NCAA Basketball Quiz: UCLA holds the record for longest winning streak, full season (as opposed to just regular season) at 88 games, 1971-74, ended by Notre Dame and Dwight Clay, 71-70, in a memorable game for many of us of a certain age. San Francisco is next at 60, 1955-57 (with Bill Russell and K.C. Jones). Who is the last team to win at least 40 in a row? Answer below.
The Improbable Final Four
VCU vs. Butler…6:09 PM ET
UConn vs. Kentucky…8:49, or 8:57, or 9:02
And then on Monday, regardless of who wins Saturday, it will be Good vs. Evil.
We’ll remember this tournament. For the first time, no 1 or 2 seeds made the Final Four. And with No. 11 VCU and No. 8 Butler, it marks the first time two schools from outside the six power conferences have made it since the bracket expanded in 1985.
But as Tim Gardner and Tom O’Toole of USA TODAY put it, all four schools have back stories:
No. 3 Connecticut finished ninth in the Big East, then won nine games in 19 days. It also weathered an NCAA investigation that led to a three-game suspension for coach Jim Calhoun next season to reach the Final Four.
No. 4 Kentucky is in its first Final Four since 1998. Coach John Calipari is taking his third team, though trips by Massachusetts and Memphis were later vacated because of NCAA rules violations.
No. 8 Butler, which started the season 4-4, is the first school from outside the six major conferences to make back-to-back Final Fours since UNLV in 1990 and ’91.
No. 11 VCU won an unprecedented five games to reach the Final Four after playing an opening-round game.
[VCU is just the third No. 11 seed to make the Final Four, following LSU in 1986 and George Mason in 2006.]
Further, think of how Butler probably doesn’t make the tournament if they don’t win their conference tournament. This is a team that lost to Youngstown State on Feb. 3, Butler’s last loss but to a squad that would finish 9-21!
And consider this, as noted by Ben Cohen of the Wall Street Journal.
When looking at an opponents’ end-of-season RPI, a metric used by the NCAA selection committee, and a Final Four team’s three ugliest losses before the tourney…adding up the RPI rank of those three opponents…you come up with the startling fact that VCU and Butler are the worst Final Four teams of all time.
2011 VCU…three worst losses (RPI rank)…Georgia State (223), Northeastern (178), South Florida (155)…556 total
2011 Butler…Youngstown St. (295), Evansville (136), Wright State (124)…555
2011 Kentucky…Arkansas (127), Mississippi (83), Alabama (80)…290
2006 G. Mason…Mississippi St. (113), Wake Forest (85), Old Dominion (69)…267
2003 Marquette…East Carolina (156), UAB (90), Notre Dame (14)…260
2005 Louisville…Memphis (109), Houston (83), Iowa (43)…235
And if Butler didn’t have enough issues without having to win their conference tourney, consider that VCU finished fourth in the Colonial Athletic Conference with a 12-6 record, yet 3rd-place Hofstra, with a 14-4 mark, didn’t even get an NIT bid!
On Selection Sunday, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas and others at the network, including Dick Vitale, argued for Virginia Tech and Colorado over VCU and UAB. Their inclusion, Bilas said, failed “the laugh test.”
As for VCU coach Shaka Smart, 33, needless to say he’s now in demand. His current base salary is $325,000. Kentucky coach John Calipari, by comparison, earns about $4 million, including endorsements and TV and radio shows. UConn’s Calhoun earns more than $2 million. Butler’s Brad Stevens, 34, signed a 12-year extension following last year’s Final Four. For 2009-2010, he earned $750,000, so let’s say his new contract is for $1 million+. Yup, Shaka Smart could set himself up for life, but the grass is not always greener, so they say.
B-Ball Bits
“Among college basketball’s great coaches – and Calhoun certainly qualifies, with 850 wins, two national titles and a plaque in the Hall of Fame – Calhoun is the target of the most sniping by his peers.
“Many look at the recent NCAA sanctions for recruiting violations as part of a pattern, not a variance. Mention former Husky Rudy Gay to Maryland Coach Gary Williams, and prepare for a diatribe on how Calhoun paid Gay’s AAU coach to bring a team to Storrs for a preseason exhibition. Not long afterward, the NCAA passed a rule permitting Division I schools to play exhibitions only against NCAA-sanctioned teams. Many coaches call it, ‘The Calhoun Rule.’…
“Along the way there have been off-court issues with players (notably the Marcus Williams, A.J. Price laptop-stealing scandal of 2005) and feuds with fellow coaches. One way or the other, Calhoun is always in battle.”
–And the Jalen Rose controversy over statements made in the ESPN documentary on Michigan’s “Fab Five” continues to reverberate. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski responded to Rose’s calling black Duke players like Grant Hill “Uncle Toms.”
Coach K didn’t want to comment initially, but on Tuesday, with his team no longer in the tournament, he unloaded on an ESPN radio show.
“I just think that sometimes people say things to get attention so that they can sell their documentary. Obviously, that was a poor choice of words and very insulting to everyone here at Duke but especially, not just our African-American players, but any African-American students.”
Of the “Fab Five,” Coach K said, “They had a heck of a run, but they didn’t leave anything. They didn’t establish anything there.” [The Fab Five lost back-to-back title games to Duke in 1992 and North Carolina in ’93.]
As for Rose, it just came to light that earlier in March he was arrested for drunk driving in Michigan.
–Meanwhile, at tournament time once again you have the debate over whether the players in basketball and football should be paid. Years ago I might have said, yes, but upon further review, absolutely not.
For example, Jay Weiner and Steve Berkowitz of USA TODAY ran some numbers and a typical basketball player for a Division I program “receives at least $120,000 annually in goods, services and future earnings for his athletic work.
“That $120,000 represents far more than the $27,923 median grant-in aid, or athletic scholarship, received by men’s basketball players at the 120 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivion (FBS).
“At Butler University…tuition, room, board and fees are $42,278 for 2010-211.”
Butler senior forward Matt Howard has given the topic some thought.
“Forty thousand dollars – plus a year to play, that’s a pretty good salary for an 18-year-old kid that has no college education, if you think about it that way.”
“But more than scholarships, players receive benefits including: elite coaching; academic counseling; strength and conditioning consulting; media relations assistance; medical insurance and treatment; free game tickets; and future earnings power that comes with some college education.”
Plus for the better teams, players receive huge exposure that normal students don’t.
Others, such as sports economist Andrew Zimbalist, calls “wrongheaded” the above analysis of total value. He says you just multiply the men’s nationwide basketball graduation rate by the tuition, then add room and board value…or less than $20,000 a year at most schools.
A lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, whose clients include the NFL Players Association, says, “I think it’s very hard to make the case that these athletes are getting a fair shake.”
Bull. It’s a great deal.
–By now you’ve heard that only two of 5.9 million bracket submissions to ESPN’s Tournament Challenge correctly picked the Final Four.
–Norman Chad / Washington Post…on the “linguistic hooligans” of March Madness, “the sensory-overload wreckage that darkens our once-proud nation of 46 states, four commonwealths and the District of Columbia.”
Here are some of the best moments as selected by Mr. Chad, with his comments.
“They could really make some hay at the free throw line if they can knock down the charity tosses they get.” Basically, making foul shots is a good idea.
“Tremendous instincts – he knows where he is at all times.” I’ll say this: When you don’t know where you are, you’re at a huge disadvantage.
“All business all the time down there on that box.” Occasionally, players will make personal calls down there on that box; one of my AAU teammates used to play Tetris down there on that box.
“Kept that dribble alive until he found the crevice he needs.” To be honest with you – from my own experience – it’s easier to find the crevice you need if you’re not dribbling.
“He doesn’t Velcro it – the ball does not stick in his hand.” Once in a while, Kellogg will attempt to explain his own comments to the viewer immediately.
–Some coaches have been moving around. Tennessee hired Cuonzo Martin of Missouri State to replace Bruce Pearl. If that name sounds familiar, Martin was a great player at Purdue. At Mizzou State, he went from 11-20 to 26-9 in his three years.
Georgia Tech hired Dayton’s Brian Gregory. That’s a total “eh” in my book. Like two of Dayton’s freshmen guards announced they were transferring at season’s end, before it was known Gregory was leaving, so whassup with the guy?
But Richmond’s Chris Mooney, 38, has decided to stay and accept a 10-year extension. Good for him.
–The AP All-America team was the exact same as Sporting News’…Jimmer Fredette, Nolan Smith, JaJuan Johnson, Kemba Walker and Jared Sullinger.
Women’s Final Four
Stanford vs. Texas A&M
Notre Dame vs. UConn
—
Baseball 2011
At least in the northeast, the weather forecast for the first days of the season is absolutely atrocious, but it’s always this way in early April; if not in New York, then Minnesota or Colorado.
Sporting News’ Picks for 2011
A.L. Red Sox, Yankees (wild card), White Sox, Rangers
Red Sox over Phillies in the World Series
Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman listed his “safe predictions” for the year, as in the only safe one is the Mets won’t allow closer Francisco Rodriguez to finish 55 games, or his vesting option kicks in for next year…$17.5 million! Should the Mets get off to a good start, it will be because K-Rod is getting the job done and you’d think that would put the team in a box in terms of using him the balance of the year, but the Mets are NOT going to get off to a good start, so the point is mute.
Heyman has the same thought a lot of us do. Alex Rodriguez looks like he’s ready to rock and roll again. A-Rod is Heyman’s A.L. MVP. No disagreement here.
Heyman also likes San Francisco’s Buster Posey to be N.L. MVP. I’ll go with Atlanta’s Jason Heyward.
Heyman’s playoff predictions:
N.L. Braves, Cardinals, Giants, Rockies (wild card)
Rockies over Rangers in the Series.
*The official Sports Illustrated prediction, however, is Red Sox over Giants.
And now your Official Bar Chat predictions:
N.L. Braves, Brewers, Rockies, Giants (wild card)
A.L. Red Sox, Yankees (wild card), White Sox, Oakland
White Sox over Brewers in the Series.
Remember, kids. Bet with your head, not over it. I’m a professional gambler and just because I’m betting $6.32 million on the Adam Dunn-led ChiSox this year, it doesn’t mean you should go raiding your trust fund without first asking for your parents’ permission. Of course once they learn you need the money because it’s my selection, they’ll be cool with it.
As for the difference here in New York between being a Mets or Yankees fan, the New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro summed it up thusly.
“Call our two baseball souls, in the spring of 2011, Cheer and Loathing.
“On the one side, you have the Yankees, outmaneuvered for Cliff Lee, outspent by the Red Sox, sitting behind their ancient rivals in almost every preseason ranking of the AL East you read. And yet when you walk among Yankees fans, there remains a defiant belief that the predictions and prognosticators are wrong; rooting for the Yankees can help build that bulletproof veneer, after all, one hardened by 27 trips to the winner’s circle and a feeling of invulnerability that survived even October disappointments like the one the Rangers delivered last autumn….
“On the other side stand the Mets, whose fans bear the wounds of the past five years, scars that vary from frustrated (the near-miss of 2006) to furious (the soul-crushing collapses of 2007 and 2008) to fragmented (the lost seasons of 2009 and 2010). Things have grown so toxic in Flushing the past few years that there were some players who were almost relieved by the ghost-town look of the stands in the final months because at least it meant the ugliness could be contained to a minimum.
“For the truest believers among Mets fans, these have been the worst kinds of years, the most trying of seasons, the Mets’ failures cast in an almost neon light when compared to the ascension of the Phillies and Yankees, who have won two of the past three World Series, who occupy the neighboring territories both in their own city and in their own division. And when you factor in the continuing mess of ownership, whether you’re talking about the ongoing Madoff mess or simply the Wilpons’ long-range viability as owners…it can be overwhelming.”
Fox baseball analyst Tim McCarver said Fred Wilpon should sell the Mets. “I don’t see how they can escape (the Madoff mess) by selling a minority position, particularly when they don’t allow any control.”
McCarver added: “It’s deplorable. I would not want to be a player on the Mets right now. Not because they are not talented enough [Ed. they aren’t], but because of all the questions surrounding the team this year will be (about) the off-field problems. It’s very difficult to play under those circumstances.”
If I’m a player, I don’t start worrying until there’s no toilet paper in the locker room. That’s when they’d know the checks could bounce.
Baseball Bits
–The Yankees’ Mark Teixeira is a notoriously slow starter, but the Wall Street Journal’s Michael Salfino quantified just how awful the guy is early on.
When it’s below 60 degrees, in 121 games his batting average is .211.
This year Teixeira has lots of crappy weather cities in April. So .220 or lower seems a lock. Too bad there isn’t a Vegas bet to this effect. Would be a fun one, especially for Yankee haters like moi!
–Back in March 1966, Los Angeles Dodgers aces Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale were holding out for more money. In 1965, Koufax had gone 26-8, 2.04 ERA, 335 innings and a then-record 382 strikeouts. Drysdale was 23-12, 2.77, 308 innings, 210 Ks. Between the two they started 83 games and led L.A. to the World Series title, Koufax shutting out Minnesota in Games 5 and 7, with but two days rest for the latter.
Well, owner Walter O’Malley gave Koufax a reported one-year deal at $115,000 and Drysdale received $105,000. The Dodgers made it to the ’66 Series, but then were swept by Baltimore as Los Angeles scored but two runs in the entire Series. Koufax retired after going 27-9 with a 1.73 ERA. Drysdale slipped to 13-16, 3.42, and was out of baseball after the ’69 season.
North Dakota vs. Michigan
Minnesota-Duluth vs. Notre Dame
Action starts April 7 in St. Paul, so Duluth should have a big crowd advantage, it being just a straight shot down I-35.
–In the Barry Bonds perjury trial, Jeremy and Jason Giambi, plus Bonds teammate Marvin Bernard, all confessed to using steroids, and that the trio had purchased them from trainer Greg Anderson. [On Wed., former Yankee Randy Velarde testified he got HGH from Anderson.]
While all three had previously confessed, they had never done so before a court of law. Jason Giambi described how Anderson advised him on trying to mask his drug tests.
But the big news in the Bonds trial was the appearance of former mistress Kimberly Bell on Monday. Bell testified to the physical changes she saw in Bonds, including testicle shrinkage (which isn’t exactly the kind of thing a guy would want discussed in public…just sayin’), as well as how Bonds became abusive towards the end of their nine-year relationship. At one point Bonds allegedly threatened “to cut my head off and leave me in a ditch,” she said. Bonds also supposedly threatened to “cut out my breast implants because he paid for them.”
[But Bell came under fire after her testimony because the amount of testicle shrinkage she described was at odds with her grand jury testimony. So, Judge Illston could tell the jury to just ignore Barry’s testicles, which everyone in the country would like to do as well.]
–I wrote a lot about the college football bowl system last December, but this week the Fiesta Bowl fired president and CEO John Junker after an internal investigation found “an apparent scheme” to reimburse employees for political contributions and “an apparent conspiracy” to cover it up. The reimbursements, in the amount of $46,539, appear to violate state and federal campaign finance laws, and the Arizona attorney general is conducting a separate probe into the matter.
As a result, the BCS is now saying it will investigate whether the Fiesta Bowl should remain in the system as a BCS bowl game. The Cotton Bowl would love to fill the void.
Junker, who has been at the helm for years, was paid a staggering $600,000 annually.
And talk about a dirtball, as Sports Illustrated reports, on page 239 of the investigation, Junker billed his employer, a tax-exempt charity, for $1,241.75 in charges incurred at a Phoenix strip club. “On page 210 we find the bowl footing the $33,188.96 bill for Junker’s 50th-birthday party in Pebble Beach.”
Junker also used the bowl’s money to pay $13,086 in connection with an employee’s wedding. And, “He purchased (and billed to the bowl) $31,500 worth of gold and silver coins.”
–As I go to post, there is a story that HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” will report that four former Auburn football players will claim they received thousands of dollars of cash from boosters, though none of this activity was after 2007. One player claims he’d get as much as $300 to $400 a game and received $5,000 overall.
–Huge blow to “Mad Men” fans as the fifth season is now not slated to debut until early 2012 owing to money issues between creator Matthew Weiner and AMC, the network carrying the show. AMC says two characters must be cut to reduce costs, as well as find two more minutes for commercials. Weiner is saying no to the character assassinations thus far. But sources tell the New York Post that AMC must make the demands because they have agreed to give Weiner a raise…a two-year deal worth $30 million! Good lord. I’m going to start working on some scripts right quick.
–Have you seen the commercials for Passages Malibu, the drug and rehab center? Maybe they’re only on CNBC, but for those of you who’ve seen them, don’t you wish you were all screwed up and needed to go there?
“Hi, Passages? Listen, if I start doing heroin this afternoon, will you take me tomorrow? You will? Can I stay for 17 years?”
–Ripped from the pages of the Sydney Morning Herald:
“An American man has been charged after allegedly being caught with 3kg of cocaine hidden inside the lining of his suitcase at Sydney Airport.
“The 21-year-old was arrested after stepping off a flight from Los Angeles…
“Customs officers allegedly found the drug, said to be worth $1.5 million, after sniffer dogs gave a positive indication to the man’s suitcase.”
As Johnny Mac said, “As if we needed any more proof…the All-Species List is pretty much a race for runner-up every year.”
–The search for the missing deadly Egyptian cobra continues in the reptile house at the Bronx Zoo. Staff is trying to lure it out with traps baited with live mice, which would be most stressful for the mice, as you can imagine. Like either way, I’d be ready to commit hari-kari if I was in a trap like that.
But Glenn Johnson, world-renowned rattlesnake handler (so says Don Kaplan of the New York Post…I personally don’t know Mr. Johnson), said there are better ways to catch a cobra.
“Traps almost never work. I wouldn’t want to be looking for a cobra. Rattlesnakes are pussycats compared to them.”
My own suggestion is that since it’s likely the cobra has slithered out of the Bronx, if you live in the northeast, look under your bed before calling it a night; always a good idea anyway.
“South African officials have euthanized the country’s most famous baboon, known as Fred, who was well-known for raiding cars and frightening tourists along Cape Town’s scenic route.
“Fred was the ringleader of a group of baboons infamous for breaking into cars to chow down on sandwiches and snacks.
“Cape Towns’s baboon management group said he was euthanized on Friday because he was becoming increasingly aggressive.
“The group said Fred attacked and injured three people in 2010….
“In 2009, Fred led a group of 29 baboons roaming Cape Town’s outskirts, particularly the popular scenic route to the Cape of Good Hope.”
You see, sports fans, baboons have become exposed to human food, and they want more of it. In so doing they are becoming a threat on par with al-Qaeda. Baboons will never make the top ten of the All-Species List, as opposed to their cousin, the highly-regarded gibbon.
–There is good news out of India. The latest census of the country’s wild tiger population has it going up by 20%! There are supposedly over 1,700 now, compared to 1,411 at the last count in 2007. India once had 100,000 at the turn of the century, but 1,700 is more than enough for some good Bar Chat.
–Finally, I was in a meeting with Steve Jobs, discussing plans for iPad 3, when I was handed a note that Shark Attack Director Bob S. was frantically trying to reach me. As reported by CNN:
“An eagle ray weighing as much as 300 pounds landed on top of a woman on a boat in the Florida Keys, throwing her to the deck and pinning her underneath it.”
At first the initial report had the woman dying…but that’s because I read it too quickly, which was always my problem in school, which is why I barely graduated.
But there was a twist to the story. According to Kelly Klein of “Two Chicks Charters,” the captain of the boat [hmmmm…Two Chicks Charters…], “These eagle rays, they were flying through the air. These giant things go out of the water and slam back down.”
The victim, Jenny Hausch (the third Chick?), said, “I was just trying to push it off me as I was scooting backwards.”
Meanwhile, Florida Fish and Wildlife Officers Aja Vickers and Bret Swensson were patrolling the waters when they heard the screams.
“By the time officers made it to the boat Hausch had freed herself from under the ray.”
In other words, Mr. Hausch just stood there, doing nothing!
Now understand the Hausch kids on board were traumatized and Bar Chat will follow up with them in 20 years to see how they’re doing. But their mother had nary a scratch on her. The animal was 8-feet across with a 10-foot tail.
In 2008, a woman was killed in a similar incident. No word on what happened to the offending ray in the Two Chicks Charters case, though, which is just horrible reporting on the part of CNN.
Top 3 songs for the week 3/26/66: #1 “The Ballad Of The Green Berets” (SSgt. Barry Sadler…the one and only*) #2 “19th Nervous Breakdown” (The Rolling Stones…this was easily my favorite Stones era, ’64-‘67) #3 “Nowhere Man” (The Beatles…heard of ‘em)…and…#4 “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” (Nancy Sinatra…love them boots, gotta tell ya) #5 “Homeward Bound” (Simon & Garfunkel) #6 “Daydream” (The Lovin’ Spoonful) #7 “California Dreamin’” (The Mamas and The Papas) #8 “(You’re My) Soul And Inspiration” (The Righteous Brothers) #9 “Elusive Butterfly” (Bob Lind…once again, this song comes up and I have to say I liked it…and this doesn’t make me a bad person! So there!) #10 “Listen People” (Herman’s Hermits…one of my favorites of theirs)
NCAA Basketball Quiz Answer: The last team to win at least 40 games, full season, is UNLV, 1990-91, at 45, ended by Duke in the 1991 NCAA tournament Final Four. UNLV had won the title in 1990. 1991, by the way, was the first time a 15-seed defeated a 2-seed as Richmond upended Syracuse.
*OK, kids….get up out of your cubes and sing with feeling.
Ballad of the Green Berets
Fighting soldiers from the sky
Fearless men who jump and die
Men who mean just what they say
The brave men of the Green Beret
Silver wings upon their chest
These are men, America’s best
One hundred men we’ll test today
But only three win the Green Beret
Trained to live, off nature’s land
Trained in combat, hand to hand
Men who fight by night and day
Courage deep, from the Green Beret
Silver wings upon their chest
These are men, America’s best
One hundred men we’ll test today
But only three win the Green Beret
Back at home a young wife waits
Her Green Beret has met his fate
He has died for those oppressed
Leaving her this last request
Put silver wings on my son’s chest
Make him one of America’s best
He’ll be a man they’ll test one day
Have him win the Green Beret
