Thinking out loud…while wondering why I can't be nice to everyone? Then I just laugh and continue my day.
It's rare these days that we all get a collective "Stone Cold Stunner" in the sports world. But we got one of those this week.
Outgoing Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker will be the incoming President of the NCAA, replacing the retiring Mark Emmert. Think about that for a sec.
An oft-maligned, never-do-anything-right governing body will now get its cues from a former governor who chose not to run for re-election in his home state, ostensibly because he was tired of playing politics?
Not for nuthin', but what does Gov. Baker think he's going to get in Indianapolis?
The NCAA, as we know all too well, has had its can kicked around for some time – including by politicians. College leaders have been crying out to Congress for help with the current confusing, contradicting landscape. And now, an ex-politician will attempt to do just that.
I like it.
Let's give it a shot. He's used to working both sides of an aisle. He is capable of displaying common sense, based on his track record. He's not afraid of making tough calls. The NCAA needs all of this, and more.
First things first, Mr. President. Don't bleep up the NCAA Tournament. Baker takes over as the Grand Poobah in March.
The college hoop year is pretty much divided into four parts: Preseason/exhibitions, non-conference, conference, and postseason play. We're already onto Number Three.
Opportunity persists for the Friars, opening at Seton Hall Saturday afternoon. Sure, 8-3 seems middling, especially without a signature win thus far. But that's the beauty of playing every league game in the Big East…they all provide a shot at signature wins.
Road wins are like found gold. Last year's team was road-tough. This year's team is on training wheels. Hope they can graduate to the two-wheeler before March.
NET update at midweek: PC 100 (one of eight Big East teams in the Top 100), Seton Hall 90, Bryant 133, Brown 216, URI 272.
Oh, and UConn is #1 in the NET, #3 in the AP Top 25. Like I said, opportunity persists.
Super soph Bryce Hopkins earned the first of what promises to be several stints on the Big East Honor Roll this week. Ed Cooley feels Hopkins should be a double-double guy every time out. If he is, PC will be hard for anyone to beat.
But for Providence to come close to replicating last year's remarkable run, they'll need Jared Bynum to find his outside shot again.
And getting consistent contribution from redshirt freshman Rafael Castro would be 'found gold,' too. On his radio show this week, Ed Cooley said "Slim" is making the right kind of progress toward that goal.
Stunning to learn of former Friar assistant, Georgetown assistant, Seton Hall head coach and Syracuse star Louis Orr's death after battling cancer. Orr coached under Pete Gillen at PC in the '90's, was a big part of the beginning of the Big East with Roosevelt Bouie at Syracuse but had not returned this year to assist Patrick Ewing at Georgetown.
As nice an individual as you'd ever care to meet in a cutthroat business. Orr, Bobby Gonzalez, Tom Herrion, and current Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone were a part of that staff. Louie was only 64 years old.
Elsewhere in the Big East: WTH, Creighton? Five straight losses? Reigning league defensive player of the year Ryan Kalkbrenner has missed time with an illness…shows you what defense really means in the big picture, doesn't it?
Seton Hall may only be 7-4 after beating Drexel Wednesday, but they've held six of their 11 opponents to 55 points or less. Defense isn't the issue with the Pirates.
UConn is 11-0, St. John's is 10-1 through non-league play, with Providence, Xavier, Marquette, and Butler each 8-3. Marquette will be the Friars' home opener Tuesday at the AMP.
Speaking of Xavier, head coach Sean Miller is out of the woods with the NCAA. Arizona and Miller both avoided serious punishment related to five Level I NCAA violations – and his former assistants, Book Richardson and Mark Phelps, paid the price with jail time (in Richardson's case) and show-cause restrictions on coaching again.
Gives new meaning to the term 'doing the dirty work,' doesn't it?
And don't look now, but Villanova has won three straight with five-star freshman Cam Whitmore in the lineup. The 'Cats will be charging hard from the outside after snapping a six-game Oklahoma winning streak last week.
Good to hear Bryant forward Kvonn Cramer has returned home after spending time in a Cincinnati hospital when he took ill a couple of weeks ago. The Bulldogs are 8-3, and they'll play Liberty Saturday in Springfield, MA in the Hall of Fame Classic.
Tweet of the Week I, from @BryantHoops: "A deeper look into the numbers shows that Bryant is the only team in the country to have three first-year transfers in the Top 10 of their conference in scoring (Sherif Gross-Bullock, Earl Timberlake, Antwan Walker)."
Fun to see Brown's Paxson Wojcik get the chance to face his dad Doug – a Michigan State assistant – last weekend. The loss to the Spartans snapped a five-game winning streak for Bruno, they'll next face UNH Wednesday at the Pizzitola Center.
UCLA's move to the Big Ten was officially approved by the University of California Board of Regents, but with a stipulation. They're being asked to pay a "Berkeley tax" of between $2-10 million annually to help support student athletes on the Berkeley campus…so the Bruins don't leave their sister school completely high and dry.
They play in Division III, but did you see where the Grinnell College men's team attempted a record 111 three-point shots in a single game a week ago? They finished 40-111 in the game – with EVERY attempt they made from three. And won, 124-67.
Grinnell is located in Grinnell, Iowa (center of the state) and has run 'The System' for several years, which includes only three-point attempts and layups. Entertaining, they are. Running up the score, they can and do.
Shout out to the Holy Cross football program, after their 42-21 defeat in the FCS playoff quarterfinals at #1 South Dakota State last Saturday. Crusaders' QB Matthew Sluka rushed for 213 yards against the top-ranked rushing defense in the country, and his number was the most-ever in a single game for a Cru QB.
You know you've arrived when others come calling. Coach Bob Chesney is rumored to be a prime candidate for FBS openings, and while three players have already entered the transfer portal as grad transfers, Chesney said this week he hopes 12-15 others will be back for a fifth year.
Which means The Cross could be loaded, again.
Tossing one back for "the Pirate," Mississippi State head football coach Mike Leach. Leach died this week after suffering a heart attack last weekend – he was just 61.
Leach is a primary reason we have (and often enjoy watching) present-day offenses in pro and college football "air it out." He coined the term "Air Raid" offense and won at college stops where winning was never previously the expectation – Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State.
Leach was also one of the more colorful coaches in the game, and he rarely gave an interview that didn't leave someone laughing – or in awe of his ideology. His coaching disciples are spread wide through the sport – most notably Lincoln Riley at USC, Dana Holgorsen at Houston, Kliff Kingsbury with the Arizona Cardinals.
Leach was always the first to admit he wasn't for everyone. He was controversial; he could be blunt, and brutally honest – which was often why he was either loved or hated. There really was never a middle ground with him.
His favorite place to go and "just be" is my favorite place to go and "just be," Key West, Florida. The man had no fear and a love for pirates, hence his nickname. The island will miss him.
Dunno what you think, but the young guys on the Patriots roster are keeping this season alive, if not well.
Pierre Strong? Kevin Harris? The two rookies came up big when Rhamondre Stevenson (another young guy, in his second year) went down and out against Arizona.
Then there's the play of Josh Uche. A guy everyone has seemingly been waiting on to break out (in his third season) with 10 quarterback sacks over the past seven weeks. He had three against the Cardinals Monday night, earning him the AFC Defensive Player of the Week honor.
In all, and by this count, there are about a dozen first-year players who have contributed somewhere along the path the current season has taken. Cole Strange, Jack Jones, Marcus Jones, Brendan Schooler, Bailey Zappe, Tyquan Thornton…are at the top of the list.
10 draft picks and four undrafted rookies are on the 53-man roster, between being active or on the practice squad. For an organization that has had difficulty in evaluating younger talent in the recent past, it's time to give credit where it's due.
BB and Matt Groh may (finally) be getting that job done. But then again, Pete Gillen used to tell me "even a blind squirrel can find a nut every now and then."
The last couple of growing seasons have finally borne fruit on the tree. This current season has been fraught with an offensive draught, but at least there are signs of growth – and finally, signs of keeping up with other contenders who have lately cornered the talent market.
If I never see another screen pass, it'll be too soon. But if they're working, and the other team has trouble stopping them (Marcus Jones, hello!), screen 'em to death.
Mac Jones? Maybe you feel he's regressed this season. What I see is a guy who has developed a little fire in his belly, and only needs a little fine tuning. Once the Patriots can figure out who should really be coaching this offense, they'll have what they've been looking for, post-TB12.
Buffalo has re-assumed command of the AFC East, if not the entire conference. Miami is slipping. The Jets are J-E-T-S-ing. And opportunity is knocking for New England, once again. They can decide if they're playoff-worthy, or not.
After seeing a lack of overall enthusiasm for signing closer Kenley Jansen this week, and then getting nothing but word salad from Red Sox management (Sam Kennedy) on Rafael Devers' future in Boston (he ain't got one), I'm not sure why we'd ever again believe anything they have to tell us?
Those four world championships since 2004? They'll have to do for a while.
They. Don't. Care. Except. For. Making. $$$.
Remember this when you hit the Fenway turnstiles – if you hit them – next spring.
I'll agree, DFA'ing Jeter Downs this week was the right call, even if he was part of the return in the ill-fated Mookie Betts trade. What should alarm you is the gross oversight in talent evaluation by Chaim Bloom and Sox management.
Tweet of the Week II, from @DanSecatore: "The 2018 Red Sox had 3 potential HOFers under the age of 26. Instead of building around them for the next 10 years, they tore it down because they were spooked by 2 "bad contracts," one of which has already expired, while the other is now only the 32nd largest contact in MLB."
My buddy "Big E" sez he's learned that alcohol increases the size of the "send" button on his computer by 95%.
You know what? It never gets old beating the Lakers. Just sayin'.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 69 points in the C's OT win Tuesday night this week. They continue to shred the nets; 2nd in the league in 3-point shooting, with three of the top 10 shooters in the NBA residing in Boston right now.
And none of them are named Tatum or Brown – Malcolm Brogdon (who led the NBA at midweek at 50%), Al Horford and Grant Williams.
And a Hendricken guy is the one currently conducting the orchestra. When you consider the controversy hovering over the team at the beginning of the year, Joe Mazzulla's presence at the podium has been calming, to say the least.
To say the most? Undervalued.
Former Celtic Paul Silas, who played for the C's in the early-to-mid '70's, passed away this week at age 79. My radio broadcast partner Joe Hassett played with Silas on the '79 Seattle Supersonics world championship team.
Silas is one of five players to average 20+ points and 20+ rebounds for a college season…and for a career. The others? Bill Russell, Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore, and Kermit Washington. Silas' son, Stephen, is the current coach of the Houston Rockets.
Ok, ridicule came flying my way after last week's missive, criticizing me for not talking or writing about the superlative play thus far of the Bruins, who have the best record in the NHL…and who will undoubtedly disappoint us and pull a Sox stunt by not resigning David Pastrnak after this season.
Does this count, Ted?
10th-ranked PC hockey dropped a 3-2 decision to #11 Merrimack last weekend, the first Hockey East loss for the young Friars this season. PC is off until Dec. 30th against Yale.
6-5 freshman forward Jaroslav Chmelar was named to the Czechia National Junior Team that will play in the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championships in Canada at the end of this month.
The soccer world (and the sports world in general) was stunned by reporter and columnist Grant Wahl's death at the World Cup. Wahl was a former writer for Sports Illustrated, and fabulous journalist to follow on Twitter. He was passionate, and knowledgeable. Unafraid to expose sports' darker side. And only 49 years old.
While his health had steadily worsened during his time in Qatar, when his death was announced, foul play was immediately assumed.
Wahl died from an aortic aneurysm. But that's just the way it is these days. Worst case scenarios are things that come to mind when crawling between the sheets with people who don't consider human rights as part of our global discourse. Right, FIFA?
Just show 'em the $$$.
And for those who don't believe soccer should be considered 'mainstream' sport in the US, Fox' TV ratings for France vs. England and Argentina against the Netherlands were very strong.
11.7 million viewers for France-England, 9.2 million for Argentina-Netherlands. On TV in THIS country, they were the two most-watched men's World Cup telecasts on record…without the USA in either one. You're right. That's not mainstream.
By comparison, NFL games this season can average anywhere from 5-8 million viewers, up to 23-25 million per game. Thanksgiving Day games drew 44.1 million viewers this year.
MLB? The World Series drew an average of 11.8 million viewers per game. The World Series. NBA games averaged 1.6 million viewers per game last season on the major networks. NHL regular season games averaged nearly 500K viewers.
And those numbers are UP over recent seasons. Yeah, futbol belongs in the discussion. Wait until Lionel Messi comes to America.
Interested in having your questions on local Rhode Island sports (and yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? It's your chance to "think out loud," so send your questions, comments, and local stories to jrbroadcaster@gmail.com. We'll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Would appreciate the follow on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and join in on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...
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