- Could the national title won by the University of Kansas men’s basketball team be in jeopardy less than six weeks after the Jayhawks won it in dramatic, overtime fashion? It doesn’t appear likely at this point but is definitely possible based on an investigation undertaken by state officials in Dallas, Tex. The officials are investigating whether Kansas basketball star Darrell Arthur was eligible to play in high school, which could affect whether he should have ever been allowed to play for the national champion Jayhawks. South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas, which already has forfeited its 2006 state title because of improperly altered grades for another player, is investigating whether Arthur's grades also were improperly altered. Not exactly something that Kansas did wrong, but that doesn’t mean it can’t come back to bite them anyhow. The 6-foot-9 Kansas sophomore forward was second on the team in scoring at 12.8 points a game and second in rebounding as well. On the strength of that, um, decent year, he has applied for early entry into the NBA draft. Good move there, blowing through college competition to the tune of a whopping 12.8 ppg and going right on to the NBA. Hard to argue with that reasoning when you’ve outright dominated your competition like Arthur did. Great thinking, Darrell. His dumb decisions aside, it’s funny that Kansas could find itself getting the national title it just won ripped away because of a guy who made little more than a pit stop on campus on his way to the NBA.
According to a former teacher and transcripts obtained by a Dallas-area TV station, Arthur was not passing math as a junior but his grade was changed without the teacher's knowledge. Shady, yes. Uncommon when dealing with a guy who was one of the nation's top recruits out of high school a McDonald's All-American and a player who led South Oak Cliff to consecutive state titles, earning tournament MVP both times, not so much.
Under NCAA rules, if Arthur is ruled to be ineligible, there is a possibility that Kansas may have to forfeit some or all of the games he played in this past season. However, Jim Marchiony, KU's associate athletic director for external affairs, said he believed that the investigation into Arthur would not affect the school's basketball program. “This is something that happened in high school,” Marchiony said. “Everything that is discussed right now is speculation. I know the media and fans like to speculate, but that's not something we participate in.” Whatever you say, Jimbo. Fact is that what happens in high school determines whether a student-athlete is eligible to compete at the college level, so you dismissing these developments is a hollow, self-serving gesture and one that means absolutely nothing. Keep up your wishful thinking because if this thing swings the wrong way, you’ll need all of that type of thinking that you can get.
- Monday night’s episode of Greek was a hell of a lot of fun, which is a great thing to say about any TV show, so consider it a success on that front. The show boiled down to the Greeks against über-prude Dale and his group U-SAG (University Students Against Greeks). With interest in U-SAG declining, Dale and his new pal Tina needed a rallying cry to drum up new enthusiasm for their cause. That rallying cry came courtesy of Rusty, who spilled the news about his frat, the Kappa Tau’s, winning the ticket lottery for courtside seats at Cyprus Rhodes University’s men’s basketball team’s game against their biggest rivals, the game that has the campus buzzing. It was the first time in 25 years Kappa Tau won the lottery, but when Dale, Tina and U-SAG protest the system that gives the best seats to the Greeks, the battle is on. It turns into a much bigger battle when Cappie, Kappa Tau’s president, and several other Greek president decide they’ve had enough of the severe restrictions placed on them by Dean Bowman. A citation for violating the noise ordinance of 80 decibels is the final straw for Cappie, so he and some of his fellow KT’s confront the dean and are given an ultimatum: come to the board of administrators’ next meeting to argue their case and either have all of the restrictions lifted or if they lost, the restrictions would become permanent. Despite urgings from arch nemesis and Omega Chi president Evan Chambers, Cappie elects for his usual irreverent, offbeat approach to his big speech. After a speech by Dale that rails against the evils of the Greek system before ultimately going off track into a religious diatribe (shocker), Cappie says his peace but is cut off after his allotted two minutes and after pointing out that the Greeks have made mistakes, but that’s what college is about. Evan then chimes in with his own speech, pointing out to several board members they own prank-filled, rebellious pasts. The two speeches by Cappie and Evan have the desired effect of getting the ticket lottery reinstated and the restrictions lifted, leaving every frat and sorority on campus to celebrate. Rusty has been busy with a little celebrating of his own, capitalizing on the strange, love-hate attraction he and Tina have. After urging from Cappie and his girl Rebecca Logan, Rusty and Tina have sex and despite still not being able to stand each other, they realize that they somehow like each other as well. Disliek would also be a good description for the attitude of many sisters and pledges at the Zeta Beta Zeta house, where Rebecca resides and Rusty’s big sis Casey is president. After Casey bends the rules to allow BFF Ashleigh to take part in the Spirit Week activities leading up to the big basketball game despite missing out on mandatory house study hours during the week, sisters and pledges who didn’t get pardoned from missing study hours stage a mini revolt. Casey tries apologizing first but finds that her authority is still being questioned. After receiving advice from her sorority big sister and former ZBZ president Frannie, Casey puts her foot down and reasserts her authority. That quells the revolt, but there is still an underlying current of dissent in the house. As the episode ends, Dean Bowman, who Evan revealed in the board meeting to have been a stoner during his college career, sneaks up outside the partying Kappa Tau house and sets a paper bag with unknown contents on the doorstep, lights it on fire and bolts. Beaver, the dumb, loveable lunkhead of KT, answers the knock at the door despite the warning of everyone in the house not to, and that’s where things end. What was in the bag? What is the dean up to? Tune in next week to find out….
- If there’s one word to describe last night’s season finale of One Tree Hill, that word is erratic. Some parts of the show were really good, others were predictable, clichéd and cutesy. The bad idea of having multiple characters tackle the exact same type of problem continued, with Nathan and son Jamie both battling their biggest fears and ultimately overcoming them. For Jamie, it was getting back into the family pool after nearly drowning earlier this season. He finally admits he’s’ afraid and gets back into the water with his parents cheering him on. That moment inspires Nathan to stop playing afraid on the basketball court as he tries to make him hoops comeback. He finally shuts up Quentin, the star of the Tree Hill HS team Nathan helps to coach, by getting by Q on the way to the hoop and slamming home a dunk. Nathan is quite happy with himself and now beliveves that he really can make it all the way back. Brooke is dealing with her own kind of fear, as baby Angie, the infant she’s been caring for while the tot is in the United States for heart surgery to save her life, is getting ready to head back home. Brooke can’t bear to see the little girl leave the country, a day that comes eight days sooner than expected. As she puts Angie back into the hands of the agency workers to send back to her home country, Brooke breaks down crying and finds support from Lucas, who manages to be there for her despite going through a bit of identity crisis of his own. At the episode’s outset, he goes day after day getting drunk, going to bars, sleeping in late, avoiding his life, acting like an ass and even getting a Mohawk. He’s suspended for 10 games as coach of the Tree Hill basketball team for his episode of grabbing an opposing player in last week’s episode but doesn’t bother to show up for the hearing that determines his punishment. Lucas is finally pulled from his malaise by Haley, who shaves off his Mohawk and takes him for a drive during which she tells him to stop hiding and to make up his mind about what (and who) he wants in his life. That leaves Lucas with a lot to think about, a situation complicated when ex-fiancée Lindsey visits Tree Hill to tell him that his new novel is finished and that it’s ready for print. On her way out the door, after she says goodbye, Lucas asks her if she ever really missed him, a question she doesn’t answer. Lucas then finds himself at the airport to support Brooke on her bad day and then later at the river court, the place he spent his childhood playing pickup basketball. All over the entire surface of the court are painted messages from Peyton, saying over and over that she still loves him. As Lucas sits alone in the dark, mulling things over, Haley tracks him down and when he throws out the idea of getting away for a while, leaving town for a few weeks, she urges him to stop running and hiding his heart. Those words still inspire Lucas to head back to the airport, but while there he makes a call to either Peyton, Lindsey or Brooke, telling one of them that he’s at the airport with two tickets to Vegas if they want to get married right away. That’s the big cliffhanger for the next season, who was on the other end of that phone call. Lucas may not be the only one leaving town, as Mouth McFadden may be doing so on a more permanent basis. Because of his decision to trash footage of Lucas’ attack on an opposing player and not have it for the news broadcast, Mouth’s bosses at the TV station have relegated him to the crappiest tasks at the station. With the urging of girlfriend Millie, Mouth decides to see if the offer he had for an anchor job in Omaha is still good. After stepping in to save the news sports anchor, Steve, when the prompter goes down during the evening news, Mouth stuns everyone by quitting. Doing some quitting of his own is Dan Scott, or at least that’s how it looks. After waiting and waiting for a heart transplant and finally rejoicing when Rev. Carter, the only person in front of him on the transplant list, passes away, Dan walks out of the hospital and is hit by a car after stepping into the road without looking. Just as he lays there dying, his beeper alerting him to a compatible heart for transplant becoming available goes off. It’s poetic justice for a man who has hurt (and even killed) so many people in his life. Not much happened in this episode for Peyton and Haley, other than Peyton taking up Lucas and Haley’s tradition of throwing water balloons off the roof of the building where Peyton’s record label is now located and hitting pedestrians below with them. Haley helps Peyton realize that Lucas doesn’t really hate her, as he said in one of his drunken ramblings last week. Haley showed Peyton the wishes she and Lucas used to write and stash behind a loose brick on the roof before each school year, with most of Lucas’ wishes being about Peyton. Peyton also gets a call from her label’s artist Mia (Kate Voegle), telling her that Mia has met a guy on tour who claims to have known Peyton’s birth mother Ellie. So that’s where things will end for this season, to be resumed when OTH returns for a sixth season, this fall on Monday nights at 9 p.m. See you then….
- This week marks a truly great landmark in women’s professional tennis. As of yesterday, the WTA’s hottest player is also its top-ranked player and that’s good news for fans of tennis (and of Maria Sharapova) everywhere. With the retirement of former No. 1 Justine Henin of Belgium becoming official, the top spot was vacated and into that lofty perch goes the über-hot Sharapova. For some of us, her actual play on the court is all but irrelevant, just as long as we can watch her in action. But with this No. 1 ranking, it also draws a distinct line between Sharapova and a player she has too often been compared to, Anna Kournikova. Kournikova and Sharapova are both Russian, both tennis players and both really hot, but the similarities end there. Kournikova was never really that worried about tennis, seeing it mostly as a vehicle to stardom in music videos, modeling, etc. She had limited success on the court but flamed out quickly because her priorities were elsewhere (namely hooking up with and guesting in music videos for that mimbo Enrique Iglesias). Sharapova has done her share of commercials and has said that one of her dreams is to be a Bond girl, but don’t make the mistake of likening her to Kournikova when it comes to balancing tennis and off-court pursuits. By attaining the No. 1 ranking and with multiple wins in the majors, my girl Maria has shown that she’s a tennis player first, everything else second. Then again, she could do most anything and I’d still be eager to watch, so let’s not put too much focus on the tennis court when it comes to her…..
- Thanks for making my voting decision for this fall’s presidential election really, really easy, John McCain. Playing the world’s oldest, most senile clairvoyant this week, the aged McCain peered deep into his Centrum- Silver-and-Metamucil-powered crystal ball and forecasted that if the country is moronic enough to elect his rotting carcass as president come November, most U.S. troops will be home from Iraq and Osama bin Laden will be dead or captured by 2013. Are you freaking kidding me? Hey ass clown, 2013 just isn't good enough when it comes to withdrawing American troops from Iraq. In fact, pulling them out yesterday was still not soon enough. So you telling me that we’re in for at least four more years of history’s most unjustifiable war kinda, sorta, definitely makes me want to vote for anyone but you. If only the sticking of foot in mouth ended there….but it didn’t. So now you’re bin Laden’s personal physician? Have you been giving him physicals, reviewing his blood work and doing routine check-ups? If not, how the hell can you know when he might die? If you’re assuming that we’re going to catch him…no. No, we’re not. We have a better chance of getting Rosie O’Donnell to eat nothing but salad for the rest of her life, Paulie Shore winning a dozen Oscars and Britney Spears becoming a Nobel Prize winner than we do of catching bin Laden. You might think it’s admirable that you varied from your usual practice of being a W. sycophant and steadfastly refusing to set a date for the end of the Vietnam, er, Iraq war, but throwing out a date four years down the road doesn’t cut it. Nor does making bogus promises about finding bin Laden that are about as genuine as the warnings about those mythical WMDs in Iraq that we’ve still never managed to find. So if my local election board wants to go ahead and mail my presidential ballot to me right now, please do it so I can cast my vote for Obama and then spend the next six months ridiculing that ass clown McCain.
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