Archive for March 29th, 2012

WATERCOOLER CHAT: ILLINOIS GETS GRACE, MANNING TO TULSA, MAGIC OWNS DODGERS

March 29th, 2012 | Category: Uncategorized
A few teams added new coaches… and some new owners.

BASKETBALL

After Ohio’s brilliant run in the tournament, which included an upset win over #4 Michigan and then a victory over the Big East’s Univ. of South Florida (a team everybody thought would win that game), head coach John Grace was in high demand.  He was certainly this year’s Cinderella team, as everybody else from the Sweet Sixteen was from a major conference.  They even brought #1 North Carolina to overtime.  In fact, they had a chance to win that game, but came up short on the free throws.  So, needless to say, John Grace had some options after the tourney.  And he has settled on the head coaching gig at Illinois.  This is actually a very coveted position, as Illinois takes pride in their college basketball program.  After all, they have a ton of blue-chip college basketball recruits in Chicago.  Illinois under Grace could really make some noise.

And in college basketball, the Tulsa basketball program used to have a certain amount of prestige to it.  They were one of the original Cinderella teams, making the tournament as a mid-major school and pulling off an upset or two.  But recently, they haven’t found themselves in the field of 68.  So they needed some fresh eyes at the head coaching position.  They put the feelers out to the community, but sometimes it’s good to go with an ex-player, even an ex-superstar college player.  That’s why they picked up Danny Manning.  Manning was a playmaker for the Kansas Jayhawks in the late 80s, one of the best college players to ever play.  Then he went to the Clippers and had a lackluster career.  But as a college head coach, this guy could lead Tulsa back to the promised land.

BASEBALL

And finally, the Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the most storied franchises in sports, has finally been sold.  Frank McCourt, one of the most corrupt individuals to ever grace the sports landscape, owned the team for a while, and drove them to bankruptcy.  This was sad for all the Dodger faithful fans craving a winning team.  And in baseball, it all starts with ownership.  Owners hire the best president who hires the best general manager to build a winning team.  The group that bought the Dodgers included Los Angeles icon Magic Johnson.  Surely Dodger fans will be happy with him at the helm.  The price:  $2 billion.  Wow!!! That is a lot for a baseball team, but the Dodgers are legitimately that valuable.  Hopefully this group can help turn the Dodgers around.
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