1978-79 LSU SEC Championship Team

My good friend Chris recently dug this poster up for me, knowing as soon as he saw it that I would give my left arm for it.



1978-79 was the exact season when I started paying attention to LSU basketball. And for good reason, as the Tigers won their first SEC championship in 25 years. That season, head coach Dale Brown elevated the LSU program to new heights with a Sweet 16 run in the NCAA tournament. With star player Rudy Macklin out injured for most of the year, it was sophomore Dewayne Scales (19.4 points/game) and senior Lionel Green (9.7 points/game and 11.1 rebounds/game) down low and senior transfer Al Green (17.7 points/game) and junior Jordy Hultberg (9.6 points/game) in the backcourt who carried the load. Also, playing key spot roles were rising stars Ethan Martin and Willie Sims at guard and Greg Cook at center. Wow, what a team they were!

Another Final 4

In 1986, coach Dale Brown led LSU to its second Final 4 appearance in 6 years. The star of the team that season was unquestionably John Williams, but it was role players including Ricky Blanton, Don Redden, and Anthony Wilson who ultimately drove the team toward its suprising success. As an 11th seed in their region, the Tigers became the lowest seed to ever make the Final 4. Unfortunately, LSU once again lost to the eventual champion, this time in the form of Pervis Ellison and the Louisville Cardinals. But hey, look how they took out a strong Memphis State squad to reach the Sweet 16...

The Around the World Dunk

Over a 3-year span from 1979-81, the LSU basketball team managed to bow out of the NCAA tournament to the eventual champion each year. In '79, LSU lost in the Sweet 16 Round to Magic Johnson and the Michigan State Spartans. In '80, LSU lost in the Elite 8 Round to Darrell Griffith and the Louisville Cardinals. And in '81, LSU lost in the Final 4 Round to Isiah Thomas and the Indiana Hoosiers.

Point being, if you are going to lose, make sure to lose only to the best in the business. And if you are going to yield a classic highlight reel, make sure it's by the Player of the Tournament that season, like this one courtesy of Dr. Dunkenstein...

Former LSU basketball coach Dale Brown

The LSU men's basketball team was blessed for over 2 decades to have Dale Brown as their coach. Always cutting edge, often controversial, and one of the best advocators and motivators anywhere, Dale Brown routinely made the impossible happen right before your eyes.

Brown's first Final 4 appearance in 1981 was of course cut short by Isiah Thomas and the Indiana Hoosiers.



Going into the consolation game that same week against Ralph Sampson and the Virginia Cavaliers, Brown had to come to the rescue of his star player Durand "Rudy" Macklin.



It was Brown's dedication to doing the right thing that made him far more than just your average, run-of-the-mill basketball coach.

The New Orleans Jazz

Now that football season is over for us Saints fans, I'm going to open the blog up to all sports.



As a kid on the West Bank during the late '70's, I didn't have to look any further than "Pistol" Pete Maravich playing for the New Orleans Jazz for some basketball inspiration. He was a local legend from LSU and even though he wasn't an actual coon ass, his personality and fashion quirks fit right in.



The Jazz were pretty much horrible, having invested far too much of their future in order to bring Maravich over from the Atlanta Hawks. But with the addition of Leonard "Truck" Robinson in 1977, we at least started to think that the Jazz could possibly do some damage as a legit NBA franchise. Unfortunately, before that could happen in New Orleans, the Jazz packed their bags and moved to Salt Lake City, Utah.



Here are some classic clips from the Pistol's albeit brief stay in New Orleans...

Cha Ching and Thangs' All-Time Saints Team

QB Drew Brees:

RB Deuce McAllister:

RB Dalton Hilliard:

WR Joe Horn:

WR Eric Martin:

WR Marques Colston:

TE Hoby Brenner:

T Willie Roaf:

T Stan Brock:

G Jim Dombrowski:

G Jahri Evans:

C Jerry Fontenot:

K Morten Andersen:

DE Wayne Martin:

DE Joe Johnson:

DT La'Roi Glover:

DT Jim Wilks:

LB Rickey Jackson:

LB Pat Swilling:

LB Sam Mills:

LB Vaughan Johnson:

CB Dave Waymer:

CB Johnnie Poe:

SS Sammy Knight:

FS Tommy Myers:

P Tommy Barnhardt:

KR Michael Lewis:

2010-11 NFL Season Wrap-Up

I'm not sure who got it worse, Tracy Porter being thrown to the turf by Marshawn Lynch or me posting up all of these awful picks over the course of the season? Through 15 weeks, my record for the year ended at 34-44. Had someone been smart enough to fade all of my picks, they would have done quite well for themselves.

So now I know exactly how difficult it is to beat Vegas in this ish...lesson learned. And during the off-season, I'm going to try to figure out how I had been going so wrong, so that next year I can hopefully try it all out again with at least some level of success.

As for the Saints, at least we won the Super Bowl last year. Because if I only had this season to look at, I'd be depressed and then some. Never realized how hard a task it is to keep running backs healthy in the NFL. And at this point, we're not sure which of Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush, Chris Ivory, Julius Jones, and/or Lynell Hamilton will return. And just when I really thought our defense was positioning itself as one of the best in the league, Pete Carroll's bunch made them all too easily look like chopped liver.

Saints' Best Plays from the Latter Part of the Season:







Saints' Worst Plays from the Latter Part of the Season: