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Gameday is here
Monday 04-07-2008 4:26pm ET
It is finally here...The National Championship!! I will be all out rooting for Chris Douglas-Roberts and Memphis. So tired of the Kansas fans. Not many coaches around today, but at the HOF announcement, I again had a brief encounter with Dickie V. I congratulated him on being named to the 2008 class. Brad stuck around and got some audio while I had to head over to another location to do updates. Vitale was crying like a baby. It is ironic that he is going in with the man that fired him from the Pistons, Mr. D.
Off to the Championship...then not much sleep for me as I'm catching the airport shuttle at 4:45 in the morning!
Saturday/Sunday
Monday 04-07-2008 1:14am ET
For details about Saturday's adventures, including what we endured at the game, check out Sean's page. That is where Spicoli blogged.
As for today, for me it was GREAT. With the Memphis win, that meant a local kid made it to the National Championship game... Chris Douglas-Roberts. So today I headed over the the Alamodome for the media availability. First and foremost, I used to hate Calipari. I've since changed my mind. Seems to be a great guy and he is a great coach. He gives you the honest answer. Now back to CDR..that is what they call Douglas-Roberts.
What an engaging young man. Can be serious, but also can drop the one-liners with the best of them. Truly a class individual right out of the city. He transferred from Cass to Northwestern his senior year. Check out the audio on the link further down in a different entry.
After attending the pressers, I came back, hung out by the pool for a couple hours, but quickly became bored so out walking again. This has been a great place to not only people watch, but to meet people from all over the country. Brad and I then headed to dinner where he drank pink lemonade (is he 12) and was going to order a caesar salad...I gave him crap so he ordered chicken instead. I had a burger and a couple of beers. Then back to the room so he could blog and do other internet stuff. A boring night, but I have a feeling I won't get much sleep Monday night as I have a 6:45 flight and I think this town ill be crazy!
Detroit's own Chris Douglas-Roberts
Sunday 04-06-2008 2:41pm ET
Chris is such an engaging young man. If you listen to this you will love him as much as I do. He talks about coming from Detroit all the way to the National Championship game. Make sure to check it out  Click HereMemphis Sunday Press Conference
Sunday 04-06-2008 2:37pm ET
Click HereHere is part of the press conference that included John Calipari and 4 of the players including Detroit's own Chris Douglas-Roberts. Calipari compares CDR to Rip Hamlton at one point. Also, he went walking this morning with none other than Larry Brown.
Friday's adventures!
Saturday 04-05-2008 3:35pm ET
We got up Friday morning and headed to radio row. It was so windy on the walk we were almost blown over. Once arriving we found several stations from around the country. We found out that one of the hosts from Raleigh used to live in Royal Oak and played football with Pete Mitchell. He kept coming over to check on the Tiger game we were watching on MLB TV. Stoney talked to Bill Frieder and Michael Beasley.   The adventure began as we headed out for the night. We stopped at Senior All Star Game at the Alamodome...not very exciting if you don't have a guy in it. We then headed to the River Walk. It was jammed. Full of Kansas fans. We found that Kansas had dominated that area of the city. We stopped a a place called Dick's. Bizarre would be an understatement. We met a couple who were from Louisiana. The husband used to coach at South Alabama and their son an assistant at North Alabama. Spicoli will blog about the wife on Sean's page. I also met a local couple who thought all of this was great for their city. We then stopped at Durty Nelly's. Jam packed with a guy playing the piano. We had one drink there...then off to another where we met a father - son combo. They were PRICELESS. The son lives in East Lansing and played hoops at Northern Michigan. He was so wasted. He said Izzo should be fired and that he isn't a good coach for what he did against Memphis. Spicoli loved him...reads Sean's page tomorrow to find out why. The dad lives in California and was hysterical, too. Then we were off to another place where we asked for chips and salsa and the waitress told us the kitchen was closed. I said "it doesn't have to be cooked." She then brought us some free food as we have to eat free while we are her :) Then Spicoli wanted to call it a night and it was still early so we went back to our RESPECTIVE rooms and called it a night. Adventures in San Antonio
Saturday 04-05-2008 2:37pm ET
Ok, I've been here almost 48 hours and have experienced so many things it would take me FOREVER to write about them all. The first night I went to Pat O'Briens ( a favorite local sports bar) while waiting for Spicoli. There I ran into former Maryland head coach Gary Williams, current WV coach Bob Huggins, and Tom Izzo and his wife Lupe. I met a HS AAU coach from Indiana who told me stories about Kelvin Sampson and his own personal experience with text messages with him. Another HS coach who gave me insight on Billy Donovan from Florida (not the used car salesman he appears to be).
Spicoli shows up and we hit a few spots and then went back to O'Briens where he found a coaches bag with Final Four tickets in it. He contemplated keeping it and selling the tickets, but I was his conscience and told him to turn it in. We got a manager and turned in the bag that belonged to a Witchita State assistant. Good thing come from good acts!
Friday's aventures in the next entry.
What a great day for Spartans EVERYWHERE
Sunday 03-02-2008 7:40pm ET
Revenge, maybe. But the Spartans have beaten the Hoosiers 14 straight at the Breslin Center after todays 103-74 crushing. The Spartans led from start to finish. Everyone played great...and I mean everyone! It was senior day for the two Drews...Naymick almost fouled out again, but didn't. He left the game to a standing ovation...after making his final block at Breslin. Neitzel left after making a layup to give MSU 100. Both of them followed in Mateen Cleaves tradition of kissing the "S" at center court. Yes, a disappointing season as they can't win the Big Ten title, but these two seniors have a lasting memory of their last home game. It was a great game to be at and I am very fortunate to have the job I have that allows me to cover not just great teams, but great human beings as well. A sad day for Marti, the Wings fan
Tuesday 02-26-2008 1:37pm ET
With all of the hype leading up to today, it has become a very disappointing day. Sergei has been traded from Columbus to Washington. It is good for him as he'll be paired with Ovechkin, but sad for myself and my nephew as Fedorov fans.
Finally a beating
Thursday 02-21-2008 8:59am ET
It is about time. I don't care if it was Magic Johnson's appearance at practice for three hours, Mateen Cleaves and Antonio Smith giving pep talks, or the guys just waking up, it was great to see a team effort. They had 30 assists on 35 baskets and just 7 turnovers. This is the kind of performance they need to advance in the tourney. They do still have the same issue that Duke has...low post presence. The Blue Devils were exposed again by Miami on Wedneday. The Spartans need Marquise Gray to play like he did last night. Rebound with avengence and take it to the basket. This team has potential, no doubt, it is whether or not they can be consistant.
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© 2008