Jay Mariotti FanHouse

From Bluegrass State to Bluegrass Stain

Jay Mariotti — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST

Is it me, or is the bluegrass spiked with cannabis? In Louisville, there stood Casanova Rick Pitino, lambasting the media for reporting "a total fabrication of the truth" when, in truth, he lived an extraordinary lie for years and didn't reveal his sin -- having unprotected sex with a woman in a restaurant -- until his legal mess required it. In Lexington, you have Long John Calipari, earning a record $31.65 million to coach the Kentucky Wildcats after fleeing another scandal in a career filled with them.

And on a highway in Lawrenceburg, there was Billy Clyde Gillispie, Calipari's deposed predecessor, so intoxicated according to a police report that his speech was slurred, his eyes were red and glassy and he had trouble opening the glove compartment of his 2009 Mercedes to retrieve his insurance card. "He was confused about how to unlock the vehicle and took several tries to unlock the glove box," the report said of Gillispie, who spent the wee hours Thursday in Franklin County jail after his DUI arrest.

This convergence of wrongdoing isn't coincidental. Rather, it reflects the madness, pressure and self-destruction that accompanies college basketball in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, as the natives snootily like to call it. I'm not saying Pitino wouldn't have done his linguini-and-vino tryst at a table inside an Italian joint in Boston, New York, Providence or his other workplaces. I'm not saying Calipari wouldn't have been hired by another program seeking an outlaw who reaches Final Fours, then vacates berths. And I'm not saying Gillispie wouldn't drink and drive elsewhere; he was cited for driving under the influence twice before, in Oklahoma and Texas. But the fact these three situations are ongoing, in the same six-day offseason span in the same state, provides a harsh, revealing glimpse into Kentucky's foremost source of pride and national identity, unless we're counting racehorses and fried chicken.

Some call it a religion. I call it a sickness. And if you disagree, ask Tubby Smith, who merely won a national championship at UK, only to encounter cruel treatment and hints of racism from a demanding fan base that eventually ran him out of town. The university's response was to hire Gillispie, who went 40-27 in two seasons, lost to Gardner-Webb and San Diego at home, lost by 41 points at Vanderbilt and was fired in March.

What exactly was Pitino trying to accomplish Wednesday, anyway? As his own lawyer advised, it wasn't very wise to assemble the media to smack down the claims of Karen Cunagin Sypher, his sexual partner at Porcini that night in 2003. We've been aware that Sypher has accused Pitino of sexually assaulting her. We've been aware that prosecutors chose not to press charges against him. And we've been aware that she faces federal charges of extortion and lying to the FBI. Put it this way: On any credibility meter, Sypher has little shot in the court of public opinion. So when video of her interview with police was released -- she reiterates claims that he raped her -- Pitino should have ignored it like a bad jump shooter jacking up three-point attempts.

Nothing was new that she hadn't already said. He could achieve nothing by talking except further irritate a country already disgusted by his soap opera.

Stubbornly, as is his way, Pitino talked anyway. All he did was embarrass himself again. "Everything that's been printed, everything that's been reported, everything that's been breaking in the news on the day Ted Kennedy died is 100 percent, a lie," he said. "All of this has been a lie, a total fabrication of the truth, except for what I told you -- the mistake that I made. Everything else is a lie.

"Enough's enough, everybody is tired of it. We need to get on with the important things in life like the economy and really some crucial things in life like basketball. I admitted to you I made a mistake, and believe me I will suffer for that mistake. I'm asking all fans that if this is on the news anymore, and you're a fan of anything we've accomplished, to just change the channel. And if the newspapers want to write about it, then just read something else, wait for the trial and the truth will come out. This is blackmail. I was told seven months ago that if I fought it, my life would be pure hell. I went home to comfort my wife because it has been pure hell for her and my family."

Oh, if moving ahead was only that simple, Casanova. Once he went public with the one-night stand and $3,000 payoff so Sypher could have an abortion in Cincinnati, Pitino guaranteed himself little sympathy. He is 56, a married father of five, a devout Roman Catholic who asks a priest, Rev. Ed Bradley, to sit on the Louisville bench and take road trips. He always has emphasized family and faith, writing in one of his now-dubious self-help books -- Success is a Choice: Ten Steps to Overachieving in Business and Life -- how he made each player in the Providence program stand up and tell about his family. Pitino wanted players to know the answers to intimate questions: "How many brothers does Steve Wright have? What does Billy Donovan's father do for a living?"

"Something wonderful happened," Pitino wrote. "What had been twelve individuals suddenly became a cohesive unit."

But once he had sex in the restaurant with another woman, betraying a wife of 33 years who shared dinner tables with Pitino at Porcini, he lost all credibility regarding family and faith. Or, for that matter, his opinions of the media. In asking people to turn the channel or stop reading the newspaper, Pitino is trying to control a situation beyond his control. He lost control when he let his libido overwhelm common sense. In Kentucky, no two human beings are bigger than Pitino and Calipari. The media may work in small towns, but they're inundated every day by the importance of Kentucky and Louisville basketball. When a coach is embroiled in scandal, they should report the news dutifully, which would include any police tape of a Karen Sypher interview.

Pitino should know better and lay low. By responding, he looks too emotional, too defensive. He also had the gall, while ripping the media, to say he'd like to work in the media someday. That day may be coming sooner than later. "Look, I understand your business very well. I hope, some day when I'm done coaching, I can enter your business because I don't want to just retire. I understand the competitiveness of it and I understand, with these economic times, how difficult it is for everybody," he said. "What I don't understand is why you keep fostering this behavior. On a day where Ted Kennedy died, we broke into the news here in Louisville with Karen Sypher audio tapes with a detective, which had already been put out. That's a sad commentary on us. And it's also a pretty sad commentary when you look at the things that have been said from day one and even yesterday, which didn't make me too pleased, that the U.S. Attorney asked for psychological testing for this person and that bothers me very much because I need this thing to go to trial."

He needs it so Tim Sypher, Karen's estranged husband and Pitino's longtime friend and colleague, can testify about the bizarre threesome. If I have the story right, Karen grew close to Tim after her sexcapade with Pitino, which, I must point out, was overheard by another Pitino underling, former student manager Vinny Tatum. Asked by the police to describe the night in the restaurant, where Pitino's pictures hang on the wall, Tatum said he had "lain down out of (sight) of (Pitino) and Sypher" and that he heard "the sounds of two people that seemed to be enjoying themselves during a sexual encounter." Two weeks later, Pitino was giving her $3,000 for health insurance so she could have an abortion. Tim drove her to the clinic in Cincinnati, and shortly afterward, they were married and had a daughter a year later.

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Pitino Extortion Case

Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino makes a public apology concerning his involvement in a scandal in Louisville, Ky., Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009. Pitino's comments were the first since news broke Tuesday that he told police that he and Karen Sypher had sex on a table at a Louisville restaurant six years ago. Catholics attending Mass Sunday morning said the high-profile coach, a self-professed Roman Catholic, should be given another chance. (AP Photo/Garry Jones)

FR50389 AP

Pitino Extortion Case

Judge Hugh Smith Haynie looks on at right as Karen Sypher testifies in her divorce proceeding with Tim Sypher in Louisville, Ky., Friday, Aug. 14, 2009. Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino has admitted to a sexual encounter with Karen Sypher. Sypher is accused of trying to extort as much as $10 million from Pitino. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

University of Louisville basketball equipment manager Tim Sypher listens to Karen Sypher's testimony during their divorce trial in Louisville, Ky., Friday, Aug. 14, 2009. Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino has admitted to a sexual encounter with Karen Sypher. Mrs. Sypher is accused of trying to extort as much as $10 million from Pitino. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

Karen Sypher waits for court to begin in her divorce proceeding with Tim Sypher in Louisville, Ky., Friday, Aug. 14, 2009. Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino has admitted to a sexual encounter with Karen Sypher. Sypher is accused of trying to extort as much as $10 million from Pitino. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

FILE- In this April 24, 2009, file photo, Karen Cunagin Sypher, listens as her attorney speaks to the media outside Gene Snyder Courthouse following a court appearance in Louisville, Ky., A newspaper is reporting that Louisville coach Rick Pitino told police he had sex and paid for an abortion for the woman accused of trying to extort him for $10 million. The Courier-Journal of Louisville reported on its Web site Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009, that Pitino told police he had been been drinking in a Louisville restaurant and had consensual sex with Karen Sypher in August 2003. (AP Photo/Brian Bohannon, File)

"Now, I will wait for the trial for all of the details,'' Pitino said. "I will wait for the trial because that's what this is all about and I'm not going to continue to talk about it anymore. But I will say this is the definition of the person that you keep reporting on. It's someone who lies inconsistently to get their way and does so with little concern for others. And I will make one further statement to all of you about this because whatever has been written in New York -- again, I'm a proud New Yorker and the writers there have always treated me with great respect -- but my family and friends had to read this garbage. And it's the same thing here in Louisville, where I've spent the last, going now on 17 years, and I can't love a state anymore than this.

"Tim Sypher has not come forward to tell the truth because he'll have to do it at the trial because he's in a custody battle for his child. So nobody really can stand up. I couldn't say anything because my lawyer said 'don't say anything.' And the university says 'don't say anything.' And the authorities said 'don't say anything.' Well, enough is enough and I am saying something. It's a lie. It's a 100 percent lie. You've known it was a lie. You've all known it."

As I've written, it eventually will prove impossible for Pitino to remain at Louisville. He'll be worn down by the media reporting, the small-town gossip and the negative recruiting by rivals such as, well, Kentucky. "I will tell you this: it hasn't hurt recruiting one bit," he insisted. "We will still bring in top-10 players. This program has been a top-10 program the last two years, and it will continue to be a top-10 program. Our fans are the greatest in college basketball -- that's my opinion and I work here. We'll continue to bring in great players. We will still run this program with great integrity. No question. I admitted to you that I made a mistake. And believe me that I will suffer for that mistake."

He is not the first. Gillispie, who was clocked going 63 mph in a 45 mph zone, hasn't been hired by another program and isn't helping his chances with this latest incident. "Billy had a strong fruity smell coming from his person," Lawrenceburg police officer Michael Corley wrote in his report. As for Calipari, his every move is being watched by the NCAA and the media after his scandal at Memphis, where his star point guard, Derrick Rose, is the new poster child for academic fraud and cost the Tigers their runner-up finish in the 2008 Final Four.

Elvis Presley crooned about Kentucky rain, Neil Diamond about a Kentucky woman. "My Old Kentucky Home" still draws goosebumps on Derby Day. Bill Monroe, father of Bluegrass music, wrote about a Kentucky blue moon.

I think we need a song about college basketball insanity in Kentucky. Rob Zombie can perform it.

From Bluegrass State to Bluegrass Stain originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Problem Kids Like Michael Beasley Need More College

Jay Mariotti — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: NBA, NCAA Basketball

And to think we debated, with considerable vigor, whether Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose had better character traits before last year's NBA Draft. Turns out the answer was "none of the above," which shouldn't shock anybody who knows how teenaged basketball phenoms are pampered, enabled and, in the end, used up like chew toys. Rose is the new poster child for academic fraud, having scandalized an SAT test and reduced Memphis' runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament to a vacated, forgotten rat hole.

As for Beasley, he is a troubled soul who needed help and was fortunate to find it this week. He has checked into a Houston rehabilitation facility and is receiving treatment for stress-related problems that apparently include drug and alcohol issues. This came after a photo on Beasley's Twitter account showed a small plastic bag that appeared to contain -- well, you know -- and included recent postings that didn't suggest a well-adjusted mind:

More: Beasley's Father Goes on Radio | Rehab Planned in Advance?

"Feelin like it's not worth livin!!!!!!! I'm done."

"I feel like the whole world is against me I can't win for losin.' "

Just as disturbing is the fact Beasley's manager and longtime confidante was clueless about the developing situation. Earlier this week, Beasley told Bruce Shingler that he was headed to Houston for a "change of scenery" from Miami, where he is entering his second year with the Heat, and Washington, where he grew up in the nearby Maryland suburbs. Shingler had no idea that the new "scenery" involved rehab, a jolt that throws doubt into Beasley's career and whether he'll mature enough to maximize his enormous potential.

"Based on what I'm getting right now, there's a bit of concern. I don't really know what's going on," Shingler told the Associated Press as the story broke. "I just know his mom is on her way to go see him in Houston. That's it. I'm still collecting a lot of information. From what I know, he was just getting ready for the upcoming season. The last time I talked to him, everything was going well. All this rehab and all that, I was totally unaware. It all started as he wanted to go work out in a different place because he wanted to get away. Now this, I don't know what's going on."

At present, the league's 19-year age limit allows a player to show up in college for eight months, if that, and major in Coed Chasing with a minor in the Art of the Crossover Dribble. What's going on, of course, is the ugly sound of two famous young athletes crashing and burning. And I can't help but urge the NBA to keep pursuing a 20-year-old age limit that might allow Rose and Beasley a chance to mature more in college -- instead of making a mockery of academia during a brief hoops joyride that reeks of rent-a-player exploitation. At present, the league's 19-year age limit allows a player to show up in college for eight months, if that, and major in Coed Chasing with a minor in the Art of the Crossover Dribble. Meanwhile, their heads are filled with grandiose, TV-hyped thoughts that turn their priorities strictly to NBA Draft status. The entire experience is an insult to true college students, but the harshest reality is what it does to young men such as Beasley and Rose. They aren't allowed to use college as a bridge to adulthood, like the rest of us, because the league lures them with millions after their freshmen seasons. My point is, why not wait until after their sophomore seasons? Or their junior seasons, the way the NFL does it?

We'll find out soon enough whether the league is sincere. As part of the ongoing labor talks with the NBA Players Association, commissioner David Stern cannot budge on the 20-year limit, even as the union mentions LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard as examples of players who didn't need college to become shining lights on and off the court. If the one-year rule remains intact -- or if the union succeeds in having the rule repealed -- my guess is we'll have as many bouts with immaturity and irresponsibility among highly drafted players as we have major success stories. By expanding the college experience, the idea is to let young men grow and, oh, maybe take a few classes while on campus.

"This is not about the NCAA. This is not an enforcement of some social program,'' Stern said. "This is a business decision by the NBA, which is: We like to see our players in competition after high school."

As usual, there has been opposition in Congress, with phrases dropped such as "slavery" and "restraint of freedom." Stern, sharper than the average cat, responds that Congress has a minimum age of 25. "I don't know why our founders decided that age 25 was good for Congress, but I guess they thought that was about maturity," he said. "For us, it's a kind of basketball maturity."

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Michael Beasley Photos

FILE -- This is a Feb. 22, 2009, file photo showing Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley, with a mouthpiece that bears a Batman logo, during a foul shot in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

FR121174 AP

Michael Beasley Photos

FILE -- This is a March 20, 2009, file photo showing Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley, right, attempting to get to the basket as he is guarded by New Jersey Nets' Trenton Hassell during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game in East Rutherford, N.J. A person briefed on the situation says Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley is battling depression-related issues and is being treated at a Houston rehabilitation facility. Beasley checked into the facility last week, the person told The Associated Press on Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)

ATLANTA - MAY 03: Josh Smith #5 of the Atlanta Hawks dunks over Joel Anthony #50 and Michael Beasley #30 of the Miami Heat during Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at Philips Arena on May 3, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Hawks defeated the Heat 91-78. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Josh Smith;Joel Anthony;Michael Beasley

Getty Images

ATLANTA - MAY 03: Josh Smith #5 of the Atlanta Hawks scores over Michael Beasley #30 of the Miami Heat during Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at Philips Arena on May 3, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Hawks defeated the Heat 91-78. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Josh Smith;Michael Beasley

Getty Images

ATLANTA - MAY 3: Josh Smith #5 of the Atlanta Hawks puts up a shot against Michael Beasley #30 of the Miami Heat in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2009 NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena on May 3, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2009 NBAE. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Josh Smith;Michael Beasley

NBAE/Getty Images

ATLANTA - MAY 3: Michael Beasley #30 of the Miami Heat drives to the basket against Joe Johnson #2 of the Atlanta Hawks in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2009 NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena on May 3, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2009 NBAE. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Michael Beasley;Joe Johnson

NBAE/Getty Images

MIAMI - MAY 01: Jamaal Magloire #21 and Michael Beasley #30 of the Miami Heat celebrate after Magloire was fouled grabbing an offensive rebound against the Atlanta Hawks during Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at American Airlines Arena on May 1, 2009 in Miami, Florida. The Heat defeated the Hawks 98-72. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jamaal Magloire;Michael Beasley

Getty Images

MIAMI - MAY 01: Michael Beasley #30 of the Miami Heat backs down Josh Smith #5 of the Atlanta Hawks during Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at American Airlines Arena on May 1, 2009 in Miami, Florida. The Heat defeated the Hawks 98-72. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Michael Beasley;Josh Smith

Getty Images

Miami Heat's Michael Beasley squeezes between two Atlanta Hawks defenders including Josh Smith, right, in Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs in Miami, Florida, Friday, May 1, 2009. (Robert Duyos/Sun-Sentinel/MCT)

MCT

MIAMI - MAY 1: Michael Beasley #30 of the Miami Heat shoots against Josh Smith #5 of the Atlanta Hawks in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2009 NBA Playoffs at the American Airlines Arena on May 1, 2009 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2009 NBAE (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Michael Beasley;Josh Smith

NBAE/Getty Images

For all his ability as a scorer and rebounder, Beasley always has lacked maturity and direction. He bounced to six schools in five states during his high-school career, always finding trouble and an administrator showing him the door. Yet there was someone else waiting every time, eager to take advantage of his basketball skills. Even when he seemed to find himself academically and socially at prestigious Oak Hill Academy, Beasley was booted after throwing sticks at the homes of teachers, sneaking out of his dormitory after curfew and wearing pajamas to school. Remember what he told the Washington Post as a senior at Notre Dame Prep, 50 miles west of Boston?

"Me and Tywon Lawson had a competition at the beginning of the school year about who could sign their autograph the most around the school," said Beasley, mentioning an Oak Hill teammate who went on to glory at North Carolina. "And I don't lose at anything, man, so I walked around with one of those Sharpies and signed graffiti everywhere. Every day, they were cleaning my name off water fountains, ceilings, desks, offices -- whatever. I just thought it was funny."

One day, he signed his name on the school principal's truck. Somehow, he didn't think it was funny.

So here is Beasley four years later, a drifter who played one season at Kansas State, became the No. 2 pick in the draft and immediately was swallowed up by Miami's infamous nightlife and aura. Tattoos became his trademark, which isn't unusual but did draw attention to his wayward moods. His Heat teammates, including Dwyane Wade, often expressed disapproval about his immaturity, with Wade issuing a warning of sorts when he told the AP last month, "The guy's got a lot of talent. I can't wait to see what he does with it. He's 20 years old. I'd love to see it all come together this year."

But Beasley never has embraced attempts to help him. "I'm 20 and you can't expect me to be 30," he said. "I'm going to make mistakes, do dumb stuff and learn. How mature you want me to be?" He complained during the season that "everyone is against me," haunted by a preseason episode at the NBA's rookie symposium in which the league fined him $50,000 after security guards smelled marijuana in a hotel room occupied by Beasley, Heat guard Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur and two women. He had a decent season, averaging 13.9 points and 5.4 rebounds, but he wasn't the beastly presence many expected as he came off the bench and let Rose beat him out for Rookie of the Year. His underachievement led USA Basketball not to consider him with other young players for berths on the national team, which prompted an angry response on his Twitter account.

"KIll mode," wrote Beasley, describing his mood to seek revenge.

So he should consider himself lucky to be in a calmer, safer place today, mentored by former NBA coach John Lucas, who operates a clinic for athletes fighting substance abuse. Sometime soon, Beasley must shut down his Twitter accounts and flip on the light switch.

"What Michael Jr. is going [through] is just a bump on the road we call life," said a posting the Twitter page of his father, Michael Beasley Sr. "Please pray for him, he needs it."

Many will pray. But I'd feel better knowing he's entering his junior year at Kansas State, in a Manhattan that doesn't demand him to be an American sensation at 20.

Problem Kids Like Michael Beasley Need More College originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pitino Has Lost All Cred, Should Resign

Jay Mariotti — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA Basketball

We take you to a living room someplace in America, where Rick Pitino is sitting with a mother, a father and a talented high school prospect. He is staring at the family with those dark, penetrating eyes, selling the tradition and virtue of University of Louisville basketball, trying to convince them why Jimmy Jumpshot should avoid the temptation of John Calipari and his rejuvenated program at Kentucky to sign with the Cardinals.

Suddenly, inevitably, Mom pops the questions: How can you take care of my son when you, Rick Pitino, acknowledged having sex with a woman at a table inside an Italian restaurant after closing time? And how can I respect your morals, Rick Pitino, when a married father of five and a devout Roman Catholic discreetly pays the woman $3,000 because she needed, uh, health insurance to cover an abortion? And why would I send Jimmy to Louisville, Rick Pitino, when you could be fired for cause at any time if the university decides you've violated a contracted morality clause for acts of dishonesty, "moral depravity" or "willful conduct that could objectively be determined to bring public dispute or scandal" during your tenure?

With some serious explaining to do, Pitino appeared at a university news conference Wednesday and vowed to remain in a program where he has restored prominence. "As long as they'll have me," he said, not taking questions. "When you have a problem, if you tell the truth, the problem becomes part of your past. If you lie, it becomes part of your future."

He apologized to the town and to the university, saying, "You need a community to get over that." He bled as he spoke about his family, saying, "I let them down with my indiscretion six years ago. And I'm sorry for that and I tell them that every day ... The past seven months have been very difficult on the people I love."

But no matter how Pitino sweats and spins, the conclusion is that no, he can't survive this, regardless of his standing among the college game's elite coaches. If he were thinking straight, he'd offer his resignation, but he is too combative for a common-sense exit. Unlike professional sports, where adultery is a fact of daily life, a collegiate coach is required to be a multi-year father figure, administrator and mentor for the young men he recruits. He also is expected to be a pillar of a university and cornerstone of a community, especially in a city such as Louisville, where Pitino and his program rank with the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs as proud civic symbols and national identity sources. There will be some pro-Pitino influences, such as athletic director and close friend Tom Jurich, throwing support behind him. "I'm one million percent behind Coach Pitino," he told ESPN.com. But ultimately, the stain on the university will be too much to bear. To wit: Examine the statement issued Wednesday by school president James Ramsey, who was aware that Karen Sypher is being accused of trying to extort Pitino but apparently had no idea about the Bottle of Red, Bottle of White sexcapade at Porcini, an upscale restaurant where the "Pitino table" now becomes a Louisville tourist stop.

"Several months ago, Coach Pitino informed me about the alleged extortion attempt. I've now been informed that there may be other details which, if true, I find surprising," Ramsey said.

"Surprising" as in, Pitino wasn't completely forthcoming with his top boss when explaining how Sypher, the estranged wife of longtime Pitino associate Tim Sypher, became his sex partner and $3,000 health-insurance beneficiary. The details simply are too scandalous and close-to-home for the school to forgive Pitino and allow him to carry on. I mean, did it ever occur to the man to get a room? Who has sex in a restaurant after hours, other than maybe college-age bartenders and waitresses? What coach actually lets the restaurant owner give him the keys and lock the doors when he's finished? Did it occur to Pitino that Porcini might have had a surveillance camera, which could have turned the love romp into the first mass-circulated sex tape featuring a national-title-winning coach? And how humiliating that Pitino's former executive assistant, Vinnie Tatum, testified to the FBI that he was waiting at the restaurant to serve as a designated driver -- the coach had been drinking -- when he heard "the sounds of two people that seemed to be enjoying themselves during a sexual encounter."

Somehow, I don't think UCLA had to worry about such problems when John Wooden was coaching.

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Sex Scandals in Sports

According to police report obtained by the Courier-Journal of Louisville, basketball coach Rick Pitino told cops he had sex with a woman accused of trying to extort him of $10 million and later paid for her abortion. Click through for more sex scandals from the world of sports.

Getty Images / AP

Sex Scandals

Getty Images / AP

In late July, Kevin Provencher, a sports writer at the New Hampshire Union Leader, was charged with running a prostitution ring in New Hampshire and Massachusetts and possibly into Canada.

Angie Beaulieu, AP

Rugby personality Matthew Johns was suspended from his TV gig and his job as a assistant coach for the Melbourne Storm after a incident was revealed from 2002. While on a preseason tour of New Zealand, Johns and other members of the Cronulla Sharks were involved in a group sex session with a young woman in a hotel room.

Nick Wilson, Getty Images

Roberto Alomar was sued for $15 million by an ex-girlfriend who claimed the former baseball star knowingly had AIDS when they had unprotected sex. The lawsuit was settled in early May.

Michael Rondou, St. Petersburg Times / AP

In January, NBA player Eddy Curry had a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by David Kuchinsky, his former chauffeur. Kuchinsky claims Curry showed him his private parts, called him racist names and also pointed a loaded gun at him.

Donna McWilliam, AP

Soccer star Ronaldo testified before a state judge in September on the case involving his encounter with three cross-dressing prostitutes in April 2008. Ronaldo, who has filed fraud charges against one of the prostitutes, denies claims that he had sex with the prostitutes and used drugs.

AP (2)

Formula One boss Max Mosley won a vote of confidence in June 2008 from the sport's governing body despite accusations that he took part in an alleged Nazi-style orgy with five prostitutes. British tabloid News of the World, which published the lurid report on Mosley, lost a privacy invasion lawsuit and was ordered to pay him $120,000 in damages.

Francois Durand, Getty Images

In June 2008, middle school teacher Julie Pritchett was accused of having sex with members of a high school baseball team in Alabama. She faces 20 years in jail if convicted.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office

In 2001, Gold Club owner Steve Kaplan pleaded guilty to racketeering, but the trial was remembered for the high-profile athletes that took the stand. Ex-NBA star Patrick Ewing and MLB star Andruw Jones were two of the clients who detailed their sexual incidents.

Ric Feld, AP

Kobe Bryant, right, faced a sexual assault case in 2003 when a woman alleged that the NBA star raped her in a hotel room. A judge dismissed all charges against him in 2004, and Bryant publicly apologized for the affair with his wife Vanessa, pictured, by his side.

Jerome T. Nakagawa, AP

In the creepiest twist of all, the police report says Pitino had a curious request when Sypher -- her name was Karen Cunagin at the time -- called two weeks later to report she was pregnant. He said they should meet at the condo of Tim Sypher, the team's equipment manager.

This was one of two places where she claims she was raped by Pitino, making it odd that she still would find the condo comfortable enough to befriend Sypher, who would become her husband in 2004. (I couldn't possibly make this stuff up). At one point, while Tim Sypher continued to serve on the Louisville staff in a career that included four years under Pitino with the Boston Celtics, he came to his boss with a written list of demands from his wife. Among them: College tuition for her children, two cars, $3,000 a month and money to pay off her home mortgage. But Tim Sypher was not part of the siphoning, or so it appears. Protecting his job, he said in April of the alleged extortion attempt, "I am devastated by the bizarre allegations that my estranged wife is making against both Coach Pitino and myself." Not surprisingly, Karen Sypher filed for divorce last spring.

In the end, Pitino's adultery may be forgiven. But the presence of abortion in this wild story -- even if Pitino says the $3,000 was specifically for health insurance, which sounds like semantics to me -- will gain him no mercy in the Catholic community. His faith is so important to him, he has a priest and spiritual advisor, the Rev. Edward Bradley, sit on the Louisville bench and travel with the team. Yet even the priest would agree that Pitino is a Grade-A hypocrite.

Of course, Pitino's legal team is painting its client as a victim. "I can't see any reason why the coach would take a leave of absence for being victimized by a woman like this," Steven Pence said. "He doesn't deserve to be punished for something he hasn't done. I can see no reason why he would take a leave of absence when he was being extorted. He has done nothing illegal.

"The coach is a witness. He's not subject to any penalty. He'll show up one time and that will be it. This is not Pitino vs. (Karen) Sypher. It's the United States Government vs. Sypher."

Yet in the court of public opinion, it's Rick Pitino vs. Himself. It's some crazy mess for a man who won a national championship at Kentucky in 1996, resurrected the Louisville program, had moderate success with the New York Knicks and was a disaster with the Celtics. He lost his best friend in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and admits his head hasn't been the same since. But he'll be the first to say that's no excuse for a scene at an Italian restaurant that his fellow New Yorker, Billy Joel, never had in mind.

And to think Porcini was the place where he always took his wife, Joanne. There's just too much emotional baggage for a mid-sized town in Kentucky to get by all this. The program will take a step back, and in the not-too-distant future, the coach who was wearing white suits last season will fade away.

As he should.

Pitino Has Lost All Cred, Should Resign originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LeBron James Is Acting Like a Baby, Nike Like Goons

Jay Mariotti — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:41:00 EST

Filed under: NBA, NCAA Basketball

If LeBron James dares to venture online and see himself scorched by the masses, he might as well do some instructive Web-surfing, too. I suggest he call up a dubious Michael Jordan clip on YouTube, where a certain John Rogers, CEO of Ariel Investments, beats him in a one-on-one game at his "Flight School" basketball camp. What's funny is how Jordan opens with trash-talk -- "Don't be mad at me. I'm just too good for you," -- only to be schooled on three driving, twisting layups.

And how did the Greatest Player Ever respond to this professional embarrassment, which he knew was being taped? Oh, by hugging and congratulating Rogers, then willingly absorbing verbal abuse from comedian Damon Wayans while the other campers howled.

Wayans: "How do you feel about being humiliated in the game?"

Jordan: "You get dunked on, you get crossed-over. It all happens."

Wayans: "But at your own camp?"

Jordan: "Sure."

Wayans, pointing to a portrait of Jordan hanging in the gym: "Take that picture down and put up Rogers right there!"

Consider it Exhibit A of how LeBron should have responded when he was dunked on in a pickup game at his own camp -- a two-handed hammer by Xavier sophomore Jordan Crawford over a leaping, late-arriving James. It
was a perfect opportunity for LeBron to humanize himself and have fun with the "indignity,'' just as MJ had at his camp. He could have congratulated Crawford, taken him over to the two videographers who had captured the dunk and done, say, a makeshift interview that could have been part of a creative Nike promotional campaign. Think of the eventual possibilities: a Jordan Crawford shoe for the LeBron brand marketed and downpriced for Everyman, with James and Crawford starring in a clever Nike commercial.

Instead, James acted like a baby, much as he did when he sulked off the court and didn't shake hands with Orlando players after he and the Cleveland Cavaliers were ousted in the Eastern Conference finals. Just having seen several college and high-school players run around the court deliriously, stunned that LeBron had been posterized by a collegian, James summoned a Nike executive named Lynn Merritt. A short time later, Merritt approached the videographers and confiscated the tapes. This reminds me of what happened to American journalists at the Beijing Olympics last summer, when Chinese authorities threatened to shut down our Internet access -- and maybe banish us to a concentration camp? -- if we were overly critical of the government.

But that was a Communist country. This is America.

And in our land of the free and home of the brave, we can't stand cover-ups by Big Business, the only way to describe the corporate censorship tactics at work. Yes, there apparently is a rule forbidding videotaping of after-hours pickup games at James' camp. But funny how no one seemed to notice the cameras until after the dunk. One of the videographers, Ryan Miller, is a freelancer trying to make a few bucks fresh out of Syracuse University. He was specifically covering the camp for ESPNU, the network's college-sports channel, and for Syracuse.com. Here was a chance for a hustling young guy to make a name for himself. But that can't be done when Nike takes the tape and burns it, or whatever the Swooshheads have done with it. And want to know the craziest thing? Miller isn't even sure he caught the dunk footage on tape.

In the end, James and Nike look much worse than if they'd simply let the dunk run its course in cyberspace. They're trying way too hard to protect LeBron's global image, which sends a message that James is more a businessman than a basketball megastar. In a weak attempt to justify the tape grab, a company spokesman said, "Nike has been operating basketball camps for the benefit of young athletes for decades and has long-standing policies as to what events are open and closed to media coverage. Unfortunately, for the first time in four years, two journalists did not respect our no videotaping policy at an after-hours pickup game following the LeBron James Skills Academy.''

OK. So tell them to shut off their cameras, period. By taking the tapes, there is only one motive: Protect The King. Shame on James for letting his wounded ego initiate the process. And shame on Nike for playing the goon role. Blessed with some of the most creative minds in sports, Nike still can save face by using the confiscated tape in an ad. That way, LeBron can look human, Crawford's thundering moment can live forever, the company can sell some shoes and Miller can get a fat check for his work.

Just do it, Nike. Just release the tape. My guess is, we'll never see it, though we might get a second round of those creepy LeBron-Kobe puppet ads.

"That's Nike and LeBron,'' Crawford said. "That's kind of over my head.''

But doesn't Crawford deserve his place in YouTube history?

"I would love my family and teammates to see it,'' he said.

Wouldn't we all love to see it? Too bad we'll have to settle for a T-shirt selling on a Web site, which says: "I DUNKED ON LeBRON (but he stole the video).''

Let me make it clear, right here and now, that LeBron James has been a model citizen and NBA ambassador in his early 20s. In a sports culture dominated by bad news -- Steve McNair murdered by a 20-year-old girlfriend, Donte Stallworth killing a man while driving drunk, more steroids, more deceit -- he has behaved himself and stayed out of legal documents and courtrooms. If the worst thing he ever does is try to cover-up a dunk and walk off a court without shaking hands, he might win a Nobel Peace Prize.

He's also a cordial, well-grounded guy who does cool commercials. This could have been his best one yet. But if we are his "witnesses'' -- the ongoing LeBron marketing theme -- it seems he only wants us to watch him on his terms.

I think a call from Michael Jordan is in order.

LeBron James Is Acting Like a Baby, Nike Like Goons originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:41:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tim Floyd Invited Trouble, Now Flees Trojans in Shame

Jay Mariotti — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:45:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA Basketball

Whether it was arrogance, defiance or one last chance to kick start a fading coaching career, Tim Floyd knew exactly what he was getting into. And he had every chance to wiggle out of the trap when Rodney Guillory, a parasite known around the USC athletic department for his unscrupulous dealings with a Trojan basketball player, wandered into Floyd's office without an appointment three summers ago and offered him fool's gold.

"How would you like to have the best player in the country?'' Guillory said. "Have you heard of O.J. Mayo?''

Right then and there, Floyd should have thrown the guy out on his rear end. If a street agent can't simply wander into Mike Krzyzewski's office in Durham, N.C., and command an instant audience, why wouldn't every big-time college coach hold himself and his program to the same discriminating standards? It shouldn't have mattered to Floyd that Mayo was one of the most coveted prep prizes of this or any decade, destined to be drafted high in the NBA and make major impact as a rookie with the Memphis Grizzlies. Dignity should have won out, particularly after Floyd told Guillory that he wanted to call Mayo.

"O.J. doesn't give out his cell,'' Guillory said. "He'll call you.''

That's right, a teenager was in power and calling all the shots. Floyd had been one of the more successful coaches in the college game, good enough to be sought for an NBA career that twice ended in failure, yet he somehow was allowing himself to be held hostage by a kid from West Virginia and a creep peddling him. O.J. doesn't give out his cell? Wasn't that a huge insult to Floyd, a pathetic lack of respect? Wasn't the coach employed by the University of Southern California, one of the nation's better academic institutions, where only the brightest and most privileged gain entry? Why couldn't Floyd see the deceit and grime? Why would he trust someone named O.J. at USC?

Because he was blinded by seduction. Because he decided to win at any cost, even if it meant sacrificing his soul. Because Tim Floyd didn't have the foresight to project what could happen if this care package, dropped right on his front doorstep, turned out to be a box of poison that ruined his career

"This ain't happening,'' he told his wife excitedly, in a narrative he provided two years ago to the New York Times. "But we've got to act like it is.''

Too bad he didn't stick with his original instinct, that the fantasy was too good to be true, that he really should have held the Mayo. Today, Floyd is out of a job, having been forced into a Tuesday resignation at USC amid allegations that he gave at least $1,000 to Guillory outside a Beverly Hills cafe in February 2007. Floyd and USC have been accused of wrongdoing by Louis Johnson, a former associate of Mayo who said Guillory was given around $250,000 by agent Bill Duffy's firm and distributed some of the benefits to Mayo. If the accusations are true, amid full-blown NCAA and Pacific-10 Conference investigations that even involve the feds, Floyd will go down in shame for succumbing to Mayo's demands and buying him off.

Floyd is telling friends that he's innocent of giving money to Mayo and Guillory. But he has yet to address the allegations publicly, preferring to send a one-paragraph resignation letter to USC athletic director Mike Garrett and run from the mess as quickly as possible. "I deeply appreciate the opportunity afforded me by the university, as well as the chance to know and work with some of the finest young men in college athletics," Floyd wrote in the letter. "Unfortunately, I no longer feel I can offer the level of enthusiasm to my duties that is deserved by the university, my coaching staff, my players, their families and the supporters of Southern Cal. I always promised myself and my family that if I ever felt I could no longer give my full enthusiasm to a job, that I should leave it to others who could. I intend to contact my coaching staff and my players in coming days and weeks to tell them how much each of them means to me. I wish the best to USC and to my successor."

He didn't lose his enthusiasm. He lost his soul. And by fleeing instead of fighting the accusations, Floyd leaves us to think the worst -- that he's guilty as sin in a sport slime-smacked by too many scandals of late. It's bad enough that Derrick Rose, the NBA's Rookie of the Year, is accused of having a stand-in take his SAT test so he could qualify academically at Memphis. It's bad enough that Kelvin Sampson would commit major violations at Indiana after committing the same violations at Oklahoma. But the idea of Floyd paying Mayo and his people for one season of basketball, before jumping to the pros, is appalling. It only feeds the common-sense argument that the NBA's 19-year-old age limit leads to a one-and-done mentality that turns academia into a sham.

A man accused of cheating, especially in a high-profile endeavor such as college sports, shouldn't be timid in his response. Floyd has yet to say a word, a strange approach for a coach known as outgoing, opinionated and aggressive in his baiting of officials. On the same day Floyd claimed to lose enthusiasm, Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez provided a powerful how-to course in proactively attacking accusations. Angry at a blogger who suggested that his breakthrough season might be attributed to performance-enhancing drugs, Ibanez fired back with a memorable verbal blitz in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"I'll come after people who defame or slander me," he said. "It's pathetic and disgusting. There should be some accountability for people who put that out there. You can have my urine, my hair, my blood, my stool -- anything you can test. I'll give you back every dime I've ever made [if the test is positive].

"I'll put that up against the jobs of anyone who writes this stuff. Make them accountable. There should be more credibility than some 42-year-old blogger typing in his mother's basement. It demeans everything you've done with one stroke of the pen. Nobody is above the testing policy. We've seen that."

I'd like to have heard similar fire from Floyd. The possibility exists that he cut a deal with USC, allowing the school to use him as a sacrificial lamb when the NCAA comes down with a verdict and penalties. As it is, the university is dealing with charges surrounding former football star Reggie Bush and his family, accused in 2006 of accepting $300,000 in gifts and free rent from two charlatans trying to sign the Heisman Trophy running back as a client. Now, the basketball program is in similar turmoil, giving rise to an inside joke that L.A. actually has one pro football team and three pro basketball teams.

Still, I can't believe Floyd, the son of a coach, would just take the escape hatch without an explanation if he was innocent. He is too proud and has been in the coaching game too long to let wrongful accusations hang over him. Only weeks ago, the arrow was pointing upward for a USC program that had made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, was returning several starters and was welcoming a hot recruiting class. But then the whispers started about Floyd, and the walls came tumbling down. The team's best three players -- DeMar DeRozan, Taj Gibson and Daniel Hackett -- slipped away to the NBA Draft. Three recruits decided to abandon the Trojans and go elsewhere.

Like that, Floyd was history.

We should have known his situation was shaky in April, when he showed up for a job chat at Arizona. Though Floyd advertised it as a legitimate interview, the Arizona AD, Jim Livengood, said he never had serious thoughts about hiring him. Livengood did ask him about Mayo. "He said there's nothing to that. So end of question,'' the AD said. "We didn't go any farther. We didn't need to go any farther.'' Why would he? Livengood hired Xavier's Sean Miller, a much better idea without any scandal stains.

Where does USC go from here? Oregon State's Craig Robinson, best known as President Obama's brother-in-law, might bring some prestige to the muck. But who wants this job if the program winds up on probation? Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon, for one, already has said no.

Having covered Floyd during his ill-fated run with the Chicago Bulls, I always thought he was naive in certain ways. He came to town thinking he'd replace Phil Jackson and still be able to coach Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Little did he know that Jackson, Jordan and Pippen were attached at the hip in their hatred of management, leaving Floyd to coach a bunch of hapless scraps after the three Hall of Famers departed. The post-dynasty Bulls were one of the NBA's worst doormats ever, unable to sign superstars or really anyone of much worth. Floyd was doomed to flop.

He finally resigned one very weird Christmas Eve. Snow was falling, and when I arrived at the Berto Center facility, only seven or eight reporters were on hand because the news conference had been called abruptly. Floyd's wife and daughter were sitting on the floor -- no chairs -- and the man who hired Floyd, Jerry Krause, was at the podium in an agitated state when he saw me entering the gym and brushing snow off my coat.

"And Mr. Mariotti, you can wipe that smirk off your face right now,'' Krause barked.

I had no smirk. But I did have a retort.

"Merry Christmas,'' I bellowed.

In retrospect, maybe Floyd should have quit coaching that day. It would have saved him the pain of meeting Rodney Guillory.

Tim Floyd Invited Trouble, Now Flees Trojans in Shame originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rose Scam Leaves Stench Everywhere

Jay Mariotti — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:10:00 EST

Filed under: NBA, NCAA Basketball

Editor's Note: The following is an updated version of Monday's original column.

CHICAGO -- Don't make the fatal mistake of giving up, of saying you're exhausted by the sleaze, of surrendering to the hopeless truth that college basketball is just a corrupt one-year pathway to the NBA. The Derrick Rose cheating case is maybe the most alarming, disgusting example yet of why we must continue to fight abuses within the educational system. Barack Obama is passionate enough about sports to battle Bowl Championship Series politics and invite teams to his backyard every day, it seems.

It's much more important that he address this: A gifted player from the president's home base of Chicago, just voted the NBA's Rookie of the Year, is accused by the NCAA of knowingly allowing an imposter to take his SAT test so he could gain admission to the University of Memphis, where he spent all of one season leading the Tigers to within a few seconds of a 2008 national championship. Rose also is dealing with published reports that a grade was changed from a 'D' to a 'C' for his collegiate transcript at his high school, Simeon Career (ahem) Academy, which means his two-year leap from a blighted inner-city neighborhood to big-time college hoops to instant stardom with the Chicago Bulls may have been enabled on two levels.

The fallout is wicked in multiple directions. It impacts our perception of Rose, whose potential Hall of Fame career now is marred by the indelible smudge of academic fraud. It casts aspersions on the already suspicious doings of former Memphis coach John Calipari, who may become known as the first coach ever to vacate two Final Four appearances and who knew of the in-house and NCAA investigations for 2 1/2 months when he bolted for Kentucky in April. It makes me wonder why Kentucky, a program scarred by scandal in the past, was so quick to hire Calipari while claiming to have known about the probe and apparently sneaking it past some of the school's trustees. And how many high schools are participating in altering the grades of athletes?

It's all so dirty, so wrong -- with ESPN reporting Monday that Memphis was first notified by the NCAA of the Rose situation way back in May 2008, meaning the university sat on this privately for a year. And to just dismiss it all as life in the 21st century, as a reason to separate college sports from college academia and allow utter chaos to reign in the spirit of March Madness enjoyment, is the easy way out. The Rose episode should lead to lessons in reform, not to an opening of more toxic floodgates because we're worn down and weary from rampant, relentless misconduct.

When commissioner David Stern imposed a rule forbidding players to enter the NBA before they are 19, it was supposed to help teenagers mature while giving the college game more star power, if only for one year in many situations. Turns out the attempt was a sham. From Kevin Durant to Greg Oden to Rose, staying in college for a matter of months only bastardized the academic experience and made us appreciate even more the four-year plans of Peyton Manning and Tim Duncan. Calipari recruited Rose knowing he'd stay one year. Rose chose Memphis knowing he'd stay one year. So when Rose didn't feel up to snuff about taking his SAT test, why not agree to have someone else take it? What the hell, it's only one year of his life, right?

Rose needs to come out of hiding and say something, anything. The longer he stays quiet -- the story broke four days ago -- the more guilty he is in the eyes of the public. If he was innocent, wouldn't he be voicing outrage about the allegations? The only comment so far has come from an attorney, Daniel E. Reidy, who said, "Mr. Rose is aware of the allegations recently reported in the press. Mr. Rose cooperated fully with the University of Memphis athletic and legal departments' investigation of this (SAT) issue when he was a student and that investigation uncovered no wrongdoing on his part. At this time, Mr. Rose sees no reason to engage in further discussion regarding this matter and will instead focus on his career as a professional basketball player."

That's not going to be enough. Look, Rose has been protected his entire basketball life. I've often praised his brother, Reggie, for guiding his precocious brother from the crime-and-drugs ravages of Chicago's blighted Englewood section and keeping him grounded. But the same Reggie Rose is accused of not paying for two flights and four hotel stays on Memphis road trips, a $2,260 no-no. Contrary to what the Rose camp seems to believe, this story is not going away like that speeding episode last year, when Derrick was ticketed for going 106 mph in a 65 zone on Interstate 88 and all of Chicago immediately forgave him.

There have been whispers about the Roses and their relationship with Calipari for years. That doesn't necessarily mean Calipari was aware of a muddy SAT test -- and it should be noted that he isn't named by the NCAA in the allegations, saving him from sanctions at Kentucky. But the stain he'll likely leave at Memphis is comparable to that at Massachusetts in 1996, when he fled for NBA millions after his star center, Marcus Camby, admitted he received money from an agent. That forced UMass to vacate its lone Final Four berth ever. Not only might Memphis lose its runner-up finish, it could face sanctions that reduces its new coach, Josh Pastner, to a newer and perhaps more hapless version of Tom Crean, the Indiana coach who is rebuilding a ravaged program after the scandals under predecessor Kelvin Sampson. What's pathetic in Pastner's case is that he wasn't made aware of the full depth of the probe until after he was hired. Shame on Memphis for also sneaking around, like Kentucky. Shame on Memphis for not completely disclosing the garbage out back to an in-house assistant, only 31, who is undertaking his first head-coaching position.

"May not have, may not have, because I'm not sure I do, at the time," Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson said when asked if Pastner knew all. "Josh and I had talked about stuff; we had had some discussions. We didn't get into it in a whole lot of detail, but he was aware."

The fact Calipari and Johnson kept the probe quiet further entangles the mess and raises major questions about Calipari and his new employer. The top officials at Kentucky, including president Lee Todd and athletic director Mitch Barnhart, claim to have known all about the Memphis inquiry during Calipari's interviews with the university. If they knew all, they should have run away from Calipari as fast as possible. Instead, they embraced him? Why? "He was very forthright in the interview process," Todd said. "We're fine with him." Ah, but red flags fly here, too. Barnhart said in a statement that Kentucky covered all bases in scrutinizing Calipari's past, particularly the Rose case. Among those Barnhart said he spoke with were NCAA enforcement officials.

"We talked with several people and thoroughly exercised due diligence during the process of hiring coach Calipari," he said. "We asked the right questions. We support him fully as he participates in the NCAA hearing and we have encouraged him not to comment. We certainly asked him if there was anything the NCAA was looking into. He was open about what he was aware of at the time."

In a chillingly revealing response, the NCAA issued a statement all but accusing Kentucky of embellishing its dealings with the NCAA. "Contrary to what may be portrayed in statements in the media from others, NCAA vice president of enforcement David Price followed standard procedures when Kentucky officials requested information regarding any potential violations regarding John Calipari," a school spokesperson said in an e-mail to the Lexington Herald-Leader. "Price did not discuss any investigations, but instead urged the university to follow up with Coach Calipari directly." As for Johnson, he said he didn't recall a conversation with Barnhart about Calipari and the investigation.

So, who exactly did Barnhart interview about a coach to whom Kentucky is paying more than $31 million over eight years? The family gardener? And why did at least two members of the UK Board of Trustees not know about the investigation until the other day? Price is the one who sent the letter to Memphis in January, yet Kentucky never spoke with Price about the probe. Just what are they doing in Lexington, then?

Your answer can found in the deep fryer known as Rupp Arena, where pressure to land a hot, high-quality coach after the Billy Gillispie debacle forced Todd and Barnhart to move quickly and nab their man. They ignored the possible repercussions over the Memphis probe because they knew Calipari would bring instant excitement and major recruits, accomplishing that in the form of John Wall, the nation's top prep point guard; center DeMarcus Cousins, who was to have joined him at Memphis; 6-10 center Daniel Orton; small forward Jon Hood; junior-college transfer Daniel Dodson and a second star point guard, Eric Bledsoe. Patrick Patterson, the talented big man, decided to eschew the NBA Draft to return. If Jodie Meeks does the same -- he of the 54-point game at Tennessee -- Calipari has the makings of a Final Four team.

Really think they care in Bluegrass Country if their new coach is nailed in a Memphis scandal? They just want to win, period, at any cost, which is a troubling commentary about where college sports has been and continues to be headed. You'd think there would be some measure of outrcry in all of these infected places -- Kentucky, Memphis and Chicago, where Rose's two state high-school titles could be forfeited if he and some Simeon teammates are found by the Illinois High School Association to have had grades altered.

But we hear very little fuss anywhere. School is wrapping up, summer is ahead, and it's no news flash that the world is crooked. Why would anyone care, you ask, if Derrick Rose had an imposter take an SAT test?

I'll tell you why: Because it reeks of flagrant dishonesty, athletic privilege and academic fraud. And one of these days -- or years or decades -- it has to stop.

Rose Scam Leaves Stench Everywhere originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Isiah Goes Small Time for Last Chance

Jay Mariotti — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:58:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA Basketball

Isiah Thomas once cornered me in a hallway and issued a warning, mob-boss-like. "If you squeeze me again, you'll be sorry," he said. I'm not certain what warranted the threat -- and it's nice to know I haven't awakened to a horse's head in my bed -- but it was a classic snapshot of what King Isiah was like when he ruled the world, when he was a two-time NBA champion, when he was the best little man who ever played the game.

Now, years later, he is humbled, deleting the mountains of scandalous cache in his personal hard drive and rebooting himself amid the smallest of templates. He is escaping New York, where his dreadful tenure as boss and coach of the Knicks was exacerbated by a sexual-harassment case against him, and attempting to salvage his career and life at Florida International University, where a basketball team that hasn't had a winning season in 10 years played to average crowds of 693 fans last season.

Six hundred ninety-three fans? He used to pass that many walking from his car into Madison Square Garden, all chanting, "Fire Isiah! Fire Isiah!''

Some people are decrying this hire as lunacy, wondering if the coeds have reason to worry at the Miami school and if the job is so beneath Thomas that he'll fade from sight. I happen to like the move. Accepting such a low-profile position reveals that the man isn't in denial about his numerous crises, most self-inflicted, and is willing to rebuild his name and reputation from square one. From his teen years in Chicago, when he dueled a fellow playground legend named Doc Rivers, Isiah has been a mega-name in American sports. Imagine how difficult it is to stoop to a modest level when so many of his contemporaries -- Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan -- remain in high-management NBA positions, even though a longtime arch-rival like Jordan has been an executive bust. FIU? Oh, will the enemy punmeisters have fun with Isiah and those three initials.

This is his last lifeline in the sport. The fact he's willing to take his massive, tainted name to an obscure program suggests he still has a measure of good character and might put it to positive use: coaching young people, teaching them about life and using his own experiences as a how-to -- and how-not-to -- handbook. He never has been a college coach, of course. But if he can turn around the program and win the school's first NCAA tournament berth since 1995, who knows? Maybe Thomas will find prosperity in the college game and live happily ever after.

"I think we can get good players from across Florida and around the country to buy into our plan and make this a top-tier basketball program," Thomas said in a statement released by the school, which will introduce him today at a news conference. "I'm committed to growing something here and strongly believe that, over time, we'll put a team on the floor that everyone at FIU can be proud of."

It's hard to say he doesn't deserve a dramatic career comeuppance. From the day he refused to shake hands with Jordan and the Chicago Bulls after a 1991 sweep, which ended the two-year title run of Thomas and the Detroit Pistons, Thomas has created nothing but turbulence and ill will. He was ready to be anointed as basketball major domo of the Pistons, but at the last minute, he angered the franchise owner, the late Bill Davidson, and didn't get the position; it ultimately went to his backcourt mate, Joe Dumars, who became one of the league's best general managers. Thomas was named an executive vice-president and part-owner of the Toronto Raptors, but left after four years in a dispute with ownership. He slipped off to the NBC halfway house, then took over the Continental Basketball Association and drove it straight into the ground. His most successful post-career job was coaching the Indiana Pacers, where he made the playoffs all three seasons, then was fired when his new boss, Bird, preferred Rick Carlisle.

Somehow, Thomas landed in the league's highest-profile perch as kingpin of the Knickerbockers. Rarely has an executive and coach, in any sport, been so disastrously inept. Never mind that he never won a postseason game and spun a record of 56-108 while spending hideously large sums, as enabled by the equally clueless owner, James Dolan. Off the court, Thomas mangled the franchise's image when former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders accused him of sexual harassment -- and a jury ordered Dolan and the Garden to pay her $11.6 million. Last October, Thomas seemed to hit rock-bottom when a 911 call from his home reported that someone in the house had overdosed on sleeping pills and was taken to a hospital. Reportedly, Thomas said the person involved was his daughter, denying it was an overdose but saying, "My daughter is very down right now. None of us are OK.'' But police reports identified the subject as a man who was passed out on the floor when the ambulance arrived. And the police chief in Harrison, N.Y., David Hall, told the New York Times that Thomas was lying -- and intimated that he indeed was the health victim in question.

"I understand that this person claims it was his daughter; he is lying," Hall told the paper. "It was definitely not his daughter, it was a male. We know the difference between a 47-year-old black male and a young black female."

At that very instant, Thomas became completely unhireable in the NBA. A lot of us had a hearty laugh when the bedraggled Los Angeles Clippers spoke to him last month, yet even the league's most infamous franchise passed on Zeke. And no serious major college program was going to give him a shot when the time frame was so close to a sexual harassment case and 911 call. To earn gainful employment in a sport where he has a place in the Hall of Fame, Thomas needed a friend to know a mutual friend at, of all places, FIU, where the mandate is to build a quality basketball program to accompany a growing football program.

"Coming back to the college game has always been a dream of mine, and I didn't want to pass up an opportunity to go somewhere where we can build a basketball legacy together," Thomas said.

The way the school fathers see it, sure, he has baggage. But Thomas' name value brings national attention, which, at this point, is more important in the larger picture. "This is bigger than basketball and bigger than athletics," school president Modesto A. Maidique said. "Having a nationally recognized coach like Isiah at FIU will have a positive impact on our university as a whole, helping us achieve additional national exposure."

Said athletic director Pete Garcia, who hatched the idea and gave Thomas a five-year contract: "I know he is a good person. Isiah is going to give our fans and alumni a lot of reasons to be excited ... There is no doubt that Isiah will give FIU a tremendous opportunity to take the basketball program to the highest level."

The highest level? Whoa, there. Let's remember that FIU plays in the Sun Belt Conference, ranked 17th nationally in strength, and that Thomas inherits a team that was ranked 217th in the RPI and 151st in schedule strength. This isn't exactly John Calipari going to Kentucky. Thomas' former boss in New York and Indiana, Donnie Walsh, put it best when he told the Associated Press, "I think it's a great thing for him and it's kind of what I wanted for him from the day I let him go. If you really think about it, some of these kids that are coming out of AAU that are going to go to college for one year -- that's a pretty good sell. 'Come down to Miami, spend a year with me.' ''

The thing about Isiah Thomas is, he'll always smile in your face. It's what he might do when your back is turned that bothers you. Is he a horrible person, as some insist? I don't think so. He was a tough kid from the west side of Chicago who didn't trust people growing up, and that chip always stayed intact and left him with a public perception of aloofness. When assessing the sexual harassment case, keep in mind that Thomas never was ruled to be personally liable. Trouble has a way of finding him, and his relationships with people seem to sour all too easily.

In the Florida sun, he has been given what might be his final chance for self-redemption. Away from the tabloid glare in New York, maybe he can reclaim his heart. It's there, somewhere.

Isiah Goes Small Time for Last Chance originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:58:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Carolina Blue Remains Gold Standard

Jay Mariotti — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:45:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA Basketball

DETROIT -- They celebrated together, arm in arm, bouncing and hugging and laughing and ultimately crying as the confetti buried them. It isn't the best time for traditional brand names in America, with even the surest things reduced to chilling vulnerability in a volatile, wacky world. But the North Carolina basketball name, a constant for ages in this country, remains safe and secure.

You might have been bored by it all Monday night, driven to beddy-bye by one of the most lopsided national championship games ever. You might have been bummed that Michigan State, backed by 60,000 fans in a geographically convenient love-in, didn't complete the mission of soothing the collective psyche of a battered city and state. You might have been worn down by the familiar sight of Carolina Blue prevailing again -- ho hum, ad nauseum, bring on baseball and Tiger Woods at the Masters -- and annoyed by the thought of President Obama trash-talking that he picked the champion in his Barack-O-bracket.

Me? I was mesmerized, gobsmacked, blown away.

In a sport of stretched-out parity, no one should dominate a title game the way the Tar Heels dominated a 89-72 romp, minimizing the partisan noise to a shellshocked whisper. "The perfect storm,'' marveled Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, who was rendered helpless. Carolina had me at the opening tip, which had to be re-done when Tyler Hansbrough -- the all-encompassing symbol of this tale -- tied up Michigan State's Travis Walton for a loose ball and jumped right back up as if possessed. It was obvious, then and there, that no one was beating Psycho-T and the Heels. "He got his nose busted two years ago, when blood was coming down his face,'' Walton recalled. "So me and him tying up for a basketball and falling to the ground, I'm pretty sure he's gonna jump up real fast. It's the national championship game.''

If you blinked, you missed all the drama. Ty Lawson, playing with a jammed toe the last month, attacked Michigan State for seven first-half steals en roue to 10 for the night. Hansbrough was his physical, efficient self. Wayne Ellington was open and draining jumpshots. The first man off the bench, freshman Ed Davis, played like a force who might be an NBA lottery pick, which is all you need to know about this team's amazing depth. Barely four minutes into the game, Carolina had scored 17 points against an Izzo-coached defense. Soon enough, it was 24-8 ... then 32-11 ... then 43-20 ... then 55-34 at halftime, a gap punctuated by 14 MSU turnovers.

"Stage fright,'' said a disappointed Michigan State guy, Magic Johnson.

"I did feel a little deer-in-the-headlights look,'' Izzo admitted.

Actually, this was about Roy Williams accumulating the nation's elite talent, coaching the dickens out of it -- to use one of his corny words -- and overcoming injuries and doubts from the national peanut gallery to win Carolina's second national title in five years. If anyone doubted it last year, when the Tar Heels laid an egg in the semifinals against Kansas, this is the gold standard of college hoops programs. Everyone else hopes to reach the Final Four. North Carolina expects it. "You've got six NBA players who could be drafted in the first round or early second," said Walton, who committed four turnovers while teammate Kalin Lucas was committing six. "You're really looking at a team that could probably beat the worst team in the NBA."

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GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 21: Wayne Ellington #22 of the North Carolina Tar Heels drives against Garrett Temple #14 of the Louisiana State University Tigers during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum on March 21, 2009 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Wayne Ellington;Garrett Temple

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PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 21: A Washington Huskies cheerleader performs during a break in the action against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Rose Garden on March 21, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Manny Harris #3 of the Michigan Wolverines jumps to the basket for a lay up against Taylor Griffin #32 of the Oklahoma Sooners in the first half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Manny Harris

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Zack Novan #0 and Zack Gibson #32 of the Michigan Wolverines vie for the loose ball with Blake Griffin #23 of the Oklahoma Sooners in the first half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Zack Gibson;Zack Novak;Blake Griffin

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Willie Warren #13 of the Oklahoma Sooners makes contact as he goes to the basket with Zack Gibson #32 of the Michigan Wolverines in the first hafl during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Willie Warren

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Taylor Griffin #32 of the Oklahoma Sooners goes up for the short jump shot against DeShawn Sims #34 of the Michigan Wolverines in the first half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Taylor Griffin;DeShawn Sims

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PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 21: JaJuan Johnson #25 of the Purdue Boilermakers goes up for a shot over Jon Brockman #40 of the Washington Huskies in the second half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Rose Garden on March 21, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** JaJuan Johnson;Jon Brockman

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Taylor Griffin #23 of the Oklahoma Sooners and Zack Novak #0 of the Michigan Wolverines vie for position to the loose ball in the first half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Zack Novak;Taylor Griffin

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Head Coach Jeff Capel of the Michigan Wolverines yells from the sideline during their game against the Oklahoma Sooners in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeff Capel

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PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 21: Lewis Jackson #23 of the Purdue Boilermakers goes up for a layup as Quincy Pondexter #20 of the Washington Huskies looks on during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Rose Garden on March 21, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Lewis Jackson;Quincy Pondexter

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And while Hansbrough, Lawson, Ellington, Danny Green and maybe Davis skip off to the NBA, be fairly certain that Carolina will be back soon. Williams simply reloads because top players want to play in Chapel Hill. Duke? It's no coincidence that Williams has won two national titles and reached three Final Fours in his six years while Mike Krzyzewski hasn't been to a Final Four in the last five years. Roy has defused the power of Coach K, though he wasn't about to take much credit after midnight in his aw-shucks mode. Never mind that he becomes only the fourth active coach to win multiple championships, joining Krzyzewski, Jim Calhoun and Billy Donovan.

"Somebody told me if I won, I'd be the 13th coach (ever) to have more than one. I have a hard time believing that,'' Williams said. "I mean, I really do. Roy Williams is not that good. But, boy, old Roy has got some big-time players, and that's what it takes.''

The legendary Dean Smith had even better players, including a certain fan in the stands named Michael Jeffrey Jordan. And Williams now has as many titles as Smith in a much shorter time span. Is it possible Roy is better than Dean? Do we dare suggest it? "Roy Williams and Dean Smith don't fit in the same sentence,'' he said. "I really believe that. I'm not being humble. I just don't believe that. I've got an unbelievable staff. I mean, we've been to five Final Fours in the last eight years (including Kansas). When I'm about to mess up, they take care of me. They give me great suggestions, and I get to make decisions.''

Williams isn't the romantic figure here. What's impressive about Carolina is how Hansbrough and others who could have opted for the NBA last spring, as the vast majority of good players do, chose to reunite for one final try. "As I walked off the floor, I told Hansbrough that it was really nice to see a bunch of guys that stayed in school and put winning above everything else,'' Izzo said. "Even though we did have a cause -- we had a bunch of causes -- they had a cause, too, and I was pretty impressed by that.'' In Hansbrough's case, he may have lost money because his pro stock has dropped somewhat this season, but no one was more emotional during the celebration than the most-maligned player in the land. Why people don't like him, I really don't know, but you don't have a heart if you didn't take a look at his tears and smile.

"Sounds like I made a pretty good decision. This is the best feeling in the world,'' Hansbrough said. "It's the greatest way to go out. I mean, what we've been through as a team? But we stuck to it and climbed, and we did it.''

Old Roy loves all his players. But he has a special affection for Hansbrough, a self-made player who has ignored the taunts and crank phone calls to become the quintessential college basketball player. Williams almost broke down and wept when talking about him, but he somehow kept his emotions together. "I can say this, and you guys can choose to believe it or not,'' he said. "I wanted this championship for Roy Williams, yes. And I'm extremely, extremely satisfied. But I desperately -- and it's not war and it's not the economy or anything -- but I desperately wanted this championship for that young man. I know that's corny. But, hello, that's who I am. Let me explain it this way. Yes, I earn a good salary, but if you put $10 million in a pile, and say, 'Roy, you can have that $10 million, but if you take it, you'll forget that feeling you had when that big rascal came over and hugged you,' you guys can split that $10 million because I wouldn't give $10 million for the feeling I had at that moment.''

Latest Tourney Cheerleader Photos

DETROIT - APRIL 06: A cheerleader for the North Carolina Tar Heels performs against the Michigan State Spartans during the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship game at Ford Field on April 6, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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DETROIT - APRIL 06: The North Carolina Tar Heels cheerleaders perform during a break in the game against the Michigan State Spartans in the first half during the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship game at Ford Field on April 6, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

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DETROIT - APRIL 06: A cheerleadeer for the Michigan State Spartans performs against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship game at Ford Field on April 6, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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The Connecticut cheerleaders perform during the first half between Connecticut and Stanford in a semifinal of the NCAA women's college basketball tournament Final Four on Sunday, April 5, 2009, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Stanford cheerleaders perform in the first half of Stanford's semifinal against Connecticut in the NCAA women's college basketball tournament Final Four on Sunday, April 5, 2009, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

The Oklahoma mascot performs with the cheerleaders in the second half of a semifinal against Louisville at the NCAA women's college basketball Final Four on Sunday, April 5, 2009, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Louisville cheerleaders entertain the crowd in a semifinal against Oklahoma in the NCAA women's college basketball tournament Final Four on Sunday, April 5, 2009, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

DETROIT - APRIL 04: A cheerleader for the North Carolina Tar Heels supports her team against the Villanova Wildcats during the National Semifinal game of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship at Ford Field on April 4, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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University of North Carolina cheerleaders cheer for their team against Villanova during their NCAA men's Final Four semi-final basketball game in Detroit, Michigan, April 4, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES SPORT BASKETBALL)

Reuters

DETROIT - APRIL 04: A North Carolina Tar Heels cheerleader gets thrown in the air against the Villanova Wildcats during the National Semifinal game of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship at Ford Field on April 4, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

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For a program known as a stoic blueblood, it's remarkable how many tear ducts were tortured. At haltime, when the public-address announced barked, "One of the most recognizable figures in the world ....'' most of the 72,922 fans in Ford Field began to roar. In a shock of unprecedented proportion, Jordan's election to the Basketball Hall of Fame had been announced earlier in the day. He waved to the crowd with the others in his class, including John Stockton and David Robinson, but if you looked closely, you could see his eyes filling up with tears. For most, the Hall of Fame election is a joyous occasion. For Mike, the ultimate competitor, it's killing him.

"This is not fun for me," Jordan said. "I don't like being up here for the Hall of Fame, because at that time, your basketball career is completely over. That's the way I look at it. I was hoping this day was coming in 20 more years, or that I'd actually go in when I'm dead and done. Because the way you always look at it, you can always go and put shorts on and play. Now you get into the Hall of Fame, what else is there to do?

"Look, it's a great accomplishment. It's great the respect everyone is paying. But for me, I always want to have you thinking that I can always go back and play the game of basketball. As long as you have that thought you never know what can happen. You never know what my abilities can do.''

Please. God, no. He wasn't thinking about coming back again, was he?

"No," Jordan said. "But I'd like for you to think that way.''

It was a milestone day in his life, His youngest son, Marcus, committed to play at Central Florida weeks after winning an Illinois state championship. In Chicago, Jordan was shown on a video used by 2016 Summer Olympics organizers to sway visiting members of the International Olympic Committee. Yet all he could think about was playing ball again. Hey, why not a one-on-one, Carolina vs. MSU warmup between Jordan and Johnson?

"You really think he can beat me?'' Jordan shot back. "He couldn't beat me in the (NBA) Finals at all.''

Soon enough, deep into the night, His Airness was celebrating with Old Roy, the current players and former greats like Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison. If it felt like North Carolina is the essence of college basketball, the class of the sport, reality simply was sinking in. Accept it and move on to next year, when, surely, the Tar Heels will be ready to win again

Carolina Blue Remains Gold Standard originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UNC Looms as Villain in MSU Fairy Tale

Jay Mariotti — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:32:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA Basketball

DETROIT -- Maybe it's his folksy arrogance, the Huckleberry Hound-with-an-attitude rub. Maybe it was the way he lectured TV reporter Bonnie Bernstein, saying, "I could give a (bleep) about Carolina right now" when she asked about his future plans after his 2003 national title-game loss. Maybe it was the Kansas button he wore last year, a weird show of allegiance for an ex-employer in the championship game after the Jayhawks had whipped his Tar Heels.

Or maybe America simply is growing weary of North Carolina, the powder bluebloods who dominate April like azaleas at Augusta and fools on the 1st.

What They Have to Do to Win: North Carolina | Michigan State

Whatever, Roy Williams never has quite climbed into our hearts. He certainly won't be the popular coach Monday night, a distinction belonging to Tom Izzo, who is trying to win a national championship at Michigan State while bringing joy to an economically ravaged city and state. Williams and his talented monsters are the intruders in this emotional local drama, the only barrier interfering with an epic tale for college basketball history. The Tar Heels will take the court as just that -- heels -- while at least 60,000 green-dreaming fans will scream and stomp for the Spartans in a 72,000-seat configuration. The potential is there for a monumental upset, a David-beats-Goliath twist that the championship game has lacked for years. And Carolina, frankly, is in the way.

Not that Williams is apologizing.

"You know, if we're playing tomorrow against the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan, they outnumber us. We don't have as good a chance at that one," he said Sunday, contemplating the social angle. "But the other thing you have to understand is, we left here last night at 12:45. We went back, we had a nice little snack and some ice cream and the kids went to bed. I saw them this morning at 11:00 for 30 minutes. We haven't exactly exhausted the state of the nation's economy in the last 18 hours.

"So for us, we're playing Michigan State. I do realize they have a cause. Well, we also have a cause. We want to win a national championship, period, the end. And if you'd tell me that if Michigan State wins, it's gonna satisfy the nation's economy, then I'd say, hell, let's stay poor for a little while longer. I don't think that's gonna happen. So if all the workers of America come down and start guarding my butt on the bench, then I'll start being concerned about it."

It's his semi-sarcastic way of defusing the hostile environment that will greet his players at 9:21 p.m. in Ford Field. He respects Izzo's mission for the Michigan people as much as anyone, but with his own pomp and circumstance, Williams is reminding us that this remains a basketball game in the purist sense. His team is hearing the message, smiling as he talked about "the workers of America" guarding him. "Kind of like Coach said, I'm not looking at it as anything else but us playing Michigan State," Tyler Hansbrough said. "All that other stuff is nothing that I'm paying attention to."

"We played in a lot of hostile environments throughout the season," said Ty Lawson, the rambling, gambling point guard. "We went to Nevada. We played Duke. I don't think it's going to be a big issue playing in front of probably most of Michigan State's crowd. I think we're ready for it."

Consider it the latest challenge in the life of America's premier college hoops program. Loaded with a roster that includes four or five future NBA players, Carolina has been earmarked as the impending national champion since early October. Some of us thought an undefeated season was possible, which was silly -- but not as silly as our nitpicking and concern when the Heels lost four games and Lawson injured his toe. Turns out there was nothing to worry about. They are peaking at precisely the right time, and while Michigan State is doing the same, Carolina is more than capable of overcoming the intense parochial spirit and winning. "When we're clicking on all cylinders, it's a sight to see," guard Bobby Frasor said after an 83-69 trouncing of Villanova on Saturday night.

If Carolina wins its second national title in five years, it would validate the prediction of one Barack Obama, who slipped into his Barry from Bethesda talk-show mode to complete his NCAA bracket last month. "Here's what I like about Carolina: experience and balance," Obama said then. "Now, for all the Tar Heels who are watching, I picked you last year -- you let me down. This year, don't embarrass me in front of the nation, all right? I'm counting on you. I still got those sneakers you guys gave me."

My guess is, they won't let him down. They won't in part because Williams has something to prove, which is the story of his career. He thought the burden was off his shoulders in 2005, when he finally won a national title in his second year in Chapel Hill. But last year, when the Heels were primed again, they inexplicably fell behind Kansas 40-12 in the national semifinals. They lost the game after a furious comeback, which led Hansbrough, Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green to bypass the NBA draft and return for another title shot. A lot is riding tonight for Williams and his ultimate legacy. If he wins a second championship, the critics will leave him alone. If he loses in The Izzone, might we call his one championship a fluke?

"If you thought it was going to be easy, you don't know what you're talking about," Williams said. "It's college basketball. There hasn't been an undefeated team since 1976, and there have been some really, really good teams. I think this year, there were eight or 10 teams or 12 that could be playing Monday night. I'm extremely proud of my team for being here and handling all the things they did. It's been a very difficult year for me as a coach, no question about that. The injury situation, worrying about hurting Tyler, worrying about hurting Ty, Marcus (Ginyard) coming back and not coming back, Will (Graves') suspension, Tyler Zeller's broken wrist. It's been a hard year for me as a coach.

"There has been a target on our back. But I'd much rather have a target on my back than be the team that nobody thinks is going to be any good, because sometimes (the prognosticators) are right. The best thing about this team is, we have kids with great character. We have some characters, too, but this is a team with great character."

NCAA Tournament Action

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At times during his media session, Williams grumbled. He sounded ticked off when he arrived, perhaps soured by criticism that he allowed Lawson to wander into a downtown Detroit casino the other night and win $250 playing craps. "First of all, we're having a slight disagreement up here, because if I'm doing this now, don't expect me to stay around for 30 minutes after they leave," he said of double-duty interviews. "I have more important things to do than stand around here and make fun. I'll give you 30 minutes. I love doing it, but there's some other things I could be doing."

He ended up staying the extra 30 minutes anyway, complaining about the raised court in Ford Field that can be dangerous when a player chases a loose ball. "I do not like the raised floor as a coach. I do not like it at all. If I ever turn into an architect, I would not build a gym like that," he said. "If I'm a head coach or athletic director, I will never have a building built like that. That is extremely uncomfortable to me personally. I don't like the safety. When we played here before against Michigan State, we had a guy go off the court, one of their players. That scared me. I almost fell off the stupid court. That scared me."

Curiously, he mentioned how the job's demands are starting to weigh on him, becoming the second coach in two nights to invoke the name of former North Carolina coach Dean Smith. The first was Connecticut's Jim Calhoun, who is 66 and engulfed by issues and ready for the retirement chair. Roy is, what, 58? What's he upset about? "There's no question, the demands for your time are more -- and more exhaustive," he said. "The time of the day that I spend on coaching gets less and less and less. The time you spend with alumni, with fund-raising, with the media, with recruiting, with whatever, gets bigger and bigger. That part of it, I think, ran coach Smith out of it. I think if it hadn't been for that, he would have stayed in the game a few years longer. He tried to tell me to not let it run me out. There are so many more demands now than there were, definitely than there were 21 years ago when I became a head coach."

But Williams does have a heart, which has a rope connected to his tear ducts. He is deeply indebted to Hansbrough and the seniors for staying a final season. Sunday, Williams realized he was about to conduct his final practice session with them. "I tell the kids all the time, snap your fingers and that's how quickly your four years will pass," he said. "You know, I'm corny, there's no question about it. I'm emotional. This senior class has been really, really important to me. These guys came in after the championship year. We didn't have a lot coming back. They competed from the first day. You know, you can't say which child you love the best because you don't ever think in those terms. That's the way it is with players. The classes that I've recruited in 21 years, this is one of those that is special. Tyler to keep coming back, his work ethic, focus. Bobby, through the stress fracture, the foot, the ACL. Marcus, the trouble he's had this year. For Danny Green to go through the things that he's done and be a sub, giving us great help, being a starter, doing the things.

"I do realize today is gonna be the final practice. In some ways, that's hard. But I'm gonna remember the great times."

He recalled the time 10 years ago when the Los Angeles Lakers approached him. Imagine Roy Williams, not Phil Jackson, coaching Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. It could have been his baby. "I almost made a dumb, dumb mistake. I went home one night and told my wife, 'Maybe I've got to try that pro stuff,' " he said. "I've been offered several opportunities with the NBA. I was so discouraged with recruiting that I just said, I can't do this anymore. Then along came Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden (at Kansas) -- three great kids, great players, great families, who showed us you could do it the right way. It was so much fun, it gave me hope. It lasted and it's still lasting."

In a building thick with hope and love, Michigan State won't lose to Carolina by 35 points again, as the Spartans did in December. In some ways, this is the most anticipated title game in years because of Izzo's romance with the people. But Roy Williams looms as the spoiler.

Somehow, it's a role perfectly suited for him.

UNC Looms as Villain in MSU Fairy Tale originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:32:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Green Dream Soothes Ailing City, State

Jay Mariotti — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:34:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA Basketball

DETROIT -- On command, when a local kid named Durrell Summers lifted off and nearly decapitated Stanley Robinson with a vicious dunk, a moving wave of green-swept humanity rose and rocked. Yes, your honor, this was a ridiculous homecourt advantage, a home-FIELD advantage of about 45,000 local crazies in a 72,500-seat football stadium, an advantage in ways freakishly unprecedented in the fiercely neutral extravaganza known as the Final Four.

Ford Field is guilty as charged.

And not a soul with a conscience should complain about it.

Final: Michigan State 82, UConn 73 | Final: UNC 83, Villanova 69

A dying city and troubled state have been pumped with life, joy and fun by a college basketball team. That's all anyone should care about today, regardless of whether Michigan State's partisan orgy created an unfair obstacle Saturday evening for favored Connecticut. The auto plants are crippled and begging for bailouts. The unemployment rate in Michigan is 12 percent, highest in the land. People are being tossed out of their homes. The former mayor was jailed in a text-message/affair scandal. Crime is a perpetual plague. On the desperate downtown streets, you'll see a homeless person begging on every block. The American economy is diseased, and Detroit is the poster child.

So when Tom Izzo and the Spartans provide a local stimulus plan, if only for a weekend, why should we do anything but stand, applaud and marvel? A good team has transformed into an inspirational, blue-collar team, with Izzo's old-school formula of defense, rebounding, selflessness and physicality fueling an 82-73 victory and a berth against powerful North Carolina in Monday night's national championship game. College programs normally aren't rallying forces in a recession, but in Michigan, the two major state universities always have been vibrant sources of sporting pride. And with North Carolina perceived nationally as a blueblood program that has been to 18 Final Fours, well, let's just say America has an easy decision regarding a rooting interest.

"It was hard to explain the emotion of the day. I told my team that I'm not gonna try," said Izzo, who has been masterful in maximizing his team's talent and rallying the MSU cause around a state's woes. "I felt (the spirit) the day we came here. I felt it at the hotel. I felt it driving to practices. I felt it at practice. We had a pep rally, and I felt it with all the people there. But my favorite time today was driving to the game. You go by some tough homes, tough places. I did make that, you know, the important part of this game. I've always said, as a player, you've got a chance to be a difference-maker, a role model, a chance to do things to make other people smile and other people feel good about you.

"We are the blue-collar team. This is the blue-collar city. It was just amazing to walk out of that tunnel for the people in Detroit. That was an incredible setting. Yes, there were a lot of Michigan State fans. I am appreciative for that. I hope we were a ray of sunshine, a distraction for them, a diversion, anything else we can be. And we're not done yet, so hopefully we can continue to make them feel a little better and us feel a lot better."

His players are embracing the emotion, too. Star guard Kalin Lucas, a native of suburban Sterling Heights, Mich., listed his hometown as Detroit for the first time during pregame introductions. "Yeah, it was my decision. My grandma, she stays two minutes away from here," he said. "I have lived with my granny before and I've lived with my parents also. So today, I just wanted to represent the hometown of Detroit. I do know people who have had hard times, who have been laid off of they jobs or whatever. It is hard times in Detroit. So we just came out and played hard, played aggressive for the whole 40 minutes for the crowd. We just ran 'em."

"I think everybody is having hard times. Rich people losing their money -- you know, poor people ain't getting no money," guard Travis Walton said. "When you're in this type of atmosphere, you want to play for yourself and your team, but you also want to play for Detroit and your state."

How tough was Sparty amid such a heavy backdrop? We almost saw the first brawl in Final Four memory late in the first half. There was Walton, knocked to the floor under the basket by UConn forward Jeff Adrien, bouncing up with an in-your-face challenge. That led UConn's 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet to push Marquise Gray, and suddenly, the refs had to work feverishly to calm players from both teams. Jim Calhoun, the UConn coach, rushed onto the court to make peace. It isn't often when a Big East brute is overpowered by a team from the Big Ten, generally known for its softness and irrelevance. Such is the heart and fire of Michigan State, which becomes a story for the ages with one more victory.

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"The toughest players win," Izzo said. "Everybody has all their great players, and somebody is going to make a few more shots than somebody else. It really comes down to who is going to cut out on the free-throw line, who is going to get the loose ball."

Lest anyone think Connecticut is brooding about the crowd disadvantage, think again. "The 72,000 people quite frankly could have been 7,000 people as far as I'm concerned," Calhoun said. "It didn't affect us. I think it affected them. When they made very good plays out there, they obviously had incredible reinforcement. That probably, for them, made a difference. Didn't make a difference for us."

"When you're on the court, you're not paying attention to the crowd," said UConn guard A.J. Price, whose college career ended with a disappointing 5-of-20 thud. "You pay attention to the game, try to play as hard as you can. It really didn't make a difference."

Like Louisville last weekend, UConn has more talent than Michigan State. This could be a program-changing loss, then, if Calhoun, who is battling health issues and a brewing recruiting scandal, chooses to retire. I'd suggest that it's time to go, not wanting his mounting issues to take years off his life. Have you heard him ramble lately at press conferences? Does he make any sense? Every day, it seems, Calhoun is in another fix -- the latest involving his claim Friday that the NCAA imposed a gag order on him regarding the recruiting mess. "I said a gag order. I was reprimanded about that," he told the media. "Would you please not take everything I say literally, please? I'm trying to do the best I can. I know I'm not very accessible to you. But would you not do that, please? Would you please not do that? I had to say that because, you know, I was asked not to say it. And they're right. I've just been asked not to speak to the facts of the case."

So why come back? Late in the night, he sounded like a man who might not return. "Some of the things, some of the disappointments I've had, particularly over the past couple weeks, some people that I really care about who -- benefit of the doubt is usually what I try to give to most people," said Calhoun, addressing one media member in particular, apparently a Hartford writer. "I think you and I go back a long way, we probably had a couple of spats, and I always try to give you the benefit of the doubt after we have our spats. I don't think with a lot of people who I care about, like, respect, I don't think they've ever given me the benefit of the doubt. For that, it's a personal thing."

Next came a shot at two other writers -- possibly the Yahoo! Sports team that broke the stories about alleged recruiting improprieties. "I probably shouldn't be expressing it, but that's just who I am. I couldn't be more disappointed in two people who just jump in and all of a sudden become the expert on who Jim Calhoun is," he said. "That's incredibly disappointing to me. And it would be to you, too, by the way. It would be to you because you have respect for them. Then you see the fact that they, in turn, say things without any factual basis whatsoever and just jump along.

"So those kind of things -- that's why (former North Carolina coach) Dean Smith told me at 67, he got out. It wasn't basketball. It was the other things. He wasn't winning enough championships. He was getting too old. I do love the kids, love the game. I don't plan to go anyplace. But I'm going to give it a lot of reflection, maybe more reflection than normal, because of that."

The dark clouds over Connecticut, where Calhoun blundered last month by fumbling a question about his $1.6-million pay in the current economy, are in stark contrast to the sunshine in The Izzone. If Detroit has quivered for days, might the city explode in glee Monday night? "I think that Tommy has done a masterful job of putting the woes of the auto industry and Detroit and Michigan on his back," Calhoun said. "I never thought they could do what they did to Louisville. I honestly mean that."

And what will it be like for Izzo to wake up Monday morning and play for a national championship 90 miles from campus? "I'm not sure that's registered yet," he said. "I'm trying to make sure my team realizes that the goal of great programs is to win the weekend, not win the game. We've got another game to play. I was on the CBS show after the game, and they were waiting and waiting. I think (broadcaster) Jim Nantz felt like, 'I'm keeping this guy forever.' I said, 'Jim, chill out. I can stand here for another day. If we can prolong our game and play it later, I don't mind standing here at all.'

"The day was surreal. And now it all turns to scouting and seeing if we can make the dream, the miracle, everything come true one final time."

If they do, it will be a vintage example of sports and young people healing human pain. Astonishingly, Detroit feels like paradise right now.

Green Dream Soothes Ailing City, State originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:34:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Casinos, Nosebleed Seats: Innocence Lost at Final Four

Jay Mariotti — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA Basketball

DETROIT -- If Jim Nantz utters even one mushy word about the innocence of the Final Four, please muzzle him. As it is, the games will be contested inside a bubble of greed, a football dome that wraps 72,000 mostly bad seats around a basketball court positioned at midfield. As it is, the NCAA has joined marketing hands with the International Management Group, a firm that represents college coaches and pro athletes and only invites conflicts of interests. As it is, the idea of "student-athletes " playing in an amateur environment is farcical.

But all assertions of purity officially vanished the other night. That's when North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson, maybe the most important player left in the tournament, wandered into one of downtown Detroit's three casinos and won $250 playing craps for an hour. I realize Lawson did nothing illegal because he's 21. I realize he's technically not violating any NCAA rules. Yet I wonder with considerable alarm why he was in a casino when the poisonous bane of college sports always has been gambling, specifically point-shaving. The NCAA fears such scandals like nothing else, to the point of regularly issuing stern warnings to athletes, asking past point-shaving violators to speak to teams and coining a slogan -- "Don't Bet On It " -- that sums up its sweeping anti-gambling stance.

Apparently, no one told North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who has been in the sport forever and really should know better. He gave his team a 1:30 a.m. curfew -- not the smartest plan, either, in a troubled city that isn't exactly Charlottesville, Va. -- and didn't warn his players about the casinos. Seems Williams doesn't have much of a handle on his team; Lawson, for one, says he gambles in casinos often and added that his UNC teammates previously joined him for a gambling adventure in Reno, Nev., where the Tar Heels didn't fare as well as they did in winning the South Regional last weekend.

"We got in last night, and Coach gave us a curfew of 1:30," Lawson revealed Thursday. "I went over to Greektown and won about $250. So I already had my time there. It's probably the last time I go there before the games start."

Probably, he said.

"The only time I lost was in Reno; that's when everybody on the team lost," Lawson continued. "It's the only place I lost. The other five or six times I did gamble, I won at least $500."

Well, congratulations on that, Ty.

As for Williams, he hopped on his elitist horse Friday, choosing to mock anyone who didn't see Lawson's wagering as harmless fun. Never mind, of course, that the Carolina program is supposed to represent all things classy. When pushed into a corner, Williams simply reinvents the mission statement.

"Didn't talk about it before we came," he said of the casinos. "We had two of our guys go to the casino, Ty Lawson and Marc Campbell. I talked to them. They're both old enough; it is legal. I find it humorous that somebody would want to ask. It's strange, if we don't want those kids doing it, don't put the Final Four in a city where the casino is 500 yards from our front door. And they've got a great buffet in there. I mean, come on.

"The other thing is, you know when we got here? Wednesday. I mean, I'm not gonna tell my guys they got to stay in the room and watch Bill Cosby reruns for four days, c'mon. Those two kids, we talked to them. One of my video coordinators went over there with them, not that he needed to. I would not have any problem with it. I just told the kids, If you think you're going to do something questionable, talk to me about it first. I have zero problems with Ty doing it. I went and gambled myself."

NCAA Tournament Action

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Here is where Williams' explanation devolved into attempted folksy humor. "The reason I did was not the same reason that Ty did," he said. "When I came here this year to play Michigan State, we stayed at MGM (in Detroit). And I went down and shot craps, we lost, and we won the game. I go to Reno to play Nevada-Reno, and I stayed in a casino, and I went downstairs and shot craps and we lost, and my team won. So you got to be a halfway idiot if you think I'm not going to go gamble and lose money before this game. I have gambled and I have lost. I'm doing every daggum thing I can do to win the game, including give Detroit my money. "

Yuks aside, can we at least try to preserve whatever smidgen of youth and morality remains in collegiate sports? It's as if 2009 was chosen as the year to remind America that the Final Four is a hideously big business. As usual, Tom Izzo gets it, saying Friday that he warned his team about casinos. "I think I was a step ahead," the Michigan State coach said. "I think when you look at them on some NCAA committees, you look at the problems everybody is worried about with sports in general. Let's face it: This is an image tournament to a certain extent. There will never be this many media that kind of come together for one event in any other athletic event they'll participate in. So that's what I try to talk to my guys about."

Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, in hot water over a recruiting scandal, didn't hesitate to comment on how he's handling his team this week. "Our curfew has been tight, number one. Number two, we told them (the casinos were) off-limits," said Calhoun, who said the NCAA has issued a gag order and isn't allowing him to comment on his own in-house issue. "I'm sure if (Lawson) had it to do over again, just like some other things in life, you do them over."

Williams is right about one thing: Hypocrisy is everywhere in Detroit, starting with the NCAA itself. When asked about the local casinos before the Lawson news broke, NCAA president Myles Brand expressed concern about the gambling issue. "Well, I warn against that slippery slope. It's a fair question," he said. "We do not permit anyone connected with intercollegiate athletics to gamble on sports, pro or college sports. What a student does, plays bingo in his church, for example, while we discourage that, we prefer not to try and regulate that particular kind of activity. But it's highly discouraged."

So tell me, Dr. Brand. Why did the NCAA place a Final Four in a city with casino gambling? Hmmm? "Detroit is a wonderful venue. It's really, truly outstanding," he babbled on. "And the city has turned out for it. We're very pleased with the reception we've received. Everyone has not only been kind, but they've been very helpful and professional. We're very pleased to be in Detroit. We think this is a privilege for us to be here, particularly at this time that Detroit is going through some difficult financial times itself. We're happy to help and we're happy to leave something behind, as well."

How convenient of Brand to shift his course when he was sitting inside Ford Field, the first in a new wave of Final Four cash-cow, maximum-attendance stadiums that will bring unprecedented profits to the NCAA. In recent years, to avoid the appearance of too much greed, Final Fours were played in domes with large curtains drawn to divide the stadium in half -- such as last year in San Antonio, where 43,000 fans watched. But from this point on, through 2016, the court will be placed at midfield in monster buildings, which robs an eye-pleasing, athletic sport of its unique intimacy. And while no one is forcing fans at gunpoint to buy tickets, the enticement of being at the Final Four led to the usual sellout -- and an inevitable groundswell of anger when 50,000 reach their seats Saturday and realize they need binoculars.

Maybe some will be so thrilled to be at the Final Four that they don't care. My guess is, in a horrible economy, more will wonder why they spent $100 a ticket to get a nosebleed and watch the games on a big-screen TV. The timing is terrible for a 72,000-seat Final Four. For basketball itself, the timing never would be good for an arena on steroids. The participants, of course, are respectful of the configuration, simply happy to be here. No one is happier about Ford Field than Izzo, who knows the majority of seats will be filled with Spartans fans driving short distances.

"You could argue there are not as many great seats," Izzo said, "but I think a lot more better seats, good seats."

Leave it to a coach who isn't here to be more honest. "I don't think it's a good basketball venue, " Kansas coach Bill Self told the Associated Press, not recalling Ford Field fondly even though it was part of his road to a national championship last year. "It's no comparison to San Antonio in terms of the crowd being involved. Ford Field is nice; it's just not a good basketball venue "

The NCAA's response? If you don't like it, deal with it. "If you're coaching, playing or watching a game here for the first time, the vastness might seem awkward because it's not something anybody is used to, " said Bill Ryan, boss of the local organizing committee. "As time goes on and this becomes the norm, I think people will like it."

And to think the NCAA Tournament started 70 years ago in a little dive on Sheridan Road in Evanston, Ill. Patten Gymnasium, it's called, and 5,500 people watched Oregon beat Ohio State for the national championship. It illustrates how out of control the NCAA has become. In addition to allowing IMG in its domain, the powers-that-be are allowing casino advertising, too. Brand has a problem with casinos ... and not casino advertising? Money, money, money turns intelligent men into flip-floppers. "The dunk contest last night, three-point shot contest. Who is it sponsored by?" Williams asked. "A casino. What a great country we live in. "

But just because the NCAA has sold out doesn't mean North Carolina can loosen its morality code. Simply, a 21-year-old point guard playing for a national title should not be gambling in a casino in a Final Four city.

A good bet: Jim Nantz won't be talking about this on the telecast.

Casinos, Nosebleed Seats: Innocence Lost at Final Four originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Calipari Will Save Kentucky From Itself

Jay Mariotti — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:53:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA Basketball

It's a marriage of mutual necessity. He needs them -- and, oh, do they need him, as sure as Ashley Judd can fill a "Go 'Cats'' t-shirt. The anguished looms at Kentucky need John Calipari because he'll hustle, sell the program, recruit stud players, kiss babies and embrace the psychotic romance that is Big Blue Nation. And John Calipari needs Kentucky because, well, he still isn't roundly accepted as an elite coach, a perception he'll change if he resurrects a fallen dynasty.
Hell, if Calipari takes Kentucky to a Final Four anytime soon, they just might put him in a "Guitar Hero'' commercial. And hopefully, he'll be asked to keep his pants on, because no one wants to see Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski, Bob Knight and Rick Pitino in their underwear.

He couldn't possibly have stayed at Memphis, where he has maximized an above-average program and fought a stigma of playing cupcake schedules in the inferior Conference USA. In the national discussion, it's time for him to stop playing defense with an overachiever and give himself every built-in chance to win a championship with a resource-rich powerhouse. Kentucky still has the haughtiest tradition in the sport, plays in a cathedral in Lexington and practices in a $30 million building far grander than most arenas at other programs. The problem, of course, is the tradeoff: the intense scrutiny of a state that draws its identity and esteem from the Wildcats. For coaches who can't handle the borderline insanity, it becomes a bad job, as Billy Gillispie would say as he ran away from a TV camera crew on his firing day and Tubby Smith would say as he fled to Minnesota.

My assumption is Calipari will handle the deep fryer better than those men. His outgoing personality is well suited to glad-handing boosters and hugging grandmas, job requirements unique to Kentucky basketball. Yes, it's silly and almost disturbing to think the coach at UK has to be the most important person in the state, particularly in troubled times. But we saw Calipari stroll into Memphis, a depressed city with its share of problems, and turn the Tigers into the predominant source of civic pride. Did you notice the 48-hour vigil outside his home, when a fan placed a sign with two messages -- "NOT FOR SALE BY OWNER" and "STAY CAL" -- in the front yard? Five police cars had to block off part of the street, positioned to fend off TV camera crews. Speaking of TV, one station set up a Cal Cam outside an entrance at the school's basketball headquarters. Then there was the scene at a doughnut shop, where Calipari stopped by, told some friends that Kentucky would happen and that Arizona had offered him a blank check over the weekend. No one knows Calipari better than his nomadic mentor, Larry Brown, who told the Associated Press that he had no choice but leave Memphis for the huge job.

"That community, that town, just adores John and respects what he's done. But it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Brown, allegedly coaching the Charlotte Bobcats. "I think all along, he's always been thinking in the back of his head, 'I'd love to be (on a big stage).' And how can anybody fault him? If he leaves, they're going to be upset, but it's because he's done such a phenomenal job."

He came within a couple of mental lapses and missed free throws of winning a national championship last year. He had the best incoming recruiting class in the country, too. So just think of what Calipari might accomplish at Kentucky, where he'll command the national spotlight, appear on ESPN regularly and try to live up to that checkerboard of squares on the lobby floor in the Craft Center facility.

Checkerboard, you ask? Yep, the squares that feature each of Kentucky's national title years -- 48, 49, 51, 58, 78, 96, 98 -- followed by a blank square for the next championship, whenever that may happen. Gillispie, a self-described workaholic bachelor, was too aloof as he attacked the ultimate challenge in college hoops.

Calipari has more balance in his life, as a family man with a sense of humor, and he won't back down from what Gillispie called unfair expectations. "If they don't win every game, I think they ought to be on the coach all the time," the deposed coach said with a smile over the weekend. "I think they need to turn the heat up on that a bit any time they lose a game."

The Kentucky family believes Calipari will thrash through the pressure, to the tune of a reported $35 million over eight years. He becomes the highest-paid coach, in total pay, in collegiate sports. Too much in a crippling economy? Not when you consider the pressures, the demands. "We understand the challenge and importance of finding our next caretaker for this very special basketball program," athletic director Mitch Barnhart said. ``We desire for Kentucky basketball to be a part of the championship picture every year; that is our goal.''

No one should be shocked if Calipari makes immediate impact in the suddenly limp Southeastern Conference. His glittering recruiting class at Memphis includes two blue-chippers, 6-11 center DeMarcus Cousins and 6-6 wing Xavier Henry, who could leave for Kentucky.

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Calipari also has a strong relationship with John Wall, the nation's top prep point guard. And while it's possible the best two players from Kentucky's team, explosive scorer Jodie Meeks and big man Patrick Patterson, will declare for the NBA draft, what if Calipari talks one or both into staying?

That's why Kentucky needs Calipari. He brings immediate cred and results. And why does he need them? Because if he pulls this off in a blueblood program reduced to utter joylesness, he'll finally win universal respect as a gold-standard coach of his era. When Calipari gathered his Memphis players the other day and described Kentucky as the Notre Dame of college basketball, he nailed it. Just as the Fighting Irish brand has faded, so has the UK brand. The problem is that Gillispie was Charlie Weis and unable to awaken the echoes.
Calipari will.

And he'll do so in a heated in-state environment with Pitino, who doesn't get along with Calipari and will conduct recruiting warfare down I-64 in Louisville. In that sense, Calipari will be trying to repeat what Pitino already has accomplished in returning Kentucky to glory. There are unsubstantiated rumors that Pitino, who absorbed a bitter loss Sunday to Michigan State and has suffered two straight defeats in the Elite Eight, will leave for Arizona. Assuming he stays, look for some serious scorched earth across the 75-mile expanse between Louisville and Lexington. It hardly was coincidence that Pitino, when asked last weekend at the Midwest Regional, endorsed two of his former Kentucky players for the job: Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford and Arkansas coach John Pelphrey. Think he wants any part of the Calipari Storm?

"Kentucky's a very unique job. I'm sure it's very similar to Notre Dame football and Alabama football,'' Pitino said. "I'm not naming the coach, but I'll stick my two cents in. For me, last time around -- Billy Gillispie is a terrific coach -- but I would have immediately hired either John Pelphrey or Travis Ford last time around. It's such a unique job that you need to win over the fans. You need to win the press conference right away. Pelphrey and Travis are brilliant young coaches. On top of that, they're beloved by the Commonwealth of Kentucky and all their fans, what they call Big Blue Nation. So for anybody, it's a big adjustment. For those guys, it's not. Those two guys, you cut them open and it spells UK. That's what I would do."

And why not a big name -- such as, hmmm, Calipari? "Everybody looks for these marquee names, big names. I think football got really smart,'' Pitino said. "Instead of looking for the marquee names, they went after guys that can really coach and really recruit. It takes a little bit of homework.''

Come on, Rick. Stop snowballing us. Tuesday, he finally did in lauding --grudgingly? -- the Calipari hire. "He's done a great job at UMass. He's done a great job at Memphis, and he would do a great job at Kentucky," he said. Pitino was a New Yorker who didn't know Kentucky from Mississippi when he took over a scandal-ridden mess from Eddie Sutton in 1989. He quickly won over the fans with pressure defense, homegrown kids sprinkled with major recruits and plenty of success, with a national title coming in 1996. He left to run the Boston Celtics, then returned to Louisville. Calipari is Pitino 20 years later.

Convinced that Gillispie was the problem, and that the sociology of Kentucky basketball is perfectly sane, university president Lee Todd is holding Calipari to even higher standards. "You have to be an ambassador to this program,'' he said. "[Gillispie] had a lack of understanding that this job is a complete job that requires a lot more than just coaching and recruiting. It's kind of like the president's job; nobody ever writes out exactly what you have to do, but there is a lot to it. And philosophically, I think we need someone who nurtures the entire Big Blue Nation, has the philosophy that this is a very unique opportunity, a very unique job and it's one that is a lot broader.''

By the way, he was referring to the President of the United States.

But I think Calipari is up to it. Years ago, he was something of a punk, engaging rival coach John Chaney in an embarrassing press-conference screaming match and running a program, Massachusetts, that was forced to vacate a Final Four berth when Marcus Camby took gifts from an agent. A failed experience in the NBA humbled him, cleansed him and led him to Memphis, where he stayed out of trouble, created his own baby and damn near won it all.

In Lexington, I think he will. And then, maybe he and all those crazy people in the Commonwealth will find peace for once in their basketball lives.

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Michigan State's Kalin Lucas is interviewed Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State faces Connecticut in an NCAA men's college basketball tournament Final Four semifinal on Saturday. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

Baylor's Curtis Jerrells (0) drives past San Diego State's Billy White (32) during the first half of the NIT semifinal college basketball game on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

San Diego State's Kyle Spain (15) fights for control of the ball with Baylor's Darren Kent (45) during the first half of the NIT semifinal college basketball game on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Michigan State's Chris Allen, left, passes the time by shooting as other players are interviewed Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State faces Connecticut in an NCAA men's college basketball tournament Final Four semifinal on Saturday. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

Baylor's Denis Clemente (5) shoots over San Diego State's D.J. Gray (23) during the first half of the NIT semifinal college basketball game on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, left, talks with assistant coach Mike Garland on Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State faces Connecticut in an NCAA men's college basketball tournament Final Four semifinal on Saturday. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

Michigan State senior Goran Suton is surrounded by reporters and photographers as he is interviewed Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State faces Connecticut in an NCAA men's college basketball tournament Final Four semifinal on Saturday. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

Michigan State's Travis Walton, left, speaks with the media after practice at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan, Tuesday, March 31, 2009. The team was getting ready for this weekend's Final Four in Detroit. (Julian H. Gonzalez/Detroit Free Press/MCT)

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Michigan State's Goran Suton does a one-on-one interview during player availability after practice at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan, Tuesday, March 31, 2009. The team was getting ready for this weekend's Final Four in Detroit. (Julian H. Gonzalez/Detroit Free Press/MCT)

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Michigan State's Draymond Green sits for an interview after practice at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan, Tuesday, March 31, 2009. The team was getting ready for this weekend's Final Four in Detroit. (Julian H. Gonzalez/Detroit Free Press/MCT)

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Calipari Will Save Kentucky From Itself originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:53:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Izzo's Best Coaching Job: Quieting Critics

Jay Mariotti — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:19:00 EST

Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, NCAA Basketball

INDIANAPOLIS -- On his tippy toes, he might be 5-10, very easy to lose in the enormity of a football stadium where faces look like matrix dots and crowd noise drifts to the ozone. But no one strikes a larger pose in the Midwest today than Tom Izzo, public defender of the Big Ten's battered self-esteem. If trends and hipness start on both coasts in America, college basketball in the heartland also has been taking on an irrelevant, plodding look, to the point I stopped watching.

And I live in Chicago.

Then came the irked intruder, Izzo, who admittedly is tiring of Digger Phelps, Dick Vitale and the bullhorn campaign that has been anointing the Big East as the greatest conference ever and downgrading the Big Ten into something between a mid-major and YMCA league. Hearing that Michigan State would be served as Sunday brunch for Louisville and the $2,000-suit mystique of Rick Pitino, Izzo spent the eve of the Midwest Regional final launching an impassioned defense of his conference. First, he said the Big Ten hasn't had favorable matchups in this NCAA tournament, which could have been perceived as sour grapes.

"I think sometimes, we anoint a league,'' said Izzo, referring to the Big East. "Sometimes, matchups at this tournament in general for everybody, every year, can determine who wins and loses. Certain teams don't play as well against certain teams. For some reason, you think of Louisville, you think of racehorse basketball. I think we've averaged, like, two points less than them this season. So I'm giving my normal hurrah for the Big Ten because I think too many people, especially some on TV, have abused it.

"I think our conference, top to bottom, is also one of the best in the country. I really do. And I think sometimes, people evaluate that on how many points you score or what goes on or what perception you have. And I don't agree with that.''

When someone challenged him, Izzo fired back. "`When you look at some of these other leagues, if somebody has a couple teams out (of the NCAAs), how do I say this without starting controversy, my favorite subject?'' he said. "You know, we've been in four Final Fours in 10 years. Three of them, we've had two Big Ten teams in it. I didn't hear anybody saying how great the Big Ten was. Case closed.''

His grand speech could have backfired and perpetuated the Big Ten's misery. Instead, it will be remembered for motivating his team to heights not thought possible this March. Rather than perish like the other league clunkers, Michigan State delivered the most fundamentally sound performance of the tournament, using Izzo's time-proven formula of defense, rebounding, offensive balance and toughness to disorient Louisville and eliminate a Big East powerhouse perceived by many -- myself included -- as the national championship favorite.

This could be remembered as a watershed game in the industry. It could lead Pitino to Arizona after Louisville's second straight defeat in the Elite Eight. And it could lead Izzo to Kentucky, which is ready to make him the highest-paid coach in the college game. But first, Izzo is headed to Detroit, to another football stadium where Michigan State wll be the home team in a 72,000-seat configuration and trying to inject joy into a blighted, unemployment-wracked ghost town.

Take that, Big East.

Clearly in his Izzone after the 64-52 romp, he could have gloated, sure. But it's not his style. His statement was left on the court inside Lucas Oil Stadium, where his high-efficiency, high-energy team held the potent Cardinals to their second-lowest point total this season. Remember what we said about Terrence Williams being the best all-around player in the tournament? Scratch that. The Louisville stud was held to five points on 1-of-7 shooting against furious, feisty man-to-man defense while a roulette wheel of MSU weapons -- none bigger than center Goran Suton, who introduced the Final Four to his native Bosnia with 19 points and 10 rebounds -- took turns demoralizing the overall No. 1 seed. Leading this team to the Final Four might be Izzo's finest piece of work, not that he'll say so.

"You don't think I'm going to sit here and rip 'em, do you?'' he said of the Big Ten critics. "I got more class than that. You know, I understand the whole thing. Louisville's a very, very good team. Last year everybody said -- Bobby Knight picked Pittsburgh, and I was saying to myself, me, too. I loved the way Pittsburgh was playing. They played great. Just happened on that day, we were able to beat 'em. I must admit, though, we've been fighting all year for some credibility. I don't know if this does it or not, but it was definitely a big start.''

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Oh, this does it, all right, at least bringing renewed credibility for Izzo and his program. When Vitale, Phelps and the boys are critical of the Big Ten, they should leave Michigan State out of the equation and realize Izzo has reached the Final Four five times in the last 11 years, more than any program in that span, and now is 5-1 in regional finals. In pulling it off, he reconfirmed his place among the best coaches in the college game and gave the Final Four an unlikely angle: Michigan State playing 90 miles from campus, in Detroit's Ford Field. It's the first time in 15 years, since Duke bussed over to Charlotte, that a team will play a national semifinal in its home state. But Duke staying in North Carolina hardly carries the symbolism of the Spartans playing in a dying city that needs hope and life.

All season, Izzo has emphasized the Ford Field angle. He talked about it with his players before the game. Now, their dream has arrived, with a winnable matchup against Connecticut ahead on Saturday evening. "It's as big a win as our school has had because we're going to Detroit, and that's been a dream and a goal since they announced where the Final Four was in 2009," Izzo said.

He and his players are ready to embrace the bigger meaning of the host site. "It's been a tough time. But our state has been hit maybe as hard as anybody's,'' Izzo said of Michigan's auto-based economy. "I'm just hoping we're a silver lining in what's been a bit of a cloudy year for us. I'm hoping that we're the sunshine, I'm hoping we're something to embrace, be involved with, and I hope they all support us because, you know, I haven't even had time to think about UConn. But they got a guy that is fairly big (7-3 Hasheem Thabeet) and does a pretty good job, and a coach (Jim Calhoun) that's fairly ornery and does a pretty good job. So it should be one helluva game.''

Concurring with Izzo was a familiar face in the sea of green.

"Detroit needs something, Michigan needs something to feel good about," said Magic Johnson, wearing his Michigan State garb in the 30th-year anniversary since his epic NCAA title game against Larry Bird. "Right now, the whole state is feeling good about this Michigan State team."

There is this matter of Kentucky, though. Arguably the most popular guy in the state -- outside University of Michigan precincts, that is -- Izzo will have to decide whether he wants to be a lifer in East Lansing or try another challenge. He has rejected NBA overtures, most recently from the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls, but Kentucky will come at him hard. And given the chance to deny interest, he didn't. "I don't think there's a guy on this planet that would ever say he's not going anywhere, not doing anything," Izzo said Saturday. "But at the same time, I've got so many goals and so many things I'd like to accomplish here yet. When Final Fours come up, Sweet 16s and Elite Eights, Michigan State's name is always in there. (A national title) is my ultimate goal right now. I've still got a lot of work to do to accomplish that. We've put a heck of a dent in it. But when you look at Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, we're not at that level yet, and that's the level I'd like to get to."

As a friend of Tubby Smith, a coach couldn't flee Kentucky quickly enough, Izzo knows about the unrealistic expectations and insane pressures in Lexington. "It's a tough job because it's demanding and expectations are high,'' he said. "But I don't know if there's any job that can put more pressure on a person than he puts on himself if he's really good and he's really competitive and in that mold. I feel pressure at Michigan State, you know, to maintain or even grow from what we've done. At the same level, I did not like what happened to Tubby Smith personally. I just know that I'm happy he's at Minnesota, happy he's in the Big Ten, and sad that now we got to play against each other two, three times a year. It's harder to keep our friendship.''

He was kidding. For all his success, Izzo remains an affable, down-to-earth family guy who buys his own groceries and takes out the garbage. That doesn't mean he isn't a tough S.O.B. Take the War Drill. Upset after a loss in 2000, Izzo asked the Michigan State football coach at the time, Nick Saban, if he could borrow several sets of helmets and shoulder pads. Then he had his players put on the equipment and pound on each other. "We're going to learn how to hit somebody and get a rebound," he told them. To this day, Izzo uses the drill when he thinks his players are fragile. Sometimes, they use pads; sometimes, they don't.

"The war drill has no out of bounds,'' said guard Travis Walton, the team's defensive specialist. "They shoot the ball. It's five-on-five. Everybody just runs at each other, trying to get a little basketball. So we just go at each other, no fouls called. You're grabbing, you're pulling, you're scratching. Sometimes people get to bleeding and different things like that. When they get real tough, we put the football pads on."

Said Izzo: "It seems brutal and cruel, but there is a mission to the madness."

That mission was as apparent Sunday as a poke in the eye or an elbow to the chops. The Midwest may be soft and passe, but don't mess with Michigan State. The short man with the large heart will silence the biggest mouths out there.

Izzo's Best Coaching Job: Quieting Critics originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:19:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zip It in Reynolds Wrap: Villanova Wins Big East Classic

Jay Mariotti — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 01:50:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA Basketball

BOSTON -- If you felt a shiver or tingle Saturday night, a quaking in your solar plexus, it's because you witnessed an epic basketball game, one of the virtuoso classics of March or any month. I mean, did Bill Raftery need oxygen afterward? This was destined to finish with the boldest, loudest exclamation point possible, given the 15 lead changes, palpable tension and Big East-style physicality in the building.

It was just a matter of who, what and when.

And then, in a magnificent flash, it happened. That the moment would belong to Scottie Reynolds, the embattled Villanova guard, made it grander. In enemy gyms, jerky kids with no lives actually chant, "Scottie doesn't know," which might be intended as a Euro Trip reference but almost certainly is meant as a savage reference to how Reynolds was put up for adoption as a baby by an 18-year-old single mother. He never has met the woman, although, with the urging of his adoptive parents, he has done investigative work and figured out who she is. He's waiting for a good time to call her.

I'd say he just gave himself a cool opening conversation piece. Remember Tyus Edney's 4.8-second, court-length romp through the Missouri defense for the game-winning layup, which pushed UCLA toward a national championship in 1995? Reynolds brought back memories with a similar dash, taking a pass near midcourt, winding upstream, sifting through the lane past Pitt's football-like bodies, then flipping up a shot with barely a second remaining as he fell to the floor. Every fan in the arena was standing. Security guards ringed the court in TD Banknorth Garden, sensing an emotional explosion and a rushing of the court by fans. America stopped what it was doing and stared at the TV. How would it end?

With a coating of Reynolds Wrap, ziplocked for posterity. The shot floated through the hoop with a mere 0.5 left, a shocker that gave Villanova its first Final Four berth since 1985, when Rollie Massimino and the Wildcats stunned Georgetown for a national championship in the ultimate college basketball miracle. There was a rush of joy, followed by a pause because time remained and Levance Fields, Mr. Madness, plays for Pitt. When Fields heaved a 65-foot prayer that would have won the game, as he often wins games in the final seconds, every soul in Villanova blue was paralyzed by fear. The ball smacked off the glass, bounced to the floor and vanished in the gathering celebration, which found Reynolds racing over to his coach, Jay Wright, and weeping on his shoulder for almost a minute.

"I didn't even see the ball go in," Reynolds said. "Everybody just rushed the court, and then Coach is pulling everybody by the neck and saying, `The game is not over. There's time left.' And then something crazy could happen, which we've seen before. When the ball left Levance's hands, it was right on target to go in. A little less off the shot and we could be in another position now."

He was asked to describe the play, which involved him taking a pass from Dante Cunningham, who caught the inbound pass from Reggie Redding -- the same inbounder, by the way, who'd thrown a wild, ill-advised, court-length long ball that resulted in a turnover and allowed Pitt to tie the game at 76-76. "It's something we do every day in practice at the end," Reynolds said. "They face-guarded me, and when that happens, Dante makes a flash to the middle of the floor and I make a second cut away from him, going toward the basket. We had a stagger going on the opposite end ..."

Wright cut him off, amazed at the hero's coach-speak and why he was giving up trade secrets. "You can coach with me when you're done playing. You got the job," he told Reynolds as laughter filled the interview room. "You don't have to interview."

"Oh, my goodness," Reynolds said. "Well, I just made a layup."

The mother of all layups, actually.

"In that situation, you have four dribbles and a shot," he said. "That's five seconds. All that goes in your head. That's why we practice that, so we can make an instinct play. It worked tonight. Only has to work once."

We'll never forget this game, this 78-76 masterpiece. Put it on the all-time list with the long lob to Christian Laettner, Keith Smart's jumper, Bryce Drew's catch-and-shoot, Lorenzo Charles' "What's this?" winner and Edney. But the hero's personal story might be better than the game.

"He has struggled in college and he has fought through some adversity," Wright said of Reynolds. "We go on the road and people chant, `Scottie doesn't know' and it never bothers him. He's amazing. I have as much respect for him as anyone I've ever coached."

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During the post-game celebration, Reynolds received the love that often has eluded him. A star as a freshman -- he once scored 40 against Connecticut -- he has endured ups and downs in his Villanova experience, in part because Wright employs a system that downplays individuals and emphasizes team. He didn't arrive on campus as a happy camper, having been burned when Kelvin Sampson bolted Oklahoma for Indiana, forcing Reynolds to vacate his original commitment to OU and sign with Villanova. Like a lot of people these days, Reynolds isn't fond of Sampson, who left Indiana amid a recruiting scandal.

"I put my faith in one person and all my eggs in one basket, and I felt like I couldn't trust anybody no matter what they said to me," he told reporters on the eve of the East Regional final. "Having nobody that I knew on the team (at Villanova), I didn't have anybody to talk to. I just stayed in my dorm room and just waited for the next day to come and waited for the next day to get on the court."

In those tough times, when he clashed with Wright over philosophy, he relied on the parents who raised him. He sometimes wonders if he'd be alive without Rick and Pam Reynolds, who made him part of a family with five other kids in a childhood spent in Virginia and Illinois. Who knew he'd grow up to star in a tale that will live in NCAA tournament lore? "Oh, man, it's so many emotions going through my head," he said. "It's something that you think about as a youngster, advancing to a Final Four or winning a championship."

And to think it almost didn't happen. Why oh why did Redding, with a two-point lead and eight seconds left, fire a ball from his own baseline to the other baseline, overthrowing Cunningham? Pitt's Jermaine Dixon retrieved the ball and tossed it to Fields, who was fouled and, of course, made two free throws with five seconds left to tie the game. Wright made it clear that the Statue of Liberty gimmick wasn't his call.

"We have to be (OK with it) because we put him in that position," he said. "It's easy to watch film and criticize and critique, but it's hard to be the guy that's in the battle and make the decision. So we always tell them in those end-of-game situations, we have to trust your decisions. If that would have cost us the game, we would have applauded Reggie for the guts to make the play. Now, as a sensible basketball person, I can say it probably wasn't a great decision. But within our team, and we did talk about after the game, he knows we trust him on that and we would have been there to pick him up if that would have cost us."

I'd call him a coach I'd want to play for. The family atmosphere is why Wright and Villanova have become the darlings of March, finally breaking through to the Final Four after several flirtations. You might say Pitt choked, having led by four points with three minutes left before committing two quick turnovers, one when the talented but maddening big man, DeJuan Blair, inexplicably traveled after playing a high-risk game with foul trouble in the first half. Jamie Dixon will continue to hear criticism about why he can't reach the Final Four, which will become doubly difficult next season without seniors Fields and Sam Young and possibly without Blair, who might declare for the draft and take his sizable butt to the NBA. Pitt is now 1-7 against top-five seeds in the big tournament.

"Obviously, it's a game that I guess people will talk about as far as a great game," Dixon said. "But right now, all we're reflecting on is a disappointment. But I'm not disappointed at all in the effort or character we displayed."

And Pitt's defensive effort on the last play? "We did a pretty good job of what we did," he said. "They floated (the pass to Reynolds) up there, and it was really a jump ball and could have gone either way. I don't know if that was exactly what they had planned. I would doubt it. But as far as the kid, he made a tough shot. Scottie Reynolds made a tough shot."

The better and smarter team won the game. The team that hit 22 of 23 free throws -- five of six in the final minute -- won the game. Now, prepare yourself for a week of comparisons to the '85 Villanova team. This team was seeded third in the East, much higher than Massimino's outcasts. But a story line is a story line, as Wright knows.

"It's kind of eerie how this is playing out. I hope to God history repeats itself (laughter)," said Wright, who was in Lexington when 'Nova pulled off the shocker. "I worked Rollie Massimino's camp, I was there like a hanger-on. I was part of that family. The thing with Rollie was, if you worked his camp, you might as well have been the top assistant -- everybody was in the family. And my wife was a cheerleader there; she had just graduated.

"(At the time), that was kind of the greatest year in the Big East history, and we've had discussions whether that year was better than this year. So that was similar. Villanova was a great team, but St. John's and Syracuse and Georgetown were the teams that year. Villanova kind of sneaks in. And then it's all happening the same now. I'm not a superstitious person or anything, I don't care. I'm worried about the next game. But if history repeats itself, I'll take it."

I don't know if history is repeating itself. But I do know history was made Saturday night in a sports town rich in legends.

Zip It in Reynolds Wrap: Villanova Wins Big East Classic originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Sun, 29 Mar 2009 01:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Worst Job in College Hoops: Kentucky Fried Chaos

Jay Mariotti — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:20:00 EST

Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, NCAA Basketball

BOSTON -- Tubby Smith is much too dignified to laugh out loud, or LOL in the text-message age. But for all the abuse he took at Kentucky during a decade that was absolutely dreadful -- a national championship, a 263-83 record, an NCAA tournament appearance every season, just horrendous stuff -- who could blame him if he wanted to giggle to himself Friday?

Seems the bluegrass has turned to fertilizer in Lexington.

Smith's once-golden successor, Billy Gillispie, was dismissed after two tumultuous seasons at the most blueblooded of college basketball programs. Remember when those obnoxious, overscrutinous UK creatures ripped Smith as "Ten-Loss Tubby" and rejoiced when he left for Minnesota? Well, Tubby never lost to Gardner-Webb and VMI at Rupp Arena. And Tubby never lost by 41 at Vanderbilt and at home to a 12-18 Georgia team when the Wildcats were trying to create late momentum for an NCAA bid. And Tubby never would blow games with confounding substitution patterns. And Tubby wouldn't have had two studs on his roster, an explosive scorer in Jodie Meeks and a skilled big man in Patrick Patterson, and settled for an NIT booby prize, breaking an 18-year streak of invites to the biggest March gala.

Yeah, we all should be laughing out loud at the arrogance of Kentucky. It hangs a state's entire identity on a basketball program and expects the coach to be a folksy local ambassador who makes the Final Four every spring, only to freak out when the powers-that-be don't do their homework and watch Billy Clyde become an aloof, disoriented flop. Maybe the bluebloods should realize Kentucky, which hasn't been to a Final Four since it last won a national title in 1998, no longer is America's premier program. It's stuck in the middle of the muck now, certainly not on the plateau of North Carolina, Kansas and -- this is going to hurt like a backhair-peeling session -- Louisville.

Predictably, Friday felt a lot like the last time Kentucky needed a coach. When Smith left, huge names were immediately targeted, but Florida's Billy Donovan said no and Villanova's Jay Wright and Texas' Rick Barnes rebuffed interest. Once again, before Gillispie could put the FOR SALE sign in his front yard, UK officials were on the horn with Donovan this week. How humiliating that they're now 0 for 2.

"In response to the rumors circulating about my interest in other jobs, I wanted to address this as quickly as possible. I am committed to the University of Florida and look forward to continuing to build our program here," Donovan said in a statement Friday, amid false reports he had cut a deal with Kentucky.

That must be a record for the quickest job-squelching denial.

You never know about Donovan's wavering mind -- he flipped after accepting the Orlando Magic job and returned to Florida -- but more likely, the search will center on two candidates. One is very well-known, Memphis' John Calipari, who is tiring of the Conference USA-is-weak stigma and might be ready for a new challenge after losing to Missouri in the Sweet 16. The other, Oklahoma State's Travis Ford, has a lower profile but passes political muster as a former Kentucky guard. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart will call Wright, Barnes and Michigan State's Tom Izzo, among others, but all would be making lateral moves and shouldn't be expected to leave. "It's a crazy business we're in," Wright said here Friday as Villanova prepared for the East Regional final against Pitt. "I always used a line with our assistants when they complain about things -- it's like The Godfather, this is the life we chose. It is what it is. You have to deal with it this time of year.

"I feel very fortunate I'm in a spot I don't have to deal with it. I'm happy to be at Villanova. I don't want to be anywhere else. Someone mentions your name, you're flattered. You're crazy if you don't say that, or you're not being truthful if you don't say that. But I don't want my name mentioned anywhere. I love Villanova. I've got a great athletic director, great president. As long as those guys are there, I'm good. And I can concentrate on coaching. A lot of times when you're not in that position, it's distracting."

Distracting? Gillispie was so rattled by the Kentucky experience, he twice berated an ESPN female sideline reporter, Jeanine Edwards, who reportedly had rejected his romantic flirtations in the past. Did you see him Friday, literally running away from a TV camera crew when he entered the basketball complex? I didn't know whether to laugh or give him a hug. The other night, after a loss to Notre Dame in the NIT, he turned religious, saying, "There's only one judgment that I'll really ever be concerned about, and I hope I pass that judgment. That's the only one I will ever be concerned about, and I'm really proud that's the only judgment that will ever have a real effect on me, and I hope I pass that one with flying colors."

Wow. Heavy. If I were advising any coach interested in the Kentucky job, I'd suggest you stay where you are.

Unless you want to be the next KFC.

Kentucky Fried Coach.

"All I know is to go to work, recruit, coach," Gillispie said on his final radio show. That's not nearly enough at Kentucky, where they want you to kiss babies, hug grandmothers, speak at the Rotary Club and be the biggest guy in the state. Rick Pitino and Joe B. Hall pulled it off, probably because they also were winning national championships. Smith never pulled it off because the drought grew lengthy after his first title and, well, some people in the state are bigots. Gillispie, a workaholic, never even attempted to schmooze the UK masses. They may have accepted his standoffish attitude if he'd won, but in his two years, he went 2-10 against top 25 opponents -- 0-5 this season. "A lot of teams would be happy with 22 (wins), but not always around here when it's not the right 22," Gillispie said.

At a press conference Friday, Kentucky officials made it clear that he wasn't what they wanted in a coach. "You have to be an ambassador to this program," said the school president, Dr. Lee Todd. "He had a lack of understanding that this job is a complete job that requires a lot more than just coaching and recruiting. It's kind of like the president's job; nobody ever writes out exactly what you have to do, but there is a lot to it. And philosophically, I think we need someone who nurtures the entire Big Blue Nation, has the philosophy that this is a very unique opportunity, a very unique job and it's one that is a lot broader."

"This is not just another coaching job,'' Barnhart said. "(Gillispie) spoke to things that were not in his job description, just about winning and losing and improving. This program is bigger than that. There's much more to it than that. It's something that you watch over a period of time, and this season came to an end and it became apparent that there were some differences in where we wanted to be. Sometimes, it's not the right fit, and that's my responsibility."

It's possible there is no right fit at Kentucky. We should have known this marriage was doomed when Gillispie refused to sign a contract that paid him $2.3 million a year. He never really explained why, but it was obvious he didn't trust someone or something. By not signing it, he botched a $6 million buyout, which goes down among the dumber contractual moves in coaching history. "Suffice it to say, it will be less than that," Barnhart said of the buyout amount.

Zero? Less than zero?

In retrospect, Billy Clyde Gillispie should have stayed at Texas A&M, a football school where hoops expectations are low and his performance level was high. He dared to take the Big Blue Gamble and let it end in tragicomedy, with a beaten man sprinting away from a camera crew, fleeing as quickly as possible from his basketball hell.

The coaching profession should take notes. Kentucky is a bad, bad job.

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Worst Job in College Hoops: Kentucky Fried Chaos originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fields Is Mr. Madness, But Fear Villanova

Jay Mariotti — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:11:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA Basketball

BOSTON -- He looks like a chew toy, or something out of a puppet show. His dreads flop over a headband that would stand out more prominently if not for a midsection best described as doughy. His name is Levance Fields, and sometimes, he'll drive you to exasperation with reckless dribbling into traffic and corkscrew jumpshots heaved for no apparent purpose or reason.

But when a basketball game bleeds into its final frantic minutes, as Pitt games always do in this NCAA tournament, Fields suddenly transforms into the most cut, buffed, magnificent-looking specimen on the court. He has a way of rising to a moment and strangling it, which explains why Sports Illustrated featured him on its cover this week and why, on a Thursday night in whatever they're calling the modern-day Boston Garden, he supplied more evidence for his burgeoning resume as Mr. Madness.

If Villanova rattled the March infrastructure with a complete dismantling of Duke, which never looked more soft and wimpy after being figuratively slugged by the Big East toughs, Fields was the bailout specialist. In what kindly can be called an ugly, unappetizing scrum, Pitt again played like a team unworthy of a No. 1 seed and ready to crash as usual in the Sweet 16. This was another abysmal clankfest that damaged America's collective optic nerve, with the Panthers making only 33 percent of their shots and allowing the equally sloppy Xavier Musketeers -- who scored four points in the first 11 minutes of the second half -- to take a late lead. Were we watching an East Regional semifinal or The Biggest Loser?

"To be honest, it was a very winnable game for us,'' said Xavier's in-hot-demand coach Sean Miller.

At one point, Fields was exchanging bitter words with teammate Gilbert Brown after a turnover, which came after Jermaine Dixon tripped over his feet in mid-air and blew an uncontested layup. Pitt was going down, it seemed, and for the sake of basketball aesthetics and purity, its demise would be a good thing.

Then the clock ticked to under a minute, Levance Daylight Time.

Trailing 54-52 to the feisty X-men and Miller, who once starred as a Pitt point guard and tried to out-Pitt the Panthers with grinding defense and rebounding, Fields dribbled into the frontcourt and had the ball knocked past the midcourt stripe. He trotted back and retrieved it, returned to the other end and saw DeJuan Blair setting a screen with his sizable rear end. As usual, Fields chose to seize the situation himself, not wanting to merely tie the game.

"I did a little in-and-out move which created just enough space and got them on their heels,'' he said. "And once I got the separation, I took the shot and had all the confidence it would go in. And once it went through, it was a good thing.''

Of course, it went through, a 3-point bomb with 50.9 seconds left that gave Pitt a one-point lead. Seconds later, when Xavier's B.J. Raymond mishandled the ball, Fields raced in, stole it and romped for a layup and a three-point lead. Next thing you knew, he was sprinting off the court toward the Pitt bench, waving his arms and almost tackling his coach, Jamie Dixon. That quickly, that inevitably, he again had saved a team that might not deserve to be in the Elite Eight but arrived anyway, for the first time since 1974, which should quiet Dixon's many detractors for at least a day. No one of sane brainpower would pick Pitt to win a national title right now. But the Final Four is one victory away, with a 60-55 win tucked away in a dirty sock drawer while Villanova -- which smacked Duke with its worst NCAA tournament loss since 1990 -- awaits Saturday in an unsurprising all-Big East final.

"He was still mad, telling me the game wasn't over,'' Fields said of his crash-into-me interlude with Dixon. "I was excited for Coach, as good as he has been for this university. The biggest knock against him has been not getting a Final Four appearance and not getting past the Sweet 16. So this is just a step toward that. And I just wanted to embrace him because he deserves it."

Dixon laughed. He has seen this ending before, many times. "I never get tired of watching Levance take big shots,'' he said. "He has made them year after year. Our guys believe in him. I believe in him. And that's all that matters.''

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He's a cocky kid from Brooklyn who stuck out his tongue and swirled it around his mouth during the post-game media conference.

Starting in high school and continuing through his Pitt career, Fields has been making shots to win games. Never mind that Blair and Sam Young are bound for the NBA while Fields is headed for the YMCA. Everyone at Pitt knows who takes the last shot. "DeJuan, Sam, those guys are our two horses, our stars," Fields said. "But when the game's on the line, I'm going to have the ball. The biggest thing for us is confidence. I feel confident when I have the ball and I want to take that last shot.

And my teammates and coaches feel the same way. They want me to have the ball."

That's no lie.

"In those situations, I like Levance,'' said Young, who continued his hot March run with 19 points.

"Me, too,'' said Blair, who struggled to score with 10 points but ruled the paint with 17 rebounds.

The Big Three will have to be better if Pitt is to survive Villanova, which proved it can thrive outside a Philadelphia homecourt advantage with a 77-54 defensive stomping of dispirited, disappointing Duke. The defeat ended Mike Krzyzewski's longshot hopes of completing an unprecedented perfecta -- an Olympic gold medal last August, followed by a national championship -- and extends his Final Four drought to five straight years. Rejoice, Duke haters everywhere! But even Coach K, who has won just one NCAA ring the last 17 years, was quick to praise a Villanova shutdown fueled by quick, physical guards who turned Duke's skilled shooters -- 47 percent from 3-point land in two NCAA tournament games coming in -- into hack artists.

Gerald Henderson, who chose Duke over Villanova in a recruiting war? He shot 1-for-14 while mired in foul trouble.

Jon Scheyer, the deadeye who had played so well since moving to point guard last month? He went 3-for-18.

Kyle Singler? He went 5-for-13.

"They're really a good basketball team. They were better than we were,'' said Krzyzewski, his voice scratchy at times. "And I want to thank my team for an amazing season. For me, it was a memorable one. We're disappointed. We didn't play as well as we would like -- Villanova had a lot to do with that. But this team has been a great team for me to coach. I love these guys.''

It's nice to love your kids. But Villanova creamed the Blue Devils on second-chance points and on the boards. "I would never think in a game that Jon and G would go 4-of-32,'' Krzyzewski said. "I'm disappointed for them. Not in them."

Duke needs a post player and a point guard. "It's not like we haven't tried to find them. They go to other schools,'' said Coack K, who no longer can walk into a gym and hand-pick every recruit.

The long-overdue Villanova coach, Jay Wright, has a cohesive, star-less system that wore down Duke and can wear down Fields and Co.

The defensive display even surprised him. "I don't think Gerald got a shot off 1-on-1,'' Wright marveled. "We really defended for 40 minutes, but that's why I'm really excited about this team. We knew we could win games offensively. But you're not going to advance against great teams if you don't play defense.'' To complement the guards, 6-foot-8 forward Dante Cunningham is emerging as an inside force with ideal timing. Like Pitt, Villanova has been making a tournament push in recent years, only to fall short. Now Wright is thinking about his first Final Four, 24 years after the school's greatest basketballmoment: the miracle win over Georgetown that still ranks among the greatest upsets in American sports

"It's funny, the guys on our team right now, I just made this mistake a couple of weeks ago,'' Wright said. "I was referencing the national championship team and just in general, I said, how old were you when we won it? And they all looked at me and said, 'We weren't even born.' Our practice facility, when you walk in, there's a big screen where they play the song "One Shining Moment" and they relive that run. And I hit that button every time I go in there, so everybody that is behind me looks at it. They see it every day.''

What about this year?

"We're getting better this late in the year,'' Wright said. "We can see guys improving and our team improving. That's exciting.''

"They've got a chance to do something special,'' said Krzyzewski, who had a lengthy heart-to-heart afterward with Wright. "They play defense, handle the ball well and have scorers. They're a tough, tough basketball team.''

The matchup in the East Regional final will be fascinating. To some degree, Pitt finally slayed a stigma. No longer is the Sweet 16 a brick wall. ``It definitely means a lot for us as players, the coach and the city,'' Young said. ``It's something that everybody has been waiting for a long time, and to give them that is a pleasure.''

Said Dixon, who succeeded Ben Howland in 2003 and has struggled to gain national respect: "I've always looked at it as, if it was easy to get to the Sweet 16 more teams would do what we've done. Only two teams have got there as much as we have. So it's an accomplishment. But again, somehow we've turned the Sweet 16 into a bad thing -- and it's not. It's a good thing.''

Still, a nagging ache hasn't gone away. Armed with major talent in Blair, Young and Fields, Pitt still isn't playing to its potential.

All you need to know is, Blair has a picture of downtown Detroit -- site of next weekend's Final Four -- in his campus room. ``We understand that no game is going to be easy. Fortunately for us, in some ways, we still haven't played our best basketball,'' Fields said.

"We're positive in this situation. It hasn't been a blowout for us, but we're making the plays down the stretch when the game is on the line. And we keep advancing and, hopefully, on Saturday, we can play better. But if we have to win again like this, we'll take it.''

In other words, they have three more unattractive games to win.

It's one thing to survive Xavier, quite another to topple a team that some in Philly will compare to Rocky Balboa.

Don't buy it.

Villanova is no underdog.

Fields Is Mr. Madness, But Fear Villanova originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:11:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UConn Legacy in Doubt After Scandal

Jay Mariotti — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:58:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA Basketball

As in any developing scandal, the paramount question here is, "Who knew?" In the case of the UConn Con, it's more than clear that the Connecticut coaches knew about a former student manager, Josh Nochimson, and his relationship with a recruit named Nate Miles. The issue becomes whether they also knew that Nochimson, a sports agent accused of stealing more than $1 million by at least one famous client, was providing Miles with lodging, transportation, meals and representation while UConn was recruiting him.

If the coaches were aware -- and the NCAA concludes that thousands of phone calls and text messages made to Nochimson in a two-year period, some by head coach Jim Calhoun, violate the spirit of a new institutional rule called "coach control" -- well, folks, we might be looking at our next Kelvin Sampson/Indiana superscam in college basketball.

And that would bring down one of America's celebrated programs, a team that has a chance to win a national title 11 nights from now in Detroit.

Just when March Madness rises to a chalky, marquee-name crescendo, the Badness inevitably invades and reminds us of the sport's ever-present sinister underbelly. Spurred Wednesday by a Yahoo! Sports report, the NCAA likely will investigate a Connecticut program led by a Hall of Fame coach, Calhoun, whose health remains a major concern and already has landed him in the hospital with exhaustion during the big tournament. It shouldn't surprise anyone if Calhoun, 66, retires in a few weeks following a tumultuous few seasons that have included erratic play, a second bout with cancer and a foolish episode in which he publicly battled an activist who questioned the logic of his $1.6 million salary amid an economic crisis. To depart during a probe would be a sad way to go out, but the details seeping out of the Storrs, Conn. campus are sadder.

According to the report, UConn assistant Tom Moore, now the head coach at Quinnipiac University, knew of the Miles-Nochimson connection as early as the fall of 2006. In December of that year, Moore reportedly made 27 phone calls to two people described as Miles' guardian and uncle and three calls to Miles himself. The NCAA forbids more than one call a month to a recruit or family member in such a situation. If Moore was the conduit between the program and Miles-Nochimson tag team, it will be difficult for Calhoun and university athletic officials to claim a lack of knowledge and involvement -- particularly when records obtained by Yahoo! indicate that five UConn coaches exchanged at least 1,565 phone and text messages with Nochimson, with 16 coming from Calhoun. This would attach Nochimson directly to the program, an association that prohibited him from being involved in Miles' recruitment, much less showering him with perks and dealing with his family.

Effectively, he would have been a representative of the program -- an agent and booster -- engaging in illegal recruiting activities. Did Calhoun know? It doesn't help his cause that another player who recently signed with UConn, a former Sudanese refugee forward Ater Majok, also is affiilated with Nochimson. And that Nochimson represented NBA star and ex-UConn guard Rip Hamilton until Hamilton fired him and accused him of stealing more than $1 million. And that Nochimson represented another former Sudanese refugee, Luol Deng, in failed negotiations with the Chicago Bulls, forcing Deng to hire another agent to finish his long-term extension last year. True, Miles never played for the Huskies -- he was expelled last October -- and Majok won't be eligible to play until next season. That means UConn won't be in jeopardy of forfeiting victories during its current run to the Sweet 16, where they'll battle Purdue Thursday evening in Glendale, Ariz. But though the Huskies will be playing in a domed football stadium, a cloud will be over their heads.

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San Diego State's Tim Shelton, center, celebrates after scoring between St. Mary's Patrick Mills, left, and Omar Samhan, right, during the second half of a quarterfinal NIT college basketball game Wednesday, March 25, 2009 in San Diego. San Diego State won 70-66. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Oregon State center Roeland Schaftenaar, left, drives on Stanford center Josh Owens during a men's College Basketball Invitational semifinal in Corvallis, Ore., Wednesday, March 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Stanford guard Anthony Goods, left, drives on Oregon State guard Ricky Claitt during a men's College Basketball Invitational semifinal in Corvallis, Ore., Wednesday, March 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

San Diego State's Billy White (32) slams over St. Mary's Wayne Hunter (24) during the first half of a quarterfinal NIT college basketball game Wednesday, March 25, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

San Diego State's Richie Williams, left, drives past St. Mary's Patrick Mills, right, during the first half of a quarterfinal NIT college basketball game Wednesday, March 25, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

San Diego State's Kyle Spain (15) fouls St. Mary's Diamon Simpson (20) as he shoots during the first half of a second-round NIT college basketball game Wedsnesday, March 25, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

St. Mary's Patrick Mills, center, drives between San Diego State's Lorrenzo Wade, left, and Richie Williams, right, during the first half of a quarterfinal NIT college basketball game Wednesday, March 25, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Notre Dame forward Ryan Ayres and fans celebrate following Notre Dame's 77-67 victory over Kentucky in a college basketball game in the quarterfinals of the men's NIT on Wednesday, March 25, 2009, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody smiles after Notre Dame's 77-67 victory over Kentucky in a college basketball game in the quarterfinals of the men's NIT on Wednesday, March 25, 2009, in South Bend, Ind. Harangody led all scorers with 30 points. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie watches his team late in a 77-67 loss to Notre Dame in a college basketball game in the quarterfinals of the men's NIT on Wednesday, March 25, 2009, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

In the middle of the storm is Calhoun, who did absolutely nothing to knock down the Yahoo! report, other than to say he doesn't know how to get to the site on the Internet. Someone should give him a computer lesson. His legacy in the sport is on the rocks.

"The university is taking any allegations towards its program .... very responsibly and tries to live under the responsibility of the NCAA rules," Calhoun said. "The university is going to look into any matter, as we would, when we hear light of something with regards to .... making sure that we are being compliant."

And what is his relationship with Nochimson?

"I'm not going to speak about any individual," Calhoun said. "He was with our program for six years, got his master's degree. Beyond that, while he was in our program, he was a good kid, worked hard, etc. That was my relationship with him during that particular point in time. I have a very close relationship with Rip, going to Rip's wedding in June as a matter of fact. But that's basically my characterization. I don't want to go into detail as far as anything else."

Athletic director Jeff Hathaway said he was in touch with the NCAA during Miles' recruitment and suggested the governing body was aware of details "the whole way." But I'm sure the NCAA wasn't aware of 1,565 phone calls and text messages, numbers that sound alarms in the aftermath of the Sampson case. The difference, of course, is that Sampson's program at Oklahoma had been involved in an impermissible-phone-call mess when the same violations took place in his Indiana program. Still, such a phone flurry at UConn suggests an in-house disregard for the rules. That could spell big, big trouble.

If the agent business always has had its share of parasites, the landscape is scummier than ever. Agents are getting involved with players early in their teens and are directing them to certain college programs, which is dirty pool. In an interview with the Associated Press, Thomas Pettigrew, Miles' uncle, said of the controversy, "I just think he got mixed up with the wrong people. There was a whole bunch of adults who should have been doing their job instead of doing what they did. That's how society is. They chew you up and spit you out. If they can use you, they use you. I think the whole situation is funny, because I'm sure there are people who are supposed to be looking over that."

Allow me to point out that Pettigrew wasn't talking about one person. He was indicting many, not a good sign for UConn. More big-time programs are involved in these agent relationships than you know; some just happen to get caught. For Calhoun, it's another tough blow in a hard life. There he was again, having to talk about a scandal instead of a basketball team that was hugely impressive in the first two rounds.

"I have been through a couple things in my life, and I've learned how to stand up to those," he said. "Once again, I have no control over some things that have happened to me from my father's death (when he was a teen) to all the various things that have happened in my lifetime. All I know is to go forward, stand up and be counted. That's exactly what I plan to do and get my team as ready as I possibly can to play Purdue. That's what I know how to do. That's what I have been taught by my dad, by my mom. My family has been taught that. My two sons have been taught the exact same thing. We've got to go forward. We can't dwell on anything that was said, not said, make any evaluation of it except let other people who can at this particular point in time look into what they need look into."

At the very least, it has become a media distraction for a team that seems destined to play Memphis in the West Regional final. Maybe it won't affect the players when they're on a fast break or trying to get a defensive stop, but with more national media covering UConn as the tournament progresses, questions about Nochimson are just beginning. The players say they're immune to it. "We are just mentally tough," Jeff Adrien said. "It starts with our coach. We don't let stuff like that bother us or whatever. We have been through a lot of ups and downs in our lives and everything. We just know how to block it off."

"We really don't pay any attention to it. We don't really know anything about it, have nothing to say about it," A.J. Price said. "Yeah, we just focus on the things we know how to do, which is play basketball. We just go out there and take it one game at a time. Everything else will eventually come out in the wash and take care of itself."

But what if the dirt doesn't come out in the wash? Calhoun told his players to ignore the fallout, enjoy watching the Suns game in Phoenix on Wednesday night and try to enjoy the moment. He told them, "Fellows, you probably are going to see something on TV, a couple different things. It is something that occurred a year or two ago, whatever it may be. Just to let you know, the university is taking very good care of it. They will look into it. As far as we're concerned, we are here to beat Purdue, and I want you to know that. If you vary from that, you will look back and say 'I was worried about something that didn't really affect me one way or the other' and we let opportunities slip by.

"The one thing in life is, you only get so many opportunities. You get beat by a buzzer-beater and you go home. You play them well, you advance and your team appears to be getting better -- it is a great opportunity for us. That's what we talked to the kids about, and then we shut it off."

If only it was that simple to shut off a stinkbomb.

UConn Legacy in Doubt After Scandal originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:58:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pitt Has Mighty Muscles - Not Stuff to Win

Jay Mariotti — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:04:00 EST

Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, NCAA Basketball

DAYTON, Ohio -- DeJuan Blair's arms are so humongous, he wears bicep bands, tiny strips of cloth stretched to the brink of snapping. At 6-foot-7 and 265 pounds, he could play tight end in the NFL or enter the Octagon, proving it Sunday when he shook off a furious collision that left Oklahoma State's Byron Eaton literally crying in pain on the bench. Levance Fields, too, could put on the big pads as a safety, absorbing a blindside pop in the chops and bouncing right back up. Sam Young? A 6-6, 220-pound wideout, no doubt, when he isn't listening to Go-Go music.

No. 1 Pitt 84, No. 8 Oklahoma St. 76: AP Recap | Box Score | Bracket | Scores
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What America wants to know, though, is whether these three astounding athletes can lead the University of Pittsburgh to a national championship in ... basketball. And my continuing take, after watching Pitt nearly blow its second-round game after almost becoming the first No. 1 seed to succumb to a No. 16 seed, is a firm no. This team tempts fate too often. This team doesn't handle the ball well against smothering pressure, as shown in a gruesome performance against East Tennessee State. This team lapses into mysterious lull periods and grows careless, such as when Fields lazily whipped a cross-court pass halfway to Chillicothe, allowing Oklahoma State to rally and take a late lead. This team isn't as technically solid as the elite contenders, relying on explosiveness and board-pounding but capable of losing to anyone at any time.

Even Fields, who recovered Sunday to make the biggest three-pointer of his life and lead Pitt on its 84-76 survival mission, acknowledged that his club isn't playing its best basketball when the urgency of the NCAA Tournament demands it. "Right now we're not,'' he said. "But it's just about getting it done and finding ways to win. And we had two tough games, but in both games, we found a way to win. The thing that probably (hurts) the most is turnovers, 18 (Friday) and 14 (Sunday). We've got to cut down on that. We average about 10 in the season. With us cutting down on that, it gives us more opportunities for shots, gives us more opportunities for offensive rebounds for the ball. Right now, we're not on all cylinders, but this tournament is about surviving and advancing.''

"It's a tough bracket we're in," argued Blair, who managed 10 points and 12 rebounds after a first-half collision that left him with back pain. "We're just fighting through it."

NCAA Tournament Action

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Tough bracket? East Tennessee State and Oklahoma State? Sorry, we need to see Pitt do more than survive and advance this time. Style points matter more in a program dogged by the stigma of never having reached a Final Four, at least in the tournament's modern era. Since 2002, first with Ben Howland and then with disciple Jamie Dixon, the Panthers have averaged 27 wins a season. But they've never cracked through to the Elite Eight, making their top seeding in the East Region something of a flimsy perch. Survive and advance? That isn't what Connecticut did in its collective 82-point slaughters. That isn't what North Carolina, Villanova, Syracuse and Oklahoma did. Those teams made statements in both rounds. Pitt, which has talked of making history, just about made history of the wrong sort in committing 18 turnovers and giving up 19 offensive rebounds in its opener. If ETSU made more than half its free throws, Pitt would have lost the game -- and lost face forever.

Xavier would seem a favorable opponent in the Sweet 16 in Boston, but that's the round where Pitt traditionally goes to die. And knowing how Villanova offers its own brand of physicality, I'm starting to like Jay Wright's chances of reaching the Final Four more than Dixon's. Another year without a national championship means another year outside the sport's pantheon, looking in. Dixon knows that won't sit well with those who cares about such things.

"It puts you on a different level,'' he said of a national championship. "That separates you. We need to win one to put ourselves on the same level with those schools that have."

Is this team capable? "We can put the ball in the basket,'' Dixon said. "We're unselfish, and we've got balance inside and out. I know they've got stats that show as far as points per possession, and we've kind of been at the top of the country the entire year. The only thing recently is the turnovers have been higher than usual. That's not characteristic of us, and that's the thing we've got to control and do a better job of. So we're going to really emphasize that here in the coming days.''

Pitt can be proud of the way it finished against Oklahoma State. The Big Three made every big play in the deciding moments, starting with a layup by Fields and his dagger three from the corner, made possible by a Young pass and pick. With 40 seconds left, Blair went high for yet another offensive rebound and scored on a putback, easing the tension. This team's game is rebounding and brute force, with a 42-21 advantage (19-5 on the offensive boards). But here's a better question: Why does a team with such lopsided edges struggle so often? Oklahoma State went daffy in the first half with 10 three-pointers, but had only two in the second half. How did the Cowboys stay in until the end?

"Our guys were in there scrapping and clawing and doing everything possible they could to rebound," coach Travis Ford said. "We would go up 10 feet and Blair and Young would go up 11."

Young also scored 32 points, consistently nailing first-half treys to keep with OSU. That's the thing about Pitt -- Fields, Young and Blair are three of the biggest stars of March. But sometimes, the three aren't clicking at once. "I didn't really give my team nothing in the first half," Blair said. "I'm going to have games like that. But when we're all clicking, we're going to be tough to beat."

It's getting late, gentlemen. At least Young was there with the bailout plan. "I was in the zone,'' he said. "I shot it well from three the last game, and I wanted to come back out and try to piggyback off of that. And I started taking a couple of shots and everything started opening up for me. It all just came together.''

Blair avoided foul trouble, the fatal flaw in Pitt's losses this season. But now he has to worry about his back after his violent dust-up with Eaton. "I was out for a hedge, and he came shoulder first into my leg and it pushed my leg back a little bit,'' he said. "It was a little stinger, I guess. You saw how everybody was scared for a minute. I was scared myself. When I went to the (locker room), I was back there aching. It was hurting. I got stretched back there and it was all right. I'm just going to ice it and hopefully it will be better.''

Louisville, my favorite to win it all, had a similar late scare in the nightcap at the University of Dayton Arena, a submerged hall that looks like a junior-high school gym beside the fast-food joints and trucks of Interstate 75. Mighty Siena, one of those charming darlings that still bring romance to March, went on a run and took a four-point lead with seven minutes left. Imagine a Catholic liberal arts school of 3,000 students, upending a No. 1 seed in one of the colossal upsets ever. But the difference between Pitt and Louisville is Rick Pitino, the master, who called successive timeouts and reminded his players to emphasize their trademark defense. It helps to have the tournament's most complete player is Terrence Williams, who took responsibility late with his scoring, rebounding and passing. When he was growing up, Williams emulated Michael Jordan. Now?

"Magic Johnson always looked to pass, and he always smiled," Williams said. "That's where I get it from."

Fields isn't quite as smooth. He actually looks a little soft in the middle. But if Pitt is going far, he'll avoid the bad cross-court passes and continue dominating in crunch time. "Being a leader and a point guard, I take the blame," he said. "I'm not trying to take it to be a hero or a scapegoat. It's just the truth. It starts with me. As a point guard, that's what you always want. And I like to think my coach and my teammates all trust me in that situation, having the ball. Down the stretch, Sam did a great job of being unselfish and throwing it back out to me, and it was an open shot and I made it.''

Though we've seen some fabulous finishes and fun games, there is an air of predictability so far. For the first time in tournament history, the top three seeds went 24-0. I originally picked four Big East teams -- Louisville, Pitt, Syracuse and UConn -- to reach the Final Four.

I still like three of them.

Pitt Has Mighty Muscles - Not Stuff to Win originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:04:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Caution Advised on Calhoun's Nice Story

Jay Mariotti — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, NCAA Basketball

PHILADELPHIA -- Uh, oh. Jeff Adrien was posing for the cameras and woofing, enjoying this blowout a little too merrily. You could say it was a "Yo, Adrien!'' moment in Rocky Balboa's city, and while Connecticut was comfortably en route to a 92-66 rout of Texas A&M, my eyeballs instinctively shifted to Adrien's coach, Jim Calhoun, who doesn't suffer self-posturing well and needs no stress in his life.

Impressively, he handled the scene with aplomb. Calhoun looked at Adrien, lifted both hands in a stop-it gesture and simply said, "Don't.'' We can't promise he'll handle future flashpoints as calmly, knowing him as a maniacal competitor who paces the sideline, chomps gum furiously and might emasculate an official as quickly as he shouts down a political activist inquiring about his salary. "I did yell a couple things out,'' he said to laughter in the media room. "My wife will tell me about them later.''

But it was good to see the rascal have an easy afternoon Saturday. Because too much of his life has been utter hell.

As anyone with a pen and bracket knows, Calhoun was hospitalized Thursday and missed UConn's first-round derailing of Chattanooga. This was major news, in that the Hall of Famer's ongoing health problems have become one of college basketball's bigger stories. It was the third time he has missed an NCAA tournament game, the 21st time he has missed a game in his career. Last spring, he battled cancer for the second time, undergoing surgery to remove a lump in his neck and following up with radiation treatments. Six years ago, he battled prostate cancer. A season doesn't pass without something attacking the man's soul, such as the stress and exhaustion that forced him away last season and the shingles that got him in January. This time, fortunately, doctors here said he was nothing more than dehydrated and gave him a clean bill of health after a full-blown examination and overnight hospital stay.

"I started bargaining with them to get out of there as quickly as I could, using tickets and anything I possibly could,'' said Calhoun, joking about his doctors and nurses. "T-shirts being sent to their children, their next of kin -- anything I could do to get out of there early ... But bottom line is that (when wearing a hospital) bracelet, unless you can whip up on a couple security guards, you're not going anyplace. And I wasn't going anyplace.

"Quite frankly, I feel good now. I didn't realize I was that healthy. But I'll preface that by saying no psychiatric tests were taken. So keep that in mind.''

At 66, in a demanding profession that tortures the body and mind, Calhoun knows he must be especially careful. Coaches are still stunned by the death of Wake Forest colleague Skip Prosser, who died of a heart attack in his office two years ago after going for a jog. When Calhoun was a teen, his father died of a heart attack, forcing a 15-year-old to help take care of a large family that included five siblings. There are people in the game who root for Calhoun to win his third national championship, or at least reach the Final Four, so he can retire on top with his health intact.

Good luck with the retiring part.

NCAA Tournament Action

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"It isn't like it happens every single day,'' said Calhoun, who pointed out that he has coached 1,144 games. "I haven't had a great run over the last year, at least it seems, from cancer to shingles to this, although this was not an illness really -- it was something where I didn't feel well. I've been there for most of the games (in his career). Missed a few. Some of those, obviously, were for prostate cancer.''

And it's not like Coach Type A is going to downshift his intensity at this point in life. "On occasion, the (players) tell me I'm a little bit high strung and nervous. I say, there's a guy named Bill Russell who threw up before every game,'' Calhoun said. "He turned out OK, the greatest winner ever. There is no game that I've ever approached that I don't feel that in my stomach, OK?

"I've been in national championship games. I've been in a lot of different kinds of situations. I've always probably been stressed in every single game. As a matter of fact, the only thing I shared with Russell, as a player, is the fact there was never a game where I didn't feel really, really ready to go before the game. I mean, really ready to go. The point being, it's a natural inclination of mine. I've had players ask me the same thing. I've had people I've become friendly with who are actors, public speakers. Do you get kind of a rush? Everybody handles it differently. Everybody's body handles it differently.''

Has anyone tried to advise him? "I don't know of any tip -- except maybe not coach basketball, not doing something competitive,'' he said. "But whatever it is, I'll find a reason to make it competitive. You know what I'm saying? Reading a book? I'd see if I could do it the fastest of anybody who's ever read a book. Point being, that's my nature. A woman (reporter) asked me very nicely earlier, 'Are you type A?' What's beyond that? That's a trick question, I know.''

Motivated by Calhoun's health situation, the Huskies have ripped their first two opponents by a combined 82 points. That ties the 1999 Duke team for the most decisive results in an opening weekend -- the same Duke team that UConn beat for Calhoun's first national championship. Want more potential karma? In '99 and 2004, Calhoun had to miss NCAA tournament games. Both years, UConn won national titles.

Hmmm.

"I didn't know that,'' said Hasheem Thabeet, the 7-3 center. "That's very interesting to know.''

"Maybe it's an omen or something. Hopefully, it is,'' Calhoun said. "It doesn't seem that my body picks its spots.''

The players clearly respect this man. They had no doubt he'd be back for the second round. "He's just fought through so many things in his life. A little sickness wouldn't prevent him from coaching,'' said Adrien, who had 23 points and eight rebounds on Saturday. "He's a fighter, and basically, that's who we are. He pushes us to go to the next level, to go higher and expect more and more from ourselves, because that's what he does. He expects that out of himself. He's going to keep on fighting, so we're going to keep on fighting."

"He definitely does rub off on us,'' said A.J. Price, who had 27 points for a team that shot 58 percent against defensively-challenged A&M. "If you're not tough, a tough person mentally, you couldn't play under coach Calhoun. That's the only way I can really put it. His toughness carries over to us. It translates from practice to game time.''

Without injured guard Jerome Dyson, UConn has slipped in some eyes as a serious March player. But those who doubted the team's resilience after its six-overtime loss to Syracuse last week now are rethinking positions. Thabeet gives them a shot-blocking element unlike any in the college game. Price and Adrien are big-time players. They're still the No. 1 seed in the West Region, and they're still on a collision course to play maligned and angry Memphis in the regional final in an Arizona football stadium. For now, Calhoun is thrilled to see his team playing so well.

"This is kind of a nice moment for me. This team brought me a great deal of joy,'' he said. "I truly believe that they're really, really focused on being the best they can be. It was not a game where I had to get them going. They were very focused on their own. They came in really with a purpose. I don't think it's a chip, but it's a purpose, no question.''

There was a preliminary game, if you can call it that. If the NCAA was in the fairness business, Villanova wouldn't have been playing a home game in the East Regional. But the NCAA is in the filling-seats business, which explains why the Wildcats had a ridiculous home-court advantage in their cakewalkish, 89-69 victory over UCLA. It's not that we should feel sorry for the Bruins; they had an inconsistent year and, as a sixth seed, had no right to beef about a 2,700-mile trip if this actually was a neutral site. The Wachovia Center, 16 miles down the Main Line from the Villanova campus, was no neutral site.

Villanova cruised into the Sweet 16 with a blowout win over UCLA.

It was a home game for coach Jay Wright, just as it was Thursday in a tense win over American University. The navy-clad fans were rocking and screaming, creating a rare partisan edge in an event built on impartiality in the stands. The old 1985 miracle-maker, Rollie Massimino, sat behind the bench in what felt like a Philly love-in. I was waiting for Rocky to show up. Villanova has played more than 40 games in the home arena of the Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers, usually against major Big East rivals, and the players know the nuances of the Wachovia. "It's the way the NCAA set it up, and I wouldn't argue with you," Wright said. "I'd rather play here than play in California, there's no doubt in my mind. There are advantages to being home."

"When the crowd kicks in here, you can just feel the energy," said Villanova's Dante Cunningham, who scored 18. "It helps take your game to another level."

"They're always loud, very into the game for the entire game,'' teammate Dwayne Anderson. "It definitely helped us.''

That's a problem. Why should Villanova have such an advantage when 64 other teams in the NCAA tournament do not? It's one thing for North Carolina and Duke to play an hour from their campuses in Greensboro Coliseum, which isn't a home court for either. It's quite another to play in your "home away from home,'' as Villanova calls the arena in its media guide, and dress in your own locker room. Worse, Wright and his bosses seemed to plot the advantage when they scheduled only three games at Wachovia this season, circumventing a rule that doesn't allow an NCAA team to play in an arena where it had at least four home games in a season. They conveniently moved two games next door to the Spectrum, the old relic that soon will meet a wreckingball.

"We understand this is the only true road game in the NCAA tournament,'' UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "I think it's obviously an advantage to be in your familiar, backyard surroundings -- there's no question about that. Whether the game would have been any different if it had been played anywhere else is something we'll never know ... They know the place. They even know about the dead spots on the floor."

Well, not exactly. As Villanova's Reggie Redding pointed out, "It's actually not even the same courts. The NCAA brought their own courts in this year.''

Truth be told, UCLA delivered such a soft, wimpy performance that it probably wouldn't have mattered where the game was played. So intimidated was Darren Collison by Villanova's physicality, the UCLA point guard kept complaining to the officials. "I was talking to the official because I thought they were fouling too hard," Collison said. "They were a physical team. It's nothing we haven't seen in the Pac-10. We've played a lot of physical teams in the Pac-10."

It comes off as West Coast whining, especially when UCLA committed 20 turnovers and was outrebounded 41-29. "I mean, if he thought we were playing rough ... We were playing our game,'' Redding said. "That's the way we play every game. He's going to the ref complaining -- we don't pride ourself on other teams going and complaining to the ref. We saw it, just kept coming at them. I think we won the battle.''

Still, this was a sham that clearly helped Villanova, a Big East team that needs no help. By halftime, the fans streamed out of the building, leaving thousands of empty seats for UConn and Texas A&M, which also was unfair.

Not that Jim Calhoun cared. He was happy, healthy and coaching again.

But he must be careful. The next hospital visit might not be as kind.

Caution Advised on Calhoun's Nice Story originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If Coach K Tweaks Obama, Then I Can Tweak Duke

Jay Mariotti — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:10:00 EST

Filed under: NCAA Basketball

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- It wasn't a spectacular week, I dare say, for our sporting enthusiast of a president. First, Barack Obama spent a fair amount of time filling out his NCAA bracket on television, making us wonder if his sports fixation is a bit silly and awkward in a national time of crisis. Then, while discussing his bowling pursuits with Jay Leno, Obama compared his struggles to "Special Olympics,'' an astonishingly insensitive line that wasn't even his, recalling how Harold Ramis said it to Bill Murray in "Stripes.''

Now, a Special Olympian who averages a 266 and works in a Michigan grocery store is challenging Obama to a bowl-off. "He's cool,'' Kolan McConiughey said of Obama, "but he can't beat me.''

While he's at it, would the president like to serve as batboy for a day with his beloved Chicago White Sox? Or would he only tick off Ozzie Guillen and subject himself to a flurry of expletives?

I can't help but mention who sparked the opening round of Barack-the-jock bashing. That would be Mike Krzyzewski, a GOP fundraiser from way back, who noted that Obama didn't have his Duke team in the Final Four. "As much as I respect what he's done, really, the economy is something that he should focus on, probably, more than the brackets. So why would I care about that?'' said Krzyzewski, who was smiling but definitely tweaking a little, too, no matter how much he protests. This effectively planted the first seed that Obama is too obsessed with sports, not a tag he wants if the economy continues to implode.

Friday, Coach K took offense at reports that he ripped Obama. He used a healthy chunk of Duke's news conference to pontificate about irresponsible media. "I don't know why people do that,'' he said. "We were all laughing, and really it was kind of a throwaway line. But I think, especially the last 25 years on a very high platform, so to speak, people want to at times to create news. They don't want to report news. And in their zest to create, they tell quarter stories on or tenth stories or 25 percent instead of telling the whole thing.''

So how did Krzyzewski handle it? He and his wife, Mickie, text-messaged former Duke player Reggie Love, Obama's right-hand man. "We texted Reggie and said just in case -- we weren't presuming that (Obama) should know what Coach K said in Greensboro, you know, because a reporter decided to give a sentence instead of the whole story. And we said, 'Coach didn't mean that. This is what he meant. And I hope he wasn't offended.' And Reggie texted back and said (Obama) wasn't offended, though some of the staff was concerned because they have to always be concerned. President Obama thinks Coach K's all right.''

Glad that's settled. Earlier in the week, Obama's response to Krzyzewski on a radio show seemed harmless enough. But read closely, and you could detect him tweaking right back. "Coach K, I think, is a great coach. (But) it's not surprising. I didn't pick him to go to the finals,'' he said. "Look he's a competitive guy. I just don't think they've got the inside game to go all the way. But I look forward to him proving me wrong."

Well played, I'd say. Duke has its charms, namely the all-around play of Gerald Henderson, the shooting of Jon Scheyer, the slashing of Kyle Singler and the jets of Nolan Smith. But the president is right in concluding the Blue Devils are soft in the middle, which is why they aren't well-positioned to advance to the Final Four. If they survive a scary Texas team Saturday in Greensboro Coliseum and eventually leapfrog into the East Regional final, they'd probably play No. 1 seed Pittsburgh, which struggled Friday against East Tennessee State but owns the muscle, brawn and guts that could devour Duke. A loss would extend Duke's lack of Final Four appearances to five years, which, in Coach K terms, is an eternity. And when you consider his last national championship was in 2001, which came a decade after his other national titles in 1991 and 1992, well, we might be making an argument that Duke no longer is DUKE.

Look -- Obama's favorite word, by the way -- no one is doubting Krzyzewski's legacy as one of the mightiest coaches of this or any era. He reconfirmed his place last summer with Team USA in Beijing, coaxing effort and unity from a roster of 12 mini-corporations and reclaiming the Olympic gold medal. But if Duke is being judged on the highest level of college basketball, then a drought definitely has kicked in.

Think about it: Coach K, he of the American Express commercials and deep animosity on rival campuses, has won one national title in 16 years. Before winning the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament last weekend, Duke had won 50 games and no championships the previous two seasons. Oh, and guess who was ousted in the second round of the NCAA tournament last year and the first round the year before?

Krzyzewski hears the whispers: "Duke no longer is DUKE.'' In his passive-aggressive way, he bristles. "It's amusing to me,'' he said. "I was just reading through Texas' notes. I don't know how many times they've been to the Sweet 16 in the last six or eight years. So we could say we've been to the Sweet 16, nine out of the last 11 years. We're one of the only programs that have been to two Final Fours in this decade. We're one of the only programs that have won a national title in this decade. I mean, I can give you a list. But when you become one of those programs, especially ours, people don't have a tendency of writing those things. They have a tendency to write what you have not done. I think that's also a sign of respect because they hate saying about what you've done.

NCAA Tournament Action

Kansas' Sherron Collins (4) hits a floater between two North Dakota State defenders during the second half of an opening round game in the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Kansas defeated North Dakota State, 84-74, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Friday, March 20, 2009. (Rich Sugg/Kansas City Star/MCT)

MCT

North Dakota State's Ben Woodside, right, goes tumbling through the air after getting clipped by Kansas' Markeiff Morris during the second half of an opening round game in the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Kansas defeated North Dakota State, 84-74, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Friday, March 20, 2009. (Rich Sugg/Kansas City Star/MCT)

MCT

Purdue forward Robbie Hummel laughs during a press conference in Portland, Ore., Friday, March 20, 2009, the day after beating Northern Iowa 61-56 in the first round of the men's NCAA college basketball tournament. Purdue will play Washington in Saturday's second round. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Barb Evans performs in the Louisville pep band during the first half of a first-round NCAA men's college basketball tournament game between Louisville and Morehead State Friday, March 20, 2009, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Skip Peterson)

Morehead State's Leon Buchanan, right, misses a dunk as he is hit by Louisville's Samardo Samuels (24) in the first half of the first-round NCAA men's college basketball tournament game Friday, March 20, 2009, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

Kansas' Sherron Collins pulls up for a jumper against North Dakota State during second half action in an opening round game of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Kansas defeated North Dakota State, 84-74, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Friday, March 20, 2009. (Rich Sugg/Kansas City Star/MCT)

MCT

Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor, left, drives past North Dakota State's Brett Winkelman on his way to the hoop during first half action of an opening round game in the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Kansas defeated North Dakota State, 84-74, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Friday, March 20, 2009. (Rich Sugg/Kansas City Star/MCT)

MCT

Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor, center, drives between North Dakota State's Brett Winkelman, left, and Dejaun Flowers for a basket during the first half of a first round game in the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Kansas defeated North Dakota State, 84-74, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Friday, March 20, 2009. (Rich Sugg/Kansas City Star/MCT)

MCT

DAYTON, OH - MARCH 20: Head coach Rick Pitino talks to Preston Knowles #2 of the Louisville Cardinals during a game against the Morehead State Eagles during the first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the University of Dayton Arena on March 20, 2009 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Preston Knowles;Rick Pitino

Getty Images

DAYTON, OH - MARCH 20: Preston Knowles #2 of the Louisville Cardinals fights for a loose ball with Robert Murry #10 of the Morehead State Eagles during the first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the University of Dayton Arena on March 20, 2009 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Preston Knowles;Robert Murry

Getty Images

"I remember before we won our first national championship, we had gone to four Final Fours in five years. We got beaten by UNLV by 30 in 1990. And there were people who said I can't win the big one. You know, like, I could never go there. Now all of a sudden it was going to be a monkey on my back? I said, come on, man, put more monkeys on. Put more monkeys on. Then we won it, and then the next monkey is when are you going to win it again? So you're just in that thing. That's cool.''

Does it anger him?

"You know, we live in a world that's very critical,'' he said. "In a world where I'd like to just -- you want to talk, I'll meet you eye to eye. I don't have much respect for it. But it's just there. So it's not going to anger me.''

The best retaliation is to reach another Final Four. To do so, his players will have to overcome mental hurdles. "What we've tried to do is just say, look, live in the present, not in the past or the future,'' Krzyzewski said. "These kids have nothing to make up for. You spend your whole life making up for something, I don't know if you ever take advantage of what is actually going on. I've told them forget -- we've learned from every experience the last couple of years. Let's just concentrate on right now -- this game, and then if we're fortunate enough to advance, let's play the next game. Just try to be completely absorbed in the present. I think that's the way to do it.''

He also has spoken often about rekindling the "Duke culture,'' a surprising acknowledgment surely driven by North Carolina's surge and 2005 national title under Roy Williams. It isn't easy being at Duke, in an elite private-school cocoon surrounded by seemingly zillions of Carolina fans, when the rival up the road has the edge in a wicked rivalry. It's especially painful when the Blue Devils lose to VCU in the 2007 first round and West Virginia in the second round last year after surviving a scare against Belmont. When Henderson and Scheyer were freshmen, there were no seniors on the team, forcing a quicker learning curve that led to tears in March locker rooms instead of celebrations. I was in Buffalo when Duke lost in the first round. I still remember the sobs, the gushers streaming down Scheyer's face.

That's why winning the ACC tournament last weekend was so special. Finally, there was glory instead of gore. "I told those kids that they're winners, that they've been winners,'' Krzyzewski said. "They were never losers. But now, they're champions and that's a cool thing.

"They were kind of thrown to the wolves (two years ago). They were the youngest team in Duke basketball. But they're believers. They helped get our culture back. This class is special for me because they've built a championship. This is a class I'll always remember in my coaching career. I'm 62 years old, about three times older than these kids, but by winning this title, we're connected. It's about sharing the same goals and accomplishing them.''

Duke's fans have not been able to celebrate a Final Four bid since 2004.

If he sounds overly emotional, maybe he senses this team isn't on the level of the Big East beasts and Carolina. His mentor, Bob Knight, said the other day on ESPN that Duke is playing the best clinical basketball in the country but isn't the best team. Like Obama, that's a spot-on comment. Translation: Krzyzewski still is the premier coach in the land and maximizes his talent like no other, but his talent simply isn't of a national-title caliber. Asked about Knight's comment, Coach K said, "I think we're playing well. I mean, you can play really well and not be better than somebody else. But by playing as well as your group can play, you have a chance of beating somebody else. A lot of times, people end up talking about what we don't have. I know we don't have a lot of things. But we do have some things. It's our responsibility to do what we have to the best of our ability, and not pay attention to what we don't have and not let that get in the way. I don't know if it was Coach (John) Wooden who said, 'Don't let what you don't do well get in the way of what you do well.' And basically, that's how I try to coach every year.

"We're not a great team, but we're a very good team.''

Not that Duke-bashers are feeling the least bit sorry for him. When a coach with an unfairly perceived superiority complex whines about media coverage, after receiving decades of love from ESPN and the national press, he exposes himself to great ridicule. In January, when Duke climbed to No. 2 in the polls, Krzyzewski shocked the locals when he ripped North Carolina newspapers for not sufficiently playing up the feat. "I don't even think it was mentioned in the newspapers here, that we were No. 2 in the polls," he said. "In fact, I know it wasn't mentioned, so I guess nobody really cares. It's interesting, always interesting to me, that in my 29 years here, the subtleties of the local press is funny in some respects.''

It's not hard to figure out why. Duke is an alien spaceship that plopped down in a state awash in Carolina blue. "I know it's not that big here," Krzyzewski rambled on. "But it's pretty damn good. So when this group makes No. 2, it's a new group, and they should be celebrated for doing something good. I'm sorry that doesn't happen very much. It's sad.''

Subsequently, Duke rose to No. 1 in late January, then tumbled. Injuries were part of the story, but a hideous 74-47 loss at Clemson reminded us that Duke isn't DUKE anymore. The players know what is being said. "Coming into a program with a rich tradition -- I mean, you're just kind of born into it. Because you're here, it's something that you have to take,'' Singler said. "We place ourselves in situations with high expectations. We feel that we're good enough to meet those and excel. When you guys, media, say that the last couple of years we haven't gone past the second round, haven't made a Final Four, we believe each year is different. You know, this year is different. It's a different team. We're trying to leave a different mark this year.''

"I was here when we lost in the first round,'' junior Lance Thomas said. "You know, it's funny to me that people are saying we're not living up to the Duke tradition. But the team that we are is the team that we're going to be. We're the ones that are laying our blood, sweat and tears on the line. You know, it's time to just be this Duke team. Duke teams of the past have no bearing on us.''

The question is whether the mystique can rise again when we aren't expecting it. If it did, and Coach K won his fourth national title, he would pull off the unthinkable double of Olympic gold and an NCAA championship. To be followed, undoubtedly, by an interesting scene with a Duke-doubting president on the White House lawn. "I heard he was on Leno last night and one of the things he said was, 'I like Coach K; he's a competitive guy.' Really, he's got better things to talk about than me,'' Krzyzewski said. "I don't know if that gets me in trouble with the Polish-American people in the United States or what, but it's crazy.

"Crazy, crazy, crazy.''

If Coach K Tweaks Obama, Then I Can Tweak Duke originally appeared on Jay Mariotti FanHouse on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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