Page 2441 of 2957

Illinois Pulls off Another — Officials Questionable Call

March 15, 2008 / Coach Z

Illinois upset win over Minnesota in the semis of the Big Ten tourney was tainted by an obvious officials blunder with under 20 seconds to go in the game. With Illinois clinging to a 4 point lead, an Illini player rebounded a missed shot and fell to the ground after being hit in the eye. Replay after replay showed that it was incidental contact caused by two guys going for the ball. After the player fell to the ground the official Steve Skiles blew his whistle. He signaled offcials timeout.

This is a huge mistake. He should have either called a foul on Minnesota or a travel on the Illinois player. After reviewing the clock not only did they not make a call, but took an additional 4 seconds off the clock. They determined that the clock didn’t start at the begining of the play. This is an incorectable call!

In essence they took away any chances for Minnesota to win the game and advance to the NCAA tournament. These officials should be punished with suspension from any further games this year and in the subsequent season. This is the only way to have them accountable for their actions. My money, however, is that nothing will happen to them and you will see all three officiating in the NCAA tournament. This is a travesty!!!

College Basketball

Great slate of games on Saturday

March 15, 2008 / John Paulsen

#4 Tennessee vs. Arkansas – 1 PM ET
It looks like Arkansas has already played its way into the tourney, but a win against Tennessee might knock the Vols down to a #2 seed.

#1 North Carolina vs. Virginia Tech – 1:30 PM ET
Tech is on the bubble and the Hokies need a win against the Tar Heels to solidify a spot in the tourney. A North Carolina loss might open the door for Duke to steal the #1 seed in the East.

#6 Wisconsin vs. #19 Michigan State – 1:40 PM ET
The Bo Ryan/Tom Izzo rivalry continues. Ryan has made Wisconsin the class of the Big Ten, a mantle that Izzo used to own. The Badgers are playing for a #2 seed.

#8 Texas vs. Oklahoma – 2 PM ET
Both teams are in, but the Longhorns are still shooting for a #1 seed.

#7 Duke vs. Clemson – 3:30 PM ET
The second- and third-best teams in the ACC square off in the semis. Both teams are already in, but the Blue Devils still have a shot at a #1 seed.

#5 Kansas vs. Texas A&M – 4:30 PM ET
The Jayhawks are still jockeying for a #1 seed and it looks like A&M is in.

#2 UCLA vs. #11 Stanford – 6 PM ET
The Bruins escaped a loss against the Cardinal a few days ago and look like they’ve locked in a #1 seed. There isn’t much on the line here but pride, though the Brook Lopez/Kevin Love battle is worth the price of admission.

#23 BYU vs. UNLV – 7 PM ET
The Runnin’ Rebs are on the bubble, but a win over BYU would earn them a spot in the tourney.

#9 Georgetown vs. Pittsburgh – 9 PM ET
The Panthers are in, so this game is about pride. The Hoyas might earn a #2 seed with a win.

College Basketball, March Madness

Romano calls Girardi out for being a hypocrite

March 14, 2008 / Anthony Stalter

John Romano of the St. Petersburg Times calls Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi a hypocrite for not speaking out about how Shelley Duncan spiked Rays’ middle infielder Akinori Iwamura when sliding into second base in a spring training game on Tuesday.

And I don’t mind that Girardi felt Rays infielder Elliot Johnson crossed a line by bowling over Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli in a spring training game last week. No matter what the Rays, or Pete Rose, or anyone else says, baseball has always had unspoken rules about the time and place for aggressive play.
What I do mind is that now Girardi is acting like a hypocrite.
The New York manager continues to tap dance his way around questions concerning Shelley Duncan’s spikes-high slide into Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura.
Girardi tried to avoid the topic after Wednesday’s game, and then again 24 hours later. He said he still hasn’t seen a replay, despite video on ESPN, numerous newspaper Web sites and several YouTube posts.

And this is only spring training! Can’t wait to see how this plays out when the games actually matter.

MLB

Selig baseball’s best commissioner?

March 14, 2008 / Anthony Stalter

Richard Justice of SportingNews.com had something rather interesting to say in one of his recent articles – that Bud Selig is the best commissioner baseball has ever seen.

He brilliantly steered the sport from the dark days of the 1994 World Series cancellation to record-setting growth. He is the biggest reason baseball has labor peace, parity and attendance that has increased for four years in a row.
A new generation of ballparks has been built under his watch, and he expertly guided baseball into the Internet age.
His only fault is that he failed to quickly understand the impact steroids were having on the game. The same, too, is true of owners, general managers, trainers and doctors.
Steroids happened. We can’t ignore that. Selig also pushed for the best testing agreement in the sport’s history and had the guts to order George Mitchell to tell as much of the story as he could.

Okay, I don’t disagree that Selig has put asses back in seats. I also don’t disagree that he’s made the game profitable again. But to dance around the steroids issue by saying, “he failed to quickly understand the impact steroids were having” is a joke. He failed to understand because he was banking off it. If Selig wasn’t making money off of players hitting 500-foot home runs, do you think he would have jumped on the steroids issue a little sooner? Maybe even make himself look like a hero for trying to keep the game “clean?” Hmm…

MLB

CAN YOU HEAR THE POPPING SOUND

March 14, 2008 / Coach Z

Bubbles burst all across the country last night. Teams needing wins to solidify their entre in to the NCAA tournament came up empty handed.

In the Big 12, Baylor lost to 12th seeded Colorado. This is huge since Baylor was only one game above .500 in the league and Texas A & M won their first round game. The combination could leave the Bears on the outside looking in. I doubt that they will take 6 teams from the Big 12.

Over in the PAC-10, Arizona lost to Stanford. Once and for all let’s stop talking about Arizona’s close losses. They are out and awaiting the return of LUte Olsen next year. Also, look for Kevin O’Neill to be out as well. Arizona State didn’t help themselves last night with their loss. The most crushing blow was to Oregon. Washington State beat the Ducks in what could be the last game for Ernie Kent. One final note on the Pac-10, there are rumors that Ben Braun could be out at Cal after another loss to UCLA. Good guy and great coach who just hasn’t been able to get the Bears over the hump.

Down south in the SEC, Ole Miss lost to Georgia and Florida lost to Alabama. The Gators were 8-8 in the league while Ole Miss finished 7-9 in conference. They definitely pulled a Clemson from last year. Great start agianst bad teams and a bad finish against good teams. Do you think Billy Donovan is having second thoughts about the Maigc job. Mark my words, whenever a coach leaves a job and then comes back it always ends in a bad way.

In the ACC, the young, schizophrenic Maryland Terrapins ended their tourney hopes with a loss to Boston College. Wake Forest’s dream of going to hte tourney in the memory of Skip Prosser was ruined by Florida State.

WHO BENEFITS—

Illinois State and VCU are back in due to the BCS conference bubble teams falling short in their conference tournament. Kind of a switch, usually it is the big schools hoping their are no upsets in the small conferences.