Sam Antics: Wait almost over, March Madness near

Try to contain your excitement when I tell you this, but Selection Sunday is only four days away.

Admit it, you’re drooling at the thought of filling out your March Madness bracket, making bold and researched predictions, sitting in front of your television for six straight hours and cheering for teams you’ve never heard of like your life is on the line.

College basketball fans love March Madness. True March Madmen live for nothing else.

Read the rest of this column here. Are you a true March Madman? Think you've got the best March Madness setup? Tell us about it. Leave your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

Cronin will return as head coach next season

University of Cincinnati Athletic Director Mike Thomas said Friday, March 5, that men's head basketball coach Mick Cronin will return as head coach for the 2010-11 basketball season, his fifth at the university, according to a Cincinnati Enquirer report.

"Coach Cronin is our coach now and he’ll be our coach next year,” Thomas told Bill Koch of The Cincinnati Enquirer. “I’m committed to seeing Cincinnati basketball be the best it can be. The university is behind Coach Cronin and the team. I’m an impatient person, but I think the needle is headed in the right direction.”

Cronin received a two-year contract extension last June, and now has four years remaining on his current deal.

Heading into his team's final regular season game, Saturday, March 6, on the road against Georgetown, Cronin has a 58-65 record at UC in his four years as the school.

The full story can be read here.

Does Cronin deserve another season at Cincinnati, or should Mike Thomas pull the plug on the Mick Cronin era at UC? Leave your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

Sam Antics: LeBron, Cavs will survive without Shaq

When the Cleveland Cavaliers watched Shaquille O’Neal leave for the locker room with an injury in Boston Thursday, Feb. 25, all of Cleveland held its collective breath.

The people of Cleveland didn’t know it yet, but they would soon be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Read the rest of this column here, then share your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

Vaughn says goodbye

Deonta Vaughn has played his final game in Fifth Third Arena, but that doesn’t mean his days with University of Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin are over and done with.

“Well I’m planning on being with him for another month,” Cronin said. “We’re planning on playing some more games together.”

Cronin, Vaughn and the rest of the Bearcats still have their regular season finale against Georgetown in Washington D.C. Saturday, March 6, then the Big East Tournament in New York City beginning March 9 and the outside chance of postseason play after that.

Read the rest of this article here, then post your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

On the Scene: NFL Combine drills overrated, film never lies

Let’s pretend I’m a general manager of an NFL franchise and it’s crunch-time for making a decision on my first-round draft pick.

Am I going to base my decision on how a player performed in the 40-yard dash, the 3-cone drill and the broad jump at the NFL Combine, or am I going put in game tape and watch how he performed in live game action?

Read the rest of this column here, then share our comments, thoughts and opinions below.

Cats’ tourney bubble bursts at WVU

Rebounding and foul trouble plagued the University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team in the second half, and the Bearcats couldn’t hold on to a 13-point first-half lead.

Cincinnati dropped a 74-68 decision to No. 8 West Virginia Saturday, Feb. 27, in Morgantown.

Read the rest of this article here, then share your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

UC knocks off No. 13 Ohio State

The University of Cincinnati baseball team went 2-1 during the weekend in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge in Florida.

The biggest win came Sunday, Feb. 28, when the Bearcats upset No. 13 Ohio State 12-4.

Read the rest of this article here, there share your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

Three UC football players fail drug tests

Three University of Cincinnati football players have failed NCAA-mandated drug tests, a UC Department of Athletics source has confirmed on the condition of anonymity.

The identities of the players and specific details of the drug tests are still unknown at this time.

The News Record will continue to report on this story as more information becomes available.

Share your comments, thoughts and opinions on this article below.

The Sports Dungjen: Sorry Mick, Elliott should coach men

Last year, when the University of Cincinnati announced Jamelle Elliott as the new women’s basketball head coach, curiosity about the former University of Connecticut assistant peaked.

Under former women’s head coach J. Kelley Hall, the women’s team struggled (26-33 in his two-year head coaching career at UC). They needed something to pull them together, to pull them out of their slump.

Elliott was chosen to be that something.

Read the rest of this column here, then post your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

Stephenson, Gates lead Bearcats in must-win

The last time the University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team faced DePaul, the Blue Demons handed the Bearcats a loss in the 2009 Big East tournament to end Cincinnati’s season.

DePaul had a chance to diminish what little hopes UC had at making the NCAA tournament for the second-straight season Wednesday, Feb. 24, but the Bearcats held on for a 74-69 win despite missing all nine of their 3-point attempts.

Read the rest of this story here, then post your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

Penn State, Purdue, Ohio State await UC

After being shut out in two of three games in its season-opening series, the University of Cincinnati baseball team knows its offense will have to pick up the pace.

At least they’ll have some games under their belts this weekend when the Bearcats head back to Florida as part of the Big Ten/Big East Baseball Challenge.

Cincinnati managed only five runs in its first series of the season against Florida Atlantic University, all of which came in a game-one win Friday, Feb. 19.

Read the rest of this article here, then post your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

Stephenson expects to be back in Cincy

UC freshman Lance Stephenson said he will most likely stay in school for his sophomore season.

Stephenson announced to the media Tuesday he would return because he didn't feel he had an NBA caliber season.

Averaging 11.2 points per game, the highly touted recruit from Brooklyn, N.Y. has struggled some throughout his freshman year shooting just over 19 percent from behind the three-point line.

Most mock NBA drafts have Stephenson as a mid second round pick in the two-round NBA draft. Guaranteed contracts are only offered to first-round picks.


Could Lance Stephenson have been selected in the 2010 NBA Draft, or did he make the right decision in coming back to Cincinnati for another season?

Post your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

UC Athletics Hall of Fame adds three

Mary Wineberg, Brad Jackson and Andrew Kean were inducted into the UC Athletics Hall of Fame Friday, Feb. 19, at the Legion of Excellence ceremony held in Tangeman University Center.

Jackson, a former linebacker, played four seasons with the Bearcats from 1994-97 and holds the record for the third-most tackles in school history with 216.

Jackson helped UC end a 47-year bowl drought in 1997 when Cincinnati defeated Utah State 35-19 in the Humanitarian Bowl.

Read the rest of this article here, then share your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

Sam Antics: USA hockey beats Canada at own game

On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the greatest hockey moment in American history, this year’s edition of Team USA pulled off its own mini miracle.

With their 5-3 upset victory over Canada Sunday, Feb. 21, the Americans clinched a bye and a spot in the quarterfinals as the tournament’s No. 1 seed entering elimination play.

This was not supposed to happen.

Read the rest of this column here, then post your comments, thoughts and opinions below.

Cats head to NFL Combine

More than 300 NFL prospects will descend on Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium Wednesday, Feb. 24, for a job interview unlike any other.

Former Cincinnati Bearcats Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard will be among them.

With the NFL Draft just fewer than two months away, prospective draftees will use the 2010 NFL Scouting Combine to show off their skills in front of more than 600 NFL scouts, doctors, coaches and executives.

But first, players meet with representatives from all 32 NFL teams in formal interviews.

In anticipation for the combine, Gilyard sought the advice of a former teammate, former defensive back at UC and current Cincinnati Bengal, Mike Mickens.

Read the rest of this article here, then comment your thoughts below.

Welcome

Welcome to TNR Sports Talk.
This blog is dedicated to letting The News Record's readers comment, voice their opinions and share their thoughts on sports articles from The News Record, the independent student news organization at the University of Cincinnati.

Feel free to voice any and all opinions and thoughts related to UC sports and The News Record's sports content in the comments section of each post.

~Peter Marx, Garrett Sabelhaus and Sam Elliott
The News Record sports editors