Agudiooo!

After three and a half great seasons - and a handful of other records already under his belt - Hofstra basketball star Antoine Agudio became the Pride's newest all-time career-scoring leader last night in Delaware. He chalked up 24 points against the Blue Hens, leaving him with 2,236 for his career, passing the previous record of 2,222 set by Steve Nisenson, but the Pride lost the battle 74-69 after a bogus shot clock violation no-call.

And despite the team being on the skids, Agudio's been picking up steam. Each of his four years playing for Hofstra, his scoring averages have increased annually - 15.1 ppg freshman year; 17.2 sophomore year; 19.9 last year; and he's been droppin' dimes this year for 22.9 per game after 25 games played.

Not only does Agudio now stand as the Pride's all-time leading scorer, he's also their career 3-point leader with 273 and is third in the nation among active players in career scoring.

It's a shame Agudio, who's gotten better as he's matured here at Hofstra, and the rest of the Pride don't have the excitement of a winning season to accompany the senior's record-breaking season like they did earlier in his career. Hofstra's dismal 11-17 (7-10) record puts them at 8th in the CAA rankings, and their loss last night ended their last chance at finishing with a .500 record for the season.

I only wish Agudio was leading Hofstra to another exciting March and a run at the Big Dance, but we'll all have to settle for a sub-par season from the Pride this year. And who knows what's gonna happen next year; our lions will have lost their best two players (the legendary Loren Stokes said so long after last season) to this big thing everyone likes to call "graduation."

Being a senior myself, it's been a treat watching Agudio these four years, and I'm glad I'll be able to say I saw him all four years he was setting the record. Hopefully good things happen to him after graduation, and hopefully we haven't seen the end of this kid's basketball career.



Antoine Agudio Bio & Career Stats:
http://www.hofstra.edu/PDF/sports_mbb_08agudioflyer3.pdf

See ya, Kidd

After weeks of negotiations between the Dallas Mavericks and the New Jersey Nets, a trade agreement was met this Wednesday which, among other things, sent Nets veteran Jason Kidd back to his draft team.

Way back in 1994, Kidd was picked up by the Mavericks as the second overall pick in the NBA Draft, but traded just two years later to the Phoenix Suns. Four productive seasons later, during which Phoenix reached the off-season consistently to their 13^th playoff berth in a row, Kidd was traded again, this time to the New Jersey Nets, where he remained until Wednesday.

Already a league-leading player, it was New Jersey where Kidd made a home for himself and matured into one of the best guards the NBA has ever seen. Upon arriving in Jersey in 2001, following a dismal 26-56 record for the Nets, marking their third losing season in a row and sixth out of their last eight, Kidd vowed to turn them around and lead them to playoffs.

Kidd made good on that promise, leading the Nets to a terrific 52-30 record in the ’01-’02 season, earning them only their second playoff berth in the last eight seasons.

But the Nets didn’t just make the playoffs…they battled all the way to their first-ever NBA Finals appearance. Despite losing in four straight games to the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, featuring the unstoppable duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, it was a franchise-changing year for the Nets, mostly thanks to Kidd’s leadership.

So after five seasons at .500 or better, including back-to-back NBA Finals appearances, the New Jersey Nets have finally struck a deal with the Dallas Mavericks, and Jason Kidd is back to where he started.

As a fan myself, I'm a New Yorker at heart, but I've attended countless Nets games over the past two decades, and I've certainly seen them struggle through some rough times. But when Kidd came in 2001, I remember it was like watching a whole new team. All of a sudden, he used to make the two or three games I would see every year more about the Nets than the visiting team, and for that, he will be missed.

Kidd began his tenure with the Mavs last night in New Orleans, posting eight points, six rebounds and five assists in a 104-93 loss to the Hornets.

Untouchable

It's only five weeks into the 2008 season, and already it looks to be another long year for PGA golfers whose last name isn't Woods.

After his eight-stroke triumph last week in San Diego in his season debut at the Buick Invitational, Tiger Woods continued his unstoppable momentum at the Dubai Desert Classic in the United Arab Emirates this past weekend. Down by four strokes heading into Sunday, Woods birdied his last two holes - including a dramatic 25-footer on 18 - for a 7-under 65 and a dazzling final-round comeback. The win marked his third career 2-0 start, his fifth victory in a row and seventh out of his last eight tournaments.

Tiger now has 62-career PGA Tour victories, tied for fourth on the all-time list with Arnold Palmer and only two behind Ben Hogan. His 13 Major Championship wins is second all-time only to Jack Nicklaus' 18. He is the leading career-money winner with a total of over $94M in Tour earnings and has been named the PGA Player of the Year a record-nine times.

And did I mention he's still only 32?

Whether he's in cruise control or attack mode on Sunday, ahead by a mile or down by four, Tiger has already proved this year that his stronghold on the World No. 1 ranking isn't loosening up an inch. Week-in and week-out, his consistent (and certainly exciting) 25-foot birdie putts and 15-foot par-saves continue to prove that when he's got his A-game, there's no one in the field who can touch him.

What's even more exciting - albeit not for most fellow Tour players - is the fact that Tiger may not have even reached his prime yet. Records show that of the top four all-time winners (other than Woods), three had their most productive five-year stretches from 31-35. If he stays healthy, there's no telling how high he will set the bar for generations of golfers to come.

Although Tiger doesn't confirm his participation in each event until the week before it, his next scheduled tournament is the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, which will be held in Tuscon, AZ at the Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain from Feb. 21-24.


Tiger Woods final-round highlights, 2008 Dubai Desert Classic:
Holes #12, #13, #14, #17, #18