Category: words

I wrote a minute ago that when I began traveling for basketball, I thought I’d be traveloguing as well as sportswriting, but travel quickly grew to suck. Rudy Tomjanovich said about scouting that hotel staff gets to know you better than your family does. I used to append: “AND you get to watch four games […]

I’ve gone on long flights, changed planes, reached the destination in much shorter time. The cross-country part takes forever, but after reaching the hub, the second leg isn’t so far off. Sometimes I’m on the second leg, or sitting in the layover airport, and think: There’s still the big fun to be had at the […]

NET places Stanford #5 and Utah #7, which is a darn shame for this reason: I was so hoping the formula would’ve placed Utah ahead of Stanford, because then my theory about the AP voters could be tested: To vote Stanford behind Utah could cause an AP voter’s head to explode, and we mustn’t risk […]

Brynna Maxwell had her worst shooting day of the season — 2-for-10, 0-for-4, 4-for-4 — though the Bulldogs held the Cougars to 4 points in the 3rd, so maybe Brynna cranked up her D. On that odd scale where 1800 denotes great shooting, Brynna was 1944 Thursday. Today’s misses drop her percentages to 477 500 […]

As well as UCLA is playing, they’d be crushing most other teams. If the second round is the Big 10 vs. The Washingtons, those games figure to be as well-played as the championship games in lesser conferences. All four of those teams are impressive. In the very big picture, the strength of the Pac-12 is […]

Utah shares the conference championship. “Light the U” doesn’t cover it. Director of basketball operations Kendall Rodriguez looks almost pleased. That woman really should develop a sense of humor and good nature.

Having trouble breathing here. Can’t pass out without complaining about this, though: A minute ago, ballhandler Pili took a step toward the basket, then changed her mind after a look at Brink, waiting. “The chess match between Pili and Brink continues”, said Mary Murphy (the first Sacramento Monarchs coach, and a coach at Cal State […]

Back when Connecticut and Tennessee played each November, those games could be #1 vs. #2 — add those up to make 3. The lower that number, the higher the quality of the match. Stanford’s visit to Utah in, um, six hours is an 11. In the NCAA round of 16, you get 11’s. We’re some […]

If Stanford and Utah both finish 15-3: The Cardinal win the tiebreaker because they beat Arizona and Colorado. If Colorado and Arizona both finish 12-6: The Wildcats win the tiebreaker for beating USC while Colorado didn’t. If Arizona and UCLA both finish 11-7, UA wins that tiebreaker for winning head-to-head. If UCLA and USC finish […]

Kim Smith — one of my favorite Sacramento Monarchs and Canadian Olympic team members, though I never watched her play for Utah — is being inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor, which might cause some eyes to roll among old Monarchs boosters. I was a season ticketholder at Arco Arena for three summers, and […]