Bluegrass Turns Green

So it's finally true. John Calipari is the new head basketball coach at Kentucky replacing Billy Gillispie.

The former Memphis coach has accepted a contract that will make him the wealthiest coach in Division I, and will place enormous expectations on him to have the Wildcats contend right away. He has reportedly signed for eight years and $35 million.

The move is a great one for Kentucky, even if they have doled out an unprecedented sum to bring Calipari to Lexington. Coach Cal is a great recruiter, and has taken both UMass and Memphis to the national championship. He is a great defensive coach, and always has great athletes playing for him.

Yet I questioned on the BERNing on Sports Podcast whether this is a good move for Calipari. Obviously, he's getting a huge sum of money that no one could pass up. I realize that Kentucky is the winningest program in Division I history and the chance to coach or play there is hard to pass up. I also know he'll inherit Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson for next year's team.

But when you consider that Calipari was already being comfortably compensated by Memphis, and he was part of a situation that set up extraordinarily well for his Tigers to succeed yearly in the NCAA Tournament, maybe Coach Cal is leaving a perfect situation behind.

After all, he's won more than sixty consecutive games in Conference USA. Last year he took the Tigers to the National Title game and with a team that lost Derrick Rose, they still earned a number two seed in this year's dance and likely would have competed for a similar position next year. Seemingly every year the last few years Memphis has earned the benefit of the doubt even though they play a weak conference schedule and they get a top seed. It seems that would be hard to leave behind.

Again, do I see why Calipari's off to Kentucky? Sure. Do I understand the lure of a school with so much tradition and history? Yes. Furthermore, do I think Calipari can do a great job and Kentucky can return to prominence under his tutelage? Yes.

But while the bluegrass seems greener on the other side, maybe it's not. Maybe this isn't the match made in heaven that many on the national networks have asserted it is. Maybe Coach Cal would be better served staying in his safety zone in Memphis where he's guaranteed success. He could still have that success at UK, but it's going to be a heck of a lot harder.

Weekend Headlines

A few musings from Friday night in the world of sports...

• The Celtics must be out to prove how little value Kevin Garnett actually has to the team's success.  Boston is now 4-2 without "The Big Ticket" in the lineup, and put forth an outstanding effort at home Friday night against the Cavs.  A game back in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the game, Boston came out on a mission and out-willed Cleveland 105-94.  The Celts made it their mission not to let LeBron James beat them, and they succeeded.    LBJ had just 21 points, six rebounds and five assists, but shot a miserable 33-percent from the field.  Mo Williams was great, scoring 26 points on 8-15 shooting, but if he's the only guy doing well for Cleveland you know they're in trouble.  Granted, the game was in Boston which no doubt was an advantage for the Celtics.  But the fact that Cleveland played as poorly as it did last night at TD Bank North Garden sends the message that if they don't nail down that top seed before the regular season ends, they're going to have to figure out a way to win in Beantown if they hope to reach the NBA Finals.  The Celtics are now 49-14 and while KG may be out another week or so, Boston is showing it doesn't need him for now.  A big statement was made between the top two teams in the East, and right now it appears Boston has the upper hand.
• Speaking of the Association, while the top teams in the East are the cream of the crop in the NBA, the opposite could be said about the teams holding the bottom seeds in the conference.  With their 15-point victory over Milwaukee Friday night, the lowly Chicago Bulls have now taken sole possession of the 8th seed in the East.  Let me be the first to tell you this Bulls team is not good.  The fact that they would make the playoffs if the season ended today is merely a product of the fact that there are just too many teams that qualify for the post season in the NBA.  I know, I know.  It would theoretically be good for the league if the Bulls made the playoffs because of Chicago's market size and the fact that Derrick Rose is one of the league's bright young stars.  But if the NBA were smart, they'd allow just 6 teams from each conference to make the post season and have the top two seeds earn a bye like the NFL.  Is it perfect solution?  Well, no, frankly.  But it's better than having teams like Chicago or Milwaukee who are five and six games below .500 respectively earning a spot in the playoffs.  That's really a joke, isn't it?
• Thankfully I didn't go to Florida State, nor am I a fan of their athletics.  It's not that I don't like them, but man are their fans bumming tonight.  The NCAA slapped the Seminoles with four years of probation and may force the football program to forfeit some of their wins in the record books as punishment for their academic cheating scandal.  Bobby Bowden's 382 wins ranks 2nd all time to Joe Paterno, who has just one more career win.  But if he has to give back some wins JoePa really distances himself in that book, doesn't he?  The 'Noles football program will have to forfeit two scholarships in recruiting this year and one next season, and that's just part of the problem.  Other sports are going to lose a bunch of scholarships and victories too.  Apparently the track and field program will have to give up three NCAA championship crowns.  That's what happens when a reported sixty-one FSU athletes cheated on an online test in 2006 and 2007, and also were provided the answers to tests and had papers written for them by university staff.  A couple of things I thought when I saw this:  1) While this is pretty significant corruption, athletes at every school in America cheat.  If they were going to cheat, they should have been better cheaters.  2)  What does it say about the pressure to win at FSU when university staffers are cheating for these athletes?  Apparently Myron Rolle didn't need the help.  Maybe they should be recruiting smarter athletes so they can handle the academics so FSU doesn't have to spoon feed them to keep them on their respective teams.  Or here's a thought, mandate some study time in their practice schedule!  Florida State basketball is actually good this year, but forget about that for a while.  Now that recruiting takes a hit the upstart team will decline, and so will seemingly every other sports team in Tallahassee.  Yikes.
• Is there a bigger joke than agent Drew Rosenhaus's claim that there are "several teams" interesting in signing Terrell Owens?  I guess the thought would be plausible if he hadn't thrown in the thought that he won't identify the teams that are in fact interested.  If you can't identify teams, then how can we believe there are several teams interested?  Conventional wisdom would suggest Oakland is interested, because they'll take anything they can get.  But beyond that, who?  San Francisco?  Maybe Washington?  That's three teams, which wouldn't suffice for my definition of several.  This could end up going a lot like the Manny Ramirez situation went.  No, T.O. won't end up signing back with the Cowboys, but Rosenhaus will try to create a market that doesn't exist for a player with significant character flaws.  Like Ramirez, there's no question that you'd want T.O. for the talent he possesses.  But how many teams want a guy who seemingly obliterates every locker room he enters?  Rosenhaus is doing his job as an agent, trying to create some leverage to find Owens a contract.  But please, enough with this garbage about how there are several teams interested.  I cannot believe that's true.  Can you?

Your Desperately Awaited Guide To NBA All-Star Weekend

I know, I know, I should've had this post up weeks earlier.  You'll have to excuse me, I got caught up with news of athletes and drugs, or something like that.

So, without further ado, here's what you need to keep your eye on as the weekend rolls on in this most boring month of sports.

Friday

Ok, there's the celebrity game on at 6:30.  But, I'd only recommend that one if you have very little else to do.  On its face, it doesn't seem so bad.  A few comedians, a few athletes, and a few rappers out there balling.  But, after about thirty or forty seconds, you realize how bad they actually are, how not-funny the whole thing is, and you move on.  Trust me, I know from experience.

The thing to watch tonight is the Rookie/Sophomore game.  This one is one that always doesn't get enough play.  It's not on the same night as anything else worth watching, be it the actual All-Star Game or the other festivities, so it seems to simply get swept under the rug.  However, it's usually a lot of fun.  Again, this is an NBA nerd talking to you, so take the phrase "usually a lot of fun" with a grain of salt.  I mean, I'm a guy that watched parts of the D-League ASG last year, so you can imagine what my idea of fun is.

But, with all the talent in this year's rookie crop alone, it should be amusing to see what Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo have in store. 

Quick note here, on Y! Sports, Rod Benson found an interesting possible twist to the rookie game.  Check it out.

Saturday

There's your cast of regulars on Saturday night.  There's your Dunk Contest and your 3 Point Contest and Skills Competition (which is so utterly unwatchable its amazing someone thinks its worth keeping in).  There's even the Shooting Stars Competition.  Which, by the way, could be a whole heck of a lot better.  As it is now, the way it works is they put together an old NBA player, a current NBA player, and a current WNBA player from the same city and have them shoot a bunch of set shots, team with the fastest time wins.  What would really be fun would be if they had the teams square off in 3 on 3's.  Women can guard the women so it doesn't get ridiculously physical, and if you're worried about the older guys than you haven't seen Scottie Pippen or David Robinson recently.

As it is though, the thing to watch will be this year's new competition, H-O-R-S-E, featuring Mayo, Joe Johnson, and Kevin Durant.  How on Earth they chose these guys for this, I have no idea.  Whether or not it'll work out, I also don't know.  But, at least it's a fresh idea.

Sunday

Come on, do you need me to do this one for you?

My Idea

As the heading says, the following is my idea.  Well, other people have said it I'm sure, but my idea for changing the All-Star festivities would go as follows:

1. Take away everything other than the main game.
2. Instead of all the other tired, played out crap they have on Saturday night, introduce the Pick Up Game. 
3. The top vote getter for the actual game from each conference will pick teams, playground style.  The selection can be televised sometime before the weekend.
4. Teams of five, no subs, no refs.  Games up to 21, ones and twos.  Call your own fouls.  
5. Mic a few players up, let them talk some smack, and have them go at it.

You might think, how's this any different than the actual game?  They won't play D in this game, they don't in the real game.  But, the difference here is that you'll get to see the best basketball players on the planet playing the game the way we all do, playground/pickup style.  The only difference being they're really good, and we're not.  As naturally skilled and competitive as these guys are, I'd have a hard time imagining it wouldn't be great basketball to watch.

Can It Get Any Worse?

I don't have to tell you the Chicago Bulls aren't very good.  Let their nine point home loss to the 6-32 Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday night tell you all you need to know about this team.

At 16-21, the Bulls are in 4th place in the Eastern Conference's Central Division entering tonight's game against Portland.  Amazingly, because the East is so top heavy, despite their poor record and consistently poor performance the Bulls are just a game behind Milwaukee for the eighth spot in the East.

Yet, there would be nothing worse than this team of misfits playing a first round playoff series against Cleveland, Orlando or Boston to just be blasted in four games.

The Bulls are in the NBA's proverbial "no man's land".  They're on the verge of being a playoff team (but really, what does that mean in the NBA) and yet they're also on the verge of being one of the worst teams in basketball.  (In fact, you could argue right now that they are.)  Other than Derrick Rose, there is not a promising player on this team.  Ben Gordon scores, but he's too short, plays too little defense, and is too one-dimensional to be considered a guy to build around.  Luol Deng has been injured, but when he's not been injured he's been bad.  Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah are both brutal draft picks by GM John Paxson who have shown little promise or basketball skills.

It's a complete mess.

That's why I've decided, until changes are made, I'm done watching this team.  There's no point.

I'm a Bulls fan.  Full Disclosure.  But there's no point watching a team that has no potential to go anywhere but down.  They have no chance of competing for a title now, or really ever with this roster of players, and until they blow this thing up, they'll never compete for anything more than a ticket to lose in the first round.

John Paxson should be fired.  Larry Hughes wants to be traded, and should be shown the door.  If anyone would take Tyrus Thomas or Joakim Noah, send them on the first flight to the city of their choice.  Find a big man that can actually help Drew Gooden underneath.  And find some players that will actually take first year head coach Vinny Del Negro seriously. (And that'll be hard too, since the organization doesn't even take him seriously considering they hired Bernie Bickerstaff and Del Harris to be Vinny's babysitters.)

The Bulls are in the worst spot imaginable in sports.  They're bad, but not bad enough.  They have a bunch of cast off players that aren't desirable to any other teams.  Rebuilding this thing won't take a season, but instead another long rebuilding effort that Bulls fans can no longer tolerate.  At some point, the championship DVDs get old, and people want to start seeing a team that can actually compete.  Or, at least one that can entertain.

So I'm done.  I'm not watching this.  As much as I'm a fan, there's no point in wasting my evenings.  I'm not coming back until the Bulls show me and the rest of their frustrated fan base that they seriously want to compete.  And if you're a Bulls fan, you shouldn't either.

Some Christmas Tips From a Blogging Jew

While many of you are cozying up to your Christmas tree, or watching Miracle on 34th Street (I prefer the 1994 version to the one from the 40s,) or whatever it is you do to ring in some Christmas cheer, here are some tips for how the sports fan in you should enjoy this December 25th:

• Don't watch it!  While there are a couple of compelling match-ups on Christmas day, would it kill you to miss the Suns play the Spurs or the Lakers face the Celtics?  I think not.  Instead of sitting in front of the television watching the games, gather some friends and play a game of snow football.  Or, if you're in a tropical place (like I am right now), relax on the beach, or play some baseball or basketball.  Maybe those of you warm weather people will hit the links or play some tennis, but take advantage of the fact that you don't have to work (unless you work in a Chinese restaurant or in broadcasting.)  And, you'll get a little exercise in the process.
• If you can't get away from your favorite teams for one day, (I know for some of us this is a preposterous thought), write down a list of all the positive moments of your year as a sports fan.  Pour yourself a glass of egg nog, and make a list of five to ten things that make you smile when you see them.  For some of you, that may be difficult.  If you really can't think of anything good that's happened, (Lions fans, I'm talking to you), make a list of your your five to ten all-time favorite sports moments.  If you can't think of ten all-time great moments, (Lions fans, again, take notice) then list the ten reasons why you love sports.
• Call, text or email people wishing them a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, or a happy holiday and a happy new year.  You'll feel better about yourself, and others will feel better about you.  And, they'll also forget about that time you threw their serving dish against the wall and smashed it because your quarterback threw a pick-6.
• Look at the picture at the top of this post and laugh at it.  Have a good laugh at it.  Now that O.J. is heading to the slammer for at least the next decade or so, we don't have to worry about seeing him in the headlines for a while.  As sports fans, we can all rejoice about that!
• Sing some Christmas Carols, or Chanukah songs.  If you must sing about sports, or something sports related, sing your favorite team's anthem or song.  Yankee fans, sing "Joltin' Joe DiMaggio".  If not that, then rock out to the AC/DC hit, "Money Talks".  Cubs fans, sing "Go Cubs Go".  If you're looking for something cooler, try Eddie Vedder's new tune, "All The Way".  Red Sox fans, sing one of the many songs that you've ripped off from either Neil Diamond, or the Standells, or one of those ear piercing tunes written by the Dropkick Murphys.  Belt out whatever you want.  It's the holiday season.  Nobody will give you dirty looks.  Or do what my buddy Andrew does, and take a popular Bruce Springsteen song and sing the names of your favorite athletes over the lyrics.
• Watch your favorite team's championship DVD.  If you don't have one, think about how great it will be when you finally do have one.
• Think about what you might give your favorite teams for the holidays, or what they might give to you.  For most of us, we'd want a championship.  For Bostonians, they have everything they want, so maybe they'll want their teams to get worse to actually provide drama to their sports scene.  Here's what I'd give to my favorite teams:  The Cubs- a lead off hitter, a power hitting left handed bat in the middle of the line up, and a farm system to trade for Jake Peavy.  The Bears- an offensive and defensive coordinator, wide receivers, a free safety, and a cornerback that doesn't suck.  The Bulls-talent to compliment Derrick Rose, a big man, and a team to take Luol Deng.  The Blackhawks- a do-over on the Cristobal Huet contract, another scoring center, and a few wins over Detroit.  Syracuse- a re-do of the last 2.5 seconds against Cleveland State, and a football program.  Try it for yourself.  You'll have fun with it.
• Most importantly, enjoy the day with your friends and family.  Sports happen every day of the year.  Christmas comes only once.

Future Powerhouse in Portland

I'm not much of an NBA fan anymore.  Once Michael and Scottie were gone, and the Bulls went from championship to a 13-37 finish in the strike-shortened 1999 season, my relationship to the NBA could be described as love/hate.

That said, the Trail Blazers could be a team I follow the rest of the season.

Let's be honest.  The Bulls are going nowhere, at least this year.  And until they find some help for Derrick Rose, they won't be much of a factor in the NBA for quite some time.  So for now, if I follow professional basketball at all, I'll at least have an eye on the Blazers.

Last night, Brandon Roy scored 52 points in a 124-119 win over Phoenix last night.  The former rookie of the year is quietly having another excellent season, averaging more than 23 points per game, nearly five rebounds and more than five assists.  LaMarcus Aldridge has lived up to being the second overall pick, and the former Texas forward has been a great compliment to Roy down low.  And now, Greg Oden is healthy.

This is a young, fun basketball team that anyone can get behind.  It's an unselfish team that gives maximum effort night in and night out and believes it can soon contend with the top teams in the Western Conference.  At 17-10, they're starting to turn the corner, and they're starting to raise eyebrows around the league.  They haven't beaten a powerhouse team like the Lakers or Celtics yet, but all that matters in the NBA is that they qualify and do damage in the playoffs.

I'm not going to reschedule my life to watch every Trail Blazers game, but I can at least commit to checking their box scores.  And if they can get me back into the NBA product, it's good for the league in general.  

People like Scott will watch the games no matter what the circumstance or which teams are playing.  But I'll watch if Portland is on the court.