Letters to the Editor
number1laing
Published Letters: 100 Editor's Choice: 9
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Chokers?
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Does everyone forget that Kansas went to the Elite 8 last year and lost a very tough game against UCLA? I realize they kind of laid an egg the two years before that, but didn't Bradley then win their 2nd round game and make it to the Sweet 16? That Bradley team was no joke.
But even if they were, isn't that the whole point of the tournament? The "anyone can beat anyone" dynamic? Well, SOMEBODY has to lose to those pesky underdogs!
i really can't stand bill simmons and wish he could be added to the pool o'experts just because his picks are so bad (his writing too, but there's no quantitation for that). his pts (390) and possible (1150) are pretty close to the bottom of the standings. please, king, add him in out of schadenfreude (or some other reason, but that one's all i need).
The whole reason the NCAA Tournament is so fun is because its unpredictable. You might dislike Simmons (he knows more about basketball than just about any writer, though), but attacking him based on his freaking tournament bracket is beyond dumb.
Anyway, I agree that this tournament has been virtually perfect so far. Far more entertaining than 06 or 07. If only Butler or Belmont or American would've pulled it off...
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Good article Gary!
[Read the article: Rev. Jeremiah Wright isn't the problem]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Great article in fact. I am so sick of this knee-jerk patriotism bull. It's so fake and phony. My good father has been a Bush supporter for many years, but he recently switched over and is supporting Obama. He called me up and said that he didn't get this Wright controversey - he also said that he believed, as you did, that Wright was largely correct in what he said! If my father thinks that, than so do many many people not on TV haranguing the guy (who is, by the way, a veteran of the military).
You indicate on the first page that the worst excesses are over, but are they? Remember how Obama took heat for not wearing a stupid flag pin?
Remember, that guy from the University of Colorado lost tenure because he said 9/11 was the chickens coming home to roost. Sure, it took the Colorado administration and right wing nuts, who are nuttier in Colorado than any state save California I think, years to drum up a good reason to fire him, but they did it. If the phony patriotism never died down, he would've kept his job.
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@Kahomono
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wait, so what happens if the person doesn't perform in the classroom after their retirement? Do they have to... pay back the tuition? Gee, how will someone that made millions of dollars every year for a decade+ pay back the $5,000-$150,000 (depending on school and length of time, etc.) the school gave him in college?
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UCLA
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This Bruins team are the definition of the bend but don't break style of play that usually sees results up until the final four game. That's when the pressure becomes a little more palpable, and the stress of making it to the finals turns those close bend games into broken dreams. We'll see.
Except, of course, that UCLA has played one of the country's toughest schedules this season. And that tougher schedule is serving them well now. I don't know if you can read a ton into the WKU game. The defense did indeed get lax but a slightly lax defense doesn't fully explain over 50% 3PT in the second half (excluding some garbage time misses). WKU got hot. It's the tournament.
And Texas A&M is quite a bit better than their #9 seeding let on. Ken Pomeroy has them ranked #18... compare that to some other notable 2nd round matchups for top seeds: Arkansas is #37, UNLV is #50, Mississippi State is #50, Butler is #32, Miami is #40.
But by all means, keep dissing a team that is now 34-3, won its early season tournament, kept a top-5 ranking all year, won its conference regular season, won its conference tournament, earned a #1 seed, and now is in the final eight. Teams that are built to "bend but don't break" don't do that much. They are still one of the favorites in the tournament.
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@mynamehere
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Okay, fair enough. But I wouldn't be so quick to bring out the NE comparison: in the Super Bowl, Tom Brady was clearly hurt and rendered ineffective, and their old defense couldn't keep up in the 4th quarter. And yet it still took a miracle play of the century for the Giants to win. Miracle plays can do a lot (hell thats how WKU got to the 2nd round!).
In the last game, Collison was completely ineffective because of fouling, and the entire team save Collison and Love was ineffective in the game before that. But they still pulled out the victories. Plus, their defense is (unlike the Pats) their strong point. Now, if Kevin Love gets hurt, then yea, all bets are off. But you could say that about any of the teams and their top players.
Now, I agree that their performance thus far has not been enough... but I am pretty sure the players agree, in fact I know they do (they said it last night afterwards). Like I said, they're still one of the favorites.
@Notorious: he's a basketball analyst that applies "sabermetric" type analysis to the sport. www.kenpom.com. If you don't want to believe him, Sagarin has A&M ranked #19. They were by far the best team in the 8-9 seeds the second round.
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@mchebert
[Read the article: Quote of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"When did it become hip to be apathetic?"
I think it really started with Michael Jordan, who presented as bland an exterior as possible in the interests of corporate America. Now, they all do it.
Hmm... that explains athletes, I guess. When it comes to rappers, obviously they *used* to be fiercely political and/or militant. But nowadays white kids in the suburbs buy most of their records. Can't bite the hand that feeds you.