Posted on Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 09:21:36 AM EST in College
More on: Kansas, Memphis, Mario Chalmers, One Shining Moment, college basketball, NCAA Tournament, national championship (all tags)

Hopefully you didn't go to bed and give up on the Jayhawks when they were in a nine-point hole with two minutes left in regulation - that's right, we said regulation - because if you did then you missed one of the greatest finishes to a championship game in tourney history. Mario Chalmers sank a phenomenal, incredible, spectacular, unbelievable (too much?) shot in the final moments to send the game into overtime, exploiting Memphis' free throw woes down the stretch to close the gap before running to a 75-68 extra inning win.

The Tigers are going to be kicking themselves over this one for a while. Joey Dorsey fouled out at the conclusion of regulation and the team missed four of their last five from the charity stripe in regulation. Not exactly the way they planned to cap off a season in which they won more games than any team in the history of college basketball.

While John Calipari might disagree, all in all, it was on of the greatest tournaments in a long time. And we've got One Shining Moment to prove it.

Permalink | Post A Comment | Read Comments

Posted on Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 09:37:45 AM EST in College
More on: Derrick Rose, Memphis, Final Four, college basketball, stomach ache (all tags)

If you think your diet goes straight to hell during March Madness then at least you're not alone. There's no telling how many nachos, hotdogs, soda and microwave pizzas we've pounded since opening day. But we're used to it; we find some sporting event every weekend in order to indulge. Heck, we tuned into the Winter X-Games just so we could kill an entire gallon of cookies-n-cream ice cream. Our excuse is that we're on the Derrick Rose diet. What's yours?

Right before sitting down to answer questions Sunday, Memphis' freshman point guard asked coach John Calipari to be excused from media sessions because his stomach was bothering him. Rose went to see trainers and never returned.

Teammate Chris Douglas-Roberts offered a possible reason why his running mate had a stomach ache.

''[Derrick] eats Gummy Bears and Starburst for breakfast and Twizzlers and Honey Buns for dinner -- that's why his stomach hurts,'' Douglas-Roberts said.

'We tell Derrick the whole year, `Stop eating so many Gummy Bears and Sour Straws.' But he can't.'

Links:
[MiamiHerald.com]: Memphis' Rose has upset stomach

Permalink | Post A Comment | Read Comments

Posted on Tue Sep 04, 2007 at 12:45:56 AM EST in College
More on: John Calipari, Memphis, basketball, crime, angry, funny (all tags)

A pair of Memphis basketballers got arrested early Sunday morning outside of a nightclub for disorderly conduct and inciting a riot after officers responded to a disturbance at 3:36 a.m. Sophomore Shawn Taggart and freshman Jeff Robinson were accused by club security of starting the incident, but police seemed to disagree. Regardless, the two made some serious no-nos when they started getting unruly with the boys in blue.

Taggart, 22, then began yelling obscenities, "causing the large crowd to get further agitated and (they) began closing in on officers, trying to pull (the) defendant away from officers, while yelling obscenities, causing the officers to fear for their safety," according to the report.

Robinson, 19, approached a police officer with his fists balled, acting aggressively, ignoring police commands and yelling obscenities, according to the police account.

Both players were released on bond and were scheduled to appear 9 a.m. Tuesday in Shelby County Criminal Court.

Needless to say, it didn't take long for the earth around Memphis to start quaking and Mount Calipari to erupt.

I'm not happy," he said. "I know they're going to screw up. They're young kids, and they're going to do dumb things, like my own children.

"But how many times have I said, nothing good happens in a club after midnight? We'll deal with this; a lot of it
will be in-house. Some of it's not going to be," Calipari said.

"I'm furious, to be honest," Calipari said. "I want the city to know this: They're not to be in any clubs. None. I've asked the players, if anybody here doesn't think they can live with that, I need them to come and see me so we'll help them transfer.

Don't worry, we're just like the rest of you out there and there is absolutely no way we could touch on a John Calipari rant without reliving one of the single greatest sound bytes in NBA, nay, sports history. We wish we had the video to show you, but you're just going to have to use your imagination.

Larry Bird's not walking through that door, fans. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through that door, they're going to be gray and old.... And all the negativity that's in this town sucks. I've been around when Jim Rice was booed. I've been around when Carl Yastrzemski was booed. And it stinks. It makes the greatest town, greatest city in the world, lousy.

Links:

[SI.com]: Two Memphis players arrested

Permalink | Post A Comment | Read Comments (1 comment)