Random thoughts from a random evening

by Grady Clapp on Mar 13, 2009 11:49 PM PDT

I am just shocked - shocked - that Venoy Overton, a man who has a YouTube highlight reel of tripping Taylor Rochestie, was involved in the first big quasi-altercation of the Pac-10 tournament.
So that's the DeMar DeRozan all the recruiting services saw.
The 2008 NCAA three-point contest with Derrick Low is airing on ESPN right now. Still makes me smile.
The USC/ASU title matchup just goes to show you how much parity there was in the Pac-10 this season.
I think it's safe to say UCLA is not headed to another Final Four.
Take solace, Bruin and Husky fans, in the fact that major conference tournament games are generally meaningless for those not on the bubble.
Tonight, I was rooting for ASU. Tomorrow, USC. A Trojan wins sneaks a fifth, and maybe even a sixth (with Arizona), Pac-10 team into the tournament. It also potentially improves our NIT chances (although I think Nuss would disagree with me on this).
I want to love conference tournaments, but seeing the 3/4th-empty arenas in the first couple rounds just kills the vibe for me.
I'm confused - is Ernie Kent auditioning for a color commentator job?
Actually, Ernie's pretty good up in the booth. I was a little disappointed by Craig Robinson, though - he needs a public speaking lesson or two from his brother-in-law.
The Pac-10 tournament has to start rotating. The locations are obvious, too. You could rotate it through Seattle, Portland, the Bay Area, L.A., and Phoenix. All five have professional-caliber arenas. Heck, even throw in Vegas as an occasional neutral site. It stuns me that the highest-profile league on the West Coast still isn't as smart as the WCC.
There are only two ways to win your final game as a collegiate team, thanks to all the conference tournaments. Either you have to be an Ivy League team who wins their final regular season game but doesn't make the postseason (they don't play a conference tourney), or you have to win a postseason tournament. The good news for WSU is that I feel we actually have a pretty good chance at winning the NIT or CBI, considering the level of the opposition.

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Yeah, I'll disagree with you on that

From a purely selfish standpoint, I think it can only be beneficial for us to be able to say that we beat the eventual Pac-10 Tournament champion twice.

By the way, look at you burning the midnight oil! I thought I was the only one that did this. Last minute preparations for my journalism conference tomorrow. If you want a good laugh, look at what I’ve been working on: http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dg24dfp7_46hpj5pgc7&invite=970375516

I had this on a powerpoint once, but thanks to my silly broken external hard drive, I had to recreate it tonight after going out for my birthday dinner. :-P

CougCenter

by Jeff Nusser on Mar 14, 2009 12:14 AM PDT reply actions

Happy Birthday!

Sorry I’m a day late, but Happy Birthday nonetheless!

by SW WA Coug on Mar 14, 2009 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions

Thanks!

CougCenter

by Jeff Nusser on Mar 14, 2009 8:19 PM PDT up reply actions

There are only two ways to win your final game as a collegiate team, thanks to all the conference tournaments.

Actually, you forgot three other possibilities:

1. Be an independent, win your last game of the season, don’t get invited to anything.
2. Be so bad that you don’t get a bid to your conference tournament (possible in some leagues like the A-10), but manage to win your final game.
3. Schedule a game after the end of your conference tournament. (If EWU had beaten St. Mary’s yesterday, they would almost certainly have ended their season with a win. I think they also managed not to qualify for the Big Sky tournament, which may be carrying “trying to finish on a high note” a little far.)

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Mar 14, 2009 10:57 AM PDT reply actions