Forget Draft Day. Who wants to deal with the hype, the speculation, the money… the hat lady? You just made the best decision of your life. You, my collegiate friend, get to play another season in an arena that presents some of the most exciting and memorable competition in sport. Welcome back to the world of college basketball.
USC were #1 in the country, and Cal were almost as good too. Arizona State rode good quarterbacking all the way to a surpise Sun Bowl victory over Kyle Orton and Purude, whilst Oregon and Oregon State were their usual inconsistent selves. UCLA weren’t as bad as their 6-6 record indicated, whilst Washington, Washington State, and Arizona had ‘rebuilding years’.
So who’s 2005’s top 5??
Welcome to another round of NBA Roulette, more commonly known as the
NBA Draft. As always, my crazy friend ‘Neal and I get together and
see if we can predict where each player will land in the first round
using team needs, past tendencies and overall guess work that we like
to refer to as “logic.” It’s a lot like throwing darts while
blindfolded without even knowing if you’re facing the target. As if
it’s not challenging enough, general managers everywhere love messing
with our guesses by trading their selections even as the draft is
going on. Last year, we got five out of 30 picks right, and, here’s
the kicker, we felt pretty good about ourselves. So take everything
we say with a grain of salt, especially because `Neal is at his
caffeinated best during the draft. It’s a sight to behold. Trust me.
Like every year, these picks were all made with the assumption that
every team will select in this order, and that no trades will be
made. Also like every year, I’ll slow dance to Lady in Red with the 8- pound piece of machismo that is my dog if that actually happens. Onto
the picks:
By Ryan McGowan
A couple of weeks ago, the blood started boiling in anticipation of summer, and I started to experience what a certain ESPN.com sports writer refers to as the “Tingly Ball Feeling.” I was getting a little stir-crazy in Boston and needed to get out and travel around this great country of ours. It was time for a road trip.
You just need one word to describe Annika Sorenstam when it comes to women’s golf. Untouchable.
In my latest column, sports provides the foundation of deeper issues that plague this country, even after September 11, 2001.
By Gabe Kahn
Every year, about three weeks or so before the NBA draft, certain
players, initially thought to
be high first round picks, suddenly find their stock falling further
than Mike Tyson’s. At the
same time, some eligible players rise to prominence and become the
darlings of the dance,
and we begin to hear words like upside, potential, and athletic,
followed by whispers of
promises.
This phenomenon is a yearly occurrence and is happening as we speak.
Once surefire early
first round picks such as Monta Ellis, Jarret Jack and Chris Taft have
to hope they’ll be
selected in the first round. Channing Frye, Roko Ukic and Yaroslav
Karolev, on the other
hand, are all now being talked about as good shots for the lottery.
For the first time in eleven years, the NBA Finals is coming down to a seventh and deciding game to determine the champions of the NBA. Yes, it has been quite a while since such drama ensued during the Finals, and hopefully drama is in store for this year’s seventh game. Coming into the Finals, nobody wanted to see the Pistons and Spurs face off when there was a possibility of the Suns and Heat facing each other in the NBA’s final playoff series, two teams that were very explosive. That is, unless you consider yourself an NBA purist. However, with everyone believing this series was destined to be all defense, it was anything but.
The Big Ten will most certainly be the perennial powerhouse that we have grown accustomed to. The upcoming college season will bring a bit of parity to a league often dominated by Michigan and Ohio State. Even the teams that will fall in the bottom half of the standings such as Penn State and Illinois are capable of springing upsets. Who will come out on top? It’s not New Year’s Eve yet, but let’s countdown the five best teams in the Big Ten for 2005.
By Trevor Freeman
With the deadline to stay in the NBA Draft having passed, we now know who is available. Therefore it is time to come with our first full mock draft. Let us begin…………..