Gopher Basketball
When I started the Sunday Night Ramble, I was going off the template established by Bill Simmons over at ESPN. I’m once again borrowing (stealing?) from Simmons for this column, which basically will be links from various articles I’ve found on the internet covering the world of sports and beyond. I’ll start with the Gophers, but I will not try to replicate what posters such as Bleed, Nadine, swingman, and others do so well with their recruiting updates and breaking news.
Perhaps this column will be a dud, perhaps posters will scream that it has little to do with the Gophers, but I’m saying, ‘what the hell?’ I hope you enjoy it and if it goes well, I’ll continue onward with it. So, without any further ado, welcome to This, That, and the Other:
This (Golden Gopher related)
- I’m going to start off my new column with an admittedly puffy news item, but I enjoyed this article profiling Tubby Smith’s family after he had won the national championship at Kentucky. We’ve heard a lot of these details before, but I was reminded that we got ourselves an esteemed coach and an even better man when Tubby came onboard.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/colbask/longterm/1998/men/articles/smith1.htm - I found this article awhile back when digging around on Sports Illustrated’s recent feature, the SI Vault. It was certainly an immediate analysis on the Gopher-Ohio State brawl of 1972, one that certainly paints the Gophers as villians in the episode, which is hardly surprising. Even so, the article was jarring in its portrayal of the Gophers team and its depiction of the fight as a race clash.
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1085766/index.htm
That (other college sports)
- Looking for a team to cheer for this season when not watching the Gophers? May I suggest the IUPUI Jaguars? I cannot tell you what every letter of IUPUI stands for, but I can tell you that Coach Ron Hunter is the type of coach I’d like my son to play for. I was drawn into this article because of its locale, but its a great story regardless of location.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=oneil_dana&id=3523918 - Want to impress the ladies (or dudes) with your sports knowledge? Read this article to find out the only college basketball player who played in this year’s Olympics and not only played, but thrived. If you’re looking for this year’s Davidson, St. Mary’s could be your team.
http://www.mercurynews.com/collegesports/ci_10432558 - P.J. Carlesimo might not receive much respect in NBA circles, but I think you have to acknowledge this guy did a wonderful job winning at Seton Hall. East Orange, NJ must be an awfully tough place to win, based on the headaches Carlesimo’s successors have taken on-Tommy Amaker had his Eddie Griffin, will Bobby Gonzalez fare any better with Herb Pope? (after this column was written, Pope changed course again and decided to transfer to Seton Hall.)
http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10952464 - So what do you think Tom Crean’s biggest selling point is-immediate playing time or the candy striped warmup pants?
http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6271764/10415073 - I’ve already posted this on the basketball site, but in case you haven’t seen it or read it, I highly recommend Dan Wetzel’s farewell to Don “The Bear” Haskins. And if you have a chance, pick up their joint effort “Glory Road” which can be found over on amazon for $3.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=dw-haskins090808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns - Hmm, I might have finally found a reason to like Duke.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=3580778
The Other (everything else)
- You think Patrick Reusse’s hated in Minnesota? He is the picture of Minnesota Nice compared to Chicago’s Jay Mariotti, who is basically hated by everyone and anyone in the Windy City. He recently quit his Sun-Times job, torching the entire paper in his departure. The bad news for the wider world is this may allow Mariotti more time to be broadcast on ESPN. Take a look at two of his former colleague’s rebuttals to Marriotti’s departure:
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/deluca/1131768,CST-SPT-deluca28.article
http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/1132999,ebertletter082808.article - Vince Young’s professional and personal struggles have gotten a significant amount of play all over the sports world in the past week, but Jason Whitlock’s column stood out to me among everything I read on Young.
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/columnists/jason_whitlock/story/795938.html - I don’t know if you heard of the shooting of the Los Angeles prep football star Jamiel Shaw II last year, but it was an extremely sad story reminiscient of the murder of Chicago prep basketball star Ben Wilson from the mid ’80s. Bill Plaschke follows up on the story by visiting Shaw’s teammates as they embark on a new season.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/la-sp-plaschke12-2008sep12,0,2266377.column - Yes, Tony Romo is the quarterback of America’s Team and is dating Jessica Simpson, but at his roots he is a boy from the Upper Midwest with that good heart that all of us Midwesterners are so proud of 🙂
http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/columnists/randy_galloway//story/899904.html - Bill Simmons recently was raving about Ricky Rubio’s performance at the Olymics and touting his future NBA abilities. Any chance the T-Wolves could finally get lucky when he’s eligible for the NBA draft (I think it will be 2010)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqLGzkhRHN8 - Did you know the Pirates set a MLB record this season? They have surpassed 82 losses this season, meaning that they have achieved 16 consecutive losing seasons, a new MLB record. That this is occurring with the franchise that gave us Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, and Dave Parker, among many others is pretty sad. The uptick is, if you’re taking a trip out to Pittsburgh next summer, you can almost guarantee yourself a cheap ticket from a scalper in great seats in arguably the most beautiful ballpark in America. When you read DJ Gallo’s column, take note of Step 400, something Twins fans can empathize with, and be thankful that our management has avoided the other 1,991 steps in the guide:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=gallo/080910&sportCat=mlb - This was never commented upon on the Hole, so I couldn’t let it go without comment. I think it perfectly epitomizes the Detroit Lions franchise.
http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/09/02/rudis-crazy-day-in-detroit/
War & Peace, Internet style
One of the features I’m planning on having in this column is selecting a lengthy essay/article each week that are favorites of mine. Be forewarned, they aren’t short and you’ll need to carve a chunk of time to read them
Acclaimed author and essayist David Foster Wallace died this week, taking his own life at the age of 46. I’ve yet to read any of Wallace’s novel, but a column he wrote for Rolling Stone back in 2000 is a piece that has stuck with me ever since then. He wrote on John McCain’s initial foray into the Presidential race. The article is fascinating to consider these days, when McCain has changed from the outsider he was in 2000 to the Republicans’ choice, but moreso this article resonated with me because it gave an in-depth account of how political races are run and why the voting public is so apathetic.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/18420304/the_weasel_twelve_monkeys_and_the_shrub
You Tube video of the week
Alright, I know that many of you hate soccer. I’m not much of a fan, but when living in a South American country, your sporting options are limited. Last week, I experienced one of my best “fan” moments ever while watching Peru take on Argentina in the qualifying rounds for next year’s World Cup. Peru is traditionally an also-ran in world soccer while Argentina is the defending World Cup champs. However, on this night in Lima, Peru battled gamely against Argentina for the entire match. Late in the game, still tied at 0-0, I flipped over to Seinfeld for awhile, and when I turned back it was 1-0 Argentina at the 88th minute. I figured I would watch the few minutes left of Peru’s inevitable defeat. At about the 93rd minute, a Peru player corralled the ball deep in their end, began a sprint down the left sideline, made it past the defense, and kicked the ball towards the net, which a teammate tapped past the goaltender to earn a 1-1 tie as time expired. Imagine Tyus Edney’s full court dash for a layup and win in the NCAA tournament and this was something similar (except on a longer playing field and with a teammate tipping in the points). Anyway, here was the cool part. . .I was watching the game from our bedroom on a quiet night with the windows open. As soon as that ball went in the net, you could hear the entire neighborhood erupt in exultation. It was a great moment for Peru and a great experience to share in, from the comfort of my bed. Here is the winning goal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hBzpQWYKhc&feature=related
On that note. . .
Another feature of this column will be a song offered at the end, indicating that I will be back next week. What better way to end the first edition than with a song by a Univesity of Minnesota dropout who survived that trauma to make a name for himself in New York and beyond:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAbtg9dz5P0
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