Stanford Tree Fired!

Sports Illustrated reports in this week's edition that the Stanford Tree (their mascot) has been fired for drinking in her mascot uniform during a game. UC Berkeley police viewed her drinking from a flask during a recent game, and a test revealed her blood alcohol level at 0.15 percent. She admitted being drunk but denied drinking during the game.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/16/MNGUNH9P9A6.DTL

Not exactly how a mascot should act! Wally expects the Tree (and other mascots) to live up to the Mascot Code of Conduct. What exactly is this world coming to?

More Cheney humor

Great New Yorker cover cartoon this week. It's called "Watch Your Back Mountain" - a nice play on the hunting scandal and last year's best movie. Look for it on newstands now - because Wally said so.

good link

The Sports Guy's mailbag today is filled with funny stuff: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060217

Here's what he has to say about JJ:

Q: Come on, we're all waiting. Where do you stand on this whole J.J. Redick thing? -- Frank, Charlotte, N.C.

SG: Glad you asked. I have a few thoughts on this one ...
1. If his name was "Joe Redick" or "Jimmy Redick," he wouldn't take nearly as much crap from anyone. Nobody wants to like a white kid named "J.J." It's one of those "I'm sorry, I have to hate you just out of principle" white sports names along the lines of "Chipper," "B.J." and "Christian."
2. If he went anywhere else but Duke, he wouldn't take 9/10th's as much crap from anyone. Switch him with Mike Nardi and stick Redick on the bombs-away Villanova team and you know what would happen? Everyone would be raving about how much fun Redick is to watch. Unfortunately for J.J., everyone hates Duke and he's the quintessential Zabka-like kid Coach K always recruits, so we're already biased against him. We want him to blow out an ACL or break something crashing into a scorer's table. This isn't his fault.
3. I don't care whether it's a lousy college hoops season or whether he's playing for a stacked Duke team: He's such a deadly shooter that (A) it's shocking when he misses a wide-open 3, and (B) he's one of those rare guys who can sink open 3s in any situation (even a 1-on-2 fast break), from any angle, anywhere on the court. There aren't five NBA players who have more confidence than Redick from 25 feet. I know it's practically sacrilegious to say, but I think he's immensely entertaining to watch. How often do you see a college kid with Cassell-like balls?
4. Anyone who thinks that Redick -- on the right team, in the right offense, with shot blockers to protect him on defense -- cannot end up being an asset in the NBA is insane. Repeat: Insane. He's a better shooter than Steve Kerr, John Paxson, Jerry Sichting, Trent Tucker or Craig Hodges, all of whom had similar games and played roles for championship teams. I would actually compare his ceiling to Rip Hamilton's ceiling (who is almost as bad defensively, by the way); you could craft a decent offense from running Redick off multiple picks and getting him open shots.
I look at it this way: If you're an A-plus in any category, you're going to crack a 9-man rotation in the NBA, regardless of whether you have any other skills or not. Desagana Diop blocks shots, and that's all he does; Eddie House makes jumpers, and that's all he does; Carlos Delfino plays defense, and that's all he does; and all of those guys are contributing to 60-win teams right now. Redick is going to find the right team (maybe not right away), and he's going to make open 3s, and even if that's all he does, he'll be one of the best eight guys on the team. It's going to happen. The funny thing is, NBA scouts are always more enamored with multi-tool guys like Dunleavy and Darko who end up not being able to do anything that well. So those guys get drafted above guys like Redick, and then everyone is amazed when Redick turns out to be a better pro.

Nanny McPhee sets Duke scoring record!

Love the DVR! Wally went to the movies late afternoon yesterday to see Nanny McPhee (http://www.nannymcphee.com/). Sort of a new version of Mary Poppins, involving the widower hooking up with the maid once she gets dressed up and some elocution lessons. Probably a better Netflix choice.

But he was able to record the Duke-Miami game, and therefore see Duke's win. Oh, and JJ Redick is now Duke's all-time leading scorer, passing current-Duke associate head coach Johnny Dawkins (how often does it happen that the guy who is passing the all-time scoring mark is coached by the guy he's passing? I bet not very!). No word on when they are retiring JJ's number - my vote is keep it secret and do it after the Duke-Carolina game on Saturday, March 4. That's the only option if they are doing it while he's still a Duke player. If anyone hears any news on when it's happening, let Wally know.

Sunday - be there or be square

This blog isn't all about basketball, it's just on Wally's mind. JJ Redick will set Duke's all-time men's scoring record for a career if (when?) he scores 30 against Miami in Cameron on Sunday (5:30 ET, Fox Sports Net). Should be a great moment so check it out.

Lights out!

Wally would like to highlight one of the amazing stats that may have thus far been overlooked in JJ Redick's season. Beyond the fact that he's shooting almost 44% from beyond the three point arc, over 88% from the line (which is, for him, a slump), and 28.9 points per game, he is shooting 50.8% from the field. (He's also averaging almost a steal and a half per game. Not bad for a so-called "shooter.")

He's a guard who has shot more three pointers than two pointers this year. And is his team's best shooter and scorer. Everyone knows he's going to shoot. He's guarded by everyone on the team. Do the math: JJ is shooting 57.6% from inside the three point arc. (Do the math yourself: http://www.nmnathletics.com//pdf6/29811.pdf)

The question is whether he is too good for this team. Can they survive a bad game in the NCAAs? Or will he take them to the Final Four, similar to what Grant Hill did in 1994 (although this team is MUCH better than that one)?

Wally's advice for March: stay tuned and fasten your seatbelt.

Book Tidbits!

Wally finished Blue Blood : Duke-Carolina: Inside the Most Storied Rivalry in College Hoops by Art Chansky (see last Thursday's post) and still recommends it. He's moved on to The Krzyzewskiville Tales by former Duke undergrad Aaron Dinin. It's published by Duke U. Press: http://www.dukeupress.edu/index.shtml.

By the way, Wally wishes his readers a belated Happy Valentine's Day. He and Molly had a good day, although Wally's co-benefactor/editor has been under the weather and therefore not helping Wally with his blog. Wally's been ruminating, as green monsters are prone to do, about why he loves college basketball and the "will to win" the best players demonstrate, so stay tuned for that post.

Cheney shoots hunting partner

Wally received the following email after Dick Cheney shot his hunting partner a couple of days ago. Funny stuff.

CHENEY SAYS SHOOTING OF FELLOW HUNTER WAS BASED ON FAULTY INTELLIGENCE
Believed Shooting Victim Was Zawahiri, Veep Says
Vice President Dick Cheney revealed today that he shot a fellow hunter while on a quail hunting trip over the weekend because he believed the man was the fugitive terror mastermind Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Mr. Cheney acknowledged that the man he sprayed with pellets on Saturday was not al-Zawahiri but rather Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old millionaire lawyer from Austin, blaming the mix-up on "faulty intelligence."
"I believed I had credible intelligence that al-Zawahiri had infiltrated my hunting party in disguise with the intent of spraying me with pellets," Mr. Cheney told reporters. "Only after I shot Harry in the face and he shouted 'Cheney, you bastard' did I realize that this intelligence was faulty."
Moments after Mr. Cheney's assault on Mr. Whittington, Mr. al-Zawahiri appeared in a new videotape broadcast on al-Jazeera to announce that he was uninjured in the vice president's attack because, in his words, "I was in Pakistan."
An aide to the vice president said he believed that the American people would believe Mr. Cheney's version of events, but added, "If he was going to shoot any of his cronies right now it's a shame it wasn't Jack Abramoff."
At the White House, President George W. Bush defended his vice president's shooting of a fellow hunter, saying that the attack sent "a strong message to terrorists everywhere."
"The message is, if Dick Cheney is willing to shoot an innocent American citizen at point-blank range, imagine what he'll do to you," Mr. Bush said.

Book Review: Blue Blood

Wally was on the road this week and was looking forward to the Duke-Carolina game on Tuesday, so he had a little plane time to read a fair bit of Blue Blood : Duke-Carolina: Inside the Most Storied Rivalry in College Hoops by Art Chansky. Chansky definitely needs a better editor and uses too much slang, but Wally tells us that he's enjoying it so far and has even learned some things about Duke hoops. There's a great story about Coach K standing up to Dean Smith - read it for yourself, as Coach K's statement to old Deano is not something we can repeat on this web site (and quite frankly Wally shoudn't be reading, but that's a subject for another day).

Chansky also sets up the Larry Brown - Art Heyman fight quite well, and really gives the reader a better understanding of why the rivalry is so great, beyond private vs. public school, being so close together and the usual items cited in naming it the best rivalry in college sports (sorry, Michigan-Ohio St.). Chansky's a Carolina grad, but Wally gives him two green thumbs up for a balanced approach. Oh, and that Frank McGuire sounds like a real character.

In its Play magazine on Sunday, The Times gave a thumb up to To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever : A Thoroughly Obsessive, Intermittently Uplifting, and Occasionally Unbiased Account of the Duke-North Carolina Basketball Rivalry by Will Blythe. Wally will check that one out too and let his faithful readership know.

Think the New York Review of Books needs a green monster on staff?

Good over Evil!

Huge win by Duke over Carolina last night. Carolina made a great comeback in the second half with their bench, and really made a game of it. Duke's freshman really made a difference but the player of the game was JJ Redick, who had his first outstanding game at the Dean E. Smith Center (a/k/a the Dean Dome) with 35 points. JJ basically took over the game late in the second half and refused to let Duke lose. He's quickly closing in on Johnny Dawkins for the all-time scoring lead at Duke and is on pace to average more than 28 ppg, which no one has done since David Thompson did it for NC State three decades ago. Oh, and JJ had a few steals and layups last night, assists, and took Carolina's best shot (literally). What a player.

Coach K in the news

A faithful reader in Chicago tells us that Coach K of Duke bb fame is profiled in the current issue of Esquire magazine. Wally hasn't read the article but will review and let you know.

Coach K is also profiled in the new sports mag from the NY Times, Play: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/magazine/05coachk_96_101__116_117_.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin

Bottom line from K: get in touch with your feminine side. It clearly works.

Duke vs. UNC from the Dean E. Smith Center, 9 pm ET on Tuedsday. Wally will be watching.

Mailbag - cease and desist letters

Wally is still recovering from his weekend, so we're dipping in the mailbag today. Two letters that Wally's co-benefactors received after beginning Wally's blog commenced:

#1:
I regret to inform you that Wally has hired me as his attorney. As you may know the term " monster " is not perceived as an accolade beyond the Boston City limits. Your characterization my client is false, scurrilous and defamatory has damaged his worldwide reputation as one cool dude. We will be serving you with the appropriate papers in the near future ( Generous settlements gratefully accepted). Faithully yours, Oliver Wendell [NAME WITHHELD].

#2:
As chair of the history department at Red Stocking University, I would like to inform you that I will be an expert witness in the suit aforementioned. My research on the historical uses and connotations of monster ethnicity shows clearly that monsters in the past have suffered severe de facto discrimination in every western society, except the Land of Oz. To place Mr. Wally in this category subjects him to severe economic, political, and civil rights injuries in our society. I suggest you find another way to characterize Mr. Wally that removes him from this much-maligned social group. Yours truly, Dr. Ima Neocon Airhead

Wally's response: how about those Steelers?

Devils > Eagles - by a nose

Wally's Blue Devils survived a scare last night from the BC Eagles. Wally was tied up and so he DVR'd the game, but it sounds like JJ had his usual performance (if 28 points in a college game can ever be described as usual). Duke's game on Saturday against the Seminoles from Free Shoes University isn't on national TV, so the next game is Tuesday vs. Carolina.

Wally's also excited about the Red Sox's acquisition of the wonderfully-named Coco Crisp to play centerfield post-Johnny Damon. It's not known if Coco is available in a sugar-free version.