Thursday, October 7, 2010

I'm Depressed.....Let's Talk About B-Ball

I hate Philadelphia........and Boston. In one day the Patriots trade Randy Moss to the Vikings just a few days before the Jets play them. Then the Phillies Roy Halladay throws the second ever post-season no-hitter (the Mets don't even have one in the regular season). This all coming on the heels of 2 of the most important New York Islanders' (that's hockey folks) players going down with major shoulder injuries and lets not forget our beloved Vanderbilt Commodores putting up a thundering dud in the second half against the University of Connecticut. Needless to say I need a little pick me up (well I do have a 3 day weekend coming up thanks to ole Chrissy Columbus), but more to the point Vandy b-ball is getting some off-season pub and UT b-ball is quickly getting caught in the NCAA's web and well those things make me happy.

First here is an article on ESPN.com by Andy Katz (who along w/ Doug Gotlieb has always been one of my favorite college basketball analysts ESPN has if simply because they aren't Dick Vitale or Digger Phelps) http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/blog/_/name/katz_andy/id/5655844/dores-realize-need-win-march

I generally don't care what pre-season prognosticators think Vandy will do but its always good to be on the radar, especially on ESPN's if only because it keeps people thinking about us. I hate that teams like UT and Florida get more pub than us. I expect it with UK but I honestly believe since Florida won its second national championship we have been the second best team in the SEC. Anyway check out the article its a good read.

Secondly, apparently this is not the first time Bruce Pearl has gotten caught hosting junior recruits at his home. Yup he was busted for the same violation while he was coaching an UW-Milwaukee according to this report (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5648545)
I have to assume that the fact that Pearl has now broken two different rules with regards to recruiting, one which he admits to misleading investigators about and the second being one he has already got in trouble with the NCAA about, will eventually lead to severe penalties to UT basketball (and possibly other UT sports as well) and subsequently lead to Pearl's firing or resignation.

All you have to look to are Dez Bryant and Kelvin Sampson. Dez Bryant lost almost a year of eligibility because he lied about a non-violation. Sampson lost his job at Indiana because he got busted for the same violations he had at Oklahoma.

Well now I'm feeling better. How bout you? Also we have some exciting stuff coming up in basketball real soon. 4-star shooting guard Dai-Jon Parker is supposed to announce where he is going to play in the next 2 or so weeks, then we have early signing day, followed by the beginning of the season.

I think we all can admit its been a rough football season and after this week the meat of the SEC schedule could make it even tougher but its always nice to have basketball season coming up on the horizon. OK guess I should do some work.

7 comments:

Seamus O'Toole said...

Wait a second now, if you're going to start throwing down depressing pieces of news let's not forget that David Price got absolutely shelled by the Rangers yesterday and how Jay Cutler got abused by the Giants on Sunday night. Add to that the United States losing in the Ryder Cup and you've got yourself one very firm kick in the pants.

Anonymous said...

HAHA I read the article by Andy Katz last night and gotta love Andy Katz for showing the love towards Vandy. We are always an underrated team and that goes in our favor. Katz also said aside from Tennessee, we have been the most consistent program in the SEC except we havent cheated to get there... but thats for another post...

Anonymous said...

I appreciate what you do here, but please stop fucking talking about teams outside of vandy.

Chuck Heston said...

I hope that TN doesn't fire Bruce Pearl. One of the highlights of each season was watching what shade his face would turn when he and his team came into Memorial. Plus, he always showed respect to Vandy by wearing the orange jacket. What he did (or should I say, what we we currently know he did) doesn't warrant dismissal. His a colorful character, and sometimes they do bonehead things.

As far as Vandy, does anyone else get the feeling that the entire season will hinge on Brad at point? He doesn't have to be Beal or Moore, but if he's even a half-decent facilitator, we're in business.

I think Vandy's likely to garner 10 or 11 non-conference wins. The trouble is that I'm coming up with, at most, 8-9 conf. wins. And if you look at the end of the regular season I'm seeing us winning only 2 of the last 7, with losses to KY (2x), UGA, FL and LSU. I think we'll make the Tourney as a 7 or 8 seed.

Anonymous said...

HAHA clam down Anonymous #2, what are sports websites if you cant hate and have a little fun. I agree with the post above, the Vandy Tennessee rivalry wouldnt be nearly the same if Pearl was gone. Seeing him in that awful orange jacket has made that game the funnest and most looked forward to game Vandy plays all year. No matter who the next coaches are for the respected university, years from now we will be talking about how the best Vandy Tennessee games were when Stallings and Pearl were the coaches. Its the Duke and UNC of the SEC ha

Anonymous said...

Don't give up on football season yet. You have to have the right expectation for this team. I know this gets said to often but they are young. Klause does not fumble that catch next year. We don't have as many dumb penalties next year. If we win 4 or 5 games this season, the season will not be a disappointment, especially if we beat UT.

Anonymous said...

Encouraing comment from ESPN's Chris Low "Vanderbilt has scored six of its nine offensive touchdowns this season on plays of 33 yards or longer. A year ago, the Commodores’ offense produced only four touchdown plays of 33 yards or longer all season." So far, ee havent played any cupcakes this season either.