Larry Brown Sports

Being a Massachusetts guy my whole life, I always root for UMass anytime they have a chance to do something great. Unless, of course, John Calipari is leading them to greatness because then the greatness will be inevitably stripped by the NCAA, but that’s a discussion for another day. The Minutemen advanced all the way to the semifinals of the NIT tournament on Tuesday but loss to Stanford, 74-64. It’s quite possible Stanford is a better team, but did it even matter after Ray Lewis delivered the pregame speech that you see above?

You want to guarantee yourself a win in the biggest game of the season? Arrange for Lewis to come in beforehand and talk to your players about what they would give today if tomorrow wasn’t promised. Let him do his thing and throw in some chatter about effort and how wins and losses mean nothing. How can a group of college kids lose after hearing something like that from one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history? I was pulling for you, UMass, but no strategy is effective enough to counter what Stanford had planned.

Thanks to The Dagger for passing the video along

Stanford big men Dwight Powell and Josh Owens collaborated to remake the classic Michael Jordan and Larry Bird McDonald’s commercial. Only in their version, which is intended to promote a scrimmage Sunday, they play for a burrito instead of a Big Mac.

Come for the intended comedy, stay for the Andrew Luck and Mark Madsen cameos.

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Come to find out that there was more to Stanford coach Trent Johnson’s ejection Saturday than meets the eye. Luckily we don’t have to discuss the controversial nature of the move since Stanford ended up winning the game, but apparently Trent Johnson should have realized with whom he was dealing. The sleuthing Matt Spiegel at Sporting News Radio pointed out Saturday evening on his show that Curtis Shaw is notorious for blowing the whistle more than any other referee in college hoops. Shaw leads all officials in both fouls called this year as well as technical fouls called. He also has made five ejections, more than twice anyone close to him on the list.

In fact, when you google “Curtis Shaw referee,” you wind up with nothing but stories of Curtis Shaw impacting games with his calls. A story from March 2000 tells of Iowa State’s Larry Eustachy losing his cool and getting ejected in a game against Michigan State by the officials, one of whom was Shaw. A Syracuse blog tells of Shaw making whimsical calls against Pitt a few years ago. And the best was a 1999 official’s magazine featuring an interview with Shaw, with the sub-headline “overcoming a hot head early in his career.” Yeah, so much for “overcoming” the issue. Really, officials need to know their place, and for the most part, that doesn’t include ejecting coaches in the middle of the NCAA tournament unless completely warranted.

Commenter JS points out that USC’s chances of avenging their football loss to Stanford on the basketball court just went up immensely. Why? Well, stud Cardinal big man, Brook Lopez, not only is academically ineligible for the first nine games of the year, but he’s also suspended indefinitely for skipping class. Yeah, that’s a brilliant idea. It’s one thing when you go to a public university with 300 kids in a lecture; professors don’t know you from the kid serving baguettes in the teacher’s lounge. But when you got to a private university such as Stanford, with 15 squires to a class, something tells me people are going to notice when the one 7’0″ kid isn’t in the room. Feel me? Then again, I don’t expect much more from a pair of dudes named Brook and Robin. How do you even get names like that? Here’s my guess:

Doctor: Would you like to know the sex of your babies?

Mother Lopez: Now, that’s OK. We prefer surprises.

Father Lopez: Yeah, we like surprises.

*** 16 years later ***

Brook (to Robin): How the eff am I supposed to be an intimidating big man in the NBA with a name like Brook?

Robin: Just think of Stacey Augmon and Sasha Vujacic every time you’re on the court. Besides, quit complaining. I’m the one who got named after that hobo sidekick. How do you think I feel?