BIG THREE CHAMPIONSHIP: Game 3

Game 3 is a match up between the #3 ’86 Louisville Cardinals and the #6 ’93 Kentucky Wildcats. The ’86 Cardinals were National Champions under coach Denny Crum. They went 32-7 won the Metro Conference Regular Season Championship and the conference tournament. They were led by Seniors Billy Thompson and Milt Wagner along with sensational freshman Pervis Ellison. The ’93 Wildcats went 30-4 and was Rick Pitino’s first Final Four team at Kentucky . The Cats, led by juniors Jamal Mashburn and Travis Ford along with senior Dale Brown, were SEC Tournament Champions and advanced to the Final Four in New Orleans .

VOTING OVER!
PHILADELPHIA REGION - ROUND 1
# 6 '93 Kentucky: 70%
# 3 '86 Louisville: 30%
UPDATED BRACKET

BIG THREE CHAMPIONSHIP: Game 2

Game 2 features two teams from way back. It pits the #4 ’51 Kentucky Wildcats against the #5 ’40 Indiana Hoosiers. The ’51 Cats had a record of 32-3 and were SEC Champions. The team won UK ’s third National Championship in four years under Head Coach Adolph Rupp. The Cats were led by juniors Bill Spivey and Shelby Linville along with team captain Walt Hirsch. The ’40 Hoosiers won IU’s first National Championship under Head Coach Branch McCracken. The Hoosiers went 20-3 and were led by senior Marvin Huffman and junior Jay McCreary.

VOTING OVER!
PHILADELPHIA REGION - ROUND 1
# 4 '51 Kentucky: 60%
# 5 '40 Indiana: 40%
UPDATED BRACKET

BIG THREE CHAMPIONSHIP: Game 1

The first matchup of the tournament matches the #8 '59 Louisville Cardinals against the #1 '76 Indiana Hoosiers. The '59 Cardinals went 19-12 under coach Bernard Hickman. They were lead to the Final Four by captains Harold Andrews and Don Goldstein. The '76 Hoosiers were undefeated under coach Bob Knight and won the NCAA Championship. They were led by Scott May, Kent Benson, and Quinn Buckner.

VOTING OVER!
PHILADELPHIA REGION - ROUND 1
# 1 '76 Indiana: 85%
# 8 '59 Louisville: 15%

UPDATED BRACKET

ALL-TIME BIG THREE CHAMPIONSHIP

For the rest of the summer, we here at The Big EZ Show thought it would be fun to find out (via the listeners) who the best teams in the history of IU, UK, and U of L were. And this is, by far, the most fun way to do it. MAKE A BRACKET.

So start up that July office pool. This should be a lot of fun.

Now, don't hold us to the seeding. We admit, we didn't spend a whole lot of time on it. And yes, we know we left some teams out (I hate that the '04 UK team didn't make it, but they lost in the 2nd round). If there are any obvious errors, speak now, or just don't. All these teams made it to the Elite Eight or better (EXCEPTION: '54 UK team, who was undefeated but declined an NCAA bid).

We'll do one game a day for the rest of the summer, and you can vote online at http://www.bigezshow.com/. Stay tuned to The Big EZ Show for the start date. You can post in the comments section, or you can e-mail EZ at mailto:ez@1570thezone.com.

Back from Out of Town

Just wanted to get some thoughts off of my chest while I was thinking about them, as I am back in town and will be back in the driver's seat tomorrow on the Friday edition of the show.

1. I am just really saddended by the passing of Indiana University head football coach Terry Hoeppner. The rumblings began (at least the ones I heard) about a month or so ago that it wasn't looking great, but still, no one thought he'd be gone this soon. It's a shame. I hope the players and fans will appreciate what he did for the program by playing hard and attending and cheering at the games respectively.


2. The U of L-UK football game will be on television, I'm fairly certain of that. But it will be on some obscure network and if you don't have a ticket or you don't subscribe to all the "cool" sports networks, you'll probably have to go to a bar. My question: how much will this UP the value of the ticket for the game?


3. Sammy Sosa is a hall of famer, no question. So are Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, and others. There was a steriod era of baseball and other players used it that we don't know about it, some of which are already in the Hall of Fame. So, for about the tenth time I say, they're all IN!


4. Rosie O'Donnell is taking over for Bob Barker on The Price Is Right. Short term, I think it's a great idea. Long term, it'll be terrible, and Rosie won't last more than 18 months. You heard it here first.

It's good to be back. Talk to you guys tomorrow.

Someone at the Herald should be shot

I am sorry, but the Herald-Leader sports department just needs a quick little slap on the wrist. This is beginning to become comical.

I am big fans of the Herald. I read their stuff everyday. I am big fans of Mark Story and John Clay, Herald sports columnists. I think Clay's blog is one of the best on the web.

Both have been on my radio show before, and I am truly grateful, and I hope this blog post doesn't sway them from ever coming on my show again, because this has nothing to do with bashing their opinions or the content of their columns.

In fact, I think they should receive just a small portion of the criticism I am about to hand out.

Over the last three weeks, I have seen columns from both Story and Clay that have had really BAD errors in them. Am I nitpicking? Oh, maybe. But when I see two mistakes like these in a matter of weeks, I begin to think that the editor is out to lunch, smoking some crack, or maybe trying to hang Story and Clay out to dry.

What am I talking about? Well, on May 25, Mark Story had a different name for the Louisville Cardinals' wide reciever:

"GOOD NEWS is that Keenan Burton was tabbed as the 14th-best wide receiver in
the country (and, if he and Woodson stay healthy, that's way, way low).

BAD NEWS is that Louisville has two wide receivers ranked higher (Henry Douglas eighth and Mario Urrutia 11th) on the same list."

Come on Mark. It's Harry. It makes you look stupid, and I KNOW that you aren't. I hope you punched your editor in the face.

But then, just today (June 14) John Clay made a 20-question list, and missed a number on the list and listed another number twice.

The content of both of these articles was great. Two fine reads. But it makes you just sit back and think "uhhh, come on guys."

But the blame should be put mostly on the editor who should FREAKIN proofread! It's one thing if you misspell on a blog, or screw up numerous times on a radio show (that's me). It's entirely another when you have time to write a well-thought-out column, proofread it, proofread it again, give it to an editor for him to proofread, proofread, and proofread again, and then get this.

These errors are not good for the reputation of their sports section, one of which I am still a fan of. Just be careful boys. Proofread your work, because no one else there is.

Is Pitino an NBA candidate?

Now, please... don't just go to the next webpage without reading me out here.

First off, there is one HUGE reason why you should think that Pitino IS a candidate for the NBA. And it's the only reason you need to know:
BECAUSE HE'S TELLING US HE'S NOT A CANDIDATE.

Rick is one of the best coaches to have ever coached the game. I truly believe that. So why wouldn't an NBA team call on him when a job is open? I am truly praying that he remains the head coach at the University of Louisville. I think he belongs here and I think he's got this program heading to heights we haven't seen since the 80's.

But, if you know Rick, you know that it would be wrong of us to take every word he said and believed it as if it were the holy word.

And there's at least one writer in Orlando that thinks Ricky P may still be the way to go.

Now, obviously, the chances are the Cardinal coach won't go anywhere. But, lets just say I'm keeping my eyes open. I'm not getting fooled again!

STAY RICKY P!

Thoughts on a Monday

While I'm thinking about it...

(1) Doesn't the whole Billy Donovan thing just make you laugh? Donovan deciding to reneg on his contract with the Magic. What the hell? Did you not think it through before? And what happened with him this weekend? What changed? I'm very pumped for the next Donovan presser. What will he say?

(2) The Sports Mob has Billy Gillispie today. That should be interesting. My top question for Billy: Do we really have to call you Billy Clyde? Or can we all be grown up and not sound like we're from Hicktown, USA and just call you Coach Gillispie?

(3) We're starting to put a whole lot more video on here. And in the spirit of that, how about on of the coolest experiences of my life... the Colts winning the Super Bowl! I was at the Hooters in Downtown Indy watching it with tons of crazy Colts fans! Here was the scene as time ran out on the victory!