It's simple why I am writing this column.  Once again, a singer has literally bastardized the world's musically toughest National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. This time, the culprit was a local professional singer at a Pro hockey Game that brought the crowd and even the players laughing derisively.

If you have been following many of the things I have attempted to do, one was to try and  change our National Anthem to either "America the Beautiful", or "God Bless America".  I went so far along with my associate the late, great singer Andy Williams to get together a petition with over 30,000 signatures asking to make such a change.

 The late Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill brought the petition forward, but it didn't get very far. I still, actually more than ever, feel Congress should look at the toughest and musically inept anthem of any country and give serious thought to changing it.

What many of you do not know is the fact that the Star Spangle Banner became our Anthem by act of Congress in 1931. Until then, most Americans sang, "God Save the King". I agree that since we were no longer English Colonies we needed our own Anthem.  However, we picked an English Soldiers' saloon song made popular during the war of 1812.

It probably sounded great in the Pub when the singers weren't sober.  However, in the light of day, as a vocal at sporting events it has been an abysmal bomb that has littered the musical landscape with many a great name. The challenge is too great!  The keys change too often and the range required is almost impossibly to achieve.

Memorial Day is next week! It began as a spontaneous celebration to honor military dead during the Civil War and was called Declaration Day.  In 1868, General John Logan, National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic designated May 30, 1868 as Memorial Day... flowers were placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

 In the midst of the Revolutionary war, General George Washington asked Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia upholsterer, to create a flag that symbolized our new nation and its fight for freedom. She designed a flag that had room for growth. The thirteen stripes are for the original 13 colonies that fought the British. The blue field represents the entire Union with room to add stars as new states joined the Union.  Originally there were 13 today there are 50.

George Morris of Hartford, Conn.is credited with creating a day, (June 14, 1777) to honor the adoption of the flag.

... Enough of the history lesson! The real reason for this column is to once again point out the poor lyric structure and how impossible it is to sing rhythm of the Star Spangled Banner as a solo.

With the exception of very few times,  no individual has been able to perform the Anthem without messing up the words. In fact, only three outstanding artists come immediately to mind ;  the late Whitney Houston, (Super Bowl 1991 and again in 2007), The Backstreet Boys (Super Bowl 2002) and Destiny's Child, are among the exceptions.

However, the  lists of those who have missed lyrics, couldn't hit the high notes, or in truth just couldn't handle the rythym are enormous.  Among those who failed are Cindy Lauper, Christina Aguilera, Anita baker and Michael Bolton.  Beyonce at President Obama's 2^nd inauguration had to resort to lip-syncing... afraid of a possible foul-up.

Carl Lewis, the great Olympian was once booed in the middle as he attempted to sing before a Houston Astros game.  Steven Tyler was so bad at a Fenway Park All-Star Game; his rendition was called soul deadening. Aretha Franklin had to modify the tune and the lyrics.  The comments when Rihanna sang were... "Vicious, terrible and embarrassing ".

The list goes on; Taylor Swift, Sheryl Crow, Mariah Carey all fell victim to the toughness of the song. The most embarrassing was Roseanne Barr's performance in San Diego.  So bad that the then President, George H. W. Bush, called it disgraceful.

In short, musicians will tell everyone that the Star Spangled Banner is discordant, straining to the vocal chords and tough to sing in every way.  The late Ray Charles singing at a World Series chose "America the Beautiful" to place the National Anthem.  It proved to be a goose pimple evoking , pride stirring and  brilliant musical moment... one for the ages.

Moreover, the lyrics symbolize the America we believe in.  The lyrics, penned by Francis Scott Key, in no way does that. What could be a better way to honor those who have served our country than to have an Anthem that's easy to sing and has meaning? Think about it!  

After all, growing up, I always thought the last two words were "Play Ball."

We situated ourselves at the Finish Line of Stage 4 of the Amgen Tour of California. It's hard to believe that this Finish Line located in one of America's beauty spots running parallel to the Pacific Ocean with its thundering waves, its balmy temperature of 72 degrees was less than 200 miles away from Palm Springs where just two short days ago Stage 2 was finished in 110 degree heat.

But that's California! Its landscape goes from sea level to snow-capped mountains. It goes from glutted urban development to wide-open fields growing Blueberries, Garlic, Strawberries and lettuce. It passes hospitals, institutions of higher learning, as well as prisons.

The tour goes through wine country encompassing the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. The foregoing, then, is the route that the 2013 Tour same as the previous 7 Tours traversed.  The only difference this time it started south and is going north instead of the other way around.

It started on may 12^th in the Southern California city of Escondido at 11:15 in the morning. Sixteen of the finest Pro teams in the world with 128 riders in total lined up. If there was blight on the race because of the scandals including the demise of Lance Armstrong, it was not evident.

A party atmosphere prevailed at every Stage.  Many have called the Amgen Tour, "A festival of both happiness and health". Amazingly, Kristen Bachochin, President of AEG Sports and six months pregnant, once again had organized her minions, which numbered in the thousands including both employed help and volunteers.

As she has been since the start of the Tour, Kelly Staley was alongside Kristen, making sure that everything worked like a well oiled clock... and it has.

New names have come to the forefront.  Among them, many outstanding young American Riders are showing of their skills. Tyler Farrar from Wenatchee, Washington won Stage Four. He did it in a breathtaking and exciting finish to win right at the wire. The cacophony was ear- shattering.  You could not hear the person standing right next to you... even if you tried.

At present, American Tejay van Garderen is the overall leader. His lead is precarious since there are three more stages and the talent is evenly distributed. It remains anyone's race.

Amidst all the Festivities, the increased presence of security was evident. No one could enter any of the key tented locations without first being screened and their handbags, knapsacks etc; being thoroughly searched.  Upon being cleared, whatever they were carrying    was adequately tagged.  It was similar to what happens at many Airports without the benefit of Electronics.

This truly is" America's Greatest Race" as it has been labeled. However, it is more!  It is a spectacle worth participating in. In fact, it is the embodiment of the words that make up my personal favorite American song written by Katherine Lee Bates... "America the Beautiful".

We all have sung it from time-to-time.  They are words to remember and be thankful for, especially in these turbulent times throughout the word.

"O beautiful for spacious skies, / For amber waves of grain, / For purple mountain majesties, / Above the fruited plain! God shed his grace on thee ...

If you have ever visited Boston and walked up Beacon Hill you would feel a state's support for its professional sports teams. Through victories and losses, from the balcony underneath the shiny Golden Dome of the State House proudly displayed are the banners of the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and Celtics.

Those banners have been there through snow, sleet, sunshine and rain. Massachusetts has displayed its proud heritage no matter whether the weather was good, or bad, no mind whether the teams won, or lost.

Now, they have new banners that must be displayed. This time it isn't for victories in an arena, on a field, or in a stadium. These banners deserve to be there not because of scoring more goals, or driving in the most runs.

This victory is for courage, determination and dedication that saved lives on the streets of Greater Boston... Boston, Watertown and Cambridge to be specific. It is the banner of the Law Enforcement Team,

In a sport, the goal has always been to get the most runs, touchdowns, or points. A sporting event for a time, sometimes as long as two hours, allows the fans, for a brief time, a period of enjoyment and sometimes even an escape from their daily chores.

This time, it was a team victory of a different kind. It was for the fight over terrorism and to keep the people of Massachusetts as well as the nation safe from maniacal and nonsensical attacks on human life and dignity. To fail would have been disastorous.

The combined team effort of every law enforcement agency available:  The FBI, The Massachusetts State Police, The Boston Police and many others brought to a conclusion a hard earned victory over terror and save countless lives.

It all started this past Monday when unidentified assassins placed two bombs designed to mutilate and maim among innocent bystanders enjoying the party atmosphere of a beautiful day while watching the iconic American Sports event, The Boston Marathon. The bombs succeeded in killing three including an eight year old boy and critically injuring some 150 more.  On that day, lives and the heart of a great city was shattered, but its spirit remained unbowed.

The city was terrified with no clue where to begin...where to look for the perpatraters. Never in history has a combined law enforcement team proved so adept. For over 100 hours straight, foregoing sleep and leaving no stone unturned, the team started with nothing and through methodically painstaking detection they found the two suspects, tracked them down, killing one and capturing the other.

They didn't do it alone.  They shut down an entire city and enlisted the aid of every citizen. They used modern surveillance equipment which  included night goggles and heat-seeking thermal eyes that could look everywhere. They used the social media including TV and Internet. Everyone cooperated!

Ironically, the end took place by using all this modern equipment in the town, Watertown, Massachusetts where at Perkins Institute for the Blind, Alexander Graham Bell was first credited with inventing the telephone and a deaf and blind Helen Keller learned to communicate through sign language. The team used the modern offshoots of these American creations of yesteryear.

In a ball game, you either win by making baskets, getting hits or making a goal. This, however, was a game of life, or death and the forces of good met the challenge head-on. Bringing serenity. Peace, relief and belief in the American way not only to one community, but to an entire nation.

It was a team effort...Hang the Banner high!

By doing this evil and unimaginable deed, they had no idea what they unleashed. The American Spirit is such that in times of tragedy, we rise to the occasion and become stronger than ever before.

Monday April 15, 2013 is a day, just as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, "A day that will live in infamy". From there we shouted "Remember Pearl harbor" and proceeded to give credence to that slogan by inflicting untold harm on our oppressors.

Boston is the "Cradle of Liberty". It is here that the oppressed colonists in 1776 rose up to throw off the yoke of the British tyrants. It has a long and gratifying history of defending our country's and the rights of it citizens without taking a backward step.

This is a sports column make no mistake.  But it is also a forum and an opportunity to express one's feelings. The Boston Marathon to me is not just a great race and sporting event it is part of American History and personal family participation.

As I have written before, until I was 16, I went with my father to every marathon and then to the Red Sox Home Opener. In those days, the number of runners was small, but the crowds still numbered in the hundreds of thousands.  It always has represented what is good about America. It was also a Boston without Area Codes. Today the primary Boston Area Code is "617". An Area Code that stands for the city that personifies America's pioneering spirit... "617 Strong" is a rallying cry.

In 1948, Earle Wolfe, Joel Wolfson and myself took part in this great American Pastime. That was the year that a South Korean runner named Yon Bok Suh whose entry into the race was financed by donations of U.S. soldiers serving in Korea, set the world record at the time (2:25:39). There were slightly over 150 entrants: all amateurs.  Monday, there were over 27,000.

For years, it was America's only Marathon. In 1947, the winner received as his reward an Olive Wreath to wear, symbolic of where it all began in Greece, and in New England tradition, his choice of either Dinty Moore Stew, or Clam Chowder.

Today, there are both Professional and Amateur Runners with the Professionals, men and women, reaping rewards of1000's of dollars and gifts such as cars.

It was in 1967 that Kathy Switzer entered as K.V. Switzer became the first numbered entry in the race. Ironically, Kathy was born the year of Yon Bok Suh's record run. When Jock Semple, the race director, saw a girl running, he ran up to Kathy (thinking that K.V. was a man) yelling "Get the hell out of my race". Kathy finished and five short years later, the sexist barriers were down.

Ironically, I did my Boston University Master's study at the School of Public Relations and Communication Arts, which was located at the time in the old B.A.A. Clubhouse on Exeter Street... it was also the finish line., one block from where today's is located.

Monday saw 100's injured and many maimed for life. Three young people... a 30 year old woman from Medford, MA, a bright 8 year old boy  from Dorchester, MA  and a brilliant B.U. Graduate Student from China will never realize their potential.

This column is far from political, but as President Obama so correctly stated, "As Americans we must go forward and we shall punish those who heaped this sorrow on us. God Bless America".

I have been to a great number of events over my lifetime. I was personally involved in many of them.  Along the way, I collected some personal memorabilia from my involvement in the Ali Fights, the NFL, the NBA, the WFL and Knievel's attempted jump of the Snake River Canyon to mention a few.

Like many American kids growing up, I collected Baseball Cards. In fact, after chewing my Bubble Gum, I would immediately unwrap the balance in order to see which player's visage I had.

If I had doubles of even triples, I would be negotiating trades with Arnie, Earle and sometimes Buddy.  In such a way, I thought I had built up quite a collection.  I thought it was pretty good.  Years later, my grandson Sam followed in my footsteps. Then last Saturday; I met Gary Cypres at the museum.

At the very least, I was blown away by the exhibit and that is a vast understatement.

You see, Gary has placed some of his 10,000 plus collectibles under the roof of a single 30,000 square foot building.  Located in downtown Los Angeles, It is aptly called the Los Angeles Sports Museum. He designed the building specifically for the purpose of housing and showcasing the collection in a dramatic fashion.

If you haven't heard of the museum to date, it is because like the man whose collection it houses, up to now, it is not open to the public for commercial recognition, or personal gain. At present you can only go there by invitation. Gary, however, makes it available to worthy philanthropies for fund raisers.

Thanks to P.R. Michael Saltzman, my son-in-law Danny and I were invited to visit the Museum. As a sports fan, I can honestly tell you it was a "once-in-lifetime" experience.  Let's look at what it entails... First a personal disclaimer:  my description can in no way do the museum justice. It is that overwhelming.  

There is much to see. You are bombarded going from one precious artifact to another. It is the largest and broadest known iconic sports memorabilia collection in the world. A Los Angeles businessman, Gary assembled his collection over a 25 year period.

The collection valued in the millions includes: Babe Ruth's 1934 Uniform, Joe DiMaggio's record-breaking ball from is legendary 56 game hitting streak, the original corner stone from Yankee Stadium in 1923, an ultra valuable Honus Wagner displayed under glass in a room whose wall are filled with uncounted other cards.

There's a room dedicated to the History of the Ball... another to the evolution of the ball and the glove. There is an entire room dedicated to the Negro Leagues, Josh Gibson, and to Jackie Robinson.

There are display tables on which stand to scale some of Baseball's Cathedrals... Fenway Park, Ebbets Field, Braves Field (Boston) and others.

The museum features a digitized old film that shows Robinson stealing Home Plate against the Yankees to win the World Series. Yogi always claimed he was out. This film answers the question.

On display are exact gold replicas of all World Series Trophies through 2007. That was the last year that A.G. Balfour Jewelers had the MLB contract.  Gary bought their entire inventory.

I am only allowed 500 words and I have barely touché the surface. Maybe one day, Mr. Cypres will open it to the public... I hope so.

On a somber note, as an American and a Bostonian, I stand shocked by the callous and horrific deed at yesterday's Boston Marathon. From the age of 5 until I was 16, I went with my dad to very BAA Marathon. It was out family tradition.

 I look to Sports to help heal and bind the wounds that were dastardly perpetrated on an unsuspecting populace. Pray for the victims and their families, pray for us and above all, God Bless America.

Like most communicators, be they  reporters, authors, or broadcasters who seek to constantly improve their art, I welcome criticism. When it's favorable it proves most enjoyable.  However, when it's constructive, it is also always welcome. Criticism deserves airing and debate.

That is why I have chosen to answer many readers who have had a different viewpoint from me on the subject of athletes who leave college after one scholarship year. Let me make myself absolutely clear.

I am not opposed to players trying their hand at a chosen profession even before their class is graduated. I oppose them taken advantage of a scholarship system that allows the opportunity  to do this while taking away space from someone who may eventually, because of  a much needed scholarship,  be the person who cures cancer or is the next aeronautical engineer that leads us to new space horizons.

It is always a pleasure when the critic in a scholarly manner from an obviously erudite individual stakes out a position that has been thoroughly examined and reflected on.

Just such a person is Mark David Blum.  Mr. Blum is both a lawyer and a Syracuse Graduate.  He currently lives in Syracuse and is passionate about the Orangemen who are currently in the NCAA Final Four. I respect his criticism and his thoughts.

 As part of his argument, he cites the case of Carmelo Anthony who led Syracuse to its last NCAA Championship as a freshman and then promptly left for the NBA where he is enjoying an outstanding career.

He makes many good points.  To me, the fact that if  Carmelo had stayed and played in college he might have suffered an injury that would have prevented him from plying his lucrative trade.

Every year we see it. Athletes that are still in college need to make a choice. If they stay in college, they  face the possibility of not going professional,  risking injury and losing it all. This might mean losing the ability to pave their way to financial security.

In 1971, as I am sure Mr. Blum knows, the U.S. Supreme Court  decided against the NBA which had a requirement that a player wait four years after high school graduation in order to play Professional Basketball.

In 1974, the ABA, the rival league to the NBA , signed Moses Malone who became the first player to go directly from High School to a professional league. He was extremely successful.

Additionally, I can cite Kobe Bryant, Darrel Dawkins, Lebron James and Kevin Garnett who were drafted right out of high school and did well. Wilt Chamberlain after one year at Kansas, joined Philadelphia, played for Philadelphia/ San Francisco and Los Angeles where he enjoyed a legendary career.

 They are among the truly few success stories. For every one of them, there are countless others who leave school to meet with either mediocre success, or none at all... and have nowhere to go for financial opportunity.

I disagree with the NBA ruling brought on by the Players'  Union that no one be drafted under the age of 19 and must be at least one year removed from high school.  This rule I believe is the number 1 catalyst for talented kids decidng on just one year in college.  UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad is a perfect example.

 I say if a kid is going to play and is talented enough, draft him out of high school and not take up a scholarship position. Here in lies the rub, I have no problem with the foregoing, but I also feel 4 years in college is important to bring about maturity and develop a greater understanding of pitfalls that lay ahead in life.

 A college degree prepares everyone, not just the athlete for possible life success.  After all, even for the best, more often than not, an athlete's productive years are short -lived except for the extremely few.

So, I repeat, my stand is simple!  Give out the scholarships, but do it in a 4-year contractual arrangement. Whereby the athlete who leaves is obligated to compensate the college, or university based on the going rate at the time equivalent to the remaining years of tuition.

I was lucky, he was mine!

Where do I start? There is so much to say. But I am limited to just 500 words.

A day for me, if I did not begin by reading his column in the Los Angeles Times, was destined to be a dull one. I have never met another man who could turn a phrase like him. I wasn't alone!

 The National Sportswriters Sportscaster Association (NSSA), his peers gave him the Sportswriter of the Year award fourteen times ... twelve of which were consecutive.

He possessed a most unusual sense of humor.  So good, was this talent, that many of the top TV Comedy Writers, would paraphrase and actually plagiarize much of his material.

My late friend Alan Bernard enjoyed him so much, he hired him to write Comedy for the show I was involved in, the Andy Williams Show.  Never thinking he would accept, or be allowed to do it, we were surprised when he got permission from the editors of the Los Angles Examiner so he could augment his earnings. The most widely read writer in all of Los Angeles and soon to be syndicated, was in need of extra money.

A Hartford native, he graduated from Trinity College and started his career on the Hartford Currant. In no time at all, he was a featured columnist for Sports Illustrated and on to L.A.

In 1987 the Baseball Hall of Fame gave him the J. G. Taylor Spink Award...citing him as an influence to countless sports journalists. Actually, he had too many awards to be accounted for in this one column.  Among them was a Pulitzer Prize in 1990. The beauty of Jim he never took himself for granted.  He was always humble.

He felt he didn't deserve the Pulitzer for writing about sports.  He would often say, it should go to a writer who exposed graft, gave advise to Prime Ministers, or helped bring down a government. He called sports, his personal play room.

Through all this, Jim always had poor vision. Not being malicious since he himself said it, " My glasses look like the bottoms of Coke Bottles' they are so thick", we would often tease him.  Eventually, he tried an operation to better his vision and completely lost his eye.

As a result to me, he wrote one of his greatest columns. So good, David Salzman might remember I had it blown up and for years, it was on the wall behind my desk. It simply started out: Today, I lost a long-time friend. This friend was always with me at the Rose Bowl, the World Series, The Indianapolis 500 and many a championship fight. You see, I lost the sight of my left eye".

That was the poignancy of Jim Murray who once wrote of the Indianapolis 500, "Gentlemen, start your coffins". Another time he wrote about the all-time Base Stealing champion Ricky Anderson who constantly was getting walked... "Ricky has a strike zone the size of Hitler's Heart". Probably one of his funniest quotes was about Basketball's most successful coach and his dear friend, John Wooden... "so square he was divisible by four".

In 1989, he went totally blind, but until his death in 1991, he continued to write with the aid of his wife.

Recently in my columns I have been writing about scholarships and academia. Before he passed, Jim created the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation whose basic purpose is to raise money for journalism scholarships. At present, 28 universities participate annually in a national essay competition in which five scholarships are awarded.

Jim, in both words and action, left a marvelous wonderful legacy. To know him was an honor.

I remember the old verse written in Brooklynese that went like this:

"Spring is sprung, the grass has riz,

I wonder where the boidies iz?

The boid is on the wing.

Don't be absoid, the wing is on da boid!"

Silly, non-sensical ... yup! However, what it tells us, is it's Baseball time. Once, the National Pastime, Baseball now lags in popularity to Pro Football.

When I was a kid, everywhere you looked there were pickup games on vacant sandlots.  In my case, it was either behind the local food mart where we would sneak through a hole-in-the fence to get there, or behind the Ward School where more than once my pal Earle ( we would call him "Oile"), would rattle a double off the brick wall of the school.

It was pure fun and enjoyment!  Unlike the Little League we made do with what we had: no fancy uniforms, no specially designed playing field with stands, it was just the opposite... not even the bases were real.  

Instead, sometimes home plate was part of a cardboard box.  First base often times was a burlap bag with pebbles to hold it in place. How about second base? More than often, it was a discarded brick from an old building. Oh yeah! Third base  was yesterday's newspaper also held down with stones.  Needless to say, there was no sliding!

A great comparison and a good read is the book by Stan Fridstein entitled "Going Yard". I urge to you to read it.  He has portrayed to the nth degree all the Major League Ball Parks, both old and modern, that he and his son Eric visited.

We had no managers to guide the teams or to assign positions our equipment was inferior.  We couldn't afford the best ball, so we chipped in to buy what we called a "nickel brick". I can't tell you how many times we used that ball in multiple games. The  fact that black electric tape was an important part of our equipment that we used without sparing once the ball became frayed. That magic tape gave us at least a dozen games where we did not have to find the funds for a new ball.

How about the bat? Often times, from constant use the handle would splinter.  Not to be dissuaded, out came the magical tape aided and abetted by a nail holding the handle and wooden bat  together... "Play Ball".

We played in all kinds of weather and when it was cold, you almost wished you didn't get a hit.  If you did, your hands might sting for weeks.

When we weren't playing in the hot summer months and could not afford to go to a game, you would find us "Royals" (that was the name of our club), sitting on Arnie's front steps, gathered around the radio, listening as the play-by-play announcer painted word pictures.

Times were exciting. We had no money and needed none to have a good time.

Also, the cost of games made it possible for families to attend together. In addition, the fact that there was not much player movement between teams, players seemed to stay with a team forever. In my youth,  not only could you be loyal to a team, but even more so to a player.

Today, that's all changed. It costs too much for families to attend  game en mass. Only the wealthiest and corporations can afford to go on a regular basis. The players are mobile and sometimes do not finish out the season with the same team.

I love these days we live in, but there was a lot to be said for continuity. Still I holler, "Take me out the Ball Game, it's time to play Baseball."

In fact, I wondered how I once played for a division one-basketball team. Hell, they would take one look at me today, grab the scruff of my neck and throw me back into the pack.

The kids today are bigger, stronger, faster and most athletic. When I played our tallest man was 6'4" and he was our center. The guys like me either hovered around 6'1, or as small as 5'10".  This was the norm.  in fact, the first 7 footer I remember was Bob Kurland who played for Oklahoma A & M (The Aggies) in 1945-46... Today, the Oklahoma State Cowboys. He then played AAU Ball for the Phillips Oilers.

... And they certainly have. Just as heights and size of the players have grown exponentially bigger. This size plus athleticism has made for more exciting basketball. Today's players have learned from all those who have gone before and have added many a new wrinkle.

Costs  for a University to field a competitive team have reached the sub stratosphere. President Obama , himself, a basketball fan, has promised to tackle rising costs. He has put schools on  notice that if they wish to continue to get taxpayer funding, they must stop tuitions from going up. I ask how?

However, every time there is an announcement that a new head coach is coming out from oblivion to be a newly minted millionaire, the landscape changes  That process is not bad in itself, as wages seem to be keeping pace with all sports.

What is bad is the fact they reward immoral and unethical behavior both among coaches and athletes!  The most hypocritical and self-serving is the NCAA itself. It seems it is constantly being faced by one bad situation after another.  Most deal with finances and how the NCAA takes advantage of young athletes.

The bright-eyed and bushy tailed scholar-athlete enters the institution of higher learning expecting to not only play an important role on the school's Teams but also to get an education, which prepares he, or she for a life career.

The NCAA is guilty of looking the other way and doing many wrong things. First, they permit opportunistic colleges and universities who are interested in only victories to impress their alumni, the luxury of allowing an athlete to matriculate for only one year and then move on to a professional career.  

If the NCAA had any guts, they would do the right thing... set boundaries. Among the boundaries that can be set are that a student-athlete, providing he/she has the grades, may qualify for an athletic scholarship, but must sign a four-year commitment.

If he/she leaves anytime before the four years are up to play a professional sport in which he/she has exhibited worthiness during their collegiate career, they must then be obligated to pay back the school a pre-set amount based on prevailing education costs at the time.

Another thing the NCAA needs to be penalized for making money on athletes by using their visage and likeness their school days are over. In its greed, the NCAA has made numerous deals with video game companies and advertisers that often use visual play situations from college games to make money.

... And make money they have, in the multi-millions. This has prompted Ed O'Bannon former UCLA and NBA star to bring about a class lawsuit on behalf of all student athletes whose likenesses have been used whereby the NCAA reaps the rewards and the athlete receives nothing. Later this year, this suit will be before the Supreme Court .

Mark Emmert has now been heading up the NCAA for almost three terms.  The years have been filled with a multitude of problems marked by a constant ineptitude in dealing with them. Let's look at the players.

Allowing Emmert to head up this organization never mind being in charge of the necessary policing, is like letting the Fox guard the Hen House.  He is the same man who prior to assuming the mantle saddled both University of Connecticut and LSU where he had been Chancellor with investigatory scandals. Mostly due to his mismanagement.

If there is to be integrity and parity then it stands to reason the organization in charge must have the proper leadership.                            

In the midst of March Madness, I  wrote an article about Florida Gulf Coast  University and how in an exciting fashion, an extremely low seed was knocking off the big guys. For a moment it looked like FGCU might wear the missing slipper from the "Big Dance".  Alas, it was not to be!

However, all was not lost. Andy Enfield, the Charismatic young coach became in a brief moment a "Super Star." His team labeled "Dunk City" was making believers out of many.  Only two years competing in Division 1, they were beholding to no one. They played an exciting brand of basketball and it was evident the respect their coach commanded.

Enfield, FGCU's only coach took the reins when the school athletically joined division 1 in 2011.  It had gone from being  an online Internet and commuting college in 1997  to a full-fledged university in the year 2000.Located between Naples and Fort Myers Florida it has a resort-like campus. Its growth has been phenomenal.

So who gets to wear the Slipper?  It's the boyish coach with the beautiful wife. It's a true Hollywood Story.  Here, this beautiful couple... (did I mention the coach's wife was a super model who not only graced the cover of many International Magazines, but also on occasion walked the Victoria Secret runway). Is on their way to live and hopefully flourish in America's Movie Capitol.

In a town that worships celebrities, they will fit right in.

From a school with a Division 1 athletic tradition of only 2 years, Coach Enfield will take the reins of a University Program steeped in pride and owner of multiple NCAA Championships/  awards garnered over 133 years... He comes  from a comparatively  unknown school to which he brought National attention, where he will lead   one of America's premier collegiate athletic organizations.

Athletic Director Pat Haden, himself, at one time, the golden-haired scholar-athlete of USC Athletics, like the great producer Cecil B. DeMille but in his capacity of AD,  is looking to bring the once proud program to the "Promised Land" of athletic fruit and honey.  As his lead actor, he has cast Andy Enfield as Moses (not Charlton Heston).

With the departure of Coach Pete Carroll to the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL, USC lost most of its charismatic appeal to the ever-critical fans of Hollywood. Andy Enfield with his smile, energy and the warm camaraderie and success, brings back great deal of that aura and perhaps assure in his own era.

I predict in the Magical Kingdom known as Hollywood where celebrities flock to support winning teams,( just look at Jack Nicholson and Penny Marshall at Laker Games, or Billy Crystal and Justin Timberlake cheering on the clippers), Andy Enfield will soon build such a following.

USC has truly brought about a true Hollywood beginning. However, that's only the start.  What USC, Pat Haden, Alumni and Fans really hope for is a Hollywood ending where truth will be stranger than fiction.

Ironically, today, I find myself as the last remaining member of the California Sports Executive team in 1971-72. California Sports was the parent company of the Los Angeles Lakers. All members of the team are still alive with the exception of number 52 Harold "Happy" Hairston who left us too early.

I watched as every other Basketball fan did, the extended streak of the Miami Heat.  I must admit I had mixed emotions. However, I believe like Jerry West that all streaks are meant to be broken (note: maybe not Joe Dimaggio's 56 game hitting streak). However, having been a part of the 1971-72 streak, What Miami was trying to do, I found was an assault on an important part of my legacy.

That year, I was at every game.  Yet, I would only see part of each one. Because Pete Newell, considered one Basketball's all-time great coaches during that season was General Manager of the Lakers. He was too nervous to watch each game in progress.  Instead, he would stay by the Forum Club outside the Arena and chain smoke while pacing back and forth.

The team members themselves were not nervous.  They didn't have to be, Pete was edgy enough for everybody. I agreed, as a part of my relationship with Pete, to come out and tell him the score midway during each period.  He would only come in at the Half and at the end of the game.

The Lakers had 4 future Hall-of-Famers, just like the Heat have today. In fact, just as Dwayne Wade got injured in the middle of the streak, Gail Goodrich suffered a severe stomach muscle pull in '71.  This injury did not slow down the team on its victory march.

Bill Sharman was the coach and he gave 150% of himself to winning. As a result, toward the end of the streak, his voice was down to a whisper. With assistant coach Bill Bertka, (who is still considered one of the great talent evaluators), holding a slate board, Sharman resorted to chalk in order to diagram plays at timeouts and in the locker room. To this day, 41 years later, Bill can hardly talk above a whisper.

Dr Ernie Vandeweghe, a former New York Knick Player and trainer Frank O'Neal kept the team out of the infirmary. Dr Vandeweghe, also acted as team spiritual leader and psychologist.

There is a another close tie to both teams. It is Pat Reilly, Miami's former coach and President. The world today knows Pat as a suave, debonair mastermind. When he was playing in '71-'72, he was anything but. If you look at the team pictures this great Kentucky All-American by way of Schenectady had long beatnik type hair and a flowing mustache.

Pat, however, was always a student of the game.  Whenever we needed a player to speak at any organization he was always there and volunteering... he was our top PR weapon.  As sixth man, his contribution was invaluable.

 When his playing days were over, he was doing color commentary to the great Hall-of-Fame announcer Chick Hearn.  At the time, my then 13 year old son Steven had a job that all teenagers dream of. He was Chick's runner and liaison to the Press Corps while hanging out with all the players... the envy of Agoura High School.

Pat's big break came when Jerry West who in later years was the coach, went to our boss Jack Kent Cooke urging him to let Pat replace him as coach, Jack reluctantly agreed with the idea. He would look for a permanent coach in the interim. Pat it turned out became the permanent coach and the rest is history.

The Lakers were so powerful that two years earlier, artist Alan Siegel commissioned by the NBA to create a logo, copied Jerry West in action and to this day, almost 45 years later, the logo still stands.

Taking nothing away from the Heat and especially Lebron James, if the late Wilt Chamberlain was told about the 27 game win streak, he would probably have answered, "But who did they beat, today it is a watered down league with 30 teams whereas in 1971, there were half as many. Then it was really the best of the best."

By the way, '72 was the Los Angeles Lakers first World Championship!

"March Madness" is also called at times the " Big Dance". We all remember the real "Big Dance" it was the one thrown for Prince Charming.  It was there that the handsome and wealthy Prince met Cinderella. She was dressed in finery from head-to-toe outfitted by her Fairy Godmother.

Nobody knew who she really was. In fact, she was an orphan girl forced to do scullery work out of sight of everyone. This all changed the night of the dance.

Upon seeing her, the Prince was immediately smitten and he danced every step with her until the Midnight Hour when she hurriedly had to rush away lest her beautiful gown would return to the miserable shreds which she really wore.  In her haste, she lost her glass slipper. Using this slipper, the Prince searched his entire Empire to find the mysterious girl whose foot would fit the slipper. It was Cinderella!

Now, today along comes Florida Gulf Coast University...Who?

Imagine this! FGCU in this Case is Cinderella having reached the Sweet 16 by defeating #2 seed Georgetown. Now, they will play  #3 Florida who on the other hand, beat a #14 seed and a # 11seed to reach this point.

It's even more interesting when we discover that FGCU is only 65 miles away from Florida. Like Cinderella who worked in anonymity, even though they beat the Nationally #2 ranked Miami earlier in the season nobody thought of them as a threat.

Later this week in Arlington, Texas, FGCU will meet Florida thousands of miles away from they both live.  The Ballroom is located at Cowboys Stadium. The key to FGCU and their coach is to enjoy the game and have fun. They actually have no choice as their Basketball Budget is among the three or four lowest in the country while Florida is among the three or four highest.

FGCU as a team actually takes its personality from its coach. Most coaches, that is all they have ever done.  As for Andy Enfield, all he ever wanted to be was a College Coach. but he became successful in business.   

After graduating from Johns Hopkins as an Economics Major. He actually became one of the first full-time shooting instructors in the NBA working for Mike Dunleavy at Milwaukee and later Rick Pitino in Boston. Ironic, if the Cinderella run continues, Enfield could conceivably meet his old mentor Pitino who now coaches Louisville... a major favorite.

His story continued away from Basketball, putting his MBA to work he developed a website called Allnetshooting.com and helped build a start-up by the name of TractManager into a $100-million company.  But he still wanted to coach!

He met his wife Amanda who was a super model. She wanted him to be happy and wanted a lifestyle conducive to raising their three young children. She gave up her high fashion career, which included magazine cover shoots in Milan, Paris and Rome. Instead, she gladly followed him, because she knew it would make them both happy wherever they settled.

They have never looked back and his attitude is infused in his team. The emphasis is not only on good Basketball, but also on enjoyment. He wants and has a happy team.

FGCU has a wide-open style of play. It is fun to watch!

The team has been labeled "Dunk City" which brings to mind the great Houston teams of the 70's who were called "Phi Slama Jama" with Alijiwon and Clyde "the Glide" Drexler. FGCU under Enfield is not unlike Guy Lewis' teams and their fraternal approach.

How far they go, no one can tell.  However, this is for sure they and their coach are among the most interesting teams in the Tournament... don't sell them short.  They believe they can win.

As America's oldest institution of higher learning and one of the most prestigious in the world based on Academics, the school named for a Charlestown Minister finally achieved an unbelievable first. This school that gives no Athletic Scholarships saw its underrated and comparatively small Basketball Team win in the 2nd round of the 2013 NCAA  tournament.

This is no small achievement when other schools heavily endowed by alumni and donors with Athletic Scholarships fell by the wayside. In 1946, Wyndol Grey led Harvard to its first and only other NCAA tournament appearance. Grey later Played for the first Boston Celtics team in 1947.

There have been a few other Harvard  players  who have made a mark in the NBA, but it is a most unusual coincidence that it not only took Harvard 67 years to get back to the Tournament and 66 years for a Harvardian, Jeremy Lin, to bring about "Linmania" playing for the New York Knicks.

The realization that on the surface Athletic Scholarship appear to be necessary to help with scholarships, bring in money to build new laboratories, dormitories and classrooms and provide funs for much needed research. It also gives student athletes who might never get a chance to experience Higher Education, get that opportunity.

The NCAA with its dictatorial rules along with many Colleges and Universities as well, has bastardized the intrinsic meaning and original intent. In many instances, athletic powerhouse schools working on the principle "win at all costs" bring in Freshmen Athletes who play for one year and are off to the NBA hopefully for fame and fortune. THIS IS PATENTLY WRONG!

Yes, there are many needy athletes and if they have the required grades, they are worthy of admission.  However. Without the grades they do not deserve admission. The policy of bringing an outstanding Player in on scholarship for one year is t not worthy of comment. However, when he takes the place that otherwise might be given to a future doctor who will heal, or research scientist who might find a cure for a deadly disease.  The College is, in truth, not living up to its charter.

As a matter of fact, if such scholarships are doled out and a player leaves for the Pros after one year, he should be held to repay for a four-year contract.  This should equal the cost of what it might cost for a complete matriculation term.

Rene Henry who most of you should if you haven't already is a brilliant analyst of the situation. He brought to mind a study that the Drake Sports Group, a college-sport watchdog organization pointed out that in a group of a dozen public institutions better than 54%of their annual fees--payments on top of tuition help finance the school's intercollegiate athletic department... this goes to pay athletic scholarships as well as coaches' salaries etc;

Ever wonder how mom and dad working in the factory. Or on their feet at the retail store must feel if they were to find this out. In fact, athletic subsidies per athlete at public schools according to the American Institutes for Research rose between 2005 and 2010--61% while Academic spending only rose 23% per student. Are we missing something?

What's worse some 40% of students responding were completely unaware that their fees funded sports.

Yet, the NCAA can and does bend the rules to fit and many times favor certain situations.

Is there no answer?

In fact, I wondered how I once played for a Division 1 basketball team. Hell, they would take one look at me today, grab the scruff of my neck and throw me back into the pack.

The kids today are bigger, stronger, faster and most athletic. When I played our tallest man was 6'4" and he was our center. Guys like me either hovered around 6'1, or were as small as 5'10".  This was the norm.  In fact, the first 7 footer I remember was Bob Kurland who played for Oklahoma A & M (The Aggies) in 1945-46... Today, the Oklahoma State Cowboys' He then played AAU Ball for the Phillips Oilers.

Today, it is not unusual to see a guy almost 7' dribble the length of the floor or set up plays in the backcourt. A feat, which was once thought impossible since all who coached, believed big men were too clumsy and not that well coordinated.  How times have changed!

... And they certainly have. Just as heights and size of the players have grown exponentially, so have the number of competing teams. The tournament was actually first played in 1939 and until 1950 it only admitted 8 teams. In fact, the NIT (National Invitation Tournament) played every year at Madison Square was considered most important. The NIT was the most glamorous and preceded the NCAA Tournament by one year. Only 8 teams were invited. In 1950, the NCAA purchased the NIT making it a secondary tournament in prestige.

Ironically, it was also in 1950, City College of New York (CCNY) became the only team in history to win both the NIT and the NCAA.  Unfortunately, CCNY was involved that year in Basketball's most devastating scandal.  They won all games handily. So good were they, even while winning, they shaved points favoring the gamblers who had bribed them.

So hurt, was the great coach Nat Holman who couldn't believe that his team had done this, he swore never to coach again. He kept his word.

Ironically, the man who would forever change the importance of the NCAA tournament was only 3 years old when the NCCA event was founded. My friend Eddie Einhorn who in 1958 produced the first National syndicated radio broadcast of the NCAA Tournament. He envisioned where it might grow and in 1960, he founded the TVS Television Network to telecast college basketball games to Regional networks.  

No major Network wanted the Tournament. He secured all the rights and in turn, years later sold to CBS Sports which he eventually would head.

My how it has grown!  In 1950, there were only 8 teams.  In '51, the size was doubled. Along the way, the number of competitors kept growing. By 2010, it had reached 65 teams.  After that tournament, flushed with success, the NCAA gave serious thought to expanding to 128 teams.

CBS/Turner agreed to a new Television contract in 2010 only if the expansion was no more than 68 teams. This number will once again prove to be filled with excitement and surprise.  Holly Cross' victory in 1947 saw the last seed emerge as the Champion.

"March Madness" will give us many unbelievable moments. It's all in how the Ball Bounces.

Unfortunately, the landscape is littered with countless horror stories of this nature. For example, in 1978, I produced a movie called " Ring of Passion" that told the true story of Joe Louis versus Max Schmeling... a fight for the ages. I had to pay the great Joe Louis in cash, a paltry sum; the United States Government (IRS) had garnished all of his wartime earnings.  Which by the way, he had donated to the Army-Navy relief Fund.

I sat on the Board of the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation. Although Raymond Charles Leonard is a friend of mine, to me, Mr. Robinson will always be the real Sugar Ray.  We did a great deal of good for needy kids, but the real purpose of the Foundation founded by Frank Abramoff, was to make sure that Ray proud as he was, would have paydays.

This is sad when you remember the countless fans internationally who paid millions to watch the     m fight. But Joe Louis and Ray Robinson happen to be members of a huge passing parade.

Then along comes a story about one man who capitalized on his fame. I hadn't seen or talked to this man for almost 30 years when out of the blue, my friend and fellow writer Evan Wiener interviewed him.  In the course of conversation, Evan mentioned my name and asked how he could contact me.

The next day my phone rang. It was he! ... Fred "Curly" Morrison. An old and dear friend of whom I had lost track.

"So Curly, what have you been up to?"

However, before he could answer, I started counting off the wonderful things of which I had memories. I remembered when he came out of Ohio State in 1950, as a battering ram Fullback; he was on every NFL team's wish list.

 Territorially, he belonged to the Chicago Bears. He went from playing under the legendary Woody Hayes at Ohio State plying his talents for one of the founders of the NFL and an equally legendary coach, George "Papa Bear" Halas. Under Halas, Curly became one of the vaunted "Monsters of the Midway". In the 4 years he was with the Bears, he was the rushing leader twice. Traded to the Cleveland Browns where he played 3 more years leading the Browns to 3 World Championship Games. Once again, he played for another coaching great, Paul Brown.

Last night, I had dinner with my young friend Bob Perlberg.  I consider Bob, the most avid USC fan I know.  So, it is with a heavy heart that I tell him I am writing a column about a man who on October 8, 1949 devastated his beloved Southern Cal and later that season became MVP of the Rose Bowl and a member of the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, as Ohio State bested California.

However, Curly's real impact on the NFL came upon his retirement. CBSTV, one of the only 3 TV Networks at the time, procured the rights to telecast NFL on Sundays. No one else had this package. Curly was the first Color Commentator and set the bar at a level that I feel no else has yet to reach. He portrayed vast knowledge and understanding of the game thus making it must viewing for people who up until then had little, or no interest in professional football.

He had the Television Bug and along with Bud Murphy formed Transamerica Video. Although my pal Clair Higgins was created and utilized the  Mobile Unit, it took Curly and Bud to put one of their trucks on a barge to Hawaii bringing about the first Mobile event emanating away from Mainland USA.

Flushed with success, the company was sold and Curly went on to run for Congress in his home state of Ohio.  I do not know whether he was Republican, or Democrat, but even though he lost, he's one guy I would have voted for. With the problems of today, Curly could easily pick up where he left off and help carry us to a Financial Touchdown.

Successful in business, he was also active in the World Football League and the USFL. But, his real contribution to the game is his caring for many fellow NFL retirees less fortunate than himself. Along with his wife Sophie (They have been married 62 years), he created and ran for 22 years, the NFL Legends Golf Tournament at Pebble Beach.  All monies go to help retired players. Today, his daughter Rebecca carries on as Executive Director.

He and Sophie live comfortably in their retirement, enjoying daily rounds of golf under the Desert Sun of California.