SPORTS HITS

The Memphis Tigers had a magical season in 2007-2008 when they registered 38 wins and a Trip to the Finals only to see the NCAA wipe it out because of NCAA rules violations. This is a blow to Memphis who also will be put on 3 years probation as well.

The violation all stemmed from a player with a fraudulent SAT score which was later found out to be Derrick Rose who is in the NBA right now. It is a shame that it has come to this, but that is what happens when you break the rules in the NCAA. They usually come down on you and hard in fact and Memphis is finding that out.

The University of Louisville is in a tight situation when it comes to this latest thing that has surface about Rick Pitino. They know they have to do something, but what will be fair and also make everyone happy. Pitino paid for an abortion for a women that he had sex with. Now I guess there are many different ways that you can look at it, but the University needs to take a stand or they face a bunch of backlash from a lot of different people.

I think that the right thing for them to do is suspend Coach Pitino for a certain amount of games during the season. This would send the point that the University of Louisville does not condone this kind of practice by one of their coaches. If they do nothing I think it will be must worse for the school and Rick Pitino. If they do something like a suspension it will show they care about people and do not tolerate employees of the University to act this way.

This week we lost an icon that thrilled everyone with his music and touched many lives. Most people do not equate Michael Jackson with sports, but his music still is used by ball players even after his death. After hearing of his death many Major League players asked to use some of his songs as they walk to the plate or out of the bullpen. Several Milwaukee Brewer players did and are planning to use them longer as a tribute and respect for the great entertainer.

Most people do not realize that Michael jackson crossed many different boundaries and sports was just another one that he touched. His music will be around forever and will be missed, but his legacy will live forever and you might just hear his music at your favorite ball park as well.

If you have been following Sports Hits for anytime you have realized that we love sports of all kinds and the people who play it. This is why I have come up with the Sports Hits Hall Of Fame. At the top of this blog you will see a link where you can click on to read everyday about our newest addition to the Hall Of Fame.

Now the people who will be added to the Sports Hits Hall Of Fame are players who may not have the stats you need to get to the regular Hall of Fame in their sport, but still made a valuable contribution to their teams and help them win. There are many deserving players out their so look for the first entry tomorrow. You can also send me nominations in on who you think should be there as well. It can come from any sport men or women does not matter. This should be a lot of fun and your input is always something I look forward to.

The one thing that has been missing from Kentucky Basketball in the last few years is star power, but since John Calipari has come on board as the Kentucky Wildcats College Basketball coach things have changed fast. Today John Wall one of the most prized high school basketball players has decided that Coach Calipari is the man he wants to play for. This gives Kentucky a great perimeter game with some newcomers and if Jodie Meeks decides not to go through the NBA draft process the Wildcats could be very tough indeed.

Probably the hardest thing that John Calipari will have to decide is giving all players enough playing time and shots. It seems Coach Calipari though is able to do that extremely well especially when he was at Memphis. Kentucky Wildcat fans have to be smiling right now knowing the program is headed in the right direction for a change.

Yahoo sports has reported that Tim Floyd paid a O.J. Mayo handler 1,000 dollars to help deliver Mayo to the USC Basketball program. Now this is something that if found out to be true is very disturbing to say the least. Mayo was a top player and runner-up rookie of the year in the NBA. The real question though in my mind is I will be surprise if this is not an isolated case at all. How many top universities pay handlers or mom’s and dad’s to influence their kids to come to a certain school?

I would bet that this happens more often then we want to admit.  In college sports the desire to win is so high these schools will do whatever it takes to get the job done and even if this means cheating by handing out money. I look for this trend to continue and Mayo and Floyd could just be the tip of the iceberg.

Michigan State fed off a home crowd and continue their unbelievable run as they defeated the UConn Huskies by a score of 82-73. Kalin Lucas scored 21 points and Raymar Morgan scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds to get out of a slump he had been in. The Spartans look like a team of destiny right now as many people picked them to lose to UConn, but they did the opposite and looked very impressive. With the win they now head to the Championship game Monday Night where they will play in front of a mostly home crowd.

For North Carolina they showed a talented Villanova team why many people think they are the most complete team in the tournament with a 83-69 win over the Wildcats. Ty Lawson tossed in 22 points and Wayne Ellington had 20 to lead the talented Tarheels to the easy win and a rematch with the Spartans. Earlier in the season Michigan State were blown out by North Carolina and it should be very interesting to see how well the Spartans handle the Tarheels this time around since there is much more on the line Monday Night.

This really should not come as much of a surprise to people in the College basketball world that John Calipari left Memphis for the money, lights of Kentucky Wildcat basketball. Calipari built a Memphis program into one of the elite in College Basketball  and has left it in real good shape. Calipari will receive eight year 31. 65 million dollar contract from Kentucky making him the highest paid coach in the nation.

Now with all this money comes high expectations and John Calipari knows this as well. Getting the Kentucky program turned around is in his hands and I guess we will see how well he does with it. Even if he does not turn the program around he got a nice fat check to at least try. Guess there is no recession in Kentucky basketball as they do have money to spend and they got the guy they wanted.

John Calipari has a very tough decision ahead of him and many people think he will leave Memphis for the University Of Kentucky and I am one of those people. Calipari has resurrected a Memphis program that was not very good and has them a National power and in very good shape. Kentucky will throw a lot of money his way, but I think for John Calipari it is the thrill of building something in Kentucky like he did in Memphis. If he does that he will be like a Saint to the Kentucky Wildcat fans.

Another reason that John Calipari likes the Kentucky job besides all the money and prestige he can also prove that Memphis was no fluke and he can coach with the best of them. It will be interesting to see which way he goes, but if I was a betting man I would say he leaves.

North Carolina knew that Blake Griffin could very well be the best player in the country, but many times one player cannot compete against a whole team and that is what happened to Oklahoma. Griffin did toss in 23 points, but Carolina got the 72-60 win to move on to Detroit and the Final Four. Carolina got 19 points from Ty Lawson and 18 points from Danny Green. Oklahoma was basically a one man show and against an experienced team like North Carolina you need everyone to step up which did not happen for the Sooners so they are going home and the Tarheels are moving on.

Louisville was the number one overall seed and so far have been playing like that as well, but someone forgot to tell the Michigan State Spartans that bit of information. Michigan State used a stingy defense to shut down the high powered cardinal offense and rolled to a 64-52 win. Goran Suton had 19 points and 10 rebounds to help pace the Spartans who will be playing in front of a home crowd in Detroit when they take on UConn in the Final Four.