Thursday, July 28, 2011

The Sixth Man: NBA Point Guards

Anybody missing basketball yet?  Let's talk point guards ala one of ESPN's latest roundtable discussions. 


1. Who's the best point guard in the NBA today?

Maybe this time last year I would have said Rondo- despite his flaws, I love purist point guards, and he's as pure as they come-but this year's playoffs made me think twice.  Chris Paul is a machine.  Be honest, did you expect the hornets to contend as much as they did in this year's playoffs?  They may have lost 4-2, but they were in every single game down to the wire, and it was probably the most purely entertaining from a basketball standpoint- as opposed to the off-the-court-storyline standpoint that surrounded the Heat-Mavs final series.  CP3's postseason play this year was absolutely superhuman, a wonder to behold, an instant highlight reel from start to finish.  He elevated a shaky offensive club into an efficiency machine with a combination of leadership, distribution, shot selection, and energy that is incredibly rare.  He's the general I want leading my army on the floor over anyone else in the NBA today.

2. Who's the most underrated point guard in the NBA today?

Part of me wants to say Stephen Curry, but he's still putting the pieces together/learning to actually play defense.  (If you want proof of that, consider that the warriors were in the top 2 practically all year in points allowed, right up there with the Knicks)  Part of me also wants to say John Wall, because he played incredibly all year, but the hype surrounding him only lasted about six games until he nabbed his first triple-double.  I'm going with a guy already pretty far up the food chain- Deron Williams.  He's a fantasy basketball staple and a frequent offender on the highlight reels, but as a fellow blogger stated, "analysts and experts alike seem to develop amnesia when discussing the league's best point guards."  D-Will gets in there and does his job.  He often times doesn't have the Hollywood touch, but he puts up beyond solid numbers night in and night out and is as reliable as they come.  He is undervalued, even as a perceived franchise player.

3.  Who's the most overrated point guard in the NBA today?

I've been saying this forever- Chauncey Billups.  When the big Nugs-Knicks trade happened, I really thought that New York came out on the wrong end of it.  Many people I talked to assured me that I was overreacting and that a big asset that New York had gained was Chauncey Billups.  I really never understood what was so great about him, and now that we're almost six months, half a season, and one playoff session later... well, I still don't.  The guy plays mediocre defense, he's proan to having off nights just as often as he has good nights, and he doesn't have the leadership of a Dwayne Wade or other elite point guards.  He gets a rap from the media and others of being a top tier guard when I would only put him as above average.

4. Who's the most promising point guard in the NBA?

I think John Wall has somehow become a cliche answer to this question by now, but I'm still going with the youngin from Kentucky.  His athleticism alone puts him above other young point guards, and he's picked up some serious battle experience in his first year with the wizards- much more than your average NBA freshman would.  I would have liked to at least gotten to consider Kyrie Irving for this question, but the hard truth is that Irving hasn't even played half a season of college basketball.  As talented as he looks, he's beyond untested.  I hold him responsible for Duke's loss to Arizona in the sweet sixteen, and I'm not sure I can look past his selfishness and lack of understanding of the game that I witnessed in that sweet sixteen loss.  Until he can prove me wrong in the NBA, J-Wall is my guy.

5.  Who's the best point guard of all time?

Jerry West, call me unbiased.  He's the logo, Mr. Clutch, one of the all time greats who had as much talent as he did class.  He literally did it all and inspired so many of the other all time greats, playing in the 60's and 70's.  However, the position he played is rather ambiguous, so I suppose I have to give another answer that is a definitive point guard.  That person has to be Magic Johnson.  Magic had every skill set imaginable and was still the pinnacle of humility and grace outside of the basketball arena.  His combination play will probably never be seen again.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

A Tale of Two Cities (and their football teams)

A comfortably warm Sunday afternoon in late September could have held many wonders for me last fall.  A month into school, my roommates and I had developed a system- wake up by 10, brunch by 11, Super Smash Brothers immediately following brunch.  Maybe then we would go outside and throw a frisbee or football.  We would sometimes play xbox.  Usually by 1, we would turn on NBC or Fox to watch football and keep up with the fantasy football league that we all played in together.  Many people had unfinished homework or studying, so friends would come and go as they please from my room, which was deemed the unofficial hangout spot for the year when my roommate Justin bought a 37 inch flatscreen the second day of school. 

On this particular day, we had finished watching all the afternoon football we cared for and had already eaten an abnormally early dinner.  We sat passing an Xbox controller around with Modern Warfare 2 popped in the console.  Small talk was in no short supply as we jumped from topic to topic, when my good friend Brian asked me a hypothetical sports question that was sure to be controversial from the moment it left his mouth.

"Chase, if JMU ever played West Virginia in football, who would you cheer for?" 

I opened my mouth to respond, but no answer came to mind.  It was a difficult question, one that I was surprised I had never thought about before.  We had all just experienced the euphoria that was 21-16, JMU upsetting Virginia Tech in vaunted Lane Stadium.  We all remembered what it felt like to slay Goliath.  It was even more personally exciting for me because I have loathed Tech ever since I was running around tailgating WVU-VT games as an 8 year old- but an upset of that size feels good no matter who you're besting on the astroturf.  I was never prouder to be a JMU student than on September 11, 2010.

And yet... could I really cheer against West Virginia, the University I grew up living around and driving five miles down the road to their home games?  Could I really cheer against my heritage, having descended from a family that is 100% born and bred from the country roads of the 35th state in the Union?  When it came down to it, would I be capable of betraying my past for my present?

And yet how could I not cheer for JMU?  It's the school I love to be a part of, my home, the place where I feel safest... Harrisonburg and the university that resides there is the Hogwarts to my Harry.  How could I wish them to lose when the benefits of a second epic upset would be undescribably monumental?

Lost in thought, I guess I hadn't realized that the whole room was waiting for my answer.  My friends will be the first to tell you that my love of West Virginia sports sometimes blurs the tight line between diehard fandom and creepy obsession, so my answer to this supposedly hypothetical question would be as interesting a conversational topic as could be found. 

"I... I'm not sure."  It was a total copout.  I know the answer all of my friends were waiting for, but I honestly wasn't sure which way I would lean.  "I don't think I could ever know for sure until I was in that moment, you know?  I think if I was at the game, I would know what I was feeling, but not until then."  Satisfied with my answer, I went back to my game... but I think I was the only one that was satisfied.  I took solace in the fact that I would probably never have to face a situation where I would have to choose which of my two schools I would cheer for, and more importantly, which one I would cheer against...

Probably.



That is until this week, when it was officially announced that WVU will play JMU in football on September 15, 2012 at FedEx field, home of the Washington Redskins.  There have been pretty solid rumors floating around for a couple weeks now, but the confirmation came early this week that the game will definitely happen.  The good news, regardless of my feelings or who I wish to cheer for, is that both teams will come out of this game with significantly heavier pockets.  Both teams are guarenteed a flat rate, which additional incentives available depending on the amount of tickets sold.  FedEx, which is actually the largest NFL stadium in the country with something like 95,000 seating capacity, will be hard to fill for a college game which will see a regional powerhouse play an FCS powerhouse.  And yet... WVU fans travel very well, and JMU alumni are all over the Washington DC area (if you need proof, think about how hard it is to go out on a weekend and NOT find someone from nova).   Will this sell out?  Still, probably not.  But don't underestimate the turnout for this game.  Most importantly, JMU students, fans, and alumni, make sure you buy you're tickets through a proper vendor (such as the school), as opposed to scalping them or buying them the day of if it's not sold out, etc...  remember, the school gets extra incentives if we hit a certain mark, so make sure you're ticket is counted as a JMU ticket!

Anyway, back to me.  What the hell am I going to do?  I haven't heard from my buddy Brian because we've both been busy this summer (and Pennsylvania isn't within reasonable driving distance for the 60 hour a week worker), but I'm sure a big smirk lit up his face when he heard the news.  September, 2012?  That's my senior year people.  I don't want to be dealing with this kind of conflict my last year of college!  Possibly more importantly, it's WVU quarterback Geno Smith's senior year.  Smith is considered even as a junior to be a fringe Heisman contender- a loss to JMU would all but eliminate him from Heisman consideration.  WVU would also be eliminated from National Championship contention, a possibility starting this year and, as far as I'm concerned, continuing every year as long as high-octane Holgorsen is around as Head Coach. 

But of course I want JMU's program to flourish!  I can't cheer against them! 

Of course my friends from school are putting all kinds of pressure on me to cheer for JMU.  Meanwhile, I'm getting texts from family members like "don't forget where your roots are!" or "remember, you were in morgantown 10 years before you were in harrisonburg!"  It's clearly an impossible situation; unless they bring ties back to college football, I'm stuck between a mountain and a hard place.


They say old habits die hard.  But until I can bring myself to make that decision, I plan to make a custom shirt for this game.  Blue will be on the right, right next to old gold, which will fade into regular gold, which will be next to purple.  I'm still working on the words. 

For now, I have spent two years in Morgantown and two years in Harrisonburg.  I have one foot firmly planted in each city, and I don't expect to step either way any time soon... but I do wish each school the best of luck.  I can promise that, come Spetember 15, 2012, I will be the loudest one screaming in all of Landover, Maryland- though for who, I still don't know.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

10 Things: Football in July

I'm enjoying some much needed time off work, and you know what that means, readers... time for some blogging.  Here are ten things you may want to know (but might not) to keep up with this year's college football offseason, which is rapidly coming to a close.

1. By now, probably every person in the country has heard something or other about the Ohio State scandal of epic proportions.  Following the departure of quarterback Terrelle Pryor and Head Coach Jim Tressel, Ohio State has vacated any and all wins from the 2010-2011 football season.  This has various implications for the program, the most amusing of which is that Ohio State remains 0-9 against SEC schools in bowl games.  Have a chuckle, readers.  THAT is funny.  Even when they win, they still don't win.

2. It was relatively easy to not hear the dull roar of yet another scandal, this one rising out of Eugene, amidst the loud noise coming out of Columbus, Ohio.  However, the Oregon Ducks now are in the thick of an NCAA investigation centering around Willie Lyles, a "consultant" who exchanged recruiting information on various high school players (such as LaMichael James, Oregon's whiplash-inducing runningback) across 22 states for $25,000 cash.  As the story unfolds and details are slowly released, it seems that the Lyles payment was less about recruiting information and more about recruiting access.  Information seems to point to the conclusion that Lyles sent recruiting information as a red herring to throw any investigators from the NCAA off the trail of what he was really doing.  His real job seemed to be providing schools with an inside track to recruits, a clear violation of NCAA rules.  He provided schools with detailed information on what prospective recruits liked.  He also allegedly used his influence over high school players to push them in the direction of schools who were playing him.  The investigation has centered around Oregon, but LSU and Cal have also come forward and admitted to paying the man.  Because of their openness, LSU and Cal are likely to receive minimal/nonexistant NCAA sanctions.  However, a coverup seems to have occurred at the University of Oregon regarding this matter, and the NCAA will most likely come down hard on the football program just as they did when Ohio State's program attempted a cover up of NCAA violations.

3. This year's College Football Hall of Fame inductions included Charles Haley, a 5-time superbowl winner from the 49'ers and Cowboys.  His significance on this blog is due to the fact that he played his college ball at none other than James Madison University from 1982-1985.  In 1986, he became the first Duke to ever be drafted to the NFL, and he is still the career tackles leader at JMU 25 years after his graduation.

4. Alabama is certainly having a difficult offseason.  Two weeks ago, Coach Nick Saban suspended freshman Keiwone Malone and sophomore Darrington Sentimore for  an "unspecified team rule violation."  In general, this usually means they failed a drug test for marijuana.  Safety Robby Green also left the team after being suspended by the NCAA.  Alabama transfer Aaron Douglas died in May from what seems to be a drug overdose at a party.  Most recently, they lost arguably their top incoming recruit, runningback Demetrius Hart, to a season-ending knee injury.  Alabama is being highly regarded as back to their 2009 national championship form, and these injuries certainly won't help them... then again, a bunch of people thought they'd repeat as national champions last year, and that certainly didn't happen.

5. Former Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier, who cried like the spoiled brat that he is and complained to his daddy when Denard Robinson proved he was a much better quarterback than him left the football program in Ann Arbor when he lost his starting job he had held as a freshman in 2009, is looking to transfer down to San Jose State or Hawaii.  Forcier is certainly not an All-American, but will probably exceed all expectation of a typical Western Athletic Conference quarterback.  Pay attention to the school he transfer to- they will post likely have a prolific air attack.  Forcier has one heck of a canon for an arm.

6. The NCAA has accepted West Virginia's self-imposed sanctions regarding multiple allegations of improper oversight in the Rich Rodriguez era.  WVU took away two of their own 2010 scholarships and one of their scholarships from the upcoming school year.  They also placed themselves on two years probation.  The NCAA did not deem additional sanctions were necessary, so they accepted the self-imposed punishment that AD Oliver Luck suggested.  I speak for all fans of the athletic program when I say that this was the best possible outcome to the situation.

7.  Dual-threat quarterback Russell Wilson from NC State has left the school and transferred to Wisconsin.  Many people consider the addition of a quarterback who is very mobile to an already prolific running-based offense will catapult Wisconsin into the Big 10 preseason favorite conversation.  I am a little more skeptical- I'd like to see how the ACC standout fares against a Big 10 line before I crown the Badgers.

8. The NFL recently counted down their top 100 current players.... Guess which AQ leagues did the best?  Believe it or not (and most of you will not), the Big East led the top 6 leagues with 16 players.  Mind you, this is the Big East including pre-2003-draft players from Miami and Virginia Tech, as they were still in the league at that time, but it's the Big East nonetheless.  The list also featured 12 ACC players.  Many criticize these two leagues for their "toughness," particularly in years like 2010 when both leagues experienced a down year.  Expect the ACC to bounce back a little this year, and the Big East to come back in a big way.  WVU and USF will both be competitors on the national scale.

9. The Director's Cup is awarded to a school every year that outpeforms all other schools in 20 sports, ten male and ten female.  Stanford recently won for the 17th year in a row- with Stanford's very average basketball team in the forefront of many minds, it's easy to forget how dominant they were in last year's football season.  One only needs to look at their postseason performance against Virginia Tech to remember how good they were, not to mention their year-after-year consistent domination in track and field.  Other nearby notable teams are: #5 Duke, #6 North Carolina, #7 Virginia, #13 Penn State, #17 Maryland, #40 West Virginia, #45 Virginia Tech, #50 Villanova, #96 William and Mary, #114 James Madison.

10.  Lastly, and of huge importance... In case you haven't heard, JMU will play WVU on neutral ground (FedEx field, home of the Redskins) next fall.  This is precedent-setting and deserving up national attention, which it most likely will not get.  But allow me to explain some of the reasons why this story is significant.

First and foremost, JMU pulled a stunning upset of Virginia Tech last year in Blacksburg, 21-16.  This upset thrusted JMU onto a national upset scale for the forseeable future, and high profile games such as JMU vs UNC or JMU vs WVU will certainly receive a little bit more attention.  In practical terms, more exposure means more money, and a game in an NFL stadium will mean even more potential money.  While WVU will pocket a majority of the ticket sales from the game, they must then turn around and pay JMU a minimum payment of $350,000 for playing the game regardless of JMU's turnout at the game.  Depending on the turnout, JMU may receive additional revenue if ticket sales for the Dukes cross a certain threshold (in other words, JMU fans, don't scalp tickets.  Buy them through JMU!).  The game is also important for recruiting exposure, as the Dukes' football program will gain exposure in the very large Washington DC market.  Don't underestimate the large amount of alumni from JMU in the DC area- this game is a big deal, win or lose.


I will, as many of you might have already guessed, be writing a more personal entry regarding the JMU-WVU saga.  Hope you all look forward to that piece, as I will most likely be submitting it to The Breeze.  Until then!