FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2015, file photo, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim walks along the sidelines during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. Syracuse university officials say coach Boeheim will retire in three years and athletic director Daryl Gross has resigned following punishment from the NCAA for violations that lasted more than a decade. Chancellor Kent Syverud said Wednesday, March 18, 2015, that Boeheim, a Hall of Famer and head coach for 39 years, decided to make the announcement to "bring certainty to the team and program in the coming years" and to allow for a smooth transition. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File) Boeheimian Rhapsody
How did Jim Boeheim pull this off?
Not only did he completely ignore the rules of his profession - and the ethics all things considered - he announced Wednesday his personal timeline of departure. Dude is going to walk into the sunset in three years, and we're supposed to sit by and smile while Syracuse gets him a gold watch and names the Carrier Dome after him while the rest of college hoops guffaws.
No thanks.
And never mind the AD gets reassigned and the main reason was the complete conundrum that was a drug policy that, like the majority of other rules, was simply ignored.
They both should be fired, and Boeheim should get a three-year no-clause penalty rather than a three-year curtain call.
Stack up his indiscretions and stack them again a) Bruce Pearl, who was forced to sit out three seasons or b) John Calipari, who was forced to vacate two Final Four trips while Boeheim was allowed to keep his lone NCAA title because we are expected to believe that the violations going on at Syracuse starting in 2001 somehow didn't happen in 2003 when one-and-done extraordinaire Carmelo Anthony was in orange.
Someone please explain this hypocrisy and double-standard.
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Win stuff
Here's the 5-at-10 hoops challenge:
Basketball tileWe will host and play in the fifth annual "Method to the Madness: Last-in, First-out Challenge." The rules are easy, pick the first No. 1 seed to get bounced and the last double-digit seed to be left in the dance. Since there are more double-digit seeds in the draw, in the case of a split tie (one has the double-digit and one has the No. 1 seed correct), we'll give extra credence to the double-digit seed. If we still have a tie after that, we'll let the Electric Elite Eight Shootout challenge serve as a second tie-breaker. (The Electric Elite Eight Shootout is when you pick two players alive in the second weekend and the pair that scores the most total points wins. We'll get to that next week.)
If you want to play a traditional bracket against us, we will be in the ESPN 105.1 FM challenge too.
Follow the instructions from this link.
You could win stuff - and it don't cost nuthin' gang.
We will post all the people who are entered around noon. The numbers are down a little bit this year to last, but that does not mean we're still not going to have a little fun.
Here's a complete guide to the first day, but for your convenience, here's our best bets for the first day (and remember to listen to Press Row on ESPN 105.1 FM and at timesfreepress.com today for live updates from 3-6 p.m.):
Notre Dame's Demetrius Jackson (11) drives to the basket against Duke during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Friday, March 13, 2015. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome) First game: Notre Dame tackles Northeastern at 12:15 p.m. Irish will cover the 12.5.
Best afternoon game: Texas vs. Butler. How close is this game? Texas is the No. 11 seed and Butler is the No. 6 and the Longhorns are a 1.5-point favorite.
Prime time show: There are two tonight and not surprisingly they are prime timers. No. 12 Stephen F. Austin is a trendy upset pick against Utah and arguably the closest and most talented 8-9 match-up between N.C. State and LSU is tonight at 9:20.
Side note: Kentucky plays Hampton tonight and the Wildcats opened as a 33-point favorite. Action got so heavy that the game has been pulled off the board in Vegas, so there's that. This would be a bigger upset than if Buster Douglas played goalie for the 1980 US Hockey team as they tackled the mighty Bears of South Bend Central, enrollment 2,800.
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More on the NFL narrative
This is when you really know the NFL powers that be are worried about a story line. Just like last year when the domestic violence narrative started to dominate the air waves and Roger Goodell started attacking about a longer extra point - that's cutting edge stuff Roger - this year as the early retirements and the players' concerns about injury have spun beyond the sports pages and ESPN to the news pages and the 6 p.m. broadcast, the NFL has a sideshow for everyone.
Meet the new rules proposals and there could be a nine-point touchdown.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell participates in a news conference for NFL Super Bowl XLIX football game Friday, Jan. 30, 2015, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Here, from the ESPN story above, is a complete list of rule, bylaw and resolution changes to be talked about next week at the owners meeting:
Rule, Bylaw, Resolution Changes To Be Discussed At Owners Meetings
RULE PROPOSALS
1. Allow a coach to challenge any officials' decision, except scoring plays and turnovers.
2. Subject all fouls to review.
3. Subject personal foul penalties to Instant Replay review pursuant to a coach's challenge.
4. Subject personal foul penalties to instant replay review.
5. Subject to instant replay review any penalty that results in an automatic first down.
6. A foul against a defenseless receiver may be enforced when a reversal results in an incomplete pass.
7. Reviewable plays will include fouls against defenseless players, and an unsuccessful challenge will not cost a team a timeout.
8. Eliminate the requirement that a team be successful on each of its first two Instant Reply challenges in order to be awarded a third challenge.
9. Expand plays for which reviews will be initiated by the Replay Official to include those that would result in a score or change of possession if the on-field ruling is reversed.
10. Add review of game clock on the final play of a half or overtime to Instant Replay system.
11. Add review of play clock to the Instant Replay system.
12. Put fixed cameras on all boundary lines.
13. Stadium-produced video may be used for an Instant Replay review.
14. Move the line of scrimmage for Try Kicks to the defensive team's 15-yard line.
15. Add a bonus field goal for one additional point after a successful two-point attempt.
16. Prohibit Team B players from pushing teammates on the line of scrimmage into the offensive formation when Team A presents a punt formation.
17. Both teams will have a possession in overtime.
18. Extend the prohibition for an illegal "peel back" block to all offensive players.
19. Give the intended receiver of a pass defenseless player protection in the immediate continuing action following an interception.
20. Allow for the enforcement of an Unsportsmanlike Conduct foul at the end of a half to be applied to the ensuing kickoff.
21. Make it illegal for a back to chop a defensive player engaged above the waist by another offensive player outside the area originally occupied by the tight end.
22. Permit clubs to assign additional jersey numbers to linebackers. Add 40-49 as eligible numbers for linebackers, in addition to 50-59 and 90-99.
23. Make it illegal for an offensive player with an eligible number to report as ineligible and line up outside the core of the formation.
BYLAW PROPOSALS
1. Eliminate the cutdown to 75 players on the Active List.
2. Prohibit timing and on-field testing at a club's facility of any players who attended the League-wide Combine.
3. Permit clubs to designate after 4 p.m. ET on the day after the final roster reduction the one player eligible to return to their Active List from Reserve/Injured.
4. Change the date for the beginning of the window during which players on Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform may begin practice.
RESOLUTION
1. Allow teams with retractable roofs to open them during halftime shows.
FILE- In this Monday, Jan. 26, 2015, file photo, with the grass field tray outside, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Black Hawk helicopter circles above University of Phoenix Stadium, site of the NFL Super Bowl XLIX football game, during a security demonstration for the media in Glendale, Ariz. With a retractable roof and field that can been wheeled out into the sunlight, the stadium is unlike any other stadium in the world. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) We can all agree that the bylaw proposals and the resolutions are things that affect the game in non-fan specific manners.
There are a number of rule changes being tossed out that are designed to expand a coach's ability to challenge different rules, especially penalties. It's interesting the variety and detail of the options, and yes, the Detroit Lions proposed several of them after their season was ended with a controversial call/no-call against Dallas.
As for the real head-scratcher here - the potential touchdown-successful two-point conversion-50-yard extra point that would mean a nine-point possession - well, when will the NFL stop. They are apparently wanting to tinkering with the rules like this is the old MTV Rock-n-Jock basketball game that included the 25-point basket.
Man, we can't help but feel we are staring at the end of the salad days of the NFL.
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This and that
Ashley Judd- You go Ashley Judd. After being hammered with insults and threats on social media after saying Arkansas was "playing dirty" on Twitter, Judd is planning to press charges. It likely won't amount to an arrest, but if we can start to reshape the message about what is acceptable on social media - and it could start with high-profile cases like this and what Curt Schilling did a couple of weeks ago - then we're all for it.
- The internet headline asked plainly "Why Mitt Romney won't run for president in 2016" and we could help but say, "the same reason I won't run in 2016 - neither one of us could win." Some times you have to wonder what some people are thinking, right?
- The Hawks went west and got smoked by Golden State. That is all.
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Today's questions
We have several.
First, have you entered the "Method to the Madness: Last-in, First-out Challenge" and if not, why not? That's on you.
UTC men's basketball coach Will Wade talks to players in a timeout during their game against the Catamounts on Jan. 8, 2015, at McKenzie Arena.Second, Will Wade is reportedly interviewing in Charlotte today. Should he stay or will he go? We can make an argument in each direction believe it or not. Go and take and big raise and make the Mrs. happy since her folks reportedly live in the greater Charlotte area. Stay and reap the benefits of a stacked roster that should win the SoCon and dance a little Dance next March and be in line for an ACC or SEC job.
Third, Bruce Willis is 60 today. Yes, 60. Rushmore of all-time action movie stars, and let's say by the best four - a personal Rushmore if you will - action movies an actor has (and yes, bonus points for not being in the same family of films like Terminator 1, 2 and 3 or six Die Hards) Deal? Deal.
Go.
And oh yeah, mailbag people. Mailbag.