Sticks and stones
Allow me to state upfront I am a fan of Frank Haith, that said you can understand this rant and either agree with it or not. Those of you old enough might remember the old rhyme; “sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me.” The statement is only partially correct, after the NCAA dealt out it’s punishment against Frank Haith (5-game suspension) the letters came pouring in. Dishonest, fraud and other assorted derogatory terms. You’ve heard the phrase “win-win” situation; this was a lose-lose for Haith. The public I just mentioned Haith will forever remain a cheater in their eyes for the duration of this coaching career. This entire fiasco will eventually pass for many; public memory of controversy is sometimes short. The coach stated he is not pleased but will not appeal the suspension.

I don’t hear anyone refer to former UConn coach Jim Calhoun in the same manner. Calhoun a Hall of Fame coach received 5-game suspension shortly before his retirement.  St. Mary’s Randy Bennett received a 5-game suspension this season too. Bennett cannot do any off-campus recruiting. As far as we can determine at this writing there are no recruiting stipulations against Mizzou. I thought all along my view of the NCAA would not change; sure enough that is the case. I continue to believe the organization conducts business in the same manner it did in its founding in 1906. Of course punishment should be dealt out to offending schools. The problem its not be equal across the board. It’s not just Mizzou, its UCLA, Ohio State, Southern Cal and other schools not mentioned.

My view
On Sunday I wrote of the Clippers covering Laker championship banners and jerseys in Staples Center, this would be accomplished for Clipper home games. My intent was to report the story and allow you to draw your own conclusions. That was my intent until I heard Stephen A. Smith’s commentary on ESPN Monday morning. Briefly Smith sees nothing wrong with the actions of the Clippers. I’m not going to detail the basis for Smith’s conclusion but I will provide you mine. I believe Doc Rivers is playing mind games with Clipper players who have difficulty facing the task in front of them.

Evidently Rivers believes the Laker championships and retired jerseys are a distraction to his team winning. Even more interesting Rivers claims he meant no disrespect to the Lakers organization, you don‘t say. That is pure baloney; covering up banners will not aid the Clippers one-bit in winning an NBA championship. Putting the ball in the basket and playing tough hard-nose defense is a winner, banners have little if any effect on a team winning. I’m not sure if the Clippers have a Western Conference Champion banner hanging but if they do maybe the Lakers should consider covering it. Bob Ryan (a Boston guy) said; “this building (Staples) was opened 14 years ago, this is something that should have been addressed back then.” Don’t worry this is the last time I will touch this, my Laker bias is showing through.

　
It’s okay to dream
LeBron James played high school football in addition to basketball. From all indications he was a decent football player. Of course we know basketball was his first love and the sport he eventually played professionally. Was he good enough to play in the NFL, that question will never be answered. All of us often have unfulfilled expectations, playing in the NFL is a dream of LeBron. The question of the NFL came up in a tweet to LeBron. He respond and stated; “I wanna play one NFL game before it’s over.” At 6-8 and 245 pounds he is certainly hefty enough to play football at that level however why? It’s my belief LeBron might not fully comprehend the punishment dealt out in an NFL game to running backs and receivers. He’s certainly been hit solidly in the NBA but that might be nothing compared to a hit by someone your size or slightly larger. Even with his stature I think he chose the safer sport for his body the NBA over the NFL, what do you think?

The second coming of Shaq, maybe
I found this recruited player interesting in more ways than usual. First of all he’s 7 feet tall, secondly he weighs 300 and finally he committed to LSU. This is a reference to Elbert Robinson a Rivals 4-start prospect and the number 51 prospect in the Class of 2014. Of course many of you realize Shaquille O‘Neal played his collegiate ball at LSU and only weighed slightly less as a freshman. YouTube video of Robinson is available for you to check out for yourself. He is a throw-back to an earlier era; this left-hander unlike many of this generation has a low post game. Low post play by centers today have practically disappeared. Robinson hails from Garland (TX) near Dallas another Texas produced athlete.