Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Thomas Davis Discusses Carolina Panthers, Defending Dreams Foundation

Thomas Davis is still involved. Glad to see it. He's in the midst of rehabbing from his second major knee surgery, but he's in good spirits all the while. He's optimistic-- in fact, way more than I am, that he will be able to return and play the game at a high level.

Davis is also optimistic about the Carolina Panthers this year. We'll see.

Great interview and information about his Defending Dreams foundation.

TD

WWW, CAA and the NCAA

Who is this guy, Worldwide Wes, anyway? Why would William Wesley be better known for his nickname than his real name? Who else so closely related to college basketball over the last ten years has had no discernible job, no visible source of income, and no limits on his interaction with coaches, recruits, and NBA players?

More importantly for those of us who follow SEC basketball, what is the relationship between Worldwide Wes and John Calipari? And now that former Calipari assistant coach Tony Barbee is now head coach over at Auburn, what will be the impact of the ongoing ties between Wesley and Barbee?

In other words, since Coach Barbee is apparently represented by Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and Worldwide Wes is apparently a new employee of CAA, would there be any likelihood that Worldwide Wes will now steer the basketball recruits he knows to Auburn? In the words of Barbee, "There are probably some misconceptions out there about the guy, that he is involved with prospects and he funnels players to different schools."

Exactly. Why else would a current head coach at Rutgers be in regular contact with a guy who has no other job?

Come to think of it, why was Mark Fox quoted in the article? I'm pretty sure that Fox doesn't have any relationship with Worldwide Wes, nor with CAA, but I'm not sure. We haven't been in the running for any of the top recruits in the country, that is, other than Kentavious Caldwell. And I doubt that WwW's reaches extend into rural Georgia.

The thought from the article is that now that Wesley has an employment relationship with a sports agency firm, his impact on college basketball recruiting will go down.

I wonder. Will the NCAA really watch what Worldwide Wes is doing, or will he somehow, mysteriously, continue to flit in and out of clinics and coaching circles, based on some NCAA loop-hole?

John Calipari, for one, isn't expecting much of a change. "Who he knows, and the relationships he has, they'll be the same they've been for twenty years."

ha-ha. He really isn't an agent, you know-- he's my uncle.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Steve Tchiengang

The SEC East will be so tough this year. Here's a profile on Steve Tchiengang, a guy who will be a key contributor for Vandy this year.

Tchiengang

SEC Football: The Gold Standard

The New York Daily News has it spot on. SEC Football is king, has been for years, and there are no real competitors for the throne.

People talk about Mark Richt being on the hot seat. Everyone is on the hot seat in the SEC. Fans have the trigger finger on their laptops, ready to fire off flaming hot missives at fellow fans or lob complaints in the general direction of their school's administration. "Fire (insert name of coach) now.com" registrations go up whenever a coach loses his first couple of games.

Athletic directors pay huge salaries, schools build huge stadiums, and advertisers commit huge amounts of money, all in a bid to harness the passion of the SEC's huge fan-base.

And it works. Fans show up. Buy tickets. We're engaged. Alumni send checks.

It works on the field, too. Our best is the best of the best (shucks, our also-rans would be the darlings of most other conferences). Four straight BCS championships.

And not just the fact of the BCS victories. It's the way the SEC has won. Over the last 4 years, the SEC has beaten their BCS championship game opponents by a combined 67 points. That's an average of two touchdowns and a field goal per contest.

The games aren't even interesting in the 4th quarter. The margin of victory would no doubt be higher if the SEC coaches did not graciously put in the third-stringers and walk-ons. Good thing for our opponents that Steve Spurrier's teams aren't any good.

It's getting to the point that the BCS championship game should be canceled and the SEC championship substituted in its place.