About that last post...

Sorry.

I tried to give some college basketball games that were worth watching, and failed miserably. If you took my advice and tuned in to either Northern Iowa at Saint Mary's or Belmont at Memphis, perhaps you can take solace in the fact that I watched those games, too, and was struggling to maintain any interest. I should have told you to watch Washington State at Gonzaga (which I did watch, thankfully) and Kent State at West Virginia (caught the second half).

Belmont Memphis looked like it had some major potential for an upset. It wasn't even a good game. Belmont was in it for the first couple minutes, when the Bruins led 4-3, but afterward Memphis went on a run and never looked back. There was never a sense that Belmont was getting back into the game, and while it didn't result in a 30-point blowout, Memphis still put up 97 points and wasn't worried. Maybe the Tigers are for real this year.

At least the Belmont-Memphis was exciting as far as offensive production was concerned, even if there was no doubt who was winning. Northern Iowa-Saint Mary's was the game I was most excited about of the pre-7 p.m. slate. It will likely end up as one of the worst men's college basketball games of the season. Seriously, I felt like the guy running the academic decathlon in Billy Madison: "The game you just played is one of the most insanely pitiful showcases of talent I have ever seen. At no point, in your unorganized, turnover-ridden play were you even close to anything that could be considered decent basketball. Everyone in the arena and watching on TV is now worse off for having watched it. Neither of you deserve to win, and may god have mercy on your fans this season." Northern Iowa turned in one of the worst offensive halves I've ever seen: 13 points, 21 percent shooting from the field, one assist, ten turnovers and had just one free throw ATTEMPT (which was a miss). Still, they entered the second half and you felt like they had a shot if they could step their game up from miserable to halfway decent, because Saint Mary's had not exactly been tearing it up, scoring 26 points in the half. Then Saint Mary's hit four threes in a row early in the second half, and that was that. If NIU really is one of the better teams in the Missouri Valley Conference, then it's going to be a long year in the nonconference for the MVC. The Panthers looked bad.

The good news is some better basketball is just on the horizon. We're less than three hours away from the next game I said to get excited about (George Mason at Virginia Tech, although you should probably take that with a grain of salt given my track record today) and less than five hours away from having Duke, Michigan State, Syracuse, Florida, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Xavier and Vanderbilt all playing at the same time. If you can't find something worth watching in all of that, there's no helping you.

Bring on the basketball

ESPN and college basketball's ridiculous, indulgent marathon of hoops is just around the corner. Just a few hours from now, 25 straight hours of college hoops will kick off starting with Washington State at Gonzaga at midnight (eastern time). It's an exciting prospect for any big college basketball fan, because despite the fact that there are timeslots filled with some less-than-exciting games consisting of teams just happy to be on TV (Morehead State at Charleston at 8 a.m. comes to mind), there are plenty of big games as well. And while Duke-Michigan State, Florida-Ohio State and Kentucky-Kansas are going to get the most attention of tomorrow's games, there are several others I'm excited about watching.

Northern Iowa at Saint Mary's, 2 a.m.
The prospect of staying up for this one is a bit daunting for those of us in the eastern time zone, but if you can manage it, this should be a good one. As has been the case for the last five or so years, both of these teams are going to be contenders in two of the best mid-major conferences in the country (Missouri Valley and West Coast). Both teams are likely to be the type of team in February and March for which every result is scrutinized heavily while they teeter one way or the other on the NCAA Tournament bubble. If these teams are indeed on the bubble come early March, a look back at this game (especially a road win for Northern Iowa) could be a huge resume booster. This is a perfect game for college basketball fans that don't catch all the games on CBS or ESPN's "Big Monday".

Belmont at Memphis, 12 p.m.
Memphis is coming into this season after not quite living up to expectations last year. The Tigers were almost always exciting to watch, they just weren't that great. After throwing up a few too many bricks last year, Memphis' core group of players is expected to have grown up some and produce an excellent year, which is why they started the season at No. 10. Meanwhile, Belmont went 30-5 last year in the Atlantic Sun Conference and then lost to Duke by one at Cameron Indoor. The Bruins should be extra-hungry for a resume-boosting win. The Duke and Memphis games are their only real marquee non-conference games this year. Without a win in either of them, even if they play close, Belmont's only shot at the NCAA Tournament will be through an automatic bid. While they are the favorites to win the Atlantic Sun, you can't take anything for granted in the conference tournaments.

George Mason at Virginia Tech, 6 p.m.
Like Belmont in the last game, George Mason will be looking to pick up an impressive non-conference win on the road to boost its tournament resume. Unlike Belmont above, this win wouldn't actually be that impressive. Virginia Tech loves to play down (or up) to its opponents, and I'm not expecting the team to be especially good this year, having lost its only good scorer from last season in Malcolm Delaney. That said, the committee still loves to see road wins against schools from the BCS conferences. And it would be a good one for George Mason, which lost key pieces from last year as well (leading scorer Cam Long and coach since forever Jim Larranaga). Can Ryan Pearson and Andre Cornelius keep the mid-major excellence going that GMU has enjoyed ever since its Final Four run? Can Va Tech make a splash in the ACC this year? This game should be a good primer for both teams.

Dayton at Miami, 7 p.m.
Full disclosure: this one isn't part of ESPN's slate of games, but it has me more interested than any other game of the day. I want to see how UD's offense looks against a good defense, and how their big men look against a team that also has big men. This one is coming at a devastating timeslot, with four games going on either ESPN or ESPN3 (including Duke-Michigan State) as well as the Florida at Ohio State game starting at 8 p.m. So I understand the bulk of the country won't be tuning in to WHIO-TV or radio, and won't be streaming this game online at daytonflyers.com. But anybody who has the opportunity to watch Chris Johnson play should. I wasn't watching the NBA when Dennis Rodman was at the height of his game, but I imagine he's the only guy ever to make rebounding more exciting than CJ. It's such a joy to watch the undersized 6-6 small forward come flying through the lane, jump over everybody else and grab the ball without any regard for what's going to happen to him when he lands. The Flyers are going to need a better game from CJ than he gave them against Western Illinois. So tune in to UD-Miami during commercial breaks or something from the ESPN games, and watch some good mid-major basketball.

UD vs. Western Illinois

College basketball season is here! And while I'm sure most of the country is more interested in hearing about North Carolina or Kentucky or Ohio State, I don't care about what they're doing at the beginning of the season. It will mostly consist of dismantling weak teams. No, I'd much rather write about my University of Dayton Flyers, the band of lovable underachievers that have (mostly) tortured me since I decided on attending UD. And while my hope is for UD's early season to consist of mostly blowouts based on the team's they'll be playing, that's not likely. Even if the games do play out well for UD, it will be very interesting to see, because UD is sporting a new coach, new offensive system, and a very different cast of players from what they've had in the past. That's why I'll be writing some sort of reaction to every UD game this season (unfortunately I don't get to attend many of them, so these reactions will occasionally have to be based off the radio casts and box scores). And it began today with an 87-58 win over Western Illinois.

Reaction
The game started with UD looking like typical UD: Sloppy at the beginning of the season, playing down to its competition, not playing great defense, getting involved in a closer game than they should be in. The Flyers trailed for much of the first half, but finished strong and took a 41-38 lead into halftime. Obviously giving up 38 points to Western Illinois is horrible, but Dayton corrected a lot of errors in the second half and absolutely dominated, outscoring the Fighting Leathernecks (awesome nickname, by the way, West Ill definitely beats UD out in that category) 46-20.

The thing that kept running through my mind in the second half was how different this seemed from the way UD usually starts the season. As far back as the daytonflyers.com archives go back on men's basketball (the 2004-05 season), this was UD's highest margin of victory in its first regular season game. UD only beat Wofford by three and East Tennessee state by four in a couple recent season-openers. So as far as starting strong, a job well-done by Archie Miller and crew. Now, let's not get carried away. Western Illinois was picked in the preseason to finish ninth in the Summit League, a conference that will only produce one NCAA Tournament team this year through an automatic bid. So UD should have stomped the Leathernecks. But they did, and there's something to be said for taking care of business.

The Good
Josh Benson and Matt Kavanaugh. Is this the first year since Sean Finn that UD will get good play from its frontcourt? Maybe. Benson and Kav were Dayton's two leading scorers, netting 21 and 15 points, respectively (tying a career high for Kav). What's more, they actually looked pretty good doing it. Both displayed a couple post moves, and Kav was all over the offensive glass. I'm not willing to get too excited about these performances yet because (a) once again, the opponent was Western Illinois, starting 6-7 Terrell Parks at center and (b) Kav scored 15 at Seton Hall and looked phenomenal, then disappeared enough that you might not have known he was on the team the rest of the season. I'm excited for both guys, but a bit more optimistic about Benson, who showed more flashes last season. Maybe the new number he's sporting this year will help transform him into the big man UD needs.

Kevin Dillard. Dillard was only 2-8 from the field, but the Flyers' starting point guard (and probably the biggest key to their success this season) dished out nine assists and had zero turnovers in his 19 minutes. Whenever Dillard was running the offense, he looked like he was in complete control of the game as well. He pushed the ball well, penetrated, looked to set his teammates up, and never really got himself into trouble with the ball. I was impressed. If he can ratchet up his offense a bit and go something more like 4-8 in an average game, and still put good assist to turnover numbers, he'll be giving UD exactly what it needs. I'm excited to keep watching Dillard play.

The new offense. With Brian Gregory gone most UD fans knew that the substitutions would drop off significantly. That was also going to be forced on Archie Miller due to his lower number of players this year. But it was still refreshing to see players play extended stretches in the game, and not have guys get yanked while they're in the middle of a hot streak because its their time in the rotation. Based on game one, it appears Miller is looking to use a core of seven players (Benson, Kav, Dillard, Josh Parker, Chris Johnson, Paul Williams, Devin Oliver) with two others filling the gaps and (hopefully) giving quality minutes and the Flyers a little bit different look (Luke Fabrizius and Alex Gavrilovic). I think that is the right way to go. Gavrilovic's minutes were a bit higher in the first game than I suspect Miller would have preferred, but that was more due to Benson getting in foul trouble. Overall, the Flyers' game seemed to have a bit more flow to it. And the weave at the top of the key was never run. Not once.

The Bad
Josh Parker. UD's No. 1 gunner did not look good in this year's debut, much like he didn't look good for the entirety of last season. He scored 11 points, but went 4-9 from the field and 2-7 from the three-point line (he played the most minutes on the team with 30). He doesn't bring much to the table as a point guard (don't let his six assists from this game fool you, that won't happen often) or on defense, so if Parker is not doing well on offense he's more a liability than anything else. I can stomach a 4-9 from him, if it weren't for the fact that most of the misses came from him jacking up a contested, perhaps off-balance three when there is still plenty of time on the shot clock. It sometimes seems like Parker is keeping a running tab in his head, keeping track of his attempts. "Let me think here, I haven't shot our last three possessions. I just got the ball, and I really need to shoot, so I'm not going to worry about passing or creating offense. Better to just duck and chuck. Brick? O well, at least I scratched that itch."

Chris Johnson. The guy who needs to be leading UD in scoring this year with about 16 a game did not play well to open the season. In 25 minutes, Johnson went 3-8 from the field (2-6 from three) and scored eight points. He still delivered a fantastic effort on the glass, leading UD with 10 boards. The real problem I had with Johnson's game today was that he did not make his presence felt in a big way throughout. He sat around the perimeter for too long (as evidenced by him only attempting two two-point shots). He didn't even attempt a foul shot all game, which is where CJ can really get points because he is so excellent at the line. He's got to be more aggressive than that. My heart skipped a beat at one point in the game when UD threw the ball to CJ in the post, and he made a good pass to an open Benson for a jump shot. The shot didn't go in, but it was good offense, and absolutely the type of thing UD needs to be doing with CJ all season. He's a great shooter, but a better athlete. Get him the ball closer the basket every now and again, where contact is more likely, and let him try to make a play. I liked seeing it once this game, and hope to see it more in the future.

Overall, it was an encouraging way for Dayton to start its season. The Flyers are one-for-one in having walk-ons play this season, which is a good indication that you played well. Next up is an entirely different animal. UD will travel to Miami, who they always seem to play terribly (but usually squeak out a win) against. Miami is not expected to be good this year (preseason fourth place in the East division of the Mid-American Conference), but their defense and dictation of pace in games has consistently given UD trouble. We should learn much more about the Flyers in their second game.

Penn State

I couldn't get myself to come up with a title for this blog post, because I usually try and do a play on words or something fun. There is nothing fun about what has happened at Penn State.

I've been avoiding writing about this story, but it's become way too big of a deal to keep off this blog if this blog is supposed to be about covering sports.

There is no angle I can take on this story that hasn't been exhausted, and no expertise or explanation that I have to provide to anyone looking for answers about it. There have been some really excellent pieces written on this, especially by Michael Weinreb of Grantland.com, who grew up in State College, Penn.

What has bothered me especially over the last couple days is our country's willingness (maybe even excitedness) about moving on to vilify Joe Paterno so quickly. Make no mistake, I am not defending Paterno or what he did(n't do). All I'm saying is that the grand jury report came out, and there was uproar about Sandusky for a day. Then we focused on the graduate assistant telling Paterno what he had seen and Paterno telling his superiors and doing nothing else. As my Dad said afterward, that meant Paterno knew this guy was a criminal and kept him around, let him stay around young men for years. A reprehensible thing to do, and something Joe Paterno deserved to be fired for. But all we've heard about for what seems like forever is reaction from former Penn State players and college football experts about Paterno.

How is it that the guy who was actually sexually abusing boys has gotten lost in all of this? How is it that Paterno and Mike McQueary are now shouldering the entirety of the blame for this scandal? From what I can tell, neither of them did anything to boys.

I don't want this to be misunderstood. Joe Paterno and Mike McQueary and everyone else at Penn State who was aware of what Sandusky had been should be held accountable for not doing more to stop it. So far, all of them except McQueary have been held accountable. They've lost their jobs. They've lost everything important to them aside from their families (who probably aren't that happy, either). For Paterno, he's lost what he built for over half a lifetime. To ask for more than that is ludicrous. Remember, these men did not break a law. The committed a sin of omission, without a doubt, but in this country what they did(n't do) was not illegal. There is no basis for punishing them beyond what has happened.

It goes back to our country's obsession with celebrities, which is such a fun guilty pleasure most of the time (like when its about Lindsay Lohan or Kim Kardashian) but an absolute cancer in times like right now. It's just that there are so many more important things going on in this situation than Joe Paterno. Like Jerry Sandusky. Like the boys (now men and young men) who suffered sexual abuse, have been living with it for years, and are now reliving it. Read the Grand Jury report(fair warning: I couldn't get through it in one sitting, I was getting pissed off and depressed), and if Paterno is still your biggest concern, then have at him.

But I'm with Rick Reilly. This is about waaayyy more than Joe-Pa.

Brandon Davies, BYU back together

In an ESPN.com piece, BYU's formerly suspended center Brandon Davies spoke about being back with the team for the 2011-12 season.

As many people likely remember Davies was suspended late last season for violating his school's honor code by having premarital sex with his girlfriend. His suspension came at a tough time for BYU, who had reached its highest ranking of the season at no. 3 in the country, and was heading into the postseason with a lot of momentum. The Cougars still made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament (I don't think they had much more in them even with Davies, but last year's tourney was one of the weirdest ever, so who knows?), but it had to be hurting Davies to know that the team was worse off without him in its most important games (Davies was the leading rebounder and averaged 11 points a game).

All of that has passed now, however. Davies, now entering his junior year, is happy to be back on the team, and is ready to play some ball. He evidently holds no ire toward anyone for his suspension, saying that BYU treated him "more than fair." Wow. I wrote about Davies' suspension back when it happened, and despite not really being able to understand a suspension for something as innocent as premarital sex with a girlfriend, I respected it, because it was a part of the university's honor code. BYU was sticking to its guns, unlike so many other schools in today's win-and-make-money-at-all-costs NCAA atmosphere. Still, it would have been understandable if Davies was just a bit upset about the way he had been punished.

That just doesn't appear to be the case. Sure, Davies' quotes in the ESPN.com article are probably a case of him saying what sounds best, at least to an extent. But the fact is he took his punishment like a man, and is moving on from it. He is ready to get back onto the court and play some basketball. Not many 19 or 20-year-olds would react like that. Larry Drew III of North Carolina wasn't even suspended last year, he just lost some playing time because Kendall Marshall was doing so well. Drew decided he was going to quit on his teammates.

Not Davies, though. He's ready to help the Cougars pick up right where they left off.

The AFC North up for grabs

Last night the Ravens beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh in a game that was as boring as Bama-LSU for two and a half quarters, but featured an excellent, redeeming fourth quarter. With the win, the Ravens moved into first place in the AFC North at 6-2. The Steelers, yet to enjoy their bye week, are a half game back at 6-3. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals went and got a win on the road at the Titans (a team that beat Baltimore) to keep pace with the Ravens in the division.

All of this seems to be leading to a hopefully very entertaining second half of the season in the AFC North. The consensus seems to be that the Bengals will fall out of contention as their schedule gets tougher (they still have both games against the Steelers and Ravens to look forward to), but I'm not so sure I agree. Cincy has shown a remarkable ability to have the occasional long, steady drive that slows everything down in a game. They are not a gangbusters offense, but they have put up 23 or more points (enough to win a slower game in the NFL) every week except one so far this season. That is some remarkable consistency. If there is one advantage the Bengals have over their AFC North counterparts, it is that consistency. The Ravens have been on and off this season: some great games, then a 26-13 embarrassment at Tennessee, the Monday night debacle at Jacksonville, and then a barely-squeaked-out comeback win over Arizona at home. The Steelers have looked more consistent the past three weeks, but the week 1 thrashing in Baltimore, a 10-point performance in Houston, as well as escaping with wins in Indy and against Jacksonville doesn't have me convinced that the Steelers are 100 percent themselves yet.

All the stats would seem to indicate that the Steelers and Ravens are superior to the Bengals, and I believe them. I don't think the Bengals are a great team. But they are 6-2 right now, and yes, the schedule will get tougher, but don't they seem good enough to win a home game against Baltimore or Pittsburgh? With the up-and-down seasons those two teams have had, there's almost no way Cincy goes 0-4 in the games against their two rivals. Other than those four, the Bengals close against Cleveland, Houston, St. Louis and Arizona. That should be 3-1 at the worst. We could easily be looking at an 11-5 Bengals team by the end of the year. That seems like it should be good enough to make the playoffs.

Meanwhile, don't discount Baltimore or Pittsburgh's schedule. The Ravens at home against San Francisco, at San Diego and at Cincinnati (I don't see that last one as a gimme game anymore). The Steelers still have to play at Cincy and at San Francisco, and they are behind the Bengals right now. Neither of those are as tough as what the Bengals have lying ahead, but they aren't cakewalks, either. Two or three losses could spell doom for any of these teams, and it is never easy in the NFL to play with that level of perfection.

I'm looking forward to weeks 10-17 in the NFL for a lot of reasons: the Packers' shot at 16-0, the Patriots all-of-a-sudden looking weak, and the NFC East shaking out in crazy fashion like it always seems to do the last three or four weeks of the season. But maybe most of all, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the AFC North. Because I have no idea what is going to.

1 vs. 2?

Couldn't just sit idly by and watch NFL games this Sunday, because last night a travesty happened.

The No. 1 LSU Tigers beat the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide 9-6, in overtime. And, as that score would seem to indicate, it was bad.

First, let's get all of this out of the way first. Yes, LSU and Alabama are both excellent college football teams this year, unquestionably two of the country's top five (conservatively). Yes, the SEC is the best league in the country, by far. Yes, both teams in this game have excellent defenses that have been good all year. But all of that stuff didn't matter Saturday night. Because the game sucked.

What's aggravating is that now people are still trying to let us "average" or "casual" fans of the game know that we witnessed greatness last night. We saw a "classic" game, according to Pat Forde, an excellent college football writer, and we just can't appreciate it. But Forde is just wrong.

First, let's go over the stats. Both teams managed just two field goals during regulation (and for each team, one of those field goals was aided by an interception leading to a short field). Neither team managed 300 total yards in the game (Bama 296, LSU 239). Alabama averaged a miserable 6.9 yards per pass attempt, but dominated LSU, who only averaged 5.4. LSU made up their deficit in the passing game, however, with an unimpressive 3.6 yards per rush, besting Bama's 3.1. Both teams threw two interceptions. O yeah, did I mention that Alabama went 2 for 6 kicking field goals? Yep, the player of the game was LSU kicker Drew Alleman, who went 3 for 3. Even Alleman wasn't that impressive though, cause the longest field goal he kicked was 30 yards.

According to Forde, and everyone else, there was a reason for those abysmal offensive numbers: this game was a case of decent offenses playing against great defenses. Okay, fair point. Alabama and LSU are the top two scoring defenses in the country, respectively. Take a quick look at Alabama's and LSU's schedules leading up to Saturday's contest, though. Bama, the nation's top scoring defense, is giving up 7.1 points per game. They have given up six or more points (the amount LSU scored in four quarters) to Kent State, Penn State, Arkansas, Florida, Ole Miss and Tennessee. LSU is giving up 10.9 points per game. They have given up six or more points to Oregon, Mississippi State, West Virginia, Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee and Auburn. I understand that neither Bama nor LSU has to have a great offense to be the best team in the country. Bama couldn't outscore Mississippi State or Kentucky, though? LSU couldn't outdo the effort Kent State or Penn State (that slow, inept Big 10, remember) delivered? Please.

Yes, the defenses played well last night. But the offenses were downright awful. And because this game was such a supposed "classic", teams are already clamoring for a rematch in the national championship game. If that were to happen, it would be a disaster. The nation is still disillusioned about Saturday's game, and believes it was a good one. They won't be able to endure 4+ more quarters like that. I would rather LSU stomp on Oklahoma State or Stanford (I don't believe that would happen) and have to endure another year of hearing about SEC supremacy than watch another over-hyped suckfest like last night.