The Puck has been dropped...

...Michigan v. Air Force start the full slate of games for the first round of the NCAA men's division 1 hockey playoffs. This year, all the games will be on either ESPN2 or ESPNU. Happy day!

Home Cooking

Let me start by saying that I am not a fan of Duke. Not in any sport (although sometimes you can't help but root for the little engine that could which is the Duke football program). So you should not infer by anything that I am about to write that I feel sorry for Duke.

Last night Michigan State beat Duke in the women's basketball tournament. Duke was the number one seed in the region and Michigan State was the number nine. This is not uncommon (not as common as in the men's tourney but it happens). What makes this victory noteworthy was that Michigan State won this game on their home floor. Not at some neutral site that happened to be close to their school (like Villanova playing in Philadelphia in the men's tourney or UNH playing in Manchester for the hockey tourney). It was their actual home floor on their actual campus. Something is very wrong here.

A few years ago, the women's tournament switched from having the top four seeds in each region getting home court and hosting the games at their school to locations being picked out before the tournament started and the teams getting to play in those locations. I have no problem with the rationale here. You just can't then allow the team who's court you are using to be placed in that region. I know that the women's game needs a little help in the attendance department and certainly attendance was high at the MSU/Duke game last night as men's coach Tom Izzo and members of his team were even at the game but there needs to be a balance here. There have been times when a seed as low as 12 is getting home court advantage in the national tournament.

Granted, in a lot of cases, the home court makes no difference. Anyone playing UConn women are probably doomed for failure this year now matter where they play - Storrs, Hartford, Seattle, an outdoor court in Boise - it won't make a difference. But in a game like last night, there was a definite difference. If the home team can keep it close the crowd can play a factor in the second half. That East Lansing crowd was loud and involved in that game. You can't say that it didn't give the Michigan State players a little boost and didn't rattle the Duke players down the stretch. Duke was clearly rattled. They played hard all year in a tough league and earned a number one seed and its just too bad to have to play a "true" road game in the national tournament. I don't have the answer on how to make the change but clearly one needs to be made here.

Gone in 44 Seconds

And just like that it's over.  With 9:59 left in regulation BU posts 3 goals in 44 seconds and ends BC's season 3-2.  Though they have won two national championships  since 1998 this is only the second time since then that there season has ended so early.  Today is a sad day for me and one I dread each hockey season.  To Brock Bradford, Benn Ferriero, and the other seniors I say that you will be missed.  But all is not lost.  With Steve Whitney and Kenny Ryan coming in next year and Chris Kreider the year after, there is much to look forward to.  This season will be remembered for the games that got away and the potential unfulfilled.  Here's hoping I don't see BU in Washington in three weeks.

As always, looking forward to next year Eagles!

Weekend thoughts

As a nice follow up to my last post about March Madness, it is now in full swing. It was an exciting weekend of action and these are just a few things that come to mind.

- Owning up to the fact that you mismanaged the game does not take away the poor taste in my mouth from that mismanagement, Coach Skinner. With 17 seconds to play, BC trailed by one point to Duke. They had fouled Jon Scheyer (one of the best free throw shooters in the country) and were given a gift with he missed the front end of the one and one. Instead of an immediate time out with the rebound they try to bring the ball up and when it looks like they have a lane to at least get it over half court, time out is inexplicably called before crossing half court. Now with 10 seconds left they have to get it in and struggle over half court and call another time out. Now with only 5 seconds left (wasting the precious 12 before), Duke smartly denies Tyrese Rice any chance of getting the ball and Sanders is forced to heave a prayer (though he did have a chance to dish to the red-hot Biko Paris) and they lose by one. It was a terrible display of clock management worthy of the Andy Reid/Donovan McNabb Hall of Fame. They have to get their act together if they are going to beat USC on Friday as the Trojans are coming off an incredible run through the Pac-10 tournament.

- Let's roll right into the NCAA tournament. As usual there are complaints all around and it will be endlessly dissected and probed until Thursday when job productivity takes a dive country wide as the tournament gets under way in earnest (The Rant will be watching what he can though the big NY boss will be in town that day). I only have a few gripes...
1) I know they don't play the hardest schedule and their league is weak (no matter what Calipari may say about ConferenceUSA - its a weak league) but Memphis deserved the number 1 seed. They have proven themselves for years now that they are a top flight program. They dominated their league (not losing one game) and played some decent out of conference opponents early. In addition, they made a key personnel change for which they have gone 25-0 since. I know UConn is good. I know they are a dominant team but Memphis earned that spot and they should be rewarded with it.
2) BC does not deserve a 7 seed. I love my school and will support them to the death but a #7? The committee is saying that they are as good a Clemson (a team they lost to), California, and Texas. Either Clemson is getting hosed or BC is getting overrated because there is no way that these two teams should be equal. All I can guess is that the win over UNC in Chapel Hill and the win over Duke carried more weight than I thought. Mr. Bracketology, Joe Lunardi hasn't had them higher than a 9 in recent brackets. That seemed like a fair seeing to me. When BC is off, let's face it, they are a terrible team. But when they are on, they have proven on the court that they can beat almost anyone. I guess that's what mattered.
3) St. Mary's should be in this tournament. No disrespect meant to Wisconsin or Arizona or Maryland but St. Mary's was one of the best teams in the country when they were 100% healthy. They still played fairly well even when their best player was hurt. They gave Gonzaga a run for their money twice this year and almost beat them without Patty Mills. The mid-majors need to get more respect than this considering the success that they have had in the tournament in recent years and the quality of the basketball played across the country regardless of league.

- Speaking of tourneys, college hockey provided some excitement this weekend as well. Bemidji State returns to the tournament as the first automatic bid(perhaps for the last time as they will be a part of the WCHA soon and will most likely have no prayer of seeing the tourney again) and those who had high hopes have seen them dashed (Ohio State) or at least put themselves out on a limb (Miami) by failing to come through in their conference tourneys. Boston College is clinging to a slim chance as they pulled off the surprising upset of UNH with two straight wins in Durham. The Eagles had won only 3 times in their last 19 opportunities at the Whittemore Center so you cannot downplay the significance of these victories. The reward, a date with BU on Friday. BU has lost once since November 22nd. It's not quite for all the marbles but considering the position they are in, the rest of the season is win or go home for BC as it was for BU last year. It should be a raucous Garden this weekend. Unfortunately, the Rant will be in Virginia Beach for Mrs. Pike's brother's wedding. Thank you DVR!

- On a somber note, wrestler Andrew "Test" Martin was found dead in his home this weekend. I don't bring this up because it's yet another wrestler dying at a young age but rather because I found out in a headline on CNN that referred to Test as a "former WWE wrestler". While this is true I think it portrays this in the wrong light. Test was all but fired from WWE for his steroid and other drug use. He went to TNA but quickly fell out of favor there as he continued using steroids. There are some stories saying he was in rehab last year and had a significant drug problem. Test has not worked for the WWE in years and certainly not since the Wellness policy was strongly enforced after the deaths of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. To simply paint Test as a "former WWE wrestler" as CNN did (or the source of their story did) allows the connection to be made to the WWE and early wrestler deaths. Vince McMahon has put a lot of time and money into cleaning up the company and removing the rampant drug and steroid use. Will the WWE ever be clean? Of course not but neither will pro baseball. But not every wrestling death should be associated with the WWE. Lets face it, almost every wrestler of stature can be considered a "former WWE wrestler", but each of these deaths that happen should not be pointed at the WWE.

That's all I have for now. Here's hoping for a little celebration next weekend - and I'm not talking about the wedding.

March Madness!

Welcome to March, one of the craziest times in the sporting year. College basketball and hockey enter their tourney phases, the NHL and NBA head down the home stretches of the regular season, and baseball fans begin to think about the summer and the relaxation of sitting on the back porch with a tall glass of (enter cold drink of choice here), a book, and their favorite MLB team on the radio.

If we weren't ready for all of this, we were after yesterday. A full slate of college hoops thrilled the masses yesterday from stunning upsets (Baylor & Georgia Tech), to highway robbery (Oklahoma State), to one of the greatest games you will see in years (Syracuse - UConn). The day had something for everybody.

One of the things that yesterday really did was change the complexion of Selection Sunday. With the Baylor & Oklahoma State victories, two teams that were in bubble talk are suddenly more interesting. Baylor has at least played itself into the discussion and Oklahoma State has all but sewn up what was considered a debatable selection until yesterday. The truly sad part about Oklahoma State is that the refs gift wrapped that win for them. To make a foul call in such a situation with the game, seedings (Oklahoma was hoping to gain that #1 seed), and even post season hopes on the line is not the way you want to see these contests end. Don't get me wrong, Oklahoma State played a hell of a game and certainly deserved the victory I just wish they had won it the way Villanova defeated Marquette, with a clean basket to get the win. Bubble teams everywhere hate upsets as it adds more teams with passable resumes all vying for the same limited number of slots.

Which brings me to the classic. If the Syracuse-UConn game has been a wrestling match it would have been a worthy "Last Man Standing" match (though I am sure some of the participants may have considered it "Hell in a Cell" or the "Elimination Chamber"). With four players from each team fouling out over six grueling back-and-forth overtimes, it truly was last man standing. It was not simply in the way these teams played (both were phenomenal) but the fact that there were great individual performances (Stanley Robinson was the best he's been since coming to UConn and Andy Rautins 3-point shooting was something special) and the drama that was involved. As Devendorf squared up in regulation you knew that the shot was going through the net, and yet somehow you knew that it wasn't going to count. I must admit I thought that would be it for Syracuse. I figured that going from that emotional high to having to continue for another 5 minutes (who knew at the time it would take another 30 minutes of playing time to decide this one) was going to be too much and UConn's depth was going to win out. But I was wrong, and for every punch one threw the other countered beautifully. Until UConn ran out of time, players, and counters. This was a game for the ages.

That's the beauty of March. Tonight begins the Hockey East tourney as the BC men's hockey team looks to recapture their old form and their old glory. Wins tonight and tomorrow are necessary to get into NCAA tournament. The fire they showed last Saturday on Senior Night needs to be there tonight. They traditionally do not play well at UNH. But March is a time when the unexpected becomes the tradition. I'm anxious to see what more excitement this weekend holds not just for BC but for all the teams and all the schools. I love March!

Heart and Soul

Last night the Boston College mens' hockey team ripped out my heart.  In a defensive effort that I had not seen out of the Eagles in quite some time.  A mere 30 seconds away from winning a close fought 1-0 game, they allowed a tying goal with 25 seconds left in regulation and then allowed the winning goal in overtime.  They were 25 seconds from getting back into the tourney picture.  As of this second they are still 19th in the Pairwise.  There is a three way tie ahead of them for 16th.  A win one the road against a quality opponent could have gotten them as high as 15th and coupled with a win tonight (as of this typing they are up 4-1 late in the third period) they could be back in the tourney with a chance to solidify that with a win or two against their Hockey East quarterfinal opponent.  Instead, 25 seconds later, they now have to win their third Hockey East tourney in a row to make the NCAA tournament.  They've ripped out my heart again this year...

Money Troubles

Old Man Pike sent me a link this morning to an article about the current "controversy" surrounding UConn men's basketball coach, Jim Calhoun. I will be the first to admit that I am not a fan of Mr. Calhoun or his Huskies (being a life long BC fan will do that to you), but this so-called controversy seems a bit absurd and misplaced.

Let's recap. A "reporter" who may or may not have even belonged at a UConn press conference began asking questions the other day about how appropriate it was for Jim Calhoun (technically a state employee) to be making $1.6 million dollars a year to coach basketball considering the state of the economy and the tight budgets that all state governments have been on lately. Calhoun got upset and now has a YouTube worthy rant about the money his program brings in and yelling about "facts" that has made the rounds on all the shows and all the on-line chat rooms.

First, let me say that this was an incredibly inappropriate question at this time. The man is up there to talk about basketball not the economy. This is not the forum to have a debate about the way the state government is spending its money. Calhoun did not make the decision to have UConn pay him that money and does not have the insight into the administration's reasoning to allocating that much of their budget into his pocket. If this were a Connecticut state house hearing on government spending this would be an appropriate line of questioning. Wrong time and wrong person to ask.

Let's not demonize Jim Calhoun here either (as much as we may want to). It's not his fault. All he did was negotiate a contract just like every other NCAA Division I coach does. Let's not forget there are many coaches across the country making around the same amount of money as Jim Calhoun who are working for state institutions and are technically state employees. I do not pretend to know the ins and outs of all the various school budgets but I assure you that Calhoun is not the only one making a large salary when the state is struggling. You want someone to blame, look to the university administrators who approved the salary. But you really can't blame them either because there is a good reason to keep and/or lure a great coach to your school.

Calhoun brought up a very good point when he talked about how much money he and the program bring in to the school. Sure, there are the tangible things such as ticket sales and merchandising and such. But there are things that you cannot quantify when you are talking about a successful college athletic program. My friend once told me that Doug Flutie was the reason that he went to Boston College. So while a high US News & World Report rankings, making the campus attractive, and having great professors may buy you a lot of students, the fact is a good athletic program makes your school more attractive and drives up applications which allows the school to drive up enrollment and pricing. Jim Calhoun has done that for UConn.

I am not disparaging the educational institution of UConn. I'm not implying that people only go there because of the basketball team. But it would be naive to think that the success of the men's (and the women's) basketball teams has not affected enrollment at UConn. Remember that the income from sports does get funnelled back into the university and helps pay for other improvements around campus that are not sports related.

To have great teams to bring in that money, however, you need great coaches. In order to compete for those top coaches, schools like UConn need to pay top dollar. I'm not here to debate whether they should be paid that or not. When new budgets come up and some of these coaches' contracts expire, if the economy has not turned around, I think some of these state institutions are going to have to look long and hard at these salaries. The point is, don't harass the coaches for something that is out of their control. The institution decides how to spend their funds and the economic benefit must have outweighed the expense for them. I may not like Jim Calhoun but this is not a reason to hate him.