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Sports Outside the Beltway

Oklahoma State Women’s Basketball Coach Kurt Budke dead at 50

He and an assistant basketball coach died when the plane they were flying on crashed in Arkansas. Very tragic and RIP.

Oklahoma State University women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed when the single-engine plane they were riding in during a recruiting trip crashed near a wildlife management area in central Arkansas.

The university said the pair died in the crash Thursday night near Perryville, about 45 miles west of Little Rock. The Winona Wildlife Management Area is in steep terrain in the eastern Ouachita Mountains. A cause of the crash was not announced.

 

NFL Draft 2010 – Round 1 #24- Dallas (From Philadelphia through Denver and New England)- WR Dez Bryant

NFL.com writes- Pick Analysis: The Cowboys halt Dez Bryant’s free fall by nabbing him with the 24th selection. Though Bryant has been roundly labeled as a potential character risk, his exceptional talent is undeniable and he gives the Cowboys an all-star caliber pass catcher. With Roy Williams under performing, Bryant could become a key contributor early in his rookie season.

Overview

Bryant is an extremely talented receiver that has legitimate downfield speed as well as the ability to adjust to off-target throws. He missed the final 10 games of 2009 for lying to an NCAA investigator and his ability to control and handle the off-field issues that could come up have to be in question. He is extremely competitive to the ball when he is the target but sometimes shows a lackadaisical attitude when on the back side of plays or when asked to block. He needs to be more precise on his route running and not round off his breaks on the hard cuts. He could easily be the first receiver taken off the board if he can impress the personnel people in interviews.

 

NFL Draft 2010 – Round 1 #21- Cincinnati- TE Jermaine Gresham

The first Tight end selected. NFL.com writes-

Pick Analysis: The Bengals fill their biggest void in the passing game with the selection of Jermaine Gresham. He gives the team a legitimate threat in the middle of the field, and his exceptional receiving skills should be a nice complement to Chad Ochocinco and Antonio Bryant. Given Carson Palmer’s struggles a season ago, the Bengals’ revamped aerial attack should help him regain his Pro Bowl form.

Overview

Gresham will likely go later in the draft than he would have last year due to a season-ending knee injury in practice prior to the first game of the 2009 season. He had surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee in October. He lacks premier top end speed but can challenge secondaries down the middle thanks to his stride length. Gresham is more of a finesse blocker in line but can and will smother opponents on the second level as well as down field. There are times where it looks like he has lapses of concentration from his route running to missing blocks, but he is smart and can pick things up.

 

NFL Draft 2010 – Round 1 #6- Seattle- OT Russell Okung

NFL.com writes- Okung is a prototypical left tackle in that he has rare size and long arms that allow him to control and steer pass rushers on by the pocket. He shows excellent balance and body control but will occasionally overextend or reach for the block which keeps him from sustaining blocks as long as he could. Okung should be an early draft pick on the offensive line and has the body type that teams are looking for when it comes to protecting the blind side.

 

2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament- March 19th

This post will remain at the top of the blog for the rest of today. To see newer posts, scroll down.

As results come in today, I will update this post. I’ll also include any related tournament news here.

West Virginia beats Morgan St. 77-50
Cornell beats Temple 78-65
Xavier beats Minnesota 65-54
Purdue beats Siena 72-64
Pittsburgh beats Oakland 89-66
Wisconsin beats Wofford 53-49
Texas A&M beats Utah St. 69-53
Gonzaga beats Florida St. 67-60
Duke beats Arkansas-Pine Bluff 73-44
Michigan St. beats New Mexico St. 67-64
Syracuse beats Vermont 79-56
Maryland beats Houston 89-77

 

2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball predictions

Here are my selections-

2010 predictions1

2010 predictions2

So you heard it here first. Duke and Ohio State in the finals.

Note- Starting tomorrow I will have a sticky post at the top of the blog featuring that day’s results. Feel free to make your own predictions in the comment.

 

2010 NCAA Women’s Tournament Bracket

Here it is-

2010 Women's bracket

Like with the Men’s tournament, I’ll take a shot at making some guesses predictions in the women’s also.

 

2010 NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket

Well here it is-

2010 bracket

I don’t have to say. Later in the week, I’ll take a shot at predicting the outcome.

 

Former NCAA Wrestling champ Jack Brisco dead at 68

He is also in the WWE Hall of Fame. RIP.

Former Oklahoma State NCAA wrestling champion Jack Brisco has died at age 68.

The university said Tuesday that Brisco died on Monday after suffering from heart disease.

Brisco was a native of Blackwell and was the 1964 and 1965 Big Eight champion at 191 pounds. He was runner-up for the national title in 1964 and won the NCAA championship the following year. He finished 27-1-1 as a Cowboy.

He wrestled professionally after college and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008.

 

2010 NFL Draft to include record tying 53 non-seniors

The 2008 NFL Draft also saw the same amount of under classmen. In 2009 the total was 46. From AP-

The expected heavy influx of non-seniors applying for this year’s NFL draft did not happen despite looming labor unrest in the league.

Although a record-tying 53 players declared for early entry, that number released Tuesday by the NFL was short of most projections.

“I think that the colleges have really done a good job of telling these young men how it is to their advantage to stay in school,” said NFL draft consultant Gil Brandt, who helped build the Dallas Cowboys in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. “I thought there would be more and I was surprised.”

Six All-Americans did apply for the draft: defensive backs Eric Berry of Tennessee and Joe Haden of Florida; defensive end Derrick Morgan of Georgia Tech; tight end Aaron Hernandez of Florida; linebacker Rolando McClain of Alabama; and wide receiver Golden Tate of Notre Dame.

Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, also declared for April’s draft, along with Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead; Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen; Southern California running back Joe McKnight; Cal running back Jahvid Best; Florida defensive end Carlos Dunlap; and Penn State linebacker Navorro Bowman.

Fresno State tailback Ryan Mathews, the nation’s leading rusher, applied. So did tackles Bryan Bulaga of Iowa and Anthony Davis of Rutgers, who are projected to go high in the draft.

I remember when Herschel Walker came out of school(U of Georgia) early and all the controversy it caused. A Herschel Walker today wouldn’t risk a potential big payday in the NFL either.

What I don’t get is how some experts expected the total of non-seniors to be around 100 or a 100% increase from last year. Maybe I’ll find an article that list the college players who stuck it out. A free college education should be valued. One day your sports playing days will end and what will you do for money then? Look at Bernie Kosar who left the University of Miami early for the NFL. Right now he is bankruptcy court.

The entire list of college underclassman declaring for this year’s NFL draft is below the fold.

 
 


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