Sports by the numbers: 3/4/11
A. Isaac Guyism’s daily look at what’s hot in the world of sports.
24
At times this year, people have forgotten about the Orlando Magic as the focus in the Eastern Conference has been on South Beach, Boston, Chicago and even now New York. But the team is still a solid contender to make it to the finals especially after it’s 24-point comeback against the Heat last night. In the first half alone, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James outscored the entire Magic squad and led by 18. The lead stretched to 24 before Jason Richardson got hot from behind the 3-point arc, hitting 6-8. The comeback was the second biggest in the franchise’s history and the Heat are left wondering why they keep blowing big leads against good teams.
16
In one of the sadder stories we’ve ever heard to a happy ending, a HS basketball player in Michigan died only hours after winning a game-winning shot for his team to cap off an undefeated season. Ambulances rushed to the scene but could not resusitate Wes Leonard of Fennville. The 16-year old junior also played quarterback for the school and had scored over 1000 points in his three-year career.
25,000
A football team that played in the National Championship game is being investigated for possible recruiting violations. If you saw that line, you’d automatically think those shady Tigers down in Auburn had finally been caught. But this time, it’s Oregon who may have crossed the line with recruit Lache Seastrunk. Investigators are trying to find out if a Texas man was paid $25k to steer the player towards the Ducks. Oregon admits paying the man but said it was more or less for his “recruiting services”. Hmmm. Something’s not adding up here.
39
At the beginning of the year, the Bob Cousy watch-list for best point guards in the country did not include Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor. During this regular season, you could argue there hasn’t been a single PG in college basketball that has been more important to his team than Taylor. His 39 points last night was not only a career high but he did it while most of his team was riding the bench in foul trouble. Taylor has not said if he’s making the jump to the NBA next year but if Wisconsin makes a deep run into the tourney, scouts will get to see him up close and personal.
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