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      NCAA announces March Madness expansion…

      July 12, 2010 /
      INDIANAPOLIS - APRIL 05: A general view of the opening tipoff between Matt Howard #54 of the Butler Bulldogs and Brian Zoubek #55 of the Duke Blue Devils during the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 5, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images);

      …and it’s not as bad as we thought it was going to be.

      The final four at-large teams and final four automatic qualifiers in the newly minted 68-team NCAA men’s basketball tournament field will meet for the right to enter the traditional 64-team draw, tournament selection committee chairman Dan Guerrero announced Monday.

      The “First Four” will be played either the Tuesday or Wednesday after Selection Sunday. The winners of the four games will advance to what will now be called the “second round” on either Thursday or Friday.

      The games will be televised on TruTv (formerly CourtTV), which is available in 93 million homes, said NCAA vice president Greg Shaheen, who manages the NCAA tournament. CBS, Turner, TBS and TruTV are in their first year of a $10.8 billion, 14-year television agreement.

      There was a lot of talk about a possible expansion to 96 teams, which would just be an obvious money grab by the NCAA, but the entity showed some restraint and are only going to expand the tournament by three teams.

      I don’t know what the hell TruTV is or if I even get it on DirecTV, but this is the way for a channel to put itself on the map.

      But wait a second — the last few at-large teams (#10-#12) aren’t seeded as low as the last few automatic bids (#16), so how are the winners of the “First Four” going to be inserted in the rest of the tournament field?

      Guerrero and Shaheen said the last four at-large teams would be put on the seed line the committee decided they earned. So, this could mean that two could be considered No. 12 seeds playing for the right to play a No. 5 and two could be No. 11s vying to play a No. 6 in the second round.

      In its news release, the NCAA listed the 10th seed as a possible destination for the last at-large teams, something that has occurred in past years. It is unlikely that the committee will have one team seeded 10th, 11th or 12th to avoid having teams seeded differently playing in a First Four game.

      Confused yet? Me too, but at least the NCAA has a plan. I just don’t know quite how it’s going to work. If these are #11 vs. #16 games, then potentially there would be a #16 vs. #6 matchup if the #16-seed won its “First Four” game. That is going to take some getting used to.

      Hey, at least they didn’t expand it any further.

      College Basketball, External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, March Madness, News

      Reggie Jackson defends LeBron James

      July 12, 2010 /

      While appearing on the Dan Patrick Show on Monday, former Yankee Reggie Jackson stuck up for LeBron James for signing with the Heat.

      From SI.com:

      Reggie thinks people are unfairly criticizing LeBron James. “I’m not offended at all that he did that,” Jackson said. Reggie said that he would have done that if he thought it would save time and effort.

      Reggie said if he was in the same position, he would have loved to join his friends. Reggie would have loved to play with his good friend Jim Rice in Boston. “I would have loved to join those guys,” Jackson said.

      Jackson also pointed out LeBron could have made more money in another sport. “If LeBron James was in baseball, he’d probably be playing for the Yankees,” Jackson said.

      I think more people are upset with the way LeBron went about this process than they are that he signed with the Heat. Are we really surprised that a 25-year-old picked South Beach over Cleveland? Are we really surprised that he chose the path of least resistance in order to win a championship? Are we really surprised that he wanted to play with D-Wade and Bosh?

      We shouldn’t be. So in some instances, I agree with Jackson that the criticism of LeBron is unfair. What he should be criticized for is giving up on the Cavs in the playoffs last year when he knew he was heading out of town. He should be criticized for not being more sympathetic to the city that treated him like a “king” for eight years. It’s nice that a lot of money from the ESPN special went to charity, but he probably could have just given the Boys and Girls club a check and just held a press conference, too.

      The bottom line for me is that LeBron could have handled the situation better, but I’m not going to rip the man for the decision to sign with the Heat.

      External Sports, MLB, NBA

      Jason Whitlock blasts Jesse Jackson regarding comments made about LeBron

      July 12, 2010 /
      WASHINGTON - APRIL 29: Jesse Jackson (R) greets former Washington DC Mayor Marion Barry (L) at the funeral service for civil rights leader Dorothy Height at the Washington National Cathedral April 29, 2010 in Washington, DC. Height led the National Council of Negro Women and marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

      After Dan Gilbert’s ill-advised open letter to Cavs fans, which called LeBron’s decision to sign with the Heat a “betrayal,” Jesse Jackson had some choice words for the Cavs owner.

      “He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers,” the reverend said in a release from his Chicago-based civil rights group, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. “His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship — between business partners — and LeBron honored his contract.”

      While I agree that Gilbert’s letter was out of line — LeBron had every right to sign with whatever team he chose — there’s no need to invoke slavery with regard to the relationship between owner and player.

      Jason Whitlock had this to say about Jackson’s comments.

      Yep, it’s the card. LeBron James and his kiddie handlers screwed up, staging an image-damaging public-relations disaster, and now some African-Americans want to change the subject by changing the argument.

      NBA owners and their $100-million contracts are slave owners and King James is Kunta Kinte escaping on the Underground Railroad to Miami’s Tootsie’s Cabaret, where he’ll make it rain.

      It’s stupid. Dan Gilbert’s rant was certainly immature, but it wasn’t remotely racist. He sounded like a scorned lover, a guy who gave his heart to a relationship and found out on national TV that the alleged love of his life didn’t care about him at all.

      Gilbert vented. I give James credit for not responding.

      It’s increasingly clear that people fault LeBron not for leaving Cleveland but for the way he left Cleveland. Gilbert’s letter, while none too smart, wasn’t racist at all.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      NCAA looking to ban early scholarship offers

      July 12, 2010 /

      The NCAA is reviewing whether or not to ban scholarship offers to recruits before July 1 in the summer between their junior and senior years of high school, according to ESPN.com.

      The rule would apply to all sports if passed later this year or next. Some coaches are hopeful it could slow an arms-race mentality that has led to earlier and earlier commitments by unproven prospects.

      Two years ago, the National Association of Basketball Coaches said it opposed accepting commitments from students who had not yet completed their sophomore seasons in high school. Jim Haney, the group’s executive director, says he understands the reasoning behind the new proposal.

      The proposal would also require coaches to receive a high school transcript documenting at least five semesters or seven quarters of academic work for a recruit before offering a scholarship.

      Considering Lane Kiffin recruited a 13-year-old quarterback this past February, I’d say it’s about time that the NCAA did something about this. Kids are easily impressionable and even though being offered an athletic scholarship is a great thing, I’m sure some feel pressured to commit early.

      Teams that have always recruited well might not like this proposal, but this is a good thing for everyone involved. Schools can take a longer look at a potential recruit without feeling pressured to get a commitment out of him too early, and the recruit can have more time before deciding where to attend. Hopefully the NCAA follows through with this next year.

      College Basketball, College Football, External Sports

      Lance Armstrong says his Tour de France is “finished”

      July 12, 2010 /
      Radioshack rider Lance Armstrong (L) of the U.S cycles with team-mates during a training session during a rest day of the Tour de France cycling race in Morzine July 12, 2010. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard (France - Tags: SPORT CYCLING)

      An unlucky Stage 8 led to a resigned quote from Lance Armstrong:

      Close the book on the Lance Armstrong era at the Tour de France. He has.

      The record seven-time champion wrote off his chances of victory in his 13th and last Tour, signaling the beginning of the end of one of the most celebrated and controversial careers in cycling history.

      The 38-year-old Texan’s hopes for yet another title were dashed Sunday after he got caught in three crashes — one of which brought him down — and struggled to keep up during two tough climbs in Stage 8, the race’s first foray into the Alps. He and his team said his hip got banged up, keeping him from pedaling hard.

      “My Tour is finished,” said Armstrong, who fell to 39th overall.

      Thanks to Bing for sponsoring this post.

      External Sports, General Sports, News

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