As I noted in last week’s Friday Vid, Courtney Barnett’s new album is out later this month. Grantland’s Steven Hyden recently spoke with her and shares his impressions of both the album and how she has exploded onto the music scene.
Courtney Barnett Writes All the Best Songs
’Tis the season for articles diving into what is wrong with college basketball and ideas on how to fix it.
I think Seth Davis has some really interesting thoughts here. The big takeaway is that coaches should not have as much control over the rules of the game as they do now. As it stands, the game is set up to reduce the advantage that more talented teams have. Davis suggests some relatively simple tweaks to the rules and the configuration of the court should make for a better, faster-paced, more visually pleasing game.
Jay Bilas, naturally, has the best line:
“I hear people complain and say, well if you do these things, the teams with the better players are going to win,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas says. “And I’m thinking, did you really just say that? That’s like saying if we took all the sprinters and let them run in a straight line, the fastest guy would win. That’s the whole point.”
The history of college basketball’s offensive decline—and how to fix it
I have not watched very much Big East basketball this year. But last year, when we were stuck inside for two months, I watched a ton. And I was surprised at how good it was. Every night seemed like a close game (and if Butler was involved, overtime was pretty much assured) in front of great crowds. And the schools were all smaller, urban, similarly-focused institutions that did not have D1 football programs. While sprawling geographically, the league still seemed to have a unifying principal that harkened back to the “good old days” before football TV concerns destroyed the classic conference alignments.
Matt Brown with an appreciation of the league. I bet a lot of you did not know it has the #2 conference RPI rating.
I’m sure some of you know this, but, when he was in high school, Prince was actually a pretty solid basketball player. Apparently that Charlie Murphy true Hollywood story was based on fact.
Prince Used To Ball Back In The Day
Justin Salazar: American hero
270 Tacos in Three Months? “Taco Sal” Has a Perfect Season
Finally, things like this are why so many people hate Christmas music.