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I can't remember enjoying March Madness, and college hoops in general, as much as I've enjoyed it this year. For some reason, the games seem to be particularly good this year.
I lost a fair amount of interest in college hoops once high schoolers started jumping to the NBA. I���m going to go on a ���back in the day��� rant here and say that college teams used to stay together for three or four years in the past (like Georgetown and St. John's in the mid-'80s, or Duke and UNLV in the early '90s). Once that continuity was removed, the quality declined.
This year everything seems to be back to good. The quality of play has been remarkable, culminating in Sunday's Georgetown-UNC classic, an awesome game. If you love basketball, you were legitimately thrilled like me. Which raises the question ... what's happening here?
Everything started with the NBA's decision to ban high schoolers from its draft. If that didn't happen, Kevin Durant and Greg Oden would have skipped college and so many casual fans wouldn't have been sucked in. Oden's impact on the game this year is immeasurable -- from the block at the end of the Tennessee game to the excitement of his battle against Georgetown's Roy Hibbert this weekend.
Saturday's games (Florida-UCLA and OSU-Georgetown) are must-sees for anyone who enjoys the game of basketball. I can���t wait.
What do you think about the rule and March Madness this year?
(Photo provided by Getty Images/Travis Lindquist)
[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/03/27/shoelessjoe.jpg]Last month I posted an entry that covered a few of the most unique mascots that I could dig up. When I posted the topic to our message boards, there was some very interesting feedback on mascots from all over.
Today I decided to sift through some of the great sports nicknames and post up a list of my favorites. Many people say the creation of sports nicknames is a lost art and that athletes just don���t have nicknames like they used to. To an extent, they have a point; modern nicknames are, for the most part, boring and unimaginative (T-Mac, A-Rod, etc.) I'd like to salute a few of the great ones from the past in a brief list of my favorites (in no particular order):
The Iron Horse (Lou Gehrig) ��� There are few nicknames that are more apt in their description of a player than ���The Iron Horse���, earned by Gehrig during his long-standing record streak of 2,130 consecutive games played.
Shoeless Joe (Joe Jackson) ��� This is one of my favorite
nicknames of all time. Joe Jackson earned the name ���Shoeless��� when, as
a young player, he took off a pair of spikes that hurt his feet and
played the outfield wearing only socks.
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In his recent article in the Washington Post, John Feinstein suggests that officials should be made available for post-game interviews. His argument centers on the fact that officials don���t have to defend their bad calls and because they are paid professionals, they should have to walk up to microphone. Feinstein is making his point because the official in the Ohio State-Xavier game last week seemingly missed an obvious flagrant foul call on Greg Oden at the end of the game.
While I believe the call was missed too, what good would it do to have the officials talk after the game? If they admit a mistake, will the teams return from the locker rooms and pick up play from that point? I hated when umpires made bad calls during my career and I can���t tell you how many times my coaches told us to not leave a game close enough where a missed call by the umpire could determine the outcome of the game. However, mistakes by officials are part of the game and we just have to live with it.
Would you like to see officials speak to the media after games?
(Photo provided by Getty Images/Andy Lyons)
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Teenagers brawled in the stands at a high school basketball game at Madison Square Garden last night before police cracked down on the crowd, which spilled into the streets. Gunfire was heard as the crowd went from the arena to Times Square, police said. No injuries were reported. Twenty-one people, mostly teenagers, were arrested, police said.
From brawls on basketball courts to out of control parents at Little League games and wrestling matches, unsportsmanlike behavior can be a problem.
Now, some high school sporting officials in Washington state are considering tough new rules ��� including a ban on booing. Those who support the ban say that too often, spectators are cruel.
"It's the organized effort to try to intimidate or try to make fun of someone that becomes personal in nature that can escalate then into other concerns that we might have," said Mike Colbrese, executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.
Colbrese and his colleagues said they have trouble hiring coaches and referees because of the abuse they take. By banning booing from the stands, they believe they can create a more welcoming environment on the court and field. Experts agree that behavior at school sports events is not what it used to be. "Parents are more intense, family members are more intense, siblings are more intense," said Christine Brennan, a USA Today sports columnist. "Everything is ratcheted up."
The Interscholastic Association claims it just wants to reinforce good sportsmanship. However, some fans aren���t pleased that their right to boo might be taken away. For instance, one woman told ABC News, "The crowd should be able to say what they want to say. They pay their money. They should be able to boo if they want to.���
Do you think booing should be banned?
(Photo provided by Getty Images/taken by Nick Laham)
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If you know only one thing about Candace Parker, it���s this: she dunks. Over the past year, the University of Tennessee���s 6-foot-4 Parker has single-handedly eclipsed the total number of dunks in the history of women���s NCAA basketball ��� six jams to three. Impressively, Parker pulled off her first dunk at age 15. At 17, she defeated five male contestants, including the future Denver Nuggets starter J. R. Smith, in the slam dunk contest at the McDonald���s All-American High School Game. And last year, Parker became the first woman to throw down in an NCAA tournament game. She���s got some serious game.
Parker says she first picked up a basketball when she was still in diapers and grew up playing against boys, including her very good older brothers, one of whom now plays for the Toronto Raptors. She went on to a high school career, in Naperville, Ill., that is already legendary. (A two-time USA Today national player of the year, she signed her college letter of intent live on ESPN.) Now a redshirt sophomore for one of the best teams in America, Parker has her sights set high in the NCAA tournament.
Candace Parker���s skill and talent is seemingly guaranteed to carry her beyond the NCAA and into the professional ranks. ���Ever since I started playing basketball, there���s been the option to play after college,��� Parker told the New York Times. That opportunity to get paid to play has kept her and other young women like her working on their skills. Many would say that the best female players ���play like guys.��� I think now it should be said that the best female players play like Candace Parker.
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Sixty-five teams, three weeks, endless empty brackets and countless hours watching all the action. Bubble talk and tournament resumes are old news -- about 800 student-athletes are living the dream and I couldn���t be more excited to break down the brackets, choose my picks, and watch March Madness unfold.
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, in my opinion, could be the greatest single elimination tournament ever created. Held each spring featuring 65 basketball teams, it takes place over 3 weeks at sites across the U.S., and the national semifinals (the Final Four) have become one of the nation's most prominent sports events.
Since its 1939 inception (thanks to Kansas University's Phog Allen), it has evolved into the multi-billion enterprise of today that has built a legacy that includes dynasty teams and dramatic underdog stories.
Perhaps the most notable underdog story to date took place last year; George Mason, a commuter school in suburban Virginia, had never won a single game in the NCAA tournament until they reached the Final Four. Seeded 11th in their quarter of the field, George Mason was the first team since 1986 to be slated that low and reach the Final Four. They were arguably the biggest outsider ��� no basketball tradition to speak of, not a member of a major conference, no superstar player ��� since Ivy League school Penn made it in 1979.
As of now, I have Florida, North Carolina, Ohio State, and UCLA in the Final Four. My vote for most likely to have a George-Mason-type-run this year is Holy Cross, coming in with the 13th seed. Who do you think this year's Cinderella team might be?
(Photo provided by Getty Images/taken by Elsa)
[http://active.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/57579794.jpg] I just read a story about the recruiting trail for Washington State University's basketball program -- they are already focusing on 2010. Patrick Simon, a freshman in high school, committed to play basketball at Washington State University despite the fact that he's only in the middle of his first season of prep basketball. The Cougars on Monday made a scholarship offer to the 6-foot-7 Simon, who is only 14 and won't play there until the next decade.
Simon leads his team in scoring and rebounding and orally accepted the offer. No one from the Washington State basketball program can comment on Simon's commitment until he signs a letter of intent, which would happen in fall 2009 at the earliest.
"I've thought about it quite a bit and it all came to how good they've been doing this season, they're No. 9 now, and how coach Tony Bennett really made the team a top team," Simon told The Spokesman-Review.
I know an oral commitment doesn���t mean a whole lot until he signs a letter of intent more than two years from now, but it still seems a little rushed. Isn���t this a little too young to make such a huge life decision? He���s only 14!
(Photo provided by Getty Images, taken by Jeff Gross)
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A new rule that says players must be at least one year removed from high school before entering the NBA is "the worst thing that's happened to college basketball since I've been coaching," says Texas Tech coach Bob Knight. Instituted last year by the NBA, the rule means exceptionally talented players must wait at least a year rather than jumping to the pros from high school.
Many coaches have said the rule helps the college game, because it lets schools showcase the players for at least one season and improve their program. But Knight, the winningest NCAA men's coach of all time (886 victories), explained why he dislikes the rule.
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At any given
time there is a good chance that ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPN Classic is on in my
apartment. I couldn't help but notice that ESPN has devoted this week to
showing the top rivalries in college basketball. Rivalry Week is a great
concept; schedule all the big time rivalries in a one-week span to get people
excited about the upcoming conference tournaments and, ultimately, the NCAA
Tournament.
Games that are annually shown during Rivalry Week include: Duke vs. North Carolina, Missouri vs. Kansas, Syracuse vs. Connecticut, Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State, Villanova vs. Saint Joseph's, and Kentucky vs. Florida.
Are there any great rivalries that you know of that they are missing from their line up?
(Photo provided by Getty Images, taken Grant Halverson)
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In an effort to reach more prospective student-athletes, parents, coaches
and administrators, the NCAA First Team program has launched a web site. The
site will help young athletes interested in playing college basketball prepare
for the recruiting process and stay disciplined during their high school years.
First Team does a great job for prospective basketball student-athletes. In an
age where sixth-graders are being ranked on their athletics ability, it���s
important to encourage and facilitate ways to keep kids focused on their priorities.
First Team is a year-round educational program designed to promote
the value of education and the proper role of athletics in the educational
process. The program supports participants throughout high school and
seeks to provide information that will help prospective student-athletes and
their parents successfully navigate the collegiate recruiting process. It
emphasizes maintaining a balance between academics and athletics.
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As read and reported in the New York Times:
Thirty girls signed up for the cheerleading squad this winter at Whitney Point High School in upstate New York. But upon learning they would be waving their pompoms for the girls��� basketball team as well as the boys���, more than half of the aspiring cheerleaders dropped out.
The eight remaining cheerleaders now adjust their routines for whichever team is playing here on the home court to comply with a new ruling from federal education officials interpreting Title IX, the law intended to guarantee gender equality in student sports.
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