John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Thinking Out Loud…while wondering what big time college program – or which well- known sports personality – will fall next…
• The Columbia band was banned from playing at their season-finale Saturday against Brown. Why? Because they’ve been making fun of the 0-9 Lions’ losing ways. But now, they’re back in, and will be in attendance. I guess band geeks do have power…
• Watching Vincent Council, Bryce Cotton and Gerard Coleman (The Three C’s) weave their magic against Fairfield this past Monday is making me re-think some things about PC hoops. For this year…
• Just goes to show you…no matter how bad you have it, someone else always has it worse. While Friar fans might have fretted over Fairfield this week (which ended up as a road win), West Virginia, Rutgers and even 9th ranked Pittsburgh all lost basketball games this week. At home, no less…
• Big ups to Friar soccer coach Shaka Daley and his team, moving into the second round of the NCAA Tournament after an opening-round 1-0 win over Dartmouth. Pounded by Louisville in the Big East Tournament, the Friars are showing their resiliency in making the most of a second chance…
• Expect the Big East Conference to formally invite Houston, SMU and Central Florida into the league as full-time members, while the league will expand westward with the additions of Boise State, Air Force and Brigham Young for football only. Considering where the quality of the football league might be right now, the future of Big East football has improved considerably…
• And by the way, if 11th ranked Houston wins out, they’ll earn the first BCS bowl berth in school and Conference USA history, thanks to TCU’s win over Boise State. This makes both the Cougars and Broncos smart, smart moves for Big East football…
• What I’d like to see now…is a smart move (or two) for Big East basketball. Temple, Memphis, Xavier or Butler, please…
• I’m hearing rumblings of a local coach in trouble. Not with the law, but with his job. Stay tuned…
• Another tragedy has fallen upon the Oklahoma State athletic program, with another plane crash killing women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant Miranda Serna. I knew Bill Teegins, the OSU broadcaster who was killed in the first plane accident in 1991. College athletic departments are like family – you work, eat, play, travel, sleep and live together, for days and months on end. I can’t imagine the pain within that family…
• The story of molestation allegations surrounding assistant coach Bernie Fine and the Syracuse basketball program should not come as a shock. Let the facts play out. But the fact that we’ve also been hit over the head with the Penn State fiasco makes me wish we could jump right back into the 1950’s and ‘60’s…it was a simpler time. Or maybe, we just didn’t know as much as we know now…
• The stories of child sex abuse are difficult to hear, and I’m sure very difficult to tell. But they must be told, or the cycle of abuse will continue unfettered…
• The Rose Bowl says they’ll welcome Penn State “with open arms,” if the Nittany Lions end up in the game. That’s how it should be, despite some national pundits calling for the school to turn down all post-season bids. Why penalize the current student-athletes in the program for the wrong-doings of others? Two wrongs never make a right…
• File this under “what are they thinking?” Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel was arrested this week under suspicion of DWI. Really – what ARE these guys thinking? If employers could dock your pay for being stupid, wouldn’t some of this behavior stop?
• Soccer likes to think of itself as the truly “global sport,” but when the man-in-charge (FIFA president Sepp Blatter) continually gets away with making racist comments, what does this really say about the sport?
• Is it just me, or did Theo just pull an end run around the Red Sox by hiring Dale Sveum as his manager in Chicago?
• I have a better idea. Instead of moving the Houston Astros into the American League from the National to balance the teams at 15 in each league – which would mean season-long interleague play – let’s go back to “square one.” Leave things as they are. Some times, less is more…
• Although, I do like the added wild card team and the one-game playoff to move on into the division series. That will be great drama, or agony, depending on your point of view…
• Not for nuthin’…but if anyone ever had the “it” factor going for them, it would be Tim Tebow…
• Ok, so I think I now know what the “Tim Tebow” phenomenon is all about. It’s about a guy rising above his shortcomings? It’s about leadership, trust, and good ol’
“stick-to-it-iveness?” Or does he just stink as an NFL quarterback and get very, very lucky? The Patriots will soon find out…
• Think fast. Who’s the better QB right now – Tim Tebow, or the Jets’ Mark Sanchez?
• Providence Roller Derby has a championship match coming up at the RI Convention Center on December 3rd, as part of a doubleheader that day. Two games for the price of one – for more info, email [email protected]...
• Jim Donaldson blogged in the Providence Journal this week about a little side trip we took (with the Big East Statbeast, John Zannini) after the Jets-Patriots game and before PC played at Fairfield. It was lunch in lower Manhattan at Katz’s Delicatessen…which has the absolute best pastrami known to mankind. What he didn’t tell you in his posting was that he helped pick up the check – which could be considered an upset in the local sports world. Thank you, James…
• This week’s mailbag question comes from Kat in Chicago, IL: “Sorry if this has been covered before but do we know what is going on with (LB Brandon) Spikes? Do we have a return ETA?” Kat – Brandon Spikes is still recovering from what is thought to be a possible knee sprain, and he has been held out of on-field work for the past week. Based on a similar injury to Jerod Mayo earlier this season, an estimated ETA (barring a training room miracle) could be on or about the Colts game on Dec. 4th…
• Interested in having your questions on local RI sports (including the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Send ‘em to me! It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions and comments to [email protected]. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Follow me on Twitter, @jrooke0722…and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke...
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