Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
December 10, 2009, Washington Post

Stories worth a closer look

Because I write a weekly sports column, kids and their parents ask, "How do you find something to write about every week?"

It's easy. There's always something new happening in sports. In fact, the hard part is to choose what I want to write about. So this week I thought I would write about some recent sports-related stuff that didn't make it into my columns.

Hooray for the University of Maryland for keeping Ralph Friedgen as its head football coach. I know the Terps had a disappointing 2009 season, with a record of two wins and 10 losses. But because of Friedgen's contract with the university, the school would have had to pay him millions of dollars if it had fired him.

I think it's crazy for colleges to pay football coaches so much money. The average Division I college football coach makes more than $1 million a year. But it is even crazier to pay coaches not to coach.

Congratulations to the Maryland field hockey team. The Terps were the Atlantic Coast Conference champs and had a record of 23-1 this season. Their only loss was a heartbreaker in the finals of the NCAA tournament, when North Carolina beat them, 3-2, on a goal with less than a minute to play. But one loss shouldn't ruin a great season.

Speaking of goals, did you see the goal that helped France beat Ireland and get into the 2010 World Cup? French star Thierry Henry clearly touched the ball with his hand before he passed it to a teammate who scored the winning goal. As any kid who plays soccer knows, it's against the rules to touch the ball with your hands.

The problem was that the referee didn't see the hand ball. Henry admitted that he'd touched the ball -- by accident. He even said the fairest thing would have been for France and Ireland to replay the game. I agree. But it's too late now. France is in and Ireland is out of the 2010 World Cup. (The United States is also in the world's biggest soccer tournament, which begins in South Africa in June.)

And finally, while watching football recently, I have seen several ads for the new video game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2." I think it's sad that adults and some kids (even though the game is rated Mature 17+) play something that makes war into a game. I don't know much about war, but I'm sure it is no game.

So you see, there is always plenty to write about in sports.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is the author of such kids' books as "Touchdown Trouble" and "Soccer Team Upset."

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