The Professor and the panel of the Judge, Coutta, Paul Dalligan and Dan Butterly discuss whether the NCAA can survive all the things that are currently happening such as the collapse of the PAC-12 conference, the resulting re-structure of the other Conferences and the student athlete cases of House v NCAA and Johnson v NCAA. Paul Dalligan reviews the NRL and NRLW preliminary finals and previews the Grand Finals in each competition. The panel talk about the consensus statement on concussion in sport.
Tag Archives: ncaa
We spoke with former NBL player and Star Wars actor, Axel Dench.
In part one of the podcast, Axel Dench spoke with the Professor about how he started his basketball career, being a member of the 1999 Gonzaga college basketball team that made the ‘Elite Eight’ at the NCAA championships, being selected as rookie of the year in the NBL in 2001 and he was a member of the Illawarra Hawks that were NBL champions in the same year. Perhaps he is better known as Wookie chieftain, Merumeru in the Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith.
In part two of the discussion with Axel, we talk about how he got his role of Merumeru in Star Wars and the sliding doors moment when he had to make the choice between basketball and a career on the silver screen.
Sports Marketing seminar not to be missed
A great initiative from the Southern Football Netball League in presenting a seminar that will provide tips to community clubs on sports marketing in the digital age.
Featuring Senior Associate Commissioner Dan Butterly and Sports Geek Sean Callanan, the seminar will be held on Wednesday 13 May 2015 starting at 6.30pm at Clayton Football Club rooms. Both Dan and Sean are former Sportzfan Radio contributors and have a long history in sports marketing.
Dan is responsible for branding and marketing the Mountain West Conference which forms part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the USA. He is the key person involved in marketing, promotions, merchandising, licensing and advertising. The Mountain West comprises 12 colleges in 8 states of the USA with almost 6,000 student athletes involved in 15 different sporting disciplines.
The Mountain West has been a very successful conference having, in the last 16 years, had one of their student athletes selected as the number one draft pick in the NFL, MLB and NBA drafts. That includes Australia’s own Andrew Bogut who was the first Australian drafted at number one into the NBA.
Sean Callanan or the Sports Geek, as he is better known in sports digital 
circles, is at the cutting edge in the field and his expertise has seen him develop a client base in both Australia and internationally. He
provides advice to teams in the NBA, AFL, NRL and cricket and is also a much sought after presenter at any seminar covering his area of expertise. He is fresh from presenting at the SEAT conference held in March 2015 in London.
This is sure to be an opportunity not to be missed to hear two leaders in their respective fields.
Check out the SFNL website for further details.
Sportzfan Radio show #236.1
26 February 2012 236.1 – Daniel emulated Sportzfan Stan’s usual start to the show by launching his own rants, starting with Stan himself. Daniel suggested to the Professor that Stan needed to be sent to Florida if he continues to wear cardigans on 36C days. He quickly moved on to Ricky Ponting and whether he retired or was sacked by Cricket Australia. He discussed NFL and Troy Aikman’s comment that American football will not be the most popular sport in America in 10-15 years due to parents’ perceptions towards contact sports and Daniel posed the same question about the AFL. Dan Butterly returned to the show to deliver his U.S. report and rehashed the lack lustre 2012 Super Bowl. He thought the commercials were the highlight rather than the game itself and that the Peyton Manning saga overshadowed the Giants/Patriots matchup. Dan also considered questions posed by Daniel regarding Eli Manning versus Peyton Manning. With March Madness due to start, Dan’s pick for the NCAA Final Four was, Kentucky, Michigan State, Kansas and North Carolina. He also predicted some upsets caused during the tournament. Finally he looked at ‘Linsanity’ that has taken over not only New York but also the NBA. The Gelding reported on the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield and the Sydney Colt’s results. Sportzfan Stan’s rant du jour was the usage of drugs in sports and the bad image caused by abusers. The panel expressed their confusion on the penalties outlined by the AFL and the lack of criminal charges for those found offending.
Sportzfan Radio show #226.1
13 November 2011 226.1 – Due to a technical glitch at Southern FM with the logger we come in during the US report with the Panel speaking with Dan Butterly about the huge story developing at Penn State University and the sacking of football coach Joe Paterno. Also to lose their jobs were the University’s President and Athletic Director over the sex abuse charges laid against former Penn State defensive co-ordinator Jerry Sandusky. Is it co-incidence that Paterno became the winningest coach in NCAA Div 1A last week and the scandal broke this week? Dan encourages those who want to know more to read the Grand Jury testimony. He also discusses the NBA lockout and feels if things keep going the way they are there will be no winners and no losers. Dan thinks there will not be a season as the owners aren’t worried if there is no season. Finally, Dan reviews the tip off of the College basketball season with the opening game pitting UNC against Michigan State played on an aircraft carrier on Veteran’s Day. The Gelding talks racing and reviews both his selections at Sandown and the Sydney Colt’s Rosehill tips. Sportzfan Radio tipsters picked 6 placings including 2 winners from 7 selections. Sportzfan Stan asks the Gelding how Danish Rock’s preparation is going but the Gelding says it will be a while before he races again. The Professor has trouble playing Dr Leslie’s community service announcement and the Gelding questions whether she may have fallen off her stool.
Sportzfan Radio #195.1
27 March 2011 195.1 – The Panel comprising the Professor, the Gelding, Daniel Eade, Mark Fiorenti and Sportzfan Stan talk March Madness. Sportzfan Stan poses the question whether future AFL finals should comprise 8, 9 or 10 teams. Dan Butterly is back on the show talking US sport specifically College hoops and assesses the chances of the last eight in the NCAA tournament. Dan also talks Knicks basketball and how they and 
the Denver Nuggets have fared since the Carmelo Anthony trade. Major League Baseball is just around the corner and Dan talks about how good Alex Rodriguez has been 1998. The Gelding talks Caulfield and Morphetville racing and has extended his streak of picking placed horses to 10. Paul Gamble calls in to discuss the fortunes of Danish Rock.
Sportzfan Radio #189.2
13 February 2011 189.2 – Daniel asks the Gelding why Richmond didn’t put a side in that had a chance of beating Carlton in the NAB Cup so that they could get at least try and get through to the next round. The Gelding didn’t like the alternate jumper and says the Tigers shouldn’t have taken away the yellow sash. The Professor says that the lid is definitely off with Melbourne winning the first two pre-season games. Daniel thinks the NAB Cup is a circus with teams having to wait to play a second game. It can’t be good for the game especially with the introduction of new rules – Daniel says whoever introduced 
them should be sacked. Mark Fiorenti comes on to discuss soccer and he takes positives out of the defeat in the final of the Asian Cup. He is definitely right behind Holger Osieck as coach of the team as he has emphasised team unity. He discusses the A League which is coming to the crunch time of the season and also thinks it may be North Queensland Fury’s last game. In Premier League, Mark looks at the Man Utd & Man City derby. Paul Dalligan is looking forward to the Charity Shield later tonight between St George and South Sydney. He says Wayne Bennett is on fire as a coach and he won’t tip against him in the game, the Newcastle Knights are all cashed up behind Nathan Tinkler and are chasing players and the new NRL Commission needs to be appointed by 30 April 2011 as that is when New Limited intends to step away from the NRL. Paul then
looks at the ABL championship games between Perth Heat and Adelaide Bite. Daniel says Tom Walter the basketball coach of Wake Forest donated a kidney to save one of his players, Kevin Jordan but the College had to first check with the NCAA to make sure it didn’t break any rules. The Professor says that is taking rules too far. Sean Callanan comments on Super Bowl XLV and the effect social media had on the event. He also discusses Sportzfan Radio’s attempt to get Aaron Rodgers on the program. Finally, the Panel differ as to whether Shane Warne and Liz Hurley are a worthy story or not.
Rose Bowl decides nothing
For the record let it be known that the TCU Horned Frogs (from the Mountain West Conference and ranked #3 in the NCAAF rankings) defeated the Wisconsin Badgers (from the Big 10 Conference and ranked #4) 21-19 to take out the prestigious Rose Bowl. Also for the record, TCU had a perfect season and finished with a 13-0 win loss record.
Only the vagaries of the NCAA/BCS (Bowl Championship Series) system could allow an undefeated team to not play for the #1 spot. Currently there are three undefeated teams in NCAAF play. Auburn,
Oregon and TCU. Auburn and Oregon play off for number one spot on the 10 January 2011 in the ‘so called’ BCS Championship game.
My question to both the NCAA and the BCS is “How can the winner of that game possibly be crowned number one?”. If nothing else, at least the game will eliminate one of those teams from contention as one will suffer defeat and that will leave only two teams with perfect records. No amount of computer or human prediction will ever be able to tell us whether the TCU Horned Frogs could beat the other undefeated team.
Countless people, including President Obama have called for urgent change to the BCS system…and with good cause. The BCS is the equivalent of an exclusive club – in this case six BCS conferences who are guaranteed automatic berths to the big money Bowl games. These six BCS conferences are supposedly ‘stronger’ than the other conferences and therefore somehow have a greater entitlement. Let me say that in my years following NCAAF, that assessment can only possibly have been made on an historical basis. Clearly, that is not the case today.
Let’s for a moment take a look at the BCS Conference Wisconsin hails from – the Big 10. In Bowl games yesterday that Conference went 0-5 – a big duck egg!! If we now take the time to also review the Mountain West Conference, they are 4-1 in Bowl games this year, the fourth consecutive year they have sent five football teams to bowl games, posting the best win percentage among the eleven FBS 
conferences for the fourth time in seven years. The MWC will also claim the 2010-11 Bowl Challenge Cup, becoming the only Conference to win the trophy four times since the award’s inception in 2002-03.
So you tell me…on those figures alone, are the Big 10 stronger than the MWC? The answer is a resounding “No”! Do the Big 10 deserve preferred treatment over the MWC? The answer is also a resounding “No”!
As I see it there is only one solution to this impasse. Change the system! Bring in a playoff system between the top ten ranked teams. This could be done within the current Bowl calendar. It would also mean that many of those Bowl games would gain some relevance rather than be as they are now, a match between Colleges who managed to scrape together a .500 season. Hardly riveting, prime time viewing!
Fairness demands that parochial vested interests be set aside for a fairer system. Will it happen? Not unless the sporting public brings pressure to bear on the people controlling the system. Aside from the vested interests of the BCS conferences maintaining the status quo and hanging on to the big money Bowl games, perhaps more worrying to those Conferences is the spectre of being required to regularly compete against MWC colleges in the big games!
I am certainly looking forward to discussing this topic with our US correspondent, Dan Butterly, when Sportzfan Radio resumes on 16 January 2011. Our show won’t rest until the system is changed for the better!
What’s on for show 161?
On @SportzfanRadio show 161
- @DanButterly talking all things US sport including NBA Free Agency, MLB, NCAA conference shifting
- Mark Fiorenti talking the World Cup as always on the F Word
- @SeanCallanan will look at the release of his Sports Social Media Index for the NRL from @SportsGeekHQ
- Catch up with Horse Racing with @TheGelding
- @DanielEade will be in studio to talk basketball looking at the Boomers Vs Argentina series
- @PaulDalligan will be talking NRL with a quick quip as always
- The Professor (@Packers4) will be joined in studio by @SaintGambo & @DanielEade
Tune in on 88.3FM or listen live from SportzfanRadio.com
Send us a tweet during the show
Sportzfan Radio 159.1
21 June 2010 159.1 – Stan, the world’s oldest radio apprentice gives the AFL a rest in his rant this week and has the FFA fair and square in his sights at the thought of paying our next soccer coach up to $6 million. Dan Butterly talks US sport particularly the musical chairs of NCAA conference realignment, NBA Championship game 7 and whether Kobe Bryant would have been the MVP of the finals series even if the Celtics had won, whether Tiger Woods can win the US Open from 4 shots back and his thought that the World Cup will end in a draw. The Gelding calls in from the track at Bendigo where he has a runner, Queen Asa, going around. He had a great day at the races on Saturday tipping 3 winners and a second. In the ‘F’ word Mark Fiorenti muses on the problems of parking the “bus” with flat tyres and Sean informs listeners that parking the ‘bus’ is a real soccer tactic.