The first version of Quick Hits may have been too "basketball-heavy", but so is my life during the month of March so here are only a couple more March Madness-related items followed by some other noteworthy sports headlines:
Big L-"East": The Big East Conference set a record this year with 11 teams in its 16-team conference getting invited to the 68-team tournament. The Big East snatched up 10 of the 37 "at-large" bids (27%), yet only 2 of the 11 teams remain in the tournament after 2 rounds of play - as many teams as the Big Ten, the Mountain West, and the City of Richmond, Virginia!
Big L-"East": The Big East Conference set a record this year with 11 teams in its 16-team conference getting invited to the 68-team tournament. The Big East snatched up 10 of the 37 "at-large" bids (27%), yet only 2 of the 11 teams remain in the tournament after 2 rounds of play - as many teams as the Big Ten, the Mountain West, and the City of Richmond, Virginia!
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| VCU is one of the two teams from Richmond Virginia enjoying the "sweetness" of the NCAA Tournament |
The NB-Who?: By the way, has there even been a single NBA highlight on SportsCenter during the past week? Apparently during March Madness people pay attention to the NBA just about as much as the NBA players pay attention to playing defense before the playoffs.
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| Mario Lemieux may now be regretting his demands for higher punishment for physical play after Cook's suspension. |
Irony on Ice: Last month, the owner of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, Mario Lemieux, lashed out at the NHL for what he perceived to be an insufficient amount of discipline and punishment following a brawl-filled game between his Penguins and the NY Islanders. Last week, Lemieux proposed tougher suspensions for players that cross the line and inflict unnecessary roughness on other players during games - even suggesting that the teams be fined for the player's conduct. This week, after elbowing an opponent in the head, one of Mario Lemieux's key players (Matt Cooke) was suspended for the remainder of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs. Mario? Any comment now?
Bonds on Trial: The Barry Bonds perjury trial began on Monday in San Francisco. You can read the riveting recap of Tuesday's proceedings of this century's "trial of the century" in California here. Barry Bonds is on trial for perjury and obstruction of justice, charged with lying when he told a federal grand jury that he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs...or eat his teammates' garlic fries. It's also interesting to note the list of Bonds' perjury trial jurors in the ESPN link above, which has led to the key question that everyone in this perjury trial wants to have answered: "Juror 21, how exactly did you manage to become a retired cashier without committing perjury yourself or slipping at least a $100 bill in your pocket at the end of every shift?!"
My Letter to Rick Reilly- the whole concept of writing and angry letter and putting it in a drawer
ReplyDeleteRick,
I want to begin by saying I love your column. I Look forward to it, and share the funny parts with my wife. Having read your column for several years on ESPN and SI I have come to appreciate your work. I loved the piece you did on the Detroit Red Wings where you crossed out certain words and replaced them with different ones. After reading so many of your pieces I feel I am in a position to share my opinion of your work. I think the majority is very good. However, your piece on Jimmer Fredette is trash. I actually printed it off and asked my dog to urinate on it because it was so poorly constructed. You clearly wrote the piece on little sleep while approaching a deadline. Half of it was space occupying quotes because you had nothing to say. My guess is you took advantage of your time in the big easy and woke up with a huge hangover 15 minutes before your column was due.
You evaluated a player based on one performance. That is like someone evaluating you on one column instead of your entire body of work. Is that fair? Would you value their opinion? I would not.
You say Maravich could get his shot off from the bottom of a pool or go for 40 in handcuffs. Well what do you call averaging nearly 30 points when being double and triple teamed?
I love that you criticize a guy who scored 30+ points in a sweet sixteen game against a talented, athletic team.
You probably couldn't score 30 points against third graders while playing on a nerf hoop!
Jimmer Fredette is exactly what you want in a college athlete. Talent, humility, staying in school through senior year instead of chasing fame and riches. He did things the right way and you throw that in his face. Shame on you.
This much I know. In one season he has achieved more fame and recognition than you ever will. When someone says "Rick" they have no idea who you are talking about. When someone says "Jimmer" no doubt! You have been Jimmered!