08 March 2009
Thoughts the Day Before Selection Day
03/14/09 17:42 Filed in: College
Basketball
A lot of good to excellent teams are limping into the
NCAA tournament, having suffered unexpected defeats
in their conference tournaments. In a major upset in
the ACC, Florida State today defeated Number One
North Carolina, in the Big-10, Michigan St., hoping
for a number one tourney seed, lost to Ohio State,
and in the SEC, No. 20 LSU lost to Mississippi State.
Yesterday, No. 25 BYU lost to bubble team San Diego St., Baylor defeated Texas, and Arizona State reached today's ill-fated Pac-10 final game by outplaying Pac-10 regular season champion Washington.
The Pacific-10 has been a total disaster, with the top four teams, Washington, UCLA, Arizona State, and California, all going down, and to clearly inferior, but over-achieving, teams.
A couple of teams winning tough, close games leading up to the tournament, may be poised to do better than expected a few weeks ago, These include Duke, who goes into the ACC final game with hard-fought wins over BC and Maryland, the aforementioned Ohio State, and up-and-down Tennessee, who will be playing for the SEC Tourney title against Mississippi State.
After more reflection, UCLA will most likely win no more than one Tournament game; maybe two.
theHoundDawg
Yesterday, No. 25 BYU lost to bubble team San Diego St., Baylor defeated Texas, and Arizona State reached today's ill-fated Pac-10 final game by outplaying Pac-10 regular season champion Washington.
The Pacific-10 has been a total disaster, with the top four teams, Washington, UCLA, Arizona State, and California, all going down, and to clearly inferior, but over-achieving, teams.
A couple of teams winning tough, close games leading up to the tournament, may be poised to do better than expected a few weeks ago, These include Duke, who goes into the ACC final game with hard-fought wins over BC and Maryland, the aforementioned Ohio State, and up-and-down Tennessee, who will be playing for the SEC Tourney title against Mississippi State.
After more reflection, UCLA will most likely win no more than one Tournament game; maybe two.
theHoundDawg
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Pistons Owner and World-Class Philanthropist Bill Davidson Has Died
03/13/09 23:47 Filed in: NBA
Bill Davidson, self-made billionaire, noted sports
owner, and one of the great philanthropists of his
era, died today at age 86.
At various times, he owned several different professional sports teams, most notably the Detroit Pistons, which he bought in 1974, turning leadership over to basketball professionals, resulting in a long, successful run as one of the top teams in the NBA, winning three NBA titles during his tenure.
He also build several successful businesses, most notably, Guardian Industries Corp.
His greatest achievements, however, were in making the lives of other people better, with his extravagant philanthropy, his donations totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, to his alma mater, the University of Michigan, to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, and $75 million alone to establish the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.
Rich sports-teams owners are a dime a dozen. Men like Bill Davidson are few and far between.
theHoundDawg
At various times, he owned several different professional sports teams, most notably the Detroit Pistons, which he bought in 1974, turning leadership over to basketball professionals, resulting in a long, successful run as one of the top teams in the NBA, winning three NBA titles during his tenure.
He also build several successful businesses, most notably, Guardian Industries Corp.
His greatest achievements, however, were in making the lives of other people better, with his extravagant philanthropy, his donations totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, to his alma mater, the University of Michigan, to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, and $75 million alone to establish the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.
Rich sports-teams owners are a dime a dozen. Men like Bill Davidson are few and far between.
theHoundDawg
SHAME at Staples
03/13/09 23:19 Filed in: College
Basketball
In 2006, UCLA lost the NCAA Tournament final by 24
points, and in 2007 they lost the semi-final by 10,
both times to great, great Florida teams. Last year,
they lost the semi-final to an excellent Memphis
Tiger team. Embarrassing losses all, but nothing as
out right disgusting as losing tonight's Pac-10
tourney semifinal to a horrible group of brain
surgeons, who should not have been allowed on the
same court as the Bruins.
Coached by a deceitful, rule-breaking jerk, somehow this band of criminals ran away with a game UCLA should have breezed through.
This was Ben Howland's worst game ever as UCLA coach, letting his talented, previously defense-oriented squad self-destruct, throwing any semblance of coaching out the window, while firing up misguided shot after shot, with no teamwork, no "plays", no conscience. They shot an unbelievable 27% (19 of 70)! The brain surgeons did not win this game - UCLA gave it away.
My thoughts the past few weeks were that the Bruins might get to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. With miserable play like this, they will be lucky to escape that first weekend and get to the Sweet Sixteen, especially as their seeding took a major nosedive tonight.
theHoundDawg
Coached by a deceitful, rule-breaking jerk, somehow this band of criminals ran away with a game UCLA should have breezed through.
This was Ben Howland's worst game ever as UCLA coach, letting his talented, previously defense-oriented squad self-destruct, throwing any semblance of coaching out the window, while firing up misguided shot after shot, with no teamwork, no "plays", no conscience. They shot an unbelievable 27% (19 of 70)! The brain surgeons did not win this game - UCLA gave it away.
My thoughts the past few weeks were that the Bruins might get to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. With miserable play like this, they will be lucky to escape that first weekend and get to the Sweet Sixteen, especially as their seeding took a major nosedive tonight.
theHoundDawg