Go Braves, Beat Drake - plus some college items & a few political comments

Go Braves - snap back and play great tonight. I know these guys have too much pride to let that game against ISU repeat itself tonight...I think we'll see a much different outcome!


Here's a good story on college scoring legend Bevo Francis, who scored 113 points in a single game on this date 56 years ago...
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/337925-the-legend-of-bevo-francis-scoring-113-points-in-a-college-game


In Valley news.........
Here's a story on how Creighton throws a sports psychologist at CU and P'Allen Stinnett...
seriously - how many college basketball teams have their own staff psychologist working with and counselling their players??
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100128/SPORTS/701289742/-1/sports

Here are a couple quotes...

"But I have a special relationship with P'Allen"

"They (most of the top players) come from broken families or socioeconomic situations where there is a lot of stress involved, and the kids may not have had as much structure in their lives or discipline. They're used to being the star, and now they have to buy into a team concept, be a role player. That's a hard adjustment. It requires a psychological approach."

Well - based on recent happening, and P'Allen's almost continuous slide off the playing charts in his time at Creighton, I'd say that maybe the psychology approach isn't working....
Maybe it's time to just bench the guy and play someone who wants to play!!!


Roy Williams...kinda dumps on the players he has at UNC - remember - he and he alone is responsible for these kids being on his team, so just who is he blaming??
In his last post-game press conference, he says...
"The things I've always done are not working with this group."


Champaign sports writer Loren Tate (who I have an older brother that played semi-pro baseball on the same team with a few years back) seems to be calling on U of I to steal Rice...
He certainly admits that Rice is a steal if he ends up at Drake..although he concedes that a 6-3 foreard might still have troubles at the D-I level...
But, almost certainly Tate is trying to hint that he'd like for the Illini to find a way to end up with rice a la Marcus arnold...or even Justin Dentmon (tho Dentmon ended at UW).
http://illinihq.com/news/mens_basketball/2010/02/02/tate_rice_would_look_good_in_orange_and_blue/


UConn lost again last night.......but I think the bigger news is how the heyyyy are these guys ranked inside the Top 20 when they have lost soooo much??
Here's an ESPN story about how a few of the Final Four guys from last year may be in the NIT!
but - seriously - is there anyone who truly believes that UNC, Louisville, UCLA, or UConn are going to be in the NIT?
Remember when Arizona was terrible and like 15 losses, and everyone said they didn't belong in the NCAA, but they were extended an at large bid any way??
So - trust that the big name, marquee teams will be there...it's a behind the scenes, NAA guarantee!
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/

UConn has played badly, and lost BOTH of their games last week, and FIVE of their last SEVEN games,
But - based on their performance in one single game, last week UConn was still given enough votes by the AP voters to be ranked at #19 this week....

BUT - UConn promptly went out last night and showed the AP voters why they are so blind and biased...
They played a Louisville team that's also struggling a bunch (had lost FOUR of last FIVE)...and yet Louisville clobbered UConn 82-69 --
...pulling out to a 14 pt lead in the 1st half, and cruising with a double digit lead virtually the whole 2nd half....as large as a 19-pt lead a couple times...
never really being seriously threated by UConn.

If a mid-major loses even ONE game after getting even close to the rankings, they drop out pronto...
but how come UConn has to lose SIX games in rapid succession since they were ranked #13 on Jan. 9th,
and as recently as yesterday were still sitting at the #19 spot!


Marquette just got a verbal from Class of 2010 guard DJ Newbill...
(although stories from Pennsylvania call him a wing forward at just 6-3)
....what's odd about this is the kid is almost totally unheard of outside of Philly area, but is a scorer...
http://www.620wtmj.com/shows/llama/83166132.html

scout.com didn't even have a page for him and didn't list him until yesterday, now they have a hastily put together listing...
http://marquette.scout.com/a.z?s=415&p=8&c=1&nid=4776716

--they list him at 1-Star

but oddly...Marquette's other 3 commits for 2010 are all similar players...Vander Blue, Reggie Smith, Jamail Jones..(although Smith is more PG)

Rivals did the same and just put the guy in their database..but have never had coverage on Newbill before...
but Rivals jumps the kid directly to 3-Stars....just based on the fact that he's verballed to Marquette
http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1046778


According to Rivals..Marquette beat out Drexel and "LaSalle-Peru JC" for Newbill...but I guess he was getting looks from WVa.
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/high_school/20100201_Newbill_expected_to_pick_Marquette.html
Marquette still has a couple ex-BU recruits, Buycks & Johnson-Odom, so they will be stacked with scoring guards....


Finally - also in the Big East - ...
REFS ADMIT CRUCIAL ERROR
you'd think they'd know the situation or the rules, or use the replay!!
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/3040/big-east-admits-errors-in-wvu-louisville-game



Anyway - one other news item regarding Fox...
Democrat Robert Reich who always spews ridiculous Clinton and Obama liberalism...
claimed Fox news altered the landscape by affecting the midterm elections in 1994 when Clinton lost tons of House seats.

This claim was also made & repeated by numerous news outlets, including the Huffington Post....mainly as a way to show that the people of America are swayed by unfair and slanted journalism...

Here's the problem...Fox News did not exist in 1994, and it's very first broadcast ever was in 1996...
yet none of the media outlets (including CNN - so maybe this is why they are no longer trusted as much) who either made this mistake or propagated this LIE has yet to issue a retraction or apology...
and Huffington is still making the claim!!
http://bigjournalism.com/retracto/2010/01/29/correction-request-huffington-post-yet-to-correct-claim-non-existent-fox-news-led-conservative-charge-in-1994/


Then there was this....they hire a White House Spokeswoman who says this...
"On June 5, 2009, Dunn delivered a speech to students at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School of
Potomac, Maryland, in which she said, among other things; The third lesson and tip actually comes from
two of my favorite political philosophers: Mao Zedong and Mother Theresa -- not often coupled with each
other, but the two people I turn to most to basically deliver a simple point ....

.. In 1947, when Mao Zedong was being challenged within his own party on his plan to basically take
China over. Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Chinese held the cities, they had the army, they had
the air force, they had everything on their side. And people said, "How can you win? How can you do this?
How can you do this, against all of the odds against you?" And Mao Zedong said, you know, "You fight
your war, and I'll fight mine.""

so - seriously - you send your spokespeople out to an elementary school and deliver a speech praising Mao in the same sentence as Mother Teresa??
Then you quote the guy like he's a political god...like he's your hero, when it is kbnown that he murdered 70 million of his own people who dissented with him?
In fact, that's what Mao was talking about when he referred to "fighting his own war"...he meant wiping out all his political enemies...
so I guess this is the reference the White House is specifically citing??

Geez - what are these guys smoking? And they think this'll get their approval ratings up??