st Page 2478 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Central Connecticut State Blue Devils
1. The Past. Central Connecticut State University, founded in 1849 as the New Britain Normal School, is the oldest public institution of higher education in Connecticut. "Famous" CCSU alumni in the world of sports include the good (Patriots salary-cap wiz Scott Pioli), the bad (deposed NFL head coac...
Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders
1. The house that Arrow built. TAMUCC has only been part of the Texas A&M system since 1989. In 1998, they hired South Alabama coach Ronnie Arrow to create a Division-I basketball program out of thin air. He did just that, cobbling together a pair of respectable .500 seasons before earning Independe...
Wright State Raiders
1. Go Vikings...err...Coyotes...err...Raiders? Since this is only Wright State's second trip to the Big Dance, not many people know much about the school. Despite what Wright State's logo entails, their mascot is the Raider. It is not coyotes or even their circa 1993 mascot, a viking....
Long Beach State 49ers
1. Nixon's The One. NCAA opponents would be wise not to overlook the 49ers in general and senior forward Aaron "Mr. Big Shot" Nixon in particular. After a 74-49 loss to Temple on December 2, Long Beach State has won 22 straight, winning the Big West championship, where Nixon was named Tournament MVP...
New Mexico State Aggies
1. Their Coach Is Not In A Wheelchair. After years of coaching at Illinois, coach Lou Henson retired after the 1995-96 season, to much fanfare. (He even shook hands with Bobby Knight, the big bully.) But he ended up taking only one year off before returning to New Mexico State, where he had taken th...
Memphis Tigers
Memo to all television announcers and sportswriters: Now that we're back around to tourney time, and the Memphis Tigers are a good bet for a high seed, it's highly likely at some point over the next month that you'll find yourself writing or talking about Memphis. You will be tempted to make all kin...
Jackson State Tigers
1. Sweetness. Jackson's State's most famous graduate is, of course, the great Walter Payton. It is a little known fact that his brother, Eddie Payton, is the head golf coach of the Tigers and has built them into a powerhouse in the golf crazy SWAC....
Washington State Cougars
1. Worst to, well, second. Without question, Washington State was the single most surprising team in a BCS conference this year. Coming off a last-place finish last season, and with Tony Bennett taking over as a first-time head coach from his father, Dick Bennett, the media picked Washington State a...
Stanford Cardinal
1. Dynamic Duo. In everyday life, seven-foot Stanford twins Brook and Robin Lopez are mild-mannered freshmen on the Cardinal's basketball team (some say a bit too mild mannered). But while not hiding behind their secret identities, they enjoy writing and drawing homemade comic books. "They draw thei...
Eastern Kentucky Colonels
1. Robert E. Lee's spirit is on their side. Eastern Kentucky University is located in Richmond, Kentucky, site of the Civil War Battle of Richmond. The Battle of Richmond holds the distinction of being the most decisive victory of the war by the Confederate Army over the Union's forces, with the Uni...
Boston College Eagles
1. Our coach scared "the crap" out of Pitino. Forget the sophomoric jabs against coach Al Skinner. Sure Skinner and 1987 Kentucky Derby winner Alysheba have never been seen in the same place at the same time, and, all right, Skinner has an inexplicable mock turtleneck fetish, but so what? Skinner's ...
Texas Tech Red Raiders
1. Nic Cage Likes Them Out of the East. The "Masked Rider" mascot of Texas Tech began unofficially in 1936 as "The Ghost Rider," as unknown groups of students would circle the field on horses at home football games, then depart the stadium. At the 1954 Gator Bowl, The Masked Rider became the officia...
Michigan State Spartans
1. Drew Me Baby One More Time. Use both hands, please If you can overlook the disturbing visual similarities between Drew Neitzel and Britney Spears (she just wanted to look like him). There's a lot to appreciate about the Spartans leader. When he was 12, Drew won the national 2-ball championshipm w...
Greg Ostertag Plays Ping Pong Exactly Like You'd Expect Greg Ostertag To Play Ping Pong
What a thrill that must have been for this young man ... to launch ping pong balls in the direction of Greg Ostertag while he stands there expressionless and forces himself to occasionally move his arms just a tiny little bit. Lucky guy got to experience the same thing experienced by every opposing ...
You Know Who'd Make A Great Terrorist? This Guy
The New York Times was slightly bemused by the fact that a large bearded man with a gun was able to walk into Madison Square Garden this week with no security hassle. The Mountaineer, WVU's mascot, cruised into Madison Square Garden with his .45-caliber rifle, no questions asked....
Who Would YOU Trust To Get The Right Supplements In Your Body?
In life, I guess it's best to stick with what you know, which is how a guy like OJ Simpson ends up trying to sell books about how to kill people. Along those same lines, it makes all the sense in the world that Bill Romanowski, former linebacker and admitted steroid abuser, is launching a "supplemen...
Rasheed Wallace Cannot Be Made To Care
After you pick up 16 technical fouls in one NBA season, each technical foul thereafter earns you a one-game suspension. You'll never guess who became the first player to be suspended via that rule ... oh, hell, I'll just tell you. 'Twas Rasheed Wallace....
The New Buzzsaw Regime Supports Local Business
Richie Anderson, former NFL running back and recently hired as wide receivers coach of the Arizona Cardinals, was finding it difficult to make friends in his new community....
About Last Night...
• College Basketball: Pitt 65, Louisville 59. Louisville has blown huge leads on two straight nights. Keep that in mind, tiny conference team that plays Louisville in the first round of the tournament. • NBA: 76ers 108, Lakers 92. Another game, another white man hit by a Kobe elbow. I guess someone ...
Cultural Oddsmaker: What Comes After Shaq Fat Camp?
AJ Daulerio's Cultural Oddsmaker runs every Friday. Email him to let him know what you think....