Mason-Griffin the perfect recruit? Hardly
Seven years ago, I dubbed Drew Lavender the perfect recruit. High school all-American. Excellent college player. Little pro potential because of his diminutive size and thus would be around four years.
Well, you know what happened. Lavender and Kelvin Sampson never meshed, for reasons I never figured out or have forgotten, and Lavender transferred after two (still productive) years to Xavier, where he led the X-men to NCAA glory.
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
I fell into the trap again earlier this year. I dubbed Tommy Mason-Griffin the perfect recruit, for all the same reasons. Excellent college player, little pro potential. But I didn’t factor in something very important. The guy has to know he doesn’t have pro potential. The guy has to know the NBA isn’t all that fired up about 5-foot-9 point guards who can’t cover Texas Tech’s John Roberson, much less Russell Westbrook or Chauncey Billups.
Mason-Griffin said Tuesday he was turning pro, and that’s a literal statement. He’ll turn pro, all right, and play somewhere in Europe, is my guess. The NBA is not all that interested in sub-6-foot point guards who aren’t all that quick or familiar with the concept of defense.
Mason-Griffin was a heck of a college player. Probably could have become a decent defender in college. Might eventually be an NBA player, if he gets stronger and quicker and learns to stay in front of penetrating point guards. But that’s a long ways off.
So the perfect recruit? Hardly. Let’s redefine the term. Excellent prospect/player. Not quite good enough to interest the NBA. Plus the addition. Knows he’s not ready for the NBA.
Hollis Price, for instance. Now there’s the perfect recruit. Eduardo Najera, who spent FIVE years at OU. There can’t be five players in the NBA who spent five years on the same college campus, but Najera did. Taylor Griffin, who played four years of college, recruited his franchise brother to school and made the NBA himself.
Look at Eddie Sutton’s best teams. That 2004 Final Four team. Joey Graham, Stevie Graham, Ivan McFarlin and Daniel Bobik were five-year college players. John Lucas and Tony Allen were four-year men. Sampson’s 2002 Final Four team, same deal.
Chat Recap: Berry Tramel
Fields cheers on Cowgirls
Former OSU quarterback Josh Fields was in the stands Monday night to cheer on the Cowgirls in the NCAA Tournament. Fields was with his wife, former Cowgirl softball player Ashley Tweed, and baby. Fields, now a third baseman with the Kansas City Royals, is in spring training at Surprise, Ariz.
“My wife and I decided we had to support the Cowgirls a little bit,” Fields said. Fields’ mother, Rhonda Fields, is the girls basketball coach at Jenks.
It was good to see Fields. I hope Kansas City works out better for him that did the White Sox. Fields says he and his family will make their off-season home in Oklahoma as soon as he sells his house in Florida.
Fields remains one of the most underrated Cowboys of them all. A two-sport star — yes, star. And when I say he’s underrated, I mean by me. I always forget to include him in the discussion of greatest OSU quarterback ever. Last year, during the Mike Gundy/Zac Robinson debate, my comrade John Helsley always had to remind me to not forget about Fields.
Which is accurate. Fields was a two-year starter who put up great numbers, and BEFORE that two-year stint, he led an epic Bedlam upset. Fields’ 2-1 record against Oklahoma is enough to move him on the list, and all those touchdown passes to Rashaun Woods puts him very high. I would rank the greatest QBs at OSU this way: 1. Gundy, 2. Robinson, 3. Fields. But if someone wants to argue that Fields was better than Robinson, they would be on solid ground.
By the way, if OSU’s women had beaten Georgia on Monday night, I was going to stay in Phoenix for a couple of days, then go up to Sacramento for the regional. I was going to spend the time in the desert by going to spring training. I even told Fields I was coming out to Surprise, Ariz., today to chat with him. I assume he won’t hold it against me that I instead flew home.
Big 12 falters in NCAA Tournament
Barring the unlikely scenario that both Baylor and Kansas State make the Final Four, the Big 12 did not produce in the NCAA Tournament. The idea that the Big 12 was the nation’s best conference did not hold up. Here are my thoughts on the Big 12 teams:
Kansas: We can’t be too hard on the Jayhawks. Sure, KU had no business losing to Northern Iowa. But Kansas has carried the basketball load for the Big 12 for a long time; you can’t expect the Jayhawks to be invincible. KU’s loss is part of the Big 12 disappointment but by no means is it predominant.
Kansas State: Not too many better days for Wildcat fans than Saturday. They reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in 22 years and got to sit and watching Kansas lose in an epic upset. Now the Wildcats get Xavier in the regional semifinals. Won’t be easy. But not a huge mountain.
Baylor: Time to hand in your Baylor Bashing cards. The Bears in the Sweet 16? Talk about helping the conference. Baylor is running into a buzzsaw in Saint Mary’s, after victories over Old Dominion and Sam Houston State. I haven’t studied it, but you won’t find many teams that have reached a regional final without beating a team from a BCS conference.
Texas A&M:Massively disappointed in A&M. If the Aggies had beaten Purdue on Sunday, the Big 12 would be the most successful league in this NCAA. Let’s look at the record. Best record: Big 10 7-2, followed by the Pac-10 and West Coast Conference at 3-1, SEC 4-2, Big 12 7-5, Big East 6-6, ACC 5-5. The Big Ten has the most teams in the Sweet 16, with Purdue, Michigan State and Ohio State. Followed by the Big 12, Big East (Syracuse and West Virginia) and SEC (Tennessee and Kentucky). If A&M had beaten Purdue in that overtime game, the Big 12 would be 8-4, the Big Ten 6-3 and the Big 12 would have three in the Sweet 16. And A&M should have won. Purdue was playing without its best player.
Missouri: Can’t be mad at the Tigers. Of the three Big 12-ACC tossup games in the first round, Mizzou got the Big 12′s only victory, then played West Virginia tough.
Texas: A massive disappointment. Tanked in the regular season, tanked in the post-season. Led Wake Forest by eight points in overtime and lost. Total, total choke.
Oklahoma State: Cowboys were disappointing because they could have beaten Georgia Tech, then taken their shots at Ohio State. But OSU was impressive in defeat for this reason. The Cowboys were dominated in the eye test. Totally skunked by Georgia Tech athletically. Yet was in the game until the final 30 seconds. Travis Ford milked about all he could out of this team.
Emails in on college basketball
The new emails are in, and lots of talk about college basketball, and let’s start with the women.
Roger wrote about Andrea Riley: “I am somewhat taken aback by some of the things you write about Andrea Riley. I believe you have better judgment. Anyone else who would play the game in the manner in which she does, you would be on them like a hound dog on a t-bone. She appears to have very little if any concept of team play or appreciation of others. For example, in the next to last game of the Big 12 Tournament, she took 47 shots (10 of 30 from the field and 17 free throws) scoring 37 points. Most games are similar. You taught me those are very bad statistics and not conducive to team play and a winning effort. She is lauded for being such a scorer. Of course. Anyone who shoots that much is bound to get a few in the basket. No big deal. How many more games might have been won if her abilities had been coached into a team concept with other girls being more involved using their talents instead of one person throwing up 30-plus shots a game making 30 percent or less?”
Do you know how many assists Andrea Riley averages? 6.2. She averages 6.2 assists a game. I’ve never heard of a ballhog who averages 6.2 assists a game. Yes, Riley shoots 36 percent from the field. But when she’s missing shots, that means OSU is not committing turnovers and it means the Cowgirls have a chance at an offensive rebound. In women’s basketball – in some men’s basketball – a missed shot is not a bad thing. And some of Riley’s 36 percent shooting is on 3-pointers. So she’s actually scoring at more like a 40.5 percent rate. If you had a 40.5-percent shooter, averaging 26.6 points and 6.2 assists a game, you’d have one heck of a player. And that’s exactly what Andrea Riley is.
Kent, an OU basketball fan, wrote about OSU basketball: “Andrea Riley, OSU will be better off without her. Whoever heard of a woman getting suspended for hitting another player? Ridiculous! The only thing worse is two teammates going at it. Oh, they did, Pilgrim and Moses.
If I was an OU basketball fan these days, I think I’d be talking And after watching OSU struggle without Riley, then rally to win, I think we end all talk about the Cowgirls being better off.
Leonard: “Amanda Thompson has always been a physical presence on the OU women’s team. But I thought she really showed some talent with her leadership, scoring and defense over the last part of the season. It leads me to wonder if the OU offense over several previous seasons, geared as it was to the sisters Paris, failed to really showcase, develop and promote the shooting and playmaking skills of a player like Thompson?”
Possibly. But that’s a trade you make every time. It wasn’t like the Sooners weren’t good with the Paris sisters. They got some things accomplished. And what you say about Thompson is even truer of Dani Robinson. The Parises slowed her down.
Jim: “I usually enjoy your columns, but I think you were a little overboard in comparing Brittney Griner with Kermit Washington. There are three major differences. 1. Rudy Tomjanovich was not involved in the play with Kermit Washington. Jordan Barncastle had pushed Griner just before Griner punched her. 2. Washington was an adult in the NBA; Griner is 20ish and a college student. 3. Griner broke Barncastle’s nose; Washington almost killed Tomjanovich.
I’ll give you No. 2. Not 1 or 3. The broken nose/almost killed difference is not of intent. In fact, Kermit Washington was less guilty. Rudy T. ran at him; Kermit reacted. Griner sought out Barncastle. Barncastle had pushed Griner in the flow of the play. Not in some kind of fracas.
Don: “When you write Cowgirls, we know the gender of your subject. When you write Sooners, we don’t. How about Soonerettes? Or Lady Sooners?”
How about Alpha Sooners, to describe the OU men. Seems to me Sherri Coale’s squad has done more to honor the Sooner name than has Jeff Capel’s.
OK, on to the men. Mike: “Why, when the police are involved with a student-athlete like Marshall Moses, Steven Pledger and Andrew Fitzgerald, these issues are handled internally and the NCAA never seems to get involved. But when two players take a swing at another in the heat of battle with thousands of fans screaming and egging them on, suspensions are invoked by the NCAA? Why were these not handled internally?”
Because smoking pot and stealing shirts is not against NCAA rules. I assume the NCAA figures any lawbreaking would automatically be well-handled by schools. And it might be difficult to write and enforce rules for all kinds of off-field issues. But on-court stuff is much easier to monitor. I guess it’s no more complicated than this. It’s just part of the game rules. Like two technicals means automatic ejection. But it’s an interesting question.
Jason wrote about my NCAA Tournament predictions: “Robert Morris almost blew a giant hole in your bracket.”
And Paulette Goddard almost got the role of Scarlett O’Hara.
Doug wrote about Tiny Gallon: “This is bad for Jeff Capel. He deserved the raise last year and hey, he can recruit. But if he’s bringing these punks in, he’ll ultimately face the music. Be a hell of a lot different story if he won 22 games this year. I hate the fact that he may end up like the multiple other Dukies who have underachieved with their own teams. I thought he’d break the trend. I’m really surprised by this season; he’ll be gone if they do this next season.”
I don’t think so. I don’t see how a coach can be canned merely for two bad seasons. I think the line of demarcation is three years. Not two. All kinds of coaches have consecutive bad years. But three is a trend.
Renaldo: “This could be your next article. James Anderson, Xavier Henry, Willie Warren. Second thoughts about the NBA; are they really ready?
Warren’s not ready. Anderson most definitely is ready. I haven’t studied Henry enough to know. But Anderson, he’s ready.
Jeff: “Have you seen any of the televised NCAA action from OKC? The camera angle is from a lot higher perch than the one used for Thunder games. Reminds me of the one used in the old Gallagher-Iba. Harder to watch.”
I don’t know what the deal is. CBS chose to televise from a higher angle than the NBA, and you’re right. It stinks. CBS said they wanted to avoid fans standing and blocking the view, but I haven’t seen a Thunder crowd get in the camera’s way in two years.
Jason: “In your Final Four blog, you state that if Sampson had stayed in Norman, Reynolds and James would be there but no Blake Griffin. Why do you state that? Blake wanted to play with his brother at OU. I don’t think it would have mattered who was the coach unless you know something that we all don’t know, like Blake didn’t like Kelvin.”
I don’t know whether Griffin like Sampson or not, but the story we always heard was that Blake wasn’t all that keen on OU if Sampson was the coach. I don’t know if that means Taylor Griffin would have transferred or not, but the odds of OU getting Scottie Reynolds, Damion James AND Blake Griffin seem remote.
Don: “Conference champions deserve more reward. They have proved their ability, so I think they should be excluded from having to participate in the conference tournaments or should be given an automatic bye to the finals.”
Neither idea does much for me, especially in this age of the super-conference, with no true round robin. I never have understood people’s problem with conference tournaments. If you’re in the Ohio Valley or MEAC or something, OK. Then deserving teams can get screwed. But what Big 12 team ever got hurt by the Big 12 Tournament. It’s a fun time to play basketball and win a trophy. The fans like it. The players seem to like it. Everybody but the coaches like it, and the sooner we quit listening to coaches, the better off we’ll be.
David: Because I wanted to write about something that would interest more than 14 people.
If you want your fill of Kansas, we wrote a whole special section about Kansas basketball in today’s paper.
David, a Kansas fan, didn’t like my subject choice for our NCAA preview: “Why didn’t you write about the Lon Kruger lucky charm instead of Bucknell? Guess who KU beat on its way to its last two national titles? Lon Kruger! K-State in 1988 and UNLV two years ago. Guess who is waiting for KU in the second round this year? UNLV and Lon Kruger! Can you say, ‘Rock Chalk championship?”
Can you say Ali Farokhmanesh? He’s the Northern Iowa sharpshooter who first took out UNLV in the first round, thus apparently keeping the Jayhawks from another NCAA title. And just to be sure, he took out the Jayhawks himself.
Gene: “Regarding Oklahoma City’s inability to compete with Kansas City for either the BIG 12 Tournament or an NCAA regional. One quick thought. I have great OU athletic tickets, as well as Club Level seating at Thunder games. I quit requesting seats for the Big 12 or the NCAA since I cannot get either my same seats in the Ford Center or seats of equivalent value to my regular season seats. I have a lot of friends that also sit in either the lower level or the Club level and they to do not apply because we all have continually been given upper-level seats. When the Big 12 football game is held in Kansas City, the Chiefs season ticket holders get first choice on their seats, and I have found that it is better to try to purchase their good seats directly from them via the internet. I am not sure if the basketball championship in Kansas City is done similarly, since they do not have an NBA team. As long as Oklahoma City seats are controlled by the big shots, there will be a lot of good fans who will not put up with sitting somewhere north of the moon. We get first choice for every venue that comes to the Ford Center, with the only exception of Big 12 and NCAA. Screw’em, I will watch on TV.
It’s not the big shots. It’s the NCAA. Each team gets a bulk of the good seats. The Big 12 sorts out seats a lot like the NCAA. I don’t know if there is a difference in the number. I don’t see any way Thunder season ticket holders could be guaranteed their seats for the Big 12 or the NCAA. And football is different. In football, you’ve got two schools, not eight or 12. In football, you’ve got 75,000 seats, not 18,000. But I understand your anger. If I was buying a ticket, I would demand to know exactly where the seat is. Then I would make a decision.
David: “One of the things I love about college basketball as a sport is the great names of the schools too small to be on the football stage. Canisius, DePaul, Duquesne, Providence, St. Bonaventure. And one of the best basketball-conjuring names for me ever: Loyola. Those wonderful names have always given college basketball a lyrical quality that I love.”
Can’t argue. Gonzaga. Holy Cross. LaSalle. We could do this all day.
Jim: “What is your opinion of Frank Martin of Kansas State? I think his act goes too far. I don’t think all that hollering, stomping, etc., is good for basketball, the kids playing for him, the league or his own health. I think he has been psyched to think that this is the way he has to act and therefore continues to act like a fool. I mean, come on, once in a while but all the time, every time? Too much. If I had a kid that was scholarship eligible, he would never go to a Frank Martin school. However, his team is impressive.
I think Martin is over the top myself. He’s obviously a very good coach, but over the top. I’ve often wondered what would happen if, in the public forum, a player went nuts on a coach. Screamed in his face. Grabbed him. Looked deep into his eyes with that maniacal glare that says I’m about to rearrange your face and your career.
Jim wrote about my travel blog, the adventures I had in the Arizona and Nevada desert: “What a story! This was so great, I read the entire post out loud to my wife, and she enjoyed it as much as I did. We loved the part where you decided to pass on the gas station because you were too engrossed in the end of a game. What a hoot.”
You know, it’s quite possible that I’ve learned my lesson. Always get gas. Always keep the tank full. Butler can beat Murray State with or without me listening.
Steven was talking NBA: “So, I’m watching the Suns and Jazz play right now in U.S. Airways Arena, and I was at the Thunder game Sunday, and the crowd here is really lame. I’m having a hard time getting in to it. Rumble is a way better mascot than the Gorilla.
Now, I might sign off on that atmosphere stuff. But there will be no trashing the Gorilla of Phoenix. I love the Gorilla, even if he doesn’t do anything. He looks cool.
Finally, some college football. Stan: “I got in on the end of the airing of Mike Leach giving locker room talks on tape, which were mildly damning. Did he know he was being taped? Is this now kosher with coaches? Was it a bug?”
I assume Leach knew he was being filmed but didn’t know he wouldn’t have control over releasing the tape.
Terry: “I usually only write to you during college football season, but I read something in the paper that reminded me of football and you. You, in how you compare current events with history. Football, I’m not sure why. During the season, Bob Stoops does a weekly news conference. On this date in 1913, President Woodrow Wilson held the first presidential news conference. Somehow, this great country survived over 130 years without an update from the president. If we don’t hear from Bob on a weekly basis, football fans and a few sports writers would go nuts.”
Oh, we heard from the President back in the day. Just wasn’t a news conference. You’d just stop by the office and ask him whatever was on your mind. Same thing used to be with football. Then the media grew, the demands grew and a press conference was the solution.
Ken: “It’s time for spring football. Can OU find a running back and a kicker?”
Running back, yes. Kicker, probably not.
Wild day: Plane, train & automobiles
Saturday was one of the 10 wildest days of my life. Probably top five. I woke up before sunrise in Milwaukee. I laid my head down in Phoenix. In between I saw things I’d never seen, experienced basketball in myriad ways and had more adventures than Steve Martin and John Candy ever thought about.
It was all part of trying to get from the Oklahoma State men’s NCAA Tournament site to the OSU women’s. With the OSU men in Milwaukee, the Ford Center regional, the OU women’s regional at Lloyd Noble Center, spring football practice and being a staff member short to start with, we hatched this plan. When the Cowboys were finished in Milwaukee, win or lose, I would get to the desert and catch up with the Cowgirls.
OSU’s 64-59 loss to Georgia Tech meant I could get to Tempe, Ariz., in time for OSU’s 5:15 p.m. (Arizona time) tipoff against Chattanooga. So I got up at 6:15 a.m. Saturday — with only three hours sleep – and comrade John Helsley drove me through the snow to the airport.
I had forgotten to check in on Southwest until late Friday night – because I am challenging George Costanza for lord of the idiots — so I was No. 123 in line. Those Southwest planes only seat 137, which meant I was doomed to a middle seat for the 200-minute flight. I tried to pay the $15 upgrade to board early, but no go. Those were all taken.
So I waited and mentally prepared myself. And darned if I didn’t walk in and there was an empty aisle seat in the second row. I sat down, then noticed there was an empty window seat in the opposite second row. Since I was going to try to sleep, I wanted a window. So I got up to move over and noticed the FRONT row window seat on the other side was open. The front row has the extra leg room. And there was overhead space for my laptop, which always is a problem with the front row.
I think I’ve figured it out. Milwaukee is a new Southwest city. Southwest has been flying out of there only a few months. I don’t think people have the open seating figured out. It’s every man for himself. If you’re boarding after the top 60 or so, it’s like inbounding a basketball. Throw it to the first man open. Take the first good seat you see.
Turns out my front row seat was a little crowded; a large woman and her husband were sitting next to me, but I didn’t care. I slept a little, read a little and was fired up that our master plan was going to work. I had escaped Milwaukee and its potentially bad weather.
Landed in Las Vegas at 10:15 a.m. Pacific time. During daylight savings time, Arizona is Pacific time, too, so I was seven hours away from tip. In great shape. Until I saw that my 11:45 flight to Phoenix was delayed until 2 p.m. U-oh. This is one of those weather deals; a thunderstorm in Birmingham can back up a plane that eventually will land in Portland. Snow in Providence delays a flight in Lubbock.
I made a quick decision. My reasonable knowledge of American geography told me Phoenix was drivable from Vegas. I called home, and Trish the Dish looked it up for me: 287 miles. I could drive in four hours, I figured. I called Hertz; they gave me a good deal on a one-way rental, $135.
I asked the Southwest gate agent what would happen to my bag that was waiting to be taken to Phoenix. He said it still would go, even if I didn’t. So I told Southwest to write me off the list, I jumped on the train that takes you out to the front terminal and I hopped on the rental car shuttle to go get some wheels.
Twenty minutes later, I was on a Las Vegas freeway, listening to the NCAA Tournament and fired up about my excellent adventure. I was about to see a part of America I never had seen. It was 11:15 a.m. I was 290 miles from Arizona State University.
HOOVER DAM
We’ve got bridges to nowhere in Alaska. We’ve got an interstate highway between Lubbock and Amarillo. We’ve got an interstate that goes 610 miles from Moorhead, Minn., to Billings, Mont., without sniffing a city with 100,000 people.
But there is no freeway between Las Vegas and Phoenix. Instead, you get to go along Hoover Dam.
I’d heard about Hoover Dam my whole life, and it was fun to see. Impressive. Huge. Beautiful. It was built in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, 30 miles southeast of Vegas, and sends electricity all over southern California and elsewhere. Traffic slows to about 10 mph 2-3 miles before you reach the dam; tourists are everywhere.
Trouble was, as I started going up and down and around the mountains south of Vegas, my rental car, a Chevy Malibu, started doing weird things. Sputtering going uphill. Jerking like humans do when we cough. And then it would be OK for a few miles. I didn’t know what to do, other than I knew everyone wanting to see Hoover Dam wasn’t too thrilled with me stopping in the middle of the road, so I kept going.
Saw the dam. It was cool. Car kept jerking. I kept going. When I hit some level land, the car would run, but it was doing other funny things. Running at about 6,500 RPM and would max out at 60 MPH. I had it floor-boarded to do that.
South of Hoover Dam is desert, for about 79 miles, when you reach Kingman, Ariz., a decent-sized town.
I called Hertz. Well, I sort of called Hertz. When you call Hertz, you wait. You wait and wait and wait. They put you on hold and play the most irritating music. When a live Hertz person finally came on the phone, I told her my problem. I asked if there was a Hertz counter in Kingman, and could I switch out the car there, if I could make it. She said if I got there by 2 p.m. and that she would call them and let them know I was coming. But first, she wanted me to talk to Hertz roadside assistance. OK. So she transferred me.
I sputtered down the road. Sixty mph for awhile, then chug-chug-chug. Sixty mph, then chug-chug-chug. All the while I’m on hold for Hertz roadside assistance. I drove 10 miles. Fifteen miles. Twenty miles. I got within 30 miles of Kingman and hung up. Got the phone number to Hertz in Kingman and called them. A very nice girl said she would switch out a car and told me how to get there.
So I staggered into Kingman, found the Hertz and got a new car, a Mercury Milan. It was 1:30 p.m. I was 202 miles from the Arizona State University campus.
RADIO GAMES
The NCAA Tournament saved me. I don’t like driving. I really don’t like it on little sleep, especially in the daytime. But March Madness on the radio was a blessing. I saw the great American desert and listened to hoops on Westwood One radio.
And I heard all that’s great and awful about listening to a ballgame on the radio. I listened to the St. Mary’s-Villanova game. I heard the end of Butler-Murray State. I listed to all of Kansas-Northern Iowa.
And the quality of a radio voice can make all the difference. The Villanova-St. Mary’s game was a classic. A No. 2 seed knocked off by a mid-major. A 3-point bank in the final two minutes broke a tie. Huge game. And Bob Papa made it sound like it was a Wizards-Pacers game in January. No emotion. No excitement. No nothing.
I don’t know who called the Murray State-Butler game, but it was totally different. Excellent description. Great drama. Really put me there. And Kansas-Northern Iowa, well, Brad Sham was fantastic. Here was a game for the ages, an historic game, and I never once wished I was watching on television. I could tell the importance of plays and the wow-factor of plays by Sham’s voice. Wonderful job.
In a day of madness of me and a day of madness on the court, basketball on the radio kept me sane.
DESERT LIFE
In Kingman, the new Hertz they gave me wasn’t full of gas. In fact, it had about a quarter of a tank. I stopped at Arby’s to go to the bathroom — I’d needed to go since the Vegas airport — and get what would be my only meal of the day. So I ate a couple of beef’n cheddars, listened to basketball and marveled at the wonders of a well-driving car.
It was sort of like Castaway. Remember the great Tom Hanks movie? One of my favorite parts was at the end, after his rescue, after he had been alone on the island for five years. Hanks stops by an ice dispenser and marvels at the magic. Ice whenever you want it.
Same with me heading out of Kingman. A car that goes uphill without sputtering. A car that goes 70 mph when you want it to or 50 if you pull off the gas. It’s the darndest thing. I still have no idea how cars work. But I know that I love it when they do.
I knew I should have gotten some gas when I stopped at Arby’s, but I was in a hurry. Put some miles behind us. I started getting pretty low on U.S. 93, the desert highway that goes from Kingman to Phoenix, and the Milan started showing me the miles to go before empty. 40something, when I saw it. Not long after I went through a little village with a Gulf station. I was going to stop, but it was right at the end of the Butler-Murray State game and I didn’t want to miss it. So I said I would get the next one.
Uh-oh. Maybe someone someday can explain why there’s no freeway between Vegas and Phoenix, and maybe the same person can explain why no one builds a gas station in the middle of the desert. You’d have lines like during the Arab oil embargo.
That miles to empty number kept dropping and dropping; 24, 17, 13, 8, 6, 4, 3, 1, 0. Zero miles to empty. I was driving on fumes. For most of that journey, I had no cell phone service, which meant I was bound to have to rely on the kindness of strangers. Finally, I got some cell service, so I called AAA. I’m a long-time member, and I figured they could tell me how many miles before the next gas station.
AAA’s main number transferred me to their Arizona office, except it was the Florida office, and those people had little idea about how to survive in the Arizona desert. So finally I got transferred to the Arizona office, and I was explaining my plight to some gal when I saw a beacon. The sign I had been searching for for an hour. GAS. I pulled in and saw a gas pump at an old compound that was half junkyard, half towing service, half I don’t know what.
Some guy came out, I asked if he had gas and he said he sold two-gallon gas cans for $20. I told him I didn’t need the can but I needed the gas. I didn’t tell him I would have paid $200 for two gallons.
So he goes to fill me up, and he can’t get the spout into the gas tank. The hole wouldn’t give. The gas would just spill out. We poked. We prodded. We read the Milan manual, which bragged about some kind of new fuel filler system but didn’t tell you how the heck to get gas in the tank.
“Never seen anything like this,” said the guy So I pulled out the trusty cell phone, called the office and got the phone number to Reynolds Mercury back home. I called Reynolds, got a salesman on the phone and told him my plight. He said that in the trunk, with the jack, was a special funnel that fit into the tank. That’s what you had to have when using a gas can. He said it kept people from siphoning gas.
Siphoning gas? Who siphons gas? I haven’t heard of anyone siphoning gas in 30 years. My uncles talk about it from time to time. They used to do it. In 1949! Not in 2010.
Some things don’t need fixing. The application of gas nozzles into gas tanks is one of those things.
But I gave the guy 20 bucks, was happy to do it and away I went. About 10 miles down the road was the town of Wickenburg. I gassed up and got back on my way. It was 3:45 p.m. I was 71 miles from Arizona State University.
OPENING TIP
I had been in one airplane, two airports, three rental cars, one airport tram and a rental car bus. Things were starting to swirl in my head. But the original Hertz guy in Vegas had told me something I remembered. U.S. 93 when it reaches Greater Phoenix goes through a bunch of sleepy suburbs. Sunrise. Sun City. Places, he said, where old people drive slow and speed humps rule. He told me to get off south of Wickenburg and go east over to I-17. I would avoid the slowdown and get to the fast lane quicker.
Made sense to me and looked good on the map. So I turned off and headed toward I-17. Hoping it might be 5-6 miles. The first sign I saw said 30 miles to I-17. Uh-oh. I had just added 30 miles to my trip, and even making up time, that put my tipoff in jeopardy.
I finally reached I-17 and headed south. I called OSU publicist Ryan Cameron, who was at the arena, and he put on the phone with an Arizona State guy who told me the best way to get there. I drove into Phoenix, switched to I-10, then took Loop 202 and exited right at the campus. Parked, walked to the arena, was told the media entrance was on the other side, went to the other side and was told I had been in the right place the first time, and finally got admitted about 5:13 p.m. I got my media credential, walked straight onto the floor just as the starting lineup introductions concluded and took a seat.
Had it all the way.
OH YEAH, THE BALLGAME
The OSU-Chattanooga was completely amazing. OSU was awful in the first half, spectacular in the second half. Easy game to write about. I was sort of like the Milan in the desert; I was going on fumes.
When I had it all written up, I left the arena, got to my car and drove to Sky Harbor Airport, my third airport of the day. I parked in the garage, went to baggage claim and sure, enough, there was my bag. I went back to the massive parking garage — Vegas and Phoenix both have huge airports — and, you guessed it. I couldn’t find my car. I was like the Seinfeld crew, in that episode where they walked all over the mall garage, looking for their car.
I knew I had parked on Level 4 East, row E. But I couldn’t find it. I spent probably 10 minutes looking, then went to the other side of the garage and found out I had been totally turned around. I barely knew what city I was in, much less what parking spot, so I didn’t even get mad at myself.
Then I drove to the rental car center, which seems about 25 miles from the airport but probably is about two, and switched out cars. Hertz is great about doing stuff like one-way rentals. Hertz is not so great about things like a decent rate. So I turned in that car and rented from FOX.
Got a Hyundai, I think it is, though for the life of me I can’t remember what color, and found my Holiday Inn Express. Checked in, found my room and looked at the clock. It was 11:15 p.m. 1:15 a.m. Milwaukee time.
I had seen the dam and the desert. I had damned and deserted a car. I had experienced, with my eyes and my ears, a great day of basketball. I was ready for some sleep.
NCAA Day 2: Mid-majors hold serve
Friday was not the spectacular day of basketball that we had Thursday in the NCAA Tournament. But it remained interesting.
Winner: Mid-majors. We didn’t see the big upsets we saw Thursday — no Ohio, no Murray State — but mid-majors went 2-4 vs. BCS conference opponents, after going 4-1 vs. the BCS on Thursday. That’s a first-round record of 6-5. Read that again. Mid-majors beat the big boys more often than they lost. Understand, I don’t rate anyone outside the BCS as mid-major. The MEAC and the Southland are not mid-major. Friday, Xavier beat Minnesota and Gonzaga beat Florida State. The losses? Purdue beat Siena, Maryland beat Houston, Michigan State survived New Mexico State and Texas A&M beat Utah State.
Loser: Big 12. And Oklahoma State is part of the problem. The Big 12 stood poised to dominate this tournament. With the SEC and Big East stumbling, the Big 12 went head-to-head with the ACC in three tossup games. Win two of those three, and the Big 12 would be the major-conference story of the tournament. Instead, the ACC won two of three, including Georgia Tech’s 64-59 win over OSU on Friday night. The Big 12 still has the most second-round teams (five), but the league could have been in much better shape.
Winner: Pac-10. California popped Louisville, giving the Pac-10 a 2-0 record. If Cal loses to Duke and Washington loses to New Mexico, then the Pac-10 goes bye-bye. But for one round, the Pac-10 has the tournament’s best record.
Loser: Big East. A 4-4 record after one round is horrible for a BCS league. The Big East was not impressive at all.
Winner: Cornell. Everyone said Cornell was underseeded, and the Big Red went out and proved it, routing Temple. Cornell is not a mid-major. Since the fall of Princeton and Penn, the Ivy League is low-major. Now Cornell gets Wisconsin.
Loser: Fans. After all the drama of Thursday, only four of the 16 Friday games were decided by single digits. There were no buzzer-beaters, and the games that went down to the final minute were decided by defensive success. Georgia Tech over OSU. Wisconsin over Wofford. Michigan State over New Mexico State.
Winner: Double-digit seeds. Eight double-digit seeds have advanced. No. 10 Georgia Tech, Missouri and Saint Mary’s; No. 11 Old Dominion and Washington; No. 12 Cornell; No. 13 Murray State; and No. 14 Ohio.
Loser:
NCAA Day 1: Winners & losers
Winners and losers from one of the best days in NCAA Tournament history:
Winner: Mid-majors. Mid-majors went 8-4 in the first round of the NCAAs. Against the big boys, mid-majors were 4-1. Think about that. Except for Tennessee’s narrow victory over San Diego State, the only way to get rid of a mid-major Thursday was to make them play each other. Northern Iowa-UNLV. St. Mary’s-Richmond. Butler-UTEP. Head to head against the power leagues, mid-majors shined. Murray State-Vanderbilt. Old Dominion-Notre Dame. BYU-Florida. Ohio-Georgetown.
Loser: Big East.Has a major conference ever had a worse day? Notre Dame loses to Old Dominion. Marquette loses to Washington. Georgetown loses to Ohio U. Villanova needs overtime to beat Robert Morris. One win, three losses, the losses to teams seeded 11, 11 and 15.
Winner: NCAA Tournament magic. 2009 was a dud. Thursday packed more drama into 12 hours than in all three weeks of March Madness a year ago. Of the 16 games played, three went overtime and one of those was double overtime. Three other games were won by shots in the final five seconds. Another game was decided by one point when a heavy favorite (Notre Dame) missed a game-tying 3-pointer in the final five seconds, a shot that rolled around and down in the rim before falling out. That’s seven fantastic finishes, and that’s not including three other games (Tennessee, Baylor, New Mexico) in which the favorite was in trouble late and one other game in which a heavy underdog (Ohio) blew out a big favorite. What a day.
Loser: SEC. By mid-afternoon, the Southeastern Conference was down to two teams. Before sundown, Florida lost to Brigham Young and Vanderbilt lost to Murray State. So Kentucky and Tennessee are the SEC’s last bastions.
Winner: Pac-10. Trashed all year, the Pac-10 placed only two teams in the NCAA field. Only Washington played Thursday. The Huskies made the most of it, upsetting Marquette.
Loser: Big 12. With the Big East’s crash, the Big 12 stood poised to have a glorious first round. Kansas State, Baylor and Kansas won Thursday afternoon. Then Texas made up a big deficit and led by eight points late in overtime against Wake Forest. The Longhorns lost 81-80. Now Missouri and Oklahoma State play tossup games, and Texas A&M doesn’t have a pushover with Utah State. The Big 12 stands poised to crash itself.
Winner: ACC. The ACC played only one game Thursday, and Wake Forest came through. Now Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland and Clemson have the opportunity to state the ACC’s claim.
Loser: Little guys. For all the great drama by the mid-majors, the little guys, the low-majors who supply the 15 and 16 seeds, were 0-6. Robert Morris came close to an historic upset. Sam Houston State (vs. Baylor) and Montana (vs. New Mexico) came close. Lehigh even played Kansas tough. But there were no upsets. Mid-major victories are upsets in style, not necessarily substance. They are often as good as their vanquished foe. A low-major victory is a true upset.
Winner: President Obama. The First Fan went 12-4 on opening day, which was a heck of a record for this wild day. He lost with the Big East teams (Georgetown, Notre Dame, Marquette) and Texas.
Loser: Me.I went 10-6, which isn’t awful for this day but isn’t great. And my national champ (Villanova) almost went out while I was eating lunch.
Stevie Graham talent test
Oklahoma State went to the 2004 Final Four with five players who eventually made the NBA. Of those five, who figured that five years later the most productive pro would be the least heralded. Stevie Graham.
Graham scored 19 points Wednesday night to help the Charlotte Bobcats beat the Thunder 100-92, and Graham has become a solid member of Larry Brown’s rotation.
Stevie Graham has made eight starts, played in 57 games, averaged 4.3 points a game (he’s Charlotte’s defensive stopper) and has played 675 minutes.
Boston’s Tony Allen actually has played more minutes this season (735); he’s the Celtics’ defensive stopper, too. Joey Graham, Stevie’s twin brother, is now with the Denver Nuggets and has played 626 minutes.
The other two NBA players on Sutton’s 2004 roster — Ivan McFarlin and John Lucas — haven’t played in the league since 2007.
Stevie Graham often was in Sutton’s doghouse and was the sixth or seventh man most of his two-year career. If Sutton, who almost always drew the most out of ballplayers, had figured out how to capitalize on Stevie Graham’s talent, the Cowboys would have been even more of a powerhouse.
The 2004 Cowboys are a great example of the talent needed to have a superb season. You don’t need five NBA players, necessarily, to make a Final Four, but it doesn’t hurt. The current Cowboys, who by no means are Final Four contenders, have one clear NBA player, James Anderson. I suppose it’s possible, but unlikely, that someone else could develop, like Matt Pilgrim.
But the 2004 Cowboys show Travis Ford how far he needs to upgrade his talent to make OSU a national contender like it was periodically under Sutton.
Berry Tramel’s NCAA Men’s Bracket
Click the image to view Berry’s men’s bracket.
