Some folks, their vision not blurred, tinted nor otherwise compromised by rooting interests, are sick and tired of the garbage. For example, TV guys telling us that all longtime college coaches are super gentlemen and “a credit to the game” gets awfully tired — especially when there’s evidence to the contrary.
Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, as specific example.
One of the odd niceties — or nice oddities — of early NCAA Tournament blowouts is that coaches can reward down-the-bench, mostly practice session players with some decent playing time, allow them to break a sweat, score a couple, have an assist, a rebound, even commit a foul — something to one day show their kids in an NCAA Tournament boxscore or video.
Thursday night, Syracuse, in its first-round game — it’s a first-round game, regardless of what the NCAA wants to call it — crushed Montana, 81-34. It was over at halftime.
Still, Boeheim played three starters 28 or more minutes, while finding it in his heart (and on his bench) to play three kids two minutes each. Imagine: Three of his players were given two minutes of playing time — the last two — in an 81-34 game.
Two of the three are identified in Syracuse’s media guide as academic honor students — for whatever that’s worth in the world of big-time, bigger-money student-athletics. Thursday, it wasn’t worth more than two minutes.
And two others, listed on Syracuse’s tournament roster as of March 17, didn’t play at all.
By comparison, on Thursday in VCU’s 88-42 win over Akron, VCU coach Shaka Smart played no starter more than 26 minutes, and six subs played 10 or more minutes.
And to think UConn’s Jim Calhoun, another “credit to the profession,” was worse than Boeheim. In a 113-49 win against Texas Southern in 2005, he played seven of his kids between three and zero minutes!
Tom Moore, a former UConn assistant and now head coach at Quinnipiac, once merrily volunteered on WFAN that Calhoun allows his top recruits — er, student-athletes — to pad their stats in blowouts. Isn’t that nice?
Hey, if Boeheim and the rest of the credits to the profession are going to call them “kids,” then don’t mistreat them.
Buy costly Mets tix, get costly All-Star tix
The Mets, as always with “Bottom Line” Bud Selig’s blessings, are exploiting this year’s All-Star Game strictly as packaging bait, as the only reason to enter Citi Field this season.
Folks who are in the Mets’ database but haven’t purchased tickets for three-plus years are being “stalked” by phone sales reps and emails to purchase Mets tickets in exchange for the right to buy All-Star and Home Run Derby tickets.
Meanwhile, with the hedge fund owned by Mets’ share-owner Steve Cohen agreeing to pay an SEC-record $616 million to settle insider-trading charges, perhaps the Wilpon family’s attraction to no-questions-allowed Bernie Madoff, among other scoundrels, isn’t just one of those crazy, crazy things.
* First, in an absurd over-reaction, ESPN apologized for Brent Musburger’s “Ain’t-she-gorgeous!” comments about Miss Alabama, Katherine Webb, during the Alabama-Notre Dame BCS championship.
Now, ABC, ESPN’s co-Disney network, is using Musburger’s comments to promote Webb’s appearance on its new show, “Splash.”
And in between, ESPN placed Ray Lewis on Disney’s payroll. Nurse!
* Reader Davis Rust writes for many of us: “It’s absurd to call Thursday/Friday NCAA games the ‘second round.’ That means 60 teams got a first-round bye.”
As soon as Mike Francesa declared on Thursday that Marquette was cooked — beaten by Davidson — Marquette made an amazing comeback to win. If Francesa predicted high noon for 12 o’clock, it would show up around 2:15.
* Former HBO Sports president Ross Greenberg is producing boxing specials for HBO’s longtime boxing rival, Showtime.
Marv Albert, at halftime of Ole Miss-Wisconsin on Friday, on Ole Miss star/showboat Marshall Henderson: “When you go 1-for-11, there’s no taunting, not too many antics.” Pity, though, that in the second half Steve Kerr pandered to Henderson’s immodest behavior — while CBS made sure to focus on it in slo-mo.
* You had no idea the Harvard Crimson now wear black uniforms? Where ya been?
My first choice to sit next to at a basketball game and share good, no-shtick game-talk and a bag of popcorn remains Jim Spanarkel.
* By the time the season starts, Robinson Cano is going to be too pooped to jog to first.
* Reader Bruce Christoffersen asks if Stump Merrill is Tree Rollins’ half-brother. We’ll leave it right there.
Tape operator gone too soon
Ten years ago, when 22-year-old Anthony D’Alleva joined brand new YES as a runner, John Moore, YES’ director of Yankees telecasts, recalls that as go-fers go, the kid didn’t want to go too far. That’s because D’Alleva wanted to stay close, to learn live-event production.
And D’Alleva, quietly and quickly, became an accomplished tape operator — so much so FOX would demand to borrow him for NFL telecasts. With his gentle disposition, good humor and born-to-the-craft competence, he was an adored member of every broadcast crew in which he worked.
Last Sunday, D’Alleva, who was unmarried, died at 33. His funeral was Friday. It was sudden, stunning and still devastating to those with whom he worked, played and travelled. Unknown to all, he had a very bad heart. There are some things that just can’t be squared.
* Once upon a time the NCAA threatened to deny NCAA Tournament credentials to newspapers that carried college betting lines.
Now?
Well, CBS Sports’ phone app, alongside the schedule of NCAA Tournament games, carries each game’s point spread. And with CBS paying the NCAA an estimated $770 million per year for tournament rights, I’m betting the NCAA is more than willing to overlook that.
* In ex-ESPNer Doug Gottlieb, CBS (and sometimes Turner TV) has a college basketball analyst who can’t help but catch and keep your attention.
He may infuriate — he thinks court-storming is great, and he is disinclined to say “jump” instead of “verticality” — and he can educate — does anyone else working this tournament know the particulars from regular-season non-conference games against mutual opponents? — but he doesn’t scrimp with opinions.
And he sometimes defies modern senselessness. Thursday, when a Wichita State forward tried to follow a missed shot with a monster jam — he clanged the ball off the rim — Gottlieb scolded him for choosing the spectacular slam over the simple lay-in.
But, gee, Doug, that’s no way to be selected for ESPN’s “Top 10 Plays”!