Breakfast Buffet: Virginia Tech takes aim at top-ranked Duke

1. One of the last teams to miss the NCAA tournament each of the past three years, Virginia Tech finds itself back on the bubble in late February again this season. The Hokies do have an opportunity to play their way into the field on Saturday if they can earn a marquee victory at home against top-ranked Duke.

2. How beloved is Tom Fell, the Georgia student who dresses like the movie boxer Rocky and thrills Bulldogs fans by running the stairs to the top of Stegeman Coliseum? Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity had to apologize to fans for benching Fell last week against Vanderbilt because the school sold his time slot to an insurance company for an in-event advertisement.

3. It's fitting that UCLA's final home game in soon-to-be-renovated Pauley Pavilion will be a battle for supremacy in the Pac-10 with traditional rival Arizona. The first-place Wildcats lead the surging Bruins by just a game with three conference matchups left for both teams.

4. I could not agree more with SportingNews.com's Mike DeCourcy on his take on the two-year probation Cal received for making excessive phone calls to recruits. As DeCourcy wrote, if squeaky clean Mike Montgomery and his staff got caught breaking this rule, that's sign that either the rule needs to be abolished or the NCAA should be enforcing it differently.

5. Instead of suspending Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy for his meltdown at the referees earlier this season, Conference USA reprimanded him by issuing a statement calling the behavior unacceptable. ESPN.com's Andy Katz correctly notes that a stronger penalty might have helped avoid a similar blowup from UTEP coach Tim Floyd earlier this week.

Hey, pep bands, you want to be the clip of the day? Then learn to play Rage against the Machine songs as well as the George Mason band does in the above video. This mashup of "Killing in the Name" and "Bulls on Parade," originally unearthed by the DC Sports Bog, is just awesome. 

"Look what we created. Every time I walk by I get goose bumps thinking about my freshman year to this present day, and how far this program has come." -- San Diego State senior D.J. Gay on the dozens of students who camped out for good seats to Saturday's top 10 matchup with BYU. (Los Angeles Times)

• No. 17 Syracuse at No. 11 Georgetown, 12 p.m. ET

• Wichita State at Missouri State, 1 p.m. ET

• No. 23 St. John's at No. 15 Villanova, 2 p.m. ET 

• No. 7 BYU at No. 6 San Diego State, 2 p.m. ET

• No. 10 Arizona at UCLA, 4 p.m. ET

Michelle Behennah Julie Benz Saira Mohan Brittny Gastineau Ashley Tisdale

Arizona's bright future gets brighter with Chol commitment

No college basketball program in America had a better day on Thursday than Arizona.

The Wildcats won their seventh consecutive game, downing Washington State, 79-70, to remain in first place in the Pac-10, one game ahead of UCLA and two ahead of Washington in the loss column.

But their already-bright future got even brighter.

Angelo Chol, who Rivals.com ranks as the No. 76 prospect in the 2011 class, gave his pledge to second-year coach Sean Miller. The 6-foot-8 Sudanese forward out of San Diego's Hoover High gives the Cats their fourth high-profile member in this year's recruiting class.

Chol chose Arizona over Kansas, North Carolina and Washington.

The star-studded class already includes …

• Josiah Turner, who Rivals lists as the No. 2 point guard in the 2011 crop.

• 6-foot-8 Oak Hill (Va.) Academy power forward Sidiki Johnson, who committed to Miller at the beginning of his junior season

• Shooting guard Nick Johnson — A sticky 6-foot-3 defender and high-flier out of Findlay (Nev.) Prep. The Phoenix area native is the nephew of NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Johnson.

The only senior on an Arizona team that's currently 22-4 and ranked 12th in the nation is reserve forward Jamelle Horne.

In one recruiting class, Miller will take in two potential replacements for sophomore forward Derrick Williams, who could be the Pac-10 Player of the Year and a first round NBA draft pick this June. He also adds the natural play-making point that his current team could use to tie it all together. Finally, he gets a player in Johnson who has shut down the likes of DeAndre Daniels and LeBryan Nash this season and is a SportsCenter highlight waiting to happen.

Not bad for a coach who was hired two years ago only after Tim Floyd and others turned down the gig.

Miller has established an Arizona team without much depth or a proven point guard as the Pac-10's best this season. The future now looks downright scary, as the Cats look capable of staying at the top of the league for the next several years.

For top recruits, going to Arizona is again becoming a cool thing to do. The rest of the conference better keep pace.

Ryan Greene also covers UNLV and the Mountain West Conference for the Las Vegas Sun. Read his Rebels coverage and follow him on Twitter.

Sophia Bush Megan Fox Michelle Malkin Charlies Angels Rose Byrne

Headlinin': Auburn attorney won't defend accused tree-killer, and other tree-poisoning fallout

Making the morning rounds.

• My conscience compels me. The court-appointed attorney for Harvey Updyke Jr. (above), the 62-year-old Alabama fan charged with criminal mischief for allegedly dousing the famous oak trees at Auburn's Toomer's Corner with a lethal dose of herbicide last year, is trying to beg out of the case due to a conflict of interest: He's an Auburn fan. Philip O. Tyler wrote in a motion to withdraw that he's been a resident of Auburn since 1988 and has "numerous personal and family ties to Auburn University." He did not add "In summation, your honor: War Eagle," though presumably he said it aloud as he finished typing. [WSFA, via CFT]

• Really Big Fan. According to an affidavit (pdf), Auburn police initially tracked down Updyke more than a week before his early morning arrest Thursday for , thanks to a voice mail Updyke left an Auburn professor on Feb. 7 referring to the crime. (The professor's specialty: Turfgrass Management and Weed Science.) Police compared the voice on that message to the voice of "Al from Dadeville," the caller who bragged about killing the trees on Paul Finebaum's radio show on Jan. 27, confirmed that it was the same person, and used phone records to find their man. Updyke admitted to making both calls, per the affidavit, but later denied actually poisoning the oaks. [Birmingham News]

As you can deduce from his wardrobe and willingness to literally poison the soil at Alabama's most hated rival, Updyke may actually be the most hardcore Crimson Tide fan alive – he has two children named "Bear" and "Crimson" – even though he didn't attend the school and has spent most of his life in Texas. Public records list 33 former addresses for "Al," most of them in the Lonestar State, and his Facebook page indicates he's a former Texas state trooper. He was also arrested in Texas in 2007 on charges of writing two bad checks, on top of 16 civil judgments against him.[Al.com, @kleph]

• Sorry about that, dude. The NCAA reversed course Thursday on North Carolina fullback Devon Ramsay, determining that he committed no violation and declaring him eligible to play in 2011 – after forcing him to sit out the last nine games of 2010 over questions about a two-year-old class paper. Ramsay was one of 14 Tar Heel players benched last year over various NCAA probes, though he was the only one specifically tied to allegations of academic fraud by a former university tutor, who reportedly suggested "minor revisions" to a three-page paper Ramsay wrote in 2009, an offense student academic officers didn't even deem worthy of sending to the university honor court. The NCAA, however, declared Ramsay permanently ineligible over the paper last October, costing him the rest of his junior season. [Associated Press]

• Wildcattin'. Former Rutgers quarterback Tom Savage will transfer to Arizona, where he signed scholarship papers on Thursday and will be eligible to play in 2012. Savage originally signed with the Scarlet Knights as the most hyped QB prospect in the Northeast in 2009, and had a firm hold on the starting job by the end of his first game there. The up-and-coming narrative went off the rails last year, though, after Savage struggled through the first three games, left an eventual loss to Tulane with an injury in early October and never took the reins back from true freshman Chas Dodd, even as the Knights spiraled to the bottom of the Big East. [Tucson Citizen]

• Get well soon. Florida linebacker Neiron Ball is no longer in a life-threatening situation and will be moved out of the ICU of a Gainesville hospital today, days after a blood vessel burst in his brain. His former high school coach said Ball is "doing OK" and "having headaches," but is "scared more than anything." (Which… yeah, obviously. That is justified fear.) Ball isn't going to participate in spring practice next month, and hasn't had conversations about returning to football in the long run. [Gainesville Sun]

Quickly… Notre Dame fans give Boston College a brief preview of their new offensive coordinator. … Florida State offers Jimbo Fisher for a Caribbean cruise. … A film company begins a series of Michigan documentaries with Gerald Ford's stand for a teammate. … TCU will take on BYU in the Jerry Dome in October. … Creating Arizona State's mascot is the least interesting aspect of this guy's life. … And they're smiling today, but every one of them will tell recruits horrible things about all the others tomorrow.

- - -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Adrianne Palicki Amanda Righetti Michelle Branch Melissa Howard Samantha Mumba

Knicks Outlast Heat With Comeback Win in Miami

Filed under: Heat, Knicks

MIAMI -- The New York Knicks and their plentiful South Florida fans arrived Sunday at the AmericanAirlines Arena to face the Miami Heat in a playoff-like atmosphere. Hours later, they left satisfied, having earned a 91-86 win while erasing the memory of Friday's embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Now, it's the Heat who must answer the critics after failing yet again to close out a tight game against a quality opponent.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra couldn't have been pleased with his team, and the look on his face after the game spoke volumes. Nevertheless, he expressed hope that his team will learn from these experiences.

"We will have our breakthrough," Spoelstra said. "As painful as this is right now, there will be a time that we'll be able to execute and win a game like this against a quality opponent going down the stretch. What you hope is that the pain of a game like this resonates enough to make a change, and that's what we need to do."

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Radha Mitchell Melissa Rycroft Chloë Sevigny Janet Jackson Georgianna Robertson

FanHouse 15: No. 4 Roy Halladay

Filed under: Phillies, MLB Video

It may seem like just weeks ago that the baseball season ended, but, believe it or not, Spring Training is here.

If you're like the rest of us at FanHouse, you can't wait for the season to begin, but we've got you covered until opening day arrives.

It's the FanHouse 15, a countdown of the 15 most talked about, blogged about, tweeted about, sensational stars of America's pastime. Who will be number one?

The list continues with number 4, Phillies ace Roy Halladay.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Michelle Rodriguez Mena Suvari Georgina Grenville Michelle Trachtenberg Amanda Bynes

Knicks Outlast Heat With Comeback Win in Miami

Filed under: Heat, Knicks

MIAMI -- The New York Knicks and their plentiful South Florida fans arrived Sunday at the AmericanAirlines Arena to face the Miami Heat in a playoff-like atmosphere. Hours later, they left satisfied, having earned a 91-86 win while erasing the memory of Friday's embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Now, it's the Heat who must answer the critics after failing yet again to close out a tight game against a quality opponent.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra couldn't have been pleased with his team, and the look on his face after the game spoke volumes. Nevertheless, he expressed hope that his team will learn from these experiences.

"We will have our breakthrough," Spoelstra said. "As painful as this is right now, there will be a time that we'll be able to execute and win a game like this against a quality opponent going down the stretch. What you hope is that the pain of a game like this resonates enough to make a change, and that's what we need to do."

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Sophia Bush Megan Fox Michelle Malkin Charlies Angels Rose Byrne

No. 2 Ohio State Suffocates Indiana; Awaits No. 1 Ranking

Filed under: Indiana, Ohio State, Big Ten

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Here lately, each week produces a new No.1 team.

It appears the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will step up to reclaim their spot at the top of college basketball after easily dispatching Indiana, 82-61, here at Value City Arena on Sunday afternoon. With last week's No.1 Duke losing at Virginia Tech on Saturday, the Buckeyes should reclaim the top spot they held for several weeks when the latest polls are released Monday.

"It's something that comes along with this," said OSU coach Thad Matta, whose team improved to 27-2, 14-2 Big ten for the second-best win total in school history. "One of the things I have always said is no matter where we are ranked, we really want to be there in the end."

Perhaps as the debate about who are the most deserving of the potential No.1 seeds are to be the overall seed in next months tournament, the Buckeyes may have taken the lead with Sunday's impressive performance. Star freshman Jared Sullinger had one of his most underwhelming games of the season (five points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes), but that didn't stop Ohio State. The Buckeyes simply got production in other places, particularly fellow freshman Deshaun Thomas off the bench.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Tyra Banks Vanessa Hudgens Sarah Michelle Gellar Olivia Munn Melissa Sagemiller

Chris Paul jokes that Carmelo will end up back at Syracuse

Syracuse has lost six of its last 10 games and will finish its regular season road schedule with visits to top-15 teams Villanova and Georgetown. But reinforcements may be on the way.

During Sunday's NBA All-Star Game, TNT's Craig Sager interviewed Carmelo Anthony about the endless speculation about where the former Syracuse star will be traded. Chris Paul interrupted the discussion to offer his own thoughts about Carmelo's final destination:

Even though any good Syracuse fan knows that Carmelo doesn't actually have any eligibility left, I bet there were a few who had the reflexive "wait, he can't do that, can he?" reaction, if only for an instant. And given Wake Forest's 8-19 record, I bet there were a few Demon Deacon fans who thought the same thing about Chris Paul's "remaining" two years.

Arielle Kebbel Jessica Paré Leelee Sobieski Teri Hatcher Lauren Bush

RIP Emory Bellard, father of the offense that ruled college football

Former Texas A&M and Mississippi State coach Emory Bellard died early this morning of complications from ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. He was 83 years old, and hadn't coached in nearly 20 years. But if his name doesn't quite ring out among the greatest sideline heroes of the twentieth century, his impact as the key innovator and proselytizer of the wishbone offense – and of the triple-option, in general – most certainly does.

Ballard had already picked up on the option as a successful Texas high school coach when he was hired by Darrell Royal to coach the University of Texas' linebackers in 1967. The next year, with Royal beginning to feel a little heat after three straight finishes outside of the final polls, Bellard took over the Longhorn offense, introduced his version of the wishbone – so named, reportedly, because a Houston Chronicle reporter thought the formation looked like the "pulley bone" from a turkey – and rode the scheme to 30 straight wins from 1968-70, including the 1969 national championship. (Much to Joe Paterno's lasting chagrin.)

Bellard assumed the top job at rival Texas A&M in 1972 and eventually took the ailing Aggies to two wins over Texas and four top-20 finishes in seven years before moving on to finish up his head coaching career at Mississippi State in the early eighties. In Starkville, he oversaw the only win over a No. 1 team in MSU history, a 6-3 upset over defending national champion Alabama in 1980 – a full decade after Bear Bryant had installed the wishbone on a visit to Texas in 1970 – that still ranks as the Bulldogs' single greatest victory.

Bellard is notable mainly, though, for the concentric circles that his central innovation inspired over the subsequent three decades. Midwestern and Southern football was dominated by the wishbone and triple-option concepts well into the nineties, by which time Alabama (1973, 1978-79), Nebraska (1970-71, 1994-95, 1997), Oklahoma (1974-75, 1985), Texas (1969), Notre Dame (1988) and Colorado (1990) had deployed them for a combined 14 national championships and five Heisman Trophy winners in the 30 years following their introduction in the college ranks. Auburn running back Bo Jackson also won the Heisman out of a wishbone attack in 1985, and that only scratches the surface.

Eric Crouch's 2001 Heisman win as the point man in Nebraska's vaunted triple-option scheme effectively drew the curtain on the option as a dominant force as offenses began to migrate toward the spread. In its day, though, the wishbone was to the sixties and seventies what the spread is to the turn of the century: Fresh, bizarre, occasionally scorned and lethally effective. When it worked, the combination of design, deception, timing and teamwork coming to precise fruition on the field has never been more fun to watch.

- - -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Uma Thurman Alice Dodd Kate Walsh Autumn Reeser Camilla Belle

Boise State Provides Inspiration a Long Way from Its Campus

Filed under: Boise State

February began with a murder trial grabbing the headlines of the local paper in Robeson County, N.C., which isn't unusual in a place where the court system is clogged to the point that the homicide cases from 2006 are just now going before a jury.

This time, a 19-year-old was convicted of shooting a beloved teacher and tennis coach three times, leaving him slumped over the steering wheel of his pickup truck before taking his gold watch. The national media was there to cover a trial 18 years ago after two men killed Michael Jordan's father -- who had pulled off I-95 to take a nap -- and dumped his body in a river.

In between, there have been hundreds of other murders, thousands of armed robberies and assaults and too many other crimes to count. There's no mistaking Robeson County for Mayberry.

"It's sad because I see a lot of people that want to change," said Tess Hollis, a reporter who covers crime for The Robesonian, the local daily.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Aisha Tyler K. D. Aubert Sara Spraker Alexis Bledel Kim Kardashian

Warriors Re-Sign Jeff Adrien From NBA D-League Following Trade Deadline Deals

Filed under: Warriors, NBA Transactions, NBA D-League, NBA Free Agents, Erie BayHawks, Rio Grande Valley Vipers

The Golden State Warriors have signed power forward Jeff Adrien from the NBA Development League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Adrien announced on his Twitter account.

The move comes following Wednesday's trade of Brandan Wright and Dan Gadzuric to the New Jersey Nets for Troy Murphy. Murphy is expected to be bought out of his contract, leaving the Warriors with less than the minimum of 13 players needed to be in compliance with NBA roster regulations.

Adrien, a 6-foot-7 power forward, began the season with the Warriors before being released on Dec. 9 so the team could sign Acie Law. In 15 games with Golden State, Adrien averaged 2.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in just over 10 minutes of playing time per contest.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Beyoncé Nelly Furtado Leeann Tweeden Bali Rodriguez Izabella Miko

UNC Asheville springs upset with last-second steal, 3-pointer

With Coastal Carolina inbounding the ball in a tie game and only 2.8 seconds left, UNC Asheville's Matt Dickey insists it never once crossed his mind that his team had a chance to win in regulation.

"We were pretty much playing for overtime," the junior guard said by phone Tuesday night. "We just didn't want them to get a good shot at the basket."

Not only did UNC Asheville succeed in preventing Coastal Carolina from getting a clean look, the Bulldogs managed to get one of their own. Jaron Lane tipped the inbound pass, enabling Dickey to steal the ball at mid-court, take one dribble toward the rim and bury a hanging 25-footer as time expired to give UNC Asheville an unlikely 61-58 victory.

"When I saw I was going to be able to get it, I grabbed it and I threw it up as soon as I could because I knew time was running out," Dickey said. "For some reason, as soon as it left my fingers, I knew it was going in."

Dickey's shot silenced a stunned Coastal Carolina crowd and touched off a wild celebration on the UNC Asheville bench.

Even though the first-place Chanticleers (25-4, 15-2) have been beset by injuries and roster attrition the past few weeks, the Bulldogs (14-13, 9-7) were still a heavy underdog on the road. They lost three times to Coastal Carolina last season and dropped this season's first meeting by 21 points.  

"Hopefully this will get us over the hump," Dickey said. "Beating the top team, especially on something as exciting as that, hopefully that will get us playing the way we're supposed to going into the conference tournament."

Even though Dickey averages a team-high 15.1 points per game for UNC Asheville, he had never sank a game-winning buzzer beater in either high school or college prior to Tuesday night. As a result, he was still basking in the moment 90 minutes after the final buzzer.

"When I got back on the bus, I had a bunch of texts," he said. "One of my friends from my high school basketball team told me I learned it all from him, which was pretty funny, but most of them just said congratulations."

After sinking one of the season's most improbable game-winning shots, Dickey's earned it. 

Talisa Soto Julianne Hough Paula Garcés Genelle Frenoy Shania Twain

Thursday upsets clear up muddy Horizon League race ... sort of

Look around all you want, but you might not find a conference in America seeing a wilder finish atop its standings down the stretch run than the Horizon League.

A weird finish actually got cleared up a bit on Thursday night.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee went on the road and defeated Cleveland State, who was all alone in first place entering the contest, 87-83. It creates a 3-way tie for first now between those two and Butler.

Meanwhile, all but killing itself in the race was Valparaiso.

The Crusaders melted in glorious fashion in the final 20 seconds at Wisconsin-Green Bay on Monday night, losing 81-80. Still, with a chance to remain tied with the other three in first on Thursday night, they were shockingly blown out at home by Loyola Chicago, 68-48.

So, here's a look at the picture heading into the weekend …

• UW-Milwaukee (17-12 overall, 12-5 Horizon) is one of two teams controlling its own destiny. The Panthers have won eight league games in a row, and close out the regular season at last place Youngstown State on Saturday. They own the tiebreaker over both Butler and Cleveland State, and will secure the top seed by just winning.

• Butler (20-9, 12-5) also clinches a double-bye with a win on Saturday. The Bulldogs host Loyola Chicago, and after Valpo's collapse against the Ramblers on Thursday night, it's safe to say that they have the Bulldogs' full attention. A win would give Butler seven in a row to close out the regular season after a brutal loss at Youngstown State on Feb. 3 went down as its third in a row and appeared to rip apart its at-large résumé.

• Cleveland State (23-7, 12-5) also needs a win at home against UW-Green Bay to close it out, but would be left out in the cold in a 3-way tie, holding just a 1-3 record against the other two teams at the top. That said, the Vikings will be praying for an upset elsewhere.

• Valparaiso (20-10, 11-6) is technically still alive. Even with a victory over Illinois-Chicago, the Crusaders would need a miracle. Heck, if they can lose at home to Loyola Chicago, who's to say the other three at the top can't all fall? It's probably a million-in-one shot … but it's a shot.

The scariest scenario for the rest of the league, which appears likely, is Butler grabbing one of the double-byes and getting a semifinal game at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

No matter how this season has gone to this point, most of the core is in place from a team that came mere inches from winning a national title a year ago. That's still scary.

Ryan Greene also covers UNLV and the Mountain West Conference for the Las Vegas Sun. Read his Rebels coverage and follow him on Twitter.

Zoe Saldana Rachel Perry Mary Elizabeth Winstead Piper Perabo Anna Kournikova

U MAD DAWG? Pollack's off the hook, as Murray apparently injured himself playing soccer. WE CANNOT...

Laetitia Casta Claudette Ortiz Julia Stiles Marisa Miller AnnaLynne McCord

Hard NBA Truths: Three Reasons Why Kobe Wins Championships and LeBron Doesn't

We Are All Witnesses!

To what? Oh, I know, another season without a championship ring. Ooops.

Welcome to Winning 101. Today, you aren't just reading another meaningless article about Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, you're receiving insight into why some win championships and some, well, toss powder in the air. BAM!

Before I begin, there is something which needs to be made absolutely clear.

I have no issues with LeBron and his ability to do spectacular things on the basketball court. I mean, he fails to win championships in the most spectacular of ways. The absolute beauty of his losing playoff efforts are a thing to behold. NOT! 

And Kobe? I've watched Laker Numba 24 his whole career out here in So Cal, and his spectacular things wins him spectacular rings.

Spectacular things, spectacular rings? Admit it, that was beautiful.

Let's face it. LeBron (not Bron, for crying out loud; how embarrassing) plays basketball, and unless he has some huge transformation, will never lead a team to a title.

On the other hand, Kobe has already transformed, become a dominant winner and is looking for some more bling.

So, read on and you'll find three simple reasons why these two are so different.

Reason 1: Winning is a Priority.

Listen, winning is a priority, not a sacrifice, a goal, or a dream. You don't "pay the price" to win. Crikey, somebody said that dumb thing years ago and people just kinda repeat it. In honesty, losers "pay the price" when they have to buy rings instead of win them.

Kobe has made winning a priority, meaning that his only reason to be on the court is to win. Who even knows what LeBron's priority is.

With Kobe, winning is automatic behavior. With LeBron, winning is missing-in-action.

Hey, LeBron had a perfect opportunity to win it all last year, but that winning thing is just not there. It's obvious that he is satisfied with playing, while Kobe is only satisfied with winning. Kobe's priority is championships, while LeBron's priority might be comments criticizing the K-Love's of the world. Go figure.

Reason 2: Captainship, Not Leadership.

Leadership has little to do with winning. However, captainship is what it takes to get your team to win. No, really, this is the TRUTH!

Look at it this way: If you were "sailing towards" a championship, would you want a leader on the ship or a captain of the ship? The leader will try to get you to respond, but the captain will take you where you need to go.

Captains cause their teams to win, leaders try to get their teams to win.

And, since winning is a destination, not some weak-kneed goal, doesn't everybody need a captain to make sure they get there? Face it: Kobe captains his teams to trophies, and LeBron is good with whatever happens. Nice.

This is what Jeter does for the Yankees, Crosby does for the Penguins, and Wade does for the Heat (oooh, no wonder LeBron went to Miami). BAM!

Don't believe me about this captain thing? Just ask Ron Artest.

When he joined the Lakers, he stated that, playing with Kobe, it was already decided that winning was the only option and that he knew that he'd better comply.

I'm thinking that if Ron-Ron had played with LeBron the Leader instead of Kobe the Captain, he wouldn't have a ring to unload to help support his mental-health cause (which is a very cool thing to do, by the way).

Captain Kirk or Leader Kirk? Captain America or Leader...whatever!

Reason 3: Winning Isn't Easy.

When I speak to teams or companies, or myself, I always say, "If winning was easy, everyone would do it." Most people do not win because it's just too dang hard, and that just kills LeBron. In last year's playoffs against the Celtics, he needed to make winning happen for his team, buuuuuuut, it was too haaaaaaard.

The Celtics kept pushing and pushing, and the Cavs caved in. The Celtics kept pushing and pushing, but the Kobe's "kame" through. Winning rules; losing, well, you get it.

LeBron's focus is playing well and hoping for the best (an easy goal). Kobe has already decided to win, no matter what it takes (a difficult destination). Do you now see why Kobe beat the Bostonian devils and Lil' LeBron didn't? Because it wasn't easy, you seezy?

Kobe finds ways to win (hard) and LeBron finds answers for losses (anyone can do).

Sigh. Let's finish.

If you have a desire to learn about winning championships, and to WITNESS how it's accomplished, then you need to tune into Kobevision.

Should you desire to be entertained, and be left with an empty feeling, LeBron is your go-to-guy. Capish? BAM!

 

America Ferrera Haylie Duff Talisa Soto Julianne Hough Paula Garcés

The inevitable Jadeveon Clowney action figure is real, and someone was willing to pay at least $47 for it

Go ahead and shake your head and express shock – shock! – that anyone is actually willing to go to such lengths over an outsized teenager who's not even out of high school yet, much less on track to fulfill the hype as a can't-miss star in the SEC. But if you followed any portion of Jadeveon Clowney's overheated recruitment to South Carolina, the existence of a homemade Jadeveon Clowney action figure on eBay shouldn't come as any surprise. Of course there's a homemade Jadeveon Clowney action figure on eBay. After the magazine covers and the documentary film crew and the nationally televised announcement on SportsCenter, how could there not be?

The actual posting for the figurine was removed overnight, after being spotted by Charleston Post and Courier beat writer Travis Haney on Tuesday. Before it went down, though, the high bid was reportedly above $47 – not bad for a crude plastic representation of an 18-year-old, but chump change compared to some of the other Clowney items still up for grabs, with asking prices as high as $300 for an autographed copy of ESPN Magazine with Clowney on the cover or $325 for a signed Wilson football ("RARE"). Again, assuming he qualifies academically and actually works his way into the rotation on the defensive line in preseason practices, Clowney will take the field for his first snap as a Gamecock in September.

As far as the NCAA is concerned, there's nothing to see here as long as a) The seller isn't bound by the NCAA rulebook, and b) Clowney and/or his family aren't seeing any profits or other tangible benefits from the exploitation of his name and likeness. South Carolina could theoretically sue for a trademark violation on the Gamecock logo and uniform, if it was worth it (it obviously is not). But in the end, the only person explicitly restricted from making money off the hype surrounding Jadeveon Clowney is still Jadeveon Clowney.

- - -
Hat tip: EDSBS.
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Melania Trump Summer Glau Mía Maestro Virginie Ledoyen Lindsay Lohan

Several Pistons Miss Shootaround

Filed under: Pistons

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Several Detroit Pistons missed at least part of the team's shootaround before Friday night's game at Philadelphia, the latest incident on what has been a difficult season for the proud franchise.

Team spokesman Cletus Lewis said Richard Hamilton, Chris Wilcox, Rodney Stuckey and Austin Daye missed the bus, with Stuckey and Daye able to arrive late.

Tayshaun Prince, Tracy McGrady and Ben Wallace also missed the shootaround. Lewis said Prince had an upset stomach, McGrady had a headache and Wallace was tending to an unspecified family matter.

Detroit entered the night 21-38 and is almost certainly headed to its third straight losing season. There have been signs of disharmony almost from the beginning. Coach John Kuester benched Stuckey barely a week into the season, although that was only temporary.

Kuester then benched Hamilton on Jan. 12, and he didn't play again until a Feb. 5 game at Milwaukee. Hamilton has missed every game since then. The team has said Hamilton has a groin injury.

The team was unable to trade Hamilton before Thursday's deadline. He's guaranteed $20 million over the next two seasons.

Wallace missed eight games in January. He's battled ankle problems and also left the team to tend to a family matter.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Shannon Elizabeth Maggie Gyllenhaal Foxy Brown Ivana Bozilovic Cristina Dumitru

Meet the New Boss: Grading the under-40 coaching hires

A weeklong grade book for the offseason coaching hires. Part One: Established head coaches moving up the career ladder. Part Two: Old faces resurfacing in new places. Today: Up-and-comers in their first head-coaching jobs.

• DAVID SHAW (Stanford).
Age: 38.
Replacing: NFL-bound Jim Harbaugh, resurrector of Stanford Football from a 1-11 catastrophe in 2006 to 12-1 juggernaut four short years later. Only the most staggering program rehabilitation this side of Bill Snyder's miracle at Kansas State, and much faster.
Previously on: Shaw grew up with coaching – his dad, Willie Shaw, bounced all over the country as a college and NFL assistant for 30 years – and didn't take long to catch as the Oakland Raiders' quarterbacks coach at age 28. (His successor in Oakland? Jim Harbaugh.) Shaw joined Harbaugh's staff at the University of San Diego in 2006, and subsequently followed him a year later to Stanford, where he's spent the last four years as offensive coordinator.
Best resumé line(s): The year before Shaw took over the offense, Stanford was dead last in the Pac-10 in every major offensive category, finished 118th (out of 119) nationally in total and scoring offense and allowed more sacks than any other team in the country. Last year, the Cardinal averaged over 450 yards and 40 points per game, allowed fewer sacks than all but one other team nationally and sent the Heisman runner-up to New York for the second year in a row.
Biggest drawback: No head coaching experience at any level.
Stopping point or stepping stone? Shaw spent eight years on three different NFL staffs from 1998-2005, and no doubt will subject to rumors of a return to the pros if he sustains the Cardinal's success. With the exception of Tyrone Willingham, coaches who win at Stanford don't stay long – Bill Walsh was gone to the 49ers after two years, Dennis Green to the Vikings after three, Harbaugh to the 49ers after four – and even Willingham eventually left for Notre Dame.

But Shaw is also a Stanford alum (class of '94), and even sustained success over the next few years will come with the caveat that he's taking advantage of Harbaugh's infrastructure. Those two factors alone could keep him in the fold for at least five years.
Grade: A. In the short-term, Shaw offers stability for a serious run at the Pac-12 and possibly BCS championships with star quarterback Andrew Luck back in the fold this fall. In the long-term, he's been around the block, but still has roots in Palo Alto that should keep him from leaping at the first offer that comes his way. In-house promotions don't get much better.

•  WILL MUSCHAMP (Florida).
Age: 39.
Replacing: Urban Meyer, owner of two SEC championships, two BCS championships and one very long shadow after just six years on the job.
Previously on: Muschamp comes from Texas, where he was groomed for three years to take over for Mack Brown at some point in the as-yet unforeseeable future. But his big break really came under Nick Saban, who hired the unknown Muschamp as linebackers coach in 2001, promoted him to defensive coordinator in 2002 and brought him to the NFL for a two-year stint with the Miami Dolphins.
Best resumé line(s): Besides his willingness to wallow in blood and unleash booming expletives from the sideline, Muschamp's defenses have always backed him up with sound and fury of their own. At LSU, he oversaw three straight top-10 seasons in both total and scoring defense from 2002-04, including a No. 1 finish in both categories en route to a BCS championship in 2003. His defenses at Auburn under Tommy Tuberville were also top-10 efforts, helping the Tigers win 20 games in 2006-07 – including back-to-back wins over Florida – despite rolling out one of the SEC's limpest offenses both years.

At Texas, he unleashed a fast, aggressive D that led the nation in sacks in 2008 and then finished No. 1 against the run in 2009, on teams that combined to go 26-2 with top-five landings in the final polls. Even last year, amid the Longhorns' stunning collapse to 5-7, Muschamp's defense led the Big 12 in yards allowed.
Biggest drawback: No head coaching experience at any level.
Stopping point or stepping stone? Muschamp's brief foray into the NFL shouldn't fool anyone: He's a college coach, and an SEC coach, at that. Florida is a destination job in his hometown, and he should be around as long as they'll have him.
Grade: A–. The minus is mainly in deference to the expectations that come with succeeding Meyer, as tough an act as there could possibly be to follow in the business. But Muschamp was already prepared to follow one of the few contemporaries who comes close at Texas, and would already be a year or two into another high-profile job if the Longhorns hadn't pulled out the stops to keep him for as long they did. If there was anyone in the country worthy of a job as prestigious as Florida as his first head coaching gig, he's obviously the guy.

•  HUGH FREEZE (Arkansas State).
Age: 40, though technically he does not age inside his cryogenic suit.
Replacing: Steve Roberts, whose nine-year stint from 2002-10 marks him as the second-longest-tenured head coach in Arkansas State history, and … well, that's about it. Freeze joined Roberts' staff last year as offensive coordinator.
Previously on: Freeze is best known as Michael Oher's head coach at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, Tenn., from 2003-05, as depicted in the bestselling book/hit movie "The Blind Side," where Freeze's character ("Coach Burt Cotton") is frequently upstaged in his duties by Sandra Bullock. (In reality, Freeze won two state championships at Briarcrest and was Region 8-AA Coach of the Year five times.) Freeze's relationship with Oher prompted an NCAA investigation when he joined Ed Orgeron's staff at Ole Miss three weeks after Oher signed with the Rebels in 2005. Technically, Arkansas State is Freeze's second college head coaching job: He spent two years as the top dog at Lambuth, an NAIA school in Jackson, Tenn., before signing on at ASU.
Best resumé line(s): Freeze was 20-5 at Lambuth, including an 11-0 regular season, NAIA playoff appearance and No. 6 final ranking in 2009.
Biggest drawback: He has exceedingly little experience at the Division I level (FBS or FCS), and the D-I teams he has worked for have combined to go 14-33 in four seasons.
Stopping point or stepping stone? Freeze didn't leave a wildly successful high school gig to coach in the Sun Belt. A couple winning records – Arkansas State hasn't finished better than .500 since 1987, five years before it moved up to Division I-A – and he's on his way up the ladder.
Grade: B–. Freeze has a good track record as a head coach on (much) lower levels and should know the Arkansas/Mississippi/Tennessee Delta region like the back of his hand. That may be faint praise, but frankly, it's about as good as Arkansas State is going to get.

• DAVE DOEREN (Northern Illinois).
Age: 39.
Replacing: Jerry Kill, who moved on to take over Minnesota after leading NIU to three straight bowl games and matching a new school record for wins in a season (10) last year.
Previously on: Doeren spent the last decade moving up the ladder from Montana to Kansas to Wisconsin, where he served as Bret Bielema's defensive coordinator for the last five years.
Best resumé line(s): His first defense at Wisconsin led the nation against the pass and finished in the top five in total and scoring D en route to a 12-1, top-five finish in 2006.
Biggest drawback: Bielema, a former defensive coordinator himself, always got most of the credit for the Badger D – and that wasn't always very much, considering it's only been an above-average unit at best over the last four years.
Stopping point or stepping stone? Doeren is young, comes from back-to-back stops at bigger programs and has no ties to Northern Illinois or the MAC. He'll be on the first bus out to a "Big Six" conference job.
Grade: C+. There's nothing bad to say about Doeren, except that there's not much to say at all. His resumé is short and bland. Then again, vanilla seems to suit NIU just fine.

•  JAMES FRANKLIN (Vanderbilt).
Age: Just turned 39.
Replacing: Longtime Vandy assistant Robbie Caldwell, who could charm the pants off the media but turned out to be a pretty awkward fit in the top job after head coach Bobby Johnson abruptly retired last summer. The school officially dropped the interim tag from Caldwell's title in August, but not really: He was out – seemingly by mutual agreement – on the heels of a seven-game losing streak.
Previously on: Franklin spent eight of the last 11 years on Ralph Friedgen's staff at Maryland, the last three as offensive coordinator, and was tapped to succeed Friedgen in 2009. The problem: The athletic director who oversaw that arrangement, Debbie Yow, left last year, and her replacement, Kevin Anderson, clearly wanted no part of it. When it was clear Friedgen planned to return for the final year of his contract in 2011, Franklin took the opportunity to jump ship – allowing Anderson to take the opportunity to dump Friedgen and bring in his own man, Randy Edsall.
Best resumé line(s): Convinced Maryland he was coveted enough by the NFL to guarantee him the head coaching job as an incentive to stay.
Biggest drawback: Franklin's attacks since returning to Maryland have ranked 68th, 102nd and 80th nationally in total offense.
Stopping point or stepping stone? Considering he was in line for a more attractive job, Franklin is a good candidate to bolt if he has any success whatsoever with the SEC's perpetual doormat. Considering how unlikely success is, though, and how slow Vanderbilt typically is to fire coaches who didn't begin their professional as turkey inseminators, he may be around awhile.
Grade: C+. "Guy who was going to take over at Maryland" is a pretty good get for Vanderbilt. But Franklin doesn't have any specific success on his resumé that suggests he's going to fare better here than anyone else over the last 30 years.

- - -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Gretha Cavazzoni Marla Sokoloff Jennifer Love Hewitt Tina Fey Gina Philips

O.J. Atogwe: Can He Run in the Herd with the Denver Broncos?

There's no official word from the Johns yet, but something exciting may be in the works.

The St. Louis Rams have released safety O.J. Atogwe and he is making a splash in the market. Reports are that he has already or will be meeting with the Redskins, Bills, Cowboys and Broncos.

So then the question is: How strongly should the Broncos go after him?

Last year, the Broncos' starting safeties were Renaldo Hill and Brian Dawkins. Between the two of them are 25 years of NFL experience. However, that's also 25 years of NFL wear and tear.

There's a lot of questions around Dawkins. He's been a terrific player, but is showing signs of aging as any player at his age would. It's been made clear by John Fox that Dawkins will be playing for the Broncos next year—at this point they need veteran leadership to right the ship.

Hill is a different story. His play is average and he's only getting older. The Broncos need youth in their secondary. Behind Hill on their depth chart is David Bruton, a second-year player who the fans don't know much about. At this point, the Broncos need proven performance in the secondary.

Atogwe will be entering his sixth season in the NFL and the next few years should be prime-time for him. He does a good job in coverage and makes turnovers. Something Denver needs sorely.

Atogwe could be a piece to the puzzle. For now, they can start Atogwe at SS next to Dawkins at FS. At CB they have Bailey and Goodman (or even possibly Patrick Peterson).

In time, Dawkins will retire and Champ will move to the safety spot opposite Atogwe. If they were to bring in Peterson who looks to be the most talented defensive player in the draft, it would give him time to learn under Bailey and take over the duties of the shutdown corner.

Atogwe is being pursued by several teams, but this seems to be another situation where Denver can step up and fill a hole and really build for the future.

With only six picks in the draft, and the possibility of no free agency, the Broncos need to fill holes with released players where they can.

Susan Ward Emmy Rossum Kim Yoon jin Melania Trump Summer Glau

Headlinin': Pre-draft skeptics set their sights on Ryan Mallett

Making the morning rounds.

• Random negativity, engage. It's time again, kids, for the annual pre-draft slide, in which nitpicking NFL draftniks collectively throw a first-round lock onto the pike despite a complete lack of new information since the end of the season. This year's first victim: Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett, who dropped from Mel Kiper Jr's all-knowing "Big Board" last week and is now "almost certain" to fall out of the first round – possibly all the way to the third – due to "baggage," per Fox Sports' Adam Caplan. Presumably, he's referring to Mallett's 2009 arrest for public intoxication, the only tangible off-field issue in his college career. Personally, though, I'd be more concerned about this. [Pro Football Talk]

• Maybe Cecil can pay them back in a few months. In other NFL-bound quarterback news, Auburn has reportedly spent $170,000 on legal fees (so far) related to the ongoing NCAA investigation into the recruitment of übermensch quarterback Cam Newton in 2009-10. Cam was tentatively cleared in December to play in the SEC and BCS championship games, but the probe into Cecil Newton's attempts to solicit money for his son's services apparently remains open, according to SEC commissioner Mike Slive. "You’re going to have to ask [the NCAA]," Slive told ESPN's Chris Low over the weekend, "But nobody has written me a letter that says it's over." [Birmingham News, ESPN]

• Writing's on the wall. Shawn Watson is still Nebraska's offensive coordinator, but the Lincoln-Star Journal is so certain of his impending exit and/or demotion that it spent nearly 1,000 words this week profiling his possible replacement, running backs coach Tim Beck, who the paper speculates could be promoted to co-coordinator alongside Watson and possibly handed play-calling duties. Beck's major qualifications: Building a Texas high school powerhouse from scratch and serving as passing-game coordinator for Kansas during the Jayhawks' 12-1 Orange Bowl run in 2007. [Lincoln Journal-Star]

• How could this possibly come back to haunt me? He was probably speaking in terms of, you know, an attitude, not a literal yardstick, but brand new Michigan coach Brady Hoke did say on record that anything short of a Big Ten title amounts to failure, beginning this year. Hoke told the Detroit News' Bob Wojnowski (who suggested "an 8-4 record, minimum" for a veteran lineup) that "If we don't win the championship, we failed, period." OK, sounds good. You won't mind when a self-serving columnist pulls that quote out in December, when you're preparing for the TicketCity.com Bowl, right? [Detroit News]

• Cavs on ice. Three Virginia players – linebacker Ausar Walcott , cornerback Devin Wallace and center Mike Price – were suspended indefinitely Tuesday for "[choosing] not to represent themselves in the appropriate manner," per head coach Mike London. (No word on how, specifically, they did choose to represent themselves.) Walcott and Wallace were both starters last year on one of the worst defenses in the ACC. [Washington Post]

Quickly… USC gets proactive with its persistent agent problem. … A widow explains how she fell into Art Schlichter's clutches. … Wide receiver Jesse Grandy is leaving Ole Miss at the end of the semester because of a family illness. … Suspended running back Washaun Ealey can return to good standing at Georgia, if he goes about it "the Georgia way." … Somehow, Maryland's choice to replace Ralph Friedgen failed to spark immediate ticket sales. … Arkansas goes to great lengths to corner the Arizona junior college market. … The Wall Street Journal on Kansas' elderly watchdogs. … Oregon may still add another quarterback to its 2011 recruiting class. … What's the best win of the Ferentz era at Iowa? (I say Penn State in 2008.) … And Urban Meyer's no longer at Florida, but the arrests continue.

- - -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Kirsten Dunst Vanessa Minnillo Katie Holmes Victoria Beckham Missy Peregrym

Mailbag! Princeton!

Brian,

You are one of the few people I know who defends RR. I do as well. Do you think RR should have been fired? Do you think, if he should have been fired, that it should have happened after OSU game? Do you agree with me that if he had a vote of confidence before the season that RR would have hauled in a top ten class? Do you think with a new DC they would have been better next year with RR then with BH? Do you think DB treated RR poorly as I do? Seems to me that DB wanted RR out even before the season. I am so tired of hearing about toughness, as if that is something that can be taught and as if RR wouldn't teach it if it could be.

Peter from Horsham, PA

There are half-dozen posts discussing this but to reiterate: I thought Rodriguez had done enough after the regular season to keep his job if he fired Greg Robinson, hired an actual defensive coordinator, and never ran the 3-3-5 again unless that DC was Jeff Casteel, then rumored to be open to a move. It was a close thing.

The bowl debacle moved the needle for me to "should fire," but this was under the assumption that Michigan would introduce Jim Harbaugh at a press conference held thirty seconds after the last shovelful of dirt hit Rodriguez's grave. If Harbaugh didn't exist I probably would have gritted my teeth and said we should give Rodriguez one last chance. As you say, even with everything Rodriguez had locked up two five-star guys and was probably going to bring in a recruiting class on the edge of the top ten. The offense was a yardage/advanced metric juggernaut that seemed likely to start turning that into more points as it aged, cut down on the turnovers, added a five-star at the glaring weak spot, and hopefully got some more help from defense and special teams. The other two units were bound to improve from amazing low points, etc.

All the bad stuff is still there but that setup seems more likely to produce wins in 2011 than having Denard Robinson take snaps from under center so he can hand off to someone not named Demetrius Hart.

Does it matter, though? There's a large section of Michigan fandom that would read the above sentence and screech like pterodactyl. The national perception of the program was sinking and while the team figured to get better I'm not sure it was going to get better enough?beat OSU?to make a dent in that. What happens if you go 8-4 next year and lose to OSU by ten? Rodriguez gets pilloried and fired. Hoke gets a bag of popcorn to watch Rodriguez get pilloried. At some point Rodriguez's baggage takes him to the bottom of the sea no matter who tied it to his legs.

[As to the dead man walking meme: I heard it plenty before the bowl game, including from people I know and would have a good read on it, but didn't believe it. Since Michigan got obliterated we don't know. If they'd lost by misfortune or won and Rodriguez still got fired it would be different. IME, Rodriguez was gone. This is just based off Brandon's performance in the press conference.]

Brian
I'll admit my knowledge of APR is not very good, but does oversigning not negatively affect a school's APR?  If kids are leaving the program/school does that not affect the APR?

Scott

So we've overloaded the language here and "oversigning" now stands for two different things:

• signing more kids than you can enroll by going over the 25 cap, and
• signing more kids than you can pay for by going over the 85 cap.

In the former case, signing a kid to a LOI and then shipping him off to JUCO when he doesn't qualify does not affect your APR. Not that it should since you haven't had the chance to educate the player.

In the latter case, the answer is yes? hypothetically. In practice the NCAA has provided boatloads of waivers [scroll down]. They're plentiful enough that Kentucky basketball maintained a 979(!) APR despite having a graduation success rate* of 31%. Hypothetically, a school on the 925 borderline is graduating 60% of its players.

What are these waivers? Well, medical hardships, for one.

Those don't count against you because the player is still in school. It makes sense that they wouldn't? until someone starts beating the rules into profane shapes. There are plenty others that are less obvious but no one really knows what they are.

This invites questions about how the hell Michigan failed to take advantage of any of these when players started leaving the program left and right and Michigan put up an ugly 870-something. I don't know but assume it's a combination of Rodriguez failing to understand the gap between WVU and Michigan academics?though he did seem to emphasize it?and the massive attrition that went so far beyond even Alabama's rampant axe that Michigan couldn't get close to the 85 number. I'm not entirely sure but I don't think walk-ons count, so when Michigan's running around with 70 scholarship players and one of them flunks out that hurts way more than Alabama sending a guy in good-for-Alabama standing to South Georgia.

*[as opposed to the federal rate, the GSR does not count transfers in good standing/early entries against you.]

File under Rich Rodriguez will have a job by then and will pursue this kid with a force unknown to mankind:

The AD at Southfield is one of my closest friends and assures me that he has a freshman football player with what is perhaps the greatest name ever.  I give you Lion King Conaway!

And file under testimonial:

I?m a junior in high school, and I recently got my first semester grades. A while back in my Government class, I got an extra point on a study guide because I wrote ?which, duh.? In my notes (I was talking about how being liberal/conservative affects voting dem/rep, and I guess my teacher thought it was funny), which is something that I picked up from reading mgoblog. I finished that class with a 93%, which is just barely an A, and I finished the semester with a 4.0. So, reading mgoblog may have been what pushed me from an A- to an A, giving me a 4.0.

Know that if I get into Princeton, I?m giving at least some of the credit to you and mgoblog.

Just don't send a bill.

Missi Pyle Jessica Alba Kylie Bax Diora Baird Laura Prepon