Freshman Derrick Rose had a sensational game in Memphis' 85-67 rout of Texas on Sunday, leaving UCLA wondering how to stop him when the Bruins face the Tigers in the Final Four semifinals Saturday.
A question that concerns Memphis fans is: Will Rose end up going pro?
Memphis Coach John Calipari, a guest on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period" last week, was asked that question -- and gave a lighthearted but honest answer.
"If he wants to do what's right for him and his family, he'll go pro," he said. "If he wants to do what's right for me and my family, he'll stay."
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Trivia time
When UCLA won its last men's basketball championship in 1995, who did the Bruins beat in the title game? Bonus points: Which Bruin was named most outstanding player of the Final Four played that year in Seattle?
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The way it was
Xavier's hometown newspaper, the Cincinnati Enquirer, didn't mince words with the headline in Sunday's editions above the game story on UCLA's 76-57 Elite Eight victory. It read: "Battered and Bruined."
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A novel line
CBS announcer Verne Lundquist offered this toward the end of Xavier's Sweet 16 overtime victory over West Virginia when Derrick Brown fouled out: "He's the second Musketeer to foul out. One more and you could write a novel."
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Picture this
Tiger Woods, frustrated by cameras clicking during his backswing at the recent CA Championship in Doral, Fla., vowed to "break the . . . neck" of the next photographer who did it.
"In related news," wrote Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, "Phil Mickelson has applied for a photographer's credential at the Masters."
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A batty idea
Billy Consolo, one of baseball's first "bonus babies" when signed at age 18 by the Boston Red Sox out of Los Angeles Dorsey High in 1953, died Thursday at his home in Westlake Village. He was 73.
Reader Jerry Clark e-mailed a story Consolo had told him a few years ago.
Consolo, early in his career, was spotted by Ted Williams as he limped away in street clothes after a game in which he hadn't played. He was limping because he had one of the Splendid Splinter's bats hidden in one of his pant legs. He planned to give it to a friend.
Williams, who knew what was going on, hollered out: "Tough game, eh, Billy?"
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Off and running
