Please Don't Stare At The Disabled Olympians

As if Olympics organizers didn't have enough problems with the Tibetan protests and air pollution and such. It appears that someone didn't thoroughly proofread the volunteer guide to make sure that it didn't contain anything offensive. Instead, it left the printer with some colorful remarks regarding disabled athletes and spectators. Things like:

A section dedicated to the disabled said that "paralympic athletes and disabled spectators are a special group. They have unique personalities and ways of thinking."

And:

To handle the "Optically Disabled," the guide said: "Often the optically disabled are introverted. They have deep and implicit feelings and seldom show strong emotions. ... Remember, when you communicate with optically disabled people, try not to use the world 'blind' when you meet for the first time."

And:

On the "Physically Disabled," the guide said: "Physically disabled people are often mentally healthy. They show no differences in sensation, reaction, memorization and thinking mechanisms from other people, but they might have unusual personalities because of disfigurement and disability.

"For example, some physically disabled are isolated, unsocial and introspective; they usually do not volunteer to contact people. They can be stubborn and controlling; they may be sensitive and struggle with trust issues. Sometimes they are overly protective of themselves, especially when they are called 'crippled' or 'paralyzed.'"

And of course, wonderful advice about how not to joke with the disabled athletes:

The guide said volunteers should "not fuss or show unusual curiosity, and never stare at their disfigurement." It also advised volunteer to steer away from words like "cripple or lame, even if you are just joking."

Ah, the Olympics in Beijing. Who knew they would be so screwed up, yet entertaining.

Welcome Back Ricky Ganja, Please Don't Screw My Fantasy Team

As you may have heard, Ricky Williams has been reinstated by the NFL. Up to this point, Dolphins Coach Cam Cameron has not made any statements regarding what the organization plans to do with Williams. They have a two week roster exemption from the time he begins practicing, and the earliest that he could play in a game would be the Monday nighter against Pittsburgh. As a Dolphins fan, and fantasy football participant, I'm torn as to whether I want to see him on the field at all this season.

Right now, the Dolphins are 0-9, and in line to get the #1 pick in the 2008 NFL draft. There are no chances of making the playoffs, and with how awful the team has been this year they need all the help they can get via the draft and free agency. Yes, their star running back, Ronnie Brown, had his season ended early by a torn ACL. And while it would be nice to see what Williams has "left in the tank", backup running back Jesse Chatman has shown that he's capable of running the ball quite well. In case you haven't noticed, this is where my fantasy football angle comes into play.

You see, I needed running back help bad on one of my fantasy teams. It's in a league that I won back-to-back a few years ago, but failed to make the playoffs last year. This season I'm poised to return to the playoffs, and was counting on Chatman to contribute in some form or fashion. With Williams returning to the Dolphins that's now in jeopardy, and since it's the Dolphins, and they've screwed most everything else up over the past few years(cough*Ted Ginn*cough), I'm pretty sure they'll do the same in this situation. I've pretty much prepared myself for Miami to play Williams, for him to steal some TD's from Chatman, for Miami to win some games and for them to lose the #1 pick. It's ok though, I'm a Dolphins fan so I'm used to being disappointed.

The Orlando Magic Pull A Vanishing Act

Usually, a sports franchise is always trying to find new ways to build its fanbase. Whether it's hiring popular coaches(whoops!), signing valuable(riiight...) free agents or playing exhibition games overseas, maximizing your team's visibility and popularity is vital for its longterm success. Which is what makes this Orlando Magic TV so odd.

This summer, the Magic sold the rights to 35 of their games, including 14 of the first 18, to Fox Sports Network/Florida, even though the channel is not offered by Central Florida's largest cable provider, Bright House Networks. Tonight's game is one of the 42 that will be available to Bright House customers on Sun Sports.

Awesome! So, you want to maximize your fanbase, but end up selling the TV rights to almost half of them to a network that many fans, and potential fans, don't receive. And exactly how did this happen?

FSN/Florida has been trying to crack Bright House's local lineup for years and figured snagging the Magic games would mean a spot on Bright House. The Magic assumed that the two sides would be able to reach a deal. But so far, Bright House and FSN/Florida have not come to terms. The biggest hurdle has been the placement of FSN/Florida in Bright House's offerings. FSN/Florida wants its channel included in Bright House's expanded basic cable package while Bright House thinks it belongs in its digital package, which is about $8 more per month.

So, basically the Magic sold their rights without too much consideration as to who would actually be able to view the games if the present structure stayed intact(which it has). And approximately how many viewers are being left in the dark?

Chris Fenger, the president of Bright House Network's Central Florida division, said the Magic created the situation by choosing to air the games on a station they knew wasn't available to 850,000 customers.

Obviously, not all 850k of those customers are Magic fans, but there is probably a decent amount within that segment. I'm sure that whatever the number is they're all thrilled that their favorite NBA team recklessly sold the TV rights and screwed them in the process. With this TV deal in place it's almost as if the Magic have swapped out the N and A for an M and L.

I Hate To Say It Rockies' Fans But "I Told Ya So"

Last Thursday, I wrote about how the Rockies' decision to only sell World Series tickets online might not turn out to be the best idea. In fact, what I said was:

The other problem would be if the ticket servers crashed during what will probably be a huge traffic jam of sales. It wouldn't be the first time that something like that has occured during online ticket sales for a sporting event. Just ask Pittsburgh Panthers' fans about their '03 ticket fiasco. And that was for Panthers basketball tickets. This is for tickets for the Rockies, the hottest team in baseball right now, first World Series appearance.

Good luck Rockies' fans, I have a feeling you might need it.

Guess what? The online ticketing system crashed, and sales have been suspended.

The Colorado Rockies suspended World Series ticket sales Monday after overwhelming demand crashed their computer system.

"Right now we're shutting the system down," club spokesman Jay Alves announced outside Coors Field, drawing boos from fans. "We expect to be online at some point."

"We're as frustrated and disappointed as they are," Alves said.

Alves had said last week that the Rockies were prepared for any computer problems.

On Monday, there were 8.5 million attempts to connect with the computers in the first 90 minutes after sales started, he said, and only several hundred tickets had been sold before the system had to be shut down.

The Rockies put as many as 60,000 tickets up for sale online only, and team officials said their computers were ready to handle the expected crush. But two hours after tickets went on sale, many fans reported they could not get access to the ticket-sales Web site.

Officials with the Rockies and Major League Baseball did not immediately return calls.

Irvine, Calif.-based Paciolan Inc., which is running the computers for the Rockies' World Series ticket sales, said the crash affected the company's entire North American system.

To add to it, because tickets were only available online fans without internet access had to "withstand near-freezing temperatures outside the Denver Public Library" as they waited for it to open so they could use the public access computers.

Sounds like that decision worked out great! They must have consulted with the same guy who thought that DirecTV plan wouldn't piss off anyone.

Major League Baseball Sure Does Enjoy Screwing Its Consumers

I don't know how it has evolved to this, but "America's Pastime" has become more like "Screwing America Is Our Pastime".

In recent times, Major League Baseball has endured asteriks and andro, a weird DirecTV/MLB Channel liason and now it's like they're punishing fans of the Colorado Rockies that don't use the Internet.

The Colorado Rockies have changed their plans for selling World Series tickets, switching to online purchases only.

The team announced the new plan on Wednesday.

Tickets were to go on sale at Coors Field and Rockies' Dugout Stores in the Denver area on Monday using a lottery system for in-person transactions, as well as online.

Instead, all sales will be online, starting at 10 a.m. Monday.

Sure, Al Gore would really appreciate it if everyone used his invention, but according to the annual National Technology Scan survey "29% or 31 million homes in the United States have no Internet and those residents don’t intend to subscribe to any access for the next year. In addition, 44% of households aren’t interested in any Internet content".

I'm not sure how many of those 31 million without Internet access are Rockies' fans, but there has to be a few. And if they don't have access at work, then Major League Baseball has just put them in a difficult position.

The other problem would be if the ticket servers crashed during what will probably be a huge traffic jam of sales. It wouldn't be the first time that something like that has occured during online ticket sales for a sporting event. Just ask Pittsburgh Panthers' fans about their '03 ticket fiasco. And that was for Panthers basketball tickets. This is for tickets for the Rockies, the hottest team in baseball right now, first World Series appearance.

Good luck Rockies' fans, I have a feeling you might need it.