There is a distinction between lack of talent and lack of effort!
-------Larry Laker

Just think
I held off writing this piece but now consider it a real possibility. A number of fans especially several fans of the Lakers were critical for the teams' failure to sign free agents.  Carmelo Anthony was one of the number of free agents under consideration. We certainly have no method of projecting future events however this scenario that could have developed, Kobe goes down first and later the Carmelo injury forces him to “shut it down after the All Star game." 

Rivalry Week---it depends
The term was not invented by ESPN however it’s become a broadcast tool utilized by the World Wide Leader. North Carolina versus Duke, St. John’s-Georgetown is a slam dunk, these are easy to understand. We could include Michigan State and Michigan; in addition we could add Texas playing Oklahoma. How bout this one---Kansas at West Virginia?

Other than three years West Virginia has been a member of the Big 12 can they really be considered rivals? The schools mentioned previously have a long established rivalry Kansas-West Virginia I don’t get. Wouldn’t it make more sense for Kansas to play Kansas State or heaven forbid Mizzou. St. John’s now competes in the ACC while Georgetown remains in the revised Big East Conference. These long-time rivals are continuing to play one another.

Clueless
Why are Mike & Mike debating which television program was most viewed Sunday night? These guys are paid to discuss sports and events surrounding games. It’s a stretch but I guess we could say basketball at this level is also entertaining programming. I didn’t realize until I heard their discussion the All Star game was matched against The Walking Dead and the Saturday Night Live Special. Of course these two didn’t stop to consider the NBA All Star game had a WORLD audience which heavily favored the game over Walking Dead and SNL. We know this is not 1980 however the SNL special was broadcast on NBC and over the air network. I believe the cable/satellite market while huge continues to remain smaller than an on-air network.

Change the name
This is my continuing campaign to change the names of two NBA teams. It’s not gonna do any good but it satisfies me. First up the Golden State Warriors, we realize the sun might shine more calendar days in the state over several others. The Philadelphia Warriors moved west in 1962 becoming the San Francisco Warriors. After bouncing around in a number of locations throughout the city the team moved in 1971 across the bay to the Oakland playing in the Oakland Coliseum Arena (now Oracle). Because the team was no longer in San Francisco the decision was made to change the name to Golden State. The baseball A’s and football Raiders both had Oakland in front of their name why the Warriors couldn’t follow is unknown. There is a new arena on the horizon being built in San Francisco.

The Warriors have made it known they hope to play in the arena in 2017. Seems to me a name change is in the future too? Do you hear thunder during a rainstorm where you live? We certainly have thunderstorms in Kansas City; they probably have them in Chicago and Oklahoma City. See where I’m going with this theme? When the Sonics moved from Seattle to Oklahoma a condition of the sale the Sonic name would remain in the Emerald City. All right lets rename the franchise; let’s give it a unique name-------how about Thunder? At the beginning of this account I attempted to point out a team named after a weather event might be unique but it’s a little strange. We have duplication with the number of Bears, Lions, and Tigers in use by college and professional teams what’s the problem with one more? 

I missed this one
Basketball fans I apologize I missed the Herb Magee news. It’s noteworthy in that we have one more coach whose resume includes 1,000 wins. The 73-year old Magee has served as head coach at Philadelphia University his alma mater for 48-years. Magee was elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2011.

The country’s best unknown team
Unless you are alum or live in the State of Iowa I doubt you know what city is home to Northern Iowa. I’ll help you cause I didn’t know either, its Cedar Falls located about 120 miles northeast of Des Moines. As this is written Northern Iowa is 24-2, 13-1 in Mo Valley). They are number 11 in the AP poll and at a similar level on other polls. Pay attention to this school they have a winning tradition.