If, as a college hoops fan, March is the best month, April must be the worst. From the handful of undeserving bubble teams jockeying for the right to lose in the first round to the conference tournaments to the single best two days in all of sport, March has a groin-grabbing amount of action. April? Well, not even having your team win the National Championship in the first week of the month is enough to overcome a month of dire sport. But, hey. It is sport. Here we go:
College basketball first - not because I want to (I don't), but because I feel I'm obligated to as this is, above all, a college hoops blog. There have been coaching changes and NBA early entries. The end. FINE. Trent Johnson decided that higher academic standards + the void where the Lopez twins used to be was a enough to high-tail it to Baton Rouge. As a Stanford man himself, Johnson is smart enough to know that athletics are only king at state universities. Also, Oklahoma State made their true aspirations known by shifting sights from the head coach of the NCAA Tournament winners to the head coach of the NIT winners. It's a trophy, you know. In the words of Marge Simpson, "Aim low. Aim so low that if you fail, no one will notice."
And some people are leaving college for the NBA. The Foul Trouble has no quarrel with this, and we're just waiting for the opportunity to be paid millions upon millions in order to work a couple of nights a week at a job few can actually do. The only really ill-advised early entry has to be Luc Richard M'Bah a Moute. Honestly, Luc. I know you're from Cameroon, and you've probably already overcome all sorts of odds that white-bread-me never will, but you are not going to play in the NBA next year. You can either play another year in one of the most hallowed arenas in sport, or you can look forward to a nice season with the Tulsa 66ers.
Just about the only other sport I know well enough to comment on is soccer. I'm white and I'm a creative. Did you expect Nascar? Those of you without an extended cable package received some of your only exposure to European club soccer by the way of this week's Champions League games. I am so, so sorry. Don't be fooled by the heaps of cash thrown at the competition or the fame of the clubs competing in it, the Champions League is a Mickey Mouse competition. Don't believe me? One goal was actually scored in the two games that took place between four of the "best" teams in Europe. A friend of mine asked me for my thoughts on the Liverpool v Chelsea match. They were:
1. I don't give a shit
2. It'll probably be 0-0
3. I can almost guarantee no more than one goal
My prognostications would have been startlingly correct were it not for John Arne Riise's feckless own goal in the 80somethingth minute. Barca and Manchester United naturally delivered a 0-0 "thriller," and Cristiano Ronaldo proved right all the skeptics who think soccer players are nothing more than a bunch of whinging homosexuals who become cerebral palsy cases when anyone gets near them. But since these games were on ESPN, most of America is left to assume that all European soccer matches are equally inspiring.
If you don't follow European football in the slightest, you may skip the next paragraph.
In other soccer news, Manchester City (a club supported by yours truly) are in negotiations with Ronaldinho's people. Honestly. This is not going to happen. Really, it shouldn't happen. I appreciate Dr. Thaksin's pie-in-the-sky hopes, but a player with Ronaldinho's ego isn't going to play in the east end of Manchester unless he's either 43 or playing in a charity match. Or both. The talks to bring Ronaldinho to City are indicative of a few things: First of all, Thaksin has an ungodly amount of money and wants to flaunt it. Secondly, Thaksin wants to bring the circus to town if for no other reason than to make City known on a global scale. Lastly, Ronaldinho (a man who finished behind both Landon Donovan and Mia Hamm for ESPN's "Best Soccer Player" Espy) really wants a fat contract from AC Milan that parallels the fat he added in the last two years. What I find troubling yet inspiring is that Sven-Goran Eriksson doesn't want Ronaldinho. It's inspiring because it means that SGE has his head on straight. Ronaldinho is well past his prime, and this shell of the Ballon d'Orr player will hardly be capable or motivated enough to adjust to the vastly different style of the English Premier League - and this says nothing of the stupidly inflated price tag. What's troubling is that Thaksin seems to be making these negotiations by himself, regardless of what Sven wants. Never could a club ask for a more unwelcome guest than a meddling chairman. Troubling, indeed.
Baseball is going on, and I do care about it. I do. I just can't be assed to comment about a sport that still has 140 games to go. NBA Playoffs are going on, and I care as much about them as Joe Namath cared about the Jets game that was taking place as he was professing his undying love for Suzy Kolbert. NHL Playoffs are going on, and my interest is piqued. Rather than comment on it, I can just forward you to the blog of someone much more educated on the subject. Enjoy, you sports enthusiasts.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Of Hard Workin' White Folks
Dan LeBatard of the Miami Something Something and Jay Bilas of ESPN, Litigation Law, and at least one Dolph Lundgren movie got into an on-air argument about whether Tyler Hansbrough's unavoidable whiteness has anything to do with prognostications that he will not be a good NBA player. LeBatard's assertion was that if Tyler Hansbrough's numbers stayed the same but his skin was even C. Thomas Howell-in-Soul Man dark, NBA executives wouldn't have trepidation about taking Hansbrough as a first-rounder. Bilas' assertion was that the subject was stupid. Seriously, he said it was stupid.
I've said out loud, but not in blog form, that I think analysts only said Tyler Hansbrough worked so hard because he was white, and that if he was black, he'd just be a good basketball player. I found all the comments about his work ethic to be offensive for several reasons - for one, it's offensive to every other NCAA Division I, II, III or NAIA athlete to think that Tyler Hansbrough has put in more hours or somehow manages to exert more energy than they do. Hard work is just a prerequisite of collegiate athletics. Sure, the fruits of Hansbrough's hard work are readily on display, but his effort would be for naught if he didn't have good basketball skills to go along with it. He boxes out like a good basketball player, he has a good jump shot like a good basketball player, and he makes shots that you'd never believe would go in...like a good basketball player. It may require hard work for him to get to loose balls, but he still wouldn't get to them if he didn't have the basketball sense to take a better angle to the basketball or to use his body to block the opponent away from it. It's as if we've all come to accept the fact that white people inherently have less talent than black people, so the only way Tyler Hansbrough can make up for his lack of talent is by working especially hard. Black people, on the other hand, don't have to work as hard because they have overflowing talent. What a crock of shit.
These were not LeBatard's contentions, though. LeBatard accepts that Hansbrough has talent, and he uses said talent to put up an average of 22 points and 10 rebounds a game. To Dan LeBatard, those numbers, when coupled with a healthy amount of melanin would make for an ideal NBA prospect. Unfortunately, Hansbrough's inherited WASP-ness means he is screwed. It's whiteness that scares NBA scouts and not Tyler Hansbrough's propensity for getting into the lane, flailing about, and drawing fouls that aren't and won't be in the NBA.
It's an opinion that is certainly much more involved than simply saying, "This is stupid," but that doesn't mean it holds any more water. LeBatard did himself no favors by initially saying that NBA scouts were afraid of white folks, then revising his statement to say that scouts are afraid of American white folks. For you see, white German Dirk Nowitzki is one of the best players in the league, as is white Canadian, Steve Nash. Just two years ago, white Italian Andrea Bargnani was the number one pick overall, followed by white American and idiot, Adam Morrison at pick number three.
Furthermore, I think it would be okay to admit that pretty much everyone associated with the NBA is interested in two things: winning and money. Money and winning. They're neck and neck and largely related. If a white dude is good enough to lead a team to more victories, he's going to get drafted. He's not going to get passed by in favor of a black dude who is less capable of doing so. One could also argue that the NBA would like nothing more than to recruit the great white American hope. Surely, the NBA wants anything that can pique the interest of white middle America - a demographic that pours billions into the NFL. Tiny David Stern must salivate over the idea of making his league similarly attractive. How else would you explain the rush to move the Sonics to, of all places, Oklahoma City? Why then would any club want to go out of their way to avoid a player, simply because he is white?
Really, it's nonsensical all around. LeBatard would be advised to think before he speaks. Then again, he is on sports talk radio. Bilas was wise to not even take up a counter-point, as the line is so thin that he ran the risk of sounding like and idiot and/or racist regardless of which position he took. For the first time since kindergarten, "This is stupid" was the perfect response.
I've said out loud, but not in blog form, that I think analysts only said Tyler Hansbrough worked so hard because he was white, and that if he was black, he'd just be a good basketball player. I found all the comments about his work ethic to be offensive for several reasons - for one, it's offensive to every other NCAA Division I, II, III or NAIA athlete to think that Tyler Hansbrough has put in more hours or somehow manages to exert more energy than they do. Hard work is just a prerequisite of collegiate athletics. Sure, the fruits of Hansbrough's hard work are readily on display, but his effort would be for naught if he didn't have good basketball skills to go along with it. He boxes out like a good basketball player, he has a good jump shot like a good basketball player, and he makes shots that you'd never believe would go in...like a good basketball player. It may require hard work for him to get to loose balls, but he still wouldn't get to them if he didn't have the basketball sense to take a better angle to the basketball or to use his body to block the opponent away from it. It's as if we've all come to accept the fact that white people inherently have less talent than black people, so the only way Tyler Hansbrough can make up for his lack of talent is by working especially hard. Black people, on the other hand, don't have to work as hard because they have overflowing talent. What a crock of shit.
These were not LeBatard's contentions, though. LeBatard accepts that Hansbrough has talent, and he uses said talent to put up an average of 22 points and 10 rebounds a game. To Dan LeBatard, those numbers, when coupled with a healthy amount of melanin would make for an ideal NBA prospect. Unfortunately, Hansbrough's inherited WASP-ness means he is screwed. It's whiteness that scares NBA scouts and not Tyler Hansbrough's propensity for getting into the lane, flailing about, and drawing fouls that aren't and won't be in the NBA.
It's an opinion that is certainly much more involved than simply saying, "This is stupid," but that doesn't mean it holds any more water. LeBatard did himself no favors by initially saying that NBA scouts were afraid of white folks, then revising his statement to say that scouts are afraid of American white folks. For you see, white German Dirk Nowitzki is one of the best players in the league, as is white Canadian, Steve Nash. Just two years ago, white Italian Andrea Bargnani was the number one pick overall, followed by white American and idiot, Adam Morrison at pick number three.
Furthermore, I think it would be okay to admit that pretty much everyone associated with the NBA is interested in two things: winning and money. Money and winning. They're neck and neck and largely related. If a white dude is good enough to lead a team to more victories, he's going to get drafted. He's not going to get passed by in favor of a black dude who is less capable of doing so. One could also argue that the NBA would like nothing more than to recruit the great white American hope. Surely, the NBA wants anything that can pique the interest of white middle America - a demographic that pours billions into the NFL. Tiny David Stern must salivate over the idea of making his league similarly attractive. How else would you explain the rush to move the Sonics to, of all places, Oklahoma City? Why then would any club want to go out of their way to avoid a player, simply because he is white?
Really, it's nonsensical all around. LeBatard would be advised to think before he speaks. Then again, he is on sports talk radio. Bilas was wise to not even take up a counter-point, as the line is so thin that he ran the risk of sounding like and idiot and/or racist regardless of which position he took. For the first time since kindergarten, "This is stupid" was the perfect response.
Friday, April 11, 2008
The Geekiest Thing I'll Ever Post
Sometime during the Larry Brown era at the University of Kansas, the typeface on the front of the jerseys went from something presumably blocky and boring to something with a few more bells and whistles. I am completely unable to speak objectively about the aesthetics of this typeface, for it appeared most prominently on the chests of the 1988 National Champions. It's entirely possible, if not likely, that it's not an attractive typeface, but it has an oh-so-special place in my heart. Regardless of my affinity for it, I still appreciate its whimsy and uniqueness from a design perspective.
I've never really heard a reason why the font was adopted by Larry Brown & Co. It could be that it is reminiscent of the Old West, and that might have resonated with the citizens of Kansas. Many affectionately refer to it as "the circus font," so it could be that it just looked right when paired with the big top-esque colors on Kansas' uniforms - blue, red, and yellow. The typeface itself evolved from this, during the Larry Brown era:
To this, during the early Roy Williams era:
To this, once Nike took over supplying the Kansas uniforms:
And it stayed once Adidas took over supplying the uniforms:
That is to say, it has been a mainstay since my childhood. To me, the circus font and Kansas basketball were inseparable. It was something that was in large part, unique to the Jayhawks - as unique as the Browns bland helmets and Tennessee's shade of orange.
In 2005, the University decided to rebrand itself. When establishing these brand standards, they chose definite shades of blue and crimson, and they chose Trajan as their font for all materials. In the beginning, this was a pretty benign decision. Trajan was reserved for University legal documents and the odd soccer mom sweatshirt, and it had yet to appear on the jerseys of any athletic programs.
In 2007, it happened. The University announced that all of its athletic programs, basketball included, would be switching to Trajan. The same font that entry-level accountants use on their resumés would now adorn the once-sacred uniforms of my beloved basketball team. Blaspheme.
My disgust was two-fold. For one, you don't fuck with tradition. You don't make the Yankees' pinstripes horizontal, you don't change the Celtics' uniforms to purple, and you don't ditch the circus font. They won a Championship in the circus font, and no one is going to give half a shit if the sports teams don't fall in line with the University's brand standards. Furthermore, Trajan is awful. It says a lot of things (poorly) but it doesn't say "I'm great in the arena of athletics." I may have been upset if the University of Kansas had decided to change their athletic font to Interstate All-Caps Regular or Knockout Liteweight, but I would have gotten over it once I'd seen how bitchin' it would look. The Trajan looked every bit as bad as I expected.
I wasn't alone in my disgust. Someone on campus went so far as to start a backlash website, TrajanSucks.com, complete with clever shirts. I bought one, officially making it the geekiest, most obscure shirt in my closet. It's a complete intersection of my design geekness and my Kansas basketball geekness, and in order to understand it, one would have to a.) know that Kansas even wore such a font b.) notice that they've changed it on their uniforms c.) know that the new font is called Trajan. Almost no one - Kansas fan or otherwise - understands it. Don't care. Moving on.
Regardless of any amount of protest, Trajan marauded through my childhood and made its way onto the uniforms of every athletic program that the University of Kansas offers. And what happened once it made its appearance? The Trajan-clad football team had its best season in living memory, capping it off with an Orange Bowl victory. And what of the basketball team, once synonymous with the lovable circus font? National Champions. Fuck.
I'm probably the least superstitious fan alive. I pay no attention to what shirt I was wearing during a win or a loss, nor do I pay attention to what color the team was wearing during a win or a loss (in 1986, Larry Brown's Kansas team lost in the Final Four whilst appearing in red uniforms. Brown decided they were bad luck and vowed never to appear in them again. He's full of shit). I don't think for one second that the switch to Trajan was somehow good luck, nor do I believe it enabled them to overcome years of futility in the case of the football program and years of failure to live up to the lofty expectations of the basketball program. At the same time, this awful, insipid Trajan typeface is now associated with success. We're stuck with it. Just as little seven-year-old me witnessed Danny Manning wearing the circus font as a champion, little seven-year-olds have now witnessed a Kansas National Championship. Forever, they will associate Trajan with Mario Chalmers' miraculous shot. The font I have adored my entire life will be a fading memory, and generations will lovingly accept Trajan as the pinnacle of Kansas success. That is, until the next rebrand.
I've never really heard a reason why the font was adopted by Larry Brown & Co. It could be that it is reminiscent of the Old West, and that might have resonated with the citizens of Kansas. Many affectionately refer to it as "the circus font," so it could be that it just looked right when paired with the big top-esque colors on Kansas' uniforms - blue, red, and yellow. The typeface itself evolved from this, during the Larry Brown era:
To this, during the early Roy Williams era:
To this, once Nike took over supplying the Kansas uniforms:
And it stayed once Adidas took over supplying the uniforms:
That is to say, it has been a mainstay since my childhood. To me, the circus font and Kansas basketball were inseparable. It was something that was in large part, unique to the Jayhawks - as unique as the Browns bland helmets and Tennessee's shade of orange.
In 2005, the University decided to rebrand itself. When establishing these brand standards, they chose definite shades of blue and crimson, and they chose Trajan as their font for all materials. In the beginning, this was a pretty benign decision. Trajan was reserved for University legal documents and the odd soccer mom sweatshirt, and it had yet to appear on the jerseys of any athletic programs.
In 2007, it happened. The University announced that all of its athletic programs, basketball included, would be switching to Trajan. The same font that entry-level accountants use on their resumés would now adorn the once-sacred uniforms of my beloved basketball team. Blaspheme.
My disgust was two-fold. For one, you don't fuck with tradition. You don't make the Yankees' pinstripes horizontal, you don't change the Celtics' uniforms to purple, and you don't ditch the circus font. They won a Championship in the circus font, and no one is going to give half a shit if the sports teams don't fall in line with the University's brand standards. Furthermore, Trajan is awful. It says a lot of things (poorly) but it doesn't say "I'm great in the arena of athletics." I may have been upset if the University of Kansas had decided to change their athletic font to Interstate All-Caps Regular or Knockout Liteweight, but I would have gotten over it once I'd seen how bitchin' it would look. The Trajan looked every bit as bad as I expected.
I wasn't alone in my disgust. Someone on campus went so far as to start a backlash website, TrajanSucks.com, complete with clever shirts. I bought one, officially making it the geekiest, most obscure shirt in my closet. It's a complete intersection of my design geekness and my Kansas basketball geekness, and in order to understand it, one would have to a.) know that Kansas even wore such a font b.) notice that they've changed it on their uniforms c.) know that the new font is called Trajan. Almost no one - Kansas fan or otherwise - understands it. Don't care. Moving on.
Regardless of any amount of protest, Trajan marauded through my childhood and made its way onto the uniforms of every athletic program that the University of Kansas offers. And what happened once it made its appearance? The Trajan-clad football team had its best season in living memory, capping it off with an Orange Bowl victory. And what of the basketball team, once synonymous with the lovable circus font? National Champions. Fuck.
I'm probably the least superstitious fan alive. I pay no attention to what shirt I was wearing during a win or a loss, nor do I pay attention to what color the team was wearing during a win or a loss (in 1986, Larry Brown's Kansas team lost in the Final Four whilst appearing in red uniforms. Brown decided they were bad luck and vowed never to appear in them again. He's full of shit). I don't think for one second that the switch to Trajan was somehow good luck, nor do I believe it enabled them to overcome years of futility in the case of the football program and years of failure to live up to the lofty expectations of the basketball program. At the same time, this awful, insipid Trajan typeface is now associated with success. We're stuck with it. Just as little seven-year-old me witnessed Danny Manning wearing the circus font as a champion, little seven-year-olds have now witnessed a Kansas National Championship. Forever, they will associate Trajan with Mario Chalmers' miraculous shot. The font I have adored my entire life will be a fading memory, and generations will lovingly accept Trajan as the pinnacle of Kansas success. That is, until the next rebrand.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Like Ned Flanders on a White Wine Spritzer
Apologies all around for my delay in capping off this fine season. Forgivably, I've been intoxicated - literally, given the amount of beer I consumed between Saturday afternoon and Monday night and figuratively, given the effects of Kansas' victory on my productivity. They were, perhaps, the two greatest Kansas games I have ever witnessed. There have been tighter games, and there have been more flawlessly-played games, but none had just this much on the line. None had the same amount of subtext.
At this point, it would be silly to recycle the same talking points that have persisted since the end of the Championship game. Having been a Kansas fan my entire life, I can say firmly that "what if" doesn't mean a damn thing. If it did, we wouldn't have to have waited 20 years for Kansas to hang their third National Championship banner. Averages are there for a reason, and up until the point that Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose missed their free throws, Memphis had been shooting them well above their season average. Their return to earth came harder than Skylab's, but it had to happen eventually. Instead, I'll focus on a few other tidbits before I put a bow on this nice little college hoops season.
First and foremost, let me say that beating UNC on Saturday was every bit as fulfilling beating Memphis on Monday - maybe more so. They played a more dominant game than they did in the Championship, and there were large portions of the game in which Kansas ran like a well-oiled machine (ignoring, of course, the stretch where they ran like a Yugo). It's safe to say I "nothing" Roy Williams, and while beating Roy was satisfying, there wasn't a whole lot of Malice in it. It was much more satisfying to witness Tyler Hansbrough teeter on the brink of ineptitude, especially when the "hardest working player" in college basketball got straight out-worked for a rebound by freshman 8th man, Cole Aldrich.
The Memphis game was entertaining, and I would be a fucking idiot if I ever said that having your team win a Championship isn't satisfying. At the same time, I can't deny that Kansas was lucky. Granted, every team needs a little luck in order to win a Championship, but not every team is going to surrender a 9-point lead with just over two minutes to play . Special teams are going to be able to capitalize on those mistakes, but few are going to hit two three point shots after previously making just one. The cardiac episode(s) caused by the Kansas vs Memphis game just weren't as enjoyable for me as the full on relentlessness of the game two days prior. For neutrals, I suppose, that wouldn't be the case. This brings me to my next thought...
The tournament was boring after all. I had thought it would be, and the first weekend of the tournament largely proved me wrong. The last two weekends of the tournament, however, really drove the point home. Case in point: after the first two rounds, there was a total of three games that were decided by ten points or less, counting the Championship. Three. Judging by the fact that all four 1 seeds made it to the Final Four, one would anticipate that the Final Four would be more competitive than the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8, but that certainly wasn't the case. Suffice it to say, I feel sorry for those few souls whose first exposure to the beautiful Tournament was this season.
To expand upon my last post, I do indeed believe Bill Self will stay at Kansas, and he is going to get a big fat paycheck. I'm not paying for it, so ultimately I don't care. You can't really have more leverage in contract negotiation than 1.) A redneck sugar daddy wants to give me upwards of $50 million and 2.) I just coached a team to the National Championship. I'm still not convinced a college basketball coach should make several times more than the governor of the state in which he resides, but whatever. Supply and demand.
Let's see....what else......oh, I remember. Billy Packer is worthless. It is an indictment of his ability that, despite actually knowing what he's talking about, no one wants to hear him call another Final Four game. Yet Dick Vitale - in all his Duke-fellating, overt enthusiasm, completely slanted ramblings, and lack of any sort of insider knowledge - is viewed with such a sense of fondness. When you listen to Dick Vitale, you may be annoyed, but you believe he passionately loves the game of college basketball. When you listen to Billy Packer, you believe he would spit on a baby if he didn't like the way it took its first steps.
And in other news, way too many players are going to declare for the NBA draft. I could list them off, and that would be more press than most of them will get once they leave college. A number of these poor saps are going to forego a chance to become legendary on their campuses in exchange for going undrafted, receiving no signing bonus, and playing in the NBA Developmental League for a team in Idaho in front of about 200 people. I feel like it would be everyone's benefit if a player actually had to go through some sort of qualification process in order to declare early. The league themselves would be the ones monitoring the workouts to determine whether a player had the qualities necessary to play in the NBA, and these players wouldn't be hearing exactly what they want to hear from agents. Obviously, I don't have this worked out. Maybe I'll give it some more thought and put it into a blog of its own.
In the meantime, I'll wrap up this post. I may make another one as I continue to reminisce about the season that was, but for now I've covered all I care to. College basketball news will occasionally pop up between now and late October, and if it's worth reacting to, I'll react to it. Until then, I do intend to keep blogging - whether it is about other sports or random this and that. I have strong opinions about advertising and marketing, and the off season might be a good time to put forth some opinions. Once the 2008-09 season starts, that will cease and I'll be a college hoops machine.
At this point, it would be silly to recycle the same talking points that have persisted since the end of the Championship game. Having been a Kansas fan my entire life, I can say firmly that "what if" doesn't mean a damn thing. If it did, we wouldn't have to have waited 20 years for Kansas to hang their third National Championship banner. Averages are there for a reason, and up until the point that Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose missed their free throws, Memphis had been shooting them well above their season average. Their return to earth came harder than Skylab's, but it had to happen eventually. Instead, I'll focus on a few other tidbits before I put a bow on this nice little college hoops season.
First and foremost, let me say that beating UNC on Saturday was every bit as fulfilling beating Memphis on Monday - maybe more so. They played a more dominant game than they did in the Championship, and there were large portions of the game in which Kansas ran like a well-oiled machine (ignoring, of course, the stretch where they ran like a Yugo). It's safe to say I "nothing" Roy Williams, and while beating Roy was satisfying, there wasn't a whole lot of Malice in it. It was much more satisfying to witness Tyler Hansbrough teeter on the brink of ineptitude, especially when the "hardest working player" in college basketball got straight out-worked for a rebound by freshman 8th man, Cole Aldrich.
The Memphis game was entertaining, and I would be a fucking idiot if I ever said that having your team win a Championship isn't satisfying. At the same time, I can't deny that Kansas was lucky. Granted, every team needs a little luck in order to win a Championship, but not every team is going to surrender a 9-point lead with just over two minutes to play . Special teams are going to be able to capitalize on those mistakes, but few are going to hit two three point shots after previously making just one. The cardiac episode(s) caused by the Kansas vs Memphis game just weren't as enjoyable for me as the full on relentlessness of the game two days prior. For neutrals, I suppose, that wouldn't be the case. This brings me to my next thought...
The tournament was boring after all. I had thought it would be, and the first weekend of the tournament largely proved me wrong. The last two weekends of the tournament, however, really drove the point home. Case in point: after the first two rounds, there was a total of three games that were decided by ten points or less, counting the Championship. Three. Judging by the fact that all four 1 seeds made it to the Final Four, one would anticipate that the Final Four would be more competitive than the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8, but that certainly wasn't the case. Suffice it to say, I feel sorry for those few souls whose first exposure to the beautiful Tournament was this season.
To expand upon my last post, I do indeed believe Bill Self will stay at Kansas, and he is going to get a big fat paycheck. I'm not paying for it, so ultimately I don't care. You can't really have more leverage in contract negotiation than 1.) A redneck sugar daddy wants to give me upwards of $50 million and 2.) I just coached a team to the National Championship. I'm still not convinced a college basketball coach should make several times more than the governor of the state in which he resides, but whatever. Supply and demand.
Let's see....what else......oh, I remember. Billy Packer is worthless. It is an indictment of his ability that, despite actually knowing what he's talking about, no one wants to hear him call another Final Four game. Yet Dick Vitale - in all his Duke-fellating, overt enthusiasm, completely slanted ramblings, and lack of any sort of insider knowledge - is viewed with such a sense of fondness. When you listen to Dick Vitale, you may be annoyed, but you believe he passionately loves the game of college basketball. When you listen to Billy Packer, you believe he would spit on a baby if he didn't like the way it took its first steps.
And in other news, way too many players are going to declare for the NBA draft. I could list them off, and that would be more press than most of them will get once they leave college. A number of these poor saps are going to forego a chance to become legendary on their campuses in exchange for going undrafted, receiving no signing bonus, and playing in the NBA Developmental League for a team in Idaho in front of about 200 people. I feel like it would be everyone's benefit if a player actually had to go through some sort of qualification process in order to declare early. The league themselves would be the ones monitoring the workouts to determine whether a player had the qualities necessary to play in the NBA, and these players wouldn't be hearing exactly what they want to hear from agents. Obviously, I don't have this worked out. Maybe I'll give it some more thought and put it into a blog of its own.
In the meantime, I'll wrap up this post. I may make another one as I continue to reminisce about the season that was, but for now I've covered all I care to. College basketball news will occasionally pop up between now and late October, and if it's worth reacting to, I'll react to it. Until then, I do intend to keep blogging - whether it is about other sports or random this and that. I have strong opinions about advertising and marketing, and the off season might be a good time to put forth some opinions. Once the 2008-09 season starts, that will cease and I'll be a college hoops machine.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
It's the Root of All Evil, of Strife and Upheaval
No sooner had I recounted the Roy Williams Exodus Experience, than speculation surrounded Kansas' current coach. That's right, kids, it's a second consecutive Kansas post.
Sean Sutton, benefactor of nepotism and undeserving of the post to which he was appointed, stepped down Tuesday, April 1. Naturally, it is rumored that the white folks in charge of Oklahoma State athletics are going to court Kansas head coach and Oklahoma State alumnus, Bill Self. Ordinarily, you could wipe the tears of laughter from your eyes and move along to the next sucker on the Pokes' short list of coaching prospects. There is one reason Bill Self would consider a return to Stillwater, or rather there are 40 million reasons. Oklahoma State's local oil sugar daddy, T. Boone Pickens, is rumored to be willing to place an obscene $40 million ten-year contract under Bill Self's nose in hopes that that alone can lure him to the land of red dirt.
I say "that alone" because the whole "chance to coach the ol' alma mater" line would be complete bullshit. It may be the goal of some coaches to coach their alma mater, but very few would rather do that than win a national championship. Bill Self has made no secret of his desire to win a national championship, yet at no point has he made clear any sort of desire to coach at Oklahoma State. Rightfully so, really, as "hopes of winning a national championship" and "desire to coach the alma mater" certainly don't intersect at Oklahoma State.
Don't think this is anything like the situation in 2003, in which Roy Williams was heavily persuaded to return to North Carolina by his mentor and patriarch of North Carolina basketball, Dean Smith. While longtime OSU coach Eddie Sutton (and father of removed coach, Sean Sutton) could perhaps persuade Self to leave Kansas, it is understood the Sutton family does not have a healthy relationship with sugar daddy, T. Boone Pickens. Would Eddie Sutton actually recommend to Self that he assumes the post that his own son was forced from, just so it pleases the man who removed his son?
Nope. It's just about the money. If, by chance, Bill Self's main goal is not to win a National Championship, but to become a $4-million-a-year coach, let him go. He's not worth it. He's not worth it because no coach is worth it, and there simply isn't an amount of success that can make it worth it, short of winning the National Championship every single year. $4 million a year may be just a drop in the bucket to Pickens, but it doesn't make it good business. Without a doubt, a coach with a skill level comparable to Self's costs roughly half what Pickens is willing to pay. To be perfectly blunt, Self has only coached at Kansas for five years. It just wouldn't take that long to forget about him.
Now make no mistake, I like Bill Self. I think he's a great coach, and I'm pleased with his progress as a coach in each of his five years. In a perfect world, Self would be the head coach at Kansas for the next 25 years, building his own legacy until he chooses to retire. But if he can be bought from the University of Kansas, he doesn't deserve the job in the first place.
The other issue at hand is the timing of Sean Sutton's removal, specifically the fact that he was removed the week before Kansas is to play in the Final Four. For some reason, it doesn't seem like it will be as much of a distraction as Williams' imminent departure was in 2003. Perhaps it's because a healthy number of Kansas players won't be in Lawrence next year, anyway, so it's not really imperative to them that Self returns for the 2008-2009 season. No one knows what Self said to his players, but they seem convinced that Self will be back and adamant that the speculation will not be a distraction. Let's hope so.
Sean Sutton, benefactor of nepotism and undeserving of the post to which he was appointed, stepped down Tuesday, April 1. Naturally, it is rumored that the white folks in charge of Oklahoma State athletics are going to court Kansas head coach and Oklahoma State alumnus, Bill Self. Ordinarily, you could wipe the tears of laughter from your eyes and move along to the next sucker on the Pokes' short list of coaching prospects. There is one reason Bill Self would consider a return to Stillwater, or rather there are 40 million reasons. Oklahoma State's local oil sugar daddy, T. Boone Pickens, is rumored to be willing to place an obscene $40 million ten-year contract under Bill Self's nose in hopes that that alone can lure him to the land of red dirt.
I say "that alone" because the whole "chance to coach the ol' alma mater" line would be complete bullshit. It may be the goal of some coaches to coach their alma mater, but very few would rather do that than win a national championship. Bill Self has made no secret of his desire to win a national championship, yet at no point has he made clear any sort of desire to coach at Oklahoma State. Rightfully so, really, as "hopes of winning a national championship" and "desire to coach the alma mater" certainly don't intersect at Oklahoma State.
Don't think this is anything like the situation in 2003, in which Roy Williams was heavily persuaded to return to North Carolina by his mentor and patriarch of North Carolina basketball, Dean Smith. While longtime OSU coach Eddie Sutton (and father of removed coach, Sean Sutton) could perhaps persuade Self to leave Kansas, it is understood the Sutton family does not have a healthy relationship with sugar daddy, T. Boone Pickens. Would Eddie Sutton actually recommend to Self that he assumes the post that his own son was forced from, just so it pleases the man who removed his son?
Nope. It's just about the money. If, by chance, Bill Self's main goal is not to win a National Championship, but to become a $4-million-a-year coach, let him go. He's not worth it. He's not worth it because no coach is worth it, and there simply isn't an amount of success that can make it worth it, short of winning the National Championship every single year. $4 million a year may be just a drop in the bucket to Pickens, but it doesn't make it good business. Without a doubt, a coach with a skill level comparable to Self's costs roughly half what Pickens is willing to pay. To be perfectly blunt, Self has only coached at Kansas for five years. It just wouldn't take that long to forget about him.
Now make no mistake, I like Bill Self. I think he's a great coach, and I'm pleased with his progress as a coach in each of his five years. In a perfect world, Self would be the head coach at Kansas for the next 25 years, building his own legacy until he chooses to retire. But if he can be bought from the University of Kansas, he doesn't deserve the job in the first place.
The other issue at hand is the timing of Sean Sutton's removal, specifically the fact that he was removed the week before Kansas is to play in the Final Four. For some reason, it doesn't seem like it will be as much of a distraction as Williams' imminent departure was in 2003. Perhaps it's because a healthy number of Kansas players won't be in Lawrence next year, anyway, so it's not really imperative to them that Self returns for the 2008-2009 season. No one knows what Self said to his players, but they seem convinced that Self will be back and adamant that the speculation will not be a distraction. Let's hope so.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Full Disclosure
It's most likely that the people who read this blog already know me on a personal level, or they have come in close enough contact with me to know that I am a Kansas fan. They won the National Championship when I was seven years old, and since then it's been in my blood. Across the sporting landscape, there is no team that I support more than I support Kansas. I haven't written about Kansas yet, largely because there hasn't been anything in the world of Jayhawk that is so interesting that I couldn't avoid writing about it. Also, this is not a Kansas blog. I don't intend for it to ever be a Kansas blog, and while people may or may not care about Kansas basketball, they almost certainly don't about my fandom.
Sunday, something interesting did happen. Kansas became the fourth member of the Final Four by becoming the nation's biggest bullies and stealing a great big victory from tiny little Stephen Curry and tiny little Davidson. Almost everyone who follows college basketball already saw the game, and there's no need to elaborate beyond the fact that ho-hum Kansas is a bunch of lucky assholes and ho-hum Bill Self is no longer the best coach without a Final Four. What's especially interesting about Kansas' berth into the Final Four is that they'll be matching up against North Carolina, led by former Kansas coach and current Huckleberry Hound impersonator, Roy Williams.
A friend asked me if, five years later, I was still bitter about Roy Williams' decision to leave Kansas in favor of his alma mater, and I felt this was probably a good arena for me to spell out my feelings about the situation. To put it simply, yes, I am still bitter. It doesn't mean that I don't like Bill Self as a coach every bit as much as I liked Roy Williams, and it doesn't mean that I wish the last five years of Kansas basketball had gone differently. Bill Self is a very fine coach who, in my opinion, improves every year. Beyond that, I root for the name on the front of the jersey more than I root for any one individual - player or coach.
My feelings, and the feelings of plenty of other Kansas fans, are feelings of a divorcee. We are, collectively, a perfectly attractive catch, as loyal as any man could hope for. To take the divorce analogy further, imagine that you have enjoyed a very successful marriage over the course of fifteen years. You've been to the Champs-Élysées for an incredible weekend, you've welcomed into your family a couple of beautiful children, you've paid cash for your house, and even though neither of you are quite as fit as you once were, the fact that you've grown together more than makes up for it. It hasn't always been perfect, but it has always been great.
One unfortunate day, your lover gets a call from an ex. Come to find out, this person was your lover's high school sweetheart, and everyone thought they'd always end up together. Sadly, that sweetheart is now a widow. Sweetheart previously had a very fruitful, even very lucrative relationship, and while it's quite likely said sweetheart would love your lover, it's unlikely your lover would ever really "compare." Still, your lover is having second thoughts about the current situation...thoughts that make your heart sink into your stomach. For days, you can barely stand to look at each other, as your lover is weighing the great times you've shared against what could be.
But alas, your lover chooses you! All is well again, your lover has said he will never leave, and you find you love each other more than ever. You go on more trips, and you achieve more milestones. Love does, indeed, conquer all.
But what is this? Here you had these wonderful plans for your anniversary, yet the high school sweetheart comes calling again. So painful are the new inquiries that you don't even enjoy your anniversary. Before you know it, your home has been officially wrecked by the high school sweetheart, and the two of them have eloped to a trailer park outside of Appalachia. Why? What the hell was so wrong with you? What could your lover have hoped to find that you couldn't offer?
Soon enough, you start dating again. Things are certainly going well, and you're happy enough. In due time, you'll likely even accomplish many of the same things you did with the first lover. It helps that you don't have to see your ex-lover. All the same, could you be blamed for still having bitterness in your heart? Of course you're thankful for the good times, but those good things didn't give your lover the right to just jump ship.
OK, so it's a windy and not-too thinly veiled analogy. You get it. I'm thankful for the time that Williams spent at Kansas, and if he wanted to leave, it's ultimately his prerogative. I don't have to be happy for him (and I'm not), and I think it can be excused if I and any other Kansas fans still want to harbor some resentment. More than I resent Williams, I resent North Carolina for even asking. They asked, they were turned down, and that should have been the end of it. It didn't help that the decision to remove Matt Doherty, Williams' predecessor at North Carolina, came just days before Kansas was to play Syracuse in the National Championship - a game the Jayhawks would ultimately lose. While it would be sophomoric and foolish to outright blame the Championship failure on the Williams situation, one has to wonder how heavily it weighed on Williams' mind and on the minds of his players.
So while once Kansas and North Carolina were kindred spirits, hand in hand in the annals of basketball history, it simply isn't so in the heart of this Kansas and college basketball fan. I root for Duke but only 2-3 times a year.
Sunday, something interesting did happen. Kansas became the fourth member of the Final Four by becoming the nation's biggest bullies and stealing a great big victory from tiny little Stephen Curry and tiny little Davidson. Almost everyone who follows college basketball already saw the game, and there's no need to elaborate beyond the fact that ho-hum Kansas is a bunch of lucky assholes and ho-hum Bill Self is no longer the best coach without a Final Four. What's especially interesting about Kansas' berth into the Final Four is that they'll be matching up against North Carolina, led by former Kansas coach and current Huckleberry Hound impersonator, Roy Williams.
A friend asked me if, five years later, I was still bitter about Roy Williams' decision to leave Kansas in favor of his alma mater, and I felt this was probably a good arena for me to spell out my feelings about the situation. To put it simply, yes, I am still bitter. It doesn't mean that I don't like Bill Self as a coach every bit as much as I liked Roy Williams, and it doesn't mean that I wish the last five years of Kansas basketball had gone differently. Bill Self is a very fine coach who, in my opinion, improves every year. Beyond that, I root for the name on the front of the jersey more than I root for any one individual - player or coach.
My feelings, and the feelings of plenty of other Kansas fans, are feelings of a divorcee. We are, collectively, a perfectly attractive catch, as loyal as any man could hope for. To take the divorce analogy further, imagine that you have enjoyed a very successful marriage over the course of fifteen years. You've been to the Champs-Élysées for an incredible weekend, you've welcomed into your family a couple of beautiful children, you've paid cash for your house, and even though neither of you are quite as fit as you once were, the fact that you've grown together more than makes up for it. It hasn't always been perfect, but it has always been great.
One unfortunate day, your lover gets a call from an ex. Come to find out, this person was your lover's high school sweetheart, and everyone thought they'd always end up together. Sadly, that sweetheart is now a widow. Sweetheart previously had a very fruitful, even very lucrative relationship, and while it's quite likely said sweetheart would love your lover, it's unlikely your lover would ever really "compare." Still, your lover is having second thoughts about the current situation...thoughts that make your heart sink into your stomach. For days, you can barely stand to look at each other, as your lover is weighing the great times you've shared against what could be.
But alas, your lover chooses you! All is well again, your lover has said he will never leave, and you find you love each other more than ever. You go on more trips, and you achieve more milestones. Love does, indeed, conquer all.
But what is this? Here you had these wonderful plans for your anniversary, yet the high school sweetheart comes calling again. So painful are the new inquiries that you don't even enjoy your anniversary. Before you know it, your home has been officially wrecked by the high school sweetheart, and the two of them have eloped to a trailer park outside of Appalachia. Why? What the hell was so wrong with you? What could your lover have hoped to find that you couldn't offer?
Soon enough, you start dating again. Things are certainly going well, and you're happy enough. In due time, you'll likely even accomplish many of the same things you did with the first lover. It helps that you don't have to see your ex-lover. All the same, could you be blamed for still having bitterness in your heart? Of course you're thankful for the good times, but those good things didn't give your lover the right to just jump ship.
OK, so it's a windy and not-too thinly veiled analogy. You get it. I'm thankful for the time that Williams spent at Kansas, and if he wanted to leave, it's ultimately his prerogative. I don't have to be happy for him (and I'm not), and I think it can be excused if I and any other Kansas fans still want to harbor some resentment. More than I resent Williams, I resent North Carolina for even asking. They asked, they were turned down, and that should have been the end of it. It didn't help that the decision to remove Matt Doherty, Williams' predecessor at North Carolina, came just days before Kansas was to play Syracuse in the National Championship - a game the Jayhawks would ultimately lose. While it would be sophomoric and foolish to outright blame the Championship failure on the Williams situation, one has to wonder how heavily it weighed on Williams' mind and on the minds of his players.
So while once Kansas and North Carolina were kindred spirits, hand in hand in the annals of basketball history, it simply isn't so in the heart of this Kansas and college basketball fan. I root for Duke but only 2-3 times a year.
Friday, March 28, 2008
It's Convenient For Me To Say This Now
As a Tennessee resident, I've watched (and enjoyed) more than a fair amount of Tennessee basketball. They had a very impressive schedule against very impressive competition, and by and large, they were a joy to watch. Still, when the brackets were announced on March 16, I couldn't bring myself to pick them to go beyond the Sweet 16. I saw the potential matchup with Louisville lurking, and I knew it would be trouble.
For one, Louisville was vastly underrated. They dropped a few places in seeding by virtue of losing a buzzer beater to the Big East Conference Champions and by losing a heartbreaker in the Big East Tournament to eventual Tournament Champions, Pittsburgh. I suppose the Selection Committee thought this was enough to put them as a 3 seed, and the competition for 2 seeds was pretty stiff. Before the brackets were announced, I thought Louisville would be a good pick for the Final Four, but I chickened out when I saw that they'd probably have to play North Carolina in Charlotte. This is all to say, the fact that Tennessee had to play Louisville was a tough hand to be dealt.
Perhaps a bigger reason for my reluctance to pick Tennessee was their recent dip in form at the point guard position. The one thing that is always stressed in the NCAA Tournament is that you have to have tremendous guard play in order to keep playing. Their's just wasn't that good, and judging by Bruce Pearl's decision to start someone new at point guard 33 games into the season, Pearl knew it as much as anyone. The point guard futility was on display again last night, but with limited options, there just wasn't a lot to be done about it. There was, however, one option that could have potentially remedied this, at least in last night's game...
Chris Lofton. Hear me out on this. I know that his role in every other game this season has been to spot up and take open shots. Those shots weren't often there for the SEC's all-time leading three-point shooter last night, and when they were there, they didn't fall. It wasn't much of an anomaly, either, as he had been a shadow of himself in the games against American and Butler, possibly because of the lack of a competent point guard to get him the ball. Given his shooting woes, I think the right thing to have done would have been to let him contribute in other ways. He was easily the most seasoned veteran on the floor, and no one plays with more poise than him. He makes good decisions, when the ball is in his hands, good things generally happen. He may be a little less of a threat to score, but he wasn't scoring anyway. He went just 3 of 15 from the field. Who knows? Maybe it wouldn't have made that much of a difference, as a 19 point drubbing is difficult to overcome. Given the alternative, it would have been worth a shot.
For one, Louisville was vastly underrated. They dropped a few places in seeding by virtue of losing a buzzer beater to the Big East Conference Champions and by losing a heartbreaker in the Big East Tournament to eventual Tournament Champions, Pittsburgh. I suppose the Selection Committee thought this was enough to put them as a 3 seed, and the competition for 2 seeds was pretty stiff. Before the brackets were announced, I thought Louisville would be a good pick for the Final Four, but I chickened out when I saw that they'd probably have to play North Carolina in Charlotte. This is all to say, the fact that Tennessee had to play Louisville was a tough hand to be dealt.
Perhaps a bigger reason for my reluctance to pick Tennessee was their recent dip in form at the point guard position. The one thing that is always stressed in the NCAA Tournament is that you have to have tremendous guard play in order to keep playing. Their's just wasn't that good, and judging by Bruce Pearl's decision to start someone new at point guard 33 games into the season, Pearl knew it as much as anyone. The point guard futility was on display again last night, but with limited options, there just wasn't a lot to be done about it. There was, however, one option that could have potentially remedied this, at least in last night's game...
Chris Lofton. Hear me out on this. I know that his role in every other game this season has been to spot up and take open shots. Those shots weren't often there for the SEC's all-time leading three-point shooter last night, and when they were there, they didn't fall. It wasn't much of an anomaly, either, as he had been a shadow of himself in the games against American and Butler, possibly because of the lack of a competent point guard to get him the ball. Given his shooting woes, I think the right thing to have done would have been to let him contribute in other ways. He was easily the most seasoned veteran on the floor, and no one plays with more poise than him. He makes good decisions, when the ball is in his hands, good things generally happen. He may be a little less of a threat to score, but he wasn't scoring anyway. He went just 3 of 15 from the field. Who knows? Maybe it wouldn't have made that much of a difference, as a 19 point drubbing is difficult to overcome. Given the alternative, it would have been worth a shot.
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