Larry Drew Leaves UNC; I Actually Wished He Had Stayed

It is being reported that Larry Drew II has left the University of North Carolina's hoops team. Unlike many Tar Heel fans, I'm actually sorry to see him go.

No, I'm not a big fan of Drew's play. I think he plays too fast and too hurried. I loved his defensive ability, his speed and passing ability. I just think he made some really bad decisions at times and just never developed enough of a shot to make anyone need to guard him.

Still, I hate that he's leaving.

He is probably the most "controversial" point guard at UNC since Adam Boone and the most "controversial" point guard on a good UNC team since King Rice. Rice stuck it out and eventually led the Heels to a Final Four. Boone couldn't cut it and left for Minnesota. I was hoping Drew was more like Rice.

Two things hurt Drew. One, he wasn't Ty Lawson or Raymond Felton. During the Roy Williams Era at Carolina, we've been spoiled by outstanding point guard play. Felton was at the point for Williams' first two seasons at Carolina and won the Cousey award and a championship. After a one-year gap (more on that later), Ty Lawson hit the scene in Chapel Hill and led the Heels to two Final Fours, one championship, the Cousey Award and an ACC Player Of the Year award.

Drew followed that up with his own big fanfare. While not as big a recruit as either Felton or Lawson, Drew still was an McD's All American. It just hasn't worked as the Heels missed the NCAAs in Drew's first season as the starter and then has been replaced in the starting lineup a couple of weeks ago and the Heels have flourished.

Still, Drew could have shown some more character and toughed it out.

I liken Drew to Quentin Thomas, another maligned Tar Heel point guard. They are nearly the identical player. Thomas was a freshman on the Heels 2005 NCAA title team. Drew was a frosh of the 2009 NCAA title team. Both guys are California guys who were a bit to quick for their own good. They turned the ball over, couldn't shoot and you just didn't trust them.

But Thomas stuck it out, and in his senior season of 2008, became one of the most beloved Heels. When Lawson went down with an injury, Thomas did a fantastic job filling in and gained the respect of every Carolina fan. On his senior day, he received one of the loudest ovations I have heard a Tar Heel receive. That says something since a guy named Tyler Hansbrough had his senior day the very next year.

That's what I was hoping for Drew. I know getting benched is a bit of a downer, but I was hoping that the fact that he is the son of a coach (his dad, Larry Drew, is the head coach of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks) that he'd collect himself and work hard to help the team. And going by the last four games, he was doing that. Against Boston College this week, Drew dropped 9 assists and looked pretty impressive on defense.

While Drew may not be the starter, he still could've been an important guy on this team.

Why he left really surprises and disappoints me. After all, Roy Williams has stood behind Drew last year and this year and defended his point guard. It was Williams that was getting a lot of flack for not benching Drew earlier in the year. Ol' Roy told us he believed in him ... but eventually did start freshman Kendall Marshall. To quit on a coach that stood by you is a bit lame. He believed in you until he just couldn't anymore. Drew could have returned the favor by working hard and helping the team.

Also, what else can Drew do? He won a title with the Heels in 2009. If/when he transfers then he'll have to sit one year before playing again. And when he does, it will be his senior season so he most likely won't make a huge difference anywhere and won't get what he is apparantly needing. If he stayed, he could've had his senior day at a great school that he helped with a national championship with. You can't get much better than that.

That's why this baffles me. He may not have been starting, but his minutes didn't drop by that much. And the times when both Drew and Marshall were out there seemed to work well. But when the going got tough, the tough quit. That's all you have to know. He quit on his team. I don't want quitters around the Carolina program and it's a shame that a kid like this decided to do so.

Now instead of finishing off his career at one of college basketball elite schools, he'll go to some mid-major or low-level "BCS conference" team to ride out his final year. Then he'll ride off into the sunset knowing that this was the highest level of basketball league he'd play in. Now he's thrown it all away.

Anyways, good luck Larry. I hope you find what you are looking for.

Sportz Assassin's Super Bowl Pick

Okay, because I'm one of the few people in America weighing in on who I think will win Super Bowl XLV. I mean, 200 million people is nothing in China!

I usually don't struggle with who I'm picking nor who I'm rooting for. This year, I know I'm rooting for the Green Bay Packers. But that may not be who I'm picking.

I'm rooting for the Packers because ... well, I'm not sure. I'm a Redskins fan so I like the NFC to win the Super Bowl in most years. I'm also a fan of Aaron Rodgers, who I totally respect what he's done during and after the whole Brett Favre mess. The Decision On Favre (which I agreed with at the time) factors in as well since I did say that Green Bay was doing the right thing.

But my football intelligence says the Steelers will win. They were the better team all year long, they've won two Super Bowls already and I think that Ben Roethlisberger has that "it" gene that allows him to make big plays in big moments ... even if he's looked bad all game long. While I like Rodgers, I'm not so sure about that yet.

So who do I pick? Instead of looking at the teams, I'm going to look at my own history.

I became a Redskins fan on a January morning in 1983. I was 7 years old and the Redskins were playing the Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII. Everyone in my family said that Miami was going to win. I picked Washington. The Redskins would win a thrilling game and I became a die-hard fan. As a 12-year old, I sat in a restaurant/bar watching Doug Williams rip the Broncos in 1988. In 1992, I sat in my parents' living room ... alone ... and watched the Skins beat the Bills.

But lately, I've not done so well with my Super Bowl picks. Let me go back a spell.

COLTS (XLIV): I picked Indy to beat the Saints last year. I figured Indy had the experience and the fact they had Peyton Manning put me over the edge. I was wrong. By the way, my "rooting" was for the Colts as well.

STEELERS (XLIII): I was right, but barely. Truth be told, I was rooting for the Cardinals in that game.

PATRIOTS (XLII): I was one of the 95% of America that picked the Patriots to win the Super Bowl. Despite my Redskins fandom, I did find myself rooting for the Giants during the game because I wanted the Pats to be knocked down the ultimate peg. Still, I picked wrong.

COLTS (XLI): I thought the Bears were just plain lucky to get to the Super Bowl. They were a team that created turnovers and big special teams plays to win games and that Manning wasn't going to allow that. I hate the Bears, too, so I got this one right.

SEAHAWKS (XL): This was the classic "talked-myself-into-that-pick". I started with the Steelers. They had looked so good and the Seahawks just didn't thrill me. But as the week rolled on, I found reasons to swing over to Seattle. Eventually, I made my pick on AOL's Sports Bloggers Live internet radio show that Seattle would win. While they may have played well enough to win that game ... they didn't.

PATRIOTS (XXXIX): I hate the Eagles, so this was a tough Super Bowl. I'm not really a big fan of the Patriots (or anything New England), either, but I was smart enough to pick the team that had won 2 of the last 3 Super Bowls against Donovan McNabb.

PATRIOTS (XXXVIII): I picked the Pats ... but my heart and rooting interest was obvious with the Panthers. I grew up in Charlotte and to see your hometown team in the Super Bowl was just plain surreal.

RAIDERS (XXXVII): Remember that back in 2003, it was just unfathomable to think that the Buccaneers could win a Super Bowl. Oakland was filled with very cagey veterans and Rich Gannon was coming off an unreal season. But Tampa spanked them.

RAMS (XXXVI): I know I said I don't like the Patriots, well in this Super Bowl I did. Just like this year, I'm rooting for the team that hadn't done it before. It was the PATRIOTS in the first Super Bowl post-9/11 who was led by a quarterback that came out of nowhere to lead them there. My pick was wrong, but I was blown away with the upset I saw.

RAVENS (XXXV): I can't pick a team with Kerry Collins as the QB. Especially playing against that kind of defense. I could care less which team won, actually.

RAMS (XXXIV): I really could care less about either the Rams or Titans and found it weird that those teams were even in this game. I picked the Rams because they were just a juggernaut all year long. My heart was with the Titans, as I was born in Nashville way back in 1975.

So, as you can see, it was a hit-and-miss with my picks. So I go with my other backup.

My wife.

My wife, for some odd reason, has been able to pick the Super Bowl champion in nearly every year of our 11-year marriage. She picked the Saints last year. She picked the Bucs. She picked all three Patriots wins and both of the Steelers. The only one I can every remember her losing was the Patriots over the Giants. Which, you can't fault her since everyone picked New England in that game.

So ... upon trading in my man-card ... I'm going with her. I'm picking the Pittsburgh Steelers to win Super Bowl XLV. The score? I'm thinking 30-24.

I think that the Steelers are just too physical for the Packers. They'll be able to wear that Packers' defense out late in the game.

My heart will be with Green Bay. My money will be with Pittsburgh.

Either way, it should be a great game!

Thank God Fans Get to Vote In All Star Games

All we hear about is how fans screw up the All Star Game. No matter what sport, fans get the blame whenever there is a guy on the squad that may not be totally deserving.

Well, I'm glad the fans get to vote. If we let the coaches vote, we won't see much diversity.

The reserves for the NBA All Star game were announced on Thursday and the Eastern Conference reserves came from just three teams. Yeah. Seven guys from just three teams.

Four Boston Celtics made the team. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo all were selected as reserves. So were Atlanta Hawks Joe Johnson and Al Hortford. The other spot went to Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat.

Bosh will join teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade as All Stars. James and Wade were voted in by the fans.

The only guys that aren't on the Celtics, Heat or Hawks to make the East All Star team was Orlando's Dwight Howard, New York's Amare Stoudamire and Chicago's Derrick Rose. Those three were voted in by the fans.

I get that the Eastern Conference really isn't strong in the diversity department. I mean, who else deserved to get in from that side? Carlos Boozer? Joakim Noah? They've been both hurt and ... well, they're Chicago Bulls. Milwaukee's Andrew Bogut? Nope, he plays in Milwaukee.

No Bobcats, Wizards, Pacers, Pistons, Cavaliers, Raptors, Nets, Bucks or Sixers have any gripes with not getting into the game. You'd have a hard time fielding a decent team from those rosters.

The West has a little more diversity. There are representatives from the Hornets, Lakers, Thunder, Nuggets, Rockets, Spurs, Clippers, Mavericks and Jazz. Only the Lakers (Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol), Thunder (Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook) and Spurs (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili) had multiple All Stars.

Teams with no reps? The Kings, Warriors, Blazers, Timberwolves, Grizzlies and Suns. That's just six teams and, mind you, at least three teams will have no reps every year (there is only 12 roster spots, so if there were only 1 player per team on the roster, three teams would still be left out).

Of those six teams left out, only the Kings really can't whine about not having anyone in it. Monta Ellis of the Warriors was deserving. So was the Wolves Kevin Love (who still may make the team as Yao Ming's replacement). The Suns' Steve Nash is having yet another fantastic year with a poorer team. Zach Randolph is having a beastly season. And the Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge has been stepping his game up quite a bit of late.

I know you can't invite every team in. It just isn't possible. But a little diversity doesn't hurt.

'11 Michigan State Is '10 North Carolina

Michigan State is struggling. Hard. Sparty has lost 4 of their last 5 games and are currently 5-5 in the Big Ten.

It may not get better any time soon. Of their 8 remaining games, Michigan State faces off against 5 ranked teams. They travel to Wisconsin, Ohio State and Minnesota. They get Purdue and Illinois at home. They also have Penn State, Iowa and Michigan to round it all out. Those three teams all have beaten the Spartans already.

Hard to believe at the beginning of the season that Michigan State may not make the NCAA Tournament. We haven't seen this kind of fall since ... since ... since ... North Carolina last year.

Remember the Tar Heels? They just came off of two straight trips to the Final Four -- just as Michigan State is coming off two straight trips to the Final Four this year. Both schools lost some cogs to their team, but both had tons of talent. Heck, Michigan State was ranked No. 1 by the Sporting News!

Look, MSU is 13-9 overall and have some impressive losses on their resume. It may not have looked great at the time, but losing to UConn, Syracuse and Texas ... as well as Duke ... is not horrible. Nor do losing to Wisconsin, Illinois or Purdue. But you can't lose to Michigan, Iowa or Penn State as well. At some point, you've got to matter. You've got to show people that you actually belong there.

It wasn't enough for North Carolina last year. They also started their season a little rough, but their losses were also against some pretty good teams. Syracuse, Texas and Kentucky were pretty elite teams last year (well, Texas became the No. 1 team in the country before making a fall of their own). However, a loss to Charleston started a spiraling of the Tar Heels' season that landed them in the N.I.T.

That may be where Michigan State is heading. If they get blown out by 20 point to an Iowa team that had won just once in conference play heading into the game, then how in the heck can they do anything with that remaining schedule to get themselves into the Tournament?

As North Carolina learned last year, this is a newer age of basketball. Nothing is guaranteed anymore. UCLA has learned that. Kentucky learned it and decided that John Calipari's antics are now cool. Indiana is still learning it. Michigan State isn't even in with those blue bloods so you know they aren't immune to it.

Look, they'll get back. They may miss the dance this year, but this isn't anything like what Indiana is facing. North Carolina is back in the thick of things one year after their disasterous fall. Heck, North Carolina went 8-20 one season and then won the NCAA Tournament three years later.

It isn't that bad in East Lansing. But it isn't what everyone expected it would be.

Good Thing Recruits Don't Pull Out Tigers At Announcement Pressers

I was just watching the Dan Patrick Show on DirecTV and they came up with an interesting joke.

Football recruit Isaiah Crowell pulled out a bulldog puppy to announce he was going to be attending the University of Georgia in the fall. Tacky, maybe, but we're all talking about it.

So the guys at the Dan Patrick Show joked that maybe the only reason he's going to UGA is because he didn't want to have to pull out another mascot for display.

That got me to thinking: what if he did go to some certain other schools?

GEORGIA TECH: He could have let out a swarm of yellow jackets into the presser.

CLEMSON or AUBURN or LSU: Imagine if he pulled out a baby tiger?

TEXAS: How about a big longhorn steer at the news conference? That would've scared the crap out of everybody.

SYRACUSE: Pulling at an orange would be rather dumb.

USC: He could have done the controversial thing and pull out a pack of Trojan condoms. Hey, it promotes safe sex and could land him an endorsement deal down the road.

MICHIGAN: You could either bust out a little wolverine ... or just invite Hugh Jackman to sit down next to you.

NOTRE DAME: Too weird.

OREGON: It would get rather annoying to hear a duck quacking around the room.

SOUTH CAROLINA: I guess Pedro Martinez could help Isaiah find a gamecock. Pray that no one else has the same idea.

Four Quarterbacks That Have Also Won Multiple Super Bowls

Not every great quarterback wins a Super Bowl. Even less win two. This year, Ben Roethlisberger is going after his 3rd ring, which would place him in some elite class.

Right now, we know of 10 quarterbacks that has won multiple Super Bowls.

Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana lead the pack with four apiece. Troy Aikman and Tom Brady have each won three. Roethlisberger, John Elway, Bob Griese, Jim Plunkett, Roger Staubach and Bart Starr each won two.

But there are four forgotten QBs that have also won at least two Super Bowls. We tend to forget about them since they didn't start in all of them.

STEVE YOUNG: The most obvious on this list is Young. Young won three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers. It his first Super Bowl (XXIII), he didn't see the field against the Bengals. He did the next year (XXIV) at the end of the Niners blowout of the Broncos. Of course, the one he's known the most for is Super Bowl XXIX when he led San Fran to a blowout win over the Chargers.

JIM MCMAHON: We always will remember Super Bowl XX and those Chicago Bears pummelling the Patriots. But remember that he also beat the Patriots in their second appearance in the Super Bowl ... again in New Orleans. In Super Bowl XXXI, McMahon was Brett Favre's backup on the Green Bay Packers win over New England. Though he didn't play, it was his final game as an NFL player.

PHIL SIMMS: Simms may have had the most efficient game a QB has ever had in the New York Giants Super Bowl XXI win over the Broncos. For Super Bowl XXV, however, Simms had to sit on the sidelines with a broken foot as Jeff Hostetler took the Giants to a victory over the Bills. Simms broke his foot, ironically, against the Bills in the regular season (the Giants were 11-3 when he went down).

EARL MORRALL: Who? Hey, this cat has won three Super Bowl championships ... though he won zero as a starter. Morrall did lead the Baltimore Colts to Super Bowl III but lost the game to the Jets. Two years later, Morrall took over when Johnny Unitas was injured in Super Bowl V and led the Colts to a victory over the Cowboys. Morrall moved on to Miami with the Dolphins and enjoyed their Super Bowl VII and VIII wins. Remember that in 1972, Morrall started in 12 of the Dolphins 17 wins that year in their undefeated season as Griese was injured. Morrall started the Phins first playoff game but struggled and was pulled in Miami's AFC Championship win over the Steelers. Griese started Super Bowl VII and won with Morrall on the bench.

Super Bowl Should ONLY Be Held In Tropical Cities

The story of the week leading up to Super Bowl XLV is the fact that it's freakin' freezing in North Texas and, due to icy conditions, it is difficult to move around the area. Sure, the game is indoors, but the Super Bowl is about much more than the game.

At least this will gear up fans and media types for what they'll have to deal with next year in Indianapolis. If you didn't know, a beautiful winter storm nailed Indiana's capital yesterday.

Two years after that, the game will be in New York.

I know, I know. I'm not the first guy to complain about the fact that the NFL put the Super Bowl in New York. It certainly not the first time I've mentioned my displeasure for that on this blog. I also know that while it could snow in New York for Super Bowl XLVIII, odds are that it likely won't and the weather would be just under 40 degrees.

I'm also aware that nearly every NFL Championship game in the pre-Super Bowl era was decided in a cold weather city (the Los Angeles Rams hosted it a couple of times, too).

There is a huge difference. Time and "the times".

Those NFL Championship games were held in mid-December back in the early days to the first weekend of the New Year in 1965. It is and could be cold and snowy around the holidays. But it usually isn't anything like what happens in February. And if Roger Goodell gets his way, an 18-game season will push the Super Bowl to around President's Day (aka late February).

That puts the Super Bowl in the heart of the winter.

As for "the times", well the Super Bowl isn't the same thing as the NFL Championship game. Heck, it wasn't until 1958 until the country was all into the NFL's title game, anyway. You could have the game in a cold weather city because (a) most likely two cold weather cities were playing in it, (b) the game was held in one of team's home stadium in front of their home fans and (c) the game was the only reason for being there.

Now it's different. The Super Bowl isn't about the game as much as it is about all the things leading up to it. A zillion people have and will descend upon North Texas this week and most of them don't have tickets to the game. Rich fat-cats hold those tickets. There are parties, events, charities and people hocking and and everything under the sun. Media from all over the world come to this ... even though their citizens may not give a crap about football (well, American football).

Those people don't want to deal with bad weather mucking up their fun.

Not that the parties and such won't go on. Now, it's the "less necessary stuff" seems to get cut. A couple of events involving kids were cancelled (nice). Still, traveling around the area to get to these functions is very problematic.

It does alright when things are centrally located. In Detroit a few years ago, most of the Super Bowl events were held around Ford Field. This Super Bowl (just like the New York/New Jersey Super Bowl) has quite an expansive area to deal with.

Forget all that noise. Just make it easy and just kill these cold weather Super Bowl sites. Sure Indianapolis is a lovely city that has a domed stadium, but the weather outside is frightful.

The NFL just needs to go ahead and stick with a Super Bowl rotation. San Diego, Arizona, Houston, New Orleans, Tampa and Miami should be the only Super cities. Have a 10-year cycle where each of those cities gets the Super Bowl once, while Miami, New Orleans and Arizona gets it a second time. Wait, that's just 9 games. Hmm. I guess you can hold a cold weather Super Bowl in a city like North Texas or Atlanta. If Los Angeles can figure a way to wiggle their way in there, include them in the rotation.

It's the one thing the BCS gets done correctly. They rotate their title game between Pasadena, Arizona, New Orleans and Miami.

Start it with Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.

2015-Miami
2016-New Orleans
2017-Tampa
2018-Arizona
2019-Houston
2020-Miami
2021-New Orleans
2022-San Diego
2023-Arizona
2024-Dallas/Atlanta

I don't think anyone would complain about that.