The Canadian media is doing a piss-poor job following the Canadian national team. It may have something to do with the team getting off to a less than stellar 0-3 start. They lost to Italy, Greece and then Serbia and Montenegro.

The Greece loss was particularly bad with a final score of 89-59 (so bad, that no one even bothered with a game recap). No one is even hiding how bad the Canucks are.

German coach Dirk Bauermann plans to use this weekend’s FIBA World Championship warm-up games against Canada to integrate Dirk Nowitzki into the team.

The Canada games on Friday and Sunday are Germany’s first tests in the build-up to next month’s event in Japan.

Bauermann’s team then play at the Supercup in Berlin the following weekend, with Italy, France and Turkey also involved, before finishing their preparations with three games in a tournament in China.

“It’s very important that we improve our game in each match,” Bauermann told the Neues Deutschland newspaper.

The German team arrived in Hamburg on Wednesday without Nowitzki, who stayed at home for an extra 24 hours following the death of his grandmother.

“The Canadians are certainly the weakest opponent, and that gives us the chance to integrate Dirk Nowitzki into the team without any pressure,” the coach added.

Maybe their Coach can use that as bulletin board material.

Kendall did well in the opening game against Italy. He led the team with 16 points and 7 rebounds. There’s nothing about his numbers in the third game, though he is credited with being the only other player doing well in the game aside from Carl English.

That game against Germany could be a massacre.

UPDATE (11:25 pm): Holy spit, Canada won.
Dirk Nowitzki was far from his NBA superstar form as Germany lost to Canada in a friendly on Friday night.

Carl English from VidiVici Bologna scored 18 points and Jermaine Bucknor added 12 as the North American side, who went on a decisive 16-2 run in the fourth quarter to take control, won 73-68.
…
Canada and Germany started the game cold, but the hosts used a 6-0 run to open a 13-8 lead after seven minutes. Canada took advantage of Germany’s inexperienced bench as English, Bucknor and Levon Kendall – the star of Canada’s team at the FIBA U21 World Championship in Argentina last year – all hit three-pointers in an 11-4 Canada run to lead 19-17 after one quarter.

Kendall scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting in 18 minutes (PDF). Germany plays Canada again on Sunday.

You know, I don’t like to post too much when something goes wrong for another school. No, really. I worry about that Earl Hickey/Karma thing. Still, it has to be noted the academic problems for some WVU players.

Mr. Football appears to be Mr. History.

Brandon Barrett, a two-time Kennedy Award winner as West Virginia’s finest scholastic football player, has been removed from the Mountaineers’ depth chart, where coaches were counting upon him to be one of the team’s top four receivers this season after a long run of off-field problems.

“I’m not optimistic at all that Brandon Barrett will be in a Mountaineers uniform,” coach Rich Rodriguez said yesterday of a receiver who was the MVP of the spring game, with five catches for 105 yards, and a starter in the Sugar Bowl. “Brandon, he started out summer school well. He’s really fallen off. You can’t go run a guy in summer for missing class [because rules prohibit coaching intervention]. He’s a walk-on, so you can’t [threaten] to take a scholarship away. It’s been unfortunate.”

Barrett was academically ineligible as a freshman in 2004.

Then in February 2005, he was arrested in his hometown for driving under the influence and marijuana possession, later pleading no contest to the DUI and getting sentenced to 24 hours in jail plus a $100 fine.

He worked his way back to resume playing with the team in the eighth game last season.

…

Rodriguez said the academic eligibility of “three to four” undisclosed players remains up in the air, along with some incoming freshmen who have yet to be cleared by the NCAA, though he expects few surprises or problems.

So there was some amusement when I saw this headline from a West Virginia paper on the same day.

The R-Rod theorem: Why pass when you don’t need to?

Okay, so the article is about the fact that WVU runs the ball a lot, but you have to love the timing.

On the other hand, I do feel bad for Adam Bednarik. The kid got injured and lost his QB job, and now it would seem his whole career is at risk.

Another player with his Mountaineers’ future in question is former starting quarterback Adam Bednarik, who had offseason arm surgery that prohibits him from throwing a football until November, but might prove to be career ending.

“We’re hoping he can come back,” Rodriguez said of Bednarik, who compiled a 6-1 record as a starter last season before his shoulder was injured against Louisville and he gave way to Pat White. “But it’s still iffy whether he can come back.”

That just sucks.

Pat Bostick is at the EA Sports Elite 11 QB camp, this week. Not much heard about what he is doing. Even though he has given his verbal to Pitt, there will always be concern until he actually signs in February. The good news about the camp is that it hopefully will give him time to bond with one of the counselors (Insider subs.).

The young quarterbacks, along with the camp counselors made of elite college QBs Drew Stanton, Troy Smith, Tyler Palko, Trent Edwards, Jordan Palmer, Mark Sanchez and JaMarcus Russell, were throwing in groups of threes spread out across a lush green field that sits perfectly in the center of the canyons of Orange County at posh SOKA University. Along the sidelines were a handful of parents (including former NFL star Jessie Tuggle whose son, a promising young QB, was assisting as a ballboy) as well as dozens of baby-faced receivers and DBs from local high schools who were there to catch passes, run routes and take part in 7-on-7 drills.

It was really quite a scene.

Hopefully there will be something more.

Chris Dokish had it yesterday that Pitt will play Washington in a home-and-home this year. Apparently Washington had a lot of people questioning their non-con slate as well.

Last season, the non-conference schedule for the Washington men’s basketball team was panned as way too easy.

This time, at least when the Feb. 17 game is considered, people might be asking, “What were they thinking?”

The Huskies will play at Pittsburgh, a Big East power once again worthy of national top-10 consideration, with the teams presumably meeting in a televised game. No network coverage has been firmed up.

The teams will play a home-and-away series, with the Panthers facing the UW in Seattle during the 2007-08 season.

It looks like Pitt has a couple more added to the slate.

Pitt and Washington have a preliminary agreement for a two-game series, but the contract has not yet been signed. This season’s game will be played in February at the Petersen Events Center with Pitt playing at Washington next season.

Pitt also is expected to play an opponent, possibly Western Michigan, in an early season game at Army, part of a men’s and women’s doubleheader that will honor Maggie Dixon, Jamie Dixon’s late sister and the former coach at Army.

Other non-conference teams Pitt is expected to play include: Massachusetts, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Auburn, Florida State and Dayton. Massachusetts and Florida State are expected to be part of tournament at Pitt. Massachusetts officially has announced Pitt as an opponent. Florida State has not.

The article also lists Army as an opponent but I guess they would be coming to Pitt. This article goes with Pitt playing Western Michigan (sort of).

Anderson confirmed that the Army women’s team will play Ohio State at noon. Pitt, which finished 25-8 last year and reached the second round of the NCAA men’s tournament, will follow at 2:30 p.m. Pitt officials expect to play Western Michigan, but Anderson said the Panthers’ opponent is subject to change.

Contracts for the doubleheader have yet to be signed, but that seems like a mere formality. Both games are expected to be televised on one of the ESPN networks.

Throw in the Duquesne game and probably Robert Morris and the non-con is already up to 11 games. Pitt will probably add a couple more games against some patsy teams, but that’s fine at this point.

That’s a quality schedule. It isn’t some impossibly difficult schedule, but it is a challenging non-con that will have 5 games with BCS conference opponents plus 3 A-10 teams.

This year, when Coach Dixon says this will be Pitt’s most challenging and exciting non-con since he’s been at Pitt, it won’t just be spin.

Aaron Gray is still back home. He will be taking part in an NCAA-certified basketball tournament in his area.

All-Big East Conference center Aaron Gray, former Colonial Athletic Association all-rookie guard Ray Barbosa and 2005-06 Morning Call boys basketball Player of the Year Terrence Roderick from Allen will play in the sixth annual Adult Mid-Summer Basketball Classic, which runs Friday through Sunday at Roosevelt Park.

The three players give the tournament headline attractions.
…
The tournament is NCAA-certified for the first time and is now coordinated through the Wall 2 Wall Urban Youth Organizers, a nonprofit organization comprising former Lehigh Valley standout athletes and current youth directors.

Wall 2 Wall’s main focus is on building athletic talent as well as the character of inner city youths by establishing leagues, tournaments, mentor programs and other activities. The organization currently runs a youth basketball league on Saturdays and Sundays at Roosevelt.
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The games don’t change. They figured to be intense and competitive again. Teams from Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Prince George’s County, Md., have already paid their $250 entry fee, and many of the local Lehigh Valley teams are loading up with talent.

Just don’t get injured.