Shade of Blue

Duke with Coach Krzyzewski and North Carolina with Dean Smith are anything but peas and carrots.

But at this moment in time they are standing together on the same plateau of victories, 879 apiece. They have more wins than Hey Jude has na-na-nas…. looped several times. Smith and K are tied for 2^nd on that long list of prestigious coaches, only trailing Bobby Knight.

Their styles lack the similarities that basketball purists envy; the 2 styles could be said as bluntly as ‘Night and Day’.

Smith had Michael Jordan, K had Christian Laettner. Smith had James Worthy, K had Bobby Hurley. K had Grant Hill, Smith had Vince Carter. K had JJ Redick, Smith had Raymond Felton. And the list goes on and on. Yet they are practically identical in the statistical categories… 11 Final Fours, ACC Titles (Smith 13, K 12) and 1 Olympic Medal each.

Both transformed the game and there is a large disagreement over who the better coach is. And undoubtedly this debate will go on forever. I guess it’s just a depends on which shade of blue you prefer.

[With the probable win tonight against UNC-Greensboro Coach K will only be ‘23’ wins from being the all-time winningest coach in college basketball history… Interesting.]

UNC Hires Collins

There are few things that swirl around Greeley like the rumors of the next Bear head football coach.

After the not-so-radical firing of coach Scott Downing (9-47 while in Greeley) the Bears have been in pursuit of the next head man. The coach that will hopefully bring back the winning formula and the programs luster that occurred in the late 1990’s.

The names initially on the list included Earnest Collins (head coach at Alcorn State), Bill O’Boyle (Chadron State), Dave Logan (Mullen) and Mike Breske (defensive coordinator Montana). But the time taken by the search committee and ‘secretive’ interviews has led to some disapproval from pundits and candidates alike.

The UNC job could be a perfect platform for the coaches. There are fantastic facilities, thanks in part to the Denver Broncos who hosted training camp there for many years, and the new coach has the ability to completely rebuild a program from the ground up.

And the new coach is…..

EARNEST COLLINS.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Amid controversy, the NCAA steps in like a mean babysitter. They lay down the law, but are also just saving its own head.

[Written in 1989, and it's still an issue.]

This comes after Terrelle Pryor and 4 other Buckeyes will be forced to sit out the first 5 games of next year, (Including the one against the Buffs) but not the Mary Poppins/All State Sugar Bowl. Makes no sense right? Why not put your foot down and really make a statement to college athletics as a whole?

And here’s why, “The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky right now that they put Cleveland State on probation another three years,” appropriately said by former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian.

But the real problems are the athletes themselves. And the majors they choose. (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2003-11-18-atheletes-majors_x.htm ) How many of these kids fit the prerequisite standards that all the other students abide by? How many would be at this school if it wasn’t for an athletic scholarship and a huge booster seat for classes? And sadly, the answer is very few.

[There are many exceptions to this rule, and it doesn’t get talked about enough. There are some smart people that are also exceptional athletes. But the majority, or super-majority, of student-athletes that get in trouble do not fall in this group of exceptions.]

So how in the world do we expect a group of 20-something kids, that if it wasn’t for their athletic ability would not be in these schools, that get paddy-caked through COLLEGE level courses to remain eligible, that most will not play the sport forever, to be “smart” enough to make decisions that have huge future-threatening ramifications?

It’s absurd.

College Bowl Pick'em ROUND 2

A year ago TODAY I predicted the outcomes of all 34 college bowl games. And how did it turn out you may ask… um…. eh…. not so well in fact.

I was 15-19, very un-‘Swami’-like.

But I feel I have learned from my mistakes and have vowed to do better. In the 10 games I was most unsure about I went 2-8; I gotta do better in the close games to be successful. And venue has no barring, last year I focused on that too much; this year I will look at it as if every game is being played on the moon.

So here we go… ALL 35 GAMES… 35 being the most confident and 1 the most unsure.

35. I put Fresno State in this spot last year, but this year they don’t fail me.

34. Hawai’i wins the Hawai’I Bowl. They are unreal offensively, and have only lost to USC, Boise State and Colorado. Makes sense to me.

33. Southern Miss has scored 30+ points every game this year except 2. But Louisville has potential, they are 6-6 by winning their last game of the year. Could be a trap game.

32. Nevada has no problem with Boston College. BC started the season 2-5 before winning 5 straight over 5 weeks to end the season HOT. The layoff hurts them and hopefully the Wolfpack doesn’t get complacent thinking they could be the in Title game if they had only beaten Hawai’i.

31. Navy controls the clock and takes down San Diego St. It has been a Cinderella year for the Aztecs, but the Mids won’t mind ringing their bell, both literally and figuratively.

30. Toledo blasts Florida International. It’s FIU’s first ever bowl game, and the big stage slows them down.

29. Boise State beats Utah. Kellen Moore and the rest of the Broncos once again come out fired up think they deserve respect… may hang close to 50 on the Utes.

28. Nebraska has no problem with Washington. The Huskers already beat the Huskies this year… oh the score was 56-21.

27. UTEP beats BYU. I don’t know why people are favoring the Cougars so much. Their last 4 wins have come against CSU, WYO, UNLV and UNM. Some may its risky, but I have a soft spot for the Miners from West Texas.

26. West Virginia rolls past NC St. Both are good teams with near misses several times. WV is just too tough when they play Mountaineer football like Bill Stewart has them playing.

25. Fear the Turtle. Maryland over ECU

24. The Golden Domers could be real good the next couple of years with Tommy Rees and Dayne Crist, and this bowl game could spring them back into form.

23. Pitt past Kentucky. Dave Wannstedt is out, but the Panthers rally to find a way to win.

22. Oklahoma almost stumbles on UCONN. Everyone thinks this one won’t be a contest, I think it will. Oklahoma will obviously win, but not as wide a margin as everyone is thinking.

21. Baylor beats Illinois. Robert Griffin III will use his dual threat to torch the Red Raiders in a shootout in Texas.

20. Northwestern break the 72 year drought by beating Texas Tech. They’re due.

19. SMU is back and beats Army. June Jones has awakened a beast in the Mustang program, and he leads the team to a 2^nd bowl victory in 2 years.

18. You don’t give Denard Robinson 3 weeks off and live to tell about it. Mississippi State is good but remember the first 5 weeks of season, we’ll see Robinson as that player once again.

17. South Carolina easily thumps Jimbo Fisher and the Seminoles. The Gamecocks were in the SEC title game and are yet to get respect. Alshon Jeffery is a hidden star, and Marcus Lattimore will run wide.

16. Miami (OH) has no trouble with MTU. Middle Tennessee always finds a way to jump up and bight me, not this year though.

15. Clemson is inept on offense but the Bulls will give up a few big plays that cost them the game.

14. Missouri too good for Iowa. This will be Ricky Stanzi’s last game as a Hawkeye, but the emotions and Tigers will be too much to overcome one last time. Although it will be close, the only way Stanzi know how to play college football.

13. Air Force will have its hands full with Georgia Tech, but many bruises later comes out victorious.

12. Stanford only lost to Oregon in Eugene.

11. Oklahoma State beats Arizona. Mike Gundy and Mike Stoops will be in constant death glare across the field. But Stoops will blink first as the Cowboys prevail.

10. Ohio State whoops Arkansas. Last year’s Rose Bowl may have secretly jumpstarted a long trend of bowl wins for the Buckeyes. But Ryan Mallett has to play well to keep the NFL scouts hungry.

9. Alabama is just good enough to get past Michigan State. People say the Tide are the most talented team in the nation, and have yet to prove it. Once again they squeak by with a win.

8. North Carolina beats Tennessee. The Tar Heels are no longer just a basketball school.

7. Kansas State bashes Syracuse. Syracuse has had one of their best years since the McNabb era. But KSU is a little better.

6. Troy is victorious against Ohio. I don’t know why but this just feels right.

5. Auburn and Cam Newton beat Oregon. Chip Kelly just has too many youngsters and the lights will be just a little bright. Like Texas in 2005-06, Auburn just seems to be the destined team carried by a superstar.

4. Georgia is better than their record and beats UCF. Mark Richt and the Bulldogs have had an awful year. But 6 wins later and a new UGA the Dawgs will still get it done.

3. Florida wins in Urban Meyers last game, this year. The Gators will come out ready to play, this could be a tough couple weeks of practice in Gainesville.

2. Wisconsin beats TCU. The Horned Frogs looked star struck a year ago, I don’t think Andy Dalton will make the same mistakes. But the Badgers score more on the gridiron than on the hardwood and won’t be slowed down now.

1. LSU slides by Texas A&M. Jerrod Johnson who?

SCAM NEWTON

“I’m very confident, you know, I’m a person that has did nothing wrong,” said Cam Newton, 2010 Heisman/Davey O’Brien/Maxwell Awards Winner. “And you know whoever wants to ask me that question I’m gonna tell them I’ve stayed firm and told the truth.” http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5903485

In my professional opinion, I just can’t believe him. And this may end up tarnishing the game of college football FOR… EV… ER.

Okay, maybe that was a little drastic and overblown. But I do believe this isn’t the last we’ve heard of the Cam Newton scandal. Like pop’s Thanksgiving stew (it’s going to be frozen in the outside freezer until March) this isn’t the last we’ve seen of it.

The NCAA will find out and they will get theirs. Adolph Rupp and the Kentucky Wildcats had to forfeit the entire 1952 season, just 2 years after they won the National Title. Reggie Bush gave back his Heisman, and USC is still suffering. They don’t care if you the baddest dude in the all the land, they will nab you if you broke the rules.

The interview with Chris Fowler was misleading. Newton didn’t ever give a straight answer about his father, other than his ‘unconditional love’ for him. And Fowler looked like he held back, like Newton’s publicist gave him a stern talking to about not going into to much depth about the allegations. It wasn’t scripted, but Newton knew what not to say. (And the blandness of the conversation is probably the reason you have yet to see it.) Also the Letterman Top-10 (where I get all my hard-hitting bits, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWztPwFOxiY) had no reference to the money. You would think that the writers would have a hay-day on this. But they, once again, were held back by something. Not good.

Like a big Ruby Tuesday dinner on your 21^st birthday… this isn’t the last you’re gonna see of it. So watch out CAM!

MLB (Major Lessons about Baseball)

I never thought I’d say this… Tropicana is going to look empty in 2011.

Carl Crawford; gone. Carlos Pena; gone. And once again, the Rays may be in the cellar of the AL East. Joe Madden is just a crazy old man who can’t do math and Dick Vitale is just the old guy in the front of you trying to make your section do the wave in the 3^rd.

And nobody has learned yet…

The San Francisco Giants are World Series Champions and have 4 of the strongest rotations, some of the weakest lineups in the MLB and are nonexistent among the teams looking to wheel-and-deal.

So the names you hear most about during the winter months are: Jayson Werth, Adam Dunn, Mark Reynolds, Crawford and Pena?

….or maybe I haven’t learned a thing.

[IRONY: I wrote this at the library. Back to studying I go.]

McDaniels SHOULDN'T Have Been Fired

Something like 80% of people think that firing Josh McDaniels was a good idea.

I’m not one of them.

He went 8-8 in his first year as the 6^th youngest head coach ever. He goes 3-9 in his second year, after losing the #1 WR (Brandon Marshall) AND the #1 DE (Elvis Dumervil) from a year ago. And you give the man less than 2 years to state his case as a head man in the league?

Okay, we can’t change anything now… let’s look where it all went wrong.

The Jay Cutler fiasco ultimately got every die-hard orange-blooded Broncos fan on his bad side. I think Cutler was on his way out already; just as much as Shanahan was blindsided by his firing, I don’t think it would have been much longer before Cutler joined him outside the organization.

The 2009 season started with Pat Bowlen giving Brian Xanders the GM position. He and McDaniels have been heavily criticized for some of these moves.

In the 2009 offseason… GAINED; Kyle Orton, Brandon Lloyd, Brian Dawkins, Jabbar Gaffney, Renaldo Hill and Andre Goodman. DRAFTED; Knowshon Moreno, Robert Ayers, Alphonso Smith and Darcel McBath. LOST; Jay Cutler, Jamie Winborn and Dre Bly. Solid moves.

An 8-8 season that was extremely weird. But were still a game from going to the playoffs.

In the 2010 offseason… GAINED; Jamal Williams and Justin Bannan. DRAFTED; Demaryius Thomas, Tim Tebow, Zane Beadles, JD Walton, Eric Decker and Perrish Cox. LOST; Peyton Hillis and Brandon Marshall. Again, solid.

These were all good moves that improved the team as a whole. McDaniels was putting his mark on the team by enforcing rules, picking and playing good-character guys and changing the entire mentality of the team.

And then the 2010 year started out with a buzz, but that soon faded. And it was to be expected. ESPN and Sports Illustrated both projected them to be in the cellar of an odd and somewhat weak division. And they underachieved some.

Are the Broncos gonna be any better next year, without something drastic happening? No.

So is the solution to fire Josh McDaniels? NO!

Sub-Plot City

Hello, and welcome to Sub-Plot City.

This is the life of an NBA beat writer. You blow a minuscule quote, happening, thought way out of proportion to get people to pay attention. Happens all the times. (And I would probably do it too after having to watch NBA basketball all the time.)

Like the other night I tweeted, and I quote, “A 11-8 team is playing a 7-10 team tonight... who cares...” Over-hyped, over-amped, over-blown, over-whatever game that really meant nothing except that Lebron was returning to Cleveland to play the new look Cavs.

Or the Melo-theory. In a summer where 2 of the most-popular athletes of our day are under fire about their personal decisions we feel it necessary to lump Carmelo in with them. Has he ever specifically said he wants out? That playing for the Knicks has always been a lifelong dream? That the best chance he has to win, and win now is in NYC? I think not!

The NBA is a story driven league. If there were not these ‘storylines’ for people to follow, what would we able be talk about…. Basketball? HA