"Way Out West " - UNC vs. Arizona

Phenomenal play! Way to show with two men down. I have to give Roy a ton of credit for prepping these guys for play...Here are my thoughts.

** Tywon Lawson - Tywon, Tywon...Ty-won. Wow! In the first half, I thought he was getting himself into trouble with shots. He settled down, and he was simply awesome. Wow!

Even better...At 3:13 and up more than 20, Tywon takes a charge...Love it.

** Why I love Verne Lundquist...? - "Now, we're really going to see Carolina's depth. Here comes Dewey Burke!"

** Deon Thompson - Way to show...I'm still amazed at how advanced his big man moves are. He fronts the basket well. Great footwork. This should be a huge confidence game for him.

Out of all of the freshman, I like Thompson's long-term potential. I'm telling you...The kid has talent that will allow him to play deep into his 30s.

If he can develop a little bit of a mean streak and force on the court, his potential could be incredible. Very steady frontcourt skills...Kudos to whomever has worked with this kid by teaching post moves.

** Tyler Hansbrough - The true "Vanilla Gorilla!" Thank you so much for that thunder dunk at the end...Thank you! Can anyone find that one on YouTube and put that on the list's UberChannel?...Oh snap!

That dunk alone typifies who we can be. Strong, mean, nasty...Bring it down the lane!

** Mustafa Shakur - Most overrated point guard that I've seen out of Philadelphia and...arguably, college basketball, since Jerome "Pooh" Richardson.

** Reyshawn Love - Give major kudos to Reyshawn Terry. He shut down Chase Budinger in the first half. When Budinger started to get hot, he maintained his cool and pushed up to him. A lot of people may think that Reyshawn is like "Radio." Yet, the kid plays hard, and his athleticism is amazing. He followed that tap-dunk with a beautiful 3.

When the kid is rolling, I'll argue with anyone who could match another 3 man in the country against him.

** With the fur that was raised with Coach Krzyzewski's AmEx commercial, what are the thoughts of the Coach Williams Coke commercial? As a side note, I did notice that the ad contains the logo of the ad that appears before the Charlie Rose show. I'm assuming that the ad stems from the Coca-Cola Foundation and public philanthropic purposes...

It better be, or a lot of critics are going to shell out the ammo at UNC now.

** Huge "W" for us. Kudos to Roy for scheduling this series two years ago. I have always believed we should be play the best team in the Pac-10 each and every year. Before Ben Howland showed at UCLA, 'Zona was at the top, and the last two years have been off-years for them.

Yet, they are an elite program that UNC should be playing every year. I hope that this series can continue.

On the court, I do believe that the style of the UNC program suits the Pac-10 style very well. Coach Williams likes to run, run..run.

With that said, the Heels should do very well in any game that finds a Pac-10 team. Personally, I would love for us to add another Pac-10 team to the schedule...UCLA...UCLA.

Alright...A re-run of "Little House on the Prarie" is on...Switch to Wisconsin Green Bay/Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Waxed that @$$, and a full weekend of hoops...

Off the Glass,
Irondog

The Long-Term Effects of Sudden Impact

I caught a great feature on HBO's Real Sports last night...

The feature was on the lack of disability and pension benefits to help NFL Alumni, who are seriously struggling with debilitating injuries after their careers.

I quickly remembered the great three-part series of articles that appeared last week in the San Francisco Chronicle from Ron Kroichick. Check out Part I here. Part II here, and Part III here.

What's wild is to see how little voice that former players have in the process for fighting for benefits. In the Real Sports feature, former Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints coach and NFL Hall of Fame Tight End, Mike Ditka, uses Johnny Unitas, who was the face of the NFL in the '60s, as a great example for how these former players live the rest of their lives in long-term hospital stays and agony.

A lot of people believe that former players are loaded with cash to take care of their problems. However, look at the differences in today's salary structures. The NFLPA did not keep official records of player salaries 25 years ago, but two former 49ers players from the SFGate articles estimated the typical salary in 1981 at about $60,000.

In 2005, the average salary reached nearly $1.4 million. The average salary for a starter was $2.26 million.

What does that leave former players to take care of themselves...Very little.

I finally picked up the book "You're OK...It's Just a Bruise" by Rob Huzienga, this past summer. I haven't pushed through it yet. However, I'm looking forward to hearing how the doctors and organizations treated injuries in the '80s. The organizations' actions most certainly are leading to the problems that NFL Alumni are experiencing today.

Here are some interesting stats from the articles listed above. Keep in mind, these guys are mostly between their late forties and early fifties.
------------------------
30 Number of players from the 1981 team reached by The Chronicle for this story

20 Number of those 30 who said they live with persistent pain

9 Number of those 30 who have been told they eventually will need a joint replacement

3 Number of those 30 who have already had joint replacement surgery (two knees, one shoulder)

2 Number of those 30, including Joe Montana, who have had spinal fusion surgery

-----------------

People didn't get to see Johnny Unitas at the end of his life. And people now wonder why former players like Joe Montana do not want to make a lot of public appearances.

Shame on the NFL Players Union.

Support NFL Alumni,

IronDog

The Rise of the Aerotropolis

The airport of a decade ago is a far, far different place today...

Which is why you should catch the 'aerotropolis' theories of UNC business professor, John Kasarda.

Kasarda was featured in today's Wall Street Journal, and he's collecting a lot of attention from other articles around the globe from evangelizing theories centered upon airports as the "the new central business districts fo the postindustrial economy."

His definition of the aerotropolis is a vast complex that centers on the airport and features warehouses, distribution centers, shopping malls, offices, convention centers, and even residences.

The developing areas surrounding RDU, SFO, and Denver's new airport area have made a believer out of me. Perhaps, newly planned developments could bring rebirth to ecaying outer rings of cities that were developed to tie together inner cities and their outer suburbs.

Kasarda's visions are based upon the megaplex airports that have sprouted in China, Hong Kong, Malyasia, and Thailand.

Be on the lookout for more aerotropolis theories and articles here. My thoughts are that Kasarda is on to something more than just a development hub for a region. I'm on board...The birth of the 'Aerotropolis' could be the start of 'new cities.'

Better Civic Living,
IronDog

The Return of the Humara

Look what kicks came back...



Could have been the lime green laces. But you know it's all about the quality with me.

That's why I stopped by Nort in SF a couple of weeks ago, and just had to pick the Humaras back up.

This is my third pair. I picked up my first pair at the Seattle Niketown on the first day of their release in '98.

I proceeded to rip through every trail, park, puddle, in the Bay Area and the West Coast in them. They were the 'Real Deal'. I broke them out in Seattle, tore them up at the Heuco Tanks in El Paso, and I wore them out until the stench from a drenched run on the Marina Green blew out my closet...Tough loss.

After the toss, I went through a couple of trail shoes, but they weren't the same quality of shoe. The Sons of Humara also didn't have a great look.

Yet, I was able to pick up another pair in a re-issue in '02. Great shoe again...

With this release, the shoe seems to be made with different materials. The tread is great. However, I do miss the reflective material on the back and the tongue. You can also tell that the material around the sides are not made with the same tough carbon-like material.

Funny about the releases not utilizing the same material. Check out the laces. The green laces look great, but the original yellow laces were a little bit stronger.

Regardless, after a run last week at Duke Forest, I'm still impressed at the stability and how these shoes perform...Grade A shoe. Grade A performance.

More importantly, thanks for the re-release.

Rippin',
IronDog

Torn on Knight

I have to admit that I was torn on which way to feel with Bobby Knight snaring the all-time win mark this past week...

In my opinion, Dean Smith was the stronger of the two coaches, but I have to admit that I'm a little biased. Right?

John Feinstein had a great article in the Washington Post that evaluated the right and wrong on Coach Knight. Check it out here. With that said, here's where I stand when measuring the effectiveness of Bobby Knight.




"Wacky" Strikes

** Neil Reed video - Way Overboard.
**The head bump - Way too emotional, c'mon why embarass a kid in public like that. He's a grown man.
** The chair throw - Way out-of-control.

** His early tirades on players in that horrible plaid jacket throughout the '70s - Way too demeaning. Way over-the-top. Influenced and gave license to hundreds of wackos in rec-centers across the country to be like Knight.

** The 'never explained' with recruiting...Every one talks how pristine his recruiting methods were at Indiana. Yet, how he stole Isiah Thomas from DePaul through a middle of the night signing has never been explained.

The rumor was that Isiah went to Indiana because of gang-related threat on his life from his brother. And that Isiah was forced to get out of Chicago. Still a bizarre story to me, and I'm crushed for Coach Ray Meyer. That DePaul team could have been the best ever...Knight has never explained himself. The City of Chicago was ripped off.

** For the best of recruits and All-Americans, the NBA drought is
bewildering. Kent Benson, Mike Woodson, Alan Henderson, '0' @ Texas
Tech. Pffftt...

"Respected" Moves

** The '84 Olympic Team - Greatest Olympic job ever...Probably ever
will be. Wish we could have played the Russians. MJ loved the guy,
and arguably, he got a helluva lot more out of Mike than anyone else
until Phil Jackson. I always struggled with the Jeff Turner seletion
though.

** "Knight School" - I enjoyed the reality show last year. Made me
look at him a different way. He is an incredible teacher.

** "Old School" - The tap on the cheek on his Texas Tech player a month ago...In some ways, I
respected that move. He is a Army guy in a John Chaney way.
** Role Models - The guy really champions Henry Iba and Don Haskins. How can you not respect his mentors?
Yet, sometimes, I think he tries to be Haskins too much...in a 'freaky' type way.

** 'The Speech' - His 'Kiss my @$$ speech is a classic.
** Point blank...3 National Championships with two different styles of play in the '70s and '80s. 'Nuff said.
** The guy can coach, respects ball, respects education. You have to give him credit for his beliefs and how he holds to them in a age where a lot of coaches and universities only give lip service in order to sell tickets and keep the NCAA off their backs.
** Went off on that kid at the end at "IU" for calling him "Knight", which led to his dismissal. I will always love his emphatic response...'It's Coach Knight!"

Every one went bonkers and overlooked that Coach Knight was demanding respect from a kid, who obviously should have bestowed some respect for someone of Knight's stature around campus.

Think about it...If he had dropped that greeting on a professor, what would have been the reaction? A step further...What would have been the reaction from Myles Brand? 'Yo, what's up Brand?' Knight was teaching the kid that some respect that should be bestowed on what the guy was and is around Indiana. What a joke.

Bobby Knight should have been able to retire in Bloomington.

So, like Feinstein, I'm torn on the middle...

Here's a good story to sway your choice on how to regard Coach Knight. During the '80s, I had a buddy who bumped into Coach Smith while lounging outside a pool in Hilton Head.

The guy knows ball, and they opened up a long convo over a drink or two. He asked Coach Smith. 'What do you think of Coach Knight?'

Coach Smith's reply was..."The only difference between me and Bobby Knight
is that he chooses to yell at his players in public. I yell at them in practice."

People love the Bobby Knight. He has 3 NCAA Rings, a Gold Medal, and now the most Wins...He's not my type of style, but he's efinitely, one of the best coaches of all-time.

He's also one of the biggest 'hams' of all-time.

P.S. Personally, my mind would always head for the hills or I would roll my eyes knowing that 'we're in for a long-run' when a coach or a boss said that he was a Bobby Knight guy. As soon as a guy would say that he was an Indiana or Bobby Knight fan, I would cringe.

Here comes the yelling. Here comes the grandstanding.

Remember, superiors who say they are Bobby Knight devotees. Those are always the guys who looked at the wrong things that Knight does...And they are the worse than Bobby Knight could hope to be. Just my thoughts on that one. Do with them with you choose.

U-S-A,
IronDog

'Brother Al'...Call Mike Leach.

The Oakland Raiders finally made the move...Art Shell was finally put out of his misery tonight.

The move had to be done. The offense was woefully inept, and the losses piled up. Yet, at least Shell made it back to the organization where he belongs, and the 'D' was strong this season.

Now...What should the Raiders do? Hire Mike Leach.

After watching the last season's interview turnstile and the shock of even Pat Hill turning down the Raiders, I finally accepted the fact that there are a select few people who can man the Raiders.

A coach under 'Brother Al' has to realize that neither a coach nor player is bigger than the organization...And espically not 'Brother Al' Davis. Al Davis loves the guy who is not only an unpolished gem, but also who would be appreciative of the position of manning the Raiders.

And that's not all that bad...

So, with those thoughts in mind, why am I emphatic on Mike Leach as my choice to man the Raiders?

Now, I have to admit that after reading Michael Lewis's NYTimes article on Mike Leach last year my view of the Texas Tech program and his coaching style dramatically shifted my allegiances to him.

Yet, how can you deny Leach's impact? The article was dead-on with how his offense terrifies opponents and look at the results. Through his offensive sets and speedy receivers and lineman, Leach is innovating the game.

Leach's rep and persona are also 'under-the-radar' enough to fit right underneath Al's shadow. If Leach were to land the Raider job, there would be a high possiblity that Leach would not only be appreciative enough of the opportunity to man the Raiders, but also be humble enough to grasp that there is a something more to the Raiders than just a team for a season or an individual.

After all, the Raiders are about the organization!..And the organization is still Al's. Mike Leach is in Lubbock. Think he wouldn't get it?

With the gritty path from NFL Europe to Texas Tech, I think he would accept that fact.

After watching several schools pass on him this season in the coaching carousel, I'm led to believe that Leach's rebel game and attitude has turned off a lot of 'pristine' big-time public schools. Leach has to be absorbing the fact that a lot of NCAA programs must be scared of him and how he runs a program.

After all...When 'Bama and Miami turned the other way, you have to think. What schools are going to be a 'next level' move for him?

For those reasons, the Raiders should take a shot on him and get him early in the process.

Leach's high-octane 'O' would transfer well into the professional ranks, and he adores the 'against the world' attitude. He loves speed, the air, and renegades, which are right up Al's alley.

Keep the Raider 'D' intact. Go with Mike Leach to re-build the 'O'.

And please...Don't count out Brother Al...We Shall Return!

Raider Nation Lives,
IronDog



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