You don't know Margaret Herrick, and neither do I. But a long time ago she was the executive secretary of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and she's the one who first called those little gold statuettes Oscar.
Why?
Because it reminded her of her Uncle Oscar.
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| Arizona's Chase Budinger stands out in the freshman-rich Pac-10. (US Presswire) |
And it got me thinking.
So I've been brainstorming for hours trying to decide what to call my college basketball awards, and I've gone through every uncle I can remember. I have an Uncle Terry, Uncle Chris and Uncle David. At least one of them is a decent human, but they all have terrible names. My son has an Uncle Tony, Uncle David (different David; no inbred jokes, please) and, oddly, two Uncle Austins. All four are good people, but good people with bad names.
(Honestly, could there be a more boring list of uncle names?)
I have an Uncle Bud, but he's really my Dad's uncle. And I'm not even sure Bud is his real name. So I don't feel right using him. And I have an Uncle Hull, but my aunt divorced him. So he's not technically my uncle anymore. But my aunt married Brian. So I have an Uncle Brian, but he's like the same age as me, and that's kind of weird. Plus Brian is a crappy name. So I'm not interested. And then I have an Uncle Cookie. But I'm quite sure Cookie isn't his real name, and it doesn't matter anyway because I refuse to call my awards The Cookies or even The Uncle Cookies.
So I'm stuck.
But I've got an idea.
I'm an uncle, and an uncle who enjoys seeing his name in print.
So without further ado, I present the Uncle Garys (the conference awards edition).
(Editor's note: The statuettes are small and silver with bad hair and bleached teeth. They are presented to the best 16 of the 32 Division I leagues according to the latest ratings at CollegeRPI.com. Why only the top half? Because CBS SportsLine.com isn't into just handing out Uncle Garys to anybody. These things must be earned. And, by the way, the national awards are coming Wednesday.)
ACC
Player of the Year: Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina)
Freshman of the Year: Brandan Wright (North Carolina)
Coach of the Year: Dave Leitao (Virginia)
Last word: See what happens when you recruit the best players? You get players who win awards. Pretty simple equation.
SEC
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| UF's Al Horford (Getty Images) |
Freshman of the Year: Patrick Beverley (Arkansas)
Coach of the Year: Andy Kennedy (Ole Miss)
Last word: Kennedy took the same roster that got Rod Barnes fired and turned it into co-Western Division champs. That's good coaching, plain and simple.
Pac-10
Player of the Year: Arron Afflalo (UCLA)
Freshman of the Year: Chase Budinger (Arizona)
Coach of the Year: Tony Bennett (Washington State)
Last word: Budinger just edged Washington's Spencer Hawes, and USC's Taj Gibson has been good, too.
Big Ten
Player of the Year: Greg Oden (Ohio State)
Freshman of the Year: Greg Oden (Ohio State)
Coach of the Year: Thad Matta (Ohio State)
Last word: Alando Tucker is great. But Oden ranks sixth in points, first in rebounds, first in blocks and first in field goal percentage in the Big Ten. Plus, his team is ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Big East
Player of the Year: Aaron Gray (Pittsburgh)
Freshman of the Year: Scottie Reynolds (Villanova)
Coach of the Year: Rick Pitino (Louisville)
Last word: Pitino gets the nod for his in-season adjustments and tough love with Derrick Caracter that helped the Cards to a 12-4 Big East record.
Missouri Valley
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| Guard Nate Funk (US Presswire) |
Freshman of the Year: Osiris Eldridge (Illinois State)
Coach of the Year: Chris Lowery (Southern Illinois)
Last word: Funk proved he's the league's best player by getting 52 points in the semifinals and finals of the MVC Tournament.
Big 12
Player of the Year: Kevin Durant (Texas)
Freshman of the Year: Kevin Durant (Texas)
Coach of the Year: Russ Springmann (Texas)
Last word: Springmann is the Texas assistant who recruited Durant and helped keep the Longhorns from being UConn. Hard to ignore that feat.
Mountain West
Player of the Year: Keena Young (BYU)
Freshman of the Year: Jonathan Tavernari (BYU)
Coach of the Year: Dave Rose (BYU)
Last word: Young, a high school teammate of the Celtics' Kendrick Perkins, has done OK for himself after a stint in junior college.
WAC
Player of the Year: Nick Fazekas (Nevada)
Freshman of the Year: Anthony Thomas (Boise State)
Coach of the Year: Mark Fox (Nevada)
Last word: Fazekas is averaging 20.9 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, making him the easy pick here.
Atlantic 10
Player of the Year: Stephane Lasme (UMass)
Freshman of the Year: Robert Mitchell (Duquesne)
Coach of the Year: Sean Miller (Xavier)
Last word: If Lasme is good enough for The Chad then he's good enough for me.
C-USA
Player of the Year: Chris Douglas-Roberts (Memphis)
Freshman of the Year: Jeremy Wise (Southern Miss)
Coach of the Year: John Calipari (Memphis)
Last word: Calipari led Memphis to an undefeated league record, one blowout at a time.
Horizon
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| Todd Lickliter (Getty Images) |
Freshman of the Year: Andy Polka (Loyola of Chicago)
Coach of the Year: Todd Lickliter (Butler)
Last word: Because Butler started so strong, some people forget the Bulldogs were actually picked sixth in the Horizon.
Colonial
Player of the Year: Loren Stokes (Hofstra)
Freshman of the Year: Matt Janning (Northeastern)
Coach of the Year: Anthony Grant (Virginia Commonwealth)
Last word: Grant's success should help other Billy Donovan assistants get a shot, namely Donnie Jones.
West Coast
Player of the Year: Derek Raivio (Gonzaga)
Freshman of the Year: Matt Bouldin (Gonzaga)
Coach of the Year: Mark Few (Gonzaga)
Last word: That Few was able to lead the Zags to the NCAA Tournament after Josh Heytvelt's arrest is impressive.
Mid-American
Player of the Year: Romeo Travis (Akron)
Freshman of the Year: David Kool (Western Michigan)
Coach of the Year: Stan Joplin (Toledo)
Last word: Kool started the season slow, but he's averaged 23 points in Western Michigan's past two games.
Big West
Player of the Year: Aaron Nixon (Long Beach State)
Freshman of the Year: Henrik Thomsen (UC Riverside)
Coach of the Year: Larry Reynolds (Long Beach State)
Last word: Reynolds led the 49ers to their first regular season title since 1996.
