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	<title>Sports &#187; Nate Rawlings &#124; TIME.com</title>
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	<description>Where sports is on the mind</description>
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		<title>Sports &#187; Nate Rawlings &#124; TIME.com</title>
		<link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com</link>
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		<title>Fighting for Their Olympic Future: Wrestlers Face Off to Save the Sport</title>
		<link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/05/28/fighting-for-their-future-international-wrestlers-face-off-to-save-the-olympic-sport/</link>
		<comments>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/05/28/fighting-for-their-future-international-wrestlers-face-off-to-save-the-olympic-sport/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 May 2013 12:39:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nate Rawlings</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Wrestling]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/?p=2346440</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last February, the International Olympic Committee Executive Board voted to drop wrestling from the 2020 Games &#8212; an announcement that stunned sports lovers worldwide. Arguably the world&#8217;s oldest organized sport, wrestling had been part of the ancient Olympics since 708 B.C., and the sport has been a main focus of every modern Olympics since the Games resumed in 1896. To show solidarity, national teams from Iran, Russia and the United States competed in mid-May at the Rumble on the Rails, an exhibition match held inside New York&#8217;s iconic Grand Central Terminal. Though political relations between the three nations have been notoriously frosty, the athletic gathering was able to break down barriers. Wrestling is considered the national sport of Iran, and thousands of Iranian-Americans came to the match to cheer on the national team in its first competition in the U.S. in a decade. On May 29, the IOC will announce its recommendation of a sport or a shortlist of sports for a single slot in the 2020 games. Wrestling is competing with seven other sports for that single slot, meaning the sport&#8217;s supporters will soon know if their fight has led to victory.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=keepingscore.blogs.time.com&#038;blog=33268979&#038;post=2346440&#038;subd=timekeepingscore&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Wrestling</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/category/wrestling-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timekeepingscore.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/golfer_time_rumble-10.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Fighting for Their Olympic Future</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/4195fad096d61f86a8218de5e39039f6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">naterawlings</media:title>
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		<title>Can One Man Save Olympic Wrestling?</title>
		<link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/05/28/can-one-man-save-olympic-wrestling/</link>
		<comments>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/05/28/can-one-man-save-olympic-wrestling/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 May 2013 09:45:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nate Rawlings</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Wrestling]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/?p=2346488</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On the morning of May 14, the day before the U.S., Russian and Iranian national wrestling teams squared off at Grand Central Terminal, the meet’s organizers held a luncheon at the United Nations. As the sun beamed from the East River into the Delegate&#8217;s Dining Room, a large man dressed in a dark suit, a pair of black glasses pincered on his face, clomped to the podium. “The passion of the sport of wrestling is the same passion that lives in this building,” Nenad Lalovic said in a rolling baritone voice. “The United Nations brings the world together, country by country, religions, cultures and history. Wrestling is the United Nations of sport.” Since the International Olympic Committee’s executive board voted in February to drop wrestling from the 2020 games, this has been one of the wrestling community’s main arguments: that the sport, which is popular all over the world, can bring together even the most adversarial countries. The following day, wrestlers put that argument on display, as Iran beat the U.S. 6-1 in an exhibition match in front of hundreds of cheering Iranian-Americans who came to see the country’s national team in its first appearance in the U.S. in a decade. Despite the optics of international unity, wrestling’s path back into the Olympics is far from certain. This week, the IOC executive board meets in St. Petersburg, Russia to hear presentations from eight sports (including wrestling) vying for one open slot in the 2020 games. On Wednesday night, the board will announce the shortlist of sports it will recommend to the full Olympic Committee meeting in September in Buenos Aires. (MORE:  Fighting for Their Olympic Future: Wrestlers Face Off to Save the Sport) The man chosen to lead wrestling&#8217;s effort is a jovial Serbian businessman who was contemplating retirement before the IOC’s decision thrust him into the spotlight. Hardly known outside of a small faction of the wrestling community just a few months ago, he now finds himself leading the sport through perhaps its largest existential crisis in its nearly<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=keepingscore.blogs.time.com&#038;blog=33268979&#038;post=2346488&#038;subd=timekeepingscore&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Wrestling</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/category/wrestling-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timekeepingscore.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/golfer_time_rumble-13.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Nenad Lalovic, President of FILA, the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles.</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">naterawlings</media:title>
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		<title>Why the U.S., Russia, and Iran Can All Agree To Wrestle</title>
		<link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/05/16/why-the-u-s-russia-and-iran-can-all-agree-to-wrestle/</link>
		<comments>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/05/16/why-the-u-s-russia-and-iran-can-all-agree-to-wrestle/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 09:10:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nate Rawlings</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Wrestling]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/?p=2346255</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Correction Appended: May 16, 2013 Late Monday night in a residential neighborhood in Moscow, Russian security agents detained American diplomat Ryan Fogle, shoving him to the ground and allegedly ripping a dirty blonde wig off of his head. They later expelled him from the country on allegations he was a spy working for the CIA. A little more than twenty four hours later, Logan Stieber, a 22-year-old from Monroeville, Ohio, mauled Russian Opan Sat and drove his head into a padded mat on the floor of New York’s Grand Central Terminal. The act drew no offense, but rather was celebrated as one of the most basic moves in the world’s oldest sport, which rallied disparate allies and genuine rivals with the singular goal of keeping wrestling in the Olympic program. (PHOTOS: The Wrestlers of Chechnya) The geopolitics of 2013 pretty much mandate that the U.S., Russia and Iran won’t agree on anything. Take your pick: the bloody civil war in Syria; Iran’s nuclear ambitions; America’s emergence as an energy producer. Even decades-old, Cold War animosities, which flare up from time to time in the form of accused spies and genuine meddling, have created nations that, at the very least, distrust one another. For a few hours on Wednesday, none of that mattered, as the national teams from Iran, Russian and the U.S. squared off in exhibition matches meant to promote the sport and show the camaraderie among three great wrestling superpowers. Billed as the “Rumble on the Rails” and officially a fundraiser for Beat the Streets, a non-profit that supports youth wrestling teams in New York and Los Angeles, the three-way match came about in the wake of the February decision by the International Olympic Committee’s executive board to drop wrestling from the 2020 games. In the weeks since, athletes, coaches, diplomats, business leaders and celebrities have come out in support of wrestling, but the competition in Grand Central’s Vanderbilt Hall was the most tangible example yet of the sport’s ability to bridge cultural and ideological boundaries. (MORE: How Can<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=keepingscore.blogs.time.com&#038;blog=33268979&#038;post=2346255&#038;subd=timekeepingscore&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Wrestling</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/category/wrestling-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timekeepingscore.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/golfer_wsjwrestling20130517436.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">From right: American Logan Stieber turns Russia&#039;s Opan Sat during at the Rumble on the Rails wrestling match in Grand Central Terminal in New York City, on May 15, 2013.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/4195fad096d61f86a8218de5e39039f6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">naterawlings</media:title>
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		<title>Jim Bunning Remembers Marvin Miller, Baseball&#8217;s &#8216;Moses&#8217;</title>
		<link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/11/28/jim-bunning-remembers-marvin-miller-baseballs-moses/</link>
		<comments>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/11/28/jim-bunning-remembers-marvin-miller-baseballs-moses/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Nov 2012 10:45:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nate Rawlings</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Baseball]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/?p=2342954</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Marvin Miller, a labor leader whose 16-year tenure as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association led to the introduction of free agency and a revolution in professional sports, died of liver cancer Tuesday at the age of 95. Former United States Senator Jim Bunning was among the players who recruited Miller to run their union in 1966. The Hall of Fame pitcher went on to serve six terms in the House and two in theSenate as a Republican from Kentucky. Now retired, Bunning spoke to TIME from his home Tuesday about Miller’s negotiating tactics, his enduring legacy and a lasting insult. In the mid-1960’s, the Major League Baseball Player’s association was in shambles, with no full time employees and just over $5,000 in its checking account. The league’s minimum salary was $6,000 – a figure that had increased little in 20 years – and the average salary was $19,000. And players were all but tethered to their teams by thereserve clause, which gave owners the power to issue take it-or-leave-it contracts. (MORE: Remembering Marvin Miller, Father of Free Agency) Seeking a leader who could improve their lot, Bunning, then a star pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, and future Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts approached Richard Nixon. “We interviewed Nixon for the same job as Miller,” Bunning said, “but Nixon said to us that he had other plans.” Two years later, of course, Nixon was elected president. Miller, then a labor economist with the United Steelworkers’ union, accepted the offer. “He was smarter than everybody on the other side,” Bunning said. “There wasn’t a labor law that Marvin Miller did not know and know better than the owners. Therefore, we were at a great advantage in negotiations with management having Marvin on our side.” Miller’s first negotiation was a collective bargaining agreement that raised the minimum salary $4,000, to $10,000. “One of the things Marvin got early on was the fact that you could have representation when you were negotiating your contract,” Bunning said. Miller also negotiated<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=keepingscore.blogs.time.com&#038;blog=33268979&#038;post=2342954&#038;subd=timekeepingscore&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Baseball</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/category/baseball-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timekeepingscore.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/ks-marvin-miller-hlarge.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">image: Marvin Miller</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/4195fad096d61f86a8218de5e39039f6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">naterawlings</media:title>
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		<title>NBA Star Dwyane Wade Talks Fatherhood, the Big Three and How King James Compares with Air Jordan</title>
		<link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/09/06/nba-champion-dwyane-wade-talks-fatherhood-the-miami-heats-big-three-and-the-presidential-election/</link>
		<comments>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/09/06/nba-champion-dwyane-wade-talks-fatherhood-the-miami-heats-big-three-and-the-presidential-election/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Sep 2012 18:36:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nate Rawlings</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Basketball]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/?p=2341476</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[By most measures, Dwyane Wade had a pretty good year. In his second season as a key cog in the Miami Heat&#8217;s Big Three (along with Chris Bosh and LeBron James), Wade won his second career NBA championship, as Miami downed Oklahoma City in five games. But after winning the title, Wade had knee surgery, which forced him to miss playing in his third Olympics. He took the setback in stride, traveling to London to cheer on his friends and teammates and they brought home gold. Next up for Wade: the release of his new book, A Father First: How My Life Became Bigger Than Basketball. Wade dropped by TIME&#8217;s New York City headquarters on Thursday, and in a wide-ranging discussion with TIME managing editor Rick Stengel, he talked about his brutal divorce and custody battle, the process of assembling (and keeping together) the Big Three, what it&#8217;s like to play with LeBron James and shooting hoops with the President of the United States. The heart of Wade&#8217;s new book is his relationship with his two sons Zaire and Zion. He was determined to be a good father, he explained, because of his experience growing up with divorced parents on Chicago&#8216;s South Side. But his dreams of being a good father hit a major snag in 2010. &#8220;I went through a very ugly divorce, then I went through a very drawn out, ugly custody case,&#8221; Wade said. &#8220;For me, it’s about doing what I’ve always wanted to do–be a father. Whether because my father wasn’t in my life at certain times or because he was, I knew it was important to be a father since I was young.&#8221; (MORE: NBA Playoffs–How Dwyane Wade Found Redemption) During his custody battle, which ended in March 2011, Wade focused first and foremost on getting custody of his sons. &#8220;The fear of not knowing, the fear of not being there, not being able to sleep because I don’t know where my kids are, that hurt me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I had to fight to be in their lives just<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=keepingscore.blogs.time.com&#038;blog=33268979&#038;post=2341476&#038;subd=timekeepingscore&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/09/06/nba-champion-dwyane-wade-talks-fatherhood-the-miami-heats-big-three-and-the-presidential-election/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Basketball</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/category/basketball-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timekeepingscore.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/d-wade.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">NBA player Dwyane Wade (R) speaks at the TIME 10 Questions Live Event with TIME Magazine managing editor Rick Stengel on September 6, 2012.</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">naterawlings</media:title>
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		<title>Johnny Pesky: A Legend Finally Takes Off His Uniform</title>
		<link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/08/16/johnny-pesky-a-legend-finally-takes-off-his-uniform/</link>
		<comments>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/08/16/johnny-pesky-a-legend-finally-takes-off-his-uniform/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:30:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nate Rawlings</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Appreciation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boston Red Sox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Johnny Pesky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/?p=2341270</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the pantheon of Red Sox Nation, Johnny Pesky is the only player to have his number retired who never made the Hall of Fame. It’s an enormous achievement, especially when you consider the company in that eight man club: among them are Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, and of course Ted Williams. That’s not to say that Pesky wasn’t a great player. There are capital-G Greats like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Hank Aaron and Ted Williams. Pesky was a small-g great player. His lifetime batting average was .307, he had more than 200 hits in each of his first three seasons, and as Richard Goldstein of the New York Times wrote, Pesky and Bobby Doerr made up one of the best double play combos of their era. His numbers are all the more impressive when taken into account that he lost three of his prime years to military service in World War II. (LIST: Top 10 NYC-vs.-Boston Showdowns) Shortly after Johnny Pesky died on Aug. 13 at 92, a torrent of tributes and remembrances appeared on every Boston news site. Many had a common theme: the time I met Johnny Pesky. As a Red Sox fan, it would have been hard not to have at least seen Pesky; over the course of seven decades, he served as player, manager, coach, broadcaster and emeritus instructor. Anyone who went to spring training anytime after the Kennedy Administration would have seen him chopping grounders and pop ups to infielders with his fungo bat. But the real reason the Red Sox Nation is in mourning this week is that Johnny Pesky had his greatest performance as the team’s ambassador to faithful fans throughout New England. In his later years, no longer able to get around the field anymore, Pesky still came to spring training where he sat in a folding chair–still with his fungo bat–signing thousands of autographs and chatting up any fan who wished to say hi. He was a staple at home games, and when the Sox finally ended their 86-year World Series<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=keepingscore.blogs.time.com&#038;blog=33268979&#038;post=2341270&#038;subd=timekeepingscore&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Baseball</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/category/baseball-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timekeepingscore.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/pesky.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Jacoby Ellsbury embraces Boston Red Sox great Johnny Pesky during a ceremony where Pesky&#039;s No. 6 was retired prior to a game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park September 28, 2008.</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">naterawlings</media:title>
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		<title>Beyond the Quarterbacks: Why The NFL Draft Really Matters</title>
		<link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/04/26/beyond-the-quarterbacks-why-the-nfl-draft-really-matters/</link>
		<comments>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/04/26/beyond-the-quarterbacks-why-the-nfl-draft-really-matters/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:06:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nate Rawlings</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Football]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Luck]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indianapolis Colts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NFL]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NFL Draft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RG3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Griffin III]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ryan Leaf]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington Redskins]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/?p=2338108</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Long before April, it was clear that two quarterbacks would go one and two in the NFL draft. The only question was where. One was a dependable, steady student of the game who came just a couple of wins shy of a national championship; the other was a physical phenom who led his school to its most successful season in decades. Sitting on the first pick: the Indianapolis Colts. About a week before the 1998 NFL draft, I made a bet with my friends that if the Colts took Peyton Manning, they’d be sorry. Ryan Leaf was too good of an athlete, I argued, and with NFL coaching, he would only get better. Fast forward 14 years: Manning is a sure Hall-of-Famer with a Super Bowl and four MVP trophies; Leaf was back in the news last month for charges of burglary and drug possession. After four disastrous seasons, he threw his last NFL pass more than 11 years ago. So how did the Colts get it so right and the Chargers so wrong? Can one player really make that much of a difference, for better or for worse, in an NFL franchise? Team executives grapple with those types of questions every year in the months leading up to April, and this year the focus has been on Stanford’s Andrew Luck and Baylor’s Robert Griffin III. Much like in 1998, the two quarterbacks are expected to go one and two when the draft begins today in New York City, and the Colts took much of the drama out of the equation by announcing officially on Tuesday what nearly everyone expected, that Luck would be their pick. (MORE: The Overhyped NFL Draft &#8211; Are We Nuts?) And so the spotlight would, for all intents and purposes, shift to the Washington Redskins, but there will be equally little drama. The Redskins told Griffin if he was available with the No. 2 pick, they would take him, but as Griffin points it out, nothing is official until today. So why all the fuss,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=keepingscore.blogs.time.com&#038;blog=33268979&#038;post=2338108&#038;subd=timekeepingscore&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Football</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/category/football/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timekeepingscore.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/luck-rg3.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Andrew Luck, left, and Robert Griffin III, are expected to be the first to players selected in the 2012 NFL Draft.</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">naterawlings</media:title>
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		<title>From the Department of Obvious: College Athletes Smoke Weed</title>
		<link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/04/19/from-the-department-of-obvious-college-athletes-smoke-weed/</link>
		<comments>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/04/19/from-the-department-of-obvious-college-athletes-smoke-weed/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:00:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nate Rawlings</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[College Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drugs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Football]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marijuana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oregon Ducks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[university of oregon]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/?p=2337624</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Perhaps you had the same reaction I did if you read the ESPN the Magazine article, &#8220;We Smoked it All,&#8221; which details the off the field marijuana-smoking habits of the Rose Bowl champion Oregon Ducks. My first thought was the famous scene from Casablanca: &#8220;I&#8217;m shocked. Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.&#8221; Before you think this will be an apology for bad behavior, I&#8217;ll start by saying that yes, marijuana use is illegal; some studies have shown it to be a gateway drug; and in general, avoiding marijuana use is a good thing. But let&#8217;s go ahead and say it&#8217;s not that shocking that college athletes, even those facing the multi-million dollar pressures of bowl games and potential draft positions, kick back by using marijuana. What is surprising is the frequency, proliferation and seeming constancy of the confessed drug use. ESPN The Magazine&#8216;s Sam Alipour begins with a detailed scene of an Oregon football player, fresh off this year&#8217;s Rose Bowl victory, kicking back by rolling a joint. The unnamed player (there are many unnamed sources in the article, which isn&#8217;t surprising given the content) estimates that about half of the team smokes marijuana on a regular basis. The magazine also cited interviews with 19 current and former Ducks going back a decade and a half who put that number at between 40 and 60%. (PHOTOS: Cannabis Culture) What we might be genuinely shocked to learn is that some athletes get high before they practice or play. The article cited a study in Sports Medicine that quoted athletes saying marijuana helps them focus better (I&#8217;m very dubious of this claim), increases creativity (I&#8217;ll buy that) and decreases anxiety, fear, depression and tension (take your pick). The article does an excellent job of addressing evolving norms regarding marijuana and the difficulty in testing athletes (school have to abide by state laws, which in Oregon required probable cause). Fantastically-detailed stories aside, what is fascinating about the article is analysis of what could drive change–the NFL. The magazine ran the article in its NFL Draft preview, and spends a decent<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=keepingscore.blogs.time.com&#038;blog=33268979&#038;post=2337624&#038;subd=timekeepingscore&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>College Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/category/college-sports-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timekeepingscore.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/oregon-ducks-marijuana.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Oregon Ducks Marijuana</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">naterawlings</media:title>
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		<title>NCAA Wrestling Championships: March Madness On The Mat</title>
		<link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/03/16/ncaa-wrestling-championships-march-madness-on-the-mat/</link>
		<comments>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/03/16/ncaa-wrestling-championships-march-madness-on-the-mat/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:29:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nate Rawlings</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Wrestling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cael Sanderson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dan Gable]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iowa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NCAA Wrestling Championships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Penn State]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/?p=2335673</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In office pools around the country, people are obsessing about their picks for the Final Four. But this weekend, a smaller, yet equally devoted group of sports fans will descend on St. Louis, armed with their own brackets: one for each of the 10 weight classes in the NCAA wrestling championships.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=keepingscore.blogs.time.com&#038;blog=33268979&#038;post=2335673&#038;subd=timekeepingscore&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Wrestling</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/category/wrestling-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timekeepingscore.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/110413299.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">David Taylor of Penn State wrestles Derek St. John of the University of Iowa during the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships.</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">naterawlings</media:title>
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