- We figured that the NCAA’s decision to pull its championship events from New Jersey was the last we would hear of their issue with the state’s legalization of sports gambling. It looks like the NCAA (and the four major professional leagues) are just getting started. You may or may not remember that back in August those organizations sued the state for its legalization of sports gambling, which the state attempted to throw out. On Friday, the leagues/organizations filed a motion in an US District Court to stop New Jersey from dismissing the lawsuit. At the heart of the issue is New Jersey’s assertion that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, which restricted sports gambling to a handful of states, was unconstitutional. We haven’t dug too deep into the legal minutiae of the case, but it seems like New Jersey would have a pretty good case on the surface. Of course, they are going against a group of organizations who are all essentially federally enabled monopolies so maybe we are giving being too rational here.
- On the court the biggest news of the national happened out west where Mike Moser dislocated his right elbow during UNLV’s one-point win over California last night. At this point all we know is that he didn’t break any bones, but the extent of the injury is still not known and early reports indicate that Moser will be out for anywhere from a few weeks to the whole season. For a team that has struggled to find backcourt play to match the production and level of play of an absolutely loaded frontcourt could be a huge blow. We should have more information about Moser’s injury and how long he is expected to be out within the next couple of days.
- Moser’s injury is by far the most significant loss over the weekend (and possibly this season), a pair of players in the SEC will not be seeing the court any time soon as Mississippi kicked junior transfer Jason Carter off the team for violation of team rules while Louisiana State suspended Anthony Hickey indefinitely over a violation of athletic department and university policies. Carter, who never played a minute for Mississippi, was a transfer from Alabama via junior college and had been suspended before the team’s first exhibition game and never had that suspension lifted. We are not sure what Hickey, LSU’s starting point guard, did other than showing up late for tutoring sessions, but since the school’s fall semester ended recently we are guessing his suspension has something to with his grades.
- Utah State junior Danny Berger, who fainted during a practice last Tuesday requiring CPR and the use of a defibrillator, was released from the hospital and honored at the team’s game on Saturday. From what the school is saying the cause of Berger’s syncopal episode is still not known and he will need to be monitored for at least six more weeks before a decision will be made on if and when Berger can return to the court. Creighton guard Josh Jones, who had been hospitalized after fainting during warm-ups of the Bluejays game on Thursday, was out of the hospital and was on the bench watching the team’s victory over Akron yesterday. Jones has a history of fairly significant heart disease as he had his aortic valve replaced as a high school senior after developing a severe case of infective endocarditis–essentially a bacterial infection on his heart valve(s). The reason for Jones’ syncopal episode also is not known yet and he will undergo more tests this week before a decision can be made as to whether he can play again.
- Finally, Taylor University did its annual Silent Night event on Friday night. The event, which is done on the Friday night before finals week, was a cute, relatively unknown event where students attend the game, but are totally silent until team scores its tenth point of the game at which point the students make as much noise as they possibly can. The event has gained a great deal of notoriety in the past few years as more and more blogs feature it yet it still remains one of the more unique events in college basketball.