Photo of the Day: Federer Fails

An error-filled performance doomed Roger Federer, who lost in three sets to Tomas Berdych in their fourth-round match Tuesday, March 30. In their last nine encounters Federer has defeated Berdych all previous 8 times. Federer's defeat means the top three men's seeds have all been knocked out after Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Britain's Andy Murray both suffered shock defeats earlier in the tournament. With this number of top seed upsets, the Sony Ericsson Open is beginning to look a bit more like the NCAA Championship brackets.

The Six Finger Glove

Diamond season is quickly approaching and just when you think that the Yankees can't have any more tricks (or overpaid all-star players) up their sleeve, during a spring training game against the Braves, Girardi brings in the only ambidextrous pitcher in professional baseball, Pat Venditte. Venditte, age 24, known as the "Switch Pitcher" pitched for 1 1/3 innings allowing one run, two hits, and a walk. Now, I've seen ambidextrous people before but never any that could throw 90mph pitches with both hands. In the past 100 years Greg Harris is the only other pitcher to pitch from both sides. The difference is that Harris was a righty for the majority of his career and only pitched from the left side for 2 batters in his second to last game. His unique gift make him fascinating to watch and make even more interesting to see how the MLB is having to adjust.

QUICK FACTS:

• He was a walk-on at Creighton University.
• He as a specially designed 6 finger glove, with two webs and two thumb slots.
• After his Minor League debut* the Umpire Association had to establish the "Venditte Rules" which state that the pitcher must indicate to the umpire-in-chief, the batter and any runners which hand he intends to pitch with. Once the first pitch is thrown, the pitcher and the batter may change sides only one time per at bat.
• He's not perfect but he is far from just a side show act, he compiled a 1.87 ERA and a 1.069 WHIP last summer, striking out 87 while walking only 11 in 67.1 innings.

*Video of the 1st showdown between a switch pitcher and a switch hitter.

Today in Sports: March 31st

On this day in 1906 The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was founded to set rules in amateur collegiate level sports. The IAA would go on to become the esteemed National Collegeiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 1910 which is now comprised of 1,281 institutions.

In 1931 one of the era's biggest sports celebrities, Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne, died in a fatal plane crash. In his 13 seasons of coaching, Rockne only lost 12 games and led the Fighting Irish to back-to-back undefeated championship seasons. Known affectionally as the Gipper, Rockne was portrayed on the silver screen by future president Ronald Reagan, coining one of the most famous sport's movie lines, "Win one for the Gipper."

In 1973 the world watched him float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, when Muhammed Ali wore a $10,000 robe with "The People's Champion" inscribed on it. Although he was dressed for success, Ali lost the fight to

Ken Norton.

2004 marked the end of an NFL dynasty. NFL owners adopted a 15 yard penalty for excessive celebrations. The penalty was added to the fines previously in place for choreographed and multiplayer celebrations. This included all gyrating, thrusting, tootsie rollin, moonwalking, backflippin, hand gun shootin, tail spinning and bootie bumping that had given the game extra pizzaz throughout the 90s.

A Sad Jernigan makes for a Happy STANFORD!

The Stanford Women's Basketball Team is going to the Final Four! BUT... boy did they have to sweat it out. While beating their 3 previous opponents by 98 points, the Cardinal won this game by only 2, but in the NCAA tournament surviving and advancing is all that matters. With star center Jayne Appel on the bench after fouling out the Cardinal struggle to maintain a lead over a game Xavier team that was bracing for the tournament's biggest upset. Down 2 twice within the last minute the Card made two quick responses ,one by a Freshman on a running hook shot (Olajuwon style) that hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
The real story began, however, in the last 15 seconds of the game when a Xavier SENIOR Dee Dee Jernigan missed not one BUT TWO WIDE OPEN LAYUPS! As I watched the game I could only think that God wanted Stanford to win as both shots sat on the rim before refusing to go in the basket. Then Ty Lawson... excuse me Jeanette Pohlen took the ball coast to coast in 4.4 seconds to lay the ball up and give the cardinal the win with about .1 seconds left to spare.
Maybe it wasn't the prettiest effort ever, but the Cardinal are moving forward. On the other side of the court Dee Dee will remember that play in her nightmares possibly for the rest of her life. And if she forgets anytime soon she need not worry as ESPN will continue to throw her under the bus for the rest of the day.

All Americans

The first team All American team was released yesterday and really there are no surprises. The team was highlighted by 2 freshmen (guess what school they attended) 2 juniors and a senior. The individuals on the team separated themselves from the rest quite early in the season and others really struggled to catch up.

First Team
Demarcus Cousins
John Wall
Wesley Johnson
Scotty Reynolds
Evan Turner

Wall and Cousins are the first set of teammates to be All-Americans since Duke had two back in 2006. Evan turner was only 1 vote shy of being a unanimous decision. Scotty Reynolds beat out others on the second team despite being relatively worthless in the his teams last 5 games of the season.

2nd Team
James Anderson
Sherron Collins
Greivis Vasquez
John Scheyer
Da'Sean Butler

James Anderson finished 6th in voting, but received more votes than Cousins, however, due to position he was relegated to the second team. Vasquez and Scheyer battled for ACC player of the year but were both rewarded with 2nd team All-Americans. This year was also the first year Scheyer made any All team as he was earlier selected to the First-Team All-ACC. Of all the people on these lists Da'Sean Butler is the only player still in the tournament.

3rd Team
Greg Monroe
Cole Aldrich
Damion James
Luke Harangody
Darington Hobson

Today in Sports: March 29th

We have a very diverse set of facts for today’s facts, some old, some new, some basketball, some football and a little baseball sprinkled in too..

On this date in 1973, Dave Cowens, wins the NBA MVP. Cowans, was part of the 74 and 76 NBA Championship Boston Celtics and is one of only four players (Scottie Pippen, Kevin Garnett and LeBron James are the others) to lead his team in all five major statistical categories for a season: points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals.

As we are heading to the Final Four, it would probably be ridiculous not to mention two NCAA Basketball National Champions crowned on this day. In 1976 Indiana beats Michigan 86-68 to become the 38^th National Champion and in 1982 the Georgetown Hoyas, led by Patrick Ewing and Eric "Sleepy" Floyd lost 62-63 to the North Carolina Tar Heels, led by James Worthy, Sam Perkins, and a young Michael Jordan. More recently in 1999 Duke after beating Michigan State in the Final Four loses a close one to UConn: 77-74.

 In football news on this day, the NFL Baltimore Colts move to Indianapolis in 1984, Jimmy Johnson quits Dallas Cowboys ten years later in 1994, and the Cleveland Browns find a new home as the Baltimore Ravens

And a somber happy birthday in memory of baseball great, and namesake of the award given to the best pitchers in the National and American Leagues: Cy Young (died in 1955).

Today in Sports: March 28th

1942- 4th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Stanford beats Dartmouth 53- 38

1972 - Wilt Chamberlain plays his last pro basketball game

2002 - Former NFL player Dexter Manley was sentenced to two years in jail for evidence tampering. He had been convicted for attempting to swallow cocaine he was carrying and then failed to meet with his probation officer.

Quote of the Day: A life of frustration is inevitable for any coach whose main enjoyment is winning.

- Chuck Knoll, Pittsburgh Steelers coach

Photo of the Day: 3 Cheers for the Home Team

Butler Makes 1st Final Four Appearance in Front of a Home Crowd in Indianapolis

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images / March 27, 2010)

Head coach Brad Stevens of the Butler Bulldogs celebrates with teammates after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats during the west regional final of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Today in Sports: March 27th

- On this day in 1978, Kentucky beat the Duke Blue Devils to win the 40th Men's NCAA Basketball Championship, 94-88 giving Kentucky its first NCAA Championship in 20 years. As these two teams careen toward their meeting in the Final Four, you have to wonder if the result will be the same or not

- Also Happy Birthday to former Eagle quarterback, Randal Cunningham, who was born on this day in 1963. In a 1992 interview with Sport, Cunningham told Larry Platt about how he was originally perceived by the people of Philadelphia: "I think a lot of that Hollywood image is because I went to school at Vegas, and because of my friendship with Whitney (Houston). I came here from Vegas and the media was saying, 'Here's this Michael Jackson, jheri-curl, fur-coat-and tight-jeans-wearing dude who is not East Coast style at all.' Even though I'm not a party-type guy, my West Coast attitude turned a lot of people off." I just find that very funny.


- Quote of the Day: In discussion of the perfect way to win basketball games: "The secret is to have eight great players and four others who will cheer like crazy." - Jerry Tarkanian

Photo of the Day: Rolling Thunder

OKC Thunder Beats LA Lakers 91- 75

Sue Ogrocki

Oklahoma City snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Lakers, earning its first win in the series since Nov. 5, 2006, back when they were still the Seattle Sonics.But this definitely wasn’t the Zombie Sonics playing out there last night. They also ended the Lakers 7 game winning streak. Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 26points while Lamar Odom led the the Lakers with 15 points. Kobe Bryant had 9 turnovers in the game and only 11 points. In short the Lakers played sloppy, and the Thunder Capitalized.

Photo of the Day: The Last Fan Standing

You know your team is bad when the few fans you have left are too ashamed to show their face at your games.

(BILL KOSTROUN, ASSOCIATED PRESS / March 22, 2010)

A fan with a paper bag over his head watches during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game between the New Jersey Nets and the Miami Heat on Monday, March 22, 2010, in East Rutherford, N.J. The Nets have a 7-63 record as the Heat defeated the Nets 99-89. Well, at least I commend the guy for standing by his team when it seems like no one else will.

What Was That Guy Thinking ?

We've all seen it before.  Season on the line.  One guy's hot, continually passing self-created and defensively imposed heat checks.  Shot clock's off.  The team starts their offense, gets some movement going, and then THAT guy.  Not the guy who's hot.  Not the guy who hit the fadeaway 25 footer to get you into the OT.  Not the guy who hit two 3's to get into the second OT, but instead, yes, THAT guy.  That OTHER guy, takes the shot and...surprise, surprise...CLANG.  No basket.  You lose.  And the glares begin in earnest.  
This phenomenon is one of my favorite things about watching non-NBA basketball.  It's so interesting to me, so nonsensical, but yet it happens so very often.  So I ask, what in the world was THAT guy thinking ? 
For an example, look no further than tonight's NCAA tournament thriller between Xavier and Kansas State.  For the two OT periods we were watching a two on one basketball game with some other people running around the court.  Xavier's Jordan Crawford and Terrell Holloway, taking on Kansas State's Jacob Pullen.  Back and forth they went for ten minutes.  Bucket by Crawford or Holloway, leading to a bucket by Pullen, and repeat.  At the end of the 2nd OT, with Xavier in the exact same position they'd been in at the end of regulation and the first OT,  down three with the ball. 
At this point, yes, I understand that Dante Jackson is one of the best shooters in his conference, yes, I understand that he was shooting over 50% for the game at that point, but unfortunately this gets away from the important point here : he isn't the hot man.  He hasn't been involved in the offense in a very long time.  He's simply not the best or the second best option to take this shot.    Unfortunately, here he comes around a screen with 10 entire seconds left on the clock, relatively open, and pulls the J and...well, I've already explained what happens next. 
Personally, I don't understand what that guy was thinking.  You have 10 seconds left on the clock, you have two guys who have proven that the basket is the size of the Grand Canyon in their eyes right now, two guys who will have no one writing about how poor their decision was (regardless of how bad the shot may appear), and you choose to shoot the ball, likely because "you're a shooter" or some other weak argument like that.  Everyone else on the court has one role at this point in the game, get the hot man open and get him the ball.  Unfortunately, THAT guy continually fails at this, bringing me both amusement and confusion in the same moment.
So really...what was THAT guy thinking ? 

Starbury is Back! Kinda...

It's nice to see that Stephon Marbury has landed back on his feet after no team in the NBA wanted to deal with his shenanigans which was not limited to his eating of Vaseline, getting into a car accident on camera, and crying on his video blog. But yesterday Marbury displayed signs of an impending comeback as he was named MVP of the Chinese Basketball Association All-Star Game where he scored 30 points and threw 10 assists. In the 15 games he has had with the Shanxi Zhongyu Kylins he also set a CBA record by averaging 9.6 assists, even though his team didn't make the playoffs. (USA Today)

Overtime Overhaul

The NFL passed a proposal today to change the overtime rules during the post-season. The rule change will make sure that the game does not only come down to just the luck of a coin toss and a field goal in a playoff game anymore. Now the team that wins the coin toss will be required to either score a touchdown to win the game or kick a field goal and risk the other team either matching them or winning the game with a touchdown. It seems like the NFL didn't like their favorite son, Brett Favre, losing the way he did to the Saints in overtime and decided to do something about it.

It's nice that the NFL finally decided to join the rest of the sporting world in this century. But to me, it seems like they didn't do enough. They fixed the overtime rule for the playoffs but strangely not the regular season... Hopefully this will be taken care of when they meet again in May.You can read more about the overtime change here. (ESPN)

Underdogs or Underrated?

All the buzz this year around March Madness has been centered around the major upsets that have happened thus far and the effects that they have had on not only brackets but the increased enthusiasm and interest surrounding this already volatile tournament.

There are some teams that we just expect to be the best, conferences that we presume will dominate year after year, and traditional programs that have a long standing history of success in the month of March. But, the more that this year plays itself out the clearer it becomes that mid-major programs aren't as "mid" as we thought they were and the strength of conference argument that we so easily buy into isn't as strong as we thought either.

At first I was of the belief that it was merely a matter of the Any Given Sunday syndrome in which teams could have their one good day on the court and we would be able to see David vs. Goliath level triumphs. But as basketball has evolved its becoming clear that David has grown a bit and Goliath doesn't tower over him as much as he has in previous years.

The only question for me now is, does this year's madness make a case for or against a tournament expansion?

Top 5 Upsets From Rounds 1 and 2

The more things change, the more they stay the same. After all four #1 seeds went to the Final Four for the first time ever, we emerge from the first weekend of this year's March Madness sans the number one team in the country. So, as we toast the end of Sherron Collins' decorated NCAA career (and hear his draft stock plummet off a cliff), here are your top 5 most shocking upsets in case you missed them:

One Shining Moment is Not About Your Bracket

Personally, I find brackets and people's obsession with them to be the most annoying thing about the NCAA tournament.  It's a celebration of the game, its greatness, and the beauty of it.  It's a celebration of contrasting play styles , of contrasting coaching styles, and of contrasting fan bases.  It's a coronation of superstars, it's a coming out party for the unknown workhorse of a good team no one ever sees. It's about the underdog rising to things they never once dreamed of and about watching the favorites rise to the expectations of the nation.  It is not, however, about one's 15 minute attempt to predict the actions of 18-22 year old kids in an effort to show their superior sports "knowledge".
I greatly appreciated the fans assembled in San Jose for the NCAA tournament who showed a complete appreciation for the greatness of the performances of underdogs.  There were no misplaced boos of bracket sadness as Ali Farokhmanesh put the gutsy dagger in during the most spectacular upset in recent tournament history.  There was no happiness when Villanova finally defeated the upstart Robert Morris.  There was nothing but happiness as Omar Samhan's dominating performance sent home one of my personal Final Four teams.
I understand that this whole bracket madness opens up the game to more people and at least to some small extent gets non-fans engaged in the game.  I understand that some people actually are making well-reasoned selections.  I further understand that the NCAA tournament and its one and done format is particularly well-suited to such a competition.  Unfortunately, that still means nothing to me.  This bracket madness is a blight on the game which I sadly think is here to stay.  The tournament is about the game and everything else is just, well, madness to me.
I've forever been annoyed by people who, for instance, down the stretch of a nearly unprecedented (4 times so) Robert Morris over Villanova win are running around screaming..."Oh noes...my brackets!"  Guess what...no one cares about your bracket.  It doesn't matter.  The ONLY time that I'm ok with someone being upset about their bracket is win they're upset about something that isn't chalk.  You picked the 2 over the 15, really ?  I'm surprised.  That makes you neither special nor a basketball genius.  It simply means you realize that 2 is a higher seed than 15.  Embrace history, embrace the spectacular, for THAT is what the tournament is about.  One Shining Moment is about the players, the teams, and the coaches...not about your bracket.

Bracket Busted.

Well I for one will probably think twice about doing a bracket next year. I mean is there even a point anymore? Was there ever? It might just be more fun to go without a bracket so I can root for the underdog in Ohio over Georgetown without being worried how that will affect my Sweet Sixteen. Not having a bracket might just make the tournament more enjoyable...

Some Things Never Change..

It's good to know that even in the face of the drama and unpredictability of March Madness, there are still some things that we can count on: taxes and the continuing losing habits of the New Jersey Nets. I don't know if it is more fun to see them lose because (my former team) the Philadelphia 76ers currently hold the record for having the worst season ever or that it's just nice to have something to rely on in basketball. I bet Vince Carter the happiest person in this situation as he jumped from that sinking ship into an apparently rising one in the Orlando Magic. Probably the smartest career move he's ever made.

Chris Sheridan recently did a piece for Truehoop on the Nets' 62nd loss which really represented a microcosm of their season to date. You can read it here.

My, How the Mighty Have Fallen...

Well there's goes everybody's favorite pick to win the National Championship as Kansas goes down to a spiry Northern Iowa team. As Ali Farokhmanesh drained a three in the last minute, tilted his head back, and roared to the heavens, you could almost feel the landscape of the NCAA Tournament shifting under your feet.

Apparently the idea that there are a couple dominating conferences that were going to run all over the tournament were slightly over-exaggerated to say the least. The Pac-10 and the West Coast Conference have gone 6-0 going into today's games and after seeing the "inferior" talent in those bunches during the season, I don't think anyone predicted that. There were some who stated that no Pac-10 team should have been allowed in the tournament in the first place, and that the so-called "mid-major" conferences would eventually become overwhelmed by the level of talent of their more highly regarded foes. Guess that assumption was wrong...

And what happened to the supposed juggernauts in the Big East and Big 12. I mean I for one assumed (incorrectly) that once these scrappy, battle-tested Big East teams faced the rest of the nation, there would be no way that the other squads could match the play that was shown throughout the regular season. And I also made the assumption that Kansas's combination of talent and experience would just bully teams as they steamrolled their way to the Finals but that also was not meant to be.

Along the same lines, I don't know how any could continue the argument that there is nor parity in Men's college basketball as we have seen favorites like Georgetown, Kansas, and Villanova twice (as they could have easily lost to Robert Morris) get outplayed by supposedly weaker opponents. And I don't really buy the notion that this is just some sort of fluke because this is the principle that these one and done games are based upon.

Each of these games are the Superbowl for these teams, one loss and someone is watching the next game from their living room without a chance to bring the title back to their schools. You don't need to be better than the other team in terms of talent, you just need to outplay them in one game. And that's the magic that it March Madness. When the tournament expands (as it is probably going to after this year) we may have even more of these types of stories, and I for one cannot wait. For now I'll turn my support to Kentucky as it seems that they are the real deal with blowout wins in their first two games, but as we have seen through the first few days of the tournament, you never know.

P.S. Can someone tell me how Texas went from number one in the nation to getting bounced out the first round by another underachiever in Wake Forrest... just asking.

So the Big East isn't "packing"

All this talk about the Big East this and the Big East that and what have we seen from them today, maybe mid-major basketball at best. As mentioned before Georgetown was handled by Ohio. Side note about Ohio, they went 7-9 in their conference. Georgetown just made it to the Big East Championship game. Looks like I should not place such a high value on the big east tournament and instead should give more credit to MAC.
Then there was Notre Dame, who all week had to listen to people warn them about the challenge that was ODU. (SHOUT OUT TO ODU THE HOMETOWN TEAM) What happened, Notre Dame's best player had 4 pts (All worthless and within the last minute of the game).
Then sharpshooting Marquette lost to Washington. Now I love the Pac 10, because I went to Stanford, but Washington! This team won its conference tournament and was still an 11 seed (mid-major territory).
And even though they didn't lose Villanova should be the most embarrassed. OT versus a Robert Morris team that to be honest should have beaten them. Maybe its time for the Big East to change its name to the Little East. I will give them another shot tomorrow with WVU, Pitt, Syracuse (minus Onuaku), and Louisville, but I have very little confidence in them.

Dear NCAA- I'm Done With You

So I am officially throwing away my entire bracket. After a hours of scratching my head and trying to come up with a quality bracket based on what I THOUGHT were solid well-rounded teams, the first day of March Madness has me standing looking at my TV thinking what the fluff just happened here.

Now, I'm all for the underdog and live by the Any Given Sunday mentality, but I also like winning and right now that's looking highly unlikely.

If case you were sleeping under a rock, let's recap the tomfoolery that happened on the hardwood tonight.

• Murray State (13) beat Vanderbilt(4) with a buzzer beater
• Villanova (2) squeaks by Robert Morris (15) in overtime
• BYU (7) and Florida (10) go into double overtime with BYU coming out on to

And the one that has really shocked many college basketball fanatics

• Ohio (14) soundly and succinctly laid the smack down on a dumbfounded Georgetown (3) with a 97 - 83 victory. At one point they even had a 19 point lead over the Hoyos.

Now I'm sitting her watching Washington (11) vs. Marquette game (6) and I honestly have no idea how this is going to turn out with 5 minutes left on the clock. And even if I had a prediction I wouldn't speak it into existence because it would probably be wrong. So thank you NCAA for reminding me of all the reason why I hate to love and love to hate March Madness.

Not Making the Grade: Declining Graduation Rates in College Basketball

Sometimes it is hard to remember, especially in the thrill of March Madness, that we are not only watching basketball players, we are watching student-athletes. Only a small percentage of these people will actually make it into the NBA, its probably more important for people to focus on the ones that don't.

Richard Lapchick recently wrote an article outlining the disparity between women's and men's college basketball teams' graduation rates as well as the more startling disparity between the graduation rates of Whites and Blacks college basketball athletes. It seems that the priorities of both the coaches and the administrators that handle these men and women are not properly focused toward the right goals.

A link to Henry Abbott's article commenting on the issue for True Hoop is provided here and to see the original article about the research done by Richard Lapchick, you can go here.

Pope Thrown Out For Low Blow..

Sorry, its a slow news day and frankly this was a funny headline...(Sporting News)

Tiger to Return at Augusta

Tiger Woods released this statement today:

"The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I'm ready to start my season at Augusta," Woods said in a statement.

"The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional; I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it's been a while since I last played."

The Latest in Agassi vs. Sampras

Last Friday, what started out as a charity doubles match between legends Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras turned into a game of the dozens. First, Sampras, who was teamed with Roger Federer, decided to make fun of Agassi’s pigeon-toed “duck walk”.  Agassi, teamed with Rafael Nadal, responded to the jest with a claim that he first mentioned in his tell all book (in addition to some other things including Crystal Meth use): the fact that Sampras is reportedly cheap in his tipping of just about anyone. The retort came in the form of a high, hard serve that forced Agassi to duck. Needless to say this exchange went back and forth for a while as both players were mic’d up for the event.

Agassi spoke with ESPN’s Rick Reilly stating that he was “out of line” and apologized for his comments during the event. (ESPN)

Think Conference Tournaments Don't Mean Much...

People have talked a lot about how conference tournaments don't matter. If they watched any of the games this week, I believe they will change their minds. In each tournament every champion at some point had to claw, scratch and fight their way to the title. In the Big East, West Virginia went to the last second in each of their 3 games. Their best player Butler to travel to get the last shot off against Georgetown. Even more shocking WVU coach Bobby Huggins was damn near in tears after the victory! Tell me that title didn't mean something to that man. In the Big Ten, POTY Evan Turner had to hit a 40 footer then in the next game survive double overtime with his team on his back to win the title. Ask him if he would rather be well rested for the big dance or be a Big Ten title holder. If you are reading this blog I am sure that you saw Demarcus Cousins' last second tap in to send Kentucky to overtime against MSU in the SEC championship game. And the MASSIVE celebration that followed OMG you would have thought the game was over. This celebration from a team picked to possibly win the national championship! Finally the Duke Blue Devils and the ACC Tournament. In a tournament where every other team within the top 5 of the conference was at home, Coach K was as fired up as ever before. Duke has actually won 9 of the last 12 ACC tournaments. O and did I mention that overall number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament Kansas took care of business in the Big 12 title game beating Kansas State 3 times in one year! And you say it doesn't matter, that my friends is a laugher

Breaking News: ACC top Seeds Missing

2, 3, AND 4 are all out of the ACC Tournament. If it were not for the Duke Blue Devils and the PAC 10 Tournament the ACC tournament would be the least cared about tournament this post season.

Number 1 seeded Duke was able to hold off a valiant effort by a Landesbergless UVA team with the help of a clutch second half from Kyle Singler. For much of the game, however, the Blue Devils were sloppy and looked as if they would be leaving Greensboro empty handed. But in the tournament all that matters is surviving and advancing and that is exactly what Duke was able to do unlike the others.

Second seeded Maryland and their unruly fans can now return to College Park as the Terrapins lost to the 7th seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. GT was in desperate need of that victory in order to remove themselves from the bubble and put them into tournament. ACC Player of the Year (cough wrong decision) Vasquez had an atrocious game and was fittingly stripped of the ball as he went for the game tying three pointer.

Third seeded Florida State did not play much better than Maryland and because of that they went down to NC State. NC State the 11th seed won only 5 games during all of the ACC regular season, but has now won back to back games ACC games. After this HORRIBLE loss Florida State is now going to have to take a seat back on the bubble. Worst of all, us tourney viewers must now see that God awful red jacket of Sidney Lowe again.

Finally, fourth seeded Virginia Tech collapsed late in their game. As a Virginian I hoped for a much better performance out of the Hokies, but it was not to be as they lost to 12th seeded Miami for the second time this season. Now the perennial bubble team will have to sit and wait once again to find out their tournament fate.

Tomorrow's Semifinals

1 Duke vs 12 Miami and 7 Georgia Tech vs 11 N.C. State

Lucky for scalpers they still have 2 state schools in the field or else they would be taking an L on those tickets.

A Merciful End to the Season for the Legends

Conference Tournaments are far from over and Selection Sunday is more than 36 hours away, yet for some LEGENDARY programs the season has come to an end. What programs am I speaking of you ask? The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Tarheels, The University of Arizona Wildcats, the University of California Los Angeles Bruins and the Indiana University Hoosiers.

UNC - For UNC, the season started with very high expectations and wins over some top programs (i.e. Michigan State and Ohio State) had people claiming that the tarheels had reloaded and would find themselves back in the Final Four. However, the Tarheels finished the season losing 13 of their last 18 games to finish the season 16-16. One of those losses was an astounding 32 point loss to Duke that was UNC's second worst loss ever to Duke.

Arizona - Arizona has struggled a ton over the last 5 years. Coaching issues have caused many of their problems. The departure of legendary coach Lute Olsen and the drama that followed could not have helped recruiting. While the Wildcats were able to finish the PAC-10 season above .500, in a down year that doesn't mean much. What does matter is their 16-15 final record on the season.

UCLA - The Bruins ended last season escaping a last second shot by the VCU rams. If they played this year the Rams would probably run away with that contest. The season ended with the Bruins finishing 14-18, losers of 7 of their last 10. To be honest I am not really sure what is going on with them, but I will say that they are having another rebuilding stage.

Indiana - Lord have mercy on that program. Indiana has been up and down since Bob Knight was at the helm. One year they somehow made it to the NCAA Final versus Maryland. When Kelvin Sampson took over the job, it looked like their savior had arrived and they would make regular trips to the final four. Little did we know many NCAA violations would soon follow. In the last 2 seasons the Hoosiers have been able to muster 16 wins. This season ending better than the last with a 10-21 final record. Once the sanctions are removed Indiana is sure to bounce back... or at least we hope.

One thing this season has taught us is that while being at the top is tough, remaining at the top is even tougher.

Let me introduce you to the POTY Evan Turner

All year in college basketball the focus has been on John Wall. As a Kentucky fan I must say he has lived up to the expectations. HOWEVER, there is this other guy that has been ballin this year and if you are only a casual college basketball viewer you have probably missed out. His name is Evan Turner. Don't know who he is, check out ESPN tonight you may see his 40 foot buzzer beater about 20 or 30 times tonight.

Those of us that are die hard college watchers knew that he was the truth earlier in the year. He averaged nearly 20 points per game in the first month of the season. Then coming down from a dunk he fell and fractured bones in his back (aka he broke his back!). Luckily, Evan was able to recover and return 1 month earlier than expected. If that wasn't enough for you? Well just games after returning, he put Ohio State on his back and dropped 32 points against a Purdue team that was in the top 3 in the nation.

Since returning OSU has only lost 3 of its last 18 games and won the Big Ten regular season. Compare that to the 3 losses in 6 games that Evan Turner sat out. For you that think that I am just drinking the cool-aid, let me tell you that I am a HUGE Michigan football fan so for me to give a Buckeye credit means A LOT. Just in case you thought I lied in the title of this article you should know Evan Turner has already won the Big Ten Player of the year as well as the Sporting News player of the Year and SHOULD and hopefully will win every other player of the year award.

No Ceilings, No Floors

The free agency period has been a active one but not as busy as some would expect considering the lack of a salary cap for the upcoming season. One would assume that without a salary cap everybody would just begin spending as much as they wanted without regard to price as long as the owner could front the money. 


Instead it seems that a majority of the NFL is looking ahead and cleaning up their cap space in anticipation of the eventual return of a cap. Which brings up one of the little talked about aspects factored into this uncapped year: in addition to their being no ceiling limiting the amount of cap space for a team, there is also no minimum that the teams must meet. Going into this season we may see a trend of non-contending teams cutting some of their older players in favor of saving some money in the long run and getting younger. That is not to say that the free agent season has been lacking in action for teams trying to win now. So far we have had 35 players resign with their team, 35 players sign with a new team, and 7 trades.


At the end of this free agent period I'll come back and give you guys a breakdown of the most prominent moves of each of the 30 NFL teams as well as what direction each organizations seems to be headed in.


Here are the most significant players left on the market:
QBs: Jake Delhomme, Derek Anderson, Troy Smith (RFA) and Dante Culpepper
RBs: LaDainian Tomilson, Brian Westbrook, Leon Washington(RFA), Pierre Thomas(RFA), Willie Parker, Jerious Norwood (RFA)
WRs: Terrell Owens, Josh Reed, Steve Breaston(RFA), Brandon Marshall,
TEs: Randy Mcmichael, Alge Crumpler, L.J. Smith
OTs: Jared Gaither (RFA), Mike Gandy, Chester Pitts
DE: Paul Spicer, Derrick Burgess, Adewale Ogunleye, Tyler Brayton, Charles Grant, Ray Edwards
DT: Dwan Edwards, Jimmy Kennedy, Cory Redding, Alfonso Boone
LB: Keith Bullick, Jason Taylor, Antonio Pierce, Larry Foote, Joey Porter, Pina Tinoisamoa Elvis Dummervil
CB: Dre Bly, Deshea Townsend, Rod Hood, Phillip Buchanon
S: Darren Sharper, Roy Williams, Jermaine Phillips, Gerald Sensabaugh

Either Love Him or Leave Him Alone

It’s always interesting to me that when a player gets beyond a certain age or beyond a certain amount of worth to the media they seem to take off the gloves and offer what they think is “harsh reality”. In this case I’m specifically talking about Allen Iverson and the recent troubles that he has been having with his family. Now while even I wondered about the happenings behind the scenes in the Iverson story, I believe that his personal issues are his to deal with. It is one thing to reach out and offer help to someone who is struggling and in need of some advice but it is another to air that person’s troubles out for all to see and judge. It seems that there is at least one NBA player that agrees with this idea as shown here and to read Stephen A Smith’s original article, click here.

Do You Hear that?... It's the Sound of Bubbles Bursting

First off, shout out to the STANFORD CARDINAL (and Emmanuel with a career high) for beating number 2 seed Arizona State in the PAC 10 tournament and most likely killing ASU's NCAA hopes. They should not feel alone, however, as a number of other teams saw their dreams come to an end. Wake Forest was DESTROYED by a less than stellar Miami team and can now prepare for the NIT. Memphis dropped from its perch as Conference USA royalty and most likely out of the tournament after losing to bottom dweller Houston. Clemson also fell to NC State and their horribly clad coach and have tanked to finish the season once again. And as sad as it was for everyone to watch Cincinati's hopes of making the tournament dribbled out of bounds when Dixon fumbled the ball and Butler put in a 3 pointer off the glass as the clock expired.

Superman’s Not Looking So Super Anymore

The NFL has recently released the scores for the Wonderlic and Tim Tebow is not at the top of the class. Tebow scored 22 out of 50 while fellow draft QBs Sam Bradford of Oklahoma (36), Colt McCoy of Texas (25) and Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame (23) scored higher than Tebow and are ranked higher than Tebow on almost every draft board. How much does this really matter? Probably not at all as there are plently of successful QBs that didn’t perform well on the test (Dan Marino comes to mind), but this is just another knock against one of the most successful college quarterbacks of all time. Palm Beach Post

Fastest Woman in the WNBA?

The former Detroit Shock, now Tulsa Shock announced the signing of former gold medalist, and recently disgraced sprinter Marion Jones coming off of a recent six month stint in prison for lying to the feds about her illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs and her role in a scam involving check fraud. You have to wonder why would a team really sign a woman who hasn’t played really competitive basketball in 16 years (starting point guard on NCAA champion UNC in 1994) and had her peak at the Sidney Olympics a decade ago? Seems like a publicity stunt to me… No disrespect but, for some reason, I still feel like people aren’t gonna watch.  Yahoo

Big East Tournament Upset Alert!

THE CURSE OF THE DOUBLE BYE

Former number 1 team Syracuse has now lost 2 in a row for the first time all year. After losing to Louisville in their stadiums final game the Cuse followed that performance up with a lost to spirited Georgetown team. If you missed this game because of work you need to be on ESPN 360. A 19-2 run in the second half helped Georgetown get back in the game and take a lead. Have teams found the vulnerability in the Cuse 2-3 zone and their short bench (Only play 7 players). Did I mention Onuaku went down with a knee injury. This could spell trouble. As I hype this up as a huge upset I must remind people that Georgetown is the number 22 team in the country and has beaten a number of good teams including a blowout of Duke in DC.

Just now Number 4 seed Villanova also bit the dust. Top seeds are falling like flies in the qtr finals of the big east tournament. Georgetown and Marquette in the first Big East Semi-Final tomorrow night. Not many people saw that one coming.

The dream matchups that people have been waiting for all weej are not going to happen. Number 15 and number 3 seed Pitt becoming the third top seeded victim of the day falling to Notre Dame. Notre Dame is now off the bubble and the Big East tournament is now shot. Georgetown, Marquette and Notre Dame have crashed the party. Maybe the double bye is cursed. In the last 2 years teams with double byes have gone 2-5. I would be surprised to see it make another appearance next year.

Only number 2 seed WVU has a chance to make it through.

Bay Hill Has a Tiger On the Prowl

ESPN reports that Tiger Woods may be slated to make his return to golf at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. The PGA will probably do its best to halt the wave of media that will be impeding upon the tournament proceedings in an attempt to protect their cash cow. I personally expect a lot of female hecklers getting kicked out at this event but perhaps that’s a little too much hope for excitement from a golf tournament.  This return is not much of a surprise as Woods holds much respect for Arnold Palmer and has won at the Bay Hill course six times before. This will probably be preparation for a run at the Masters. (ESPN)


Note: Now reports are conflicted as to whether Tiger will play at Bay Hill or just make his comeback at the Masters.

GTHC (Go To Hell Carolina)

As a Dukie, Go to Hell Carolina Go to Hell is a chant that you say at almost ever sporting event and this Saturday when Duke beat UNC by 32 points was no different. As the Cameron Crazies chanted this feverishly, I asked myself, are they already there? Just one year after winning the national championship the UNC tarheels are the 10th seed in the ACC tournament (a weak conference this year) and are holding onto hopes of making the NIT. If they were to lose in the first round of the ACC tournament they would finish the season at .500. So you be the judge.

Now Begins the Madness!!

It was an exciting weekend in the college basketball world as we transitioned from the final week of the regular season into "Championship Week". We are starting to get a sense of what the tournament field may look like as teams jockey for position, evaluate their standings and prepare to make that last push in hope of achieving success in their conference tournaments.

Three of the one seeds look like their locked up as Kansas, Kentucky, and even in lieu of their loss to Louisville, Syracuse are basic shoe-ins to get the top distinction.The race for the fourth spot is still on in my opinion though many commentators seem to believe that Duke has it completely locked up. It seems that if Ohio State, West Virginia, Kansas State, or Purdue makes a run in their conference tournaments or if Duke loses focus and takes an early exit in the ACC tournament people may be singing a different tune.

As for the teams that had something to prove this weekend, I believe there may have been a big shake up on the bubble. With the hard pushes of Arizona State and Washington, the Pac-10 is looking to have a revival and hopefully get more than one team (Cal) into the Big Dance. Hopefully one or both of those teams can go deep in the Pac-10 tournament to prove that they are deserving of the nod. Louisville has also decided that it was going to go out fighting as Rick Pitino and his boys prepare to make their last stand through a run in the Big East tournament. Memphis also played its way into a firm spot inside the bubble with their victory over UAB and Tulsa. Illinois on the other hand is trending in the wrong direction and look to be playing themselves out of the tournament. Unless they can right the ship in the Big Ten tournament they may be on the outside looking in.

My Top Five:
1. Kansas
2. Syracuse
3. Kentucky
4. Ohio State
5. Duke
With a purposeful slight to the much hated Blue Devils though kudos to their embarrassment of their baby blue rivals as they slaughtered North Carolina on Coach K court.

For a quick breakdown of the implications of the major conference tournaments this week, I suggest you guys check out Thayer Evans' New York Times article as there is still a lot to be decided  as to who the 65 teams in the Tournament will be and where they will end up in the brackets.

March Madness begins NOW!

Rumor Write Up: Vick to Panthers? And Tiger Woods Makes His Return to Swinging!

I decided through inspiration from Dan Patrick to participate in a little irresponsible journalism and present some slightly misleading headlines in this Rumor Write Up Wednesday but both are true.  Tiger Woods was recently spotting hitting on the course in Orlando and his PGA Tour colleague, Charles Howell, reports that he looks good. Perhaps we shall see a return by the world’s best golfer to the sport for the Masters even.

Another big story involving Tiger is the creation of a new iPhone application that is actually cheater-friendly. It’s called TigerMail and it actually allows the user to send text messages that will “dissolve” from the receiver’s screen within 30 seconds of receiving and viewing it. Almost like the self destructing note in the old Inspector Gadget cartoons. The program designer guarantees that any text sent through the app cannot be saved or printed. So for all the smarmy people out there looking for a way to efficiently carry on with their smarmy activities in these dangerous times, now you know that there is someone looking out for your interests.

And Michael Vick on Gangsta Grillz radio, Hot 107.9 FM, said that if he had the choice he would play for the Panthers “If I could play for any team in the league, it would probably be two teams. But if I had to be one, it would probably be the Carolina Panthers” He said that he liked the Panthers for three reasons: it’s close to home, he would get to play against Atlanta, his former team, twice a year, and he likes the uniforms. Not usually the most conventional reasons, but hey they do need a QB. More than likely though, Vick will either stay with the Eagles or get traded by the Eagles to fill other needs.

Finally can somebody check the lost and found at the Olympics in Vancouver as Sidney Crosby’s game winning stick and gloves from the gold medal game have strangely gone missing... For some reason I don’t think they’re getting that back…

Stuff Sports People Like... And Dislike

In honor of the end of the Winter Olympics I decided that I wanted to give out medals of my own to the top 3 and bottom 3 sport's habits of the Every Day sports watcher. These conventions are commonly seen at any big sporting event party (Superbowl, draft day, pairs figure skating viewing party..etc.) and can either create a conversation that brings casual sports fans together in conversational synergy or annoy the H-E-double American hockey sticks out of somebody causing he or she to leave the room, down a case of beers, and return challenging his or her foe to a battle to death. (or maybe just the first part)

So without further ado, I present to you all (cue dramatic Olympics music), The Best and Worst of the Sports World and their medals (in reverse order):

Top:


The Scotty "I swear it's not what you think" Lago Bronze Medal : Fantasy Sports
First of all, for most of us it's the only time in most of our lives that we can pretend like we are the owners of our own team in our favorite sport. Also we get to accomplish a dream and draft the people that we love to watch onto a team that we are sure (at least at the beginning of the season) are going to run over and through the other teams. And the trash talking and bragging rights will enhance any sports season amongst friends. Sometimes the best thing to do is to pick a sport that no one knows and usually goes unwatched (baseball, hockey, golf) and then start a fantasy league of it. This way you can get to know the players and the game as the season goes along.

The US Men's Hockey "Guttiest 2nd place finish I've ever seen" Silver Medal: Drafting Anything
It seems like a theme of most good sports activities center around the ability to pick a group and then back them against any other group. You can basically hold a draft for anything. Maybe you and a friend decide to draft "mixed drinks". With the first pick, I would take a margarita. Then you're friend takes the Long Island so you know you have to counter such a knockout blow of a pick by picking an Adios mother****** (basically a Long Island with Blue Curacao instead of coke for you non-West Coastians. See how this could work for just about anything. Easily the best way to waste a hour if you have the time.

The Shaun White "Oh you mean I was competing with other people" Gold Medal: Odds Making
This one gets top billing because you can bet on the odds of something situationally. 10 to 1 odds the Celtics get booted in the first round of the playoffs, 1000 to 1 that the US wins the World Cup, Over/Under 200 for the number of times a day Tiger must say sorry to his wife so he doesn't get hit again. You could go for days with the different possibilities and unlike the other two require little time commitment.

Now we get to the Bottom:


The Apollo Ohno "Quantity over Quality" Bronze Medal: Yelling at the TV screen
You know that guy, you hate that guy, and if you are that guy you should know that no one likes you... OK so that was a little harsh but seriously why would you yell at the screen as if someone`s going to change their strategy just because you said so. All yelling at the screen is good for is making people mad when they miss some key stat or joke when they can't hear the announcers speaking. The coach can't hear you and even if they could why would they listen?

The Yevgeny Plushenko "Whine-a-thon" Silver/Platinum Medal: Annoying Sports Phrases
Am I the only one that really hates every time some TV or radio commentator talks about someone's length or when everyone referencing draft prospects refer to their upside or unmeasurables?? I understand that it is impossible to just use stats to quantify a player's worth but that does not mean that you can make up criteria to somehow account for that.
Jersey Shore Sidenote: Can we just take a minute to pay homage to three of the greatest man phrases ever to come out of a show: the Situation as in " I think we have a Situation", The Robbery, and The Grenade.....and now back to the article

The Women's "Highway Robbery" short track Gold Medal: Comparing Stars to Legends
(The South Koreans really got jobbed in this one and by the same ref that screwed them in favor of Apolo Ohno in 2002...)
I hate any conversation that leads to someone comparing one of today's stars i.e. Lebron, Kobe, Wade to the Legends of yesteryear i.e. Jordan, Bird, Magic, Russell. There will never be another one of these transcendent players. There just won't. There may be other people that join them on the pedestal but I am tired of people suggesting that anyone will ever replace these players in our minds. It's just as bad in Football when people try and compare the best QBs or running backs to those of the past. It's impossible. The game is not the same therefore you could never fairly compare different eras so just stop. Please.