I grew up in Orlando, and thanks to my dad’s subscription I read the Sentinel every day. There was once a time when it seemed it really cared about putting together a great sports page and staff. However, since the moment Mike Bianchi walked in the door it’s been increasingly more focused on making noise to be noticed, just like Bianchi does on a regular basis.

You’re right about the superconferences being a bad idea. I will mention though, while we’re on the topic of conference alignment, that at some point the ACC and Big East should trade USF and BC for geographic purposes. They’re both remote outposts of their conferences that sit squarely in the region of the other.

We’re all cut from the same BON cloth, so it’s no surprise that I completely agree with your assessment. I think an interesting comparator is Rajon Rondo, he of the championship-winning Boston Celtics. Briefly, Rondo was inked by Kentucky only after his hometown Louisville Cardinals spurned him to sign Sebastian Telfair. Pitino’s loss was Kentucky’s gain, as Rondo was relatively spectacular as a freshman point. That season led to high expectations as a sophomore, but he disappointed, mainly due to his want to gamble on defense and his lack of a jump shot. He jumped to the league as a sophomore, and after two short seasons, is an NBA champion. Yet the critics were still out in full force, openly questioning whether or not Rondo was the right man to helm the Celtic ship. Keep in mind that Rondo’s just 22. For perspective, Chris Paul is 23, Deron Williams is days from turning 24, and the point guard drafted ahead of him, Randy Foye, is turning 25 in three months.

DJ Augustin is on an even faster career track than Rondo. Although less heralded going into college than Rondo, Augustin’s production in college has far surpassed Rondo’s. However, similarly, Augustin has legitimate concerns going into the league. Most noticeable are his propensity to get flustered by a physical defender, his inability to make any sort of entry pass, and his average defense. While Rondo was already an outstanding defender entering the league, Augustin is average at best. DJ makes up for that with a gifted array of offensive moves, while Rondo pretty much had quickness as his only asset.

In both cases, each player had plenty of natural talent at his arsenal. The questions remain, and will probably remain unanswered, until quite a few seasons into their careers. That’s both the beauty and the curse of being a young point guard in the league; there remains so much to learn and so much potential to tap into, probably more so than any other position. I believed in Rondo and felt he would succeed, given the proper opportunity (which he got with former PG Doc Rivers and the Big Three mentoring him), and I feel the same way about Augustin. It almost makes me want to see D’Antoni draft him, even if he’d be playing with the complete crap that comprises the New York roster.

Woah there, Pete. Panathinaikos Athens?! Their roster includes both Vasilis Spanoulis AND Antonis Fotsis and both of those guys were actually drafted. As optimistic as I may be, I’m somewhat skittish of A.J.’s ability to make a squad with that kind of elite level talent. I did, however, hear that the West Texas Whirlwinds were hosting open tryouts this weekend. Maybe if A.J. has a zero hour change of heart about returning to the 40 Acres, we could, I don’t know, all e-mail their GM (he of the @yahoo.com e-mail address) and put in a good word for #3.