The Real Coach K

My love for the game of basketball (copyright: Marc Jackson) is no secret to those who know me, for those of you who don't, let me just tell you I love basketball. With that said, a couple months ago when I was given the opportunity to coach my own 3-4th grade basketball team while getting paid for it, I quickly accepted the "job" offer. I felt that coaching would allow me to become a better basketball player because it would force me to view the game from a different perspective. No longer was I forced to remind myself of the two rules of dealing with a demanding basketball coach, "rule #1) the coach is always right, rule #2) when the coach is wrong refer to rule number one" because I was the coach and during coaching hours, I would always be right. Every idea I came up with during late night conversations I had with my dad on what one of my coaches was doing wrong, would be put to the test. My self proclaimed immense "basketball IQ" would also be put to the test. Lastly, those who claim such a smart-alecly (keeping it PG) person would never be able to succeed with little kids, would be able to have their hypothesis tested.

When it was time for the first game, I was extremely anxious, I had limited knowledge on the kids ability (there are no practices and I had only seen them do drills for about a month) and had spent the previous 5 minutes attempting to devise a playing strategy. I settled on an offense that would push the ball hoping to get as many fast breaks as possible and a defense that would force turnovers thanks to good ball pressure and the natural complications of a 3rd and 4th grade offense. Of course I didn't share that idea with the kids, but I knew what I wanted them to do and if I could properly convey the message, they would do it.

After winning our first two games, we hit a rough spell, losing two in a row to 2 of the better teams in the league. However, despite the losses, I noticed something about my team. We were beginning to form an identity, we passed the ball extremely well, played great defense, and would get 7-8 fast breaks a game (capitalizing on about 2-3 of them). For the first two games Noah (my co-coach) and I would encourage the kids to get into a defensive stance, to bend their knees, to be aggressive, and by the fourth game they did it on their own. After our back-to-back losses, we got hot again winning our last three games before the playoffs started.

After cruising through our 1st playoff game, we faced the Kobe Bryant of our league in Eli Roth (The Great One). In the 1st game we faced him, he torched us for about 15 points (that's about 40 in a high school game) and basically beat my entire team on his own. I was put in a position where I felt I would need to game plan to stop The Great One. The Great One was limited in the 1st quarter, but his buddies decided to show up, putting us in an 8-1 hole at the end of the 1st quarter. Nevertheless, my guys fought back and going into halftime, The Great One was down 11-10 and the defensive game plan that was put together was looking pretty good. My guys held it together in the 2nd half too, eking out a 3 point win after it looked like The Great One had tied the game on a 3 pointer that rimmed out after hitting the backboard.

That win put us in the championship.The championship gave us a rematch to avenge our 2nd loss of the season. Only this time, we weren't facing a very effective one man show. The Georgetown Hoyas (name of the team we were playing, not the real Hoyas featuring Chris Wright--the most underrated guard in the Big East) had a squad! Thanks to some anxious nerves, questionable calls (I hope the Big East doesn't fine me), and good Hoya defense, we were down four going into halftime. Sensing the game was slipping away from us, I made a change at point guard. I put our tallest player and best passer at the point in hopes of getting some better looks against this aggressive and overzealous Hoya defense. At first the move looked like to would pay off, we made a run to get within one point, but couldn't get over the hump. The Hoyas protected their lead and beat my UConn Huskies for the 'ship.

Afterwards, I reflected on the season and my three things I learned: 1) I now know why a good deal of coaches don't sleep, they care just as much as the players, sometimes more, 2) I took this more seriously than I anticipated (at times I had to laugh at myself) 3) the refs always suck. Sadly, losing in the championship now has me on the hot seat for next season and if we don't win it next year, the AD said I probably shouldn't have quit my day job, which explains the birth of this blog.

Consistently Inconsistent: Being a Maryland Sports Fan

By Eric Yde

Being a University of Maryland sports fan can be one of the craziest fan experiences one can have. One day, they look like one of the best teams in the country; the next day, they're getting blown out by a team in the cellar of the ACC. Two words effectively describe Maryland sports: consistently inconsistent.

The best example of this is the basketball team. A traditionally solid team, they have gone to the NCAA Tournament 22 times, but have been erratic over the last several years.

In 2003, the basketball Terps went 29-4, cutting down the nets for their first NCAA championship. They then fell from NCAA champion to, in 2005, missing the tournament altogether, going 19-13 and losing in the NIT. In that season, the Terps start to become inconsistent. They lost to George Washington early in the season, then beat Duke, a perennial powerhouse, twice, and finished up by losing four of their last five regular season games, three of their losses coming to unranked teams. The Terps then lost their first game of the ACC Tournament to Clemson. The next year, they had an identical record and returned to the NIT, where they lost in the first round to Manhattan. Yes, Manhattan. In 2007, Maryland suddenly became a good team again, beating Michigan State, Duke (twice), and North Carolina and finishing up 25-9. They won their first game of the tournament, against Davidson, before being knocked of in the Round of 32 by Butler. College Park was optomistic for a return to basketball glory, but their excitement was gone after the next season. The Terps went a wildly inconsistent 19-15. After beating Illinois, the Terps lost to Virginia Commonwealth, then, in back-to-back home games, lost to American and Ohio. Seven games later, the Terps stunned North Carolina at Chapel HIll, then lost to Duke at home the next game. Maryland then finished weakly, going 2-5 to end the regular season, losing in the opening round of the ACC tournament, and being eliminated in the second round of the NIT by Syracuse.

By now, Terps fans were calling long-time, sweaty coach Gary Williams to be fired, and last week, fans were almost completely fed up with the Terps after being hammered by Clemson. The Terps had beaten Michigan State and Michigan already this season, but an embarassing home loss to Morgan State demoralized the Terps and their fans. Then, on Saturday, the Terps took on #3 North Carolina at home. Honestly, I did not expect the Terps to win, let alone keep it close with UNC. The Tar Heels led by nine at the half, and, with just over 14 minutes left, was ahead of Maryland by 16. Down 10 with about four minutes left, the Terps launched a fiery comeback, and guard Grevis Vasquez hit a runner with 12 seconds left to force the game into overtime. UNC never lead in overtime, and Maryland shocked everyone with an 88-85 victory, led by Vasquez's triple-double. The crowd at Comcast Center went crazy, storming the court with the screaming players. Williams, after one game, had the support of the fans again. And Maryland looked like a stellar team. Typical Maryland Terrapins.

Special Teams More Than Just Special

By Eric Y

For decades, special teams specialists in the NFL have been among the lowest paid in the league. Last year, the highest paid kicker, Sebastian Janikowski of Oakland, made just over $3 million, and the highest paid punter, Chris Kluwe of Minnesota, made $2.6 million. Kicking the ball for a living has earned players significantly less money than those who run or throw it.

Also, these players have THE worst job security in the league, perhaps even in professional sports in America. No matter how consistent you are, if you screw up even once in clutch time, you could be out of a job. For example, Mike Vanderjagt is the most accurate kicker in NFL history, making 86% of field goal attempts. However, he missed a few crucial field goals while playing for the Cowboys in 2006, and was released. He is now playing in the Canadian Football League, and has not returned to the NFL since. This lack of job security combined with the small salaries makes the life of an NFL kicker or punter not seem worth all the stress.

Now, however, these players are beginning to be recognized. Yesterday, Tennessee re-signed former all=pro kicker Rob Bironas to a four year, $12 million contract, the highest in the NFL for a kicker. Hours later, Oakland made punter Shane Lechler the highest-paid punter in NFL history, by resigning the former all-pro to a four year, $16 million deal.

Its about time teams started to recognize the importance of these players. For decades, games have been lost due to poor special team play. Kickers have missed critical field goals and punters have shanked kicks late in games far more often than coaches would like. In clutch time, having a good kicker and/or punter is one of the most important things a team could have.

Nevertheless, punters and kickers still have the smallest average salary amongst NFL players. On their wish lists for the offseason, general managers put special teamers near the bottom. Kickers are rarely drafted, and draft picks are almost never used on punters. These players, who play such an underappreciated role, get no respect from NFL front offices.

As special teamers become even more and more important to the success of NFL teams, maybe more teams will wise up like the Titans and Raiders and pay the guys who often determine the outcome of the game.

The Sun is Rising

By: Kufere "McBloggin" Laing

Since the firing of Terry Porter and resorting back to their previous "7 seconds or less" offensive philosophy, the Phoenix Suns have averaged 141 points per game and are 2-0 in the time span. Although, both wins came at the expense of the Clippers (now known as LA JV) who probably couldn't hold Central Catholic's JV to 90 points, the Suns seem to be rejuvenated. Amar'e Stoudemire has been playing like a "flat out stud" (copyright: Steven A. Smith), Steve Nash now looks like the all-star he once was, and the addition of Jason Richardson make the Suns' offensive attack even more forbidable. Secondly, changing back to the 7 seconds or less system (7SL) allows the Suns to get the most out of their personnel. In the 7SL, Leandro Barbosa was among one of the best 6th men in the league, this year his minutes have dropped and unsurprisingly, so has his production. Barbosa was a match-up nightmare for opposing teams in the 7SL due to his speed, however Terry Porter's slow down system didn't allow for Barbosa to get in the open floor and attack defenses while they were retreating. Barbosa was forced to attack defenses off the dribble in an offensive set. This limited the space Barbosa had to operate and also allowed the defense to help on drives in which he beat the primary defender. In fact, only Shaq benefited from Terry Porter's change in strategy. Porter's "slow down, grind it out" system did not fit the Suns at all considering they do not have one "lock down" defender and a team full of athletes who thrived in the 7SL which allowed for fast breaks and created more offensive possesions in case key players were not knocking down shots. The system also allowed Steve Nash to use his immense court vision to find cutters, holes in the defense to penetrate, and to make a play through improvisation. Porter's system allowed for little of this and had the offense run through an aging past his prime, yet still effictive, Shaquille O'neal.

Nevertheless, the Suns are still not a contender in the Western Conference, yet. This is almost the same team (with the addition of Richardson and subtraction of Boris Diaw and Raja Bell) that lost in the first round of the playoffs last year and as of now would not make the playoffs in the Western Conference. Also, Nash's inferior defensive ability hurts the Suns often forcing them in help defense early in the shot clock allowing for open shots for shooters or holes in the defensive rotation for either a cut or easy uncontested drive to the basket. Next, due to the hole the Suns dug themselves into (and by Suns, I mean Terry Porter, I'm going to rant a little here; could there have been a worse hire for this team? He didn't even last one full season and wanted to run his offense through a 37 year old with bad knees and cut off all his teams drives to the basket) during the 1st half of the season, they will likely end up matched up against the Lakers, Spurs, or Nuggets in the 1st round. These three teams would all be favored to beat the Suns and to be honest, the Suns do not match up well with any of these teams. Their history with the Lakers and Spurs is well documented and although they have beaten the Lakers in the past, I doubt they would do the same this season. The Lakers (assuming Bynum returns--and you know what they say when you assume) will be able to put out a front court in the playoffs with the smallest player being 6-11! This would basically end all Nash drives to the hoop while making life difficult for Amar'e and Shaq if they choose to double team and more importantly it would allow the Lakers (aka The Varsity) to control the boards and dictate the pace of the game. The Nuggets also present match up problems for the Suns due to their athleticsm of their front court and Chauncey Billups's ability to physically defend Nash and wear him down in the post over the course of the series. Lastly, with all the Spurs have done to the Suns in recent years, could anyone really see them beating them when it mattered? This Christmas it seemed like the Suns would finally get a quality win against the Spurs, but Roger Mason drilled the game winner (Nash got beat by Parker forcing Richardson to help, leaving Mason open in the corner). Then last season, after an epic Game 1 to start the playoff series, some questioned would this be the greatest 1st round series ever, only for the Spurs to make quick work of the Suns in only 5 games. And who could forget Robert Horry's hip check sending Nash into the 123 row of the stands (or at least after Nash made a quick run to the bathroom to dry his tears, all in all, a great flop job...he is an international player after all) and inducing Amar'e and Diaw's one game suspension which gave the Spurs all the help they needed to get to the Finals and win another NBA title.

But don't get too down Suns' fans, your team is now back to playing fun basketball and who knows, they might just shock the world, get to the Finals, thank god, and become set up a battle to see who really is The Team of Destiny (Yes, the Suns have an opportunity to play the Team of Destiny card, along with every other NBA team; hate to spoil the surprise)

For the Love of the Game?

By Phil Ferguson

I’ve always watched interviews with the big stars of the day, those who are constantly in the limelight, whose professional contracts are absurd, making sometimes 5 to 10 million dollars per year. I am astounded at how often I hear that they ask for more, and they protest that their contract does not measure up to their talent and current performance. There are foreign players that are now flocking to the NBA in droves, perhaps because of their need for competitive play in the country that is the powerhouse of basketball in the world. This is true, I am sure, for a certain percentage of players who truly play for the love of the game. However, there is nearly always a driving force behind dramatic, intercontinental moves.And its color is almost certainly green.There was a time when kids would play in gyms around the country with the goal of having fun or passing the time, where kids would slip and slide in old sneakers on dusty courts. Now always is the standing message that if you’re good enough to go to the NBA you’ve got it made, no more financial worries. Imagine, for one second, AAU leagues in which kids didn’t always run around newly waxed hardwood floors in the brand new Nike or Reebok shoe. Imagine that you could turn on ESPN and watch an entire hour without a single notion of players who are complaining because their 2 million a year just doesn’t cut it, that owners need to up the ante or watch their stars become fresh meat on the trade markets in the middle of the season.Idealistic, eh?Perhaps, but were ever the barriers of the social norm broken with limited thinking? If David Stern took to the podium with media’s cameras flashing and announced that the NBA would continue without offering their players or coaches a salary, immediately the league would crumble because of the flight of both crucial parties. Profits would plummet, jobs would vanish, and whole stadiums would close. But what if some stayed? What if there were players, not necessarily stars, but players nonetheless, who remained in the weight room, on the track, working out to play the game they love. And what if some coaches kept the dry-erase boards in hand and the play books fresh? These would be perhaps a handful, but each of them would share the idea that The Game is still just a game, and meant to be played that way. And maybe, just maybe, the courts would fill again, and the empty benches replaced with occupied seats. Sure they’d play in community gyms, and yeah maybe they’d all have to work day jobs. But really, is there an alternative to a money-oriented league with greedy players and cheating referees? Perhaps what I suggest is impossible, but so was flight and men walking on the moon. If there’s one thing I have learned from watching professional sports today, it is that the really sincere men and women don’t need to hold numerous press conferences to profess their financial woes, or their lack of concern about their pay. Funny thing about the latter too. The final lesson here I think, is that to remember one commonly perpetuated lie. Whenever someone says it is not about the money, it is only too painfully obvious that it is all about the money.

Go West, Ken Griffey

By Eric Y

Sports are a lot different nowadays than they were 40 years ago. Players bulk up using steroids and sign multi-million dollar contacts. Also, almost no player spends his whole career with one team. Fans have seen players who have been the face of their franchises for a decade traded or cut.

Brett Favre was never supposed to play for a team other than Green Bay, and last year he started for the Jets. Fred Taylor spent his whole career with the Jaguars, racking up 11,271 yards, yet Jacksonville still cut their all-time leading rusher this week in favor of the younger Maurice Jones-Drew. The Saints also released their all-time leading rusher, Deuce McAllister, to create more salary cap room. Trevor Hoffman, baseball's all-time leader in saves, had been closing out games for the Padres since 1994, but he reported on Valentine's Day to spring training as a Milwaukee Brewer.

It seems like no player stays with one team for all of his career anymore, which is exactly why I want Ken Griffey, Jr. to return to Seattle.

For all of the 1990's, Griffey roamed the outfield for the Mariners, snagging fly balls and hitting monster blasts into the stands of the Kingdome. Then, "The Kid" left Seattle for the Reds, in order to be closer to his family in Cincinnati. Griffey suddenly plunged from 10-time Golden Glove winning MVP to aging, injury-prone outfielder. He was in his ninth season with the Reds when he was traded to his third team, the White Sox.

Today, Griffey is a free agent and in negotiations with the team that drafted him, the Mariners. Him making his farewell tour in Seattle would be the best thing for baseball right now. With Alex Rodriguez's legacy tarnished by performance enhancing drugs, Griffey would be the anti-Barry Bonds, making major accomplishments without steroids (as far as we know, that is.)

Of course, it wouldn't be exactly the same. Since Junior left for Cincinnati, the Mariners have moved into a new stadium, Safeco Field, and gone through four managers. The only thing that remains from Griffey's tenure is the Mariner Moose, the mascot. But that doesn't mean the move back to the Mariners wouldn't be great for baseball.

If "The Natural" could return to the MLB's second-worst team in 2008 and turn it into a contender at age 39, it would be a storybook ending to the career of one of baseball's all-time greats

Team of Destiny

Every year in each sport, there seems to be a team that shocks everyone by transforming from perennial "bottom feeder" to "championship conteder". For instance, this past season in football we saw the Arizona Cardinals come within 34 seconds of beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Superbowl. Then there were the Tampa Bay Rays, who had never had a winning season until this year, but somehow ended up in the World Series and in the process allowing every baseball article in America to change their name to the Upstart Tampa Bay Rays (from now on I will refer to the Tampa Bay Rays as the Upstart Tampa Bay Rays). Now, as the second half of the NBA season gets underway, the Cleveland Cavaliers have surprised everyone (or at least most)by jumping out to the 3rd best record in the NBA. Now, the Cavs do not belong in the same boat as the Upstart Rays or the Cardinals, they made the playoffs last year and gave the Celtics all they could handle while they were at it, but honestly, who woulda thunk Lebron and the LeBronettes would be in a position where they could contend for a NBA title. In past seasons, the Cleveland Cavs (ok enough of the Cleveland Cavs--theyre now known as the LeBron's) have been a solid defensive team and gave the offensive responsibilites to LeBron. This allowed me to correctly predict come playoff time the LeBron's would be "two and through" (except for two seasons ago where Detroit forgot that they had to win the conference title to go to the NBA Finals). Nevertheless, with the addition of Mo Williams, the LeBron's have changed their playbook and become more innovative on the offensive end. Their playbook instead of consisiting of three plays "LeBron 23 heave" (LeBron heaves a contested 23 footer as the shot clock expires) not to be confused with "LeBron 17 heave" (same idea just 6 feet closer) and last not least "LeBron to the Hoop" (LeBron drives to the hoop and either dunks, gets fouled, or throws the ball through one of his teammates' hands) now has about ten. Still, the LeBron's are an average (at best) offensive team and need a little more innovation if they truely are going to become the NBA's team of destiny. This was extremely evident in their last match-up against the Lakers. In the second half, L.A. held Cleveland to 30 2nd half points while holding LeBron to 16 points on 5-20 shooting (over the entire game). With LeBron not shooting well and struggling to get to the hoop due to the Lakers length, Cleveland lacked movement (both ball and player) on offense thus making it more difficult to move the ball via the pass. If the Lakers can hold the LeBron's to 30 2nd half points, how are they going to score against Boston in the playoffs? Lastly, to obtain the name team of destiny you must a) make a surprise run through to get to your sport's championship and b) make unwarranted references to god to explain why you are winning. Still waiting for a member of the LeBron's to thank god for their run.

PS: Baseball's Team of Destiny- Pittsburgh Pirates (possibly more to come on this one)

This is...GARBAGE TIME

Hey,

Were Kufere and Eric and together we make Garbage Time sports blog. Were going to talk all sports (not really, sorry PBA Tour and you Pro Bass Fishing, maybe next time) all the time. So just sit back and start reading suckas!!