Less than a week after Jason Kidd announced his retirement, news surfaced of his interest in becoming the next Brooklyn Nets coach. Reports Sunday night said things like Kidd planned on “pitching himself” to Nets GM Billy King.
And that got me thinking: What if Kidd had to pitch himself like the average American? I’m talking sending the resume, crafting a cover letter and hoping for the job interview.
Mariano Rivera throws out ceremonial first pitch (AP)
Entering a perfect 18-for-18 in save opportunities, Mariano Rivera was rocked in three at-bats Tuesday night. Trailing just 1-0 thanks to another brilliant Matt Harvey performance, the Mets scored twice in the bottom of the ninth, with Lucas Duda supplying the game-winning RBI single.
The American Athletic Conference spring meetings concluded Wednesday, and Memphis emerged as a favorite to host the 2014 men’s tournament, according to The Hartford Courant.
A decision for the 2014 site is expected within 2-3 weeks. If it turns out to be Memphis, that’s fine. The Tigers do have the largest fanbase in the AAC. But I don’t think a multi-year arrangement in Memphis is desirable. There are too many other markets (UConn, for one) that cannot be ignored, too many opportunities to connect with fans of other AAC teams.
Ever since Jim Calhoun retired, ever since the conference situation went from “this could be trouble” to “well, that happened fast,” the most pressing question for UConn has been clear: Can Kevin Ollie recruit elite talent in spite of the Huskies’ league affiliation?
The addition of Rodney Purvis and a verbal commitment from 2014 wing Daniel Hamilton mark two huge steps for UConn. You can read my take here.
Eighteen starts into his Major League career and Matt Harvey has already landed an SI cover.
Dubbed “The Dark Knight of Gotham” by the magazine, Harvey is 4-0 this season with a league-leading 1.44 ERA. He was brutally close to a perfect game last Tuesday, and allowed five hits and two runs in seven innings Sunday. Mets’ fans undoubtedly are pinning their hopes on Harvey, the seventh overall pick in the 2010 draft.
Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci leads his online column with this ridiculous statistic: “Matt Harvey has won seven games in his young Mets career. This should tell you how bad New York has been at drafting and developing pitchers: Harvey already ranks 12th in wins for the Mets among the 766 pitchers they drafted in the past 30 years.”
SI subscribers can read this week’s cover story on Harvey here. You can also read my story on Harvey from Sunday’s Connecticut Post.
A native of Groton, Harvey joins a relatively short list of Connecticut athletes on the SI cover (see slideshow, above).
In the first Major League baseball game I’ve ever covered, I witnessed Matt Harvey dominate the White Sox in near-perfect fashion.
Matt Harvey (AP)
As Harvey got closer and closer, I avoided tweets like “Matt Harvey is perfect through six here at Citi Field.” I did, however, post the following: “I’m not sure of Twitter/perfect game etiquette so…..yeah.” If you want to call that a jinx, then so be it.
The real jinx was my dad, who turned on the Mets game two pitches before Harvey’s bid for perfection was broken up.
My favorite quote from Harvey: “Growing up, I always wanted to be the best, no matter what it was, no matter where it was. In high school and college and the minor leagues, I was to the point where I couldn’t be the best (because) of the level. That was, I guess, not going to be good enough for me. I knew once I got to the big leagues, I could really push to being the best. Once I got here, it was go-time.”
