Song of the Week

"Animal" - Miike Snow
The only thing I don't like about this song is that apparently the correct spelling of the artist's name includes two Is.

Good Thing Pat Garrity Isn't So Thin-Skinned

Rick Pitino had to be restrained from going after a fan at halftime of Louisville's game against North Carolina.



Apparently the fan said "hey Pitino, you suck." What angered Pitino so much was that the fan was an older gentleman, not a student.
How foolish of security to eject the guy, and escort him in the same direction Pitino was walking.

When I was in college Notre Dame's Pat Garrity lined up for a free throw. A hush came over the crowd. And I yelled "I fuckin hate you Garrity."
Good thing I wasn't ejected.

Cardiac Cuse

The latest in a long line of heroic last second shots for Syracuse this season came from John Gillon nailing a 3-pointer off the glass to beat Duke 78-75.



It's always exciting to beat Duke. It's always exciting to win on a last-second shot. When both happen and the game is nearly essential for your tournament hopes, then it's even better.

And the Gillon shot joins a long list of buzzer beaters and game winning shots.

Best Post-Fight Interview Ever

Derrick Lewis delivered the best post-fight interview after his fight vs Travis Browne.
Lewis seemed to be seriously hurt by a body blow in the first round, and was holding his stomach in pain. But he came back in the second and knocked out Browne, leading to this interview with Brian Stann.



"I just gotta do number 2. It's not really hurt from the kicks, I gotta booboo."
"all the training and all the sex I been getting..."

And this clip edited out Lewis bringing up some old domestic violence accusations against Browne, punctuated with "where Ronda Rousey's fine ass at?" Browne is dating Ronda Rousey.

Song of the Week

"I'll Do Anything" - Denroy Morgan
"Do do do do do, do do do do do, do do do do do, do anything"
16 straight dos, beat that with a stick.

I'd Rather Have the Donuts

A woman hits a half-court shot at a Siena Saints basketball game, as part of a promotion for Dunkin Donuts. She won a $500 DD gift card, which would last Master Bates about a week and a half.
But look what happened next.



Her boyfriend set the whole thing up, and after her miracle shot he took off the coffee cup costume and proposed to her.
Pretty good night, $500 worth of a donuts and a diamond ring.



Note: don't be a douche and vote with the mentality of I'd sell the diamond ring and get $5000 worth of donuts. So there!"

Strange Last Words

A man in Oakland, California went on a bizarre rampage, terrorizing his neighbors with a rifle, before being taken out by a police sniper.
The craziest part of his bizarre final moments, an act of vandalism on his neighbors' property.

He drew boobies on the garage door and a penis on the car hood.
Way to go out in a blaze of glory.

Here Lies Personal Responsibilty

Jane Park, 21, of the UK, had planned to sue lottery organizers claiming her life was ruined after she won a million pounds in the EuroMillions when she was only 17.
Her claim was that someone that young could not handle the money and the lottery should increase the minimum age to 18.
She wasted her fortunate on cars clothes and plastic surgery. Plastic surgery, you don't say.

Park has since dropped her suit and said it was her plan all along. She says if she had merely suggested the age increase no one would have listened, but her lawsuit gained attention, which could initiate the change and perhaps save young people in the future from making the same mistakes. And presumably, blaming those mistakes on someone else.

Song of the Week

"Let's Get It On" - Marvin Gaye
This is for all you lovers out there.

Safety First

UCLA's big win over Oregon this week was marred by a scary incident involving a cheerleader. She fell, dragging the whole pyramid down, landed on her back and may have hit her head. Assistance came swiftly and she was carried off the court.



Only problem, the dude carrying her stepped on a bag or some kind of cloth item left carelessly by the court, and he slipped, causing her to fall for the second time.

Sophie did eventually return to the court and is doing fine.

Bill Walton's comment only makes it that much funnier.

I'm With Oakley

When Master Bates texted me to tell me that Charles Oakley had been ejected from Madison Square Garden and arrested, I thought he was messing with me. I thought Nails (who frequently tells me my favorite players have been traded, killed or photographed in bed with hookers) had put him up to it.
Unfortunately, it was another sad chapter in the sad story of the New York Knicks.

We will never know what truly happened, because there are such differing accounts, but clearly this went back a while, and rightly or wrongly security would keep an eye on Charles Oakley whenever he entered the Garden.

We don't know if Oakley was drunk, we don't know if he was abusive, we don't really know if Dolan ordered security to eject him.
We only know what we see on tape, which makes Oakley look pretty bad. He is physically assaulting the security personell and refusing to leave.

As the headline indicates, I am with Oakley on this one, but when you are in a private place, and security in charge asks you to leave, you have to leave. That's the law, and the decent thing to do.
Oakley resisted, which led to the ugly incident and his arrest.

But that's only one night. As a Knicks fan who has been subjected to years of mismanagement of the team by James Dolan, if anyone has to be banned from the arena for life it should be Dolan.

What Do You Give Me For? Carson Wentz and Prince Harry

This one comes from the mind of Julian who asked why Carson Wentz was on the cover of daddy's magazine and mommy's magazine.

Song of the Week

"Let Me Explain" - Bryson Tiller

He's Got To Be the Sickest Man in America Right Now

Two years ago Dan Quinn got a front row seat to one of the worst coaching decisions in Super Bowl history when Pete Carroll elected for a pass instead of a run on the one-yard.

Here's what I wrote about that move at the time:

"That was a terrible play call, absolutely the worst. How do you not try with Marshawn Lynch there, at least on second down, if it doesn't work call time out and then consider your options? Nothing else needs to be said about it, it was a terrible move, a risk he didn't need to take. There is no argument in favor of it. Even though the Patriots would know it was coming, their odds of stopping it were low."

Dan Quinn was the defensive coordinator of that team and now he can sympathize with his old boss, and if Pete Carroll had any class -- which I highly doubt -- he would have called his former employee to console him for making an even worse decision. Or maybe thank him for taking Carroll's name out of the memories of all football fans for making the biggest bonehead move at the worst possible time.

Julio Jones had just made a ridiculous sideline toe-tapping catch that would have and should have gone done as a nail in the Patriots coffin, putting the Falcons at the 22-yard-line with four minutes and 40 seconds to go.

Freeman lost a yard on first down. The clock ticked under 4 minutes, and the entire Falcons coaching staff had a simultaneous brain fart. They called for a pass. All they needed to do was run the ball twice, not fumble and kick a field goal and take a two-score lead with 3 and a half to go. You have to put their chances of being able to do that at close to 90%. Passing adds very little in terms of reward, but opens up to so much risk. Like an interception, or a sack!

Some of the blame of course goes to Ryan who needed to be aware and throw the ball away, but here's why the coaches deserve more blame: the idiots did it again. With a 53-yarder well within Matt Bryant's range, all they needed to do was hand off, get 5 yards, and feel secure. Instead, the passed again, disaster struck again and a holding penalty knocked them out of field goal range.

What happened next was amazing. Tom Brady, perhaps the best quarterback ever, led his team on two consecutive touchdown drives to win his 5th Super Bowl.

I don't dispute for a second that he is an amazing quarterback, capable of great things because of his physical gifts and his mental makeup.

I don't deny that curmudgeonly Bill Belichick is among the best coaches in NFL history.

And I can't argue that Julian Edelman's catch deserves a nickname because it belongs up there with "The Immaculate Reception" and "The Helmet Catch" as the luckiest, most improbable catches in football history.

But it's likely that none of these heroics would have been possible or relevant, if not for a completely and utterly stupid decision by the Falcons coaching staff led by Dan Quinn.

And it's not just once, this is the second time, the Patriots were gifted a chance to win a Super Bowl. They could be 3-4 in the Brady-Belichick era instead of 5-2.

The stupid coaching marred the game for me. While exciting and thrilling, the first overtime game in a Super Bowl, I can't call it a great game, because of the stupidity and ineptitude involved in it.

Greatness needs to have both teams playing great and making plays. Which is why I still favor Super Bowl XLIII, Steelers 27 Cardinals 23.

And Billy Can Climb Through the Window

The house where the Matthewses lived in Boy Meets World is for sale.

It's listed for $1.29m and it's actually is Studio City, California, not Philadelphia, which increases the value exponentially.
Unfortunately, because real life is not a television show, on the inside it looks nothing like the house were Cory and Eric grew up. Those rooms were of course sets on some lot at a TV studio.
But it would still be cool. If Billy were able to kick half a mil, and move to California, I'm sure were could get 300k JLeary.

To Storm or Not to Storm

Syracuse fans were criticized nationally for storming the court after the team's upset victory over then #6 Florida State.

The thinking goes, that yes, this year Florida State was having a better season than the Orange, but when you compare the histories of the programs, a win over Florida State should be expected.

That debate was rekindled, a little, today, when the Orange beat a top ten team at home for the second straight week, this time knocking off #9 Virginia.

This game had some added juice to it because it would have been Jim Boeheim's 1000th win had some wins not been forfeited as part of the NCAA's sanctions against the coach and the program.

I will say I agree with the old grumps that it is "beneath" Syracuse to charge the court after a win over Florida State.

But I charged the court after a big win over Georgetown, and I charged the field after Donovan McNabb's famous "throwback to Brominksi" victory over Virginia Tech. Both were indelible experiences of my college experiences and I don't blame the students one bit for wanting to have their own special memories.

Note: One of my favorite posts is about an NC State student who did the same. Please click if you don't remember the story.

Super Bowl Prop Bets

Every year I comb through the serious and the ridiculous to find prop bets to enjoy the Super Bowl more. I already picked the Patriots to win the game and cover the spread, here's my thoughts on almost everything.

Under 58 1/2
Everyone and their mother is going over in this thing but the Patriots have a pretty good defense and even more importantly, I think they know they need to keep the ball away from the Falcons, so they will try to chew up some clock and control the ball.

Matt Ryan MVP 5/2
Yeah, it's probably going to be Tom Brady. But he's basically 1 to 1. So Ryan pays 2.5x and probably is half as likely to win. It's a better price.

LeGarratte Blount First TD 8 to 1
It's always hard to pick a running back when two pass-oriented teams are on the field, but I have feeling the Patriots are going to try to run it.

Total QB sacks under 4
Neither team has a threatening pass rush and both passers like to get rid of it.

Tom Brady under 2 1/2 rushing yards
Seems drastically low, but this would have been a winner in 6 of his last 7 games. Even if he gets 4 yards, he could reverse that with two kneeldowns.

Length of first reception by Chris Hogan Over 11 1/2
He's not an underneath receiver

Julio Jones under 95 1/2 receiving yards
The Patriots try to make you beat them with someone other than your best player

And now, to the non-football

Luke Bryan will come out wearing blue jeans 1/2
No way a country star sings the National Anthem in a nice pair of dockers.

National Anthem under 1 minute 58 seconds
Luke Bryan seems like a no-nonsense kind of guy.

Lady Gaga's First Song: Edge of Glory 6/1
Internet rumors that it was going to be "Poker Face" but I don't believe anything I read on the internet.

Deflategate mentions over 1 1/2
It has to come up.

Coin toss
Heads, easy

Guest Performers during halftime show over 1/2
Isn't Lady Gaga like BFFs with Tony Bennett?

Red Gatorade Poured on winning coach 6/1
It is the best flavor, and a primary color for both teams.

Bill Belichick Loves Caroling

A lot is made of the Bill Belichick personality and his obnoxious non-answers at press conferences.
But there was one question he did answer explicitly and directly:



"Love caroling"

Weekly Picks

Well, it's been a long season, started poorly and I managed to turn it around and break a string of a few bad seasons in a row.
Now there is only one game left to select.

New England -3 Atlanta
As good as I think the Falcons are on offense, I think there is only one true way to beat the Patriots in the playoffs, and it's been said many times: get to Tom Brady with four rushers. If you commit 5, he eats you up. If you don't get enough pressure, he eats you up. I don't think the Falcons can do it. A lot is made of the Tom Brady revenge tour, but I don't buy any of it. I just think they have the better team, and the coach and the quarterback to execute better in a game like this. 7 Super Bowl appearances, 5 wins, maybe, simply amazing.

Last Week: 1-1 (0 points)
Season: 48-42 (51 points)
Best Bets: 11-8 (I forgot week 1)

Staten Island Shooting

The 52-year-old man who was killed in a double homicide in Dongan Hills has been identified by sources as Carl Clark.

Police already identified Michael Genovese, 57, of Edgewater, N.J. as the other man who was fatally shot execution-style at about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday at a lending business at 124 Buel Ave. Police discovered the bodies following a 911 call about gunshots.

A suspect remains at large and the investigation continues, a spokesman for the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information said.

The suspect is described by police as an adult male who was possibly wearing a mask. He fled the location in gray sedan, heading east on Dongan Hills Avenue toward Hylan Boulevard, police said.

A motive has not yet been established. Police do not believe it was a robbery since nothing obvious was taken from the scene, the spokesman said. The victims were believed to have been alone in the building with the suspect at the time of the shootings.

A preliminary police investigation indicates the victims were shot in the back of their heads in a rear office. The medical examiner's office will determine exactly how many times the men were shot, police said.

The address where the men were shot is the location of Universal Merchant Funding, an organization that provides loans for small businesses. Genovese is listed the owner of the business, according to his LinkedIn profile.

When you get killed in Staten Island and your last name is Genovese, people think it's a mob hit.