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Timber..... Another #1 falls. This is getting to be commonplace. Duke's reign as the top-ranked team in all the land didn't last long....one week to be exact, thanks to a loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday night. The Hokies win guaranteed two things: Duke is not the #1 team, and Seth Greenberg will have a legitimate gripe this year if his team is left out of the Big Dance. Apparently, being ranked in the Top 10 is risky business. Every week, a handful of teams reaching the lofty perch find themselves getting beat in hostile environments. It is the perfect appetizer to the Madness which is fast approaching. This weekend alone....Top 10 teams like Duke, Pitt, San Diego State, Texas and Arizona found themselves being smacked around by a fellow conference member. It's really no longer a surprise, but it is fun to watch the best teams in college hoops get pushed to the limit and beyond. ESPN's Jay Bilas was quoted this week as saying that college hoops doesn't have 68 good teams, but 68 teams are getting into the tournament. My God, I find myself agreeing with Bilas more and more these days....maybe I should get checked out by the doctor? But the "smartest man in the room" is right....whether you like it or not, Selection Sunday is less than two weeks away and there are still a ton of unanswered questions and big games to play. While there will be ample debate on which of the teams deserve to be #1 seeds (Duke, San Diego State and Texas hurt their arguments this weekend), I thought the coolest story of college hoops this weekend took place out west, at UCLA. I'm not talking about the Bruins' blowout win over previously #10-ranked Arizona, but the fact that the last basket scored in the famed UCLA arena was made by the late John Wooden's Great Grandson....Tyler Trapani. Keep in mind that Pauley Pavilion is going under renovation after this season, and the last basket of the game was made by a guy who scored the first two-points of his career. Some folks don't believe in fate and destiny, but I do.....this story falls into that category. Somewhere, the "Wizard of Westwood" is sitting back with the "Big Man Above" and he has a smile on his face. It was a great moment. How cheap is Michael Jordan? My goodness, the NBA trade deadline last week created some interesting moves and debates. While the entire civilized world was updated non-stop on the Carmelo Anthony deal, there were some other moves that made you wonder what was going on in the "Association". While it didn't receive the national attention, the Gerald Wallace for a bag of rocks trade between Portland and Charlotte was another example of a franchise selling out on its fans. The motto for the Bobcats this season is "Win As One".....like most team mottos, it's lame and contrived. Jordan even had the audacity in the off-season to claim that this team would be better than last season's playoff-bound squad.
I didn't believe him last summer, and I really don't follow his lead heading into March. The Bobcats basically saved 21 million bucks while giving Wallace away for Joel Pryzbilla, Duante Cunningham, Sean Marks and a pair of middle-to-late first round picks. Given how pathetic Jordan and the Bobcats select in the draft, the accumulation of first round picks means nothing.....other than the fire sale is alive and well in Bobcat-land. GM Rod Higgins tried to spin the move by stating that this isn't a rebuilding move. Really? What would you call getting rid of your best player for a bunch of stiffs while saving 21 mil? What is a sadder state of affairs is the one in which the Bobcats could still make the playoffs in the East. If that happens, it is a testament that the bottom tier of Eastern playoff teams is the equivalent to the NFC West in the NFL. For the record, Jordan was nowhere to be found during the media gatherings to announce the trade. I don't blame him.....I'd be embarrassed, too. I told you how shaky it is at the top in college hoops with the #1 ranking.....it looks like that's the case in the world of golf, too. Lee Westwood is out, and Germany's Martin Kaymer is in. Kaymer becomes the 14th player to achieve the #1 ranking and he's also the second youngest to do so...trailing only Tiger in that department. The German sensation gathered worldwide fame with his PGA Championship win last year at Whistling Straits and he has been red-hot ever since. He's robotic, young and awfully good. Unfortunately, the World Golf Championship Match Play event also confirmed what we've known for the last couple of years, and that is that the Euros are deep, talented and kicking our butts. The game needs Tiger to return to form, ASAP. The NCAA laid down the law to a couple of schools and coaches last week....especially Jim Calhoun at UConn, and Bruce Pearl at Tennessee. I've always contended that when a school gets investigated and punished by the NCAA, then the penalty should always follow the coach. If he gets up and leaves during the course of the penalty, then the violations follow him. It's not fair to the current players that had nothing to do with the violations to have to pay the penalty while a coach can get up and walk away to a new gig. It's wrong. The problem with my approach is that it uses common sense, and therefore would be too complex for the NCAA suits to figure out. I'm getting a kick out of watching the network hairdos report on the NFL Combine. I know we have an addiction in this country to consuming anything that is related to the NFL, but I've never understood how people can sit at home and watch guys get tested, branded, prodded and measured while in their underwear? The only time I plan on sitting in front of the tv set watching people in underwear will be during the Victoria Secret Fashion Show. Who cares how fast an offensive lineman can run the 40....or how many times a linebacker can bench press 225 pounds? But the fun begins when the media gets bored and tries to create a new angle of intrigue.....the latest is Cam Newton's ability to fail during one-on-one interviews. Listen, can he play? That's all that matters. If you want a guy that interviews well, hire a journalism major. Are you looking for a football player or somebody that opens the doors for women and children and ends each answer with "Yes, Sir" or "No, Sir". I understand the character issue....I comprehend the concern, if he's not a team player or if a player has a checkered past. But let's not get too carried away during the NFL Combines. It's bad enough that we're analyzing the broad jump numbers of each wide receiver. The biggest question surrounding the NFL in Indy should involving the labor agreement, and not the workout numbers posted by a bunch of college kids. Finally, the Boys of Summer are already back on the diamond. My World Champion San Francisco Giants are off to a fast start in the Cactus League, and there was nothing better than seeing them kick the crap out of the LA Dodgers along with the guy that was making his managerial debut, Don Mattingly. The Giants ended Joe Torre's career, and now they are breaking-in "Donnie Baseball", too.
I love it....I know we're a month away from opening day, but it's never too early to beat the Dodgers. |
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