Surprise -- Coach Cal and Memphis in Trouble

Is anyone surprised that Coach Cal runs out of town and an investigation is started into recruiting violations at Memphis. Remember, Coach Cal left UMass under an air of suspicion, he ends up at Memphis, a program with a proud basketball tradition but down and out at the time he joined. Bang -- Memphis has a few of their best recruiting classes in decades and they end up in the Final Four twice and the NC game. The brother, Reggie, of one of those top recruits, 1-and-done Derrick Rose, ends up on the University of Memphis' payroll for a year. Hmmm, I am sure that is all above board though.

Now slippery Calipari ends up at Kentucky -- and pow they have their best recruiting class in a decade, a #1 ranked class that includes top recruit and 1-and-done John Wall. Coincidence -- I think not.

The real crime in all of this is that the severe penalties don't follow the true criminals, the cheating coaches. Instead the schools and future players get penalized, while the coach scoots off to another program and makes millions.

Kelvin Sampson is a great example of that. Talk about a dirtbag. This guy cheats and leaves Oklahoma in shambles, scampers off to Indiana, cheats and leaves the Hoosier program in flames, then takes a sizable buyout to go away. Now he is coaching again in the NBA. Why would somebody hire this guy -- does anyone have any moral fortitude anymore? Shame on you Milwaukee Bucks!

I would like to see true reform. Make the severe penalty follow the coach. Ban them from coaching in the NCAA or NBA for 3-5 years. And repeat offenders should be banned for life. That would put a stop to these shenanigans. The NBA helped contribute to this 1-and-done recruiting goofiness, it would only be fitting that they become part of the solution and join in banning cheating coaches from their league.

Check out the Music Stylings of the Dirty Heads

So basketball season is over so I thought I would take a little time to write up a review on one of my favorite bands. They are not well known so hopefully, I will also be enlightening you on the Dirty Heads.

The Dirty Heads are a Rap/Reggae/Hip Hop quartet from Huntington Beach, CA. The first popped up on the radar with Stand Tall, a hip reggae/ska tune on the Surf's Up soundtrack in 2007. That tune alone was worth the the price of the soundtrack. Later that year they made a limited release 5 track album. Luckily, I grabbed it on Amazon right when it came out because shortly thereafter they disappeared from all the major online music download services.

But GREAT NEWS, the Dirty Heads are back with a new release Any Port in the Storm, which includes all the songs from the first limited release album plus several additional tracks.

The Dirty Heads definitely have a unique sound blending rap and hip hop with traditional reggae and ska stylings. However, if I was pushed I would say the most direct comparison would be Sublime or 311. However, they also have some of the mellower blendings of an Unkle Kracker or Jason Mraz.

Driftin is my favorite song on the album and possible my favorite song of this decade. It is one of their mellower offerings with a blending of rap, reggae and some country rock flair. I dare you to try not to sing along with this one.

Here is Driftin' from youtube -- Enjoy.


My second favorite song isEverything I'm Looking For. Its a feel good song that puts a smile on your face and hop in your step. They included Stand Tall on this album and if you have not heard it, it will also jump to the top your playlist. It has much more of a ska feel to it with the a bouncy hip hop feel.

Other good songs from the original limited release album include Easy and Morning Light.

But I was very happy with the addition of new songs on the latest release. Chelsea is a touching song about about the loss of either a sister or girlfriend. It is an introspective song that will getting you thinking about the one's you love in your life.

I also really like Check the Level which has a bit more of a hip hop feel but is an inspirational song for anyone that has ever been an outcast from the "in crowd".

I highly recommend that you download this album. I think you will be very happy with the purchase. I also suggest that you buy your music from Amazon because it can be transferred without limitation between music platforms. There is nothing worse than buying music from Apple then losing it when you migrate to a new computer. Amazon's downloads easily integrate directly into iTunes.

Best NCAA Conferences by Final Four Appearances

Its time to update the conference performance stats in the NCAA tournament. I last published this study a couple of years ago. I look at the Final Four appearances by conference for the past 10 and 30 years to provide some long-term trends in conference performance.

While I understand that Final Four appearances alone are not the only guide to analyzing a conferences performance, I do believe it is the most important criteria. Why? Well first off, college basketball crowns a true National Champion every year and that is the goal of every major DI school. Second, while total tournament wins by conference are nice, they don't achieve the end goal of winning an NC. So the fact that one conference might win 65% of its tournament games is nice, if they don't place teams into the Final Four -- who cares?! Third, while NBA draft picks is an interesting stat, it does not tell us anything about victories at the collegiate level. Lastly, we could look at total winning percentage in inter-conference games, but this data would be difficult to find and what's more -- does it really matter if it ain't in the Big Dance?

For those reasons, National Championships and Final Four appearances are the most important overall factors in judging the best college basketball conferences.

Winner
As it was two years ago, the ACC stands alone as the undisputed best basketball conference in the country. With 4 of the last 10 and 9 of the last 30 National Champions no conference even comes close in number of NCs. They are also the leader in Final Four appearances for both the past 10 and 30 years. The one mark against the ACC is that the vast majority of their success has been concentrated with 2 teams, UNC and Duke, representing 7 of 9 FF appearances in the past 10 years. However, dominance is dominance and certainly is not disputed because it is concentrated within two teams.

Second
However, as was the case two years ago, I believe 2nd place will surprise you -- The Big Ten appears to be the clear leader for the second best basketball conference in the country. During the past 10 years they have 8 Final Four appearances (only 1 less than the ACC and 2 more than the next closest B12). Additionally, during the past 5 years, 3 of the national runner-ups have come from the B10 (not even the ACC has had that many teams in NC games during the past 5 years). Those three runners-up, Michigan State, Ohio State and Illinois, further demonstrates the conferences depth. They had 1 NC in the past 10 years and 4 in the past 30 which is comparable to other conferences, but their total overall FF appearances were so clearly higher than other non-ACC conferences that they appear a clear choice for 2nd.

Third
Third is a tough choice between the Big East and the SEC but I am going to give the slight edge to the Big East. They have both had 2 NCs in the past ten years and 5 in the past 30 years. In FF appearances the Big East has the edge in the past 10 years (5 vs 4), while the SEC has a couple of more appearances over the past 30 years. So, while the stats are very even between the two conferences, the subjective data points to the Big East. Most of the SEC's recent success is attributable Florida's strong two year run. However prior to that run, Florida was not a perennial basketball powerhouse. Further, the SEC's biggest basketball power, Kentucky, has been down for so many years that they have almost become a non-factor. Therefore, for annual consistency during both the past 10 years and the past 30 years, I give the Big East the edge.

Here are the actual stats by conference. Feel free to chime in with your own interpretation of the data.

Some Big College Hoops Dunks -- Bring on the Madness

Let's get into a March Madness mood with some big time play inside the paint from some of the likely Tourney teams:

Blake Griffin, Oklahoma - One hand slam over Colorado



Carlon Brown, Utah - Slam while abusing the defender



Calvin Brock, Illinois - One hand slam putback against Indiana



Sam Young, Pitt - Windmill dunk on the breakaway