Thursday, March 31, 2011

Granderson Home Run leads Yankees to Opening Day Win Against Tigers 6-3

By Ray Bennett
Thursday March 31, 2011

On Thursday, Curtis Granderson entered Yankee Stadium to face his former team the Detroit Tigers. Once the final out was recorded, he left as a big contributor to the team's eleventh straight Opening Day home win.

The New York Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers 6-3 on a very cold and misty Opening Day Thursday in the Bronx. Granderson hit the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning off of Tigers reliever and former Yankee Phil Coke. This marks the third straight Opening Day in which Granderson has hit a home run, the second straight year as a member of the Yankees. This was also the Yankees eleventh straight Opening Day win at home.

The game was gearing up to be a pitchers dual between aces Justin Verlander for the Tigers and CC Sabathia for the Yankees. Detroit got the first run of the game in the top of the second off a Jhonny Peralta sacrifice fly that scored Miguel Cabrera. In the bottom of the third with two out and two runners on, Yankees first baseman Mark Texieria hit a Verlander pitch deep to right field for a three run shot. Texieria, who has been known to be a slow starter for the Yankees offensively, hit his third home run in the month of March/April as a member of the Yankees in his third year with the team.

In the next half-inning, after Sabathia walked Cabrera and gave up a Ryan Raburn single with one out, Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge singled down the left field line to score Cabrera to cut the deficit by one. The fifth inning saw Cabrera get an RBI off a sacrifice fly that scored centerfielder Austin Jackson.

Verlander got into a jam late in the bottom of the sixth. After Alex Rodriguez hit a double off the wall in right-center and a Robinson Cano walk with one out, Verlander struckout both Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada on full counts to end the inning.

Both Verlander and Sabathia did not disappoint in their season debuts, getting no decisions. Sabathia went six innings striking out seven Tiger batters, while giving up six hits and three runs. Verlander also exited after the sixth, striking out eight, while giving up three hits and three runs.

Once the bottom of the seventh rolled around, Granderson went deep off of Coke. Granderson and Coke, along with Austin Jackson, were involved in three team trade back in 2009 that also featured Arizona. Last year in his first at-bat with the Yankees, Granderson hit a home run against the rival Red Sox. He also hit a home run on Opening Day as a member of the Tigers in 2009.

New York added another run in the same inning thanks to a Derek Jeter sacrifice fly that scored catcher Russel Martin. Jeter went 0-2 on the day with the RBI. Jeter enters the 2011 season trying to reach the 3000 career hit mark, needing just 74 hits to get there. The Yankees added one more in eight off a Swisher bloop single that scored Rodriguez.

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera shut the door on a Tigers comeback, pitching a one-two-three ninth inning to end the game. The 41-year-old Rivera needs 40 more saves to reach the 600 career mark. Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain picked up the win out of the bullpen, going one-two-three in seventh. Coke, who will work in the Tigers starting rotation later on in the month of April, picked up the loss.

Tigers catcher Victor Martinez went 1-4 in his team debut, getting a single in his first at-bat for Detroit. Martinez was the designated hitter for the game as backup catcher Alex Avila started at that position. Cabrera went 1-2 in three at-bats, scoring two of the Tigers three runs. Inge went 2-3 with the RBI single and a two out double with no one on in the sixth.

Despite scoring six runs, the Yankees only had five hits in the game. Along with the Granderson and Texieria home runs, new Yankees catcher Russel Martin went 1-3 scoring two runs. Both teams have the day off on Friday. They will finish the three game series on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Either Rick Porcello or Brad Penny will start on Saturday against Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett.

Friday, March 18, 2011

NCAA Tournament Round-Up: Second Round, Day Two

By Ray Bennett
Friday March 18, 2011

The Second day of the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament got off to a moderate start on Friday afternoon. The action included easy victories by top seeded teams, a non-power conference team beating their major-power conference counterpart, and a close finish in the West region. Here's a quick recap of the games from this afternoon. The evening games will be added later on tonight.

Last second block lifts Arizona past Memphis

The Arizona Wildcats needed a clutch block from forward Derrick Williams to get past the Conference U.S.A. champion Memphis Tigers 77-75. The game was a close contest, with Memphis leading by as much as ten before halftime. Arizona got a spark from Williams that started a huge scoring run that led to a three point halftime lead at 43-40. They added seven more in the first two minutes of the second half, extending their lead to eight.

Memphis answered with an onslaught of their own, scoring 13 straight points to reclaim the lead at 53-48 about five minutes into the second half. Both teams then traded scoring runs throughout the second half. With the game tied at 68-68 with under two minutes remaining, Arizona guard Lamont "MoMo" Jones hit the go-ahead three-point field goal with 1:35 left. Memphis had a chance in the final minute to try to force overtime. Down by three with five seconds left, guard Joe Jackson hit the first free throw after a quick Arizona fowl. After missing the second free throw, forward Wesley Witherspoon grabbed the offensive rebound. He tried to put up the potential game-tying basket when Williams blocked the shot, effectively ending the game.

Williams led the Wildcats with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Jones added 18 of his own for the West region fifth seeded team. Memphis was led by brothers Antonio and Will Barton, who scored 17 and 12 points respectively. Arizona will play their third round game on Sunday against Texas, who held off a late surge from Oakland University of Michigan with a 85-81 win. Their games were played at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Michigan puts on second half shooting clinic; beats Tennessee by 30

The Michigan Wolverines battled back from an early first half deficit to beat the Tennessee Volunteers 75-45. Michigan's huge scoring display began late in the first half, going on a 16-6 run to lead 33-29 at halftime. The team came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, hitting nearly all of their shots in the second half, including a 16-0 run. Tennessee couldn't get anything going in the half, not scoring in over an eight minute time frame.

Zach Novak led the Wolverines with 14 points and 10 rebounds, including two key three-point field goals in one of the huge second half scoring run. Four other Michigan players also scored in double figures: Tim Hardaway, Jr. (11), Stu Douglas (11), Matt Vogrich (11), and Jordan Morgan (10). The Wolverines also became the first team in tournament history to win a game without making a single free throw, going 0-1 from the line. Michigan will face Duke, who cruised to a 87-45 win against Hampton, on Sunday at the Time Warner Cable Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

George Mason beats struggling Villinova

The George Mason Patriots, who are most famous for their deep run in the 2006 tournament, rallied from a 10 point first half deficit to win against the East region's ninth seeded Villinova Wildcats 61-57. The Patriots outscored the Wildcats 32-22 in the second half after trailing 35-29 at halftime. Their comeback was led by Luke Hancock, who led the Patriots with 18 points.

Hancock hit the go-ahead three-pointer to give his team the lead with 21 seconds left. Villinova, needing a two to tie the game, had guard Corey Stokes take the potential game-tying shot. However, his shot hit the top of the backboard. George Mason forward Mike Morrison then grabbed the rebound and slammed it home, winning the game for the at-large Colonel Athletic Conference team.

The Villinova loss capped off an end of the season six game losing streak. This latest collapse was the defining moment for their season in which they were ranked as high as No. 5 in the coaches poll. George Mason will play Ohio State, who won against Texas-San Antonio 75-46, for a chance to move on to the round of sixteen on Sunday. The game will be played at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH.

Florida State holds off Texas A&M

The Southwest region's tenth seeded Florida State Seminoles relied on their defense to eek out 57-50 victory over the seventh seeded Texas A&M Aggies. Florida State, who leads the nation in opponent field goal percentage, held the Aggies to 31.4 percent shooting in the game. Both teams were in a battle throughout most of the game.

Texas A&M led 26-23 at halftime when Florida State strung together a 13-0 run to take the early second half lead. The Aggies tried to catch up with the Seminoles, trailing by as little as two with 7:10 remaining. Florida State guard Derwin Kitchen gave his team full control of the game after a three-point play with 4:48 remaining. Kitchen led the Seminoles with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Their next game is against Notre Dame, who won their second round game against Akron 69-56, on Sunday at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Update: 12:50 A.M. Eastern Time

Marquette gets past Xavier

The Marquette Golden Eagles, seeded eleventh in the East region, moved on to the third round by beating the sixth seeded Xavier Musketeers 66-55. Marquette practically held the lead the entire game thanks to poor shooting from Xavier. The closest Xavier was from the lead was midway in the first half. The Musketeers loss snaps a three year streak of them playing in the round of 16. Michigan State also had the same streak of three straight sweet sixteen appearances snapped on Thursday.

The Golden Eagles were led in scoring by guard Darius Johnson-Odom, who had 19 points in the game. Johnson-Odom shot 4-for-6 from beyond the three-point line. Guard-forward Jimmy Butler scored 15 points for Marquette while forward Jae Crowder scored 10. Andrew Taylor led the Musketeers in scoring with 16 points. Kenny Frees and Dante Jackson were also in double figures for Xavier, scoring 12 and 10 points respectively. Marquette will face the winner of the Indiana State/Syracuse game on Sunday in Cleveland.

Illinois dominates UNLV

The Illinois Fighting Illini, led by stand-out star forward Mike Davis, defeated the UNLV Runnin' Rebels 73-62. Davis led the Illini with 22 points, tying a season high set on February 1st against Penn State. Guard Demetri McCamey added 17 points and 7 assists of his own. Guard D.J. Richardson was also in double figures with 10 points.

Illinois started the game with a early 15-0 run. The Illini led by as much as 25 in the second half to the easy victory over UNLV. Heading into the tournament, Illinois had lost 10 of their last 16, bringing into question how they even got into the 68 team field. Those questions were answered on Friday with what seemed to be an easy rout. The ninth seeded Illinois play their third round game on Sunday in Tulsa versus the Southwest's number one seed Kansas Jayhawks, who defeated Boston University 72-53 earlier in the evening.

VCU upsets Georgetown

The Virginia Commonwealth Rams continued their journey in the NCAA tournament with an upset victory over the Southwest region's sixth seeded Georgetown Hoyas 74-56 in Chicago. The Rams played their way into the round of 64 on Wednesday by defeating USC in a First Four game. VCU obtained the lead midway through the first half. Georgetown, who has not won a game in a month heading into Friday's match-up, looked sluggish throughout the game.

The Rams were led in scoring by senior guard Brandon Rozzell. Rozzell scored 26 points and shot 6-10 from beyond the three-point line. Other players in double figures for the Rams include Joey Rodriguez with 17, along with Bradford Burgess and Jamie Skeen who each scored 12. The leading scorer for Georgetown was sophomore forward Hollis Thompson. Thompson had 26 points along with 7 rebounds. Next for VCU is No. 3 Purdue, who easily defeated No. 14 St. Peter's 65-43.

Washington holds off Georgia

The Pac-10 tournament champion Washington Huskies staved off a late push by the Georgia Bulldogs, winning their second round game 68-65 in Charlotte. The hotly contested game was considered by many to be one of the games to watch in the second round. Both teams did not disappoint those in attendance at the Time Warner Cable Center on Friday night.

Both teams were tied at 28-28 at halftime. Washington took early control of the second half, leading by as much as 9 leading into the final five minutes. Georgia stormed right back in the final minutes cutting the deficit down to one with 16 seconds left off a three-point field goal. After Washington missed the second free throw off a one-and-one, Georgia tried to hit a deep three to try to force overtime. The pass was tipped by Washington guard Isaiah Thomas. Georgia guard Travis Leslie picked up the ball and heaved it pass half-court. However, the shot hit the top of the backboard at the buzzer, leaving the Huskies with the win.

Thomas led the Huskies with 19 points and 7 assists. Scott Suggs had 10 points of his own for the Huskies. Georgia was led by Trey Thompkins, who led all players in scoring with 26. Thompkins also had 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Washington will face North Carolina, who walloped Long Island 102-87, on Sunday.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

NCAA Tournament Round-Up: Second Round, Day One

By Ray Bennett
Thursday March 17, 2011

The 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament got into full swing on Thursday with sixteen second round games. The early games were an indication of the unpredictability of the tournament. The early action saw nail biting close finishes, a buzzer-beater and a big upset of major conference team. Here's a quick look at the action so far.

Morehead State Upsets Louisville with Three-Pointer in Final Seconds

The Morehead State Eagles stunned the Louisville Cardinals with a last second three-pointer, winning 62-61. The Ohio Valley Conference champions, seeded thirteenth in the Southwest region, started off the game with a 10-0 run. Louisville then stormed back midway through the first half. A Morehead St. three-point field goal at the buzzer tied the game 33-33 at halftime. The back and fourth battle continued early in the second half, with the Cardinals getting the upper hand. However, the team lost leading scorer Preston Knowles with 8:51 remaining in the game after he apparently rolled his right ankle.

The loss of Knowles completely changed the course of the game near the end. Morehead St. then went on a 7-0 scoring run, leading the game 57-52 with about five minutes remaining in the game. Louisville then answered back with a 9-0 scoring run of their own, leading the game 61-57 with 1:14 left. Morehead St. needed a big rally and got that with 6'8" Senior Kenneth Fareid hitting two free throws to cut the deficit to two. Then after fouling Louisville Forward Elisha Justice, he then missed the front-end of a one-and-one. This set up the play that resulted in Morehead St. guard Delonte Harper hitting the go-ahead three-pointer with 4.2 seconds left.

After a timeout, Louisville had a chance to win. After in-bounding the ball, a Louisville player tried to shoot a potential game-winning three-point field goal. However, Fareid blocked the shot to end the game. This is the second straight year that Louisville has lost in the round of 64. The fifth seeded Cardinals were one of a record eleven teams from the Big East Conference to participate in the tournament. Morehead St. will face Richmond, who upset sixth seeded Vanderbilt 69-66, at Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado on Saturday.

Last Second tip-in lifts Butler over Old Dominion

Coming off of last year's impressive run to the national title game, Butler had to get past Colonial Conference champion Old Dominion via last second shot, winning 60-58. In a game that went back and fourth, Butler was the team that ended up moving on to the third round.

The game had 22 lead changes with no team leading by more than six. With the score 49-43 with about twelve minutes left in the game, Old Dominion strung off a 6-0 run to tie the game with 10:09 remaining. The Monarchs did not score a field goal for seven and a half minutes, until Frank Hassell, who led the team with 20 points, hit a basket that led to a 6-0 run to tie the game with 32 seconds left.

Butler guard Shawn Vanzant then drove up to the basket. However, he lost his footing and had to quickly shoot it towards the rim. Butler forwards Andrew Smith and Matt Howard were both at the basket when the shot was put up. It was Howard who tipped it in at the buzzer to win the game for the Southeast seeded number eight Bulldogs. The Bulldogs will face the Pittsburgh Panthers, who cruised to a 71-54 win over North Carolina-Ashville, on Saturday at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C.

Kentucky Survives Upset Scare from Princeton with Last Second Lay-up

The SEC tournament champion Kentucky Wildcats were on the verge of being upset by the Ivy League champion Princeton Tigers. They needed a Brandon Knight lay-up with two seconds left to get to the third round 59-57. The lay-up was the only basket of the game for Knight, who was shut-out earlier in the game due to poor shooting and being well defended by the Tigers.

The game was a back and fourth struggle for both teams. Kentucky had a four point lead with under a minute left when Princeton's Kareem Maddox hit a field goal jumper with 58 seconds left. On their next possession, Dan Mavraides, who led the Tigers with 14 points, hit a shot with about 36 seconds remaining.

This set up the Knight lay-up that powered the Wildcats to a third round match-up with West Virginia, who railed from an early deficit against Clemson to win 84-76. They will play each other at the St. Petersburgh Times Forum outside of Tampa, FL early on Saturday.

Fernandez's Last Second Jumper Leads Temple Over Penn St.

A late basket by junior forward Juan Fernandez of Argentina propelled the West region seven seeded Temple Owls past the tenth seeded Penn State Nittney Lions 66-64. Fernandez hit the shot with just 0.4 seconds left. The win also snaps an eleven game tournament losing streak for Temple head coach Fran Dunphy.

Penn St. stared off strong, leading by as much as nine midway through the first half. Temple then charged right back to take a 35-33 point lead into the half. The intensity picked up once the second half began with both teams holding the lead for about five times each. In the final minutes, Penn St. guard Talor Battle hit an NBA-type three-point field goal to tie the game with 12.2 seconds left. This set up the Fernandez basket and the Temple win. Fernandez lead Temple with 23 points. The Owls will face San Diego St., who won their second round game 68-50 against first time tournament participant Northern Colorado. Both teams will face each other on Saturday at the McKale Center on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ.

Fredette's 32 Leads BYU Over Wofford

Jimmer Fredette, the nation's leading scorer heading into this year's tournament, scored 32 points in BYU's 74-66 win over Wofford. Fredette, who also had seven assists, shot 10 for 25 from the field. The Terriers tried to rally from eight behind late in the game. However, Fredette and the Cougars were too much for Wofford.

The Cougars held the lead throughout the whole game. Wofford cut the BYU lead to eight with about seven minutes remaining. Both teams traded baskets for a while until the Terriers didn't make a shot for three and a half minutes. This resulted in Fredette and the Cougars to pull away with the win. They move on to play the Southeast region's thirteenth seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs, who upset the sixth seeded St. Johns Red Storm 86-69 Thursday night, on Saturday in Denver.

Late Michigan State Rally Not Enough; UCLA Wins Close Contest

The UCLA Bruins held off a late surge from the Michigan State Spartans for a 78-76 victory on Thursday night. UCLA led by as much as 23 midway through the second half. Michigan State then started to click after a sloppy start to cut the deficit by more than half.

Spartan guard Keith Appling hit a three with about ten seconds left to within two. After a foul and two missed free throws, Michigan State got the ball back with about three seconds left. After the ball was in-bounded, senior guard Kalin Lucas tried to heave a shot from half court. However, he was called for a travel with 0.2 seconds remaining to end a tumultuous season for the Spartans. UCLA held the lead throughout all of the game. Tyler Honeycutt and Malcolm Lee led the Bruins with 16 points each. The Southeast region's seventh seed will face second seeded Florida, who easily defeated UC Santa Barbara 79-51, on Saturday.

Kemba Walker's near Triple-Double leads UConn past Bucknell

Connecticut's Kemba Walker was two rebounds shy of a triple-double in a 81-52 blow-out win over West region fourteenth seeded Bucknell. Walker set a career high in assists with 12 while scoring 18 points in the UConn victory. Roscoe Smith and Jeremy Lamb, who scored 17 and 16 points respectively, also scored in double figures.

The Huskies held the lead on the Bisons throughout the whole game without letting up. Walker was taken out of the game with just under four minutes remaining in the game. The game was also Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun's 850th career win. The Huskies are now riding a six game winning streak that started in last week's Big East Tournament. Their next opponent is Cincinnati, who held off Missouri for a 78-63 win later on in the evening. They will play each other for a chance to play in the round of sixteen on Saturday in Washington D.C.

Wisconsin Downs Belmont

The Wisconsin Badgers easily got past the Belmont Bruins on Thursday night with a 72-58 win. Their win salvaged a bad day for the Big Ten Conference, with Penn State and Michigan State losing close games. Wisconsin moves on to face Kansas State, who beat Utah State 73-68, on Saturday in Tucson.

Both the Badgers and Bruins played each other close in the first half, with Belmont leading by as much as three with three minutes left in the first half. Wisconsin lead 34-27 at halftime. Once the second half began, the Badgers caught fire thanks to guard Jon Lauer, who scored 17 of his 22 points in the half. Wisconsin shot 12 for 22 from beyond the three point line in the game.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

68 Team Field Set For 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

By Ray Bennett
Sunday March 13, 2011

The day has finally come. Some found out who they will play in their first game. For others, they wonder why they did not get in.

The new 68 team field for the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament was set on Sunday. The field is set up in four regions. There are sixteen teams per regional section of the bracket. In three of the regional brackets, two or more teams will play for spots in the second round (formerly the first round). There are 32 automatic qualifying teams who get in by winning their conference tournament. The other 36 teams in the field are at-large bids. The winners of the regional brackets will then play in the annual Final Four, held this year at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.

The top seeded teams in this year's tournament include last year's national champion Duke, who won in the ACC tournament on Sunday against North Carolina. The Blue Devils, 30-4 overall record this season, are the number one seed in the West region. They will play their first game of the tournament against the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Hampton Pirates (24-8 overall record). The winner of that game will play the winner of the Michigan(8th seed)/Tennessee(9th seed) game in Charlotte, NC. Other games in the West region includes Mountain West Conference champion and number two seeded San Diego St facing fifteen seeded Big Sky Conference winner Northern Colorado, Big East Tournament winner Connecticut against fourteenth seeded Bucknell, Big XII power Texas versus Summit League champion Oakland, Pac-10 regular season champions Arizona playing Conference USA tournament winner Memphis, Cincinnati playing Missouri and Atlantic-10 at-large team Temple facing fellow Pennsylvania team Penn. State.

Big Ten regular season and tournament champion Ohio State (32-2 record) will be the number one overall seed in this year's tournament out of the East region. They will play their second round game close to home at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH against the winner of the Texas-San Antonio/Alabama State game. The winner of that game will face either George Mason, who is remembered for their deep run in the 2006 tournament, or struggling Villinova, who lost in the first round of the Big East Tournament. Other second round games in the East region include North Carolina (#2 seed) facing Long Island (#15 seed), Syracuse (#3) against 1979 national finalist and Missouri Valley champion Indiana State (#14), SEC Tournament winners Kentucky (#4) versus Ivy League champions Princeton (#13), West Virgina (#5) facing either Alabama-Birmingham or Clemson, A-10 at-large Xavier (#6) playing Big East at-large Marquette (#11) and Pac-10 tournament champions Washington (#7) against bubble team Georgia (#10).

Big XII tournament winner Kansas gets the top seed in the Southwest region. They open tournament play against America East team Boston University. The winner will play in the third round against either UNLV or Illinois. Second-seeded Nortre Dame will play Mid-American Conference champion Akron. Other games include third seeded Purdue facing St. Peter's, No. four Louisville versus Ohio Vally champion Morehead St., No. five Vanderbilt against A-10 tournament winner Richmond, No. five Georgetown playing First Four match-up winner USC or Virgina Commonwealth and Texas A&M going up against ACC team Florida State.

The Southeast region includes top seeded Pittsburgh, who was the regular season champion of the Big East conference. They will play either North Carolina-Ashville or Arkansas-Pine Bluff for their second round game. The winner of that game will play either Horizon League champion and last year's runner-up Butler or Colonial Athletic Conference champion Old Dominion, making their second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Other match-ups in the Southeast include No. 2 Florida playing No. 15 California-Santa Barbara, No. 3 Brigham Young, led by national player of the year candidate Jimmer Freddete, facing Wofford, No. 4 Wisconsin against Belmont, No. 5 Kansas State going up against Western Athletic Conference winners Utah State, upstart No. 6 St. John's playing West Coast Conference winner Gonzaga, and UCLA facing a Michigan State team that had a tough time trying to get into the tournament.

The Big East led all conferences with a record eleven teams in this year's tournament. The Big Ten had the second most with seven teams. Among all of the 36 at-large bids, only seven of them came from the non-power conferences, down from eight last year.

Bubble teams that missed getting into the tournament include Big XII team Colorado, who beat three tournament teams (Texas and Missouri once and Kansas State three times), the ACC's Virginia Tech, who won against Duke two weeks ago, and West Coast Conference runner-up St. Mary's of California. Many consider the placement of UAB and VCU as huge suprises, along with Georgia.

The tournament begins with the newly implemented First Four March 15th and 16th in Dayton, OH, followed by the second and third round games March 17-20. Regional Semi-Final and Final games will be held the week after the second and third rounds in Anaheim, CA (West), New Orleans, LA (Southeast), San Antonio, TX (Southwest) and Newark, NJ (East) on March 24-27. The regional champions then face each other in the Final Four in Houston on April 2nd with the winners of the national Semi-Finals facing each other in the national championship game April 4th.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Spartans Hold Off Hawkeyes In First Round Of Big Ten Tourney 66-61

By Ray Bennett
Thursday March 10, 2011

With their 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances streak in doubt, Michigan State needed to battle back from a seven point deficit to stay on the bubble.

The Spartans defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 66-61 in a first round game in the Big Ten Conference Tournament. This year's tournament is held at the Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The win comes at a very desperate time for Michigan State as early season losses in non-conference games and key losses, including a February 2 loss at Iowa, in the Big Ten may become the deciding factor on whether or not they make it to their fourteenth straight NCAA Tournament.

Michigan State started the game on a 7-2 run in the first two minutes. They capitalized off of Iowa's early foul troubles from forward Melsahn Basabe, who only played three-and-a-half minutes after getting two fouls in the first half, and guard Zach McCabe. The key player in the first half for Michigan State was junior forward Draymond Green, who scored 10 of the Spartans first 23 points. Iowa kept the game close in the first half by tying the game at different points of the first half. However, the Hawkeyes could not take the lead once they evened up the score, including two missed free throws by senior forward Jarryd Cole. Michigan State led the game at halftime 33-31, with Green scoring 15 points.

Once the second half began, Iowa got a spark from two of their key players. Freshman guard-forward Roy Devyn Marble gave Iowa their first lead of the game in the first two minutes of the half with a three point field goal. Then junior guard Bryce Cartwright got hot hitting a few key shots. Cartwright's hot streak, and five Michigan State turnovers on five straight possessions, brought Iowa to a lead 54-47 halfway through the second. However, Michigan State answered back with an 8-0 run, lead by guards Kalin Lucas and freshman Keith Appling. Appling hit a lay-up with 8:20 remaining to make the score 55-54. Michigan State had a 62-58 lead, until Iowa's McCabe hit a three with 1:33 left, cutting the deficit to one point. The Hawkeyes had a big possession in the final minute; however, they missed three shots and fouled Spartans senior guard Durrell Summers, who hit both free throws with 14.5 seconds left. Iowa then failed to hit a three point shot on their next possession. After fouling Summers again, he then hit both free throws to sew up the Michigan State win.

Draymond Green led the Spartans with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Lucas and Appling were also in double figures in scoring, with 11 and 10 points respectively. Cartwright led the Hawkeyes with 14 points. Junior guard Matt Gatens was also in double figures with 13 points. The Spartans led in field goal percentage shooting 41% to the Hawkeyes 34%.

The win for the seventh seeded Spartans sets up a quarterfinal game against number two seeded Purdue on Friday night at 7 P.M. Eastern Time. The Boilermakers swept both games in the season series and are looking for their third consecutive win against the Spartans. Iowa's season comes to an end after the loss. The tenth seeded Hawkeyes went 11-19 in the regular season, with a 4-14 Big Ten record. One of their four wins in the Big Ten was against Purdue, defeating them in Iowa 67-65 March 5. The Big Ten Tournament runs through Sunday with the title game at 3:30 Eastern Daylight Time.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

First Three Teams Punch Tickets to 2011 Men's Basketball Tournament

By Ray Bennett
Sunday March 6, 2011

On Saturday, while some of the top ranked teams in the nation played their final regular season games, three teams were busy trying to win their way into the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

Those three teams, North Carolina (Ashville), Belmont and Morehead State, won their conference tournaments on Saturday to clinch automatic bids to the NCAA's now 68 team Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. Unlike their major collegian athletic conference counterparts (the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big XII, SEC, Pac 10), these three teams had to win their respective conference tournaments (the Big South, Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley Conferences). In the tournament, their are 32 automatic bids for conference championships, 31 of those 32 coming from teams winning their conference tournaments. The Ivy League is the only Division I conference that does not have a conference tournament, instead they send the winner of their regular season champion. The other 36 teams get at-large bids, mostly from the major conferences. The three winners from Saturday will have to wait until March 13 to find out who they will play either in the new four team opening round The First Four or in the second round (formerly the first round).

The UNC Ashville Bulldogs became the first team to punch their ticket to the big dance by defeating the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 60-47 in the final in The Big South Conference tournament. This is the Bulldog's (19-13 overall, 11-7 conference record) first conference tournament championship and their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2003. The game was played at Kimble Arena on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC. The Chanticleers won the regular season championship and was the top seed in the Big South tournament. Conference rules designate the regular season conference champion to hold the Semi-finals and Final game at their home-court. The #3 seeded Bulldogs lead through most of the game and did not surrender the lead in the second half. Coastal Carolina will most likely play in the National Invitation Tournament for their post-season play.

The Belmont Bruins coasted to a 87-46 victory over the North Florida Ospreys to represent the Atlantic Sun Conference in the big tournament. The game took place at the University Center on the campus of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. This conference title marks the private Nashville, Tennessee university's fourth appearance in the NCAA tournament in the last six years. The Bruins were the top seed in the conference tournament, going 19-1 in regular season conference play with an overall record 30-4. The team gained national notoriety in the 2008 NCAA tournament as the #15 seed by almost pulling off an upset victory over national power Duke. They lost the first round game 71-70.

The Morehead State Eagles defeated the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 80-73 in the finals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The contest was held at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville. Morehead State, located in Morehead, Kentucky, was the #2 seed in the tournament after finishing conference regular season play with a 13-5 record (22-9 overall). The Eagles will go to the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in school history, second time in the last three years. Tennessee Tech, who finished and seeded fourth in the conference tournament (12-6 OVC record), got into the finals by defeating regular season champion and top-seeded Murray State (14-4 OVC record) in the Semi-Finals. Morehead State has lost in the first round in all of their NCAA tournament appearances.

The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament begins on March 14 and 15 with the newly implemented First Four in Dayton, Ohio. This year's field of teams has expanded from 65 to 68, along with a brand new television contract with both CBS and Turner Sports. The First Four games will air on Tru TV (formerly Court TV as of 2009). The second and third round games will air simultaneously on CBS, TBS, TNT and Tru TV with games starting 30 minutes apart of each other March 17-20. The regional Semi-Finals and Finals will take place the next week March 24-27. The Final Four will take place at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas with the National Semi-Finals on April 2 and the National Championship game on April 4.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Opinion: How To Solve The Core Issues In NFL Labor Negotiations

By Ray Bennett
Thursday March 3, 2011

Time is running out. Once the deadline passes, the future of the National Football League will seem as cloudy as it has ever been in over twenty years. The NFL's current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league owners and the NFL Players Association was set to expire at 11:59 P.M. ET this evening. However, both sides agreed to extend the deadline for another day, although the time for when it is supposed to expire will stay the same.

This whole labor situation began a few years ago when league owners decided to back out of CBA that was signed back in 2006. This marked the lack of salary cap in the league last season. This new bargaining session is headed by two executives who are new to the whole process. Both NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith heed the responsibility of bringing satisfaction to their respective sides.

When the bargaining began before the start of last season, things were already heated. Accusations of the owners stockpiling money from television revenue deals, owners not caring for the well being of players and accusations of the players seeming that they want too much dominated those talks. Both sides even had to bring in a federal mediator to help work out some issues. After ten days of negotiating, including a ruling about said TV revenue accusations that went the players way, both sides appear to still be far apart of the four main issues that have come front and center of the discussions.

The four main issues are finding out how to spilt the league's $9 Billion annual revenue, implementing a rookie wage scale, whether or not to expand the regular season from sixteen to eighteen games and to possibly increase retirement benefits for former players. It is clear that both sides want what they think is best for those issues. The owners want more money, no rookie salary cap, more games and less benefits. The Player's Union wants a 50-50 split of revenue, the rookie salary cap, the same sixteen game schedule and more benefits. It's easy to say that both sides are not riding on the same wavelenght. Even though it sounds easy to fix these problems, it is actually harder than it looks. A players union that has over 1600 plus members greatly outnumbers a team of owners and league executives. Looking at how far apart both sides are to solving these problems and if I were involved in these talks, here's how I would solve the problems raised by the four core issues.

Concerning how to spilt league's $9 billion revenue is one of the hardest of the issues the both sides want to figure out. The owners want to keep the majority of the revenue by a margin of sixty to forty percent. The Player's union wants their cut of the revenues by half for both sides. From an independent viewpoint, let's take this in consideration: If the player's want a 50-50 cut of the revenue while a majority of the league's players make millions of dollars, would it make sense to take in more money from the league while NFL fans have to pay more for tickets? The only way to account for a 50-50 spilt on the owner's side is for teams to raise the leagues already high ticket prices. The reasonable solution would be for 55-45 revenue spilt in favor of the owners. This helps the owners not only pay players a respectable amount of money but it also helps with operating costs and prevents a huge spike in league ticket prices. This also leaves both sides with a respectable spilt in additional money.

A rookie wage scale is greatly needed in today's NFL. With all the guaranteed money that owners hand out to unproven players, there is a reason why the player's association wants this implemented. With rookies, you really don't know what outcome a first-round draft pick will have three-four years down the road. If the first overall pick of the year's draft makes more money than the league's star player, than there is a need for something like this. Look at the NBA and their rookie salary cap. It works perfectly by showing the owners and fans which draft picks should make the most money by the time a player needs to negotiate a new deal. A suggested wage scale for first, second and third year players should be around $800,000-$900,000 per year, depending on the lenght of the contract. This also gives veteran players a case for why they should be paid more than players that are given huge contracts, even though they might not play a down in their first season.

With the suggested expansion of the regular season schedule from sixteen to eighteen games, there are both pros and cons to the issue. The positive out of expanding the regular season by two games is strictly more revenue for the owners and the league as a whole. It will, without a doubt, expand the league's bottom-line. However, with the increased risk of player injuries, this seems like a recipe for disaster. Last season, almost twenty percent of the league's 1600 plus players were placed on season ending injured reserve. And with the rise of cases of players with head injuries, an increase in games can also cut short careers by two or three seasons. The best solution to this stalemate would be to not expand the regular season by two games. The league should instead expand the number of playoff teams from six to eight. The suggested playoff system would have the division-winning teams in both conferences have a bye week while the bottom four seeds play in the wild card round. This takes a little bit of the grueling toll of the long schedule off of the players.

The situation with retirement benefits can be summed up by looking at how the players react physically and emotionally after they leave the game they love. It is no secret that health-care benefits are a main issue that  the player's association has stressed since it's formation back in the 1950's. With the increased cases of depression and prescription drug abuse, the league may be more reluctant to provide more benefits to past and current NFL players. However, the league and the players association must provide clear guidelines in how these players would receive benefits. If former players show that they are in serious physical and mental distress, then the league should provide the benefits needed to treat their ailments. There should be no excuse by the league to why they can't provide a little bit more to retired players.

Though these are only suggestions to the four main problems to the bargaining process, the league and the player's association should remember that a work stoppage would not be appropriate at a time when fans can't even afford to buy tickets to games. It would also not make sense to have a lockout after the most watched and most profitable season in league history. As long as both sides can agree to keep the labor discussions going,  they cannot forget the people that provide the support of the league and the players alike.