I talked about this dunk attempt this morning...had this gone in, it would have been a top 10 all-time college dunk. This is scary.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
San Antonio, Part 4
Ohio State 92 Memphis 76
And this is where it ends. Ohio State played its best game of the season, Memphis played merely average, and that was the difference. There are a number of talking points to go through after this one, but before I do that, I have to give a lot of credit to the Memphis fans for being very loud and being really supportive. There's no doubt the fans made a positive difference for the Tigers.
First things first. I said at the end of the last post that Joey Dorsey would have a chance to back up his big mouth with a big performance against Greg Oden today. He had that chance - and he blew it badly. It was obvious from the very beginning of the game that Dorsey's body language was off. He looked intimidated. He got into an argument or two with John Calipari on the bench. And, most obviously, he just isn't as good as Greg Oden. Oden scored the first basket of the game on Dorsey and that set the tone. Oden grabbed boards, affected shots, and scored on several low-post moves and big dunks. Dorsey fouled people and that was it. The Tigers got nothing from Dorsey or Kareem Cooper, and that made it almost impossible to beat Ohio State. Speaking of Cooper, it's time to be real - he needs to get in better shape and he needs to work a lot harder. He is a huge liability when he comes into the ballgame, and he hurt the team in this tournament.
Would Oden and the Buckeyes have been that good without Joey Dorsey making the comments he made yesterday? Maybe. I know it fired up the entire Ohio State team, though, and they played a fantastic overall game. They shot 51% from the field for the game and took care of the basketball. They dictated the tempo and got penetration whenever they wanted. This was their breakout game - the one that showed everyone why they're a number one seed.
To Dorsey's credit, he spoke with me and the rest of the media in the locker room after the game. Listen to the interview by clicking here. He's quite candid about how much better Oden is that he thought he would be, how tired he got covering Oden, and how he feels he let the team down. It is a positive sign for next year that Dorsey appears contrite and somewhat apologetic about what happened tonight. It doesn't change the domination.
Oden is incredible. Today, he played with passion and no little skill. He changes everything when he's in the game - he makes up for so many defensive errors because he can block any shot near the basket. His footwork is outstanding, and he's faster than you might think. He blocked a Willie Kemp layup attempt (should have been goaltending) when the ball was at least 12 feet off the ground. I am on record as favoring Durant over Oden should the Grizzlies get the first pick, but I have no doubt that Oden is going to be very much like his idol, David Robinson. He is a genuinely nice young man who seems very grounded despite the obvious fame he's achieved. I wouldn't mind seeing him win a national title.
Oden was involved in the game's pivotal play. There was a loose ball at midcourt with the Tigers up 60-57...Kareem Cooper was the closest to the ball, but Ron Lewis of Ohio State beat him to it, and passed in underneath to Oden for what appeared to be an easy dunk. CDR was down low with Oden and grabbed him around the waist, trying to prevent him from shooting. Oden made the basket and CDR was called for an intentional foul, his 4th foul of the game. Oden made one of two from the line, then OSU got the ball back, and that possession led to two Jamar Butler free throws. Overall, it was a five point swing. The game was never the same after that.
Mike Conley, Jr. was named the South Region's Most Outstanding Player, and it was a well-deserved honor. He was fantastic. It's hard to believe he's a freshamn - he got penetration whenever he wanted, and the Tigers were unable to stop him from doing much of anything. He dominated the game. John Calipari said after the game that the Tigers couldn't force their tempo on the game because Conley and Jamar Butler handle the ball too well and are too tough - that was another factor in OSU's favor.
Major credit goes to Jeremy Hunt, who immediately bailed the Tigers out of an early slump by hitting an early three. He played without fear, with reckless abandon, with desperation. It was to be his final game as a Tiger, and he played like it. Without him, the Tigers would have lost by a lot more than 16. He was never the most talented Tiger, but he might have been the toughest - and next season, the Tigers will miss that.
Willie Kemp, CDR, and Antonio Anderson all played pretty well, too. Fouls limited CDR a bit, and WIllie made a few freshman mistakes, but they were positives for the Tigers today.
Check out sports56whbq.com for a bunch of postgame audio, including interviews with Jeremy Hunt, Joey Dorsey, Chris Douglas-Roberts, John Calipari, and R.C. Johnson. Incidentally, R.C. told me that no one has contacted him regarding John Calipari's job status. Good news for Tiger fans.
I've enjoyed bringing you these road reports, and I hope you've enjoyed reading them and listening to the audio on sports56whbq.com. I'm headed back to Memphis tomorrow - a long day of driving awaits. Congratulations to Ohio State, but congratulations also to the Tigers for a tremendous tournament run and a great season. Next year should be even better.
And this is where it ends. Ohio State played its best game of the season, Memphis played merely average, and that was the difference. There are a number of talking points to go through after this one, but before I do that, I have to give a lot of credit to the Memphis fans for being very loud and being really supportive. There's no doubt the fans made a positive difference for the Tigers.
First things first. I said at the end of the last post that Joey Dorsey would have a chance to back up his big mouth with a big performance against Greg Oden today. He had that chance - and he blew it badly. It was obvious from the very beginning of the game that Dorsey's body language was off. He looked intimidated. He got into an argument or two with John Calipari on the bench. And, most obviously, he just isn't as good as Greg Oden. Oden scored the first basket of the game on Dorsey and that set the tone. Oden grabbed boards, affected shots, and scored on several low-post moves and big dunks. Dorsey fouled people and that was it. The Tigers got nothing from Dorsey or Kareem Cooper, and that made it almost impossible to beat Ohio State. Speaking of Cooper, it's time to be real - he needs to get in better shape and he needs to work a lot harder. He is a huge liability when he comes into the ballgame, and he hurt the team in this tournament.
Would Oden and the Buckeyes have been that good without Joey Dorsey making the comments he made yesterday? Maybe. I know it fired up the entire Ohio State team, though, and they played a fantastic overall game. They shot 51% from the field for the game and took care of the basketball. They dictated the tempo and got penetration whenever they wanted. This was their breakout game - the one that showed everyone why they're a number one seed.
To Dorsey's credit, he spoke with me and the rest of the media in the locker room after the game. Listen to the interview by clicking here. He's quite candid about how much better Oden is that he thought he would be, how tired he got covering Oden, and how he feels he let the team down. It is a positive sign for next year that Dorsey appears contrite and somewhat apologetic about what happened tonight. It doesn't change the domination.
Oden is incredible. Today, he played with passion and no little skill. He changes everything when he's in the game - he makes up for so many defensive errors because he can block any shot near the basket. His footwork is outstanding, and he's faster than you might think. He blocked a Willie Kemp layup attempt (should have been goaltending) when the ball was at least 12 feet off the ground. I am on record as favoring Durant over Oden should the Grizzlies get the first pick, but I have no doubt that Oden is going to be very much like his idol, David Robinson. He is a genuinely nice young man who seems very grounded despite the obvious fame he's achieved. I wouldn't mind seeing him win a national title.
Oden was involved in the game's pivotal play. There was a loose ball at midcourt with the Tigers up 60-57...Kareem Cooper was the closest to the ball, but Ron Lewis of Ohio State beat him to it, and passed in underneath to Oden for what appeared to be an easy dunk. CDR was down low with Oden and grabbed him around the waist, trying to prevent him from shooting. Oden made the basket and CDR was called for an intentional foul, his 4th foul of the game. Oden made one of two from the line, then OSU got the ball back, and that possession led to two Jamar Butler free throws. Overall, it was a five point swing. The game was never the same after that.
Mike Conley, Jr. was named the South Region's Most Outstanding Player, and it was a well-deserved honor. He was fantastic. It's hard to believe he's a freshamn - he got penetration whenever he wanted, and the Tigers were unable to stop him from doing much of anything. He dominated the game. John Calipari said after the game that the Tigers couldn't force their tempo on the game because Conley and Jamar Butler handle the ball too well and are too tough - that was another factor in OSU's favor.
Major credit goes to Jeremy Hunt, who immediately bailed the Tigers out of an early slump by hitting an early three. He played without fear, with reckless abandon, with desperation. It was to be his final game as a Tiger, and he played like it. Without him, the Tigers would have lost by a lot more than 16. He was never the most talented Tiger, but he might have been the toughest - and next season, the Tigers will miss that.
Willie Kemp, CDR, and Antonio Anderson all played pretty well, too. Fouls limited CDR a bit, and WIllie made a few freshman mistakes, but they were positives for the Tigers today.
Check out sports56whbq.com for a bunch of postgame audio, including interviews with Jeremy Hunt, Joey Dorsey, Chris Douglas-Roberts, John Calipari, and R.C. Johnson. Incidentally, R.C. told me that no one has contacted him regarding John Calipari's job status. Good news for Tiger fans.
I've enjoyed bringing you these road reports, and I hope you've enjoyed reading them and listening to the audio on sports56whbq.com. I'm headed back to Memphis tomorrow - a long day of driving awaits. Congratulations to Ohio State, but congratulations also to the Tigers for a tremendous tournament run and a great season. Next year should be even better.
Friday, March 23, 2007
San Antonio, Part 3
Joey Dorsey Is Confident
Joey Dorsey is a confident player. Always has been, always will be. There was a time when this confidence was almost entirely misplaced, when Joey was just as prone to doing something dumb on the court as something productive. That has changed. His confidence level has not. As a result, he opened his mouth today during the media sessions at the Alamodome and controversy of a sort has ensued. There is a column by the generally inflammatory CBS Sportsline columnist Gregg Doyel making waves here in San Antonio. It sums up much of what Joey said.
Before I continue, you should know how the press conference situation works here in San Antonio. There is a session of about 30 minutes with the head coach and five selected "student-athletes" (the NCAA forbids officials from calling them players, lest we forget just how studious most of the student-athletes are), then the players go to individual "breakout rooms", where they meet with the media in more informal settings. It was in one of these breakout rooms where Dorsey made his comments. I heard some of them; some of them were made before I arrived at his room (I was talking with Dozier and Kemp before I talked to Joey). You can hear what I heard in the breakout room on sports56whbq.com.
Here's what Joey said...let's think about each statement.
"I think (scouts) really will be watching this game tomorrow night because it's two great big men going up against each other. I'm an underrated big man and he's a lot overrated as a big man."
I didn't hear this one in person. But it was a remarkably dumb comment at this time. No point whatsoever in calling Greg Oden overrated - he's played half the season with one hand...his bad hand, for crying out loud.
"I outrebounded (Oden) on the season. I'm the No. 6 rebounder in the nation, and I'm trying to move up to No. 1 after this game."
He did outrebound Oden in total rebounds, but Dorsey has played in more games. But he's not the number six rebounder in the nation. This one doesn't really call Oden out, it's just evidence of extreme confidence.
"I'm going to have a 20-rebound night"
He's never done that in his entire career. Inexplicably dumb.
"I'm Goliath. He's the little man."
This doesn't even make sense. Dorsey's wider, but Oden is taller and heavier. Plus, Oden is far more well-known nationally.
"He doesn't want to stay in the paint. He just wants to post up. I watched a couple games. He's not really playing in the paint. He likes to help-side (defend) and block shots. I haven't seen him against a great player play great defense."
Not sure who he considers to be a "great player", but Oden has certainly played great defense throughout the year. This comment is unnecessary.
Doyel didn't mention a few other quotes, including one in which Dorsey said that Oden gets "very tired" during games and tends to jog the court when he isn't involved in the offense (click here to listen to the quote). Dorsey said it was something he had noticed. Dorsey has put himself in a difficult position here. Oden has been playing somewhat tentatively throughout the tournament, and really hasn't broken out yet. Does Dorsey want to be the one responsible for that? Like it or not, he will be given "credit" for that if Oden goes off.
Dorsey has increased the pressure on himself immensely. He simply must perform tomorrow. There's no excuse. I don't think comments like this are smart at all, but if Dorsey can back it up, then more power to him. No sense in waking a sleeping giant, but that's apparently what Joey Dorsey wanted to do. We will find out just how good Joey Dorsey truly is tomorrow.
Joey Dorsey is a confident player. Always has been, always will be. There was a time when this confidence was almost entirely misplaced, when Joey was just as prone to doing something dumb on the court as something productive. That has changed. His confidence level has not. As a result, he opened his mouth today during the media sessions at the Alamodome and controversy of a sort has ensued. There is a column by the generally inflammatory CBS Sportsline columnist Gregg Doyel making waves here in San Antonio. It sums up much of what Joey said.
Before I continue, you should know how the press conference situation works here in San Antonio. There is a session of about 30 minutes with the head coach and five selected "student-athletes" (the NCAA forbids officials from calling them players, lest we forget just how studious most of the student-athletes are), then the players go to individual "breakout rooms", where they meet with the media in more informal settings. It was in one of these breakout rooms where Dorsey made his comments. I heard some of them; some of them were made before I arrived at his room (I was talking with Dozier and Kemp before I talked to Joey). You can hear what I heard in the breakout room on sports56whbq.com.
Here's what Joey said...let's think about each statement.
"I think (scouts) really will be watching this game tomorrow night because it's two great big men going up against each other. I'm an underrated big man and he's a lot overrated as a big man."
I didn't hear this one in person. But it was a remarkably dumb comment at this time. No point whatsoever in calling Greg Oden overrated - he's played half the season with one hand...his bad hand, for crying out loud.
"I outrebounded (Oden) on the season. I'm the No. 6 rebounder in the nation, and I'm trying to move up to No. 1 after this game."
He did outrebound Oden in total rebounds, but Dorsey has played in more games. But he's not the number six rebounder in the nation. This one doesn't really call Oden out, it's just evidence of extreme confidence.
"I'm going to have a 20-rebound night"
He's never done that in his entire career. Inexplicably dumb.
"I'm Goliath. He's the little man."
This doesn't even make sense. Dorsey's wider, but Oden is taller and heavier. Plus, Oden is far more well-known nationally.
"He doesn't want to stay in the paint. He just wants to post up. I watched a couple games. He's not really playing in the paint. He likes to help-side (defend) and block shots. I haven't seen him against a great player play great defense."
Not sure who he considers to be a "great player", but Oden has certainly played great defense throughout the year. This comment is unnecessary.
Doyel didn't mention a few other quotes, including one in which Dorsey said that Oden gets "very tired" during games and tends to jog the court when he isn't involved in the offense (click here to listen to the quote). Dorsey said it was something he had noticed. Dorsey has put himself in a difficult position here. Oden has been playing somewhat tentatively throughout the tournament, and really hasn't broken out yet. Does Dorsey want to be the one responsible for that? Like it or not, he will be given "credit" for that if Oden goes off.
Dorsey has increased the pressure on himself immensely. He simply must perform tomorrow. There's no excuse. I don't think comments like this are smart at all, but if Dorsey can back it up, then more power to him. No sense in waking a sleeping giant, but that's apparently what Joey Dorsey wanted to do. We will find out just how good Joey Dorsey truly is tomorrow.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
San Antonio, Part 2
Memphis 65 Texas A&M 64
Ohio State 85 Tennessee 84
Just got back from the Alamodome after an incredible night of basketball. I can't imagine a more intense, crazier night of hoops anywhere. I wish I was a better writer, because it's hard for me to properly sum it up with my meager ability. But I will try.
I'll start with the Tigers. I cannot believe they won that game in the face of all the obstacles that presented themselves. The big storyline coming into this game revolved around two things: the crowd and CDR's ankle. The crowd was every bit as loud as imagined - 90% or more maroon...and they were really loud. It was an intense atmosphere, without question. My ears were ringing for minutes after I left the floor. As for the second part of the storyline, Chris Douglas-Roberts started the game and played an extraordinary game when his team needed it. He may not have been at his best, but he was close enough, and that's exactly what the Tigers needed.
Talking with him after the game (you can hear the audio at sports56whbq.com), he said he spent 24 hours a day working on rehabbing his ankle, and it showed. One of the trainers, coincidentally also named Chris, spent every waking hour with CDR, working on rehabbing the ankle, and that commitment to the rehab paid off in huge style. CDR was able to cut and drive enough to cause a few problems for Texas A&M. I have a lot of respect for his ability to get healthy. He deserves praise.
The Tigers managed to survive despite massive foul trouble, especially in the first half. Robert Dozier managed to pick up two quick fouls early and that forced the Tigers to go small, which allowed the Texas A&M bigs to get some very easy baskets. That was a major reason the Tigers went into the half down 5, and that was a major reason Texas A&M shot 58% in the first half. Joey Dorsey also picked up foul trouble, starting with his 2nd late in the first half. John Calipari tried to go with Kareem Cooper, but Kareem is just too slow and not good enough on defense to be trusted. He gave up a bunch of easy baskets, forcing Cal to go to Pierre Niles at one point. Niles was worse than Cooper. Yet, despite all that, the Tigers were still hanging around.
Great performance by Willie Kemp. He answered a lot of his critics with a big performance tonight, a performance made even bigger by the fact that Andre Allen did not play very well. Allen was just too short to be effective running out and guarding the Texas A&M shooters.
I also liked the gameplan tonight - I had talked about how Texas A&M doesn't guard dribble penetration well, and they didn't do it tonight - that was also a reason why Memphis shot so many more free throws than Texas A&M. It was a smart plan and it worked.
I thought the play of the game came when Jeremy Hunt answered an Acie Law IV three-pointer that had tied the game at 55 late in the second half. Law's three was the kind of shot that can change the entire momentum of the game, and for Hunt to nail a three right on top of Law was enormous. He showed real character.
And the end of the game was just crazy - huge offensive rebounds by Antonio Anderson led to two huge free throws. Make 0, Texas A&M likely wins; make 1, it's tied, make 2, the Tigers likely win. He made 2. I guess John Calipari was right - when they needed the free throws, they got them. Then, the controversial out of bounds play happened. The officials got this one right - the clock is supposed to start when a player touches the ball, and it doesn't stop until the ball TOUCHES SOMETHING OUT OF BOUNDS. Remember that when you hear people complaining about this call. If the ball goes out of bounds and stays in the air, the clock keeps going. That is the reason an extra 1.1 seconds were taken off the clock.
After that extraordinary win, the Tigers will face Ohio State, who won in their own extraordinary fashion. This one hurts for Tennessee and Volunteer fans. Tennessee played perhaps their best half of basketball all year in the first half of this one - they were up 49-32 at the break. Greg Oden had 3 fouls, and all was right. But the Vols got a little too lax. Ohio State jumped all over Tennessee at the beginning of the second half and tightened the game in a hurry.
Greg Oden was not a huge factor, but the Buckeye guards were. The Vols could not guard Mike Conley, Jr. off the dribble, and Ron Lewis continued to show why he is fast becoming known as the most clutch Buckeye. He had 25 and Conley had 17, offsetting a meager 9 and 3 from Oden. Bruce Pearl tried everything he possibly could to inspire his team, but nothing worked. Chris Lofton and Ryan Childress hit big threes, but in the end, Ohio State just edged it out to move into the Elite Eight.
Ohio State 85 Tennessee 84
Just got back from the Alamodome after an incredible night of basketball. I can't imagine a more intense, crazier night of hoops anywhere. I wish I was a better writer, because it's hard for me to properly sum it up with my meager ability. But I will try.
I'll start with the Tigers. I cannot believe they won that game in the face of all the obstacles that presented themselves. The big storyline coming into this game revolved around two things: the crowd and CDR's ankle. The crowd was every bit as loud as imagined - 90% or more maroon...and they were really loud. It was an intense atmosphere, without question. My ears were ringing for minutes after I left the floor. As for the second part of the storyline, Chris Douglas-Roberts started the game and played an extraordinary game when his team needed it. He may not have been at his best, but he was close enough, and that's exactly what the Tigers needed.
Talking with him after the game (you can hear the audio at sports56whbq.com), he said he spent 24 hours a day working on rehabbing his ankle, and it showed. One of the trainers, coincidentally also named Chris, spent every waking hour with CDR, working on rehabbing the ankle, and that commitment to the rehab paid off in huge style. CDR was able to cut and drive enough to cause a few problems for Texas A&M. I have a lot of respect for his ability to get healthy. He deserves praise.
The Tigers managed to survive despite massive foul trouble, especially in the first half. Robert Dozier managed to pick up two quick fouls early and that forced the Tigers to go small, which allowed the Texas A&M bigs to get some very easy baskets. That was a major reason the Tigers went into the half down 5, and that was a major reason Texas A&M shot 58% in the first half. Joey Dorsey also picked up foul trouble, starting with his 2nd late in the first half. John Calipari tried to go with Kareem Cooper, but Kareem is just too slow and not good enough on defense to be trusted. He gave up a bunch of easy baskets, forcing Cal to go to Pierre Niles at one point. Niles was worse than Cooper. Yet, despite all that, the Tigers were still hanging around.
Great performance by Willie Kemp. He answered a lot of his critics with a big performance tonight, a performance made even bigger by the fact that Andre Allen did not play very well. Allen was just too short to be effective running out and guarding the Texas A&M shooters.
I also liked the gameplan tonight - I had talked about how Texas A&M doesn't guard dribble penetration well, and they didn't do it tonight - that was also a reason why Memphis shot so many more free throws than Texas A&M. It was a smart plan and it worked.
I thought the play of the game came when Jeremy Hunt answered an Acie Law IV three-pointer that had tied the game at 55 late in the second half. Law's three was the kind of shot that can change the entire momentum of the game, and for Hunt to nail a three right on top of Law was enormous. He showed real character.
And the end of the game was just crazy - huge offensive rebounds by Antonio Anderson led to two huge free throws. Make 0, Texas A&M likely wins; make 1, it's tied, make 2, the Tigers likely win. He made 2. I guess John Calipari was right - when they needed the free throws, they got them. Then, the controversial out of bounds play happened. The officials got this one right - the clock is supposed to start when a player touches the ball, and it doesn't stop until the ball TOUCHES SOMETHING OUT OF BOUNDS. Remember that when you hear people complaining about this call. If the ball goes out of bounds and stays in the air, the clock keeps going. That is the reason an extra 1.1 seconds were taken off the clock.
After that extraordinary win, the Tigers will face Ohio State, who won in their own extraordinary fashion. This one hurts for Tennessee and Volunteer fans. Tennessee played perhaps their best half of basketball all year in the first half of this one - they were up 49-32 at the break. Greg Oden had 3 fouls, and all was right. But the Vols got a little too lax. Ohio State jumped all over Tennessee at the beginning of the second half and tightened the game in a hurry.
Greg Oden was not a huge factor, but the Buckeye guards were. The Vols could not guard Mike Conley, Jr. off the dribble, and Ron Lewis continued to show why he is fast becoming known as the most clutch Buckeye. He had 25 and Conley had 17, offsetting a meager 9 and 3 from Oden. Bruce Pearl tried everything he possibly could to inspire his team, but nothing worked. Chris Lofton and Ryan Childress hit big threes, but in the end, Ohio State just edged it out to move into the Elite Eight.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
San Antonio, Part 1
First of all, it is a long-ass drive from Memphis to San Antonio. There's just no getting around that. I drove way too fast, but because of a couple of traffic problems along the way, it still took me almost 11 hours of driving to get here. That's a long way to go. And since it is a huge drive, and since the plane tickets are stupidly expensive from Memphis to San Antonio, I can completely understand why there won't be too many Tiger fans here for tomorrow night's game. I would even venture to bet that there will be more Tennessee fans because I suspect it is cheaper to fly from Knoxville or Chattanooga than it is from Memphis.
Make no mistake, though, there will be a jillion Texas A&M fans. There are already tons all around every part of Texas - one person described Aggie fans to me today as being "a little bit frightening". They are rabid for sure. And they have weird hand gestures and sounds they make as part of their Aggie fandom. Good folks so far, but very serious about the Aggies.
They also don't know much about Memphis. I asked one family what they knew about Memphis, and the mom said, "I know they wear orange!". So, not the most knowledgeable about Memphis, then. They know Cal and they know that CDR is hurt. Not much else.
The Alamodome is enormous, and it will be unique territory for the Tigers. I don't think any of them - and I don't think any Tiger team, ever - will have played in a structure this big. Maybe an early Tiger team played Tulane in the Superdome a long time ago...we were debating that over at the Dome. But I can't imagine any of these players ever being in an arena like this. It is a little disconcerting - they've basically split the dome in half, with one side being the court and stands, with some seats rolled in to close out the rectangular court. On the other side of the curtain is all the media areas - interview rooms, dining area, satellite uplink, etc. It is gigantic. Everything is indeed bigger in Texas.
Today was open practice/press conference day. I don't really care much for it, as it really doesn't tell you much about the teams - the interviews can sometimes be revealing (and in the case of A&M coach Billy Gillispie, introductory - at least for Memphis media), but there's a lot of pomp and circumstance that signifies little.
Chris Douglas-Roberts was not seen at the Alamodome today. He did not practice, nor did I see him even with the team. He is getting constant treatment, and the general thought around here is that he will play, but he will not be 100%. He is a tough kid, and I have a strong suspicion he will give it a go, but I just don't know how effective he will be. This is going to be a brutal game - very physical and very intense - and if he isn't going all out, I just don't know if he will do much good. We will see. He's a calming influence, and the Tigers will need him for that reason, if none other.
I was impressed with Joey Dorsey's interview today - go listen to him and Jeremy Hunt via the link on sports56whbq.com. He was candid, funny, and revealing. He's normally not much of a talker, but he's really come out of his shell as of late. He is also going to be massively important for the Tigers tomorrow night; A&M aren't deep in the frontcourt and Joey can do damage if he plays well.
The Tigers were very sluggish throughout their open workout today. A lot, and I mean A LOT, of missed shots were thrown up by the Tigers. I don't know if they were tired from their earlier closed practice, or just going through the motions, but it wasn't impressive at all. Again, these open practices don't mean much, so I'll just let John Calipari's words to his team sum it up: "Better get all these misses out of your system today!"
Tennessee looked relaxed and calm as they prepared for Ohio State. They did more drills than the Tigers did (relatively speaking, of course, since very few teams actually do any serious practicing at these things). Bruce Pearl was as funny as ever on the podium - he was asked about John Calipari's proposal for Tennessee fans to cheer for Memphis tomorrow night (and vice versa), and he chuckled. He laughed harder when he was told that John had promised to wear an orange T-shirt for the game. Pearl said that if Cal did that, he would wear a blue blazer.
More telling was his comment that he didn't see any way that most Memphis fans would cheer for Tennessee. That is probably very true.
Finally, I saw Greg Oden is person for the first time. HUGE. The guy is large. And he looks as old as you would expect, since he already looks like Robert Parish's cousin. He was very fluid for a big man, and he certainly moves well. I am very interested in watching him play live tomorrow night.
San Antonio is a cool city - very laid-back and low-key. I could definitely see myself taking a little vacation here. I thought the Riverwalk would be overrated, as so many of these tourist destinations tend to be, but it's actually very pretty, and there's a lot of great food and drink to be found along it. I'm staying in one of the two Marriotts on the Riverwalk. For some reason, San Antonio has two separate Marriott hotels literally 200 feet apart. Both are huge. It's a bit strange. And of course I went to the wrong one as I tried to check in.
Make no mistake, though, there will be a jillion Texas A&M fans. There are already tons all around every part of Texas - one person described Aggie fans to me today as being "a little bit frightening". They are rabid for sure. And they have weird hand gestures and sounds they make as part of their Aggie fandom. Good folks so far, but very serious about the Aggies.
They also don't know much about Memphis. I asked one family what they knew about Memphis, and the mom said, "I know they wear orange!". So, not the most knowledgeable about Memphis, then. They know Cal and they know that CDR is hurt. Not much else.
The Alamodome is enormous, and it will be unique territory for the Tigers. I don't think any of them - and I don't think any Tiger team, ever - will have played in a structure this big. Maybe an early Tiger team played Tulane in the Superdome a long time ago...we were debating that over at the Dome. But I can't imagine any of these players ever being in an arena like this. It is a little disconcerting - they've basically split the dome in half, with one side being the court and stands, with some seats rolled in to close out the rectangular court. On the other side of the curtain is all the media areas - interview rooms, dining area, satellite uplink, etc. It is gigantic. Everything is indeed bigger in Texas.
Today was open practice/press conference day. I don't really care much for it, as it really doesn't tell you much about the teams - the interviews can sometimes be revealing (and in the case of A&M coach Billy Gillispie, introductory - at least for Memphis media), but there's a lot of pomp and circumstance that signifies little.
Chris Douglas-Roberts was not seen at the Alamodome today. He did not practice, nor did I see him even with the team. He is getting constant treatment, and the general thought around here is that he will play, but he will not be 100%. He is a tough kid, and I have a strong suspicion he will give it a go, but I just don't know how effective he will be. This is going to be a brutal game - very physical and very intense - and if he isn't going all out, I just don't know if he will do much good. We will see. He's a calming influence, and the Tigers will need him for that reason, if none other.
I was impressed with Joey Dorsey's interview today - go listen to him and Jeremy Hunt via the link on sports56whbq.com. He was candid, funny, and revealing. He's normally not much of a talker, but he's really come out of his shell as of late. He is also going to be massively important for the Tigers tomorrow night; A&M aren't deep in the frontcourt and Joey can do damage if he plays well.
The Tigers were very sluggish throughout their open workout today. A lot, and I mean A LOT, of missed shots were thrown up by the Tigers. I don't know if they were tired from their earlier closed practice, or just going through the motions, but it wasn't impressive at all. Again, these open practices don't mean much, so I'll just let John Calipari's words to his team sum it up: "Better get all these misses out of your system today!"
Tennessee looked relaxed and calm as they prepared for Ohio State. They did more drills than the Tigers did (relatively speaking, of course, since very few teams actually do any serious practicing at these things). Bruce Pearl was as funny as ever on the podium - he was asked about John Calipari's proposal for Tennessee fans to cheer for Memphis tomorrow night (and vice versa), and he chuckled. He laughed harder when he was told that John had promised to wear an orange T-shirt for the game. Pearl said that if Cal did that, he would wear a blue blazer.
More telling was his comment that he didn't see any way that most Memphis fans would cheer for Tennessee. That is probably very true.
Finally, I saw Greg Oden is person for the first time. HUGE. The guy is large. And he looks as old as you would expect, since he already looks like Robert Parish's cousin. He was very fluid for a big man, and he certainly moves well. I am very interested in watching him play live tomorrow night.
San Antonio is a cool city - very laid-back and low-key. I could definitely see myself taking a little vacation here. I thought the Riverwalk would be overrated, as so many of these tourist destinations tend to be, but it's actually very pretty, and there's a lot of great food and drink to be found along it. I'm staying in one of the two Marriotts on the Riverwalk. For some reason, San Antonio has two separate Marriott hotels literally 200 feet apart. Both are huge. It's a bit strange. And of course I went to the wrong one as I tried to check in.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
New Orleans, Part 3
Memphis 78 Nevada 62
A very interesting game, and undoubtedly a huge win for the Tiger program. Looking at the larger picture, there can be no doubt that two straight Sweet 16 appearances is a major coup for John Calipari. There aren't many schools that can say that. The Tigers will now face Texas A&M in San Antonio for the right to play in the Elite Eight.
Going into the matchup with Nevada, it was obvious that the big concerns for the Tigers would be Nick Fazekas and Marcelus Kemp. Fazekas you probably knew a bit about - he is an All-American, after all - but Kemp was a bit more unknown. It was Kemp who was far more dangerous throughout the game. Kemp hit several big shots, made several key plays, and was a handful for Tiger defenders all day long.
Today's game confirmed my opinion on Nick Fazekas - overrated. Way overrated. Against the elite athletes of Memphis, he was largely overmatched. I cannot believe that he is rated as a first round draft prospect as of right now on several draft sites. He will get killed in the NBA. He made some nice plays, but he's just not very quick or very strong - he finishes very weakly around the basket for a guy of his size. Kemp will be a better NBA player.
Starting out, and throughout the entire game, the Tigers were shaky around the basket. They must have missed at least 10 layups throughout the game. The conversation between me and some of the Memphis media folks at halftime centered around just how in the world the Tigers were only up by 4 while dominating the game in huge stretches. There's no question that the Tigers should have been up by at least 10 - missed layups, missed 3's, defensive lapses cost them.
All of that could have cost the Tigers dearly. What could have cost them even more today, and what may cost them on Thursday, is the injury to Chris Douglas-Roberts. CDR landed hard on his ankle with about 8 minutes or so to play - it looked nasty. The Tigers had to play the final minutes without him, and may be without him in San Antonio. The early word is that it's a mild to moderate ankle sprain, which is actually good news. It could have been a torn ligament. Without CDR, things got a little dicey at first - Doneal Mack and Willie Kemp were asked to play key roles and they were clearly very nervous. Calipari had to take them out to make sure the game didn't get out of hand.
Robert Dozier was fantastic throughout the game, but he came up huge late - he made play after play, including a sequence where he grabbed two massive rebounds. He outmuscled Nick Fazekas for a board late in the ballgame...that summed up the difference in the teams. Fazekas, an All-American, had never faced opposition as athletic as the Tigers, and he was beaten to the spot by largely unheralded Robert Dozier. If Dozier can continue to play like this, the Tigers will be hard to beat.
Andre Allen was big yet again - he is the most clutch player the Tigers have. Jeremy Hunt was frustrating for large stretches of play, but ultimately did a lot of very important things for the Tigers. For him, it must be especially thrilling to actually be a part of a Sweet 16 team after looking on last year from the outside.
Very loud Tiger crowd here in New Orleans. The Tigers had the largest contingent of fans here in town, and they were the rowdiest as well. John Calipari repeatedly spoke of just how important the fans were to the team's performance in the first two rounds of the tournament. On the other hand, the Nevada fans were more numerous than you might have thought, especially given just how far they had to travel. I think it should also be noted that one of the members of their Pep Band had his head completely shaved expect for a giant "N" of hair. Very disturbing.
Random Larry King tourney thoughts...Tennessee against Memphis in the Elite 8? Only two wins away...speaking of Tennessee, very impressive effort against Virginia, especially JaJuan Smith and Ryan Childress...Florida has a cakewalk into the Final Four, but they'll have to play better than they did today...Seeing them both in person has cemented the fact for me that Al Horford is going to be a much better NBA player than Joakim Noah...I don't know if Tubby saved his job with the Wildcats' tourney performance...USC is apparently much better than people gave them credit for; next stop for Kevin Durant? Memphis?...fantastic action yesterday in the tourney...Ohio State should certainly have lost; Ron Lewis has serious guts; Tennessee could cause them trouble...Wisconsin had the worst tournament of any team out there...My Final Four is unchanged.
Be sure to go to sports56whbq.com and check out the sound from New Orleans. And keep it here on my blog as I head to San Antonio in a couple of days.
A very interesting game, and undoubtedly a huge win for the Tiger program. Looking at the larger picture, there can be no doubt that two straight Sweet 16 appearances is a major coup for John Calipari. There aren't many schools that can say that. The Tigers will now face Texas A&M in San Antonio for the right to play in the Elite Eight.
Going into the matchup with Nevada, it was obvious that the big concerns for the Tigers would be Nick Fazekas and Marcelus Kemp. Fazekas you probably knew a bit about - he is an All-American, after all - but Kemp was a bit more unknown. It was Kemp who was far more dangerous throughout the game. Kemp hit several big shots, made several key plays, and was a handful for Tiger defenders all day long.
Today's game confirmed my opinion on Nick Fazekas - overrated. Way overrated. Against the elite athletes of Memphis, he was largely overmatched. I cannot believe that he is rated as a first round draft prospect as of right now on several draft sites. He will get killed in the NBA. He made some nice plays, but he's just not very quick or very strong - he finishes very weakly around the basket for a guy of his size. Kemp will be a better NBA player.
Starting out, and throughout the entire game, the Tigers were shaky around the basket. They must have missed at least 10 layups throughout the game. The conversation between me and some of the Memphis media folks at halftime centered around just how in the world the Tigers were only up by 4 while dominating the game in huge stretches. There's no question that the Tigers should have been up by at least 10 - missed layups, missed 3's, defensive lapses cost them.
All of that could have cost the Tigers dearly. What could have cost them even more today, and what may cost them on Thursday, is the injury to Chris Douglas-Roberts. CDR landed hard on his ankle with about 8 minutes or so to play - it looked nasty. The Tigers had to play the final minutes without him, and may be without him in San Antonio. The early word is that it's a mild to moderate ankle sprain, which is actually good news. It could have been a torn ligament. Without CDR, things got a little dicey at first - Doneal Mack and Willie Kemp were asked to play key roles and they were clearly very nervous. Calipari had to take them out to make sure the game didn't get out of hand.
Robert Dozier was fantastic throughout the game, but he came up huge late - he made play after play, including a sequence where he grabbed two massive rebounds. He outmuscled Nick Fazekas for a board late in the ballgame...that summed up the difference in the teams. Fazekas, an All-American, had never faced opposition as athletic as the Tigers, and he was beaten to the spot by largely unheralded Robert Dozier. If Dozier can continue to play like this, the Tigers will be hard to beat.
Andre Allen was big yet again - he is the most clutch player the Tigers have. Jeremy Hunt was frustrating for large stretches of play, but ultimately did a lot of very important things for the Tigers. For him, it must be especially thrilling to actually be a part of a Sweet 16 team after looking on last year from the outside.
Very loud Tiger crowd here in New Orleans. The Tigers had the largest contingent of fans here in town, and they were the rowdiest as well. John Calipari repeatedly spoke of just how important the fans were to the team's performance in the first two rounds of the tournament. On the other hand, the Nevada fans were more numerous than you might have thought, especially given just how far they had to travel. I think it should also be noted that one of the members of their Pep Band had his head completely shaved expect for a giant "N" of hair. Very disturbing.
Random Larry King tourney thoughts...Tennessee against Memphis in the Elite 8? Only two wins away...speaking of Tennessee, very impressive effort against Virginia, especially JaJuan Smith and Ryan Childress...Florida has a cakewalk into the Final Four, but they'll have to play better than they did today...Seeing them both in person has cemented the fact for me that Al Horford is going to be a much better NBA player than Joakim Noah...I don't know if Tubby saved his job with the Wildcats' tourney performance...USC is apparently much better than people gave them credit for; next stop for Kevin Durant? Memphis?...fantastic action yesterday in the tourney...Ohio State should certainly have lost; Ron Lewis has serious guts; Tennessee could cause them trouble...Wisconsin had the worst tournament of any team out there...My Final Four is unchanged.
Be sure to go to sports56whbq.com and check out the sound from New Orleans. And keep it here on my blog as I head to San Antonio in a couple of days.
Friday, March 16, 2007
New Orleans, Part 2
Memphis 73, North Texas 58
That was a lot closer than Memphis wanted it to be. There's no question that Memphis can play a hell of a lot better than they did today in New Orleans, and you can bet they'll have to on Sunday if they want to make it to the Sweet 16 in San Antonio.
For some reason, the Tigers came out very, very flat. No intensity at all throughout the first 7 or 8 minutes, and it showed on the scoreboard - North Texas jumped out to an early lead, one they held for the first 12 minutes of the game. In the midst of North Texas' hot start, the Tigers did find a spark of intensity, but it was misdirected. Chris Douglas-Roberts, normally a very cool customer, lost his head in a big way after committing his second personal foul. He exchanged words in a minor skirmish with Kendrick Davis of North Texas, and picked up a technical foul in the process. Despite finishing as the game's high scorer, CDR was well below par, as was his backcourt partner Antonio Anderson.
Anderson turned the ball over 3 times without dishing a single assist. That's not good enough - but to be fair to the young man, he did play good man defense against the dangerous UNT guard Calvin Watson. UNT had several dangerous players, including post presence Keith Wooden (anyone named Wooden has to be dangerous in March). Wooden abused Joey Dorsey early in the ballgame, and forced Dorsey to significantly pick up his defense as the game progressed. Dorssey admitted as much in the postgame press conference, which you can hear in its entirety on sports56whbq.com. Dorsey improved, though, and was a monster on the boards. He finished with 15 for the game.
Robert Dozier was superb in the first half, picking up 4 blocks and several big rebounds. His offense still needs work, but he was a contributor today. But for me, the player of the game was Andre Allen, who played a career-high 36 minutes because he was just so effective. He picked up the energy for the Tigers as soon as he hit the court, and made himself a nuisance defensively while hitting big shots offensively. Once again, in the NCAA Tournament, he showed he is a baller.
The Tigers will play Nevada in the second round on Sunday afternoon, after Nevada beat Creighton in overtime 77-71. It was a really good game, with neither team able to secure a lead above 7 the entire game. Nick Fazekas gets all the hype when people talk about Nevada, and he had a pretty good game, but Nevada was led by a huge effort from guard/forward Marcelus Kemp. He finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists, and was so aggressive in getting to the basket and making plays. He will be a handful for the Tigers.
Nevada's not terribly athletic, from what I saw, but they've got skilled bigs who can shoot - they're quite tall and long, and all of them (especially Fazekas) can nail the 3. They turned it over a bit much, though, and the Tigers can certainly take advantage of that weakness. Fazekas actually reminds me a lot of Pau Gasol in many ways. He plays with the same languid style - it doesn't always look like he's trying that hard. He can shoot better than Pau, but isn't nearly the inside threat Pau is. And I'm sure you hate him even more now that I said that.
Nevada's coach also has a bit of an anger control problem. According to humorously-named New Mexico State University Police Officer Quent Pirtle, Coach Mark Fox had a slight problem with the officials in Nevada's WAC Tournament loss to Utah State, and let them know it.
He got pissed again today at a no-call. This guy is seriously going to flip out one day and go Bobby Knight on someone. He's a bit high-strung. Oh yeah, one other thing - the Creighton cheerleaders are way, way, WAY more attractive than you would expect a bunch of Omaha girls to be.
The crowd wasn't huge (13,000 or so), but it was very loud and active for both games. I would estimate the Tigers had more fans than any other team in the first session, but Nevada traveled very well considering how far Reno is from New Orleans. Former Tiger DB (and former Saint) Mike McKenzie was in the house, looking very much like Lil' Jon. I mean, I fully expected him to drink from a jeweled cup and yell, "YEAAAAUUUUHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Finally, some notes, Larry King-style...my bracket is a shambles. I somehow managed to pick George Washington. That didn't turn out well...DUKE IS OUT OF THE TOURNAMENT IN THE FIRST ROUND! Oh, it was awesome to see Eric Maynor just abuse Greg Paulus, take him way out of his game mentally, then drain a huge jumper to win the game. Sorry, Coach K, your team sucks far more than your commercials...How about Tennessee putting up 121 on Snoop, Dre, and Long Beach State? When did Bo Kimble become a Vol?...Wisconsin is very boring and I had hoped beyond hope that Texas A&M-Corpus Christi would beat them. They didn't...I was impressed with Virginia's guards; Sunday's UVA/Tenn matchup will be a fun one to watch...Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery are really good guys...hope tonight's games are good, because so far, this has been a boring tournament.
Off to Bourbon for a little relaxation. More Sunday or Monday.
That was a lot closer than Memphis wanted it to be. There's no question that Memphis can play a hell of a lot better than they did today in New Orleans, and you can bet they'll have to on Sunday if they want to make it to the Sweet 16 in San Antonio.
For some reason, the Tigers came out very, very flat. No intensity at all throughout the first 7 or 8 minutes, and it showed on the scoreboard - North Texas jumped out to an early lead, one they held for the first 12 minutes of the game. In the midst of North Texas' hot start, the Tigers did find a spark of intensity, but it was misdirected. Chris Douglas-Roberts, normally a very cool customer, lost his head in a big way after committing his second personal foul. He exchanged words in a minor skirmish with Kendrick Davis of North Texas, and picked up a technical foul in the process. Despite finishing as the game's high scorer, CDR was well below par, as was his backcourt partner Antonio Anderson.
Anderson turned the ball over 3 times without dishing a single assist. That's not good enough - but to be fair to the young man, he did play good man defense against the dangerous UNT guard Calvin Watson. UNT had several dangerous players, including post presence Keith Wooden (anyone named Wooden has to be dangerous in March). Wooden abused Joey Dorsey early in the ballgame, and forced Dorsey to significantly pick up his defense as the game progressed. Dorssey admitted as much in the postgame press conference, which you can hear in its entirety on sports56whbq.com. Dorsey improved, though, and was a monster on the boards. He finished with 15 for the game.
Robert Dozier was superb in the first half, picking up 4 blocks and several big rebounds. His offense still needs work, but he was a contributor today. But for me, the player of the game was Andre Allen, who played a career-high 36 minutes because he was just so effective. He picked up the energy for the Tigers as soon as he hit the court, and made himself a nuisance defensively while hitting big shots offensively. Once again, in the NCAA Tournament, he showed he is a baller.
The Tigers will play Nevada in the second round on Sunday afternoon, after Nevada beat Creighton in overtime 77-71. It was a really good game, with neither team able to secure a lead above 7 the entire game. Nick Fazekas gets all the hype when people talk about Nevada, and he had a pretty good game, but Nevada was led by a huge effort from guard/forward Marcelus Kemp. He finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists, and was so aggressive in getting to the basket and making plays. He will be a handful for the Tigers.
Nevada's not terribly athletic, from what I saw, but they've got skilled bigs who can shoot - they're quite tall and long, and all of them (especially Fazekas) can nail the 3. They turned it over a bit much, though, and the Tigers can certainly take advantage of that weakness. Fazekas actually reminds me a lot of Pau Gasol in many ways. He plays with the same languid style - it doesn't always look like he's trying that hard. He can shoot better than Pau, but isn't nearly the inside threat Pau is. And I'm sure you hate him even more now that I said that.
Nevada's coach also has a bit of an anger control problem. According to humorously-named New Mexico State University Police Officer Quent Pirtle, Coach Mark Fox had a slight problem with the officials in Nevada's WAC Tournament loss to Utah State, and let them know it.
"As Mr. Fox continued to curse and be abusive toward the officials, he continued to close distance," Pirtle wrote. "I placed my hand on the back of the last official and tried to hurry him up the ramp."
Pirtle said at that point Fox was about 2 feet away.
"I slowed down and put my hand across his chest to prevent him from getting any closer to the official," Pirtle said.
The officer said Fox told him, "Don't put your [expletive] hands on me."
"I told Mr. Fox to back off and again pushed against him to keep him from the officials," Pirtle said.
He got pissed again today at a no-call. This guy is seriously going to flip out one day and go Bobby Knight on someone. He's a bit high-strung. Oh yeah, one other thing - the Creighton cheerleaders are way, way, WAY more attractive than you would expect a bunch of Omaha girls to be.
The crowd wasn't huge (13,000 or so), but it was very loud and active for both games. I would estimate the Tigers had more fans than any other team in the first session, but Nevada traveled very well considering how far Reno is from New Orleans. Former Tiger DB (and former Saint) Mike McKenzie was in the house, looking very much like Lil' Jon. I mean, I fully expected him to drink from a jeweled cup and yell, "YEAAAAUUUUHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Finally, some notes, Larry King-style...my bracket is a shambles. I somehow managed to pick George Washington. That didn't turn out well...DUKE IS OUT OF THE TOURNAMENT IN THE FIRST ROUND! Oh, it was awesome to see Eric Maynor just abuse Greg Paulus, take him way out of his game mentally, then drain a huge jumper to win the game. Sorry, Coach K, your team sucks far more than your commercials...How about Tennessee putting up 121 on Snoop, Dre, and Long Beach State? When did Bo Kimble become a Vol?...Wisconsin is very boring and I had hoped beyond hope that Texas A&M-Corpus Christi would beat them. They didn't...I was impressed with Virginia's guards; Sunday's UVA/Tenn matchup will be a fun one to watch...Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery are really good guys...hope tonight's games are good, because so far, this has been a boring tournament.
Off to Bourbon for a little relaxation. More Sunday or Monday.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Pure Wisdom: My Tourney Picks
Rather than give you a whole long spiel about my picks, I figured I'd just show you:
Click here for my bracket (PDF file).
Click here for my bracket (PDF file).
New Orleans, Part 1
I arrived yesterday afternoon about 4 or so...no major issues on the road from Memphis to New Orleans, but that changed upon arrival here in the Big Easy. I did what I normally do when taking a road trip - I print out directions from Mapquest or some such, and 9 times out of 10, that's fine. This was the 10th time out of 10. I was instructed to get off at Exit 234B, which seemed easy enough on paper. The big problem emerged when I found out there is no Exit 234B - at least none that I could see.
So I rolled on past the area where I should have exited, and got off somewhere else...and was immediately lost in New Orleans. Great. But I figure I'm smart enough to find my way around downtown N.O. - I know what streets to look for, and I know roughly where I'm supposed to be, so it shouldn't have been a problem. There was one slight issue, though...probably 25-35 percent of the intersections I saw had no street sign at all. No sign whatsoever. I had to basically drive around and just sort of hope I managed to find the right street. I eventually did.
I was told last night by a couple of locals that people who came down here to help rebuild or do construction work have been helping themselves to authentic, 100% New Orleans, LA street signs! Apparently those street signs are made of gold or something, because the New Orleans city government has not replaced them at all. I wish they would. It would have made my trip a bit easier.
The hotel is nice, and isn't far from the French Quarter. A few of us headed out to Bourbon Street last night and had fun. Oddly enough, I didn't see one single Tiger fan, but I saw two, count 'em, TWO Nevada fans. I assume Tiger Nation hasn't made it down here yet. Most of the fans haven't arrived yet - or, if they have, they weren't on Bourbon. I know they're coming.
I'll be back with more later.
So I rolled on past the area where I should have exited, and got off somewhere else...and was immediately lost in New Orleans. Great. But I figure I'm smart enough to find my way around downtown N.O. - I know what streets to look for, and I know roughly where I'm supposed to be, so it shouldn't have been a problem. There was one slight issue, though...probably 25-35 percent of the intersections I saw had no street sign at all. No sign whatsoever. I had to basically drive around and just sort of hope I managed to find the right street. I eventually did.
I was told last night by a couple of locals that people who came down here to help rebuild or do construction work have been helping themselves to authentic, 100% New Orleans, LA street signs! Apparently those street signs are made of gold or something, because the New Orleans city government has not replaced them at all. I wish they would. It would have made my trip a bit easier.
The hotel is nice, and isn't far from the French Quarter. A few of us headed out to Bourbon Street last night and had fun. Oddly enough, I didn't see one single Tiger fan, but I saw two, count 'em, TWO Nevada fans. I assume Tiger Nation hasn't made it down here yet. Most of the fans haven't arrived yet - or, if they have, they weren't on Bourbon. I know they're coming.
I'll be back with more later.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Team Videos Are Usually A Bad Idea
After I posted the Redskins video below, it inspired me to find more old promotional team videos. Of course, all team videos ever produced will have to be compared with the legendary Super Bowl Shuffle:
That's the gold standard. Sure, it's cheesy and hasn't really aged well, but it's a classic. We are the Bears, shufflin' crew, etc. That's what it's all about. These other videos have been forgotten, and rightly so.
But I've spent (too much) time running some of the worst offenders down, and here they are, in no particular order:
1987 CALGARY FLAMES: "Red Hot"
BEST VISUAL: The close-up of Lanny MacDonald's almost impossibly bushy mustache as he prepares to open up the lip syncing magic. Like the best horror movies, it is partly frightening and partly enthralling.
BEST LYRIC: The chorus - "You can't touch a flame when it's red hot, you can't put the fire out. Like a magic thing (?) that can't be bought, you can't touch a flame when it's red hot!" Profoundly stupid.
1986 NEW YORK METS: "Lets Go, Mets Go"
BEST VISUAL: You won't believe me when I tell you, but Joe Piscopo makes an appearance about halfway through, informing us that the "big story" is that the '86 Mets are awesome. He then defies the odds to make the video even dumber by tapping ACTUAL MET PLAYERS' HEADS to make them bobble, a la commemorative bobbleheads. This is worse than it sounds. Bonus points for including Joe Piscopo, though.
BEST LYRIC: "Where there's a Met man, you'll find a Mets fan." What does that even mean?
1986 DALLAS COWBOYS: "Christmas in Dallas"
BEST VISUAL: State-of-the-art technology allows the Reunion Ball and the Bank of America building (you know, the one with the green lighting bordering it at night) to combine into one badass 1986 Christmas Tree! How did they do it?? (Close second: a seemingly drugged Danny White struggling with his lip syncing parts)
BEST LYRIC: "When there is snow covering the ground, there's one thing I know - there is no better place I have ever ... fo-ound!" Too many words. Condense it, fellas.
1987 MINNESOTA TWINS: "Berenguer Boogie"
BEST VISUAL: This entire video is garbage. But certainly the creepiest visual is a shot of a bunch of children followed immediately by a (lingering) shot of a trench coated man's crotch, panning up to reveal Mr. Berenguer. Off-putting. Arguably the best visual comes when Juan Berenguer (still in trench coat) "dances" with a bunch of fitness models with giant permed hair.
BEST LYRIC: The chorus. "The Berenguer Boogie, (unintelligible - sounds like "I will ask, he will know"), The Berenguer Boogie, Señor Smoke." Maybe this is better with the unintelligible part intact.
SPECIAL NOTE: What's with all the trench coats? Was Juan Berenguer a trench coat salesman or something? Were the Twins flashing fans in the offseason? Very weird.
1988 FLORIDA STATE: "Seminole Rap"
BEST VISUAL: It's gotta be either Burt Reynolds' brief appearance at the very beginning of the video, or "Chip and Pete", the whitest QBs ever, trying to look like something other than two huge dorks. They fail.
BEST LYRIC: Also courtesy of "Chip and Pete" - "I'm Chip, I'm Pete, and we're the QBs; we've got the best job, as you can see...No matter what you do, we're gonna score, and if you make us mad, we'll score some more." I bet Chip and Pete aren't scoring as much these days.
Anyone know of any more recent terrible team videos? The Grizzlies ought to make one soon.
That's the gold standard. Sure, it's cheesy and hasn't really aged well, but it's a classic. We are the Bears, shufflin' crew, etc. That's what it's all about. These other videos have been forgotten, and rightly so.
But I've spent (too much) time running some of the worst offenders down, and here they are, in no particular order:
1987 CALGARY FLAMES: "Red Hot"
BEST VISUAL: The close-up of Lanny MacDonald's almost impossibly bushy mustache as he prepares to open up the lip syncing magic. Like the best horror movies, it is partly frightening and partly enthralling.
BEST LYRIC: The chorus - "You can't touch a flame when it's red hot, you can't put the fire out. Like a magic thing (?) that can't be bought, you can't touch a flame when it's red hot!" Profoundly stupid.
1986 NEW YORK METS: "Lets Go, Mets Go"
BEST VISUAL: You won't believe me when I tell you, but Joe Piscopo makes an appearance about halfway through, informing us that the "big story" is that the '86 Mets are awesome. He then defies the odds to make the video even dumber by tapping ACTUAL MET PLAYERS' HEADS to make them bobble, a la commemorative bobbleheads. This is worse than it sounds. Bonus points for including Joe Piscopo, though.
BEST LYRIC: "Where there's a Met man, you'll find a Mets fan." What does that even mean?
1986 DALLAS COWBOYS: "Christmas in Dallas"
BEST VISUAL: State-of-the-art technology allows the Reunion Ball and the Bank of America building (you know, the one with the green lighting bordering it at night) to combine into one badass 1986 Christmas Tree! How did they do it?? (Close second: a seemingly drugged Danny White struggling with his lip syncing parts)
BEST LYRIC: "When there is snow covering the ground, there's one thing I know - there is no better place I have ever ... fo-ound!" Too many words. Condense it, fellas.
1987 MINNESOTA TWINS: "Berenguer Boogie"
BEST VISUAL: This entire video is garbage. But certainly the creepiest visual is a shot of a bunch of children followed immediately by a (lingering) shot of a trench coated man's crotch, panning up to reveal Mr. Berenguer. Off-putting. Arguably the best visual comes when Juan Berenguer (still in trench coat) "dances" with a bunch of fitness models with giant permed hair.
BEST LYRIC: The chorus. "The Berenguer Boogie, (unintelligible - sounds like "I will ask, he will know"), The Berenguer Boogie, Señor Smoke." Maybe this is better with the unintelligible part intact.
SPECIAL NOTE: What's with all the trench coats? Was Juan Berenguer a trench coat salesman or something? Were the Twins flashing fans in the offseason? Very weird.
1988 FLORIDA STATE: "Seminole Rap"
BEST VISUAL: It's gotta be either Burt Reynolds' brief appearance at the very beginning of the video, or "Chip and Pete", the whitest QBs ever, trying to look like something other than two huge dorks. They fail.
BEST LYRIC: Also courtesy of "Chip and Pete" - "I'm Chip, I'm Pete, and we're the QBs; we've got the best job, as you can see...No matter what you do, we're gonna score, and if you make us mad, we'll score some more." I bet Chip and Pete aren't scoring as much these days.
Anyone know of any more recent terrible team videos? The Grizzlies ought to make one soon.
The 1986 Redskins Have a Message For You
A lot of people have huge nostalgia for the 80's, for some reason. Oh sure, there were many good things that happened in the 80's - Nintendo, Phoebe Cates, Porky's, MTV, Who's the Boss, ALF, parachute pants, I mean the list really is endless. Of course, not everything reached that epic level of awesome.
The 1986 Redskins made a video thanking all their fans (thanks to the outstanding Dan Steinberg at the DC Sports Bog for finding this beauty). As one of those fans back in 1986 (and now), I appreciate the sentiment. But not the video. This video was produced in the 80's and is decidedly not awesome. Well, not for its intended reasons. It combines all the Casio-keyboard-inspired rhythm of a Midnight Star video with all the awkwardness of an 8th grade dance. Here are a few highlights to look and listen for:
Watch it:
The 1986 Redskins made a video thanking all their fans (thanks to the outstanding Dan Steinberg at the DC Sports Bog for finding this beauty). As one of those fans back in 1986 (and now), I appreciate the sentiment. But not the video. This video was produced in the 80's and is decidedly not awesome. Well, not for its intended reasons. It combines all the Casio-keyboard-inspired rhythm of a Midnight Star video with all the awkwardness of an 8th grade dance. Here are a few highlights to look and listen for:
- The fans' complete lack of rhythm throughout the song (but especially at the start)
- Jay Schroeder looking very, very confused
- Russ Grimm and his caterpillar mustache attempting to "rap"
- Professional football players line dancing
- Players punctuating the word "loyalty" by thrusting their groins
- So much creepy, unsettling line dancing
- Ray-Bans, Ray-Bans, Ray-Bans
- Darrell Green's angry rapping
- WILLARD SCOTT!
- Doug Williams' very bad rapping
- A police car carrying an enormous Redskins wind sock
- The pièce de résistance: a slow-motion Fun Bunch high five!
Watch it:
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Monday, March 05, 2007
Billy Packer Should Be Fired
If anyone can watch this and tell me Billy Packer is anything other than a shill for Coach K and the Dukies, then they're insane. Packer knows how bad Gerald Henderson's forearm shiver to the face of Tyler Hansbrough looks (and is), and he goes into full defense mode to protect his buddy Mike Krzyzewski. It was full of belligerent repetition of the "it was unintentional" line; repetition that barely extended Jim Nantz a chance to respond. At this point, Packer sounds like nothing more than a grumpy old man with an axe to grind.
"In my day, Coach K never did nuthin' wrong! And that's the way it was, and we liked it!"
Actually, forget a regular grumpy old man. Packer sounds like THE Grumpy Old Man.
Grumpy Old Man: I'm oooooold! And I'm not happy! And I don't like things now compared to the way they used to be. All this progress -- phooey! In my day, we didn't have these cash machines that would give you money when you needed it. There was only one bank in each state -- it was open only one hour a year. And you'd get in line, seventeen miles long, and the line became an angry mob of people -- fornicators and thieves, mutant children and circus freaks -- and you waited for years and by the time you got to the teller, you were senile and arthritic and you couldn't remember your own name. You were born, got in line, and ya died! And that's the way it was and we liked it!
Life was a carnival! We entertained ourselves! We didn't need moooovin' pitchurrrres. In my day, there was only one show in town -- it was called "Stare at the sun!" ... That's right! You'd sit in the middle of an open field and stare up at the sun till your eyeballs burst into flames! And you thought, "Oh, no! Maybe I shouldn't've stared directly into the burning sun with my eyes wide open." But it was too late! Your head was on fire and people were roastin' chickens over it. ... And that's the way it was and we liked it!
Progress?! Flobble-de-flee! In my day, when we were angry and frustrated, we just said, "Flobble-de-flee!" 'cause we were idiots and we didn't know what else to say! Just a bunch o' illiterate Cro-Magnons, blowin' on crusty handkerchiefs, waitin' in lines for our head to burst into flame and that's the way it was and we liked it!
"In my day, Coach K never did nuthin' wrong! And that's the way it was, and we liked it!"
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
In Defense of Pau
I was embarrassed by what I saw at the Forum last night. Once again, Pau Gasol was booed loudly by a huge section of Grizzly fans in his home building as the Grizzlies lost to Denver 111-107. Pau wasn't great in the 4th quarter, and missed 3 key free throws in the final minutes of the game. But that doesn't justify the treatment he's receiving from large numbers of Grizzly fans.
First, the facts. Pau Gasol did ask to be traded. He did so by going to Majority Owner Michael Heisley and GM Jerry West separately and asking to be moved, if possible. Heisley gave Pau assurances his request would be considered; West did as well, though privately West was said to be seething. Pau did not make this request public. Somehow, Peter Vecsey found out about the official trade request and his initial report opened the subsequent floodgates of media coverage - coverage that Pau Gasol did not seek. Pau did not pout or moan or throw a fit to try to get traded; on the contrary, his numbers and contribution to the team remained high amid speculation about his future.
But none of that matters to some Grizzly fans. Many people have never liked Pau - ever - and have found any and every excuse to boo him at the Forum. Pau misses a FT? Boo him. He misses a jump shot? Boo him. He gets beaten on defense? Boo him. Never mind the fact that almost every Grizzly is defensively deficient at one time or another, never mind the fact that he has consistently put up 20 points and 9 rebounds shooting 50% or more from the field, never mind the fact that most NBA scouts consider him at least a top 10 (maybe a top 5) offensive player from 15 feet and in. None of that matters to the haters. All that matters is that Pau is either soft, or foreign, or weak, and they boo.
Is it Pau's fault that the organization hasn't built a proper team around him? They identified Pau as their centerpiece when they signed him to his max contract, yet they have utterly failed to build a team around his strengths. They've not drafted players to suit Pau, they've not signed free agents to suit Pau, and yet they expect Pau to singlehandedly lead this team out of the doldrums. The blame for that lies squarely at the feet of Jerry West and the Grizzlies. It's one thing to pay a guy and identify him as your centerpiece, it's another to actually build something around him. Pau is never going to be a tough guy. Never ever. This shouldn't have to be repeated over and over. He needs a bruiser next to him, a guy like Ben Wallace. That's why a move to Chicago would have been perfect for Pau and for the Bulls. Wallace could guard the more physical big on defense, hiding Pau's weakness a bit (and allowing Pau's defensive strength - shotblocking - to be emphasized), while Pau could absolutely go nuts on offense.
Look at Kevin Garnett. He's an immensely talented, very tough, incredibly driven athlete. And he's saddled with an organization that has failed to build around him. So what has he won? Nothing. Only once, when the team added Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell to complement him, did KG win a playoff series. But does KG get booed? Of course not. He's lauded for his determination. Perhaps he asked to be traded - we don't know. We wouldn't have known about Pau's request except that someone in the Grizzly organization leaked the information. And you wouldn't have known by Pau's play - he's looked precisely the same throughout this season.
By the way, who among you wouldn't explore other avenues of employment if at your company the following things had happened:
If all that happened to you, wouldn't your résumé be on Monster.com within seconds? Of course it would. Pau can't do that, so his only recourse is to request a trade.
After having been booed virtually all season long, and after seeing thousands of fans last night cheering louder for Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony than they did for him, Pau was understandably miffed. Here are some quotes:
Pau Gasol says it is "mindblowing" that Grizzly fans don't support him.
He thinks some Grizzly fans were happy that Denver beat the Grizzlies last night.
I can understand his frustration. It makes Memphis look like a low-class city when the fans boo the best Grizzly player consistently for petty reasons. He's far and away the best player on the team. How do you think it makes Rudy Gay feel to see the best player on the team booed mercilessly? He must wonder what it takes to satisfy Grizzly fans - and he probably wonders if he'll ever get booed if he screws up. That's no way to endear yourself to a group of players. Hakim Warrick missed key free throws late in the Spurs game last year. That cost them a game - does he get booed? He plays no defense - does he get booed? Lawrence Roberts missed free throw after free throw last year in Boston, costing the Grizzlies a game...does he get booed? Mike Miller plays no defense. Does he get booed?
For that matter, Carmelo Anthony is great on offense, plays no defense, has only made one All-Star game, and has never been on a team that has won a playoff series. Sound familiar? But does 'Melo get booed? Not in Denver, and not in Memphis either. Pau Gasol was booed more than Carmelo Anthony in the Forum.
The attendance this season has been poor, which is understandable - it's a bad team in a rebuilding year. But the poor attendance mixed with the booing makes this a terrible atmosphere for players. And if you don't think that plays a role in whether free agents will come to Memphis, or whether current Grizzlies (like Rudy Gay) will eventually want to re-sign with the team you're crazy.
It's time this came to an end. Pau Gasol and the rest of the Grizzlies deserve better.
First, the facts. Pau Gasol did ask to be traded. He did so by going to Majority Owner Michael Heisley and GM Jerry West separately and asking to be moved, if possible. Heisley gave Pau assurances his request would be considered; West did as well, though privately West was said to be seething. Pau did not make this request public. Somehow, Peter Vecsey found out about the official trade request and his initial report opened the subsequent floodgates of media coverage - coverage that Pau Gasol did not seek. Pau did not pout or moan or throw a fit to try to get traded; on the contrary, his numbers and contribution to the team remained high amid speculation about his future.
But none of that matters to some Grizzly fans. Many people have never liked Pau - ever - and have found any and every excuse to boo him at the Forum. Pau misses a FT? Boo him. He misses a jump shot? Boo him. He gets beaten on defense? Boo him. Never mind the fact that almost every Grizzly is defensively deficient at one time or another, never mind the fact that he has consistently put up 20 points and 9 rebounds shooting 50% or more from the field, never mind the fact that most NBA scouts consider him at least a top 10 (maybe a top 5) offensive player from 15 feet and in. None of that matters to the haters. All that matters is that Pau is either soft, or foreign, or weak, and they boo.
Is it Pau's fault that the organization hasn't built a proper team around him? They identified Pau as their centerpiece when they signed him to his max contract, yet they have utterly failed to build a team around his strengths. They've not drafted players to suit Pau, they've not signed free agents to suit Pau, and yet they expect Pau to singlehandedly lead this team out of the doldrums. The blame for that lies squarely at the feet of Jerry West and the Grizzlies. It's one thing to pay a guy and identify him as your centerpiece, it's another to actually build something around him. Pau is never going to be a tough guy. Never ever. This shouldn't have to be repeated over and over. He needs a bruiser next to him, a guy like Ben Wallace. That's why a move to Chicago would have been perfect for Pau and for the Bulls. Wallace could guard the more physical big on defense, hiding Pau's weakness a bit (and allowing Pau's defensive strength - shotblocking - to be emphasized), while Pau could absolutely go nuts on offense.
Look at Kevin Garnett. He's an immensely talented, very tough, incredibly driven athlete. And he's saddled with an organization that has failed to build around him. So what has he won? Nothing. Only once, when the team added Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell to complement him, did KG win a playoff series. But does KG get booed? Of course not. He's lauded for his determination. Perhaps he asked to be traded - we don't know. We wouldn't have known about Pau's request except that someone in the Grizzly organization leaked the information. And you wouldn't have known by Pau's play - he's looked precisely the same throughout this season.
By the way, who among you wouldn't explore other avenues of employment if at your company the following things had happened:
- Your boss had been fired and replaced by an interim boss of questionable qualification (who himself will soon be replaced by an unknown entity).
- Your company owner was publicly looking to sell your company to a group promising to cut costs and rely on underpaid young talent.
- Your company had already failed to give you the tools and coworkers you needed to be truly successful in your job.
- You were constantly criticized publicly for your effort and your product despite having won award after award and being the best at your company year-in, and year-out.
- You had been sick for a while, but you rushed back to work because your company needed you, only to be criticized for a lack of production as your were trying to get back into the swing of things.
If all that happened to you, wouldn't your résumé be on Monster.com within seconds? Of course it would. Pau can't do that, so his only recourse is to request a trade.
After having been booed virtually all season long, and after seeing thousands of fans last night cheering louder for Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony than they did for him, Pau was understandably miffed. Here are some quotes:
Pau Gasol says it is "mindblowing" that Grizzly fans don't support him.
He thinks some Grizzly fans were happy that Denver beat the Grizzlies last night.
I can understand his frustration. It makes Memphis look like a low-class city when the fans boo the best Grizzly player consistently for petty reasons. He's far and away the best player on the team. How do you think it makes Rudy Gay feel to see the best player on the team booed mercilessly? He must wonder what it takes to satisfy Grizzly fans - and he probably wonders if he'll ever get booed if he screws up. That's no way to endear yourself to a group of players. Hakim Warrick missed key free throws late in the Spurs game last year. That cost them a game - does he get booed? He plays no defense - does he get booed? Lawrence Roberts missed free throw after free throw last year in Boston, costing the Grizzlies a game...does he get booed? Mike Miller plays no defense. Does he get booed?
For that matter, Carmelo Anthony is great on offense, plays no defense, has only made one All-Star game, and has never been on a team that has won a playoff series. Sound familiar? But does 'Melo get booed? Not in Denver, and not in Memphis either. Pau Gasol was booed more than Carmelo Anthony in the Forum.
The attendance this season has been poor, which is understandable - it's a bad team in a rebuilding year. But the poor attendance mixed with the booing makes this a terrible atmosphere for players. And if you don't think that plays a role in whether free agents will come to Memphis, or whether current Grizzlies (like Rudy Gay) will eventually want to re-sign with the team you're crazy.
It's time this came to an end. Pau Gasol and the rest of the Grizzlies deserve better.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
GEM MINT TEN!
I ran across this earlier this morning while surfing the internets. This guy is a legend. A true sports icon. And it's time I gave him his credit on this site.
I used to watch Mr. Don West all the time when I was in college - he was on the legendary Shop at Home Network from, I dunno, like midnight to 4 am. And this guy loves baseball cards. I mean, he LOVES him some baseball cards. Every card was a Gem Mint 10 (whatever that means) or at least a 9 - and every pack was available for such insanely low prices that you would have to have serious brain damage not to order at least 5 at a time. But you had to be patient - 'cause the phone lines WERE ALWAYS JAMMED! You could not get through!
My favorite Don West trait was his tendency to elongate the S at the end of wordsssss. Like thisssssssss. Listen for it in this first video - and enjoy Don getting so excited about the 6400 card deal that he spills everything all over the floor. It's great.
ACTUAL QUOTE 1: "Literally, you can swim in 'em!"
ACTUAL QUOTE 2: "You're getting six thousand four hundred! Ooohh, another Mark McGwire...man I just love this! Oooooo, Joe Montana, ha ha ha ha ha! And there's an old Tommy John! Look at this!"
And then, there's this. Nothing honors the memory of Dale Earnhardt more than buying one of these limited edition jackets.
ACTUAL QUOTE 1: "We got XL. I'm wearing an XL, and, believe me, that's the size you want."
ACTUAL QUOTE 2: "We obviously know that this is a screw up on the price. I'm just giving you warning right now."
ACTUAL QUOTE 3: Don: "This is the coolest jacket of them all." Kenny: "Holy cow. Ho - lee cow." Don: "You better believe this is unbelievable."
Finally, if you spent $4000 on a Tiger Woods Grand Slam Ventures Rookie Card on the advice of Don and Kenny, you are an idiot. But it is a GEM MINT 10 PERFECT ROOKIE! So you've got that going for you. Besides, who doesn't love golf cards?
ACTUAL QUOTE 1: "If you order this, you will be the happiest person on the face of the planet."
ACTUAL QUOTE 2: "To me, this is like buying stock in a biotech company the day before they announce they found a cure for cancer or something."
Thanks to donwest.org and the Youtube people who uploaded this great stuff. I miss Shop at Home.
I used to watch Mr. Don West all the time when I was in college - he was on the legendary Shop at Home Network from, I dunno, like midnight to 4 am. And this guy loves baseball cards. I mean, he LOVES him some baseball cards. Every card was a Gem Mint 10 (whatever that means) or at least a 9 - and every pack was available for such insanely low prices that you would have to have serious brain damage not to order at least 5 at a time. But you had to be patient - 'cause the phone lines WERE ALWAYS JAMMED! You could not get through!
My favorite Don West trait was his tendency to elongate the S at the end of wordsssss. Like thisssssssss. Listen for it in this first video - and enjoy Don getting so excited about the 6400 card deal that he spills everything all over the floor. It's great.
ACTUAL QUOTE 1: "Literally, you can swim in 'em!"
ACTUAL QUOTE 2: "You're getting six thousand four hundred! Ooohh, another Mark McGwire...man I just love this! Oooooo, Joe Montana, ha ha ha ha ha! And there's an old Tommy John! Look at this!"
And then, there's this. Nothing honors the memory of Dale Earnhardt more than buying one of these limited edition jackets.
ACTUAL QUOTE 1: "We got XL. I'm wearing an XL, and, believe me, that's the size you want."
ACTUAL QUOTE 2: "We obviously know that this is a screw up on the price. I'm just giving you warning right now."
ACTUAL QUOTE 3: Don: "This is the coolest jacket of them all." Kenny: "Holy cow. Ho - lee cow." Don: "You better believe this is unbelievable."
Finally, if you spent $4000 on a Tiger Woods Grand Slam Ventures Rookie Card on the advice of Don and Kenny, you are an idiot. But it is a GEM MINT 10 PERFECT ROOKIE! So you've got that going for you. Besides, who doesn't love golf cards?
ACTUAL QUOTE 1: "If you order this, you will be the happiest person on the face of the planet."
ACTUAL QUOTE 2: "To me, this is like buying stock in a biotech company the day before they announce they found a cure for cancer or something."
Thanks to donwest.org and the Youtube people who uploaded this great stuff. I miss Shop at Home.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
A Great Idea (via Email)
Listener/reader Blake emailed me the other day with an idea I think is fantastic. It's a way to combine two of my favorite sports - soccer and college football - into one big concept to improve college football as a whole. I hope you enjoy:
I'm hoping Blake does become ruler of Earth.
First, I know this is a pipe dream, but it is an enjoyable dream!As both a college football and soccer fan I have come up with a too brilliant for words idea. Trash the BCS and simply go to a relegation system just like the English Premiership and other leagues around the world! Can't you just see a premier league with about thirty teams, complete with relegation and a short playoff to end the year (Maybe six teams?)?Then you have three lesser leagues just below that feature smaller or less successful teams like Vandy, Memphis, Notre Dame (note from Peter: that's funny), etc. Can't you just see the yearly frustration of all those golden domer fans as they struggle to make the B-league jump? Or fight relegation to the D-League? Can you imagine the insane blogging we would have? And how cool would it be to see a team like Buffalo dominate the D league for a few years and move up eventually (Wigan style) to the A-league?To me this makes too much sense and would be way too fun to ignore. Memphis would have something to play for every year: a C-league championship and promotion to B! Even the worst division one team (as it's now defined) can't have any excuse for totally sucking. If you are scraping the bottom of the D league then maybe you just belong in the NAIA or the Women's Professional Football League.I digress. Again, I know this will never happen because it blows away all the current financial obligations, sacred bowl worship and, most fatal of all, it is too soccer of an idea. How lame.
When I become ruler of the earth this is what is happening to college football.
I'm hoping Blake does become ruler of Earth.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Peter King Hates Prince
Before I get to my thoughts on the Super Bowl, I just want to pass along briefly my thoughts on Sports Illustrated writer Peter King. He's bad. Real bad, folks. I've written about King before - his obsequiousness with certain players, his self-righteousness with cultural issues ("You're better than that, Reggie Bush!"), and his generally smug style of writing. But reading his Monday Morning QB column this morning, he's got something going on that I don't understand.
Three separate entries in his column:
OK. Let's address these one at a time:
1. What does this even mean? Prince, Schmince? Is he just trying to belittle Prince? Outside of the jungle gym in 4th grade, I'm not sure where this insult is considered effective. King, Schming.
2. He hits us with this Reilly "zinger" just a few lines later in the piece. But it makes no sense. Everyone knows Prince. Everyone. Prince stole the show last night - in the rain, he just blew the place apart. Tore it up. He's still world-famous, as evidenced by the fact that he's the halftime entertainment at the SUPER BOWL! Does the NFL typically book no-names? Idiots.
3. How do you not understand the halftime show? I might give you the pregame show - Cirque du Soleil are kind of weird and bizarre, and when they performed at FedExForum at halftime of a Grizzlies game, I was totally lost. So that's fine. But the halftime show was precisely one thing: Prince singing. If you can't understand that, you probably suffered a brain injury. Folks.
Looking through his columns from earlier in the year, he took a shot at Prince a few weeks back: "Good thing the NFL is promoting the Prince Super Bowl appearance so heavily. It would also be a good idea to promote some of his music, because he hasn't had a song any of the human race has heard since, oh, about 1999." Is Peter King on crack? Did the Stones, or McCartney, or any of the other legends at Super Bowl halftime have "recent hits"? No. They are musical icons, jackass.
So, clearly Prince angered Peter King. But how? That's a story I'd love to hear. My guess is that Prince is a Starbucks freak, and stole all the coffee so ol' Pete couldn't get his usual double-mocha half-caf triple-espresso caramel butternut dreamsicle Colombian rustic blend that we all love reading about. Or else he insulted Brett Favre. One of the two.
In fact, we're gonna play a fun game - I call it "Did Peter King Actually Write This?" I'll put statements below, and you have to figure out which are from King's Monday Morning QB columns, and which are idiotic phrases I just made up. Ready? Here we go:
1. Good for Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes finishing 1-2, respectively, in the skating Nationals. Two beautiful skaters, and good kids, apparently, with their scholastic heads on straight.
2. Second in the MVP voting, first in the all-pro voting at quarterback, and he picks up dog doo. That's what I call a heck of an American.
3. Uh-oh. Jim Mora, semi-jokingly, I believe, is not pleased I reported in this column that I skunked him in ping pong 21-15 on Jan. 6. I know Mora, and I'm betting the next time we meet on the table of doom he'll leave his blood on it trying to get even.
4. But I worry about NHL crowds.
5. You see so much on Amtrak. The sights, yes. The country, yes. But did you know that halfway between Wilmington and Philadelphia, a couple hundred feet off the east side of the tracks, there's a Port-a-John graveyard? That's right. Hundreds of decrepit portable toilets. What a view.
6. If you've never played hopscotch with former Seahawks coach Tom Flores, you haven't lived. Flores lives for the game, folks. But not football. Hopscotch.
7. While covering the Pats game in San Diego, I stayed in a hotel that didn't have the Food Network. No Food Network? I can't imagine living without Molto Mario.
8. I owe you a dollar, Rich McKay.
9. Bring back my copy of "Mannequin 2", Rich Kotite.
10. I'm in the middle of John Grisham's nonfiction book about two murders in Ada, Okla. It's really good. Wish I had time to read it.
11. Coffeenerdness: Not sure if this man ran on the Espresso Ticket, but Bob Goodlatte ran unopposed and won a House seat in the 6th District of Virginia Tuesday night. I'd have thought Fred Finefrappucino would have made a swell opponent.
12. Watched "American Idol" for the first time last week. And I just got sick of the ridiculing and the mocking of the contestants. You're better than that, Simon Cowell.
13. When did it become acceptable in this country to not wear deodorant?
14. I think when all is said and done, no movie role will have a bigger impact in this nation's history than Eddie Murphy as Norbit.
Answers below:
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11 are King's lunacy.)
SUPER BOWL THOUGHTS
This game was always going to be about Peyton Manning more than anyone else. And indeed it was - Peyton was the game's MVP, though either Joseph Addai, Dominic Rhodes, or the entire offensive line deserved it more than he did. The Colts exploted a tired Bears defense and just ran it down their throats. It was a smart gameplan. Apart from his first four throws, Manning was solid if unspectacular. He did exactly what he needed to do. The Colts defense continued its inspired playoff performance, though - the Bears were shut down except for Thomas Jones' big 52-yard run in the 2nd quarter.
And Rex Grossman was terrible, but you knew that was bound to happen. He's young, and he'll likely be much better down the line, but right now, he's just incredibly inconsistent. The Bears had opportunities to win that game, but Grossman threw some bad balls and at one point channeled Casey Clausen circa 2002 as he could not handle a snap.
You can't dislike Tony Dungy. A truly classy man winning a deserved title is always nice to see.
Three separate entries in his column:
1. "Prince, Schmince."
2. Sitting next to Rick Reilly in the press section. "You know what I call Prince?'' he said before halftime. "Not 'The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.' But 'The Artist Formerly Known.'''
3. I did not understand the pregame show or the halftime show.
OK. Let's address these one at a time:
1. What does this even mean? Prince, Schmince? Is he just trying to belittle Prince? Outside of the jungle gym in 4th grade, I'm not sure where this insult is considered effective. King, Schming.
2. He hits us with this Reilly "zinger" just a few lines later in the piece. But it makes no sense. Everyone knows Prince. Everyone. Prince stole the show last night - in the rain, he just blew the place apart. Tore it up. He's still world-famous, as evidenced by the fact that he's the halftime entertainment at the SUPER BOWL! Does the NFL typically book no-names? Idiots.
3. How do you not understand the halftime show? I might give you the pregame show - Cirque du Soleil are kind of weird and bizarre, and when they performed at FedExForum at halftime of a Grizzlies game, I was totally lost. So that's fine. But the halftime show was precisely one thing: Prince singing. If you can't understand that, you probably suffered a brain injury. Folks.
Looking through his columns from earlier in the year, he took a shot at Prince a few weeks back: "Good thing the NFL is promoting the Prince Super Bowl appearance so heavily. It would also be a good idea to promote some of his music, because he hasn't had a song any of the human race has heard since, oh, about 1999." Is Peter King on crack? Did the Stones, or McCartney, or any of the other legends at Super Bowl halftime have "recent hits"? No. They are musical icons, jackass.
So, clearly Prince angered Peter King. But how? That's a story I'd love to hear. My guess is that Prince is a Starbucks freak, and stole all the coffee so ol' Pete couldn't get his usual double-mocha half-caf triple-espresso caramel butternut dreamsicle Colombian rustic blend that we all love reading about. Or else he insulted Brett Favre. One of the two.
In fact, we're gonna play a fun game - I call it "Did Peter King Actually Write This?" I'll put statements below, and you have to figure out which are from King's Monday Morning QB columns, and which are idiotic phrases I just made up. Ready? Here we go:
1. Good for Kimmie Meissner and Emily Hughes finishing 1-2, respectively, in the skating Nationals. Two beautiful skaters, and good kids, apparently, with their scholastic heads on straight.
2. Second in the MVP voting, first in the all-pro voting at quarterback, and he picks up dog doo. That's what I call a heck of an American.
3. Uh-oh. Jim Mora, semi-jokingly, I believe, is not pleased I reported in this column that I skunked him in ping pong 21-15 on Jan. 6. I know Mora, and I'm betting the next time we meet on the table of doom he'll leave his blood on it trying to get even.
4. But I worry about NHL crowds.
5. You see so much on Amtrak. The sights, yes. The country, yes. But did you know that halfway between Wilmington and Philadelphia, a couple hundred feet off the east side of the tracks, there's a Port-a-John graveyard? That's right. Hundreds of decrepit portable toilets. What a view.
6. If you've never played hopscotch with former Seahawks coach Tom Flores, you haven't lived. Flores lives for the game, folks. But not football. Hopscotch.
7. While covering the Pats game in San Diego, I stayed in a hotel that didn't have the Food Network. No Food Network? I can't imagine living without Molto Mario.
8. I owe you a dollar, Rich McKay.
9. Bring back my copy of "Mannequin 2", Rich Kotite.
10. I'm in the middle of John Grisham's nonfiction book about two murders in Ada, Okla. It's really good. Wish I had time to read it.
11. Coffeenerdness: Not sure if this man ran on the Espresso Ticket, but Bob Goodlatte ran unopposed and won a House seat in the 6th District of Virginia Tuesday night. I'd have thought Fred Finefrappucino would have made a swell opponent.
12. Watched "American Idol" for the first time last week. And I just got sick of the ridiculing and the mocking of the contestants. You're better than that, Simon Cowell.
13. When did it become acceptable in this country to not wear deodorant?
14. I think when all is said and done, no movie role will have a bigger impact in this nation's history than Eddie Murphy as Norbit.
Answers below:
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11 are King's lunacy.)
SUPER BOWL THOUGHTS
This game was always going to be about Peyton Manning more than anyone else. And indeed it was - Peyton was the game's MVP, though either Joseph Addai, Dominic Rhodes, or the entire offensive line deserved it more than he did. The Colts exploted a tired Bears defense and just ran it down their throats. It was a smart gameplan. Apart from his first four throws, Manning was solid if unspectacular. He did exactly what he needed to do. The Colts defense continued its inspired playoff performance, though - the Bears were shut down except for Thomas Jones' big 52-yard run in the 2nd quarter.
And Rex Grossman was terrible, but you knew that was bound to happen. He's young, and he'll likely be much better down the line, but right now, he's just incredibly inconsistent. The Bears had opportunities to win that game, but Grossman threw some bad balls and at one point channeled Casey Clausen circa 2002 as he could not handle a snap.
You can't dislike Tony Dungy. A truly classy man winning a deserved title is always nice to see.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Three Stories
Story 1: David Beckham Has Too Much Money (from the San Francisco Chronicle):
Story 2: Gilbert Arenas is Great (from Gilbert's Blog):
Please, please let this happen. Just look the other way this one time, NCAA. Please let Gilbert Arenas embarrass Coach K.
Story 3: The Beer Pipeline (from the Moscow Times):
When upgtading the Liberty Bowl - or building a new stadium - let's leave room in the budget for the Beer Pipeline.
English soccer ace David Beckham has spent a staggering $1.8 million on the world's most expensive sex toy as a present for his pregnant wife Victoria.
The platinum vibrator, with a 10-carat diamond encrusted base linked to a 16-carat diamond necklace, is one of only 10 in the world -- and was created by London strip-club owner Peter Stringfellow.
Stringfellow reveals Rolling Stone veteran Mick Jagger is also keen to purchase one of the buzzing toys for his girlfriend L'Wren Scott.
Story 2: Gilbert Arenas is Great (from Gilbert's Blog):
D'Antoni said that after I scored 54 on them and made my prediction to score 50 on the Blazers that he'd like to see what I'm going to do against Duke.
I thought it was funny because if I have the chance to go back to college, I’ll give up one NBA season to play against Duke.
One college game…that’s five fouls, right?...40-minute game…at Duke, they got soft rims…I’d probably score 84 or 85.
I wouldn’t pass the ball.
I wouldn’t even think about passing it. It would be like a NBA Live or an NBA 2K7 game, you just shoot with one person.
Please, please let this happen. Just look the other way this one time, NCAA. Please let Gilbert Arenas embarrass Coach K.
Story 3: The Beer Pipeline (from the Moscow Times):
The idea came to St. Petersburg Deputy Governor Alexander Vakhmistrov after he had knocked back a few malted beverages.
Vakhmistrov, who heads up construction in the northern capital, was on hand in Germany recently to watch a football game between two teams sponsored by state natural gas monopoly Gazprom: Zenit from St. Petersburg and the German club Schalke 04.
"At the end of the game, an amusing statistic appeared on the scoreboard: '61,700 people are in attendance, and 44,000 liters of beer have been drunk,'" Vakhmistrov told reporters Wednesday.
Impressed, Vakhmistrov and Zenit president Sergei Fursenko concluded that the Russian club's new stadium should be equipped with a "beer pipeline" like the one at Schalke's Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, which features a five-kilometer pipeline that supplies suds to dozens of restaurants, cafes and snack shops.
"Fursenko and I decided that they can do what they want with the field, the goals and the stands, but we've got to have such a beer pipeline," he told the newspaper Delovoi Peterburg in an interview published Thursday.
Vakhmistrov said the pipeline at Zenit's new $250 million stadium, which is being built on the site of the old Kirovsky stadium on Krestovsky Island, will pump beer to VIP boxes and cafes in the stadium from 1,000-liter kegs.
"They don't bring trucks full of bottles, cans and other packaging into [Veltsin's Arena] anymore," Vakhmistrov said, Delovoi Peterburg reported. "I saw it myself and even drank this beer, as it was a weekend and I could take the liberty."
When upgtading the Liberty Bowl - or building a new stadium - let's leave room in the budget for the Beer Pipeline.
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