h/t: Rule V Draftee

Thursday 6/17 Game 7 NBA Finals Boston Celtics @ LA Lakers – 8 PM

• StevieY19 (30-17) Lakers over Celtics: Shocker, this one went seven games. I’ll take Kobe to win the title. Let me know what happens.
• His Jesusness Shuttlesworth (16-11) Celtics over Lakers: The staples center will be rowdy but the Celts should still manage to play lights out defense. I picked the Lake Show to win it all in May, but as I have mentioned many times, the mean green has won me a lot of money this playoffs. Ray ray has been cold; he’s due for a performance more like game 2 then games 3 and 4.
• South Side Sheik (25-22) Celtics over Lakers: Every Celtic player has his knees drained for that added boost, Big Baby’s drool overpowers Pau Gasol’s perma-sheen of sweat, and still the game will be close to the end. No blowouts for this last game. Chalk this up to my Eastern Conference bias.
• Player to be Named Later (11-10) Lakers over Celtics:  I picked them to win at the beginning of the series and I’m sticking to my guns.  With Perkins out for the Celtics, expect Pau to have a good game.  He won’t take the spotlight away from Kobe though, who will lead them to victory and get MVP honors.
• Stormin Norman (23-24) Lakers over Celtics: the Lakers are a different team at home, as was apparent in Game 6.  Pau and Ron-Ron play like the all-stars they are (or should be) and Kobe is just Kobe.  The Celtics miracle run has been impressive, but barring some sort of mammoth defensive effort by every single player on the team, this game, series, and championship belongs to the Lakers.

Friday 6/18 World Cup Group C Slovenia vs USA – 9 AM

• StevieY19 (30-17) USA over Slovenia: Damn, should have picked draw in the first match! Slovenia will be pressing for the win in this match, rather than try and get it vs England, to send them into the second round. Pressing and moving forward is not their style and a more possession-minded US starting 11 will cause problems for Slovenia. Big game for Michael Bradley.
• His Jesusness Shuttlesworth (16-11) USA over Slovenia: Check for Altidore to have a huge game. Dude showed a lot of heart as well as skill and speed against England. He’ll be man of the match and help guide the US out of the group.
• South Side Sheik (25-22) USA over Slovenia: Algeria had their best striker sent off and all Slovenia could muster was a 1-0 win. The US is better all around and will be able to take full advantage of their depth in the midfield and up front to wear down the Slovenian side.
• Player to be Named Later (11-10) USA over Slovenia: USA was lucky to get 1 point in the draw against England as they were outplayed most of the game.  However, the US is a better team and they will be playing for the win in this game.  Look for US’s biggest stars, Donovan and Dempsey, to lead the US to victory.
• Stormin Norman (23-24) USA over Slovenia: This is the big win we need.  Coming off the impressive (i.e. lucky) tie with England, a win would give them 4 points and all but ensure they move on to the second round.  Howard’s rib may be broken, but it’s nothing a few painkiller shots can’t fix.

Lolla Song of the Week “Two Weeks” by Grizzly Bear – Brooklyn sounds awesome

So what if Jackson said he was not coming back east to lead the Bulls to another dynasty? That should not have any true bearing on James’ plans, right? Wrong, this is about more than simply wooing a professional basketball player. This summer is about courting a cultural figure who transcends the popularity of the sport in the United States and worldwide. This is an honest to goodness culture war and the Bulls are playing it the wrong way.

First, we fired Vinny Del Negro and demoted John Paxson from GM to VP of Basketball Operations. Then the organization let’s a rumor stating Phil Jackson will return marinate in the media before getting shot down by the Ring Maker right before a playoff game.

Vinny may have been a terrible coach and Paxson may be no Steve Kerr, but now we begin the search for another head coach. A search that only reminds everybody outside of the Chicagoland area how the Bulls could not pull the trigger and at least make Mike D’Antoni hesitate before escaping Phoenix for the bright lights of the Knicks.

The rumor of Jackson’s return to the Second City was lingering in the ether at the beginning of May, but then Chris Broussard goes and releases a story paraphrasing back channel sources. Suddenly PTI and Sportscenter discuss and report the story and Jackson is forced to answer the question before a freaking playoff game. Have we not learned Phil Jackson hates being painted into a corner? Of course he said no, and now he may be even more inclined to say no for real, after the season is over and he starts a public war over taking a pay cut.

We look terrible. We have PR professionals in this city, let’s freaking hire them. Following the example of one Jerry Krause is not the path that leads to LeBron. Instead, we look like the same disorganized franchise that failed to land Tim Duncan, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Eddie Jones, and even Tim Thomas in the summer of 2000.

To put this is another light, Bill Simmons made a point of stating LeBron would choose Chicago if he was truly about winning, but what about our organization says we have a culture of winning? The Bulls have no coach again, no high profile GM, and no chance of landing LeBron as of right now.

This is not to say the other candidates are really any better. The Nets are bringing in a wild card majority owner from Russia, the Knicks are hardly going to surround him with championship material (even with another max guy), and Cleveland just fired the Coach of the Year from last season.

Luckily the sad state of these other franchises and the fact nobody wants to play for the Clippers gives the Bulls a little more than a month to repair the damage done and put the city, team, and duo of Rose and Noah in a better light. Then maybe Bulls tickets will be good for more than a first round exit after a terrible first half of the season and amazing second. Maybe, but it is becoming harder to believe.

Thursday 4/29 Dallas Mavericks @ San Antonio Spurs (Game 6, Spurs Lead
3-2) – 7:00

• Player to be Named Later (5-3) Mavericks over Spurs:  Kind of going with my gut here more than anything else.  And by gut, I mean who doesn’t want to see this series go to 7 games?  Spurs at home won’t be an easy task, but I’ll take Dirk and Co. to get a close win.
• Javier Sandooski (14-10) Spurs over Mavs: Duncan and co are getting old, but Nowitzki and the Mavs aren’t much younger.  The Spurs know how to close out this series at home and not leave anything to chance.
• StevieY19 (19-15) Spurs over Mavericks: The Western Conference makes me laugh.You have to play a little defense to win in the playoffs and the Spurs are playing it well at the right time. At home they close out the series.
• South Side Sheik (16-18) Spurs over Mavs: Home court advantage and Mavs dug themselves too deep a hole to get out of. When you’re depending on two Wizards to provide a spark for your team in two consecutive games, your backs are against the wall. I don’t see Haywood and Butler repeating their performance from Tuesday night.
• Stormin Norman (15-19) Mavericks over Spurs: I was picking the Mavs to make the Western Conference Finals before the playoffs started, and I’m not backing off it yet.  The Spurs were a very tough draw but the Mavs have a lot of talent and should be able to pull this one off on the road.  All they need is a little bit of Dirkness.
• His Jesusness Shuttlesworth (6-8) Spurs over Mavericks: Convincing win for Mavs in Game 5, but the Spurs have proven to be too much at home. The three-headed backcourt of Manu, Parker, and Hill set the tempo in each of the first 4 games, and I see them controlling it here. Oh, and I picked the Spurs to win in 6 in my bracket.

Friday 4/30 Atlanta Hawks @ Milwaukee Bucks (Game 6, Bucks Lead Series 3-2) – 6:00

• Player to be Named Later (5-3) Bucks over Hawks:  I am mostly making this pick because Brandon Jennings is awesome and he looks just like John Starks’ character in NBA Jam.  Short, skinny as can be, and sports a fade.  I love it.  Also, did you see the dunk by the Bucks mascot?  That was awesome.  Really though, the Bucks have been great at home in the playoffs thus far.  They win.
• Javier Sandooski (14-10) Hawks over Bucks: This is the BUCKS!!!  I do not “fear the deer” and they aren’t very good.  The Hawks have much more talent, better players and the sixth man of the year, Jamal Crawford (WTF?)!!!
• StevieY19 (19-15) Hawks over Bucks: This is the first I am learning that these two teams are in the playoffs. Actually, I knew they were in but thought they were both playing the Magic somehow. If Stern had his way, they’d both lose… so look out for that. I really thought the Hawks were much better than the Bucks, but I am in fact fearing the deer with Skiles’ boys up 3-2. The Hawks are really better though, right? They’ll win.
• South Side Sheik (16-18) Bucks over Hawks: The NBA would love for one of these series to go 7 games so that plays in the Hawks favor. But Bogut will dress for this game and line up for the jump ball. With the crowd going berzerk – Section 8 (his group of fans in the lower bowl) lighting off flares and sacrificing a red-tailed Hawk with their bare hands – Bogut goes up with his one good arm, wins the tip, and the crowd remains on their feet for the rest of the game, carrying the Bucks to victory and making the country “Fear the Deer” going into Round 2. Meanwhile, Bogut makes #6 the new #4 in Wisconsin.
• Stormin Norman (15-19) Hawks over Bucks: Hawks.  Period.  The Bucks are feisty and play hard, as all Skiles teams do, but the Hawks are better at every position.  Every single one.  I like them to win this game and the series.  Josh Smith is too good and the 6th man of the year Jamal Crawford will give JJ all the help he needs.
• His Jesusness Shuttlesworth (6-8) Hawks over Bucks: The Hawks are down 3-2 going to the Bradley Center, and that court has been awfully good to the Bucks. However, I just don’t see Joe Johnson collapsing in the 4th or fouling out at a crucial time again. He’ll put up huge numbers and Josh Smith will not get held to under 10 points in 3 games this series. He is due as well. Woodson lives to coach at least one more Game 7.

By Paul M. Banks Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net,

Michigan State entered this past season ranked #2 in the AP poll. They had their struggles in midseason, but played up to the hype when it counted in March. Without top player Kalin Lucas, the Spartans still finished just one HORRIBLE non-call away from playing in the national title game.

Butler star forward Gordon Hayward even admitted it himself, telling CBS’ Seth Davis that he legitimately hacked MSU’s Draymond Green on Green’s potential game-tying shot in the final seconds of the national semi-final game.

It was very cool of him to come clean, and some State fans might feel a little better now about how the Spartans met their Thermopylae. However the hope in East Lansing is that next year’s team will be so good even a miserable FAILURE by a NCAA referee isn’t enough to keep them from the title.

.

Kalin’s torn left Achilles tendon served as a short-term rallying point for his teammates this past March. Winning for Kalin was their “cause” for reaching the Final Four; much like having the Final Four in their home state was the “cause” to reach the title game in ‘09.

“And I think after Kalin went down, everybody just made that commitment to just join together, just try to make a run, And that’s what we’ve been doing,” Lucas’s replacement, another KL, Korie Lucious said during the tourney.

And now Lucas is officially back for his senior season, as is his teammate Durrell Summers, the Midwest Regional’s Most Outstanding Player. The last time both a star Michigan State point guard and a stellar MSU wing chose to stay in school instead of turning pro, the school won a national championship.

Remember 1999, a time when Ricky Martin and really annoying “boy bands” were oppressively popular? Back then Michigan St. was led by a spectacular floor general named Mateen Cleaves, who battled major injuries to lead his team to the Final Four during his junior season. In his senior year, the player famous for his ugly Bill Cosby style sweaters he sported while injured and cheerleading on the bench, came back.

As did Morris Peterson, a talented wing player like Summers. And during the 1999-2000 season, the Spartans earned their second NCAA title in school history.

“We want to follow the same path Mateen and Morris did,” Summers, who averaged nearly 19 points a game during the NCAA, told the AP Friday.

So with Lucas and Summers officially back, what will the supporting cast look like? The only notable senior gone for 2011 is Raymar Morgan, an all-conference honorable mention. He certainly is a key loss, but the Spartans will once again be locked and loaded next year. Their incoming freshmen class is very stellar- highlighted by consensus top 5 center Adreian Payne and Keith Appling, a top ten point guard. Draymond Green has NBA potential too, and he’ll have another year of seasoning going for him next year, as will the talented Derrick Nix and Delvon Roe, who both came to East Lansing with much fanfare.

With all this going for them, it’s hard to think of a better “team to beat,” at least on paper, in college basketball this November.

Head Coach Tom Izzo said it best after the Final Four loss to Butler. Early second-half foul trouble and a roster decimated by injury forced him to play a rather unusual and disjointed line-up. He addressed this issue in the post-game presser, and looked ahead to 2010-11.

“That’s something I’ll learn from. We’re going to do a better job next year. You think our war drill is something now. Next year it’s going to be fist-fighting because I’m going to make sure my guys are never, ever, ever, ever, physically beaten out of a game again,” Izzo said.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

“People are less likely to sue if they feel the organization is owning some responsibility,” said Bernie Dyme of Perspectives Ltd., a Chicago company that creates employee training programs.

The lawsuit question kind of gets pushed to the back of my mind when I hear that quote, however.  Lawsuits are not the only thing that are less likely if the organization owns some responsibility.  An organization that is so eager to shirk responsibility is going to find itself less customers, less qualified employees, and a less profitable product.  This whole situation is just another example of bad business practices by a front office that has been attempting to regain credibility in this city since the great Jerry Krause took a huge dump on their front office’s reputation.

With everything that has happened, do you believe the front office has regressed to Krause-era levels of ineptitude?  An argument could be made that it has.  It’s funny how one lucky bounce of a draft lottery ball can cover up a lot of errors.

(Sidenote: Brownie points to anyone who recognizes the person quoted in that Tribune story.)

By Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net,

In Bill Simmons’ 700 word epic “the book of basketball,” he ranks three current Boston Celtics amongst the top 75 individual players of all-time: #63 Ray Allen, #54 Paul pierce and #22 Kevin Garnett. These three future hall of famers have 28 combined All-Star appearances in their NBA careers.

I was quite impressed that the ESPN Sports Guy was able to keep his Boston homering to a minimum in his very entertaining, informative and even-handed descriptions of Boston’s big three. I half-expected him to rank all of three in the top 50.

Wherever their place in the long term basketball pantheon may be, this star-studded trio, the “Boston Three Party,” will determine if the #4 seeded Celtics can get past #5 seeded Miami. For KG’s comments on the playoff go here.

“We have everybody healthy going into the postseason which is the number one goal going into the season,” star small forward and 2008 NBA Finals MVP Paul Pierce said.

What makes the NBA playoffs a hundred times more interesting than the regular season is that players actually care about playing defense during the postseason. Sometimes. Are the Celtics where they need to be at that end of the floor?

“The sense of urgency has to be there. Hopefully we learned from this (a double digit loss at Chicago, their ’09 first round playoff opponent) and we’re going to come across some elite scorers in these playoffs. We have to learn from these types of games that when a guy gets going, we have to get the ball at the end,” Pierce said.

Chicago’s star player, Derrick Rose scored a career high 39 points on this night.

So will people sleep on Boston because they’re “just” a #4 seed? They did beat Miami in all three of their regular season meetings.

“We’re definitely a team that’s been battle tested. A lot of experience out there, and we know how to win once the playoffs start,” Pierce stated.

Down the stretch, a lot of teams rest their starters and main contributors in order to keep them fresh for the playoffs. However, Boston coach Doc Rivers knows not to rest Ray Allen, the man who truly should have been ’08 Finals MVP.

“He’s a creature of habit, taking away minutes actually hurts him,” Rivers said of Ray.

So what about the trend that’s been KILLING the Celtics lately; by that I mean the best player on the opposing team hurting them? The Heat’s Dwanye Wade is certainly as dangerous as anyone in the league.

“He’s capable of putting up big numbers, and he’s going to have that capability because he’s going to have the ball in his hands a lot of times, so we got to make him work when he’s on defense,” Allen said.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net

As the 2010 NBA playoffs begin, the Boston Celtics are the #4 seed in the Eastern Conference, not exactly where they wanted to be. The 2008 NBA Champions bowed out in the second round of the ’09 postseason, and battled a multitude of injuries and chemistry issues this regular season.

“We made our bed now we got to lay in it, and make the best of it, our goals were a lot higher than this, but we’ll take it,” said star forward Kevin Garnett, who I’m pretty sure is the first and only person I’ve interviewed whose been referenced in an Andy Samberg SNL video. (“I’m on a boat” lyrics include “and like Kevin Garnett, anything is possible!”)

On Tuesday night, the poor Celtics (ok, I’m being facetious, no one ever actually pities the most storied franchise in basketball history) lost their first game in KG’s hometown since The Big Ticket joined the Celtics. Boston is 8-1 in Chicago whenever Garnett suits up for them, 0-2 when he sits out. The Celtics (Please don’t call them “the C’s.” That’s almost as annoying as idiots who refer to pizza as “za.” You can take an extra nanosecond to speak another syllable, your time is not that important- seriously) have spent a lot of the season mixing and matching lineups, and/or playing games where they had to limit the minutes of their stars and main contributors.

When they have had everybody up and running at the same time, Boston still hasn’t been able to generate a cohesive flow.

“Everyone’s trying to find some momentum, rhythm, whatever you want to call it,” KG continued. “We’re no different. I’m just ready for it. I think everyone’s been anticipating this. The playoffs are a whole ‘nother season. I’m up for it,” Garnett stated.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net

With the exception of his BFF Evan Turner, Illinois junior guard Demetri McCamey is perhaps the most written about individual athlete on The Sports Bank. Today “Baby Ben Gordon” announced his intentions to enter the NBA Draft sans agent.

So he will have a chance to return to college next season, and I think he will. Although this is a very weak point guard class, I don’t think he’ll end up a first round pick. So I’ll think he’ll back in Champaign next year. But I think he’s definitely doing the right thing by testing the waters.

Our good friends at Hail to the Orange found this exchange  on Illini HQ.com, it’s Bruce Weber discussing the reality of Cames’ possibly departure and how he’s preparing for it.

How concerned are you that he will leave?

I’m concerned. You know, if he’s a first-round pick, I’m happy for him. He’s got to go. Does it hurt us? Yeah, it hurts us. But a kid only has that window. If he’s not ready my concern is to make sure he does everything right, so he doesn’t get himself in trouble. Whether that’s the agents, taking care of his classroom stuff, so he doesn’t get himself in trouble. I don’t want him hurt for life because some guy on the street told him, “The NBA guys don’t know what they’re talking about, you’re a first-round pick.”

If you add another player in this (2010) class, what are you looking for?

One thing we’re looking for, obviously, is a backup point guard. Six weeks ago, or whenever it was that Demetri had that (good) stretch and his name popped up there, the first thing I said to the coaches was, “We better start looking ahead. Whether he’s a first-round pick or not, we have to look ahead.” We need to at least look around in case something happens. So a point guard. If we found somebody with a little toughness, I think we would look at that.

And here’s an interesting plea for him to stay on McCamey’s Facebook page. This was written on his wall

“1 more please 1 more we will have a chance at a championship richmond u griffey tisdale paul dj leonard bertrand please just 1 more year”

I’m sure Illini fans will agree. And just for s—ts and giggles, I felt it was time to re-publish my favorite Evan Turner quote ever. It’s about hit rivalry with McCamey and it’s from the first exclusive I ever had with Turner.

“We were just so competitive growing up, sometimes I’d be at the gym at night, leaving the gym and I say: ‘Yo fat boy I just put up 400 shots, I hope you’re doing the same thing, because when I see you I’m about to kill you.’ But you know he takes it all in fun. We take it all in fun. It’s about the need to push ourselves, back in high school it was like what did Evan do? What did Demetri do? How did he do? I’m gonna beat him. So it definitely helped us a lot,” Turner said about McCamey.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

The movie “Hoosiers” made it famous, but Butler’s 2010 Tournament run made it a must-see for hoopheads.

The Sports Bank’s Paul M. Banks makes a pilgrimage to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse, and Butler players discuss seeing the movie with the media

INDIANAPOLIS- It’s historic Hinkle Fieldhouse, the sixth oldest college basketball arena still is use. Since 1928, it’s stood here, 6 miles north of downtown, an actual official U.S. historic landmark. Obviously, you heard a few hundred times about how the climactic final scene in the 1986 film “Hoosiers” was filmed here. And about how “Hoosiers” was based on the real life 1954 Indiana state high school championship, the “Milan Miracle” in which the tiny enrollment Milan high defeated the larger powerhouse Muncie Central.

In the film, it’s played by Hickory High and South Bend Central. When I arrived there about a hundred people exploring the fieldhouse, just to see it. Lucky for all of us, the University did not charge admission. They easily could have made a killing off their newly found tourist trap status. Butler’s run all the way to the national title game, conveniently hosted by their own University, is what turned this place into Indy’s Graceland.

You’ll probably recall the scene where Coach Norman Dale (played by Gene Hackman) has his players measure the distance from the free throw line to the baseline and the height of the rim? Because most of his Hickory Husker players had never seen a building over 2 stories tall and he didn’t want them to be intimidated by the size of the “big city’s large gym.”

When I first walked into the Final Four media room, and saw just how HUGE the press conference room was here at Lucas Oil Field, I was amazed by just how big it was. I’ve never seen so many chairs and such a huge stage, for a press conference room and I’ve done the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, NBA Playoffs, and some bowl games, but this is work room in BIG! I’ve never seen so many media guides, and stat sheets, and fast scripts, double or triple the thickness as usual.

But I wasn’t intimated, I remembered the lessons of Norman Dale. No need to measure the distance from microphone to chair. And if you were watching ESPN Saturday night- bam! You probably heard who got the second question in to Mike Kryzyzewski!

On Sunday, two reporters asked Butler Coach Brad Stevens if he copied Norman Dale and brought the measuring the tape out to the rim for his Butler Bulldogs team, because after all the leviathan Lucas Oil Field seats 80,000; which is about 10 times what the fieldhouse seats! Stevens’ did not play along, his answers were boring, cliche and nondescript; exactly like 99% of all his press conference answers.

Here were more Hoosiers related Q and A from Final Four week

Will you make Shelvin Mack watch Hoosiers?

COACH STEVENS: I’m not going to make them do anything out of the norm. We’re going to go over to another site, go through what our plans are offensively and defensively from a technical standpoint.

How many times have you each seen the movie Hoosiers and when was the last time?

GORDON HAYWARD: I can’t really tell you how many times I’ve watched that movie. I think everyone growing up in Indiana watches that movie. It’s always on TV, I feel like. So whenever it’s on, love basketball, love watching that movie.

SHELVIN MACK: I never seen the movie. I’m sorry (laughter).

RONALD NORED: I definitely can remember the last time I watched Hoosiers. Our annual, you know, Brad Stevens’ Butler Basketball Camp, we have the movie room. For some reason, every week we go four weeks straight, four days, every day for every week, kids want to watch Hoosiers. It’s the most annoying thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I saw Hoosiers in July, was the last time and I saw it, you do the math, 16 times-ish.

Nored had the most interesting answer. But what makes Hinkle so special is that we never think about basketball arenas, or even football stadiums for that manner, in the same way we regard ballparks; like cathedrals of sport. In baseball, most home stadiums have their own unique quirks and dimensions that give it character. Thousands of people in this country go on quests each summer to see every ballpark on their bucket list. No one does that for football or basketball. And with good reason, football stadiums are designed and built for utility- maximing the largest space possible with minimal cost.

Just about every NBA arena is pretty much the same, walk through the food court at your local mall and you’ve experienced a NBA arena concourse.

But Hinkle’s charm comes from it’s distinctive traits. The bright sunlight shining in from the main west wall, the uneven overlapping tiers that fly in the face of modern, perfectly symmetrical layouts. And even though it’s located right on campus, there are regular everyday houses right across the street.

And the exterior is impressive too- old, subtle yet understated. One visit and you can understand why it was the model for the Indiana Pacers’ home Conseco Fieldhouse. I got to come back here next winter and cover a game here.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

Under the current and counter-intuitive BCS system, college football will never have a title game like the instant classic we watched Monday night. There will never be a mid-major taking on a BCS conference school, and battling them down to the final second, for all the marbles.

2010 has been perhaps the most exciting NCAA Tournament in memory. And the final game, a Duke 61-Butler 59 Goliath-barely-escaping-from-David classic was the perfect frosting to a delightfully delicious cake. This March madness is yet another example of why the college hoops postseason is BY FAR the best postseason around.

It doesn’t need fixing; college football’s pathetic excuse for a postseason does. And because of this vast disparity in playoff structure, when it comes to naming my favorite league college basketball will always be my 1a) and college football my 1b) even though football is by far my favorite sport.

Hey BCS, Get an effing clue!

On Sunday a reporter here in Indianapolis asked Coach K. to speak about how this sort of championship environment, could never happen in football.

“No, it can’t. It can’t because the top hundred football programs have their own thing, and then there’s AA. It’s a completely different animal. And they don’t have a system that would allow a smaller school to get into their spotlight with the BCS. They know what the heck they’re doing as far as monopoly,” Coach K. said.

“That’s why I think our tournament has captured America, is because everybody can get in it. Everybody can identify. Everyone’s got a chance. And they got a chance right now, whether there’s expansion or not, through their conference tournaments. And then once they’re in it, look what’s happened…Boy, this year it’s really happened.” Kryzyzewski continued.

You’ll notice he used the word monopoly. Yes, exactly. In his piece entitled “Butler’s run proves continued idiocy of BCS,” Akiem of the blog Footbasket, put it perfectly:

“Under the BCS system where the Big 6 Conferences get preferential treatment, Butler despite winning The Horizon League wouldn’t be anywhere near a National Championship game. It would probably be Kansas vs. Kentucky. There would be no magical run or any comparisons to Hoosiers. All we’d have is a system where the regular season is essentially de-valued so the big wigs like Jim Delany (Big Ten commissioner) could make extra unnecessary money off of the competition-loving sports fan.”

It’s true- the NCAA’s current maxim is greed and profits uber alles. And it seems like that belief becomes more extreme each day. They even charged journalists covering the tournament $16 a day to have internet access while they’re at the arena doing their jobs.

Yes, forcing media professionals to pay to do their job, instead of getting paid to do their job. So it should come as no surprise that “it’s all about the benjamins” at the macro level of the NCAA organization, because it’s the exact same on the micro level.

We watched history last night. 2010’s Final Game will be right up there with 1979 and 1983, in the discussions about what title game was most intriguing all-time.

Now imagine if we could have that with Boise St. or TCU capping off a “December Madness” someday?

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Fortunately for us Chicagoans, there is an early screening here at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 6th at Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema, 2828 North Clark.  The screening is part of the popular series “First Tuesdays with the Midwest Independent Film Festival.”  You can find more information about the film, as well as prices and the schedule for the night, at this site.

I will be there, and so will some of the other writers on the staff here at NQTC.  I look forward to seeing you all there, and if not, I assume we will all have a lot to talk about after you watch it on ESPN2 on April 13.

The basketball world is watching Jaylin Fleming.

“I’ve never actually seen a kid like this,” Knicks head athletic trainer Roger Hinds said.

“As far as his age, he’s the best that I’ve seen,” said Refiloe Lethunya, a former Division I player, coach and NBA scout.

College and high school coaches are circling, inviting him to games and camps. He has established himself on the all-important AAU circuit. And he has already worked out with the Knicks and with the Bulls’ Derrick Rose.

Fleming is regarded by some as the most talented 10-year-old basketball player in the country.

The 5-foot-1 fifth-grader is more restrained: “I’m a humble kid who’s trying to achieve a goal.”

Well, for the Knicks, he would be an upgrade over whoever they have at point guard right now.  No offense to rookie Toney Douglass, but this kid could be good for the next 25 years.  In all honesty this doesn’t bother me as much as you might think.  This is a part of the culture, and while it is unsettling to see a kid this young getting this kind of attention, the benefits he can derive from it are endless.  As long as that quote is for real (there’s no way it is entirely real, that kid cannot be humble, period) in that his parents are at least trying to protect him and keep him having a level head, then more power to the kid and the coaches who are circling him like vultures.  Here’s a video of his skills from a few months ago.  Enjoy: