The most wonderful time of the year

Don’t get me wrong. I have forgotten more about pro hockey and baseball than I know about college basketball.

But I do have a growing affection for the most hectic sports month of the year: March. You can’t beat the Cinderella dreams, Selection Sunday, mammoth upsets, overtime classics and of course, the brackets.

Besides, what other time can you turn on the TV at practically any given hour and see a decent hoops game?

Anyway, what a day for Big 12 basketball. Baylor beating Kansas, OSU coming out on top in a crazy Bedlam finish… long day.

Add in the high school basketball state tournaments, a.k.a. gold trophy weekend, and you have a looong week. Really, it’s a long month until all the local teams have been bounced.

I really think that, barring major injuries, OSU could be a Sweet 16 team this year. I wouldn’t have dared think that two months ago, but the surprising Cowboys seem to have really jelled. Marshall Moses gets the title of “luckiest man alive” (he supplants the man who survived jumping into Niagara Falls on Wednesday).

I know he was frustrated over his fifth foul, but there’s no excuse for the naughty language that got him T’d up. OU made 1 of 2 of its free throws on the technical and 1 of 2 on the foul, tying the game at 64-64. Considering the final margin was 71-70, he is very lucky his lack of discipline didn’t cost his team the win. John Wooden would not approve.

OU has further proven that it really is a one-man team. Shut down Blake Griffin, shut down the Sooners. Poor guard play plus 19 turnovers equaled the Bedlam that got away.

Analyzing the game is hard because it was a combination of OU throwing it away with a pesky OSU team using heart to overcome a superior foe. I think OU has been exposed, but I also think the Cowboys got lucky in that they caught the Sooners at just the right time.

All in all, it was definitely a classic Bedlam, no matter which side you are on.

Speaking of classics, how about Syracuse-UConn? Six overtimes?! 102 points scored AFTER regulation?! Those poor guys looked exhausted.

UConn took the loss, but the Huskies might have also gotten the better end of the deal. The Orange has to play West Virginia today with dead legs. UConn gets to rest until the tournament starts.

I hope Tulsa plays well against Alabama-Birmingham today. TU will be shorthanded, as Bishop Wheatley was suspended one game for a flagrant foul committed Thursday against Rice. But the Blazers went to overtime yesterday, which might have worn them down a bit.

The Golden Hurricane is rolling right now, but unless TU beats Memphis (or Houston) for the Conference USA title, it’s NIT City. As of 1 a.m. Friday, TU’s RPI had fallen to 63 on collegeRPI.com. Not good enough. A weak schedule really hurts them.

Well, I’m not sure what to make of OSU-Missouri (RPIs of 18 and 15, respectively). When they met earlier in the season, OSU nearly rallied back from a 19-point deficit, and would have too if not for a suspect foul call during a frenzy under the net in the waning seconds.

I know Missouri prides itself on being the “Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball,” but I think OSU is athletic enough to keep up. And the Cowboys have confidence after the big win Thursday. I just hope they aren’t already emotionally spent.

OSU is a tournament lock. I think it would be OK to lose tomorrow just to catch up on rest and heal up any nagging late-season injuries.

No matter what, it’ll be an action-packed weekend.

Or should I say month?

A question of sportsmanship and hypocrisy

Losing a game is never a good feeling. Especially when it’s by triple digits.

In a girls high school basketball game last week, The Covenant School slaughtered Dallas Academy, 100-0.

One hundred points to none.

According to a story in the Dallas Morning News, Covenant kept the heat on Dallas Academy into the fourth quarter and eased up once they hung a hundred on ‘em.

Covenant coach Micah Grimes later apologized. He has asked TAPPS to forfeit the win and told Dallas Academy he was sorry.

The apology seems to be nothing more than tacked-on sportsmanship. It is the coach’s responsibility to direct the game if it is getting out of hand. We all make mistakes and use poor judgment at times, but he should have pulled his starters and let the girls who never get to play see some minutes. Granted, the competition wasn’t great, but letting your starters rack up stats like that is not OK.

Speaking of competition, did I mention yet that Dallas Academy is made up of students with learning disabilities and hasn’t won a game in four seasons?

OK, so they’re not in wheelchairs or anything (to my knowledge). Dyslexia or ADD never stopped a lot of very successful people from making it big. But that doesn’t help Covenant’s situation.

Let me interject a random question here: Is there no “run-rule” or running clock in basketball? If you’re down by 50 at the half, why not just call it a game? If anyone can enlighten me, please do.

Anyway, the most important aspect of this mess is that this game was played between Christian schools. One acted like it, and one didn’t.

The Dallas Academy athletic director accepted Covenant’s apology and wished the girls the best. I cannot say for sure if he has forgiven the coach, but at least  he seems to have the right attitude.

I cannot say the same for Grimes. Maybe he should have brushed up on Covenant’s official Athletics Program goals, especially Nos. 1, 6 and 8.

1.To enable Covenant student/athletes, coaches, and spectators to glorify God and be witnesses for Jesus Christ.

6. To foster discernment and wisdom in the use of one’s God-given talents.

8. To build Christ-like character traits. …

No. 1 and 8 were obviously violated in the blowout, but the most egregious is No. 6.

Beating up on kids with learning disabilities 100-0 doesn’t qualify as “discernment and wisdom in the use of one’s God-given talents.” Hopefully Grimes has learned his lesson and will think WWJD before leading his team onto the floor again.

I saw on SportsCenter tonight that Mark Cuban has invited Dallas Academy to a Mavs game, which was a nice gesture.

I wonder if Clay Bennett will invite ASTEC Charter School of Oklahoma City to a Thunder game. ASTEC was defeated by Depew, also in girls basketball, on Thursday night. The score was 95-5. (Unofficially, by the way. That’s just how the score was called in to us.)

P.S. The top play on SportsCenter tonight was a sweet dunk by Oral Roberts’ Kevin Ford! Nice to see the local team get big-time exposure. (Even if all those yellow Mabee Center seats were also exposed.) I couldn’t find a link, but I found two other Ford dunks from this month, so apparently he does this all the time. It was still cool.

Forthcoming: A blog on sharing, part II. This time, much more local.