One Year Wasted

After watching another great performance by Utah Jazz power forward Al Jefferson last night, I was reminded of a ridiculous rule established by the National Basketball Association after the 2006 draft — the NBA age limit.

The rule says that a player must wait at least one year after his high school graduating class to enter into the NBA draft.

I can’t think of a more pointless rule.

Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Kevin Garnett have arguably been some of the most dominating players of the league since they were drafted and combined they have multiple NBA championships and Most Valuable Player awards.

But besides being great players, what do Jefferson, Bryant, James and Garnett have in common?

They were each drafted out of high school.

And these are only four of the many current players that have come straight out of high school.

There have been 42 high school draftees in all, including dominate players like Tracy McGrady, Amar’e Stoudemire, Jermaine O’meal and Dwight Howard.

So why is it necessary for a player whose profession will be basketball to wait a year before they can work?

Let’s think hypothetically for a moment. If after graduation you were offered a multi-million dollar job with a company, would you take it or would you defer the job in order to go to college?

I know I would take the job.

So why should basketball players face special restrictions?

When somebody asks you who the best player in the NBA is right now, who would you choose? Most knowledgable sports fans would choose either Bryant or James.

High school draftees have produced some of the best talent of the NBA, so why change what has worked so well in the past?

Not only does the rule delay a player from working, it hurts the school that they are attending.

The player is a waste of the college’s time and money.

“Now you can have a kid come to school for a year and play basketball and he doesn’t even have to go to class,” said legendary coach Bobby Knight in 2007. “He would not have to attend a single class the second semester to play through the whole second semester of basketball.”

This is a waste of scholarship money that could be going to others who are in school for the right reasons.

“I wouldn’t want to babysit a kid who is taking 12 credits of pottery and dance classes,” Robert Bartlett said, a former professor at Stanford University. “I’d rather that money go to a serious student who would be graduating.”

High School Girls Basketball: Logan vs Box Elder

After five lead changes and an array of clutch shots and defensive stops, the Logan Grizzlies came out on top 37-35 against the Box Elder Bees in the sophomore girls basketball matchup at Logan high school on Tuesday.

The Bees started the first quarter out strong with stellar play from freshman center Casey Quayle and great team defense, forcing the Grizzlies to shoot long range low percentage shots.

“I was getting open down low and scored some easy lay-ups, but I give credit to the guards for getting me the ball,” said Quayle.

Quayle finished the game with eight points and 10 rebounds.

But by the second quarter, Logan slowed down the Bees’ dominating post play and played more aggressively with a full court press.

But Bees guard Sadie Blacker played aggressively as well.

Blacker had multiple steals, including one that came with 10 seconds to go in the first half that gave the Bees a 17-15 lead.

“Their guards had some lazy passes that were easy to pick off,” Blacker said.

Blacker had seven points and five steals by the end of the game.

Box Elder came out strong in the second half but by the end of the third quarter, the Grizzlies seemed to have figured out the Bees offense and started forcing turnovers which led to a five point lead at the end of the third quarter.

“At half time our coach told us to put more pressure on their guards when they were bringing it down the court,” said Logan sophomore guard Tanika Lopez. “When we put pressure on their guards they were forced to make bad passes and that made it easy for us to steal the ball and get fast breaks.”

But after two baskets from beyond the arch by Box Elder, the Bees again led the game by three with only four minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

After a Logan timeout and three possessions later, the Grizzlies led by two with a little over two minutes to play in the game.

Despite Box Elder’s efforts, Logan held the Bees scoreless in the final two minutes of play, sealing their victory.

“It was really frustrating,” said Box Elder coach Patrick Parker. “The girls played hard and we had some open looks at the end but our shots just didn’t fall.”

Too Much Tebow For Me

Since November of the National League Football season, Tebow mania has been everywhere.

“Tebowing,” a term used when kneeling on one knee imitating Tim Tebow’s pre-game and sideline prayers has become a popular fad, Tebow jerseys are sold out everywhere and every time I turned on ESPN in recent weeks, all I heard was talks of Tebow mania.

“I’ve been sold out of Tebow jerseys since christmas,” Eric Mackay, manager of Fanzz in Logan said. “I just can’t keep any stocked because they sell as soon as they get here. We easily sell more Tebow apparel than any other player of any other sport, and it’s the same for most of the country.”

Though Tebow mania still lingers in America, Tebow’s mania was stopped on the field when they lost 10-45 to the New England Patriots in the playoffs.

Finally.

Tebow mania was totally blown out of proportion. He got way too much praise and way too much Tebow time on ESPN and other news stations and I am disappointed in fans for jumping on the bandwagon.

The Denver Broncos had an average record of 8-8 with a few exciting games that were won in the fourth quarter.

Lucky wins.

Tebow consistently had terrible games completing less than 50 percent of his passes and ended the season second to last in the NFL for passing yards per game.

Yes, he did make big plays at the end of games to win, but these teams were average teams and many of them did not make the playoffs.

And when it came time to play against great teams during the season and playoffs like the Patriots, they lost bad. Twice.

And thank heavens they lost, or should I say hell.

Four out of every 10 people in America believe that Tebow’s success was given by divine intervention according to a survey discussed on ESPN.

Come on people, really?

“He wins games and gets it done,” Dave Pyle, a Broncos fan said. “I know it’s ugly sometimes but he comes through for us in the fourth quarter.”

Unfortunately for Tebow fans, this season will be as good as it gets for a long time.

The Broncos will not make it to the playoffs next year and will finish at the bottom of the American Football Conference West Division.

Here is why.

Legendary quarterback and vice president of football operations for the Broncos John Elway, doesn’t like him. Even after making the playoffs, Elway said that Tebow would only be the starting quarterback going into training camp and throughout the season Elway has constantly expressed the need of a long-term quarterback saying that Tebow is just a filler.

AFC West teams like the Raiders and Chargers will rebound from last years troubles mainly due to injuries and be very hard teams for the Broncos to beat.

Although Tebow was humble, tough and hard working, these qualities alone just don’t cut it in the NFL. Tebow is a terrible passer. He had the worst completion percentage in the league and in a league where the teams with dominate quarterbacks who put up big numbers were the most successful, Tebow just wont be able to keep up.

Sorry Tebow fans, but the mania is over.

Basketball Blues

The Utah State Aggies are halfway through their basketball season with a measly 10-9 record, leaving fans questioning if they will make the National Invitation Tournament or even be a contender in the Western Athletic Conference this year.

What is happening to the former four-time reigning conference champions?

Some say it started with a season ending injury to veteran forward Brady Jardine.

After just three games into the season, Jardine suffered from torn ligaments in his foot while playing Southern Utah University.

“Brady was the toughest guy on the team,” Joe Wesley, a USU fan said. “I think the Aggies definitely miss him and are worse without him.”

Other fans argue it’s the other WAC teams that are getting better.

Teams like Nevada (15-3) and New Mexico State (14-5) have taken over the WAC this year. Both teams are undefeated in the WAC and beat USU by a combined score of 158-131.

Losing six seniors last year did not help the Aggies either.

Last years senior class was the winningest senior class in USU history with a combined record of 108-27 over four seasons.

Although the Aggies lost six seniors from last years team, they still have plenty of talented young players.

But their inexperience and simple mistakes have cost them throughout the season.

“They have no consistency,” Jeremy Rogers, a USU fan said. “They beat a team by 10 or 15 then a month later they lose bad to the same team. The only consistency they have is making stupid mistakes in the games they should win.”

In November, the Aggies beat a weak University of Seattle team 78-53, but lost to the Redhawks 73-66 on Thursday.

Whether it’s the lack of last years key players or the struggles of this young team, attendance at USU basketball games has dropped significantly since last season.

The average attendance has dropped by more than 1,000 people since last season according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

“I haven’t gone to as many games this season,” Megan Anderson, a USU student said. “It’s just not as fun when we’re losing.”

Church Ball: Joe's Team vs Dominators

Basketball season is underway at Utah State University. Players are lacing up their Nike shoes, stepping onto the court and hitting clutch shots in their battles for the championship.

But it’s not a Western Athletic Conference championship that these players are fighting for, it’s a church ball league championship.

Joe’s Team played the Dominators on Thursday in the first game of the USU church ball league hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The game was played at the LDS church on 950 N 1200 E in Logan.

Joe’s Team had a huge height disadvantage which translated into a easy 76-35 win for the Dominators.

“They were just too tall and out rebounded us the entire game,” 6’2’’ center Michael Kennedy said. “That guy had at least 10 or so inches on me.”

The Dominators came out strong with a 13-0 run, but after a few minutes, Joe’s Team adjusted to the defense and cut the lead scoring a few baskets of their own.

But hopes of a come-back before half time was dashed after Joe’s Team starting point guard Andrew Flink went down with a possible ankle sprain and did not return until the start of the second half.

Not only did Joe’s Team lose Flink, but Dominators shooting guard Trenton Harris caught fire hitting four three-pointers in the last five minutes of the half.

“I just had a lot of space and knocked down my shots,” said Harris. “Then after the second shot I felt hot so I took two more and knocked them down also.”

Harris ended his night 8-9 from beyond the arc and was the high scorer for the Dominators.

Changes to stop Dominators center Chris Allen were made by Joe’s Team after half time by switching to man-to-man defense.

Though Joe’s Team slowed down Allen, they could not stop Harris, and 10 minutes into the half the scoreboard read 24-58.

“They just couldn’t miss and we couldn’t work it inside with their big men guarding down low,” Flink said. “He swatted me like twice and after that I wasn’t too keen on driving on him again haha.”

The final buzzer rang and a defeated Joe’s Team walk off the court.

“I blame it on the refs,” said Kennedy. “OK no, we just sucked tonight.”

Joe’s Team will look for their first win when they play the Lunatics next Thursday.

My Column: Celebrating Mediocracy

After going 7-6 and a bowl appearance, the Utah State Aggies along with fans are calling their football season a success.

“I feel like we gained a lot of confidence by the end of the season and compared to the last few seasons, I would call this season a great building block for next year,” running back Kerwynn Williams said.

“It’s too bad that we lost the bowl game but we had a great season,” Mitch Staley, an Aggies fan said.

Yes, the Aggies had their best season since I can remember and went to a bowl game for the first time in 14 years, but outside of Logan, the Aggies are just a mediocre football team who barely won over half of their games and lost in a not-so-famous Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

Sorry fans, but the Aggies will be back to their usual sub-par self by next season.

Here’s why.

The Aggies are losing a plethora of great talent.

Two of their best running backs are not returning. Robert Turbin announced that he will be entering the NFL draft last week and Michael Smith is graduating.

The Aggies’ running game was their greatest strength during the season. Turbin and Smith combined for 28 touchdowns on season and helped the Aggies finish the year ranked sixth in the nation in rushing yards per game according to ESPN.

I just don’t see returning running back Williams putting up those kinds of numbers, and without a dominating running attack, I also don’t see the Aggies winning many games.

On the defensive side of the ball, USU will be losing linebacker Bobby Wagner, who was the Western Athletic Conference defensive player of the year and core of the Aggies defense.

Next season the defensive line will still be tough, but the returning cornerbacks are small and will be overpowered by bigger and faster receivers.

Other guys saying their goodbyes are top Aggie receiver Matt Austin and Offensive Coordinator Dave Baldwin, who accepted a job at Colorado State.

USU’s 2012 schedule features tough teams like Wisconsin, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Louisiana Tech and Nevada.

With that said, I predict the Aggies will finish fifth in the WAC with a record of 4-9.

Enjoy your record-breaking season USU fans, because it’s going to take a few more seasons and some really good recruiting to get back to another bowl game, and a lot of luck to win one.

Aggies Off To A Slow Start

With a record of 4-4, the Utah State Aggie basketball team already has as many losses as last season’s 30-4 team and fans are wondering what is wrong.

The Aggies have arguably been a powerhouse in Division I basketball with a streak of 12 straight 20-win seasons. USU has also won the Western Athletic Conference Championship four times in the last four seasons.

But the Aggies have not looked like a 20-win basketball team this season.

The Aggies have lost to non-ranked average teams like Texas A&M Corpus Christi 55-58, Pacific 57-65 and Denver 54-67.

So what is happening this season?

“Their biggest struggle this year as been their inexperience,” Jesse Parker, equipment manager for the Aggies said. “They are a young team and they just need to get used to playing with each other.”

Parker is right.

Senior guard Brokeith Pane is the only returning starter this season. It is the fewest returning starters since the 2001-02 season. Senior forwards Brady Jardine and Morgan Grim are the other returning senior players off the bench.

Another problem facing the Aggies is Brady Jardine’s possible season ending ankle injury that he sustained in the game against Southern Utah University.

Jardine is arguably the Aggies best player. Last season he was a key player coming off the bench. Jardine averaged 7.5 points and 21.4 minutes per game. He is a physical player and is ranked sixth all-time in blocks.

“It’s been hard playing without him,” Pane said. “We miss him out there, he was a big part of what we were doing coming in to this year. Not having him has hurt me a lot but injuries are something that comes along with playing ball so we have to move forward.”

Freshman guard Steven Thornton agrees.

“We took losing Brady very hard,” Thornton said. “We have lost a leader and our best post player.”

Other problems have been contentions between the USU student section and Campus President Stan Albrecht.

Students sat down and did not cheer for a portion of the USU-Denver game in protest of a controversial apology letter written by Albrecht for the way the student section acted after the Brigham Young University game Nov. 11.

USU lost the home game against Denver 67-54, which ended the third-longest home winning streak in the nation. It was the first home loss since Dec. 5, 2009.

“I know we have been hurting so far this season but I think the protest was necessary,” USU fan Steve Cannon said. “The basketball team needs us and we make the Spectrum such a hard place to play at for the other teams.”

The Aggies will need to find a way to overcome their problems by Saturday, when they face a very talented team, Wichita State.