College Basketball Quiz: 1) Marquette has had six first round draft selections. I’ll give you the year and team that took the guy. 1971 – New York; 1972 – New York (ABA); 1974 – Chicago (but started career in ABA); 1977 – Washington (ended up brief career with Denver); 1978 – Atlanta (trade to Cleveland middle of first year); 2003 – Miami. 2) Who replaced Al McGuire as coach at Marquette after McGuire went out on top, following the 1976-77 title season? 3) Who is the only first-rounder out of Marshall, currently an NBA coach? 4) On the 2001-02 Maryland title team, what three players led the team in scoring, rebounding and assists? 5) Who was a 1990 first-rounder out of Maryland, initials J.M.? Answers below.
March Madness
First, the final AP Men’s and Women’s polls
1. Kansas
2. Kentucky
3. Duke
4. Syracuse
5. Ohio State
6. West Virginia
7. Kansas State
8. New Mexico
9. Villanova
10. Purdue
11. Butler
24. Richmond
1. UConn
2. Stanford
3. Tennessee
4. Nebraska
5. Xavier
6. Duke
7. Notre Dame
8. Ohio State
9. Texas A&M
10. West Virginia
The top four above women’s teams are also the top four seeds in their tourney, though no one expects UConn to lose as they extend their record winning streak to 78.
On the men’s side, the story is more than a bit different. Kansas, according to one leading bookmaker, is the 5-2 favorite to win, with Kentucky second at 7-2 and Duke and Syracuse at 8-1. For long shots, a lot of folks like BYU to go far because of their bracket and they are actually, at 100-1 to win it all, worth a $100 wager. Murray State is 1,000-1, according to the same Las Vegas Hilton Race & Sports Book. [Wake Forest, at 200-1, is where they should be.]
But USA TODAY’s Danny Sheridan listed his odds thusly on winning it all.
Richmond 2,500-1; Siena 5,000-1; Houston 250,000:1; Murray State 50 million:1; Montana 250 million:1; East Tennessee State 2 googolplex:1; Vermont 5 googolplex:1 and last, and certainly least, Lehigh at 10 googolplex:1.
As to those who didn’t get in, upon further analysis I do agree that Virginia Tech was screwed. I’m amused by those who question their out of conference schedule, seeing as these people are truly ignorant.
Non-conference games for the Hokies included Temple (loss), Iowa, Georgia, Penn State and Seton Hall, the last four wins. In most seasons, Iowa and Georgia are solid programs, and Seton Hall went to the NIT and was a legitimate NCAA bubble team this year. Focusing on Iowa and Georgia, though, it’s not VaTech’s fault these two had down years.
But one long-time friend, who I will keep nameless, blistered Wake for getting into the tournament, over the Hokies. I said that if Wake won its last conference game to go 9-7 they’d be in. That proved to be the case. They did also beat Xavier, Richmond and Gonzaga, which all finished in the top 25, and split against No. 20 Maryland, plus some other wins against teams in the tourney. I do agree, though, that they are more like a 12 than a 9.
Counting seeds 12-16 as real upsets in the first round, I have No. 13 Murray State defeating No. 4 Vanderbilt; No 13. Siena defeating No. 4 Purdue (I think this will be a blowout); and in the shocker of the tournament, No. 15 North Texas over No. 2 Kansas State. Yes, I will be wearing my new North Texas “Mean Green” shirt when they tip-off Thursday.
Now a lot of folks are picking Murray State and Siena, including President Obama, I just saw. Siena is a lay-up. They’ve been there before and even though they didn’t beat anyone this year, they are battle tested, while Purdue is obviously still struggling big time without star Robbie Hummel.
But then I also have Murray State beating Butler in round two, and Siena besting Texas A&M. Their respective runs end in the Sweet Sixteen.
I have my Wake Forest Demon Deacons losing to Texas…more in a bit…and No. 7 Richmond making some major, major noise.
So here is my Elite Eight…
No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 2 Ohio State
No. 1 Syracuse vs. No. 6 Xavier
No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 2 West Virginia
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 7 Richmond
Final Four…
Kansas vs. Xavier!
West Virginia vs. Duke
And the winner? Well, you ought to know by now. Since the first week of the season I’ve said it would be West Virginia.
West Virginia defeating Kansas, 56-52.
But back to Wake Forest, I am just praying they lose by only 10. I know Texas has played like crap, and there has been some dissension there, but they still have some tremendous talent. I can easily see Wake getting blown out, 82-58, at which point I would pack away all my Wakewear until the football team makes some noise this fall…which isn’t likely either. I just can’t afford to be humiliated in town yet again as Wake represents the biggest choke job in NCAA Tournament history…you can look it up, it’s true.
What really ticks me off about the Demon Deacs this year, though, is how awful two of our seniors have played…L.D. Williams and center Chas McFarland.
From time to time, sports fans like to talk about big time college athletics, specifically basketball and football, and say that with the schools making so much money off these two programs (which during the recession is no longer an automatic), and coaches salaries going through the roof, the players should be paid, too.
This is ludicrous. At big time programs, the athletes are getting a free ride, an education valued at generally $160,000 over four years these days. They get the tremendous opportunity to get a critical college degree, for free. They have all the resources at their finger tips these days, too, such as extensive tutoring and separate learning centers that many athletes in my day, 1976-80, didn’t have. Yes, they also have extensive practice and travel time to deal with, but there is zero reason for an athlete not to graduate.
In turn, all us fans/alumni ask is that the players give it their all and show some improvement over four years. Regarding the latter, maybe not from a talent standpoint, but at least in a freakin’ knowledge of their sport of choice…case in point center Chas McFarland.
I hope this guy proves me wrong and puts up 10 points, 10 rebounds against Texas on Thursday, in which case Wake would probably be competitive until late. But I have never seen a college center, with solid ability, perform worse their senior season. In a nutshell, he has played like an idiot. Nothing ticks off the college b-ball fan like stupid fouls and no one has more of them in the sport this year than this guy. It’s inexcusable, and yet he’s getting a free ride?! You want these athletes to be paid? Are you kidding me?! There’s nothing worse than someone who is given breaks in life, then “mails it in.” In any profession.
Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble
I can guarantee one thing during the NCAA basketball tournament; CBS will have a story, probably between games of the Final Four, on the 20th anniversary of the death of Loyola-Marymount’s Hank Gathers, March 4, 1990, and the response of his teammates, particularly Bo Kimble, in the tournament the following weeks.
The Loyola Marymount Lions were in the midst of a terrific 3-year run led by Coach Paul Westhead, a former, and future NBA coach. From 1987-90, Loyola went 28-4, 20-11, and 26-6, as Philadelphia high school teammates Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble propelled the team to near greatness.
Gathers and Kimble had started their college careers at USC, but after coach Stan Morrison was fired following their freshman season, they transferred to Loyola.
Gathers led the team the first two years in scoring, averaging 22.5 and 32.7 (leading the nation in both scoring and rebounding that year), and then Kimble led the way their senior season, as he also topped the nation with a 35.3 mark; Gathers finishing 6th at 29.0.
Loyola’s run-and-gun was spectacular as they scored an astounding 122.4 points per game in the 1989-90 regular season on 51.9% shooting from the field. [The previous two years they had averaged 112 and 110.]
In Feb. 1990, Loyola played LSU, which was led by behemoths Shaquille O’Neal and Stanley Roberts. The 6’7” Gathers had his first seven shots of the game blocked, yet still finished with 48 points in a 148-141 overtime loss.
Then on March 4, 1990, Hank Gathers collapsed and died on the court during the West Coast conference tournament of a heart-muscle disorder. It was awful.
But instead of just folding their tent, the Lions went on a memorable run in the NCAA tourney.
Seeded No. 11, Loyola defeated No. 6 New Mexico State, 111-92. In round two, Loyola blasted defending national champion and No. 3 seed Michigan, 149-115, and then bested No. 7 Alabama (which had upset No. 2 Arizona), 62-60 to advance to the Elite Eight, as ‘Bama tried to slow the Lions down. Loyola’s run then ended when they lost to No. 1 seed, and eventual national champion, UNLV, 131-101.
Loyola’s performance, though, was also memorable for Bo Kimble’s choosing to honor his high school teammate, Gathers, by shooting his first free throws of each game, left-handed, and drained all four.
I got the statistics for all the above from ESPN’s College Basketball Encyclopedia, but back in January, the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke wrote a piece I’ve been saving for the tourney.
“Twenty years later, the mother of the late Hank Gathers can finally smile.
“ ‘My son’s memory has become such a strength to so many people,’ Lucille Gathers Cheeseboro says.
“In an era of sports cynicism and strife, the saddest, sweetest college basketball story still lives….
“Even now, looking back through the lens of a sports landscape filled with an upset a minute, the moment remains nothing short of a miracle.
“Twenty years ago, a raggedy group of playground stars from a tiny Catholic college watched their best player collapse and die of a heart ailment during the first half of a game in the conference tournament on their home court.
“Twelve days later, the team began a run through the NCAA tournament that fell only one game short of the Final Four.
“On the way, they set records for scoring and symbolism, for three-pointers and tears, a bunch of grieving but gripping kids providing a transfixed nation with lessons of the heart….
“In choosing to honor the fallen Gathers, who had been trying to perfect a left-handed free throw at the time of his death, teammate and best friend Kimble decided to shoot the first free throw of every tournament game left-handed.
“This is even though Kimble is right-handed, and even though the Lions were such big underdogs that every point would matter.
“Do you remember now? In my 23 years at The Times, I have never seen a more compelling moment on a basketball court.
“Four times Kimble threw up the left-handed shot. Four times fans would openly weep. Four times he made the shot.”
Three times in the NBA Kimble shot left-handed and missed them all.
Tiger’s Back…almost
So as the world now knows, Tiger is making his return not at Bay Hill, but at the Masters. [Cue the CBS theme music…doo doo doo…doo doo doo doo doooo…]
In a statement, the sex-crazed No. 1 golfer in the world said, “When I finally got into a position to think about competitive golf again, it became apparent to me that the Masters would be the earliest I could play.”
This is going to be one of the more interesting television sports events of all time. Whether it also ends up being one of the great dramas of the century remains to be seen. He hasn’t played a competitive round since November. Are his nerves shot? Will his mistresses get hold of those coveted Masters badges and tackle him on the course? I know Augusta is a tightly controlled environment, but will Gloria Allred, not really understanding the sport, suddenly approach Tiger on the 18th fairway and attempt to serve him papers? Will caddie Steve Williams hear a cough and bludgeon the wrong guy to death? Will Tiger just break down and curl up in a fetal position on the first tee? In three short weeks, we’ll get all the answers.
Meanwhile, the British bookmaker William Hill has installed Tiger as the 4-1 favorite.
–Word came Wednesday afternoon that Seton Hall basketball coach Bobby Gonzalez was fired for consistently being a Class A jerk, while some of his players acted like idiots, or, in the case of Herb Pope, nothing more than a thug (who also threw away a possible NBA career by his actions in Seton Hall’s NIT loss on Tuesday…Pope slugging a Texas Tech player down low for no reason whatsoever). I’m hoping against hope as I go to post that my friend up at William Paterson, Jose Rebimbas, gets the shot but this isn’t likely, even though Jose was a member of the great 1988-89 Seton Hall team that lost in the NCAA finals to Michigan.
–Thru Tuesday’s play, the New Jersey Nets were 7-60. Their only motto these days is “The Drive for 10!” as they try to avoid tying the Philadelphia 76ers record of futility, 9-73.
—New York Jets owner Woody Johnson caused quite a stir the other day. As you know, the Giants and Jets are set to share a new stadium in the Meadowlands and Johnson was begging for the first game to get out from the Giants’ shadow, the Jets having shared the old Giants Stadium for decades.
But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell conducted a closed-door coin toss that decided the Giants got the first regular season game in the $1.7 billion facility (still nameless), opening it Sunday, Sept. 12, while the Jets received the “Monday Night Football” gig the following night as their home opener.
But because the Jets and Giants couldn’t agree on who got to open it, earlier, Goodell conducted the coin toss in the league office last Friday in the presence of a member of his staff, but without representatives from either team.
Johnson then went off on Goodell, without naming him.
“An NFL coin toss has a few fundamental elements that are missing here, most notably the presence of the teams involved. That’s how it’s always done in the League, whether it’s determining the order of the draft or deciding who’s going to kick off the game.
“When the issue of which team would be hosting the first regular season game could not be resolved on the merits, I suggested a coin toss as the fairest way to resolve this issue. The League rejected that idea. Then, I was told on Friday that a coin toss had taken place in the League office and that the Jets had lost. We rejected a process in which neither team was present. The League departed from our time-honored tradition and declined the opportunity to set the matter straight with a transparent process.”
Can you believe Woody Johnson went through the trouble of issuing a formal statement like this, thus calling into question the integrity of the Commissioner himself?
“Not only has no owner publicly criticized Goodell in the nearly four years he’s been commissioner, but Johnson has to be among the four or five owners least likely to ever challenge him. But rich guys tend to get emotional about $850 million investments….
“Sources said that after the Jets were informed Friday that they had lost the flip….they started campaigning for a do-over.”
So the Jets put up a false report on their Web site Saturday evening, saying a coin flip, perhaps a public event, would be conducted this week. Then, Johnson expressed his outrage on Monday!
You see, the Jets were trying to get the fan base to express so much outrage that they’d force Goodell to conduct a more “transparent” process before he announced Friday’s result, so they created a fake story.
What’s funny is that Johnson’s spoilsport ways could lead Goodell to nix the idea of holding the 2014 Super Bowl in the Meadowlands. As Myers concludes, “Now Johnson has tossed (Goodell) under the bus.”
Meanwhile, on the football field, Jets fans are still scratching their heads as to why they let 1,400-yard rusher Thomas Jones go for more or less the same money they are giving to just signed LaDainian Tomlinson, with LT being a shadow of the player he was before. But while it was indeed a highly questionable move, I do believe Tomlinson will be a third down force in the passing game and a good guy to have down near the goal line.
–According to Ben Roethlisberger’s attorney, the Steeler quarterback has yet to meet with Georgia authorities investigating the sexual assault claim made against him. But others with him that night have been interviewed.
–Johnny Mac and I marveled at the contract signed by pitcher Ben Sheets in the offseason, with the Oakland A’s, of all people, giving a guy who didn’t pitch all of 2009, $10 million for one year. Sheets turns 32 this July and has been injured often in his career. True, when he’s healthy, he’s an All-Star (a four-time one, in fact), but there was zero reason to gamble like this on the guy. $10 million?!
So the other day, Johnny pointed out that Sheets gave up 10 runs without retiring a single batter in his exhibition game start. Sheets has now yielded 18 runs in 4 1/3 innings this spring.
Oh well…these games don’t count, we’re reminded, and Sheets insists he feels great. In another few weeks, though, we’ll know if the sheet has truly hit the fan.
–You know a topic that seems to be getting more play these days? Running barefoot. I brought it up the other day and then in the March 22 issue of Army Times there is a story on this growing trend. Some runners run exclusively in this fashion after working their way up from beaches to pavement and asphalt.
“Converts insist they run faster, farther and – defying conventional wisdom – have fewer injuries, aches and pains.”
Victor Palma, a leader in the movement, notes, “The human body is a marvel of engineering and perfectly capable of running without the aid – or really the restriction – of shoes….
“It seems counterintuitive because we’re led to believe you need that extra padding from running shoes. But that forces you to run in an unnatural form – running heel first. Even though you have padding, you’re landing harder on the ground, sending shock waves up your legs and through your knees and into your back. That doesn’t happen when you switch to forefoot landing, which is how you run when you’re barefoot. You run very gently. You can feel the ground – you can sense it.”
Of course the famous Olympic marathoner, Abebe Bikila, ran barefoot and shattered the existing marathon record in 1960 in Rome. Personally, I will choose to continue to wear shoes.
–So you know that baby elephant that had been written off by Aussie zoo officials when it was still in its mother’s womb? Gotta love the name it’s been given by its handlers, Mr. Shuffles, and in its first week Shuffles is doing great, though sticking close to his stripper mom, Porntip. Officials say he is remarkably healthy, “Although [zoo experts] are still struggling to comprehend how quickly the 116-kilogram infant has recovered from a week-long labor, including three motionless days in a coma with no hint of a heartbeat.”
Gary Miller, the Taronga Zoo’s elephant supervisor, said, “As far as we were concerned, he’d been dead for three days.”
I mean think about it; Mr. Shuffles doesn’t even appear to have any brain damage from not having a heartbeat, and blood flowing, for an extended period.
The zoo is not going to stick with Mr. Shuffles as a name, however. He’ll have a Thai name, like his mother, the stripper from Bangkok. [Sydney Morning Herald]
–Another depressing story on rhino poaching in Africa, courtesy of the Los Angeles Times’ Robyn Dixon.
“Last year, 12 rhinos were killed in South Africa….180 to 200 will be killed this year. A provisional 2009 estimate shows only 800 rhinos remaining in Zimbabwe, and 18,533 white and 1,570 black rhinos in South Africa.”
If only we could get the 800 in Zimbabwe to launch an assault on President Robert Mugabe, the nation would be the better for it.
–More bad news from South Africa as they gear up for the World Cup. Johnny Mac first passed along the story from Agence France-Presse titled “Thieving baboons wipe out S. African vineyards.”
“Farms in the Franschhoek Valley have been emptied by rampaging Chachma baboons (Ed. don’t know ‘em), who sneak into secured plots and help themselves with top grade grapes.”
The marauding beasts have eaten enough grapes in the area to make “1,500 to 2,000 bottles of wine,” according to a local vintner.
–It’s been a tough winter in Mongolia, and nomadic farmers are struggling big time as a result of the country’s second straight dzud – a severe winter after a dry summer, according to Agence France-Presse. “The rare double-barreled weather phenomenon – one of the worst on record in Mongolia – often leads to food shortages for the livestock that generations in the landlocked, impoverished Asian nation have depended upon for survival.
“More than 3.5 million animals – cows, sheep, goats, yaks, horses and camels – have died so far, with 60% of the country still buried under deep snow.”
Noooooooo….not the yaks!!! These proud and noble beasts, that are also highly nutritious, are as hearty as they come so if they’re having issues, there’s little hope. For anyone…anywhere.
–Since I didn’t have a chance to comment on the death of actor Peter Graves last time, for the archives I have to note the story behind his role on “Airplane!” After starring on “Mission Impossible,” CBS, 1967-73 (and later reprised on ABC), Graves had done a number of big screen and television movies that branded him “as an actor who could deliver solid, straight-shooting roles.” But as My-Thuan Tran noted in the Los Angeles Times, that all changed in 1980, when Graves became the star of “Airplane!”, “in which he played Capt. Clarence Oveur, the bumbling pilot whose one-liners included, ‘Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?’ [“Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?”]
“Graves initially turned down the role. ‘I read it and thought, ‘Gee, this is dangerous,’’ Graves told the Times in late 2009. ‘It was terrible taste.’
“But the film’s producer, Howard Koch, urged him to meet with the young filmmakers, David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker, who told him that they wanted somebody of stature and dignity to play the role ‘absolutely straight,’ Graves recalled.
“ ‘They say you are supposed to stretch as an actor, so let’s go stretch it,’ he said.”
One thing that was cool about Peter Graves, given Hollywood’s reputation, is that he was married to his college sweetheart [Univ. of Minnesota], Joan Endress, for more than 50 years.
–Meanwhile, Ashley Dupre’s hair caught on fire while shooting her spread for the May issue of Playboy, according to the New York Post’s Page Six…but no one got hurt. Said a source, “A few strands of her hair caught on fire at one point because of all the hairspray.”
–Wow…what an ending to “24” this week. Can’t wait to see the next episode. [I’m guessing Dana emerges a real hero when it’s over, helped by the fact the…sorry, I know some who haven’t seen Monday’s episode yet.]
Top 3 songs for the week 3/13/71: #1 “One Bad Apple” (The Osmonds) #2 “Me And Bobby McGee” (Janis Joplin) #3 “For All We Know” (Carpenters)…and…#4 “Just My Imagination” (The Temptations) #5 “She’s A Lady” (Tom Jones) #6 “Mama’s Pearl” (The Jackson 5) #7 “Proud Mary” (Ike & Tina Turner…can’t stand this tune) #8 “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” (Creedence Clearwater Revival) #9 “Doesn’t Somebody Want To Be Wanted” (The Partridge Family…Susan Dey could do no wrong at this point, in the eyes of your then soon to be 13-year-old editor) #10 “If You Could Read My Mind” (Gordon Lightfoot)
*We note the passing of the great New York radio DJ, Ron Lundy, 75. If you grew up in the area and are of a certain age, as the Beatles hit the scene it was all about WABC-AM and it’s lineup of Herb Oscar Anderson, Dan Ingram, Harry Harrison, Scot Muni and, of course, Bruce Morrow (“Cousin Brucie”). Lundy was with ABC from 1965 to 1982 and was on the air for its last Top 40 before the station switched to talk-radio. He then moved on to WCBS-FM, the great oldies station that remains on the air today, with Lundy retiring in 1997. Of all the DJs, he was my favorite. The easiest to listen to, consistently, in a day when DJs actually had some influence, as well as independence. “Hello Luv…This is Ron Lundy” and “It’s 10:00 in the morning in the Greatest City in the World!!!”
College Basketball Quiz Answers: 1) Marquette first-rounders. Dean Meminger, 1971, by the Knicks; Jim Chones, 1972, by the New York Nets; Maurice Lucas, 1974, Chicago; Bo Ellis, 1977, Washington; Butch Lee, 1978, Atlanta; Dwyane Wade, 2003, Miami. 2) Hank Raymonds replaced Al McGuire. After six seasons Raymonds was replaced by Rick Majerus. 3) Marshall’s only first-round pick is Mike D’Antoni, coach of the Knicks. 4) On the 2001-02 Maryland national championship team, Juan Dixon was the leading scorer, Lonny Baxter the leading rebounder, and Steve Blake for assists. Actually, those three led the team in these categories for the three-year period, 1999-2002. 5) Jerrod Mustaf was a 1990 first-rounder out of Maryland selected by the Knicks. Mustaf was a bust and out of the league four years later.
Next Bar Chat, Monday. Who is in the Sweet Sixteen? Who is crying for their mother? Who can’t go back to school because they totally embarrassed the institution with a bonehead play or in bricking two foul shots?
