1998-99 College Basketball Quiz: UConn 77…Duke 74 in the title game. Name the main players in the rotation for each. Answer below.
Let the Madness Begin…top seeds
East…1. Ohio State 2. North Carolina
West…1. Duke 2. San Diego State
Southwest…1. Kansas 2. Notre Dame
Southeast…1. Pitt 2. Florida
“And here is your EXCLUSIVE Bar Chat Pick to Click for the 2010-2011 College Basketball Season…San Diego State!!!
“Yup, I’m rolling the dice on the Aztecs, baby…gonna get me some Aztecwear, too, before long. I see they have all five starters returning and I’m going to have some fun. Wake is going to suck, after all.”
Since I’ve invested a lot of time (some late night telecasts, too) as well as a lot of money on them (my recent trip to California that was built around the SDSU-BYU game), I can’t help but stick wtih my adopted Aztecs to go all the way.
My Final Four is thus:
San Diego State vs. UNC
Notre Dame vs. Pitt
San Diego State defeating Pitt.
In your upset specials, I agree with Seth Davis…13-seed Oakland beats 4-seed Texas. In fact I’ll go with Oakland to reach the Elite Eight, too, at which point they’ll lose to SDSU. 13-seed Belmont is also going to defeat 4-seed Wisconsin.
Special kudos to UConn, who accomplished something no other team, college or pro, has ever done, as best as one can determine. Five days, five wins, to take the Big East tournament.
DePaul…97-71
#22 Georgetown…79-62
#3 Pitt…76-74
#11 Syracuse…76-71 OT
#14 Louisville…69-66
It was the Kemba Walker show; as fine a display of hoops as you’ll ever see. One word sums up Walker…leadership.
–In finally getting its revenge on Jimmer Fredette and BYU, San Diego State played as fine a 40 minutes as you’ll see against a team with a huge superstar. Jimmer had 30 but he was only 10-for-25 from the field and SDSU prevailed in the Mountain West Championship 72-54, largely due to the inspired play on both ends of the court by forward Billy White; 21 points, 12 rebounds, 5 steals.
I love this guy. Now that I’ve seen a ton of Aztecs’ games this year, Billy White is as intriguing a player as you’ll find in the college game. White is incredibly talented but sometimes he needs to slow it down a bit. His intensity is something to behold, always going at 110 mph, and no doubt he’s also a royal pain in the butt to go up against, a major trash talker.
But in the right system, and with the right coach, Billy White has a long NBA career ahead of him. Or he won’t get the right opportunity and he doesn’t play a single season. There will be no in between with this guy. He has so many neat things to his game, like he throws the best chest-pass I’ve ever seen. He can nail you with one from full court, or so it seems.
—Princeton 63 Harvard 62…last second shot by Douglas Davis. It’s been 65 years since Harvard went to the Big Dance. As the two had tied for the regular season title, they played Saturday’s playoff game at a neutral site, Yale’s gym. So before the game, both Harvard and Princeton fans chanted “Yale sucks.” Good show, kids.
–UNC freshman phenom Harrison Barnes had an ACC-tourney record 40 points for a freshman in the Tar Heels’ semifinal win over Clemson.
–I like the girl in those commercials for the flick “Sucker Punch.” Nice look. But it does carry the label: “Some material may be inappropriate for adults aged 52” so I guess I can’t see it.
–Sunday’s New York Post had a glowing article on St. John’s coach Steve Lavin’s wife, Mary Ann Jarou, the 32-year-old “exotic beauty (she is of French, Lebanese, Mexican and Filipino descent)” notes the Post. Good lord. What a lovely combination, I think you’d agree, guys. And so despite the terrible loss of the versatile D.J. Kennedy to a torn ACL for the tournament, we wish the Johnnies well and a long run.
–Of course before D.J. went down in a loss to Syracuse, the Johnnies beat Rutgers on a highly-controversial series of non-calls as time ran out. Just pathetic officiating that will be long remembered.
–Georgia Tech fired coach Paul Hewitt after his fourth losing season in six and no sell-outs this year. But what everyone is talking about is the fact that after Hewitt led the Yellow Jackets to the national championship game in 2004, he was given a rolling six-year contract at $1.3 million per. Thus his buyout is for over $7 million. Totally insane.
–And what would a college basketball review be without a note on Wake Forest? Sophomore forward Ari Stewart was suspended for academic reasons even though the school was on spring break, which kind of sums up the year and the state of the program. [That said, the key players I care about said they would return. I couldn’t care less about Stewart.]
The Lockout
NFL owners have now locked out the players, accusing them of bargaining in bad faith. New York Giants president John Mara said, “I’ve been here for the better part of two weeks now, and essentially during that two-week period the union’s position on the core economic issues has not changed one iota. Their position has quite literally been ‘take it or leave it,’ and in effect they have been at the same position since last September.”
The two sides spent 16 days with federal mediator George Cohen, but, as described by the New York Times’ Judy Battista:
“On Friday, owners – apparently hoping to avoid litigation – dramatically dropped their demand for how much additional revenue they would receive off the top in addition to the $1 billion they already receive in cost credits for investments in things like stadiums and the NFL Network – the core economic issue that is at the heart of this dispute. At the start of negotiations, owners wanted an additional $1 billion, but the two sides entered the day just $640 million apart, and owners offered to split the difference, meaning that they would have taken $320 million per year, a third of their original demand.
“DeMaurice Smith, the head of the union, said that during negotiations, players had offered owners $550 million over four years – $137.5 million per year – without the demand for financial verification….
“At the end, players walked out after telling owners they would extend the deadline again only if owners agreed to turn over 10 years of audited, full team financial statements. Owners had offered to allow a third-party auditor to verify five years of team financial statements, although the union would only be given profitability statements and statements indicating changes in profitability.”
It turns out the two sides hadn’t even agreed on a rookie compensation system, which was the easiest item to me, let alone whether there would be an 18-game regular season. One reporter I heard earlier in the week said the owners had agreed to shelve the 18-game idea so I don’t know who to believe. On Saturday, John Mara said it would probably be months before negotiations resume owing to all the legal entanglements now. But, there is also a chance a federal judge, who has been sympathetic to the players before, could unblock the lockout and everything would be normal, except the owners would then use the rules from 2010 but make them more restrictive. Regardless, there would still need to be negotiations on a new CBA.
Steve Serby of the New York Post pointed out a tweet from the National Football Post’s Andrew Brandt that resonated strong and true: “The dichotomy of Japanese people fighting for their lives while NFL owners and players fight for their share of $9 billion is striking.” “It sure is,” added Serby.
Jim Tressel
It appears my initial reaction to the revelation that Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel knew months before it became public knowledge that some of his players were selling Buckeyes-related memorabilia was correct. The guy is a flat-out liar, and in all seriousness I use that word in this column very discriminately.
“On Tuesday night, Ohio State distributed copies of some unflattering emails that Tressel exchanged with an unnamed source who tipped him off. Then the school announced that it would suspend Tressel for the first two games of next season – home games against Akron and Toledo – and fine him $250,000 (of his $3.5 million salary) for a violation of NCAA bylaw 10.1, which forbids ‘unethical conduct.’ Finally, it was made clear that Tressel wasn’t in any danger of losing his job. ‘Are you kidding?’ school president Dr. E. Gordon Gee said when asked if he planned on firing Tressel. ‘I’m just hoping the coach doesn’t dismiss me.’ At which point it became a lot easier for many observers to get in touch with the outrage that proved so elusive earlier in the week.”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Doug Lesmerises: “This is 58-year-old Jim Tressel, entering his 11th season with the Buckeyes and 26th as a head coach, hiding from the truth in part because he said he didn’t know who he should tell. This is on him.”
USA TODAY’s Mike Lopresti: “This has the looks of considered deviousness. [Tressel] is a genuinely great coach with an extraordinary record. But there are higher issues involved here, including his legacy.”
“Growing up in Ohio and returning home often, I have been asked over the years by friends and neighbors what to believe about Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. The questions have come with more than a hint of hope, as you might expect from Ohioans who love their college football: ‘He’s the real deal, right? He’s not cheating like all those other guys, is he?’….
“That uncertainty is now over. This week, my friends and neighbors had their questions answered. They now know Tressel lies. They know he cheats. They know he covers up rules violations and then tries to explain away the deception with all kinds of embarrassing excuses.
“The people who believed in Tressel, who were drawn into his Eagle Scout act for a decade, now know he is just like all the other coaches in big-time college sports who have cheated.
“He actually might be worse, based on the depth of the deception. Tressel set himself up as someone better than the rest, and thrived on that image. He didn’t mind doling out advice on how to live your life. His latest book, Life Promises for Success: promises from God on achieving your best, is a collection of ‘inspiring readings and Bible promises designed to encourage those seeking to succeed in every area of life.’
“Just wondering if those inspired readings happen to include the secret to keeping your job when you blatantly break a rule concerning a significant NCAA violation that could lead to ‘termination…for cause’ in your contract.
“Ohio State officials must be furiously crossing out that needless little phrase now that they’ve come down with their own punishment for Tressel….
“It’s good to know Ohio State officials, with their Auburnesque institutional control, are taking this NCAA violation seriously….
“If Tressel were the man Ohioans hoped he was, he would have had the dignity to resign. But he’s not that man. He’s just a coach who we now know will break the rules in order to win games. It’s up to the NCAA now to do what the man in the sweater vest, spouting all those words to live by, should have done to himself.”
It turns out Tressel was actually on a book tour the day the AP story came out and he had to cancel a signing.
“In the wake of the Jim Tressel scandal at Ohio State, it is hard to know which target to fire at. We must choose between the smarmy world of big-time college football or the smarmy Tressel.
“Either way, it’s fun to use a great word like ‘smarmy.’
“Out here among the palm trees and the skateboards at Venice Beach, we probably don’t care all that much. The sun is out and we’ve already had our own recent fill of cheating players (Reggie Bush) and head-in-the-sand-until-I-depart coaches (Pete Carroll).
“We already know that these guys who make millions to coach football teams for the greater glory of Rah-Rah U., and its adoring alumni, do so under the pretense of preparing young men for excellence in later life through the discipline and rigors of football. Unless we are a chipmunk or a third-grader, we pretty much know that’s a fraud.
“Just win, baby. No need to belabor this. The hypocrisy has smelled so bad for so long that we’ve just gotten used to the odor….
“The school came down hard, whipping Tressel with a feather. While the five players will sit out those first five games of the season, Tressel will miss the two opening-season showdowns against vaunted Akron and vaunted Toledo. His absence on the sideline will move the odds at least a half-point. Oh, yes. He also got fined $250,000. When you are making $3.5 million, that could mean cheaper Christmas presents for the gardener….
“Bob Wojanowski of the Detroit News wrote that Tressel’s news conference defense of his actions was ‘comical and fake and borderline insulting.”
–This just in….Colgate upset No. 4 Union in ECAC ice hockey action so they advance in the ECAC playoffs despite going 4-15-3 in the regular season. Pete M. celebrated allll night. But Trader George’s St. Lawrence squad lost its best of 3 series to Yale.
–The official Triple Crown Pony of Bar Chat, Uncle Mo, made his 3-year-old debut on Saturday at Gulfstream Park. In his first race since the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 6, the Moster got off to a poor start but finished strong to win by 3 ¾ lengths. Trainer Todd Pletcher was pleased. Next up for Mo, the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9. If it wasn’t also the Masters that weekend, I’d be tempted to go.
–The New Jersey Devils’ incredible run, 22-3-2, still has them 8 points out of the final playoff spot after Buffalo won on Sunday. The Sabres played just hours after Buffalo legend Rick Martin died in a one-car accident at 1:00 p.m. in Buffalo. It appears he had some sort of medical emergency.
[Martin, 59, was a member of Buffalo’s famous French Connection line that also included Hall of Famer Gilbert Perreault and Rene Robert. Martin had 384 goals in his NHL career, including five, 40-goal seasons.]
–The NHL has a serious issue on its hands in dealing with concussions. Congress is getting involved, some sponsors are threatening to pull out unless the league does something with the violence, and, of course, you have the ongoing issue with the No. 1 superstar, Sidney Crosby, who is unlikely to return to the ice this year after two early January hits.
Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine, who retired in 1998 after 15 years because of numerous concussions, told Craig Custance of Sporting News:
“What’s happening is, with the speed and the size and the strength of the players today, the forces are greater. Because of that factor, the damages are greater.”
“It’s soul-wrenching to listen to LaFontaine describe what life is like for a player recovering from a concussion. A doctor once asked him if it felt like somebody ripped every ounce of enthusiasm out of his body.
Thankfully LaFontaine is finally feeling better and his solution is simple: zero tolerance. As he told Custance, “Any hit that targets the head or neck should be eliminated. It’s his hope that the league moves in that direction. And quickly.”
Regarding one sponsor, Air Canada, which has threatened to pull out, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman reminded the airline that it is also the right of NHL clubs to choose another carrier. No response from Air Canada as yet.
As for Sidney Crosby, over the weekend his father refuted rumors he was trying to convince his son to retire.
–There was a huge high school basketball game in New Jersey on Wednesday night, after I went to post; No. 1 in the country St. Patrick vs. No. 2 in the country St. Anthony and No. 2 defeated No. 1, 62-45, as St. Anthony held Kentucky-bound and No. 1 prospect in the country Michael Gilchrist to just 7 points on 2-for-11 shooting. Including underclassmen, it is estimated nine of the players between the two teams will eventually play Division I ball. St. Anthony followed up with another win in the ongoing state tournament and legendary coach Bob Hurley Sr.’s career mark is 1,015-110.
–The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Kevin Love recorded his 52nd double-double in a row to surpass Moses Malone for the longest such streak since the ABA and NBA merged in 1976. Love had 16 points and 21 rebounds in just 27 minutes. He then moved the mark to 53, Friday, and as I go to post is going after 54 on Sunday night. Elvin Hayes had 55 straight in 1973-74.
The real record? Wilt Chamberlain…227! And, as Peter Vecsey notes, Wilt had two other streaks of 220 and 133.
—Nick Watney won the WGC event at Doral, his 3rd PGA Tour title. Great kid.
–Sporting News took a look at the NFL draft which is still going to be held in April. Thus far they see the top five as being:
1. Panthers – Marcel Dareus, DT, Alabama
2. Broncos – Da’Quan Bowers, DE, Clemson
3. Bills – A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
4. Bengals – Nick Fairley, DT, Auburn
5. Cardinals – Von Miller, OLB, Texas A&M
The first quarterback would be Blaine Gabbert of Missouri, projected as the 10th pick of the first round by the Redskins. Cam Newton is projected at No. 15 by the Dolphins.
–This shocked me. Two of the top five projected selections for the June baseball draft are attending UConn, per a story in USA TODAY Sports Weekly.
1. Rice 3B Anthony Rendon
2. Connecticut OF George Springer
3. UCLA RHP Gerrit Cole
4. Broken Arrow (Okla.) HS RHP Archie Bradley
5. Connecticut RHP Matt Barnes.
UConn is not even in the latest Top 25 poll and is just 7-6 as I write this. Springer is off to a so-so start and Barnes has a 1.53 ERA after four outings.
1. Florida
2. Oklahoma
3. Vanderbilt
4. South Carolina
5. Florida State
–High school distance running phenom Lukas Verzbicas is going to attend Univ. of Oregon. He’s said to be a big Prefontaine fan.
–And a girl I saw at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2008 in Eugene, Jordan Hasay, then a high schooler, is now a soph at Oregon and all she did this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships is lead the Oregon women to victory. What she did is fantastic…win the mile and 3,000 in the span of less than two hours, a remarkable feat. [Florida won the men’s title.]
—Sally Meyerhoff, a leading women’s marathoner who was training for the 2012 Olympic trials, was killed instantly in Maricopa, Ariz., when she was hit by a pickup while riding her bicycle.
—Madison Square Garden is in the midst of a massive renovation so there’s only one thing to do: jack up next year’s ticket prices. The Garden announced increases of 49% and 23% on the average ticket for the Knicks and Rangers, respectively. But the majority of seats will see hikes of ‘only’ 10% to 15% it appears.
By the way, the cost of a Knicks courtside seat is currently $3,000 and will rise to $3,600. I think I’ll pass.
—Mets single-game tickets go on sale today, Monday!!! How fired up are you?!
“Barry Bonds’ trainer, Greg Anderson, is either the single most loyal friend in the history of friendships or the meal plan Inside is better than we have been led to believe.”
“A University of Virginia first-year student was hospitalized for several days this month after chugging a bottle of soy sauce at the Zeta Psi fraternity house, according to court documents.”
The kid drank the bottle on a dare as he was pledging the frat. Later that night, “the pledge began seizing and foaming at the mouth” and a fellow student drove him to the emergency room. “The pledge was transferred to an intensive care ward and hospitalized for four days to treat an electrolyte imbalance caused by consuming large amounts of sodium.
“Police are also investigating a strange meal Zeta Psi pledges ate that night,” supposedly a combination of “dog food, matzo balls, gefilte fish and soy sauce,” a pledges-only tradition at the fraternity.
–Needless to say, Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera has some serious issues. After going through rehab and convincing everyone that he was a changed man, and after having a great 2010 on the field, Cabrera was arrested for a DUI but details of the February arrest have just emerged and it turns out he threatened a restaurant manager in Fort Pierce, Fla. After walking into the steakhouse because his Land Rover had been disabled, Cabrera, smelling of alcohol, insinuated he had a gun and said, “I know all of you, and I will kill all of you and blow this place up.” Police released a 41-page report on the incident last week.
–There are rumors former Giants running back Tiki Barber could end up with the Steelers, though nothing will happen until a new collective bargaining agreement is signed.
–Both Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra are with child! Err, horse….or, err, foal…or is it ‘in foal’? I’m so confused.
Dottie Shirreffs, the wife of Zenyatta’s trainer John Shirreffs, wrote on Zenyatta’s Web site, “I AM IN FOAL!” Not Dottie Shirreffs, you understand, but Zenyatta, who dictated this to Dottie.
“Fisherman saves himself from terrifying croc attack”
“A fisherman has survived a crocodile attack after fighting the reptile for 40 minutes and clinging to mangroves on the bank of a creek in far north Queensland.
“Todd Bairstow’s father Luke told the paper that the 4-meter long crocodile tried to drag his son into the water for a death roll, but the 28-year-old was able to keep his head above the shallow water and eventually grab onto the mangroves.
“Mr. Bairstow, a Rio Tinto mine worker, was fishing on the bank of Trunding Creek, Weipa, about 4pm yesterday when the crocodile attacked.
“Another fisherman in the area heard the man’s cries for help and rushed to his aid. The pair managed to fight off the crocodile and then chase it away.
“Mr. Bairstow suffered a severe injury to his left hand, deep puncture wounds, lacerations and dislocated joints.” The injuries are not however life-threatening.
This was near Cairns, where I was last fall. I know I was on something like the 12th floor, but I should have at least looked under my bed before going to sleep each night, know what I’m sayin’?
As for the croc, the paper reported that an “expert will fly in to attempt to identify and catch the crocodile responsible and remove it from the wild.”
I’m assuming the croc is high-tailing it out of there.
–Producers on the hit show Glee have been slammed for featuring Gary Glitter’s “Do You Wanna Touch Me,” with Gwyneth Paltrow acting it out.
The problem is Gary Glitter is a convicted pedophile who was jailed in Vietnam for sexually assaulting two girls aged 10 and 11. He was later deported to Britain. Since the conviction, the use of his work, such as “Rock and Roll,” has been largely banished from U.S. sporting events after being a staple for years.
—Jean Dining died. She was 86. Dining penned the teenage angst tune “Teen Angel,” sung by her brother, Mark, that hit No. 1 on the charts in February 1960. Some radio stations refused to play it because they said it was too gruesome.
That fateful night the car was stalled
upon the railroad track
I pulled you out and we were safe
but you went running back.
What was it you were looking for
that took your life that night?
They said they found my high school ring
clutched in your fingers tight.
As the New York Times’ Douglas Martin writes of the time, 1959, when Dining wrote it, there was tragedy in the air with the death of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper in a plane crash and memories of James Dean’s head-on collision a few years earlier. In 1960 you had Paul Peterson’s “Tell Laura I Love Her,” the tale of a teenage boy who enters a race to win money to buy Laura a wedding ring. The title of the song is his last words.
Back to “Teen Angel,” Sha-Na-Na sang it at Woodstock and it made the soundtrack of “American Graffiti” (or at least can be heard in the background). The record sold 2.5 million copies.
–And Hugh Martin Jr., the composer, lyricist and arranger, died at the age of 96. Martin created the standards “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “The Trolley Song” sung by Judy Garland in the musical “Meet Me in St. Louis.”
But when it comes to “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” a most melancholy tune (though one of my favorites), Claire Noland of the Los Angeles Times notes that the lyrics Garland sang in the film were not the ones Martin originally wrote. “His lines were even darker.”
“Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last,” went the original. “Next year we may all be living in the past,” followed by “Faithful friends who were dear to us, will be near to us no more.”
So a studio exec suggested lightening the lyrics, saying, “It’s OK for it to be bittersweet and nostalgic, but it shouldn’t be a dirge.”
“Have yourself a merry little Christmas, let your heart be light; next year all our troubles will be out of sight.”
Phew. I was about to jump out my window here.
Plus, it seems in 1957, when Frank Sinatra wanted to sing it, he asked Martin to change yet another line, asking him to “jolly up” the tune.
So Martin substituted for “Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow,” turning it into “Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.”
And so the Sinatra version became an instant classic, but it is still melancholy; like one has an image of two lonely hearts in a dank New York apartment, with a little tree with but two ornaments, one having a New York Mets team logo, the other an Eddy Curry figurine. Both the guy and girl slugging Jack Daniels until they pass out on a floor with week-old pizza, while mice scurry about the kitchen, avoiding the 36 traps loaded with stale cheese; this as the landlord walks towards their door, eviction notice in hand, sounding like the arrival of Jacob Marley as gruel burns on the stove the couple forgot to turn off.
Top 3 songs for the week 3/10/84: #1 “Jump” (Van Halen) #2 “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” (Cyndi Lauper…simply awful…) #3 “99 Luftballons” (Nena)…and…#4 “Thriller” (Michael Jackson) #5 “Somebody’s Watching Me” (Rockwell) #6 “Nobody Told Me” (John Lennon) #7 “I Want A New Drug” (Huey Lewis and the News) #8 “Here Comes The Rain Again” (Eurythmics…incredibly depressing) #9 “Footloose” (Kenny Loggins…eh) #10 “Karma Chameleon” (Culture Club…Nooo!!!!!….geezuz, couldn’t stand them)
1998-99 College Basketball Quiz Answer: UConn: Richard Hamilton, Ricky Moore, Khalid El-Amin, Kevin Freeman, Jake Voskuhl, Albert Mouring, Edmund Sander, Rashamel Jones, E.J. Harrison. Duke: Trajan Langdon, Elton Brand, William Avery, Chris Carrawell, Corey Maggette, Shane Battier, Nate James, Chris Burgess
