Saturday, March 08, 2008
UCLA: Pick Against 'Em At Your Own Risk
Did you see that UCLA-Cal finish? Josh Shipp from behind the backboard with 1.5 seconds to go to give UCLA a 1-point win? This team has all the talent -- and, wow, the toughness -- to be the champs. I picked them to win the title in November and I feel even stronger about it now. They will be a popular pick to win it all -- because, seriously, how could you pick against them? -- D.S.
Saturday 03/08 (Very) Quickie
Championship Week really starts today, with 2 conference title games -- the Big South (featuring powers UNC-Asheville and Winthrop) and the Ohio Valley, featuring Austin Peay (which escaped with a 1-point win over Tennessee-Martin last night) and...
Tennessee State(!!!) , the sub-.500 marvel still on its glorious tournament run, after beating Murray State. Now, a Tennessee State win today would nudge its record to .500, but I'll take it, if it comes with the OVC's auto-bid.
(Remember my small-conference tournament rooting interests: Sub-.500 miracle runs rule, even if they KO the chances of big-conference bubble teams... and this year, for the first time in my 7-year rooting history with Florida basketball, I have a vested interest in NOT seeing those big-conference bubble teams get bounced due to some small-conference tournament insanity. Things are tough enough as it is for Florida.)
Waiting on Georgetown-Louisville, this afternoon, still trying to figure out if the Cards are for real as a Final Four contender... and UNC-Duke tonight, obviously.
The Nuggets are the hardest team to read in the NBA: They beat the Spurs last night, ending SA's 11-game W streak. In the East, they would be a Top 3 team; in the West, a playoff periphery team.
The league absolutely has to change the playoffs to simply let the Top 16 teams play for a title, seeded by overall record.
That would still put an East team -- the Celtics -- at the top of the playoff pile. Boston crushed Chicago last night on national TV.
Welcome back, Francisco Liriano -- remember my Summer of Liriano in the Quickie?
Tom Coughlin's new deal is official: 4Y/$21M. (Not a bad U-Turn from being on the firing line in September.) But DC Steve Spagnuolo is under contract for 3 years. Doubt either sees the end of either.
Roger Goodell to crack down on spying: Which only makes me think it was way more rampant than he or the league would like to have you believe. If it was just a one-off thing with Belichick, why would Goodell have to make institutional changes to testing and enforcement? Obviously, they know it's everywhere. (Or, at least, prevalent enough to monitor more toughly.)
Pac-Man Jones to the Cowboys? Heh.
Julius Jones to Seattle: Was it so long ago that Shaun Alexander was relevant?
Is Yi going to have season-ending surgery, too, like Yao? China ain't effing around. And it appears their stars -- and the NBA -- are bending over backward to accommodate.
Jack Roush insists that Carl Edwards' team didn't cheat. Do you believe him? I don't.
Wonder if Marion Jones will participate in prison intramural sports?
-- D.S.
Tennessee State(!!!) , the sub-.500 marvel still on its glorious tournament run, after beating Murray State. Now, a Tennessee State win today would nudge its record to .500, but I'll take it, if it comes with the OVC's auto-bid.
(Remember my small-conference tournament rooting interests: Sub-.500 miracle runs rule, even if they KO the chances of big-conference bubble teams... and this year, for the first time in my 7-year rooting history with Florida basketball, I have a vested interest in NOT seeing those big-conference bubble teams get bounced due to some small-conference tournament insanity. Things are tough enough as it is for Florida.)
Waiting on Georgetown-Louisville, this afternoon, still trying to figure out if the Cards are for real as a Final Four contender... and UNC-Duke tonight, obviously.
The Nuggets are the hardest team to read in the NBA: They beat the Spurs last night, ending SA's 11-game W streak. In the East, they would be a Top 3 team; in the West, a playoff periphery team.
The league absolutely has to change the playoffs to simply let the Top 16 teams play for a title, seeded by overall record.
That would still put an East team -- the Celtics -- at the top of the playoff pile. Boston crushed Chicago last night on national TV.
Welcome back, Francisco Liriano -- remember my Summer of Liriano in the Quickie?
Tom Coughlin's new deal is official: 4Y/$21M. (Not a bad U-Turn from being on the firing line in September.) But DC Steve Spagnuolo is under contract for 3 years. Doubt either sees the end of either.
Roger Goodell to crack down on spying: Which only makes me think it was way more rampant than he or the league would like to have you believe. If it was just a one-off thing with Belichick, why would Goodell have to make institutional changes to testing and enforcement? Obviously, they know it's everywhere. (Or, at least, prevalent enough to monitor more toughly.)
Pac-Man Jones to the Cowboys? Heh.
Julius Jones to Seattle: Was it so long ago that Shaun Alexander was relevant?
Is Yi going to have season-ending surgery, too, like Yao? China ain't effing around. And it appears their stars -- and the NBA -- are bending over backward to accommodate.
Jack Roush insists that Carl Edwards' team didn't cheat. Do you believe him? I don't.
Wonder if Marion Jones will participate in prison intramural sports?
-- D.S.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Top College Hoops Player Ever*? Carmelo
I'm not going to quibble with Alcindor or Big O or Walton being at the top of the list of the 25 Greatest College Basketball Players ever.
MDS nails the prominent flaws in the list, like overvaluing a player's college career because he was a good pro (MJ over Sampson, using MDS' fine example).
Here's my problem: The list is lame if you're under the age of, say, 35.
*You know me: I like to frame my historical "ever" superlatives mostly/entirely as "ESPN Era" (defined loosely as sometime after the early-80s).
Basically, my thumbnail guide is that if you weren't 10 or 12 years old by the time the player played, you effectively have no applicable memory. (Using myself as an example of your typical 35-year-old, almost everything before 1984 or so is without personal memory. Maybe if your local team won -- my hometown O's won a World Series in '83, so I have hazy memories of that -- but you certainly weren't consuming sports as you did after you hit 12 or 13, through your college years and adulthood.)
Anyway, of ESPN Era players, this "all-time" Top 25 has Laettner (12), Jordan (13), Ewing (16), Sampson (18), Duncan (21) and David Robinson (24). (MJ, Patrick and Ralph are arguably pre-ESPN Era, too, at least as college players.)
So let me take some issue, pointing out 2 obvious omissions:
Danny Manning (as MDS also pointed out), which discounts the greatest one-man championship team of the last 30 years. (Remember, Larry Bird didn't win a title.)
Carmelo Anthony, who I am long on the record as arguing is the greatest college player of the last 30 years, if only for what he was able to do as a freshman.
Carmelo isn't just the best freshman of of the ESPN Era (sorry Kevin Durant), but that alone puts Melo in the argument for best college player of all time, if only for the single sample we have of him: One season, one dominant year, one title.
It is as if, because Carmelo played college basketball in the decade since Tim Duncan left college hoops (without anything close to a national title, let's not forget) and because Carmelo had the utter gall to leave college after one year, his single magnificent season doesn't count in the eyes of the cranks running the list.
On the contrary, I would pro-rate it, for the title, for his experience level and for the sheer ridiculousness of considering how much better he was (as a freshman) than everyone else in college basketball, long before Durant or Beasley made that fashionable.
Where would I rank Carmelo? Certainly as the best college basketball player of the ESPN Era (and I'm happy to hear other arguments... Sampson and Duncan lacked titles... Manning had 4 years to develop his all-around game... Jordan had Worthy and Perkins... Robinson had a size advantage... Laettner had an insanely good team around him -- and was a douchebag).
But I would drop Carmelo in the Top 5 ALL-TIME. Alcindor. Walton. Oscar. Pistol Pete. Melo.
-- D.S.
MDS nails the prominent flaws in the list, like overvaluing a player's college career because he was a good pro (MJ over Sampson, using MDS' fine example).
Here's my problem: The list is lame if you're under the age of, say, 35.
*You know me: I like to frame my historical "ever" superlatives mostly/entirely as "ESPN Era" (defined loosely as sometime after the early-80s).
Basically, my thumbnail guide is that if you weren't 10 or 12 years old by the time the player played, you effectively have no applicable memory. (Using myself as an example of your typical 35-year-old, almost everything before 1984 or so is without personal memory. Maybe if your local team won -- my hometown O's won a World Series in '83, so I have hazy memories of that -- but you certainly weren't consuming sports as you did after you hit 12 or 13, through your college years and adulthood.)
Anyway, of ESPN Era players, this "all-time" Top 25 has Laettner (12), Jordan (13), Ewing (16), Sampson (18), Duncan (21) and David Robinson (24). (MJ, Patrick and Ralph are arguably pre-ESPN Era, too, at least as college players.)
So let me take some issue, pointing out 2 obvious omissions:
Danny Manning (as MDS also pointed out), which discounts the greatest one-man championship team of the last 30 years. (Remember, Larry Bird didn't win a title.)
Carmelo Anthony, who I am long on the record as arguing is the greatest college player of the last 30 years, if only for what he was able to do as a freshman.
Carmelo isn't just the best freshman of of the ESPN Era (sorry Kevin Durant), but that alone puts Melo in the argument for best college player of all time, if only for the single sample we have of him: One season, one dominant year, one title.
It is as if, because Carmelo played college basketball in the decade since Tim Duncan left college hoops (without anything close to a national title, let's not forget) and because Carmelo had the utter gall to leave college after one year, his single magnificent season doesn't count in the eyes of the cranks running the list.
On the contrary, I would pro-rate it, for the title, for his experience level and for the sheer ridiculousness of considering how much better he was (as a freshman) than everyone else in college basketball, long before Durant or Beasley made that fashionable.
Where would I rank Carmelo? Certainly as the best college basketball player of the ESPN Era (and I'm happy to hear other arguments... Sampson and Duncan lacked titles... Manning had 4 years to develop his all-around game... Jordan had Worthy and Perkins... Robinson had a size advantage... Laettner had an insanely good team around him -- and was a douchebag).
But I would drop Carmelo in the Top 5 ALL-TIME. Alcindor. Walton. Oscar. Pistol Pete. Melo.
-- D.S.
Friday 03/07 A.M. Quickie:
March Madness, Rockets, Favre, Isenour
Today's Names to Know in today's Sporting News column:
Russell Westbrook, UNC-Asheville, Phil Martelli, Carl Landry, Yao, Tripp Isenhour, Brett Favre, Jevon Kearse, Pat Riley, Kelvin Sampson, Albert Pujols, Noah Lowry, All-American Football League and More!
Including:
Why March Madness starts tomorrow...
Why Championship Week rules...
Why UCLA will win the national title...
Why the Rockets are still underrated...
Why
Why Tripp Isenhour is the new Mike Vick...
Why Brett Favre is only semi-sincere...
Why Jevon Kearse is partying like it's 1999...
Why I can do Pat Riley's job for him...
Why Kelvin Sampson cares more than Pat Riley...
Why you should avoid drafting Albert Pujols...
Why the Giants add injury to insult...
Why I apologize to Bucknell fans...
And more... after the jump!
Bonus posts coming later today -- and all next week! So check back in the early afternoon. Lots to catch up on.
-- D.S.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Thursday 03/06 A.M. Quickie:
Celtics, LeBron, Florida, Edwards, More!
Today's Names to Know in today's Sporting News column:
Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Billy Donovan, Shan Foster, Carl Edwards, Pat Riley, Chris Andersen, Brett Favre, Joey Harrington, Anthony Weiner, Alex Ovechkin, Bartolo Colon and More!
Including...
Why the Celtics are in Title-or-Bust mode...
Why LeBron's 50 seals his MVP award...
Why Florida is NIT-bound...
(Why you've been waiting for that one...)
Why Shan Foster is SEC MVP...
Why NASCAR gets away with cheating...
Why Pat Riley has given up...
Why Brett Favre is predictable...
Why Alex Ovechkin is the best...
Why Bartolo Colon re-proves Theo's genius...
And much more...after the jump!
You know you want to see me prostrating myself over Florida basketball, which I do. Yes, it's a little tough to take. It's very tough to take. (Sigh.)
Speaking of college hoops, don't forget to get signed up for the annual (and open-to-all) "Daily Quickie Readers" group over at ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge. The tradition continues...
After getting re-settled into my morning routine yesterday, it's nice to be greeted by a ton of good storylines this morning. And we're not even close to Selection Sunday yet...
-- D.S.
Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Billy Donovan, Shan Foster, Carl Edwards, Pat Riley, Chris Andersen, Brett Favre, Joey Harrington, Anthony Weiner, Alex Ovechkin, Bartolo Colon and More!
Including...
Why the Celtics are in Title-or-Bust mode...
Why LeBron's 50 seals his MVP award...
Why Florida is NIT-bound...
(Why you've been waiting for that one...)
Why Shan Foster is SEC MVP...
Why NASCAR gets away with cheating...
Why Pat Riley has given up...
Why Brett Favre is predictable...
Why Alex Ovechkin is the best...
Why Bartolo Colon re-proves Theo's genius...
And much more...after the jump!
You know you want to see me prostrating myself over Florida basketball, which I do. Yes, it's a little tough to take. It's very tough to take. (Sigh.)
Speaking of college hoops, don't forget to get signed up for the annual (and open-to-all) "Daily Quickie Readers" group over at ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge. The tradition continues...
After getting re-settled into my morning routine yesterday, it's nice to be greeted by a ton of good storylines this morning. And we're not even close to Selection Sunday yet...
-- D.S.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Wednesday 03/05 A.M. Quickie:
Favre, CBB, Spurs, More Favre, Roids!
Aaand we're back! Today's Names to Know in today's Sporting News column:
Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Sam Cassell, Brett Favre, Brett Favre, John Wooden, Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Spencer Hall and... Brett Favre.
Including:
Why Brett Favre deserves celebrating...
(But his reason for leaving NOW doesn't...)
Why Sam Cassell is the C's missing piece...
Why Florida MUST beat
Why small-conference CBB tourneys rule...
Why Javon Walker is no Randy Moss...
And why Jason Webster is no
Why Spencer Hall is Pinch-Hitter of the Year...
And much more... after the jump!
Meanwhile: The tradition continues! As has been our tradition since 2003, head over to ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge HQ and sign up for the "Daily Quickie Readers" group.
Last year's group topped 1,000 participants, third-highest of any group (not the 10,000 of 2006, but not bad) and my then-9-month-old son came in 10th overall. You all have a lot to show for yourselves this year.
(But, ack: Without Florida as a lock to win the title – hell, looking like they won't even make the field of 65 this year – how will anyone rack up the points that come from picking a champ?)
Anyway: Sign up now! It's open to anyone/everyone and no password is required (only that you know the group name.) I'll be reminding you every day from now until the Wednesday before the first Thursday of the tournament. Daily Quickie Readers: The Tradition Continues...
-- D.S.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Tuesday 03/04 (Vacation) Quickie: Back Tomorrow Morning!
Enjoy one more day of Spencer Hall's genius over at Sporting News, then I'm back tomorrow: Tanned, rested and surprisingly lucid. If you live in a state with a primary today, don't forget to vote! - D.S.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Monday, March 03, 2008
Monday 03/03 (Very) Quickie: Yes, Still On Vacation
I'm still on a short vacation with limited/no internet access. Spencer Hall has graciously agreed to pinch-hit at Sporting News for me today, so be sure to head over there to check it out. (Meanwhile, here's a favor: Could one of YOU send ME an email with the Top 10 or so headlines of the morning/from the weekend? No explanations needed: Just a super-quick summary of what I've missed. You have no idea how disconnected I am down here -- and, considering it's supposed to be a vacation, that's for the best.) Enjoy the day. I'm back on Wednesday morning. Oh, and it's the first weekday of March... March is here! - D.S.
"HEADLINES" UPDATE: Got the headlines email from you! No need to send anymore. Huge thanks for the quick response!
"HEADLINES" UPDATE: Got the headlines email from you! No need to send anymore. Huge thanks for the quick response!
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