Skip to main content

Posts

No Zion, No Problem? Not So Fast.

Everyone in the media has wanted their piece of the pie with Zion this year. Each highlight reel dunk and spectacular block has only increased the media fervor and number of followers. As Duke looks to face Syracuse, and presumably Virginia Tech as well, without Zion, let's consider what Duke looks like without Zion, and what it must do against Syracuse to leave the Carrier Dome with a W. DUKE WITHOUT ZION Duke without Zion is not a cart without a horse. But it might be a sports car without its turbo. Or maybe a chef without her secret sauce. Here are the main points to consider: MAIN POINTS - A Five Spot 1. Without Zion, Duke can’t play “position-less basketball” since all bench players have limitations. Not only is Zion our best two-way player (offense and defense), but he also allows the greatest roster flexibility in terms of building around him. He wreaks havoc wherever he is on the floor. We don't have another player like that, certainly not from the bench
Read more
Recent posts

BCS Postseason Analysis

If the controversy surrounding the BCS System and college football bowl format, it certainly is the most complex and misunderstood controversy. The morning after the BCS championship game, here are three talking points: 1 - We're closer than ever to seeing a change in the traditional bowl format. The 2011 bowl season again proved how difficult it is to sell out every bowl game. This usually results in the participating schools having to eat the cost of those tickets. That trend can't continue. Playing in a meaningless bowl game actually costs some schools more money than they make by participating in the game. You can read about one instance of this happening here , involving the 2011 Virginia Tech football team, which made it to the Orange Bowl. The school had to eat 9,500 tickets it couldn't sell. They lost a total of $421,000, and it could've been a lot worse. 2 - The BCS isn't the enemy of the playoff system. In fact, they could actually be really good friends
Read more

Processing US Women's World Cup Final loss

Without a doubt, this year's Women's World Cup was the most entertaining (on this side of the pond, as they say) since the 1999 edition of the global tournament. The USA's performance and "never say die" attitude endeared this team to many American fans rather quickly, which was no more apparent than when the team stormed back to tie Brasil in 120+ minute, before going to win in penalties. Unfortunately, the dream ended in penalty kicks to a resilient Japanese side who was more fit for the task. Here's my attempt to process and set expectations on yesterday's US loss: 1. The best team doesn't always win in soccer. Sometimes, even the most dominant team in a particular game doesn't win that game. (HT: Grant Wahl , Sports Illustrated) 2. Here are some notes on penalties ending this game: (a) Tough on USA, since Japan had data on US shooters, since they had just seen them against Brasil. There are players that take their penalties the same direction
Read more

Don't be 'Joe Fan'

The response from Wednesday's USA last minute thriller versus Algeria felt like the crest of a crescendo that had been swelling since 2000 or so, or maybe even 1996 at the outset of MLS. My favorite US Soccer fan type is 'Joe Fan' who only watches soccer for 1 month out of every four years. He knows general soccer lingo. He even knows the favorites to win the tournament. None of these, though, is his calling card. You'll know Joe Fan by this very one thing -- as the World Cup is discussed among him, he'll whip out his anti-USA soccer spiel that he's been working on all week, or worse -- the one he heard from Michael Wilbon on PTI the previous afternoon. Most Joe Fan-types have these things in common: They think soccer is boring because there isn't much scoring. Soccer isn't even as big as hockey in the US, so it must not matter much. He thinks that since the USA isn't a top 10 favorite to win the World Cup, they must not be any good. He sees the USA
Read more

Favre Talking Points

I was a closet Green Bay fan in high school, mainly because of some big-time Packer fans in my church. Granted, it was easy to pull for them, since they weren't rivals with America's Team -- that's right! What intrigues me the most is that three teams took different approaches to Brett Favre, and I believe they would've have been mistaken to respond differently. Packers were criticized (as was Favre) for not letting Favre come back. I'm sure there are still some detractors that would say Favre would've won more games than Rodgers (6). What's interesting is that Aaron Rodgers QB stats (other than wins) were better than Favre's. The point is that, the Packers weren't going to win the NFC last season, with or without #4. They could be a Super Bowl team in 2-3 years. The Packers made a great move by parting with Favre. It couldn't have happened better for them. Jets are a bit more troublesome to parse apart. The only thing that makes them look foolis
Read more

A Brief Recent History of U.S. Soccer

I've been following US Soccer at a level of aficionado (fan) since 1999. I watch nearly every friendly, CONCACAF tournament game, and every FIFA tournament game. In the United States, soccer is largely misunderstood by a good number of the public, including sportscasters and other sporting professionals. Americans are used to winning every sport they're involved in internationally. Not medaling in an international tournament is not acceptable. With basketball, (american) football, and baseball, America has been the primary dominant international player, not only in athlete participation but also in sport development. Soccer is completely different. While America has the money to throw at the sport, the sports stage is overcrowded. People have suggested that if Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, LaDainian Tomlinson, and (fill in the blank) played soccer growing up (Bryant and Nash did) and continued professionally, the landscape of US Soccer might look more like USA Basketball than it doe
Read more

SportsDesk - 06.25.09

It's official. Shaq is a Cleveland Cavalier. Let the Cleveland nickname offerings begin! Here are some thoughts to consider with this move: The NBA East has officially become as interesting and exciting as the West. The Magic, Cavs, Celtics, Heat and Sixers are as fun to watch as the Lakers, Nuggets, Blazers, Mavs, and Hornets. This trade is the last straw for Cleveland to land LeBron in Summer 2010. If the Cavs don't win the title, LBJ will become a NY Knick next Summer. It's a done deal. The Shaq acquisition doesn't solve any long-term problems for Cleveland. He'll be there one year. Shaq doesn't have 3 years of productivity left. If he wins a title next year, he should retire a champion. I don't see Cleveland giving him a 2-year contract at the end of next season. If LBJ and Shaq "leave" Cleveland next summer, which big free agent star comes to Cleveland in the wake of LBJ? I don't see Wade doing it. Bosh doesn't fit the mold. If Clevel
Read more