Writing the Pine

As June came to an end, we looked back at the month and wondered, what defines it the most?  After straining our mindgrapes thinking about the answer, we finally realized what it was – graduation.  For high school seniors across the country, June signifies a transitional period.  They officially leave their childhood behind and graduate to a life where the sweet can taste so much sweeter though it comes with an increased responsibility that not everybody can handle.  Similarly in sports, certain athletes, coaches, and even teams (and a tennis event apparently) can graduate to a higher level.  Not everybody will “graduate” the way Tom Brady did in 2001, coming out of obscurity to lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl victory and begin his journey in becoming one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the game.  A player can “graduate” the way Danny Granger did last season, going from promising young player to All-Star.  Or like Trevor Ariza did in the playoffs, turning himself into a highly sought-after free-agent after being a bench-warmer his entire career.  So who’s ready to move on up and raise their game another notch?  We asked our writers to answer the question.

Mark Zerof/US Presswire

HOMETOWN HERO
Brian Kelly – University of Cincinnati football coach. Who you ask? I’ve followed college football for over ten years now, and i truly believe Brian Kelly is a special coach. He’s ready RIGHT NOW to graduate to the upper echelon of college football coaches. Upper echelon as in the likes of Carroll, Tressel, Brown, Stoops, and Meyer. He’s on a path very similar to that of a young Jim Tressel. After dominating 1-AA football, he’s ready to take on the BCS. In just two years and change, he’s already gone to the Orange Bowl and won the Big East.  I predict in the next five years he will be the premier coach in the eastern region. Just like Pete Carroll dominates the west, Stoops & Mack the south, and Urban the southeast, Kelly will be on the same level. Why you ask? The guy wins everywhere he goes, he’s an enormous competitor, and has one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in Ohio and Pennsylvania.  He won the Big East with his 4th string quarterback for goodness sake. 4th STRING!!! Even Willie Beamen was a 3rd string QB. He’s going to win the Big East every year now that Rich Rod is gone, and he’ll be the next coach at Penn State University.

Yeah I said it.  July 1st, 2009.  Mark it down.

THE FINAL WORD
John Calipari – Calipari has had a famed career at UMass and at Memphis, but neither program has the history of a signature college basketball program the way Kentucky does. Very few coaches get to look over a program of such magnitude as Calipari now has the opportunity to do. Kentucky has only employed seven coaches in the past 80 years (Calipari is the eighth). With his new position, he is now in elite company, joining the ranks of Adolph Rupp, Joe Hall, Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith.  It takes a special coach to win at a place like Kentucky (and he will) and Calipari is ready to take his game to another level.

PINETIME PLAYER
U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team – I’m graduating the U.S. Soccer team not only for their recent stellar performances in the Confederations Cup against Spain and Brazil, but for their positive impact on American team sports in general. There just hasn’t been anything to be proud of lately with American team sports. Yes, the U.S. Men’s Basketball Team won gold in China but they should have won. They clearly have the best talent in the world. Steroids have marred baseball. Horrible officiating in the NBA have turned people off. The NFL continuously has players who just can’t seem to stay on the right side of the law. Contrast that with futbol, where America is seriously lacking in interest and talent. For them to beat #1 ranked Spain and come within 45 minutes of beating powerhouse Brazil is a statement in itself. They may not win the World Cup but I guarantee teams, countries, and Americans stateside will start to pay closer attention.

Valedictorian of my class goes to Landon Donovan. I remember watching the World Cup in France and thinking that Landon Donovan has two left feet the way he shanked great scoring opportunities. But he’s proven with his recent scoring what he’s truly capable of. He’s ready for the next level.

So will the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team rise, turn your tassels to the side and throw ‘em in the air. You guys are all ready to take it to the next level.

THE WRITING ILLINI
Juice Williams – Juice is going to graduate this year, both literally and figuratively. As a senior, he’s going to graduate with a bunch of offensive records in the Illini and Big Ten history books. As a sophomore, he led the Fighting Illini to a Rose Bowl appearance, but most of the credit for that success has been given to the stingy defense and also former first-round pick Rashard Mendenhall, now a running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A year later, he led the Big Ten in passing, total offense, led the team in rushing and set THREE stadium records for total yardage in a single game (no one in FBS history has ever set TWO stadium records in a single season). However, he threw 16 interceptions and the team collapsed mid-season and failed to qualify for a bowl game. He failed to get voted into the All-Big Ten first team and was criticized for his inability to protect the football.

But here are two main reasons why Juice will take it to the next level: First, his receivers are more experienced and his offensive line is healthy. Just about all of his interceptions last season were a result of the injury-ridden offensive line crumbling, or a young receiver giving up on a play and failing to run his route out. Sure, Juice had his fair share of misfires, but what QB doesn’t? Secondly, he has everything in place to have a monster season: excellent depth at wide receiver, improvement from his running backs, and a stronger grasp of the offense.

There are better NFL prospects than Juice Williams, but scouts are going to have a hard time ignoring him in the wildcat formation era when he is on pace to break Illinois‘ all-time total offense, career passing, career passing TDs records and the Big-Ten all-time total offense record by next season’s end.

BONUS PICK
Pierre Thomas – Stuck behind an aging Deuce McCallister and an extremely talented but even more drastically underachieving Reggie Bush his rookie season, Pierre Thomas had to work hard for his time on the field. He made a splash his first year as a pro by standing out as a returner and corner rusher on special teams (he fielded kick returns regularly and forced two fumbles in punt block situations). In the last game of his rookie season he was in the lineup as the starters were given a rest, and he made use of his opportunity by becoming just the second rookie ever to rush and receive for 100 yards in a single game.

Fast forward to the first half of his sophomore season. Pierre was used sparingly, although he did appear in every game. McCallister and Bush eventually got injured and Pierre thrived at RB for the Saints. He ended up leading the team in TDs (12), rushed for a total of 625 yards in just 129 attempts and now has held his status as the first option in New Orleans‘ backfield today.

Thomas put on an additional 20 pounds of muscle this offseason. Combine that with a 4.45 40-yard dash and he will dominate every opportunity he’s given in the Saints’ pass-heavy offense. He doesn’t have too many glaring flaws in his game but he did come up short several times in third-and-short situations. 20 pounds of muscle and a renewed confidence in himself and from the coaching staff should easily make him a 1,000-yard rusher with more than enough potential to break the 1,500-yard mark.

PINESOL
Matt Cain – The righty from the San Francisco Giants has been in the shadow of Tim Lincecum for the past couple of seasons, but this year he’s shown that he has the potential to be a staff ace. While most of his miscellaneous pitching stats are similar to years past, his ERA has improved dramatically from a career low of 3.65 (excluding his rookie year) to this season’s 2.57. While his other numbers won’t blow you away, his command at the plate and low ERA tell you that he’s a guy who’s taken it to the next level. The rest of the team has obviously taken notice of his improvement, as well. The Giants rank last in the NL in OPS, RBIs, and second to last in total bases, home runs, and runs and despite their disgusting, sad excuse for an offense, the Giants have managed to win over 80% of Cain’s starts. Their bats really seem to wake up when he’s on the mound as they’ve averaged 5 runs per game when he starts and just 3.72 runs per game when he’s not.

ANDERSON
Greg Oden – The Portland Trail Blazers are the NBA’s team of youth that seems on the cusp of being contenders. They have made huge strides in the past few seasons, especially last season when they finished 4th in the stacked Western Conference. However, in the playoffs, their youth showed and a lack of a consistent post presence was apparent. For them to make the next step and establish themselves in the West’s elite along with the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs, they need an extra threat on offense to complement Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. That piece is Greg Oden. Oden has been plagued much of his early career with injuries as it has stunted his growth, particularly on the offensive end. When Oden has played, however, he has shown great signs on the defensive end. In the first game of the season last year against the Los Angeles Lakers, Oden proved that he could hold his own (before he got hurt in the game) against Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. And while his offensive game is still raw, he had some great moments last year where he demonstrated the power to dominate even the sturdiest defenders inside. He’s got an incredible lower base that’ll allow him to overpower anyone in the paint (Dwight Howard ought to work out with him) and he’s got a great feel to time his blocks on the defensive end. He’ll learn over time how to stay out of foul trouble. Injuries aside, his potential is still great and I think he’ll be in the running for the Most Improved Player award. Even more important, I will venture to say that the Trail Blazers will finish second in the west in front of the Spurs, but behind the Lakers.

YJ
Raymond Felton - Three of the first five picks in the 2005 NBA Draft were used on point guards.  Deron Williams, Chris Paul, and…can you name the third?  Probably not unless you guessed Raymond Felton. The former National Champion out of North Carolina has failed to keep up with fellow draftmates Paul and Williams as they’ve quickly risen to be two of the best point guards in the NBA.  But can you blame Felton?  He had the unfortunate luck of being drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats, an expansion team that has already had three coaches in its five-year history.  Two of these coaches, Bernie Bickerstaff and Sam Vincent, were absolutely awful and did a horrid job of utilizing Raymond.  They’d often times shift the 6-1 Felton to shooting guard, opting to play Jeff McInnis or Brevin Knight at the point.  I guess they forgot that he averaged more assists per game in college than Paul and Williams.  But with Larry Brown now as coach, Felton will undoubtedly turn into a better and more complete point guard.  Despite a slight drop in numbers (and rampant trade rumors), we saw signs of his development last year.  He has all the tools (speed, quickness, court vision, ball-handling, and an improving jump shot) to be a top point guard in the league.  A summer of hard work and another training camp under Brown will help Felton reach this status.  Just you watch.  Come next season, everybody will love Raymond.

FIVE TOOL PLAYER
Wimbeldon – The All-England Tennis Club decided to eschew “tradition” and faced the contempt of many when they introduced a retractable dome to centre court. This is a club that has long held to their tradition of all-grass courts and all-white attire. Then again, I guess they realized that they no longer had to be at the mercy of heavy summer storms with the rather simple addition of readily available technology. (This is not an extension of my Just Add A Roof article, although, it does seem to illustrate the validity of some of my points.)

Wimbledon held their first matches under the “dome” and (gasp) their tennis world did not collapse. Imagine, a world where people say screw hard-liners and traditionalists and let logic dictate decisions. The folks running Wimbledon realized adding video replays, equal prizes for sexes, and a retractable dome wouldn’t ruin their great tradition, but only added to its long and storied history. Wimbledon, you’ve grown up and like a father watching his oldest child graduate, I am proud. Now if only your runt little siblings will follow suit.

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