Sports Poets Society

2013-14 RESUME The 2013-14 season might have been one of the strangest John Thompson III had experienced in his head-coaching career. The Hoyas appeared to have all the pieces in place to challenge for the championship in the inaugural season of the new Big East , but then adversity would strike and Thompson would have to regroup.  The obstacles began presenting themselves in the summer. Greg Whittington , back after missing all but the first 13 games because of academics, tore his ACL in June . "Josh" Smith, the 6-10, 350-pound   (2.04 x 155 kg) transfer from UCLA , saw action in 13 games before Thompson announced on Jan. 23 that he would not play for the remainder of the 2013-14 season because of academic issues.  Starting guard Jabril Trawick broke his jaw and missed five straight games in the heart of the Big East season. Then backup center Moses Ayegba had to sit out a game at home against first-place Villanova—because of what the university said wa...

http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/15-01-2015/maurizio-fondriest-50-anni-compleanno-rivale-bugno-100491024687.shtml Campione del mondo a Renaix 1988 a 23 anni, vincitore della Sanremo 1993 nel giorno della nascita della primogenita Maria Vittoria e due volte della Coppa del mondo, il campione trentino di Cles è stato uno dei più talentuosi della sua generazione di Marco Pastonesi Gazzetta dello Sport, 15 gennaio2015 Cinquant’anni sono niente se, come li considerano i più ottimisti, fanno 25 per gamba. Maurizio Fondriest, 50 anni il 15 gennaio, è uno che, a vederlo, ne ha 25 per gamba: tale e quale il corridore in maglia azzurra che, il 28 agosto 1988, conquista il titolo eterno di campione del mondo. “Mau”, bambino trentino di Cles nella Val di Non (ma se il cognome deriva da “von Triest”, l’origine è triestina ), sogna di volare: “ Mio papà Cornelio mi portava a Trento a vedere il negozio di biciclette di Ermanno Moser, un vecchio corridore senza parentele con i Moser dell...

THE BUTLER WAY Adversity arrived from every avenue, most of it long before the 2013-14 season commenced, for a Butler program that had grown so accustomed to success and consistency and doing it all the right way. The Butler Way .  But (former) coach Brandon Miller, who fell into a near-impossible situation before working through his first season as a college head coach , thinks he and his team and a program that had done it so well for so long will be better off for it.  Butler’s first losing season in nearly a decade , and only its second in 20 years , could have led to a long and lonely soul-search of a summer, but Miller refused to dwell on all that had happened. Instead, he looked ahead to what Butler basketball can once again be in big-time college basketball.  “We’re excited about what we’ve been able to do since the season ended,” said Miller, who saw his rookie season mark the first time the Bulldogs sat out postseason play of any kind since ...

Campione del mondo a Renaix 1988 a 23 anni, vincitore della Sanremo '93 nel giorno della nascita della primogenita Maria Vittoria, due coppe del mondo, il campione trentino di CLes è stato uno dei più talentuosi della sua generazione di MARCO PASTONESI Gazzetta dello Sport, 15 gennaio 2015 Cinquant’anni sono niente se, come li considerano i più ottimisti, fanno 25 per gamba. Maurizio Fondriest, 50 anni il 15 gennaio, è uno che, a vederlo, ne ha 25 per gamba: tale e quale il corridore in maglia azzurra che, il 28 agosto 1988, conquista il titolo eterno di campione del mondo.  “Mau”, bambino trentino di Cles nella Val di Non (ma se il cognome deriva da “von Triest”, l’origine è triestina), sogna di volare: “Mio papà Cornelio mi portava Trento a vedere il negozio di biciclette di Ermanno Moser, un vecchio corridore senza parentele con i Moser della Val Cembra . E quelle biciclette mi sembravano dotate di quel potere magico”. Finché un giorno...

https://www.internazionale.it/opinione/martin-caparros/2015/01/15/pepe-mujica-un-politico-vero Martín Caparrós , giornalista e scrittore Internazionale, 15 gennaio 2015 A dicembre, nel grande auditorium della fiera del libro di Guadalajara, in Messico, José “Pepe” Mujica ha risposto a qualche domanda. Era strano: il paese ospite della fiera era l’Argentina, ma l’evento principale è stato l’incontro con il presidente dell’Uruguay. Quasi duemila persone – di domenica, alle nove di mattina – sono venute ad ascoltarlo. Mujica ha parlato del narcotraffico: si direbbe che si stia preparando, ora che il suo mandato volge al termine, a guidare il movimento per la legalizzazione di alcune droghe in America latina. In fin dei conti, è l’unico a poter dire: “Fate come ho fatto io”. “ Non si può tappare il cielo con un ombrello . Se vuoi cambiare non puoi fare sempre la stessa cosa”, ha detto, a dimostrazione che molto spesso la politica ignora l’evidenza. E anche il dubbio...

Butler University was founded as North Western Christian by Ovid Butler in 1855.  He choose "Christians" as the school mascot.  Sometime after the school had been rename in honor of its founder, Butler was suffering a poor football season in 1919. As losses mounted, people grew wary of the "Christians" nickname. Before a big game against the rival Franklin "Baptists", the Butler Collegian was trying to conceive of a way to fire people up when "Shimmy", a bulldog owned by one of the fraternities, wandered into their office. Shimmy inspired cartoonist George Dickson to draw a bulldog labeled "Butler" taking a bite out of John The Baptist.  Butler lost the game, but the nickname "Bulldogs" stuck. Eventually, the bulldog was selected as the official mascot of the university. For many years, Butler had unofficial live bulldog mascots that kept by various fraternities.  In 2000, Butler Blue became the school's...

#31 KAMERON WOODS F, 6-9, 200, Jr. Louisville, Ky./Eastern  Quick Hits:  •Leading rebounder in the BIG EAST in 2013-14. •Butler’s third-leading rebounder, sixth-leading scorer as a sophomore. •Led the Bulldogs in blocked shots in his first two seasons. •Named to the Kentucky All-Star Team for the annual Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series as a senior in high school.  •Recorded high school team’s first triple-double in more than eight seasons in 2009-10.  2014-15 Highlights:  Starter in all six games...had 10 points and six rebounds in Butler’s opener against Maine...recorded first double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds against Chattanooga...led all players with 13 rebounds against #5 North Carolina...had a team-high seven rebounds against Georgetown in the Battle 4 Atlantis third place game.

di DARIO SKERLETIC, MY NCAA Georgetown, Guardia, 1.90m, 97kg, 20 dicembre 1992  17.6ppg, 5rpg, 2.7apg, 44.5% dal campo, 39.3% da tre, 87.3% dalla lunetta  Realizzatore ultra-efficace lo scorso anno, rispettando le consegne di coach Thompson, che aveva bisogno sopratutto dei suoi punti. Segna sia in avvicinamento che dalla lunga distanza, non ha grandi doti atletiche ma sopperisce con un tempismo innato e un sapiente uso del corpo.  Con Markel Starks a Ferentino, e l’arrivo di due ali freshman molto dotate in attacco, quest’anno Smith-Rivera potrà mostrare anche il suo talento come distributore di palloni. Possibile All-American, ottimo prospetto per l’Europa.

Georgetown guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera  has been chosen the 2014-15 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year by a vote of the league’s head coaches.  Seton Hall freshman guard Isaiah Whitehead has been named BIG EAST Preseason Rookie of the Year. Smith-Rivera, a 6-3 junior, is the sixth Georgetown player in BIG EAST history to earn Preseason Player of the Year honors. He finished third in the league in scoring last year with a 17.6 average. He led the BIG EAST in free throw shooting, making 87.3 percent, and shot 39.3 percent from 3-point range. One of the league’s ironmen, Smith-Rivera  was fourth in minutes played in league action, averaging 37.0 minutes per game. A native of Indianapolis, Ind., he finished strong late in the season, averaging 21.0 points per game over the last six contests. Smith-Rivera was an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection in 2013-14 and a BIG EAST All-R...

Brandon Miller’s first task as a head coach was replacing himself as an assistant coach . He made an immediate splash by naming Gardner-Webb head coach Chris Holtmann to the position on July 16, 2013.  Holtmann served as head coach at Gardner-Webb for three seasons (2010-13), leading the North Carolina school through a successful rebuilding effort. He took the Runnin’ Bulldogs from eight wins in 2009-10 to a school Division I record 21 victories and a berth in the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament in his last year. Gardner-Webb won ten of its final 11 games in 2012-13 and finished a game out of first place in the Big South Conference. For his efforts, Holtmann was named Big South Conference Coach of the Year and NABC District 3 Coach of the Year. Holtmann has earned a reputation as a strong recruiter . During his career, he’s recruited seven all- conference players, one Rookie of the Year, one conference Player of the Year, one Division I All-American and one...

Il diavolo è tornato. Anzi, "el Diablo" per l'esattezza. Si perché l'attaccante uruguayano del Modena di nome fa Pablo Mariano Granoche Louro ma per tutti il soprannome basta e avanza. Un soprannome chiaro ma indimenticabile sia per i suoi tifosi sia, loro malgrado, per i supporter avversari.  Dopo il boom del 2007/08 quando, indossando la maglia della Triestina, si presentò al calcio italiano con 24 reti in 38 partite, sono passate sette stagioni in cui l'uruguagio ha girato l'Italia cercando di ritrovare la verve del giocatore decisivo nonostante non abbia mai messo da parte il vizio del gol. Ma da uno come lui tutti si aspettano tanto. Così non sono bastate le 4 segnature in A col Chievo per garantirgli il posto nella massima Serie perciò è ripartito dalla B, prima a Varese e poi a Cesena, passando per Padova. Ma in nessuna di queste piazze il bomber è riuscito a dimostrare tutto il suo valore. Nelle ultime due stagioni però qualcosa è cambiato.  A...

Though the nickname for its sports teams (and students in general) is "the Hoyas," Georgetown University adopted the English bulldog as its mascot in 1962. A group of students had lobbied for the move, arguing that Georgetown athletes were, like bulldogs, "tenacious." A student committee purchased a two-year-old bulldog which they had hoped to name "Hoya." However, the dog stubbornly refused (as bulldogs do) to respond to anything but his given name, "Jack." The dog won, and students began to call him "Jack" -- beginning a tradition that continues today. Over time, the tradition of a permanent, on-campus mascot was replaced by a student in a bulldog suit. However, seniors in the class of 1999 began a "Bring Jack Back" campaign and succeeded in welcoming a new Jack to campus in March of 1999. Unfortunately, this Jack (now "the elder") had to retire in 2003 when his caretaker, Hoya alum Scott Pilarz S.J., became...

Originally written by Charles A. Byrne in 1936, the Seton Hall University Alma Mater was officially adopted by the University in 1937 when the dean read it before the student body. The original music was composed by Nicola A. Montani and was revised by Walter Cohrssen in 1978. A new choral and brass arrangement was added by John Nowik in 2000. The alma mater is frequently sung at Seton Hall men's and women's basketball games and it is tradition for the song to be performed after each game. It has become a recent tradition for the SHU men's basketball team to line up on the court after each home game, regardless of the outcome, and sing the alma mater with the Pirate faithful. Seton Hall Alma Mater (Lyrics by Charles A. Byrne '37) To Alma Mater all be loyal, keep her name in purest light. Never waver from her precepts, guard her banner blue and white. O sing her praise to highest skies and be ye faithful in her eyes, for she will foster all your dreams, her nam...

“If I say there will be no problems, I would be lying” - CAF president Issa Hayatou on the hasty relocation of the finals by Mark Gleeson, World Soccer , January 2015   This year’s African Nations Cup finals are bound to be something of an organisational minefield. But the sort of on-field drama the tournament has not witnessed in a while will hopefully overshadow any off-field difficulties. The complexities of a late switch in host nation ensures that the 30th edition of Africa’s top sports event will be no smooth ride, with a potentially majestic tournament in Morocco having been replaced by an emergency effort in a country without many resources – except the cold cash of their new-found oil revenues. Equatorial Guinea’s generous decision to step in as substitute hosts at least ensures that the tournament gets to be played in Africa – rather than the bizarre prospect of it going to Qatar, which had been the fallback option once it became clear that CAF were not going...

Africa’s top-rated team moved up to 18th in the FIFA rankings on the back of a first appearance in the knockout stage of the World Cup. They then kept up their winning ways despite a change of coach in midyear, with Vahid Halilhodzic departing and Frenchman Christian Gourcuff taking over. The team has stayed intact and grown markedly in confidence. It is also bristling with talent, with Yacine Brahimi emerging as a key figure. Algeria would have been a strong favourite were the finals still in Morocco but they do not have a good record in tournaments south of the Sahara. COACH Christian Gourcuff had long been earmarked to take over after the World Cup but only officially began on August 1. He has a contract until the end of the next World Cup, which means he will also be in charge for the Nations Cups in 2015 and 2017 – one of which Algeria hope to host. He coached Lorient in Ligue 1 for more than a decade. KEY PLAYERS Yacine Brahimi won this year’s BBC African Footballer of the...

Ghana have plunged from a position of strong self-belief and rampant expectation to having to pick up the pieces after a tough World Cup – at which they did themselves no favours with an undignified strike over money – and a stuttering start to Nations Cup qualifying. It was no surprise that coach Kwesi Appiah lost his job, with assistant Maxwell Konadu in charge for the rest of the qualifiers. Avram Grant has since been appointed and he will have little time to get to know his players before being thrust into a tough opening group. COACH Avram Grant came within a penalty kick of leading Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2008 and the possibility of a much larger international profile. Since his time in England he has taken Partizan Belgrade to the 2012 Serbian title during a brief tenure. Earlier in his career he had much success with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Six months ago he was a pundit for Israeli television at the World Cup. KEY PLAYERS Kevin-Prince Boateng, Michael Essien an...

Senegal have the potential to be continental champions but often punch below their weight. However, Alain Giresse has made progress in his efforts to turn the west Africans into a stronger force. He has made them realise places have to be fought for and has instilled a more disciplined approach. This generation could match the achievements of the team built by Bruno Metsu that reached the World Cup quarter-finals in 2002 – the same year Senegal had their best Nations Cup finish when they reached the Final in Mali. COACH Alain Giresse took over two years ago, having taken Mali to third place at the 2012 finals. This will be his third Nations Cup. He also coached Gabon in 2010, narrowly missing out on the last eight. He played in the World Cup with France and was a member of their 1984 European Championship- winning side. His coaching career has included spells at Toulouse and Paris Saint-Germain as well as Royal Armed Forces of Morocco and Georgia’s national team. KEY PLAYERS ...