Anyway here's the funniest thing i read about sports last week.
Check it out for a laugh, and I'll talk with you guys soon
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/injured_manu_ginobili_only
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Flopping is Cheating
Hey sorry for no blog this week (busy busy busy), but i'll be back next week with something about baseball, i think...we'll see.
Anyway here's the funniest thing i read about sports last week.
Check it out for a laugh, and I'll talk with you guys soon
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/injured_manu_ginobili_only
Anyway here's the funniest thing i read about sports last week.
Check it out for a laugh, and I'll talk with you guys soon
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/injured_manu_ginobili_only
Friday, April 3, 2009
The Notre Dame of College Basketball
Unless you have been staying away from sport’s TV for the past week, you know that Billy Gillispie is out, and John Calipari is in as the Head Basketball Coach at Kentucky. Coach Cal made an interesting statement when referring to the lore of the Kentucky job. He actually called it the “Notre Dame of College Basketball”. The ironic thing is that Notre Dame Football and Kentucky Basketball are very similar. They both have ran off coaches, went for the biggest name they could find to replace that coach (and I’m not talking about Charlie Weis or John Calipari), and settled for someone else. Here are some other similarities between the 2 programs:
1. They are historically great programs.
2. They have not consistently played up to historical standards in a long time.
3. Their fans are unreasonable, unrealistic, and downright crazy for thinking they can win like they used to.
4. And they both want Florida’s Coach.
Remember that before Billy G, the Kentucky faithful were calling for Billy D, as in Billy Donovan, to be their next clipboard holder. He declined and said he wanted to be at Florida forever…Then, a month later he accepted the Orlando Magic job. Then went back on his commitment and returned to Florida. (it was almost as dramatic as an episode of VH1’s “I Love New York”, almost) Does anyone remember who Notre Dame’s real first pick for head coach was back in 2005? Does Urban Meyer ring a bell? He called Notre Dame his dream job. He had a special clause in his contract at Utah that said he could talk to Notre Dame if the job came open, no matter what. So why not go to the mighty Notre Dame? Simple, he and Billy D realized that Florida is a much easier place to win at. There are more talented players close by, it has become more prestigious school: an average 18 year old kid has no idea who Rockne, Rupp, or Rudy are, but they definitely know names like Tim Tebow and Joakim Noah (by the way; at best Tyler Hansbrough is a poor man’s Noah, and Noah is a poor man’s Anderson Varejao, which makes Hansbrough a homeless man’s Varejao). So Donovan and Meyer took all this information in and decided it made sense to stay at Florida because they realized it is the better situation, and the better job.
Now I’m not saying Tubby Smith or Ty Willingham was the answer (I actually think that Willingham is terrible, but in college football you need more than three years to make a program your own), but both faced impossible expectations. Also, if you consider that Tubby was in the tourney while Kentucky watched it this year, and the only year Weis was successful he was coaching the players Ty had recruited; I think its safe to say that they were not as terrible as the impatient fans of ND and KU thought. And now Kentucky thinks it is going to be a good idea to run off one of the best coaches in college basketball. I know Gillispie has struggled this year, but the cupboard wasn’t just bear…it was beaten, deserted and left for dead. If he was given enough time to get his guys he needs to run his system, there is not a doubt in my mind that he would have made Kentucky a winner. The year before he arrived, Texas A&M won as many Big 12 games as you and I did…or zero. Then in his first year he led them to an 8-8 record in the Big 12 and a birth in the NIT (for the first time since 1994). He then took Tamu to the big dance in both of the following years (for the first time since 1987). He took a team with absolutely no history of success in basketball and made them relevant.
Alright, now that we got through that; let me be clear on one thing, Calipari is a phenomenal recruiter. This helps offset for the facts that his teams always lack discipline and fundamentals (they were a couple of FT’s missed from a championship last year). Oh, also he is a miserable game day coach. These are two of Gillispie’s greatest strengths. Also, I don’t know how good of an idea it is to bring someone in who has used…less than admirable recruiting methods. Since Kentucky itself has not exactly been the model program as far as violations go. The university received a 1 year death penalty in the 50’s, and a 2 year ban from the postseason in 1989. If you’re not familiar with Calipari’s past, check this out for the cliff notes.
Just because a position was once great does not automatically mean it is a great opportunity. Perfect example: Dallas Cowboys quarterback. Yes Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman played the position, but so did Quincy Carter. I like Tony Romo, but I think he still has a lot to prove before we start adding him to the list of greats. So currently, our two impatient and formerly great programs are left with coaches that were not their ideal choices. (If you blinked, you missed where Donovan announced he would not consider going to Kentucky at all this time around. You think they might have contacted him, hmm…) If not for the absurd 10 year extension given to Weis during the middle of his first year (he was 5-2 at the time), he would already be out at ND. So will the fighting Irish follow in the footsteps of the Wildcats, and fire one of the best X’s and O’s coaches to hire someone who can “handle the pressure” better? All things considered, Calipari was correct in what he said. But all wrong with the spirit that he said it with. My prediction: in 3 years we’ll probably be talking about some guy considering leaving a great situation for the “lore” of at least one of these two jobs. One problem, these are two of the worst jobs to have in sports right now.
1. They are historically great programs.
2. They have not consistently played up to historical standards in a long time.
3. Their fans are unreasonable, unrealistic, and downright crazy for thinking they can win like they used to.
4. And they both want Florida’s Coach.
Remember that before Billy G, the Kentucky faithful were calling for Billy D, as in Billy Donovan, to be their next clipboard holder. He declined and said he wanted to be at Florida forever…Then, a month later he accepted the Orlando Magic job. Then went back on his commitment and returned to Florida. (it was almost as dramatic as an episode of VH1’s “I Love New York”, almost) Does anyone remember who Notre Dame’s real first pick for head coach was back in 2005? Does Urban Meyer ring a bell? He called Notre Dame his dream job. He had a special clause in his contract at Utah that said he could talk to Notre Dame if the job came open, no matter what. So why not go to the mighty Notre Dame? Simple, he and Billy D realized that Florida is a much easier place to win at. There are more talented players close by, it has become more prestigious school: an average 18 year old kid has no idea who Rockne, Rupp, or Rudy are, but they definitely know names like Tim Tebow and Joakim Noah (by the way; at best Tyler Hansbrough is a poor man’s Noah, and Noah is a poor man’s Anderson Varejao, which makes Hansbrough a homeless man’s Varejao). So Donovan and Meyer took all this information in and decided it made sense to stay at Florida because they realized it is the better situation, and the better job.
Now I’m not saying Tubby Smith or Ty Willingham was the answer (I actually think that Willingham is terrible, but in college football you need more than three years to make a program your own), but both faced impossible expectations. Also, if you consider that Tubby was in the tourney while Kentucky watched it this year, and the only year Weis was successful he was coaching the players Ty had recruited; I think its safe to say that they were not as terrible as the impatient fans of ND and KU thought. And now Kentucky thinks it is going to be a good idea to run off one of the best coaches in college basketball. I know Gillispie has struggled this year, but the cupboard wasn’t just bear…it was beaten, deserted and left for dead. If he was given enough time to get his guys he needs to run his system, there is not a doubt in my mind that he would have made Kentucky a winner. The year before he arrived, Texas A&M won as many Big 12 games as you and I did…or zero. Then in his first year he led them to an 8-8 record in the Big 12 and a birth in the NIT (for the first time since 1994). He then took Tamu to the big dance in both of the following years (for the first time since 1987). He took a team with absolutely no history of success in basketball and made them relevant.
Alright, now that we got through that; let me be clear on one thing, Calipari is a phenomenal recruiter. This helps offset for the facts that his teams always lack discipline and fundamentals (they were a couple of FT’s missed from a championship last year). Oh, also he is a miserable game day coach. These are two of Gillispie’s greatest strengths. Also, I don’t know how good of an idea it is to bring someone in who has used…less than admirable recruiting methods. Since Kentucky itself has not exactly been the model program as far as violations go. The university received a 1 year death penalty in the 50’s, and a 2 year ban from the postseason in 1989. If you’re not familiar with Calipari’s past, check this out for the cliff notes.
Just because a position was once great does not automatically mean it is a great opportunity. Perfect example: Dallas Cowboys quarterback. Yes Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman played the position, but so did Quincy Carter. I like Tony Romo, but I think he still has a lot to prove before we start adding him to the list of greats. So currently, our two impatient and formerly great programs are left with coaches that were not their ideal choices. (If you blinked, you missed where Donovan announced he would not consider going to Kentucky at all this time around. You think they might have contacted him, hmm…) If not for the absurd 10 year extension given to Weis during the middle of his first year (he was 5-2 at the time), he would already be out at ND. So will the fighting Irish follow in the footsteps of the Wildcats, and fire one of the best X’s and O’s coaches to hire someone who can “handle the pressure” better? All things considered, Calipari was correct in what he said. But all wrong with the spirit that he said it with. My prediction: in 3 years we’ll probably be talking about some guy considering leaving a great situation for the “lore” of at least one of these two jobs. One problem, these are two of the worst jobs to have in sports right now.
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