Sports Then and Now

Cornell faithful cheer on their Cinderella team.

Back in the day when I was not even a teenager yet, I developed a strong interest for sports. Soccer was my first interest and the first sport that I played competitively. Soon to follow was football, basketball, volleyball, softball, baseball, field hockey, and swimming.

While I did not compete in all these sports, playing just some leisurely, I had developed a fascination for sports to include even croquet, ping pong, badminton and bowling. Growing up in Ithaca, NY, the small city did not have any minor league, major college, amateur, or professional teams. To this day it still does not.

Cornell University and Ithaca College have provided most of the local sports scene along with the high schools generation after generation after generation. Ithaca College has won three Division III national championships in football (last in 1991) and Cornell has won three national titles in lacrosse (last in 1977) while reaching that sport’s final four two of the last three years. Coaches like the late Jim Butterfield of Ithaca College football and Richie Moran, who coached Cornell lacrosse back in the 1970’s, stand tall in the history of the schools. Read the rest of this entry →

Northern Iowa is just one of several lower seeds that have crashed the party at the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

Whew, it is finally time to catch your breath after an amazing weekend of college basketball in the first two rounds of the Division I Men’s Championship.

As could be expected considering the lack of great play among the top conferences this season, the opening games included lots of surprises and big names going home early.

Below are some observations from the opening rounds:

REVENGE OF THE MID-MAJORS: Much has been written in recent years about how the five BCS conferences seem determined to conquer the college sports world. They have made it almost impossible for a non-BCS league school to win the College Football Championship and have also done everything possible to ensure that as much money from the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament stays with the big boys as possible.

Until this season, the number of at-large teams in the tournament from non-BCS schools had been making a significant decline in recent years. That number increased to eight this year (after only four a year ago), but part of that reason was that the BCS leagues (especially the Pac 10) were appreciably weaker than in recent years. Read the rest of this entry →

Northern Iowa harassed top seeded Kansas throughout their improbable victory over the Jayhawks.

If you had any doubt that there really was no “great” team in college basketball this season, Northern Iowa’s shocking 69-67 victory over number one Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament should confirm the fact.

While it isn’t the greatest upset in tournament history based on seeding, it is definitely notable simply because Kansas was the prohibitive favorite to cut down the nets in Indianapolis (40 percent of participants in ESPN’s Bracket Challenge picked the Jayhawks to win the title).

The last time the overall number one seed lost in the second round of the tournament was in 2004 when Kentucky lost to Alabama-Birmingham in the second round. Interestingly, that year was very similar to 2010 in that there were a number of very good teams, but no team considered to be great. Of the four number one seeds in that tournament (Kentucky, Duke, St. Joseph’s and Stanford), Duke was the only one to reach the Final Four and they lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Connecticut. Read the rest of this entry →

Tre'Von Willis and the Runnin' Rebels could not pull out a victory in their NCAA Tournament opener against Northern Iowa.

Junior forward and UNLV’s team leader Tre’Von Willis put it best. “Losing in the first round is a little disappointing,” Willis said. “But overall, we had a good season. We’re definitely going to have our good days ahead of us.”

That is exactly what this Rebels fan and reporter will focus on within the scope of this report.

Yes,surely the 69-66 loss to a very good Northern Iowa team was disappointing and yes there were enough flaws in the Rebels performance that the outcome was anticipated early enough in the game when the Runnin’ Rebels jumped out to an eight point lead, despite some very erratic shooting, and couldn’t continue the onslaught.

Let’s give the Northern Iowa Panthers credit. They played a very smart defensive game which is their signature and when it came down to the last 11 seconds left in a tie game with no time outs remaining, they were able to find an open man 26 feet from the basket and Ali Farokhmanesh, try saying that name five times fast, simply fired away to put the Panthers up by three. Read the rest of this entry →

Christian Laettner's game-winning shot ended one of the great games in NCAA Tournament history.

Welcome to the third and final part of the Ultimate March Madness List.
This installment features the top 20 moments in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

20. 1998 Valparaiso-Ole Miss
With 2.5 seconds left and trailing 69-67, Valpo’s Jaime Skyes throws a 60-foot pass down the length of the court that is caught by Bill Jenkins, who then passes it over to Bryce Drew (the head coach’s son), who then proceeds to drill a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give #13 seed Valparaiso an improbable 70-69 victory over the #4 seed Ole Miss Rebels in their first round game.

19. 1990 Connecticut-Clemson
With exactly one second left, Uconn guard Tate George catches a full-court pass from Scott Burrell, lands, then squares up to shoots a jumper that goes in the basket at the buzzer to give the Huskies a miraculous 71-70 win over the Clemson Tigers and send Connecticut to their first ever Elite Eight.

18. 1991 Duke-UNLV
One year after losing to UNLV 103-73 in the championship game, Duke avenges that humiliating by knocking off the undefeated and defending national champion Runnin’ Rebels 79-77 as Christian Lattener hits two free throws with 12.7 seconds left.

Duke would win the national championship two nights later as they defeated Kansas 72-65 to give coach Mike Krzyzewski his first national title after five trips to the Final Four. Read the rest of this entry →

Is the NCAA still punishing UNLV for the antics of Jerry Tarkanian?

Of course there is but more on that in a little bit.

First off I am not what you call a “Conspiracy Theorist”. Well maybe a little bit. Like, sure there wasn’t another shooter on the grassy knoll. Like, Amelia Earhart really lost her way. Like all the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle can be explained. Like Elvis is really dead. Now that one I know is not true. Here in Vegas I see Elvis at least three to four times a day, sometimes even in two places at once.

You tell me what dead person could do that. Oh and by the way here’s two more I’ll let you in on but don’t spread the word or I might be found just outside of town in an area called The Valley of Fire. Tupac’s alive for sure plus sports players never bet on games and know that Jeb Bush had nothing to do with the results of the 2000 election results in Florida. Duh, the guy with most votes lost.

With the 2010 NCAA Tournament on the verge of sending sports fans everywhere into March Madness my 20 year old nagging conspiracy that the powers that be in the NCAA land continues it’s life long vengeance against the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

This body of old, decrepit individuals really can hold a grudge. Geez!

Lets go back a little more than a generation ago. If you think of the City of Las Vegas to be “Sin City” now try to imagine when the town was run by the Mob, known in some circles as the Cosa Nostra, the Mafia, the Godfathers, that thing of ours, and my favorite, the Little Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Hell our current Mayor, Oscar (“I was not a mob lawyer”) Goodman was THE mob lawyer for Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Seigal. No he wasn’t but it sounds good, doesn’t it? Read the rest of this entry →