BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — Usually, when someone tells you change is good you can automatically assume that it’s good for them…for you, not so much. The NCAA has enacted a couple of alterations to the HS and college hoop landscape that I think we can all agree are beneficial to all concerned. College coaches are now allowed more evaluation time of HS recruits during the summer, place unlimited phone calls and texts to prospects (where are you now, Kelvin Sampson?) and most importantly, college coaches are allowed to work out their own players on a limited basis during the summer.
Here are three different angles on these changes:
NBC Sports:
ESPN:
And locally, Doug Harris at The DDN with the UD and WSU spin:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/basketball-teams-eager-for-summer-practice–1391963.html
It’s amazing to me that, for once, it appears that the NCAA actually thought about the players for a change!
— In keeping with a long-standing “From the Swamp” tradition, here are some suggested nicknames for the newest Flyers:
Dyshawn “Lucky” Pierre
“Khash and” Khari Price
Jalen “Swiss Family” Robinson
Devon “With an O” Scott
“The” Jordan “Rules” Sibert
— The Atlantic 10 didn’t cut its newest member, the Butler Bulldogs, any slack when it came to scheduling:
http://rushthecourt.net/2012/06/06/atlantic-10s-new-schedule-shows-no-love-for-newcomer-butler/
— Big news out of Cincinnapolisville! The “Crosstown Shootout” has been moved to a neutral site at US Bank Arena and rechristened the “Crosstown Classic.”
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120614/SPT0101/120614024
Other names under consideration were:
“The I-75 Lover’s Quarrel”
“The Over the Rhine District Bad Boy Pillow Fight”
“Mick and Mack Attack”
— RushtheCourt.com believes these moves just serve to further water-down the intensity of the Queen City rivalry, like that’s a bad thing:
http://rushthecourt.net/2012/06/15/crosstown-shootout-rivalry-slowly-gets-more-watered-down/
— Every off-season, several basketball websites go into hibernation. Among those currently taking a long summer siesta are:
The Mid-Majority: http://tmm9.midmajority.com/
College Chalk Talk: http://collegechalktalk.com/landing/index
College Chalk Talk’s Secondary Break: http://secondarybreak.wordpress.com/
Michigan Preps: http://michiganpreps.rivals.com/default.asp?type=3
— Columbus native and current U of M star Trey Burke is the poster-boy for why we can’t put any stock in a HS player’s recruiting rankings:
— Luke Winn at SI.com goes all stat-head on us with his analysis of the offensive balance of past NCAA hoops title winners:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/luke_winn/06/07/balance.study/index.html
— Here’s a question nobody asked but The Chronicle of Higher Education is going to answer it for us anyway: Does switching conferences lead to academic gains?
http://chronicle.com/blogs/players/does-switching-athletics-conferences-lead-to-academic-gains/30227
— I love how all of the truck rental companies automatically charge you for a three day rental for a simple move from Detroit to Chicago. You don’t have a choice. It’s less than a five hour drive from here and could theoretically be done in one day and very easily accomplished in two, but they don’t give you those options. The thing that insults what little intelligence I possess is that they claim it’s so the renter can have a “relaxed move.” Relaxed move, my aching backside!
— Don’t know about where you live, but in Motown a lot of the radio station traffic reporters use fake, double-entendre names. My local favorites are Lane Closure and Barry Cade.
— If one of the Swampettes was thinking of starting her own website, looks like it’s too late, as the domain name has been taken by some female Gator fan:
— Finally, a really useful purpose for a dead cat:
That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: [email protected]
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