I haven’t done one of these for awhile, but there’s plenty of stuff going on that’s flying under the radar.
Deadspin this week profiled two former Drake Basketball greats in their series, “Tell Me When It’s Over”. Willie Wise and current Drake color analyst Dolph Pulliam recalled their run to the Final Four and facing UCLA, and more importantly, their lives post-basketball. This is a must-read for Bulldogs fans around the world.
Ty Duffy of The Big Lead pens an opinion that I agree with wholeheartedly with regards to the punishment handed down by Roger Goodell to New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, General Manager Mickey Loomis, and assistant coach Joe Vitt for their involvement in Bounty-“gate”. Duffy reminds everyone that the criticism towards Goodell is not only shortsighted, but unwarranted for the most part.
Greg Hall, popular Kansas City sports media blogger has quotes from Missouri basketball star Kim English during his appearance on KCSP 610-AM with sports talk show host Nick Wright. English, who has struggled with speech disfluency (stuttering, for which I know very well from my experience), had a lot to say, including his opinions on several college basketball analysts.
Duffy also reports that John Infante, the college compliance officer behind the well-informative and insightful “Bylaw Blog” is shutting down the blog, effective April 7th. “Bylaw” is a look into NCAA regulations and decisions. Namely, what does the NCAA do, why do they do it, and the effects of it. I will miss this site a lot. I hope Infante, or someone else, down the road will either bring it back or create a new site that helps fans understand the inside look at NCAA rules.
Craig Fuhrman of the NY Times writes this great story about an end of an era in Indiana. The Wigwam was the home of Anderson (IN) High School for many years when basketball was king. This recently past basketball season is the first that the Wigwam did not host a game. The economic conditions and the shift of popularity from prep basketball to prep football in Indiana has put the game of basketball at a larger crossroads.
It’s time to get your martini, whiskey sour, or Old Fashioned on: Mad Men makes its return after a 17-month hiatus with its long-anticipated 5th season. Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times interviews Mad Men director Matthew Weiner about the return of Don Draper, Roger Sterling, and company, as well as Weiner’s need to keep things under wraps about what this season will bring.
Some somber news over the past few weeks that deserves to be mentioned by me. Whereas everyone across the country is talking about a certain story in Florida (I don’t need to tell you what it is), there are several individuals whose lives were tragically cut short. I chose to mention them here because they are part of my extended families (hometown, high school, and college) that are near and dear to me.
It’s easy to follow the current cause celebre, and that’s fine to do that, but personally for me, the deaths of the following hits closer to home for me. Please take the time to read these stories.
Civility Is Not Dead...Yet 