NSN Blog

George Commo's Blog - Friday 2-8-13
Hope all Celtics fans enjoyed that win over the Lakers last night, because it was the last time the team from LaLa Land will make an appearance at the Garden this season. Playoffs? Forget about it! And before everyone jumps on my case that is not a knock on the Celts ... yes in know they are now 6-0 AR (After Rondo) and are again creating false hope of some kind of playoff run in the spring ... no the reason I'm convinced that the Lakers will not make it back to Boston come springtime is the simple fact that the Lakers are not going to make the playoffs, period.

They had to bring out extra whistles last night at Rice High School ... the three officials working the Rice/ Essex boys hoop game wore out the first set, combining to call 47 fouls in the 32 minute game ... that led to 56 free throws in a game Rice won 59-56. I'll say this about the refs ... they were pretty even with the calls ... 28 to Essex/19 to Rice ... and they were consistent ... three whistles in the first forty seconds set the tone. But 47 fouls? Really? Yes, the two teams were meeting for the second time in six days, but game one wasn't any kind of blood bath, and this one wasn't either. Just Very weird.

As I write this high school games all over Northern New England are falling victim to the storm ... I don't have any problem with that ... it is school/game day now and it is snowing and it is going to snow all day. I thought it was weird when school officials started pulling the plug yesterday before a single flake had fallen, but today is a different story. The colleges have also pulled the plug on a number of events ... but as of now the big Norwich/Castleton men's hockey game is still on for tonight at Kreitzberg Arena ... we've loaded up the snowmobiles and we will be there for the broadcast tonight on NSN and WDEV ...

George Commo's Blog - Thursday 2-7-13
For a guy coming back off an injury efficiency has got to be a help and you've got to say Luke Apfeld of the Vermont men's basketball team has been efficient. Last Wednesday night at Hartford he returned to put up eight points and grab six rebounds in 21 minutes in a seven point Catamount win, and last night he contributed an even tighter performance, scoring 16 points in 14 minutes in a game Vermont seized control of early and led all the way. Apfeld has come off the bench in both of those games ... Clancy Rugg performed well as a starter while he was out that Coach John Becker has elected to keep the Burlington High grad in the starting lineup ... and who is to say that isn't a good thing. Having a weapon liike Apfeld coming off the bench has got bto be a good thing as Vermont heads down the stretch in America East conference play.

Every night they play Vermont's Metro Division High School hockey teams keep demonstrating the depth and parity that seem to characterize this 2012-2013 season. Among last night's games top ranked South Burlington had a battle on their hands before completing a hard fought 6-4 win over Noorth Country at home ... Rutland snapped out of their recent slump by putting nine goals on the board at Middlebury ... Colchester edged CVU in a thriller ... Essex and Spaulding went a step further, taking their thriller to OT before the Hornets pulled out the win ... and resurgent BFA-St. Albans put six goals on the board in a road win over Rice. Three weeks to go before the playoffs ... boy, I can't wait!

Tonight on NSN Sports boy's high school hoop, we'll have the audiocast as as Essex travels to Rice. This is the quick turn around rematch of the game last Sat5urday when the Hornets surprised the Green Knights.

No Jack Healey this morning on The Really Big Sports Show, but we'll soldier on with John Fantino of the Free Press joining us to talk UVM Hoop, and then hockey coaches Billl Beaney of Middlebury and Mike McShane of Norwich will jump on board for their regular appearances. The Really Big Sports Show begins this morning at nine on NSNradio.net .

Forbes Magazine released its list of the top 10 most disliked athletes.
They are in no particular order:
Tiger Woods, Michael Vick,Plaxico Burress, Ndamukong Suh, Kris Humphries, Lebron James,Kobe Bryant, Terrell Owens, Alex Rodriguez and Kurt Busch.

I don't dislike any of them except Michael Vick and that's only because of that dog fighting thing. Heck I'd dislike my mother if she did what Vick did.

As for Kurt Busch, he never even crosses my mind, either does Suh or Terrell Owens or Kris Humphries either for that matter.

I actually like many of the athletes on the list and
seriously why would you dislike a player?
Do you know them personally? Are you jealous?
I do hate teams, but it's not literal. That's a big difference.
I dislike fans of teams because they have a different rooting interest than I do. It isn't personal unless they're Yankee fans of course [just kidding].

Why do fans hate or dislike a player? Is it a lack of maturity? Or is it a lack of objectivity?
I think it's a combination of both!

George Commo's Blog - Wednesday 2-6-13
The latest media frenzies out there involve Rob Gronkowski and Ryan Braun ...
Gronkowski is seen in a video dancing at a Las Vegas party, and doing a dive to the floor where he lands on his recently broken arm ... anything I say about this is going to make me sound like an old fart, but I'll say it anyway ... it is time for the Patriots, or Gronk's agent or somebody to take him aside and tell him to show a little maturity and responsibility ... oh and they might tell him to keep his shirt on too.
Meanwhile Braun is back in the news ... the former NL MVP dodged a bullet a year ago when he got a failed PED test thrown out on a technicality. Now reports are that his name is on that list of possible clients at that clinic in South Florida that we heard about last week. Sounds bad for Braun, who has sworn up and down that he is not a user ... but I'll say again what I always say when things like this come up ... in this country it has to be "innocent until proven guilty" not the other way around.

George Commo's Blog - Tuesday 2-5-13
Okay, add me to the list ... I'm impressed!
Got my first in person look at the St. Johnsbury boys basketball team last night. The Hilltoppers were in Essex to take on the Hornets and came away with a 65-48 win. It was my first chance to see the Academy's featured big man, European import Vlad Cobzaru, and he is the real deal. He is not as physically dominating as I had thought, but he is extremely skilled ... great moves around the basket, and he has really good quickness. The other imports on the team, Best, Ross and Grinbergs, all of whom I was seeing for the first time, were also solid. But, if one thing surprised me about St. J. it was their depth ... this is not just all about the imports. I had remembered Coach Tommy O'Shea's son Brendon from his days as Joe O'Shea's little brother at Burlington, but he has grown a lot ... not in size, but in experience. And the cast of local kids, led by senior Patrick Lovett, were all solid contributors. Like I said ... impressive, and right now the favorite to win it all at Patrick Gym in March.