Jack’s Blog

In the past if anyone had ever said the Los Angeles Clippers were the second best team in the NBA, most people would have felt it was because all the others were tied for first.  However, at the moment this blog is being posted, the Clips have won 10 games in a row and have the second best record (tied with the Knicks, behind OKC).  When was the last time that happened?  Forget San Diego; you’d have to go back to Buffalo to find similar success.  To put it in perspective, as families go, that was a couple generations ago!

What in the name of Jack Ramsey is going on out there?  The Hall-of-Fame coach led the Braves (their mascot prior to the Clippers) during their “glory” years (in the mid-70s).  While coaching certainly cannot be overrated, by far the best leader a team can have is one (or more) who actually plays.  And of those, the best kind are point guards.  They have the ball most of the time or are guarding the ball (at the beginning of each possession).  They set the tone - at both ends.  Experts will argue as to who the best point guard in the league is.  As far as the Clippers are concerned, it’s an open and shut case.  C. P. 3.

In basketball defense is important but offense is mandatory.  Except for when a team is pitted against one of the bottom dozen (or so) clubs, in order to win, you know you’re going to have to ring up a minimum of 80-90 points to achieve victory.  That’s a lot of time putting the ball through the hoop.  With as much travel as is involved in an NBA season, players’ legs go - and with them, jump shots.  Therefore, a team relying on Js for their primary points might find themselves struggling to score.

Lob City was created as an advertising gimmick.  But what is it really?  It’s a method of getting the highest percentage shots possible.  The Clips get more throw downs than anybody.  Why is it that travel affects legs and causes jump shots to go awry but it doesn’t take its toll on dunks?  One reason is because dunks make SportsCenter.  A bigger reason is the guys the Clippers have who do the dunking.

Will the Staple Center’s “other” tenant pass by its more famous one at playoff time?  As another famous skipper, Casey Stengel once said:

“Never make predictions, especially about the future.”

Alex Rodriguez was almost set up to fail from the beginning.  If he wasn’t born with amazing skills, he developed them shortly thereafter and took to showing off his sensational ability while still in his teens playing for the Seattle Mariners.  Then he became a free agent and Scott Boras made him rich - and screwed him up - with plenty of help from A-Rod himself.  As the story goes, A-Rod wanted to play for his childhood favorite team, the New York Mets.  Instead his agent, none other than barracuda Boras talked him into what agents do best - taking the most money, as in 10 years, $252 million with  the Texas Rangers - the biggest deal in sports history (by $63 mil).

He got traded in 2004 to the New York Yankees where he flourished.  And it wasn’t just baseball in which he excelled.  There were beautiful women on his arm (arms?) seemingly everywhere he went.  All were famous superstars in their own right.  He was the absolute toast of the town.  Yet his teammate, Derek Jeter was always a bit more popular.  It was Jeter who was Mr. Yankee.

2007 was the end of that mega contract.  Naturally, he was going to sign another (since he had just completed an MVP season).  Rodriguez wanted to remain a Yankee for the rest of his playing days, yet Boras, accused of some people (all of them?) of being a media hound made the announcement A-Rod would opt out of the contract.  And Boras let the world know of the decision during the eighth inning of Game Four of the World Series.  Supposedly, A-Rod negotiated the new one without Boras’ assistance.  This time he had to settle for 10 years and $275 mil.

Yet, after additional success on the field, he became the latest in a series of baseball’s best to admit steroid use (including others who have fought and lost in the court of public opinion).  Rodriguez said he used during his Texas years.  Now, he’s really struggling.  He’s not had a good year, followed by a worse post-season, going so far as being benched.

During the latest game, after failing to reach base his first three at-bats, he was pinch hit for.  Allegedly, he had a ball boy toss a baseball to a couple of women inscribed with a message asking them for their numbers.  What happens next is anybody’s guess.

As has been said on television - and is one of my sons’ favorite lines:

“Unlike my hair, the plot thickens.”

In Thursday’s sports section there was a brief story about two programs with great football tradition.  Boise State and BYU signed an agreement to play each other for 12 consecutive years, starting last night.  For the better part of my 30 years in the collegiate game I was in the business of scheduling, my area being basketball.  Obviously, there are major differences between the two sports.  However, since they are, more or less, the only two revenue producers, there are quite a few similarities.

The best deal in the scheduling of games, as in any other business transaction, is a win-win.  This set up seems to be much more advantageous to the Cougars who have decided, due to their personal television deal, to make a go of it as an independent.  First of all, there are only a handful of independent institutions, most of them waiting for an invitation to join a conference.  BYU just left a conference.  To my knowledge, there is only one independent that is both happy and successful in its one-team league: Notre Dame.  The Fighting Irish also have their own TV deal, as do the Cougars.  Notre Dame currently receives $15 million from NBC.  I’m not privy to the BYU numbers but suffice to say, it’s considerably less than ND’s.

So why would Boise State, who, by virtue of their invitation to join the Big East (finally ensuring it a legit chance at the mega money TV and the BCS have been enjoying), enter into a 12-year deal with a non-BCS member?  Are the remaining Big East teams so bad the Broncos need to get a power non-conference game on their schedule?  And does BYU qualify?  Chris Petersen, Boise’s brilliant head man, doesn’t think so.  Make no mistake about it, brilliant describes his football knowledge and his scheduling acumen.

This deal had to be a power play by upper administration.  BYU wins the “why?” in nearly every category.  Being an independent, they have to schedule every game, every year.  Boise State has most of its schedule mandated by the conference.  Unless more than six of the games are to be played at Boise - or unless fewer than six are to be held in Provo, e.g. neutral site games like Denver, the home-and-home financial deals will be a wash.  “You give us (a lot of) money when we visit your place; we return it when you come here.”

Sure, the Big East could lose its BCS status.  Regarding that idea - don’t ever bet against the good ol’ boy network.  Plus, if the Big East ever did dissolve, having BYU on the schedule isn’t that soothing a thought for BSU.  Possibly BYU will be a bigger draw than some other university, but if Boise is having one of its typical years - except, now, a national championship is a real possibilty - the Idaho School of Art & Dance would fill the joint.  And if they’re not in the hunt, I’m not sure Boise-ans will show up in droves for the Cougars any more than they would for anybody else.

Maybe the powers-that-be were trying to hook up two high-octane schools for a dozen years, each of whom have been known to absolutely light up the scoreboard.  Well, how did Year One turn out?  Boise won without scoring an offensive touchdown.  Even though one offensive possession would have needed only a one-yard drive!  Shortly after the Broncos only score, a 36-yard pick-6 by nose tackle Mike Atkinson - yeah, nose tackle - Boise State downed a punt on the BYU one yard line.  At home, leading 7-0, the Broncs needed ONE STINKIN’ YARD to ice the game (BYU’s offense was nothing if not philanthropic with five turnovers).  In four tries the ball remained stuck one the one.  Why no field goal attempt - which also would have iced it - after three non-scoring plays?  Don’t ask the opposing staff who eschewed place kickers all night - including after the Cougs’ lone score with 3:37 to go to tie the fray.  Coaches know their personnel better than anyone, so on that count, give these guys a pass.  Petersen has earned the respect and how can you not love a guy named Bronco?  A guy’s gotta have some large stones to walk into a powerhouse and have the other team’s mascot for his name.

After watching this 7-6 yawner (if football was going to be the evening’s entertainment, the choices were a local high school game, a NY Giants blowout over Carolina and this epic), the fans could have adopted the chant from political conventions:

“Eleven more years, . . . “

The Baylor-UConn game was close for a while.  A while longer than most people thought it might have been.  And it could have been a great deal more interesting had Baylor made some make-able shots after they cut the Lady Huskies lead to three.

What I noticed was what seems to happen to all (incredibly) dominant teams.  When the game is closer than expected, especially in the second half, the outside jump shots that easily find the bottom of the net when the lead is 20+, tend to come up a tad short.  Then, the rim not only doesn’t have the manhole cover off of it any longer, but it looks a lot smaller.  Adding to that psychological factor is the real live one, i.e. that everyone in the arena wants to see the little guy (even if their center is 6′8″ - or 6′4″ as in their next opponent) upset the unbeatable team.

Baylor had its chances.  It’s hard to criticize a team for not shooting 90%.  How can anyone expect a performance like that?  Hint: Ask the 1985 Villanova Wildcats who not only did it, but had they not, they would have gone down in history as the team that gave a monumental effort against a team no one could have beaten anyway.

Enter the Stanford Cardinal.  While UConn has won a zillion games in a row (actually 77), the Lady Cardinal (can a color have a gender?) have only one blemish on their record - and it happens to be the closest game the Lady Huskies have had to date.  If the women’s game will ever draw a major market share of a television audience, the intrigue of this scenario is as much as anyone could have scripted.

First, it will be televised on Tuesday - the night after the final men’s game is broadcast, meaning there is no competition from the “other” side, yet still at a time fans are craving for college hoops.  The giants are coached by a (and don’t think this isn’t a major divisive factor in the women’s game) man (ugh!) - and not just any man, but one who has done everything in his power to create controversy and intentionally label himself as public enemy number one (and don’t think he doesn’t love all that comes with that).  Title IX didn’t cure all the ills. 

While Baylor looked a little rattled (how can anyone blame them - on such a large stage), it would surprise many close to the sport if Stanford didn’t fare better.  Pressure to their players is taking their third final of the day - in Organic Chemistry.  Basketball is something they actually like.  After all, that’s the reason they chose Stanford in the first place.  Don’t believe anything else you might hear.  The scholarship they accepted is for basketball, and why they chose The Farm might be for Tara, or Stanford’s tradition, but, believe me, the decision was made for the moment they’re about to experience Tuesday night.  To quote one of the greatest competitors, male or female, who ever had to deal in similar situations, Billie Jean King:

“No matter how tough, no matter what kind of outside pressure, no matter how many bad breaks along the way, I must keep my sights on the final goal, to win, win, win - and with more love and passion than the world has ever witnessed in any performance.” Â

This year, there are 34 bowl games for 120 Division I FBS teams, meaning a team can be in the bottom half of the nation’s football teams and still get an invite to a bowl.  Football coaches are quoted as saying that a bowl invitation is a reward for a good season.

Since I live in Fresno, this blog will be devoted to the nation’s first bowl game of the season, the New Mexico Bowl on December 19 - featuring the Fresno State Bulldogs and the University of Wyoming Cowboys.  To begin, I admit I am biased in this case because I used to work at Fresno State and my wife, Jane, and I consider Pat Hill, and his wife, Cathy, friends.  Our older son, Andy, has been very close with their youngest son, Zak, since the Hills moved here when Zak was in second grade and the two boys were in the same class.  They remained classmates until each graduated Clovis West HS in 2007.  Andy is quite friendly with all three of the Hill boys and, in fact, has vacationed with them on numerous occasions.

So much for full disclosure.  Now, let’s discuss this fiasco of a bowl game.  Fresno State, year in and year out, plays the toughest non-conference schedule (for a non-BCS team) of any school in the country.  This year, the non-conference schedule was UC-Davis (what they needed to do to get a home game) and road contests with Wisconsin, Cincinnati and Illinois.  They easily disposed of UC-D and their BCS matchups were losses to the Badgers in double OT, 28-20 at Cincy and the game that accounted for two of the top three SportsCenter Top 10 plays-of-the-day from Saturday’s sports scene, a thrilling 53-52 never-to-be-forgotten games vs. the Illini.  That contest was the Bulldogs’ seventh win in their past eight games, leaving them with an 8-4 mark for the season.

The Cowboys, on the other hand, are 6-6, splitting their four non-conference matchups with Weber State, Texas, Colorado and Florida Atlantic.  I’ll leave it to the reader to figure out which of those two teams they beat (29-22 and 30-28) and which they were defeated by (41-10 and 24-0).  In these economic times, is this game really necessary?

The positives for the game are: 1) Pat Hill is one coach who maintains a bowl game is a reward.  Kids get a free road trip and some sweet swag.  Why not take that money the bowl people are spending and let the players, coaches and their families (who have spent a good deal of time away from each other) enjoy a week in Albuquerque.  Of course, the administrators and their spouses need to freeload too, so factor them into the trip as well - for a job well done.  One catch.  They have to tell us exactly what job they did so well they deserve a reward.

2) Coaches I’ve talked to over the years say, unashamedly, that the real bonus in going to a bowl game is all the extra practice time a bowl affords them.  Forget the game and allow the Bulldogs another week of practice after returning from beautiful downtown Albuquerque. 

3) The money the school gets never covers the cost of the (overbloated) travel party and all the travel, food & lodging costs.  Don’t think the cheerleaders, band & mascot don’t plan on being invited.  Cut out the administrators who think they’re vital to the trip because they have doctorates - or junior college degrees - and it might make sense.  Oh yeah, don’t forget to factor in bonuses for the coaches.  As far as I know, the administration doesn’t get a bonus for the football team going to a bowl game, but I’m not privy to that information so maybe I’m mistaken.  Meanwhile, the real workers - the business office people, the secretaries, the custodians - the ones who actually do the work during the season, never to get to go.

4) From a money-saving and health factor, cancel the game!  This way, no one would get hurt - which is nearly a guarantee in one of these games.  Why a guarantee?  When was the last football game in which someone didn’t get hurt?  Another money-saving tip, don’t invite Wyoming!

In their six wins (the minimum a team needs to be eligible for a bowl game), they beat their opponents by less than a touchdown.  In their six defeats, they lost by an average of nearly four touchdowns.

In these bowl events, after the partying, press conferences, dinners with the teams fraternizing, the game is often anti-climatic.  Who makes money anyway?  The merchants of Albuquerque?  Certainly not the New Mexico Bowl people.  Neither of the universities.  I was privy to that information.  Many will say the television exposure will help the Bulldogs.  If that’s really the case, pay for an hour infomercial and save the country having to listen to back up to back up announcers and color commentators try to make a meaningless game sound interesting.

Simple common sense would dictate not to have this game, but as Voltaire said:

“Common sense is not so common.”Â

One of the biggest debates going on right now is “Which team should be ranked higher, Oregon or Boise State?”  There are strong points to be made for either side.

Boise’s case, as well as their fans and all the people out there who root for the Davids, is they beat - soundly - the Ducks in the season opener on the Blue Smurf turf.  When someone claims to a Broncos’ fan (their mascot is the Broncos, not the Davids) that they have an unfair advantage wearing blue uniforms on the blue turf, they reply, “What about the teams that wear green on green turf - like, uh, say, Oregon?”  Besides, their advocates continue, “beat“ is only half of the term that describes the opening contest, with “down” finishing off the verb.  The only weak link Boise State had that night was their D-lineman’s glass chin - and the Ducks didn’t take advantage of that until after the game had already been decided.

However, counter the Oregon faithful (as well as those who just wish David would go back and play with kids his own size), that was a long time ago and Oregon is a much different - and better - team now.  I heard one of the nicely coiffed ESPN guys (I believe it was former SMU running back Craig James, who being a former “pony” you’d think he’d be on the aquine’s side of the argument) go so far as to say, “If the Ducks and Broncos were to play today, Oregon would beat Boise State handily.”  Then again, we won’t know that - unless they meet in the Humanitarian Bowl at season’s end - a game that would be tremendously disappointing for both schools - and probably the entire country (with the exception of the schools that leapfrogged in the standings because of each squad’s collapse - and maybe, the director’s of the most popular bowl played in Idaho).

If they do get to play again, Chip Kelly might have second thoughts about reinstating LeGarrett Blount.

It may come down to what the polls (voters) say as to which team is ranked higher (assuming they each win out).

And people actually wonder why the BCS schools don’t want to play non-BCS schools - especially in the little’s guy’s arena?

Several of the major, MAJOR  schools are talking - mostly behind closed doors, so some of my (not so reliable) sources tell me - about waging a war (in which money will be the most deadly weapon).  If that’s true, look for Jean-Paul Sartre’s statement to come to fruition:

“When the rich wage war, it’s the poor who die.”  Â

First of all, I need to apologize to anyone who went to this site on Saturday & Sunday (yesterday) because I don’t blog when I go out of town.  However, on the post prior to my leaving, I try to make sure I let readers know that there will be nothing new here until I get back - so you don’t have waste time checking in and finding it out for yourself, which is an excuse - and, if you’ve read other blogs I’ve written, excuses aren’t allowed.  The main reason for my forgetfullness was that I wasn’t as organized as I should have been.

Sometimes, though, being organized doesn’t guarantee successful outcomes.  This past weekend will serve as exhibit number one.  Our older son, Andy, is a sophomore at UC-Irvine.  When he was in high school, seemingly every one of his buddies wanted to drive trucks.  Not 18-wheelers, the kind people drive to grind out a living, but pick ups, be they two-seaters, club cabs, extended cabs - almost anything with a bed for storage.

How the times change!  None, except for Andy-Boy, have those “fad” items now and he, too, is ready for a change.  The deal my wife and I gave him is you can get whatever you want - as long as it doesn’t exceed what you get for the ‘03 black, single cab Chevy Silverado - a mere 55K on the odometer (with all the “fixin’s” - wheels, rims, bedliner and other things with names I don’t know but that nevertheless make it noisier and sleeker-looking than someone else’s ‘03 black, single cab Chevy Silverado).

Since our younger son, Alex, was playing in a basketball tournament in Long Beach, Andy was going to come up in his truck and have one of his SAE frat bro’s follow him so he’d have a ride back to UC-I.  Actually, several of the brothers wanted to come up because they’ve been hearing of Alex’s exploits on the hardwood (a 6′2″ freshman, he started on the Buchanan HS varsity and averaged nearly 14 ppg).  What compounded the problem was that my wife, Jane, as much as she wanted to see Alex play (but even more so, wanting to be with her number one son who we don’t get to see that often due to his being four hours away - and with SoCal traffic, the four hours is only a beginning estimate), had so much to do at home, she decided to stay in Fresno. 

This meant Alex and I needed a one-way ride with somebody.  To the rescue, as they always are, came the Johnsons, Denise and CJ, parents of team member, Denzel, and also, of two older sons, each of whom Andy played with at Clovis West HS.  Denise and CJ are as fine a set of parents - or simply people (genuine would be the best descriptive word for them), anyone will ever find.  They’ll take care of their boys, but other folks’ children as well.  Their generosity knows no limits, even though they are struggling through the same tough times each of the rest of us are.  An example: when I went to give CJ gas money, he refused it.  I’d hear nothing of that, since he bailed us out and had to force it on him.  On Sunday morning, knowing Alex was hurting and I was still without a means of transportation, he knocked on our door and showed up with breakfast for both of us.  Everyone should be so blessed as to know people like Denise and CJ.   

Well, the first game was scheduled for 9:00 am on Saturday morning (a time no college freshman is interested in on the weekend).  And, since it was a tournament format (as opposed to pool play), when the team played next depended on how they did in their previous game.  When our team, Organized Chaos, won easily in their first game, a check of the brackets showed their next game wasn’t until 4:00 pm.  This caused a dilemma because Andy’s part-time job at Gina’s Pizza had him working at 5:00 that night.  Since it was a 30-40 minute drive from Irvine, the 4:00 game became an impossibility.  No problem.  He’d planned on coming to Sunday’s contests anyway so he wasn’t going to give up his truck until then.

The 4:00 game was against Team Ariza, basically, the players from Westchester (L.A.) HS, sponsored by one of their very own who made good - real good - in his post-scholastic line of work, the NBA.  Yup, the team was sponsored (outfitted, entry fees paid for, as well as whatever else the total price tag was for an AAU team) by the Lakers’ Trevor Ariza.  Two other NBA players (that I know of, there may be hundreds) who do the same are Lamar Odom and Rafer Alston.  An aside: Rafer is someone I’m partial to since he was at Fresno State when I was there and he’s a great example of a young man who grew up and learned how to be responsible - occasionally, by not being responsible.  He might not be a finished project even yet (how many of us are) but, for all those who are critical of Rafer, please keep in mind that he has positively influenced more young kids that all his critics combined because, not only does he pay the entire freight, he coaches them too!  I’ve seen him in action and he’s into every move - encouraging, and when necessary, getting onto the players who make the inexcusable, e.g. lack of hustle, plays.

Back to the game, one which would prove to begin as one of the most promising, then turn into the shortest of Alex’s brief career to date.  He opened the game by nailing a three-pointer from the corner to put OC up, 3-0.  Team Ariza came down, and although my memory’s hazy, I believe Alex got a steal.  The guys from Central Cali then missed a short jumper, which Alex rebounded and passed to his friend and teammate, Denzel, who got fouled taking it strong to the basket.  On the next trip, a shot went up and Alex came down on the side of his ankle (he can’t remember if he landed on someone else’s foot or just the floor), but he heard something pop.

He hobbled off the floor, headed to the tournament trainer (a young lady, certified athletic trainer who was terrific) to find out what someone in the know regarding athletic injuries had to say.  She did a thorough examination, and after poking and prodding, came up with the diagnosis - a severe high ankle sprain.  I spent thirty years in intercollegiate athletics, including taking a Care & Prevention of Athletic Injuries course in graduate school.  I knew Mr. Alex’s playing days were going to be put on hold for at least 4-6 weeks. 

Now, I had to call Andy & tell him not to have a caravan come up from Irvine because Alex was out of action.  If he could get one of his SAE’ers to follow, the four of us would go to lunch, then he & his other frat rat would head south and his (blood) brother and I would make the four-hour trek home.

Our search for a nice place to have lunch took us to an inviting looking joint called the Gaffney Street Diner in San Pedro.  We passed the place, turned right at the corner and pulled into a fenced in parking lot.  The lot was directly behind a building housing two businesses, although one was shut down, a “FOR RENT” sign in the window.  The business next to it was a bait and tackle shop.  Next to that was our eatery.  As soon as I walked in, I asked a lady - who looked like, if she wasn’t in charge, she was a veteran of the Gaffney, and could answer my question.  “Are we allowed to park in the lot behind the bait store?”

“Oh, certainly, we allow their customers in our lot and they allow ours to park in theirs.”  Good enough.  “So, what, on the menu, looks good today?”

We ate, chatted it up - about everything - academics (and how much harder college was than high school), Alex’s basketball (he’s been invited to the NIKE Jamboree in St. Louis in June for the top 100 freshman and sophomores) and their intramurals (softball’s in now; this, after winning for the first time ever, in the history of SAE, the basketball championship), to living arrangements for next year and, somehow, even girls made their way into the conversation.  By now, it was nearly 3:30 and time to leave (Andy had to go to work at 5:00 again and we were facing a four (minimum) drive back - in a truck with no backseat - and Alex supposed to having his foot elevated.

I paid the check, even gave a brochure and business card for C.U.T.E.* Baby Gifts since one of the waitresses mentioned one of her colleagues was pregnant.  It looked like things might be looking up when Andy, ahead of us because of how slowly Alex was forced to hobble, came back and said, “You’re not going to believe this, but we’re locked in the parking lot!” 

Apparently, the bait & tacle shop owner left (the sign said they closed at 3:00 on Sundays) and when he did, he just locked the gate with a padlock when he left.  Not good.  I told them to stay and I went back to the diner, where I explained the situation.  The owner of the diner was beside herself.  “We have a reciprocal agreement.  The very least the owner next door could have done was walk into the diner and asked if anyone in there had vehicles parked there because he was leaving and locking up.”

Her idea was to cut the lock.  Since my idea was to get home, I had no problem with anything that would get us out of that parking lot.  I looked and there was no phone number listed on the bait store, only their hours.  The only number was for their security company to the store, so I called that, but on Sunday no one answered and there was no voice mail message.  Andy’s friend, Stratton, said he thought he might have some cutters in his car, so he went down to the end where it was an easy hop over the fence, but he didn’t have them.  While the diner people (who genuinely shared in our struggle) went to get their lock cutter, I called 911.

A few rings before I heard something I’d never heard before, “You’ve reached the emergency 911 line.  All of our operators are busy right now, so please stay on the line and your call will be answered by the next available operator.”

Are you freakin’ kiddin’ me?  Hold for the next operator - on a 911 call?!!?!!?  I held, and every so often, I’d get the same pre-recorded message.  After a while, I hung up and tried again.  Same result.  Meanwhile, the lock cutters the diner had were only garden trimmers - the kind you’d use for nothing much stronger than a thin branch.

Back to square one.  I tried 911 for a third time.  Evidently, when you call 911, your number pops up on a screen.  So, when my cell phone number popped up for the third time, I finally got someone to answer.  I explained this wasn’t the typical 911 call and proceeded to tell about our mishap.  There was noise as the guys who was sweeping the floor at the diner came out with a pair of pliers, as Stratton noticed we could remove the bolts on the door, roll it back, get through and “re-lock” the door.  Due to the noise, I thought the operator I was speaking with said, “This is a national 911, let me put you through to a local 911.”  I mentioned I had tried that, to no avail.  She simply said, “Someone will answer this time.”  I guess it’s good to know people in high places.

After explaining once again all that had transpired, she said to me, “It sounds like a good story, but I don’t have the power to do what you need, let me put you in touch with the San Pedro police.  Wonderful!  Finally, we’re getting somewhere.  She explains the story to the officer (some type of protocol), then turns it over to me.

I’m a strong proponent of law enforcement.  Without it, even with the mistakes they occasionally make (once again, don’t we all), it would be a rather barbaric society without them.  The oficer says to me: “What can you add to this story?”

First I tell him that after we parked, I asked the people at the diner if it would be OK to park there.  The officer broke in, “Was that posted by the parking lot?”  I told him it would be foolish to have it posted; it was just an agreement between two establishments, trying to help one another out - and, I mentioned, the people at the diner told me of their reciprocal agreement with their neighbor - to the point that the diner owner advised me to cut the lock off.  I said if we did anything like that. I’d leave a note, there was a slot in the bait shop for mail, explaining what had been done and I wanted to let them know it wasn’t an act of vandalism, . . . “Yes, it would certainly be vandalism.  The people at the diner have no legal right to tell you to cut off the lock to someone else’s property!”

I simply said to the officer, somewhat facetiously, “We’re stuck here.  Do you expect me to get a room at a hotel and wait until tomorrow morning when the guy opens up?  I don’t even know if there is a hotel here.”

Incredibly enough, he replied, “There’s a hotel one block from you.  Just walk to the end of the street and you’ll see a Holiday Inn.”  Now, I faced a crossroads.  25 years ago, I probably would have made a wise crack and ended up making the situation worse.  But - and maybe it’s because I am constantly telling the kids in my math classes, that what math is really good for, use logical thinking.  “Math is problems; life is problems,” is one of my favorite lines.

So, I tried a different tactic.  “Officer, I wasn’t serious when I said that about waiting 17 hours and spending the night at an HI, when I’m a teacher in Fresno and have to get there tonight so I can be in school on time tomorrow morning.  The two guys are UC-I students and they have class.  In addition, my older son has to be at work in about an hour and my younger son is a high school student who has to attend school tomorrow.  You seem to be intent on showing me how much power you wield over me and that you’re just interested in winning the argument.  All I want to do is to see what’s the most reasonable thing we can do so that we can resolve this problem and no one is out money or embarrassed in any way.  You are the law.  I have no problem with that and, as a mater of fact, I admire what you do.  You have the ultimate power over me.  This is also an issue I have no debate with.

“While we’ve been talking, these guys have used the pliers to remove the bolts, slid the door open and are about to drive the vehicles out.  After they do, they will put the bolts back together.  Therefore, as it turned out, had I not called you, no one would have been the wiser, but I want to set an example for my sons that when you do something like this, take responsibility (as I’d hope the bait shop would do, by saying it would have been a thoughtful gesture to walk into the diner and ask anyone if their cars were parked in that back lot), and report it, admit it, leave a note with all the contact information on it.

Whne he heard everything was as it had been, he said, “I have no problem with what you did.  Make sure you contact him tomorrow.”

Things don’t have to be as hard as many of us make them.  It’s not always necessary to win the argument, as it is to get along and look out for each other - within the law.  Teddy Roosevelt hit it on the head:

“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is  knowing how  to get along with people.”

Often when someone is in the midst of an experience, what happens takes on greater significance than it would have had the person waited a year or so before passing judgment. 

My close friend, Dave Severns, currently the assistant coach for player development with the Chicago Bulls (see 11/4/08 blog for some outstanding and inspirational information on “Sev”) and I agree on most issues, even if one of us is more passionate about an activity than the other.  Each of us can see the importance and relevance of the other’s enjoyment in pursuing whichever area of interest it happens to be, even though the other chooses not to be as active.

One point of contention we’ve discussed over the years is which is more exciting and fun to watch: college basketball or the NBA.  Since I worked on nine Division I basketball staffs over a 30-year period (1972-2002), 16 of those seasons culminating in postseason (NCAA or NIT) play, I’m obviously partial to the college game.  In addition, I saw - up close - some pretty intense rivalries.  I’m not only referring to Tennessee-Kentucky and USC-UCLA, but to Western Carolina-Appalachian State (the top of the mountain, ASU, vs. the bottom of the valley, WCU) and Toledo (city life) vs. Bowling Green (country living) - and only 30 minutes apart.  These people take everything seriously when it comes to competing against the other.

I do enjoy the NBA, but like most people, not until the playoffs get started.  The difference to me is the loyalty of the fan bases of the teams comprising the college game against the fan base of an NBA team.  What’s of vital importance in the college game is the school, i.e. it’s there, no threat of ever moving to another city.  How many of the fans of the Seattle Sonics do you think are staunch Oklahoma City Thunder supporters?  For that matter, do you really believe there are old timers living in Minneapolis living and dying with the Lakers (their former home, albeit quite some time ago)?  You really didn’t think a team from LA would select the nickname “Lakers,” did you?  Isn’t it MInnesota’s license plate read, Land of 10,000 Lakes?  Think it was a coincidence.  Come to think of it, there’s a heck of a lot more jazz in New Orleans than Utah.  Do you think . . . ?

In college, it’s the fight song, knowing the hometowns of the squad members as well as the likes and dislikes of the 12th man (because he’s in your English Lit class).  Fans feel a true bond with their team.  They’re eventually going to have the same degree as these megastars (well, around 55% of them, anyway, according to the recent studies I’ve seen).

Dave’s counter is professional basketball is a sport featuring the greatest athletes in the world.  A point of clarification: the winner of the Olympic decathalon has generally ben  recognized as “the world’s greatest athlete” and neither Dave nor I are about to dispute that.  What he’s referring to is that NBA players have the greatest athletic ability, e.g. running, jumping, throwing, quickness, shooting, etc. of any other team sport -anywhere.  I’m not sure there’s much of a debate on that point, but, in this day and age, people will debate, even sue if there’s a quick buck to be made, on anything.

His main point is that, watching any given game, you might, in all likelihood, see something you’ve never witnessed before.  He has a point.  Many, many years ago, the statistics regarding basketball players were: 720,000 high school players; 18,000 college players and, now, 450 NBA players (30 teams times 12 active and 3 non-active players on each club).  Those stats have drastically changed, with influx of foreign players who never went to college in the States.  No question NBA guys are the cream of the basketball crop.  Case in point: last night’s game between Chicago and Boston.  Ray Allen and Ben Gordon put on a pressure, clutch shooting clinic.  Sure, so did Steph Curry last year, but imagine a game where there was a Steph on each team.

Now, Sev has a new point in this argument.  The first two playoff games in Boston, between the Celtics and his new employer, have been down to the wire thrillers, the Bulls taking the first in OT and the Celts evening the series on a Ray Allen jumper with two seconds left.  The report I got from my man, Sev, after the first playoff game he actually saw live, was that it was the most intense game he’d ever been to.  This from a guy who’s spent a great many hours at basketball games.

“It wasn’t just the intensity of the teams, it was the intensity of the focus of the players”  (and coaches - he regards head coach Vinny Del Negro as a great guy, brilliant mind, quick wit and competitive, but he said even ‘V’ was more “lasered” than usual), the intensity of the crowd, the intensity of the refs!  Every possession was like it was the last one of the game!  Everything mattered.”  The excitement in his voice was like the kind your kid had after his first trip to DisneyLand (or his first haunted house, for those of you who were friends of Bernie Madoff). 

I saw last night’s game and, even as a TV viewer, I could actually feel all that come right through the broadcast - all the way down to Kevin Garnett (in street clothes and allegedly out for the entire playoffs), dropping “F” bombs in the direction of the visitor’s bench after Allen’s three to win it.  It was incredible to watch - I can only imagine what it was like to have a vested interest in who wins (the guys you work - and sweat - with on a daily basis), against the defending World Champs, and watching it one row behind where these gladiators sit - when they’re not in battle.

And to think, it’s only the first round!  He might be winning me over, so I have to control myself and reserve judgment until next fall when I can be of a more sound mind (I’ve pretty much given up on the body half of that equation).  But when I finally decide on college vs. pro, I have to keep in mind that line (which has been so overused, it’s been made into a poster):

“Your mind is like a parachute.  It works better when it’s open.”

It used to be called “the luck of the Irish.”  They even have a little smug looking character with clovers all over his vest, bow tie and derby representing the franchise as its logo.  While his smoke of choice is a pipe,  Red (no last name needed) always had his ample supply of cigars - and kept them on the bench!  Ah, the good old days, when you (fans and coaches) could smoke during the game, eventually causing a cloud cover, hovering just above the playing surface. 

Back then, not only was smoking not outlawed in public buildings, it was, more or less, encouraged!  Uh oh, here comes another story from my book, Life’s A Joke.  Since I was one of the biggest Dodger fans in history (when I was a pre-teen and the Bums were still playing in Brooklyn), I’d listen to the games on radio religiously.  What I write in the book, is how I distinctly remember: following a Dodger home run, or if they turned a double play in the field, the announcer would say, “There’s another 20,000 Luckies”  (yeah, the little unfiltered ones - which gained the nickname, “cancer sticks” as the research intensified), to the Veterans Hospital.”  Huh, and our guys thought the enemy was the Germans!  Today, the only place a fan can go to see a cloud cover like that is Los Angeles - and the haze isn’t above the playing area, but over the entire building - and widening as I type and you read!

All those championships and all those great players - Russ, Couz, the Jones’ Boys, Hondo, Satch, Lusky, Nellie, “Please don’t squeeze the Sharman” (that’s it, all that kind of nonsense will be, in the future, left to Chris Berman).  Then, Red outfoxed them all again, plucking a Bird and waiting a year for him.  Can you imagine waiting for someone in this day and age - especially for a guy who’s supposed to be a savior?

Well, it was light up another one!  Or more than one - if the number stood for championships.  Red did it again - this time from the front office.  And not only Bird, but adding the Chief and McHale too, to form, arguably, the best frontline of all time.  Certainly one of the most cohesive. 

1978-79, the last Bird-less for the Celts, the team went 29-53.  Add Bird and the following season the team’s record became 61-21, a pretty good ROI for waiting that extra year.  Oh yeah, the Celts were back!  Red was about to pull off another coup, drafting “the new and improved version” of Larry Bird - Len Bias - with the second pick of the 1986 NBA draft.

Bias was ahead of his time, doing things at his size, we had only seen a handful of other players do - a perfect tonic for an aging, and often injured (with bad back problems) Larry Legend.  But, less than 48 hours after he was selected in the draft, the great Len Bias was gone.  It seems as though he was also ahead of many of the rest of the NBA players, as he was about to enter the league having done blow, and on more than one occasion.  “It’s the cruelest thing I’ve ever heard,” lamented Bird.

Did the Celtics ever recover?  Hope sprung eternal from local-boy-made-good, when Northeastern’s Reggie Lewis started to emerge from being a good player (who averaged over 17 for his career), to a more reliable one who had just put two back-to-back seasons of 20+ points/game.  During an off-season practice, Lewis collapsed - and, due to a strucural heart defect, never was to be seen again - not in Celtic green, not ever.

The franchise remained high in popularity, but as their success on the court dwindled, so did their number of intense fans.  A once proud franchise needed a shot in the arm - or a kick in the butt.  Since most of the things Red did (that worked), were unconventional, they tried to work the same magic and hired a flamboyant and great basketball man, Rick Pitino.

Personality issues and the bad bounce of a single ping pong ball destined to the Celts to the third pick in the NBA draft and even more mediocrity, and occasionally less than mediocre, until a former Celt, a fiery guard during the Bird era became the man with the complete control.  Danny Ainge worked his friends as well as those he didn’t know particularly well for a trade that would bring much needed help for superstar Paul Pierce.  Pierce, who could have opted out, stayed the course and, somehow (call it Auerbach’s aura), Ainge pulled off deals for Kevin Garnett, possibly the best overall player, inch for inch, in the league - when all the factors of being a great one: O, D, special situations and leadership - especially through hard work - are considered, and Ray Allen, maybe the best shooter ever, but definitely the one with the prettiest shot, in the NBA to Beantown.  Result: return of the Larry O’Brien Trophy to the team whose address is near the banks of the River Charles.

Lo and behold, snakebite returns - not as badly as before, thank the Lord - but with the overall #2 best record in the Eastern Conference (the Cleveland Cavs were #1), bad enough to seriously derail their chances of getting out of the East, much less repeating as NBA Champs.  KG, their best player, shut down defender, most inspirational leader and hardest worker got hurt and missed all or most of the final 20-25 games, obviously, as much as a precautionary move as anything else.

Now it’s come out that this megastar, who got his first championship last year and was preparing for another this season looks like he’ll miss - possibly all - of the playoffs this year.  Just to keep the casuality going, GM Danny Ainge, in a display of complete loyaly, went down with a heart attack yesterday - at the age of 50!  His short, and long term prognosis is better than that of his employer because they have several players who are getting closer to Father Time than to the stork.      

Peter Drucker knew what he was talking about when he said (even though the management can’t be blamed one iota for these mishaps):

“A crisis must never be experienced a second time.”

When it’s comes down to filling out brackets, it’s been said that it doesn’t matter whom you ask - winning the office pool is basically a matter of luck anyway.  There’s much to be said for that kind of logic - to a point.  And that point is, the farther the tournament moves along, the more experience and knowledge of the college game become a factor.

When 32 pairs of games are in the original mix, especially when every year, at least one #12 seed beats a #5, as well as all the other “upsets from out of nowhere” happen, flipping a coin is probably as good - in the first round.  As the tournament progresses, I can see someone with knowledge of only mascots or team colors, who had picked Siena, a #9, over Ohio State a #8, using the same logic, but really fighting the odds, by picking Siena over #1 Louisville.  They might look like a genius in the first round and a fool in the second.  Same with #11 Dayton over #6 West Virginia (a team that, pardon the “impossible” term, overachieved all season, under the guidance of unrelenting taskmaster, but fabulous coach, Bob Huggins) - looking like a wizard, as opposed to picking the Flyers in the next round vs. #3 Kansas, a team with another great coach, Bill Self, but a team with better players.

When this year’s tournament got to the Sweet Sixteen, the “chalk” was on the money in 14 out of the 16 games.  Those people who had picked #3 Syracuse over #2 Oklahoma and/or #12 Arizona over #1 Louisville probably got burned by other upsets they predicted (a strategy that might have worked in tournaments past, but not this year). 

You get the idea.  So, … when it gets down to UConn (Tark had Memphis in the bracket he filled out prior to the tourney) vs. Michigan State (a team he did have) and Villanova (he picked either Duke or Pitt, I can’t recall) vs. North Carolina (a team he, as pretty much everyone else also had), it was time to put him on the spot (during his radio show) and ask him which way he was going - and why.

His pick in the first game was Michigan State, and not because of the site (Detroit - although he didn’t discount that, by any means), but because he felt that when the Spartans had the ball, Tom Izzo liked to run a play every time down the floor (unless they were breaking).  Even though this brand of coaching flew in the face of the Tarkanian style, Jerry said he felt MSU executed (how many coaches use that word?) their man-to-man offense better than anyone in the country and he thought, although UConn played solid, half court man-to-man defense, that Michigan State ran their offense better than UConn defended.  Naturally, being so close to Detroit would energize Izzo’s guys, especially at the defensive end. 

Tark is also a great admirer of Hasheem Thabeet, but felt whether UConn played man or zone, that Goran Suton could face up from 15′ and beyond and cause Jim Calhoun’s guys problems.  This is what I’m referring to when I talk about hoops savvy.  Guys who’ve coached, especially those who’ve been there, i.e. the Final Four, have experienced something the rest of us haven’t.  And when you take into account the guys who have been there multiple times, e.g. not only Tark, but Bob Knight, you can’t tell me that the familiarity doesn’t give them an advantage in understanding the feelings players and coaches have.  Doesn’t common sense tell us that the next time Jay Wright leads a team to the Final Four (and, rest assured, that will happen), he will have a whole different perspective on how to prepare and what it’s generally all about?

Tark was one of those who annointed UNC as number one right from the start of the season and, if not the first, was among the first to claim they’d go undefeated.  He’d say, over and over, “How can a team that won 36 games last year and got to the Final Four, have everybody back, and have the number one recruiting class in the nation, not be picked to win it all?  Plus Roy Williams is a great, great coach.  They shouldn’t lose!”  

I’d keep reminding him how difficult it was to go undefeated.  His 1991 team was coming off the National Championship and went undefeated, reaching the Final Four, only to be beaten by Duke (79-77), a team they had destroyed by thirty in the Championship Game the year before.  He said he understood, but just had never seen a team with such a collection of talent, coached by a Hall-of-Famer, play as well as they had played (into December).

When I asked him to pick a winner between Michigan State and Carolina, he thought for a while, but said he couldn’t see how the Spartans could overcome that much talent.  He really wanted to go with his heart (he’s very close to both coaches - in fact, we had all of the Final Four coaches on the show this past year, and MSU winning it would have been such a great story), but in the end, he picked the Heels.  Why?  It really didn’t matter, there was nothing riding on his pick, the show was on a radio station in Fresno - it wasn’t like a national audience was going to think Tark missed it.  It’s just that, coaches are so competitive, they want to win - even if it means nothing.

For the record (and mainly because I thought UConn might win), I asked him, “What if UConn beats Michigan State, who wins it all then?”  His answer was, “North Carolina.”  I didn’t think there needed to be much discussion about that selection, but then I asked, just to cover all bases, what if Villanova upsets UNC, who wins ‘Nova or UConn - and I think he said Villanova.  The reason my recollection is hazy is because he stunned me on the next, and last, combination.

How about a Michigan State-Villanova final?  Who do you have?  He closed his eyes tightly and shook his head.  I could almost see him thinking of his four trips to the Final Four and how he could feel his stomach churning and the gears grinding, before he looked up and said, “Villanova.” 

Never did I expect that answer!  As much as he had hoped for a storybook ending, he gave what his experiences had told him.  Call me a sap (I’ve been called much worse), but I really believe that had any of those combinations happened, Tark would have nailed each of them.

Why do I believe this?  My late friend and mentor, John Savage, used to say that some people were a mile wide and an inch deep and that others were an inch wide and a mile deep - and he had never met Jerry Tarkanian - the poster boy for the “inch wide, mile deep” club.  He knows basketball - everything about it, and not too much about anything else.  Nor does he want to.  But there’s an old Yiddish saying that also describes people - and in this case, it’s the reason I think so much of Jerry’s insight into basketball:

“All of us are crazy good in one way or another.” 

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