Some Stuff to Look At

The fall of St. John's has been noticeable anywhere and everywhere in the Big East. SI's Seth Davis takes a look at the problems Norm Roberts faces in restoring luster to a once great program. One of the most interesting problems he must face is something that no one would ever have expected:

NCAA rules permit schools to give their scholarship athletes a cash stipend to cover living expenses. If a school doesn't have dormitories, the amount of the stipend is calculated according to the cost of living in that school's neighborhood. Best of all, the NCAA allows schools to dispense the full amount regardless of what an athlete's actual living expenses are. That means a local player attending St. John's could either live at home and pocket the entire amount of the stipend, or he could bunk up with several of his teammates, pay well under the stipend amount in rent, and pocket the difference. For decades, this was St. Johns's dirty little secret -- only it wasn't really dirty because it was fully sanctioned by the NCAA.

But now with the creation of dorms on campus, this is no longer applicable. And Davis sees it as a huge problem for St. John's. Interesting.

LeBron James will have a tough decision to make in the Summer of 2010. Namely where to continue his career. The Knicks and Nets have been slashing payroll to make a run at King James, perhaps in vain. ESPN's Chris Broussard talks with James to try to get to the bottom of what LeBron's current thoughts are on where he will end up. His leaving is not as clear cut as has made out to be. An interesting tidbit:

LeBron knows he's not competing against only Kobe, Dwyane Wade, Boston's big three and the rest of the league's stars; he's got to approach Jordan. That obviously takes plenty of titles. One, two and maybe even three, won't do. So, in 2010, what team is going to give him the best chance to win ring after ring after ring?

But Jordan didn't just win championships. He built a dynasty from scratch. That's the mentality LeBron was raised with by his coaches in Akron -- that you have to build something to have a legacy.