USC and DePaul getting a jump on next-generation student-athletes

13-year-old David Sills. Photo from ESPN.com, courtesy of the Sills family.

New USC football coach Lane Kiffin made a scholarship offer to a 13-year-old quarterback. That would make the youngster part of the recruiting class of 2015. 2015! We will have had another Winter Olympics by then! And what are the odds Kiffin is still at USC in 2015? After all, the man's on his third job since 2007. On top of that, he was 4-12 with the Raiders and 7-6 at Tennessee, and now he takes over a USC program that's going downhill faster than Lindsey Vonn. Add in the fact that his coaching philosophy led him to give a scholarship to a kid who's never been to a Homecoming dance or had a final exam, and you figure David Sills may want to keep his college options open over the next half-decade.

Not to be outdone, DePaul's interim men's basketball coach Tracy Webster offered a scholarship to a 14-year-old who attends Rosemont Elementary School outside of Chicago. While the kid is an absurd 6-foot-7 1/2, both of these stories shed light on the lunacy of college sports.

Supposedly, Division I athletes are student-athletes who are first earning an education, and second playing a sport for that institution. But these scholarships have absolutely nothing to do with academics and nothing to do with the "recruits" finding a good college fit. These kids haven't earned one high school grade to date and to them, SAT is just the past tense of "sit." The coaches can't possibly have any idea what kind of people these boys will turn out to be, and the boys can't yet have any true idea whether USC and DePaul, respectively, will meet their needs academically and socially. But I suppose it's never too early to try to take advantage of a wide-eyed, precocious young athlete in the hopes that he will one day bring in the big bucks that enable Boards of Trustees to pay head coaches more than university presidents.

DePaul finally out of their deep hole

Marquette, what have you done??

You had a double-digit lead against a team that had lost 24 consecutive Big East games. You let most of that lead slip away, but still led by one with 8.4 seconds left, and had two free throws coming.

But you missed them both.

And then you allowed Mike Stovall to hit the game-winner with less than a second left. DePaul, a team that fired their coach less than two weeks ago and hadn't won a conference game since March 6, 2008, beat you! Wha' happened?

Marquette is in rebuilding mode, no doubt. But this is a team that beat Michigan by 14, lost to West Virginia on a last-second basket, lost to Villanova by just two points on two separate occasions, and beat Georgetown. So yes, they're rebuilding, but we're not talking about NBC's nighttime programming schedule here; they've got some solid pieces in place.

But they're now at 2-4 in the Big East, down there with Seton Hall, South Florida, Rutgers, and the rest of the Big East's least.

And how about the CCA? Oops, I mean ACC. The conference is so upside-down I mixed up the name. Granted, it's early, but you've got Virginia (3-0) and Maryland (2-1) leading the way, while North Carolina--ranked #6 in the nation preseason--is 1-3 after three straight losses, and Duke is just 3-2 after a loss to NC State.

In summary, it's time to get into college basketball. After all, the regular season is more than half over (it's true), just three NFL games remain, and spring training baseball is over a month away.

Taking a spin around the world of sports

A-Rod out 6-9 weeks after opting for hip surgery

This begs the question: What has been A-Rod's worst experience this offseason?

• Divorcing his wife after a reported romance with 50-year-old Madonna (this technically took place during the '08 season, but I'm counting it anyways)
  
• Getting tossed to the scrapheap by a 50-year-old
• Being labeled "A-Fraud" in Joe Torre's book
• Being linked to steroids by Sports Illustrated
• Having to admit to steroid use in a press conference
• Having surgery to repair torn right hip labrum

Ouch. A-Rod has had a worse winter than the Dow Jones. A marriage shattered, a love unrequited, a friendship torn asunder, a reputation shredded, a painful admission, and a serious medical procedure. "Are you sure it's my hip that needs to be repaired, Doc? Because it hurts right here (points to heart). It hurts ... (lip quivering) ... right here (single tear)."

No tears need to be shed when it comes to the Yankees chances, however. Going A-Rod-less for the first month or so may cost them a few games, but it seems like the Damn Yankees can do pretty much whatever they want in April and May and still flip a switch for the stretch run (they were 14-16 and 10-14 on May 1 the last two seasons). In fairness, they did miss the playoffs last year, which was totally sweet, but they won 89 games. And with a $209 million payroll, I wouldn't worry too much about their chances of competing this season.

T.O. released by Cowboys, signs with Bills

The 'Boys were no longer willing to throw the paper at Terrell Owens, but Buffalo was happy to throw some bills his way. For the first time in his career, Owens will play in the AFC.

Owens is a player with big-time talent and an even bigger ego (think: running to the star in the middle of Cowboys Stadium after scoring a touchdown with the 'Niners). If he could just shut his mouth every once in a while and be a team player, he wouldn't bounce around the league like a pinball.

Yes, he still gets the job done on the field, but there's no doubt his attitude has a negative impact on his teammates. Jerry Jones wants to win, and he wants to win bad. There's no way he releases a top five wide receiver from a team that hasn't won a playoff game since 1996 unless his 'tude is more toxic than a Britney Spears single.

How many rings does T.O. have (I'll give you a hint: it's equal to the number of games the Lions won last year)? Granted, that's partly due to Tony Romo's tendency to go into hibernation every winter, and also to the fact that the Eagles were run over by the Tom Brady Train in Super Bowl XXXIX.

But the fact is: chemistry matters in sports, and it REALLY matters in football. A QB has about four seconds to drop back, make his reads and decide whom to throw to. Having a little T.O. voice in the back of your head saying "Throw to me even if I'm not open or I'll chew you out on the sideline or in the media" doesn't help.

Owens is getting up there in age--he's 35 now. It's time for him to wisen up and stop bringing his teams down. He's got so much ability, and it's time for him to take full advantage of it. The Bills are counting on it, especially in an improved AFC East where they'll get no mercy from the Patriots and Dolphins.

Big East tournament tips off with two upsets

If Georgetown had any remaining hope of making the NCAA tournament, it was crushed today with a 64-59 loss to St. John's.

Selection committee: Who wants to be an NIT team?
Georgetown: I do! I do!

In other action, DePaul smacked Cincinnati in the head with a giant bag of "What the f*** just happened?" The Bearcats had some quality wins this year, beating Georgetown twice and taking down both Notre Dame and West Virginia. They were seeded 9th in the Big East tournament.

But even if they had been seeded 90th, they still should have beaten DePaul. Apparently the Blue Demons were just biding their time, going winless in conference play to assure themselves a 16 seed so they could sneak up all cat-like and take someone out before they knew what hit 'em.

DePaul will now take on Providence, which, along with being a college in Rhode Island, is also defined as "God, esp. when conceived as omnisciently directing the universe and the affairs of humankind with wise benevolence." If there is a God, s/he will surely end this charade here and now before DePaul gets any ideas about being a real basketball team. However, if this God has a sense of humor, s/he will surely direct DePaul to a Big East Conference tournament championship, because that would be hilarious. And it would be a downright knee-slapper to see DePaul take on an Oklahoma or North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Big East is a Beast, but DePaul is the Least

How ridiculous is the Big East? The conference seems to feature two or three can't-miss match-ups every week. Five of the nation's top ten teams reside in the Big East (Pitt, UConn, Louisville, Marquette, Villanova), and three others have been ranked this season (Notre Dame, Georgetown, Syracuse).

Some historical perspective from the New York Times:

"In 2006, the Big East set an NCAA tournament record by ushering eight teams into March Madness. In 2008, the conference tied its own mark with another eight-team showing. The latest edition of Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology at ESPN.com has seven Big East teams making the tournament this season. We could still have a record this year, though, as Georgetown, Cincinnati and Providence could also squeeze in."


Georgetown hurt their chances with a 76-58 loss to Louisville tonight, but could still sneak in by winning their final three games. The fact that an 8-10 team could potentially dance speaks volumes about the conference. Here's one way to look at it: The Big Ten, which is no slouch of a conference (and also has seven teams Marching to Madness according to Lunardi), has its 11 teams averaging 17.1 total wins this season. The top 13 teams in the Big East average 18.8 wins.

Here are some Big East games that have taken place in the last three weeks:

1 Connecticut vs. 7 Louisville
16 Villanova vs. 20 Syracuse
13 Villanova vs. 12 Marquette
1 Connecticut vs. 22 Syracuse
Notre Dame vs. 7 Louisville (ND ranked as high as 7 this year)
4 Pittsburgh vs. 1 Connecticut
11 Marquette vs. Georgetown (ranked as high as 9 this year)
14 Villanova vs. 25 Syracuse
6 Louisville vs. Georgetown

This Wednesday, (2) UConn will visit (10) Marquette, and then Marquette has to visit (6) Louisville this weekend.

The point: the Big East is a freakin' gauntlet this season. Teams like Connecticut and Pittsburgh (and Louisville, and Marquette, and Villanova ...) will be very well prepared for the madness coming next month, as they have faced top teams week in and week out since early January. It would not be surprising to see three or four Big East teams in the Elite Eight, and even two or three in the Final Four. Of course, anyone can get hot in March, but the Big East teams have the advantage of having faced the heat all season.

One last point: What the hell is DePaul doing in this conference? Other than losing, that is. The Blue Demons have to be feeling quite blue about their 0-14 conference record. But they don't just lose, they lose like only a team that is completely and utterly over matched in every conference game they play can lose: by an average of 17.6 points per game.

DePaul went from Conference USA to the Big East in 2005 when the Big East invited them, Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida to join their ranks in response to having lost three football teams. But DePaul doesn't even have a football team, and they apparently don't have a basketball team either. This invitation was clearly like when you're having a party and there's that guy at work who has no friends and is way too proud of his Star Trek Convention Trivia Championship and he always has just a little bit of drool on his chin but you have to invite him because he's going to find out about it anyways, but I'll tell him it's just a little get-together and it's no big deal if he can't make it and please God let him be busy that night. But no, DePaul's schedule was completely free that night and he can't wait to come and he'll bring his Star Trek: Insurrection DVD because it's the one where the crew discovers a cloaked Federation ship that contains a gigantic holodeck and it's going to be the greatest night ever and have you seen it yet? You haven't seen it? Do you think everyone else has seen it? I'll come over early and get it all set up.

So now DePaul gets the crap beaten out of it every year, having won a total of 20 conference games in their four years in the Big East. This year's fourth and fifth place teams (Louisville and Villanova) have combined for 22 wins THIS SEASON. With 16 teams, the Big East is more like the Huge East, and should think about downsizing.

But more importantly, it's also incredibly strong from top to middle, and it should be exciting to see how the teams fare come tournament time.