Sidelines

Rethinking Rondo

Driving around this morning, heard Rick Carlisle, the new Dallas Mavericks' coach, on Mike & Mike say he had predicted all along that Detroit would come out of the NBA's Eastern Conference.

He said he thought the experience of the Pistons Big Four of Billups-Prince-Hamilton-Wallace would trump the Celtics Big Three of Garnett-Pierce-Allen.

He said he had thought Billups vs. Rondo was a better matchup for Detroit than Boston. But, since the playoffs have progressed, he sounded like he wasn't so sure. He said Rondo had really "stepped up" this year and that if it did come down to Boston vs. Detroit it would be a great series.

That leads me to two things.

No. 1 is this Tom Curran piece on MSNBC Sports urging Boston coach Doc Rivers to just hand the keys to Rondo and get out of the way. Now who would have thought that before this season? You can argue that Rajon is helped tremendously by the tremendous talent around him. But still, Rondo has done a very effective job of running the show.

No. 2 is this: My boss pays much more attention to the NBA than myself. (A good portion of America probably does, as well.) During Rajon's two years at UK, he argued that Rondo would be a better pro than a college player. I would debate right back -- that's what we do -- that Rondo needed to find a respectable perimeter shot to make any sort of dent on the next level. My boss said he didn't think that was so. He pointed to Tony Parker, and the fact that Eva Longoria's better half scores more points in the paint in the NBA than any other player. I thought he was nuts.

This one time (just kidding), I think the boss may have been right.

Amidst the mediocrity, a memorable Reds moment

It’s human nature to question your own intelligence when you devote time to such a thankless endeavor as following the daily disappointment that is the Cincinnati Reds. And then, even in the mid-May morass of mediocrity, a single play pops up to remind you why you were watching in the first place.

I caught the first three or four innings of the Reds-Marlins game last night on the tube before switching over to Idol. Stuck with that for the whole hour. Ryan Seacrest has to go, by the way. And judging by her attire, Paula must be reading the gossip about her predicted ouster. Simon’s eyes always tell the story. I liked Syesha, but she had to go. David vs. David was destined from the start. David A. is cute, cuddly, a bit odd, with a stage dad, and a Disney Channel vibe. Despite what Ken Levine believes, I don’t think he wins. David Cook seems more the Idol-type to me. But that’s a guess. And enough about that.

Back to the Reds, which I did after the Idol finale. By the time I made way back to Channel 66, the game was tied. Marlins had scored six runs in the top of the ninth. So it’s 6-6.  Now it’s the bottom of the 10th inning. There were Reds on the bases. At the plate was rookie Paul Janish.

Let’s back up here. The night before had been a heartbreaker. I didn’t see it – Dancing and Idol on the same night, are you kidding – but apparently Jeff Keppinger fouled a ball off his his kneecap with such force it broke his something or other. Life isn’t fair. Keppinger is a great story. Former Georgia Bulldog. Journeyman infielder. Hit everywhere, stuck nowhere. Then the Reds picked him up last year. He’s done nothing but hit since. Saturday, in the second game of a doubleheader at New York, Kep went five-for-five. Two days later, he’s on the Disabled List.

(Nice story here on how Ken Griffey, Jr., kept Keppinger's spirits up after the injury.)

Back to Janish. He’s at the plate. Two outs. It’s his second big-league at-bat. He's 25 years old. He had just been called up that day from AAA Louisville. In fact, his mom was driving to Louisville to visit her son, got the news, re-programmed the GPS, and found her way to Great American Ballpark. Janish fouls off the first pitch. He swings through the second. Third time is his charm.

Janish sends a line drive to the right field corner.

This one belongs to the Reds.

The Reds burst out of the dugout like happy Little Leaguers. They try to ride Janish like a bull at the rodeo. He’s fighting (sort of) to get away. They keep riding. Finally, in all the flailing, someone catches Janish right across the schnoz (sp?) and the rookie ends up with a bloody nose. Two things he'll never forget.

Make it three.

Final camera shot, there’s the rookie with the bloody nose, hugging his mother.

That’s why you watch.

It's not the age, it's the grade

Since the start of the great UK/middle school debate, I’ve received a few more e-mails accusing me of missing the point. Often times, guilty as charged.But not this time.

The point, claim the insistent e-mailers, is that California Golden Boy committee Michael Avery is not really an eighth-grader, but a 15-year-old eighth-grader. And in this case, age makes all the difference. A 15-year-old could be a freshman, as Avery would have been had he not been held back a year. Or a 15-year-old could be a high school sophomore. A young sophomore, but a high school sophomore.

There’s just one problem with that argument. A 15-year-old sophomore would have just two more years of high school before he was ready for college. Avery, as a 15-year-old eighth-grader, has four more years of high school before he even steps on the floor of Rupp Arena for Midnight Madness.

Four years is a long time. Avery could shoot up to 6-foot-9. He could forget how to dribble. He could audition for American Idol. He could grow tired of basketball. He could develop the skills of the next LeBron James. He could pull a Taylor King and re-open his recruiting, end up at Duke, only to transfer to Villanova a year later.

The point is we just don’t know.

Neither does Billy Gillispie. The Kentucky coach has made an educated guess here, to be sure. But he’s also created a buzz, which I can’t help but think was part of the master plan. If nothing else, Kentucky basketball’s name has been out there of late. The Cats are making news. The Cats are stirring things up. And despite the criticism leveled by people such as Jim Haney and Myles Brand, Gillispie isn’t backing down. He proved that by offering a scholarship to another ninth-grader.

Avery: "I know they really like basketball now."

The Los Angeles Times this morning includes an Eric Sondheimer column on new UK basketball commitment Michael Avery, now college basketball's most famous eighth-grader.

The column's title: "Eighth-grader is taking on a lot of pressure."

Sondheimer focuses on high school sports in L.A., and in the column Avery admits (sort of) that he wasn't quite prepared for the attention his public commitment to the Cats has received.

Commenting on all the calls he's taken, Avery says, "I know they really like basketball now."

Other highlights:

• "I'm getting a lot of phone calls I'm not used to."

• "I really like Kentucky basketball. That's why I committed. I've been following their program for a long time."

• Avery's next coach, his high school coach, Russell White of Encino-Crespi, said, "The sooner the 'Kentucky-bound' disappears as an adjective from his name, the faster we can move forward."

Warning: If you are among the UK fans who think the Cats are receiving a bad national rap over offering an eighth-grader a scolarship, you might want to take your blood pressure medicine before reading this one.

Writes Sondheimer, "Avery played for Belmont Shore in a travel tournament two weekends ago at USC's Galen Center, and he looked overmatched in his brief appearances playing against high school juniors and seniors. Anyone could have picked him out as the eighth-grader."

One more note: The story's sub-head refers to Avery as "Mark Avery."

I can e-mail too, you know

Should have blogged about this a while back, but about a month ago my friend Brian and I drove to Louisville's Headliners Music Hall to check out Kathleen Edwards. My friend Brian knows more about music, especially female musicians, than most anyone I know. Over the years, since our college days together at UK, from time to time, a cassette of new music would pop up unannounced in my mail box.  Brian is always touting some new female artist of which I admit I am either unfamiliar or vaguely familiar.

That said, I am happy to say I discovered Edwards on my own. Loved her first album, Failer. Loved her second album, Back to Me. Always wanted to see her live. Was thrilled to find out she was going to be in Louisville to promote Asking for Flowers. Mentioned this to Brian at a UK basketball game. He said he'd like to see her, and a road trip was planned.

Happy to say Edwards was terrific. My being a veteran of 17 Springsteen shows, most in sold-out arenas, Headliners was an entirely different venue. It's a bar. With an open dance floor. Very few tables. And unfortunately, on this night, there was not an overabundance of patrons. Maybe 200. Maybe. And yet Edwards played as if there were 2,000. She rocked. She had a great time, showcasing her famous foul mouth, her band's talents, and a taste for Kentucky bourbon. Played most everything I had hoped to hear. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

(You can find an excellent review of the show and more pictures from the show at Backseat Sandbar. Photos by Cory Greenwell.)

But the surprise of the night was the opening act. I didn't know much about Dan Wilson. The name didn't ring a bell. When we arrived, Brian informed me that he was the lead singer for Semisonic, the Minneapolis trio (I think) famous for "Closing Time." That rang a definite bell. My 15-year-old son, Alex, went through a brief period when nothing but "Closing Time" could be heard from his room. (Coldplay is his band of choice at present.)  Yet on this night, Wilson opened with a song called "Easy Silence." Immediately, I thought, I know that song. And I did. It's on the Dixie Chicks' Taking the Long Way. And Wilson introduced it by saying, "This is a song I wrote with three cool chicks from Texas." And, yes, it turned out that this is the same Dan Wilson who helped write half the songs on that Grammy-winning CD.

The rest of Wilson's set was terrific. He was funny. The songs were good. Better than good in some cases. He engaged the crowd in a couple of sing-a-longs, and did a humorous intro into "Closing Time." Better yet, he joined Edwards for her first encore, a duet of his "Secret Smile." I knew I had to buy that song, which I did, purchasing Semisonic's Feeling Strangely Fine. I have also purchased Wilson's solo CD Free Life. It comes with my recommendation.

Anyway, in my post-concert investigations, I stumbled upon Wilson's web page . On it, he encourages e-mail. So I sent him one. Explained that I saw his Louisville show, that I enjoyed the show, and he had a new fan.

This morning, I found this in my in-box:

John, thank you very much for the good word. I enjoyed that tour quite a bit and I'm glad you liked the gig.

Peace
DW

So if from now on I use "Peace, JC" in my e-mail replies, you'll know the origin.

Woodson to Daily News: Draft was tough to swallow

The New York Daily News has a story this morning on ex-UK quarterback Andre Woodson, who just completed a rookie mini-camp with the New York Giants.

Woodson talked about his free fall in the NFL draft, saying he still doesn't know what exactly happened.

Excerpts:

• "I think a lot of people still to this day don't really know why I dropped as much as I did," said Woodson.

• "It was kind of tough to swallow as the draft was going on," the 6-4, 227-pounder said. "As it went past the third round, fourth round, I still couldn't believe I hadn't been taken off the board yet. You know, those types of things happen. Unfortunately it happened to me. But I'm just going to be very positive about it and try to be a better quarterback so maybe possibly down the road I'll get an opportunity to get back on the field."

• On pro scouts nit-picking his "slow" release: "Some of the things I did in the SEC, you have to be pretty good to do that. But unfortunately that's something I have to try to clean up and work with (quarterbacks coach Chris) Palmer to see what I can do to make that better."

• If the name Chris Palmer sounds familiar, it should. Palmer was head coach of Cleveland when the Browns made another ex-UK quarterback, Tim Couch, the No. 1 pick in the 1999 draft.

• You can read the entire story here.

Program note: WLXG appearance

I'm to be on WLXG with Chris Cross and Mike Cameron in the 6 p.m. hour tonight to talk about 8th-grade recruiting.

That's 1300 on your AM dial.

Hold the Mayo

Updated at 5:25 p.m. with Luke Winn link.

Was anyone surprised by Sunday's "Outside the Lines" reports that now former USC basketball star O.J. Mayo allegedly took at least $30,000 in cash and benefits from someone who was attempting to sign the future NBA draft pick as an agent?

I didn't think so.

Is USC to blame? Of course USC is to blame. The university already knew about Rodney Guillroy, who is accused of supplying Mayo with fringe benefits. In fact, USC knew when it took Mayo for his one-and-done, the former Rose Hill star owned a shady entourage, with the potential of rule-breaking trouble. Desperate to compete with cross-town behemoth UCLA, the Trojans rolled the dice. Looks like they've lost.

Links:

• NCAA's acceptance of the NBA age-limit is to blame. [Dan Wetzel]
• USC has no excuse for turning a blind eye. [Pat Forde]
• Looking for solutions. [Dustin Dow]
• Surprise, a USC, Mayo scandal. [Sporting News]
• Mayo on the take? Shocking! [Hoops World]
• Mayo stuff that doesn't sit right. [All Things Trojan]
• USC should have read Doyel's column. [AOL Sports]
• Luke Winn calls it another sad chapter. [Sports Illustrated.com]

UK in SEC logjam

That historic sweep of Tennessee this past weekend put John Cohen's baseball Cats in much better position, but Kentucky hasn't sealed a bid to the SEC Tournament quite yet.

Fresh from the SEC Office, here is how the teams stack up (division winners, plus next six qualify):

•   1. Georgia      19-7-1    (leads East; clinched berth)
•   2. LSU            15-11-1   (leads West)
•   3. Vanderbilt   15-11
•   4. Kentucky      14-13
•   4. Florida        14-13
•   4. Alabama      14-13
•   4. Ole Miss       14-13
•   8. Arkansas      13-13
•   9. S. Carolina   13-14
• 10. Auburn         11-16   (won 2 of 3 from Tennessee)
• 11. Tennessee    11-16    (lost 2 of 3 from Auburn)
• 12. Miss. State     7-20    (eliminated from contention)

Final weekend

• Alabama at Georgia
• Arkansas at Miss. State
• LSU at Auburn
• Vanderbilt at Florida
• Tennessee at South Carolina
• Ole Miss at Kentucky

By the way, if you haven't read Mark Maloney's terrific piece on Saywer Carroll, published in the Herald-Leader over the weekend, you can find it here.

E-Mailbag: 8th-grade recruiting

Sunday's column questioning the trend of awarding scholarship offers to eighth graders produced a few e-mails.

Some of them even got past the tired old anti-UK/pro-UK argument and focused on the main issue.

Some excerpts:

• Rusty wrote, "The thing that u need to be focusing on is the kids age.  If he were a 15yr old Sophomore would you even be writing your article about Mr. Avery?  And as far as the national media goes such as the article in Sports Illustrated.  UK is hated outside of its own state when it comes to basketball.  If Coach K, or Roy Williams had done what coach Gillespie has done they would be praised for their ability to evaluate talent.  The age and not the grade of the young man is what sould be looked at.  Cause at 15 he is a young man.  And hopefully your negative undertones towards Coach Gillespie will not be in your future articles.  Because, the national media will definitely take care of the negative."

• Kelly wrote, I was a sophomore in HS when I was 15 years old...I don’t think we have an epidemic here because 5 or 6 eighth graders are committed to a college....and I agree that when they do, the parents are very involved at the time....it is because a big time program has the commitment that it gets the press that it does.....
  
  Coach G seems to have taken the path he has to stay competitive.....he also said that if the rules change, he will change with them...no problem there.
  
  To me, after all the criticism for the lack of recruiting around here, I am happy to hear about getting players earlier.   If these young men (and their parents) are participating in AAU tourney’s all over the country, then I think that they open themselves up to the recruiting game....AAU seems to be the spring board to college for players......
  
  Finally, and if you had coach by himself, I do wonder if he expected Avery to commit as quickly as he did.....it is one thing to offer sure, but I am wondering if he expected that 3 days later the kid committed.  Who knows.....
  
  I still do not see a problem as of yet......the NCAA will need to either step in or step aside on this issue.....
  
  Good article........The Sunday edition seems, however, to be “piling on” on this issue however...."

• Tim wrote, "Parents spend a lot of money to develop their children athletic skills.  I'm sure they are excited that there monetary investment is rewarded as well as their children's hard work and skills.
  
  I think about a young student at The Lexington School (parents paying more than 15K a year in tuition) working at night and weekends, going to academic camps in the summer....if they were offered a full ride scholarship to Harvard in the eighth grade, I am sure the parents and child would be thrilled.  And the offer would be accepted.
  
  When they received a B+ on their Chemistry exam, everybody would criticize the kid and say he's not worthy of a Harvard scholarship.  Just as when Avery misses two shots in a row, people will say the same thing about him.
  
  I think the early signings are just a symptom of our society's over-emphasis on sports in general.  If BCG doesn't land the talent, his 2M+ paycheck goes away. 
  
  Nice article but ease up on BCG."

• Polly wrote, "Reading your story today reminded me of driving through Knoxville this week and hearing a local sports talk show hammering Billy G. for this latest recruitment of the young players. We even heard that KY. was paying players, people were calling with derogatory comments etc. It was a reminder of the past we wish to forget. It was sad to hear us being laughed at all over Big Orange country. This is not the way we want the game or KY to go."

• Otto wrote, "He could be like your good friend stupid tubby and not do any recruiting. Didn't hear you complain about his pitiful recruiting."

• David wrote, "I agree with your article wholeheartedly.   As a KY grad living in Tennessee, I have been embarrassed  before this by Gillispie's recruiting.  All the while, Bruce Pearl is signing players who are highly rated and who can play next season!  All I can do, when teased about the direction of the Kentucky program is shake my head and say "it won't get much better until we get rid of the "The Mistake."

• Mary wrote, "I am surprised that everyone seems so upset that colleges are recruiting so early.  They seem to forget that they are offering a student a college education, that the student will earn by doing a job (sports) that he or she already loves.   If he or she does well..the sky may be the limit...if they never reach the pros....they will still learn good lessons of life ..work hard..study hard....set goals...play on a team... setting expectations can never begin to early ...in fact...if a new parent without a college degree (who does not want to get one themselves) comes to me and asks "how can I make sure my child will go go college." ....It's a lot better than flipping burgers or working jobs where no one cares if you graduate...

• D.L. from Prestonsburg wrote, "I interpreted Billy Clyde's action (offering scholarships 6 years in advance) as his long term commitment to UK.  Any potential player has to arrive at same conclusion."

• Adam wrote, "Shortly after the departure of Tubby Smith, the UK athletics department hired a coach who was known for his ability to recruit talented athletes who would fit into his system and win basketball games.  Along with the university’s President and A.D., the national and local media outlets recognized his proven ability to recruit talent that rebuilded programs as a premise to choosing BCG.  Now that he has his first true off-season to dictate how, where, and who he wants to recruit, BCG has and is proving that he will do everything he can legally do to get the best talent in a Kentucky uniform for the 2008 and 2012 season.  Ethically, is it right to pursue talent at such a young age?  At a glance, most would probably agree with you – it’s an easy point to argue.  However, the fact of the matter is that intense competition as seen in the emerging parody of college sports will inevitably lead to coaches to change/innovate their recruitment in order to achieve competitive advantage and ultimately do what they were hired to do; succeed.  This is the aggression BCG spoke of.  Text messages, private planes, teleconferences, state of the art practice facilities, and early commitments are all examples of how fast the dynamics of recruiting the best players in the country by the best programs in the country are changing – the Darwinism of recruitment in college athletics.
  
  Similarly, athletes are getting better at a much younger age.  Over the years, billions of dollars have been invested into countless training programs, advanced leagues/tournaments, camps, and equipment which all intend to make a player better.  By joining X League or training with Y gym in the off-season, athletes will further separate themselves from competition so that they may better their chance to continue to develop on the collegiate level.  Therefore the reality is this – combined with the fact that more players are getting better at a younger age and the increasing parody in college basketball, both coaches and players are going to take whatever competitive advantage they can get to succeed.  From these two perspectives, you cannot ignore that very nature of sport is rooted in a culture of competition that will continue to evolve and push the envelope.
  
  With that being said, BCG is not taking this program in a “direction” that “stoops” to a new low.  So, assume as we all did when he was hired, that when BCG offered Avery the chance to be a wildcat, he did so not using the common sense of a sports writer but the common sense as one of the best recruiters in the country.  I sincerely hope that anyone who makes $2.3 million – a year – whose job requisite is to recruit and win games will be confident enough to continue to recognize ability before age."

• Terry wrote, "waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah."