It's all about recruiting the next star: Texas retires Kevin Durant's jersey

...despite the fact that Durant played 1 (one) season in Austin.

That is ONE season.

And the guy gets his jersey retired.

Dean Smith and Coach K have been known to not put up Final Four banners in their home arenas if one player on the team does not graduate, yet the University of Texas has retired Kevin Durant's jersey after just one season and, in 2004, retired TJ Ford's jersey despite the fact that Ford only played two seasons.

That's two (2).

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How cheap has immortality become in today's society when college basketball programs are retiring jerseys for players who come nowhere close to completing their eligibility? I think that UT's athletic director and president should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this obvious play towards the next bigtime recruit to come into head coach Rick Barnes sights: "Hey young man; come play for me, have one or two great seasons, make NBA money, and STILL get your jersey retired!"

That's got to be a big selling point towards recruits: College immortality at nowhere near the normal price of four years and a college education.

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Offhand, the only three seniors I can think of who deserve to have their jersey numbers retired by their respective schools are Davidson's Stephon Curry, UNC's Tyler Hansborough, and Marquette's Jerel McNeal. That with the caveat that all three get their degrees (that should be a requirement for getting your number put up into a school's rafters: actually GRADUATING from that school.)

"Revolutionary Road" -- One of 2008's Very Best Films

The greatness of "Revolutionary Road" lies in Sam Mendes braveness in asking the question we all seem so afraid of: "Just what is it I want out of life?" For all of humanity's bluster, macho-ness, and hero worship, we're all just so very afraid that we don't, in the larger sense, matter to anyone but ourselves. We all seem to live lives of "quiet desperation" indeed.

In dealing with very, very adult themes "Road" is not for the faint of heart. Its failure at the box office and during awards season may be because people just don't want to hear that life can be pretty fucking traumatic quite a bit of the time. To me, that is reality. While a great many others may go to movies to escape their lives, I go to make mine better. This film helps accomplish that by shedding light on the dark corners of our existence.

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I hate reviewers who give away much of the plot of a film; therefore I make every effort to tell readers of this blog simply whether to see a film or not, and why, in a brief but honest way.

And you should see "Road" because it is, in my opinion, one of the very best films of last year. To say that it was underrated by the critics and audience is to damn it with much too faint praise.

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Having seen "The Reader", for which Ms. Winslet won an Acadamy Award, I feel that her performance in "Road" was stronger. Leonardo DiCarpio is his usual emotive, emotional self, and does a nice job with the more sympathetic of the two main characters. Kathy Bates and Micheal Shannon are powerhouses as the real estate agent and her troubled son (Shannon got an Oscar nomination for his showy part). Every performance is spot on perfect, and the costume and set design are, as one would expect in a Sam Mendes film, sensational.

NFL Draft is approaching

Here is a quick look at SI.com's top 50 college prospects as of February 20th.

A lot of that has changed since the NFL Combine was held last weekend in Indianapolis. Apparently, a lot of players did well and a lot of players tested poorly. There are about two months to go until the annual draft extraveganza in New York City, so plenty of time to analyze this stuff. Enjoy!

Jim Calhoun acts like a bully

At a recent news conference, UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun was asked, in my eyes, a perfectly legitimate question about being the highest paid state employee in Connecticut, a state facing a massive shortfall in revenue.

Calhoun acted amused for a second, then pulled out the "I'm more important than you are, little bug!" type-speech to the "reporter" (apparently a free lance blogger like myself) and got visibly angry, as the youtube connection to the Sports Illustrated story shows.

Why are all coaches so quick to anger? In my childhood, Ohio State's Woody Hayes was a great example of power gone mad, as he used to slug his own players and assistant coaches, as well as sideline camera men until one famous game when Hayes threw a punch at an opposing player.

My Dad always said that "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." It appears that the college coaches of our nation are a great example of that.

The Value of Simply Being There

Ever have a friend tell you that they've had a bad day? A lousy day? A terrible day? An earth shatteringly awful, mind-blowingly terrible day?

Did you try to save them additional heartbreak by saying, "just do xxx? or "do xxx and you'll feel better?"

Or, tell them, "Stop complaining, things could be worse?"

I'm here to tell you to stop and just listen. Don't try to fix things, don't try to come up with the perfect answer.

Just be there for them.

Maybe you could say, "Man, that stinks. I really feel for you." Maybe you could tell your friend that you, too, feel bad sometimes. And then you could ask if they want to go see a movie, want to go out for a bite to eat, want to take a walk, etc.

Sometimes, just being there for a friend in desperate need of support is the best support of all. There is no perfect answer to someone having a bad day. There is no cure all to someone who is sad, lonely, tired, and sick.

You want to be a friend to someone? Be a real friend and take some time out of your schedule and do something relaxing with them.

I here "The International" is quite a good movie. Maybe that would be a place to start with whomever in your life is down right now.

Funny Headline of the Day: Clippers ex-GM Sues for Discrimination

...Due to age and rascism!

The freeking CLIPPERS GM! The worst franchise in basketball, in the world's media capital, with basketball loving fans everywhere, albiet with a dunce for an owner, and he sues because he thinks HE is being treated unfairly!

What a joke, Elgin Baylor! You have been an embarrassment to basketball ever since your playing days ended long ago. Nice to see things haven't changed for your and your appointed team. Good luck with the suit, mister "Never won a title."

A-Rod's Mea Culpa

First of all I don't believe a word of it. He knows that baseball doesn't have any more tests so there is no chance he will get caught again. Just admitting what we know and not offering any more insight will not win him any fans. This interview is proof that a lot of great athletes are incredible egomaniacs. I just wish I was powerful and wealthy enough to talk down to my "millions" of fans. Sheesh.

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Do Red Sox fans think that now we are suddenly better than all those awful New Yorkers simply because none of the major stars of recent Boston teams has tested positive?

Do you really believe that no Red Sox, past or present, took steroids? Come on.

Look at Nomar. His body broke down in his early 30's. Torn ligaments and tendons are sings that muscles are too big for their casings. That is how Nomar got injured repeatedly after his wrist scare back in 2001. The man, in my view, was almost certainly doing something.

And you're kidding yourself if you don't think some current members of the Sox were and possibly still are using steroids and other performance enhancing substances. Would it be out of the realm of possibility that Manny, Big Papi and Pedro all used? For all his bluster, would a perfectionist like Curt Schilling be tempted? I would think so.

No one is beyond suspicion, and that is the tragedy of this whole mess.

Cleaning out The 'Pent: Random Thoughts on a Tuesday

Sorry for the lack of recent posts, but I have been under the weather lately.

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1) "The Wrestler" is the anti-"Rocky"

I saw this great film a second time yesterday, and enjoyed it even more than the first. Director Darren Aronofsky did a remarkable job using hand held cameras to shoot the film, allowing for a bit of a documentary feel. Mickey Rourke's performance is one for the ages; I can't imagine another actor giving the role its due. He may be the favorite for Best Actor at the Academy Awards in two weeks. And Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood are both outstanding as the women in his life.

The film is heartbreaking but yet you can't take your eyes off the screen. And time will most likely be kind to this one: I see it only growing in stature as the years pass.

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2) An example of what a blog should be: JeffPearlman.com. Jeff shares his thoughts on a variety of subject, large and small. Always interesting reading. I can't wait until his Roger Clemens book comes out.

An example of a blog that makes little sense to me: Deadspin.com They bring snarkiness to a new level. Most of the time I cannot understand what is being talked about. Maybe I'm just too damn old.

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3) Just how do they fit all that shaving cream in such a little bottle of shaving cream?

I mean; how can there be six months worth of shaving cream in a bottle no bigger than your average can of Mountain Dew? An unanswered question you probably need a doctorate in chemistry in to know the answer to.

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4) Garry Trudeau is one of the great American artists of recent times.

Not cartoonists. Not even writers. Artists. His cartoon strip has been brilliant and timely for forty years now. I am astonished at his greatness. Not even Norman Mailer wrote a great book every time out. Not even David Halberstam. But Trudeau, yes, "Doonesbury" is consistently great.

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5) The New York Knicks might have the most perfectly awful roster in all the NBA. And for that they might want to be thankful.

They do have quite possibly the best coach in the league in Mike D'Antoni and a solid GM in Donnie Walsh, But absolutely no one on the current team roster would be considered untradeable. Their best player is ball hog Al Harrington, who scores well but simply doesn't pass. Rookie from Italy Gallinari looks to these eyes to be a bust, as he is soooo unathletic. How could they have spent a lottery pick on a guy who lumbers up and down the court so? The rest of the Knickerbockers are fillins like Richardson and Duhon, who should be thankful they play in a good system that rewards shotmakers.

The big question right now for NY's management is whether to sign free agent to be David Lee to a big contract. I say NO! He is a nice player but certainly not a difference maker. A lot of power forwards playing major minutes inside would get double figure boards if Jarod Jefferies was the center. Lee is not worth ten million. Let some other team sign him, struggle through the next season, free up some cap space, and then sign two superstars next year. Every recent NBA champion of recent vintage has gotten by with two or three major spokes on their wheel. The Knicks, with possibly D-Wade and LeBron in 2010 can do the same thing.

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6) Ever hear about how wonderful a book was your whole life, then, when you got around to reading it were hugely disappointed?

Maybe I am suffering from cold symptoms, but Ken Dryden's "The Game", which is universally acknowledged as one of the finest sports books ever written, has left me cold. At least the first 50 pages have. I will try again later, but starting tomorrow I have an appointment with Joe Torre and Tom Verducci.

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7) What is it with actresses and limp, lifeless hair lately?

Here is Anjelina Jolie, looking limp at the Golden Globes, here's the formerly hot Julia Roberts also looking limp in a photo from her new movie.

Don't these women have hairdressers? Is there some mysterious force destroying women's hairstyles lately? Why don't they use some damn shampoo and get some life back into their do's, for crying out loud. They look like folks who haven't taken a shower in two weeks. How very European.

Today is Truck Day at Fenway!

Be gone, Winter! Soon we will enjoy glorious spring.

Yes, it's that time again: the trucks loaded down with Red Sox equipment will leave Fenway Park today around 1pm, headed for sunny Florida.

Note to Al Michaels and John Madden: Do you care anymore?

When pro athletes lose their passion they get cut. When coaches lose their passion they get fired.

And when announcers lose their passion....

What happens? They keep getting assignments until they royally screw things up.

That didn't happen tonight in Tampa. No major gaffes by the veteran announcing duo.

But in Super Bowl XLIII it was obvious to my eyes and ears that Michaels and Madden just don't care as much as they used to.

Announcing the biggest sporting event in the world should be a privilege, not a right, and if your heart isn't in it, then it's time to go. The game was a bust for the first three quarters, then provided thrill after thrill in the fourth quarter. Play by play man Michaels was not up to either task. Madden is in his seventies and is simply getting on in years.

It would be nice for NBC to get these two to accept lesser assignments and allow Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth to handle the duties next time the network comes up in the Super Bowl rotation. At least their passion is unquestioned.