My Thoughts of the Week

Butler and the A-10

A while back I received a question about Butler (Ben H.). Are they legit? What has led to their success? That kind of a thing. I was in the middle of a three parter on the state of the BYU basketball team, an article I now regret due to their recent woes and probable NIT destination, so I decided to finish that before I did another mailbag. Then I decided that Butler deserved it's own post, but since knocking off top ranked Indiana they had kind of slipped into irrelevancy, not because of poor play, but because they had been playing a weaker schedule. When Butler beat Gonzaga at the buzzer last weekend, without their leading scorer and best player, Rotnei Clarke, I decided this week would be a great time to return to the Butler Bulldogs and give them a full post of their own, but then Wednesday they lost to La Salle. La Salle! Seriously. Consequently, I feel now is not the time to talk about Butler's dominance. I mean, La Salle, guys. They beat top-10 Gonzaga without Clarke, but lost to La Salle? Stunner. So for the time being I'll direct your attention to Mark Titus' Top 12 NCAA Power Rankings: How Butler turns it's irritating style of play into wins over top opponents like Indiana and Gonzaga. I highly recommend the entire article, and in fact you should check out more of his stuff because Titus is hilarious, but if all you care about is the Butler info, scroll down to their section. They come in at number 7 in his power rankings. This is, of course, prior to the La Salle game. I still can't believe it. La Salle?

Rotnei Clarke and Butler are probably still the best team,
but the A-10 is deep and the race to the top is wide open.

While we're on the subject, how about the Atlantic 10 conference this year? Joe Lunardi currently has them slated as a three bid league, with two more teams just barely on the wrong side of the bubble. I could conceivably see four bids coming out of this league, and that's incredible. Charlotte sits atop the conference, with VCU, Xavier, and Butler also all having just one conference loss. La Salle has two losses, just beat Butler and has VCU up next. The Butler win could give La Salle all the confidence they need to take down two ranked teams in the same week. Richmond also has two losses, but just took down VCU in overtime which could propel them going forward as well. Temple and Saint Louis have two conference losses and big wins out of conference and could conceivably make a run the remainder of the season. Last but not least, UMass also has just two conference losses, but lack a marquee win just yet, though they have games against Butler and VCU remaining. Any one of those nine teams could find themselves dancing in March. At most, the A-10 will be a four bid league, but when have we ever talked about nine teams in the A-10 having a shot at the tourney?

Duke and the Hurricanes

Unbelievable. I just can't believe it. Shane Larkin, son of Barry Larkin, who was taught to hit by his father, Tony Perez, and Pete Rose, was actually told by his Little League coach that whoever taught him to hit a baseball taught him wrong? Are you kidding me? He was taught to play ball by three two Hall of Famers and Pete Rose (don't get me started). If Pete Rose, the all time hits leader, teaches a kid to hit a baseball, I'm sure he did just fine.

But thanks to that stupid coach, we saw Miami upset number one Duke in blowout fashion, and it was a fun game to watch. The Hurricanes jumped on Duke from the beginning. Duke played miserably in the first half, and Miami played better that I would have ever predicted. After taking a 42-19 lead into the locker room at halftime, Miami never relented. The second half was filled with deep threes and exciting alley-oops. Duke played better offensively, but their defense never materialized. I'm not necessarily a Duke hater, but that game sure was fun to watch.

Kenny Kadji and Shane Larkin led Miami to a demolition of
Duke and the programs first win over a top ranked team.

The consequences for both teams are interesting. Duke has to learn to play without Ryan Kelly, and this was obviously not a good start. It could be a tipping point for the Blue Devils, and we may watch their season spiral out of control, or this may be a wake up call. They have a tough schedule the remainder of the way, including an opportunity for vengeance against Miami at Cameron Indoor on March 2. If they can learn quickly how to play without Kelly, they should still be a national title contender. If not, and if they suffer some losses down the stretch of conference play, we could see another early exit in the NCAA tourney.

Miami, however, may have just alerted the nation that they could be a serious threat in March. Despite two inexplicable losses against Florida Gulf Coast and Indiana State, they are an incredible team and seemed to hit their stride just as conference play come. If they can continue their run in the ACC, they could be primed to do some serious postseason damage.

BYU and the NIT

Jack Carlino, little brother of point guard Matt Carlino, asked Joe Lunardi this week on Twitter what BYU needed to do to make it to the NCAA tournament. His response? "Stop losing to every tourney-level team they play." Yep, that about sums it up. If they don't steal a good win soon, BYU will be NIT bound.

Yep. That about sums it up.

In the biggest game of the year against a top-10 team on the road, BYU played the worst half of basketball imaginable. Wait, sorry, I just remembered Duke. The second worst half of basketball imaginable. That hole proved to be way too much, but if there's a silver lining to all this it's that BYU actually outplayed the Zags for much of the second half, and that was without any semblance of a contribution from the 7th leading scorer in the country, Tyler Haws. In fact, every Cougar struggled mightily in this game apart from Josh Sharp and Nate Austin who shot a combined 9-11 from the floor with 23 combined points. The rest of the Cougars? 12-48 for 40 points. Absolutely abysmal. For stretches, Carlino looked like he may come alive, and Brandon Davies played a significantly better second half than he did first half, but none of it was nearly enough to dethrone a Gonzaga team that looks destined for run late into March. 

I said just prior to conference play that BYU was going to need to go 2-2 in the four games against Saint Mary's and Gonzaga. Having started that quest 0-2, the Cougars are going to need to steal a game on SMC's home floor, and hold court against Gonzaga, both of which are remarkably daunting tasks. BYU will also likely need to avoid any further slip-ups against the rest of the West Coast Conference. 

Murray and the Djoker

Andy Murray is seeking his second Grand Slam title Sunday

What a wonder winning Gold did for Andy Murray! He followed that up by winning the US Open, his first Grand Slam title. And now he's made a run in the Australian Open, taking down Roger Federer in five sets. After beating Fed in the Olympics, Murray has been a different man. He was formerly fueled by determination, and with the help of his coach, Ivan Lendl, Murray rode that determination to victories, and now to confidence. Rather than getting shaken and rattled by his opponents if the going gets tough, he thrives on it. He embraces it. And he will now get another shot at Novak Djokovic in an Aussie Open final. He lost to the Djoker in Melbourne two years ago, but took him down in last year's US Open. 

Murray has been playing the best tennis of his career since last summer, but Djokovic has been the most dangerous player on tour in the last two years. Djokovic cruised through these championships, including a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 straight set demolition of David Ferrer in the semifinals. It almost certainly won't be that easy for him against Murray, but with that kind of dominance, you have to wonder if Murray stands much of a chance right now. I suppose we'll find out Sunday.

Manti and the Hoax

The more and more we find out, the more and more I become convinced of Te'o's innocence. I'm still not 100 percent sold, but I still believe him. That being said, I'm becoming more and more annoyed and bored with the story. I've basically lost interest and no longer care who was behind it or who did what. I mean, I'll still follow the story and wait for the whole truth to surface, but in the mean time, I'm just going to focus on sports and pay little attention to conspiracies.

Mailbag: A Whole Lot of Lies

That's right, Lance. Seven Tour titles. All lies.

I feel cheated. Lance Armstrong had to work hard to gain my respect. Seriously, he had to work really hard. When everyone else was jumping on the Lance Armstrong bandwagon, I still wasn't sure. I never knew why, but I just couldn't bring myself to like him. Perhaps it was because I was young. Maybe I didn't like yellow as a kid and didn't realize that yellow was a symbol of his dominance in cycling, but I just couldn't bring myself to appreciate him. But slowly, over a long period of time, my mindset began to change. Perhaps it was when my aunt got cancer. As she battled through that exhausting trial, maybe that's when things began to change for me. One way or another he had gained my respect as an athlete who had achieved a great miracle to become the most dominant man in the history of cycling. I genuinely believed him.

But now I'm just a chump like everyone else. Maybe it wasn't the color yellow that caused my displeasure. Maybe it was a feeling inside me. Maybe my instincts were telling me from the beginning, "Don't trust that man. As tempting as it is, don't trust him." I got suckered into a great story line, which seems to be happening a lot lately. It's heartbreaking that millions and millions of people stood behind yet another athlete using PEDs.

Is the main difference between Lance Armstrong and Barry Bonds just that Lance was more of a jerk? -Mike G.

Please understand, my following answer is in no way implying that Barry Bonds wasn't a jerk. I have heard and read far too many accounts to believe he was, by any stretch of the imagination, a nice guy. Ex-wives, ex-teammates, ex-employees of ball clubs have been told numerous stories that he was a jerk. Chalk a lot of it up to roid rage, but from what I understand, Barry Bonds was quite a scumbag.

However, I am inclined to answer this question with a yes. I believe that the main difference between Lance Armstrong and Barry bonds is that Lance has been more of a jerk. He has sued countless numbers of people and ruined their lives. Why? All because they were telling the truth about his use of performance enhancing drugs. All because they were ahead of the curve, condemning him of something that he has now received a lifetime ban from the United States Anti-Doping Agency for. He claimed slander, he claimed libel, and he went after people with a vengeance and destroyed their lives if he could. Only now we find out that those lives were destroyed because of a "ruthless desire to win." Ruthless is right.

Lance's interview with Oprah has been more
manipulative than apologetic so far.

And why is he admitting to it all now? He told Oprah he doesn't have a good answer to that question, that it's too late. He's right, it is too late. He should have done it before he destroyed people lives. Before he sued and harassed them for attempting to keep integrity in cycling. So why now? Because once again he is trying to manipulate life in his favor. He is trying to reduce his ban to eight years. USADA said this interview with Oprah isn't enough. They have said he needs to say it, under oath, directly to them.

His interview seemed to be another attempt to get America to love him. He took personal accountability, but mostly did so as he attempted to distance himself from it by pointing and saying "I see who I was, and he was arrogant." No, Lance, he is arrogant. You are arrogant. He apologized, but without seeming apologetic. He didn't apologize to anybody in particular, he simply apologized for his mistake. All the lives he ruined, the people he accused of slander and then slandered himself, did not receive an apology.

So yes, given the choice between the two, Lance was more of a jerk. And unless in part two with Oprah tonight he changes my mind, that's how I'm always going to view him.

**********

There's not a question about this situation that I don't have, but:

a) Did Manti Te'o fake having a girlfriend, or did he have a girlfriend he never met?

b) Which of the two is weirder?

P.S. If it's a hoax, I'm supposed to believe a Heisman candidate had a girlfriend that he never met in real life? I'm not even that pathetic. -Mike G.

First of all, Mike, I happen to know you're not that pathetic as you recently got married. Although, I've suspiciously never met her. Have you been catfished? I'm kidding, of course. I've seen pictures of the two of you, and you look great together. Congratulations.

But back to Te'o. I couldn't have said it any better. My mind has gone through a whirlwind of questions these past few days since the news broke. If you haven't read the Deadspin article, go read it now so you're up to speed.

At this point, I am still inclined to believe Te'o was duped and had no part to play in this. That being said, there are still far too many inconsistencies and unanswered questions for me to give him my full support just yet. And it just keeps getting weirder.

Did he meet Lennay Kekua after a game at Stanford? Did he meet her online? If he is the victim here, why has he left us under the impression that they met up in Hawai'i? Who was he talking to on the phone? Why didn't they Skype like every other long distance couple in the world? The list of questions could continue forever. My big question is this: if he really was in on the hoax from the beginning, what would his motive have been? When he started telling everyone he had a girlfriend, he wasn't on any Heisman radar, so he wasn't trying to add a story line to his senior season to get sympathy votes for a Heisman campaign. And then when his grandmother passed away, did he just think to himself "Oh, perfect timing, I'll kill off Lennay now." I just can't see that happening quite that way.

A lot of new information has come out after the initial Deadspin article surfaced. An article on SI.com with a transcript of an interview with Manti ten days after Kekua supposedly died. Interviews with people claiming to know the man behind the hoax, and that Te'o knew nothing and truly was the victim. Information showing that Te'o kept the story going even after he learned of its falsehood on December 6.  What on earth is going on?

At this point, I'm still with Te'o. After reading the SI.com transcript (very much worth the read) it seems to me that he sounded sincere. He was fuzzy on the details of how they met, but as the article states, if he met the girl online, you can understand why he would want to keep that information private. He also never once explicitly states in that interview that he had met up with Kekua in person. You would think that if this was a fictional tale he created that he would include that to make it sound more realistic. I believe he was genuinely fooled into believing he had fallen in love with a young woman named Lennay Kekua.

Here is where Te'o went wrong, however. After discovering the truth of it all on December 6, he should have gone straight to school administrators and gotten ahead of this thing and issued a statement and apology of his own. I'm sure he felt he was in too deep, and the times he spoke about his girlfriend publicly after December 6 were probably a result of him feeling cornered, trapped by this lie and not understanding a way out. He probably believed he could ride out the wave and it would all be fine. Clearly, however, that hasn't happened. And so he perpetuated the lie and is guilty of at least that.

Back to the original question, with everyone in America digging for the truth on this one, it's only a matter of time before we know the truth. Did he fake having a girlfriend, or did he have a girlfriend he never met? I think he had a girlfriend he never met. Or at least he thought he did. Which one is weirder? Now that's a good question, but in today's world of online dating (weird) I'm going to have to say that having a fake girlfriend is weirder.