Rusty Mourns a Basketball Legend

NC State's improbable run to the NCAA Tournament Championship was THE Cinderella story of March Madness. Dubbed the "Cardiac Pack" for their penchant for 2nd half heroics, the 1983 Woflpack squad capped their memorable run with a last second slam dunk to beat the heavily favored Houston. To the casual observer, Lorenzo Charles' buzzer beating slam was the pinnacle of basketball perfection. A more astute fan might tell you he was out of position and just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The look on his face after putting in the winning basket might lend credence to that take on events. Regardless, he was the hero of the team. His shot can still be seen on the video lead-in to CBS's annual tournament coverage.

Unfortunately, Charles life was cut unexpectedly short yesterday when he was killed in a bus accident outside Raleigh. Wolfpack nation and any fan of college basketball now mourns the loss of a real legend of March Madness

This clip still gives me goose bumps!

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CBS Sports Fooled by College Message Board Trolls

An article by TJ Corbs Corbs, which a source in-the-know tells us is a fictitious and satirical author on Bleacher Report (a content partner with CBS), was featured On the main page of the CBSSports.com college basketball page.

The article essentially was about how Seton Hall should be kicked out of the Big East. Granted, it is positioned as editorial, but the fact of the matter is that the piece was written as a ruse...for no other reason than to incite Seton Hall fans.


Evidence of this can be seen by simply looking at the VU Rivals message board.

Clearly, Wildcat fans are in on the joke. Comments include:

• TJ Corbin is a compelling journalist. His career began 2 days ago and already he is an internet sensation.
• Buzz Bissinger's head would explode if he knew about these journalistic shenanigans.
• Remind me never to go to cbssports for sports news.
• Can someone post this link on PirateScrew?
• Finally broken through. This is an unbelievable development - one that we will look back on in ten years as a major accomplishment.
• Thats unbelievable. CBS sports is a joke.
• it's official - reliable, credible journalism is dead - long live the internet where fans can author articles made from whole cloth for no reason other than to tweak fans of rival teams
• please make Providence your next victim - a buddy of mine went there and it would make my year
  
  

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Preserving History: Bulldogs Feel the Blues

After each major sporting event, HHR takes a look at how it is portrayed in news print in some of the nation's leading dailies. Part out of curiosity, and part to preserve the dying medium.

Despite being a competitive championship game throughout its duration, Duke's victory was lost on most of the major dailies throughout the country as Opening Day and Tiger's presser dominated most front page sports headlines outside of Tobacco Road and Indiana.

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Diary of a McDonald's All-American Part I: Duke-Bound Haley Peters

It's the end of the March. Another high school basketball season has come to a close, and with that comes the annual McDonald's All-American Game. The 2010 edition takes place in Columbus, Ohio at the Value City Arena this Wednesday.

HHR enlisted a player from both the boys and girls' teams to give us a personal diary of some of their time as a McDonald's All-American.

First up is Haley Peters, a member of the East Squad from The Peddie School in Hightstown, NJ. Haley is headed to Duke, but in the meantime she gets props for being a Garden State native like so many of the HHR staffers. She takes us inside her life for two days as a member of the McDonald's East squad.


Haley Peters Journal
Written March 28, 2010

Saturday, March 27

I arrived in Columbus for the 2010 McDonald’s All American Games yesterday here from Newark at 4:00 p.m. with fellow New Jersey native Laurin Mincy. We were greeted at the airport by a few of the McDonald’s volunteers and staff members, who were friendly and helpful as usual. From there we took a short car ride to the hotel, and since then the activities and events have not stopped. Right away I met up with some former and future teammates, as well as some friends from other teams. Chiney Ogwumike was in the lobby when I walked in. Soon after I saw Maggie Lucas, my Philly Belles teammate, and fellow future Dukie Richa Jackson.

I first went to a meeting room to collect my gear and sign a few basketballs that are going to be auctioned at the banquet Tuesday night to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio (more on that later). I tried on my #33 white uniform, shirts, sneakers, and shorts for sizing and then moved on to the next meeting room for a picture in the jersey.

From there I had a minute to put my stuff into my room and met my roommate Jennifer O’Neill, a PG from the Bronx. She and I have played against each other a few times in some New York events, so I was excited when I saw we were rooming together. Not to mention that we were hooked up with the corner room in the hotel, so it’s a little more spacious and has a couple extra couches.

The rest of Saturday had more fittings, specifically for the banquet dresses. This year, they are red, and every player had the option to go with a long or short one, and everyone who was being fitted at the same time as me looked beautiful in them.

The main event of the day was the welcome dinner. So far the meals have been delicious- the first night included chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, and chocolate cake. I had to break my Lent fast of deserts for the night to try the chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies.

After dinner we had team meetings. Coach Rogers, Schlabach, and Moser are heading up the East team this year, and the tone from the outset was that our team will not be the stereotypical all-star game team. Coach Rogers brings a lot of intensity, and as a team we established pretty quickly that our main goal was to win. We then hung out for a little while in the players lounge, watched some of the NCAA tourney games, and played EA Sports and Rock Band before heading to bed.

Sunday, March 28

Sunday started pretty early with breakfast, then optional religious services. From there we headed out for a full day. First we headed to the Ronald McDonald House in Columbus. The entire event is truly centered on this charity and one of the most surprising things for me these past two days is how central that organization is to all that we do. We ate an early lunch at the House, then baked cookies, read stories with the kids, played HORSE, and had a tour of the facility. The volunteer work there is incredible.


We headed across the street to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital and I ended up in a group with Ronika Ransford, Jenny from the Bronx, and Samarie Walker.

We visited about four rooms in the hospital and handed out basketballs, teddy bears, and signed pictures for the sick children. For most of us, this has been the highlight of the week thus far. Volunteering there put a smile on my face for the whole day.

From there we headed to practice at Ohio State. We went for just about an hour and a half after a quick warm up. The East team’s intensity from the previous night’s meeting carried over as we worked on some transition and defense.

Since then, we’ve had some time to hang out with some of the boys players during the EA Sports tournament. Tiffany Moore, Afure Jemerigbe, and I entered into the Rock Band tournament, and for a first time band we performed pretty well. Quite frankly, we should have won, but there was a little interference from some opponents... Tomorrow is another busy day with the Jamfest at night and a visit to McDonald’s and the Columbus Zoo!

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Tonight’s Jam Fest begins at 6:30 p.m. ET with the finals will air live on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

As for the games themselves, both will air this Wednesday. The girls game starts at 5:30 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPNU. The boys game will tip off at 8:00 p.m. ET and broadcast live on ESPN.

Game tickets are still available, and you can get them here.

For those in the Cleveland area, you can get POWERADE Jam Fest tickets for tonight here.

(Or you can buy tickets to both by calling (866) 909-GAME)

You can visit www.mcdonaldsallamerican.com for additional info.

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The Big (L)East

The Big East Tournament gets started today. As we have said time and again, this is hands down the best conference tournament in all the land. Many of the men that start play today will one day wear an NBA jersey. With that in mind, let's talk about the Big East studs that never quite lived up to the hype in the NBA. Of course, names will be forgotten and omitted so please chime in with your choices. Also, this will kick start at the year 1990. So there. These are in no particular order.

1. Derrick Coleman, Syracuse - Most noted for coining the phrase "Whoop-de-damn-doo" Coleman didn't have a terrible NBA career which gives you the idea of the kind of player people thought he would be. Top pick of the New Jersey Nets he was a five tool player that never really seemed super interested in dominating the way he was capable. Still made an All-Star team and helped rejuvenate the Nets but I think we can all agree, we expected more. Bright side to this, since retirement DC has done amazing things for the city of Detroit in trying to that area back on its feet, and there is your silver lining for the day.

2. Hasheem Thabeet, UCONN - The jury is still very much out on Thabeet but since he just got sent down to the D-League and was the second overall pick in the NBA draft last spring he has to find his way onto the list. Personally, doubts started creeping in on this guy after Dejuan (I'm missing both ACLs) Blair absolutely owned him in a Big East showdown last year. Still, he is still very much a raw talent who will be given a chance to right the ship.

3. Scoonie Penn, Boston College - Scoonie get's thrown in the mix here for his time at Boston College before they left for the ACC and Scoonie left for Ohio State. This guy was a heck of a player in college and ended up not really putting together much of an NBA career. Teamed with Michael Reed on OSU, I thought Penn would be the better NBA players, which shows why I have no personnel responsibilities in the NBA. Won Big East Tourney MVP in 1997, eventually drafted by the Hawks but has spent most of his time playing for a variety of clubs overseas.

4. Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh - Another guard that was electric, the Co-Big East Player of the Year in 2002 Knight was a game changing player for Pittsburgh and it feels like he was the guy that helped get them on this prolonged run of success we have seen the Panther enjoy over most of this past decade. After college it was a few years in the D-League, some overseas action and now he is back coaching. The fact that big brother Brevin Knight who perhaps didn't have the NBA build was able to sustain a nice run in the NBA always kind of surprised me when Brandin wasn't able to hook on with a team.

5. Tim Thomas, Villanova - I read the book "7 Seconds" a few years back and it chronicled the Phoenix Suns for an entire season. Late in that season the Suns need Tim Thomas and it's mentioned that the coaches let TT know if he just turns it on for a few months they will help him find a nice contract in the off-season. Tim Thomas puts on a stellar run and that is all you need to know about him. A world of talent, great size, can shoot from deep, and spent just enough time on the Knicks to rile up that whole toughness episode with the New Jersey Nets. Was only in college briefly which tells you alot about his NBA expectations at the time.

6. Felipe Lopez, St. John's - Felipe Lopez's wikipedia page says it all, "Unrealistic expectations hounded López from the start, beginning with an appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated before he even played one college game." Lopez still had a stellar freshman season putting up a little over 17ppg in attempting to be the latest savior for St. John's. He goes down as one of the greats of all-time for St. John's but it never translated for the NBA. Drafted in the first round by the Spurs he ultimately bounced around the league before ending up overseas.

7. Jason Lawson, Villanova - He was a power in the middle for Villanova in the late 90s, think the Kerry Kittls era. There isn't much on the net about him but going off memory he was a force and pretty much balanced out what Kittles was doing on the outside. From there he parlayed his Nova days into just one season in the NBA. Honestly my first thought here was Eddie Griffin of Seton Hall. Talk about talented, and hyped. Then he got into a fight with Ty Shine in the locker room, spent a short period in the NBA and sadly passed away not that long ago.

8. Troy Bell, Boston College - MVP of the 2001 Big East Tourney, another inclusion prior to Boston College leaving the Big East (why did they leave again?). Was named Big East Player of the Year over Carmelo Anthony and broke the BC record for scoring held by Dana Barros. So you get the idea, he was nasty in college. Drafted high by the Celtics at 16 overall, ended up doing most of his damage in the NBA with the Grizzlies. Tried to catch on with Hornets in 2005 and that was that.

9. Joe Alexander, West Virginia - We heard for a long time about his impressive hops, they are still there as far as I can tell. Alexander was a big contributor for the Mountaineers in the post Gansey-Pittsnogle era. The 8th overall pick of the draft in 2008 Alexander was picked by the Bucks and now is on the Bulls where he hasn't done a whole heck of alot. Somewhat in the same boat as Thabeet in that his career is still very early and he was sent down to the D-League, but there is time to get things turned around.

10. Terry Dehere, Seton Hall - Perhaps the best player Seton Hall had in the 1990s, Dehere was Big East Player of the Year and Tourney MVP in 1993. Holds a bunch of Pirate records including most points scored in a career but was then drafted by the Clippers, a bad omen for even the most talented. Strung together a six year career with stops in Sacramento and Vancouver before calling it a career. Averaged just 8 points per game over the course of his career.

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Kige Ramsey for YouTube Dancing

Today, SportsCenter was all about the John Wall dance. Tonight, YouTube Sports carries the torch in what is the best rendition of the "I'm a little teapot" dance I've seen since pre-school.

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2009's Most Forgettable Sports Moments

While many choose to look back at 2009 by highlighting championship performances, scandalous transgressions and overall warm, fuzzy nostalgia, when the history books are written, there will be several happenings this past year that will be forgotten - be it by accident or by selective memory. For perseverance's sake, here's a look at some of the HHR crew's least memorable moments, stories and figures of 2009.

Dale Jr.'s "Breakout" Season

Dale Jr.'s second year at Hendrick Motorsports was supposed to be his breakout year. In 2008, he made the Chase, and this past year he was supposed to contend. Instead, Junior found himself with his worst season in NASCAR, and had to watch from the sidelines as his Hendrick teammates finished 1, 2, 3 in the points standings. A mid-year crew chief change couldn't even ease June Bug's woes.

ACC Football

This year was supposed to be the year for several teams in the ACC. NC State had the ACC's most prolific passer returning, Wake Forest was led by senior signal caller Riley Skinner, VT was Virginia Tech, and Bowden was promising great things as he fought for his job down in Tallahassee. Instead, the ACC struggled all year, losing early games to the likes of William & Mary and never coming close to being in the talk for a National Title contender. Now, the traditionalists' cries for the heads of the guys behind the expansion are growing ever more louder. It was supposed to elevate football in the nation's preeminent basketball conference, right?

Fat College Football Coaches

Apparently, this wasn't the year to be big and on the sidelines with a headset in college. The portly Mark Mangino and the rotund Charlie Weiss both found themselves without a job at the end of the season. While Mangino's dismissal had more to do with his treatment of players than his team's record, Weiss just couldn't eat enough donuts to help the Irish win enough games to keep his job. Surely, Ralph Friedgen's off season diet kept him on the sidelines in College Park, because Maryland's 2-10 record certainly didn't help.

Urban Meyer Resigning at Florida

Quite simply: Proof that the "do-over" rule is alive and well in college athletics.

WNBA's Shock Relocates to Tulsa

You know your league is in trouble when a team wins three championships in the decade and then decides a move from a major sports metro to Tulsa, OK is an upgrade.

Allen Iverson, Memphis Grizzly

"God chose Memphis as the place that I will continue my career. I feel that they are committed to developing a winner." Two months God must've told the Answer to get the hell out of Dodge. Sometimes even God makes mistakes. Either that or he has a helluva sense of humor.

Terrell Owens, Buffalo Bill

While making an initial splash upon signing, TO has since taken backseat to the prospect of the Bills moonlighting in Canada. When all is said and done, it says something when a guy will forever be remembered more for doing sit-ups in his driveway than actually playing for the Buffalo Bills.

The Billy Gillispie Era at UK

Add a new coach (John Calipari), the best player in America (John Wall) and a shiny undefeated record, and it’s hard to believe that the Cats were bounced by Notre Dame in the NIT last year.

The New York Metropolitans

While the team opened a brand new stadium, the cross-city Yankees win the Series over the defending champion/division rival Phillies and fans protest the franchise by forfeiting astronomically-priced season ticket plans, the team looks to rebound in 2010 by signing the likes of Alex Cora, Kelvim Escobar, Henry Blanco, R.A. Dickey and Chris Coste. To add insult to fans' injury, Coste punctuates his signing by reminding NY faithful, "I will always be a Phillie."

Shawne Merriman Performs Lights Out Dance on Tila Tequila

In an incident that was as ridiculous as the bi-sexual reality star's "career," Tila claims "Shawne grabbed her, shook her like a rag doll, threw her down and choked her during an argument last September. Tila says the San Diego Chargers linebacker had a bad temper combined with a drug problem, and that he humiliated her because of her bi-sexuality." Yet, authorities and the public somewhat seem to buy the Charger's claim of acting in the name of being a responsible party host. Charlie Sheen: take note.

We miss anything?

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Waiting For Godunk: On Coaching, the Big Dance and Smelly Frenchmen

My name is Kevin Owens and I have been playing professional basketball for the past six years. I decided to start a blog documenting my daily life. I have a degree in journalism and haven't written anything since college, so I figured why not. I don't particularly think I am that interesting, however when telling people about the traveling circus that is my life, they seem very entertained. I'll be contributing some of those stories once a week here at HHR. You can also now catch me on Twitter @Waiting4Godunk. Hope you enjoy!

------

I have a little confession to make...I have been waiting to go play for a few months now, but I recently turned down several opportunities. I had the chance to workout for a D-League team and was also offered a deal from a PBL (Premier Basketball League) team. I turned them both down because my dream job became available…A chance to join the staff of a local collegiate basketball program. At this point in my career, I feel the need to start looking towards the future. Coaching would be my first choice.

I have been teaching basketball lessons to students of all ages for the past seven years. During that time I have really honed my coaching skills. I’ve worked with quite a few players who have gone on to successful Division I careers. I believe I will make a great coach one day.

However, passing on jobs is a little stressful. I have never been the best decision maker. If I were ever on Let’s Make a Deal I would walk away with a goat every time.

‘Maybe I should take this deal and pass on coaching…Nah, I’m a shoe in.’

‘Perhaps I should retire from basketball and move on with my life…No way, teams will be knocking down my door.’

‘Perchance I shouldn’t invest in AIG…C’mon, They sponsor Man United, their stock will never drop.’

‘Maybe I should not sell my enormous pick-up truck…Nah, What do I need four wheel drive for?…It’s not like we ever get a blizzard in South Jersey.’

Anyway, the main reason I am so enamored with coaching is because of the atmosphere. I love college basketball. There is so much more passion in collegiate athletics than in the pros. When I think back to the most passionate fans I ever played in front of, it has to be from my sophomore year in college…The most enjoyable, rewarding and memorable season of my career.

Let me set the scene for the Monmouth University Hawks 2000-2001 season. We were a proverbial walking-mat for the NEC (Northeast Conference). During the two seasons prior to 1999, we were 4-23 and 5-21. That’s when we developed the nucleus that would take us to the first NCAA tournament appearance of my career.

During the 1999-2000 season, my freshman year, we acquired two transfers named Gerry Crosby and Rahsaan Johnson. We finished 12-16, respectable for the program at the time. During that summer we took a visit to France and Switzerland…and that is when it happened. It was the fourth quarter of a rough and meaningless game between MU and some random French team. We were playing in what felt like a grade school gym in the middle of August.

Gerry Crosby had the ball on the sideline when a large smelly Frenchmen (trust me I was guarding this monster all game) elbowed Gerry directly in the mouth. G retaliated and the benches cleared. Now, I never believed I would be in a brawl. If I did, I guess I envisioned lots of snapping and dancing. However this was intense. It all happened so fast. I remember having an attempted roundhouse kick flung my direction by a surprisingly limber gentleman. I also remember getting a jab in on a guy half my size. The next thing I know we are being dragged off the court by our coaches. In the locker room after that game something changed. We developed a trust. We realized we are not alone…we were all in this together.

We took that attitude into the season and finished with 21 wins, the most regular season wins in school history. We rolled through the playoffs…until the championship game. That night we played St. Francis (NY), with an NCAA tournament bid on the line. You may have watched it on ESPN. It was the game with no fans. We played in front of a raucous crowd of about 200 people. A powerful snowstorm blanketed the east coast making travel conditions a little shaky. Or at least that’s the excuse my roommates gave me.

As the game wound down we found ourselves in a deep hole. Down by over twenty points with less than fourteen minutes remaining we started to mount, what is now known in Monmouth inner circles, as “The Comeback.”

Little by little the lead was chipped away until it was 61-59 with just over a minute remaining. That is when our two leaders took over. Rahsaan drove into the middle of the lane and kicked to Crosby who buried a three giving us a one point lead, and we never looked back.

In the NCAA tournament we drew, quite possibly, the best Duke team in school history. Although we lost, I still maintain the game was much closer then the 95-52 score indicated. In that game I played against two future teammates. Casey Sanders, my teammate in the D-League, and Nick Horvath my teammate and now good friend, in New Zealand. It’s funny how small the world is when you are seven feet tall.

I was reminded of the Monmouth team this week by a posting on Facebook. It’s amazing how different everyone’s lives are now, but how strong the bonds still remain. I still pop in the highlight tape of “the comeback” every once in a while…or when I can find a VCR that still works.

Who would have thought a seven foot Frenchman would have impacted our lives so drastically. If I could meet this man now, I probably would shake his hand…or offer him some soap.

RIP Jay Dooley…teammate, friend, champion

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Maui Invitational: The Best Part Of Thanksgiving Week

While NFL doubleheader will be a key way I spend parts of Thursday that I won't be eating, I'm more pumped for college hoops. Though pre-conference schedule tournaments have gone on and been very exciting, and the pre-season NIT is coming this weekend at Madison Square Garden, the top early season tournament for me each year is the EA Sports Maui Invitational. Many hoops pundits have pointed to the recently completed Puerto Rico Tip-Off as having the best overall field, but something about the event in Maui just signals the real start of college basketball.

From the games played in a tiny gym similar to that of my high school, to the announcers which usually include Bill Raftery, to the teams which are routinely in the Top 25, it all makes for a great few days of games. Tiny Chaminade, most known for their upset of Virigina back in the 80s, hosts this event, and, while they often get their doors blown off, there is always the chance they might upset somebody. Then you have seven other teams that are likely to be in the mix for a berth in the field of 65, if not a crack at the Final Four. The field this year is no different as it is a group of household names in college hoops including Arizona, Cincinatti, Colorado, Gonzaga, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin (and the aforementioned Chaminade). Of course these teams aren't currently at their strongest in recent years, but they book these fields several years out and at the end of the day the "name" teams will be in the building at the Lahaina Civic Center. I'll admit it is odd that not a single team in this year's field is currently in the Top 25, but give it time, Maryland and Vanderbilt are knocking on the door.

Miahlo! Onions!

The ESPN platform of networks will cover every game in this tourney with the championship to be decided on Wednesday evening. So make sure to tune in starting on Monday, the tourney will seem as if games are being played at every hour of the day when you factor in the Hawaii time difference, and enjoy coaches wearing ridiculous Hawaiian shirts and perhaps a chance to dream of a warmer climate.

This is what the Maui Invitational is all about

As for predictions, this is just one part of what is a murderous early schedule for Gonzaga. The Bulldogs must be right on the brink of Gold Elite Status on Continental because they are flying all over the place. Maryland gets what should be the walkover first game against Chaminade to start things off while Arizona and Wisconsin could be one of the top first round matchups. Vandy and Maryland are on a collision course for a semi-final matchup which could very well open things up for Gonzaga on the other side of the bracket although the Zags will still have to knock off some quality teams to advance. Regardless I think this is the time for Gonzaga to pick up some critical early season wins and prop themselves up before they have to deal with Wake Forest, Duke, Oklahoma, and Illinois. Who does Mark Few think he is with this schedule? Dan Monson at Long Beach State (now this is a tough schedule)

Colorado and Gonazga get us started on Monday 10am Hawaii/3pm EST. Now the season will have begun. Oh and if your curious, next year looks pretty nice in Maui also.

-Posted by Cadillac Mescallade

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Pitino: The Media is a Bunch of Rudipoo, Candy-asses

Since details of his dirty nasty affair with local skank Karen Sypher have been made public, the …drip…drip…drip… of negative press coverage has quickly overwhelmed Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino’s carefully crafted image as a successful basketball coach and community leader.

Clearly Pitino has had enough. At a hastily called press conference yesterday afternoon, Pitino had a simple message for everyone covering the story:

"Know your role...and shut your mouth."

I think Rick Pitino just tried to have his own "Rock" moment.


For those not following the story, the Louisville police department earlier Wednesday made public more taped conversations they made of their interviews with Sypher. This obviously remains big news locally because 1) Rick Pitino is one of the most recognizable figures in the state, and 2) we just don’t get good sex scandals like this everyday in Kentucky. And everyone loves a good sex scandal.

The problem is that Pitino would just rather you not hear, read or see what is included on those tapes. So he came out breathing fire against reporters for repeating "lies" about him, told the press how to do their jobs, and basically tried to intimidate the media into not releasing the details of what Sypher had to say about him in the tapes.

At least it’s clear to me that Pitino understands the first lesson of public relations: when your penis gets you in trouble, blame the press.

In spite of that, it’s hard to lose sight of the fact that it was Pitino who had after-hours sex on a restaurant table with a woman he had just met, gave that woman money which apparently was used for an abortion, and then the same woman turned around and married his close friend and longtime staff assistant. Whether they would admit it or not, I think most people are dying for more juicy details on the case whether those details are truthful, somewhat truthful, or complete bald-faced lies. Basically we’re all a bunch of hungry little gossip mongers that love a scandal.

So I ask: How could the media not cover this story?

Nonetheless, I took away from the presser that Pitino still feels he needs to reassure a jittery fan base and wavering recruits that he was going to fight, leaving no question he intends to stay on as coach. My personal favorite quote from this afternoon: "All of this has been a lie. It’s a total fabrication of the truth - except what I’ve told you."

I wonder if that’s what he told his family.

It was Pitino – not the press – that created this mess in the first place. Only time and a forgiving, forgetful public will get him out of it. No matter how bad this situation has been on Pitino personally or how hard it is for his friends and family to cope with his indiscretions, raking the media over the coals for doing what they are paid to do seems pretty foolish and self-serving at this point.

-Posted by Rev. Shaw Moore

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Tark the Shark

Photo: reviewjournal.com

Las Vegas Review-Journal: "Basketball academy co-director, Las Vegas real estate professional and former UNLV basketball player Danny Tarkanian will run for the U.S. Senate seat occupied by Democratic Sen. Harry Reid."

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FDU Takes Low Road In Firing Of Green

The NCAA Men's College basketball coaching carousel had just about wound down to a close this summer until Fairleigh Dickinson University decided to fire their head coach Tom Green last week. Normally a coaching change at the mid-major conference doesn't make many waves but this one should. First, it's worth noting that Green had just come off his 26th season at the college and had on multiple occassions led his team to the NCAA Tournament or NIT. Had the squad failed to live up to expectations the last few seasons? Definitely, missing two straight conference tourneys is unacceptable, and maybe that was reason enough for a change, but you don't do it like this.

You, barring some horrendous act, never fire a coach in the middle of the summer, unless you are looking to disrepsect them and leave them jobless come the next season. Green said as much in an article on the firing that appeared in the Bergen Record last week.

“I’ve been a coaching ambassador for this university for 26 years. I don’t call this place work, I call it home,” Green said. “Firing me right now shows a total lack of respect for me as a person, as a coach and as a loyal employee over the last 26 years.”

He went on to say, “This decision kills my career. To get fired in June of year 26 kills a career. I’d hoped to coach another five or six years before I even thought about retiring,” Green said. “It not only affects me, but I’ve got three assistant coaches and two of them have families. There are no Division I college basketball head coaching jobs available in June.”

In conferences like the Northeast, where FDU resides it is rare that you will find a quality head coach that will continually keep your team in the upper echelon of the conference, take your team to NCAA tournaments, and also not leave at the first "bigger" job that comes along. Mount Saint Mary's had it for a long time with the legendary Jim Phelan and Monmouth has it currently with alum Dave Calloway, but it's not always the case. Green was a guy that seemed like he wanted to be at FDU for life, not sure what other intentions he could have after 26 years.

At the end of the day FDU has every right to fire their coach, no matter what, it could just have been done in a much better way. You don't leave somebody out to dry like this, when their well being and that of their assistant coaches is on the line.

To make matters worse, FDU has named an interim Head Coach and he comes with baggage. As Andy Katz reports on his blog on ESPN.com Greg "Shoes" Vetrone has been named the interim Head Coach at FDU on one year trial. The only problem with Vetrone is that prior to being hired by Green as an assistant last year he had basically been blacklisted from any job in college coaching. Reason being he was invovled in some shady dealings in the recruitment of Lamar Odom (that's how far back this goes) while on the staff of UNLV. As Katz explains, Vetrone was never given one of the dealth penalty "show-cause" type violations that Todd Bozeman from Cal, now at Morgan State made famous, but it sure felt like it.

From Katz' Blog

Greg Vetrone was unofficially banished, sent away through a mutual understanding so UNLV could move on after violations emerged in the late 1990s.

Vetrone wasn't given any show-cause penalty. His violations were deemed secondary (mostly dealing with the recruitment of Lamar Odom in 1996-97) and focused on improper recruiting inducements and contact with Odom, including inadvertent phone calls and a manager that he said used his FedEx account to mail him gear.

So, Vetrone, known as "Shoes," was sent away to work with basketball grassroots guru Sonny Vaccaro and begin a 10-year climb back to relevance.

I am all for people getting second chances, and perhaps Vetrone was young and made some mistakes and now he has paid his dues. It just doesn't seem right that his second chance comes at the expense of a guy who built something worthy over the last 26 years. It was quite a week for FDU AD, he's made two tremendous gambles; first seeing if he can truly replace Tom Green, and second if bringing in someone like Greg Vetrone is the answer. Only time will tell. For one week FDU really can be called Fairleigh Ridiculous.

'Shoes' finds Division I fit again at FDU (Andy Katz Blog)

- posted by Cadillac Mescalde

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Bob "Baubby" Knight Does Not Want to Talk About Throwing F*cking Chairs

As some poor Dutch bastards learns, the coach would rather talk about his 900 wins.



See around the 2:20 mark for Bobby being Bobby:

"Let's understand one thing, ok? See you people make too much bullshit out of that, alright? I threw a chair once. You know how many games f*ckin games I won? Over 900. Lets talk about the 900 games instead of the one f*cking chair, how's that?"

H/T: Digital Sports Daily

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Obama To Find Replacement For Tom Izzo

It appears President Barack Obama is not done yet in the state of Michigan. On the heels of Michigan State's lackluster performance in last night's NCAA Men's National Championship Game against the University of North Carolina, the President has announced plans to find a replacement for longtime head coach Tom Izzo.

The Spartans, coached by Izzo, fell to North Carolina by a lopsided score of 89-72 in what had been billed as a boost for the spirit of the state of Michigan, still reeling over the struggles of the auto industry. Apparently the loss was too much for Obama- who recently replaced General Motors Head Rick Wagoner- to handle. In a White House speech, Obama said that college basketball teams and Michigan State in particular, must stand on their own, not as "wards of the state" supported by tax dollars.

Michigan State University Board of Trustees had assembled various plans to get the school back on proper footing including but not limited to: increased recruiting, unveiling yet another alternate uniform, and using Magic Johnson by any means necessary. These plans were all summarily rejected by the White House leaving Obama to again step in and find a replacement.

With this announcement the coaching carousel continues to turn that has recently seen John Calipari take over at Kentucky and Sean Miller at Arizona. No replacement for Izzo has yet to be named, but according to a source within the White House, the following pool of candidates are being considered: Bobby Knight, Rick Pitino, Isiah Thomas, and 98 year old John Wooden.

When questioned at his White House speech exactly what he is doing interfering with college basketball, Obama shot back, "Have you seen my bracket? I had UNC winning this whole thing, don't you watch ESPN?

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JoPa Being JoPa

"Who? Huh? Where am I?"

I'll be damned, but I can't find video of this anywhere.

Penn State's Simon Birch, Joe Paterno, was on hand last night to see Penn State's Men's hoops team advance to the NIT finals.

During an interview, JoPa spouted about the good old days - when basketball was a Jew sport: "Everyone says it's a black mans game. When I played it was a Jewish mans game." Bill Raftery: "Yeah a city game right?"

Give us a shout if anyone finds the vid/audio.

Update. I was able to pilfer some audio off of the ESPN360 broadcast. "They were great." Luckily, our much more tech savy friend at Awful Announcing was able to grab some vid.

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Louisville's Angel McCoughtry Has On-Air "O-Gasm"

Doesn't she know he has no interest in women's basketball or the mentally challenged (both of which she appears to represent)?

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HHR Talks With McDonald's All-Americans and UNC-Bound David & Travis Wear

The McDonald’s All American Games are about more than just the Games themselves. It’s truly an experience – it’s about being a good person on and off the court, and succeeding through other avenues like giving back. In addition to McDonald’s All American Game striving to teach its players through its Advisory Council which features the likes of Alonzo Mourning, Dwight Howard and Candace Parker, the Game is played for Charity (Ronald McDonald House Charities), where most other prep games aren’t.

The Games will go down this week down in Miami, Florida. The men's game features the best of the best divided into East and West squads, takes place Wednesday night at 8pm est at the University of Miami. It airs Wednesday night on ESPN2 at 11:30pm EST.

HHR had a chance to catch up with two members of the West squad. David and Travis Wear, twins out of Huntington Beach, California (Mater Dei High School), both of whom are headed to the University of North Carolina.


David was named the Orange County Register’s player of the year and Travis was right there with him on the All-County First Team.


David Wear
Height/Weight: 6'10", 220 lbs.
Position: F
PPG: 16.2
RPG: 7.4
College: Committed to North Carolina

HuggingHaroldReynolds: What has the whole McDonald’s All-American Game experience been like thus far?

David Wear: It’s a great experience. I flew in two days ago and ever since I got here we have been running around. It’s a lot of fun. It’s really hectic hanging out with all these guys, all the media and how busy we are, the practicing, but its a lot of fun, we’re pretty busy.

HHR: What was your reaction to being named to the team?

DW: Every high school player, one of their goals is to make this team. I feel great to have this opportunity to play with some of the best, play on TV in front of everybody, and show what we got.

HHR: You were also named to the team with your brother Travis, that must be a great feeling?

DW: It was a great thing. I didn’t know we were both going to be named. I was hoping one of us would be named. That was one of our goals. When we found out we both made, it we were really excited. Some of our goals growing up were to be at the same college and to make the McDonald’s All-American team, and we have gotten to do both.

HHR: What is the process for even making this team?

DW: You get nominated, I think it is a 100 person group in each region, and then they go through process of cutting it down and narrowing it down to the final team. My coach told me about a week before that we were both selected for the west team, we were very excited.

HHR: You played with your brother in high school at Mater Dei in California, now again on this team and in the future in college how are you two different on the court?

DW: I think I’m more comfortable playing in the post, he is more comfortable putting the ball on the ground, shooting the ball, but we can both rebound and run the court so I don’t see too many other differences.

HHR: So when you two match up one on one, who usually wins?

DW: Half the time we don’t finish our games, they end up in a fight (laughs), but I’d say it would be me winning.

HHR: You are both headed to the North Carolina, how did that recruitment process work, did you bill yourselves as a package deal?

DW: We basically told everyone that we are going to the same school, we knew we wanted to go to the same school, going to separate schools was never an option. Everyone just recruited us as players they both wanted and North Carolina happened to offer both of us.

HHR: North Carolina is now headed back to the Final Four after this past weekend’s action, you must feel even better about your decision now.

DW: I’m really happy, I’m really comfortable in my decision, and maybe I’ll be in the Final Four next year.

HHR: Finally, what do you hope to take away from this whole McDonald’s All-American Game experience?

DW: Just to enjoy my last high school game, meet new people, take it all in, the whole media session, even the game being on TV, I know its an all star game, but its always good fun, I just want to enjoy my last high school game.


Travis Wear
Height/Weight: 6' 10", 230 lbs.
Position: G, F
PPG: 15
RPG: 6.4
College: Committed to North Carolina

HuggingHaroldReynolds: What has been like to be named to this team?

Travis Wear: It’s a great honor being able to come out here and play with all the good players in the country. It's a lot of fun to come out here.

HHR: You were both picked for the squad, was that a surprise at all?

TW: I think I knew, if one of us was to get it, that we would both get it. To be out here competing against guys I grew up playing against, it’s really cool.

HHR: Outside of basketball what else have you done on this trip?

TW: We went over to a Ronald McDonald house and played with the kids, and we also went over to the Sea Aquarium and got to swim with the dolphins. Actually, we haven’t really been on the court all that much.

HHR: Do you look at other great brother combos like the Griffin brothers at Oklahoma or the Lopez brothers at Stanford and how they play as you get set to enter college?

TW: No, not really. I watch them to see how they interact on the court. I don’t look it how they play they game, I like looking how they interact on the court (as brothers).

HHR: For someone that doesn’t know your game, how would you describe it?

TW: I am pretty versatile, outside and inside, good court vision, I can pass the ball very well, I can bring the ball up the court, and I just play hard all the time.

HHR: You are both headed to UNC next year, they are headed to another Final Four you have to be pretty excited about your college choice?

TW: Yeah definitely. The expectations next year will be high. They have a pretty good recruiting class coming in, and hopefully with the guys that are there we could get back to the Final Four.

HHR: Lastly, what do you take away from this whole experience of being a McDonald’s All-American?

TW: It’s an opportunity to see how you do against better competition. Also, it’s not only basketball, but charity work. It is just good to give back to the community, and just a good experience all around.

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Sooners Eliminated

College hoops fans can no longer make fun of Taylor Griffin's "worst comb over in the history of collegiate athletics" on a national stage.

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Obama to Women Hoopsters: Title Nein!

"You guard like a Lady Tarheel."

The very first plank in then-Candidate Obama's education platform was "Protecting Title IX":

Barack Obama and Joe Biden supports eliminating gender discrimination in American schools. For 35 years, Title IX has been a bulwark against sex discrimination against students and employees at all levels of education. Obama and Biden will fight to make sure women have equal opportunities and access from pre-kindergarten through graduate school.

Yet, as the sports-loving nation fawned over the novelty of the President filling out his MEN's NCAA bracket, I can't help but wonder how many aspiring adolescent WNBAers out there felt slighted as they waited to no avail for the leader of the free world and mouthpiece for change to fill out his women's bracket.

For all the accomplishments of a Connecticut Lady Huskies team or milestones of a Pat Summitt or the perseverance of a Vivian Stringer, the message is clear...it's all trivial. Your hard work, your courage and your struggles mean nothing compared to your male counterparts.

And this just after he paraded his wife and formal rival out for photo ops (that's what they are good for - looking pretty) and created a nonsensical commission.

"He lets you wear shoes?"

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HHR in InGameNow's March Madness Blogger Contest

HHR joined over 20 of the web's top blogs to compete in InGameNow's March Madness Blogger Contest. The contest is simple:

- select five players from the NCAA Tournament
- you get their total points + rebounds + assists
- … for the entire tournament - so it’s a mix of player and team skill

Here's our squad:

• Jonny Flynn, Syracuse
• Earl Clark, Louisville
• DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh
• Tyler Hansbrough, UNC
• Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

Check out the rest of the field here.

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