NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament --- The Weakest At-Large Field in History

The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament field has been set and we are about to embark on one of the most anticipated yearly events in sports --- March Madness.

Glancing at this years field, there are the familiar perennial powerhouses such as Kansas, Duke, and Kentucky and a new kid on the block in Wofford. The University of Houston returns to the tournament after an 18 year absence and teams such as North Carolina and Connecticut are missing due to poor play by each teams high standards.

Taking yet a second and more discerning look, it appears to me (and Jay Bilas) that this edition of March Madness has the weakest at-large field in the history. There were, at the very least, a dozen teams considered on the bubble and all had legitimate arguments to claim a tournament birth. But when you look at the process that the Tournament Committee uses to select teams, they did an amazingly thorough job in selecting the 34 at-large teams.

So many teams this season played abysmal out of conference schedules to fatten up their records. The two teams I will focus on briefly will be Utah State and Virginia Tech.

Tourney bound Utah State has an RPI of 30 despite a very weak non conference schedule. The Aggies played weaklings such as Morehead State, Northeastern, and Southern Utah amongst others and were upset in the WAC finals by New Mexico State.

Virginia Tech, not selected had an RPI of 59 and the non conference schedule wasn't any better facing the likes of Brown, UMBC, and Longwood. Losses in 6 of their final 8 games doomed the Hokies including a devastating 80-60 shelling at Boston College and an upset loss versus Miami (FL) in the ACC Tournament.

Many other teams fit Tech's type of season such as Rhode Island, Mississippi State, and Illinois shared virtually the same fate.

Then again we see the same argument every season about those who were selected and those who were snubbed. To avoid such yearly controversies, fun as they may be, Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight suggested that conference tournaments be done away with and I concur. I feel by eliminating conference tournaments, ALL teams will have to find opponents to fill their 32 to 34 game schedule. That, I would think, would lead to stronger non conference opponents.

There is talk about expanding the field to 96 teams, which means watering down the field even more, in my not so humble opinion. Being a traditionalist,I would like to see the field be cut back to 48 teams with the top 4 teams would receive a 1st round bye. I believe this AND eliminating conference tournaments would get the best 48 teams into the tourney field. Of course you would still have debates about the last 4 teams but I think seventeen teams would be much easier to choose than thirty four. That was a much simpler time then...48 team fields with very few blowouts.

Those are my thoughts...and yours are?

Let March Madness begin!

Dick

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Merlin Olsen – The Greatest Defensive Tackle

I have seen a lot of NFL games on television during my 50 years on this earth. Naturally, I remember the great offensive players of my youth --- Fran Tarkenton, Terry Bradshaw, Larry Csonka, and Art Monk to name a few. I also remember great defensive tackles such as “Mean Joe” Greene of “The Steel Curtain” Pittsburgh Steelers, Alan Page of “The Purple People Eaters” Minnesota Vikings, and Bob Lilly of “The Doomsday Defense” Dallas Cowboys.

Sticking to the position of defensive tackle, there was one that was revered by all players and especially feared by guards and centers on the offensive line. Unfortunately, the greatest defensive tackle in the history of the NFL passed away on Thursday, March 11 to mesothelioma.

Merlin Olsen.

Olsen was a defensive stalwart at Utah State University under legendary coach John Ralston from 1959 to 1961. he was a 2 time All-American in 1960 and 1961 and was the Outland Trophy winner as the nation's outstanding collegiate lineman.

Drafted in the 1st round by both the Los Angeles Rams (NFL) and the Denver Broncos (AFL), Merlin chose the NFL's Rams with a contact reportedly in upwards of $50,000 for 2 seasons. That was huge money in those days.

Olsen anchored his entire 15 season career on the L.A. defensive line known as “The Fearsome Foursome”. His original line mates included greats David “Deacon” Jones, Rosie Grier, and the late Lamar Lundy. Later during Merlin's career, my memories of him were along side Jack Youngblood, Diron Talbert, and his brother Phil Olsen as well as the aforementioned Jones.

Not only was Olsen the best run stopper of all, he was a fierce pass rusher from the inside as his 94 career sacks will attest, including 11 of those during the 1972 season.

Merlin's career highlight list is long and distinguished. He was the 1962 NFL Rookie of the Year,a Pro Bowl selection for all but his final season of his career including six times a 1st team All-Pro selection and three time 2nd teamer. A member of the All Decade team for the 1960's AND 1970's, and of course elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982. There are many other accolades Merlin has garnered --- too many to mention here.

After his playing days, Olsen was a color commentator at NBC alongside Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer Dick Enberg, was on the cast of Little House on the Prairie, and was the lead in Father Murphy.

There is so much more to Merlin Olsen than a football icon and actor. Far be it for me to mention that he was a wonderful human off the field as well. Those are items that are written far better by those who knew him.

With that, may we all say “Merlin Jay Olsen, Rest In Peace”.

Dick

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Professional Hockey --- To Fight Or Not To Fight?

In my last post I mentioned that the Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the best ever in Olympic history. We saw outstanding play but we also saw outstanding sportsmanship as well. Sure, there was pushing and shoving after whistles --- that's to be expected. However, there is one “aspect” of hockey that was not seen.

No fighting. It's not allowed in the international game nor is it permissible in college or high school. Should there be fights during those games, an automatic one game suspension is mandatory, without exception. Yet, in professional hockey and in juniors, fighting is very much allowed and considered by some a staple of the game.

My intention here is to briefly weigh the pros and cons of fighting and I will give my opinion on whether hockey should or should not be banned on all levels.

Pros ---

Traditionalists believe that fighting is a necessary evil in hockey. Fights are to inspire a team playing lethargically, show opponents that they will not be pushed around, or sometimes players fight just for the sake of fighting. It does happen. Many fans ( In this instance, I use “fans” loosely) go to games merely to see a fight. At one time, if the game was played with elbows, knees, and sticks were used as weapons, fights and the occasional bench clearing brawl would erupt as a way to control the game. In effect, players were policing themselves. Yes, there were times where brawls got out of hand and that was alright with many teams. That was a part of hockey years ago.

Cons ---

Fighting, according to many, disrupts the flow of hockey for no reason whatsoever. Two grown men dropping the gloves and removing helmets from their own heads just to see who is tougher is just plain stupid. Fisticuffs do nothing for the game and is just a sideshow with most fights involving players with little or no hockey talent. Fighting promotes violence in hockey and therefore must be banned.

Now that I have giving some examples as to why fighting is either necessary or unnecessary, my opinion is...

Fighting should NOT be banned. As a hockey fan since the late 1960's, I feel that there are benefits to fighting. I believe that fights can and do inspire teams playing poorly in a particular game. Although the National Hockey League, has done a very good job in limiting the number of fights by imposing the instigator rule, banning it would lead to more dangerous play especially an increase in the stick fouls of slashing and high sticking. Also, players would be more apt to take a run at players with reckless abandon, thus leading to more major injuries.

That's just one hockey fans opinion...what's yours?

Dick

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The Greatest Tournament Ever!

Well, the Games of the 21st Winter Olympiad have closed. We witnessed some truly amazing feats such as United States men’s speed skater Apollo Ono becoming the greatest ever in his sport, women’s skier Lindsay Vonn winning a gold medal on a bum leg, and the Canadian men’s curling team capturing gold on home soil (yes, I like curling ). However, there was one event that captured the attention of most Olympic fans --- the finest display of competition in the history of the Winter Olympics.

The Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament.

From game one to the final game, I have never seen such skill, intensity, and passion in so many games. My goodness, even teams like Latvia and Norway played tremendous hockey! Switzerland had a chance to beat both the Canadians and Team USA, Slovakia gave Canada all they could handle, and of course the Gold Medal game between Canada and Team USA was perhaps the greatest game played in Olympic history.

Where else can you find a collection of great players on a sheet of ice? The National Hockey League’s very best players from Sidney Crosby to Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk to Zach Parise, are some of the most elite athletes in the world. To play in one venue simply blows the minds of not just hockey diehards but casual fans as well. If you weren’t a hockey fan before, watching this tournament would have mage you a fan for sure!

Of course, playing in Canada, the birthplace of hockey, certainly helped bring hockey to the forefront of all North Americans. The crowds were raucous, which in turn gave the Canadians extra energy to play at peak levels.

I don’t feel the need to recap any great moments during the tournament --- we watched and we marveled. We saw the very best play out of the very best players. That is cut and dried.


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