A class act.

Seeking to become the 4th womens Division 1 womens basketball coach to win 900 games Rutgers basketball Coach Vivian Stringer is one of the best coaches in the country. Everyone remembers the comments made by radio talk shock jock Don Imus about the Rutgers basketball team but Stringers contribution to womens basketball is tremendous. A terrific coach and recruiter Stringer built the University of Iowa program into a solid Big Ten contender. She led the Hawkeyes to a final four appearance and did it the right way. She is a class act and has influnced so many people in such a positive way she deserves not only recognition but congrats from everyone involved in college basketball.

Bring on the madness.

I watched some of the NFL combine this weekend and thought about the fact it wasnt real football. Daytona managed to miss my television the sport is one left turn away from obscurity in my world. My college hoops team is faultering not because of lack of talent but because they really are afraid to lose. I should be depressed but im fine with it because SPRING is just around the corner. March madness and tournament brackets are in the not too distant future. Gonzaga North Carlina State and Miami are on my college basketball watch list and i cant wait for March 17 and the unveiling of the matchups. Basketball and springtime is a combination that always makes life better. Bring on the warm and bring the madness!

NCAA needs a change.

It would be easy for me to start ranting and raving about the flu or cold weather but that is just too easy. I have been a college sports fan all of my life and i still do not understand the NCAA and its ridiculously vauge and stupid rules. There have been scandalls throughout NCAA history but never any reasonable explanations for any of its actions. Random slaps on the wrist for certain schools and heavy handed punishments for others make no sense to anyone.. Vauge terms such as lack of institutional control are spoken of by the NCAA without any real explanation as to what the terms actually mean. I believe its time for an independent investigation of the NCAA and its governing bodies. The current NCAA is hiding behind the complexity and corruption that happens when there is no institutional accountabillity anywhere within the organization. The future of college athletics may be in doubt if something doesnt happen in the not too distant future,

Spartan tough.

Do the names Adreian Payne Keith Appling or Derrick Nix ring any bells? They may not be fimiliar names to most sports fans but they do tell me a college basketball fan something about a great college coach.There are more famous coaches who get more publicity or their pick of all the elite high school basketball players but nobody is a better coach. Michigan state has a record of 22-4 this season and I think this might be Coach Izzos best coaching job. His teams are tough and physical and play excellent defense. He has had his share of stars in East Lansing but no matter the star quality of the Spartan squad they usually contend for a conference title.  My vote for 2013 Coach of the year in college Basketball is Tom Izzo.

Show me Cinderella.

Channel surfing through a Thursday night i need a college basketball fix. March madness is around the corner and i need information about some obscure teams that might surprise in the tourney.Of course you can count on the ESPN network to give you lots of information about all things basketball right? No not really. The two teams that i run into are PUKE i mean Duke and U Conn.Man im tired of Duke being on 12 times a year and the love affair with all things HUSKY is annoying. This is a year where no dominant team is surfacing can we please see somebody different? We all know coach wonderful is the greatest thing since John Wooden but ive seen his team enough, The East coast bias in the media will never go away but im hoping the balance in college basketball will allow me to see a  real Cinderella win a championship.

Who are these guys?

Im feeling my age i was watching the NBA all star game and i realized that i dont even know half the all stars in the game. There are in fact whole teams that i have no idea about and that is very depressing. BJ Augustine ....George Hill .....Paul George ......Roy hibbert.... Danny Granger. Who the heck are these no names? The same can be said about alot of MLB players. I know the teams i see on the cable in the summer but as far as anybody on the Seattle mariners I know 1 player Felix Hernandez. The years are now blending together into a haze and players that i followed back in the day now have sons playing in the majors.The list of names I mentioned earlier are all members of the Indiana Pacers a team that could challenge for an NBA title. Its time to read up and meet a whole new NBA before Seattle goes sonic the Nets move back to jersey and the Lakers get good again.

Good television.

I was watching friday night fights this week and realized that Teddy Atlas is absolutely terrific. He doesnt talk about himself and he doesnt care about anything on camera except the fight he is watching. He has an educated opinion about something he actually knows about......boxing. It is a treat to hear somebody with some actuall knowlodge about their sport talk directly to the television viewer about the sport he loves.No gimmick no speaking louder than the other guy to get his point across just a conversation about a fight. Two hours well spent on a network that usually rots my brain in less than 15 minutes.