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on Top Tiger Woods? Tennessee Vols? Nah, I'm talking about one of the good guys in college basketball: Bobby Lutz. With a victory over St. Louis over the weekend, Coach Lutz has now become the winningest basketball coach in 49'er history. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. I know the last few weeks have been troublesome and disappointing, given all the close losses, but with the easy 17-point win at Halton Arena, Bobby Lutz is on top of the program's win list. He passes another great guy and coach in Jeff Mullins. It's amazing how often fans will email me and criticize Lutz for not being the right coach for the Charlotte 49'ers. There is no doubt in my mind that Bobby Lutz is the perfect fit for Charlotte. Some Niner fans believe that if Lutz left or was removed that there are dozens of top flight coaches that are beating down Judy Rose's door wanting the gig. What a joke. The A-10 is having a terrific year, and it's not a fluke. Charlotte was poised to make a case for an NCAA Tourney bid as of a few weeks ago, but three consecutive close losses have now placed the team in a "must-win" role at the upcoming conference tournament. Regardless of what happens down the stretch, the Niners need to sign Bobby Lutz to a long-term deal. Tiger Woods is making the game of golf completely boring. His brilliance at the World Golf Championships in Arizona this past week was amazing. He was toast in his first match against J.B. Holmes, after falling 3 down with five holes to play. But a nice, tidy birdie, birdie, birdie, eagle stretch eliminated the deficit and J.B. Holmes. By the end of the event, Woods played 117 holes, and compiled 45 birdies and two eagles during that span. He's untouchable, and everybody that plays pro golf for a living knows it. As Boo Weekley told me in our last interview..."Tiger's got us by the balls". Boo is exactly right. For Woods, he has now won 5 consecutive events and he holds all three World Golf Championships at one time....and that's a first. Just to put it in perspective: Darren Clarke is the only other golfer in the world that has won multiple World Golf Championship titles. Tiger has won 15 of 26 WGC titles. That's ridiculous...and it's also a testament to how feeble the rest of the golfers are in his presence. I found it interesting that Caesar's Palace placed the odds of Tiger winning the Grand Slam this year at 3-1. As farfetched as that sounds, it does make you wonder if anybody in the world of golf is going to step up and beat him in the majors....or any other event he wants to enter. Don't look now, but on Wednesday night, one of the classic NBA match-ups is about to take place. Forget the Western Conference; it's loaded with great teams and players. I'm talking about a showdown in the East that might not be worthy of highlights on HYPE's SportsCenter. The Charlotte Bobcats and New York Knicks are about to face each other on the hardwood. I'm not sure if you added the win totals of both teams and placed them in the West, that they would qualify for the NBA Playoffs. But if you think the Bobcats and Knicks are pathetic, wait until you get a load of Pat Riley's Miami Heat. What I'm about to tell you is a fact and not manufactured to get you riled up while reading the blog..... As of this posting, the Heat have won only one game since Christmas. They have lost 26 of their last 27 games, heading into a Tuesday match-up with Sacramento. It's hard to believe that the Heat actually have wins this year over Houston, Phoenix and Utah....but as of this blog, they are still the only NBA team that hasn't reached double digits in the win column. When you look back at the 2007-08 NBA season, the Miami Heat have only one win this year by double digits....and that was against our very own Charlotte Bobcats. Where's Michael Jordan when you need him? Never mind. The Tennessee Vols are the #1 team in college basketball, thanks to their road win against previously unbeaten Memphis. The game received a ton of hype, and rightfully so.....it's always a blast to watch a #1 vs. #2 showdown, regardless of the sport. We've gotten used to a Duke - UNC game receiving that type of attention, but it was refreshing to see some "new blood" in the limelight. But I've got to tell you, ESPN has perfected the pre/postgame shows with their college football "Gameday" broadcasts live from a college campus. I have tried to watch their version for college hoops, but it just doesn't come close. First of all, college football and the tailgating traditions that follow the sport are a natural....that just doesn't work for college hoops. How stupid is it, to see an arena with a few thousand people pretend to be interested in what is taking place on the set...and it's only 10 hours before tip-off? It's too choreographed and a cheap rip-off of the original College Gameday broadcast during the football season. The only thing worse is the network commercial that highlights the hoops crew....I never realized that Jay Bilas has an uncanny resemblance to a cancerous growth while protruding from the arm of another talking head. |
Packman
on Sports Commentary
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