Shanoff’s Wake-Up Call: Where SHAQ?!?! Happens

By Dan Shanoff
Today’s Calls: Shaquille O’Neal vs. Shawn Marion, Signing Day vs.
NFL Draft, Clemens vs. Congress, Duke vs. UNC, Jim Mora vs. Mike Holmgren, Steve Spagnuolo vs. Tom Coughlin, Rutgers vs. UConn, Pau Gasol vs. Expectations, Roger Goodell vs. Arlen Specter, Ryan Mallett vs. the NCAA and more!
The Opening Pitch: There is a universal reaction to the Shaquille O’Neal-Shawn Marion trade:
What are the Suns thinking?!
[img=http://i.tsn.com/i/photos/20080206/86379.jpg]
Here is what other significant names might be thinking...
Shaq: Back to a contender!
Marion: Paired with Wade!
Pat Riley: I still got it.
David Stern: We still got it.
Dwyane Wade: We can win the East.
Kevin Garnett: They can win the East.
Kobe Bryant: We can win the West.
Steve Nash: (Silently weeping)
Mike D’Antoni: Um, can we take this back?
CFB: Signing Day! College football’s version of the NFL Draft, a day of limitless hopes and dreams for fans that this incoming class will be the one to lead the team to a title, as they put their faith in baseless rankings and “star” systems.
The biggest recruiting name, Terrelle Pryor, the dual-threat QB who is deciding between rivals Michigan and Ohio State (with Penn State as an intriguing long-shot) will NOT be announcing his choice, as planned. He must be enjoying the attention too much.
Jim Mora to become the Seahawks next head coach ... after Mike Holmgren coaches his final season in 2008. From the Colts’ playbook of succession planning (Dungy in ‘08, Caldwell in ‘09), this ensures a smooth transition. (Warning: Results may vary.)
Super Bowl XLII Hangover: Brady played hurt? Nothing says “sore loser” like the third-party toadies who crawl out of the woodwork in the days following an epic loss to say, “But Brady was playing hurt ...”
Clemens vs. Congress: Deny, deny, deny. There, I just saved taxpayers a ton of money. Look forward to the consistency of “no, never” in a few weeks when he has his public event with Congress.
Duke at UNC: The biggest game of the college hoops season so far is less about ACC supremacy or NCAA Tournament seeding or even the sport’s best rivalry than it is this: Which of these two teams looks more like a team ready to win an NCAA Championship? UNC without Ty Lawson negates home-court advantage in Chapel Hill.
Women’s CBB: Rutgers beats unbeaten No. 1 UConn: Vivian Stringer’s team continues their ride from last spring as “America’s Team.”
NBA Last Night: In Pau Gasol’s solid Lakers debut, he has 24 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and instant impact for a team that is about to see one of their main playoff rivals downgrade.
CBB Last Night: Tennessee throttles Florida, putting up 104 points and beating the Gators by 22 en route to the Vols’ best start ever to a season. Chris Lofton had 26; he might be the only non-freshman to break into my midseason first-team All-America team.
Meanwhile, that was an impressive remember-in-March-when-you’re-filling-out-your-brackets type of win for Drake at Illinois State.
NFL Coaching Carousel: Super Bowl coaching hero Steve Spagnuolo (think Ryan getting more credit Ditka after SB XX) interviewed with the Redskins. After Sunday, he is the hottest name in coaching.
Here’s a theory: Tom Coughlin will NEVER match this season. Never.
Never. Ever. Again. So: Why not gently (or not-so-gently) ask Coughlin to retire on top, then giving Spagnuolo the job?
On the other end of the security spectrum, the Packers just gave Mike McCarthy a 5-year extension. Presuming that Brett Favre doesn’t last all 5 (he can’t possibly, CAN HE?!?!), McCarthy will have to oversee the team’s Post-Favre Era -- that ain’t such a great job.
Roger Goodell vs. Arlen Specter: They might meet as early as next week to talk about Spygate (and, apparently, Specter’s problems with Sunday Ticket being unavailable on Comcast ... doesn’t everyone without DirecTV have the same, fair complaint?)
Bobby Knight resigns, cont’d: The debate rages on -- would you want your own kid to play for Bobby Knight? Head over to my sports-meets-parenting blog Varsity Dad to weigh in with your opinion. (Me? Never.)
Giants parade in NYC: After riding the NYC subways with jubilant Giants fans headed to (or from) the parade, they seemed less “very pleasantly surprised” than “just as obnoxious” as Pats fans.
More CFB: Arkansas wants the NCAA to let Ryan Mallett be eligible immediately to play in 2008, a request the NCAA should either ignore or laugh at. Players transfer because they don’t like the new coach (or the coach runs them off) ALL THE TIME. If they let Mallett play immediately, they might as well get rid of the sit-out-a-year transfer rule entirely.
Today’s Must-Read: Fake Selection Sunday! In the lead-up to March Madness, the NCAA smartly holds a mock “selection” that offers transparency to the process and lets the media try their hand at it.
The NCAA blog Double-A Zone is going to be live-blogging the entire event all day long. Here’s hoping a slapfight breaks out between Joe Lunardi and Dennis Dodd over where Drake should be seeded.
Baseball cards: Topps created a card of Rudy Giuliani celebrating the 2007 Red Sox World Series title. Pretty clever for a card company. They should create an entire set dedicated to parody.
The Last Word: Goes to Bill Belichick. “There wasn’t much left at that point.” That was the Genius’ response to questions why he left the field before the Super Bowl was over.
He went on to say that he thought the game was over, which seems suspicious for a guy as detail-oriented as Belichick. That said: He WAS going through the worst loss of his Hall of Fame career.
So I guess “The Walk-Off” was slightly more understandable. “There wasn’t much left at that point”: His quote is packed with far more meaning than I think he intended.
Dan Shanoff writes The Wake-Up Call every weekday morning for SportingNews.com and blogs daily at DanShanoff.com. Got any comments, questions or feedback? Email Dan at shanofftsn-[at]-gmail-[dot]-com.↵