Certainly no one doubts Isiah Thomas was a great basketball player. He was born in Chicago and led his high school team to the state finals in his junior year. Then on to Indiana University, where, as only a sophomore, he was instrumental in guiding coach Bob Knight's Hoosiers to a national title in 1981, also winning the MVP award of the tournament.
Following that, Thomas went pro, and the Detroit Pistons drafted him with the overall #2 selection. Several years later, the Pistons would go on to win back-to-back NBA Championships, with Isiah being a perennial All-Star along the way. Wildly popular with Pistons' fans, Thomas eventually had his number retired and his jersey hoisted up into the rafters of the Palace, the Pistons' home arena. Further, he was enshrined in the basketball Hall of Fame in 2000. He had retired as a player in 1994.
And then the wheels came off.
In 1994, somehow he became part owner and Executive VP of the Toronto Raptors. They were a colossal failure while he was there. In 1998, he supposedly "left".
Then he tried his hand at TV broadcasting. Not so good.
Somehow, in 1998, Thomas bought the Continental Basketball Association, then basically the minor leagues of the NBA. By 2001, under his ownership, that league was further underwater than the Titanic. Poof. It disappeared like the Mayans. Gone without a trace.
Just prior to the CBA pulling what would later be called an "Enron", Thomas talked his way into the head coaching job of the Indiana Pacers. He succeeded Larry Bird, who in the previous year had guided the Pacers to the NBA eastern conference title. For the next 2 years, Thomas couldn't get the Pacers past the first round of the playoffs, though they still had ample talent. Evidently, that was enough for the Pacers' ownership to bring back Bird as President of the club. Bird's first act on the job? Getting rid of Isiah.
Never to be deterred, in 2003 Thomas landed in New York, where he was named President of basketball operations for the Knicks. By 2006, the Knicks had the highest payroll in the NBA, the second worst record, and Isiah had managed to trade away several future draft picks. That's a fairly ugly scenario for a once-proud pro sports franchise to find itself in. By 2008, having compiled a .341 winning percentage, compounded by a sexual harassment lawsuit by a former female Knicks executive (which was quietly settled for about $11 million), and the fans at Madison Square Garden routinely chanting for him to be fired -- Thomas was "reassigned" within the organization to be a "consultant". What's REALLY weird was a condition of his being a consultant was he have no contact with the players, and only report to the guy that put him in the broom closet to start with. But, by god, he was still receiving a hefty paycheck.
That would never do for Isiah. Along came the basketball head coaching job at Florida International University, in Miami. At least Isiah would be in charge of something again. Another chance for redemption. After 3 seasons there, FIU's record was 26-65. What normally happens to a coach with a record like that?
Yet Thomas seems perplexed. He claims it's the first time he ever got fired for basketball reasons.
Really? If not basketball, I wonder what sport he thinks his bio, including all the management failures listed above, is at issue here. Having confidence is a good thing, but this seems to be the worst case of denial in the history of the sports world.
C'mon Zeke. Own it. You were great in a uniform, but once you put on a suit, you stunk it up worse than Pepe Le Pew.
Friday, April 6, 2012
April 5th. A glorious sports day
What's a sports fan to do? Go to Opening Day at the local major league ballpark? Nah, too cold. Getting in to a sold out game wouldn't have been much of a problem, given the ever-present scalpers. Trust me, the cops in Detroit have way more important things to worry about than somebody making a few bucks selling baseball tickets. Besides, what's so important about the first game? They've got another 161 to go, and better seats at cheaper prices will soon become available.
The Masters golf tournament got underway, and flying down there to check out the best of the best would definitely have been interesting. But I didn't have a ticket to that either, and I suspect those fun loving guys in charge of Augusta National, in cahoots with the county-mounties, would look upon ticket-scalpers and their clients as being akin to your average terrorist. Detroit's bad enough, and even though the weather's considerably warmer in Georgia, I'd just as soon pass on a lovely stay at the Guantanamo Hilton for the next few years.
On other fronts, Gregg Williams, the alleged architect of the New Orleans Saints bounty system, is heard on a locker room audio tape, which has gone viral, saying some things to his players before a game that could be very incriminating. Have other defensive coaches said similar things to their players over the years? We don't know. Maybe it's always been this way, but never exposed before. Again, we don't know. The media frenzy aside, the only thing that really matters is how NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell perceives it. Given the whole league image thing that RG has been trying to project in his tenure, I suspect this will not bode well for Mr. Williams.
Maybe I should have just went to Disneyworld again. What could go wrong with that? But even in Mickey and Minnie's neighborhood things seem to be in turmoil. Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy says Dwight Howard tried to get him fired. Then Howard crashes a Van Gundy press conference and acts as innocent as a newborn, though somewhat cocky, lamb. Later on, it appeared Howard totally mailed it in with a game against the New York Knicks, then laughed about it. I'm not saying it's right, but Van Gundy is a coach that may have lost his team's respect, and Howard is an All-Pro center, that would be coveted league-wide. They both have guaranteed contracts, but when push comes to shove, I'm pretty sure I know which one will be riding the monorail out of the Magic Kingdom some day soon.
Yes, it was a glorious day in the sports world, and I hope everybody that went to watch the Tigers in Detroit had a great experience. I also hope all that went to Augusta National to watch another Tiger had a good time too. He's only 5 shots back. Not bad, considering.
But there was another place that turned out to be far more interesting.
At home, where I could watch it all. Click, click, click.
The upside is -- I saved at least a few hundred bucks and didn't get waterboarded -- always a good thing.
The downside is -- Detroit Tiger fans will likely only watch replays of that game once, and then move on. At home, we can click all we want, but the other Tiger replays are everywhere. There's no escaping them. The DUDE is back.
God help us if he ever makes it onto the leader board. Food channels will whip up Tiger recipes. A new religious channel might well make it's debut preaching the gospel of the Church of Latter Day Eldricks. CNN, in an unprecedented move, might temporarily abandon world news and politics, and instead pony up big bucks to have Anderson Cooper be Tiger's caddy -- with Wolf Blitzer "embedded" inside the golf bag. And if Woods somehow wins the Masters -- what better time for Mitt Romney to tab him as his vice-presidential running mate? Can you imagine what a bump in the polls that would give the etch-a-sketch guy?
This could get out of control, remote or otherwise.
Either that, or all the above was just a spoof. Many people consider Tiger Woods as their hero. I've always been more into guys like Al Jaffee. If you wish, Google that name to get a better understanding of the people yours truly looks up to. There's a big difference...
The Masters golf tournament got underway, and flying down there to check out the best of the best would definitely have been interesting. But I didn't have a ticket to that either, and I suspect those fun loving guys in charge of Augusta National, in cahoots with the county-mounties, would look upon ticket-scalpers and their clients as being akin to your average terrorist. Detroit's bad enough, and even though the weather's considerably warmer in Georgia, I'd just as soon pass on a lovely stay at the Guantanamo Hilton for the next few years.
On other fronts, Gregg Williams, the alleged architect of the New Orleans Saints bounty system, is heard on a locker room audio tape, which has gone viral, saying some things to his players before a game that could be very incriminating. Have other defensive coaches said similar things to their players over the years? We don't know. Maybe it's always been this way, but never exposed before. Again, we don't know. The media frenzy aside, the only thing that really matters is how NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell perceives it. Given the whole league image thing that RG has been trying to project in his tenure, I suspect this will not bode well for Mr. Williams.
Maybe I should have just went to Disneyworld again. What could go wrong with that? But even in Mickey and Minnie's neighborhood things seem to be in turmoil. Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy says Dwight Howard tried to get him fired. Then Howard crashes a Van Gundy press conference and acts as innocent as a newborn, though somewhat cocky, lamb. Later on, it appeared Howard totally mailed it in with a game against the New York Knicks, then laughed about it. I'm not saying it's right, but Van Gundy is a coach that may have lost his team's respect, and Howard is an All-Pro center, that would be coveted league-wide. They both have guaranteed contracts, but when push comes to shove, I'm pretty sure I know which one will be riding the monorail out of the Magic Kingdom some day soon.
Yes, it was a glorious day in the sports world, and I hope everybody that went to watch the Tigers in Detroit had a great experience. I also hope all that went to Augusta National to watch another Tiger had a good time too. He's only 5 shots back. Not bad, considering.
But there was another place that turned out to be far more interesting.
At home, where I could watch it all. Click, click, click.
The upside is -- I saved at least a few hundred bucks and didn't get waterboarded -- always a good thing.
The downside is -- Detroit Tiger fans will likely only watch replays of that game once, and then move on. At home, we can click all we want, but the other Tiger replays are everywhere. There's no escaping them. The DUDE is back.
God help us if he ever makes it onto the leader board. Food channels will whip up Tiger recipes. A new religious channel might well make it's debut preaching the gospel of the Church of Latter Day Eldricks. CNN, in an unprecedented move, might temporarily abandon world news and politics, and instead pony up big bucks to have Anderson Cooper be Tiger's caddy -- with Wolf Blitzer "embedded" inside the golf bag. And if Woods somehow wins the Masters -- what better time for Mitt Romney to tab him as his vice-presidential running mate? Can you imagine what a bump in the polls that would give the etch-a-sketch guy?
This could get out of control, remote or otherwise.
Either that, or all the above was just a spoof. Many people consider Tiger Woods as their hero. I've always been more into guys like Al Jaffee. If you wish, Google that name to get a better understanding of the people yours truly looks up to. There's a big difference...
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Opening Day and hope
Ah yes. Once again, the time has come for baseball fans to emerge from their winter slumber and enjoy the boys of summer as they embark on yet another campaign. In the immortal words of legendary announcer Ernie Harwell, "Hope springs eternal, and a lady named Mary Sue from Keego Harbor snagged that last foul ball" -- or something like that. Hope is everywhere.
Unless maybe you're a fan of the Royals, Indians, Nationals, Orioles, or Padres -- in which case you can forget about that. You don't have any hope. Might as well go back into hibernation and take another peek in, say, a generation or so, because right now you're not looking at lilies, tulips and daffodils reaching up to embrace the warm sun. You've got baseball tundra -- arctic wasteland. Not even a dandelion. But you never know. Miracles have been known to happen, like in....
Detroit, of course, where the ageless Brandon Inge has once again defied the odds and made the team. Yet even hope has it limits. Though Inge has his faithful, if perhaps delusional fans, any of them hoping Inge is going to break out of his career-long slump and suddenly become a productive hitter, let alone post a batting average approaching .300, needs to be treated in a very special way. Like locked in a padded room and heavily medicated. There's no hope for them either, and they might eventually even pose a danger to society if left to run around freely on the streets. We semi-sane people don't need that aggravation, and what is it with this guy anyway? Does he have some compromising videos of Tigers' owner Mike Ilitch or something?
Nevertheless, spring has sprung and hope is always a good thing.
Bet the Detroit Lions' brass hopes their players will stop getting busted with marijuana.
Unless maybe you're a fan of the Royals, Indians, Nationals, Orioles, or Padres -- in which case you can forget about that. You don't have any hope. Might as well go back into hibernation and take another peek in, say, a generation or so, because right now you're not looking at lilies, tulips and daffodils reaching up to embrace the warm sun. You've got baseball tundra -- arctic wasteland. Not even a dandelion. But you never know. Miracles have been known to happen, like in....
Detroit, of course, where the ageless Brandon Inge has once again defied the odds and made the team. Yet even hope has it limits. Though Inge has his faithful, if perhaps delusional fans, any of them hoping Inge is going to break out of his career-long slump and suddenly become a productive hitter, let alone post a batting average approaching .300, needs to be treated in a very special way. Like locked in a padded room and heavily medicated. There's no hope for them either, and they might eventually even pose a danger to society if left to run around freely on the streets. We semi-sane people don't need that aggravation, and what is it with this guy anyway? Does he have some compromising videos of Tigers' owner Mike Ilitch or something?
Nevertheless, spring has sprung and hope is always a good thing.
Bet the Detroit Lions' brass hopes their players will stop getting busted with marijuana.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Baylor/Notre Dame. Fashion won
I'll probably get in trouble for this, but that's nothing new. In the NCAA ladies hoops finals, the right team won -- for fashion reasons.
Consider the two head coaches, Kim Mulkey of Baylor, and Muffet McGraw of Notre Dame. Given they're both women, and the game was going to be televised pretty much world-wide, it should come as no surprise that both had their hair perfectly coiffed, and the make-up people likely spent a few hours before the game sprucing them up for the TV cameras -- from the neck up. Nothing wrong with that, but one of them doomed her team before the game even got started -- a little further down.
In a tasteful show of her team's colors, Kim Mulkey was clad in a stylish grey-tinged jacket, over a yellow top, which revealed just the right amount of skin. No cleavage, mind you. Horrors, that would be SO hoi-polloi, in such a setting. Complementing her bodice arrangement, Ms. Mulkey sported casual looking white slacks, that were tailored just so at the cuff level to almost, but not quite, conceal a pair of rather comfortable looking white shoes. For a basketball game, she had the perfect blend of eloquence and practicality. A most divine presence, indeed.
Not to be outdone, Muffet McGraw wore a very chic pastel green blouse to accentuate her own team's primary color. But going south from there is where things started to go wrong. Due to the high pressure atmosphere surrounding the game, perhaps Ms. McGraw, being likely the only person in the building wearing a tight black skirt and panty hose, could be overlooked. Pressure can do funny things to people sometimes in their decision making process. But those 6-inch spikey heels, on the court at a basketball game is, simply put, unforgivable. How am I doing so far pretending to be a typical limp-wristed male fashion critic?
If Brittney Griner and the Baylor Lady Bears weren't already enough to deal with, Ms. McGraw sealed her own fate by enraging the fashion gods. Now Miss Muffet can sit back on her tuffet for the next year and contemplate being only the 3rd head coach in history, men's or women's, to lose back-to-back title games. This is not to say she should stick strictly to curds and whey, but hey Muff -- if you get there again -- lose the high heels. Couldn't hurt. There's a time and a place, ya know?
Oh yeah. Almost forgot about the game. All hail Baylor, the newly crowned ladies' NCAA hoops champions. It turned out to be a rout.
But what would you expect to happen when leprechauns want to throw down with bears, and the spritely little elves have somebody in charge wearing spikey high heels?
Even princesses would understand that. I think. I hope. Maybe. Nah, probably not. It's likely even that wicked witch blond girl I mentioned a while back will be hopping on her broom and cackling overhead any minute now. Hope she doesn't bring those damn monkeys with her again. Such are the perils of a man trying to talk about things that have to do with women.
And I think that's where I came in. Like I said, I'll probably get in trouble for this.....
Consider the two head coaches, Kim Mulkey of Baylor, and Muffet McGraw of Notre Dame. Given they're both women, and the game was going to be televised pretty much world-wide, it should come as no surprise that both had their hair perfectly coiffed, and the make-up people likely spent a few hours before the game sprucing them up for the TV cameras -- from the neck up. Nothing wrong with that, but one of them doomed her team before the game even got started -- a little further down.
In a tasteful show of her team's colors, Kim Mulkey was clad in a stylish grey-tinged jacket, over a yellow top, which revealed just the right amount of skin. No cleavage, mind you. Horrors, that would be SO hoi-polloi, in such a setting. Complementing her bodice arrangement, Ms. Mulkey sported casual looking white slacks, that were tailored just so at the cuff level to almost, but not quite, conceal a pair of rather comfortable looking white shoes. For a basketball game, she had the perfect blend of eloquence and practicality. A most divine presence, indeed.
Not to be outdone, Muffet McGraw wore a very chic pastel green blouse to accentuate her own team's primary color. But going south from there is where things started to go wrong. Due to the high pressure atmosphere surrounding the game, perhaps Ms. McGraw, being likely the only person in the building wearing a tight black skirt and panty hose, could be overlooked. Pressure can do funny things to people sometimes in their decision making process. But those 6-inch spikey heels, on the court at a basketball game is, simply put, unforgivable. How am I doing so far pretending to be a typical limp-wristed male fashion critic?
If Brittney Griner and the Baylor Lady Bears weren't already enough to deal with, Ms. McGraw sealed her own fate by enraging the fashion gods. Now Miss Muffet can sit back on her tuffet for the next year and contemplate being only the 3rd head coach in history, men's or women's, to lose back-to-back title games. This is not to say she should stick strictly to curds and whey, but hey Muff -- if you get there again -- lose the high heels. Couldn't hurt. There's a time and a place, ya know?
Oh yeah. Almost forgot about the game. All hail Baylor, the newly crowned ladies' NCAA hoops champions. It turned out to be a rout.
But what would you expect to happen when leprechauns want to throw down with bears, and the spritely little elves have somebody in charge wearing spikey high heels?
Even princesses would understand that. I think. I hope. Maybe. Nah, probably not. It's likely even that wicked witch blond girl I mentioned a while back will be hopping on her broom and cackling overhead any minute now. Hope she doesn't bring those damn monkeys with her again. Such are the perils of a man trying to talk about things that have to do with women.
And I think that's where I came in. Like I said, I'll probably get in trouble for this.....
Monday, April 2, 2012
Kentucky's champions. But what if....
Congrats to the Kentucky Wildcats, the 2012 men's NCAA basketball champs. If I remember right, they were the pre-season #1, and despite a couple hiccups during the course of a long season, they appeared to be the class of the field all along. Like them or not, they're certainly worthy champions.
Head coach John Calipari has come under fire here and there for running a "one and done" program at Kentucky, but perhaps that's unfair criticism. After all, Calipari and his staff just try to recruit the most talented prep hoopsters they can every year, the same as any other college team. Further, rather than being faulted, Calipari should be given credit for having many of those young kids NBA worthy after just a year -- or sometimes two -- under his system.
Calipari has had his scrapes with bending the rules in previous coaching stops, but no one should doubt he's a terrific college basketball coach when it comes to the players and how they perform on the court. Sure, Kentucky is legendary when it comes to men's basketball, and they probably have quite an advantage as far as getting 5-star recruits out of high schools -- but there's more to it than that.
If you watched some Kentucky games throughout the year, then into the tournament, then beating Louisville and Kansas in the Final Four, no small feat, it's obvious the Kentucky young-uns were not only talented, but had come together as a team. Let's not forget, their starting 5, for the most part, were freshmen and sophomores. Offensively, defensively, you name it, they flowed as one. And that's coaching.
Calipari is correct in saying it's not his fault many of his athletes "go pro" before receiving their degrees. That set of rules was set up by the NBA, and their players' union, not to mention the legal system weighing in with rulings about denying someone the right to make a living at their profession just because of their age.
Again, to Calipari's credit, he doesn't stand in the way of his athletes going pro. Far from it. He encourages it, if he believes they're ready.
And why not? Take Kentucky player Anthony Davis, only a freshman, for example. He's a newly crowned national champ, pretty much the consensus best player in college hoops, and likely to be the first overall pick in the next NBA draft. He'll probably get millions of dollars -- up front -- in a signing bonus from an NBA team, plus more millions in a guaranteed contract, before he ever sets foot on their court.
If that was YOUR kid, would you want him to go back to Kentucky, where a blown out knee or a ruptured Achilles tendon might be the next game away -- and watch all the millions vanish into the ether -- or take the money now? He'd have to be CRAZY to go back there, like some of his current teammates, and those that came before.
Still, it makes one wonder. If these guys are THAT good as freshmen and sophomores, can you imagine what kind of team they'd be as juniors and seniors, if they had to stay in school?
Dominant doesn't do it justice.
They'd be flat-out scary.
Head coach John Calipari has come under fire here and there for running a "one and done" program at Kentucky, but perhaps that's unfair criticism. After all, Calipari and his staff just try to recruit the most talented prep hoopsters they can every year, the same as any other college team. Further, rather than being faulted, Calipari should be given credit for having many of those young kids NBA worthy after just a year -- or sometimes two -- under his system.
Calipari has had his scrapes with bending the rules in previous coaching stops, but no one should doubt he's a terrific college basketball coach when it comes to the players and how they perform on the court. Sure, Kentucky is legendary when it comes to men's basketball, and they probably have quite an advantage as far as getting 5-star recruits out of high schools -- but there's more to it than that.
If you watched some Kentucky games throughout the year, then into the tournament, then beating Louisville and Kansas in the Final Four, no small feat, it's obvious the Kentucky young-uns were not only talented, but had come together as a team. Let's not forget, their starting 5, for the most part, were freshmen and sophomores. Offensively, defensively, you name it, they flowed as one. And that's coaching.
Calipari is correct in saying it's not his fault many of his athletes "go pro" before receiving their degrees. That set of rules was set up by the NBA, and their players' union, not to mention the legal system weighing in with rulings about denying someone the right to make a living at their profession just because of their age.
Again, to Calipari's credit, he doesn't stand in the way of his athletes going pro. Far from it. He encourages it, if he believes they're ready.
And why not? Take Kentucky player Anthony Davis, only a freshman, for example. He's a newly crowned national champ, pretty much the consensus best player in college hoops, and likely to be the first overall pick in the next NBA draft. He'll probably get millions of dollars -- up front -- in a signing bonus from an NBA team, plus more millions in a guaranteed contract, before he ever sets foot on their court.
If that was YOUR kid, would you want him to go back to Kentucky, where a blown out knee or a ruptured Achilles tendon might be the next game away -- and watch all the millions vanish into the ether -- or take the money now? He'd have to be CRAZY to go back there, like some of his current teammates, and those that came before.
Still, it makes one wonder. If these guys are THAT good as freshmen and sophomores, can you imagine what kind of team they'd be as juniors and seniors, if they had to stay in school?
Dominant doesn't do it justice.
They'd be flat-out scary.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
The Wacky World of Stanford
There's no doubt Stanford is a highly respected institution of higher learning. While other universities have enjoyed more glory over the years in college athletics, Stanford ranks right up there in the world of academia. It might be fair to call them the class of the field in that regard, when it comes to the Pac 10, or 12, or whatever they are now -- much like Northwestern in the Big Ten, or 12, and whatever THEY are now. You'd think a math major somewhere would step forward and sort this stuff out, but I digress.
At any rate, sometimes I wonder about Stanford. Like -- what's going on there anyway?
The current issue of Sports Illustrated has their soon-to-be former QB Andrew Luck, the likely #1 pick in the upcoming NFL draft by the Indy Colts, saying it's really not that big a deal on campus to be the star QB. After all, Andy says, royalty has gone there -- like the Clintons.
Tweet. Time out. Sure, while Willy could be pretty slick at times during his two terms as Prez, and Hillary's currently chasing all over the world as the US SecState trying to tell everybody else how to act, but that was/is the White House -- not the House of Tudor. And besides, wasn't the whole point of the Revolutionary War to get rid of being dominated by royalty?
Ladies' college hoops fans know that Stanford just got knocked off in Denver by Baylor in the national semis. Robert Griffin III, the star QB of Baylor, and likely the #2 NFL draft choice, was shown on camera as being in attendance to cheer on his female student-athlete comrades. Didn't see Andrew Luck. If RG III can get there from Waco, then how come AL couldn't make it from Palo Alto? It's not like these guys are exactly hitchhiking these days.....
Former heavy hitter of the Bush administration Condoleezza Rice was there, but contrary to popular opinion, she was never a student at Stanford. Remember, the game was in Denver. Rice got her Bachelor's degree from the Univ Denver, then a Master's from Notre Dame, then back to Denver for her PhD in 1981. That same year she became a poly-sci professor at Stanford, then later went on to become a provost, whatever that is. Just for grins, let's throw in she was born in Birmingham, Ala.
So let's see. The Crimson Tide won the National Championship in football a few months ago; the Stanford lady hoopsters made it to the semis; and now Notre Dame will be playing Baylor in the Finals. Seems to me, Ms. Rice is having a pretty good run here, in the world of sports, familiar territory, and photo-ops. Funny thing about those politicos and how they always seem to be in the right place at the right time......
But alas, Stanford went down to the Baylor Lady Bears, even though it appeared their superstar Brittney Griner was at less than full capacity. Not knowing the "line", I would guess Baylor would be favored over Notre Dame as well in the championship game.
(Note to Condy. It's sort of like your former boss and those pesky little wars he started. You can't win em all. Actually, it looks like the USA is going to chalk up an 0-2 record in those games, but not to worry. Somebody else is taking the heat for that now.)
And somebody please tell me -- what is it with "The Cardinal", as in singular, anyway? I understand fans, teams, and schools coming together for a common cause -- but it sounds like "The Borg" from Star Trek fame. Are all these people somehow hooked together in some sort of communal mind-meld?
Royalty indeed. Jim Plunkett was pretty good back in the day, and John Elway may be considered the King of Denver Bronco football.
But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want Chelsea as a point guard, much less a QB, on MY team.
At any rate, sometimes I wonder about Stanford. Like -- what's going on there anyway?
The current issue of Sports Illustrated has their soon-to-be former QB Andrew Luck, the likely #1 pick in the upcoming NFL draft by the Indy Colts, saying it's really not that big a deal on campus to be the star QB. After all, Andy says, royalty has gone there -- like the Clintons.
Tweet. Time out. Sure, while Willy could be pretty slick at times during his two terms as Prez, and Hillary's currently chasing all over the world as the US SecState trying to tell everybody else how to act, but that was/is the White House -- not the House of Tudor. And besides, wasn't the whole point of the Revolutionary War to get rid of being dominated by royalty?
Ladies' college hoops fans know that Stanford just got knocked off in Denver by Baylor in the national semis. Robert Griffin III, the star QB of Baylor, and likely the #2 NFL draft choice, was shown on camera as being in attendance to cheer on his female student-athlete comrades. Didn't see Andrew Luck. If RG III can get there from Waco, then how come AL couldn't make it from Palo Alto? It's not like these guys are exactly hitchhiking these days.....
Former heavy hitter of the Bush administration Condoleezza Rice was there, but contrary to popular opinion, she was never a student at Stanford. Remember, the game was in Denver. Rice got her Bachelor's degree from the Univ Denver, then a Master's from Notre Dame, then back to Denver for her PhD in 1981. That same year she became a poly-sci professor at Stanford, then later went on to become a provost, whatever that is. Just for grins, let's throw in she was born in Birmingham, Ala.
So let's see. The Crimson Tide won the National Championship in football a few months ago; the Stanford lady hoopsters made it to the semis; and now Notre Dame will be playing Baylor in the Finals. Seems to me, Ms. Rice is having a pretty good run here, in the world of sports, familiar territory, and photo-ops. Funny thing about those politicos and how they always seem to be in the right place at the right time......
But alas, Stanford went down to the Baylor Lady Bears, even though it appeared their superstar Brittney Griner was at less than full capacity. Not knowing the "line", I would guess Baylor would be favored over Notre Dame as well in the championship game.
(Note to Condy. It's sort of like your former boss and those pesky little wars he started. You can't win em all. Actually, it looks like the USA is going to chalk up an 0-2 record in those games, but not to worry. Somebody else is taking the heat for that now.)
And somebody please tell me -- what is it with "The Cardinal", as in singular, anyway? I understand fans, teams, and schools coming together for a common cause -- but it sounds like "The Borg" from Star Trek fame. Are all these people somehow hooked together in some sort of communal mind-meld?
Royalty indeed. Jim Plunkett was pretty good back in the day, and John Elway may be considered the King of Denver Bronco football.
But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want Chelsea as a point guard, much less a QB, on MY team.
It's time to revisit Oakland University
Though it's my alma mater, I caught some flak over a blog post I wrote a while back, comparing Oakland to Duke and North Carolina in the sports world. Though my original intent was for it to be a spoof -- somewhere along the line it morphed into being serious. No doubt, much of that falls on me for generating the article in the first place.
Besides the on-line comments, I've heard much more through other means of communication. As a writer, that's all water on a duck's back. Some will like it and some won't. Most times, the dislikers are more apt to express their opinion than the people that may agree. That's just the way it is. I dare say that's especially true in my case because I'm not a "homer", like so many others. Any yahoo can write puff pieces about their local sports heroes, but it takes a little audacity to go against the grain, knowing full well you're going to catch some heat over it. Either that, or you have to be an idiot. I suppose I qualify for both, at times, but somebody's gotta do it.
A commenter named Corey S was kind enough to do some homework regarding the earlier post and enlightened me on a few facts of life. No, not THOSE kind of facts of life. Even yours truly understands THAT -- I think. Rather, Corey provided some very keen insight into the sports situation as it involves Oakland University, when compared to other higher profile schools, particularly Duke and North Carolina, specifically the financial realities.
Yet, unlike what I consider to be an objective, if sometimes non-sensical, mindset of a writer, Oakland U is still indeed my alma mater, and always will be. I'm happy and proud I had the opportunity to spend 4 years there, and will always be appreciative of the fine education they provided me, not to mention all the good times I had on campus. After all, it's not THEIR fault I turned out to be a whack-job. They did the best they could. Then again -- that degree I received in engineering? It was called a BS. Huh. Depending on how you want to interpret those initials, maybe that's where I started going wrong in the first place. Enablers, that gave me a subliminal suggestion, before I could even get out of my cap and gown, that has shaped me to this day. Just kidding.
Still, in hindsight, on a personal level, I somehow feel like I betrayed an old friend with the earlier post. As I've explained -- that was not my original intention, and no, it has nothing to do with the negative feedback -- but it gnaws at me for some reason.
There's only one thing to do. I've got to go back. It's been quite a while since I've set foot on that campus, and no doubt many things have changed in the interim. Perhaps spending an entire day walking around and checking things out will give me a whole new perspective on just how far OU has progressed.
So for any OU students and the like that may read this -- if you see an old dude on a black Harley roll up -- don't shoot him. I'm just passing through, like I did so many years ago.
I feel this unresistable calling to revisit my alma mater, so I can be better informed the next time I write about it. The first thing I want to find out is if they have signs posted that say "Welcome to Auburn Hills" on one side, and "Welcome to Rochester Hills" on the other, in the middle of the campus. In my day, it was all just Rochester. Seemed simple enough, and nobody cared anyway. Questions. Questions.
And who knows? Maybe I'll even bump into Corey S.
Besides the on-line comments, I've heard much more through other means of communication. As a writer, that's all water on a duck's back. Some will like it and some won't. Most times, the dislikers are more apt to express their opinion than the people that may agree. That's just the way it is. I dare say that's especially true in my case because I'm not a "homer", like so many others. Any yahoo can write puff pieces about their local sports heroes, but it takes a little audacity to go against the grain, knowing full well you're going to catch some heat over it. Either that, or you have to be an idiot. I suppose I qualify for both, at times, but somebody's gotta do it.
A commenter named Corey S was kind enough to do some homework regarding the earlier post and enlightened me on a few facts of life. No, not THOSE kind of facts of life. Even yours truly understands THAT -- I think. Rather, Corey provided some very keen insight into the sports situation as it involves Oakland University, when compared to other higher profile schools, particularly Duke and North Carolina, specifically the financial realities.
Yet, unlike what I consider to be an objective, if sometimes non-sensical, mindset of a writer, Oakland U is still indeed my alma mater, and always will be. I'm happy and proud I had the opportunity to spend 4 years there, and will always be appreciative of the fine education they provided me, not to mention all the good times I had on campus. After all, it's not THEIR fault I turned out to be a whack-job. They did the best they could. Then again -- that degree I received in engineering? It was called a BS. Huh. Depending on how you want to interpret those initials, maybe that's where I started going wrong in the first place. Enablers, that gave me a subliminal suggestion, before I could even get out of my cap and gown, that has shaped me to this day. Just kidding.
Still, in hindsight, on a personal level, I somehow feel like I betrayed an old friend with the earlier post. As I've explained -- that was not my original intention, and no, it has nothing to do with the negative feedback -- but it gnaws at me for some reason.
There's only one thing to do. I've got to go back. It's been quite a while since I've set foot on that campus, and no doubt many things have changed in the interim. Perhaps spending an entire day walking around and checking things out will give me a whole new perspective on just how far OU has progressed.
So for any OU students and the like that may read this -- if you see an old dude on a black Harley roll up -- don't shoot him. I'm just passing through, like I did so many years ago.
I feel this unresistable calling to revisit my alma mater, so I can be better informed the next time I write about it. The first thing I want to find out is if they have signs posted that say "Welcome to Auburn Hills" on one side, and "Welcome to Rochester Hills" on the other, in the middle of the campus. In my day, it was all just Rochester. Seemed simple enough, and nobody cared anyway. Questions. Questions.
And who knows? Maybe I'll even bump into Corey S.
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