Four score

The Final Four has arrived—Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State (R.I.P. Syracuse) and Kansas. From the outside, there are no surprises in those teams. But take a closer look. Only one is a No. 1 seed. Louisville doesn’t have a superstar. Kentucky has Anthony Davis, but not John Wall. Ohio State has Jared Sullinger, but no Oden/Conley/Cook. And Kansas doesn’t have its collection of superstars from years past, “just” Thomas Robinson. But all these teams have a collection of players and a formula that allowed them to reach the Final Four over every other team in the nation. Sometimes, we see a player like Kemba Walker take over the spotlight. Other times, we see a team come together like Duke at just the right time. Who knows what the case will be this year. But either way, it will be a deserving team. It’s a lot harder than it looks these days to become a champion.

Let the confetti fall down

There is no better championship moment than in college basketball. I’ll be the first to admit that I love professional sports. But there’s something about college basketball that makes championships so much more gratifying than pro sports. More gratifying than any other college sports too, football included. Winning six games, having that one shining moment, there’s nothing like it. UConn is lucky they get to experience it. Because there really is nothing like March Madness.

Unfinished business? Better get on that.

With Johnson and Rautins gone, the rest of the crew needs to step up their game.

Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim has already called this year’s team one of his most overrated. Can’t say I disagree. This team has not won any of its first four games easily like it should have. Let’s go back to last year. The team had lost its top 3 players, expectations were low. And what did ‘Cuse do? Reel off 13 straight wins en route to a number one ranking and No. 1 seed in an NCAA tournament they should have won. Last year’s team was special, and that became evident after they shocked Cal and UNC in an early-season tournament at MSG. Now let’s get back to this year. We lost out three best players again, but this team is less experienced than last year’s. So they won’t be as dominant. But I’m not gonna lie, this team has me worried. They play Michigan tonight, and Michigan is looking at this game as a measuring stick for their team, just as SU did with Cal, UNC and Florida last year. UCONN already looks like the SU of last year, going from unheralded to upsetting ranked teams. This SU team better get it together. They’re not special yet, but they can be. They just have to figure themselves out.

STOMPED

I can’t believe I’m writing my second straight post on women’s basketball. This one is one  of the few worthy topics: the UCONN women. Seeing as they just crushed Syracuse for the second time this season (not that the Syracuse women are that amazing), this team is unstoppable. Sometimes, one team will lose to another team. When they play them again, they will know how to attack that team and will have more motivation. That may happen with teams playing against UCONN, but it doesn’t matter. The UCONN women have so much talent that nothing that normally applies to games applies with them. This is where the term “a league of their own” really applies. UCONN women’s basketball has always been good. In fact, back in 2003 and 2004 they had a similar run like this. And this run won’t end until their players graduate. But by then, they’ll have a new group coming in ready to start their own streak.

[At] a loss [for words]

I saw this coming. Am I a little surprised that Louisville beat Syracuse today? Yes. But am I really that shocked? Not really. Syracuse struggled to beat a mediocre DePaul team, and had similar struggles against Georgetown, Providence, Cincinnati and UCONN, but were lucky enough to win all of those games. But the magic ran out against Louisville. Once again, the Orange started strong and had key runs but failed at important times. For all the talk about the Louisville press, I saw a Louisville team that simply out-rebounded the Orange. Syracuse had some key threes here and there and made some good stops, but could not hit the shots at the end, or stop any of Louisville’s scorers for that matter. The ‘Cuse isn’t invincible anymore. They should have won this game, but they didn’t. I hope they can get back on track and beat Georgetown in their next game, but I don’t know. If we can do that though, then we are still worthy of our number two ranking, one that is sure to slip at five or below come tomorrow. Not that rankings are super important, but I valued them as a measuring stick for this year’s team.

2004: Can you keep up?

There I was, staring face to face with Pete Rose, MLB’s all time hits leader. But he had writing all over his face. I was, of course, looking at him on the cover of Sports Illustrated. My first cover. The January 14, 2004 issue. I was so excited to get my first issue. And who’s on the cover? Pete Rose, confessing to betting on baseball. But I thought sports were supposed to be fun?

When I first flipped through the magazine, all I could think of was how boring it was. I was used to SI Kids, and I just didn’t understand regular SI. But hey, I was only 12.

The magazine started to grow on me though when it focused more on sports I knew and now I love Sports Illustrated. It is my favorite magazine.

Getting Sports Illustrated was in a way my gateway to the wide world of sports. This is the year that I began to know more and more about sports. And it was a good year in sports. In May, the Nets had an epic NBA playoff series with the Pistons. Even though they lost the series, they won a crazy game 5. It ended up being three overtimes. I remember I was in a hotel and watched the end of the game and one of the overtimes in the lobby. And then I had to go to bed and miss the end of the game. The next morning, I turned ESPN on and saw the Nets had won (127 to something I think). I think I jumped on the bed. Too bad we lost the last two games. We could no longer dominate the Pistons, who even beat the Lakers for the championship that year.

I think I even caught some of LSU’s win in the BCS championship game, although I was far from knowledgable in college football in 2004.

2004 was also a year of history. You know where I’m going. The Red Sox won the World Series for the first time since 1918, breaking the curse. I saved the sports sections from when they beat the Angels, Yankees and Cardinals in each round, respectively. I started writing about sports during the ALCS and NLCS. I remember when Johnny Damon hit the grand slam in Game 7 of the ALCS against the Yankees. I knew then that they had everything in the bag.

I also started following college basketball during this year. The first time I saw UConn play that year, I knew they were going to win it all. Just like I knew Matt Bonner would make it to the NBA when I saw him play for Florida in 2003. I just thought Bonner would because I thought he looked like former Net Todd Macculloch. Bonner is in the NBA, by the way. Anyway, I saw UConn beat Alabama on tv I think, and I knew they were going to win it all. And they did, beating Duke and Georgia Tech in the final four. Oklahoma State and St. Joseph’s also had a classic elite 8 game that I remember. John Lucas III sound familiar?

Phil Mickelson also won his first major, The Masters this year. I remember watching this happen.

2004 was a busy year in sports. A lot happened. I guess it was a sign of things to come.

COLLEGE basketball

Last year, I did a mini college basketball preview about the arcs and certain perennial powers. Here’s a quick recap:

(From Nov. 2008)- The college basketball season is here. The Tar Heels are the national favorites, followed by the likes of perennial powerhouses UCONN and UCLA. The season figures to be entertaining, thanks largely in part to a bunch of players who stayed in school.
But what really is the biggest story at the start of the college basketball season? The new arc? Can you believe it? A line is hogging the spotlight. Both Sports Illustrated and The Washington Post did feature stories on arcs. They were good, but what a shame that an arc is stealing the limelight from the likes of Tyler Hansbrough, Luke Harangody, and Blake Griffin.
It’s all great and good that there is a new arc. But it probably won’t make a difference. So lets focus on the players shooting from the arc, not the arc itself.

 

 

I would like to say that things are the same this year, but that would be far from true. Gone is the dominance of UNC and Hansbrough. In is a lack of dominance, in my opinion at least. The stars that stayed in school last year are gone. Only Harangody is back. The other stars are labeled that way because that is what they have to become to replace the departed players. Kansas is supposed to lead the pack, with All Americans Sherron Colllins and Cole Aldrich. Did you know that those two were bench players in the Jayhawk’s national title team from two years ago? UNC is supposed to remain strong with supposed lottery pick Ed Davis, who is being declared great based on potential,not real life results. However, he did shows glimpses of skill last year.

Lucky Kentucky. They not only get John Calipari, but John Wall and a bunch of other top recruits. All for the price of one! Just kidding. But Kentucky did make the leap from no NCAA to top five team.

The Big East will be down. They lost Hasheem Thabeet, Jonny Flynn, Terrence Williams, Marquette’s threesome, and a bunch of others. So who’s left? Greg Monroe of Georgetown, who showed great flashes as a freshman last year. Syracuse transfer Wesley Johnson is supposed to be good. We’ll see. Harangody, a proven star, is back. Pitt is down. Louisville and Connectiuct are down key players from last year but not depleted like Marquette and Pitt. Cincy is on the rise, as are Seton Hall and St. Johns. Villanova leads the pack with Scottie Reynolds, while WVU trails closely. I think it’ll be a tight race.

The ACC will be lead by (gasp!) UNC and Duke. But UMD has Greivis Vasquez and Georgia Tech has some good recruits. Wake lost Jeff Teague and James Johnson. UVA has Sylven Landesberg.

In the SEC, they’re still focused on football.

In the PAC 10, Cal leads the way with guards Randle and Christopher. Washington has Isaiah Thomas (different one).

The Big 12 has Texas and Damion James. Also, can Mizzou repeat last year’s magic?

And the Big Ten. I’m feeling the Big Ten. Purdue is loaded with JaJuan Johnson, Robbie Hummel, Chris Kramer and E’Twaun Moore. Michigan State just made the final Four. Michigan and Manny Harris should be good. Wisco is always solid. Illinois was good last year and Penn State should build off their NIT Championship.

It will be an interesting year for sure. Is it too original if I pick Kansas?

 

 

As long as their football team doesn’t get to them first.

Forde Minutes: A look back and a look forward – ESPN–Found this on ESPN. Interesting.

Tick-tock back and forth. Clocks are made of Steel, not feathers!

Some thoughts on last night’s game: Both teams had valid chances to win the game. The Steelers just happened to take advantage of their last one. The commercials were down. I was expecting more. Bruce Springsteen was pretty good, especially with his oldies. Read the first few paragraphs of the game article on the front page of the Post. That sums up the game quite well. Now, on to next season. Can never start too early! The Giants better rebound, but I’m not sure. The Cardinals could be really good, or mediocre. The Steelers will probably always be good with Big Ben and their D. Some other teams to watch: The Pats (but with Tom Brady this time). We will see if he returns healthy and gets back to his true form. If he does, then the Patriots will be good. Dangerously good. (But not 19-0). Peyton Manning’s teams are always consistently good. Also, the NFC East could very well be a four team race. The Skins will want to erase this year’s memories, and the Eagles and Cowboys will be very hungry. Grrr. Okay, I’ve had enough football for one week. Tonight in men’s college hoops, Louisville plays host to UCONN. UCONN is pretty beast, but Louisville is undefeated in Big East play and playing at home. Tough pick. I’ll go against the home team. In this week’s Sports Illustrated, will we see the ten millionth Steelers cover in the last month. Gosh, I am getting drowned in gold and black. The Giants had a run of three consecutive covers last year, but blue and red is alright. Or maybe it was the Giants that were alright. I actually enjoyed the dull brown cover of last week’s issue. But it would have been better if Jason Kidd was on the front instead of LeBron. Speaking of the all-star game (wait, I don’t think I was, but who really cares). Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, AI? Come on. It’s wayyyy past their time. Let the youngins’ start the game.

Some thoughts and some college basketball finally!

The Super Bowl is coming up this Sunday. The thing about the Super Bowl is that the tv is constantly airing something worth watching. When the game is going on, you have that. When it’s not, the commercials are pretty good. And when neither of those are on, the halftime shows are usually pretty good.

All-star rosters for the NBA all star game came out yesterday, with few surprises. The Nets have Devin Harris representing them, but not all teams have a player. Unlike the MLB all star game, the NBA does not require each team to be represented by at least one player. So, there are many teams without a player, but those are mostly bad teams.

Manny Ramirez says no one wants him. You know what Manny, why don’t you just accept whatever a team is willing to pay you. There are as many people as your current salary (millions) that would take your check in a heartbeat, whether it be one million dollars or even 500,000 dollars.

The Steelers and the Cardinals are two very different teams. Either the Steelers pull it out, or the Cardinals grab the upset.

Wake Forest upset Duke the other day. I believe that the ACC has the best top teams, and the the Big East has the best teams in general, though the Big East is much bigger. The Big East has Pitt, UCONN, Marquette, Notre Dame, Villanova, Georgetown, West Virginia, Louisville, and Syracuse. Cincinatti is dangerous, as they showed in their upset of Georgetown. Georgetown, meanwhile, is on a downward spiral. And it’s not like they can rebound against poor teams, because they were beat by Seton Hall. Losing to Pitt, fine, Seton Hall, not so much. The ACC has Duke, Wake, and UNC all looking very strong. There’s a few other decent teams in the conference, but no one too special. The Big Ten has a lot of  ’good’ teams, and not much else. Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio State are good. Penn State is surprisingly good, and Indiana is not surprisingly bad. Michigan State is up at the top with aforementioned Purdue.  The Big 12 is Oklahoma, Texas, sort of Kansas, and barely Baylor. The SEC is Kentucky, and they aren’t even that great. Florida is alright, but nothing spectacular. The PAC-10. UCLA has been alright. Stanford is missing the Lopez brothers, and Arizona State is pretty good because of James Harden and his crew. So, as of now, college basketball is being dominated by the East Coast, and their leagues (ACC/Big East), as it should be.