Tourney Time!
It is college basketball tournament time around the country. Middle Tennessee is loaded with action beginning Tuesday when Austin Peay tips off the OVC at home as the #1 seed.
Belmont and Lipscomb head the Johnson City to begin A-Sun play Thursday. Joe and Brandon just headed out the door to talk with both teams before they leave town. We’ll have that for you tonight and Tuesday.
The Vandy women tip off SEC Tournament play later this week. The men get to work next week in Atlanta.
The Belmont and Lipscomb Women play in the A-Sun tournament next week in Dothan, Alabama.
How many Tournament Champions will we see in March?
….Middle Tennessee: The hotbed of College Basketball
I am not sure when it happened but I think Pat Summitt, Rick Insell, Kevin Stallings, Melanie Balcomb, Rick Byrd, Tony Cross, Scott Sanderson and Gary Van Atta had a lot to do with it.
Middle Tennessee has become a hotbed for college basketball. The Lady Vols are ranked 2nd in the country. Vandy women are ranked 12th, and they just knocked off the 7th ranked LSU Tigers. Don’t get me started on what Rick Insell means and has done to girls and women’s college basketball. MTSU is ranked 17th in the country. That is a huge, huge honor. They haven’t lost since Thanksgiving! 3 months and counting. Would it not be amazing to watch them go all the way to the final four? Tony Cross at Belmont has his girls ready for another tournament appearance. Saturday night, they were down 14 at half and came back to win the game, 54 to 51. They are rolling and include Gary Van Atta at Trevecca, they are nationally ranked.
Then Kevin Stallings has the Vandy men rip and roaring. They are a possible sweet 16 team, maybe 8, who knows after that. I guarantee either Belmont and Rick Byrd or Lipscomb and Scott Sanderson are going to win the Atlantic Sun tournament and then advance to the NCAA.
I haven’t see middle Tennessee this fired up for college basketball in a long, long time. Wanna see for yourself? Just hit any of the high schools as they head to the region, then sub-state and finally, the state. Packed, I mean Jam packed gyms all over the area.
It is going to be a fun March.
………Life is too short..
Saturday night, right before the 10pm newscast, got a call that a former Titan, Damien Nash, had died while playing a charity basketball game. The game was played to raise money for Nash’s brother, who recently had a heart transplant.
Nash, 24 years old. Dead.
He had spent the last year with the Denver Broncos after being released by the Titans. For what ever it is worth, Titans and ex-Titans are always remembered in this city. Nash only spent a year here but as a Titan, a lot of people still remember him.
Still, 24 years old. Dead
Died while playing in a basketball game to help raise money and awareness for his brother and others with heart transplants.
Time is indeed precious and it is preached over and over to make the most of our time here and cherish every moment that we have and help others a long the way.
I met Nash last summer at camp before he got cut, and he was very nice to me. Two days later, he was cut and in Denver.
Dead at 24. Life is indeed, too short.
PREDATORS HAVE BIG TEST TONIGHT!
The Nashville Predators face-off against the Detroit RedWings tonight at 7:00 over at the GEC. It’s the first of 5 meeting against the two clubs over the next 5 weeks. Considering there are only 19 games left in the regular season and five are against Detroit, a division crown and conference championship will be on the line everytime they hit the ice.
Detroit enters tonights game with a one point adavantage in the Central Division. A sell out crowd is expected tonight in what should have a playoff type atomosphere. I will be live at 5:00 to preview the big game and at 10:00 Joe Dubin will have all your highlights and post-game reaction. We will see you then!
Coach Fisher Says What He Can
If you saw News 2 on Thursday, then you probably saw the comments made by Titans Coach Jeff Fisher about the Pacman Jones situation. If you have not seen what he said, you can find it to the right of this post in the video column. News 2 Sports Director Chris Stout is up in Indianapolis at the NFL Combine, and he caught up with Coach Fisher. When Chris asked Coach Fisher about Pacman, Fisher said everything he could, which isn’t a whole lot. He took about 25 seconds to explain that the team is in investigative mode, and is trying to discover all of the facts. At this point, Coach is a pro at answering these questions about Jones. Fisher said he has spoken with Pacman, and that his player maintained his innocence. Looking at the situation originally, it seemed as though Pacman was an innocent bystander, but the comments made by the club owner insinuate much more. At this point, we all must take a wait and see approach. We have a reporter out in Las Vegas, and the police are not talking, nor are they releasing the video surveillance that would likely tell the whole story. Once that video is released, (if it ever is) we will see what happened and the guilt or innocence of Pacman Jones will then be determined. The Titans could release him, but he would still cost them over 5 million dollars against the salary cap, and there would be a line of teams waiting to sign him and give him another shot. Jeff Fisher and the Titans must take a wait and see approach. It could turn out that Pacman was just another innocent bystander, allowing the Titans to keep him on the team. Or it could turn out that he was an accomplice, making the decision easy for the organization.
Headed to Indy. Fisher interview coming soon.
I am headed to Indy with Brandon Fisher for the NFL Combine Thursday morning. Our main reason for going is to try and figure out who the Titans are looking at with their top pick………A wide receiver or defensive end. We will also check in with the players expected to be around at 19. We’ll be live from Indy Thursday and Friday. Hope you can join us.
Also part of the job Thursday………I will have to ask coach Fisher about Pacman’s situation. Asking coaches about off the field issues is my least favorite part of this job. However, it comes with the territory. I can only imagine coach FIsher is seething that he even has to think about answering another Pacman question. I doubt he will comment, but I must ask.
NASCAR RULES………..THEY MAKE ‘EM ON THE FLY!
I love a great NASCAR finish like nobodies business. I’ll admit that Sunday’s Daytona 500 finish was scintillating and maybe the best finish ever. But NASCAR got that great finish by turning the other way when they should have done what they made a big deal about a few years ago………….. When there is a crash you throw the yellow and freeze the field.
REMEMBER WHEN NASCAR SAID THEY WOULD STOP USING THE RACE THE LINE RULE WHEN YELLOW CAME OUT?
Why didn’t they do that Sunday? This isn’t about Mark Martin not winning his first Daytona 500…….. This is about making and changing their own rules on the fly. If this were Dover in June, the yellow flag would have flown as soon as Kyle Busch started the last lap melee. But NASCAR decided to not throw the Yellow. They got the finish everybody is talking about, but they also looked like a bunch of hypocrites in the process. So what will happen this Sunday in California? Who knows what they’ll do. I won’t be surprised if somebody gets busted for cheating so they can divert this huge storyline.
On second thought, maybe they are doing this on purpose. You never know what you’ll get when you watch a NASCAR race. I’ll be watching.
What do you think? Should NASCAR have froze the field instead of letting Martin and Harvick race the finish line?
VANDY PULLS THE UPSET
It was just one of those games. Vandy came into the game undefeated at home in conference and hungry for an upset. Florida put a 17 game win streak on the line in a hostile environment. The ingredients were there for a big upset, all they had to do was play it out. The first half saw a repeat performance from the first half half a few weeks ago in Gainesville. Vandy came out strong and gave Florida a quick punch in the mouth. Vandy’s first half was their second best half of the season. Unfortunately for Florida, Vandy’s BEST half of the year was today’s second half. All year Florida has been able to make a run when their backs were against the wall, and after Florida scored 7 straight to cut it to 46-40, it looked like it was going to happen again, but Shan Foster converted on a three point play and the run was stopped. Florida would never get closer than 8 the rest of the game and after Derrick Byars had a break away dunk to go up 15, the game was virtually over. This win all but guarantees the Dores a spot in the field of 65 come March and moves them into second place in the SEC East. Great win for Vandy. They travel to Mississippi State Wednesday and have a big showdown at Memorial Gym Saturday versus Kentucky.
Forsberg, Cheatin’, and Vandy Hoops
What a weekend for sports. The Preds have jumped on the national stage by trading for Peter Forsberg. Forsberg will play Saturday when the Preds host Minnesota and the GEC should be border line explosive. I was it last year when the Carolina Hurricanes made 2 trades to get playoff guru’s Doug Weight and Mark Recchi. First place at the time of the trades, the Canes went on to win the Stanley Cup. Preds fans beware of some rough spots the first few games with Forsberg in the lineup. After a big trade, it takes a few games to get everyone on the same page. With Forsberg the Preds are now the favorite to win the Cup. If they don’t at least make it to the Western Conference Finals, this season will be a complete bummer!
Also Saturday, a big college hoops game between Vandy and top ranked Florida. The Gators are perfect in the SEC and have already won at Kentucky. If the Dores can’t get it done the Gators will probably run the table unless UT does it February 27th. A Vanderbilt win should solidify what I’ve already said: They will make the NCAA Tournament.
And Sunday, the Daytona 500. “Your cheatin’ car” has already won song of the year. Over 10% of Sunday’s field has already been busted for breaking NASCAR rules this week. I’m guessing at this point NASCAR has gotten everybody’s attention. I’ll be shocked if somebody else is busted this week. Daytona drama has taken on new meaning this week and I hope it means a great race Sunday. Tony Stewart is the favorite and I won’t be upset if he gets the win. But I’m going to pick somebody else to win the race:
Kurt Busch will win Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Who’s your pick?
College Basketball Scores
NCAA Men
Campbell 64
Lipscomb 67
Gardner Webb 55
Belmont 87
NCAA Women
Ole Miss 69
Tennessee 81
Vanderbilt 84
Mississippi State 64
Florida International 59
MTSU 66
