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Is the voting for Shittiest Basketball Writing of 2009 closed? From http://www.westcoastjamboree.com/31.html :

The other nine divisions will feature a broad gamut

"Broad gamut" is redundant.

of teams, from the very small to the very good,

Further redundance, since "gamut" includes "bad to good". Er, but the writers defined a range of "small to good", which might change the rules. Or maybe it's just stupid.

and plenty of outstanding players.

According to whom?

For those players, outstanding or otherwise, winning an eight-team bracket is just as exciting as winning a 16-team one.

Says who?

Today I was reminded why I do this. In the afternoon I was at San Francisco State for their visit by Emporia State. The attendance was less than 100, and who knows how many listeners the Emporia State broadcaster had.

In the evening, I was across town at University of San Francisco, where the Dons hosted Tennessee, for whom USF renovated the building.

Tennessee had a traveling press corps. At least two reporters were at USF from Knoxville, TN. KPIX-TV sent a camera crew, and Associated Press sent Janie McCauley. I wanted to say: "Hey, Janie McCauley, why weren't you at Emporia State at San Francisco State?". (I actually said "I'm a big fan of yours.")

Someone once said about journalist Bob Greene: "Water covers two-thirds of the earth, and Bob Greene covers the rest." I couldn't think of a greater compliment for a newsman. Forget prizes and honors — someone recognized that Bob Greene gets the stories that no one else gets.

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt is a big story wherever she goes. On the other hand, San Francisco State has a new assistant coach, Blair Hardiek. As SF State makes their way around the California Collegiate Athletic Association this season, who else is going to say to her, "I saw you with Missouri when you visited St. Mary's in 2006"? Coach Hardiek and I agreed that Missouri forward Carlynn Savant could *shoot it*.

***

For my first visit to SF State this season, I remembered to bring a handful of one dollar bills for a parking permit. Rat bastards ticketed me last season when I was parked on the street — I carefully read the signs in the lot, which I determined did not apply to the street, but it seems San Francisco State makes ends meet by enforcing parking rules in Bizarro fashion. Even though Cal State Hayward's parking rules are turned off during winter break, I paid for a permit at SF State just in case their calendar is also from Bizarroland.

SF State's sports information director yelled at me for not calling to announce my arrival. I sent an e-mail Sunday night, which was not good enough, but I would rather be yelled at by an SID than ignored.

Coach Joaquin Wallace at SF State is business. He said 'where've you been' and 'have you seen any juco players'. He said he's playing five freshmen, and that even though his team is outshooting opponents, the young bunch hasn't put 40 minutes together yet, and turnovers have limited them to a 5-5 record. Wallace said if the Gators took care of the ball, they'd keep close to Emporia, the #9 team in Division II. (Emporia dropped 100 on Cal State East Bay, 28 of which followed 32 CSU EB turnovers.)

For holding their turnovers to three in the second half, San Francisco State was within two points, 46-44, with 5:53 to go. Then ESU grabbed four offensive rebounds down the stretch, converting them into three points scored and two minutes burned, and held on to win 55-48. ESU center Alli Volkens pulled two of those offensive rebounds; Volkens had 19 points and 21 rebounds in the two games against CCAA teams.

SF State played three freshmen for a total of 75 minutes. I agree with Wallace that point guard Sidney Dobner is a Division I talent, and I liked two guard Carly Cator. However, the Gators truly looked liked a bunch of freshmen at times — down by four with 1:47 left, they didn't make another field goal. If Wallace keeps the group together for a couple years, they'll be pretty good.

Wallace was at the USF game. He moves around. I've seen him scouting players at Skyline JC, game scouting at Cal State Hayward, observing the coach with 1,000 wins in Division I. (He called my telephone so I'd have his number. Driving home, I saw that I'd missed a call from an unfamiliar number, so I called it, and absent-mindedly barked "Who's this?!". )

***

On Saturday I went from Tennessee at Stanford at noon to the Notre Dame de Namur tournament for two games at 5. Then on Sunday I got out of bed once.

On Tuesday, driving from SF State to U. San Francisco took about half an hour. According to Yahoo! Maps, I doubled the distance by using the freeways, which also doubled the time because it was 4:30. So I was worn out when I arrived at USF, but the atmosphere at War Memorial Gym was enlivening. I haven't seen that many people there since Adam Morrison and Gonzaga visited, and Tuesday's crowd was a nicer bunch of people — half the folks who went to see Gonzaga that night were there to give Morrison shit about his stupid mustache. (I was standing behind taller people, and we were all standing behind one of the baskets — occasionally I would see USF tripleteam Morrison, who took the whole lot of them into the blind spot, and then we could only tell that he hit some crazy shot because everyone started running the other way.)

I think Tuesday's crowd might've been the biggest I've ever seen for a regular season women's game outside the Pac-10. War Memorial has never looked better — I'm guessing the renovations were made in the offseason because they knew Tennessee was coming. (The postgame press conference was in the Bill Russell Room, so there sat Pat Summitt with a microphone before a display case with Russell's jerseys and trophies — I haven't seen that much greatness in one small area since visiting the Hall of Fame.)

There weren't enough Tennessee media guides to go around. Sam Goldman, the West Coast Conference godfather of media relations, must've favored me for being at USF when the power went out on the Wyoming game, or when the art school visited. Or for whacking a media relations capo from a rival conference.

The game started.

***

Tennessee got nothing for three possessions, and USF made it 2-0.

"Their last lead," I thought, while the crowd went nuts.

Then they traded baskets to go to 4-2, and Summitt was mad enough to call a timeout. The Volunteers went on a 10-0 run, USF made a basket, then Angie Bjorklund scored eight points in three trips. Tennessee extended the run to 35-7. Bjorklund finished with 16 in the half, and 19 at the end in 17 minutes. With four three-pointers, she moved to #3 on Tennessee's list behind Shanna Zolcrossleyman and Kara Lawbarlingson.

Tennessee ended the game on a 35-9 burst. The 89-34 final equaled Fresno State 88, USF 33 as USF's worst loss ever, but everyone was happy. Summitt was glad the kids who needed some rest got some, and that guard Kamiko Williams broke out with 14 points, eight rebounds, four steals. Bjorklund loves The City. USF made the place fit for royalty, and the team was pleased to get a lesson.

***

I stopped believing in the old chestnut about a team being motivated by a loss, but I'm willing to resume. USF coach Tanya Haave said she was sorry to see Tennessee losing at Stanford, because the Vols would head north on Highway 101 feeling hungry. "You don't want to play [Tennessee] after they lose. [Summmitt] knows exactly what to do after a loss and she hates to lose with a passion," Haave said.

Haave and her assistant Abby Conklin both played for Summitt. Haave recognized a change in Summitt since her playing days. "She's definitely changed from when I was there. She's adapted to today's players. She's always wanting to learn and adapt. I had the opportunity to have a couple of conversations with her over the past few days, and she really shared a lot with me. She's never stopped growing, and never stopped sharing," Haave said.

I gave up on the notion that a team would go harder depending on the result of their last game, but maybe it's just an alternate reality. After a win, a team is going to go 100 percent. After a loss, a team is still going "100 percent", but there's that implication that a losing team has greater work to do. And even if there is no empiric difference in a team's capacity for playing hard following a win or a loss, the placebo effect of a loss is real. Capablanca showed up for the 1927 world championship match with worse preparation than the challenger. He lost, then played some of the best chess of his life getting ready for the rematch (which never happened).

***

I don't think USF is as good as Stanford.

I typed that mostly with a straight face, but lost it before the period.

Stanford made Tennessee look bad ("They were just better 'n us," Summitt said); USF helped them look *really* good. The Nebraska team that I'm infatuated with hit the Top 10, but the Huskers are way behind Stanford and Tennessee, while Stanford's visit to Connecticut suggested still another tier.

If Santa Claus is on the selection committee: I've been good all year. Send Nebraska to the Sacramento subregional.

***

Speaking of Santa Claus. I'd never seen 1947's "Miracle on 34th Street", but it was doubled with a favorite — 1940's "The Shop Around the Corner" — at the Stanford Theatre.

I didn't much like "Miracle on 34th Street". Putting Santa Claus's state of mind on trial seemed irksomely ahead of its time.