Full of Rice: LSU may have knocked Rice out of the College World Series last year, but the Owls are heading into this weekend’s Baton Rouge Super Regional with a lot of confidence. “If we go out there focused and ready to play, I don’t think there’s another team out there that’s as talented as us,” says Ryan Berry, a right-handed pitcher for the Owls. “And if we put a game together like we have the past three games, I don’t think there’s any team in the country that can stop us, to be honest with you.” This is the fifth consecutive Super Regional Rice has gone to. Rice has a 7-3 all-time record against LSU. The first pitch in the best of three series is at 6 p.m. Friday at Alex Box Stadium, while game two starts at 4 p.m. Saturday. If a third game is needed, it will be at 6 p.m. Sunday.
CP3: Hornets star Chris Paul has been profiled in the new issue of Forbes magazine as the man who “saved basketball in New Orleans.” Paul, who just finished his fourth season with the Hornets, has turned the team into a playoff contender and led to a spike in attendance. The magazine says team revenues went up 5% since the 2006-07 season to $97 million, and estimates a similar 5% jump contributed to the value of the franchise, putting it at $285 million. Along with helping the Hornets on the court and in the in the financial ledgers, Paul has worked to help needy New Orleans children. “People ask me if I feel obligated to give back, especially given what New Orleans went through. I tell them you should never feel obligated to do it; you should want to do it,” Paul says. Read the profile here.
Tiger turnaround: LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson has been named as one of the 12 best up-and-coming coaches by AOL’s Fanhouse sports blog. Johnson was singled out for his work in making Nevada a team to contend with, coaching Stanford to a Sweet 16 after four years at the school, then winning the SEC regular season title his first year in Baton Rouge. “If this is his destination job, the Tigers have a program on the rise,” Fanhouse says. Other coaches making the list include Alabama’s Anthony Grant, Oklahoma State’s Travis Ford and Jeff Capel from Oklahoma. Read the full list of coaches here.
