Week in Review

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Nothing much happened in the week that was (well, between the last post). That said, it is important to establish a routine here at NRTTS, so I am back with another week in review thread. A quick caveat about the schedule of posting; the posting will be much more regular when actual football season starts. This means games that mean something in college and the NFL. I wouldn't expect daily posts, but there will definitely be some sort of review of the college football day (Sunday), a preview of the week that comes (Wednesday or so..), and some general observations sometime in between.

The lead story that piqued my interest, as evidenced by the picture above, was the Rick Pitino Abortion Rally. News came out that the extortion attempt that became public last year during the NCAA basketball season actually involved a woman that Pitino had an affair with (which, like, duh), then forced to get an abortion (allegedly). The kicker in all of this is the woman ended up marrying another assistant coach. There are sloppy seconds, and then there are "take this crazy girl off my hands who's abortion I just paid for." At that point, I think I would be looking for another job.

It's not that I had that much respect for Pitino in the first place. I always thought that he was a slimy character, one of many in the world of college sports. And this is where my real issue is. There are two prime examples of coaches that have the respect of everyone in the sport, yet would sell their first-born for a prized recruit. Pitino and John Calipari.

They both rose to prominence around the same time. Pitino with his loaded Kentucky squads in the mid 90's, and Calipari with his Marcus Camby-led UMass squad with their "Refuse to Lose" moniker. While Pitino had a hiccup with the Celtics, he was quickly ushered back into college basketball by a school desperate to get back to relevance. Louisville forced long time coach and well-respected do-gooder Denny Crum out so that Pitino could come in and use his name to lure recruits to the school. Almost overnight, Louisville rose back to prominence and the boosters were patting Pitino on the back like he was the second coming of Christ. Even with these latest allegations, Louisville is standing by it's man. After all, there is nothing more important than filling up the arena and keeping the Athletic Department coffers lined with money.

Calipari followed pretty much the same path as Pitino. Once the well went dry at UMass, he bolted for the big money gig with the New Jersey Nets. When he failed there, he came back to the "coaching worship haven" that is college sports. This time, it was the Memphis Tigers who were looking to make the big splash, and again almost instantly, they became a national powerhouse. However, when he felt he had exhausted his resources at Memphis, the latest desperate school came calling. This time, it is the University of Kentucky. There is only one problem with Calipari. He really has never won anything. The UMass squad's record that brought him to fame has been wiped off the record books due to illegal benefits given to Marcus Camby. The Memphis squad that set the NCAA record for victories is no longer on the books, as the SAT scores for star recruit Derrick Rose were found to be illegitimate. Along with this, improper benefits were given to families of the players who were allowed to fly on the team plane. Of course, Calipari "knew nothing" of this and denied any wrong doing. How convenient for him that he left right before the house of cards came crashing down. This is the most irritating thing to me. Calipari sets all these acts in motion, and then the new coach gets punished while Coach Cal builds Kentucky into a national powerhouse again. It is a hypocrisy that needs to be addressed by the NCAA. They had it right when they banned Kelvin Sampson for repeatedly breaking the rules. If they can't see the writing on the wall for Calipari, than they are blinder than John Navarre to an oncoming rush.

As a Michigan college basketball fan, I could not be happier with our choice for a coach when Tommy Amaker was fired. John Beilein has proven to be a class act who wins with players that work hard and develop, rather than players who are looking for a quick stopover between high school and the NBA. Until the NBA changes it's rules to either force 2-3 years in college, or abolish the present rule that mandates at least one year, than guys like Calipari and Pitino will continue to exploit the system while their pockets are lined and backs are patted by boosters who have no interest other than winning.

Other happenings in the week of sports

• Heads exploded and eyes rolled when U of M's Rich Rodriguez announced that 3 quarterbacks will play in the September 5th opener against Western Michigan. To the panickers I say this; it will not last. Rodriguez preaches "open competition" at all spots, and what better way to keep the kids competing than to announce that all three will play in the opener. We all know what Nick Sheridan can do on the field (not much), but his experience in the system will prove to be valuable as these two true freshman make their march through the Big Ten.
• The Plaxico Burress sentencing has caused a ton of uproar. The whole "Stallworth killed somebody and got 24 days" argument is definitely valid, but the bottom line is that Plax is still an idiot. The law is the law and if he broke it than he should be punished accordingly. Quit whining, Plax. I just suggest to him that he stay away from any re-runs of Oz or he may resort to shooting himself somewhere other than the leg. I really have no sympathy for him, but maybe that is just the angry fan in me after he ruined the G-Men's Super Bowl aspirations last year.
• Is there any more obvious "Overrated Team Destined To Fail", or as it should be known the "Michigan Football 2007 Award," than Ole' Miss in 2009? Sure, they beat Florida last year, but in the SEC it is bound to happen that a team will be overlooked. They will be on everyone's radar and there is no way that they will escape the SEC will less than 3 losses. The talk of national championship is just outrageous. After all, this is Ole Miss, and their coach is still Houston Nutt, who hasn't won anything since "Most Likely To Become A Porn Star" in his high school yearbook.
• Speaking of one game being overrated, are experts really pointing to Notre Dame's bowl win over Hawaii as a reason they will be better in 09'? Talk about reaaaaaaaaaaaching so that Notre Dame can be put on their "greatest program ever" pedestal. And that leads me to Lou Holtz. It is time for you to go away. For good. Seriously, never ever talk again. What brings about these feelings? Only Lou's prediction for Notre Dame's upcoming 09' football campaign. National championship and Notre Dame should not even be in the same paragraph, let alone sentence, when talking about Notre Dame. If Lou was just trying to generate a buzz about the upcoming season, than I guess I can see where he is coming from. If he is making a legitimate case for Notre Dame to be in the BCS National Title game than he needs to take his old, senile ass off of my television. On second thought, that really needs to happen no matter what.

NRTTS

Coach Deuce