NCAA Tournament Thoughts: Sweet 16 Thursday

Love that great hustle play and pass from his ass by Kemba Walker. It's nice to see the most talented guy on the floor also display the hustle of a scrub.

They have to stop showing Leslie Visser. She looks awful. And they aren't even doing her hair. I'm not a sexist saying I only want to see women on TV if they are hot. I am being pragmatic. TV is a visual medium, if you look so awful that people can't focus on what you are saying then they need to send you home to Dick Stockton and hire some young hottie.



I don't like Reggie Miller as an announcer. His voice is too soft and his comments are too long.

I also hate when announcers say stuff like "his team is playing like shit but they're only down 4, so coach has to be happy." I get the point, but it's not the right way to phrase it. What coach would be happy or encouraged or heartened to be losing? And it falsely assumes that playing like shit is only temporary. Sometimes you have a bad game, not just a bad half, you have a bad game. It's just more nonsensical announcer-speak I normally complain about.

If Jimmer Fredette's college career had to end with a loss, on a rough shooting night, I'm glad it ended with this great moment. Florida was doing a good job harassing him, pushing the rules and really roughing him up. BYU made a run and with about 5 minutes left trailed 63-60. Fredette brought the ball up court, stopped, popped from about 30 feet and nailed the game tying 3. A great moment for him.

I hate Charles Barkley and haven't watched him at all this tournament but I did hear him say that it didn't matter if Jimmer scored 30, if he shot 10 of 28 from the field, BYU would lose. He shot 11 of 29 -- and BYU lost.

Florida dominated BYU up front. 6'8" Alex Tyus scored 19 points and had 17 rebounds, more than double his season averages. I hope that was some good pussy Brandon Davies.

Nice to see UConn carrying the flag for the Big East and shutting up all those morons who said they would be fatigued from playing 5 games in a row a week before the tournament started.

But I did lose San Diego State, my 3rd Final Four team to get knocked out. I only have Ohio State left.

But I did get Arizona right. Duke sometimes has problems with faster, more athletic teams. Probably because they are mostly comprised of white pussies like Kyle Singler. Derrick Williams completely dominated and he's definitely coming out after this season and will probably go in the top 5.

Butler is the Gonzaga of the Midwest, with better results. I can see them beating Florida and advancing to another Final Four. They are not a fluke. They are a good team with talented players, who also play smart basketball. Brad Stevens is a great young coach who will almost certainly take the Tennessee job in the offseason.

Do You Believe in Magic?

Check out this incredible save by LA Kings goalie Jonathan Quick:



Ok so Quick didn't do shit.
Maybe it was an invisible goalie the Kings deployed to stop Jarome Iginla.
Or maybe it was just the ridiculous spin on the puck.
Any way you call it, pretty amazing.

Story suggested by Juice

The Refs Fucked Us

Upon further review, the referees blew the call that helped cost Syracuse the game against Marquette.
The call in question is the backcourt violation called on Scoop Jardine while receiving an inbounds pass with 51 seconds to go.

NCAA officiating coordinator John Adams says:

"I have reviewed the play in question and it appears from the video that we have seen, that an error was made in applying the backcourt violation rule (Rule 4.3.8)...The Syracuse player made a legal play and no violation should have been called."

Basically, on an inbounds pass you do not need to establish yourself in the backcourt before touching the ball. If you touch it in midair (as Scoop did) you're pretty much good no matter where you land.

This video shows the play and explains it even further:



I admit I was wrong about the rule, I thought in order to receive the ball in the backcourt you have to be in the backcourt before touching it. That is not the case on an inbounds pass. That lets Syracuse off the hook for that, but not the 17 other turnovers.

Knowing this doesn't make me feel any better or any worse about the game. They still lost to an inferior team in heart-breaking fashion because of foolish mistakes and sloppy ball-handling.

Story Suggested by Juice

If Possible, I Like Jon Jones Even More Now

Jon Bones Jones is a UFC champion and a world champion nice guy.

First of all, when I went to meet him and his PR flak he was standing off to the side texting with the championship belt over his shoulder. But because it was raining he had a belt cover. A black cloth cover for the belt. And not just a big black cloth, it was cut perfectly to cover the belt and protect it from the weather.

He was in a bit of a rush and his PR guy was quite chatty so I didn't get to talk to him very much until after his interview. I did tell him that I'm a big fan and had been since I first read about him as Arthur Jones's brother. He seemed impressed that I was a Syracuse grad and nodded in recognition when I told him how many SU people are in the industry.

I've seen a lot of famous people in these circumstances and you can tell a lot about a person watching them interact with strangers for five minutes. Other than his PR guy he had no entourage. There is an direct correlation between number of people in the entourage and how friendly the celebrity is.

It's hard for me to explain in this post, but you know it when you see it. You could just tell he was a good guy by the way he was smiling and really listening to what people were saying to him, even though "you're the greatest" "congratulations champ" and "can I suck your dick?" must get old after a while.


After the interview I explained a little about the control room and how I was talking to the anchor during it. He seemed impressed that someone could talk to him and listen to someone else without getting distracted.

And even though he was in a rush to get on a plane to do Leno tomorrow night, he posed for pictures with about 8 or 10 employees who had waited outside the studio for him. And one annoying person (not me) was chewing his ear off about a seminar Jones is teaching to MMA beginners. Instead of rushing past him, Jones put his arm around the guy and guided him in the direction he was going so they could walk and talk.



Just being around the guy for even just a few minutes you could tell he is very appreciative of everything he has, and very kind and gracious to all his fans.

God bless the Champ. Long may he reign.

Song of the Week

"Friday" - Rebecca Black
This song is probably annoying the hell out of you now, because it's Wednesday. In two days you will go to work singing "it's Friday, Friiiiday."



Note: This song was originally scheduled for last week but was preempted due to breaking news.

Jon Bones Jones is a Superhero

The Jon Bones Jones era has officially begun.



At the end of 2009, I stated on the record that he was my favorite fighter. That appears to be my first mention of him on the Poop. I'm sure I mentioned it to TON and Gunn (heheh rhymes) earlier than that. I remember seeing his fight against Bonnar and loving his energy level and creative strikes. And then I read he was the brother of Syracuse football players Arthur and Chandler Jones. That sold me.

Two new things happened this weekend that made me love him a little more. I'll start with the fight. Jones lucked into a title shot (on 6 weeks rest) when his teammate Rashad Evans got hurt in training.

"When opportunity knocks you better let him in and sit him on down and try to be his friend."

I would say Jones did that and much more. I could go through the entire fight minute by minute, but Bloody Elbow has already done it, spectacularly.

I'll just say he started with a flying knee, ended with a knee as Shogun was dropping to the floor and this is the damage he inflicted in between.



I honestly have no idea how anyone will ever beat this guy. As TON has stated before, he has the perfect build for MMA. He is tall (6'4") and lanky (84.5" reach, longer than any heavyweight even) and he doesn't sacrifice strength. Usually a guy that skinny, gets taken down and outwrestled. But even against thicker opponents (Ryan Bader), Jones does the taking down and the outwrestling. Opponents can't get close enough to punch him, so the theory was Shogun would kick him in his spindly legs. I don't think he did it even once. It may be a very, very, very long time before I have to write about Jon Jones losing his title.

And when he's not fighting light heavyweights, he's fighting crime.

Before the fight on Saturday Jones was visiting a park in Paterson to do some meditation. Here's what happened next according to Jones, via twitter:

"So while we were at the park today a crack head smashed this old lady's car window and took off running with her GPS just as we were pulling up. right away. Coach Wink goes after this guy. Without hesitation, Coach Jackson went after him. I was shocked and stood there for a second. Then I threw my phone down and went with my coaches. Before you know it, we're sprinting up a steep hill chasing after him.
I turned the jets on, we caught the guy. We got the lady's gps back.
Our driver took a picture of Coach Jackson and I subduing the criminal.
I caught him, Coach Jackson finished him."



The legend of Jon Jones keeps growing, and it's only going to get bigger.

The Big Least

When the Big East got 11 teams into the NCAA Tournament I knew that after the first weekend critics would be questioning the inclusion of so many teams from the same conference.
But I never expected it to be this bad. 7-4 in the opening round sounded about right, but Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Syracuse all losing in round 2 was unexpected.
The top 5 teams in the regular season (Pitt, Notre Dame, Louisville, Syracuse) all lost to teams seeded at least 8 spots lower.
There are a lot of reasons this could have happened:
1) The conference was simply overrated. Possible but there was a lot of empirical evidence during the regular season to show it really was the best conference. It didn't have the best teams but it had the most good teams.
2) The conference grind wore these teams down. Possible, but unlikely. I just don't believe in that cumulative effect. For instance, if Gilbert Brown hits the second free throw, we might not even be having this conversation right now. It just doesn't seem likely that 9 teams experienced an almost simultaneous teamwide fatigue.
3) The Big East style of play does not lend itself to victories in March. I can't argue with this one but I don't think the style of play (other than bruising Pittsburgh) differs that much from the rest of the country. Louisville and Notre Dame play wide open games relying on outside shooting. I see that in a lot of other conferences that don't experience Fukushima-like meltdowns in March.
4) Shit happens. My go to approach for almost all seemingly inexplicable questions in life and in sports. 9 Big East teams did melt down, all at the same time. But it doesn't mean the conference wasn't good or the teams weren't good. Is there any other conference that could send two teams from its bottom half to the Sweet 16? I don't think so. Even though the two teams that advanced beat Big East teams to do so perhaps avoiding a worse fate for the conference.

In football, the SEC dominates. It has won the last 5 championships, with 4 different schools. In part that's because football's regular season is so meaningful compared to basketball. The Big East is that conference in basketball. It hasn't won a title in 6 years, and it has egg on its face right now, and will likely never get 11 teams again. But I have seen this conference since it expanded to 16, and I believe it's still the best in the country. Even after this weekend's disaster.

You Can't Spell Suck Without SU

Note: these thoughts were written as the game was happening. So if they seem disjointed or lacking context continue to read.

This is the main problem with Syracuse: whenever they get a lead they get sloppy on offense and defense. They built a 19-9 lead, a few turnovers, a few uncovered shooters and its 21-21.

Gus Johnson is rooting for Darius Johnson Odom to do something so he can call him DJO. Likewise for Rick Jackson aka The Ruler. Len Elmore has co-opted his "ha ha" so I guess that's all Gus has left.

It amazes me how stupid Syracuse can be. Two boneheaded plays, Kris Joseph grabbing a guy and Scoop not holding for one. That turned a Syracuse 29-23, into an 11-2 run to end the half. Imagine if these guys didn't have a Hall of Fame coach all the mental mistakes they would make.

This is why you have depth. This is why you need bench players. They are all human and they dont't deliver the same level of performance every night. I love James Southerland but all he can contribute is outside shooting. If his shot is off, which it seems to be tonight you need someone else to come in and contribute. In this case it's Dion Waiters, the player who can drive to the basket without getting called for a charge.

I'm going to skip ahead to the end of the game now. 52 seconds left, Jim Boeheim calls timeout to set up a play with a 62-62 tie, and they can't even get the ball inbounds. Dion Waiters throws it backwards to Scoop Jardine who touches it, then puts his foot across halfcourt. Why didn't Scoop know he could go into the backcourt first to catch the ball? That play cost Syracuse a chance to win the game.



Following that turnover Marquette exploited the zone by dribbling at two guys, leaving an open shooter and Darius Johnson-Odom nailed the game winning 3.

That is my number 1 complaint about Jim Boeheim, the 2-3 zone. Yes, it's effective sometimes but teams know how to exploit. A big reason why Marquette won, they are familiar with the zone having terrorized it once in the regular season. Their crucial 6-0 run at the end of the game came on 2 wide open 3-pointers. He doesn't work on or attempt to employ another defense for crucial late game situations when sticking to a man is more important than sticking to your principles.

#2: The mental mistakes. Syracuse was once again done in by their own turnovers, several of them incredibly stupid turnovers. In close games those giveaways mean everything.

#3: Free throw shooting. This one wasn't of particular import in this game because SU shot only 7 free throws (perhaps an indication they didn't take the ball to the hoop enough) but it has killed them at other times. Everyone says it and I'm sure it's borne out by facts, Syracuse is consistently one of the worst free throw shooting teams in the country. If I coached these guys I would have Rick Jackson (and Derrick Coleman before him) shooting 1000 free throws a day.

But it's results that matter, right? Everyone points to Boeheim's national title, and his two other final game appearances as proof he is a great coach. In the past 7 years Boeheim has missed the tournament 2 and lost in major upsets 4 other times. Over that span SU is 5-5 in the NCAAs, including two 3 vs 14s and a 1 vs 16.

And here is the total list of major tournament upsets against Syracuse in the past 25 years:

1986: #7 Navy over #2 Syracuse
1988: #11 Rhode Island over #3 Syracuse
1990: #6 Minnesota over #2 Syracuse
1991: #15 Richmond over #2 Syracuse
2004: #8 Alabama over #5 Syracuse
2005: #13 Vermont over #4 Syracuse
2006: #12 Texas ATM over #5 Syracuse
2010: #5 Butler over #1 Syracuse
2011: #11 Marquette over #3 Syracuse

Embarrassing. I just want someone else to get a chance to run this team and see if he can do better, even if it is Boeheim clone Mike Hopkins.

NCAA Tournament Thoughts: Sunday

That's what scares me about North Carolina. They can score, no lead against them is ever safe. They have what Clark Kellogg calls "spurtability."

I love the ending of this game, especially compared to Pittsburgh-Butler. The teams were aggressive and attacking. I love LoRo letting Venoy Overton drive to the basket with 7 seconds left. He didn't make the shot and he didn't get fouled, but Jamie Dixon would have called time out and made his team wait til 2 seconds were left. It didn't work out for Washington but they gave themselves several good chances to win it.

I think Jim Nantz called Scott Suggs Scott Sucks. He garbled it just enough so you couldn't tell. Like when John Sterling garbles his Ps and Bs so it sounds like "hre really smacked that bitch" or "that was a good looking bitch."

Even Duke is not immune from the late game jitters. They almost blew that game and it seemed like no one on the team even knew they had to shoot the ball.

I like Michigan's coaching at the end, don't call timeout (did they have any left?) let the guys run, they got the best shot they were going to get, they just happened to miss it.

Did they pair Michigan and Duke just to get more mileage out of this "Uncle Tom" comment? I still haven't watched "The Fab Five" though.

Didn't Damino go to Cornell?

I paused the Syracuse game to watch Arizona-Texas and I am so glad I did. Amazing turnaround in that game. Texas has the ball, a 2 point lead and only 27 seconds left. They get called for 5 seconds, right before the timeout and Arizona not only scores, but gets fouled and takes the lead on the free throw. Texas's last chance was denied when Jim Burr swallowed his whistle. Not on the shot, but there was deinitely a foul underneath on the putback. At least similar to what Robinson did to Howard in the Pittsburgh-Butler game last night.

What did I tell you? A 2 seed always loses in the second round. When the other 3 2s survived, barely, I knew Notre Dame was gonna lose. I should have bet the money line.

VCU goes from derided team, to play-in game, to Sweet 16/Cinderella darling. Just to clarify, their performance in these three games does not mean the Committee was right or that Jay Bilas or anyone else who criticized their selection was wrong. It simply means they started playing in the tournament at a lot higher level than they played in the regular season. This team lost 11 games during the season, 3 of them to teams with RPIs higher than 150.

I never believe in that whole "no one believes in us but us" mentality actually being a benefit (because USC probably felt that way too) but they do seem genuinely pissed off and now they have at least a decent chance of beating Florida State and making it to the Elite 8.

Kansas has no excuse not to make the Final Four now. Illinois is the highest seeded team they can face until the Final Four. If they don't beat Richmond and the VCU/Florida State winner it would be one of the biggest choke jobs in NCAA history, worse than UConn losing to George Mason.

Speaking of choke jobs, there will be separate posts coming on Syracuse and the Big East.

NCAA Tournament: Saturday Thoughts

I enjoyed the Kentucky - West Virginia game. It was an interesting contrast in point guards. Joe Mazzoula vs. Brandon Knight. Raw talent vs. experience and savvy. Talent won out in the end. Amazing Kentucky can be good again after losing 5 players to the NBA. I guess Calipari is either a great recruiter or he's giving kids bags of cash.

UCLA says center Josh Smith is 6-10 305 pounds. Not quite sure I believe that. But he is a pretty good player. Quicker feet than you would think. He did well to avoid a 5th foul but was a little too aggressive on defense and got into a few spots where a call could have gone against him. I also liked him on offense, posted well, turned baseline, sealed with his body and used the glass. He could have an NBA future someday but would probably need to get down to 275, for real.



Every year UCLA has a handsome white player we suspect gets a lot of pussy around campus. There was Jason Kapono, Michael Roll and Lorenzo Mata (jklol) and now it must be Reeves Nelson.

Ok, Florida won, I was wrong this year. But I still think a #2 will go down in this round (which I will still call the 2nd round). North Carolina, Notre Dame or San Diego St. I guess at this point I would say SDSU is most likely, if only because I picked them to go to the Final Four.

It's fun to root for the underdogs but when they win they often play a rocky game like the one between Morehead State and Richmond. Sometimes it's good for the favorites to win because the best teams often provide the best games.

Cool of them to show Derrick Coleman highlights as Faried passed him and Tim Duncan in all-time rebounding this year.

Sand Diego State held on. It was an exciting game, all double OT games are, but it wasn't a great game. San Diego State totally tightened up to let Temple tie the game at the end of regulation, and then Temple blew it in OT. Fran Dunphy played not to lose telling his team to eat the ball on their final two possessions in which they got nothing. SDSU turned it over 3 times in the backcourt in the 2 overtimes and got lazy and gave Temple a layup on a runout, you can't do that in overtime. But they survived and advance, which is all that matters.

Wow, that Pitt-Butler game was one of the worst endings I have even seen.

First, Jamie Dixon tells his team to kill the entire clock with a 1 point lead. How do you not get a shot off there. Why do teams continue to do this. The 5 or 10 extra seconds are not nearly as important as the basket.

Second, Shelvin Mack had a great game, one of the best of his life and he almost cost his team the game by just blatantly running into a guy, for no reason. He would have had a half court heave on the run.

Gilbert Brown, make a free throw, please!

Nassir Robinson bailed out Mack. What a stupid foul. You're standing on the free throw line thinking about how you might win the game because of the other team's idiotic foul then you go commit one yourself. Stupidest thing ever. Even if he cleanly chopped the ball out of Howard's hand he still wouldn't have had time to grab it and shoot it. Dixon probably should have pulled his guys off the line. What fuckin morons.

I'm starting to believe Jamie Dixon is a big reason why Pitt chokes in the tournament every single year. What a horrible job by Pitt.

But Butler deserves credit. They are not a fluke. Upsetting a #1 seed two years in a row, they are a good team and a good program, probably the new Gonzaga.

BYU got a really bad break when Brandon Davies fucked his girlfriend but they may have gotten a favorable draw to get to the Final Four. They can beat Florida and they won't have to face a physical Pittsburgh team in the Elite 8 if they do. I would love to see Jimmer in the Final Four.

I think being on TV probably hurts recruiting for Kansas State. Why would anyone want to play for Frank Martin when he looks like that all the time?

A really exciting finish in KState Wisconsin too. I agree with Frank Martin's decision not to call timeout there down 1. And I agree with Pullen pushing it and trying to get fouled. he just lost it and Wisconsin got and that was pretty much that. Pullen was great though. Wisconsin which I was sure would lose in the first round now has a great chance to go to the Elite 8.

Another great game by Kemba Walker. Not much else to say about that. The dumb shit about 5 games in 5 days should be worn off. I don't think we can use that excuse if they lost to San Diego State or Duke next week. By then there will have been enough time.

Disappointing showing for the Big East. If Notre Dame wins it will send only 3 of 11 teams to the Sweet 16. And 3 of the top 5 suffered major upsets (Pitt, UL and SJU).

But the big story of this game and perhaps the entire tournament is that Butler-Pittsburgh game. And again, I agree both were fouls, maybe the one on Howard could have been let go, but it was the mental mistakes (including the wasted possession by Pitt) that decided this game, not the referees.

What Kind of Asshole Gets Married During March Madness?

My friend Mike D that's who. And on a Friday night no less.
I will not be watching any games tonight, so no recap. If you have any funny comments or game observations post them in the comments section.
I will not be watching Syracuse until I get home. At 10pm I am giving Mrs. Poop my blackberry and instructing her not to give it to me until I finish watching the game. Bombard me with all the bbms, comments and e-mails you like. I will read them about 3am, if all goes well.

NCAA Tournament Thoughts: Early Friday

Texas is one of those teams that can go either way. They can lose in the first round or go to the Final Four. They have a lot of talent, but they're young and they're streaky. They looked pretty good against Oakland. An exciting game because Oakland is the rare underdog who wants to push the pace against a favored team.

Five teams got at-large bids with 14 losses, Tennessee, Penn State, Michigan State, Marquette and USC because of their high strength of schedule ratings. Four of those teams lost and I expect Marquette to make it all 5.

I wonder if the combined 27 losses between Tennessee and Michigan is the most ever for a first round game.

Marv Albert is doing the Texas-Oakland game, what a pleasure to listen to.

At least until Gus Johnson starts.

Whatever Bruce Pearl said to his team at halftime didn't work. Michigan outscored them 37-11 to start the second half, turn a 33-29 game into 70-40. And it will probably be his last halftime speech at Tennessee. The poor performance and the violations will lead to a likely firing.

Memphis - Arizona is a perfect matchup if the committee wanted to give us a fun fast-paced game. Got a little chippy for a minute with two intentional fouls for contact to the head.

Kyrie Irving made a brief appearance for Duke. That would be a huge lift for them if he is healthy.

Gus Johnson is starting to heat up. He just lost his shit over a finger roll. "GEORGE GERVIN WOULD BE PROUD!!!!!"

You just know the games Gus Johnson is calling are going to be close. Villanova had a 6 point lead and a chance to put it away, then George Mason hit a 3, Nova missed two free throws and fouled GMU for a 3-point play.

A great early performance from Gus Johnson.

Arizona-Memphis wow. The only thing worse than missing free throws is throwing away an inbounds pass. And an unbelievable shot block to end the game. You almost never see them miss a free throw on purpose, get the rebound and put it back up in time, but wow. And that was a good no-call. I find the officials have been making too many calls at the ends of these games, glad they let Arizona decide this one.

Smorgasbord

You ever go to a nice buffet and see something you really like, peeled shrimp perhaps. And you're eating them and you're loving it and you're so happy and just when you're pretty much full your friend says "this steak is so good."
And you love steak, but now it's too late, you can't possibly stuff another bite into your mouth.

That's how I felt watching the first games under the new TV coverage policy of having four games on four networks, simultaneously. If you watched one game too long, you might miss another game that is close and exciting, very hard to decide.

But I much prefer this to previous years when I was at the mercy of CBS to switch between exciting finishes. On my own, I was able to catch all the heart-stopping action of the early session.

But here's the problem, I like to DVR games and scan through timeouts. You can't really do that, because if you DVR one game, you're missing three others. And that's what happened last night. The games were blowouts, I was exhausted, I didn't set the DVR for any particular game (and if I had it certainly wouldn't have been UCLA-Michigan State) and I fell asleep and missed a near miracle and another good game in Kansas State.

I guess I shouldn't have filled up on the shrimp.

I'll know better today.

NCAA Tournament Thoughts: Late Thursday

We knew we had to get some blowouts. Florida over UCSB by 28. UConn over Bucknell by 29.

Not sure what to think of Florida. There is always a 2 seed going out in round 2. I still think it could be them but most times (to my recollection) the first round is a harbinger. Remember Villanova squeaking by Robert Morris last year then losing to St. Mary's?

And I'm really starting to think this whole 5 games in 5 days for UConn is overrated. I certainly don't think fatigue will be a factor. They've had 5 days rest already. And by the time they get to next week it'll be 2 games in 12 days. If there's anything at all working against them it's that their human and it's just hard to put up peak performance 11 times in a row (9 needed to get to the Final Four).

But I can't prove Kemba Walker is human. 18 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds.

Bucknell's token jew Bryan Cohen scored 6 points and had 4 rebounds.

It is so much fun to watch Jimmer Freddette play. He did a little bit of volume shooting in this one (32 points on 24 shots) and got a lot of free throws because Wofford's coach thought his team could outscore BYU by 10 points in the final 54 seconds.

I was wrong about Belmont. I was wrong about their press. It slowed Wisconsin at first but after about 10 minutes in the first half Wisconsin had no problems. Belmont wasn't aggressive on defense, they couldn't score on offense and Wisconsin got hot.

Both teams shot 22 3-points, Belmont made 6, Wisconsin made 12. That was the difference.

I love Michigan State Coach Tom "H to the" Izzo, but his team was not ready to play. They got their doors blown off from the opening tip. By a UCLA team that isn't very good. Izzo's tournament resume is undeniable, but he's had a couple stinkers.

But they almost pulled off one of the most amazing comebacks in tournament history. With 8 minutes and 36 seconds left UCLA led 64-41. From that point on UCLA made 8 turnovers and missed 10 free throws. At the same time Michigan State made 7 3-pointers to cut the lead to 77-76. After a free throw the Spartans had one more chance but Kalin Lucas traveled.

At this point I'm still convinced UCLA will beat Florida.

Tough loss for St. John's. They didn't play any defense and got blown out. I don't think DJ Kennedy would have made a difference. It was a nice season and good to see that program rebound but they are have so many senionrs (9 I believe) that they will take a step back. And if you go backwards in the Big East you could go 4 and 14 in conference.

Cincinnati was a popular 6 seed upset pick but they withstood Missouri's pace and managed to get a big lead in the first half which they never relinquished.

Kansas State got a tough draw with a pretty good Utah State team and they almost blew it (Frank Martin's head almost exploded) but I still like this team to beat Wisconsin and maybe even upset Pitt.

NCAA Tournament: Early Thursday Thoughts

This new scenario of four games on four channels is a real challenge. It's easier to blame CBS for fucking it up than it is to manage it all on your own.

I just can't take Bob Huggins seriously after last year's DaSean Butler incident.

And I can't take Rick Pitino seriously either. Morehead was giving him trouble. Not the first time he got more head and later wished he hadn't. Seems like Morehead caught him with his pants down. Again, not the firt time.

I'm really enjoying watching Kenneth Faried of Morehead. The guy is a rebounding monster.

First great finish of the tournament. Butler's Matt Howard gets a tip-in basket, and the backboard turns red less than a tenth of a second after it leaves his fingertips. Jim Nantz must have been kicking himself because he wasn't around for a perfect "Butler did it moment" but don't worry, Tim Brando had you covered.

I wanted to use the Morehead blew it joke, but it was actually Louisville that blew it. Up 4 with 50 seconds to go, you gotta make your free throws, Faried did, even though he's a 59% shooter. Then they fouled and Justice missed the front end of a one and one. Morehead played for a final shot, and for no reason at all DeMonte Harper shot a 3 -- and made it! First "onions!" from Raf so far.

And that block by Faried on Louisville's desperate have was not a foul.

First major upset of the tournament. Makes me a little worried about my Belmont pick tonight. I can't remember if there ever were 2 4s losing in the first round. I know it happened once with 3s.

Another amazing finish -- third great one of the afternoon. Deep onions by Taylor Battle, then an incredible twisting shot by Juan Fernandez.

There is no Juan Fernandez, it's just a stolen identity to give Pepe Sanchez four more years of eligibilty.

And now Princeton has a guy named Hummer?

Kentucky over Princeton makes the fourth last-second finish of the day. And what's great about these games, the teams are making shots and going back and forth, for the most part its not ineptitude making these games close.

Not much to say about Pittsburgh vs. UNC-Ashville. Your typical 1 vs 16 matchup. It actually started close but Pitt is too big and too good.

This is what I kind of like about the play-in game. At least those kids got a chance to win an NCAA Tournament game. I also like the UNC-Ash coach calling timeout with 33 seconds left, down by 23, to get his 5 backups into an NCAA Tournament game.

Richmond and Vanderbilt a great way to end the early session. This was a pretty exciting game with both teams making shots. Not a lot of turnovers in this one, just some crazy shot-making. The ending was really slowed down by all those timeouts though. They need to do something about it. I think there were about 5 in the last two minutes. Takes all the drama out of it.

Every year I pick a 12 over a 5, and this year I finally got it. Hopefully the other 5s (Arizona and Kansas State) hold serve. I have both winning two games.

Check back here later for another similar post on the late games.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Regulators, Mount Up

I felt the passing of Nate Dogg deserved a little more space on this blog than just a Song of the Week.

First of all, did anyone know his name was Nathaniel Hale? Was his only regret that he had but one life to give for Warren G?

Nate Dogg had suffered from ill health for several years after a couple of strokes. But the cause of death was not immediately known.

His biggest hit was of course "Regulate" which was immortalized in this hilarious literal interpretation of the song's meaning.

"Soon, both friends are driving with automobiles full of women to the East Side Motel, presumably to consummate their flirtation in an orgy."

Other Nate Dogg hits:
The Next Episode - Dr. Dre



21 Questions - 50 Cent



Area Codes - Ludacris



And my favorite
Oh No - Mos Def

Song of the Week

"Regulate" - Warren G and Nate Dogg
I guess heaven needed a backup singer.
Nate Dogg died this morning at the age of 41.

Electronic Road Signs Should Not Be Taken Too Seriously

Normally on this blog I encourage you all to obey any road sign you see, merge left, stop and slippery when wet are especially important to obey.
But here is one road sign you might want to ignore, at least until you get home.



Apparently these electronic road signs are notoriously easy to hack. Actually, I wouldn't even call it hacking if all you have to do is open the panel and type what you want the sign to say, in this case the "hacker" cleverly chose "poop."

Story Suggested by Golzilla

Initial Bracket Breakdown

Let’s start with Syracuse. I think the 3 seed was about what we deserved but I thought we might lose it to one of the Kentucky teams which had good late season runs, but both Kentucky and Louisville got 4 seeds. I do however think we got a tough facing the best #1 and perhaps the second best #2. It’s completely debatable of course because all those teams are so close, but we know Ohio State was the overall #1. Then if the committee went with a serpentine formula they had UNC as the 4th #2 (8 overall) and Syracuse as the 9th best team. But I don’t think they actually adhere all that closely to that.

As for the matchups, I don’t think SU should have a big problem Indiana State. They are a guard-oriented team which could press us into some turnovers, but it’s not like they dominated a smaller conference, they were third place in the MVC, which is a good not great conference.

Then SU has to play the winner of Xavier-Marquette. I think it’ll be Xavier which could give SU problems. But either way I don’t see SU beating North Carolina unless the Heels’ inexperience catches up with them and they make a bunch of mistakes. North Carolina to me is the typical team with a lot of talented freshman, took a while to get their footing but now they’ve really hit their stride. They have won 13 games in a row against teams not named Duke.

Speaking of Duke, on closer inspection, they were deserving of the 4th number one seed over Notre Dame. But I think they got off a little easy in their draw. San Diego State is a vulnerable #2 seed and I’m sure the committee thinks UConn is the toughest 3 seed because of their late run but I believe they drastically overrate conference tournaments.

I think Pitt losing in the first round of the Big East will clear the way for them to finally break through and make the final 4. Pitt has made the tournament 9 straight years, including 5 years getting a top 3 seed (a 1, a 2 and 3 3s) but they never made the final 4, and only once to the Elite 8 (in 2009, when they suffered a heart-breaking loss to Villanova.

Belmont will beat Wisconsin. Upsets happen, that's the way it goes. If you picked every game in a vacuum you would pick all favorites. But you know upsets happen so you have to look where they are most likely to be. I was going to pick Belmont regardless of their opponent because this is the type of small conference team that normally pulls off a shocker. They are 30-4 with 25 of their wins by double digits. 3 of their 4 losses were to tournament teams, Tennessee twice and Vanderbilt. Plus Belmont is an active, pressing team that uses a lot of players and could give a plodding Wisconsin team fits.

Why does the selection committee ever schedule first round games between two teams from smaller conferences? This year it is Butler vs. Old Dominion. Why not switch one of those teams with Michigan or Tennessee and give the smaller guys a better chance to advance?

The committee also stacked the deck against the Big East. Facing the possibility of 11 teams in the Sweet 16, more likely 7 or 8, the committee set up two possible conference showdowns in Round 2, yes I still call it round 2. Marquette could face Syracuse and Cincinnati could face UConn.

No one is going to call the rounds by their new names. The four extra games are now officially round 1, and the old rounds 1 and 2 are now 2 and 3. On this blog and forevermore until the tournament expands to 96 or 128, I will call opening games, the play-in round. I urge you to do the same, except when ordering tickets.

And remember to join my espn.com tournament challenge group. I had to change it, the name is The Poop. The other name wasn't showing up in searches, so look for The Poop.

Important Programming Notes

While I expect you all to watch the Selection Show on Sunday (I project Syracuse as a 3 seed, outside chance at a 2 if they win the Big East), I also expect your DVRs to be running at the same time.
MSG will be replaying its "Summer of '86" series at 5pm Sunday night. All four parts, in a row.
Also Sunday night, a new 30 for 30-style documentary on the Fab Five, called "The Fab Five" and I believe based on the book by Mitch Albom.
That airs Sunday night at 9pm.

Song of the Week

"Where You At" - Jennifer Hudson
I hate to be reading too much into it but it seems to me like in this song Hudson blames God for the brutal murders of her mother, brother and nephew.

"You said when the storm came
That you would be there with your umbrella to block the rain
And you said you'd protect me
From heartache, pain, lies, loneliness, and misery
You said you'd tear down the walls that were in my way
You promised things would be okay
And I stood there in the freezing cold
And I waited for you, but you never showed"

Now I always have this problem with gospel music, it's often difficult to determine if they lyrics are referring to Jesus or a cute guy down the street. But the part about protecting her from heartache and pain, sounds like a bigger job than your average guy could do.

Either way, it's a good song, but if you view it my way it's very powerful.

Also, either way, the song title should have a question mark.

For Some of These Dweebs They May Never Get Another Chance to See This

I took Human Sexuality when I was at Syracuse, just about everyone did. It was a big lecture on a weeknight, then a smaller discussion group once a week. It was fun, we talked about sex, a moderately attractive girl in our group told us that she liked to be tied up. It was fun, I got a good grade, probably a B or better, and I learned a thing or two about a thing or two.

But we never saw anything quite like what they saw in the Human Sexuality class at Northwestern.

A woman was publicly penetrated by a sex toy on stage. A naked non-student woman was repeatedly sexually stimulated to the point of orgasm by the sex toy, referred to as a "fucksaw."

The class has about 600 students, 120 of whom stayed for the after-class demonstration. It was optional, and the material wasn't going to be included on the exam.

Students were warned repeatedly about the graphic nature of the demonstration though I doubt they would have left when they said "after class we're going to pleasure a volunteer with the fucksaw."

As for the controversy, maybe it was a bit much, but no one was forced or coerced to watch so if everyone who was there wanted to be there and chose to be there, then why should we make a big deal about it?

"Sticks and stones may break your bones, but watching naked people on stage doing pleasurable things will never hurt you," Professor Bailey said.

And isn't that the point? Sex is so demonized in this country (granted it does have it dangers) but for the most part, sex is good and fun and people are so uptight about it. But those people shouldn't be able to telling consenting adults what they should do.

And if you've read this far down you were just hoping to see a picture of Faith Kroll, the woman who was pentrated.

Place Fist Here

The best part of UFC 127 was the chest hair configuration of Brian Ebersole.



Not sure why he decided to shave his chest hair into an arrow but it was pretty funny.

What's The Point of Playing College Basketball at BYU?

BYU forward Brandon Davies was kicked off the team for a violation of the school's honor code.
Davies's transgression: he had sex with his girlfriend.
In addition to turning the entire campus into a champagne room, students are also told to be honest, so he had an attack of conscience and admitted to his intercourse.
Not only did the selfish prick fuck his girlfriend, he fucked Jimmer Fredette too. Without Davies, the team's leading rebounder, the Cougars lost to New Mexico, one game after beating San Diego State for the second time this year.
Next year Davies will likely transfer to another school (Arizona State?) where he can get all the pussy he wants and not feel badly about it in the morning.
But you mean to tell me Jimmer Fredette is scoring 40 points and not scoring after the games?
I don't believe that for a second, I just think he does it without the pangs of guilt.

Annnnnnnnnnnnd Good Afternoon Everybody

I'm standing the garage waiting for them to bring my car around and I see a driver coming in who looks like Chris Mad Dog Russo. I can't get a good look at him but I notice he is driving a Lexus LS450, with Connecticut plates - could be him.

He gets out of the car and is just a few feet from me and it his so I say "Hey Mad Dog!" And he replies very cordially then goes over to the attendant to get his ticket. As the guy is inspecting his car he says to Mad Dog "are they going to sign you up again?"

It was clear Mad Dog didn't understand what he meant or what he said because of his accent, so he just said "I've got two years left on my contract."

This is when I chimed in:
"Mad Dog, you have to come back, I just cannot listen to Francesa by himself."
"I've got two years left, so they're gonna have to do it with someone else, not me."
"But he is terrible."
"I know, it's tough." [He actually agreed with my rip of Mike.]

Then he starts to walk away and he says "You need to get Sirius."
I said "I'm a shareholder."
He replied "A dollar-81" and just like that he was gone.

I forgot to get his e-mail address so I can copy him on my e-mail to TON when Sirius hits $2.

Song of the Week

"Voyage to Atlantis" - Isley Brothers
This is one of those things that makes me feel like I was born at the wrong time. An amazing Isley Brothers song I never heard before. If I had been of age in 1977 I would have had this jam on 8-track.

What Do You Give Me For? 1-Year-Old Chase and The Annoying Orange

I've been meaning to post this for a long time now, ever since I first saw the Annoying Orange

Must Have Been Texting While Driving

I witnessed this accident at an Exxon station on Route 4 in Fort Lee. The driver came right off the highway, right between the pumps, over a huge pile of bags of rock salt and right into a car pumping gas.



How pissed would you be if you are pumping gas and some dickbag comes right off the highway and slams into you. So hard that your rear window breaks.

Bitch, Your Pancakes Look Fine To Me

A brawl at a Denny's in infamous Chicopee, Massachusetts. It started when one woman asked the other for some maple syrup. To which the other woman replied "bitch, your pancakes look fine to me."



In truth, two men (likely their boyfriends/husbands) were fighting first, allegedly over a car accident that occurred in the parking lot.

Song of the Week

"I Wanna Be Your Man" - Charlie Wilson featuring Fantasia
Good ol' Uncle Charlie wanted to do a tribute to his dead old friend, Roger Troutman, so he enlisted Fantasia and did a cover version of one of his most famous songs. It's a pretty good version, not great, not as good as the original which was one of the very first Songs of the Week.

Which Would You Rather Have?

It's pretty well-documented that Derek Jeter has the best life of anyone, anywhere, ever. Jeter just moved into a new mansion in Davis Islands near Tampa, Florida. It is in this home where he has sex with Minka Kelly.
But I would say if you had only half of what he had, you'd still be doing much better than most. But which half would you take?

30,875 square foot mansion
34-23-33 girlfriend

We're All Gonna Die Somehow

Melo Drama

It seems like the Knicks are close to trading Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Eddy Curry and Anthony Randolph in return for Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups and a couple of spare parts.

As much as I love Melo I think the Knicks should stand pat. Yes, there is a chance Melo will panic and accept a trade (and a 3-year, $65 million deal) to the Nets, but the long-term interests of the team would be best served by hoping Melo hits the free agent market.

The fact is, he wouldn’t make the team good enough to win a title this year. So why trade serviceable parts (Gallo, Chandler and even Felton – though he may not be with the team next year) and another #1 draft choice (in 2014) to get him now? The only answer is because after this summer’s debacle Donnie Walsh doesn’t want to come up short once again.

Yes, it would be a gamble to give the Nets three days to reach a deal with Melo, and yes it would be an embarrassment to be wrong, but the prospect of getting Melo for free (essentially) makes that a wager worth making.

We Say Goodbye, He Says Hello

Actor Len Lesser died at the age of 88. After a long and successful acting career Lesser will only be remembered for playing Jerry's Uncle Leo in Seinfeld.



I picked this scene before reading Jerry's memory of Uncle Leo in the Daily News:
"Len was one of our favorites. We always loved having him on the show. I'll never forget when Uncle Leo was in prison and tattooed 'Jerry Hello' on his knuckles. He was a very sweet guy."

Song of the Week

"10 Seconds" - Jazmine Sullivan
This doesn't even seem like a song. The lyrics don't rhyme, they have no consistent cadence, she's just really pissed off.

Reporter Has a Stroke Live on TV

Serene Branson of KCBS in LA is doing a live report from outside the Grammys when she starts speaking jibberish.



"A very very heavy burtation. We had a very darrison..."

I expected her to fall over and the open for House was going to roll.

Not sure if she actually had a stroke, the station is not giving an update on her medical condition.

Happy Valentines Day

Best Year Ever

In 2010 hedge-fund manager John Paulson had the best year in the history of investing. Paulson's net income from his various ventures, but mostly his own personal investments in his own funds, was more than $5 billion. $5,000,000,000!
This tops Paulson's previous record of $4 billion which he made betting against the housing market in 2007. This time most of his riches came from investing in gold, which rose about 45% during the year.
There's two ways of looking at this: crediting Paulson for his daring and his intelligence and saying it's proof that our system is for the most part a meritocracy where the achievements of the individual are unlimited. Others say the system that allows one individual to profit that much, while others suffer is broken and in need of repair. Especially considering that most of Paulson's earnings are considered capital gains and not ordinary income and will therefore be taxed at a rate of only 15%.

Song of the Week

"You Are" - Charlie Wilson
Most songs I pick just for the song but this one has a really good video. Plus Billy loves Charlie Last Name Wilson.

Super Bowl Ads

An underwhelming crop of Super Bowl ads this year. Nothing really stands out to me. The two I liked best were both subtle sexual innuendos, big shocker.

Faith Hill Teleflora. No one had heard of this company before so they needed to do something to get noticed. This probably worked,


Pepsi Max First Date. Another ad taking advantage of the one track minds of men.


Pepsi Max Love Hurts. All the ads for Pepsi Max and Doritos were user generated. This one was clearly sent in by the Concierge.


Snickers Logging. A lot of people liked this one and I did too but it was too similar to last year’s Betty White ad to really be a standout.


Volkswagen The Force. This one was really great the only problem is so many people (14m hits) saw it before the Super Bowl. But if you hadn’t, this could definitely be your favorite. I love the remote starter.


Doritos Pug Attack. Anything with a dog being cute is bound to be liked by 90% of the people.


Bud Light Dog Sitter. This is one the exception. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love dogs, I love poker but I hate dogs playing poker. We don’t need to see dogs walking around on two legs serving beer. Of course evil Mrs. Poop says this is her favorite.


CareerBuilder Parking Lot. I know it’s a running gimmick with CareerBuilder but I feel like the monkey thing is already played out. And once again, animals dressed as or behaving like people is an immediate turnoff to millions of Americans.


Doritos Best Part. This ad got the worst reviews of any Super Bowl ad I saw. I thought it was kind of funny because the creepiness was obviously very intentional.


Kim Kardashian Skechers. I love Kim Kardashian and I thought she looked great here but I thought the dumping my trainer bit was a little stupid.


NFL Best Fans Ever. I loved this one. A little obsession of mine is remembering where various television shows are set. I loved the superimposed jerseys/shirts/hats and foam fingers. I’m not complaining about Sofia Vergara being a Redskins fans but Modern Family is set in California. I actually wish they included “Family Ties” because they were well known Bengals fans. And how could the Eagles biggest fan, Cory Matthews not make this montage?


Sealy Afterglow. A very racy commericial for such a staid and boring company. I noticed they had a lot of interracial couples which I appreciate.


Carmax Kid in a Candy Store. Kind of clever, wrestler in a folding chair factory. I think I will start using that one.

Super Bowl XLV Prop Bets

I wrote a whole entire post on all the prop bets I was going to do for the Super Bowl and blogger fucked up and cost me the entire thing. There is no way I can recreate it with the neatness I had so I will just go through it quickly.

I'll take the Steelers +2 1/2.
I think the final score will be 34-27.
I am taking combined score of 51-55 and 56-60, both at 12-1 odds.
I also like each team to score exactly 28 points at 12-1 odds.
I like Rashard Mendenhall to score a touchdown.
I like the total interceptions to be over 1 1/2 and I'll take Polamalu to get one at 5/2 odds.
I think Tim Masthay will have punt with gross yardage over 54 1/2.
I think the Steelers total points will cover a 7 1/2 point spread over Blake Griffin's rebounds.
I think Christina Aguilera will sing the National Anthem in less than 1:54.
I think Fergie's first halftime show outfit will be shorts.
I think FOX will show Jerry Jones under 2 1/2 times, but mention Brett Favre more than 2 1/2 times.
I think a player will do the Aaron Rodgers belt celebration, but it will be a Steeler (though that doesn't matter for the wager).
Green Bay will have a higher TV rating for the game than Pittsburgh.

There were a lot more the first time but blogger fucked me.

I also liked under 5 sacks combined by both teams, and over 13 1/2 rushing yards for Roethlisberger.

Minka Kelly's Pretty Pink Panties

Minka Kelly, the hottest woman alive, absolutely killing it in another photo shoot, this one from GQ.




This is all to promote her newest movie, "The Roommate" co-starring Leighton Meister. It's an updated, college version of "Single White Female" only with hotter chicks.



The strange thing is, Meester who plays second fiddle to Blake Lively on "Gossip Girl" now plays the less pretty friend of Minka. But in a strange way she kind of looks like her. If this works out she could play her psycho sister in the next movie.

This is Why 3 Million People Watch Sean Hannity Every Night

Sean Hannity arguing with Anjem Choudary. You must stick with this until the end. The good-bye is priceless.



"You're one sick miserable evil SOB but thank you for coming on anyway."

What's the Most Embarrassing Part?

During a recent girls' high school basketball game in Utah Christian Heritage High beat West Ridge Academy 108-3.
This called up the usual questions of sportsmanship, self-esteem, competitiveness and the wussification of America.
But the one thing no one is talking about is which is the worst part, allowing 108 points in a 24 minute (I think) game, or scoring only 3.





I think the answer has to be scoring only 3. I'm sure there was a great physical difference between the two teams, which made it impossible to stop them on defense. But unless the ball got stolen everytime and every shot was blocked, they should have been able to make at least two baskets. Let's say they only get 10 shots off the entire game. They only needed to make 2 of them to get 4 points. Scoring only 3 points, blame yourself.

Song of the Week

"Walk Like an Egyptian" - The Bangles
Tell me you haven't been singing this song to yourself this week.

50 Years on TV and No One Knows Who He Is

Three idiots on Wheel of Fortune



Regis Philbrin and Kelly Ripa
Regis Philbin and Kelly Reepa
Regis Philmin and Kelly Ripa
Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripe-a

That was ridiculous. But I think what happened was it wasn't quite clear what the previous mistakes were so they kept trying to change their answers.

You May Be Surprised at My Answer

Ohio Congressman and former Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich is suing a Congressional cafeteria for $150,000. Three years ago Kucinich ate a sandwich and bit down on an olive which still contained a pit. Kucinich says he suffered serious dental problems as a result, and according to his lawsuit "a loss of enjoyment."
Throw out the amount he's seeking, because you always ask for way more than reasonably should be awarded, fully expecting the judgment to be reduced. Consider only the merits of his claim. And forget the loss of enjoyment too, though I guess it makes sense, you would enjoy food and life a lot less if you had a broken tooth requiring serious oral surgery to repair.
Focus only on his claim: he expected everything in his sandwich to be easily edible. I agree with him. No one should put a olive with a pit in a sandwich, that's negligence on the part of the cafeteria's food preparers. And he suffered actual damages as a result of that improperly prepared sandwich. I say this is a legitimate lawsuit.

Saying Good-Bye to An Old Friend

Today I said good-bye to an old friend. A friend I have spent lots of time with.
A friend who was with me when I got in a bad accident on Christmas Day. A friend who drove me and my new bride home from our wedding. A friend who was with me when I drove around the block trying to get Chase to stop crying. A friend who has seen both my kids and my dog when they were tiny little babies. A friend who has been with me for nearly 10 years and more than 70,000 miles.

Today we traded in Mello Yello.

Tracy Morgan Votes Yes

A long time ago we asked Would You Bang Sarah Palin?, last night Tracy Morgan answered. Walking by the set of the TNT pregame show before the Knicks-Heat game, Kenny and Charles stopped him to ask him an important question.

We've All Had These Moments, Not on TV Though

We've all had moments of uncontrollable laughter, where you just can't stop laughing no matter what. Most of us aren't on TV when it happens to us though. A recent incident at work (which I can't post video of due to google alerts) reminded me of the king of the on-air meltdown, Charley Steiner.



Notice how he touched his right ear every time? What was he doing? Signaling to his wife and kids? Telling the director to go to break?

Btw, I'm pretty sure the reason he was laughing at Mitch Green is because they played the soundbite of him saying of Mike Tyson "like a sissy, a homo, he ran."

Song of the Week

"Me and Mrs. Jones" - Billy Paul
One of the most soulful songs of all time. You can really feel his pain. And you can't go wrong with the combination of Billy and Paul.

The NFL is Poop - Conference Championships

Tradition!
The NFL couldn’t have planned a better matchup of two storied franchises to play in the Super Bowl. Both the Packers and Steelers have rich traditions, loyal fan bases and small markets. And their combined 9 Super Bowl titles is the most of any two teams to ever meet in a Super Bowl. None of that will matter once the game starts, but the similarities will continue. Both teams have good quarterbacks, fast wide receivers and aggressive defenses led by long-haired maniacs. The early spread of Packers by 2 ½ indicates oddsmakers think as I do. This is going to be a close, exciting game along the lines of some great Super Bowls we’ve seen in the past 10 years.

Where Did the Jets Go Wrong?
A lot of hand-wringing this week about strategic calls by Rex Ryan and Brian Schottenheimer on the 4th quarter drive which led to a goal line stop. Without the benefit of hindsight I said the Jets should have kicked the field goal instead of going for it on 4th and 1 from the 20. But once they got to the 1, they needed to keep going even on 4th down, but I too disagree with the play calling. But one of the benefits of going for it so close to the goal line is, even if you miss, you put the other team in a very disadvantageous position. And that’s exactly what happened. Sure, they missed, but they forced a safety and after the free kick drove for a touchdown. So I don’t think the mistakes on that previous drive really cost them. They lost the game in the first half. And it had slammed shut on them when the Steelers were aggressive late in the game and completed two big passes when many teams would have just run into the line.

Jim Nantz is Gay…and Wrong
Jim Nantz gently suggested the Jets should have gone for 2 on their final touchdown, to make the game 24-20 instead of 24-19. He is blatantly wrong. First of all there was very little time left so his scenario of Jets stopping the Steelers, scoring a touchdown and then giving up a field goal seems unlikely. More plausible, Jets miss the 2, trail 24-18, give up a field goal and have no chance. Extend the game, don’t chase points, and use it only as a last resort. Those are the rules of 2-point conversions.

Caleb Who?
A valiant effort by the Chicago Bears behind 3rd string quarterback Caleb Haine to score 2 touchdowns (with a little help from passive Packers defense) and be in position to tie the game late. The big story in this game of course was Jay Cutler not playing in the second half. No one really knows how injured he was. If he thought he was too injured and someone else could do a better job, then maybe he made the right decision to give way to Haine. But because it’s only a ligament sprain, because things weren’t going his way and because he has a reputation for being a petulant prima donna, no one is giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Now the Whole Franchise is in Disarray
The Bears should be celebrating a season in which they won their division and hosted the NFC Championship game. They made major strides on offense late in the season, to go with an already strong defense. And had they lost this game under normal circumstances, hopes could be high for next season. Instead, Bears fans, coaches and players may never be able to trust their quarterback again. I think the Bears are going to trade Cutler in the offseason. To the Redskins for the 10th pick in the draft, which could very well be Cam Newton.

Weekly Picks

Well I am limping to the finish, three straight missed best bets and the games are even harder this week.

PITTSBURGH -3 1/2 new york jets
I flip-flopped on this game during the middle of the week for a few reasons. First of all, too many people are loving the Jets. Second, it seems the Jets made last week's game against the Patriots their Super Bowl. They will need the emotion Bart Scott had in the postgame interview, for 60 minutes against the Steelers. But the biggest reason I changed my mind is because I don't trust Mark Sanchez against a defense as strong and aggressive as the Steelers. But if the Jets win it'll be because of injuries on the Steelers offensive line.

BEST BET
CHICAGO +3 1/2 green bay
This is once again a pick against common convention. I can't see why everyone is picking the Packers in this one. Yes, Aaron Rodgers is playing great right now, but I think Jay Cutler is doing pretty well. The Bears will have to protect him though, and they will need to establish some kind of running game. But I really love the 3 and a half points here and I haven't lost with a home underdog all season. Btw, the Redskins beat both of these teams in the regular season.


Last week: 2-2 (1 point)
Season: 49-44 (50 points)
Best Bets: 0-1 (10-9)
Home Favorites: 2-2 (19-17)
Home Underdogs: 0-0 (2-0)
Road Favorites: 0-0 (17-18)
Road Underdogs: 0-0 (11-9)

Laughing At Other People's Misfortune

If I lived on this street in Pittsburgh I would park my car in the driveway, make some hot cocoa and sit on the porch watching the action.



If you liked that, check out this one, from Portland, Oregon in 2007. The first accident is unbelievable.

And You Thought Texting While Driving Was Bad

This woman actually gives me a good idea. I am going to pretend to be texting while walking through the mall, and fall in the fountain. Except when I do it, I'm going to grab a handful of change.

The woman is angry at mall security for posting the video online. Understandable.
She is also angry they laughed at her instead of helping her. Understandable, on the part of mall security.
And now she is considering a lawsuit because she became an international laughing stock as a result of the video being leaked. That is going too far. And it earns Cathy Cruz Marrero the oversensitive babies and frivolous lawsuit tags.

Song of the Week

"I Don't Want to Go" - Freddie Jackson
So nice to see this guy back. It's been 20 years since he rocked it with hits like "Rock Me Tonight" and "You Are my Lady." He looks a lot different (skinnier) and sounds different (like Ronald Isley or something) but he's still awesome.

And This Year's Golden Globes Joke Award Winner Is...

January Jones from "Mad Men" shows off her Golden Globes.



Runner-up was Sofia Vergara from "Modern Family" but she seems a little too obvious.



And she didn't need me, she made the joke herself

The NFL is Poop - Divisional Playoffs

Look Who’s Talking Now
The Jets backed up all their trash talk by beating New England 28-21 in New England. The key was the pressure the Jets were able to get on Tom Brady. It wasn’t only the 5 sacks, it just seemed like they really rattled him. Even in situations where the Jets didn’t get pressure on him, he still wasn’t able to hit the big play. Revis of course was Revis, but Cromartie didn’t get burned as they thought he would. The Jets meanwhile were able to ride a very balanced offense to the victory. While Mark Sanchez will get (and deserve) a lot of credit he owes his receivers a debt of gratitude. Great plays from Santonio Holmes (sick catch in the corner) and Jerricho Cotchery (hurdle along the sidelines) helped Sanchez look a lot better.

This Isn't Nazi Germany
Bill Belichick is a hardass. He has his way, and he rigorously sticks to it. And of course he thinks his way is best. And he was willing to hurt his team in a playoff game to prove his tight-lipped policy is superior to Rex Ryan’s open mouth. He benched Wes Welker for the start of the game because of his pre-game press conference.



I thought that was quite funny, “foot soldiers,” “quick feet,” and “toe in the water.” Cheesy puns but under the circumstances quite funny.

My Favorite Moment of the Weekend
Bears cornerback Charles "Peanut" Tillman's self-inflicted punishment after dropping a sure interception. Tillman gets down and gives me 20 push-ups, like Willie Mays Hayes.



The Bears Don't Suck
All season long I have derided the Bears as being a bad team that got lucky. This assumption was based on the controversial win over the Lions in Week 1, another win over the Cowboys in week 2 in which the offensive line got destroyed, the offfensive line getting historically demolished against the Giants, and a turnover laden mess against the Redskins. Somehow, some way the offensive line improved, Jay Cutler stopped taking bad chances and the defense reasserted itself as a championship caliber unit. Now the Bears are hosting the NFC championship game.

I Don't Believe in Momentum, But...
The interception return for a touchdown by Tramon Williams at the end of the first half was the closest thing I've seen to a game-changing play. The Falcons seemed likely to cut the Packers lead to 21-17 at the half, trailing, but definitely still in the game. That play made the lead 14, silenced the crowd and turned the Falcons desparate. 48-21 seems like a game the Falcons had no chance to win, but they did, until that interception.

Play to Win the Game
We saw a few plays this weekend (the above pass by Matt Ryan, the fake punt by the Patriots) that showed teams thought taking big chances was necessary to win these games. While some of them didn't work out, either for imprudent decision-making or poor execution, the Pittsburgh Steelers put their victory away with a huge gamble. About two minutes left, 3rd and 19 on their own 38. Instead of trying to kill time and punt the Steelers went for the jugular with Ben Roethlisberger nailing a 58-yard pass to Antonio Brown setting up the game winning touchdown.

Play to the Whistle
One of the most bizarre plays I've ever seen occurred when Terrell Suggs knocked the ball out of Ben Roethlisberger's hand from behind, sending the ball flying forward, and appearing to anyone who didn't see where it came from, to have been a forward pass. That's why a couple players on each team looked down at the ball and didn't fall on it. Cory Redding was aware and scored a touchdown that did turn the game -- for a while -- until the Ravens own turnovers turned the game back.

Play The Game the Right Way
The Ravens-Steelers game was marred by two things, turnovers and penalties. Nearly every play of the game was followed by pushing and shoving by the two teams. No one was more guilty of chippiness than Hines Ward. He is a dirty player and is always involved in something.