Jim Gray was nowhere to be found but there was just as much of a circus atmosphere Thursday night when Menomonee Falls High School junior J.P. Tokoto announced his decision to play college basketball at the University of North Carolina.
It was a low-budget version of LeBron James' infamous "Decision," complete with a live, "exclusive," television broadcast but was just as absurd and even more inappropriate, considering Tokoto is 17 years old.
Forget for a second that Tokoto chose North Carolina over Wisconsin and Marquette, that's completely beside the point. Who wouldn't want the chance to play for the Tar Heels? But aside from all of the frenzy, the biggest nagging question is this: why in the world was a 17-year-old holding such a major announcement at 10:15 p.m., on a school night in a bar/restaurant?
His teammates and classmates were still milling about as the clock approached 11 p.m. while Tokoto remained in the banquet room taking questions, along with his family. How many of those kids were in their seats the next morning when the bell rang to mark the start of first period?
Yes, it was a big day in the young man's life and something he will remember forever -- he deserves to enjoy it. But the way it was staged was over the top and a little absurd. Tokoto should have been standing with his teammates, coaches, classmates in the Menomonee Falls High School gym, not in the banquet room of a Wauwatosa bar.
Rotation preview: Brewers manager Ron Roenicke hasn't named his Opening Day starter yet but the smart money is on Zack Greinke, which leaves us to wonder how the rest of the rotation will look.
Penciling Chris Narveson into the fifth slot is a pretty sure bet, too, leaving Yovani Gallardo, Randy Wolf and Shaun Marcum to fill out the rest of the spots. Roenicke has said that he'd like to split his lefties, Wolf and Narveson, and would take into account a pitcher's style when finalizing the rotation.
So with that information, one could assume that the starters will line up like this: Greinke, Marcum, Wolf, Gallardo, Narveson. Greinke is the obvious choice at the top and with a reliance on the change-up Marcum makes sense at No. 2. To keep the lefties split, Gallardo gets shuffled to the fourth spot -- thus drawing the home opener on April 4 and showing just how much the Brewers improved their pitching situation.
On your honor: Brigham Young University made headlines this week when Brandon Davies was kicked off the basketball team for a violation of the school's honor code. The No. 3 Cougars (27-2), led by player of the year candidate Jimmer Ferdette, were on their way to a probable No. 1 seed before the Davies incident.
Critics say the school's code is antiquated and unrealistic in this day and age, but that argument is pure nonsense. BYU is a private school, operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- better known as the Mormon church -- and it has every right to expect its students to act accordingly. If you don't want to play by the rules, you can go to Utah or Utah State.
Davies grew up in Provo, home of BYU, so he knew fully what he was getting into when he signed his letter of intent. There are some who say that the code isn't enforced fairly and that Davies was unfairly singled out, but that's the price you pay for fame and free tuition.
Besides, don't other schools treat their athletes different than "regular" students? Look at Ohio State, where five players were busted for selling off memorabilia, but still got to play in the Sugar Bowl? How about Tennessee, where Bruce Pearl was suspended for a handful of conference games?
Even if BYU is unfairly singling out Davies, give the school credit. It stood by its values and held a college athlete responsible for his own actions. It's about time.
Larry King lounge: If UWM wins the Horizon League Tournament, the school should waste no time in signing Rob Jeter to an extension ... If there is a better guard in the Big Ten right now than Jordan Taylor? Indiana head coach Tom Crean doesn't think so ... The Packers' deal with A.J. Hawk could mean the end of Nick Barnett's time in Green Bay ... Those protesters in Madison should really be more sensitive. Haven't they seen ESPN? Don't they know about the strife between the underpaid NFL players and over-extended NFL owners?
