Final Four favorites: UConn by four over MSU, N. Carolina by 8 over Villanova

(3/31) When Seth Curry, the younger brother of All-America Davidson College star Stephen Curry, decided to leave tiny Liberty College to look for a college in a larger conference, no one realized just how big he was going to go. The younger Curry, whose 20 2 points per game led all freshmen last season, will have to sit out a year before he plays for Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski. Think J.J. Redick, here.

Convicted felon Michael Vick had to submit a financial plan as to how he hopes to climb out of bankruptcy. The former Atlanta Falcon quarterback’s report says he plans on making $10 million a year in the NFL. Vick would keep the first $750,000 and then a percentage would go to creditors. Can he exist on a mere $750,000 and who will pay him $10 million? Amazing.

How’s this for a rumor. Fired Kentucky head coach Billy Gillispie sits out a year while drawing his severance pay from the Wildcats, then replaces Texas Tech coach Pat Knight if he doesn’t have a good year. Remember, Eddie Sutton was fired from Kentucky and the Big XII’s Oklahoma State gave him a job and he flourished.

Word on the Kentucky search is that Louisville’s Rick Pitino lobbied hard for two of his former players - Travis Ford at Oklahoma State and John Pelphrey at Arkansas - but the Wildcats seem most interested in Memphis’ John Calipari.

If you watched North Carolina dismantle Oklahoma in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, you must have wondered, as I did, how in the heck the Sooners made it as far as they did. Oklahoma is a one-man team with the very excellent Blake Griffin, and nothing else.

If you care, the early line on the Final Four has UConn as a four-point favorite over Michigan State and North Carolina an eight-point pick over Villanova.

The referees in the NCAA tournament are paid $850 per game plus travel and hotel expenses and a per diem. According to the New York Times, there are 40 refs who are in such demand that it is a full-time job for them and the best of the best can command $2,500 to $3,000 per game but must pay their own expenses and health insurance as independent contractors.

This is Norman Arey telling you without a doubt that I can live on $750,000 per year.

NFL way off base with Matt Stafford; rumors swirl around college basketball jobs

(3/30) The San Francisco 49ers made it quite public that they won’t draft Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford. That’s fine but then 49ers coach Mike Singletary informed us why and that’s not OK. Stafford supposedly was uncomfortable answering questions about his parents’ divorce during an interview with a team psychologist.

Said Singletary: "If you’re going to look at drafting a guy in the first round and you’re going to pay him millions of dollars, and asking him about a divorce about his parents, if that’s going to be an issue, then you know what? Maybe he doesn’t belong here."

-No. 1: What product of a broken marriage would be comfortable answering questions about it?

-No. 2: What could that possibly have to do with productivity in the NFL?

-No. 3: What business is it of anyone?

-No. 4: Why would the 49ers talk about it publicly if it was part of a psychological evaluation?

I hope the ex-Bulldog quarterback beats them every time he faces them over the next 15 to 20 years.

A few quick hits: Jerry Rice Jr. will walk-on at UCLA after receiving only a scholarship offer from Air Force. . . Quarterback Nick Montana, son of Joe, says he’s serious about playing at Georgia as he toured both the Georgia and Alabama campuses this weekend. . . Florida coach Billy Donovan has denied he has interest in the head job at Kentucky. . . Virginia is supposedly heavily pursuing Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith. . . Louisville coach Rick Pitino has drawn interest from Arizona. . . And Kentucky might be interested in Memphis’ John Calipari and possibly Michigan State’s Tom Izzo.

Former Tennessee head coach Johnny Majors attended his first football practice in Knoxville in 17 years. Majors always felt that Phil Fulmer had backstabbed him but obviously feels new coach Lane Kiffin is a fine fellow.

And finally, speaking of college football, Miami must have a death wish if you take a look at the Hurricanes’ schedule next season. The ‘Canes open up against Florida State, then play Georgia Tech, travel to Virginia Tech and then entertain Oklahoma. Can you say 0-4?

This is Norman Arey and my parents were never divorced.

Women smarter than men? Look at graduation rates for NCAA teams and decide

(3/27) Virginia Commonwealth basketball coach Anthony Grant met with Alabama officials for a second time this week. His visit included a tour of the campus, a meeting with the president of the school and a meeting with football coach Nick Saban. What could they have had in common? How to spend the big bucks the Tide is ready to throw at Grant?

Are women smarter than men? It would seem that way when you look at the graduation rates of the 16 men’s and women’s team left in their respective NCAA basketball tournaments. There are four women’s teams left with a 100 percent graduation rate while five of the 16 men’s teams graduate 50 percent or less.

With spring football practice under way at most colleges, Ole Miss seems to be the in the mix for a break into the Top 10. The Rebels won their last six games of the ‘08 season, including beating LSU and then Texas Tech. Jevan Snead is back at quarterback and Houston Nutt is proving he’s one of the better coaches in the SEC.

To move the Georgia-Florida football game out of Jacksonville once every four years and play it in the Georgia Dome might seem like a good idea on the surface but it won’t and shouldn’t happen. I’d love to see the game on a home-and-home basis. The Dome seats 71,250. The Gator Bowl seats 77,000 and both Florida and Georgia’s home fields have more seats than the Dome.

So Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah wants to hold a congressional hearing on the BCS college football playoff. I’m sure Senator Hatch will claim the BCS violates anti-trust laws. The reason is because Utah was omitted from playing for the national championship last season. Instead, Florida and Oklahoma played for the title. Just leave college football alone. Surely there must be something else to discuss, perhaps the economy or Afghanistan? Leave it alone!

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that former Atlanta Falcon quarterback Michael Vick must show genuine remorse before he would consider re-instating the convicted felon in the league. Vick is in the final stages of serving his 23-month sentence for dog-fighting. Goodell didn’t say of what ‘genuine remorse’ would consist. It’s probably one of those deals where you don’t know what it’ll look like but you’ll know it when you see it. I would be most disappointed if Vick is ever reinstated.

This is Norman Arey genuinely remorseful for this commentary.

Hide your pets and cell phones, Arkansas is practicing football; more on Wonderlic

(3/26) Former Atlanta Falcon and now head Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino has published rules for fans attending Razorback practices. They can’t bring in lawn chairs, use mobile phones, get autographs or bring their pets. The last, no doubt, is a concession he might not have thought of had he not signed on to coach Michael Vick.

And speaking of Vick, the dog murderer is due to be released from federal prison in May. The word on the street, or maybe the cell block, is that Vick has written a biography while incarcerated. Seriously, would you buy a book by Michael Vick?

Tennessee head football coach Lane Kiffin on Florida players posting his picture in the Gator locker room after the Vol coach accused Florida coach Urban Meyer of cheating. "I think it’s pretty neat that the Tennessee ‘T’ is in the Florida locker room," Kiffin said. "As recruits go through their visiting, they get to see our ‘T.’ So I guess you call it free advertising."

Seth Curry, the basketball-playing younger brother of Davidson’s Stephen Curry, says he’s leaving tiny Liberty University to seek a team in a higher-ranked conference. Seth led all freshmen in the country in scoring this season with a 20.2 average. Maybe he’d look good in Georgia red and black.

After its less-than-stellar showing last year in college football, the ACC is doing nothing to enhance its image. Three ACC teams are playing two Division I-AA teams next year - North Carolina, Duke and N.C. State.

If North Carolina or Duke should exit the NCAA tournament early, it will be because of the lack of defense. Sporting News Today.com points out that over the past 10 games, the Tar Heels’ opponent’s leading scorer has exceeded his average by more than 5.1 points per game. In Duke’s case, in the 11 games since Jon Scheyer was installed as point guard and Elliot Williams named a starter, the Blue Devils’ defense has allowed 47.9 percent field goals and better than 50 percent in the tournament.

And finally, I swear this is true: One of the questions on the Wonderlic test administered by the NFL to potential players was this: Which number in the following group of numbers represents the smallest amount? (A) 7 (B) 1/8 (C) 31 (D) 1/3 (E) 2. Folks, this means we can all play in the NFL.

This is Norman Arey and I’d never take my dog to an Arkansas practice.

Wondering about Matt Stafford Wonderlic score, who's the best fit for UGA hoops

(3/25) Talk about pressure. Earlier this month, Oklahoma all-America center Courtney Paris said that if her Lady Sooners didn’t win the national basketball championship, she would repay the cost of her scholarship.

That, of course, has sparked a debate about whether college sports is all about winning and how do you put a price tag on it. Does she feel pressure now to win more than she did before the promise?

But the real pressure, it would seem, would be squarely on the shoulders of the A.I.G. executives and their big bonuses. Should they give them back if they don’t perform?

Matt Stafford set the psychological world on fire this week when it was revealed that the Georgia quarterback had scored a 38 on the Wonderlic test, which gives a psychological profile, supposedly measuring problem-solving ability. For sake of comparison, other well known players’ scores included Michael Vick 20; Marcus Vick 11; Steve Young 33; Tom Brady 33; John Elway 30; Brett Favre 22; and Dan Marino 16. In other words, it’s not particularly a measure of raw intelligence.

One of the questions that Stafford missed was this: "Which of the following are you not supposed to see in the Georgia backfield? (1) Knowshon Moreno, (2) Brannan Suutherland, (3) Caleb King or (4) a Georgia Tech defender.

And by the way, Pat McInally, a Harvard grad who was a wide receiver and punter for the Cincinnati Bengals, is the only player to record a perfect score of 50

SportingNewsToday.com says the top NBA prospects still playing in the NCAA basketball tournament are Tyreke Evans, Memphis, point guard; Gerald Henderson, Duke, shooting guard; Earl Clark, Louisville, small forward; Blake Griffin, Oklahoma, power forward and Hasheem Thabeet, UConn, center. Griffin is rated the top overall player, but I’ve got to believe that North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough may turn out to be the second best player of the lot.

The New York Knicks are celebrating their legacy by naming the top player in each decade for the team. Carl Braun represented the 1940s; Richie Guerin the ‘50s; Willis Reed the ‘60s; Walt Frazier the ‘70s; Bernard King the ‘80s; and Patrick Ewing the ‘90s. I’m sure Earl Monroe would have made it had not he spent his first decade in the league with Baltimore.

:Latest rumors have Georgia romancing Virginia Commonwealth basketball coach Anthony Grant, a former Florida assistant. I think Grant is a fine coach but I feel the Bulldogs need to make a bigger statement than a Billy Donovan assistant. Maybe Rick Pitino would do it. And whatever happened to the Bobby Knight rumor?

This is Norman Arey, a proud recipient of a 51 score on my Wonderlic.

Talk about sweet: Vegas bookies were on the money in 15 of 16 slots

(3/24) Going into the second weekend of the NCAA men’s tournament, March Blandness has replaced March Madness as the buzz word de jour. Of the 16 teams left in the tournament, 14 of them were supposed to be there. There are only two teams remaining who were seeded below No. 4. Just so you’ll know, the bookies in Las Vegas picked 15 of the Sweet 16 teams.

The Tennessee women, which is the only team to have made the NCAA tournament every year since it began in 1982, lost in the first round for the first time in its history. The Lady Vols, seeded No. 5, were beaten by No. 12 Ball State, 71-55. It was Ball State’s first tourney showing.

The AJC points out that former Atlanta Braves’ center fielder Andruw Jones is only 31 years old and should be in his prime but instead is trying to hang-on as a backup with the Texas Rangers.

Wonder what’s wrong with Dale Earnhart Jr.? It’s the media’s fault. Says Junior, who hasn’t won this season: "It’s not that hard to stay positive until you get around the media. You guys have got to take a little responsibility for being so hard on everybody."

The Lexington Herald-Leader is reporting that Billy Gillispie’s return as head coach of the Kentucky Wildcat basketball program is problematic, at best. Reports are that the athletics director and president have already been in talks about what to do about the floundering program.

The story appeared in most sports publications last week that Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis would be coaching from the field and not the press box this season as he had hinted. Note to Charlie: It doesn’t make any difference from where you coach. You’re just not very good.

Is there a bigger waste of time or money than pro day when the NFL scouts come to the individual players’ campus to put them through their paces? In many cases, the pro scouts have had 50 games played at a high level to evaluate the players. What a ruse.

Another sign that the economy is seeking out sports as well as every other facet of life, the Denver Nuggets of the NBA have cut back their cheerleaders from every night to part-time work on weekends.

This is Norman Arey and I’ll never blame the media for my problems. Wait! I am the media.

Rocky start for the '09 Vols? And should the song be changed to 'Rocky Top-less'?

(3/23) How good can Tennessee be this year in football? Despite signing a couple of five-star players, it’s unlikely the Vols will be able to do much better than say, 7-5. Rivals.com experts say an 8-4 mark would be the absolute best possible from what is in Knoxville. The problem is at quarterback and there’s not a top-notch one on campus.

And a sidebar to the Tennessee story. Head coach Lane Kiffin says the infamous recruiting visit where his assistant coaches ripped off their shirts was the greatest thing to happen since sliced bread. Kiffin says he’s gotten nothing but positive feedback from the junior recruits.

Word is that former wrestling champion Hulk Hogan has signed a six-figure deal to write a book about his life. My question is why? Would you read a book about a pro wrestler?

Just because I like lists, here are the top five schools with the most NCAA Tournament appearances without a championship: Notre Dame, 29; Illinois, 27; St. John’s 27; Temple 26; and Texas 26.

An NBA note worth mentioning: Shaq O’Neal scored 13 points against Washington over the weekend to pass Moses Malone and is now the No. 5 scorer of all time in pro basketball with 27,411 points. If you’re wondering, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is No. 1 on the list with 38,387 followed by Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain

Arizona coach Russ Pennell is operating under a different set of circumstances than any other coach in the NCAA tournament. Pennell, who was named interim coach after Lute Olson stepped down in October, knows that his next loss may be the last as head man in Tucson.

So much for the ACC challenging the Big East for basketball supremacy. Seven ACC teams started the tournament and only Duke and North Carolina remain after the first weekend of play.

The on-going tift between the Denver Broncos and quarterback Jay Cutler goes on. But it’s for sure that Cutler will have no trouble finding a job when the dust settles. The Broncos say more than 10 teams have called inquiring about Cutler.

This is Norman Arey promising to keep my shirt on.

Tebow's speech is immortalized in Gainesville; come on, Mike, let's not be like that

(3/20) Talk about an explosive game. A golfer, looking for a misplayed shot, found a grenade on the Augusta Municipal Golf Course. The bomb squad detonated the grenade. No word on whether the golf found his ball.

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow’s speech after the Gators lost to Ole Miss last year is now on a plaque mounted on the wall of the university’s football complex.

The L.A. Lakers’ superstar Kobe Bryant has been excused from jury duty. The judge asked what Bryant did for a living and when he was told he played professional basketball for the Lakers, the judge said, "Go Lakers" and let him go.

Lifted straight from Forbes magazine, filling out a perfect NCAA bracket is virtually impossible. Over six rounds and 63 games, the odds of calling every game right is one in 9 quintillion (that's a nine followed by 18 zeroes). Put another way: If every person on earth filled out one bracket per second, it would take 43 years to fill out every possible combination.

The NCAA has sent representatives to Las Vegas to meet with sports book operators to keep an eye out for any suspicious wagers on the NCAA basketball tournament. Estimates are that more than $12 billion will be bet on the tournament, most of it illegally.

Here’s the best example of why the head basketball job at the University of Georgia could be a great place to be. There are 40 Georgia natives playing in the NCAA tournament this weekend with the most famous being Toney Douglass of Florida State, who hails from Jonesboro.

With Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford scheduled to throw for the first time in front of NFL scouts, every team in the league had representatives in Athens for Pro Day Thursday.

When President Barack Obama’s Final Four picks didn’t include Duke, the Blue Devils’ coach Mike Krzyzewski suggested that perhaps the Prez should concentrate more on the economy and less on college basketball. Bad sport! Sounded kind of churlish to me.

This is Norman Arey and I’ve never churlish a day in my life.

Just how common are Eagles? A rule to live by: never curse the officials

(3/19) Probably you’re not keeping up with the NIT with the NCAA looming but Davidson dispatched South Carolina in the opening round as the nation’s leading scorer, Stephen Curry, poured in 32 points. Hope Curry returns for his senior year.

Short Shots: Florida 6-foot-6 guard Nick Calathes may take his game to the NBA. Gator fans were looking forward to seeing Calathes team with freshman phenom Kenny Boynton in the back court but that’s probably not going to happen. . . Just wondering what highly regarded linebacker recruit Dexter Moody could have done to make Georgia release him from his scholarship? He must have been on the FBI’s Top 10 wanted list. . . My take on UNC point guard Ty Lawson’s sore toe is he’ll sit out the Tar Heels’s opening game against Radford and then play in Carolina’s second game.

President Barack Obama’s Final Four picks included North Carolina, Louisville, Pitt and Memphis. I’m surprised he didn’t pick Illinois.

Kenny Anderson, part of Lethal Weapon III for Georgia Tech’s NCAA Final Four team as a point guard in 1990, is finishing his college degree and wants to go into college coaching. Tech would be a good place to start.

The most common nickname in the NCAA tournament is Eagles with four team bearing that moniker.

Is it big news that Notre Dame and Miami are talking about renewing their football series? Not any longer. Neither are relevant in today’s college football world.

Here’s a suggestion for the NCAA tournament coaches, particularly Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, West Virginia’s Bob Huggins and Maryland’s Gary Williams. Cleveland Cavaliers’ head coach Mike Brown admitted to complaining to the officials too much and has put himself under a self-imposed ban complete with a self-imposed fine.

And finally, another NCAA basketball note. We all know that Kentucky is not in the year-end extravaganza for the first time since 1991 under coach Billy Gillispie but how about this? Mark Turgeon, Gillispie’s successor at Texas A&M is in the playoffs for the second straight year and Tubby Smith, Gillispie’s predecessor in Lexington, has Minnesota in the tournament. Big Blue deserves it for running off Tubby.

This is Norman Arey and I never curse the officials.

Everybody's watching Ty Lawson's big toe, where Jeff Capel may buy a home

(3/18) Whether North Carolina reaches the Final Four is dependent on one thing and one thing only -- point guard Ty Lawson. Lawson sat out the ACC tournament with an injured toe and coach Roy Williams says Lawson won’t play this weekend unless he’s able to practice. If you remember, Lawson was injured last season and took forever to return.

Toss it up and they will come. Despite not making the NCAA tournament for the first time since the early ‘80s, Kentucky sold out its NIT game against UNLV in Lexington. . . It came as a mild surprise that Dave Leitao and the University of Virginia parted company this week. Leitao had just completed his fourth season as head Cavalier basketball coach and owned an overall mark of 63-60. . . An added note on the Leitao firing. Cavalier Athletics Director Craig Littlepage may be next on the Charlottesville list. . .Louisville jumped from No. 5 to No. 1 in the final AP college basketball poll of the year. It was the first time in its history the Cardinals were ranked on top.

This year’s No. 1 overall-rated prep football recruit Bryce Brown chose Tennessee in a late signing. Supposedly it had come down to the Vols, Southern Cal, Kansas State and you-name-it. By signing the tailback, UT jumped into the top 10 recruiting classes of the year.

And let me say this about Tennessee’s new coach Lane Kiffin. There is no one as obnoxious and overbearing in all of college football as Kiffin but he may be stupid like a fox. The University of Tennessee is certainly on everyone’s mind these days. Kiffin’s big mouth seems to be helping recruiting and he’s put the Vols on the college football map as they’ve not enjoyed in decades. Maybe we should just give him SEC Coach of the Year honors right now.

The Vegas bookies have listed North Carolina as a 2-1 favorite to take the NCAA tournament. Pittsburgh is 4-1, Louisville, the No. 1 overall seed, is 9-2 and UConn is 5-1.

Three top basketball jobs in the South are up for grabs as Virginia, Georgia and Alabama are searching for new coaches. Funny thing how Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel’s name has come up with all three schools.

And finally, don’t expect to see the same talent in his year’s NCAA tourney as in last year’s get-together. Last year was exceptional. This year is so-so. The top picks, as projected by several NBA sources are Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet, Spain’s Ricky Rubio, Georgetown’s Greg Monroe and Arizona State guard James Harden.

This is Norman Arey still uncontacted for any head coaching jobs.

Which state has the most Madness teams this year: Tennessee or N. Carolina?

(3/17) This is Norman Arey Marching into Madness

With hundreds of game results to sift through and bubble teams to consider and seedings to digest, it might have been easy to fail to appreciate what happened in the ACC finals between the upstart Seminoles of Florida State and the tried-and-true Blue Devils of Duke.

After Leonard Hamilton’s Seminoles upset top-ranked North Carolina Saturday, FSU may have believed it had arrived in the snooty upper crust of the ACC.

Ha! As Lloyd Bentsen once told Dan Quayle in a vice presidential debate, and I paraphrase, "You, sirs, are not an elite ACC team."

Wow! An NCAA tournament without Kentucky for the first time since electricity was discovered or was it invented?. And Indiana, a staple in the playoffs, is out. So is two-time national champion Florida. And Mississippi State is in? And UCLA deserved only a No. 6 seed and Memphis was shunted to No. 2 and the SEC got only three bids with commissioner Mike Slive as chairman of the committee. Arizona got in and Auburn didn’t. And Davidson and Stephen Curry are playing in the NIT. Please explain to me how the weak, weak Big 10 got seven bids? And you wonder why they call it March Madness .

Syracuse University is selling framed copies of the official box score from the Orange’s six-overtime win over UConn last week, autographed by coach Jim Boeheim, for $99.

Upsets will happen this week. I’m picking at least four:

-Oklahoma will lose to Clemson

-Illinois will lose to Western Kentucky

-UCLA will go down to Virginia Commonwealth.

-Arizona State takes out Syracuse.

Just a word about football: Things have digressed so dramatically in Denver that quarterback Jay Cutler has asked to be traded. Could the Broncos have handled this any worse?

Georgia heir-apparent quarterback Joe Cox said this to the Huntsville Times. "Everybody’s attitude right now is our backs are to the wall. That’s the best way to be, an underdog-type team. I think there’s going to be a lot of people doubting us and I think there are going to be a lot of people on our team that welcome that because we want to prove ourselves."

Some things just don’t go together. Tampa Bay Ray’s outfielder Gabe Kapler, who’s extremely proud of his Jewish heritage, has eight tattoos, reports the St. Petersburg Times.

And finally, here’s an upset and the NCAAs haven’t even started. The state of Tennessee is sending four teams to the tournament while good neighbor North Carolina is sending only three.

This is Norman Arey and I’m tattoo-less.

The Name Game: Does SEC or ACC have the most big-name coaches?

(3/16) The Miami Herald says that University of Miami basketball coach Frank Haith is drawing interest from both the University of Georgia and Alabama for head coaching vacancies.

A Wall Street Journal poll showed that Georgia Tech basketball coach Paul Hewitt produced the least value of any coach in the country and therefore was the most overpaid. . . In a related note, the WSJ also reported that more than 10 percent of the 343 NCAA Division 1-A basketball coaches are collecting a guaranteed annual compensation of more than $1 million.

You could make a case, as CBS president Sean McManus did, that the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament draws the country together like no other event. He says with the economy in the dumper, everyone needs something to cheer about.

The weird saga of quarterback Jay Cutler vs. the Denver Broncos’ coaching staff continues as Cutler has put his home up for sale. His parents, who also live in Denver, have put their home up as well.

What a wild week in conference tournament play. Did you realize the top three teams in the polls lost as did six of the top eight? And while everyone is wringing their hands about the demise of North Carolina, UConn and Pitt, Memphis and Louisville have quietly kept right on winning. I’m beginning to think Rick Pitino’s Cardinals might have a chance to win it all.

It’s always the SEC vs. the ACC in this area of the country. Who has the better football teams? Who has the better basketball squads? So how about this: Which conference has had the biggest names in college sports?

The SEC can bolster names like Bear Bryant, Shug Jordan, Bobby Dodd (yes, Tech was in the SEC once upon a time), Adolph Rupp, Steve Spurrier (twice) and now Urban Meyer, Les Miles (and unfortunately Lane Kiffin).

The ACC can counter with Dean Smith, Lefty Driesell, Bobby Ross, Mike Krzyzewski, Sunny Jim Tatum and Roy Williams, although he’s a relative newcomer.

Have Houston Nutt, Frank Beamer, Gary Williams and Bruce Pearl done enough to be considered a household name? Let me hear from you. Click e-mail.

This is Norman Arey, a household name wannabe.

Does NASCAR have a problem with pussy-footed drivers? Time for March Badness

(3/13) This is Norman Arey wishing you a Happy Friday The 13th.

It’s Free-For-All Friday, so here’s some notes and quotes from out and about:

-Sporting News announced its All-America team and North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough made the first squad for the fourth time. Others on the first team included Stephen Curry of Davidson, DeJuan Blair of Pitt, James Harden of Arizona State and Player-of-the-Year Blake Griffin of Oklahoma. Only Hansbrough is a senior.

-If I were an NFL linebacker, I’d pay attention to what New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady’s new wife, model Gisele Bundchen, said about her hubby. The Brazilian model said Brady was "very naive, most like a child." Question: Does that seem loving?

-I know a good idea when I hear one. Each University of Texas football player invited his favorite professor to watch practice this week. Then the professors were invited to a team dinner that night.

-There was a huge upset even before the ACC tournament tipped off its first game Thursday. The tourney, long known as the King of college basketball tournaments, had more than 10,000 tickets unsold. This, more than most things, indicates that the economy is at rock bottom. Of course, the Georgia Dome seats 36,000 - some 13,000 more than anywhere else the league plays its year-end extravaganza.

-It would be hard to choose which college basketball team has been the biggest disappointment this season but I’d like to nominate three - Notre Dame, Georgetown and Kentucky.

-In my unlearned opinion, NASCAR has a serious problem. The drivers aren’t really racing to win this season. They seemed consumed by the point standings and feel OK to finish a comfortable second or third rather than go for a risky first. Where are you, Dale and Richard?

-So much has been made about Olympic swim champ Michael Phelps losing his sponsors over the picture showing him smoking a bong. But I ask you, is there anyone out there who would buy any product based on who was promoting it?

-Another good idea: I was watching a Clint Eastwood movie, well, actually two of them on AMC last night. The movie channel is showing something they’re calling "March Badness," obviously a take-off of March Madness, which features tough guy movies.

This is Norman Arey and I’d always go for the flag.

Do you believe in 'honk ball'? Miracle Dutch team dumps Dominican Republican

(3/12) The Mississippi legislature proclaimed Manning Family Day earlier this week and both Archie Manning and his youngest son Eli attended the festivities. Peyton Manning couldn’t attend. He was playing golf with Tiger Woods.

Good news and bad news to the extreme: North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson was named Player of the Year in the ACC but may not be able to play in the ACC tournament because of an injured toe.

Anybody out there have odds that the defending champions of the SEC tournament might repeat? That would be Georgia, of course.

HONK IF YOU LOVE BASEBALL: I admit up front I’m not keeping up with the World Baseball Classic but who doesn’t know about the reincarnation of the U.S. beating Russia and then Finland in ice hockey in the 1980 Olympics? The Netherlands, for heavens sakes, has eliminated The Dominican Republic, one of the better teams in the shootout. Dutch for "baseball" is "honkball." Just thought you’d like to know.

The life-size statue of Syracuse’s Ernie Davis has been returned to the Syracuse campus. The original had historical inaccuracies and had to be re-done. Davis, the first black Heisman Trophy winner in 1961, was shown originally wearing Nike cleats. Nike wasn’t formed until 1971.

Did you realize that 12 NCAA tournament bids have already been nailed down and another 19 will be decided by Sunday afternoon? The selection show follows at 6 p.m on CBS.

And speaking of CBS, I hate that the network owns the rights to the NCAA tournament. The stable of announcers with CBS doesn’t hold a candle to those of ESPN.

The 1,100-mile Iditarod Dog Sled race is under way in Alaska but there was no word if Sarah Palin or her husband, Todd, are participating.

Former Vanderbilt and now Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler and the coaching staff of Denver are barely speaking? Are these people grown-ups or 12 year-olds? Get a grip.

And finally, I predict that the SEC will place three teams in the NCAAs next week while the ACC will send at least six.

This is Norman Arey saying, "Mush, Mush."

Talk about 'Lame': Vols' Kiffin berates player for signing with Gamecocks

(3/11) It’s hard to know where to start with this but Tennessee football coach Lane (Lame) Kiffin has again, yes, once again, put his big foot in his even bigger mouth.  When wide receiver Alshon Jeffreys of Matthews, S.C., chose South Carolina over Southern Cal and Tennessee, Kiffin reportedly told the player if he chose the Gamecocks, he would end up pumping gas for the rest of his life like all the other players from that state who had gone to South Carolina.  

Avid reader Joey Mac asks who doesn’t pump his own gas in this day and time? And by the way, Tennessee’s graduation rate among athletes is 54 percent compared to South Carolina’s 65 percent. And if you’re wondering, the Vols play the Gamecocks on Oct. 31. They also play Florida on Sept. 19 and Georgia on Oct. 10. and well, you get the picture.

Remember the story last week that North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough might not make First Team All-ACC. The Tar Heels’ front court player was a unanimous selection to the first team along with teammate Ty Lawson, FSU’s Toney Douglass, Miami’s Jack McClinton and Duke’s Gerald Henderson. The Carolina player’s selection was his fourth, all unanimous, which sets an ACC and world record.

The SEC’s first team selections (eight) included LSU’s Tasmin Mitchell and Marcus Thornton, Florida’s Nick Calathes, Jarvis Varnado of Mississippi State, South Carolina’s Devan Downey, Tennessee’s Tyler Smith and Kentucky’s duo of Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks. How come Kentucky gets two guys on the first team when they finished only third in the SEC East?

Trent Johnson’s first year at LSU has been nothing short of phenomenal, winning the SEC and compiling a record of 25-6. His success is nothing new. Johnson guided Nevada to the NCAA’s sweet 16 in 2004  and then went to Stanford and took The Cardinals to the Big Dance three out of four seasons. And, yes, he was chosen SEC Coach of the Year.

And finally, thank God for Ms. Murray. Atlanta Hawk guard Flip Murray has won a headband all season, but has removed it for his past two outings. Murray said, “My mother told me to stop wearing it.” Thanks, Ms. Murray. Nothing screams “thug” more than a headband on a basketball court, especially in college basketball. Food for thought but have you ever seen a Duke or North Carolina player wear a headband?

This is Norman Arey assuring you that I will never be seen wearing a headband.  

Who had the worst time in sports last week? A-Rod, T.O. or Billy Gillispie?

(3/10) The NCAA tournament is a week away and there’s already a debate going on. Davidson College, last year’s March Madness Darlings, lost to College of Charleston in the Southern Conference tournament. Many feel the Wildcats had to win their league tourney to make the Big Dance. Might we see Stephen Curry putting up his rainbow jumpers in the NIT? I think so. Davidson simply doesn’t have the resume this year to make it.

The Charlotte Observer says the ACC may be the hardest hit this year in underclassmen leaving early. The newspaper predicts more than a dozen players could declare for the NBA draft. The hardest hit may be North Carolina where Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington could leave. No underclassmen will leave either Georgia or Georgia Tech, and there’s a good reason for that.

Strange but (possibly) true - With fishing season here, the Kansas City Star ran a story saying brightly colored lures are designed for catching anglers at the sales counter rather than fish since it’s never been proven that fish can distinguish color. Just thought you should know.

Did you realize that Northwestern University if the only major college in the U.S. that has never been invited to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament?

FoxSports.com asks the question, "Who had the worst week last week - A-Rod, Terrell Owens or Billy Gillispie?" Gillispie’s Kentucky team lost to Georgia, the worst team in a bad SEC last week. If you remember, the Wildcats lost to Gardner-Webb last season and opened this year with a loss to VMI. How long will the basketball crazed Blue Grass fans put up with it? Beer bottles rained on the coach as his team left the floor after the loss to the Bulldogs.

Rivals.Com’s list of the five biggest disappointments this season in college basketball, by conference, is quite good and one with which I agree. They are Miami, Notre Dame, Purdue, Baylor, Southern Cal and Florida.

USAToday picks Florida and South Carolina among the last four teams invited to the NCAAs, and Maryland and Miami among the last four out. That means adding two bubble teams from the weak SEC and ousting two bubble teams from the omniponent ACC. I don’t think so.

This is Norman Arey trying to dodge all the beer bottles.

Seminoles' Bowden may be losing ground; dark horse for NCAA title? Louisville

(3/9) The NCAA has ruled that Florida State’s football program must forfeit seven wins it achieved in 2007 because of an academic cheating scandal. If that ruling stands, it would mean coach Bobby Bowden would be eight games behind Penn State’s Joe Paterno in the race for most wins ever. Right now, Paterno has 383 victories and Bowden 382.

Former Cowboy receiver Terrell Owens going to Buffalo just seems an odd fit. The Bills are known as a blue-collar team and Owens is anything but a blue-collar kind of guy. Kind of like putting someone from Hee-Haw in a tuxedo.

Think there might be some interest in and around the state of Tennessee beginning Tuesday when the Vol football team opens spring practice under new coach Lane Kiffin? Headlines in the Knoxville paper are already blaring "Kiffin Era Begins." I say it should read "Kiffin Error."

While seemingly everyone in the country was watching No. 1 UConn be upset by No. 3 Pitt, Louisville quietly slipped in the back door and won the Big East regular season championship. That could set up a record-breaking scenario. Never have three teams from the same conference been accorded No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tourney but Louisville could be a top seed along with Pitt and UConn. The league has seven teams with 20 or more wins.

The most intriguing conference tournament this week may very well be that of the SEC. With mediocrity spread across the league, no one save LSU and possibly Tennessee are assured of an NCAA bid.

Is anybody paying attention to what’s happening at Auburn? The Tigers have won eight of their last nine basketball games, finished the season with a 21-10 mark and 10-6 in the SEC, and added an exclamation point by whipping regular-season champ LSU over the weekend. That’s the best Tiger finish in six years. Auburn coach Jeff Lebo has gone from being on the hot seat to a candidate for coach-of-the-year honors.

The Yankees must be sweating bullets now that Alex Rodriguez has announced he’ll have hip surgery which will put him out for up to two months. The New York team isn’t just worried about this year but about the next nine they have him under contract.

This is Norman Arey and my hips are just fine.

On the verge of Madness: Stunning losses on the floor, record advertising on TV

(3/6) This is Norman Arey reminding you to tune in Saturday morning at 9 for the Southern Sports Roundtable on WRGA 1470 AM.

You can certainly tell that it’s time for March Madness to begin. Five of the Top 20 teams in the country lost, including No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 9 Kansas. And Georgia Tech upset Miami while Georgia stunned Kentucky in Lexington. It’s no better than 50-50 that the Wildcats can make it to the NCAAs. Then again, if you lose to the Bulldogs, you shouldn’t go anywhere but home.

The Dallas Cowboys’ cutting of Terrell Owens is enough to make me pull for the guys in the Silver Helmets and declare owner Jerry Jones a genius. Next stop? It has to be Oakland.

CBS says the popularity of March Madness has increased more than 20 percent from last year. The network has already sold $30 million in advertising, passing last year’s record of $23 million.

University of Oregon head basketball coach Craig Robinson, brother-in-law of President Barack Obama, says he’ll check with the NCAA before he asks the president to make any recruiting calls for him. Not that he needs that much help. Robinson inherited a team that was 0-18 in the Pac-10 last season and already has compiled a 7-9 league mark.

Tom Dienhart of Rivals.Com has issued his rankings of head football coaches in the SEC. Urban Meyer of Florida grabbed his No. 1 spot with Alabama’s Nick Saban second. And for the doggies, Georgia’s Mark Richt was third.

And speaking of great coaches, it may be that Kansas’ Bill Self has been overlooked this season. Self lost five players to the NBA and seven out of his top nine but has clinched at least a tie for the Big XII regular season title.

And get this, if Georgia Tech should win its final regular season game this weekend at Boston College and Virginia should lose to Maryland, the Yellow Jackets would only be tied for last place in the ACC, not own it alone.

And finally, in this dog-eat-dog sports business, it was an amazing thing that the Atlanta Falcons held a going-away party for former linebacker Keith Brooking after the ex-Georgia Tech star signed with the Dallas Cowboys. Whoever heard of such a thing?

This is Norman Arey trying to stay out of last place, too.

How bowling can be a losing proposition; what's brewing with Dean Combs?

(3/4) This is Norman Arey and it's my birthday

Rutgers beat N.C. State in the Papajohn’s.com Bowl in Birmingham and took home $1.2 million but lost a total of $185,000 after expenses. Makes you wonder why we have 35 bowls.

Winning on the road is tougher in college basketball than any other sports on earth, according to the Wall Street Journal. Road teams win only 34 percent of the time, which is lower than in any other athletic undertaking.

Interesting story in the New York Times about free-throw shooting. Since the1960s, college basketball players have made about 69 percent of free throws. This season, it’s 68.8 percent. It has dropped as low as 67.1 percent but never topped 70. In the NBA, it has been 75 percent for the past 50 years. Over the years, there’s been improvement in every part of the game but not at the foul line.

The highest paid sports figure in New Zealand is Steve Williams, the caddy for PGA golfer Tiger Woods.

Here’s one that’ll take you back in time. Dean Combs, one-time driver and crew chief for Junior Johnson on the NASCAR circuit, has been busted for making moonshine on his property in North Carolina. Just like the good old days of Thunder Road

Don’t let it be said that Texas coach Mack Brown can’t recruit. The Longhorns already have 19 verbal commitments from high school juniors and it’s barely March.

Six college football coaches will visit the U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The half-dozen include UCLA’s Rick Neuheisal, Texas’s Mack Brown, Ohio State’s Jim Tressel, Air Force’s Troy Calhoun, Ole Miss’ Houston Nutt and former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville. There was some sentiment to include Arkansas’ Bobby Petrino but it was feared he’d leave early or in the middle of the night.

This is Norman Arey admitting I’ve put in an order with Dean Combs

How about a deal on Brett Favre's truck? Take it easy on Vick? Not a chance

(3/3) This is Norman Arey wheezing into Wednesday

If the projected NCAA tournament seedings held up, the Sweet 16 would have five ACC teams and four Big East teams. And sorry, but nary a representative from the SEC.

Short Shots: News that you have to know - Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo promised he’d shave his head if the Spartans won the Big 10 title. They have two chances to do that this week. . . Don’t know if you care but the UConn women finished their regular season at 30-0. . . Davidson College’s Stephen Curry scored 26 points in a win over Elon to top the 2,500-point mark in his not-quite-three-year career. . . Little brother Seth Curry of Liberty was voted Freshman of the Year in the Big South Conference. He averaged 20.6 points per game. . . Brett Favre’s 2007 Ford F-150 truck is for sale on eBay. The bid is $35,100.

Steve Spurrier Jr. is the lone coach on the South Carolina football staff who has been there all four years of his father’s regime.

The Georgia vs. Oklahoma State football game on Sept. 5 is No. 2 on FoxSports.com’s list of the Top 10 non-conference games behind Ohio State vs. Southern Cal. In fact, Georgia appeared on the list twice, with its game against Georgia Tech judged to be the No. 9 best cross-over contest. Alabama vs. Virginia Tech was No. 3 when the two get together in Atlanta on Sept. 5.

A letter from much-appreciated reader/listener Jason Kelley wants me to lighten up on Michael Vick. Although I respect and welcome Mr. Kelley’s opinion, I will never, never soften my stance on the dog-killer.

And by the way, apropos of absolutely nothing, I just finished reading "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle," which is one of the top five books I’ve ever been privileged to read. Go to your library or book store immediately. You won’t be sorry.

After Kyle Busch won NASCAR’s Las Vegas race, he spent more than $5,000 on 10 bottles of champagne at the local Hard Rock café. Man, that’s expensive champagne - $500 per pop.

And finally, the odds are 30-1 that Tiger Woods will win the Grand Slam this season.

This is Norman Arey saying I’d spend at least $5 a bottle on champagne for my avid listeners and readers.

Norman seeks your theories on why Georgia Tech is so bad this season

(3/2) This is Norman Arey asking: Why didn’t we get any snow?

Is Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie really worried about losing his job? Wildcat athletics director Mitch Barnhart says he’s not unhappy with his coach. Barnhart says it takes time to turn a program around after Gillispie has managed only a 37-23 mark as head coach. Wait, Mitch. If you remember, when you ran Tubby Smith off to Minnesota, the program wasn’t broken. . . And speaking of coaches, Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy gave back $25,000 of his salary and refused a contract extension after managing only a 74-77 record in five years.

Despite all of the publicity, it comes down to this: Davidson College and superstar Stephen Curry have to win the Southern Conference tournament in order to ensure a bid to the NCAA tournament.

A marketing firm that specializes in sports says the Kansas City Royals are the least popular team in all of Major League Baseball.

Internet betting site BetUs.Com says the Raiders are the most likely to sign former Falcon/felon Michael Vick at 3-1 odds. The Cowboys are 4-1 and the Browns, 49ers and Bengals are all listed at 5-1 odds of signing the dog murderer.

No team will be happier to see North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough graduate than Georgia Tech. Hansbrough has averaged 31 points per game against the Yellow Jackets in Chapel Hill. Hansbrough also now has made 907 free throws, breaking the NCAA record of 905 held by Wake Forest’s Dickie Hemric, who played in the ‘50s.

To me, the most underrated college basketball team in the country is Florida State. The Seminoles have won 22 games, the most in 16 years. If the FSUers can survive Leonard Hamilton’s coaching, they have a shot at going relatively deep in the NCAAs. . . And speaking of coaches, Wake Forest’s Dino Gaudio deserves at least a mention for ACC Coach of the Year.

And finally, I honest believe Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt knows what he’s doing but I can’t explain why the Yellow Jackets are so bad - I mean really bad. The players, as a group, are good enough to compete in the conference. So why are they dead last? I’d love to hear some theories (send them by clicking E-mail).

This is Norman Arey hoping you can survive my writing.

Believe it or not: Nick Montana with Spurrier? Keith Brooking a Dallas Cowboy?

(3/1) This is Norman Arey bursting into the Month of March

There is some sentiment that North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough may not make the All-ACC first team. Bah Humbug. Last year’s National Player of the Year leads the conference in scoring at 21 points per game, has made more free throws than anyone in history and rebounds with authority. Hansbrough is also the hardest working player in college basketball. He’s on my first team.

Quote of the Week: "Many of them are almost sociopaths in almost a friendly way." The Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Michael Joyner speaking on the competitiveness of professional athletes.

Nick Montana, son of NFL legend Joe Montana, has more than two handfuls of scholarship offers, including Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, but he says he’s waiting to hear from Southern Cal and Tennessee. I find it difficult to believe that the Vols’ big-mouthed coach Lane Kiffin hasn’t offered him. Montana’s high school coach is Casey Clausen, former UT quarterback. Just an aside but I’d love to see him go to South Carolina and let Steve Spurrier coach him up.

Seeing Keith Brooking in a Dallas Cowboys’ uniform will be an unbelievable shock. The former Georgia Tech star was signed by the Texas team over the weekend after becoming a free agent late Friday.

NASCAR driver A.J. Allmendinger’s dog, Misty, is more famous than he. The Labrador retriever starred in the movie "Marley & Me." Says Allmendinger: "We’ll just be known as Misty’s parents."

YaHoo!.com says rumors continue that Mike Anderson might consider leaving Missouri to take the head basketball job at Alabama and Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel could be a candidate for the Georgia job.

And finally, as we enter the final week of college basketball’s regular season, let’s take a look at Oklahoma. Remember the Sooners’ all-everything player Blake Griffin had to sit out two games (both losses) after he suffered a concussion. You might wonder if he’ll be full tilt when March Madness arrives. Griffin came back over the weekend to score 20 points and grab 19 rebounds against Texas Tech. I predict the Okies will be one of the Top four seeds in the NCAAs. . . And the Tar Heels of North Carolina have the most to prove between now and the tourney’s start. UNC has gone from early season expectations of cruising through the season undefeated to having to fight to win its league title.

This is Norman Arey and I’m always cruising.