I Seem to Have Fallen and Lost My Match

Timing can be everything. You in sports, you there are so many times you are waiting for that exact moment. For that right ball to drive, that opening in the defense to run, that opening in the swing to capitalize on. It's no different in sports journalism, especially if you want something to have impact. Some of things are important, if you wait for the wrong time, it can be buried. So when tennis started off the year with one of their first big events, the Australian Open, the BBC decided to release a report they had been working on regarding match-fixing in the world of tennis, and how parts of it had been overlooked by the Association of Tennis Professionals, who had requested the original inquest about ten years back.

BBC News-Tennis match fixing: Evidence of suspected match-fixing revealed

Now right now, they're not the only organization grappling with this. Sri Lanka Cricket had suspended the Sri Lankan bowling coach for alleged match-fixing bid. This is not the only recent issue that cricket has had with match-fixing, as an investigation is under way by Cricket South Africa regarding the possibility of match-fixing surrounding player Gulam Bodi in the recent South Africa T20 cricket tournament, the Ram-Slam T20. The problem seems to be even worse when you look at the fact that ESPN's cricket only website, espncricinfo.com, has its own section solely dedicated to the subject of "Corruption in Cricket."

Cric Buzz-Sri Lanka's Bowling Coach Suspended Over Alleged Fixing Bid
ESPN CricInfo-Former SA cricketer Bodi charged under CSA's anti-corruption code
ESPN CricInfo-In Focus: Corrruption in Cricket

Baseball has probably fended off many potential problems with the way they've overbearingly treated those accused in the Black Sox scandal, as well as Pete Rose, basically leaving Hall of Fame quality players outside the fence.

Baseball's most recent non-HGH/steroid related game fixing related discussions have mostly come out of the Asian baseball organizations. In Taiwan, the Chinese Professional Baseball League or CPBL nearly saw its death with the scandals surrounding players and teams in terms of game-fixing. 

Wikipedia-Corruption in the Chinese Professional Baseball League

One of those players, Chin Hui Tsao, has mysteriously only been able to play baseball in the MLB, signing a minor league deal with the Dodgers after previously having been released from an Australian league team per the request of the CPBL's ban notice (they expressed their disappointment with the signing by the Dodgers).

Likewise gambling is (apparently) illegal not just on Korean soil, but also abroad, and has recently resulted in the extended suspensions of these two Korean players, with hefty fines. One of which will be pitching for the Cardinals this year. Now it's not like they were betting on games, they were just gambling in another country. But the point being is the followup and taking these matters seriously. 

Yahoo! Sports-Korean Pitchers Suspended for Overseas Gambling

Even more recently, the brother of Rangers' ace Yu Darvish was arrested in Japan for running of a gambling ring. Sho Darvish, arrested in October, is subject now to investigation of any involvement with regards to MLB. While initial reports from the majority of sources noted the investigation was to clear Yu Darvish of any invovlement, Yu has made his own statements, as have the MLB, that the investigation soley is focused on Sho Darvish.

Japan Times-MLB confirms probe in Darvish gambling case
Texas Star-Telegram-MLB not investigating Rangers’ Yu Darvish for gambling

Just as the ATP has denied any wrong-doing, with the BBC report stating, 

"Chris Kermode, who heads the Association of Tennis Professionals, rejected claims evidence of match-fixing had 'been suppressed for any reason or isn't being thoroughly investigated.'" 

These statements are always hard to take seriously, as you don't expect an organization or individual to just hold up their hands and say, "you got me." The ATP and ICC need to take these matters very seriously, it's still coming through the cracks because there haven't been results in a way we can see. When you have years between accusations and the resulting fines and suspensions, you might as well not done anything. No one's paying attention still. And so if tennis doesn't look these accusations and address them properly, they only risk their continuance.

The Best Lacrosse Game of 2016

At least so far. It helps that it's the only one so far. For lacrosse fans, the NLL season means its finally time for box lacrosse. A game where we come off the field, into the arenas, where we have a smaller confine, faster pace, and yet, a more padded netkeeper. Now, aside from my eccentric taste in sports, most people would probably say a guy from Mississippi and even now living in Texas doesn't seem to be the type to follow lacrosse. And you're right, I'm fairly alone in that, though there are plenty of players and some fans scattered throughout both areas. My interest started along with when I'd watch whatever came on ESPN2 at 2am. Which once a week would be an MLL game. I loved the pace, and the challenge to the players. I stayed a bit away from the NLL at first, but after missing the 2014 MLL season, I caught the 2015 NLL season instead. And I was hooked. In fact, I found myself kind of bored with field lacrosse after that. It wasn't the same. Boxla was my favorite now.

So I was definitely eager to tune in on New Year's Day to the first game of the 2016 NLL opener between the Colorado Mammoth and the Georgia Swarm. Both the Mammoth and the Swarm I had not been terribly impressed with before in the few games I saw them in, but aside from it just being the opener I've always really liked the Mammoths' logo and with the very interested move into Georgia from Minnesota for the Swarm, I thought this could produce an interesting result.

I came in right after the first goal of the 3rd quarter. Yeah, a bit late to the game, but I was putting my kids to bed, and family always comes first spartsfans. So at the time the Swarm were down by 2 to the Mammoth. It was hard to tell how this had happened, the Mammoth looked very sloppy in their passing, in a few instances the ball finding no one and richocheting around the edges of the arena. Whereas the Swarm looked very tight in their approach and not making lose shots on net that had no chance in the first place. One player stood out to me in particular with the Georgia Swarm, and that's Onandagan Lyle Thompson, who scored 3 goals in the second half of the game.

The Swarm used their efficiency to  maintain a back and forth with the Mammoth, getting to within one goal, then a tie, the lead, a tie, and so on. It made for a far more entertaining game than I ever expected. The game literally came down to the last seconds, which is what you always hope for in a great game. John Grant, Jr scored Colorado's last goal, putting them in a winning position with 45 seconds left to go. The Swarm made every attempt to not only reclaim possession and get on the offense, but to try and find some way to score and tie everything up. However, the opening wasn't there. In the end, a ball that would never find the net was saved by netkeeper Alex Buque to end the game. Regardless, both teams looked much better than I expected, and it should fair for a good season.

This game was hosted on Fox Sports Go, which I was apprehensive about, since Fox Sports has a tendency to get broadcast rights and then do nothing with them or bury them on some exclusive channel. However, like with the Women's World Cup, I was rather impressed, and I didn't even have to log in to anything on my Amazon Fire stick to be able to watch the game on their app. It was nice to see the players faces as I often find myself pulling up a radio broadcast or perhaps something on my phone. Hopefully we see a consistent product in broadcasting from both them and those running the WatchESPN side of the broadcasts, which will handle a weekly Saturday broadcast each week. 

In the meantime, rejoice boxla fans, the NLL is back! And if you're not a fan? Come join us! You might be surprised at how much fun you're having.