John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud

John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud

Thinking out loud…and wondering who invented Teflon, and was Rick Pitino ever an investor?

• Louisville was the best team in college basketball this season, the results of their title game win over Michigan notwithstanding. They had all of the ingredients – speed, power, shooting ability, toughness, depth and a smart, smart coach. But you still need a little luck on your side, too. While the madness reigned in many arenas this year, it was BAU (business as usual) in Louisville, and the Cardinals proved it on the floor…

• What a way for the old Big East to go out…championships for both men and women in college hoops, with UConn’s 8th title matching the all-time mark of Tennessee’s on the women’s side. Remarkable. This makes the break-up of this league one of the dumbest things to ever come about in the history of college athletics…

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• And you wonder why anyone in the ACC wanted to break this up? Thanks, Coach K…

• Rick Pitino had a day – heck, he had a lifetime – of achievements hit him all at once last week. Basketball Hall of Fame. Son gets big time job. Team wins national championship. Pretty incredible stuff. Yes, Friar fans were there at the beginning of it all, really, in 1987. But when you consider some of the transgressions that other coaches have, ahem, committed over this time (Mike Rice, for one)…and look at the things Pitino has been ridiculed for, you have to wonder. How did he pull it off?

• It’s the 800-pound gorilla in the room among PC fans. A prince of Providence since his days as the PC head coach in the ‘80’s, Pitino’s involvement in an extortion attempt against him in 2009 – when all of the sordid details of betrayal, cover-up, denial and finally coming clean became public – would crush most people. Yet he not only survives, he thrives. Seriously, the man should bottle and sell his formula for redemption. It works…

• Should I even add his tenure as President and coach of the Boston Celtics from 1997-2001, when he tried to get fans to focus on the future? “Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans…what we are is young, exciting, hard-working and we’re going to improve.” The improvement never came, for the Celtics anyway. It certainly came for Pitino’s career…

• You’ve heard that karma can be a b**ch? For Rick Pitino, karma is his queen…

• I think I’m pretty much in the corner of most Friar fans on Ricky Ledo. Sure, it would have been great to have him for next season…but now that he’s decided to move on…I’m going to move on as well. Two years ago, it was “will he commit?” Last year, it was “will he be eligible?” This year, it was “will he turn pro?” That’s enough for me…

• Surprised? Yes. Based on what I saw during the year, Ledo’s decision to declare for the NBA Draft is just plain silly. Forget the fact that he hasn’t played in a real game in more than a year. He genuinely seemed to like his teammates and his surroundings, and the feeling was mutual. There was a sense they wanted to make a run together for next season, and it was palpable throughout the year. Ricky was an unspoken leader of last years’ Friars. What turned him from what seemed to be unbreakable team chemistry? The lure of the dollar sign…and undoubtedly a great deal of pressure…

• I had this discussion with God Shammgod during the past season…over whether or not he thought he could be a positive influence on Ledo and his impending decision. Shamm told me he hoped he would be, but that you just don’t know what a kid is going to do from one minute to the next. Just like he didn’t know what he would do from one minute to the next, more than 15 years ago when presented with a similar decision to make. Too many outside influences. Too many people telling him “he’s the man,” when he isn’t - yet. Ricky will “hear what he wants to hear,” Shamm told me…

• Bottom line – Ledo will have to “wow” ‘em during workouts in order to make his way into a first round pick…which would then give him a guaranteed pro contract. Short of that…you’ll need to line up at the local sporting goods store to buy your Ledo “Maine Red Claws” jersey next season.  Just sayin’…

• The NBA’s longtime director of scouting, Marty Blake, passed away this week at the age of 86. He may or may not be familiar to you, but he meant so much to those in the basketball world…establishing the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (where PC’s Vincent Council received an invitation to attend) and the pre-draft camp among his many accomplishments. Having known him from my time in San Antonio years ago, he was always frank and pretty funny with his evaluations. One of my favorite all-time basketball quotes came from Blake a few years ago – when an accomplished college player getting ready to turn pro asked for an honest evaluation from him, after scoring 20 points but getting only one rebound in a scrimmage. “Congratulations, you got one more rebound than a dead man,” Blake told the player. “Next time, work a little harder.”

• So, using Blake’s way of thinking…Ricky Ledo scored exactly the same as a dead man in his college career. He’ll need to work plenty hard – and receive plenty of luck along the way – in order to score more in the NBA…

• Conversely, former St. Andrews product and Syracuse guard Michael Carter-Williams has decided to test the NBA Draft waters as well. But at least he has a track record with some actual games against strong competition to his credit. And his availability probably takes another coveted 1st round slot away from someone like Ledo…

• Ed Cooley’s contract extension? It was only a matter of time. The right thing to do…and there simply isn’t a better man for the job at PC. But you already know that…

• And it’s the right thing for Danny Hurley to stay at URI, rather than take the cesspool of a job that exists at Rutgers. He had to mull it over – the money and the chance to move back to his home state were there – but a 3rd rebuilding job in 3 years? Guess what coach? Jobs like that one (and maybe THAT one) will still be there when you’re ready for another challenge…

• The NCAA Tournament just had its highest TV ratings in 19 years. Yet New England (or specifically, Boston) for the most part seems to barely acknowledge its existence…outside of a few. Sure, I know the Sox have started, the Celtics are headed to the playoffs and the Bruins are good…but, I’ll ask the question anyway – who has it wrong?

• Big time props to CCRI’s Desmond Williams and his coach, Rick Harris. Williams was named a 1st team Junior College all-American this past week…the first back-to-back 1st team all-American in CCRI’s rich basketball history. No room at any of our D-I schools?

• Doesn’t it seem pretty incredible that the division title won by the Los Angeles Clippers is their first ever? I mean, really. First ever? An indicator that the Lakers (and others) have dominated as much as the Clippers have stunk it up through the years…

• One last takeaway from the entire Rutgers mess…it seems pretty clear to me that once Rutgers got into the Big 10, they simply stopped caring about what Mike Rice did to his players. Rice’s tirades, tantrums and total disregard for decency was pushed under the rug as the Scarlet Knights reached for the money the Big 10 was offering, and grabbed it. Once they accomplished the heist, they didn’t want anything to risk messing things up – or anything to stop the money flow – so sweeping Coach Rice’s “faux pas” under the rug was the solution. Eric Murdock knew this, and did something about it…at the risk of his reputation as well…

• Sorry, I lied. One more item from the Rutgers story to leave you with…and this one is hilarious, courtesy of Saturday Night Live…

• I gotta say, the gang at SNL is really on their game. They also spoofed Charles Barkley’s lack-of-anything-close-to-knowledge of the college game to near-perfection…

• Let’s see. It’s April 13th, and John Lackey is on the disabled list. Again. Seems about right to me…

• A show of hands…who’s worried about Joel Hanrahan? Me, me, me…

• Happy birthday this week to legendary Hall-of-Famer Bobby Doerr. 95 years young…

• Best wishes go out to NESN’s fan-favorite Sox announcer Jerry Remy, who revealed on the air this week that he’s had a relapse in his bout with lung cancer. He recently had radiation treatment, and is fine right now…and he’ll be checked again in about three months…

• A complete farce it might have been…but the Red Sox' 820-game sellout streak came to a crashing thud with last Wednesday’s game against Baltimore. The streak will stand as the longest in major professional sports…formerly held by the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers at 814 games. I can’t sell my house…maybe I should put the Sox marketing department on it?

• Ok, I’ll admit it. I follow the WWE…to an extent. Always a fan of their story plots and over-the-top characters, WWE’s “Wrestlemania” last weekend was once again a real spectacle. Downright entertaining…and the match between Triple H and Brock Lesnar was gripping. So was John Cena’s win over The Rock. Thanks to my Wrestlemania-host Mike Campagna for his hospitality, and for my week-long battle with indigestion…

• I’ve got nothing against Subway – love their sandwiches – but Robert Griffin III needs to get his agent working on some big time sponsorships. I mean, he had the #1 selling jersey in the NFL this past year…of ALL TIME. The man is Midas – everything he touches becomes golden. Except for Mike Shanahan, of course…

• In case you were wondering, Tom Brady’s # 12 jersey came in as the #5 seller last year…behind Peyton Manning, Ray Lewis and Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick? Really? Just shows you what a set of wheels on a shiny, new QB can do for your new sales…

• Hang on, just a minute…3-on-3 basketball and BMX bikes in the Olympics? When did the Olympic Games turn into a glorified recess?

• Did you see the piece in USA Today this week that said the majority of Americans believe we had it better back in the ‘80’s than we do now? 58% of Americans said they would vote for Ronald Reagan over Barack Obama? All I know is, I didn’t have to work near as hard to keep myself in shape back then. Couple of 12-ounce curls usually did the trick…

• Speaking of the ‘80’s….this is the 20-year anniversary of the movie “The Sandlot.” It is still one of the top-sellers on DVD, at more than a million copies annually…and it taught us so much more than to love baseball and friendship. Like how to worship lifeguards like Wendy Peffercorn…

• My buddy Bernie boasts that getting into a relationship is like going to a restaurant with friends. You order what you want, then when you see what the other guy has, you wish you had ordered that instead…

• Uh oh. Say it ain’t so, Gronk. A fourth surgery on his broken arm, now delayed? Danny Amendola just became that much more important to Tom Brady…

• The Patriots’ quest for defensive help stopped in Oakland again this week, with the pick-up of former Raider Tommy Kelly. This is a sneaky-good pick for the Pats…he’s been consistent, if not spectacular at times, and if he’s healthy he should help in trying to collapse the pocket for opposing QB’s. The best part? After bringing him in, there’s still salary cap space for more moves…like Emmanuel Sanders…

• I’m not a fan of the Oklahoma Sooners. As a Texas Longhorn alum, perhaps you can understand that. But more and more, I like what I hear from OU football coach Bob Stoops. This week, on the issue of athletes “playing for pay,” he was blunt. “I don’t get why people say these guys don’t get paid. It’s simple, they are paid quite often, quite a bit and quite handsomely…”

• When you take into consideration college costs these days for most people to attend an out-of-state school ($200K and up, over four years), Stoops gets it. “You get room and board, and we’ll give you the best nutritionist, the best strength coach to develop you, the best tutors to help you academically, and coaches to teach you and help you develop,” he told The Sporting News. “How much do you think it would cost to hire a personal trainer and tutor for 4-5 years?”

• Not for nuthin’…but “full cost scholarships” (i.e. extra stipends for college athletes) will be the next big issue tackled by the power schools and leagues…now that the BCS BS has been settled, and will apparently be settled, on the field…

• A final word from Bob Stoops, and it’s a good one. “I’ve always said college is more about proving you can make it on your own,” Stoops said. “Proving you can go through the process and come out on top and be ready for the world. The typical student here leaves our university and has a boatload of student loans to pay back. Our players leave not owing a dime to anyone.” (Insert joke here, like “except for the gun shop owners and tattoo parlors”)…

• By the way, Dr. Roy Plunkett invented the non-stick surface known as Teflon, back in 1938. His initials are RP. Coincidence?

• Our mailbag question/comment this week comes from Domenic in Providence via Facebook, who was one of many to opine about Ricky Ledo’s decision to test the NBA waters: “The major issue is that there are too many pieces he has to cut his pie into. The biggest one is obviously the taxes, next his agent, then family, friends and then himself.” Dom: Couldn’t have said it better myself. What Ricky, his friends and family just don’t realize is the money he could make next year – by having a good season – would be GUARANTEED as a first round pick. And a substantially higher amount than he’ll get this year…no matter where he is selected. The draft this year is weaker, so that’s why he’s going in now? He has nothing to show for himself. The scouts I’ve heard from and spoken with are nearly unanimous that he’ll be a D-League player, or used as a trade bargaining chip for someone next year. Players selected on potential – not actual accomplishments – rarely pan out. History has shown that. Guess that wasn’t one of his best subjects at PC…

• 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 ...

• Don’t forget to join us for GoLocal Sports on 103.7 FM, every Saturday from 7:00-9:00 am!  Call in (401) 737-1287, or text 37937…and send email to the show - [email protected] .

• Congratulations to the Class of 2013 for the Rhode Island Radio Hall of Fame. Good friend John “Coach” Colletto is a new inductee, having plied his trade over the past 30 years on the Salty Brine Show, as a Providence Bruins analyst and as a show host on the former WSKO “790 The Score.” Also in the class is former Providence mayor and current WPRO afternoon host Buddy Cianci, and former WHJY DJ Mike “Dr. Metal” Gonsalves, who tragically passed away in the Station Night Club fire of ‘03. The induction ceremony and dinner is open to the public, and will be held May 9th at Twin River in Lincoln, RI. For more information on the Hall of Fame and to purchase tickets, visit the Hall website at www.rirhof.org. Proceeds from the event will benefit Special Olympics Rhode Island.

• The recently released “Rhode Island Radio” from Arcadia Publishing is available for sale, and the book tells the story of the 90-year history of radio in our state through photographs, clippings and memories from many of the personalities who have graced our airwaves. If you’re in search of the gift that says “Rhode Island,” you’ve found it. Or, find it in local bookstores and online right here…