Friday: U-S-A! U-S-A!
FEELING A LITTLE PATRIOTIC TODAY, what with the U.S. opening World Baseball Classic play and all. I know, I know. Nobody cares. But I do! The Americans will send knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to the mound against Mexico at 9 p.m. on MLB Network.
To inspire you, I present a link to this fabulous All-American story on Rangers pitcher Matt Harrison, a millionaire who still clips coupons because he hasn’t forgotten his humble roots growing up a doublewide trailor on a North Carolina farm.
“Everything we ate, we grew, except for the meat,” Harrison said. “Everything we grew had to be picked by hand. I had to split the wood every morning before I could play baseball. It was tough growing up. We didn’t have much. I remember [now-wife] Meghan paying for my lunch in high school because I didn’t have enough money.
“My dad was very old school, a lot of ‘yes, sirs’ and ‘no, sirs,’ ‘speak when you’re spoken to.’ We always said blessing at every dinner. He wasn’t book smart, but he is common-sense smart. He was a mechanic for awhile, a construction worker. Whatever needed to be done, he would fix it himself. He wouldn’t pay anybody to do it for him. What his dad passed down to him, he passed down to me.”
U-S-A! U-S-A! OK, I probably should mention that Harrison turned down an opportunity to pitch in the WBC because of workload concerns. Still a cool story. Anyway, here’s who is playing for the U.S. That outfield of Ryan Braun, Adam Jones and Giancarlo Stanton ought be pretty stout.
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-Damaging loss last night for Virginia, which sees its late rally go for naught in a 53-51 defeat at Florida State. Doug has the details here.
-Denny Hamlin says he’s “the most upset and angry I’ve been in a long time” with a $25,000 fine NASCAR gave him for criticizing the Gen-6 car. He says he’s not going to pay the fine.
-VMI beats Longwood 90-86 in the Big South quarterfinals and will meet Charleston Southern at noon today.
-Radford’s boys beat Essex 54-40 to secure a spot in the Group A Division 2 finals.
-Floyd County’s girls play George Mason in the Group A Division 2 semifinals today at 10:30 a.m. Ray has a feature on Alan and Travis Cantrell, who coach the squad.
-Parry McCluer’s boys fall to West Point 62-53 in the Group A Division I semis.
-Virginia Tech women score eight points in the first half en route to a 45-39 loss in the ACC tourney, ending their season at 10-20. UVa women also get bounced, by BC.
NAME THAT TUNE
Cheat the odds that made you
Brave to try to gamble at times
Well I feel like dirty laundry
Sending sickness on down the line
Tell you why
March 8, 2013 - 7:48 AM
I’ll clip and paste this copy from when I posted prior to AMc’s blog here.
Here’s one that should go in Friday’s discussion. Denny Hamlin was fined $25K by NASCAR for criticizing the Gen6 car? His ‘criticism’? Evidently, as anyone with eyes has seen, it’s hard to pass in the Gen6 car. So… for THAT NASCAR fined him?
NASCAR seems to be the only sports entity that takes itself more seriously than even the NFL. Congrats to Hamlin for publicizing the hidden fine by NASCAR. Let’s hope this backfires on them in a big way. $25K? For saying the new car is bad? So much for the phony urging of – ‘Boys, have at it!…’ and of NASCAR trying to pretend their drivers aren’t more boring than the average PGA field.
I guess Denny should have asked Dale Jr to say the words for him, then everything would have been celebrated. Really, NASCAR? Is the France family really that thin-skinned as to let such become a distraction?
No wonder ratings are down. What next? Fining drivers for having their socks too low or too high?
Maryland is now a must win for UVA. They may have to win an ACC tournament game too. Been saying it for a while and it has come true. 21 wins for the bubble and 22 for a lock. Someone will pay Denny’s fine even if he don’t so that is a non-issue. As long as NASCAR drivers are dependent on money from their sponsor they will never be allowed to have a personality. Money haas killed the flavor of the sport.
It seems that virtually anyone can beat virtually anyone else in ACC basketball this season. So does that mean we shouldn’t automatically assign the Hokies to a loss at Wake on Saturday?
Whoa, now… Let’s not get crazy here… There’s always a chance, as in a Jim Carrey/Lauren Holly ‘chance’…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqdNe8u-Jsg
Admittedly, this should have been used for the Duke game, or reserved for the Alabammer football game, but it’s a Friday, and we need ‘discussion’. Have at it… Do we beat Wake to momentarily avoid our 18th loss? Do we prolong it until the ACC tournament?
‘Speak to me, Pocatello!…’
Jealous Again-Black Crowes. AMAC you are stepping your game up with name that tune. Some real nice selections lately!! Never cared for Hamlin so they can suspend him for all I care. Put Vickers in his car !!!
Speaking of baseball I saw something interesting on the ESPN ticker this morning. Cuba lost to the Netherlands 4-2. What has happened to Cuba? Has all of the defections left them without any baseball offspring? I didn’t know they played baseball in the Netherlands.
Black Crowes it is. Nicely done.
O.G. — Don’t forget the Dutch islands such as Curacao (Andruw Jones) and Aruba (Xander Bogaerts). That’s where most of those Netherlands guys are from.
Cuba would look a lot better with guys like Cespedes and Chapman playing for them.
AM I forgot they had those guys playing for them. Of course I might have remembered if ESPN were talking about the games instead of which NFL team is going to sign a third string Free Agent.
Keeping with our ESPN discussion yesterday, this morning I discovered “The Lights” on NBC Sports Net — a simple, “all highlight” morning show, with no on-screen anchor, no ESPN-schtick, and no overpaid former athlete “analysts” arguing about Tim Tebow. Come to think of it, in the 25 minutes that I watched the show, it didn’t even mention the NFL. (Imagine that, no NFL conversation in the 2nd week of March…Roger Goodell should appoint a special commission to investigate this trageshamockery.) Anyway, if you’re tired of the endless Sportscenter repeats, I would recommend it.
Sounds good, RP. I’ll have to check it out.
Forgot to mention this today: Trevor alerted me that Gunner (TM) is transferring from Notre Dame. We’ve been nailing the Gunner (TM) predictions on this blog.
Why is it that this offseason ESPN has decided to go full bore with pimping the NFL as though it were as addictive as meth?
What’s the deal? It’s as though they try to diss every other sport to pimp the NFL. I know lots of people love it way more than I, but seriously, can we step away from the pipe for even a minute? I always thought the mania over pre-season games was silly, but even that seems mild compared to ESPN’s obsession now. What TV contract did I miss, what source of revenue generation am I forgetting to cause ESPN to whore out so much more than usual over this?
Joe Harris, welcome to Erick Green`s world. After his great game against Duke, Boston College and Fla. State evidently decided to double team him and let somebody else try to beat them. He got 14 and 12. Green has faced that in every ACC game and averages 25 ppg. Just thought I`d point that out.
Hamlin will end up paying. He has to, no choice. It’s a France family business and they call the tune. He either pays, or doesn’t race. There’s no governing body to appeal to. He’s toast!
The Virginia-FSU game had more banging than a Bristol race. If that becomes the ACC norm, then it opens up a chance for the ‘also rans’. I know they lost, but this would really bode well for UVA. They bang, grab, and push with the best of them. And, most of the time shoot well. Both teams realized that the refs were going to “let them play”. Which most of the time means, ‘unless it involves a weapon, it aint a foul’. If last night’s game is an indication of how it’s going to be, Duke could be in some trouble. How does a 7’3″ center miss a wide open dunk under the basket?
Even keel? Certainly not our boy Gunner as he packs up again.
It all depends on how much the NASCAR lemming media play this up. Brian might decide this time that disgression is the better part of valor. Or… he could continue to be the egomaniac he’s always been and fine Hamlin another $25K for mentioning the first $25K fine.
NASCAR is stupid that way. They still don’t mind Confederate flags, but they pretend to be offended when a driver calls a minority a slur.
Let’s just say consistency is not their strong suit.
Ralph comparing Joe Harris and Erik Green is like comparing Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant. Joe and Erik have completely different games. UVA also has more options for scoring than Tech so Joe doesn’t have to force the issue as much. I think they are both outstanding but not even close to the same type player. Also, teams don’t really mind giving up 30 points to a guy when they are winning by 20.
Denny’s fine is ridiculous. I think there will be enough PR backlash on this that he won’t end up having to pay it. That, or 25,000 fans will send Brian France a George Washington each to make him open up the envelopes. That’d actually be a neat way to handle it.
NASCAR has its issues, but I still love it. Part of me says they need to let the teams set up their cars the way they want to, and get back to racing. But a part of me that has sat in the same section at Daytona that had car parts fly into knows that is probably a bad idea.
I guess I would equate the situation to football, the NFL and college – eventually something will be done to take some of the excitement out of it, and rule changes are starting to do it, with regard to concussions. You have to keep the sport safe. Nobody wants to watch somebody die.
Greg, I thought the same thing about the Netherlands. Of course, our resident baseball geography expert, our own Mr. McFarling, cleared that up. If they have Curacao, they’re pretty good. All you have to do is watch the Little League World Series.
They always have a solid team, but you need to be there in person to watch them warm up. The way the team I saw one year take infield (3 balls going at a time) was better than the game. It was amazing a bunch of 12 year olds could handle it.
OG, I was not necessarily comparing the two, I was just saying that when put in Green`s situation Harris didn`t respond to well. He even seemed to get flustered by all the attention. When that happens to a great player like Harris, it just kind of solidifies what a great season Green has had. Also, Green doesn`t force the issue-if anything he should take more shots. One more thing, my friend. Teams must mind giving up 30 ppg or they wouldn`t double team him all game..
Speaking WBC……Jair Jurrjens is another from Curacao. The Netherlands doing well in the tournament is nothing new. I was likely one of the few that watched them upset the mighty Dominicans back in 2009. It was an absolutely fantastic game that I felt had all the excitement of an October playoff game. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/sports/baseball/11sanjuan.html?_r=0
Aaron, from that blog post in your link, here’s a quote from my comment: “I put the over/under for his transference to another school at 1.5 years. Methinks Brian Kelly’s tendency to get in quarterback’s face will hurt Gunner’s feeling.”
Has it been 1.5 years already!? He is more of a bust than Dolly Parton’s bust.
Ralph you make a good point about how well Green has handled the pressure. I’m not so sure teams mind giving Green 30 points as much as they know he’s the only one they have to stop so they can afford to double team him.
By forcing the issue I didn’t mean Green was forcing shots I mean Green has the ability to put the ball on the floor and take it to the rim. That’s not really Harris’s game. Harris shoots 3s and posts up smaller players. If you don’t have the quickness off the dribble it makes it easier to double team. Actually a lot of what FSU did last night wasn’t really double teams as much as it was good switching on defense.
I’m thinking the Netherlands should have an asterisk beside their name or maybe change the name to “The Netherlands and other Caribbean Islands not named Cuba”.
Well we’ll see this year if SG was right about the NCAA having it in for Tech. The season is playing out for UVA just like it did for Tech the past few years. The “certifyably insane” years for SG. If so, regardless of what they do the last game, they need to get to the championship game of the tournament to make the NCAA’s. If they make it based on their current resume, then we know ole Tom Jefferson’s boys have some major pull with the committee. It will be interesting.
NASCAR has no problem sticking to ridiculous penalties and really don’t care what you think at all. Remember the awful penalty they stuck Mark Martin with a few years ago when he was so close to winning a championship. They don’t care. They would have no problem making life miserable for Denny Hamlin if he don’t pay up and shut up.
Oh, and that picture of chopping wood must have come from OJ’s house, I know it didn’t come from AMc’s.
OG, good points. I see where you are coming from now. I hope both make All ACC although Harris may find it a little more difficult. Also, i see your boys as being a tough out next week.
Tom — I only personally supply the pictures of fast food.
Not sure everyone will love this as much as I do, but if you’re craving a little Friday-afternoon silliness, give this a look-see.
People keep bringing up the one Tech got left out and comparing it to UVA this year. Sure the resumes look very similar, so one would believe the Hoos shouldn’t make it but you must remember It’s not just about what you as team have It’s also about what everyone else around the country have done. The bubble this year is very very very soft which bodes well for UVA none of the teams on the bubble have won consistently on the road this year. One more win either against Maryland or in the ACC tournament puts UVA in and has nothing to do with the committee favoring them over Tech.
NIT….NIT…..NIT….how does that bubble feel?……I believe that a few years ago I took alot of crap about this-Time to dish it out. I called the BC&Fla st losses. I think a Maryland win will come then…..pooooooofffffff……one and done in ACC tourney.
#23 Tom L, I definitely see your point about UVA’s play down the stretch — as I posted here last week (clairvoyance?), the past week for UVA almost exactly matches VT in 2011. BUT, the big difference would be that, in spite of the really bad non-conference losses that UVA had this year, they also had some really good non-conference wins. That win at Wisconsin looks better every day.
If UVA loses their last game, added to the loss last night, and doesn’t play in the ACC championship, they are not going to the NCAAs. Yes, there may be some bias in the selection, but UVA has their destiny in their hands and what they do with it may be similar to what happened to Tech. From my perspective, UVA plays a tough, bang and grab defense. Unfortunately for them, they played a team in FSU that did exactly the same thing, and UVA didn’t like it. I have to believe the word is out, and UVA better adjust, or they will find themselves whinning about how they got a raw deal, just like Tech.
UVA plays tight on the road. Not sure if that is the coaches trying to be conservative or what but they pass up open shots to run the clock much more than they do at home. They need to loosen up and just play. Glad to see Tobey looking like he is feeling better. The future looks really bright as long as they don’t lose any players to transfer. Nobody will want to play UVA next year. They should be at 25 wins or more next year.
Aaron, you should definitely check this out: http://sbn.to/XTeTUr. One of the funniest post about Jeopardy. It was cringe worthy.
I’m going to point and laugh now…
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/78592/cavaliers-face-long-odds-for-at-large-bid
At this stage, you’d have to be certifiably insane to include them in the mix.
The Miami Marlins are offering a BOGO for the season opener. If you’re gulliblle enough to take the hit and buy a ticket for their opening game, then they’re going to force another ticket on you for a later game in April or May.
Shouldn’t there be some kind of law against that? As in – cruel & unusual punishment if you are a baseball fan? The only value of the second ticket would be comparable to a gum wrapper. Technically, you could be charged with littering for throwing either on the sidewalk.
Wow, CR, that really makes a strong case that the Cavs are toast (for now at least). Thanks for linking.
Hey, AMc, we can only hope. I really desire the irony of Joe Lunardi doing his constant revisional – ‘Hey, I got 67 out of 68 right!’ gutlessness and showing the hoos that they were 69th, all because they lost to ODU on a rimmed out shot back in December, instead of because they lost this or next week.
Is that asking too much?
UVA is in, they have played close games on the road. In 1983 they made the final four, they won 17 games that year. They are a very capable team and if they get hot, they will make it to the final four once again. Just too much parity in college basketball. Gonzalo will win it all.
CR that article is misleading, because the writer is using historical numbers and remember that back when teams with those numbers missed the tourny there were only 64 teams now there are 68. You simply can’t use history except the last few seasons since there are now 68 teams. You CANNOT compare this year to years when only 64 made it in. A win against Maryland or a win the the ACC tournament puts UVA in end of story. The bubble is weak which is a huge advantage for the Hoos.
1983? Seriously? How pathetic is that excuse? ‘Well, back in the 1820’2, Thomas jefferson said it was healthy to exercise outdoors, so that means…’
1983? How laughably stupid.
If ANY team ‘gets hot’ they could make the Final Four. By the way, how did that 1983 Final Four team do? They sucked the pipe, didn’t they? Let’s talk about Ralph Sampson, if you want to wax nostalgic. The supposed (TOTALLY NOT) greatest player in the history of college basketball never even won a conference championship, much less an NCAA championship. Bill Walton laughs at the petulant impotence that is Ralph Sampson. Maybe Ralph spent too much time sucking on a Hardees bag while on the bench to ever amount to a champion.
You got anything else? I didn’t think so. Enjoy the sideline while you watch the NCAA tourney.
How about how George Mason slapped down UVa? How about Old Dominion punking them? Delaware? Delaware plays basketball? Evidently they play enough of it to grind out UVa. Thomas Jefferson would be so proud in the egalitarian way UVa curls into the fetal position as a basketball team…
CR please don’t tell me you’re a Tech fan talking about basketball, that’s like Manti Te’o giving dating advice, no ones gonna listen.
If Uva beats Maryland Sunday and wins one game in the ACC tourney, they are in the NCAA. They have made it hard on themselves losing the past two road games. 3-12 on the road and being 0-3 vs the CAA may hurt them too.
Would be interesting if they have to play VT a third time in Gboro. No pressure, hmm.
As for the state of Va. Mens Hoops, VCU has been the pride recently and their record and NCAA appearances show it with George Mason running a close second.
VT Women only scoring 8 pts in the first half in the ACC tourney.Mighty sad. Wonder if they could score 50 pts doing laying drills before a game?? Without EG, perhaps the same question could be asked of the VT men.
Their mens b-ball schedule was the weakest I seen in years, You guys wanna play in the big time play somebody. Kinda the way we do in football, play a tough schedule and open with the 2 xs national champion.
#40 M3, VCU has a really good team, and they’ve hit their stride lately. They are a team I can see winning 2-3 times in the NCAA tourney. The ACC teams in the Commonwealth could learn from them.
Amc, all the neutral observers I’ve heard are saying that – at this point – UVa is ‘juuust a bit outside’ the bubble.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0HoP4kABeo
They’ll absolutely have to beat UMd this weekend as well as someone more noteworthy than VaTech in the ACC tourney to be considered. All those losses to a very weak OOC schedule will be the obvious reason. As discussed on ESPN, they’ve played 20 games against teams outside the top 100, and lost seven of them. That just doesn’t cut it, even in a ‘weak bubble year’.
nascar is a joke. the same people who ruined it to begin with are the same ones trying to fix it. empty seats and low ratings, who cares! i’d rather spend a weekend in jail than watch a race.
Would someone please shut Best Beamer all time up? PLEASE. YOU HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE AT ALL. GO BACK TO YOUR CAVE! Don’t even contrast Tech’s football scheduling to UVA’s basketball scheduling. We actually beat big time opponents (Duke, Wisconsin, UNC, NC State). Tech football doesn’t. So if we want to get into that conversation then please, let’s.
And crooked road, they don’t deserve to be in and I hope they don’t. Their road games honestly make me want to throw up because they are so pathetic to watch. The only loss I will justify is George Mason. UVA is listed as one of the 20 youngest teams in America. George Mason is a tough environment, and with our only senior injured for that game, it is a tough task trying to prepare a young team for that. There is no excuse to lose to Delaware at home, no excuse to lose to ODU, no excuse to beat Duke and then flop against FSU and BC (who loses to this team). This is where the way the teams are selected, will hurt UVA. Anyone who has watched UVA play this year can see a trend. They can’t bring their own energy to the court. They feed off of the crowd. That’s why they are 17-1 at home and have wins on the road at Wisconsin, at Virginia Tech, and at Maryland. All three of those wins (yes 3 road wins all season) had great crowds. These terrible neutral and road losses have had absolutely no energy. At Wake, at GT, at FSU, at BC, neutral loss to ODU. Not one of these games was the crowd into it. Even though that is not the type of atmosphere you would have at a NCAA tournament game, it doesn’t matter because they don’t select teams off of attendance, they select them off of wins/losses and in game statistics.
Also, did anyone watch the WBC game last night? That was absolutely pitiful! Talk about no passion, watch the Americans play baseball.
Ralph Samsung was not on that 1983 team, that is why UVA ended up nearly winning that championship. It was Olden Polynice at center and the best guard in the country at the time, Othell Wilson. UVA is very capable of making the 16 this year and maybe the final 4. They just need to get physical.
UVA fan……..I love the way you throw out excuses for losses saying its because your players wasnt there. They are there now…..so…..whats the excuses for the last 2?….think hard….oh wait UVA fans always come up with them fast.
Martin said Ralph Samsung…….he played with Jeff Vizio…..ha ha ha
BBAT… are you blind or stupid? Please tell me. Go back and read because clearly you did not the first time. I claimed the only loss that was justified was George Mason because of a young team on the road for their first game. If you’ll read further instead of making idiotic assumptions from pure bias and hatred for UVA and its fanbase, I claimed there was no excuse for any of the bad losses after that game. AND if you’ll read even further (if that’s not too difficult for you) I also claimed that there was absolutely no excuse for the two losses after beating Duke. Noticing a trend is entirely different from making excuses. I actually claimed the opposite. Want me to copy and paste to prove my point? Here you go:
“There is no excuse to lose to Delaware at home, no excuse to lose to ODU, no excuse to beat Duke and then flop against FSU and BC (who loses to this team). ”
Any other “comments” you have? How about any other statements that I supposedly did or did not make? Questions? How about excuses? I’d love to hear any feedback to publicly roast you some more.
Ralph Samsung? Really? That is one of the most unintentionally funny things I’ve ever read on here, and that says a lot.
Martin, you might want to rethink Ralph Samsung’s career. I know you’ve tried to block out the NC State 1983 championship run, since it was made possible by the loss by Ralph Samsung & his merry band of hoos. Not many people ever discuss 1983 in regards to defining March Madness or anything, so it’s easy to forget.
You’re confusing 1984 with 1983. 1984 was the year of the thug – Othell Wilson. Please don’t confuse Ralph Samsung & Othell Wilson.
Enough about Samsung. I just love that one – Ralph… Samsung.
Samsung, Samsung, Samsung, Samsung, Samsung, Samsung, Samsung.
#47, UVa has a good team, but they’ve just not won the games necessary this season. That doesn’t make them any less tough to play. Bennett deserves credit for ‘working his plan’. It’s not the most exciting plan out there, but he makes it work. It would be nice if we could get a coach that actually has a plan, then works it. Maybe some day, once Jim Weaver retires, it will occur.
#48, perhaps the hoos can turn to another 1983 icon – I mean besides Ralph Samsung. You say they only need to get physical to make the Final Four (they’re not even making the tournament, but, anyway…) so here is who they could turn their lonely eyes to…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeCgNBPZSJU
I can compromise with that Crooked Road, you bring up a good point. I feel like even though they have beat a few quality opponents.. it’s like one step forward and two steps back when you turn around and lose to teams that you should beat. It’s not the sign of a successful team.
On the Tech note, someone brought up the possibillity of getting Shaka Smart away from VCU. However, I don’t know if I see that happening or not. I don’t know him personally so I don’t know how excited he would be to leave VCU. I’d love to see James Johnson succeed, he seems like a good guy and all of my friends that go to school there tell me how well he connects with the students. I think you’re right though, I’m not really sure what his plan is. It’s his first shot at a head coaching job and I don’t know what he’s trying to accomplish.
I dont have to roast you …….We eat Boohoo for dinner every game after Thanksgiving!