Now all we need is ESPN to do the same with Joe Morgan and the Angels with Rex Hudler. Though Clark Kellogg wouldn’t be the replacement of choice. Anyway, the Miami Herald reports that CBS is letting Billy Packer go after 28 years with the network. This decision means that Packer won’t be providing commentary for his 35th straight Final Four, most likely. It doesn’t take me saying it for you to know that Billy Packer is an old and crotchety dude who’s expressed an inability to adjust to the times. Honestly, how’s Packer supposed to properly commentate on these games without using the best resources available to him, like say for instance, a computer. This news also comes about a year after Packer got into some hot water for making a “fag out” comment in an interview on PBS.

Between the “fag out” comment and Packer’s proclamation that the Kansas/North Carolina game was over with 27 minutes to play, suffice it to say that CBS had had enough. The only problem is Packer’s replacement — Clark Kellogg. He’s a nice enough dude who obviously knows the game, but he’s too even-handed in his analysis. Maybe getting him out of the studio and putting him courtside will bring out his best. Whenever they do pre-game analysis and expert picks, he never takes an actual stance giving a real pick, he just explains how both teams can win. Gee, like I didn’t know that Carolina can win if Hansbrough dominates, but that Kansas can balance things out with their guard play. Like I said, hopefully Kellogg’s best will come out in game analysis courtside.

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And by gaining on the U.S., I mean their national team beat a Conference-USA team once in three tries. In case you missed it, Memphis coach John Calipari set up an exchange program where he had a Chinese coach following Memphis the past year. In return, Cal headed up a team of C-USA representatives that traveled to China for an exhibition tour. Calipari thinks all the traveling finally caught up to his team and led to the loss, and I’ll buy it. For Cal however, it’s not so much about the result as it is about the future possibilities from this program:

“We see what in all likelihood is coming. Basketball is just like everything else in China. It gets started and then it just rolls downhill,” Calipari said. “We are putting our program in a position to capitalize on that.”
…
“The risk in this is we never get a player. We end up with great relationships, some great new friends and experiences,” Calipari said. “If we do get a Chinese player, our team and university will be huge. We become an international school.”

Yeah, the one problem is that if they’re immensely talented like Yao or Yi (!!!!!), they go straight to the pros, no college rule needed. Still, this sounds like Calipari’s onto a good idea. Seems like he’s a little ahead of the curve here with this project. And I for one, can’t wait to see the first successful Chinese college player.

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I’ve already made it pretty clear that I can’t stand OJ Mayo for some of his on-court antics. I also said the NCAA was right to investigate him for accepting tickets to an NBA game because that came to close to crossing the line for amateurs going pro. And as you could imagine, I’m not at all surprised to hear the reports by ESPN that Mayo was supposedly accepting gifts from a potential agent the past few years. Dude’s been a lottery pick since sperm — of course agents will be on his jock trying to buy him cars (bikes?), phones, clothes, and whatever else you can think of. And judging by his Russian KGB like actions to tell Tim Floyd that OJ Mayo was coming to school, you could see he was a little out there and quite high profile. Here’s my one comment to OJ Mayo: tighten up that entourage.

I didn’t realize it until like now that the story got out there to ESPN because a former “associate” who used to be in Mayo’s inner circle decided to sell the goods. For all we know, the two-wheeling Mayo could be telling the truth that he did nothing wrong and this Louis Johnson character can just be out to get OJ. I certainly think that’s possible. But let’s be real here: almost all players are on the take. You don’t even have to be good and you still get plenty of perks playing at a big time school. Whether it’s better grades, improved housing, cars, clothes, or cash, almost all of these guys are on the take. I’ve seen it happen plenty of times. I can’t accuse OJ of doing anything wrong at this point except for having a bad entourage and keeping too high of a profile. When you come to LA to try and build a personality and a brand, you subject yourself to more scrutiny. So OJ: tighten up that entourage if you want to be a big-time personality.

And Pat Forde suggesting USC should get the death penalty for this when all the investigations haven’t even taken place? What a nut. If we investigated all D-I schools we’d get the same results and nobody would have scholarships. Then we’d be left with a whole bunch of walk-ons, and you still would have people coming to watch their alma-maters play. And you know what, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

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You’ve probably asked yourself at some point what age is too young? For Karl Malone, 11 might seem to be the appropriate answer. For Roger Clemens, 14 might be the breaking point. But for Billy Gillispie, 14 seems like it might be the prime age. Sports by Brooks brings it to my attention the news that Kentucky has offered a scholarship and received a commitment from an 8th grader. As you could probably imagine, the news has turned some heads:

When news of the commitment reached a meeting of the UK Athletics Association Board of Directors on Thursday, it stunned school President Lee T. Todd Jr.

“An eighth-grader?!” he blurted out.

After noting that plenty of time remained for such an early commitment to be rescinded, Todd expressed his wish that Kentucky not regularly seek a college choice from a child who had not yet entered high school.

To put this in proper prospective, Michael Avery (the middle-schooler in question), has not yet selected a high school! The Lake Sherwood kid is thinking about going to Crespi here in Encino, or potentially to a private school in Indiana. Look, I’m not out to say that you can’t tell if a basketball player’s exceptional even at the young age of 14, but just the thought is disturbing. Honestly, pick a high school first, and then worry about a college.

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As I’m sure you have not seen because it was not placed prominently on a certain, popular sports website, but turns out Tennessee guard Chris Lofton is a cancer surviver. This is complete news to me and many other college basketball fans who have watched Lofton ball all season long. The news was pretty much kept quiet the past year and you couldn’t tell that Lofton was anything other than 100% healthy. So here’s the crazy part, want to know how it was found out Lofton had cancer? You’ll never guess:

He was diagnosed with cancer only a few days after Tennessee ended its 2006-07 season with a Sweet 16 loss to Ohio State in San Antonio. Miraculously, the cancer was discovered after Lofton was picked randomly following the first-round win over Long Beach State to submit to an NCAA-mandated drug test. The results turned up positive, and Tennessee officials weren’t notified until the day of the Ohio State game.

What nobody knew at the time, at least for certain, was that what actually showed up on that test was a tumor marker.

It’s a test that might have saved Lofton’s life.

It was indeed a cancerous tumor as they came to find out through further testing, and a few days after the season ended, Lofton had surgery to remove the tumor. There are several miraculous aspects to this story. First, it’s incredible that cancer was discovered through an NCAA drug test. Secondly, it’s impressive that in this day in age they were able to keep the news away from the media. And lastly, I’m quite impressed by Lofton that he kept this story private. He didn’t want any excuses for his play during the year and he probably didn’t want any questions about his health. My kind of guy. I don’t think he’ll make much in the pros, but that doesn’t matter — dude seems like a gamer to me and he’s healthy now.

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So we’ve already established that the Mavericks fired coach Avery Johnson in the wake of their first round playoff exit. I always say you have to see what’s out there first before you move on, but perhaps this is best for both parties. Now the question for Dallas becomes who do they hire? There aren’t too many big names out there I can think of, and we all know my buddy LB already took a gig with Charlotte. So where does that leave Dallas? Craig Ehlo joined Arnie Spanier on Sporting News Radio Wednesday and offered this possibility:

I think Mark Cuban will actually go after Bobby Knight. You know he just lives in Lubbock, Texas only 375 miles west of there. Cuban is an Indiana grad and I wouldn’t put it past him to offer something to Bobby Knight if Bobby Knight would be willing.

Let’s see, Cuban could offer something, but I don’t see any chance that Bob Knight takes it. He’s already gone on a limb by taking a job with ESPN, is there really a chance he tries out the pro game? I don’t think Knight wants any part of the professional ballplayer. Bob Knight not being able to pick and choose who is on his team via recruiting? Not a good mix. Not going to happen, though the thought is awesome. And who knows, Cuban could try to make something happen here — he’s all about the splash, and hot damn, this would be a waterfall.

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