Category Archives: Other sports

I recommend King Kaufman’s take on Larry Bird’s remarks about the NBA “needing” a few more white star players. I thought he covered the topic thoroughly and insightfully. One thing I’d like to note: What the NBA can do, though, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And the crowd goes wild! Rice University trustees today decided to keep the school’s current athletic program, to stay in NCAA Division I sports, but will increase academic standards for athletes. Trustees said May 5 they favor staying in NCAA … Continue reading → Continue reading →

We (or at least I) may not know what the financial impact of the Super Bowl really was, but here’s a story about the financial impact of the NCAA Men’s Final Four in San Antonio. Before the NCAA Men’s Final … Continue reading → Continue reading →

John Lopez (yes! again! I can’t believe it either!) notes that my alma mater Trinity is a good comparison for Rice as it decides what to do with its athletics. Trinity was a Division I school – in fact, it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Somebody slap me – this is now twice that I’ve favorably cited John Lopez. The passionate fight you want to wage in order to keep sports at Rice, especially football, is shared by many. By me. But it is emotion … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Fifty years ago today, Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes. Fascination endures with the four-minute mark, which many at the time believed was physically impossible. “It still seems strange to me that the intrinsically simple and unimportant … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As in 1992, a majority of Rice professors have expressed a dislike of atheltics in general and football in particular. As in 1992, I expect the trustees to thank them for their input and then ignore it. I for one … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And the debate over the future of Rice athletics takes over the op-ed pages today, with a piece in favor of dropping football, a piece in favor of keeping thigs as they are, and a column by Richard Justice extolling … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So the Rockets exited the playoffs last night. A little luck and a little more better execution and they could be 3-2 going into a home Game 6, but it’s not to be. Yao Ming has said that just making … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So there’s been another faculty report at Rice which is critical of athletics there. Wasn’t the first one, won’t be the last. Typically, this one makes no recommendations except for “more study”. I’m a fan of Rice sports, but I’m … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m pretty sure this is a sign of the impending apocalypse: The PGA tour is concerned about obnoxious fans. Jerry Kelly was standing over his ball at the 18th tee at TPC at Sawgrass. Last group, third round, The Players … Continue reading → Continue reading →

What were the odds of this? With the Astros and Giants doing battle down at Minute Maid Park the previous three nights, media coverage of the River Oaks International had been bare bones at best. But the TV tower and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Was this rule change really necessary? On the last day of their spring meetings, NFL owners cracked down on premeditated celebrations by two or more players and the use of such “foreign objects” as cell phones and Sharpies anywhere on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Cool. In what could prove a significant step in the evolution of women’s athletics, a high school girls basketball player did more than just compete in a slam dunk contest Monday against five of the nation’s best high school boys … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Mark Cuban, the hyperactive owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has a blog. It’s actually pretty good, and it’s very much in line with the general blog philosophy of “a place for one’s ramblings”. He’s busy flogging his hobbyhorses of officiating … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ll be damned. University of Houston officials have called a news conference for this afternoon, presumably to name Tom Penders as the Cougars’ new head basketball coach. UH officials said Monday night the new coach will be introduced at 4:30 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, I got 22 out of a possible 32 in the first round of the NCAAs, putting me a solid 8th out of 9 in the BAN Hoops Contest. My sincere thanks to Jack for doing worse than I did. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Retrogrouch over at Barefoot and Naked is running an NCAA Tournament contest, which he’s opening up to bloggers and blog readers. I’ve filled out my bracket, which was ridiculously easy to do within the Yahoo! group. (I used to run … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, even though the teams I really care about are in the NIT, I’m looking forward as always to the NCAA basketball tournaments. Mostly because just about everyone who has any kind of case to make gets a shot at … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Buried near the bottom of this rather pedestrian story about sex ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ stuff on the Bigtime College Athletics Recruiting Trail is a fairly sensible suggestion, made by UT Coach Mack Brown. UT and A&M are in unusual positions … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In case you’ve ever wondered, this is exactly the sort of thing that makes athletic directors chug Maalox. The president of a company that employs topless dancers said Tuesday his strippers have been hired by students at Rice University and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s never really too early for March Madness, is it? Here’s a study (PDF) by three liberal-arts economist types who claim that all regions’ seedings in the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament have become less accurate over the past few years, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

If golfer Greg Norman had his way, the PGA Tour would permanently bar women from playing in its events. The Australian star dismissed women in men’s events as a marketing ploy, and said men’s tours should consider changing their bylaws … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It sure doesn’t suck to be Adam Vinatieri, does it? Two blown field goals and he comes out the hero anyway. Life is beautiful all the time. Was it just me, or was there a serious shortage of genuine, memorable, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Nice to see that former Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich is doing well after retiring from coaching due to health problems. Among other things, he’s attending basketball games as a fan and a scout. “Everybody likes to have some kind … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This story about women in executive positions with NFL teams is quite interesting. I knew about the Raiders’ Amy Trask – there was a Sports Illustrated profile of her awhile back in which she was described as “Al Davis in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Oh, good lord. The Chronicle has started a Super Bowl blog, just exactly the thing I was looking for to combat my ennui about the whole thing. As with their previous foray into blogging, they still haven’t quite grokked the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Write down the date and time: I’m officially tired of Super Bowl XVIII and all the hype surrounding it. If I never read one more story about fabulous celebrities and exclusive parties it’ll be too soon. And the next visiting … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The worst-kept secret in college sports is apparently about to become official, as TCU is set to accept an invitation to the Mountain West Conference. After months of deliberating and number-crunching, Texas Christian University will accept an invitation next week … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Some rule changes for Division III sports: Eight Division III schools will be allowed to continue giving out scholarships for sports that compete in Division I, though no other Division III schools will be allowed to award athletic scholarships in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I know I speak for Rice fans everywhere when I say that the best thing about the recent trade that sent Moochie Norris to the Knicks is that it installs Mike Wilks as the Rockets’ backup point guard. This is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s a great article on Dicky Maegle and Tommy Lewis, the two protagonists in the wildest play ever in college football. Lewis’ off-the-bench tackle of Maegle while Maegle was headed for a 95-yard touchdown run during the 1954 Cotton Bowl … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Hawaii defeated Houston 54-48 in triple overtime in the Battle of the UHes yesterday. Congratulations to all of you who were wise enough to bet on the over. Continue reading →

From the Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time Dept: UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Bad Santa isn’t just a holiday movie. A seemingly harmless Christmas promotion arranged by the New York Islanders turned ugly, and all because of the team’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →