Thursday, September 29, 2005

Using "Ball" as a Bridge...

Proving the world is flat, and more importantly, here's for people in the world doing good...Especially, when it comes to ball...

Kenny Blakeney, who is an Assistant Coach at the University of Delaware, is helping bridge the gap between Africa and the U.S. with his part in SEEDS, Sports for Education and Economic Development in Senegal along with Amadou Gallo Fall, a native of Senegal who is director of scouting for the Dallas Mavericks.

Check it out here...The SEEDS program has won a $350K grant to implement the program, and it will utilize the coaching clinics, internships, and training programs upon Sengalese student athletes.

Through the NBA's international basketball instruction and community relations outreach program, SEEDS, developed by Matthew J. Robinson, associate professor of sport management and program director of UD’s International Basketball Initiative, and David Barlow, associate professor of health, nutrition and exercise sciences, who implemented a similar program with Turkey has developed an international exchange program between basketball coaching staffs in Senegal and the University of Delaware.

With the grant, the University of Delaware program also plans to utilize the funds in September, 2006, to help support an educational sports exchange program that will bring six coaches from Senegal to the United States in the fall to participate in a three-week program that will include sessions with UD faculty and the varsity men’s and women’s basketball staffs, visits to the NBA league office in New York, NBA games and team practices.

The trip will culminate with a coaching clinic at the University of North Carolina, where they will meet with legendary college coaches Dean Smith, Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski.

The program will consist of coaching clinics, training programs, and internships to utilize basketball as a tool to bridge cultures...That's what I'm talking about.




Photo: University of Delaware, "Blakes telling kid he's going left..."

Basketball is Flatter,
IronDog

posted by IronDog at 2:06 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Sticking fingers in the 'Icing'

Here you go followers of the Tar Heel nation...Between my lunch-hour of NPR and "Howard Cosell at Large" on ESPN Classic in the background, I caught this interview link from my man, Frank Heath, and I thought about throwing a few words around..

My words today stem from a good exchange between A.J. Carr of the Raleigh N&O and UNC Athletic Director, Dick Baddour, who usually is under heavy fire from the Tar Heel nation. Check out the interview here.

After I checked the interview out, I pulled a few questions that I thought were pertinent to subjects other than wins and losses.

Although I agree with the problems that ensue with losses and short-term dismal performances, there are a helluva lot of outstanding issues with athletics today that no one is addressing because they're not as snappy of a topic as 'Did Carolina win, and did Duke and State lose?' Please, one should look deeper when you click on firedickbaddour.com.

My feeling is look at the bigger picture...Long-term son...long-term. So, without further adieu, I put my two-cents in parenthesis after Baddour's answers.

Good job, A.J. Carr from the NandO with "NCAA Title Icing"...Way to get in there.


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Q: What are the biggest challenges you face now?

A: We need to get the football program stabilized at the highest possible level. I really believe that's going to happen with Coach [John] Bunting.

A major issue is facility renovation and how we are going to address issues in Carmichael and Boshamer for wrestling and sports medicine ... how to get the revenue and also how we can maintain the scholarship level that it has been.

(IronDog: Believe it or not, Bunting is a good choice to run this program. He knows the school, the beauracracy, the education, the Rams Club, which more or less shows he's not an outsider. That's huge at Carolina. It means he knows the school and the administration, which is incredibly bottlenecked and unique at the same time.

Note: Believe me, for those of you who would like a Steve Spurrier type figure in Chapel Hill, you would never have the same feelings for Chapel Hill again. And for those of you who are still pissy over what would have happened if Steve Spurrier would have came to UNC...It would have been the University of Steve Spurrier...

Plus, keep in mind, the athletic department can't afford a guy like that. Do the math, it can't happen. Why? Because we care about funding other sources of education such as sciences, facilities, events for students...That's good, right?

For people who really care about the university and the athletic department as a whole, Bunting is good. And I will argue with anyone who tells me that John Bunting is not one of the three best X and O head coaches in the ACC.

With Carmichael...That's a whole other ball to play with...Although funding for Olympic sports is needed immensely, (especially in terms of facilities), there is absolutely no reason why the interior of Carmichael Auditiorium needs to be renovated.

The Carmichael renovation project is a Title IX abuse gone bad. On a non-Duke game, it's tough to fill the place up. So, why does it need to be renovated?...When UNC Women's Basketball can reach or equal or the average amount of attendance and fervor than UNC Women's Soccer, then renovation should be considered.

Until then, I can't grasp how a renovated interior of Carmichael Auditorium is going to generate revenue. Especially, when you consider the last time that the place got flippy was when Vitale showed up for the first UNC Midnight Madness in '93.

Now with Boshamer...Boshamer Stadium is a renovation revenue vehicle that is dying to bloom. Tap it UNC...Tap it.

With the surroundings of dorms, hills, trees, and Carolina weather, you could have a crown jewel college baseball stadium to run NCAA tourney regionals, state high-school tournaments, and spring NCAA tournaments to generate reveune.

Lastly, in terms of sports medicine, great call...There's no excuse with the level of talent and high -level athletic performances that come through Chapel Hill year-in and year-out, why UNC Chapel Hill should not have the premier sports medicine program in the country...Yes, that would mean topping Stanford, Duke, Michigan, Cal...It's not at that level.

It's good to see that revenue will be pumped into advancing the program.

Q: How much will these projects cost?

A: If we include what we want to do in Kenan [Stadium], we are talking in excess of $30 million.

(IronDog: Believe me, $30M is needed. Especially, when you consider college athletics is really just a marketing tool veiled under academics.

Now, with Kenan...Don't let bad planning go rampant...You should have to win year in and year out to warrant more expansion...(Also, the memory of the 3/4 filled Springsteen concert should be etched into expansion funding plans.)...Let's address the issues that are needed that will benefit both men and women non-revenue sports programs first. Look at the facilities that students can utilize during off-seasons, a.k.a. Belk Track, practice facilities, natatorium improvements, and sports medicine programs as mentioned above.

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