That's the most famous phrase I have been subjected to at numerous points of my life. After that fight Saturday night-let's not call it a brawl, please-I had an inkling that the inevitable suspension of NBA leading scorer Carmelo Anthony would push the Nuggets to swing a deal for Allen Iverson to stay afloat in the tough Western Conference. Well, it happened. Allen Iverson, who spent 10-plus seasons as a Sixer; who suffered countless bumps, bruises and injuries for that team; who, along with head coach Larry Brown, willed a team of cast-offs and journeymen to the 2001 NBA Finals; who, like Kevin Garnett, had become disgusted with the less than mediocre cast he had been surrounded with, is now a Denver Nugget. The West just became that much more interesting. The trade just went down, and all I'm hearing from talking heads is that AI won't get along with George Karl. I can understand the reasoning behind that: Old School and New School, yada, yada, yada; but think about this: who'd Sixers GM Billy King enlist as a consultant in his mission to trade The Answer? Brown. Larry Brown was hired as a consultant in Philly last week to help in the trade process. The same Larry Brown who, supposedly, couldn't deal with Iverson during his tenure in Philadelphia. Why do I bring this up? It's connected to the color of Iverson's new uni. Carolina Blue. Karl and Brown are boys from Tobacco Road. Brown saw that Karl would be losing his two leading scorers, Anthony for 15 games and J.R. Smith for 10, so he decided to help his boy out a bit. You don't think Brown, Iverson and Karl haven't been on three-way already working things out? Iverson will be able to thrive in the more wide open West. Honestly, he could still have more mileage left on his body if this deal had been made a couple years ago. This deal should help Denver stay alive in the West playoff race until Melo comes off his suspension, and I don't think he and AI will have trouble meshing together once the latter returns. Anthony, only in his fourth year in the league, will be the best player Iverson has been paired with. The difference between he and the likes of Larry Hughes and Jerry Stackhouse is that Melo really doesn't need the ball at all times to be effective. His game has changed this season. He is less reliant on his J and more willing to hit the post and body his man for a high-percentage shot. He's willing to bang in lieu of staying on the perimeter. I don't think putting the two together will get Denver to the finals. I'm not even sure it can propel them past Utah in the Northwest Division. But would you want to see (likely) two of the top 5 scorers in the game in a seven-game series? That's thinking a little far ahead. What about some of the great individual match ups this gives us for the next couple years. Iverson/Paul Iverson/Nash Iverson/Davis Iverson/Parker Iverson/Alston (for the streetball heads) This move could jumpstart AI's career. It also signals Philly's willingness to "start over" for the second time in 14 years. Remember what happened after Charles Barkley left the City of Brotherly Love for the Land of the Rising Sun in '92. Philly didn't sniff the playoffs for nearly a decade. Who was it that brought the Sixers out of the ashes? The Little Dude with the cornrows. Now he's gone, too. I wonder if the League will freeze the envelope for Philly like they did for the Knicks in '85.

NOTE: Let me get this out of the way. I graduated from MSU, but this isn't me giving it to U of M fans. It's fact. I won't lie, though, just as much as Michigan fans wanted John L's "reign" at State to continue, I hope Tommy Amaker becomes Ann Arbor's version of Joe Paterno. Anyway... The University of Michigan has a motto. "The leaders and the best." Their fight song has a line that reads, "The champions of the west." But the school's fans aren't champions when it comes to supporting their hoop squad. Last season, U of M (22-11, 8-8 Big Ten) ran a two games for one ticket special. At one point in the 2005-06 Big Ten season, the school was giving away NASCAR paraphernalia to get people to come watch a game at Crisler. In a year where it was thought that Tommy Amaker's crew was primed to get a ticket to The Dance, the Wolverines had just four sellouts (13,751 "fans")--UCLA, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Indiana on Senior Day--in 16 home games. The Victors had two other near sellouts: 12,788 for Ohio State and 13,164 for Illinois. In three home NIT contests, 7,257 butts were in the Crisler Arena seats. U of M was going for its second NIT title in three years. It's not a national championship, but it's better than what they were during the Avery Queen/Josh Moore era. How does a program that has such a great history fall to this level? How does a university that produced Cazzie Russell and the Fab Five* drop off of the face of the basketball globe? I know the school had numerous sanctions and investigations. I know Go Blue had to get rid of some banners. I know Maurice Taylor can't step foot on the campus until 2012. What I don't know is why people don't turn out for the games. It can't be because of a small fan base. Around these parts--I live in Westland, which is about 20 minutes east of A-squared--Go Blue is king. I go out to watch MSU games and cheer for my alma mater and I'm one of maybe three or four Spartans in the joint. I know an entire family from Clarkston that has season tickets to both the Big House and Crisler. No one in the family ever misses a game, not even the 80-something Grandma. They drive at least an hour to every game. One of those family members holds a degree in supply chain management from Michigan State. I can't say she hates State's sports teams, but she doesn't really cheer for them. She thinks she holds no ties to the school on the Red Cedar River. On numerous occasions I've told her she should have just gone to Michigan. Her athletic allegiance would make much more sense that way. Not all Wolverine fans, or fans of several schools, are like this, though. I hear so many people say, "I'm just a football fan." And from mid-October on, State fans say, "I can't wait 'til basketball season." If you're going to support a school, support it all year round, not just during the fall or the winter. I don't consider those people real fans, though. I don't get it. Fans of the winged helmet will fly, drive, bike or walk miles to watch Chad Henne and Mike Hart play in a bowl game. But the school that sells the most merchandise in the country can't get 14,000 people to go watch a basketball game? It hasn't gotten much better since last spring, either. Through nine home games this season, the team that starts Dion Harris at point guard (!!!) draws a little more than 8,400 people a contest. The Wolverines couldn't even draw 9,000 for a matchup with Eastern Michigan, which is 15 minutes away from the U of M campus. Go Blue's two biggest crowds? About 9,500 for Delaware State, and 9,078 for Maryland-Baltimore County. None of these games took place during finals week. I don't think some huge snowfall has hit Washtenaw yet this year. So what's the problem? I know the numbers are down a little at Breslin this year, too, but this is awful. Purdue and Penn State finished in the bottom three of the Big Ten last year. A game between those two bottom feeders drew 12,664 fans to Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. What does that say about the U of M "fan base?" Not much. And a lot at the same time.

After coming out of the gate at 0-4, the Dallas Mavericks downed the Minnesota Timberwolves, 93-87, for their 10th straight win. So much for that "Finals Hangover." Yes, there seemed to be some cause for concern about the Mavs coming out of the block. After a tough opening night loss to San Antonio, Dallas followed that with a 31-point loss to Houston, a three-point L to Golden State and former head coach Don Nelson and an 18-point loss to the L.A. Clippers, who are currently mired in an early season funk themselves. There was no concern in Mavs' camp, though. No blog entries from owner Mark Cuban. No public tirades from the Little General, head coach Avery Johnson. Dallas has found its groove. During this streak, the Mavs have won pretty, scoring 119, 115 and 111 in wins over Phoenix, Memphis and Chicago, respectively. The've also came out on top in some battles - an 85-73 win over New Orleans/Oklahoma and an 89-84 W over the Grizzlies. Dirk Nowitzki - 27 ppg during the run - and the rest of Johnson's crew have shown that the touhgness he has instilled in the group hasn't subsided. It runs deep. Dallas could have easily folded when it lost Josh Howard for eight games early on, but instead, the Mavs went 7-1 without their swingman. After years of being stuck in purgatory, Dallas has officially become a playoff team, meaning the regular season is somewhat insignificant. That is a term that has been reserved for teams such as the Pistons and Spurs, but the Mavs have crashed that party. The streak could continue for the better part of the week. Dallas' next four are against Toronto, Sacramento, at Washington and at New Jersey. Not exactly four teams setting the world on fire right now. It gets a little tougher after that, as the Mavs host Detroit, who I picked to face off with Dallas in the '07 Finals, Dec. 7. That test is followed by a home meet with Denver and league-leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, a matchup at 12-3 Utah and a home contest with noted Mavs killer Kobe Bryant - 62 points in three quarters last January - and the Lakers. Those are four tough tests, no doubt. But I can't see Dallas being phased by anything else this season considering how the campaign began. Even at 0-fer for the first week of the season, I knew the Mavs would come out of that spell and remain one of the L's best. It's safe to say they knew it, too.

I was eating lunch when I heard a rumor out of East Lansing that Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo is a realistic candidate for the position left vacant by John L. Smith.

I was listening to Izzo's weekly press conference when it dawned on me: he isn't bullsh%tt*ng.

Only in East Lansing.

Only in the place where I spent the best times of my life could one sorry program affect a thriving one.

Only in the place that's home to the school I'll be paying until I die could a college basketball deity commit career suicide by taking over what I have deemed a cursed program.

Think about it. I'm not saying it will, but what if all this comes to pass? What happens to our sick '07 recruiting class? Where do Durrell, Kalin and Chris go if the guy who ate their mom's sweet potato pie decides he'd rather roam a sideline than a baseline?

I text messaged my best friend from State right after I heard the "news." He called me maybe five minutes later. That was the quietest phone conversation we've had in the seven years we've known each other. Utter disbelief.

I've been through the Izzo to the Hawks and Izzo to the Pistons rumors. I always knew there was nothing to those because coach eats, sleeps and breathes MSU. Hell, he named his son after guys on his national championship team.

But that's what makes this so scary. It's his love for State that could bring him to believe he can do for Lou Anna what he (indirectly) did for M. Peter.

Who knows. This could work. Izzo could lead the football team to a string of 8 and 9-win seasons and New Year's Day bowl appearances. Tom Crean, Marquette University head basketball coach and Izzo disciple, could come in and pick up where his Yoda left off.

But where would I draw that optimism after what has transpired the last five seasons?

We've had more arrests, suspensions and slaps than wins.

Fans and alumni have had more heartbreaks than New York from "Flavor of Love."

Seriously, I have no idea why Izzo would not just tell reporters, "I'm the head coach of the MSU basketball team and nothing else." Why give writers, talking head and radio hosts more subject matter?

I've heard in the past that he wants to coach (high school) football when he's done with hoops, but how can someone with as much experience as me take on a Big Ten football program. A STRUGGLING one at that.

You can't deny Izzo's track record, though. Four Final Fours. Three National Coach of the Year Awards and a national title.

But that's in a completely different arena.

Please, coach, be as much a part of the search as it warrants. Hop on planes, trains or anything else to make sure we get the best guy for the job. Because that guy isn't you.

Sure, you could light a fire under anybody and make them play until they couldn't walk anymore. But what about the X's and O's part?

Hopefully, when it all comes down to it, Izzo picks the triangle and 2 over the cover 2.

 

It was announced at 12:33 p.m. today that legendary University of Michigan head coach Glenn "Bo" Schembechler passed away at the age of 77 while taping a weekly show with a Detroit sports anchor.

Last month, the 77-year-old Schembechler, born April 1, 1929, had a pacemaker and defibrillator installed after he had dizziness and other symptoms while taping the show.

This make tomorrow's hugely hyped contest between Ohio State and Bo's Wolverines not as important as it was 15 minutes ago.

Schembechler was a living legend in Ann Arbor. When he arrived at UM after coaching at his alma mater, Miami, Ohio, in 1969, he took the campus by storm by amassing an 8-3 record and taking his squad to the Rose Bowl. That would put the rest of the college football world on notice because while at Michigan, Schembechler became one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. He won a school-record 194 games, lost only 48, and tied five for a winning percentage of .796. His Michigan teams won or shared 13 Big Ten titles and made 10 Rose Bowl appearances.

Schembechler led the Wolverines to 17 bowl games in 21 years, placing him ninth in all-time bowl appearances, while never posting a losing record. He was voted national Coach of the Year during his first season as a Wolverine.

I'm sure he would have been on his way to Cloumbus to take in tomorrow's game with the hopes that his team could pull out a win and have a shot at a possible national title.

I'm not sure what kind of an affect this will have on the roster or the coaching staff, though. If this were a Disney film, Chad Henne would complete 75 percent of his passes, Mike Hart would rush for 175 yards and LaMarr Woodley would have six sacks. But I don't know what this is going to do to the group.

I'm going to put my Spartan allegiance aside and say that this is a big loss for college football. And, honestly, this has me pulling for the Maize and Blue now. It's a bigger loss for the Michigan family, though.

One of the things I first read about Bo took place when he served as Michigan athletic director from 1988-1990. Just prior to the start of the 1989 NCAA basketball tournament, head coach Bill Frieder announced that he would be taking the vacant head position at Arizona State University. Bo fired Frieder almost right on the spot, saying, "A Michigan man is gonna coach Michigan." The squad went on to take its only basketball title.

I know a lot of people say they bleed a certain color. But I'm sure that whenever he fell, whenever he got a paper cut, Maize and Blue blood dripped from his body.

Yea, I know I said I'm a Spartan through and through. And I stand by that. But how bad it is that this had to happen the day before the biggest game in the biggest rivalry in ALL of sports?

Ohio State-Michigan.

1 vs. 2 for the first time in the 103-year history of this match-up.

Winner take all.

His school against his most hated rival.

He'll still be watching. And, hey, maybe him and Woody Hayes can watch together now and exchange a few pleasantries.