COLLEGE GREATNESS

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I must admit, this has been a phenomenal NCAA tournament. This tournament has had most of the elements that we love about the annual month of madness which college basketball provides us with each March. We have seen “Cinderellas” upset highly seeded teams. We have seen great individual performances, and we have seen TEAMS prove that even though they may seem less talented, the sum of their parts is better than the more talented individuals they faced. This tournament has also shown us why coaches are so important in college basketball. Some of the in-game adjustments that have been made have been absolutely brilliant (Rick Pitino’s change from a zone to man defense in the second half against Florida immediately comes to mind). The only thing that this tournament is missing is the dramatic buzzer beater to win the game. But, hey, we still have one game left, so it’s still a possibility.

While watching some of the great individual performances in this year’s tournament and throughout this college basketball season, I couldn’t help but to let my mind wonder and try to figure out where these players rank against the college basketball greats that came before them. That is when I decided that in this blog entry, I would name the top 5 college basketball players of all time (one per position). I quickly realized that I wouldn’t be able to do a good job on that list because I am not old enough to have seen some of the greats play. For instance, Bill Walton is widely considered to be one of the best college players to ever play. However, since his college career took place in the early 70’s, I really don’t have an informed opinion of him. So with my 30-year-old frame of reference, I decided to instead create a list of the 5 best college basketball players since 1990. This is around the time when I really got into college basketball, and for the purposes of this blog that means I am qualified to create this list. I know that there will be players that are left off the list that some of you feel were better players than my top 5. If that is indeed the case, please feel free to chime in with your opinions in the comments section found at the bottom of this blog entry. These players are simply the top 5 in MY opinion. I recognize the high probability of dissension here and I look forward to your rebuttals.

Although the players on this list may have gone on to have great NBA careers. That was not a factor in creating this list. This list is based strictly on their performance in college and the impact they made to the college game.

My starting five are….

Point Guard   

Allen Iverson: Simply put, college basketball has never seen a player this dynamic before him or since he moved on to the NBA. Before Iverson was the “Answer” to all of the NBA’s problems, he was the first truly dominant guard to hit the floor for a University known for producing great big men. Even in college, Iverson was bigger than life. He was a rock-star who had the game to live up to the persona and swagger that seemed to precede him. He could handle the ball as good as a Harlem Globetrotter, could get to the basket anytime he damn well pleased, and was also an excellent shooter. He was unstoppable in college, and had some of the best duels in college basketball history with my pick for shooting guard. Fortunately for Iverson, this is a list of the best college basketball players and not the best student athletes. If that was the case, he definitely would not have made it. The fact that Iverson has blown nearly the entire fortune that he amassed while playing in the NBA, tell us that he didn’t exactly take advantage of the free Georgetown education. However, if it wasn’t for his spectacular basketball skills, he would have never had the opportunity to blow such a fortune. As JaMarcus Russell might say, “It’s better to have been a rich and lost it all, then to never have been rich.” He is without a doubt the best point guard to play college basketball in the last two decades.

Honorable Mention: Mike Bibby, Stephon Marbury

Shooting Guard

When the basketball gods created the position of shooting guard, Ray Allen was definitely the prototype that they had in mind. Allen was one of the most complete college basketball players that I have ever seen. He was his team’s best perimeter defender (evidenced by the fact that he always drew the defensive assignment on Iverson), a great ball handler, and could also beat his man off the dribble. Oh yeah, there’s one other thing. He has the best jumpshot in the history of jumpshots. During his time at UConn their offense was completely built around him. Their offense mainly consisted of running Allen off of a series of complex screens to get him open shots. There have been other great shooters to play college basketball since Allen, but none of them possessed the ability to go by defenders who played them tight to prevent them from getting their shot off. Allen was simply that good. I will never understand how UConn coach Jim Calhoun was able to convince a kid from Los Angeles to come to Connecticut to play college basketball. I don’t want to assume anything on the matter, but whatever Calhoun did to get Allen, it was well worth it.

Honorable Mention: Stephen Curry, Richard Hamilton

Small Forward

I initially struggled with this pick. I was initially torn between Jalen Rose and Grant Hill. Both had stellar and memorable college careers. After thinking about it a little more, I ultimately chose Grant Hill. Then while writing about Hill, I instantly realized that I had made a mistake and that Hill was definitely not the right selection. An epiphany struck and I remembered the dominant force that was Carmelo Anthony during the 2002-2003 season. Anthony, much like Ray Allen, is the embodiment of an offensively complete basketball player. During his lone season at Syracuse, Anthony was simply unstoppable. He averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds per game. Anthony was able to score at will, and no one could come close to stopping him. He was a superb shooter that could also punish opponents in the post. Anthony also showed that he could handle the ball like a guard. Every time Anthony stepped onto the college basketball floor, he was hands down the best player in that game. Jim Boeheim will forever be indebted to Carmelo for single-handedly winning him his only national championship.

Honorable Mention: Jalen Rose, Grant Hill

Power Forward

Michigan’s “Fab 5” will always be remembered by college basketball fans for their impact on the game (long shorts & black socks), as well as their raw basketball talent. On a team filled with some of the best players in their recruiting class, Chris Webber was without a doubt the Alpha-male. The moment he entered college, he immediately became the best power forward in the nation. Without Webber, Michigan would have been just another talented college basketball team, but with Webber they were legit championship contenders from day one. The fact that Weber’s college career ended in infamy doesn’t take away from his collegiate brilliance at all. Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, and Chris Webber will always be remembered together as the “Fab 5”. However, Chris Webber was without a doubt Michael Jackson. The other four were immensely talented, but compared to Webber, they may as well had been “Tito”.

Honorable Mention: Tim Duncan, Larry Johnson

Center

Yes, I am a Kentucky fan. Yes, this list spans a 22-year period. However, my bias towards Kentucky has absolutely nothing to do with my selection at center. Anthony Davis is simply the most dominant force in college basketball today. On a team full of High School All-Americans, he clearly stands out as the best player. The best description that I have seen of Davis’ ability came from Bomani Jones (via twitter). He said, “Anthony Davis is make you giggle good.” That pretty much sums it up. Sometimes while watching Kentucky (I watch all of their games every season), I find myself chuckling at the plays that Davis routinely makes. What’s amazing is that Davis can completely control the game without taking a shot. He has blocked 180 shots this season (including the postseason). His 180 blocked shots ranks HIM 11^th in TEAM BLOCKED SHOTS. That’s right, only 10 TEAMS (including Kentucky) have blocked more shots than Anthony Davis this season. He is also averaging 14 points per game. This is also incredible once you consider the fact that he attempts only about 8 shots a game. On a team as talented as his, everyone can score, so everyone has to fill a role. His role is defensive stopper and paint dominator. On a less talented team with him as the clear number one option on offense, he would easily average 25 points per game or more. Oh yeah, you can also pencil him in for 10 rebounds per night. He is hands-down the best and most dominant center to play college basketball in the last 22 years. I dare you to find someone better!  .

Honorable Mention: Shaquille O’Neal, DeMarcus Cousins

And now for my Baller & Scrub of the Week….

BALLER – Guggenheim Baseball Management: Everyone meet the new owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Guggenheim Baseball Management consists of Magic Johnson, Stan Kasten, Peter Guber, Todd Boehly, and Bobby Patton. These gentlemen pooled their resources and came up with $2 BILLION to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yes, they overpaid for the franchise, and yes it was a terrible deal because they didn’t even get all of the parking lots in the deal, but the fact that they had $2 billion dollars of disposable income between them to make this purchase, gives them Baller of the Week status. To add insult to injury, this was an ALL CASH PURCHASE! That’s right, they didn’t finance a penny. I double dare, matter of fact, I double-dog dare another rapper to go into the recording booth and tell the world how much he is balling. Unless he can call up four friends and come up with $2 billion, I don’t want to hear it. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to pull together a group of my friends to make such an enormous purchase, but right now, I doubt that we could even afford an indoor women’s professional soccer franchise.

SCRUB – The Charlotte Bobcats: The Bobcats have a 7 and 43 record this season and are currently riding a 7 game losing streak. This is absolutely horrible. It’s now time for team owner Michael Jordan to call NBA Commissioner David Stern and ask for a small favor as repayment for all of the money that Jordan made for the league during his playing days. I’m sure that Jordan would consider rigging the NBA lottery so that the Bobcats were sure to get the first pick in the draft ample repayment. This pick would certainly be used to select Kentucky’s Anthony Davis in the draft, and hopefully usher in a new era of Bobcat basketball. If they don’t get the first pick, look for more of the same from the Bobcats next year as well. To put in perspective how bad they are, Larry Brown couldn’t make them a winner. This is the guy who even made the Clippers of the early 90’s a respectable team.



This is my list, if you disagree feel free to share your list in the comments section.

Follow me on twitter @scashhomey for updates

THE EXPERIENCE OR THE GAME?

FOOTBALL SEASON IS IN FULL SWING!!!! This is by far my favorite time of year because I am such a big football fan. The perfect fall sports weekend for me would consist of watching one or two college football games on Saturday followed by watching every possible NFL game that I can all day on Sunday and then on Monday night. Although I like college football quite a bit, I definitely prefer the NFL.

I know and have met a lot of people who are huge football fans. Some of them are college and professional fans, but the majority of them prefer one or the other. Although there are some exceptions, the majority of the die-hard college football fans that I have met do not like the NFL at all. While on the other hand, most of the NFL fans that I know (including myself) like college football also but simply likes the NFL better. Although they are both share the name football, these are definitely two very different games. With that being said, I will evaluate what I feel are the differences between the two games. Hopefully this will explain why each game attracts the type of fan that it does.

GAME DAY ATMOSPHERE
The differences in the atmosphere at an NFL game can’t be compared to that of a college game. The atmosphere for a big game between two major college football teams is among the best in sports. If you don’t believe me, tune-in next Saturday night for the game between USC and Ohio State. The stadium will be electric and you will be able to feel the excitement through your television screen, especially if you are watching in High Definition. By far the coolest thing to witness in all of football (especially in High Definition) is the “White Out” by Penn State fans when they play a big home game at night. College tailgating is also much better than tailgating at NFL games. The main reason for this fact is that most college games are played on Saturday, and most people don’t work on Sunday, so they can get as drunk as their body will allow. On the other hand NFL tailgaters have to be careful because they have to be able to make it home and get ready for work the following day.

The main difference between professional and college crowds is “THE STUDENT SECTION.” This section is filled with drunk college kids who are at the game simply to continue the party from tailgating that morning and getting ready for an after party that night. More often than not these students know very little about football, but go to the games because it is the thing to do on campus and they are a lot of fun. The rest of the stadium is filled with alumni, locals, and fans of the other team who are all dressed up and ready to yell and scream in support of their team for 3 ½ hours. At the schools that have top tier college football programs, each game day is an event, and it is just an amazing experience. Especially when ESPN’s College Gameday broadcasts live from their campus.

In contrast, NFL tickets have gotten so expensive that the average fan can’t afford to go to the games. It’s getting to the point that NFL stadiums will soon have more luxury suites than regular seats. The seats in the lower sections of the stadiums are beginning to look more and more like corporate shareholders meetings and less like football games. However, the average fan can still afford the upper level tickets (just barely) in NFL stadiums. That really takes away from the atmosphere of the game, when the majority of the die-hard fans are sitting so far from the field, strictly due to the economics of the game. I think it is funny that the NFL stadiums that have the best “atmosphere” like Kansas City and Denver are thought to be so great because they have a college-like atmosphere.

RIVALRIES
In my opinion, this is by far where college football has the advantage over the NFL. There are some great rivalries in the NFL, such as Colts – Patriots, Giants – Cowboys, Chiefs – Broncos, and Packers – Bears just to name a few. Although they are usually very good games that cause a lot of excitement, they can’t hold a candle to the traditional college rivalries. Think about Michigan – Ohio State, Georgia – Florida, Auburn – Alabama, Florida State – Miami, Texas – Oklahoma, and USC – Notre Dame. No matter the state of the programs or the records of each team going into these games, when they meet you can throw out the records. These games excite their fan bases more so than any game does for NFL fans.

STYLES OF PLAY
The college game offers a variety of styles of play, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. There are teams that run the “Spread Offense,” the “Option,” the “Pro-style Offense,” the “Triple Option,” the “West Coast Offense,” the “Shot-Gun Offense,” and a variety of other styles or systems. It makes for some very interesting games. The phase, “Styles make fights,” which is often used in boxing also applies to college football games.

On the other hand, in the NFL everyone basically runs a form of the “West Coast Offense,” a heavy “Shot-Gun Offense,” or the traditional “Pro-style Offense.”

UNIFORMS
As a whole college football teams have much cooler uniforms than NFL teams. Don’t get me wrong there are some really cool uniforms in the NFL, such as the Falcons, the Chargers (powder blue throwbacks), the Denver Broncos, and the Arizona Cardinals, just to name a few. However, Nike really works hard to keep the college teams looking good. The University of Oregon has so many different uniforms that they never have to wear the same combination twice during a season. I have noticed that the new NFL uniforms are starting to look more and more like the college uniforms.

Jersey numbers are also much cooler in college football. The NFL has absolutely ridiculous rules that dictate the jersey numbers that a player can choose according to their position. That rule is about as stupid as the NBA age-limit. Who cares what a uniform number a player chooses. Personally I like to see defensive ends and linebackers wearing single digit numbers. I think it looks really cool. The NFL even fines players for not wearing particular socks or having a tinted helmet visor. They have to have something better to worry about than Clinton Portis’ choice of socks.

POST SEASON
The worst thing about major college football is the fact that they have this stupid Bowl System instead of a playoff system. In college football voters and computer calculations decide who gets to play for the championship. That is the stupidest thing in sports. This is a flawed system on so many levels. By not letting things be decided on the field, you open the door for constant whining by fans, players, and especially coaches. It was an absolute embarrassment for the sport when Auburn was left out of the National Championship game following the 2004 season. They were passed over for Oklahoma, who was beat like Rodney King by the USC Trojans. It is a shame that although all three teams were undefeated, Auburn was passed over because they started the season ranked lower.

I almost forgot, you can’t get rid of the bowl system and implement a playoff system. If you do that, we will no longer have the GMAC Bowl, the Music City Bowl, the Smurf-Turf Bowl, or the all-important Emerald Nut Bowl. What on Earth would we do without all of these games between six and seven win teams?

The NFL on the other hand has the best playoff format in all of sports. It is very simple. If you win your division, you are in the playoffs. There are also two wild-card spots per conference, which gives teams that can’t win the division something to continue to play hard for.

COACHING
Do I really need to go into any detail here? I will simply make one statement. THE VAST MAJORITY OF COLLEGE HEAD COACHES (EVEN THE “GENIUSES”) CAN’T CUT IT IN THE NFL. If you don’t believe me, think about Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Bobby Petrino, Butch Davis, and Lou Holtz just to name a few. NFL coaches are simply more knowledgeable about the game and work harder to be successful.

TALENT
The talent gap between major college football and the NFL is ridiculously wide, as it should be. The fact that there are approximately 120 Division 1 college football teams with 85 scholarship players each compared to 32 NFL teams with 53 player each should explain the talent gap. Over the years there have been many college football players that people thought were great that just couldn’t cut it in the NFL. I am sure that you remember the stellar NFL careers of Jason White, Eric Crouch, Chris Weinke, Danny Wuerffel, Andre Ware, and the GREAT GINO TORRETTA. Oh, you don’t? Me either, and all of these players won the Heisman Trophy, which allegedly makes them the best player in college football.

The size and speed combination of NFL players is absolutely ridiculous. There are defensive ends in the NFL that are fast enough to catch such speedsters as Reggie Bush and Michael Vick from behind (given the proper angle). There are wide receivers in the NFL that are big enough to be defensive ends in the college game.

The talent is also more evenly distributed in the NFL than in the college game. Colleges build their teams through recruiting. This basically means that it is possible for a couple of teams to amass all of the talent and leave the programs with less money to pay their players with the scraps. This talent gap means that there will be a lot of 65 – 14 games over the course of the season. These types of games even take place within the same conference. Watch the USC v/s Arizona game. The average margin of victory in Division 1 college football is close to 20 points per game, as opposed to an NFL of slightly more than three points. Due to the fact that the talent is so close among NFL teams, any team can win on ANY GIVEN SUNDAY!!!!

Although we all have NFL players that we think are terrible (think Brodie Croyle, Fred Smoot, Fred Thomas, Alex Smith, Rex Grossman), we must remember that everyone in the NFL is a good football player. The things that they can do on the football field are simply amazing.

QUALITY OF THE GAME
The quality of play in the NFL is so much better than that of the college game, that they really shouldn’t both be called football. This is of course due to several of the factors that were mentioned earlier. First of all, the quality of the coaching In the NFL is so much better than that of the college game. The NFL game is usually a more crisply played game with fewer penalties, which can be attributed to the fact that the players are professionals. The routes are very precise, the hits are much harder, the backs hit the hole much quicker, the blocks are more devastating, the plays are more intricate, and the game is so detailed. When it comes to precision and execution, the NFL is head and shoulders above college football. For instance, a receiver in college football is considered open when he has three yards on a defender. On the other hand, an NFL receiver is considered open when he has one step on the defender. The NFL quarterback then has to be able to get the ball to that receiver, while keeping it away from the defender.

THE STUPIDEST THING ABOUT COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Although this entry is about comparing college football to the NFL, I must get off the subject for a second and rant about what I believe is the stupidest thing about college football. I don’t understand PRESEASON RANKINGS!!!! How in the world can you rank teams before you see them play? Two things have happened this week that don’t make any sense to me. First East Carolina started the season unranked. Apparently this was a mistake because they have proven to be better than Virginia Tech (ranked 17th at the time) and West Virginia (ranked 8th at the time). After these two victories the Pirates have finally proven worthy of being ranked, they are 14th in this week’s poll. How do you explain this? The other thing that leaves me puzzled is that fact that Georgia started the season ranked number one and won their first game rather convincingly, yet they were jumped in the polls by USC. Basically the same people who thought they were the best team before the season, punished them a week later for winning like they should. Now I am by no means a Georgia fan, but this is ridiculous. I know that all college sports have pre-season rankings, but they are especially stupid in football because more often than not you final poll position is affected by your starting poll position. Remember there is no playoff system, so it will not be decided on the field. Also, remember that the voters do not always watch the games. They simply read box scores or watch SportsCenter. What a way to decide who is better!

THE EXPERIENCE OR THE GAME
As I stated earlier, the college and NFL games are very different and everyone is entitled to have their preferences. These are the two most popular sports in America (NFL is #1 followed by College Football at #2), so we know that a lot of people really enjoy both of them. Personally I like college football, but I absolutely LOVE THE NFL. Based on my observations of football fans that I have come across, I feel as though college football fans are usually people who love the experience of the game, while NFL fans are people who love football!

Which do you prefer, THE EXPERIENCE OR THE GAME?


****NOTE (on a totally different subject)****
I found it rather amusing that Daunte Culpepper retired from the NFL. I wasn't aware that you can retire from a league when you are not currently in the league (he was not on a roster). If the knee injury suffered by Tom Brady is serious and he is out for the season or an extended portion of this season and the Patriots call Daunte Culpepper, do you really think that he is going to tell them, NO THANKS, I'M RETIRED? I don't think so, which means that he is not retired, he is simply not on a team.


****COUNTDOWN TO ELECTION DAY****
WE ARE NOW 58 DAYS AWAY FROM ELECTION DAY!!!! ARE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE? IF NOT DO SO TODAY!!!! STAND UP AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!!!