John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Thinking out loud…while wondering already about the Friars’ non-conference schedule for next season…
- Jared Terrell’s addition to URI’s incoming freshman class is big, no doubt about it. Friar fans might not want to hear it, but basketball in Rhode Island is FAR better when the two major programs are both doing well. It’s icing on the cake with Bryant and Brown also competitive…which should make next season highly-anticipated around here. A word of caution, however – in Rhody’s case, these are freshmen we’re talking about. No matter the league, the caliber of competition or the individual…freshmen need time to adjust. There’s always a “wall” to hit. Counting on freshmen to carry you – unless you’re Kentucky – is asking for trouble…
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- Yes, I know E.C. Matthews had a pretty good first year (A-10 all-rookie, 14.3 ppg). When the lights get brighter, and the responsibilities become larger (he had Xavier Munford’s presence to draw attention from opposing defenses), the pressure of “being the man” causes players to react differently. Still, can’t wait to see what Terrell and Jarvis Garrett might do in that URI backcourt with Matthews. The biggest addition – literally – for the Rams next year though, might be the comeback for 6-10 Jordan Hare…
- The Friars are still looking to add a guard for next season, joining the four freshmen they already have in the Class of 2014. Or two. Really surprised by Josh Fortune's transfer. Reportedly, he wants to be closer to home in Virginia, and it's hard to argue with that. However, after playing major minutes and coming up big for the Friars last season...and growing exponentially as a player in his two years (especially on defense), can't help but feel he's letting himself and his team down. He got his shot, he came up big. He benefitted from his coaches, and improved playing against guys like Bryce Cotton. And now, he leaves? We've taught an entire generation of teens and 20-somethings that commitments mean nothing...
- Wanna sleeper for next season in the Big East? You might not have to look any further than South Orange, NJ and Seton Hall. Oh, they’ll be young…but the Pirates will be very talented, and this past week coach Kevin Willard added a sixth newcomer to his Class of 2014 with 6-8 Nigerian forward Michael Nzei joining a national Top 10-15 rated class. SHU, however, may be losing senior-to-be Patrik Auda, a 6-9 forward from the Czech Republic who graduated last week with a year of eligibility remaining. Auda is expected to look into pro opportunities closer to home in Europe, and his loss would leave Seton Hall with just one senior getting playing time among all the kids – Brandon Mobley…
- He’s had some potential suitors in this off-season already (Wake Forest, Cal-Berkeley), so Xavier decided to lock up head coach Chris Mack this week with a contract extension through 2019-20. Mack has what is being called the Musketeers’ top recruiting class EVER coming in for next year, ranked in the consensus national Top 15. He’ll need it, having to replace Semaj Christon and Justin Martin from his backcourt…
- This was surely a group pairing you didn’t expect to see. I know I didn’t. But the photo taken at the Preakness Stakes last week featuring Mike Tyson and Tom Brady somewhat together at Pimlico in Baltimore was striking – if not a little bit shocking. What’s next? Hangover Part IV with Brady joining the cast?
- Speaking of the Preakness – it was almost as if the horse racing gods set up a perfect scenario for California Chrome, who managed to win despite a late charge from Ride On Curlin. The build up for the Belmont next week has already begun, and should be well over-blown by post time. 36 years between Triple Crown winners will do that for you, and for a sport that long ago lost its panache with the general public, a horse-for-the-ages Triple Crown winner could be the ticket to renewed interest…
- 12 horses have won the first two legs of racing’s Triple Crown – the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness – since Affirmed last won it in 1978…only to come up short in New York at Belmont. The last was just two years ago, when I’ll Have Another was a late scratch from running the third leg. At a mile-and-a-half, it’s a longer journey…and the horse, jockey, trainer and owner are all under an intense spotlight with much more media and public scrutiny. Longtime trainer Bob Baffert has had three horses win the first two legs and fall short at Belmont…if Baffert’s horse Bayern runs, with a female jockey in Rose Naparanik on board, don’t be surprised if he turns the tables on someone else this time. Or, look for a contender who sat out the Preakness, and runs well-rested in New York…
- For your consideration…I present the highs and lows of boyish behavior observed over the course of the past week. The high water mark certainly may have come from a young man attending a Toronto-Texas major league game last week, who was seemingly trying to impress an “older” woman sitting in the row behind him. It’s a very clever, smooth move for a kid not much more than 10 years old…and even more impressive that he figured out how to play a great game of “switcheroo…”
- At the opposite end of the spectrum, I give you Mitch Williams. Please. The MLB Network analyst and former major league pitcher was coaching his 10-year-old son’s team when he reportedly told his pitcher to bean the opposing team’s pitcher. Williams also recently was ejected for a heated argument with an umpire, and has a history of obnoxious behavior at youth sporting events…reportedly heckling opposing coaches and even stooping to insult players on other teams. The Wild Thing has taken a leave of absence from his day job at MLBN…
- We’ve all seen our fair share of “little league” mom’s and dad’s at kids’ games. Pick a sport – you’ve probably seen them on baseball, soccer or football fields, basketball courts, ice rinks. Some go over the top with yelling, some are incredibly over-protective, others believe their own kid can do no wrong and is a superstar-in-waiting. In more than 20 years of coaching baseball myself, I have some moments I wish I could do-over…if only because it’s so easy for adults to lose sight of the fact that youth sports should help build character, not tear one down. In this “me-me-me” era of sports and instant gratification, true teaching moments are often missed. These are life lessons that won’t get passed on by our kids when they coach their own kids…and that’s the real shame…
- Wow, that was fast…thanks for playing, Canadiens. After dispatching the Bruins in seven games, it didn’t take long into the Eastern Conference finals for Montreal to lose to the New York Rangers, and also to lose goalie Carey Price…who injured his right knee in a 7-2 Game One loss, run into by NY’s Chris Kreider. Guess Brad Marchand wasn’t big enough to do much damage to Price when he ran into him a week or so ago…
- Don’t normally watch “The View” on ABC, but this week Chicago Bears’ WR Brandon Marshall signed a $40 million contract extension live on the air – and pledged $1 million to the Mental Health Community. Marshall will do no wrong – anywhere – for some time to come. Or at least until he drops a few passes…
- Old friend Steve “Psycho” Lyons had a good point I’m sure few have considered while discussing the Red Sox plight on WEEI earlier this week. Think about this – the Sox lost three of the four players they had “up the middle” defensively from last year’s Series champs. Jacoby Ellsbury, Stephen Drew and Jarrod Saltalamacchia are gone, and only Dustin Pedroia remains. Management thought they had the right fixes in place, but the result (so far) has been underwhelming. Should they have paid Ellsbury? Drew? Kept Salty around? Trouble is, any (or all) of these moves might or might not have made the team better offensively…but as for the defensive backbone of the team, they certainly wouldn’t be any worse…
- Not for nuthin’…but what happens if you slip a disc or two in that backbone of yours? Yup. It hurts. Kinda’ like what the Sox are going through right now. Pain. Hence, the re-signing of Stephen Drew…
- Asking rookies to come in and “take over,” even if they’re potential stars, just isn’t a good idea. There are three regulars 25 years old or younger. Jackie Bradley and Xander Bogaerts simply may have had too much put on their plates. Will Middlebrooks is another month (maybe two) away from being labeled with the dreaded “B” word – Bust. Fair or not, that’s reality for many. Were the Sox really expecting their young players to step up and contribute now, or was the team simply hoping to get off more cheaply this season than they would have if they had paid Ellsbury and/or Drew? At least with Drew’s return, it’s hard to make the money argument here. The Sox simply gambled on the younger players being big-league ready…and before all the chips were gone, decided to ante up one more time…
- Flies right in the face of the term “youth movement,” doesn’t it? I mean, when ARE younger players going to be ready to step up? When they’re surrounded by veterans who aren’t struggling themselves…and that’s exactly what the Sox have…
- At the start of the week, Boston was a pitiful 10-19 against right-handed pitching, a mark that is dead last in the American League. Their batting average against righties is 13th out of 15 teams (they were 2nd a year ago). Not coincidentally, the three backbone players up the middle from last year (gone this year) were among the best when facing right-handed pitchers. Just sayin’…
- The demise of Clay Buchholz has been fascinating to watch, really. Like watching the demolition of a building. Like watching a car accident on the other side of the highway. Like watching two people argue – loudly – in public. Like watching noodles boil in a pot of water. You don’t want to stare…but you do anyway…
- My son The Rookie says Buchholz just doesn’t have the depth on his pitches that he used to have. When I asked him what he means, he said his curve doesn’t have the “hump” it once had…the ball simply spins out of his hand. There’s no purpose behind it…and the result is a flat, hittable delivery…
- Felix Doubront’s DL stint is because he bumped into a car door? It’s starting to look a lot like “Valentine’s Day…”
- Absolutely loved all of the hype and talk in local media about “Oooh, let’s trade for Kevin Love” this week, with the apparently disgruntled Minnesota big man wanting out after next season to become a free agent…and the Celtics’ possibilities of trading for him. Then, Timberwolves’ owner Glen Taylor put the kibosh on all of it, telling HIS local media a trade of Love is not in the team’s plans…in effect, also saying “Shut up, Boston.” What the heck do we talk about now? Patriots’ OTA’s? Back to the drawing board, Celtics’ fans…
- But IF a trade of Love happens in Minnesota, published reports have Golden State and Chicago as likely landing spots for the all-star forward. Boston? Meh. Could this be part of a Boston Backlash from others around the country who are tired of our recent winning ways? I did notice a palpable sense of relief run through the NHL after the Bruins were sent packing…
- No Luck O’ the Lottery…so the Celtics got the 6th pick. BFD. Outside of getting into the Top 3 or so, it really doesn’t matter much overall. If they keep the pick, it will be for a solid player, and my wish would be to take Doug McDermott. He is ready to school some folks, IMO…with an old-school game in a new-school league. As for Cleveland striking gold for a 3rd time in four years…how bad are they? Lady Luck continues to blow smoke up their skirts, and they still stink…
- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is nothing, if not honest. His comments to Inc. Magazine are spot on – we all have prejudices. One big difference here is that he has the money to not care how he’s perceived. It’s pretty hard for others to play the games he plays, and say the things he says…
- Smart move of the week…NFL owners tabled the discussion of potential playoff expansion until the fall. But bet on 2015…there’s strong sentiment among the owners for a new team added in the playoff chase for each conference. Let’s call it the Jerry Jones rule…
- Super Bowl LII was awarded this week to Minneapolis. Yes, they will have a dome. Something tells me that the prospect of an eventual Super Bowl in Foxboro isn’t all that far-fetched…
- Especially if we cover the whole city with a dome. Or at least cover Patriot Place…
- Congrats to Ty Law, who became the latest inductee into the Patriots Hall of Fame this week by the vote of the fans. Don’t you think, however, that at least for this year…the Patriots should also honor Bill Parcells with his induction, too? After all, it’s easy to see there may not be anything but wasted real estate and burned out retail space along Route 1 in Foxboro if Parcells isn’t hired by James Orthwein in 1993 to coach this team, and pull the Patriots from the tar pits of the NFL…
- He’ll eventually reach the Patriots’ Hall, no doubt…especially since he’s already enshrined in Canton, OH. Seems almost silly, however, that he can’t make the TEAM Hall while already in the LEAGUE Hall. Even sillier – any residual left from his departure and alleged negotiation with a divisional rival during Super Bowl week in early 1997. If you’re going to hammer him on this, fine. But you’re too late to the party…that should have happened decades ago. In the big picture, his arrival turned the Kraft family from merely well-off, into billionaires. And the Patriots from perennial losers, into arguably the NFL’s model franchise…
- Big deal. So some US Senators sent a signed letter to the NFL, asking Roger Goodell to force the Washington Redskins to change their nickname…much as the NBA acted upon censoring Donald Sterling for his racist comments. It’s political grandstanding at best and pure stupidity at worst. Not a single Republican signed the letter – it was signed only by Democrats, and didn’t include the signatures of the two senators from Virginia. They’re both Dems. Stupid is as stupid does…
- Did anyone see where a Bruin is headed to Vancouver to become GM of the Canucks? Assistant GM Jim Benning, who helped plot his former team’s downfall in 2011 (he played for the Canucks in the late ‘80’s), was hired this past week to clean up the mess he helped start. Wonder if the Boston-to-Vancouver pipeline has any other fuel reserves left within it?
- Tweet of the Week – from WEEI.com’s @cpriceNFL: “I understand the argument you’re making, but if you take away all of your good points, you’ll see I’m right…”
- My buddy Statbeast sez I should never argue with idiots. They’ll only drag me down to their level and beat me with experience…
- I don’t know if he has anything left in the tank playing-wise, but at age 55, Julio Franco still has plenty of moxie. After playing in parts of 23 major league seasons until he was 49 years old, winning an AL batting crown and an all-star MVP, and collecting more than 4200 total hits off of pitchers all over the world, Franco is back at it…signing on to play for the independent United League Fort Worth Cats to try and hit pitchers less than half his age. My great-grandfather also once played for a previous incarnation of the Fort Worth Cats. True story. Somewhere, there’s a correlation…but I’m not clever enough to figure it out…
- Save me a seat…this photo of the University of Alabama’s golf team preparing to travel should sum up present-day big-time college athletics nicely. Nothing “amateur” about it, it’s big league all the way…
- Creighton continues to look toward a future without Dougie McBuckets, by building with transfers. Add Cal-Berkeley 6-6 forward Ricky Kreklow to the mix, and he’ll be eligible next year for the Blue Jays. Kreklow is graduating from Cal, and missed 35 games over the past two seasons with injuries…
- It appears the by-product of the first year in college for my youngest has been calendar management. Not time management, per se, but calculating the calendar and baseball dates. For instance, upon his arrival home from Marquette, he hits me up with “Dad, you know how we’ve been saying we need to get to games at Nationals Park and Citi Field? They have games back-to-back next (this) week.” Knowing and recalling my affinity for ballpark food, how could I refuse?
- Let me say this…there are some brilliant geniuses working for the CT Department of Transportation. Normally, the ride on 95 South through the Nutmeg State to New York is as brutal as they come with customary heavy traffic…but even CT reached a new low this week – parking lot standstill traffic outside of Groton, at 6:45 AM! And at the end of the lane closure, four guys in neon-yellow vests (pants halfway down their rear ends) stood there on the side of the highway, staring into the traffic beginning to speed by, smoking cigarettes and doing nothing. Can this state do anything right, besides play basketball?
- Tolls paid on I-95 from Rhode Island to Washington, DC and back - $81.65. Tank of gas - $80.00. Spending another six-plus hours over two nights with your now-grown youngest child at a baseball game, at his request – priceless…
- Anything purchased at Blue Smoke Barbeque (like the Fried Chicken Sandwich), or at Box Frites at Nationals Park in Washington, DC is good by me. Try the Buffalo Dog (buffalo sauce, bleu cheese, celery and carrots included) and Bacon/Cheese Frites. And pass the Provastatin, please…
- Said this before, and I’ll say it again…Aroldis Chapman is an unfair advantage for the Cincinnati Reds. Watched him throw 13 pitches in the 9th inning against Washington Wednesday…eight were clocked at 100 mph or more, with one reaching 103. That’s “fear-of-God” stuff right there…
- Almost didn’t recognize him…up in the TV booth prior to the Mets facing the Dodgers at Citi Field this week, I spoke with Keith Hernandez as The Rookie got a tour of the SNY set up from one-time Friar and Pawsox voice Gary Cohen. Unassuming, nice, pleasant and as politically-correct as he could be about the team he covers (the Mets, struggling like the Sox). No trademark moustache, however. After all of his years and signature moments (5x all-star, 11 Gold Gloves, 2 World Series rings) in baseball, all I found myself wanting to ask him was “what was Jerry Seinfeld like?” and “so did you really get to date Julia Louis-Dreyfus?”
- The newest addition to the “must visit, must have” list of ballpark delicacies…Shake Shack at Citi Field. Anything on the menu, especially the “Black & White” shake. I know there were rumors of food poisoning recently with Cubs’ manager Ryne Sandberg allegedly getting sick from a cheeseburger, but I can tell you – unequivocally – smelling the fragrances wafting from the grill were like smoking crack for the fans in the long line on a rainy night, and the food was not typical for a ballpark. I’m still standing, even if I’m a few pounds heavier…
- Why have I not seen this before? The video says it occurred in 2010, so it’s pretty incredible this didn’t go viral at that time…if you watch NBC’s golf coverage at all, you know that Johnny Miller has been, at times, kinda pompous with his commentary. But the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus, shuts him up pretty good. Whoa…
- Boise State University President Bob Kustra seems like a right-minded leader. He recently wrote an op-ed piece for the Idaho Statesman that was also submitted to USA Today, and certainly it is a start in trying to reel in the collegiate athletic arms race. Basically, he calls for rejecting ALL new measures associated with increased benefits for student-athletes in revenue generating sports…but his plea makes him seem a bit like Bluto from Animal House…
- You’ll recall, perhaps, that a couple of years ago Boise State almost joined the Big East Conference for football, thanks to the lunacy that has prevailed within college football conferences, until they simply decided they couldn’t (shouldn’t?) start those moving vans from the Mountain West. I’m reminded here of Otter (played by Tim Matheson) from Animal House, in response to Bluto’s (John Belushi’s) rant – “We could fight ‘em with conventional weapons, but that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, in this case, we have to go all out…I think this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.” Bluto: “And we’re just the guys to do it…”
- Patriots coach Bill Belichick made a rather notorious list this week, named as one of the 35 most disliked people in sports by Sports Illustrated. For the most part, the majority of personalities to make the list are notorious for their winning ways, but to be compared to Donald Sterling…Alex Rodriguez…Ryan Braun…Lance Armstrong…Michael Vick? That’s a bit over the top. Are they comparing “Spygate” in 2007 to racism, PED use and animal cruelty? That’s clearly an un-SI like poll, simply focusing on sensationalism and the dirt they can stir up. They’ve lost a bit of credibility with this 40-year subscriber…
- It won’t be finalized for a while, as there are moving parts that remain…but some interesting opponents are in play for the Friars in the 2014-15 college hoop season. Home with URI and UMass, road games at BC and Kentucky, neutral games (Mohegan Sun) with Florida State and Notre Dame. Also another possibility of playing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, perhaps against former Friar Jim Larranaga and the Miami Hurricanes. Other home games include Albany, Stony Brook, Brown and Holy Cross, in addition to opening the Hall of Fame Tip-Off with Binghamton and Navy. That’s a packed slate, with few cupcakes…
- From the mailbag this week – Robert from Providence via Twitter: “I voted for John Rooke for State Rep in the 90s and still have his lawn sign. I wish he were in the State House!” Bob: Love following politics, love talking with voters, love serving any way I can, as I did for Governor Almond in the late ‘90’s. Love your enthusiasm. Don’t love your wish! Needed more voters like you back then…should I come get my lawn sign out of your garage now?
- Interested in having your questions on local RI sports (including the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Send ‘em to me! It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions and comments to [email protected]. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Follow me on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...
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