No sooner had the NFL draft ended was I able to check out 317 different evaluations and grades of every team's picks... and I don't know how Cleveland got a B+ while Cincinnati got a B-. What are you thinking, NBC?
Premature Evaluation-- don't even try to grade your team's picks until somebody gets cut or makes the Pro Bowl. It's a long way from August. And a long way from December. GM's say it takes 2 to 3 years to get a complete gage on a draft class... by which times many of those GM's are gone.
First picks first-- one year after Detroit drafted the guy who looked like Sandra Bullock's husband in Hope Floats (Matthew Stafford) first overall, St Louis selects Sam Bradford-- who just happens to be a dead ringer for Sandra's Proposal co-star Ryan Reynolds. This bookends Sandra getting an Oscar for starring as Michael Oher's adoptive mom in the Blind Side. Are there any Keanu Reeves lookalikes playing college football now? Because your odds at getting drafted early have just gone up.
Skins tackle a need-- the drafting of Oklahoma tackle Trent Williams was a long time coming... perhaps about three or four years. The 6 foot 5, 315 pounder should be the cornerstone of coach Mike Shanahan's revamping of the offensive line. Williams should start. Williams should shine.
Jason, we hardly knew ye-- I was surprised the Saturday trade of Jason Campbell didn't happen sooner... and I was surprised it didn't yield a pick any sooner than 2012. Was he a great quarterback? No, but he was never in an ideal situation in Ashburn. Now he leaves an organization apparently finally on the right track for the Ottoman Empire of the AFC West. Ouch. And the Skins only got a fourth rounder in return.
Saturday Selections-- With Donovan McNabb coming to Washington in exchange for a second rounder and the third round selection vacated for the choice of defensive lineman Jerome Jarmon (both good moves, by the way) the next Skins pick came in round four-- and the selection of LSU LB Perry Riley gives the going to the 3-4 defense another body to plug in the inside. The rest of the draft yielded four offensive players: sixth rounder Louisiana Tech TE/FB Dennis Morris may be the Mike Sellers of the future; seventh round selection UCLA WR Terrence Austin doesn't have a lot of size but can turn into this year's Marko Mitchell (August MVP), while seventh rounders New Mexico center Erik Cook and West Virginia tackle Selvish Capers will provide training camp depth and in an ideal situation keep the incumbents on their toes.
Handing out grades: as mentioned, the three year gage can be tricky-- especially when the coach (Joe Gibbs) and personnel man (Vinny Cerrato) are no longer around. How'd the dynamic duo do in 2007?:
1--(pick 6) LaRon Landry was chosen after many thought the Skins would pick an offensive or defensive lineman . Landry's started 47 games and has averaged 83 tackles during his career- although his big play stats of 3 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and 4 interceptions are somewhat lacking.
5--(pick 143) USC LB Dallas Sartz spent just one year in the NFL...notching one tackle over three preseason games.
6--(pick 179) Pitt LB H.B. Blades did stick with the team... averaging 40 tackles a season while becoming a special teams standout and starting six games over three years.
6--(pick 205) UTEP QB Jordan Palmer's tenure in Ashburn was two completions in eight attempts in the preseason finale with Jacksonville. He's played the last two years with Cincinnati.
7--(pick 216) Michigan TE Tyler Ecker played two preseason games with the Skins in his only NFL season.
So-- minus second, third and fourth round picks the Skins still find one starter and one special teamer with three washouts... not a lot of quality or quantity-- and not one offensive lineman taken by a team whose trenches were beginning to dissolve. The bigger issue of that era, though was the spending of draft picks for the likes of TJ Duckett and Brandon Lloyd robbed this team of top-100 prospects that could have provided depth or the opportunity to find a diamond in the rough.
CAPS playing like lowercase-- one week ago the Capitals were flying high after three straight wins (two in Montreal)... now they're fighting for their postseason lives against the eighth seed of the Eastern Conference. This is the fourth game seven in four postseason series for coach Bruce Boudreau-- don't say the Caps aren't giving fans maximum opportunities to see their team play.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Feeling a draft... ALL CAPS! ... baseball's begun...really?
NFL Draft time is here-- and that can only mean not just one or two days of coverage, but three full days of anticipation on ESPN. This remains progress in my mind--I'd rather have three days of action as opposed to last year where there was nothing but massive mock drafts leading up to the actual selection process.
As of Tuesday, the Redskins have just four picks-- their first rounder (4th overall), fourth and fifth rounders, plus a seventh. In theory they'd be collecting picks for players like Jason Campbell (irrevelant with Donovan McNabb in town), Albert Haynesworth (not an ideal fit for the 3-4) and anybody else they can shop around (Portis? Cooley?)... but that hasn't happened yet. I've heard the Campbell to Oakland rumor-- his arm works well with Al Davis' vertical game-- but would Davis/Shanahan deal with the other with all of their bad blood? I don't know if ex-Raider front office man Bruce Allen's on speaking terms with the corpse, either. The hot rumor for Haynesworth has been dealing the DT to Detroit-- where his former coordinator Jim Schwartz (who got the most out of him in Tennessee) would coach him up. There may already be deals in place, and both teams just waiting until draft day to announce.
Still, four picks doesn't seem to leave much room for error-- or even a minor mistake. The problem with the Cerrato regime wasn't that they chose badly... it's that over the long haul the Skins didn't have as many picks-- which meant less quality from quantity, less diamonds in the rough, and less salary-cap back-breakers. Unfortunately the Allen/Shanahan era begins with a sense of deja vu.
This franchise has long neglected its offensive line- since the drafting of double bookends Chris Samuels and Jon Jansen a decade ago. That doesn't mean they'll take Russell Okung or Trent Williams, but with the team replenishing skill positions in free agency and bringing in defensive help last year they'd look to revamp the OL this April.
Keep in mind when the Skins were taking three receivers in 2008, they passed on USC's Sam Baker, Virginia Tech's Duane Brown, Arizona State's Mike Pollak and my favorite-- USC OL sparkplug Chilo Rachal. All were taken in the first and second rounds of that draft and all have started for their respective NFL teams.
There's nothing quite like playoff overtime hockey-- and the Capitals enjoyed famine and feast in games one and two against Montreal. The third period rally Saturday was a postseason saving surge-- and credit coach Bruce Boudreau for pressing the right (Semyon Varlamov) buttons to turn the series around. Hello, Niklas Backstrom! Four goals and two assists over three games takes a little attention away from Alex Ovechkin; if the center stays hot Ovie will have a little more room to work as the postseason proceeds.
Nationals notes-- instead of last year's disastrous April, the Nationals are actually playing above .500 ball to start the season. Granted, thirteen games does not a season make, but they could be the sinkhole that is the Orioles. The steady hand and hot bat of Pudge Rodriguez is paying dividends (.450!) while Josh Willingham is turning in another solid year. The pitching might be suspect-- Jason Marquis guilty to the tune of a 20.52 ERA-- but at least the bullpen is better than 2009's cheap cigar.
O's woes-- ouch. Add an April west coast trip with late-night losses, an early season 12 game streak against Boston and the Yankees... and you have the recipe for an early season managerial change. At least that's the new Oriole Way.
As of Tuesday, the Redskins have just four picks-- their first rounder (4th overall), fourth and fifth rounders, plus a seventh. In theory they'd be collecting picks for players like Jason Campbell (irrevelant with Donovan McNabb in town), Albert Haynesworth (not an ideal fit for the 3-4) and anybody else they can shop around (Portis? Cooley?)... but that hasn't happened yet. I've heard the Campbell to Oakland rumor-- his arm works well with Al Davis' vertical game-- but would Davis/Shanahan deal with the other with all of their bad blood? I don't know if ex-Raider front office man Bruce Allen's on speaking terms with the corpse, either. The hot rumor for Haynesworth has been dealing the DT to Detroit-- where his former coordinator Jim Schwartz (who got the most out of him in Tennessee) would coach him up. There may already be deals in place, and both teams just waiting until draft day to announce.
Still, four picks doesn't seem to leave much room for error-- or even a minor mistake. The problem with the Cerrato regime wasn't that they chose badly... it's that over the long haul the Skins didn't have as many picks-- which meant less quality from quantity, less diamonds in the rough, and less salary-cap back-breakers. Unfortunately the Allen/Shanahan era begins with a sense of deja vu.
This franchise has long neglected its offensive line- since the drafting of double bookends Chris Samuels and Jon Jansen a decade ago. That doesn't mean they'll take Russell Okung or Trent Williams, but with the team replenishing skill positions in free agency and bringing in defensive help last year they'd look to revamp the OL this April.
Keep in mind when the Skins were taking three receivers in 2008, they passed on USC's Sam Baker, Virginia Tech's Duane Brown, Arizona State's Mike Pollak and my favorite-- USC OL sparkplug Chilo Rachal. All were taken in the first and second rounds of that draft and all have started for their respective NFL teams.
There's nothing quite like playoff overtime hockey-- and the Capitals enjoyed famine and feast in games one and two against Montreal. The third period rally Saturday was a postseason saving surge-- and credit coach Bruce Boudreau for pressing the right (Semyon Varlamov) buttons to turn the series around. Hello, Niklas Backstrom! Four goals and two assists over three games takes a little attention away from Alex Ovechkin; if the center stays hot Ovie will have a little more room to work as the postseason proceeds.
Nationals notes-- instead of last year's disastrous April, the Nationals are actually playing above .500 ball to start the season. Granted, thirteen games does not a season make, but they could be the sinkhole that is the Orioles. The steady hand and hot bat of Pudge Rodriguez is paying dividends (.450!) while Josh Willingham is turning in another solid year. The pitching might be suspect-- Jason Marquis guilty to the tune of a 20.52 ERA-- but at least the bullpen is better than 2009's cheap cigar.
O's woes-- ouch. Add an April west coast trip with late-night losses, an early season 12 game streak against Boston and the Yankees... and you have the recipe for an early season managerial change. At least that's the new Oriole Way.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Sports Vortex Part 2-- Electric Boogaloo...
From season openers to tournament finales... from Tiger tracking to Skinsationalism... this week has been one for the sports ages.
Did Chitwood need a re-shoot? Those shots from Butler went in, right? Damn! Cinderella came oh so close to forcing a Hoosiers II-- this time it's Collegial... Gordon Hayward's miss kept the Bulldogs at bay-- and delivered a fourth national title in 20 years to Coach K and the Blue Devils. Hate them you may. Believe in conspiracies delivering an easy bracket to their feet if you must. Dislike their fan base, please. (a Maryland fan compared the Blue Devil and Tar Heel faithful by saying Dukies were obnoxious and in your face about how much better they were while UNCers were more assumed of their superiority-- like it was pre-ordained). But let the record show that Coach K graduates kids, runs a clean program and dominates the landscape.
Conference Call-- I grew up a Big East guy... and root for that league except in extreme situations (and even then I hoped for a mono outbreak at Duke-Georgetown). Just as I praise the Blue Devils, let me laud their league. The ACC has 5 of the last 10 national champions (Big East and SEC each have two while the Big 12 has one) and 8 of the last 20 titleists (SEC-5, Big East-2, Pac Ten-2 with one each for the Big 10 and 12). Despite watering down its product by bringing in football schools with little to offer on the court, the ACC shines again in March-- even though it's beginning to resemble Big Ten football from the 70's... with UNC and Duke in the upper tax bracket.
Shining Moment lacks polish-- Okay, so I sat through the Duke celebration (and Jim Nantz's "Duke is king!" pun-call) only to get a Syracuse-less "One Shining Moment". But the real disappointment was hearing not Luther Vandross but Jennifer Hudson. Hello? OSM is Luther's song... and if you're not going to play his version because he's deceased-- retire the song/his shining moment. Suggestion? "Win! In the End!" from Teenwolf.
Coaching Carousel-- the ACC didn't slow down once the offseason began; Oliver Purnell leaves Clemson for DePaul. While Purnell rebuilt the Tigers, they remained in the waiting room as opposed to breaking into the throne room. February fades and going bellyup in the NCAA's were as common as year by year improvement of the program as a whole. I'm surprised he left for a wasteland that is the Blue Demon program-- DePaul has poor facilities and is in a league it doesn't belong in... perhaps he can get them back into Conference USA (taking Marquette with them). Meanwhile, Dino Gaudio gets the axe at Wake Forest after winnign 61 games over three seasons... the kicker being the Demon Deacons were 1-5 in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Gaudio took over on an interim basis after the offseason passing of Skip Prosser in 2007... and it will be interesting to see who Wake chooses to guide their program from here...Butler's Brad Stevens? Since Dave Odom righted the Demon Deacons in the early 90's, it's been a good program. Boston College wraps up the trio of moves by hiring Steve Donahue away from Cornell after the Big Red reached the Sweet Sixteen. He should be able to fit in well and recruit the Northeast... as the Eagles continue to operate as the isolated outpost of the ACC-- part of me wishes they still called the Big East home.
Changing of the guard at quarterback-- Donovan McNabb met with the media Tuesday... telling everyone he's excited to be coming to DC and that he looks forward to working with Mike Shanahan and how he feels 22 instead of 33. Still to be determined-- who the Skins pick at #4... what happens to Jason Campbell and if they deal him or he signs elsewhere the draft choices they'll get (with only four picks now, extra selections would be huge)... and if they'll move any other pieces (aka Albert Haynesworth, Chris Cooley, Laron Landry) for picks.
The Nationals began 2010 pretty much the same way they began last year; an 11-1 loss to Philadelphia underscored porous pitching...ineffective offense and a ballpark dominated by visiting fans. At least the sausage machine gun wasn't operating.
Tiger Woods tees off Thursday as the Masters restricted media and patron access gives him some cover in his return to the tour. How will golf's best player respond to being on the shelf since November? How quickly can he shake the rust? And how much will his game be affected by the absence of his old lifestyle? The aging second tier triumvirate of Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh has been on the precipice of a magical fourth major (only 25 have won four while 43 have won three majors) since 2006... one would think the trio would have a handful of major runs remaining in their respective careers.
Did Chitwood need a re-shoot? Those shots from Butler went in, right? Damn! Cinderella came oh so close to forcing a Hoosiers II-- this time it's Collegial... Gordon Hayward's miss kept the Bulldogs at bay-- and delivered a fourth national title in 20 years to Coach K and the Blue Devils. Hate them you may. Believe in conspiracies delivering an easy bracket to their feet if you must. Dislike their fan base, please. (a Maryland fan compared the Blue Devil and Tar Heel faithful by saying Dukies were obnoxious and in your face about how much better they were while UNCers were more assumed of their superiority-- like it was pre-ordained). But let the record show that Coach K graduates kids, runs a clean program and dominates the landscape.
Conference Call-- I grew up a Big East guy... and root for that league except in extreme situations (and even then I hoped for a mono outbreak at Duke-Georgetown). Just as I praise the Blue Devils, let me laud their league. The ACC has 5 of the last 10 national champions (Big East and SEC each have two while the Big 12 has one) and 8 of the last 20 titleists (SEC-5, Big East-2, Pac Ten-2 with one each for the Big 10 and 12). Despite watering down its product by bringing in football schools with little to offer on the court, the ACC shines again in March-- even though it's beginning to resemble Big Ten football from the 70's... with UNC and Duke in the upper tax bracket.
Shining Moment lacks polish-- Okay, so I sat through the Duke celebration (and Jim Nantz's "Duke is king!" pun-call) only to get a Syracuse-less "One Shining Moment". But the real disappointment was hearing not Luther Vandross but Jennifer Hudson. Hello? OSM is Luther's song... and if you're not going to play his version because he's deceased-- retire the song/his shining moment. Suggestion? "Win! In the End!" from Teenwolf.
Coaching Carousel-- the ACC didn't slow down once the offseason began; Oliver Purnell leaves Clemson for DePaul. While Purnell rebuilt the Tigers, they remained in the waiting room as opposed to breaking into the throne room. February fades and going bellyup in the NCAA's were as common as year by year improvement of the program as a whole. I'm surprised he left for a wasteland that is the Blue Demon program-- DePaul has poor facilities and is in a league it doesn't belong in... perhaps he can get them back into Conference USA (taking Marquette with them). Meanwhile, Dino Gaudio gets the axe at Wake Forest after winnign 61 games over three seasons... the kicker being the Demon Deacons were 1-5 in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. Gaudio took over on an interim basis after the offseason passing of Skip Prosser in 2007... and it will be interesting to see who Wake chooses to guide their program from here...Butler's Brad Stevens? Since Dave Odom righted the Demon Deacons in the early 90's, it's been a good program. Boston College wraps up the trio of moves by hiring Steve Donahue away from Cornell after the Big Red reached the Sweet Sixteen. He should be able to fit in well and recruit the Northeast... as the Eagles continue to operate as the isolated outpost of the ACC-- part of me wishes they still called the Big East home.
Changing of the guard at quarterback-- Donovan McNabb met with the media Tuesday... telling everyone he's excited to be coming to DC and that he looks forward to working with Mike Shanahan and how he feels 22 instead of 33. Still to be determined-- who the Skins pick at #4... what happens to Jason Campbell and if they deal him or he signs elsewhere the draft choices they'll get (with only four picks now, extra selections would be huge)... and if they'll move any other pieces (aka Albert Haynesworth, Chris Cooley, Laron Landry) for picks.
The Nationals began 2010 pretty much the same way they began last year; an 11-1 loss to Philadelphia underscored porous pitching...ineffective offense and a ballpark dominated by visiting fans. At least the sausage machine gun wasn't operating.
Tiger Woods tees off Thursday as the Masters restricted media and patron access gives him some cover in his return to the tour. How will golf's best player respond to being on the shelf since November? How quickly can he shake the rust? And how much will his game be affected by the absence of his old lifestyle? The aging second tier triumvirate of Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh has been on the precipice of a magical fourth major (only 25 have won four while 43 have won three majors) since 2006... one would think the trio would have a handful of major runs remaining in their respective careers.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Whirlwind inside the Sports Vortex...
Seriously, could anything else be happening today? One season begins while another ends... a franchise quarterback drives down I-95 and and Tiger makes the world pause.
It takes a pretty big story to bump everything to the back burner-- and the Redskins as they always do find a way to steal the spotlight, thunder and just about every other metaphor available. Donovan McNabb for a a second round pick in this year's draft and a condition 2011 selection gives the world notice that this is not a rebuilding process-- to quote Bruce Allen's Hall of Fame father, the future is now. Speaking of regime perception, if Cerrato/Zorn had pulled this move they probably would have been roasted...right? Does this mean the Skins go project quarterback with teh fourth overall selection or go offensive line? O-Line has been an eyesore the last few seasons-- and a disaster last fall. The help the Skins get with their diminishing draft picks (first, fourth, fifth and seventh rounders) will be rather important; McNabb is at his best when he isn't picking clumps of dirt out of his facemask.
Opening Day Items-- nice touch by President Obama in wearing a Chicago White Sox cap with his Nationals jacket... we'll forgive the cross-teaming this once. I'd rather see that though than former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani telling Massachusetts residents he rooted for the Red Sox because he was an "AL East guy" or Hillary Clinton tossing the Cubs for the Pinstripes upon her move to the Empire State.
Fingers are crossed as the Nationals are trying to appear all grown up after consecutive triple digit defeat seasons. Can the pitching staff provide quality innings from the starters and will the relievers refrain from last year's flammability? Will Josh Willingham and Nyjer Morgan be more than one-year wonders? And who plays right field now that the Elijah Dukes experiment is over? Regardless of what happens, it can't be worse than last year.
One shining moment-- Duke battles Butler for college basketball's national championship... a hoops blue-blood if there ever was against an upstart Cinderella. It's tough to imagine Duke being denied, although the Bulldogs have defended as well as anyone this tournament... forcing turnovers and bad shots in each round. Thing is, Duke has three scorers and four plow horses who can get the Bulldogs in foul trouble early and often. I'm not a fan of the raised court-- after playing with basically the same court setup all year teams play the biggest games of the season on that raft?
Tiger talks-- Masters week began with the bang that is the Tiger Woods press conference... as the public rehabilitation continues while he bares his soul-- or at least what he wants the public to see of what he claims is his soul. Augusta National is the perfect media buffer place for Woods to resume his hall of fame career-- and eventually he'll be back to the old angry, controlling focused champion. Missed that guy.
It takes a pretty big story to bump everything to the back burner-- and the Redskins as they always do find a way to steal the spotlight, thunder and just about every other metaphor available. Donovan McNabb for a a second round pick in this year's draft and a condition 2011 selection gives the world notice that this is not a rebuilding process-- to quote Bruce Allen's Hall of Fame father, the future is now. Speaking of regime perception, if Cerrato/Zorn had pulled this move they probably would have been roasted...right? Does this mean the Skins go project quarterback with teh fourth overall selection or go offensive line? O-Line has been an eyesore the last few seasons-- and a disaster last fall. The help the Skins get with their diminishing draft picks (first, fourth, fifth and seventh rounders) will be rather important; McNabb is at his best when he isn't picking clumps of dirt out of his facemask.
Opening Day Items-- nice touch by President Obama in wearing a Chicago White Sox cap with his Nationals jacket... we'll forgive the cross-teaming this once. I'd rather see that though than former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani telling Massachusetts residents he rooted for the Red Sox because he was an "AL East guy" or Hillary Clinton tossing the Cubs for the Pinstripes upon her move to the Empire State.
Fingers are crossed as the Nationals are trying to appear all grown up after consecutive triple digit defeat seasons. Can the pitching staff provide quality innings from the starters and will the relievers refrain from last year's flammability? Will Josh Willingham and Nyjer Morgan be more than one-year wonders? And who plays right field now that the Elijah Dukes experiment is over? Regardless of what happens, it can't be worse than last year.
One shining moment-- Duke battles Butler for college basketball's national championship... a hoops blue-blood if there ever was against an upstart Cinderella. It's tough to imagine Duke being denied, although the Bulldogs have defended as well as anyone this tournament... forcing turnovers and bad shots in each round. Thing is, Duke has three scorers and four plow horses who can get the Bulldogs in foul trouble early and often. I'm not a fan of the raised court-- after playing with basically the same court setup all year teams play the biggest games of the season on that raft?
Tiger talks-- Masters week began with the bang that is the Tiger Woods press conference... as the public rehabilitation continues while he bares his soul-- or at least what he wants the public to see of what he claims is his soul. Augusta National is the perfect media buffer place for Woods to resume his hall of fame career-- and eventually he'll be back to the old angry, controlling focused champion. Missed that guy.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Hoosiers rest of the story...
Despite the fact that all beltway basketball is in hibernation, we continue to exhaust all things college hoops until "One Shining Moment" is played.
Quite a bit has been made of Butler being in the Final Four-- as the Bulldogs are within shouting distance of Lucas Oil Field Stadium Arena Court. And the fact that they do represent a small conference (quick, name somebody else from the Horizon League) gives the Final Four a little bit of a Hoosiers charm to it.
The real Hoosiers was a tiny town called Milan (as everyone will hear about this week) and Bobby Plump (as everyone will see this week) was the real-life Jimmy Chitwood. Marvin Wood looked nothing like Gene Hackman (Wood was 26 during the title run) and Barbara Hershey was nowhere to be found-- plus Dennis Hopper's doppleganger didn't exist.
What makes the story of Hoosiers even more powerful is what happened to the kids who played for Milan and attended the high school. Plump's backcourt mate Ray Craft (actually the leading scorer in the title game) went on to become Assistant Commissioner in the IHSAA--roughly the equivalent of Ralph Macchio becoming Assistant Commish of the All-Valley thing--and I had the chance to chat with him over a decade ago at the State Finals (then at the RCA Dome) and asked him what the biggest impact of that game was. I was expecting him to talk about the Indians' two-guard offense or the small-school charm, but Craft replied that Milan's championship run resulted in an education for him at Butler (along with Plump he went on to the then College Division school)-- and unlike previous classes, more of his classmates went on to college as well. Milan's miracle led the rest of the student body to believe in miracles of their own-- and instead of staying on the farm or going off to factory jobs, they pushed their dreams on a different court.
That's why I love sports.
Quite a bit has been made of Butler being in the Final Four-- as the Bulldogs are within shouting distance of Lucas Oil Field Stadium Arena Court. And the fact that they do represent a small conference (quick, name somebody else from the Horizon League) gives the Final Four a little bit of a Hoosiers charm to it.
The real Hoosiers was a tiny town called Milan (as everyone will hear about this week) and Bobby Plump (as everyone will see this week) was the real-life Jimmy Chitwood. Marvin Wood looked nothing like Gene Hackman (Wood was 26 during the title run) and Barbara Hershey was nowhere to be found-- plus Dennis Hopper's doppleganger didn't exist.
What makes the story of Hoosiers even more powerful is what happened to the kids who played for Milan and attended the high school. Plump's backcourt mate Ray Craft (actually the leading scorer in the title game) went on to become Assistant Commissioner in the IHSAA--roughly the equivalent of Ralph Macchio becoming Assistant Commish of the All-Valley thing--and I had the chance to chat with him over a decade ago at the State Finals (then at the RCA Dome) and asked him what the biggest impact of that game was. I was expecting him to talk about the Indians' two-guard offense or the small-school charm, but Craft replied that Milan's championship run resulted in an education for him at Butler (along with Plump he went on to the then College Division school)-- and unlike previous classes, more of his classmates went on to college as well. Milan's miracle led the rest of the student body to believe in miracles of their own-- and instead of staying on the farm or going off to factory jobs, they pushed their dreams on a different court.
That's why I love sports.
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