Do you think Trent Johnson and Mark Fox regret their decision to leave the comfort of Nevada and the WAC for the bright and shiny lights of the SEC? OK, that might be a question. But guess which team among Georgia, LSU, and Nevada has the best chance of playing in the NCAA tournament this March? That's right, Nevada. Georgia and LSU are in a free-fall and are the only SEC teams that currently do not own a conference win. Unlike Fox and Johnson, Carter will be coaching a team that is going to play meaningful games in March.
Outside of Chris Ault, Johnson just might be the most important and influential coach in the history of the Nevada athletic department. He was the one who gave Nevada its greatest sports moment, taking them to the Sweet 16 in 2004. He also put together what just might be the greatest coaching staff in school history. Johnson, Carter, and Fox were together for four seasons. They put Nevada basketball on the national map and will likely keep it there for two decades or whenever a team from the SEC decides they want to take Carter, whichever comes first.
I admit it. I want to see a Peyton Manning-Brett Favre Super Bowl. Mark Sanchez is, well, Mark Sanchez. And Drew Brees will have other chances. But this could be it for a Favre-Manning game. It could be a game between the two greatest quarterbacks in history. Which Super Bowl had a better QB matchup? Joe Montana-Dan Marino in XIX? Favre-John Elway in XXXII? Montana-Elway in XXIV? Maybe. Terry Bradshaw vs. Roger Staubach in the 1970s? Neither one has Manning or Favre numbers. Something tells me we're going to get Sanchez-Brees.
A Jets' win over the Colts on would be one of the greatest upsets in history. But we've seen it before, well I did not see it personally, but, does Super Bowl III ring a bell to anyone? Sanchez is no Joe Namath and Brees is better than Favre right now. The Saints are at home and Favre has a tendency to throw balls to guys in the wrong jersey when he gets excited. The Vikings have a good defense that will be the factor in this game. The Colts win easily and the Vikings win in an ugly game.
Do you think JaVale McGee regrets his decision to leave the comforts of Nevada for the dollars of the NBA two years ago, after his sophomore year? That might be another stupid question. However, he can barely get off the Wizards' bench this year. He's played in just six of his team's last 21 games and has become the Adam Carp (never gets off the bench at Nevada) of the team. Imagine a Nevada team this year with McGee at center, Dario Hunt at power forward, Luke Babbitt at small forward, Brandon Fields at shooting guard, Armon Johnson at the point with Joey Shaw and Ray Kraemer coming off the bench. That team might be 18-2 right now and ranked about No. 10 in the country. Plus, Fox never would have left for Georgia.
You have to love Carlton Fisk and Jack Clark. They ripped into Mark McGwire and all of the steroid abusers over the last two decades this week. Fisk said McGwire's assertion that steroids didn't help his performance was “a crock.” Clark also said that all steroid users are “creeps, liars and should be banned from baseball.” You have to admire their passion. However, both of them are a little out of touch. Yes, everyone knows that what McGwire said was a crock. There is no need to call performance enhancing drug users a bunch of creeps and liars. They are just players trying to get an extra edge, maximize their careers, and extend their earning windows. Cheaters, indeed. Creeps, not so much. It's time the old guys stop criticizing the players of the 1990s.
The Basketball Hall of Fame is going to induct the entire 1992 Olympic men's basketball Dream Team. Bad move. All the Dream Team accomplished was the complete destruction of Olympic basketball. The Dream Team coach Chuck Daly didn't even call a single timeout in the entire Olympics. The Dream Team and its blatant marketing, promotion, and hype goes against everything the Olympics symbolize.
- Josh Newman - RotoKingdom Staff Writer