I watched the game
Florida-Kentucky was on ESPN, Blazers-Heat was on NBA-TV. Which game did I chose to watch? Neither of them, Penn Valley Community College was my choice. My former school was matched against Division III Westminster College which is located in Fulton (MO). For you students of geography Fulton is about 154 miles southeast of Kansas City. The announcer mentioned several Division I schools are expressing interest in 6-7 Derrick Williams of Penn Valley. By the way the Penn Valley Scouts won the match 84-51.

Why did you ask me?
Have you faced the same situation I have? On occasion acquaintances will ask me “what do you think of _______.’ The issue could be governmental issues, politics or sports. Dependent on time I will offer my view or assessment of the matter. The next stage the person says; “I don’t agree with you, here’s what I think _________.” Of course they detail for you how your view is skewed and theirs is the correct one. I have been tempted to ask them; “If you didn’t want my opinion why did you bother to ask?” I would never believe my view/opinion is the only one valid. I might argue an opposing view till the cows come home the bottom line it’s your opinion and you have that right. From this point forward I will not mention the name, if I do that I would be directing you to read him thus increasing his page views. I see elements of the game I dislike however I see far more positives than negatives. I often provide my opinions on subjects however my hope is you don’t believe I’m correct all of the time.

Does it really matter?
The “Catholic 7” is moving ahead with plans to exit the Big East Conference. The seven schools all Catholic affiliated are presently in the Big East Conference. The schools are Villanova, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. Johns, Seton Hall and DePaul. Reports indicate Fox Sports is negotiating a television contract for the conference. No commissioner yet, no bylaws nothing in place accept a potential disagreement. Word is the 7 want to retain the name Big East Conference which is a problem. The remainder of schools also desires to retain the name; hopefully there will be no need to decide this matter in a court room. Marquette (Catholic 7) located in Milwaukee is a Big East member, if we use New York City as the starting point the school is 1,000+ miles from the Atlantic Ocean. These same reports indicate the Catholic 7 desires to include additional schools to provide balance. If Creighton (NE) and St. Louis University (MO) are added these schools would add or exceed the amount of travel time. In this day of air versus bus trips is geography really all that important?

The power forward nobody knew
I’ve stated in the past making a name for you depends on the team and opportunity. We certainly can make that statement regarding the Lakers power forward Earl Clark. At the age of 25 the Lakers are Clarks’ third NBA team. I’m unsure what occurred in Phoenix however Orlando didn’t believe in him either. Clark was included in the deal that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers. Jordan Hill was inserted in the lineup at the time Pau Gasol went down initially with an injury. You know the rest of the story; Hill eventually was injured too---for the season no less. Riding to the rescue was 6-10 225 pound Earl Clark.  Clark’s had eight double-doubles since he’s become a permanent starter. Next season with a healthy Hill at power forward and Earl Clark at the small forward and a healthy Dwight Howard----well. I think the Lakers are not the best team in Los Angeles this year but the future has not gone black. A 35-year old Kobe (next season) and a 40-year old Nash (also next season) might have one more run in them. As for Gasol as talented and skilled as I still believe it might be sayonara for him.

I’m not going to provide you his name
I indicated in another story I often provide my view on a particular subject. The difference between me and this national columnist is he believes everything he writes is correct and concise. It’s my belief he is full of himself and gains pleasure in antagonizing readers.  This person recently wrote a story indicting the NBA and the NCAA.  He based his conclusion on TCU defeating Kansas and the Illinois upset of Indiana.  Both unranked teams gaining the upper hand by winning, something must be wrong.  "I will find an easy scapegoat, I'll blame the NBA and NCAA, never mind that I don't present any solid proposals to fix any problems.  It's far easier for me to stir the pot rather than present a fix."  What a bunch of horse manure!

“I left my heart in San Francisco”
Hope Tony Bennett forgives me for using the title of his classic tune. The reason of course is it appears the Warriors are returning to San Francisco. Have you seen the design for the proposed arena? Check out the design drawings on the Warriors NBA.com page. The arena will seat 17,500 for basketball as opposed to the 19,596 seat Oracle Arena in Oakland. The area of the city planned for construction of the new arena is piers 30-32 at the foot of the Bay Bridge.  The plan is the Warriors to play the 2017-18 season in their new home, can you say San Francisco Warriors?