I’m not a big fan of college football, so excuse me for not knowing that Stanford destroyed Arizona to the tune of 42-17 in their highly anticipated showdown two weeks ago. But I knew something was up when this photo of a surly Channing Frye surfaced the other day via Josh Childress. Turns out these two Pac-10 alumni made a little wager. Read More »

As a West Coast kid who grew up rooting for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (though not necessarily the Lakers as a team) and Georgetown University, there’s only one thing worse than having three die-hard Celtics fans and one die-hard Duke fan in the office: That’s having three die-hard C’s fans and two die-hard Duke fans.

In the midst of more unprovoked J.J. Redick slurping, I threw out an unpopular opinion: Salim Stoudamire at Arizona was a better shooter than Redick at Duke. Read More »

It’s safe to say that in one year, John Calipari has turned Kentucky into NBA U. With five players slated to go in the first 20 picks of this year’s NBA Draft, and commitments last week from top-five players in the Class of 2010 (Brandon Knight) and Class of 2011 (Michael Gilchrist) – not to mention All-American senior Doron Lamb – you’d think Coach Cal would take a day off. Think again. While there are still some outstanding players who might commit to the Wildcats for next year, Calipari is focusing his attention on the Class of 2012. Read More »

Barring an undefeated run through the Pac-10 tournament, the Arizona Wildcats (14-14, 8-8) are poised to miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a quarter-century. In a down year for the entire Pac-10, one of its signature programs isn’t even in the “bubble” discussion.

A transition like this is commonplace when one legendary coach retires (Lute Olson) and a younger coach takes over. But for first-year AZ boss Sean Miller — who made the Big Dance field in four of his five years at Xavier, including an Elite Eight — it’s not something he’s used to. Read More »

With a 74-72 double overtime loss to UNLV last night – setting its record at 3-3 – it’s an understatement to say that Arizona is not run by flash and big names this year. With Lute Olson thrice removed and the Encinitas Enigma, (coined by yours truly; shirt orders to my Twitter…) Chase Budinger, and Jordan “Coach’s Decision” Hill both gone to the pros, the ‘Cats aren’t the national draw they once were. Add into the mix a Pac-10 conference that is seeing its lowest production in years and an influx of untested youth, and you have a recipe for bland, mistake-riddled basketball. In a region dominated largely by guard play, most of the attention has surrounded Cal’s Jerome Randle and Washington’s Isaiah Thomas – and deservedly so.

Someone forgot to relay the message to ‘Zona’s Nic Wise. Read More »

This year’s draft class has the potential for a number of gems to come out of the second round. I think Dejuan Blair, Sam Young, Dajuan Summers and Marcus Thornton will all make an immediate impact this season. But another guy to keep an eye on is someone that we’ve all known about for years: Chase Budinger. Cue the eye rolls. Read More »

While No. 1 seeds UConn and North Carolina had little trouble getting through the first two rounds of the tourney and into the Sweet Sixteen, Louisville and Pitt haven’t looked nearly as strong. Yesterday, Pitt was tied with Oklahoma State around the 2:30 mark of the second half, struggling again to put away a lesser-talented team before Levance Fields took over. Read More »

Of all the scenes that Al Pacino steals/owns in The Devil’s Advocate, one of my favorites is the rooftop job interview with Keanu Reeves:

Pacino: “I know you’ve got talent. I knew that before you got here. It’s just the other thing I wonder about.” Read More »

You know what? This stinks! Every year this happens to me. I wait patiently for the brackets to be released, thinking I’m going to get my way, and every year without fail, the Selection Committee crushes my heart. How can this nonsense keep happening?

Let me start with this: The Big Ten got the same number of teams in the tournament as the Big East. Is that a joke? I’ve been looking at projections for weeks now and I didn’t want to believe any of the rumors. Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State can go kick rocks. Read More »