College Basketball Quiz: [Courtesy of Wall Street Journal] Since 1970, name the two men’s teams that won NCAA titles but have never been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll. [Both were ranked No. 2 during the course of at least three seasons.] Answer below.
College Basketball
Men’s AP Poll
1. Louisville 15-1
2. Indiana 15-1…then immediately loses at home to Wisconsin (13-2, 4-0)
3. Duke 15-1
4. Kansas 14-1
5. Michigan 16-1
6. Syracuse 16-1
7. Arizona 15-1
8,. Gonzaga 16-1
9. Minnesota 15-2
10. Florida 12-2
12. Creighton 16-1
13. Butler 14-2
14. North Carolina State 14-2
15. San Diego State 14-2
21. Oregon 14-2…quack quack
22. VCU 14-3…Shaka Smart…Shaka Smart Shaka Smart
24. UCLA 14-3…playing well after slow start
–So I pulled out some Deaconwear, put the hat out for one of my “Nightly Review” videos, Monday, and the on Tuesday, Wake traveled to Clemson and got drilled 60-44. But that’s only half of it. The Deacs were 15-of-61 from the field, 24.6%. Should the Deacs implode over the next two weeks, including the games against Duke and North Carolina State, the Deaconwear will be back in the “losers sports drawer” and any attempt to recall Wake gear from the island of Yap will be indefinitely postponed.
—St. John’s had a nice win over No. 20 Notre Dame, 67-63.
Women’s AP Top Ten
1. Baylor
2. Notre Dame
3. UConn
4. Duke
5. Kentucky
6. Stanford
7. California
8. Penn State
9. Tennessee
10. Maryland
–Johnny Mac wrote to make fun of the fact the Wake Forest Lady Deacs have lost to Duke something like 38 straight times, to which I had to tell him that I was focused on Mali and couldn’t process this item.
Lance Armstrong’s Apology
“Lance Armstrong doesn’t do anything halfway. Cycling, cancer-fighting, cheating, lying – he attacks all the same way, with a single-minded focus that obliterates obstacles, ignores rules and trounces opposition. All, ultimately, for the greater good of Lance.
“So why would anyone believe that his belated admission to using performance-enhancing drugs has an ounce of sincerity? Perhaps he’ll turn in an Oscar-worthy performance when his interview with Oprah Winfrey airs Thursday and Friday nights. But Armstrong’s record overrides his conveniently timed words – or at least it should – and that record says his confession is nothing more than another self-centered ploy.
“Armstrong didn’t just lie. He is a world-class liar. He carried on a decade-long deception that made him a seven-time Tour de France champion with a worldwide brand.
“He didn’t just cheat. His team ‘ran the most sophisticated, professional and successful doping program’ that cycling had ever seen, according to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
“He didn’t just refute his critics. He remorselessly smeared them. He vilified anyone, whether friend or underling, who refused to continue lying for him. When a young woman who had been his team’s aide and masseuse came clean to the author of a damning book on doping, Armstrong sued her along with The Sunday Times of London, which published book excerpts.
“Now he’s confessing, not as an act of contrition, but because he has no other way to dig out from a scandal that demolished his image, wrecked his income, tarnished his cancer charity and left him barred from competition….
“But he’s no more likely to succeed in airbrushing history than Barry Bonds, an epic star and epic liar denied entry to the baseball Hall of Fame. Records count, but character counts for more, and in that department Armstrong, like other cheaters, is sorely lacking.”
–As we approach the NFL’s Final Four Sunday, let’s take a look at Sports Illustrated’s Peter King and his preseason picks for championship week.
Well, I picked the Giants to win it all so I guess I can’t get on Mr. King’s case too much.
[Drat! Weather for Ravens-Patriots is for temps in upper 30s around game time. No snow. Big blow for Pats in losing Rob Gronkowski, as he reinjured his left forearm on Sunday.]
Most AFC/NFC Championship Games…coaches
Tom Landry 5-5
Bill Belichick 5-1
Don Shula 5-2
Chuck Noll 4-3
Best Playoff Quarterbacks
Tom Brady 17-6…3 Super Bowl wins
Joe Montana 16-7…4
Terry Bradshaw 14-5…4
John Elway 14-7…2
Peyton Manning 9-11…1
–Another crazy story out of Madison Square Garden. As Fred Kerber of the New York Post writes:
“League sources have confirmed Knicks owner James Dolan, in the wake of the highly volatile trash-talking war between star Carmelo Anthony and the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett last week, ordered two technicians to hold high-tech, sensitive microphones at opposite ends of the Madison Square Garden court to record all in-game conversations by and around his star….
“According to a league source, the decision to employ the microphones was made to protect the combustible Anthony from another ‘he said-he said’ dispute by having an audio record of what’s said on the court.”
Both Anthony and Coach Mike Woodson claimed they didn’t see the devices.
Then again, Anthony said the other day, “I haven’t had a good meal in about 2 ½ weeks. No meats, no carbs, anything like that.” Anthony said his fast had to do with finding “clarity in [his] life and spiritual reasons.”
—Premier League Table (thru 21/22 of 38 matches)
1. Man U…18-1-3 (W-D-L) 55 points
2. Man City…14-6-2…48
3. Chelsea…12-5-4…41
4. Tottenham…12-4-6…40
20. Queens Park…2-8-12…14…uh oh…relegation time
“For a guy who isn’t giving any interviews about Robert Griffin III’s knee, Dr. James Andrews is sure giving a lot of interviews about Robert Griffin III’s knee.
“In fairness, Andrews is out promoting his book, ‘Any given Monday,’ which is what first brought him into the news….
“ ‘Of course not,’ Andrews said the other morning, asked if he was concerned how his actions were perceived. ‘People don’t understand what goes on down on the football field. [Mike Shanahan] didn’t know what we were really saying. I’ve put that all behind me now.’…
“He said he wasn’t at liberty to explain how RGIII’s surgery went, only that he’s ‘well on his way to recovery’ and, after eight months of projected rehab, he’ll likely start the 2013 season.”
Q: Any truth to the rumor that Mike Shanahan has cleared Robert Griffin III to play in the Pro Bowl? [Russell R., Charlottesville]
Enter the $1.25 Ask the Slouch Cash Giveaway at asktheslouch@aol.com
–As one Washington Post sportswriter put it, if there was ever any doubt the Washington Nationals were gunning for the World Series this year you need look no further than the $28 million, two-year contract they just handed reliever Rafael Soriano. Not a bad bullpen…Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard, Soriano…
–USA TODAY’s 2013 Preseason College Football Top Ten…
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Stanford
4. Oregon…game against Stanford already setting up to be a huge one
5. Florida
6. Florida State
7. Georgia
8. Notre Dame
9. LSU
10. Nebraska
11. Boise State
12. Clemson
18. Oregon State…Beaverettes contending for cheerleading title with Oregon and USC
–Last time I didn’t get to talk about golfer Russell Henley’s spectacular achievement at the Sony Open in Hawaii (Waialae). Henley, 23, made his rookie debut with a three-shot win, becoming just the sixth PGA Tour rookie to win their first event since 1967. Plus his 24-under 256 was the second-lowest in Tour history for a 72-hole event, two shots behind Tommy Armour III at the 2003 Texas Open.
—Rory McIlroy confirmed he has signed a sponsorship deal with Nike for a reported $200 million. The first commercial with Tiger is already out and great fun.
“An unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former girlfriend’s windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the gun discharged, blowing a hole in his head.”
–As reported by BBC News, an estimated 25,000 elephants were killed in 2011 and the figure for 2012, still being tabulated, will be higher.
Dr. Esmond Martin, a conservationist and researcher, conducted a survey of ivory on sale in the city of Lagos, Nigeria last year and “Dr. Martin and his colleagues counted more than 14,000 items of worked and raw ivory in one location, the Lekki Market in Lagos.”
The last survey, conducted in 2002, counted about 4,000 items… a three-fold increase in a decade. Nigeria is the hot transit point for illegal ivory, most of which then makes its way to Asia.
“Man” doesn’t stand a chance in my lifetime of cracking even in the top 200 of the All-Species List.
–Alas, sometimes ‘Man’ gets his, such as in the Darwin Awards story.
“When do you not listen to the African wildlife expert? When he tells you to stand closer to the rhino.
“That suggestion by a South African game park owner resulted in serious injuries to a 24-year-old woman from Johannesburg.
“The Beeld newspaper reported Tuesday that Chantal Beyer said the game park owner snapped pictures and suggested that she ‘stand just a little bit closer’ seconds before the attack. Photos show Beyer and her husband only feet away from two rhinos.
“The paper said that just after the photo was snapped, the rhino attacked, and its horn penetrated Beyers’ chest from behind, resulting in a collapsed lung and broken ribs, the paper said. The Aloe Ridge Hotel and Nature Reserve, where the incident took place, declined to comment Tuesday.”
As for the rhino, he vaults from No. 24 to No. 11 on the All-Species List.
—Jimmy O’Neill died. He was 73. If the name doesn’t jump off the page at you, he was the host of “Shindig!,” one of the great rock ‘n’ roll shows on prime-time television.
O’Neill was the first voice heard on KRLA-AM (1110) in 1959 when it dropped its country-western format for rock music. The move helped launch O’Neill into television in 1964 as the emcee of “Shindig!”
If you ever get the chance, buy the “Shindig!” DVDs [Rhino]. The show had everyone, from Jerry Lee Lewis, to the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Stones…you name ‘em, they were on.
“It was a phenomenal experience,” said Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers, who performed on the first telecast with Sam Cooke and the Everly Brothers. “We were like 23, 24 years old and on national television. This was like the coolest thing in the world. And Jimmy was just the perfect guy to host that show. He wasn’t slick…he never tried to be too hip. He was just the perfect guy to hold all that together.”
Amazingly, the show lasted only 15 months, but in that time they built up quite an archive.
“Getting the Beatles on the show in 1964 was an experience that O’Neill said he would never forget. The British rock sensations were too busy to travel to Los Angeles, so the ‘Shindig!’ crew went to England.
“ ‘I have two vivid recollections from those two days,’ O’Neill told interviewer Gary James. ‘One, I nearly had my clothes torn off by the British fans as I tried to enter the studio…They heard my American accent and asked me if I was appearing with the Beatles. I made the mistake of admitting that I was. Off came my jacket, my shirt, it was practically ripped to shreds before I got the security guard to let me in.’”
Top 3 songs for the week 1/12/63: #1 “Go Away Little Girl” (Steve Lawrence…he rocks!) #2 “Telstar” (The Tornadoes…dreadful…) #3 “Limbo Rock” (Chubby Checker)…and…#4 “Hotel Happiness” (Brook Benton) #5 “Pepino The Italian Mouse” (Lou Monte…the world was ready for the British Invasion) #6 “Tell Him” (The Exciters) #7 “The Night Has A Thousand Eyes” (Bobby Vee…decent tune) #8 “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” (Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans) #9 “Two Lovers” (Mary Wells …anything she did was great…) #10 “My Dad” (Paul Peterson)
College Basketball Quiz Answer: Never ranked No. 1 in AP even though they won a national title.
Maryland 2002 title (highest rank that season No. 2) Also No. 2 during 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1998-99, 2001-02.
Villanova 1985 title (No. 14 highest rank that season) Also No. 2 during 1995-96, 2005-06, 2009-10.
As the Wall Street Journal points out, Louisville being ranked No. 1 currently is very rare, believe it or not. In fact, it’s just the second time in school history they have been ranked No. 1 during the season; the other being 2009 after winning the Big East tournament.
This is interesting, Oregon (which won the 1939 title without being ranked No. 1) has never been ranked higher than 5th (2002-03).
