OJ Mayo dunk and apparent ejection

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

First of all, he can't skip college - rule change - he has to be one year removed from high school before he enters the NBA draft.

Of course he can skip college. There's no rule that says he has to play college basketball.

[wildcatter]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

At USC? The home of Reggie Bush? LOL.......

USC will put up with him as long as he produces.

It ain't a question of if Mayo is getting something under the table there. It's a question of how much he's getting.

Do you believe in the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy too, Snaqs? Maybe even that Old School is actually a referee?

I'm no USC fan, and I know you're joking a little, but painting USC as the wrongdoers in this case is just wrong! I mean, Bush would have done that at any school probably...

Floyd didn't even actively recruit Mayo - Mayo is simply full of himself and wanted the media attention that USC would give him. At some point, players like Mayo/Bush (who aren't exactly in the same class) have to take responsibility for their own actions!

(This coming from the guy that went to the same high school as Kareem/JaRon Rush...)

[sj]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

I'll be extremely surprised to see Tim Floyd put up with it. He'll have to either check his attitude or he'll get to know the waterboy pretty well. I don't see him sticking around USC too long.

Floyd was interviewed a couple of weeks ago and when they asked him about Mayo and the other incident Floyd defended the kid saying how the ref flopped. He was pretty adamant in standing up for him. Whether or not the ref flopped or not is immaterial. The fact is the kid walked after and did make contact with the ref on purpose but Floyd was defending him anyway.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by wildcatter

I'm no USC fan, and I know you're joking a little, but painting USC as the wrongdoers in this case is just wrong!

I wasn't joking at all.

Did you read that Yahoo series on Bush?

[Junker]

Originally Posted by sj

Floyd was interviewed a couple of weeks ago and when they asked him about Mayo and the other incident Floyd defended the kid saying how the ref flopped. He was pretty adamant in standing up for him. Whether or not the ref flopped or not is immaterial. The fact is the kid walked after and did make contact with the ref on purpose but Floyd was defending him anyway.

That really suprises me. At ISU we had a forward (the immortal Kenny Pratt) who got in trouble for kicking a police officer. Floyd immediately tossed him from the team only to have the university reinstate him until his trial. Miraculously the trial was moved until after the NCAA touranment and we went to the Sweet 16. I was pretty embarrassed as an ISU fan. That is not what college athletics should be about, but unfortunately it is.

[Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

Of course he can skip college. There's no rule that says he has to play college basketball.

OK, yes he can skip college - but he cannot enter the NBA draft this year. It would be foolish for him to skip a year of playing ball. He could play in Europe for a year if he desires.

[Junker]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

OK, yes he can skip college - but he cannot enter the NBA draft this year. It would be foolish for him to skip a year of playing ball. He could play in Europe for a year if he desires.

Maybe go there and stay there?

[sj]

Originally Posted by Junker

That really suprises me. At ISU we had a forward (the immortal Kenny Pratt) who got in trouble for kicking a police officer. Floyd immediately tossed him from the team only to have the university reinstate him until his trial. Miraculously the trial was moved until after the NCAA touranment and we went to the Sweet 16. I was pretty embarrassed as an ISU fan. That is not what college athletics should be about, but unfortunately it is.

It surprised me too. It surprised me how adamant he was. He was real big on how "that ref flopped!" But signing day isn't for a few days yet. An Iowa State guy huh? I grew up going to Iowa State games when Hilton coliseum first opened and also got my undergrad degree there. My dad bought season tickets. If I remember right they were $3 a game. And they were on the lower half.

[Junker]

Originally Posted by sj

It surprised me too. It surprised me how adamant he was. He was real big on how "that ref flopped!" But signing day isn't for a few days yet. An Iowa State guy huh? I grew up going to Iowa State games when Hilton coliseum first opened and also got my undergrad degree there. My dad bought season tickets. If I remember right they were $3 a game. And they were on the lower half.

I was there for Floyd's first season through Eustacy's first. I was really impressed with the way both ran the program. I only made it to 2 games this season. My reffing schedule kept me busy and on my off nights I didn't feel like driving (I'm a little less than an hour from Ames).

[sj]

Originally Posted by Junker

I was there for Floyd's first season through Eustacy's first. I was really impressed with the way both ran the program. I only made it to 2 games this season. My reffing schedule kept me busy and on my off nights I didn't feel like driving (I'm a little less than an hour from Ames).

I'm sure everyone else is fascinated by this conversation but I grew up in Webster City. Where are you?

[earmitage]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

Well not really hit the roof - it didn't even make it high as the second level. As strong as the kid is, I don't think he could hit the roof with a ball. I know it's WV, but the coliseum does seat over 12,000 - there was just a little over 10,000 in attendance.

And you guys can blast the kid and the school - Lord knows I have, but remember he IS a kid. And show me a high school with that much talent on it from a little place like Huntington, WV. Every kid on that team was born and raised in Huntington. OJ moved away but came back, Bill Walker at Kansas St. was supposed to be in that class too and someone said there's a kid in Mississippi that moved away when he was in 8th that is going to a major D1 next year too. Teams like Oak Hill recruit for their talent - Huntington just got "lucky".

I think he's going to have difficulty next year too, but you cannot deny his talent.

Larry, actually Bill Walker played varsity as an 8th grader in Kentucky. I watched Walker, Mayo and Ellis win the state championship as sophomores. They repeated the following year without Ellis because he had emotional problems and was kicked off the team. What a shame because he was 6'11" as a sophomore. I was really looking forward to a 3 peat when word got out that Walker was ineligible.

I'll tell you something, I learned a lot watching those "kids" play ball over those two years. Walker and Mayo both have a lot of growing up to do, there is no disputing that and I couldn't stand the way Walker would allow himself to be suckered into confrontations. Too often he appeared to be looking for it. But, conversely, when I say I learned a lot, I saw a lot of "good white Catholic boys" from schools like Summit and Country Day take real cheap shots at these guys. In some instances, Walker could have been seriously hurt the way he was undercut on some of his unbelievable dunks. Whereas initially I tended to only see the strut and immaturity of Walker and Mayo, I also saw these boys getting targeted game after game.

[jkjenning]

Originally Posted by sj

I'm sure everyone else is fascinated by this conversation ...

ZZZzzzzz
Actually, my wife is from Des Moines and I would have loved to have attended Iowa State for a graduate degree - oh well, life moved in a different direction; about seven years ago I had my kids convinced for a few weeks that we were going to move - the Computer Engineering program there really produces while the program in San Antonio is bogged down in faculty-vs-faculty politics.
...what was this thread about anyway?

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by earmitage

Too often he appeared to be looking for it. But, conversely, when I say I learned a lot, I saw a lot of "good white Catholic boys" from schools like Summit and Country Day take real cheap shots at these guys.

I think that you need to go somewhere else and take your racial and religious sh!t with you.

We don't need that crap here. We also don't need azzholes like you here either.

Piss off!

[Adam]

Originally Posted by sj

I'm sure everyone else is fascinated by this conversation but I grew up in Webster City. Where are you?

No one else will recognize these names, but my grandmother grew up in Lehigh and my wife grew up in Gowrie.

[earmitage]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

I think that you need to go somewhere else and take your racial and religious sh!t with you.

We don't need that crap here. We also don't need azzholes like you here either.

Piss off!

My sons are "good white Catholic boys." You don't get it, do you? Do you even understand the point of the post? Too often inner city kids are characterized as thugs and punks. I have been guilty of this stereotype myself. It was the whole point of the post. Too often kids like Walker and Mayo are mischaracterized.

JR, you are WAY too emotional. And you ref?