Scott Cordischi On Sports: Calhoun, Tiger and the Dead Sox!
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
With college basketball’s National Championship game now in the rearview mirror, there’s a couple of things I have a problem with.
First, everyone was lamenting the lack of quality play in Monday night’s final which, at the very least, was not the most aesthetically pleasing game. But to dwell on the poor offensive play of that game is missing the point.
This was one of the best NCAA Tournament’s we have ever seen! We had not one, but two mid-major teams make it all the way to the Final Four in Butler and VCU. There were upsets galore thoughout the Tournament beginning with Moorhead State’s shocking win over Louisville in the opening round to Virginia Commonwealth’s shocking win in the regional finals against Kansas.
There is no question that the caliber of play in college basketball has suffered with more and more of the star players leaving school after one or two years to enter the NBA Draft. Still, the competition is fierce and there is much more parity in the sport because of the fact that the dominant programs are forced to constantly reload.
The other thing that needs to be mentioned is the job Jim Calhoun has done at Connecticut. Unlike the other four coaches who have won 3 or more National Championships, Calhoun built his program from the ground up out of nothing.
There was no such thing as a winning basketball tradition at UConn. Jim Calhoun took that program from nothing and has made it into one of the premier programs in all of college basketball.
There is one downside to Calhoun and that is his demeanor to those who may question anything that he does. Simply put, he tries to bully his way past those who dare question him and can be a salty S.O.B. at times.
Those that know him say that he’s a good guy which might be true. He is also said to be a very charitable man which is also a very worthy thing. And because he wins, Calhoun is often times able to get away with his abhorrent behavior. Still, there’s no excuse for treating people the way that he does sometimes.
Whether someone is your closest friend or a complete stranger should not matter. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and Calhoun often times falls far short of doing that.
Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski has enjoyed even more success than Calhoun throughout the course of his career but he seems to treat everyone he meets with respect. It seems like such a simple thing to do.
-Memo to Red Sox Nation: Can you say Sports Illustrated jinx?
-If Dave Leitao doesn’t come to PC, word is that Ed Cooley has targeted two other African-American assistants at high-major programs as possibilities for associate head coach.
-It was written here a couple of months ago that Rhode Island College men’s basketball coach Bob Walsh deserves his shot at a Division-1 job. Word is that Walsh has talked to both Manhattan and Colgate about their head coaching vacancies.
-Speaking of the coaching carousel, with Sydney Johnson now at Fairfield, Princeton may see if Oregon State’s Craig Robinson is interested in returning to his alma mater.
-An early playoff exit by the Boston Celtics will not reflect well on GM Danny Ainge and the trade he made sending Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City.
-An early playoff exit by the Boston Bruins may mean the end of Claude Julien’s tenure as the B’s bench boss.
-I keep telling myself that there’s a long a way to go, but the start the Red Sox are off to this season is very discouraging.
-The bottom line is that unless the pitching improves, this team will be going nowhere.
-Am I the only one wondering if Saltalamacchia might be the problem behind the plate? Maybe he doesn’t call as good of a game as Jason Varitek or Victor Martinez?
-Phil Mickelson won’t win this year’s Masters because no one ever wins the week before on Tour and then follows it up with a win at Augusta.
-Tiger won’t win it either because he’s just not good enough right now.
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