Running at the Mouth

Fire Mike Brey Now

Bringing its conference record to a sterling 1-5, Notre Dame lost last night to Georgetown in double OT.  As things stand, ND is in jeopardy not of missing the NCAA Tournament, not even of missing the NIT, but of missing its own conference tournament.  This is inexcusable, and it's all at the feet of Mike Brey.

The fact of the matter is that Mike Brey has failed to develop a single player in his 5+ years at Notre Dame.  Chris Thomas actually got worse between his freshman and senior years.  Torin Francis was the national high school player of the year, and Mike Brey still hasn't taught him how to execute a single post move.  On the recruiting trail, Brey is enamored with soft, perimeter-shooting small forwards who can't create their own shots.  ND can't win a close game because Brey's playing checkers while the opposing coach is playing chess.  The next time we run an actual play on offense will be the first, and I can't even tell what Brey is coaching on defense. 

The bottom line is that we've gone from a Sweet 16 team to a team that lost to Holy Cross on our own floor in the first round of the NIT.  I threw up in my mouth just typing that.

In the '70's and to a lesser extent the '80's, Notre Dame was a top basketball program.  We can be again.  The administration rightly fired Tyrone Willingham because his teams regressed under his leadership and he was thoroughly and consistently outcoached during games and outrecruited during the winter, spring and summer.  The administration should, indeed must, hold Mike Brey to the same standard.

She's Just Sharon From Tha' Block

In a move reminiscent of when your mom would try to use current teenage slang in casual conversation, attorney/blogger/friend Don Burton hips me to this sad, desperate quote from Sharon Stone's iTunes playlist:

"For me, Biggie Smalls was the most talented rap musician/composer ever. That's it."

There's nothing more pathetic than an aging hipster.  The day I take advice about rap music from a 60 year-old white woman (wait . . . she's only 49?  Holy crow; she's got more wrinkles than a Sharpei) is the day I ask Lil' Bow Wow for recommendations on the great Big Band music of the '20's and '30's.

Let's be honest.  The only time I ever want to hear anything from Sharon Stone is when she (or her husband, but preferably she) is being mauled by a komodo dragon.

Bob Kennedy to Retire

Bob Kennedy, the standard for American distance runners for more than a decade, announced his retirement this week:

So Kennedy, a two-time Olympian who was America's dominant distance runner for a decade, on Friday announced his retirement from racing.

Kennedy, 35, said he would concentrate on his business ventures and support the candidacy of his wife, Melina Kennedy, who is running for Marion County prosecutor. The Kennedys became parents of twins, Marcus and Sophia, on Jan. 11, 2005.

I liked this quote from Bob:

"I made a great living, traveled the world and met special people because I ran in circles quickly. And that's lucky."

We were lucky to have seen you race, Bob.  Kennedy holds the American records for 3,000 and 5,000 meters (12:58!).  He was the Man, and he will be missed.

Two other things worth mentioning:  (1)  Indiana claims Kennedy as its own, since he was born in Bloomington, went to college in Bloomington, trained in Bloomington, and lives in Indy.  Big deal.  He won his high school state championship and national high school championship while running for Westerville North in Ohio; and (2) Bob's son Marcus is a shoo-in to join Bill Simmons's Reggie Cleveland Hall of Fame (for athletes and coaches with names that belie their ethnicity) if he ever does anything even remotely noteworthy athletically.

Another Vanity Post

Because I like being humbled, I ran the 3,000M at the Jack Harvey Invitational on Saturday, at the University of Michigan.  I finished fourth . . . out of seven.  I got to the meet, looked at the heat sheet, and when I saw there were only seven of us in the race, I figured I was racing for sixth.  So, at least in that sense, I exceeded my expectations.

I also continued my drive back to mediocrity, running 9:17, which is roughly a 9:54 two mile.  It's also 17 seconds faster than I ran at Kent State, which is a larger track.  I'm not sure if that's owing to increased fitness on my part or that I didn't run the Mile like I did at Kent.  Either way, I'll take it.

Bitter Kenya Spites Lagat

In May 2004, 31 year-old Bernard Lagat, a Kenyan by birth, became a U.S. citizen.  In his career, Lagat has won two Olympic medals in the 1,500M, two silvers in the world indoor 1,500M, and gold in world indoor 3,000M for his birth country.  Kenya, in a fit of pique, is denying Lagat a waiver to compete for the U.S. in the U.S. Indoor Championships and the World Indoor Championships this year. 

See, under IAAF rules, Lagat cannot race internationally for the U.S. for three years, unless he gets a waiver from Kenya to do so.  And it's a good rule.  It keeps countries like Qatar and Denmark from buying African champions to compete for them in the Olympics and Worlds.  But that's not what's going on here.  Lagat became a U.S. citizen on his own accord, and competed for Kenya for his entire career.

Now Kenya is saying, "Sorry, Bernie.  You'll have to wait until you're 34 years old and past your prime (for the middle distances, anyway), to compete on the world stage again."  What crap.  Kenya's like the ex-girlfriend who won't give you your CDs back, even though she knows there is no chance of reconciliation and knows full well she's acting badly.  Only it's 100 times worse, since Kenya is screwing with Lagat's livelihood -- sponsors don't exactly throw money at guys who can't run in the biggest events.

Jim Rice: Screwed Again

Jim Rice fell 54 votes shy of election to the Hall of Fame.  Rice, the most dominant hitter of his era, has but three years left on the ballot.  How the man is not in the Hall is a total mystery to me.  He was one of the most (if not the most) feared hitters of his time.  He had a career OPS+ (OPS normalized to league average) of 128.  His career OPS is 110 points higher than the league average.  Top 5 in MVP voting six times (won it in 1978).  Top 10 in BA six times; top 10 in SLG eight times.  I just don't see how he's not in.

And don't even get me started on Bert Blyleven.   

Fiesta Bowl Tomorrow?

It must be tomorrow, because the Irish sure didn't show up to play today.  Jeff Samardija, who has been so great all year, had his worst game of the season by far.  On offense, Darius Walker and Maurice Stovall were the only two guys who showed up to play today. 

On defense, our safeties were dreadful -- how can you play an entire season and not learn to not bite on the playaction pass every fucking time?  Our defensive line was weak; Troy Smith had all day to throw, and he picked our defense apart.  I can't believe ND blocks two field goals, causes two (actually three, to my mind, but one was overturned) turnovers and still lost.

Had we played like we played against USC, we win by two touchdowns.  Instead, we played like we played against Syracuse, and deserved to lose.

The only other thing I would add is that I'm surprised that Brent Musberger and Gary Danielson could be so easily understood in the booth, what with so much of Troy Smith's and A.J. Hawk's dicks in their mouths.

National championship and Heisman trophy for Brady Quinn next year.