IN THE END, MSU’S FATAL FLAW EXPOSED
MINNEAPOLIS — The game was lost, and the Spartans’ band played a somber tune, as if standing on the Titanic. Cheerleaders, some of them crying, stood arm-in-arm, like mourners at a grave site. Fans in the stands, covered in green, looked stunned, their...
BIG AL HATES THE WHISTLES WHILE AT WORK
Iam waiting for Aloysius Anagonye to come to the phone. I am humming the popular reggae song by Shaggy. I am making up new words.It wasn’t me!But you fouled him as he scored now-It wasn’t me!But you pushed him to the floor now-It wasn’t me!Then you...
ANOTHER CHALLENGE AWAITS RANDOLPH
Zach Randolph is a tug-of-war. You want him to be confident, but not cocky. You want to get him serious, without losing his contagious joy. You want him to grow up — just not too fast.In other words, Zach Randolph is a teenager — 19, to be exact —...
New Coach Certainly Has His Work Cut Out For Him
TO: T. Amaker
RE: New Job
Dear Coach Amaker:
First off, is it Tom or Tommy? You’re getting a new start, you might as well pick your moniker. Personally, I would lose the Tommy thing, since it makes you sound like a kid, and what you’ve taken on is definitely a man’s assignment.
Ready To Repeat: Msu Knocks Down Temple, Gimmicks, Theories
ATLANTA — With less than a minute left, the ball came off the rim and Andre Hutson rose to it like, well, like a Spartan. His big hands clamped, his elbows swung, and he owned that ball, he owned it, never mind that three Temple players tried to get it away from him, three men in black shirts, pulling, swiping, tugging, it was his, the ball was green, the score was green, the day was green, and the lights to the Final Four were turning green, too.
What’S The Media’S Role In Shootings?
First come the words: “SPECIAL REPORT.”
Then comes a TV anchor, pushing on a small earpiece, breathlessly informing you there has been another shooting in a high school.
Next comes a map. It shows where the high school is located.
Then the aerial view, from a helicopter.
Next comes a voice, from a local TV affiliate: “Our initial reports are sketchy, but there has apparently been a shooting in the school …at least three people are believed hit …we do not know the shooter’s identity . . .”
Next come the camera shots.
Images of kids running away.
The Truth Behind Broadcaster-Speak
Maybe they’re trying to be nice.
Maybe they need a bigger vocabulary.
But have you noticed how the broadcasters for these NCAA tournament games seem hesitant to call things as they really are — especially if they are the slightest bit …negative?
Example: A player dribbles the ball off his foot, then bounces it off his head, then runs the wrong way and shoots at the opposite basket.
Announcer: “He’s struggling today.”
Example: Team A falls behind by 30 points. Team A hasn’t made a basket since last week. There are four minutes left.
MARCHING ONTHOMAS FINALLY GETS HIS TURN TO KEEP MSU’S DREAM ALIVE
MEMPHIS, Tenn — This is a team that knows how to wait, steady, steady, like a spider with a fly caught in its web. It waits for you to miss, then snags the rebound with a sense of entitlement. It waits for you to tire, then puts the death squeeze on you down the...
Remember When It Really Was A Game?
My freshman year at college I lived in a dorm, next to a guy on the basketball team. His last name was Carrington. He was funny. He kept bragging to everyone about how good he was, how the Celtics were going to give him a tryout, but when we went to the games, he didn’t even start. He came off the bench.
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