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St. John's
With four walk-ons and a handful of scholarship players, the Red Storm -- talking about shuttering the program a week ago -- beat Georgetown.
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The Lead Item
Two Words For You:
TOTAL. BUFFOON.
Gary Barnett gave me the best sports moment of
my life as a fan: Northwestern's Rose Bowl run in
1995. Cripes, I even wrote about him for Page 2's "My
Hero" package last year. I'm embarrassed by that this
morning.
It's not even a "Say it ain't so!" moment, like
it is for other fans who become appalled at their
one-time heroes. Throughout this scandal, he's
revealed nothing but a self-serving, double-dealing
side that I realize truly reflects who he is.
But I renounce him now: For the shoddy state of his football program (but it's
not as if his time at NU was taint-free)...
For his inexcusable, Hall-of-Fame insensitive and
likely job-obliterating comments about former player
and alleged rape victim Katie Hnida...
And, only the latest, as he pondered his removal as
coach yesterday, a classic non-apology apology over
those comments, best left to his own words:
"I sincerely regret that yesterday a portion of my
remarks were either misinterpreted or taken out of
context, and I apologize for answering that question
in a manner where I must have come across as
insensitive..."
What?! Barnett certainly isn't worthy of his
job anymore, and he sure as hell isn't worthy of
anyone's admiration.
Rasheed Trade?
Biggest NBA trade rumor: Rasheed
Wallace, who really wants to be in New York,
will probably end up in Detroit for the rest of this
season (before being given a money/mouth opportunity
with the Knicks this summer).
NBA trade deadline: 3 ET
What About AI?
Not on the block (yet): Allen
Iverson, but all the conventional wisdom has him being
dealt in this summer's mega-trade. So he's staying in
Philly for now? Oh, that'll make for a fun
spring.
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THE MOMENTUM METER |
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| WHO'S GOT THE MOMENTUM ... |
Nets coach Lawrence "Doogie" Frank: Wins 10th in a row
St. Joe's: 23-0 (See Road to Perfection, "Q It Up," right)
Chicago Cubs: From NL's cursed to NL's top contender |
| ... AND WHO'S GOT NO MO' |
Colorado admin: Not just Barnett; it's their fault, too
BoSox's John Henry: Salary cap? Boss right: "Sour grapes"
Ho. Dean as candidate: But what about as vote-broker? |
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Cards Sign Pujols
If there's a larger lesson for other
teams watching the A-Rod deal (or even Maddux's), it's
that for the ideal player, money shouldn't be an
obstruction.
The Cardinals came to their senses and signed
Top 5 superstar Albert Pujols to a 7-yr/$100 million
deal. And, hey, if they're hamstrung by the deal in
two or three years, they can always pawn him off to
the Yankees. (The pathetic part: Can't you see him
actually ending up in New York before seven years are
up?)
Boss vs. Henry
Bud Selig has stepped in and told
George Steinbrenner and John Henry to stop squabbling,
but that's a mistake: Two ultra-rich titans in the
verbal equivalent of backyard wrestling makes for
great entertainment.
The Boss got the last (damning) word: "Unlike
the Yankees, [Henry] chose not to go the extra
distance for his fans in Boston." Ouch (but kind
of true).
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Duke Loses ... Again
Time to panic? Nah: No shame in losing
to Wake Forest at their place. The L doesn't even drop
Duke out of the NCAA Tourney's four top seeds, given
the strength of the ACC.
And Duke's remaining schedule is favorable:
Maryland, G-Tech and UNC all at home (with an oddly
scheduled home game vs. Valpo -- hunh? -- next
Thursday).
Wake won't be Duke's last regular-season loss, though:
That'll come at Florida State a week from Sunday.
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Colorado president
Betsy Hoffman:
Barnett's comments were beyond awful, but at some point (should have been sooner) responsibility lies with CU's top leader.
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Today on ESPN.com
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| P2: Hottest Male Athlete! |
| CBB: Bracketology |
| Fantasy Baseball: Sign up now! |
|
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5 NBA Stars
Who Could Use
a Trade to
a New Team |  Kobe Bryant
| Show he can do it alone
|  Allen Iverson
| Could fill seats anywhere
|  Tracy McGrady
| Maxed out in Orlando?
|  Chris Webber
| Kings don't even need him
|  Vince Carter
| | Raptors going nowhere |
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Breaking out of Bay Area: The 49ers considering
waiving QB Jeff Garcia over his expensive contract,
which he won't restructure...
Meanwhile, before Joe Gibbs trades for Mark Brunell,
he should keep an eye on the situation in
SF...
More NBA trade-deadline fodder: Other names being
floated around include Erick Dampier, Chucky Atkins,
Kurt Thomas, Malik Rose, Aaron McKie, Jerome
Williams... excited yet?
Please, please, please: Let last night's replay of
Gary Payton fighting Speedy Claxton NOT be Glove
trying to chew on Speedy's face...
Fans of Terrell Owens, don't worry: He'll get around
to naming your team as a desired destination soon
enough...
Shout-out to PTI on their 500th episode; re-play your
favorite PTI segments online (and on-demand) with
ESPN.com Insider...
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