John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

John Rooke, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Thinking out loud…and wondering how Punxsutawney Phil could be so cruel…and so wrong…

• I gotta admit…I like those cars Peyton Manning calls his signals from within (Buick Verano). I was getting all set to seriously consider one until my youngest son (aka “The Rookie”) said “Dad, aren’t Buick’s the last car you own before you die?” Whoa…

• Dr. Jerry Buss’ passing this week is certainly the end of an ownership era in pro sports. Under Buss’ guidance, the Lakers weren’t just another good team – they were “Showtime.” They embraced Hollywood and everything about the spotlight. You can certainly make the argument that because of Buss, the NBA began to shine just like the stars from Tinseltown…

• Consider the staggering array of stars to pass through the Lakers’ locker room during Buss’ tenure – Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant…even Dwight Howard. And those cheerleading dance teams now prevalent throughout the NBA (and in other sports, too)? It all started with Buss’ Laker Girls…

• One more item to consider from Jerry Buss – naming rights on arenas. In 1988, Great Western Savings & Loan bought the rights to the “Fabulous” Forum in Inglewood, a deal Buss orchestrated that was years’ ahead of its’ time. Right, Dunkin Donuts?

• Fantastic that Danica Patrick is the first woman to win the pole position for the Daytona 500, one of America’s great auto races. It seems the racing world has been waiting for her to actually DO something, other than look good in those GoDaddy commercials. I won’t be the first – or the last – to say, however…she’ll never win it…

• All’s well in baseball? Slipping through the cracks this week – 2013 is the first year since baseball arbitration began in 1974 that exactly ZERO cases made the court room. 133 players were arbitration eligible and filed this year, but none of them went to a hearing…

• As spring training games officially get underway this weekend, I’m left with an underwhelming feeling of expectation overall for the Red Sox…and even the Yankees for this season. Biggest news to come from Fort Myers in the last day or two? Newcomer Mike Carp was given Curt Schilling’s old #38 jersey to wear…the first player to wear the number since “Red Light” left for TV. And that 38 Studios thing…

• Remember that spate of injuries the Friars were running through earlier this season? Consider it’s probably better “early than late,” since Rutgers’ leading scorer Eli Carter is gone for the year with a broken leg, and Seton Hall’s Brandon Mobley is done with a bad shoulder – the same one he aggravated against PC last month…

• University of Miami president Dr. Donna Shalala is declaring war on the NCAA? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Perhaps membership institutions should be declaring war on a “leader” whose institutional control over her own University is severely lacking. The “U” has stood for nothing more than “Us,” as in ‘what’s in it for us’…for decades…

• Granted, the NCAA enforcement geniuses blew the investigation of former booster Nevin Shapiro at Miami, who was found to have thrown money around the football program like few others before him…but the fact that it happened to a school that can’t – and really never has – controlled its’ culture is the height of irony…

• With Lindy Ruff’s firing this week by the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, the Patriots’ Bill Belichick is now the 4th longest-tenured coach with one team among the four major sports leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL). Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, Barry Trotz in Nashville and Mike Scioscia with the Angels are first in line…

• The Boston Herald reported this week that the Patriots will not use the franchise tag on Wes Welker, and will ostensibly decide to use the designation on either CB Aqib Talib or OL Sebastian Vollmer, who are also both free agents. If true, it’s probably a smart move. I’d vote for Talib. But I still hold out hope that some kind of deal is worked out to keep Welker in Foxboro. Several sources have him ranked as high as the 6th best available free agent this off-season…

• Even if Pats’ CB Alfonzo Dennard receives probation – or perhaps a short jail sentence – for his felony charge of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest in Lincoln, NE, the team should place their franchise tag this year on Talib…and NOT on Welker…

• Before you kill me on this, hear me out. Sure, the team will make Welker an offer. But it won’t be what he can command, perhaps, from another team desperate for a playmaker. Someone will overpay Welker, and if so, congrats to him. Hope I’m wrong…but his time in New England could certainly be finished…

• Dennard, by the way, faces up to SIX years in prison for his offenses, even though the most jail time he would likely do would be 180 days. Still, the Patriots’ offseason just got a bit more muddled, and with Dennard’s status in doubt…Talib is now that much more valuable to the team…

• Especially now that offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer, who is also an unrestricted free agent and a candidate for the franchise tag, has apparently already undergone off-season knee surgery according to several reports. Did he think he might be able to sneak this by anyone?

• Football stat geeks everywhere love this week – NFL Combine Week – where teams come to measure, time, weigh-in, poke and prod pro football prospects. Here’s a good stat for you…since the Combine began in 1985, only three players have not been invited, but still drafted in the first round…and only one in the past 20 years (CB Darrien Gordon, selected by San Diego out of Stanford in 1993)…

• One more for you – since 2002, several notable players have made NFL rosters without attending the combine. Including a guy named Welker, who was undrafted in 2004…

• Not for nuthin’…a late rumor to chew on…Ryan Mallett is trade bait at QB. More so if Kansas City cuts Matt Cassell…because he could come back to New England…

• The latest craze, featuring the “Harlem Shake” from the student body at the University of Maryland. The team should be as good as these students…

• This may be the single greatest half-court basketball shot I have ever seen…have you seen it? Holy Moly…

• Bobby Valentine, remember him? Apparently, he’s set to become the next athletic director at Sacred Heart University – the same Sacred Heart in the same league (NEC) as Bryant…

• Wonder how long it will take the good citizens of Fairfield, CT…and the Pioneers’ alumni…to complain about how Valentine is handling his players…

• The NBA’s trading deadline came and went this week…with much ado about nothing, really. So the Celtics made a mini-deal…trading away a player with a torn ACL (Leandro Barbosa). Did it improve them? No. Are they any better for the long term? No. Will they likely suffer the same ultimate fate this year as believed a few weeks ago? Yes…

• Can’t help but think that Danny Ainge missed out on an opportunity here. Yet, there do have to be willing trade partners for his veteran players…and the guess is here that interested teams just couldn’t bring themselves to pull it off. No use for Pierce or Garnett? Ainge said Friday he never wanted to deal them. Maybe that will light a fire under each of their cheeks…

• And then there’s Kevin Garnett. Did he really veto a deal to the LA Clippers? It’s his contractual right if so, and what Celtic fans should now hope for is his ability to keep a little gas in his own tank for the late season drive…so we can look back on this trade veto as the right move, not the wrong move…

• UConn’s overtime win over Cincinnati Thursday night wasn’t a surprise, but perhaps the way the Huskies won it was. They scored 18 points in the entire second half, and then scored 18 in the subsequent five minute overtime to win it…

• A Huskies’ late season charge might be fun for their fans, but could Kevin Ollie claim “coach of the year” from his counterparts around the league…without his team in the post-season tournament? It could happen…

• Even though they seem to have hit a wall lately, if you’re looking for a Big East team that most certainly will be in the mix next month, how about Cincinnati? In each of their 27 games played thus far, with six minutes left to play they have either led or been within four points of the lead. In every game…

• Providence took one on the chin from Syracuse this week, which is nothing really new. Too many times the Friars have gone into the Carrier Dome swinging a short stick against a stacked Orange lineup that might be better suited for the NBA. What’s most disappointing about the game, however, is the huge opportunity that presented itself was seemingly wasted. But was it? We’ll find out by the way this Friar team finishes the season. Sometimes, a step back is required before two steps forward can be taken…

• Teams are figuring out how to stop/slow Bryce Cotton. They’re running different players at him defensively, usually much larger players…and in SU’s case they simply extended the zone out to him and never lost sight of where he was positioned. They’ve been smart. Let’s see if the Friars can be smarter about creating shot opportunities for him from here on out…

• Vincent Council passed two icons of the game this week when he broke the PC career record for assists (held by Ernie DiGregorio) and the Big East career record for league assists (held by Syracuse’s Sherman Douglas). Fans might say there’s no way Council compares to either of those players…but I would argue his talent shouldn’t be questioned. After all, consider who Ernie D and the General played with…and who VC has played with. Care to compare?

• A big congrats to Brown senior guard Matt Sullivan, who was named a first-team academic all-American this week. His teammates include Aaron Craft from Ohio State, Kelly Olynyk from Gonzaga, Mason Plumlee from Duke, and Cody Zeller from Indiana. How about that company? Sullivan carries a perfect 4.0 GPA in economics, and also averages better than 14 points (3rd in Ivy scoring) and four rebounds per game for the Bears…

• The Atlantic Coast Conference is actually opening up a restaurant, at the Raleigh-Durham airport, called the “ACC American Café.” What’s on the menu for lunch? The Big East? Just sayin’…

• Stupid is as stupid does…the new media rights deal for the Big East (offered by NBC and matched by ESPN) is comparable to the new deal recently signed by the Mountain West with CBS Sports Network, worth about $1.8 million per year to each member school. Which is about six times less than what ESPN offered the league two years ago before schools began a mass exodus…

• The Big 10, Big 12, SEC, Pac 12 and ACC media rights deals are all in the $19-20 million range annually – per school. The Catholic “Hoop Seven” reportedly could earn $3-4 million per school, per year, once the new league expands to 10 or 12 schools…

• Thanks Punxsutawney Phil, for the early spring teaser back on February 2. Three straight weekends of snowstorms has me thinking about the little white ball and rolling green fairways…

• My buddy “Big E” reminded me this week, while bragging about the weather where he’s located…a golfer teed up his ball on the first tee, took a big swing and hit his ball into a clump of trees. He found his ball and saw an opening between two trees he thought he could hit through. Taking out his 3-wood, he took another big swing. The ball hit a tree, bounced back, hit him in the forehead and killed him. As he approached the gates of Heaven, St. Peter asked, "Are you a good golfer?" The man replied: "Got here in two, didn't I?”

• Our mailbag question/comment this week comes from Ashley in Nottingham, UK via Facebook – “Hi John just been reading up on Ras I Dowling, will he not be back next season and if so, wouldn't he add something to our secondary? I'd love to hear your thoughts on him as a player and his potential role next year! Thanks.” Ashley: Dowling signed for four years when he joined the team as a rookie in 2011…so he’s got two years to go. That being said, he’s lasted this long because the Patriots don’t want to have another draft bust for a high round (2nd) pick. He’s awkward in one-on-one situations, too upright defending quicker, tougher receivers, and injury-prone. But they’ll keep him around until he completely blows up…because right now, there aren’t any other options…

• 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 jrooke@golocalprov.com. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Follow me on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...

• Don’t forget to join us for GoLocal Sports on 103.7 FM, every Saturday from 7:00-9:00 am! Call in (401) 737-1287, or text 37937…and send email to the show - golocal@weei.com .

• The recently released “Rhode Island Radio” from Arcadia Publishing is available for sale, and the book tells the story of the 90-year history of radio in our state through photographs, clippings and memories from many of the personalities who have graced our airwaves. Join me for a book signing event next Saturday, March 2nd at Barnes & Noble on Route 2 in Warwick, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm! If you’re in search of the gift that says “Rhode Island,” you’ve found it. Or, find it in local bookstores and online right here…  
 

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