Baseball Quiz: The official Opening Day, American version, is fast approaching! Name the first five inductees into the Hall of Fame…the class of 1936. Answer below.
March Madness
So I have my Final Four left, Florida, Virginia, Arizona and Louisville, but only ten of the Sweet Sixteen still in it.
Looking at the Thursday-Friday schedule, though, I’m ticked off that I know I won’t make it for the second half of San Diego State-Arizona, the late, late game, Thursday.
And on Friday, Kentucky-Louisville, Michigan State-Virginia, won’t get started until after 10:00. [Forget the start times they show…you all know the first games at these sites always go way over the scheduled two hours.]
All four of Friday’s games, the others being Tennessee-Michigan and UConn-Iowa State, are outstanding on paper.
—12 of the Sweet 16 teams finished either first or second in their conference tournament. [Gary Parrish / CBSSports.com]
–The SEC only had three entries, but Tennessee, Florida and Kentucky are 7-0.
“In a round-of-32 NCAA tournament game that exceeded its enormous hype, eighth-seeded Kentucky beat undefeated Wichita State 78-76 on Sunday, spoiling the Shockers’ shot at perfection….
“So what do we make now of Wichita State’s season? The Shockers proved they could play with the sport’s big boys, but they also finished their season with one win over a currently ranked team: No. 25 Saint Louis.
“Kentucky revealed even more. It’s starting lineup of five celebrated freshmen finally lived up to its reputation, scoring 68 points and showing why the suddenly surging Wildcats were ranked No. 1 to begin the season.”
–For the first time since 1979, the ACC’s Big Four – Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Wake Forest – won’t have a participant in the Sweet 16. And Virginia is the only ACC team left.
It’s also only the second time since 1979 that both Duke and UNC have missed the Sweet 16. The other time was in 1996 when 8-seed Duke lost to Eastern Michigan in the first round and 6-seed North Carolina dropped a second-round game to Texas Tech. Wake Forest was in the Sweet 16, thanks to Tim Duncan.
Dean Smith’s Carolina teams made the Sweet 16 in every year between 1981 and 1993. [USA TODAY Sports]
–Jim Chairusmi of the Wall Street Journal noted that Syracuse was the worst team in recent memory to start 25-0. The Cuse lost their first to 6-19 Boston College and proceeded to lose six of their final nine of the season, including the first game in the conference tournament and to 11-seed Dayton in the round of 32 in the NCAA tourney.
So there have been six teams to start out 25-0 since the 1996-97 season, including Wichita State this year, and Syracuse is the only one not to win either a regular-season conference title or a conference tournament championship.
“Andrew Wiggins does this sometimes. The most talented player in college basketball disappears, forces whatever shots he can get up and seems displaced.
“This is the player projected to go first overall in many NBA mock drafts, if you can find them.
“The Kansas freshman racked up all of four points on 1-for-6 shooting Sunday in the No. 2 seed Jayhawks’ 60-57 loss to No. 10 seed Stanford. When the game was on the line, he did not even touch the bal as backup freshman Conner Frankamp fired up frantic three-pointers.
“This was the worst game of Wiggins’ career, with four turnovers and relatively minimal defensive impact compounding the shooting woes. But he’s had similar performances in the past, in wins and losses, dropping 14 or fewer points in 11 games this season.
“Wiggins’ draft hype was formed before he even signed with the Jayhawks… His athleticism and natural instincts, particularly on defense, shine above other prospects.
“NBA scouts love Wiggins… And no one’s passing him up on the basis of this game.
–I saw a bracket through Twitter of the Billion$Bracket Challenge that supposedly was tops after the weekend… “ChristianR”…44 of 48 games…he has Florida, Virginia, Wisconsin, Louisville in Final Four; Virginia over Wisconsin, 89-80.
—Manhattan coach Steve Masiello was all set to parlay his strong effort in the tournament against Louisville into a new gig at South Florida, a reported five-year contract worth $1 million. But then the search firm South Florida hired found something in Masiello’s background that didn’t add up so the offer was rescinded. Now it’s not known if he can return to Manhattan.
[ESPN just reported as I go to post that Masiello indicated on his resume he graduated from Kentucky, but didn’t.]
–There are clearly problems at St. John’s where coach Steve Lavin seemingly brings in one solid recruiting class after another but then the Red Storm underachieve. The other day, sophomore JaKarr Sampson said he is leaving to make himself eligible for the draft when not one expert expects him to be drafted. One scout told the Daily News’ Mitch Abramson, “Teams are wondering about his basketball IQ, which appears to be lower than you’d like for a kid who just turned 21.”
Sampson, an athletic 6’9”, declared on Tuesday, “I definitely see myself as a first-round pick.”
But then the discussion turned to Lavin, who after all these great recruiting classes, doesn’t have any incoming freshmen signed for next season.
–Former coach Bob Knight was at it again. Appearing on the Mike & Mike program Tuesday morning, in talking about the one-and-dones in the sport, like Kansas’ Wiggins and Duke’s Jabari Parker, Knight said, “On top of it all, the NBA does a tremendous, gigantic disservice to college basketball. It’s as though they’ve raped college basketball in my opinion.”
ESPN spoke with Knight after about the use of the word rape.
–Finally, back to my tweet in the aftermath of the VCU game that I discussed last time. I criticized CBS’ coverage of the disastrous play at the end of regulation by the Rams’ JeQuan Lewis, one of the worst in tournament history, because CBS treated its viewers like chumps. I, in turn, was then criticized (through Twitter) by Seth Davis for not showing empathy, which was absurd. The more I think about it, the more ticked I get about it, in all actuality.
So bless the New York Post’s Phil Mushnick, who had the following take:
“That unfathomable finish to regulation in Friday’s VCU-Stephen F. Austin – SFA’s four-point play to tie with :03 left – became a high-def study in missing the larger point and picture.
“While we were forced/encouraged, over and over, to view replays as to whether VCU’s JeQuan Lewis fouled the 3-point shooter, lost to this repetitive application of TV technology was the fact that with a four-point lead and :03 left, no VCU defender should have been anywhere near any SFA player!”
Speaking of Shaka, he’s leaving. As I go to post, Marquette and Wake Forest are among those said to be in the mix. For obvious reasons I don’t want to say anymore….don’t want to jinx the prospects of a certain team of mine.
Ball Bits
–The Angels had a scare the other day when Mike Trout rolled his left wrist while attempting a diving catch in the outfield, but he said he is fine. This is news because, aside from the fact he’s the best player in the game, he’s in the midst of negotiations for a nine-figure contract extension. Imagine if he had seriously injured the wrist…ughh…goodbye nine figures, at least for a while.
By the way, he’s hitting .408 with five home runs and 16 RBI this spring. Good lord.
–As I alluded to last time, the Dodgers are increasingly torqued off by Yasiel Puig’s play and attitude. It’s easy to forget he hit just .214 in the final month of last season, and this spring has all of five hits in exhibition games, .122, though had three hits in the second game of the regular-season, the weird opening weekend in Australia. He came into camp 15 pounds overweight and as the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke noted on Wednesday:
“The truth is, Puig also is increasingly not fine with his many veteran teammates, who realize this team has a chance to do something special and are insulted by someone who does not take this rare opportunity seriously.”
This is going to be a very interesting story, especially in the first two months of play.
–Yankees fans are pretty psyched that after two years on the sidelines, pitcher Michael Pineda has had a good spring and has made the starting rotation. Pineda had a solid 2011 rookie season for Seattle at the age of 22, the Yankees acquired him in a trade, but he hasn’t pitched in the majors since, missing both 2012 and 2013 due to serious shoulder surgery.
And while he has looked solid in his exhibition starts, 16 strikeouts and just one walk in 15 innings, last I saw, his velocity is down from 2011.
So the Wall Street Journal’s Michael Salfino, working with Stats LLC, found that 8 major-league pitchers have had similar surgery, in Pineda’s case for a torn labrum, and none had a very good return the first year after missing at least a season with their injuries. Johan Santana had the most starts and innings pitched for the Mets in 2012, 21 and 117, but his ERA was 4.85, even with his no-hitter, and of course he reinjured his arm and hasn’t pitched in the majors since.
So Yankees fans should be realistic with their expectations, though Pineda, still just 25, has youth on his side.
–The Associated Press projected 25-man payrolls for the 30 major league teams this season and the Dodgers are poised to end the Yankees’ 15-year streak as baseball’s biggest spender.
1. Dodgers: $235,295,219
2. Yankees: $203,812,506
3. Phillies: $180,052,723
4. Red Sox: $162,817,411
5. Tigers: $162,228,527
22. Mets: $89,051,758
27. Pirates: $78,111,667
29. Marlins: $47,565,400
30. Astros: $44,544,174
–We wish former pitcher Frank Viola well as he undergoes heart surgery next week in New York. Viola, 53, is a pitching coach for the Mets these days at their AAA affiliate in Vegas. His heart problem was discovered by Mets physicians during a spring training exam.
–Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s poor pro day continues to reverberate across the mock draft boards. The Houston Texans have the first pick and Pat Kirwan of CBSSports.com says today they’d go with QB Blake Bortles (UCF), Bortles having had a very good pro day, by contrast.
[But Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times reports Texans first-year coach Bill O’Brien said selecting a quarterback with the No. 1 pick is not a certainty, Houston having just signed Ryan Fitzpatrick. O’Brien also notes Houston has 11 picks, including the first in every round. So by his way of thinking, “The No. 1 pick in the second round is another first-round pick,” and there will be some solid QB prospects with that second/first-round pick, like an A.J. McCarron or Zach Mettenberger.
On Kirwan’s list he has Clemson’s Sammy Watkins being the No. 1 wide receiver in a class loaded at the position. Everyone has Watkins first, it seems.
Buffalo linebacker Khalil Mack appears on most top ten picks lists. Will the Bills get to take the hometown boy with the ninth selection?
Kirwan has the Jets taking North Carolina TE Eric Ebron with the 18th pick in the first. I’d love that, but I’m guessing no way Ebron lasts this long. If we don’t sign or trade for DeSean Jackson of the Eagles, then it’s back to looking at a wide receiver in the draft like Marqise Lee of USC.
–Commissioner Roger Goodell said he would meet the players union in early April to discuss expanding the playoffs by one team per conference for the 2015 season.
–Well, it didn’t take long for Mark Sanchez to land on his feet. After the Jets released him, and signed Michael Vick, Sanchez apparently agreed to a contract with Vick’s old team, Philadelphia, to backup Nick Foles. Sanchez has to pass an exam on his surgically repaired shoulder first but he has said for months he is fine.
Sanchez showed true class in an open letter to Jets fans, thanking us for supporting him. Well, we didn’t always, that’s for sure, but like I said the other day, no one could have a problem with Sanchez as a person and true team player.
Actually, just realized Sanchez would be the third QB on the Eagles’ roster, along with Matt Barkley. But he just needs a chance to show other teams he’s healthy and at 27, maybe he’s starting for someone in 2015.
–He’s not always real likable, but Mark Cuban often makes for good copy and this week the Dallas Mavericks owner spoke out against the NFL.
“I think the NFL is 10 years away from an implosion. I’m just telling you, pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. And they’re getting hoggy. Just watch. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way.
“I’m just telling you, when you’ve got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns on you. That’s rule number one of business.”
Cuban was referring to the NFL’s new television deal that expands the Thursday night package, Cuban’s position being, why would you mess with consistent domination on Sundays and Mondays? The feeling being eventually you dilute the product. Obviously, the NFL begs to differ, which is why they want to add another playoff game in each conference, too.
Cuban said: “They’re trying to take over every night of TV. Initially, it’ll be, ‘Yeah, they’re the biggest-rating thing that there is.’ OK, Thursday, that’s great, regardless of whether it impacts [the NBA] during that period when we cross over. Then if it gets Saturday, now you’re impacting colleges. Now it’s on four days a week. ….
Cuban is taking about the fan having been able to plan their week around the Sunday, and occasional Monday, game, comparing it to the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” which suffered after it went to five days a week.
“They put it on every night,” Cuban said. “I’m telling you, pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.”
Well the above was from Sunday night. Monday, Cuban issued a lengthy Facebook post expounding on his feelings towards the NFL, bringing up the fact that the popularity of the sport at the youth level has been declining because of the safety issue.
“I wouldn’t want my son playing football, would you?” Cuban wrote. “I’m sure helmet technology will improve over the next 10 years, but why risk it? There are plenty of sports to play. Plenty of ways to get exercise and if my son decided to do anything outside of sports and never picks up any ball of any kind, I’m fine with that. I can think of 1 k things I would prefer him to get excited about doing.”
Cuban then talked about how off-field issues could hurt the NFL.
“The NBA learned this lesson. Fans don’t like to see players acting the fool. While the fans may forgive players over time, advertisers have long memories….
“With the unquenchable thirst the online and media world have for HEADLINE PORN, and the ever growing availability of pictures of those mistakes appearing online, it is not inconceivable that over the next ten years something could impact the perception of the game enough to impact attendance and viewership.”
Cuban’s conclusion: “Customers/Fans/Advertisers know when they are being pushed. They know when they are being squeezed. It always ends up costing the business in the end.” [Tim MacMahon / ESPNDallas.com]
–We note the passing of Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson, 95, one of the co-founders of the American Football League, which began play in 1960, with a $25,000 investment in ’59. Today, Forbes magazine has valued the Bills at $870 million.
Wilson also took the first steps toward the eventual AFL-NFL merger when he contacted the Baltimore Colts then-owner Carroll Rosenbloom.
And Ralph Wilson was forever beloved in Buffalo because he resisted all offers to move the team, telling former Bills president Bill Polian one time, “The team will not leave Buffalo in my lifetime.”
While the Bills never won the Super Bowl, they did have that unprecedented run of four straight appearances in the game, 1990-93 seasons.
Ralph Wilson was born in Columbus, Ohio, grew up in Detroit, and attended the University of Virginia and the University of Michigan Law School.
He also served extensively in World War II.
“He was a commander on a mine sweeper, which is a wooden boat waiting to be blown up,” said Joe Horrigan, vice president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which enshrined Wilson in 2009. “He was one of the early responders after Pearl Harbor was attacked. He was at Hiroshima after the bomb. He was on the Missouri when the Japanese surrender took place. And he would never, ever talk about it.” [Sam Farmer / Los Angeles Times]
–Tuesday wasn’t a good day for Buffalo in other respects. Hall of Fame former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly is expected to undergo surgery for a recurrence of his oral cancer. His wife, in a post, said the cancer is aggressive and starting to spread. He underwent surgery in June 2013 to remove cancerous cells in his jaw.
–The other day the Knicks found themselves just three games behind Atlanta for the last playoff spot in the dreadful Eastern Conference. New York had won 8 in a row and with the hiring of Phil Jackson as president, there was a good feeling in the locker room.
Then the Knicks lost to Cleveland at home and hit the road for a west coast swing and on Tuesday, they were shelled by the pathetic Lakers, 127-96, including giving up a record 51…yes, 51…points in the third quarter. [For the Lakers, a franchise record.] L.A. shot 57.8% from the field for the game, 18 of 28 from downtown (64.3%).
Understand the Hawks have lost three in a row so the Knicks, if they were worth a damn, should have been just one game back by now. But nooooo!
Phil Jackson watched the game from a luxury suite. When reporters caught up with him after, he said, “Fifty-one points. When it’s 35 points you start to get worried. When it’s a 51-point quarter, that’s really awful.”
–The Philadelphia 76ers lost their 25th game in a row on Monday, 113-91 to San Antonio, and on Thursday they’ll gun for No. 26, which is the NBA record, held by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010-11.
NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship
Minnesota v. Robert Morris
St. Cloud St. v. Notre Dame
Ferris St. v. Colgate…Go Red Raiders!!!
North Dakota v. Wisconsin
Union (NY) vs. Vermont
Providence v. Quinnipiac
UMass Lowell v. Minn. St. Mankato
Denver v. Boston College
—Tiger Woods said on Monday that when it comes to his bad back, “For Augusta it’s actually a little too soon to be honest with you. That’s kind of the frustrating thing. I’ve had a couple weeks off, working on trying to get ready for Augusta,” but he doesn’t know yet.
–The Copenhagen Zoo that got grief for killing a giraffe and dissecting it in front of visitors has now killed two lions and their cubs to make way for a new male, according to zoo officials.
“Because of the pride of lions’ natural structure and behavior, the zoo has had to euthanize the two old lions and two young lions who were not old enough to fend for themselves,” the zoo said in a statement.
The 10-month-old lions “would have been killed by the new male lion as soon as he got the chance,” it said.
Hey, the place is internationally recognized for its work with lions so gotta trust ‘em.
Actually, these guys are tougher than Obama. Maybe they should be put on the front lines to confront Putin.
“We don’t think your kind is suitable for the general European community and we’ve decided to put you down.”
–Roza Khutor, the ski resort used in the Sochi Olympics, reopened on Saturday to the public for the first time since the Games and on Sunday, two skiers were killed there in an avalanche.
—Actor Jim Nabors announced this year will be his last time singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” live at the Indy 500. He’s 83 and in a statement said his health precludes him from traveling from his home in Hawaii, but he’ll do it one more time this May. Get your Kleenex ready.
Top 3 songs for the week 3/28/81: #1 “Rapture” (Blondie…I break out in hives anytime I hear her…) #2 “Woman” (John Lennon) #3 “The Best Of Times” (Styx)…and…#4 “Keep On Loving You” (REO Speedwagon…Big Hair Week…) #5 “Crying” (Don McLean) #6 “Hello Again” (Neil Diamond) #7 “9 to 5” (Dolly Parton) #8 “Just The Two Of Us” (George Washington, Jr. with Bill Withers) #9 “Kiss On My List” (Daryl Hall & John Oates) #10 “What Kind Of Fool” (Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb)
Baseball Quiz Answer: The first five inductees into the Hall of Fame, Class of 1936, were Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner and Babe Ruth.
Cobb, by the way, garnered 98.2% of the vote, Ruth and Wagner 95.1%, Mathewson 90.7% and Johnson 83.6%.
