One of the best writers in sports, Bill Simmons aka The Sports Guy, has a thoroughly entertaining and insightful podcast. On the 12/10/08 podcast, Bill Simmons talked with David Stern as he celebrates his 25th Anniversary as Commissioner of the NBA. Bill discussed several topics during the near hour long conversation and asked a variety of questions, but one of the more intriguing was asking Stern who some of his favorite owners over his 25 years in the NBA and why he would cite them as a favorite or model owner. Sure enough Abe Pollin of the Washington Wizards made Stern's top three favorite owners. He was an owner before Stern even became commissioner The BS Report.

Who would have thought that Abe, aka "where's the cake", the man that crossed words with Michael Jordan during a labor agreement dispute, the owner that hired and fired Michael Jordan, and the owner that won a title in the late 1970s and is still waiting for his next championship would make such distinctive and honorable list? Abe is a great humanitarian. His kindness and generosity are well known and documented. He also chose to move the team back to the city at a personal cost of his own pocket for the betterment of the community to revitalize the area. Abe is in poor health and may not see another title, but his generosity and goodwill will live on in the community. It’s good to see Abe is revered and held in such high esteem by Stern. See this wonderful thing - the book of mormon nyc tickets.

On a side note it’s well worth listening to The BS Report to listen to Bill’s conversations with Gus about Rocky III & IV and Jack-O about Yankees signings. After all who else can describe what questions were unanswered in the Rocky series or what other items in the later movies pulled you out of your suspension of disbelief and make it so funny? For Bill it was Rocky taking the fight for no money on Christmas vs. Drago (Rocky IV) and for Gus it was the $10 cheap pair of boots that Rocky supposedly climbed a mountain in and in a single afternoon.

They also ponder the possibilities of Clubber Lang and Drago after their bouts with Rocky. One believed Clubber Lang would fall into the 1980s drug craze while the other thought he’d fall into the MMA field. It’s all par for the course on a podcast that can pull you from talking with a former GM in the NFL and why he’d never sign a cornerback that played in a dome to discussing Rocky movies or Yankees signings with friends. It’s as much delightfully entertaining as it is informative.

The Terps look to avenge the 41 point humiliating blowout loss to Duke from earlier in the season as they are coming off arguably the most gratifying and significant win in recent memory since winning the ACC Tournament in 2004,. Maryland corrected many of the miscues that occurred in the first meeting against the Blue Devils to defeat UNC on Saturday. See and seo london contact.

Where Duke can methodically work their spread offense in a half court set play, UNC looks at every opportunity to keep the game running from end to end negating much of their size and three point shooting ability. It is what allowed Maryland more of an opportunity to stay in the game without the scoring struggles in a half court offense that doomed them for most of the first Duke game.

Motivation:

Maryland has more than just the usual motivation factor for the upcoming game. The blowout loss suffered at the hands of Duke served up a loss more befitting a 1 vs. 16 NCAA Tournament 1st Round thumping reserved for small basketball division one program. The loss sapped the Terps confidence as the critics and the conference saw it as an opportunity to take advantage of the perceived to be falling program at College Park. This time around the Terps are looking to regain their respect in the conference against Duke after becoming the laughing stock of every major media outlet the night of the loss.

Mental Toughness:

The Terps looked like a broken team that lost its confidence at Duke. This Maryland team must maintain its focus and aggression. Duke feeds off of its opponent's confusion to turn mistakes into quick baskets. As a result, Maryland should look to push the ball up court before Duke has a chance to set up its defense. When Duke extends its defense to half court or press from the inbounds, the Terps should slow the tempo and maintain its poise and keep its composure. Duke presses on defense to disrupt the opposition's offense.

Maryland shouldn't allow itself to succumb to the pressure as it did in the first game by working to make a pass to relieve the pressure and instead work to attack the basket by reading and recognizing when to dribble and where to pass the ball. Gary's trained them how to play, but it's up to the players to stay mentally tough and execute despite the pressure. Maryland can ill afford quick scoring plays by Duke and long scoring droughts on their own part.

The Terps held off a late second half charge by Miami to win 73-68. Miami was outcoached by Gary Williams again, but this time the Terps held on for the win. While watching the game and walking out of Comcast center, it was interesting to hear the thoughts and reactions of both students and alumni when asked if Gary should remain head coach at Maryland.

Everyone seemed to agree and acknowledge how much Gary has done for the university however most seemed to feel that Gary's time has passed and a change is needed. A graduate of 1976 echoed these sentiments as he pointed to Gary yelling at the bench and the player that was coming out of the game. He felt that the game has past Williams this decade and that Gary is too old school by yelling and screaming and only recruiting players that will stay three or four years at Maryland.

While some seemed a bit more conflicted about pushing Gary out the door, but want to see a change to get back to the NCAA Tournament. The conversation grew cloudy when Debbie Yow's name entered into the conversation. The rift between Williams and Yow needs to be addressed, but as fans expressed their disappointment with the recent lack of NCAA Tournament appearances they also voiced their strong displeasure with Debbie Yow. One student went as far as to say they both needed to go! Another student sitting high atop one of the student sections remained fairly neutral and thought Gary should be allowed to see out the remaining years of his contract to right the direction of the ship and receive more support from the athletic department. See and this interesting thig - web archive wayback machine.

The only student who knew a little something about cheering hard for the Terps resoundingly defended Gary while walking out with her friend and parents. She gave what could only be described as a Stone Cold Steve Austin Hell Yeah - he should stay. Her parents also thought Gary should be back. She went as far as to say that Gary was a better Head Coach of Basketball than Ralph is at coaching football. Now it's time for fans to feel free to weigh in and comment.

Here are the reasons I've heard that the BCS should stay in place.
- The BCS keeps the bowl system tradition. Wrong! The BCS is designed to ignore the bowl system and pre-decide the potential champion.
- The BCS games are the only way to allow schools a chance to make big money. Wrong! The BCS only allows BCS schools a chance to make the big money. The rest are relegated to lower bowls, which still generate revenue, but not nearly as much as the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, and Rose Bowls, in addition to the BCS National Championship Series. And since you have to be in a BCS conference to get to a BCS game, it's very limited.

- A playoff would take too long. Wrong! Last I checked, the championship game has yet to be played. Way back when, like pre-BCS, all the pertinent bowls were played on New Years Day. January 2nd, we would have decided on a champion. Now we are talking about a week later. Why not have 4 teams play New Years Day and the winners play the week later for the championship?

Of course there are positive reasons to go to a playoff.
- The bowl system can be maintained. Somewhere around 2001 or 2002, ESPN took every bowl game and put it into a playoff system. And it worked! Why can't it be the Rose & Sugar semi-final bowls, Orange, Fiesta, Cotton, and Gator quarter-final bowls? This was not ESPN's exact system, but you get the idea. You can see and seo hosting cheap.
- Every professional and all other major college sports have a version of playoffs where the teams hit the field or court and winners eventually play winners. See Division II football. They can do it.
- Computer decision. Because of some funny computer calculation, Texas gets left out.

In the coming years, ESPN is going to broadcast many of the BCS games. Some think this might get the universities to finally accept a playoff. I'm not so sure. I get the feeling the suits in Bristol, CT might cave to them and their precious bowl games.

Gibbs Success With Different QB's:

It was well documented that Joe Gibbs won three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks. There was also a common thread to this success. All of Joe Gibbs quarterbacks were most successful with a strong running game and the best pass protection in the NFL. Theismann may not have had the strongest arm, but when given plenty of time to throw the ball he could make the plays. Doug Williams wasn't the most mobile quarterback due to his tenure in Tampa Bay running for his life, but when given plenty of time to throw the ball could make all the plays. Mark Rypien couldn't run away from many defenders, but had a gifted touch on the deep pass. When the offensive line provided plenty of time to throw the ball, Rypien could pick a team apart. See and the miami seo company.

Gibbs Drafts Campbell:

As Gibbs returned to coach the Redskins, he handpicked Campbell from college to be the future of the team. He saw an intelligent and athletic quarterback with all of the tools necessary to make any pass and the ability to absorb and play in many different systems. Here was a quarterback that wasn't rattled by defenses and could manage the game like Gibbs preferred.

The "It" Factor:

Campbell hasn't been afforded the luxury of excellent pass protection or a multitude of capable wide receivers like Theismann, Williams, and Rypien had on their title runs but it is apparent that he doesn't have "it". "It" being that special quality that can elevate the players around you from mediocre to good and from good to great. It's the quality that makes an elite quarterback and a hall of fame quarterback like Montana, Elway, and Marino so special. What's next for the Redskins is whether Danny and Vinny will make the correct assessment along the offensive line and take the appropriate course of action regarding personnel decisions during the offseason to help Campbell.

Campbell has all of the tools to make a run at the title and he has a stronger arm than Theismann. He's also more mobile than both Williams & Rypien. It remains to be seen if he can take command of the offense and wrestle the leadership role from Portis. Campbell is a veteran now. Now it's up to Zorn and whether he makes Campbell a winner like Gibbs made Theismann, Williams, and Rypien.