These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things
Over the next few weeks I will be randomly posting about my favorite things. For instance, this post is about my favorite all-time NCAA basketball player, Juan Dixon. Moving forward you’ll see my favorites in all walks of sports. But enough about that, lets talk about Juan.
Dixon was the 2002 ACC Player of the Year award winner on his way to leading my beloved Terps to the 2002 title. Despite being undersized at a billed 6’3” and 164 lbs, Dixon overcompensated by having “the heart of a tiger” as quoted by his Coach Gary Williams. He holds countless career and single season records at Maryland.
Dixon played a role that I always find myself rooting for, a true underdog. He overcame family tragedy on his way to College Park. It’s well documented that both his parents died from the AIDS virus. He was also lightly recruited out of high school despite a stellar career.
I will never forget the big wins over Duke, and the way he led the underdog Terps to their only title. He turned around so many games with a clutch shot or a big steal. I remember jumping for joy when Michael Jordan made him a first round pick for the Wizards.
Although Juan’s pro career has never reached the heights it did in college, he will always have a special place in my heart as my all-time favorite NCAA player.
Apologies to Len Bias, Patrick Ewing, Nik Caner-Medley, Keith Booth, Alonzo Mourning
Trivia: Juan Dixon’s older brother Phil lived in the dorm room directly beside Fatpickle in college. Phil was a D-III All-American.
Cheers and Hail
Posted by fatpickle Date: Monday, June 8, 2009
Categories: Fatpickled, Terps
Tags: favorite things, juan dixon, NCAA, Terps
LazyJC: An Idiot’s Retort
Recently some donk came on FatPickled and enlightened us about how much better the NBA is then NCAA basketball. Certainly, we’re all better for it, because, as we know, in this day and age, no one could be interested in good, old fashioned amateur sports. We must have the watered down, boring-beyond-belief professional version of what used to be a great game. I could go on a lengthy diatribe on how wrong the preceding post is, but to keep things relatively short, and relatively fair, I’ll just respond to each point made:
They play 3x as many games - I get sick of hearing people saying that college kids try harder. If your wife asks you to lay the wood once a day you’d go all out. Let her ask you to lay it 3x a day and see if you’re pulling out all the usual tricks each time.
- Right, the college kids that are diving for every loose ball, battling for every rebound, taking charges left and right aren’t playing harder then the pros who walk up and down the court most of the game. True, the pro game is longer, and the season is, too (who’s fault is that? they get paid to play that many games), but the reasoning for the style of play is simple. The NBA fills seats by giving the thrill seeking audiences they’re trying to attract dunks and 3-pointers. No reason to waste energy on defense, when no one forking up hundreds of dollars for good seats wants to see it, anyway.
There are way too many white guys in college basketball…at times it almost seems unrealistic to me
-Not sure how to respond to this, does anyone think these white kids are taking roster spots from minority kids? Maybe they can play a bit, too. Regardless of their leaping ability.
College basketball never had LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, or Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady…should I keep going?
-Yes, college basketball also never had Martell Webster, Gerald Green, Shaun Livingston, Robert Swift, or Dorell Wright. Who are they? A few other first rounders out of high school. They’ve etched out a few years of getting paid, but none have developed into even a solid contributor. There’s a few more who have stuck around for a while, Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, come to mind. Again, no stars, just lost potential. You think a year or two of college may have helped their game (and career)? Now, perhaps they didn’t have the grades for college, but that’s why there’s the University of Texas, and Ohio State. Hell, Kobe’s recently spoken about how he regrets not playing in college.
High school players try pretty hard and want to win…does that mean I should compare them with NBA players?
-???
Sit courtside at a college game and then at a NBA game…the speed of the game is like comparing apples to oranges or better yet…women to men
-No, what you notice is the difference in strength, and the explosiveness that almost every player possesses. It’s like comparing men to, young men. It’s called maturation, and it steps up at each level. There’s no comparison in the athleticism and skill of the average NBA’er to the average college player. Still, when you walk the ball up the court every possession, how much added excitement does it generate? Half of the “highlight” plays that occur in the pro game is a result of an elite offensive player being guarded by an awful defensive player, and the rules of the game forbidding the defender from getting help. They’re trying to sell posters, too, you know.
It’s a possibility your girlfriend would bang Tyler Hansbrough…it’s a certainty your girlfriend would bang Dwayne Wade
- Most likely your girlfriend in college would have banged the Big Man on Campus, just for the notoriety. It’s a lock your girlfriend/wife would bang Dwayne Wade, he’s worth $100 million. So what? They’d bang Donald Trump, for the same reason.
There are 347 Division I teams consisting of about 4,200 college basketball players. Only sixty players are drafted into the NBA each year. That means only 1.4% of these kids are even good enough to ever step foot on an NBA floor
-Go through any NBA roster, and you’ll find an undrafted player. The NBA draft is as much of a crapshoot as any other professional league. Again, skill alone doesn’t guarantee quality of play.
I’m guessing you still want amateur players to represent USA in the Olympics?
-My personal favorite. When the world got sick of losing to our amateurs, they developed basketball programs that copied the likes of Russell, Chamberlain, Irving, Alcinder, Bird, Johnson and Jordan. In other words, players who were excellent basketball players, not just physical freaks who could dunk. Once our younger generation of players became more concerned with garnering shoe contracts, then perfecting their games, we had to send pros to win international competitions. And in case you didn’t notice in Athens, our second tier pros can’t win. That’s how bad the quality of basketball has fallen in the U.S. That’s why USA Basketball hired a college coach to win back the gold.
Name one NBA player that is so skinny he has to wear a t-shirt under his jersey
-Its called league uniform policy violation. Although, with all the obscene tats we see, they may want to re-think it.
Name one NBA player with pimples
-The ones who leave after one year of college (not Greg Odom, though. I’m convinced he’s really 35).
ATHLETICISM, ATHLETICISM, ATHLETICISM…like Shaq says, Lebron should be a cheat code
-Agreed. So why is the league so boring?
One question for basketball fans (and idiots) out there; you can attend one more sporting event in your life. You can choose between half-court floor seats at Game 7 of the NBA Finals, or seats behind either bench at Duke-UNC at Cameron Indoor. What would it be?
The Association has the better athletes, and players, of course. But does it have the atmosphere? Does it have the passion? There’s a reason Dick Vitale covers the college game, while Dr. Jack Ramsay speaks for the pros. It’s just a difference in attitude, and I’ll take the Madness over the organized dunk contest that the NBA has become. Decide for yourself. Just don’t listen to your bartender 
Posted by lazyjc22 Date: Friday, May 22, 2009
E4three32: NBA Vs. NCAA Basketball? Everything and More
Recently some donk came in where I bartend and started talking about how much better NCAA basketball is than the NBA. All the while I stood there politely nodding my head and holding back my thoughts on the topic, hoping that by pretending to be interested in what this guy was saying I might be able to get a pretty good tip. But the fact of the matter is…this guy is an idiot, and if you feel the same way this guy does, guess what…you’re an idiot too! Now it wouldn’t be fair to just call you an idiot and that be the end of it, rather I’m going to list the numerous reasons why the NBA is flatout just better than college basketball…
- They play 3x as many games - I get sick of hearing people saying that college kids try harder. If your wife asks you to lay the wood once a day you’d go all out. Let her ask you to lay it 3x a day and see if you’re pulling out all the usual tricks each time
- There are way too many white guys in college basketball…at times it almost seems unrealistic to me
- College basketball never had LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, or Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady…should I keep going?
- High school players try pretty hard and want to win…does that mean I should compare them with NBA players?
- Sit courtside at a college game and then at a NBA game…the speed of the game is like comparing apples to oranges or better yet…women to men
- It’s a possibility your girlfriend would bang Tyler Hansbrough…it’s a certainty your gilfriend would bang Dwayne Wade
- There are 347 Division I teams consisting of about 4,200 college basketball players. Only sixty players are drafted into the NBA each year. That means only 1.4% of these kids are even good enough to ever step foot on an NBA floor
- I’m guessing you still want amatuer players to represent USA in the olympics?
- Name one NBA player that is so skinny he has to wear a t-shirt under his jersey
- Name one NBA player with pimples
- ATHLETICISM, ATHLETICISM, ATHLETICSIM…like Shaq says, Lebron should be a cheat code
Damn…that tip wasn’t worth it.
Until Next time,
E4three32
Posted by E4three32 Date: Friday, May 22, 2009
Categories: E4three32, NBA, NCAA
Tags: e4three, lebron james, NBA, NCAA
Let The Madness Begin
Update: 1 box was open, picking underdog WKTY to make the Sweet 16
There it is.. my official bracket. The madness starts tomorrow and I’ll probably see more college basketball tomorrow than I have all year (I have watched zero NBA!) This bracket was filled out in one swift stroke of the pen. No scratch-outs, no crumpled up brackets thrown in the trash, and no other brackets lying around with different picks. I feel pretty good about it.
Tomorrow is also the day that results in more people calling in sick to work than any other day. I don’t know the number of lost profit that results from the lack of manpower, but I’m hoping our fragile economy can handle it. I actually think it’s a great day for the economy. Workers will be paid to sit at their favorite Pubs to eat, drink and be merry. The bars make $$, the waiters/waitresses make $$, and the bookies make lots of $$!
Since I’ve started this blog I haven’t spent a lot of time talking about my love for the Terps. I’m a huge fan and feel that they are the one team that has let me down the least in the past 10-15 years. NCAA Champs, ACC Champs, and even when they have down years they find a way to beat Duke and UNC! Go TERPS!!
Cinderella story…
Cheers and Hail
Posted by fatpickle Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Categories: Fatpickled, NCAA
Tags: march madness, NCAA, Terps
Fatpickles T-Shirt Shop New Items Added!
