And the Swami says … well, listen for yourself

For those of you who don’t know, Chris Berman is one of ESPN’s many talking heads. Although he’s awful at his job, Berman has been with ESPN since its inception. As the network’s higher-ups seem to think he’s the face of the company, Berman, it seems, has achieved tenure in an otherwise volatile industry. But what kind of image does Berman really have? Enjoy these three clips, and decide for yourself.

Bragging about smuggling drugs across the Canadian border? Maybe make sure the cameras are off next time.

“I hope I’m there the next time you have the bottle.” Berman is married. Not to Rebecca.

But my personal favorite, for oh so many reasons:

Chris Berman, ladies and gentlemen, the face of ESPN.

Commish trying to put NHL on ice

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If Gary Bettman had his way, NHL games would be shown on the Lifetime network.

Less than five years ago, hockey was dead in the U.S.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, along with the league’s owners, decided that their sport could survive a lockout when they were unable to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement with the Players’ Association.

Several tentative years after a new agreement was reached and the league resumed play, Bettman is yet again doing his part to kill off interest in the NHL.

Up until about noon on Sunday, the 2010 Olympic Winter Games were mostly forgettable; Shaun White’s coach cursed on TV, Apollo Ohno won some more bronze medals and Americans learned that Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso aren’t exactly BFFs.

All that changed, however, when the puck was dropped in the men’s gold medal hockey game.

The 68-minute prizefight showcased some of the sport’s best talent in one of the most memorable hockey games of the past decade.

In a release Monday, NBC officials said that 27.6 million viewers in the U.S. watched the game live. Even more impressive, however, was the viewership in Canada, where 16.6 million people — around half of the country’s population — monitored the contest.

To put this into perspective, according to the NHL, less than 12 million people tuned in to watch Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals.

Before the men’s Olympic hockey games had begun, Bettman said in a Feb. 18 press conference that the NHL would not commit its players to the 2014 Olympics because doing so would hurt the league financially.

“This costs us money, this disrupts our season and we’re here (only) because we think it helps our game,” Bettman said.

I must not be the genius that Bettman is, because I fail to see how advertising the league’s premier players to 44.2 million people is a bad thing.

In fact, it seems to me that had Bettman been just a little bit smarter, he would have correctly valued this as a rare opportunity to promote the NHL virtually free of cost.

Instead, he decided to sit back and criticize the Olympics for hindering the NHL’s success.

During his tenure as commissioner, Bettman has managed to alienate a loyal fan base, lose a network TV contract and push the league further back into obscurity.

Hockey is truly a great sport. I will always count going to my first hockey game when I was 3, watching the San Jose Sharks take on the Hartford Whalers (R.I.P., Mighty Whale) at the dilapidated Cow Palace just outside San Francisco, as one of the great memories of my life.

There’s an exhilaration and beauty that comes with watching hockey that no other sport provides. A jaw-dropping play or a bare-knuckle brawl is always just around the corner.

But if Bettman continues managing the NHL with a disdain for success, it won’t be long before he runs the league into the ground.

The owners need to kick Bettman to the curb and find someone with an IQ that can’t be counted on two hands to run the NHL. If they don’t, it may not be long before curling takes over as the unofficial fourth major sport in the U.S.

Sadly, many people wouldn’t see that as a bad thing.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

“Mr. Rainmaker,” from Club Trillion founder Mark Titus

Mark Titus is a basketball player at Ohio State University who rarely sees any playing time. His group, Club Trillion, is a tongue-in-cheek reference to his stat line after a typical game (1 minute played, 0 FGs, 0 FTs, 0 rebounds etc.), which looks like the number 1 trillion. Titus has a fantastic blog, the address to which is on my Web Links, but he recently posted this video up on YouTube as an answer to some letters he received that were critical of his basketball skills.

Phenomenal.

It’s amazing that a bench warmer on the same squad as Evan Turner might be the most famous athlete on the team; If you haven’t read his blog, you should definitely check it out.

Tiger drawing unfair amount of ire

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Tiger Woods has been having a rough time scrambling to save his marriage.

When most people get caught in a bout of marital infidelity, it doesn’t make the front page of The National Enquirer.

Tiger Woods, however, is not most people.

The world’s most prominent athlete has spent the past several months doing damage control and attempting to rehabilitate his image following the nation’s biggest sex scandal since Monica Lewinsky was an intern at the White House.

Since allegations of his adultery first surfaced Nov. 25, Woods’ once-private life has been placed under a proverbial microscope, scrutinized by everyone with a microphone and a soapbox.

Woods held a press conference Friday to address his indiscretions, which was covered by every major sports media outlet in the country.

It’s understandable that any news organization would want to dedicate so much attention to such a salacious story — sex and scandal always sell.

The level of vitriol espoused not only by members of the press but by fellow athletes and fans has certainly been palpable.

But at the end of the day, all Woods did was cheat on his wife. People who are getting worked up and self-righteous about his private life need to take a step back and realize that in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t much of a news story.

The 24-hour coverage Woods has received is amazing, especially when examined in proportion to the attention the media pays to stories that have actual substance.

On March 14, NFL wide receiver Donté Stallworth struck and killed a pedestrian with his Bentley coupe while driving under the influence of alcohol.

Police administered a sobriety test and determined that Stallworth’s blood alcohol content was well over the legal limit, and he was charged with DUI manslaughter.

After pleading guilty, Stallworth received a 30-day jail sentence and was ordered to serve 1,000 hours of community service.

Now, if you thought that someone being sentenced to serve a mere 30 days in jail for manslaughter was rich, that isn’t even the best part: Stallworth was released after serving 24 days.

To put this into perspective, a DUI manslaughter charge in the state of Florida carries a maximum punishment of $10,000 in fines and 15 years in prison.

Stallworth served for three-and-a-half weeks.

Where is the constant media coverage of this injustice? Why is nobody gnashing their teeth over this crime?

If it had been Donté Stallworthington who was driving drunk behind the wheel of a Toyota hatchback that struck and killed someone, I can guarantee you that he would have been sentenced to more than a month behind bars.

For some reason, however, no one in the media really seems to care.

To say the lack of coverage this event has received is an injustice doesn’t paint an accurate enough picture.

The media’s primary job—its responsibility—is to provide watchdog journalism to the people, not tabloid fodder. That Woods’ affair made more headlines than Stallworth’s manslaughter is inexcusable.

Since a majority of the press obviously wants to slum around in the journalistic gutter, it would seem consumers have no choice but to give in and accept the situation.

But look at the bright side: the non-stop coverage of Reggie Bush’s and Kim Kardashian’s break up will be fantastic.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

Bringing peace in 140 characters or less

Using technology, the Dalai Lama is hoping to attract a different kind of follower.

Many people use social networking Web sites as a means to keep their friends apprised of what movie they’re watching or how their Arby’s Beef-n-Cheddar tastes.

Now, it seems such Web sites just may be used to serve a higher purpose.

On Monday, the Dalai Lama launched his Twitter page, a day after meeting with Twitter founder Evan Williams.

“Met the Dalai Lama today in LA. Pitched him on using Twitter. He laughed,” Williams tweeted Sunday.

Apparently it was more than just a dismissive chuckle, as the Dalai Lama created an account less than 24 hours after the suggestion was made.

In the three days since the page has been up, the Dalai Lama has amassed more than 80,000 followers.

To put that into perspective, The Daily Cougar’s Twitter account was launched in June of 2009, and has a grand total of 443 followers.

While we at The Daily Cougar support no one religious affiliation, we are happy to see the Dalai Lama embrace technology and give himself a platform from which to speak.

Social network Web sites are not only a great way to keep up with friends and family, but also can be used to provide an outlet for certain people to share their message with the world.

To see a cultural icon such as the Dalai Lama using Twitter is indicative of a shift society is making toward a new wave of mass communication.

How the Dalai Lama intends to use his newfound stage remains to be seen; so far, he has only posted nine tweets, none of which offer any spiritual guidance or advance some nefarious agenda.

But regardless of what thoughts he decides to share, the Dalai Lama has given credibility to a media platform that was previously lacking any.

It’s a giant step in the right direction, and that can never be a bad thing.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

I don’t like NASCAR, but Tony Stewart is hilarious

This is a clip of Tony Stewart’s interview after the Daytona 500 on Sunday. In all fairness to the reporter in the video, she got what she deserved for asking such a dumb question.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQB2938uRI0&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

UH needs to re-think which holidays to celebrate

Apparently these men aren't important enough to deserve recognition.

The spring semester at UH started on a Tuesday this year so the University could observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which always falls on the third Monday of January.

On Monday of this week, government buildings and schools across the country were closed in recognition of another federal holiday — Presidents Day.

UH, however, was open for class as usual.

Presidents Day is a celebration of the birthdays of Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, two iconic figures deeply woven into the fabric of U.S. history.

Washington was the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War, one of the founding fathers of the U.S. and was the country’s first president.

Lincoln went to war to preserve the Union and emancipated the slaves, despite the fact that he suspected he might be martyred for doing so.

We at The Daily Cougar are not trying to belittle King’s accomplishments, but rather would like to understand why the University doesn’t feel a day honoring the achievements of Washington and Lincoln is worth observing.

It is absurd to think that the two former presidents don’t deserve at least the same measure of respect that Dr. King does. All three men dedicated their lives to the betterment of the U.S. and its people, and should be acknowledged accordingly.

The University does, however, feel that Labor Day is an important enough holiday to warrant a day off for students and employees.

Not only would it be safe to assume few people know that Labor Day’s origins are actually rooted in Canadian history, it’s likely that most people don’t even know what the day is celebrating.

UH needs to realize that a holiday honoring Washington and Lincoln, who are important enough to be minted on U.S. currency, deserves some recognition.

Not doing so is tantamount to ignoring the lives and contributions of two great Americans.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

Canadians deserve blame for athlete’s death

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Because of Canada's poor sportsmanship, 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili never got a chance to even compete for an Olympic medal.

After months of anticipation, the 2010 Winter Olympics officially got underway Friday night.

But for seven athletes from the Republic of Georgia, the opening ceremonies were a sobering reminder of a fallen teammate whose life ended mere hours before the festivities began.

Earlier that day, 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili lined up at the top of the Whistler Sliding Track to make one final practice run on his luge before the start of the games.

He never made it to the bottom, crashing coming out of a fast turn and flying off the track into a steel support beam.

Kumaritashvili was transported to a hospital where he died after doctors failed to revive him.

“This is a very sad day; the (International Olympic Committee) is in deep mourning,” IOC President Jacques Rogge said at a press conference addressing the incident. “Here you have a young athlete who lost his life in pursuing his passion.”

Although most would view the tragedy as something to look into immediately, Rogge apparently had a different take.

“This is a time for sorrow; it’s not the time to look for reasons. That will come in due time.”

Yes, you just read that right — the president of the IOC told a room full of reporters to not worry about who or what was at fault in the death of an Olympic athlete because the chance to examine the accident would come “in due time.”

Jacques must not have realized getting to the bottom of what went wrong as soon as possible might be a good idea, since the luge competitions started less than 24 hours after his press conference concluded.

Howard Bryant of ESPN.com reported Friday night that numerous athletes had expressed uneasiness about the safety of the track before the fatal crash.

“A major concern for bobsledders, lugers and skeleton riders beyond their competition has been the formidable reputation of the Whistler track, generally considered the fastest sliding track in the world,” Bryant wrote. “Bobsledder Steven Holcomb, driver of USA I, nicknamed the course’s 13th curve the ‘50-50’ curve because of the odds of a crash.”

Bryant also revealed that the Canadian team had prevented other teams from using the track to practice on, robbing them of any chance to get accustomed to its speed and danger before the Olympics.

While there is plenty of blame to go around in this case, from the always-inept IOC to the geniuses responsible for designing the world’s most dangerous sliding track, the Canadians are clearly more to blame for Kumaritashvili’s death than anyone else.

The Olympics are indeed a competition, but are more importantly an opportunity to promote sportsmanship and goodwill between nations.

These are such core tenets of the games that the Olympic Hymn instructs athletes to “let fraternity and fellowship surround the soul of every nation.”

In limiting other teams’ access to the sliding track, the Canadians not only showed what little class they have, but their actions may have directly led to an athlete’s death.

It would only be fitting for any of the Canadian bobsled, luge or skeleton teams that win gold to have their medals presented to them by Kumaritashvili’s teammates.

I guess when your country’s biggest cultural exports are K.D. Lang and Molson Canadian, winning really is everything.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

Guys need to get in touch for V-Day

Most guys know how important Valentine's Day is to women, but some don't.

Valentine’s Day is Sunday, and most men already have an idea of how they’re going to celebrate.

Some will take their valentine out to a romantic dinner, or perhaps will surprise them with a bouquet of flowers.

But every year, many guys for one reason or another choose not to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

They come up with excuses such as, “I don’t believe in Valentine’s Day — it was created by the corporations,” or, “My girlfriend/wife/mistress doesn’t want me to waste money on presents.”

Fellas, trust me when I say this: it’s a special day, and your lady is definitely expecting some kind of gift.

Now I’m not saying that everyone needs to go out and buy something expensive; many women are more impressed by a guy who is imaginative enough to create a unique gift (not all women want the exact same gift every one of their friends received).

I’m not saying you can get away with writing your valentine a haiku, but perhaps something as simple as putting together a photo album of the two of you would do the trick.

This is the first Valentine’s Day my wife and I will be spending together as a married couple, and I know if I don’t deliver with the goods, sleeping on the couch is the best scenario I can hope for.

As we could certainly be classified as “poor” by some standards, I spent a great deal of time racking my brain trying to come up with a plan to celebrate the day without spending too much money.

While I won’t disclose what I came up with for fear of my wife reading this article, I will say that I feel confident about how well my gift will go over with her.

There are an infinite amount of simple ways to show that special someone in your life just what they mean to you.

To anyone out there who touts the virtues of not celebrating the single day out of the year devoted to cherishing a loved one, you should rethink your stance on rebelling against the system by not participating.

And if you are indeed one of the many who takes a pessimistic view of Valentine’s Day, think of it this way: after Sunday, you’ll get 364 days of reprieve before the next one.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

Detained missionaries only victims of justice

No matter how unfortunate, the group was arrested because it broke the law.

In the wake of Haiti’s devastating earthquake, people from all over the world have provided an outpouring of support to the ravaged country.

A contingent of 10 American missionaries, however, is discovering that its intended charitable contribution may have gone too far for the Haitian government’s taste.

The group was detained after allegedly attempting to rescue 33 Haitian children by illegally taking them across the border into the Dominican Republic.

After being held in custody for several days, Haitian authorities charged the Americans with kidnapping Jan. 26.

Prosecutors accused the group of abducting the children — some of whom told police they had living parents — so they could be sold into child-trafficking rings.

In a speech to members of the press on Feb. 3, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the group’s decision was “unfortunate,” and that the U.S. would not interfere with Haiti’s investigation.

There isn’t much reason to believe the Americans’ actions weren’t on the up and up, but their intentions in this situation do not make a difference.

They broke another country’s laws and deserve to be in jail for doing so.

It’s understandable that people would want to help Haitians in any way possible; with around 200,000 dead and another million or so left homeless, plenty of Haitians could use the assistance.

But the missionaries apparently couldn’t figure out a better way to provide aid without breaking the law.

People condemning the U.S. government’s decision to not get directly involved in this case should try to imagine where they would stand if the shoe were on the other foot.

What if it was Haitian missionaries who were in jail for attempting to smuggle American children out of the U.S.?

Haiti has the right to hold the missionaries accountable for their actions; laws need to be followed — especially in a time of crisis.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

QB of the future needs time to mature. Literally.

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This is the future of college football, and he doesn't even have a driver's license.

USC head football coach Lane Kiffin expects David Sills to be the next in a long line of great quarterbacks for the Trojans, and it’s easy to see why.

Search for his name on YouTube, and you’ll find enough highlight tape to fill an entire episode of SportsCenter.

Of course, you might also notice that Sills looks a bit young to start for a college football team — five years too young, to be exact.

At 13 years old, Sills is easily the most prized seventh-grade recruit in the country.

He’s already been profiled by the likes of Sports Illustrated, ESPN and CBS Sports.

Despite his young age, Sills verbally committed Thursday to play for the Trojans in 2015.

Sills began working with private quarterback coach Steve Clarkson — tutor to Ben Roethlisberger, Jimmy Clausen, Matt Barkley and Terrelle Pryor, to name a few — when he was only 9 years old.

“I know he’s young but there’s always an exception; he’s the exception,” Clarkson said of Sills in 2007.

“This kid is on his way to being the greatest high school recruited quarterback ever.”

According to his father, Sills began receiving recruiting information from major Division I programs when he was 11.

Although he is the most high-profiled recruit in his age range, Sills is not the only junior high school player receiving scholarship offers.

Since NCAA recruiting laws say players don’t become prospective student athletes until the ninth grade, meaning they don’t have to adhere to the same rules as high school players, recruiting out of middle schools seems to be the next step in building football programs for college coaches.

Youth football, it seems, is now as much of a business as it is at the professional level.

But in the quest to find the next great player, coaches, media and various athletic organizations are destroying everything that is great and pure about the sport.

The problem isn’t that a 13-year-old committed to play for USC; the issue was that it was national news when it happened.

Parents trying to live out their failed sports dreams vicariously through their children push them to be better, faster and stronger at younger ages.

Groups such as the Amateur Athletic Union are working to evolve youth sports by setting up leagues where the cream-of-the-crop players compete against each other.

With all of these forces pushing young athletes to be the best they can, it’s impossible for youth sports to be fun.

Kids are no longer learning about teamwork and sportsmanship, but rather to selfishly put themselves before the needs of their teams to assure they’ll get the most exposure.

Amateur sports are officially all about “me,” instead of the joys of playing a game.

The NCAA would be wise to step in and amend its rules to make any non-collegiate athlete off-limits to recruiters before things really get out of hand.

Being that this is not the first time a college coach has recruited a middle school player, it’s unclear whether the NCAA views this as a serious problem.

And maybe it really is no big deal; perhaps all of this attention early in their careers is good for young players.

If he works hard enough, Sills just might turn out to be the next Todd Marinovich.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

Toyota chooses savings over safety, but at what cost?

With a history of reliability, why is Toyota struggling to produce dependable vehicles?

Not too long ago, most people would equate the Toyota brand with safety and dependability.

Now, everything the car manufacturing giant seemed to stand for is in question.

On Nov. 2, Toyota released a statement recalling 4.2 million various Toyota and Lexus models because of a problem owners might encounter where the driver’s floor mat could potentially wedge the accelerator pedal down all the way.

Then on Jan. 21, Toyota issued a separate recall for another 2.3 million vehicles to fix a design problem that caused accelerator pedals to stick.

The Camry, Avalon, Prius, Tacoma, Tundra, ES350, IS 250, IS 350, RAV4, Corolla, Matrix, Highlander and Sequoia models from 2010 (and some from as far back as 2004) were all affected by the recall.

But just when it looked as though things couldn’t get worse for Toyota, CNN’s Peter Valdes-Dapena reported Thursday that the company had allegedly known “for some time” about the brake problems in its eco-friendly line of 2010 Prius cars that have led to four accidents thus far, but decided to not alert Prius owners.

Valdes-Dapena said that Toyota only made the public aware of the issue after an investigation was initiated by the Japanese government.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also said Thursday that it would begin investigating claims about Prius brake issues in America.

It’s deplorable that any company would cover up potential safety issues with its products from its customers, but car safety is something that effects everyone.

This isn’t a dangerous crib or a laptop with an inefficient battery; it’s a multi-ton piece of machinery that when not working properly can lead to more than just a bad day for someone.

Toyota’s needs to realize that its priority should be its customers and not its shareholders.

Any company unable to understand that saving lives is more important than saving money doesn’t belong in business.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

Media outlets need to focus on getting stories right

Just because Gilbert Arenas calls himself "Agent Zero" doesn't mean he throws down like James Bond.

On Dec. 24, CBSSportsline.com broke the news that the NBA was investigating Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas for allegedly storing unloaded firearms in his locker at the Verizon Center.

Then on Jan. 1, Peter Vecsey and David K. Li of the New York Post reported that Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton “drew guns on each other in the team’s locker room during a Christmas Eve dispute over a gambling debt.”

“It was the three-time all-star Arenas, 27, who went for his gun first, sources said, drawing on the 22-year-old Crittenton, who quickly brandished a firearm as well,” Vecsey and Li reported.

As one could imagine with an incident of such magnitude, the story was immediately picked up and run by a host of major news services all over the world.

Now, anyone who has followed this story knows that the Post got its facts completely wrong.

In this era of constantly accessible news, everyone who considers themselves to be a journalist places a heavier emphasis on getting the story out first, as opposed to first getting the story right.

Forget losing credibility or opening yourself up to a libel lawsuit; these people don’t seem to understand that the press has a responsibility to get the story right, period.

What separates the press from every dime-a-dozen blogger on the Internet is integrity — or at least it should be.

We at The Daily Cougar take extra exception to incidents of laziness such as this.

Every story we run is thoroughly checked many times over to ensure that nothing but factually accurate and truthful news runs in our newspaper.

And at the very least, if we run a mistake of any kind, we own up to it and print a correction.

While we cannot hold other media outlets up to our standards, The Daily Cougar will continue to be a shining beacon of truth in these times of murky journalism.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

Some nations need to do more to help Haiti

Most countries are doing their part to help Haiti, but some could do a lot more.

On Wednesday, Haitian President Rene Preval released a statement confirming that approximately 170,000 people had been killed in the country’s Jan. 12 earthquake that struck near Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

Officials within the Haitian government estimate that nearly 250,000 people sustained injuries and a total of 1 million people were left homeless as a result of the catastrophe.

This tragedy claimed the lives of people from all walks of life.

And yet, most of the stories that run in the news feature stories on what the U.S. is doing to help Haiti.

President Barack Obama initially pledged $100 million in earthquake relief, but that number has since been raised to $379 million.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush established the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, which according to the organization’s Web site has collected 171,000 donations and an undisclosed amount of money.

More than 16,000 personnel from all branches of the U.S. armed forces have been sent to Haiti to aid in the recovery, as were a number of U.S. Coast Guard and Navy vessels.

But many other prominent nations have been doing their part to help Haiti as well.

Brazil has pledged $210 million to aid in Haiti’s recovery efforts, as well as a contingent of rescue workers.

After announcing that it would match the donations of its citizens, Canada has thus far raised $150 million in funds.

The Netherlands’ government pledged only $4 million, but a group of Dutch radio and television hosts held a one-day pledge drive and raised an additional $110 million (that’s right, the private group provided 27 times as much money as its government).

But after the United Kingdom’s commitment of $32 million, the list of who has given what begins to taper off.

So what about China and Russia?

To date, the China has donated $8 million and sent approximately 100 workers, while Russia has provided four planes and some equipment for use.

While the saying does go “It’s the thought that counts,” China and Russia may have been better served to simply send each person affected in this tragedy a “get well soon” card.

Talk about a Band-Aid for a bullet wound.

It should be amazing that two-fifths of the United Nation’s Security Council members don’t seem to care about a tragedy of this magnitude, but the U.N. has almost no credibility, so this is just par for the course.

There is no excuse for two of the most supposedly developed nations in the world to sit back while everyone else does the work.

Help doesn’t necessarily have to come in the form of funds.

France, while not committing a significant monetary contribution, has sent a great deal of rescue workers to Haiti, along with a host of planes, helicopters and naval ships.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Barack Obama and other heads of state need to call on these two superpowers to provide more assistance and support in this critical time of need.

We all need to do our part to help.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

Some cry foul, but rule benefits basketball at both levels

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You will remember this man. You will not remeber Ndudi Ebi.

March Madness is fast approaching, and a handful of this year’s “Diaper Dandies” have their teams poised to make deep runs into the tournament.

John Wall from Kentucky, Derrick Favors from Georgia Tech and Xavier Henry from Kansas are three of the most stellar freshman in the country, and each is considered by many college basketball experts a lock to be a one-and-done collegiate player.

Five years ago, we might not have seen that trio — or any number of other amazing one-year wonders such as Kevin Durant or Derrick Rose — in college, as players with that much talent usually declared themselves eligible for the NBA Draft.

But heading into the 2006 Draft, the NBA implemented a policy to keep high school players from entering.

The rule in effect states that a player must be either 19 years old (which applies to foreign players) or must be at least one year removed from his high school graduation.

The league instituted the rule as a way of keeping high school players who weren’t prepared to play in the pro game from basically throwing their careers away by jumping into the NBA too soon.

More than four years later, the rule has proved to be a mostly successful deterrent in keeping unprepared players out of the league.

Opponents of the rule change point to Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and LeBron James as examples of how some players don’t need a year in college to prepare them for the next level.

But what those people won’t point out is that for every Bryant, Garnett or James, there was a Gerald Green (picked 18th in 2005), Sebastian Telfair (drafted 13th overall in 2004) or an Ndudi Ebi (selected 26th in 2004) who ruined any chance they might have had at a pro career by declaring for the draft straight out of high school.

It can be convenient to only look at the success stories, but it’s pertinent to examine the failures.

From the 2000 NBA Draft through the 2005 draft, there were a total of 350 picks, 30 of which were spent on high school players (roughly 9 percent of the picks).

Looking through the names, James and a handful of others stand out. But who honestly knows anything about Ricky Sanchez, or Robert Swift (both of whom were drafted in the last six years and are now out of the league)?

The rule not only protects young players, but also makes college basketball a better sport to watch.

Smaller schools benefit from trotting out lineups filled with experienced three- and four-year starters against big-name programs filled with one-year players.

Three of the past four March Madness tournaments have featured at least one double-digit seed playing past the first two rounds of the tournament.

In 2006, 11th-seeded George Mason even made it all the way to the Final Four before getting knocked out.

And thanks to the NBA’s rule, which has kept players such as Wall from turning pro out of high school, we should be headed for another memorable tourney again this year.

Who knows, maybe even Aubrey Coleman and the Cougars could shock the world.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

Dock Ellis talks about his infamous no-hitter

Ever wondered what it's like to throw a no-no on LSD? Dock sure did.

Before his death in December of 2008, Dock Ellis sat down to tell his story about throwing a no-hitter while high on LSD on NPR’s Weekend America. This is his story, set to animation by James Blagden.

UH needs to focus on little things

How many people eat at those tables without washing their hands?

As some of you may know, The Daily Cougar offices were moved at the end of the Fall 2009 semester into the University Center Satellite to accommodate the School of Communication’s expansion.

Instead of working out of the ground floor of Communications Building, The Daily Cougar staff is now situated next to the restrooms in the back of the Satellite — hopefully not indicative of what the University thinks of us.

On one hand, being placed in such a close proximity to the restrooms can be quite handy at times.

Recently, however, it has become a bit of an inconvenience.

In the men’s Satellite restroom, there are six stalls, five urinals, six sinks and of course five soap dispensers.

On Monday, three of the dispensers were completely empty.

By Thursday, only a single dispenser had soap and even it was almost out.

UH has become so engrossed with more prominent issues such as going green and attaining flagship status that it has forgotten how to take care of the little things.

Something as simple as basic hygiene just isn’t important to UH.

If it doesn’t do anything to advance public perception of the school, then apparently the administration doesn’t really care.

Fox 26 News coming to shoot a piece on recycling? No problem, UH will make it a top priority.

Want to wash your hands after going to the bathroom? Sorry kids, but filling the soap dispensers regularly is a bit further down the to-do list.

The Satellite is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Students eat here, sleep here, study and congregate here.

Hundreds, maybe thousands of people come through the Satellite each day.

It’s hard to imagine that given the current situation everyone who uses the men’s restroom washes their hands.

Although keeping the restrooms stocked won’t do as much for UH’s profile as going green, it would definitely help the school clean up something other than its image.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

Good night and good luck, Coco

Conan O'Brien's final Tonight Show, January 22, 2010.

I know this happened a week ago, but it’s such a great clip that I had to post it.

Conan got such a raw deal from NBC and Jay Leno that for him to go out this way shows just how classy of a guy he is.

Hopefully when the non-compete clause of his contract is up in September, he’ll have a deal in place for a new show on a better network (even the CW would be an improvement over NBC).

While I would guess NBC owns the intellectual property rights to most of Conan’s characters and sketches, we can all hold out hope for a Masturbating Panda, or perhaps a HornyKangaroo.com.

See you soon, Coco.

Now this is change we can believe in. Except at NBC.

Gadget unveiled turns out to be rotten Apple after all

What an ironic slogan.

Tech-savvy geeks across the globe celebrated Wednesday, as Apple held a press conference to announce its new iPad tablet.

Apple Chairman and CEO Steve Jobs, as has been the case with every major product unveiling during his tenure, gave the address.

“You can change the background screen, the home screen, to personalize it any way you want,” Jobs said of the iPad.

“You can browse the Web with it; it is the best browsing experience you have ever had.”

Right off the bat, Jobs made it clear that the iPad would shatter the public’s perception of what computers are able to do.

“(We) built in a calendar; you can see your month’s activities or your day’s activities and everything in between,” Jobs said.

“(We) built in a great address book for your contacts.”

That’s good, because we all know that calendar and address book applications were inadequate before Apple almighty’s intervention.

“It’s a wonderful way to share your photos with friends and family.”

Has your mind been blown yet? Wait, there’s more.

The iPad will come equipped with a rare piece of state-of-the-art software.

“We have the iTunes store built right into the iPad.”

Unbelievable.

Obviously, the crack staff at Apple really went all out to revolutionize the way people think about technology.

Now, I’m no genius, but I came away from the press conference with the crazy notion that the iPad was a low-end laptop with a great publicist.

Millions of people around the country awaited the unveiling of what turned out to be a glorified iPhone.

There are more important things going on in the world than Apple’s latest overhyped creation.

Unemployment, health care, a stagnant economy, these are some of the issues people should be paying attention to.

But I would bet more people followed the iPad conference than watched President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address last night.

Americans need to wake up and focus on what’s important, because we all want the country to be a better iPlace.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com

Rusty Spurs don’t look to figure into wild West shootout

CONVENIENT TRUTHS

Better times for San Antonio fans.

At the halfway point of the NBA season, several intriguing storylines have emerged from the league.

Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas made headlines when he gave teammate Javaris Crittenton a choice of three unlicensed handguns to shoot Arenas with after the two got into a heated altercation over a gambling debt.

Allen Iverson, who at one point this season was retired, will make his 11th consecutive start in the All-Star Game despite only playing in 21 games this year and averaging a meager 14.3 points per game (yes, you read that correctly).

But the underrated story that no one seems to be talking about is happening right here in the Lone Star State.

Anyone who has been watching the San Antonio Spurs play this season has been a witness to a depressing sight: the Spurs’ dynasty has come to an end.

Although San Antonio ended the weekend in 5th place in the Western Conference, it’s clear to see when watching them play that the team has lost a step or two from years past and struggles to compete against the elite teams in the league.

On Wednesday, the Spurs hosted the Utah Jazz who, like San Antonio, are a perennial playoff contender.

The Jazz made the Spurs look like a college team; they played faster and more efficiently, and although the Jazz won 105-98, the game was never as close as the final score indicated.

Tim Duncan finished with 14 points on 5-15 shooting and fouled out of the game — the first time that has happened this year.

Then on Friday, the Spurs dropped another game to the visiting Rockets, 116-109.

As had happened against the Jazz, the Spurs were outplayed by a younger, quicker team.

The Spurs were arguably the best team in the NBA over the past decade, and Duncan has been the driving force on a team that won four NBA titles since 1999.

Anyone who has devoutly followed Duncan throughout his career has seen that, like the rest of us, he’s just getting old.

Duncan can’t jump the way he used to, doesn’t finish strong at the rim anymore and has to rely too much on his basketball savvy to beat more-athletic players.

While no team other than the Los Angeles Lakers has asserted itself as a true title contender (the Celtics have no bench, the Cavaliers have no coach and the cowardly Nuggets have no heart), the Spurs have been lacking the quality play necessary to make a championship run.

The wild West may be wide open for the first time in over a decade, but the Spurs are going to need to jump in the rejuvenation machine in order to have a shot at reaching the finals.

At this point, Duncan’s status as the greatest power forward in the history of the league is secure; nothing will change that.

It would be nice to see Duncan ride off into the sunset with championship No. 5 a la David Robinson, but Spurs fans need to realize that their team’s great run is probably over.

Happy trails, San Antonio.

It was so great, you should read it again at TheDailyCougar.com