Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Wednesday 11/12 A.M. Quickie:
49ers, Lakers, Hawks, Ball St, Curry, More

There are a lot of interesting storylines floating around this morning, but there wasn't anything really dominant. I realize now that I should have led today's SN column with my college hoops preview.

At the very least, I could have tied in last night's Davidson exhibition to my pronouncement that Stephen Curry is my preseason pick for National Player of the Year. I don't think there has been as much of a must-see player in years. (Any nominations for alternatives?)

As far as "Who's No. 1?" I put it out there on Monday: You can have UNC; I'll take the rest of the field. If you're forcing me to go somewhere beyond "Anyone But UNC," I'll say Louisville.

(You know what that means, right? It means that I'm destined to fulfill my own prediction by taking Louisville on my bracket, regardless of their region/seeding/etc. See UCLA last year.)

Now I'm feeling even lamer that I didn't lead with college hoops. Anyway, also on the radar:

The 49ers are a joke: Now Mike Singletary and Mike Martz are blaming the refs for the Monday Night Debacle.

The Lakers are unstoppable: But who saw the undefeated Hawks coming? Weren't they supposed to be a one-season wonder, especially without Josh Childress?

(What a monster game from Al Horford, one of my Top 5 favorite players in the NBA. The short list: (1) Gilbert Arenas, (2) Jordan Farmar, (3) Al Horford, (4) David Lee, (5-tie) Joakim Noah/Corey Brewer. That's not necessarily the same as the list of players I love to watch.)

Ball State is a nice story, but not BCS-worthy: It's a moot point unless (a) BSU beats Central and Western Michigans, back to back, AND (b) Utah and Boise State both lose.

Tim Lincecum wins NL Cy: And, as you can imagine, immediately afterward, I saw the wisdom of this pick -- then jump on my newly established high-horse to mock that Sun-Times BBWAA voter who didn't even put Lincecum in his Top 3.

OK, I admit I was being silly about Sabathia, but at least I'm not stupid enough to argue that the fact Brandon Webb had more wins than Lincecum means that he is better. If Lincecum was on the D'backs, he may have won 25 games or more; the fact that he was able to put together the record he did on a team as bad as his is supposed to be in his FAVOR.

Free Stephen Curry!: Curry scored 41 points last night in an exhibition on some ridiculous FG shooting. Here's the campaign: Free Stephen Curry! Let him do what he does best, not attempt to balance being a distributor PG with being the most lethal and mesmerizing scorer in college hoops since Chris Jackson.

Get the new Free Darko book. While you're at Amazon or Barnes and Noble, buy the Drew Magary book ("Men With Balls") and the Gasaway/Pomeroy book ("College Basketball Prospectus"), too. You won't be disappointed with any of them.

Complete SN column here. More later.

-- D.S.

1 comment:

wellsortof said...

Way to throw in a Chris Jackson reference! Mahmoud would not be pleased, though.