Memphis Hoops and the Pennant Chase

After a couple of months into the investigation, Memphis has now had their 2008 Final FOur taken away. This is all due to the use of an ineligible player (Derrick Rose), that's name was never technically revealed. He took a his SAT several times in Chicago, IL and then when he really needed the score, he traveled to Detroit, MI to take the test. He finally got the required score there. It's very unusual for someone to take a test out of their geographic reason, although I took my first SAT four and a half hours away from home. I was playing in an AAU tourney that weekend and didn't want to miss the tournament so I took it up there. Rose took his test to be closer to the infamous Worldwide Wes, who makes his home in Detroit. Weird how this all works out.

The one nice thing the NCAA did was not to penalize the players and new coaches at Memphis. They weren't a part of the problem and shouldn't get schoalrships taken away or a postseason ban. They did receive three years of probation, which is only a minor problem for the program. The NCAA has to look into John Calipari, he should be punished. This is his second run-in with problems that he didn't take the fall for shady dealings in his program. The first problem was with Marcus Camby at UMass and now the Derrick Rose situation at Memphis. Don't think Kentucky won't be on probation by the time he leaves there. Hopefully, things won't get swept under the carpet like they do at...

DUKE

Duke had a similar situation with Corey Maggette during his one year at the school. It was proven that Maggette took money from an AAU coach (myron Piggie) who was given the money through two different agents. Duek knew all aong and played Maggette throughout the season and didn't receive any penalities for playing an ineligible player. The Final Four banner still hangs in Hansborough Indoor Stadium. This is clearly a double standard in how the NCAA handled the Memphis and Duke situations. Just because Coach K is "Coach K" doesn't mean that he doens't break the rules and obviously he did in this situation. I'm pretending that Coach K is the only one to "severly bend" the rules but he got caught and nothing happened because it's Coach K and Duke. NCAA needs to take away their banner pronto.

Brett Favre is back, blah, blah, blah.

The Yanks took six of their last seven against the BoSox and it looks like there has been a severe reversal of roles. The Yanks played with more energy, danced a little bit in the dugout (ARod looked like a fool trying to join in), and got better pitching (though it wasn't great, it's still better). Matsui is starting to play better and seems to finally use to the DH role, although I still don't like him. Derek Jeter is once again putting up great numbers with his .333 batting average. He has to be the prime candidate for MVP although Texieria will probably steal a lot of votes from him. Texieria does so much for the Bronx Bombers, his timely hitting, his great 'tude, and probably the most important, his fielding.