Joneses are worth keeping up with
Who knew that keeping up with the Joneses would become a topic worth discussing this late in the Southside basketball sphere? With an 8-3 conference mark, Robert Jones’ Norfolk State team is within a game of first place in the MEAC, while across town, Jeff Jones-led Old Dominion has bounced back to share fifth place in the Sun Belt with seven wins in its past nine games. Staying hot for the conference tournaments is what it’s all about.
Momentum killer: During the NCAA Tournament, there should be prop bets on how many times refs go to the monitor. And then, how many times they get the call wrong anyway.
Numbers game: College basketball’s current talent drain is directly linked to the 22 one-and-done freshmen picked in the 2022 NBA draft and the 21 selected in ’21.
Awkward: Alabama freshman All-American candidate Brandon Miller, blamed for delivering the gun to a since-banished teammate that was used in a murder, was playing Wednesday night on ESPN when a voice on the mic said, “Miller finds an open shooter.” Alas.
Bottom line: To give an inkling as to why Miller hasn’t received even a token suspension, in No. 2 Bama’s overtime victory at South Carolina, he scored 41 points, made six 3s, had eight rebounds, three steals, two blocks and hit the game-winning shot.
Reality check: If LeBron’s Lakers were a European futbol club, at 13th place in the West they’d be a lot closer to relegation than relevance. You’d never know it from ESPN’s coverage.
Word play: The Warriors report that Steph Curry, nursing a lower leg injury, is “making good progress.” As opposed to bad progress?
MIA: Before Thursday’s resumption of the NBA season, the New Orleans Pelicans
had played 59 games, with
Zion Williamson missing 30 because of injury. As a rookie three years ago, he missed the season’s first 44 games with an injury, and last season a bad foot put him on the shelf for the entire season. But it’s too early for the Pels or the league to panic. At 22, he’s got plenty of time to get his act and body back together.
Less is more: The NCAA football rules committee is considering speeding up games by not stopping the clock after first downs while the chains are set, the idea being that games pushing up against four hours interfere with the action that follows on TV. NFL fans didn’t complain when the league adopted subtle changes to keep game times under control. College fans won’t either.
TV timeout: Patrick Mahomes’ favorite playmate, tight end Travis Kelce, is hosting “Saturday Night Live” on March 4, further proof that being a loudmouth bore is the road to national celebrity. Maybe Kelce’s opening monologue will be another rant about how everybody disrespected the Chiefs ... something that never happened.
New start: Spare a thought for Eric Bieniemy when he walks into the Commanders’ quarterback room and remembers what he left behind in Kansas City.
Idle thought: As their new offensive coordinator, the Colts hired a man with the coolest name in the NFL — Jim Bob Cooter.
Plummeting: Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game TV ratings — down 29% to their lowest ever — may be an indication that people are turned off by the players’ cavalier approach. But with so many media platforms featuring the best players day in and day out, all-star games of all kinds are relics.
Can’t do it: A No. 1 ranking comes with privileges, but allowing “Novaxx” Djokovic into the country for two tournaments in March would be a very bad unforced error.
Wise words: The New York Jets’ reluctance to lock down Derek Carr as their next quarterback while hoping Aaron Rodgers becomes available recalls what Joe Namath, the most famous Jet of them all, allegedly told teammate Ed Marinaro in a bar in the ’70s. “It’s three in the morning,” said Namath, “and Miss America just ain’t coming in.”