March 2008 Archives
When Giants fans at the Meadowlands last had a crack at Eli Manning, the doe-eyed one was breaking their hearts in the nicest way possible once again.
That was Dec. 29, the Saturday night New York blew a 12-point third quarter lead and got blitzed by a 22-0 run by New England in a 38-35 loss. The Pats were perfect. The Giants were promising but flawed.
Then New York went on the road for three playoff games, won 'em all, and stunned the Patriots in the Super Bowl 17-14. So -- resume-wise -- it's a very different Eli that will be on display when the NFL opens its season Sept. 4 with the Giants hosting the Redskins.
The game will be on NBC and will kick off at 7 p.m. ET, moving back from the accustomed 8:30 start so that the network can pick up Republican National Convention coverage after the game.
The rivers of tears in Green Bay are starting to subside. Brett Favre's retirement is reality. Now, how does his former team move forward without him?
For so long, it's been Brett Favre and the Packers, who steps into the void and helps this team forge a new identity.
Won't the shadow of Favre still be cast over the rest of the team?
"That's OK if it is," said Packers general manager Ted Thompson here at the owner's meetings. "He meant a lot to us. And I don't think our team is cowed by (having his presence referred to still). Brett's a good teammate and he's well liked in our locker room and well-respected and but they know they have to go forward as a team.
"I know from a national media standpoint, every time we won a game it was like nobody else was on the field," Thompson pointed out.."Brett didn't like that kind of publicity. But our team just kept playing. We've got some guys that can play the game. They're looking forward to the challenge but it IS a new frontier."
As for the pressure on Favre's successor, Aaron Rodgers, Thompson said, "(He's been groomed) the old school way. Watch for a couple of years, learn and then go play. That’s an intellectual plan. But now we have to go play football. And I don’t think the team is looking at it like it’s all on Aaron’s shoulder, everybody has to take a piece of this."
One hangup in the Cowboys trade negotiations with Tennessee for Pacman Jones is that Dallas is asking for a compensation-back guarantee if Jones can't make it through the season.
Whether Dallas will do the deal without that assurance remains to be seen -- it seems likely they would. But at this point, the Cowboys are requesting that.
As he exited a meeting at the Breakers Hotel, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said that the Titans haven't yet budged on Dallas' latest offer. ESPN reported that offer to be a fourth-round selection this year and a pick to be determined in 2009.
"They are where they are. He's a Titan. I don't know what Tennessee wants to do at the end of the day," said Jones.
Jones still hasn't been reinstated since being suspended indefinitely. How will Jones' checkered past impact Dallas?
"We had situations where players might have 'baggage' but we think we have a good infrastructure in place, a good locker room and a good environment for people to be successful and get a second chance," said Jones. "It worked with several players we have on our team."
The Cowboys haven't sat down face-to-face with Jones yet but Stephen Jones said that will be an absolute requirement before the deal is done.
My favorite sports item of the past week is the Greg Oden pick-up game fiasco in Portland. If you hadn't heard, the No. 1 pick in last year's NBA draft decided to play a couple of games of pick-up basketball last week in The Rose City. And the Blazers, who have about $30 million committed to Oden over the next five years, were so not pleased. The 7-footer, as you know, has sat out his entire rookie season after having had microfracture knee surgery last summer.
So last week, Oden walks into a 24 Hour Fitness facility with some buds. He's planning on watching them play hoops but then gets persuaded to play a game. And then another. And of course someone posts the news on the internet and it spreads quickly.
All of which is hardly enough to make it my or your favorite story. Not at all. What brings this anecdote to the level of beauty is that Oden did not play one game but two. And why.
"I lost the first (game)," Oden told the media with a grin. "So my competitiveness, you know, I had to play the second one."
The Blazers are concerned because their franchise lynchpin jeopardized, in their minds, his future by participating in a pair of pick-up games. The Blazers should be concerned that the No. 1 overall pick in last June's draft could not lead a team to victory at a 24 Hour Fitness facility. I mean, who was on that other team? Al Horford?
Hilarious. Right now there are five guys strutting around Portland telling everyone they know that they played on a team that beat Greg Oden's team. And they're probably just as fired up about it as anyone on Memphis or UCLA or Kansas or North Carolina is about the Final Four. I hear they're planning on driving up the I-5 and challenging Kevin Durant to a game as soon as the season ends.
Jerry Reese, the Giants general manager, was wrapping up lunch with his wife and daughter on Sunday in the Seafood Bar at The Breakers. As the waiter collected the check, Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome sidled up and, pointing to Reese said, "Do you understand that this man is a WORLD CHAMPION?!"
Reese beamed.
There's a collegial atmosphere at these meetings. Saturday night at that same restaurant I saw Mike Nolan, John Fox and Sean Payton dining together at a back table. That's half of the NFC South's coaching staff. Tuesday morning is the NFL Coaches golf tournament. Last night, there was an NFL Coaches' reception. The atmosphere is laid-back and normally uptight and guarded coaches and executives let what's left of their hair down.
The surroundings have something to do with it. It's a beautiful joint (although the prices are in line with the beauty - $10 dollar smoothie?!). It's warm, which is a foreign sensation for many of the colder climate employees. And most coaches bring their spouses and kids with them,
This morning, Commissioner Roger Goodell is making his annual presentation to the owners. I had my ear against the door but was reprimanded so I'll have to wait for the thing to end. Be back with an update when the gentlemen file out.
There will be some saber-rattling from NFL owners this week here in Palm Beach about what a bad deal the current collective bargaining agreement has been for them.
A CBA discussion is on the agenda for Monday here at the NFL's Annual Meeting at The Breakers. Expect them to come out of that meeting loaded for bear.
The upper hand they held for decades over players has been flipped since the new CBA was passed in March 2006. The most glaring example: the salary cap for each team has risen from $85.5 million in March of 2006 before the new CBA kicked in to $116 million this year. Deals in which payrolls rise $30 million in two years time aren't the kind these guys are accustomed to making.
In November, there will be a vote by the owners to remain in the deal and 24 of the 32 have to agree. That seems unlikely. Which means panic in 2009 in anticipation of an uncapped year in 2010 and the likelihood of a work-stoppage in 2011.
But the players kind of like the deal. And a look back at the extremely hard-line stance NFLPA president Gene Upshaw took at the Super Bowl portends a vicious battle.
"I just don't want the owners to believe that somehow there is a Santa Claus," Upshaw said at the Super Bowl. "There's not one."
That would be Western Kentucky head coach Darrin Horn, who I'm seated behind now. The difference between sitting behind Horn and sitting behind West Virginia coach Bob Huggins is like night and day. Which is appropriate, since it was day here when Huggins strode the sideline and now it's...night.
I like Darrin Horn. I hope good things happen for him. He's smart and slim, first of all. I like smart and slim. He's also not loud. I like not loud. During the first game Bob Huggins's dad, I believe, who also sits on the WVU bench, got in the faces of a few WVU players and said things you'll only hear on Deadwood. And Deadwood ain't around any more, so I don't know where you'd hear 'em.
You can't argue with Huggins' success, and to each his own when it comes to coaching style. But Horn, who's just 35, I think, carries himself on the bench like someone who knows he's in charge without needing to advertise.
Tyrone Brazelton has been killing WKU...which is bad, since he plays for WKU. Brazelton had two missed lay-ups, a stolen pass and a traveling violation all in about three minutes, helping turn a 15-13 game into a 23-15 game for UCLA. Horn benched him (without berating him, or even derating him or, most appropriately considering that other coach, X-rating him) and put in our friend Orlando Exxon-Valdez.
And then a funny thing happened. Forward James Keefe of UCLA scored on a put-back and the much shorter (6-1, as opposed to 6-8) Valdez undercut him unintentionally. Keefe--who looks a little like Jack Johnson's long-lost bro--fell flat on his back. That's correct. Valdez caused a spill.
The Bruins are quite the laid-back teams through the first four minutes of play. They've missed a couple of bunnies and some free throws as well and seem blithely unconcerned. It's 7-4, Bruins, as we go to the first TV timeout. A few things:
-- New UCLA football coach (and alum) Rick Neuheisel chatting with former UCLA hoops coach Jim Harrick out on the concourse between games.
-- Josh Shipp just hit one of free throws before the first timeout. That's Shipp's first point since the Mississippi Valley State game.
-- Kevin Love has put on his "Feed me, Seymour" mask. The frosh is just WAY TOO BIG and strong for any Hilltopper to climb. They've already fouled him twice and it's been too easy for UCLA to find him in the low post thus far. He hasn't even been fronted yet ("Dude, why you be frontin'?").
Xavier freshman guard Dante Jackson turns 20 on April 7th, the night of the national championship game, and there's still a chance that he will be celebrating it in San Antonio sitting on the Xavier bench. The Musketeers win in overtime, 79-75, as B.J. Raymond hits two big threes--the final on an inbounds play when there were just 2 ticks on the shot clock--to secure the win for the Cincy school.
Most of the credit goes to Josh Duncan, however. Duncan scored a game-high 26 points despite picking up his 4th foul with 12:31 remaining. I'm not sure how many minutes beyond that Duncan played---not sure when or if he took a seat--but he was there for most of the rest of the game. Never fouled out. And scored 10 of his 26 points after that foul. Nicely done.
...I'm going to attempt to gather Kevin Love, Jason Love and Lisa Love and form (altogether now, New Wave fans) a "Bizarre Love Triangle". I may have to place them in a New Order, though.
So, fun times here at the US Airways Arena. WVU set up and executed a perfect turnaround jumper play for Joe Alexander, who banked it in and was fouled (by Jason Love, actually...Love, actually...and I wasn't even trying). Beautiful bank shot. You could hear Bill Raftery exclaiming, "THE KISS!" from across the court.
Alexander missed the free throw with 14.2 ticks left, though. Bummer. And Xavier's 5-7 Drew Lavender missed a last-second shot. So now we're in overtime.
...is Josh Duncan. The Xavier senior now has 25 points (that 61 total over the tourney's first three games) and he's played the past five minutes with four fouls. Duncan just hit a three, then grabbed a critical rebound (there were about three WVU misses under the basket and he wisely avoided drawing his fifth foul before grabbing a board that he could get to) and was fouled. Duncan then hit the two free throws.
That's five unanswered points in the final two minutes by Xavier, all by Duncan. He has about 40% of his team's points this evening. I thought Xavier was balanced. I'm sure they don't mind.
It's Xavier 64-62, with 21.2 to play and WVU has the ball. Just coming out of a timeout.
By the way, if you're keeping count of Love today (Kevin, Jason, etc.), I just noticed Arizona State athletic director Lisa Love seated at the scorer's table. And now, much like Air Supply, I'm all out of Love.
So I just peeked over my right shoulder and noticed Matty Leinart seated in the second row. So two rows back and about eight seats over to my right, Matt Leinart. Two rows back and about eight seats over to my left, Nick Lachey. And they say good things (or bad) happen in threes. You do the math.
Josh Duncan just went dunkin' for X to tie it up at 59-59. Joe Alexander, who's put WVU on his shoulders this half (13 points, after 3 in the first half) hit a jumper to put WVU back up by a basket. WVU has the ball with 2:42 to play.
So I find myself in a weird position. I just noticed this story on our website.
Meanwhile, I'm sitting about a dozen feet in front of Nick Lachey. Does he know? Should I walk the laptop over to him? Does he care?
Meanwhile, it's 57-57 here with 5:04 to play and West Va. in possession.
Josh Duncan and Derrick Brown are both playing with four fouls for the Musketeers, and a the sportscasters say, Xavier "can ill afford to lose either of them." I love that. "Ill afford." Where else does anyone use that term in common parlance.
Overheard from a staffer here at the arena just moments ago, as he spoke into his mike: "I need more towels!"
West Virginia's De'Sean Butler just attempted to run down a loose ball in front of his own bench. Nichols was unable to get the ball, but he did go through a row of chairs and smack into the 40-gallon (I'm guessing) bucket of sangria (well, it looked like sangria; maybe it wa just Powerade) that was atop a cart behind the bench. Suddenly, it was Valdez time in the U.S. Airways Arena, as the entire contents spilled right before us.
Now, as anyone who knows me knows, that's my department. Spilling. I was just an eye-witness this time, though.
Give it up for thegame crew, though. They've brought more towels than a JW Marriott holds to cover the spill and even a new cart with two more giant sangria containers. Cool. How come Exxon wasn't this resourceful?
Oh, and moments after that spillage event, West Virginia hit a shot to take its first lead of the game, 52-51. It's now 57-55, Xavier.
Postscript: At the under-8 minute TV timeout, Butler comes over to the new sangria station and gets himself a cup of bug juice. You earned it, De'Sean.
I'm about to ask the dudes who cleaned up this mess how much they'd charge to do my apartment each week. They're fast and they're effective.
With about 14:42 to play in the second half, West Virginia buries its first three of the game. The second half has a much better rhythm, as both sides are executing their offenses. And now we have the close game I thought we'd have (my pregame prediction on the site: 73-72, Xavier). Right now it's 43-40, Xavier, with 14:28 to play.
Josh Duncan has been the stud for Xavier this afternoon so far. 13 points, and 3-4 from beyond the arc. Pretty impressive for the 6-9 Duncan, who hasn't been dunkin' to score those points.
The WKU players seated behind me don't seem all that interested in this game. However, they've brought an impressive contingent of fans with them from Bowling Green, Ky. You'll see. They've go an entire lower section clad solidly in red. None of the other three schools are so well-represented.
By the way, did you see the item--WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG TO SAY THAT JOE ALEXANDER JUST THREW ONE DOWN FOR THE 'NEERS. "AND JUST WHEN IT HIT ME/SOMEBODY TURNED AROUND AND TOLD ME/'PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC WHITE BOY/PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC, WHITE/PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC, WHITE BOY/LAY DOWN THE BOOGIE AND PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC TIL YOU DIE"
As I was sayin', did you see the item about Davidson playing in Detroit tomorrow. The school is offering free bus fare, two nights' lodging and a ticket to the game for any student willing to travel the 648 miles to see the Wildcats face Wisconsin.
Two thoughts:
1) "Road Trip!"... ("YEA!")..."To Detroit!" ("Ohhh.")
2) The trip is free...but tuition at Davidson is still $41,000.
West Virginia came out after halftime and went on a quick 4-0 run. Joe Alexander made a put-back and then Alex Ruoff dunked on a fast break (he should never have been able to get behind the Xavier defense that easily). It's now 32-29, X.
Meanwhile, off to my right, the WKU basketball team is seated and watching the action. The 'toppers are in their red warmups and a few are even signing autographs for kids.
Just think, if the Mountaineers wind up playing the Hilltoppers on Saturday. That would be an All-Ed Viesturs Classic, no? "West Virginia versus Western Kentucky, sponsored by North Face."
I'm looking at Ty Rogers, the Hilltopper who hit the game-winner last Friday versus Dranke. You would never ever know that this youth is the all-time Kentucky prep leader in 3-pointers (407) just by looking at him. Then again, what should that person look like? Shut up, Walters.
Halftime and West Virginia has climbed back into it (they are Mountaineers, after all). WVU trailed by as many as 16 points (28-12), but the Coal Mine Crew outscored Xavier 13-4 over the last seven minutes or so to go into the break down 32-25.
Oh, Huggins will still toss objects in the locker room, but they won't be as large.
WVU did this with star Joe Alexander on the bench for much of the half. Alexander, Alex Ruoff and Darris Nichols each have two fouls and a combined ten points. If not for reserve Wellington Smith's 8 points, WVU might be in deeper trouble. Wellington Smith: that's first-team All-Gatsby material, college division.
Stats are actually pretty even: same number of fouls (9), same number of missed free throws (2), same number of steals (2), same number of turnovers (7), and same number of offensive rebounds (8) for both teams. The difference, as mentioned earlier, is three-point shooting. Xavier is 6 of 11, while WVU is 0 for 6.
Be back soon. I have to go talk to a Phoenix Suns marketing rep about the team referring to itself as "Planet Orange" this season. A star referrring to itself as a planet? That's ass-tronomical. Or astro-comical. You decide.
The Musketeers, who just cannot miss from beyond the arc, lead 24-10 with 11:10 remaining in the first half. Sean Miller's team is as efficient as they come.
About five miles north of here is Xavier High School, an all-girls Catholic school (I went to the all-boys school across an old football field from Xavier). Anyway, if you want to talk sports dynasties (and who doesn't wanna talk sports dynasties...I mean, I cannot speak as articulately on Ming dynasties), you have to mention Xavier golf. Under the direction of the same coach for three decades, Sister Lynn Winsor, Xavier has won 26 state golf championships in 29 years. Quite impressive.
http://www.golfweek.com/juniors/girls/story/sisterlynn_feature_120607
Star search: First celebrity sighting. Nick Lachey or someone who very closely resembles him is seated in the 2nd row behind the Mountaineer bench clad in a white WVU polo shirt.
With 8:14 remaining in the first half, Xavier (the university, not the high school) leads 28-12.
I'm seated behind the West Virginia bench, just a few yonders down from the Mountaineer mascot. The beard is real, but I doubt the gun is. Meanwhile, I'll be keeping an eye on fan behavior this evening. If I see anything untoward, which is not the same as non-near, I'll be sure to contact Mr. Navarro. And if you don't know who he is, well, he may be the last parent alive (under the age of 45) who does not believe that his child is infallible:
http://deadspin.com/371812/oh-you-are-so-totally-grounded
GAME NOTES
So you wanna talk about the game? Okay. Between them West Virginia and Xavier start five seniors. What's wrong with these guys?
So we have reigning National Invitational Tournament champion West Virginia in our opener today. And, as you may know, last year's two NCAA championship game combatants, Florida and Ohio State, are both in the semi-finals of this year's NIT.
Anyway, when the Mountaineers won the NIT last spring in Madison Square Garden, they donned those championship T-shirts that you see every team every team's players adorn microseconds after the game ends. There was just one problem. The shirts read "WEST VIRGINA NIT CHAMPIONS". Here, check it out:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2819286
Welcome to the West Region semifinals from the scorching (89 degrees) Valley of the Sun. It's actually quite comfortable outdoors, but it's steamy inside. Soap-opera steamy, judging by the names in the programs.
We've got Love in the afternoon, for example, as Xavier center Jason Love will take the floor for the Musketeers' 4:10 p.m. tip-off. Xavier has Love, but West Virginia will remember to bring flowers. As in 6-7 forward John Flowers. And of course, all that Love and Flowers could very well lead to Huggins.
But we have Love all night, as Kevin Love will represent UCLA in the second game. What's more important, though, Love or Desire? The Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky bring Desire Gabou, a 6-2 guard from the Ivory Coast, to every game they play.
Aerosmith's Steven Tyler (originally Stephen Victor Tallarico) turns 60 today. Growing up in Massachusetts when every reference to Aerosmith was preceded by, "The bad boys of Boston..." all I can say is, whoa. With a mouth like a lamprey and a scream like a banshee, Tyler's now a part of the Massachusetts landscape. And "Dream On", a song that turns 35 this year, is not just the best rock song ever authored by an American band but the backtrack to the greatest sports video montage that THIS...! reporter has ever seen.
I'll be back with a story on the main pages later today talking about them Oakland Raiders. Should we start to take them seriously given the moves of the offseason or are they still dysfunction's favorite franchise?
Did you hear Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor say last week that he'd trade the entire Dolphins roster for Pats quarterback Tom Brady if he was running the draft?
Yeah, I didn't either until I saw it mentioned on a Patriots message board . Then I got to wondering if any of my buddies in Miami found the quote - uttered on Dan Patrick's radio programme - and BAM! Armando Salguero did and mentioned it on his blog last Thursday.
Taylor's assertion goes on to get dissected in both blogs and the relative wisdom of trading 53 players for one is dicussed. The 'net equivalent of monkeys throwing poo at each other ensues on the Dolphins message board.
Remember, folks, any of these people can and will cancel out your vote for president if they make it to the polls.
* Patriots defensive end Jarvis Green gets the tear ducts active with a good deed.
* Nobody does hard-line like Chargers GM A.J. Smith
What, we're supposed to be impressed that Kennesaw Mountain Goodell went hardline on the 49ers for tampering with Bears linebacker Lance Briggs today?
Please. What the Niners did - talk to Briggs' agent about acquiring Briggs while he was still under contract with the Bears - was going on with extreme prejudice just a month ago at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
Tampering is rampant there every year. Why? Because the start of the league year when player contracts expire comes the first week of March and the Combine is in late February.
True story: I was out to dinner in Indy last year and saw two GMs who are friendly pause to say hello. When the conversation ended, one GM said to the other, "Now excuse me while I get back to my tampering," and returned to his table full of high profile agents. Guffaws all around.
Ever wonder how Redskins owner Dan Snyder knew where to send those planes to pick up prospective free agents when the clock struck midnight and they became free? Because they laid the groundwork before the league year ended. They tampered. Every team that signs a player on the first day of free agency had to lay the groundwork for the signing before free agency began.
And if it's not being enforced - as it hasn't been - you do business as business is being done, to borrow a phrase from Bill Belichick (one that ultimately bit him in the posterior, I might add.
Man, oh, man, that's a lot of M's in that headline. I think that's called onomatopoeia.
Anyway, Randy Moss got all choked up Friday when the U.S. Postal Service made him the third West Virginia athlete to be honored with his own envelope.
Jerry West and Mary Lou Retton were the other two. Those three would make an interesting dinner party, wouldn't they?
At the event, the kid-friendly Moss said, "I'm not going to (stop) continuing what I set out to do, and that is to better (things) for people here. Not for my good, but for their good to see that there is happiness, that there are better things out there."
Can he be a dink? Yeah. Has he been at the center of too many sophomoric and petulant acts in his lifetime? Probably (although we'd all probably look that way if our own episodes of petulance and stupidity were newsworthy). But things like this honor - and Moss' humble reaction to it - indicate there's greater depth to him than all the people who want to put him in a neat little box will ever admit.
******
While you're at it, you can read how Appalachian natives are embracing their inner hilbilly.
So here I am at the "Seattle Tap Room" at the Sea-Tac Airport, watching the Duke-West Virginia game with the aid of closed-captioning...or, had I said that out loud and a closed-caption translator had heard it, "clothes cap shunning."
Honestly, how many closed-caption translators are using English as a third language?
Meanwhile, the Duke-West Virginia game is only at halftime and we've already seen a feature on Kyle McAlarney plus an interview with Mike Brey and Luke Harangodly. When did NBC acquire the rights to March Madness (seriously, people, when you write in next fall to whine about how NBC is so pro-Irish, remember this day...ND is only a 5-seed...me, I want to see a feature where Steven Hill of Arkansas takes us back to his hometown of Branson, Missouri...why can't this happen?).
So, Duke leads by five at the half. West Virginia has yet to make a 3-pointer. If I'm Huggy Bear, I'm happy to only be down by 5. If you had to think of one character that Duke's Greg Paulus most closely resembles, in terms of on-court tenacity (or even elevenacity or fourteenacity...he's just that tenacious!), who would it be? You know who I think of: that creature from the fireswamp in "The Princess Bride".
Funniest line I've seen/heard/read all day...from a Deadspin commenter, regarding the Joe Paterno course that will be offered at Penn State: "Will this count toward my paleontology minor?"
This is a programming note. The blog will be down much of today (Ronnie and I are going to the Motorhead concert! Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!!!!). Anyway, it's a travel day for the blog, but I highly recommend the cheesy eggs at the Courtyard Marriott in Redmond.
We'll be back tonight to discuss the day's games, Adam Corolla's suddenly leading-man status, "A Walk To Remember" (which is not an homage to ex-Sun center Neil Walk), whether everyone really is talking about Britney Spears' appearance on "How I Melt Your Mother" (I don't think they are), we'll conjugate the Latin verb/USD center Gyno Pomare (making us, in effect, Gyno-cologists), and I'm sure we'll have some thoughts on the Duke-West Virginia game.
Feel free to keep the blog alive via comments while I'm up in the air.
J-Dub
If you've been watching CBS non-stop for the past 30 hours like some people, you may have been won over by that Nike ad. I know I have. Here's what I've found out. The song is called "List of Demands" and it's by Saul Williams. The song was released in 2004. Shows you what I know. I was still listening to Von Bondies back then and laughing at people who wore Crocs...I'm still laughing at people who wear Crocs, but there was a period of a year or so there where apparently it was very cool to wear them.
Mississippi State underwent a brain transplant at halftime and all of a sudden the Bulldogs look boss. They were down by 11 early in the second half, and had missed their first dozen treys of the game, but now they have a 3-point lead against Oregon.
By the way, how do you not love Charles Rhodes and Jarvis Varnado? These two are Strohmile Swift on a minimum wage budget. You'll be seeing them in the 'BA one of these days.
Wondering if Ben Hansbrough's team nickname in Starkville is "The White Shadow"...
I'm feeling bad for Ron about missing that Motorhead concert. You have to love a heavy metal band that feels inclined to include the non-essential umlaut in its name.
Charles Rhodes: my new favorite player. Mississippi State needs to win this game just because they're ten times more interesting than Oregon.
It is 132 miles from Tampa to Gainesville, Florida. So it occurs to me that the Korver klan of Pella, Iowa, is probably pulling a doubleheader between the two cities today. Earlier, Klayton Korver and Drake lost a heartbreaker to Western Kentucky in the first game of the afternoon session in Tampa. Tonight at 9:30 Kaleb Korver and Creighton (a school that refuses to change its name to Kreighton) visit Florida in the NIT. That works out nicely, doesn't it?
By the way, their father, Kevin, is one of the outstanding clergymen in the Midwest, you know.
Meanwhile, big brother Kyle is stuck out in Utah, as the Jazz host Seattle tomorrow night.
Mississippi State is 0-10 from beyond the arc early in the second half versus Oregon. But their dunks look sweet. Really sweet. I think the Dawgs believe that you get style points for dunks in the tourney.
Below we discussed the Dueling Hansroughs dilemma.
Meanwhile, I neglected to mention that the Calathes brothers, Pat (St. Joe's) and Nick (Florida) are also both playing this evening. Pat's Hawks are trailing Oklahoma by 12 at halftime--and occasionally CBS cuts in to their game, depending on where you live. Nick and the Gators take on Creighton in the NIT at 9:30 and can be seen on the ESPNU.
Have you seen that snowball-tossing ad from Liberty Mutual? The three little kids throw the snowballs at the car and it skids a little, then continues on. You know which one I mean, right? What planet is that on? I mean, in the neighborhood where I grew up, the dad slams on the brakes and chases you while screaming profanities at the top of his lungs. And even if you get to your front door, he follows you inside...and your parents let him.
That actually happened to my next-door neighbors, the Fitzies, once. The circumstances were different, but they did something punky (it was a weekday, after all) and the victim chased them to their door. They ran in, he followed, and their mom just turned her head, took a drag from her cigarette, and pointed toward the room in which they were hiding.
That's the commercial I want to see.
Did the tournament selection committee do this on purpose? North Carolina and Naismith favorite Tyler Hansbrough are playing at the same time as Mississippi State and Ben Hansbrough, his younger bro. CBS is switching back and forth between the games in my area, giving us wall-to-wall Hansbrough coverage. Pscyho T and Psycho B.
Have you seen Mississippi State play yet this season? I haven't, but they are fun. Forward Charles Rhodes has 10 points and I think all of his baskets have come on point-blank dunks. He throws 'em down like it's 1977 and someone is playing "Boogie Nights" (the song, not the film) in the background.
Also, Oklahoma center Longar Longar, the player so nice they named him twice, has a team-high 8 points and 4 boards as the Sooners lead St. Joe's by 12 at the half.
The announcement that Lofa Tatupu signed an extension through 2015 is the news (yawn from those expecting a Shaun Alexander announcement).
ESPN reports that there are more than $16 million in guarantees for Tatupu and that the deal is worth more than $40 million.
And that's more than enough on Lofa Tatupu.
The Seahawks have a 3:30 press conference teed up with head coach Mike Holmgren and GM Tim Ruskell.
The smahhhht money is on this being the officially lopping of running back Shaun Alexander from the club. The team did just announce an extension for linebacker Lofa Tatupu that will take him through 2015 when we'll all be flying around in Jetson cars.
We've got our first BUZZER BEATER of the tourney. Ty Rogers buried a 28-footer at the buzzer for WKU to beat Drake (and spoil a lot of people's brackets) in overtime. It was a wonderfully-designed play, as Tyrone Brazelton, who already had 31 points dribbled up court, going from left to right, with Drake defenders chasing him. I expected, you expected, and Drake expected Brazelton to shoot.
But he would have had to shoot on the fly, a la Justin Hare's attempt last night for Belmont. Instead, Brazelton laid it off to teammate Ty Rogers, who was standing off to the right. Rogers was able to set his feet and launch a textbook jumper. There was never any doubt it was going to fall.
Western Kentucky 101, Drake 99. Tough loss for Adam Emmenecker and "Drakin' Care of Business", but the second exciting game for us viewers. And kudos to CBS for doing right by us fans both with the Davidson-Gonzaga finish and WKU-Drake. The moments that no fan should have missed so far--Stephen Curry's late go-ahead three, and Rogers' game-winner-- we didn't, thanks to The Eye. Well played, Mr. McManus.
Klayton Korver just fouled late in the first overtime of the Drake-Western Kentucky game. Korver played well, finishing with 21 points. As he was leaving the court, Tim Brando mentioned that Korver's parents were here and that his dad is "one of the outstanding clergymen in the Midwest." When did they start ranking clergymen?
And if he's a Korver, does that make him a klergyman?
By the way, continuing our theme of second (or third) generation athletic studs, Korver's parents were both college hoops players at Central College in Pella, Iowa.
Drake up one after a pair of free throw with 5.7 ticks left in OT. Time for W. Ky's Courtney Lee, who has been somewhat underwhelming all day, to at last show up.
Are you watching Western Kentucky-Drake? It was 86-78, Hilltoppers, just a few minutes ago but now it's a one-point game. And I believe I just heard Mike Gminski, the CBS color man (and former Duke center) say, "Gotta love the Drake!" (yes, a Seinfeld reference in March Madness).
Jonathan Cox of Drake has 17 points in the last ten minutes, as Drake now has tied it 88-88. Drake All-Everything Adam Emmenecker is 0-7 from the field, but he still has a double-double thanks to 12 assists and shooting 1-12 from the line.
Cox hit a loooooooooong range trey with 24.6 secs to go to finally tie the score. Drake, like Davidson, trailed almost the entire second half.
And now we're going to overtime.
How far superior is Friday afternoon to Thursday afternoon? And we're only halfway through the opening session
This Davidson-Gonzaga game has everything you'd want from an NCAA tourney game, be it first round or Final Four. Stephen Curry going off for 32 points, two well-coached teams making smart passes, guys playing their guts out, screening the screener, a second-half comeback, sublime outside shooting, a center who loves ingesting 'shrooms... someone should cue the inspirational montage music from Milan's state final win in "Hoosiers".
Right now Davidson, which trailed by as many as 11 in the 2nd half, is tied up with Gonzaga 70-70 with 6:07 to play. WHY ARE YOU READING THIS?!? Go watch the game!
Evolution is a curious thing to observe. I wonder how many generations it'll take until more than 50% of the starters in D-I hoops and football are the offspring of former D-I or professional athletes. It's like Gattaca meets SportsCenter.
Take this afternoon's games, for example. Davidson star Stephen Curry is the son of former NBA stalwart Dell Curry. His teammate, Jason Richards, is the son of former Pitt point guard Tom Richards. The dad led the Panthers in assists in '74 (mom Mary Beth was also a standout), while Jason leads the nation in assists right now. On the other side, Gonzaga forward Austin Daye is the son of former UCLA guard Darrin Daye, who helped the Bruins to the Final Four in 1980. (He is no relation to Otis Day, however, nor any of the Knights).
And in another game taking place concurrently, American's 5-11 guard Garrison Carr is giving the Vols all kinds of headaches with 13 points. Carr's dad, Gary, played cornerback for the University of Washington.
All of which is to say that I predict the offspring of Shelden Williams and Candace Parker will win at least two Naismith awards (male or female) about two decades from now.
Josh Heytvelt just made a terrific play, but his on-court skills have been well-documented, so there's no need for me to describe it here.
Gonzaga. I like. The Zags are playing with a chip on their shoulder. They resent Davidson for trying to assume their role in the March Madness ecosystem. Reminds me of Scott Evil's reaction to Mini-Me. Or maybe that was my reaction to Mini-Me. Not a Mini-Me fan.
Billy Packer just said that "Josh Heytvelt's off-court problems have been well-documented, so we don't need to go in to them here." Really? They've been well-documented? For the casual fan? Really? Really, Billy? (pardon me as I phone Seth and Amy and ask if I can steal their bit).
Billy, if you only want to give us the shine on the story, and not the grit, that's fine. But just say that. Don't be a wuss. Anyway, in case you're wondering, Heytvelt sounds as if he's a serious fan of Phish:
Another benefit of being Shanghai'd here in the Puget Sound (as opposed to Puget Sounding off in Shanghai) region: CBS has already switched to the Davidson-Gonzaga game. This is the best first round match-up of the tournament as far as I'm concerned. Certainly it's the "Coaches Who Preach Fundamentals" favorite.
This works out quite well for the CBS. They want to send their No. 1 team, Jim Nantz and Billy Packer, to Raleigh to handle the North Carolina game. So then they get this game on top of it. I guess a Gonzaga fan might wonder how come their team, the higher seed in this contest, was made to travel as opposed to Davidson. And they'd have a good point. But, you know, Billy Packer wields quite the influence.
Today's Very Important Broadcaster Question: If CBS can persuade, convince, even inveigle ESPN to lend them Jay Bilas for the early round games, did they also ask for Erin Andrews? (actually, that was not my question; Bruce Pearl asked me to ask that)
Believe me, I'm there.
Welcome back for Day 2 of March Madness.
I'm enjoying Cheesy Eggs from the Courtyard Marriott breakfast bar. Mmmmmmmmm, cheesy eggs.
Tennessee is facing American. Down 4-2 early. Smart coaches, and I imagine Bruce Pearl belongs in that class, probably give their teams mini-goals in games such as this. 15-2 games, that is. Sometimes it seems that overdogs get frustrated when they don't put the game away before the second TV timeout. And then their own negativity becomes self-defeating...and self-perpetuating.
However, if you advise your team to just try winning the five- or eight-minute intervals, each interval, then you can appeal to their competitive nature as well as take their minds off the upset possibility. That's what I'd do.
By the way, my editor just checked in for American University. Vern Lundquist just announced that Brian Gilmore just checked in for American. So, hey boss, nice job.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=27808
Denver Broncos Emperor Mike Shanahan is building a 35,000 square foot "home" in Denver's Cherry Hills Village.
The joint will include a "bowling alley and lounge, a poker room, a video-golf room a racquetball court and a shuffleboard table," the Denver Post reports. And that's the basement. Never mind the two bridges the place will also have.
I'm not sure what this kind of excess is symptomatic of but it probably isn't good. And it's especially galling in light of the fact the Broncos are lopping jobs and crying poor-mouth.
Is Shanahan entitled to build whatever kind of house he wishes? Yup. And the rest of the world is entitled to lampoon and deride his self-important monument to his own excellence.
Believe me, I'm there.
The ghosts of Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley seem to be possessing the latter-day Mountaineers. Even if they're still both alive.
The Arizona-WVU game is fun to watch, if you appreciate deft outside shooting. Which is basketballese for "If, like me, you've never come within 14 inches of dunking". Anyway, the Mountaineers are setting picks for one another, moving the ball around, and hitting spot-up jumpers. I believe I even saw a bank shot that was intended.
Nichols, Ruoff, Alexander. They obviously were watching and taking notes when Pittsnoggle was here. By the way, Pittsnoggle Update Central:
http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/index.jsp?player=kevin_pittsnogle
Earlier today we shared with you the 2007 Killer Annual Tournament from Max Kellerman's radio show:
http://simononsports.blogspot.com/2007/03/max-kellermans-killer-animal-tourny.html
And yet one animal that didn't make the field was the spotted eagle ray. Well, that creature certainly did not take the snub lightly:
http://simononsports.blogspot.com/2007/03/max-kellermans-killer-animal-tourny.html
Meanwhile, our friend Moose points out that there actually is a MasterBurger and why am I not surprised that it is located in Canada?
http://www.travelingcanada.com/business/masterburgerfastfoodrestaurantcookstown
Be sure to check out their halibut dinners.
At halftime, Notre Dame is comfortably ahead of George Mason and UCLA is feet-up-on-the-ottoman ahead of Mississippi Valley State. Arizona and West Virginia is worth staying up for, as we expected.
Good Bald: http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/writers/seth_davis/10/25/ucla.postcard/t1_collison_si.jpg
Bad Bald: http://www.msnsportsnet.com/content/JamieSmalligan32807.jpg
ESPN's scoreboard page lists just four starters for Arizona under its boxscore, which may explain why the Wildcats are trailing early. But at least ESPN knows that it's BurgerMaster.
Here's the funny thing. There are a hundred (many more, in fact) fantastic songs with the word "Love" in their title, and Kevin Love is the nephew of Mike Love of the Beach Boys. But I cannot think of any Beach Boys tunes that have Love in their titles. Songs the UCLA pep band should be playing. Maybe they already do:
"Let Love Rule"...by Lenny Kravitz
"Big Love"...by Lindsey Buckingham
"Love Will Keep Us Together"...by the Captain & Tenille
"My Love (Does It Good)"...by Wings
"Love Is In The Air"...by John Paul Young (though he rarely gets more than four inches off the ground)
"Love Is A Battlefield"...by Pat Benatar
"Love Today"...by Mika
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4tcn49zHLt0
"Love Train"...by The O'Jays
"Love Hurts"...by Nazareth
and, should he go pro right after the tourney....
"Where Did Our Love Go?"...by The Supremes
Johntourager Mekong is better at locating YouTube vid