Late-Week Sporties

-Yesterday there was a very controversial ending to a game in the Big East Tournament between Rutgers and St. John's. Down 1, Rutgers was attempting to bring the ball up court when their pass was stolen with just a few seconds remaining. The St. John's player started dribbling towards the sideline and then took a couple of steps out of bounds before throwing the ball into the air to celebrate the victory. The problem was that he did all this before the clock actually ran out. The ball should have been given back to Rutgers (and, if you want to nit-pick, a technical foul should have been called for throwing the ball into the stands). However, the refs never blew the whistle. So, rather than give the ball back to Rutgers with 1.7 seconds to play (plenty of time in a basketball game), the officials simply said the game was over. Now, there is instant replay in Big East play, but not in this situation - they are only allowed to review when calls are made. This is where my problem starts. If you are going to have replay, isn't this pretty much exactly the scenario is it designed for? If you're not going to break it out during the last few seconds of tournament play, then you may as well stop using it altogether.

-Speaking of college controversies, The Ohio State University's head football coach, Jim Tressel, is in hot water after reports have surfaced that he was aware of the NCAA violations which were reported in December way back in April. Now, Ohio State tried to cut off the NCAA from handing down further sanctions by suspending Tressel for two games next season. The problem is the two games they suspended him for are against Toledo and Akron, neither of which are exactly football powerhouses. This is like trying to stop your parents from grounding you by declaring that you are sending yourself to bed early. Nice try, but they're still gonna take your cell phone away. If the players were suspended for five games, I'm guessing Tressel is going to have his Saturdays available for a couple extra weekends this fall.

-Everyone is talking about how much of a public relations hit Dwayne Wade and LeBron James have taken ever since they got together in Miami. However, the guy I think has fallen the farthest is Chris Bosh. At least people aren't question whether James or Wade can play. When Bosh was in Toronto people never really thought about him enough to notice him. But now, he's in the spotlight and all his flaws are on display for the basketball fans of the world to see. The other night, Bosh complained about his role and the fact that he's not getting the ball where he would like it on the court. Well, Chris, if you want the ball first then you should go to a team where you aren't the third option. Perhaps actually going into the paint to try and grab a rebound would help. Also, stop routinely having nights when you shoot 3-15. You know, I always wondered if all the Raptor fans that said, "Thank God we can stop rooting for this guy and pretending he's better than he is" were just bitter. Now I realise that relief was genuine.

-Another guy who I was never a fan of was Tiki Barber. Tiki retired four years ago, while still in his playing prime, to pursue media opportunities. While I don't fault him for wanting to walk away from the game with his health or trying to jump-start a career in television, Tiki's mistake was trying to make his name by trashing his former team. I understand that media members need to be able to look a situation objectively, but I think Tiki went too far the other way in trying to do that. Not surprisingly, he's burned every bridge he had with the Giants, who want no part of his comeback. He might be able to hook on with some team in need of a third-down back, but at 36, having not played the game in four years and with a reputation as a guy who can't be trusted to keep locker room secrets, I don't expect a bidding war for him. [Sidebar: to those media members who pointed out that this resets his eligibility for the Hall of Fame, Tiki Barber is not now, nor will he ever be, a Hall of Famer. Reset it all you want, he doesn't belong in.]

-Because this was kind of a slow news week, people were making a big deal of the pictures that surfaced of Tom Brady at Carnival, where it appeared he had his hair in a ponytail held up with a scrunchie. My take on this is the same as it ever was: when you are the unanimous MVP of the league and take Gisele Bundchen home every night, you can wear your hair any damn way you want. Hell, make it to the Super Bowl and I don't care if you want to put it into a French Braid.