Thoughts while wondering if either PC or URI will win another basketball game this season ...

If we were in full French Revolution mode here at the Journal, Jim Baron would be riding in a tumbrel alongside Tim Welsh on his way to the coaching guillotine.

"Off with their heads!" as the Queen of Hearts shouted in Alice in Wonderland.

I throw in those historical and literary references to point out that my academic strengths were in the liberal arts, not math - hence my mistake in writing, after URI's loss to St. Joe's, that the Rams had dropped six of seven, when it actually was "only" five of six. Although, if Rhody doesn't start playing defense, it will be six of seven after Wednesday night, when the slumping (plummeting? collapsing? imploding? self-destructing?) Rams take on struggling G.W. (3-8 in the A-10, 7-14 overall) in D.C.

In another mathematical error - clearly, I have as big a problem with math as the Rams do with defense - I wrote that Rhody was tied for seventh in the conference following their disappointing defeat at the hands of the Hawks. They actually were tied for eighth.

Although perhaps that mistake can partially be attributed to disbelief that URI could have fallen that far, that fast.

Heading into last Monday night's game with league-leading, 10th-ranked and most-definitely-NCAA-Tourney-bound Xavier, the Rams were, as coaches (and sportswriters) love to say, in control of their own destiny.

They were looking at three straight home games: the Musketeers, Massachusetts and Saint Joseph's. Win all three, and the Rams would have been a virtual lock to get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, assuming they didn't earn the automatic at the conference tourney.

Instead, they lost all three, and now are looking at the NIT.

Which leads one to wonder if that woeful week will be for Baron what the end of the 2004 season was for Welsh.

The Friars were flying high at the end of February in '04, with a record of 20-5, including a dazzling 11-2 conference mark. On March 2, they played Pittsburgh in Providence for sole possession of first place in the Big East and were blown out, 88-61. Then Boston College came in and won, 63-54, after which the Friars lost their first game in the Big East Tournament, 69-66, to Villanova and, as a fifth seed, lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to 12th-seeded Pacific, 66-58.

Since then, PC is 21-42 in the Big East (21-44, if you count conference tourney games) and has played just one postseason tournament game: a 90-78, overtime loss at Bradley last year.

Hopefully, the same sort of slump doesn't hit the struggling Rams, who, to paraphrase the old song, were riding high in January, but shot down in February. Whether they can get back up on top in March seems doubtful, the way they're playing now.

With the PC season finishing March 8, expect Welsh to be long gone by St. Patrick's Day.

At which point, the spotlight will be on PC A.D. Bob Driscoll to make the hire that will determine whether his own career at Providence is deemed a success or a failure.

Driscoll ought to consider these simple, but insightful, words of wisdom from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who was asked, the week before Super Bowl XLII, what he looked for when hiring coaches:

"The most important thing," Belichick said, "is to identify what you are looking for. Once you have a job description, then you can look at people and try to figure out if that is what you want. If you know what you want, you have a better chance of finding it, rather than just taking a list of names and picking one out."

Will Driscoll be looking for a younger coach, rather an older one? Will he want one who's better at recruiting than X's and O's, or vice-versa? Presumably, he'll want someone with head coaching experience, but might he want to hire a hot assistant?

In any case, the pressure is on him to land someone who can have the Friars competing consistently for that sixth, seventh or even eighth NCAA bid that Big East teams contend for every year.

Turning now from basketball to football, Rumford's Matt Sherry was touted recently by NFL draft guru Mike Mayock as one of five "sleepers" in the April 26-27 draft.

"I define 'sleeper' as guys that were not invited to the Combine," Mayock said on the NFL Network.

He then went on to describe Sherry, an all-state selection at Bishop Hendricken in 2002, as "a prototype, NFL-type tight end from Villanova -- highly athletic, with great hands. I think he's going to run a sub-4.7 at his pro day."

The 6-4, 255-pound Sherry was Villanova's leading receiver last season, with 37 catches for 461 yards and 5 TDs. In addition to being an outstanding blocker who also was a standout on special teams for the Wildcats, Sherry is smart - he earned a degree in finance last May and played last season while enrolled in the MBA. program at Villanova.

Bartolo Colon appears to be in even worse shape than I am, which isn't exactly cause for optimism regarding his contributions to the Red Sox in the coming season.