For the Record

For the Record 1

2009-11-19T11:13:22-05:00

Boxing's All-Time Greatest

2009-11-18T11:09:20-05:00

2009-11-18T11:09:20-05:00 On the heels of Manny Pacquiao's seventh world title victory, a 12-round technical knockout of Miguel Cotto, we ranked our greatest boxers of all time at heavyweight, middleweight, lightweight and pound-for-pound. And to top it off, we gave you our picks for the 10 greatest fights in history. Do you agree with <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/mma/boxing/11/17/greatest.boxers/index.html">our selections</a>? Please, do tell. 86562

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-11-22T04:39:54-05:00

Who's Your Sportsman of the Year?

2009-11-02T17:04:23-05:00

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2009-11-02T17:04:23-05:00 Throughout the month SI writers will offer their personal nominations for Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year award with essays on SI.com. The award will be announced at the start of December. As we pass along our nominations, we are intersted in yours. Who is your choice for Sportsman of the Year? 84661

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-11-02T18:03:04-05:00

Remember When: Sports on TV and More Sports

2009-08-24T15:00:38-04:00

2009-08-24T15:00:38-04:00 You've seen our <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/remember-when/baseball/25things.html">baseball</a>, <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/remember-when/basketball/25things.html">basketball </a>and <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/remember-when/football/25things.html">football </a>lists. Now tell us the things you most miss in sports? 74901

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-11-02T18:04:27-05:00

Remember When: Basketball

2009-08-17T14:56:28-04:00

2009-08-17T14:56:28-04:00 Do you miss <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/remember-when/basketball/25things.html">great team nicknames</a> such as "Phi Slamma Jamma" or "The Doctors of Dunk?" Maybe you long for the great Magic-Bird H-O-R-S-E commercials or Dean Smith on the sidelines? Tell us some of the things you miss about college and pro basketball. 74361

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-08-17T18:53:54-04:00

Remember When: Baseball

2009-08-10T11:37:49-04:00

2009-08-10T11:37:49-04:00 Do you long for the days of basket catches, pitchers with high leg kicks, and cool mascots such as <a href="http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e331/stroff/youppi_040618_mon_a.jpg">Youppi</a>?  Tell us some of the things you miss about baseball. 73642

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

302

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Fight Club The Latest Buzz From The MMA World 181

2009-02-18T16:15:41-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/2009_images/michael-bisping.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="300" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Michael Bisping ain't having it. (Courtesy of Zuffa)</div> </div> Memories of The Ultimate Fighter 3 are sure to surface in the newest season of the MMA reality series. According to <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/article2191848.ece">The Sun</a>, Michael Bisping, who will serve as coach of Team UK, blasted opposing coach Dan Henderson after the American said he'd turn the other cheek to bad behavior on the show. Earlier, <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/article2151855.ece">Hendo told The Sun</a>: "The coaches are buffered from all that - we're not living in the house. I probably won't hear about a lot of things but some of them I will. But you have to understand these guys are cooped up with no TV, no magazines, no books - nothing but each other to pick on - and that's what makes for good TV. Whatever keeps them happy in the house and keeps them sane is fine by me - as long as they work hard in the gym, that's all that matters." Given last season's cast of trouble-makers - notably Junie Browning - Bisping's concerns seem justified. The majority of Browning's fame stemmed from his drunken tantrums and fights with housemates. Doesn't show well for a sport still trying to garner respect from those unknowledgeable about MMA. Bisping's response to Henderson: "I want my team to represent the sport of mixed martial arts well, represent themselves well and represent the UK well. I don't want any of the [crap] going on that went on last season - like trashing the house, getting wasted and all the rest of it. If guys are coming on there looking for TV time and all the rest of it, then don't bother turning up. I'm there to train serious fighters who want to fight and succeed in the UFC." To the cast members of Team UK: have fun.   <ul> <li>Bisping blasts Dan's remarks (<a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/article2191848.ece">The Sun</a>)</li> </ul> Bisping blasts fellow T.U.F. coach Henderson

2009-02-12T15:55:51-05:00

2009-02-12T15:55:51-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/2009_images/michael-bisping.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="300" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Michael Bisping ain't having it. (Courtesy of Zuffa)</div> </div> Memories of The Ultimate Fighter 3 are sure to surface in the newest season of the MMA reality series. According to <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/article2191848.ece">The Sun</a>, Michael Bisping, who will serve as coach of Team UK, blasted opposing coach Dan Henderson after the American said he'd turn the other cheek to bad behavior on the show. Earlier, <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/article2151855.ece">Hendo told The Sun</a>: "The coaches are buffered from all that - we're not living in the house. I probably won't hear about a lot of things but some of them I will. But you have to understand these guys are cooped up with no TV, no magazines, no books - nothing but each other to pick on - and that's what makes for good TV. Whatever keeps them happy in the house and keeps them sane is fine by me - as long as they work hard in the gym, that's all that matters." Given last season's cast of trouble-makers - notably Junie Browning - Bisping's concerns seem justified. The majority of Browning's fame stemmed from his drunken tantrums and fights with housemates. Doesn't show well for a sport still trying to garner respect from those unknowledgeable about MMA. Bisping's response to Henderson: "I want my team to represent the sport of mixed martial arts well, represent themselves well and represent the UK well. I don't want any of the [crap] going on that went on last season - like trashing the house, getting wasted and all the rest of it. If guys are coming on there looking for TV time and all the rest of it, then don't bother turning up. I'm there to train serious fighters who want to fight and succeed in the UFC." To the cast members of Team UK: have fun.   <ul> <li>Bisping blasts Dan's remarks (<a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/article2191848.ece">The Sun</a>)</li> </ul> 49802

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-07-13T10:09:53-04:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009_images/mma/myman.jpg " alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="300" height="505" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">The latest MMA book.</div> </div> Anyone see this one coming? A New York Times' Best Selling author, who also happens to be a major MMA fan, penned a novel that blends romance, mixed martial arts and travel. As taken from the synopsis of Lori Foster's, My Man, Michael: Michael thinks an injury will keep him from fighting again until a woman shows up and promises to heal him. But, he must travel with her and teach a community of woman warriors to fight in return.  Imagine Michael's surprise when she fulfills her end of the bargain and finds that, to fulfill his he must travel into the future! Since this latest find has left us speechless, be sure to check out <a href="http://www.cagepotato.com/my-god-mma-romance-novel">CagePotato.com</a>'s review. <ul> <li>My God, This MMA Romance Novel (<a href="http://www.cagepotato.com/my-god-mma-romance-novel">CagePotato.com</a>)</li> </ul> MMA, romance and a little travel

2009-01-29T17:36:27-05:00

2009-01-29T17:36:27-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009_images/mma/myman.jpg " alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="300" height="505" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">The latest MMA book.</div> </div> Anyone see this one coming? A New York Times' Best Selling author, who also happens to be a major MMA fan, penned a novel that blends romance, mixed martial arts and travel. As taken from the synopsis of Lori Foster's, My Man, Michael: Michael thinks an injury will keep him from fighting again until a woman shows up and promises to heal him. But, he must travel with her and teach a community of woman warriors to fight in return.  Imagine Michael's surprise when she fulfills her end of the bargain and finds that, to fulfill his he must travel into the future! Since this latest find has left us speechless, be sure to check out <a href="http://www.cagepotato.com/my-god-mma-romance-novel">CagePotato.com</a>'s review. <ul> <li>My God, This MMA Romance Novel (<a href="http://www.cagepotato.com/my-god-mma-romance-novel">CagePotato.com</a>)</li> </ul> 45641

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-01-29T22:14:22-05:00

The fight to have MMA sanctioned in New York hit yet another snag. If you'll recall, Assemblyman Steven Englebright introduced a bill last week that would legalize the sport in New York. Included was a three-year "Sunset Clause," which essentially allows the legislature to examine MMA's social and economic value down the road. The government would have the option to extend or repeal the law at the end of the third year. But all the talk hasn't produced anything, and it doesn't look like it will for quite some time. As <a href="http://mmaweekly.com/blog/index.asp">MMAWeekly.com</a><a href="http://mmaweekly.com/blog/index.asp">'s Insider Blog</a> reports: "For now, it's not on the table," he said. "Everything is so crazy with the budget and the budget cuts...there's nothing at this point on it being on the agenda. The budget's going to take up the entire time of the session. It'll get on there, but I only know so much." Englebright hosted the first meeting on Nov. 12, in which several proponents of the sport, including representatives from the UFC, spoke on the its behalf. Assemblyman Bob Reilly, a vocal critic of the bill who represents Albany and Saratoga counties, said most members of the Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development Committee--tasked to make the first vote on the legislation--were not invited. The cancellation comes as the UFC's New York lobbying firm, Global Strategy Group, has ramped up efforts to garner public support for the bill. In recent weeks, the bill has caught the attention of several mainstream news outlets, including the New York Times and Newsday. A petition to legalize the sport, drafted by MMA blog site Cage Potato, has made the rounds online.  Kimm was confident the bill would be placed on the agenda for a vote before the close of the session in June.  "It's only a matter of time..we'll get there soon enough," he said.   <ul> <li>Budget issues force delay to vote for MMA bill (<a href="http://mmaweekly.com/blog/index.asp">Insider Blog M</a><a href="http://mmaweekly.com/blog/index.asp">MAWeekly.com</a>)</li> </ul> MMA in N.Y. hits another snag

2009-01-28T15:30:38-05:00

2009-01-28T15:30:38-05:00 The fight to have MMA sanctioned in New York hit yet another snag. If you'll recall, Assemblyman Steven Englebright introduced a bill last week that would legalize the sport in New York. Included was a three-year "Sunset Clause," which essentially allows the legislature to examine MMA's social and economic value down the road. The government would have the option to extend or repeal the law at the end of the third year. But all the talk hasn't produced anything, and it doesn't look like it will for quite some time. As <a href="http://mmaweekly.com/blog/index.asp">MMAWeekly.com</a><a href="http://mmaweekly.com/blog/index.asp">'s Insider Blog</a> reports: "For now, it's not on the table," he said. "Everything is so crazy with the budget and the budget cuts...there's nothing at this point on it being on the agenda. The budget's going to take up the entire time of the session. It'll get on there, but I only know so much." Englebright hosted the first meeting on Nov. 12, in which several proponents of the sport, including representatives from the UFC, spoke on the its behalf. Assemblyman Bob Reilly, a vocal critic of the bill who represents Albany and Saratoga counties, said most members of the Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development Committee--tasked to make the first vote on the legislation--were not invited. The cancellation comes as the UFC's New York lobbying firm, Global Strategy Group, has ramped up efforts to garner public support for the bill. In recent weeks, the bill has caught the attention of several mainstream news outlets, including the New York Times and Newsday. A petition to legalize the sport, drafted by MMA blog site Cage Potato, has made the rounds online.  Kimm was confident the bill would be placed on the agenda for a vote before the close of the session in June.  "It's only a matter of time..we'll get there soon enough," he said.   <ul> <li>Budget issues force delay to vote for MMA bill (<a href="http://mmaweekly.com/blog/index.asp">Insider Blog M</a><a href="http://mmaweekly.com/blog/index.asp">MAWeekly.com</a>)</li> </ul> 45202

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-03-26T09:43:21-04:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009_images/mma/MonsonAnarchy.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="300" height="196" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Jeff Monson, ESPN the Mag</div> </div> The future doesn't look good for UFC veteran Jeff Monson. According to <a href="http://www.theolympian.com/topstories/story/726666.html">The Olympian</a>, there's a warrant out for Monson's arrest for "first-degree malicious mischief" after pictures of him spray-painting an anarchist symbol on the Washington capitol appeared in the December issue of ESPN the Magazine. The charge is a class B felony, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in the slammer and a $20,000 fine. The cost to clean up the graffiti? $19,000. The chances of him escaping this one? Slim. "In full the caption above the picture reads: ‘On a recent night in Olympia, Monson suddenly pulled out a spray can and tagged the state capitol (sic),'" court papers state. "The term ‘tagged' seems somewhat puerile in light of the fact that the State Buildings and Grounds expended $19,013.50 (labor and materials) to eradicate the damage."   <ul> <li>Mixed-martial-arts champion charged in Capitol graffiti case (<a href="http://www.theolympian.com/topstories/story/726666.html">The Olympian</a>)</li> </ul>   Monson wanted for alleged 'malicious mischief'

2009-01-15T14:34:24-05:00

2009-01-15T14:34:24-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009_images/mma/MonsonAnarchy.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="300" height="196" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Jeff Monson, ESPN the Mag</div> </div> The future doesn't look good for UFC veteran Jeff Monson. According to <a href="http://www.theolympian.com/topstories/story/726666.html">The Olympian</a>, there's a warrant out for Monson's arrest for "first-degree malicious mischief" after pictures of him spray-painting an anarchist symbol on the Washington capitol appeared in the December issue of ESPN the Magazine. The charge is a class B felony, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in the slammer and a $20,000 fine. The cost to clean up the graffiti? $19,000. The chances of him escaping this one? Slim. "In full the caption above the picture reads: ‘On a recent night in Olympia, Monson suddenly pulled out a spray can and tagged the state capitol (sic),'" court papers state. "The term ‘tagged' seems somewhat puerile in light of the fact that the State Buildings and Grounds expended $19,013.50 (labor and materials) to eradicate the damage."   <ul> <li>Mixed-martial-arts champion charged in Capitol graffiti case (<a href="http://www.theolympian.com/topstories/story/726666.html">The Olympian</a>)</li> </ul>   41261

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-01-06T19:35:10-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/2008/mma/10/22/antonio-silva-csac/antonio-silva.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="298" height="335" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Antonio Silva, Courtesy of MMAWeekly.com</div> </div> Antonio Silva isn't the only one on the hot seat. The California State Athletic Commission scolded Silva for taking on a fight in Japan while suspended for testing positive after his EliteXC win July 26. But the Commission also threatened to fine and suspend Silva's manager, Alex Davis, for arranging the Sengoku 7 bout this past weekend. Davis, however, refuses to accept the punishment. According to <a href="http://www.cagepotato.com/exclusive-alex-davis-says-hell-fight-csac-action">CagePotato.com</a>, Davis plans on fighting the CSAC tooth and nail, claiming the Commission's action is simply an effort to "extend their jurisdiction to the whole world." Said the American Top Team manager: "We've got to.  I don't see any other options at this point. We're going to go through civil court.  "Antonio has acromegaly.  He has to treat it.  He spends between $6,000 and $8,000 a month just on medicine for it. He needs to be able to keep fighting to make a living.  If it's between Antonio's health and pleasing the athletic commission, we have to choose his health." <ul> <li>Alex Davis Says He'll Fight CSAC Action in Antonio Silva Steroid Case (<a href="http://www.cagepotato.com/exclusive-alex-davis-says-hell-fight-csac-action">CagePotato.com</a>)</li> </ul>   Silva fights in Japan, manager Davis fights CSAC

2009-01-06T16:41:25-05:00

2009-01-06T16:41:25-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/2008/mma/10/22/antonio-silva-csac/antonio-silva.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="298" height="335" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Antonio Silva, Courtesy of MMAWeekly.com</div> </div> Antonio Silva isn't the only one on the hot seat. The California State Athletic Commission scolded Silva for taking on a fight in Japan while suspended for testing positive after his EliteXC win July 26. But the Commission also threatened to fine and suspend Silva's manager, Alex Davis, for arranging the Sengoku 7 bout this past weekend. Davis, however, refuses to accept the punishment. According to <a href="http://www.cagepotato.com/exclusive-alex-davis-says-hell-fight-csac-action">CagePotato.com</a>, Davis plans on fighting the CSAC tooth and nail, claiming the Commission's action is simply an effort to "extend their jurisdiction to the whole world." Said the American Top Team manager: "We've got to.  I don't see any other options at this point. We're going to go through civil court.  "Antonio has acromegaly.  He has to treat it.  He spends between $6,000 and $8,000 a month just on medicine for it. He needs to be able to keep fighting to make a living.  If it's between Antonio's health and pleasing the athletic commission, we have to choose his health." <ul> <li>Alex Davis Says He'll Fight CSAC Action in Antonio Silva Steroid Case (<a href="http://www.cagepotato.com/exclusive-alex-davis-says-hell-fight-csac-action">CagePotato.com</a>)</li> </ul>   38342

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

Clearing the Debris By Paul Pabst SI.com's Paul Pabst breaks down the biggest stories in NASCAR. 361

2009-07-14T10:08:16-04:00

The 10 Things I learned at Chicago Speedway

2009-07-13T14:51:46-04:00

2009-07-13T14:55:08-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/38621/patrick-stewart-pabst.jpg" alt="Patrick-stewart-pabst" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Dan Patrick and Paul Pabst made a swing through Chicagoland last weekend -- a trip that included a stop at Tony Stewart's motorcoach. </div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Courtesy of Paul Pabst </div> </div> 1. NASCAR offers great access: Dan Patrick: and I stopped by Tony Stewart's motorcoach for a visit (check out pictures from the Chicagoland race <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0907/dan.patrick.race/content.12.html" target="_blank">here</a>). When we got there Tony was talking to a group of contest winners. Earlier, we saw Sam Hornish Jr. taking questions from fans in the Mobil1 tent. Everywhere you look, fans had access to their favorite drivers for pictures or autographs. No other sports gives fans this kind of access on a weekly basis. 2. Killer motorcoaches: Speaking of the driver's motorhomes, a Sprint Cup weekend has the feel of a million-dollar camp out. We were talking to J.R. Rhodes outside Dale Earnhardt Jr's coach, while Junior's crew was cooking out on the grill that popped out of the side of the coach. The insides are even better, but unfortunately pictures are not allowed. 3. Sprint Fan View still dominates: The handheld Sprint Fan View is still the best way to see the race in person and get the in-car audio for that extra entertainment. While in Hornish's pit, we got to use the Fan View and toggle between his in-car audio and other drivers. I'm sure the NFL will do this someday…but for now, NASCAR has the market cornered on personal entertainment while on site. 4. A lot of fans love to boo Kyle Busch: I hear it on TV each week, but to hear the outpouring of boos when Kyle was introduced was something else. He handles it well. He waves and smiles. I guess getting booed is better than hearing silence. 5. NASCAR drivers are even more competitive than I thought: There was a fun contest where NASCAR drivers raced Smart cars vs. celebs. So when Kurt Busch, David Stremme and Hornish showed up (they were discussing how this car moves in first gear, how it corners), Busch asked if Dan Patrick's S-curve cones were more spread out than his. At the end of the short race, they were supposed to back the tiny Smart cars in between two tightly-parked cars. Dan tried a traditional back in, while Hornish darted in to the spot head first to get the win. 6. Dan Patrick incident: Dan Patrick had never spent a race on pit road before Saturday. Prior to the race, he was walking around, saying hello to some of the drivers he knows. Moments before Jimmie Johnson got in his car to start the race, Dan strolled over to say hello. Most people stand to the side of the car. Dan was behind Jimmie's car and he began to lean on the wing. A NASCAR officially quickly scolded Dan. "Don't touch the spoiler, please." I thought he was going to give DP a forearm shiver. Dan jumped back and luckily Jimmie didn't see it. Jimmie finished in 8th on Saturday, but I can't help but think… 7. Invisible: If you ever want to feel invisible, stand next to Junior as you pass a gaggle of fans. When the drivers' meeting broke up I happened to be walking next to Junior as we passed a large group of fans. They were screaming his name and pushing out things for him to sign. I think they thought I was his agent or something. Pretty funny.   8. Nothing beats the view from atop the pit box: Thanks to Mike Arning, a.k.a "Hank Hill", who works with Tony Stewart. He let Dan and me sit atop the Office Depot-Old Spice pit box for the first 30 laps of the race. Even better than the rumble you feel in your body as 43 cars scream by, is watching the pit crew do a stop underneath you. They are waiting calmly for 25 laps, then when the caution flag comes down, they scramble into position. The car slides and the entire crew leaps over the wall and into action. Fast and fascinating every time. 9. You don't get used to a Stealth Bomber flyover: You may be able to look away from the Blue Angels or a helicopter flyover, but when the cartoon-like Stealth comes across the sky….your jaw still drops open…you're catching flies. 10. That NASCAR smell: When I headed back to Chicago post race, my shirt smelled like a combination of the following. exhaust fumes, Budweiser, smoked sausage and BBQ sauce. One whiff of me and you knew where I had just come from. It wasn't a bad thing. 70161 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/346/588/thumb/pabst3.jpg 1787

ppabst

346988

2009-07-06T17:13:46-04:00

Restrictor-plate racing: Too entertaining to change, too dangerous to ignore

2009-07-06T17:05:56-04:00

2009-07-06T17:05:56-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/38201/kyle-busch-daytona.jpg" alt="Kyle-busch-daytona" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Restrictor plates have produced spectacular wrecks (ask Kyle Busch), but they've also provided some of the season's most exciting finishes. </div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Sam Greenwood/Getty Images </div> </div> I'm a bit torn on the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona Saturday night. With restrictor-plate racing, you can bank on the fact that the last few laps will be tight racing. As a fan, I love Talladega and Daytona – my two "sure thing" races. But what makes them great is also what makes them dangerous. Carl Edwards had the big last-lap crash in April at Talladega and then Saturday's winner Tony Stewart got into it late with Kyle Busch on Saturday. Busch went hard into the wall after he tried repeatedly to block Stewart from the lead spot. Luckily he was OK.               I don't watch MMA because I think it too brutal. Sometimes I wonder if I should feel that way about restrictor-plate races. I know it's apples and oranges, and NASCAR certainly isn't akin to MMA. I do, however, know the reactionary nature of the sport and NASCAR in general. If Kyle Busch doesn't walk away from his crash Saturday night, there would be a huge reaction and we'd see changes. Nevertheless, <a href="http://www.nascar.com/video/features/race_rewind/" target="_blank">If you watch the aftermath of the Busch wreck</a>, check out the fans in the stands … they loved it. Can you blame them? A spectacle was taking place in living color, just yards away from their seats. So let me know what you think. Are restrictor-plate races too dangerous or just exciting? Meanwhile, a sneaky story that's not getting much play is that Juan Pablo Montoya is sitting 11th in points in July. JPM has eight top-10 finishes, and is ahead of such drivers as Mark Martin, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Three years ago this week, JPM announced plans to move to NASCAR. He did struggle early, as expected, but his driving talent combined with a few seasons in the sports is starting to pay off. Now onto the story that just won't go away: Jeremy Mayfield. Question: If you were a team owner or a sponsor, would you hire Jeremy Mayfield? Right now, Mayfield is way too much of a negative from a PR standpoint and is not a sure thing ON THE TRACK. Mayfield stands by his denial, while NASCAR stands by his positive test for methamphetamines. If Mayfield were a top-10 driver, he would have a chance for employment even with the ugliness swirling around him right now. Here's the thing, even if he's somehow proven to be innocent, will the cloud around him dissipate enough for him to get backing? Would you sign him? 69601 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/346/588/thumb/pabst3.jpg 1787

ppabst

346988

2009-07-07T00:07:04-04:00

Road Courses: Great spectacles, but not always great races

2009-06-22T15:11:46-04:00

2009-06-22T15:11:46-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/37221/kasey-kahne-infineon.jpg" alt="Kasey-kahne-infineon" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Kasey Kahne ended a 37-race winless string with his victory at Infineon on Sunday. </div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Ezra Shaw/Getty Images </div> </div> One of my favorite yearly NASCAR traditions is the discussion of the road course races. Sunday at Sonoma was a great day for Kasey Kahne, who ended another cold streak and got his first career road course win. Our topic today is not the race winner, but the race itself. NASCAR appears committed to having multiple road course races on the schedule. I have questions for you, but first my thoughts on road course races…as a viewer. Road course races are like Las Vegas; I can take a dose of it, but then I need to move on. I don't like the race itself as much as I like the novelty of the race. While not exactly like hockey outdoors, road course races obviously feel like no other race on the schedule. The late David Poole used to proclaim that Bristol was not a great race, but a great spectacle. I feel the same way about Sonoma and Watkins Glen. Let's start with the good. The best part of road course is the tight racing. Unlike Michigan and other tracks, rarely will you see the leader 10 seconds ahead of the second place car. The other aspect I like is that you may see a whole new leaderboard. You know you're watching a road race when names like Marcos Ambrose, and Juan Pablo Montoya are in the top 10. Still, one of my favorite things -- totally unique to these races -- is what I call a "slow crash." It's odd so see a car spin out or go off course and then get right back on the track…a little dust, but no damage. Most oval track wrecks bring a caution, debris and usually some car damage. It's not the norm at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. Combine the tighter racing with a quicker recovery -- less down time -- and the road races definitely have their positives. Now to the bad. Overall, road course races are akin to watching NBA players play a game in army boots. Slow and low to the ground is no way to watch the NBA. Watching cars take corners at 40-mph is unique, but much less entertaining. Of course, if you put a long, boring oval-track race and the Infineon race in front of me, I'm taking Sonoma. I'm guaranteed to see action, it might be at a lesser speed, but a bunched-up 40mph curve is way better than a 200-mph parade. So you tell me, from a viewing standpoint -- for the entertainment value -- what do you think of NASCAR's occasional road course races? Do you think there should be more? Should there be any at all? And what do you like or dislike about the quick stops at Sonoma and Watkins Glen? 68141 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/346/588/thumb/pabst3.jpg 1787

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2009-06-09T07:44:57-04:00

Double-file restarts long overdue

2009-06-08T11:40:00-04:00

2009-06-08T11:40:00-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/36181/tony-stewart-pocono.jpg" alt="Tony-stewart-pocono" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">With a late-race fuel gamble, Tony Stewart earned his first victory as an owner/driver on Sunday. </div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Geoff Burke/Getty Images </div> </div> One of the things I love about NASCAR is seeing a little bit of yourself or real life on the track. In the first 20 minutes of the race at Pocono, driver Denny Hamlin had serious issues. Twice cautions came out because Denny's car died. I know it's more technical than that -- his gauges no-showed -- twice. As Hamlin tried and tried to fire his ride, a tow truck showed up to push him back to the pits for a fix -- twice. You could hear the frustration in his voice as he said to his crew: "That's the second caution we've caused." Who hasn't been there? Everything's fine until your car dies. You're praying it starts on this turn of the key as cars speed past you. That's when you wish you had a pit crew around the bend. Now to the race winner, Tony Stewart. As we've said before, Stewart-Haas Racing has overachieved this season, and Sunday was the cherry on top of all the top-ten finishes that have put Stewart atop the points standings. Late in the race, with the rain gone, it became a fuel race as Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and Carl Edwards tried to stay in front while conserving gas. You could hear Stewart say to his team that he hated this kind of conservative racing, but he made it work. Marty Snider was the first to interview Stewart post-race, and he asked him exactly how he was able to finish with gas in the tank. "I'm not tellling," Stewart laughed. As you will see in this blog, I will criticize NASCAR when it's called for and hopefully I will fairly pat the sport on the back when it's appropriate. This time I'm going to do the latter. NASCAR is doing the right thing doing away with single-file restarts. The sport made the move to double-file restarts at Pocono, and it's a welcome change. Will drivers and teams have to adjust quickly? Yes. But as a fan I've already adjusted to it. "Racing" starts immediately on the restarts, spelling an end to the parade-style restarts we've been used to. The only issue on my end is which lane you get on a late restart. If you get stuck in the slower slot with 3 laps to go, you will have to battle to move up or down the track, which might be a great thing for the fans. Did you like it on Sunday and what issues do you see arising from this move? 66761 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/346/588/thumb/pabst3.jpg 1787

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2009-06-03T05:54:51-04:00

Is Johnson's dominance bad for NASCAR?

2009-06-01T15:07:22-04:00

2009-06-01T15:07:22-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/35561/jimmie-johnson298.jpg" alt="Jimmie-johnson298" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Jimmie Johnson is going for an unprecedented fourth Cup title, but is his dominance a good thing for NASCAR's sagging numbers? </div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Jim McIsaac/Getty Images </div> </div> It's a simple question, is Jimmie Johnson's dominance bad for NASCAR? Johnson and the No. 48 team dominated at Dover this weekend. Tony Stewart kept it interesting late, but in the end Johnson deservedly won, rocketing the No. 48 team to third in the Sprint Cup standings. In 2006 Johnson was in first after the first Dover race. In 2007 he was 2nd. In 2008 he was 7th. Each season he went on to win the title. And, from the looks of things, I don't see why this year will be any different. In 2008 after the first 25 races, Kyle Busch was the toast of the sport. He was on top of the standings and had eight wins to Johnson's three. But when the Chase was done, Johnson was on top...again. They found a way to get it done despite some issues along the way. Same on Sunday in Dover, a slow pit stop near the race's end was overcome as Johnson passed Stewart late to get the win. So it's still somewhat early in the season and other than Jimmie Johnson, there are other contenders for the Cup title. Stewart, Jeff Gordon, both Busch brothers and Matt Kenseth have to be the mix, but is there any reason you would bet against a four-peat by the No. 48 team? I'm as much for the underdog as the next guy, I'd love to see a Joey Logano or a Brad Keselowski come from nowhere to beat the established drivers, but this sport just doesn't work that way in the long run. I do want to see Johnson continue his historical run. I don't want to blaspheme here, but someday we may remember Johnson and his run the same way fans a generation ago remember Richard Petty and Cale Yarbrough. Sure we're watching history, but with ratings tanking and track attendance lagging, is there something to be said for having more competition near the top? At the same time, does the points winner matter to you as much as seeing good racing week in and week out? My question is: do you want dominance or do you want something new? I know huge Junior fan base wants to see their guy get a title, but with him sitting at 18th in points, it's not likely...not this year. Stewart would be a good story; he left the comfort of Joe Gibbs Racing to become a co-owner and I don't think anyone had him doing this well this early. Jeff Gordon is a household name, and to see a legend get one more title would play with all sports fans, especially the casual NASCAR followers. But is Johnson winning again similar to when the Chicago Bulls dominated with Michael Jordan? Do you want to see a legendary run by a great driver or is it time for something new? Is "The Chase" becoming a race for 2nd place? It's tough find anything to dislike about Johnson. He is all class on and off the track. He has personality, but rarely loses his cool or puts on a 'me first' attitude. That being said, are you bored of Jimmie and the No.48 team dousing each other at Homestead? Do you want a new champion or do you want to see how many straight titles they can put together? Make your case. 66061 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/346/588/thumb/pabst3.jpg 1787

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Super Blog Live dispatches from Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa Find Super Bowl XLIII news, features, anecdotes, photos and videos from Sports Illustrated's team of writers in Tampa. 301

2009-02-04T07:28:01-05:00

SI.com and FanNation present 20 of the most memorable commercials from Super Bowl XLIII. Which one's your favorite? Have we omitted one of the top challengers? Let us know. 1. SoBe in 3D   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kg-p5Xsct4Y&fmt" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kg-p5Xsct4Y&fmt"></embed> </object>   2. Pepsi Max - "I'm Good"   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GkgZFI4ZT0I" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GkgZFI4ZT0I"></embed> </object> 3. CareerBuilder.com   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/79tMMFja-Fw" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/79tMMFja-Fw"></embed> </object> 4. GoDaddy.com   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/x73F3JDEE6vFYh9ZaC8mRA" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/x73F3JDEE6vFYh9ZaC8mRA"></embed> </object> Must-See Commercials -- Super Bowl XLIII

2009-01-31T17:10:20-05:00

2009-01-31T17:10:20-05:00 SI.com and FanNation present 20 of the most memorable commercials from Super Bowl XLIII. Which one's your favorite? Have we omitted one of the top challengers? Let us know. 1. SoBe in 3D   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kg-p5Xsct4Y&fmt" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kg-p5Xsct4Y&fmt"></embed> </object>   2. 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GoDaddy.com   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/x73F3JDEE6vFYh9ZaC8mRA" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/x73F3JDEE6vFYh9ZaC8mRA"></embed> </object>   5. Conan O'Brien and Bud Light: Swedish   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/-71LSs4aqZ0HIAp7IqHjcQ" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/-71LSs4aqZ0HIAp7IqHjcQ"></embed> </object>   6. Mr. Potato Head/Bridgestone: Taters   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/G9LC_FtXk_ymxczUJcHqQg" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/G9LC_FtXk_ymxczUJcHqQg"></embed> </object>   7. Bud Light: Meeting   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/SMzd-hXZo2RP0yATGGTsRA" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/SMzd-hXZo2RP0yATGGTsRA"></embed> </object>   8. Land of the Lost starring Will Ferrell   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/E9ZjWtAb4S-sRgp173376g" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/E9ZjWtAb4S-sRgp173376g"></embed> </object>   9. Monster vs. Aliens: Trailer   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/t4MnwN53QsGtWe7wlubznw" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/t4MnwN53QsGtWe7wlubznw"></embed> </object>   10. Hyundai: Angry Bosses   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/nQh9w8l6fWG43UNC5SKUug" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/nQh9w8l6fWG43UNC5SKUug"></embed> </object>   11. Pedigree: Crazy Pets   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/ZrBstZMg038rkxvl_krrDw" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/ZrBstZMg038rkxvl_krrDw"></embed> </object>   12. Bud Light: Drinkability   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/SkProhVH9KCAJhEyFzx-Ww" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/SkProhVH9KCAJhEyFzx-Ww"></embed> </object>   13. H&R Block: Death and Taxes   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/q25gwE7zQhCQRfxlsuXLJQ" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/q25gwE7zQhCQRfxlsuXLJQ"></embed> </object>   14. Doritos: Crystal Ball   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/gRH0EiTipxMgtukuG6Q7VQ" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/gRH0EiTipxMgtukuG6Q7VQ"></embed> </object>   15. Monster: Director of Fandemonium   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/R6gOC_D6yi8RslEHDGLKcA" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/R6gOC_D6yi8RslEHDGLKcA"></embed> </object>   16. CareerBuilder.com: Tips   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/TV-FWh4MLRt3ApOVJMicZA" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/TV-FWh4MLRt3ApOVJMicZA"></embed> </object>   17. Coke Zero: Mean Troy   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/LD_5x181yAJrztHUiK4RXw" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/LD_5x181yAJrztHUiK4RXw"></embed> </object>   18. Taco Bell: Overrated   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/PKMgEJvrCdmhyGoWzBDbsQ" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/PKMgEJvrCdmhyGoWzBDbsQ"></embed> </object>   19. E*Trade: Talking Baby   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/dAdWy2q2sBfiFY1-9wWLzQ" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/dAdWy2q2sBfiFY1-9wWLzQ"></embed> </object>   20. Coke: Heist   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/2FETdaRuy8K3HCHvgi5Olg" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/2FETdaRuy8K3HCHvgi5Olg"></embed> </object> 46201

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-02-01T12:17:35-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jim_trotter/01/31/halloffame.picks/T1_0131_hineslowrance.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="298" height="397" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward are both set to play Sunday. G Newman Lowrance/Getty Images</div> </div> TAMPA, Fla. -- Every elevator you get on, every line you wait in, any time you're around anyone with an NFL connection, you're hearing one of two conversations: "I think the Cardinals can win," or "I like the Steelers, but you never know. Just look at the Giants last year." On paper, the Steelers are the clear favorites, but a lot of writers and players I chatted with are gun-shy about the favorites. More than 75 percent of them think the Steelers will win, but they're very careful to qualify their pick. And very few people are talking about a Steelers blowout. I don't think all the Steelers-related caution has much to do with the actual matchup. Nothing has changed on paper. Hines Ward and Ben Roethlisberger are both healthy and ready to go and Pittsburgh appears to be as focused as ever. With two weeks between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl, sportswriters have had a lot of time to talk themselves into a new story. A lot of them have been burned by the Giants last year and the Cardinals in the postseason. Those bad predictions are probably more influential on game picks than any kind of X's and O's analysis. Obviously, Cardinals fever isn't just hitting Tampa. The point spread moved from 7 to 6 ½ and people who bet money line -- which is based on odds, not a point spread -- are reportedly much heavier on Arizona. If the Cardinals do win, there will be a lot of people who say "I told you so." Even the ones who officially chose the Steelers. Cards benefiting from writers' best second-guess

2009-01-31T20:34:25-05:00

2009-01-31T20:34:25-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jim_trotter/01/31/halloffame.picks/T1_0131_hineslowrance.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="298" height="397" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward are both set to play Sunday. G Newman Lowrance/Getty Images</div> </div> TAMPA, Fla. -- Every elevator you get on, every line you wait in, any time you're around anyone with an NFL connection, you're hearing one of two conversations: "I think the Cardinals can win," or "I like the Steelers, but you never know. Just look at the Giants last year." On paper, the Steelers are the clear favorites, but a lot of writers and players I chatted with are gun-shy about the favorites. More than 75 percent of them think the Steelers will win, but they're very careful to qualify their pick. And very few people are talking about a Steelers blowout. I don't think all the Steelers-related caution has much to do with the actual matchup. Nothing has changed on paper. Hines Ward and Ben Roethlisberger are both healthy and ready to go and Pittsburgh appears to be as focused as ever. With two weeks between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl, sportswriters have had a lot of time to talk themselves into a new story. A lot of them have been burned by the Giants last year and the Cardinals in the postseason. Those bad predictions are probably more influential on game picks than any kind of X's and O's analysis. Obviously, Cardinals fever isn't just hitting Tampa. The point spread moved from 7 to 6 ½ and people who bet money line -- which is based on odds, not a point spread -- are reportedly much heavier on Arizona. If the Cardinals do win, there will be a lot of people who say "I told you so." Even the ones who officially chose the Steelers. 46241 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/397/2/thumb/Perloff.jpg 545 NY

Andrew Perloff

New York 3992

2009-01-31T14:42:39-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/22181/roger-goodell-blog.jpg" alt="Roger-goodell-blog" width="298" height="300" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Roger Goodell faced few CBA questions in his address. AP</div> </div> By Don Banks, SI.com TAMPA -- I know three words guaranteed to make you stop reading this blog, and they would be: collective bargaining agreement. See. Told you. (Hey, where'd you go?) At his annual state of the league news conference on Friday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was peppered with no fewer than 10 questions centering on the upcoming labor showdown with the league's players union. The current CBA expires in 2011, and if no new agreement is in place by March of 2010, that season would be played without a salary cap. But here's the only thing that matters about all that: All that stuff would happen in either 2010 or 2011, and we're still early in 2009. In other words, it's all a bunch of blah, blah, blah until a legitimate deadline looms, so feel free to ignore everything about the NFL's labor situation until then. And I can't stress that enough. Absolutely nothing happens in the NFL in terms of negotiations until it absolutely has to. So all the time and energy that was spent this week discussing the players union-commissioned study regarding the average team's profits and the NFL's refuting of those figures was just wasted effort. Just ignore CBA talk for now

2009-01-31T14:39:28-05:00

2009-01-31T14:39:28-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/22181/roger-goodell-blog.jpg" alt="Roger-goodell-blog" width="298" height="300" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Roger Goodell faced few CBA questions in his address. AP</div> </div> By Don Banks, SI.com TAMPA -- I know three words guaranteed to make you stop reading this blog, and they would be: collective bargaining agreement. See. Told you. (Hey, where'd you go?) At his annual state of the league news conference on Friday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was peppered with no fewer than 10 questions centering on the upcoming labor showdown with the league's players union. The current CBA expires in 2011, and if no new agreement is in place by March of 2010, that season would be played without a salary cap. But here's the only thing that matters about all that: All that stuff would happen in either 2010 or 2011, and we're still early in 2009. In other words, it's all a bunch of blah, blah, blah until a legitimate deadline looms, so feel free to ignore everything about the NFL's labor situation until then. And I can't stress that enough. Absolutely nothing happens in the NFL in terms of negotiations until it absolutely has to. So all the time and energy that was spent this week discussing the players union-commissioned study regarding the average team's profits and the NFL's refuting of those figures was just wasted effort. As I put it to Steelers owner Dan Rooney just after the commissioner's news conference, we've got miles to go before we sleep, so why are we even talking about this now? "Yeah, that's correct," said Rooney, who's been around the NFL longer than face masks. "Nothing happens anywhere, in any negotiation, until the last minute. It's always that way. In all negotiations. Whether it's players contracts, the economy, banks, everything. It doesn't happen until the end. "And we're not there yet. You have to get to the table, and they (the NFLPA) don't even have a leader yet. We have to see who it is [that replaces the deceased Gene Upshaw], and then we'll work with that person and get people to sit down and be reasonable and work things out." NFL fans don't care or want to hear about how the money gets divided between the owners and the players. For the sake of us all, the players and the league should lock themselves behind closed doors and make the next time they talk publicly about the CBA be at the news conference announcing a new deal. Both sides took time this week at the Super Bowl to ramp up the rhetoric and the posturing, even though they know it's more than a year before anything is really going to get done. What was the point? With the economy still tanking, you better believe nobody's feeling anyone's pain in the high-moneyed world of NFL owners and players. Don't forget, we've got a long way to go on this story, and none of the prologue really matters. Check SI.com's <a href="/si_blogs/super_bowl_blog" target="_blank">Super Blog</a> regularly for more dispatches from Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa. 46141

SI.com's Blog

New Hartford 99587

2009-02-01T13:43:24-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/22162/barry-sanders-superblog.jpg" alt="Barry-sanders-superblog" width="298" height="300" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">A lack of a Super Bowl ring hasn't hurt Barry Sanders. Damian Strohmeyer/SI</div> </div> TAMPA -- The Super Bowl has often been called a career-defining game. A night when legacies are built or tarnished. A moment where you can forever be known as a hero or a goat. While I agree that winning the Super Bowl is the pinnacle of any NFL player's career, I've always felt it was overrated in terms of defining someone's career. Think about it. How do you remember Washington Redskins running back Timmy Smith, who had the greatest single rushing game in Super Bowl history with 204 yards on 22 carries in Super Bowl XXII? Where does Barry Switzer, who won Super Bowl XXX, and became only the second coach to win both a Super Bowl and national championship rank on your list of the greatest NFL coaches? Does anybody remember that cornerback Larry Brown, who teammates joked couldn't catch a cold, was a Super Bowl MVP? Now I'm not saying that winning a Super Bowl can't put the exclamation point on a great career like John Elway's, but it certainly won't make me look at Trent Dilfer any different.  Super Bowls don't define careers

2009-01-31T12:29:33-05:00

2009-01-31T12:29:33-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/22162/barry-sanders-superblog.jpg" alt="Barry-sanders-superblog" width="298" height="300" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">A lack of a Super Bowl ring hasn't hurt Barry Sanders. Damian Strohmeyer/SI</div> </div> TAMPA -- The Super Bowl has often been called a career-defining game. A night when legacies are built or tarnished. A moment where you can forever be known as a hero or a goat. While I agree that winning the Super Bowl is the pinnacle of any NFL player's career, I've always felt it was overrated in terms of defining someone's career. Think about it. How do you remember Washington Redskins running back Timmy Smith, who had the greatest single rushing game in Super Bowl history with 204 yards on 22 carries in Super Bowl XXII? Where does Barry Switzer, who won Super Bowl XXX, and became only the second coach to win both a Super Bowl and national championship rank on your list of the greatest NFL coaches? Does anybody remember that cornerback Larry Brown, who teammates joked couldn't catch a cold, was a Super Bowl MVP? Now I'm not saying that winning a Super Bowl can't put the exclamation point on a great career like John Elway's, but it certainly won't make me look at Trent Dilfer any different.  Draw up a list of the NFL's greatest running backs and Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers and Eric Dickerson quickly come to mind. There is only one Super Bowl ring amongst those four players and it came towards the end of Payton's career. Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher and three-time Super Bowl winner, is rarely rated as one top three backs despite playing his best in the biggest games. Franco Harris and his four rings have a tough time even breaking into most top 10 lists. How many people would rank Troy Aikman or Terry Bradshaw, who have seven Super Bowl championships between them, ahead of Dan Marino or Brett Favre, who have only one Super Bowl ring between them? It's not a knock on the Super Bowl. If anything it's testament to a rare level of perspective by analysts and fans alike to not put too much emphasis on one game no matter how big it is. Check SI.com's <a href="/si_blogs/super_bowl_blog" target="_blank">Super Blog</a> regularly for more dispatches from Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa. 46121 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/396/7/thumb/markazi_arash.jpg 118 CA

Arash Markazi

Los Angeles 3987

2009-02-01T13:43:44-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/22141/p1.tomlin.jpg" alt="P1" width="300" height="300" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Mike Tomlin is keeping the Steelers loose at practice. AP</div> </div> I've just finished my three-day stint as the Pittsburgh Steelers pool reporter for the Pro Football Writers' of America and my overwhelming observation after watching them practice for over six hours this week is that they're a loose and football-loving team. They really have a lot of fun at practice. There's an adage that some old coach once told his team. "Have fun out there." That's the school of coaching Mike Tomlin went to. He has no problem jawing and laughing with players before and after plays during practice. He must make some form of contact with at least three quarters of his roster in some way -- either with a barb or an arm around the shoulder and a piece of advice, or a pointed coaching principle. I've seen Bill Belichick and Tony Dungy up close and personal as a pool reporter over the last few years, and their teams absolutely got all their work done. But I can tell you this: they didn't laugh as much as the '09 Steelers. Tomlin keeping Steelers loose

2009-01-30T19:08:49-05:00

2009-01-30T19:08:49-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/22141/p1.tomlin.jpg" alt="P1" width="300" height="300" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Mike Tomlin is keeping the Steelers loose at practice. AP</div> </div> I've just finished my three-day stint as the Pittsburgh Steelers pool reporter for the Pro Football Writers' of America and my overwhelming observation after watching them practice for over six hours this week is that they're a loose and football-loving team. They really have a lot of fun at practice. There's an adage that some old coach once told his team. "Have fun out there." That's the school of coaching Mike Tomlin went to. He has no problem jawing and laughing with players before and after plays during practice. He must make some form of contact with at least three quarters of his roster in some way -- either with a barb or an arm around the shoulder and a piece of advice, or a pointed coaching principle. I've seen Bill Belichick and Tony Dungy up close and personal as a pool reporter over the last few years, and their teams absolutely got all their work done. But I can tell you this: they didn't laugh as much as the '09 Steelers. A wise guy might ask, are the Steelers too loose? Are they taking this gig seriously enough? I was assured by backup quarterback Charlie Batch that this is not a flippant, lack-of-respect thing. This is just how they are every week at practice. Check SI.com's <a href="http://www.fannation.com/si_blogs/super_bowl_blog" target="_blank">Super Blog</a> regularly for more dispatches from Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa. 46081 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/759/78/thumb/king-fn-150.jpg 1 NY

Peter King

New York 76278

MLB Postseason Talk Baseball Analysis with SI.com's Tim Marchman Follow the baseball playoffs with commentary and observations from Sports Illustrated's Tim Marchman. 441

2009-11-06T01:56:49-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/46801/andy-pettitte-1105.jpg" alt="Andy-pettitte-1105" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">This is the fifth World Series title for Andy Pettitte and the 27th for the Yankees. Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images </div> </div> By Sky Andrecheck, <a href="http://www.hardballtimes.com" target="_blank">Hardballtimes.com</a> 2009 was a victory for the New York Yankees, solidifying them as the team of the decade, not to mention the team of the millennium, and the team of all of baseball history. But one could also argue that the 2009 playoffs were a victory for Major League Baseball. The Yankees, by all serious accounts, were baseball's best team regardless of the outcome of the playoffs. MLB may say that it craves parity, but what they really mean is parity in the regular season. The playoffs, by consistently producing upset after upset, have gained a reputation as a crap-shoot, in which luck rather than talent rules the day. With the team with the best regular-season record winning just two World Series in the last 18 years, fans can hardly be blamed for regarding the postseason as a roll of the dice, rather than a system of determining the game's best team. Additionally, the expanded playoffs have produced several champions and league champions which could not credibly be considered worthy of their title (I count four World Series champions, and an additional three World Series participants -- I'll leave it to you to pick out which teams I'm thinking of). The crisis has led to reactionary calls to punish wild-card teams by taking away their home field advantage or add a second wild-card team to make it tougher for an inferior team to win. (Ironically, implementing the latter would actually make it easier for an inferior team to win.) In any case, it's not good for any sport when fans believe that luck, not skill, is the main determinant of who wins the championship. The regular season becomes a drag when fans believe that no matter how good their team is, it matters little when it comes to the playoffs. Just ask Atlanta Braves fans. In general, sports fans enjoy an upset, but when upsets become routine it disturbs the balance of sport. Luckily for MLB, 2009 shocked the sport back into equilibrium. Teams that were supposed to win won. In six out of the seven series, the team with the better record won the series. Most of all, the consensus best team in baseball won it all. New York's victory, even if you personally detest the Yankees, is good for baseball and the fans because it restores some credibility to the playoffs. A loss by the Yankees, especially an early one, would have further diminished the value of both the regular season and the playoffs, by making fans lose faith in the way MLB determines its champion. If the best team loses year after year, why watch? Part of the appeal of sport is the possibility of a David over Goliath victory. But in order to keep those moments fresh, Goliath has to win sometimes too. For MLB, Goliath's long losing streak had begun to erode the sport's credibility. 2009 went a long way toward restoring the balance of the game. Behind the Scoreboard: Goliath wins

2009-11-05T11:22:07-05:00

2009-11-05T11:22:07-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/46801/andy-pettitte-1105.jpg" alt="Andy-pettitte-1105" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">This is the fifth World Series title for Andy Pettitte and the 27th for the Yankees. Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images </div> </div> By Sky Andrecheck, <a href="http://www.hardballtimes.com" target="_blank">Hardballtimes.com</a> 2009 was a victory for the New York Yankees, solidifying them as the team of the decade, not to mention the team of the millennium, and the team of all of baseball history. But one could also argue that the 2009 playoffs were a victory for Major League Baseball. The Yankees, by all serious accounts, were baseball's best team regardless of the outcome of the playoffs. MLB may say that it craves parity, but what they really mean is parity in the regular season. The playoffs, by consistently producing upset after upset, have gained a reputation as a crap-shoot, in which luck rather than talent rules the day. With the team with the best regular-season record winning just two World Series in the last 18 years, fans can hardly be blamed for regarding the postseason as a roll of the dice, rather than a system of determining the game's best team. Additionally, the expanded playoffs have produced several champions and league champions which could not credibly be considered worthy of their title (I count four World Series champions, and an additional three World Series participants -- I'll leave it to you to pick out which teams I'm thinking of). The crisis has led to reactionary calls to punish wild-card teams by taking away their home field advantage or add a second wild-card team to make it tougher for an inferior team to win. (Ironically, implementing the latter would actually make it easier for an inferior team to win.) In any case, it's not good for any sport when fans believe that luck, not skill, is the main determinant of who wins the championship. The regular season becomes a drag when fans believe that no matter how good their team is, it matters little when it comes to the playoffs. Just ask Atlanta Braves fans. In general, sports fans enjoy an upset, but when upsets become routine it disturbs the balance of sport. Luckily for MLB, 2009 shocked the sport back into equilibrium. Teams that were supposed to win won. In six out of the seven series, the team with the better record won the series. Most of all, the consensus best team in baseball won it all. New York's victory, even if you personally detest the Yankees, is good for baseball and the fans because it restores some credibility to the playoffs. A loss by the Yankees, especially an early one, would have further diminished the value of both the regular season and the playoffs, by making fans lose faith in the way MLB determines its champion. If the best team loses year after year, why watch? Part of the appeal of sport is the possibility of a David over Goliath victory. But in order to keep those moments fresh, Goliath has to win sometimes too. For MLB, Goliath's long losing streak had begun to erode the sport's credibility. 2009 went a long way toward restoring the balance of the game. 85102

1101

The Moderator

New York 7

2009-11-06T18:48:43-05:00

So that's that. For just the second time this decade baseball has an undisputed champion, a team that won the most games in the regular season and went on to win the World Series. Whether or not you care for the Yankees, you can't make any kind of argument that they're a paper champion. As I wrote <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2234585/" target="_blank">elsewhere</a> today, there's at least as much reason to think this was the last hurrah of the old Joe Torre Yankees as there is to think this is the beginning of a new dynasty. Even in their newly remodeled version the team is old, and, as they say, what can't continue, won't. There are reasons why catchers and shortstops and closers don't usually play as well as Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera have at their ages, and there isn't any obvious way to replace these irreplaceable players. Meanwhile Boston and Tampa Bay will likely be better next year than they were this year, and there are two whole other divisions to contend with as well. As the Phillies can tell you, it's tough to repeat. Still, in the wild-card era especially, a true championship is something to savor, and the Yankees won theirs the hard way, beating first the hottest team in the American League, then the one team that has had their number for years, and then the reigning World Series winner. It's 151 days to spring training, when everything starts over again. Until then, the Yankees have earned the right to smile the widest smiles in the world. The best team won, but it's not a new dynasty

2009-11-05T11:12:05-05:00

2009-11-05T11:12:05-05:00 So that's that. For just the second time this decade baseball has an undisputed champion, a team that won the most games in the regular season and went on to win the World Series. Whether or not you care for the Yankees, you can't make any kind of argument that they're a paper champion. As I wrote <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2234585/" target="_blank">elsewhere</a> today, there's at least as much reason to think this was the last hurrah of the old Joe Torre Yankees as there is to think this is the beginning of a new dynasty. Even in their newly remodeled version the team is old, and, as they say, what can't continue, won't. There are reasons why catchers and shortstops and closers don't usually play as well as Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera have at their ages, and there isn't any obvious way to replace these irreplaceable players. Meanwhile Boston and Tampa Bay will likely be better next year than they were this year, and there are two whole other divisions to contend with as well. As the Phillies can tell you, it's tough to repeat. Still, in the wild-card era especially, a true championship is something to savor, and the Yankees won theirs the hard way, beating first the hottest team in the American League, then the one team that has had their number for years, and then the reigning World Series winner. It's 151 days to spring training, when everything starts over again. Until then, the Yankees have earned the right to smile the widest smiles in the world. 85101 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/813/744/thumb/tim-marchman-fannation.jpg 3 IL

Tim Marchman

Chicago 814404

2009-11-05T16:11:59-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/46682/chase-utley-1104.jpg" alt="Chase-utley-1104" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Chase Utley has blasted five home runs in five World Series games, much to the delight of the Phillie Phanatic. Nick Laham/Getty Images </div> </div> By Sky Andrecheck, <a href="http://www.hardballtimes.com/">HardballTimes.com</a> Chase Utley has put on a massive display of power in the first five games of the World Series.  On Monday, he tied Reggie Jackson’s record for home runs in a single World Series with five bombs.  While Utley isn’t being called Mr. October yet, how does Utley’s feat compare with the legendary Jackson’s? While they each hit five homers, Utley performed his feat in just five games and 21 plate appearances, while Jackson homered five times in six games and 23 plate appearances.  By that measure, it would seem that Utley's performance was slightly more impressive. However, 2009 is much more power-friendly than 1977 was. Additionally, the '77 Dodgers pitching staff was superior to the '09 Yankees staff. The '09 Yankees gave up a dinger in 2.9 percent of all plate appearances, while the ’77 Dodgers gave up a long ball just 1.9% percent of the time. If you use these home run rates, the probability of an average player hitting at least five homers in 21 plate appearances against the 2009 Yankees is just 0.0028 percent.  In other words, there’s only a 1 in 3,500 chance of doing so.  How does this compare to Jackson’s feat?  Because of the depressed home run era in which he played and the excellent Dodger pitching staff he faced, Mr. October earns his nickname.  The odds of hitting at least five home runs in the 1977 World Series were nearly five times as great, at 16,000 to 1.  So, while Utley may have matched Jackson’s World Series record, his feat was significantly easier. Going into hypotheticals, what happens if Utley gets another eight plate appearances and jacks another homer to give him a record six World Series home runs?  Will his feat then be more impressive than Jackson’s?  In fact, no. The odds of hitting six homers in 29 plate appearances against the 2009 Yankees are about one in 7,000, meaning that Reggie’s accomplishment was still twice as tough. To match Mr. October’s feat in terms of difficulty, Chase would have to hit seven homers, in which case the odds of the accomplishment are one in 65,000. I’d love to see him get a chance to do it. Behind the Scoreboard: Utley vs. Reggie

2009-11-04T11:45:39-05:00

2009-11-04T11:45:39-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/46682/chase-utley-1104.jpg" alt="Chase-utley-1104" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Chase Utley has blasted five home runs in five World Series games, much to the delight of the Phillie Phanatic. Nick Laham/Getty Images </div> </div> By Sky Andrecheck, <a href="http://www.hardballtimes.com/">HardballTimes.com</a> Chase Utley has put on a massive display of power in the first five games of the World Series.  On Monday, he tied Reggie Jackson’s record for home runs in a single World Series with five bombs.  While Utley isn’t being called Mr. October yet, how does Utley’s feat compare with the legendary Jackson’s? While they each hit five homers, Utley performed his feat in just five games and 21 plate appearances, while Jackson homered five times in six games and 23 plate appearances.  By that measure, it would seem that Utley's performance was slightly more impressive. However, 2009 is much more power-friendly than 1977 was. Additionally, the '77 Dodgers pitching staff was superior to the '09 Yankees staff. The '09 Yankees gave up a dinger in 2.9 percent of all plate appearances, while the ’77 Dodgers gave up a long ball just 1.9% percent of the time. If you use these home run rates, the probability of an average player hitting at least five homers in 21 plate appearances against the 2009 Yankees is just 0.0028 percent.  In other words, there’s only a 1 in 3,500 chance of doing so.  How does this compare to Jackson’s feat?  Because of the depressed home run era in which he played and the excellent Dodger pitching staff he faced, Mr. October earns his nickname.  The odds of hitting at least five home runs in the 1977 World Series were nearly five times as great, at 16,000 to 1.  So, while Utley may have matched Jackson’s World Series record, his feat was significantly easier. Going into hypotheticals, what happens if Utley gets another eight plate appearances and jacks another homer to give him a record six World Series home runs?  Will his feat then be more impressive than Jackson’s?  In fact, no. The odds of hitting six homers in 29 plate appearances against the 2009 Yankees are about one in 7,000, meaning that Reggie’s accomplishment was still twice as tough. To match Mr. October’s feat in terms of difficulty, Chase would have to hit seven homers, in which case the odds of the accomplishment are one in 65,000. I’d love to see him get a chance to do it. 84961

1101

The Moderator

New York 7

2009-11-04T18:02:30-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/46681/pedro-martinez-1104.jpg" alt="Pedro-martinez-1104" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Pedro Martinez legitimately throws five different pitches. Anthony J. Causi/Icon SMI </div> </div> 1. So he's smart. What does that mean? You'll often hear it said that the secret of a given pitcher's success is that he'll throw any pitch at any time at any count. This is usually not true. Most pitchers, even very good starters, throw only two really effective pitches, with a third that they'll use every so often just to keep hitters a bit nervous. Pedro Martinez throws five pitches -- a rising fastball, a fastball with lateral movement, two varieties of breaking ball and a changeup -- and he really will throw any of them at any time. In Game 2 of the World Series, for example, he started off Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon with nine changeups in 12 pitches, and set both of them down swinging. The next time through the order he threw three fastballs, three changeups and a slider, and got a called strike three and a fly out. The third time he threw them two breaking balls and got two fly outs. This is worth unpacking a bit more. It's a tribute to both Martinez's nerve and the quality of his changeup that he would throw it so often at the very beginning of a game. For most pitchers the pitch is effective just because of its timing -- a hitter expects something fast, gets something slow, and so swings badly. The way to use it is to show off the fastball and only then start changing speeds. Martinez will just throw what is effectively a batting practice pitch that flops as it nears the plate, and do well with it. This also works as a strategy. One thing that makes the Yankee offense go is that they have two of the very best leadoff hitters in baseball atop their lineup. They work counts and get pitchers to show off what they have at the beginning of games, so other hitters can time their pitches and see which are breaking and which aren't. Martinez didn't play into this at all; in 12 pitches at the beginning of the game he showed just part of his arsenal, and so left the rest of the Yankees guessing.  Wednesday's First Pitch: Pedro, Pettitte and momentum

2009-11-04T11:41:30-05:00

2009-11-04T11:41:30-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/46681/pedro-martinez-1104.jpg" alt="Pedro-martinez-1104" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Pedro Martinez legitimately throws five different pitches. Anthony J. Causi/Icon SMI </div> </div> 1. So he's smart. What does that mean? You'll often hear it said that the secret of a given pitcher's success is that he'll throw any pitch at any time at any count. This is usually not true. Most pitchers, even very good starters, throw only two really effective pitches, with a third that they'll use every so often just to keep hitters a bit nervous. Pedro Martinez throws five pitches -- a rising fastball, a fastball with lateral movement, two varieties of breaking ball and a changeup -- and he really will throw any of them at any time. In Game 2 of the World Series, for example, he started off Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon with nine changeups in 12 pitches, and set both of them down swinging. The next time through the order he threw three fastballs, three changeups and a slider, and got a called strike three and a fly out. The third time he threw them two breaking balls and got two fly outs. This is worth unpacking a bit more. It's a tribute to both Martinez's nerve and the quality of his changeup that he would throw it so often at the very beginning of a game. For most pitchers the pitch is effective just because of its timing -- a hitter expects something fast, gets something slow, and so swings badly. The way to use it is to show off the fastball and only then start changing speeds. Martinez will just throw what is effectively a batting practice pitch that flops as it nears the plate, and do well with it. This also works as a strategy. One thing that makes the Yankee offense go is that they have two of the very best leadoff hitters in baseball atop their lineup. They work counts and get pitchers to show off what they have at the beginning of games, so other hitters can time their pitches and see which are breaking and which aren't. Martinez didn't play into this at all; in 12 pitches at the beginning of the game he showed just part of his arsenal, and so left the rest of the Yankees guessing. These are the sort of things Martinez does to make people call him a smart pitcher, and they're why he can befuddle and embarrass hitters by throwing nothing but junk. No one is meaner on the hill and no one is more confident, and that has concrete implications. He'll throw 86 mph fastballs inside to hitters like Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, whom pitchers who throw 10 mph faster are afraid of challenging; he'll throw creampuffs over the center of the plate in hitter's counts just to get the strike; he'll catch a hitter leaning out over the plate and give him something that dives, something he can touch but not smack, and watch him hit it harmlessly. Of course this only does so much. Martinez didn't win Game 2, after all, and even on his best night he's not going to do much to protect his Phillies from exposing their tattered bullpen. But in a Series that has seen many pitchers of infinitely more impressive physical gifts do active harm to their cause by not pitching smart baseball, it will be nice to see someone who may be beaten but won't, under any circumstances, beat himself. 2. He wants Reggie's record Speaking of pitching strategy, one key for the Yankees as they try to stave off a Game 7 will be pitching Chase Utley, who seems incapable of hitting the ball any way but squarely right now. What you'd usually want to do is pitch down and in, but Utley has such quick hands that this doesn't necessarily do much, and all of Andy Pettitte's pitches break away from left-handed hitters anyway. Utley probably won't get anything to hit, and he'll quite likely see the unintentional intentional walk, as Ryan Howard is in a miserable funk and can't really hit left-handers. That still leaves the issue of Jayson Werth. A very strong hitter slugging .755 this postseason and with a particular taste for balls moving in toward him is not a man you want to set up by putting a runner on first a lot. 3. Momentum Baseball is not basketball or soccer. One team can't take the ball away from the other. A team can't practice collective strategy. There's no way for a middling player to take advantage of an opponent over-covering a stronger one. There's no way for a better-conditioned or younger team to actually run a worse-conditioned or older one to exhaustion. So even if there weren't voluminous statistical proof that there is no such thing as momentum in baseball, there would still be no reason to credit the idea that there is. If the Phillies have momentum it wouldn't mean a thing. They'll try to score runs and not allow them, and the Yankees will do the same, and one will do these things better than the other. That's it. 84941 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/813/744/thumb/tim-marchman-fannation.jpg 3 IL

Tim Marchman

Chicago 814404

2009-11-03T13:31:30-05:00

Per a press release, Jim Fannin, a mental coach who claims to have counseled "twenty-four MLB all-stars, five MVPs and four Cy Young Award winners," offers 10 reasons for Alex Rodriguez's recent excellence. My favorite is No. 7 -- "His jaw is unhinged at the plate." Not offered for some reason: "Great hitters hit." So that explains it

2009-11-03T12:31:38-05:00

2009-11-03T12:31:38-05:00 Per a press release, Jim Fannin, a mental coach who claims to have counseled "twenty-four MLB all-stars, five MVPs and four Cy Young Award winners," offers 10 reasons for Alex Rodriguez's recent excellence. My favorite is No. 7 -- "His jaw is unhinged at the plate." Not offered for some reason: "Great hitters hit." 84801 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/813/744/thumb/tim-marchman-fannation.jpg 3 IL

Tim Marchman

Chicago 814404

100

Hot Stove News Tracker The Latest Buzz from around the Majors 221

2009-03-15T13:51:29-04:00

The Indians, Pirates and Mets, who have long had interest in Cooperstown-bound pitcher Pedro Martinez, have been joined by the Dodgers. And according to Martinez's agent Fern Cuza, a couple more additional teams have recently entered the mix. Martinez apparently sparked extra interest with a scoreless cameo for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. But while executives with four different teams tell SI.com that they're interested at some price, that price still may not be Pedro's price, which is between $5 million and $8 million, according to those executives. Agent says several teams interested in Pedro

2009-03-14T13:30:23-04:00

2009-03-14T13:30:23-04:00 The Indians, Pirates and Mets, who have long had interest in Cooperstown-bound pitcher Pedro Martinez, have been joined by the Dodgers. And according to Martinez's agent Fern Cuza, a couple more additional teams have recently entered the mix. Martinez apparently sparked extra interest with a scoreless cameo for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. But while executives with four different teams tell SI.com that they're interested at some price, that price still may not be Pedro's price, which is between $5 million and $8 million, according to those executives. Baseball executives with three of the interested teams suggest a gap remains between Pedro's figures and what they're willing to pay. Martinez's asking price could be considered reasonable given the $5 million guaranteed deals that John Smoltz and Brad Penny got, said two executives, but both suggested the sinking economy and completed payrolls may make that a reach now. Martinez has said publicly that he wouldn't pitch for as little as $1 million guaranteed, and would instead prefer to remain on his fishing boat if he can't get what he believes he's worth. But his performance in the WBC and expanded interest should guarantee he'll easily beat that figure, even in a brutal and worsening market. Cuza said he would begin sorting out the interest early next week with callbacks to the interested teams. In some cases, it may take a GM going back to his owner to request an expanded budget. One club executive said he believes Martinez prefers the National League, but Cuza characterized Martinez's thinking as "open'' to other alternatives. "What he's looking for is a chance to win,'' Cuza said. Martinez enhanced his chances to get closer to what he seeks with a very nice three-inning performance for the Dominican Republic before it was shockingly eliminated by the Dominican Republic "Pedro feels better than his first year with the Mets,'' Cuza said. The agent declined to name or confirm any of the interested teams, but baseball executives say Los Angeles, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and the Mets all have some level of interest. Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti and manager Joe Torre publicly spoke of some interest within the last few days. The Dodgers were mentioned as a potential match on SI.com a month ago. The Indians "have an eye on Pedro but are tapped out (financially),'' according to someone familiar with their situation. The Pirates are monitoring the situation but also aren't believed likely to meet Martinez's asking price. Martinez has said he'd love to go back to the Mets, but he and New York remain far enough apart financially that that scenario seems fairly remote. Martinez, who made $53 million in his four years in New York, has fans in the organization in GM Omar Minaya and pitching guru Guy Conti. But right now the Mets are most seriously considering Livan Hernandez plus youngsters Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell for their fifth starting job. Should Martinez's price drop, the Mets still might get back into the mix, however. 57141 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/100/64/thumb/Heyman_Jon.png 0 NY

Jon Heyman

New York 10084

2009-03-08T22:19:58-04:00

Manny Ramirez's new $45-million, two-year Dodgers deal is worth $42,005,723 according to the union filing obtained by SI.com. Ramirez is to be paid $25 million for 2009 and $20 million for 2010. But the actual payouts are as follows: $10 million in '09, $10 million in '10, $8.33 million in '11, $8.33 million in '12 and $8.33 million in '13. He is to receive no interest on the deferred payments, bringing the value down nearly $3 million from $45 million to $42 million. For Ramirez, the key is the ability to void thee contract after 2009, at which point he can become a free agent. A full no-trade provision is also in the contract. Breaking down Manny's new contract

2009-03-06T20:55:36-05:00

2009-03-06T20:55:36-05:00 Manny Ramirez's new $45-million, two-year Dodgers deal is worth $42,005,723 according to the union filing obtained by SI.com. Ramirez is to be paid $25 million for 2009 and $20 million for 2010. But the actual payouts are as follows: $10 million in '09, $10 million in '10, $8.33 million in '11, $8.33 million in '12 and $8.33 million in '13. He is to receive no interest on the deferred payments, bringing the value down nearly $3 million from $45 million to $42 million. For Ramirez, the key is the ability to void the contract after 2009, at which point he can become a free agent. A full no-trade provision is also in the contract. 55521 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/100/64/thumb/Heyman_Jon.png 0 NY

Jon Heyman

New York 10084

2009-03-05T14:28:08-05:00

Rodrigo Lopez signs minor-league deal with Phillies

2009-03-05T14:28:08-05:00

2009-03-05T14:28:08-05:00 Free agent pitcher Rodrigo Lopez signed a minor league deal with the Phillies, SI.com has learned. Lopez last pitched in the major leagues with Colorado in 2007, going 5-4 in 14 starts with a 4.42 ERA. 55081 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/100/64/thumb/Heyman_Jon.png 0 NY

Jon Heyman

New York 10084

2009-11-12T11:50:31-05:00

Manny Ramirez is flying to Los Angeles for a face-to-face meeting with Dodgers owner Frank McCourt amid great optimism that a deal can finally be forged. The Manny-McCourt meeting is expected to be the ultimate step in finalizing the long-discussed two-year, $45 million contract with a player opt-out clause after one, assuming all goes well. Negotiations have been contentious at times, and the main parties apparently want to meet to patch up their differences before spending the next one or two years together. Ramirez's travel plans suggest an extremely positive development in the ultra-difficult negotiations between the mercurial superstar and the storied franchise. Manny, Dodgers move closer to 2-year, $45M deal

2009-03-03T23:22:25-05:00

2009-03-03T23:22:25-05:00 Manny Ramirez is flying to Los Angeles for a face-to-face meeting with Dodgers owner Frank McCourt amid great optimism that a deal can finally be forged. The Manny-McCourt meeting is expected to be the ultimate step in finalizing the long-discussed two-year contract with a player opt-out clause after one, assuming all goes well. Negotiations have been contentious at times, and the main parties apparently want to meet to patch up their differences before spending the next one or two years together. Ramirez's travel plans suggest an extremely positive development in the ultra-difficult negotiations between the mercurial superstar and the storied franchise. The deal is still not quite done, according to Dodgers sources. However, there appears to be optimism on all sides. Ramirez was quoted on the Los Angeles Times Web site speaking optimistically about playing for the Dodgers. It is believed the deal will be for the same $45 million -- $25 million for 2009 and $20 million for 2010 -- they've been talking about for quite awhile. Ramirez would have the option to opt out after the first year. McCourt had been threatening in recent days to "start from scratch,'' or "start fresh,'' but it appears the deal is close to the same structure and money they've long been discussing. ESPN Deportes Enrique Rojas first reported the sides had an agreement Tuesday evening, and while the sides have maintained that no deal is in place, it appears likely that they are headed that way. 54661 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/100/64/thumb/Heyman_Jon.png 0 NY

Jon Heyman

New York 10084

2009-03-03T20:42:38-05:00

Cabrera agrees to one-year, $4 million deal with A's

2009-03-02T17:15:22-05:00

2009-03-02T17:15:22-05:00 Free agent shortstop Orlando Cabrera has agreed to a one-year, $4 million contract with the Oakland A's, SI.com has confirmed. Cabrera hit .281 with 57 RBIs and 93 runs in 161 games last season for the White Sox. This has been an active offseason for the Athletics, who traded for Matt Holliday and brought back Jason Giambi with a one-year deal. Oakland will be the fifth team Cabrera has played for during his 11-year career. He's a .274 career hitter and has won two Gold Gloves. Yahoo! Sports first reported the agreement. 54261 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/100/64/thumb/Heyman_Jon.png 0 NY

Jon Heyman

New York 10084

329

In The Paint SI.com's All-American Hoops Blog SI.com writers bring you the latest from the world of college basketball, seven days a week. 281

2009-03-09T02:30:01-04:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/27401/douglas.jpg" alt="Douglas" width="298" height="375" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Might Toney Douglas-led FSU be an ACC dark horse? Michael Tureski/Icon SMI</div> </div> One week away from Selection Sunday, everyone's battling for their tournament lives. Northern Iowa secured its spot today with an overtime win over Illinois State in the MVC final. Northwestern probably continued its tournament drought (barring a Big Ten tournament win) with a loss to Ohio State, Davidson lost its chance at an automatic bid (and probably any other) with a loss to the College of Charleston and North Carolina played like a No. 1 seed in a win over Duke in the legendary ACC showdown. Didn't have time to sit in front of the TV today? Here's some highlights: • So when Michael Jordan came to the regular season finale of Duke-Carolina, did he get a larger round of applause than Tyler Hansbrough? Questionable. Hansbrough may be no MJ quite yet, but he certainly earned his cheers today – he scored 17 points in the Heels’ 79-71 win in Chapel Hill. But the real hero of the game was Ty Lawson, who was rumored to be sidelined with a stubbed toe and finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. More good news for North Carolina: the Tar Heels shot 53 percent from the floor and clinched the ACC regular season conference title.<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=52623&vendorId=200903080413&vendorVisitTeam=173&vendorHomeTeam=413&pageType=recap"></a> <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=52584&vendorId=200903080213&vendorVisitTeam=620&vendorHomeTeam=213&pageType=recap"></a> A tournament without Steph Curry? A wrap-up of Sunday's action

2009-03-08T22:02:50-04:00

2009-03-08T22:02:50-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/27401/douglas.jpg" alt="Douglas" width="298" height="375" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Might Toney Douglas-led FSU be an ACC dark horse? Michael Tureski/Icon SMI</div> </div> By Nina Mandell One week away from Selection Sunday, everyone's battling for their tournament lives. Northern Iowa secured its spot today with an overtime win over Illinois State in the MVC final. Northwestern probably continued its tournament drought (barring a Big Ten tournament win) with a loss to Ohio State, Davidson lost its chance at an automatic bid (and probably any other) with a loss to the College of Charleston and North Carolina played like a No. 1 seed in a win over Duke in the legendary ACC showdown. Didn't have time to sit in front of the TV today? Here's some highlights: • So when Michael Jordan came to the regular season finale of Duke-Carolina, did he get a larger round of applause than Tyler Hansbrough? Questionable. Hansbrough may be no MJ quite yet, but he certainly earned his cheers today – he scored 17 points in the Heels’ 79-71 win in Chapel Hill. But the real hero of the game was Ty Lawson, who was rumored to be sidelined with a stubbed toe and finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. More good news for North Carolina: the Tar Heels shot 53 percent from the floor and clinched the ACC regular season conference title.<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=52623&vendorId=200903080413&vendorVisitTeam=173&vendorHomeTeam=413&pageType=recap"></a> <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=52623&vendorId=200903080413&vendorVisitTeam=173&vendorHomeTeam=413&pageType=recap">[RECAP</a>|<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=52623&vendorId=200903080413&vendorVisitTeam=173&vendorHomeTeam=413&pageType=boxscore">BOXSCORE]</a> • A.D. Vassallo played an incredible game to try to keep the Hokies’ tournament dreams alive, but Toney Douglas and Florida State had some other plans. Douglas scored 16 second-half points to bring the Seminoles past Virginia Tech and gave his squad the look of an ACC tournament darkhorse. "I feel like I can score whenever I want," Douglas said. We’ll see what the winner of Clemson/Georgia Tech has to say about that next week. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=54403&vendorId=200903080628&vendorVisitTeam=120&vendorHomeTeam=628&pageType=recap">[RECAP</a>|<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=54403&vendorId=200903080628&vendorVisitTeam=120&vendorHomeTeam=628&pageType=boxscore">BOXSCORE]</a> • Kalin Lucas scored 21 points as Big Ten regular-season champ Michigan State topped Purdue 62-51. The Spartans out-rebounded the Boilermakers 50-32 and held them to just over 28 percent shooting. But most importantly for the darkhorse Final Four candidates: will they shave <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/134579-dont-hesitate-tom-izzo-shave-your-dome-asap">Tom Izzo’s head now?</a><a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=52623&vendorId=200903080413&vendorVisitTeam=173&vendorHomeTeam=413&pageType=recap"> </a> <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=52623&vendorId=200903080413&vendorVisitTeam=173&vendorHomeTeam=413&pageType=recap">[RECAP</a>|<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=52623&vendorId=200903080413&vendorVisitTeam=173&vendorHomeTeam=413&pageType=boxscore">BOXSCORE]</a> • Down by four at the half, James Johnson put up all but four of his 21 points in the second half and Al-Farouq Aminu scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Demon Deacons past ACC-rival Clemson. The win puts Wake at the second seed for the ACC conference tournament that begins March 12 in Atlanta.<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=54403&vendorId=200903080628&vendorVisitTeam=120&vendorHomeTeam=628&pageType=boxscore"> </a> <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=54403&vendorId=200903080628&vendorVisitTeam=120&vendorHomeTeam=628&pageType=boxscore">[RECAP|BOXSCORE</a>] • Will this be a tournament without Steph Curry? Looks like it. The College of Charleston topped the Wildcats in the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals as Curry went just 5 of 18 from the floor and 2 of 11 from the three (he finished with 20 points). Other than watching one of America’s most prolific scorers flounder, the game was pretty ugly as a whole: College of Charleston shot just 21.2 percent from the floor in the first half and 32.8 percent overall. On the other end, Davidson shot only 31.6 percent overall. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=52584&vendorId=200903080213&vendorVisitTeam=620&vendorHomeTeam=213&pageType=recap">[RECAP]</a>   <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/08/index.html?contestId=52584&vendorId=200903080213&vendorVisitTeam=620&vendorHomeTeam=213&pageType=recap"> </a> 55701

SI.com's Blog

New Hartford 99587

2009-03-20T01:03:48-04:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/27381/griffin2.jpg" alt="Griffin2" width="298" height="375" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Blake Griffin has posted 25 double-doubles this season. AP</div> </div> As conference tournaments commence, the Wooden Watch comes to a close. 'Tis the nature of things. See where the NCAA's best rank in the final Wooden Watch of the season. 1.  Blake Griffin, Oklahoma, So. (Last week: No. 1) Last game: 33 points, 14 rebounds, two assists, two steals, one block, 12-for-15 from the field in an 82-78 win over Oklahoma State on March 7. Season averages: 22.1 ppg, 14.2 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.3 bpg, 1.2 spg, 63.4 fg% Wooden Worth: The Pope's catholic, human beings need air to breathe and Griffin's going to win Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year honors. It's as close to a given as these things can be. Griffin constantly found new ways to amaze this season, from his total dominance on the defensive boards to his tomahawk jams to his lavishly embroidered sports coat and sizeable diamond studs. His 25 double-doubles set an Oklahoma single-season record and tied him with Drew Gooden for second all-time in the Big 12. To really wrap your head around the extent of his dominance, consider this: Griffin amassed more double-doubles than 13 Top 25 teams did wins. If he hadn't missed time with a concussion, it's reasonable to assume he would have notched at least one more, giving him more double-doubles than 19 Top 25 teams had wins. Now that he's back to full health, Griffin will look to lead the underrated Sooners to a No. 1 seed and NCAA tournament run. Wooden Watch race is all but finished

2009-03-08T20:34:31-04:00

2009-03-08T20:34:31-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/27381/griffin2.jpg" alt="Griffin2" width="298" height="375" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Blake Griffin has posted 25 double-doubles this season. AP</div> </div> As conference tournaments commence, the Wooden Watch comes to a close. 'Tis the nature of things. See where the NCAA's best rank in the final Wooden Watch of the season. 1.  Blake Griffin, Oklahoma, So. (Last week: No. 1) Last game: 33 points, 14 rebounds, two assists, two steals, one block, 12-for-15 from the field in an 82-78 win over Oklahoma State on March 7. Season averages: 22.1 ppg, 14.2 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.3 bpg, 1.2 spg, 63.4 fg% Wooden Worth: The Pope's catholic, human beings need air to breathe and Griffin's going to win Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year honors. It's as close to a given as these things can be. Griffin constantly found new ways to amaze this season, from his total dominance on the defensive boards to his tomahawk jams to his lavishly embroidered sports coat and sizeable diamond studs. His 25 double-doubles set an Oklahoma single-season record and tied him with Drew Gooden for second all-time in the Big 12. To really wrap your head around the extent of his dominance, consider this: Griffin amassed more double-doubles than 13 Top 25 teams did wins. If he hadn't missed time with a concussion, it's reasonable to assume he would have notched at least one more, giving him more double-doubles than 19 Top 25 teams had wins. Now that he's back to full health, Griffin will look to lead the underrated Sooners to a No. 1 seed and NCAA tournament run. 2. Stephen Curry, Davidson, Jr. (Last week: No. 2) Last game: 43 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals, 5-for-10 from beyond the arc in 27 minutes in an 84-68 win over Appalachian State on March 7. Season averages: 28.9 ppg, 5.7 apg, 4.3 rpg, 2.6 spg, 87.1 ft%, 38.9 3p% Wooden Worth: Davidson may not have lived up to the preseason Top 25 hype, but Curry did, and now, with the Southern Conference tournament under way and an at-large bid to the big dance on the line, he's leading his team when it counts the most. His 43 point performance against Appalachian on Saturday was a SoCon tourney record (imagine if he'd played more than 27 minutes…), and it was his 14th 30-plus (and fourth 40-plus) point game of the season. Though he's been an offensive force all year, Curry's shown there's more to his game than pretty rainmakers. With former point guard Jason Richards gone to the NBA, Curry got a chance to showcase his court vision and passing skills, improving his assist-per-game average from 2.8 and 2.9 his first two seasons to 5.7 this year. On a capable but not gifted team, Curry's been a master puppeteer, deftly setting up his teammates' scoring opportunities and snatching the ball from opponents to the tune of nearly three steals per game. Shot selection (and a propensity to gnaw on his mouth guard) may be the only real flaw in Curry's game. 3. DeJuan Blair, Pitt, So. (Last week: No. 5) Last game: Eight points, eight rebounds, three blocks in 28 minutes in a 70-60 win over UConn on March 7. Season averages: 15.6 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 1.5 spg, 1 bpg, 59.6 fg% Wooden Worth: Blair slowed down at bit at season's end, failing to notch a double-double in the final four games. Still, he, like Griffin, averaged a double-double for the season and dominated when it mattered most. Blair's player-of-the-year candidacy will suffer because he plays alongside Levance Fields and Sam Young, two players vital to Pitt's success. Fields boasts the nation's best assist-to-turnover ratio and is just the type of unselfish court general capable of leading Pitt in March, while Young's a versatile and at times unstoppable scorer. But make no mistake, Blair's the most valuable cog on the nation's best team. For proof, look at Pitt's inability to win this season when foul trouble limited Blair's minutes and aggressiveness (until Saturday's game against UConn, that is, when Blair picked up a couple early ones but managed to play effectively, if not outstandingly). It's been the Wooden Watch mantra all season, but it bears repeating: Nothing short of foul trouble can stop Blair, who's been the nation's best offensive rebounder and an all-around beast down low. Maybe voters will throw in some bonus points for all those wide smiles. 4. James Harden, Arizona State, So. (Last week: No. 3) Last game: 20 points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals in an 83-66 win over Cal on March 7. Season averages: 20.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.7 spg, 35.7 minutes Wooden Worth: A late-season three-game skid cost the Sun Devils a shot at their first-ever Pac-10 title, but one man can only carry a team so far. Harden's been incomparable this season, doing everything and anything his team requires. His stats may not be gaudy, but he's the Pac-10's leading scorer despite playing on a team with a tempo as slow as molasses (though molasses may drip more rapidly than the Sun Devils, the nation's 331st slowest-paced team). Plus, consider the company in which he's about to find himself. Harden's poised to join Dwyane Wade, Ricky Minard, Brandon Roy, Reggie Williams and George Hill as the only players to average 20 points, five rebounds, four assists in a season and shoot 50 percent. Harden's been the model of consistency all season and has avoided wearing down despite logging more than 35 minutes in every game since Jan. 15. Arizona State fans chanted "one more year!" as the super sophomore attempted a first-half free-throw against Cal. Though he'll likely enter the NBA draft, Harden's made himself a Sun Devil legend in just two seasons. 5. Tyler Hansbrough, UNC, Sr. (Last week: No. 7) Last game: 17 points, eight rebounds, two blocks, five fouls in a 79-71 win over Duke on March 8. Season averages: 21.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 52.8 fg%, 85.4 ft% Wooden Worth: As discussed throughout the season, Hansbrough's numbers (particularly rebounding) are down slightly from last season's player of the year stats. And as discussed, point guard Ty Lawson's been the engine that's made the Tar Heels roar all season and arguably deserves this spot more than Hansbrough. But Hansbrough's played all season with a bull's-eye on his back, both on the court and in newsrooms everywhere. His numbers are still good, and so it's easy to say "they're not as good as last year," because his past success has put him more squarely under the microscope. One could argue Hansbrough's only finishing in the top five because of last season's momentum and expectations and then turn around and argue, just as soundly, that he's not higher up because he's being punished for his failure to just barely live up to past success. Bottom line: When the tournament rolls around, the Tar Heels and their fans will anxiously await seeing Psycho T take the court, and his opponents will dread it. 6. Hasheem Thabeet, UConn, Jr. (Last week: No. 8) Last game: 14 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks in a 70-60 loss to Pitt on March 7. Season averages: 13.6 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 4.5 bpg, 64.1 fg% Wooden Worth: Like most legends who find themselves in front of a microphone every day or so, Coach Jim Calhoun has a tendency to exaggerate. But when he called Thabeet "the most powerful force in America," he really meant it. Thabeet lost his first battle with Blair this season, but to be fair, he also almost lost an arm. Aside from a handful of forgettable performances, Thabeet was, without question, the most dominant defensive force in the country. Those 10-plus rebound nights are nice, but what really separates Thabeet from other centers is his ability to completely alter an opponent's inside game. Indeed, his 4.5 blocks per game stem as much from the unnatural shots he forces his opponents to take as from his extreme height and wing span. Thabeet's capable of putting up monster offensive numbers, too, but UConn features a beautifully balanced offensive attack and so his services are, simply but, not always necessary. 7. Luke Harangody, Notre Dame, Jr. (Last week: No. 4) Last game: 31 points, 12 rebounds, one block, one assist in a 74-55 win over St. John's on March 6. Season averages: 23.7 ppg, 12.1 rpg, 2.2 apg, 78 ft% Wooden Worth: On stats alone, Harangody's having arguably the best season in the country, and certainly an individual season on-par with Griffin. But his team's inability to win has sent him tumbling down the player of the year standings. Unlike Curry and Harden, who also play for good-but-not-great teams, Harangody's monster nights rarely correlate with Notre Dame's success. And so while he's been outstanding -- as a scorer, rebounder and free-throw shooter -- it hasn't mattered. 8. Tyreke Evans, Memphis, Fr. (Last week: Not ranked) Last game: 17 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, four steals, one block in a 74-47 win over Tulane on March 7. Season averages: 16.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.7 apg, 2.1 spg, 28.5 min Wooden Worth: Without an experienced point guard on their roster, the Tigers knew they'd experience some growing pains this year without Derrick Rose. And go through growing pains they did -- for a month. Then Evans stepped up and emerged as one of the top freshman in the country. Though Evans isn't a true point guard and hasn't shot well (or often) from deep, he's routinely used his superior athleticism and size to penetrate defenses, creating shots for himself and scoring opportunities for his teammates. He's filled in so admirably for Rose that the Tigers could land a No. 1 seed for the second year in a row. 9. Jerel McNeal, Marquette, Sr. (Last week: No. 6) Last game: 25 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals in 45 minutes in an 86-79 OT loss to Syracuse on March 7. Season averages: 20.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.9 apg, 2.1 spg, 40.7 3p% Wooden Worth: It's been rough sailing lately for the Eagles, losers of four in a row and six of their last nine, but McNeal's been a model of consistency all season. He hasn't been able to make up for fellow senior guard Dominic James' absence, but as stated last week, he couldn't do much more than he'd already been doing. McNeal's shown a lot of heart and hustle and the leadership he's exhibited has been as impressive as his consistent scoring and stingy defense. 10. Jodie Meeks, Kentucky, Jr. (Last week: Not ranked) Last game: 15 points, five rebounds, two steals in a 60-53 loss to Florida on March 7. Season averages: 24. 7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.4 spg, 40.8 3p% Wooden Worth: The Wildcats, like most SEC teams, have struggled this season, but Meeks deserves credit for most of their success. Because Kentucky and the SEC are having down years, Meeks hasn't received the attention and praise he deserves, but he's been a lethal scorer and a leader all season. He's been forced to shoulder the offensive load, taking the highest percentage of his team's shots of any player in D-I, and he's delivered in admirably efficient fashion. On the Cusp: Ty Lawson (UNC), Cole Aldrich (Kansas), Jon Brockman (Washington), Terence Williams (Louisville), Jeff Teague (Wake Forest) 55681 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/845/68/thumb/rubin_mallory.jpg 0 NY

Mallory Rubin

84868

2009-03-07T23:55:25-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/2009/writers/the_bonus/02/26/sam.young/Young.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="300" height="393" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Sam Young is UConn's worst nightmare. (AP)</div> </div> This is what it comes down to. The regular season is either on the brink or already passed for Division I college hoops teams, and the pressure leading up to the NCAA Tournament is quickly mounting. And this weekend is already shaping into one of the most significant to date. Why? Because Pittsburgh proved it reigns supreme. Because a number of regular-season conference titles were claimed. Because a handful of senior players (Gasp! They stayed all four years!) put on show-stopping performances. And because bracketologists can officially start to sweat over their office pool(s), as some new bids have officially been named. So pull yourself together and take a look at what's gone down so far this weekend.   <ul type="disc"> <li>Prepare to be enlightened. Sam Young's giving a lesson in How To Go Out In Style 101. First order of business, drop 31 on the No. 1 team, Connecticut. While you're at it, go ahead and grab 10 boards. Then, knock in a layup to halt a 12-0 run by the Huskies, and quickly follow with an alley-oop to teammate Levance Fields for a slam - one that will bring the house down. Next, to make sure Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun knows that no matter how much money his team brings in and no matter who he has defending you, they won't be able to stop you. And finally, complete a season-sweep of the Huskies, with a 70-60 beating. Once you master those topics, you, too, can be like Young in his final home game as a Pittsburgh Panther.</li> </ul> The dominating performance by he 6-foot-6 forward marked he second time he's put the hurt on Connecticut this season. In February, he led the Panthers to a 76-68 win over the Huskies by dropping a game-high 25 points. This time around, though, Young didn't get as much help from DeJuan Blair, who was only able to put up eight points, while UConn's big man Hasheem Thabeet had 14 points and 13 rebounds. With Louisville's win (next bullet), Pitt won a tiebreaker over UConn for the No. 2 seed in the Big East tournament. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=53133&vendorId=200903070465&vendorVisitTeam=129&vendorHomeTeam=465&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=53133&vendorId=200903070465&vendorVisitTeam=129&vendorHomeTeam=465&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a>   Pitt's poet, Louisville's title, and more

2009-03-07T19:22:04-05:00

2009-03-07T19:22:04-05:00   <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/2009/writers/the_bonus/02/26/sam.young/Young.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="300" height="393" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Sam Young is UConn's worst nightmare. (AP)</div> </div> This is what it comes down to. The regular season is either on the brink or already passed for Division I college hoops teams, and the pressure leading up to the NCAA Tournament is quickly mounting. And this weekend is already shaping into one of the most significant to date. Why? Because Pittsburgh proved it reigns supreme. Because a number of regular-season conference titles were claimed. Because a handful of senior players (Gasp! They stayed all four years!) put on show-stopping performances. And because bracketologists can officially start to sweat over their office pool(s), as some new bids have officially been named. So pull yourself together and take a look at what's gone down so far this weekend.   <ul type="disc"> <li>Prepare to be enlightened. Sam Young's giving a lesson in How To Go Out In Style 101. First order of business, drop 31 on the No. 1 team, Connecticut. While you're at it, go ahead and grab 10 boards. Then, knock in a layup to halt a 12-0 run by the Huskies, and quickly follow with an alley-oop to teammate Levance Fields for a slam - one that will bring the house down. Next, to make sure Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun knows that no matter how much money his team brings in and no matter who he has defending you, they won't be able to stop you. And finally, complete a season-sweep of the Huskies, with a 70-60 beating. Once you master those topics, you, too, can be like Young in his final home game as a Pittsburgh Panther.</li> </ul> The dominating performance by he 6-foot-6 forward marked he second time he's put the hurt on Connecticut this season. In February, he led the Panthers to a 76-68 win over the Huskies by dropping a game-high 25 points. This time around, though, Young didn't get as much help from DeJuan Blair, who was only able to put up eight points, while UConn's big man Hasheem Thabeet had 14 points and 13 rebounds. With Louisville's win (next bullet), Pitt won a tiebreaker over UConn for the No. 2 seed in the Big East tournament. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=53133&vendorId=200903070465&vendorVisitTeam=129&vendorHomeTeam=465&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=53133&vendorId=200903070465&vendorVisitTeam=129&vendorHomeTeam=465&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a>     <ul> <li>With a 62-59 win over West Virginia, Louisville clinched the Big East regular-season title and the top seed in the conference tournament. Terrence Williams led the way with 20 points for the Cardinals, while WVU freshman Kevin Jones scored a season-high 19. The game was Big East-esque as the two teams battled it out until the final shot. With the score 62-58, the Mountaineers' Da'Sean Butler attempted a final three, but it bounced off the rim as the clock wound down. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=53136&vendorId=200903070636&vendorVisitTeam=314&vendorHomeTeam=636&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=53136&vendorId=200903070636&vendorVisitTeam=314&vendorHomeTeam=636&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a></li> </ul>     <ul type="disc"> <li>Despite Pitt's dynamite win, Game of the Day goes to No. 25 Syracuse vs. No. 13 Marquette. After trailing by one at the half, ‘Cuse came back to defeat the Golden Eagles 86-79 in overtime, thanks to Jonny Flynn and Andy Rautins. Flynn scored 20 of his 24 points after the break, while Rautins hit some key buckets to secure the victory for the Orange. His 3-pointer with 2:29 left in overtime gave Syracuse an 80-77 lead, but Marquette's Lazar Hayward cut the lead to one with a couple of freebies at the line. Seconds later, Rautins dropped in a layup with 1:23 left to bump the score to 82-79. Syracuse scores four more at the foul line, the buzzer sounds, Jim Boeheim gets happy. However, with star point guard Dominic James on the sidelines (foot), Marquette's senior Jerel McNeal gave a solid performance, scoring a game-high 25 points (and this was Senior Day, mind you), while teammates Wesley Matthews and Jimmy Butler both inked double-doubles. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=54641&vendorId=200903070339&vendorVisitTeam=553&vendorHomeTeam=339&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=54641&vendorId=200903070339&vendorVisitTeam=553&vendorHomeTeam=339&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a></li> </ul>   <ul type="disc"> <li>How good is Memphis? So good that it can have an "off" day and still beat a team 74-47. Such was the case today, and such was the score against Tulane.  With the win, the fifth-ranked Tigers closed another perfect season -their third-straight -- in Conference USA, extended their winning streak to nation-leading 22 games, marked their 58th-straight victory in the conference and, AND, handed a few of their seniors - Robert Dozier, Antonio Anderson and Chance McGrady - 132 wins in their four-year careers. Not too shabby. But it didn't stop there. Dozier, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Tulane, was just one of three Memphis players to have double-doubles. Frosh Tyreke Evans (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Shawn Taggert (14 and 10) were the others. Can you say Final Four-bound? <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=54515&vendorId=200903070349&vendorVisitTeam=598&vendorHomeTeam=349&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=54515&vendorId=200903070349&vendorVisitTeam=598&vendorHomeTeam=349&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a></li> </ul>   <ul type="disc"> <li>Out to prove it's worthy of an NCAA Tournament bid, Texas A&M took down No. 15 Missouri, 96-86, marking the Aggies' sixth-straight victory and squashing Mizzou's hopes of a conference title. The Aggies led nearly the entire game and even broke away to a 26-point lead with 16 minutes left. Though Mizzou was able to cut the lead with some strong runs in the second half, it couldn't catch Texas A&M. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=50813&vendorId=200903070587&vendorVisitTeam=367&vendorHomeTeam=587&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=50813&vendorId=200903070587&vendorVisitTeam=367&vendorHomeTeam=587&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a></li> </ul>   <ul type="disc"> <li>UCLA came thisclose to getting a piece of the Pac-10 crown (see next bullet), thanks to Josh Shipp and Darren Collison. The No. 20 Bruins routed Oregon 94-68, as Shipp scored 28 and Collison contributed 19. Shipp, who dropped 27 points on Oregon State less than 48 hours prior, picked up his 130th start to pass Earl Watson for most in school history. See, Shipp took Sam Young's class on going out in style. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=51929&vendorId=200903070606&vendorVisitTeam=449&vendorHomeTeam=606&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=51929&vendorId=200903070606&vendorVisitTeam=449&vendorHomeTeam=606&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a></li> </ul>   <ul type="disc"> <li>Say hello to the new Pac-10 kings. With a 67-60 win over Washington State, the 16th-ranked Washington Huskies are now conference champions for the first time since 1953. In the win, senior Jon Brockman, who opted to stay close to home instead of playing at ACC powerhouse Duke, tied a career-high 18 rebounds in his final home game (Sam Young style). Quincy Pondexter led the Huskies with 16 points, while Venoy Overton, the net-cutting and floor-storming ringleader, had 14. Washington State's Taylor Rochestie had 23 points, despite struggling in the first part of the game. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=54974&vendorId=200903070630&vendorVisitTeam=632&vendorHomeTeam=630&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=54974&vendorId=200903070630&vendorVisitTeam=632&vendorHomeTeam=630&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a></li> </ul>   <ul type="disc"> <li>I'll make this short and sweet, because, by now, you probably know what's coming: fourth-ranked Oklahoma won (beat Oklahoma State 82-78) and Blake Griffin was disgustingly tremendous. He had 33 points and 14 rebounds to set a Big 12 record and pass Kansas' Drew Gooden for the season record with 425 boards. Gross. (Quick side note: Oklahoma State guard James Anderson actually topped Griffin with 37 points.) <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=51841&vendorId=200903070444&vendorVisitTeam=446&vendorHomeTeam=444&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=51841&vendorId=200903070444&vendorVisitTeam=446&vendorHomeTeam=444&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a></li> </ul>   <ul type="disc"> <li>Props to Seth Davis on this one. Even though defending champion Kansas lost to Texas Tech earlier in the week, the Jayhawks bounced back to beat No. 9 Texas 83-73 (<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/seth_davis/03/06/what.to.watch/index.html?eref=T1">I believe Seth predicted an 80-71 finish</a>). Sherron Collins, who shot a dismal 3-for-19 from the field on Wednesday, had 21 points and seven assists in the win, and the Rock Chalk Jayhawks went on to claim their fifth Big 12 title. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=50783&vendorId=200903070287&vendorVisitTeam=585&vendorHomeTeam=287&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=50783&vendorId=200903070287&vendorVisitTeam=585&vendorHomeTeam=287&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a></li> </ul>   <ul type="disc"> <li>And the Kentucky slide continues. The Wildcats lost again, this time to Florida (60-53) who managed to stop the bleeding after losing three straight. Could this lead to a Kentucky-less NCAA Tournament? Well, if the ‘Cats don't win the conference tournament next week, it most definitely will. As for Florida, even with the win, the Gators may still be NIT-bound unless they continue their winning ways in the SEC tourney. That pressure I was talking about? Yeah, Kentucky and Florida are feeling it. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=51206&vendorId=200903070210&vendorVisitTeam=292&vendorHomeTeam=210&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=51206&vendorId=200903070210&vendorVisitTeam=292&vendorHomeTeam=210&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a></li> </ul> <div>   <ul type="disc"> <li>In Auburn, it was Korvotney Barber's senior night. The 6-foot-7 senior forward had a double-double in the first half alone to help Auburn beat No. 12 LSU, 69-53. Barber finished with 16 points and 17 rebounds, and Auburn snagged its eighth win in nine games. It also became the only SEC team to beat both West Division champion LSU and East Division champion Tennessee. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=51252&vendorId=200903070028&vendorVisitTeam=319&vendorHomeTeam=28&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=51252&vendorId=200903070028&vendorVisitTeam=319&vendorHomeTeam=28&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a></li> </ul>   <ul type="disc"> <li>Senior day all around.  After being honored in front of thousands of screaming Sun Devil fans and receiving a framed No. 4 jersey, Arizona State senior Jeff Pendergraph put on a 27-point, 10-rebound spectacle to lead his team past the Golden Bears, 83-66. Arizona State finished with a third-place tie in the Pac-10, but Pendergraph finished his regular-season career with a standing ovation and high-fives from his peers. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=50035&vendorId=200903070018&vendorVisitTeam=95&vendorHomeTeam=18&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=50035&vendorId=200903070018&vendorVisitTeam=95&vendorHomeTeam=18&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a></li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li>This is what every team works for: a chance to vie for the NCAA Championship. Aside from the aforementioned top teams, three others have inked their names among the 65 who will get that chance. With an 83-58 rout of Penn on Friday, Cornell celebrated its Ivy League title and automatic bid into the Tournament (the Ivy League doesn't have a conference tournament). <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/06/index.html?contestId=51005&vendorId=200903060131&vendorVisitTeam=460&vendorHomeTeam=131&pageType=recap">RECAP</a></li> </ul> Radford, with the help of 6-foot-11 Artsiom Parakouski's 26 points and 18 rebounds, defeated VMI 108-94 to win the Big South Conference championship -- the Highlanders' first in 11 years. Of course, the victory also gave Radford its second tournament bid. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=55668&vendorId=200903070483&vendorVisitTeam=621&vendorHomeTeam=483&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=55668&vendorId=200903070483&vendorVisitTeam=621&vendorHomeTeam=483&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a> East Tennessee State can celebrate its eighth overall NCAA Tournament bid. Behind Mike Smith's 22 points, the Buccaneers beat Jacksonville 85-68 to win the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=55703&vendorId=200903070281&vendorVisitTeam=176&vendorHomeTeam=281&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=55703&vendorId=200903070281&vendorVisitTeam=176&vendorHomeTeam=281&pageType=boxscore ">BOX SCORE</a> Morehead State defeated Austin Peay, 67-65, for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament title, as Steve Peterson's only bucket of the game was the winning one. The victory gave Morehead State its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 25 years. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=55704&vendorId=200903070032&vendorVisitTeam=375&vendorHomeTeam=32&pageType=recap">RECAP</a>  |  <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/03/07/index.html?contestId=55704&vendorId=200903070032&vendorVisitTeam=375&vendorHomeTeam=32&pageType=boxscore">BOX SCORE</a>  </div>     55581 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/976/28/thumb/nicki_jhabvala.jpg 5 NY

Nicki Jhabvala

New York 97928

2009-03-06T18:38:13-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img title="Elliot Williams" src="http://www.si.com/2009_images/eliot-williams.jpg" alt="Elliot Williams" width="300" height="410" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Elliot Williams/AP </div> </div> By Elizabeth McGarr The first time Duke met North Carolina this season, on Feb. 11, the Tar Heels overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to beat the Blue Devils in Durham. When No. 7 Duke meets No. 2 UNC in Chapel Hill this Sunday, the Tar Heels will notice one major difference: Elliot Williams. The 6-foot-4-inch freshman guard watched from the bench the last time the two teams met (and had been averaging 2.5 points and 10.6 minutes per game). He broke into the starting lineup eight days later, against St. John's at Madison Square Garden, and has now started five games in a row-all Duke wins. During that stretch, he has averaged 11.6 points and 31.4 minutes per game. SI.com caught up with the chess-loving Memphis native, who is ready to make his mark on the Battle for Tobacco Road.   SI.com: How did you develop a love for playing chess? Elliot Williams: I started out as when I was five or six years old and just got interested in the game. My father played a lot and my brother played a lot, so it was kind of like an in-house thing. We just played for fun. In high school, I would play a lot, but I didn't take it too seriously. I wasn't in the chess club. Now, for the most part, I just play on the computer when we're on the plane. I'm pretty good. I would rate [my chess game] a 7 out of 10 maybe. I haven't played against other competitive players in a while.   SI.com: Have you found any fellow chess enthusiasts among your teammates? EW: Not at all. I've asked, but not too many people play here.   Q&A with ... Duke's Elliot Williams

2009-03-06T15:45:23-05:00

2009-03-06T15:45:23-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img title="Elliot Williams" src="http://www.si.com/2009_images/eliot-williams.jpg" alt="Elliot Williams" width="300" height="410" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Elliot Williams/AP </div> </div> By Elizabeth McGarr The first time Duke met North Carolina this season, on Feb. 11, the Tar Heels overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to beat the Blue Devils in Durham. When No. 7 Duke meets No. 2 UNC in Chapel Hill this Sunday, the Tar Heels will notice one major difference: Elliot Williams. The 6-foot-4-inch freshman guard watched from the bench the last time the two teams met (and had been averaging 2.5 points and 10.6 minutes per game). He broke into the starting lineup eight days later, against St. John's at Madison Square Garden, and has now started five games in a row-all Duke wins. During that stretch, he has averaged 11.6 points and 31.4 minutes per game. SI.com caught up with the chess-loving Memphis native, who is ready to make his mark on the Battle for Tobacco Road.   SI.com: How did you develop a love for playing chess? Elliot Williams: I started out as when I was five or six years old and just got interested in the game. My father played a lot and my brother played a lot, so it was kind of like an in-house thing. We just played for fun. In high school, I would play a lot, but I didn't take it too seriously. I wasn't in the chess club. Now, for the most part, I just play on the computer when we're on the plane. I'm pretty good. I would rate [my chess game] a 7 out of 10 maybe. I haven't played against other competitive players in a while.   SI.com: Have you found any fellow chess enthusiasts among your teammates? EW: Not at all. I've asked, but not too many people play here.   SI.com: I've heard you're an NBA trivia buff. How did you cultivate your knowledge of NBA trivia? EW: When I was younger, I used to watch NBA TV a lot. I would just keep the channel on that and watch that all day. A lot of my friends back in Memphis, they're into that too, so we would just test each other on trivia. We would quiz each other and talk about what went on in the show.   SI.com: You've said that you considered giving up basketball in junior high.  What happened to make you stick with it? EW: In ninth grade I was small, so I had a lot of guard skills. That year, I grew a lot [from 5-10 to around 6-3], and I kept those guard skills, which helps me out a lot now. I got a little bit more athletic, and I grew from there.    SI.com: You've put on some weight since high school. How did you do it? EW: I came in at 167 and now I'm 180, 181. I just lift weights and eat correctly. We have a good strength trainer here, and he makes sure that we get the right amount of protein in. I wasn't eating as much as I am now; that's one of the main things that put on weight for me. With my body type, I can really eat anything. I don't usually eat pizza, but I've had to try to eat that [at night] to gain weight. I've heard that's one of the best ways to put on weight: late-night eating.    SI.com: When did you find out you were going to start in the St. John's game? EW: A couple practices before that game, I had a really good practice. Coach said he was going to go with me. It was after practice, and he just brought me into his office and told me I had been doing well and that he was ready for me to make that jump.    SI.com: You had already started against UNC-Asheville, in Durham, on Dec. 17. What was it like starting at Madison Square Garden? EW: Madison Square Garden is one of the best places to play at. Coming in as a freshman and starting in that venue, it was great for me. I just wanted to do the best I could and play great on-ball defense and just attack when I could. My teammates knew, from the practices, that I was going to [start]. I decided not to tell my parents because I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself. They watched the game and texted me after. They said they were proud of me and to stay hungry and keep up the good work.   SI.com: You were on the bench the last time Duke played UNC. What has been going through your mind this week, knowing you'll have your first opportunity to play in one of the biggest rivalry games in college basketball? EW: I wouldn't say I have any nerves, being that I didn't play in the game last time. I'm pretty anxious to play. I'm just going to go out and do the things I've been doing the last couple of games. I've been proud [of the way I'm] always bringing intensity, helping out my teammates, putting good ball pressure on opposing players, dribbling and coming in and just picking my spot on offense.   SI.com: You had averaged around 10 minutes per game before the St. John's match-up. Now you're averaging around 30. To what extent was conditioning a factor in making that transition?  EW: That transition has been great. One of the things I've been trying to do is just have a lot of energy out on the court. When you look at earlier in the season, when I was averaging 10 minutes, you wouldn't think that I would be in the shape I'm in, but playing in the games, you get in better shape. One of the things I've been trying to do is get extra running in during practice and just get ready to play.   SI.com: You were a McDonald's All-American, a very highly touted recruit coming out of high school, but you hadn't gotten a lot of time on the court at Duke before the St. John's game. Have people started treating you differently on campus or recognizing you more frequently? EW: No, not really. Our fans here, they're pretty loyal. I've gotten love ever since the start.  The basketball players at Duke are pretty recognized anyway. 55421

SI.com's Blog

New Hartford 99587

2009-03-08T17:40:55-04:00

<div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img title="Greivis Vasquez" src="http://www.si.com/2009_images/vasquez.jpg" alt="Greivis Vasquez" width="300" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Greivis Vasquez/AP </div> </div> “That's Fez. He's a foreign exchange student.” --Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher), That 70’s Show Foreign stars in the college game are nothing new; think Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/magazine/basketball/college/news/1999/02/16/cb0222/ ">Vasco Evtimov </a>(OK, bad example). Chalk it up to the globalization of the game, or the belief that, like<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKYl6y8qGqw"> Prince Akeem</a>,  they can all come to America to find their queen. Whatever the cause, players are coming from far <a href="http://uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/aboya_alfred00.html">(Cameroon)</a> and even farther <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Soo_Kim">(South Korea)</a> to play the game. The Tenth Power has broken down the numbers and the cultural barriers to bring you the 10 best Fezs in the game today. 1. Hasheem Thabeet, C UConn (Tanzania). His offensive game is still a work in progress and he struggles against bulkier bigs (see Luke Harangody, Arizne Onuaku and DeJuan Blair <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WASWhKKQfY">but Thabeet remains</a> the nation's premier shot-blocker and the latest African-born center to star in the Big East. Am I the only one who every time an African player pops up has flashes of Kevin Bacon scouring <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109067/">villages for talent?</a>  2. Patrick Mills, G Saint Mary’s (Australia). From the Men at Work music that pipes through the McKeon Pavilion speakers to the <a href="https://www.nmnathletics.com/sellnew/ViewItem.dbml?_IN_STORE_=YES&DB_OEM_ID=21400&ITMID=26822&ITMCATID=2451">"Fear the Roo" T-shirts</a>,  Saint Mary's has become <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNT7uZf7lew">Cali's Land Down Under</a>.  The best of the Gales' five-man Aussie contingent, Patty's star rose after an impressive showing in the Beijing Olympics on the Australian National Team. The fleet-footed guard's return from a broken hand could be Saint Mary's key to an NCAA at-large bid. The Tenth Power

2009-03-06T11:47:46-05:00

2009-03-06T11:47:46-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img title="Greivis Vasquez" src="http://www.si.com/2009_images/vasquez.jpg" alt="Greivis Vasquez" width="300" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Maryland point guard Greivis Vasquez hails from Venezuela/AP </div> </div> “That's Fez. He's a foreign exchange student.” -- Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher), That 70’s Show Foreign stars in the college game are nothing new; think Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/magazine/basketball/college/news/1999/02/16/cb0222/ ">Vasco Evtimov </a>(OK, bad example). Chalk it up to the globalization of the game, or the belief that, like<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKYl6y8qGqw"> Prince Akeem</a>,  they can all come to America to find their queen. Whatever the cause, players are coming from far <a href="http://uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/aboya_alfred00.html">(Cameroon)</a> and even farther <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Soo_Kim">(South Korea)</a> to play the game. The Tenth Power has broken down the numbers and the cultural barriers to bring you the 10 best Fezs in the game today. 1. Hasheem Thabeet, C UConn (Tanzania). His offensive game is still a work in progress and he struggles against bulkier bigs (see Luke Harangody, Arizne Onuaku and DeJuan Blair) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WASWhKKQfY">but Thabeet remains</a> the nation's premier shot-blocker and the latest African-born center to star in the Big East. Am I the only one who every time an African player pops up has flashes of Kevin Bacon scouring <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109067/">villages for talent?</a>  2. Patrick Mills, G Saint Mary’s (Australia). From the Men at Work music that pipes through the McKeon Pavilion speakers to the <a href="https://www.nmnathletics.com/sellnew/ViewItem.dbml?_IN_STORE_=YES&DB_OEM_ID=21400&ITMID=26822&ITMCATID=2451">"Fear the Roo" T-shirts</a>,  Saint Mary's has become <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNT7uZf7lew">Cali's Land Down Under</a>.  The best of the Gales' five-man Aussie contingent, Patty's star rose after an impressive showing in the Beijing Olympics on the Australian National Team. The fleet-footed guard's return from a broken hand could be Saint Mary's key to an NCAA at-large bid. 3. Greivis Vasquez, G Maryland (Venezuela). One of three Venezuelans in the college ranks (along with Marquette's David Cubillan and Rutgers' Gregory Echenique), Vasquez is the only one with a triple-double on his resume, which he had in the Terrapins' <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/02/21/index.html?contestId=54391&vendorId=200902210343&vendorVisitTeam=413&vendorHomeTeam=343&pageType=recap">upset of North Carolina</a>. His love/hate relationship with <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/128865-how-greivis-vasquez-reclaimed-college-park">Maryland fans</a> is so dramatic it's like the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWlNZDchrjQ">stuff of a telenovela.</a> 4. A.J. Ogilvy, C Vanderbilt (Australia). Yes, another Aussie. It sort of feels like that Crocodile Dundee era when everyone was obsessed with all things Aussie <a href="http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Crocodile-Dundee">for about six weeks</a>.  Ogilvy, a sophomore, would be higher on this list had he not taken a step back as the Commodores' centerpiece this season. Still, his 15.9 points and seven rebounds a game are nothing to scoff at. 5. Denis Clemente, G Kansas State (Puerto Rico). OK, technically Puerto Rico is a self-governing unincorporated territory <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico">of the United States</a>, but it’s not a state so Clemente still fits the qualifications. The second cousin of Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto, Denis has earned himself quite a reputation this season with the elbow to Kansas' <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM_JLr4EB2U">Brady Morningstar's head </a>and punching <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X-yQtWUj_o">Tyrel Reed</a> in the head. Those issues aside, since mid-January Clemente has averaged 18 points and scored 44 vs. Texas and 33 against Missouri. 6. Daniel Hackett, G USC (Italy). The junior has found himself in the news this season for the wrong reasons. First, there's the NCAA investigation into whether he and his father, Rudy, USC’s strength and conditioning coordinator, <a href="http://www.ocregister.com/articles/hackett-usc-rudy-2313849-espn-son">were a "package deal"</a>; then he reportedly got into a shoving match with <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3930328">teammate Dwight Lewis</a>. He is doing some headline-worthy things on the court for the enigmatic Trojans, standing third in the Pac-10 in assists (4.8) and is scoring 14.6 points per game in the last six outings. 7. A.D. Vassallo, G-F Virginia Tech (Puerto Rico). The Hokies' leading scorer (18.9 ppg) and one of the ACC's leading three-point shooter, Vassallo has a thirst for dunking on guys (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M57f0n2jezA">exhibits A </a>and <a href="http://www.yougotdunkedon.com/2009/03/virginia-techs-ad-vassallo-dunks-on.html">B oh</a>, and for <a href="http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/college/college_football/article/TECHGAT24_20081223-211503/161184/">Dr. Pepper.</a>  8. Samardo Samuels, F-C Louisville (Jamaica). After his blazing start, the 6-foot-9, 260-pound former USA Today National high school Player of the Year appeared to be a lock for the Big East Rookie of the Year. He's slowed down, but it’s still hard to argue with Samuels' credentials (12 ppg, 4.8 rpg) or his toughness after getting his two front teeth knocked <a href="http://video.aol.com/video-detail/samardo-samuels-talks-teeth/3326886518/?icid=VIDLRVSPR04">out against St. John's. </a> 9. Luke Nevill, C Utah (Australia). Nifty's pro potential may not be bright as the last Aussie to play the position for the Utes (former No. 1 pick Andrew Bogut) but Nevill appears to be following in Bogut's footsteps I putting Utah in line to make the tourney. He's having a career year as a senior, averaging 17 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2. 8 blocks and he's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHvpcckgps8">added a little fire to his game.  </a> 10. Jonathan Tavernari F BYU (Brazil). Tavernari is best known for being on the receiving end of a disturbing <a href="http://deadspin.com/337087/lets-take-off-this-mask-and-see-who-you-really-are">Three Stooges-style eye poke </a>and had to be silenced by the Cougars staff for riling up Wake Forest earlier this season. <a href="http://www.cougarblue.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19563&Itemid=90"> But there is substance</a> with the drama as he forms a potent duo with Lee Cummard in delivering 16.4 points and 7.3 boards per game.  55341 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/471/4/thumb/mccartney_cory.jpg 15 GA

Cory McCartney

Atlanta 4734

243

Luke Winn: At The Dance An inside look at March Madness 321

2009-08-30T13:26:35-04:00

Michigan State tops 2009 preseason rankings

2009-04-07T14:39:54-04:00

140

2009-04-07T14:39:54-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_center" style="width: 615px;"> <div class="photo"><img title="Kalin Lucas" src="http://www.si.com/2009_images/lucas-msu.jpg" alt="Kalin Lucas" width="615" height="357" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">With Kalin Lucas returning to the Spartans next year, expect MSU to be in a place for another shot at a title AP </div> </div> DETROIT -- College basketball in the post-Tyler Hansbrough Era: less shot-putting, more uncertainty. There will be no clear-cut No. 1 entering next season, as there was when Hansbrough and teammates Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington opted to return to North Carolina to chase a national title. The best candidate may be the team that was manhandled on Monday night. As upsetting as that finale must have been for Michigan State -- the Spartans lost by 17 to the Tar Heels, and will lose seniors Goran Suton and Travis Walton -- it'll be trotting out the best starting five in college hoops next season, with Kalin Lucas at the point, Chris Allen (or Korie Lucious) at shooting guard, Durrell Summers at the wing, and Raymar Morgan and Delvon Roe at the forward spots. And that lineup, at this very early juncture (I'm writing this from the airport on the way back from the Final Four) makes Michigan State my pick for 2009-10's preseason No. 1. My entire top 10 includes all of '09's Final Four teams, and, assuming a host of players turn pro -- Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, North Carolina's Lawson and Ellington, Arizona State's James Harden, Memphis's Tyreke Evans, UConn's Hasheem Thabeet, Pitt's DeJuan Blair, Wake Forest's James Johnson and Duke's Gerald Henderson -- looks like this: 1. Michigan State If only the Final Four were in Detroit again: Motown products Lucas and Summers (as well as Ohioans Morgan and Roe) will lead a Spartans team deep and talented enough to make another title run. Like the Tar Heels did after getting embarrassed by Kansas in 2008, the Spartans can rebound from a big-stage loss and use it as a springboard for a magical season. 2. Kansas A second national title in three years is a possibility, especially if the Jayhawks land top shooting guard Xavier Henry, who reopened his recruitment after John Calipari left Memphis. Henry might be lured back to the Tigers -- for whom his brother, C.J., currently plays -- if new coach Josh Pastner <a href="http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=535834">hires the boys' father, Carl</a>, as his new director of basketball operations. But will Xavier want to pass up the chance to join forces with the fearsome inside-outside duo of point guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich, who emerged as a premier defensive force this season? 3. Syracuse Noticing a theme? Our top three teams feature the nation's top three point guards. As long as Jonny Flynn returns for his junior year, the Orange will have their entire starting lineup back and should be the favorite to win a less-loaded Big East. In Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins, Flynn has two of the best perimeter targets in the country. 4. Connecticut The big question in Storrs regards coach Jim Calhoun: Is he leaning toward retirement as the possibility of NCAA sanctions looms? Among the incentives to stay is the trio of Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson, who are capable of leading the Huskies back to the Final Four. Freshman forward Ater Majok, who couldn't gain eligibility in time to join the Huskies for the '08-09 season, is regarded as a potential offensive star. 5. Villanova The guard ranks will be ridiculously deep -- McDonald's All-Americans Dominic Cheek and Maalik Wayns join a strong backcourt crew that could return intact -- but the frontcourt will miss Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson. If coach Jay Wright can find a way for his vaunted recruiting class to coexist with current backcourt talents Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher, the Wildcats will be dangerous once again. 6. Duke The Blue Devils are finally adding some quality size in 6-9 Ryan Kelly (a faceup power forward) and 6-10 Mason Plumlee (a traditional center), who could help potential All-America Kyle Singler on the glass. Sophomore Elliot Williams should flourish in his first full season at the point -- but he could be moved off the ball if the Blue Devils land top recruit John Wall, whom coach Mike Krzyzewski is making a late push to lure to Durham. 7. Purdue The Boilers could break through to the Elite Eight or beyond -- as long as the L5 vertebra fracture that plagued Robbie Hummel this year doesn't continue to nag him as a junior. Frontcourt mate JaJuan Johnson had a breakout year as a sophomore and was key in getting the team to the Sweet 16. As a junior he should battle Michigan State's Lucas for Big Ten Player of the Year honors. 8. North Carolina In Ed Davis, Deon Thompson, Tyler Zeller and newcomer John Henson, the Heels will have an NBA-level frontcourt rotation. But how good will their speed game be without Lawson? The pressure will be on sophomore Larry Drew II to efficiently run the break, and senior Marcus Ginyard, who took a medical redshirt and missed the title run, will have to add some offense to his defense-heavy game. 9. West Virginia This should be Bob Huggins' best team yet in Morgantown, in part because matchup nightmare Devin Ebanks will take the Big East by storm as a sophomore. The Mountaineers lose only gunner Alex Ruoff, but forward Da'Sean Butler, one of the nation's best under-the-radar scorers, can pick up the slack. 10. Oklahoma Guard Willie Warren wants to come back "without Blake Griffin to see how good [he is]"-- and there's a chance Warren could be an All-America as a sophomore. Two McDonald's All-Americans, point guard Tommy Mason-Griffin and big man Keith "Tiny" Gallon, are joining him, so the Sooners should finish near the top of the Big 12 again. WILD CARD: Kentucky In their current state, the Wildcats shouldn't be near the top 20. But how will they look once new coach John Calipari is done building his first-year roster? The best-case scenario in Lexington could yield a team capable of chasing a national title. If lethal scorer Jodie Meeks, who plans to test the draft waters as a junior, can be convinced to return along with sophomore Patrick Patterson, and Calipari can reel in elite recruits John Wall (who had been considering Memphis) and DeMarcus Cousins (who previously committed to Memphis), then Kentucky will be scary. Landing Wall, the top prep point guard in the country, is the key, because there's no one on UK's present roster who can make Calipari's Dribble-Drive Motion offense run in high gear. The Next 10: 11. Texas; 12. Gonzaga; 13. Washington; 14. UCLA; 15. Missouri; 16. Butler; 17. Minnesota; 18. Clemson; 19. Dayton; 20. Xavier 60921

Luke Winn

New York 4563

2009-04-12T16:25:08-04:00

Tar Heels' Tourney Romp Ends With Title

2009-04-07T03:35:54-04:00

2009-04-07T03:35:54-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_center" style="width: 615px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/31841/atd.unc.si.jpg" alt="Atd" width="614" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">The 2009 Tar Heels took their place beside the 2005 champions with a dominating run through the NCAA tournament. John Biever/SI</div> </div> DETROIT -- The heckling always came in summertime pickup games at the Dean Dome, when players from North Carolina's 2005 national-title team would square off against the ringless members of the program's current roster. The worst offenders were Sean May, Raymond Felton, and Melvin Scott, who tended to end any dispute -- over things as trivial as foul calls -- by pointing to the rafters and asking, "Have you put a banner up there?" The answer, for the entire careers of current stars Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Tyler Hansbrough, had been no. And so in the aftermath of Monday's 89-72 national-championship game rout of Michigan State (<a href="/2009/basketball/ncaa/mens-tournament/04/06/uncmsu.game/index.html" target="_blank">RECAP</a> | <a href="/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2009/04/06/index.html?contestId=56212&vendorId=200904060413&vendorVisitTeam=358&vendorHomeTeam=413&pageType=boxscore" target="_blank">BOX</a>), some of the Tar Heels' thoughts turned to bragging rights. As Lawson said, before breaking into one of his trademark, devilish grins, "I mean, what can they say now?" Nothing, really, given the magnitude of the rout: The Tar Heels scored 55 first-half points and led by 21 at the break -- both title-game records -- and essentially put the game away in the first 10 minutes. It was an epic beatdown that brought Carolina its fifth championship and sucked the life out of a record crowd of 72,922 in Detroit, an economically struggling city that had rallied around Michigan State's fairy-tale ride to the final. Ellington was named MOP after scoring 19 points, but it was Lawson who was masterful, getting to the free-throw line for 18 attempts (and converting 15 of them) to finish with 21 points, six assists and an amazing eight steals. On Sunday, he had reminisced about acting out approximately 20 different NCAA-championship buzzer-beater scenarios on his Fisher Price hoop as a child: "Sometimes I needed a three to win it, sometimes I was on the free-throw line, sometimes I was making a last-second drive when we were down one," Lawson said, "and we won every single time." But when a writer tried to goad Lawson into saying that he was dreaming of making an actual, last-second shot on Monday, he said, "I hope it won't be that close. I like blowouts better." A blowout is exactly what Lawson got -- one much like the 35-point massacre that occurred the first time the two teams met, on Dec. 3, in the same building. He and Ellington had talked to each other about not starting slow, the way they did against Kansas in last year's Final Four, when they came out shell-shocked and fell behind 40-12. Instead, they were the ones giving Michigan State what coach Tom Izzo described as that "deer-in-the-headlights look," as the Spartans trailed 21-7, then 32-11, then 46-22 and 55-34 at half. Izzo's floor leader, senior guard Travis Walton, admitted that "it was a blur the first five minutes, when they jumped out on us so fast." When the Tar Heels finally subbed out their starters, en masse, with 1:03 left in the game, they led 89-70, and Lawson still hadn't broken much of a sweat. "Close games are nerve-wracking," Lawson said. "When you have a blowout, everyone has fun. Even my boy Marc" -- he nodded toward walk-on Marc Campbell, who had replaced him -- "got in and got some time on a national stage." As confetti streamed down from the Ford Field ceiling in the aftermath, the player who appeared to be having the most fun was the one who had, up to that point, been the most robotic and businesslike. Hansbrough, who arrived in Roy Williams' first recruiting class following that '05 national title, beamed as he bear-hugged his coach on the court, and later jumped into the arms of Carolina strength coach Jonas Sahratian, the man responsible for giving Hansbrough the nickname Psycho T during his freshman year. "This," Sahratian said, "was the biggest day of Tyler's life, I think. It's what he'd been working for." Despite winning the Wooden and Naismith Awards as a junior, Hansbrough's legacy was ultimately going to be defined by whether or not he added a banner to the Dean Dome rafters. Sitting in the locker room with one of the nets around his neck, and 18 points and seven rebounds in the box score, Hansbrough felt he had put an appropriate coda on his college career, and declared, "Whoever said [I'm] not validated, I'm validated right now." This win over Michigan State also validated the entire North Carolina team, which, like it or not, would have been regarded as an underachiever had it not won the national title. The Heels began the season as the AP Poll's unanimous No. 1, and were also heavy title favorites in Las Vegas -- but then they started 0-2 in the ACC, with losses to Boston College and Wake Forest, and, as Williams said, "everybody jumped off the ship." Their defense appeared to be lacking with senior specialist Marcus Ginyard out of the lineup, and Lawson in particular was being shown up by guards such as Tyrese Rice and Jeff Teague. But Williams gathered them together in the locker room after that second loss in Winston-Salem, and, in front of everyone, asked a question to assistant coach Steve Robinson, who had also been on Williams' staff at Kansas: "Coach, do you remember 1991, what we started out the season?" "We started out 0-2," Robinson said. "Do you remember where we finished that season?" "We played Duke for the national championship." And so Williams told his team that, if they did what the coaching staff asked, then they'd have a chance and "be there at the end." The Tar Heels were more than just there in this NCAA tournament. They blitzed their way through the bracket, beating Radford by 43 in the first round, LSU by 14 in the second, Gonzaga by 21 in the Sweet 16, Oklahoma by 12 in the Elite Eight, Villanova by 14 in the Final Four and Michigan State by 17 in the final. Carolina only trailed its opponents for 10 minutes during the entire dance. They stepped up their defense, especially on the perimeter, when it became necessary, and put on an exhibition in the title game, forcing the Spartans in to 21 turnovers and just 40 percent shooting. Carolina lost just four games all season, but, as senior guard Bobby Frasor said, "If we had played D like this all year, it could have been special." There was a sense, coming into Monday night's title game, that the Tar Heels might be running up against something special -- a pre-ordained, fairy-tale story for the state of Michigan. Legendary Spartans point guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson had called them a "team of destiny" on Saturday, and it seemed that Michigan State could be the right team (having knocked off two-straight No. 1 seeds), playing at the right time (the 30th anniversary of Magic's title) in the right city (Detroit, which desperately needed an emotional diversion from its failing auto industry). When the Spartans ran out of their locker room, point guard Kalin Lucas -- one of two Motor City products -- yelled, "Let's win this for the city!" A raucous crowd -- clad in approximately 65 percent green and white -- was waiting for them in the stands, and those same fans lustily booed Carolina when it took the floor. Late Saturday night, after they beat Villanova to clinch a trip to the title game against the home-state team, Williams had told his players to prepare for the atmosphere at Ford Field as if it were more familiar, hostile territory: "Coach said, 'It's like going into Cameron again,'" said Frasor, referring to Duke's home court, where he and Hansbrough are 4-0. "And for us to make them quiet from the get-go, that was huge." As the Spartans faded quickly, so did the power of their fan advantage. It took them until the 7:33 mark of the second half to reach the 55 points Carolina had scored in the first half, and the building was so quiet with 3:25 left in the game, and Carolina up 15, that a Michigan State dance team member could be heard saying, "C'mon, State! We still believe in you!" Not many others in the stands seemed to share that feeling. Seconds later, Lawson sunk two free throws to extend UNC's lead to 17. Carolina came into the game exuding the confidence of a club that, as even Johnson admitted in a pregame press conference with 1979 NCAA final foe Larry Bird, was "the best team in basketball, when you look at it talent-wise." Izzo said on Sunday that the only way the Spartans could win was to have a game plan that altered Carolina's identity, because, "If we play good and they play good, we're losing." The Heels were unfazed by Izzo scheming that took them out of their transition game; they managed to win despite scoring just four fast-break points -- the same amount that Michigan State did. They taunted Sparty, Michigan State's mascot, in the tunnel beforehand -- Danny Green yelled in his face a few times, and someone said from a distance, "Sparty's just a b----!" When the Heels charged out of their locker room for the final time before the game began, they created an intimidating amount of noise in the tunnel, by clapping in rhythm, barking, and chanting "Here ... We ... Go!" From there the Heels went, unfazed by the crowd, and steamrolled Michigan State to win what was expected of them in the preseason: the national title. After they'd watched One Shining Moment together on the floor, with Williams, who had the other net around his neck, standing amongst them, they raced back to the locker room to perform a final ceremony. As is Williams' tradition during the dance, there was an empty box drawn on their whiteboard prior to the game, waiting to be filled in. What goes inside the box is the number of teams left in the NCAA tournament. They'll typically gather 'round Williams to calculate the figure, but this time the math was easy. All that needed to be written was a giant number one. 60781

Luke Winn

New York 4563

2009-05-31T21:49:39-04:00

Tourney Blog Pool: The Split Championship

2009-04-08T17:59:16-04:00

2009-04-08T17:59:16-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_center" style="width: 615px;"> <div class="photo"><img style="border: 0pt none;" title="Anderson Varejao" src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/28981/09pool.jpg" alt="Anderson Varejao" width="615" height="288" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Michael J. LeBrecht II/SI</div> </div> DETROIT -- Poolmaster Anderson Varejao has contacted us (from his lounge chair at the Four Seasons) with the final results of SI.com's Tourney Blog Pool. For the first time ever we have dual champions: Tom McCutcheon of UNC-Wilmington and Jonathan Newton of the University of New Brunswick. Tom and Jonathan tied with 159 points and both picked North Carolina as their champ. The winners were promised a bit of blog fame (including a photo!), so here goes: <div class="photo_container image_center" style="width: 615px;"> <div class="photo"><img style="border: 0pt none;" title="Pool winners" src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/31981/31pool.jpg" alt="Pool winners" width="615" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Photos taken from Facebook</div> </div> McCutcheon is history major at UNC-Wilmington who's looking to get a job in sports journalism after graduation. He's been following the Tar Heels since he was born, he says, because his father is a UNC alum. As for Tom's bracket-picking strategy, here's what he wrote us over the weekend: "Defense, rebounding, coaching and momentum. Those are things I liked about Michigan State. Of course, those things aren't fool-proof, as evidenced by what happened to Memphis. I would have picked the Tar Heels regardless of them being my team or not. They made the Final Four last year with juniors and sophomores. They returned all their players, and with a lineup of juniors and seniors -- plus more future NBA players than any other team -- I knew they were ready to cut down the nets." Newton is a second-year biology student at the University of New Brunswick who had only been in a few pools prior to this one, and the Tourney Blog pool was his first-ever victory. Here's how he described his bracket strategy: "Living in Canada, which means no ESPN, NCAA basketball isn't that well-covered before the madness begins. So my favourite team would have to be North Carolina, just because they get the most coverage, because they're usually No. 1, or they highlight Duke-UNC games. Before the brackets were due I had read a couple of articles on SI.com and found out what teams were hot and cold going into the tournament and which conferences to stay away from in general [Big Ten] and I just made the choices that I thought were the most likely to succeed and ended up here: winning this bracket." The entire Tourney Blog Pool top 10: 1. Tom McCutcheon (159) 1. Jonathan Newton (159) 3. Dennis Bastron (158) 4. Dwayne Harris (157) 5. Frank Russo (155) 6. Brian Leigh (154) 6. Cuong Nguyen (154) 6. Darinka Savcic (154) 9. Jacob Keyton (152) 10. Wilkie Colyer (151) 263. Luke Winn (121) Thanks to the 262 people (out of 1,091 brackets) who beat me, the 828 who didn't, and the rest of you who just followed the blog without participating in the pool. Hope to see you back next year. 61062

Luke Winn

New York 4563

2009-04-06T19:22:57-04:00

The Monday Night Scene

2009-04-06T18:57:39-04:00

2009-04-06T18:57:39-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_center" style="width: 615px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/31761/29det1.jpg" alt="29det1" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Luke Winn/SI</div> </div> DETROIT -- The city awoke this morning to find the ground covered with snow, which, I guess, inspired these guys to don hula skirts. Their blending of luau/<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4PN7Xbexq4" target="_blank">Sabotage</a>/superfan motifs was daring. <div class="photo_container image_center" style="width: 615px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/31782/29det4.jpg" alt="29det4" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Luke Winn/SI</div> </div> Fans get "physcially inspected" on the way in to Ford Field. I just get wanded. That's a media perk. <div class="photo_container image_center" style="width: 615px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/31821/29det6.jpg" alt="29det6" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Luke Winn/SI</div> </div> It wouldn't be a Final Four without the troll wigs. These guys riled up the UNC student section pen around 6:30 p.m. <div class="photo_container image_center" style="width: 615px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/31822/29det7.jpg" alt="29det7" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Luke Winn/SI</div> </div> It also wouldn't be a Final Four without the Jesus Freaks. This guy wasn't getting much attention from the Michigan State crowd, which only believes in Destiny. <div class="photo_container image_center" style="width: 615px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/31801/29det3.jpg" alt="29det3" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Luke Winn/SI</div> </div> I ran head-on into a training session for the flag unveiling. I'm considering borrowing one of those shiny helmets for press row tonight; on Saturday, myself and Andy Staples were nearly squashed by a flying Idong Ibok. <div class="photo_container image_center" style="width: 615px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/31781/29det2.jpg" alt="29det2" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Luke Winn/SI</div> </div> The end of the road is almost here. I pulled this stack of press credentials out of my bag before leaving the hotel. As you can see, the Final Four pass comes complete with a DMV-quality photo. Not pretty, but it'll get me where I need to go this evening. Enjoy Michigan State-UNC, and thanks for reading for the past 30-or-so days. I'll be back later with a game story. 60741

Luke Winn

New York 4563

2009-04-06T20:01:52-04:00

Is destiny enough to win a national title?

2009-04-06T10:16:35-04:00

2009-04-06T10:16:35-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_center" style="width: 615px;"> <div class="photo"><img title="Michigan State" src="http://www.si.com/2009_images/kalin-lucas.jpg" alt="Michigan State" width="615" height="375" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Michigan State has to prove it's not the team that lost to North Carolina by 35 last December Getty Images </div> </div> DETROIT -- In the aftermath, they went to the Red Lobster in Lansing, ordered shrimp and crab legs, and made resolutions. On Dec. 3, 2008, Michigan State's duo from Detroit, point guard Kalin Lucas and small forward Durrell Summers, had suffered through the indignity of a 98-63 loss to top-ranked North Carolina at Ford Field in their hometown. Lucas said he considered this nothing short of "an embarrassment." His friends and family had all been in the stands to witness the Spartans' flop. So when he and his roommate, Summers, went out to eat on Dec. 4, "We told each other that we'd do whatever it took to get back to Detroit" -- meaning the Final Four in April. Summers said they agreed on one other thing: "To never let that" -- a loss of that magnitude -- "happen again." Four months and two days after that meal, Lucas and Summers can say they've met the first goal: They went on to win the Big Ten regular-season title, earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, knock off defending champ Kansas and upset top-seeded Louisville to reach the Final Four. Once there, in front of a record crowd of 72,456, more than two-thirds of them clad in green-and-white, Michigan State beat another No. 1 seed, UConn. Lucas scored 21 and Summers added 10, and the most famous Spartan of all-time, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, stood outside the locker room and said, "This seems like a team of destiny." On the 30th anniversary of Magic's title team, the Spartans are on the precipice of winning the school's third national championship. But standing in the way of destiny is the same juggernaut that was here in December: North Carolina. Can Lucas and Summers really prevent the disaster from repeating itself? I worry that, despite the resolve of State's players, and the heartwarming side-plot of them lifting up a downtrodden Detroit, their fate may have been sealed (in a bad way) on Dec. 3. Ever heard of the blowout rule? This was a concept SI's Alex Wolff introduced in a 2001 <a href="http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1022026/index.htm">NCAA tournament preview story</a> on the subject of "toughness." Wolff wrote that only one team in the quarter-century leading up to that story -- North Carolina in 1993 -- had suffered a loss of more than 25 points and gone on to win a national title. The Tar Heels lost by 26 to Wake Forest that season, but didn't have to play the Demon Deacons in the NCAA tournament. The blowout rule has held up in every season since, too: The 2002 Maryland team came the closest to breaking it with a 21-point loss to Duke in the regular season. If I may dauntingly re-frame the rule in the context of these Spartans, consider it this way: In the three decades since Magic's team cut down the nets in Salt Lake City -- essentially the modern age of college basketball -- no team has lost a regular-season game by more than 26 points and won the NCAA tournament. Michigan State, mind you, lost to Carolina by 35. The standard disclaimer here is that the Spartans weren't the same team then that they are now. You heard it from them Sunday, and you heard it from North Carolina's players, too (Ty Lawson: "They're a different team now;" Danny Green: "They're a different team than the one we saw;" Tyler Hansbrough: "They're a different team now"). There were some extenuating circumstances surrounding that loss: Michigan State had just played three games over Thanksgiving weekend at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando; senior leader Travis Walton had to take a final exam back in East Lansing that day; and the biggest one of all, the fact that "G" -- senior center Goran Suton -- "wasn't even in the building," as coach Tom Izzo puts it. Suton had been sent back to campus the morning of the game to have his knee examined, and didn't return to the lineup until Dec. 17. But even under optimal conditions, with the Spartans at full-strength, how different would that game have been? Not all that much, Izzo admits. "If we had everybody perfect, the way [North Carolina] played that night, instead of winning by 35, they could have beat us by 20." This would have brought Michigan State out of blowout-rule territory ... but it still would have been a 20-point loss to the team its playing Monday night. So why should we believe that there's any chance of a different result in the national-title game? The hope, within the Michigan State ranks, revolves around the game plan, for Izzo is regarded as one of the best postseason coaches of all-time, having taken five teams in the Final Four in 11 years. His tactical work in this NCAA tournament has been second-to-none: In the Elite Eight he made top-overall seed Louisville, previously known as masters of the press, grind to a halt, score zero fastbreak points, and lose 64-52. In the Final Four he made UConn, previously known as masters of the paint, gain no advantage on the glass and lose 82-73. Izzo's game plans have a way of making elite teams look like shells of their former selves, and he's well aware that, given the disparity in NBA talent on the two rosters Monday night, he must make Carolina not look like Carolina. "If we play good and they play good, we're losing -- that's the way I look at it," Izzo said. "They're the best team in the country. ... But we found a way to have some teams not play as good against us. So we've just got to play good and have them play a little less than good." The Spartans' game plan for Carolina began taking shape Wednesday, when the assistant coach assigned to scout the Tar Heels, Dwayne Stephens, started poring over 15 games (or 30 hours) worth of video, which would later be cut down into a "long edit" of 400 clips. After Michigan State beat UConn in the first game on Saturday, which concluded after 8 p.m. ET, video coordinator Jordan Ott jumped into the back of a Michigan State trooper's car, carrying an external hard drive filled with game files, and was escorted back to the Somerset Inn in suburban Troy, Mich., to begin setting up clips for the coaches' arrival. Izzo left the North Carolina-Villanova game at halftime, and Ott had a 15-minute video package ready for him to review right away. The short edit -- 50 clips selected from the original 400 -- is what the coaches and team reviewed Saturday night, and the staff stayed up until 3 a.m. discussing strategy. "How well we get back and defend their 'earlies'" -- the shots they take in the first 10 seconds of the possession -- "is going to be big," Stephens said. Ott, a 24-year-old from McConnellsburg, Pa., who walked into the Michigan State basketball office two years ago and got a job as a graduate assistant, was named the team's video coordinator this offseason. His goal is to eventually get into coaching, and he's been able to witness plenty of Izzo's scouting-session genius first-hand. "He's incredible at picking up the little things," Ott said, and in the Louisville game, there were two key observations Izzo made in their film reviews at the Indianapolis Hilton: The first was that Suton could exploit the opening around the foul line in Louisville's extended zone. Suton finished the game with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting. The second was even more important: Ott and the staff went back and looked at how the Cardinals had pressed a number of different teams this season. Izzo locked in on footage of Cincinnati, which mostly cleared out and allowed point guard Deonta Vaughn to walk the ball up the floor. "Coach [Izzo] picked that up late on Saturday night," Ott said, "and he said, 'Man, this might be a way to break it.'" The Spartans slowed the game down to a Big Ten pace -- and then later, in the second half, when Louisville expected the ball to be walked up, they surprised them by having Lucas blitz the zone pressure. When scouting UConn, Ott said Izzo talked about staying low when getting position for rebounds, because if it became an "arms match" -- with Huskies big men Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien using their length and strength against the Spartans frontcourt -- then State would have little chance of winning. Suton (seven rebounds), Raymar Morgan (eight) and Delvon Roe (nine) stayed low and improbably finished even in the rebounding war 42-42. Izzo's second point was that Thabeet was so slow getting down the floor in UConn's transition game that the man guarding him could be used to "corral" Huskies guard A.J. Price, who's generally dangerous on the break. UConn scored just 10 fastbreak points compared to Michigan State's 22, and Price finished with 15 points on 5-of-20 shooting. Izzo makes a promise to his players when they head into a two-game NCAA tournament weekend: "You get me through the first game, and I feel good that I can help you get through the second." He has the information-distribution down to a science, in part gleaned from football buddies such as former Lions coach Steve Mariucci, who was in the locker room Sunday. Izzo keeps teams meetings short (to 15-20 minutes) and frequent (up to 5-6 times per day) because he feels that the game plan soaks in better that way. But North Carolina will be the biggest test of all, because none of the Spartans' schemes worked the first time around: Tyler Hansbrough gashed them for 25 points in 27 minutes, Lawson scored 17, dished out eight assists and didn't turn the ball over once, while Lucas coughed it up five times and scored just six points. The only thing the Tar Heels seemed to admire about Izzo's plan was one of his pick-and-roll plays: UNC coach Roy Williams tells his players to keep an eye out for things they like from other teams' offenses, and freshman Ed Davis said they took one of Izzo's sets and put it into their own offense the next week, calling it "Michigan State." But Davis bids Izzo good luck in figuring out how to plan against this Carolina team, even if they do use one of his own plays against him: "We have so many weapons," Davis said, "that if you stop Ty, then you've gotta stop Danny [Green], or if you stop Wayne [Ellington], then you've gotta stop Deon [Thompson], and so on, so I don't really know what possible game plan they could use." Therein lies the problem. If Carolina is playing on top of its game, it's impossible to beat, no matter what maneuvers Izzo makes, or resolutions Lucas and Summers have already made, or destiny-related feelings Magic might be having. A win on Monday night, three decades after Magic brought home the school's first title, would be a dream ending in Detroit. But only in a dream world, where the blowout rule didn't make their 35-point loss to the Tar Heels look so ominous, would it be easy to imagine the Spartans pulling off such a reversal. 60622

Luke Winn

New York 4563

NFL News Tracker The Latest Buzz From Around The League 161

2009-11-18T13:42:53-05:00

Buffalo Bills fire Dick Jauron after 3-6 start

2009-11-17T15:14:53-05:00

2009-11-17T15:14:53-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/47341/bills-fans.jpg" alt="Bills-fans" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Bills fans finally got their wish on Tuesday. :: AP </div> </div> Dick Jauron has been fired by the Buffalo Bills, becoming the first NFL head coach axed during the 2009 season. Under Jauron, the Bills are off to a 3-6 start, including Sunday's 41-17 loss to the Titans. Jauron was in his fourth season in Buffalo, compiling a 24-33 record and no playoff appearances. According to NFL.com, Bills defensive coordinator Fewell Perry will take over as interim head coach. Did Jauron deserved to be fired? Was the Bills' timing appropriate? Who will Buffalo hire in the offseason? Share your thoughts in the comments below. 86441

Dominic Bonvissuto

Brooklyn 3983

2009-11-18T20:50:35-05:00

Report: Braylon Edwards accused of assault

2009-10-05T13:55:22-04:00

2009-10-05T13:55:22-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/43801/braylon-edwards.jpg" alt="Braylon-edwards" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Braylon Edwards :: Getty Images </div> </div> Cleveland Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards did not catch a pass in Sunday's 23-20 overtime loss to the Bengals. The former first-round draft pick might have taken his frustration out later that night. From <a href="http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/10/a_cleveland_man_accuses_browns.html" target="_blank">Cleveland.com</a>: <blockquote> A-28-year-old Cleveland man accused Browns receiver Braylon Edwards of assaulting him early today at View Ultralounge & Nightclub. Edward Givens said the incident took place outside of View nightclub at 618 Prospect Ave. at about 2:30 a.m. Givens said he went to Lutheran Hospital this morning because he suffered a black eye and a cut. He said he also has a headache. The suspect's name on the police report is redacted. But multiple sources and the victim say the suspect is Edwards. </blockquote> • Cleveland man accuses Browns Braylon Edwards of assault (<a href="http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/10/a_cleveland_man_accuses_browns.html" target="_blank">Cleveland.com</a>) 79861

Dominic Bonvissuto

Brooklyn 3983

2009-09-23T01:34:56-04:00

Report: Eagles, Jeff Garcia agree to deal

2009-09-14T17:25:06-04:00

2009-09-14T17:25:06-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/42341/jeff-garcia.jpg" alt="Jeff-garcia" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Jeff Garcia :: AP </div> </div> Donovan McNabb's status for Week 2 is uncertain after the Eagles quarterback cracked a rib in Sunday's win over the Panthers. With Michael Vick suspended until Week 3, and Kevin Kolb looking shaky in relief Sunday, the Eagles needed some QB insurance for Week 2 against New Orleans. They found some, in a familiar face. From <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4472548" target="_blank">ESPN.com</a>: <blockquote> The Eagles reached agreement with quarterback Jeff Garcia, league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Monday. Garcia, a 10-year veteran, played for Philadelphia in 2006 and went 5-1 in six starts in relief of an injured McNabb. </blockquote> • McNabb uncertain; Garcia agrees (<a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4472548" target="_blank">ESPN.com</a>) <blockquote>   </blockquote> 77501

Dominic Bonvissuto

Brooklyn 3983

2009-11-17T18:42:10-05:00

Injured Bears LB Urlacher: 'Season is over'

2009-09-14T11:51:33-04:00

2009-09-14T11:51:33-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/42321/brian-urlacher.jpg" alt="Brian-urlacher" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Brian Urlacher :: Getty Images </div> </div> As if Sunday night's late loss to the rival Packers wasn't devastating enough, the Bears reportedly will have to play the rest of 2009 without their defensive leader. From <a href="http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/huddleup/2009/09/brian-urlacher-out-for-the-season-with-wrist-injury.html" target="_blank">ChicagoTribune.com</a>: <blockquote> Brian Urlacher appears to be out for the season after dislocating his right wrist, the linebacker said Monday. The team has not given the official word, but Lovie Smith is expected to address the issue during his afternoon press conference. Urlacher injured his wrist in the first quarter of Sunday's 21-15 loss to the Packers. He was ruled out after halftime. When asked about his status Monday, Urlacher said in a text message that his "season is over.''  He was scheduled to undergo surgery Monday morning upon the team's arrival back in Chicago from Green Bay. A dislocated bone had to be surgerically put back in. The surgery might have revealed more extensive damage. </blockquote> • Brian Urlacher likely out for the season with wrist injury (<a href="http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/huddleup/2009/09/brian-urlacher-out-for-the-season-with-wrist-injury.html" target="_blank">ChicagoTribune.com</a>) 77461

Dominic Bonvissuto

Brooklyn 3983

2009-10-26T12:55:55-04:00

Report: Favre on plane heading to Minnesota

2009-08-18T11:09:44-04:00

117

2009-08-18T11:09:44-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/40841/brett-favre.jpg" alt="Brett-favre" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Brett Favre :: AP </div> </div> The Minnesota Vikings' flirtation with Brett Favre is not over. From <a href="http://www.wisn.com/sports/20444893/detail.html" target="_blank">WISN.com</a>: <blockquote> According to the Hattiesburg Laurel Regional Airport, a plane with a Vikings logo on the tail left Mississippi within the hour and was headed to Minneapolis. The administrative office at the airport told WISN 12 News that Brett and Deanna Favre were on the plane. Favre had announced three weeks ago that he was staying retired, but there was a lot of speculation that it might not really be the end. </blockquote> • Report: Brett, Deanna Favre Get On Vikings Plane (<a href="http://www.wisn.com/sports/20444893/detail.html" target="_blank">WISN.com</a>) <blockquote> </blockquote> <blockquote> <blockquote> <blockquote> </blockquote> </blockquote> </blockquote> 74481

Dominic Bonvissuto

Brooklyn 3983

128

Moments That Changed the Game Golf Turning points and major moments 101

2008-12-16T11:36:26-05:00

Moments That Changed the Game Golf

2008-09-18T13:29:20-04:00

2008-09-18T13:29:20-04:00 Welcome to GOLF.com's series on Moments That Changed the Game. Our latest installment focuses on<a href="http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1866427,00.html"> the relationship between Arnold Palmer and Mark McCormack, the founder of IMG</a>. Where does this moment fit in the history of the game, and how does it compare to the <a href="http://www.golf.com/golf/moments">other turning points featured in the series</a>? 5621

MomentsInGolf

Canton 413619

Luke Winn's College Hoops Blog 261

2008-12-02T07:34:32-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/pitt2.jpg" alt="Pitt2" width="298" height="397" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Pitt's Sam Young can produce points in a variety of ways. AP</div> </div> NEWARK, N.J. -- Three things we learned from No. 4 Pitt's 57-43 win over Washington State in Saturday's Legends Classic final ... 1. There's a new signature move in college hoops. Joining the Hansbrough Shot-put, the 'Gody Jab, the Steph Curry Rainbow, and the Blake Griffin Spin ... is the Sam Young Pump-fake. As Pitt's best all-around player, and the guy who's been carrying the Panthers while the chunky duo of Levance Fields and DeJuan Blair get into shape, Young has been killing opposing defenders with his pump-fake on the perimeter, then taking long strides to the rim for dunks and trips to the foul line. "We told our guys, 'Stay down. Stay down!' He's got a world-class ball-fake," Washington State coach Tony Bennett said of Young, who went for 12 first-half points (finishing with 15) on Saturday to lead Pitt in scoring. Bennett's warnings didn't actually work, as Cougars were running by Young for much of the evening. Young loves how much players bite on the fake -- "I tell guys, I've got the best pump fake in the business," he said -- but it isn't a move he's used his whole life. He pump-faked sparingly in high school, he said, and then "did it a couple of times by accident when I was freshman [at Pitt]. I was about to really shoot it, and I didn't, and guys just flew out of the picture, and I had a clean lane to the basket. So I started doing it on purpose." The move wouldn't work if Young weren't a legitimate three-point threat. Pitt's biggest weakness is its perimeter shooting, and Young is one of its few players who must be guarded out there: He was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc on Saturday, while the rest of the Panthers were 1-of-9. "I shoot it sometimes," he admits, "just so I can set up [the fake]." What We Learned From ... Pitt-Washington State

2008-11-30T00:29:26-05:00

2008-11-30T00:29:26-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/pitt2.jpg" alt="Pitt2" width="298" height="397" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Pitt's Sam Young can produce points in a variety of ways. AP</div> </div> NEWARK, N.J. -- Three things we learned from No. 4 Pitt's 57-43 win over Washington State in Saturday's Legends Classic final ... 1. There's a new signature move in college hoops. Joining the Hansbrough Shot-put, the 'Gody Jab, the Steph Curry Rainbow, and the Blake Griffin Spin ... is the Sam Young Pump-fake. As Pitt's best all-around player, and the guy who's been carrying the Panthers while the chunky duo of Levance Fields and DeJuan Blair get into shape, Young has been killing opposing defenders with his pump-fake on the perimeter, then taking long strides to the rim for dunks and trips to the foul line. "We told our guys, 'Stay down. Stay down!' He's got a world-class ball-fake," Washington State coach Tony Bennett said of Young, who went for 12 first-half points (finishing with 15) on Saturday to lead Pitt in scoring. Bennett's warnings didn't actually work, as Cougars were running by Young for much of the evening. Young loves how much players bite on the fake -- "I tell guys, I've got the best pump fake in the business," he said -- but it isn't a move he's used his whole life. He pump-faked sparingly in high school, he said, and then "did it a couple of times by accident when I was freshman [at Pitt]. I was about to really shoot it, and I didn't, and guys just flew out of the picture, and I had a clean lane to the basket. So I started doing it on purpose." The move wouldn't work if Young weren't a legitimate three-point threat. Pitt's biggest weakness is its perimeter shooting, and Young is one of its few players who must be guarded out there: He was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc on Saturday, while the rest of the Panthers were 1-of-9. "I shoot it sometimes," he admits, "just so I can set up [the fake]." 2. Pitt can't afford to let post-trapping teams take DeJuan Blair out of games. The double-teams in Wazzu's Pack-Line Defense are well-known for frustrating big men -- see what happened to Notre Dame's Luke Harangody in the second round of the last NCAA tournament -- but how can't you get Blair, who came into the game averaging 17.0 points, more than one shot attempt in the first half? With about 6:40 left in the first half, a Pitt fan stood up and yelled at Fields, "Hey Fields! Put the ball in the paint! Give it to the big man!" It didn't get much better in the second half: Blair had just one field-goal attempt then, too, as the Cougars continued to collapse on him in the blocks. He found other ways to contribute, grabbing seven-half rebounds (to finish with 10), blocking three shots, and setting high ball-screens to let Fields get in the lane, but still, Pitt needs more than seven points out of Blair to compete with elite teams. The Panthers survived, on Saturday, by getting decent nights out of Young and Fields, and holding the Cougars to just 24.1 percent shooting in the second half. Against a better opponent -- particularly one that could create more of its own offense off of penetration, and had a decent perimeter defender to counter Young -- the result might not have been the same. 3. The next Stephen Curry-esque story might be at Washington State. Sweet-shooting 6-foot-6 guard Klay Thompson, the son of 1978 No. 1 NBA draft pick Mychal Thompson, starred at Santa Margarita High School outside of Los Angeles and desperately wanted to play in the Pac-10. Mychal told Scout.com last April that "USC was [Klay's] top choice. I practically begged coach [Tim] Floyd to recruit him. He wouldn't." That's when, Mychal said, "Tony jumped into the void." Tony is Tony Bennett, who turned out to be the only Pac-10 coach to offer Klay a scholarship. Thompson wasn't regarded as a major prospect until his senior year, when he went from being unranked in Rivals.com's 150 to No. 52; by then Bennett had already won a battle with Notre Dame, Michigan and Nevada for Thompson's services. It makes sense that Mike Brey and John Beilein, two coaches whose offenses rely heavily on the three, were chasing Thompson: He has both extensive range and the ability to shoot over most guards. Thompson, the Cougs' only underclassman starter, was averaging 13.6 points and 5.8 rebounds coming into Saturday's game, including a 19-point and 10-rebound effort againt Mississippi State in the Legends Classic semifinal. He started strong against Pitt, connecting on three of Wazzu's first four baskets, but Panther guard Jermaine Dixon, an underrated on-ball defender, dogged Thompson for the rest of the contest and held him to just seven total points. "They got real physical and tagged [Thompson]," Bennett said. "He didn't get many clean looks [after the hot start], and that's all part of learning." One suspects Thompson has some major scoring nights ahead of him. USC might want to stay on notice. There's a chance the kid is ticked that his scholarship went to Lil Romeo. 27641

Luke Winn

New York 4563

2008-12-01T09:04:45-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/oklahoma.jpg" alt="Oklahoma" width="298" height="350" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Willie Warren and Oklahoma had ample reason to celebrate. AP</div> </div> NEW YORK -- Three things we learned from No. 11 Oklahoma's 87-82, overtime win over No. 10 Purdue in the finals of the NIT Season Tip-Off ... 1. The Boilermakers provided a better template for stopping Blake Griffin than any Sooners opponent has this year ... but just got too foul-happy down the stretch. The most intriguing tactical part of this duel was that Purdue, one of the country's best defensive teams, had no direct counter for Griffin, who is 6-foot-10 and 251 pounds, and was averaging 27.2 points and 18.8 rebounds entering the game. At center, the Boilermakers either had 6-10, 215-pound JaJuan Johnson, whose legs are skinnier than Griffin's forearms; or 6-9, 247-pound Nemanja Calasan, who's a slower and less graceful version of Vlade Divac. Johnson, alone, would get run over by Griffin; Calasan would get blown away. Thus, coach Matt Painter had no other option but to enlist his four-men -- either Robbie Hummel or Marcus Green -- to sag off of Griffin's older brother, Taylor, and try to limit Blake's touches as much as possible. In the first half, this was a relative success: Blake took just six shots, almost all contested, and had just three free-throw attempts, for a total of eight points. He was visibly agitated, and looked, at times, like a whiny freshman rather than a battle-tested sophomore, begging refs to bail him out of trouble rather than finding ways to get open. As Hummel said, "We were trying not to get beat by their superstar," and the Boilers weren't, as they took a 40-36 lead into the break. When Purdue was scouting the Sooners, the scariest segments of Blake Griffin video were the spins: Hummel said he remembered one in particular where Griffin took a post feed on one block, "then spun around his guy on the baseline and reverse dunked." And so their double-teams were not just double-teams, but efforts to take away Griffin's spinning option by sealing off the baseline. Said guard Chris Kramer, "We wanted to make [Griffin] come to the middle, where our help was, because he loves that baseline. Better to make him pass or shoot over us than just jam it in from the block." What We Learned From ... Purdue-Oklahoma

2008-11-28T20:48:24-05:00

2008-11-28T20:48:24-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/oklahoma.jpg" alt="Oklahoma" width="298" height="350" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Willie Warren and Oklahoma had ample reason to celebrate. AP</div> </div> NEW YORK -- Three things we learned from No. 11 Oklahoma's 87-82, overtime win over No. 10 Purdue in the finals of the NIT Season Tip-Off ... 1. The Boilermakers provided a better template for stopping Blake Griffin than any Sooners opponent has this year ... but just got too foul-happy down the stretch. The most intriguing tactical part of this duel was that Purdue, one of the country's best defensive teams, had no direct counter for Griffin, who is 6-foot-10 and 251 pounds, and was averaging 27.2 points and 18.8 rebounds entering the game. At center, the Boilermakers either had 6-10, 215-pound JaJuan Johnson, whose legs are skinnier than Griffin's forearms; or 6-9, 247-pound Nemanja Calasan, who's a slower and less graceful version of Vlade Divac. Johnson, alone, would get run over by Griffin; Calasan would get blown away. Thus, coach Matt Painter had no other option but to enlist his four-men -- either Robbie Hummel or Marcus Green -- to sag off of Griffin's older brother, Taylor, and try to limit Blake's touches as much as possible. In the first half, this was a relative success: Blake took just six shots, almost all contested, and had just three free-throw attempts, for a total of eight points. He was visibly agitated, and looked, at times, like a whiny freshman rather than a battle-tested sophomore, begging refs to bail him out of trouble rather than finding ways to get open. As Hummel said, "We were trying not to get beat by their superstar," and the Boilers weren't, as they took a 40-36 lead into the break. When Purdue was scouting the Sooners, the scariest segments of Blake Griffin video were the spins: Hummel said he remembered one in particular where Griffin took a post feed on one block, "then spun around his guy on the baseline and reverse dunked." And so their double-teams were not just double-teams, but efforts to take away Griffin's spinning option by sealing off the baseline. Said guard Chris Kramer, "We wanted to make [Griffin] come to the middle, where our help was, because he loves that baseline. Better to make him pass or shoot over us than just jam it in from the block." Forcing Griffin to go in a certain direction -- given that he was peerless in both size and athleticism -- was not as simple as merely standing in the right place. "They were just grabbing and holding me," Griffin said of the Boilers. "I've gotten that before, but they were a little more aggressive, I guess you could say." What kept Purdue in the game early sunk them in the end, though: What passed, in the refs' eyes, as legal aggression in the first half was not allowed in the second, and while Griffin's touches were still limited in the final 25 minutes -- he was just 2-of-7 from the field in that stretch -- he got the foul line 10 more times. The game finished with a free-throw attempt disparity of 46-to-5 in Oklahoma's favor. Griffin hit two free throws with 52.2 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 74-74, sending it to overtime, where the Sooners pulled away. 2. Super-frosh Willie Warren saved the day. Blake Griffin finished with 18 points and 21 boards. Taylor, the beneficiary of Purdue's non-stop double-teams on his brother, had 19 points and eight rebounds. But there's no chance the Sooners win this game without Warren's combination of size and speed on the perimeter. The Purdue Way is to play pressure-man defense on the perimeter, flustering opposing guards into making turnovers or taking uncomfortable jumpers late in the shot clock. This usually works -- and it's how the Boilers will win the Big Ten this year -- but not against Warren, who got by Kramer, the league's defensive player of the year, and E'Twaun Moore, a preseason all-conference guard with ease on Friday. Once he had penetrated the first layer of the Purdue D, Warren used his 6-4, 207-poind frame to either score in traffic or get to the free-throw line, where he took just as many attempts as Griffin (13) and made 11, to finish with 22 points. Warren's exhibition was oddly reminiscent of Memphis' Derrick Rose blowing up UCLA's Darren Collison in last year's Final Four -- a powerful guard just having his way with an opponent who, under normal circumstances, would be a standout defender. And it turned out that Griffin had been filling his head with Rose chatter all month: "I keep telling [Warren], look at what Derrick Rose did last year," Griffin said. "[Rose] was a very unselfish player, but at the same time he could go score whenever he wanted. I feel like that's what Willie brings to our team." 3. There's no lock on the Wooden and Naismith Awards anymore. Conventional wisdom was that North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough would pull off a repeat Wooden/Naismith sweep as a senior, but he's off to a slow start with a shin injury, and honestly: On such a loaded Tar Heels team, is there any way he'll be able to put up numbers like Griffin's? Blake's stats have been Beasleyian thus far; his lowest rebound total through six games is 15 (15!) and he's already had monster nights against two ranked teams (Davidson and Purdue). Michael Beasley was hurt in player-of-the year voting because he played on a team that barely made the NCAA tournament. Oklahoma is likely to stay in the top 15 all year long, and earn a top-four seed ... which means Mr. Griffin might just be the favorite for the hardware. 27481

Luke Winn

New York 4563

2008-11-26T12:45:40-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/11/25/kelvin-sampson.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Kelvin Sampson received a five year show cause penalty.</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">AP</div> </div> Back in October, in his first week of practice at Indiana, new coach Tom Crean told me about a new pregame ritual he planned to institute for his players. Hoosier legend Isiah Thomas had spoken at an IU camp over the summer and had told the campers, "If you're good to the game, the game will be good to you." Crean liked that line enough that he had Thomas sign it on a basketball, which was placed in a display case in the Indiana locker room, where it could be tapped by Hoosier players before they took the floor for home games. Thomas, given his fate with the Knicks, may not have followed his own advice once his playing days were over, but this is beside the point; his quote had Karmic overtones, and Indiana was desperately in need of some good Karma. At a program that had been ravaged by former coach Kelvin Sampson's disregard for NCAA rules, Crean was trying to tell the rag-tag bunch he had reassembled that if they played right and acted right, good things might start to happen. Hoosier Karma

2008-11-25T16:43:50-05:00

2008-11-25T16:44:06-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/11/25/kelvin-sampson.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Kelvin Sampson received a five year show cause penalty.</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">AP</div> </div> Back in October, in his first week of practice at Indiana, new coach Tom Crean told me about a new pregame ritual he planned to institute for his players. Hoosier legend Isiah Thomas had spoken at an IU camp over the summer and had told the campers, "If you're good to the game, the game will be good to you." Crean liked that line enough that he had Thomas sign it on a basketball, which was placed in a display case in the Indiana locker room, where it could be tapped by Hoosier players before they took the floor for home games. Thomas, given his fate with the Knicks, may not have followed his own advice once his playing days were over, but this is beside the point; his quote had Karmic overtones, and Indiana was desperately in need of some good Karma. At a program that had been ravaged by former coach Kelvin Sampson's disregard for NCAA rules, Crean was trying to tell the rag-tag bunch he had reassembled that if they played right and acted right, good things might start to happen. The specter of NCAA sanctions was still hanging over Bloomington when I met with Crean in the preseason, and on this issue he was seriously in need of positive Karma. Crean knew that the NCAA had met in the week leading up to Midnight Madness, and that its final decision was coming within the next two months. His opinion on the matter was that Indiana had already suffered enough and done enough -- by firing Sampson and his entire staff, getting rid of the athletic director that hired him (Rick Greenspan), booting off so many troubled players that only two remained from '07-08, and self-imposing recruiting and scholarship penalties -- that no further sanctions were necessary. Indiana deserved to be penalized for hiring a coach who was busted for violating NCAA phone-call rules at Oklahoma, and then letting him do the exact same thing on its watch, but who would the NCAA have been punishing in November 2008? The new regime had nothing to do with the old regime's cheating ways, and Crean and Co. were doing their best to dig out of the rubble. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/ncaa/11/25/indiana.ap.ap/index.html">The NCAA's official word came down on Tuesday</a>, released to the media while the Hoosiers were in Hawaii, in the process of receiving <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/viewcast/2008/11/25/index.html?contestId=55152&vendorId=200811250535&vendorVisitTeam=271&vendorHomeTeam=535&pageType=recap">a 26-point beating</a> from St. Joseph's in the Maui Invitational. The news was better than the score of that game: Indiana would receive three years' probation, but no additional penalties beyond those self-imposed by the program in 2007. No additional scholarships lost, no additional recruiting restrictions, and no postseason ban (although that was a symbolic victory, given that there's little chance the '08-09 Hoosiers will even finish above .500). Sampson didn't get off as easily: He was hit with a five-year show cause that expires on November 24, 2013, which will effectively keep him out of the college game (if he desires to return) until the 2014-15 season. The golden parachute he received, in the form of a $750,000 buyout from Indiana and an assistant-coaching job with the Milwaukee Bucks, should soften the blow of the NCAA penalty. Former assistant Rob Senderoff received a three-year show cause, which could put his current job as an assistant at Kent State in jeopardy, since it severely restricts his ability to recruit. The biggest impact of this NCAA report is likely to be on Indiana's recruiting efforts. Now that the Sampson incident has been put completely in the past, schools competing for players with the Hoosiers can no longer "go negative" -- by insinuating that they might sign on with a school that would be banned from the NCAA tournament. Said Crean in October, "We're still going through the impact of how irresponsible recruiting can become when you want to paint a picture for a recruit that isn't necessarily real. ... There wasn't a lot of 'Hey, hang in there,' from people in the coaching world, and we get that. But we're going to be aggressive in our way too." On Nov. 13, the second day of the NCAA's early signing period for recruits, Crean <a href="http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/111308aaf.html">announced a six-player class</a> that was ranked fifth in the nation by Rivals.com. Now that they're in the clear with the NCAA -- and can still offer plenty of immediate playing time -- the Hoosiers could land another solid class in 2010, and, if all goes well, even compete for an NCAA tournament bid in 2011. There is hope, on the horizon, that the game will start being good to Indiana once again. 26781

Luke Winn

New York 4563

2008-11-26T02:15:14-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/p1.duke.jpg" alt="P1" width="300" height="508" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Nolan Smith gives Duke speed and athleticism at PG. AP</div> </div> (Or rather, three reasons not to hate on Duke's worthiness as a top-five team, following its 71-56 win over Michigan in the finals of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic ...) 1. In sophomore Nolan Smith, they now have a speedy starting point guard who can ball-pressure on D and get into the lane on offense. Smith is no virtuoso at the position yet -- the guy he supplanted in the first unit, Greg Paulus, still has better court vision -- but choosing speed and athleticism over experience is already starting to pay off. Duke was plus-18 when Smith was on the floor against Michigan, compared to just plus-four with Paulus (who, it should be noted, is nursing a hand injury). But Smith made enough smart decisions with the ball on Friday to lead the Blue Devils in scoring (with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting) and dish out four assists against two turnovers. Smith actually considered leaving Duke this offseason. His best friend and former AAU teammate, Michael Beasley, hinted during an appearance at the Final Four that there was a possibility Smith, who was frustrated after his freshman season, might transfer -- not necessarily to Kansas State, since Beasley was soon turning pro, but to somewhere. Then on April 26, Smith's father figure at Duke, assistant Johnny Dawkins, left to take the head coaching job at Stanford. Dawkins was a former teammate of Smith's late father, Derek, on the Philadelphia 76ers. "He was the coach who brought me to Duke," Smith said, "and once he was gone, the question was, 'What do I do?'" Three Reasons Not to Hate Duke

2008-11-22T00:06:15-05:00

2008-11-22T00:07:18-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/p1.duke.jpg" alt="P1" width="300" height="508" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Nolan Smith gives Duke speed and athleticism at PG. AP</div> </div> (Or rather, three reasons not to hate on Duke's worthiness as a top-five team, following its 71-56 win over Michigan in the finals of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic ...) 1. In sophomore Nolan Smith, they now have a speedy starting point guard who can ball-pressure on D and get into the lane on offense. Smith is no virtuoso at the position yet -- the guy he supplanted in the first unit, Greg Paulus, still has better court vision -- but choosing speed and athleticism over experience is already starting to pay off. Duke was plus-18 when Smith was on the floor against Michigan, compared to just plus-four with Paulus (who, it should be noted, is nursing a hand injury). But Smith made enough smart decisions with the ball on Friday to lead the Blue Devils in scoring (with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting) and dish out four assists against two turnovers. Smith actually considered leaving Duke this offseason. His best friend and former AAU teammate, Michael Beasley, hinted during an appearance at the Final Four that there was a possibility Smith, who was frustrated after his freshman season, might transfer -- not necessarily to Kansas State, since Beasley was soon turning pro, but to somewhere. Then on April 26, Smith's father figure at Duke, assistant Johnny Dawkins, left to take the head coaching job at Stanford. Dawkins was a former teammate of Smith's late father, Derek, on the Philadelphia 76ers. "He was the coach who brought me to Duke," Smith said, "and once he was gone, the question was, 'What do I do?'" Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski had been occupied with Team USA duties while the situation festered, and another freshman, Taylor King, had already left for Villanova. It took a meeting with Krzyzewski later in the spring, in which Smith remembers his coach saying, "He had all the confidence in the world about me coming back, and he said he was behind me and he supported me. I really needed to hear that." Smith then headed off to Philadelphia, where he honed his point-guard skills in workouts with Beasley and former Texas A&M center DeAndre Jordan, who were both preparing for the NBA Draft. "I was a shooting guard when I came to college," Smith said, "and you can't really change that in one year. I needed the summer to make it work." Now he has the reins of the team -- "and I feel like they trust me as a leader," he says -- and has already made an impact by applying more defensive heat at the top of their man-to-man defense than Paulus could provide. Says junior Gerald Henderson of Smith, "No one else on the team can be a pest on the ball like he can." 2. They have some legitimate size in the post -- even if it's just for 20 minutes a game. Brian Zoubek once looked as if his career was on a tragic path, as a 7-foot bench-dweller whose time at Duke would be marred by injuries. But he said on Friday -- after shooting 5-of-6 from the field for 16 points over two 2K Sports Classic games -- that his foot was now at "100 percent" and his stamina was steadily improving. Even in his current role, giving the Blue Devils two good spurts of post play at the beginning of each half, before being spelled by 6-8 Lance Thomas, Zoubek has had a tangible impact. If 6-10 freshman Miles Plumlee isn't going to be a major part of the rotation -- and it seems that way after the past two games -- then Zoubek is their only low-post regular taller than 6-8. If he stays healthy and limits the pounding 6-8 sophomore Kyle Singler -- their unquestioned offensive star -- has to take by guarding most teams' biggest post bodies, then Zoubek will be a valuable asset. Singler took on the look of a battered hockey defenseman last season, when they had no other defensive options down low. 3. They have the depth to play a nine-man rotation, which could help ward off another late-season collapse. Krzyzewski has been stuck with short benches in years past -- the '05-06 team, with J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams, only had two regular reserves -- but could now make a reasonable squad out of his backups. A team with Paulus at the point, freshman Elliot Williams at the two, senior David McClure at the three, Thomas at the four and Plumlee at the five could probably finish above .500 in the Big Ten. "It's good that those guys have their ego where they should be, so that they have confidence like starters," Krzyzewski said. Most teams become less court-savvy when they sub, but in seniors Paulus and McClure, Duke has the rare luxury of adding experience when it needs to give Smith, Singler and Henderson a breather. 25822

Luke Winn

New York 4563

2009-03-20T01:03:57-04:00

<div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/sweep.gillespie.getty.jpg" alt="Sweep" width="300" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Darius Miller had no answers for Billy Gillispie against UNC. Kevin Cox/Getty Images</div> </div> Three things we learned from watching No. 1-ranked North Carolina's 77-58 rout of Kentucky on Tuesday night ... 1. Kentucky looks fatally flawed. For Billy Gillispie's sake, I was hoping last week's VMI loss was an aberration, but in the wake of yet another UK flop, we must be realistic: The Wildcats are tantalizingly close to being a decent club -- they have a few elite players in power forward Patrick Patterson, if the ball ever gets in his hands, and shooting guard Jodie Meeks, if he's in an unselfish mood -- but without a serviceable point guard, they're no better than a middling mid-major. This point-guard problem isn't going to be solved anytime soon. Kentucky's starter at the position, Michael Porter, bless his heart, wouldn't crack the rotation of most teams receiving votes in the Associated Press poll. He was abused by Carolina's Ty Lawson and now has five assists against nine turnovers on the season. Coming into Tuesday's game, Gillispie said, "Michael's not a good enough athlete to be timid. He has to be a guy attacking." Porter didn't attack UNC, and neither did freshman backup DeAndre Liggins, who finished with a deceptively respectable stat line -- seven assists, four turnovers -- but didn't handle the ball in a way that exuded any confidence. There are freshmen capable of running a team from Day 1 -- take a look at UConn's Kemba Walker -- but Liggins is not one of them. He plays like a guy who might need a season to acclimate to the pace of elite college basketball. If only Derrick Jasper hadn't <a href="http://unlvrebels.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/jasper_derrick00.html" target="_blank">run off to Vegas</a>, there might be some hope for this team to contend in the SEC. What We Learned From ... Kentucky-UNC

2008-11-19T00:51:57-05:00

2008-11-19T00:52:34-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/sweep.gillespie.getty.jpg" alt="Sweep" width="300" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Darius Miller had no answers for Billy Gillispie against UNC. Kevin Cox/Getty Images</div> </div> Three things we learned from watching No. 1-ranked North Carolina's 77-58 rout of Kentucky on Tuesday night ... 1. Kentucky looks fatally flawed. For Billy Gillispie's sake, I was hoping last week's VMI loss was an aberration, but in the wake of yet another UK flop, we must be realistic: The Wildcats are tantalizingly close to being a decent club -- they have a few elite players in power forward Patrick Patterson, if the ball ever gets in his hands, and shooting guard Jodie Meeks, if he's in an unselfish mood -- but without a serviceable point guard, they're at best an NCAA bubble team. This point-guard problem isn't going to be solved anytime soon. Kentucky's starter at the position, Michael Porter, bless his heart, wouldn't crack the rotation of most teams receiving votes in the Associated Press poll. He was abused by Carolina's Ty Lawson and now has five assists against nine turnovers on the season. Coming into Tuesday's game, Gillispie said, "Michael's not a good enough athlete to be timid. He has to be a guy attacking." Porter didn't attack UNC, and neither did freshman backup DeAndre Liggins, who finished with a deceptively respectable stat line -- seven assists, four turnovers -- but didn't handle the ball in a way that exuded any confidence. There are freshmen capable of running a team from Day 1 -- take a look at UConn's Kemba Walker -- but Liggins is not one of them. He needs some time to acclimate his ballhandling to the pace of elite college basketball. If only Derrick Jasper hadn't <a href="http://unlvrebels.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/jasper_derrick00.html" target="_blank">run off to Vegas</a>, there might be some hope for this team to contend in the SEC. 2. Despite this mess, I can't imagine that Gillispie's job would be in jeopardy this season. UK fans were <a href="http://kentucky.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?SID=888&fid=1383&style=2&tid=120791258&Page=1" target="_blank">rightfully despondent</a> while watching this blowout, and they're turning up the heat on their second-year coach. Losing to the No. 1 team in the nation was completely excusable, but getting outhustled by UNC when its two biggest hustle players, seniors Marcus Ginyard and Tyler Hansbrough were watching the game from the bench, in formalwear? That's inexcusable. All of that said, Gillispie has still put together three straight elite recruiting classes, the latest with beastly big man <a href="http://kentucky.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=51353">Daniel Orton</a>, Rivals.com's third-ranked center in the Class of 2009, as the headliner, and built up some coaching cred for salvaging an NCAA tournament bid out of last season's injury-fest. Gillispie has bought himself some breathing room with the UK brass, even if the Honeymoon period with UK fans is over. Watching Gillispie go through a range of facial expressions in the first half on Tuesday -- from the furrowed brow, to the smirk of disbelief, to the serious scowl -- got me thinking about something that athletic director Mitch Barnhart told the Lexington Herald-Leader on Sunday, when he was asked if Gillispie looked more comfortable in his second year on the job. Barhart said: "He's relaxed -- well, as relaxed as he gets. I see him much more relaxed and understanding what it means. If you are in a new job, especially one of this magnitude -- I don't care whether you are the athletic director, the football coach or the basketball coach -- year one is always hard. Year two, I won't say it gets easier, but you know what it looks like. There is no mystery. Less mystery. You have an opportunity to grow into it and feel more comfortable." Maybe the understanding is there, but the comfort? When Gillispie was most comfortable at Texas A&M, where he built the resume that landed the Kentucky gig, he had arguably the nation's best point guard, Acie Law. Now Gillispie has ... well, you've seen what he has. There is no solace in a 28-turnover, 19-point loss. 3. The player UNC fans should be most excited about? Lanky freshman forward Ed Davis. The storyline coming out of this game will probably be the big-time performance delivered by Deon Thompson (20 points, nine boards) in Hansbrough's absence. Thompson was impressive, but I already had a high opinion of him, and just assumed his low offensive numbers (he averaged 8.4 points last year) were more a result of Hansbrough commanding the bulk of the shot attempts in the post. I was more intrigued by what Davis did, grabbing 10 boards to go with nine points in 23 minutes. That followed up a 14-board, 10-point effort in 22 minutes of the Heels' opener against Penn. When I saw Davis at the Jordan Classic in April, he seemed like too timid of a post player to make up for the loss of Alex Stepheson, but Davis has been highly productive thus far. As opposed to his freshman counterpart Tyler Zeller, who's advanced offensively but struggles to rebound, and won't be needed to score once Psycho T comes back, Davis could be a key role player in a Carolina title run. 24701

Luke Winn

New York 4563

The Vent Where SI on Campus blows off steam 41

2008-12-17T16:31:21-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/12/17/joe-paterno-p1.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">An 82-year-old Joe Paterno led his team to the Rose Bowl. :: AP</div> </div> First, Rose Bowl officials lavished Joe Paterno with fragrant bouquets and a BCS invite. Then, doctors equipped him with a surgically repaired hip. Now, Penn State's awarded its 82-year-old head coach <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/ncaa/12/16/paterno.psu.ap/index.html " target="_blank">a three-year contract extension</a>. Clearly, 'tis the season of giving. Now, instead of speculating over JoePa's fate, we can spend our time second-guessing the move and feeling sorry for Tom Bradley. Only, we're not going to second guess the move (we are, however, going to feel sorry for Bradley, who's now doomed to three more years of doing a head coach's job without getting head coaching credit or head coaching money). It doesn't take glasses as thick as Paterno's to see he's little more than a figure head now. Paterno's the face of the program, and he's there to provide a link to the past and inspiration for the present. He's not, however, there to call plays or woo recruits. That's for Bradley and Co. Penn State fans may think the extension frustrating and foolish, but at the end of the day, this was an example of an institution doing right by a man who had done right by it for decades, and that's a refreshing thing to see in this era of impatience, turnover and disloyalty. That's our take. Post yours in the comments below. Three cheers for three more years

2008-12-17T15:39:29-05:00

2008-12-17T15:39:29-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/12/17/joe-paterno-p1.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">An 82-year-old Joe Paterno led his team to the Rose Bowl. :: AP</div> </div> First, Rose Bowl officials lavished Joe Paterno with fragrant bouquets and a BCS invite. Then, doctors equipped him with a surgically repaired hip. Now, Penn State's awarded its 82-year-old head coach <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/ncaa/12/16/paterno.psu.ap/index.html " target="_blank">a three-year contract extension</a>. Clearly, 'tis the season of giving. Now, instead of speculating over JoePa's fate, we can spend our time second-guessing the move and feeling sorry for Tom Bradley. Only, we're not going to second guess the move (we are, however, going to feel sorry for Bradley, who's now doomed to three more years of doing a head coach's job without getting head coaching credit or head coaching money). It doesn't take glasses as thick as Paterno's to see he's little more than a figure head now. Paterno's the face of the program, and he's there to provide a link to the past and inspiration for the present. He's not, however, there to call plays or woo recruits. That's for Bradley and Co. Penn State fans may think the extension frustrating and foolish, but at the end of the day, this was an example of an institution doing right by a man who had done right by it for decades, and that's a refreshing thing to see in this era of impatience, turnover and disloyalty. That's our take. Post yours in the comments below. 33422 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/845/68/thumb/rubin_mallory.jpg 0 NY

Mallory Rubin

84868

2008-12-12T08:44:46-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/12/09/tim-tebow-vent.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Tim Tebow led his Gators to the SEC title over Alabama.</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images </div> </div> SI.com's Heisman guru Gene Menez released his final Heisman Watch of the season Monday, and in it, he <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/gene_menez/12/08/final.heismanwatch/index.html" target="_blank">cast his vote for Texas quarterback Colt McCoy</a>. Menez also said, however, that he won't be the least bit surprised if this ends up being the closest vote in Heisman history, as McCoy, Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford and Florida QB and 2007 Heisman winner Tim Tebow all have impressive résumés and legitimate shots at taking home the trophy Saturday night. Indeed, this three-way race is so tight, sports blog The Angry T suggested we abandon analysis, stats and reason and instead determine the Heisman winner by deciding which school has<a href="http://theangryt.com/?p=1424" target="_blank"> the best-looking cheerleaders</a>. Others, however, have mocked such shenanigans and pronounced quite confidently that Tebow deserves to repeat. (One guy even made his case <a href="http://www.ryanparkersongs.com/2008/12/tim-tebow-is-hero.html" target="_blank">through the medium of song</a>.) But we at SIOC disagree. Winning two Heisman trophies is an incredible feat. So incredible, in fact, that only one man has done it before. And while there's no doubt Tebow's an elite athlete and game-changing presence, he hasn't had the kind of season needed to put him in Archie Griffin's company. No two-peat for Tebow

2008-12-09T16:53:48-05:00

2008-12-09T16:53:48-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/12/09/tim-tebow-vent.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Tim Tebow led his Gators to the SEC title over Alabama.</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images </div> </div> SI.com's Heisman guru Gene Menez released his final Heisman Watch of the season Monday, and in it, he <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/gene_menez/12/08/final.heismanwatch/index.html" target="_blank">cast his vote for Texas quarterback Colt McCoy</a>. Menez also said, however, that he won't be the least bit surprised if this ends up being the closest vote in Heisman history, as McCoy, Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford and Florida QB and 2007 Heisman winner Tim Tebow all have impressive résumés and legitimate shots at taking home the trophy Saturday night. Indeed, this three-way race is so tight, sports blog The Angry T suggested we abandon analysis, stats and reason and instead determine the Heisman winner by deciding which school has<a href="http://theangryt.com/?p=1424" target="_blank"> the best-looking cheerleaders</a>. Others, however, have mocked such shenanigans and pronounced quite confidently that Tebow deserves to repeat. (One guy even made his case <a href="http://www.ryanparkersongs.com/2008/12/tim-tebow-is-hero.html" target="_blank">through the medium of song</a>.) But we at SIOC disagree. Winning two Heisman trophies is an incredible feat. So incredible, in fact, that only one man has done it before. And while there's no doubt Tebow's an elite athlete and game-changing presence, he hasn't had the kind of season needed to put him in Archie Griffin's company. Tebow finished with an impressive state line (he threw for 2,515 yards, 28 touchdowns and only two picks and ran for 564 yards and another 12 TDs), but his numbers are down from last year, when he threw for 3,286 yards and 32 TDs and ran for a whopping 895 yards and 23 TDs. Granted, after becoming the first sophomore ever to win the Heisman, Tebow entered the season with a massive bull's-eye on his back, but he still had a down year and a particularly slow start. Tebow wasn't even a mainstay on Menez's Heisman rankings <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/gene_menez/11/03/week-10/1.html" target="_blank">until Nov. 3</a>, when he re-entered at No. 10. Last year, Tebow himself said year-long consistency is the most important quality in a Heisman winner, and this season, he didn't manage that. Would it be an outrage if Tebow won? Certainly not. He's arguably the most dynamic and important player of his generation. But Bradford or McCoy still deserves it more this year. Bradford's passing stats are out of this world, while McCoy put up impressive passing stats and Tebow-esque rushing stats. They both led their teams to one-loss records and played consistently well all year. And they both played in the nation's best conference. Plus, we, like many of you, are about to OD on the Gators and their do-no-wrong QB. It's time for some fresh blood. But as always, the power rests with the people. What do you think? Does Tebow deserve to repeat? 30573 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/845/68/thumb/rubin_mallory.jpg 0 NY

Mallory Rubin

84868

2008-12-17T16:02:54-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/12/03/charlie-weis-vent.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Despite a .500 season, Charlie Weis will return next year. </div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Chris Williams/Icon SMI</div> </div> Notre Dame finally ended the suspense Tuesday evening, announcing embattled coach <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/ncaa/12/02/notre.dame.weis.ap/index.html">Charlie Weis will return for the 2009 season</a>. The national media outlets (our site included) and the blogosphere reacted quickly, and amid the slew of pontificating, we discerned the three most commonly offered explanations. They are: 1. The Notre Dame brass really do have faith in Weis' ability to recruit and lead effectively, consistently put together double-digit win totals and beat Michigan and USC in the same season. 2. The school wants to send Weis packing, but it wants one thing even more, and that's to avoid giving the<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/sioncampus/09/11/mythbusters.weis/index.html" target="_blank"> "trigger happy" critics</a> more fodder. 3. Urban Meyer and Brain Kelly both said "thanks, <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/sioncampus/12/03/charlie-weis-is-a-good-third-choice-campus-clicks/index.html" target="_blank">but no thanks</a>," and so the situation resolved itself. We're casting out unofficial vote for No. 3 (though No. 2 is admittedly compelling). What do you think? Charlie Weis is a perfectly good third choice

2008-12-03T17:00:57-05:00

2008-12-03T17:00:57-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/12/03/charlie-weis-vent.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Despite a .500 season, Charlie Weis will return next year. </div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Chris Williams/Icon SMI</div> </div> Notre Dame finally ended the suspense Tuesday evening, announcing embattled coach <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/ncaa/12/02/notre.dame.weis.ap/index.html">Charlie Weis will return for the 2009 season</a>. The national media outlets (our site included) and the blogosphere reacted quickly, and amid the slew of pontificating, we discerned the three most commonly offered explanations. They are: 1. The Notre Dame brass really do have faith in Weis' ability to recruit and lead effectively, consistently put together double-digit win totals and beat Michigan and USC in the same season. 2. The school wants to send Weis packing, but it wants one thing even more, and that's to avoid giving the<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/sioncampus/09/11/mythbusters.weis/index.html" target="_blank"> "trigger happy" critics</a> more fodder. 3. Urban Meyer and Brain Kelly both said "thanks, <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/sioncampus/12/03/charlie-weis-is-a-good-third-choice-campus-clicks/index.html" target="_blank">but no thanks</a>," and so the situation resolved itself. We're casting out unofficial vote for No. 3 (though No. 2 is admittedly compelling). What do you think? 28761 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/845/68/thumb/rubin_mallory.jpg 0 NY

Mallory Rubin

84868

2008-11-21T12:37:09-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/11/18/greg-robinson-vent.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Greg Robinson managed only nine wins while at Syracuse. </div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">AP</div> </div> I generally write The Vent from the first-person plural, because it's supposed to represent SIOC's views and not merely my own. But today's topic is close to my heart, so I feel compelled to swap in "I" for "we."  On Sunday, my alma mater Syracuse fired fourth-year football coach Greg Robinson. After watching Robinson lead the Orange to a paltry 9-36 record (3-25 Big East) in three-plus seasons, few 'Cuse fans were sorry to see him go. Now, instead of dwelling on an era in which Brendan Carney and Rob Long punts were the best 'Cuse football had to offer, fans are shifting their focus to the future, and to Robinson's replacement. On Monday, however, college football writer Stewart Mandel posed a simple question to SI.com readers: <a href="/si_blogs/the_sweep/posts/24183?eref=fromSI" target="_blank">"Who's dumb enough to coach 'Cuse?" </a> Not entirely unfair, but a tad harsh, I think we can agree. Syracuse is still a juicy job opening

2008-11-19T14:48:41-05:00

2008-11-19T14:48:41-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/11/18/greg-robinson-vent.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Greg Robinson managed only nine wins while at Syracuse. </div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">AP</div> </div> I generally write The Vent from the first-person plural, because it's supposed to represent SIOC's views and not merely my own. But today's topic is close to my heart, so I feel compelled to swap in "I" for "we."  On Sunday, my alma mater Syracuse fired fourth-year football coach Greg Robinson. After watching Robinson lead the Orange to a paltry 9-36 record (3-25 Big East) in three-plus seasons, few 'Cuse fans were sorry to see him go. Now, instead of dwelling on an era in which Brendan Carney and Rob Long punts were the best 'Cuse football had to offer, fans are shifting their focus to the future, and to Robinson's replacement. On Monday, however, college football writer Stewart Mandel posed a simple question to SI.com readers: <a href="/si_blogs/the_sweep/posts/24183?eref=fromSI" target="_blank">"Who's dumb enough to coach 'Cuse?" </a> Not entirely unfair, but a tad harsh, I think we can agree. Stew makes some good points. The fans are apathetic, the recruits have gone elsewhere and the weather's cold. But while it may seem like the Syracuse ship is so deeply mired in mediocrity that coaching candidates like Turner Gill and Lane Kiffin would be fools to grab the wheel, this is still a job worth taking. For starters, the present situation's bleak, but the tradition's not dead -- and since 2005, the athletic administration has done everything in its power to make sure 'Cuse fans remember that. Critics need only pop into the Dome this winter to see what was (it's hard to miss the mammoth "Jim Brown: Greatest Player Ever" banner and the baseball tarp-sized No. 44 retired football jersey, which pays homage to Brown and fellow running backs Ernie Davis and Floyd Little) and what can be (those rowdy, orange-clad basketball fans will come out for football, too … once there's something to see). Speaking of the athletic administration, that's another pro. Sure, athletic director Daryl Gross is one of the more polarizing figures in Syracuse sports history, but he was brought in to fix football, plain and simple. The man credited with bringing Pete Carroll to USC can surely do better than this, or at least kill himself trying. The days of sliding by on improving non-revenue sports are over, and prospective coaches should want to work for a man whose main focus will be the program they'd inherit. Finally, but perhaps most importantly: This is the Big East we're talking about, folks. Syracuse finished in a four-way tie for the conference championship in 2004 with a 6-6 overall record (4-2 Big East). Pretty underwhelming. Cincinnati's probably going to take the conference crown this season with 10 wins. While the Bearcats are a respectable squad capable of winning 11 games, this is a small conference without elite teams. Pitt's always a wildcard, traditional powers West Virginia and Louisville are down and an admittedly injury-depleted South Florida squad has simply fallen off the radar. There aren't Texas-, Florida- and USC-caliber teams standing in the way. So any intrigued coaches should take solace that not all hope is lost in CNY. And just think, whoever turns this thing around might get his very own "Greatest Coach Ever" banner. We're not big on subtlety at 'Cuse, but we're ready to be big on football once again. But as always, you, the readers, will get the final say. Should anyone want this job? 24842 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/845/68/thumb/rubin_mallory.jpg 0 NY

Mallory Rubin

84868

2008-12-18T17:29:41-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/11/12/charlie-weis-vent.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">A bum knee is just one of Charlie Weis' problems this season.</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">AP</div> </div> A little more than a month ago, Charlie Weis probably allowed himself to smile. Sure, <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3687149" target="_blank">his knee was a mess</a> of sinew and scraps, but the Irish were sporting a winning record (4-1) at long last. As his squad prepared to take on newly-relevant UNC, Weis might have fondly viewed his crutches as an accessory to success. But Notre Dame dropped that one, and then two of the next three (and perhaps most embarrassingly of all, actually allowed the impossibly abysmal Washington Huskies <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/recaps/2008/10/25/37890_recap.html" target="_blank">to score a touchdown</a>). After Saturday's shutout loss to Boston College, Weis announced his intention to reclaim control of Notre Dame's offense. Some Irish fans undoubtedly considered the announcement good news, but columnist <a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/8779214/Nice-time-to-ride-to-the-rescue,-Charlie" target="_blank">Jason Whitlock ripped Weis</a> for publically embarrassing his offensive coordinator. The scrutiny's nothing new for Weis, whose Notre Dame tenure has been rife with bumps and potholes (indeed, one could argue this season's successful opening stretch was the real bump, and the rest of the Weis Era has been one smooth, steady stream of disappointment). Recommencing Weis Watch

2008-11-12T17:40:29-05:00

2008-11-12T17:40:29-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/11/12/charlie-weis-vent.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">A bum knee is just one of Charlie Weis' problems this season.</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">AP</div> </div> A little more than a month ago, Charlie Weis probably allowed himself to smile. Sure, <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3687149" target="_blank">his knee was a mess</a> of sinew and scraps, but the Irish were sporting a winning record (4-1) at long last. As his squad prepared to take on newly-relevant UNC, Weis might have fondly viewed his crutches as an accessory to success. But Notre Dame dropped that one, and then two of the next three (and perhaps most embarrassingly of all, actually allowed the impossibly abysmal Washington Huskies <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/recaps/2008/10/25/37890_recap.html" target="_blank">to score a touchdown</a>). After Saturday's shutout loss to Boston College, Weis announced his intention to reclaim control of Notre Dame's offense. Some Irish fans undoubtedly considered the announcement good news, but columnist <a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/8779214/Nice-time-to-ride-to-the-rescue,-Charlie" target="_blank">Jason Whitlock ripped Weis</a> for publically embarrassing his offensive coordinator. The scrutiny's nothing new for Weis, whose Notre Dame tenure has been rife with bumps and potholes (indeed, one could argue this season's successful opening stretch was the real bump, and the rest of the Weis Era has been one smooth, steady stream of disappointment). Even after last season's 3-9 debacle, SIOC contributor Phil Guidry insisted the Notre Dame brass would hang onto Weis (who's singed through 2015) after this season regardless of the team's record for three reasons: They've invested $30 million in his contract, they've seen what an effective recruiter he can be and <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/sioncampus/09/11/mythbusters.weis/" target="_blank">they've grown sensitive</a> about their "trigger happy" reputation when it comes to firing coaches.    Fair points, all of them. But now, it's as much a question of "should he go?" as "will he go?". A four-year grace period's too long, and it's time for Weis to limp off into the sunlight. Hey, his predecessor just lost another job. Maybe we'll see "Weis Cleans up After Willingham: Redux." That's our take. Post yours in the comments below. 22862 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/845/68/thumb/rubin_mallory.jpg 0 NY

Mallory Rubin

84868

The Sweep SI.com's All-American Blog Team 42

2009-09-08T11:19:09-04:00

Running Signing Day analysis

2009-02-03T17:13:00-05:00

115

2009-02-03T17:13:00-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/23001/beamer.jpg" alt="Beamer" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Frank Beamer's recruiting classes are rarely praised. </div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">AP </div> </div> Throughout Signing Day, SI's Andy Staples will chime in with analysis and observations -- and updates on Pete Carroll's Twitter status. <h3>7:51 p.m.: Curious case of VT</h3> Before you pop the screw top on that bottle of Two-Buck Chuck you've been saving to celebrate your team's finish in the annual recruiting rankings, do me a favor. Grab Metallica’s Black album, crank Enter Sandman and consider the curious case of the Virginia Tech Hokies. According to Rivals.com's system, which averages the number of "stars" assigned to each signee, Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer and his staff are average recruiters at best. The Hokies' past six recruiting classes have an average rank of No. 26, including a dismal No. 41 in 2004. In four of those seasons, at least three of the Hokies' ACC brethren ranked higher. Here's what's funny. For all their perceived failures on the recruiting trail, Beamer and company seem to have little trouble winning on the field. From 2004-08, Virginia Tech won 52 games. That's more than everyone else in the ACC and more than every BCS-conference school except USC, Texas and Oklahoma. The Hokies won three ACC titles and played for the title four times in that span, yet Miami, which has yet to beat Virginia Tech for the Coastal Division title, has been ranked higher every single year -- and usually by a lot. It's easy to blame Miami's coaching and praise Beamer's get-the-little-things-right, block-a-punt-every-game style, but the fact is that Virginia Tech has had some very good players. Those players just didn’t have as many stars by their names when they signed to go to Blacksburg. Here's a list of Virginia Tech's recruiting rankings for the past six years. Next to Virginia Tech's ranking is a list of every ACC team that ranked higher. 2009: 24 (No. 6 FSU, No. 8 North Carolina, No. 11 Miami) 2008: 18 (No. 5 Miami, No. 12 Clemson) 2007: 29 (No. 16 Clemson, No. 17 UNC, No. 18 Georgia Tech, No. 19 Miami, No. 21 FSU) 2006: 32 (No. 3 FSU, No. 4 Miami, No. 15 Clemson, No. 30 UNC) 2005: 14 (No. 2 FSU, No. 7 Miami) 2004: 41 (No. 3 FSU, No. 4 Miami, No. 17 Maryland, No. 24 Boston College, No. 28 N.C. State, No. 36 UNC, No. 40 Virginia) Clearly, Virginia Tech recruits don't get the same bump as the players being recruited by fellow 10-win-a-year clubbers Florida, Ohio State Oklahoma, Texas and USC. The Hokies, for whatever reason, aren’t considered sexy. Now, take a look at a list of the six winningest ACC programs from 2004-08. 1. Virginia Tech 52 2. Boston College 48 3. Florida State 40 4. Georgia Tech 39 5. Miami 37 6. Wake Forest 36  It seems that, at least as far as the ACC is concerned, the recruiting gurus need to take off their star goggles.  <h3>6:39 p.m.: Undecided? Flip a coin</h3> Sometimes, the merits of two schools mirror each other so closely that a prospect just can’t choose. So what’s a tormented blue-chipper to do? He can pull a Terrelle Pryor or a Bryce Brown and delay signing until the heavens align properly, or he can do what Winslow Township, N.J., linebacker Ka’Lial Glaud did. He<a href="http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20090204/NEWS01/90204010/1020"> flipped a coin</a>. Glaud was so conflicted by his choice -- Rutgers or West Virginia -- that when Winslow Township principal Glen Jackson handed him a quarter as a joke, Glaud took it as a sign. He assigned heads to West Virginia and tails to Rutgers. Then he tossed. The coin landed on tails, and Glaud slid a Rutgers cap over his dome seconds later. "Mr. Jackson asked me if I wanted to flip a quarter," Glaud told The (Camden, N.J.) Courier-Post. "I guess he thought I was joking, but I was serious." <h3>5:12 p.m.: Profitable recruit</h3> College football fans who follow the NCAA's other big-money sport should have little trouble with this little exercise. I'm going to list a few traits. Tell me what kind of person I'm describing. - He doesn't work at a high school, but he coaches high school-age athletes in a sport they also play at their high school. - He may or may not profit financially from this arrangement, but he certainly has the opportunity to profit. - Through his relationships with college coaches, he helps steer players toward particular schools. - He may or may not profit professionally from the arrangement (e.g., get a better job), but he certainly has the opportunity. That's pretty easy, isn't it? I've just described a travel-team basketball coach. Now read this fantastic story by Pete Thamel and Thayer Evans in Wednesday's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/sports/ncaafootball/04recruit.html?ref=sports">New York Times</a>. It's a profile of Brian Butler, a former T-Mobile call center manager from Wichita, Kan., who has emerged as the central figure in the recruitment of Wichita East High tailback Bryce Brown. Brown is considered the nation's No. 1 overall prospect by Rivals.com, and he may wait as long as another month before he picks a school. That's a move more common among hoopsters. Butler, it seems, has brought the sensibilities of a travel-team basketball coach to the gridiron. According to the Times story -- as well as <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/11315239">this story</a> by CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd and <a href="http://myespn.go.com/s/conversations/show/story/3869869">this story</a> by ESPN The Magazine's Bruce Feldman -- Butler charges players to train them. He also asks fans to subscribe to his <a href="http://www.potentialplayers.com/">Web site</a> for inside information on the players' recruitments. He also has used his relationship with Miami, which signed Brown's brother, Arthur, last year and hopes to sign Brown this year, to help other players he trains draw interest from other schools by touting real and fictional scholarship offers from the Hurricanes. And like some travel-team coach, Butler also has managed to royally tick off his star player's high school coach. So is Butler crooked? Depends on who is judging. While he has ridden the talent of the Brown brothers into a new career, he also has helped players who might otherwise never have drawn interest from big-time schools. Also, plenty of prospects claim scholarship offers they don't actually have to drum up interest; it's dishonest, but it's also how the game has been played for a long time. When I mentioned travel-team basketball coaches, a wave of nausea probably shot through you. But we write mostly about the unsavory ones; the vast majority are interested only in helping young people. So which is Butler? That remains to be seen. If he was completely crooked, though, he could have operated in the shadows like the "street agents," who leech off talented high schoolers with the hope that, if the player makes the NFL, they can ride his coattails to a payday. Butler does his business in the open. Whether schools and the NCAA will allow that to continue is another question. And even if the NCAA doesn't rewrite its rules to hamper Butler, the law of supply and demand might drive him out of business. The Brown brothers drew tremendous interest from schools, but few others have since Barry Sanders -- who didn't get as much interest as he should have because he didn't play running back until the fourth game of his senior season -- graduated from North High in 1986. Between 2004-08, only 77 players from Kansas signed with BCS-conference schools. Of those, few would inspire a fan to fork over $9.95 a month to read about their recruitment. So if Butler wants to maintain his influence and his profitability, he may want to consider moving to California, Florida or Texas. If he just wants to help football players get scholarships, he should stay right where he is. <h3>3:01 p.m.: L.A. Monopoly? </h3> Rick Neuheisel may be on the way toward fulfilling the promise he made in a <a href="http://www.thewizofodds.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/27/ucla.jpg">full-page ad</a> in The Los Angeles Times in August. Neuheisel promised to end USC's football monopoly in the city, and there are only two ways to do that. Beat the Trojans on the field -- that didn't work; UCLA lost, 28-7 -- or beat the Trojans for players so the Bruins can someday win on the field. Wednesday, Neuheisel notched a head-to-head win when Timpview (Provo, Utah) offensive lineman Xavier Su'a Filo announced he would sign with the Bruins. Also, the Bruins signed Carson (Calif.) receiver Morrell Presley, who committed to USC in summer 2007 only to decommit and pledge to UCLA on Dec. 18, 2008. Two players do not a paradigm shift make, but Neuheisel has made some headway. No one should cry for the Trojans, though. They're still bringing in quarterback Matt Barkley, offensive tackle Kevin Graf, safety Jawanza Starling, linebacker Frankie Telfort and a host of fellow blue-chippers. So, while Neuheisel and UCLA are on the right track, <a href="http://www.thewizofodds.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/27/monopoly.jpg">this version</a> of the ad remains the most accurate. <h3>2:29 p.m.: Randle to LSU </h3> Reuben Randle, the nation's top-rated receiver, has picked LSU, but did the Tigers have to nudge Randle's former high school teammate out of the class to land Randle? Follow the bouncing links... Tuesday, the <a href="http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20090204/SPORTS/302040001/1006">Monroe (La.) News-Star</a> reported that former Bastrop High star DeAngelo Benton -- who signed with LSU out of high school in 2007 and out of prep school in 2008 but never qualified academically -- would try to make the third time the charm in Baton Rouge. In the same story, the News-Star referenced a radio interview Randle's father, Emmett, gave on Tuesday expressing concern over the number of receivers LSU planned to sign. Randle also was quoted by Monroe television station KTVE, according to a story in <a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/38996277.html">The (Baton Rouge, La.) Advocate</a> as saying "It's nothing personal. It's just a depth chart issue." Tuesday, Reuben Randle told the <a href="http://www.bastropenterprise.com/sports/x1596620317/Randle-wrestles-with-decision">Bastrop Daily Enterprise</a> he might not choose a school on national signing day. Wednesday, Reuben Randle <a href="http://blog.nola.com/lsusports/2009/02/rueben_randle_picks_lsu.html">announced</a> at a press conference that he would sign with LSU. Benton signed with ... Auburn? <h3>12:38 p.m.: Te'o on a prayer </h3> Manti Te'o prayed on his decision until 5 a.m. Hawaii time. A couple of hours later, the best Mormon player in America made a bunch of Catholics really, really happy. Many recruits mention praying about their decision, but in Te'o's case, religion was a key factor in his recruitment. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Te'o is considering serving a <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/andy_staples/01/30/lds/index.html">two-year mission</a> following his freshman season. Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis was on board with that plan from the start, and his willingness to help a member of another Christian denomination feel comfortable at the nation's most prominent Catholic school may have helped him land Notre Dame's most important signee in years. The past few USC-Notre Dame games proved the Fighting Irish simply didn't have the athletes to compete at an elite level. Winning the signature of Te'o, one of USC's priority recruits, proves that Notre Dame is serious about closing that gap. Notre Dame has not had a first-team All-American on defense since cornerback Shane Walton in 2002, but college coaches who recruited Te'o believe he could reach that level. Some say the Irish chose to play in the Hawaii Bowl strictly to court Te'o. That may be true, but the way Weis handled the personal and spiritual sides of Te'o's recruitment is why this thoughtful, intelligent tackling machine is headed to South Bend. "Charlie Weis is a great man," Te'o told me Jan. 4 at the Under Armour All-American Bowl. "On my official visit, he took me to the LDS church over there. They're very welcoming of athletes from different faiths." Te'o's father, Brian, also thought Manti would fit in well in South Bend. "I've noticed with Manti that those environments that are faith-based are the ones he feels more comfortable in," Brian Te'o said. Now, the question is when Te'o will make an impact. Should he choose to serve a mission, it may be 2012 or 2013 -- if he redshirts upon his return -- before Te'o plays his sophomore season. Wednesday, Te'o told ESPNU the mission would come after the 2009 season. He turns 19 (the youngest at which Mormon men can serve a mission) in January 2010. "I'll play one year, and after my freshman year, if I decide to, I'll leave," Te'o told ESPNU. If he does, the Irish will be more than happy to wait for his return. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/andy_staples/01/30/lds/index.html">Mormons face unique issues</a> [SI.com] <h3>11:33 a.m.: Myles a Volunteer </h3> It's on like Donkey Kong in the SEC. Carver (Atlanta) High safety Darren Myles just went on ESPNU, tossed aside an Alabama hat and an LSU hat and slid a Tennessee hat on his head. Myles is only one player, but his denial of Alabama and LSU in favor of Tennessee is proof of what we expected when Volunteers coach Lane Kiffin assembled his gold-plated staff -- <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/andy_staples/12/01/tennessee.kiffin/">another shark</a> has jumped into the SEC tank. Myles' choice is a big deal, especially considering the fact that the Tennessee staff has been together for only a month. LSU coach Les Miles probably doesn't feel so bad, because his team just beat Kiffin's for Greenwood (S.C.) defensive end Sam Montgomery, but this could only be a preview of rockfights to come. When Kiffin assembled a staff that included his dad, Monte, former USC recruiting coordinator and Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron, former Alabama assistant Lance Thompson and former South Carolina assistant David Reaves, the sheer incest of it all signaled a new era of ugliness in the conference. Get ready for more drama today. The Vols are poking another elite rival with a stick, actively courting Pahokee (Fla.) receiver Nu'Keese Richardson, who has been committed to Florida since May, and Paris (Tenn.) athlete Marsalis Teague, who committed to Florida in December. Richardson has moved his announcement from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Teague is scheduled to announce his choice at 1 p.m. <h3>9:11 a.m.: Carroll tuning up</h3> You Twit(ter)? There may be no better window into the mind - or at least the ears - of a football coach suffering from a full-blown case of recruiting fever than the <a href="http://twitter.com/PeteCarroll">Twitter feed</a> belonging to USC's Pete Carroll.  For the past few days, Carroll has posted the soundtrack for his recruiting endeavors. At 1:42 p.m. on Jan. 28, Carroll thumbed the following message into TwitterBerry: "Currently playing on my ipod (aka the song of the day): "barracuda" by Heart. Great song!!!" Presumably, Carroll, distraught over Arizona State's continued attempts to poach five-star linebacker Vontaze Burfict and Tennessee's attempts to poach receiver Alshon Jeffrey, turned to the Wilson sisters in his time of distress. He had to be thinking of Sun Devils coach Dennis Erickson and Volunteers coach -- and former USC assistant -- Lane Kiffin as he sang along: "You're lying so low in the weeds/I bet you're gonna ambush me/You'd have me down, down, down, down on my knees/Now wouldn't you, barracuda?" Either that, or Carroll really wanted to rock out to Alone and he click-wheeled one song too far on his Heart playlist. The next day, at 11:23 a.m., Carroll posted this: "Loving Bob Marley's "stir it up" right now... Awesome song! Let's go get it today!!" That day, Carroll hosted official visitor Manti Te'o, the Laie, Hawaii, linebacker we <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/andy_staples/01/30/lds/index.html">chronicled</a> last week. Te'o's other two finalists are Notre Dame and UCLA -- two USC rivals -- so Carroll needed inspiration. Marley, as he always does, came through with this verse: "It's been a long, long time, yeah!/(stir it, stir it, stir it together)/Since I got you on my mind. (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) oh-oh!/Now you are here (stir it, stir it, stir it together), I said/It's so clear/There's so much we could do, baby, (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh). Hopefully, Carroll repeated this verbatim, right down to the last ooh-ooh-ooh. Friday, at 12:10 p.m., Carroll posted this: "Shoutout to Troy Polamalu with today's song of the day: Bob Marley's [Redemption Song]... Troy loves Marley... Go get em, troy!" Since Carroll explained it, I can't fabricate a reason for this song choice. That's fine, since I'm loathe to poke fun at my all-time favorite tune. That said, you can emancipate yourself from mental slavery today and learn the destinations of the nation's top recruits by checking SI.com regularly. If you don't feel like pressing F5 all day, just sign up for my <a href="http://twitter.com/andy_staples">Twitter feed</a>. I'll send out signing news as it happens, and I'll send out a link every time I post an analysis piece or an interview with a coach or a signee. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/ncaa/01/28/team-by-team-commitments/index.html?eref=T1">Team-by-team commitment lists</a> [Rivals.com] <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/ncaa/01/27/recruiting.top100/index.html?eref=T1">Ranking the top 100 prospects</a> [Rivals.com] <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/ncaa/02/03/recruiting-wire/index.html#?eref=T1">Live updates for Signing Day</a> [Rivals.com] <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/ncaa/02/03/team-rankings/index.html?eref=T1">Top 25 2009 college classes</a> [Rivals.com] <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/video/recruiting-football/amp-rivals100-countdown-25-1-44000">Highlight video of top 25 recruits</a> [Rivals.com] 47102 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/245/899/thumb/staples_andy2.jpg 34

Andy Staples

246219

2009-09-08T11:19:57-04:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/pat-hill.jpg" alt="Pat-hill" width="300" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Pat Hill has been Fresno State's head coach since 1997.</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Kevin Reece/Icon/SMI</div> </div> Jay Christensen produces <a href="http://www.thewizofodds.com/" target="_blank">The Wiz Of Odds</a>. Fresno Bee: Fresno State's Pat Hill has two years remaining on his deal, but after a <a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/sports/bulldogs/story/">disappointing 7-6 season</a>, it doesn't appear that an extension is in the works. Columbia State: South Carolina fans are expressing their displeasure <a href="http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/story/646376.html?RSS=gogamecocks">with Steve Spurrier</a> and the Gamecocks. Brian Dohn, Los Angeles Daily News: UCLA's Slick Rick Neuheisel is at it again. He just got commitments from four players. Three of the players <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_11426755">had previously committed</a> to other teams. Adam Rittenberg, ESPN: Iowa junior quarterback Jake Christensen, who lost his starting job to sophomore Ricky Stanzi, <a href="http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigten/0-2-1083/Iowa-QB-Christensen-to-transfer.html">has decided to transfer</a>. San Jose Mercury News: Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby said that "the [New York] Jets <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/stanford/ci_11426778?source=rss">have not contacted me</a> and I am not aware that Jim [Harbaugh] has interviewed with them." Reporters' Notebooks

2009-01-11T17:57:14-05:00

2009-01-11T17:57:14-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/pat-hill.jpg" alt="Pat-hill" width="300" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Pat Hill has been Fresno State's head coach since 1997.</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Kevin Reece/Icon/SMI</div> </div> Jay Christensen produces <a href="http://www.thewizofodds.com/" target="_blank">The Wiz Of Odds</a>. Fresno Bee: Fresno State's Pat Hill has two years remaining on his deal, but after a <a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/sports/bulldogs/story/">disappointing 7-6 season</a>, it doesn't appear that an extension is in the works. Columbia State: South Carolina fans are expressing their displeasure <a href="http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/story/646376.html?RSS=gogamecocks">with Steve Spurrier</a> and the Gamecocks. Brian Dohn, Los Angeles Daily News: UCLA's Slick Rick Neuheisel is at it again. He just got commitments from four players. Three of the players <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_11426755">had previously committed</a> to other teams. Adam Rittenberg, ESPN: Iowa junior quarterback Jake Christensen, who lost his starting job to sophomore Ricky Stanzi, <a href="http://myespn.go.com/blogs/bigten/0-2-1083/Iowa-QB-Christensen-to-transfer.html">has decided to transfer</a>. San Jose Mercury News: Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby said that "the [New York] Jets <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/stanford/ci_11426778?source=rss">have not contacted me</a> and I am not aware that Jim [Harbaugh] has interviewed with them." Brad Rock, Deseret News: He'd like to see Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff <a href="http://deseretnews.com/article/0,5143,705276746,00.html">sue the pants</a> off the BCS, just as soon as he takes care of a few other things. Jerry Brewer, Seattle Times: Washington and new coach Steve Sarkisian need to find an identity other than as <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/jerrybrewer/2008614242_brewer11.html">USC Light</a>. Seth Emerson, Columbia State: This season's bowl <a href="http://www.thestate.com/gogamecocks/story/646383.html?RSS=gogamecocks">winners and losers</a>. Steven M. Sipple, Lincoln Journal Star: Bad agents are the <a href="http://www.huskerextra.com/articles/2009/01/11/football/doc496945034fbf2490656814.txt?orss=1">bane of college football</a>. 39841 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/519/701/thumb/christensen_jay.jpg 0 CA

Jay Christensen

Los Angeles 520141

2009-09-08T11:20:04-04:00

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/skip-holtz.jpg" alt="Skip-holtz" width="298" height="350" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">Could Skip Holtz be leaving ECU for Boston College? AP</div> </div> Jay Christensen produces <a href="http://www.thewizofodds.com/" target="_blank">The Wiz Of Odds</a>. • Mark Blaudschun, Boston Globe: East Carolina's Skip Holtz is <a href="http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/football/articles/2009/01/10/source_spaziani_the_favorite/">one of two outside candidates</a> expected to interview for the job at Boston College. • Tom Witosky, Des Moines Register: Iowa athletic director Gary Barta expressed disappointment over photos that were <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090110/SPORTS020502/901100333">posted online showing Ed Podolak</a>, who has been a color commentator on Hawkeye radio broadcasts since 1982, having a good time during Iowa's trip to the Outback Bowl. Podolak, 61, has issued an apology. <a href="http://www.thewizofodds.com/the_wiz_of_odds/2009/01/how-bout-those-hawkeyes.html">Link to photos.</a> • Ben Winslow, Deseret News: Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is proceeding with an inquiry into whether the Bowl Championship Series violates antitrust laws. Shurtleff and members of his antitrust division will meet next week to discuss strategy for an <a href="http://deseretnews.com/article/0,5143,705276532,00.html">investigation and potential litigation</a> over whether the BCS violates federal laws. • James S. Tyree, Oklahoman: Only 11 people, not counting police officers and media members, showed up Friday <a href="http://newsok.com/sooners-greeted-on-return/article/3336793">to welcome the Oklahoma Sooners </a>back to Norman after the loss in the BCS title game. • George Hayward, Harvard Crimson: Instead of discouraging manifestations of joy and excitement on the field, the NCAA should applaud them <a href="http://www.uwire.com/Article.aspx? ">as true elements of sport </a>that remain in an association that becomes more commercial with each passing season. • Stefan Fatsis, National Public Radio: Analyzing the <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99175027">flaws in the BCS</a>. Reporters' Notebooks

2009-01-10T17:50:56-05:00

2009-01-10T17:50:56-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/skip-holtz.jpg" alt="Skip-holtz" width="298" height="350" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">Could Skip Holtz be leaving ECU for Boston College? AP</div> </div> Jay Christensen produces <a href="http://www.thewizofodds.com/" target="_blank">The Wiz Of Odds</a>. • Mark Blaudschun, Boston Globe: East Carolina's Skip Holtz is <a href="http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/football/articles/2009/01/10/source_spaziani_the_favorite/">one of two outside candidates</a> expected to interview for the job at Boston College. • Tom Witosky, Des Moines Register: Iowa athletic director Gary Barta expressed disappointment over photos that were <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090110/SPORTS020502/901100333">posted online showing Ed Podolak</a>, who has been a color commentator on Hawkeye radio broadcasts since 1982, having a good time during Iowa's trip to the Outback Bowl. Podolak, 61, has issued an apology. <a href="http://www.thewizofodds.com/the_wiz_of_odds/2009/01/how-bout-those-hawkeyes.html">Link to photos.</a> • Ben Winslow, Deseret News: Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is proceeding with an inquiry into whether the Bowl Championship Series violates antitrust laws. Shurtleff and members of his antitrust division will meet next week to discuss strategy for an <a href="http://deseretnews.com/article/0,5143,705276532,00.html">investigation and potential litigation</a> over whether the BCS violates federal laws. • James S. Tyree, Oklahoman: Only 11 people, not counting police officers and media members, showed up Friday <a href="http://newsok.com/sooners-greeted-on-return/article/3336793">to welcome the Oklahoma Sooners </a>back to Norman after the loss in the BCS title game. • George Hayward, Harvard Crimson: Instead of discouraging manifestations of joy and excitement on the field, the NCAA should applaud them <a href="http://www.uwire.com/Article.aspx? ">as true elements of sport </a>that remain in an association that becomes more commercial with each passing season. • Stefan Fatsis, National Public Radio: Analyzing the <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99175027">flaws in the BCS</a>. • San Jose Mercury News: Stanford's Jim Harbaugh reportedly has met with <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11421103">the New York Jets </a>about their coaching vacancy. • Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News: Who will be <a href="http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2009/01/09/five-surprises-for-09-these-teams-are-on-the-uptick/">next season's Utah</a>? Here are five teams that could have a big impact on the 2009 season. • Andrew Carroll, Tuscaloosa News: South Carolina quarterback Chris Smelley <a href="http://www.tidesports.com/article/20090109/NEWS/901090267/1011?Title=Smelley_granted_release_from_South_Carolina">is transferring to Alabama</a>, where he hopes to play baseball and possibly football. • Richard Bachman, Oregonian: Oregon officials want to move the 2009 game against Oregon State to a Thursday night, and possibly move more games next season to Thursday. <a href="http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2009/01/uo_wants_to_move_civil_war_foo.html">The reason: TV money</a>. • Larry Brown Sports: Are Thom Brennaman and Tim Tebow <a href="http://larrybrownsports.com/college-football/thom-brennaman-tim-tebow-secretly-dating/4635">secretly dating</a>? • Dan Pompei, Chicago Tribune: The Big Ten is a bust in bowl games, but <a href="http://deseretnews.com/article/0,5143,705276610,00.html">the NFL draft will be different.</a> • Charles Goldberg, Birmingham News: Auburn coach Gene Chizik said he has moved past the fact several players from the 2008 team <a href="http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/1231578944295720.xml&amp;coll=2">aren't around for a spring semester </a>that began this week. "I'm not spending time on the guys who are not here," Chizik said. • Kevin Gorman, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: After what was described <a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/college/s_606523.html?source=rss&amp;feed=15">as an emotional meeting </a>with Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt, tailback LeSean McCoy is delaying his decision on whether to declare for the NFL draft. • Michael DiRocco, Florida Times-Union: Florida standout Percy Harvin played in the BCS title game <a href="http://www.jacksonville.com/sports/college/florida_gators/2009-01-10/harvin_played_with_a_hairline_fracture">with a hairline fracture in his lower right leg </a>in an addition to a high ankle sprain. • Lya Wodraska, Salt Lake Tribune: Utah's Kyle Whittingham said he voted his team fifth in the final regular season poll then first in the poll after the bowl games because of the quality of the opponent the Utes played and the fact they <a href="http://blogs.sltrib.com/utes/2009/01/why-whittingham-voted-for-his-team-and.htm">"decisively won the [Sugar Bowl] game."</a> • Bud Withers, Seattle Times: Observations, tabulations and ruminations <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/budwithers/2008611788_withers10.html">on the bowl season </a>just completed. • Bart Wright, Greenville News: Even a "Plus One" system <a href="http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=PluckPersona&amp;U=5d556d0fb3934fedbad5de0f1aaff289&amp;plckController=PersonaBlog&amp;plckScript=personaScript&amp;plckElementId=personaDest&amp;plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&amp;plckPostId=Blog%3a5d556d0fb3934fedbad5de0f1aaff289Post%3ac403852f-8d50-408a-9302-f808dae4bec2&amp;sid=sitelife.greenvilleonline.com">would not solve the problems </a>with college football's postseason. • Eric Crawford, Louisville Courier-Journal: Louisville is looking for its second defensive coordinator <a href="http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/crawford/2009/01/u-of-l-loses-second-defensive.html">in a month </a>after Bill Miller resigned to become co-defensive coordinator at Kansas. • Jim Vertuno, Associated Press: Texas state lawmakers are considering scrapping a $6 million steroid testing program for all high school athletes after only <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gx9BSiNT08U9pbZDfbxHOlYCW6ZgD95KB5300">four students tested positive.</a> 39701 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/519/701/thumb/christensen_jay.jpg 0 CA

Jay Christensen

Los Angeles 520141

2009-01-23T13:41:09-05:00

<div class="photo_container image_center"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/florida-fans-swp.jpg" alt="Florida-fans-swp" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Florida fans celebrated in the streets after the Gators' title game win, forcing officials to close down university roads. :: AP</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;"> </div> </div> Jay Christensen produces <a href="http://www.thewizofodds.com/" target="_blank">The Wiz Of Odds</a>. • Lisa Fisher, Gainesville Sun: An estimated 28,000 Florida fans gathered on University Avenue after the Gators won the BCS championship game. Despite efforts <a href="http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090109/NEWS/901091015/1002" target="_blank">to grease utility poles and lamp posts</a> along West University, fans were climbing the poles and then jumping into the crowds below, police said. Fans were also climbing trees in the area. There were four arrests. • Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times: ESPN executive Burke Magnus says the network will not pressure BCS officials <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-bcsfyi9-2009jan09,0,1030216,full.story" target="_blank">into pursuing a playoff</a> when the cable network takes full control of the broadcast package in 2011. • Bernie Lincicome, Rocky Mountain News: In <a href="http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/jan/08/lincicome-florida-won-but-nothing-was-decided/?partner=RSS" target="_blank">the first clear decision</a> of the New Year, at least we know who is the best team in college football. Or do we? • Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times: USC's Pete Carroll: "I don't think you know who the best team is. You just know <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-uscpolls9-2009jan09,0,3483699.story" target="_blank">which team got the most votes</a>." Reporters' Notebooks

2009-01-09T18:01:24-05:00

2009-01-09T18:01:24-05:00 <div class="photo_container image_center"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/florida-fans-swp.jpg" alt="Florida-fans-swp" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Florida fans celebrated in the streets after the Gators' title game win, forcing officials to close down university roads. :: AP</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;"> </div> </div> Jay Christensen produces <a href="http://www.thewizofodds.com/" target="_blank">The Wiz Of Odds</a>. • Lisa Fisher, Gainesville Sun: An estimated 28,000 Florida fans gathered on University Avenue after the Gators won the BCS championship game. Despite efforts <a href="http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090109/NEWS/901091015/1002" target="_blank">to grease utility poles and lamp posts</a> along West University, fans were climbing the poles and then jumping into the crowds below, police said. Fans were also climbing trees in the area. There were four arrests. • Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times: ESPN executive Burke Magnus says the network will not pressure BCS officials <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-bcsfyi9-2009jan09,0,1030216,full.story" target="_blank">into pursuing a playoff</a> when the cable network takes full control of the broadcast package in 2011. • Bernie Lincicome, Rocky Mountain News: In <a href="http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/jan/08/lincicome-florida-won-but-nothing-was-decided/?partner=RSS" target="_blank">the first clear decision</a> of the New Year, at least we know who is the best team in college football. Or do we? • Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times: USC's Pete Carroll: "I don't think you know who the best team is. You just know <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-uscpolls9-2009jan09,0,3483699.story" target="_blank">which team got the most votes</a>." • Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette: Why one voter in the Associated Press poll decided <a href="http://mikegh.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/i-voted-for-utah/" target="_blank">to put Utah at No. 1</a>. • Ken Goe, Oregonian: He doesn't know what was worse, <a href="http://blog.oregonlive.com/pac10/2009/01/if_its_settled_on_the_field_us.html" target="_blank">the way the AP voters rolled over</a> and gave the BCS what it wanted, or seeing Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen presenting the national championship trophy to Florida coach Urban Meyer. • Chuck Carlton, Dallas Morning News: Texas' Mack Brown, who said after the Fiesta Bowl that he would vote the Longhorns No. 1 in the coaches poll, didn't, because he was told <a href="http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/01/why-mack-brown-didnt-vote-texas-no-1.html" target="_blank">his vote would be discarded</a> by the American Football Coaches Association. An AFCA official says that Brown was given incorrect information and it didn't come from the AFCA. • Martin Renzhofer, Salt Lake Tribune: Kyle Whittingham isn't bitter about Utah not having the chance to play for the BCS title, but he says BCS coordinator John Swofford is wrong in saying that the system allowed the Utes to show their wares in a major bowl game. "We would have been invited <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_11416696?source=rss" target="_blank">regardless of what system</a> was in place," the coach said. • Mel Bracht, Oklahoma: No shortage of goofs <a href="http://newsok.com//article/3336542" target="_blank">by the Fox crew</a> during the title game telecast. • Brett McMurphy, Tampa Tribune: Former Miami quarterback Robert Marve will now be allowed to transfer <a href="http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jan/09/090800/sp-marves-options-now-include-usf-ucf/sports-colleges-bulls/" target="_blank">to South Florida or Central Florida</a>, but Marve's father is still not happy that Hurricane coach Randy Shannon won't allow his son to consider Florida, Louisiana State or Tennessee. • Jay Drew, Salt Lake Tribune: Brigham Young receiver Austin Collie is<a href="http://www.sltrib.com/collegesports/ci_11415871? source=rss" target="_blank"> leaving a year early</a> to turn pro. • Joshua D. Scroggin, San Luis Obispo Tribune: Former Army offensive coordinator Tim Walsh<a href="http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/breaking_news/story/581713.html" target="_blank"> is expected to become</a> the coach at Cal Poly. He would replace Rich Ellerson, who left to become coach at Army. 39561 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/519/701/thumb/christensen_jay.jpg 0 CA

Jay Christensen

Los Angeles 520141

2009-09-08T11:20:07-04:00

<div> <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/tim_layden/01/09/giants.eagles.preview/T1_0108_tebow.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="298" height="375" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Tim Tebow has claimed one Heisman and two titles at UF. AP</div> </div> The debate as to which conference reigns as No. 1 took plenty of twists and turns this year, and early in the fourth quarter of the 34th and final bowl game, I was still undecided on my final rankings. With Florida and Oklahoma tied 14-14, it was hard to separate the Big 12 and the SEC. But Tim Tebow led Florida to the game's final 10 points, the crystal ball was soon in Urban Meyer's hands for the second time in three years and the SEC won the mythical Conference Power Rankings title.</div> <div> </div> <div>The Big 12 was No. 1 for a good part of the season, but the SEC rallied in the postseason from the No. 3 spot and passed both the ACC and Big 12 with a 6-2 record and a 4-0 bowl mark vs. the Big 12 and ACC. Ole Miss took down Texas Tech in a shootout, and Florida outfought Oklahoma in a suprisingly defensive championship game.</div> <div>Like Oklahoma, the Big 12 gave its best shot this year, but the SEC edged it at the wire.</div> <div> </div> <div>(For these rankings, BCS+ records includes games against the six BCS leagues, plus non-BCS teams in the Top 25.)</div> <div> </div> <div>1. SEC (43-13 vs. non-conference opponents, 11-11 vs. BCS+; Bowls: 6-2, 5-2 vs. BCS+) Alabama's loss was a humbling blow for the league, but the rest of the bowl season was certainly impressive. Boasting the national champion is always a plus, and LSU suddenly lived up to its potential with adequate quarterback play, Georgia stoned Javon Ringer and Michigan State and even Vanderbilt beat an upper-level ACC team in Boston College. SEC fans always believe their league is best. This year, they're right.</div> <div> </div> <div>2. Big 12 (42-12, 12-11 vs. BCS+; 4-3, 4-3) The Big 12 had a phenomenal year, by any measure. The bowl season provided the Big 12 North, the league's forgotten division, to flex its muscles with wins by Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. But outside of Texas, which escaped Ohio State in the final seconds, the Big 12 South didn't shine when the lights were brightest. OU managed just 14 points in the national title game, Oklahoma State couldn't get past Oregon and Texas Tech lost to Ole Miss in a telling matchup between the two leagues. The Big 12 can hold its head high, but not quite as high as the SEC.</div> SEC captures last-minute Power Rankings title

2009-01-09T03:18:53-05:00

188

2009-01-09T03:18:53-05:00 <div> <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/tim_layden/01/09/giants.eagles.preview/T1_0108_tebow.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="298" height="375" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Tim Tebow has claimed one Heisman and two titles at UF. AP</div> </div> The debate as to which conference reigns as No. 1 took plenty of twists and turns this year, and early in the fourth quarter of the 34th and final bowl game, I was still undecided on my final rankings. With Florida and Oklahoma tied 14-14, it was hard to separate the Big 12 and the SEC. But Tim Tebow led Florida to the game's final 10 points, the crystal ball was soon in Urban Meyer's hands for the second time in three years and the SEC won the mythical Conference Power Rankings title.</div> <div> </div> <div>The Big 12 was No. 1 for a good part of the season, but the SEC rallied in the postseason from the No. 3 spot and passed both the ACC and Big 12 with a 6-2 record and a 4-0 bowl mark vs. the Big 12 and ACC. Ole Miss took down Texas Tech in a shootout, and Florida outfought Oklahoma in a suprisingly defensive championship game. Like Oklahoma, the Big 12 gave its best shot this year, but the SEC edged it at the wire.</div> <div> </div> <div>(For these rankings, BCS+ records includes games against the six BCS leagues, plus non-BCS teams in the Top 25.)</div> <div> </div> <div>1. SEC (43-13 vs. non-conference opponents, 11-11 vs. BCS+; Bowls: 6-2, 5-2 vs. BCS+) Alabama's loss was a humbling blow for the league, but the rest of the bowl season was certainly impressive. Boasting the national champion is always a plus, and LSU suddenly lived up to its potential with adequate quarterback play, Georgia stoned Javon Ringer and Michigan State and even Vanderbilt beat an upper-level ACC team in Boston College. SEC fans always believe their league is best. This year, they're right.</div> <div> </div> <div>2. Big 12 (42-12, 12-11 vs. BCS+; 4-3, 4-3) The Big 12 had a phenomenal year, by any measure. The bowl season provided the Big 12 North, the league's forgotten division, an opportunity to flex its muscles with wins by Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. But outside of Texas, which escaped Ohio State in the final seconds, the Big 12 South didn't shine when the lights were brightest. OU managed just 14 points in the national-title game, Oklahoma State couldn't get past Oregon and Texas Tech lost to Ole Miss in a telling matchup between the two leagues. The Big 12 can hold its head high, but not quite as high as the SEC.</div> <div> </div> <div>3. ACC (41-17, 17-15; Bowls: 4-6, 2-6) The ACC was underwhelming during bowl season save for Virginia Tech's Orange Bowl win and Florida State's beatdown of Wisconsin. The league had a nation's-best 10 bowl teams, however, and had more BCS+ wins than any other league for the season. The ACC earned a solid third after a slow start in September.</div> <div> </div> <div>4. Mountain West (28-13, 11-6; Bowls: 3-2, 2-1) Utah, you've earned all the praise you've received since whipping up on Alabama. And TCU went out and battled past undefeated Boise State in an exciting Poinsettia Bowl. Had BYU beaten Arizona and made it a clean sweep for the league's Big Three, the MWC may have jumped up to No. 3; but the Cougars were stopped by a 8-5 Pac-10 team. This league gained unprecedented credibility this year, which will only hope in future polls.   5. Pac-10 (19-16,11-13; 5-0, 5-0) The Pac-10 salvaged a lost season with a spectacular postseason, but it could not jump the MWC by virtue of a 2-6 final record against their neighbors. Still, all five bowl victories were against legit teams, and USC once again looked All-World in the Rose Bowl. Almost makes you forget that Washington and Washington State were the two worst teams in BCS leagues this year.   6. Big Ten (33-18, 7-15; Bowls: 1-6, 1-6) As good as the Pac-10 was over the holidays, the Big Ten was as bad. Iowa prevented a dreaded bagel with an easy win over South  Carolina, but there was no other good news to be found. Michigan State looked overmatched against Georgia. Ditto for Penn State against USC and Wisconsin was rolled by Florida State. Northwestern and Ohio State lost at the buzzer, but good teams know how to close.</div> <div> </div> <div>7. Big East (32-14, 11-9; Bowls: 4-2, 2-2) Cincinnati failed to show against a four-loss Virginia Tech team in the Orange Bowl, and Pittsburgh failed to score in the Sun Bowl. Other than that, there was good news in the bowl season, especially out of West Virginia. The Mountaineers pulled out an  entertaining 31-30 win over North Carolina. The Big East did have a respectable 11-9 BCS+ mark for the season, but the league is not going to finish the year with a team in the top 15, and the league isn't exactly deep.</div> 39261 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/425/01/thumb/trocchi_bill.jpg 0 GA

Bill Trocchi

Tucker 42721

474

Grant Wahl's Blog 43

2009-11-16T10:49:43-05:00

USA 2, Costa Rica 2. Late Drama at RFK

2009-10-14T22:20:37-04:00

2009-10-14T22:20:37-04:00 WASHINGTON -- Three thoughts after the U.S.' 2-2 tie with Costa Rica in the final Hexagonal game of World Cup qualifying: • The U.S. does not know how to give up. Down 2-0 midway through the second half, the Americans scored twice in the final 23 minutes, capped by Jonathan Bornstein's stunning 95th-minute header, to secure a remarkable tie. The comeback forced Costa Rica into a playoff with Uruguay next month and catapulted Honduras (a 1-0 winner at El Salvador) into its first World Cup since 1982. In a week when the U.S. was shocked by the tragic auto accident involving forward Charlie Davies, this was only a sporting moment. But it was a special one which called to mind the U.S.' amazing comeback against Egypt in June's Confederations Cup. If the U.S. is to go on a deep run in South Africa next year, it will need to continue having this kind of never-quit attitude, which is infectious. • René Simões went mental. I was just about ready to hail Costa Rica's new Brazilian coach for being the Ticos' Mr. Fix-It when he lost his mind in the final minutes, complaining to the fourth official and drawing a red card. Simões' antics mean that he'll be suspended for Costa Rica's first playoff game against Uruguay next month. If you're a Costa Rica fan right now, you have to be upset over how your team went from first place to fourth in only four games. • Oguchi Onyewu's injury looked scary. The hulking U.S. defender left the field after going down with an alarming non-contact injury in the 83rd minute. We'll have to wait for a postgame injury report, but Gooch was extremely agitated on the field after falling down awkwardly in the Costa Rica box going up for a header. <ul> </ul> What are your thoughts after the game? Please post them below, and check back later for a post-interviews piece. 81502 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615

2009-10-13T15:45:04-04:00

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras Three thoughts after the U.S.'s 3-2 victory against Honduras in Saturday's World Cup qualifier: * The U.S. is World Cup-bound for the sixth straight time. In one of the most remarkable halves in U.S. Soccer history, the Americans overcame a 1-0 deficit and scored three times to silence 45,000 Hondurans who were hoping to celebrate the country's biggest win in nearly three decades. Granted, Honduras isn't Brazil, but the U.S. could have folded after giving up a brutal goal in the 46th minute much like the one it allowed to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final (a 3-2 loss). Instead, the Yanks found the resolve to keep pushing and run off three unanswered strikes by Conor Casey (two) and Landon Donovan (one). If you were ever going to question the U.S.'s heart, this World Cup-bound team answered those questions tonight.   USA 3, Honduras 2: The U.S. is in the 2010 World Cup.

2009-10-11T00:03:46-04:00

2009-10-11T00:03:46-04:00 <div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/2009/soccer/10/11/us.wins.ap/inside-soccer.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" width="298" height="400" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Landon Donovan and the U.S. are going to South Africa next summer. AP</div> </div> SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras -- Three thoughts after the U.S.' 3-2 victory against Honduras in Saturday's World Cup qualifier: • The U.S. is World Cup-bound for the sixth straight time. In one of the most remarkable halves in U.S. Soccer history, the Americans overcame a 1-0 deficit and scored three times to silence 45,000 Hondurans who were hoping to celebrate the country's biggest win in nearly three decades. Granted, Honduras isn't Brazil, but the U.S. could have folded after giving up a brutal goal in the 46th minute much like the one it allowed to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final (a 3-2 loss). Instead, the Yanks found the resolve to keep pushing and run off three unanswered strikes by Conor Casey (two) and Landon Donovan (one). If you were ever going to question the U.S.' heart, this World Cup-bound team answered those questions tonight. • The Hondurans are the chokers of CONCACAF. Amazingly, the Catrachos could have tied the game at 3-3 in the 87th minute, but Carlos Pavón sent his penalty kick over the bar after a Carlos Bocanegra hand-ball penalty in the box. If Honduras fails to reach the World Cup and it's now in fourth place headed for a playoff against perhaps Uruguay, this failure on its home field will be remembered here for decades. You might recall that Honduras was on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup on Matchday 9 at home in 2001, but it somehow lost to lowly Trinidad and Tobago 1-0 to miss a World Cup berth by three points. You have to feel for the Honduran fans, who could have used a night of exultation after their country has been going through a political crisis. • Man of the Match: Casey. There were a lot of raised eyebrows here in the press box when the U.S. lineup came out and Casey was listed at forward instead of Jozy Altidore. But Casey made Bob Bradley's gamble pay off, scoring the first two goals of his national-team career in the most important of circumstances. After a rough start dealing with aimless long balls from the U.S. back line, Casey recovered to play an important role holding the ball in the latter part of the first half. Then he lit it up in the second half, beating Honduran goalkeeper Noel Valladares to a high-ball for the 1-1 equalizer and finishing Donovan's brilliant through-ball for the 2-1 lead. Casey put an exclamation point on his breakout evening by earning the free kick that Donovan sent into the upper-right corner for the decisive goal. What are your thoughts on the game? Please post below. This is all from me tonight since I have to write a magazine story on deadline for tomorrow. Grant Wahl's New York Times Best Seller, The Beckham Experiment, is in bookstores everywhere. You can order it <a href="http://tinyurl.com/layry6" target="_blank">here</a>. You can also find him on <a href="http://twitter.com/GrantWahl" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 80781 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615

2009-10-13T16:40:33-04:00

Meet the President, Get Robbed: Just Another Day in Honduras

2009-10-10T16:00:11-04:00

2009-10-10T16:00:11-04:00  <style></style> TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- For a few minutes on Friday night, Honduran interim president Roberto Micheletti sounded happy to be talking with a reporter about something other than the political crisis which has engulfed his country. Micheletti is a soccer fan, and tonight in San Pedro Sula, the Honduran national team plays its most important game in 27 years, a World Cup qualifier against the United States. If Honduras wins, it will almost certainly clinch a World Cup berth for the first time since 1982. And Micheletti, for his part, thinks his Catrachos will do more than just win. "Honduras 4, United States 0!" Micheletti told me in Spanish. "The heart of the Hondurans is bigger than ever!" Micheletti has a lot on his plate these days. With mediation from the Organization of American States, his aides met this week with representatives of Manuel Zelaya, who was deposed as president on June 28. Zelaya snuck back into Honduras on Sept. 21 and has been holed up in the Brazilian embassy here ever since. No other countries, including the U.S., have recognized Micheletti's regime. Even though no resolution to the standoff has been reached, Honduras will put aside politics for 90 minutes tonight to support their national team. "Soccer unites all Hondurans," Micheletti explained during our 10-minute conversation, "without distinction among classes, political parties, religion or race. Soccer brings everyone together." "We still remember our national team from 1982, and we Hondurans all live with the dream of returning to the World Cup. Let's hope that God gives us the opportunity to achieve this goal, which we'd do by beating the Gringos and the Salvadorans [on Wednesday]." A fan of two Honduran clubs (Real España and Motagua) who says he still plays soccer once or twice a year, Micheletti won't be at the stadium tonight, but he did say that he would be watching the game in his living room at home. "I have to watch at home because I scream a lot at the TV," he said. The de facto president is no dummy: He knows that a Honduras win tonight will be good from him politically. But he also seemed to be a genuine fan, naming off several of his favorite Honduran players, including Carlos Pavón, Carlos Costly, David Suazo and Ramón Núñez, and he seemed more than a little bullish about tonight's game. "We have players from international clubs on our team, and therefore we have a lot of confidence, hope and faith that we will achieve this victory," he told me. "But I want to wish both teams luck, that they play a clean game and that for a moment we can forget any sadness [in the country] and enjoy a great soccer game." And if Honduras qualifies for the World Cup? "I'll call a national holiday," said Micheletti. "We are going to celebrate!" *** Friday was an odd day for me. One moment I was speaking with the man who runs Honduras, and another moment I was being robbed at gunpoint in Tegucigalpa. My idea had been to drive from San Pedro Sula about 150 miles southeast to the capital, stopping to interview people along the way about the significance of the Honduran soccer team's success during a time of deep divisions within the country. And that's exactly what I did. I spoke to businessmen in San Pedro Sula, gas-station workers in Comayagua and even <a href="http://img27.yfrog.com/i/g7w.jpg/" target="_blank">a clown</a> that I encountered on the side of the road in a dusty town outside Tegucigalpa. (The man, whose nom de clown is Chiquitón, said he'd be watching the game. He also said that he clowns at birthday parties, Christmas celebrations and even funerals.) Along the way I discovered that Honduras is a beautiful country, with forest-green mountains, gorgeous lakes and friendly people. Except, perhaps, for one. On Friday afternoon, I ventured to the embassy district of Tegucigalpa, where hundreds of gun-toting police have surrounded the Brazilian embassy (and its occupant Zelaya). The police chief gave me the clearance to interview some soccer-loving police officers, whose scowls melted into smiles as they talked of getting a few hours off from work to watch USA-Honduras. After we finished, I started walking back to my car, which I had parked a few blocks away in what appeared to be a safe part of town a stone's throw from the U.S. embassy. And then, in broad daylight, with hundreds of police officers only a couple hundred yards away, a 20-something male ran up behind me, pulled out a gun, and threatened to kill me if I didn't give him my things. I've had experience working in some hairy situations -- from a week in Nigeria to a drive across Mexico, from a story near the Israeli-Lebanese border to a road-trip with hardcore soccer fans in Argentina -- but I had never been threatened with a gun before. I gave him my wallet and iPhone, and thankfully he disappeared down the aptly named Avenida de Paz (Peace). But I did survive, chastened and a bit embarrassed. Interim president Micheletti apologized for the robbery and said that it no doubt was a Zelaya supporter. Check back before and during tonight's game to Grant Wahl's live commentary from San Pedro Sula on <a href="http://twitter.com/GrantWahl" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.   80761 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615

2009-09-11T20:34:35-04:00

USA 1, Trinidad and Tobago 0

2009-09-09T21:09:48-04:00

2009-09-09T21:09:48-04:00 PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- Three thoughts after the U.S.' 1-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier: • Underwhelming? Yes. But it's still six points. It's hard to imagine the U.S. performing much worse and still finding a way to get a huge six points from this week's two qualifiers against El Salvador and T&T, the two bottom-feeders of the Hex. The U.S. played a brutal first half, losing possession easily (often without much pressure at all) and letting T&T have the three best chances of the first 45. Not much improved in the second half, either, but Landon Donovan's penetrating run down the left side created space for him to lay off to Ricardo Clark, who has shown in the past that he can shoot from distance. (Copa América 2007, anyone?) Bottom line: With 16 points, the U.S. is in good shape to qualify for South Africa 2010 and doesn't have a must-win situation at Honduras on Matchday 9 next month. Good thing, though, because if they continue playing this way, the Yanks will have no chance in San Pedro Sula. • Donovan is the U.S.' only consistent offensive threat these days. There's no way the Yanks would have gotten six points this week if it hadn't been for Donovan, who after years of going hot and cold has turned into a regular performer when the games matter most. Remember the '06 World Cup, when Donovan was often afraid to take on defenders with the ball at his feet? You just don't see that anymore. Clint Dempsey needs to turn into that type of player for the Americans. Dempsey seems out of synch with most of his teammates in the attack, and his reliance on tricks when they're not necessary often results in killer giveaways. What happened to the Dempsey that we saw during the second half of the Confederations Cup? • It's still 2009, not 2010. If there's any solace for most U.S. fans, it's that how you perform in 2010 may have nothing to do with how you qualify for the World Cup. Would anyone have predicted that the U.S. (which finished third in qualifying for '02) would be a World Cup quarterfinalist a year later? That Brazil (which barely qualified for '02) would raise the trophy a year later? England fans will no doubt be sky-high after their team's 5-1 blowout of Croatia on Wednesday, but what does that say about England's chances in 2010? Perhaps very little. In the end, qualifying is about qualifying -- and then wiping the slate clean. Thoughts on the game? Post them below and check back later for my post-press conference piece on SI.com. Grant Wahl's New York Times Best Seller, The Beckham Experiment, is in bookstores everywhere. You can order it <a href="http://tinyurl.com/layry6" target="_blank">here</a>. You can also find him on <a href="http://twitter.com/GrantWahl" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 76901 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615

2009-09-09T17:43:16-04:00

Gameday: USA-Trinidad and Tobago

2009-09-09T12:27:54-04:00

2009-09-09T12:27:54-04:00 PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago -- It's tough to feel a sense of urgency when you're sitting in a luxury hotel overlooking the Caribbean Sea on a glorious late-summer afternoon. But it's still possible, especially if you're Tim Howard, the goalkeeper whose U.S. national team needs a victory in tonight's World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago (7 p.m. ET, ESPN Classic, TeleFutura) to feel good about its chances of reaching South Africa 2010. "I've said it all along, you win your home games and you hope to pick up something on the road," Howard says. "But I think now the mindset has to change a little bit. For the four teams right now who are at the top of the group, I think we all would probably say we've got to go for it." A U.S. tie here just won't cut it. Not when Mexico's surprising 3-0 win at Costa Rica on Saturday made a close four-team race for three automatic World Cup spots even tighter. Not when this is the easiest road venue in the Hexagonal. And not when a tie or loss would be a step back for a U.S. team that won its last qualifier here that mattered in 2005. "We need to win this game," said Landon Donovan on Wednesday night. "Our last two are very difficult games [in October at Honduras and at home against Costa Rica]. This is a [T&T] team that is not mathematically out but likely out of it, and a team that we need to beat, clearly." The U.S. figures to make a few changes from the lineup that beat El Salvador 2-1 on Saturday. Coach Bob Bradley said Oguchi Onyewu will return to the central defense after serving a one-game yellow-card suspension. Onyewu has been training with the team all week, and Bradley said he's not concerned that the AC Milan player hasn't played a competitive game since the U.S.-Mexico qualifier almost a month ago. Bradley has a couple of options for the rest of the back line. He could use Chad Marshall in the center next to Onyewu and put Carlos Bocanegra on the left, but I suspect Bocanegra will play in the center, leaving Bradley with a decision: Does he continue on the left with Jonathan Bornstein, who struggled on Saturday? Or does he move Jonathan Spector from the right side to the left (where he plays for West Ham) and put Steve Cherundolo on the right? That's what I suspect will happen, and we'll see (from left to right): Spector - Bocanegra - Onyewu - Cherundolo. If Spector does move to the left, it will be important for Cherundolo to show that his crosses can be just as dangerous as Spector's have been in recent months. Otherwise, I think the only change we'll see is in the central midfield, where Ricardo Clark could return to the lineup replacing Benny Feilhaber. That would mean a midfield of: Donovan - Clark - Michael Bradley - Clint Dempsey. Up top, I figure we'll again see Jozy Altidore and Charlie Davies, provided that Davies is O.K. after leaving the game on Saturday in the second half with a thigh contusion. "We needed to see how a few guys felt, Charlie being one of them," Bob Bradley said on Tuesday night after practice at Hasely Crawford Stadium. "Based upon the little that we did, guys seemed O.K. We'll see how they are later tonight and tomorrow and make final decisions. But the hope is we'll have everybody open for selection." Altidore, you may recall, had a hat trick in Nashville the last time these two teams played. The rise of Davies since then has to be an encouraging development for the U.S.'s attacking future. After all, how many Top 15 national teams start a 19-year-old and a 23-year-old up top? As for T&T, the cuddly upstart that made a splash at World Cup 2006 (tying Sweden and giving England all it could handle) is essentially out of contention for South Africa. But it does have one of the better front lines in CONCACAF. Kenwyne Jones (Sunderland) and Cornell Glen (San Jose Earthquakes) started in the team's 4-1 loss at Honduras on Saturday, but we could see the debut of recently naturalized Bobby Zamora (Fulham). "These are all guys who are pretty decorated, particularly in CONCACAF," says Tim Howard. "They're a handful because, first off, you look at their physical stature, they're really big. But then they also possess good speed, they're good in the air. A lot of what they bring, ironically, kind of plays into our hands. Because from a defensive standpoint we're very good at those things as well. We're good in the air, we're fast, we're strong. So oftentimes our matchups have been pretty good against those guys for that reason." Perhaps the biggest surprise on Saturday (other than Mexico's win at Costa Rica) was that the U.S., which had so readily picked up cards in 2009, didn't receive a single yellow against El Salvador. On the one hand, that left no players suspended for tonight's game, but it also means that seven U.S. players are one yellow card away from being suspended for October's qualifier at Honduras: Altidore, Bocanegra, Cherundolo, Clark, Dempsey, Donovan and Feilhaber. "At this point we can't worry about cards," says Donovan, who was the Man of the Match against El Salvador. "The last game we were a little cautious of it and we did a good job. Right now we need to play to win the game, and if we take a yellow and miss a game that's part of it. We've got enough guys who can fill out the team." THROUGH-BALLS: President Obama has been supportive of U.S. Soccer recently, writing a personal letter to FIFA president Sepp Blatter in support of the U.S. bid for the 2018/2022 World Cups and hosting Blatter in a private Oval Office meeting. We're also told that White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina is such a U.S. Soccer fan that he wore a Landon Donovan jersey on the day of the U.S.-Brazil Confederations Cup final. But Obama's scheduling of a big nationally televised speech tonight during an important U.S. World Cup qualifier? Lame ... If the U.S. builds a sizable lead, I wouldn't be surprised to see forward Robbie Findley get on the field. Findley's parents, Vanessa and Rawle, are from Port of Spain, and Findley has many relatives here. He even had a try-out with the T&T Under-21 team in 2005 ... It's amazing how often you see soccer references in non-soccer areas here. Trinidadian Jack Warner, the all-powerful FIFA vice-president, also appears in the papers here as chairman of the UNC-A political party, and there was also a front-page picture in the Daily Express of a beauty pageant that took place in the João Havelange Centre of Excellence, named for the Brazilian former FIFA president. Nice to see that Warner is acting as the Robert Byrd of soccer politics, bring lots of $$$ to his home state. How do you see the U.S.-T&T game playing out? Who do you think will start for the Americans? Post your thoughts below and check back later for updates from the stadium. Grant Wahl's New York Times Best Seller, The Beckham Experiment, is in bookstores everywhere. You can order it <a href="http://tinyurl.com/layry6" target="_blank">here</a>. You can also find him on <a href="http://twitter.com/GrantWahl">Twitter</a>.   76882 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615

The 10 Spot Blog by Pete McEntegart 44

2009-11-21T20:10:43-05:00

The 10 Spot began humbly on June 21, 2004. It’s ending today on even more humbling terms, with a pink slip. And, if history is any guide, with a comment by DJ Chris linking the color pink to A-Rod. (That’s not a challenge, incidentally.) We weren’t trying to bring about world peace or stave off a global financial meltdown. Which turns out to be just as well, because nobody else could do that either. Rather, our stated goal was simple -- to provide a few chuckles by commenting on the sports news of the day. As longtime readers might recall, the initial format consisted of 10 short, numbered items. (Thus the name.) The topics ranged from the latest pompous athlete in trouble to reality TV to whatever else I could scrounge together to reach No. 10 before hitting “send.” In May 2007, the format changed to a blog and my hat came off. The first comment of the brand-new blog was, “This format sucks.” It got better, I hope. Happy trails to the 10 Spot

2008-12-08T10:18:48-05:00

31841

2008-12-08T10:18:48-05:00 The 10 Spot began humbly on June 21, 2004. It’s ending today on even more humbling terms, with a pink slip. And, if history is any guide, with a comment by DJ Chris linking the color pink to A-Rod. (That’s not a challenge, incidentally.) We weren’t trying to bring about world peace or stave off a global financial meltdown. Which turns out to be just as well, because nobody else could do that either. Rather, our stated goal was simple -- to provide a few chuckles by commenting on the sports news of the day. As longtime readers might recall, the initial format consisted of 10 short, numbered items. (Thus the name.) The topics ranged from the latest pompous athlete in trouble to reality TV to whatever else I could scrounge together to reach No. 10 before hitting “send.” In May 2007, the format changed to a blog and my hat came off. The first comment of the brand-new blog was, “This format sucks.” It got better, I hope. I doubt that the 10 Spot has added much to the world’s collective wisdom, except to reinforce the facts that Roger Clemens has three ears, Terrell Owens has 25 million reasons to live and Barry Bonds has a ginormous noggin. On the other hand, writing the 10 Spot for the past four and a half years has taught me much that I will never forget. Let me indulge your patience for one last time to share some of these morsels. I learned that if you post a picture of Tom Brady, make sure none of his teammates in the frame could be construed as being overly “friendly.” That Greg Oden’s injuries are no laughing matter. That Rob Bironas has many friends who care about his welfare. I learned that Pagination needs a President, and you don’t want to get fresh with her in the server room. That the basement is a beehive of activity. That PittsburgH has a capital “H” on the end. I learned that when the IT people at your office furrow their brow when you approach and bury their head in one of their four open screens, the odds are better than they’re commenting on a blog than fixing the server. That pants are optional on Thursday. That we should accet the things we cannot change. I learned that if you want to tuck your unlicensed, loaded handgun down your drawers, you should wear something sturdier than sweatpants. That if you use steroids, make sure your trainer doesn’t save your syringes, bloody gauzes and empty beer cans. That making it rain is best left to God. I learned that the 10 Spot was disproportionately popular in Canada and among Kansas Jayhawk fans. That computer illiteracy is no impediment to landing twins. That Polish divorce law can be tricky. I never quite learned what the RiP stood for, but that most NASCAR races are liable to be won by Jimmie Johnson or Carl Edwards. That I dress much hipper in Mark G’s avatar than in real life. That young Will loves the Vols. I learned that everyone’s a non-winner when a blog’s game can be raised by its many talented members through the Write Your Own Joke contest and Caption This. That not everybody likes Chuck Norris. That spelling can be made eisiar through the Barzhacinator 2000. I learned that nobody at Molly’s wants to watch the LSU-North Texas game. That Tim is in NY, Sean is in NJ and Jen is on the trains. That AV likes readheads. I learned that the Peanut Gallery has become a true community, not just a virtual one. That “lurkers” would better be described as the “silent majority.” That bears are best handled with benign neglect rather than poking. I learned that this ain’t Loveline, bub. That that’s what she said. Wait, what? I don’t know what the future holds for me. I will, however, post my plans on Mungo’s <a href="http://thenew10spot.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The New 10 Spot</a> whenever I figure out what the heck they will be. Much of the Peanut Gallery has already decamped there and I will surely check in from time to time. I’ve been honored that so many of you have made the 10 Spot a part of your daily routine. I will most miss interacting with you. It was a real gift to have a hand in creating and being a part of a like-minded online community where clever > crass, the frivolity flowed and the insults were almost always good-natured. That’s a rare thing on these here Internets. It’s been a great ride. Thanks for taking the trip with me. 30121 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/396/4/thumb/mcentegart_pete.jpg 6586 NY

The 10 Spot

New York 3984

2009-06-11T21:54:57-04:00

Well, this is the swan song for the Write Your Own Joke contest. I was laid off this morning, while sitting at this very desk eating a bowl of Fiber One cereal with a side of fruit. (Hey, I need my health now more than ever.) So the 10 Spot will shortly go the way of my employment here at SI. Which is to say, into the wind. Still, it seemed churlish not to follow through with the results of the WYOJ contest. I also anticipate producing a “regular” edition of Friday LTLs, complete with a LOW. Perhaps next Monday will bring some sort of farewell edition, but that is still TBD. After that, your guess is as good as mine. [UPDATE: This will actually be the final post for today. I just don't think I'll be able to summon the funnies for Lunchtime Laughs. My apologies. On the positive side, at least for me, that also means I will close shop on the Lock of the Week with a season record of 9-4 (.692). So if the season ended today -- along with, coincidentally, my SI career -- I'd get a first-round bye into the picking playoffs.] Anyway, there were a lot of great entries, especially for the Burress/Pierce mess. Here we go: Topic 1: “Giants LB Antonio Pierce will reportedly testify against teammate Plaxico Burress in front of a grand jury. __________.” Winner: “Pierce will then enter the federal witness protection program; he'll be traded to the Lions and become completely anonymous.” (greybeard) Honorable Mention: “Giants' Coach Tom Coughlin is said to be red-faced over the whole affair, but that could just be the weather.” (Tim in NY) (Final) Write Your Own Joke contest results

2008-12-05T10:55:59-05:00

2648

2008-12-05T10:55:59-05:00 Well, this is the swan song for the Write Your Own Joke contest. I was laid off this morning, while sitting at this very desk eating a bowl of Fiber One cereal with a side of fruit. (Hey, I need my health now more than ever.) So the 10 Spot will shortly go the way of my employment here at SI. Which is to say, into the wind. Still, it seemed churlish not to follow through with the results of the WYOJ contest. I also anticipate producing a “regular” edition of Friday LTLs, complete with a LOW. Perhaps next Monday will bring some sort of farewell edition, but that is still TBD. After that, your guess is as good as mine. [UPDATE: This will actually be the final post for today. I just don't think I'll be able to summon the funnies for Lunchtime Laughs. My apologies. On the positive side, at least for me, that also means I will close shop on the Lock of the Week with a season record of 9-4 (.692). So if the season ended today -- along with, coincidentally, my SI career -- I'd get a first-round bye into the picking playoffs.] Anyway, there were a lot of great entries, especially for the Burress/Pierce mess. Here we go: Topic 1: “Giants LB Antonio Pierce will reportedly testify against teammate Plaxico Burress in front of a grand jury. __________.” Winner: “Pierce will then enter the federal witness protection program; he'll be traded to the Lions and become completely anonymous.” (greybeard) Honorable Mention: “Giants' Coach Tom Coughlin is said to be red-faced over the whole affair, but that could just be the weather.” (Tim in NY) “In a related story, Tiki Barber announced with glee that he's willing to testify against any and all of the Giants.” (Zowie) “That is, of course, if Pierce doesn't have to drop *his* kids off at school that morning.” (Mark G) “Most NFL insiders saw the Giant's decision as further evidence that, while he is a quality linebacker, Pierce is no Ray Lewis.” (Galloping Ghost) “Antonio isn't thinking about it so much as ratting on a friend, but as helping him negotiate a new multi-year contract with the State of New York.” (Tphtwpe) “To protect his identity Pierce will be allowed to use a tinted visor.” (Finsterbaby) “To ensure Plaxico is unarmed, Pierce requested the testimony be given on Pantsless Thursday.” (RgrRabbit) “Since he has his own related legal issues, Pierce's main goal during his testimony will be to not shoot himself in the foot.” (The Card Says Moops) “Plax reportedly offered an olive branch by sending him a Carmelo Anthony DVD for Christmas.” (hedgehog) “Burress is thought to be the first NFL player to be shot in the leg and stabbed in the back over the course of one week.” (Galloping Ghost)   Topic 2: “Auburn AD Jay Jacobs says he was ‘shocked’ when Tommy Tuberville resigned as football coach yesterday, and had never considered firing him. __________.” Winner: “The comments played right into the hands of Jacobs' critics, who have consistently complained that he lacks the speed to keep up with SEC coaching changes.” (Tim in NY) Honorable Mention: “Jacobs said that if that had intended to fire Tuberville, he first would have secretly flown in at least one potential replacement for an interview.” (fluffy kitten) “He was so shocked, in fact, he almost hung up on Mike Leach.” (Caveman HC6) “Jacobs also says he was ‘damn near electrocuted’ when he found out about Santa last week.” (Finsterbaby) “Jacobs stated that he was operating under the assumption that Tuberville still had 3-4 assistants that he planned to pin blame on, just like always.” (gc -- Chairman of the Bored) “‘In fact,’ Jacobs continued, ‘didn't we get rid of that guy four or five years ago?’” (Galloping Ghost) “Jacobs continued that it had always been Auburn's policy to pay ridiculous golden parachutes to coaches who resign.” (Caveman HC6) “The hit man Jacobs hired confirmed that report.” (Rickapolis) “Jacobs later went to the emergency room to have his wrenched fingers uncrossed.” (BKJ) “Unfortunately, Jacobs and Tuberville each interpret ‘re-signed’ with completely different meanings.” (rock chalk) “Jacobs fully expected boosters would simply run Tuberville off.” (Caveman HC6) 29241 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/396/4/thumb/mcentegart_pete.jpg 6586 NY

The 10 Spot

New York 3984

2009-05-21T20:02:08-04:00

Welcome to the December edition of the Write Your Own Joke (WYOJ) contest. As always, I will supply two potential set-ups from today’s sports news. Your job is to supply the punchlines. Here they are: Topic 1: “Giants LB Antonio Pierce will reportedly testify against teammate Plaxico Burress in front of a grand jury. __________.” Write Your Own Joke contest

2008-12-04T16:08:09-05:00

470

2008-12-04T16:08:09-05:00 Welcome to the December edition of the Write Your Own Joke (WYOJ) contest. As always, I will supply two potential set-ups from today’s sports news. Your job is to supply the punchlines. Here they are: Topic 1: “Giants LB Antonio Pierce will reportedly testify against teammate Plaxico Burress in front of a grand jury. __________.” Topic 2: “Auburn AD Jay Jacobs says he was ‘shocked’ when Tommy Tuberville resigned as football coach yesterday, and had never considered firing him. __________.” Everyone knows the rules by now. If not, please observe your neighbor. I will post a winner and some honorable mention selections from each set-up as tomorrow’s morning post. Good luck, and have fun. 29041 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/396/4/thumb/mcentegart_pete.jpg 6586 NY

The 10 Spot

New York 3984

2009-05-28T22:17:50-04:00

Here's some (small) inspiration heading into today's Write Your Own Joke contest: • For the fourth straight year, the Knicks have been named the NBA’s most valuable team. No surprise there; the Knicks are obviously rolling in it. Why, they’re paying one female executive $11.5 million -- and she doesn’t even work there anymore! What princes! • A 21-year-old hockey fan at Wednesday’s Senators-Thrashers game in Ottawa fell from the upper deck when he stumbled over a purse while carrying two beers back to his seat. Tragic story, really. Not because of what happened to the guy -- he’s going to be fine. But the beers didn’t make it. Lunchtime laughs: Knicks laughing to bank

2008-12-04T14:33:13-05:00

156

2008-12-04T14:33:13-05:00 Here's some (small) inspiration heading into today's Write Your Own Joke contest: • For the fourth straight year, the Knicks have been named the NBA’s most valuable team. No surprise there; the Knicks are obviously rolling in it. Why, they’re paying one female executive $11.5 million -- and she doesn’t even work there anymore! What princes! • A 21-year-old hockey fan at Wednesday’s Senators-Thrashers game in Ottawa fell from the upper deck when he stumbled over a purse while carrying two beers back to his seat. Tragic story, really. Not because of what happened to the guy -- he’s going to be fine. But the beers didn’t make it. • Actually, we hear that as soon as the guy flipped off the upper deck, several fans eyed the tossed-aside beers quite thirstily. But then they decided they didn’t want sloppy seconds. • A Texas Tech DB has been arrested by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Come on, I saw that defense play against Oklahoma. None of those guys were dealing. • Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard has sued a tanning salon company in California for allegedly “using” her picture without permission. It seems she never dreamed anything that sordid could happen after posing in Playboy. 29003 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/396/4/thumb/mcentegart_pete.jpg 6586 NY

The 10 Spot

New York 3984

2009-09-18T14:17:16-04:00

The Mets and Citigroup have announced that the team’s new ballpark will keep the name Citi Field, despite the federal government’s $45 billion (and counting) bailout of the troubled financial institution. Citigroup agreed in 2006 to pay the Mets $400 million over 20 years for naming rights and insists it intends to follow through, thanks in large part to your money. You're some swell folks. Then again, this question may not be resolved after all, given the way the Treasury and the Fed seem to change their mind almost daily on what to do with the $700 billion in Congress-approved bailout money. Two New York politicians have already suggested calling the stadium “Citi/Taxpayer Field.” We think that’s not a bad idea, but it could be catchier. So just in case the Mets need a new name after all, here are some humble suggestions: 10. Bailout Bowl 9. Sold Down The Riverfront Stadium 8. Choking Confines Suggested new names for Citi Field

2008-12-04T11:22:56-05:00

358

2008-12-04T11:22:56-05:00 The Mets and Citigroup have announced that the team’s new ballpark will keep the name Citi Field, despite the federal government’s $45 billion (and counting) bailout of the troubled financial institution. Citigroup agreed in 2006 to pay the Mets $400 million over 20 years for naming rights and insists it intends to follow through, thanks in large part to your money. You're some swell folks. Then again, this question may not be resolved after all, given the way the Treasury and the Fed seem to change their mind almost daily on what to do with the $700 billion in Congress-approved bailout money. Two New York politicians have already suggested calling the stadium “Citi/Taxpayer Field.” We think that’s not a bad idea, but it could be catchier. So just in case the Mets need a new name after all, here are some humble suggestions: 10. Bailout Bowl 9. Sold Down The Riverfront Stadium 8. Choking Confines 7. Paulson Park 6. Golden Parachute Grounds 5. Suckers Stadium 4. DepressionDome 3. Purloined Palace 2. Collapse Coliseum 1. Fleece Field 28922 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/396/4/thumb/mcentegart_pete.jpg 6586 NY

The 10 Spot

New York 3984

191

951

Cory McCartney Talking college football, basketball and whatever else comes to mind. 61

2008-09-10T07:12:25-04:00

Knight Calls It A Career In Lubbock

2008-02-04T19:57:53-05:00

2008-09-10T06:39:44-04:00 <img title="Darren Carroll/SI" src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com//basketball/ncaa/Images/Knight.FN.jpg" height="410" align="right" alt="Darren Carroll/SI" width="300" style="width: 300px; height: 410px" />Unexpectedly, Bob Knight's reign at Texas Tech has come to a close. The winningest coach in Division I men's history resigned Monday, leaving the program in the hands of his youngest son, Pat.There's no denying Knight's place in the lexicon of college basketball with his 902 victories, three national championships and enshrinement in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991. Yet, it was the personality that all too often overshadowed the on-court accomplishments. Brash, opinionated and controversial, his temper spawned legend and doomed him at Indiana. There was the infamous chair toss in 1985 against Purdue -- and the choking incident that ultimately led to his being fired from Indiana in 2000 for a "pattern of unacceptable behavior." He spent 29 seasons in Bloomington.He popped up in Lubbock, Texas, a year after his dismissal from IU and while he was never able to duplicate the level of success he had at Indiana, he did lead the Red Raiders to five 20-win seasons, including a Sweet 16 run in 2005.Often willing to go toe-to-toe with the media, he sometimes flashed his soft side. Following an Ohio State-Texas Tech game in 2004, Knight came off the Schottenstein Center court and after begrudgingly answering questions in the press conference, he was hounded by a small group of reporters looking for one last word. Telling them he was done, he walked away form the group and was approached by a local radio reporter who had multiple sclerosis. Knight put his arm around the visibly nervous reporter and took him aside and patiently walked him through the interview. The two then spent the better part of 10 minutes talking.How will you remember Knight? Will it be for the legendary temper or for his ability to win with players who may not have been highly recruited but were willing to buy into a proven system? Whether you focus on the anger of the accolades, there's no denying there was only one Bob Knight? 2161 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/471/4/thumb/mccartney_cory.jpg 15 GA

Cory McCartney

Atlanta 4734

2008-09-10T07:12:31-04:00

Tigers Strengthen SEC's Dominance

2008-01-08T00:23:28-05:00

611

2008-09-10T06:39:45-04:00 <img title="Jacob Hester" src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/images/Hester.BCS.jpg" height="410" align="right" alt="Jacob Hester" width="300" style="width: 300px; height: 410px" />There is no southern comfort for Jim Tressel and Ohio State. It was like '06 all over again. Once again the Buckeyes struck first – and once again an SEC team took complete control of the game as LSU gave the conference a second consecutive BCS title game win over Ohio State. It wasn’t exactly 41-14 (last year’s score in Florida’s win over OSU) but the conference that everyone can’t help but fawn over has again flexed its collective muscle on the game’s biggest stage with the Tigers’ 38-24 win -- a flexing that gets all the more Schwarzenegger-esque when you add in the beat down Georgia put on Hawaii, in the same building LSU won in, no less. After Ohio State rode Chris “Beanie” Wells’ BCS title-game record 65-yard touchdown run and a Ryan Pretorius’ field goal to a 10-0 lead, LSU took complete control as the Buckeyes were hounded by penalties (7 for 83 yards) and turnovers (three total). Whether you think the correct teams were in the Superdome on Monday night or not, it’s hard to deny that this was simply another coronation for the SEC, which has now won six national championships in the last 15 seasons. Tressel may have defied logic in returning to the BCS title game despite losing the likes of Troy Smith, Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez but another disappointing showing does nothing to change those theories that have hounded the Buckeyes and the Big Ten since last season. So a season full of upsets, a season full of seemingly weekly “we shocked the world” moments ends with the conference that was king of the hill before the season hanging onto its place as Les Miles hoisted the crystal football. But are the Tigers really the nation's best or is it conference rival Georgia or USC? What's your take and what are your thoughs on the BCS title game? 2162 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/471/4/thumb/mccartney_cory.jpg 15 GA

Cory McCartney

Atlanta 4734

2008-09-10T07:12:33-04:00

Tebow's Win A Sign of Change?

2007-12-08T23:22:10-05:00

213

2008-09-10T06:39:45-04:00 <img title="Tim Tebow" src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/images/Tebow_trophy.jpg" height="410" align="right" alt="Tim Tebow" width="300" />He runs. He passes. He makes history. Florida's Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to ever win the Heisman Trophy during Saturday's presentation. Tebow beat two-time runner-up Darren McFadden of Arkansas by 254 points, while Hawaii's Colt Brennan was third and Missouri's Chase Daniel finished fourth.Tebow, who accounted for 51 touchdowns, was the first major college player to run for 20 TDs and pass for 20 in the same season, received 462 first-place votes. He is the third Florida player to win, following Danny Wuerffel in 1996 and Steve Spurrier in 1966.Does Tebow's win signal a shift in the 73-year-old trophy's voting or was Saturday simply an aberration? So many underclassmen have been denied a place in the exclusive fraternity in the past (Herschel Walker, Rex Grossman, Adrian Peterson) but could Tebow's breakthrough finally mean we'll never have to worry about those age vs. achievement debates that have haunted past Heimsan votes (i.e. Eric Crouch vs. Grossman in 2001)?What's your take: What does Tebow's win mean to the future of the Heisman and what will it mean for Tebow? How many Heismans will he win? Will or can he ever live up the expectations that will undoubtedly follow him as a Heisman winner, something that put possibly unfair pressure on Oklahoma's Jason White and USC's Matt Leinart? 2163 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/471/4/thumb/mccartney_cory.jpg 15 GA

Cory McCartney

Atlanta 4734

2008-09-10T07:12:33-04:00

Did The BCS Get It Right?

2007-12-02T20:22:56-05:00

2008-09-10T06:39:46-04:00 <img title="Chris Wells" src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/images/Wells.jpg" height="410" align="right" alt="Chris Wells" width="300" style="width: 300px; height: 410px" />So this is how we'll end a season marred by 13 top-five teams falling to unranked opponents? This will be the culmination of a year that's seen seven No. 2s stumble? We're back to the two teams that held the No. 1 ranking longer than anyone else? Parity be damned.After the dust settled, it's Ohio State and LSU that finished Nos. 1 and 2 in the final BCS standings to earn a spot in the national championship game Jan. 7 in the Superdome -- though there are a few other teams that will argue that all you have to do is take the C out of BCS to sum up their feelings on the subject.Georgia (10-2), Kansas (11-1), Virginia Tech (11-2), USC (10-2) and Oklahoma (11-2) could all make cases why they should be prepping for a title shot. While Ohio State was a logical winner in Saturday's losses by No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 West Virginia, sliding up from No. 3 to the top spot, LSU's rise is bound to ruffle some feathers. But the Tigers' body of work, which includes a conference title (something the Bulldogs and Jayhawks are missing), a 41-point drubbing of ACC champ Virginia Tech and two losses against winning teams in triple OT (USC lost to 4-8 Stanford, Oklahoma fell to 6-6 Colorado) -- was enough to get the support of voters and earn them a date with Chris Wells (right) and the Buckeyes.Unfair? What would a season in the BCS era be without a huge helping of chaos?Here's the matchups for the BCS bowls:BCS National Championship Game Jan. 7, New Orleans No. 1 Ohio State (11-1) vs. No. 2 LSU (11-2)Orange Bowl Jan. 3, Miami Virginia Tech (11-2) vs. Kansas (11-1)Fiesta Bowl Jan. 2, Tempe, Ariz. Oklahoma (11-2) vs. West Virginia (10-2)Sugar Bowl Jan. 1, New Orleans Georgia (10-2) vs. Hawaii (12-0)Rose Bowl Jan. 1, Pasadena, Calif. USC (10-2) vs. Illinois (9-3)So what's your take, did the BCS get it right or should someone else be playing for the national title?   2164 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/471/4/thumb/mccartney_cory.jpg 15 GA

Cory McCartney

Atlanta 4734

SI Staff Blog 62

2009-10-27T12:40:18-04:00

What was your greatest year as a fan?

2009-10-08T15:54:45-04:00

2009-10-08T15:54:45-04:00 Every fan, if he or she is lucky, has a year to look <img style="float: right;" src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/john_ondrasik/10/08/magic.years/wayne-gretzky.2.jpg" alt="Wayne Gretzky" width="250" height="307" /> back on and treasure. For SI.com columnist John Ondrasik, that year was 1988. As a young fan in Los Angeles, he thrilled to the Lakers' second straight NBA title, the arrival of Wayne Gretzky with the Kings, and Kirk Gibson's dramatic pinch-hit walk-off home run in Game 1 of the World Series that sparked the Dodgers to the championship while the voice of legendary broadcaster Vin Scully provided a soundtrack. The year still resonates for him: Listening to Vin Scully makes me feel good. When he goes, so will a chunk of the hometown heart. I'm not alone in treasuring each story, strike, and stretch these days. Perhaps it's because he's my last connection to my sports puberty, perhaps because he's just the best. Golden ages are gold for a reason. They shine and increase in value over time. We forget the bad, remember the great, and embellish the rest. Here in my forties, I still watch and enjoy sports. I can't help it. My hat size was imprinted on The D.C. Westin's ceiling after Derek Fisher's Game 4 OT three against the Magic. Ben Howland's Bruins, Mike Scioscia's Angels, even my Kings show promise, so I'm still holding on. <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/john_ondrasik/10/08/magic.years/index.html" target="_blank">Read all of John's column here</a>. In <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0910/fan.heaven.winning.cities/content.1.html" target="_blank">this photo gallery</a>, we look at 10 magical years in various cities where multiple titles were won and star athletes made or added to their legends. So, what was your greatest year as a fan? What memories do you treasure most? Maybe, if you're lucky enough to live in Pittsburgh, these are the good old days. 80522

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-08-11T06:44:08-04:00

SI Bucket List React

2009-08-10T13:34:07-04:00

2009-08-10T13:34:07-04:00 Sixteen SI writers gave us their 'bucket lists' -- lists of sporting events to attend or participate in before they die.  Now it's your turn: what's on your sports to-do list? 73661

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-07-21T12:11:34-04:00

HBO Sports: Gatti

2009-07-21T12:11:34-04:00

2009-07-21T12:11:34-04:00 A video from HBO Sports on the late Arturo Gatti:   <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="400" height="325" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="id" value="ep" /> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /> <param name="src" value="http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.e1d/swf/4.0/global/si_embed.swf?videoId=0709.gatti-highlights" /><embed id="ep" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="325" src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.e1d/swf/4.0/global/si_embed.swf?videoId=0709.gatti-highlights" bgcolor="#000000" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed> </object> 70883

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-07-11T16:11:20-04:00

Summer Sports Bargains

2009-07-10T11:27:13-04:00

2009-07-10T11:27:13-04:00 Today on SI.com, we listed our <a href="http://www.si.com/2009/more/07/02/summer.deals/index.html">top 25 sports bargains of summer</a>.  What did we miss?  Do you have any favorite deals to share? 69984

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2009-11-17T10:09:26-05:00

What is your reaction to former NFL quarterback Steve McNair's death? What is his legacy? Does he belong in the Pro Football Hall of Fame? React to Steve McNair's death

2009-07-04T18:31:33-04:00

122

2009-07-04T18:31:33-04:00 What is your reaction to former NFL quarterback Steve McNair's death? What is his legacy? Does he belong in the Pro Football Hall of Fame? 69421

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

277

Moments That Changed The Game 63

2009-04-01T19:03:51-04:00

Favorite Super Bowl memories

2008-11-13T17:45:04-05:00

2008-11-13T17:45:04-05:00 SI.com's Peter King writes about the lasting impact of the 1958 NFL championship game and how it led to the inception of the Super Bowl, beginning with the Green Bay Packers' victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in 1967. What is your favorite Super Bowl memory through the years? 23242

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2008-12-08T14:14:04-05:00

The birth of a rivalry

2008-10-08T15:21:54-04:00

2008-10-08T15:21:54-04:00 Is it really a rivalry when one team consistently gets the best of another? Before the Red Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS, New York had won 26 World Series title to Boston's zero since 1918. What is your take on the status of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry now? 12502

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2008-10-03T12:31:22-04:00

Free agency and the NFL

2008-09-26T13:41:11-04:00

2008-09-26T13:41:11-04:00 How different would the NFL be today without free agency? The advent of free agency in 1993, thanks to a court ruling, heightened fan interest in the offseason and ushered in an era of true parity in the league for years to come. 8661

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2008-11-13T18:27:43-05:00

College Football's Pivotal Moments

2008-09-15T16:53:12-04:00

2008-09-15T16:53:12-04:00 When Miami defeated Nebraska 31-30 in an epic Orange Bowl Classic, the Hurricanes won their first national championship and ushered in an era of gridiron dominance by schools from the state of Florida. What do you feel is the most game-changing moment in the history of college football? 4581

The SI Staff

New York City 21244

2008-09-10T07:14:38-04:00

Politics and Olympics?

2008-08-11T12:59:02-04:00

2008-09-10T06:39:58-04:00 The "Blood in the Water" water polo match between Hungary and the Soviets in 1956 was perhaps the first Olympic contest to have such high-stakes political overtones. Since then, there have been boycotts -- the 1980 and '84 Games being the prime examples -- protests and controversies galore. That raises the question: Do the Olympics and politics mix? 2375

MomentsInNBA

Canton 413594

Top 25 Toughest Athletes In Sports 64

2008-12-24T04:00:06-05:00

Tough It

2008-04-07T15:58:36-04:00

2008-09-10T06:39:59-04:00 <