Top Five Questions
for 2001 for NCAA
Men’s Basketball
The Sporting News
November 08, 2000
1. What could keep Duke from
winning the national title?
If it’s anything other than injury,
it would be defense. It sounds funny
to say that about a Duke team, but
even the Blue Devils have been say
ing it. They recognize they were too
easy to score against last year. The
three teams that beat them after Feb
ruary 1 averaged 89 points and .502
shooting, and opposing guards
(Florida's Brett N.
Juan Dixon and
Barkley and Boot:
much of that dam:
Williams has to gel
and center Carlos 1
harder to defend tl
were only freshrrr
Now, they're veter
2. What could
Wildcats as gooi
they are?
We've heard cle;
Wildcats they are io. Even KU folks
one would considc understand how
vorite to win the national title. The much of a difference point guard
Wildcats recognize their individual Kirk Hinrich might make. As a
talent, but fail to remember they lost Starter in the season's final months,
seven games last season, with one ', lie averaged 8.5 points, 4.5 assists
of those to a USC team missing big .439 3-point shooting, and he
man Sam Clancy and another to dramatically improved the
LSU in a 26-point humiliation. Jayhawks' on-ball defense. Hinrich
Three of Arizona's seven losses and big men Nick Collison and
came after center Loren Woods was Drew Gooden figure to be more
injured, but what all of them had in mature as sophomores, and center
common was errant (and frequent) Eric Chenowith and guard Kenny
shooting by guards Gilbert Arenas Gregory are talking a lot about end
and Jason Gardner. When Arizona ing their careers in style.
won, Arenas and Gilbert combined
to shot 20 times a game and hit .435.
When Arizona lost, they averaged 26
shots and hit .377. If the guards re-
member their talented teammates,
the Wildcats could be nearly unbeat-
3. What will North Carolina and
Wisconsin take from last year's
Final Four trips?
If they didn't gain confidence
from that experience, it'll have been
nothing but a wonderful memory.
Both teams broke down completely
during stretches of last year's con
ference play and a tournament run
was only the first step in restoring
their confidence. The next step
must come from the coaching staff
and be reinforced through solid
conditioning and practice.
:ams will the ACC
lament?
ie output of each of
:ars. Teams in the
f n up - and they've
. We'll see Duke,
th Carolina, Vir
;est and NC State
:xt March.
Iliams still be glad
i Kansas come
Wouldn't a trip to Minneapolis
for the Final Four make Williams
feel right at home?
NATIONAL SPORTS
Tiger deserves all he can get from PGA Tour
by J.A. Adande
Los Angeles Times
November 08, 2000
Tiger Woods is not the first ath
lete to transcend sports. What
makes his little tiff with PGA Tour
Commissioner Tim Finchem note
worthy is that Woods is the first ath
lete who has the opportunity to
compete and draw attention outside
the normal parameters of his sport.
In the latest issue of Golf World
magazine, Woods complained
about his relationship with Finchem
and, more seriously, said he was un
happy with the way the tour and its
partners use Woods for marketing
without his consent.
According to the article, a rift
opened up when the PGA wouldn't
allow Woods' father to follow him
in a cart during the exhibition duel
with David Duval at Sherwood
Country Club last year. But the pro
motional usage is the main issue,
and in the interview Woods said the
conflict was “Serious
enough that if we don't make ev
eryone aware of it now, it could es
calate into a bigger situation.”
Don't expect much to come of his
remarks that Finchem talks to him
only when he wants him to play in
a tournament. What would they
have to talk about if they held a
longer discussion?
But Woods sounds intent on get
ting what's his.
“I believe in what I believe in,”
Woods said. “ I understand the
whole picture.”
It's always good to see athletes
think like businessmen, because all
too often they get the short end of
the corporate dynamics of profes
sional sports.
Woods is entitled to try for as
much as he can get.
Everyone from the sponsors to
the greenskeepers makes money off
him. The dollars have poured into
the sport since he turned pro in
When bad
teams happen
to good players
The Sporting News
November 08, 2000
As a George Washington freshman,
Sir Valiant Brown lived every player's
dream: He shot the ball whenever he
wanted. It was fun, he admits, but not
as much as it would have been if nis
738 points resulted in an NCAA Tour
nament bid instead of a 15-15 record.
It can be easy to overlook or under
estimate those gifted players whose
teams are unsuccessful. Their numbers
may be dismissed because they don't
add up to victory; their production can
be diminished because there's not
enough help from teammates.
Dean Oliver entered last season as
the Sporting News' No. 15 point guard
after averaging 11.9 points and 4.5
assists and guiding lowa to the 1999
Sweet 16. But when his shooting per
centage dropped to .369 and his as
sists fell 4.2 per game as a junior
and the Hawkeyes fell to 14-16 —he
was left out of this season's top 20.
It's conceivable he played as well or
better but was a victim of his team's
struggles.
“You've got to have a positive atti
tude, and you have to take it as a learn
ing experience,” says guard Will
Solomon, who averaged 21.1 points
for 10-20 Clemson. “I learned that you
work hard every time you step out on
the floor. We didn't feel sorry for our
selves; you can't feel sorry for your
self in this league. If you're down,
they're going to keep you down.”
Nearly every major-conference
player is used to winning when he ar
rives. So dealing with defeat can be a
huge adjustment, one few players
want to make.
“I think I can do many things on the
court as an individual, but what are
the things I can do to help Josh
Steinthal get an open shot, or stretch
the defense so Jason Heide can go one
on-one,” says Oregon State senior
Deaundra Tanner, who averaged 14.2
points and 5.1 assists for a 13-16 team.
“When you’re a point guard, the re
sponsibility falls on you. If our team
were Top 10, I'd be first-team All-
American and all that, considering the
numbers I have. Considering that's not
1996.
Just look at one case of the trickle
down effect (or, if you prefer, the
“Mickel-down” effect). Phil
Mickelson won four tournaments
in the pre-Tiger year of 1996 and
collected $1,697,799. Winning four
PGA events this year helped him
earn more than $4.7 million. Phil,
Amy and little baby Amanda
Mickelson can all thank Woods.
Mickelson's bank account is only
one sign of how Woods' popularity
has brought millions of dollars to the
game.
The tour, the networks and affili
ated sponsors (some of them com
petitors with Woods' sponsors) use
i believe in what I believe in...
I understand the whole picture.”
Woods in promos every chance they
get.
Should Tiger be getting the, uh,
lion's share of all this money, includ
ing the next TV contract that should
top $5OO million?
“In a perfect world, I would be,”
he said. “Arnold (Palmer) would be.
All the great ones would be. Arnold
is the one who got it all started.”
And Woods is simply the latest su
perstar athlete who won't ever re
coup his actual worth.
Yes, even though he has a chance
to win more than $lO million on the
tour this year, plus endorsement
deals that will bring him $lOO mil
lion from Nike alone, Woods is un
derpaid -just as Michael Jordan was
when he made more than $6O mil
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lion from the Chicago Bulls in the
last two years of his NBA career.
Jordan fought similar battles over
his valuable name and image, and
he was able to maintain control of
the use of his likeness to a large de
gree. Jordan's face wasn't on those
caricature shirts that were so popu
lar in the late 1980 s and early '9os.
He didn't appear in NBA-licensed
video games that featured other play
ers from the league.
Like Woods, Jordan became big
ger than the sport he played. The dif
ference was, Jordan was more reli
ant on the NBA than Woods is on
the PGA Tour.
Watching Jordan without high-
-Tiger Woods
caliber teammates such as Scottie
Pippen wouldn't be the same, nor
would it be as exciting if he weren't
playing against the Lakers, Pistons
and Jazz.
But people will tune in simply to
watch Tiger vs. the course. That was
evident by the strong TV ratings for
the final rounds of this year's U.S.
and British Opens, which were prac
tically victory laps for Woods.
And more than 10 million people
watched him go one-on-one against
Sergio Garcia in an exhibition in Au
gust, making it the 15th-highest rated
TV program of the week.
Woods knows that his place in his
tory will be judged by how many
majors he wins.
He still has seven more years re
iHi nhliKi \| > HI-;'A CON
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10,2000
maining on the exemption he se
cured for winning the 1997 Masters
and will have five-year exemptions
for winning the U.S. Open and Brit
ish Open and the PGA Champion
ship this year. So he could fill his
calendar with exhibitions around the
world for the next couple of years
and still show up when it counts.
Ryder Cup? Woods was so suc
cessful this year that he has more
than twice as many qualifying
points as second-place Mickelson,
and could probably finish among the
top 10 even if he were shut out next
year. And if he didn't happen to
qualify in 2001 or beyond, don't you
think the TV honchos would be call
ing every day with certain “sugges
tions” about who should be chosen
with the captains’ picks?
There are too many dollars at
stake.
Is it all about money? On the PGA
Tour, the answer is:
a) yes.
b) yep.
c) you betcha.
d) all of the above.
The value of the purses on the
PGA Tour has swelled to $l7O mil
lion, from $96 million in 1998. Tele
vision ratings have soared (the fi
nal round of the PGA produced the
highest TV ratings for that event
since 1971 and was watched by an
estimated 38.5 million viewers. On
the other hand, what made Tiger
Tiger was his participation in the
PGA Tour, with all of its established
marketing tools, and the chance to
prove himself by beating the best
players in the world.
He has leverage, which is why the
PGA will listen to him. And he has
brains, which is why he'll realize the
tour is the best place for him to be,
the two sides will work something
out, and they'll all walk away with
even more money.
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