{"id":150146,"date":"2022-01-11T04:37:26","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T09:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=150146"},"modified":"2022-01-11T04:37:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T09:37:29","slug":"random-thoughts-big-hoops-games-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2022\/01\/11\/random-thoughts-big-hoops-games-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Thoughts: big hoops games, more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL<\/strong>\/independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s edition of Random Thoughts centers around a key NWC matchup, a big GMC game, the Van Wert Cougars, the national championship game, and NIL and the NCAA transfer portal, and the NFL axe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday night<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep an eye on Friday night\u2019s Crestview (7-3, 2-1 NWC) at Allen East (6-4, 2-0 NWC) boys basketball game. It could go a long way in determining the NWC championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If they Knights win, they\u2019ll remain a game back in what should be an interesting race which should also involve the Mustangs, Bluffton and Spencerville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday night II<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t imagine there will be too many empty seats (or any at all) in the house when Division III No. 11 Wayne Trace hosts Division IV No. 2 Antwerp on Friday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has the makings of being an extremely entertaining game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barring a monster upset afterward, the winner of that game will likely be crowned as Green Meadows Conference boys basketball champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re keeping track, the Cougars are 7-4 (2-1 WBL) at the halfway point of the regular season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four losses have come by a combined total of 12 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National championship<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like it or not, the two best teams in the country played for the national championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NIL and transfer portal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve mentioned this before but I\u2019ll address it again \u2013 it seems the NCAA\u2019s Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) is already broken, as is the transfer portal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NIL was meant to put money in the pockets of NCAA student-athletes, when the opportunity presented itself. The problem is, the guidelines and rules are incomplete or fuzzy at best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

As it stands now, this will quickly separate the haves and have-nots even more and will create a clear division between traditional powers and other programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve never bought the argument that scholarship athletes get nothing in return for their services. The word scholarship refutes that. A full or even partial scholarship is worth a substantial amount of money. While I don\u2019t begrudge anyone who is able to make a lot of money, I don\u2019t think this is how the NIL rule was intended to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s already time for the NCAA to re-address some of the rules and provide better and more uniform guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as the transfer portal, it\u2019s out of hand too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, it should be reserved for cases of a coaching or staff change or family hardship or other extenuating circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It shouldn\u2019t open the flood gates anytime a player doesn\u2019t win a starting job or is benched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NFL axe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NFL axe swung on Monday, with the Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings dismissing their head coaches. Chicago and Minnesota also fired their respective general managers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It won’t be shocking if another coach or two is fired in the next day or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have thoughts on any of the above subjects, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor This week\u2019s edition of Random Thoughts centers around a key NWC matchup, a big GMC game, the Van Wert Cougars, the national championship game, and NIL and the NCAA transfer portal, and the NFL axe. Friday night Keep an eye on Friday night\u2019s Crestview (7-3, 2-1 NWC) at Allen East (6-4, 2-0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-04 20:02:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150146\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}