Thinking out loud…while wondering if all my passwords are automatically protected – by amnesia…
Providence's midweek battle with UConn at the AMP was, in a word, juicy.
The teams' anticipated matchup in Providence for the first time in a decade brought plenty of swagger from both sides. The building was jammed, the weather warmed, the floor started to sweat, as did the players and fans…just in time to test out the new dehumidifying equipment brought in by building GM Larry Lepore and his crew.
Oh, and as our buddy Kevin McNamara pointed out, the AMP will finally get its new roof this spring. Might as well blow the old lid off the joint now…and these Friars got a jump start on doing just that Wednesday night.
Huskies' head coach Dan Hurley said in his postgame interview the best player on the floor was Bryce Hopkins. No argument here. Hurley also said Hopkins (with 27 points, five rebounds, and one Husky pelt on his belt) might be the best player his team has faced this season – and UConn has played the likes of Oregon, Alabama, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Florida.
While UConn had little answer for Hopkins, PC's identity is developing daily. Toughness, rebounding, hustle – all traits of competitive Ed Cooley teams in the past. But now, there's talent to go with that, perhaps more talent on this team than the title team from a year ago.
Shout out to senior forward Ed Croswell, who out-fought the preseason player of the year in the Big East, Connecticut's Adama Sanogo. Sanogo – and the freshman 'monster' in the middle, 7-2 Donovan Clingan – are very good. And very big.
Croswell (13 points, 13 rebounds) was better Wednesday night. Tougher. And he needed to be.
PC point guard Jared Bynum took a couple of shots to the rib cage and midsection and didn't return to the game after playing only eight minutes. While Alyn Breed was solid in relief, senior transfer
Noah Locke picked a great time to have his best night as a Friar with 17 points and a couple of daggers from deep.
Yup, it was a battle. The Friars have won a few, now 20-4 in their last 24 Big East games…file that under "things I thought I'd never see." But the war is far from over.
Don't look now, but after a six-game slide Creighton appears to have righted its ship with three straight wins. Marquette is 4-1. Xavier is 4-0. The jury is still out on Villanova, and a search party is out looking for St. John's…they've simply disappeared from the radar after a strong start.
The season is only half over. And the Red Storm get next at the AMP Saturday.
This Week in the Big East returns to a podcast site and a radio station near you for a ninth straight season this weekend. Xavier's Sean Miller, Creighton's Baylor Scheierman and Fox Sports' Donny Marshall join the program for Episode One.
Catch yours truly and Kevin McNamara on bigeast.com, westwoodonesports.com and Sirius XM every weekend with new shows through the Big East Tournament in March.
Bryant's Kvonn Kramer was cleared this week to return to practice as he's been out of the Bulldogs' lineup for weeks since falling ill in Cincinnati.
The Bulldogs got their introduction to America East preseason fave and league heavyweight Vermont Thursday night. The Catamounts had a five-game losing streak earlier this season but have now won seven of the last ten games…including at home against Bryant 74-64.
John Becker became UVM's all-time winningest coach with the win, surpassing the legendary (and a former broadcast partner of mine) Tom Brennan.
The return engagement in Smithfield for this burgeoning rivalry won't come until February 25th. Bryant is 1-1 in league play and 10-5 overall, next facing UMBC Sunday at home. Vermont and UMass-Lowell are 2-0.
Brown basketball is in search of its first Ivy win with two at home this weekend against Harvard and Dartmouth. Kino Lilly scored 28 points in the Bears' Ivy opening loss to Penn.
Best game of the year for URI? Wins have been harder to come by than first imagined, but you can imagine the collective sigh of relief in Kingston as Rhody knocked off Fordham's Rams 82-79 this week.
Fordham came into the game 12-2 on the year. URI is now 1-1 in the A-10, and they were led by a career high 23 points from Malik Martin. Archie Miller is now 9-0 in his coaching career against Fordham's Rams…but he's also lost the services of big man Josephat Bilau for the rest of this season after knee surgery this week.
The local college basketball picture lost one of its biggest fans and supporters this week, with the passing of former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Almond at age 86. Almond was a Rhody guy through and through, graduating from URI in 1959 and carrying his love for the Rams right through his retirement from politics in 2003 into his midcourt seats at the Ryan Center.
Governor Almond was a BIG reason the Ryan Center came to fruition, you might recall. The building opened twenty years ago – but still is located at One Lincoln Almond Way in Kingston.
As I had the pleasure of serving under Almond as his Deputy Communications Director through his reelection in 1998-99, he told me at that time the Patriots' proposed move to Hartford "will never happen." Guess he was right.
The last three unbeatens left standing in college hoop this week…are no longer standing unbeaten. The last to go? PC grad Richard Pitino & his New Mexico Lobos, who lost to Fresno State Tuesday night.
Big ups to Jim Crowley and the PC women's hoop team – as the men's team was beating UConn Wednesday, his team knocked off 25th ranked Creighton on the road to get their first Big East win, and their first win over a ranked team in nine years. The Friars are 10-6 on the season and play Sunday at Alumni Hall against Seton Hall. Edward from East Providence will be there.
The NCAA Division I Transformation Committee – ostensibly in place to make things "better" in big time college athletics – is proposing a 90-team basketball tourney. The idea behind growing the current field of 68 is for a full one-quarter of programs involved in any sport with more than 200 members to reach the postseason.
Um, no thanks. Sure, growth and change happen all the time. Nothing should stay the same forever. But at a time when the NCAA lacks credibility (you've got a BIG job ahead of you, Charlie Baker), screwing around with the ONE thing (March Madness) that works well right now isn't the best idea.
Give the NCAA a chance to prove it isn't anything more than money-grubbing football schools riding roughshod over everyone else for the almighty dollar. And that it isn't crooked when it comes to recruiting, NIL and equal opportunity.
Not against more mid-majors potentially making The Dance. Against knee-jerk decisions by those who have set agendas, like some FBS administrators and commissioners. Emphasis on the jerk part.
The on-ice update – after winning the Ledyard Classic in New Hampshire by beating sixth-ranked Merrimack, 11th ranked Providence gets UNH at home and plays at Army this weekend. The Friars are presently tied for 3rd in Hockey East with Boston University, four points behind Merrimack and UConn.
College baseball doesn't get a ton of play in New England, outside of things like removing snow from playing fields in early spring. But the sport lost a legend this week with the passing of Texas coach Cliff Gustafson. Coach Gus won 1466 games in just 29 seasons and two national titles.
He also won a lifetime of admiration from this one-time rookie reporter for the school newspaper, who he treated with the respect of a veteran scribe twice my age. I'll never forget Coach Gus for considering me 'one of the boys.' Meant a lot.
Ok, so the Red Sox got up off the floor and finally did something worthwhile this week. Signing Rafael Devers to the 10th-richest contract of all time (!!!) wasn't just the first "lock 'em up" contract the team has signed a player to in nine years (since Dustin Pedroia), it was also the first indication the TEAM actually cared about what its FANS thought as well.
We hit 'em when they screw up, so it's only fair to praise them when they don't. But really, they had to do this deal, or otherwise the Sox would risk losing a sizeable portion of the fanbase if they didn't get Devers' deal done, amiright?
In other coming news, you can expect the price of a Fenway Frank and a beer to hit you smack in the wallet as you queue up to the concession stands, certainly. But hey, that's the cost of doing business in the big time.
After looking really bad in the Mookie Betts trade, after blowing the courtship and contract of Xander Bogaerts…Devers' new 11-year deal might be a stretch. But it's a stretch these Sox had to make.
Now do pitching.
Anyone else notice a John Henry-owned team couldn't close out another win this week? His Pittsburgh Penguins led Boston 1-0 heading into the 3rd period at Fenway in the Winter Classic Monday…and lost 2-1.
Jake DeBrusk broke bones? The B's are 30-4-4. It's a helluva head start. Chris Wagner got the call-up from Providence.
The Yankees are stacking their management deck. After hiring former Giants' exec Brian Sabean to assist Brian Cashman, this week they also added former Mets and Expos GM Omar Minaya (yes, father of ex-Friar Justin Minaya) as senior advisor of baseball operations.
Best employment insurance policies Cashman could have ever hoped for. Or, if the Yanks screw up again…possible successors already in place?
Golfweek reported last month that Barrington's Brad Faxon would be joining NBC Sports and the Golf Channel this year for their PGA tournament coverage. The network made the move official this week, and Fax will make his debut at the Honda Classic next month.
ESPN's storytelling on the horrifying Damar Hamlin injury Monday night was full of compassion. Reporters, announcers, and technicians all had the right tenor for the moment. There was no speculation, which often leads to misunderstanding and misinformation. Kudos on that end.
We also didn't need to see trainers and doctors feverishly working to save Hamlin's life. It was shocking enough for the players who watched it happen in real time.
No need for a live horror movie on national television. Would you want the world to see someone working on you, or a family member like that?
While the NFL seemed slow to react to Hamlin's situation; ultimately, they made the right call to postpone the game. It's unfathomable to think those players could go back out after a five-minute break and slam into each other again…after what they had seen.
With life or death hanging in the balance, it renders 'the game' itself moot. The continuation of this story will pick up this weekend when the Bills must take the field again – against the Patriots.
And the Patriots, as we know, need a longshot win to reach the postseason.
But how much of a longshot will it really be? We've never been through this before. No one knows how the Bills will react. Or how the Patriots will react.
But we know this – the Patriots have already reacted through their donations to Hamlin's charity. Much of the NFL responded in an overwhelming way, especially through social media, but no team contributed more than New England's players and ownership.
Hamlin's charity toy drive hoped originally to raise $25K. As of midweek, the GoFundMe had raised more than $6 million.
ESPN's Bart Scott, who originally laid blame on Cincinnati's Tee Higgins for causing Hamlin's injury (video shows he did not), is about as useful as the "G" in lasagna. His interpretation of the play just didn't happen.
Can we be done with this guy now? Can't wait.
Saw this week where Jakobi Meyers dreams of returning to the Patriots? Does BB share those same dreams?
The Patriots have scored eight non-offensive touchdowns this year. Would you be surprised to know the NFL team record for most non-offensive TD's scored in a year is 13? Seattle did that back in '98. They've also scored defensive TD's in four straight games – the first team to hit that mark since '94 (Raiders).
Hey Boomer? Saying that there's a "douchiness" to Mac Jones is kinda douchy in itself, isn't it?
Tweet of the Week I, from @FieldYates: "A complete list of players with 3 defensive touchdowns scored this season: 1) Patriots S Kyle Dugger. What a player."
My buddy "Big E" sez he told one of the Gen Z's in his office the other day, "don't think of me as your boss. Think of me as your friend who can fire you."
Monday's CFP championship between Georgia and TCU is a true "David and Goliath" story. The #1 and defending champ Bulldogs, with 68 "blue-chip" players and 15 five-star recruits on the team…against the Horned Frogs with 17 "blue-chippers" on its entire roster.
Oddsmakers don't like TCU's shot. But I do.
Forget the fact I grew up five minutes from the campus, located in Fort Worth, TX and spent many a Saturday with my buddies watching really bad (like 1-10 bad) football. For a program that hasn't had great expectations, success is relative. TCU already has ($$$) success by playing in a Power Five league like the Big 12.
It was the Big East that originally threw the Frogs' athletic program a lifeline, you might recall, when former Commissioner (and PC athletic director) John Marinatto invited TCU to the party in 2010.
They accepted, but never played a game in the Big East after the Big 12 came calling a short time later.
It was where they belonged all along. But a footnote into college sports history you might not know about.
The pressure Monday night is all on Georgia. They're expected to win. That's when some dogs (or Frogs) with their backs to the wall bark the loudest.
Good on Tulane. An original SEC school (they departed in 1965 to concentrate on academics – hah!) and current member of the AAC just completed the biggest one-season turnaround in FBS history.
The Green Wave football program was 2-10 a year ago. They just beat USC (yes, THAT USC) 46-45 in the Cotton Bowl this week to finish 12-2.
Not for nuthin', and plenty don't follow or don't like college football or college sports, but if you're one of those? You're missing out on great games and great storylines.
What it's like being the junior high kid not invited to the party?
Tweet of the Week II, from @franfraschilla: "Public Service Announcement: If your team lost this weekend, it's because the referees stink and the announcers were worse."
Which is why you should always listen to the radio guys. They know. Just sayin'.
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 ...
Don't forget to tune into Providence's 103.7 FM, every Saturday from 7:00-9:00 am for Cordischi and Coit! Call in at 401-737-1287 or text at 37937.
