To be fair, Arkansas State is probably better than DePaul.
Louisville lost to Kenny Payne again last night, dropping their third straight attempt to earn their head coach his career-high fifth win of the season. We had some NIT hopes for the Cards entering this year. We do not have those hopes anymore. As plenty have said (I think they’re trying to convince the university to do to Payne what it tried to do to Koron Davis), it’s over. Kenny Payne won’t work out at Louisville, and it’s now a matter of when, not if, the coach is fired.
Sometimes, a coach is struggling, and you aren’t entirely sure why. This is how Danny Manning’s tenure went at Wake Forest. The teams kept entering seasons with some mild expectations, and then they’d end up bad, but there was enough respect for Danny Manning that people weren’t saying, “Danny Manning may truly go down as the worst head coach in the history of basketball” to a chorus of nods from around the room. Also, Danny Manning seemed like a normal dude in interviews. The kind of guy who should do just fine at interacting with people, which is a big part of being a coach. Kenny Payne, on the other hand, is a weirdo.
What’s great about college basketball is that Louisville could believably hire Jerome Tang this offseason and play their way to San Antonio in March of 2025. It’s unlikely (in a few ways), but it’s believable. What’s also great about college basketball is that right now, Kenny Payne is in it, and in seven days, his team is scheduled to host Kentucky. It’s almost inspiring to picture it.
The Steelers Are Also Toast (According to Big Ben)
I’m surprised we let Big Ben stick as a name for Ben Roethlisberger, in hindsight. He’s big, and he’s Ben, but it seemed too corny to work. Credit to those who persisted.
Anyway, “Maybe the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is done,” said Roethlisberger earlier this week, on an episode of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, a stirring tribute to stupid nicknames sticking around. Roethlisberger then criticized Mike Tomlin and lamented that no one on the current roster is holding the line and telling the rest of the team to stop playing like shit.
Roethlisberger talked about Steelers history during all of this, and I like that, but it is pretty funny to see the Steelers still with a winning record, having finished with a winning record last year, and to hear Roethlisberger say that it all might be over. Pack it up, folks. Condolences to Pittsburgh. You guys had a great run.
Are Suspensions a Form of Load Management?
I personally think Draymond Green should only be suspended in a way that complies with the NBA’s policy on load management. The NBA went to a lot of trouble crafting those rules so fans could see stars, and now the NBA’s going to hold out a star for the mere action of striking an opposing player in the head, unprovoked? Figure out what you want, Adam Silver.
Adam Silver has me hoodwinked. I was into the Pacers/Bucks game last night. I was buying the “new big rivalry” hype, and that was even before Nesmith vs. Giannis turned into Nesmith vs. Bobby Portis (a terrifying turn for young Aaron Nesmith). Milwaukee and Indianapolis fighting seems right and natural. All those mid-sized Midwestern cities have gotten too cozy with each other. I can’t believe the NBA is the organization stopping coziness, but that’s why we love these Bucks and these Pacers.
Retiring Joe Kelly’s Number
Joe Kelly made a great, great point yesterday when asked about giving number 17 to Shohei Ohtani:
“I wasn’t going to give it up to just anybody,” Kelly said. “If Shohei keeps performing, he’ll be a future Hall of Famer and I’ll be able to have my number retired. That’s the closest I’ll get to the Hall of Fame.”
Asked what Ohtani was giving him in return, Kelly said, “Oh, there’s a list, but no comment.”
Humble, for one thing. Clever, for another. What can’t this relief pitcher do?
Sens vs. Blues, Texas vs. Wisconsin, Shaka Smart vs. St. Thomas
Three big games tonight:
- The Sens are trying to get back to .500. I know little context other than that.
- Texas is playing Wisconsin in the women’s volleyball Final Four. Best Final Four outside of the NIT, WNIT, and WBIT, some might say.
- Marquette is playing St. Thomas. Weird school, St. Thomas. I’m worried they’re going to become good at a lot of stuff. That place has momentum. Although, maybe I shouldn’t be worried. It would be very funny to see the University of Minnesota lose what has long been an unearned, default place atop the Twin Cities college sports hierarchy.
