David Ramsey   Gazette sports columnist David Ramsey offers opinions, views and thoughts on the world of sports

I realize LeBron James brings otherworldly size and talent to the basketball court.

This presents a challenge to the mere mortals who must try to cover him.

But the Chicago Bulls tactics in Wednesday’s victory over LeBron and his Miami Heat took defending somewhere out of the realm of basketball.  I’m all for tough, physical, legal defending.

I’m opposed to bringing football tactics on to the basketball floor.

Here are two examples of the Bulls rough stuff on LeBron. The NBA should be handing out fines soon – maybe today – for the assailants.

Here’s a nasty shot to the head:

And here’s a tackle on the basketball court.

During the second half of Soccer’s Snow Night, Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto began a ferocious effort to have the game called and American cost Jurgen Klinsmann was just as animated in his effort to finish the game, despite the surging snow and howling wind and freezing temperatures.

I can explain the motivations of both men with one sentence:

America led 1-0.

The United States went on to win the World Cup Qualifier at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. It was a special night. Eventually, tens of thousands of Colorado soccer fans will say they were in the stadium.

Costa Rica has no case. If Costa Rica had seized the early goal, Pinto would have been begging for the game to finish, despite the conditions. He was protesting for one reason only:

His team trailed, and it had virtually no chance to score.

Yes, the conditions were horrendous. I was there, standing and watching in the open-air press area.  Perhaps the game should have been called … before it started. Once the game arrived at halftime, there was little reason to suspend action.

Costa Rica coaches, players and fans are irate.

Here’s why:

They lost the game.

If Costa Rica had grabbed the lead, I promise you no one – no one – in the entire country would have wanted the game to be called.

CSU is finding out why seedings are important in the NCAA Tournament. The Rams reward for thumping Missouri is a date with … overall No. 1 seed Louisville.

But the Rams have a chance at a massive upset. Center Colton Iverson can tangle with anyone in college basketball. Coach Larry Eustachy looks as if he might explode on the sideline, but he’s an expert at pushing his teams to the outer limits of their skills and he knows all about the pressures and rewards of the Tournament. Eustachy and Iverson will not  be intimidated.

I know Louisville has won 11 straight games. And I know coach Rick Pitino is a borderline basketball genius.

But still …

I believe the Rams have a strong chance. I like this team.

And  if you’re doubtful about my optimism, I’d ask you to take a look at New Mexico’s Lobos, who were a popular selection to ride all the way to the Final Four.

The Lobos lost, as you most likely know, to Harvard in the first round. That’s what is most fun about the NCAA Tournament – huge surprises.

The surprises are not over. CSU could deliver another one  Saturday.

This surprises me. Chris Mooney is one of the classiest coaches I’ve met.

I saw him get angry during his one season (2004-2005) as Air Force basketball coach. Never saw him get mad enough to get ejected. That’s what happend at the end of a bizarre loss by Mooney and Richmond to Charlotte in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Here’s the story:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9053689/richmond-spiders-called-3-technical-fouls-lose-charlotte-49ers-atlantic-10-tournament

Wes Welker gives the Broncos one of the best sets of receivers in the NFL and one of the deepest, most dangerous sets of receivers in team history.

But the Broncos remain lopsided. Extremely dangerous through the air and not so dangerous on the ground.

I’m a Ronnie Hillman fan, largely because I saw him twice personally destroy Air Force when he was running and catching for San Diego State. But Hillman remains young and mistake-prone.

I’m a Willis McGahee fan, too, but it appears to me his prime has ended. He’s crafted a noble career. I think he’s past the peak of that career.

Can the Broncos win the Super Bowl next season – and they will carry the burden of being one of the favorites to reign – with this running game?

While looking at the 2012 NCAA rushing totals, I was surprised to see only one team with a winning record (Oregon) among the nation’s top five rushing teams.

Army led the nation in team rushing. Army finished with a 2-10 record. New Mexico finished fifth in the nation in rushing. The Lobos finished with a 4-9 record. Air Force finished second in the nation, but also finished with a losing 6-7 record. Georgia Tech, No. 4, finished even at 7-7.

I realize this is a statistical quirk that says much more about the teams’ defenses than the wisdom of repeatedly running the football. The next five teams on the rushing list (Navy, Nevada, Nebraska, Tulsa and Ohio State) finished a combined 48-18 in 2012.

I knew Air Force relied on Michael Lyons.  I didn’t realize just how much the Falcons relied on Lyons until Saturday’s beyond-the-beyond awful performance at Fresno State.

Lyons was playing at an All-American level when he suffered an injured thumb on his shooting hand against Boise State. Since then, he’s made only 9 of 30 shots. In the two games before the injury, he dropped 28 of 46 shots. That’s a drop from 61 percent to 30 percent.

Can the Falcons defeat San Diego State or New Mexico with a struggling Lyons?

Hate to be a pessimist, but my answer is no.