There is only one season----its’ basketball season 365/24/7
They must be joking
The NCAA is a joke; we all waited for punishment to be issued to footballs Johnny Manziel. I almost fell off my chair when I heard the news------½ game (30 minutes) suspension in Texas A&M’s first game. Anyone out there ever remember an athlete in any sport suspended for half of a game?
“I Have a Dream”
The 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington has a basketball connection. Many of you reading this might be unfamiliar with the name George Ravling. Ravling’s been head basketball coach at Washington State, the University of Iowa and Southern Cal. Currently he’s Nike’s Director of International Basketball. The basketball connection, 27-year old Raveling was a member of the volunteer security team. He was stationed a few feet from the podium where Dr. King delivered his speech. Raveling says “I don’t know what possessed me.” As soon as the speech was completed and Dr. King turned from the podium and was walking away Raveling asked for the speech. The paper was handed to Raveling without any questions. We can assume Raveling had no idea the “I Have a Dream” speech would go down in American History. Where is the speech today you ask? Raveling says it’s in a bank vault in a Los Angeles bank.
24 hours of basketball
You might believe the athletic departments govern the basketball programs--- guess again. How about the NCAA which is responsible for the tournament and policing of the sport? That’s not correct either although the organization does have initials however in this instance the initials are E. S. P. N. The NCAA has no basis for scheduling 24-hours of basketball, however ESPN does. The 2013 collegiate television season kicks off on November 11, the first game Kent State at Temple at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The final game played will be Florida at Wisconsin 9:00 p.m. on November 12, a total of 12 games will be played in the 24-hour period.
The name on the front of the building might change
Renovation is in the news for Rupp Arena in Lexington Kentucky. The plan is to add private suites and members only lounge to the home of the Kentucky Wildcats. Wikipedia indicates this 23,500 seat arena has been open since 1976. How many 37-year old arenas are still in seasonal use without a retrofit? Madison Square Garden is older but its undergone two renovations since opening its doors in 1968. I’ve never attended any event at Rupp but sounds like it might be in need of an overhaul. Until I began researching this story I didn’t realize the arena was not on the campus which further compounds the issues. In this day of corporate names talk is Rupp might be replaced with another name. Although not decided at this point if it does occur a name change upsets Big Blue Nation as much as renovation. Stay tuned for further developments.
Check out our northern neighbor
Hockey and the NHL will always remain the most popular sport with our northern neighbors. Although hockey is king the popularity of basketball has been on the rise in Canada for a significant number of years. If you remember in the July 19 edition of Words eye view it was reported Canada has produced the largest number of players born outside of the U.S. that number will only increase over the next several years. We mentioned UNLV’s Anthony Bennett the first Canadian picked number one in the history of the draft, he will join fellow Canadian Tristan Thompson as a member of the Cleveland Cavs.
The 2013 draft also produced Canadian Kelly Olynyk this 7-footer will lace ‘em up for the revamped Celtics. If you check most 2014 mock drafts all have the same number one pick next June. He might remain at Kansas but for now speculation is Canadian Andrew Wiggins will be a one n done entering the ‘14 draft. The Mizzou roster contains 6-11 power forward Stefan Jankovic and 7-footer Keanau Post. Jankovic played limited minutes last year as a freshman while Post is a junior college transfer. A number of players have emerged from Toronto however collegiate and NBA players have come from all over the nation. There are a number of Canadians on collegiate teams throughout the U.S.
I’m retreating
From a position I took earlier, I said no more editorials on my part until the NCAA made a ruling on Mizzou’s Frank Haith. The coach stated he was eager to meet with NCAA officials, in mid June Haith he accomplished that. Two months have elapsed since the meeting and still no official word from the NCAA. The NCAA has been “investigating” the improprieties that occurred at Miami University since August of 2011, it’s now August 2013. Two years have elapsed since this story was first reported by Yahoo and the NCAA began its investigation.
We can conclude criminal trials have been completed in less time than it’s taken for this matter to be resolved. If as it’s claimed the NCAA has no subpoena power how can you successfully conduct an investigation? Does the NCAA accept the testimony of convicted felon Nevin Shapiro? I’ve stated and re-stated my position nothing’s changed for me; if Haith is guilty some sort of punishment should be administered. There have been so many media leaks regarding this investigation it’s been difficult to track them. If Haith is guilty Miami not Mizzou should suffer the penalty after all Haith was vetted prior to his hiring.
