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TGS SPECIAL REPORT...GLORY DAYS NO MORE IN BIG WEST  "We used to be a contenda."
We're paraphrasing the famous quote by Marlon Brando's Terry Malloy character in the classic film On the Waterfront, in reference to the Big West Conference, formerly known as the PCAA. And whenever March Madness rolls around these days, those of us who recall the glory days of the league can't help but feel a bit of sadness at what has become of a loop that used to routinely produce championship-caliber teams for the Big Dance and NIT. But not any longer. The conference tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center this week confirms as much; sadly, in a basketball sense, the Big West is mostly Read more... |
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TGS MIDWEEK REWIND...AND "OFF" CONFERENCE NCAA RESULTS  If there's one thing we can say about the first half of this week's action, it's to remember not to cash tickets early. That's because a few games earlier this week served as a not-so-gentle reminder that college hoop contests last 40 minutes, not 20 or 30.
Cases in point are a handful of results that looked signed, sealed, and delivered by halftime, but ended up turning inside-out in the final 20 minutes. Seton Hall might have been involved in the biggest puzzler of all, seemingly blowing out Providence on opening night at the Big East tourney Tuesday night when leading 76-47 in the second half...only to see the Friars made a hurricane-like rally in the final minutes of what eventually Read more... |
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SPORTSBETTING.COM BONUS...NBA WEEKEND PREVIEW!  With less than 20 games left in the 2009/10 NBA season, the Cleveland Cavaliers are amongst the favorites to take the Eastern Conference championship and the NBA title.
Cleveland not only owns the best record in the conference, but also in the NBA (50-15). Online sportsbooks currently have them listed at -125 to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals and they are +200 to win the championship but they are looking a little banged up. With the "Big Aristotle," Shaquille O'Neal, already out for up to eight months after having surgery on his right thumb, the Cavs were missing a cast of characters Read more... |
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TGS SPECIAL REPORT...CONFERENCE TOURNEY COUNTDOWN!  Counting down to Selection Sunday...
We were a bit humored by the panel discussion on the ESPN Game Day telecast last Saturday from Duke, where Rece Davis and the gang were holding court. In their own inimitable and roundabout way, Digger Phelps and Bob Knight addressed the possibility of an expanded NCAA Tournament and the changes that might entail for the conference tourneys that precede the Big Dance every year. Phelps made a valid point about money being the determining factor in any potential expansion of the NCAAs, which opened the door just enough for Knight to pull out the needle and stick it into his old coaching chum. "Well, I'm a Methodist," said Knight, "not a Catholic like you, Digger. All you Catholics ever think about is money." While the Game Day crew got Read more... |
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TGS COLLEGE HOOPS REPORT...NEW "BRACKETOLOGY" UPDATE  Less than a week until Selection Sunday, with the situation still very fluid on the bubble. A few teams seemed to secure at-large status last weekend, including Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Notre Dame, while Memphis, Ole Miss and Arizona State moved into serious bubble discussion. Teams falling into real bubble trouble would include Illinois, Georgia Tech, Florida, Mississippi State, and Rhode Island. Upsets in conference tourney finals in the Colonial, Metro-Atlantic, WCC, and Horizon during the first half of the week could certainly "shrink" the bubble, while, as always, a surprise or two in the major conference tourneys later in the week Read more... |
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NEW TGS COVER STORY...COLLEGE HOOPS WEEKEND REWIND  We're not inclined to disagree with most of the pundits who are referring to the "soft bubble" the Selection Committee will be looking at this weekend in Indianapolis. Much of the at-large situation seemed to sort itself out last weekend, although there were a few interesting developments along the way.
One early conference tourney result in particular did its part to help define the bubble. The Missouri Valley Conference could have become a multi-bid league (and knock someone else off the bubble in the process) had Wichita State taken down Northern Iowa on Sunday in the "Arch Read more... |
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THE BEST OF TGS...CONFERENCE TOURNEY TRIFECTA!  Following is our latest "Best of TGS" installment, reprinting our account of our whirlwind 3-day conference tourney trip across the country in March 2008, with a few surprises along the way...
It's been said that conference basketball tournaments are a lot like bowl games. There's some excitement before the games are played, and the games themselves can often be quite good, but nobody remembers much about them afterwards. By us, however, there are some other significant differences between the conference hoop tourneys and the bowl games. Mainly, the basketball get-togethers across the country each March really do mean something. After all, the Read more... |
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A CURE FOR BIG EAST-ITIS...AND OTHER MIDWEEK NOTES  Much like last year, Big East-itis seems to be taking over much of the college hoops media. And nowhere is this phenomenon more apparent than at ESPN, which admittedly is riding the Big East horse in the college hoops race these days with its comprehensive (or suffocating?) coverage of the conference. Even some highly-informed and usually-objective sources such as analyst Jay Bilas, whose allegiance (as a Duke grad) would figure to be with the ACC, have apparently converted to the Big East religion, highlighted by an exchange last weekend with on-air cohort Hubert Davis, another ACC product (North Carolina) who was trying to make a case for some SEC entries into the Big Dance at-large discussion. Yet Davis' Read more... |
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MICHAEL JORDAN...STILL MAD, AFTER ALL OF THESE YEARS!  We have been curious to gauge the media's response to this week's announcement from Charlotte that a group led by Michael Jordan was going to buy the majority interest in the NBA Bobcats from Robert Johnson, with whom Jordan has been a minority owner and head of basketball operations since 2006. Johnson, the founder of BET, was said to be hemorrhaging money with the team, and approval for Jordan and his group is expected to come quickly from the NBA Board of Governors.
To no one's surprise, Jordan's usual band of sycophants and cheerleaders in the media have jumped on the Michael bandwagon, reminding all of Jordan's Read more... |
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TGS SPECIAL REPORT...JIM BUNNING'S OTHER BEANBALL  We were unknowingly hurtled into a trip down on our own memory lane this week when Sen. Jim Bunning's name popped into the news. Although it might be a bit different memory than most have of the old Hall of Famer.
Our specific memory of Bunning the baseball pitcher doesn't recall his glory days with the Tigers or Phillies, but rather his short stint, late in his career, with Pittsburgh, and a particularly memorable night in 1968. Even longtime baseball fans can be excused for not having much recollection of Bunning with the Buccos, to whom he was traded from the Phils after the '67 campaign in a multi-player swap that saw, among others, Woodie Fryman and Don Money sent to Philadelphia. On the downside of his career, Bunning labored to a Read more... |
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TGS SPECIAL REPORT...IS PAC-10 SERIOUS ABOUT EXPANSION?  Why let everybody else have all the fun?
That might have something to do with the announcement from Walnut Creek last week that the Pac-10 is going to seriously explore the possibility of expanding from 10 to 12 schools. This isn't the first time the subject has been broached out west; several years ago, Texas and Texas A&M were both formally offered invitations that were rejected out of hand. But there has been little movement in that "expansion" direction over the last decade, which is why last week's announcement by new Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott came as Read more... |
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PRO FOOTBALL BONUS...UPDATED TGS SUPER BOWL RANKINGS!  Where do we place the Saints-Colts Super Bowl XLIV in our our all-time Super Bowl rankings? Find out within the complete list, which adds our top thirteen-rated finales...
XLIV, New Orleans 31 - Indy 17 (at Miami) ...More compelling than the final scoreline suggests, as the underdog Saints were still trailing deep into the 4th Q and didn't put the game away until Tracy Porter's 74-yard interception return for a TD with 3 minutes to go. Although the game lacked some anticipated fireworks, it had sustained drama, with Porter's interception and a nervy onside kick called by Saints HC Sean Payton to begin the second half ranking as highlights alongside QB Drew Brees' near-flawless Read more... |
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TGS BASEBALL UPDATE...HALL-OF-FAME VOTING REVIEW  We have long wondered about some of the voting patterns displayed by the "knights of the keyboard" (as Ted Williams used to refer to the baseball writers) in the annual Hall of Fame elections. And the results of this year's election, announced Wednesday, are no different.
We have no qualms with Andre Dawson finally securing admission to the Hall on his ninth try. "The Hawk" was a state-of-the-art as they come from the late '70s thru to the early '90s, and one of the last superstars of the game to precede the steroid era. Besides his noteworthy hitting stats, Dawson also played defense, had a wicked arm, and could run the bases. Congrats to The Hawk Read more... |
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EURO SOCCER WEEKLY UPDATE...WORLD CUP DRAW REVIEW!  Sports star of the day...Charlize Theron?
Maybe not, but we guarantee Charlize never had an audience for one of her movies as big as the one that saw her considerably brighten the festivities as the hostess of the 2010 World Cup draw held Friday in Cape Town. South Africa's most famous export with an American accent distracted attention much as Heidi Klum did at the World Cup 2006 draw in Germany, moving gracefully around the stage in Cape Town while struggling to open those little soccer balls with the group designations. Indeed, the whole stage at Cape Town more resembled something out of the National Lottery, with several glass pots filled with little soccer balls to be drawn by Charlize and numerous dignitaries Read more... |