Wednesday: Swaying wooden bleachers
MAKES YOU WONDER A BIT, DOESN’T IT? What if the big schools played road games against the lesser likes more often? Thanks to a scheduling conflict with the NCAA tournament, Kentucky had to play its first NIT game on the road last night. Result: Robert Morris stunned the defending national champions 59-57 in a raucous environment in Moon, Pa. You can see video highlights here.
Here’s a great paragraph from the AP story:
Robert Morris scored the game’s first 10 points while the Wildcats — who typically play in front of home crowds in excess of 23,000 — stumbled their way through a series of miscues and appeared rattled in a gym with wooden bleachers that swayed underneath the feet of a clamoring student section chanting “Bobby Mo” every chance it could.
Nice writing. Even nicer image.
Home courts and fields are important in any sport — the comfort level’s higher, travel fatigue is eliminated, etc. — but college basketball might be the most influenced by where games are played. The vocal crowds help swing momentum, and the nature of basketball gives officials more influence than they have in any other sport.
This is why the NCAA selection committee likes to see what you’ve done away from home. It’s also why, starting tomorrow, you’re going to see some upsets in the NCAA tournament as big meets small on neutral floors. Either way, I really wish they could find a way to create more of these types of matchups in the regular season.
UVA ADVANCES: Doughty writes that it wasn’t pretty, but Virginia beats Norfolk State 67-56 in the first round of the NIT. The Cavs improve to 19-1 at home and have won 18 straight at JPJ.
NCAA “FIRST FOUR”: North Carolina A&T eliminates Liberty, 73-72 in Dayton, while Saint Mary’s advances with a 67-54 victory over Middle Tennessee. Tonight’s games are JMU vs. LIU Brooklyn (6:40 p.m., truTV) and La Salle vs. Boise State (9:10 p.m., truTV).
Former Hokie Tyrone Garland is the third-leading scorer for La Salle. Berman spotlights him here.
THINK AHEAD: The Salem Red Sox have lowered prices on tickets sold in advance this season. A general admission ticket will be $6 instead of $8 (also last year’s price) if purchased at least one day before the game.
GRAPPLING WITH SUCCESS: Berman writes that the Hokies carry momentum into the NCAA wrestling tournament after winning their first ACC crown.
ENSHRINE ‘EM: Blacksburg High School will establish a permanent hall of fame for its greatest athletes. The four-member inaugural class will be nominated through April, selected in May and inducted in October. Rick — any nominees?
VIVA DOMINICA: The Dominican Republic defeats Puerto Rico 3-0 to complete its unbeaten run through the World Baseball Classic.
READER COMMENT O’ THE DAY: Good stuff yesterday from all. Wanted to highlight this thought from Crooked Road arguing that NASCAR should shorten races to 400 laps and try to keep the time to 3 hours.
[T]he reason I want concrete limits on the distance of races is due to the possible variance of the cautions, etc. A 3 hour time limit is good, but knowing how ‘they’ always cheat on the times, I’d prefer a limit that held some races to 2.5 hours, since it works for basketball, etc. and USED to work for baseball. Limit the race, and use the extra time to fluff the pre/post-race chatter. I really think there should be MORE time devoted to post-race talk with the drivers than the pre-race junk.
Just think if we’d had a fifteen time segment after the Bristol race, where we could have had some Hamlin/Logano discussion. That would be SO much better than hearing DW blather about JuneBug or Five Time, etc.
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS: Letter writer today: “McFarling’s piece was sophomoric and small-minded.” Spam blog comment received today: “Thanks for the wonderful posting!” Win some, lose some.
NAME THAT TUNE:
Leaving flowers on your grave
Show that I still care
But black roses and Hail Marys
Can’t bring back what’s taken from me
I reach to the sky
And call out your name
And if I could trade
I would
And it feels
And it feels like
Heaven is so far away
And it stings
Yeah it stings now
The world is so cold
Now that you’ve [song title]
March 20, 2013 - 8:53 AM
Wooden bleachers you say? That reminds me of “Hooisers” in the most nostaligic way. Of course splinters in the butt isn’t fun to pull out, but something to be treasured forever. “Pop, what’s that piece of splinter doing on the wall in a varnished plaque?”
“Why, son, that’s the night that Robert Morris beat Kentucky?”
“Robert Morris beat Kentucky by himself?”
“No,son, it’s the name of the school. It was an awesome night.”
“Oh, cool.”
————
I hope Salem Red Sox are able to generate revenue with the new price. I have been there once. It was a nice small venue, but baseball just isn’t my sport. I almost fell asleep halfway through the game and decided enough was enough.
—–
So your column is “sophmoric and small-minded?” The problems is Duke fans want everyone to blindly worship Coach K the same way Dickie V does every broadcast he cover for Duke fans, and they raise hell whenever someone scoffs. One simply cannot reason with Duke fans. It is folly.
Gone Away – The Offspring (a song you don’t want to hear me try at karaoke)
Me neither, RP. Me neither. Nicely done.
I have to laugh after reading the sports’ mailbag. The Duke apologists try to justify Coach K’s whining about the lax of security, when in fact UVa went out of their way to inform Coach K of their security plan, but the Duke apologists, in lock and goose steps of Coach K, refuses to admit that UVa did everything right. The ACC’s office said UVa were in compliance.
So, the apologists actually owe McFarling an apology for calling him “small minded” when he dared to say, “Anybody but Duke.”
How about the fact that for two years in a row a non-North Carolina school won the tournament? Duke apologists would be knee-jerking to that. I applaud Miami for beating UNC. It was an entertaining game.
Duke have enough cheerleading from their arrogance fan base and from Dickie V who is forever branded a Duke homer by fans who despise all thing Duke.
Coach K should have realized and known that with each success, the bull-eyes gets bigger, and when they lose to team they had no business losing to, like say, Lehigh or – GASP – Maryland, the criticism and howl of deirious will be hurled at him. That comes with the terrority, and if the fan base can’t wrap their collective heads around that, then they got a serious problem.
It is nothing more than circling the bandwagon and knee-jerk protecting the brand.
That is just so typical of Duke apologists.
Robert Morris U beating Kaintuck is the essence of March Madness, even if it is the NIT. It doesn’t even matter that RMU might not win it all, or come close. To co-op the CBS phrase, for ‘One Shining Moment’, Robert Morris U was on top of the world. Last night, it didn’t matter. David kicked Goliath’s ADZE (look it up, catch the connection).
I’m having trouble deciding the proper link, please let me know…
Aww, heck. I chose the second one…
B.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vimZj8HW0Kg
WTG Robt. Morris. Never have been a KU fan but even less so since Calipari has been there. He really threw those guys under the bus after the game.
As much as I hate to do it, I have to agree with CR. I’d rather sit through an hour of crop reports than listen to DW blather about anything. I can’t understand why he is on those broadcasts.
I will agree that small, raucus arenas or field houses will intimidate the heck out of a program used to playing in a big, cavernous venue. I went to several games at ODU before they had The Ted. It was a small venue that shared space with the volleyball team. Wooden bleachers, tight confines, raucus and loud. The place rocked. It was very similar to some European hoops I got to see while living in Italy…maybe 4/5000 people crammed into a small gym, but man the place was electric. Same deal when NC State played in Reynolds…small, tight, wooden bleachers…lots of noise, and very intimidating. Contrast that to the RBC Center they now play in. Sure, it’s nice, modern, seats way more…but that rockin’ atmosphere is gone.
Any flares or smoke bombs, O.J.? Some of those European venues look like the Grand Strand on the Fourth of July.
I agree wholeheartedly with what you’re saying. Cole Field House was like that. Comcast is way too sterile, even when filled with hooligan Maryland students.
That’s part of the reason Tech invested in a multimillion-dollar practice facility instead of considering a new arena. They don’t want to lose the atmosphere of Cassell (although losing games will take its own toll).
Aaron,
I think your columns are great. I just thought the ABD column wasn’t terribly clever – pretty cliche to hate Duke.
And as I think some of your foaming-at-the-mouth (at least about Duke) regular posters have made clear, the Duke hatred really is just that: hatred. Not joking hatred or metaphorical hatred. True hatred.
Everyone understands rivalries and many people were happy to read about one-and-done Kentucky losing yesterday. And Dukies love beating UNC. But I knew very few Duke students or graduates that truly hated UNC in visceral, bileful, almost actually wish their team plane would crash kind of way. Yet I think Duke hating has risen to that level in a lot of folks. And that’s not the kind of phenomenon that I think is cool to add fuel to the fire on.
By the way, I’ve always noticed that coaches that complain about their NCAA seeding or missing the NCAA seem to do poorly in the NCAA or NIT tournament. Miami, Maryland and UVA coaches seem to be avoiding that trap. But not Roy – we’ll see if UNC proves the rule or the exception.
P.S. – I think Cassell is really underrated as a basketball venue. Love the steepness and the concourse seems pretty nice.
Aaron, do you remember covering Radford’s Big South championship game? Do you remember how loud it was? I was there for all of it and it was super fun! Sometime, bigger isn’t always better.
To answer your question Aaron, I wouldn’t limit my first four to just BHS athletes – but I’d say Doug Day (who was an athlete at BHS, now a coach), Courtney Ellenbogen (playing in the US Open as a high schooler – a no brainer), and any BHS Hall of Fame isn’t one without Dave Crist and Shelley Blumenthal being in it. Next in line would be Sidney Snell and Britney Anderson, just based on post high school success, along with high school success.
I don’t specifically recall that…I was still pretty young then, but the noise factor was downright deafening regardless. And yeah, that’s why I really love Cassell as a venue. It’s small, but when the seats are full, that place can rock. They really need to field a better product though…half-empty and disinterested crowds just don’t bring much to the table. And I honestly don’t think a larger venue would work for VT anyway. The whole point of constructing huge arenas is to satisfy the general public and corporate entities…and Blacksburg, compared to many other areas, simply doesn’t have enough to support such an effort. That was one big run when NC State moved out of Reynolds and into RBC…the number of available student tickets was not increased initially, despite the substantial boost in capacity. That may have changed since then though, it’s been a good while.
GPSays — That’s a very fair assessment. I’m perfectly OK with those who think it wasn’t particularly original, clever or funny (it wasn’t). As long as folks understand it’s an attempt at satire and not to be taken literally, I’m fine with any criticism on the execution.
Besides, how could I ever argue that I’m not sophomoric? There are roughly 600 blog posts, plus a Twitter account that often veers off the rails, that convict me if I try to plead innocent on that one.
And now . . . the rest of the story.
Kentucky coach John Calipari is a graduate of Moon High School (located in Moon Twp.) so this was a “coming home” game. He was graduated in 1978 and is one of a number of alumni who have made it big.
Bruce in Blacksburg — but a native of the ‘Burgh
Moon High Class of ’73
Aaron, I certainly didn’t take it that way. Btw, I’ve got my parents-in-law in town this week – both Maryland graduates – to keep me in check. And I had to take my stepson to the bus stop this morning wearning Maryland lacrosse shorts. Being a Duke fan’s not easy. . .
Very good list, Rick.
My favorite part of the Kentucky season is the way their fortunes turned over the past 5 months. If you recall, back in October they allowed ESPN to film & produce the TV series “All-Access Kentucky”, following these incoming freshmen as if they were rockstars before most of them had ever faced a moment of adversity. Next to LeBron’s “The Decision”, the All-Access Kentucky show was my least favorite ESPN venture of the past decade.
I think that all of the “responsible” adults in the room, including the folks from ESPN and the Kentucky coaches & administration, set these kids up to fail. Calipari has dealt with freshmen long enough that he should have known this would not work out well.
If anything, this is the polar opposite of the 2008-2009 Radford University basketball season. That season began while the Dedmon Center was being renovated, so the Highlanders played their first handful of games in 500-seat Peters Hall. By March, they had won the Big South and were playing in Greensboro Coliseum vs. eventual champ UNC.
If RU went from the proverbial “outhouse to the penthouse” that season, this season’s Kentucky team did quite the opposite, starting out being followed by ESPN cameras around-the-clock and ending up losing in Moon Township to Robert Morris.
The reason Kentucky lost to Robert Morris U is because the Kentucky team has no heart. That’s what exponentially increases in likelihood when you sell out to the AAU mentality and the One & Done disciples.
Robert Morris, Gonzaga, Butler, Creighton, and all the others…
NSFW… I said this is NSFW… words that offend… cut the volume WAY down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5-yKhDd64s
GP, I’m a UNC basketball fan here, and I love taking potshots at Duke just for the heck of it cuz it’s fun!
Anyway, I don’t think that UNC will survive a date with Kansas, assuming they beat Villanova in the 2nd round. Villanova have a bit of a revenge motivation on their mind due to a controversial traveling call that went against Villanova, which enabled UNC to go to the Final Four, and win the NCAA, IIRC. For one thing, UNC’s defense are very suspect, and they have recently become almost reliant on 3-point shooting. UNC have always gotten away with poor defense based on their sheer athleticism and breakneck basketball. I think that may determine their fate in the tournament.
Despite the ease with which GPS could be incinerated, I’ll just light the one match – GPS tries to condescendingly mention how cliched criticizing Duke has become. Yet he deliberately avoids discussing how cliched the Duke student section has become.
For those who don’t care, the Duke student section is given an information sheet prior to every game, and are instructed on who to look towards to follow the correct cheers/chants during the game. Do I need to remind anyone the Duke bandwagon fan just whined about cliched actions? ‘Alex, I’ll take orchestration for $1000, please…’
See, there is sanctimony, and then there is hypocrisy. What we saw earlier in this thread by the Duke sycophants was hypocrisy, even more than their faux sanctimony.
RP, I’m glad you mentioned that “All Access” crap that ESPN does.
It opens up the door for a great rant. That is something that gets my blood boillng.
Why is that not a recruiting violation? ESPN is giving UK, or whomever they choose to highlight, TV time other schools do not get.
What kid would not rather got to UK (or a similarly favored school), because his practices can be seen on TV, and him seen on TV, than to some other school that isn’t?
To me, this is one of the greatest injustices of the influence of TV on college athletics.
Tune? I was going to guess “Kicked the Bucket” by Gary and the Pacemakers. Wrong again. Wooden bleachers, Pitino grew up a mile away, his grandmother worked at the Robert Morris cafeteria. Look at the story lines we would have missed if that game had been played at Rupp. Kudos to Ky. for accepting the NIT invite and going there to play. Also to Pitino for not being “sorphomoric and boorish” enough to complain about crowd control and safety after the students rushed the court. Ease up Mr. Letter writer. Have you ever heard of tongue-in check writing. Maybe foot-in-your- mouth is more down your alley.
Speaking of Kentucky recruiting, I read this morning that their little dip in the NIT pool this year may have cost them a couple of recruits. You never know with these kids today though.
Speaking of recruiting, Trevor did you see the numbers UNC recruit Isaiah Hicks put up in the state championship game the other day? He had 34 points and 30 rebounds. Here’s a link to the story.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/03/18/3923683/isaiah-hicks-high-school-basketball.html
I have many friends in NC that are BB fans. Some are Duke, others UNC. There is no love lost between the two schools. I’m talking about the die hard fans here. I have heard words come out of little ole ladies mouths that would make a drill sergeant cringe. Hatred is alive and well in Carolina when it comes to the two schools. Throw East Carolina in the mix, the athletic step child according to their fans and it is a hostile mix.
Aaron, I have never thought of baseball as having a home field advantage until I read the Lynchburg Advance story today regarding the VT-Liberty baseball game in Blacksburg yesterday. It appears both teams’ hitters benefited about equally from the “jet stream” as far as home runs, but the Tech outfielders practice in wind on a regular basis and therefore were able to track down long, unpredictable in-park flies, while the Flame outfielders – as their coach was quoted: “didn’t have a clue.” (Note to attack dogs: this is not to disparage or imply anything about either team, school, its graduates or related affiliates – it’s about a type of home field advantage I had never considered. Some of you baseball guys likely are aware.)
As far as the Blacksburg Hall of Fame, maybe not the inaugural class, but down the road I’d say the likes of Ryan Jones and Sam Wheeler.
OG, I have heard the name, and about his feat, which is very impressive. How will that translate to D-1 is something to watch. Remember how Harrison Barnes was everyone’s surefire #1 and he struggled for most of the year before finally figuring things out? I think we can expect see the same.
For those of you ranting about ESPN, you are just preaching to the anti-ESPN choir.
The response of the Duke fans to a little tarnishing article is more the reason sports fans hate Duke. You attend a game and it is like one big teenage crush convention. Have to say nad this will hurt their feelings quite a bit but their fans are second only to WVU as far as disrespectful to opposing fans. Been to both places many times and to Cameron often when someone besides VT playing. Also news to Duke fans Coach K will reach down to any limits with anyone in recruiting or gamesmanship. Find a copy of the book Sole Influence by Dan Wetzel about the influence of shoe companies or google Myron Piggie. Quite enlightening. If you will remember @ VT few years ago one of their players families complained they where treated rudely by fans on court because they did not have access to floor to see their son. Aisle behind them was empty and a clear path to concourse and back steps to locker room was available. Thanks AMac for writing what most sports fans that do not drink the Duke Kool Aid think.
Coming from a small school in Western Pennsylvania that routinely lost to Robert Morris in most sports back in the day, it did my heart good to see them beat Kentucky, even if it could be argued that the only reason might be that Kentucky is having an “off” year. I watched PTI and some of the other sport shows last night. Nobody gave Robert Morris a chance. Robert Morris was supposed to lose to Kentucky, wasn’t even going to be close. All the “experts” forgot one very important thing; nobody told the Robert Morris players that they weren’t supposed to win.
For probably most Robert Morris players, if not all, these years of college ball will likely be their last. No NBA for them. This win makes it all the more sweet for us “little guys”. (BTW, I am a 1982 graduate of Grove City College, Grove City, PA (NCAA Div III). Any others out there? GCC is best known, sports-wise, for Running Back R.J. Bowers, 1996-2000, the leading rusher in the history of college football (7,353 yards vs Ron Dayne of Wisconsin’s 6397 yards, Dayne gets the credit) as well as the leading td scorer in the history of college football (92 rushing td’s vs Travis Prentice of Miami of Ohio’s 73, Prentice gets the credit). Bowers played a few years for the Steelers and the Browns before he left pro football. NCAA Division III gets no love!!
GCC is better known overall as one of only 2 or 3 schools in the USA that does not accept federal money of any kind. They fought a very important court case, and won, back in the early 80′s against the federal government when the federal government tried to force them to sign and comply with Title IX. GCC complies with the spirit of Title IX, but because they don’t accept federal money of any kind, they don’t feel they need to be beholden to the federal government. They felt it would be like signing a blank check with Uncle Sam. Nowadays, I say they are right!
This is way off topic, of anything sports related, but this small community of people is the smartest people I ever deal with, despite the once in a while difference of opinion.
But, I pose this question to you all – why in the world is the frickin’ # symbol a “hashtag” on the internet (specifically Twitter), and a “pound” on my cell phone? Why can’t we make things consistent?
I really want to know.
The rant is over.
The hash tag make it easy to search on Twitter what others are saying about a specific topic such as #Hokies or #BeatBama. It was designed that way so the API can execute a search query based on the hash tag. I wondered the same thing when I started using Twitter but now it have become second nature.
The inventor of Twitter called the pound sign “hash tag” I guess to differ between functions.
So everyone that doesn’t blindly hate Duke is a “Duke apologist” or a “Duke sycophant”? If we are painting with that broad brush, we could say all the people posting anti-Duke comments are jealous fans of lesser programs and just sad haters. Or does blind generalization only apply when it is aligned with your personal feelings?
And I’m aware this will elicit the stock “arrogant Duke fans thinking everyone is jealous of them” comments, so let me squash that: I am absolutely not saying that. I am illustrating the ridiculousness of a broad generalization. To call people a “apologist” it to demean their point of view. Some people just respect Coach K and what he has done with the program, and they have that right.
If we are supposed to take the good with the bad, Dook fans need to accept the bad with the good. Coach K is an outstanding coach, no argument from me or from any objective basketball fan. That said, his demeanor, his poor sportsmanship when losing, his shameless whining when the officials treat his team like they do the rest of the bball world, however seldom that occurs…it just goes on and on. I will never forget or forgive him for the classless exhibition that occurred in that first ACC matchup with VT when Greenburg got ousted or his “fatherly” advice talk with Malcolm Delaney after we beat them, just absolutely classless. When you are up by thirty points and screaming at an official for a no-call….no daggoned class.
Unlike crooked, I like the spirit of the Duke student section. One could say the same about the cheering of Texas A&M’s football student section as far as being scripted and led. The point being, their students show up en masse and cheer like the devil, something any college sports program should envy.
No I don’t like Duke, and while I don’t dislike them as much as I do UVA, they are right up there with West Va. on my root against them list.
So, way to go AMc. Well done, good column, don’t back down.
Now tell me why we can’t have all gas tanks on the same side of a vehicle!
Bob, you pose another very good question.
Unless I have the correct spotter in the vehicle (as in my wife or one of the kids that drives it normally) when I am driving something I normally don’t, I never know which side of pit road to pull in to.
Bob H, AMEN! The only thing I’ve ever been able to figure is that car designers try to locate fuel spouts on the opposite side from the exhaust output…for obvious reasons. But why they couldn’t standardize that to one side of the car, I’ll never know. All of my trucks and SUV’s have had the gas filler on the driver’s side. But my cars have been split…Subaru and Acura on the driver’s side…Chevy and Ford on the passenger side.
@33, as I have expected, that comment of yours is exactly an ‘apologist’ spin on thing. I’m shocked, SHOCKED, I say, that you would call UNC a lesser program when they are actually equal to Duke in terms of national championships, recruiting prowess, and having one of the best rivalries in college basketball. Jealousy? Please, child. I have never been a fan of Duke, in spite of knowing that Duke have one of the best medical programs in the nation, I would know since I went there as a wee child to having my hearing tested (and discovering my deafness there), and it is all because of Coach K’s incessantly whining to referees and other boorish behaviors.
@Perch, your comment about Texas A&M made me smile. I like how A&M have one of the best traditions in all of college football; the only school to NOT have female cheerleaders, but to have all-male YELL leaders, their midnight Yell Rally before every home games, and their tradition to never, ever admit defeat in a loss. That’s one of the best traditions in CFB.
I remember an older car I had where the fuel spout was behind the license plate. Now that was easy to remember.
The only thing more tired than CR’s griping is Dickie V telling the world that every coach and player on every team he sees play is “unbelievable”, “amazing”, etc. He gives the term “superlative” a bad name. It isn’t only Coach K who he hypes.
As for Robert Morris, their victory could not have happened to a more deserving victim. I love it when a Calipari team goes off the rails.
As for Hall of Fame, considering everything, I think Shane Beamer will have to get consideration if we account for post school success.
Didn’t B-burg have a golfer or two make the tour?
Best movie scene of someone trying to find the fuel spout on a vehicle was Chevy Chase as Clark Griswald in “Vacation”. “The Family Truckster, you think you hate it now, wait till you drive it.”
Sorry I haven’t chimed in much today, gang. Tony Stewart was in Martinsville for a media appearance. Look for a story on him tomorrow by Nappy, who was also there.
Best quote of the day from Stewart, regarding Danica’s Martinsville debut in three weeks: “As an owner I’m going to be really nervous. As a driver I’m going to be laughing a lot.”
It will no doubt be a learning experience for her.
Rick, glad to see you got a debate going on fuel-entry locations. You should have seen the perplexity Berman and I had with that rental Prius. As I noted on Twitter, this blog is your source for sports!
On the way home, one of XM Radio comedy channels played a bit from Jeff Dunham. You know, the ventriloquist? I was thinking Jeff Dunham doesn’t really work for me on radio, given that I can’t see whether his lips are moving.
But as the act continued, I was reminded that Jeff Dunham doesn’t really work for me under any conditions.
Yeah…The first time I saw one of Jeff Dunham’s bits with Achmed the Dead Terrorist…it was pretty funny. But it wore off quickly. I think that’s why I see so many of his DVD’s at Goodwill.
Why is the BHS Hall of Fame only starting with four people? There are quite a few folks from the soccer side, starting with Coach Blumenthal. Pick almost any team he has coached and there will be at least two and sometimes three players who should be recognized. I’ll throw out Elliott Stallings, Richard Troy, Harper Thorsen, Michael Releford, and Austin Rose.
Aren’t ventriloquists in the same category of funny as Rich Little? Or his successor three decades later, Frank Caliendo? In other words, after three minutes, anyone with sanity is done?
CR — When I was a kid, I LOVED “Jose-Jalepeno-on-a-Steek,” which was the premier Dunham bit at the time. And then I got older — I won’t say I matured, because I didn’t, but I got older — and I saw it again recently. Meh. I demand more out of my stand-up comics these days. Brian Regan is the one guy who delivers time after time (Mitch Hedberg did too, but sadly he’s dead). I promise this, Regan delivers, at least for those who think like I do. Others are very hit-or-miss. They can be laugh-out-loud funny at times, but still they are hit-or-miss.
And I realize it’s not easy. The Duke column missed. BOYYYYY, how it missed.
I’d argue Ralph is the Brian Regan of this blog. His hit ratio is very, very high. Not every comment here is designed to be funny — probably 85 percent are not — but for a guy who is attempting humor, Ralph is getting it done.
AMc, Regan is indeed funny. I like Louis CK more, though. Even before he became epic. Bill Burr is good, too. If you want to step outside the whitebread zone, as I prefer, then the King of All Others is – Chris Rock. Not only is he funny, but he is insightful in a way that everyone else is afraid to even discuss.
Lots of others, but those are some to watch.
Here’s one of my favorite (unintentionally funny) Chris Rock moments…
NSFW, as is basically everything Chris Rock…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmm_IqFbrHY
He’s totally true, and totally funny, and he makes the point. That’s comedy gold, Jerry!
There’s not a bigger whiner in all of college basketball than Roy Williams. Anybody who watched the ACC championship game got a screen full of him
bitching at and trying to intimidate the refs on almost every call. And the
arrogance of Duke basketball fans? Reminds me of the football fans at –
guess where? good ole Va Tech!
Aha! I neglected Chris Rock. He is in the pantheon, too. As is Dave Chappelle.
Louis CK is very good, but he uses the cursing crutch just a little too much for my taste (much like his forefather, George Carlin). I don’t mind F-bombs if used strategically (Rock, Eddie Murphy, et al), but if the cursing is the joke itself (too many comedians to name), I’m not with ya.
OJ, your theory of location is good except with twin exhaust which my car and truck have. I heard an old wives tale that you could tell by looking at how your gas guage is configured. Something about where the symbol is located on the guage. Don’t hold me to that, both my vehicles fuel from the same side, the left. As for a comedian, I enjoy Ron White.
Had a ’54 VW bug in Germany, gas tank was under the hood. No gas guage, just a stick you would measure the gas with. Had a reserve lever, but I never knew which position was which so I never used it. Yeah, them were the days.
My favorite comedian as a family stand-up and also as a ventriloquists is Taylor Mason – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8TUongieWg. It’s a clean comedy with no cursing.
My biggest gripe with comedians these days is everything have to be cursing, which to me is ok, if used properly as Aaron alluded to, but there are outstanding comedians who doesn’t nary use a curse word, and they have folks in stitches.
Coach K is indeed the king of whiners and worse yet it works. I don’t think anyone actually believes that his comments were anything other than sour grapes after losing to UVA.
I don’t think you can read to much into the NIT. Robert Morris is happy to be anywhere and the Kentucky players are still in shock (although they shouldn’t be) that they are not at the NCAA tourney. After a few games the better teams in the NIT will be more focused but for now they really don’t want to be there. Still I’m happy to see them embarassed after years of assuming the NCAA tourney was their right.
Nobody was funnier than Don Knots. The modern equivalent has got to be Will Ferrell. I’m off subject aren’t I?
Dale Matuesavich(sp), Jay Purcell ? Blacksburg should get that HOF going because clearly most of the talent is in Christiansburg these days! Go Big Blue !!!
Just saw where Allen Cheney was named comeback player if the year by CBS Sports. He averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds for high Point this year. Glad every thing turned out well for him. I can`t fault Tech for not letting him play and it was good to see him on the bench for every game two years ago.
The all-time greatest defensive football coach at BHS and baseball coach, Bill Brown, is number one choice for Hall of Fame. Also include Rick Aydlett (basketball), Allen Wiley (basketball coach).
AMc, you’re very right about Chappelle. I forgot him. Like Chris Rock, he manages to make you think while you are laughing so hard. I’ll agree about CK’s language. That’s one thing about Regan, he is funny while being totally clean.
Perch, there’s just something endearing about those old VW ‘Bugs’. No matter what, when I stroll around these ‘muscle car shows’ that you see in various parking lots on Saturdays, someone always has a little VW Beetle or a few, and they garner as much attention as any Vette or Mustang there. They’re always guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.
#55 Ralph, I completely agree with both sentiments. Congrats to Chaney, I understand VT’s position. I’m sure that SGreenberg will see that, and also be pleased. He was a lot closer with AC than people acknowledge. Hope there are lots of good things in AC’s future, whether sports related or not.
http://gizmodo.com/5991141/the-most-accurate-map-of-college-basketball-fandom
Scroll down to the bottom for a Carolina vs dook breakdown in fandom. It’s interesting that everybody in S.C. prefers the Heels over the dookies.