Covering NCAA football and basketball with insight and irreverence. Unlike some blowhard columnists and/or sports talk hosts, I'll give you ideas to consider and form your own opinions about rather than tell you how to think. This blog also features "Good News In College Sports," the stories that don't get the headlines but should. I belong to the FWAA (Football Writers Association of America) and the USBWA (United States Basketball Writers Association).
This week, we meet the voice of Farnsworth sports, Troy Flemstone. Conrad is excited to have a veteran broadcaster like Troy on board, but quickly finds out why he was available in the first place. Flemstone hosts the first broadcast of "Ferret Forum" and it gets wierd very quickly.
posted by Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster @ 8:04 PM
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You're a smart person, so you've done your homework. You're working on handicapping the 2006 college football season, and you know where the best players are, which schools have the best coaches and where the best teams are. You've got it all figured out, and you know how the season is going to play out now, don't you?
posted by Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster @ 10:06 PM
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Fighting Ferrets' week comes to an exciting close as Conrad has his first major confrontation with someone on his staff, then kicks back and throws down a few cold ones with Freddie Ferret.
posted by Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster @ 11:31 AM
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"Fighting Ferret Week" continues on The CourtMaster blog with Episode 3 of our adventure. Having survived his first meeting with Freddie Ferret, Conrad reports for his first day on the job and gets his first exposure to the cast of characters who are now a part of his life. It does not go smoothly.
posted by Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster @ 11:18 AM
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After accepting Old Man Farnsworth's offer, Conrad settles in at Farnsworth U. In today's episode he meets his new roommate; Freddie Ferret. Freddie is the school's mascot and Conrad was quite unprepared to share a room with a six-foot tall ferret.
posted by Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster @ 10:17 AM
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The adventure begins today! Our hero, Conrad Kondratowicz, takes the first steps toward a new direction for his life by heading toward Farnsworth University. As they say, nothing will ever be the same again, both for him and the school.
posted by Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster @ 4:32 PM
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Today I am unveiling the beginning of a project that has been in development for several years. It is a story I hope you enjoy and I welcome your feedback as I go along. The schedule is:
posted by Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster @ 3:04 PM
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When you're handicapping games in any sport, knowledge is power (and often wealth). I'm going to introduce you to some outstanding college football players that you have probably never heard of. That knowledge will give you a leg up in picking sleepers when the season starts. You'll thank me later.
posted by Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster @ 8:38 PM
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It's always a challenge when a new season begins to handicap college teams. With graduations, early entries into the NFL, transfers and injuries, many teams have drastic changes in personnel from one season to the next. One approach to consider when deciding your early bets is picking a few early games to watch so you can start figuring out trends and accurately evaluate how teams are likely to perform throughout the season.
posted by Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster @ 11:40 AM
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When you're trying to beat the odds, it's just as important to know which teams are likely to disappoint as ones that will be surprise winners. Over the years, several coaches have made a name for themselves that they probably would like to change. These are the men who win the recruiting rankings in February but by November have come up short of expectations; the leaders that turn a solid 8-9 win team into one scraping for a bowl bid.
posted by Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster @ 9:28 PM
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Chris Graham of the Augusta Free Press (VA) recently interviewed me for a piece where he is looking to identify the early favorite to win the ACC football title this season.
posted by Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster @ 4:43 PM
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I am a lifelong sports fan, and as a University of Maryland alum one of the highlights of my life was watching the Terps winning the 2002 NCAA basketball championship and being able to share it with my late wife and best friend. I've been writing about sports since 1998. In that time, I've learned how to step back and take a "big picture" look at the games and the people who play them. There are a nearly infinite number of stories to tell, both on and off the field, and I will try to tell them with an awareness of how important these teams, players, and coaches are to a lot of people while still having fun in the process.
