While Vod is the real basketball expert here, I've read a couple of articles that would seem to make the upcoming college basketball season "ver-r-r-y interes-tink"
The two-handed check is outlawed, impeding a ball handlers progress in any way may get you a whistle and, according to one coach, charging is a thing of the past. Teams better have good free-throw players on the team, because that may be the best weapon in their arsenal. Players have a way of adjusting to rule changes and things will probably not be as dire as the coaches make it sound, but we do seem to be heading back towards basketball instead of basket-brawl. Analysts think the coaches will respond by using more zone defenses instead of man-to-man. As Coach Larry Brown said, "Jim Boeheim has to be the happiest man in the country."
The Yanks made qualifying offers to Cano, Granderson and Kuroda yesterday. Granderson is expected to accept, the other two will be testing free agency. Two Yankee players expected to garner some interest are Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. Both seem to have a world of talent and an inability to perform. I've been telling Annie-O that the Yanks should sign Hughes and put in in the bullpen. He was very effective when he spent a half a season there a while ago. When he doesn't think he has to pace himself and can turn it loose for an inning or two, he can be unhittable.
None of the Yanks were awarded a Gold Glove this year. I don't know if that's good or bad, since defense is one of those areas that is hard to judge since stats don't reall mean a lot. Even the Saber-metric freaks are having a difficult time defending their stats with the ever-increasing extreme shifts that mangers are employing. These shifts throw range factors out the window.
At least one Yankee will take home an award this year. Mariano Rivera was named Comeback Player Of The Year yesterday.
From Brad Dickson's BOTTOM TEN:
Welcome to this week’s Bottom 10, a group of teams where pretty much
every first down is the result of a Hail Mary something or other.
7. California (1-8): Cal’s Oski the Bear mascot lost all interest and went into hibernation eight weeks early.
8. Idaho (1-8): The Vandals are an independent, which I’m beginning to think means that no league wants ’em.
9. Temple (1-8): The Owls lost to Rutgers 23-20 in a game so meaningless that the network cut away early for a preview of Olympic curling.
***THEY SAID IT***
"Apparently bullying is not unusual in pro sports. Just in the World
Series, the Boston Red Sox taunted the St. Louis Cardinals from the
dugout by saying they played like a bunch of Chicago Cubs." -- Alex Kaseberg
"Despite Nick Foles’ 7 TD performance against
the Oakland Raiders, Eagles coach Chip Kelly will not name him the
team’s #1 QB. Guess Kelly wants to see how Foles performs against a
professional defense?" -- Janice Hough
"The Buffalo Sabres made history last week when they started four teenagers. At one time, the entire front line was texting." -- Brad Dickson
"The most memorable umpire’s call in this year’s World Series was:
a) the game-ending obstruction play
b) the game-ending pickoff play
c) the ball getting lost in a player’s beard for a ground-rule double" -- Dwight Perry
"Here's an item from the oddly-appropriate files. Rearrange the letters in Dez Bryant and you get Rant By Dez." -- RJ Currie
CP-
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