Tuesday, June 28, 2011

06/28 (Cardiac 'Cocks) Quickie

Two words: Cardiac. 'Cocks.

(Can I claim credit for coining the phrase "Cardiac 'Cocks?")

I'll admit that I would probably not have watched Game 1 of the College World Series if Florida wasn't in it, playing the defending champs, South Carolina.

I would have followed along via Twitter while doing other things. But I certainly would have tuned in around the 7th or 8th inning or 9th, when things got tense and interesting, the game in the balance. South Carolina scored a clutch run to tie, then won it in extra innings. That's sort of a "thing" for the Gamecocks this year, thus the "Cardiac 'Cocks" nickname.

Even if you aren't a college baseball fan, last night's game is about as exciting as it gets -- the equivalent of a taut NCAA Tournament game won at the buzzer or Cam Newton's amazing comeback at Alabama last November (well, not quite THAT amazing, but amazing enough).

It should be more than enough to get you to tune in tonight for Game 2, in which South Carolina can either clinch a back-to-back national title or the Gators can rebound to force a do-or-die Game 3 tomorrow. Amazing stuff.

****

Wimbledon: Yes, the big stars on the women's side got ousted yesterday, but it's hard not to like Marion Bartoli. It's also hard not to root for Bernard Tomic on the men's side, the 18-year-old Aussie now improbably into the quarters with the likes of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

Women's World Cup: Sure, you might not tune in for some of the other countries in the same way you would for the World Cup last summer, but you have to keep an eye on the U.S. They play North Korea at noon on ESPN (if you have a TV) or ESPN3.com (if you can get it at work).

RIP Lorenzo Charles: Where does his title-winning buzzer-beating alley-oop in the 1983 national title game rank among the Tournament's all-time greatest moments? You could make a very strong case that it is No. 1, if you combine in the immediate TV camera cut to Jim Valvano running around the court looking for someone -- anyone! -- to give a hug.

Dodgers file for bankruptcy: How soon can MLB get that team sold, with new owners beginning the process of righting the franchise? This is one of the worst ownership situations in recent sports history.

Kentucky gives John Calipari a huge raise: He is underpaid. Substantially. (So are most elite college basketball and college football coaches.)

Calipari's innovation was to arbitrage the NBA's one-and-done rule into creating a safe haven for the top prep players to come to UK, knowing Calipari will give them the closest thing to an NBA qualifying program as exists in college basketball:

They will get playing time, TV time and marketing time -- from a coach who knows that it is in everyone's best interests if he prepares his one-and-dones for the NBA in the same way a top journalism school would focus on preparing its students to work professionally. (There is a really good column in that idea. Maybe later this summer.)

Great stuff popping all morning (and all day) at Quickish. Give it a look (and tell a friend!)

-- D.S.

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