Eddie Griffin is a Douche

Eddie Griffin crashed a rare Ferrari Enzo worth $1.5 million into a concrete barrier while practicing at a racetrack Monday, destroying the car but escaping uninjured.




The comedian was practicing for a charity race to promote his upcoming film, "Redline," when he drove too fast around a curve at the Irwindale Speedway.

"Undercover Brother's good at karate and all the rest of that, but the brother can't drive," Griffin said after the accident.

The Enzo, valued at around $1.5 million, was owned by the executive producer of "Redline," Daniel Sadek, whose exotic car collection is featured in the movie.

Sadek said that the car was damaged beyond repair and that he had "mixed feelings" about the wreck.

"I'm glad Eddie came out of the crash OK, but my dream car got destroyed," Sadek said. "I went to my trailer for about 15 minutes and I thought, there's people dying every day. A lot of worse things are happening in the world."

Only 400 Ferrari Enzos were ever produced, all between 2002 and 2004.

Garbajosa Injury

SCZA saw this live. Doesn't look too bad after the initial injury but notice the player who encourages Garbajosa to lie back so as not to look at it, then covers the injured ankle with a towel.

Rasheed's Buzzer Beater

With Denver up 3 and almost no time left all the Nuggets had to do was inbound the ball. Instead Rasheed Wallace stole the pass and did this...




Pistons won in overtime.

Munchies for Matzah

Marijuana may not be kosher for Passover, an Israeli group said. The Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday that Aleh Yarok, or the Green Leaf Party, sent a message to followers warning them that marijuana, made from hemp, could be considered kitniyot and therefore forbidden to Ashkenazim on the holiday. Kitniyot is a custom adopted by Ashkenazim that extends the Passover food ban to legumes, but Sephardim do consume kitniyot over the holiday.

"We are considering announcing a ban on everything containing hemp just to be on the safe side," party spokeswoman Michelle Levine told the Post. "We are going with the rabbis on this. People should remove all cannabis and hemp from their homes."

Proud Papa

Peyton's Shining Moment

The Manning skit from SNL that jusTON recommended.





REPORTED ON THE INTERNET:
During the dress rehearsal of Peyton's monologue, Amy Poehler was dressed in a Patriots jersey and heckled Peyton, saying "What does Tom Brady and the Circus have in common? They both have two more rings than you."

Peyton stared right back and said, "That's not the ONLY thing he'll have two more of....."


This didn't make the final cut probably because it never happened. I do not trust internet posters.

Funny Name

This name isn't funny in the Matt Haryasz or Chris Porn kinda way, it just kind of awkward.

So Close

Thanks to Rutgers' surprising (to everyone but me) run to the Final Four I ascended to 716th in ESPN's Women's Tournament challenge, out of about 140,000 entries. But thanks to LSU's ass kicking of UConn, but my final game teams are out, and my run ends here.
It was fun while it lasted.
Now I will be rooting for Rutgers to win it all. I strongly encourage all Poopheads to watch Rutgers-LSU on Sunday.

Bad Car Accident

Duaner Sanchez who injured his shoulder in a freak car accident last July, leading to the Oliver Perez trade, is probably going to have another surgery on his shoulder.
He has hairline fracture in the front of his right shoulder and likely will be out until at least August.
The fracture is of the coracoid bone, which is a small bone in the front of the shoulder to which two tendons and a ligament are attached.
The surgery for Sanchez's type of injury involves securing the fracture with a screw in the shoulder.
If Sanchez has surgery, he will be able to resume his rehab six-to-eight weeks after. He may also consider rest to see if it heals on its own.
When told Sanchez is out til August, closer Billy Wagner turned to Aaron Heilman, who will likely assume role of primary setup man, and said: "guess that means Aaron you've got three innings and I've got one."
Heilman said the whole Mets bullpen will have to pull together, just like last year.


If the Mets can weather the storm and stay .500 or better into July they will get back Pedro and Sanchez which would be a huge boost to their playoff run.

Stories People Want to Read

SCZA raising an interesting point in his post about Lastings Milledge's love for the Rocky movies.
He asks why do newspapers save cool nuggets like this for their blogs, and print the same boring game stories in their papers.
The reason is a simple generational gap. The old time sports fan, as epitomized by Mike and the Mad Dog, doesn't care about the athletes. They just want to watch the games and want the players to be quiet and not have any personality. Mad Dog literally said the words "I don't care what Greg Oden or some 19 year old college kid has to say."
But the younger generation, the one that reads blogs and uses the internet, finds a peek into a player's personal life and personality to be interesting.
It's why Sports Illustrated changed the front of their magazine to feature more of their SI Players -- which has interviews with players, workouts, views on pop culture, etc.
It's why the younger generation enjoys the antics of guys like Chad Johnson.
It's why the younger generation liked when Lastings Milledge high fived the fans after a game tying home run, and the older generation rolled over in their graves.

This is an issue I think a lot about because I consider myself an old school fan who likes the games first and foremost, but I also like to learn about the players who play them.

He Did What?

Pizza Parlor Derek is taking guesses on what he did for the first time this weekend.
I think he has had sex before, even though he may not be able to remember back that far.
I don't think he would ever root for Georgetown.
And I don't think he carries a spare tire in his car so if he got a flat he'd have to call Triple A or PPKA.
So that leaves only one thing.
PPD bought a Carrie Underwood CD.

Mets Idol

The Mets are holding and Idol like competition with the winner singing the National Anthem at a future Mets game.
The first 100 people on line will get free tickets.
I expect Greco to be camped out ready to sing "Fly Me To The Moon."

The Wright Song

David Wright has officially taken his search for new entrance music to the fans.
Now you can officially cast your vote. They have about 20 - 25 choices and I of course will be voting for last week's SOTW, "Welcome to the Black Parade."

Mascot Dies

A 21-year-old University of North Carolina student who served as a mascot for the school's basketball team died Monday, three days after he was hit by an SUV while walking along a highway.
Jason Ray, who dressed up as UNC's ram mascot, Rameses, had been in critical condition since the accident on Route 4 Friday afternoon. He had been in New Jersey for the NCAA tournament at Continental Airlines Arena.
According to police, Ray left his hotel to go to a nearby convenience store Friday afternoon, and was walking back along Route 4 when he was struck from behind by an SUV. The driver stopped immediately to call 911. No charges have been filed.
Police said Gagik Hovsepyan, 51, the driver who hit Ray, had a valid driver's license and did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. His son was asleep in the SUV at the time, police said.

They were staying at the Hilton in Fort Lee which is right by the GW bridge which I pass everyday on my way to work. There is a convenience store, and a cheap beer place right near there, but there is a small stretch where there is no sidewalk and no shoulder. I can only imagine that is where the accident occurred.

Memories

When their photographer's camera was stolen shortly after they exchanged vows, Karen and Tory Nordlinder figured they'd never have keepsakes of their wedding day.
This week, they got a pleasant surprise when the camera turned up in a vacant lot near a lake, a year after it disappeared.
The lot's owner, Leslie Mason, said that her son was cutting down trees and spotted the camera. Inside was contact information for the photographer, Charles Boesen, Mason said.
When he got it back, Boesen plugged the camera's memory card into his computer and the photos appeared instantly. "My reaction, I almost cried," Boesen said. "I'm thinking,this bride is going to be so overjoyed when she finds out."
"There's no telling how long that camera was down here," he said. "What's amazing is how those pictures survived the elements -- the rain, the snow, the freezing temperatures, right alongside the lake."
Karen Nordlinder said she couldn't express how happy she was to see the photos.
"We just thought, 'Oh well, we've got our memories,"' she said. "This is just something I never thought we'd see. Ever."

Will They Ever Learn?

Just got a disturbing text message from Michael.
He was bragging about his perfect weekend in Tournament Challenge. True Michael did get these 12 games all right and he is now in the top 0.3% of tournament challenge entries.
But there are still three games left to play so I say to Michael what a wise man once said to me:
"Don't count your chickens before they are in your basket."

What Will The Mets Do?

The Mets are faced with big decisions on their two best young prospects.

They have seemingly decided to make Mike Pelfrey the fifth starter, by saying that Park and Sele will start the season in the bullpen. But the schedule doesn't require a fifth starter for a couple of weeks.

Should they send Pelfrey to AAA New Orleans to get some work?
Should they bring him north with the big club and have him work with "The Jacket" for a couple weeks?
Should they leave him in Florida to get some work in extended spring training?

I say leave him in Florida. I am relieved that they seemed to be ready to give him the 5th spot instead of hoping that their minimal investments in Park and Sele will pay off.



And then there's the Lastings Milledge quandary.

While spring training stats don't matter very much, it warrants mentioning that in a similar number of at bats, Shawn Green is batting .171 and Lastings Milledge is batting .444.

I criticized the trade for Green last year precisely because it took a chance away from Milledge. Then the Mets went out and signed Alou.

So what do they do from here? Platoon Green and Milledge? Send Milledge down?

If it were up to me I would dump Shawn Green right now. He stinks. He is no longer a productive player.

I think the Mets will send him down, for two reasons. One they love Endy Chavez and want to keep him as the fourth outfielder. Second, they want to trade him midseason for some pitching. The best way to increase his value is to send him down and have him tear up Triple A. The Mets do have some other reportedly good young outfield prospects but I would hate to see Milledge get away because Shawn Green sucks.

I Know Women

Thanks to Texas and failed guesses at Nevada and Southern Illinois, I am out of the running in the Men's Tournament Challenge Group because Mike has all the same games as me from this point on.

But thanks to a slew of upsets of #2 seeds, none of which I picked to go very far and a monumental upset by Rutgers of overall #1 Duke, I rocketed up the Women's Tournament Challenge Leaderboard, hitting the top 2%, in 2937th overall.
But my runner-up pick Oklahoma was eliminated by Mississippi despite 31 points and 20 rebounds from Courtney Paris.




Also that Rutgers-Duke game was a classic with a heart stopping ending. Rutgers took a 1-point lead late then stole the ball with 5.6 seconds left. Duke fouled, but it didn't put them into the bonus. So Rutgers had to inbound. They went for a long pass but Essence Carson threw it short, and Lindsay Harding stole it. She drove into the lane and four Rutgers players fouled her simultaneously with a tenth of a second left.
Harding the ACC player of the year needed one to tie, two to take the lead...and she missed them both.

Jealous of Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning has two things Pizza Parlor Derek wants: a Super Bowl ring and a picture with Carrie Underwood.



Manning hosted Saturday Night Live and according to Sports Illustrated (I have yet to ask SNL's biggest fan, Mrs. Poop's Mom what she thought), Peyton did a pretty good job.

PPD is also pissed that in referencing athletes on SNL, Manning didn't mention Joe Montana going upstairs to masturbate.

Isiah Sneaks 6'11" Center Through a Loophole

The Knicks signed former Kentucky center Randolph Morris, less than a week after his team was eliminated from the NCAA tournament.
Morris was an AAU teammate of Dwight Howard's and wanted to declare for the NBA Draft after high school. He wasn't good enough so he played one year at Kentucky. Even though he still wasn't good enough, he declared but never got picked.
He never signed with an agent so he was able to go back to school, but he did have to sit out 14 games, I think he took money from an agent to travel to team workouts.
But due to some strange rule, he couldn't re-enter the draft, but he could be a free agent.
So as soon as Kentucky's season ended he packed his shit and got the hell out of there.
Reportedly, he told Kentucky's AD he would stay until a new coach was named. But he obviously never cared about college, so he high tailed it when the Knicks came calling.
Even though they gave him $1.6 million, that's not an outrageous salary, and it costs them no draft pick. I think it's a pretty good move.
Plus they get him right away.

Already an Asshole Athlete

As if his antics at the State Championship game weren't enough the NY Times gives us more reason to hate O.J. Mayo.

Unbeknownst to USC coach Tim Floyd, Mayo sent an emmissary to see Floyd last year, unannounced. This stranger walked into Floyd's office and said:

“How would you like to have the best player in the country?” he asked.

“Have you heard of O. J. Mayo?” the man asked.

“O. J. wanted me to come here today,” the man told Floyd. “He wanted me to figure out who you are.”

The man explained that Mayo wanted to market himself before going to the N.B.A., and that Los Angeles would give him the best possible platform.

“O. J. doesn’t give out his cell,” he said when Floyd said he wanted to call Mayo. “He’ll call you.”

Then Mayo did call later that day, he said:

“Coach, this is O. J. Mayo. I’d like to come to your school.”

“I want to be different. I want to leave a mark.”

“How many scholarships do we have for next year?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about recruiting,” he said. “I’ll take care of it.”

“No,” Mayo said when Floyd asked for his phone number. “I’ll call you.”

Remember, at this point Mayo had never been to USC or spoken to Tim Floyd, but he was the #1 recruit so Floyd felt like he had to play along.

I have no idea how this is going to turn out, but I suspect, badly.
I just can't imagine that Mayo will accept any coaching or that he will go to class at all. He has people in his ear telling him what to do but if he doesn't play well next year he won't be the number one pick.
I also think Floyd sold his soul to the devil here and may end up paying for it. Texas had Kevin Durant who was a good kid and a good teammate and they lost in the second round. If Mayo is as goes, that would be tremendous, but if he's not a team player and doesn't play within the system did Floyd really accomplish anything?

Still Alive

I am still alive, barely in my quest to cash this win ticket for Ohio State. The money is nice but the thrill of having picked the winner in the preseason would be sweeter.



Pizza Parlor Derek still has one ball left, as UCLA covered the spread against Pitt. He now has a 25% chance to win a prize, a 12.5% chance to win the whole thing. He is hoping for a huge spread for Kansas over UCLA.

Lucky Sweatshirt?

Loyal Poopheads will remember that two months ago on my trip to Columbus, I bought Mrs. Poop an Ohio State sweatshirt featuring their lovable mascot, Brutus the Buckeye. When I got home she said Brutus was retarded. She has never worn the sweatshirt. At halftime, when OSU was trailing by 17, I rescued the sweatshirt, put it on and the comeback ensued.



I also noticed that the shirt I wore during the first half was the same shirt I wore when OSU got smoked by Florida in the football National Championship game. Needless to say I'll be sporting Brutus on Saturday.

Sweet Sixteen - Thursday Thoughts

Very disappointed in Southern Illinois. They had a good chance to beat Kansas.

I disagreed with their strategy at the end of the game. They kept fouling giving Kansas free points. If defense is their calling card they should have had some faith in it to get them a few stops.

But the whole game changed when they missed 2 layups with the score 54-53. The difference between a 1-point lead and a 1-point deficit is huge. I'm sure somewhere their most famous alum, Clyde Frazier was screaming, "you gotta get the lead man."

Texas A&M was also victimized by a missed layup by A.C. Law Ivey. He is supposedly Mr. Clutch but he left that one a little short.

But that game was the most competitive game of the tournament so far. Memphis and Texas A&M played the whole game back and forth tied, up 2, etc. Very exciting game and I'm surprised Memphis pulled it off.

Also on further review that tipped ball with 3 seconds left, the refs made the right call to run a second off, the ball hit in bounds first, then bounced out, but took a while to hit someone, something.

And can we please stop saying how it's a huge advantage for a school to play 180 miles away just because the arena happens to be in the same state? Louisville lost in Kentucky, A&M lost in San Antonio and in 2003 Syracuse could have played Oklahoma in Kelvin Sampson's backyard and still won that game.

I saw nothing of UCLA-Pitt. I assume it was a low-scoring affair and everytime Pitt needed a basket, they couldn't get it because they stink on offense.

Now onto the new "best game so far."

Great comeback by Ohio State for the second straight game.

I also don't want to hear anything about Oden's fouls because at least 2 of them were flops, just like the one last week against Xavier that everyone wanted an intentional, the guy left his feet and jumped to draw a call on Oden.

Oden got the last laugh however by blocking the last second layup attempt.

He also got the ball more on offense than I have ever seen the guards give it to him. And he delivered making some big free throws down the stretch.

Mike Conley missed some big free throws but he was the biggest reason OSU was able to come back. He played a great game using the absence of Oden to his advantage by continually driving the lane and getting fouled.

Tennessee was unconscious from outside in the first half, even though Ohio State didn't play great defense, they were hitting everything.

But OSU never gave up, and they never started bombing away from deep as they tend to do. They slowly and methodically marched back into this one, and as so often happens, once an underdog blows a big lead, they don't have the stuff to come back.

Huge win for Ohio State.

Love is Blind

Jeff Garcia and Carmella DeCesare



Garcia is a lookalike for Boggs and he bagged a Playboy Playmate, one of the hottest women alive.

They are getting married. Michael can shop for a gift from their Williams-Sonoma registry. This site says they already got married, a news article say they're going to be married. I think we should buy them the brownie pan. Wouldn't she look great baking brownies in an apron...JUST an apron.

Manny Grill Update

Just hours after the listing was posted Tuesday under eBay ID "mannyramirez1524" at 1:11 p.m., 210 formal bids had poured in for the stainless steel grill.
The price spiked, climbing throughout the day from a $3,000 minimum to the auction site's $99,999,999.99 maximum.

I wouldn't be surprised if news reports said as if it were true, that the bidding is up to $100 million. By the way, people make these crazy bids on phony items and items capitalizing on tragedy to prevent the seller from making any money.

Ramirez has remained coy about the listing with the media, at one point proclaiming himself a cash-strapped "businessman" and at another saying that he offered his celebrity to help a neighbor get rid of the like-new grill.

Not a Plant

Internet reports say the Idol crying girl was not a plant, nor a Make-a-Wish Foundation job. Apparently she went to Fox for a taping of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?"
Somehow she made it into the Americal Idol dress rehearsal and of course once the producers saw her enthusiasm, they had to invite her back for the real show.

Song of the Week

"Welcome to the Black Parade" - My Chemical Romance
I have no idea why I like this song so much. When I first heard it I thought I hated it because it is so slow and the lyrics make zero sense. But for some reason I can't get it out of my head.
I think Juice probably has this CD.

Idol Chatter

Interesting that they did British Invasion week without a single song from the Beatles.

It’s also kind of difficult because they keep doing music that is 30-40 years old and a lot of the audience is people who have never heard those songs before.

In light of that, I find it unusual that this is the first song Chris Sligh sang that I’ve actually heard. But it was a little obscure.

LaKisha wasn’t that great or interesting. Melinda was good, but she’s always singing the same types of songs. I really like her but Mrs. Poop hates her because her head is too big for her body.

Mrs. Poop however loves Blake. I think he’s pretty good too. I think he has a definite shot at winning.

I also think Jordin Sparks has a great shot at winning this whole thing, and even if she doesn’t she will probably have a longer more successful musical career than LaKisha, Melinda and Art Garfunkel because she is already so good and so young.

Those are the contenders.

Haley Scarnato is trying to sex it up to get Antonella’s votes. It might work.



Nothing much to say about Stephanie Edwards except that the song she chose “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” is much faster and better than she sang it. Probably my favorite of all the songs that were performed this week.

Chris Richardson is a complete non-factor. We’re constantly reminded that this is a singing competition and not a Justin Timberlake look-alike contest.

Sanjaya was just plain horrible. But I actually liked him more this week compared to other weeks. He finally had some nuts behind his performance. He yelled the whole time but he has not going anywhere this week.

As evidenced by that weird crying girl, the teenage girls love Sanjaya and they can’t wait to see him when Idol goes on tour with the top 10.



Mrs. Poop and I didn’t really want to make fun of her because we weren’t sure if something was wrong with her. If she won a contest, or they found her in a children’s hospital or from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

So Phil Stacey will be leaving us this week. He sucks and I hate him, so I’ll be glad to see him go.

What Do You Give Me For? Hector Jimenez and Sanjaya

Héctor Jiménez from "Nacho Libre" and Sanjaya

You Can't Keep Dogs Away From Food

Michael Auberry the lost and now found boy scout said he wanted to thank everyone involved in the search. "He wants to thank Gandalf especially - although he said Gandalf ate his peanut butter crackers," the boy's father said.

Dogs Save Lives

A 12-year-old Boy Scout whose favorite book was about a youngster lost in the wilderness now has his own harrowing survival tale to tell after rescuers found him Tuesday, dehydrated and disoriented from four days in the wooded mountains of North Carolina.
A rescue dog picked up Michael Auberry's scent less than a mile from the campsite where he had wandered away from his troop Saturday. The boy's father speculated that he was simply homesick and wanted to hitchhike home. The disappearance touched off an intensive search involving bloodhounds, heat-seeking helicopters and dozens of volunteers on foot.
"He saw the helicopters and heard people calling him, but he yelled back and they didn't hear him," said his father, Kent Auberry. "He's very tired. He's very dehydrated. But he came through this in unbelievable fashion."
Bauer said as many as 100 people searched for Auberry on Tuesday, including Misha Marshall, whose dog Gandalf picked up the boy's scent.
The black 2-year-old Shiloh Shepherd "popped his head three times" — and there was Michael, she said.

Why I Hate the Iditarod

A top musher abused his dogs. Ramy Brooks was disqualified this year after race officials said he beat his dogs.
When Brooks' team refused to move, he kicked the dogs and hit them with his fist and a ski pole. He didn't merely spank them with a thin piece of lath used as a trail marker, as Iditarod officials said Sunday.
Dogs die during the Iditarod regularly, and that many more dogs are injured.

Future Asshole Athlete

O.J. Mayo is next year's super freshman in college basketball. He definitely only intends to stay for one year and he is going to USC. He chose USC basically out of the blue because he wanted to be in LA and presumably thought he could play right away for them.

In his last high school game, the West Virginia State Championship, with his team up by 40 he gets a breakaway, throws the ball off the backboard, slams it home, then fires it into the crowd.

For those antics he earned a technical foul, an ejection and a standing O from the adoring crowd.

Unlike Oden and Durant Mayo does not seem like a good kid. He seems like someone who has been allowed to do whatever he's wanted his whole life. I predict trouble for Mayo.

Interesting eBay Item

I always question the legitimacy of these items but this one could very well be authentic.

First Dolphin To Hit Someone All Year

Miami Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter was accused of punching Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Levi Jones after police said the players exchanged trash talk at a casino blackjack table.
Porter was issued a summons on a misdemeanor battery charge after the Sunday altercation that began inside the Palms hotel-casino.
"They went outside. In the valet area, one struck the other, causing a small laceration above the eye," Las Vegas police Officer Martin Wright said.
Two players had a history of on-field trash talking with each other.
Dolphins coach Cam Cameron said Porter, a three-time Pro Bowl pick, told him about the incident Monday morning.

Juice's St. Patrick's Day

Story and photos courtesy of Focks:

Julie and I brought Juice to Saloon (84th and York) where many of Julie's friends were celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Upon arriving (8:30pm-ish), we immediately notice every single person is completely wasted. In effort to 'catch up' to everyone, the three of us decide to begin double-fisting Bud Light cans. Julie knows every single bartender (and probably knows 20% of the entire crowd) so we begin doing Jameson shots and chasing them with beer. Once he is finished talking with a few girls (i.e. Girl Juice used to babysit, Irish Charo, Beverly Hills girl, a few of Julie's friends), we go back to the bar and drag Julie to get us more drinks. The bartender explains to us how he lost Juice's (one and only) credit card and tells us drinks are free for the remainder of the night.
As the drinking continues and the bar is utterly chaotic, Juice decides to elevate his speed of inebriation by drinking a full glass of Jameson (as if he is drinking water). The results of this move will prove costly.

As the night rolls on, Julie and I are beginning to lose sight of Justin. At roughly 1am, Julie and I find Juice leaning/swaying against a railing and acknowledge it's time to go because he's about to drop to the floor.

We find a cab and throughout the entire ride, Juice is visibly wasted and mumbling and the non-english speaking driver is laughly hysterically. On the FDR, the driver locked the doors because Juice was trying to open them. We tell the driver he is always like this and not to worry.

As we exit the cab on 18th Street and 3rd Avenue, Juice's drunk hysteria takes full effect as he tries to run north up 3rd avenue away from his building. I immediately chase him and push him toward the building. Of course, he is very stubborn and he drops to the ground.



Fiiiiiinally, he gets off his buttocks, starts walking and then attempts to wrestle me.




At this point, he drops on his back on the freezing cold sidewalk and becomes a disaster.






After about 5 minutes of lying on his back, he turns over and lies his head on the snow.




Of course, he has no idea what is going on; he has no idea that the beige concrete and dirty white snow is not his bed. I'm finally able to physically remove him from the ground and we walk in to the building where the doorman is laughing as well. The three of us get in the elevator. I press 6 (it should have been 3) for Juice and 14 for Julie and me. Juice gets off on the 6th floor and that's the last we see of him. Julie recommends that we stop and go back and help him but after about an hour of his antics, I tell her he will be fine.

His version the next day: Juice wakes up in his apartment and finds a pile of vomit on his rug, which he immediately threw in the garbage. He later asks me how the night was.

Starbury Hates Screamin A Too

This is apparently an outro from Marbury's new show on Fox Sports Net called "Stars on Stars."

I Heart New York

Nearly two dozen people were arrested after a melee broke out last night inside and outside Madison Square Garden near the end of the PSAL High School Championship basketball game.
The brawl began at the end of the third quarter of the game between rival Brooklyn high schools Lincoln and Boys & Girls.
A foul on the court ignited tensions among fans in the stands, and the fighting soon escalated outside into the streets.
Gunfire was heard as the crowd went from the Garden to Times Square, but no one was shot. Police officers in riot gear and on horseback were eventually able to bring the crowd under control.
Twenty-one people were arrested, most for disorderly conduct. There are no reports of any injuries.

Pistol Pete

Two great youtube videos of Pistol Pete highlights in conjunction with the new books on him. I hope to read Mark Kriegel's book over the summer. But if you have 12 minutes watch these videos of his college and pro highlights. Some of the stuff seems more commonplace now, but at the time it was revolutionary.

Final Word on Xavier

Heard Xavier Coach Sean Miller on with Mike and the Mad Dog. They didn't ask him about his Pitt days, I would have loved to hear his take on the "Send It In Jerome" dunk.

They didn't bring up the prevent offense but Miller did. He said they weren't trying to kill clock, they were trying to rest themselves, and he wishes they had gotten better shots/possessions.

He said he's glad they didn't call a flagrant on Oden. Didn't want to see a game decided by a whistle. They wanted to win it. Classy thing to say.

Foul is not on youtube, because the NCAA only wants approved videos.

Miller said he didn't foul at the end because they didn't have a timeout left to set their defense. He also intimated that he didn't want to say "if Cage misses" and put the negative thoughts in the player's head. He said if they had one timeout left he would have set his defense and ordered a foul. But he was also worried that say it works, they make 2 free throws and with 5 seconds left you have to inbound the ball with no timeouts, you could turn it over and lose right there.

Some tough points. I still they should have fouled because with less than 10 seconds the other team probably can't afford to make 2 and foul again, they have to try to miss and get the rebound, which is possible, but a lot less likely than hitting a three to tie it.

Triple Jeopardy

First three way tie in Jeopardy history. The guy who was in first was a douche. He should have bet one dollar more. He was playing for a three way tie, like Pat Dye.

March Madness - Second Round - Sunday

My bracket took a beating today. I lost my upset special team, Nevada, and a Final Four team, Texas.

I took Nevada because one 2 seed always loses in the second round. I immediately decided UCLA and Georgetown were too good for that. Then I had to decide between a steady, tough senior laden team in Wisconsin, or an overrated run and gun team from a weak conference, Memphis.

I also thought Nevada had a chance because Nick Fazekas would be the best player on the floor. He played a good game, but not good enough.

I also lost Texas. I knew I shouldn't have picked them to go to the Final Four because all year I evaded the Kevin Durant hype. I knew he was good but I was really sold when he played that great game last Sunday against Kansas. I have seen a freshman lead his team to the title. I thought it would become more common as the very top freshman are forced into college. I guess Durant is not special.

Tennessee - Virginia was an exciting game. Lots of good guards shooting the lights out. I wonder how into UVa basketball BC is.

What the hell was wrong with Wisconsin in this tournament? Two incredibly slow starts. They couldn't come back from the second one, though they did tie the game at one point. Usually when that happens the underdog wilts. Not UNLV.

Three days off until the madness starts again.

What Do You Give Me For? Kammron Taylor & Chris Rock

Do You Believe in Omens?

Today's episode of "Breed All About It" on Animal Planet was on the saluki.

New Rule

If you are winning by 3 points with fewer than 10 seconds on the clock...foul in the backcourt. Do not allow a lucky heave to beat you. Make them earn it.

Tennessee did this and won.

Xavier didn't do this and they lost.

Billy Ripken Redux

Because this year's crop of football rookies is so strong I decided to buy some Bowman football. And I was lucky enough to get a Leon Washington Signs of the Future card in which Washington appears to be giving the double middle finger. He says he's making an E.

After an initial hysteria where the card was selling on eBay for over $100, Bowman never issued a different version so the card is not all that limited. It now lists for $60 and sells for $15. But should he have a good career it could have a synergistic effect on this card's price.

Baseball Cards - 1992-2007

Over the past 15 years baseball card collecting has undergone a drastic transformation. Due to conversations with SCZA I've decided to post about some of my cards but first I'll need to bring you up to date.

It is not like collecting when you were younger. All the rookie cards from the 80s are worthless. Steroids and overproduction ruined them all. Don't ask me about Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire Olympic or Don Mattingly. It's worthless. Trust me.

In 1992 Topps revived an old brand called Bowman. Basically they loaded it up with rookies, guys who were years away from making the bigs. But when Mike Piazza, Manny Ramirez, Chipper Jones, Mariano Rivera and Carlos Delgado became stars. The cards became valuable...and no other sets had those players rookie cards.

Bowman kept this tradition of putting in tons of rookies. Then in 1997 they introduced Bowman Chrome. A rarer more expensive version of Bowman.

About that time, the companies saturated the hobby with tons of products, and everything was an insert. Around 1999, we gave up on cards.

But Bowman still had the rookies, so every year I bought a few boxes of Bowman just to have.

Then a few years ago when I got out of college I got back into collecting. I bought some 2001 Bowman boxes to find this guy named Pooh Holes.

At the same time, for 2001, Bowman Chrome began shorting printing the best rookie cards, and having the players autograph them. And that was the only rookie card. It wasn't an insert, it was part of the regular set.

The 2001 Bowman Chrome Auto Albert Pujols is $3500. I do not have it. It is the most widely counterfeited card in the hobby today. Do not buy it if you see it at a show or in a store for $500.

Then another trend began. Grading cards for condition. You take your cards, send them to Beckett and they grade them on a scale of 1 to 10 on four areas of condition (corners, edges, centering, surface). Then they seal the card in a tamper proof case. Yes this system has problems but it's the only way to sell expensive cards. No one will spend more than a few hundred bucks on an ungraded card.

A few years ago I had my 1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens graded for condition. It came back as a 9.5/Gem Mint (Beckett never gives out 10/Pristine). I sold it on eBay for $1600.

So now every year I buy Bowman, trying to make the set and find some good rookies. I also buy some Bowman Chrome hoping to hit the rookie autograph jackpot. And I buy Bowman Draft picks which has Chrome and regular cards. They do that so they can beat the other companies to the draft picks. I was late to the game on draft picks and unfortunately didn't buy any for 2002, 2003 or 2004 all of which have some great cards.

Pizza Parlor Derek Still Has One Ball

PPD is in a pool where you pay $50 (up from $40 last year) and you pick two golf balls/ping pong balls each with a team on it. Not sure if they physically do that? Anyway, you win if your team covers the spread. If your team loses but covers, you get the winning team in the next round. Last year PPD got UCLA through Gonzaga and won $300 for finishing second.

This year he drew Marquette and they got blown out. He also got Indiana (who beat Gonzaga) and covered against UCLA. So he has UCLA again.

Good luck!

Anatomy of a Comeback

How Jim Boeheim's prevent offense cost Xavier an upset over Ohio State.

6:59:

Xavier takes 11 point lead.

6:46:

Xavier has a 9 point lead. Dan Bonner says "You don't want to lose your aggressiveness." Xavier kills 32 seconds and turns it over without getting a shot off.

6:08:

A foul and a missed free throw. Dan Bonner says "it's too early to start running time off."

5:30:

Up 7, Xavier kills 30 seconds before Oden commits his fourth foul. Both free throws are made.

4:45:

Up 9, Xavier kills 28 seconds, shoots a 3 that comes within the offense, but it misses.
Dan Bonner says "it's too early to be running time off the shot clock."

4:03:

Up 7, after killing only 14 seconds Xavier makes a layup.

3:33:

Up 9, Xavier kills almost the whole shot clock and Drew Lavender chucks up a horrible 3 as the buzzer sounds.

2:54:

Up 7, Xavier kills 28 seconds and misses a contest layup.

Here's where it bites them. Ohio State hits a 3, steals the inbounds and Lewis makes a layup and gets fouled. Xavier gives up 6 points without touching the ball.

1:35:

Up 1, Xavier kills 21 seconds, Cage gets fouled and makes both.

0:59:

Up 2, Xavier kills 30 seconds, they force it inside and Oden strips it.

0:09:

Oden commits a foul, Cage misses a FT, Xavier has a 3 point lead.

0:02:

Ron Lewis hits a game tying 3. Ohio State wins in overtime.



As you can see, when Xavier killed clock they got bad shots. When they didn't they scored or got fouled. I understand the importance of using the clock, but I say hold until 15 seconds are gone then work an offense. The extra 10 seconds you don't kill each trip don't mean as much as the points you would get. Xavier made one field goal in the last 7 minutes.

Oden's Foul

SCZA texted me to say Greg Oden's fifth foul was too rough and should have been more than just a regular foul.

I agree Oden shoved the dude out of bounds but when I watched it again I could see that Oden's left arm was being held. When he finally pulled it free it was too late to get the rebound and he was frustrated and he leveled the guy.

Seth Davis later explained that intentional foul is for fouls made while not playing the ball. Oden was, so they would have had to give him a flagrant foul for excessive force. But that's usually reserved for a punch, a slap or throwing someone down.

Oden may have gotten away with one but I think Xavier got away with plenty on him all game.

Like Shaq Oden is going to leave early because he is constantly being held and grabbed.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

NCAA Tournament - Second Round - Saturday

Finally a day with some exciting games.

Miracle comeback by Ohio State.

The game did showcase a major problem with Ohio State. Ron Lewis, Jamar Butler, Mike Conley, Daequan Cook and Ivan Harris all want to be the star. They all want to be the one to shoot the three or drive the lane. When they needed points they stopped going to Oden.

Butler with a huge win over Maryland. That guy Graves can shoot even though he looks like Focks during his AIDS phase. Or Tom Hanks at the end of "Philadelphia."

VCU was game against Pitt making a monumental comeback but they just didn't have enough to finish the job. Plus OT shouldn't have happened, Levance Fields missed two FT.

That guy Maynar was up to his same tricks. He tried the same dirty plays that worked against Duke.

The reason why Pitt does well in early rounds is because they have size and strength. But they can't score which is why they never advance very far.

UCLA shut down Indiana's offense allowing only 13 points in the first half. But they almost lost anyway. But in the matchup of Howland vs his former team, I think UCLA will turn in another great defensive performance.

BC hung tough against Georgetown. Dick Enberg is in love with Tyrese Rice. I hate Jared Dudley. I'm glad he's finally gone. Roy Hibbert took that game over.

Vanderbilt Washington State was one of the best games so far. Unfortunately no one in the country could name two players on each team. I never saw Vandy this season and saw Wazzou only once. But they had multiple guys hitting big shots. Byars and Low were awesome.

Texas ATM - Louisville was another great game. Edgar Sosa was awesome. I just wish he hadn't told Gus Johnson that people in his old neighborhood call him El Tigre. As I was watching I was thinking about all the stupid announcers who constantly talk about freshman inexperience vs. senior leadership. This was happening as Sosa was dominating and Acie Law Eye-Vee wasn't doing shit. Then Sosa missed two FTs after having hit his first 15. That was really tough for him because he had the best individual game of anyone so far.

March Madness Friday Thoughts

Great snowy day for the tournament. The type of day when you can't do anything else except watch basketball for 12 hours. I'm glad our SUVs and factories warm the globe to 70-something on Wednesday, but got it cold in time for the tournament.

No 12-5 upset this year. I think that's only happened once before since the tournament went to 64.

I'm bitter because I had Illinois and they should have won but couldn't score for like the last 9 minutes. Virginia Tech scored the last 12 points to win by 2.

The top 20 seeds all won. And 26 of the top 28 (all 7s over 10s).

I am 16-0 in afternoon games 11-5 in the evening sessions. I still have 15 of 16 sweet 16 teams but I almost lost an Elite 8 team, but Nevada pulled through.

I can't stand the announce team of Packer and Nantz, and they are the number one team.

Ian Eagle is a pleasure though.

Some comeback by Wisconsin. They scored three times as many points in the second half (57) as they did in the first (19). But even when they were down 26-9 I didn't feel like they were going to lose. Not to Texas ATM-Corpus Crispy.

I didn't see one minute of the Tennessee - Long Beach State game but I can surmise two things. Rock Lloyd is not on LBSU anymore, and Bruce Pearl ran up the score.

New Mexico State put a scare into me, and Texas for that matter. I have them in the Final Four.

That was the best coaching Reggie Theus has done since "Hang Time." Evidently Anthony Anderson was 25 when he played Teddy.

Elijah Ingram starred for NMSU. He transferred from St. John's after he hired a hooker but refused to pay.

Pizza Parlor Derek also talks about players who have been in college forever. Curtis Sumpter really was a 6-year senior (I'm pretty sure) due to all his injuries. Now he's gone. And Mike Nardi too. Nardi was hurt or else Nova might have beaten Kentucky. He missed a couple open threes.

Right now I rank in the top 5.5% on ESPN, behind about 150,000 people. I check in at 27-5 over two days.

Not bad. But starting tomorrow the games are worth twice as much. The matchups get better. Even though there's half as many games Saturday and Sunday usually produce some great matchups. Look for one of the top 8 seeds to fall. I hope it's Memphis.

First Day Thoughts

I went 14-2, not too shabby. Michael has the early lead at 15-1 losing only Old Dominion. He has VCU winning again, over Pittsburgh.

I always get Gonzaga wrong. The years they did well I had them going out early. And the years when they didn't do well, I had them advancing.

I hate Bill Simmons. He made four jokes about Bobby Knight looking dead when he actuality he looked normal and got fired up and screamed at his players like usual. That's my problem with Simmons. When you can't find something to be funny about, make something up and repeat it so often that people will think it's true/funny.

Dick Enberg is past his prime. His "oh my" is a little passe and some of his other expression are also dated.
Enberg: "He's streaking down the court."
Poop: Someone is running naked on the floor.

Enberg: "Dudley gets an easy deuce."
Poop: I don't care about his bowel movements, but maybe he needs some iron in his diet.

That Duke came was rough. Literally. That guy Maynor was out of control. He was swinging his arms Kobe-esque (payback for Gerald Henderson). He also got under Paulus' skin. But a few times I saw Maynor grab guys, or bump into guys after the whistle. He knew he wouldn't get a foul called, he was just being a dick. Sort of like playing with Jim Lane.

But Maynor did hit some big shots.

Every year an 11 wins, and a 12 wins. I was really thinking Winthrop would knock of Notre Dame, but now I'm not so sure. I still think Illinois or Arkansas will win. Tennessee is the other 5 seed and I have faith in them against Long Beach State.

After a slow start the Duke-VCU game and the Xavier-BYU game were very exciting.

Michigan State might be able to give UNC some trouble on Saturday.

PPKA is pissed that Oral went down.

Let's do it all over again tomorrow.

I Am Not a Mush

When Penn roared back against Texas ATM to take a 39-37 lead after they had been trailing by 13, I sent a cordial text message to Reissberg:
"What a comeback! I picked texas atm to win two games tho. Good luck."

He replied:
"U fuckin jinx."

Texas ATM won the game.

Did I mush the Quakers? Or did Reissberg's rudeness and resulting bad karma cost his team?

Let's Dance

The bitching is over!
The games are starting!
Let the Madness begin!

Inside My Bracket

I picked Florida to beat Ohio State in the final. This reminds me of 2005 when UNC and Illinois were the best teams.

I have UCLA and Texas filling out my Final Four. Texas reminds me of Syracuse in 2003. Durant is just that good. But I worry their long run in the Big 12 tournament will hurt.

My 12 over 5 is Illinois over Virginia Tech.
My 11 over 6 in Winthrop over Notre Dame.
I do not have a 13 over a 4 although it happens almost every year. If it happens this year it'll be Albany over Virginia or Holy Cross over Southern Illinois.

I hope that doesn't happen because I picked Southern Illinois to make the Elite 8 against UCLA by knocking of Kansas. Here's my logic:
1) The Salukis are a great defensive team. They play a slowdown style which limits the number of possessions which reduces the advantage a more talented team would have over them.
2) Kansas is a very young team which could be frustrated by tough physical defense.
3) Kansas chokes every year.
4) Clyde Frazier is a Saluki.
5) Salukis are dogs.

My other big upset is Nevada beating Memphis and Texas ATM. Whenever I pick a 7 or 10 seed to win a couple games, they always lose in the first round. But they've never had Nick Fazekas before.

No other major surprises in my bracket.

Last Chance

Our tournament challenge group is looking pretty healthy (17 entries) but there are a few of you poopheads who we're still waiting on...and time is running out.
jusTON, SCZA, Georgia Derek, Concierge, Nails, Juice and especially Master Bates should all submit entries by noon.

Song of the Week

Beautiful Liar - Shakira and Beyonce
If you don't know why I picked this song you need to watch the video.
Hint: their hips don't lie

Angelina Jolie is a Great Person

Actress Angelina Jolie left an orphanage in southern Vietnam with a 3-year-old boy Vietnamese officials have said she is likely to adopt.
She carried the boy from the Tam Binh orphanage to a waiting Toyota four-wheel drive.
Jolie had arrived at the orphanage carrying her 5-year-old son Maddox, whom she adopted in neighboring Cambodia in 2002.
About 20 children dressed in traditional Vietnamese tunics, called ao dai, and offering flowers welcomed the pair as they arrived at the orphanage.
Jolie, dressed in a black skirt and shirt, was preceded at the orphanage by a phalanx of private security guards.
After the official ceremony, Jolie is expected to meet with U.S. consular officials, who must review the adoption before a passport can be issued for the boy, the adoption officials said.
If all goes to plan, Jolie could take the child home by the weekend, officials said.
Brad Pitt, Jolie's partner, did not accompany her to Vietnam.

This Guy is a Mastermind?

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, confessed to that attack and a string of others during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a transcript released Wednesday by the Pentagon.
"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," Mohammed said during the session, which was held last Saturday.
Mohammed claimed responsibility for planning, financing, andtraining others for bombings ranging from the 1993 attack at the World Trade Center to the attempt by would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes.
In all, Mohammed said he was responsible for planning 28 individual attacks, including many that were never executed.

Syracuse - South Alabama Running Blog

9:03
SU holds on to win 79-73. Huge game from Devendorf who of course showed a lot of heart. When the team was in danger of pouting in what PPD would call an "Unhappy to be here" game, Devendorf wouldn't let them lose.

9:01
Yes there is one in Cicero about 15 minutes from the Dome.

9:00
Announcers discuss finding a place to watch Mavericks - Suns. Are there any good sports bars in Syracuse? Tully's? You can't watch a game any place on campus really. Where would you go? Has a Buffalo Wild Wings opened up that I don't know about?

8:58
USA keeps nailing threes. But SU has been good on free throws so far, still a 5 point lead.

8:57
A guy on USA has 17 rebounds and 7 blocks. His name? Little!

8:45
That run is now up to 18-0 and SU has a 9 point lead with 5 minutes to play. It's about time to go into Jim Boeheim's no points offense to help USA get back in the game.

Devendorf has 30.

8:34
Devendorf just dished to Roberts on a great alley oop to tie the game. When is a dunk worth more than 2 points? When it adds emphasis to a 9-0 run and forces the opposing team's coach to call a timeout.

Pizza Parlor Derek just called USA's forward "Blue Balls" when his name is "Buboltz" I thought he was referring to Pelfrey and his resemblance to Pete Mason.

8:25
A South Alabama player just leveled an ESPN camerawoman. USA by 6 at the 11:59 timeout.

Devendorf has 26 of 50 SU points. Even TallSkott would tell you that's 52% of the scoring.

7:52
USA hits a half-court shot at the buzzer to end the half with a 39-38 lead.

7:41
SU answered USA's 14-0 run (which made the score 22-10), with a 14-1 run (24-23), but a couple three from USA took control back until once again Devendorf stepped up.

7:36
Eric Devendorf and Bobby Sura? I give it a 7.
South Alabama Coach and Pete Mason? I give it an 8.

7:28
As much as I hate Devendorf sometimes for his stupid turnovers, I love his guts. With the score 22-12, and the announcer saying "sometimes things in life don't go your way" you have to stop pouting and deal with it, Devendorf pulled up on the wing and hit a big 3.

7:25
14-0 run for USA, two threes and 3-point play in 3 possessions.

SU is so much more physical, it's not even close.

Did the announcer say Devendorf used to play in men's leagues when he was 9-years old?

Idol Chatter

I think Sanjaya needs to show his dick to the hair and makeup people. They keep making him look like a girl.

I predict that one of the Melinda/LaKisha duo will go home before Blake. I actually liked his version of "Keep Me Hangin On."

Another strange exchange involving Seacrest about high heels, and Simon saying Seacrest wears them (I think he does wear lifts) then Seacrest saying "get out of my closet" and Simon saying "come out" and Seacrest laughing awkwardly.

Though I love Motown I never was big on Diana Ross and I even think the Supremes are overrated.

I actually thought Sanjaya did a decent job with "Ain't No Mountain" but the song is supposed to be sung with a lot of soul and he has none.

But Brandon and Haley both forgot their lyrics which I never remember happening this late in the contest.

I think Haley is taking the reins from Antonella as sexiest girl standing, but with the cleavage and the legs on the stool and the breathiness, she may have overdone it considering the song ("Missing You") is really about someone dying.

She also does something I hate, when she goes for a big note "tell me why the road turns") she turns her head and sings out of the side of her mouth (a la Pizza Parlor Derek) and away from the microphone.

I agree 100% with what the judges said about Chris Sligh, because I've been saying it for three weeks. He needs to stop trying to be so different and cool. He needs to sing songs people like, the way we like em.

I have not seen the last two performances though.

But I think Brandon will go home tonight.

Bill is Furious

Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs says "I am now prepared to sit out the year if the Bears don't trade me or release me. I've played my last snap for them. I'll never play another down for Chicago again."
He turned down a one year offer and $7.2 million because he wants a longer term deal.
How did things get so bad?
The Bears are in big trouble without Jones and Briggs.
That said I'm not convinced Briggs means what he says. Maybe he's just angry, maybe he's bargaining, maybe the Bears will offer him a better deal and he'll realize it's better than sitting out and better than they deal he'd get if he were to be out of the league for a year.

Play-In Game

As Pizza Parlor Derek said the tournament committee even acknowledged that they didn't want two historically black schools to play in this game, and they don't want teams from the same conferences playing in it every year. For that reason Niagra may have been disrespected a little but I think it's a benefit for these teams.
A 16 seed has never beaten a 1, so the fact that they play an extra game right before it probably doesn't hurt their chances too much.
It's a great opportunity for a small school to get exposure on ESPN.
And to have a 50/50 shot of winning an NCAA tournament game, as opposed to a one-in-a-million (so you're saying there's a chance) shot.
And also, should the game end on a buzzer beater, that school would get so much national media attention the next day.
So if I were a 16 seed, I'd want to go to the play-in game.
But Niagra is going to kill FAMU.

Happy Birthday Brody

Georgia Derek's dog Brody recently turned 5. Happy birthday buddy.

Little Sisters Are So Cute

Pizza Parlor Keri-Ann, little sister to Pizza Parlor Derek and Pizza Parlor Daren evidently has a lot to learn about the birds and the bees.




I'm also awaiting comment from PPKA on Kelly Pickler, whom she loves, and how Pickler spent her new found riches. Hint: it was on more than just shoes.

Future Headline

I can't wait for Mets phenom Philip Humber to live up his expectations and battle with that other Philip (I have a gay brother) across town.
I can see it now, Humber pitches a great game against say the Phillies and the back page of the New York Post screams "Humber Makes Phils' Lumber Slumber."

Barney's Picks

The cast of How I Met Your Mother posted their brackets.
As of now we're still waiting for Ted and Marshall.
Picks look pretty safe from my quick perusals, but they love Old Dominion.

Antonella is a Liar

In a recent interview Antontella said she did not want to be known for her racy pictures, which were taken and expected to remain private.
She also said if Playboy offers she will not pose. Liar!

This is Evident Progress?

Isiah Thomas has shown enough progress" to earn a multiyear contract extension.
The New York Times, citing a person "briefed on the matter," says Thomas will sign the new deal to remain both team president and head coach.
The Knicks are 29-34, but are in the hunt for their first playoff berth since 2004.
The Knicks won 23 games last year under Larry Brown, who was later fired.
A spokesman for Madison Square Garden said that Knicks owner James Dolan will meet with reporters on Monday morning. He is expected to announce Thomas' extension during that meeting.

I would agree that there has been some progress but I also think Isiah is an idiot who shouldn't be running a franchise and coaching the team simultaneously. But he hasn't made any bad moves this season.

Boeheim Bitching

Heard the first wave of Boeheim complaining about Syracuse being left out of the tournament.

The jist of what he said and I believe it to be factually accurate is that SU is the first Big East team with 10 conference wins to be left out. He also said he thinks very few 10 win teams from any of the big conferences get left out...which means Stanford belongs. He didn't say "we won ten games...ten fuckin games."

Then he went on about how it's not his fault that SU's non-conference opponents did poorly after they played SU. But it is SU's fault that they lost to all of them. All three tough non-conference opponents (Wichita State, Oklahoma State & Drexel) beat SU.

Bracket Time

I invite all Poopheads to join me in the ESPN Tournament Challenge.
I have created a group called Paul's Poop.
You do not need a password to join, but you do need an ESPN account.
As an incentive I will write a glowing tribute to the winner the day after the tournament ends, which is the first day of Passover.

Good Breakdown

From syracuse.com

SU vs. "in" teams
SU's resume:
22-10 overall, 10-6 Big East, lost in quarterfinals of Big East tourney
Last 10 games: 7-3
RPI: 51 (as of Sunday morning)
SOS: 45
Key wins: Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova
Key losses: Drexel, St. John's

Purdue:
21-11 overall, 9-7 Big Ten, lost in 2nd round of Big Ten tourney
Last 10 games: 7-3
RPI: 44
SOS: 44
Key wins: Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana
Key losses: Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana State

Illinois:
23-11 overall, 9-7 Big Ten, lost in 2nd round of Big Ten tourney
Last 10 games: 7-3
RPI: 29
SOS: 23
Key wins: Indiana (twice), Michigan State
Key losses: Iowa, Michigan

Stanford:
18-12 overall, 10-8 Pac-10, lost in first round of Pac-10 tourney
Last 10 games: 4-6
RPI: 65
SOS: 37
Key wins: Texas Tech, Virginia, Washington, Washington State, USC, UCLA, Oregon
Key losses: Santa Clara, Cal, Air Force

Arizona:
20-10 overall, 11-7 Pac-10, lost in first round of Pac-10 tourney
Last 10 games: 6-4
RPI: 14
SOS: 2
Key wins: Louisville, Memphis, Washington (twice), Oregon, Stanford
Key losses: home to UNC (92-64)

Arkansas:
21-13, 7-9 SEC, lost in SEC title game to Florida
Last 10 games: 6-4
RPI: 35
SOS: 15
Key wins: 3 wins in SEC tourney, Alabama (then ranked), Vanderbilt
Key losses: Missouri, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, LSU, Mississippi State, Auburn

Georgia Tech:
20-11 overall, 8-8 ACC, lost in first round of ACC tourney
Last 10 games: 7-3
RPI: 52
SOS: 47
Key wins: Memphis, Duke, UNC, BC
Key losses: Miami, Wake Forest (twice)


Looks like our biggest beef should be against Purdue based on this. Definitely not Stanford. But the committee must have really liked Purdue because they got a 9 seed. Also I definitely think we should have gotten in over Arkansas but somehow the RPI gives them a huge edge.

Bubble Burst

Syracuse got left out of the NCAA tournament.
I must say I am surprised, but not shocked. The team just wasn't very good this year.
They didn't play a strong schedule (Wichita State, Oklahoma State & Drexel all beat us and all missed the tournament. Even in the conference SU was 1-4 against the top 4 teams (Georgetown, Louisville, Pitt & Notre Dame) so that's 10-2 against the bottom part of the conference.
I still think SU should have been in but Texas Tech and Stanford are not the arguments.
If you want to compare teams look at Arkansas, Illinois and Old Dominion.
I also want to answer my critics, namely Pizza Parlor Derek who called me out as a contrarian. As a matter of fact I said SU would get in once West Virginia lost, so I was sort of wrong on that. But the last two years I also was criticized as being negative for argument's sake, when I said Vermont and Texas ATM would beat SU.
And we all know how that worked out.
I don't try to go against the grain, I just try to figure out what's going to happen.

One final note, SU had a lot of chances to win more games and as probably the last team out one more victory (against Wichita State, or Villanova, or Drexel or especially Louisville) would have made the difference.
I guess what I'm trying to say here is "The selection committee didn't screw Syracuse, Syracuse screwed Syracuse."

Cuse is in the House!

I will never forget this classic moment in SU hoops and in dance history.
R.I.P. Al McGuire.

That Boy Good

I just watched Kevin Durant carry Texas into overtime against Kansas. Though they lost he had 37 points.
That was his fourth game this year with exactly 37 points.
All year I've bought into the Garnett as Durant Ewing as Oden arguments and advocated for Oden because he is a more unique commodity in today's NBA.

Diesel Enjoying A Sunny Day

Notice Mrs. Poop trying to annoy the dog by making a bunny shadow puppet.