Sports fodder for a Friday morning . . .
On Monday night, while watching each one of Ramon Sessions' 24 assists against the defenseless Chicago Bulls (DirecTV is a beautiful thing), I couldn't help but wonder what might have been. Those 24 assists and about 300 more could have belonged to the Wolf Pack men's basketball team this season. Imagine, if you will, Sessions dishing off to Marcelus Kemp, JaVale McGee, Armon Johnson, Brandon Fields and DeMarshay Johnson for open jumpers and layups. Imagine the Pack going to the NCAA Tournament and winning a game or two. Imagine Mark Fox on top of the wish lists for Cal, Stanford, Oklahoma State, Marquette and Indiana. The New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls could do a lot worse, too. OK, maybe it was good that Sessions jumped to the NBA.
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Sessions' magical night against the Bulls (franchise record 24 assists to go along with 20 points) is one of the best ever for a Wolf Pack player in the NBA. If the Milwaukee Bucks were smart, they'd name Sessions their starting point guard for the 2008-09 season right now. Sessions made it look easy this month. In the last 10 games of the year he averaged 24 minutes a game and never had less than six assists. You can sure tell that the kid was coached well in college.
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The same goes for Nick Fazekas. The former Pack star played well for the Los Angeles Clippers down the stretch when he got consistent minutes (18 points on April 3 and 10 rebounds on March 31). And don't forget Kirk Snyder, who could have a substantial role with the Minnesota Timberwolves next year. Snyder had 22 points and 11 rebounds in 38 minutes on April 12. Top high school players now know that the pipeline from the Pack to the NBA is stronger than ever. It's no wonder that JaVale McGee left school early.
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Who should be picked first in the NBA draft this June? It sure would be difficult to pass on Memphis' Derrick Rose. Rose, who will be the next Jason Kidd, declared for the draft this week the very same day that Memphis announced a contract extension for coach John Calipari. Memphis fans probably wished it was the other way around.
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The legend of Tiger Woods continues to grow. The guy plays like a mere mortal (for him) and still finishes second in the Masters. Amazing. And now it turns out that he did it while dragging around an injured knee for four rounds. Yes, Superman can finish second in a major on just one good leg. Why hasn't Will Smith played Tiger in a movie yet?
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Honoring Jackie Robinson on April 15 is certainly a justifiable tribute to a great man. But it's about time that major league baseball does the same for Larry Doby. Doby broke the color line in the American League just a few weeks after Robinson did it in the National League. Dody had to endure all of the same hardships that Robinson had to endure. But Doby is never more than a footnote to Robinson. It's time major leaguers wear Doby's number.
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Now that the NFL season, the NCAA men's basketball tournament and the Masters golf tournament are over, what are you going to bet on? A Mariners-Rays game? The American Idol winner? How about the number of months before Pacman Jones gets arrested after he gets traded to the Dallas Cowboys? The over-under is six. How about the number of days before Ricky Williams tests positive for marijuana during the Miami Dolphins training camp?
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Since Chad Johnson wants to be traded so badly from the Cincinnati Bengals, why haven't the Oakland Raiders stepped up? The Raiders have the No. 4 pick in the draft. They could certainly figure out some sort of deal. How about the entire Raiders roster plus Lester Hayes and the No. 4 pick for Johnson? Sounds fair. Al Davis must be getting old. If this was 20 (30? 40?) years ago, and a loudmouth, egomaniac with a world of talent like Johnson wanted to be traded, that loudmouth, egomaniac with a world of talent would be wearing Silver & Black faster than you can say Ocho Cinco.
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Construction workers dug up a David Ortiz jersey out of the cement of new Yankees Stadium this week. New York fans are definitely getting soft. There was a time when the workers would have dug up the jersey and found Ortiz still wearing it.
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One has to wonder if Woods would have gone under the knife this week if he had won the Masters on Sunday. Would he have risked completing the Grand Slam? By the way, why hasn't there been any talk of Trevor Immelman winning the Grand Slam this year? Hey, the guy has a knockout blonde wife like Tiger and he also has two good knees. Why not?
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The NFL released its 2008 schedule this week and guess what? Bad news. The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders once again failed to get any Arena League teams to fill out their schedule. Too bad. Looks like another Bay Area NFL season will end by New Year's Eve.
