What a win for the Catholic 7 this week. The departing Big East basketball schools are apparently not only breaking away in time for the 2013-14 season, but they are reportedly getting just about everything they want: the Big East name, a new TV contract, and maybe even Madison Square Garden as the home of its conference tournament. It's great because the Big East name will stay where it belongs: with schools who care most about basketball.
As I've said before, though, I will miss the Big East in its current form, and I do love rivalries. I hate hearing "this is the last time Georgetown and Syracuse will play." It won't be. At least, it shouldn't be. Once the dust settles, the bitterness fades and the fans clamor for it, the teams should play again.
I propose a replacement for the Big East-SEC Challenge: The Big East Memorial Challenge. Let's remember the great league the Big East was and keep the rivalries going.
Fans don't want to see their rivalries go away.
On one side, you have the Catholic 7, or the new Big East: Georgetown, Marquette, St. John's, Villanova, Providence, DePaul, and Seton Hall
And in the other corner, the Football Universities... or FU (no hard feelings, right, guys?): Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Louisville, Notre Dame, Connecticut, and Cincinnati
Seven games, fourteen old conference rivals renewing acquaintances.
You could even go deeper and have the new schools join the fun. Butler, Xavier, Creighton, Saint Louis and Dayton (assuming they all join) face off with the likes of Rutgers, Boston College, Miami, Temple... and sure, USF, you can play, too.
Of course, my grand scheme of this challenge likely won't happen. My point is, though, that these teams should try to keep playing in non-conference games. Georgetown should keep playing Syracuse and Connecticut. I'd love to see Marquette continue to play Notre Dame and Louisville.
While I'm excited about the new Big East, I think it would be fun for college basketball fans to have flashes of the old Big East in the seasons to come.
It's pretty easy to laugh at the Chiefs for trading for inconsistent quarterback Alex Smith. My question to those laughing: what would you do if you were the Chiefs? Stick with Matt Cassel or Brady Quinn for another year? I don't think Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees are available. If someone has a crystal ball and can tell me that Geno Smith or Matt Barkley will be a Pro Bowler, please get it to John Dorsey stat. This trade isn't official until March 12.
My take: the Chiefs had to do something, and they did the best thing they could.
I've grumbled before about what a lousy offseason the Chiefs faced. There are no great quarterbacks to be had. There is not a wealth of talented free agents. There does not appear to be an Andrew Luck or RG3 in this draft. Some draft analysts don't even have a quarterback worthy of going in the first round.
Bitter over his benching, Alex Smith now does what former
49ers QBs like Montana, Bono, and Grbac do: play for KC.
Quite simply, there is no one available at the quarterback position that will instantly make the Chiefs a playoff team. All Kansas City could do is slightly upgrade. Find someone better than Matt Cassel, who has really struggled with turnovers the last couple years. Whether it's his fault or not, Cassel has not worked in Kansas City. It's time to try something else, something other than Brady Quinn.
Despite his struggles in his first six seasons, I do think Alex Smith is a better quarterback than Matt Cassel. He was actually playing pretty well when he suffered a concussion this season and lost his starting job to Colin Kaepernick.
In typical Smith fashion, though, he was good - not spectacular. In 10 games, completed 70 % of his passes for 1,737 yards and 13 touchdowns. He had 8 turnovers (5 interceptions, 3 fumbles). By comparison, Matt Cassel in 9 games completed 58% of his passes for 1,796 yards and 6 touchdowns and a whopping 18 turnovers (12 picks, 6 fumbles).
Summary: Smith takes less risks (hence the fewer yards and higher completion percentage) and doesn't turn it over as much.
Make no mistake about it. I do not think Kansas City has acquired a top-flight quarterback. I also think they overpaid to get him - reportedly a second round pick and a mid-rounder next year. San Francisco took advantage of a seller's market and held KC hostage for the "best" quarterback available in a lousy market.
I am, however, willing to give Smith a chance. Heck, I was all aboard the Alex Smith bandwagon a year ago. After that dramatic win over New Orleans, I thought he had arrived. If Kyle Williams hadn't mishandled two punts against the Giants, Smith would have had San Francisco in the Super Bowl.
Yes, I know team success doesn't necessarily mean a guy is a great quarterback. Rex Grossman has been to a Super Bowl.
Nevertheless, if Smith can do for the Chiefs what he did in San Francisco the last two years, the Chiefs will be better. I'm not saying 12-4 better, but they'll be a far cry from 2-14. Smith is efficient and hasn't made a lot of mistakes the last two years. If he can just manage games and give the Chiefs some kind of passing game, then Kansas City has upgraded the QB position for 2013.
In this weak QB offseason, that's really all Chiefs fans can ask for.
As Marquette honored the 2003 Final Four team, some great memories resurfaced for me. That was my senior year at Marquette, and following that team and watching them make it to New Orleans was one of the great thrills of my college life. Heck, take "college" out of that last sentence. It was just awesome.
I appreciated every coach and player who made it happen, especially then-head coach Tom Crean. Some MU fans still boo when his name is mentioned or when he is shown in the pregame video at Marquette games. I think it's time to let it go.
Crean had a very classy message to Marquette fans before Saturday's game with Pitt.
Was I upset when Crean left for Indiana? Sure, we all were. That's the business of sports, though. Coaches do well, get better opportunities, and they move on.
The simple question I ask is: did Tom Crean leave Marquette basketball in better shape than he found it? The answer is a resounding yes. I think any Marquette fan, no matter how bitter, can admit that.
If not, let me break it down a little more.
When Tom Crean took over the Marquette program in 1999, it was a bubble team... for the NIT. I remember one preseason magazine called Marquette one of the least athletic teams in the country. The team wasn't exciting, and the fans had a hard time getting excited about it.
Imagine if Marquette basketball had stayed that way for another decade. Maybe when the Big East expanded it 2005, it would not have wanted Marquette. MU could still be in Conference USA trying to get excited about battles with Tulane and Houston. All the financial benefits and exposure Marquette has enjoyed from the Big East over the last eight years may be significantly less.
That part is speculation, of course. Here are some facts:
Crean led Marquette to its first Final Four since Al McGuire won it all in 1977. The impact of that accomplishment cannot be understated. It's only the third in the school's history. The exposure from that success and the impact on recruiting have been huge.
Tom Crean coached six of Marquette's top 10 all-time leading scorers: Jerel McNeal (1st), Lazar Hayward (2nd), Dominic James (4th), Travis Diener (6th), Brian Wardle (7th), and Wesley Matthews (10th). Wardle is the only one not signed by Crean. The talent that Crean brought to Milwaukee totally changed the program.
Where would Marquette be now if these guys had
never been a part of the program?
You notice that list doesn't even include Dwyane Wade. With all due respect to Maurice Lucas and other past MU greats, Wade is the best NBA player Marquette has ever produced. Tom Crean rolled the dice on him, and he hit the jackpot.
There are five Marquette players currently on NBA rosters: Wade, Matthews, Steve Novak, Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder. Crean signed the first three in addition to McNeal and Hayward, who are both in the D-League. Several more Crean signees like Diener, Joe Chapman, Scott Merritt, and Dan Fitzgerald are playing professionally overseas.
And for those who like Buzz Williams better, that's totally acceptable. Buzz is Marquette's coach now, and we should like him more. However, don't forget who brought Buzz to Milwaukee. Had Crean not hired him as an assistant in the 2007-08 season, I highly doubt an unknown coach at a struggling University of New Orleans program would have been able to land the Marquette job.
Looking back on it, Crean left at the perfect time. The strong core of James, McNeal, Matthews and Hayward was there to help Buzz Williams get off to a great start and continue building on the success Crean had enjoyed. The program has not dropped off a bit since Crean left. It may even be a little better, and that's because Crean left a solid foundation for Buzz.
Beyond the numbers and the recruits, Crean did a great job engaging the fans and letting them know they are appreciated to drum up interest in the program. He's doing the same at Indiana. I remember Crean walking out on senior night in 2003 and holding up a big sign that said "Thank You Seniors." He always came over to the student section after the games and applauded to thank us for being loud.
I remember on my graduation day in 2003 when Crean was in the lobby of the Bradley Center shaking hands with random seniors and saying congratulations. He shook my hand and my roommate's, and he said congratulations and good luck. It made a great day even better.
The bottom line: Crean made Marquette better, and we should thank him. I'm not saying we all need to become Indiana fans. We'll always be Marquette fans. I don't expect the MU campus to be crimson and cream if Indiana makes it to the Final Four this year. We don't have to cheer for IU to do well (unless, of course, they're playing Louisville, Wisconsin, or Notre Dame). We can still make little jokes about Crean's tan or maybe even smirk a little when Indiana loses. I just don't root for the guy to fail - because at this point, it's pretty obvious that he's going to be successful.
All I'm saying is respect the man and what he did for Marquette. Don't boo when people mention his name. The program didn't build itself. Crean put a lot of work in, and it paid off. Enough time has passed, and most bitterness should be gone. Crean still respects and speaks well of Marquette, and I think all MU fans should return the favor.
I've blogged on fan fouls before. One thing I didn't include but probably should have is the concept of what I like to call "Twitter heroes." These are people who love to curse out athletes (or writers or celebs) behind the anonymity of a Twitter handle.
These people are especially prevalent during National Signing Day.
If you ever want to confirm to yourself that you are not a bad person, just look at what some people say to a 17-year old kid just because he chose not to attend their favorite school. These people are the absolute worst. Every fan base has a few. Some more than others.
I'm not sure what they hope to accomplish by calling a teenager a ****ing ****** because he picked School A over University B. Telling him you hope he tears his ACL and dies? Classy.
It's the kid's choice, folks. They can only attend one school. Let the athletes enjoy a special day with their families. (Forget the fact that tweeting at recruits is an NCAA violation anyway.)
Besides, there's no need to get worked up. As Nick Saban once said at a Signing Day presser, "just because you get the pick of the litter doesn't mean you're going to have the best hunting dogs."
You don't know how these kids are going to turn out. You may be getting all bent out of shape over a kid who may never play.
Collin Klein: barely recruited, not even Bill Snyder was sure he wanted him as a quarterback... Heisman finalist
Dayne Crist and Garrett Gilbert: can't miss 5-star prospects.
You just never know. So, it's fine to check the lists, be happy or disappointed. Talk to your fellow fans about what they think. As far as cursing down a kid, though, just stop.
If a star prospect doesn't choose your favorite school, do what I do: unfollow him on Twitter. That'll show him.
