Eagles Notes

by JasonB on Mar 10, 2008 3:06 PM EDT in Philadelphia Eagles News

Hank "The Professor" Baskett

I just had to laugh at this story. Now former Eagles owner Norman Braman is screwing up sports franchises he doesn't even own.

Norman Braman, a former owner of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, opposes a giant US$3-billion public works deal that includes a long-sought stadium for baseball's Florida Marlins.

Braman is suing to stop Miami's so-called "global agreement" in its tracks, contending it was illegally hatched in secret and improperly uses money intended to cure urban blight and help poor people. Braman wants voters to decide projects of such magnitude, rather than politicians.

"Taxpayers in this town have been ripped off constantly over the years," Braman said in a recent interview in his downtown Miami office. "It's time that as citizens of this community that we say enough is enough - that we're not going to put up with this any more."

[editor's note, by JasonB] FYI, I'm no fan of public funding for stadiums. So while I enjoy taking shots at Braman, I have to agree with him here. The Marlins should be paying for their own stadium.

Hank Baskett's new nickname is... The Professor.

Philadelphia Eagles receiver Hank Baskett hopes to provide Clovis Community College students with insight into the culture of sports from the athlete's perspective.

Baskett will teach an eight-week online course on sociology of sport, starting March 14. The school is located in his hometown.

Sociology chairwoman Ruthie Hefner said students have complained the department lacks electives. With Baskett in town during the NFL offseason, she asked if he was interested in teaching.

"We thought it would be a great opportunity for the public to see it from a personal perspective," Hefner said.

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Sociology of Sport?

What does that mean? Is that like: what are the long term psychological effects of losing playing time?

by ajay on Mar 10, 2008 4:20 PM EDT reply actions

Sounds pretty general...

From the article

"The online course will cover a range of topics on the culture of sports and its effect on society, including sports and business, sports and violence, the role of parents and the role of the African-American athlete."

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by JasonB on Mar 10, 2008 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Sociology is...

the study of a group of people. therefor sociology of sports would be the study of athletes and how they act as a group together and in different situations. so most liklys some topics would be anything that happendin the offseasons. contracts trades team and player loyalty and then stuff like drug testing drugs steroids and hgh. it would actualy be an interesting class to take.

by NickPampani on Mar 10, 2008 10:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah...

I was just making a joke.

by ajay on Mar 10, 2008 11:28 PM EDT up reply actions

This is Bramans M.O.

In 1982, he rallied to stop the renovation of the Orange Bowl for Dolphins owner Joe Robbie. In 1999, he helped defeat then-County Mayor Alex Penelas' campaign for a one-cent sales tax that would have cost taxpayers billions of dollars for mass transit.

As for The Professor I saw him do a tour of the Hoover Damn and I felt my IQ dropping as he continued to speak so thankfully it is only an 8-week class and an online class so I doubt he will be doing much teaching. Still nice to see the effort Hank, maybe this will keep you out of binge drinking in West Chester so you can actually produce this year.

by Whodie126 on Mar 10, 2008 6:03 PM EDT reply actions

Nothing wrong with what Bramans is doing

He's perfectly within his rights to attempt to stop this kind of project. What's wrong with not wanting taxpayers to fund stadiums without at least voting for it first? Another big question to consider is why are the Marlins so dead set against private financing? I'll tell you why, because the credit market has dried up.

So now the Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, notorious for fire selling his roster every few years, demands a brand new stadium on the city's dime. Screw him.

Nobody down there gives a sh*t about the Marlins anyway -- they were DEAD LAST in attendance in the past two seasons. I'd love to see Loria attempt to make good on his threat to move the team. Where the hell does he think he can move to, anyway? Who else besides Miami is going to bow to the demands of an owner who consistently trades away every star player on the team?

I totally support Bramans' actions, and contend that the only person who's "screwing up" the Marlins franchise is their crappy owner.

by rhy on Mar 11, 2008 8:31 AM EDT reply actions