For boys, sugar and spice aren't nice : It's time to accept that males and females don't necessarily have the same learning patterns
Lysiane Gagnon
Globeandmail.com
The Toronto District School Board is contemplating establishing a boys-only public elementary school. This wouldn't be a panacea, but anything that could help reduce the alarming dropout rate among boys – an acute problem in Quebec – is worth trying.
It's a well-researched phenomenon: Boys tend to underachieve in school, while a higher proportion of girls successfully make their way to university. (Female students are a now majority in most faculties.) And this might have to do, at least in part, with the fact our schools are made for girls.
Parents of boys have been complaining for a long time about the way their sons are treated within the school system. Most teachers are female and quite naturally they choose books that interest girls. “My son has been fed a regular diet of novels about emotions and relationships, instead of books dealing with sport and action,” says a colleague of mine. Boys are expected to behave like girls: They shouldn't yell, they shouldn't jostle, they should sit still in class. Moreover, they should express their emotions verbally, a mode of communication that comes naturally to girls but with which many boys are not at ease. And, of course, in this overly female world, there are too few male role models for boys who don't have one at home.
True, elementary schools and, albeit to a lesser degree, secondary schools, have always been run by women, at least in Canada. (This might have to do with the low salaries paid at these levels). But two things have changed since the olden days when nobody talked about boys' difficulties in school.
One is that the divorce rate went up, and that a far larger number of families are headed by single women. The father, the male figure, remains the symbol of authority that boys need. (Yes, of course, there are exceptions, like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, who were raised by single mothers, but when analyzing a widespread social phenomenon, it's better to focus on the average cases rather than the glorious exceptions).
The second change is in the marketplace. There was a time, not so long ago, when a boy without much education could land a well-paid, unionized job in the natural resource sector or in a factory. Now the jobs available to undereducated kids are in the service sector – whether in sales or in the lower echelons of health services – and these jobs are more attractive to women than men.
My elementary school, a small private institution run by nuns, was co-ed until Grade 5, when the nuns stopped accepting boys. We were delighted to be rid of the boys who had been loud, restless and constantly interrupting the teacher in class. The most unruly one was Jean Nadeau, a dark and handsome boy, who had cruelly insulted me when, as I paraded in a school play as the Virgin Mary wearing a lovely white veil fastened by a gold headband, he told his giggling friends that I looked like “an Arab sheik.” Good riddance, Jean – and his ilk were gone.
A couple of years later, I would have been happy to be in the same classroom with cute boys like Jean Nadeau, but at the age of 10, we girls loved our same-sex environment. The class was a quiet haven. We would pursue our hobbies in peace – making plastic bracelets, crocheting doilies, drawing beautiful pictures – and we had the whole yard to ourselves so we could form small groups and chat and gossip and talk about the other girls with our best friends. The teachers were relieved, too. The only one who missed the boys was Sister St-Mathias, who was a tomboy and liked to play ball games with the boys.
Maybe it's time to accept the idea that males and females don't necessarily have the same learning patterns and that some of the most vulnerable boys would make more progress in a “boy-friendly” environment.
Lysiane Gagnon
Globeandmail.com
The Toronto District School Board is contemplating establishing a boys-only public elementary school. This wouldn't be a panacea, but anything that could help reduce the alarming dropout rate among boys – an acute problem in Quebec – is worth trying.
It's a well-researched phenomenon: Boys tend to underachieve in school, while a higher proportion of girls successfully make their way to university. (Female students are a now majority in most faculties.) And this might have to do, at least in part, with the fact our schools are made for girls.
Parents of boys have been complaining for a long time about the way their sons are treated within the school system. Most teachers are female and quite naturally they choose books that interest girls. “My son has been fed a regular diet of novels about emotions and relationships, instead of books dealing with sport and action,” says a colleague of mine. Boys are expected to behave like girls: They shouldn't yell, they shouldn't jostle, they should sit still in class. Moreover, they should express their emotions verbally, a mode of communication that comes naturally to girls but with which many boys are not at ease. And, of course, in this overly female world, there are too few male role models for boys who don't have one at home.
True, elementary schools and, albeit to a lesser degree, secondary schools, have always been run by women, at least in Canada. (This might have to do with the low salaries paid at these levels). But two things have changed since the olden days when nobody talked about boys' difficulties in school.
One is that the divorce rate went up, and that a far larger number of families are headed by single women. The father, the male figure, remains the symbol of authority that boys need. (Yes, of course, there are exceptions, like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, who were raised by single mothers, but when analyzing a widespread social phenomenon, it's better to focus on the average cases rather than the glorious exceptions).
The second change is in the marketplace. There was a time, not so long ago, when a boy without much education could land a well-paid, unionized job in the natural resource sector or in a factory. Now the jobs available to undereducated kids are in the service sector – whether in sales or in the lower echelons of health services – and these jobs are more attractive to women than men.
My elementary school, a small private institution run by nuns, was co-ed until Grade 5, when the nuns stopped accepting boys. We were delighted to be rid of the boys who had been loud, restless and constantly interrupting the teacher in class. The most unruly one was Jean Nadeau, a dark and handsome boy, who had cruelly insulted me when, as I paraded in a school play as the Virgin Mary wearing a lovely white veil fastened by a gold headband, he told his giggling friends that I looked like “an Arab sheik.” Good riddance, Jean – and his ilk were gone.
A couple of years later, I would have been happy to be in the same classroom with cute boys like Jean Nadeau, but at the age of 10, we girls loved our same-sex environment. The class was a quiet haven. We would pursue our hobbies in peace – making plastic bracelets, crocheting doilies, drawing beautiful pictures – and we had the whole yard to ourselves so we could form small groups and chat and gossip and talk about the other girls with our best friends. The teachers were relieved, too. The only one who missed the boys was Sister St-Mathias, who was a tomboy and liked to play ball games with the boys.
Maybe it's time to accept the idea that males and females don't necessarily have the same learning patterns and that some of the most vulnerable boys would make more progress in a “boy-friendly” environment.
Premier confirms regular season game will be played in Moncton next yearIt's not just talk anymore, it's official.
The Canadian Football League will hold one of next year's regular season games at the City of Moncton's Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium on the Université de Moncton campus.
Premier Shawn Graham and Moncton East MLA Chris Collins confirmed yesterday that a contract was indeed signed with the CFL last week, although they said which teams will play, the precise date, and the terms of the contract are all details that will only come when a formal announcement is made.
That should come in the next couple of weeks, when all involved can gather in Moncton.
What is known is the deal comes about largely because the provincial and federal governments have agreed to a plan that will see the 10,000-seat stadium being built to host the IAAF Moncton World Junior Track and Field Championships double its capacity to 20,000 for the game.
As for the game itself, "it's going to be the event of the fall," the premier promised. "It's truly going to position Moncton as the entertainment centre of Atlantic Canada."
He expressed confidence that the same enthusiasm for football seen in western Canada will build here on the east coast, with Moncton's central location making the game a regional event.
The regional benefits of the event is what got the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency involved.
"I feel the vision of Peter MacKay (the minister responsible for ACOA) was exemplary," the premier said late yesterday. "I want to give credit where credit is due. He and I had many phone calls on this."
With talk already circulating about building a whole weekend of events around the game, Collins, the provincial government's lead on the file, said the fact that the game would be televised "will be terrific for Moncton's profile, with 20,000 people in a brand new, full stadium."
And relatively speaking, it will be happening shortly after the city hosts the world -- and the international media -- in the same stadium for the IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships next July. "We'll be reminding people from across Canada that Moncton is a centre for hosting large events," he said. "It's great for football, and it's great for Moncton."
As for the long-discussed idea of making the game an annual event, or even bringing a franchise to the city some day, "this is the ultimate test market," Collins said. "After a multi-year contract, who knows?"
In the meantime, he credited the league's governors for the vision in their decision. By deciding to play a regular season game and possibly more here in Atlantic Canada, "this positions the CFL as the only professional sports league in the country that is truly coast to coast."
He also took on the naysayers who argue football is not enough a part of the culture here for long-term CFL success. He said that's just not so, especially in Metro Moncton, but also in the region at large. Noting how more of the men of his generation who grew up in Moncton played in the CFL than the NHL, Collins noted organized football has a long history in the community.
Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc welcomed the news from the province yesterday.
"We've been working on this for a long time," he said. Indeed, it was five-and-a-half years ago that Moncton North MLA Mike Murphy began championing the idea of the CFL in Moncton.
While the talk from the city hosting a franchise has been refined into a one-step-at-a-time pursuit of hosting other city's teams for games for now, the talk of professional football in Moncton has continued through changes of CFL commissioners, of provincial governments, and City of Moncton administrations. (It should be noted there were even discussions of a CFL franchise during the mayoralty of George Rideout in the 1980s).
The differences between the Moncton of the 1980s and the Metro Moncton of today are obvious, but there's also been one huge difference between the time of Mike Murphy's initial musings and today.
That's the City of Moncton's soon-to-be-completed stadium, which was just a blurry line pencilled in the city's capital works projections back in 2004. Now thanks to the city's landing of the 2010 track and field championships, that little line has grown into a reality much bigger.
While the 2010 IAAF games will be a massive event for southeastern New Brunswick in every way, filling the stadium for a CFL game some weeks later will mark the beginning of what comes after for the life of the stadium. With the ability to expand the stadium to 20,000 seats for everything from a football game to a big name concert to even a Billy Graham Crusade, the stadium is poised to become a key stop for events of all kinds.
Asked if he had any doubt a CFL regular season game could fill the stadium with 20,000 smiling people, Mayor LeBlanc expressed confidence in the city's ability to draw from the whole region. He also promised, "one of those smiling people will be me."
Chris Collins said because there are maximums in the league's ticket pricing structure, he expects the game, "will be very affordable for the whole family."
Collins, whose riding includes the stadium, says he's been taking part in the pursuit of the CFL since the site of the stadium was in the ward he served as a Moncton city councillor. After all these years, he pronounced himself ecstatic at the news.
"Mike Murphy started with this idea, did a lateral when he got busy with his cabinet portfolios, and we ran with it. Now, touchdown! Here we go."
The Canadian Football League will hold one of next year's regular season games at the City of Moncton's Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium on the Université de Moncton campus.
Premier Shawn Graham and Moncton East MLA Chris Collins confirmed yesterday that a contract was indeed signed with the CFL last week, although they said which teams will play, the precise date, and the terms of the contract are all details that will only come when a formal announcement is made.
That should come in the next couple of weeks, when all involved can gather in Moncton.
What is known is the deal comes about largely because the provincial and federal governments have agreed to a plan that will see the 10,000-seat stadium being built to host the IAAF Moncton World Junior Track and Field Championships double its capacity to 20,000 for the game.
As for the game itself, "it's going to be the event of the fall," the premier promised. "It's truly going to position Moncton as the entertainment centre of Atlantic Canada."
He expressed confidence that the same enthusiasm for football seen in western Canada will build here on the east coast, with Moncton's central location making the game a regional event.
The regional benefits of the event is what got the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency involved.
"I feel the vision of Peter MacKay (the minister responsible for ACOA) was exemplary," the premier said late yesterday. "I want to give credit where credit is due. He and I had many phone calls on this."
With talk already circulating about building a whole weekend of events around the game, Collins, the provincial government's lead on the file, said the fact that the game would be televised "will be terrific for Moncton's profile, with 20,000 people in a brand new, full stadium."
And relatively speaking, it will be happening shortly after the city hosts the world -- and the international media -- in the same stadium for the IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships next July. "We'll be reminding people from across Canada that Moncton is a centre for hosting large events," he said. "It's great for football, and it's great for Moncton."
As for the long-discussed idea of making the game an annual event, or even bringing a franchise to the city some day, "this is the ultimate test market," Collins said. "After a multi-year contract, who knows?"
In the meantime, he credited the league's governors for the vision in their decision. By deciding to play a regular season game and possibly more here in Atlantic Canada, "this positions the CFL as the only professional sports league in the country that is truly coast to coast."
He also took on the naysayers who argue football is not enough a part of the culture here for long-term CFL success. He said that's just not so, especially in Metro Moncton, but also in the region at large. Noting how more of the men of his generation who grew up in Moncton played in the CFL than the NHL, Collins noted organized football has a long history in the community.
Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc welcomed the news from the province yesterday.
"We've been working on this for a long time," he said. Indeed, it was five-and-a-half years ago that Moncton North MLA Mike Murphy began championing the idea of the CFL in Moncton.
While the talk from the city hosting a franchise has been refined into a one-step-at-a-time pursuit of hosting other city's teams for games for now, the talk of professional football in Moncton has continued through changes of CFL commissioners, of provincial governments, and City of Moncton administrations. (It should be noted there were even discussions of a CFL franchise during the mayoralty of George Rideout in the 1980s).
The differences between the Moncton of the 1980s and the Metro Moncton of today are obvious, but there's also been one huge difference between the time of Mike Murphy's initial musings and today.
That's the City of Moncton's soon-to-be-completed stadium, which was just a blurry line pencilled in the city's capital works projections back in 2004. Now thanks to the city's landing of the 2010 track and field championships, that little line has grown into a reality much bigger.
While the 2010 IAAF games will be a massive event for southeastern New Brunswick in every way, filling the stadium for a CFL game some weeks later will mark the beginning of what comes after for the life of the stadium. With the ability to expand the stadium to 20,000 seats for everything from a football game to a big name concert to even a Billy Graham Crusade, the stadium is poised to become a key stop for events of all kinds.
Asked if he had any doubt a CFL regular season game could fill the stadium with 20,000 smiling people, Mayor LeBlanc expressed confidence in the city's ability to draw from the whole region. He also promised, "one of those smiling people will be me."
Chris Collins said because there are maximums in the league's ticket pricing structure, he expects the game, "will be very affordable for the whole family."
Collins, whose riding includes the stadium, says he's been taking part in the pursuit of the CFL since the site of the stadium was in the ward he served as a Moncton city councillor. After all these years, he pronounced himself ecstatic at the news.
"Mike Murphy started with this idea, did a lateral when he got busy with his cabinet portfolios, and we ran with it. Now, touchdown! Here we go."
Lakers' Lamar Odom's curious marriage to Khloe Kardashian - Jeff Pearlman - SI.com
Defending the grunt: Purists hate it, but what’s a guttural outburst (or several) in a great tennis game?
by John Intini
McClean's.ca
When Serena Williams stopped by The Late Show last month after winning a third Wimbledon title, the conversation, like many about tennis these days, turned to grunting rather than groundstrokes. Williams joked that she grunts playing golf and said Monica Seles, tennis’s first scream queen, was her role model growing up. When David Letterman asked if her outbursts distracted opponents, she smiled: “I often wonder that.”
Though the bit went over well with the studio audience, it’s unlikely everyone at home was laughing. Grunting has become a divisive issue in tennis, especially in the women’s game. Purists complain the guttural outbursts are unnecessary and annoying to spectators and opponents. Martina Navratilova recently called it “cheating” and said it should be outlawed.
The battle’s next round may unfold at the Rogers Cup in Montreal and Toronto this month, but the issue isn’t a new one. The legendary Jimmy Connors was grunting to victory long before Seles inspired the grunt-o-meter in the ’90s and Maria Sharapova measured 101.2 decibels (almost as loud as a police siren) in 2005. The debate resurfaced a couple of months ago after the, um, racket made by Michelle Larcher de Brito at the French Open. Soon after the 16-year-old’s shrieking made headlines, the International Tennis Federation was said to be considering a rule to curtail grunting in the sport.
The main offenders claim grunting isn’t a tactic aimed at psyching out opponents—it’s just how they’ve always played. Some suggest it helps with the timing of shots. Others say it’s a product of the modern game, which is, obvious to anyone who has seen Williams’s thighs, all about power. Tennis is more “explosive” now, compared with a couple of decades ago, says Martin Laurendeau, Canada’s Davis Cup captain and men’s national coach. “Any sport that you need to load that sort of energy into a fraction of a second,” he says, “you have to expect something to come out.”
Some players are just louder than others. While Roger Federer, arguably the greatest player to ever lace up a pair of tennis shoes, is a silent assassin on the court, Rafael Nadal, currently No. 2, makes a lot more noise to get things done. There’s nothing wrong with that, says Ross Flowers, a sports psychologist with the U.S. Olympic Committee, who argues athletes shouldn’t bottle their emotions. “The grunt allows athletes to express themselves—release the power they’re putting into each play,” he says. “Restricting that is restricting the game.” When Seles was told to turn the volume down in her Wimbledon final against Steffi Graf in 1992, she was soundly—or rather silently—defeated.
And now comes scientific evidence that grunting improves performance. A recent study of U.S. college players found that those who don’t typically grunt increased the speed of both serves and forehands by about four miles an hour by grunting. In a radio interview last month, Dennis O’Connell, the author of the study and a professor of physical therapy at Hardin-Simmons University in Texas, said “grunting can serve a purpose any time anyone is asked to do a maximal exertion.”
One big complaint among critics, however, is that some pros exaggerate their grunts to mask the sound of the ball off their racquet, used to gauge an opponent’s return. Rene Simpson, Canada’s Fed Cup captain and a grunter during her pro days, doesn’t buy it. “You’d have to have incredible timing,” she says. She doubts coaches are training players to use it as a psychological tool: “I don’t know any coaches who say, ‘Okay, scream every time you hit the ball to throw your opponent off.’ ” She thinks it has more to do with breathing, a point echoed by Nick Bollettieri, the coach of Andre Agassi, Sharapova and Seles, whom some blame for the rise of grunting. Bollettieri claims he teaches players how to breathe, not grunt.
In the end, says Simpson, “half of the world’s best players grunt.” Stopping it, she says, throws off breathing. “That doesn’t allow for a loose stroke. It causes tension and will affect play.” Laurendeau lacks sympathy for players who can’t handle the noise. “If you’re on Centre Court, you have to be ready for distractions—bad calls, gusty winds, a baby crying or an opponent grunting louder than the norm,” he says. “If an athlete is bitching about an opponent screaming they need to check their concentration skills.” For spectators, he has a simple question: “Do fans prefer lesser performances and less grunting?” If not, there are always earplugs.
by John Intini
McClean's.ca
When Serena Williams stopped by The Late Show last month after winning a third Wimbledon title, the conversation, like many about tennis these days, turned to grunting rather than groundstrokes. Williams joked that she grunts playing golf and said Monica Seles, tennis’s first scream queen, was her role model growing up. When David Letterman asked if her outbursts distracted opponents, she smiled: “I often wonder that.”
Though the bit went over well with the studio audience, it’s unlikely everyone at home was laughing. Grunting has become a divisive issue in tennis, especially in the women’s game. Purists complain the guttural outbursts are unnecessary and annoying to spectators and opponents. Martina Navratilova recently called it “cheating” and said it should be outlawed.
The battle’s next round may unfold at the Rogers Cup in Montreal and Toronto this month, but the issue isn’t a new one. The legendary Jimmy Connors was grunting to victory long before Seles inspired the grunt-o-meter in the ’90s and Maria Sharapova measured 101.2 decibels (almost as loud as a police siren) in 2005. The debate resurfaced a couple of months ago after the, um, racket made by Michelle Larcher de Brito at the French Open. Soon after the 16-year-old’s shrieking made headlines, the International Tennis Federation was said to be considering a rule to curtail grunting in the sport.
The main offenders claim grunting isn’t a tactic aimed at psyching out opponents—it’s just how they’ve always played. Some suggest it helps with the timing of shots. Others say it’s a product of the modern game, which is, obvious to anyone who has seen Williams’s thighs, all about power. Tennis is more “explosive” now, compared with a couple of decades ago, says Martin Laurendeau, Canada’s Davis Cup captain and men’s national coach. “Any sport that you need to load that sort of energy into a fraction of a second,” he says, “you have to expect something to come out.”
Some players are just louder than others. While Roger Federer, arguably the greatest player to ever lace up a pair of tennis shoes, is a silent assassin on the court, Rafael Nadal, currently No. 2, makes a lot more noise to get things done. There’s nothing wrong with that, says Ross Flowers, a sports psychologist with the U.S. Olympic Committee, who argues athletes shouldn’t bottle their emotions. “The grunt allows athletes to express themselves—release the power they’re putting into each play,” he says. “Restricting that is restricting the game.” When Seles was told to turn the volume down in her Wimbledon final against Steffi Graf in 1992, she was soundly—or rather silently—defeated.
And now comes scientific evidence that grunting improves performance. A recent study of U.S. college players found that those who don’t typically grunt increased the speed of both serves and forehands by about four miles an hour by grunting. In a radio interview last month, Dennis O’Connell, the author of the study and a professor of physical therapy at Hardin-Simmons University in Texas, said “grunting can serve a purpose any time anyone is asked to do a maximal exertion.”
One big complaint among critics, however, is that some pros exaggerate their grunts to mask the sound of the ball off their racquet, used to gauge an opponent’s return. Rene Simpson, Canada’s Fed Cup captain and a grunter during her pro days, doesn’t buy it. “You’d have to have incredible timing,” she says. She doubts coaches are training players to use it as a psychological tool: “I don’t know any coaches who say, ‘Okay, scream every time you hit the ball to throw your opponent off.’ ” She thinks it has more to do with breathing, a point echoed by Nick Bollettieri, the coach of Andre Agassi, Sharapova and Seles, whom some blame for the rise of grunting. Bollettieri claims he teaches players how to breathe, not grunt.
In the end, says Simpson, “half of the world’s best players grunt.” Stopping it, she says, throws off breathing. “That doesn’t allow for a loose stroke. It causes tension and will affect play.” Laurendeau lacks sympathy for players who can’t handle the noise. “If you’re on Centre Court, you have to be ready for distractions—bad calls, gusty winds, a baby crying or an opponent grunting louder than the norm,” he says. “If an athlete is bitching about an opponent screaming they need to check their concentration skills.” For spectators, he has a simple question: “Do fans prefer lesser performances and less grunting?” If not, there are always earplugs.
Source: NBA to unveil policy this week
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
The NBA will this week introduce what it considers "minimal" guidelines for players, coaches and team officials when using Twitter and other social networking sites, according to sources with knowledge of the policy.
The primary restriction of the policy is expected to prevent various team representatives from tweeting during games, after the stir caused late last season when Detroit Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva, then with Milwaukee, tweeted from the Bucks' locker room during halftime.
One source described the forthcoming policy as "very minimal" and "less stringent" than the guidelines announced earlier this month by the NFL, which now regards players, coaches and football operations personnel -- or any third party representing them -- to be in violation of league rules if they use social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook from 90 minutes before kickoff through the end of the standard post-game access period for media interviews.
Individual NBA teams, though, will have the right to impose their own standards that might be more strict, as seen with the NBA dress code where some teams in the past have mandated more formal apparel -- such as suits on team flights -- than league rules dictate.
The source said that the NBA's new policy, furthermore, will treat social-networking commentary in the same manner as comments made in the traditional media, which means that anyone in the league can be fined or otherwise sanctioned for posts via Twitter, Facebook, etc., that are deemed over the line.
Villanueva was not fined by his team or the league last season but was forbidden by Bucks coach Scott Skiles from tweeting again during games. Mobile-phone usage in the locker room and on team buses has long been frowned upon in the NBA, but the severity of restrictions generally vary from team to team given the rise in recent years in texting and e-mailing from handheld devices.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban received the NBA's first-ever fine for comments he made via his Twitter account, when Cuban was docked $25,000 last March after complaining about the referees' refusal to call Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith for a technical foul following a clash between Smith and then-Mavericks guard Antoine Wright.
The league did not announce the fine, but Cuban disclosed the punishment via his Twitter feed, revealing that it could no longer be said that "no one makes money from Twitter now" because "the NBA does."
Asked if the Mavericks will impose their own Twitter restrictions on their players this season, Cuban said Sunday: "Not really. I will talk to the guys about never venting or talking about team business on Twitter. That's usually what creates problems. [But] Twitter is just another form of media. What you say on Twitter is like saying it on ESPN."
Formal confirmation of the new policy is expected from the league office this week after teams are officially notified. The NBA Players Association has likewise said that it will withhold comment until details of the league's policy are announced.
The NBA is widely considered to be one of the major professional sports leagues most associated with Twitter usage, largely thanks to Cleveland Cavaliers center Shaquille O'Neal, who responded to a Twitter user pretending to be O'Neal by launching his own Twitter feed, which now boats more than 2.3 million followers.
Other Twitter landmarks in the NBA besides Villanueva's halftime tweet include the June disclosure by Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love that coach Kevin McHale was leaving the organization -- before the news had been reported anywhere else -- and Allen Iverson's numerous tweets about his summerlong courtship and eventual signing with the Memphis Grizzlies.
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
The NBA will this week introduce what it considers "minimal" guidelines for players, coaches and team officials when using Twitter and other social networking sites, according to sources with knowledge of the policy.
The primary restriction of the policy is expected to prevent various team representatives from tweeting during games, after the stir caused late last season when Detroit Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva, then with Milwaukee, tweeted from the Bucks' locker room during halftime.
One source described the forthcoming policy as "very minimal" and "less stringent" than the guidelines announced earlier this month by the NFL, which now regards players, coaches and football operations personnel -- or any third party representing them -- to be in violation of league rules if they use social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook from 90 minutes before kickoff through the end of the standard post-game access period for media interviews.
Individual NBA teams, though, will have the right to impose their own standards that might be more strict, as seen with the NBA dress code where some teams in the past have mandated more formal apparel -- such as suits on team flights -- than league rules dictate.
The source said that the NBA's new policy, furthermore, will treat social-networking commentary in the same manner as comments made in the traditional media, which means that anyone in the league can be fined or otherwise sanctioned for posts via Twitter, Facebook, etc., that are deemed over the line.
Villanueva was not fined by his team or the league last season but was forbidden by Bucks coach Scott Skiles from tweeting again during games. Mobile-phone usage in the locker room and on team buses has long been frowned upon in the NBA, but the severity of restrictions generally vary from team to team given the rise in recent years in texting and e-mailing from handheld devices.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban received the NBA's first-ever fine for comments he made via his Twitter account, when Cuban was docked $25,000 last March after complaining about the referees' refusal to call Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith for a technical foul following a clash between Smith and then-Mavericks guard Antoine Wright.
The league did not announce the fine, but Cuban disclosed the punishment via his Twitter feed, revealing that it could no longer be said that "no one makes money from Twitter now" because "the NBA does."
Asked if the Mavericks will impose their own Twitter restrictions on their players this season, Cuban said Sunday: "Not really. I will talk to the guys about never venting or talking about team business on Twitter. That's usually what creates problems. [But] Twitter is just another form of media. What you say on Twitter is like saying it on ESPN."
Formal confirmation of the new policy is expected from the league office this week after teams are officially notified. The NBA Players Association has likewise said that it will withhold comment until details of the league's policy are announced.
The NBA is widely considered to be one of the major professional sports leagues most associated with Twitter usage, largely thanks to Cleveland Cavaliers center Shaquille O'Neal, who responded to a Twitter user pretending to be O'Neal by launching his own Twitter feed, which now boats more than 2.3 million followers.
Other Twitter landmarks in the NBA besides Villanueva's halftime tweet include the June disclosure by Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love that coach Kevin McHale was leaving the organization -- before the news had been reported anywhere else -- and Allen Iverson's numerous tweets about his summerlong courtship and eventual signing with the Memphis Grizzlies.
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