WBRS Sports Blog

Screw the preview...everybody has watched the tournament and knows the strengths and weaknesses of each team so let's just move on to the predictions! Whoever correctly predicts the championship game and the champion will win something from me! It might be a used tissue or it could be something exotic like 1 unsalted cashew.


And the winners (according to me): George Mason over Florida and UCLA over LSU...in the finals I have George Mason defeating UCLA, yes folks I am picking the Patriots! It only makes sense that the Patriots win another championship, but this time it won't be in the NFL.

Post your predictions under the comments section and look like a genius if you are right!

NFL owners have decided to clamp down on endzone celebrations and by a 29-3 vote have given officials the power to penalize a team 15 yards for any excessive celebration. The vote passed only after a more strict rule that would require Chad Johnson to wear a straight jacket and Hannibal Lector mask fell two votes short.

The Cubs placed right-handers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood on the 15 day disabled list, or as they've come to know it, "the normal list."

USA basketball has announced that Las Vegas will be its training center through 2008. Team USA made it clear that Vegas was not chosen for the gambling and hookers as most people think, but rather because its location will give players access to marijuana from both southern California, and midwestern states such as Montana and Idaho.

The Jazz honored Karl Malone last week, retiring his number and unveiling a bronze statue of him. The bronze Malone is holding a bottle of Rogaine in his right hand and fondling Vanessa Bryant with his left.

It's not often that we here at WBRS sports break stories, but the events of last weekend's regional intramural basketball tournament at Boston University must be shared with the world. A team featuring WBRS member Seth Roberts and superguest Sidney Coren went to BU to represent Brandeis at the tournament. After advancing through the round robin stages and winning an elimination game, the team was bounced from the tournament by an intramural squad from Delaware St. The boys from Delaware St. rolled all the way to the championship game, where at halftime they were disqualified for playing with ineligible players. According to Coren, the team had four players from last years varsity team that made the NCAA tournament as a 16 seed before losing to duke in the first round. According to the tournament rules, a player must sit out at least one season after playing varsity basketball. Roberts and Coren believe one player was Aaron Williams, a man who averaged nearly 11 points a game as a Division I basketball player last season.

What makes this all so unfair is that players on the Brandeis team believed they were the next best team in the tournament. However, because they played Delaware St. before the finals, they cannot advance while the team that was lucky enough to not play them until the finals most likely will get the opportunity to go the national tournament. Delaware St., you've just made a very powerful enemy.

I can't remember an NCAA Tournament that has been this memorable. Not only have the games been great, filled with several buzzer-beaters, but this year's tournament has also been upset galore. And when the underdogs win at such an unfathomable rate, brackets, such as my own, are bound to crumble like a Steve Alford coached team in the first round. March Madness is like a drug to me, and I need my fix. I wasn't sure if I could wait until Saturday for more games, especially considering the enticing storylines such as "Is George Mason for real?" and "How will a team from the SEC or the Pac-10 be playing for a championship when every Big East team is at home watching?" In the meantime I have been able to handle the withdrawal from games by occupying my time on facebook. Sure everybody wastes time looking at pictures of hot girls from their high school who they are friends with on facebook but never actually spoke to in high school, in order to see if they are indeed still hot. But not me….at least for this week. My lack of bracket success has depressed me lately, but I felt a good start in the grieving process would be to facebook friend the men at the source of my sorrow. My bracket is ruined and I know exactly who ruined them….

Why at the end of the Texas A&M/LSU game did Antanas Kavaliauskas of Texas A&M back off of sharpshooter Darrel Mitchell allowing him to swish a three right in his face, advancing LSU, who eventually beat Texas, the team I had winning it all? Antanas, I forgive you, we are friends now on facebook. And under the favorite books section you have “I don’t read”…I like that, a lot.

I had Pittsburgh not only easily defeating Bradley, but knocking off Memphis and ending in the Elite 8. But Pitt center Aaron Gray had other plans as he gave up 28 points to Patrick O’Bryant, the mid-major center from Bradley. Getting nearly 6 rebounds below your season average that game didn’t make you my favorite person Mr. Gray. But alas, facebook has verified our friendship and your nickname is “A.G”….those are my initials also!

Mr. Paul Davis. Your performance was painful to watch even though George Mason is now in the final four. Then again, your team, Michigan State, was an eight-point favorite in the game and many experts argued George Mason had no business being in the tournament in the first place. That is all in the past now Paul because we are facebook friends and the fact that I had you in my Elite 8 is really irrelevant now….According to facebook you have over 1,000 friends at MSU! That is great because I am sure when you return to campus and nobody speaks to you, our friendship will prosper into something special.

Boo! Boo! Boo! Yes that is your name but that is also what I was doing as I watched my Cinderella team, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, lose to eventual final four team Florida. I can’t be that upset at you Boo Davis, you weren’t expected to win this game. I am not mad at you, in fact I would consider us friends, because facebook does! By the way I didn’t even know your real name is Ronald, that is amazing because before I facebook friended you I had no friends named Ronald!

So folks, if you are feeling down about your busted brackets I recommend you get over it and facebook friend the athletes you were cheering against throughout the month, it is quite the remedy!

With Fantasy Baseball drafts starting up all over the country, it's time to talk a little fantasy. Today WBRSports is doing their fantasy draft and so I'm curious how people feel about where they rank certain players?

Bonds? Clemens? Garciaparra? Jason Bay? Alfonso Soriano? King Felix?

Comment about who you think you got as steals in your draft, and who, in retrospect, you should've drafted earlier.

The madness continues....I think we learned a lot from the games last night and we maybe even saw a glimpse of the future. Last evening we witnessed Duke become the first 1 seed to be ousted from the tournament this year. But more interesting than that was JJ Reddick's performance, or lack there of. 3 of 18 from the field, 11 points, 4 turnovers. What does this mean? Sure it is only one game, but I think Reddick's struggle towards the end of this season might indicate something about his NBA career...he won't be a superstar. Reddick isn't particularly athletic, he has trouble creating his own shot, and is a defensive liability. I don't think Reddick can flourish in a system where he is relied upon to be "the man", but I think he would be a solid NBA player as a 3rd or 4th option on a team.

Meanwhile, Adam Morrison does have what it takes to be an NBA superstar. His length makes him extremely difficult to guard, especially on the perimeter. He isn't as tall as Dirk, but his style is somewhat similar. Unlike Reddick, when Morrison's shot isn't on he can still create his own shot by driving to the hole strong. Watching Reddick's career end and Morrison's career most likely end as well, I pitied Morrison much more. Yes JJ's team did lose but you really could put the blame on him given his poor performance. Morrison was sensational last evening and watching him cry hysterically on the middle of the court really showed me something. He played his hardest and it should have been good enough to give Gonzaga the W, but it wasn't. For somebody that is going to be a top 5 pick making millions of dollars in just a few months, it is nice from a fan's perspective to see how much the college game means to him.

Clip of the Day: Funny Poker Commercial

Can't you just envision a cold night in Foxboro....AFC Championship game....2 minutes left and Peyton Manning drives the ball down the field and Adam Vinatieri hits a 44 yard field goal in the snow to give the Colts the 1 point lead. Then Tom Brady in Tom Brady fashion leads his team down the field only to set up a kick that sails wide left as time expires and New England's season ends. I am sure this is the dream that will haunt the majority of New England fans this off-season, as Adam Vinatieri has agreed in principle with the Indianapolis Colts.

I think this move is great for the Colts, as not only is Vinatieri a great kicker but he brings a winner's mentality to the team, a post-season winner's mentality! Expect this deal to be one of the best signings of the off-season, but that will only be evident once we get to the playoffs (remember Vandjeragt holds the highest kicking percentage in NFL history). I imagine the Colts will find themselves in a similar situation as they did a season ago, but expect that sideline to be a lot more comfortable with Vinatieri trotting onto the field for the game-winner as opposed to Vanderjagt.

As for the Patriots, "Shame on you!" What are you thinking Mr. Kraft for not shelling out the few extra bucks Vinatieri demanded? I am pretty sure he deserved it, hell I am pretty sure the foundation of the Patriots dynasty consisted of Tom Brady and Adam Vinatieri. I am going to have fun watching the Patriots try to "plug" someone in to the kicking position, a tactic that Belichick has been praised for doing at other positions in the past. Maybe Doug Flutie will get a chance to compete for the job, he did convert on an extra point last season. Clutch kicking is a rarity in this league, and come playoff time the Patriots will realize the mistake they made by letting Adam go.

Link of the day: Enjoy Prison

Also, I was asked if I would publicize this competition, so take a look. WBRS Wax-Off DJ Competition

Also, check out the new section in the blog, the "Weekly Poll"!!!!!! Make sure to Vote!!!!!!!!

Plenty of upsets and plenty of almost upsets! The current bracket is full of upsets. You have to wonder what this means for college basketball and if this parity is good for basketball. I think it is great and I expect a 16 seed to beat a 1 seed, heck we almost saw it this year! Also it seems like the 16, 15, 14 and 13 seeds really do have guards that are almost as good if not as good as the seeded teams, however the difference in quality of big men is substantial. I am curious though if this parity will remain, with all of the new top high school players having to play at least 1 year in college, I expect them to go to the top teams in the country, making them even better.


As a Cowboys fan I am extremely excited about getting Terrell Owens. He is a phenomenal playmake and will make every aspect of the offense better. While you can look at his troubled past I do think he will act like a "good boy" at least this first year as he tries to redeem himself. This situation is similar to Ron Artest in Sacramento and if you have noticed lately Artest hasn't acted out since being trade and also Sacramento is winning. The Dallas Cowboys were not a Super Bowl contender before getting TO but now it seems they are only one or two off-season signings away from being a Super Bowl contender...That is why I love this move!

Link of the day: Sometimes playing catch can hurt

March Madness is about to begin in approximately 40 minutes! I am extremely excited....Without a doubt this is the best four days in the sports calendar. Also I have never seen a bracket with so much parity, I am curious as to whether there will be several upsets or few. As to the picks let's see who can correctly predict the Final Four...Mine is UCLA, Texas, Connecticut, and Villanova. Upset specials: #13 Iona over #4 LSU and #13 Bradley over Kansas. Championship game: Connecticut over Texas!

The brackets were released yesterday, in case you are living under a rock. A lot of controversy arose upon the release, not only in regard to teams that were snubbed (Cincinnati, Florida State, Missouri State) but also the seeding has outraged many, me in particular. I love how guys like Jerry Palm and Joe Lunardi attempt to predict the bracket hours before it is actually released. Why do I love this, because these guys are actually good and their projections are normally pretty darn accurate. However, this year they were insanely off on some of their picks, that is it almost humorous. Let's take a look, to show how the tournament committee managed to even bewilder the best of the "bracketologists":

Tennessee - 2 seed
Lunardi=5 seed
Palm= 5 seed

Cincinnati- not in tourney
Lunardi= 9 seed
Palm= 9 seed

Air Force- 13 seed
Lunardi= not in tourney
Palm= not in tourney

Boston College- 4 seed
Lunardi= 3 seed
Palm= 2 seed

Nevada- 5 seed
Lunardi= 7 seed
Palm= 7 seed

These are just a few examples in regard to how bad the committee did. I haven't seen so many people complain about a committee like this one, and rightfully so. Some are even yelling conspiracy, and the argument made is compelling.

Link of the Day: Clip of Allan Ray's gruesome eye injury....watch at your own risk!

// posted by Mini Me @ 9:42 PM
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