Posted on March 17th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
The University of Connecticut men’s basketball team won the NCAA championship last year, but was knocked out of the tournament on Thursday in its first game. The Huskies won’t have a chance to play in next year’s tournament, unless they win an appeal, because their academic performance has been deemed sub-par.
The “Big Dance” won’t be the same without UConn, which also won the national title in 2004 and 1999. This year’s tournament has been impacted by school work as well, with Syracuse University losing freshman center Fab Melo on the eve of its first game. He was deemed ineligible for academic reasons, putting a dent in the Orange’s championship hopes.
Players have faced academic suspensions for years, but the move to sanction entire teams is relatively new. HBCUs have been disproportionately affected. They represent about 7 percent of the schools evaluated in the NCAA’s annual report on Academic Progress Rates (APRs), but received 29 of the 58 harshest penalties last year.
There’s actually some good news this year: According to an annual report by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports (TIDES), the disparity between graduation rates of black and white players in the men’s tournament has narrowed. The difference remains troubling — 88 percent for white players and 60 percent for black players. But the latter group’s number rose by one point while the other number fell by three points.
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Posted on March 16th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Once again, it’s time to check off some items on my “TIDU List” — Things I Don’t Understand:
• How you can avoid skepticism regarding the Wizards’ trade for Nene.
The Denver Nuggets signed center Nene to a five-year, $67 million deal three months ago. He’s been injured for most of this season. Now, after experiencing buyer’s remorse, the Nuggets are trading him for JaVale McGee.
The fear is that Denver knows something about Nene that the Wizards don’t.
• Why Georgetown is such a popular pick to be upset by Belmont.
Yes, the Hoyas have exited the NCAA tournament early recently. Yes, they’re 3-3 in their last six games this season, while high-scoring Belmont is red-hot. But No. 3s are 92-16 all-time against No. 14s.
Upsets will occur somewhere, but the Hoyas are too deep and athletic this year.
• How Orlando can survive another season of Dwight Howard drama.
He waffled for 24 hours before deciding to stay for next season. But the circus will remain in town until there’s a long-term deal. The Magic still risk losing him for nothing unless they trade him.
If he loves Orlando like he says, he doesn’t know how to show it.
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Posted on March 15th, 2012
President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron
By DERON SNYDER
No matter what the NCAA says about its “First Four,” held on Tuesday and Wednesday, those games aren’t the first round of the men’s basketball tournament. They’re play-in games to qualify for the field of 64. The real action gets under way Thursday and Friday, when 60 teams play their first game.
Like millions of other Americans, President Obama has filled out his bracket for the men’s tournament. (His picks for the women’s tournament will be revealed on Friday.) Seeing how Obama is the First Fan and Baller-in-Chief, ESPN unveiled his picks during a live broadcast for the third consecutive year.
The NCAA tournament has spawned a new science — “bracketology” — in which experts and non-experts alike predict which 68 teams will be included in the field. But once the teams are announced on Selection Sunday, the focus turns to predicting winners in any number of office pools and online contests. The word “bracket” likely is uttered in March more times than the other 11 months combined.
Obama is definitely conservative when it comes to predicting winners. He correctly picked the University of North Carolina in 2009, when the Tar Heels were a No. 1 seed. He incorrectly picked Kansas University in 2010 and 2011, with the Jayhawks being a No. 1 seed both seasons. But he’s going with North Carolina again this year, with the Tar Heels — again — a No. 1 seed.
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Posted on March 14th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Upon further review, the NFL has decided to penalize the New York Giants for trading two first-round draft picks, a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick to the San Diego Chargers in 2004 for the rights to quarterback Eli Manning.
When the deal was approved, the league was uncertain of the effect on competitive balance. The Giants didn’t break any rules but, in hindsight, they clearly took advantage of San Diego to win two Super Bowls with Manning.
The late Al Davis smirked when he heard the news, which merely reaffirmed his long-held belief that the NFL is drunk with power and above the legal limit in operating its business.
OK, none of the aforementioned actually happened. But the concept is similar to the NFL retroactively penalizing the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys for league-approved contracts in 2010 that apparently violated no provisions in the NFL’s labor agreement. It’s beyond me how teams can be sanctioned for breaking an unwritten rule or gentlemen’s agreement.
My esteemed colleague Dan Daly took the Redskins to task for apparently ignoring the league’s warnings and front-loading contracts for Albert Haynesworth and DeAngelo Hall in 2010, a season without a salary cap because the collective bargaining agreement had expired. But I think the NFL is guilty of gross arrogance in this case, not the Redskins and Cowboys.
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Posted on March 12th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
With his favorite tournament just three weeks away, Tiger Woods was playing some of his best golf in recent memory. He finished second in the Honda Classic last week, with a closing 62 that represented the best final round of his career. The second-place showing marked his best finish in a PGA Tour event in 30 months.
If Woods wasn’t all the way back from that fateful Thanksgiving night in 2009 — when an early-morning accident and revelations of adultery blew up his marriage and life as he knew it — he was getting pretty close.
But Woods’ troublesome left leg caused him to withdraw Sunday from the Cadillac Championship. That brings into question not only his prospects for the Masters but also his long-term goal of eclipsing Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 wins in the major tournaments.
“I felt tightness in my left Achilles warming up this morning, and it continued to get progressively worse,” Woods said in a statement. “After hitting my tee shot at 12, I decided it was necessary to withdraw. In the past I may have tried to continue to play, but this time I decided to do what I thought was necessary.”
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Posted on March 11th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
The brackets for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament have been filled, meaning we can forget about the regular season … except it seems to be forgotten nowadays way before Selection Sunday.
Once the bubbles burst and arguments about who did/didn’t get in die down, the tournament itself should be fine. It consistently produces some of the most drama, excitement and raw emotion that sports can offer. But while the final destination remains enjoyable, the road in getting there is a growing concern.
This might be the wrong time to mention college basketball’s problems, such as dwindling attendance, mediocre teams and limited stars. We’re still digesting where teams are headed and their potential matchups en route to New Orleans. We don’t want to hear about “saturation” and “overexposure” right now. At this time of the year, we relish the opportunity to see every game.
Conference tournaments continue to serve as tasty appetizers, giving us flavorful upsets this season in the SEC, Big East, Big 12 and ACC. The nation’s top four teams going in — Kentucky, Syracuse, Kansas and North Carolina — were dumped by Vanderbilt, Cincinnati, Baylor and Florida State, respectively. No. 7 Ohio State and No. 8 Michigan State engaged in a delightful, back-and-forth tilt for the Big Ten championship, before the Spartans prevailed to earn the final No. 1 seed.
But even those tourneys seem to have lost some luster in recent years. Barely a handful of teams are capable of playing their way into the main event, while the power-conference heavyweights lose little ground in defeat, as evidenced by Kentucky, Syracuse and North Carolina earning No. 1 seeds.
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Posted on March 9th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
College basketball seems to have the same ugly problem every decade or so, when the integrity of its games are brought into question by gambling allegations.
It happened in the 1950s, when the City College of New York was involved in a scandal that eventually reached seven schools and 32 players. It happened in the 1960s, with the arrests of 37 players from 22 colleges.
It happened in the 1970s, when gangster Henry Hill of Goodfellas fame orchestrated Boston College’s game-fixing scheme. It also happened in the 1980s, when Tulane University players engaged in shenanigans, and in the 1990s, when players at Arizona State and Northwestern did likewise.
Now, on the eve of college basketball’s showcase event — the NCAA tournament, aka “The Big Dance” — officials might be on the verge of another black eye, courtesy of Auburn University. According to Yahoo Sports, suspended guard Varez Ward is under investigation by the FBI in an ongoing point-shaving probe.
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Posted on March 8th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
Fans in several NFL markets are working themselves into a lather, becoming hot and bothered at the thought of Peyton Manning saying “I do” to their team. Manning’s departure from the Indianapolis Colts was expected, but that didn’t lessen the excitement anticipation once it became official.
The Washington Redskins are considered a leading suitor for Peyton’s services, which means D.C. sports fans will experience the emotional wringer for the second time this year. The Nationals were presumed to land prized slugger Prince Fielder a mere six weeks ago, before the Detroit Tigers swooped in unexpectedly.
I like the Miami Dolphins‘ chances in the Manning sweepstakes, which figures to be the most-scrutinized dating process since a certain NBA free agent took his talents to South Beach. While LeBron James‘ ill-fated TV special was a bad decision, the run-up was captivating as he visited with five teams and Cleveland held its breath.
Manning might jet from city to city — wining and dining with owners, coaches and general managers — but that seems unlikely. Considering the leverage he commands in the upcoming bidding war, don’t be surprised if a decision comes quickly with little advance notice.
Nonetheless, if there’s a chance to get footage of him debarking from a private jet, being whisked away from the tarmac or exiting a fancy restaurant, someone will have the shot. And if there’s a lack of news, no problem. We’ll hear numerous reports on the dearth, with rampant speculation thrown in as filler.
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Posted on March 8th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
The media-relations office within Harvard University’s athletic department was bombarded with requests last month as Jeremy Lin became a national sensation. Everyone wanted to know more about the Class of 2010 alumnus who was breaking racial and academic stereotypes as the New York Knicks’ newfound point guard.
“Linsanity” has died down, but Harvard’s sports-information officers are bracing for another surge of publicity: The Crimson is headed to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the first time since 1946. “It’s as tremendous a feeling as you can imagine,” coach Tommy Amaker told the Boston Globe. “It just gives you a great sense of pride for not only our team but for so many teams before us.”
Amaker, an African American who helped bust stereotypes when he played at Duke, has done an extraordinary job since arriving at Harvard in 2007. His win totals have risen from 8 to 14, 21, 23 and 26. This is the third consecutive season in which the Crimson set a school record for victories. It also earned the program’s first national ranking this year, rising as high as No. 21 in the ESPN-USA Today Coaches poll and No. 22 in the Associated Press poll.
“We had a vision about this school when we came here that this could be a special opportunity,” said Amaker, who was named District I Coach of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association. “Harvard has so much greatness all over. We still have a long road ahead of us.”
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Posted on March 7th, 2012
By DERON SNYDER
On one hand, the story that has roiled the NFL since Friday is a complex study in meaning, intent and extent. On the other hand, it’s a simple open-and-shut case of the New Orleans Saints continuing to violate league rules after being warned to cease and desist.
The Saints, rightfully so, will pay a heavy price for their cash rewards program. It doesn’t matter if similar programs exist on every team to varying degrees. It doesn’t matter if pay-for-performance kitties have been around for decades. And it doesn’t matter if the Saints‘ opponents suffered no long-term injuries as a result of the policy.
The league said “quit it” and New Orleans refused to comply. Stiff punishment is warranted.
And thus concludes the black-and-white portion of this topic. The rest is a mess of multi-hued grays, with subliminal messages like “hypocrisy” and “naivety” flashing across your mind’s eye.
Part of the problem resides in the sport itself. Football requires participants to suspend conventional wisdom about self-preservation, namely that you shouldn’t run into other human beings at full speed, and certainly not repeatedly. Those who master the art can earn college scholarships before proceeding to pro careers and fat paychecks.
Defensive players on the Saints and other teams are paid to hit often and hit hard, in hopes of separating opponents from the ball. If opponents are separated from their senses as well, that comes with the territory. As long as it’s done cleanly, within the rules and spirit of the game, there’s nothing wrong.
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