Results tagged “State” from Robert Littal Presents The Infamous BlackSportsOnline

NC State has always been one of the biggest champions of cancer research in the country.

The school took a chance on a proud New Yorker several years ago to coach their men's basketball team, who later won a national championship and became one of the more famous faces in the battle against the deadly disease. Rest in peace, Jim Valvano...

On the women's side, Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow battled breast cancer for over 20 years, only to succumb January 24th. She also happened to be one of the greatest coaches in the sport, and a very interesting character. Anyone who had the honor to meet her, such as I, knows that.

This past weekend, State played host to North Carolina in men's basketball, and the school paid tribute to Yow. A mural in her honor was painted in the school's Free Expression Tunnel, which has been a target of students from rival schools to 'get back' at NC State. This one went too far...

More after the jump...

First, I will assume there are very few collegiate hockey fans that read this site. With that in mind, allow me to put this in context.

Let's start by saying there is NO fighting in collegiate hockey. That is what will help you understand just how bad this is.

Michigan defenseman Steve Kampfer missed the first 16 games of this season due to a fractured skull from a vicious off-ice assault from at least one of the Wolverine football players October 12, 2008.

Fast forward to Saturday night in Ann Arbor, where rivals Michigan and Michigan State squared off in one of the better college rinks to see a game, Yost Ice Arena. Kampfer lined up and landed a hard, but legal hit on Spartan forward Corey Tropp. Tropp's teammate, freshman forward Andrew Conboy reacted in a very sick way, reminiscent of Todd Bertuzzi's sucker punch on Steve Moore a few years ago, and the results look the same...

More after the jump (and there's a lot more to the story...)...

As many of you know I am a proud alum of The Ohio State University, so as you can imagine I am in quite a bit of pain this morning. I honestly don't know what is worse getting blown out (or blowed out as Emmitt would say) or losing a game that you fought your hearts out to win only to lose in the final seconds. I am thinking the latter because the lost last night to Texas is something that is going to burn a lot of Ohio State fans for a long time.

When we (and yes I said we because when you go to school as prestigious as OSU for 4 ½ years you become family) lost to Florida two years ago that was more shock than anything. When we lost to LSU last year that was expected, so a little easier to swallow. This year you would have been hard pressed to find anyone who thought OSU would beat Texas.

It was a moral victory to just be up 6-3 at halftime and wasn't surprising when Texas took a 17-6 lead early in the 4th quarter. But then Ohio State showed resolved that we haven't seen from them in the past. A lot of that has to do with the belief that Terrell Pryor truly is the savior for the program, but when OSU stormed back to take a 21-17 lead with a little under two minutes to go, Buckeye nation grasp onto something they haven't had in a very long time:

In life I am an optimist, but in sports I am more of a pessimist and truly believe certain things are fated. When Texas converted a 4th down right around mid field by the slimiest of margins I thought in the back of my mind:

A couple plays and an ill timed blitz later the game was over and another bitter BCS defeat for Ohio State to swallow.

Personally I believe it is:

1- Beanie Baby

First let me phrase this how my Journalism professors at The Ohio State University would want me to:

"My sources inside the Buckeyes locker room have confirmed contrary to popular belief that star running back Chris Wells is no where near 100% and even though he will play don't expect him to have the same impact as if he was healthy."

Now that my former professors are happy let me break it down to you BSO style:

"I got homies that get me the inside scoop down at OSU and they are telling me that Tressell is lying his ass off and Beanie is still jacked up."

No 100% Beanie=no victory.

2- California Dreaming

By the time "Ya Boy" is in Cali to shoot a commercial on the 18th (I am a superstar critically acclaimed) the Buckeyes will have tumbled down the rankings. It is not unheard of for OSU to go on the road and beat a highly ranked team (see: Texas a few years ago), but it is highly unlikely they are going to catch a highly motivated USC by surprise.

The term "can't miss prospect" always makes me shiver because the whole logic behind the statement is flawed. There is no such thing as a "can't miss prospect" which is why I am worried about my Alma Mater's finally securing the services of "The Next Vince Young," Terrelle Pryor.

Immediately after the news broke on ESPN, my sidekicks blew up at me, both from Ohio friends (proclaiming multiple National Championships) and my Michigan friends (using language I can not print on the site). While I am happy Pryor is a Buckeye and I am cautiously optimistic about our chances to get back to the BCS Title game next year, I am still worried. The reason being that for every Tim Tebow that pans out, there are four Ron Powlus' that don't. (Powlus is still waiting on those two Heisman trophies from Beano Cook.) Only time will tell what Mr. Pryor will be.