Category: NCAA

Todd Marinovich is Back in Football!

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USA Today – It’s hard not to root for a successful Todd Marinovich turnaround. The former USC and Los Angeles Raiders quarterback prodigy, whose football career and life has famously been derailed by substance abuse on multiple occasions, was in Indian Wells on Friday for a news conference to announce that he is returning to competitive football. The former NFL and college star who just turned 48 on July 4, has joined the desert’s developmental football team the SoCal Coyotes after serving as an assistant coach last season.

Remember the kid you grew up with who played sports year round then went to camps and played travel ball all summer long without any time to be a kid because his dad was a psycho living variously through his kid? Yea thats Todd Marinovich times 1,000.

For anyone who’s not familiar Marinovich was basically bred to be a quarterback by his insane father. Marinovich’s dad is essentially Tim McGraw from Friday Night Lights, an absolute maniac who couldn’t let go of the glory days and drilled his kid into the ground to try and make him a better football player.

Seriously, look at this description of the dad from Wikipedia:

“His father, Marv Marinovich, an openly abusive parent, had been a lineman and a captain for the University of Southern California Trojans during the 1962 national championship season, and played in the 1963 Rose Bowl…After harming his own National Football League lineman career by overtraining and focusing too much on weight and bulk, Marv studied Eastern Bloc training methods and was hired by Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis as the NFL’s first strength-and-conditioning coach. Marv later opened his own athletic research center and applied the techniques to his young son, introducing athletic training before Marinovich could leave the crib and continuing it throughout his childhood and adolescence.”

The dad even had the mother in on it, basically feeding the kid like an olympic athlete.

“During her pregnancy, Trudi used no salt, sugar, alcohol, or tobacco; as a baby, Marinovich was fed only fresh vegetables, fruits, and raw milk…The question I asked myself was, How well could a kid develop if you provided him with the perfect environment?”

That shit is child abuse. This is how serial killers are born, let the kid have a McChicken every once in a while. So no wonder Marinovich is a little loopy himself. Now hopefully he’s getting back into football at the age of 48 because he loves the game and wants to play and not because he wants some side cash to buy some dope. But for anyone who saw his 30 for 30, Marinovich did NOT look like a guy who missed two-a-days.

But ya know thats why the Sandlot is one of the most popular sports movies of all time. Because organized sports and practice and conditioning camp and coaches yelling in your face is not fun. It sucks actually. The fun part is playing ball with your boys. So maybe getting on the High School field and slinging the ball around will be good for the guy. Who knows maybe even Brett Favre will make an appearance in his Wranglers, NOBODY likes backyard ball more than that guy.

3-on-3 Basketball is Now an Olympic Event

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Business Insider – On Friday the IOC announced a number of new events that will be included in the upcoming 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Most notable among these new additions for basketball fans is the inclusion of 3-on-3 basketball for both men and women.

The 3-on-3 Olympic competition will follow current FIBA rules. Games will be played in the half court with a 12-second shot clock. Scoring goes by ones and twos over the course of one, 10-minute period.

The first team to reach 21, or whoever is leading at the end of the 10-minute period, wins.

Every four years, the Summer Olympics try to become a little bit more like the X Games. Which is strange because the Summer Olympics, love them or hate them, are a quadrennial colossus. I couldn’t turn on a television last August with out seeing a swimming pool. Meanwhile, the X Games exist to provide #content and programming hours for ESPN  during the dog days. The X Games could be permanently canceled tomorrow and I wouldn’t know one person that even noticed, never mind cared about it.

But 3-on-3 basketball? If the Summer Olympics can have regular volleyball AND beach volleyball, why not 3-on-3 basketball in addition to regular basketball? If Michael Phelps can win eight gold medals in one summer, why can’t Kevin Durant go for two? And at least I already know the gist of the rules as opposed to BMX Freestyle Cycling, which was also added for 2020.  I bet BMX Freestyle Cycling scoring makes figure skating scoring look like scoring the word CAT in Scrabble.

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The other thing 3-on-3 basketball has going for it is that it is quick. Last night’s Red Sox game took more than four hours. You could play a 3-on-3 basketball best-of-15 gold medal final in that same time. With 10-minute games and 12-second shot clocks, a game of 3-on-3 basketball will be quicker than a game of Madden.

My only gripe is the lack of the obligatory “win by two” rule. Rematch city. Which is why the gold medal round has to be at least best-of-seven. That would still only take about an hour. And this has to be played outdoors in 90 degree heat, with a chain link fence two feet out of bounds. Otherwise, why not just make the three-point shooting contest an Olympic event?

Wait, let’s not give them any more ideas.

Sports Arenas Just Don’t Last as Long as They Used To

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Big news out of Detroit this past weekend where the Red Wings closed Joe Louis Arena on Sunday and the Pistons closed The Palace of Auburn Hills on Monday. The Red Wings began playing at Joe Louis Arena in 1979 and the Pistons began playing at the Palace in 1988. After missing the playoffs, both teams will move into the new Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit this fall.

Joe Louis Arena lasted 38 years while The Palace lasted just 29 years. The Atlanta Braves will open SunTrust Park on Friday night after just 20 seasons at Turner Field, and the Texas Rangers are looking to get out of the Ballpark in Arlington, which opened in 1994, as soon as 2020.

The fact that sports arenas don’t last as long as they used to is especially obvious to Boston sports fans. Fenway Park has been going strong for more than a hundred years and the Boston Garden lasted 67 years.

Even Foxboro Stadium, a true dump built on a shoestring $7 million budget, lasted 31 years. Compare that to serviceable, if not lavish, football stadiums like the Silverdome, the Metrodome and the Georgia Dome. None of these stadiums lasted more than 32 years and have either been demolished or await the wrecking ball. At least Foxboro Stadium was cheap.

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This is quite the turnaround for the city of Detroit. Tiger Stadium opened the same day Fenway Park opened, and the Tigers played there for the remainder of the 20th century. Their new home, Comerica Park, opened in 2000. With the Lions moving to Ford Field in 2002, and now the Red Wings and Pistons moving to Little Caesars Arena this fall, all four Detroit professional sports teams will play in buildings opened this century. All within walking distance of each other! What recession?

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While The Palace only last 29 years, it did outlast a lot of other venues built in that era. The Miami Heat lasted only 11 seasons in Miami Arena, which opened in 1988, and the Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats only got a combined 13 seasons out of the Charlotte Coliseum, which opened in 1986.

Maybe Boston is lucky they didn’t get a new Garden sooner. Arenas from the late ’80s and early ’90s have not aged well. The new Garden, which opened in 1995, still looks pretty good more than 20 years later. The United Center in Chicago and Verizon Center in D.C., which also opened in the mid ’90s, have aged similarly well.

Meanwhile in Minnesota, the Timberwolves play in the Target Center in Minneapolis while the Wild plays in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Target Center, which opened in 1990, looks like the Worcester Civic Center compared to the Xcel Energy Center. The Xcel Energy Center opened in 2000, and still looks like it opened yesterday. The Target Center, just 10 years older, is in the midst of a $130 million upgrade.

It’s been said that Camden Yards changed baseball when it opened in 1992. Twenty-five years later, it is still one of the top venues in the sport. Maybe its impact was not limited just to baseball stadiums, though.

With the influx of concerts and hockey games at baseball stadiums, and shopping centers and NCAA Tournament games at football stadiums, teams (and in some instances, cities and states) are trying to get people to their venues as many days a year as possible. They are no longer game-day only operations. Hopefully that will allow (and encourage) the stadiums of this era to last a little bit longer than their predecessors.

Friday Morning Randomness

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NCAA Tournament time seems like the perfect time to revisit this gem. Bobby Knight sounding a lot like me on Sunday night as my bracket crumbled like the Atlanta Falcons.

Boston College never should’ve fired Al Skinner. That being said, I wish they brought in Bobby Knight instead of the stiffs they did. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t watch that. All of sudden that BC/Vermont matchup on a Wednesday night in December looks a lot more interesting. You don’t know what Bobby Coach Knight is going to say or do next!

There are dozens of videos on YouTube with more classic Bobby Knight. Maybe the game has passed him by, but he always ran clean programs. If you can’t be good, you might as well be interesting and bring this guy in. Asses in seats, guaranteed.

Four Thoughts After Four Days of the Tournament

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It’s Hard to Repeat

Only two schools have won back-to-back titles since the end of the John Wooden UCLA dynasty in 1975. Duke won consecutive titles in 1991 and 1992, and Florida cut down the nets in 2006 and 2007. Here’s a quick look at how every champion has fared in defense of its title over the last ten seasons:

Season Champion Following Season
2007 Florida NIT
2008 Kansas Lost, Sweet 16
2009 North Carolina NIT
2010 Duke Lost, Sweet 16
2011 Connecticut Lost, First Round
2012 Kentucky NIT
2013 Louisville Lost, Sweet 16
2014 Connecticut NIT
2015 Duke Lost, Sweet 16
2016 Villanova Lost, Second Round

Villanova is the latest school to fall short in its bid to repeat. Four of the last five defending champions to make it back to the NCAA tournament made it to the Sweet 16, though, making Villanova’s defeat in the second round sting a little more. Many bracketologists had them going a lot further.

Conference Champions are Overrated

The 2017 NCAA Tournament field consisted of 23 teams from one-bid conferences and 45 teams from nine multi-bid conferences. With all due respect to Wichita State and Middle Tennessee, let’s take a look at how the conference champions of the nine multi-bid conferences have done so far:

American SMU Lost, First Round
Atlantic 10 Rhode Island Lost, Second Round
ACC Duke Lost, Second Round
Big 12 Iowa State Lost, Second Round
Big East Villanova Lost, Second Round
Big Ten Michigan On to Sweet 16
Pac-12 Arizona On to Sweet 16
SEC Kentucky On to Sweet 16
WCC Gonzaga On to Sweet 16

Five out of the nine multi-bid conference champions didn’t survive the first weekend. The last conference champion to win a national championship was Louisville in 2013.

Including the 23 one-bid conference champions, the 32 conference champions in the tournament have gone 15-28 and only four remain in the tournament heading into the Sweet 16.

The ACC Disappointed B1G Time

The ACC had nine teams make the tournament, and only one remains (North Carolina). The West Coast Conference also has just one team in the Sweet 16, but only two teams from that conference made the tournament. The Big East has two out of seven teams still alive, the Pac-12 three out of four, the Big 12 three out of six, the SEC three out of five and the Big Ten three out of seven.

While the Pac-12 boasts a higher percentage of its teams still alive, the Big Ten could easily say it had the best weekend of any conference. Arizona is a popular choice for national champion and UCLA has been hot, but it was supposed to be a down year for the Big Ten. It had no teams in the tournament higher than a #4 seed.

I don’t anyone who picked a Big Ten team to win the whole thing but Wisconsin knocked off overall #1 Villanova, Michigan defeated #2 Lousiville and Purdue sent home Big 12 champion Iowa State.

Don’t Sleep on Michigan

Michigan won four games in four days (and defeated three eventual NCAA Tournament teams) to capture the Big Ten tournament crown after almost not making it to DC for the conference tournament. That can’t help but bring back memories from Connecticut’s improbable run in 2011.

While Connecticut didn’t have the same scare Michigan had earlier this month, they did have to defeat five teams in five days to win the Big East championship. That Connecticut team went into its conference tournament 21-9, 9-9 in Big East play while this year’s Michigan team entered its conference tournament at 20-11 and 10-8 in Big Ten play.

The 2011 Connecticut team beat San Diego State and Arizona in Anaheim to advance to the Final Four, and beat Kentucky and Butler in Houston to complete its run. Michigan could face a similar challenge if it defeats Oregon on Thursday. Michigan could potentially face Kansas in Kansas City on Saturday night with a berth to the Final Four on the line.

 

Happy (Sports) New Year

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The Sports New Year starts today. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. I know the Patriots won the Super Bowl last month, but I believe they were crowned 2016 World Champions after the win. Case closed.

March Madness is the return of good weather and day drinking. It combines two things Americans always need – endless gambling and a cure for our minuscule attention spans. Everyone and their mom does a bracket, and games on four different channels for 12 hours a day for four straight days makes this the ultimate TV tournament.

When this tournament ends, we’ll arrive at baseball opening day. That leads to NBA/NHL playoffs, the dog days of summer, pennant races, the return of football, the World Series and then playoff football to get us through the dead of winter once again.

Last year kicked off with Villanova’s thrilling win in the National Championship game, saw Cleveland win something for the first time in forever, saw the Cubs win a World Series for the first time since World War I and saw the Patriots pull off the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. It was a hell of a story.

I can wait for next year, and next year tips off today. Enjoy it.

Episode 001 of The 300s Podcast Coming In Hot!

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This is it. The start of the 300s media empire. Unless you’d rather listen to guys scream at each other on the radio about why Drew Pomeranz should be coming outta the bullpen. This is a podcast from real fans who talk the way you do; no hyped up hot takes or mock outrage. Just shooting the shit. In the very first episode of The 300s Podcast we talk about how Los Angeles has too many football teams, NFL coaches getting fired/hired, the Red Sox rotation vs the Mets, how the Islanders ended up with a bastard dragon as their mascot and is it possible to buy season tickets without having a panic attack? Subscribe today!

Cry Baby Grayson Allen Back After One Game Suspension: Is Going to Get MUGGED in the NBA

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Yahoo Sports – Grayson Allen’s indefinite suspension didn’t last long. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski reinstated his preseason All-American on Wednesday night after just a one-game absence. Allen started Wednesday’s 110-57 rout of Georgia Tech and helped spearhead the onslaught. The junior guard scored 15 points and dished out seven assists, providing the creativity and distribution off the dribble that Duke lacked with Allen unavailable for last Saturday’s loss at Virginia Tech.
You wanna talk about a guy that is going to get RAGDOLLED in the NBA? Grayson Allen is your guy. Now I’m not an NBA draft geek so maybe he won’t even get drafted, I don’t know (Draft Express has him ranked as their No. 38 prospect). I just assume every good player on top NCAA teams get there. And this kid is going to be the poster child for rude awakenings. Imagine if he’s tripping gigantic men in the NBA? He’s going to get snuffed. And before you throw Draymond Green out there saying he pulls the same stuff, Draymond Green can get away with this shit because he’s 6’7″ 230 lbs and looks like this:

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Just for comparisons sake, Grayson Allen looks like this:

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And what a puss Coack K is. I honestly don’t even care that he only had a 1 game suspension. But when you throw your balls down on the table and say your best player is going to be suspended for an “indefinite” period of time, you look pretty weak when after 1 game you relent. Come on K, you got Carmelo to play D-E-F-E-N-S-E in the Olympics for Christ’s sake.  I think you can handle one little rich kid.

P.S. – Still the best white yuppy who just jacks up shots to come out of Duke and actually make it in the NBA was and always will be JJ Reddick. That guy looked like he was gonna play himself out of the league, but he developed his game and most importantly got a sleeve tattoo and bang: legit NBA player.

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Did I Just Fix NCAA College Football?

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johnnyfootballI think we can all agree that NCAA football players are getting screwed, especially when it comes to Bowl season and the schools are making BANK. Pay the players. Don’t pay the players. They already get free school. They can’t afford lunch. I’ve heard all the arguments. Well, I think I just solved the issue and fixed college football.

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Breaking Down ESPN’s Top 25 Athletes With Unfulfilled Potential

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So the World Wide Leader put out an article breaking down their Top 25 athletes that never fulfilled their potential. Instead of rehashing the whole thing, took my liberties and pulled the excerpts from this list for anyone born after 1985.

 

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No. 25 Matt Leinart: This guy was the king at USC, living the absolute life. Winning every game imaginable, taking home National Championships w/ Reggie Bush and co., all while just basically taking elective classes like Ballroom Dancing his senior year. Like I said, living the life. Gets drafted Top 10 into what seemed like a great situation in Arizona except Kurt Warner ends up going on a late career tear so any chance Leinart had of starting in AZ was gone after that. Bounced around a lot after that, but never was able to put it together, got a last grasp as the 3rd string guy for the Houstons and by some freak miracle both guys ahead of him go down and Leinart has a chance to revive is career..immediately gets sacked and destroys his shoulder, career over. It’s a shame because he was great in college, but has parlayed that into a pretty solid career on FS1.

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No. 24 Bo Jackson: On this list for obvious reason. Bo Jackson could have been the greatest football player of all time, and also ya know dabbled in professional baseball making the 1989 All-Star team. A lot of guys talk a big game, and many pros got drafted in multiple sports, but Bo was dominant in two professional sports at once – before the damn hip injury derailed his career. Now he spends his time being a freak athlete in other ways, like being scary good with a bow and arrow. Bo Knows, indeed.

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No. 17 Aaron Hernandez: Goddamn angel dust. Hernandez was so, so good. Just an absolute beast of an athlete, too big for cornerbacks to cover and too fast for linebackers. Belichick was using his as a freaking running back and he was breaking off 30 yard runs. Then someone had to smudge his Puma’s in the club and set him off into a murderous rage, which as it turns out wasn’t exactly a new thing for Aaron..allegedly.

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No. 16 Vince Young: Vinsanity, VY, Madden Cover Boy, Offensive Rookie of the Year. This dude was a stud in college, crushing the absolute soul of the aforementioned Matt Leinart, and then had a great rookie year obviously. Then the league adapted, his accuracy issues caught up to him, or the pressure became too much, or maybe working for Jeff Fisher just drove him nuts. I mean I’d throw all my shit in the stands too if Jeff Fisher was on my ass all day. At least he won’t be known for any outlandish quotes like being on some sort of Dream Team.

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No. 10 JaMarcus Russell: Another mammoth human being who dominated in college, No. 1 overall pick (got PAID before the new CBA smartened up and stopped giving rookies $70 million deals) and then was basically a disaster from the start. Criticized for being out of shape and lazy so it’s hard to feel too bad for his flame out, but he has offered to play for the price of ‘on the house’ to launch a comeback. With such a terribly small crop of decent backup QB’s in the NFL, why not?

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No. 7 Maurice Clarett: This guy just goes to show you can’t fight city hall. Petitioned to bypass the NFL Draft requirements and skip a year of college eligibility after accounting for 1,300+ yards and 18 TD’s as a freshman. A few gun charges later and Clarett’s getting cut by the Bronco’s before the end of camp. Woof.

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No. 1 Greg Oden: Definition of dodging a bullet for any team not named the Portland Trailblazers. Again, absolutely dominant in college (noticing a trend here), and was the consensus No. 1 overall pick. Another guy who’s career was derailed by injuries pretty much immediately with Oden missing his entire rookie year after getting Microfracture surgery. He only played in 82 games TOTAL with Portland, which is legit depressing to think about if you’re a Blazers fan. The ping pong balls giveth and the ping pong balls taketh.