For places that value basketball as highly as they do, both UC and Xavier have been remarkably calm places for a college coach to work. Has X ever fired a coach? Not in my 33 years here. They all “graduated,’’ starting with Pete Gillen to Providence, through Chris Mack to ‘Ville, with Skip Prosser, Thad Matta and Sean Miller in between. Talk about a coaching cradle.
UC’s transitions have been less smooth, but no less stable. Huggs to Mick to John Brannen, with only the Andy Kennedy interim blip in between. Meantime, other places change coaches like the rest of us change shirts.
Which makes this year a little different. And next year moreso.
Are Travis Steele and John Brannen on the hot seat, even a little? Should they be?
This year, no way, no how. Absolutely not. Next year? Well, let’s just say the kitchens will be warmer.
No college hoops coach should be fired after two seasons (Brannen) unless he’s guilty of NCAA violations or grossly incompetent. Especially in this COVID-19 season, when IMO no coach should be fired.
Again: According to me, every coach of quasi-am basketball and football should be given a 5-year contract, i.e. a full recruiting cycle, with stipulations that (1) the coach can’t leave before the five seasons are up, and (2) his school can’t fire him. Steele’s in Year 3, so in DocWorld, he’s safe.
Only, that’s not how it works.
In his three seasons, Xavier has gone from Madness mainstay to absent from the tournament for what could be the third straight year. That’s troubling for a program that had missed the Madness exactly twice in the previous 20 seasons.
The Musketeers inconsistency has been aggravating. Some is due to lots of new faces and to COVID-19 shutdowns. But not all. Steele has not always gotten the most from his best player, senior Paul Scruggs, and his roster is overly guard-heavy.
Even if X makes the tournament, Steele will be scrutinized next season.
Time is on Brannen’s side. If you have a read on which way his program is headed, you’re smarter than I am. Apparently, the recruiting isn’t promising. I say “apparently’’ because I like recruiting stuff about as much as NFL Draft stuff. It’s smoke and mirrors from “experts’’ who spend way too much time worrying about the college plans of 17-year-olds.
Plus, I remember David West and Kenyon Martin. They weren’t highly prized. Things worked out pretty good for those guys.
At times, UC games this winter have resembled 5-a-side at the downtown Y. Is that because of virus layoffs? Is it because of the up-tempo style Brannen wants to play? Both? Neither?
Next winter, maybe we start getting some answers. It’ll be a very big year for both Steele and Brannen. This year? Inconsequential. Kinda like the rest of college basketball.
Now, then. . .
I wrote a column on Brannen for today’s TM. Interesting note: Coming off UC’s 25-day ”pause’’ Brannen and his staff decided that going deep on game plans wouldn’t be as effective as keeping the players’ heads on straight. Effort and attitude over Xs and Os. They’re more easily controlled. It has paid off. The Bearcats are 6-2 in February.
YOUR DAILY WOKE-WORLD SCOREBOARD. ESPN has said Dan Dakich will keep his job at the network, analyzing college basketball. Creighton coach Greg McDermott offered his resignation after using the expression “on the plantation’’ in his postgame locker room remarks. Potato Head is Potato Head.
SPEAKING OF SPUD. . . The lead item in yesterday’s TML was about the impressive return of Reds phee-nom Hunter Greene. The Mr. PH debate was way down in the column. Naturally, Spuds dominated the comments. Which says one of two things: The endless PC debates are fascinating or the Reds upcoming season really is not. Which is it?
NO DH IN THE NL THIS YEAR. NO EXPANDED PLAYOFFS EITHER… Bad news for the Reds, on both counts. Winker would make a good DH. So might Castellanos. No expanded postseason likely means The Club needs to win the division because, really now, do you see a wild card emerging from the Central?
Mets, Padres would seem to be front-runners. Phillies, Marlins as well.
AND NOW. . .
FunMaster Brien says don’t be a sap, make some wine.
This Saturday afternoon, the Gorman Heritage Farm (10052 Reading Road) will be showing us how to tap sap from a tree and how to make wines of all sorts, specifically sap wine. From 2-4 PM they will show the step-by-step process of making your own wine. “Sap wine is a time-honored tradition that harkens back to the days of our forefathers.” This tasty and simple wine can be made within your kitchen, using very few ingredients and not too much of your time.
The sap wine will not be available for drinking during this demonstration, but guests will be invited back in one month’s time to taste the sap wine bottled this Saturday. You are welcome to bring your own wine to drink on the day.
The Gorman Heritage Farm is a 122-acre working farm. They have thirty tillable acres, a farmyard with lots of animals, gardens, a pond, and a hiking trail. In 2012, the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places due to its “outstanding examples of local architecture, agricultural development and family farming.”
Tickets are $16 and can be purchased through eventbrite or by visiting gormanfarm.org.
Imbiber Dave goes Scottish.
You may have noticed I’ve really gotten into checking out new random whiskies this year. It has been fun to read a little bit about their origin. The similarity to what we see at bourbon distilleries here in KY is uncanny.
Seemingly every craftsman credits their land and access to high quality ingredients. Almost everyone used charred white oak barrels to age their product. For many whiskies made outside the US, these barrels are used as a second run, after they have successful delivered a bourbon to us the imbibers.
I feel like I’m consuming a lot of these products on a deeper level than simply buy, try, review. I guess after not flying on a plane for over a year (which is mostly awesome), it makes up for all the fun conversations I had at breweries about how they made the beer, came up with the names, and got to live in their brand for a bit.
The Tullabardine Sovereign is a Highland Single Malt Scotch. Although Speysides like Balvenie and Macallan have always been my favorite, Highlands are a close second.
This is definitely one of the best I’ve ever had from the region. Light in color and body, it is very smooth and subtly smoky. This is easy to drink at happy hour, with dinner, or as a night cap (insert 10AM emotional support whisky joke here).
I’ll be keeping this bottle in the bar rotation from now on.
Cheers! [email protected].
TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . Of the two Jeffersons, Starship was better. That’s heresy to hippies and 60s lovers, but it’s true. Here’s a nice Starship tune.
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