This is my all-time favorite, far above the rest, quote involving sports.
The University of Wyoming basketball court is 7,220 feet above sea level and the coaches there make darn sure the opponents know all about it. Basketball is an energetic sport and the elevation creates stress on the respiratory system. They run up and down the court and, oh, you know what it does.
Anyway, Coach Jerry Tarkanian took his UNLV team to Laramie and the players certainly picked up on the elevation reminders. Tark had to field questions before heading to a workout and ever the clever one, he responded, “Oh, don’t worry about it. After all, we’re playing indoors.”
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A friend sent me an email on old quotes by sports folks. Here are some of them:
- “Blind people come to the ballpark just to listen to him pitch.”
— Reggie Jackson commenting on Tom Seaver - “I’m working as hard as I can to get my life and my cash to run out at the same time. If I can just die after lunch on Tuesday, everything will be perfect.”
— Doug Sanders - “When it’s third and ten, you can have the milk drinkers; I’ll take the whiskey drinkers every time.”My knees look like they lost a knife fight with a midget.”
— E.J. Holub, regarding his 12 knee operations” - When they operated, I told them to add in a Koufax fastball. They did, but unfortunately it was Mrs. Koufax’s.”
— Tommy John, recalling his 1974 arm surgery - “I don’t know. I only played there for nine years.”
— Walt Garrison, when asked if Tom Landry ever smiles - “When I’m on the road, my greatest ambition is to get a standing boo.”
— Al Hrabosky - “Because if it didn’t work out, I didn’t want to blow the whole day.”
— Paul Horning, on why his marriage ceremony was before noon. - “I learned a long time ago that ‘minor surgery’ is when they do the operation on someone else, not you.”
— Bill Walton - “All the fat guys watch me and say to their wives, ‘See, there’s a fat guy doing okay. Bring me another beer.'”
— Mickey Lolich
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The KC Star didn’t run the stats on the Kansas State spring football game played last Saturday in Manhattan so I thought I would fill you in.
PURPLE 35, WHITE 21
White 0 7 0 14 — 21
Purple 14 0 7 14 — 35
First Quarter
P — Reuter 10 pass from Ertz (McCrane kick), 9:11
P — Pringle 73 pass from Hubener (Patterson kick), 3:32
Second Quarter
W — Burns 1 run (Lynch kick), 11:54
Third Quarter
P — Jones 1 run (McCrane kick), 6:15
Fourth Quarter
W — Sutton 33 pass from Hubener (Lynch kick), 14:54
P — Silmon 5 run (Patterson kick), 12:18
W — Burns 3 run (Lynch kick), 4:43
P — Silmon 1 run (McCrane kick), :13
WHITE PURPLE
First downs 17 22
Rushes-yards 31-106 35-134
Passing 255 327
Comp-Att-Int 27-20-0 37-26-0
Return Yards 93 38
Punts-Avg. 7-41.3 5-41.4
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 6-55 6-45
Time of Poss 28:20 31:40
INDIVIDUAL
RUSHING — White, Ertz 7-49, Richards 6-25, Burns 8-23, Delton 8-6, Silmon 1-2, Warmack 1-1. Purple, Silmon 14-85, Jones 12-36, Warmack 4-27, Ertz 1-(-3), Delton 1-(-5), Hubener 3-(-6).
PASSING — White, Delton 8-11-0 99, Hubener 8-9-0 130, Ertz 4-7-0 26. Purple, Hubener 13-16-0 189, Ertz 8-11-0 98, Delton 5-10-0 40.
RECEIVING — White, Sutton 3-85, Zuber 3-22, West 3-22, Gammon 3-21, Harris 2-29, Burns 2-16, Goolsby 1-26, Munds 1-18, Langvardt 1-12, Moore 1-4. Purple, Pringle 9-163, Heath 5-55, Burton 4-36, Reuter 3-23, Warmack 2-19, Valentine 2-15, Jones 1-16.
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Kellis Robinett, K-State beat writer for the KC Star, did a good thing when he did his version of the Wildcat football team two-deeps. It’s difficult to get much out Coach Bill Snyder on player status so Robinette did his own thing.
He didn’t list particulars so I filled in those from the K-State roster posted on the internet. The class designation is for the 2016 season.
Offense
QB – Jesse Ertz, 6-3, 205, junior, Burlington, Iowa; Alex Delton, 6-0, 201, freshman, Hays/Joe Hubener, 6-5, 211, senior, Cheney
RB – Charles Jones, 5-10, 206, senior, Mandeville, La.; Dalvin Warmack, 5-8, 187, sophomore, Blue Springs, Mo./Justin Silmon, 5-10, 191, sophomore, Tulsa
WR – Byron Pringle, 6-2, 185, sophomore, Tampa, Fla.; Corey Sutton, 6-2, 200, freshman, Charlotte, N.C.
WR – Deante Burton, 6-2, 205, senior, Manhattan; Isaiah Zuber, 6-0, 180, freshman, Stone Mountain, Ga.
WR – Dominique Heath,5-9, 175, sophomore, Huntersville, N.C.; Zach Reuter, 6-3, 190, sophomore, Columbia, Mo.
LT – Scott Frantz, 6-5, 275, freshman, Lawrence; Bryce Fitzner, 6-7, 292, sophomore, Poway, Calif.
LG – Will Ash, 6-3, 325, senior, Indianapolis; Ajahne Brager, 6-3, 303, junior, Magnolia, Texas
C – Dalton Risner, 6-5, 300, sophomore, Wiggins, Colo.; Reid Najvar, 6-4, 290, junior, Spring, Texas
RG – Terrale Johnson, 6-1, 303, senior, Manhattan; Tyler Mitchell, 6-4, 301, freshman, Mathews, Ala.
RT – Abdul Beecham, 6-3, 280, sophomore, Judson, Texas; Alec Ruth, 6-7, 300, sophomore, Highlands Ranch, Colo.
TE – Dayton Valentine, 6-4, 262, sophomore, Baldwin City; Blaise Gammon, 6-7, 240, freshman, Overland Park
Defense
DB – Dante Barnett, 6-1, 193, senior, Tulsa; Brogan Barry, 6-2, 195, junior, Topeka
DB – Kendall Adams, 6-1, 213, sophomore, Forth Worth; Jesse Mack, 6-0, 180, senior, Spartanburg, S.C.
CB – Duke Shelley, 5-9, 160, sophomore, Tucker, Ga.; Ryan Mack, 5-9, 175, junior, Buford, Ga.
CB – Johnathan Durham, 6-0, 180, freshman, Aledo, Texas; Tevin Geddis, 5-10, 175, senior, Wichita
LB – Elijah Lee, 6-3, 218, junior, Blue Springs, Mo.; Justin Hughes, 6-1, 210, freshman, Tucker, Ga.
LB – Will Davis, 6-0, 224, senior, Southlake, Texas; Sam Sizelove, 6-3, 217, sophomore, Argyle, Texas
LB – Charmeachealle Moore, 6-0, 221, senior, Dallas; Cameron Morgan, 6-10, 194, senior, Omaha
DE – Jordan Willis, 6-5, 250, senior, Kansas City, Mo.; C.J. Reese, 6-1, 265, sophomore, San Antonio
DE – Tanner Wood, 6-5, 263, junior, Conway Springs; Reggie Walker, 6-2, 239, freshman, Ponchatoula, La.
DT – Will Geary, 6-0, 297, junior, Topeka; Craig Settles, 6-5, 310, senior, Glendale, Calif.
DT – Trey Dishon, 6-2, 317, freshman, Horton; Mitch Copeland, 6-0, 260, sophomore, Wichita
Special Teams
K – Matthew McCrane, 5-10, 165, junior, Brownwood, Texas
P – Nick Walsh, 5-11, 212, junior, Lyndon
KR – Pringle
PR – Heath
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I was surfing the TV channels when I came across an NBA development league game. This one guy looked familiar, a little thinner looking perhaps and no facial hair. Then the announcer gushed that Rodney McGruder had just swished another trey.
Then the announcer said, “He has developed into one of the best players in the league.”
That McGruder, the one from Kansas State. Yep. So I followed up on it. The Sioux Falls Skyforce website headline read: McGruder Scores 30 as Skyforce Take Game One in L.A. The D League is at the finals stage and the Skyforce won the first game 104-99 Sunday night.
McGruder averaged 15.6 points as K-State senior. He went undrafted but signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder, only to be waived. He played in Hungary, then joined the Maine Red Claws of the D League before going to Sioux Falls, where he’s averaging 16 points a game. The Force is affiliated with the Miami Heat.
They will play the second game of the series tonight.
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So much is made of power ratings when betting sports. But in the NBA, it’s difficult to establish because of the rest periods and injuries affecting the margin of victory.
There’s quite a differential in some of the overall power ratings (PR) and the playoff power ratings (PPR). When you account for the caliber of team in the playoffs, the differential can be skewed. For example, San Antonio swept Memphis, a team without several of its star players, and ran up a 22-point differential.
I factored in various criteria to set the PR.
Of course, when figuring power ratings, other aspects will enter in — trends, injuries and home court, to pick a few. As an aside, handicapper usually add four points to the PR for the home team.
Golden State played a couple of playoff games without Stephen Curry and he didn’t play the second half in yesterday’s 121-94 victory over Houston.
But you can see where the PR is pretty solid, for the most part, with favorites San Antonio, Oklahoma City, LA Clippers, Miami and Cleveland at the top with the Warriors.