FOLIO
by TOM WEPPEL
NCAA/FINAL FOUR NOTES…
This weekend, as you all know, they are playing the Final Four in New Orleans. This week, though, most of the attention has been placed upon Kentucky and Louisville, as opposed to Kansas and Ohio State.
Obviously, the Wildcats and Cardinals are in-state rivals, within about an hour trip of each other on Highway 64 in Kentucky! Its been so crazy with the chatter between these two, you would’ve thought this was almost like two families getting ready to do battle…I.e. the Hatfields and McCoys!
Of course, for all I know, the Hatfields and McCoys probably DID do battle in the Kentucky foothills!
Anyway, with the connections these two schools have, I’m sure more attention will be placed on this game then the Jayhawk/Buckeye game. Having Rick Pitino (coached at Kentucky before is current stead at Louisville) and John Calipari…two outspoken, noteworthy coaches…on the sidelines for these two schools adds to the glitter that much more…
This happens every season. Avid College fans will come out and start to mention the fact they think the best college team can beat a current NBA squad! They see the college bretheren going at it and dominating the opposition, then think they can beat an awful NBA squad like this seasons’ group…the Charlotte Bobcats (7-41).
Well, listen to the sound, knowledgeable words of current Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. When asked that exact question, his answer was, “HELL NO”!
Look…even though the Kentucky Wildcats have some talent on their starting five, including potential future NBA guys like F Anthony Davis, F Terrence Jones, G Marquis Teague, and G Michael Kidd-Gilchrist…even at this stage of the game, they don’t have the developed skills to hang with the Bobcats! And yes, I do know Charlotte is an awful team, and that they are getting beat up night in and night out.
But Kentucky is still a college team, people…don’t forget!
Anyway, I do believe the Wildcats will be able to handle Louisville, and I think Kansas can overtake Ohio St.. and I think Kentucky will beat Kansas and end up being National Champions! Should be fun to watch…
NFL/QB TALK…
In the ongoing coverage of Mr. Tim Tebow, I have one point I’d like to bring to the table.
Is it possible there may be even a light degree of jealousy being portrayed on the part of various NFL analysts and former players/turned experts?
Seriously…seems to me when the discussion is brought up any time there is controversy or a question as to exactly what the role of Tebow is going to be on the Jets this upcoming season, you hear former players…mainly former QB’s…come out and say that Tebow doesn’t have the skill locked in to be a top shelf quarterback in the NFL. They also feel the Broncos were lucky they won the number of games they did last season, knowing that Tebow was running offensive series that were mainly going three-and-out!
Then you have critics coming out and mentioning Tebow’s lack of an ability to throw a perfect spiral on his passes, or maybe talking about his desire to run, as opposed to waiting and throwing to open receivers.
Of course, the New York Jets are absolutely loving this! They are taking all the spotlight and coverage away from the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants! The Jets have gotten ALL the attention, with anyone who has even a slight interest in football talking about what they would do if they had Tebow as their QB!
And the Giants simply chuckle about the whole scene! They don’t mind one damn bit that the Jets are pulling all the attention away from them. All they care about is building their team to be ready for this upcoming season, so they can defend their title!
There is still plenty of time left between now and the start of training camp! It’ll be interesting to see how things continue to evolve between now and then with the Jets, their offense, and their QB staff!
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While so much of the NFL spotlight has been shining up in New York on Tebow and the Jets, the NFL Owners had their meetings in Palm Beach, Florida. NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell was in attendance, as usual.
Of course, Goddell only recently has come down hard on the New Orleans Saints for their whole Bounty operation. This includes suspending Head Coach Sean Payton from coaching the team this entire season, which is simply unprecedented!
Meanwhile, in the last few days, Payton has gone to his former boss and absolute friend, the legend Bill Parcells, to offer the opportunity to possibly coach the Saints this season. This move certainly was not one that many folks had given any thought or liking to…least of all, Goddell.
Let’s face it…If there is one guy who is NOT liking this potential move, to me, it is Goddell.
Why?
Because Goddell is strong to the idea of not allowing New Orleans to be doing anything that would be of benefit to their franchise. Above all, and without expressing this, he feels that by bringing Parcells in to coach for the season, it would simply put the spotlight directly back on the Saints. It would also allow New Orleans to actually become a better squad, with Parcells at the helm, than possibly any other interim coach that could be found out there!
So…with Parcells very close to agreeing to spend this season in New Orleans, it is obvious to me Roger Goddell is NOT going to be very happy about the whole scene! Yet he is sharp enough to NOT get into any kind of temper tantrum, or show any angry emotion. Behind the scenes, though…watch out!
So, it should be quite intriguing to follow the Saints this season if they have Bill Parcells, Brew Brees, and some others there taking care of business for the season. And wouldn’t be even THAT much more interesting if they made the playoffs!?!?
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