AP All-American Team

Seeing the AP team this morning and how un-inspiring it is, made me re-live my youth. Remember when the AP team was just the coolest thing, when it contained giants of the game, and they made a big deal about it, front-page with all 5 photo's? I miss that game so much. Check these out and get nostalgic:

1978/79 - Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Sidney Moncrief, Bill Cartwright, David Greenwood
1982/83 - Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan, Ralph Sampson, Wayman Tisdale, Dale Ellis
1983/84 - Ewing, Jordan, Tisdale, Hakeem Olajuwon, Sam Perkins

Even as late as 91/92 you had: Shaq, Alonzo Mourning, Laettner, Jimmy Jackson, & H Miner.

Great memories.

S

Feliz

Here comes Neftali Feliz. After a very slow start to his spring, yesterday he hit 100 mph 4 times and 101 3 more times. Ron Washington gets quote of the day with "he can throw hard, very hard". Really? I hope Chapman, Feliz, & Strasberg stay healthy. Will be fun.

S

Griner

My disdain for women's basketball is well known. All you need to see is that Xavier player blow 2 wide open layups at the end of the Stanford game last night. However, I love phenoms in any sport, and Brittney Griner qualifies. 35 blocks in 4 games? Seriously? She moves well, can shoot, and is cocky (too much so many would say). Think what would happen if a 7 and a half foot guy showed up with the skills of a small forward and the mentality to block everything that he sees. I really miss the heyday of the center phenoms, when every other year there seemed to be a Ewing, a Sampson, a Robinson come along to dominate. But, Griner is a quantum leap for the women's game and it will be kind of cool to watch her over the next couple of years.

S

Bradford's Workout

I assume you saw and listened to the reaction from Sam Bradford's workout yesterday. Everyone was gushing. He threw 63 balls and by all accounts I've read was on target, had zip, and moved incredibly well for his size. I don't see how the Rams could take a D-tackle if a franchise QB is sitting there.

S

Sort of Sports-Related

Do you have Sport Clips in Bossier? I stumbled on it a few months ago, they have them all over the place over here. Haircuts with a sports theme. You get your haircut while a slew of TV's replay games and play Sports Center all day. All the "stylists" are young women who wear referee uniforms. I now look forward to haircuts. Great idea.

S

Huggy

With the arrival of Bob Huggins back on the national scene, in the F4 with West Va, it brought to mind the most scathing article I ever remember Rick Reilly writing, about the aformentioned Huggins. I was able to find it in the SI vaults. This is one of the great attacks on someone's character I've ever seen:

CONGRATULATIONS, Kansas State University! You've just purchased Famous College Coaches Model NX9873, Bob Huggins.
WAIVER: Before you open your used Bob Huggins, please read the directions CAREFULLY. We cannot be responsible for damage to your integrity, reputation or standing in the community.
GUARANTEE: Your used Bob Huggins is guaranteed to win games, not graduate players. He operates best at a zero graduation rate. In fact, in four of nine reporting years at Cincinnati his graduation rate was 0.0—meaning Huggins graduated as many people as the local cemetery. He insists his rates were low because he relied on junior college transfers, who don't count in the stats when they graduate, and because many of his players turned pro. Still, in 16 years at Cincinnati, Huggins graduated only 28% of the players who arrived as freshmen. You could do better than that teaching calculus by smoke signal.
SETTINGS: Do not adjust the volume on your used Bob Huggins. He has only one setting. During games he screams at his players, and they scream back at him. It's like dinner at Ozzy Osbourne's house. Your fans will love it. They will be able to hear much of his halftime speech without leaving their seats.
CARE AND CLEANING: Do not attempt to clean your used Bob Huggins with abrasive cleansers or industrial products. In fact, don't try to clean your used Bob Huggins at all. The stain will not wash off. He's about as black a hat as you can find in college basketball. He even wears black. His temper is factory-set to "quick" and his ethics to "slick," and he'll sign a cottonmouth if he thinks he can rebound.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Hire extra cashiers. Your used Bob Huggins will win many games and win them quicker than you can tote them up. He's the best defensive coach in the land. K-State won six Big 12 games last year? Hah! Huggins will pass that by Groundhog Day. You'll sell out of seats, jerseys and nachos. Alumni donations will double. You'll be on Dick Vitale's speed-dial. With Dick's lung capacity, that's not always a good thing.
LIMITED WARRANTY: No wins guaranteed after March 15. Only one of Huggins's last nine Cincinnati teams made it past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. You said you wanted to go to the dance. You didn't say you wanted to stay.
NOTE TO USERS: Do not store your used Bob Huggins near any flammable material, such as the NCAA rule book. In '98 his Bearcats program got two years probation and lost three scholarships for "lack of institutional control." Also, keep your university's ethics professors away from him. We all know what you did here. You sold your soul for wins. It's like marrying Anna Nicole Smith. She ain't moving in to cook.
TROUBLESHOOTING: Your used Bob Huggins already made you look a little sleazy before you hired him. After getting canned by Cincinnati in August 2005, he had all of last season to basically recruit star players, even though he didn't know what school he was recruiting them for. You're going to love it there, as soon as I figure out where "there" is. Right after Hugs signed with Kansas State, he got a verbal commitment from star forward Michael Beasley, one of the top high school players in the class of '07. (Probably didn't hurt that Huggy Bear hired Beasley's old AAU coach as one of his assistants.)
HELPFUL TIP: Have plenty of good lawyers around. Your used Bob Huggins often recruits the kind of player reserved for Scared Straight! documentaries. In his time at Cincinnati, 19 of his players or recruits were charged with crimes ranging from shoplifting to assault. One player punched a horse. Huggins's Thug-o-meter broke years ago. If you hold a reunion of ex-Huggins players now in the NBA, it will draw such moral beacons as San Antonio's Nick (the Gangsta Hooper) Van Exel, who once attacked a ref; Denver's Kenyon Martin, who was suspended for insubordination during last season's playoffs; and Milwaukee's Ruben Patterson, a registered sex offender.
SAFETY WARNING: Use caution when allowing your used Bob Huggins to take the wheel of your program. In fact, use caution when allowing him to take the wheel of anything. He's already had one DUI conviction.
REPLACEMENT PARTS: These are not covered by the manufacturer on your used Bob Huggins. The man is so intense he had a heart attack four years ago, at 49, and was back at work within two weeks. (Defibrillator sold separately.)
EMERGENCY SHUT-OFF: After a few seasons you will want to get rid of your used Bob Huggins the way Quasimodo wanted to get rid of his hump. This will not be cheap. It cost Cincinnati president Nancy Zimpher $3 million to fire him. Why'd she do it? Because, she said, "character counts."
Not at Kansas State. Accountants do.
Enjoy!

S

HS Hockey

Allen played in the state hockey title game yesterday for the 3rd time in 4 years, but lost, and to of all people, the hated Dragons of Southlake. Even when Allen finds something to claim as their own, (2 championships in '07 and '09), Southlake comes back to haunt them. Geez I hate those guys. And I know you just say that Allen is a SL wannabe. True I guess. But I still hate 'em.

S

Duke

Watching Duke this weekend, I came to the realization that my dislike for them is bordering on how I feel about N Dame in football. That shouldn't be right? Coach K is by all accounts a good guy who does things right. The players are mostly clean and very white compared to other national programs. I should love them, but I can't stand them. I guess it comes down to arrogance, the one thing that overrides just about any other emotion for me. They crossed the bridge to arrogance a long time ago. Rich white guys pulling for rich players, dripping with the attitude that they are entitled to be at the top. Even now I get riled up typing it out. Having them back in the F4 is most unwelcome to me.

I had a feeling yesterday morning that Baylor wouldn't beat them. I didn't think Baylor understood the intensity that would be required to beat Duke in a big game. Still, they had a shot until those back to back 3's. That game hurt me a lot. A lot.

S

Izzo

Let's put Tom Izzo's accomplishments in perspective. After just 15 years as a head coach, all at Mich St., he is making his 6th F4 appearance (in a 12-yr span). This year moves him past Rick Pitino, Guy Lewis, Lute Olsen, & Bobby Knight, into a tie for 5th most all-time with Denny Crum and Adolph Rupp. For whatever reason I took a real like to Izzo despite his Big 10 affiliation. He seemed to be grounded, humble, hard-working, and just likeable. I guess the old-school committment he makes to toughness, rebounding, and defense still plays well even in our era. He plays a national schedule and has a knack for coaching the kinds of principles that lead to tournament runs. He is an amazing 6-1 in regional finals and hasn't had a 4-yr player who didn't participate in a F4. That's a program. I also read that 82% of his 4-yr players have graduated. I find it hard to root against him, even against an SEC team this past weekend, when I didn't want to be happy for him, but was anyway.

S

I pulled my final four note from Jan.

Interesting to grade your initial thoughts.

I evidently was in love with Ky back in December.

They will probably lose today.

Original Note.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Final Four

My Final Four Picks From Preseason may need some tweaking.

Original.
1. Kentucky
2. Kansas
3. Villanova/Michigan State
4. W Va

I have concerns over Kansas and W VA.
Kansas is too perimeter oriented and W VA. doesn't look as good as Syracuse.

Ohio State and the Big 10 are much better than I thought.
The Big East is just brutal.
The SEC is still weak, outside of the KY freaks, there are just not very good shooters to open up the court.
j

Butler going to the Final Four is Great.

Is it just me or did Kansas State look less aggressive than normal.

Maybe that double OT game was just too much in the form of energy burn or did they simply overlooked the Butler talent.

I tend to lean toward Overlooked.

j

Next Round and Praise for Tenn.

Great job with Pearl taking the other players out of the game and Chisum for being dominant when it mattered most.

Ohio State players quit moving when Turner was not being pushed into help defense for open jumpers.

By the way, can Turner guard anyone face up? I wanted to see Wall play Turner man to man, no way Turner would have played Wall on the defensive end. The 2 years of age difference would have been irrelevant. Turner is a great passer and decent shooter but a bit slow and reaches on defense. Too many loose dribbles when Tenn put pressure on him.

I am still shocked that Wall does not even try to score more points.

He only averaged 25pts a game in high school.

Now K State had better no overlook Butler. Butler can shoot better than KSTATE.

If KY shoots anywhere close to 48% they will beat WVA.

j

1st half of Tenn - Ohio St

I do not know how this will end, but the refs are calling the game different on each end.

Ohio State is fouling on every layup or dunk with no FTs added.

Turner is getting touch fouls because he fumbles the ball so often.

Ohio State has some great perimeter shooters. I still think Turner is too weak with the dribble and slow a foot to be a NBA big time player. He definitely see the floor well. Similar to the Gtwon Ohio State game. The otherp players help Turner more than most superstars.

Come on Baylor and Tennessee.

I hope the speed wins both games, but I doubt it.

If Tennessee shoots well they can win.

If Baylor shoots well they will win.

Dukes Bracket really was easier.

I hope NIU beats M State, but IZZO always wins.

J

Time for hoops.

Lebron's comments on winning the scoring title.

If I really wanted to be the scoring [champion] every single year -- every single year -- I could really do it. But it doesn't matter.

Why bother saying this? He really needs to qualify some of these type of statements and forget the passive agressive style shots at Kobe and his ball hogging style. Lebron should adopt a Barry Sanders or Kareem style quote and just say it doesn't matter, then sit down when the game is decided.

Lets compare the top 4, notice the FG% on Lebron. It makes his statement more acceptable.

2009-10 Statistics			FG		3PT		FT		Rebounds			Misc
	G	MIN	FGM-A	FG%	3PM-A	3P%	FTM-A	FT%	OFF	DEF	TOT	STL	BLK	TO	PF	AST	PTS
Season	70	39.0	707-1404	.504	124-360	.344	548-708	.774	1.0	6.3	7.2	1.66	1.06	3.43	1.59	8.5	29.8
Career	542	40.4	5354-11279	.475	766-2317	.331	3605-4852	.743	1.2	5.8	7.0	1.75	.88	3.29	1.96	6.9	27.8

.

Anthony

2009-10 Statistics			FG		3PT		FT		Rebounds			Misc
	G	MIN	FGM-A	FG%	3PM-A	3P%	FTM-A	FT%	OFF	DEF	TOT	STL	BLK	TO	PF	AST	PTS
Season	59	38.2	599-1296	.462	49-159	.308	462-555	.832	2.2	4.5	6.6	1.25	.41	3.07	3.24	3.4	29.0
Career	504	36.4	4463-9704	.460	358-1166	.307	3193-3988	.801	2.0	4.2	6.2	1.14	.44	3.09	3.03	3.1	24.8

Bryant

Season	66	38.9	662-1435	.461	89-273	.326	403-491	.821	1.0	4.3	5.3	1.65	.30	3.14	2.50	5.0	27.5
Career	1014	36.6	8918-19597	.455	1293-3801	.340	6507-7758	.839	1.2	4.1	5.3	1.53	.56	2.92	2.65	4.7	25.3

Durant

2009-10 Statistics			FG		3PT		FT		Rebounds			Misc
	G	MIN	FGM-A	FG%	3PM-A	3P%	FTM-A	FT%	OFF	DEF	TOT	STL	BLK	TO	PF	AST	PTS
Season	70	39.3	675-1416	.477	101-283	.357	626-700	.894	1.2	6.3	7.4	1.30	.94	3.36	2.07	2.8	29.7
Career	224	37.5	1923-4172	.461	257-718	.358	1469-1672	.879	1.0	5.0	6.0	1.18	.87	3.09	1.79	2.6	24.9

Kentucky - West Va

When I look at the remaining teams, I do not feel any other team would be favored over either of these teams.

Huggin vs Calipari. We can call it the Hair Gel Game.

Ernie Els-Where would have he had ranked overall? Sad Story

I was watching Arnold Palmer's Tourney today and the "Big Easy" was putting on a show.

Most people have forgotten that he and Phil are 8 months apart in age and Ernie was a better player than Phil for most of there careers.

A few facts:

57 professional wins. 40 years old.

He had 2 majors at the age of 27- He won his third in 2002

He had 10 wins on the PGA and European tour in 2004 and 2005.

However, in 2005 he breaks his wrist and starts saying strange comments about his mental state of golf. In the next 4 years he only won twice, then a couple of weeks ago he won his 3rd.

In 2007 Els missed the cut at the Masters in 2007, this broke a string of 128 straight made cuts for Els. Second only to Woods 142 (which should be contested and removed with his withdrawal for an alleged illness since he was going to miss that cut.) Els streak is even more amazing when you add the fact that Els played all over the world, as compared to the hand picked schedule of Woods and Phil.

The True Story:

In 2003, Els and his wife gave birth to a son that was later diagnosed with Autism.

Maybe this family issue is not the sole reason for the golf decline, but I feel it would have done the same thing to me.

I now feel very guilty for doubting his mental toughness during that decline. Being a follower is bad enough, looked through jaded glasses like the media is embarrassing to me.

I really thought it was his inability to deal with losing and the injury was the sole cause of the decline.

I WAS SO WRONG.

Now we know the truth and what occupied his mental toughness, he loves his family more than golf. He is thriving in adversity and becoming more well known now for the millions of dollars he has given to the Autism cause than the incredible talent he displays.

J

Calvin Watkins Article on the Boys.

In the article, he list trade bait, and irreplaceable.

I disagree with 4 and 5, but it is interesting.

Time to let him go
1. Ken Hamlin: He was average last year, and he makes too much money for that.
2. Roy Williams: Cowboys took a $9 million cap hit when they cut T.O. Williams is worth nearly $13 million?
3. Marion Barber: It's probably time for the Cowboys to let Felix Jones take over.
4. Flozell Adams: Doug Free is waiting in the wings.
5. Terence Newman: He's getting older and makes a ton of money.

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys/post/_/id/4667236/top-five-to-trade-and-top-five-to-go

j

What is up with Dolphin QB's Dissing people. Jealousy?

1. Bob Griese on Peyton Mannings being one of the greats of all time.

“No, no, you can’t take him,” Griese said. “If you took Peyton and put him back with Archie [Manning], he wouldn’t be doing all that stuff [statistically]. If you took Archie and put him in Peyton’s time, Archie would be doing all this stuff – with legs. …

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-peytonvsgreats020510&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

2. Chad Henne on Tebow.

“My judgment is he’s not an NFL quarterback, I’ll leave it at that.”

Henne's position coach, David Lee, is one of the men who are helping Tebow

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/170170

Two Days Later after a media blitz Chad had a change of heart.

"I didn't really say he wasn't wasn't able to be one,"

j

Another of my favorite Coaches with an Issue

Did you see the bully job that Urban Meyer did on the reporter for a correct quote from the Fla WR, the WR comments were not disputed and demeaned Tebow as a QB, by complementing Brantley.

Part of Meyers comment."If it was my son we would be going at it, right now."

Violence, that is just a great way to represent the world we live in.

Geez, another one of my favorites forgetting the proper way to act.

Thank goodness that the sport is bigger than the participants.

As a second point of idiocy, Wilbon on PTI said he would have attacked Meyer.

Wilbon is becoming an a ego growing MORON. Tony K just laughed at him.

j

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5025822

My favorite NFL coach is spiraling out of control.

Everyone knows that I have been using Hyperbole on Sean Payton for 4 years.

Well, Saint Sean is trying my patience on proper decorum and class.

1. First he drinks Jerry Jones, expensive wine and then signs his name and leaves the empty bottle at Dallas Cowboys function. He signed it with the illiterate "Who Dat."

Jones maybe a buffoon in many ways, but he earned his stripes against the smartest people in the world and deserves the respect. Not to mention he has 3 super bowl rings.

2. Now, Payton says the "Owners" back doored a new Overtime Rule. He doesn't like that it adds decisions and he has to explain it to his wife....Can you imagine a manager at a fortune 500 club making these comments...Pink Slip Time.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AvIWsLgu7SXdvBHxggybZb5DubYF?slug=jc-gripingcoaches032410

Payton and the other ego maniacs coaching in sports should remember that when the "good ole boys" network finally realizes that most of the extremely smart people did not play college sports and start hiring the Mensa members instead of players, the pseudo brainiacs in sports will have to face reality like the front office people in baseball have been living with since Bean Ball.

Miles and LSU spring practice

I am already dreading next year.

A few stories that are turning my stomach.

1. Miles is praising QB Lee and discussing with the media the mistakes Jefferson is making. NO comment needed.

2. The defense looks faster. Everyone looks fast against that offensive Juggernaut. They are still going to be weak and on the field for 35 minutes a game.

3. Ridley is listed as the no 1 back. Ford is supposedly looking good and Miles is amazed he is that fast...DUH. He will probably not touch the ball more than 20 times during the year.

4. Recruiting violations- They now are saying that they may have so many instances that the penalty could grow.

j

March Madness is absolutely the best TV of the year.

I cannot believe how enjoyable college Basketball is, every year it amazes me.

I buy this package every year and gain 10lbs from being a coach potato and watching TV.

The KState- Xavier game is a classic, especially knowing the past and all of the disgust between the two schools over the recent routes in the series.

Butler is just a great story.

I am worried about my Baylor final four pick, St Mary is hard for me to pull against.

If you need me tomorrow night I will be planted on the couch in my cave, watching my 50inch HD that is only 6 feet away. How did we survive without big HD Television.

J

NCAA Brackets & More

Wow, am I behind. Here goes a few thoughts on your recent posts:

Brackets - I'm sitting 2nd in our office pool before tonight. I had KS winning so I'm needing KY to lose since most everyone else has them. I still have 3 of my final 4 left. I went out on a limb this year since I didn't think much of anyone. I have KS St, W VA, & Purdue in the F4. I am totally enjoying the tournament thus far. Great stuff.

Team BBall - I heard Bobby Knight on the radio this week talking about how the "mid-majors" field teams full of kids who work hard, listen to coaches, and try to improve, plus stay in school 4 years. Which is why they have better chances than ever to make it farther, witness Butler just a few minutes ago.

Glanville - I laughed all day after I read your post about Glanville/Favre. Hilarious. Now that Favre is a national icon we forget he was a wild country boy at one time.

Rangers - I don't know of anyone making any claims about Ryan's character. I won't even comment on your implication that he was a juicer. But, he knows baseball and I firmly believe he's making good moves inside the organization. Getting people in shape, expecting a high level of committment and performance, wanting to get more innings out of pitchers. He has brought a different attitude and I think this new ownership group will be sound. For the record, I would have definately fired Ron Washington, pennant race or not.

Seve - I didn't know you were such a fan of the wild Spaniard. He was the ultimate scrambler with talent to boot and I always loved him. Playing against that spineless group on the PGA at that time, how could you not like him? Everyone else was BORING except for the choker Norman of course.

s

ARod meeting with GMEN to discuss Tiger's Doc.

Espn is reporting that Arod is set to meet with the FBI to discuss Dr Galea.

When will Tiger be called in? Hopefully the week of the Masters.

J

Baylor-St Mary Battle of the Big Men

Saint Mary's 6-foot-11 forward Omar Samhan vs Baylor's 6-10 forward Ekpe Udoh.

Samhan is avg 30.5pt and 9.5 reb 75% fg . Udoh can jump out of the gym and challenges everything.

Good quote from the Californian.

"Well, the biggest challenges is he can jump and I can't. Um, he's fast and I'm not. He's strong and I'm not. A lot of the challenges are physical," Samhan, laughing, yet halfway serious. "Like I said, he's a great athlete, but I'm pretty skilled down low. Although I'll have trouble guarding him, I think he'll have trouble guarding me. The biggest thing is he going to go one-on-one with me or are they going to run that zone? We don't really know what they're going to do."

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/colleges/post/_/id/4667595/st-marys-giant-samhan-eager-to-see-udoh

I doubt 7footer Lomers will be able to lumber through Samhan like he did while helping Udoh last weekend.

j

LaFell going to visit the Jones Family

Portion of an article

Stephen Jones won't confirm which college prospects will visit Valley Ranch, but LSU wide receiver Brandon LaFell said he will come for a talk on March 31.

"The Oilers weren't that good," LaFell said. "Growing up the Oilers moved, so I had to root for the Cowboys because they were always winning. It would be a dream of mine to play for them because I know I can help those guys."

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys/post/_/id/4667137/lsu-receiver-to-visit-valley-ranch

If Dallas fans thought TO dropped passes, wait until they see LaFell.

j

Stereotype of a new generation

A side note from the first round of the tournament.

While at the Golf course Saturday Morning, I heard some older gentlemen comment on the disgust of some of these "kids tattoo's" and calling them thugs.

(As most people around me know, I think it is a sign of mental issues and more importantly someone having very bad taste. Heck, a good artist can do better with a pack of sharpies. But, I regress.)

It was funny, that I made verbal made excuses for the kids, even though I feel the same way as the old men.

One man quoted the same scripture in a book from Moses as author Dan Brown in his last book.

King James Bible
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)

'You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD.

Is this sports related, I do not know, but it really does effect that way some people perceive athletes. Maybe it explains why the respect ends as soon as they leave the arena.

j

My BBall Bracket shows my lack of Knowledge.

I have 7 teams left in the Sweet 16.

At least 3 of my final four teams are left. (Kentucky, Baylor and Syracuse. But no NC with Kansas)

In our office pool, I am hovering around the bottom.

BL is blowing us away and ranked in the top 7% of the ESPN national pool.

I guess he learned some BB down McNeese.

Hopefully, I will catch up to my sister before the end of the tourney.

j

Our 300th post should be about the Cowboys.

I just watched ESPN's Draft Preview for Dallas.

Trent Dilfer said Jordan Shipley should be the Boy's pick in the late first round.

He said Shipley was great at the Texas pro day.

Now for a reality check: Dilfer also said that Dallas is the most talented team in the NFL. OOPS.

If the Texas grad Jordan Shipley ends up in Dallas,

The "Eyes of Texas" really will be upon him.

J.

More on Ron Washington's Drug Test

Not only did Nolan Ryan and John Daniels know that about the drug use last year without firing him. They admitted that Ron Washington told them only after he realized he had been caught by a random drug test. I wonder how quick he would have been fired had they not been in a playoff chase.

Then worse yet, the Rangers tried to cover the story up before it went public. They were trying to appease a an ex-employee who was blackmailing them with the story.

What a piece of trash! or should I say pieces of trash?

How can anyone trust Nolan Ryan. How can anyone believe he was oblivious to his EX-Teammates using SterRoids during his playing days. I find it funny that he never thought that extreme muscle growth and old players playing much longer than the past was not strange.

Wait, at what age did Ryan retire?

How did he do that?

Oh yea, his work outs.

j

These Upsets and Team Ball make me Reminisce

I believe that the majority of America would embrace a more disciplined game where the true specialization of Basketball would once again rein supreme. A return the 70's and early 80's style would be a treat.

Did you know that the Boston Celtics average 113pt per game in 1980 and 110 in 1981 while winning a championship. The Nuggets scored 100 pts are more for 136 games in 81 and 82.

Pragmatically, I know that the quickness in the AAU style players will win games with the current style of officiating. They allow too much hand checking, pushing off and touching people on both end of the court.

Can you imagine a game where the shooter would rival the athletic steal machines and with the ability to make high flying layups? Immediately the scoring would go up and the coaching of schemes and screens would be more important than the number of touches or shots a kid would get.

I really do not know who to blame, but I will start with Pat Riley, Chuck Daly, John Thompson or David Stern. These coaches could not win with a set offense and bragged about the fact that their teams would do the rough things to win a game. An example, how could a team with Kareem, Magic, and Worthy have to rely on Cooper and the thugs to hand check and foul off the ball to win? It is actually a simple answer, the could not shot well enough, the exception was Kareem, to score without the push off. Georgetown is the first team that I remember that bumped and fouled so many times, that the refs stopped calling fouls.

Too me, it is Stern and Dave Gavitt, they sold these teams as special without regard for the history or rules.

My favorite game is an aberration.

j

Will I finish at 50/50 after the first weekend?

24-16, I have 3 Final 4 teams left. But my champion pick is out with Kansas.

The inability to produce a consistent outside shooter final caught up with Kansas, Nova and Tx.

If they played high pressure like Kentucky through out the game, I believe they would have won with defensive turnovers and N. Iowa forcing the ball on offense.

The discipline of these smaller conference teams with their mature players is a joy to watch.

St Mary, Cornell, Butler and Northern Iowas is a definite proponent for hiring a good coaching staff and for the administration to have patience.

I doubt they will be able to withstand the talent level differences as the teams go deeper and games become more physical and every shot contested.

j

Do they remember how good Seve really was?

This past week SI had an article about a Spanish golfer that was compared to Seve.

Alvaro Quiros, 124mph swing speed, no fear and a smile that never stop.

The fans love him and best of all, he is full of personality.

Can you imagine a talent with Personality on the PGA or European Tour?

Quiros plays a triple X stiff Rifle steel shaft, a 7.7 shaft flex

I will be curious to see if this guy pans out.

For the record, Seve had 91 wins and 5 majors. 5 times he won the match play championship.

Most of his career was completed by the time he was 31. (Back Problems killed him.)

Seve career was similar to some our our favorite athletes like Sandy Koufax and Earl Campbell:

His career exploits were short lived but spectacular.

j

http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1972176,00.html

Glanville has a way with words.

The Yankee Cowboy was asked how he could trade Favre to GB from Atlanta.

“I had to get him out of Atlanta. . . . I could not sober him up," Glanville said. "I sent him to a city where at 9:00 at night the only thing that’s open is Chili Joes. If I would have traded him to New York, nobody to this day would have known who Brett Favre ever was.”

Just Brilliant.

j

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/blogs/88451307.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUgOy9cP3DieyckcUsI

9-7 in my picks after day 1.

Ouch.

I would have been worse if the refs had not lost the whistle when Robert Morris was being pushed around by Nova.

J

Good Start to Tourney.

3 games finished.

2 OT's and the higher seed should have lost both. Fla blew it in the first OT. Nova was behind the entire game, until the fouls caught up with Robert Morris.

1 Upset. The Irish go down to ODU.

j

Ranger's Ron Washington and Cocaine

I am having trouble maintaining my allegiance to the Texas Rangers.

After Ron Washington was exposed as testing Positive for Cocaine, it comes out that he went to the Rangers and told them he would test positive.

How in the world can this be forgiven? Why was he not fired on the spot.

Is it little wonder that Josh Hamilton's escapades were being accepted on road trips.

It was hard enough for me to accept that Washington should have kept his job from the Rangers past performance. Now, I am galvanized in my beliefs. Fire Washington and every single person that supported or allowed this type of acceptance.

If the beloved Nolan Ryan was part of this cover up and acceptance, give him a blood test and make him sell his share of the team.

Disgusting.

j

What a shock Tiger is playing the Masters.

There goes the neighborhood. Ms Georgia can save her rep again.

How naive of people to really think he would miss this tourney.

By my accounts his extended leave was a about 3 weeks longer than his normal off season.

j

North Texas and Johnny Jones

I am really happy that North Texas is in the tourney riding an 11 game win streak.

I was wearing my N Texas T-Shirt today in honor of the success.

I still remember the first time I watched Johnny Jones at Deridder with Charles Sanders.

They came into Airline and manhandled a well coached team. I had been warned about his talent from the first meeting when the Seniors were talking about him from their first game against Deridder. He was a freshman and the fastest player on the court.

If I remember correctly they lost their only game of the year in the finals.

j

I watched Houston Yates on video.

It is Loyola Marymount part 2.

They run and shoot constantly, they give up fast break point and pressure the entire game.

=

I posted a comment on the question you asked about my opinion on Peabody vs Yates.

Peabody is not prepared for that type of scheme and pressure. Talent wise the players may be as athletic, but the experience against top level coaching and teams would lead Yates to a blow out.

Peabody is not prepared for 10players going at them for the entire game.

The discipline is not detailed enough at Peabody to win the game.

As a matter of fact, if Bossier shoots normally and avoids the reaching the fouls they beat Peabody. For a comparison, there is no way Bossier could handle the Good DFW teams night in and night out.

j

My Picks are Complete on The Challenge.

I must admit, I have no faith in my picks.

I am surprised about the conference in which I rated the best.

j

NAIA BBall Tourney-LSUS

3/17/2010 - 10:15 AM LSUS vs. Campbellsville University at Jackson, Tennessee (Women's Basketball)

3/18/2010 - 10:45 AM LSUS vs. Oklahoma Christian University at Kansas City, Missouri (Men's Basketball)

Tourney Challenge For Us.

Here is a link to the ESPN Bracket.

You can play in our group and also post for the national contest.

You will have to copy and paste this to your browser.

http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/group?groupID=34882

Group: Sport Thought

Password: Sport Thought

=============================================

j

March Madness and the Teams

Oversight?- Mississippi State, UAB, Memphis left out

How did this happen? PAC 10 -Two Teams, ACC 6 Teams?

They killed some of my previous picks with teams like Kansas and Michigan State meeting before final four.

j

Houston Yates - Lancaster.

The No.1 team in the nation, Houston Yates goes on 19-0 run to beat Lancaster.
Lancaster was up 72-71 and lost 92-73.

I wish I could have seen this game.
I really dislike Yates, but to outscore Lancaster 20-2, they must have some serious talent.

The DFW area goes down with the Garland Lakeview and Madison loses.

The rest of Texas is probably rejoicing in some fashion.

I expect the dominance to return and the nation to finally realize that DFW is the hotbed of Basketball in America, especially considering they are doing it without Prep schools.

J

Peabody wins 61-58.

This is a sad day in Bossier.

After being down by double digits in the first half.

Bossier came back and gave Peabody, 41-0 a run for the money.

Two of the Bossier starters fouled out, including the super soph Frances.

Peabody was up 1 with 42 seconds and Frances stole it and then missed a shot to take the lead.

He then fouled out going for the ball. Peabody made two free throws and West missed a 3 pointer to tie it at the end.

All American Brown was too much for Bossier, Okie State will enjoy the athletic ability.

That hurt.

Christian Life won the 1a game over Country Day.

I stand by my previous statement: the best 5 teams in the state.

Peabody

Christian Life

Bossier
Country Day

Riverside

Brother Martin won 5a.

J

Prediction-Bossier-Peabody.

My guess for the game, Peabody comes out intense and gets ahead early.

(Hopefully the refs will call it tight which will help Bossier, especially they Peabody 6'5 guards get in Foul Trouble. Reaching fouls will kill Bossier if it is too tight.)

They can just shoot over Bossier at nearly every position.

Brown is just too tall for them to control.

By half Bossier will have it close, because of their quickness and shooting skills.

The start of the 3rd quarter will decide the game, if Frances gets in foul trouble trying to keep the All American from driving past everyone, Peabody will go up by double digits and win by 6 or 8.

If the Peabody coach decides to play a zone in the 1st half, with their length they will control Bossier at the 3 point line and avoid foul trouble. Lights out for Bossier.

But, if Peabody insist on playing man to man and Bossier avoids foul trouble, we will see an upset. Peabody could implode, they seem to get lazy many times on defense, a no-no against this 3 point shooting/slashing team.

Peabody is a chasing man to man team which will play into Bossier's speed and passing offense.

The constant Bossier pressure on defense with those quick hands and speed just frustrates teams to death.

j

Week at La BBall Tourney.

We are now down to the finals at the Cajun Dome.

I thought you may want a quick recap.

1. )LA has some really special Sophomores in Louisiana. 2012 will be a huge year in recruiting.

*We can discuss this later, but Peabody starts two at 6'7 pf and 6'2 pt grd and two more in their top 8 rotation. They are now 40-0.

*Riverside has two at 6'7 and 6'2 that are even better. Marion's best players was also 6'2 gd.

*best player at Bossier is also a soph who took over in the 4th again. Marion had the ball down 4 and he proceeds to steal the ball and score 10pts in a row.

2.) The 5A finalist would lose to both of the 4A and 1A finalist. Not to mention Riverside in 2A.

3.) The private school contingent on the I-10 have some special talent and are well coached.

4.) I-10 teams play more zone than the north LA teams. Not as quick usually, but a different brand of Ball.

5.) Funniest and yet most obnoxious thing I saw.

After Peabody's freak athletes pulled away from Glen Oaks with 3 minutes to play.

A group of Parents stand up wearing the green and starts hollering "are ya'll ready" to the fans.

Then a fat man hollers 1-2-3.

A hundred Peabody fans STAND UP and scream.

"HEY GLEN OAK's: Get your Hat, your Coat and Leavvveeee! "

The funny part is the entire Glen Oaks community and team turned around and at looked them in shock. The gym went quiet as the game continued. Then Peabody started up again, which upset the Glen Oaks crowd and they started screaming back. A little hate was found from the proud Baton Rouge group.

Peabody and Bossier will be interesting, You will have an arrogant group of fans from Peabody vs a relatively mild Bossier Group that have a mean streak. Why Lafayette should never host a tourney, Last night after the games some of the fans from Marion thought they wanted to fight, the Bossier neighborhood would not back down and had them scrambling for back up. No police in sight. I hit the door at a jog and never slowed down.

My guess for the game, Peabody comes out intense and gets ahead early. Hopefully the refs will call it tights which will help Bossier, if Peabody gets in Foul Trouble. By half Bossier will have it close. The start of the 3rd will decide the game, if Francis gets in foul trouble Peabody will go up by double digits.

But, if Peabody insist on playing man to man and Bossier gets hot and avoids foul trouble, Peabody will implode, they seem to get lazy many times against the other night.

j

Strasberg and Chapman

I watched some clips of both this week. It is an amazing power display.

Strasburg appears to have that heavy ball that is just hard to hit.

Aroldis Chapman is left handed with a reported 100mph stuff and a hard slider, 22years old.

He just slings it and I love it.

I actually heard scouts argue on the radio over which one of these two is the best.

This makes it 4 or 5 straight years that MLB has produced some top level arms.

Maybe Feliz will get a few starts this year for the Rangers.

Now, if we can get the umps to give the high strike we can really see some power displays.

j

Strasberg

Did you hear Jason Stark talking about Strasberg's debut a couple of mornings ago? Said he walked into the park thinking, "surely this guy is over-hyped". Left it thinking the opposite. Said he has the juice, the breaking ball, the command, the poise, everything. Even the hitters were effusive in their praise. The early word is he will spend the first 2 months in the minors and come up in June.

S