Category: NCAA

Some Thoughts On this year's NCAA tournament

3/29/2014

The NBA's rule requiring players to have one year of eligibility has hurt Duke more than any other program. I know Coach K announced on Wednesday he does not plan to change his philosophy, but as I watch these teams with strong mature players (Michigan State and Florida, in particular) it makes me yearn for the days when Duke had Senior led teams that were so hard to beat. In my opinion, one of the things that makes K so great is his ability to teach and develop players within his system. Unfortunately, one year is not enough for the lessons to sink in. I can only imagine what kind of a player Jabari Parker would be if he stayed at Duke for three years. Not only would he likely lead Duke to an NCAA championship, he would, in my opinion, be more likely to have a better long-term NBA career.

CBS/TBS is completely under-utilizing Clark Kellogg. I enjoy the tbs/cbs March Madness show with Barkley, Gumbel, Smith and Kellogg. It's entertaining and it's a perfect set-up for Sir Charles. But it's a complete waste of a guy who I thought should still be paired with Jim Nantz as part of CBS number one team. I still have no idea why they replaced Clark with Greg Anthony. Anthony is good, but in terms of watching a big game, I would definitely prefer Kellogg.

And speaking of announcing, Len Elmore is one of the most erudite announcers on the air, but I just don't get a sense of any excitement or chemistry between him and Reggie Miller. He might be better matched up with Steve Kerr who is excellent and then bring Clark and Reggie together on the same team. Those two tweaks would have much better chemistry.

it's going to be tough and will take many more legal battles before the NCAA begins to treat players fairly. While I was encouraged by the news that Northwestern players can unionize, I'm afraid their leverage is going to be a lot less than expected since their careers are limited to five years (including a redshirt year). I also think you'll see the colleges put some draconian language into already very one-sided letters of intent that will seek to prevent players from exerting any real power.

Billy Donovan has done an amazing job teaching his players to be unselfish. I saw the Gators play in person in Orlando last Saturday and their team chemistry was tremendous. You could see how much the Gators enjoy playing basketball together.

Consistently impressed with the level of defense and quality of 3-point shooting in the tournament. This year's tournament is a huge counterpoint to all the criticism you hear about the AAU system raising a generation of players who don't know how to play fundamental basketball or defense. This year's defense is as good as I've seen.

Why do so few teams play full-court press nowadays? I always though a full-court press was a great way to compensate for less talent but teams a full-court press seems to be an afterthought.

Sports Illustrated's long form piece on the Georgetown-Princeton game is a truly great read. I wish I could say I saw the game live but I was in college in Philly at the time and did not get to watch the game. As a side note, I'm shocked ESPN's 30 for 30 never did anything with this game, it would have been a natural fit for them or their Grantland franchise.

And going back to Duke for a moment. I was talking with a pretty prominent Duke alumnus earlier this week and I mentioned the fact that Steve Wojciehowski was the heir apparent to Coach K. This alumnus said he thought Coach K liked Wojo too much to do that to him and that word around Durham is that Johnny Dawkins is looking like the eventual successor to Coach K.

I agree with Dick Vitale that players should be allowed 6 fouls in a game, but completely disagree with his position that the shot clock should be cut down to 30 seconds. I like the fact there is a major difference in style between the NBA and NCAA basketball. The games have been so good this tournament, why fix what is clearly (at least on the court) not broken.

It is always a privilege to listen to a game Verne Lundquist call and the games he does with Bill Raftery are always excellent. Would love to see CBS find a way to utilize them next week in Dallas

I don't have any favorite teams left but I'm enjoying the tournament as much as ever because so many games have resembled a great Heavyweight fight.

Harvard Upset Sets the Tone for a dramatic NCAA Basketball Tournament

3/20/2014

I've always been a big fan of the NCAA basketball tournament because it can be so dramatic and the first two full days of the tournament are two of the best days in Sports. I put them up these two days up there with the NFL Conference Championships, the Super Bowl, and Final Four weekends as some of the best days to be a sports fan.

My earliest memory of the NCAA final game was in 1981 on the day that President Reagan was shot. It was pre-cable news days so there wasn't the wall to wall coverage that would happen today and the game went on pretty much without a hitch. The three things I remember most from that game were Isiaih Thomas breakaway layups, Randy Wittman, and Bob Knight saying after the game that Hank Iba (I think it was him) told him to never be the first coach to call a timeout.

After that game, I became hooked on the NCAA. Perhaps surprisingly, or because my father wasn't a big sports fan, I didn't watch any of the Bird-Magic matchup the year before. I don't think I even heard of Bird before he became a Celtic, although I would later become a huge fan.

After the Indiana game, the next team I remember pulling for was NC State. Even though I was in Connecticut, I became totally enamored with their run to the Championship. I remember how much fun it was to watch Derek Whiittenburg play. They were an awesome team and I remember jumping up and down when they got the last second dunk. That team personified Cinderella and I was completely enthralled by Jimmy V. A couple of summers later I saw him speak at a Coaches Clinic at Fairfield U and he had the same intensity when teaching as he did coaching.

After NC State, the next team I loved was Villanova. That was mainly because of Harold Jensen who grew up a few towns away in Trumbull. He was a great high school basketball player and had the reputation for being a stellar person, too. It was easy to root for him. His first year at Villanova was kind of a bust, but Harold was a worker and he began to get some minutes during the Big East tournament his sophomore year.

From there, his minutes kept building and by the time Nova made it to the Championship I could not have been more excited for Villanova if I had been a student there. Their win over Georgetown has to be one of the best games I have ever seen. They played a perfect game.

I later had a chance to meet Harold at the Fairfield University basketball camp and he could not have been a nicer or classier person. I remember he spoke to the camp and talked about his work ethic and how it helped make him the player he was. The first story he told was that when he was at 5-Star basketball camp and it was time for recreation, he stayed on the court and worked on his game. That was amazing to me. He was already a top recruit who was dominating high school teams in Connecticut, but he was committed to working on his game. The other story I remember is that he said he would go to the Gym and run wind sprints between classes at Villanova. I think he said that he was able to run about 75 sprints between classes and still have time to shower before the next one began.

What a great work ethic and inspiration and it paid off when he didn't miss a shot during the Championship game.

Ever since those first experiences as a fan March has always been one of my favorite. The tourney has given me so many great memories and it looks like this year's is already off to a great start with both the Dayton and Harvard upsets. I can already hear Warren Buffet letting out a sigh of relief.

This is the most wide-open the field seems to have been in a while and I won't be shocked by whoever wins. I'm definitely pulling for my Dukies but I'm a little worried about their lack of big presence inside. It would be great to see a school like Witchita State or Iowa State win the title.

Whoever wins, it should be a great ride and I can't wait to watch some games each of the next three weekends. If they are as exciting as the Harvard matchup, this tournament may be one of the most thrilling in history.

How Much Longer Should the NCAA be allowed to Exploit Athletes?

3/8/2014

Everyone's Making Cash Except the Players Generating it

Question: What do Bruce Springsteen & the Players on this Years National Championship Team Have in Common
Answer: They're Both Playing for free during the Final Four.

The difference is the basketball players will be playing for free while the Boss is probably making some real good money while headlining the NCAA's Free March Madness Music Festival at next month's Final Four.

Having Bruce headline the Music Festival is an awesome idea and for anyone in the Big D during the tournament I could not encourage you enough to go see Bruce. It will be an incredible experience and he will put on a phenomenal show.

The fact the NCAA is able to throw such a lavish party for its fans shows just how much money the organization makes. March Madness is one of the biggest cash cows in sports, second probably to the Super Bowl, would be my guess. It results in BILLLIONs of dollars for the NCAA, funds tens of thousands of scholarships in non-revenue sports and permits the NCAA ruling elite to lead the kind of lifestyle most of the rest of us (including 90% of the players in the tournament) could dream about.

It's amazing how popular and lucrative the tournament has become for so many people, except of course the player.

I cannot think of any other institution in the Free World that exploits workers as much as the NCAA does in college basketball and football. What other institution gets to pay its workers room, board and 12 to 15 hours of instruction per week in exchange for the workers generating millions of dollars.

Prisons? You might say. Not a good comparison because prisoners don't generate Billions in revenues. Wall Street? They wish. If there's one thing I can guarantee in life is that the people who generate the Billions on Wall Street get "paid" big time for their efforts. Off the top of my head, I believe Wall Street pays out close to 40 to 50% of its revenues in the form of compensation to those who earn it.

Only the NCAA gets to exploit its workers without compensating them. It is truly an injustice especially for the 99% of players who don't make it to the next level. The players who are generating more commercial profit during 4 years in college than they might the rest of their lives but have no way to profit from it......And then when they try, for example by signing their autograph...they get punished and are turned into villains. See Johnny Manziel.

You wonder how the NCAA Barons can live with themselves. How to they deal with the hypocrisy of flying into Dallas on a private jet to watch someone else's sons play basketball while punishing an assistant coach if he tries to help a parent fly into Dallas to see their son play.

Talk about exploitative. Just for curiosity, I looked up tickets for tonight's big Duke-UNC game at Cameron tonight. A game I was privileged to attend three times at Duke and I can tell you it was such an amazing experience. I'm not surprised that tickets in the upper level are going for $1,993. The atmosphere will be as good, if not better than that of a Super Bowl or Final Four.

But it does underscore the injustice that is taking place when the players who the fans are going to see don't get to see a dime of that money. When ticket scalpers are making more money off the players' efforts than the players themselves.

The time has come for the NCAA to stop exploiting athletes. It's time for all those who are feeding at the trough that the players create to start sharing some of the wealth with those wealth creators.

It's time for the NCAA to stop taking advantage of the fact the players are young and have no central voice speaking on their behalf. There is simply no excuse for any organization to make Billions of Dollars off the effort of a group of workers and then not let them share ANY of the profits from their work.

And I'm sorry, I've never believed that a dorm room, three meals a day, and the privilege of sitting in a lecture hall with 200 other students is fair compensation in exchange for generating MILLIONs of dollars in revenue for a University.

So remember, as you watch the games and perhaps have a chance to see the Boss in concert, think about the fact that all the grandeur, all the great experience is being brought to you by players who, at least in 95% of cases, are not able to get fairly compensated for all they do because of the greed and lack of conscience of those who run the NCAA.

That fact, the fact the ruling elites of the NCAA will be living like Kings and Queens during the NCAA tournament while the players who make it possible are living like glorified paupers is truly an example of "Madness."

R.C. O'Leary is the author of the legal thriller Hallways in the Night, a novel that Bookstory says is "An edge of the seat legal battle that makes you keep turning the pages until the very end." It is available on Amazon in print and kindle formats here.

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R.C. O'Leary author of legal thriller Hallways in the Night.

Some Thoughts On this year's NCAA tournament

Harvard Upset Sets the Tone for a dramatic NCAA Basketball Tournament

How Much Longer Should the NCAA be allowed to Exploit Athletes?

Everyone's Making Cash Except the Players Generating it

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