A week later, after reading many other articles about what's been going on in Afghanistan that either just beat around the bush or which -surprise- made excuses for President Obama, this essay still resonates for a reason:
National Review Online
Why Apologize to Afghanistan?
By Andrew C. McCarthy
February 25, 2012 4:00 A.M.
We have officially lost our minds.
The New York
A week later, this essay still resonates: Andrew C. McCarthy in NRO: Why Apologize to Afghanistan?
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Hardwood season over
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| Justin Wright puts up a shot for Troy/Sun Belt photo |
The third time wasn't a charm for Troy, which lost for the third time this year to South Alabama, 87-81, in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament.
The Jags got hot early and got up by 20. Troy cut the lead to 3, but the big advantage South Alabama had was on the boards. Troy went small in the second half and was able to come back and score based on quickness, but couldn't corral some key rebounds late.
You can watch the press conference video HERE.
The box score is HERE.
It was the last game for senior forward Steven Cunningham and center Tim Owens. Troy has three scholarships to give in the offseason and a veteran team coming back, but still has holes to fill, especially down low.
Karl Benson press conference
New Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson spoke with the media in Hot Springs, Ark., and the Sun Belt was kind enough to send a transcript. It's long, but I figured some people would want to read it.
Better yet, you can go HERE to watch it on the Sun Belt's site
Karl Benson, The Next Sun Belt Conference Commissioner
Opening Statement
“Thank you, Dr. Hawkins. This is a special day for me to kind of officially – even though it’s not official for a couple more weeks – to be in this venue, to be around the members and the important members of the media that are here today that cover the Sun Belt on a regular basis. The last month has been a whirlwind. I interviewed with the Sun Belt CEOs on Jan. 25 in Atlanta. As I walked out of the room that day, I knew that there was something there. It was real. It’s a job that I didn’t necessarily chase; it wasn’t a job that I necessarily really went after, but it was a job that came to me, and sometimes those are the best jobs - when two parties get together and discuss ideas and a vision. You walk away and you say, “Click.” That day in Atlanta, it clicked. And it clicked because of the ten CEOs that day who demonstrated a commitment, a willingness to get better, and a willingness to take advantage of the current landscape and the current environment that has been so unsettling over the course of the last 12 to 18 months. I think it’s safe to say that out of the 11 BCS Conferences, that I think the Sun Belt Conference is the only conference in the last year that has not had any change. Every other conference has had change. The stability of the Sun Belt was something that was very interesting to me, and the ability to grow a conference without having to deal with perhaps changes. However, if there are changes, the other thing that was appealing was the number of schools that were in that footprint that are possible new members of the Sun Belt. Chancellor Hawkins mentioned the possibility of expanding; it’s a real possibility yet it’s one that we need to do from a deliberate standpoint. You get bigger to get better. You don’t just get bigger for the sake of adding one, two, three or four schools. You do it to because it adds value. I think the Sun Belt is in a great position to take advantage of some of this uncertainty, but at the same time the core member institutions provide a great, great foundation. As many of you know, the last 15 years I’ve dealt with a lot of change. I’m prepared to deal with change if necessary, but ideally it is to be able to have these 11 institutions that were around the table this morning – we spent two hours this morning with the CEOs – we talked about the future of the Sun Belt. To get 11 CEOs to come together on a Saturday morning to talk about the future, it demonstrates the commitment of the presidents and athletics directors. I see many of you in the room today and I appreciate your support over the course of the last month. You’re an integral part to this process. I’ve always said that I work for the presidents but I work with the athletic directors. You all play a big role and will play a big role for the future of this conference. It goes right down to the faculty reps, the senior woman administrators, the coaches, and especially the student-athletes. We can’t forget the role that the student-athletes play. It is a pleasure to be here. I mentioned yesterday that as I landed in Little Rock, I’ve now been in all 50 states. This was the last state on my big map. I accomplished Arkansas, and I look forward to returning many times. As Jack said, what a great little secret. Today, I looked at some of the history of Hot Springs. It is somewhat ironic that a conference on the rise is located in a place that has so much history, and so much sports history. Spring training was established here back in 1910. I found pictures of Babe Ruth, that he played 54 holes of golf at Hot Springs Country Club and went back to the hotel to do his mineral baths and whatever. This is a unique spot. The facility is great. The two courts – I was wondering how that would work but it’s well-done. A compliment to Wright and the entire Sun Belt staff for creating a tournament atmosphere that really is a collegiate tournament atmosphere. I’ll stop there. I know we have a game that starts at the top of the hour and we want to make sure that we let the media get back to cover that.”
On any potential threat of schools leaving the Sun Belt…
“I think there’s always going to be threats. One of my goals over the course of the next 30-60 days, and it started today, was the CEO meeting and talking about the benefits of being a member of the Sun Belt and what the Sun Belt can provide and what the value, the benefits of the existing membership can satisfy all of their existing needs under the Sun Belt banner. We need to really identify that and communicate that back on the 11 campuses that the Sun Belt, as it exists today, is a powerful organization and one that has – and I’ve said this many times the past couple weeks – five years ago there was a hierarchy of the Mountain West, the WAC, Conference USA, the Sun Belt and then the Mid-American and Sun Belt. That was the hierarchy – and we’re talking football – that gap today has shrunk considerably and there’s not a lot of difference between the 10 football-playing members of the Sun Belt and the membership of the WAC or Mountain West or Conference USA or Mid-American. Regardless of this Conference USA-Mountain West potential merger, I like the position that the Sun Belt is in.”
On whether any Sun Belt schools would potentially join the Mountain West-Conference USA merger..
“I think the fact that whether it’s a North Texas or it’s a Florida International, or Florida Atlantic or Troy or Western Kentucky or any that are being mentioned, it’s a compliment to the growth that these institutions have had. I certainly have seen a number of institutions that have gotten better under the WAC umbrella and that have moved on. I don’t think there’s necessarily anything wrong with that. I’ve always said that when teams join the WAC they get better. When teams join the Sun Belt, they’re going to get better. They’re going to take advantage of all of the assets and all of the resources that the conference has. It’s unfortunately, in this world and in this environment in college sports, there’s upward mobility whether it’s with coaches, presidents move from school A to school B, athletic directors move, commissioners move, so it’s kind of a natural part of the college sports landscape.”
On how to balance growing basketball with growing football…
“The presidents and the chancellors today talked about men’s basketball and how critical it is to the future of the Sun Belt and be able to return to multiple bids in the NCAA Tournament, and teams that get into the NCAA Tournament win games. That is critical. As much as football has grown, you can’t lose sight of how important basketball is. As we begin March Madness, for the next month now it will be constantly talked about, the conference ranking and how many teams get into the NCAA Tournament and they start listing the teams and the number of bids, the Sun Belt needs to get back to that multiple-bid level. There’s a lot of money involved, it’s growing and we need to take advantage of that. I think that will be an initiative. I know that in the past couple of years the conference has looked at standards and benchmarks and scheduling requirements, we can’t lose site of that basketball piece.”
On moving timeline up to start March 15..
“It’s awkward. I’m in a position where I’m managing the affairs of the Western Athletic Conference while at the same time looking at and focusing and planning for the future of the Sun Belt. I do have a corporate duty and a corporate responsibility to the WAC as long as I’m the commissioner of the WAC. The sooner I can sever ties with the WAC and devote all of attention and all of energies and all of my corporate duty to the Sun Belt would be in the best interest of both the Sun Belt and the WAC.
On Denver leaving the Sun Belt for the WAC..
“I’m happy for the University of Denver. They have landed in a place that is more geographically connected to them. The Sun Belt has been great for the University of Denver and the University of Denver has been great for the Sun Belt. I know Chancellor [Robert] Coombe and Peg [Bradley-Doppes] and the entire University of Denver staff has been a good 10-year spot for the University of Denver.”
On adding a non-football school vs. a football-only school to the Sun Belt..
“I do think that balance needs to be addressed. Eleven members on the basketball schedule is not the ideal number. As we look at expansion, we need to look at the basketball piece. UALR has been a valued member of the Sun Belt for many, many years and we need to protect that and take advantage of the success they have had in Sun Belt sports. As we go down the road of future membership – whether it’s basketball-only to balance it – obviously the University of Denver was the team to balance UALR. On one hand we look at the football side that at the end of the day, whatever the final number is, there needs to be some balance.”
Troy hammers Bethune-Cookman
Troy started hitting and never stopped, beating Bethune-Cookman 26-3 on Saturday. You can read the game recap HERE.
Coach Bobby Pierce gave some guys who hadn't played much a chance, and boy, did they respond. In his first career start, sophomore second baseman Tyler Vaughn went 5-for-5, sophomore designated hitter Hayden Hillyer went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and freshman catcher Jake Harrell, in just his second start, went 2-for-4 with six RBIs. Jimmy Hodgskin pitched eight innings to get the win.
Several other guys stepped up as well. Just read the box score HERE.
The teams play the rubber game Sunday at noon. Haven't seen a starting pitcher listed yet for Troy.
Saturday basketball/baseball links
The season winds down for Troy, which begins play in the Sun Belt Tournament tonight at 6 against South Alabama.
The Jaguars have been playing well lately, but so has Troy. USA's size will be a lot to handle, but Troy matches up well guard-wise, especially if they don't let Freddie Goldstein get open from 3-point land. USA has beaten Troy twice, and it's hard to beat a team three times in a season. Troy found that out three years ago, when the Trojans were seeded third, but lost to the sixth-seeded Jags in their opening game.
***You can read my game preview HERE.
On the diamond, Troy fell 3-2 to Bethune-Cookman on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th. Sure, you can say the offense struggled, but BCU's first two runs were unearned and BCU also threw a pretty dang good pitcher of their own. Tyler Ray dropped his ERA to 0.45.
Recap HERE and box score HERE.
The teams play at noon today.
***I really wish I had time to cover softball as well (I have other duties at the paper besides Troy), because I enjoy covering the sport and really like watching the Women's College World Series. But it must be noted that Troy went over to Ole Miss and won 5-1 Friday. In a league where UL-Lafayette garners all the respect, don't lose sight of what Troy is doing as the Trojans, despite not having any experience on the mound, are 13-2.
Huskies clinch at least a share of Pac-12 title with 80-58 blowout win over USC!
Playing down in L.A. where Darnell Gant grew up the senior has a great opportunity to clinch his fourth conference championship in four years. Gant provided a big game scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds as the Washington Huskies(21-8,14-3) blew out the USC Trojans(6-24,1-16) 80-58 clinching at least a share of the Pac-12 regular season title. For Gant that means he has won a Pac-10 regular season title as a freshman(2009) and won back to back conference tournament championships(2010 and 2011). Now he has won at least a co-regular season championship this year and with a win over the UCLA Bruins on Saturday will have won an outright conference title. The Huskies took care of business against the Trojans outrebounding them 47-20 as they knew exactly what was at stake.
The Huskies knew this game was important and treated it as such. They began the game on a 13-4 run. After the Trojans went on a mini 7-3 run to pull within 16-11 the Huskies went on an 8-0 run lead to 24-11. From there the Huskies cruised into halftime with a 40-26 lead. The Huskies shot 16-37(43.2%) from the field, three for eight on three pointers(37.5%) but just 5-12(41.7%) on free throws. They out-rebounded the Trojans 29-10 including 14-1 in offensive rebounds. The Trojans shot 11-26(42.3%) on field goals, two for five(40.0%) on three pointers and two for three(66.7%) on free throws. The Trojans were led by Garrett Jackson scoring 10 points on five for seven shooting with five rebounds. Byron Wesley scored eight points on three for nine shooting including two free throws.For the Huskies they were led by Terrence Ross scoring 11 points poin five for nine shooting including a three pointer with three rebounds. Senior captain Darnell Gant scored seven points on three for four shooting including a three pointer while pulling down six rebounds. Tony Wroten scored six points on two for nine shooting and just two for five on free throws. He did however grab seven rebounds including four offensive while dishing out four assists. Abdul Gaddy scored six points while making both his shots including a three pointer and free throw. Desmond Simmons scored five points on two for five shooting with four rebounds including three offensive. The Huskies dominated the half and looked to continue that in the second half.
After starting the second half on a 4-0 run to take a 44-28 lead the Trojans fought back. The Trojans went on a 14-5 run pulling to within 49-40. Terrence Ross then hit a three pointer for the Huskies as the Huskies went on a 7-0 run to lead 56-40 as the game wasn't close again. The game ended with Wroten throwing an alley-oop pass to Martin Bruening for the dunk as the Huskies won 80-58 outscoring the Trojans 40-32 in the second half. The Trojans shot 23-51(45.1%) from the field, 3-10(30.0%) on three pointers and 9-16(56.2%) on free throws. They were led by Byron Wesley scoring 23 points on 10-18 shooting with five rebounds. Garrett Jackson finished with 14 points on six for nine shooting.
For the Huskies they shot 31-67(46.3%) from the field, 6-13(46.3%) from three point range and 12-23(52.2%) from free throws. The Huskies dominated the glass with 47 rebounds to the Trojans 20 including 18-3 advantage on offensive rebounds. They were led by Terrence Ross who scored 18 points on 8-13 shooting including two for three on three pointers. Ross pulled down seven rebounds with a steal. Darnell Gant playing in his second to last regular season game scored 14 points on six for eight shooting while making two of three three pointers. He also grabbed nine rebounds including three offensive. Abdul Gaddy scored 12 points on four for six shooting including making his only three point shot and three for four on free throws. Gaddy also had five assists. Aziz N'Diaye scored eight points on three for six shooting with seven rebounds and a block shot. C.J. Wilcox scored eight points as well on 3-10 shooting with a block shot. Tony Wroten scored seven points on 2-13 shooting and three for seven at the foul line. He did grab eight rebounds including four offensive with six assists, two steals and a block shot. Desmond Simmons scored five points on two for five shooting with seven rebounds including three offensive and two steals. Martin Bruenig scored five points and grabbed two rebounds in only four minutes of playing time. He also made both shots including a three pointer. The Huskies saw 12 guys play with 10 guys scoring at least one point. While the Trojans had just eight guys play and only six score. The Huskies defeated an opponent who is down and they took advantage of that.After the Huskies won against the Trojans there was no celebration as Lorenzo Romar made sure his team knew there was still unfinished business. The goal for the Huskies this week wasn't to win a share of the conference title but to instead win the conference title outright. Prior to 2009 the Huskies hadn't won the conference title outright since 1953 and now they have a chance to do that for the second time in four years. This Huskies team who graduated three key seniors last year, lost Isaiah Thomas to the draft and Scott Suggs has a chance to do something the two previous teams couldn't do which is win a regular season conference title. Something the Brandon Roy/Nate Robinson teams couldn't even do. This team who lost some terrible games in December has a chance to make some history at Montlake as only one team(1984) has ever won 15 conference games in a season as well. This team has accomplished quite a bit and now they have a chance to finish the job at UCLA this Saturday.
Observations:
For the season now Wroten is averaging 16.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 3.6 APG. He is shooting 44.8% from the field and averaging 2.0 steals per game. Wroten tends to play big in big games and this game was never in doubt. Look for Wroten to have a big performance against UCLA and in the Pac-12 tournament. Depending on what he does in the NCAA tournament will determine if he comes back or not. If Wroten returns back to the program the Huskies could be the favorites to win the conference title.
- Darnell Gant has had an up and down career with the Huskies. He came to Washington as the highest rated power forward in the country. He was forced to redshirt his first year at Washington then as a redshirt freshman started 34 out of 35 games for the Huskies who won the regular season Pac-10 title. As a sophomore he was a starter but was quickly benched and rarely played. As a junior he made some starts but was a key guy off the bench. This season Gant started the first 14 games before being benched. He has now started the last three games and has played well the last two games. Gant in the last two games is averaging 8.5 PPG and 8.0 RPG while shooting 7-11(63.6%) from the field.
Gant's leadership and play will determine just how far the Huskies will go. So far this year Gant is averaging 7.3 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 23.2 minutes per game with 17 starts. He is shooting 46.7% from the field and 34.4% on three pointers making 0.7 a game. Gant who is from LA. has a chance for the fourth straight year to receive a conference championship ring in his hometown. This would be the type of storybook ending all Husky fans would love. The Huskies have won 97 games in the four years Gant has been at UW meaning no other four year stretch in Huskies history has seen more wins. If the Huskies reach the NCAA tournament no player will have played in four NCAA tournaments with the Huskies or have played in eight games which Gant will do. His career is almost over but Gant is hoping to prolong that career as long as possible.
- Terrence Ross rebounded nicely from his two point performance and fouling out against the Washington State Cougars. This game Ross started off early scoring 11 of his team high 18 points. When the Trojans pulled to within single digits at 49-40 it was Ross who hit a three pointer to start a run for the Huskies to finally put the Trojans away. Ross had a good game scoring 18 points on 8-13 shooting including two for three from three point range. He also grabbed seven rebounds in the process. The three point shooting was key because prior to that Ross had been 1-11(9.1%) from three point range last two games and 6-31(19.4%) in his last six games. Ross also hasn't attempted a free throw in two straight games and four out of six games. Ross needs to be more agressive going forward. Ross like his teammate Tony Wroten can win the conference player of the year award with a big performance on Saturday against the Bruins. Ross will make the first team all conference team as well as play in the NBA eventually.For the year Ross is averaging 15.2 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks. He is shooting 45.5% from the field, 35.7% on three pointers making 1.8 a game and 74.7% on free throws. Depending on how well Ross plays throughout the season will determine how far the Huskies go in the NCAA tournament if Ross will leave. If Ross and Wroten both leave the Huskies will be in a transition year. I think if Wroten comes back the Huskies can survive Ross leaving and still make the NCAA's. If both Wroten and Ross come back the Huskies could be talking preseason final four and find themselves ranked in the top 15 heading into next year. These next few weeks are critical for Ross and Wroten's future at this program.
Now this long season comes down to one regular season game for the Huskies. The Huskies have a chance to have their banner read "2011-12 Pac-12 regular season champions" rather than "2011-12 Pac-12 co-champions". Both banners would look nice but obviously the banner that doesn't include the words "Co" would look better. The Huskies took care of business in the conference through the first 17 games winning 14 of them and hopefully they can finish the deal this Saturday at UCLA. This has been a great ride which will remind most fans of the 2003-04 team which featured a young roster who finally matured and went on a winning streak. The Huskies will take on a Bruins team they have defeated four times in a row. The Huskies did their job against the Trojans and now they know there is just one game left. As Romar told his team the Huskies goal wasn't to share it was to win the conference outright. Beating the Trojans was nice but the celebration won't happen until the Huskies defeat the Bruins.
Trending at Hallandale Beach Blog: Prof. Vijay Kumar’s amazing TED2012 presentation on technology & miniature flying robots. Yes, flying robots! Color me dazzled!
TED.com video: University of Pennsylvania professor Vijay Kumar: Robots that fly ... and cooperate. Filmed February 2012.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/vijay_kumar_robots_that_fly_and_cooperate.html
Trending at Hallandale Beach Blog: Vijay Kumar’s TED2012 talk on technology and miniature flying robots
Yes, you read that correctly, flying
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