November Becomes Month of Tragedies

In America, the month of November is commonly associated with Thanksgiving, colder weather, men's health, and many sports in general. In a normal November, college football season is coming down to the wire, the NBA and college basketball are underway, the NHL is in full stride, and the NFL is preparing for midseason.

This year however, the only major sports functioning normally for the most part are hockey and pro football. The rest have all fallen into some serious trouble in one way or another.

Possibly the most talked about topic in sports of the past month is the Penn State scandal. When allegations of child molestation surfaced about former Nittany Lions football Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky, all hell broke loose. For about a full week, State College, Pennsylvania, was under the spotlight of more than just ESPN.

Just about every news outlet had some sort of coverage for the big developments, especially the firing of PSU Head Coach Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history. At the start of the Nebraska-Penn State football game, a large group of players and staff from both schools gathered at midfield to honor the victims.

Similar claims have recently appeared as well at Syracuse University. Assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine is now the center of an investigation, after being accused of molesting two former Syracuse University ball boys. Fine has been placed on administrative leave.

In addition, the NBA has been on lockout for more than 140 days. The players and owners are still unable to reach an agreement, and the league has canceled games through December 15. The hopes are that the two sides will reach an agreement by then and be able to play a shortened season.

Then there's the unfortunate news from Oklahoma State, where the Cowgirls Head Coach Kurt Budke and Assistant Coach Miranda Serna died suddenly in a plane crash in Arkansas. The crash occurred November 17, killing the pilot and another individual not affiliated with the university, along with the coaches.

This happens to follow the 10th Anniversary of a crash that took the lives of 10 people, including two players, the team's radio play-by-play broadcaster, and several other athletic department employees in the Oklahoma State men's basketball program.

Finally, boxing lost one of its great champions this month when "Smokin'" Joe Frazier, lost his battle against liver cancer. Frazier, a former heavyweight champion, was best known for his 1971 match with Muhammad Ali, which was billed as The Fight of the Century. Frazier won that fight and retained his title.

Frazier then lost his title to George Foreman in 1973 and would fight Ali for the title again in 1974 after Ali beat Foreman.

Ali won the second time around. Then in 1975, the two would face off one more time in a title match, and again Ali retained the titles. Frazier was 67 years old when he passed away.

As I'm watching the Oklahoma State University President struggle to get through the press conference right now, I can't imagine the pain the families, players, friends, and everybody involved are feeling. That goes for all the stories above. Jobs lost, lives scarred, legends passing—it's tragic.

There aren't enough words to describe all the emotions that November of 2011 has brought up in the sports world.

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