STARTING FIVE

1. Aar-Craft Carriers

This is what I call broadcasters who devote the majority of Ohio State basketball games gushing over Ohio State guard Aaron Craft. Or the writers who cannot resist the panegyrics.

It’s not that we hate Craft (well, some of us may), it’s just that we’re so tired of hearing that his feces don’t stank. He’s the Tim Tebow of hoops. That’s why there was so much schaudenfreude when he not only allowed his man to score the winning bucket –someone on-air blamed the Buckeyes’ secondary defender for not helping out–and then missed his last shot.

Oh, and I’ve come 180 degrees in my thoughts on Craft. I don’t think he plays in the NBA. Great hustle, great defender, but he’s not at all a threat to score from outside. I do think he’d make a terrific addition to the Grantland staff.

Your thoughts?

2. First Day of Spring

I don’t care what the earth’s axial relationship to the sun says, the first day of spring is the tip-off of the NCAA tournament (and I don’t mean Dayton). Highlights from yesterday.

** A New Zealander named Rob Loe who doesn’t much resemble Rob Lowe leading St. Louis to an overtime win versus North Carolina State. Loe scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and when the game still hung in the balance, inspired this tweet from Sodapop Curtis himself: “We Rob Loe’s know how to ball! But can he get the ‘W’??” (get it?).

You know who did not get it? Greg Gumbel.

**From American Hustle to American Horror Story (thanks, Brian H.): Wisconsin trails 17-10 to American early in the first half –in Milwaukee–as Twitter is vexed. Because nothing is as reliable on Twitter as first-half tweets from scribes who want to call an upset early. Of course, from that point  on Wiscy turned American into cheese, outscoring them 65-18. American, idle.

**Harvard upsets Cincinnati, gets a whole lot of Likes on Facebook.

**Both Ohio State (Herbstreit) and Colorado (Fowler) lose. Call it the Revenge of Musburger.

**Grantland does a “Watch Simmons Watch the Tourney”, which has about 5% of the entertainment value of any of The Sports Guy’s live blogs of such from the previous decade. Jalen Rose was the Jesus of Cool, showing up in long camo pants, a sweat shirt, and swinging his own bat (I seriously have college friends who sported that same look watching games back in Dillon Hall), but everyone else was stiff in the “Grantland Man Cave.”

Love Simmons. Love Jalen. Wasn’t too crazy about Rembert Browne (dude, you’re on national TV; you look like a tool with a MacBook on your lap). House was fine. But the couches need to be more lived in and there should be pizza and beer, no?

**Arizona State takes the ironic defeat award as Texas scores the winning bucket on a put-back that just eludes the reach of the Sun Devils’ 7-2 center and nation’s leading shot blocker, Jordan Bachynski.

***We’re Yahoo!Sports and we believe in page views.

3. Black and White

This deserves its own item. Grant Hill, doing studio work for Tru TV, told a reporter that the reason people so intensely hated Duke when he played was because it had so many good white players (Bob Hurley, Christian Laettner, etc.) and referred to “white-on-white” hate, as so many of the arenas were filled with Caucasian fans.

Meanwhile, when J-Rose noted on Grantland that the Fab Five never got any magazine covers (and ESPN the Mag was not around then, so he basically meant SI and perhaps The Economist). Simmons, kudos to him, noticed the elephant in the room and quipped, “20% racism.” To which Rose muttered in reply, “More than that.”

(And I imagine that’s when John Skipper flashed the “You’re Fired” graphic as a warning to both.

Anyway, there’s some truth to both sentiments, but as for the former, some of that loathing was the backlash to players such as Hurley being, in the public’s mind, fantastically overrated because 1) they were white and 2) the media had a crush on Duke that had started a decade earlier. As for the Fab Five, definitely racism was part of it. But, also, this was the first group in memory –in history?–that so blatantly chose a school solely for what it could do for them. They were opportunists, mercenaries (and smart), and at the time the idea of ME (or, in their case, US) over TEAM (good ol’ School U.) seemed offensive.

4. Now ND Has a Brianna, Too

As noted previously on this blog (No. 2), you’re no one in women’s college basketball unless you have a Brianna (or some homophone thereof). The best player in women’s college basketball as of the moment, and it isn’t even close, is Breanna Stewart of undefeated and No. 1 Connecticut.

So, yesterday, Notre Dame, which is No. 2 and undefeated, but will still lose the NCG next month to the Huskies by 8 to 15 points, had reason to smile. Signee Brianna Turner of Manvel High School in Houston, who carries a 3.71 GPA, was named Gatorade National Player of the Year.

I attribute the Turner-Notre Dame marriage to two factors: 1) Turner, 6’3″, didn’t want to follow in the footsteps of another Breanna/Brianna and 2) the ascendance of Irish alumna Skylar Diggins as a pop-culture phenom. Diggins, by the way, is the only other Gatorade PoY to attend Notre Dame.

5. This Is NOT Why MH 370 Disappeared

That’s meteorologist Maria Molina of Fox News moments before passing out while riding in the back seat of an F-18 flown by the Blue Angels. Video here. My question: To reduce the deficit, I’d have our Navy pilots conduct “rides” such as this for passengers daily. Charge $100,000 per ride. You’d find enough 1% to pay it. Give them a little thrill for their money instead of simply taxing them.

The Hall

Charter Inductees: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner

1937:  Tris Speaker, CF; Cy Young, P ; 1938: Grover Cleveland Alexander, P; Eddie Collins, 2B 1939:Nap Lajoie, 2B; Joe Jackson, LF; 1940: Billy Hamilton, OF; Cap Anson, 1B; 1941: Wee Willie Keeler, RF; George Sisler, 1B; 1942: Rogers Hornsby, 2B; Pie Traynor, 3B; 1943: Mickey Cochrane, C; Frankie Frisch, 2B 1944: Ed Walsh, P; Old Hoss Radbourn, P 1945: Lou Gehrig, 1B; Kid Nichols, P 1946: Ed Delahanty, LF; Lefty O’Doul 1947: Pud Galvin, P; John McGraw, INF 1948: Carl Hubbell, P; Addie Joss, P 1949: Harry Heilman, OF/1B; Monte Ward, P/SS 1950: Cool Papa Bell, CF; Jimmie Foxx, 1B 1951: Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, P; Josh Gibson, C 1952: Paul Waner, RF; Charlie Gehringer, 2B 1953: Mel Ott, RF; Hank Greenberg, 1B 1954: Eddie Plank, P; Dan Brouthers, 1B 1955: “Wahoo” Sam Crawford, OF; John Clarkson, P 1956: Chief Bender, P; Bill Dickey, C 1957: Sam Rice, RF; Joe DiMaggio, CF 1958: Bill Terry, 1B; Heinie Manush, LF 1959: Dizzy Dean, P; Tim Keefe, P 

1960: Gabby Hartnett, C; Mickey Welch, P 1961: Bob Feller, P; Ducky Medwick, LF 1962: Luke Appling, SS; Jesse Burkett, LF 1963 Jackie Robinson, 2B; Zack Wheat, LF 1964: Jake Beckley, 1B; Rube Waddell, P 1965: Ralph Kiner, 1B; Lefty Grove, P 1966: Ted Williams, LF; Smoky Joe Wood, P/OF 1967: Roy Campanella, C; Max Carey, OF 1968: Goose Goslin, LF; Rabbit Maranville, SS 1969: Stan Musial, 1B/OF 1970: Ferris Fain, 1B; Earle Combs, CF 1971: Warren Spahn, P; Yogi Berra, C 1972 Satchel Paige, P; Sandy Koufax, P 1973: Robin Roberts, P; Whitey Ford, P1974: Mickey Mantle, CF; Eddie Mathews, 3B 1975: Lefty Gomez, P; Hack Wilson, CF 1976: Jack Pfiester, P; Johnny Mize, 1B 1977: Ernie Banks, SS; Mickey Welch, P 1978: Roberto Clemente, RF; Chuck Klein, RF 1980: Willie Mays, CF; Luis Aparicio, SS

1980

Al Kaline, RF; 1953-1974, Detroit Tigers

“Mr. Tiger” accumulated 3,007 hits, 18 All-Star Game appearances over three decades, 10 Gold Gloves and one World Series ring. Retired with 399 home runs and 498 doubles–just didn’t want to stick around any longer to break those barriers, I guess.

Enos “Country” Slaughter, RF; 1938-1959, Cardinals, 3 others

“Country” retired with a precision .300 batting average. A 10-time All-Star and a four-time World Series champion, he is best known for scoring the winning run in Game 7 of the 1946 World Series versus the Red Sox. Slaughter took off from first base on a single and beat Johnny Pesky’s cut-off throw.

Remote Patrol

March Madness

CBS, TNT, TBS, TruTV All Night

Don’t miss another Mercer moment. Coastal Carolina versus No. 1 Virginia? Probably not, but watch out for No. 14 North Carolina Central over Iowa State. An NCCU win would finally give the city of Durham a win in a 14-3 game today.