Monday, February 28, 2011

Jeff Gordan Wins at Phoenix - Bucks Cruise Past Indiana - Sunday NFL Combine Shows Cam Newton Should of Went to the Oscars Instead of the Co

Phoenix Results

Jeff Gordon passed Kyle Busch with eight laps left and held on to snap a 66-race winless drought.

1. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
2. Kyle Busch, Toyota
3. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
4. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet
5. Ryan Newman, Chevrolet
6. Kasey Kahne, Toyota
7. Tony Stewart, Chevrolet
8. Kurt Busch, Dodge
9. AJ Allmendinger, Ford
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet



Deshaun Thomas leads Ohio State over Indiana
Probably back to #1 in the Country
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A lot of things were going Indiana's way before a native son did in the Hoosiers.

Deshaun Thomas, last year's Indiana Mr. Basketball, came out of a slump with 22 points to lead Ohio State (No. 3 ESPN/USA Today, No. 2 AP) past Indiana 82-61 on Sunday.
Thomas scored all the points during a 14-3 first-half run that spanned 3:36 and turned the game into a rout. He had managed just 13 points in his last seven games.
"After I hit my first two 3s, I felt kind of warm," said Thomas, a 6-foot-6 freshman who's prepared to pump up shots the minute he jumps out of bed. "I felt kind of comfortable."
Thomas, who Indiana coach Tom Crean had tried to recruit after he had verbally committed to Ohio State, was the story for the Buckeyes in the first half. He gave them a lift after starters Jared Sullinger, David Lighty and Dallas Lauderdale got in early foul trouble.
"Deshaun came in and gave us a tremendous boost," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "He hit a couple of shots and I told him during a timeout that I liked him making shots but I thought he was really playing hard on defense as well. That was a big focus coming into this game."
Thomas finished his career at Fort Wayne's Bishop Luers High School with 3,018 points, third most among all Indiana schoolboys behind Damon Bailey and Marion Pierce.
Indiana, which hasn't beaten a Top 25 team on the road in more than nine years, led 8-7 after Derek Elston scissored through the lane for a layup at the 16:35 mark, but didn't score again for almost 8 minutes until Elston scored again on a short jumper.
Then Thomas took over, hitting two foul shots and swishing back-to-back 3-pointers. He took a pass from Lauderdale for another bucket inside, then spun in a reverse layup and ended the run with another reverse move off glass.
"He was hitting open shots. Give credit to him," Crean said. "He made big plays. He's one of the all-time leading scorers in the history of Indiana, so he can score. And today it was his day and we didn't do a good enough job of guarding him."
The Buckeyes led 38-23 at the half, with Thomas totaling 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, his only miss coming on a shot behind the arc.
Indiana never seriously threatened again.
Even though Thomas has seen only sparse playing time the past few weeks, his teammates know he can light it up. He's been known to string together 3s when he gets "warm."
"We see it every day in practice," said David Lighty, who had 11 points for the Buckeyes (27-2, 14-2 Big Ten). "Once he gets it going, there's really no way to stop him -- just try to keep it out of his hands."
Thomas speaks of his scoring ability as if it's a power that overtakes him.
"It's a God-given gift," he said. "I just did what I had to do."
William Buford added 15 points and Jon Diebler had 11 for the Buckeyes, who could ascend to No. 1 next week after top-ranked Duke lost at Virginia Tech on Saturday night. The defeat was Indiana's sixth in a row to Ohio State.
Matta didn't shy away from talk about being No. 1.
"Honestly, it's just something that comes along with it," he said. "The one thing I've always said -- I think I said it in October when you guys asked me about our ranking -- is that we really want to be there in the end."
Sullinger, leading Ohio State in scoring (17.8) and rebounding (9.9), was limited to five points and seven rebounds in just 13 minutes.
The victory helped Ohio State maintain a one-game lead in the Big Ten with two games remaining -- at Penn State on Tuesday night and home against Wisconsin on Sunday. It was Wisconsin that hung the first loss on the Buckeyes on Feb. 12 in Madison.
Verdell Jones III had 14 points for the Hoosiers (12-17, 3-13), who have lost six in a row and remain the only Big Ten team without a road win this season (0-10). They were playing consecutive games against top-10 teams for the first time since 2004 after losing to No. 8 Purdue on Wednesday night, 72-61.
Crean's temper flared when Matta spoke to the officials at the end of the half. Crean made sure he also joined the conversation.
"I don't do it and I don't think coaches should get a free conference with the officials at halftime," he said. "That's happened to us, nothing was done about it, and I wasn't going to stand back and not be a part of that. Whether it's gamesmanship, whatever it is, it's the way that it is. The half is over. The officials are supposed to be leaving the floor, as are the teams, and that didn't happen."


Sunday NFL Combine Shows Cam Newton Should of Went to the Oscars Instead of the Combine

INDIANAPOLIS -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight from Day 4 of the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis ...
• Welcome to overreaction day at the combine, when we're all in the business of making, ahem, snap judgments based on workouts and drills that may or may not have much to do with a prospect's actual ability to succeed in the NFL.
That annual disclaimer out of the way, it did jump out during Sunday's quarterback drills that Ryan Mallett and Cam Newton basically switched places at some point overnight when no one was looking. Mallett looked as comfortable and in command on the field as he was defensive and ill-at-ease on the podium in Saturday's press conference setting.
The inverse was true for Newton. He was all smoothness and smiles in his ridiculously well-attended Saturday press conference, but then proceeded to struggle mightily throwing the ball on Sunday, completing barely 50 percent of his passes despite being defensed by nothing more than air. On the upside, he did turn in a blazing 40 time of 4.58 -- which is moving it down the line pretty good for a guy who goes 6-foot-5, 248 pounds -- and turned in an impressive broad jump of 10 feet, 6 inches.
For me, this weekend's turn of events sums up the gist of the NFL Scouting Combine experience. It's part-football, part-psychological testing and pretty much a full-fledged dog-and-pony show. Mallett clearly helped himself on Sunday, showing accuracy, superb arm strength and great touch on the ball. Newton, on the other hand, just threw the brakes on the notion of him taking an express trip to the top of the draft, spraying the ball around Lucas Oil Stadium like Brady Quinn on a windy day in Cleveland.
Obviously, Sunday will be only part of the story for the two most scrutinized quarterbacks in this year's draft. Mallett still has questions to answer despite his stellar day in shorts, and Newton's standing wasn't wrecked by his shaky passing in Indianapolis. Both have pro days coming up on March 8, and that means they can quickly give us all a whole new set of impressions to digest and consider.
• Mallett's crisp showing aside, Washington's Jake Locker might have helped himself more than any other quarterback in Indy. He wasn't perfect with his passing, but his accuracy improved the more he threw and league scouts were obviously interested in whether he would get better in that department, after a disappointing senior season and a so-so week at the Senior Bowl.
Locker also ran well, posting an official 4.59 in the 40 (NFL Network first reported a 4.52 but later changed), so his trademark athleticism was on display. More than anything, Locker gave teams hoping to see improvement in his accuracy -- he's working on it with former NFL quarterback Ken O'Brien -- reason for optimism, and staying in the hunt for first-round consideration.
"I feel like Jake really proved himself today,'' said noted draft analyst A.J. Green, the Georgia receiver who caught passes from Locker. "He was throwing that thing pretty nice out there. There are a lot of questions out there about him, but I think he answered a lot of them.''
• It's hard to make the case that Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley's combine enhanced his candidacy to go first overall in April. For starters, he showed up smaller than advertised, measuring 6-3 and 291, when it was thought he was in the range of 6-5, 300. The NFL likes those 300-pound defensive tackles, and Alabama's Marcell Dareus, the draft's other elite tackle, checked in at 6-3½, 319 by comparison.
Secondly, Fairley didn't do any bench-pressing because he's still dealing with a slight shoulder separation that he suffered in a game against Georgia in November. He says it's getting better, and he obviously played through the injury, but any red-flag matters when you're in the race to be the top pick -- especially an injury concern in an offseason where rookies might not be able to rehab with the team that selects him for months, due to a lockout.
Fairley met with the media on Sunday and faced questions on his perceived tendency to take plays off. He disagreed with the premise, but just being asked about such a reputation sometimes serves to reinforce the perception.
"I don't think I take plays off,'' Fairley said. "I play the game the way it should be played. I hit the light switch when I hit the field, and it doesn't turn off until after I leave. I play with a high motor.''
• As if defensive tackle isn't a hot enough position in the draft in recent years, thanks in part to Ndamukong Suh's eye-popping rookie season with Detroit in 2010, this year's potential first-round crop goes deeper than Fairley, Dareus, Illinois' Corey Liuget and Temple's Muhammad Wilkerson. Oregon State's Stephen Paea on Sunday thrust himself fully into first-round consideration with a combine record of 49 reps of the 225-pound bench press.
That kind of strength is exactly what you want from a run-stuffing, lane-clogging defensive tackle, and Paea fits the bill quite nicely. He's not going to provide much in the way of pass rush, but he'll eat up blockers for you and hold his ground at the point of attack. Paea didn't do anything but lift at the combine due to January arthroscopic knee surgery, but his eye-popping strength may well put him into play with a defensive tackle-interested team near the bottom of the first round, like the No. 30 Jets, No. 29 Bears or No. 32 Packers.
• He wouldn't be the first speedy receiver done in by mediocre hands, but Alabama's Julio Jones's 4.39 40, and 11-3 long jump got everyone's attention. He had the best workout of any receiver at the combine, but I actually loved what I heard out of Jones on Saturday even more than what I saw from him on Sunday.
Asked who in the NFL he tries to pattern his game after, Jones named Baltimore middle linebacker Ray Lewis. A linebacker is a role model for a speed receiver?
"I like to play the game with a passion,'' Jones said. "Ray Lewis, I like the way he plays. Hines Ward as well. I like the way he blocks and is committed on every play.
"I have a defensive mentality. I'm not scared to hit. I'm a physical guy. I look for that. I like to hit defensive players because they're not used to getting hit. They're used to hitting offensive players and getting them out of their comfort zone. So when I hit them, I try to get them out of their comfort zone.''
Jones ran even faster than expected on Sunday and is a willing and aggressive blocker, by receiver standards. But the inconsistent hands he displayed in college are a concern to some NFL scouts. He's probably still the second receiver off the board, and even Sunday's showing didn't get him close to supplanting Georgia's A.J. Green as the top-rated pass-catcher. Green ran a slower than expected 4.5 in the 40, but scouts tell me he's still one of the best two prospects in this year's draft, along with Texas A&M outside linebacker Von Miller.
• Never ones to miss the too-obvious angles, we reporters peppered Oregon State inside linebacker Casey Matthews with questions about his famous brother, Clay, and his NFL-experienced football family. It's what we do.
Matthews was asked how his game differs from Clay's, whose pass-rushing skills were on full display this season at outside linebacker in Green Bay.
"Just my instincts,'' Casey said. "He's more of an explosive athlete. We're different positions. I think my position requires a little more of the instinctual side and getting to the ball quicker. I feel that's a part of my game that Clay doesn't necessarily (do) as well. But he obviously has a pretty good game.''
Matthews is only 6-1, 232, and probably projects as a mid-round pick. But how can you go wrong rolling the dice on the Matthews family bloodline?
"A lot of (teams in the NFL) will come up to me and say, 'We missed on your brother, maybe we'll get you,'' Casey said.
• So Alabama running back Mark Ingram ran a pedestrian 4.62 in his 40 and to that I say, so what? The Emmitt Smith comparisons fit to a tee with Ingram, and Smith lasted too long in the 1990 draft (No. 17) because teams didn't think he was quick enough.
How'd that turn out? I'm one of many who say Ingram won't get past the No. 15 Dolphins in late April.
• It was kind of lost in all the heat and light generated by Mallett's widely panned media conference on Saturday, but when the Arkansas quarterback was asked what he'll miss about playing for the Razorbacks, he said:
"The fans. Playing at Arkansas, that's like Arkansas' professional team and they treat us like that.''
Like in a USC "professional'' sort of way?
• Don't scoff at the notion the Bengals are moving on as if quarterback Carson Palmer won't be part of their plans for 2011. Palmer has threatened to retire if Cincinnati doesn't trade him, and no one in the Bengals organization is approaching the season as if he'll be back. Especially the people that really count, like team owner Mike Brown and head coach Marvin Lewis.
They're either taking Palmer at his word that he doesn't need football anymore and is willing to walk away, or they're determined to call his bluff and find out just how serious he is about retirement. Either way, the Bengals were at the combine scouting for quarterbacks, and I believe they're very willing to take one at No. 4 overall.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Tiger Woods Defeated in 1ST Match - Report: Clips ship Davis to Cavs - Tennessee's Bruce Pearl is Very Dirty



Clips ship Davis to Cavs
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A person familiar with specifics of the trade says the Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired point guard Baron Davis and a 2011 first-round draft pick from the Los Angeles Clippers for guard Mo Williams and forward Jamario Moon.
The deal is "on the verge'' of being finalized said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the teams had a few more details to work out before Thursday's 3 p.m. deadline.
The trade was first reported by Yahoo! Sports.
In acquiring Davis and the unprotected pick, the Cavs are getting a proven player and another high selection to rebuild a team that has fallen apart since losing superstar LeBron James last summer. At 10-47, the Cavs have the NBA's worst record.
Davis, who is owed $29 million over the next two seasons, will be reunited in Cleveland with coach Byron Scott. They were previously together in New Orleans.








Tiger GONE After First Round Match

MARANA, Ariz. -- One minute he looked like the Tiger Woods of old, burying a clutch birdie putt when he was down to his last shot.
One swing later, Woods looked lost in the desert.
With the pressure at a peak, Woods hit a 3-wood into a desert bush on the first extra hole Wednesday and was eliminated in the first round of the Match Play Championship by Thomas Bjorn.
"I blew it," Woods said.
Tiger Woods' woes continued as he exited the Match Play Championship after just one day Wednesday.
When his 18-foot bogey putt rolled past the cup, Woods removed his cap and conceded the match to Bjorn, a longtime friend who qualified for this World Golf Championship by winning last month in Qatar. Bjorn held their handshake and spoke to Woods, who listened intently and appeared shaken.
"That's between me and Tiger," Bjorn said when asked about their conversation. "But what I will say is that the game of golf needs him back at his best. And I've always been a great friend of his, and we've always had a good relationship. And I want to see him back at his best because I think it's much more fun to go up against him when he's absolutely at his peak. And so it was things down that line."
Woods clearly isn't at his best at the moment.
In three tournaments this year, he has failed to crack the top 20. This was only the second time that Woods, the No. 3 seed, was beaten in the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship.
This might have been the most frustrating exit of all.
Twice he had simple chips on the back and failed to convert them into birdies, one of them at the par-5 13th that cost him the lead, the other at the par-4 15th that gave Bjorn the lead. With a chance to square the match, Woods missed a 10-foot birdie on the 17th hole that he said he should make "every time."
And then came No. 1, the first overtime hole.
"It's easy to put the ball in the fairway and I couldn't even do that," Woods said, so visibly upset that he was stumbling over his words.
The other top seeds didn't have that much trouble.
Top-ranked Lee Westwood never trailed in his 3-and-2 victory over Henrik Stenson, while PGA champion Martin Kaymer had the shortest match of the opening round, a 7-and-6 win over 19-year-old Seung-yul Noh of South Korea.
Phil Mickelson, the No. 4 seed who only decided to play this World Golf Championship two weeks ago, won 6-and-5 over Brendan Jones.
Still, Woods had some company in going home early.
The Americans had four of the top 10 seeds at Dove Mountain, and Mickelson is the only one left. Matteo Manassero, the 17-year-old Italian, became the youngest winner in this tournament with a 2-and-1 victory over eighth-seeded Steve Stricker, while Jim Furyk (No. 10) continued his struggles in losing to Ryan Palmer, who was making his Match Play debut.
The wild first day finally ended with a record eight matches going into extra holes, and four others going the distance. Of the 32 players remaining, 13 are Americans, 13 are Europeans and two each are from Australia, South Africa and Asia.
Coming off the worst season of his career, most of that from the crisis in his personal life, Woods does not appear to be making quick progress. Through three tournaments this year, he has failed to crack the top 20.
Woods keeps talking about needing more repetition as he works on a new swing, although he is not playing more tournaments. Asked if he might add the Honda Classic, Woods replied, "Probably now is not the time to ask me right now."
He next is likely to play the Cadillac Championship at Doral in two weeks, with Bay Hill two weeks after that. Another possibility is the Transitions Championship outside Tampa, Fla., which is the week between Doral and Bay Hill.
It was the second time Bjorn has beaten Woods head-to-head -- although not in this format -- and both times Woods ended with a double bogey. Ten years ago, they played 72 holes together in the Dubai Desert Classic, and Woods hit into the water on the 18th hole.
Bjorn was gracious in victory, saying that Woods is not playing "his absolute best right now." although he still saw some good swings.
Others piled on.
When asked about the youth movement in golf, especially after Manassero won his match, Rory McIlroy said all the young players feel they are good enough to compete with the likes of Woods, Mickelson, Stricker and Furyk.
"I mean, I don't think Tiger and Phil have got any ... well, yeah, I mean I don't think Phil has gotten any worse," McIlroy said after his 4-and-2 win over Jonathan Byrd. "Tiger isn't as dominant as he used to be, and Phil won the Masters last year."
Then came a tweet from Hank Haney, the swing coach from whom Woods split a year ago in May.
"For all the talk of Tiger's poor driving the last 6 years I have never seen him drive it out of play with a match or tournament on the line," Haney said on Twitter.
Woods leaves behind a Match Play Championship that remains compelling because of the format alone. The first three matches showed that.
Ian Poulter became the first defending champion in nine years to be eliminated in the first round, despite having difficulty remembering any bad shots he hit. All he could recall was Stewart Cink making one big putt after another -- seven of them from the 6-foot range or longer -- to win in 19 holes.
Cink never led in the match until a 6-iron into 4 feet on No. 1, the first extra hole.
"This is a big win for my confidence because I don't know if there's a tougher player in the field in match play than Ian Poulter," Cink said. "It's a big win for me."
Poulter didn't make a single putt over 5 feet.
"He didn't miss a putt," Poulter said. "That's what you have to do. I did that last year. I didn't this year and got punished for it."
In the second match, former PGA champion Y.E. Yang went 20 holes to beat big-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros. And right behind them came the most entertaining match of all when Ernie Els outlasted Jeff Overton in 19 holes.
Overton won the first three holes and they halved the fourth with a bogey. Els then ran off five straight holes and appeared to be sailing to a rare, opening-round victory when he let Overton back in the match. Before long, they wound up back on the first tee.
Els put his approach into the bunker, while Overton hit his under a bush in the desert and made double bogey.
"At least I won," Els said. "I have a 90 percent failure rate in extra holes. It was really ugly out there."
All that matters is that Els gets to return on Thursday, something 32 other guys wish they could say -- Woods included.



Bruce Pearl is Very Dirty, but Thanks for Aaron Craft! Go Bucks!!!!
Good article from Rob Dauster www.msnbc.com

As you most certainly know by now, Tennessee received — and released — their Notice of Allegations from the NCAA regarding the infractions committed by the football and basketball teams. You can read it in its entirety here.
As you also should know by know, the only new information to come out of the NoA was that Bruce Pearl and Tony Jones made an illegal visit to a recruit just days after Pearl’s tearful press conference where he admitted that he had made mistakes on the recruiting trail.
That’s right.
On September 14th, just four days after Pearl sat in front of national television cameras and cried, telling the world how he was remorseful over the mistakes he made, Pearl went to Oak Hill Academy and “bumped” Jordan Adams, a 2012 recruit. Essentially, the “bump rule” allows a coach to greet a recruit at his high school should the two happen to cross paths, but anything more is considered a contact violation. Pearl talked with Adams for 2-3 minutes. This “bump” occurred during the two-week period between Pearl’s press conference and the beginning of the school-sanctioned ban on off-campus recruiting.
Ballsy, ain’t he?
For those expecting this document to bring with it any kind of news regarding Pearl’s standing with the university, well, you got your hopes up for nothing. The school has until May to respond to the NoA, and a hearing has been scheduled for June 10th and 11th of this year. And if Tennessee has told us anything, its that they are going to ride with Pearl until forced to do otherwise.
If they weren’t, Pearl probably would have been let go a long time ago.
The Tennessee coach not only committed violations, he lied about them when confronted by the NCAA. He then tried to convince a recruit’s father — Jon Craft, the father of Ohio State point guard and then-Tennessee commit Aaron — to lie to the NCAA to cover for him.
That’s brazen. And just cause for termination.
So if Tennessee was going to do away with their popular head coach, he would be gone already.
But they don’t. This is an athletic department that clearly values victories over ethics.
Pearl has brought Tennessee basketball to unprecedented heights. He wins basketball games. He’s bringing all-americans to Knoxville. He’s making Elite 8′s. His teams fill Thompson-Boling Arena. And, most importantly, he has the undying support of the Tennessee faithful. The scene last night at Vanderbilt was telling. With news that the NoA was due to arrive, Pearl walked out of an opponent’s arena waving and blowing kisses to throngs of Tennessee fans after an important, come from behind win.
The Vols may just be put into a situation where they are forced to make a change.
You see, the NCAA hit Pearl with an “unethical conduct” charge. As Dana O’Neil dug up this afternoon, cases in which an unethical conduct charge is brought almost always result in a show-cause penalty, which is more or less means getting blacklisted by the NCAA.
What will be interesting to see is whether the NCAA accepts the punishments given out by Tennessee and the SEC as enough. Pearl’s already lost $1.5 million and sat out eight games of this SEC season.
Will that be enough to satiate a Committee on Infractions that just slammed a UConn Director of Basketball Operations with a two-year show cause penalty to lying?
Methinks it won’t.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

NFL Scouting Combine Preview - Ohio State Pounds Illinois - Bubble Watch



NFL Scouting Combine

The next phase of scouting for the 2011 NFL Draft begins in earnest this week as franchises send scouting departments, coaching staffs and medical personnel to Indianapolis to inspect the 325 prospects on hand for the combine.
It will be a full week of medical exams, psychological testing and workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium by players hoping to impress future employers. Before the event starts with players arriving Thursday, here are a half-dozen intriguing storylines to keep an eye on:
Who will grade out as the top athletes?
Top athletic workouts at the combine do not automatically improve a player's draft positioning, yet it does help. This is especially true when a lower-rated prospect turns heads with fast times or better than expected results. Three players expected to excel:

• Patrick Peterson/CB/LSU: Peterson could solidify himself as the draft's No. 2 pick at the combine. All signs point to the LSU junior being one of the fastest, if not the fastest, player in Indy. In recent workouts Peterson has been in the 4.3 range in the 40.

• Markus White/DE-OLB/Florida State: Scouts graded the Florida State pass rusher as a free agent before the year, and the senior received a last-minute invite to the combine. He tipped the scales at 265 pounds recently, posting 40 times in the low 4.6s and completing in excess of 25 reps on the bench.

• Virgil Green/TE/Nevada: One of the better pass-catching tight ends at the combine, Green could register the position's best workout since Vernon Davis in 2006. Green has recently run as fast as 4.5 at 252 pounds and touched close to 40 inches in the vertical jump.

Can Jake Locker rebound from his Senior Bowl performance?
Locker's poor showing at the Senior Bowl was well documented and many of his supporters admitted his inaccurate passing was evident all week in Mobile, Ala. Scouts still hope the strong-armed athlete can pull it together before the draft, especially since he spent the past month working exclusively with former Jets quarterback Ken O'Brien, an All-Pro known for his precise accuracy. Carson Palmer and Matt Cassel worked under O'Brien and rave about his teaching skills. Locker may yet do the same. For now, O'Brien has characterized Locker's recent workouts as "lights out."

How fast is Prince Amukamara?
The past two combines have seen highly rated cornerbacks slip down draft boards after slower-than-expected 40 times. In 2009, Malcolm Jenkins ran in the mid 4.5s; Joe Haden was even slower last year. Haden rebounded at his Pro Day, but Jenkins never recovered.

Amukamara is the most polished and NFL-ready cornerback in April's draft. He's also looked upon as a high-character prospect who exudes class off the field. Still, questions linger about his ability to run down the field with game-breaking receivers. Scouts will closely monitor this in Indianapolis.

Will the junior quarterbacks throw on Sunday?
At this point, Missouri's Blaine Gabbert, Auburn's Cam Newton and Arkansas' Ryan Mallett, all juniors, rank as the top quarterbacks in the draft. Unlike their upperclassmen counterparts, the trio did not have an opportunity to perform in front of scouts at the Senior Bowl. All three played in spread offenses, allowing them to take most of their snaps from the shotgun formation. None were required to make NFL passes on a consistent basis, something that is critical. Often, top quarterbacks roll the dice and bypass the combine in favor of the friendly confines of an individual workout. It worked for Sam Bradford last year, but backfired for Jimmy Clausen.
As of Tuesday, Mallett is expected to throw for NFL decision-makers this weekend. No definitive decision has come from the Gabbert camp -- headed by super agent Tom Condon, who'll likely advise his client not to throw. Bradford and Matt Ryan, a pair of recent Condon quarterbacks, opted for private throwing workouts.
Cam Newton announced on Monday that he'll complete a full workout. Believe it when you see it.

Which injured players will work out?
The top prospects at defensive end, offensive tackle and tight end are all coming off surgery, and their amount of work at the combine remains in question. Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph is recovering well from the hamstring surgery that cut short his 2010 campaign. Rudolph is not expected to take part in the combine workout, but will likely get at least one full performance in for scouts before the draft.

USC offensive tackle Tyron Smith had knee surgery to repair a meniscus after the season. He expects to partake in some of the workout stations, yet is unlikely to run, preferring to complete the 40 and shuttles during the Trojans Pro Day at the end of March. Clemson's Da'Quan Bowers is coming off minor knee surgery and will be a game-time decision for the combine's running workouts.

How will the Division II receivers fare?
Seven wideouts from Division II schools received combine invitations -- a huge number and an indication of the poor depth at the receiver position. The list includes: Cecil Shorts III of Mount Union, Stephen Burton of West Texas A&M, O.J. Murdock from Fort Hays State, Edmond Gates of Abilene Christian, Joseph Morgan of Walsh, Ricardo Lockette from Fort Valley State and Hillsdale's Andre Holmes.

Many of the names are foreign to scouts as only Shorts and Murdock played in the Shrine Game, while Gates sat on the sidelines with an injury during the Senior Bowl. The last small-school receiver to make a big impression on scouts at the combine was Johnny Knox of Abilene Christian (5th round in 2009 draft). Keep a close eye on Morgan, one of the real downfield threats at the position.










Buckeyes Bounce Back and Pound Illinois

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For a half, David Lighty was almost invisible.
Then he it was as if he was invincible, refusing to let Ohio State (No. 3 ESPN/USA Today, No. 2 AP) falter again.
Lighty scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half and William Buford had all 17 of his in the first to lead the Buckeyes to a big bounce-back win after two recent losses, beating Illinois 89-70 on Tuesday night.
"I've said since the beginning: I love him," Illini coach Bruce Weber said of Lighty, only the third-leading scorer for the Buckeyes. "I think he's the MVP. He probably won't get it because people aren't smart enough. But he's their heart and soul."
During one remarkable 3-minute span, Lighty scored all 13 of Ohio State's points (to just two for the Illini) and had three steals.
"They should put a statue in front of the Schottenstein Center of David Lighty, just what he's meant to this program, not only on the court," coach Thad Matta said, referring to Ohio State's home arena. "His performance there in the second half was high level. I looked out there [and] it was like he was everywhere."
The Illini scored 11 of the first 13 points of the second half to pull within 49-43 before Lighty took over.
He scored Ohio State's next 13 points to build the lead back to 62-45.
Just that quick, the Illini responded with an 8-0 run to narrow the gap to 62-53.
Lighty then fed substitute forward Deshaun Thomas, caught in a recent shooting slump, for a 3-pointer. Seconds later, Lighty missed a jumper and Thomas fought off a defender for the rebound and converted it into a three-point play for a 68-53 lead.
Between them, Lighty and Thomas accounted for all 19 Ohio State points over a span of 7½ minutes.
The lead never dipped below double figures again.
"I've been through the ups and downs of college basketball," said Lighty, a fifth-year senior who was just 2 for 9 from the field in Sunday's loss at Purdue. "People go through slumps. I just needed to work my way out of it. To keep shooting. My teammates have confidence in me and they get mad at me when I don't shoot the ball when I'm open. They trust in me and I trust in them."
Jon Diebler had 13 points, Aaron Craft 12 and Jared Sullinger 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Buckeyes (26-2, 13-2 Big Ten), who had lost two of three after winning their first 25 games.
Ohio State shot 53 percent from the field to end Illinois' string of 37 consecutive games holding an opponent under 50 percent. The last team to reach 50 percent was also Ohio State, which shot 53.1 against the Illini on Feb. 14, 2010.
The Buckeyes had just three turnovers -- they forced 16 turnovers, including getting nine steals.
"We knew we had to take care of the ball. That was pretty much the key to the last game," Buford said of the game at Purdue, where the Buckeyes had 18 turnovers.
Mike Davis scored 18 points, Mike Tisdale 14 and Jereme Richmond 11 for Illinois (17-11, 7-8), in dire need of more wins to make the NCAA tournament field. Demetri McCamey, the 12th-leading scorer in the Big Ten at 14.5 points a game, did not start for the Illini but finished with 15 points and six assists.
Asked what his team was missing this season, Weber said, "Lighty. If you have a Lighty, a heart and soul who comes every day and does what you need. We just don't have that toughness, that leadership -- that difference-maker."
The Buckeyes had lost at Wisconsin on Feb. 12, beat Michigan State at home last week and then dropped the game to the Boilermakers. With four games left and a one-game lead in the Big Ten, they knew they couldn't afford another slip.
"Yes, we've lost two. And as Coach told us, it's not the end of the world," Diebler said. "The one thing we've realized is we still have a one-game lead in the Big Ten. That's our first goal right now. We're trying to win a championship right now, that's how we approached this game."
Ohio State had only a token practice on Monday. The players were aware of what was at stake.
"Obviously, as a team we don't like to lose," Sullinger said. "Basically we wanted to just bounce back and start another win streak."


• Ohio State used a 14-2 run to end the first half and never looked back as the Buckeyes won their fifth straight -- and 10th of last 12 -- against Illinois.

• Five players scored in double figures for the Buckeyes, including a game-high 21 points from David Lighty and 12 points from Jared Sullinger.

• Sullinger is just three points shy of passing Greg Oden for the third-most points scored by a freshmen in Ohio State history.

• Illinois has lost eight of its last 12 games.





Bubble Teams
BIG 10
Locks: Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin | Should Be In: None | Bubble: Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State
Illinois (17-11 | 7-8) | RPI: 42 | SOS: 20 | - Illinois continues to tread water. With a trip to Purdue still on the calendar, it’ll be critical for the Illini to win remaining home games against Iowa and Indiana. Finishing 9-9 in the Big 10 might be enough without a bad loss in the Big 10 tournament, but the Illini won’t be comfortable on Selection Sunday. Adding a win over Purdue would make it a lot easier down the stretch. Good wins include N. Carolina, at Gonzaga, Wisconsin, and Michigan State. The losses at Indiana and UIC are sore points.
Michigan State (15-11 | 8-7) | RPI: 40 | SOS: 5 | The Spartans have won 3 of 4 and seem to be regaining a bit of momentum. Beating Illinois Saturday avoided a season-sweep by the Illini. MSU is still trying to capture its identity after the dismissal of Korie Lucious. Michigan State is 5-8 vs. Top 50 teams, but just 11-11 vs. the Top 200 – a stat lines that often suggests NIT. Can MSU get to 10 league wins? That might be what it takes to feel safe.
Michigan (16-11 | 7-8) | RPI: 58 | SOS: 24 | While there’s not a lot to love about the Wolverine’s profile (2-8 vs. Top 50 teams), they have won 6 of 8 to be on the fringe of consideration. Other than a win at Michigan State, the Wolverines best in-league hope is a sweep of Penn State. Up next is Wisconsin at home. Hold serve and the Wolverines stay. A loss probably eliminates them. After that, it’s a trip to Minnesota followed by Michigan State at home.
Minnesota (17-10 | 6-9) | RPI: 39 | SOS: 30 | The Gophers’ have lost 6 of 7 since the injury to Al Nolan and this isn’t the same team that posted early wins over UNC and West Virginia. The Selection Committee has to evaluate the current squad, and the results aren’t favorable. Thus, they are among the First Five Out this week. If there’s good news, it’s that two of the Gophers’ final three games are at home. These battles will decide who stays in the at-large picture and who doesn’t.
Penn State (14-12 | 7-8) | RPI: 60 | SOS: 6 | Penn State has a lot of work ahead to stay alive, but we’ll leave the Nittany Lions here for now. A strong SOS is helping, along with home wins over Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State and Minnesota. The flip side is that PSU was swept by Michigan and is just 1-8 in road games (the lone win at Indiana). Two of Penn State’s final three are away from home, so things don’t look promising. Up next a trip to Northwestern.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Done Deal! Melo is a Knick - NBA Power Rankings - Brackets for the WGC Accenture Match Play - AP Top 25 College Hoops Poll 2-22-11


TEAMMATES

Done Deal! Melo is a Knick

They got their man — Carmelo Anthony has been acquired to go with Amar’e Stoudemire. But they are still a long way away from the goal. The Knicks are probably still the sixth best team in the East, certainly no better than fourth. They are not putting fear in the hearts of the Celtics, Heat or Bulls.
But they have hope.
Generally, the team that wins the trade is the team that got the best player. There is no doubt the Knicks got the best player. Anthony, for all his flaws — defense, his love of shooting the contested long two pointer and more — is one of the game’s elite scorers. At the end of the day, the game is about putting the ball in the basket and only a handful of guys in the league can do that like Carmelo Anthony. He can drive, he can post, he can drop shots from beyond the arc. Few can create their own shot or one with a hand in their face like Anthony. He is an offensive force.
The hardest part of assembling a championship team is getting one of the few elite players in the league. The Knicks now have two of them. That is a core they can put the right pieces around to contend. And that is a reason for hope.
They are not contenders now because they gave up a lot to get ‘Melo. Not necessarily too much, they got more talent back certainly, but they gave up players that are not just a dime a dozen. Yes, they got a quality point guard in Chauncey Billups, a veteran savvy one who knows how to win. But Billups is a poor fit for Mike D’Antoni’s running system. Billups is 34 and not so fleet of foot anymore. He has one year left on his deal after this and can be bought out after next season for $3.7 million (according to Sham Sport’s figures).
The Knicks are going to miss Danilo Gallinari. They will miss Wilson Chandler but they were going to have to renounce him this summer anyway to make room to sign Anthony as a free agent. Timofey Mozgov is a project that may develop into a rotation player but you don’t let him get in the way of a deal for a superstar.
The Knicks are not contenders and they are farther away from it still than many Knicks fans want to admit. Your starting five is Billups, Landry Fields, Melo, Stoudemire and probably Ronny Turiaf. With a very thin bench behind them. That’s good but not great, and there will be serious questions about how well they defend.
Those fans fully expect the Knicks to go get Dwight Howard or Chris Paul, either as a free agent in the summer of 2012 or in a trade or next season. The kind of trade that looks a lot like the one ‘Melo just got where the team has to move him or risk him leaving as a free agent.
But the Knicks very well may not be able to get those guys. We don’t know what the new Collective Bargaining Agreement will look like, however you can bet that it will be much more restrictive than what we see now. The current salary cap is $57 million and you can bet that will go down. With Anthony and Stoudemire the Knicks will already have about than $40 million wrapped up in two players. If the salary cap drops to $50-$52 million, the Knicks would not be able to sign Paul or Howard to a max deal.
Then there could be a franchise tag — something some owners became more interested in as they watched Anthony force his way out of Denver — and that could keep Paul and Howard with their current teams.
Even aside the difficulty of getting one of those two, there is the challenge of filling out a roster on a tight budget — have you noticed the lack of depth in Miami? Where they spent their money on stars and had little for everyone else? It will be even tougher to spend with the new CBA and the Knicks will have to do a lot of it. The Knicks had some nice role players but they turned out to be the price for Anthony.
Knicks fans don’t care. They got their guy. The hope, the expectations of Knicks fans are about to go through the roof.
Those fans are going to learn some hard lessons about how far away this roster is right now. That hope they celebrate today could tear them apart in a few years.
For a few days though, the Knicks got their man. They should celebrate. Today is a day that hope should be celebrated in New York.


NBA Power Rankings
1. Celtics (40-14, LW #2). Doc Rivers played Kevin Garnett 7:32 in the All Star Game and LeBron James 32:20. Take that Erik Spoelstra.

2. Spurs (46-10, Last Week #1). Derrick Rose shredded them on national television last Thursday. What should we take away from that? Only that it was the last game of a 9-game road trip and the last game before a vacation.

3. Mavericks (40-16, LW #3). Dallas is 9-1 in the last 10 and got better by adding Roddy Beaubois to the lineup this week. They head into the final months 2.5 games ahead of the Lakers, they will need that home court advantage to stand a chance against L.A. in the playoffs.

4. Heat (41-15, LW #5). LeBron James with the All-Star triple-double, joining Jordan as the only other guy to do that.

5. Bulls (38-16, LW #6). They keep looking to trade for a two guard. What they get depends on what they will give up, but it shouldn’t be much for Anthony Parker.

6. Magic (36-21, LW #7). Dwight Howard was non-existent in this All-Star Game. Next year the game is in Orlando, expect him to win MVP.

7. Lakers (38-17, LW #4). Kobe’s All-Star MVP not enough to wipe away stain of loss to Cleveland. People around the Lakers were less shocked by that loss than the fans — if the Lakers don’t respect an opponent they barely show up. Throw in last game of a road trip and it was a trap game. By the way, the Lakers have one of the toughest schedules in the league from here on out.

8. Thunder (35-19, LW #8). It was clear that Kevin Durant came out trying to win the All-Star MVP as well, but he shot 5-for-14 in the first half while Kobe was hot.

9. Blazers (32-24, LW #11). LaMarcus Aldridge has been playing like a guy who was ticked about not being an All-Star. They have played well of late, the question is how they blend in Brandon Roy on his return.

10. Grizzlies (31-26, LW #12). They are currently tied for the eighth seed in the West, but they are playing better than several of the teams ahead of them now. They keep it up and they are in the playoffs easy.



Brackets for the WGC Accenture Match Play
JONES BRACKET
1 Lee Westwood, Eng vs. 64 Henrik Stenson, Swe (Westwood)
32 Nick Watney, USA vs. 33 Anthony Kim, USA (Kim)
16 Retief Goosen, Zaf vs. 49 K.J. Choi, Kor (Goosen)
17 Francesco Molinari, Ita vs. 48 Ryan Moore, USA (Moore)
8 Steve Stricker, USA vs. 57 Matteo Manassero, Ita (Manassero)
25 Charl Schwartzel, Zaf vs. 40 Ryo Ishikawa, Jpn (Schwartzel)
9 Luke Donald, Eng vs. 56 Charley Hoffman, USA (Donald)
24 Edoardo Molinari, Ita vs. 41 Martin Laird, Sco (Laird)

PLAYER BRACKET
2 Martin Kaymer, Deu vs. 63 Noh Seung-yul, Kor (Kaymer)
31 Zach Johnson, USA vs. 34 Justin Rose, Eng (Rose)
15 Robert Karlsson, Swe vs. 50 Hiroyuki Fujita, Jpn (Karlsson)
18 Hunter Mahan, USA vs. 47 Sean O’Hair, USA (Mahan)
7 Rory McIlroy, Nir vs. 58 Jonathan Byrd, USA (McIlroy)
26 Adam Scott, Aus vs. 39 Ben Crane, USA (Crane)
10 Jim Furyk, USA vs. 55 Ryan Palmer, USA (Furyk)
23 Miguel A Jiménez, Esp vs. 42 Yuta Ikeda, Jpn (Jimenez)

SNEAD BRACKET
3 Tiger Woods, USA vs. 62 Thomas Bjorn, Dnk (Woods)
30 Geoff Ogilvy, Aus vs. 35 Padraig Harrington, Irl (Ogilvy)
14 Dustin Johnson, USA vs. 51 Mark Wilson, USA (Johnson)
19 Bubba Watson, USA vs. 46 Bill Haas, USA (Haas)
6 Paul Casey, Eng vs. 59 Richard Green, Aus (Casey)
27 Kim Kyung-Tae, Kor vs. 38 Jason Day, Aus (Day)
11 Ernie Els, Zaf vs. 54 Jeff Overton, USA (Els)
22 Tim Clark, Zaf vs. 43 Camilo Villegas, Col (Villegas)

HOGAN BRACKET
4 Phil Mickelson, USA vs. 61 Brendan Jones, Aus (Mickelson)
29 Rickie Fowler, USA vs. 36 Peter Hanson, Swe (Fowler)
13 Matt Kuchar, USA vs. 52 Anders Hansen, Dnk (Kuchar)
20 Louis Oosthuizen, Zaf vs. 45 Bo Van Pelt, USA (Oosthuizen)
5 Graeme McDowell, Nir vs. 60 Heath Slocum, USA (McDowell)
28 Robert Allenby, Aus vs. 37 Ross Fisher, Eng (Allenby)
12 Ian Poulter, Eng vs. 53 Stewart Cink, USA (Cink)
21 Alvaro Quiros, Esp vs. 44 Y.E. Yang, Kor (Quiros)


AP Top 25 College Hoops Poll 2-22-11


AP Top 25 Rank Team Record Pts Pvs
1. Duke (35) 25-2 1,531 5
2. Ohio St. (10) 25-2 1,519 2
3. Kansas (5) 25-2 1,457 1
4. Pittsburgh (12) 24-3 1,452 4
5. Texas (1) 23-4 1,395 3
6. San Diego St. 27-1 1,327 6
7. BYU (2) 25-2 1,261 7
8. Purdue 22-5 1,182 11
9. Notre Dame 21-5 1,036 8
10. Arizona 23-4 942 12
11. Georgetown 21-6 929 9
12. Wisconsin 20-6 921 10
13. Florida 21-5 841 14
14. Connecticut 20-6 768 13
15. Villanova 21-6 697 15
16. Louisville 20-7 593 16
17. Syracuse 22-6 527 17
18. Vanderbilt 20-6 499 18
19. North Carolina 20-6 495 19
20. Missouri 21-6 378 20
21. Texas A&M 21-5 342 21
22. Kentucky 19-7 301 22
23. St. John's 17-9 214 --
24. Temple 21-5 199 23
25. Xavier 20-6 103 24

Monday, February 21, 2011

2011 Slam Dunk Contest - Purdue Easily Pounds Ohio State -






Congrats to Blake Griffin for winning the slam dunk contest. Not too bad this year. Still like to see more variety. Too many good dunks took a lot of chances to succeed.
Blake Griffin, Clippers
A night to remember belonged to Blake Griffin all along. The hometown hero lived up to the hype and won the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest. Despite strong efforts from all four participants, particularly Wizards big man JaVale McGee, Griffin took home the hardware thanks to an array of impressive throwdowns. His signature slam of the night was also his last, dunking over a car while a gospel choir sang "I Believe I Can Fly" at halfcourt.



Purdue Easily Pounds Ohio State
OSU proves once again that they cannot guard one guy and they beat them singlehandedly! Obviously, the Bucks are not a number 1 seed overall!

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- E'Twaun Moore seemingly toyed with Ohio State.
Whether he was knocking down one of his seven 3-pointers, making an acrobatic layup or draining a jumper in the closing seconds of the first half, the senior guard seemed at ease. He scored a career-high 38 points to help No. 11 Purdue beat No. 2 Ohio State 76-63 on Sunday.
His teammates saw it coming.
"I know once he gets that rhythm going and steps back and hits a 3 and once he smiles, you know he has it going," guard Lewis Jackson said. "E'Twaun, he may put his fingers up and tell you he hit a 3-pointer, but he rarely smiles. Once he smiles, he's in a zone, and you probably won't stop him that night."
Purdue (22-5, 11-3 Big Ten) has had much to smile about in the past week. The Boilermakers defeated No. 10 Wisconsin on Wednesday, and their two wins over Top 10 teams brought them within a game of the Buckeyes (25-2, 12-2) for the conference lead with four games to play.
Purdue's win capped a week that saw the top four teams in the AP Top 25 lose a game. With losses in the past week by No. 1 Kansas, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Pittsburgh, the Buckeyes entered the game in line to reclaim the No. 1 ranking they dropped after losing at Wisconsin on Feb. 12.
Ohio State coach Thad Matta knew his team was playing in a rough stretch, and he expected challenges.
"We've got to continue to keep our focus," he said. "Our guys know we have to play better basketball and we have to get them ready to do that."
Ohio State center Jared Sullinger, who scored 25 points, said this game was nothing like Ohio State's 87-64 win over Purdue on Jan. 25.
"In that game, we had toughness to not get screened, toughness to make shots, toughness to make plays on the defensive end, and we didn't do that today," he said.
Jon Diebler scored 11 points and David Lighty and Aaron Craft each had 10 for the Buckeyes, who have lost two of three after winning their first 24 games.
Moore surpassed 2,000 career points during a flurry of 13 in the final 3:49 of the first half, becoming the fifth player in school history to reach the milestone.
"Right now, it's just numbers to me," Moore said. "I still have a career and games to play. Later I may look back on it and really say that was a lot of points, a lot of rebounds, and enjoy it with my friends and family. But right now I still have a lot of basketball."
Moore made 13 of 18 shots and had five assists and two steals. Purdue coach Matt Painter said Moore's performance was extra special because it came against Lighty, whom Painter considers the best defensive guard in the Big Ten.
"He gets into those rhythms and gets going, he can score points in bunches," Painter said. "I've always thought he was one of the best guards in the country when he lets things come to him. He didn't force a lot. That's really, whether he takes 10 shots or 20 shots, the deal with him. If he can do that, he really, really helps our team."
JaJuan Johnson added 13 points and six rebounds for Purdue.
Diebler entered the game one 3-pointer short of the Big Ten career record of 331 set by Penn State's Pete Lisicky from 1994-1998. Diebler tied the record on a fadeaway as the shot clock expired that gave Ohio State an 11-5 lead, and broke it on a shot from the right corner 1 minute into the second half.
Ohio State led 28-24 in the first half before Moore took over. He hit a 3-pointer, then scored on an acrobatic fastbreak layup to give Purdue the lead. He followed that with two more 3s to give the Boilermakers a 35-30 lead.
Lighty's 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in the first half cut the lead to two, but Moore drained a jumper over Lighty in the closing seconds of the half to push Purdue's lead to 37-33.
Moore found a streaking Terone Johnson with a behind-the-back pass, and Johnson's layup gave Purdue a 48-42 lead. Moore then made a long jumper to push the lead to 10 for the first time.
Ohio State hung around while Purdue took questionable shots. Sullinger drove for a powerful two-handed dunk and was fouled. His free throw cut Purdue's lead to 56-51.
Moore hit a fadeaway, then his sixth 3-pointer, to increase Purdue's lead to 61-53.
Ohio State closed the gap to 65-61, but Moore hit another 3-pointer, and Purdue led by at least seven points the rest of the way.
Purdue shot 51 percent overall after hitting just 38 percent in the first matchup.
"We're not playing team defense," Sullinger said. "We need five guys connected. Once we get that back, we're going to be all right."
Ohio State shot 6 for 22 from the field and committed nine turnovers in the second half.
"We need to execute better on offense," Diebler said. "We had some turnovers that were self-imposed. That's the beauty of college basketball. We've got another game Tuesday."



Congrats Kobe on the All-Star MVP! Good to see you schooling Prince James. Congrats to Trevor Bayne on the Daytona 500 win! Wait, who??????????

Friday, February 18, 2011

Ohio State's Diebler on verge of Big Ten three-point record -Chris Rock knew LeBron was gone, why didn’t Cleveland?




Ohio State's Diebler on verge of Big Ten three-point record
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Sometime during Sunday's big game at No. 11 Purdue, Ohio State shooting guard Jon Diebler will catch a pass, set his feet, coil and release a shot at the top of his jump.
Just like he has maybe 100,000 times going on a million, in gyms all over the country.
Only this time it just may be the 3-pointer that sets the Big Ten record.
The gangly 6-foot-6 senior enters the No. 2 Buckeyes' game vs. the Boilermakers (21-5, 10-3 Big Ten) with 331 3-pointers made, one behind Penn State's Pete Lisicky (1994-98).
No wonder some call him "3bler."
But it's not as if Diebler ever imagined he'd be the one to do it - or that it was ever in his sights.
"It will be kind of cool if it does happen," he said. "I'm sure it will be something I look back on when I'm older, but right now it's not something I think about. I'm just worried about winning games. That's our team's mentality."
The Buckeyes (25-1, 12-1) are having a banner season. A huge reason is Diebler, a marksman from the perimeter who keeps teams from surrounding post player Jared Sullinger or blanketing fellow shooters William Buford and David Lighty.
Diebler is the Buckeyes' fourth-leading scorer at 11.1 points a game while playing almost 35 minutes a night. He's shooting 48 percent from the field - and 48 percent on 3-pointers. He ranks fifth in the nation in accuracy behind the arc. That, in itself, is remarkable considering that in his freshman season he shot only 29 percent on 3-pointers.
Coach Thad Matta was asked about Diebler setting the conference mark.
"When he does," he said, laughing, "I'll probably say it could have happened a year ago if he had shot well as a freshman."
Then he turned serious.
"No, I've always said this about Jon. When you coach players and you see how hard they work - even when they're working hard and you're not watching - you want those guys to be rewarded. If and when that (record) happens, I'll be as excited as ever because I know what he's done, what he's put in to get that."
The son of a high school coach, Diebler and his two older brothers and his parents traveled to several outposts in small towns around Ohio before arriving in Upper Sandusky, a farming town of just over 6,000 nestled in the flat but fertile lands about an hour due north of Columbus.
It was there that Jon became a legend. He totaled 3,208 career points to set the all-time Ohio schoolboy record, breaking the mark of 2,958 set by another former Ohio State standout, Jay Burson. His Rams went unbeaten and won the state championship one year and he captured the Ohio Associated Press Mr. Basketball award in 2007.
No wonder when Jon came to Ohio State his new teammates expected him to step right in and continue churning out the points.
"He was going to come in and score 50 points a game out of high school," Lighty said with a grin.
But Diebler struggled with his shot, and on defense. He wasn't quick enough to keep up with guards and not muscular enough to defend a forward. He gradually improved, and so did his shooting, while the Buckeyes improved as well. They went 24-13 with him coming off the bench as a freshman, and have gone 22-11 and 29-8 heading into this successful season.
Matta stuck by Diebler through the bad times and, now, the good.
"I've always had great faith in Jon. At times, I'm the only one who had great faith in Jon, including himself," he said. "I watched his work ethic from the day he walked in here and I can remember when things maybe didn't go well for him his freshman year. All he cared about was winning. I knew if he kept that mindset and continued to work at the same level, he was going to be the player that he is today."
No opponent ignores him, that's for sure.
"The thing that's really unique is how big he is," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. "He's one of those guys you feel like you got to him, but he's 6-6 and long and he gets it off and shoots it right in your face. He really works hard, so when he gets to that spot, he sprints there. He works, he moves without the ball and makes himself hard to guard."
Diebler has been durable and dependable. He has played in 133 games for the Buckeyes and has scored 1,357 points. Having made 3-pointers in 42 straight games, he also will set Ohio State marks for 3s taken, made and percentage.
Through it all, he hasn't had to pound his chest or raise his arms in self congratulation every time he makes another long-range shot. He prefers to contribute to the cause, to win, instead of calling attention to himself.
"You have to have a certain confidence about you," he said. "That's where I've grown the most. I've become a lot more confident, not only shooting the ball but developing my game as an overall player. I've always been taught from my mother and father, and my brothers, just to be humble."
True to form, he credits his teammates for making him better.
"I've been fortunate to play with a lot of great players in my four years here," he said. "That helps a lot, because I get a lot of open looks. But you have to stay humble. That was something I was taught growing up and it's something I've carried over until now."





Carlos Santana, Indians, C
Santana was in the majors for less than two months last year, thanks to a knee strain that initially looked as if it might be something much worse he sustained in an August home plate collision with a player whose name appears below. During his first seven big league weeks, though, the 24-year-old did little but live up to his immense billing. While he hit just .260, his precocious batting eye allowed him to draw 37 walks in 46 games, and his OPS was a sterling .868. Santana, a switch-hitter, is no longer technically a rookie, but he is healthy, and in 2011 could become one of the game's great catchers.



Chris Rock knew LeBron was gone, why didn’t Cleveland?


Well, maybe everybody does hate Chris in Cleveland now.

Chris Rock pulls no punches. It’s why his stand up is so great — he tells you straight out how he sees it. And in an interview with Esquire Magazine (done by Scott Raab who is writing a book about LeBron leaving Cleveland) Rock says Clevelanders should have seen this coming. (via CBS’s Eye On Basketball)

Chris Rock: I don’t even see what the big story is. The owner’s an idiot. Why is the owner an idiot? I said it on television — you can look it up. I was at a Lakers game — they were probably playing the Knicks. It was on TNT, and Kenny and Mark Jackson and whoever interviewed me on the sidelines, they asked me about LeBron. I said, “They should trade him.” I said it, on national television.

Scott Raab: We thought he was coming back, Chris.

Rock: I said you should trade him. I said any owner, any big-ego owner would take this shot. You could’ve got any player — you literally could’ve got Kobe Bryant. You could’ve got any player you wanted. You could’ve gotten literally any player outside of Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard. Any player. You could’ve got any two or three players you liked. I said this on national television. You could look it up — you’re a writer.

I said that in the middle of the season. The day the season was over, I was doing press for Grown Ups, the movie I did with Sandler. They asked me again: “Where’s LeBron going? What’s going to happen?” I said, “Well, if he’s going to Cleveland, you will know within 24 hours, but if Pat Riley gets him in a room, it’s all over.”

Rabb: We thought he was coming back.

Rock: Why would you think he’s coming back? People move from Cleveland to Miami every f—ing day. They don’t move from Miami to Cleveland.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrecks car - Five Things We Learned from Beating Izzo



Five Things We Learned from Beating Izzo
Brandon Castel has another good read!
COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was a big night for Ohio State coach Thad Matta. Not only did his Buckeyes knock off Michigan State in their only meeting of the season, but Matta broke his .500 record against the Spartans.
He is now 7-6 in his career against Tom Izzo, and the Buckeyes are now 25-1 on the season with a 2.5-game lead in the Big Ten race.
We take a look at the five things we learned from Tuesday’s 71-61 win over Michigan State.

1. One loss will not break the season. Thad Matta said he wasn’t exactly sure how his team would respond following their first loss of the season, but he has to be pleased with the results. The Buckeyes were not sharp defensively in the first half Tuesday night, and they allowed Michigan State to shoot 62.5-percent from the floor. They tightened things down in the second half and forced the Spartans into 19 turnovers. Most importantly, they didn’t let the loss at Wisconsin shake their confidence.

Jared Sullinger said their goal was to show that one loss won’t make or break the season, and they did exactly that. It wasn’t the most convincing win of the season, but it was a good, tough win over a Michigan State team that was fighting for its lives.

2. Sullinger is human after all. MSU coach Tom Izzo said he had a plan for slowing down OSU freshman Jared Sullinger and his players executed it perfectly Tuesday night. They put their hands on him, kept him from posting up down low and most importantly, kept him from taking over the game on the boards. He finished with just two rebounds, his lowest total of the entire season.

Sullinger has been frustrated before this season. He has also been in foul trouble before, but somehow he usually finds a way to finish around a double-double. That wasn’t the case Tuesday. He totaled just 11 points to go with his two rebounds.

3. This team can survive an off night from him. It was a good sign for the Buckeyes that they beat a good opponent by 10 points despite an off night from Sullinger. If there were any questions about this team, at least on my end, it was how they would handle themselves in a tight game if Sullinger wasn’t on the floor. That was the case for a good portion of Tuesday’s game, but Ohio State never wilted.

Dallas Lauderdale came in and played very well for a guy who hasn’t been on the floor much as of late. He gave up a few uncharacteristically easy baskets at the defensive end, but scored back-to-back baskets in a crucial stretch and even hit his two free throws in the last minute of the game.

4. Buford is becoming a No. 1 guy. David Lighty and Jon Diebler made big shots for the Buckeyes in this game, but the big reason they were able to survive the foul trouble to Sullinger was the play of William Buford. Like he did at Wisconsin, the junior out of Toledo made big shot after big shot for the Buckeyes against Michigan State. He is playing his best basketball right now, but most importantly he is playing the best basketball of anyone on the team right now.

Sullinger will grab all the headlines and awards, but Buford is the one guy on this team who can create his own shot at any moment. Lighty has the ability to get to the hoop, but Buford is even more consistent with his outside shot. He gives the Buckeyes a legitimate second option to go with Sullinger and as long as he’s playing well, the Buckeyes just need one other guy to step up and make a few plays.

5. This team needed Craft. With the addition of Sullinger to the group that returned from last year, this team had just about everything it need. They could still use more from Deshaun Thomas off the bench, but the more you watch Aaron Craft, the more you realize how important he is to this team. He doesn’t always shoot the ball well (1-fo-7 Tuesday night) but he is always going to bring the hustle.

He reminds me of David Lighty when he was a young kid. That’s not to say Lighty has become lethargic in his old age, but Craft just always seems to be flying all over the court, selling out on every play. People will remember the play he made to race back down the court for the three-point play, but I was just as impressed with the play where he dove for the ball and missed. Craft showed complete disregard for his body going after that ball and probably came away with a few court burns. Then again, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t have a few of those after every game.






Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrecks car
This figures. I guess this will be the same old Jr. this year too. Overrated!

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the pole for the Daytona 500 in Pole Day qualifying three days ago, will start in the back on Sunday.
Earnhardt was involved in an accident during practice Wednesday and will go to a backup car. He will start his qualifying race Thursday in the back but cannot improve his position for the Daytona 500.
Since the front row is locked in on Pole Day, Earnhardt can't improve his starting spot in the qualifying race, something every other driver can do except Jeff Gordon, who also earned a front-row spot. The rest of the grid positions are set in the two 60-lap qualifying races Thursday.
Earnhardt was running in a two-car tandem Wednesday with teammate Jimmie Johnson when the accident occurred exiting Turn 4. Johnson checked up because three slower cars -- driven by Robby Gordon, David Gilliland and Michael Waltrip -- were veering over in front of him.
When Johnson slowed to avoid hitting them, his car got loose. Earnhardt slowed down and was hit from behind by Martin Truex Jr. Earnhardt and Truex slid down the track and Earnhardt hit the inside retaining wall. The back sheet metal panel of Earnhardt's car was torn off.
"I don't know what's going on there," Earnhardt said. "Jimmie lifted and I got off the gas. We ran up on guys who didn't have their heads on straight.
"The closing rate for two-car tandem is so much faster. You've got to pay attention out there, man. If you're gonna race, you've got to pay attention. It's just hard," he said.
Earnhardt said he was hesitant about participating in Wednesday's first practice, which was delayed because of rain.
"I didn't feel good out there in practice today," Earnhardt said. "I just had a bad feeling about it. But we have plenty of race cars. It's never a good thing tearing them up, but we'll be fine."

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Art Schlichter charged with $1M theft - 2011 McDonald’s All American High School Basketball Team -Newton Signs with Under Armour -


From This............


To This!!!!!!
Art Schlichter charged with $1M theft

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Former Ohio State quarterback Art Schlichter, whose NFL career was derailed by a gambling addiction, was charged Monday with stealing more than $1 million from a 68-year-old woman in suburban Columbus.
Schlichter has offered to cooperate with an ongoing police investigation into the sale of Ohio State football tickets and 2011 Super Bowl tickets, according to Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien, who didn't provide details on how the theft charge was related to the ticket investigation.
Schlichter, 50, was charged in Franklin County Municipal Court with one count of theft alleging he stole more than $1 million from the woman in suburban Dublin by deceiving her about the reason he took the money.
He took the money in cash, checks and credit card charges, according to the charge, which could also involve higher penalties because the woman is considered elderly under Ohio law. More charges are also likely against Schlichter, probably in federal court, his attorney said Monday without offering details.
Schlichter told reporters he had no comment as he surrendered at the county prosecutor's office Monday morning. He's due in court Tuesday.
Schlichter has been forthcoming with investigators and intends to cooperate, said his attorney, Sam Shamansky. Schlichter will likely remain in jail because he is on probation for similar offenses in Indiana, O'Brien said.
Schlichter, who played for Ohio State between 1978 and 1981, spent 10 years in prison for gambling-related crimes. He played for the Baltimore and Indianapolis Colts and Buffalo Bills, and the Detroit and Cincinnati Arena League teams. The NFL has suspended him for life.


2011 McDonald’s All American High School Basketball Team

Boys Alphabetical Roster
EAST TEAM
Name Pos Hgt High School (Hometown) College
Brad Beal G 6-5 Chaminade College Prep, MO (St. Louis, MO) Florida
Chane Behanan F 6-7 Bowling Green, KY (Bowling Green, KY) Louisville
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope G 6-5 Greenville, GA (Greenville, GA) Georgia
Michael Carter-Williams G 6-5 St. Andrew’s, RI (Barrington, RI) Syracuse
Rakeem Christmas F 6-10 Academy of the New Church, PA (Bryn Athyn, PA) Syracuse
Quinn Cook G 6-0 Oak Hill Academy, VA (Mouth of Wilson, VA) Duke
Michael Gilchrist F 6-7 St. Patrick, NJ (Elizabeth, NJ) Kentucky
P.J. Hairston G/F 6-6 Hargrave Military Academy, VA (Chatham, VA) North Carolina
James McAdoo F 6-8 Norfolk Christian, VA (Norfolk, VA) North Carolina
Johnny O’Bryant III C 6-10 Eastside, MS (Cleveland, MS) LSU
Marshall Plumlee F/C 6-10 Christ School, NC (Arden, NC) Duke
Shannon Scott G 6-2 Milton, GA (Alpharetta, GA) Ohio StateHead Coach: Bob Cimino, Mt. Vernon, NY (Mt. Vernon High School)
Asst. Coach: Brian Pritchett, Mt. Vernon, NY (Mt. Vernon High School)
WEST TEAM

Name Pos Hgt High School (Hometown) College
Khem Birch F/C 6-9 Notre Dame Prep, MA (Fitchburg, MA) Pittsburgh
Wayne Blackshear G/F 6-5 Morgan Park, IL (Chicago, IL) Louisville
Anthony Davis F/C 6-9 Perspectives Charter, IL (Chicago, IL) Kentucky
Branden Dawson G/F 6-5 Lew Wallace, IN (Gary, IN) Michigan State
Myck Kabongo G 6-1 Findlay Prep, NV (Henderson, NV) Texas
LeBryan Nash F 6-7 Lincoln, TX (Dallas, TX) Oklahoma State
Austin Rivers G 6-3 Winter Park, FL (Winter Park, FL) Duke
Marquis Teague G 6-1 Pike, IN (Indianapolis, IN) Kentucky
Adonis Thomas G/F 6-7 Melrose, TN (Memphis, TN) Memphis
Amir Williams C 6-10 Detroit Country Day, MI (Beverly Hills, MI) Ohio State
Kyle Wiltjer F 6-10 Jesuit, OR (Portland, OR) Kentucky
Cody Zeller F 6-10 Washington, IN (Washington, IN) Indiana
Head Coach: Gene Pingatore, Westchester, IL. (St. Joseph High School)
Asst. Coach: Bill Riley, Westchester, IL. (St. Joseph High School)
Asst. Coach: Daryl Thomas, Westchester, IL. (St. Joseph High School



Newton Signs with Under Armour
Cam Newton, who's expected to be one of the first quarterbacks taken in April's NFL draft, signed what CNBC.com reports is the most lucrative endorsement pact ever awarded an incoming NFL player.
Under Armour, the athletic apparel and footwear company, gave the Heisman Trophy winner a contract that seeks to capitalize on the momentum of his leading Auburn to a national championship as well as his potential as a professional endorser.
Although the sides did not disclose the exact financial terms, CNBC.com's sources said the contract would surpass the $1 million-per-year deal adidas gave Reggie Bush in 2006. As part of the deal, Under Armour will highlight Newton as it seeks to push a line of Newton-themed Auburn sneakers, jerseys and training gear.
Newton, from College Park, Ga., would become the second high-profile quarterback to join Under Armour's party in recent months, following 2010 NFL Most Valuable Player Tom Brady.
Newton, in his lone season at Auburn, led the Tigers to a 14-0 record and their first national title since 1957, and drew nearly as much attention for a pay-for-play scandal as for his dynamic performances.
On the field, he rushed for 1,473 yards and 20 touchdowns while passing for 2,854 yards and 30 TDs. He also set Auburn season records for both rushing and passing TDs and total offense, and an SEC mark for yards on the ground by a quarterback.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Tiger Chokes Again and Finish -Dale Earnhardt Jr. captures pole for 2011 Daytona 500 -College Hoops Power Rankings February 13, 2011 -

Tiger Chokes Again and Finishes 20th

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tiger Woods stumbled in a bid for his first victory in 15 months Sunday, leaving Alvaro Quiros to win the Dubai Desert Classic with a wild round that included a hole-in-one and triple bogey.
The 70th-ranked Quiros shot a 68 to finish at 11-under 277, one stroke ahead of Anders Hansen of Denmark (70) and James Kingston of South Africa (67).
Woods had a 75 to end tied for 20th at 4-under
"There were quite a few positives this week but a couple of glaring examples of what I need to work on," Woods said.
He entered the round one stroke off the lead, but for the second straight day he started with two bogeys in his first three holes. He managed to claw a shot back when his approach on the sixth ended up a few feet from the pin. However, Woods offset two birdies with two bogeys on the back nine and then double bogeyed the 18th.
"All my old feels (for the clubs) are out the window when the winds blow," he said. "That's the thing when you are making change. It's fine when the wind is not blowing. But when you have to hit a shot when the wind blows ... the new swing patterns get exposed."
Woods had trouble for much of the day with errant drives, and his putting - which he credited with helping him shoot a 66 Friday - also was shaky, leading to several missed birdie chances. He also showed flashes of anger, at one point yelling at photographers for disturbing his s
Woods, who won in Dubai in 2006 and 2008, is now in the longest victory drought of his career. His last title came at the Australian Masters in November 2009.
Coming into Sunday, it was still anyone's tournament and Woods was among the top players who seemed poised for victory. Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy was tied at the top with Hansen, and a resurgent Sergio Garcia of Spain was tied with Woods and five others a shot back. Twenty players, including Kingston, were within three shots of the lead and many of them made runs Sunday.
Quiros struck early with an eagle on No. 2 and two birdies on the next three holes to take a three-shot lead. But just as dramatically, he fell back into a tie with Hansen and several others at 8 under when he triple bogeyed the eighth hole - hitting an unplayable drive and then a second shot into a tre
The Spaniard recovered quickly with a birdie on nine and then a dramatic hole-in-one on the 11th, hitting a wedge 145 yards that landed on the green and rolled into the cup to give him the lead.
But Hansen went back up by a stroke after he eagled the 13th and Quiros had a bogey on No. 14. Quiros regained the lead with a birdie on No. 16 and Hansen's bogey on 15. The Dane could have tied it down the stretch, but missed several birdie putts, including a 30-footer on the 18th.
Quiros also was battling an injury, saying he had a "tight ligament" and had started taking pain killers after he aggravated it on No. 8. He could be seen several times holding it as if he were in pain.
"It was incredible for you guys, outside but for me it was a difficult situation," Quiros said of his fifth European Tour victory. "The beginning of the day was perfect, but after the eighth hole I was shaken."
The hole-in-one restored his confidence.
"It was the perfect shot. Once a year, it happens," he said. "It was a big point in the round. After the 10th hole, I was second or third with some of the other guys and then after the hole-in-one I was the leader."
The 70th-ranked Hansen, who had his best finish since taking second at last year's Singapore Open, was left to rue his missed chances.
"Obviously, a little disappointed," he said. "I gave myself a chance after leading and got myself out of it early but brought myself back in it. Thought I played nicely but Alvaro played great."
Woods was not alone among the big names on the star-studded leaderboard to falter down the stretch.
Garcia, who lost the lead Saturday after two bogeys and a double bogey, had similar problems Sunday. He briefly tied for the lead after a birdie on the opening hole, but fell back with a bogey on the fifth and ended his chances on the ninth with a triple bogey after his ball ended up in the water. The Spaniard shot a 75 to finish with Woods among the group of eight tied for 20th.
McIlroy lost the lead early after opening with a bogey. He pulled two shots back with birdies on the third and 10th, but trailing by three shots, he fell back down the leaderboard after three consecutive bogeys on the back nine to finish with a 74 and in a tie for 10th.
Top-ranked Lee Westwood quietly made a run, moving to 8 under with four holes to play. But then he had a double-bogey on 17 when his ball got stuck in a tree and ended with a bogey on 18 to shoot 72 and finish in a tie for 15th at 5 under.
"That will piss you off pretty quickly, won't it, sticking it up a palm tree when you think you have a chance of winning," Westwood said.
But Westwood took several positives away from a weekend during which he initially struggled with distance and control and only started making his putts Sunday. It was an improvement over Qatar, where he missed the cut, and the Abu Dhabi Championship, where he finished 64th.
"Positives are I had a chance to win," Westwood said. "First long putt I've made all week was on the 14th. I haven't played my best, and had a chance with two holes to play to post a total that would have been probably half decent, I guess 10 under, if I could have birdied the last two holes. Plenty to take out of it."











College Hoops Power Rankings February 13, 2011


1 (1) Ohio State (15) 24-0 399 The Buckeyes have had a week to prepare for Saturday's monster road game in Madison, Wis. The good news for coach Thad Matta is that there isn't much to tweak, especially when he gets offensive contributions from the likes of Dallas Lauderdale, who scored 10 points in OSU's win over Minnesota.
2 (2) Texas (1) 21-3 376 The Buckeyes may be getting the top nod, but is any team playing better basketball than Texas right now? The Longhorns have a tremendous shot to be a No. 1 seed (don't see how that won't happen) and play a Final Four in their home state (which could occur for the third straight year -- Michigan State in Detroit, Butler in Indy).
3 (3) Kansas 23-1 372 The Jayhawks didn't have Josh Selby because of a foot injury, but that didn't matter against Missouri, as KU torched the Tigers at home and looked as though it wasn't missing Selby one bit. The Jayhawks were beaten by Texas in the second half at home, which might have been the only poor half Kansas has played in quite a while.
4 (4) Pittsburgh 22-2 354 The Panthers didn't have Ashton Gibbs (MCL injury) for a road game at West Virginia, yet Pitt didn't wilt. The Panthers still will be without Gibbs for Saturday's road game at Villanova, but the Panthers are clearly the class of the Big East at this juncture.
5 (5) Duke 22-2 338 For one half, the Blue Devils looked as though they were about to lose their ACC lead as well as their hold on a possible No. 1 tourney seed. But Nolan Smith and Seth Curry came out shooting in the second half, and Duke ran past North Carolina in the final moments. Duke might have found a secret weapon for the stretch run if Curry can continue to be confident.
6 (6) San Diego State 24-1 309 The Aztecs continue to churn ahead in the Mountain West. SDSU will face BYU in the return game on Feb. 26, but we'll learn more about this team when it heads to UNLV on Saturday for what could be a must-win for the Runnin' Rebels.
7 (7) Brigham Young 23-2 299 The Cougars are no joke. It's not just Jimmer, either. There is more scoring from Jackson Emery, Brandon Davies and Noah Hartsock. This Cougars team can handle road games, home games and neutral-site games. BYU is looking at a No. 2 seed if this trend continues.
8 (8) Notre Dame 20-4 289 Forget about the burn offense. Just know this: Ben Hansbrough should challenge for the Big East Player of the Year award, and the Irish are on the verge of competing for a No. 2 seed in the tourney There's no way anyone predicted that in the preseason.
9 (10) Georgetown 19-5 259 The Hoyas started Big East play 1-4, but they've now won at Villanova and Syracuse. Georgetown is back to being a real player in the Big East and a contender for a Final Four run in Houston. The D.C. three are tough to snuff when the Hoyas are on a roll.
10 (11) Connecticut 18-4 245 UConn needed an impressive effort to survive at Seton Hall but couldn't solve the Syracuse zone at home. The Huskies are settling into the second tier in the Big East with Villanova and Syracuse as Georgetown and Notre Dame emerge as more realistic challengers for Pitt.








Dale Earnhardt Jr. captures pole for 2011 Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR is back -- and so is Juniormania.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. reclaimed the spotlight in Daytona speedweeks, winning pole position for the Daytona 500 with a lap of 186.089 mph in qualifying Sunday.
It's a boost for Earnhardt, who is coming off a couple of disappointing seasons and spent part of the past week facing questions about the 10-year anniversary of his father's death at the trace
Still, Earnhardt was in an upbeat, joking mood after winning the pole. And while he understands the hype his presence on the pole and his family ties are bound to stir up this week, he'll mostly try to ignore it
"I wouldn't embrace that," Earnhardt said. "I'm here to race. And I understand the situation and I'm looking forward to seeing how my father is honored and remembered throughout the week, and I'll enjoy that, but I don't really get into the hypothetical, fairy-tale sort of stuff. I just want to focus on my job."
Earnhardt's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, qualified second. It's the second straight Daytona 500 front row sweep for Hendrick, who put Mark Martin on the pole and Earnhardt in the No. 2 spot last year.
The rest of the field will be set after a pair of qualifying races Thursday. Bill Elliott, Travis Kvapil and Joe Nemechek also clinched spots in the field, and Terry Labonte is assured of a starting spot.
Having NASCAR's most popular driver take the green flag first next Sunday could provide some traction for a sport looking to pick up sagging television ratings and attendance.
An Earnhardt win would be even bigger.
"I think that's just kind of going to build the hype and excitement for next Sunday's race," Gordon said. "I love to bring back a lot of these memories about Dale and what he brought to the sport, his legacy, and it reminds me of a lot of the things I learned from him and the good times that we had. I think it's very cool to pay attention to that and to celebrate it."
But Earnhardt acknowledged that qualifying results aren't necessarily a good predictor of success in the race.
"It obviously gives you a good idea that you've got a great car, but anyone can win the race," Earnhardt said. "There's guys that qualified outside the top 20 that have got winning cars."
Qualifying was almost an afterthought Sunday, as drivers and crew chiefs were preoccupied with NASCAR's reaction to the sudden emergence of two-car drafting suddenly becoming the fast way to get around Daytona.
With the drafting duos pushing speeds past 200 mph, NASCAR officials imposed restrictions the cars' cooling systems Sunday evening.
Let's declare the yellow-line rule at Daytona and NASCAR's new "have at it, boys" mentality a conflict of interest. They just don't mix, writes ESPN.com's Terry Blount. Story
It's an attempt to make it more difficult for one car to push another all the way around the track because the pushing car's engine might overheat; limiting the drafting tandems could reduce speeds.
Earnhardt said he liked the old style of racing at Daytona, where drivers had to zigzag through one big pack of cars -- after all, he was pretty good at it.
"I prefer the other style better," Earnhardt said. "But, I mean, it was fun last night. I prefer having more choices in my own destiny, I guess. Nothing against what happened last night. I thought it was an exciting race to be in, exciting ending to watch. Completely different than what we're used to."
Earnhardt, the 2004 Daytona 500 winner, has fallen on hard times in recent years. He hasn't won a race since 2008.
But winning the pole at Daytona could be an early indication that Hendrick Motorsports' offseason crew shake-up might have the No. 88 team pointed in the right direction.
Although Jimmie Johnson won his fifth consecutive championship last season, team owner Rick Hendrick reshuffled the deck for the rest of his teams.
Earnhardt was paired with Steve Letarte, who had been Gordon's crew chief, and Earnhardt's No. 88 team was moved into the same race shop as Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus.
"I really enjoy the way the team approaches their jobs and what their goals are," Earnhardt said. "I sort of like the way they go about business, how they conduct themselves. I'm enjoying everything I'm seeing."
Gordon got crew chief Alan Gustafson, who had been paired with Martin, and Martin teams with crew chief Lance McGrew.
"The chemistry among the team and just seeing their attitude and everything, it's been awesome," Gordon said. "It's been that way since Rick made that announcement, through the tests, whether it be the Daytona test or the short track test that we did. It's all been very positive. This is just another thing that's added to that, that chemistry and momentum, which is great."

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Tiger Still Struggling - Top 20 High School Basketball Players

Tiger is getting beat by 5 strokes in the Dubuai Open. Rory McElroy is leading early on. Duke comes from behind and clips Carolina. Carolina seems to be getting on track. I would say thank you to Larry Drew for leaving the team which has led to North Carolina becoming a much more dangerous team on both ends of the court. What an idiot. Enjoy your life as your daddy's ball boy. That's right he didn't have the balls to tell coach Williams he had his daddy call him. Tells you all you need to know. I still will take my Buckeyes against the field. They seem to be the most dominant team right now, that could all change, but right now they are the best team in the country.

The NFL has already cancelled talks between both sides. Wow! Seems like there is too much money to go around and they just can't seem to decide who gets most of it. Makes us common folk struggling to stay a float feel real good. Go ahead and have a work stopage and see how bad we feel for you guys. Remember hockey? Me either. I'm sure versus will have room on their network for football.

Oh the Cavs, what can I say? Thanks Prince James.


Tiger Still Struggling

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Tiger Woods rehabilitation tour arrived here in the Middle East Wednesday. At this week's Dubai Desert Classic, Woods will attempt, once again, to reclaim his golf game and rediscover his missing mojo.
Dubai once represented the other-worldliness of Woods: golf's global gladiator, jet-setting around the globe, collecting mind-boggling appearance fees, mingling with sheikhs and princes, consecrating state-of-the art courses by his mere presence. Dubai was all about riches in excess, just like Woods
His arrival has a different feel now. Woods will still earn a reported $3 million appearance fee, the final installment of a three-appearance contract he signed with Dubai a few years back. But it's a backdated check, written in a different era: because of the twin scourges of injury and scandal, he hasn't played here since winning the tournament in 2008 and owed Dubai one more appearance.
In the intervening years, things have changed, both for Woods and for his adopted Middle East home. Dubai's economic bubble has burst. While here, Woods will have some meetings to try to figure out the future of Tiger Woods Dubai, the first golf course to which he lent his name. The construction of the luxury resort was recently shelved because of poor economic conditions. Once projected to be the greatest golf resort in the world, the site south of Dubai now lays dusty and abandoned. Insert your own metaphor here.
Woods didn't play here in 2009 because he was injured. In February of 2010, he missed Dubai for other reasons. A year ago, Woods was days out of a rehabilitation clinic in Mississippi and a week removed from his robotic apology speech. This February there's much less drama yet no more clarification about Woods's future. He arrives in Dubai as just another guy trying to find his game.
He is no longer the top golfer, either in the world or at this tournament. When he tees off on Thursday, he'll be paired with his successor, Lee Westwood, who replaced Woods as the world's top-ranked golfer last October, ending Woods's 281-week reign as No. 1. Also in the grouping will be Germany's Martin Kaymer, ranked second in the world.
Woods's top American competition, longtime nemesis Phil Mickelson, will be half a world away, frolicking near the Pacific at the lighthearted AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach. Woods has avoided the AT&T since 2002; choosing to shun the unpredictable weather, the aggressive autograph seekers, the long rounds and — now — the sponsor who dropped him soon after his scandal erupted.
"I just like to come over here," Woods said. "This is fun to me."
Woods said he's excited to play in a grouping of the world's top three players, noting that it reminds him of a similar pairing at the U.S. Open in 2008, his last major victory. There's one big difference — back then he was the world's top ranked golfer and seemingly infallible.
No longer. Woods hasn't won an official event since September of 2009, an improbable 17-month stretch of futility. He seems unfazed, noting that he had a dry stretch between 1997 and 1999, winning just one event in an 18-month stretch.
"People forget," he said. "I went from '97 to '99 with only one win. So it's not like I have not been here before. I've been through stretches like this."
Credit the gathered European press corps for not breaking out in guffaws at that statement. Woods — or any athlete — has never "been through a stretch like this," a complete and total fall from grace, a shattering of reputation and apparently also of focus and invincibility.
This current drought can't be compared to a long-ago one experienced by a 22-year-old just coming into his own. Woods is now 35. He's been injured. And his entire world has been flipped inside out.
He sticks to the same bland script, in interview after interview.
Goals?
"Same as every year. Win."
Bothered by finishing 44th at Torrey Pines?
"It was good to play that event and have some of the things that came up swing-wise because this is a new swing."
Personal feelings?
"I feel good. I feel happy. And certainly balanced, and that's a good thing."
Achieving balance?
"I don't practice as much as I used to, but that's a good thing. I'm able to spend more time with my kids and that's more important than what I do on the golf course. My time is more limited and when I do get out there I really have to grind. It did put things in balance where it should be."
We've heard similar answers in recent months. Woods is balanced. He's happy. He likes to go grocery shopping and give his kids a bath. He is, to hear him tell it, not bothered by no longer being Tiger Woods, Inc.
What he isn't doing is winning. He is no longer the sultan of his sport, no longer the most feared golfer on the planet.
Just ask 21-year-old Rory McIlroy.
"I've gotten to know Tiger the last couple of years and I never saw him dominate," said McIlroy, who is also playing in Dubai. "I never played in tournaments that he played in when he was dominating so I never really felt that aura. I don't really feel like there's any sort of special presence about him. He's just one of the guys."
Back here in post-boom Dubai, Woods is just one of the guys. Times have changed.


Top 20 High School Basketball Players 2011

1 Michael Gilchrist
St. Patrick (Elizabeth, NJ)
SF, PF 6-7 205 Kentucky
2 Austin Rivers
Winter Park (FL)
SG 6-4 195 Duke "
3 Adonis Thomas
Melrose (Memphis, TN)
SF 6-7 215 Memphis
4 Quincy Miller
Westchester Academy (High Point, NC)
SF, PF 6-9 210 Baylor
5 Bradley Beal
Chaminade (St. Louis, MO)
SG 6-4 190 Florida
6 Anthony Davis
Perspectives-IIT Math & Science/Joslin (Chicago, IL)
SF, PF 6-9 185 Kentucky
7 Laquinton Ross
Life Center Academy (Burlington, NJ)
SF 6-8 200 Ohio State
8 James McAdoo
Norfolk Christian (Norfolk, VA)
PF 6-8 220 North Carolina
9 Marquis Teague
Pike (Indianapolis, IN)
PG 6-1 170 Kentucky
10 P.J. Hairston
Prep Schools ( )
SG, SF 6-5 225 North Carolina
11 Myck Kabongo
Findlay Prep (Henderson, NV)
PG 6-2 175 Texas
12 Quinn Cook
Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, VA)
G 6-1 168 Duke
13 LeBryan Nash
Lincoln (Dallas, TX)
SF, PF 6-7 220 Oklahoma State
14 Jabari Brown
Oakland (CA)
G 6-5 Oregon
15 Wayne Blackshear
Morgan Park (Chicago, IL)
SG, SF 6-5 215 Louisville
16 Branden Dawson
Wallace (Gary, IN)
SF 6-6 205 Michigan State
17 Amir Williams
Detroit Country Day (Beverly Hills, MI)
C 6-10 230 Ohio State
18 Nick Johnson
Findlay Prep (Henderson, NV)
SG 6-3 195 Arizona
19 Kyle Wiltjer
Jesuit (Portland, OR)
PF 6-9 225 Kentucky
20 De'Andre Daniels
IMG Academies (Bradenton, FL)
SF 6-8 190