Tony and John are avid sports fans, and together will try to create insight into every sport.
Tony is an avid Minnesota fans. Anything from the Timber wolves, to the Twins and Wild is followed by Tony. But Tony's the biggest fan of the NFL and Minnesota Vikings. Tony plays high schools sports and hopes to play for the Golden Gophers one day.
John is a Northeast Ohio sports fan. John is a college student who devotes much of his time to Cleveland sports. Anything from the Indians, Browns or Cavs is followed by John. He is also an avid fan of college sports where he follows Youngstown State and the Miami Hurricanes.
Just Look at the SEC’s Out of Conference Schedule,
Alabama: Clemson (@Georgia Dome), Tulane, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State
Arkansas: Western Illinois, Louisiana-Monroe, @Texas, Utah State
Auburn: Louisiana-Monroe, @West Virginia, Southern Miss, UT-Martin
LSU: North Texas, Troy, Tulane
Mississippi State: @Louisiana Tech, Southeast Louisiana, @Georgia Tech, Middle Tennessee
Mississippi: Memphis, @Wake Forest, Samford, Louisiana-Monroe
Florida: Hawaii, Miami, The Citadel, @Florida State
Georgia: Georgia Southern, Central Michigan, @Arizona State, Georgia Tech
Kentucky: @Louisville, Norfolk State, Akron, Temple
South Carolina: NC State, Wofford, UAB, @Clemson
Tennessee: UAB, @UCLA, Northern Illinois, Wyoming
Vanderbilt: @Miami-OH, Duke, Rice, @Wake Forest
People Rag on Big Ten teams like Ohio State for Playing Youngstown State, and Michigan for Playing Appalachin State, But Look at the SEC’s Out of conference Schedule, The only Notable Games are Arkansas-Texas, Tennessee-UCLA and Alabama-Clemson, Hell LSU only Plays Tulane, North Texas and Troy! Simply Pathetic
Anyone who has watched ESPN the past day saw Kenny George, a 7’6 junior center from UNC Asheville get dunked on by Tyler Hansbrough from North Carolina. When I saw this dunk happen, it led me to ask a few questions, and make a few comparisons. In this blog entry I will try to answer my own questions, and make my comparisons.
#1. There is a 7’6 kid playing NCAA basketball?
A) He has played the past 2 seasons for UNC Asheville. His sophomore season he averaged a whopping 10 minutes and 5.5 points per game. This season he has averaged 22.3 minutes per game, averaging 12.8 points per game and 9.4 rebounds.
#2. How does a guy that plays for UNC Asheville in the Big South Conference average less than a double-double per game.
A) A couple of reasons. One the Big South isn’t terrible. Winthrop plays in it, the team that scored a 1st round upset of Notre Dame last season, and ruined ACC Miami’s perfect season this year. Also, the team has yet to play a conference game. I would hope that he at least goes off for 20-10 when his team goes against 6-9 Charleston Southern.
#3. How does UNC Ashville get a kid who is 7’6?
A) He sucks.
#3. Should we go easy on him because Tyler Hansbrough is a lead candidate for NCAA player of the year?
A) NO! Tyler Hansbrough is white. Now let’s not start a racial war here, but we all know by the movie staring Woody Harrelson that white men simply cannot jump.
Plus George is 7’6. Let’s put this in prospective. HE DOESN’T EVEN NEED TO JUMP TO TOUTCH THE RIM! Use your toes or whatever. A guy that is almost a foot shorter than you, and also white, should not dunk over you like that. George was quoted after the game, saying, “I forgot to jump”. Do you forget to breathe? Do you forget how to use the bathroom? If so, do you need a coach to teach you how to breathe and use the bathroom? Because if you forgot to jump you’re retarded. UNC Ashville needs to look at its admissions department if you truly have to “remember” to jump while playing basketball.
Now that we have answered those questions let me compare Mr. George to some other people that are softer than he is in my life. When I played baseball, we use to have to wait for the basketball team to finish practicing before we could practice baseball in the basketball gym (It’s an Ohio thing). Well, there was a forward who stood at 6’6 that played both basketball and football (The kid now plays offensive line for a D-I school, I will not use his or his schools name). The coach told the team that, he would give this kid 3 chances to dunk a basketball. If he was successful in the slam-dunk, the team could go home. If he couldn’t dunk, the team had to run 5 suicides.
Attempt number one…. Slipped out of his hand before even reaching the hoop…. Attempt two… DOINK!…. Attempt number three… TWO HANDED SLAM DUNK OFF THE BACK OF THE RIM WHICH ALMOST REACHED THE CEILING… Five suicides for the whole team.
Dude you’re 6’6, that’s 5 inches taller than me. If you give me a hoop that is 3 inches lower than regulation I will slam-dunk any basketball you give me. There is no reason why at 6’6 you shouldn’t be able to dunk a basketball given three chances.
Up to this point, I have been fairly nice; I didn’t use that guy’s name, but now let’s embarrass people. The school I attend is Youngstown State, which plays basketball in the Horizon League. Guards essentially dominate the Horizon League (see Butler). Well, there is a 7’0 kid that plays for the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). You would think that a 7’0 tall kid in a league full of guards would be able to dominate. Thing again. Scott VanderMeer is a transfer from Bowling Green and has been officially knighted as the Horizon League “tooth pick”. Guards and forwards alike batter and bruise Mr. VanderMeer and limit his minutes in Horizon League games.
But the biggest softball and toothpick ever to live is… Shawn Bradley. Anytime sports center devotes a top-10 segment strictly to the times over your lifetime that you were dunked on, you are screwed. (My favorite Dunk being #6, Chris Webber’s Nutt Burrito on Shawn) Bradley who is 7’6, the same height as Kenny George ironically enough, finally called basketball quits in 2005. His legacy lives on though. We have plenty of YouTube videos to last us a lifetime of dunks over Shawn Bradley. There are only two NBA basketball players who have not dunked on Shawn Bradley. #1 being himself, and #2 Earl Boykins.
You can teach basketball skills, you can make people stronger, and you can even make somebody faster. One thing you cannot do is make someone taller. But for god sakes, if you’re 7’6 you should dominate every basketball game you play. People like Kenny George will play in the NBDL league forever. Every pro team will take a chance on a 7 footer, and the memories of slam dunks will live in our memories forever. Thank god for YouTube!
As the final seconds of the clock ticked away late in the 4th quarter of what should have been vindication for Jim Tressel and the Ohio State Buckeyes the only thing that could be found was defeat. In a 38-24 schlacking laid on by former Michigan Assisstant Les Miles, former OSU Safety Bo Pelini now the defensive co-ordinator at LSU and a squad of hungry and determined players at LSU. The Buckeyes look feeble at points and almost lost, Granted a few of the penalties that had been called on the Buckeyes even to the non biased observer seemed like bad calls or giagantic mis-steps by OSU. With all the talk of motivation and revenge swirling about the Buckeyes, Last night became just another chapter in what has been a bumpy road for the Big 10 and one of it’s premier schools this season. As the season began the Big 10 had hopes of following up on what had been one of the greatest seasons in the conference and ended in blow-out losses by Michigan to USC and OSU to Florida. The national perception of the conference always seems to hinge on the ability of the two major schools Michigan and OSU and the under-lying current of fairly consistant schools like Wisconson and Penn State. When week one of the regular season rolled around the Big-10 was doomed from the begining, With a loss at home to D-I FCS Appy State the Wolverines got the ball rolling on what end up as a season of nightmares for the Big-10 and the damaged reputation of the oldest and most tradition laden conference in NCAA Football. Comparisions have been made continuously to the SEC a power house conference that always has good talent and good programs, While the comparison is there the problem is that the Big 10 with it’s antiquated tradition has fallen behind. They have made strides over recent years to adjust to the times but to this fan of Big 10 football and the Buckeyes it just isn’t enough. As long as there is no conference championship game in the Big 10 and as long as the continue to schedule weak out of conference games the national perception is not going to change. A loss from the Buckeyes and the over matched Illini ensured a losing record for the Big 10 in the bowl games this year an impressive 3-5 record. Granted the Big 10’s elite program has been three BCS title games and won one of them in seven years says something for the consistency of talent and coaching at the school and overall in the conference, But this notion of not playing past Thanksgiving and only playing certain schools every few years has got to go go to give back the Big 10 some of the credibility it once had. So I propose this to you, The new Big 10 in which they add a twelfth team more than likely the floundering Notre Dame. Now many of you ask why would Notre Dame join when that school is such a state of free-fall? Well because it would add stability to them and the chance at a legit conference title might just be what the school needs to right that sinking ship under Weis. Notre Dame also only has two years left on the contract with NBC. While it might take some legal intervention the Big 10 and Notre Dame have enough money that they could buy out of that contract with NBC. There also some other minor hurdles to jump being that I believe the rest of Notre Dame’s athletics are in the Big East conference, But those issues I will leave for the NCAA to deal with. The revamping of the Big 10 and adding a twelfth team and a conference championship now is the only thing to do to restore this once proud conference. Lets take out the fact that they have the highest bowl win percentage, The winningest program in all of NCAA (Michigan), and the most successful coach in the NCAA (Joe Paterno). The Big 10 has become a joke among college football circles and with the legitimacy of the conference and its strength being called into question because of devestation losses over the past year here is the new Big 10 for you. Jim Delany this is up to you and the NCAA to make it happen.
BIG 10 Conference-
Big 10 EAST - OSU, Penn State, Michigan State, Indiana, Notre Dame, Northwestern
Big 10 WEST - Michigan, Illinois, Wisconson, Purdue, Iowa, Minnesota
Teams in the Big 10 must schedule at least 1 Top 25 in their Out Of Conference Schedule (I truly feel every NCAA 1-A should have to do that)
4 non conference games a year and 3 in conference non-division opponents. That would still allow OSU-Mich to happen.
The Big 10 Conference Championship would take place on the last Saturday in November at rotating nuetral site in the geographic area of the Big 10. IE: The 2008-2009 Big 10 Championship between Penn State and Illinois would take place in Cincinatti, Ohio.
I know this will never happen and the conference and its teams for the amount of tradition and history they have brought to college football will be continuously belittled and bashed. But it is my hope that we can rise above this dogmatic tradition and catch up to the Jones.
