Yes, I’m a few days late on this - but the NBA Hall of Fame (in pristine Springfield, Mass) announced its 2007 class. Sadly, Dick Vitale was not part of that induction class. In an earlier exchange, Tank mockingly suggested that announcers (like Dickie V) had about as much business being enshrined into the HOF as… say… referees.
Hmmm… let’s take a look at the list of 2007 inductees:
I have completely given up on the NBA. It is totally unwatchable at this point, and I have even turned down free tickets to see the Bucks. It is hard to ignore, however, what is happening in Milwaukee this year. The team has been decimated by injuries.
Blown Away.
That sums up Day Four of March Madness for me and my bracket. Through the first three days (40 games), I only got seven wrong. I’m not only feeling good about myself, I’m feeling nearly invincible. Then Day Four hits. On Day Four alone, I got five wrong out of only eight games (including Wisconsin, who I had going to the Championship Game). I feel like Corey Haim cuz I am now officially “Blown Away”.
I’ve got Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, and Texas A&M - with Georgetown beating Wisconsion for the title. Why? I’m not really sure. I went round by round, and this is how it ended up.
I don’t follow college basketball nearly as religeously as I should to properly fill out a bracket, so I used the approach mastered by Dr. Ray Stanz. That’s right. I cleared my mind, and then just went with the first thing that popped into my head. So think of Georgetown as the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man i.e. when I’m asked why I have that Final Four, and specifically Georgetown winning it all, I’ll simply respond, “I couldn’t help it. It just popped in there.”
What say the rest of you? Let’s get on record before the upsets starting raining down like Eric “Sleepy” Floyd jumpers!
Dick Vitale is up for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. This is his third nomination. It should be his last… not because he doesn’t belong. On the contrary, it should be his last because… he finally gets enshrined.
And boy has he earned it; with just over a month left in the season the team is five games UNDER .500 and sitting pretty in EIGHTH place in the East. So for mortgaging the team’s future to secure a losing record and a tenuous hold on the right to be Detroit’s sacrificial lamb in the first round of the playoffs, James “My dad bought me a basketball team” Dolan extends Isiah’s contract. I’m not sure who is worse; Isiah for wrecking the team, or Dolan for paying him to do it. In most states, destroying something that doesn’t belong to you is at least a misdemeanor.
Not sure if any of you caught the end of the Duke / UNC game, but I don’t think there has ever been a time where an annoucer was more offbase.
For those who didn’t hear the call of the game or the highlights, here is the situation. Carolina is up by 12 points with 18 SECONDS left to go in the game. What that should tell you is that the game is OVER. The chances of Duke coming back are zero. Hansborough, Carolina’s 7 foot starting center is at the line and on the court with the rest of the starters. Duke has basically its starting team still in the game as well. Hansborough misses the free throw, but gets the rebound. As he goes up for the shot, a Duke player knocks the ball out of his hand. Moments after another Duke player Henderson gives a hard foul that was similar to a move you would see in the WWF. I mean he crushes Hansborough’s nose with his elbow. Hansborough hits the deck, his face is covered in blood, and his nose is broken. Before being able to retaliate, he is restrained by his teammates and eventually led to the locker room. Packer instantly before even seeing a replay claims that the foul was unintentional.
After seeing the replay clearly showing the ball no where in the picture, and Henderson leading with his elbow, Packer is even more convinced. He goes on and on stopping just short of saying that there shouldn’t have been a foul called on the play. He criticizes the refs for controlling the situation by kicking Henderson out of the game (which automatically includes a one game suspension) saying they went way too far.
Several thought here:
1. Why is Hansborough and the other starters still in the game
2. If the refs hadn’t kicked out Henderson, there may have been another incident in the last 18 seconds
3. In the NBA this would have led to a bench clearing brawl… .no question about it.
4. If the game was between Florida International and University of Miami, Packer would have had a different reaction, basically similar to what everyone said after that brawl in football this year.
5. Maybe Duke doesn’t run such a “squeaky clean program” and maybe Coach K doesn’t have the control of his team that he used to.
Anyone else a bit surprised that DJ has never seemed to garner much HOF consideration?
Consider the resume: