1. Chris Beard Might Transfer
I don’t know if Chris Beard, best known for getting fired at Texas after a domestic violence incident Beard’s lawyer implied Beard didn’t take seriously, intended to shop himself for other jobs when he turned down the NIT in his current role as Ole Miss’s basketball coach, saying he needed to focus on the transfer portal. I don’t know if he was talking about recruiting other transfers, or if he meant that he himself was going to effectively transfer. I do know that Ole Miss hasn’t yet landed a single transfer, and that with the Arkansas job opening as Eric Musselman goes to USC, Chris Beard’s name is heavily involved in the rumor mill.
Imagine being a Mississippi fan here. Your school stuck its neck out for a guy with a very recent checkered past, he gave you one season in which the program made progress, and you’re now realizing he might have cut that season short in order to look for a better place to go. Your administration sacrificed moral credibility only to be used as a launching pad. You didn’t even get an NIT game out of the deal.
2. All NIT Transportation Went Smoothly This Year
In light of UConn’s NCAA-ordered plane dealing with mechanical trouble last night, something which resulted in another plane being flown to Connecticut and the Huskies arriving in Phoenix around 6:00 AM Connecticut time, we would like to point out that the NIT delivered all teams to their proper locations at their proper times (knock on wood—Indiana State still has to bus back and Seton Hall still has to fly back after the championship tonight). Is the NIT also run by the NCAA? Yes. Was UConn more a victim of circumstance than an NCAA failure? Yes. If UConn wants non-Allegiant planes, it can lobby its fellow schools to give their NCAA the money to ditch Allegiant. The NCAA is the schools, as always. But don’t look that hard, guys. We have a good NIT narrative here.
3. Joe Kelly Still Has It
Joe Kelly turned in a 1-2-3 inning last night, complete with a pair of strikeouts. It kept the Dodgers’ lead at one. They went on to win by one. Those concerns after Saturday and Monday? Abated. We knew things looked better on Monday. Our guy is back to full capacity once again. Just in time for us to watch him pitch tomorrow at Wrigley Field.
