R.I.P. Shame and Humility

Yes, shame and humility seem officially dead (at the very least they're on extended life support).

As regular readers of this blog likely know, I'm not a big sports follower. I have a few teams or sides whom I follow, mostly in non-mainstream sports, at least for these United States. (The EPL is getting so popular I may have to find a different sport or league to follow {sorry Spurs and Wolves}, but the CFL is still mostly unknown here, so my support for the Ti-Cats is safe for now.)

Still, when there talk of Pistol Pete Maravich's scoring record being broken with scarcely any talk of the vast number of asterisks that would be needed, well, let's just say my blood will soon pass 99C, shall we?

Pete played in the era where all field goals were worth two points (no three pointers at any distance - the only three-point play was to score while being fouled and make your free throw), and where there were only four years of college - but freshmen didn't play varsity sports. So ... in three seasons (with fewer games per season than now) with no three-pointers, and with no shot clock (that abomination!) meaning teams could stall, Pete put up an amazing number of points. He also was one of the greatest passers of all time.

Now, along comes a player who managed in five years (that's 144 games as opposed to the 83 games Pete played) with three point shots to nearly equal Pete's three-year total, and the talk is of his school's buying its way into a tournament (with a losing record, for goodness's sake!) to let him set the new scoring record. Have they no sense of history? of shame? of humility? or at least some respect for the sport? Apparently not. 

Were I in that player's position, I like to think I would tell the school not to embarrass itself by buying its way in; and that, if they did, I would sit on the bench or at least miss any shot I was forced to take. (As I said, I hope I would do that - I know the temptation would be great. That's why there are supposed to be adults in charge of the school and the team - to do what's best for the students. Oh, I forgot; we don't really have student athletes competing for their schools anymore - it's all about the sport and going pro as soon as economically advantageous, all while trying to score some big NIL bucks. Good grief, no wonder I don't follow any college sports anymore.)

Here's a excerpt from an excellent article over at FanBuzz: (link to full article)

Pete Maravich's college career was nothing short of incredible. Perhaps the most astounding factor of his time at LSU is the 3-point shot had yet to be introduced in college basketball. Pistol's game was unique for his time because he loved shooting from outside and a lot of his shots would've been worth more had the arc been in play.

It's estimated Maravich would've averaged 57 points per game with the 3-point line. Absurd.

Since freshmen were forbidden to play at the varsity level during Pete's time, his freshmen year scoring totals didn't count towards his career numbers. Had they counted the 741 points he scored on the freshmen team, he would've scored 4,408 points in his four-year career. Additionally, the shot clock had yet to be invented, allowing teams to stall and restrict opposing possessions.

Pete Maravich is the greatest scorer college basketball has seen. His ball-handling wizardry, shooting ability and baggy socks are cemented in the sport's lore. Pistol was always locked, loaded and ready to fire from anywhere on the court.

Exactly. Asterisks for three v. five seasons, 83 v. 145+ games, three point shots, shot clocks, etc.

Grr.

Go For It! - 12 January 2022 - Plague Journal Day 671

Micah 6:8
2 Peter 1:13-14
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Football season is nearly over (the North American kind - not what our overseas brethren would call proper football). I was surprised to learn that today marks the anniversary of the NCAA's addition of the two-point conversion to the game; that happened on 12 January 1958.

I guess I had never considered when or whether that might have been added to the original game. I suppose I should have. I've seen basketball destroy itself by adding things. I'm not opposed to the 3 point shot in basketball, but clearly every dunk is offensive goaltending, and adding the shot clock meant a quality offense was now essentially outlawed - it all came down to UNLV-style run and gun.

I still remember watching classic games where teams would run a beautiful stall. "Guys, we're up by six points, let's stall and make sure they can't score," was the kind of thing you'd hear at a timeout on the sideline, and a well-run stall was a thing of beauty that today's fans will never see.

But back to football. As a fan of the CFL (Canadian Football League), I'm accustomed to seeing scores of any size on the field. I've seen everything: touchdowns (6pts), field goals (3pts), two-point conversions and safeties (2pts), and singles/rouges (1).
"What's a single or rouge?" I hear you ask. Truer to its name of FOOTball, the Canadian game makes kicking a bigger part of the scoring. A kick that can't (or at least isn't) returned from the end zone gives the kicking team a single point. In fact, a missed field goal that goes through the end zone, or at least isn't returned to the field of play, is also a single point.

Even more fun, a punt can be done as an on-side kick too. We've seen our Hamilton Tiger-Cats very near the end of a game pull an on-side punt to keep a drive alive. It's an amazing part of the differences between the CFL and NFL games.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.