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Norman's nine burning questions in the World of Sports -- with guaranteed answers

(3/31) 1 - Will anybody in the SEC East challenge Florida this year? As much as I would love to say yes, I fear my answer is no. Georgia isn’t quite ready with quarterback being up in the air. Tennessee is still trying to ground itself after the Lane Kiffin hurricane and South Carolina will continue to frustrate Steve Spurrier to the point he may hang it up. .

2 - How about somebody taking on Alabama in the SEC West? That’s more of a possibility than the situation in the east. Perhaps LSU may be girding its loins for the run everyone has expected for several seasons. The Crimson Tide will be good, don’t get the wrong, but they lost a ton of good players. So what I’m saying is it’ll probably be business as usual in the SEC this fall.

3 - Will Georgia Tech have the best college football team in the state next fall? Yes

4 - Will the Jackets be the best team in the ACC again? I don’t think so. I believe Virginia Tech has a chance to become an elite team this year, North Carolina is supposed to be ready for prime time four years into Butch Davis’ tenure and Miami is making a lot of noise about becoming relevant again. .

5 - Will Michael Vick be a starting quarterback in the NFL? No. Never. Nada. No Way. He has a better chance of becoming PETA Man of the Year.

6 - Will the Atlanta Hawks make it past the second round in the NBA playoffs and will coach Mike Woodson retain his job? No and No.

7 - Will the Falcons return to their 2008 form? The Birds very well could depending on whether they can upgrade their running game and shore up their secondary. Keep you eye on the draft and the names on the trade block. I love Matt Ryan as the face of this franchise..

8 - Will Lane Kiffin find happiness in Los Angeles? I think the chances of Kiffin finding happiness is much greater than Southern Cal being happy with him. Kiffin can recruit and he seems to have some idea about coaching but he easily wears thin. Just how much the Trojans will be able to take could cut his stay short. Then again, if he goes 11-1, he’s a miracle-worker.

9 - Who will be the manager of the Atlanta Braves beginning next season? I believe that Bobby Cox will reconsider his retirement plans and be the manager for at least one and maybe two more seasons. With the pitching no longer a question and with young talent like Jason Heyward on board and signs pointing to Chipper Jones returning to form, I don’t think he can walk away.

This is Norman Arey suggesting I’m right on all nine of the answers.

Arenas' sentence is a joke; can the St. Louis Rams really be that bad?

(3/30) Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg, reportedly one of the coaches St. John’s was interested in, has received a two-year extension on his contract with the Hokies. Greenberg has the fourth best record in the ACC since the Techsters joined the conference.

Man, that’s taking a hard line. Gilbert Arenas was sentenced to 30 days in a halfway house after the Washington Wizard player was convicted of violating the gun policy of Washington, D.C. The NBA player brought four guns into the locker room after a disagreement with a teammate over a gambling debt. He got seven and one-half days per gun. That’s dissuade others from making the same mistake! Ridiculous.

Why don’t we ever hear rumors and coaching change talk concerning Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who’s had as much success as almost any coach in the country?

Even though I’m sick of hearing about the Philadelphia Eagles and will they or won’t they trade Donovan McNabb, is anybody but me surprised that the Eagles’ asking price is a pick in the top 42 of the upcoming NFL draft? I mean, that sounds like a bargain.

Following up on that, the Philadelphia newspapers are reporting that McNabb told the Eagle brass he’d like to be traded to Minnesota. On that note, the Vikings’ un-retired/retired quarterback Brett Favre says he won’t let those rumors influence him on whether to retire or not . . . No particular reason I wanted you to know this other than I was flabbergasted that the St. Louis Rams’ record during the past three seasons is 6-42. That’s Falconesque.

I’m sorry but I just can’t let this go. Florida football coach Urban Meyer’s attack on a Orlando Sentinel newspaper writer is the purest form of arrogance. The writer correctly quoted a player and Meyer didn’t like the fact that the newspaper printed it. There was no question as to the accuracy of the quote. Then athletics director Jeremy Foley has been conveniently "on the way to a meeting" or "going out of town for a few days" when asked to comment. You know the old saying, familiarity breeds contempt? Apparently success breeds contempt and arrogance in Gainesville.

Just a note about whether the NCAA expands the field from the current 65 to the unruly number of 96 teams for March Madness. If that happens, you wouldn’t see No. 14 seed Ohio dominate Georgetown, No. 13 seed Murray State knock out Vanderbilt or any of the myriad of upsets that has highlighted this year’s extravaganza. If the 96-team field becomes a reality, according to the New York Times, the top eight seeds in each bracket would get a first round bye. That’s no fun. Let’s keep it at 65.

This is Norman Arey and I’m dead set against the NCAA tourney expanding.

And exactly who might you have gotten that would have been better than Hewitt?

(3/29) Who says old dogs can’t learn new tricks? South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier is evidently so exasperated with quarterback Stephen Garcia’s performance over the past two seasons, he’s had a helmet cam installed in Garcia’s helmet during spring ball so he can see what Garcia sees during a play. Question is how to get Spurrier into the helmet.

No matter what anyone tells you, the whole Paul Hewitt-going-to-St. Johns’s story was overblown. Yes, the New York school and the Georgia Tech basketball coach did meet and have a conversation but there was never an offer made. And for all of you Tech fans who were so anxious for Hewitt to leave, answer this one question: Who would you have gotten that would have been willing to take the job that would have been better?

Easy now, Tony. New Auburn basketball coach Tony Barbee, who coached as an assistant with Kentucky’s John Calipari at UMass and at Memphis, said this during his initial press conference at Auburn. "We’re going to go right after Kentucky and we’re going to go after Coach Calipari."

And then there were only 34 . . or is it 33? The International Bowl, the only college football game played outside the U.S., has folded after only four years. The Toronto game is gone after the Big East pulled out as one of the participants for the fledgling event. The game drew only 22,000 spectators last year.

Former Georgia Tech player Alade Aminu, brother of Al Farouq Aminu of Wake Forest, has been called up from the minor leagues to join the NBA’s Miami Heat.

Looking into next fall, one of the most followed teams in the country will be Tennessee, with new head coach Derek Dooley. How successful can he be? If he can get through the gamut of Oregon, Florida, LSU, Georgia and Alabama all in a six-week period, he might have a chance. . . Not good news that sophomore offensive tackle Aaron Douglas has decided to leave Knoxville. Douglas played in 13 games last season and started 10.

And finally, this from LeBron James, aka King James of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. "If I really wanted to be the scoring champion every single year - every single year - I really could do it but it doesn’t matter." I believe him.

This is Norman Arey and I won’t miss the International Bowl.

On second thought, Urban Meyer does need to take some time off -- maybe forever

(3/26) The big news of the day, I mean the really, really big news, is that Tiger Woods will hold a no-holds-barred press conference on the Monday before The Masters begins (or April 5). Cool, except there will be lots of holds barred and if anybody thinks anything new is going to come out of that get-together, I’ve got a bridge I want to sell you.

So much for Auburn replacing the fired Jeff Lebo with a big-name basketball coach. The Tigers hired Tony Barbee, not a name that flies off the tongues of anyone but those especially steeped in college basketball knowledge. Barbee led UTEP to the Conference USA title this year and is considered an up-and-comer.

South Carolina will enter next fall with one quarterback who’s seen any playing time. The backup to starter Stephen Garcia, Aramus Hillary, has left the team to seek more playing time elsewhere. For the time being, true freshman Conner Shaw will be the No. 2 guy. At the other end of the spectrum, Auburn has four quarterbacks in camp battling for the starting spot.

Perhaps Florida football coach Urban Meyer needs to take a course in Public Relations 101. Meyer, who’s never been easy to love, had a confrontation with a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel. Meyer objected to a quote the writer reported but it turns out that the writer was correct and Meyer was way off base. We know about Meyer’s intensity. Here’s a guy who’s lost only two games in two years and his wife found him lying on the floor with chest pains after one of them. Makes you wonder if the coach should come back after all. Can’t things just go smoothly in Gainesville?

Perhaps Georgia Tech basketball coach Paul Hewitt’s decision to remain in Atlanta and forgo the overtures from St. John’s surprised some but not anybody who knows Hewitt. For starters, the two New York papers which were reporting that he was close to leaving didn’t attribute their stories. Both the New York Post and The Daily News said Hewitt was trying to persuade his wife to relocate and work out a buyout with the Jackets on his contract, which is reportedly $3.4 million. Nonsense. Let’s move on.

Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson has been handsomely rewarded for guiding the mid-major team to the Sweet 16s in the NCAA tourney. Jacobson was given a raise from $289,000 a year to $450,000 annually with automatic raises and a contract extension to 10 years.

If you think about it, three of the top quarterbacks in the upcoming NFL draft have medical issues which must be addressed, forget how straight they can throw. Sam Bradford is coming off shoulder surgery, Jimmy Claussen has had two operations on his foot and Tony Pike missed several games with a banged up arm.

This is Norman Arey and I think Urban needs to take a year or so off -- maybe eternity.

Cinderella teams are great for the fans but not for the big TV executives

(3/25) Chad Henne, the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback, on Tim Tebow’s chances in the NFL. "My judgment is he’s not an NFL quarterback. I’ll leave it at that." Oh, by the way Chad, what’s your greatest NFL moment? . . . Tebow held a huge autograph session two weeks ago and reports are that the former Gator grossed about $120,000.

We, as fans, may love every minute of the Cinderella teams making their way into the Sweet 16. How could you not pull for Cornell or St. Mary’s or Northern Iowa? But the truth of the matter is the television executives are pulling their hair out and on the verge of panic. It’s easier to sell a Kentucky vs. Duke game than a St. Mary’s vs. Cornell. Ah, there you go again - everything is driven by money.

And speaking of that, this from the Salt Lake City Tribune on why March Madness is superior in all ways to the BCS.: "The dance underscores the American thrust of equal opportunity, even though the teams themselves may not be completely even. We’ll find out about that on the actual playing floor, not in the imaginations of bowl officials or the opinions of poll voters or in the twisted crunches of computer ranking formulas. In that mess, Cornell wouldn’t get a chance to play this late - neither would St. Mary’s or Northern Iowa."

I can’t explain it, but Kentucky coach John Calipari is the King of the New Social Media, according to the New York Times. The Wildcats’ boss has 1.1 million followers on Twitter, 138,000 fans on Facebook and his Coach Cal application for the iPhone and iPod sold more than 6,000 applications its first month, making it the top sports application on iTunes after only 30 days. And you don’t think something’s wrong with this country?

Name of the Week - Will Piwnica-Worms, a baseball player for Duke University.

Seantrel Henderson, considered by most recruiting analysts to be the top prep football player in the land, finally signed his letter-of-intent with Southern Cal. The 6-foot-8, 340-pounder goes into a recruiting class already considered to be No. 1.

The hottest name out there for college basketball teams looking for a new coach is Cornell coach Steve Donahue. You can bet he’ll get more than a few inquiries when the Big Red’s season is finished.

And finally, a porn star says she had a two-year torrid affair with Tiger Woods. And you think Augusta’s not gonna be a circus?

This is Norman Arey announcing I’m not on Facebook, Twitter of any of those i-things.

New York newspapers reporting that St. John's is intent on hiring Tech's Paul Hewitt

(3/24) Because of the many mysteries and odd rules of the National Football League, the Atlanta Falcons were awarded two compensatory picks for the upcoming April draft. Atlanta will have eight total picks during the two-day event.

SportingNews Today.com says if the Philadelphia Eagles want to deal any one of their three quarterbacks, here’s where they most likely will go. Donovan McNabb looks like a candidate for the St. Louis Rams; Michael Vick would go to Buffalo; and Kevin Kolb might land in Seattle. Of course, the question then is, who’ll play that position for the Eagles?

I was glad to see Jeff Lebo, the fired Auburn basketball coach, snapped up by East Carolina. Lebo knows the territory and is a known name in the state where he played for the almighty Tar Heels. Now it’s going to be interesting to see who Auburn hires. Word is the Tigers are looking for a big splash to open their new multimillion-dollar basketball facility.

Kentucky’s odds of winning the NCAA basketball tourney came out Tuesday at 7-2, ahead of Syracuse at 4-1. Duke is a 9-2 favorite and Ohio State is 6-1. For those interested, Tennessee is listed at 15-1.

SHORT SHOTS: Amazing but true. NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s winless streak has now reached 62. . . Tiger Woods was spotted playing a practice round at Augusta this week. . . NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says he plans on meeting with Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who is accused of a sexual assault for the second time in as many years. . . Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress says he’s willing to wait for Brett Favre to make up his mind whether to return for another year or not.

At least two major newspapers in New York are reporting that St. John’s University is intent on pursuing Georgia Tech’s basketball coach Paul Hewitt. Hewitt grew up in New York, cut his coaching teeth in the northeast at Villanova and Siena, and just might be interested. Although much has been made about Hewitt’s $7 million buyout, he must pay the Jackets $3.5 million is he should leave. Word is that Tech would forgive the money if Hewitt goes. If Florida’s Billy Donovan truly turned down a St. John’s offer of $3 million and the Red Storm were to offer the same amount of money to Hewitt, it would mean a significant raise for the Tech boss.

This is Norman Arey saying I think Georgia Tech does need a change.

Are we headed for the strangest ever Final Four in college basketball history?

(3/23) In a pair of interviews over the weekend, Tiger Woods was asked what he thought his reception would be when he returns to competitive golf at The Masters in Augusta. "To be honest with you, I’m a little nervous about that," he said. Can’t imagine.

The four finalists for the Naismith Trophy, presented annually to the college basketball player of the year, were announced. They included Kentucky’s John Wall, Syracuse’s Wes Johnson, Kansas’ Sherron Collins and Evan Turner of Ohio State. I don’t disagree with any of those but I felt Duke’s John Scheyer belonged in the group.

The Sweet 16 in college basketball has turned into the Weird 16 or the Strange 16. Of the 16 teams, 11 come from different conferences. Cornell is the first representative from the Ivy League since Penn showed up in 1979. There are five reps outside the power conferences, which ties the mark set in 2006.

To carry this thing out one more ridiculous step, there is a possibility, although certainly not a probability, that there would be an All-Mid Major Final Four since Northern Iowa, Butler, Cornell and St. Mary’s are spread out into four different regions.

How about this for a statistic? When Jimmie Johnson won the Bristol race over the weekend, it was his 50th NASCAR victory. With Bristol now in the bag, there are only five active tracks in America on which he hasn’t won.

Another indication that Major League Baseball is in need of some serious counseling. The Minnesota Twins signed catcher Joe Mauer to an eight-year contract worth $184 million. And Mauer’s one of the great ones but he still ain’t worth that kind of money. Nobody is.

A final word on the 2009-2010 edition of Georgia Tech basketball. The Yellow Jackets’ loss to Ohio State was, at best, sloppy. Twenty-one turnovers draws that kind of description. It was a shame it had to end because this is the best collection of players the Jackets ever have assembled. They lost to a Buckeye team that was forced to start four guards and Tech still couldn’t make hay in the low post. This year has been a head-scratcher.

Mark your long term calendar for this date - Sept. 10, 2011. That’s when history will be made when the University of Michigan will host its first night game in the history of The Big House. Making it an even more memorable, the Wolverines’ opponent will be Notre Dame.

This is Norman Arey, still thinking about what might have been for Georgia Tech basketball

Hey, guys, why not just duke it out like gentlemen? Plus: A wide open NCAA tourney

(3/22) This NCAA tournament is perhaps the most wide open ever after completing its first weekend. Upsets have highlighted the basketball extravaganza throughout and when overall top-rated Kansas was dispatched by Northern Iowa, let me repeat that, No. 1 Kansas was beaten by Northern Iowa, it completely opened up the tourney.

And we won’t even go into the fact that the player who did the most damage for the Iowans is the son of the volleyball player on the Iranian Olympic team.

Saturday alone saw a No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 seed sent home. Yes, Kentucky now looks like the team to beat but given the results of the opening two rounds, nothing is set in stone - in fact not even set in wet clay.

Although a No. 1 seed has never lost in the opening round, there have been 15 beaten in the second round since the NCAA began seeding teams in 1979.

Already, three teams outside of the power conferences have made it to the Sweet 16 - Northern Iowa, Butler and St. Mary’s. We could be looking at another year like 2006 when George Mason made it to the Final Four.

The Washington Nationals sent their pitching phenom, Stephen Strasburg to their minor league system but you can bet he won’t stay long. Strasburg was easily the Nats’ best pitcher during spring ball but the club feels he would be better served spending some time in the minors.

With college football in the throes of spring practice, there are a lot of stories to keep up with but none more compelling than former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville opening his act at Texas Tech. Tuberville didn’t inherit a rebuilding job. The Red Raiders have been to 10 consecutive bowl games and won 84 games in 10 seasons under former deposed coach Mike Leach.

Another thing to keep an eye on is the emergence of surprise quarterback picks in the NFL draft. With all the attention centered on Sam Bradford, Jimmy Claussen and Tim Tebow, Cincinnati QB Tony Pike has held at least three private workouts outs on the Bearcat campus - Carolina, New England and Denver had requested audiences.

After the brewing feud between NASCAR competitors Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards showed its ugly self on the track with Edwards sending Keselowski upside down at 190 mph, Richard Petty had this to say: "Back when I was racing, we just settled stuff like this with our fists." Good advice.

This is Norman Arey and I’ve got the red eye from watching so much basketball.

Tebow is a changed man; Obama picks Kansas; good idea losing green jacket at Masters

Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow put on quite a show for the NFL scouts during Pro Day in Gainesville. With all 32 NFL teams represented, Matt Hayes of SportingNewsToday.com says Tebow was amazing.

"From the Senior Bowl to now, the improvement is ridiculous," said NFL analyst Mike Mayock. "I was blown away." Gone is the big looping motion of Tebow’s throws. He also worked directly under center and his footwork was excellent. He shortened his stride without losing velocity. In short, he looked like a potential NFL quarterback.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says college basketball teams who graduate less than 40 percent of their players should be banned from post-season play. If the proposal were in effect, 12 teams currently playing in the NCAA tourney would be out.

And by the way, the odds of Georgia Tech taking it all in March Madness is 125-1. And speaking of the Yellow Jackets, coach Paul Hewitt’s public feud with the media puzzles me. Hewitt is a bright, articulate guy who never impressed me as being thin-skinned. And for his critics, his overall record in Atlanta is 176-143 but his ACC mark is 67-93.

And so much for Florida coach Urban Meyer’s "retirement." The Gators opened spring practice this week and Meyer was on the field and working.

For the second straight year, President Barack Obama filled in his March Madness bracket and our Commander-n-Chief’s pick to win it all was Kansas, picking the Jayhawks to beat Kentucky in the finals. His other two Final Four teams were Kansas State and Villanova.

In a commentary on why it isn’t a good idea to expand the NCAA tournament from 65 to 96 teams, SportsIllustrated.com’s Frank DeFord suggested three other thing that should be changed. DeFord says change the NFL overtime rule, the idiotic way the college football national championship is determined and the pretentious saccharine ceremony following The Masters when they put the tacky green jacket on the winner. I agree.

There are only four coaches in the history of college basketball to take four different teams to the NCAA playoffs. Tom Pender, the coach of Houston, made it this year with his fourth team to join coaches Lon Kruger, Rick Pitino and Eddie Sutton.

This is Norman Arey hoping I win the office pool in the tournament.

Will the opening day at Augusta be declared a national or international holiday?

(3/18) You know it’s official that golf’s greatest player is coming back because the stock market had a sudden upturn after the announcement that Cheetah Woods will play at the Masters. Word is that all ships at sea tooted their horns in unison at the news (Do ships have horns?) and flags were hoisted an hour earlier all across the country.

The news thrilled even Cheetah’s tour pals. Said Kenny Perry, "We’re just glad to get our stud back." Uh, Kenny, bad choice of words. It’s not official but Thursday, April 8 will be discussed in Congress as to whether Cheetah’s first day of competition in Augusta should be an official holiday.

Perhaps the most amazing news of all is that Woods went from a 9-2 favorite to win the Masters to a prohibitive favorite at 3-1 for seemingly no reason. Did word get out that Elin wouldn’t be patrolling the gallery?

So, arguably the biggest scandal in the history of sports will begin to resurface the second week of April. Pretty amazing.

The Augusta folks can control things inside but what a scene it’ll be outside the grounds with paparazzi sure to be stationed at every entrance. No matter how you cut it, it’s gonna be a circus - yes, even at Augusta.

And what if Woods should be in contention on Saturday and Sunday? The TV powers-that-be would have to reschedule the start of Major League Baseball season. Woods would be the only thing that folks would be watching.

Just a word on baseball. Is the national pasttime in trouble? With word that Texas Ranger manager Ron Washington tested positive for cocaine during last season, I’d say the mere word "trouble" is understating it. Washington says he made a "terrible mistake." Yeah - by getting caught. That’s what they all say. My God. Somebody needs to get control or go out of business.

Avid reader Joey Mac points out that the fact that Notre Dame wishes to remain independent is nothing new. Since the NCAA regrouped and added Division I-A in 1978, there have been 55 schools that were independent at one time or another.

Not sure how Forbes Magazine comes up with such things but the money mag says North Carolina is the most valuable team in college basketball. The Tar Heels’ worth is $29 million - up 12 percent from last year. And they didn’t even make the NCAA tournament.

As far as the NCAA tournament is concerned, SportingNewsToday.com suggests there are four relatively highly ranked teams who simply don’t have what it takes to stay long in the tournament and the publication gives the reason for each of the four:

-No. 3 New Mexico because it has no size.

-No. 4 Purdue because of limited scoring options.

-No. 5 Butler also because of size.

-and No. 5 Michigan State because of its lack of identity as to what kind of team it wants to be.

This is Norman Arey and my darkhorse pick in the tourney is Duke.

Controlled re-entry for Tiger at The Masters; coach in control of the Oregon Ducks

By Dan Houston

(3/17) Forget St. Patrick’s Day, it’s Christmas time for Sean McManus, President of CBS Sports.  The early gift came in the form of Tiger Woods’ announcement that he would, in fact, return to PGA play at The Masters, as speculated here yesterday.  CBS handles all of the production duties from Augusta, though they televise only the final two rounds.  The first two will be seen on ESPN. 

No big surprise that Tiger is choosing Augusta National as the place he’ll first tee off after a four-month absence brought on by revelations of his infidelity.  The Masters makes the most sense because media credentials are limited, even during normal circumstances, and attendees will risk losing their coveted badges with anything less than genteel behavior. 

This marks the third time Tiger will end a prolonged layoff with an appearance at a major event and the results have been mixed.  He missed the cut at the 2006 U.S. Open after his father died but he won the 2008 U.S. Open while playing on a damaged knee in what was one of his signature victories.  Let the hype officially begin. 

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King calls Georgia Tech’s Demaryius “Bay-Bay” Thomas one of the most intriguing players in the upcoming NFL draft.  Sighting Thomas’ escape from a home life that saw both his mother and grandmother sent to prison on drug charges, his success in an offense not designed to spotlight him and his ongoing recovery from a cracked bone in his right foot, King says Thomas is one of the stories to watch.  King believes Thomas has what it takes to not only be a solid NFL receiver but, possibly, a star in the league. 

Norman will be back tomorrow and will no doubt be focusing on the tip off of the tourney so I think I’ll stick to the gridiron with a couple of coaching notes. 

First of all, I have to take my hat off to Oregon’s Chip Kelly.  In a world where big time college coaches often follow Bobby Bowen’s lead and “pray for a misdemeanor” or look the other way when one of their stars gets in trouble, Kelly took a stand.  He was about to bring back most of a team that won the Pac-10 title last year.  With the exit of Pete Carroll and the turmoil at USC, Kelly and his Ducks were sure to be the stars of the conference.  That is until quarterback Jeremiah Masoli decided two laptops and a guitar were more important than his career.  That’s what the standout passer is accused of having under his arm when he left an Oregon frat house.  Surely sitting Masoli for the Ducks' Sept. 18 matchup with Portland State would be enough?  Not for Kelly, who instead will sideline the signal caller for the season.  That’s enough to get me to pull for the Ducks, despite those ugly interviews. 

Finally, in what has to be one of the more interesting coaching hires you’ll find, former Falcons and Seahawks head man, Jim Mora Jr. will once more be roaming the sidelines.  Mora couldn’t get it done in Seattle, leading the Seahawks to only five wins, costing him a second job. Now, the Seattle Times is reporting that he has accepted an assistant’s position with a real powerhouse.  A team that once won 151 consecutive games.  Seattle’s Bellevue High School.  No word yet on whether Mora will be phoning the school’s principal from the sideline before making those tough calls. 

I’m Dan Houston and I’ve had a ball this week.  Norman will be back tomorrow and don’t forget to join us Saturday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. for the Southern Sports Roundtable on Rome’s Newstalk, WRGA 1470 AM. 
 

Final Four fallout: Kansas gets toughest draw; Duke in the express lane?

By Dan Houston

(3/16)  For a second, I thought about being all cool and leading into this by talking about something other than the NCAA Tourney. You know, wax poetic about the end of Brady Quinn’s tenuous stay in Cleveland or speculate about who might ultimately step into the very large spikes soon to be vacated by Bobby Cox but, let’s face it, March Madness just looms too big.

You can forget about the World Series, the Masters and the 500s, either Indy or Daytona. And, to be honest, there aren’t many exposes written about how the U.S. economy suffers because of a loss of business productivity during the World Cup. Only the Super Bowl trumps March Madness as a national sports phenomenon so I won’t even try to ignore the 800-pound gorilla in the room.

Talk about a case of “good news/bad news.” Selection Sunday left me wondering what the tournament committee has against Bill Self and his Kansas team. The Jayhawks dominated the Big 12 during the regular season, claimed a conference championship for a seventh time, compiled an incredible 32-2 record and finished the season atop both the AP and USA Today/ESPN polls. Their reward for such a fine season? An “oh, by the way” overall number one seed entering the tournament. As in, “Oh, by the way, you’re number one but you have the toughest draw in the tournament.”

Kansas, the top seed in the Midwest region, looks down the ladder and sees Ohio State, Georgetown, Maryland and Michigan State. As if that’s not enough, the only two teams to hand the Jayhawks a loss, Tennessee and Oklahoma State, are also in the Midwest.

Stewart Mandel, a great writer who covers college sports for Sports Illustrated, calls this the worst job of seeding and balancing the bracket he’s ever seen.

The selection committee did nothing to negate the idea that Duke consistently gets preferential treatment, both on and off the floor. Despite being the third overall seed, the Blue Devils were handed possibly the easiest road to the Final Four. Duke sits atop the South region, a bracket that includes the weakest of the 2, 3, and 4 seeds in Villanova, Baylor and Purdue, respectively.

Jason Whitlock is a columnist for the Kansas City Star who has never been afraid to speak his mind. In his Sunday column, he blamed television for the apparent inequity in the bracket. The Dukies are a ratings giant and Whitlock, pointing out that the NCAA is currently negotiating its TV contract, says THAT’s the real reason the Blue Devils were given what appears to be the best draw.

Sunday’s news from the NFL reminded me how painful it was to watch Brady Quinn’s demeanor change as the potential “franchise quarterback” fell to the 22nd pick and the Cleveland Browns. Quinn’s injury-riddled tenure in the Rock 'n' Roll Capital came to an end Sunday as the Browns traded the former Notre Dame hurler to the Denver Broncos.

I’m Dan Houston, filling in for Norman Arey this week and, for the record, I think Terry Pendleton is the odds-on favorite to replace Bobby if you’re looking for an internal candidate. Don’t be surprised, though, to see Frank Wren go after someone like Florida’s Fredi Gonzalez.

What a difference a year makes for two storied programs

By Dan Houston

(3/15) This time last year, Kentucky fans were wringing their hands over the Wildcats' failure to make the NCAA tournament for the first time in 17 years. Meanwhile, Roy Williams’ North Carolina Tar Heels had won the ACC Championship and, despite losing in the second round of the conference tournament, were entering March Madness as a one seed and were ranked no. 2 in the country. Kentucky eventually would fall to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the NIT while UNC would go on to pound Michigan State for the national championship.

Fast forward 12 months and we find a much different scenario. North Carolina won only five conference games while John Calipari became Moses, leading Kentucky out of the desert and into the Promised Land, which included a 46th regular season conference championship and a no. 1 seed in the upcoming tournament. Talk about a reversal of fortunes.

Kansas, Duke and Syracuse join the Wildcats as the other no. 1 seeds. While the Jayhawks and Dukies are no big surprise, Syracuse had to rely on their overall body of work after losing in the Big East tourney to Georgetown.

With an impressive four-day run in the ACC tournament, Georgia Tech’s hoopsters saved both their tournament chances and, possibly, Paul Hewitt’s job. The Jackets will enter the tournament as a 10 seed and will face Oklahoma State Friday night in the Midwest.

As big a boom as March Madness is for CBS, the network’s president of news and sports, Sean McManus, says it may ultimately be small potatoes. A number of media outlets, including the AP and the New York Times, are reporting Tiger Woods is eyeing the Masters for his return to the tour. McManus says it’s hard to overestimate the media impact of Tiger’s first foray back into competitive golf. McManus says that, other than President Obama’s inauguration, Tiger’s return will be the biggest media event in the last decade and a half. Augusta National, the Fort Knox of the PGA, seems to be a logical choice for Tiger’s comeback, given the tournament’s legendary control of both fans and the media.

Finally, since I don’t get to do this often, I thought I’d throw my opinion into the ring regarding NASCAR’s handling of Carl Edwards’ actions in Atlanta a couple of Sundays ago. I’ll say up front that I’m all for livening up Sunday afternoons a bit. NASCAR definitely has become a little too corporate, maybe a little too West Coast and, let’s face it, a little too boring. I miss the days of the Allisons feuding on the infield so I’m all for letting the drivers mix it up a bit.

That being said, Edwards stepped over the line and NASCAR’s three-week probation is a joke. Edwards not only put Brad Keselowski’s life in danger, he also endangered the fans in attendance and that should never be tolerated. If we decry what we call the thug behavior of the NBA, we cannot look the other way just because it was the good ole boys who were roughing it up. I think a year-long suspension would not be too harsh given that Edwards would be behind bars had he pulled that stunt on 285 rather than on the track at AMS.

I’m Dan Houston and I am definitely second string when it comes to this. Your starter, Norman Arey will be back later in the week. And don’t forget to join us for the Southern Sports Roundtable on Saturdays from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Rome’s Newstalk WRGA 1470 AM.

Tebow doesn't wow 'em with test score; no marque game for Georgia Tech this fall

Look for new columns from Norman later this week.

(3/12) Now here’s a different approach to coaching football. New Tennessee coach Derek Dooley has set numerous off-the-field goals for the Vols during the off-season. "Character education - very important to me," he said. "Let’s face it, when you’re 18 to 22, no matter where you came from, you have a big hole in your head. I know I did."

Interesting thing about the ongoing ACC men’s basketball tournament is that the only team that the tourney is important to is Georgia Tech. Duke, Maryland, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Clemson probably are already in, no matter what happens. The Yellow Jackets are the only team that can help or hurt themselves and we won’t find that out until Sunday night when the selections are announced.

The NFL administers the Wonderlic Personnel Test to all of its in-coming rookies. Ex-Florida quarterback Tim Tebow didn’t exactly stun them with his score. The test is designed to measure problem solving ability. Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford led all quarterbacks with a 36 score; Texas’ Colt McCoy scored 25; Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen 23 and Tebow had a 22. The average score is 21. The good news, at least for Tebow, is that Michael Vick scored 20, so if Vick can score that high, the test is basically meaningless.

The fact that the University of Connecticut women have won 72 straight games and are seemingly unbeatable had USA Today asking whether the Lady Huskies’ seeming invincibility is hurting women’s basketball. Regardless of the answer, what is UConn supposed to do about it - start losing on purpose or what?

What’s a conference to do with this problem? SI.Com points out that the ACC has six teams capable of winning the league title. But that’s bad. Andy Staples writes that the ACC needs a truly elite team to compete for a national title. He lists five upcoming games this fall which could propel an ACC team into elite status. Those games take place the first three weeks of September. Sept. 4 - North Carolina vs. LSU; Sept. 6 - Virginia Tech vs. Boise State; Sept. 11 - Florida State vs. Oklahoma; Sept. 11 - Miami vs. Ohio State and Sept 18 - Clemson vs. Auburn. Georgia Tech is the other team capable of winning the league but the Yellow Jackets don’t have a marquee out-of-conference game this fall.

New BCS executive director Bill Hancock has received letters from two congressmen questioning how fair the BCS might be in distributing money to college football programs. Hancock, a kind, gentle, thoughtful man, said this: "I sure do think Congress has more important things to do with the issues facing this country." Amen; tell it all, Bill.

This is Norman Arey announcing my candidacy for the U.S. Congress.

Notre Dame admits that there are scenarios that would force it to join a conference

(3/11) When Georgia Tech takes on North Carolina tonight in the ACC tournament, amazingly the Yellow Jackets will be favored. But history isn’t on Tech’s side. The Tar Heels lead their all-time series, 60-22.

In the planned upcoming movie about Vince Lombardi, Hollywood has selected Robert De Niro to play the former tough-guy coach. Don’t know about you but I think it’s a fabulous choice.

Even though Michael Vick is still a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL club surely will trade him before the opening of the season in the fall. The most likely place is St. Louis. Says Vick during a radio interview: "I’m not saying it out of arrogance but out of confidence, I think I can be the difference maker on any team but especially a team like St. Louis." I agree. The difference just might not be of the positive kind.

Notre Dame wants to remain an independent in football but the Irish athletics director Jack Swarbrick admits that if the Big 10 and Pac 10 go for expansion, there are certain scenarios that would force Notre Dame’s hand (to join a conference).

Pretty amazing with the down year the ACC has had in basketball but pre-tournament projections still have the conference receiving the second most number of bids of any league. The ACC may get seven invites, second only to the Big East’s eight.

Chew on this for just a minute but with college athletics in such dire financial straits, the average compensation for football coordinators at at least a dozen schools in the Division I ranks has gone up 38 percent.

OK. Here’s the question. Pete Carroll is gone. The Pac-10 is seemingly up for grabs. So who does the grabbing? USC’s Lane Kiffin, Oregon’s Chip Kelly, Washington’s Steve Sarkisian or Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh? My pick? Rick Neuheisel at UCLA.

A sad note but former Georgia Tech and Boston Red Sox star Nomar Garciaparra signed a one-day contract with the American League team and then retired.

And finally, former Brave pitcher John Smoltz may not be finished yet, according to Yahoo!Sports. The internet site predicts Smoltz will sign with a National League club during the season. The teams mentioned as most likely to land the pitcher are St. Louis, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago.

This is Norman Arey and I’d love to see Notre Dame forced to join a conference.

Georgia's future non-league football schedule is dull; Mettenberger got his money's worth

(3/10) Georgia quarterback Zach Mettenberger got his money’s worth when he was arrested over the weekend. Mettenberger, who will challenge for the quarterback job for the Bulldogs this year, was charged with five misdemeanors - underage consumption/possession of alcohol, disorderly conduct, obstruction and two counts of having a false ID.

Probably as it should be but the AP All-ACC basketball team didn’t have a Georgia Tech player on either the first or second team.

Already an upset and we’re not even into the major conference tournaments yet. Gonzaga, a staple in the NCAA tournament over the past decade, was beaten by St. Mary’s in the conference tournament finals.

The upcoming NFL draft seems to be about as unpredictable as the weather but it appears former Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford has replaced Nebraska defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh as the No. 1 pick and will go to the St. Louis Rams. Oklahoma State’s Russell Okung, an offensive tackle, may be taken second by Detroit (to protect quarterback Matt Stafford’s blind side) and Suh would drop to third and go to Tampa Bay.

And guess what, three former Georgia Tech players are picked to be chosen in the top 23 choices - receiver DeMaryius Thomas 12th by the Dolphins, DE Derrick Morgan 16th by the Titans and and running back Jonathan Dwyer 23rd by the Packers. Georgia’s defensive lineman Jeff Owens could be the 31st pick by the Colts.

Here’s a rumor I like. When Ernie Kent is fired as Oregon’s basketball coach, supposedly the leader to replace him is P.J. Carlesimo. Remember Carlesimo, who coached Seton Hall to six NCAA appearances and one Final Four?

Collegefootballnews.com refers to Georgia Tech football as the Beast of the East after Paul Johnson has been there only two years. Actually, the ACC should be pretty good this year with the Yellow Jackets, North Carolina and Virginia Tech all ready to have big seasons.

Rivals.com has picked their Not-So-Elite Eight, which is made up of the eight biggest disappointments in college basketball this season. The list includes North Carolina, Michigan, Tulsa, UConn, Creighton, Dayton, Minnesota and Washington State.

Taking a look at Georgia’s non-conference football games over the next five seasons or so, other than a home-and-home with Louisville, Oregon and Clemson, it’s made up of a bevy of no-names - Louisiana-LaFayette, Coastal Carolina, New Mexico State, Idaho State, Appalachian State and North Texas. No great shakes there.

This is Norman Arey wishing the Bulldogs would be a little more adventuresome.

Tebow will at least have an audience of two; Presbyterian student Duke's hero

(3/9) Remember back at the start of the college basketball season when North Carolina coach Roy Williams had a Presbyterian fan tossed out of the Dean Dome when the kid yelled just as Tar Heel Deon Thompson was shooting a free throw? Well, that student, Brian King, was the guest of honor of the Duke student body over the weekend in the Blue Devils’ annihilation of the ‘Heels, given a front row seat, and was the Cameron Crazies’ hero the entire night.

FoxSports.com offers up its list for the top athletes-turned-politician. From bottom to top, they are pro wrestler Jerry Lawler (who ran for Memphis mayor unsuccessfully); former Oklahoma quarterback J.C. Watts, the last black Republican in Congress; baseball player Jim Bunning; Bills’ quarterback Jack Kemp; pro wrestler Jesse Ventura, governor of Minnesota; Princeton and NBA star Bill Bradley, who ran for president twice; and California governor and body builder supreme Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Kentucky placed two on The SportingNewsToday.com All-Freshman team, as it should have, as John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins made the squad. Georgia Tech’s Derrick Favors was named along with Kansas’ Xavier Henry and Arizona’s Derrick Williams.

Something I learned this week. During the regular course of a college basketball season, a team could play with as many as seven different brands of basketballs.

Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow will have at least two teams present for his pro day workout March 17. The Seattle Sawhawks and the Buffalo Bills will be in Gainesville.

Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, by all reports as conservative as his little red sweater vest, did an interview with a gay magazine. Although there was no breaking news that came out of the interview, the fact that one of the most conservative guys in the business did the interview deserves kudos.

When the Kentucky men beat Florida over the weekend in basketball, it enabled the Wildcats to close out their regular season with a perfect 18-0 mark at home.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberg was accused of sexual assault over the weekend in Milledgeville, it marked the second time it has happened in as many years for the player. Now the Steeler has hired prominent Atlanta attorney Ed Garland to represent him. It’ll be interesting to see how all this works itself out.

This is Norman Arey simply saying that usually where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Who's got the best chance to win a game in their league tournament, Tech or UGA?

(3/8) Interesting that the possibility of an NBA lockout looming could have a profound affect on the college basketball game. For instance, Kentucky freshmen John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins and junior Patrick Patterson may decide to return for another year in Lexington if there is no pro league available.

There is a very real possibility that the Big East may garner as many as eight or nine invites to the NCAA men’s tournament and some say that’s too many. But they might also ask why punish the league for being so good? If nine deserve it, so be it.

Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow appeared in Jacksonville autographing whatever fans wanted autographed. He changed $160 per autograph. What, you say? Tebow charging for signing his name? Good for him. How about the 3.7 zillion he signed all the way through high school and college for free. What about the thousands of Tebow jerseys the University of Florida sold of which he had zero percent. I think it’s a bargain.

Did the super-talented Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech play themselves out of the NCAA tournament by losing two of their last three? After losing its season finale at home to Virginia Tech over the weekend, it looks as if the Jackets will have to win a couple in the ACC tournament to be assured of a bid. They play North Carolina in the first round Thursday night but unlike many years, that’s good news. The Tar Heels couldn’t have embarrassed themselves any more than they did after losing to Duke by 32 points Saturday.

The question has been asked: Who has the best chance to win a game in their conference tournament, Georgia or Georgia Tech? Before you scoff at the question, realize that Georgia (13-16) faces Arkansas (14-17) while Tech (19-11) plays Carolina (16-15). Not a bad question.

Kind of hard to believe but the United States was knocked out in the first round of Davis Cup play over the weekend by a couple of no-names from Serbia. Really. Has tennis fallen that far in this country?

Auburn and Alabama are at it again, and it’s just March. Nick Saban accepted the Iron Bowl Trophy at halftime of a basketball game between the Tide and the Tigers. The trophy goes to the winner of the annual slugfest between the two. After thanking all the Alabama people, Saban then issued praise for the folks at the University of Auburn. Oops. Auburn is referred to as Auburn University. Saban was booed by the War Eagle faithful in attendance.

This is Norman Arey and I honestly don’t believe Georgia Tech deserves an NCAA invite.

Who's really on the hot seat when fall football begins across the nation?

(3/5) Georgia isn’t the only major power that needs to have a quarterback step during spring practice. Texas needs Garrett Gilbert to have a strong spring spelling the graduated Colt McCoy and Penn State quarterback Kevin Newsome will be feeling the pressure to replace Darryl Clark.

Just thought you’d like to know but after Georgia lost to Kentucky in men’s basketball this week, the Bulldogs now own a 24-112 all-time record against the Blue Grassers.

When California defeated Arizona State this week, it gave the Golden Bears at least a share of the Pac-10 regular season championship--something it hasn’t been able to do in 50 seasons.

For our obligatory Tiger Woods’ note of the day, longtime caddie and close friend Steve Williams says he’s mad at his boss. . . Plus no less an authority than Jack Nicklaus says he’s confident that Tiger will play in the Masters in April.

Yes, of course, we’ve gotten older. I find it hard to believe that former Georgia All-America and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker turned 48 this week.

According to college football writer Tom Dienhart of Rivals.Com, there are an even dozen college coaches feeling heat entering the fall. He divided them into three categories. Under the "inferno" category are Maryland’s Ralph Frieden, Dan Hawkins at Colorado, Rich Rodriguez at Michigan and Ron Zook at Illinois. Under the "hot" category are Minnesota’s Tim Brewster, Les Miles at LSU, Bill Lynch at Indiana and Dennis Erickson at Arizona State. And finally, listed as "warm" are Georgia’s Mark Richt, Mark Sherman at Texas A&M, Paul Wulff at Washington State and (say it’s not so) Steve Spurrier at South Carolina.

I loved this note. After starting at point guard for Duke and at quarterback for Syracuse, Greg Paulus will work out for the NFL scouts during pro day at Syracuse.

And finally, doesn’t anyone want to be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA March Madness? It’s a given that Syracuse, Kentucky and Kansas will be three of the top seeds but it seems nobody wants the fourth. All Duke had to do was win at Maryland but it didn’t. All Kansas State had to do was beat Kansas, but it failed. How about Villanova?

This is Norman Arey inviting you to join me at the Bella Roma Grill Saturday from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. in front of State Mutual Stadium. I’ll be there live along with co-host Dan Houston with our Southern Sports Roundtable (WRGA 1470 AM).

Who told biggest tales: Mark Twain or Mark McGwire? Words of wisdom from Mike Vick

(3/4) Here’s the skinny on Georgia Tech earning a bid to the NCAA tournament. The Yellow Jackets lost to Clemson in Littlejohn Coliseum Tuesday, finishing its ACC road schedule with a 1-7 record. No matter whether the Jackets receive a bid or not, they certainly don’t deserve one. If you can’t win on the road, how attractive are you for the Big Dance?

A true sign that the apocalypse is upon us is when a judge approved a request that the suit O.J. Simpson was wearing on the day of his "acquittal" be donated to the Smithsonian Institute.

According to an AP report, the Missouri State Senate voted unanimously to rename a six-mile segment of Interstate 70 in St. Louis from "Mark McGwire Highway" to "Mark Twain Highway." The road was selected to commemorate McGwire's then-record 70 home runs hit during the 1998 season. Makes sense. Twain’s fiction beat out McGwire’s but it was close.

As Ernie Banks would say, "Welcome to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, college football fans." There is a good chance that Illinois may meet Northwestern on the Chicago baseball field this fall.

Michael Vick offered up these words of wisdom in his fight to become a card-carrying member of MENSA. The felon said he’d like to become quarterback of the Carolina Panthers for the most solid reasoning yet. "I like their uniforms," he said. "And I’d get to play against Atlanta twice a year."

Defending national basketball champion North Carolina beat Miami Tuesday. So? Big Deal. It was a big deal on two fronts. It was the first time this year the horribly slumping Tar Heels have won back-to-back games and it also marked the program’s 2,000 overall win. Kentucky reached the 2,000 threshold in December and Kansas needs two more to get there.

Have you no shame? Enough is enough. Irene Folstrom, a native American who grew up on an Indian reservation in Minnesota, has written a first-person account about being Tiger Woods’ girlfriend during his one-plus years at Stanford University. The story appeared on Golf.com and basically she says that Tiger was a super guy!

Yahoo!Sports is out with its third annual college basketball All-Coaches team and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim headed the list. Also on the first team were Kentucky’s John Calipari, Frank Martin at Kansas State, Dave Rose at BYU and Kansas’ Bill Self. Interesting to note that Maryland’s Gary Williams was the lone ACC coach on the list, on the second team and Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl was a third team selection.

This is Norman Arey and I’d have included Georgia’s Mark Fox on my team.

There goes Tech's insurance policy; Calipari on a whiskey label; ACC tickets for sale

(3/3) How about this for two programs going in different directions in a hurry? Before the season started, Syracuse was unranked in the college basketball polls. Today the Orange is No. 1. Texas held the No. 1 ranking for two weeks during the season. On March 1, the Longhorns dropped out of the Top 25 poll. And by the way, it’s Jim Boeheim’s first No. 1 ranking in 20 seasons.

Not a new name, but a new reputation. Steve Alford, who once starred as a player at Indiana for Bobby Knight, had some success as head coach at Iowa is now at New Mexico. He has the Lobos ranked No. 8 in the nation. Alford had once been thought to be in line to take over the Indiana program. He may still.

There goes Georgia Tech’s insurance policy. Jaybo Shaw, the backup quarterback to the Yellow Jackets’ Josh Nesbitt, has left the Tech program and will play for Georgia Southern next season.

The AJC says that Georgia Tech has more than 350 tickets left for next week’s men’s ACC basketball tournament. That, in itself, is big news. There was a time, only a very few seasons ago, when the tickets could not be gotten for any amount of money.

A crazy story coming out of Charleston that Miguel Starks from metro Atlanta, quarterback at The Citadel, was arrested for armed robbery. His robbery victim was one of his assistant coaches at the military school.

Another example of how big college basketball is in the state of Kentucky, Maker’s Mark, a bourbon manufactured in the state, will sell a limited edition of the product with Wildcat coach John Calipari’s face on it, beginning in April. The cost will be $49, but I’d bet plenty that by the time Kentucky fans finish buying it up, it’ll be more than $100 per bottle.

And for our obligatory Tiger Woods note of the day, reports are that the golfer is back from a week of family counseling and is hitting balls at a local golf club near his home in Florida.

And finally reports coming out of NASCAR suggest that 38-year-old Jeff Gordon plans on driving on the circuit for at least five to six more years. He currently has 82 victories on the tour.

This is Norman Arey inviting you to come by Bella Roma Grill in front of State Mutual Stadium Saturday from 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. for WRGA 1470 AM's Southern Sports Roundtable and say hello to co-host Dan Houston and me.

Would Sam Bradford be offended to be drafted by the Washington Redskins?

(3/2) Don’t you just love America? At the NFL combine this week, former Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, who is 1/16th Native American (Cherokee), was asked if he would rather not be drafted by Washington, perhaps finding their Redskins nickname offensive? The 20-year-old simply said he wasn’t going to get into that.

The consensus is that Kentucky freshman point guard John Wall will be the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft. The next five or so players to follow Wall certainly have a distinctively Southern flavor. We’re talking Al-Farouq Aminu of Wake Forest, Ed Davis of North Carolina, Wesley Johnson of Syracuse, Derrick Favors out of Georgia Tech and Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins. My college Player of the Year choice is Evan Turner of Ohio State.

Interesting that Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran says one of the reasons he decided to leave the Bulldogs a year early was becaue of the fact that his three defensive coaches got fired -- coordinator Willie Martinez, defensive ends coach Jon Fabris and linebacker coach John Jancek.

Not a good sign when Georgia Tech basketball coach Paul Hewitt starts publicly feuding with an Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist (Mark Bradley). The Jacket coach seems to be getting awfully thin-skinned. He also went on the offensive on his Twitter account against what he Tech detractors who dared criticize his underachieving program.

Did you realize that there are already six teams in the country who have won their conference regular season title: Syracuse, New Mexico, California, Gonzaga, Northern Iowa and Kansas?

President Barack Obama bet Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper a case of beer on the outcome of the U.S vs. Canada hockey match. One punster pointed out that the last time Obama got his hands on any beer, he purchased General Motors.

The latest college basketball coaching rumor is that Norm Roberts may not be back as the head coach at St. John's. Roberts’ record at the New York school is 79-98 during his tenure.

And finally, with No. 3 Purdue losing to Michigan State over the weekend, the top three teams in the college basketball polls all lost.

This is Norman Arey and I’m looking forward to seeing you at Bella Roma Grill Saturday from 11 p.m.-1 a.m. I’ll be there live with co-host Dan Houston with WRGA 1470 AM's Southern Sports Roundtable.

John Smoltz: I’ll vote for him for the Hall of Fame but not for Congress

(3/1) Welcome to the final regular season week of college basketball. You knew something was up over the weekend when both the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country lost. Something was askew when North Carolina beat Wake Forest, Georgia stopped Florida and Georgia Tech had no trouble with Boston College.

Tennessee led by as many as 19 before having to hold on to subdue the No. 2 Wildcats of John Calipari. Oklahoma State took No. 1 Kansas out of the game early in a relatively easy win. Notre Dame, without super star Luke Harangody, whipped No.11 Georgetown and only No. 4 Syracuse lived up to its billing, punching out No. 7 Villanova before a mostly mad crowd of 34,000-plus.

And it comes down to . . . Money, of course. Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez says whomever becomes the league’s 12th member is going to have to buy its way into the Big 10. The league pays each of its members almost $20 million per year.

Eastern Washington, which is installing red carpet on its football field for next season, already has several suggestions for a nickname for its field including The Blood Rug, The Slaughterhouse and The Bordello Bowl.

What if they had had a good team? Georgia’s average home attendance of 92,746 ranked sixth in the country and second in the SEC behind only Tennessee, which averaged 99, 220. It was the 24th time in the past 27 years that the Bulldogs have ranked in the top six.

Unlikely bedfellows but several Boise State assistant football coaches visited with the University of Texas coaches last week to talk about, what else, football. Longhorn coach Mack Brown says he wants to have more fun and it’s hard to have trick plays out of the spread offense. Since the Broncos have no trouble with trickeration with the spread, Brown is hoping to add to his offensive scheme.

Two things that you should know. The athletes in the Olympic Village in Vancouver were provided with 100,000 condoms free. They ran out. The second thing is that cursing has been banned in California for the first week in March, darn it.

There were rumors out of Washington, D.C., that former Atlanta Braves’ pitcher John Smoltz might be a candidate for the congressional seat of John Linder, R-Ga., who is stepping down. Smoltz said no thanks on Sunday.

This is Norman Arey and I’ll admit that I won’t vote for Smoltz.