The ESPN Campus in Bristol and the LeBron Watch...

In 1978 an unemployed sports announcer in Bristol, Connecticut had an idea.  He had just been fired by the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association as its communications director and play-by-play announcer, and he wanted to find a way to broadcast UConn basketball games, state-wide, so all Connecticut-ers could see their beloved Huskies in action and, y’know, also so he would have something to do. Now right around this time, satellite technology was just coming into play as a decent option for broadcasting television programming on cable, and this guy found a little-used company named RCA that had 23 active transponder sites available for customers to rent.

After discovering that it was cheaper to rent satellite time for 24 hours than for five hours, and that the satellite’s range was much farther reaching than just the North Eastern Seaboard, he decided to offer a 24-hour sports programming network all across the country. Naturally, something like this had never been done, but he went for it.  He used his credit card to lease space on RCA's Satcom 1, and he called his new company Entertainment Sports Programming Network, Inc., or ESP Network for short. According to espn.com, the name became ESPN when the company's initial order for letterhead came back wrongly printed.  Gotta love those happy mistakes. 

That man’s name is Bill Rasmussen, the staple show was called Sportscenter... and the rest… is History. 

For better or for worse, the world we live in today is one inundated with constant communication between people. It is still, seriously, amazing to me.  Can you imagine people of centuries past trying to wrap their brains around how easily we can keep in global contact today?  We can talk on cell phones, Skype (video phone,) or by instant messenger on computer to anyone in the world, anytime, anywhere, instantaneously.  People have video-conferences that span continents.  We can email, text, or write on each other’s Facebook walls.  Or we can broadcast our brilliant opinions to the world on Twitter, YouTube, Wikapedia, (or stupid Blogs :)  It’s crazy.  But, of course we all know that already.  We are living in the future after all.  The affect of all of these technological advancements on us, however, is not known.  Is the human brain really able to process all of this information?  Are we supposed to be able to keep in touch with such a vast number of people?  Will we lose our short-term memory ability because of google?

I don’t think we will ever learn the answers to these extraordinary questions, (although I’m sure many expensive studies will be done) but one thing is for sure; ESPN did it right.  Cable television was nothing in 1978 and today there are about a thousand channels and endless hours of content online and on in-demand channels.  It’s the media equivalent of going from a paper airplane to an F-22.  I’m sure Mr. Rasmussen would admit that even he didn’t foresee just how far we would come and so quickly, but it is truly amazing to think that this one guy envisioned “sports-as-culture.”  And it’s hard to imagine the world today without it.

ESPN invented the sports culture, cultivated it every day with new and constantly updated media, and is today an International Juggernaut.  I know because everyday I wake up and check espn.com to see if we have any more of a clue as to where LeBron will sign this summer.  Could you imagine anyone caring about where an NBA free-agent was going to sign on a daily basis in 1978?  I’m not even waking up to check a score; no actual game is involved here.  Could you imagine televising the NFL draft in 1978?  This year the NFL says 23 million people watched at least part of it.  No game; just guys standing around and shaking hands.  This is “sports-as-culture “ – people care about the stories around the games and the players as much as they care about the games themselves.  Mr. Rasmussen hit the nail on the head, and ESPN is King.

So when I got the call to take a tour of the “campus” in Bristol, CT, about 15 minutes drive from where I was doing The Last Five Years at Playhouse on Park in West Hartford, I jumped at the chance.  Are you kidding me?  Of course I did.  It’s like a Mecca for me!  And the tour did not disappoint.  Honestly, I was like a kid in a candy FACTORY… not just a store.  It is quite literally, a sport's junkies Paradise!!!  Oh and here's the kicker... there are no public tours of the campus… you gotta know somebody.  Thanks Naomi and Steve!!!  I had one of the coolest days of my LIFE!    

We actually had six little kids in our tour group (10 person maximum) so at first glance it seemed like the tour might not be the best, but as we went along it proved to be kind of an ace in the hole.  One of the kid’s moms was friends with one of the camera men, Rob, so he came along and showed us demonstrations of how the studio cameras, gibs, teleprompters, and steadycams work (Y’know, because people love kids!)  And it was a relatively slow studio day so we were able to see almost all of the studios.  Plus I got to meet Sportscenter Anchor Dari Nowkhah, World Cup Analyst Tommy Smyth and then Ric Bucher!  I follow "Buke" all the time because he does Bill Simmons Podcasts and he’s on the NBA beat… Sadly though, he said he doesn’t know where LeBron is going to sign.  Boooo.  But he did say however, that he is looking forward to when the decision is made... because maybe then he can finally see his family again.

Most of the kids had a good time on the tour, while some seemed (gasp!) disinterested… but I think it is safe to say that I enjoyed it more than all of them combined.  Probably because I’ve been watching ESPN for twenty years, right?  It was absolutely BRILLIANT!!!

Meanwhile, the World Cup from South Africa continues on the World Wide Leader, and the entire world continues to ask the question; can anybody beat The Netherlands???  (Tommy Smyth thinks that Germany can), a couple of blokes at Wimbledon played a fifth set that actually ended at 70 games to 68, and Nebraska will be joining the Big 10 in 2011, but the breaking news tonight?  ESPN just declared that Lebron James will announce his decision of which team he will sign with as a free agent live on television.  And it's going to be on… you guessed it, ESPN.  Thursday night at 9pm Eastern Standard. No game, just news.  Think that will get a pretty good rating?  Lebron’s people just agreed with ESPN execs on an hour-long special with the advertising dollars going directly to the Boys and Girls Club of America.  Good idea?  Who knows.  But one thing's for certain. 

Bill Rasumussen had it right.

 Long live the King.

Oh, and Lebron… It’s gotta be New York Right???

Riiiiiiight.

Underdogs OUT!      

MSG and the Comedy that is the Knicks

So when the 101D and the Underdogs rolled into New York, there was one thing on everybody’s mind.  MSG.  Madison… Square… Garden.  The Mecca of all sporting venues in America and the self proclaimed (yes, a building can actually proclaim itself something) “world’s most famous arena.”  Since its first year in 1968 the Garden has pretty much hosted every possible kind of indoor entertainment.  The Ringling Brother’s Circus, The Westminster Dog show, and virtually every popular music act.  And now... they had us.  

The 101D set up at the Theatre at MSG.  The WaMu theatre they call it.  And yes, it’s the very same stage where Lebron James shook David Stern’s hand in 2003… Downstage center.  (It’s also where Knicks fans booed Isiah’s selection of Renaldo Balkman in 2006… ah NBA draft drama :)  But most notably, MSG is also the home to the New York Rangers, The New York Liberty, and… the (no championships since 1973) New York Knicks.  Working at MSG has its perks.  The 101D Dog trainers housed our Canine pals on the third floor in close proximity to the court, so we could go visit them when we wanted (always great fun!)  

What up DX, Gracie, Jada, Phoenix, Lacy, RV, Murphy, Forks, Burt, Frankie, and Jackson?!!  Y'all are the REAL underdogs!  Inspiring in every way… oh and by the way, right up the stairs from my doggs?  The team that needs the most inspiration.  That's right… Your New York Knicks!!!  The Under D’s got to hit up the last two home games of the season at the Garden against the Miami Heat and Washington Wizards, and that was lots of fun too.  Because as most Knicks fans know… finally there is hope.  But before we get to the present day…  Let’s talk some Knicks history.      

No one could write enough about how bad the Knicks have been in the last ten years.  If you had a million monkeys at a million type-writers there would not be enough combined letters randomly key-stroked to adequately illustrate how miserable the last ten years have been for New Yorkers at the Garden.

And the primary figure for the Knicks during this period was General Manager and coach Isiah Thomas.  In 2003 the franchise was blindly entrusted to Thomas by owner Jim Dolan, in one of the most egregiously baffling and comically-long-lasting travesties in sports management history.  Never before has any team in any American professional sports league endured such a consistent stretch of terrible-ness.  In every way conceivable.

Isiah Thomas was the worst man for the job in NY; a terrible GM who compiled (and severely over-paid for) a collection of “good players” who didn’t fit together well or fit any kind of offensive system… mostly, because a system wasn’t ever instituted!    

Instead, Isiah would stand on the sideline and smile knowingly at his confounded team (as they racked up another loss) almost as if he was a dad… bemused by his wayward young sons who just aren’t getting it.  “Aw! but they sure are trying hard!” Basically, everything was left to chance.  Like rolling dice and hoping it adds up to something.  Not what you would expect in the (again self-proclaimed) basketball-capital-of-the-world right?  So how did it happen?  Jim Dolan.  The rich kid who inherited a Billion-Dollar empire (that included the Knicks) and simply didn’t’ seem to have much interest in basketball.  His company makes so much money that the Knicks didn’t have to be good and clearly this guy didn’t care.  In the single biggest slap in the face to Knicks fans (and that’s a tall order folks) in March of 2007 Dolan rewarded Isiah with a three-year extension before the Knicks finshed the season at 33-49.  Was he even paying attention???  Clearly, no.     

For those of you who don’t follow the NBA very closely, they have a salary cap and maximum amounts allowable for player contracts.  So, unlike the Yankees, or Red Sox, or… Cubs in baseball (what’s wrong with that sentence?) the big markets aren’t assured the best players (or in the Yanks case, lots of them.)  Simply put, small market teams can compete with the huge market cities, provided they are smart.

Now that’s not to say that money tells the whole story in sports.  For instance, I often complain about how much the Yanks are able to spend each year ($206 Million in 2010) in effect, buying another World Championship; Pittsburgh is last on that list at under 35 Million (or about what A-Rod makes by himself!)  Kinda disgusting right?  But, as my man Ray is quick to point out (usually when I’m complaining about the Mets throwing another season away) if my logic was solid the Mets would have been in the World Series last year along with the Yankees, because the Mets came up second on that list.  And although they were still a good $70 million or so short of their Big Brothers in the Bronx, it certainly should have added up to more than a Last Place finish in the NL East.  Ouch.  And because I can’t resist another dig… the CUBS were a close third on that list with a 135 Million-Dollar Payroll last year, and they finished 67-95!  Surprised?  No, of course not.  Ray is Right.  Money can’t buy championships.  You also have to be good… and Smart. 

Even though there is a Salary cap in the NBA, teams are allowed to exceed it.  Essentially it is a soft-cap where teams are allowed to go over the cutoff to sign their own players.  So if they have a player at a relatively low salary and he becomes a big star, they are still able to resign that player at market value when he becomes a free agent.  It’s better for the league for the stars to stay on their own teams.  Some teams have been smart about this over the years (see: San Antonio Spurs) and some teams have not (see: New York Knicks.)    

In 2006-07 the NBA salary cap was at $65.42 Million.  The Knicks had an NBA record high, 142 Million-Dollars in player salaries that year.  So including penalties (teams have to pay the league a luxury tax for being over the cap) the team shelled out almost $191 Million for their players, half of which weren’t even playing at the time.  And the final outcome?  The Knicks missed the playoffs and had a 33-49 record.  Dismal.  And that is just a glimpse of how atrocious Knicks management has been... it's been ongoing.  

To be fair, the Knicks bloated payroll isn’t completely Isiah’s fault.  He inherited plenty of ridiculous contracts from the almost equally spend-happy previous GM Scott Layden.  Layden and Isiah both hid behind the conventional wisdom that sports people have preached over the years; you can’t rebuild in New York.  In other words, other cities would stomach a few bad seasons while management planned for the future and assembled a team that could compete for championships, but not New York.  The city and its sports fans are too demanding.  So in ten years of “not rebuilding” the Knicks have a record of 327-493... that’s a .385 winning percentage.   The “wisdom” seems faulty wouldn’t you say?

So the light at the end of the tunnel for all of us Knicks fans has been that finally two years ago the obvious became reality.  Dolan fired Isiah (although he’s still paying him… gotta love rich kids) and hired Donny Walsh (a proven GM and respected basketball mind) who then hired Mike D’Antoni (a brilliant offensive coach who’s system brought enormous success to the Phoenix Suns) as coach.  Then Walsh basically conceded the past two seasons by trading away all of the Knicks best players to obtain valuable “cap space” for the summer of 2010. Finally the Knicks are far enough under the salary cap to significantly improve.  If you are into the NBA you know that the most exciting two-word phrase you can utter in this league is “Cap-Space.” And Why?  Because of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and the greatest free-agent class in NBA history.

Buuuut, mostly it's just about LeBron.  

The whole world wants to know… Will he stay in Cleveland or land in the Big Apple?
Tonight's extremely well Hyped up Game 6 in Boston will tell us a lot about LBJ's future.  It's HUGE!  What's it gonna be BronBron?
Gracie wants to KNOW!!!
  

That’s coming up NEXT!      

On the UnderDogs :)

The Road to the Final Four!!!

As if everyone doesn't know this already, March in this country has become a month almost exclusively dedicated to College Basketball.  In every office, work-site, school, factory (wait do we have those anymore?... let's make it 'think tank'), or (even) Theatre across our vast land, March Madness reigns Supreme.  It's everywhere you look!  And the brackets are OUT.  Countless brackets are filled out every year in the hopes of filling out that ever-so-elusive PERFECT Bracket!  Basically, everybody starts out on cloud nine with all the hope in the world... and then the upsets start rolling in.  At which point the hope switches to the possibility that your bracket will be just good enough to beat your friends :) I mean, there are only 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 possible outcomes after all  (Yea, that's more than Nine Quintillion.)  65 teams get in.  One team wins.  It's simply the perfect event in sports.

So, as I mentioned before, the Under Dogs finally made our escape east from Big Ten Land (also known as the Midwest) and the next stop on the trail was Providence, Rhode Island. Home of Ted Berrigan, the Farelly Brothers, and Brown University - where the Ivy Leaguers live... and act smart.  Yea, Providence is a cool town indeed.  But it was about to get even Cooler :)

And as luck would have it, the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament this year were being played in New Orleans, Oklahoma City, San Jose, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Milwaukee, Spokane, and... Providence.  Yes!  Once again fortune was smiling on us.

I knew we were in for a pretty sweet time when we entered the hotel and were inadvertently welcomed by a NCAA basketball banner!!! A first!!! (I say inadvertently because the banner was most likely meant for the University of Ohio, who was entering the hotel a little later than us… I mean, since they were the ones taking on number 3 Georgetown that Thursday, not us :)  

Just as with the Big Ten Tourney the week before, the UnderD's were able to check out the first round of NCAA action right down the block from the hotel at the Duncan Donuts Center; two more Firsts!!!... my first time ever live at an NCAA Tournament Game, and first time at any arena named after a Donut Brand... well not just any Donut Brand, I guess.  They tell me America runs on this stuff.

America's problems aside, the festivities at the DDC were percolating as we made our way to our seats, nibbling on our Boston-Cremes (just kidding.)  It was definitely NCAA Tourney energy in the air.  From here on out, it was win or go home.  Along for the ride this time was one of our all-time favorites, Honorary Underdog and 101D Physical Therapist, Marissa Chapnick. Although her reputation admittedly proceeds her here, I must sing her praises nonetheless. Hailing from the prestigious (yet oddly Yankee-fan heavy, Staten Island, not only is she, admirably, a New York Mets fan, but marvelously and some would say miraculously, a Florida Gator Fan too!) How does THAT happen??? Marissa and I were the only Underdogs who were able to make the first round that day in Indianapolis and we were in for a show!

The first game was between the heavily favored 2nd seed Villanova and 15th seeded Robert Morris. What a game for underdogs! Robert Morris played a magnificent game and lead most of the way going into the fourth quarter. Only a last gasp come-from-behind effort by Villanova forced an overtime, and then in a heartbreaker for the Colonials, Villanova squeeked out a 73-70 overtime win. We in the stands, and the whole nation breathed a collective sigh of relief, as the first game of the Big Dance almost proved to be a huge bracket-buster! The Underdog in me, feeling the taste of early bracket Mahem so close, was elated at the potential upset (I don't think a 15th seed has ever beaten a 2) so I was kind of devastated that Villanova pulled it out at the end.  Marissa was happy though because all she cared about was preserving her bracket going forward.  It was a futile sentiment.  The Tourney was about to take Doc Marissa (and Everybody for that matter) on a thrilling ride of explosive upsets, impossible to predict!

Take the second game we saw for instance, when number 12 St. Mary's completely outplayed number 7 Richmond. I was blown away by the Gaels performance… I mean, if you google St. Mary's they aren't even the first school that comes up!!! This is St. Mary's, California, from the bay area, and they came to play, people! Their big man, Omar Samhan, was killing everybody down-low and their perimeter players (made up mostly of their five Australians on the squad) was nailing everything in that game. I felt like I was at a basketball clinic of how to work the inside-out game, as Samham was hitting his boys for jumpers all day, when he was doubled. Amazing. And Richmond was baffled.

Of course, St. Mary's went on to stun the world next when they dispatched Villanova in the second round to make the Sweet 16. Samhan and his Underdog cronies continued to turn the NCAA tourney world on its head, but the biggest upset in that first round came later that night from none other than our Hotel-mates - the Ohio University Bobcats. Going up against the number 3 Georgetown Hoyas, the Bobcats killed everybody's brackets by blowing them out, 97-83.  WHAt??? Ohio???  Beat Georgetown?  Nobody saw that one coming!

The next day walking by one of the conference rooms in the hotel, I saw the Ohio coaches going over their game plan for their next opponent, Tennessee of the SEC. And I even had a chance to take a picture with their mascot and cheerleaders in the lobby one night, but I didn't take it. I figured they were overworked as it was and I didn't want to bother them in their downtime. But then why was the guy wearing the Bobcat head?  In the LOBBY?? Aw, I missed my chance! Anyway, their Cinderella story didn't last long, as they got blown out in the second round by the Minutemen. But Butler's Underdog trail did last.

The Butler Bulldogs had played right next-door from our theatre in Indianapolis that previous Wednesday, at the historic, Hinkle Fieldhouse. They won the Horizon League title in convincing fashion against Wright State that night, and assured the extra traffic that we had to get through after the show.  More importantly, that title gave them an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament and against all odds, started their journey that has continued all the way to the final Four!

So here they were, last night, the only two campuses that we played on the entire 101D tour; Butler, from Indianapolis vs Michigan State, from East Lansing. Battling it out to decide who would go to the National Championship game! Who could have guessed that??? Butler's never even been close to this spot before, and well, Michigan State will be playing Goliath in this production :)

And Butler Pulls it off!  The upsets are never ending this year!
Next up for the Bulldogs, an even Bigger Goliath.  Duke in the Championship game!
wow.
You gotta Love the Madness!!!
UnderDogs out

The Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis

So we finally made it out of there!  The Midwest I'm talking about.  GoodNess!... The Midwest is ALL about the Big Ten, people.  I mean, I’d heard the stories but I found out first hand on this trip... it is for Real!  I feel like spending the last two months or so around those parts has had a rather significant affect on me. East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Columbus, and Indianapolis were the last 5 stops on the Underdog Trail, and all of them are, you guessed it, Big Ten towns :)  So it is only fitting, that just before we made our escape back East, that the UnderD's hit up the Holiest of Holy's - Big 10 Basketball style - that's right, the Big Ten Tournament! Held annually now in Indianapolis (Which is also the site of this year's NCAA final Four... Think any of these guys will be lucky enough to make it there?  Everybody in the Midwest does! :) 

Now, I've always heard that Indianapolis a basketball mecca of sorts; the center of the Basketball word, some say.  Or that, simply, Basketball matters more here.  There may be some truth to that… at least on the college side of things.  Even though the NBA's Indiana Pacers certainly had many good years throughout the nineties and even two Championships in the 1970’s (Red White and Blue style (or the ABA if your not hip :), the true colors of Indiana have always been without a doubt, Hoosier Red.  It’s kind of a dark red… or is that maroon?  Maybe not that dark… kinda blood red maybe.  Fitting, because these people Bleed it!  The whole state does.  And that number includes our Cruella, Sara Gettlefinger, who came along with me, and fellow 101Ders Mike Masters and Joe Dellger, to Conseco Fieldhouse that day in Indianapolis.  Even though she did her for-real Schooling at Cincinnati, Sara grew up in Indiana… and as she said, “it’s not like it’s really a choice or anything.  It’s just something that you do if you grow up anywhere within Indiana borders.  You pull for the Hoosiers.”

So on the first day of the Big Ten Tournament, Indiana was the second game in action against the Northwestern Wildcats; Jimmy Ludwig’s Michigan Wolverines beat Iowa in the first game.  (Then later they Almost took out favorite Ohio State in the second round, losing on a buzzer-beating three.  Sooo close!  You would have thought they'd guard Evan Turner a little closer on that final play, I mean what was he going to do?  Drive past you to shoot the desperation three??? ugh… Sorry Jimmy.  Next year baby.) Anyway, naturally Sara was Decked out in her Dark Red IU colors.  (She said she would have painted her face up too but playing Cruella is already pretty demanding on the make-up side of things, so she decided to skip it) Everyone else seemed to pick up the slack though.  It seemed like the whole place was a sea of red.  

Despite the admirable turnout, Sara admitted that it obviously isn’t the same these days as it used to be.  After all, this year the Hoosiers were 10-20 going into that game and not even favored against a less-than-juggernaut Northwestern team (who incidentally, has never EVER been to the NCAA tournament.  I was shocked when my Uncle, who lives near Northwestern in Evanston, told me that.  Northwestern has NEVER been???  It can’t be!  When I checked the facts later it turned out to be true… but then, of course it did… this guy worked for the Encyclopedia Britannica and the World Book for fifty years, I think he knows his stuff.  Hi Uncle Dick!  Great Christmas letter, like always! :)

The Indiana Hoosiers know the NCAA Tournament very well.  Historically, after UCLA and Kentucky, they are third in the number of total National Championships with Five (the last two under… ulp, Bobby Knight in the ‘80’s.)  One of my favorite things to do in life is to ask any IU fan, that I happen to meet, what they think about Bobby Knight… because they all say the same thing.  He is one of those very unique situations, where you honestly both love him AND hate him.  Although he had many winning seasons, Coach Knight’s repeatedly absurd antics on the court (however well intentioned) throughout the years ended up painting him in a pretty bad light, especially in the national perspective.  He clearly loved his players and the game, but his rough edged, un-P.C. approach seemed to have outlived its usefulness by the end of the twentieth century.  Former players always had a mixed bag of things to say about him.  Basically, the tough guys loved him, the soft guys didn’t.  Man, I would have HATED playing for him. :) 

Anyway, It all culminated with his dismissal from the University in 2000, and I remember thinking at the time that it would lead to riots in Indiana.  It was like the Hoosier world tipping completely upside down! But it made sense after all; it reminded me of the old adage, “You can’t argue with success.”  Well by the end of the 90’s there wasn’t much success anymore, and Bobby’s outlandish and oftentimes outrageous behavior was more of an embarrassment to the University than anything.  He looks harmless though right?  Maybe it's because his face doesn't match his sweater in this picture as it usually did.  It's too bad I couldn't find a shot of him famously throwing the chairs on the court in protest, that's my favorite (this is is obviously not my pic by the way.  Hope they don't sue :)  Anyway, when the firing finally went down, as Sara said, Hoosier nation just quietly nodded their respective heads and moved on.  To a 10-20 season in 2010 though.  Nobody could have envisioned that.  Ugh. 

The Hoosiers had won TWENTY Big Ten Tournaments coming into this one, and were representing their hallowed previous generations rather well in this game, outplaying Northwestern for the most part, while clinging to a 5-point lead with 8 minutes to go.  Now, since the first game had gone into overtime, we were watching the clock closely at this point.  We knew that we might have to leave early to get to the theatre for the show that night if the games went long, and that was indeed the way it played out.  Sadly, Sara, Mike, and I had run out of time and we had to leave Conseco… during a close game with a little over seven to play??? ugh, (or maybe I should say, Mike and I had to drag Sara kicking and screaming to her “day job”... she is Die-Hard Y'all!! :)  Eitherway, we left Conseco with about 7:20 to go in the game (Hoosiers up seven,) to head up to the theatre on the Butler Campus.  By the time we got there, Indiana had lost by fifteen!  WHAT???  I only occasionally gave Sara the Iphone-Scorecenter updates along the way as she drove us (through the rain), trying not to upset her too much :)  It was a 22 point swing since Sara had left the building.  They had lost their moxy!  Coincidence?  I think not.  Bobby Knight is rolling over in his GRAVE!... or uh, lazy boy.      

Anyway, everything turned out alright.  Sara got over the loss quickly and went on that night, brilliantly as always, to slay Indy as that lovable nutbar Cruella.  But, it was a bad day for Jimmy the next day when UM went down to Ohio State and even Joe Dellger’s highly seeded Wisconsin Badgers (who we saw blast UM in Ann Arbor) were upset in their first game the following day.  That left it up to Ohio State to take it, and they did, beating down Minnesota 90-61 in the championship game.  My Columbus boys, Ken and Brian were stoked to see the Buckeye resurgence, and equally jazzed about a deep run in the upcoming NCAA tournament, and rightly so, but I wasn’t interested enough to go back to Conseco for the last game.  We had already seen the Buckeyes.  One night when we were in Columbus after the show (thanks to an early show and a late hoops start time), the Lady Underdog and I were able to check out the second half of a game against Illinois.  The Buckeyes looked good and their star player Evan Turner is the real deal, but as we've learned after all... if it's not your team, it’s no fun rooting for the favorite.  Honestly, now and forever... Here we be UNDERDOGS! :)   

Next up.  NCAA in Providence!  March MADNESS!!! :)
Underdogs OUT

Jimmy Ludwig and the Game with Sticks...

Out here on the 101D trail, I have the privilege of sharing the stage with a great many tremendous performers and it is truly a joy everyday.  One of said performers is none other than the Incomparable Jimmy Ludwig (Pictured left, with me and Cruella... aka the also Incomparable, Rachel York.) And as I’ve mentioned earlier in this blog, Jimmy is a Michigan guy, who grew up in the Upper Peninsula (or the U.P. if ya hip… or, some would say, Wisconsin :) but he also did his Undergrad (as did many generations of Ludwigs) right down the street from here in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan.  Consequently, of course, Jimmy is a die hard Wolverine and Big 10 guy and, sadly… he seems to be one of a few remaining unfortunate souls who appear to be in denial about the obvious superiority of the SEC over the Big 10, whenever it comes up in conversation.  Now for the first part of that last sentence he can’t really be faulted… he’s pretty much bled Michigan Blue since birth… but the second part is another matter all together… a real head-scratcher.  It is just sad, really.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, Jimmy is a great guy and an amazing performer… but… c’mon!... Jimmy!  It’s the new millennium!!!  Getcha head out the sand, already… geeZe!!!  (This part of the blog could go on forever so I’d better move it along :) Luv ya JLudz!)

Regardless of other ignorances, Jimmy knows Ann Arbor (among other things... mostly about beer and its history… and drinking it :) and he can recommend lots of great restaurants, bars, or just some random cool places to hang out.  He can also recount that most memorable of the good old days in town, when Glen Rice and Big Blue won the NCAA National Title a few years back, and the jubilation that followed in the streets. (Or should I say, the Riots that followed… weeeeell, Jimmy has maintained that he wasn’t involved, that much.)  Anyway, so when Jimmy said that the Lady Underdog and I HAD to get out to Yost Ice Arena on the UM campus to see a Wolverines Hockey Game, I said, “Yea Dogg!  Sounds CooooooL.”

Yost is a throwback.  Completed in November of 1923, it is considered the nation’s first University field house.  It housed UM track teams and basketball teams over the years until it exclusively became a hockey venue in 1973.  Going to a game there is like going back in time a little bit.  Until you look up at the jumbotron of course.  On that beautifully picturesque, snowy campus night when the Lady UnderD and I made it to Yost it was UM against Bowling Green… yup, they have a hockey team!

 Now I love Hockey, and have always had the utmost respect for these guys and what they can do out there on the ice, but since I never really grew up in a place where playing hockey was a thing… it’s just not in my blood.  I’ve tried to follow the NHL but I can’t really ever get into it until the playoffs (IF at all) but LIVE hockey is another thing altogether… SO much fun!  (Although, I almost got killed at the Garden in NYC a few years back when I went with a bunch of my Buffalo homies (what up D???), to watch the Sabres knock the Rangers out of the playoffs in an elimination game.  Those New Yorkers are NUTS!!!... but it was still fun :) 

Anyway, when I hit up a few of my “northern” friends to let them know I was at a Hockey game, I got some props because they know it’s not my sports-viewing-strong-suit.  Well I got some props, but my boy Brian Marino, a Michigan native, simply replied, “Hey that’s great… but don’t you need someone there with you to tell you what’s going on???”  OUCH.

So watching Hockey at the college level is great.  The players are still amazingly skilled, but it’s almost easier to appreciate that skill when it isn’t so many miles above the mere mortal as it is in the NHL.  Also, I had a chance to continue my education as an aspiring sports photographer.  Ugh, I’ve got a long way to go.  But the Lady Underdog has quite the Knack! :)
Ahhhh... hockey.  Soon the US will play Canada for the Gold Medal in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.  Whoooo will take it??? :)  UnderD's OUT!

Michigan, Magic, and the Fab Five's impact on Basketball Fashion...

So as I've mentioned before, on this here Blog, I am an SEC guy. (That's the Southeastern Conference if ya not hip :) And as the Florida Gators and, the (ugh) LSU Tigers and… the (Double ugh) Alabama Crimson Tide have proven in recent years, the SEC has far-and-away been the best football conference in the country. You can pretty much pencil in the SEC champ every year to play for the National Championship (usually against the Big 12 Champ nowadays, as the country is finally noticing and giving respect to the second-best conference... Sorry Pac10.) For years that respect went to the MIdwest's own, Big Ten along with their storied history and big name programs; Penn State, Northwestern, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Michigan.  The Big Ten coasted on reputation about ten years too long on the National Landscape and was humiliated in a number of big games (Ohio state BSC Title games anyone??  Sorry Columbus.) But in spite of the Big Ten’s fall from grace on the football side of things, the Midwest loves their big ten!  LOVES it.  The Big Ten Rules around here... And Especially... in Michigan!!!

The 101d came back to Michigan two weeks ago to play for a week in East Lansing; The sister city to the very Capital of the mitten state, and also the home of those fighting Michigan State Spartans. And while historically MSU has taken a backseat to their rival UM Wolverines, in recent years they have built up some significant bragging rights of their own in the BigTen. And Especially... Because it's BASkEtBall season!!! :-)  That’s right, Basketball!  The best game ever :) 

Since 1995, when Tom Izzo took over as head coach in East Lansing, the Spartans have been one of the best basketball programs in the country.  356 wins in that span along with 5 Big Ten Championships and 5 trips to the NCAA final four have cemented him as the best coach in school history.  Not to mention their one National Championship in that span, coming in 2000, against… well… those fightin’ Florida Gators of course, who (in my UNbiased opinion) marched methodically to the championship game that year.  So… um, as I said, we are NOT going to mention that  :) NOR are we going to mention their point guard and team MVP that year, Mateen Cleaves, who absolutely killed the Gators in that championship game, (smiling all the way through it, I might add, ugh.)  It should be noted that Morris Peterson and Jason Richardson, who may have also played brilliantly, on that day in April 2000, will likewise, NOT be mentioned here.

Twenty-one years earlier, here in East Lansing, there was another brilliant young point guard (who also had an affinity for smiling as he picked apart your defense) by the name of Earvin Johnson, or as most people called him, “Magic.”  He too led the Spartans to a national Championship, his sophomore season, against Indiana State and their relatively well-known phenom, Larry Bird.  Magic got the best of Larry that day, but they spent the next ten years practically trading the Championship Trophy back and forth from LA to Boston as they battled it out every year in the NBA.  Those two guys generally get credit (along with a guy named Michael Jordan) for raising basketball and the League to new un-dreamt of heights in the 80’s and 90’s.  Which has lead to a game that is now so widespread internationally it ranks as the second most popular sport in the world, naturally following soccer (or football, or futbol.)  And that’s quite an achievement considering that soccer’s importance in many countries more closely compares to religion than recreation :) Magic had a lot to do with that, as young hoopsters around the world grew up idolizing his flashy style on the court.  The Flint Michigan native won a High School State Championship, A NCAA National Championship at MSU, 5 NBA Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, and an Olympic Gold Medal for the US in 1992.  All of this information can be read under the title “Always a Champion” at the foot of the “Magic” Statue outside of the Breslin Center on the Michigan State campus, and naturally, I had to stop by to check it out.

Now, I love statues, don’t get me wrong.  I’ve seen many memorable ones; Jordan in front of the United Center in Chicago, Ghandi at Union Square in New York, MLK in Birmingham.  But over the years I’ve noticed that, for some reason, bronze statues never really look like the person they are supposed to be.  Have you ever noticed that? :) I mean it must be extremely difficult to get facial details right on a bronze statue, because this thing was supposed to be a likeness of Magic Johnson as a 20 year old… his face looks more like Bill Russell, TODAY.  “Magic’s” face totally looks like a modern day Bill Russell (who turned 76 last Friday.)  Just sayin.  Bronze statue molders of the world hear me.  Y’all need to step it up :) 

Right around the time when Magic and Larry Bird joined up with Jordan on the US Dream Team that dominated the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona, five youngsters in Michigan were making history of their own on the basketball court.  But instead of wrecking havoc on College Hoops from East Lansing, these five guys decided to go to Magic’s first choice of schools; the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.  You know their names right?  The Fab Five Freshmen; Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson... (although I had to look up Ray Jackson.  Sorry dude, for some reason I can always remember the other four :) These guys were the only entirely freshman starting five to even come close to a championship in NCAA history, and they did it in 92 as freshmen and 93 as Sophomores, each time falling one game short of the big prize.  Still, those were the golden days in Ann Arbor. 

But despite their on-court success in those years, their greatest and lasting achievement was how they, and UM basketball, revolutionized fashion sense within the game.  As I’m sure you had noticed, up until the early nineties, NBA and College basketball players, for some mind-numbingly BAFFLING reason, wore the SHORTEST shorts that could be found.  It's really kind of unbelievable now looking back.  I mean, check out these old pics!! :)  

And these are tall guys too.  What were they thinking about?  It’s so bizarre to look back at the old films and see how short these guys’ shorts were!!!  Bill Russell, Wilt, Dr. J, Bird, McHale, Stockton. Ugh.  WAY too much leg! It is an obvious and inexcusable travesty that the “Daisy-Duke” style lasted for so many generations, oddly unchecked, but the winds of change were blowing in the early 90’s, and the Fab Five took it to the extreme.  These guys had their shorts past the knee!  

Suddenly, instead of looking well, kinda goofy, Basketball uni’s finally had some STYLE.  And we all emulated it.  All over the world, practically over-night, basketball shorts extended their base lengths by 12 inches… or more.  Finally, some sanity!  But then, as with any fad, in many instances we took it too far...  Tremaine Johnson, (my NHS highschool teammate, point guard) I’m looking in your direction!... Tremaine was about 5 foot 9 and his shorts were at his ANKLES!  But… he did kinda look mad cool  :)  right Sousa?  Gary?...

Anyway, basketball has never been the same since those days at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor when the Fab Five changed the way the game is viewed.  (Honestly, it probably had more to do with the uniform designers than the players, but for the sake of this blog we’ll give the credit to the guys on the court.)  Thank you Chris, Juwan, Jalen, Jimmy, and Ray for, at long last, bringing basketball to it’s senses.  We are forever in your debt. 

And as luck would have it, Ann Arbor just happened to be the next stop on the Underdog trail, and, of course, we had to head out to that very hallowed ground of Crisler to see a Modern day Michigan basketball game against the Wisconsin Badgers (Currently ranked #14 in the country.)  Wow.  The years have not been kind to the Wolverine basketball program.  (Is that because they're not paying their players anymore?  Youch.  Low blow? :)  Yea, sadly for the Big Blue supporters, The Fab Five is definitely NOT walking through that door.  Wisconsin wins in a blowout 62-44, and it wasn't really that close.  Still it was a thrill to be in that historic hall where the ghosts of the Fab Five still linger.  The debate continues even up to the present day.  Were they the best team money could buy? :)

Next up Michigan HOCKEY... and we get to Chicago! 

Stay tuned, and Take Care,

Underdogs OUT!