basketball

Don't argue. Just don't. Just embrace the awesome. Timmy needs to get in touch with Alan Branch.

(Photo: UMHoops)

Probably the biggest home win in their programs history.

http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=323432199

Way to go eastern. 

I get the size concerns, but the kid has already shown that he belongs at the high D 1 level. And given his AAU experience you would have thought that he would have at least had a bevy of mid-major offers. Oh well, their loss is our gain.

Grantland writer Shane Ryan gave Michigan high praise in his rundown of the weekend's games to watch:

5. Arkansas at no. 3 Michigan — Saturday, noon, CBS
Between the emergence of exciting freshman Nik Stauskas and the brilliant guard play of Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan has quietly become appointment viewing. I like to gripe about their slow pace sometimes, but watching John Beilein's offense presents a rare case in which even a pacist like me can appreciate the execution. I'm still not sure it's the best option for a team of great athletes (the Wolverines are 327th in the nation in tempo), but it's hard to argue with the efficiency. And to be totally fair, they're one of the few slowdown teams that are actually enjoyable to watch. I might live to regret this, but  if I had to pick a title team at this exact moment , Michigan would be my tentative choice. 

I think he makes a good point in that such a talented, athletic team should probably not play so few possessions, but nevertheless the efficiency is nothing to scoff at. It's great to have a team that writers are now considering appointment viewing and a legitmate national title contender!

One night every December, students at tiny Taylor University pack the school's gymnasium and participate in a phenomenon that's completely out of place in modern sports: silence.

The fans in the standing-room-only crowd are as loud as a library for as long as it takes Taylor's basketball team to score 10 points. But once that happens, there's no shushing them. As soon as Taylor hits double digits, the students erupt into bedlam, and they don't stop screaming and dancing until it's time for the post-game Christmas party on campus.

Friday's racket known as "Silent Night"—the game ends with a student singalong of the Christmas carol—is very, very quietly a tradition unlike any other.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732464010457816345399549999...

So, FSU is trying to recruit the nation's #1 basketball prospect, I guess, and some FSU students, uh, tried to, uh, persuade him:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/florida-state-sales-pitch-andrew-wiggins-stands-more-022616483--ncaab.html

My first reaction:  Where the frak was THAT kind of attention on me in Ann Arbor, when in 1984 I told UM I was thinking about going to engineering school there?

My next reaction:  Egads, is this even allowed under NCAA rules?  Why doesn't it happen (openly) more often?