•What up with the Friars?

That’s what everyone’s asking.

What up?

The names fly around like errant 3-pointers. Everything from Rick Pitino’s coming back, to Larry Brown, to Karl Hobbs, to Ernie D., to Isiah Thomas, to Buddy Cianci, to “Sam the Ram,” to Marvin Barnes, to Gordie Chiesa, to Grady Little, to Bruce Sundlun, to the American Idol winner, to just about anyone who ever drove through Providence on the way to somewhere else, never mind anyone who actually ever coached anywhere.

I’m kidding about Sundlun.

Then again, maybe not.

The news conference would be a treat, right?

•There’s no truth to the rumor that if baseball games get any longer they’re going to come in installments.

•Or that the Bruins-Canadiens series may end in three games.

•Or that if the Friars can’t get Larry Brown they’re going after John Wooden next.

•Or that Governor Carcieri wants it, because it’s certainly a better job than the one he’s got.

•Certainly it pays better.

•Quiz of the Week: In their history, the Celtics have had three No. 1 draft choices from Kansas University. Can you name them?

•Line of the Week comes from Brown’s Craig Robinson on what Chris Skrelja, one of his players, said on the news that Robinson is going to Oregon State: “Chris said if the PAC-10 came calling when he was being recruited, he would have gone that way, too.”

•21 is entertaining, and in today’s bleak movie world that’s become like Gone With The Wind.

•Few people have been more of a tireless advocate for basketball than Dick Vitale, who came along at the time ESPN was emerging, so kudos to him for being named to the Hall of Fame.

•Speaking of the Hall of Fame, I first saw Patrick Ewing as a freshman at Cambridge Rindge and Latin many moons ago. He has been the best New England high school player ever, and the announcement he, too, is going in has been a sure thing for a long time now.

•The ineptitude of any kind of leadership in the Iraq War — as depicted in the Frontline series — would be scary if it were in a college athletic program, never mind a presidential administration.

•You know it’s a strange world when Tim Wakefield is second all-time in strikeouts for Red Sox pitchers.

•And that Peter McWalters, the state’s education commissioner who announced he will be leaving next year after 17½ years, was called by the head of the National Education Association as doing “a remarkable job.”

•One question: What would have been considered a bad job?

•But rest assured that if he had been a coach he wouldn’t have lasted 17½ years.

•The last month of the NBA season takes garbage time to a new level.

•Kind of like most popular culture, if you think about it.

•If Memphis makes a few free throws, its the national champions.

•Speaking of Memphis: If they only had fouled in the last 10 seconds — while up three — they would have won, regardless of missing all those free throws.

•Walk down Thayer Street on the East Side and every other kid is talking on a cell phone in this age of endless babble, a lot of people saying a whole lot of nothing.

•I’ll worry about a lot of things before I worry about Big Papi’s slow start.

•Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys. Teach them to throw knuckleballs.

•Kudos to the R.I. Radio Hall of Fame for putting the late Chris Clark into their inaugural class. PC should be putting his name in the rafters of The Dunk.

•Watching Tom Werner dance to “Sweet Caroline” reinforces the notion that you can have all the money in the world and not be able to buy cool.

•Though faced with the choice, I think I’d go with the cash and leave the cool to you, Bunky.

•Is anyone really surprised that people are protesting having the Olympics in Beijing?

•The Yankees have used more rookies than anyone else in baseball so far.

•There’s no truth to the rumor that the Friars are trying to find Jim Harrick’s phone number.

•Or that things are getting so desperate someone asked Michael Bublé the other night in The Dunk if he wanted the PC job.

•Quiz answer: Jo Jo White in 1969, Norm Cook in 1977, Paul Pierce in 1998.

•What comes first, Godot finally shows up, or the Friars actually get a coach?

•All kidding aside, you can’t blame PC athletic director Bob Driscoll for both Jim Larranaga and Travis Ford bailing out when he was offering them money in the million dollars a year range? Like what else is he supposed to do, offer to name The Dunk for them, too?

•Which might just get Pitino back here, now that I think about it.

•You know baseball’s a strange game when going into last night the Royals were 6-3 and the Tigers were 1-8.

•And you know Rhode Island’s strange when we’ve got budget issues, immigration issues, education issues, all kinds of issues, and the only thing people seem to want to talk about is who is going to be the next PC coach.

breynold@projo.com