So my beloved Saint Joseph's Hawks fell in the first round of the NCAA tournament, while Villanova extended its maddeningly inconsistent season with a trip this weekend to the Sweet 16. I suppose I can take some small comfort in the fact that Wildcats fans will have to trek to (shudder) Detroit to enjoy watching their team play. Petty, I know, but I don't feel terrible writing it. S|C
PASSION DOESN'T come any purer than at Philadelphia college basketball games. You read about the frenzied, manic atmosphere any time the city teams play each other, and after a while your eyes kind of glaze over the copy. And then you go the Palestra and you sit on one of the backless benches and you encounter a thunder you never knew existed. Even if the teams on the floor are sleepwalking through their respective seasons, they play these games as if a Final Four berth were at stake. Their fans -- students, alumni, pep band, cheerleaders -- act the same way. My senior year at Saint Joseph's, back before the renaissance of the last decade, the Hawks were going nowhere, but somehow they had strung together a good Big 5 season, and in their last City Series game, they downed La Salle to capture the crown. I was an editor at the student paper, and we ran a banner headline on the front page reading, "WE WIN!" Nobody felt it was inappropriate.
In 'A Tale of Two GMs,' It's the Flyers Who Enjoy a Happy Ending
THE 76ERS sacked Billy King today, and the only possible reaction is "It's about time." The Sixers have been in a downward slide ever since Pat Croce was pushed out by Ed Snider, and King could not reverse their fall despite throwing everything he had against the wall to see what would stick. (Chris Webber's contract was about the only thing that did.) Ed Stefanski is getting good initial reviews in what he did with the Nets, but he has a hell of a mess to clean up here.
Elsewhere in Comcast-Spectacor land, the Flyers have been one of the NHL's biggest surprises this season. Paul Holmgren has been a revelation as general manager, engineering creative, effective trades, successfully trusting his young head coach, and overseeing a first-place squad. About the only blemish on his brief tenure as GM is his team's regrettable return to the cheap-shot hockey of its past. There are now plenty of skill players in Philadelphia; it's a shame the national headlines are about the Flyers' goons instead of their stars. S|C
Surprising Flyers, Puzzling Sixers Appear Headed in Different Directions
WHILE PHILADELPHIA laments the Phillies' demise and scratches its head over what to make of the Eagles, the Flyers have quietly come roaring out of the gate. They shut out their old nemesis the Devils last night, notching their fifth win against just a single loss. With Paul Holmgren transitioning the team from the lumbering grinders of the Bob Clarke era to a squad that's younger, quicker, and more skilled, the Flyers have proved themselves worth keeping an eye on. It'll be fun to watch them come together this season.
Their Comcast-Spectacor siblings, meanwhile, have struggled through the NBA preseason. The 76ers have not been as swift as the Flyers to adapt to their new circumstances; in the case of the Sixers, it's finding an identity in the post-Iverson era. They did a nice job in the second half last year, better than a lot of people thought they would, but they have a lot of work to do in figuring out what kind of team they're going to be. The Sixers are 0-4 thus far, albeit in meaningless games. Samuel Dalembert is on the shelf with a foot injury, greatly limiting the team's defense, and the Answer's 25 points per night are showing up on Denver's scoreboard. There are good, likable, young players here, but they haven't coalesced yet. I don't envy Maurice Cheeks his job. | SC
ALLEN IVERSON'S line from the Nuggets' 93-78 playoff loss to San Antonio the other night, which sent Denver home for the summer:
44 minutes, 21 points, 6-for-22 FG
Sound familiar?
IN 10 seasons at the University of Kentucky, Tubby Smith compiled a very impressive 263-83 record and won a national championship. And yet Smith just bolted Lexington for Minnesota, where, presumably, a .760 winning percentage is something to be proud, not ashamed, of.
In two seasons with the Phillies, Jon Lieber has gone 26-24, with a 4.52 earned run average. And yet Lieber thinks this thoroughly mediocre tenure entitles him to tell his bosses how he should be used.
Odd world, sports.
DESPITE COPY-EDITING this year's ESPN.com NCAA Tournament guide, I never got around to getting into a pool this March. What that means is that I can watch the games with some purity, pulling like mad for underdogs without having to worry that upsets will destroy my bracket. And so Duke's defeat last night and Notre Dame's this afternoon had me smiling at the downfall, however temporary, of a couple of smug, self-satisfied programs. I can pray that Reggie Theus's New Mexico State Aggies continue to give Texas all it can handle, as they are late in the first half as I type this. And I can delight that surely every big-conference stumble causes Billy Packer's gut to clench just a little bit tighter.
IT PAINS me to write this, and if you tell anyone, I'll never be your friend again, but what Jay Wright and Villanova did this season was damn admirable. Last year was the Wildcats' show, after all -- 2006-07 was The Year After, and for programs such as Nova's, The Year After is almost always a hit-or-miss proposition. For the 'Cats to return to the Tournament, and as a 9, is not an insignificant accomplishment. After the Rolex Rollie and Whining Lappas eras, Wright is not only a hell of a coach and recruiter, but a seemingly decent guy as well. So how the hell am I supposed to despise Villanova under such circumstances?
EVERY YEAR there's one team widely perceived as having been royally screwed by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, and this year's hard-luck case is Philadelphia's own Drexel Dragons. Bruiser Flint's squad put together a fine season that included very impressive road wins over some strong teams, but in the end, its inability to rise above the rest of its conference was its downfall. Flint thinks he played by the unwritten rules the committee has lain down in recent years for mid-majors that want at-large bids, and I suppose one can make a case for that. But no one ever said the Dragons were a lock -- their inclusion in the tourney was never automatic, and so while failing to hear their name called by Greg Gumbel yesterday is a crushing disappointment, it can't be said to have been completely and utterly unexpected. Another win or two in the Colonial would have pushed Drexel well inside the bubble and saved the gallons of ink being spilled today to spew about the putative injustice of its NIT bid.
IN CASE you were wondering, Ed Snider, grand poobah of the Flyers and 76ers, "ain't happy" that the teams under his charge completely suck ass:
"Whenever it gets to the point that I don't want to win, I'm quitting," Snider said. "If that's the way I have to be responsible for the team, I'm quitting.
"If you think I'm sleeping well... I'm miserable. This is the worst year I've ever spent in sports, and I ain't happy."
A clear-eyed glance in the mirror might do Snider some good. He was the one who allowed Bob Clarke to eschew the NHL's evolution from big and slow to fast and skilled. While the rest of the league changed, the Flyers remained dinosaurs, and are now paying the price. And it was Snider who forced out Pat Croce, setting in motion for the Sixers an appalling series of coaching changes and roster makeovers, none of which have helped. Croce isn't everyone's cup of tea, but he placed results above all else, and when he didn't get them, he didn't waste time farting around; he fixed his mistakes quickly and moved on. Ed Snider did a lot of good for Philadelphia sports, but he is an executive whose time has passed.
