by Tom Weppel
We’re right in the heart of the conference season, where teams beat each other up, and only the toughest survive, as everyone jockeys for tournament position.
Its quite evident who the top teams are, with Memphis, Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, and UCLA leading the way. While a number of other schools are competitive, those five are the cream of the crop.
To me, the skill level and play of college basketball has dropped in recent years. Before the NBA required that players have at least a year of college in their resume’, a number of kids were jumping straight to the pros, thinking they were gonna all be the next LeBron James. For many of those players, things didn’t work out.
Locally, you can look at Kwame Brown as a prime example. Brown went from high school in Brunswick to the NBA, and was playing with the Lakers recently, until his being traded to Memphis. Kwame unfortunately never has gotten his act together, and Los Angeles wasn’t happy with his play. Hence, his being part of the Pau Gasol deal last week.
If Kwame Brown had gone to college and played for a few years at the minimum, he would’ve developed his skills, while also learning life a little better, and it all would’ve helped him progress with his career. I don’t see him ever really being anything else but a decent seven-footer, which is unfortunate.
Meanwhile, the college game today isn’t as sharp as it used to be. Players in college are looking at the school as nothing more than a stepping stone to the pros. Every kid sees a guy like Greg Oden, who left Ohio State after a year, and they believe that’s what its all about. As a result, college teams recycle themselves constantly. There’s no consistency at all in programs. Starting lineups are made up of more freshman than ever before. Its frustrating to watch for fans, and coaches are going crazy trying to keep their programs at a high level.
Schools like Florida, with a stand out Head Coach in Billy Donovan, are totally few and far between. At least kids with talent have a strong desire to come play for Donovan. That isn’t the case at most other schools. Even ACC schools like Florida State aren’t doing well. The Seminoles continue to struggle to move up the ranks.
And of course, I can’t even compare local schools like JU and UNF to the major programs. The Dolphins are luckily doing a decent job in conference play, while the Ospreys are pathetic.
For all intents, there is no solution to the problem. I feel its gonna stay this way for a while. And while the NCAA Tournament will continue to be a massive money-maker for the likes, the level of play will not be top notch.
Eldrick Woods has played two tournaments so far this year, and he’s won them both. Last week, he flew over to Dubai to hang with the boys on the Euro Tour. I’m guessing he also has some good relationships with the oil barons from the Middle East as well. Hence, his trip over yonder.
And damn if Tiger didn’t come away with a helluva win, overcoming what for him was mediocre play, all to pull out two birdies at the end of his Sunday round, then watch as Ernie Els couldn’t keep up.
The bottom line here is that Tiger is now so much better than all the other players, he’s making them look like nothing but a bunch of weekend hacks. Its crazy, for all intents. For the PGA Tour, I consider it to be a very tough challenge on their part to keep things going when Tiger is NOT playing that weekend. They must keep interest in their tournaments in oh so many ways, because sooner or later golf fans won’t care about what tournament is playing if Woods is not in it.
Let’s face it: its come to the point where the Tour is simply Tiger versus “the other guys!” And while Woods without question has made the Tours massive amounts of cash in all sorts of ways, his presence has also created a tough situation for the PGA to handle. His power as a personality, as a businessman, and as an athlete, are very, very strong. Without Tiger, the PGA Tour would not be bear as popular as it is now.
This week the Tour is in Pebble Beach, which obviously is a prime spot for the Tour to play. Let’s see what Woods does this weekend, and who, if anyone, can challenge him.
We’re now only a little over a week away from the Daytona 500 and the start of the season. If you are a fan, you might want to get a guide and resource book, so you can study who’s driving for who, who’s sponsoring who, and who now has what numbered-car. There is THAT much change going on with the NASCAR circuit this season.
Even the names of the series have changed. Its not the Nextel Series and the Busch series anymore. Sprint has replaced Nextel, and Nationwide has taken the place of Busch. Fans are gonna have to think twice before talking racing this year, without question.
The most prominent move of all has got to be with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He left his step-mother and DEI, switching over to Hendrick and is joining Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Many fans are not feeling right about this, for sure. He will be driving the #88 car, instead of #8. And there’s no Budweiser, either. The National Guard will be on Dale’s car. THAT, my friends, is gonna be flat-out spooky. People won’t even realize he’s out there driving anymore!
And so all eyes will be on Junior to see what he can produce and there will be plenty more to discuss for the 500 coming up next week.
Tom Weppel talks trash with Greg Larson, Lonnie Marts, Eugene Chung, Artis Gilmore, and Ron Duguay on SportsAvengers.com 24/7.
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