The "Etc." Part of the Title

A little baseball commentary. It does not matter one bit if Barry Bonds breaks the home run record. I don't even believe he will because of his mental and physical state, but if he does it will last oh, less than 10 years. Then when it is broken we will have a real battle for history's greatest slugger title. The debate will rage over two names, Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols. A-Rod will be at 500 homers next season and is well on his way to bulldozing Hammerin' Hank's 755. Alex will reach that plateau around 37, which is 5 years ahead of when ole' Bonds may do it. That is assuming Alex continues in great health and is producing around 40 HR/Year, which is not a stretch for him. If we assume that Rodriguez plays until 40, which may be underestimating, he will end with a grand total of around 850. That is amazing, but Albert Pujols will put his name right up there too. The man is a masterpiece. Pujols is 26, had 200 home runs in 5 years, and is rolling early this year. At this pace, Pujols will be arriving at 800 around 40 years of age. So this historic race which may all happen within 5 years of each other, will come down to injuries, longevity, and a lot of luck. So Bonds doubters do not need to worry, because A-Rod and Albert will eat up whatever home run record is in their way.

John's Gone, Who's Next?

Now that John Calipari has withdrawn his name from the NC State coaching search it is time to move on. This was disappointing but not a devastating blow to the NCSU head coaching search. If any of the Wolfpack fans banked on pulling a top tier coach away from their schools, you were out of your mind. It was worth trying because of course Rick Barnes and John Calipari were the best available, but there are more great coaches.

1. John Brady- John has done a marvelous job rebuilding LSU. He is great at local recruiting and he is in the same situation at LSU that he would be at NCSU. At LSU he had to find the good hidden talent around the south because the great players were going elsewhere in the SEC. He could do wonders because he really has not developed a style of play and seems to coach to the strengths of his players, such was the case with Glen Davis and Tyrus Thomas when he built a very deliberate offense.

2. Billy Gillespie- Texas A&M head coach could be a great long term solution at NC State. He has quickly built A&M into a respectable Big 12 team and has also worked around his schools inability to recruit. Gillespie runs a guard oriented offense which suits the present team here. Billy could become the face of NCSU for years to come.

3. Gregg Marshall- Marshall knows how to get the most out of his players. He pushes his team harder than most coaches I have seen and has a great ability to motivate his team. If it wasn't for a miracle shot by Chris Lofton of Tennessee, Winthrop would have made a lot of noise in the NCAA's.

Calipari Could Signal A Wolf Resurgence

It is said, and is as close to fact as possible, that John Calipari and his staff will be coming to Raleigh in the next 24 hours to tour the basketball facilities and possibly accept the job. Some people say that John may be using the situation for leverage with his own contract at Memphis. I accepted the sentiment until I heard he was coming for a tour, which seems extreme for leverage. Memphis news radio is also reporting that he is all but gone. They are debating new coaches and who is to blame for the loss of Calipari. John Calipari's arrival at NC State could mark a shift in power around the Triangle. That is not to say NC State will suddenly win the ACC next year over vastly more talented UNC and Duke teams, but Calipari has a history of winning quickly and if his success continues, the ACC and the entire country may be seeing the revival of Wolfpack nation. All Cal needs are a few recruits and to maintain that charisma that will have donors dropping a ton of cash in the sleeping giant that is NC State basketball. I firmly disagree with those who argue NC State will never compete with the rest of the state because they have in the past, and with John Calipari at the helm, there is no reason to think they can't return.

This Blog Has Been Hijacked

This is now a NC State coaching search blog until we have a coach.
(As of 9:00 pm)

Rumors abound that John Calipari, Memphis Head Coach, is to be interviewed this weekend, or has already been offered the job. Many may think that if it has progressed to this point it would be widely reported, but Calipari, more than likely, needs to keep this quiet until a decision has been reached.

Rick Barnes has not left the equation yet. Many reports have surfaced that NC State is waiting for Rick before they go after another coach. If these rumors are true than Barnes is holding this search hostage as he debates, much like Brett Favre and the Packers.

Billy Gillispie has been reported as the third option in the search. Billy is an up and coming coach who, if he came to Raleigh, could be here for a long time. He has not, reportedly, been contacted by NC State as of this time.

If NC State lands a big time coach it will be a success for an athletic department with more than a few strikes against it. Lee Fowler's legacy here hinges on this decision in my opinion. NC State's fan base would go crazy for either of the two charismatic coaches, or the long term choice in Gillispie. Look for any of these coaches hiring to signal a boost in donations and support for Wolfpack basketball.

NC State Coaching Search

Now that Herb Sendek has left unceremoniously, its time for the Wolfpack to look towards the future. I'll give you my top two in terms of who I believe Lee Fowler is looking at.

1. Rick Barnes: Barnes is an ACC boy. He has a history with the conference and a very public hatred for UNC, both pros for NC State. He is also very accessible to the students of Texas and shows much more emotion than stone faced Sendek did. Barnes has been a proven program builder, and has won at Providence, Clemson, and has done his best job at Texas. Barnes is ideal, but what it will come down to is whether or not he cares more about staying with the top 5 program he helped build or if he is tired of playing second fiddle to the football program, resulting in poor fan attendance.
2. John Calipari: Calipari is one of the best recruiters in the Country and has won everywhere he has been. John has expressed displeasure with C-USA's lack of competition after the Big East raid. Memphis was a good transitional school for Calipari due to his questionable exit from UMass. Calipari is actually very good at graduating players if you look at the rates before and after he arrived. John also has the appeal of being able to prepare his kids for the pros because of his experience with Nets. He was also cleared of any wrong doing in the Marcus Camby debacle by the NCAA.

Other Possible Coaches:
Tubby Smith, Jay Wright, Mark Turgeon

Florida Wins, I Guess...

I have been taken down a notch, along with every analyst in the nation, by teams like George Mason and Florida. I gave you real reasons to pick every other game of the tournament, but because 99 percent of you don't have this final, here is why Florida should win, but I'll give you my last resort reason to pick UCLA.

Good Reasons:
1. Florida has the coach. Billy Donovan has been here before and will have learned from his mistakes in the past, this is all new for Ben Howland and Co.

2. Florida has the big men. Joakim Noah and Al Horford have been amazing throughout the season and unstoppable in the postseason. It is much easier to handle big time pressure when you can always resort to dumping it down low to your bigs.

3. Florida has the X Factor. Corey Brewer is the least hyped star of this season. He comes up with big shot after big shot and really stabilizes this young team when they are in trouble. He is the leading returning scorer this season and is a nightmare matchup for other teams at 6-7.

The Real Reason: UCLA HAS THE COLOR!

Last year UNC, blue, beat Illinois, orange, in the finals. This year UCLA, blue, will beat Florida, orange. This is the best I can give you. Blue > Orange.

Florida should win, but the colors don't lie and I my real logic has let me down too often this Tournament.

Weekend Thoughts

Many may say that this weekends games were boring, and if all you look for is that last second drama, than it was. I, on the other hand, was not bored at all by the Final Four. UCLA played one of the most complete games I have seen this entire season. UCLA played stifling defense, shutting down Glen Davis and Tyrus Thomas, and played their possession limiting style on the other end. Mbah A Moute was the true inside presence with his 17 points and 9 rebounds. Mbah A Moute was the offensive key and Lorenzo Mata was the key to shutting down LSU on the inside. LSU's true offensive inability was revealed when the guards went 3 for 15 from the field.

Now on to an off the floor development that is close to my heart. Herb Sendek, head basketball coach at NC State, left for Arizona State this weekend. He did get a substantial pay raise, but Arizona State is no more than a lateral move, it actually is a downgrade for Herb. So Mr. Sendek must have had other reasons. The fact is that the wolfpack fans ran him out of town. The fans at NC State could not accept that UNC and Duke are the dominant basketball programs and it simply takes a long time to achieve that. But his poor record against in state rivals is not the issue. The issue is Herb's demeanor. NCSU fans love their flamboyant, obnoxious football coach who has not produced to near the point of Sendek. Chuck Amato has done the least with the most talent of any head football coach in the country, and should be ashamed of the job he has done the last few years. Herb Sendek, on the other hand, has to find the diamonds in the rough, and only gets the second tier players who want to play in the Triangle, and has found a way to reach the NCAAs five years running. The fact is that NC State has not been an elite basketball program since the days of David Thompson. Jimmy V's national championship was a miracle and may have been a bad thing in the long run for this program because it inflated the fan base's expectations to unreachable levels. The Wolfpack ran an elite coach out of town because he does not shoot his mouth off, like their beloved Amato, and because he couldn't consistently beat two of the top five programs in the country, congratulations NC State, you ran off one of the best coaches in the country.