Ten things rattling around in my brain. What better way to start your week off right, right?
1. I often read comments from college football coaches and am stunned by just how self-absorbed they really are. And, yes, I do realize that I shouldn’t be anymore.
But take James Franklin, for instance, widely considered one of the profession’s rising stars. Vanderbilt’s head honcho got his coaching brethren’s dander up following National Signing Day, as well as the genenral public apparently, by saying recruits who had de-committed from his program are not “men of honor.” (I guess that could be considered a compliment if he’s talking about that shitty flick with Bobby D. and Show Me the Money.)
Michael Carvell of AJC.com got Franklin to expand on his comments. Franklin’s explanation:
“We explain it in real detail. I would just rather a kid not commit to us than commit and not be completely sure what he’s going to do. When you lose a kid, it hurts your heart. You feel bad, like all college coaches do, because you feel like your institution is the best possible place for that kid. So when you lose them, it hurts.”
Oh, so that’s it, coach? You’re so broken up out of concern for the kid that you attack his character?
If you love someone, James, set them free. Plenty of fish in the sea to mend your broken heart.
2. Here’s one thing I just don’t get when one of these coaches pops off about the “lack of chest” shown by recruits: If a kid de-commits from your program, chances are that he’s saving you a whole bunch of headaches down the line.
3. If it’s de-commits that coaches are so worried about, one way to help solve that would be to stop pushing kids for early commitments.
National Signing Day took place not two weeks ago, and teams have already moved full speed ahead wooing the next crop. Among others, Texas and Oklahoma have already held junior day events for 2013 prospects.
You can be damn sure that if a stud recruit tells Lane Kiffin or Nick Saban that he wants to commit, they’re taking it, regardless of just how committed they think the kid really is.
4. No, I don’t have a case of “Linsanity.”
It’s nothing personal. Anthony Mason excluded, I’ve despised the Knicks ever since the Pat Riley days. Those teams ushered in an era of disgusting basketball that the NBA is still struggling to overcome.
The fact that Lin is doing all of this with the New York media machine cataloguing every move makes the whole thing all the more obnoxious.
In any other life, it’s a fun story. Best of luck to the kid.
5. As for that other Jeremy Lin story…
I have to admit that I chuckled when I read Jason Whitlock’s little crack about Lin’s genitalia. It had nothing to do with it actually being funny, but more the brazenness of the whole thing.
I did find it interesting to watch the outrage build over the remark. If it had been about some other Asian stereotype above the belt, would the roar would have been so loud? I saw plenty of that kind of sophomoric humor in the Twitterverse during the game and few instances of observers calling people out.
6. Somewhere Richard Pryor weeps.
7. Having seen Kentucky play three or four times now, I finally feel safe in saying that the Wildcats are the best basketball team in the country.
No roster in the country can surpass John Calipari’s collection of talent. Unlike Cal’s past teams, this year’s Kentucky squad has another gear on the defensive end. With Anthony Davis patrolling the paint, the UK guards can push out on the wings and use their athleticism to create turnovers and tipped passes. They can also guard the three-point line much more effectively given their interior presence, which should be a plus in the postseason.
Everyone should definitely tap the breaks a bit, in so far as the Wildcats are running a pretty “meh” SEC. However, UK certainly does look like the favorite with March Madness a month away.
8. And if Kentucky is the best team in the country, that is a sad commentary on the state of college basketball.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6mirNpK_Z3o
I caught part of 40 Minutes of Hell, ESPN’s new documentary about the Arkansas Razorbacks of the 1990s, over the weekend. Watching all of that old footage, I realized just how complete those teams were. They didn’t have a ton of elite NBA talent on those rosters, but Nolan Richardson had assembled a whole mess of skilled players who fit together so well – Corey Beck running the point, Scotty Thurman spotting up on the wing, Corliss Williamson posting up. Richardson’s style of play demanded a deep team with complementary parts, and he certainly had that kind of roster back then. The Hogs were nothing if not impressive to watch and ran like a well-oiled machine.
This Kentucky team is a collection of highly talented players, but they play like just that, five players kinda mashed together on the fly. The Wildcats win because they put the best five guys on the floor, but the continuity and chemistry that we used to see with the great Arkansas and Duke teams just isn’t there. It’s a microcosm of college basketball as a whole today.
(I also used to walk five miles uphill to school in the snow every day.)
9. If you have any interest at all in the evolution of the business of journalism, you should check out yesterday’s New York Times article on the transformation of the The Washington Post. The piece delves into not only the concrete steps undertaken to transition one of the media’s most esteemed newspapers into the digital world, but the kind of personalities driving the bus.
10. The news in the college football world doesn’t come at us with the same velocity in the off-season as it does in the fall. For a site like CBR, that can be a double-edged sword. While it’s nice to not be prisoners of the moment, it does tend to require a little bit more creativity on our part.
We’ve heard some excellent feedback so far on some of the stories and features you’d like to see us tackle between now and the fall. Thanks to everyone who has reached out with ideas, and please keep them coming.
