The Honey and Vinegar Sports Blog

Belated First BU Hoops Preview: Kentucky

2010-11-29T19:02:00.000-08:00

Since the BU men's basketball schedule came out over the summer, a single game stuck out to most of the ten BU basketball fans out there in the world: a road date against Kentucky on Nov. 30 at Rupp Arena.

Most of all, being from Kentucky, this game really stood out to me. This marks the first time that BU will play a major team from my home state (no offense to Kenny Faried, but Morehead St. doesn't count), so this is a pretty momentous occasion, sadly enough.

Is BU going to get killed in this game? Probably. I'm not sure what the line is, but if we can lose by less than 20, I'll be shocked. Even under 30, I'll still be pretty pleased, because let's be honest here: Kentucky's coming off a loss; Kentucky's thus going to be angry. Kentucky's playing at home; thus Kentucky's playing in front of 23,000 people who live vicariously through the fortunes of this team; thus, they're also going to be pretty angry and demanding for blood.

Congrats, we're the sacrificial lambs in this situation.

We've been playing pretty well lately, finding ways to win, but this one might as well be a lost cause. UK's got possibly the two best freshmen in the country in Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight (who, by the way, played high school ball with the Junkyard Dog. Guess whose star shined brighter on that team)

But, again in all honesty, I'm not completely objective in this situation, for I hate Kentucky basketball by proxy of being a Louisville fan.

People can talk Duke-Carolina all they want, but UL-UK is the best rivalry in college basketball. The Tobacco Road rivalry is increased because of a lot of ESPN chatter, but you'll find nothing but pure, unadulterated hate between the Wildcats and Cardinals.

This hate's not entirely all-encompassing. Most of my friends go to Kentucky and are Kentucky fans. I've got family members who work for the school and live nearby the campus. These are good people who just have a passion for basketball.

But as it is with almost any other fan base, the actions of a crazed minority of fans can define an entire group. Just with Kentucky, that contingency just happens to be larger and crazier than most.

After all, this is the same fan base who's home to so many original nicknames like Ricky Three Stacks, Little Brother and Loserville (seriously, if Louisville is for losers, what in the hell is Lexington?). I mean, I can certainly understand Louisville's flaws, especially with Pitino (who couldn't?), but it simply goes too far.

This is the same fan base who continually denies that Adolph Rupp was a racist. Spoiler Alert: He was.

This is the same fan base who put up "FOR SALE" signs in the front yard of a national championship-winning coach who was not only a great coach, but an even better man in Tubby Smith, eventually driving him to leave for Minnesota as opposed to getting fired. The fact that he is black may or may not have had anything to do with that.

This is a fan base that hated Billy Gillispie and ran him out of town...wait a minute, they were right, he did suck.

This is the fan base that made these shirts:

But the worst has to be now as they continually rush to the defense of an indefensible man in John Calipari, and vehemently lash out at anyone who dare writes or says a bad thing about him. I'm sorry, but that kind of thing happens when you give a record-breaking contract to the only coach to have coached two abandoned Final Four teams: people, justifiably so, criticize such irresonsible and thoughtless action.

However, as a side note, Calipari's mother did just die after a bout with cancer, so we here at H & V offer nothing but thoughts and prayers for him and his family as they go through with this tragedy.

My point is that I am what Kentucky fans routinely like to as a "hater," implying that the only reason people could hate a program like Kentucky is from mere jealousy. Indeed, I do hate Kentucky, but that's something you're born with in that state: I hate UK just as much, if not less, than any UK fan hates U of L. But it's not their success I'm jealous of; in fact, it's their success that I truly respect. You have to. I've always said that while I think it's problematic to pick a single greatest college basketball program of all time, I think UK sits with UCLA as the greatest programs in the sport's history. Seven national titles, countless Final Fours, it's all admirable.

But with it comes a borderline-deplorable fan base (reasons listed above), a fan base overwhelmingly tainted by the actions and words of a vocal, influential minority.

My rant against Kentucky fans aside, don't expect much from this game. It will be a hostile environment because UK needs to win and win big, even though that shouldn't be way too hard.

God speed Terriers: I'm not expecting much, it's a no-lose situation, and it's always another opportunity for a remodeled team to continue to come together and improve.

Prediction:

Kentucky 94 BU 63

Matt Griffin = Clutch

2010-11-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned earlier, I'm working as a beat writer for the men's basketball team this season, so throughout the year, I'll be posting my FreeP articles up on the blog from time to time.

I start this week with my piece on Matt Griffin, whose perfect shooting day and 21 second half points propelled BU past a hapless Marist team.

The scene inside Case Gymnasium was placid if not downright sterile. A once-exuberant Boston University crowd had watched as its men's basketball team became entangled in a low-scoring struggle against a Marist College team that went all of 1-29 last season.

The hard bass lines of "Teach Me How To Dougie" reverberated and echoed through the rafters of The Roof as both teams continued to pile up turnovers and missed shots.

Even with only 15 minutes left in the game, the score was still locked in the 20s. The game didn't merely need a star. It was clamoring for one.

And then came Matt Griffin.

The junior guard, a transfer from Rider University, scored 21 points for the Terriers to ultimately push them past the Red Foxes (0-3) by a 58-37 score on Friday night.

Perhaps most remarkable about Griffin's performance was his perfection, not even in the metaphoric or hyperbolic sense. He was literally perfect for BU, shooting 7-of-7 from the field, including an impressive 5-of-5 from 3-point range.

"It was one of those feelings that you can't describe," Griffin said. "It was one of those times when you're in the zone and you don't want it to end."

Such confidence was apparent as the second half played out. Griffin continually found a way to get open, and after getting his shot off, he'd begin to backpedal, holding his stroke as the crowd rose to its feet. The inherent assumption was the same after a while – the ball, regardless of how it may have looked out of his hand, was going in.

Yet for so much certainty throughout so many crucial junctures in the second half, uncertainty was such a dominant theme for both Griffin and his team before and during the game.

Facing a Marist team that has not won a game since Jan. 2 of this year, it was presumed that BU coming off an impressive showing in the Preseason National Invitational Tournament would have little trouble in its home opener.

That was not the case through the first 20 minutes of the game.

With junior forward and co-captain Jake O'Brien playing limited minutes because of a stomach virus and senior forward John Holland held to seven points for the game, BU struggled mightily on the offensive end in the first half.

The team shot a collective 8-of-26 from the field and had already turned the ball over eight times, all of which added up to an unexpected 21-20 halftime lead.

"I just wasn't happy with the offense, us sharing the basketball, moving it," said BU coach Pat Chambers. "I felt like we were on our heels a little bit."

Going into the game, Griffin wasn't exactly the favorite in the clubhouse to be the deciding factor in the game. After starting the team's season-opener at Northeastern University, Griffin was listless in the team's first two games before a promising 10-point performance against Villanova University last Wednesday.

However, that slow start, together with the emergence of freshman guard D.J. Irving, pushed Griffin out of the starting lineup and further back on the team's depth chart.

Through it all, though, Griffin remained undeterred.

"When I came here, it wasn't about starting, it wasn't about coming off the bench," Griffin said. "None of that really mattered to me."

Thus the situation was presented – BU needed a second-half surge to avoid a disastrous home-opener and Griffin needed another opportunity to prove himself.

Match made.

With BU down 28-27 with less than 14 minutes remaining in the second half, Griffin buried a 3-pointer, giving him his first points of the game and giving the Terriers a lead they would not surrender.

From that point forward, Griffin kept his hot hand going, scoring 18 of the team's final 28 points to lead the charge on a 31-7 run that turned a stalemate into a rout.

The Marist game proved to be a critical litmus test for this BU team and its depth. With Griffin's career night, the Terriers managed to pass that first test.

"I think that's a great part of our team," Griffin said. "We have guys who can really come in and provide energy and really pick our team up."

But while the win over Marist was a necessary – albeit not always pretty – step forward for a remodeled BU roster still finding its way, the night undoubtedly belonged to Griffin.

"Matt Griffin earned every shot he made tonight," Chambers said. "Nobody works harder. He earned everything. I was so proud of him and so happy for him. As a coach, you root for kids like that who work so hard."

Back Again

2010-11-18T09:39:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it's admittedly been a while, but two weeks without a computer and huge papers and tests to work for will do just that to you, or I guess by proxy, this particular blog.

Well, I'm back at it, and again, what a better way to resume things with some random notes and thoughts.

- I honestly think it's time that people begin to forgive Michael Vick. I love PETA as much as everyone else does (meaning, I hate them since, you know, everyone loves PETA), but those people that still continue to dog him over his past bother me beyond belief. And yes, pun intended with "dog him."

Was what he did wrong? Of course it was, I'm not a lunatic -- I'm fully aware that dog fighting is a horrific act. But consider the following: The man lost his job, his salary, his endorsements, his liveilhood and 18 months of his freedom to pay for what he did. I think it's fair to say he's adequately suffered and he's emerged a reformed man who is playing the best football of his career.

- I'll go into more detail on BU basketball at a more appropriate occasion (I still do have papers to finish), but I really like what I see so far. The team's playing a lot faster than they ever did last year, John Holland has been an absolute monster, O'Brien's improved, and we've got some really promising freshmen. I didn't think Chambers' first season was as successful as everyone else did, but I think his second season's absolutely crucial because we're starting to see his mark on the program, not his mark on what he inherited. And so far, I'm really liking how he has molded this program.

- One more thing on BU basketball: Evidently, only 200 tickets remain for BU's season-opener against Marist. I don't dispute that, but as a BU basketball fan, I've grown cynical when it comes to attendance, aka I don't trust BU fans to support basketball, sad as it is. Case has a capacity of 1,800; if there are more than 1,200 people at the game, I'll go all Frank Reynolds and drink soup out of my shoe.

- Why do so many damn Celtics fans not believe that I went to the same middle school as Rajon Rondo? I did, damnit!

- Trend I am feeling:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/11/16/four_loko_sales_may_be_curbed/

Not because I'm personally opposed to Four Loko (I don't drink the stuff), but it's just fun to see Teddy freak out and start to stockpile our apartment like a 1950's bomb shelter.

- Trend I'm not feeling:

John Wall was one of the few people who I liked on Kentucky's team last year, but my God, do I hate the John Wall Dance. It only got popular because Kentucky fans, after so many years of worshiping Adolph Rupp, finally realized there are African-Americans in this world who they don't try to run out of town like Tubby Smith. Therefore, the smallest things they do, like turn their wrist back and forth, it becomes law.

I thought it would go the way of the Eight Track and die out after he went pro, but it unfortunately looks like I was wrong.

- Deep regret about the end of BU soccer season, for both men and women. A great season for both teams, especially the women, and I look forward to play kicking back off at Nickerson Field again in about nine months.

- A final note here: Teddy, H&V friend Ryan McKetchnie (check out his stuff on America Least, his name's The Classroom), and I were at Raising Cane's last week and we came across a man named Steve who is evidently a huge BU fan. He missed the men's soccer game that night because he was at a boxing match and he was asking a lot of questions about BU basketball. He may or may not have thought we were on the team.

Anyhow, this man seems like a reclusive figure and I want to know this man. If anyone knows of a light-skinned black guy with a goat-tee named Steve who has a T map with Agganis Arena marked who also has an affinity for BU basketball, please let me know. Now that I'm 21, this man deserves alcohol of any sort on me.

BU/BC Hoops....Kind Of

2010-10-28T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well my prediction last May of a renewal of the BU-BC basketball rivalry was kind of right.

According to Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman, BC and first-year head coach Steve Donahue will head west on Comm Ave to take on BU in a "secret scrimmage," scrimmages closed off to the general public that are used as a tune-up with the regular season mere weeks away.

http://community.foxsports.com/goodmanonfox/blog/page/3

It's not a real game, but let's hope this is a step in the right direction for what could be a halfway-decent rivalry. Lord knows if we're playing BC in anything, it will draw our students out, sad as that fact is.

I can understand why BC is apprehensive of playing BU in basketball -- it's something of a no-win situation. If they beat BU, well congratulations, you're an ACC school beating an America East team -- you're supposed to. But if they were to lose, there'd be scrutiny abound.

While I can understand that, I think this would be a good move for college basketball in Boston as a whole.

I don't know how exactly the closed scrimmages work but I'll go out on a limb and say that BC wins 83-74. We're going to be good this season, and BC won't exactly be setting the ACC ablaze, but at the end of the day they're still an ACC team with ACC facilities and ACC recruits.

God, the season needs to get here already.

Retiring the Nicknames

2010-10-28T16:40:00.001-07:00

For those of you who didn't know, I abandoned my tenure as a columnist to be a beat writer for The Daily Free Press, hoping to better prepare myself for what lies ahead journalistically. And by that, I mean unemployment.

I've been working with the men's soccer team for the past couple of months and will be working with the men's basketball team this winter, something that's a great thrill since anyone who follows this blog knows my affinity for hoops, especially BU hoops.

What this also means is that I'm going to have to talk with players on a daily basis, meaning I can't let any of their nicknames slip out of my mouth. I really wouldn't want to imagine the scene that would ensue if I accidentally called Patrick Hazel "Ugly John."

For me at least, the best route to go about this is to just retire these names, meaning others can use them and continue their legacy, but still retire them as a means of me saving my livelihood.

John Holland

For whatever reason, reasons that have escaped me entirely, I never gave John, the best player on the team for the past two seasons, a nickname.

Some people called him JH23, but that's about as original of an idea as Facebook, or so says that movie I just saw. If I had to go with a nickname, though, it'd probably be "HollandOates."

He who giveth, taketh away. HollandOates is retired.

Jake O'Brien

Joke O'Brainless

This is a nickname developed by Frankie Frost and his bitter cunning, and it was a name I was originally on board for. I was still dismayed with his whole "I'm too good for BU, I'm gonna transfer" episode and I always thought most BU fans overrated him a tad bit, at least for a 6'8" guy PF with no post moves, not even a baby hook.

But from all I've heard, Jake's a very nice guy, so the nickname's probably undeserved, although I'm sure Frosty will continue to have it as a benchmark of his prepubescent vernacular.

Patrick Hazel

Ugly John Holland

Alluded to earlier, this nickname goes in the same folder as JOB's nickname: Hazel's a very nice guy from all I've heard, so it's probably due for this nickname to be put out to pasture.

However, the nickname is as mean as it is true...I'm going to have a hard time avoiding this one.

Darryl Partin

Transfer Corey Lowe

Obviously not the most succinct or original nickname on Earth, but he's new, so I just came up with it. All indications are that Partin's a gunner, and BU's gunner quota needs to be filled with C.L. Smooth over in Greece, so it fits well enough.

Matt Griffin

Asher Roth

I'm actually pretty proud of this nickname considering it was developed in the same vein as Partin's: aka on the fly, fringe class style.

Roth and Griffin both are dudes from the Philly suburbs who have carved a niche as white guys in an African-American dominated profession. Roth in hip-hop, Griffin in college basketball. Griffin's got his niche as the distributor as a PG, Roth filled the vacant, Douchy-Frat Boy-Rapper label.

Here's to hoping Griffin's a better point guard than Roth is an MC.

In all honesty, I'd given very little thought to the nicknames of the freshmen either because they're so new or because they didn't really have any characteristics that screamed for a nickname.

Thus, the following freshmen were never bestowed one: Travis Robinson, DJ Irving and Mike Terry. Gentlemen, you have been spared.

Dom Morris

I never came up with a nickname for Morris, but every time I heard his name, I thought of the briefly-lived Dom on Entourage.

The kid's already in a position to succeed: there's no way he can be as bad as the goon that I unfairly associate his name with.

HJ Gaskins

UPS

Gaskins was a classmate and teammate of Morris and Robinson at Teddy's alma mater Friends Central HS, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out he's not the same caliber player as them.

Where Robinson was rated as an 89 on ESPN.com and Morris an 87, Gaskins was a 72. Evidently his dad was an AAU coach or some coach of some kind, so it's pretty easy to figure out that between that presence and the skill disparity, that Gaskins was part of a package deal.

Why not FedEx on this one? Well, has a UPS plane ever crashed into the ocean, forcing one of its employees to live on an isolated island with only the companionship of a volleyball? No, so UPS gets the edge here.

Mat Piotrowski

My Giant

My Giant was a 1998 movie starring Billy Crystal alongside Gheorghe Muresan about Hollywood agent who stumbles upon a 7'7" giant in Romania and tries to get him to enter show business as an actor.

Genius premise aside, Piotrowski's an abnormally tall white guy like Muresan and naming someone after a relatively-obscure late-90's movie is much more creative than just naming him after the person.

I do have to admit, as a final note here, that I'm going against my original sentiments and keeping two nicknames for two players. Self-discipline will be oozing when I talk with them.

Jeff Pelage

The Junkyard Dog

My days of calling Jeff "Junk" are over because that would definitely slip out of my mouth at some point. Also, Junk's got a negative connotation attached to it.

The Junkyard Dog, on the other hand, exudes nothing but respect and reverence. I can't abandon a nickname so perfect as perfect as this one.

Removing this nickname would remove Pelage's identity for me -- I just can't bring myself to remove it.

Malik Thomas

The Classroom

I love this nickname as much as I love this kid.

Chambers: "Malik, what's your favorite place to be on campus when you're not in the gym or in the classroom?"

Thomas: "The classroom!"

The Week That Was

2010-10-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

Last week when I did my long-delayed return post, I took the route of making a comprehensive, albeit assorted, list of some quick-hit views on sports and what had transpired for that whole two month period that I was incognito.

Well, it turns out that this is a trend that I actually like more than "Teach Me How To Dougie," meaning I'm really, really on board with this idea to the point of jubilation.

Expect this to become a weekly fixture on the blog, with the segment title TBD.

- First off, congratulations to both the BU men's and women's soccer teams for winning the America East regular season titles. The men had a rough start to the season but have been on fire the past month (like a reversal of last season's fortunes), and the women's team hasn't allowed a goal in their last 11 matches, giving them the sixth longest scorless streak in NCAA history. Incredible, even if you're not a women's soccer fan.

So kudos to both teams and coaches.

- Mark my words: the hatred for LeBron will die down. The second he and the Heat capture a title, he'll be a revered figure again. Hell, if Kobe can redeem his public image the way he did, anyone (except for O.J.) can.

- I get this prevailing feeling in my gut that Boise State's not going to make the national championship. I think Auburn's going to lose at some point, most likely to Alabama in the Iron Bowl, and I think Oregon's bound to lose at some point, although with that offense, I'm not sure. Alabama will win out and make the national championship game: that much is certain. But if Oregon runs the table, Boise will be on the outside looking in once again.

If Boise has an undefeated regular season for the third season in a row, especially after being ranked in the preseason top five and having beaten a series of ranked opponents, I don't think that there's any greater evidence that there needs to be a playoff in college football.

- I take back my prediction on teams for the Scarlet & White scrimmage. An all-freshmen team would get swamped. Look for the three transfers and three returning players to each have a team, with the freshmen being divided up.

- So, after two games, does the NBA hierarchy go like this: Cavs > Celtics > Heat?

- Trend I'm not feeling:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5734494

It's obvious that the student shouldn't have been out there, but this should be a sign that people shouldn't be hoisted up on top of these rickety crane structures that are about as stable as Teddy after a few cans of Four Loco. It's time to build sturdier structures at Division I football programs -- believe me, they can afford them. It's just sad that a young man had to die in order for this to become painfully clear.

- Trend I am feeling:

- Isn't it about time people stop talking about Cam Newton, LaMichael James and Kellen Moore and start talking about Bilal Powell?

Am I a Louisville homer sometimes? You bet, but this guy's one of the top three rushers in the country but yet he gets almost no pub or respect outside of his own conference.

- Fantasy football team's now 2-5, but I'm now putting my hopes on the shoulders of the LeGarrette Blount, the guy most-known for punching out the guy from Boise State. Then again, that was a great punch, the product of some huge shoulders. So those are some good shoulders to put my hopes on.

Plus I probably would have punched that guy too.

- A final note here: Section 118 and Section 119 at hockey games have gotten to the point of being flat and absolutely unoriginal. I think this is still something of a hangover from last season's disappointment, kind of in the same way that there was so much excitement in the early part of last year because of the leftover euphoria from the national title.

But it's got to improve. Also, a note to the band: stop playing "Bad Romance." Aside from my problems with Mr. Gaga, it's just not a good song to play at an athletic event. And stop singing along to it 118 & 119: it's embarrassing.

However, much improved early lineup of songs played before the games. Love Cudi's "Pursuit of Happiness" remix (although the original's much better), but also let's get rid of that song with Nicki Minaj.

Nothing good comes from STDs, children.

NBA Predictions

2010-10-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

One of the most anticipated seasons in the history of the NBA is now upon us, and even though I'm two games behind in some cases, here are my predictions for the season. Playoff seeds, if applicable, are in (), as well as the conference rank:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic
1. Celtics (3)
2. Knicks (7)
3. Nets (12)
4. Sixers (13)
5. Raptors (15)

Southeast
1. Heat (1)
2. Magic (2)
3. Hawks (5)
4. Wizards (8)
5. Bobcats (10)

Central
1. Bulls (4)
2. Bucks (6)
3. Cavs (9)
4. Pacers (11)
5. Pistons (14)

First Round
Heat over Wizards
Magic over Knicks
Celtics over Bucks
Bulls over Hawks

Second Round
Heat over Bulls
Celtics over Magic

Conference Finals
Heat over Celtics

Western Conference

Northwest
1. Thunder (2)
2. Blazers (4)
3. Jazz (6)
4. Nuggets (8)
5. Timberwolves (15)

Southwest
1. Mavericks (3)
2. Spurs (5)
3. Grizzlies (10)
4. Rockets (11)
5. Hornets (12)

Pacific
1. Lakers (1)
2. Suns (7)
3. Clippers (9)
4. Kings (13)
5. Warriors (14)

Playoffs

First Round
Lakers over Nuggets
Thunder over Suns
Mavericks over Jazz
Spurs over Blazers

Second Round
Lakers over Spurs
Mavericks over Thunder

Conference Finals
Lakers over Mavericks

NBA Finals

Lakers over Heat

The Lakers will complete the three-peat, but it will be their last title as Kobe will inevitably start to wear down after this season. Can't really blame the guy considering he's been in the league since before he could buy a lottery ticket.

Didn't feel like explaining the picks, but if there are legit comments/questions to my methodology, go to the comment section.

A Little Background

2010-10-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

Just to clarify the nickname I assigned to Malik Thomas, it's in reference to a comment he made on a question Chambers asked him around the 40 second mark of an interview with him.

The kid may not entirely grasp the concept of a question that says "Ok, aside from these things...", but I can already tell he's going to be a favorite of mine.

What Kelvin Madzongwe is to men's soccer, Malik Thomas will be to men's basketball. And so it is

Scarlet-White Scrimmage Set

2010-10-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

Well, my bold "Never Again" proclamation was about to look really empty there, but my computer got a Trojan and was in the shop for a few days.

I've got to lay off the South American porn.

All things aside, BU basketball came out with an announcement a few days ago that the men's basketball team will be having a first-annual Scarlet and White Scrimmage.

The event takes place on Monday, Nov. 8 at 7 PM at Agganis Arena. I couldn't find an official link on GoTerriers, but here's a link to the Facebook event page:

The first 500 fans get a free BU basketball t-shirt, meaning that it's about time to start the pool on an over-under on how many of those t-shirts will be immediately exiting Agganis Arena. I'm setting the early line at 150.

I'm not sure on how the teams will be divided up, but I would love to see the returning players and the transfers team up against the freshmen -- that would be pretty sweet. If that is the case, here's how I'd see those lineups:

Veterans:

PG- Griffin
SG- Holland
SF- O'Brien
PF- Hazel
C- Pelage

Super Sixth Man: Partin

Freshmen:

PG- Irving
SG- Terry
SF- Robinson
PF- Morris
C- Piotrowski

Sixth Man: Thomas aka "The Classroom!"
Sub: Gaskins

This likely means that there won't be a Terrier Tip-Off this season, but I'm perfectly fine with that. Give me a quality intra-squad scrimmage any day over a glorified, smoke-and-mirrors, dog-and-pony show like a midnight madness event. This will give us as fans a better insight into what this team could look like than a dunk contest or another "On your feet" session would.

Although, I am hoping Chambers rips off the coat and hops on the scorers' table again -- that would be awesome, although the only "scorers" would likely be WTBU giving a play-by-play of the scrimmage.

Hope people show up -- midterms are basically over, hockey's not going on, and it's not a party night, at least for those of us not in CGS.

Come out and show some support

Never Again

2010-10-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

Wow, my last post was seriously over two months ago? Unacceptable, and while all of about six people actually keep up with this blog, it's time that I get to updating it some more. Much more.

Between the last post and now, the sports world has overseen some changes and been witness to some major events and topics of debate. In the meantime, I've been savoring my last few weeks of freedom back home, adjusting to school and accepting my new life as a beat writer, having abandoned my column in hopes of helping better prepare me for a possible future career in journalism.

Believe it or not, the life of a beat writer is far more time-consuming than that of a columnist, so that could possibly account for the extended absence. Or it might just be that I got tired of doing long, drawn-out posts where I rambled on and went on so many tangents I lost focus. Or because BU Athletics news was at a minimum and I don't feel like expanding much beyond that because then this blog's just like any other out there. Or maybe because I need to spend more time boosting my GPA than working on a blog. I digress.

For the most part, H&V is going to look more like a traditional blog: shorter posts, but still with the occasional long ones. Basketball season's coming up, so more news will be here on that, and hockey's starting to get in full effect, so there's always that too.

Anyhow, as an attempt to make amends for lost time, I'm going to premiere (or re-premiere?) with some assorted thoughts of sports topics from the past month or so, BU related and not.

- Many props to PRP and my dad's alma mater Butler on a play that cracked the Sportscenter Top 10.

Was a player down at some point? Probably, but nonetheless, pretty awesome. Kentucky high school football, represent.

- This backlash at LeBron is really starting to get disturbing. Racial slurs and threats directed directly at him via Twitter? Really? I understand that everyone's big, bad and tough when they can hide behind an internet persona (trust me, read some of the comments on my FreeP columns, a bunch of regular BAMFs right there) but even this takes it too far. Sports are important and exciting, yes, but they should never be that important or bring out that kind of passion. Shows we still have a long way to go as a society in our views on race. And yes, I'm starting to feel bad for LeBron.

- Getting over BU choking away that game against UMass, a team widely picked to finish last in Hockey East. Blowing a 2-0 lead in the third period's unacceptable especially after showing such early dominance. Maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves by annoiting BU a top-10 team. That said, though, they look exponentially better than they did last year, and have certainly exceeded my expectations so far

- Vinny Saponari to BC? Don't feel as strongly about it as everyone else here evidently is. Do I like the kid? No, but in all fairness I never really did. He just seemed to embody the smug arrogance and sense of entitlement that so many people display after they've been told how great they are for their entire life. But he got kicked off the team and wants to play college hockey, so he should be free to go wherever he wants. Is there an element of vengence here? Probably, but so be it. The kid's a punk, so he's more than welcome to "get his revenge" on BU while he's on BC's third line.

- Is anybody going to beat BC in hockey this year? My God they look good. Might be looking at back to back titles in Newton.

- Please be quiet James Harrison, I beg of you. First you call Obama a front-runner because he would have invited the other team if they won the Super Bowl (well, duh, that's kind of how it works, my friend) and now all this retirement talk. Here's a better idea: stop doing helmet-to-helmet hits, which are already illegal and have obviously altered your mental capacity in the process.

- Trend I'm not feeling:

http://www.cardchronicle.com/2010/10/18/1759215/quincy-miller-likely-headed-to-baylor

- Trend I am feeling:

- My fantasy team's 1-5. I give up.

- Men's and women's basketball were both picked to win the America East Conference. The women should threaten at running the conference table like they did in 2008-2009 since they're really that good, and young, surprisingly. The men I'm not as sold on. I see this as a transition year, what with seven freshmen and three transfers. The team's going to struggle early on unless they gel at an abnormally fast pace. Besides, they've been picked to win the conference for the past few years and they haven't followed through yet. I'm actually going with UNH this year, but BU's going to own that conference next year and for the foreseeable future.

- Great for Teddy and I to get to go to media day. Obviously nice to get to talk to Greenberg and Chambers, but the highlight by far was getting to meet our personal favorite AE coach, Randy Monroe of UMBC. Strong handshake from a man of unparalleled awesomeness.

Also of note from media day -- Mark Macon was present and did not seem to be stashing any stolen TVs. Also, Will Brown may or may not have been drunk.

- Projected Starting Lineup: Matt Griffin at 1, Darryl Partin at 2, Holland at 3, O'Brien at 4, Junk at 5, with Hazel as the 6th man. Look for Junk to eventually get supplanted by Ugly John.

- Working the men's soccer beat, Neil Roberts is quickly becoming my favorite BU coach -- dry, cynical, with a biting wit. Love it.

- Looks like Hot Dog and Jesus are going into semi-retirement having graduated, thus leaving a void for go-to BU general sports blog. This is part of the reason I'm coming back, because competition has emerged in the form of this:

http://baystateroadsports.blogspot.com/

Nothing against these guys -- I'm sure they're fine young gents, but in the words of Jay-Z: I...WILL...NOT...LOSE

- I'm going to have to show some serious restraint for my preview for the BU-Kentucky basketball game right after Thanksgiving break because if I don't, it's going to make the reaction to my angry Dayton trip recap look like a toddler's tea party.

As an aside to all those UD fans, I'm still remorseful over that post: the parking situation threw me off and you all seemed like a great, and underrated group of fans. So apologies again to everyone...except for the guy who said "Sucks to BU." No soup for you!

- As a final note, I've developed a full-fledged man crush on Charlie Strong. I know it's early, but I really think we've got something special.

GW......Again

2010-08-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

Recently, news came from the BU Athletic Department that BU basketball would be participating in a pod of the Preseason NIT, in Villanova's pod based in Philadelphia. Obviously, this is a great opportunity for a program looking to make a name for itself and expand its "brand". It's also a nice little chance to play some teams you wouldn't normally get the chance to, like in this Puerto Rico Shootout this past year when BU got to compete against Kansas State, Indiana and Georgia Tech.

Any of those above reasons make BU's inclusion in the Preseason NIT all that more intriguing. However, the tournament brackets were recently released and BU is playing (drumroll please)....George Washington aka the team that it seems like we play every single year.

BU and GW are like two twins seperated along a coast: we're both private schools with urban campuses in big cities. We're about the same size, we both play in mid-major sports conferences and we're both extremely overpriced considering our respective placements on the college rankings (which, shocker, we're seperated by like two places on). Any college book I looked at said that if I'm considering BU, to look at GW and vice versa. You could almost refer to BU as GW North and GW as BU South.

So here we find ourselves again, facing Karl Hobbs and his bunch from our nation's capital, a team who I've seen us look terrible against for two consecutive years at home in front of at the very worst utterly disappointed and at best entirely apathetic home crowds at Agganis.

A win would secure a likely matchup with Villanova, but based on our success or lack thereof against GW in the past several years, let's just worry about the first game for now

C.L. Smooth to Greece

2010-08-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

With BU basketball season a mere three months away, there is some more news from the hardwood that doesn't involve recruiting or Coach Chambers' Twitter updates. As an aside, never expect H & V to get a Twitter. Not gonna happen, unless my dignity gets abducted Jean-Benet Ramsey style.

Anyhow, word is now out that an all-time great from BU hoops, Corey Lowe, has signed on to play basketball professionally in Greece for a team called Kavala-Panorama, meaning he may or may not be playing against Olympiakos, a team that may or may not feature John Holland.

This is what I expected to happen with Corey, even though some thought he may have an outside shot at the NBA. I believe Fred Sanford has a term for those kinds of folks.

This isn't an insult in any way: we've seen over the past month and a half that even outstanding college players (Scottie Reynolds, Jon Scheyer, Tyler Smith, Raymar Morgan) don't make the NBA for whatever reason and making a living playing ball overseas is nothing to laugh at, considering those guys usually make hundreds of thousands of dollars playing the game they love.

Teddy knows far more about Greece than I do, but I do know that they have the notable distinction of having invented both civilization and anal sex. Admittedly, an odd combo.

Hopefully good times ahead for Corey as he enjoys what is hopefully a successful career living amongst half of the cast from season two of "The Wire". His game should translate well to an international style of play and, as always, we wish him nothing but the best of luck.

Make BU proud

BU Hoops Picks Up Recruit

2010-08-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

Long time, no see. Admittedly, it's been a while since I've posted on the blog; believe it or not, things have been pretty busy down here in Kentucky and I thought maybe Teddy could pick up some of the slack, but he's currently at his frat's national convention in Miami (likely meaning there's some double penetration going on, and I'm not talking about females here).

Anyhow, news hit the wire (not the TV show) that BU basketball has picked up a recruit for the 2011 class, a wing player by the name of Zach Chionuma. He's 6'3" so look for him to play some shooting guard and maybe a little bit of small forward, but most likely just the two guard spot.

Reports are that he's a very athletic player whose skill set has yet to match up with his raw athleticism, so he could very well be a sort of project in the making. ESPN's rated him as a 40, which for those who don't know, is the lowest possible ranking for a recruit on their site. I wouldn't get too alarmed about the numbers though -- mid-majors and low- majors like BU stockpile these sorts of 40 range players and sometimes they can develop into a solid contributor on the team. Jake O'Brien came out of BC High as a 40, so it's truly a tossup.

I wasn't, however, able to find a video or even a Google Image of him, which of course isn't always a good sign at least for blogging purposes.

Chambers didn't even have to leave New England to pick up Chionuma, which I'm okay with, but BU shouldn't try to get too much local talent from the New England states, because hey, let's face it, there's not a whole lot of basketball talent up in the very Northeast. I can count maybe three or foour players from New England who have done much of anything -- Patrick Ewing (Boston by way of Jamaica, so that kind of counts), Reggie Lewis (Boston), Jeff Adrien (Brookline), Reggie Lewis (Boston), and Marcus Camby (Hartford).

All in all, I like Chambers' main strategy -- focus on hoops hotbeds like Philly and New York, developing connections there in order to create a pipeline for years to come. The Chionuma commitment obviously isn't huge news, but this is a guy who could potentially be a solid role player for this program.

Athletes + Rapping = ?

2010-07-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

Famous people are really interesting, and I don't write this as someone who reads all the junk tabloids and Perez Hilton all day. I mean, I've got a life and I like women, I don't have time for all that junk. It's just really interesting because, conventionally, people get famous because of their talent in a certain area -- Michael Jordan played ball, John Lennon sang and wrote music, Mark Twain wrote novels, Denzel acts, and Charles Manson killed people. Oh, and politicians lie, cheat and steal. Obviously in this day and age, you've got your Speidi types who are famous for reasons that are frankly beyond my comprehension.

However, for a lot of these people, the fame brought about by their natural gifts isn't enough -- they want more. Actors want to get into music, musicians want to get into the film industry (providing us with such gems as Common in "Just Wright"), athletes want to get into movies (I, for one, have seen "Space Jam" around 20 times, although I haven't watched it in like ten years), and perhaps most interestingly, athletes get into music. More often than not, at least in the past 25 or so years, it's involved football and basketball players getting into rap music. It makes enough sense -- you don't have to be good at a musical instrumental or be able to sing well; really you just write some lyrics and hook up with a producer to put together a good beat for you to rhyme over. Shame on you if I thought it made enough sense because a majority of football and basketball players are black; I'm above stereotypes...at least publicly.

So let's examine this trend a little bit and look at some athlete's forays into the world of hip-hop, there's some good, some bad and some flat-out ugly.

The 1985 Chicago Bears -- The Super Bowl Shuffle

Simply put, this is basically the gold standard when it comes to this topic. First off, they're wearing their jerseys and full gear. Some may nix it, I find it awesome. And let's be fair here -- let's judge this for it's time. To us, the beat sounds cheesy, the lyrics aren't great and the flow is all too slow. But that's part of it's charm -- it's a beautiful capsule of the extremes of the 80's and most importantly, it's a song where they rap about how great they are, and you know what? They followed it up, going on a dominating run to a Super Bowl victory. Thus, "The Super Bowl Shuffle Is Immortalized".

Corey and the Fins -- Can't Touch Us

If anything, this was a product of some bad timing. It came out around the same time as Vanilla Ice was getting big with "Ice Ice Baby", thus causing every white kid in the greater Miami area to believe that they can make it big in the rap game because that idiot did. Also, they sample a song, which is strike number one, and worst of all, they do it poorly. And it's a Miami Dolphins video, but where in the hell are the Dolphins? Where's Dan Marino? Where's Mark Clayton? Where is anyone who is not an offensive lineman? And who in the hell is this Corey guy? In short, everything that is right about "The Super Bowl Shuffle" is wrong in "Can't Touch Us". And in this time, the Dolphins never won a Super Bowl. Hate to state the obvious, but someone could touch them.

Shaquille O'Neal -- Strait Playin

I'm going to ignore the lame, Peter Framton-esque wokkie sound thing in the beginning of the song. And I'm going to ignore "Kazaam". Everything Shaq does is awesome, and it's as simple as that. Case closed.

Kobe Bryant ft. Tyra Banks -- K.O.B.E.

As far as I'm concerned, this is what dissolved the Shaq-Kobe union out in LA. And when I say union, I don't mean any sort of marriage since we are talking California here. Simply, Shaq can rap and Kobe can't. In fact, Shaq blew Kobe away with his lyrical fury so much that Kobe was speechless when presented that fateful question -- "Kobe, tell me how my ass tastes?". We still have yet to know the answer. C'mon Kobe, man up and tell us! Judging by this performance alone, I doubt we'll never know the answer. Kobe's undoubtedly one of the fifteen or twenty best players ever, but the man grew up in Italy and the Main Line -- he should've just accepted that he's a hell of a baller and not a product of any sort of mean streets and just leave it at that. Unfortunately, he didn't and know we're left with this feat of artistic genius.

Charles Barkley -- Taco Bell Rap

A lot of people aren't too high on this rap attempt, and I can partially understand why. Lyrically, it's not very good. The beat could have been better. And why in the hell does Lamar Odom pop up? Is it because his wife is a valued customer at Taco Bell or something? Shit, Women + Weight = Taboo. However, none of this can be leveled at Chuck. He's stuck with the lyrics given to him and the advertising people came up with the whole background of the ad and the inclusion of Odom (who interrupts Chuck's verse... that bastard!). But does The Round Mound of Rebound pull it off to make it semi-respectable? Absolutely. I love Charles Barkley and I like Taco Bell, therefore I like this song.

Ron Artest -- Champions

A big deal of this song was made because in the middle of Ron Artest's postgame interview after winning the NBA title, in the middle of thanking his therapist and doctor, he made sure to promote this very single dropping. Just because of the nature of the beast, I was skeptical at first, without taking into full consideration this is Ron Artest we're talking about here.

To begin with, the context of this song is pretty incredible. Artest wrote and recorded the song last offseason after he'd been signed by LA and promised to drop it if the Lakers won the title (which they obviously ended up doing). With regards to the song itself, it's damn good. I love the beat and lyrically, it's actually really good. He made bold proclamations throughout, things like this:

"I love the fourth quarter/ I love the ninth inning/ I love Game Seven"

Here's the crux of this argument -- he, like the '85 Bears, backed this up. When was Ron Artest at his best in the NBA Finals? Game Seven, when the moment was the biggest and when the stakes were the highest. And, of course, he reps Queensbridge. I know I've already said that "The Super Bowl Shuffle" is the gold standard in athlete-rap forays, but that's speaking 25 years after the fact. In all honesty, I think this song could eventually surpass it, because despite all of it's charm, "The Super Bowl Shuffle" is a novelty and will forever be one; "Champions", however, is actually a damn good song.

History will determine whether this song will remain in lists like this for years to come, but for this very moment, it's deservingly near the top, if not at the very summit.

Predicting the Free Agents

2010-06-29T20:07:00.000-07:00

Some people like to moan and groan about how the summer's the slowest time in sports. I've always cried BS on this, but usually not to much avail. I'm one of the few people out there who can appreciate the wonder of regular season baseball, but then again that may be because my Cincinnati Reds are good for the first time since they won the 1990 World Series. And I was about to turn one back then. Of course there's World Cup soccer right now too. I played soccer so I understand the game and can enjoy it. Then again, I can see why others don't particularly enjoy watching the game; can't understand those who don't consider it a sport, though.

The point is that many do see summer as the proverbial "Doldrums of Sports"; after all, NBA action's over early on in the summer, college football and the NFL are months away, and I guess for the sake of Bostonians and the like, the NHL doesn't start back up until October.

This summer, however, is an exception: it is an offseason even the most casual of sports fans can immerse themselves in for we are about to embark on the biggest offseason in the history of the NBA. Superstars and franchise-altering players are there for the taking and even the most desolate of teams have even the faintest of hopes that they are a signature on the dotted line away from rewriting their collective destinys and fates.

It all commences on Thursday, although players can't technically sign until July 8th, so don't expect anything too immediate on this. However, don't expect that to mean that we still won't take the liberty of making some predictions as to where the top impending free agents will ultimately land. I'll do the list in ascending order of importance of the free agent, because well, it only makes sense:

Carlos Boozer

Boozer, once deemed to be too injury-prone to be considered a top notch free agent, shed that stigma this past year by posting up his usual 20-10 sort of numbers. He's been a central figure in Utah's success over these past five years working in tandem with Derron Williams, so you would have to think he'd maybe show some loyalty. However, this is the same guy who turned his back on Cleveland about five years ago to sign with Utah. Loyalty's not too big on this guy's radar and the amount of money that the Jazz threw at forward Paul Millsap last summer may have very well spelled the end of Boozer's time in Mormon-land.

Prediction: Signs huge contract, makes amends, and goes back to Cleveland

Dirk Nowitzki

As long as I've followed his career, Dirk Nowitski has been a Dallas Maverick, even dating back to when they had those old jerseys with the hat logo and Steve Nash and Michael Finley were on the team. It seemes weird to think that people are even considering the possibility of Dirk leaving Big D, and I can't wrap my head around it. This isn't even because of some sentimental reason -- I don't really care for Dirk, the Mavericks, or the city of Dallas very much. It's just that logically it doesn't make sense for him to leave. With Mark Cuban as the owner, Dallas has been a place where players get pampered because that's the way that Cuban runs things -- it's a very player-oriented environment. Not to mention it provides Dirk a chance to be the main guy and not a supporting figure; trust me, these guys have egos and that factors into their decisions.

Prediction: Re-signs with Dallas

Joe Johnson

Johnson has really come to fruition as a star in his time in Atlanta. I remember him getting signed by the Hawks a few years back and thinking, "Man, they really overpaid for a guy who looked good because he played with Steve Nash. No wonder the Hawks suck." As I probably will be with these predictions, I was dead wrong. While maybe not worthy of a max contract, you better believe Johnson's going to get one. It's just up to him whether it's going to be for selfish reasons like going to a bad team alone just to be the star, or for the goal of winning, i.e. you sign with a contender to be the sidekick to Wade or LeBron or whoever.

Prediction: Signs max contract with the Knicks

Amare Stoudemire

Chris Bosh is getting a lot of the ink and attention with regards to free agent big men, but Stoudemire is an elite player in this league and will be a real get for whoever lands him when all is said and done. He, along with Steve Nash, has been an integral part of why Phoenix has been one of the dominant teams in the Western Conference for the past seven or so years. People talk about how much he loves being a part of the Suns organization and how much he loves Phoenix, but it's being widely speculated that he's gone. He had a big postseason which should go a long way towards landing him a coveted max contract, although he's likely in the same boat as Johnson, maybe set up to play second fiddle somewhere to a bigger star.

Prediction: Signs a max contract with the Knicks

Chris Bosh

Bosh is a curious entity here. There's no doubt about it that he's a talented player, among the best, if not the best, power forward in the NBA, but he hasn't accomplished much in terms of his team's success. Injuries have also plagued Bosh, but when healthy, he epitomizes production from a big man. Even though he's easily the third best player available in this loaded free agent class, Bosh may very well be looked upon to be the glorified second option, likely playing Robin to Wade or James' Batman (my God, I really need to think up some original labels to designate in these first and second guy situations). Conventional wisdom for the past two or three years has been that Bosh wouldn't be around North of the Border much longer and don't expect anything to change now.

Prediction: Signs max contract with Miami

Dwyane Wade

Of all the free agents listed here, this one's the biggest no brainer. I'd feel dumb spending more than five sentences going over this one. Wade has been with Miami his whole career, has proven to the city of Miami and to the Heat organization that he is a winner and champion, and has shown little to no indication that he wants to leave. Simply put, he's staying on South Beach.

Prediction: Re-signs max contract with Miami

LeBron James

Naturally, the face of this free agent class is the last one to discuss. The topic of James' impending free agency has been a hot topic for the past two years, making him the only athlete in the history of sports, as far as I can remember, to have that kind of attention around where he'll sign a contract. Teams have been speculated on end -- Knicks, Nets, Heat, Bulls, Clippers, Bobcats (kidding) -- and now all of that speculation is coming to a head for the moment has finally arrived. The teams have cleared the cap space and now all that needs to be determined is where James will sign. I originally thought Cleveland, but then when I did my LeBron post on here I picked New York. Then I thought Chicago for a while. If you think about it, this is such a convoluted scenario because there are great options out there, albeit with some negatives.

New York's got the glamour and the chance at immortality if he leads the Knicks to their first championship since 1973. But have you seen that roster lately? You think LeBron's going to want to waste two or three years with Chris Duhon and Danillo Gallinari while the team continues to build?

Miami's got the allure of playing with Wade and possibly Bosh, all under the careful watch of Pat Riley, but facts are facts and Wade is the king of that city. LeBron would be the No. 2 option there and that's something that no two-time defending MVP will accept.

Chicago offers another big market and a talented young supporting cast to play with, but the ownership is notoriously stingy there and he'd take a huge gamble by playing for a first time head coach whom he had no say over whatsoever. Besides, would you want to play in Michael Jordan's immense shadow.

The simple fact here is that LeBron's a loyal guy. He still dates the same girl that he did in high school. His best friends and closest advisors are all childhood friends from back in Akron, Ohio. This is the same guy who has accepted both of his MVP trophies at his old high school. The simple question is does LeBron want to admit defeat, bolt for another team and become the biggest pariah in his hometown's entire sports history, or does he want to create his own legend and immortalize himself as the superhuman talent who delivered hope and success to a city desperately longing for them both? I'm going to have to lean towards the latter.

Prediction: Re-signs for max contract with Cleveland

Wolff Doin' Work, Part Deux

2010-06-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

It was announced here on H & V a few weeks ago that former BU basketball coach Dennis Wolff is now happily employed as the Director of Basketball Operations at Virginia Tech. Well now, there's news on another member of the Wolff-pack.

Shitty, humorless puns aside, it was recently revealed that Matt Wolff- yes, the Matt "I'm a Direct Product of Some Serious Nepotism" Wolff who inexplicably started for three years at guard for BU ahead of my own personal favorite Marques Johnson- has landed a gig as the DBO at American University.

http://www.aueagles.com/sports/m-baskbl/2010-11/releases/20100628

At American, Wolff will be working for head coach Jeff Jones, the same man who his father was an assistant for at Virginia before he landed the head job at BU.

Sure, Matt shouldn't have started all of those years and gotten the minutes he did, but he always seemed like a nice-enough kid who always hustled and gave his all. Best of luck to him with this job and maybe one day, he'll be gracing the sidelines just like his father as a head coach.

Jersey Fail....or WIN?

2010-06-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

After the conclusion of the US-Slovenia World Cup game a couple of days ago, there were a few unanswered questions, most of which revolved around the mysterious call from the referee that took away what would have been the winning goal for the US. As a former referee, I can tell you that "call" was absolute BS. There was no offsides on the play and any replay that's been shown indicates that there was no foul at all; you could have called a foul on the Slovenians but you usually let the play continue to see what happens and in this case, it would have been a goal so the fouls would have been moot. A lot of people are comparing it to Jim Joyce's blown call that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game, but I think they're different. Joyce's call, while indefensible, at least didn't affect the final outcome of the game. Sure Galarraga didn't technically achieve perfection, but Detroit still won the game. This ref literally cost the US the game and, unlike Joyce, he doesn't seem to care that he messed up and he isn't even man enough to admit his mistake. Inexcusable, simply and utterly inexcusable.

Anyhow, one key thing that I noticed in this game were the Slovenian uniforms. Anyone who reads this blog knows I have something of an affinity for uniforms and aesthetics in sports, and the Slovenian unis have me genuinely puzzled.

One thing that is evident is that they have a very Charlie Brown-like quality to them.

I know that Slovenia is a very mountainous country being right in the midst of the Alps, so the jagged line probably represents mountains, but the question has to be asked: are these jerseys cool?

It seems a little obvious that these jerseys are almost a carbon copy of the shirt worn by America's favorite animated prematurely bald ten year old, so it could be considered tacky or lame in the eyes of many. I for one will disagree with this. I happen to be a huge fan of the Peanuts, especially my man Chuck, so any thing that displays any sort of homage to them is a complete and total win in my book.

Anyone else who wants to voice an opinion on the matter, meaning the five or so people who read this blog, well you've got the comment section. Bombs away...

News on BU Hoops Non-Conference Schedule

2010-06-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

Non-conference schedules in basketball are a pretty interesting thing. For your big programs out there, it's a delicate balance: do you go with a creampuff schedule of low majors in order to pile up the wins and boost your chances of making the NCAA Tournament, or do you make things tough, schedule some good teams, thus preparing yourself for conference play and boosting your RPI and SOS?

It's an incredibly underrated part of planning a season and is absolutely critical to a team's success. What scheduling is to a college basketball team is underrated in the way that the hotel worker from "The Hangover" is underrated.

Along with the dude's bride, easily the hottest chick in that movie.

I digress.

Per FoxSports college basketball writer Jeff Goodman, BU's compiling quite the impressive non-conference schedule.

http://community.foxsports.com/goodmanonfox/blog/2010/06/04/america_east_offseason_rundown

This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, seeing as last season Chambers put together an out-of-conference schedule that included Kansas State, Indiana, and Georgia Tech in the Puerto Rico Tipoff; playing at UConn; and playing at eventual NIT champion Dayton, with the last of those providing me to meet some of the best and most underrated (gathering there's a theme here) fans in the country.

Among the things listed in Goodman's article:

- BU will play in the Villanova pod of the preseason NIT. Don't know if that means that BU will get to play in MSG, but that'd be pretty insane.

- A November 30th date on the road against Kentucky, a team that will be bringing in the No. 1 recruiting class in the country and figures to be in the preseason top 15. This probably means that Chambers had to set something up and plan with that slimeball Calipari, but hey, a great opportunity for BU, even if it means they're likely going to get trounced.

- A nice regional matchup will take place as BU will travel to take on UMass in Amherst on New Year's Eve. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that the Philly connection between Chambers and new BC coach Steve Donahue can materialize in that series being given life.

- And at last, the home dates: as of now, at least based on Goodman's article, they have home dates set for December 21st against St. Joseph's and December 9th against LaSalle. No word on any of the others, although Harvard seems like a likely suspect.

Sounds like it is shaping up for another quality non-conference schedule, hopefully one that can prepare this team for conference play.

A few non-schedule related notes:

- Goodman's article also mentioned that Scott Brittain did indeed transfer out of the program and will likely play back home in Canada. Best of luck to Scott with his play north of the border.

- Just in that former UCLA coach and basketball legend John Wooden passed away tonight in Los Angeles. Goes without saying that Wooden will be sorely missed. The Wizard of Westwood is truly without peer in college basketball. Besides, nobody can pull off the bolo tie quite that well.

R.I.P

-CM

Wolff Doin' Work

2010-06-04T09:29:00.000-07:00

Don't confuse this title with Spike Lee's unwatchable documentary "Kobe Doin' Work" that came out last year; this is actually an entertaining bit of news.

For months, I've been pimping out Dennis Wolff for some sort of coaching job. Do I think he's a great coach? No, not really, but you would think a guy with over 200 wins in Division I basketball could land a coaching gig at some point. Well, that time is evidently now.

Wolff is reportedly about to become the Director of Basketball Operations for his good NYC friend Seth Greenberg down at Virginia Tech. Link below:

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/notebookplus/wb/248480

A DBO position may seem strange for a man like Wolff with the kind of DI success that he had, but I guess it's a foot back in the game, this time on a much larger stage than he had at BU..

I can't speak for Teddy because I'm sure he'd say otherwise, but I'd like to wish Wolff the best of luck with that job. Good to see him back on his feet and still collecting checks from BU.

H & V's NBA Finals Preview

2010-06-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

Well, if the ESPN reminders and all the hype haven't been enough, here's this: the Lakers and Celtics, possibly the biggest rivals in all of sports, are meeting in the NBA Finals, playing for the ultimate prize.

By my estimation, it very well could be the best rivalry in all of sports. Red Sox-Yankees? They play about 20 times a year, plus how different are those fan bases, really? Patriots-Colts? It's been great this decade, but there's no history to it. Duke-North Carolina and Michigan-Ohio States? That's college my friend.

Here we get East Coast vs. West Coast, Larry Legend vs. Showtime, One Bandwagon Fan Base vs. Another Bandwagon Fan Base. Most importantly, you get not only bitter rivals, but the two most storied franchises in the history of the NBA; the Celtics with 17 banners and the Lakers with 15.

This is truly the cream of the professional basketball crop, and tonight, it all tips off. How will it play out? How will the matchups play between various players? And ultimately, who will come out on top?

In true H & V fashion, we will be taking each matchup and giving the edge in each, Lakers or Celtics, all the way down to the last guy on the bench. Three different picks will come from three different angles: myself, Frost, and Rene.

Point Guard: Rajon Rondo vs. Derek Fisher

I really don't see this as the mismatch that everyone else does. Is Rondo an electrifying player? Absolutely, he's arguably one of the best point guards in the NBA. But I don't completely buy him being the best player on a championship team, he's way too inconsistent of a player. I'm not trying to diss the guy; he's a fellow Meyzeek Middle School alum, but I'm just saying this isn't a blowout of a matchup. Derek Fisher, old and limited as he may be, is still a guy who plays his best when the lights are the brightest. The stage doesn't get much bigger than the Finals, and I expect D-Fish to have a good series. Just not a good enough one to be able to match the speed and play-making ability of Rondo.

Edge: Rondo

Shooting Guard: Ray Allen vs. Kobe Bryant

It's not exactly a secret that these two guys don't like each other; in fact, they hate each other. This is a big reason why I've never liked Kobe. Ray may have proved himself as a horrible actor in "He Got Game", but he's widely regarded as the nicest guy in the NBA.

How can you be in an intense feud with the nicest guy in the NBA, especially one who can so emphatically and persuasively deliver a line like, "I don't have a father!"

Anyhow, this is a pretty easy call. Ray Allen's a future Hall of Famer, but he's limited in the Celtics offense and he's slower on defense than he used to be. Expect him to run around screens looking for an open three that he'll usually drain. But we've got to remember that he's going to be facing not only the man who I consider to be the best player in the NBA, but also a man possessed in Bryant.

Big Edge: Bryant

Small Forward: Paul Pierce vs. Ron Artest

Of all the starting spots, this may very well be the hardest call. Pierce will always be remembered as the guy who absolutely tore the Lakers apart back in 2008, but let's remember that was against Vlad Radmonovic. Let's just say those times are over as Pierce will face off against one of the league's elite defenders in Artest. Will he be able to handle a more physical matchup against a better player? We'll see, but so long as Pierce doesn't settle for too many outside jumpers and attacks the basket, Artest could get into foul trouble. And Pierce is far more integral to his team's offense than Artest is with his.

We do know one thing for sure: Artest won't be taking any charges. When asked about the Lakers being paid $50 for every charge they took, Artest wasn't exactly on board. He responded with the following gem:

"I don't even know how to take a charge. To get a charge you'd have to fall. I'd rather not fall. You call an offensive foul, possibly be a fight. That's just how we grew up playing basketball."

Queensbridge FTW.

Slightest of All Edges: Pierce

Power Forward: Kevin Garnett vs. Pau Gasol

Another really tough call. Fans like myself remember Garnett absolutely owning Gasol a few years back. He was just a much tougher, harder-nosed player and he physically overpowered him down low and outclassed him in virtually every imaginable aspect of the game. But just as 2010 KG isn't the same player that 2008 KG was (largely due to knee problems), the 2010 NBA Finals will be featuring a very different Pau Gasol, a guy who has emerged as one of the top 10-15 players in the league and a guy who can handle physical intensity a lot better than he was able to a couple years ago. Gasol is undoubtedly a better player right now, but if KG can hold him in check, the Celtics have a great shot at winning this series.

Edge: Gasol

Center: Kendrick Perkins vs. Andrew Bynum

A far cry from Robert Parish vs. Kareem to be sure, but an interesting matchup nonetheless. As far as I'm concerned Perkins is a solid player who benefits a lot from playing with a group of future Hall of Famers. He's a great defensive player, but he's a technical foul or two away from facing a suspension. Perkins was a straight to the NBA guy, but was originally committed to play at Memphis, so this headcase thing really shouldn't be too surprising. Bynum is another interesing case study. When healthy, this guy has the potential to be an elite center in this league. Problem is, this guy's never healthy and hasn't been since he entered the league as a teenager. The Lakers have put a lot of faith in Bynum, turning down blockbuster trades involving him, and he simply hasn't been able to be a consistent producer. His injury problems have continued with having to have his knee drained, and many expect him to play limited minutes and have a similarly limited contribution.

Edge: Perkins

6th Man: Rasheed Wallace vs. Lamar Odom

This actually works out pretty well for comparisons sake because these two will actually be facing off against each other when they come in. Odom will likely get a lot more minutes than Rasheed and the guy has proven himself to not only be an absolute matchup nightmare, but also an effective player who comes up big in big moments (when need be). Odom's a force on the boards, and it's always likely that Rasheed reverts to his old ways by chucking up contested threes.

Edge: Odom

Bench: Celtics Bench vs. Lakers Bench

It's critical to realize that not everyone on the bench is going to be playing, so the 11th and 12th guys on the team don't really have much of a place in the context of this argument. This is The Finals: your best players play, simple as that. We'll assume that each team goes with a nine man rotation, so having already covered the sixth men, here are the top three subs on each team:

Boston: Glen Davis, Nate Robinson, Tony Allen

Los Angeles: Shannon Brown, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic

If you can't see the immense advantage that the Celtics have with depth just based on that, it's time to get your basketball IQ checked.

Big Edge: Celtics

Coach: Doc Rivers vs. Phil Jackson

I'll preface this by saying that I love Doc Rivers. I can guarantee you that I love him more than most Celtics fans because even when the Celtics were headed for the a high spot back in the Greg Oden lottery back in 2007, I maintained that this guy is a great coach when people up in Boston wanted to run him out of town. When you give Rivers talent, by my estimation, there's probably only one active coach who can do more with that talent. It just so happens that's the man that Rivers is facing in this series, the Zen Master himself, Jackson. The man can handle egos and talent and maximize that talent and potential of a team in a way that no other coach in the history of basketball has been able to (yes Boston fans, even more so than Red). That's why the man has ten championship rings and that's why he's in position to win another one in these coming weeks.

Edge: Jackson

Prediction Time

Let's just say this much: if the Lakers win tonight, this thing is over. Jackson is a million and zero when he wins the first game of a playoff series. I'm actually not kidding or exaggerating here. He has won every single series he's coached in which his team captured Game One. The man can close better than anyone ever has, at least partially due to the likes of players that he's coached: MJ, Scottie, Shaq, Kobe.

It's not exactly Earth-shattering to say that these are two very different teams from the ones to that faced off against each other two years ago.

Let's take a look at Boston. Rondo's gone from complimentary piece to a full-blown star. Allen's lost a step or so, but he's still the same dead-eye shooter. Pierce has maybe aged a bit, but not too drastic of a change. Garnett's aged considerably, especially from a physical health standpoint. Game Two '08 Finals hero Leon Powe's gone. As is PJ Brown. In are Robinson, Wallace, and Marquis Daniels.

Then look at the Lakers. Kobe's still arguably the best player in the league. Gasol's toughened up and become an elite big man. Artest has been added as a defensive juggernaut. Bynum is actually playing.

This isn't quite a toss-up, but I can assure you, this will be a great series, better than the one in 2008. NBA Finals tend to be anti-climactic, but this one will defy that; I can assure you of that much.

The difference here is inspiration. The Celtics are looking for that last hurrah, but they've already proven themselves as a champion and did so against the Lakers. They've conquered that obstacle. There's still something to be had for LA, though. Sure they won a title last year, but that was against a Magic team that it was much, much better than, a team in which they matched up incredibly well against. This is different. This is a chance for Bryant to prove himself as a winner yet again, for Gasol to shed his soft image, a chance for Artest to prove he can be a key piece on a championship team. Most importantly, they want to make people forget that they blew a 20-plus point lead in Game Four, that they lost by 39 in the series-ending Game Six that in a game that wasn't even that close.

Revenge is on their mind, and in a series like this, instilling that sort of mindset in a player like Kobe Bryant and a team as talented as the Lakers, and that can be all the edge that you need.

The Final Pick: Lakers in Seven

-CM

Plea to LeBron

2010-06-03T07:20:00.000-07:00

Gotta thank Franky Frost for shooting me this link last night. With LeBron James' impending free agency, there's been a lot of posturing on the part of people in Cleveland, New York, New Jersey and everywhere in between, trying to lure The King to their city.

Anyhow, there's a sog out by Jadakiss and a poo-poo platter of other MCs where each makes a plea to LeBron to come to their city. Jada leads it off with the NYC argument, then others follow, representing their own cities; you've got Chicago, Miami, and LA among others.

Overall, this is pretty awesome, hilarious at the very least. This takes LeBron's free agency to a whole new level. Any other free agent in the history of any other sport cause something to this level?

Proves why this summer, regardless of LeBron's decision, is so historic and why so much attention is being paid to this decision of one man.

My Conference Realignment Plan

2010-06-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

I'll give a little bit of context on this one. I'd been discussing the conference realignment possibility with our newest contributor to the blog (you know, the guy who geniusly identified Rally Cat as a threat to out precious freedoms?) for quite some time, mostly through April and early May until finals and papers began to take their inevitable toll.

I was doing a lot of talking on the matter, going in depth on a lot of the possibilities, so it was wisely asked that I shoot him an e-mail detailing my big idea on the matter.

With topics at a minimum (watch out for an NBA Finals preview tomorrow, courtesy of Rene and myself), I figured now would be an appropriate time to whip it out, the
e-mail that is.

Below is the e-mail copied and pasted onto the blog. Not a violation of the Freedom of Information Act. Hey, the hippies got something right.

Here's what's up: conference realignment is going to happen whether we think it's right or not. The Big Ten is going to expand, possibly upwards to 16 teams. We can all acknowledge that they're not going to get Notre Dame for anything, especially football- too rich of a TV contract that they've got with NBC, plus their boosters have expressed an intense desire to remain independent. This means the Big East is going to get raided to the point where it's no longer going to exist. The teams that it would be losing couldn't possibly be made up by getting the likes of Memphis and Central Florida.

Make no mistakes about it, this is all happening for football. Basketball, popular as it may be, doesn't generate a fraction of the revenue that football does. Even the best regular season college hoops game can't even match a mediocre Saturday game in the fall with TV ratings and what not.

Anyhow, unless the Big Ten expands by only one school (highly unlikely), the Big East football will cease to exist and the Catholic, non-football schools will break off and form their own conference. This has been talked about for some time.

What will ensue out of all of this will be the formation of four "superconferences", with about 16 teams a piece. This has been written about extensively on a national level and is a very plausable option should things transpire as expected. Below, I've set up what these four conferences will look like, trying my best to maintain a level of geographic integrity. New additions are bolded.

New Big Ten- Midwest and Northeast

Illinois
Indiana
Penn State
Michigan
Michigan State
Purdue
Ohio State
Northwestern
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Iowa
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
Syracuse
UConn
Boston College

The New ACC- Lower Midwest and Southeast Coast

Maryland
Duke
North Carolina
NC State
Wake Forest
Clemson
Miami
Georgia Tech
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Florida State
South Carolina
Louisville
Cincinnati
South Florida
West Virginia

New SEC- Southeast and Southwest (Basically the Current Big 12 South)

Florida (Go Gata!)
Georgia
Vanderbilt
Tennessee
Alabama
Auburn
Mississippi
Mississippi State
LSU
Arkansas
Kentucky
Texas
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Baylor
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State

New Pac-10- West Coast, Rocky Mntns, and Great Plains

Arizona
Arizona State
USC
UCLA
California
Stanford
Oregon
Oregon State
Washington
Washington State
Colorado
Nebraska
Missouri
Kansas
Kansas State
Iowa State

The previously alluded to basketball-only conference of Big East remnants would look something like this:

Georgetown
Villanova
Seton Hall
St. John's
DePaul
Marquette
Providence
Notre Dame
Xavier
Dayton
Butler
Virginia Commonwealth or George Mason

A few explanations:

-BC goes to the Big Ten, firstly because it's the most profitable league out there, with their own TV network and all. Also, geographically to the ACC, they don't match. The closest team to them is Maryland. This way they have UConn, Cuse and Rutgers all fairly nearby

-South Carolina to the ACC because of the natural rivalry that exists with Clemson. They're on a coastal state and they haven't been in the SEC so long that they're indispensible or anything.

-Big 12 North to Pac-10 and Big 12 South to the SEC for geographic reasons. As a side note, the new SEC would be a beyond unreal football league.

-Added in some non-Catholic schools to the equation for bball. Ten teams really isn't much for a conference like that, and who would pass on the chance to get a program like Butler who doesn't have DI football?

My twosense anyway, hope you enjoyed it and that your mind's not too, too boggled.

Granted, a lot of this conference expansion will be dictated by who makes the first move and when, but look for an entry on how all this might affect BU.

Theme of the Offseason: NCAA Violations

2010-05-31T21:44:00.000-07:00

Right now, we're approaching June, a time of year I'd have to consider to be among the best in all of sports. Think about it, there's the Stanley Cup Finals, the NBA Finals, the NBA Draft, some great baseball and to top it all off, there's the World Cup this year.

People who read this blog fairly regularly, however, know that I'm a college basketball fan, first and foremost. And June, quite frankly, sucks for college hoops. The season's been over for a good two months, the coaching carousel has finished up and recruits have all signed on for next year. Basically, there's nothing.

There are always storylines that pop up in the sport in this dead period, and they're usually the sort of unexpected things that are always news-worthy. As a Louisville fan, I can reasonably admit last offseason sucked and then sucked some more. First, the team bowed out way earlier than expected in the Elite Eight, largely due to Michigan State's slow play and the leaking of some incriminating info against Rick Pitino, namely an extortion case he was involved in. Turns out that he had a one night stand with a middle-aged woman with clown make-up in an Italian restaurant, knocked her up, then paid for the abortion. Most of this I really didn't mind. Having sex in the back of a restaurant, a classy five-star establishment like Porcini no less? Absolutely pimp. I'm pro-choice so the abortion didn't bother me and the fact that he paid for it makes Coach P a gentleman in my book.

I did, however, have problems with his blaming the situation on 9/11 and the fact that if you're gonna make news for infidelity, at least get with someone hot. Virtually any hot woman in Louisville would bang you, you're Rick Pitino for Christ Sake! You're the second most famous athletic figure in this city, and the No. 1 person (Muhammad Ali) has Parkinson's, so he's exempt.

Moving on, these offseason woes were compounded when John Calipari became the new coach at Kentucky. Cal's not that great of a coach and he's a complete scumbag, but the man can recruit better than anyone in college basketball and I knew he'd bring UK back to national prominence. I miss laughing at Billy Gillispie.

I thought this upcoming offseason would be taking a similar note, what with losing out on Marquis Teague, UK coming up with another No. 1 recruiting class and U of L guard Preston Knowles being arrested for beating the living shit out of his girlfriend's stepfather.

No need to panic however, for the tables have truly turned for me, with my least favorite team in all of sports, UK Basketball, and one of my least favorite teams in college hoops, UConn, both getting in trouble with a regular storyline in the college basketball offseason: NCAA violations.

Let's begin with UConn. I'm a little surprised by this one. I've never liked this program, largely because of their location, their fans, and Jim Calhoun, but they were never a program I'd put in the same breath with a UNLV or a Memphis. Sure, I didn't like Calhoun, but I always assumed he ran a clean program.

That all changed this week. A report came out that an NCAA investigation found the UConn basketball program to be guilty of 8 major rules violations. Among them were about 160 impermissable phone calls and 191 text messages, impermissable benefits given to a recruit, complimentary admissions and discretionary tickets to high school recruits, and an overall lack of promoting an atmosphere of compliance.

As much as I dislike Calhoun as the grumpy old man that he is, a lot of this cannot be placed on him. Most everything, from the phone calls to the admissions and the tickets and benefits, were done by assistants and trainers, not by Calhoun directly.

What does fall on Calhoun, however, is the lack of promoting compliance in his program. While he may have not done anything directly, the reality is that this man is the face of this program. Any leader, be it a president, CEO or coach, should be aware of all that goes on in his operation. Not only is it his responsibility, but it's his job. Yes, the assistants did a lot of these wrong-doings, but who hired these assistants, trusting them with helping run a clean and successful program? Calhoun.

Andy Katz over at ESPN doesn't seem to think of this as a drastic, Doomsday situation for UConn basketball. The recruit most of this revolved around, Nate Miles, never actually played for the team, so evidently that doesn't make it as serious. However, I can remember a situation a few years back with Kelvin Sampson at Indiana committing a similar series of illegal phone calls and text messages with several players who never amounted to much at IU. You know what happened to them? Indiana, one of the top five programs in the history of the game, has yet to recover from what happened, having occupied the Big Ten cellar for the past couple of years, even losing to BU this year.

This is truly a delicate situation for UConn because, as I have said for quite some time, UConn basketball is a delicate program itself. It's been a very successful program for these past twenty years, but what was it before that, in it's entire history? Nothing.

This is not a personal knock at UConn, but when the success of a given program is tied completely to one individual and the work they've done, in this case Calhoun, success is not something that is guaranteed. What makes a program truly great is that success is something that can be sustained over long periods of time. Look at any of your elite programs out there. Kansas has had Phog Allen, Larry Brown, Roy Williams, and now Bill Self. Kentucky had Adolf Rupp, Joe B Hall, Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith. UCLA had John Wooden, Larry Brown, Jim Harrick (cheater that he is) and Ben Howland.

Great programs are great over time and not with just a single person. Calhoun will probably be on the outs up in Storrs sooner rather than later (health and age and what not), and I do hope that the Huskies can keep up all the success with whoever they bring in, which given the NYC talent pipeline they've developed, I think things should turn out okay. A delicate situation nonetheless.

The second college basketball story making waves is from Kentucky, with an ongoing investigation into the high school academic career and the recruitment surrounding former Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe.

The accusations, in a nutshell, are that Bledsoe's handlers, aka high school and AAU coaches and family friends, asked for money from schools and coaches in return for betterind their chances to land Bledsoe and, more seriously, his college eligibility has been called into question.

The latter of those two accusations is more incriminating for the following reason: if it is found to be true, which I'm assuming it will be, that Bledsoe's GPA was a product of academic fraud then this means that Bledsoe was an ineligible player, regardless of whether he was cleared by the NCAA.

This is similar to what happened with Derrick Rose at Memphis. Rose was found to have had a false SAT score, but was cleared by the NCAA originally. However, it doesn't change the fact he was still ineligable to play and Memphis had to vacate it's 38 win season and Final Four berth in 2008.

If the same fraud is found with Bledsoe, then guess what? The same fate awaits Kentucky: their 35 wins from this past season will likely be taken away, giving us a great twist of comedy with Kentucky having to forfeit their 2,000th win in program history. Good news is that their fans will be able to break these bad boys out again.

It will also meant that John Calipari would have landed his third program in trouble with the NCAA. He won't get fired over this, which he probably shouldn't given the fact that too much of the blame can't be placed on him. But this is basically Calipari's career script playing itself out: guy goes somewhere, has success, trouble emerges, but we can always point to the fact that "Oh it's not his fault, he's not directly involved".

Kentucky fans would always use this defense when people would accuse their coach of being a cheater, and while it's true that he's never been directly involved, the fact remains that trouble follows this guy. I don't know whether it's the environment he fosters with such an emphasis on top-notch recruiting and professional basketball placement, but his programs end up rubbing the NCAA the wrong way- this much cannot be denied. It does not matter what that he's never technically been involved, but the point is that he lands these programs into trouble, and worst yet, when this trouble emerges, he bails on them. People, namely Kentucky fans, can make this same defense for Calipari as much as their heart desires, but if he gets UK basketball into trouble, will they present this same defense? It doesn't matter about his involvement, all that matters is his record- two vacated Final Fours, making him the only coach in the history of college basketball to have to do so.

We will see how each of these situations pans out, but it will be far from a quiet offseason in college basketball, unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons, a product of ills of the modern game.

Franky Frost's America East Mascot Rankings

2010-05-31T20:48:00.000-07:00

Differences of opinion are what make life great...unless you're a pacifist of course. Anyhow, Teddy's unexpected appearance with his America East Mascot Rankings ruffled a few feathers from a dear friend of H & V, Mr. Franky Frost. I would like to give away his name, but he's not so comfortable with his government being given over the Internets.

Frosty's gonna be a semi-regular contributor to the blog for the near future, so look forward to some more of his stuff down the line.

For now, here are his esteemed America East Mascot Rankings:

Teddy’s an idiot. What’s he gunna say next, the Marlins have the best cap in the MLB followed by the Rockies? Come on! To read Teddy’s rankings of America East Mascots scroll down.

They are now listed below mine, appropriately. While I disagree with his rankings I still recommend you read his article, being an election year and all. It’ll serve as good practice for the all bullshit you’ll read in the coming months.

Before I drop knowledge allow me to thank Craig Moonshine, the Dr. James Naismith of H&V. I am unsure whether or not he’ll submit rankings or even comment on any mascot article. After being fondled by Buddy Bat as a child it surprises me Craig even allows these articles to be posted (Editor's Note: I was extremely uncomfortable with Buddy reaching towards my shaft, but he told me he was measuring my inseam. C'mon, I was like six of course I believed it.)

By the way, I’m posting with the worst first. Making lists in ascending order is as intelligent as the writing on Family Guy.

9. Wolfie- Stony Brook

"I look like Fonzi standing next to this fruit"

Wolfie should be hunted down and shot. Simple as that. Not only does the jackass live in Long Island, (The only good thing to ever come from Long Island is Rakim, everything else can meet the same fate as Wolfie) but his name is “Wolfie.” If you think this name is nifty like Teddy does, I beg you to name your first born child “Homo-sapiens-ie.” See how cute it is when your kid comes home from his first day of Kindergarten with Indian (err…Native American?) burns on his neck.

8. Gnarlz and Wild E. Cat- UNH

More than Friends...

Teddy points out that these two mascots don't look related, I'm not too sure about his assessment but I hope he's right. Simply put, Gnarlz and Wild E. Cat seem like they enjoy weekend trips and vow exchanges across the border in Vermont. Also, again with the names! The only Gnarlz I know is a pop music star, and if your first name and middle initial are Wild E. you better be a damn Coyote.

7. Rally Cat- UVM

Threatens Freedom

Since the first time I met the Rally Cat I had suspicions about him. What kind of rallies does this guy attend? Then I found the picture posted above. This cat is an environmentalist, and therefore most definitely a fascist. (Think about it, the two go hand in hand.) I ask you all to look closely at what this guy is attempting to recycle. My attention is first drawn to the frying pan. This God damn cat wants
to ban trans fats! The Commie Bastard! The boxes he wants to recycle haven't even been opened. Rally Cat is about to throw out Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa! I don't wanna incriminate myself (5th Amendment WIN) but I've murdered for less. I don't mean to rant here, but if you see this Cat at the next Nazi Rally you attend, don't say I didn't warn you.

6. Damien and Lil D- Albany

Take Care of Your Responsibilities As a Father

Lil D is Damien's son, but there is nothing great about either of these Great Danes. In fact, Damien is a dead beat. I remember going to UAlbany games before Lil D was cramping Damien's style, when he lived for car rides over to Siena and pissing on that ugly Saint Bernard's fire hydrants. But one day Damien came to a game talking about the "bitch" he knocked up. (His words, not mine.) Ever since Damien has ditched his fun loving ways and each night fills his water dish with
whiskey and downs bags of bacon flavored treats. Damien is an ass. Damien's litter, comprised of only Lil D due to a narrow urethra, is illiterate much like everyone else who puts Lil before their name.

5. Baxter- Binghamton

Good Samaritan

Unlike a lot of these other mascots Binghamton's Baxter is a good guy. He's the only bilingual mascot on the list, and is rumored to have once ate an entire wheel or cheese. You may notice his eyes, which are bugging out. Baxter has had drug problems in the past, but entered rehab and has come out clean. A few years ago Baxter would have found a spot closer to number 1 on this list, but a former drug addict mascot is not nearly as funny as a mascot fiend.

4. Rhett- BU

Rhett Lets It All Hang Out

Anyone who knows me knows that Rhett and I have had our differences in the past. Rhett is a wimp, a punk, and most of all a mark ass mark, but compared to these other buffoons Rhett's alright. While he may get confused as to which uniform to wear to which sport, at hockey games he's in his zone. No Pants, No Problem. Rhett doesn't play by the Puritan's rules. Sure he wears 6 scarlet letters across his chest, but frankly my dear, he don't give a damn.

3. True Grit- UMBC

Unquestioned Alpha Dog

Let me start with the picture. That's a gang right there and the leader or that gang is undisputed, it's the one standing on two legs with opposable thumbs. Now onto the name True Grit. Amazing. Anyone who's seen the film knows that this mascot must be some kind of thug. John Wayne as a US Marshall hunting for the murderer of a foxy lady's father in Indian (err...Native American) territory is good enough for me to include True Grit, the mascot, in the top 3 of this list.

2. Howie the Hawk- Hartford

"Howie Saved My Marriage"

Teddy states, "What's with the short shorts? I had the unfortunate privilege of meeting Howie?" Is Howie wearing short shorts? Yes. Is he pulling them off? Hell Yes! Teddy, don't be jealous of my boy Howie. Later Teddy says, "What I dislike most about Howie is his facial expression." Once again, I'm left baffled by Teddy's analysis. Howie has a reason to smile. It's a little known fact that he is Big
Birds cousin. How could you not smile if your big cousin was one of the coolest mofos on Sesame Street?

1. Bananas- Maine

Ladies Going Bananas for Bananas

If you don't think Bananas is the Best Mascot in the America East please check yourself into a mental health facility. This mascot is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S! I actually made a few calls and got Bananas on the line. When I reported that he had been ranked number 6 on the list below this one he seemed upset. "Is Bananas gunna have to choke a bitch?" he asked. He just may.

-FF

America East Mascot Rankings

2010-05-27T08:19:00.000-07:00

It has been a few months since the last BU basketball game, but that doesn't mean I have not been keeping up with the good old America East conference. There are plenty of recruiting signings going on, but I figured it would be good to focus on something of a lighter note, such as mascots. I have always complained about how lackluster the mascots in the America East conference are, but I have never sat down and actually ranked them.

Keep in mind that just how America East basketball sometimes leaves much to be desired, so do these mascots. They are nowhere close to the elite mascots such as the Saint Joseph Hawk and Big Red, the Western Kentucky mascot.

No. 1- Rally Cat- UVM

I love the "What's a Catamount?" chant as much as the next guy, but the truth is a Catamount was a cat-like mammal that is extinct that used to live in Vermont. Rally Cat has one of the best names in the conference and it also is one of the better known mascots of the conference. If I hadn't gone up to UVM for the America East Basketball Championship I doubt that Rally would be on the top of my list. What impressed me the most was how fans, players, and cheerleaders all loved Rally. Clearly he and Marqus Blakely represent school spirit for UVM and the local community, which unfortunately I cannot say is true for Rhett at BU.

No. 2- Rhett - Boston University

As a student at BU some may say I am biased towards Rhett, but I do believe Rhett is one of the top mascots in the conference. He has an original name, no stupid accessories like a hat, and is an accurate representation of what the athletic logo entails. The spiked collar is a great touch. Rhett has been present on two ESPN commercials which makes him one of the better known mascots outside the conference. Best thing about Rhett is he is a real creature unlike a few mascots in the conference.

No. 3- Wolfie- Stony Brook

I hate the name and I hate the hat, other than those two flaws this mascot is great. Wolfie resembles the big bad wolf, but just happens to be decked out in Stony Brook attire. It doesn't have a stupid smile like Howie the Hawk, but isn't exactly angry either. He looks to be the most well made mascot in the conference, and certainly brings respectability to Stony Brook Athletics. He looks like the type of mascot who would be able to withstand crowd surfing or a chest bump from Tommy Brenton. If Wolfie traded in his shirt for a jersey, his hat for a headband, and got a new name he would be on the top of my list.

No. 4- True Grit- UMBC

UMBC has one of the worst logos of all college teams, although recently they made a new one which looks much better in my opinion. It is nice to see that True Grit doesn't resemble the logo at all, which looks much like statue in the picture. I really like the name True Grit and it is also refreshing to see a mascot that does not have huge smile, as is the case with most mascots in the America East conference. The only problem with True Grit is that he is kind of boring. The nickname retrievers is boring in itself, but at least the mascot demands some respect.

No. 5- Gnarlz and Wild E. Cat- UNH

I really like the names for both of them, but I don't see why they have two mascots. Gnarlz looks to be a more updated and intimidating version of Wild E. Cat. Unlike the Albany mascots, these two don't seem to be related, which makes it even more odd for two mascots. If Gnarlz was the lone mascot I would have him probably near the top, if not at number one, but the lackluster Wild E. Cat puts them in the middle of my rankings. Wild E. Cat looks like one of the costumed characters at Chuck E. Cheese's.

No. 6- Bananas - Maine

Bananas is a far cry from what the Maine logo displays. If he looked anything like the ferocious black bear on their logo I would probably put him in the top three, but unfortunately he looks more like something you would get from Build-A-Bear. The name Bananas is also pretty stupid in my opinion. I know there is a story behind that name, but I still think it was stupid to name a bear Bananas. Lastly, why the hell is he wearing a hat. Any animal mascot who wears a hat loses points in my book.

No. 7- Damien and Lil' D - Albany

I am not a fan of the two mascot system. One mascot can be the face of an athletic program, so why do you need two? I am a fan of Damien, and he would be ranked much higher if it wasn't for his counterpart. Lil' D is just a prepubescent version of Damien, who clearly was brought in to help bring in younger kids to games. Lil D' looks like he is about to get hit by a car, or maybe he just saw the Albany men's basketball team play, your call.

No. 8- Howie the Hawk - Hartford

What's with the short shorts? I had the unfortunate privilege of meeting Howie when I went to the BU vs. Hartford game during the 2008-2009 season. Howie looks more like an eagle or a duck than a hawk. Compared to the Hawk of Saint Joseph's University, Howie looks like Division Three mascot. What I dislike most about Howie is his facial expression. Why are you smiling Howie? The Hartford men's basketball team just fired their coach, and the one sport Hartford is good at, women's basketball, lost to UVM in the conference championship.

No. 9- Baxter - Binghamton

Binghamton has one of the cooler logos of all the teams in the America East conference. The green Bearcat draws intimidation with its teeth, muscles, and claws. Unfortunately, Baxter lacks all three of those attributes. It is a boring shade of gray, which doesn't make much sense considering their logo is green. I would understand if this was the mascot for UNH, but this bearcat looks more like a domestic cat. Baxter is clearly in need of a makeover, just like the men's basketball team.

Rondo Stirs the Drink for the Celtics

2010-05-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo is the best player in the NBA right now. Period.

Better than Kobe Bryant, the “Black Mamba” himself. Better than Steve Nash. Better than Dwight Howard. Sure, he’s not averaging 28.2 points this postseason like Bryant, or 10.2 assists like Nash, or 11.1 rebounds like Howard – heck, Rondo’s averaging 16.7 points, 10.5 assists and 5.6 boards per game during the 2009-10 playoffs.

The 6-foot-1, 171-pound speedster from the University of Kentucky has been the biggest reason why the Celtics find themselves one win away from a return trip to the NBA Finals – the C’s lead their best-of-seven series with the Orlando Magic 3-1 with Game 5 tonight in Orlando.

“Anybody got a BROOM” The Celtics certainly had no reason to use their own at the Garden two nights ago, as they fell to the Magic in overtime, 96-92, in the most thrilling and competitive game of these playoffs. How effective was Rondo in that contest? Let’s just say that he wasn’t that much of a factor. Rondo picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter, which forced coach Doc Rivers to sit him out for most of the first half. Rondo finished with only nine points on 3-of-10 shooting, eight assists and three rebounds – he also had to deal with some muscle cramps early in the game. Rondo was not himself and neither were the Celtics, although the C's did have the opportunity to pull out the victory in the final seconds of regulation.

Rondo’s performance in Game 4 was the polar opposite from his Game 3 showing (11-12-3) – a game that will live in Celtics lore for a play that Rondo was involved in midway through the second quarter. If for some reason you haven’t seen the clip (I can’t imagine why, I mean, it’s been on everywhere!), check it out below. And if you have already seen it countless times on ESPN, just check it out again.

So far this postseason (15 games), Rondo has exploited the different mismatches at his position. In the first round, Rondo matched up against the Miami Heat’s Carlos Arroyo. Yes, that’s correct. Carlos Arroyo. This was a no-brainer – Arroyo stood no chance. The only time I ever remember Arroyo having a decent game was when he lit up the U.S. men’s basketball team in the ’04 Olympics for 24 points in Puerto Rico’s 92-73 upset of the Americans. After eliminating the Heat in five, the Celtics faced the Cleveland Cavaliers and Prince James in the Eastern Conference semis. Rondo outplayed the Cavs’ Mo Williams and his performance in the final three games of the series (including a triple-double in Game 4), which the Celtics won 4-2, sent them to the Eastern Conference finals and began the “Where will LeBron James play next season?” debate among sportswriters and basketball fans in mid-May, and not in late-June, as was meant to be the case after James won his first NBA title.

The Magic’s Jameer Nelson was supposed to present a much tougher matchup for Rondo, but evidenced by the Celtics rolling to a surprising 3-0 series lead over the Magic, that hasn’t been the case – with the exception of Rondo laying an egg in Game 4 and being unable to stop Nelson (23 points, 9 assists) whenever he penetrated into the lane or played the pick and roll with Howard. Rondo must step up in Game 5 tonight and play like the superstar that he has become in these playoffs. He must put the Celtics on his back once again and carry them to the Finals for the second time in three years, where this time around, he wouldn’t be the Celtics’ weakest link, but their greatest asset.

And for the first time in his career, Rondo finds himself on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated.

Move over Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. You ain’t the Big Three anymore.

You have some company.

-RR

New Writer On Board

2010-05-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

Very happy to announce that H & V will be adding a new member to the staff here. Teddy's going to be in Syria for the next month and a half, meaning he'll be able to write about as often as he has been for the past eight months: namely, never. Do make sure to pray that people over there don't realize he's Jewish and chop his head off with a machete.

Anyhow, I'd like to say that BU sophomore and Daily Free Press writer Rene Reyes will be joining us, doing pieces for the site that should provide a different point of view. We'll start posting initials at the bottom of each article, be it RR or CM so people can be sure on who wrote the articles.

Any other reader of this blog who wants to join in and write is more than welcome to; just shoot me a call or an e-mail.

Welcome on board, Rene.

Is BU Basketball Better Than Louisville?

2010-05-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

Anyone who reads this blog who personally knows H & V's er....more incognito half knows that Teddy's good at a few things. One of them is exaggeration. Repeatedly, you'll hear him make bold claims, usually regarding BU Athletics, that really cannot be backed up with any sort of justifiable evidence. It's honestly one of his more entertaining qualities, annoying as it can be some times.

Another one of his big qualities is intentionally trying to annoy me, usually with sports. Over the past few months, Teddy has combined both of these qualities in an attempt to really pester me. Knowing full-well my love of Louisville basketball, Teddy has made the following claim over this period of time: he believes that the BU basketball team will be better than the Louisville basketball team next year, during the 2010-2011 season. At first, I thought he was presenting this for mere shock value, but the argument persisted over the past several months.

At first I dismissed it, but it looks like Teddy honestly believes this. With summer in full swing and with BU-related topics at a minimum, I'll bestow it upon myself to break this down. Could the BU basketball team for this upcoming season beat Louisville's team this upcoming season. The hypothetical matchup between my two favorite college basketball teams thus begins:

The Returning Players

BU

John Holland, SF/SG

2009-10 Stats: 19.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.1 apg

Holland is obviously the star of this BU team and is the epitome of a small forward: a versatile player who can shoot from beyond the arc and penetrate and play above the rim. Considered an NBA talent, a matchup against a Big East team does not bode well seeing as Holland usually comes up small against top-level competition. Cue film from games against UConn and Dayton (especially the latter) to see this.

Jake O'Brien, F

2009-10 Stats: 13.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 0.5 apg, 1.2 bpg

O'Brien, despite some shortcomings, is by all means a good player. He's clearly one of the best players on BU's team, but almost more importantly, the guy's a matchup nightmare. He may not have the strongest low-post game (I mean, c'mon, the guy can't shoot a baby hook consistently), but he stretches the court with a lethal three-point shot. Especially lethal because of his size and wingspan.

Jeff Pelage, C

2009-10: 3.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 0.2 apg, 0.7 bpg

The Junkyard Dog undoubtedly improved from his freshman season, even if the stats didn't exactly reflect it. He cut down on his fouls, he improved drastically on defense and he seemed more poised and collected out on the court. With a series of transfers and freshmen coming in next season, though, don't expect the kind of PT he got last year.

Louisville

Jared Swopshire, PF

2009-10 Stats: 7.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.3 apg

Swop's a mercurial player for a lot of Louisville fans like myself. Two years ago, I'd find myself groaning if he came in the game for Earl Clark or Terrence Williams, but he improved a lot his sophomore year with some increased playing time. It seems like Rick Pitino is set on him playing the 4, so bulking up will have to be a priority for him. If he adds on some weight, you're looking at a potentially very good player.

Preston Knowles, SG

2009-10 Stats: 7.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.1 spg

Coming in as an unheralded recruit from in-state, Knowles has been a strong player from three point range and a top defender for this program. He had by all accounts a down year last year, but he'll likely be starting at the shooting guard spot, and I really don't see him ending his Cardinal career on back-to-back down years.

Terrence Jennings, C

2009-10 Stats: 5.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.4 apg, 1.3 bpg

Perhaps no player is more critical to the success of Louisville's team next year than Jennings. Samardo Samuels' unexpected early entry into the NBA Draft has thrust Jennings into the starting lineup down low. He's looked great in limited time over the past couple of years, providing great defense and a legitimate scoring threat. Can he perform well for 25-30 minutes a game, though, is the make or break question

Kyle Kuric, SF

2009-10 Stats: 4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.4 apg

Most well-known for his breakout 22-point performance in a win over top-ranked Syracuse that closed out Freedom Hall, Kuric is another guy who has shown some great promise in limited minutes. Nobody expects him to replicate that Syracuse performance, but he'll need to at least be decent for this team to succeed.

Peyton Siva, PG

2009-10 Stats: 3.9 ppg, 1.8 apg, 0.8 rpg, 1 spg

A lot was expected of Siva heading into his freshman campaign last season: highlight-reel quality player, McDonalds All-American, it was all there. However, Siva was stuck on the bench playing behind a senior in Edgar Sosa, but as is the theme, showed flashes of brillaince.

Rakeem Buckles, PF

2009-10 Stats: 3.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.5 apg

Another heralded freshman, Buckles saw limited action, but was usually a nice spark off the bench. Expectations have risen for Buckles entering his sophomore season because of a breakout 20 point performance he had in the team's first round loss in the NCAA Tournament to Cal.

Mike Marra, SG

2009-10 Stats: 3.1 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.6 apg

Pitino says Marra is the best guard he's ever coached at Louisville. With all due respect to The Godfather, I disagree.

George Goode, PF

2009-10 Stats: 0.7 ppg, 1.2 rpg

Goode was highly touted coming out of high school, but injuries have derailed any progress he could have made at Louisville. If he gets healthy, maybe he gets better?

Stephan Van Treese, PF

2009-10 Stats: 0.5 ppg, 0.6 rpg, 0.2 apg

Love the guy, love the effort, but that's about it. Yup, I couldn't find a Google Image picture of SVT in a Louisville uniform.

Transfers

BU

Daryl Partin, SG

2008-09 Stats: 4.6 ppg, 0.7 apg, 0.9 rpg

Partin seemed to have a decent run at LaSalle, considering he only averaged about 12 minutes a game his sophomore year. Guy's a gunner, we do know that much.

Matt Griffin, PG

2008-09 Stats: 2.9 ppg, 2 rpg, 1.3 apg

Griffin looks to be in line to be the team's starter at point guard heading into the season and had some well-rounded, albeit meager, stats at Rider.

Patrick Hazel, F/C

2008-09 Stats: 2.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg

Hazel's who a lot of us are excited about in terms of the recruits, largely because of his Big East pedigree. His stats, however, aren't exactly overwhelming. Change of scenery might do him some good, though.

Louisville

Chris Smith, SG

2008-09 Stats: 13.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.2 apg

Unlike the BU transfers, Smith is going for something of a promotion, leaving a successful career at Manhattan for brighter pastures. He's a bit of a wild card for Louisville next year: could be a revelation, could be a non-factor

Freshmen

BU

Travis Robinson, SF/SG

ESPN.com Recruiting Ranking: 89

A versatile, athletic small forward in the mold of Holland. Should be an immediate impact player.

Mat Piotrowski, C

ESPN.com Recruiting Ranking: 87

A hyped 7'1" prep school recruit who looks to be a high-reward prospect. Only time will tell. Should be a bit of a project.

Dominic Morris, PF

ESPN.com Recruiting Ranking: 86

A powerful low-post player and teammate of Robinson's at Friends Central (Teddy's alma mater) in Philly. Probably should produce the most immediate impact of any of these newcomers.

DJ Irving, PG

ESPN.com Recruiting Ranking: 85

The point guard of the future by all accounts. Extremely speedy and a true playmaker. Chambers almost seemed higher on this recruit than any of the other guys.

Mike Terry, SG

ESPN.com Recruiting Ranking: 85

Another Philly player (shocker) who is the only true shooting guard in this recruiting class.

Malik Thomas, SG

ESPN.com Recruiting Ranking: 79

Another shooting guard but someone who could possibly be a small forward if he bulks up a little bit. Based on pictures of him, though, I'd highly doubt it.

HJ Gaskins, PG

ESPN.com Recruiting Ranking: 72

For all intents and purposes, a third part of a package deal with his HS teammates Morris and Robinson. Still could be a good piece off the bench.

Louisville

Justin Coleman, SF

ESPN.com Recruiting Ranking: 95

The marquee player of this class. Could have an immediate impact on this team. Extremely athletic with some major hops.

Gorgui Sy Dieng, C

ESPN.com Recruiting Ranking: 91

An import from Senegal, Dieng has developed rapidly as a player and is a defensive stopper. He's also far more offensively-advanced than most African imports. Hasheem Thabeet comparisons have been drawn, but we'll see if that pans out.

As a side note, a sick dunk with Dieng on the assist and Coleman on the dunk:

Russell Smith, PG

ESPN.com Recruiting Ranking: 88

A New York City point guard that lives up to just that billing. Should be the primary back up at the position.

Elisha Justice, PG

ESPN.com Recruiting Ranking: 85

Mr. Kentucky Basketball this year. Originallly a walk-on, but was rewarded a scholarship once Samuels opted to go pro.

The Verdict:

Teddy first started making these "BU > Louisville" claims around late March/early April of this year. I didn't believe him at first, but Samuels opted to leave the school and BU picked up a huge (no pun intended) recruit in Piotrowski.

I'll acknowledge this much: I think it would be a close game, no doubt about it. No more than a 15 point difference between the two teams.

However, these are both teams with a lot of question marks going into next year. How does BU replace nine seniors? Will these freshmen live up to the hype? Will the transfers?

For Louisville, how will players like Jennings and Siva make up for the loss of Samuels, Sosa, and Jerry Smith? Can Pitino focus on making this team better, shunning a lot of the problems in his personal life?

Let's look at the predicted starting lineups for these two teams, as well as the top three subs:

BU

Matt Griffin, PG
John Holland, SG
Jake O'Brien, SF
Patrick Hazel, PF
Dominic Morris, C

Top Subs

Travis Robinson, SF
DJ Irving, PG
Daryl Partin, SG

Louisville

Peyton Siva, PG
Preston Knowles, SG
Justin Coleman, SF
Jared Swopshire, PF
Terrence Jennings, C

Top Subs

Kyle Kuric, SF
Rakeem Buckles, PF
Gorgui Sy Dieng, C

A ton of question marks on both sides, and honestly, you've got to side with the program with the two national titles, led by the future Hall of Fame coach. BU's recruiting class is likely the best class ever in the program's history, but it's still worse than a Louisville freshman class that's widely-regarded as a huge disappointment.

This is no offense to BU: these are just two programs that are on different levels. BU Basketball will be great one day, I can truly feel it, but it will never be among the top programs of the history of the game, and in a hypothetical matchup, this would come through very clearly.

The Prediction:

Louisville 77 BU 65

Hate To Do This...

2010-05-21T11:17:00.001-07:00

I've sold my soul and created a Facebook page of H & V. Please redeem my soul by liking the blog if you get the chance.

Linkage below:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Honey-and-Vinegar-Sports-Blog/105033122875946?ref=ts

I would add the FB "Like" Icon or something like that, but adding pictures and videos to the blog is about as tech-savvy as I get.

New Assistant = Certified Bad Ass

2010-05-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

Even though it wasn't reported on Honey and Vinegar a few weeks back, H & V favorite and basketball associate head coach Orlando Vandross left for the same position down at Charlotte on new coach Alan Major's staff. Obviously best of luck to Coach Vandross--a complete class act and by all accounts an excellent coach and recruiter.

Anyhow, this left a spot open on Chambers' staff after Brian Daly was promoted to the associate head coach's position. It was recently announced that BU has filled that vacancy with Dwayne Killings.

Killings is a former UMass guard and is a native of the region, which should bring some nice local flavor to the staff amongst all of the Philly-ness. Here's a link to his former player profile, complete with a not-up-to-date picture.

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/killings_dwayne00.html

Secondly, and most importantly, the question has to be asked--how bad ass is this guy's name? I always though Carlos Strong was about as much of a BAMF name as there was, especially for BU basketball, but this has to take the cake. Imagine the nicknames with this guy. Say a brawl breaks out; who do you want in that scrum? I'd have to go with the guy whose last name is "Killings".

Overall, a great hire in my book, mostly because of, yes, the last name. Long gone are the days of Dennis and Matty Wolff. Now the era of "Killings". I, for one, am stoked, and not even because I correctly predicted that the Wizards would win the draft lottery.

Draft Lottery Predictions

2010-05-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

For the longest time, I've said it: the NBA handles its draft better than anyone else. Sure, the NBA Draft gets like an eighth of the coverage that the NFL Draft does and you don't have Mel Kiper and Todd McShay going at each other like a couple of middle school girls in a catfight because they disagree over the 24th pick in the draft.

But believe it, the NBA handles their draft perfectly: two rounds, only lasts like four hours, it's phenomenal, I make a point to watch it every year. A big reason why The Association has things figured out so well is the way that they order the picks. It doesn't work like it does in football where the worst team in the league automatically gets the first pick, so you don't have all of the late-season tanking just so a team can land that coveted first spot.

There's a lottery in place where there are ping pong balls floating around and the team with the worst record has the best chance and down the list it goes in terms of the how bad a team is: the better they did, the worse the percentage of landing the top pick is.

We've seen upsets over the years. The Bulls, back in 2008, won the lottery and subsequently hometown boy Derrick Rose despite only about a one-percent chance of winning. In recent years, the Clippers and Blazers won despite the odds against them. Famously in 1997, Rick Pitino and the Celtics felt good about their odds to land Tim Duncan. The rest is history that has defined the league the past ten years: the Spurs won the pick, the Celtics didn't and the Spurs built a dynasty from there while the Celtics floundered. Can't complain on my part: that lottery landed Pitino at Louisville.

Anyhow, with the draft lottery approaching tonight, I figured I'd do things H & V style and predict how things will unfold: who will land the top picks and who will the teams take once the order has been set in stone?

Pick No. 14: The Houston Rockets

The Pick: Donatas Motiejunas, C, International

The Rockets have the worst odds among the lottery teams to land the No. 1 pick and they don't pull off a miracle tonight. The Rockets have a decent young core in place with Aaron Brooks at point guard, Luis Scola at power forward, and of course there is still All-Star Yao Ming at center. Ming's health has been a concern here the past year, with rumors floating that his career may very well be over due to a hampered foot. Montiejunas stands at seven feet and just oozes of potential. A high risk high reward pick here, but this could very well turn out golden for the Rockets if he lives up to his potential.

Pick No. 13: The Toronto Raptors

The Pick: Hassan Whiteside, C, Marshall

Again, another high risk-high reward pick here with Whiteside, a player from a small school who didn't exactly put up the best numbers. He's got a lot of potential and the Raptors are probably a good fit here, a team with young talent like Andrea Bargani and DeMar De'Rozen, so there would be room for Whiteside to develop down low and experience growing pains just like his teammates.

Pick No. 12: The Utah Jazz

The Pick: Patrick Patterson, PF, Kentucky

The Jazz, owning the Knicks pick from an earlier trade are in a great position here to improve an already talented team led by perhaps the best point guard in the league in Deron Williams. Carlos Boozer looks to be leaving via free agency this summer, leaving a gaping hole down low for the Jazz. Patterson looks like he's be a great fit in a Jerry Sloan half-court offense. He's got a strong body built for bumping down low and he's actually got a good outside shot that could extend defenses out to the perimeter.

Pick No. 11: The Memphis Grizzlies

The Pick: Xavier Henry, SF, Kansas

The Grizzlies greatly improved this past year and do not own their customary top five pick in the draft this year. They look to be solid down low with Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, and Darrell Arthur and with talent like Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo outside, this may seem like a strange pick. However, aside from John Wall, the point guard talent is a little thin in this draft and the Grizz could use an extra perimeter player in case Gay leaves like some expect him to.

Pick No. 10: The New Orleans Hornets

The Pick: Ekpe Udoh, C, Baylor

The Hornets are a guard-oriented team with All-Star Chris Paul and emerging star Darren Collison both at the one, but are a little thin down low. Emeka Okafor is a great defensive player and very solid rebounder, but he's too short to be a center in this league. The Hornets need a center, especially one who can play in a fast-paced offense, so Udoh fits the bill here.

Pick No. 9: The Indiana Pacers

The Pick: Cole Aldrich, PF, Kansas

He's white, midwestern, hard-working, so naturally he's a fit for the Pacers, a team that features the likes of Tyler Hansbrough, Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy, Scott Foster, and Jimmy Chitwood.

Pick No. 8: The Sacramento Kings

The Pick: Ed Davis, PF, North Carolina

It looks like Sacramento has found its franchise player in point guard Tyreke Evans, and now the time has come to get Evans some help down low. With talented youngsters like Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes already in Sac-Town, it never hurts to add someone else, especially a player with the potential of Davis, someone who could easily be better than any big man currently on the Kings roster.

Pick No. 7: The Golden State Warriors

Very likely, the worst logo in the NBA

The Pick: Al-Farouq Aminu, PF, Wake Forest

I've already discussed fast-paced teams and no team in the NBA epitmoizes this more than Don Nelson's Warriors. Aminu is an uber-athletic power forward who can stretch the floor and play above the rim, making him a natural fit in Nelson's offense.

Pick No. 6: The Philadelphia 76ers

The Pick: Greg Monroe, C, Georgetown

The Sixers with the sixth pick, who woulda thunk it? Anyhow, lame jokes aside, the Sixers need to realize that Samuel Dalembert isn't much more than a fantasy stat-stuffer who will never be the center on a contending team of any kind. It's time to land a franchise center who can play in an offense that already features guys like Andre Igoudala and Thaddeus Young. Monroe comes from the best school for centers, a place that has produced the likes of Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, and Dikembe Mutumbo. Monroe's a great passer, a solid shooter and a great inside presence overall. At worst, he's Roy Hibbert, so not too much risk with this.

Pick No. 5: The Los Angeles Clippers

The Pick: Wesley Johnson, SF, Syracuse

The Clippers are set at several positions: at point guard, they've got Baron Davis; at shooting guard is Eric Gordon; at power forward, there's Blake Griffin; and at center, there's Chris Kaman. No way the Clips land LeBron, so small forward is a gaping need and Johnson fits the bill perfectly.

Pick No. 4: The Minnesota Timberwolves

The Pick: DeMarcus Cousins, C, Kentucky

With Johny Flynn and maybe one day Ricky Rubio, the Timberwolves seem to be set at point guard. Al Jefferson, when healthy, is a star at power forward for the Wolves, so Cousins would provide a natural fit at center. At four, he's probably worth the risk with his emotional and maturity issues under question because he does provide a high reward if everything pans out. He matured and cooled down mentally as the year went on, so he may just be fine in the pros. I do worry about how he will react to not being able to over-power people with his sheer physical tools, but again, it's all an adjustment and as long as he doesn't balloon in his weight, I see Cousins being a good pro.

Pick No. 3: The New Jersey Nets

The Pick: Derrick Favors, C, Georgia Tech

Favors was hyped going into college, even being ranked ahead of John Wall in some of the recruiting rankings. While he didn't explode onto the national stage quite like Wall, a lot of it can be attributed to Favors not being on a great team, one that really didn't have much aside from himself and Gani Lawal down low. I also really don't have much faith in Paul Hewitt as a coach, but that's an aside. The point is that Favors is a gifted center even if his college stats didn't completely back that up. The Nets undoubtedly want the No. 1 pick in the draft so they can get Wall and possibly enhance their chances of landing LeBron James, but even if neither of those come to fruition, a lineup of Devin Harris at point guard, Courtney Lee at shooting guard, Terrence Williams at small forward, and with Brook Lopez and Favors down low, you've got a team that's only going to continue to get better and probably be playoff bound within the next two years.

Pick No. 2: The Detroit Pistons

The Pick: Evan Turner, SF, Ohio State

A lot of these picks I've already gone through are somewhat open for debate. Does a team go with Favors or Cousins? Will Greg Monroe really go that high? Will someone use an early pick on Daniel Orton? Now, however, we're getting to a consensus. Turner is clearly the second pick in this draft, no way in hell he falls below this number two spot, a team will trade up to get him if need be to land him. The Pistons, even with stalwarts like Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince still on the books, are in rebuilding mode and getting a versatile wing man like The Villain to pair with Rodney Stuckey and Jason Maxiell will only help to ease this team's transition back to being among one of the better teams in the East. And honestly, the last time they drafted in this spot, they passed on Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony and Dwayne Wade to take Darko. Pressure's off, can't do any worse than that.

Pick No. 1: The Washington Wizards

The Pick: John Wall, PG, Kentucky

One of my least favorite phrases of all-time has to be "Everything happens for a reason". In my opinion, you have to be a total moron to actually believe that, and more often than not, the people who I come across who speak these dreaded words are just that: they're an Ian O'Conner-level clown. Well, I'm going to back of my hatred of the phrase for just a second because it would actually apply pretty well here. Going into the 2009-2010 NBA season, a lot of people were really confident about the Wizards' chances. However, then Gilbert Arenas thought it would be an awesome idea to bring a gun into the team locker room, and it all blew up. Arenas was suspended, Caron Butler and Antwan Jamison were shipped off, and that was the season. I'm pretty sure landing the No. 1 pick and subsequently the most talented, electrifying player in college basketball would make a lot of people in the District forget about Agent Zero. Wall would instantly become the face of the franchise and provide an ailing team with someone who should become one of the premier point guards in the game.

Watch these predictions blow up in my face in about four hours. Tonight the fate and future of several NBA franchises will be fundamentally altered with the bounces of a few ping pong balls.

The LeBron Sweepstakes

2010-05-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

Aside from a few women's lacrosse and softball games, BU sports are done with for the next few months, meaning a large focus of this blog is done with for this period of time. While we will keep people updated with happenings on BU sports, particularly basketball, over the summer, I'm going to use this chance to branch H&V more into the mainstream sports world. Yes, Teddy, hard to believe for you, but BU is not part of the mainstream sports world.

BU sports may be done, but on my part, there's no need to panic.

I'd like to use today to talk about what is all abuzz in the sports world and that is LeBron James and his impending free agency. For months, people like myself assumed he was going to stay a Cleveland Cavalier, but after his team got bounced in the second round of the playoffs last night, the consensus has seemingly changed dramatically.

It is not longer the one horse race that people like myself envisioned -- rather it's a toss-up between a handful of teams that possess their own distinct advantages and disadvantages. Naturally, the potential suitors is limited based on salary cap restrictions and the like, so there are only about six or so suitors.

This LeBron free agency drama is something that I've been following for years at this point, and it is something that will, if it already hasn't, undoubtedly catch the collective imagination of the sports world and hold onto it for the greater part of the next month and a half.

Therefore, I write here today to chime in with my two cents on the matter at hand: who is going to win the LeBron Sweepstakes and fundamentally alter the course of several franchises.

Option #1: The Cleveland Cavaliers

The Pros:
Seeing as this is LeBron's current team, the conversation naturally has to begin with Cleveland. Much of the argument for him staying is rooted in intangibles, things like loyalty, legacy and whatnot. For starters, this is the team that drafted LeBron coming out of high school and that he has played with for the last seven years. He's developed a connection with the city and he's truly become an icon in a city that was long desperate for one. In a way, LeBron is that franchise... literally. Estimates have said that the value of the Cavaliers would go down by roughly $150 million if he skipped town.

Mike Brown looks almost certain to be fired here, so Cleveland could use that to their leverage and have LeBron be directly involved in helping select the next coach, possibly the kind of person who could convince him to stay aboard.

The promise of lifting Cleveland from a sixty year title drought also has some intense promise.

Also, even though it's not completely true (more on this later), LeBron is painted by the mainstream media as the hometown kid who has made good to the city in which he was born and raised. He represents a downtrodden city, a blue collar town that is passionate about it's teams, despite all these setbacks over the years. LeBron, perhaps more than any other athlete, is aware of his public image, and a big plus for him staying would be the kind of hit he would take if he did opt to leave. James would be viewed as the ultimate pariah, the selfish superstar who ditched his home when it fell on hard times just to collect a paycheck in a glamorous market like NYC. Forget John Elway, Michael Jordan, Edgar Renteria, or Ernest Byner- James would vault right up to Public Enemy No. 1 in that city of he chose to pack up and leave.

Cons:
LeBron has been in the league now seven years. He's collected a Rookie of the Year, seven All-Star appearances, an NBA Finals berth, and two MVP awards, yet he still has not notched his first ring. A lot of people were pointing to this year as being the year he and the Cavs would break through -- after all Jordan didn't win his first title until his seventh year. But it didn't happen. And that question has to be raised is if he would ever win a title if he stayed in Cleveland, especially with the kind of team that he was on this past season.

The supporting cast is consistenly raised as a reason for him to stay, but it's not one that's going to get any better. Shaq's in his late thirties and may be nearing retirement. Antwan Jamison's a great player, but he's also 33, so he's nearing a steady decline in production. Mo Williams is a good point guard, but as was proven last year, he's not a reliable number two to LeBron's star. This really addresses a larger concern: Cleveland, in LeBron's time there, has failed to provide James with a wingman who can grow and develop as a player with him. They've whiffed on the likes of Larry Hughes and used players like Shaq and Jamison to provide short-term options to try to get the King his first title.

Also, LeBron's consistenly painted as the hometown kid, but the fact is is that he's not from Cleveland -- he's from Akron which, granted, is close to Cleveland (about an hour's drive) but he's not from Cleveland. That would be similar to if I was an MLB player with the Reds, it would be saying I'm a hometown kid even though I grew up a little over an hour away from Cincinnati. And he probably wasn't a Cavs fan growing up either -- he grew up in the 90's and is a Yankees and Cowboys fan; the dude screams bandwagoner, so you've gotta believe he grew up a Bulls fan.

There's literally nothing more Cleveland can do to convince him to stay, so thus the waiting game begins in northeast Ohio.

Option #2: The Chicago Bulls

Pros:
If LeBron wants to surround himself with phenomenal young talent that could provide a supporting cast for years to come, then this is it. Pairing LeBron, the two-time MVP, with the likes of Derrick Rose, already one of the NBA's best point guards, and players like Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Luol Deng, and Kirk Hinrich, and you have a core group of players that is capable of winning a title multiple times over.

People talk about LeBron wanting a major media market -- well look no further than the third largest media market in the country, a passionate sports town no less.

Chicago's obviously got the cap room to sign him to a max contract and also with firing Vinny Del Negro last week, they can use their coaching vacancy as a means of leverage to land LeBron. And again, it's worth reiterating -- the possibility of LeBron and Derrick Rose playing together for the next six or seven years? Insane.

Cons:
The idea of LeBron and Derrick Rose playing together may sound incredible, but it may be too good to be true -- would Rose, a top ten or fifteen player in the league, be willing to be a glorified second option?

Also, is LeBron willing to go to a franchise in which he is going to have to live in the shadow and be a constant figure of comparison to the greatest player in the game's history, Michael Jordan?

Option #3: The Los Angeles Clippers

Pros:
If LeBron signed a max contract with the Clippers, they could possibly have the most talented starting five in the NBA with LeBron, Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin and Chris Kaman.

Cons:
Aside from that, why would yo want to take the risk and play for the second most popular NBA team in the same city, one that has had a checkered history of success with big name players?

Option #4: The Miami Heat

Pros:
Lots of possibilities here. First off, playing with Dwayane Wade would have to be the prime motivating factor here. A duo of James and Wade would be possibily the most star-studded of all-time.

Playing in South Beach for a wining organization run by a man like Pat Riley is incredibly enticing and would have to enter into LeBron's mindset.

Cons:
Main question here has to be whether LeBron and Wade would mesh and work well together, whether they could win titles. Star power is great, but if the talent doesn't mesh, the success won't follow.

Option #5: The New York Knicks

Pros:
Among all the potential suitors for LeBron not named Cleveland, this is the most commonly-discussed one.

The advantages are endless. You put the world's best basketball player and the NBA's biggest star in the biggest media market in the world. You put LeBron on a downtrodden team and a franchise desperate for a championship and you create a world of potential.

LeBron bringing the Knicks, in the mecca of basketball in the mecca of everything in the world, back to prominence and to a title, and he would become a transformational figure, become bigger than he ever could in Cleveland or anywhere else.

Even moving past that, the Knicks are the only team out there that can offer two max contracts meaning you could pair LeBron with a person like Chris Bosh, Wade, or Amare Stoudemire.

Throw in a offensive innovator in coach Mike D'Antoni and an accomplished president in Donnie Walsh and you have a recipe for success, even without LeBron.

Cons:
Having already mentioned the kind of PR hit LBJ would take from leaving Cleveland for a payday in the Big Apple, the big thing here would be the supporting cast.

Aside from the second max contract, who else would they have? David Lee may be on his way out, so really, who else is there? Wilson Chandler? Danillo Gallinari?

Option #6: The New Jersey Nets

Pros:
With the Nets finishing with the worst record in the NBA this past year, this may seem like a strange selection, but this is possibly the most intriguing option out there. It becomes that much more palpable if the Nets land the first overall pick in the NBA Draft next week during the draft lottery.

Likely then would come John Wall, and if you pair LeBron with a young, developing, and uber-talented core of Wall, Courtney Lee, Brook Lopez and Terrence Williams, along with the sort of pieces that could be brought in with a trade for Devin Harris and you truly have a championship core.

Pair this with the Nets' impending move to Brooklyn, their billionaire Russian owner, and LeBron's relationship with partial Nets owner Jay-Z and this could very well be a destination.

Cons:
This still is a team that couldn't even win twenty games this year. Why would LeBron want to take that kind of a risk, especially if the Nets don't win the lottery?

The relationship with Jay-Z is strong, no doubt, but he still owns less than one percent of the team.

Also, is LeBron willing to showcase his skills in Newark for a couple years before the move to Brooklyn even happens?

The Final Verdict:

As I've mentioned, I've long believed that LeBron was going to stay in Cleveland; he's from the area, he's established a relationship with the city, he's accepted both of his MVP awards at his old high school, and most of the great players in NBA history haven't left their team in the prime of their careers. History's working against a decision to leave.

The Clippers are an option, of course, but there's not a snowball's chance that he ends up there. At the end of the day, they're still the Clippers and that's a stigma that's not leaving any time soon.

The Heat are a viable option, but can they afford two max contracts? Would LeBron and Wade, both high volume scorers, be able to coexist and win titles? I doubt it for either one of those questions.

The Nets are there, but why would the NBA's best player in the prime of his career want to go through growing pains with a group of youngsters in New Jersey? Jay-Z's incredible, but his influence only means so much.

Playing with Derrick Rose in a major media market is enticing, but playing under Jordan's immense shadow is quite the burden, not one anyone, even someone like LeBron, would want to have to go through.

And while I've believed in him staying home all along, this past week has been such a change that I think he's gone. I really do. His body language, his attitude, his play, it just all indicates that he's a man with one foot out the door. He's a man who's looking to expand his empire, his business, his marketing and his image to as big as it can be, and in Cleveland, he'll always be limited.

The chance to pair with another superstar and win a title for a long-suffering franchise in the basketball capital of the world, in a city that's home to Rucker Park, playing in a hallowed ground like Madison Square Garden -- all of it will ultimately prove to be too much for LeBron to resist.

The LeBron James Era in Cleveland will come to an end here in another month and a half, by my estimation, and will look to become an icon by joining up with the New York Knicks.

What this creates is a very interesting month and a half that will ensue, and as it so often is, only time will tell.

BU Hoops Loses Recruit...For Now

2010-05-08T21:23:00.000-07:00

Well, the first hit to BU's "Historic for a Place Like BU" Recruiting Class of 2010 has been suffered with the de-commitment of Philly center Anthony Mayo.

Does having a player back out of a recruiting class suck? Yes, but in all honesty, Mayo isn't an irreplaceable presence in this class or on this roster for next year. The frontcourt, the 4's and 5's, are taken up by the following guys: you've likely got O'Brien and Hazel as starters and even though he's probably something of a project, Mat Piotrowski, the 7-footer who can hit wide-open mid-range jumpers like it's nobody's business, is still a nice person to have coming off of the bench, along with Pelage. Besides, at 6'8" and 205 lbs, I'm not sure what kind of center he would be exactly.

And as far the ESPN.com recruiting rankings are concerned, since they know a hell of a lot more than me or anyone else reading this blog (any of you out there... Bueller?), Mayo's the fifth best player in BU's class, ranking ahead of HJ Gaskins, who's a walk-on who's part of a package deal, and Malik Thomas, who I'm really not sure will be much more than a role player. That puts him behind guys who will truly become faces of the BU program here in the coming years: Travis Robinson, Dom Morris, Piotrowski, and DJ Irving.

A de-commit may look like Mayo plans on heading to a different DI program, but he's planning on attending a prep school next year. Just realized that I've been going on and on about this without providing a link:

http://www.recruitrecon.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5839&Itemid=1

Prep school usually indicates that either, a) they may be looking for greener pastures by raising their stock, or b) are having problems with academic eligibility. It doesn't seem like the latter of the two options would be very likely considering Mayo decided on a school like BU, but it's probably just the case where Mayo became unsure of his place at BU and, as opposed to making something of a knee-jerk decision so late here in the recruiting process, is deciding to go the prep school route to give himself a year to develop his game and recollect his thoughts on his future.

Does this mean that all of this is over for BU, that Mayo will indeed never make his way to Comm Ave? More than likely, yes, but it's not something to rule out entirely. He'll probably go to the prep school, improve his game and maybe get some looks from some colleges that didn't contact him before. Then again, it could get to the point where a spot opens back up at BU and he may decide that it is indeed the place for him. Again, not likely, but this is also the same guy who still thinks that Marquis Teague may still suit up for Louisville one day.

Losing a recruit is never ideal, and while it isn't necessarily a big loss, the two of us over here speak for the Terrier basketball faithful when we wish Mr. Mayo the best of luck with his future.

Saponaris Kicked Off

2010-05-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess it wasn't "Party Like a Puckstar" that landed a group of BU hockey players into hot water, but rather a drinking incident a couple of nights before a crucial game. If you ask me, I still think "Party Like a Puckstar" is a greater crime to humanity than underage drinking.

Anyhow, what this has resulted in are some resonating punishments: both Saponari brothers, Victor and Vinny, have been kicked off of the team and Corey Trivino has been suspended for the early part of next season. Information courtesy of our good friends Jake Seiner and Scott McLaughlin over at the Boston Hockey Blog. I would make a message board joke here, but I don't want to suffer the same fate as an Anonymous Carny on the comments section of the WTBU article that broke this story.

For me, this isn't much of a Corey Lowe situation- it looks like all the facts are out here in front of us, not sure if their side of the story could really cover up what looks to be stupidity and a blantant disregard of the team rules.

The loss of Vinny's probably the big story here, seeing as Victor played about as much as, well, I did. Will I miss the Saponari Bros? Sure, they were the only fellow southerners on the squad (Kraus is from Texas, different place entirely), but no matter how talented a player is, they're not worth the hassle if they can't respect the rules of a living legend who trusted them with the opportunity to go to a $50K a year school for free and lace up for one of the elite programs in all of college hockey.

Commenting on the matter, Jack Parker said, "Over a period of time, there have been cumulative instances in which Victor and Vinny Saponari have displayed conduct unbecoming of a Boston University hockey play"

To me, that just about sums it up, the end to a very sorry episode in which even an incredibly understanding guy like myself can't help but say "Good riddance"

And I Thought "Party Like a Rockstar" was a Bad Song...

2010-05-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

The question is begging to be asked- are collegiate hockey players in Boston one of the dumbest demographics of human beings out there?

Just last weekend, there was a late-night incident involving several players from the BC hockey team ramming into a T train with their car. In case you couldn't have guessed, alcohol was involved. The story received a good amount of local and even national attention, making the honeymoon period from BC's recent national championship unfairly short.

While I didn't think it to be possible, that incident surrounding those BC hockey players may have very well been topped, just a few days later at a school just a few miles down the road. What I am referring to is a video that surfaced online this past week made by BU hockey players Vinny Saponari and Corey Trivino titled "Party Like a Puckstar", a spinoff of the ShopBoyz's 2007 hit "Party Like a Rockstar".

If you dare to listen to it, here's the video below. As awful as it is, it may be worth a listen for the sake of sheer comedy.

I can't believe I actually paused my John Coltrane to listen to/post this. Quite the self-esteem boost, right?

It's hard to listen to much of this song at all, and amazingly, the very first verse is actually the best because the person's at least on pace with the music. From his Sportscenter No. 1 reference, I'm assuming Saponari was on the last verse. Don't know where Trivino fell in the song, and if anyone has any info on who else participated for the sake of me rapping this whenever I see them in public, it would be greatly appreciated.

The possibility of suspensions had been speculated on message boards, and courtesy of WTBU yesterday, a team source has indicated that the rumor is true, that suspensions will be handed out to those involved.

Not really sure what kind of punishment that that atrocity to ears should merit, but I'm not the judge of that. As a proud supporter of the ideals handed down to us by our Founding Fathers, I'm a big fan of free speech. So while I don't think suspensions don't necessarily need to be handed out, as the coach, I would sit these kids down and give them a talk that would probably go a little something like this:

"What the hell is wrong with you? How was this possibly a good idea? For God sakes, learn some rhythm and try to pick up on some lyrical skill if you're ever going to do this. I'm not going to suspend you because, quite frankly, you all have done punishment enough to yourselves, for now everyone, through your video, knows how stupid you all really are. Get the hell outta my office, you make me sick."

Maybe this is the first sign towards an interesting offseason, or then again, maybe it's a lesson as to why BU hockey players should never make a foray into hip-hop, as if we ever even needed an example.

More on Piotrowski

2010-04-29T14:47:00.000-07:00

Posted a few days ago about BU landing 7'1" center Mat Piotrowski from New Jersey and I realized how vague it is to just put someone down as a seven footer, especially since big guys can be such a mixed bag. Sure this guy's tall, but is he bulky? Does he have decent footwork? How're his hands? Can he rebound? God forbid, does he have a decent jumper?

Being a BU recruit, Piotrowski isn't exactly burning up YouTube like John Wall was last year or anything, but there's some footage below of him in some practice drills. Don't take too much from these, obviously, because the kid's shooting uncontested shots in a video that I can only assume is supposed to make him look good, but it's still a glimpse into an intriguing recruit who we know almost nothing about as of now.

From what I can tell, he's got pretty good footwork for someone of his size that wasn't a high-major prospect, and even though the shots are uncontested, draining mid-range jumpers is still way too much to ask for a lot of America East big men. Plus, this kid can flush it quickly, effectively and with authority when he gets it on the low block, something BU was really missing from a guy like Pelage last year.

We'll keep the recruits and all up to date into the summer, and it'll probably be a brief break here up through finals week for the two of us

From the Free Press: Transfers '10-'11

2010-04-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

A very nice piece by Teddy that ran in the FreeP today on BU basketball's three transfers who will be suiting up to play next season: Daryl Partin, Matt Griffin, and Patrick Hazel.

Before every men’s basketball game this past season, three young men in suits stand under the basket while the team runs its layup line. Their names are Matt Griffin, Darryl Partin and Patrick Hazel. No, they are not coach Patrick Chambers’ assistants, even though their season of sitting on the bench has taught them many things about the game. They were the first three players Chambers invited to Boston University when he became head basketball coach. Men who had experience playing college basketball, but felt that they could find a better fit.

They are the type of players Chambers wants playing for him—men who have great attitude, hustle and devotion to their team. While the coaching staff and players are confident about these transfer players, most student fans know little about them.

Each of the transfers was in some form of contact with Chambers during his first year of college basketball. This contact helped to bring them to BU. Griffin played his freshman year at Rider but grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, not far from Villanova University, where Chambers was an assistant coach.

Hazel dealt with multiple factors in his decision to transfer to BU.
“Coming from Marquette [University], I had to deal with a coaching change,” Hazel said. “Things didn’t work out when the coaches changed. Coach Orlando [Vandross] was recruiting me out of high school, and it was just a perfect situation because [Chambers] coached at Villanova and I played against Villanova too.”

Partin also had contact with Chambers through playing at La Salle University. Both La Salle and Villanova are members of the Big 5, the unofficial fraternity of Philadelphia college basketball teams. Partin also brought up the importance of timing when one considers transferring. “Sophomore year is sort of a make or break year,” Partin said. “You don’t want to stay around and transfer after your junior year with one year left to play.”

NCAA rules state that players who transfer must not participate in games during their first season at their new school. Although each of the three would have preferred to play this year, they all said they were grateful for the opportunity to see the game played from a different viewpoint.

“It was certainly different sitting on the bench, you just got a different perspective of everything,” Griffin said. “Even though as a player you want to be out there, you take that opportunity and take advantage of it. You see the system that coach Chambers wants to run, and how he wants things done. I think will pay off for us in the long run.”

Hazel added that sitting out a year also helped each of them improve as players and brought them together as a family.

“You get to work on your weaknesses, get a lot stronger and better, get worked into the system,” Hazel said. “We’ll be ahead of a lot of guys that are going to be in the system next year. We can teach them, help them out. We’re leaders behind closed doors. It sucks to transfer in by yourself, and have to sit out by yourself. So we had all three of us together, staying back and hanging out.”

When Chambers became the head coach a little more than a year ago, one of the first things he said was that he wished to install a style of basketball that people at BU would be proud of. Fans over the past season have become accustomed to seeing selfless players with great attitudes, strong effort and hustle take the court every night. Partin spoke for his fellow transfers when asked how he, Griffin and Hazel would fit into Chambers’ style of play.

“Just playing hard, playing smart, playing together, playing with pride – like Coach Chambers says, BU basketball, that’s what we were about coming in,” Partin said. “Once we get the opportunity to do it now and practice, you have a year to build on it, it is right on. We are ready to go.”
Although the three could not play during the season, they were still members of BU basketball family. As a result they became close with everyone else on the team, including the nine graduating seniors.

“We were very fortunate to have nine seniors who made the locker room atmosphere great,” Griffin said. “We all wanted to be around each other because of them and obviously they had a great year and we have big shoes to fill. But we can take from them their work ethic and how hard they played, the way that they stuck together through tough times.”
Fans throughout the season have been most curious about Hazel, due to the fact that he played a season at Marquette, a quality Big East contender. Little do fans know that Hazel was the winner of Coach Chambers’ Attitude Club.

“The Attitude Club is keeping the stats like rebounds, assists, steals, but some of the others like deflections, dives, charges,” Hazel said. “Some of the things that don’t show up on the stat sheet and are a recipe for winning, and a winning attitude. Attitude is just what we all believe in, like the [attitude] triangle over there, playing hard, playing smart, playing together. It is like a competition between us, and us competing like that just makes the whole team better.”

BU basketball had one of its most successful seasons in the past few years, winning its first tournament game since 1959. Going into the upcoming season, expectations will be just as high due to its recent success. The three transfers, however, are not letting those expectations distract them.

“Our coach says a lot that the team from last year and the nine seniors laid down a foundation and we are just building,” Hazel said. “We don’t try to set expectations. We just try to make sure we’re coming out with the same drive, just trying to get better each day at a time.”

It Is What It Is: Farewells and Predictions

2010-04-29T14:39:00.000-07:00

My last column for the FreeP, and one of my least offensive ones by far; yet, some commentors somehow have a problem with honoring seniors. FreeP online readers, people are nuts....

Although it may not seem that way to a lot of us trying to finish papers and preparing for finals, another year is just about to end, one that has passed almost as quickly as it came. Just think for a second all that has transpired in the sports world in these past eight months that we’ve been on campus.

Ben Roethlisberger’s gone from revered Super Bowl-winning quarterback to an all-around scumbag even in his own city. The Yankees have gone from overpaid underachievers to 27-time world champions. John Holland has left BU to go play pro basketball in Greece. What? Wait a second, that was an April Fool’s joke?

Even as a columnist, I’ve learned some new things, like that people who are not my family, friends or editors actually read my columns. In some cases people even leave comments, which, for things like my “Wheels on the House” column, actually work to solidify my argument more than I could have in my allotted 1,000 words.

Moments like this give each and every one of us a chance to reminisce over what was.

Aside from a sport like hockey, we as BU sports fans have what I consider to be the privilege of watching athletes come in, develop athletically and personally, and ultimately leave with a degree, a reality that’s becoming decreasingly common in an age of one-and-done phenoms and the like.

So what better chance than now, with the year winding down, to honor these seniors who have given us so much as fans and supporters.
It is a time like this that is for Casey Brown and Janie Reilly, two phenomenal defensive presences that allowed our women’s soccer team to enjoy the kind of they had this past season.

It’s for someone like Zach Cohen who was routinely a dependable force of stability and consistency for a young, rebuilding men’s hockey team that was in desperate need of it. Here’s to a successful career with the Colorado Avalanche for ZC. Mazel tov!

What about those still playing out their careers as NCAA student-athletes, people like lacrosse players McKinley Curro and Xan Weitzel, who are leading a strong charge of BU to capture a sixth America East championship in just as many years?

The end of a semester is a perfect time to celebrate the accomplishments of players like men’s basketball seniors Tyler Morris and Carlos Strong, two young men who came back from major reconstructive surgery in the offseason to become key contributors on a 20-win team. Their talent and veteran leadership will be sorely missed next season.

It’s for a remarkable player like Samuel Appiah, a Ghanaian import who has shored up the midfield for the men’s soccer team for the past four years. Appiah will be taking his skills to the professional ranks next year, having been selected to play for the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer.

What about the fan favorite of seemingly every member of the Dog Pound, Eric Gryba? The senior defenseman who provided so much hard-hitting entertainment for Terrier fans for the past four years will now be moving on to the Ottawa Senators, where he will undoubtedly continue to crush some skulls.

It would be nothing short of criminal to leave women’s hockey seniors Melissa Haber and Melissa Anderson off such a list. Both of these players were largely to thank for BU’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA women’s ice hockey tournament. These two women may very well be the best players in the brief history of this ascending program.

To conclude, this is my own personal tip of the cap to Corey Lowe, the decorated men’s basketball senior. Lowe certainly has his detractors out there, but I will always remember him as an exceptional shooter and all-around player who, when it is all said and done, will justifiably go down as one of the best players to ever suit up in a Terrier basketball uniform.

To formally end my time here as a columnist, I’ll finish things off with some predictions for the summer and beyond that may or may not blow up in my face:

LeBron will get his long-awaited first title this summer as the Cavaliers will take down the Lakers in the NBA Finals. King James sweetens the deal by opting to stay in Cleveland once free agency hits.

The New Jersey Nets will win the NBA Draft Lottery, aka the John Wall Sweepstakes, next month. It may seem improbable now, but with a young core of Wall, Brook Lopez, Courtney Lee and Terrence Williams, look for the Nets to be a contender in the East by the time they move to Brooklyn.

With the Philly connections that exist between BU coach Patrick Chambers and new Boston College head coach Steve Donahue, look for BU and BC to start squaring off against each other on the hardwood sooner rather than later.

Blackhawks claim their first Stanley Cup since 1961 by taking down the Penguins in the finals.

I’m not even saying this as a lifelong Louisville fan, but more as a sensible observer – John Calipari and University of Kentucky basketball will end up on NCAA probation; the only variable is time. Calipari’s gotten into trouble in his only other two stints as a college basketball coach, and you don’t have to be David McCullough to realize that history has a way of repeating itself.

It will be a down year for BU hockey, with a sixth or seventh place finish in Hockey East, but I have a feeling that next year’s squad will show far more heart and will than the 2009-10 squad.

With so many new faces coming in, BU basketball will be a mystery, but there’s a lot to be excited about with this team. Holland and Jake O’Brien will emerge as the team’s stars, and I see future prime-time performers in freshmen Travis Robinson, Dominic Morris and DJ Irving, as well as Marquette University transfer Patrick Hazel. Stony Brook University may be the preseason pick to win AE, but I firmly believe that BU next year will be crashing the Big Dance for the first time since 2002.

On that note, may everyone, BU athletics aficionado or not, have a safe, happy and healthy summer, and enjoy every moment that life has to offer.

Big Recruit On The Way- And Yes, I Mean BIG

2010-04-23T22:28:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, I was a little skeptical of the guy at first with all his grandiose talk of selling out Agganis and turning BU into a pseduo Gonzaga or Xavier, but I've gotta say, I have really become a huge fan of Pat Chambers. It's a little too soon to maybe view him as a X's on O's guy, but do we need any more evidence that the man can just flat-out recruit?

A big deal was made earlier this school year when he landed a package of kids from Philly, namely Travis Robinson, Dominic Morris, and DJ Irving, but the biggest deal was possibly made today: landing 7'1" center Mat Piotrowski out of New Jersey.

A few notes:

- Yes I meant the "biggest deal" comment as an intended pun. Thank you, I'll be here all week.

- The deal part of that comment however wasn't meant to insinuate anything. Coach Chambers isn't a shady character- he doesn't have to do what John Calipari did with Marquis Teague and give him some sort of under the table deal. Chambers is just an upstanding, charismatic guy who just flat out gets it done.

- And yes, you read that correctly: this guy's seven feet tall. And he's rated as an 87 on espn.com, two points behind Robinson and one ahead of Morris. Skilled and huge? Sounds excellent to me, and it the best news is that there's one more scholarship remaining, so we may not even be done here honestly.

Hey, it may not be Chris Webber and the Fab Five, but this is shaping up to be one hell of class.

I'll be posting occasinally for the next couple of weeks, but with finals and papers, no promises. This summer, though, it's gonna get in-depth, believe me

BU Basketball 2010-11?: Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good

2010-04-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

Getting the bad news out of the way first really is the best policy, isn't it? Teddy and I have both come to the executive decision that BU basketball for this year and probably the year after it too will be the team to follow here one campus. Not saying we're abandoning the hockey team- games are still fun as hell, and I'm never one to turn my back on my team when they're down.

But as Teddy put it:

"It's time to put all your baskets in the egg...no wait, put all your eggs in the basket of BU basketball, because hockey sure as hell's going to suck next year"

Even though the Terriers finished fourth in the America East regular season and second in the conference tournament after they were picked in the preseason to win the conference for the millionth year in a row, all in all, Pat Chambers' first year should be considered a mild success.

Looking forward to next year, though, is a different matter entirely. Here's a rundown of who they're losing and who's coming on board:

Adios:

Corey Lowe
Carlos Strong
Tyler Morris
Scott Brittain (I'm guessing)
Valdas Sirutis
Michael Schulze
Brendan Sullivan
Tunde Agboola
Sherrod Smith

And Introducing...:

Travis Robinson
Dominic Morris
D.J. Irving
Anthony Mayo
Mike Terry
Malik Thomas
HJ Gaskins
Patrick Hazel
Daryl Partin
Matt Griffin

So for all those that we've lost, I'll do a rundown of them all.

Lowe, as weird as his exit from the program was, is a big loss. When he was on there was never a better guard in the league and his hot hand is the primary reason that BU a) made it as far as they did in the conference tournament and b) didn't get completely destroyed by Vermont in the 'ship.

Strong's another huge loss. Guy was a terrific defender, a very good rebounder for his size, and he was our most consistent outside shooter.

Morris rounds out the big losses, seeing as he was a terrific shooter, a great on-ball defender and most importantly, a great leader. The loss of his senior leadership may in fact be the biggest blow to this team.

For Brittain, it wasn't the end that any of us were hoping for or expected, but it unfortunately ended the way it did. Best of luck to Scott, and protect that head of yours.

Sirutis certainly improved from his junior to senior year, but I really wouldn't call him much of a loss.

Schulze and Tunde were both walk-ons, and as much as I loved both of them, walk-ons are literally a dime a dozen, only better because you don't actually have to pay for them unless you're John Calipari or something.

Brendan Sullivan's got the prestigious title of being the only BU hoopster who I've ever played against, but his skills at FitRec, needless to say, didn't really translate exactly to form on a DI basketball court.

And as awesome as it was that Sherrod got to ball with the POTUS who beat Clark Kellogg in a game of H-O-R-S-E, again, not really losing much.

Of the new guys:

Robinson's the gem of the freshman class, a do-it-all small forward with freakish athletic ability and a very good above-the-rim game. If his jumper's even halfway decent, we're looking at a guy who could run train on this conference in the coming years.

Morris is the prototypical big-bodied power forward who can clear the lane, collect rebounds and score as well. He's just behind his teammate Robinson in the recruiting rankings.

Chambers seemed to be really high on Irving, the presumed point guard of the future here at BU, describing him as lightning quick. Sounds perfect for his up-tempo offense, no wonder he was so giddy.

Mayo's allegedly a lock-down defender who's still pretty raw offensively. He comes in as the true center of this freshman class.

Terry's a combo guard with excellent speed and from what I've heard a good outside shot.

Thomas is one of the few guys in the class not from the Philadelphia area. Again, a pretty raw prospect who just by looking at his picture is rail thin. Some time in the weight room may be necessary for him to take that next step.

Gaskins rounds out the Friends' Central guys and is the lowest-rated of the recruits. He's going to be a walk-on and in all honesty, his inclusion in this seems like a package deal for Morris and Robinson.

Of the three transfers:

Hazel comes from Marquette and judging by the looks of it, he was highly pretty highly recruited coming out of high school, at least enough to get a scholarship offer from Tom Crean. Crean later bolted for Indiana and I guess Ugly John didn't fit in as well with current coach Buzz Williams. From what I can tell, this guy's got the most potential to hit it big here

Partin seems like a Corey Lowe type and by that I mean a gunner. Don't see him starting next year, but may get some nice minutes off the bench.

Griffin looks to be a good pure point guard, a guy with good passing ability and a decent shot. May vie for the starting point spot come the season opener.

We'll try to do a series this summer focusing on the transfers and learning more about them, but what we do know is that it should be a very interesting season next year as BU basketball truly undergoes a radical transformation in Pat Chambers' second year at the helm

BU Hockey 2010-11?: The Forecast is Suck

2010-04-14T14:33:00.001-07:00

Just got on today and realized that I haven't updated the blog here in a while; needless to say, midterms, papers, and other business have made posting more of a once-in-a-while activity for me, especially since hardly anyone even reads this thing. I know for a fact that two of our four "official followers" are frauds: one's my girlfriend just trying to be nice and the other one's my boy from back home who's at Georgetown. He, too, is trying to be nice, meaning I'm the biggest charity case around.

Anyhow, the men's college hockey season came to what most BU fans would consider to be the worst end possible, with Jerry York & Company hoisting the national championship trophy after throttling Miami and Wisconsin both by a combined 11 goals in a three day span.

This is not a time for me to hate. Do I like BC hockey? No. But do I respect them? Yes. That's what truly makes a rivalry a flat-out hate-fest for me- if you don't respect your opponent.

I'll compare this to Kentucky basketball. I've basically been genetically predisposed to hate UK hoops, but for the longest time I couldn't hate them too much because they were led by Tubby Smith, a well-respected man who's a hell of a guy from all I hear. Tubby won them a championship in his first season and would consistently pile up 20 win seasons and SEC titles, but never another Final Four. Never bothered me too much because UK was still among the elite programs in the sport, and as I said, Tubby was a good guy who recruited good kids.

Then after the 2006-2007 season came to a close, the news broke in Lexington that Tubby wasn't a heavily-tanned white man as most of the Wildcat faithful were led to believe, but is in fact an African-American male. Obviously, this wouldn't stand for that fan base, so Tubby was exiled to coach at Minnesota and they brought Billy Gillispie in from Texas A&M.

Again, my respect for the program waned a bit because- let's be serious here- Gillispie's a drunken fool. However, Kentucky sucked under him, so I more than lived with that.

After this epic mistake, Kentucky brought in the biggest scumbag in perhaps the dirtiest of college sports, John Calipari, who I have about as much respect for as Joseph Stalin. Actually, Stalin, despite being an evil bastard, had an awesome 'stache, so he gets the nod over Cal. Thus, I now hate Kentucky basketball more than I ever have, not because they're really good again, but because they're run by a man who's abandoned two Final Fours, a man who clearly has no respect for NCAA rules, and a man who stockpiles goons and punks like DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe on his teams.

Now realizing that this UK basketball analogy's more than run its course, the point is that the hatred that you have for a place inevitably diminishes a bit if you have respect for said opponent. I respect BC hockey, especially Jerry York; in fact, I'll come right out and admit it: I really like Jerry York, he's no horse's ass. Anyone who shows their grandchildren the opening sequence from Alaska-Fairbanks games thinking it will entertain them is someone I can always be a fan of.

Anyhow, what BC's win may do for all of us on campus is make us realize that much more how bad we're going to be next year, having lost Shattenkirk, Colby Cohen, ZC (to graduation, in all fairness) and Nick Bonino.

It's clearly going to be a team centered around Warsofsky playing solid D and making plays, Millan holding it down in net, and continued improvement from the likes of Saponari, Trivino, and all the freshman from last year.

Expectations are going to be low, so brace yourselves, but hopefully this team turns out to be a pleasant surprise and finishes, say, fifth in Hockey East.

Sure doesn't seem like the championship parade was a year ago...

It Is What It Is: Women's Softball Making Strides

2010-04-14T14:32:00.001-07:00

The month-long span or so from the final buzzer of the Final Four to the end of the school year has always read like a four-letter word to most college sports fans, like myself.

Even if we don’t have our own team here at Boston University, college football is in full force during the fall months, with brilliant autumn foliage serving as the backdrop to hard-hitting gridiron action. If BU students get tired of watching the games on TV, they can just swallow up their pride like me and catch a few games at Boston College. At the risk of being called a traitor, they’re actually a hell of a time.

In the winter, of course, we have BU hockey to look forward to, which, even in a down year like this past one, is still by far the signature sport here on campus. There’s also exciting college basketball to take in, whether it be at The Roof or just on TV in your dorm.

But the spring? Well that’s where you hit a bit of a snag as a college athletics aficionado.

This time last year, I was going through the same thing – school year winding down, papers due, finals to prepare for, but really nothing going on athletics-wise on campus from what I knew.

Was I going to be the diligent student and get all my work done weeks in advance? Absolutely not. That was the definitive moment when I discovered that BU offers much more beyond the traditional “power sports” in the period that I used to think of as the doldrums of spring.
Without a baseball or a men’s lacrosse team, spring is truly a season for the ladies here with the softball and women’s lacrosse teams competing.
The ever-growing popularity of lacrosse, as well as the team’s seemingly perpetual presence in the top-20 of the national polls, has made them more of a staple here on campus.

Yet, I don’t think softball’s registered the same level of interest and enthusiasm and I’m not entirely sure why.

Is it the sport itself?

Is it the fact that the field is tucked behind a supermarket in an area that most BU students don’t pass unless they’re stumbling on Ashford Street at 2 a.m. on a Saturday night?

Whatever the reasons may be, they don’t hold too much merit because the team is doing its job and more on the field this year, whether most of the BU community is willing to pay attention or not.

What truly separates softball from the other sports here is the sheer number of games that this team plays in such a short period of time – 54 regular-season games in roughly two-and-a-half months this year. Not even hockey’s seemingly endless season can match that.

While the games may be numerous and the season relatively short, this has undoubtedly morphed into one of BU’s better programs under current coach Shawn Rychcik. Winning season after winning season certainly paid dividends, and it reached a climax last year with an America East Championship and a berth in the regional stage of the NCAA Tournament.

This year’s edition of Terrier softball may not quite be up to par with last year’s, but with a 20-13 start and success thus far in conference play, a postseason berth is not out of the question, especially with the kind of talent that this team features.

Of course, this conversation has to center around standout junior outfielder April Setterlund who is leading the team in virtually every imaginable offensive category. Most astoundingly, her .570 batting average puts her second among all Division I softball players with at least 65 plate appearances this season.

Many BU athletes have experienced some level of achievement this year, but what Setterlund has accomplished thus far I think has to trump anything that anyone else wearing scarlet and white has done this year.
While it’s hard to stop praising Setterlund, the offense doesn’t end with her. Senior third basemen Rachel Moeller, senior first basemen Rachel Hebert and junior catcher Caitlin Rentler are all valuable presences in the Terrier lineup.

A solid pitching staff is anchored by freshman Whitney Tuthill and senior Cassidi Hardy, both of whom will be counted on heavily if BU wants to experience postseason play beyond the AE Tournament like it did last year.

So while the bright stadium lights of college football and the glimmering courts of college basketball won’t be in service for at least a few more months, don’t be so quick to make the same mistake that I once did – these spring sports like softball are always worth checking out.

I mean, there are certainly worse ways to spend a sunny spring afternoon than watching a .570 hitter and a talented supporting cast play some ball, right?

Sure, BU softball may not be up there with the UCLAs and Arizonas of the world, but we have a great program here that’s brought the kind of success that’s more than worth our attention and support.        

It Is What It Is: Women's Softball Making Strides

2010-04-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

April Fool's Day

2010-04-01T16:10:00.000-07:00

Happy April Fool's Day to everyone, particularly John Holland for that trick he pulled the other night. Gotta tell you, though, next time you say "not coming back", a joke's not supposed to cause Teddy that much unnecessary stress.

C'mon John Holland, get outta here with that

It Is What It Is: Short-Term vs. Long-Term

2010-04-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

Like it is in any other sport, the annual tradition of the coaching carousel is upon us in college basketball.

We may forget that just a year ago, the Boston University men’s basketball team was a part of all of this, albeit on a much smaller scale. The final result of this is familiar to anyone reading this – out was Dennis Wolff after 15 seasons on the job, and in came an energetic, ambitious assistant from Final Four team Villanova University: Pat Chambers.

With Chambers’ arrival came about as much hype and anticipation on campus as you can ever expect from BU basketball – promises of change and a brand new attitude that entailed a fast-paced offense and a new commitment to excellence.

As the end of Chambers’ first regular season here came to a close, however, it didn’t exactly take a Rhodes Scholar to see a startling similarity between the Terriers’ current coach and his predecessor – a 17-12 overall record, with an 11-5 mark in America East play (albeit against a tougher schedule this year).

In the eyes of some, this raised some interesting questions, ones that invariably included speculation and hypothetical scenarios, yet they all seemed to have a common theme to them – did BU make the right move in canning Wolff? Even if it was the correct decision, was the timing right?
In a sense, Chambers went from being the heralded “savior of the program” to an object of intense criticism in less than a year.

I’ve always been in the camp that agreed with the decision to let Wolff go, but if BU’s primary concern was to win the America East title this year and nothing less, then it probably wasn’t the right call.

Think about it – this was a team that came into the year with 13 players, nine of whom were seniors, 12 of whom had played at least one year under Wolff, and one — B.J. Bailey — who signed with BU at least partially because of Wolff.

This was a group of guys who had become accustomed to playing the game of basketball a certain way, and even though I’m obviously far from a Division I basketball player, even I know basic human nature. Tendencies like that, ones practiced every day for months and months (and in some cases years and years) are hard to break, let alone completely revamp.

If you have a veteran-laden team playing for a coach who’s instilled his style of play in his players for some time, it’s usually not the wisest thing to pull the plug on that prematurely, especially when there is a good chance that said team can make the NCAA Tournament.

So why make the change then? Because there was something much larger at stake than a mere shot at a No. 15 or 16 seed in the Big Dance – i.e., the chance to build a stronger men’s basketball program here at BU.

Don’t get me wrong. Conference titles are great but it’s not the job of an athletic director to view things as they relate to the short term. They’re not the types of people who are big on quick fixes. They are not of the ilk to put the Band-Aid over the proverbial gaping wound.

Rather, ADs are the ones bestowed with the fundamental trust of looking toward the long term, eyeing and trying to meet the goals that will not only advance the athletic department of a university, but also the given institution itself.

Dennis Wolff was undoubtedly a good coach, one who ran a clean, respectable program, but it became painfully obvious over his 15-year tenure that BU basketball wasn’t going to be much more than what he had made it into. The Terriers would consistently have good teams, but, just as consistently, would come up short in a conference in which they really should win pretty routinely (at least based upon facilities, location of the school, etc.).

Much of this talk questioning the move to go with Chambers was quieted as BU made a run to the AE championship game and notched a couple of wins in the College Basketball Invitational, but I think as the early returns on Chambers go, I’m going with an inconclusive.

I was skeptical of the idea that a first-year coach could make a firmly rooted half-court team into Loyola Marymount University circa 1990 in the span of a single year, so I couldn’t say I was too disappointed or angered when BU didn’t live up to their billing as the preseason conference favorite. Injuries, much like they were with Wolff in his final season, certainly didn’t help the cause.

That being said, I don’t think a brief conference tournament run and a few wins in a third-rate tournament should have us all declaring this season to be an overwhelming success.

Nevertheless, even with the loss of nine seniors, the future of this program looks bright with what is arguably the best recruiting class in the history of the program coming in. Admittedly, recruiting can be a bit of a crapshoot, with some guys never living up to their billing and hype, but with five guys who are ranked in the 80s, you’d have to think at the very worst at least one or two of them will pan out.

Chambers himself even opted to pursue long-term rewards over instant gratification by luring in three promising transfers as opposed to stocking the team with junior college players.

In retrospect, AD Mike Lynch’s decision this time about a year ago was without doubt risky, but it was one that was made with an eye towards the future well being of this program.

If BU basketball and the BU Athletic Department as a whole were ever going to be much more than they already were, a change had to be made. And while the desired outcome wasn’t produced in year one, it may only be a matter of time before BU basketball fulfills that vision, that dream of being a mid-major power in college basketball.

The Final Verdict On C.L. Smooth

2010-03-29T10:08:00.001-07:00

After a week of turmoil surrounding this whole Corey Lowe situation, it looks as though the truth has finally come to light in a very good article in today's Daily Free Press:

http://www.dailyfreepress.com/sports/judgment-call-1.2204615

Just looks like a sticky situation all around in which people were looking out for their best intentions and own self-interests

Corey wants to make a living playing basketball professionally overseas because, quite frankly, he's good enough to do so. He wants to be assured by someone that this can indeed happen and have someone guide him through a process that would seem crazy and convoluted to practically any of us.

Chambers is a brand new head coach looking to start up a successful mid-major program that wins, but equally as important, plays by the rules. Playing Lowe could have possibly gotten BU into some hot water with the NCAA, since his "meeting" with an agent made him ineligable, and he is looking out for the well being of the program and (as the face of the program) himself.

A sad, bizarre situation all around, but I know I can say with absolute certainty that I will never let this incident tarnish my opinion of Corey Lowe: he's always been one of my favorite BU basketball players and he will continue to be, without a doubt in my mind.

The Off-Season Coaching Carousel

2010-03-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

With the Final Four now on the horizon for Butler and Brad "Baby Coach" Stevens and West Virginia (Huzzah!), another reality of this time of year is approaching for college basketball- coaches getting canned, and coaches subsequently getting hired to fill in those vacancies. Something we all like to call the coaching carousel.

It's a domino effect process to be sure and speculation runs rampant with it. As BU fans, we went through it last year after Dennis Wolff got canned, and a month of hearing names like Richard Pitino and Tony Jones led us to Pat Chambers being named the BU head coach.

Don't ask me why, but I've always been infatuated with this whole process, naming people who I think would work best for these jobs. Think of it like my inner-AD since I know I'll never get any sort of job like that ever in my life.

Anyhow, I'll go through some of the more prominent head coaching vacancies and name who I think would be the best person for each position. Here goes nothing:

DePaul

May be stating the obvious here, but DePaul basketball's fallen on some hard times. While it was certainly a coup for this program and school to make the move from Conference USA to the Big East, they've been absolutely terrible since they changed conferences, highlighted by the fact that they've only won one regular season conference game in the past two years.

Was all of this because DePaul's simply not ready to be in a conference like the Big East or is it because of the shortcomings of former coach Jerry Wainwright?

This is a question that the DePaul administration is hoping to answer, having just canned Wainwright a few months back. I sit on the optimistic side of this: DePaul's not what I would call a "sleeping giant" (that's a bold claim), but they're certainly a program that should be able to do a hell of a lot better than they are right now.

Most of this comes from their location in Chicago. The Second City, in my opinion, has produced more NBA talent than any other city in this country over the past fifteen years. But where do all these kids go? Duke, Memphis, Louisville, Illinois, Marquette- basically, anywhere but DePaul.

Because of the small sizes of programs like Loyola and Illinois-Chicago and the academic restrictions of a school like Northwestern, DePaul can be considered the main program in Chicago to land these kids. What they need is the right coach, along with a new, on-campus arena, but that's a different matter.

You hear a lot of names floating out there for this job, because the school is supposedly looking for a big name get. I've seen Billy Gillispie, but he was deemed to be a bad fit in Kentucky, so how in the hell would he fit in better in Chicago? You see a lot of mid-major coaches like Brad Brownell (Wright State), Gregg Marshall (Witchita State), and John Groce (Ohio U), but I think they need a bigger name to potentially lure in these recruits.

Seen Chicago guys like Chris Lowery (S. Illinois coach) mentioned, but his success at Southern Illinois has been spotty. Brian Gregory from Dayton's been mentioned, but I don't see Gregory taking that job- having gone to that Dayton game, they get insane support from a great fanbase who largely adore him. Besides, if he buys his time a little more, he can land a more stable job than DePaul. Also seen former UCLA coach and ESPN analyst Steve Lavin brought up, and that's certainly a possibility, but I've got a name in mind: Reggie Theus.

Sure, he didn't do well with the Sacramento Kings, but that was not a good situation for him being so new as a head coach. Besides, we've seen this story so many times- successful college coach can't make it in the NBA. Gonna hold that against him too much? No way, especially since he did such a good job at New Mexico State. The man can recruit, he's still pretty young and charismatic, and he played for the Bulls for a little while.

Big enough name who will deliver the Chicago-area players that this program so desperately needs. If worse comes to worse, he can even sell his soul and start working with Worldwide Wes to get some of these guys.

Houston

Tom Penders may have been able to lead the Cougars on a nice run to the Conference USA Tournament title and an NCAA Tourney berth, but it wasn't enough for him to hold onto his job after years of mediocrity.

Houston's obviously a program in a nice location for recruiting and they've certainly had past success with Phi Slamma Jamma and what not, but they haven't been good for awhile. I mean a long while.

Again, not really a "sleeping giant" sort of situation, but you can clearly win at Houston and these past fifteen years have been more of an indication of underachieving rather than a flaw in this program. This is a school that should be among the top five in Conference USA year in and year out.

For me, Houston's got the obvious candidate here- the aforementioned Billy Gillispie.

Now that UTEP's opened up with Tony Barbee's departure, he's been rumored there too, but I'm not sure he'd want to go back to somewhere like that where he's already coached. Besides, location has to be taken into account- would you rather have your school's recruiting base be in Houston or El Paso?

If his past work at UTEP and Texas A&M isn't enough of an indication, Gillispie's a master of building something out of nothing. Sure, he didn't succeed at Kentucky, but I think at this point we can all acknowledge that he was just a bad fit there. In fact, John Calipari's kind of a rarity- a lot of people aren't great fits in Lexington. Tubby Smith certainly wasn't, but that may have been more due to the fact he was a black man coaching at the program that Adolph Rupp built. Nevermind, I'm going down a road I really shouldn't.

All in all, Gillispie's a Texas guy who can build success from scratch. He's looking for a chance for redemption, and in a league like C-USA where Larry Eustachy, Matt Doherty, and Mike Davis coach, where could a better fit be?

Oregon

One of the Pac-10's most successful programs over the past ten years, the Ducks opted to part ways with long-time coach Ernie Kent after two less-than-stellar seasons.

While a lot of us may not think of Oregon as a sort of basketball mecca, it's a great basketball program that's had a lot of past success, and for the sake of being totally honest, there are two words that make this job stand out: Phil Knight.

The Nike founder/owner is an Oregon native and The Swoosh is based out of Portland. Knight has invested a lot in Oregon athletics, even ponying up the dough for a new arena that Oregon's moving into next year.

Expect this to potentially be the marquee job available this off-season. There's a lot of names mentioned around this job, so I'll just run down the list:

-PJ Carlesimo: hasn't coached college in forever, not really sure that's a chance I'd want to take. Besides, I'm always someone who's been weary of bringing an NBA coach into the college ranks, even if they've been there before.

-Mark Few: he's turned them down before, and overall he seems pretty content at Gonzaga. Who can blame him, really?

-Mike Dunlap: if they can't get the guy I'm going to suggest, Dunlap would be who I'd hire. He was brought in to be an extremely highly paid assistant for Kent and some saw it as a possible replacement should Kent be fired. I don't see a program of Oregon's resources going for him as a first choice, but he's certainly a viable one.

-Steve Alford: he's undoubtedly done good work at both Iowa and New Mexico, but for whatever reason, Alford teams have always had trouble in the NCAA Tournament. Don't know why, but I could certainly see the Oregon faithful getting a little restless after repeatedly getting ousted early in the Big Dance.

-Randy Bennett- St. Mary's has certainly been an elite mid-major program these past few years, but that seems like a pretty big jump.

-Rick Adelman: Would he even consider this?

-Jamie Dixon: A west coast guy, but he's turned down bigger jobs than this to stay at Pitt. He seems to be really happy there and it looks like that's where he wants to spend his coaching career, continuing to make Pitt into a regular Big East power

-Jay Wright: Same thing as Dixon, except he has no ties to the left coast. He's a Pennsylvania guy, married to a former Villanova cheerleader and he's a hero there, coaching in a city with elite basketball talent in a much better conference.

So who do I think should be offered the job? Look no further than someone taking place in the Elite Eight today- Baylor coach Scott Drew.

He's rebuilt that program from failure and horrific tragedy and turned them into what they are today, a Big 12 power who's a game away from the Final Four.

May not be the likes of Wright or Dixon, but you really can't do too much better than a young, successful head coach who truly knows how to build a program.

Seton Hall

The program that Carlesimo helped lead to prominence back in the late eighties is now in the search of looking for a head coach after getting rid of Bobby Gonzalez.

Gonzo was a fiery personality to say the least and he wasn't exactly fired for his inability to lead the team to wins, seeing as the team improved each year he was there, but his temper and some questionable players that he brought in ultimately did him in.

Seton Hall's not in a bad position: they've won in the past, they play in the Big East, and they have a good location for recruiting purposes. The task is now to get a coach who will get them out of mediocrity in the Big East and do it in a classy, semi-respectable way. No Gonzo, Part II here.

New York/New Jersey connections are going to be almost a pre-req for whoever's in the running for this job. Fran McCaffrey would have been an ideal fit here, but he just took the Iowa job earlier today. Chris Mooney, the Richmond coach, was floated out there, but it looks like his deal's going to get restructured there. Besides, has anyone ever seen the Richmond campus before? Would you want to leave that for South Orange, New Jersey?

Dan and Bob Hurley, two local high school coaches, have been rumored, but it's not worth the risk to go with a Gerry Faust-esque hiring of a high school coach. Kevin Willard's a Pitino protege, but I'm not sure he's had the success at Iona to warrant this kind of a promotion.

For me, the perfect fit here's Cornell coach Steve Donahue.

He coaches at a New York school, he's had a great run of success that's about to end (temporarily at least) with the graduation of a talent-laden senior class, and most importantly for Seton Hall, he wins with class and integrity.

St. John's

Putting aside any sort of "Oh, how the mighty have fallen" analogies, St. John's certainly isn't where it was back in the eighties. Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson, Ron Artest? To channel Rick Pitino, they're not walking through that door.

And quite frankly, no top players from the Mecca of Basketball (NYC) are walking through the doors of the St. John's campus. The Red Storm are the top program in the New York metro area, but they've fallen far behind the likes of UConn and Syracuse when it comes to getting the Big Apple's top players.

Part of this can certainly be attributed to the fact that St. John's can no longer offer housing stipends that used to entice a lot of local guys to the program, but this is still a program that can compete in the Big East. It's just going to take a lot of work.

Norm Roberts didn't win a whole lot, but he did exactly what he needed to do: he came in and cleaned up a program that was in disrepair. Word is that local AAU coaches complained that Roberts almost made St. John's "too clean", which is something you certainly have to admire in this day and age.

But what St. John's needs now is a man who can win. McCaffery, again, is no longer an option here. The Red Storm are now reportedly in talks with BC coach Al Skinner, but I'm not totally sure I see Skinner leaving The Heights to rebuild a down-trodden program. If he does, that's a great hire, just don't see it happening.

Again, don't see the allure of Willard. Fran Dunphy's been mentioned, but he went from Penn to Temple and has spent the last thirty something years in The City of Brotherly Love. He's a Philly guy, don't see that changing now.

Both Paul Hewitt and Seth Greenberg have already turned the job down, so where do they turn now?

I think the guy here's another Ivy League coach, Harvard's Tommy Amaker.

Amaker's already had success coaching a NY-area school (at Seton Hall) in the Big East no less, and while he flopped at Michigan, his successor, John Beilein, hasn't been doing too well either, so maybe Amaker wasn't entirely to blame for the shortcomings of that program.

He's done an astounding job making Harvard an elite team in the Ivy and he can recruit, even for Harvard, he's luring in top guys. Young, charismatic, and clean when it comes to the NCAA. Seems like a good fit to me.

Wagner

A final New York school looking for a head coach, I'm gonna cut the BS and just give my choice here: none other than former BU coach Dennis Wolff.

Some might argue that the Wolff-man got a raw deal here in the very end and while people have been kicking him while he's down here on campus, the man is a good coach who runs a clean program.

Might as well Wagner, you need a coach, this qualified man needs a job, make it happen.

End of the Line? : The Virginia Commonwealth Preview

2010-03-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

With a thrilling 91-89 victory over Morehead State in the second round of the CBI, one that was rather bittersweet considering the departure of Corey Lowe from the program (see post below), BU has now earned the right to play in the Final Four...of the CBI, but granted it still is a final four.

And as Teddy likes to routinely point out, BU's season has now officially lasted longer than these traditional powerhouse programs: UCLA, Louisville, Kansas, Georgetown, Villanova, and UConn among others. A flawed argument, probably, but take it for what it's worth. I mean after all, the kid has been kicking my ass on these postseason picks.

Tonight, BU will square off against undoubtedly one of their tougher foes of the season, the Rams of Virginia Commonwealth University.

VCU finished their season with a 24-9 record, good enough for fifth in the competitive Colonial Athletic Association. The Ken Pomeroy rankings have them in the mid fifties (BU's about No. 110 on the list just for reference), and based on who's left in this tournament, the Rams look to be the best team left standing.

Throw in the fact that in their last 33 games at home at the Stuart C. Siegel Center, VCU's gone a total of 31-2, with each of those losses coming at the hands of Northeastern. It's obvious that BU's going to be going up against a team that has a phenomenal home court advantage there in Richmond, but the Terriers are also going to be going up against a very talented team, led by big man Larry Sanders.

Sanders stands at 6'11" and is averaging an impressive 14 points and nine rebounds a game, and some sites even have him slotted as a first round NBA Draft pick (NBADraft.net's got him down as the 16th overall pick). BU did an effective job on double teaming and limiting Kenneth Faried to 19 and 11 on Monday night (good sign for a guy like Faried to be double teamed and still put up those numbers), but Sanders is a whole different animal here, not even just because he's got a few inches on Faried, he's just a better overall player.

VCU has been a nice ground for producing coaches here in the past few years, with Jeff Capel (now at Oklahoma) and Anthony Grant, who just departed Richmond last year to become the head man at Alabama. Shaka Smart, a Florida assistant last year, is now the head coach of the team, and by most accounts and considerations, he's gone a pretty good job thus far. Maybe he'll even be next in line to get a cushier job, although you wonder when someone may just stay at VCU and really build the program into something even better than it is now, which is really saying something considering the Rams have consistently been one of the nation's elite mid-majors for the past decade.

BU's entering the game as a 12.5 point underdog and for all I can see, the Terriers really have nothing to lose here. Their play in this tournament has been phenomenal so far and it really seems to have been a positive experience for these guys to get the extra playing time, whether it be the underclassmen to prepare further for next year, or for the seniors who have been given the chance to extend their collegiate careers for just that much longer.

It's going to take a lot to knock off VCU on the road tonight, but I think virtually any BU basketball fan can sit back, take a look at this season, evaluate the state of the program, and be completely satisfied with it all. In the face of injuries and adversity this team has played through it all and they have come out as a better group of players from it all.

The future for this program certainly looks bright, with a talented core of players returning, along with a highly-touted recruiting class, with it all being led by the man who it truly appears was the right man for this job, the right man to build this program, not necessarily into the Gonzaga or Xavier of the East, but certainly something special and something for this school and community to be proud of.

Tonight may be the end of the line for this season and the end of some admirable careers, but it's all been an enjoyable ride. Savor the present and always, always keep an eye towards the future and what lies ahead.

Teddy's Prediction

Virginia Commonwealth 77 BU 69

Craig's Prediction

Virginia Commonwealth 81 BU 70

It Is What It Is: A Fittingly Bizarre Ending

2010-03-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

In the minutes leading up to the Boston University men’s basketball team’s game against Morehead State University last night, something seemed conspicuously absent. Things appeared to be in order in Case Gymnasium: the Terriers were out on the court going through their pregame routine, the band was warming up, the student section was filling in (a lot quicker than normal) and Morehead State forward Kenneth Faried was throwing down emphatic windmill dunks.

As the teams lined up for the national anthem, however, it became painfully obvious to me what was missing in all of this: It was none other than BU’s star senior guard, Corey Lowe.

Whispers and conjecture echoed throughout the rafters of The Roof—fans trying their best to guess where Lowe might be, but the consensus opinion seemed to boil down to this much: he was off the team for good, no coming back, nothing.

All of this became official with BU coach Patrick Chambers’ announcement that Lowe expressed a desire to “move on to the next chapter of his life,” what many think will be an attempt at landing a professional contract overseas or in a developmental league here in the U.S.

Reportedly, Lowe informed Chambers of his plans to leave the team after BU’s win last week over Oregon State University in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational.

What Lowe leaves behind here at BU is certainly a successful legacy—he stands as the program’s third all-time leading scorer and the all-time leader in assists, 3-pointers made and minutes played.

His recent decision to depart will certainly upset and anger many here on campus (those who follow the basketball team, at least), but it leaves me with really more questions than I have answers.

Part of me is unmistakably dismayed, disappointed and even outraged. Almost every one of us has been taught from a young age that it’s important to stick to our commitments, to be loyal, and perhaps most importantly, to never abandon those we care about, especially in times of need.

At this moment, Lowe’s decision feels a lot like abandonment, abandonment to all of us who have cheered him on in his time here at BU and abandonment to his teammates, particularly his fellow seniors who he’s played with for four years. You don’t see guards Carlos Strong or Tyler Morris, two seniors who have a fighting chance of playing professionally somewhere, ditching their team with just a few games left on the docket, do you?

I know that Lowe, his teammates and coaches would have much rather gotten a spot in the NCAA Tournament or even the NIT, but is the CBI that worthless that you’re willing to turn your back on all these people this far into your season and career?

All of these thoughts and emotions are undoubtedly coming from my heart, my inner fan who longs to see things work out exactly as he desires them to and as he believes they should.

But another part of me can’t go along with all of this ridicule and banter.
I know that it’s my job with The Daily Free Press to stand on the soap box and give my opinion on everything BU Athletics, but it’s hard for me to stand on that box with a strong opinion when everything hasn’t exactly come to light yet with this Lowe situation.

Expecting someone to give a strong, unabashed opinion when you don’t have all the facts is like asking DeMarcus Cousins to explain Einstein’s Theory of Relativity: You’re probably not going to get too much and it may be a way of asking for trouble. It can always get you a job on sports radio, though.

As much as I feel that Lowe’s decision comes off as an act of selfishness and betrayal, we really don’t know enough right now.

For me at the very least, it feels wrong to label Lowe as a traitor after all of the years of hard work and stellar play that he gave to BU basketball, especially since Corey seems by almost all accounts to be an upstanding guy.

Information surrounding these matters usually has its way of gradually emerging and putting to rest varied speculation over time, so while we think we may know everything now, the fact is that we rarely ever do.

Amidst all of this, maybe the one word that seems most fitting to describe Lowe’s decision and its repercussions is bizarre. And quite frankly, while I far from expected Lowe’s career as a Terrier to end this way, it seems all too fitting given the way that his time here at BU has unfolded.

This is the same person who came to BU as a highly touted guard that many thought was almost over-qualified for the program with which he signed (after his commitment to Providence College fell through).

This is the same person who was the very definition of a gunner—someone who could bury 3-pointers and win his team the game from deep just as quickly as he could shoot them out of it, something that has been a source of frustration for many of us that follow the program.

Almost above all, this is the same guy who was not only a mercurial player but was also someone who made me question my judgment toward college athletes when I saw him walking off the court crying after his late turnover all but sealed BU’s loss to the University of Vermont last month.

As much as I maybe wanted to yell and shout at him for his mistake, I could realize that the situation embodied the fact that Corey Lowe, like all student-athletes, is just a kid.

And like all kids, he’s prone to mistakes.

At this point, I don’t agree with Lowe’s decision, but I certainly respect it and wish him the best, and until all of the facts come out, it may be the best thing for us all to save our judgment and accept this for what it is now: a perplexing decision that epitomizes a similarly unpredictable career.

Postseason Basketball at The Roof: The Morehead State Preview

2010-03-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess it turns out I thought Oregon State was way better than they really were, if our 18 point road against them in Corvallis wasn't evidence enough. The team fired on all cylinders and Oregon State (not sure if this is common for them) couldn't seem to hit a thing. A very nice win overall, not to mention it was the first postseason win for BU since their victory in the Sweet Sixteen in 1959.

After that win, the Terriers went on to lose to Jerry West and West Virginia in the Elite Eight. While the likes of The Logo won't be making their way to Case Gym tomorrow night, BU's going to square off against a very tough opponent in Morehead State.

A lot of questions remained to be answered here for BU basketball fans (all twelve of us out there). First of all, since a lot of people don't bother to take the time to look up where a lot of these smaller schools are, where is Morehead State?

Just so happens that Morehead State's located in Morehead, KY, in the eastern part of the state. Being from Louisville, I've always been a big supporter of Kentucky college basketball schools not named Kentucky (WKU, EKU, Murray State, Morehead), but rest assured, I won't let my hometown's proximity to the opponent go against my rooting/school allegiances. Go BU.

Also, let's not be ignorant here folks. Yes, Morehead's located in Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky, Appalachia no less. I'm hoping that please, for the love of God, our student section that pulls out "The Wheels on Your House" chant on schools like Maine and UNH doesn't pull it out against a team from a region that's probably more prone to these sorts of taunts.

I mean it's hilarious to just blindly assume that all people from rural Appalachia (and rural America period) are toothless rednecks who live in trailers and feed Mountain Dew to their babies in a bottle (note the sarcasm here), but let's not. Please. And if I hear someone doing this and this chant gains some steam at the game, I'm literally going to crack a skull, or as Charlie Kelly would so brilliantly put it:

Unfortunately, the immortal "I will smash your face into a jelly" line could not be found on YouTube.

Again with the chant, this will happen. No joke. I've got a lot of friends who go to Morehead and I see that as you insulting them even though they're really good people. I got my ass chewed out for writing about the chant in my FreeP column, but I'm willing to get kicked out of a basketball game if I hear someone belittiling my region of the country. I don't do it to New York, Connecticut, or Mass, so let's refrain from doing it to me. You just look stupid. Thank you.

Away from the occasional stupidity of BU fans, this is a really interesting game that's going to play out on the court.

From the BU side of things, all is well. The team responded admirably from their most crushing defeat of the season with an absolute schelacking of a major conference school. The boys didn't hang their heads and pretty much asserted their will upon the game, forcing the half-court Beavers into a fast-paced shootout. And it worked pretty damn well to their advantage.

John Holland recovered from his funk that lasted throughout the America East Tournament and came out the John Holland that we all know and love here: the guy who puts up 20+ points a game, works his ass off offensively and defensively, throws down, and electrifies this team.

Los, Morris, Lowe, O'Brien....hell everyone played well that game. Considering the opponent and all that, last week's game may have been the team's best of the season. Then again, that 80-70 loss to a Kansas State team that's a 2 seed and has a legit shot at the national championship looks pretty damn good right now.

The Terriers look exactly how you want a team to look at the very end of the year: hitting on all cylinders, executing plays almost to perfection, and most importantly, connecting and playing like a team. Adjusting to Chambers' offense certainly was not easy for these guys, but they seem to be getting it down pat (no pun intended) at a great time of the year.

For Morehead State? People who may not know where Morehead is should know that this team is pretty darn good, and I mean that. BU's going to be facing off against a team that, just like us, finished a game short of the NCAA Tournament, although they lost to a Murray State team that would probably take UVM to the cleaners. That same Murray team that beat them in the championship, the same team that was a few seconds away from a Sweet Sixteen appearance this year? Morehead beat them this year at home; in fact, Morehead hasn't lost at home since Novemeber (even if this game is on the road for them, that's an impressive stat to say the least).

For what it's worth, Morehead, with virtually the same roster as this year, gave my boys from Louisville a fit in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year in the 1 v 16 game, even if the final 20 point margin wasn't indicative of it.

BU may have a high-powered offense, but Morehead averages just as many points as us a game (about 71) and gives up fewer points per game on the defensive end. Again, all signs are pointing to an even game here.

Perhaps the biggest reason of concern comes in the form of Morehead's dynamic forward Kenneth Faried.

A shot of him pulling down a board over the disappointment known as Samardo Samuels in the NCAA game last year.

If you haven't heard of him, be on notice: this dude's a beast. Think of him in the same way that you do Marqus Blakely. The guy dominates the low post, he's a constant rebounding and scoring threat and he always has the potential to take over the game on the offensive and defensive ends. He may not be close to the passer that Blakely is, but he's actually a much better rebounder and he's more athletic/explosive overall.

Faried leads the Eagles in scoring (16.3 PPG) and rebounding (13 RPG), so the key to really beating this team is to shut down or at the very least neutralize Faried. But why is this such a scary prospect? Because as I said, this dude's a near carbon copy of Blakely. What could BU hardly ever do (if ever)? Beat Blakely and UVM. So how are they going to do it against a guy who's considerably better than Marqus Blakely.

Got not clue, but hey this is what Chambers and the coaching staff get paid for so they can draw up a plan for something I'm getting nightmares about: having JOB and The Junkyard Dog try to contain this guy.

Morehead's got a pair of guys who each average 12 PPG, so don't be under the impression that this is a one man team.

Also for me, although he isn't a guy to focus on, I graduated from high school with Morehead point guard Aaron Williams, so there will officially be two proud graduates of Louisville duPont Manual Public High School in The Roof tomorrow night.

Aaron redshirted last year and is seeing limited action this year, only averaging 0.5 points per game, but if he does get into the game, I for one can vouch that he tore it up pretty well back in high school from the point. Without violating my BU allegiances, I'll be happy with anything that he does well, unless of course it's some sort of last second three to win the game for the Eagles.

On an unrelated note, Teddy also happened to stumble upon this video of the Morehead mascot faceplanting on his way running into the arena hoisting the school's flag:

I don't care if this makes me a bad BU fan- if that ever happened to Rhett, I'd be laughing hysterically.

All signs are pointing to a very close game tomorrow night, and BU's doing it's best to get people out to Case to attend what (I think) is the first home postseason game in the history of the program by offering out $5 vouchers for Rhett's and Jamba Juice.

If there weren't an Alicia Keys concert a block away on the same night, I'd think the game would be a little more crowded, but seeing as I have so little faith in the BU student body's ability to support the basketball team, I'm guessing about 1,000-1,200 people in attendance. If it's triple digits tomorrow, that's humiliating and quite frankly a slap in the face to this team, especially this group of seniors.

Hopefully, I'm proven wrong and behind a rocking Case, BU can pull out a win and extend their season just that much longer.

Teddy's Prediction

BU 82 Morehead State 80

Craig's Prediction

Morehead State 74 BU 71

RIP Hockey

2010-03-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

And another team close to me fell tonight: our own Boston University men's ice hockey team. Unfairly, we don't cover BU's headlining sport enough on this blog because when Teddy and I started this, we planned on him doing the hockey portion of the blog, while I did the basketball. But, alas, Vinegar more often than not is MIA.

A tough season, especially when you're rebuilding in a sense and you're handed such high, lofty, and frankly unattainable expectations.

Thanks for the years, seniors, and hey, there's always next year, can't win em all.

An Open Letter

2010-03-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Cal,

You're normally a team and program that I like. You're a first-rate academic institution in a beautiful region of the country with an idealic campus. And you gave my Eagles the gift of DeSean Jackson. Overall, we're on good terms, you and me, one that even extends beyond apathy and crosses into the realm of respect.

However, tonight I hate you. I hate that you shot 53.3% from 3-point range. Mind you, I'm very impressed by that, but I hate that it happened against my team. Couldn't you all have saved that for Washington in the Pac-10 championship last week?

I don't like Max Zhang and his 7'3"ness. It sucks losing to a team with a 7 foot Asian not named Yao Ming. Really sucks.

Can't say I'm a fan of Jorge Gutierrez either. Dude tore us up and I couldn't get over his "from a distance resemblence" to Namond from "The Wire".

Actually, upon closer examination, they really look almost nothing alike. Just the hair I guess.

Not as long of a rant as I thought, because as much as I hate Jerome Randall and Patrick Christopher for their ability to bury treys, I'm almost more amazed by the shooting exhibition than anything.

I'm rooting for you guys in the next round against Duke, but please Mike Montgomery, get someone on your team like Zhang to punch Kyle Singler in the face.

Also just came to the realization just now that BU finished this season with a better record against the Pac-10 (1-0) than Louisville did (0-1). Great for me as a BU fan, but pretty embarassing for me as a Louisville fan.

Always next year boys. Got the nicest, most state-of-the-art arena in college basketball opening, you're still loaded with talent, and you're led by a man who despite all the "sex in restaurants jokes" is one of the best (if not the best) in the business.

And besides, only six more months until Charlie Strong's domination of the Big East begins.

Smile on, Chuck, smile on.

H & V's Bracket Face-Off

2010-03-17T21:42:00.001-07:00

While we may primarily focus on BU sports on our blog, all of this gets thrown aside for what I consider to be the best postseason in all of sports: the NCAA Tournament. Forget all of those out there that say that the tournament field needs to expand to 96 teams- why change something that's already perfect?

College basketball enthusiasts and clueless office secretaries alike get into the Big Dance to a point because of March's time-honored tradition: filling out brackets.

Alas, Teddy and I are not immune to this, so we'll give our best shots at probably one of the most inexact sciences out there.

Teddy's Bracket

First Round

Midwest Region

Kansas over Lehigh
Northern Iowa over UNLV
Michigan State over New Mexico State
Maryland over Houston
Tennessee over San Diego State
Georgetown over Ohio
Georgia Tech over Oklahoma State
Ohio State over UC Santa Barbara

West Region

Syracuse over Vermont
Gonzaga over Florida State
UTEP over Butler
Vanderbilt over Murray State
Xavier over Minnesota
Pittsburgh over Oakland
BYU over Florida
Kansas State over North Texas

East Region

Kentucky over East Tennessee State
Wake Forest over Texas
Temple over Cornell
Wisconsin over Wofford
Marquette over Washington
New Mexico over Montana
Missouri over Clemson
West Virginia over Morgan State

South Region

Duke over Arkansas Pine Bluff
California over Louisville
Texas A & M over Utah State
Siena over Purdue
Notre Dame over Old Dominion
Baylor over Sam Houston State
St. Mary's over Richmond
Villanova over Robert Morris

Second Round

Midwest Region

Kansas over Northern Iowa
Michigan State over Maryland
Georgetown over Tennessee
Ohio State over Georgia Tech

West Region

Syracuse over Gonzaga
UTEP over Vanderbilt
Pittsburgh over Xavier
Kansas State over BYU

East Region

Kentucky over Wake Forest
Temple over Wisconsin
New Mexico over Marquette
West Virginia over Missouri

South Region

Duke over California
Texas A & M over Siena
Baylor over Notre Dame
Villanova over St. Mary's

Sweet Sixteen

Midwest Region

Kansas over Michigan State
Ohio State over Georgetown

West Region

Syracuse over Vanderbilt
Kansas State over Pittsburgh

East Region

Kentucky over Temple
West Virginia over New Mexico

South Region

Duke over Texas A & M
Baylor over Villanova

Elite Eight

Midwest Region

Kansas over Ohio State

West Region

Syracuse over Kansas State

East Region

Kentucky over West Virginia

South Region

Baylor over Duke

Final Four

Kansas over Syracuse
Kentucky over Baylor

National Championship

Kansas 85 Kentucky 83

Craig's Bracket

First Round

Midwest Region

Kansas over Lehigh
UNLV over Northern Iowa
Michigan State over New Mexico State
Maryland over Houston
Tennessee over San Diego State
Georgetown over Ohio
Oklahoma State over Georgia Tech

West Region

Syracuse over Vermont
Gonzaga over Florida State
Butler over UTEP (I don't trust Derrick Caracter to save my life)
Murray State over Vanderbilt
Xavier over Minnesota
Pittsburgh over Oakland
BYU over Florida
Kansas State over North Texas

East Region

Kentucky over East Tennessee State
Texas over Wake Forest
Temple over Cornell
Wisconsin over Wofford
Washington over Marquette
New Mexico over Montana
Missouri over Clemson
West Virginia over Morgan State

South Region

Duke over Arkansas Pine Bluff
Louisville over California
Texas A & M over Utah State
Siena over Purdue
Old Dominion over Notre Dame
Baylor over Sam Houston State
St. Mary's over Richmond
Villanova over Robert Morris

Second Round

Midwest Region

Kansas over UNLV
Michigan State over Maryland
Georgetown over Tennessee
Ohio State over Oklahoma State

West Region

Syracuse over Gonzaga
Butler over Murray State
Xavier over Pittsburgh
Kansas State over BYU

East Region

Kentucky over Texas
Temple over Wisconsin
Washington over New Mexico
West Virginia over Missouri

South Region

Duke over Louisville
Texas A & M over Siena
Baylor over Old Dominion
Villanova over St. Mary's

Sweet Sixteen

Midwest Region

Kansas over Michigan State
Georgetown over Ohio State

West Region

Syracuse over Butler
Kansas State over Xavier

East Region

Kentucky over Temple
West Virginia over Washington

South Region

Duke over Texas A & M
Baylor over Villanova

Elite Eight

Midwest Region

Kansas over Georgetown

West Region

Syracuse over Kansas State

East Region

West Virginia over Kentucky

South Region

Baylor over Duke

Final Four

Kansas over Syracuse
West Virginia over Baylor

National Championship

Kansas 81 West Virginia 68

There you have it: Teddy and I may have disagreed on a lot of the early picks, but going along with most of the country, including our very own Commander-in-Chief, we're going with (Rock) Chalk and going with the Jayhawks to be the team to cut down the nets in Indianapolis in early April.

The FBILOTUS: The Oregon State CBI Preview

2010-03-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

Widely documented as it has been, I regret to inform anyone reading this that BU did not make the NCAA Tournament because of their loss in the America East Championship game. Teddy happens to think that BU got screwed out of an at-large bid, but I think when a 23-8 Virginia Tech team that went 10-6 in the ACC gets left out, there's no room to complain. Besides, I'd be a little concered about the mental sanity of the NCAA Selection Committee if they gave one of the final, coveted at-large bids to a 19-13 team out of America East.

Anyhow, the season's not yet over for this BU team as they prepare to take on Oregon State in the third annual College Basketball Invitational tournament.

Between the Beavers and Ducks, Oregon may have their shit together more than any other state when it comes to college mascots. It's also gotta be clarified here that the Oregon State football program to its credit doesn't feature a cast of players who among them have sucker-punched a Boise State player (although does anyone else think that he may have had it coming to him, talking a lotta trash for there to be no repurcussion) and one who more recently charged with burgulary for breaking into a campus frat house.

Jeremiah Masoli pleads guilty to burglary

It's fair to think of the CBI as a third on the totem pole of postseason tournaments, behind the NCAA and the NIT, probably tied with the College Insider Tournament at the bottom.

Some out there may dismiss this as nothing more than an empty pat on the back to a desperate mid-major team looking for some extra games, but I'm personally a big fan of it too. And since he writes for the blog about as often as DeMarcus Cousins reads Tolstoy (or reads anything for that matter), I decided to quote him on this.

"Hey, it's better than nothing"

Eloquent in it's brevity, what a champ.

Sure, it's not the Big Dance or even the NIT, but for a program like BU that has struggled on the court at times and struggled to gather a large student following all the time, this can't hurt. Vermont played in it last year and got a few extra games under their belt. On the America East message board, virtually every Vermont fan saw the teams' participation in the CBI as beneficial at the very least.

Seeing as next year's looking like a two-horse race between BU and Stony Brook, those extra games could end up meaning something(although the Sea Wolves are also playing postseason ball, in the NIT).

BU's making the cross-country trip to Corvallis, Oregon to face off against the Beavers, the defending CBI champions. Oregon State followed that up this season with 14-17 overall record and an 8-10 record in a weak, albeit very competitive, Pac-10 Conference. Take that record for what it's worth because I'm positive that the Beavers would rack up at least 20-22 wins if they played in America East.

They're led in scoring by guard Calvin Haynes and it looks like they have a solid presence down low from Roeland Schaftenaar, as well as a versatile threat in Seth Tarver, who it looks like may match up well with John Holland. To be totally frank, though, I haven't watched Oregon State play really at all this year, just as I should be safe to assume that most Beaver fans out there haven't seen much of BU. Should mean both parties (fan wise) may end up equally surprised by the time the final buzzer sounds tomorrow night.

Oregon State's also a low-scoring team, half-court team, so brace yourself for a grind-it-out, defensively-oriented battle.

This game also gives BU the unqiue chance to play against the team coached by none other than the First-Brother-in-Law of the United States (FBILOTUS), Craig Robinson.

This Craig Robinson, not Craig Robinson the actor, aka Daryll from "The Office".

Robinson's currently in his second year in Corvallis and has by in large done (from what I can tell) a good job for a team in a conference routinely dominated by the likes of UCLA and Arizona. I guess he's done a better job than his predecessor, Jay John, the dyslexic-named version of Founding Father John Jay.

Hey, it may not be the NCAA Tournament, but it's an opportunity for BU to face off against a power conference school, and a final chance for us to watch this group of seniors and the team altogether until November (if we don't win).

Sounds to me like a good deal, and honestly, we're BU Basketball fans- how can we be too high and mighty to play some postseason ball? Last time I checked, UNC and UConn are playing in the NIT.

Tip-off's at 10; let's extend this season a bit more....

Teddy's Prediction

BU 69 Oregon State 64

Craig's Prediction

Oregon State 63 BU 59

It's Official: BU in the CBI

2010-03-14T23:32:00.000-07:00

The things that we heard in the aftermath of BU's loss to Vermont a few days ago in the America East Championship game are true; BU may not have snagged that coveted spot in the Big Dance, nor found themselves in the NIT, but the Terriers have officially accepted a bid to play in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).

For its opening game, BU has drawn defending CBI champion Oregon State, a program guided by none other than the First Brother-In-Law, Craig Robinson. The Pac-10 had a rough go this year, but it's still a major conference, and I'm about 99.8% sure that even the Pac-10's worst year imaginable is still a hell of a lot better than America East's best season ever. Playing out on the West Coast in Corvallis may be tough on this group of guys, but it's another chance for the seniors to suit up before they finish up their collegiate careers, and the extra game(s) are always helpful to a team, especially one like BU that's playing in a new system under a first year coach.

A link to the complete CBI bracket is below:

http://www.gazellegroup.com/events/cbi/cbi10_bracket.pdf

Vermont played in this tournament last year (actually bowing out to the Beavers in their second game) and look where they ended up the following year. Some people may scoff at post-season basketball that's not the NCAA Tournament, but for a program like BU that's looking to build itself up, any post-season basketball's good in my book.

Post-Season Ball?

2010-03-13T20:26:00.000-08:00

BU may have come up short in the America East Championship, but word is that they're going to be offered and likely accepting a bid to play in the CBI, the tournament that's kind of a notch below the NIT, but for a program like BU this is a very nice opportunity.

More likely than not, the games are going to be on the road, and we'll keep it posted based on what we hear as the days go on.

This Is It: Vermont Part III, The America East Championship

2010-03-12T22:13:00.000-08:00

I wrote a big, long preview, philosophical, thought-provoking, tear-inducing preview for this, but my computer fucked up and alas, it's all lost.

We all know what this game means, for all of us who have followed this team for months, who know that all of these keystrokes, all of these seconds of going to games, all of these minutes of analysis and frustration have led to this one moment, a forty minute stretch of time in a small gym in northern New England.

This run by this BU team has been absolutely remarkable, keyed by a group of guys like Corey Lowe, Carlos Strong, Tyler Morris, and John Holland who have been unfairly labeled as underachievers and losers for most of this year, and in some cases for a majority of their respective BU careers.

BU doesn't need a win tomorrow to validate the careers of these young men, for they have put the years of hard work and preparation into making this moment possible. Same can be said for Pat Chambers who quickly went from program savior to embattled in the eyes of some, but he has proven so far that he can do what Dennis Wolff couldn't: win postseason games and take BU to where this program should be in a conference like America East: on the threshold of something special.

Major conference fans of the Big East, ACC and Big 12 can scoff and dismiss these mid-major schools as their BCS teams play for seeding purposes while the smaller schools battle it out for a double digit seed that will be occupied by only a single team from the conference. But that's what makes all of this so special: tomorrow is everything for these teams, everything for every soul involved in this game.

Seeing as this is a conference championship game with a bid to the NCAA Tournament at stake, you can find much more well-informed analysis on places like espn.com so I'll keep this part short and sweet.

Neutralize marqus Blakely to the best of your abilities. Without him, UVM's just an average team, but as BU's found out this year, that's a proposition that's far easier said than done.

Guys like Lowe, Strong and Morris have to stay hot for this team to prevail. We're not going to win the battle down low, so best to hope that we stay hot from beyond the arc. Holland's been held to 12 and 10 scoring in the first two games of the tournament, so you can reasonably assume that he's due for a game in which he puts up 20+ on the scoreboard. Gotta like that as a BU fan.

Can't be overwhelmed by the environment at Patrick Gym. Does BU win there about as often as the Harlem Globetrotters lose to the Washington Generals? Absolutely. Is the crowd of 3,000+ going to be 98% UVM fans doing their best to will the Catamounts to victory? Believe it, but BU has to stay in control of their actions, execution, and emotions, because if they can't, there's no hope of escaping with a W. This is where the will of men is measured and tested. Believe that.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make it to any of these postseason games because seeing as it is Spring Break, I thought it would be best to come home to spend time with my family, most notably my mom who just finished her eight month bout with cancer. I'd love to go up to Burlington, but believe it or not, it's pretty damn hard and pretty damn costly to change pre-arranged plane tickets out of Kentucky on such short notice.

Teddy, however, will be there in full force for the team, which, if you know Teddy, is kind of a scary proposition seeing as this is the same kid who unleashes anger by kicking chairs for things like a tie by the women's hockey team.

He texted me the other day to tell me that he's investing in a red wig, which I hope given his Kelly Clarkson fandom means a red afro wig. Otherwise it's kinda weird. It may all be made up for by some signs he's made in support of the team and the one that he promised to make that advertises the blog. Solid.

Even our freshman proteges are getting in on the action, making some signs of their own, including the one below which, even though it's honoring a Hoosier, is pretty freakin sweet.

The hours and months of support have now all been compartmentalized into this singular moment, a moment that will define not only this season, but also the careers of a respective group of players who have devoted a good majority of their lives to their love for this game.

The 1980 Louisville basketball team played under the motto "This Is It" on their run in the NCAA Tournament that year and the same applies to BU men's basketball tomorrow, given it being on a smaller stage, but it's why I titled the post what I did nonetheless. How did it all turn out for that team, the heralded Doctors of Dunk?

Here's to hoping the same result awaits the Terriers. The opportunity for a brief, shining moment of greatness has presented itself. Now the time has come for this team to take advantage of it. Let's get em boys.

Championship Preview Tonight, But a Thought For Now

2010-03-12T13:54:00.000-08:00

Alas, the H & V championship blowout preview will be posted tonight, but for the meantime, I went to a source of entertainment for myself on espn.com: the conversation tab for a college basketball game. Honestly no better place to find crazies than one of these, except maybe on the comments section for espn.com articles and comments for YouTube videos.

A BU basketball game usually doesn't draw too much attention unless of course it's against a top-flight opponent, but tomorrow's looming conference title game against Vermont has drawn total of nine (!) comments between BU and UVM fans waxing poetic on who they believe will emerge victorious as the AE Champ on Saturday afternoon.

One comment in particlar, from a guy (or girl, who knows a few females out there dig some AE hoops) named Bazzani09, struck me. The comment read:

"BU will win. Pat Chambers is one of the best coaches in America. Why do you think Nova is not living up to their expectations? Because Chambers is not there any more. Boston wins 86-75."

Love the optimism and while I hope he meant Chambers is one of the best young coaches in America, it's an interesting notion to think that Villanova's late-season downfall has been partially attributable to Chambers' absence. Don't agree with it necessarily, but I do think Chambers is a great, up and coming coach, and yes, I love seeing Nova fall apart here. No offense to you Nova people out there, and call me a sour grape, but I'll never forgive you guys chanting "N-I-T" at Louisville during a rebuilding year.

Keeping that Chambers thought in mind, look for the preview to be up tonight. This is what this has all come down to, and I for one, could not be more excited.

One Half of the Blog's National CBB Awards

2010-03-06T22:01:00.000-08:00

On a monumental day for this blogger in which BU throttled Hartford and my Louisville Cardinals closed out Freedom Hall in the best way possible, by knocking off the nation's No. 1 team and guaranteeing themselves of an NCAA Tourney bid in the process, it's gotten me to thinking about the end of the regular season.

Since, Teddy and I have given out our AE End of Year Awards, I'm going to give my picks for the national awards. Maybe even Teddy will shed some insight on the matter here in the coming days. Don't hold your breath though.

Second Team All-America

Sherron Collins, G, Kansas

Jon Scheyer, G/F, Duke

Da'Sean Butler, F, West Virginia

Luke Harangody, F/C, Notre Dame

Cole Aldrich, F/C, Kansas

A few of these guys in any other year could have very well been on the first team, but this year's got a loaded field talent-wise. Collins gets the edge over some other fantastic point guards from this year like Villanova's Scottie Reynolds and Michigan State's Kaelin Lucas, and if it weren't for one John Wall, Collins would have been a shoe-in for the top five. Butler doesn't get nearly enough attention, maybe because people don't consider him to be the same kind of NBA Prospect that his teammate Devin Ebanks is, but without a doubt, Butler's been a big reason why Bob Huggins has achieved such success so quickly at his alma mater. Harangody may be a bit of a surprise pick seeing as he's been out a Notre Dame's past five or so games, but he's more than deserving of this honor. He would have been a surefire first teamer if it weren't for his time off.

First Team All-America

John Wall, G, Kentucky

Grevis Vasquez, G, Maryland

Evan Turner, F, Ohio State

Wesley Johnson, F, Syracuse

DeMarcus "Elbows" Cousins, F/C, Kentucky

This was a pretty clear cut call for me here. Vasquez would have been a bit of a surprise to me about a month and a half ago, but the way that he's put this Maryland team on his back and led them to a share of the ACC regular season title is absolutely admirable and impressive. I love the way he plays, it's a mixture of tenacity and passion that you don't see today anymore, unless of course it involves some sort of swagger or showboating. Cousins may cause some disagreement, but the guy's averaged 15 and 10 this year, and has also accumulated 18 double-doubles as well. As much as I don't like the kid, I can't deny him the honor. Turner's a stud who's largely responsible for where Ohio State is right now. Would they even be an NCAA Tournament team without him? Johnson's been a revelation for Syracuse this year. Jim Boeheim's only taken in four transfers in his thirty something years in upstate New York, and you can see he truly has an eye for talent with it. And Wall's become an internet sensation and icon here in Kentucky all in the span of a year.

National Coach of the Year

5. (Tie) Frank Martin, Kansas State

Bill Self, Kansas

4. Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh

3. Steve Alford, New Mexico

2. John Calipari, Kentucky

1. Jim Boeheim, Syracuse

This was a really tough call for me here. Self's quieted a lot of doubters in his time at Lawrence and may very well have a team this year that would allow him to capture a second title in three years with the Jayhawks. Frank Martin's continued the work that Bob Huggins started in Manhattan (KS) and has made it that much better, leading the Wildcats to a top five ranking this year. Dixon took a rebuilding team that was picked to finish ninth in the Big East and has taken them to the point where they're in line for a three or even a two seed in the Big Dance. Alford was essentially exiled from Iowa for a lack of postseason success a few years back, and has gone down to New Mexico where he's turned the Lobos into a top ten team this year. And Iowa? They're in the Big Ten cellar. Nice move. For me, it came down to Calipari and Boeheim.

A lot of people believe it's Calipari's rightful prize and as a Louisville fan, all 2 of the H & V readers out there may see this as a homer pick. Not quite. The work that Calipari's done at Kentucky has been nothing short of remarkable. He took a fractured NIT team and an uber-passionate fanbase that still had a distinctly bitter and downright disgusted taste in their mouths after the disaster that was the Billy Gillispie era. He's brought in top-notch talent and has returned UK to the glory which they are so accustomed to, a nothced No. 1 seed in the tourney and a very good chance at hoisting a national title.

While recruting certainly is an important part of coaching, I can't give out an award like this to a guy who's won just because he's had the best players. Any other year I may, but not this one. After all, this award is about coaching, and in all honesty, I haven't seen the kind of coaching job that Jim Boeheim has put forth in years. Boeheim's Orange team lost three starters from last year in Johny Flynn, Paul Harris, and Eric Devendorf; they were picked to finish sixth in the Big East at the beginning of the year, but Boeheim's taken them to the height of college basketball with a No. 1 ranking in the polls and a certain No. 1 seed in the tournament. Perhaps the most impressive thing is that in this age of one-and-dones that the likes of Calipari build their success around, Boeheim doesn't have a single McDonald's All-American on his team. There's honestly not enough that could be said about the job turned in this year by one of the game's all-time great coaches.

National Player of the Year

5. Grevis Vasquez, Maryland

4. Sherron Collins, Kansas

3. Wesley Johnson, Syracuse

2. Evan Turner, Ohio State

1. John Wall, Kentucky

As tough as it was to decide Coach of the Year, this one was that much harder because there's really no wrong choice this year in my opinion. Vasquez has been the heart, soul and talent behind a spirited run by a very good Maryland team. Collins has been the conductor and dominant backcourt presence for a team that has been atop the polls for most of the season. I've never seen a transfer have the other-wordly impact on his team that Johnson has for Syracuse this year.

For me, though, this is a two horse race. Most pundits and experts seem to have Turner pegged as their POY, and he's likely going to be the eventual winner, which I have no problem with. Turner's an excellent player who's probably more statistically well-rounded than anyone else in the country, he's been easily the biggest reason why Ohio State finds themselves in the top fifteen right now, and he should go on to have a very good NBA career.

He's just up for the award in the wrong year, because as someone who's watched a lot of college basketball in his time, John Wall is still unreal to me. It's not because of his highlight reel quality play. It's not because of the hype around him coming into this season. And no way is it because of that dumb dance of his that Kentucky fans have seemed to embrace.

It's because of the impact that he's had on his team and on college basketball this season. John Calipari has without a doubt done a rebuilding job of amazing proportions at Kentucky with his dribble drive offense, but that offense only works so well if you have the guys to run it; Calipari's produced his fair share of phenomenal point guards here in the past few years, but I can say with confidence that Wall's been a better college player than Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans were.

Calipari's been very important in leading Kentucky back to prominence, but Wall's been the central figure. He's orchestrated a complicated offense to a T and has dropped his fair share of dropped jaws in the process. No way in hell Kentucky gets 30 wins without him. Maybe not even 25. Turner's had a fantastic season, no denying it, and he probably will win this award when it's all said and done, but when I look back on the 2009-2010 season of college basketball, removing all Louisville and BU players, the first guy that will come to mind is John Wall.

And, after all, I resisted the urge to give this to Kyle Kuric. Farewell to you Freedom Hall- so many fond memories from there, I can honestly say that this is where my love of college basketball started. The Cards may be moving downtown next year, but my childhood memories never will leave. No better way to have finished those 54 years off, truly a perfect ending.

The Difference

2010-03-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

BU's 87-46 absolute demolition of the host Hartford Hawks today in the quarterfinals of the America East Tournament is an indication of how well this team has been playing and what exactly they're capable of as we move on here.

John Holland's skill is attested to by the fact that I consider a 12 point performance disappointing, but hats off to Jake O'Brien and Corey Lowe, who had 28 and 26 points, respectively.

The matchup is now against the regular season champs and top-seeded Stony Brook Sea Wolves, and although I predicted it differently, I think BU's going to pull this off. Stony Brook looked a little shaky today against the ninth-seeded Albany Great Danes, and I think I've got to be honest here when I say that if I were John Holland, I'd be absolutely incensed and determined to go out there and prove what a joke it is that Muhammad El-Amin won Conference POY. Even if the Wolves advance, I'd expect equally outraged Marqus Blakely and his Vermont team to win it all.

Anyhow, what I'm getting at here is that BU finished their regular season this year with a 17-12 record overall and a 11-5 record in America East play. Last year, BU finished with the same record and Dennis Wolff got fired for that, right? No, in fact he didn't. Dennis Wolff got fired after 15 years because of his ability to put out impressive regular season teams, but his inability to lead his teams to postseason success year after year.

This is why Pat Chambers was brought in, for days like today. At the risk of hyperbole here, all of those people griping about Chambers and the identical record are going to eat those words. We'll ignore the obvious fact that BU had a much tougher out of conference schedule this year, and although Chambers inherited some very good players from the previous regime (Holland, Lowe, O'Brien, Los, and Morris), he also took on guys who are somehow DI scholarship players that have been a big reason why this team is so thin (Sherrod Smith, Valdas Sirutis).

Next year, Chambers is going to bring in a top recruiting class and the success in picking up quality players looks as though it will continue into the future.

Sure, I think Chambers was going for effect and was exaggerating a bit when he said that he wanted to make this program in the mold of a Gonzaga or a Xavier, but perhaps he's the kind of difference that this program needed to get where it wants to go.

America East End of the Year Awards

2010-03-04T22:10:00.000-08:00

With the America East Awards Banquet taking place in Hartford tomorrow, Teddy and I dish out some hardware of our own to the guys who we feel should win some of the major awards this year in what has been a very interesting season for the conference.

Coach of the Year

Teddy's Picks

1. Steve Pikiell, Stony Brook
2. Ted Woodward, Maine
3. Mark Macon, Binghamton

Craig's Picks

1. Steve Pikiell, Stony Brook
2. Mark Macon, Binghamton
3. Ted Woodward, Maine

First Team All-Conference

Teddy's Picks

John Holland, BU
Marqus Blakely, Vermont
Muhammad El-Amin, Stony Brook
Greer Wright, Binghamton
Tommy Brenton, Stony Brook

Craig's Picks

John Holland, BU
Marqus Blakely, Vermont
Muhammad El-Amin, Stony Brook
Greer Wright, Binghamton
Gerald McLemore, Maine

Conference Player of the Year

Teddy's Picks

1. Marqus Blakely, Vermont
2. John Holland, BU
3. Muhammad El-Amin, Stony Brook

Craig's Picks

1. John Holland, BU
2. Marqus Blakely, Vermont
3. Muhammad El-Amin, Stony Brook

It Is What It Is: The Conference Quagmire

2010-03-03T03:52:00.000-08:00

A few months back, news broke out that the Big Ten Conference was going to explore options for possibly expanding its league by adding a 12th school, a move that could threaten what has been a five or six year period in which the alignment of the Division I conferences has remained extremely stable.

When that announcement came out, it probably didn’t really resonate with many Boston University fans out there. After all, how does the mere possibility of expanding a prominent Bowl Championship Series qualified conference, let alone one that’s based in the Midwest, affect us here on Commonwealth Avenue?

If the dominoes fall the right way, it may be time for Boston University to think about the current state of its athletic department and its respective place in the America East Conference. In the wake of this Big Ten speculation, rumors have been swirling around campus that BU may be in line for a conference upgrade. Granted we’re dealing with more than a few “ifs” here, but it’s still a worthwhile discussion nonetheless.

Let me say this much: I have no serious problems with America East. I think it is a group of schools that are respectable academically, athletically (for the level on which they’re playing) and morally, aside from the whole Binghamton University basketball fiasco from the past year. All in all, it’s been a good home for BU ever since it became a charter member in the league’s 1979 inception.

That being said, though, it has to be assessed as to whether this is still a good fit, whether the marriage of BU and the AE is one that should still exist even if greener pastures present themselves.

My answer to this, at the very least, is an uncertain one. I don’t want to necessarily be the person leading the charge to effectively ditch a conference that we helped lay the groundwork for over 30 years ago, but I also can’t ignore the sizable and discernable differences that exist between BU and its America East counterparts.

For starters, it’s a private school in a major metropolitan area, but it is in a conference of public schools that are more often than not situated off the proverbial beaten path.

Differences between schools in a conference can certainly be overlooked sometimes (see Northwestern University in the Big Ten and Vanderbilt University in the Southeastern Conference), but what cannot be disregarded is the disproportionate success of the Terrier’s teams compared to other teams in the conference.

This in-conference success for BU Athletics can be best quantified in the fact that the Terriers have captured seven of the past eight AE Commissioner’s Cups, the award presented annually to the strongest athletic program in the conference.

So if not AE, then where would be some possible destinations for BU if, or when, conference realignment takes place?

Seeing as conferences are usually created taking into account the size of a school, the quality of its athletic department and its geographic location, I think a few possibilities emerge from the rest.

Anyone who continually comes up with the laughable notion of BU in the Big East or the Atlantic Coast Conference can just stop right now in order to preserve the sanity of themselves and anyone who may be listening - it’s never going to happen.

The closest thing to a pipe dream conference-wise for BU may be the Atlantic-10, a conference that is predominantly made up of schools with similar profiles to BU: private, East Coast schools like George Washington University, Fordham University, St. Joseph’s University and La Salle University, which are situated in large cities. The A-10 could very well be a picked-over entity if conference realignment gets underway, but the problem for BU is that there are more attractive replacements out there for the A-10 to choose from, most notably schools with better basketball programs like Butler University, Siena College and Virginia Commonwealth University among others.

Another possibility could be in the Patriot League, a conference widely considered to be comparable to the Ivy League (maybe more like a “poor man’s Ivy”) that features the likes of the College of the Holy Cross and Bucknell University. A move here would likely be for academic reasons above all else, seeing as athletically, it’s pretty much a lateral move from AE.

A final suitor would be the Colonial Athletic Association, a league with strong basketball that could elevate the status of BU’s program if they joined. If Agganis Arena couldn’t sell out for home games against teams like George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth, we don’t deserve anything more than what we’ve got right now. However, travel costs may get somewhat exorbitant if BU was in a league whose members are as far away as Atlanta, and the attractiveness of the Boston media market that BU offers is diminished by the fact that crosstown rival Northeastern University already calls the CAA home.

So where exactly does that leave Boston University and its athletic community, as of now? As it has always been, there’s really not too much a school can do when it comes to conference shifts, other than sitting back and waiting for the dominoes to fall, if they even do at all.
But there is one proactive step that can be taken by BU administration and students alike - make themselves into a more attractive candidate in the mean time, with student attendance at games (especially basketball) being a high priority of improvement.

A front-running and rather apathetic, albeit common, mentality of not wanting to see BU square off against AE opponents will never help circumstances.

The academic reputation of BU, the modern athletic facilities and the allure of the Boston media market are all undoubtedly important, but no conference like the A-10 or Colonial is going to want a school that sometimes can’t even draw four figures for attendance for basketball games.

So I guess it could be said that it may take something of a collective effort from us all if we want the status of BU Athletics to ever improve. Otherwise, we’ll just be stuck in neutral for the foreseeable future, in the same conference quandary we find ourselves in right now.

Tourney Time! H& V's America East Tournament Picks

2010-03-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

It's America East Tournament time, meaning that the regular season that we analyzed and looked into for months and months now essentially amounts to squat. Unless an AE teams goes on some unprecedented undefeated run a la '04 St. Joe's, no team from this conference is ever going to get an at-large bid.

The tournament is what matters here: win and you're in the tournament. Lose and well...peace.

With these relatively high stakes of mid-major basketball up for grabs right now, it's time for Teddy and I both to go through our first series of brackets and pick the perpetual crapshoot commonlt known as the America East Tournament.

(No word on whether we get a free Newman's Own Pizza for doing this)

RIP Paul, you're still gravely missed.

Teddy's Picks

First Round:

(1) Stony Brook over (8) Albany
(4) BU over (5) Hartford
(6) New Hampshire over (3) Maine
(2) Vermont over (7) UMBC

Semifinals:

(4) BU over (1) Stony Brook
(2) Vermont over (6) New Hampshire

Championship:

(2) Vermont over (4) BU

Craig's Picks

First Round:

(1) Stony Brook over (8) Albany
(4) BU over (5) Hartford
(3) Maine over (6) New Hampshire
(2) Vermont over (7) UMBC

Semifinals:

(1) Stony Brook over (4) BU
(3) Maine over (2) Vermont

Championship:

(1) Stony Brook over (3) Maine

Judge these for what they are worth and stay tuned as in the next few days Teddy and I will be giving out the hardware for conference POY and COY, as well as First Team All-Conference.

Teddy says he'll put out his picks for the women's tournament, and if Louisville keeps laying eggs like they did tonight, you'll be seeing me doing an NIT Bracket here in a week or so

At Least This Team Won

2010-02-28T15:19:00.000-08:00

Amidst the agonizing defeat of the United States against Canada (a great effort, by the way; this young of a team getting second place after taking one of the most stacked Olympic teams in recent memory to overtime? Watch out for the next Olympics, world), I can at least fall upon this:

- Louisville, by my estimation, just needs one more win in their next three games to make the Big Dance. No way the NCAA Tournament Committee turns down a 20 win Big East team, no way.

- Superb game by Kemba Walker, kid's a stud, honestly see him turning pro after this year.

- Would love to see the reaction of all those UConn fans who taunted us BU fans at the game a few months back, especially the kid who called me a pussy in my U of L hoodie. What now?

- Despite his health concerns and issues here recently, Jim Calhoun's still a dick and it's always great to beat him.

- And finally, the guy frustrates me to no end sometimes, but when it really comes down to clutch, crunch-time situations, who's it gonna be?

SOSA FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!