Wednesday, April 29, 2020

NCAA approves endorsement compensation for athletes

The term of the day for the NCAA: “modernize.”

Or maybe it was “change.” Then again, “unprecedented steps” also got plenty of time.

All were true.

After decades of digging in, battling in court, launching advertising campaigns or just shaking their collective head “no,” the NCAA’s Board of Governors has agreed to provide its athletes the same economic freedom as any other student on campus, starting in January 2021 at the latest. It still must clear a vote at the NCAA Convention, but board approval makes it all but inevitable.

“We approved legislation for student athletes to receive compensation for third-party endorsements,” said Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith.

Namely, if you can make a buck, then go make a buck (with monitoring, of course, because “guardrails” was a popular buzzword too).

There are still details to be ironed out. There are, no doubt, unexpected issues that could flare up. A priority will be given to trying to create fairness in recruiting.

Give the NCAA credit, however, it is extremely tardy to this party (the Olympics gave up enforcing “amateurism” back in the 1980s) but it made it.

Better late than stuck in another working sub-committee.

“Times have changed,” Big East commissioner Val Ackerman said. “And we believe wholeheartedly college sports needed to change as well.”

The basics are simple.

If a company wants to hire a college athlete to promote its business, it can. This can range from small to big.

A campus town Ford dealer might give an appearance fee for the star quarterback to sign autographs in the showroom and drag in some potential car buyers. If the player is popular enough — think Tua Tagovailoa — then maybe the Alabama Ford Dealers use him in commercials and billboards. If he’s really big enough, Ford Motor Co. could do something nationally.

You never know.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Isiah Thomas ranks Jordan in the top five

This week's discourse has officially passed the point of parody.

The Bulls' rivalry with the Bad Boy Pistons has become a point of national discussion with the recent airing of Episodes 3 and 4 of "The Last Dance," which delved into the tensions between the teams in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Those tensions culminated in the Pistons walking off their home floor without shaking hands after being swept by the Bulls in the 1991 Eastern Conference finals - a series that marked the passing of the Eastern Conference and NBA torch to Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

Barbs traded in Episode 4 (mainly, Jordan saying, "There's no way you can convince he wasn't an a**hole" when showed a video of Isiah Thomas explaining the walk off; and Horace Grant calling the Pistons "straight up b**ches") have extended through the week. Bill Laimbeer called the Bulls "whiners." Bill Cartwright and Will Perdue brushed off the handshake snub as an innocuous gesture by a soundly beaten squad.

Thomas added his voice to the fray in a recent interview with Bill Reiter of CBS Sports. In it, he ranked the "five best players he's ever played against" and listed Jordan… Fourth.

***

Don't forget Kareem.

to the G League

4/28/20 - Daishen Nix decommits from UCLA and will join Jalen Green in the G League
4/16/20 - Jalen Green to skip college and go straight to the G League

Monday, April 27, 2020

Thursday, April 23, 2020

TB12 breaking and entering

It’s going to be a bit of a learning curve for Tom Brady with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It seems that includes entering the correct house.

Brady was set to meet with Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich in Tampa on April 7, per TMZ, but instead had a run-in with an unsuspecting neighbor first. He accidentally walked into the house next door to Leftwich where David Kramer lives.

Kramer was in the kitchen when Brady entered without knocking.

"I literally was just sitting here and I watch this tall guy just walk into my house," Kramer told TMZ in a video. "He didn't even look at me. He just like dropped his duffel bags down on the floor and just kind of like looked up at me and I'll never forget the look on his face.

"He's like, 'How's it going, man?' And sarcastically I was like, 'I don't know? You tell me.' Like who are you? And he looked at me with the most confused face. I'll never forget it.

"He just goes, 'Am I in the wrong house?!' "

Kramer said the 42-year old quarterback was extremely apologetic about the incident.

"Grabs his bags and just is gone. I don't think I've seen someone leave a house faster!” Kramer told TMZ.

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Formula E marble racing

Formula E is delivering more than realistic race simulations to fill the gap in broadcasts left by the temporary shutdown of conventional sports. The Envision Virgin Racing team has teamed up with Jelle’s Marble Runs, the YouTube channel of Marbleympics fame, to start a “Marbula E” series. Each race pits marbles (named after real teams) against each other on scale versions of real tracks, complete with qualifying laps, grandstands and even commentary from Formula E’s Jack Nicholls.

The marble races will go online at the same time as their vehicular counterparts were scheduled, and the first is already in the bag — you can watch the Paris “M Prix” right now. It’s much shorter than regular Formula E (or even the simulated kind), and Envision Virgin Racing’s Sylvan Filippi noted that you won’t find features like FanBoost, for obvious reasons. Still, there’s a surprising amount of drama for a bunch of rolling rocks — and it’s definitely zero-emissions.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

16 years old defeats Magnus Carlsen in blitz

A 16-year-old Iranian chess master has outshone the defending World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in the final of Banter Blitz Cup this week.

Alireza Firouzja, a grandmaster who has recently moved to France, defeated the Norwegian mega brain 8.5-7.5 in the final of the online quickfire knockout contest on April 14 — where players must comment verbally on their moves, and their opponents, during the game — to claim the $14,000 prize, chess24.com reported.

“Good game Alireza. I was way out of shape, but he deserves full credit. I’ve just got to be better, but he is amazingly strong. Full credit,” Carlsen said. In turn, Firouzja said he had prepared thoroughly for the final. “The only thing I think about all day is chess, so maybe it’s all day,” the Iranian teenager said.

After 7 months and 131 matches, the series of three-minute games involving 128 contestants wrapped up in a final clash between the defending world champion, who did not take a back seat to anyone since 2013, and the Iranian grandmaster. There will be a chance for revenge on April 20 when they play again in the Magnus Carlsen Invitational.

Magnus Carlsen is World Champion in classical chess, in rapid, and in blitz. But Alireza Firouzja is also a ferociously strong blitz player and in the past, he has successfully challenged Carlsen in a couple of bullet tournaments.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Sophomore named Gatorade Player of the Year

He’s only 16 years old, but Emoni Bates may be the best high school basketball player in the country.

He has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant and already has appeared on a Sports Illustrated cover. He’s a social media highlight staple. Some have wondered out loud if he’s talented enough to play in the NBA right now.

So it’s fitting that the Ypsilanti Lincoln phenom has now added a major award to his résumé. On Tuesday, Bates was named the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

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He’s the first sophomore to win the prestigious award, beating out two seniors: Cade Cunningham, a 6-foot-6 guard from Arlington, Texas, who has signed with Oklahoma State; and Evan Mobley, a 6-11 center from Temecula, California, who will play for USC next season.

“Emoni Bates is the newest generational talent in the high school game,” ESPN national recruiting director for boys high school basketball Paul Biancardi said in a news release. “As a 6-foot-9 sophomore, he owns a slender frame with terrific length thanks to a 7-1 wingspan. His elite ball skills have a profound influence and impact on the game.

"His ability as a shooter, including his capacity to make contested shots, makes him unique. His gifts off the bounce, his court vision and his fast-developing basketball IQ stand out as well. A key separating trait at this early age is his ‘alpha-dog’ mentality. When his time comes for the NBA draft, we project him as the No. 1 pick.”

Bates joins Chris Webber, LaVell Blanchard and Kevin Torbert as national winners from the state.

Other national winners include Alonzo Mourning, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwight Howard.

Saturday, April 11, 2020

2015-2016 IncrediBows voted best ever

By a final split of 70.1% to 29.9% in voting on Twitter, the top-seeded “IncrediBows” of 2015-16 downed the No. 3-seeded “Internationals” of 2001-02 to claim the championship of the Hawaii basketball 100th Season Best-Team Bracket.

The 2015-16 edition could already be described as the most accomplished, with the school record for most wins and the only UH victory in NCAA Tournament play, as Hawaii finally won on its fifth and most recent dance invitation with a roster headlined by Stefan Jankovic, Roderick Bobbitt and Aaron Valdes.

That came 14 years after UH’s last previous appearance — by a 2001-02 team, the other finalist in the 16-team bracket which featured Predrag Savovic and Carl English.

The “IncrediBows” went 28-6 in 2015-16 and rolled through four rounds in the Star-Advertiser/Hawaii Warrior World fantasy bracket without a major challenge in the final vote tabulations. Its closest battle came in the quarterfinals against the 1997-98 “Dynamic Duo” team — led by Anthony Carter and Alika Smith — which they downed by a split of 66% to 34%.

The coaches of the finalists were two very different personalities: current head man Eran Ganot, then a taciturn rookie head coach in 2016, and still-fiery veteran Riley Wallace in 2002, who was taking a UH team to the NCAAs for the third time.

One thing these teams had in common were that both starred a dynamic player originally from Serbia; Jankovic for the ’16s, and Savovic for the ’02s.

Was it recency bias? A superior social media campaign? Or simply a belief among the people that their talent and feats (the most wins ever at 28-6, and the program’s only NCAA Tournament win) deserved top billing?

Regardless, bragging rights belong to Jankovic, Bobbitt, Valdes and the rest of the players of the ’16s.

Wednesday, April 08, 2020

Dwayne Johnson remembers match in Hawaii

With no live sporting events to speak of due to the global coronavirus outbreak, fans of all types have been turning back the clock and reminiscing about their greatest sports memories.

Debates on social media and websites like the Star-Advertiser’s Hawaii Warrior World rank all-time best lists for various eras, sports and individual teams. Major League Baseball has resorted to streaming simulated games online.

Even superstars like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a professional wrestler and actor who spent part of his childhood in Hawaii, are getting in on the action. Johnson responded to a fan’s question this morning via Instagram while he was in the gym.

“In (your) entire professional wresting career, what is the one match, or do (you) have a match, that is most meaningful,” the fan asked.

Johnson, who joined World Wrestling Entertainment in 1996 and performed extensively for the promotion until leaving for a movie career in 2004, mentioned his first professional match in Texas and his most recent retirement match in New York City were contenders, but there was no doubt in his mind that a 2002 match in Honolulu at Blaisdell Arena was the most memorable.

“The one match that I will always, always carry with me deep in my heart, in my bones, happened in Honolulu,” he said. “It was the first and only time that I have ever wrestled in Hawaii. It was not a big pay-per-view. It was not a big television production. It was what we call a live event, or a house show.”

Johnson, who attended McKinley High School and lived in, among other places, an apartment on Kapiolani Blvd. that’s “still there today,” said the reason he quickly agreed to perform here was to pay tribute to his parents and grandparents, who all worked in the industry as owners of a fledgling regional wrestling promotion here in the 1970s.

“They struggled, man. They could never get it off the ground,” he said. “Hawaii for me … always represented struggle. It always represented tough times. Just a force of our human nature to just grit it out and try to make it.”

Johnson said his headlining match in 2002 against Chris Jericho sold out the Blaisdell faster than Elvis Presley did for his famous concert at the venue. He flew his entire family to Oahu so they could watch him perform — including his widowed grandmother.

After the match, the entire family gathered privately in a dressing room.

“She said, ‘we finally made it. We finally made it,’” recalled Johnson. “There were a lot of tears that day in that locker room. Tears of joy and gratitude.”

Tuesday, April 07, 2020

Dayton wins 2020 NCAA basketball championship (virtually)

In a far away land where “social distancing” and “flattening the curve” aren’t staples of conversation and the president never heard of hydroxychloroquine, the University of Dayton basketball team today reigns as Cinderella.

Had COVID-19 not slam-dunked the U.S., we’d be gathering around the water cooler at work or have followed the large screen TV in a popular watering hole (remember those days?) Monday night to marvel at the wonder of the Flyers and their magical ascent to the NCAA Championship.

We’d be talking about Obi Toppin, not Dr. Anthony Fauci, as the go-to guy.

Monday night was supposed to have been the national championship game on TV from Atlanta, the final act of a wide-open year for March Madness. But, since make-your-own masks, drive-by testing and the scavenger hunt for ventilators are the new grim reality, CBS Sportsline.com attempted to give us what the new normal might have taken away in the form of a simulated tournament and inspirational, computer-generated champion, Dayton.

Maybe the math really did come out in Dayton’s favor. Or, perhaps, CBS’ numbers guru, Jerry Palm, just figured the Flyers were a feel-good story we desperately needed.

Either way, it provides food for thought as we wait in line to get into Longs or Costco or while away the hours sheltered in place at home.

According to CBS’ bracket, the Flyers, winners of 20 in a row entering the tournament, got the No. 1 seed in the East and then took down Winthrop (85-70), St.Mary’s (79-72), Louisville (75-73), Michigan State (75-74), Duke (78-77) and Gonzaga (79-78) to win their first national championship.

Just in case there was any confusion, this is how you know it is fiction: No team outside the Power-5 conferences has won the championship since 1990 when Nevada-Las Vegas and Jerry Tarkanian did it.

You hope there aren’t virtual NCAA sanctions awaiting Dayton.

Sunday, April 05, 2020

Tom Dempsey

The NFL lost a legend when Tom Dempsey passed away late Saturday night due to complications stemming from his battle with COVID-19. He was 73 years of age.

Dempsey’s family shared the news of his death (via NOLA.com).

The hardest part was that Dempsey was under quarantine and the family was unable to be with him during his last hours. Thankfully, he and his family communicated via video chat during his final days.

“We didn’t want him to think we had abandoned him,” she said. “We wanted him to know we still loved him — always.”

After the news of Dempsey’s passing, the Saints issued a statement of support to his family.

“Our thoughts and prayers are extended to Carlene and the entire Dempsey family on the passing of their dear Tom. The New Orleans Saints family is deeply saddened and heartbroken at this most difficult time. Tom’s life spoke directly to the power of the human spirit and exemplified his resolute determination to not allow setbacks to impede following his dreams and aspirations. He exemplified the same fight and fortitude in recent years as he battled valiantly against illnesses but never wavered and kept his trademark sense of humor. He holds a special place in the hearts and minds of the Saints family.”

The legendary kicker overcame incredible odds to become an NFL icon. He was born without fingers on his right hand and without half a foot. Despite that, he became famous for his 63-yard boot (a record at the time) to beat the Detroit Lions at Tulane Stadium on Nov. 8, 1970 — an NFL record that stood until Matt Prater broke it in 2013.

Friday, April 03, 2020

Bryant, Duncan, Garnett to be inducted into Naismith Hall of Fame

Another Boston Celtics great will be enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2020.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Kevin Garnett will join Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan as the 2020 player inductees into the Hall of Fame.

Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball @Hoophall Class of 2020, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Formal announcements will be made on Saturday.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 3, 2020

Garnett played 21 NBA seasons after being the fifth overall pick in the 1995 draft. He spent the first 12 seasons of his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves where he developed into a star, winning the league MVP after the 2003-04 season and establishing himself as a perennial All-Star.