Fresh off a tough OT loss at LMU last night the 'Niners square off with the undefeated Wildcats of Kentucky tomorrow at Noon in Lexington.
Much was written about the tough schedule before the season but four top-7 teams? LBSU goes to Cameron next week for their last "tune-up" before Big West play.
Not that stopping John Wall or Eric Bledsoe will be an easy task for Ware and Gilling but the real mismatch is in the paint with 6-foot, 9-inch Patrick Patterson and 6-foot, 11-inch DeMarcus Cousins.
T.J. Robinson has picked up right where he left off the second half of last season. He is a double-double machine but he and Eugene Phelps will have their hands full down low with these two all afternoon.
Much more to come from the road and the arena...
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Cleveland Conundrum
The Browns got their man.
Mike Holmgren is coming to the mistake by the lake hoping to turn the downtrodden franchise around.
It won't be easy. Like all struggling teams it comes down to QB play.
Derek Anderson's Pro Bowl year earned him a large contract and Notre Dame product Brady Quinn was supposed to be the savior.
Neither has done much of anything the past few years except throw interceptions and lose games.
The details of Holmgren's deal are not yet official but early reports had it for as long as ten years and as inflated as $50 million.
The most interesting part of the equation is the future of first-year head coach Eric Mangini.
Browns owner Randy Lerner was moved by the young "Mangenius" in the offseason after he was fired by the Jets this past offseason.
After starting 1-11 Cleveland shocked Pittsburgh on a bitterly cold Thursday night a week and a half ago then ran past Kansas City and into the record books yesterday.
A two-game winning streak amidst a three win campaign is hardly something to highlight in your resume but the sentiment is that the Browns play had at least propped the door open for Mangini to have a case for another year.
But enter Holmgren, the long time Packers and Seahawks head-man who won a Super Bowl with this guy named Brett Favre running the show.
When he took the job today he brought up head coach Cam Cameron's firing in Miami when Bill Parcells assumed the same role he is taking up in Cleveland, as a football "czar" of sorts.
While not fully endorsing the move, just the mere mention of it can't bode well for Mangini.
Parcells cleaned house in South Beach upon arriving and in his first year took a one-win team the season before and made it into a playoff squad.
There is no doubt Holmgren will want his guy in there sooner rather than later and would certainly love nothing more than making that "worst to relevant" splash just like Parcells.
Lerner intimated early in the process that the coaching decision would be about winning and not about money.
But his current coach signed a four year, $15.6 million deal 11 months ago.
He would be owed almost 12 million dollars still if he gets fired.
If the Browns lose out Mangini would pocket $5.2 million per win in Cleveland.
Maybe the New York tabloids were on to something with that "Mangenius" moniker.
Mike Holmgren is coming to the mistake by the lake hoping to turn the downtrodden franchise around.
It won't be easy. Like all struggling teams it comes down to QB play.
Derek Anderson's Pro Bowl year earned him a large contract and Notre Dame product Brady Quinn was supposed to be the savior.
Neither has done much of anything the past few years except throw interceptions and lose games.
The details of Holmgren's deal are not yet official but early reports had it for as long as ten years and as inflated as $50 million.
The most interesting part of the equation is the future of first-year head coach Eric Mangini.
Browns owner Randy Lerner was moved by the young "Mangenius" in the offseason after he was fired by the Jets this past offseason.
After starting 1-11 Cleveland shocked Pittsburgh on a bitterly cold Thursday night a week and a half ago then ran past Kansas City and into the record books yesterday.
A two-game winning streak amidst a three win campaign is hardly something to highlight in your resume but the sentiment is that the Browns play had at least propped the door open for Mangini to have a case for another year.
But enter Holmgren, the long time Packers and Seahawks head-man who won a Super Bowl with this guy named Brett Favre running the show.
When he took the job today he brought up head coach Cam Cameron's firing in Miami when Bill Parcells assumed the same role he is taking up in Cleveland, as a football "czar" of sorts.
While not fully endorsing the move, just the mere mention of it can't bode well for Mangini.
Parcells cleaned house in South Beach upon arriving and in his first year took a one-win team the season before and made it into a playoff squad.
There is no doubt Holmgren will want his guy in there sooner rather than later and would certainly love nothing more than making that "worst to relevant" splash just like Parcells.
Lerner intimated early in the process that the coaching decision would be about winning and not about money.
But his current coach signed a four year, $15.6 million deal 11 months ago.
He would be owed almost 12 million dollars still if he gets fired.
If the Browns lose out Mangini would pocket $5.2 million per win in Cleveland.
Maybe the New York tabloids were on to something with that "Mangenius" moniker.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
One more time for emphasis
The BCS system makes me sick.
College football pundits say we have the best two teams playing for it all in Alabama and Texas.
We'll never know.
The NCAA corporation loves the underdogs and Cinderella's when it comes to March Madness or the College World Series. George Mason and Fresno State anyone?
But TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State get to sit this one out. Sure they get to play for third, or fourth but wasn't this the doomsday scenario?
Five undefeated teams, all worthy of a title shot, that only goes to two? Has everyone gone soft.
It's totally unacceptable. No other sport demands perfection, and then when you get it from five teams, three are told "sorry, but you didn't play in a power conference." Not sure if anyone noticed but neither the Big 12 or SEC weren't exactly chalked full of great teams this year.
Worse the BCS bowl arrangement is in place for another FOUR years.
The NCAA should be embarrassed and ashamed. They continue to screw this up and line their pockets in the process.
Decide it on the field, not in an office somewhere, that's the purpose of athletics.
*****
UPDATE (Dec 9 - 11:22 PM) -- I like how this sounds...
College football pundits say we have the best two teams playing for it all in Alabama and Texas.
We'll never know.
The NCAA corporation loves the underdogs and Cinderella's when it comes to March Madness or the College World Series. George Mason and Fresno State anyone?
But TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State get to sit this one out. Sure they get to play for third, or fourth but wasn't this the doomsday scenario?
Five undefeated teams, all worthy of a title shot, that only goes to two? Has everyone gone soft.
It's totally unacceptable. No other sport demands perfection, and then when you get it from five teams, three are told "sorry, but you didn't play in a power conference." Not sure if anyone noticed but neither the Big 12 or SEC weren't exactly chalked full of great teams this year.
Worse the BCS bowl arrangement is in place for another FOUR years.
The NCAA should be embarrassed and ashamed. They continue to screw this up and line their pockets in the process.
Decide it on the field, not in an office somewhere, that's the purpose of athletics.
*****
UPDATE (Dec 9 - 11:22 PM) -- I like how this sounds...
Friday, December 4, 2009
God save your team
The stage is set for the ultimate opening match for the red, white and blue: a June 12th game with England.
60 years to the month of one of soccer's greatest upsets, the sides will meet again.
The USA's 1-0 upset against 500-1 odds in the 1950 World Cup ranks as one of the most surprising results the football world has ever seen.
The Yanks carried just one professional and barely belonged on the same pitch.
But they came out ahead.
In 189 days, facing far less of an uphill climb but still pitted against one of the Top-10 teams in the World, the Americans can taste victory again.
So ready the chants of "Nine-teen fif-ty" and when those get old, tales of 1776 will certainly do. Let's win another for the red, white and blue!
60 years to the month of one of soccer's greatest upsets, the sides will meet again.
The USA's 1-0 upset against 500-1 odds in the 1950 World Cup ranks as one of the most surprising results the football world has ever seen.
The Yanks carried just one professional and barely belonged on the same pitch.
But they came out ahead.
In 189 days, facing far less of an uphill climb but still pitted against one of the Top-10 teams in the World, the Americans can taste victory again.
So ready the chants of "Nine-teen fif-ty" and when those get old, tales of 1776 will certainly do. Let's win another for the red, white and blue!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Just stay away Nelly
Don Nelson is sick with pneumonia.
And while no one doubts the seriousness of his condition, the same cannot be said for his Warriors on the whole.
They got trounced 135-107 Tuesday night by an angry Nuggets team coming off a loss to a team that hadn't won since opening night.
They won at home the night before. They had eight guys. They still don't have their coach.
Say what you want about Golden State, you can have all your excuses.
This franchise has been propped up by them for more than 15 years.
One playoff appearance in 15 seasons, one championship since moving to the Bay Area in 1962.
And when you stink, year-after-year like the Warriors do, the culture of losing is all-encompassing.
Last week the Warriors beat the Mavericks with six players. Three played all 48 minutes. It had been more than 50 years since either of those things happened and they managed both on the same night.
They had nine guys the next night for a loss to the Spurs, just eight suited up at the Pepsi Center last night.
When there is nothing to play for guys take a little more liberty in returning. The bench doesn't seem all that bad, the training table that uncomfortable, that couch too cozy.
When you don't play defense, you'll never win consistently but if you stick around long enough you will win sometimes.
So that brings us back to Nelson.
Back with the Warriors after a successful stint from 1988-1995 that included four playoff appearances and a pair of 50-win seasons, Nelly peaked with the Warriors "We Believe" first-round shocker over Dallas in 2007.
Instead of riding off into the sunset with about the closest thing his "smallball" philosophy will ever bring him to a championship, soon-to-be-undermined Chris Mullin and the ownership team led by Chris Cohan brought him back and it's been downhill ever since.
The team won 48 games the next season and should have been a shoo-in to make the playoffs but were two games short in a stacked western conference.
Things have only unraveled since. Asked why he was still coaching 69-year old Don Nelson said last year, "cold hard cash, baby."
But there's one very other significant reason to stay court side for Nelly. In his infinite hubris he is chasing Lenny Wilkens all-time coaching wins total of 1332.
After Monday night's win Nelson is just 17 short at 1315.
That's right, despite being sidelined for the last five games, Nelly still gets credit for wins while acting coach Keith Smart roams the sidelines.
So it seems Nelly has found the perfect solution. He can get paid and win games while sitting out. Sounds like the rest of his players.
So get better coach and cheers to catching Lenny since everyone knows how much you love a cold one.
But don't hurry back, no one else is. You are still owed almost 12 million through next spring and if you can collect those dollars and those wins while home in bed I'm sure you will.
Just be sure to tell your young team when you come back to "just win, baby" and try and leave out the part about the cold hard cash.
And while no one doubts the seriousness of his condition, the same cannot be said for his Warriors on the whole.
They got trounced 135-107 Tuesday night by an angry Nuggets team coming off a loss to a team that hadn't won since opening night.
They won at home the night before. They had eight guys. They still don't have their coach.
Say what you want about Golden State, you can have all your excuses.
This franchise has been propped up by them for more than 15 years.
One playoff appearance in 15 seasons, one championship since moving to the Bay Area in 1962.
And when you stink, year-after-year like the Warriors do, the culture of losing is all-encompassing.
Last week the Warriors beat the Mavericks with six players. Three played all 48 minutes. It had been more than 50 years since either of those things happened and they managed both on the same night.
They had nine guys the next night for a loss to the Spurs, just eight suited up at the Pepsi Center last night.
When there is nothing to play for guys take a little more liberty in returning. The bench doesn't seem all that bad, the training table that uncomfortable, that couch too cozy.
When you don't play defense, you'll never win consistently but if you stick around long enough you will win sometimes.
So that brings us back to Nelson.
Back with the Warriors after a successful stint from 1988-1995 that included four playoff appearances and a pair of 50-win seasons, Nelly peaked with the Warriors "We Believe" first-round shocker over Dallas in 2007.
Instead of riding off into the sunset with about the closest thing his "smallball" philosophy will ever bring him to a championship, soon-to-be-undermined Chris Mullin and the ownership team led by Chris Cohan brought him back and it's been downhill ever since.
The team won 48 games the next season and should have been a shoo-in to make the playoffs but were two games short in a stacked western conference.
Things have only unraveled since. Asked why he was still coaching 69-year old Don Nelson said last year, "cold hard cash, baby."
But there's one very other significant reason to stay court side for Nelly. In his infinite hubris he is chasing Lenny Wilkens all-time coaching wins total of 1332.
After Monday night's win Nelson is just 17 short at 1315.
That's right, despite being sidelined for the last five games, Nelly still gets credit for wins while acting coach Keith Smart roams the sidelines.
So it seems Nelly has found the perfect solution. He can get paid and win games while sitting out. Sounds like the rest of his players.
So get better coach and cheers to catching Lenny since everyone knows how much you love a cold one.
But don't hurry back, no one else is. You are still owed almost 12 million through next spring and if you can collect those dollars and those wins while home in bed I'm sure you will.
Just be sure to tell your young team when you come back to "just win, baby" and try and leave out the part about the cold hard cash.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Heisman watch
One week of college football left so let's look at my Heisman ballot.
1 - Colt McCoy - QB Texas
2 - Toby Gerhart - RB Stanford
3 - Mark Ingram - RB Alabama
4 - Kellen Moore QB Boise State
5 - Tim Tebow QB Florida
It's McCoy's to lose in the Big 12 Championship. Gerhart is off after nearly 800 yards and 14 total TD's in his last four games. Ingram could slip back into the top spot if the Longhorns lose and past the idle Gerhart with a 200-yard, 3 TD performance. Tebow could enter the top-3 with a stellar outing opposite Ingram in a SEC Championship triumph. Don't see how he picks up his second trophy.
More analysis when all the numbers are in next week.
1 - Colt McCoy - QB Texas
2 - Toby Gerhart - RB Stanford
3 - Mark Ingram - RB Alabama
4 - Kellen Moore QB Boise State
5 - Tim Tebow QB Florida
It's McCoy's to lose in the Big 12 Championship. Gerhart is off after nearly 800 yards and 14 total TD's in his last four games. Ingram could slip back into the top spot if the Longhorns lose and past the idle Gerhart with a 200-yard, 3 TD performance. Tebow could enter the top-3 with a stellar outing opposite Ingram in a SEC Championship triumph. Don't see how he picks up his second trophy.
More analysis when all the numbers are in next week.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Cardinal deliver beatdown at the Coliseum
I have had a permanent grin tattooed on my face since Saturday afternoon.
Fresh off a big home upset over #8 Oregon, Stanford rolled into Southern California looking for more.
It's tough living in SoCal with the one-sided dominance of the South over the North this decade. In a July post titled "The Freeway Series from Hell" about the possibility of an Angels-Dodgers World Series I highlighted this problem with one caveat: "At least Stanford 24, USC 23 happened."
On Saturday, Stanford 55, USC 21 happened.
Both were startling. Back in October of 2007 Stanford was 41-point underdogs and that win was dubbed the "Biggest. Upset. Ever."
It was a remarkable victory for a team that won just one game the year before and had been mired in one of its worst periods of ineptitude in school history.
But without Saturday's dominance that game would simply be a historical footnote - a magical fall day where the unthinkable happened - not the full-fledged revival Palo Alto is undertaking.
Stanford won three more games that year - Coach Jim Harbaugh's first on the farm.
They won five in 2008, again falling short of that elusive bowl bid (they haven't played in one since 2001.) They lost three straight after starting 5-4 including a 45-23 home loss to the Trojans.
It was an up-and-down start to 2009 that included blowing big leads on the road to Wake Forest and Arizona and three weeks ago they looked once again headed for mediocrity and facing a really difficult final stretch to try and get the six wins necessary to keep playing into December.
Now they could play in January.
****
I was reading a Scouts, Inc. ESPN Insider position-by-position breakdown before the game and there was a startling revelation. Stanford was better at each of the offensive skill positions.
Stanford had better athletes than USC?
This sure seemed at odds with the "it's hard to recruit guys that have a 4.4 (GPA) and run a 4.4 (40-second dash)" comment I always make.
But the Cardinal do, and with USC WR Damian Williams sidelined, the edge was even greater and it was evident from the opening kick-off.
After the game Carroll was asked about this exact point and he didn't shy away from drinking the Cardinal Kool-Aid.
"Doesn't USC have the better athletes? 'That's obviously not the case,' Carroll says. Are you saying Stanford has better athletes than USC? 'It sure looked like it today.'" (T.J. Simers - LA Times)
****
I've been saying for weeks that Toby Gerhart belongs in the Heisman conversation and with 401 yards and SIX touchdowns in back-to-back 50-point outbursts by the Cardinal offense he is finally getting the national recognition he deserves.
It's hard to imagine him unseating the Tebow/Ingram/McCoy trio that all plays for currently undefeated teams but he should at least garner enough support to be in New York.
Fresh off a big home upset over #8 Oregon, Stanford rolled into Southern California looking for more.
It's tough living in SoCal with the one-sided dominance of the South over the North this decade. In a July post titled "The Freeway Series from Hell" about the possibility of an Angels-Dodgers World Series I highlighted this problem with one caveat: "At least Stanford 24, USC 23 happened."
On Saturday, Stanford 55, USC 21 happened.
Both were startling. Back in October of 2007 Stanford was 41-point underdogs and that win was dubbed the "Biggest. Upset. Ever."
It was a remarkable victory for a team that won just one game the year before and had been mired in one of its worst periods of ineptitude in school history.
But without Saturday's dominance that game would simply be a historical footnote - a magical fall day where the unthinkable happened - not the full-fledged revival Palo Alto is undertaking.
Stanford won three more games that year - Coach Jim Harbaugh's first on the farm.
They won five in 2008, again falling short of that elusive bowl bid (they haven't played in one since 2001.) They lost three straight after starting 5-4 including a 45-23 home loss to the Trojans.
It was an up-and-down start to 2009 that included blowing big leads on the road to Wake Forest and Arizona and three weeks ago they looked once again headed for mediocrity and facing a really difficult final stretch to try and get the six wins necessary to keep playing into December.
Now they could play in January.
****
I was reading a Scouts, Inc. ESPN Insider position-by-position breakdown before the game and there was a startling revelation. Stanford was better at each of the offensive skill positions.
Stanford had better athletes than USC?
This sure seemed at odds with the "it's hard to recruit guys that have a 4.4 (GPA) and run a 4.4 (40-second dash)" comment I always make.
But the Cardinal do, and with USC WR Damian Williams sidelined, the edge was even greater and it was evident from the opening kick-off.
After the game Carroll was asked about this exact point and he didn't shy away from drinking the Cardinal Kool-Aid.
"Doesn't USC have the better athletes? 'That's obviously not the case,' Carroll says. Are you saying Stanford has better athletes than USC? 'It sure looked like it today.'" (T.J. Simers - LA Times)
****
I've been saying for weeks that Toby Gerhart belongs in the Heisman conversation and with 401 yards and SIX touchdowns in back-to-back 50-point outbursts by the Cardinal offense he is finally getting the national recognition he deserves.
It's hard to imagine him unseating the Tebow/Ingram/McCoy trio that all plays for currently undefeated teams but he should at least garner enough support to be in New York.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Tucker Talks for the Daily 49er
While I try to keep fresh material flowing here I also want to point out my weekly column with the school newspaper at Long Beach State.
It's my last semester at the Beach and it is quite a busy one but I'm trying this out with them and I think it's going pretty well so far.
I started with them in the Spring of 2008 covering Dirtbag baseball and in addition to doing that, was the beat writer for the men's basketball team last season and have written features, columns, taken photos, blogged and penned countless game stories.
We have been able to try new things and really have a strong group that's working hard and making things happen. So check out the link on the left, for new stuff through them as well.
Here's the link to today's column about the possibility of Chase Utley winning World Series MVP even if the Phillies lose.
(Props to Adam Fuller for the premise of this piece.)
It's my last semester at the Beach and it is quite a busy one but I'm trying this out with them and I think it's going pretty well so far.
I started with them in the Spring of 2008 covering Dirtbag baseball and in addition to doing that, was the beat writer for the men's basketball team last season and have written features, columns, taken photos, blogged and penned countless game stories.
We have been able to try new things and really have a strong group that's working hard and making things happen. So check out the link on the left, for new stuff through them as well.
Here's the link to today's column about the possibility of Chase Utley winning World Series MVP even if the Phillies lose.
(Props to Adam Fuller for the premise of this piece.)
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