As the Buffalo Sabres visited the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, Team USA/Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller got a strong ovation (along with chants of U-S-A, U-S-A) while Canadian/Penguin Sidney Crosby drew boos from the crowed when the jumbotron showed footage of his gold-medal winning goal.
Miller’s ovation is at the start of the video, while Crosby is introduced at around the 1:10 mark. Pittsburgh won, 3-2, but Miller didn’t play.
Every so often, Rick Reilly comes up with something good. Here are his rules for rushing the court:
This has got to stop. Therefore, here are the Ironclad and Unbreakable Rushing-the-Court Rules. From now on, you can NOT rush the court if …
• You’ve won an NCAA title in the past 20 years.
• You’ve been in the Final Four in the past five years.
• The team you just beat is not in the top three.
• Or is ranked within 15 rungs of you. (Somebody do the math for Wake.)
• Or is really a football school. This includes Florida, Texas and Ohio State. Get over it.
• You’ve beaten this same team in the past five years.
• You won the stupid game by more than 10 points. There is no such thing as a PRTC (Premeditated Rush The Court.)
• You’re a university and you just beat a college.
• Coach K comes to your coach’s clinic.
• You have a dead-mortal-lock lottery pick on your team.
• Your team has appeared in a recent “One Shining Moment.”
I think RTC has become something that fans want to do at least once in their college career, so they make up an excuse to do it. That’s understandable, I guess. And I’d rather fans be too exuberant at times (NCAA) than asleep in the stands (NBA).
Here are a few random thoughts:
– I don’t like the 20-Year Rule. Really — Arkansas (1994) and UNLV (1990) aren’t allowed to rush the court if they beat a #1 team on their home court? Let’s make it the 10-Year Rule.
– I buy the Final Four, Top Three and 15 Rung rules, though I’d make it a 10 Rung Rule. If you’re ranked 12th in the country and just beat the #1 team at home, I get it.
– I don’t like the “really a football school” rule. A top three team is a top three team. Period.
– I buy the Repeat Rule, but not the 10-point rule, especially if the home team is a big underdog. PRTC is fine with me.
– The last four? Meh. Lots of teams appear in “One Shining Moment” — it doesn’t mean that they didn’t just get a huge win at home.
So what do you think of Reilly’s rules? (He does offer up a few exceptions.)
Photo from fOTOGLIF
That’s just eerie…
Credit Bill Simmons’s reader (Will in Boston) for finding the clip.
That crazy John Daly is at it again, having fun and seeking revenge via Twitter.
From FOXSports.com:
John Daly was so irritated that a Florida newspaper wrote about his PGA Tour disciplinary file that he referred to the writer as a “jerk” on Twitter and posted the writer’s cell phone number for his followers to call.
The Florida Times-Union reported Tuesday that the file is now public record through Daly’s unsuccessful libel lawsuit against the newspaper. The file is 456 pages and notes that Daly has been suspended five times and cited 21 times for not giving his best effort.
“here’s the JERK who writes NON-NEWS article on debut of my show — CALL & FLOOD his line & let’s tell him how WE feel,” Daly said on Twitter, adding the cell phone number of golf writer Garry Smits.
Smits, the golf writer for the Times-Union, said he received about 30 calls after a series of three tweets late Tuesday night, and nearly 100 calls by early Wednesday afternoon. Smits said most of the callers hang up, and about 30 left messages.
“His fans are very unhappy,” Smits said.
If I were an exclusive golf writer, I would stay as far from John Daly as humanly possible. Either that, or I would quit my job so I could party with him at all times because you’re bound to see something interesting.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
In his NBA Awards Watch, ESPN’s Maurice Brooks notes that Tyreke Evans is on pace to join LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson as the only first-year players to average 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in a season. (Note: Evans is actually averaging 20.5-4.9-5.4, but he averaged 5.8 rebounds in February, so if he keeps that up, he shouldn’t have any problem averaging five boards a game.)
Unfortunately, this fine play has not translated to wins. The Kings have lost 25 of their last 32 games, and are now just 20-40 on the season.
Still, it makes me wonder how a 2009 NBA Draft Re-Do would go. The last one I saw still had Blake Griffin going #1 with Evans going #2. Would the Clippers really pass on a player like Evans — who really could have been named to the All-Star Game in his rookie season — for Griffin, knowing that the former Sooner was going to miss his first year with a knee injury? Griffin still projects to be a star, but Evans is the proverbial “bird in the hand” at this point, isn’t he?
In his ROY race, Brooks ranks Stephen Curry second (22-5-7 in Feb) and Darren Collison third (22-4-8 in Feb). Brandon Jennings (11-4-6, 31% shooting in Feb) has lost his touch and is ranked fourth. DeJuan Blair (11-5, 60% shooting in Feb) comes in fifth, but if Antonio McDyess misses any time with a sore knee, Blair should get some extra minutes.
In my Top 10 Head Scratchers of the 2009 NBA Offseason, I wrote the following about Blair:
10. Six teams pass on DeJuan Blair IN THE SECOND ROUND!
When I first heard that there were concerns about Blair’s knees, I thought he might fall into the bottom third of the first round. Even if the guy is missing ligaments in his knees, he was still one of the best rebounders in all of college basketball last season and he ate up #2 pick Hasheem Thabeet in Connecticut. When Blair fell into the second round I was stunned as the Kings, Wizards, Blazers, Nuggets, Pistons and Grizzlies all passed on Blair. A second round pick doesn’t require the same kind of financial commitment as a first round pick, so there’s very little downside if the guy doesn’t pan out. Blair fell and fell, right into the inviting arms of the Spurs, who will be lucky to have him on the roster for the foreseeable future.
Teams just could get their heads around the fact that Blair has no ACLs in his knees. While I sort of understand not wanting to commit first round money, it doesn’t make any sense for the aforementioned teams to pass on him in the second round, where there is very little financial investment. This goes double for the two “contenders” on that list — I’m looking at you Portland and Denver — who should be worried about the short term and not the long term impact of their second round picks. Blair would give the Nuggets some much needed toughness, and he’d sure help in Portland, where half the front line is out for the season with injury.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
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