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Insights, commentary, and analysis on all sports.
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December 13
2006 Rose Bowl
Texas vs USC
Our stats, charts, and predictions are up for the college football national championship game. Check out the Rose Bowl pick page.
December 10
Jermain Taylor vs. Bernard Hopkins
The re-match for the middleweight title was one of the most anticipated boxing matches of the year. But no one is talking about the fight (a preview and the results). For the record, Taylor won-- again. What everyone is talking about is the national anthem. Stories here (Scoop Jackson at ESPN) and some more chatter here. R. Kelly branched out. We haven't seen it yet, but you can catch it tonight (the replay) on HBO at 10 pm ET.
December 8
Bowl Games
So what are the best bowl games? Here's one good ranking here. The two best games are obvious: The National Championship (USC vs Texas) Rose Bowl on January 4th (8 pm) and the Fiesta Bowl (Notre Dame vs Ohio State) on January 2nd (4:30). There are many other good games. First, the Sugar Bowl (in Atlanta Jan 2 at 8:30 pm) will feature Georgia (basically at home) vs West Virginia. This is a big test for the Big East. And, on Friday night you should tune in to the Peach Bowl to watch LSU (which fell from #3 and an SEC title down to a 7:30 pm Dec 30th game) vs. Miami. And, at midday on January 2nd see Louisville in action vs Marcus Vick and Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl at 12:30pm. Full bowl game schedule here.
Heisman Trophy
It looks like a Reggie Bush runaway. The media attention is certainly pointing in that direction and most online polls also have Bush comfortably in front. We won't complain about it. Clearly, Bush is a worthy choice. And we agree (story), he's an easy choice for #1 in the NFL draft. But what about Vince Young. So, does all this mean the Heisman is just going to be handed to Vince Young next year? Because its hard to just easily rule out his leadership for the Longhorns.
December 3
BCS Eligibility
There are 4 BCS Bowls, one of which is the National Championship (the Rose Bowl this year) between #1 and #2 in the Final BCS Powl to be released Sunday afternoon (5 PM EST). That leaves 6 more teams to be paired in this year's other 3 BCS Bowl Games (FedEx Orange Bowl, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, and the Nokia Sugar Bowl). Six additional teams (if they are not already ranked #1 or #2 overall) are guaranteed berths: the conference champions in the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, and SEC. This generally leaves open the possibility of two at-large choices (since, generally, the top 2 teams in the country often come from these conferences). From here it gets a little complicated: the BCS also guarantees a slot in a BCS bowl game to any team that finishes ranked 6 or higher in the BCS Rankings if they are from any of the following 5 conferences: Conference USA, Mid-American, Sun Belt, Mountain West, or the WAC (this may involve deciding between 'guaranteed' teams). And there is a catch that most people aren't aware of. First, any team with at least 9 wins and at least a final Top 12 BCS ranking is eligible for a BCS bowl bid. Plus, most importantly, a conference that does not have an average ranking of 12 or better for its conference chamption is subject to review and could lose its guaranteed berth. Therefore, the BCS is not really stacked to favor only six major conferences. It only favors conferences that are major conferences. So if the Big East doesn't deliver in the BCS rankings, they would be kicked out and the next best conference would be moved in.
One problem the BCS is running into is actually the creation of these Conference Championship games (SEC, Big 12, ACC). If Colorado upsets Texas or Florida State upsets Virginia Tech in their respective games this weekend, then the BCS gets thrown out of alignment. These major conferences are going to have to think hard about determining a method for picking their conference champion. The other problem with the BCS is that picking just the top two teams historically (for whatever reason) always seems to leave one team out. Even this year, we wholeheartedly agree with anyone who claims that LSU (presuming they win the SEC championship today) deserves to play in the National Championship. The reason: the SEC is simply the best conference in college football. Five of the top 17 teams in the BCS are from the SEC-- that's 29%. But if they don't make it, we're not going to say the BCS ranking system is broken. We think their combination of polls and computer rankings is a very fair, very balanced, and very objective way of determining the top 2 teams. After all, Texas and USC (if they both win today) will finish the season undefeated. And its hard to argue against that considering both played tough schedules. Where the problem with the BCS comes in is with its decisions of who makes the BCS Bowl games. Why don't they just pick among the Top 12 teams in the final rankings... period. Why give any conferences guaranteed births? We aren't opposed to the BCS as currently designed. However, if there is a flaw, this is definitely where the focus should be. If your conference is good enough, and the team is the best in the conference, obviously the rankings will show this and the team will be in.
November 29
All-time College Hoops
"Pistol" Pete Maravich of LSU, Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar here) of UCLA, Patrick Ewing of Georgetown, and Michael Jordan of UNC, are the center of attention over at the final four of ESPN's "Great College Hoops Tourney". Check it out here. We'll pick UNC over LSU (Shaq wasn't really Shaq until the NBA) and Georgetown's Triple Towers (Mourning, Ewing, and Mutombo) over Reggie Miller's UCLA. Both great games. And MJ beat Georgetown in 1982, but not this time (NCAA Tournament and Final Four history). It's just too much to have Iverson out front and a line of 7-footers at the baseline. Georgetown just might be the best of all-time.
College Basketball
The growing size of conferences jumps to a new level this season. The "Super Conference" is now a reality as the Big East (official conference web site here) opens the year with 16 teams. The Big East, which has been around for 27 years (story) is not even split into two groups. And now the Big 10 (11 teams) is not the only conference that can't count. The Atlantic 10 is just about a Super Conference too, with 14 teams. See all the conferences at Yahoo's NCAA Basketball standings here. The ACC has 12 teams, but so do four other conferences. And a few others have 11. A "Super Conference" is 16 or more. The Atlantic 10 (with 14) is pretty close.
November 28
College Football
The countdown is on until the December 10th announcement of the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner. Official Heisman Trophy website is here. A Quarterback has one five years in a row. Last year's winner, USC QB Matt Leinart is being totally discounted this year, despite what may be the best stats of the bunch, as well as throwing a game-winning TD at Notre Dame which may arguably go down as the best play in the history of college football. Texas QB Vince Young can sit and watch this weekend's game-- and if UCLA were to upset USC odds are that Young would take the trophy. But the favorite (assuming a USC victory this weekend) is Reggie Bush. Bush has been the heart of the Trojans team this year, gutting out many big and key plays. Gene Menez, writing at CNNSI, has Bush at the top of his list-- story here. The darkhorse? Drew Olson, UCLA's QB (see article) You can vote for the Heisman Trophy winner here. And, your vote counts... officially... since the collective voice of the fans counts as 1 of the 923 votes.
Wayne Gretzky
So far, "The Great One" is a respectable 13-11-2 (standings) as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes. Check out Gretzky's bio here. Sports Illustrated has an article on Gretzky's return to the NHL, but you need to be a subscriber to get more than a paragraph of the article from this story link.
November 20
NASCAR Nextel Cup
The NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship is up for grabs today. It is the season-ending 'Super Bowl' for NASCAR at the 1.5 mile Homestead Miami Speedway (track). Standings are here (the top 4 still are within reach). The race starts at 4 eastern. If 24-year old Tony Stewart (#20, Chevrolet, owner: Joe Gibbs, key sponsor: Home Depot, profile) can hold on it would be his 2nd title, he won back in 2002 (standings).
USC
The University of Southern California treated college football fans to another amazing game. Or, better stated, the credit is really due to Fresno State. Still, USC always seem to find itself in some pretty interesting situations, and yet they always pull through. Trailing at half time, USC exploded in the 3rd quarter to take a 13-point lead. But Fresno State didn't back down-- they scored twice in the 4th quarter to grab the lead and throw all the pressure back the other way. USC, led explicitly by Reggie Bush, closed the game with a touchdown and late field goal to win 50-42. Reggie Bush did everything possible to lock up a Heisman Trophy. He rushed for 294 yards. Even more, he finished the game with 513 all-purpose yards (think Tim Brown, Desmond Howard, and Johnny Rodgers) (USC-Fresno State game story). In the critical 3rd quarter, Reggie Bush (#5) gave the Trojans hope with a 45-yard TD run and a 50-yard TD run (box score). Bush's season stats here.
November 17
NCAA College Basketball
Believe it or not, March Madness is just 4 months away. This week and next the new college basketball season swings into motion. ESPN preview here. Clark Kellogg is previewing his Sweet 16 at Yahoo! Sports here. For the current AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll click here. Also, see CNNSI's preview power rankings here. USA Today has conference by conference coverage all season long here. And, don't forget our main NCAA Hoops page (especially our NCAA tournament picks and end of the season power rankings.
October 29
Sports and Race
Not an easy topic. Especially when most of the stories that make the front pages are pretty superficial. No one likes to talk about the 'real' stuff. It "makes some squemish." Not Michael Wilbon-- one of America's best sports columnists. Read his latest column. He is preaching to the choir here. We mentioned this topic before (here). We took Terry Bowden to task for trying to score easy points by getting all politically correct. Our stance is that the best players and coaches rise to the top. Period. And if they aren't there now, they'll get there. We will leave it at that. Just read Wilbon.
October 17
BCS Poll
College Football's Bowl Championship Series (BCS) poll will be released for the first time this season at 2pm ET. They will first be posted at the official BCS website (bcsfootball.org) here.
October 15
Notre Dame vs USC
There are so many good college football games every single year so its hard to categorically say this was one of the best ever. Nevertheless, it had a great storyline going in. And the Fighting Irish fans were quite possibly the loudest they have ever been. So, it was an incredibly dificult environment for USC to pull it together. It seemed they had finally accomplished that by taking a 4-point lead with about 5 minutes to go. But Notre Dame stormed right back, making the USC defense look horrible (an understatement)-- going 87 yards in 2 minutes led by incredible play from QB Brady Quinn, Darius Walker, and Jeff Samardzija. Seconds later, with USC needing a field goal to tie, Matt Leinhart was sacked and USC faced a 3rd and 20. After an 11 yard completion, USC called a time-out with their 27-game win streak on the line. The noise was deafening as the crowd smelled a victory but Leinart delivered a bullet pass to his roommate, Dwayne Jarrett, for a 61 yard gain. It was, perhaps, one of the greatest plays ever (no need to take it from us). And it set up a dramatic finish. It may have been "chaotic" and "wild". But, the fact is that, as much as anyone wanted the Irish to win, all the calls were correct. It was a top-caliber performance from an experienced USC team that has been in these types of situations before. Leinart delivered. In the clutch. Period. Full Recap.
USC
The University of Southern California Trojans have now won 28 consecutive games-- including 2 National Championships. Schedules and results: 2005; 2003 and 2004. There last loss was 9-27-2003 at California 34-31. They beat Michigan 28-14 in the 2004 Rose Bowl to split the 2003 national championship with LSU. And earlier this year they blew away Oklahoma 55-19 for the 2004 national championship.
Matt Leinart
Last year's Heisman Trophy winner (link) is turning out to be one of the most competitive, clutch players in the history of college football. In 2004, Leinart and USC snuck away with several victories with gutty play, including a 28-20 win at Oregon State and a 29-24 win over UCLA. His performance today in South Bend, Indiana will be one for the ages-- for a guy who is taking just one class this semester (Ballroom Dancing at that-- link). Still, the fact is that Leinart is a 5th year senior. He red-shirted in 2001. And then in 2002 he saw no action as Carson Palmer won the Heisman. He's come a long way for a cross-eyed, overweight kid (story).
October 12
Penn State Football
The Nittany Lions are back. Saturday was one of the biggest wins in years for Joe Paterno (bio). And they are now in position to battle for a college football national championship. They are #1 in three major BCS computer polls (story). But the honeymoon has ended. For one thing, Penn State must travel to Ann Arbor this week for a showdown with a Michigan team which will be squarely focused on getting a big win. And, now the disturbing news of an apparent suicide by RB Kyle Ambrogi (story).
October 10
College Football and the BCS
Next week (October 17th) the new BCS poll will swing into gear for this season. Currently it looks like another tough season to pick just two teams. However, many of the undefeated teams (see AP Top 25 here) remaining will be playing each other at some point down the road. For example, Texas hosts Texas Tech on 10/22, USC hosts UCLA on 12/3, and Georgia and Alabama could meet for the SEC title. A problem could arise if Florida State and Virginia Tech finish the season undefeated-- not to mention Penn State (number 1 in 2 key computer polls-- the Massey Ratings here and Colley's Bias Free Rankings here). At this point though, there are a lot of tough games remaining for all the top teams so its a bit early to speculate. But the critics are already out in force. Here and here and here.
September 23
The TNT Factor
The results from last week's NASCAR coverage by TNT are in, and they aren't good. It was bad. The fact of the matter is that TNT is a fan killer. No one expects big events to be hiding way up their dial on TNT. And rabbit ear fans can't see the event even if they tried. A prior case in point is the NBA All-Star game. Historically, with Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson there was no way to imagine the NBA All-Star game on anything but national TV. But,the NBA decided to move the game to TNT and it has been downhill for the game and more importantly a big downhill for the NBA itself-- whose reputation and fan base is in a major tailspin. The fact is that TNT marginalizes events. Fans generally presume that the event is not a big one if its 'only' on a cable channel (maybe, save ESPN).
September 3
Sports Implications of Hurricane Katrina
Much publicized in the sports world has been the problems and possible plans for the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Hornets. Flying under the professional radar is the story of the University of New Orleans (UNO) men's and women's basketball teams. ESPN has its take on how some schools have approached UNO players to see if they will transfer and play for their schools instead of dealing with the uncertainty in New Orleans.
August 28
College Football
The season begins next weekend with games everyday from Thursday (9/1) to Sunday (9/5): Schedule. Fanbay.net has full coverage of the 2005 college football season and 2006 bowl games at Fanbay.net Sports: College Football, including games of the year, teams to watch, past heisman trophy winners, past NCAA football national champions, and full BCS coverage and links. At this point the game of the year is likely to be Texas at Ohio State on September 10th.
August 23
Tiger Woods
Which golf records mean the most to Tiger Woods? "The same ones as always. Majors. And total wins." Tiger has won a balanced collection of 10 Major championships and is a little more than half way there to Jack Nicklaus, who won 18 (official major wins standings at CNNSI). And Tiger has 45 all-time wins on the PGA Tour (stats link). The record there is held by Sam Snead, who won 82 (Nicklaus is 2nd with 73). Woods will turn 30 at the end of the year.
August 20
Elena Delle Donne
ESPN is calling her the LeBron James of women's hoops. She's 6'4" (or 6'5" by some listings) and her high school team, Fencor (Pa.) won the AAU 15U Girls National Basketball Championship for the 2nd year in a row. But, in April, Parade had her listed only as high as All-America fourth team. But she was only a freshman (and the best one according to USA Today) this past year and she scored 40 points in the championship, including 18 of her team's final 28 points. At her height she still plays PG and can do a crossover dribble (like Iverson she says) and she mimicks Olajuwon when she's in the paint. The reason for the comparison to James? She can pull up at top of the key, shoot, and swish.
August 17
College Football
No team has ever won 3 consecutive national championships, but all signs are pointing toward USC this year.
August 16
NCAA Tournament
Not everyone is a fan of the NCAA Tournament. And Bobby Knight basically agrees. And that topic is completely different, but comes right on the heels, from the bad blood the NCAA has brewed up with the Florida State Seminoles (story) and the Illinois Fighting Illini (story). And more here-- from North Dakota (a very interesting read).
August 8
Wayne Gretzky
The "Great One" will be as close to the ice as he has ever been since retiring in 1999. Gretzky is the new head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, a team he has part-owned since February 2001. The announcement is big news for Phoenix, but probably even bigger news for the entire NHL. Gretzky's arrival will definitely take a lot of attention away from the lost season-- and rightfully so. More here and here.
NCAA Mascots
Here is the complete story on the NCAA decision to ban from championship play, mascots and team nicknames that reference American Indians. The official story from the NCAA Executive Committee. The big football bowl games will not be effected since they fall under jurisdiction of the BCS. But, the coming basketball 2006 NCAA Tournament will impact teams such as last season's runner-up, the Illinois Fighting Illini.
July 28
NHL
The upcoming NHL season will begin October 5th.
July 24
Bernard Hopkins
Jermain Tayler may have looked like a champ in the early rounds of last week's fight in Las Vegas. But, in the later rounds, the veteran, Bernard Hopkins (who had successfully defended his title 20 times) clearly had the staying power. Which is why were surprised to see a veteran champion lose his title in a bout which he clearly was not unmistakably beaten. To gain a title, a boxer should demonstrate clear superiority (especially when fighting a champ that hasn't lost since 1993). Hopkins is so mad that he appealed the split decision. But Jermain Taylor is the new undisputed middleweight champion, and Hopkins will have to wait for a rematch. The rematch is likely in December. Ironically, it is Taylor that needs a little extra time to recover from cuts.
July 21
Katie Smith
Who is Katie Smith? She's 5'11" and she is one of the best defending guards in the WNBA. But, more importantly, Smith is the leading scorer in women's professional basketball history (with over 5,000 points, about 1,500 of which came in the defunct ABL). She plays for the Minnesota Lynx, who are currently 11-9 (see WNBA Standings). That's just a little more than half way through the 34-game season which wraps up at the end of August. For the record, no surprise, Lisa Leslie is the WNBA all-time scoring leader (Katie's 4th).
Tour de Lance
Lance Armstrong is on the verge of winning his last, and seventh consecutive, Tour de France. He maintains a 2:46 lead over 2nd place rider Ivan Basso and 3:46 lead over Michael Rasmussen (3rd) and 5:58 over Jan Ullrich (4th). But in today's stage those leaders all finished 11 minutes behind the stage winner. So, how do they maintain their overall leads when losing a stage that badly? Well take a look at the complete overall standings of the 3-week race and you quickly see why. The majority of riders are over 2 hours behind the leaders. The Tour de France is truly an impressive test of strength and endurance.
July 15
Race and Sports
We think bringing up race in sports is irresponsible. Usually, like this, the storyline is more minority coaches or owners. That is very politically correct to make such an argument. But ultimately, we believe, quotas for coaching will have a back-firing effect. If some target amount of coaches need to be one race to represent the players on the field, then it seems only natural that eventually some people will begin to ask that the players should be representative of the population. That's why its irresponsible to talk about race and quotas. Just play ball. People go to the games, wear the jerseys, and cheer for their favorite players. And race is far from anyone's thoughts. It's just a game. Terry Bowden focuses on the coaches without thinking about all the players that play in the big games and the opportunities they get that other aspiring players don't. Everyone just goes to the game, cheers, and has fun. Basically, Bowden is an idiot. Keep race out of it. Good players and coaches always rise to the top. Just be patient-- and have a little faith-- Terry Bowden. A conspiracy is not behind every door. Why don't you give up your column at Yahoo! Sports (not exactly a home for diversity is it!) for someone else. What a joke. *one more note for Terry Bowden: if race is your thing, remember there are more than two.
July 11
New BCS Poll
After last season, the Associated Press told the BCS it could no longer use the AP Top 25 poll. So the BCS will be using a newly created 'Harris Interactive College Football Poll' that will compile the votes of 114 former coaches, players, and administrators. The first poll will be released September 25th-- four weeks into the season-- in order to not give preseason favorites a leg up in the rankings. More info at the official Bowl Championship Series web site.
July 9
Redneck Games
The 10th Annual Redneck Games was held today in East Dublin, GA. The event began as a promotional stunt for a local radio station when the Summer Olympics were held in Atlanta in 1996. In fact, the original games were called the Bubba-Olympics. And now, the event is garnering (a lot of) national attention. The signature event is the Mudpit Belly Flop. More info here.
July 7
Manchester United
ESPN "Page 2" takes a great, long (but easy and fun to read) look at the world's greatest soccer team. Although, David Fleming gets too soft and fuzzy at the end.
July 1
Tour de France
The event is currently known better as the 'Tour de Lance.' This year will be Lance Armstrong's final Tour de France. The 33-year old is the only six-time Tour winner and he wants to go out on top with number 7. The Tour de France begins July 2nd and ends July 24th. Full coverage here.
June 27
The NHL
It appears just about certain that a deal is just around the corner for the National Hockey League ('in the coming weeks'). How the league emerges from a season away remains to be seen. Jeremy Roenick just did his best job to rile back up everyone's emotions with a profanity-laced interview. After the NBA pretty much easily breezed through their labor agreement, its hard not to say that the NHL players weren't way off track. For all the excitement of the NHL it just doesn't have the marketing pull of the other major professional sports leagues- period. The players have finally come to terms with it. And the frustration is demonstrated in Roenick's tirade.
June 18
Top Sports Athletes
Or, more appropriately, 'Top Sports Stars' or 'Richest Sports Stars'. Whether they are ranked by star power or income and earnings, Tiger Woods is number one on the list-- according to ESPN. Tiger racked in $87 million in the last year. Second on the list is Formula 1 race driver Michael Schumacher ($60 million) and right behind him is middleweight boxer Oscar De La Hoya, the "Golden Boy" ($38 million). Shaq is number 2 in "star power".
May 29
New Jersey Devils
There is a resolution in the New Jersey State Assembly to change the name of the team. Odds of a change are slim, but the Baptist deacon that introduced the resolution is upset about the nickname, team colors, and merchandise. Now, whether or not the team will ever play another game, well that's another question.
May 28
Danica Patrick
The new rookie at Indianapolis 500 is the big buzz this year. But not all of the talk is rosy. There are complaints. Is it surprising that the male drivers are concerned about a young (23), female driver coming in and potentially winning the IRL's biggest, and most storied race? Not really. However, the argument actually makes a lot of sense. It is very similar to horse racing. All of the jockies are weighed immediately prior to the race and little weights are added to each to balance all of them. Some horses get exemptions, of say 5 or 10 pounds. But, the point is, horse racing knows that weight matters and they do a lot to make sure they equalize the effect. This issue has probably caught the IRL by surprise. Who would have expected a 5'2" driver weighing 100 pounds? It is likely that the IRL will eventually have to consider this issue.
May 26
Dave Mirra
The world's greatest BMX biker is featured in Sports Illustrated this week. Dave Mirra may not yet be a household name, but he is king of biking (13 golds in 10 years) in the X Games. X Games 11 is August 4-7 in L.A.
May 24
Malcolm Glazer
The hottest sports gossip isn't in the United States. The UK's world preeminent football (soccer) team, the Manchester United, have been bought by American Martin Glazer. Glazer owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And, the Manchester United fans are none to happy about it. Now, it appears they aren't the only ones skeptical of Martin Glazer. The NFL itself is looking into whether Glazer's new tie-in to gambling interests violates league policy.
April 27
Kentucky Derby Preview
Bob Neumeier has it narrowed down to a "Special Six." Neumeier like Afleet Alex's ability to finish fast. Out of the six, he places three others in the mix-- Bandini, High Fly, and Bellamy Road. Steve Haskin ranks his Derby Dozen over at Bloodhorse.com. His pick... Afleet Alex. And the same three as Nuemeier had round out his top picks: 2. Bellamy Road, 3. Bandini, and 4. High Fly.
April 16
Kentucky Derby Preview
The Kentucky Derby is 3-weeks from Sunday. Two big preview races today. In the Blue Grass Stakes, High Limit was trumped big-time by Bandini. And in the Arkansas Derby, Afleet Alex delivered with an easy win. Still, Bellamy Road, because of the monster performance (17-length winner in the Wood Memorial) last week will likely be the Derby favorite at post time.
April 10
NASCAR: Jeff Gordon
Gordon stormed back from 3 (or four, depending on what article you read) laps down early on at Martinsville to win the Advance Auto Parts 500. It was a huge win not only for Jeff Gordon, but also for his entire Hendrick Motorsports team. It was at the last race at Martinsville last season that 10 friends and family of the team parished in a small-plane accident. Even those who have not been big fans of Jeff Gordon had to marvel at the accomplishment and the timing, and broader meaning, of the win.
April 8
Kentucky Derby
The first race of the 2005 Triple Crown is less than a month away (Sunday May 7th at about 6:05 Eastern). The 131st running of the Kentucky Derby comes on the heels of Smarty Jones performance in 2004. This year's contenders in horse racing's top stakes race for 3-year olds includes contenders: Sweet Catomine, High Limit, and Blues and Royals. Other contenders include Consolidator and High Fly. Click here for more analysis (and here). Complete Triple Crown Horse Racing coverage, including lists of past winners. The last winner of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978.
The Masters
The beginning of April is a key changing of the seasons in sports. Opening Day for Major League Baseball and The Masters golf tournament sweep in and take over right as the college basketball national champion cuts down the nets. And so the 2005 PGA golf season is now officially under way (well except for all the rain) in Augusta, Georgia. This year, Phil Mickelson is looking to repeat, as he battles back gambling rumors.
April 7
Richard Petty
Here is a great look at how NASCAR is continually evolving. And here is Richard Petty (the subject of the article)-- the number one NASCAR driver in history-- in his own words.
April 5
NCAA Championship
The men's basketball NCAA championship game was a classic that had everything but a last second shot. North Carolina built a comfortable lead right before half-time, but Illinois never quit and battled all the way back in the 2nd half. The one problem with Illinois is that they rely far too heavily on the 3-point shot to beat top quality teams night-in, and night-out. It finally caught up to them last night. The Fighting Illini launched 40 three-pointers. They connected on 12, which was just 3 more than North Carolina hit in 24 fewer attempts. Luther Head who seemed to rain in big 3's whenever Illinois needed them, actually missed 11 three's, including important ones down the stretch. But, now a rightful focus on the very worthy champions, the North Carolina Tar Heels. The team is 'flat-out loaded' (approval to use from Dick Vitale) with NBA talent. McCants, May, and Felton are true superstars.
March 28
Andrew Bogut
Utah's 7-foot center took his team just far enough in the tournament to get the national attention necessary for a #1 NBA Draft pick. And, Bogut wasted no time, declaring today that he will head to the NBA after just 2 years in college.
Final Four
Final 4 picks are now posted. The computer has Louisville and Illinois as a toss-up, and picks North Carolina by nearly 6 points. The Fighting Illini will have their hands full on Saturday against Rick Pitino, Francisco Garcia, and the rest of the Louisville Cardinals. Illinois will certainly have a lot of fans in attendance, but Louisville basketball fans are famous for making road trips.
March 25
Elite 8
Elite 8 picks are now posted.
March 24
NCAA Tournament History
We get a lot of questoins about what team is the lowest seeded team to ever win the NCAA Tournament. A student of the last 25 years of basketball would immediately guess the North Carolina State Wolfpack in 1983. That team, led by legendary coach Jim Valvano, shocked the basketball world by upending the mighty Houston Cougars in Albuqurque. The Houston Cougars had Clyde "The Glide" Drexler and Akeem (later Hakeem) "The Dream" Olajuwon. The team was so loaded they were called "Phi Slamma Jamma". But as amazing as that was, NC State was a 6 seed. Upsets are not easy. And upsets against better and better teams 6 games in a row is obviously a very, very difficult task. The Wolfpack tied for second worst with the Kansas Jayhawks (who never win it when they have the best team) who won the 1988 National Championship also as a number 6 seed. But the lowest seeded ("worst team") to ever win the NCAA tournament was Villanova in 1985. And that was a win that almost trumps N.C. State's win; except for the fact that Jim Valvano's reaction to the win was all too memorable. Villanova shocked their own conference foe, Georgetown, which was led by Patrick Ewing. 'Nova was a #8 seed.
March 22
Pat Summitt
No one has done more for a sport than the Tennessee Lady Vol's head coach, Pat Summitt. While many of the venues for the 1st and 2nd round women's NCAA tourney games are empty, Knoxville Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena was packed to see Pat Summitt pick up her 880th career victory-- passing Dean Smith for the most all-time wins by a college basketball coach.
Sweet 16
Our predictions for the Sweet 16 games are posted.
March 19
NCAA Tournament Upsets
In 2002, the Jayhawks were almost beat in the first round by #16 seed, Holy Cross. In 2003, they barely beat Utah State. Last year they almost made it to the Final Four. And this year, after starting the season red hot, the Jayhawks are shocked in Oklahoma City by the Bucknell Bison. The other big upset on Friday night was Vermont over Syracuse. The Orange have been a streaky team all season. When their on they look like a Final Four team, but when McNamara isn't hitting, and Warrick is piling up turnovers, Syracuse can go minute after minute after minute without scoring.
March 16
NCAA Tournament Predictions
As we do each year, we have computer picked the entire tournament before it starts. The 2005 predicted champion is North Carolina over Washington. Lots of close games so look carefully. After each round we will have fresh NCAA tournament picks for each round.
March 14
NCAA Tournament
The total rankings have been updated with final season ending data. And our game-by-game NCAA Tournament Picks are posted with lines.
March 12
College Hoops
Our season ending 2005 ncaa basketball rankings are up. We used Greenfield this year as the 3rd poll to complement Sagarin and RPI. Note that Sagarin was the most effective in last year's tournament. For example, in last year's total ranking, Sagarin had Stanford ranked 15th even with their 29-1 record and Stanford didn't go far. Also, last season, Sagarin was the only one that said Kentucky wasn't as good as billed. This year, there are also interesting contrasts-- Kansas is #1 in RPI but #10 in Sagarin. And Louisville is Elite 8 in Sagarin but not even Sweet 16 for RPI.
March 8
NCAA Tournament Coverage
March Madness has arrived. Championship week, the selection show (Sunday 3/13 6pm ET), the 64-team "Dance"... its become big, big business. Full coverage at our NCAA Basketball Tournament page.
OU Grizzlies
In case your wondering, the Oakland Grizzlies (12-18) don't have the worst record to make the NCAA tournament. That distinction belongs to George Washington which made the tournament in 1961 with a 9-16 record. However, Oakland is tied as the 5th worst team to ever make the tourney. The State of Florida has a lock on spots 3 and 4. Florida International (1995) and Central Florida (1996) both made it into the Dance with 11-18 records. Those two are tied with Fairfield (1997), also 11-12.
Championship Week
March Madness received a big opening boost tonight as the Oakland University Grizzlies had into the NCAA Tournament with a 12-18 record. The Grizzlies shocked Oral Roberts at home as Pierre Dukes nailed a long 3-pointer from the corner with 1.3 seconds left. Oakland entered the conference tournament with a 9-18 record. This is why we believe there is no need for anyone to really complain about the size of the NCAA tournament. With conference tournaments, you basically have a de facto tournament for everyone. Technically speaking, if every conference has a conference tournament and every conference champion gets a bid then every team has a chance to make the tournament-- just like Oakland has proved.
March 6
Golf: PGA Tour
The 2005 PGA Tour arrived on the scene in a big way today. Reminiscent of just a few years ago, Tiger Woods came roaring back to edge Phil Mickelson to win at Doral. More importantly, for the tour, Mickelson is no longer a hapless runner-up; and Vijay Singh finished 3rd. This weekend was a showcase for the world's top 3 golfers and hopefully, for golf fans, a sign of things to come this summer. The win by Woods put Tiger back on top of the world rankings.
Upset Sunday
A perfect season for the Fighting Illini was spoiled in the last game by an unlikely opponent, the Ohio State Buckeyes (now 19-12, but 8-8 in conference). Had Ohio State been eligible for the tournament this year the win would have meant even more.
March 5
Women's College Basketball
The Women's 2005 Final Four games are April 3 and 5 in Indianapolis at the RCA Dome. The first and second rounds of the 64-team women's tournament are Saturday March 19th to Tuesday 22nd. This year, the tournament is essentially wide open (especially after last night's surprisingly close, crazy win for current #1 LSU) because UConn is not the easy favorite. UConn has won 3 times in a row (beating Tennessee 70-61 last year) and 4 out of the last 5, but will have to work very hard just to make it to the Final Four. See the current Women's Basketball Rankings. 8 of the last 10 women's NCAA Championship games have been won by either Tennessee or UConn. Another, little known fact: Tennessee coach Pat Summit is about to become the coach with the most all-time wins in college basketball (men or women).
March 3
NHL
Check out our NHL page which is full of links to just about every alternative professional hockey option for NHL fans. As for the latest--- anything and everything is on the table. And a meeting--- between players... and their agents.
February 13
Joe Gibbs
The 2005 NASCAR season is days away from beginning and so Gibbs is talking about Joe Gibbs Racing. Gibbs told the Washington Post that 'he doesn't feel his return to the NFL led to a disappointing season for his NASCAR drivers'. And, during the NFL season, Gibbs always says that NASCAR isn't affecting his coaching. Gibbs was the legendary coach of the Washington Redskins throughout the 1980's and early 90's-- winning 3 Super Bowls, and appearing in a 4th. He's back leading the Redskins after not giving "football a thought for 11 years".
Phil Mickelson
The best left-handed golfer in the world, is making a claim on best golfer, period. Mickelson is rolling in February: first winning the FBR Open in Phoenix and now the Pebble Beach National Pro Am.
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics are just 1 year away-- seems like Summer Olympics just ended. This every other year Olympic schedule is great for Olympic junkies, but is tending to run together for casual fans. Italy hosts the games in Torino. They will be held from February 10th to 26th, 2006. Canada has already set itself a goal of winning 25 medals-- as a warmup for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Canada was 4th in Salt Lake City in 2002, finishing with 17 medals-- their most ever. In the United States, things are looking up in the downhill.
February 12
College Basketball
March Madness is just around the corner. Here are the complete NCAA College Basketball Standings, Polls/Rankings, and complete NCAA Hoops coverage. Soon-to-be #2, Kansas is rolling following their 1/22 upset loss at 'Nova, but 2 big, Big 12 road games remain before the Big 12 Tournament (March 10-13).
February 3
College Football
You can't be having withdrawal already, but with the Super Bowl today, college football does pop into the mind. So what's up for the 2005 season. Check out this extensive 2005 college football preview with includes a Top 25 with team capsules.
NHL
Talks broke off. "No progress to report of any type." Season on the brink.
February 3
NHL
Game on? Players and owners are going to continue marathon talks tomorrow.
J.J. Redick
If you haven't had a chance to read Sports Illustrated's article about JJ Redick you should check it out (online requires signup). Last night, Redick scored a season-high 33 points, and played all 40 minutes in Duke's 92-89 loss to Wake Forest.
January 31
College Basketball
Undefeated Boston College has moved up to #5 in the latest AP Top 25. The Big East has not been very appreciated in recent years, despite Carmelo Anthony's NCAA Championship for Syracuse just 2 years ago. But ESPN's Bracketology is up and running, and BC has a #1 seed. Anyways, for all the talk about Illinois trying to run the table, can BC get it done? Looking at the Eagles schedule, they still have to play the Fighting Irish in Notre Dame. And if they get past them, Villanova (this season's big spoiler) looms on February 23rd. 'Nova almost beat Boston College, in Boston, 3 nights before they blew out Kansas.
Tiger Woods
The buzz isn't quite back, but Tiger might be. Woods is off to a great start in 2005, and trying to break out of a 2-year slump. Sports Illustrated had a great breakdown of Tiger's career vs. the legendary Jack Nicklaus (members or subscribers only). Nicklaus won 18 majors. So far Tiger has 8, but he is 0-for-10 since winning the U.S. Open in 2002. For comparison sake, Nicklaus won 11 major titles after turning 30, and Tiger is still just 29. So, Woods is still on track. Jack won his last major (The Masters) at the age of 46.
NHL Status
A survey was taken to guage hockey fan opinion on replacement players. The article is entertaining and worth a full read. Basically, fans really just want to go watch some hockey (even replacements), but not for full price.
January 23
Boxing
Saying he needs the money "just like everyone else", Lennox Lewis will come out of retirement to fight Vitali Klitschko. Lewis' last fight was in June 2003, and it was a controversial fight vs. none other than Klitschko. The fight was stopped because of severe bleeding by Klitschko. But Klitschko was ahead on points and kept Lewis in trouble of his own during the fight. Boxing fans have always wondered 'what if?', and in November 2005 the rematch is on.
College Hoops
Just when everything seems to be falling into place... Just when the season seems all figured out... The Tar Heels are beaten easily by Wake Forest, who then turns around and losses to Florida State. And then undefeated, Kansas gets blind-sided and crushed by Villanova. The Jayhawks had difficulty scoring early in the 2nd half allowing 'Nova to pull away. Sure helps the Big East establish some respect this season. So, Illinois remains the undisputed #1 in the country; although (believe it or not) Duke is still undefeated and had no problem disposing of Florida State in Tallahassee (88-56). Duke faces 2 BIG tests at the beginning of February: 2/2 at Wake Forest and 2/9 at North Carolina. Both games are on ESPN.
January 15
NASCAR 2005
"The Chase", for the Nextel Cup, doesn't officially begin until September 18th. The Chase is essentially NASCAR's playoffs or its NCAA tournament. The 10 top drivers of the 2005 season have their point totals narrowed together creating a competitive 10-race finale to a season that starts just over a month from now. On February 20th, the Daytona 500 kicks off the new season. 7 months of racing follow, leading up to the Chase. Early favorites: last season's champ: Kurt Busch leads the pack of hopefuls. Take a look at last year's final standings for a list of the best drivers.
Michelle Wie and the PGA
In 2004, Michelle Wie's first attempt at making the cut at a PGA event missed by just one stroke. This year, in the PGA's 2nd event of the season (The Sony Open in Hawaii), Wie tried again and never got it going. She still beat 14 male players and made a birdie on the final hole on Friday, but ultimately the 15-year-old female missed the cut by 7 strokes. Worth repeating... in the words of Ernie Els, "She's a 15-year-old girl playing against men".
January 4
Fans vs. Athletes
In recognition of the Pacers-Pistons fans massive brawl, here is a top 10 all-time list of top fan vs. athlete incidents, from any sport. Any the Melee in Detroit is 10th.
Auburn
Many journalists out there have found Auburn to be the perfect story to write about. Auburn got screwed, blah, blah, blah. The first 13-0 team ever not to have a share of the national title. But, the whining has gotten really old. First, Auburn may have been 13-0 overall, but don't forget their Division 2 home game vs. Citadel. So, Auburn was actually 12-0 in Division 1. Second, Auburn looked impressive most of the game against Virginia Tech. However, they slacked off at the end and the final result is not that impressive. They beat the 9th best team in college football by a field goal. Moreover, the Hokies went for it on 4th and goal from the 1/2 yard line and were stopped. Had they kicked a field goal instead who knows what we would be talking about today. Still, overall it was a pretty impressive performance by Auburn, but not the dominant, they-were-robbed performance they needed to have- period. Perhaps, in Auburn's defense one could argue that Oklahoma was given their shot at the national title last year and perhaps it should have been an Auburn-USC national championship. Auburn fans can make their case, and even whine-- no skin off their back. But those journalists who have picked the Auburn saga as their life-and-death rant about story-of-the-year, should move on.
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