verge of extinction. Seems to me if it were in serious trouble then it would have lowered the cap because the league revenue was coming up short. Marketing is the NHL's problem.

[Bronco LB 59]

Baseball used to be America's Game. Now, the steroids deal and other factors make baseball look like a second-rate sport. Selig has the biggest headache because he needs to figure out how to get baseball back to the lofty position it once held in the eyes of America.

Selig is baseball's problem. Spineless weasel.

The day Selig leaves = better day for baseball

[Hotrod]

Does any of this mean that the mob hates the Nuggets???

[footstepsfrom#27]

Does any of this mean that the mob hates the Nuggets???
God hates the Nuggets.

[24champ]

Selig is baseball's problem. Spineless weasel.

The day Selig leaves = better day for baseball

The day Bettman leaves the NHL, the NHL will have a better future.

[TheDave]

God hates the Nuggets.

QFT

[MechanicalBull]

I'll say Bettman because that sport is pretty much on its last legs.

Football has just a few bad apples in the bunch but Goodell is throwing down the hammer on them and it is happening off the field. For every Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, Michael Vick, and Bengals Roster there are Rod Smith, Champ Bailey, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, LT, and so on.

Fans don't like knowing baseball players are on the juice but fans also love to see the long ball so I look at it like the fans care but they also don't care.

Stern has a decent size problem at hand but I don't think it's going to affect the league like many in the media are making it out to be. The bigger problem might be the constant decline in ratings and not that many people watching.

[epicSocialism4tw]

I think that Stern's problems are only going to get worse.

Even if the FBI only uproots a single conspirator, the nature of the officiating system will be put on display. From what I've read, the officiating system is set up to influence from Stern himself. It looks worse by the minute.

[24champ]

While I was out
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
July 25, 2007

Dan Wetzel
Yahoo! Sports

Considering little of sporting importance is supposed to happen in July, it is a great month for a vacation, which is why I took one.

Only this turned out to be a July like no other. Indictments, drugs and humiliated commissioners – and we aren't even talking about Barry Bonds. Hell, Barry looks like an angel compared to Michael Vick and Tim Donaghy, and that's just the start of the list.

And so, here's a few quick hits of the month that passed. With so much foolishness, maybe all of sports should consider some time off.

• The irony of the NBA's crooked ref scandal is that the league's critics have been bashing it for years in part because its players are too bold, too brash and, let's face it, too black for some people's comfort.

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And then it's the clean-cut white guy who ruins the whole thing.

• There's no excuse for dog fighting, but why doesn't everyone get even remotely as outraged about all the pro athletes who simply beat on women? That's practically an every week crime.

• I all but gave up on cycling a while ago – great sport, bad cheats – but how does anyone remain a fan when UCI president Pat McQuaid said the following about suspected doper and current Tour de Farce leader Michael Rasmussen: "It would be better if somebody else were to win. The last thing this sport needs is more speculation about doping."

• And why was anyone surprised by Gary Player's claim that some PGA pros are on the juice, too? People cheat in every walk of life – religion, charity, government, marriage. Why would golfers tempted by millions of dollars be the only honest group out there?

• I admit to watching one segment of "Who's Now?," the SportsCenter series so ridiculously bad it makes allowing Chris Berman to continue to ruin the home run derby seem reasonable.

Matt Leinart was up against Tiger Woods (I think) and, I swear, one of Leinart's attributes was that he may have hooked up with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. This was cited as a positive (and I don't mean on a herpes test). And Mike Wilbon went along with it. I saw this happen. Really.

• I am less interested in seeing how David Stern, Roger Goodell and Bud Selig deal with their assorted controversies as I am in how Dana White of the UFC deals with his.

The July 7 UFC 73 special was probably the best card in its history but was marred by the fact that both fighters in the lightweight championship bout – Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca – failed drug tests. Yes, both. If Franca had just gotten beaten up clean, he could claim the title. Instead he cheated and got manhandled anyway.

White needs to lower the hammer on these two and anyone else who violates steroid rules. The sport still is in too tenuous a position to do a Selig soft-step.

Sherk's offense is particularly egregious because almost his whole game is based on superior strength on the mat and hyper-endurance that wears opponents into a pulp.

Sherk even had the audacity to film a half-hour Spike TV special leading up to the fight, in which he worked out like a maniac, ate horrible-tasting food and popped about 500 pills right on camera. Sherk was a personal favorite because he reminded me of me, if only I were in incredible physical condition and actually were tough. That said, he needs to be hit hard here. The UFC has to be as vigilant as possible.

I have faith in White. He's too shrewd not to realize his sport's credibility is at stake. And he's way too tough to care about any backlash. He also has been open to significant oversight of the sport. Rather than lash out at Sen. John McCain's famed assessment that MMA was "human cockfighting," he embraced it and worked to create the regulation that made it legit.

But this will be a big test for a guy who has pushed his league to immense popularity and as a result has a lot more people watching his actions.

• The UFC stuff would have been a great drama to follow on ESPN, but, understandably, they were busy with real sports like Leinart's ValtrexNow? competition.

Look, based on his baby momma's comments, we know he isn't going to be father of the year.

• Then there is the poor NHL, which can't even get a good scandal going.

• Before I left I recommended some summer reading books and generated a lot of emails. Just to note, all but Dan Jenkins 1970 epic "Saturday's America" were new releases. The list wasn't meant to be a comment on the greatest sports books of all time.

As for this vacation, I read a lot of non-sports books but did squeeze in two enjoyable ones on college football. First is Clay Travis' "Dixieland Delight Tour," which promises to be so popular down South it might replace the Bible in select SEC motel rooms.

In riotous fashion, Travis visited all 12 SEC football stadiums last fall and lived to write about the debauchery, drinking and diabolical life of a die-hard college football fan. Pretty much anyone will love this thing, but if you have even a remote interest in the SEC, this essentially is your new handbook on life.

Meanwhile, SI.com writer Stewart Mandel took a more journalistic look at the wildness that is the current state of college football in "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls." The book is only slightly more serious because both the beauty and the beast of college football is that it's an entertainingly disorganized pursuit, something Mandel has covered for years.

Both books are enough to make you thankful college football begins soon. We really need the return of a pure and honest sporting diversion that never suffers from cheating, referee controversies, reckless profiteering, political corruption, poor leadership, grade fixing, hundred-dollar handshakes, stripper recruiting parties or, of course, gastric bypass malpractice suits.

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_ylt=AkUR3SIGao6l1kT9OeQwS385nYcB?slug=dw-vacation072507&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[Bronco_Beerslug]

It's certainly not what it used to be, but I'd say that the only sports that are more popular are pro and college football. An argument could be made for college basketball because of the NCAA tournament. Basketball is more relevant than baseball, and the NHL isn't even in the conversation.You think so? I'd much rather watch the baseball playoffs and world series than anything in the NBA.

[Orange_Beard]

Haveing the refs on the take is the WORST............

[Arkansas Bronco]

I had to go with Selig. Stern has a big one for now but this is an isolated case where Selig has the whole bonds watch and the steroid issue.

[OrangeShadow]

stern hands down,no questions. Selig has made a decision and his situation will pass as soon as bonds breaks the record. Goodell has handled it as best he can to this point and cant do a whole lot until the FBI is done investigating.
As far as stern, a referee compromising the game easily is the biggest problem and will take the longest time to resolve.

[elsid13]

It Stern. the interagory of his sport has been questioned big time.

[MechanicalBull]

You think so? I'd much rather watch the baseball playoffs and world series than anything in the NBA.

I'd rather watch the Royals vs the Devil Rays then the nba finals.

[Maximus]

Hockey has a commissioner ???

[Maximus]

I think that betting is the worst thing to happen recently... however, Goodell is in the worst position. He has established a policy that could possibly result in numerous players being suspended at any given time for a myriad of reasons. While I agree with the idea... administration of fairness will continue to be a problem...

One solution to the Betting problem is to pay refs a few million a year.

[BroncoMatt]

The NBA has been fixed forever. The behind closed doors lottery is a joke. Now having a ref popped by the feds further diminishes the credibility of the league.

[vancejohnson82]

24champbailey:

The NHL finals in its decisiive game (forget even what game it was) ended up being the 4th highest rated program on that night

On the Saturday it was on it barely cracked the top 10....a golf tournament that Tiger didn't even play in ended up having 400,000 more viewers


hockey ratings and attendance are a joke....if that's not a sign of extinction i don't know what is.....are you from Canada??

[24champ]

24champbailey:

The NHL finals in its decisiive game (forget even what game it was) ended up being the 4th highest rated program on that night

On the Saturday it was on it barely cracked the top 10....a golf tournament that Tiger didn't even play in ended up having 400,000 more viewers


hockey ratings and attendance are a joke....if that's not a sign of extinction i don't know what is.....are you from Canada??


I think I know where Hockey is right now since I have followed it since I was born. I guess you missed my post about how MARKETING is the NHL's problem and how Bettman made a mistake signing a deal with OLN/now VERSUS. The number of household VERSUS reaches is not many, I don't have the exact numbers. Either way it was not a good way to make the game available to fans, even if VERSUS offered a lot of money for the TV rights. The main problem is Bettman, this is a guy that got booed at the NHL Draft in Columbus by NHL fans from all over. He just recently blocked a move a team to Hamilton, Canada. This city (which is near Toronto) has a lot of hockey diehards that already were lining up and paying for season tickets despite the fact there was no official move from Nashville. The NHL needs a new Commish that understands that it has the most young stars coming up than probably any other league, and market them. It's not even close to being extinct, league revenues are up.

And no I am not from Canada.:spit:

[SoCalBronco]

24champbailey:

The NHL finals in its decisiive game (forget even what game it was) ended up being the 4th highest rated program on that night

On the Saturday it was on it barely cracked the top 10....a golf tournament that Tiger didn't even play in ended up having 400,000 more viewers


hockey ratings and attendance are a joke....if that's not a sign of extinction i don't know what is.....are you from Canada??

I think 24 is right here. It is far from extinction. Wow...the ratings for Game 5 werent that high? Anaheim-Ottawa is not that sexy of a matchup, its not exactly a matchup conducive to a ratings bonanza..Anaheim isnt even a hockey town. And the series was already over by Game 5, it was 3-1, everyone knew what the outcome would be. If its a Game 7, you might have a point but you dont.

Hockey is simply marketed poorly. Versus does not have the proper exposure. Now the NHL was put in a bind, they could accept ESPN's lowball offer or Versus's much better offer....its obvious which they chose. All ESPN had to do was make a decent offer. Hockey has, IMO, the best and most promising young stars of any of the four major sports. Crosby, Ovechkin, Phaneuf, etc. It is a very exciting time in the league, you have some really awesome young talents and also a generational talent, maybe more than one. Even with poor marketting, revenues are still going up, the cap is rising each year (its tied to revenues) at a fairly healthy rate.