Michael Beasley Going Pro?

Kansas State head coach Frank Martin told the Associated Press that he believes that diaper dandy Michael Beasley will leave Kansas State after only one season and turn pro.

You think?

Thats a no-brainah! Most draft predictions have Beasley being the No.1 pick in this years draft after averaging a gaudy 26.2 points and 12.4 rebounds a contest. Beasley also led the nation with 28 double-doubles.

Because Michael Beasley plays in the Big 12, he's been often compared to Kevin Durant who played last season for Texas and put up very similar numbers. Durant left after his freshman year and is now playing for Seattle. Durant is said to be worth over 100 million dollars now after all of his endorsements.

Thats exactly why Michael Beasley will go pro--the money--can't blame him.

Adam Smith

No. 11 Cal loses baseball game against Santa Clara

The No. 11-ranked California baseball team lost its second extra-inning game in a row, falling at Santa Clara, 7-5 in 10 innings Tuesday night. The Golden Bears had scored a run in the top of the ninth inning on Josh Satin's sacrifice fly to tie the game, 5-5, but the Broncos' Matt Long hit a two-run homer off of Cal closer Matt Gorgen in the bottom of the 10th inning for the game-winner. The Bears, who lost 5-4 in 10 innings at Washington State last Saturday, dropped to 15-5-1 overall (2-1 in the Pac-10). Santa Clara improved to 12-8. For California's sake they better not have to win a big game in extra innings or their going to be in a world of hurt.

Tim Seames

The Florida Gators Beat Arizona State 70-57 To Reach NIT Semifinals

The Gators, the two-time defending NCAA champions, watched an early 17-3 lead evaporate, falling behind on Jerren Shipp's 3-pointer with 13:30 to go. But Florida (24-11) responded with a 15-6 run and put the game away on Parsons' 3-pointer with 2:32 to play. It's hard to imagine seeing the Gators only playing in the NIT tournament instead of contending for a National Championship title. But when you lose four of your starters from the championship team its a little easier to picture. The Gators will play Massachusetts in the semifinals in Madison Square Garden on April 1.

Tim Seames

$13.2 Million Pledged to Wofford Athletics Program

Wofford coach Mike Ayers has been coaching football teams for 20 years. The school threw Ayers a celebration in order to mark the milestone. As part of the celebration, Wofford also announced that two alumnus of Wofford had each pledged one million dollars in order to make improvements to the school’s athletic facilities. The announcements of all of the funds that had been committed to the athletic facilities during the celebration totaled 13.2 million dollars.

First off, I would like to say congratulations to Mike Ayer for twenty years of loyal coaching in the NCAA. As far as how much money was pledged to the school, I can’t believe that. That is so much money.

Mark Zadakis

Is broadcasting all games good for the NCAA?

With all of the NCAA basketball action going on during March Madness, many schools are seeing the benefits to having their games broadcast on national television. In recent weeks, many teams have opted to change their schedules around just so that they can play in front of a national television audience. The question becomes one of should the switch schools be allowed to swap their schedules around in order to get a bigger audience? As much as a big television audience helps the NCAA and each individual school athletic program, it can also hinder it to some degree. How is this possible? If a fan knows that they can watch the game on television instead of having to go to the game and witness it in person, then they won’t spend the money to buy a ticket. By the fan not buying the ticket, this means that the school gets less money in ticket sales. Most of the money that comes from ticket sales goes right back into each school’s athletic program to keep the teams competing for championships. The less money a team has, the more it will struggle to remain competitive.

I believe that the schools could put a few more games on television in order to introduce new fan to the world of collegiate sports. However, I also believe that a majority of the games should only be played in the school athletic complexes around the country in order to guarantee that ticket sales remain strong. There are still many fans out there that enjoy going to an athletic facility to watch a sporting event.

Mark Zadakis

Two More Swedes Heading to Orono

The University of Maine received two verbal commitments over the weekend for next season. Theo Andersson and Pontus Hansson of the Frolunda Indians of Swedish SuperElit Under 20 League. Frolunda is one of the best developmental clubs in Sweden. On this club they have three players drafted in the NHL including Lars Eller who went 13th overall in the 2007 Draft. They have a couple of players that will be drafted this year. They will be joining fellow Swede Gustav Nyquist who played for Malmo in the same league.


Theo Andersson F

Age 19

2007-2008 Season: 41 games 17 goals, 24 assists, 41 points, 45 penalty minutes

Photo courtesy of Elite Prospects.


Pontus Hansson G

Age 20

2007-2008 Season: 32 games 1.86 Goal Against Average, .931 Save Percentage


Photo courtesy of Elite Prospects.

That’s My Take

Nathan Fournier

(Nathan also is a writer for MVN.com. He's the writer for the Asylum which covers the Lewiston Maineiacs of the QMJHL. He's also a regular contributor to the NHL Source also at MVN.com. He can be reached at fbbhgfan@aol.com)

NCAA Tournament Field is Set

Hockey's "March Madness" begins this Friday. The tournament field is 16 teams. Here are the match ups.

Albany (East)
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Niagara Friday 7:30 pm
No. 2 St. Cloud State vs. No. 3 Clarkson Friday 4pm
Winners face off at 7pm on Saturday

Colorado Springs (West)
No. 1 New Hampshire vs. No. 4 Notre Dame Friday 6:30 pm
No. 2 Colorado College vs. No. 3 Michigan State Friday 10pm
Winners face off Saturday at 10pm

Madison (Midwest)
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 4 Princeton Saturday 3pm
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 3 Wisconsin Saturday 6:30pm
Winners face of Sunday at 7:00pm

Worcester (Northeast)
No. 1 Miami vs. No. 4 Air Force Saturday 4pm
No. 2 Boston College vs. No. 3 Minnesota Saturday 7:30pm
Winners face off at Sunday at 4:30pm

Elite 8
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 2 St. Cloud State
No. 1 New Hampshire vs. No. 3 Michigan State
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 2 Denver
No. 1 Miami vs. No. 3 Minnesota

Frozen 4 (Denver) April 10th ESPN2
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 1 Miami
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 1 New Hampshire

National Championship April 12 ESPN
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 2 Denver

All regional games will be on ESPNU and ESPN360.com

The regionals are messed up. UNH should be in the Northeast, Michigan in the West, and Miami in the East. If UNH won the Hockey East Title they would of been in the Northeast. Boston College who won the Hockey East title got rewarded and is playing in Worcester. What did Wisconsin do to deserve to have home ice advantage? I read earlier today its all about the money. I believe there should be 20 teams in the tournament. Minnesota State finished fourth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association doesn't get in but Wisconsin does finishing 6th in the WCHA. I guess conference games don't mean anything. Wisconsin played the better out of conference schedule. Vermont lost in the Hockey East Final not in the dance. Boston University finished second in the Hockey East standings wasn't invited. Harvard or Army could fill the 20th spot. Have 4 play in games and I believe every game would be entertaining. You can't say I am being East coast biased because the field is West coast heavy.

That's My Take

Nathan Fournier

(Nathan also is a writer for MVN.com. He's the writer for the Asylum which covers the Lewiston Maineiacs of the QMJHL. He's also a regular contributor to the NHL Source also at MVN.com. He can be reached at fbbhgfan@aol.com)