Impatience Kicks In
By John Doyle, Sportswriter to Be
Finally, after all the craziness of the last week, a chance to sit down and write a little. Unfortunately, it doesn't get any more relaxing after this, as tonight is the UNH Hockey East Quarterfinals at the Whittemore Center, and three consecutive high school state championship hockey games on Sunday afternoon, also at the Whittemore. Then starting Monday, the Class L boy's basketball tournament starts in earnest with doubleheaders that night, plus Tuesday and Thursday. The final is a week from tomorrow.
*****
Pinkerton gave Central a handful last night. The Astros led by eight late in the third, and it looked like they had a chance to hang on. But Central poured it on in the fourth, and wound up winning by fourteen, 60-46. Tyler Roche was awful in the first half, going two-for-seven and keeping the Astros close. He finished the game with an un-customary ten points. Late in the game, when Central was well ahead, he got an open breakaway and responded with a reverse slam-dunk, which I found highly inappropriate and very un-Central. Hopefully Coach "Doc" Wheeler brought Roche down to earth after the game and reminded him that his showboating was not what Central basketball is all-about considering a) his inability to connect his shots in the first half was a big reason Pinkerton was able to keep the game close and b)
an article in the Manchester Union Leader that very day lauded Central for being an unselfish team.
***** As for the rest of round one last night, there were no surprises. All eight home teams, the top seeds, are going to Durham. Monday night at Lundholm Gym, it's #5 Salem vs. #4 West. Salem was a semifinalist last year. West was the #3 seed when the bracket was originally released, but some tie-breaker technicality, which even I don't understand, bumped the Knights down to fourth. Later that night it's #8 Bishop Guertin of Nashua vs. #1 Trinity of Manchester--the de facto catholic school championship. BG, it's been nice knowing you, but you're out. On Tuesday, it's #6 Nashua vs. #3 Merrimack. Merrimack won it all last year but I have a feeling Nashua will come out strong and pull the upset. Finally, it's #7 Dover vs. #2 Central. Although Central had a tough time with Pinkerton Last night, they had their way with the Green Wave two weeks ago. I don't see Dover pulling it off, however, Dover was the runner up last year so most of their guys have experience playing in front of the huge crowds at UNH. Also, the UNH gym is only a few miles from their high school, so it is pretty much a home-court advantage, and their student body therefore has no problem bringing huge numbers, and they're always loud. Pinkerton brought a throng to Central's gym last night and had an effect on Central's shooting, I think. (Part of the reason Roche went only 2-7 in the first half was because the Little Green was shooting right in front of a large, loud and rowdy contingent of Pinkerton students). So that could factor in. Plus, the top four seeds all lost in last year's round of 8, and the same could happen this year. The four winners face off in a double-header Thursday, and then the final is next Saturday.
*****Another miserable season of New Mexico basketball is in the books. The Lobos absolutely blew it last night at the Pepsi Center,
losing to UNLV, 55-53. Apparently a fifteen point lead was not enough for the Lobos, who blew an opportunity to avoid #1 seed Air Force, who
lost to Colorado State earlier. (By the way, if Air Force is not invited to the Dance as an at-large, the Tournament will be rendered a bona fide sham by yours truly, and I will refuse to fill out any brackets or participate in any office pools.)
The question is, what to do with coach Ritchie McKay? I hate (hate, hate, hate) to say this, because I have been a big McKay supporter for two years, but it might be time to let him go. I have long railed against the mentality of many impatient Lobo fans, i.e. "we're just one big-name coach away from the promised land." I have also believed for a long time that it is a mistake to let a coach, any coach, go until he has had three years, but I just do not see any way the Lobos can be successful, either short- or long-term, with him at the helm.
If you wait until next year, then he will have more of his guys entrenched in the program. To cut him now would send a clear signal to fans that the school is serious about putting a winner on the floor. Keeping football coach Rocky Long was different after he had a couple of bad seasons (in '98 and '99) was different because New Mexico had never been a football school to begin with, so fans could be more patient. But basketball is the premiere program at New Mexico and the school has just gone too damn long without a winner.
If nothing else, the school should be gracious about it. Admit it was a mistake to hire him but at least admit there was nothing McKay really could have done. And forget about this "no one wants to come here" baloney. It's a decent D-I program in a big western city with a great arena and a huge fan base.
Valdez thinks McKay would make an excellent high school coach. Interesting thought, but I don't see it happening. I think the guy is a good coach, and he was really put into an impossible situation at too large a program and is not a rebuilder. Personally, I think a program like UNH would be great for him. Lots of opportunity for growth, both for himself and for his team, plus he would have a chance at honing his skills at rebuilding a program, but with nowhere NEAR the pressure he faced at New Mexico. He could recruit African-Americans to a campus that generally does not recruit African-Americans well, all the while coaching a bona fide Division I program far, far away from New Mexico. And then when he makes New Hampshire competitive again, he can move on to a larger program. He's such a young guy, I would hate to think his career is in the toilet, never to be resurrected again. But good things (eventually) happen to good people and he is a good person. He just bit off more than he could chew at New Mexico. And it doesn't have to be specifically NH (it looks like they are [inexplicably] staying with Phil Rowe), but there are lots and lots of minor programs he could coach and get back on his feet.
John Doyle is an impatient graduate of the University of New Mexico, who lives with his wife, also a graduate of the University of New Mexico, in Dover, New Hampshire.
Thoughts on New Mexico Sports
Here's Valdez with his thoughts on the Lobo game and last night's semi-final action in High School hoops . . .
The Lobos lost 55-53 after controlling the entire game. UNLV's first lead did not come in until really late in the game. Sad loss for the Lobos. I did not stay up to listen to the overtime show since it was already after midnight. But I am sure that it was probably pretty bad. The Lobos played a good game and had a good strategy just could not hold on until the end. At times this team shows brilliance but at others, it just leaves you thinking "what are they doing". Yesterday with 2 seconds left, UNLV was at the line with 4 lobos and no Rebels. The UNLV guy missed the free throw but got his own rebound with the 4 Lobos standing there???!!! It's hard to say what will happen now. McKay should get one more year but Lobo fans are starting to revolt. And I am sick and tired of people saying "I am dropping the mens team to support the womens team". These are the same people who will drop their support immediately after they have a horrible season, as you pointed out the other day.
Dude, I am not sure why but I am kind of disappointed that Rio lost. First, Rio-Cibola would make an epic final. I am not saying that Cibola-Eldo will not but I think the passion of Rio's fans make it better. Second, why should I be upset. I should be glad. You always want to see teams that recruit fail. If this was La Cueva football, I would not feel this way, I would be happy. I guess I just cannot get the image of D-Mac out of my mind and how much he has had to overcome. And then you see their fans walking around the Pit with tears in their eyes. You see these guys in their mechanics uniforms, who you know took off 15 minutes before the game to come to the pit to support their team. You see these old people who have lived in the South Valley all their lives who still support their team. Even Kelley Wilson was wiping away tears yesterday. I also saw D-Macs grandmother weeping.
Oh well, my plan today is only to take in tonight's games. They are showing all the girls games on TV so if I want to watch any of them, I will go that route. I might go check out the 3A girls game but I am pretty much committed to watching the 1A/5A session tonight.
Friday Night Lights ends its season tonight, and what a great time it has been. First round of the NHIAA boy's basketball tournament starts tonight, I will be covering Pinkerton at Central. Here's my pregame report:
First things first, when these two teams met in the regular season it was
Central by fourteen, fifty-eight to forty-four back on February twenty-fourth in Derry. It was Central's twelfth win in a row of their fifteen-game, season-ending winning streak. In that game, the Astros were able to successfully hold Central's big center Sam Carey to just three first-half points and only thirteen overall. But their pressure on Carey allowed Central's other big threat, sophomore forward Tyler Roche scored twenty-eight of his own, including fifteen from behind the arc. For Pinkerton, Ben Huntington had eleven on February twenty-four, Jake Mercer and Kevin Bolduc had nine each.
Pinkerton finished the season at six and twelve, never won more than two in a row, and were at five-hundred before ending the season losing seven out of their last eight, their only win in that stretch coming over Pembroke back on February 20. Suffice to say if they are to beat Central tonight, despite having played them somewhat close in their last meeting, it will be by far the biggest story of the year in New Hampshire High School Basketball.
That is because Central enters this game as a clear favorite to reach the state title game. This morning the Union Leader reported that sophomore
Tyler Roche approached coach Wheeler last week and offered his co-captaincy to Senior Mike Proulx, telling Wheeler he was impressed with how Proulx sacrifices his offense to get the ball where the team needs it. I will say this about Proulx, as I have been watching this Central team for weeks now--Proulx truly plays for the glory of no reward. He has a great athletic build but he's not all that tall, he doesn't stand out in warmups, and he has accepted the role of supporter to the big scorers on this team. You watch him run up and down the court during the course of the game, and then you're surprised when you look at the scoresheet and he only has eight or nine points. That doesn't get him much attention from reporters after the game, as they tend to swarm Carey and Roche, but it hasn't gone unnoticed by his teammates, with Roche making the very gracious gesture to relinquish his captaincy to Proulx. In return, Coach Wheeler has named Proulx a captain along side Roche and Sam Carey.
Pinkerton's only hope is to catch Central off-guard, but that's unlikely to happen. Last week, Nashua looked primed for an upset, getting out to a quick 8-0 lead and going to the locker rooms tied, but Central shook off the cobwebs, and Roche had 11 in the third quarter alone. I don't see any way the Astros can successfully shut-down both of Central's big guns tonight, and even if they do, that might help them keep it close like they were able to do the last time they faced Central, but they'll leave Proulx, Ben Gilde, and Matt Lemieux wide open, and all three of them can hit from long range. I do not see Pinkerton pulling off the upset tonight, and like I said, if they do, it will be the story of the night, if not the year.
High School Basketball's second season starts tonight. Reporting live from Manchester, this is John Doyle for Friday Night Lights, on Thursday, High School Sports in Action.
Still a Long Way from Seventeen
By John Doyle, the Sports Writer to Be
The Celtics have won five in a row. Well, whoop-dee-doo. Am I supposed to be excited about this? As they have done for years, the Celtics are now winning just enough to make New Englanders forget about any chance at a lottery pick in next year's draft, and to fool basketball fans into thinking this team even closely resembles a contender.
What a joke this is, and what an insult to real sports fans. It is indicative of another disturbing and well-entrenched trend in sports: contrived playoff formats designed to fool people in places like Boston into thinking their teams are actual contenders. The Boston Celtics are far off the NBA's Championship radar screen, and have been for years. Nevertheless, here we are in New England, relishing in the team's winning of five straight and believing that it means the Celtics should be counted among the league's elite, just because we get to watch the team play a few extra games come April. The Celtics' current playoff position is completely irrelevant, sadly, much like the rest of the NBA.
As unpopular as this sentiment must be, the Red Sox are in the same category. While the Sox are not wallowing in ineptitude like their basketball counterparts, the Sox also regularly benefit from a post-season format designed to create artificial championship contenders. The only reason the New England states were in such a frenzy over the Olde Town Team last autumn was because Major League Baseball decided to add a "Wild Card" to the playoff mix a decade earlier. This is a team that has finished in second place six times in a row, folks, and has done literally nothing with their three Wild Card "Championships."
I have long been an opponent of the "Wild Card" format in baseball. As a Red Sox fan, I am often confronted by others, reasoning that I must love the Wild Card, since the Red Sox have won it three times now. Yes, I point out, three times the Wild Card "Champion" and zero times the pennant winner.
I was just as excited as everyone else last fall when the Red Sox almost (Almost! Almost! ALMOST!) went to the World Series, and I certainly would have been overjoyed to see them win it all. The Red Sox were certainly a very good team, and gave everyone reason to believe they could finally vanquish the Yankees and represent the American League in the Fall Classic. A playoff system that includes three division winners, plus the best second-place team in a league--while not perfect--is still the best post-season format in sports.
The Celtics have won five straight, and for that should be applauded. The win over the Timberwolves last night was a highlight of an otherwise moribund season. But let's face it: the Celtics are still
eight games under five-hundred. Just because the NBA decides to include more than half of the league to participate in its post-season dance does not mean basketball fans in New England should start dreaming about Banner 17.
John Doyle is a freelance sportswriter from Dover, New Hampshire
Hey, I'm watching myself on television! Checking out Nashua-Central on the Comcast Varsity SportsZone. I'll have more to say about the sporting weekend in tomorrow's column, including the Nashua-Central game, last night's Keene-Dover Division II hockey playoff, and
the Sopranos season premiere. Until then, in an effort to expand our coverage to sports from all over the country, specifically the odd mix of New Hampshire and New Mexico, I hand today's blog over to John Valdez, who reports on this weekend's regional action in New Mexico boys' basketball.
Rio Grande 59, La Cueva 43
By John Valdez, unpaid contributor, Sportswriter to Be
We were able to get into the La Cueva Rio Grande game after all. We got to La Cueva about 5:00 and their was a huge line already comprised of Rio fans who had tickets. The ticket office was not going to open until 6:00 PM. While we were roaming the lobby, however, we bumped into the LC AD, who went back into the ticket office and got us some tickets so we would not have to wait in the line. We then got into the La Cueva line (line to get in, once you had a ticket), which had no people so we were actually first in the gym on the LC side. They took extraordinary steps to keep the two groups of fans physically separated. Rio definitely had more fans there, since a lot of Rio fans actually made it onto the La Cueva side.
Now for the game. In a word - brutal. It was probably the most physical basketball game I have witnessed. There were many bodies hitting the floor, a lot of near scuffles, just brutal. Rio Grande jumped out to a quick lead, built it up to about 9 points and maintained it. Both teams played great defense, something that surprised me about Rio since they seldom play good team D. La Cueva chipped the lead to 6 points often but got no closer in the first half. In the second quarter both teams only managed 8 points a piece - Rio took a 24 - 18 lead into the break. Tension was high as this one LC guy threw a punch at one of the Rio guys then threw a tantrum when he got to his seat. There was more physical play in the second half - Jake Bowe slammed into Harvey Hale, who was down for a long period of time. One of the Rio guys got into Bowe's grill and Bowe pushed him and wanted to fight - he should have been thrown out of the game. This one other LC guy got in D-Macs grill at one point as well.
Rio was able to maintain their lead but LC started to chip away and got within 4 midway through the 3rd quarter and I am thinking to myself "here comes a Rio choke since in their attempt to showboat, they missed several layups in a row and also missed several free throw attempts." But they were able to build it back up and then LC's best player - Jordan Pacheco fouled out of the game. Rio was then able to convert down at the end of the game to win 59-43 in a game that was a bit closer than indicated. Rio's crowd was huge and in the closing seconds, the Rio student body started teasing the LC students to which the LC students started chanting "football, football" but they were drowned out.
In the end, LC did not lose with dignity, they were a bunch of cry babies.
I was pretty surprised that Rio pulled it out and that they played defense like they did. They now play Eldorado at 3:30 PM on Thursday. The Lobos lost as well and apparently the overtime show was brutal.
