basketball

LEBRON’S LAST DECISION IS TAKING HIS TALENTS TO THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE

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Once again the basketball world had to wait on the great Lebron James to make a decision about where he would play next season. James ended an 8 year run with the LA Lakers which resulted in one NBA title in 2020. Multiple teams were in on the Lebron sweepstakes such as the Warriors, and few of his former teams such as the Heat along with the Cavaliers. Finally Lebron calls it the last decision for his record breaking 24th season in the NBA. He will be taking his talents to Rocky Town and has signed a two year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. It was not for the money as the King gets a two year deal worth only 8 million & he made close to 53 million in his last year with the Lakers. Lebron will be trying to get his 5th NBA ring while helping the 76ers break a 43 year drought since their last title.

The last time the Philadelphia 76ers won the title you have to go back to 1983. Since that title, the 76ers have made the conference finals twice which the last one was in 2019 where the Toronto Raptors knocked out Philadelphia in a game 7. The NBA just saw the New York Knicks break a 53 year drought when they beat the San Antonio Spurs several weeks ago. Over the last several years we have seen different teams snap championship droughts. In 2019 the Raptors won their first NBA title. In 2021 the Milwaukee Bucks won their second title and snapped their drought of decades without a championship. In 2023 the Denver Nuggets won their first title ever. In 2025 the Oklahoma Thunder captured their first ever title. The city of Brotherly Love has seen their Eagles win two NFL Superbowls in 2018 and 2025. The Phillies won the World Series back in 2008. The Flyers, like the 76ers, have been in a drought from their last Stanley Cup title which was back in 1975.

Is Lebron James the golden goose the 76ers need to put them over the top? Last year the 76ers had a 45-37 regular season record and made it to the second round of the NBA post-season. The 76ers were swept by the next champions, the Knicks, that ended their season. Lebron James has won at least 1 championship for each franchise he has played for. The Lakers was in 2020. He helped the Cleveland Cavaliers capture their first title in his second stint with the organization. Then when he took his talents to South Beach, he helped the Miami Heat net two championships. James has been to 10 NBA finals and is 4-6 in those championship series. Lebron averaged 20.9 points a game last year. He played in 60 games in his final season as a Laker. He averaged 6.1 rebounds per game while dishing out 7.2 assists per game. He is still a very productive player, but he knew he had to bring his price down if he wanted a chance to get a 5th ring with somebody. Lebron has all the records and is decorated like a few Generals with the hardware he has earned playing in the NBA.

The Lebron James signing is a big move by the Philadelphia 76ers, but it was not their biggest off-season move. The 76ers acquired Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics. With Celtics star Jayson Tatum out most of the season last year, it was Brown that stepped up and had Boston landing the number two seed in the Eastern conference. Brown had his best season of his career and finished in the top 6 of the MVP voting. The 76ers also have two other talented names to throw at you in Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. The eastern conference is wide open. Boston becomes weaker. Will the Heat rise with the trade landing the former Milwaukee Buck, Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Cavaliers with Donovan Mitchell have been a threat the last few seasons. Both the Heat and Cavaliers would be sitting pretty if the last decision involved James picking them. The Knicks will also be a threat looking to defend their magical run from last year. Once again James has weaseled himself into a great situation. In James’ head, he may not be a zombie but certainly could be Michael Jordan’s six pack of rings. That may be the only thing fueling the King after he crossed off playing with his son last year with the Lakers. If James struggles and falls flat on his face, the Philly fans will let his last decision be regretful.

COULD LEBRON JAMES JOIN FORCES WITH SETH CURRY AND THE WARRIORS?

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Is another dream team being formed right in front of our own eyes this off-season in the NBA? It did not take Lebron James very long to make a decision this go around as he informed the Lakers he’s taking his talents elsewhere. The King James is a free agent so we are expecting an hour long show on ESPN to tell us where he will be playing basketball next year. Some of the NBA experts think he should go back home and suit up for his third stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers have done fine without James. Could he be the final piece of the pie of Cleveland to get them back in the NBA finals? The biggest rumor out there is the Golden State Warriors have interest in signing Lebron James’ services. Once upon a time ago sworn enemies of Seth Curry teams were facing James teams in the NBA finals & that has happened 4 times. Now pairing Curry and James together sounds like the Warriors are bringing King Kong and Godzilla together to retake the NBA from the youth gone wild on the hardwood floors.

Lebron James is 41 years of age and will be returning for his 24th NBA season which is Tom Brady-like on the football field in his career. Lebron played with son Bronny James last year as they were teammates in the NBA playing as father and son on the Lakers. You can cross that off the bucket list. Lebron has all kinds of NBA records to himself. Most games played. He became the all-time leading scorer breaking Kareem Addul-Jabar’s record of most points all-time. He broke a pair of Michael Jordan’s records of most post-season wins and post-season scoring record. However he does not have Air Jordan’s six pack of championships. Lebron has played in 10 total championships and has won 4 of them. He won a pair with the Miami Heat in 2012 & ’13. That’s when he left Cleveland the first time and took his talents to South Beach. Then in his second stint with Cleveland in a wild NBA final, Lebron rallied his team against Seth Curry and the Warriors being down in that championship series in 2016. Then he helped the Lakers win another championship during the pandemic year of 2020. He has 4 championships and Curry has 4. It would be a long shot for James to get three more to break Jordan’s record of six. Two would be very hard as well. Going to Golden State maybe he has a shot for one more title at his age.

The last time the Golden State Warriors were in the NBA finals was in 2022 when they won their 4th championship. Seth Curry’s Golden State Warriors have been to 6 NBA finals as they won 4 titles in a group that is a legit dynasty. The Warriors have beaten Lebron-lead teams three times out of four in the NBA finals. Steve Kerr is still the head coach of the Warriors. Draymond Green is still the Warriors power forward. Green is still playing at a high level with his long tenured teammate, Curry. The splash brothers have been split up as Klay Thompson just finished his second season with the Mavericks. Has Jimmy Buckets, aka Jimmy Butler, wore out the welcome of another franchise? Butler has had some injuries in the last two seasons with the Warriors. It seems like Butler did not have the best finish to last regular season as the Warriors missed the post-season. In 2025 the Curry Butler dynamic duo went all the way to the Western Conference finals to end up losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves. What will happen to Butler if Lebron joins the team? Does he stay or does he go?

When Lebron James had his hour special and made the decision to take his talents to South Beach, he also persuaded free agent Chris Bosh to join him. Bosh played for the Raptors and signed with Miami to play for the Heat and Dwayne Wade to form the big three in their line up. It was a master plan that won two championships. For the Warriors, the plan may be to sign James and trade away Jimmy Butler. Then contact the Washington Wizards to pry away Lebron’s former Lakers teammate, Anthony Davis, who was traded there from the Mavericks. Rumor has it Davis does not want to play for the Wizards. As you remember, Davis won a title with Lebron in the 2020 season playing in LA for the Lakers. Lots of dominoes have to fall to get all this aging talents to the Bay.

Think about if the Golden State starting line up next year is Seth Curry, Lebron James, Draymond Green, Anthony Davis, and the 5th player right now is unknown. My first thought is ratings, ratings, and then ratings. Like location, location, location they say for starting your own business. This line up is an aging dream team line up. Maybe five years ago this line up would rule the NBA. A few injuries and lack of bench play because you invested too much money into this line up could easily derail your season. Imagine fitting James and Davis on the Warriors roster; you have to get rid of Jimmy Butler and perhaps a few other guys. Your depth on your roster will dwindle as you have to pick up cheap alternatives to help the roster. Which may be guys also on their last legs. Curry and James helped the U.S. team win the gold medal playing together in 2024. That seems like a long time ago in basketball years which equals to dog years.You may not find a quick chemistry with all these guys. Sure Davis and James have played together. So has Curry and Green. Not all 4 of these guys and the player named later in the starting line up have. The Warriors will gobble up television ratings with this group. I think this group could make the post-season as well. I think the day of getting all these aging superstars together are over in the NBA. The red rover game calling, “Let Jimmy come over.” Which is a good thing. You are seeing more teams build through the draft and become very successful doing so. If only the NBA could add defense into their game. Maybe play the game of basketball instead of chucking up threes every possession. Not calling a foul if a player sneezes would be better entertainment than getting the retirement home on one roster expecting them to pull off the miracle in beating the younger talent of the NBA half their age group.

BULLS ARE GOING BRAZILIAN STYLE AS THEIR NEW HEAD COACH

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The Chicago Bulls have found their replacement for Billy Donovan who stepped down from his duties several weeks back as head coach of the team. The Bulls brass must have liked what they saw from the Portland Trail Blazers interim head coach Tiago Splitter who is 41 years of age and got his big break last year starting the season working as an assistant. It took federal charges and the removal of the Trail Blazers original head coach, Chauncey Billups, who’s been in hot water being involved in an illegal gambling scheme to promote Splitter early on last season. Splitter ran with and compiled up a winning record of 42-39 in the Western conference. Which was good enough to be the number 7th seed in post-season. Why didn’t the Trail Blazers resign Splitter and remove the interim tag and make him their head coach for the future and beyond? Is this another “Another’s person junk, is the Bulls treasure type of move” by Chicago?

Tiago Splitter played 7 seasons in the NBA. Before the San Antonio Spurs drafted Splitter he was playing professional basketball overseas. San Antonio drafted the Brazilian 28th in the first round of the 2007 NBA draft. He made his NBA debut in 2010 and helped the Spurs win a title in 2014. He spent 5 seasons in San Antonio & then moved on and played one season in Atlanta. He concluded his career with the Philadelphia 76ers where he only managed to play in 8 games his final season which was 2016-17. He played mostly center his entire career as he stands at 6’11”. He did play some power forward as well. He averaged 7.9 points per game along with grabbing 5.0 rebounds per game. He averaged 1.2 assists per game as well. He played in 355 NBA games which does not count all the games he played elsewhere. In 2018 he joined the Nets as a scout and was part of the player development staff. In 2023 & ’24 he went into coaching as he was an assistant for Ime Udoka who was head coach of the Rockets. Then he went to the Euro league as he became a head coach in their 2024-25 season. Then he returned to the states and took the assistant job with the Trail Blazers that led him to the head coaching gig.

Tiago Splitter broke some long droughts in only one season being the guy out in Portland. Splitter’s winning season in his first season being head coach of the Blazers, you have to go back to 2001-02 when Maurice Cheeks came in and won right away. He also became the first Trail Blazer head coach in his debut season to win a post-season game. Splitter and his Trail Blazers were quickly dispatched in round 1 but they did win one game out of that best of 7. Mike Dunleavy was the last to win a post-season game in his debut. That was the 1997-98 season. Some things the Trail Blazers did well this season under Splitter was their last 51 regular season games they were a top 10 defense in the league. Wow, actual defense in the NBA. The Trail Blazers had a 30-21 record during that span. Another cool stat under Splitter as a team is they led the league in 2nd chance points. Rebounding and defense is a perfect recipe for winning basketball games. Instead of just chucking up the three pointer every chance you get and not rebounding to get the ball back.

Why did the Trail Blazers let Tiago Splitter walk out the door? From the players perspective, all of them who played for Splitter last year liked him as a head coach. The Trail Blazers have a new owner of the franchise in Tom Dundon, the same guy that owns the Carolina Hurricanes who just won the Stanley Cup. He is somehow not a fan of Splitter. Dundon’s search for a coach will a be guy they can get at a lower cost. This has worked for Dundon with the Hurricanes by giving the job to Rob Brind’Amour, a former player that played for Carolina as his first head coaching gig. He actually helped the Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup in 2006 as a player. Brind’Amour took the family discount to get the job and it has paid off with multiple trips going deep into post season and now this season has another title for the Hurricanes.

The Bulls don’t have new ownership but they did clean out the front office getting rid of all their top guys. They hired Bryson Graham as the Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Bulls. This is Graham’s hire. The Bulls are in a a rebuilding stage right now. It seems after the Michael Jordan era came to an end, that all the Bulls have been doing is rebuilding. The Bulls have Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis as their core pieces right now on this roster. The Bulls have the number 4th pick in the NBA draft coming up. They also have the number 15 in the first round as well. This hire by the Bulls, your first instinct has you thinking just another guy they picked up on the scrap heap. I’m not sure this hire by the Bulls will be good, bad, or ugly. It depends on how this franchise builds this roster. What kind of talent will they have? It sounds like they will be looking to land a bigger type of guys with athletic skills. They sound like they want to play solid defense. Tiago Splitter and Graham will have the time to build this team without the pressure of winning right away. You’re basically building from the ground up again. I like the fact that Splitter has played for a winning franchise and won it all with the Spurs. When the head coaching job went to him last season because of Chauncey Billups’ federal charges, he did not back down. He turned a bad situation and an opportunity for himself into a head coaching job without the interim tag attached to it. Splitter is not a screamer or will be going ballistic on his players. He does hold his players accountable which in today’s NBA world is a totally different challenge than yesterday’s NBA. In a few seasons, the Bulls may be a scrappy bunch that you will root for because they will be doing the dirty things that need to be done to win games in the NBA. Instead of just shooting three pointers on each possession. I hope the Brazilian flavor to this franchise is what it needs to turn this awful organization around. Bulls nation has been waiting long enough. This may be one of the most exciting rebuilds in sometime.

THE HOT SAUCE KING OF CHICAGO WILL BE MISSED BY BULLS NATION

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In a shocking story over the weekend, the news came out about the passing of Chicago Bulls broadcaster Stacey King. It shows you life can be way too short. According to ESPN’s Davod Kaplan, it was a fall that punched the ticket of King at the age of 59, which is totally unfair. King not only gave you insight into Bulls games from 2006 until present times. He was drafted by the Bulls and helped Chicago win three titles. King was a part of the first three-peat championship teams that featured Michael Jordan, Horace Grant, and Scottie Pippen. As a broadcaster, his broadcasts dialed you in like if he was calling the game on your couch drinking a few beers. The words “hot sauce” are what he used to describe an incredible three point shot. He used plenty of humor and still gave you the X’s and O’s of the game itself. Stacey King has been a part of the Bulls organization for 25 seasons. Five as a player and 20 calling the games on television.

The Chicago Bulls drafted Stacey King in the first round of the 1989 NBA draft, 6th overall. He played 8 seasons in the NBA and 5 of them were with the Bulls from 1989 until 1994. He also suited up for the Heat, Celtics, Timberwolves, and his last team he played for in the NBA was the Mavericks in 1996-97. King played for two teams in his 8th season in the NBA. He played 5 games with the Celtics & then 6 with Dallas. In the NBA he played in 438 regular season games. He averaged 6.4 points per game, 3.3 rebounds per game, and 0.9 assists per game in the regular season. He played another 61 games in post season where he averaged 5.0 point per game, 2.2 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. In his NBA career, King played some center and power forward. In college King was a true scorer at Oklahoma. If King played for a bottom feeder team in the NBA, he may have been that elite scorer he was during his college career. He always expressed he loved winning more and the Bulls were going deep in the post-season at the time only to be eliminated by the Detroit Pistons. After his NBA career was over, he still had the itch to play longer. King went overseas and played for 2 countries: Turkey and Argentina. He also played for Sioux Falls in the CBA which was at the time the Continental Basketball League. King after that went into coaching with two CBA teams: Rockford Lightning and Sioux Falls Skyforce. King would play professional basketball for over 10 years.

In 2006 Stacey King joined the Bulls broadcast. After 1 year he was promoted to lead color commentator on the Bulls television broadcasts. It did not take Stacey very long to win over all of Bulls nation with his game analysis. His signature nicknames for players like the Windy City Assassin for point guard and Chicago guy, Derek Rose. For Jimmy Butler it was Jimmy G Buckets. The G would stand for Gets. He always had some great one-liners over the years such as, “Where’s my poster machine?” He’d be referring to an amazing play on the court by a Bulls player. Then he would say, “Drive home safely, Chicago! Beep, beep!” That would be his sign off phrase to end the telecasts. “Give Me the hot sauce,” started with Kyle Korver’s three pointers when he would get red hot and rain down three’s all night long. For an explosive dunk he’d go with, “Asik and destroy.” For any Bulls player like Butler or Rose going strong for a shot through the middle of traffic and making it. He would say “Too big! Too strong! Too fast! Too Good!” The hot sauce saying led to a podcast for Stacey.

When he was a player, he had clever sayings to reporters. His best comment came when he said, “Jordan and I combined to score 70 points tonight.” Referring to one of Michael Jordan’s famous games where he scored 69 points. It was true they did combine for 70 points because Stacey had 1 point that game. On the court he helped win championships doing whatever he was asked to do. He obviously did the dirty work because he was not scoring a ton of points every night. He became a better announcer with his personality than playing the game. After the Jordan years, Bulls basketball has been nothing special. Yes, the Derek Rose years were solid until his serious knee injury changed that team. Throw in a few other teams that did well & made post-season only to be eliminated in the first round. Stacey had those teams with plenty of bad years mixed in between the teams that had a good year. No matter what, he kept you entertained. Since I started watching sports in the 4 main teams of the Chicago sports landscape, we have had some great announcers. More homers than trying to call both sides of the coin. In baseball we had the great Ken the Hawk Harrelson, Steve Stone, and Harry Carry. Harry and the Hawk had the slogans, the play calls, & the one liners like Stacey has. Pat Foley and Eddie Olczyk for the Blackhawks along with Troy Murray were amazing at painting the picture. One of the best Bulls announcers was Johnny Kerr who called the games Stacey played in. Then the Bears’ Jeff Joniak calling, “TOUCHDOWN BEARS,” just dances inside your head like sugar plums do the night before Christmas. I’m sure I have forgotten some great announcers for all these teams in Chicago. I’m sure before I was born all these teams had some great personalities. Either on the radio air waves or the voice on your television set. For Stacey King he will go down as one of the best all-time on Chicago television at calling the game the right way. He sounded like one of those guys that sit next you on the bar stool in your favorite watering hole. Great laughs & great insight. He seemed like a great dude as a human being. Good, bad, or ugly you never leave not entertained. He will be very hard to replaced. He will be missed. He will never be forgotten. It sucks that a freak accident can do that to whoever. I give my condolences to the King family. Thanks for the great memories on the court and on my television set. RIP STACEY!!! We loved you, man!!

BILLY DONOVAN IS BETTER OFF WITHOUT THE BULLS DRAGGING HIS COACHING CAREER INTO THE SEWER

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After six seasons with the Chicago Bulls, Billy Donovan is stepping down as the team’s head coach. This comes after the cleaning out of the Bulls front office. The Bulls Vice President of Basketball Operations, Arturas Karnisovas, and the General Manager, Marc Eversley, got their walking papers. The Bulls owner, Jerry Reinsdorf, and his son Michael, who is the CEO & President of the Bulls, wanted to retain Donovan as the team’s head coach. Whoever you hired would have to pretty much agree to keeping Donovan instead of hiring their own guy. Donovan may have felt handcuffed continuing down the road with the Bulls organization. Relying on buffoons to hire top notch front office people to help the sinking ship which is this basketball organization. This is the organization that has given Donovan nothing but dark clouds over his coaching legacy. You know he wants to revive his coaching career somewhere else in the NBA or back on the hardwood floors of the college game. He will be in big demand. They say it was mutual agreement, but you know Donovan wanted out of this shipwreck where he was treading water instead of jumping off the ship earlier with the women and children.

Billy Donovan is 60 years of age and has been a head coach in the NBA for 11 seasons. Before taking the Chicago Bulls job, he made the post-season every year as the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder, which was 5 straight seasons. His record with the Thunder was 243-157. In 6 seasons coaching the Bulls, Donovan had a losing record of 226-252. This past season the Bulls record was 31-51 and as usual, the franchise missed the post-season once again. Under Donovan the Bulls only made the post-season once, in 2022. The Bulls were quickly eliminated only winning one game in that 2022 opening round of the post-season. Overall Donovan still has a winning record in the NBA as a head coach because of what he did in Oklahoma City. In 11 seasons he has a 469-413 record. In post-season he has certainly failed there. In 46 games in post-season he has a 19-27 record

Billy Donovan may want to go back to the college game where he really had more success as a coach than he did in the pros. His college record is insane!!! His record is 502-206 in 19 seasons with the University of Florida and two seasons with Marshall. For the Gators his record was 467-186. He led the Gators to back to back NCAA National Championships back in 2006 & ’07. He has guided 14 teams to the March Madness NCAA tournament. He has gotten 4 teams to the Final 4. You could see some of the basketball power houses wanting Donovan’s services. If only this had occurred earlier, Donovan could have landed the North Carolina University gig that went to Mike Malone instead. There were questions about whether Billy Self was coming back to Kansas University next season. Self did say he is returning to the Jayhawks next season. Donovan would be an upgrade over Self if Kansas decided to make a change. In the college game, coaches are more hands on and get the say on which players they do want. The NBA has a general manager and a team that creates the roster which the head coach may have some say or majority of the say on roster moves. Certainly Donovan would still know how to recruit the talent which would be like riding a bike for him. He may have to get used to the transfer portal where these players are like free agents.

The Chicago Bulls have not really done much on the court since Michael Jordan left the building. Yes, the Bulls had some solid years with Derek Rose. Then after Rose wrecked his knee, the team returned to subpar basketball. It does not surprise me that Billy Donovan’s house in Chicago went on the market like the next day when the news came out he was stepping down. You take the Jordan years away from this franchise & it would be totally pathetic. Phil Jackson has the most wins ever in Bulls franchise history with 545. Which makes sense because he had Jordan and that group winning 6 titles. Dick Motta in the late 60’s and 70’s is second all-time on the Bulls head coach list with 356 wins. Then the guy the Bulls fired because they blamed Tom Thibodeau for destroying Rose’s knee. Thibs had 255 wins. Then comes Donovan with his 226 wins, a guy who only took 1 team to the post-season. The Bulls franchise still employs John Paxton who was promoted after a dismal run operating the front office for years. You wonder why Donovan has fled the scene. He knows how this dysfunctional franchise operates as he saw it up close and personal for 6 years. I would not blame Donovan for going back to the college game. What the NBA game has become is a joke. No defense. Shooting three pointers all night long running up high scores. Going back to the college game is what made guys like Donovan fall in love with the sport. The recruitment process. Building the program from scratch. Then watching your program turn over talent like a basketball power house factory. The game itself. With defense. Sure the three pointer is still popular. Feeding the ball down to the big man and letting him do his stuff is an art that seems to die off on the NBA courts. My gut feeling is Donovan will have some university coming soon to the March Madness tournament. I hope it’s some kind of small potatoes school where he revives the program. See the love of the game back on his face instead of hus NBA career ending with dark clouds in Chicago. With a train wreck of a franchise that is not going anywhere any time soon.

THE FIGHTING ILLINI MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM HAVE BEEN MORE “HEARTBREAK CITY” THAN “LIVING THE DREAM”

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On Saturday night, March 28th, the University of Illinois beat one of their big ten rivals to advance to the Final 4 for the first time since 2005 in the NCAA March Madness tournament. It’s the Fighting Illini’s 6th time in school history making it to the Final 4 which doesn’t come very often. Unlike most of the other basketball factories that hold a spot in the tournament like owning Boardwalk on the Monopoly board. Illinois was awarded a 3 seed in the tournament and late on Thursday night in the sweet 16 game, they dismantled the number two seed of Houston who made it to the big dance last season. On Saturday night they had to play the highest seed left in the tournament, the number 9 Iowa Hawkeyes who got to the Elite 8 because they knocked off the first number 1 seed of the tournament, the Florida Gators. Watching University of Illinois sports is similar to watching all the Chicago professional sports in life which is more heartbreak than championships. To add more misery to my already wounded inner self, I’m a big fan of the Buffalo Bills. I don’t pick the winners very often and I never ride the bandwagon. Sniffing glue and drinking have been mechanisms to get through the roller coaster of emotions watching the local Chicagoland sports. The Fighting Illini basketball program making it to the Final 4 only comes around about the same amount of time that Haley’s Comet lights up the skies. It takes the comet 17 years where it takes Illinois University over 20 years to do so. Iowa played Illinois tough throughout most of that game, but the Fighting Illini prevailed 71-59 at the end. When they do make it to the Final 4, it’s special. Around the bend afterwards is just more heartache as it always ends badly.

Before the 2004-05 college basketball season began, Illinois had to get a new head coach because Bill Self left the program for Kansas University. Bruce Weber had his work cut out for him. Billy Selfish did leave him a solid program to work with. The starting five featured Dee Brown, Luther Head, Deron Williams, Roger Powell, and James Augustine. In 2005 University of Illinois had an epic comeback win versus Arizona in the Elite 8. The Fighting Illini were down 16 points with less than 4 minutes to play. Many people will tell you about the game of basketball that if you wait to the last two minutes of the game, anything can happen. Why bother watching the rest of the game? Just tune in for the last two minutes. With less than 60 seconds Illinois was able to overcome the Wildcats’ 8 point lead. It was Williams’ three point shot that sent the game to over tie. In OT Williams added another two 3 pointers with an impressive Powell dunk to skin the cats and advance to the Final 4 with a 90-89 win. Illinois came into the 2005 tournament as number 1 seed. In the Final 4 they beat up on the Cardinals from Louisville University to make it to the championship. They were 37-1 when they played the Tarheels of North Carolina in the championship. As most of the time in college basketball, the powerhouses always come away with the hardware as NC ended the dream season of Illinois beating them 75-70. I remember Illinois had all kinds of foul trouble in that one, which was my biggest take on that game. Yes, it could have been different if some of their top guys did not have to sit long periods of that game.

Let’s flashback to 1989 and talk about the “Flyin’ Illini” that Dick Vitale called that squad back in the late 80’s. With another talented dream team assembled by the University of Illinois that featured some guys that went on to play in the NBA for years after college. Like Nick Anderson and Kendall Gill. They were solid from 1-5 with guys like Kenny Battle, Lowell Hamilton, and Stephon Bardo with Anderson and Gill, so this team was amazing. In 1989 Illinois squared off against their division arch rival the Wolverines from Michigan in an epic battle. It was a game that had 33 lead changes. Before the Wolverines played a single game in the NCAA March Madness tournament in ’89, they had to deal with the University firing their head coach. Steve Fisher took over and Michigan played some inspired basketball. Back then Michigan’s star was Glen Rice who went on to the NBA. For Illinois, Battle had a huge game scoring 29 points while snatching 11 rebounds. The fighting Illini were coached by Lou Henson in ’89. It was a great season that came up short in a heartbreaking loss of 83-81. Two stinking points that kept a solid team from getting to the National Championship. The Fighting Illini would finish 31-5 for the season.

The present day Illinois program definitely has the European flavor throughout the roster. Brad Underwood is the head coach of the Fighting Illini and he recruited some top star talent across the pond. Guys like David Mirkovic and Andrej Stjakovic. Andrej’s father is NBA legend Peja Stojakovic who played for those great San Antonio Spurs teams with Tim Duncan. Since Underwood has taken over as head coach, the Fighting Illini have been a staple in the March Madness tournament. In 2021 Underwood had assembled a different class of talent and the team came into the tournament as a number 1 seed. In the 2nd round, they unfortunately lost to number 8 Loyola Chicago. This year’s team was one of the tallest teams in the tournament. They were very good at shooting the three pointer along with being solid rebounding the ball. Especially all the second chances they got on the offensive boards. The Illini defense was very solid during the tournament as if Underwood turned a switch. They finished the season with a 29-9 overall record and made it to the Final 4. The defense played well versus UCONN, a basketball powerhouse. The Huskies would prevail 71-62 as the Illinois team’s shooting went cold. The thing you have to like about this present day Illinois team is they are young and if Underwood keeps his core together and adds talent, they could be back in the Final 4 in 2027.

I thought with the University of Michigan in the Final 4, it would have been awesome to see two teams in the National Championship. The Wolverines ended up being the champs as they beat UCONN in the championship. The last time Michigan won the tournament was when they beat Seton Hall in 1989. I thought perhaps the basketball gods were paving the way for Illinois to slay their past demons and beat the Wolverines this go around. Once again Illinois being part of the Chicago sports landscape means you don’t get to live those kind of dreams. In 1989 I was in 8th grade and when Michigan beat Illinois, I let my emotions get the best of me and kicked the couch, hurting my ankle doing it. Not very smart. When Illinois beat Arizona in that crazy comeback, I was at an Easter party on my dad’s side of the family. Seeing my Dad’s sister meant my Aunt Dorie lead the family to the main bar of the restaurant where the television was to root on the Illini was priceless. She was a huge basketball fan. In any sports as a fan, we get great memories but also have to deal with the bad endings. This year’s Final 4 team saw the Illini shot suddenly went cold. It is always something. You hope this team will get back to the Final 4 next season. As we hope all our teams we root for rebound and get back to win it all. However history tells us we see men’s Fighting Illini basketball back in the Final 4, about 20 years from their lost to UCONN. Maybe that will be the team to win the first ever National championship for basketball for the Fighting Illini. Maybe by then the refs will be replaced by robots. Remember when you thought for a fraction of about 30 seconds that this Illini team had a chance to win it all? You were thinking of even purchasing a shirt or something that said your team won. Like a snap of someone else’s fingers, the dream is dead. I don’t think it’s even heartbreak anymore. I think you’d be accustomed to it like a police detective solving murders and seeing bloody corpses all the time. If you stop dreaming, you stop watching. You have to really be getting sick of waiting until next season.

ROD STRICKLAND HAS CREATED SOME TEETH IN THE LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL PROGRAM

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Every March Madness tournament I always have to look up a university wondering where the institution came from. These are the universities that make the best Cinderella teams. That’s where the Madness name comes from, seeing schools most of the country has never heard of take down a basketball powerhouse from time to time. Most of these schools come in as 16 seeds. Only two 16 seeds in the history of the tournament have upset a number 1 seed. We always remember Fairleigh Dickinson and the first school ever to accomplish this task, UMBC. This year I had to look up High Point University as they came in as a number 12 seed and took down the Badgers of Wisconsin University. My first guess on High Point was that they were located somewhere in the Rockies like Colorado. They are from North Carolina. Schools like Lehigh and Prairie View A&M, Queens, and Cal Baptist sound like community colleges. One question I had was what LIU stood for. I found out they were Long Island University which is easy to determine they are from New York. Nicknamed the Sharks. They have a great story with former NBA star Rod Strickland as their head coach. LIU only won three games in Strickland’s first season 4 years ago as they were the worst basketball university in the country. To turn this program around that quickly is an amazing job. It’s nice to get to the dance. Then to face the Wildcats of Arizona University and go up against the odds of trying to be the 3rd 16th seed to knock out a number 1 is a David versus Goliath kind of match up. Strickland Sharks are not Great Whites.

Rod Strickland’s last year in the NBA was in 2005. He was originally drafted by the New York Knicks in the 1988 NBA draft in the first round 19th overall from DePaul University. He would debut for the Knicks, his hometown team, in 1988 as Strickland is a Bronx native. He would not last very long in his town. Only parts of two seasons. Strickland was a point guard who lasted 17 seasons in the NBA. Nicknamed Hot Rod or was referred to as Lightning Round for his play on the hardwood courts. He would be remembered mostly for playing with the Portland Trailblazers or Washington Bullets at the time as he played in those two cities for 5 seasons each. He was a basketball mutt who also suited up for the Spurs, Heat, Timber Wolves, Magic, Rockets, and Raptors. In 17 seasons, Hot Rod averaged 13.2 points per game, 3.7 rebounds per game and dishing out the ball 7.3 times a game. He definitely had a solid basketball career his entire life. After basketball he got into coaching. He was the program manager in the NBA G-league before the opportunity of coaching in his home state came along with the Sharks. Strickland is 59 years of age and looks like a guy that is starting to grasp the head coaching job at the college level and constructing a long term solid program for the University which they really never had in their history.

LIU hails from the North East conference. The Sharks won the NEC tournament to get the automatic bid for the NCAA tournament. The Sharks also won the NEC conference with a 15-3 record this season. In 2025 LIU finished with a 17-16 record overall. They were 12-4 in their conference play and finished second in the standings. This year they finished with a 24-11 record and dominated at home with 14-1 record. Rod Strickland after the NBA and before the G-league at a administrative role at the University of Kentucky under head coach John Calipari. Hot Rod also served as an assistant coach for Southern Florida. In the NBA G-league he evaluated while educating along with mentoring top high school players to prepare them for a path to the NBA. You could see how Strickland took all his tools he learned along the way and used them in his first head coaching job with Long Island University. LIU is a small school, so he will not always get the top players who will most of the times get scooped up by bigger schools. Strickland’s work on the court has shown with guard Greg Gordon who was NEC defensive player of the year. Plus he earned NEC tournament MVP honors. I love the fact Strickland comes from the NBA when the league actually played defense. This LIU is known for playing very well defending the 3 point line. Obviously the Wild Cats were too much to handle for Strickland’s bunch. This would have been an even better story if the Sharks took a huge bite out of the pussy cats from the desert. They would have been the Cinderella story if they knocked out the Wildcats. We may be seeing the start of a basket ball program on the rise with Strickland being in charge of things. Maybe next year this team will earn it’s first single digit seed in the NCAA Tournament. I wouldn’t mind seeing this school become a staple in the tournament for years to come. I just need to purchase a Sharks hoodie and I’ll be a fan of theirs for years to come and hope they take a bite out out the next basketball powerhouse. This time gobble them up like a Great White would do! Fins up for LIU’s future!!!

It’s Long Island University first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2018. In 2018 LIU had to battle it out making the First 4 of the tournament in which they lost to another 16th seed Radford. This year Hot Rod had the Sharks a step better than the 2018 team as LIU came in as a 16 and avoided the first 4 part of the tournament. The first time the school made the tournament, you have to go back to 1981 when they came in as a 12 seed. In 1984 LIU had their best seed in their tournament life as a number 11 seed. That year they lost a close one to Northwestern University. Originally they were the Brooklyn Blackbirds as they captured two NIT championships. The first in 1939 and the second in ’41. In 1951 several Blackbird players were implicated in a point shaving scandal. The University had to shut down their athletic program for a few seasons. The Brooklyn Blackbirds would eventually merge two athletic programs with the LIU Pioneers in 2019 and were renamed the Sharks. With the first round loss to the Wildcats yesterday, the school is now 0-8 all-time in the NCAA tournament and has never been a single seed.

SEX TOY SNIPERS HAUNTING THE WNBA

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The manhunt continues from last week when this man above threw a sex toy in the stands during a WNBA game in New York. The Dallas Wings were visiting the New York Liberty. The NYPD released this sex toy sniper picture – a guy wearing an Ohio State University ball cap and Beavis and Butthead tee shirt. The sex toy ended up hitting a 12 year old girl as his aim was totally off. This has been a common thing lately in the WNBA, as sex toys have been launched from the stands onto the hardwood courts throughout the league. Two questions come to my mind. Why sex toys? How are they getting them in the arena? Many dirty minds are probably thinking what I’m thinking, even though I do not want to go there.

Last week in Phoenix, Arizona an 18 year male was arrested in Phoenix following the game between the Mercury and the visiting Connecticut Sun. Kaden Lopez was detained inside the arena where his sexual toy missed as well & hit another fan and their 9 year old niece. Lopez appeared in court booked on suspicion of disorderly contact, assault, & public display of explicit sexual material. Before this incident, Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham claimed she was close to being hit with an unidentified flying object on the court. The league does not how many incidents like this have occurred. Because not all objects land on the court. Some of the objects may hit nothing. How many incidents go unreported?

The WNBA was founded in 1996 and the very first season of professional women’s basketball was in 1997. The WNBA has grown since and has become a very popular league as their following has increased since the beginning. It seems like the league the last two seasons has made more negative headlines then positive. Starting with the drug arrest of Brittany Griner in Russia. Eventually it took a prisoner trade to get her back to the states which included handing over a notorious weapons dealer. Then the welcome committee who greeted Caitlin Clark on the court with flagrant fouls after flagrant fouls that led to multiple technicals. Clark played her college ball at the University of Iowa and set a new record for all-time points scored in NCAA Women’s Basketball. She will be the next superstar of the WNBA or could be right now. Recently at the WNBA all-star game in warm ups, all the players wore black tee shirts during warm up that said to the league, “Pay us what you owe us.”

It looks like the league could experience a lock out, walk out, or a strike in the future if the WNBA does not negotiate a new deal. All these stories every sports fan hears over which WNBA team won the entire thing last season.

The WNBA is not only league where fans throw the sex toys on the field. The Bills Mafia representing Buffalo in the NFL have made it rain dildos. Only team it seems the sex toys fly from the Buffalo skies at, is New England. I can relate because I think Tom Brady is a dildo. I feel the WNBA has a different sex toy sniper than a football fan base trying to make a point versus a guy and team they can not stand. In any sport you can’t treat it like the Coliseum watching the gladiator fights in Rome back in the day where anything goes. The guy in New York who right now is the most wanted fugitive in the big apple looks like a guy that has not done well with the ladies. I would probably bet money that Kaden Lopez is another guy that can’t relate to the opposite sex. In my opinion and giving an estimate, I’m sure a good portion of the WNBA are lesbians. You can’t treat anybody, whatever they believe in, like common fugitives perhaps those being the people back in day fighting in gladiator fights. These sex toy snipers are hitting more innocent victims than their targets on the hardwood court. That is always a pleasant conversation explaining to your nine year old niece what that rubber looking thing is.

I like my little nephews and nieces learning about their private parts watching good movies like Kindergarten Cop. These women on the court are not going to stop and give the perv who just threw a sex toy at them a demonstration. These sex toy snipers have to have a mother, a sister, and perhaps if they wise up a wife and a daughter. Good luck Mr. Lopez explaining your actions at 18 years of age going to a sex store or perhaps even swiping it from home. Now you’re on the social media where everyone will know about you the rest of your life because you thought that is a good time. Maybe it could be his, or the guy wearing the Beavis & Butthead shirt probably owned his own. Things like this have been going on for decades. If the WNBA wants to stop this, you have to do better in the security line before the games. You see in most of these sporting events these security guards look at every women’s purse like they have some bomb inside. Start padding down these pervs and hold them accountable before the game starts. I’m not interested in going to a women’s basketball game. I watch women’s sports occasionally here and there. These women athletes play hard and it is entertaining. I have too many leagues to follow. Every time I do come across something in professional women’s basketball, it’s been dark clouds over the WNBA in the last two years. When you buy a ticket you don’t have the right to throw stuff on to the ice, court, or field to try to injure a player. Someone in hockey scores a hat trick they let it rain hats. Women should not be treated like gladiator fighters. The old saying says to treat people the way you want to be treated. When you go somewhere, treat the place like home. Pick up your garbage. No one is throwing sex toys in the kitchen when mama is cooking.

THIBODEAU ONCE AGAIN THE SCAPEGOAT OF A BAD BASKETBALL FRANCHISE

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The New York Knicks have been one of the worst franchises in the NBA for over two full decades. They have not been relevant since the 1990’s. All those Knicks teams in the 90’s were not as good as the Michael Jordan Bulls teams back in the day where Airness ruled the courts including Madison Square Garden. The last 5 seasons the Knicks have suddenly been resurrected from the basketball grave yard by the savvy hire of Tom Thibodeau. The Knicks made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals this season. On the way to the conference finals they knocked off the defending champs, the Boston Celtics. The Knicks would not get by the Indiana Pacers as they lose the conference finals in six games. Most experts would say a little more tinkering on the roster while keeping this team together to play with each other building up that chemistry should be enough to get further next season and beyond. The Knicks instead think this is as far as Thibodeau is going to get us. They fire him as they look for the sexy new replacement to get them to the promised land of that NBA championship. Flying off the handle has still not gotten this franchise a NBA championship in 52 years. That’s more than a drought this franchise has going on with this team as bad decisions have followed them like dark clouds.

Tom Thibodeau has been screwed by every franchise he has been head coach of. It started with the Chicago Bulls where the front office blamed him for wearing out their MVP Derrick Rose with heavy minutes even in games that were lopsided. Then in Minnesota a season after finally getting the Timberwolves back to the post-season, Thibs could not control Jimmy Butler who wanted out of town in a trade. He was head coach who did not get along with both front offices in his first two head coaching jobs. The Bulls General Manager during Thibodeau’s 5 years in Chicago, John Paxson, wanted to physically punch the coach because they did not see eye to eye. In Minnesota Thibodeau did not get along with the business side of the game with their front office. The 3rd season in Minnesota the Timberwolves started off the season with a losing record which gave the front office a better excuse to terminate Thibodeau. The Bulls fired Thibodeau and hired Fred Hoilberg where things turned even uglier in Chicago. At least Minnesota rebounded. Since Michael Jordan retired from the Bulls, the Tom Thibodeau era has been by far the best basketball the fan base has seen. When Knicks President Leon Rose says,”Our organization is singularly focused on winning championships for our fans.”

Leon Rose excuses for the firing of Tom Thibodeau for what could be multiple reasons. The Thibs defense did not do well versus the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals. Thibodeau teams are usually solid on the defensive side of the ball. Another reason is the creativity of offense especially in the playoffs. The Knicks relied too much on Jalen Brunson on the offense. Obviously they think Thibs is just a bridge guy when it comes to coaching. A guy that will get you to the playoffs consistently and perhaps some years like this season, get your team deep into the post-season. In 13 regular seasons as head coach, Tom Thibodeau has a winning record all-time of 578-420 which is .579 winning %. His post-season record all-time is a losing record at 48-55 which is a .466 winning percentage. However in 13 seasons he has only 4 losing seasons. For the Knicks he had back to back years of this team winning 50 or more games which has not happened since the 1990’s. The Knicks have seen the post-season 4-5 years he has been in New York. Thibodeau’s 24 playoff wins as a Knicks head coach is 17 more victories then the team’s last 13 coaches combined. He had a winning record as the Knicks head coach which was 24-23. Before Thibs took the Knicks job, New York missed the playoffs 7 straight seasons.

Who will the Knicks turn to now? Michael Malone or Rick Pitino? Could they pry Dan Hurley from his University of Connecticut job? Can they bring back an old face like Jeff Van Gundy? I’m sure the list will include some more of the hottest college coaches. Tom Thibodeau will get another head coaching job in the NBA. I think Thibs is not just a bridge gap style of head coach. He took the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals that featured the dream team Lebron James built with the Heat joining forces with Dwyane Wade and luring Chris Bosch to South Beach. I think Derrick Rose would have hurt his knee eventually. It was not Thibs’ fault for keeping him in a game they had wrapped up. That knee was most likely a ticking time bomb waiting for any moment to blow up on Rose. I think front offices don’t give Thibs the chances he deserves to really get the guys he wants and use them the way he wants to. Tom got one of his old guys from the Timberwolves by getting Karl-Anthony Towns in a trade. You can see the Knicks were building this up every year and getting better every season. I just don’t understand how you would not give him at least one more year to try to get over the hump. It’s the mentality of New York sports to get drastic and make a move when you do not have to. I think Leon Rose, the blowhard the Knicks have, is wanting more credit. Front offices will always doom guys like Thibs who only wants to do things his way. Yes, stubborn, but his recipe has worked. The Knicks right now may be a piece away. Maybe more. Now I hope the Knicks find themselves in basketball purgatory next season. You’d rather be worst than stuck in the middle of the NBA with clowns to the right and jokers to the left. Then Leon will feel how the Big Apple takes a bite out of him.

CAN THAT HONKY TONK CHRISTIAN SCHOOL LIPSCOMB FIT INTO THIS MARCH MADNESS CINDERELLA SHOES

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When it comes to March Madness, everyone loves the underdog in the NCAA basketball tournament. In the first round of action, you look for the beloved Cinderella team to make a name for themselves. We have only seen a 16th seed take down a number 1 seed twice in history. It has happened twice since 2018 when UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County) took down Virginia 75-54. Then in 2023, FDU (Fairleigh Dickerson) amazed us knocking off Purdue University. Both schools I never heard of until tournament play. Taking down a 16th seed, I never thought that would happen in my time. That it was something that could not be done. A great Cinderella story could be a 15th, 14th, 13th seed winning their first game. I think the 12-5 combo in the tournament had been done to death by now. After these teams that most of the country has never heard of, it’s even better when they win their match up in the second round or beyond. I looked at all the unknown schools that have made the tournament this season to find that one which no one knows their name. A Cinderella team I can get behind. It’s not a 16th seed. It’s a 14th seed. The Bible Thumpers in Nashville, Tennessee – University of Lipscomb.

This year’s March Madness had a variety of interesting schools in this year’s tournament to choose from like High Point University, American, SIU Edwardsville and the clothes store Bryant. University of Lipscomb sounds like a swear word. Holy Lipscomb! They are nicknamed the Bison and they won the ASUN, Atlantic Sun Conference tournament. On March 9th they beat North Alabama as Lipscomb was a #2 seed in the tournament. It is the second time Lipscomb has made the March Madness tournament in school history. Last time, which was their first time in school history, was in 2018. They made it as a 15th seed, played North Carolina, and lost that match up by 18 points. The Bisons have never won a March Madness tournament game & that makes them a nice selection to be a cool Cinderella story for 2025.

Originally Lipscomb University was called Nashville Bible School and was founded by David Lipscomb and James Harding. In 1918 it became Lipscomb College. Then became a University in 1989. The school is a private christian school that you can get a liberal arts degree from, as part of the University is dedicated to seminary studies. The big school in Nashville is Vanderbilt which is only a few blocks away from Lipscomb University. I’m not one of those guys shoving religion down your throat ringing your door bell like in the Book of Mormon. How many commandments can any person break in a town like Nashville? Country music, moonshine, and sexy women wearing cowboy hats with sexy boots. I can see the temptation for an overachiever in Christian studies there, lashing out & painting the town red in an explosive manner. Then locking him or herself in a room for weeks for all the sins they committed. Makes ever tourist that goes to Nashville to party like some devil worshipers compared hard core Christians. I’m not going to assume Lipscomb University is only about religion 24/7. Everyone has the right to go with their passion in life. I have a clean slate for the Bisons and this article is about the Cinderella team that Lipscomb University could be this season.

Above is the Bisons leading scorer this season, Jacob Ognacevic, who averages 20 points per game. Jacob looks like something out of that legendary basketball movie that starred Gene Hackman, “Hoosiers.” Rest in peace, Gene. We lost a great one.

Hoosiers is about that underdog high school basketball team which takes the next step and gets themselves into the state finals. Lipscomb has played some of the bigger schools this season such as Kentucky and Arkansas as they defeated Duquesne, a team that I did not know until last year when they made it to the March Madness tournament. When the Bisons won the ASUN Tournament, they spread the ball out as they had 4 guys that had a big day putting the ball in the hoop in that championship game. Joe Anderson had 23 points who led all scorers that day. Will Pruitt and Gyasi Powell had solid games. Beating North Alabama gave the Bisons a sure ticket to tournament play as they finished the season 25-9 overall. They were 14-4 in the ASUN Conference along with North Alabama.

I wish I could teleport to places because Nashville should be rocking this Friday afternoon with two of their own schools in the mix. In the first game, the Nashville faithful will hope to see history be made and see Lipscomb University upset Iowa State who come in as a number three seed. Then later in the afternoon, Vanderbilt who gets in the tournament as number 10 seed play St. Mary’s who are number 7 seed. The Bison’s famous alum in sports comes from baseball. Guys like Casey Bind, Rex Brothers, and Caleb Joseph. Many small schools have no one that has played in the NBA. Can the Bisons pull off the upset over a Cyclone team who have history of being knocked out early in this tournament? Iowa State may be without their guard Tamin Lipsey who left the Big 12 quarter finals game versus BYU with a groin issue. The Cyclones ended up losing that one. The Cyclones’ second leading scorer Keshon Gilbert has been ruled out. You never know when a team like the Bisons who come into the tournament red hot winning their last six games, can be a threat to the Cyclones as they have that bad history that follows them in tournament play. We know the Bisons will have all the prayers lingering in the skies trying to get final approval in the heavens. Sometimes the heavens can play tricks on humanity supporting hated franchises in the NFL like the Patriots and Chiefs. Do the sins of Nashville put a gigantic dome on the Tennessee town blocking the prayers from getting to the heavens?

Some of Steven King’s stories have a happy ending. Our crystal ball is mostly on the fritz, but it’s telling us the Bisons will avoid a Cyclones disaster. Anything can go. I’ll put my hand on a stack of bibles and back the Bisons rather then turn to the High Point University chances. I would love to see many smaller schools win it and advance to the Final Four over those basketball universities that we all are sick of. The likes of Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, and UCONN. So give Lipscomb a AMEN!! Maybe the swear word, “Holy Lipscomb,” could work both ways if they beat Iowa State for their first ever victory in the March Madness tournament.