College Basketball

NBA Retro Zapruder Of The 1985 NBA Draft Lottery

In the 80's hit movie Stand By Me, there's a scene where the four main characters, teenage boys (including a young Corey Feldman!), are sitting around a campfire and one of them (Gordie) tells a story about a fat kid named Lard Ass participating in a blueberry pie eating contest at the county fair. ... More >>

Top Five Things to Do in Houston Sports This Weekend: Depressed Aeros Edition

Well, it's official. The Houston Aeros is moving to...Iowa. I've been to Des Moines. It's a nice town. But, losing our only tie to professional hockey pretty much sucks. I'm depressed. But, I have to suck it up because there is lots more to do and I can't get bogged down in something like this. I me ... More >>

Top Five Things to Do in Houston Sports This Weekend: The Upper Crusty Edition

The above image is exactly what we imagine you say when you see the weekly headline announcing the best things to do in sports this weekend. You're all, "FUCK YEAH, MOTHER EFFER! IT'S TIME FOR SPORTS! WOO!" Then you read about the things we have to offer and you're all, "YEAH...wait, what?" That's ... More >>

Houston's Years Of Saying "WTF?" Finally End: Guy V. Lewis Gets Into The Hall Of Fame

Legendary Houston Cougar basketball coach Guy V. Lewis has been selected for the Basketball Hall of Fame. It is a very well-deserved honor for one of the finest basketball coaches ever involved with the game. It is also an honor that should have been bestowed long, long ago. Fans of the Cougars, fa ... More >>

Guy V. Lewis Finally Gets into the Hall of Fame

Though the announcement won't come until Monday, it was been fairly widely leaked that legendary University of Houston men's basketball coach Guy V. Lewis has finally been elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, 2013 class. Lewis had been removed from the ballot for four years for lack of s ... More >>

March Madness Elite 8: 4 Winners, 4 Losers

And then there were four! (I know, on the list of lame, cliched, bloggy catchphrases "And then there was (however many are left)" is right behind "Houston, we have a problem." but I'm still a little rattled from falling for the Dream Shake's April Fool's Day prank. I'm running simple plays here, n ... More >>

March Madness 2013: My Predictions In The Form Of Prop Bets

The play-in game appetizers are done, and Thursday morning the main course of 63 games involving 64 teams over the next two weeks begins. For the first time since I got into radio in 2007, I will be able to actually settle in and watch the games for the entire first two days with no radio responsibi ... More >>

Cougars And Owls Finish Very Disappointing Basketball Seasons

March Madness begins on Tuesday and gets into full swing on Thursday. And for the first time in probably forever (technically 1977), not one single Texas college was invited to play in the NCAA Tournament. No UT. No A&M. No Baylor. No Rice, UH, Sam Houston State, or SFA. Not one. But not all hope ... More >>

Guy V. Lewis Back on the Basketball Hall of Fame Ballot. It's Time He Was Inducted Once and For All

There has been a lot of talk about various halls of fame this week with the retirement of Ray Lewis, the baseball Hall of Fame inductions to be announced on Wednesday and now word that, for the first time in five years, legendary University of Houston basketball coach Guy V. Lewis will return to the ... More >>

What Does 2013 Have In Store For The University of Houston Cougars?

This is a year the Houston Cougars would probably prefer to forget. It started with a bang as the Cougars demolished Penn State on January 2 at the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas. But the football team wasn't quite the same after the departure of Case Keenum and his receiving corps. As the Cougars move i ... More >>

What Does The Future Hold For The Rice Owls?

It's been a so-so year for Rice sports. The baseball team didn't make it past the NCAA Regionals. The men's basketball team self-destructed. And at one point the football team was 1-5. But then in mid-October the football team took off, and they won five of their six games to finish the season at 6- ... More >>

5 Things We Learned From SI.com's Fascinating 2012 Mock College Football Playoff Selection

Since the largely money driven epiphany of the college presidents and power brokers of the Bowl Championship Series finally gave us the promise of a four team playoff beginning with the 2014 season, one of my many questions has been "Why do we have to wait until 2014?" I think I know the answer -- ... More >>

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets, "Taking The Escalator" Edition (Also, Praise For UConn's Jim Calhoun)

Sitting and watching Jim Calhoun's retirement press conference as I type this post, and I got to thinking....it's nice to build something. In 1986, Jim Calhoun inherited a UConn men's basketball program that was 12-16 the year before and to that point had won just four NCAA tournament games in its ... More >>

A Few Suggestions For Houston Sports Moments and Personalities To Be Memorialized

The greatest player in the history of the Houston Oilers is, without a doubt, Earl Campbell. And Ross Greenburg, the former head of HBO Sports, is producing a documentary on the life and career of Campbell that will air later this year on the NBC Sports Network. And last month the MLB Network did a ... More >>

If Any School Deserves The NCAA Death Penalty, It's Got To Be Penn State

If ever a major collegiate football program deserves the so-called NCAA death penalty, it's got to be Penn State. The myth of Joe Paterno and his ethical football program has been blown out of the water, and the least the NCAA can do is put this program out of the misery of college sports fans. For ... More >>

NBA Draft Preview Via Prop Bets

I know some people are not all that fond of mock drafts. Me, I like mock drafts. In the same vein of enjoying takeout because I hate to cook, I like reading mock drafts, I just don't like constructing them myself. But somehow, some way I need to share some of my thoughts with you on this Thursday's ... More >>

Picking Rockets Team of the 2000s Not an Easy Task

Throughout the course of this frustrating season, the Houston Rockets have been allowing fans to pick their choices for the starting team of the decade beginning with the 1970s and continuing with the '80s, '90s and 2000s. They had all but one of their starting five for the 2000s on had for their wi ... More >>

March Madness -- The Most "Live" Teams At Each Seed, 1 through 16

Last year, the Final Four made its way to Houston and in a turn of events entirely emblematic of the type of sports year Houston sustained in 2011, we wound up with arguably the most underwhelming collection of four teams ever assembled at college basketball's marquee event. The highest seeded team ... More >>

Shocking News: The Owls and Cougars Not Going Dancing

There might still be a month left in the season for several college basketball teams. But the alumni, students, and fans of Rice and the University of Houston are either going to have to ignore March Madness, or they're going to have to find some other teams for whom to cheer. That the Houston Coug ... More >>

5 Things to Know About March Madness So You Don't Look Like a Complete Lummox

Just admit it: You won't have a clue about how to talk about the 2012 NCAA tournament, much less how to fill out the bracket once the teams are selected on March 11. That's what we're here for. As March Madness heads toward its March 15 start date (no need to watch the games on March 13 and 14; s ... More >>

Rice Owls Reach the Rarified Air of Basketball Success

Something a little magical happened at Rice's Tudor Fieldhouse Wednesday night. Something that basketball fans don't see too often. Something Rice fans have never seen. It wasn't just that the Owls (16-12, 7-6 in conference) came back from a 15-point first half deficit to defeat the UCF Knights ... More >>

The Top Moments In 2011 Rice Owls Sports

John RoyalRice's Anthony Rendon became a very rich baseball player this summer​It's that time of year. The time for end-of-year lists and bests of, etc. And I'm not immune to tossing off an easy post. So, without further ado, and in no particular order, here are the Top 25 Events in Rice Ow ... More >>

For Texas A&M: A Guide to the SEC

Welcome to the family, Aggies.​Earthshaking news that you might have missed if you're not a sports fan: Texas A&M is leaving the Big 12 to go to the Southeastern Conference. If you're not a sports fan, perhaps your earth has remained unshaken, but it's a monster step for the Aggies. To help ... More >>

2010-2011 Houston Rockets Report Card

Photo by GroovehouseSad Rocket fan​Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog post for today, also known as "Day Four of the Jim Rome Smack-Off Recap Hostage Crisis." That's right, based on feedback on my Twitter feed and the monster hits that our rogue "Smack-Off On A Mobile" have been getting, I k ... More >>

The NCAA Title Game: Forget One Shining Moment, Try a Brick House Instead

John RoyalAnd so begins one of the worst championship games in NCAA Tournament history.​Houston is the home city of two Conference USA basketball teams. That means that there's been some really bad basketball played in this city the last several years. So perhaps it was the lingering stench ... More >>

Final Four: Six Prop Bets for Tonight's NCAA Game

[Jeff Foxworthy voice:] If you're betting on which team hits the first three-pointer, you just might be a degenerate gambler.​Of the four schools in this year's NCAA basketball Final Four, the two biggest fan bases at Reliant Stadium on Saturday night (in my purely unscientific opinion) appear ... More >>

Final Four: Ethics, And How Empty Will Reliant be Monday?

John RoyalUConn's Jim Calhoun, the Don Corleone of the Final Four coaches​UConn coach Jim Calhoun went the bizarre route on Friday afternoon, comparing him and this group of Final Four coaches to the old 1960s sitcom My Three Sons, with Calhoun of course, assuming the role of Fred MacMurray, t ... More >>

Reese's College All-Star Game

The Four Best Final Fours of the "One Shining Moment" Era (w/ VIDEO)

Hopefully more shining and less Hudson this year​Some of you mistook my piece on Monday as my not being excited for the Final Four this weekend in Houston. That couldn't be further from the truth. I am incredibly excited to have the event here in our town, for a couple reasons: 1. I'm a Con ... More >>

Dear Ms. Judd, Welcome to Houston

Dear Ashley, welcome to Houston. I'll be in the press section, come find me.​Dear Ms. Ashley Judd: I want to take this opportunity to welcome you to my hometown of Houston, Texas. Now I know you've visited our fine place before, especially several years ago when you were here with your race ... More >>

Final Four -- R.I.P. College Basketball Regular Season

It's Cinderella overload in Houston​"See, BCS! This is how it's done! College basketball, baby!!" -- Any number of random tweeters after Virginia Commonwealth and Butler punched their tickets to the Final Four this weekend Yes, in a world plagued by war, unemployment, and earthquakes, the m ... More >>

Metro Prepares for Final Four Onslaught

Metro clearly wants to avoid this during the Final Four weekend.​Beginning next Thursday, college basketball fans will begin descending on Houston for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, held at Reliant Stadium. In addition to the games, there is a fan festival at George R. Brown Convention ... More >>

NCAA Sweet Sixteen Central

What the hell happened to Leslie Visser?​It's generally accepted that the first two full days of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament provide the greatest two-day watching/gambling/drinking/eating experience annually, for obvious reasons: 1. Whether by illness, approved vacation, or planned s ... More >>

NCAA Days Three and Four -- Winners and Losers

March madness underway.​Well, I'm guessing that this past weekend of basketball is not how the money people behind the Final Four's coming to Houston drew it up on the chalkboard. In a tournament that already had last year's regional darling Baylor on the outside looking in, the only two Te ... More >>

NCAA Day One -- Winners and Losers

Need some downtime for the NCAA tourney? Try a vasectomy.​Yes, you read that headline correctly -- yesterday was "Day One" of the NCAA Tournament. Not Tuesday! Despite what the NCAA propaganda machine will tell you, the greatest single two-week period of sports during the calendar year is not ... More >>

Why Is Everybody Hating on UAB?

Seth Greenberg wants to know why no one likes him​"It makes you wonder if someone in that room has their own agenda, and it does not include Virginia Tech, unfortunately," Coach Seth Greenberg said Sunday night. "You'd hate to think there's politics involved, but it makes you wonder." I've ... More >>

CBS Murders Charles Barkley (Not Literally)

Barkley sucked ass instead of kissing it​"This is a win on any number of levels, not the least of which is that I would watch Charles Barkley analyzing or opining on any topic. No, seriously, I would watch Charles Barkley convey his thoughts about ANYTHING -- basketball, politics, the economy, ... More >>

Charles Barkley Drops "Jackass" on Billy Packer (And Seven Other Barkley-As-Analyst Highlights)

Don't mess with the Barkley​The unveiling of the brackets for March Madness, which is a scant 48 hours away, takes on a little different meaning this year, for three intertwined reasons: 1. The field has expanded to 68, so now Tuesday and Wednesday will include four play-in games to get us to ... More >>

Rice Basketball: Farce? Fiasco? Either Way, the Owls Lose Another

John RoyalThe malfunctioning shot clock displays Rice's chances of advancing to the NCAA Tournament​What if they played a basketball game and nobody cared? What if it was senior night, but the school was on spring break and not even the band or cheerleaders could be bothered to make even a to ... More >>

Kings Of Leon Playing Free Final Four Discovery Green Show

Marc BrubakerKings of Leon at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, September 2010​According to Houston's KHOU-TV, Tennessee studs Kings of Leon will play a free show at Discovery Green from 12-4 p.m. the afternoon of Saturday, April 2, as part of the Final Four weekend festivites as the NCAA men's ... More >>

UH and Rice Attempt to Salvage Their Seasons This Weekend

John RoyalMaurice McNeil hopes to lead the Cougars out to three more wins​The Houston Cougars and Rice Owls looked to be moving in different directions as the men's basketball season got underway. The Cougars had a new head coach, James Dickey, who hadn't been a head coach since the 1990s. T ... More >>

Houston Rockets -- Screwed City

Daniel KramerDaryl Morey needs to go big time​It's no surprise that Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey has a Facebook page. And it's not one of those aloof "Fan" pages, either, where all you can do is click "Like." Morey has one of those "regular guy" Facebook pages where you can send him me ... More >>

Cougars Come Close, But Close Isn't Good Enough

John RoyalZamal Nixon looks for the open guy in the first half​Basketball teams don't win games they let the opponent shoot 50 percent from the floor. They also don't win basketball games when they miss 12 of 31 free throw shots. Or take ill-advised three-point shots when hanging on to a one ... More >>

Rice Basketball: What's New, Pussycat?

The Owls turned the LSU Tigers into pussycats​There are droughts, and there are droughts. And fittingly, on a day when the city of Houston was submerged under a continuous downpour of rain that may have helped to end a drought that's been dragging down the city, the Rice Owls found a way&nbs ... More >>

Resurrecting Phi Slama Jama

Can UH resurrect its basketball glory days?

UH Basketball Tries Once Again To Resurrect Phi Slama Jama (And Our List Of The Five Best Basketball Coogs)

While the University of Houston tries to resurrect its basketball program, we reflect on the glory days. ​Bryan Williams, who was a part of the University of Houston's Phi Slama Jama teams, took pictures for this week's cover story in the Houston Press about the incredible decline of the universit ... More >>

The Five Most Overrated Houston Athletes

Nolan Ryan: Ks are nice, how about wins?​In Houston, we mostly love our athletes. It takes a lot to get on our bad side.Of course, sometimes we overlove our athletes. Not only do they hold a special place in our hearts, but we insist that they were much better than they actually were.So what athle ... More >>

Houston's 10 Best Sports Moments*

*And the 5 most heartbreaking...

Houston's Top Ten Sports Moments: Another View

The bosses came out their Top 10 Greatest Houston Sports Moments today, so I thought I would share mine.1. September 25, 1986: The magic number for the Houston Astros to clinch the NL West is one game. The Astros are playing a midweek day game against the San Francisco Giants, the team that just ... More >>

Game Time: Best of the Best -- Top 10 Moments from Clutch City Rockets (w/video)

Consensus Number One​I am a total sucker for lists.This makes me like roughly 95 percent of society; the fact that I openly admit I'm a sucker for lists makes me a little more unique. There are so many list books, list columns, list blog posts (many by yours truly) that it seems by admitting you ... More >>