Updated July 27
More bad than good. More mean than nice. It's pretty clear my honeymoon is over at CBS SportsLine.com, evidence being this week's mailbag with readers criticizing my writing, attitude, knowledge and face.
From: Rob McKinley
Why is UConn's recruiting class getting no hype. If you add A.J. Price, who has not played a game there yet, you could be looking at the next Fab Five!!! What do you think?
I think any class being compared to the Fab Five is always foolish. But I'm sitting here in Las Vegas watching AAU basketball beside Dave Telep of Scout.com. So I asked him, just to make sure I wasn't wrong. His response: "There are too many question marks, especially with Price's overall health." No matter what anybody says, he hasn't played a competitive game yet with anybody really keeping score. Hasheem Thabeet will probably be the third big African player in the history of the NBA to average double-figures in points and rebounds. But that's just a piece. It's a great recruiting class, but the second coming of the Fab Five? Those guys played in two Final Fours.
From: J Stackhouse
Do you always look like that or are you wasted in your picture? Regardless, change it, please, for everyone.
That's pretty much what I look like, give or take the length of my hair (in the picture it's way shorter than normal) and color of my tan (I'd been on vacation in Las Vegas before taking it, so I had a nice glow). If I could put a mug shot of Ashton Kutcher at the top of every column, trust me, I would. Alas, it is not allowed. And no, I wasn't wasted at the time of the picture. It was taken at 10 a.m., and I make it a point to not drink before The Price is Right going off unless I'm on a beach, boat, golf course or in a casino.
From: David
Your knowledge on college basketball is quite limited. But, I will admit that Indiana has someone new the media can hate. Like the Yankees and Notre Dame football, either you love them or hate them. Indiana Basketball fits the same category. Thank God Indiana does have (a) new coach and a very controversial one. The media can continue to produce poor copy on college basketball in July. Let's hope Indiana starts winning again, then the real fun begins. Peace.
Your knowledge on reading comprehension is quite limited because I was actually overly nice to Kelvin Sampson, all things considered. I wrote about him taking care of his injured wife. What's nicer than that?
From: Mark Moser
Man, please go take a grammar class!! Reading your stuff is like listening to a senile person tell a story. It is a good story but I get a headache trying to follow you through woods of your bad grammar.
You should see me before using the spelling and grammar check. Also, it's never grammatically correct to use two exclamation points!! Seriously, you can't call a guy an alcoholic if you're holding a Jack-and-Coke. And your third sentence was tough to read in its own right. Very tough, actually.
From: Ken
Mr. Parrish, Just admiring your work. This was an excellent piece of writing. Well put together. Thanks.
Take that, Moser!!
From: Jim
What is your take on how John Calipari used North Carolina State for a pay raise?
My take is that it worked, and was very profitable.
From: Robert J. Taylor
It is a shame you could not write an article without attacking (Syracuse) coach (Jim) Boeheim. He is entitled to his opinion about the NCAA Tournament, just like you. I actually agreed with him. Obviously you chose to personally attack him instead of merely voicing your opinion. Stick to watching the youngsters try and play at a D-1 level and leave your sarcasm at the door.
My sarcasm and unconventional grammar is all I've got. And I didn't personally attack anybody. A personal attack would've featured a hair joke. If anything it was a professional attack on Boeheim's silly idea to expand the NCAA Tournament. Best I can tell, more average teams make the field every year than good teams miss it. And while George Mason was a nice story, the Patriots making the Final Four is no more an indication that Colonial Athletic Association schools are going to begin making similar advancements than Chris Moneymaker winning the World Series of Poker Main Event is an indication that accountants from Nashville are going begin dominating card rooms. Sometimes weird things happen, but overreacting to the point of drastically changing the greatest postseason event in sports isn't the answer.
Still, I understand Boeheim's motivation. He's in the Big East, a monster of a league that will ultimately get coaches fired. So while I can, for example, empathize with Robert McCullum's situation at South Florida -- it's never a good sign when you're in the same league with Connecticut while simultaneously begging for walk-ons on the school's official website -- I'm not willing to expand the NCAA Tournament just so one day he can maybe make the Field of 128 and keep his job. I just hope he's invested well.
