someoneelse

A salary cap could come with a union agreeing to a salary cap.

UConn did some weaving last night. It ran some clock and got a backdoor layup.

I disagree with it being more stressful being an adult sports fan. An adult understands that life is long and your team, most probably, will get another shot at a title. If you are ten years old, your frame of reference is all off. You are only in college four years and there are 'lasts' being that kind of fan, too. An adult can remember Bonner, or Lisch, or Hughes with perspective and know that tomorrow is another day. Hope springs eternal!

It makes it unnecessarily personal. I have no problem with Travis Ford the person. I believe he tries his hardest; that's all you can ask. That doesn't mean he should keep his job. Why not post referee information next? Hey, it's public. That's sarcasm, in case you didn't know.

I would find that very surprising, a coach taking a pay cut to get better players. Depending on how much he saved/invested, TF may not have to work again, but I still don't see it happening. It would create a precedent that his fellow coaches would be pressured to follow.

And Jay Wright.

I think it was Ed O'Bannon. Once colleges woke up and determined what a gold mine a good college athletics department was for literal gold, and reputation, coaches were better paid, facilities were better etc. Everyone got rich off it but the players. I don't think $500 per month keeps the troops in line with Jimbo Fischer getting $75? MM. Remember the Flutie effect? I toured Villanova in the late 80s and the tourguide openly said that their applicant pool got better since winning the national title.

This win puts us in the Big East conversation, perhaps as their number one target.

Is it any shocker that the most hated man in the NBA has a slight resemblance to the most hated man in the US Senate, Ted Cruz?

Does geography explain some discrepancies in pairings? Like Gonzaga being relatively close to Idaho?

2 balls with a large bumper at the penalty spot. Henceforth called the 'pinball variation.'

Memorial Day being about dead soldiers, I would think the best Memorial Day movies would have to have some dead characters/soldiers. Saving Private Ryan, Dirty Dozen, Apocalypse Now are up there for me.

I guess it's the equivalent of the do not call list, which means people will call him anyway.

Some people can jump out of the gym, this guy can jump to the heavens. He's fed a lot of people (inside). He known as a bit of a nepo-baby; he gets his greatness from his Dad. He's had a friend betray him, so he's being careful.

Friend reposted on FB that the Athletic department posted that he is officially staying. Maybe he and Fred can be practicing Drs. together.

There are two spring football leagues. I could see them morphing into a minor league.

I disagree. One place of employment offers X, one place offers 1.5X for the same job. The 1.5 is going to get the employee, nine times out of ten, regardless of Thai food Tuesdays. Building a program on paying less than your peers is a tough way to go. What is going to be important is talent identification and development. Who can identify and develop the next Ja Morant/David West/Gordon Hayward/Jordan Goodwin? Those coaches will get an edge in getting a little better talent, with a slightly less pay scale. I do agree that you will have to keep your team together every year, and that will have some recruiting-esque intangibles involved, but it will also come down to PT, winning and, I believe above all, money. Edited to add, yes, all schools will have NIL money, but they won’t have the same amount. Will SLU have more or less than Dayton/VCU/St. Bonaventure? I have no idea and no way to reliably find out. I think of it like a law firm, as that labor market has a tiered salary structure. National firms, like Bryan Cave pay one salary, regional firms pay a lower salary, local firms pay a lower salary than that. The national firms typically get to choose what law students they want first (because they pay more), then the regionals, then the locals. Crudely extrapolating to the labor market for 18 year old college basketball players, Kansas, Duke etc. will be the national firms, SEMO, Lindenwood etc. will be the local firms with a whole lot of schools in between. So, who in the middle can identify the 18 year old basketball player who will become the best 21 year old basketball player and spend wisely to get/keep the 18 year old.

Thank you. The needed skill set for HCs is changing/sharpening. A friend went to Marquette in the 70s and said an assistant ran the practices with Al Maguire doing not much. That assistant should now be a head coach. Just an anecdote that I use to support my thesis. Don’t take it too seriously.

With NIL, Ford’s sizable recruiting prowess is devalued. Billiken Victory Fund is the recruiter, largely. Sure, you can’t be a jerk, but NIL does the recruiting work for you. Therefore you need a coach who can teach players and strategize games. I don’t know who that is, but I’m confident it isn’t the present coach. I appreciate all the work he has put in and definitely wish him well wherever his future endeavors lead him.

You make valid points, but I believe this year was the make or break year. And he didn't make. If he can't make it with the team he assembled, he may not know how, or be able, to assemble/develop a bubble team. I'm just asking that we make the NCAA one in three-four years. Maybe that's too big of an ask.

Thinking a few years ahead, and knowing nothing about labor law--Could basketball develop a transfer market similar to European soccer, where the 'original' school/collective gets a cut of future NIL monies to the player if player takes a job elsewhere? You probably couldn't 'sell' a player, but maybe get some of their NIL money. Non-competes are illegal in CA and, I believe, other places. So that would help CA schools recruit players as it helped tech get started as employees could be easily, if expensively, poached.

No matter the money or the players they decide to pay, their pool of players is just not going to be the same as a program like Mizzou. Money talks and BS walks. Sad, or not so sad, but true. Imagine a person who has one sack of money in from them to do one thing in one location away from home. Or two sacks of money in front of them to do the same thing, but in a different location, also away from home. I know what I would do. 18 year olds like money, and like more money even more. Not so different from fast food workers, doctors, salespeople.

$800,000 for two years. That gets your family out of any debt it may have and really start some intergenerational wealth. Let's hope players don't blow it all by the time they're 30. Some will, yes, but schools should make personal finance education at least available.

Toronto invites visa issues that arise from time to time. The Blue Jays in MLB had to play in Buffalo during pandemic. I hope that's not repeated, but it seems to be more trouble than it's worth. And, is Toronto even an NCAA member?

Fordham Coach Urgo is buying one pre-game beer for all of the people in the student bar. I don't think they sell beer AT the game, though.