A far bigger surprise is the timing of highly touted junior Michael Gilchrist’s commitment.

Wildcats coach John Calipari has pulled off a basketball and PR masterstroke, the very same day he persuaded both Rivals.com’s top-ranked recruits in the class of 2010 and 2011 to pledge to Kentucky in nationally televised announcements.

Kentucky adds two potential cornerstones of future title runs, on the court. Off the court, the Wildcats’ Elite Eight loss to West Virginia and the likely departure of five NBA-bound underclassmen suddenly become old news, replaced by a celebration of the imminent arrival of the program’s next two stars.

A 6-foot-3 point guard, Knight,  who averaged 31.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game for Pine Crest High School in Florida, chose Kentucky over Kansas, Syracuse, UConn and Florida. Gilchrist, a 6-foot-6 wing from Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick High School, spurned Villanova and Oregon, following through on a promise he made as early as eighth grade to attend college wherever Calipari was coaching.

“I like Coach Cal a lot, I like his staff and i like the fans there are lot,” said Gilchrist. “They have a lot of energy. It’s really crazy there.”

Even though it is certainly possible that Kentucky’s incoming class will not immediately elevate the Wildcats to the heights that John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins did, it is also tough to imagine the program slipping too far. Adding point guard Knight to a 2010 class that already includes highly touted Turkish big man Enes Kanter and forward Stacey Poole gives Kentucky three potential immediate contributors for next season, while Gilchrist provides the foundation for 2011.

Wednesday, Knight made his announcement  in a packed auditorium at Pine Crest. Asked which school he was selecting, the 6-foot-3 point guard paused for dramatic effect, reached into a bag underneath the table and donned a blue UK hat to a thunderous ovation from his classmates.

“I felt it was the place that had great players, great environment and just a place where I can elevate my game,” said Knight. “It came down to being comfortable there when I went on my visit and feeling I could get better at Kentucky.”

Considering Calipari’s track record with elite point guards in recent years, it is easy to see why Knight would be enamored with Kentucky Derrick Rose is an NBA all-star, Tyreke Evans is the favorite for rookie of the year and Wall is the leading contender to be selected No. 1 in the draft.

With that said Knight is no lock to be one and done — whether his play next season warrants it or not. This highly gifted student reportedly has a 4.3 GPA and has yet to receive anything less than an A in high school.

The Wildcat’s are still very involved with a handful of other elite unsigned recruits in the class of 2010 including guard Josh Selby and forwards Terrence Jones and C.J. Leslie, so Knight will do his part to recruit them.

“There’s a lot of great players out there,” he said. “Whoever wants to come, I’m going to try to get them to come.”

Playing games each and every night in the main leagues we are averaging in the mid 60 percentages, anywhere from 63% to as high as 68 %. Occasionally this year we have been over 70% in college basketball and in the NHL but over the last 2 weeks have fallen back a bit on a few of our games. The NCAA March Madness package has done extremely well for our members and we also through in NIT games, CBI games and CIT games which have done 69 % for the month. Myself and Chad look forward to delivering for you week in and week out. Upcoming specials will be in thNBA playoffs and starting off with a Special MLB package and opening day Package to get you off and running.

Ali Farokhmanesh stood at the 3-point line, leading by just one against the colossus of the bracket, with no one around. Pull it out, burn some clock. No way…..SWISH!!

The biggest upset in a tournament was already done. Northern Iowa had taken down the big, bad,  mighty Kansas.

With another big 3-pointer from Farokhmanesh, along with playing with poise down the stretch, Northern Iowa pulled off one of the biggest NCAA upsets in years by knocking No. 1 overall seed Kansas from the bracket with a program-defining 69-67 win on Saturday.

“If anybody’s going to shoot that shot, I want it to be Ali,” UNI’s stated Jake Koch.

The NCAA tournament this year has been defined by its upsets. Eight double-digit seeds got through the first round. No. 10 Saint Mary’s beating Villanova on Saturday, and shoving aside New Mexico was  No. 11 Washington.

That was definitely the biggest shocker!

Northern Iowa (30-4) grounded the high-flying Jayhawks with in-their-jersey defense. On top of that, they withstood a furious rally for the first win over a No. 1 seed in the second round since UAB and Alabama did it to Kentucky and Stanford in 2004.

Farokhmanesh, the First-round hero, had the biggest play of all.

With Kansas fans roaring and the team charging,  the fearless son of an Iranian Olympic volleyball player caught the ball on the wing after the Panthers broke Kansas’ press. With the shot clock still in the 30s, he hesitated  only for  an instant, then cast his bracket-busting shot with 34 seconds left in the game.

Kansas had one last chance, Trailing 66-62,  but Tyrel Reed was called for an offensive foul and Farokhmanesh sealed it with two free throws with only 5 seconds left, which for the first time sent  the Panthers to the round of 16.

Next up is the Michigan State-Maryland winner in St. Louis and another chance to make history.

“This team has done such a great job of turning the page to what’s next, and this would be the biggest challenge of the year,” Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson said. “A lot of positive things have happened because of the way these guys played.”

Falling behind early, Kansas (33-3), came up just short on one of its anticipated runs, ending a season of national-title aspirations with another disappointing NCAA loss to a mid-major.

Trailing by as many as 12 points, the Jayhawks used defense to pull within one with 44 seconds left, but let Farokhmanesh sneak out for the deciding 3 to go down for the mid-major count like they did to Bradley in 2006 and Bucknell the year before, also in Oklahoma City.

Cole Aldrich had 10 rebound and 13 points,, Marcus Morris added 16 points and Sherron Collins ended his phenomenal  KU career with 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting.

“Obviously, everybody is disappointed on our team,” Aldrich said. “To work so hard and to go through so much adversity … it’s disappointing that we couldn’t have let Sherron go out in a better way.”

The post-game celebration told the story.

Jumping into a hudle of teammates, Farokhmanesh, who finished with 16 points, and Koch embraced older brother Adam to a chant of “U-N-I!” At the other end, with tears streaming down their faces when they finally rose were Jayhawks Morris and redshirt senior Mario Little.

This was sure monumental.

“We never doubted we could play with them at all,” senior Adam Koch said.

Using a spirit-crushing run to turn a scare into a 16-point win, Kansas sneaked by Lehigh in the first round.

In the opener, Northern Iowa had to fight through its three-point win over UNLV, breaking a 20-year NCAA winless drought on Farokhmanesh’s 25-footer with 4.9 seconds left.

This game was like comparing apples to oranges; One of the nation’s highest-scoring teams against Northern Iowa’s stuck-in-the-mud mentality.

No one from its conference had beaten one since 1962 and UNI had never played a No. 1-ranked team. Also, UNI seemed to be overmatched against KU’s lineup of pros-in-waiting. Farokhmanesh and Adam Koch gave an uncomfortable laugh, when they were asked if any of their players could start for Kansas,

One thing about the Panthers is they know defensive positioning as well as any team in the country, moving in a symphonic dance of denial. In its state, Northern Iowa has become the best team, along with  reaching the NCAA tournament five of the past seven years to shake the underdog tag.

From the start, the Panthers went right at Kansas, leading all but 56 seconds of the first half to go up by eight.

“There were some things that happened during the game that I felt like wasn’t poor play by us, more so Northern Iowa making plays,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

But the Panthers were not fazed, answering every challenge for the monster upset.

“We knew they were going to turn up the pressure,” Adam Koch said. “In this kind of environment, where this could be your last game, you’re going to come at it with everything.”

Over the last several weeks in college basketball we have increased our percentage 14% and our members are making money. Making money is most of the reason why you are here reading this post. Stop wasting your time and effort trying to figure out the lock of the day, and leave it to professionals in this industry. I have an accountant do my taxes because that’s what they specialize in. Why would I try and figure them out?  That’s not my position. Before you start chasing your hard earned dollars, put your pride aside and get involved with this package deal for only $69.95 . I repeat you are going to lose on your own this month playing on your own over 4-5 hundred. Get in the game today and lets lock arms and see the brighter side of  money!!!

Are you a free agent looking to land and unpack your bags in the city that never sleeps? One free agent, Lebron James, had said to himself last night after seeing the thrashing the New Jersey Nets gave “The Knicks, no way am I going out east to play for that circus side show.” Questions that not only are running through the minds of free agents, but the minds of the front office. A team, that on the season is 7-55, comes into the Garden and beats you by 20 points? Dewayne Wade has to be changing his phone number so they cant find him in sunny Miami. The team dead last in scoring put up 113 points last night, which has Chris Bosch wondering how he is going to help the Knicks defensivley?

The Knicks this season have some real stinkers, but this takes the cake on the most embarrasing loss this season. “I don’t know if it’s shocking,” Mike D’Antoni said. “But it’s bad. It’s as bad as it can get.” With these words spoken would anyone want to go to play for the Knicks? The Nets are trying to set the record for the least amount of wins in a season which is 9. Unfortunatley for the Nets is they do not play the Knicks anymore this season. With 20 games left to the regular season and  with no hopes of  play off hopes, the only thing both teams can hope for is a miracle that next season’s out come will be then than this season’s.   ]]> http://www.surecallsports.com/blog/the-big-city-was-sleeping-168.html/feed 0 http://www.surecallsports.com/blog/who-dat-that-went-4-1-last-night-164.html http://www.surecallsports.com/blog/who-dat-that-went-4-1-last-night-164.html#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:54:43 +0000 mike http://www.surecallsports.com/blog/?p=164 Members are you smiling today after yesterdays winners? What a fantastic Sunday in sports, with the plays that we lined up for you. Most of you took full advantage of our offer, buy two guaranteed plays and receive the total in the Superbowl for free. We not only won the under 57 pick in the Super Bowl, but we had the under dog New Orleans Saints plus 4, winning outright 31-17. We have many members that purchase the weekly NBA and College Hoops packages, but I want to also stress we post our winning and losing percentages on our site and our NHL games are doing exceptionally well.  The question that I ask alot of our members is are you in it for the action and excitement, or are you looking to make some money and enjoy the action? Yesterday in the NBA they were not barn burners, but they were winners and thats what we strive for. The first game, we took the over 218 in Toronto Raptors hosting the Kings which one 219. The other game we had was the Magic at home playing the Celtics under 188, which finished at 185. As nerve racking as it was, the outcomes were successful. In the NHL, we played The Bruins/Canadiens under 5, which resulted in a winner 3-0.  I am also going to mention the game we lost, it was in college hoops UNC at Maryland, we took the under 157 and the game ended a total of 163. Maryland game out lighting up the net scoring a total of 92 points while UNC scored 71. Action packed week starts tonight. I have posted 4 games guaranteed on the home page. Take a look, order your plays for only $24.95, and enjoy the games. Our policy is if you do not win, you do not pay! So hold on to your socks, and stop guessing on your games, or getting sold a song and dance by some fast talking wanna be gangsters. Making it a SURE CALL!

On Saturday, the officials spoke of the condition of anonymity because the talks were private. Pittsburgh confirmed discussions with Lemieux and Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle took place, but said there was no talk about selling.

An unsolicited proposal for the Pirates four months ago—one that was substantial and serious, was reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Saturday, a person with knowledge of the offer told The Associated Press.

Previously, Nutting turned aside several sale overtures that were made by Pittsburgh lawyer Chuck Greenberg. Greenberg subsequently teamed with Nolan Ryan to purchase the Texas Rangers in a deal completed last week.

Several years ago, Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks was rebuffed in efforts to buy the team.

The Pirates aren’t for sale, and the discussions apparently went no further. Bob Nutting gave all the interested parties the same answer:

“No formal, substantive offer had been made at a meeting four months ago with Bob and Mario and Ron Burkle,” said Pirates president Frank Coonelly Saturday at the team’s fan festival. “But what I can confirm for you is, at that time, today, tomorrow, next week, the Pirates are not for sale. Bob Nutting is committed to making this organization a winner again.”

While the Pirates acknowledge they aren’t successful, but they are profitable,. Last year, they lost 99 games during a major league-record 17th consecutive losing season, then raised fans’ ire by trimming their payroll below that of the 1992 Pirates, the franchise’s last team to make the playoffs.

Despite being in a similar-sized market, the Pirates’ projected $35 million payroll is only about half of the totals for NL Central rivals Cincinnati and Milwaukee. The payroll is expected to be the lowest in the majors by at least $5 million.

Nutting will not consider a proposal from the popular Lemieux, a Pittsburgh sports icon who has revived the Penguins twice—once as a player and again as an owner. This decision is likely to generate further fan unhappiness.

During a fan festival question-and-answer session, the fan unrest was evident Saturday when Coonelly, general manager Neal Huntington and manager John Russell heard boos at times. It was especially evident when queried about the payroll. According to bystanders, most answers were met with only tepid applause,.

Pittsburgh has said the payroll won’t increase substantially until top prospects reach the majors and adding higher-salaried players might make the difference in winning a championship.

All of those interested in the Pirates have lengthy backgrounds in pro sports of some sort.

As a successful minor league owner, Greenberg teams included the Pirates’ Double-A affiliate in Altoona, Pa., that was partially owned by Lemieux until being sold two years ago. In 2007, Greenberg also was a finalist for the Pirates’ presidency before Coonelly was hired.

The Hall of Fame player, Lemieux, bought the Penguins in federal bankruptcy court in 1999—a year later, he came out of retirement became pro sports’ first owner-player—and has since seen them become one of the NHL’s most successful franchises.

A California billionaire investor and supermarket operator ,Burkle, joined Lemieux’s group in 1999 by making a $20 million investment, was interested previously in buying the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs.

“Mario and Ron are very smart business people. They’ve been very successful with the Penguins and have done a great job with them,” said Coonelly “What they see in the Pirates, I would think, is that they’re interested in purchasing a team much like the Penguins earlier this decade: A team on the rise. A team that has a plan. A team that has financial stability.”

With a more aggressive approach to player acquisition, Lemieux and Burkle, according to people with knowledge of their interest, believe the Pirates could substantially hike attendance—recently among the lowest in the majors.

Nutting’s family owns a Wheeling, W.Va.-based newspaper chain. They first became involved in the Pirates’ ownership group when California newspaper heir Kevin McClatchy bought the team in 1996. The Nuttings subsequently began to increase their shares. They achieved this by buying out partners of the once-large ownership group and now own a substantial portion of the shares.

Forbes, last year, estimated the Pirates’ worth at $288 million, less than that of any team except the Florida Marlins, who currently play in an NFL stadium.

Tom McMillan, vice president of the Penguins, declined Saturday to confirm Lemieux’s interest in the Pirates, saying, “The Penguins don’t discuss private business matters.”