RumblinFumblinStumblin.com

Some quick notes from yesterday’s action:

Texas A&M struggled with a feisty Kansas State, but ended up getting the win (which tells me a lot about the squads ability to gut it out and get a W when they’re not playing their best). Huggy Bear is apparently reading

RFS now, since the Mildcats shifted much of their PG duties. Despite losing Bill Walker early to what appeared to be a knee injury, K-State impressed me with their play in a hostile environment. They were way better than the team I saw earlier in the week against Xavier.

Creighton rode Isaac Miles and Anthony Tolliver to a second half run and a convincing win at Evansville. With the exceptions of away games at Missouri State, Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa, and Wichita State, I wouldn’t expect Creighton to be getting points in any more games this year (barring significant injuries).

I only saw the last 10 minutes of the game, but LSU appeared to be in control against UConn. “Never tested”, if you read the racing forms. Not unexpected, since I think that was only UConn’s second road game and Baton Rouge is a brutal venue. UConn will still hold their own with the top 4 teams in the Big East and destroy the weak bottom 2/3 of the conference.

Washington State controlled ‘Zony, but gave it away at the end of regulation with an out of control point guard and allowing some big 3s (I’ll admit they were contested). No worries in Pullman though, because they controlled overtime as well and stormed the court at the end. Very few things bring a tear to RFS’ eye like a good old fashioned court-storming against perenially overrated, underperforming ‘Zony. I was very impressed by Chase Budinger though - if he stays in school he will easily be an All-American.

I didn’t watch Indy State, Okie State, or Bradley. But the Trees won outright (as hypothesized right here), the Cowboys missed covering by a 1/2 point, and Bradley made Drake Illy State’s buddy in the MVC cellar.

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TODAY’S PICKS:

(2 units) Wichita State + 5.5 @ Missouri State - This pick is strictly spread-based. While I understand that college basketball is a home court advantage unlike any other in sports, these teams are too evenly matched to hang 5 1/2 points around Mo State’s neck. 3 would be tougher. Plus, you have to consider the fact that Mark Turgeon and the Shocks have OWNED Barry Hinson and the Bears for quite some time. Maybe that means Mo State is due, but I’m willing to say there’s a 60% chance that the Shocks are ready to get back on track and continue climbing the Valley standings. Either way… 5 1/2 is too much.

(2 units) Michigan State + 5.5 @ Indiana - Many of the same comments as the previous game regarding the spread. I haven’t seen the Spartans play since they beat Texas early in the season, and Indiana impressed me with their pressure D against a feisty Southern Illinois team. Unless there’s some Michigan State injuries of which I’m not aware, they can win this one outright. Either way… 5 1/2 is too much.

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Otto the Orange says “Just keep Wu away from me!”

(1 unit) Syracuse + 3 @ Marquette - If there’s one team that I hate picking more than Arizona, it’s probably Syracuse. Particularly on the road, where you have the UConn-type “hey Coach, I thought we were playing every game at home this year” factor. To put a stat on it, ‘Cuse has played 15 games so far this year, and ONE of them was on the road. At Canisius. For comparative purposes, Wichita State plays it’s 15th game of the year today - it’s 8th road game.

However, ‘Cuse does have a scary amount of talent, a sense that they belong at the very top of the Big East, and a loss this week to Pitt in the Carrier Dome. They need this one, so I’ll take the points.

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Cumulative Prognostication Record: 42-33-4 (56%)

Cumulative Prognostication Net Units: +6
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Popularity: 4% [?]

As a new feature on RFS, we’re doing Top 5 Plus 1 (T5P1)on any and everything imaginable. Send in your thoughts on future lists, although I may have to run them by Shooter or Chitwood first.

The first T5P1 covers something I alluded to in my NBA Notebook #1 - my “All Warrior Team”.

I originally thought I was going to do college only, but then I decided to do NBA only. THEN I decided to do a mixture. To summarize… this topic is open for comment. I looked at lists of All-Americans from past years (which is ridiculously difficult to find - if you have a good link for historical NCAA basketball reference, send it to me), and then I thought about guys that may not have made the list but that I would have loved to play on the same team with.

Here’s what I came up with (in no particular order, after Sir Charles):

Charles Barkley (aka The Round Mound of Rebound) - Undisputed, and Captain of the All-Warrior Team. Some guys have been tougher players, some guys have been better players. But nobody was this far out on the “efficient frontier” of those two criteria.

If you have a problem with this, please see the “Fredo” commentary in this post.

Sir Charles played at Auburn and was quite possibly the most overachieving (given his 6′5″ height versus his 3/4 position and his body composition) NBA player in the history of the league.

I posted the NBA Superstars video of him in NBA Notebook #1. Awesome. But this one is better.

Holy crap. I think I started sweating while watching those 76ers highlights. Two thoughts on the video:

(1) The block at 0:54 was awesome

(2) His step-back 3-pointer on David Robinson at 2:52 was something to behold (I witnessed it in person). I happen to think that David Robinson is one of the classiest individuals I’ve ever seen, but… I couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit when:

(a) He and Barkley came into that playoff game as the #1 and #2 MVP contenders

(b) Barkley outplayed him, including that game-winning dagger, and

(c) During a timeout just before Barkley hit that shot, the “David Robinson #50 MVP” banner that was hanging from the bottom of the scoreboard… unraveled onto midcourt. It seemed like the basketball gods were casting their vote.

Kenyon Martin (aka K-Mart) - This guy always gets after it. I was never a huge Cincy fan, but I always tuned in to watch K-Mart play. I was genuinely disappointed when he broke his leg.

And if you’re a loyalty type of guy, you probably respect the fact that - after Bob Huggins was fired by Cincy - K-Mart told his PR guys to delete from the program the fact that he graduated from Cincinnati. Some good dunks in the video, but they don’t get across the “warrior” part.

(NOTE - lots of language in the music playing with the video)

The guy plays with emotion. I like that.

Brian Cardinal - This is my obscure reference, but for anybody who watched a lot of college ball in the 90s… you know what I’m talking about. This guy was a 6′8″ or so forward that was on the floor after loose balls more than anybody I’ve ever seen in my life. Couldn’t jump, couldn’t run, couldn’t… anything. But he threw ‘bows and got on the floor and got it done.

A classic, prototypical Gene Keady-type of player. I have absolutely no connection to Purdue whatsoever (except for an encounter with Gene Keady when I was 12, but that’s another story), but I always watched Cardinal when I had the chance.

Just trust me on this one. Plus, he gets bonus points for looking like a 35 year old man when he was a senior in college.

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Calvin Murphy - I don’t have any video, I don’t have any firsthand knowledge, and I don’t have anything else to prove this.

Except that I’ve read from multiple sources that just about everybody in the ABA and NBA was afraid of 5′9″ Calvin Murphy.

When Kermit Washington knocked out Rudy T, bystanders worried that Calvin Murphy - one of Rudy’s best friends - would actually KILL Kermit. Who knows if that was true (Kermit was 6′9″), but the very fact that people were worried about it says something.

There are other stories I’ve heard as well, so Calvin gets the only Guard spot on my All-Warrior team.

Xavier McDaniel (aka X-Man) - Last, but certainly not least, is the X-Man. The first collegiate player to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding in the same season, he is RFS his ownself’s favorite college basketball player of all-time (I watched him play in person).

Believe me, there was nobody like X. I wish I could find some video, but I honestly haven’t seen a player since him attack the other team like he did. Literally.

Check out this picture of him choking the ever-loving crap out of Wes Matthews in the middle of a game. Can you imagine the s#!tstorm that would occur if something like that happened today? Think Spree/Carleisimo times 100.

I said… GIMME YOUR LUNCH MONEY!

On top of that, he was an All-Star and a 20 point scorer.

And on top of THAT, he was a movie star (probably the greatest sports cameo in history in the movie Singles; Kareem in Airplane doesn’t count as a cameo, if you’re wondering).

Additional stories about the X-Man:

-Legend has it that when he arrived on campus during his freshman year at Wichita State, he walked up to All-Americans and bookend junior forwards Antoine Carr and Cliff Levingston and said

“So which one of you guys is going to sit down?”

-In a heated rivalry game against Tulsa, he had to be restrained from going after forward Brian Rahilly. Wide-eyed, yelling, and pointing his finger from across the court… and that was just heading into the tunnel at halftime. I’ll ask again - when’s the last time you saw something like that happen in college basketball?

-During his 1984-1985 quest to become the first player to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding, Bradley Braves coach Stan Albeck mentioned to a sportswriter that he thought X’s stats were padded at home games.

Bad move, Stan.

According to legend, after X heard about it he paced up and down the aisle of the plane for the entire trip to Peoria, fuming. According to fact, he dropped 30 points and pulled down 20 boards against Bradley.

-When asked why he had punched an opposing team’s player, X replied:

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“Well… I saw he was coming at me, so I hit him first in self-defense.”
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I think my “Plus One” is going to be Allen Iverson. The beating that guy has taken, combined with his stature, combined with his stats, combined with stuff like the fact that a 5′11″ guy led the NBA in FT’s during one season is just absolutely ridiculous.

So, in summary:

THE RFS ALL-WARRIOR TEAM:

Charles Barkley
Xavier McDaniel
Kenyon Martin
Calvin Murphy
Brian Cardinal
and
Allen Iverson

Also considered - Warren Jabali, Wes Unseld, Maurice Lucas

Let me know what you think (especially you, RFS Chief Basketball Commentator Dan “Chitwood” McGillicuddy). I’m sure I left somebody out…

As always, use the comment box or send questions. I have a new email address for the website - rumblin@gmail.com

Popularity: 15% [?]

What do I like to do? Flotsam… jetsam… screw.

If you’re bored (or know someone who is - this means you, Shooter), make sure to check the “Flotsam” and “Jetsam” pages at the left of the site.

I won’t always have the time/inclination/inspiration/whatever to post something meaningful (keep your punch lines to yourselves, please), but I’ll throw stuff in there that I thought was either interesting or entertaining.

To commemorate the introduction of Flotsam and Jetsam, I’ve got two great video clips.

The first is relevant because (1) it’s one of my favorite Homer Simpson scenes, and (2) it mentions the website name that I almost chose instead of RumblinFumblinStumblin.com*

Plus, you just can’t argue with Homer Simpson doing a Tony Montana impersonation:

The second one is from Family Guy. I was ambivalent about this show until I saw the following clip, afterwards I felt like it had the potential to be better than The Simpsons. Whether that’s because I genuinely thought the show was funny or that I couldn’t the gott-&*^% mutha-%^&*$%# song out of my head… I can’t really say.

Whew. Consider yourself fairly warned that for each time you listen to that song, it stays in your head for 12 hours.

High Five,

RFS

*P.S. - The website name that I almost chose was “cockystrideandmuskyodor.com”. In the end, though, I decided that I was appealing to a higher-income demographic and should act accordingly.

Popularity: 3% [?]

This one’s for you, Huggy Bear!

(1 unit) Texas A&M - 13.5 vs. Kansas State - That spread is a testament to just how much Billy Clyde’s Fightin’ Texas Aggies have been drilling people (101-27 vs. Grambling, for example). If only there were some way to search for things on the internet, I would (1) look up where the Aggies rank in terms of victory margin, and (2) name that search-mechanism something whimsical like “Smoogle” or something.

Anyhoo - I hate that spread (only because a 25 point margin can shrink to 13 pretty quickly once guys abandon the offense and start jacking it up), but I love the dynamics. The Mildcats have Bill Walker, who will continue to develop as a force during the conference season (since he wasn’t eligible until Dec. 17th). The Aggies have great defense, a potent offense, experience from taking #1 UCLA to the wire in SoCal, and a team concept.

Kansas State has none of those. In addition, K-State has a point guard that should be at the 2-spot. Just watch and you’ll understand - he’s not a point guard. My prediction is that the Aggies force at least 5 turnovers off him and score 20 points off the break.

Gig ‘Em!!!

I was rolling my eyes at first, but I ended up being impressed after (1) he switched hands, and (2) I tried to do it.

(2 units) Creighton + 1 @ Evansville - Creighton has absolutely CRUSHED my picks so far this year. But I still believe in them for the following reasons:

Nate Funk is warrior.

Tolliver is one of the best big men in the country.

Dana Altman is one of the best coaches in the country.

Creighton’s talent level is superior.

E-ville is… E-ville. Don’t get me wrong - I love the program, but there’s no way they should be favored at home against Creighton.

Although… they do have one of the best mascots in college basketball. His name is Ace Purple, and he is - I am not making this up - based on a turn-of-the-century riverboat gambler. If anybody finds a link to a picture of the living mascot, please post the link in the comments section. Either way, he looks like a pimp and has a feather in his hat:

You Guys Playin’ Cards?

(2 units) LSU - 5 vs. UConn - I’m not particularly impressed with UConn, but in my opinion LSU has a killer instinct that UConn doesn’t. This is going to be a wildly entertaining, up-and-down game, but I think LSU handles them unless Big Buh-Davis (my new nickname for Glenn “Big Baby” Davis) gets into foul trouble. Watch it if you can.

(1 unit) Washington State + 2 vs. ‘Zony - Probably a stupid pick, but there’s never a bad time to pick against ‘Zony.

(1 unit) Indy State + 6 @ Illy State - Illy State has their backs to the wall, being winless in conference with a nice amount of talent on their squad. But 6 is too much. Look for the Trees to very possibly win this one outright and stake a claim to the upper echelon of the feeding frenzy that is the Missouri Valley Conference.

(1 unit) Oklahoma State - 13.5 vs. Baylor - I don’t have many thoughts on this other than “uhhhhh… Okie State is gonna whomp ‘em”. Baylor is better than people think and will test some teams this year though.

(1 unit) Drake - 3 vs. Bradley - Part of me says that Bradley is ready to rebound from the butt-stomping they received at Wichy-Taw State earlier in the week, but the rest of me says that Drake is winless and therefore has their backs against the wall and is very aware that Jeremy Crouch is still out for Bradley. Crouch is Bradley’s best guard, and Drake and Dr. Tom Davis play a lot of full-court pressure D. Do the math. Also, circle this date on the calendar because Drake is only favored in a game once every few decades.

Happy Hunting, and check back here in future for a new RFS basketball feature.

Sincerestly,

RFS

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Cumulative Prognostication Record: 38-30-4 (56%)

Cumulative Prognostication Net Units: +3
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Popularity: 4% [?]

The more you eat, the more you… pray?

Since it’s New Year’s Eve and everybody’s celebrating and otherwise whooping it up, I’ve decided to nominate the Honorable Reverend Robert Tilton as RFS’ official noisemaker.

This video is an oldie but a goodie, and it also serves as a litmus test for RFS readers.

In other words, if you do not find this amusing, you:

a) are unconscious, or

b) have a sense of humor that has developed beyond that of a 12 year old boy.

In either case, you should not be reading RFS.

Anyhoo, here’s the clip (***WARNING*** - there’s no profanity or nudity, but make sure the volume is adjusted if you’re in sensitive surroundings).

The facial expression and maniacal laugh at :30 is my favorite. Make sure you watch that one twice:

The editing/timing on that was just out-dad-gum-standing. As you’ve probably guessed, I don’t have a whole lot of patience with televangelists bilking bedridden, desperate, or otherwise downtrodden people out of their money.

Bottom line - if you can watch that (especially after a couple of liquid refreshments) without chuckling, giggling, laughing, or shedding tears… this is all I have to say to you:

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RFS Reader, you’re nothing to me now. You’re not a brother, you’re not a reader, you’re not a friend. I don’t want to know you or what you do. I don’t want to see you in the Comments section, I don’t want you near my domain name. When you look at Derrich.com, I want to know a day in advance, so I won’t be there. You understand?

I know it was you, RFS Reader. You broke my heart. You broke my heart!
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Much to your relief, I will refrain from kissing RFS traitors on the mouth unless you send me a picture and a recent blood test. All applicants must pass the following:

RFS Hepatitis Test (negative)

RFS Uterus Test (positive)

RFS Chromosome Test (46’s only).

Okay, maybe there’s some wiggle room on the first and the third. But don’t test me. Especially on the third one - I don’t want 4-H coming after my arse (again).

Back to the topic at hand - there’s plenty of these videos on YouTube, so I’ll only post one more. Make sure to notice him speaking in tongues at 1:48:

So… I think I can sum it up best by paraphrasing a well-known Christmas carol:

RFS wishes you a Merry Christmas
RFS wishes you a Merry Christmas
RFS wishes you a Merry Christmas
And a

POO-BA-BA-KAN-DA!!!!

Onward and Upward,

RFS

PS - Drive safe and remember… it’s Amateur Night.

Popularity: 14% [?]