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May 2009
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Recently in College Basketball CategoryNorth Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, last year's player of the year, returned to UNC for his senior season and is now a national champion. But I don't think his decision to play his final collegiate season was completely about winning a title; part of him had to know that his NBA future is not bright. I don't know much about Hansbrough, but his decision to forgo the 2008 NBA draft showed that he's a pretty good self-evaluator. Hansbrough...
OK, this is my time to brag a little bit. My take on filling out the NCAA Men's Tournament bracket is that it's pretty much dumb luck, better to be lucky than smart. I was pretty lucky this year. As a result, I won the WFAA pool, sponsored by gumshoe Brett Shipp (and beat him by one point 145-144, somewhat ironically, in the CBS bracket challenge). I had three of the four Final Four teams (no Michigan State) ...
...for ruining my championship Monday. Here I am, poised for all the emotion and drama that the culmination of march madness can bring, and the Tar Heels come out and play a near perfect half of basketball against Michigan St. And yeah we get it, you're the best team in the country and that blowout against the Spartans in Decemeber wasn't so long ago after all. And thanks for not allowing me to pen the story of those scrappy...
The Oklahoma women's basketball team's run in the women's NCAA tournament has officially ended with their loss to Louisville. If you recall, before the tournament started, Oklahoma's Courtney Paris said she would pay back her enitre scholarship if they didn't win the National Championship.... Well, Courtney, it's time to pay up. Actually, it might never happen unless her dad, former NFLer Bubba Paris opens up his checkbook. Once again,...
Kentucky's new basketball coach, John Calipari, gets an 8 year deal for about $32 million then says it's not about the money. Why does everybody do that? 32 million for 8 years and it's not about the money? Stop it. It's always about money. Offer him 8 years at 13 million and let's see what a special place Kentucky is then. And think how much Kentucky would have had to pay if it was about the money. He...
John Calipari has accepted an offer to leave Memphis for Kentucky. Maybe he and former Kentucky coach, Billy Gillispie should just trade places. And if not Memphis, where will Billy Clyde land his next coaching gig? Gillispie was the WAC coach of the year in 2004 while at UTEP, Big 12 coach of the year in two of his three seasons at Texas A&M. And he was co-coach of the year last year, his first year at Kentucky. Kentucky was ...
Preparing for his team's game tomorrow night against San Diego State in the NIT, Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew stated, "this tournament means a tremendous amount to us and our programs." I hate to say it, but he's right. Some of you may scoff at the fact Baylor is only playing for the right to be "Number 66," considering they didn't make the NCAA field of 65. But this tournament is more than playing to be 66. It has put the Bayl...
Ted Madden, George Riba and HS Game Time producer Paul Melton and I were talking in the WFAA sports office this morning and Ted started talking about bunnies. Not the furry little animals, but something in basketball. Do you know what a bunny is? Let us know. George and I think it's some Chicago-term Ted brought to Texas. ...We went from 64 to 16 in the blink of an eye. I must preface this by saying I was at a wedding this past weekend, so glimpses of the tournament were few and far between. But, those glimpses told me all I need to know. The greatness of internet capable phones giving me live updates saved the weekend. 1. UConn has played the best basketball in the tournament. They destroyed Chattanooga(should be expected), and the Jekyll and Hyde Aggies(...
Baylor basketball coach Kim Mulkey didn't coach her team in Lubbock last night in the Women's NCAA Tournament. She had a kidney stone a couple of days ago and a reaction to the medicine put her in a Lubbock hospital. A reaction to a kidney stone would do that to a lot of us. Baylor beat UT-San Antonio, 87-83, in overtime without her. ...In 2nd round action of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, two-seed Oklahoma has it's hands full with Michigan. Tenth seed Michigan is trailing by only 1 at halftime. Halftime Score: Oklahoma 30 Michigan 29 Blake Griffin accounts for almost half of Oklahoma's points, he has 13. ...Join us Friday at High Noon here at wfaa.com to talk March Madness and Mavericks with the Tylock Lasik SportsTalk team (6:30PM, Monday-Friday on KFWD, channel 52). SportsTalk producer Josh Harvey and I will conduct a live chat and take your questions and comments on all things basketball. We'll look at how the NCAA Tourney is coming along and also examine if the Mavs can make a dent in that tough Western Conference. So spend your lunch...
How can I enjoy this when two of my picks to win the first round are getting their butts kicked? Well, BYU is making a little bit of a run, and Butler is hanging in there, but this seems to happen to me every year -- my bracket is in ruins after the first few games. I can't even get through one day with illusions of winning the office pool. Ugh. ...We're getting close to tip - here are my Final 4 picks: Louisville vs. Memphis, UNC vs. Oklahoma Memphis vs. Oklahoma, Memphis is the nationa champion. You MAY have just enough time to change your bracket before the first game starts. More to come later today... ...Granted, I have never won my March Madness office bracket, but that doesn't mean I don't know how the game is played. In some ways, there is no rhyme nor reason to filling out a bracket. Upsets will happen this weekend...that's just a fact. Guessing which upset will happen...requires a mixture of genius and flat-out luck. And since I have neither, I have never brought home the gold during March Madness. Nevertheless, h...
This is, without a doubt, one of the more exciting times of the year in sports. Any cubicle nerd can become an instant office hero, by making the right picks in his/her March Madness bracket. It's the only time of year when sports and fandom become one...in a mass hysteria of marketing, mayhem, buffalo wings, and fantastic finishes. The true Madness doesn't begin till next week, but the conference tournaments around the countr...
Can you feel it? March madness is here! Conference tournaments have already been played and we are 9, count 'em 9 days away from the start of the 64-team NCAA tournament(yes there are 65 teams, but the real fun starts next Thursday). What I want to know, is who is your favorite to take home the 2009 crown? Let's start by taking a look at who the favorites might be: The Top Contenders: So last night I went to Fort Worth to watch my beloved Horned Frogs play SMU. I was not only pleasantly surprised by the strong performance by TCU in the 62-44 win, but I was also surprised to see former TCU coach Neil Dougherty there. He was fired just a few months ago by TCU after six seasons and just a 75-106 record. Would you return to your workplace after being fired to watch someone else do your job? By th...
It had been three years since TCU beat rival SMU in basketball; tonight it only took a great defensive effort, solid play from some newcomers, and a first year head coach. The Frogs got 13 points from junior college transfer Edvinas Ruzgas and 12 points from freshman Ronnie Moss, to beat the SMU Mustangs, 62-44. The 44 points allowed by TCU, was a season low. The Horned Frogs forced 21 turnovers and allowed SMU to shoot only 15% from ...
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo says he's not sure if he'll be with the Cowboys when the team's new stadium host the Men's Final Four in 2014. "I might be living back in Wisconsin by that time," Romo said. Romo would be entering his 12th season in the NFL in 2014 and would be just shy of his 34th birthday. He said he is afraid the media may run him out town well before then. ...Here's the chance for some SMU students to live out their dream of playing major college basketball. The men's basketball team will host open tryouts next Tuesday, Sept. 16, in the Crum Basketball Center at 6 p.m. Head coach Matt Doherty and his staff will scout players with the chance of some making the the 2008-09 basketball squad. The Team has gotten a half-dozen players from the tryouts the past two seasons. Thom...
One of the most controversial and outspoken television personalities is out of a job. After 27 years as the lead college basketball analyst for CBS, Billy Packer is being replaced by Clark Kellogg, who has been at CBS for 16 years. He'll call his first Final Four with Jim Nantz in April. It's a bit of a shocking move, but maybe it shouldn't be. As much icon as lightning rod, Packer is both what you want and what you hate in a...
Do you have a dog that is ready for the spotlight? Well Texas A&M is looking for a new pooch to replace Reveille VII, who just retired as the school's mascot. Reveille has been a tradition in College Station since 1931. This seventh dog is the fifth consecutive collie to hold the job and the new one will maintain the status as the highest ranking member of the Corps of Cadets, as a Five-Star General. She's also known as "the f...
TCU assistant Sean Woods, a former Kentucky player, is the new head basketball coach at Mississippi Valley State University. He replaces James Green, who left earlier this year to become the coach at Jacksonville State in Alabama. Woods was hired by former TCU coach Neil Dougherty in August 2006 as director of basketball operations and was promoted to assistant coach last year. Before Fort Worth he was an assistant co...
Guard Kavon Rose has signed with the TCU men's basketball team; it's the second time he's signed with a college. He had signed a letter of intent to play at Oregon State, but was released from that after hiring of head coach Craig Robinson at OSU. Full release from TCU: TCU head men's basketball coach Jim Christian announced on Tuesday (June 17) that Detroit standout Kavon Rose (Detroit, Mich./Finney H.S.) has joined the Horn...
I never get why coaches, up three, are so reluctant to foul. We saw it last night in Kansas' improbable win over Memphis to win the tournament. It's simple math. They make both shots, they're still down by one and you get the ball. Sure they could miss the second shot, but with only a couple seconds left time is on your side. It's chaos... the team that is down doesn't have time to set up a play... they have to make a lame shot attemp...
Disclaimer: I'm writing this before I've read or listened to much national media recation to the game last night.... Second disclaimer: The title of this blog is a nod to Jim Nantz, and not to be taken seriously. With that said, I'm curious to know where Mario Chalmers' game-tying 3-pointer ranks among the all-time great shots in NCAA championship game history. I was thinking this morning, Wouldn't it be great if a columnist/hi...
I've been away from work the past couple of days, but I didn't miss Sunday's college basketball. And like most of you, I was rooting hard for Davidson to pull off the upset. But their loss to Kansas is actually going to make this Saturday better for all of us. We have a pair of incredible match-ups, with all four number one seeds going to San Antonio. The Davidson story would have been great, but the not as great as the basketball we're going ...
The stage at Texas Hall on the UTA Campus was actually packed with five local television stations, covering the Mavericks and their historic accomplishement on Monday. Preparations for Friday's game against number one seed Memphis won't begin until Tuesday, but it was obvious, this is a team that was still on cloud nine. The game is in Little Rock, Arkansas. Junior Forward Anthony Vereen doesn't like to fly. "I'm not a fan of flying ...
The TV was on with the Mike and Mike radio show, and they had an interview with Dick Vitale. He was talking about teams that he thought should have made it into the NCAA tournament. It reminded me of a conversation he had on the air several years ago, probably 2001 or 2002, during ESPN's selection show. Vitale was complaining about severeal teams that he thought should have made the tournament but didn't. The anchorman, I think it was Chris Fo...
The news came three days after the Horned Frogs ended their season with their sixth 14-16 record and their third sub par .500 season under Dougherty. Sunday, athletic dir...
A lot of TCU basketball fans, if there are any left, are happy tonight. Coach Neil Dougherty was fired Sunday after posting just one winning season in six years at TCU. Everyone at TCU wanted Dougherty to succeed. He had the reputation as a nice guy, great dresser, but the 75-108 record wasn't enough. He had just one winning season and followed up his 2004-05, 21-14 NIT season with a 6-25 record. Fans wanted him gone then, but he was g...
So I watched the TCU-UNLV MWC tournament game last night at a sports bar with a fellow TCU alum (shout out to Tom) and it was one heck of a game. Back and fourth, tons of 3s and even a controversial ending (questionable call that basically ended the game), but I was trying to look on the bright side, that maybe a loss will be good for the program. If they had won wouldn't that give AD Danny Morrison a reason to keep coach Neil Dougherty? ...So you want to talk about a learning experience. Try this one on for size. I received a phone call from the Texas Christian University campus CAMPUS CLASSIFIEDS ATTENTION:
Ok, the headline is a little deceiving. As a very proud TCU grad, I join many who are frustrated with the men's basketball program, but there is some good basketball being played by Horned Frogs! TCU women advance to Mountain West semifinals. A couple notes from the story... TCU is the top seed remaining and has won 11 ...
TCU Men's Basketball Head Coach Neil Dougherty has been issued a public reprimand for his remarks regarding the officiating in the TCU versus BYU contest played Saturday, March 8. The public criticism, which appeared in the Sunday, March 9 edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, was in violation of MWC Sportsmanship Rule Sections 4.2-e and 4.4.5. The MWC expressed appreciation for the support of the MWC Sportsmanship Policy by TCU a...
TCU's Men's basketball team left for Las Vegas this morning, where as the seventh seed in the Mountain West Conference, they're not given much of a chance to win the tournament. And that's a shame for a guy like Head Coach Neil Dougherty who has always been a standup guy and a nice guy. Danny Morrison, the schools athletic director has always said that all of his head coaches are reevaluated at the end of their seasons, but at 14 wi...
As the TCU men's basketball team prepares for yet another Mountain Fort Worth's own Kevin Langford and Brent Hackett have earned |
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