Greetings from the Hoodwood, where the locals are praying for our peeps in Oklahoma, stay Okie strong Hoodwood sends its love and prayers.

NBA: Another Knick flameout

I think its funny that there were so many that thought that the New York Knicks were really going to beat the Pacers. After they had nearly choked away their firsr round series with the Celtics. They got smoked in the 1^st game with the Pacers. But the Knick fans shrugged it off as so much that their squad was tired from the battle royal with the Celtics. It seemed validated when they routed the Pacers in game 2. “See!” Knick apologists like Colin Cowherd said. The Knicks will roll and win it in 5. Problem was the Pacers weren’t having any of it. They bounced the Knicks in games 3 and 4 in Indy and the Knicks were pushed to the brink. Winning a game 5 handily, the so called experts said that all the pressure was on the Pacers. Win in Bankers Life Fieldhouse Saturday night in game 6 or face a winner take all showdown game 7 in MSG, after racing to a big lead the Pacers had to weather a barrage of 3 pointers by the Knicks by Iman Shumpert (that’s where Nerlens Noel gets the hightop fade look from) JR Smith (where had he been) and fought back into the game. Unheraled Chris Copeland made a couple threes to start the 4^th, and the Pacers were on the ropes. When Smith drilled a 3 to give the Knicks a 92-90 lead and the Pacers Paul George missed a mid ranger jumper it look like the Knicks could deliver the knockout blow and Carmelo Anthony who was having a monster game and would finish with 39 points would head to the bucket when this happened…

The Pacers were busting out the Kool-Aid and I was ready to bust out some Funkadelic on the 8 track...It was a funky block party in Nap-town and the Knicks were just not hip to the beat. After the block they just seemed to wilt. The Pacers got back to back buckets from former Bearcat Lance Stephenson including a critical 3 point play on a driving layup and getting fouled by JR Smith who was having a miserable series and just was not the same player after getting that one game suspension in the Celtics series. The Knicks would never get close to the lead again and the Pacers rolled home to a 106-99 win it was ironic that Smith took the last shot for the Knicks a 25 footer that missed of course Smith scored only 15 points on 4-15 shooting. Melo had 39 points but he and Smith were two of only three players on the Knicks scoring in double figures, Shumpert had 19 points on an efficient 6-10 shooting. But the other geriatric Knicks, Jason Kidd, Amare Stoudamire, and Kenyon Martin scored under 5 points. Raymond Felton was 0-7 and was shutout. The Knicks won 54 games and Im trying to figure how. 11 of the 16 so-called experts polled on ESPN picked the Knicks and of course look like fools. The Pacers now face the Heat whom they’ve beaten twice in 3 tries. I think the Heat will in 6 but the Pacers will be a tough out.

What happened to LA Sports

I remember a piece a couple decades ago that was written about the New York rap scene it literally asked “Has New York fallen the fuck off or what?” Now the death of the New York rap scene has of course been greatly exaggerated and the Big Apple rap scene continues to thrive. But the same question could now be asked about the LA sports scene. Of course with no pro football there is no movement in that front in the city of Angels. Speaking of Angels, they and the Dodgers looked to make big splashes with high priced acquisitions. The Angels already bolstered with the signings of Albert Pujols last year and then the Halos then acquired Josh Hamilton. With those feared sluggers the Angels looked to be the real bully of not only the AL West but the AL as well. But the Angels have struggled mightly at 17-27 are 11 games behind the rolling Texas Rangers only the neophyte Houston Astros are further back. Across town in Chavez Ravine the Dodgers are just as bad at 18-25 are only 7 games behind the Giants but are just not playing well. Dodger management has publicly stated that they are nowhere close to firing manager Don Mattingly but the lineup that is packed with stars like Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Andre Eithier and Carl Crawford  is just not producing runs. The Bums are -36 in run scoring differential. If it wasn’t for Clayton Kershaw the Dodgers pitching would be lifeless. With the slow return of Zach Greinke the Dodgers are 5-12 this month after starting at exactly .500 The Dodgers and Angels are the bull teams for interleague next week and face each other but the excitement of the first round of the Freeway series just elicits yawns and wonder of which Angelino baseball team will stink it up more. The mediocrity isn’t limited to the baseball teams, both basketball teams were bounced out of the NBA playoffs in the 1^st round. Though the Clippers won their first ever division title, and roared out to a 2-0 first round lead they then dropped the next four against the Grizzles and were sent home. The Lakers (stop laughing) were pretty much destroyed when Kobe Bryant went down and Dwight Howard just wasn’t able to pick up the slack. They were swept by the Spurs. Wow, who is facing off in the Western conference finals??? The Grizzlies and Spurs. Hmmmm. I know dvt, I know the Kings are repping strong as the defending Stanley Cup champs and are thumped the Blues in their first round Stanley Cup playoff series. They also have won their first two games at Staples against the Sharks. But they lost game 3 and may be in some serious trouble.

Phat Dap Head Slap

Phat Dap

I don’t think Ive ever given someone Phat Dap two weeks in a row but given the situation, I think this merits it. Dap to Dodgers CF Matt Kemp who immediately pledged $1000 donation for every homer that he hits from now until the All-Star break for the victims of the OKC tornadoes. Kemp got off to a good start on his pledge homering Monday in a Dodger win. Matt Kemp is fast becoming one of my favorite players and one fo the good guys in the sporting world

Head Slap

A pair to Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods who just cant let their little spat go. Woods bluntly said “No” when asked had he ever thought of picking up the phone and calling Garcia to mend their tiff. And while the response garnered some chuckled from the assembled media at the AT&T invitational, Garcia was not one laughing, he stated at a London Press junket that he thinks that Woods “called him a whiner which may be true but it’s the first honest thing that he has said in 15 years. This war of words is getting silly and it makes both golfers look petty and like a pair of whiny bitchy schoolgirls. The media is eating it up but I would have expected more from both. Let the rivalry be on the golf course with good play not catty he said, he said shit.

That the view from the Hoodwood for this week, Until Next Post Fellow Sports Fans!

Im sorry, I couldnt remove Robby...Hes still making it possible

Greetings from the Hoodwood, where the locals are praying and sending their love for the folks in Boston

This is why golf sucks.

A fat fucker, drinking beer, watching a PGA event on TV, anywhere in the world, can watch the game and call up the PGA and tell them that one of the players violated a rule. Now mind you there are many PGA officials at every event and they know all the rules. So how come they have to wait until this fucker calls and tells them Tiger screwed up.

Simply put, the PGA should use the motto "What's laid is played." If you screw your card up, or don't put your ball back at the same spot, and no one notices tough shit.

Oh Damn, another remote broken over the last few days...

Greetings from the Hoodwood where that sound you heard was the all the brackets being busted

NCAA: The Coaching Carousel spins up

The coaching carousel is usually something that starts up after the last strains of “One Shining Moment” have finished this year it seems that its already revving up before the first weekend of the tourney. UCLA axed Ben Howland after ten seasons. I remember when Howland was one of the hottest young coaches in the game. He came up as a head coach of Northern Arizona. I remember him because in 1998 he lead the  Lumberjacks to their first NCAA berth as Big Sky champs and they pushed my beloved Bearcats hard in their first round game losing by 3. Howland was a hot coaching commodity and was at the head of a lot of wish lists, but he eventually moved on to Pittsburhgh were as coach of the Panthers his star continued to rise fast, he took the Panthers to 3 straight Big East title games and winning it in 2003. Howland was on the rise and UCLA made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Steve Lavin was on the way out and Howland was charged with repairing a program that had fallen on hard hard times. He got the Bruins back to prominence within a couple years and making the first of three consecutive Final Fours in 2006. Howland was the toast of the city as the first coach since the legendary John Wooden to take UCLA to consecutive Final Fours, though the Bruins never captured a title losing to Florida in the title game in and the national semifinal in 2006 and 2007 respectively and Memphis in the 2008 semifinal.  Howland moved into 2^nd in all time wins at UCLA  in 2011. But there was rumblings of a program in trouble as soon after the semifinal loss to Memphis, Howland reportedly backtracked on a recruit who was a diehard UCLA fan and had wanted to be a Bruin since his sophomore year in high school. Howland cooled on him and was trying to recruit outside of SoCal, ignoring the fertile base that had produced a number of solid players like Russell Westbrook, Arron Afflalo and Josh Shipp. His misses on recruits outside of SoCal and the ignoring of a deep recruiting base eroded their title hopes. Though the Bruins continued to make the tourney, they got housed repeatedly when they got there. The  nadir being a 20 point thrashing by Minnesota (more on them in a bit) Combine that with repeated stories that Howland’s abrasive coaching style was wearing thin on players and fans. There were an alarming number of players that were not only transferring out but starring at other programs. UCLA Dan Guerrero had decided that 10 was enough and relieved Howland of his duties.

In a move that caught some by surprise, the University of Minnesota fired their coach. Tubby Smith made the move to the Twin Cities in 2007 after 9 tumultuous years in Kentucky. Gophers alum Tony Dungy assisted in bringing Smith to Minnesota’s attention. He resigned at Kentucky to take the Minnesota job and was welcomed in the area as much as he was criticized in Kentucky. The Gophers went to the NIT in his first year and made the NCAA the following two. After an injury marred 2011, the Gophers got all the way to the NIT finals in 2012 and made the NCAA tourney this year. But Tubby was under increasing fire for his teams repeatedly playing inconsistent especially late in the season. Tubby’s laconic style must have not set well with the locals, because they were increasingly vocal about the results. Now with both Howland and Smith out, the speculation ramps up on who will be their respective sucessors. Shaka Smart is high on both schools wish lists. Smart was hired by current Minnesota AD Norwood Teague at VCU, and has a tight relationship. Also coveted by UCLA Smart is once again a hot commodity as is Butler coach Brad Stevens. Minnesota reportedly is also interested in Gopher alum Flip Saunders who was a long time coach in Minnesota with the pro Timberwolves.

NCAA: You’re gonna have to work

Im hearing the media wonks whine about, the “lack of sexy matchups” in the sweet 16. Im already annoyed. The wonks hate that a team like Florida Gulf Coast, Wichita State, and LaSalle are all still dancing. Doing the chicken dance, cabbage patch and running man while the established bluebloods like North Carolina, Georgetown, Oklahoma State all look on in horror and disgust from the outside. Guess what Wonky Wonk, you’re gonna have to work. You are going to have a few days to learn about the spunky kids from Philly who bring a combination of grit and toughness to their game. You’re going to have to learn about a team that wasn’t playing D-1 ball two years ago from a school that was founded during the 2^ndClinton administration.

I mean, I admit the teams I hyped got nowhere. The MWC sent five teams and none got out the first weekend and only Colorado State and San Diego State even got wins. An A-10 team from Philly is still dancing but its LaSalle not Temple, a rugged team from the Missouri Valley keeps on dancing but its Wichita State not Creighton . Im sorry wonky wonk…you’re gonna have to work!

Real Musings from the Bandit…20 years has it been that long?

As I sit at my office desk here at Black Bandit Productions and Enterprises looking out the window its snowing and I think of the last few times that it has snowed in March, five years agomy youngest Princess Jazzie was born the day after Hoodwood got socked with 9 inches of snow and I clowned on the fact that people were waiting in the snowy maelstrom for a fuckin’ IKEA to open. I really cant knock it too much now since Im sitting in an IKEA office chair (shaddap!) but I digress. I see snow in March and think of my Grandma. 20 years ago I was dealing with losing her and how all of a sudden my childhood was really over. I worried for my Grampy who had been married to her for almost 47 years and wondered how I would fend for myself. I saw Jim Valvano’s now iconic speech at the inaugural ESPY awards and drew comfort and inspriration from the dying coach’s immortal words. It was almost as if I could hear my grandma saying a lot of the same things that Coach V was saying about never giving up and to live life to the fullest. I look back at it now and think where I was and what was going on. In the blink of an eye 20 years has passed I have two daughters. The NCAA tourney is still a staple of March, The Canadiens are dark horse contenders for a Stanley Cup (They haven’t won it since 1993) and when it snows like this I get wistful thinking of my grandma and the coach…a weird juxtaposition I know but hey.

NBA: Heat keeps on streakin’

The count is now 27, the Heat 108-94 win over the Magic keeps the Heat win streak intact. When I saw the Heat lose to the Pacers on February 1^st, I didn’t think that I would be watching the last time that they walked off the court a loser. That was nearly 2 months ago. The Heat have trailed multiple times by double digits. Still just over the horizon is the Valhalla like 33 game mark that the 71-72 Lakers set. If we’re talking about the Heat next week they will have hit 30 games and they will have beaten the team that I say will take them down. The despised Spurs. I have the feeling that the NBA will twist it just enough to keep the Heat in check and further lionize their golden child team.  But if they get past that and the Knicks on April 2^nd watch out.

PGA: Look whos back on top

Heeeeeees Back! Tiger, who dominated at Bay Hill to win his umpteenth Arnold Palmer (no rumor that Arnie is thinking of retiring the name and calling it the Tiger invitational) but his 2 stroke win gave him his 8^th win at Bay Hill but more importantly it moved Tiger back to the #1 world ranking for the first since 2010 before his marital woes brought him down. Now does this mean more everyone playing for 2^nd like back in the day when Tiger was winning tourneys by double digit strokes? No, hes back on top of the golf world and I think all is back right. He now has more rivals and players like Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Bubba Watson who would be able to push Tiger to stay on top. But it will be fun to see Tiger once again being the player everyone is gunning for.

Phat Dap

To flying under the radar, the Pittsburgh Penguins have won 12 in a row, and under the radar of the Blackhawks long unbeaten streak. The Pens have won 9 of the 12 in regulation. Say what you want about the Blackhawks, I think the Pens are more impressive. They will go for 13 wins in a row tonight against Montreal.

Also a Dap to B-Dub who you see in this slot on Mondays. B-Dub is moving on to other endeavors. It was a pleasure to have followed you, a Hoodwood salute to you!

Head Slap

To Costa Rican soccer who incessantly whined about losing to the US in a World Cup qualifier in the snow in Denver. The game was played with a yellow ball since near whiteout conditions were in effect. But the Americans won 1-0 and the Costa Rican team filed a protest, saying that the condition was unplayable. Gee its funny that the game was close throughout and they had a number of chances to score. FIFA is looking into the protest and if it was filed properly. Costa Rica wants the game replayed. Head Slap to a sore loser

Now that the Catholic cardinals have assembled their weapon of Mass Construction (c’mon, that was funny) we can move onto more important issues.  Like the PGA considering a ban on anchoring  putters. 

Now, I’m probably like most cats that have strolled the links waving a golf club in one hand, and a beverage in the other, in that I can hit the crap out of a golf ball given a solid driver, but my short game falls…a little short.  I’m known to drive the ball to the green in 2 strokes, and put it in the cup with no less than 6-more.  In short, I suck.  Bad.

And, frankly, I don’t have the temperament for golf.  The last time I went golfing, I was on hole 13 when I got so frustrated I wrapped my 9-iron around a tree.  Truly, I’m not kidding.  My family refuses to take me out to putt-putt.  I’m that bitter and angry that I can’t get the ball through the windmill that I’m a hazard to be around.

Getting back to the issue at hand, the PGA wants to consider a ban to take effect in 2016 on “belly putters” because they take too much skill out of the game.  Why?  Because an increasing number of tour members are using them.   According to the PGA website, not one of the top 20 golfers use an anchored putting stroke.  Seems to me that in and of itself undercuts their argument; these competitive cats see an advantage, they’d be on it like a boss.  They’re not. 

Now, you’re not likely to get me on the links any time soon; I broke the head off a brand new “Big Bertha” – on the first swing I took with it -  by driving it straight down: A $225 driver – with a sweet club cover and everything – down the tubes.  The head went further than the ball did.  Would an anchored putter help my game?  Seriously?  Psychiatric help might help my game, but a belly putter?  Not likely.  Does it help the pros by “taking the skill out” of the game?  I suppose over a long term, it could have a dumbing down effect – like the slam dunk vs. a charity stripe throw to a 7’1” Shaquille O’Neal – but seriously, the game is so skill driven and so competitive that if anchoring a putter to my belly would give me a fraction of a stroke difference over 13 tour appearances, I would do it.  That doesn’t seem to be happening.

But just because people increasingly use something, it doesn’t mean that it works.  I mean any 1980’s kid that wore Marithe Francois Girbaud inverse pleated pants knows that just because everyone is doing it, it doesn’t mean it works.  None of the Top 20 actually use one?  Probably not happening, it’s a matter of style.  The accusation it takes the skill out of the short game hasn’t been proven – if you’re going to ban something because it creates an advantage (real or perceived), you need to test it.  And that hasn’t been done.

Here’s the simple solution: take the top 100 golfers.  Randomly assign them to a belly putter vs. traditional putter groups and have them putt 1000 times.    Which group out performs the other?  Then debate the issue.  If the belly putters outperform, that gives you data with which to have a debate – not a perfect debate, I mean my experimental design has significant flaws, but some data (even flawed data) is better than no data.  That data is just not present in this discussion. 

So to the PGA I say, don’t be like the Luddites fighting the power of technological advancement: destroying the machines of progress – a futile fight.   Look at data, don’t just make a gut reaction because you don’t like the form.