THIS COLUMN WAS WRITTEN IN FRONT OF A LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE
QUICK QUIZ
Who is the all-time career rebounding leader in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball?
QUOTABLE QUOTES
“I don’t think there is anything more exciting than playoff hockey. I’d rather watch playoff hockey than any other sport.” – NBA television analyst Charles Barkley
“I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. I’m the first Simone Biles.” – Olympic gymnast Simone Biles.
“It’s a little like breakfast; you eat ham and eggs. As coaches and players, we’re like the ham. You see, the chicken’s involved but the pig’s committed. We’re like the pig, they’re like the chicken. They’re involved, but everything we have rides on this.” – College football coach Mike Leach, on officials.
IDLE THOUGHTS
I got this nugget from my friend Jerry Metiva, who is employed at Fullerton Tool Company: Henri Richard of the Montreal Canadians was a Leap Year baby. At one point in his life, he had won more Stanley Cups than he had birthdays.
I watched a Bob Costas interview with Charles Barkley on HBO’s “Back on the Record.” Sir Charles said he didn’t attend class much while he was at Auburn. He said he was in college three years and is still a freshman. Barkley also declared that he is not friends with Michael Jordan.
The main sponsors on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball games includes Corona Beer and Casamigos Tequila. Their logos are super-imposed onto the side of the pitching mound and are prominently displayed in perfect view from the centerfield camera. Don’t they realize kids watch these baseball games? I understand that they have to make money from advertising, but play their television commercials and take their logos off the mound.
In the latest edition of Michigan History magazine, there’s a really good story about Hazen “KiKi” Cuyler, the pride of Harrisville, MI, and the roundabout way he made it to the Major Leagues. Cuyler graduated as valedictorian of Harrisville High School’s Class of 1917. After working briefly for Consumers Power Company, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. The Armistice was signed before he could join the doughboys in Europe. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant and was among a select group of 50 enlistees who were tested for an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He was one of only two to pass. But only after being at West Point for three months, he returned to Harrisville and got married. Cuyler then began work as a roof assembler at the Buick plant in Flint.
At the same time, he starred for the company basketball team and playing semipro baseball. When a dramatic downturn in the U.S. economy in 1920 caused demand for automobiles to plummet, he began playing more baseball. He made his professional debut with Bay City in the Michigan-Ontario – or “Mint” – League. Because of his blazing speed, Major League teams took notice, even though a Detroit Tiger scout said he couldn’t hit a curve ball.
When Bay City’s season ended, the Pittsburgh Pirates purchased Cuyler’s contract and that started his Hall of Fame career. Cuyler worked each winter as physical director of Flint’s Industrial Mutual Association (IMA). During the previous decade, Flint’s explosive growth had overwhelmed municipal efforts to provide necessities like housing, infrastructure, and public safety. By that time, many downtowns had exclusive private health clubs that catered to the wealthy, while YMCA’s were making gymnasiums available to an expanded clientele. Blue-collar workers in Flint, however, were largely overlooked until the IMA opened a five-story headquarters that featured two gymnasiums, a swimming pool, a bowling alley, spacious clubrooms, and many other accoutrements. With the auto industry once again booming, IMA membership soared to more than 10,000 during the 1920s. Cuyler played professional baseball until 1938 and compiled a sparkling .321 career batting average with 2,299 hits and 328 stolen bases.
National Basketball Association owners will vote on a proposal at their July 11 meeting that would award opponents a technical free throw when a player is deemed to have flopped. Or, as I call it, the LeBron James rule. The league was considering implementing technical fouls for flops during Summer League. If approved, the new rule would be applied on a trial basis. The league defines a flop as "an attempt to either fool referees into calling undeserved fouls or fool fans into thinking the referees missed a foul call by exaggerating the effect of contact with an opposing player."
Domingo German of the New York Yankees achieved the rare feat of pitching a perfect game on June 28, 2023. He joins the no-hit, perfect game fraternity that includes:
Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners (8/15/2012)
Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants (6/13/2012)
Phillip Humber of the Chicago White Sox (4/21/2012)
Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies (5/29/2010)
Dallas Braden of the Oakland A’s (5/9/2010)
Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox (7/23/2009)
Randy Johnson of the Arizonia Diamondbacks (5/18/2004)
David Cone of the New York Yankees (7/18/1999)
David Wells of the New York Yankees (5/17/1998)
Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers (7/28/1994)
Dennis Martinez of the Montreal Expos (7/28/1991)
Tom Browning of the Cincinnati Reds (8/16/1988)
Mike Witt of the California Angels (9/30/1984)
Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians (5/15/1981)
Jim “Catfish” Hunter of the Oakland A’s (5/8/1968)
Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers (9/9/1965)
Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies (6/21/1964)
Don Larsen of the New York Yankees (10/8/1956)
Charlie Robertson of the Chicago White Sox (4/30/1922)
Addie Joss of the Cleveland Naps (10/2/1908)
Cy Young of the Boston Americans (5/5/1904)
John Ward of the Providence Grays (6/17/1880)
Lee Richmond of the Worcester Ruby Legs (6/12/1880)
There are auspicious debuts in professional golf, and then there’s what Zach Williams experienced this week at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Memorial Health Championship. Just two holes into his opening round on Thursday at Panther Creek Golf Club in Springfield, Ill., making pars on both, the 23-year-old was disqualified from the event because he had used a distance-measuring device. The Korn Ferry Tour uses Model Local Rule G-5, which prohibits players from obtaining distance information from a DMD during a round. Players receive a two-stroke penalty for violation the rule once, but because Williams had it used multiple times, he was subject to a DQ.
Former Tigers GM Al Avila has a couple moves he'd like back toward the end of his tenure in Detroit, but believes the Tigers are a "sleeping giant" that's ready to wake up." If you're around this game long enough, you’re going to have some of those that you regret ... the kind that leave a bad taste in your mouth." While he pointed to "good trades" like Daniel Norris for Reese-Olson, Nick Castellanos for Alex Lange, and Shane Greene for Joey Wentz – “those three (players) right now are on the big-league club" - Avila acknowledged two that "obviously didn’t work out too well." The first was trading Isaac Paredes to the Rays for Austin Meadows ahead of last season: "Meadows hasn’t been on the (active) roster last year and this year and Paredes is doing very well for Tampa. So that’s obviously a really tough one to take," Avila said. While Meadows has been sidelined by injuries and anxiety during his time in Detroit, Paredes has hit 29 homers for Tampa. Meadows has hit zero homers in 42 games for the Tigers. "There’s other ones that don’t go as well, but you did the best you could. I’ll give you a perfect example on the Justin Verlander (trade). With Verlander, we got actually a pretty good return," Avila said. The Tigers traded Verlander to the Astros at the waiver deadline in August of 2016, for prospects Franklin Perez, Daz Cameron and Jake Rogers. Perez was the prize of the return, but the pitcher succumbed to injuries and never made it close to Detroit. Cameron is in Triple-A with the Orioles after failing to stick with the Tigers, while Rogers is a part-time catcher in Detroit. "If you look back at that trade at that time and the players that we got back, the only one that’s on the team right now is Jake Rogers, but that was a pretty good return that just didn’t turn out to be very good," Avila said. "But you get into that situation, he was traded basically beyond the trade deadline, he passed through waivers, nobody claimed him, so to make a trade like that is very, very difficult, in particular to get that kind of return." As for where the Tigers are now, a little less than a year after he was fired, Avila says they're "not that far off." He called them an "up-and-coming team" that will get a "huge boost" when injured pitchers like Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and Matt Manning - all of whom were drafted under Avila's watch.
Ryan Mallett’s story needs to be told. The former NFL QB tragically passed away on Tuesday, but his story is nothing short of incredible. The son of two teachers, Mallett became a star QB in high school - which included a playoff battle with Matthew Stafford - and in college. In 2011, Bill Belichick was enamored by his competitiveness and maturity. And the Patriots drafted Ryan in the 3rd round, to be a backup for Tom Brady. After stints with the Patriots, Texans, and Ravens, Mallett pursued a passion he’s had since he was young: coaching. He became an assistant coach at a high school in Arkansas, before becoming White Hall High School’s head coach in 2022. To those close to him, it was no surprise that he ended up mentoring the next generation. Mallett, himself, admitted that he always knew he was going to coach. In past interviews, his family members pointed to his big heart, his love for people, and his warm personality as a big kid. Once, in high school, Mallett was playing in the Army All-American Bowl. A few days before, he had visited a hospital where he promised his jersey to a boy who was sick. After the game, Mallett found the boy’s family, picked the boy up, and put his jersey on him. Ryan’s dad asked him later if he had permission from the Army Bowl to give away the jersey. He didn’t. And it didn’t matter. Love first, and do what you love. Those were things that mattered to Ryan Mallett. And that’s the reason his story needs to be told. Mallett never became a Super Bowl MVP. He never thew a last-second TD to win it all. Most NFL fans may not even know his name. Too often, that’s how we define success and failure in sports and in life. But he did what he loved and was passionate about his whole life: playing football, and later coaching and giving back to the game he loved. And that’s, without question, a success.
Whatever happened to Blake Ezor?
QUICK QUIZ ANSWER
D. Tom Gola of LaSalle who recorded 2,201 rebounds (while also amassing 2,462 points). The NCAA did not split into its current divisions format until August 1973. From 1906 to 1955, there were no classifications to the NCAA nor its predecessor, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS). Then, from 1956 to spring 1973, colleges were classified as either "NCAA University Division (Major College)" or "NCAA College Division (Small College").
Gola is also one of just seven players in the Top 25 Career Rebounders who have been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The others are Bill Russell, Elvin Hayes, Elgin Baylor, Dave DeBusschere, Wes Unseld, and Ralph Sampson. Robert Parish of Centenary, also a Hall of Famer, grabbed 1,820 rebounds which would have placed him fifth all-time. However, due to sanctions related to Parish’s recruitment, the NCAA omitted all Centenary games and statistics from its official records starting with his freshman year.
Three teams (Louisville, Wake Forest and Morehead State) each have two players in the top 25 all-time rebounding list. For Louisville, they are Charlie Tyra and Wes Unseld; for Wake Forest they are Dickie Hemric and Tim Duncan; and for Morehead State, they are Steve Hamilton and Kenneth Faried. Only one player, Elgin Baylor, split his college career at two different schools. He spent one season at Albertson College before transferring to Seattle University where he spent the next two years.
In the official NCAA men's basketball record book, a distinction is drawn between the pre-1973 era and the post-1973 era. One reason is that because of the split into the three Divisions in use today (Divisions I, II and III), many of the rebounds accumulated in the pre-1973 era was against lesser-talented opponents that would be considered Division II, III or even NAIA in today's classification scheme.
Although the 1972–73 season was before the divisional split, the NCAA officially considers that season to be "post-1973" because of the adoption of freshman eligibility for varsity play in all NCAA sports effective in August 1972.
Listed below are the top 10 rebounders in NCAA Division I basketball since 1973:
Kenneth Faried, Morehead State (1,673)
Tim Duncan, Wake Forest (1,570)
Derrick Coleman, Syracuse (1,537)
Malik Rose, Drexel (1,514)
Pete Padgett, Nevada (1,464)
Angel Delgado, Seton Hall (1,455)
James Thompson IV, Eastern Michigan (1,451)
Shawn Long, Louisiana-Lafayette (1,447)
Lionel Simmons, LaSalle (1,429)
Anthony Bonner, Saint Louis (1,424)
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Jul 03, 2023
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