WBRS Sports Blog

Mikey C. is going to post a nice baseball preview tomorrow, but for now here are our picks for the rest of the NCAA tournament.

Mini Me:

Well I correctly predicted the Final 4, so there is no way I am changing my original picks now. So without further ado, here are my picks...


UCLA over Florida

Why do I have UCLA advancing over the defending champs? Yes this same Florida team beat UCLA last year in the finals, but I think this year's Bruins are better equipped to knock off the Gators. Here is why:

1. Farmar is no Afflalo. Farmar was a great talent, but he didn't have the capability to take over a game like the way Afflalo showed us he could do vs. Kansas. That game solidified Afflalo as the leader of this team and if UCLA's offense stalls at times during the game Afflalo is capable of single-handily keeping his Bruins in the game.

2. Darren Collison. Perhaps the most underrated guard in the whole country. Not only does he do a great job of running the offense from the point position, but he is also a major threat from behind the arc (46% on the season) and will provide solid perimeter defense on the Gator guards.

3. Their bigs (Mbah a Moute, Mata, and Aboya) have not only matured but gotten better, specifically on the defensive end of the floor. As a result, I believe they will have more success containing Horford and Noah than they did last year.

4. And finally, redemption. I even think that UCLA would agree that they were a little overwhelmed/outmatched last year in the finals. But this team has a chip on their shoulder to prove that this year is their year.

Ohio State over Georgetown

Hibbert vs. Oden. It has been a long time since college basketball has seen two phenomenal true centers go at it in the Final Four. These two are so essential to their team's success, not only because of their points, rebounds, blocks but also because of the space they clog up in the paint on the defensive end. Conley Jr. and Green have to change the way they play when those forces are protecting the basket. Maybe this is somewhat of an oversimplification, but I believe whichever center can stay on the court the longest, their respective team will come out on top. However, I urge viewers not to change the channel even if one team gets up by 15-20 points, because both teams have shown during this tourney that they have the offensive firepower to comeback from any deficit.

UCLA over Ohio State

UCLA's tourney experience will be the difference-maker in this one. UCLA's pressure defense will be a little bit too much for Conley Jr. to handle. Oden gets into foul trouble and UCLA wins their 12th championship in school history, and the first since 1995.

MVP: Aaron Afflalo



Easy E's picks

Final Four:

Florida over UCLA

Ohio State over Georgetown

Final Game:

Florida over Ohio State

Final Four MVP: Corey Brewer

Mikey C's picks

Final Four:

UCLA over Florida, 67-63

Georgetown over Ohio State, 75-69

Final Game:

UCLA over Ohio State. 60-52

Final Four MVP: Darren Collison

Later today I will post not only our MLB predictions but also our Final 4 predictions! Stay tuned...

We all remember the Chicago Bears fan that lost the infamous bet that resulted in him legally changing his name to Peyton Manning. Unfortunately it appears that Scott Wiese won't be able to pay up, as yesterday Macon County Judge Katherine McCarthy disallowed the name change. Why would she not allow it? "Because it would be too confusing and might infringe on the privacy of the Indianapolis Colts quarterback.

It would be too confusing? Is she serious? How is it possible to confuse some average Joe from Chicago with arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time, who also happens to be in more television commercials than Lewis Scott? I'm not really sure if this woman is qualified to be a judge after assessing this situation so poorly. I hope this ruling gets overturned, if not for my personal enjoyment, for the integrity of humorous-based gambling everywhere.

Okay, so this is somewhat of a continuation of Monday's theme...

Who is more badass, Happy Gilmore or Roy McAvoy?


A few things to keep in mind, Gilmore can drive it 400 yards and has a hockey stick shaped putter. Meanwhile, McCavoy can beat you in golf with a collection of gardening tools and also invented the semi-platonic kiss.

Who is more badass?
	Happy Gilmore
	Roy McAvoy
pollcode.com free polls

Some stories I recommend you check out!

Some questions to ponder when trying to figure out who is going to play in the National Championship on Monday. [Complete Sports]

Greg Oden has set himself some lofty goals. [One More Dying Quail]

We are down to the Final 4! Female reporters that is. [The Big Picture]

Games for Week 1 in the NFL have been announced. [Sports Column]

And finally, Blog Show #1. [Mr. Irrelevant]

Your life is on the line. If Person A hits an uncontested NBA 3-pointer then you live. If he misses, you die. Who do you want Person A to be?

It could be anyone, living or deceased (and in their prime).

Yes, Kobe's historic scoring as of late (4 in a row with 50+ points) is damn impressive. But I think this amazing feat actually has a negative impact on the Lakers. Kobe trying to score as many as he can will not work against the elite teams in the West. And who cares about moderate regular season success if that doesn't translate into any playoff success?

Let's take a look at the quality of teams the Lakers played in their last four games, during Kobe's scoring surge.

Kobe scores 65 and the Lakers beat Portland by 5.
Kobe scores 50 and the Lakers beat Minnesota by 7.
Kobe scores 60 and the Lakers beat Memphis by 2.
Kobe scores 50 and the Lakers beat New Orleans by 6.

The Lakers might get away with Kobe shooting about 40% of the team's shots against the bottom-tier teams of the West, but there is no way this philosophy will work in the playoffs, where every team is a quality team. The Laker's figured that out last season, when Kobe got his teammates involved more so than he ever had in the past, and subsequently averaged 27.9 ppg, well below his 35.4 ppg average during the season. The result? They were a single game away from upending the Phoenix Suns. They couldn't get that elusive 4th win, and eventually wound up losing the series in 7.

Even though the Lakers lost in the first round last year, they could have and should have won. And the point that needs to be noted is that Kobe, Phil, and co. realized that rather than Bryant shooting over the double-team, he could instead use that defensive attention to his advantage, by unselfishly providing open and easy shots for his teammates.

The fact that Kobe has scored fifty his last four games against below average teams and the Lakers have barely managed to win manifests the fact that Kobe won't be able to single-handily beat the elite teams in the West, who not coincidentally are also the best defensive teams in the NBA. Thus, rather than shooting the ball 40 times a game now, Kobe should be practicing a playoff-style offense, one in he shoots less, and creates for his teammates more. This is the only plausible way the Lakers can win in the playoffs, and unless they begin implementing this mindset in the regular season, the Lakers will have to wait at least one more season to find post-season success in a post-Shaq era.

Alright, let's state the obvious: Danny Ainge has not had good results so far in Boston. He wouldn't know how to make a successful trade even if the Lakers offered them Kobe Bryant for a second round pick - somehow Danny would screw it up.

---

First, let me start by giving you the following information that is directly from an article by Chris Sheridan, an ESPN writer.

Trades made by the Celtics and their evaluations, in the eyes of Sheridan:

Jan. 26, 2006
The deal:
Boston traded Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, Marcus Banks and Justin Reed to Minnesota for Wally Szczerbiak, Michael Olowokandi, Dwayne Jones and a future first-round pick (likely in '09 or '10).

Winner: Timberwolves. As Davis noted upon his return to Boston earlier this season, Minnesota won this trade big-time. Davis and Blount are averaging nearly 30 points between them as the Wolves' No. 2 and No. 3 scorers. Szczerbiak is out for the year with a bum ankle, and his contract is borderline untradable.


June 28, 2006
Portland traded Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and a second-round pick in 2008 to Boston for the draft rights to Randy Foye, Raef LaFrentz and Dan Dickau.

Winner: Blazers. Portland turned Foye into leading Rookie of the Year candidate Brandon Roy, while Telfair lost his starting point guard job in Boston.

June 28, 2006
Phoenix traded Brian Grant, the rights to Rajon Rondo and cash to Boston for a future first-round pick.

Winner: Celtics. The draft pick owed to the Suns was originally Cleveland's and should fall in the mid-20s. Rondo can't shoot, but he's been a better acquisition for Boston than Telfair. If the Suns had kept him, he'd be a better alternative than Marcus Banks.

June 28, 2006
Denver traded the rights to Leon Powe to Boston for a second-round pick in 2007.

Winner: Nuggets. Powe went 49th. The pick Denver will get will be in the low-30s.

October 13, 2006
Cleveland traded Luke Jackson and cash to Boston for Dwayne Jones.

Winner: None. Jackson was the Celtics' final training camp cut, while Jones hardly plays for Cleveland.

---

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that Sheridan didn't have much trouble deciding the winner/loser of the deals made by Boston during Danny Ainge's reign of destruction. Why on earth would you trade the 7th Overall pick in Randy Foye for some moron and a guy who stinks (Telfair) and also make a trade for Rajon Rondo, who is essentially the same player as Telfair, except a better passer and smarter basketball player? Why not keep Foye or package the pick and another player to actually land a player that can help you. Don't get me wrong, I like Rondo a lot, but I think Telfair has no future in the NBA. Or, trade Foye for Roy like Portland did. Silly Danny.

Let's actually look at the "blockbuster" deal that gave Minnesota their 2nd and 3rd scorers: Blount was awful in Boston, but Davis was playing well here. Wally is only a shooter these days and isn't nearly as athletic as Ricky Davis, who by the way, was acquired in a controversial trade. With Davis, Pierce, and the guys who have emerged on the Celtics, Boston would have been a better team this year, and next year. Though, the injury to Pierce this year gives the Celtics an opportunity to go from a .500 team that will either win the Atlantic or get the 7th or 8th seed, to a contender in the east (pending the lottery).

Leon Powe? Why? The Celtics definitely would have had a better pick than Denver this year regardless of the Celtics' injuries, and probably would have had a shot at a decent 2nd round player, but Danny messed that up.

The Luke Jackson deal - who cares.

As far as the T'wolves go, I hope they suck for the next few years and end up giving Boston a top 5 pick in '09 or '10.


Danny Ainge's future, as well as Doc Rivers' future depends on that draft lottery, and whether or not Greg Oden and Kevin Durant declare for the draft.

On another, non Celtic note, what's up Kobe Bryant? Boston could have picked him in 1996, as they had a high pick that year, or even Tracy McGrady the year he came out, instead of having Antoine Walker (traded away by Ainge, traded for by Ainge, and let go by Ainge), Chauncey Billups (who was traded), or Ron Mercer (also traded). Those drafts, however, were not Danny Ainge's fault.

--Edit--
So, is it really time to fire him? Probably not, but I guarantee that if things don't start out right next year, there will be talk about the potential firing of Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers. At this point, I will say Danny Ainge has drafted well with the spots they have drafted, but the trades he has made have not panned out well so far. I think Rondo will be the starting point guard of the Celtics within a year or two, perhaps Wally will be able to contribute when he's healthy, and maybe, just maybe, Boston will land a high draft pick from the pick they are getting from Minnesota.

This was first posted in frustration of the trade evaluations posted by ESPN, as well as my own frustation with the loss Wednesday night, which I was in atendance for and I was in attendance tonight versus Dallas. Therefore, there are some possible cheap shots taken at the Celtics.

Let's just cross our fingers and hope Greg Oden or Kevin Durant is a Celtic in 2007-2008.


Also, check out why we think Kobe's excessive scoring is not good for the Lakers.

Here is more love for Gus Johnson courtesy of our guest blogger Ted, who calls his home A Price Above Bip Roberts. However lately he has been spending the night at our house a lot.

-------------------------------------

"In his neighborhood," Gus Johnson told us of Louisville frosh guard Edgar Sosa right off the opening tip of their game with Texas A&M Saturday night, "if you're tough, they call you tigre - the tiger."

This piece of information would become central to understanding the brilliance of Johnson throughout what is ostensibly, and sadly, his final game for CBS this season. Rumor has it the four Regionals will be called by announcing duos of Nantz/Packer, Enberg/Bilas, Lundquist/Raftery, and Brown/Elmore. Last year, of course, Johnson/Elmore called Oakland, resulting in the seminal Gus moment - "A STEAL! STEAL BY FARMAR! FRESHMAN MOUTE!" etc.

See, as the latter Lexington second-round game progressed, Gus built himself to a boil with this "Tigre" stuff. Sosa drove the lane a couple of times - simple stuff, really - and Gus would drop his token "Got it!" with an occasional "Tigre" reference tossed in, casually. You knew, though - if you know Gus like we do at AA - that he was building to an unforgettable, climatic moment. And he was.

With about 7:00 left and the game knotted at 56-56 all, Sosa had the ball out behind the three point line. "Sosa... STOPS and STARTS..." said Johnson, his voice rising from beagle pup to rabid dog as he intoned each syllable. Sosa would kick the ball to the wing. The three attempt would be bricked, but Louisville would grab the rebound and kick it back to the frosh. He let one fly - Gus let us know with his voice rising to an almost incoherent mess with those exact words, "LETS IT FLY" - and then, the kicker.

The shot, of course, went in. Louisville 59, Texas A&M 56.

"TTTTTTTIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEE!"

Johnson let it rip, almost primally, and I imagine Dan Bonner let out a little yelp. Johnson punctuated it - he always does - with a little "EDGAR SOSA! THE BRONX, NEW YORK! RICE HIGH SCHOOL!" - but the moment had already reached mythical levels. Sosa is now, and will always be, The Tiger. He could go pro this June, have a middling pro career with the Grizzlies as a second rounder always coming off the bench, and I'd always refer to him as "The Tiger," despite my friends mocking me. I still call Moute "a freshman," even though he's not. I just can't get Gus screaming "FRESHMAN MOUTE!" out of my head.

That's the true magic of Johnson, which was on display in the earlier game, the "Battle for the Buckeye State" (as Johnson called it at least three times, in between telling us how close Thad Matta and Sean Miller are - "They're BEST friends") between Xavier and Ohio State. Xavier had the lead because of Drew Lavender and others - his fall away three to give them a 11 point lead resulted in some screeching and indiscernible words, and led me to wonder whether Dan Bonner continually keeps popping the top on Red Bulls at the desk. When Ohio State made their run, Gus built to a climax, which came - naturally - with the Ron Lewis three ball to tie.

After screaming something no one will ever be able to decipher, Johnson said, in a low, eerie voice, "We're going to OVER TIME," then came back in a voice similar to Dirk the Clown and said, "IN LEXINGTON!" Then, he began laughing - a psuedo manic, "I might kill Steve Tasker in his sleep at the hotel this fall" kind of way. "HA HA!" he said. "College basketball! HA HA! CBS Sports! HA HA! This is March Madness!" They went to commercial.

If that's not used on every single CBS college hoops promo for the next three years - if it doesn't replace "By George, do you believe in miracles!" by this Thursday - it's a crime, and frankly, Sean McManus should be fired.

There you have it: the broadcaster for the ages at an arena for the ages, calling a few second-round games for the ages (er, at least this year). Enjoy James Brown, everybody. If him and Elmore go West, and a Kansas vs. UCLA Regional Final is as good as it might be, pour one out for your homie G. Johnson. He should be calling it. Because, honestly, someone back in the hood probably has a nickname for Darren Collison, and to hear it bellowed at 100 decibels during a second overtime of a game with a trip to the Final Four on the line? Priceless.

For those of you that don't know Formula One Racing, Kimi Räikkönen was Michael Schumacher's main rival. This is a clip from 2006, when Kimi is asked why he wasn't present when Pele presented a trophy to Michael Schumacher.

I have created a petition.

I am not usually a proponent of these sort of things, but CBS' decision to replace Gus Johnson with James Brown as a play-by-play man for the upcoming regional semifinals and finals games is like downgrading from filet mignon to spam; BMW to a Fiat; Angelina Jolie to Jon Voight. And I can't stand for such a decrease in my quality of life.

You can sign the petition here. The petition states the following:


Dear CBS,

We are greatly infuriated that you have replaced the venerable Gus Johnson with James "big name" Brown as one of your four play-by-play men in your Sweet 16 and Elite 8 coverage of the NCAA Tournament. We are perturbed by the fact that you have "sold out", choosing to replace the best announcer in college basketball, who also happens to have eleven years of experience calling NCAA tourney games, for James Brown, a man whose resume before this NCAA tournament includes calling one single college basketball game in the past 13 years.

Not only is Brown lacking in college basketball experience, but when it comes to ability to excite viewers, Brown is completely outmatched and outclassed by Johnson. While Brown’s calls are insipid and mediocre, Johnson’s are memorable (see Ohio State-Xavier this year & Gonzaga-UCLA last year).

In conclusion, we respectfully request that next year you revert to your past actions, which include assigning your most talented, not your most paid, to call your Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games. Or if that can't be arranged, perhaps you could drop Jim Nantz into the Hudson with some cement sneakers? Or maybe we could check Billy Packer into an old age home? Seriously though, without Gus Johnson, the regional semi-finals and finals just aren’t quite the same.


                Sincerely,


                     Disgruntled Gus Johnson Fans


I plan on sending the petition to CBS Sports once we have a sufficient amount of signatures.

In the midst of March Madness, there is still a lot going on in the NBA. In regard to the MVP debate, things have become a lot more confusing. While only about a month ago Dirk seemed to be the favorite, edging close friend Steve Nash, now the Dirk 4 MVP campaign is no longer a sure thing. Nash has gained ground and now even new candidates have emerged as legitimate possibilities.

Whether you agreed with it or not, it seemed impossible not to give Dirk, the best player on a 70-win team, the MVP, even given the fact that Nash has better numbers this year than he did in his past two MVP seasons. However two straight losses later and 70 doesn't seem so likely (must go 16-1). However, Phoenix gained no ground on Dallas during their two-game skid, as they themselves lost to Detroit, then at Denver.

So besides Nash and Dirk, who else is there?

Kobe Bryant. There seems to be a very easy formula to become involved into the MVP talks...A few of your key teammates (Luke Walton and Lamar Odom) succumb to injury and you take it upon yourself to lead your team to some victories. After the injuries, the Lakers found themselves in a bad place, losing 13 of 16. It seems Kobe has said enough is enough by scoring 115 over his last two, both resulting in Laker victories. The Lakers currently find themselves 35-32, in the sixth spot (no easy feat in the tough West). Given the talent, or lack there of on that team, if Kobe can keep them there while Luke and Lamar continue to recover, than Kobe should be considered for the MVP.

Lebron James. He has certainly been on a tear lately (27 ppg, 9.5 rpb, 7 apg, 3 spg over last 4 games) and the Cavs find themselves just 1.5 games back of Detroit for the top spot in the East. But let's remember, it is the East! Nobody in the East is getting my MVP vote, unless your team lacks any talent at all or you win 70. Well, maybe that whole lack of talent thing applies to Lebron's Cavs.

Hello friends. This is a guest post, by the guy who writes here and occasionally some other places. Feel free to holler at me at any time.

Finally we got to witness some fantastic finishes, specifically Ohio State vs. Xavier. What an unbelievable comeback and with that victory by Ohio State, my bracket is not dead, but merely in a coma.

I will be traveling until Tuesday, so won't be posting until then. Enjoy the games!


Mini

Yesterday during the intermission in between the afternoon and evening games (and when Easy took a cat nap) I wrote the following:

I feel like all of those conservative, scared, not really that college basketball savvy kind of guys are on cloud 9, at least momentarily. Why's that? Picking all of the favorites has never tasted sweeter. 8 games thus far, 0 upsets. That's right, not a single lower seed has won today. Hopefully that changes shortly, because without the Cinderella teams, March Madness lacks just a little bit of luster.

I think my statement was certainly verified last evening after watching VCU upset the Dukies via a last second shot. March Madness is like a drug, and after spending all day in withdrawal (no close games or upsets), I finally experienced euphoria as Coach K's squad made their earliest exit since 1996.

Screw my bracket, all I want is as many upsets and close games as possible. After the first eight games, we all experienced what a tournament could be like without not only thriller games, but even good ones...and it absolutely sucked.

Hopefully VCU's magic can rub off on some of the other mid-majors and lower seeded teams today, resulting in a better day of games...one filled with Madness!

Sammy Sosa...Coming To a Park Near You [Kansas City Star]

Tonya Harding Is Officially Off the Reservation. [Globe and Mail]

What do Bobby Knight and Pac Man Jones have in common? [Dallas Morning News]

At least one Coach K won last evening. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

I want to personally thank Easy E for live-blogging for approximately 12 straight hours yesterday. We found your comments to be both insightful and hilarious. You are welcome back here anytime.

Note: keep refreshing this page

12:10 --North Carolina and Pitt pull away in the second half and advance to the second round, thus ending a long and eventful day here at WBRS Sports. Thanks to all the commenters and everybody who stopped by--I had a fine time and hope that you did as well. A special thanks to Mini Me for sticking with me all the way to the end. It's time to get some rest--Albany and Virginia tip off in 12 hours.

11:48 --Indiana pulls away in the second half and wins . The Hoosiers kept making threes and Gonzaga just couldn't get stops when they needed to. Indiana will play UCLA on Saturday.

11:37--Xavier holds on and win in what was easily one of the two best games of the night.

11:34--Drew Lavender hit two big floaters down the stretch for Xavier and Josh Duncan makes a tough runner in the lane to give the Musketeers a two point lead with 30 seconds left.

11:26 --Xavier leads BYU 71-68 in a terrific back and forth contest. I think Gus Johnson's fervor is single-handedly keeping this a close game.

11:15--A 30-8 Eastern Kentucky run has cut UNC's lead to 5 and they now have the crowd behind them. One of these days not playing defense was bound to catch up with the Tar Heels.

11:04--Xavier goes on a run to get within two. Gus Johnson is getting excited.

10:59--Gonzaga without a doubt has the two ugliest beards in the tournament thus far. Both David Pendergraft and Sean Mallon need to be introduced to a razor. In Buffalo, Pitt has responded to Wright State tying the game with an 18-3 run. Pitt now lead 43-30 at the half.

10:47--The Pitt-Wright State game has turned into a turnover clinic. BYU leads Xavier 44-38 is what has actually been one of the most well played games of the tournament. Eastern Kentucky has cut in UNC's lead and now only trails by 12. Finally, Duke trails VCU 79-77 with no time left on the clock.

10:36--Wright State has mounted a small comeback and now trails Pitt 22-19. Meanwhile, my roommate just informed me that Indiana guard Earl Calloway sat in front of him in his History of Jazz class. Student Athletes who go to class?--that doesn't bode well for the Hoosiers on the court.

10:24--Indiana leads Gonzaga 30-27 with three minutes to go in the first half. The Zags could really use a player like Josh Heytvelt--unfortunately Heytvelt decided it was worth jeopardizing his basketball career so he could stare at objects appearing on his wall for six hours.

10:14--There's another shutout in the works. Pitt leads Wright State 13-0 after three minutes.

10:07--Instead of showing the two tightly contested 8-9 7-10 games, CBS has elected to show Taylor Hansbrough work on his fadaway jumpers against Eastern Kentucky. On the bright side, Julian Wright just nearly broke the nose of an EKU palyer by swatting a shot back in his face. Jay Bilas sums in up by saying "North Carolina is more athletic at every position on the floor." After 4 minutes UNC is on pace to score 150 points.

9:59--Indiana is putting on a three point shooting clinic and leads 14-11. Gonzaga has to double team D.J. White down low and so they're basically stuck hoping that eventually the Hoosiers will start missing from outside.

9:48--Here's a quick recap of the last two hours as the late games get under way. Ohio State and UCLA won easily, Marquette decided to show up for the last five minutes, but it was too little too late, and Eric Maynor single-handedly beat Duke in the last two minutes with an array of floaters and jumpers. Right now BYU-Xavier is the only game underway and the Cougars lead 14-13.

Note: keep refreshing the page


9:38--Paulus' last ditch heave misses the mark and VCU wins. Kevin Harlan excitedly tells us we just saw the biggest upset all day--uh Kevin, it was the only upset all day. I guess this is what happens when the officials forget to add an extra three seconds to the clock.

9:36--Looking like they're scared of giving up a game winning three, VCU inexplicably lets Nelson go coast to coast for the tying layup. Mayner comes right back down the floor and drains the go ahead jumper with 1.8 seconds left.

9:33--Mayner hits another runner to give VCU the lead and a chance for a final minute 2 for 1.

9:31--Scheyer is down and bleeding from the eye. Hey Duke, ever hear of karma?

9:20--Paulus hits one of four free throws to give Duke a 70-68 lead. In years past Duke was the best team in country in the last four minutes of close games--that's not the case this year.

9:14--VCU has come all the way back and it's now 69-68 Duke. If VCU could get a rebound they would be up by 10.

8:59--There's a break in the Duke game so officials can wipe some VCU blood off the court. Regrettably, for the second time in three games that's not a figure of speech. Over in Winston-Salem, Michigan State leads by 20. Marquette really misses Big East Defensive Player of the Year Jerel McNeal.

8:54--Paulus and Eric Maynor have words for each other after a colliding. I think they should just settle the game by holding a caged fight between the two. A bevy of VCU gaffes now have Duke leading by 11.

8:45--Christian Laettner is in the house tonight, and he's sitting next to somebody who is extremely excited to be on a cell phone. The look on Laettner's face says he'd rather be sitting on an NBA bench right now.

8:34--Paulus hits a three to give Duke a 6 point lead. One of the most under the radar and remarkable stories of the year is how the regression of every single player on the Duke team has by default left Paulus as the star of the team. Paulus could always hit threes, but now he's actually taking them because nobody else on the team knows how to score.

8:23--Gregg Gumbel asks Seth Davis if Weber State can come back against UCLA--I would've like to see Davis take the challenging route and explain why the Wildcats are going to win.

Note: keep refreshing this post

8:13--Dominic James hits the back iron on a three quarter court shot at the buzzer. The Golden Eagles trail 30-18 at the break and haven't made a two point field goal.

8:07--The refs hand Duke two free points before the break and the most entertaining half of the day ends with Duke leading 40-38. Michigan State now leads by 7, UCLA leads by 12, and Ohio State leads by 21. Gregg Oden has 4 points and 7 rebounds in his tourney debut. Since there's not much else going on, this seems like a good time to give my two cents on the Durrant-Oden debate. The way I see it, Durrant is a scorer and Oden completely changes the game on the defensive end. While Durrant is an unbelievable scorer, 85% of the guys in the NBA can score. Only about 10% are defensive game changers. If it's a choice between Tracy McGrady and Dirk, or Shaq and Hakeem, you have to go with the big centers.

7:57--New point guard Josh McRoberts gets bailed out by a late whistle. Duke now leads by six as they hustle back to the bench for another TV timeout.

7:52--Paulus sits down for the first time--here we go.

7:50--Marquette is on the board, but they still have no points from star point guard Dominic James. I'm starting to think the only reason he's rated so highly by NBA scouts is that his elbow sleeve makes him look like Allen Iverson.

7:48--Did you know dropped calls can ruin a conversation?

7:40--Weber State and the spirit of Harold Arceneaux lead UCLA 10-9. Weber State features players from Uruguay and Lithuania while UCLA has two Cameroonians. Over in Lexington Central Connecticut State's upset chances appear to be slipping away.

7:33--McRoberts hits an 18 foot jump hook to give Duke a 13 point lead. I'm left wondering if the NCAA 2006 video game version of McRoberts even has any good moves. McRoberts makes Desagana Diop look like Tin Duncan. With under 14 minutes left in the first half Michigan State is still pitching a shutout.

7:26--Michigan State lead Marquette 6-0 three minutes in. I can't remember a tournament where so many teams found it so hard to score. Meanwhile, Coach K just discussed how not being a #1 seed forces you to be ready for your first game and how that's a good thing. I'm not sure that's right, but given Duke's track record as a #1 seed, maybe being a #6 seed is what they need.

7:18--Demarcus Nelson give Duke a 6 point lead and then alertly hustles back to the bench for a TV timeout. Nobody gets to the bench faster for a timeout that Duke--I bet the team spends the last 20 minutes of every practice working on TV timeout awareness. Meanwhile the refs have already awarded Duke a bogus charging call on a play where McRoberts was standing under the basket. Can anybody think of a good reason there is no semi-circle under the hoop in college basketball?

7:14--We're underway again. Ohio State has a quick 3-0 lead and Gerald Henderson's elbow appears to be showing no ill effects from being hit by Taylor Hansbrough's nose.

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And....we're back. It was a rather uneventful afternoon--unless you had 40-1 odds on Vandy to win by 30--but fortunately there's a new crop of games just around the corner. Duke-VCU and Ohio State-Central Connecticut State tip off in just under 20 minutes. So pull up a seat and make sure you join us as we chronicle every Greg Paulus turnover and a whole lot more.

Note: keep refreshing this page

5:31--I just want to thank Easy for all of his work today. He did a great job and we all appreciate it. Hopefully he comes back this evening for a nightcap. We currently have a semi-break in action before the evening games begin. Only one game is currently in progress and it really isn't much of one. Vanderbilt is dominating George Washington, 39-14, with just a couple of minutes remaining till the half.

5:36--I feel like all of those conservative, scared, not really that college basketball savvy kind of guys are on cloud 9, at least momentarily. Why's that? Picking all of the favorites has never tasted sweeter. 8 games thus far, 0 upsets. That's right, not a single lower seed has one today. Hopefully that changes shortly, because without the Cinderella teams, March Madness lacks just a little bit of luster.

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5:15--A&M holds on and wins 68-52. The Aggies victory saves a lot of talking heads the embarrassment of having one of their Final Four teams lose in the first round. I would've loved to read Andy Katz's 1,000 word column on what went wrong. The Aggies game against Louisville will be one of the best matchups of the 2nd round.

5:01--Butler wins 57-46 and will play Maryland on Saturday, while Georgetown wins 80-55. The good news for me is that along with the others in the Washington area, I will have the crucial 4:40 game on CBS because it features George Washington. GW's stay in the tournament may be short lived. They trail 13-2 after 6 minutes.

4:52--I just caught the Entourage DirecTV commercial for the millionth time. The fact that this commercial exists seals the deal in my mind that the show has lost everything it ever had. I'm also personally offended that Turtle had no interest in floor seats to see Arena, Butler, Jamison, and the Wizards take on the Lakers.

4:47--Penn takes a short-lived 39-37 lead before A&M scores 10 straight to take an 8 point lead. Meanwhile, both Georgetown and Butler have double digit leads and look like they will advance to the 2nd round.

4:38--Jay Bilas considers Texas the best #4 seed in the tournament--Really? Are you sure it's not Duke?--Or is Duke a #1 this year?

4:35--CBS moved Survivor to Wednesday night because of the Big Dance. It's a good thing the tournament isn't on Fox, otherwise it might have been moved to Tuesday afternoon to accommodate American Idol.

4:28--Butler takes a 9 point lead behind two quick three pointer from Pete Campbell. Meanwhile Penn has cut the Texas A&M lead to 35-31. An Aggie loss could raise Memphis' chances of reaching the Final 8 from 2% to 8%.

4:19--Washington State pulls away in the 2nd half and wins 70-54. It looks like Oral Roberts will not be this year's George Mason--although considering that this year's George Mason isn't in the tournament, maybe they will be.

4:12--Dick Enberg informs us that two Belmont players had their jerseys stolen during the Atlantic Sun Tournament. I guess that means there are two Nashville youths striking fear in their playground opponents with their dark blue Belmont Bruins jerseys.

4:05--Am I the only one who feels weird hearing James Brown do play-by-play for an NCAA tournament game. I keep expecting him to blurt out "A dog who ate an entire strawberry short cake--next on World's Funniest!!!"

4:00--We still haven't seen a shot of Patrick Ewing cheering on his son in the Georgetown game. I wonder if his wife forbade him from appearing in public again until he loses 70 lbs.

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3:51--Texas A&M leads Penn 26-13. You really have to feel bad for the Quakers--They were expecting to get into the tournament and harass some poor major conference team with their slow deliberate Ivy League style--but they ended up playing the most slow, deliberate, and fundamentally sound team in the tournament. Now they'll be lucky to break 40 points.

3:43--Butler and Old Dominion head to halftime with ODU leading...20-19? It seems I was right that nobody wants to win this game. I think the line on the Pitt-Wright State game just went up 10 points.

3:35--Madness on Demand just cut to commercial three different time in the middle of an Oral Roberts possession. Somehow I was able to catch part of the Cougars 9-0 run to start the second half--they now lead by 7. Georgetown leads by 13 at the half and appears to have the game in control. For the record, Roy Hibbert ended up jumping twice the entire first half.

3:25--We get our first insightful stat of the day from CBS--Georgetown has now scored 14 points on its last 6 possessions to take a 10 point lead......and Jesse Sapp proceeds to drain a three making it 17 points on 7 possessions. If only the Chicago Bears offense was that prolific.

3:18--For the first time today I've got all four games on my computer and TV--and Penn still hasn't scored!! Meanwhile, Old Dominion has a three point lead over Butler in a game whose winner still wont earn any respect.

3:15--Texas A&M leads Penn 2-0 after two minutes in. I'm pulling for the shutout. I also want to note that A&M coach Billy Gillespie is such a workaholic that he once went 6 months without buying groceries. That's another true story.

3:06--Belmont is hanging with Georgetown in the early going--after 7 minutes they're tied at 11. Roy Hibbert is dominating the game in the paint and he hasn't even had to jump yet.

2:58--Butler and Old Dominion are set to tip off. This is an interesting game because in my mind it will be hard for both teams to get motivated. Butler is used to taking on a major conference team as an underdog, but now they find themselves in a position where they're expected to win. Additionally, Butler isn't even playing a team from a major conference--they have to play ODU. The same goes for Old Dominion--Instead of a chance for a memorable upset of a major conference team, they have to play Butler. Even if they win, nobody is going to remember them because when we look back on this tournament, we'll just assume that Butler sucked and didn't deserve to be a #5 seed--which by the way is partly true.

2:51--Jay Bilas informs us that John Thompson used to call Roy Hibbert "The Big Stiff." Thanks Jay.

2:48--Georgetown and Belmont are set to tip off, while Oral Roberts has a 13-10 lead over a Washington State team that looks likes a clone of the 2004 Gonzaga Bulldogs. Before I forget, I want to thank all the commenters who are with us today. You guys are the pink flower of my inspiration.

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2:40--Not Surprisingly, Louisville faces no big second half challenges from Stanford and cruises to a 78-58 victory. I've said it before an I'll say it again, with the exception of Oregon and UCLA, the Pac-10 sucks.

2:35--Oral Roberts leads Washington State 6-4 after four minutes. In ESPN.com's National Bracket over 21% of America picked the Golden Eagles to pull of the upset, while no more than 6% picked any of the other #14 seeds. Sure, Washington State isn't any good, but this is a case of people wanting to pick an upset and not really thinking what pick has the best expected value for their bracket.

2:25--Maryland dominates the paint in the second half and pulls away for a win. Thanks to Stanford deciding not to show up, we now have 6 minutes without competitive basketball. Cardinal coach Trent Johnson is now on my enemies list.

2:17--BC pulls away and then hangs on down the stretch for an 84-77 victory. 56% of America rejoices and begins to count their NCAA tournament pool winnings. Tyrese Rice finishes with 26, Dudley adds 19 and sheds no tears.

2:15--Mike Jones...For three!!!! Maryland leads by 7.

2:07--According to Deadspin, if you have a Mac and are trying to watch March Madness on Demand, you're screwed. All my years of stubbornly sticking to PCs are finally paying off.

2:00--Bambale Osby begins to take over as Maryland grabs a 4 point lead. Davidson is starting to look a little skaky, and a little more like a team that almost lost to Brandeis two years ago. (I couldn't hold out any longer without making a Brandeis reference.)

1:53--Kevin Harlan (I think) finally mentions that Greivis Vazquez played high school ball at Montrose Christian with Kevin Durrant. For some reason that has been one of the most unknown and underrated stories of the year. By the way I'm not sure how, but that team managed to lose two games.

1:51--BC leads by three with seven minutes left--unfortunately I can't watch the game because every time I click on the link to watch the video, Cbssportsline just send me to the college basketball scoreboard. Thanks guys.

1:44--The CBS cameras finally found Del Curry, I think for the first time. Somebody should be fired for having it take that long to find him, although in CBS's defense, I don't know what Del Curry looks like.

1:36--Davidson starts the second half on a 9-0 run to take an 8 points lead over Maryland. Who do they think they are--Miami?

1:33--Maryland heads into the locker needing to figure out a way to stop Stephen Curry. The Terps come out for the second half and promptly allow Curry to score five straight points.

1:27--Is it just me, or does it seem like when BC's John Oates eschewed his shaved head and grew his hair out he changed from in inside banger to a finesse shooter. Oates had three treys against Miami in the ACC tournament and he already has three in the first half today.

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1:18--Brook Lopez's draft stock is dropping so fast he might not even get an NBDL contract.

1:15--Stanford now trails by 28--It looks like the Cardinal didn't realize teams are allowed to guard and pressure them in the backcourt. I was wondering what the atmosphere would be like in Lexington--it's basically a home game for Louisville, but because Kentucky fans hate them it was possible there would be a huge anti-Louisville faction there--however that doesn't seem to be the case--its a home game for the Cardinals.

1:11--Maryland leads by 1 at the half, but they're a good second half team and I expect them to pull away when Davidson goes cold from behind the line. When I bumped into James Gist at Wawa two months ago I could see in his eyes that he wouldn't let the Terps lose in the first round.

1:04--Stanford now trail by 21, confirming my hypothesis that the Pac-10 sucks. Curry and Davidson are hanging with Maryland, and BC leads Texas Tech by 2 at the half. Dudley picked up his third foul so we'll have to see how that affects BC. By the way, Dudley is my pick to fill Adam Morrison's shoes and be the guy to cry on the court after (or right before) his team lose.

12:53--Davidson takes a 32-27 lead. Just for fun let's take a look at some of the differences between #13 Davidson and #2 Memphis (Just a heads up--a theme of today is going to be comparing Memphis to all the other team in the tournament that won a lot games and didn't beat anybody good). Memphis lost to Georgia Tech, Arizona, and Tennessee. They beat Kentucky, Oklahoma and Gonzaga. Davidson lost to Michigan, Missouri, Duke, and Appalachian State. Their big wins were Mississippi State, Old Dominion, and Missouri State. Memphis' resume is a little bit more impressive, but not a lot more. The last few years the committee has done a better jobs of including mid-majors, but now they need to do a good job seeding them. Davidson and Winthrop should be somewhere in the 6-9 range, not where they are now.

12:46--Stephen Curry hits another three to give Davidson a 28-27 lead. Curry wanted to follow his dad Del to Virginia Tech, but Hokies coach Seth Greenberg only offered him the chance to walk on. Curry ended up at Davidson and he's become one of the best freshman in the country.

12:38--Louisville has jumped out to an early 17-6 lead against Stanford. The Cardinals have been playing much better since freshman Derrick Caracter returned to the lineup. Caracter had been suspended on two separate occasions for behavior problems, and his mom even sent him a Dunkin' Donuts job application because that's where she thought he would end up. That's a true story.

12:30---Well, I've already lost my internet connection six times since the tournament started so that's good news. As for the games, Davidson looks like they came ready to play. Also Will Bowers, Maryland's token big white stiff, was just rejected by a mid-major center for the first time today--The over-under for the game is five.

12:22--And we're underway...Ekene Ibekwe lays it in to give Maryland a 2-0 lead. Good thing I have him on my tournament fantasy team.

It’s March Madness time folks. That’s the only explanation for why I’m sitting here with 150 beers (thanks Costco), a stack of pizzas (thanks 5-5-5 deal), and all day to watch basketball because I lack a full time job (thanks liberal arts education). My name is Eric—for some reason everyone here at WBRS likes to call me Easy—and I along with a few others will be your resident bloggers for the day. You may ask what the occasion is that would have us live blogging 12 hours of basketball. I’ll tell you the occasion. Today we celebrate the one year anniversary of cbssportsline.com’s March Madness on Demand—the extraordinary system that allows us to watch every game in the tournament. It’s easily one of the top five greatest innovations of all time—I would rank it #3, right in between the wheel and the E-Z pass. So sit back, relax, get your bookie on the phone, and enjoy the day here at WBRS.

To help you out today, here is a link included the schedule for all of today's game, courtesy of Deadspin.

The 12:20 PM games include:

Maryland Terrapins (24-8) vs. Davidson Wildcats (29-4)
Boston College Eagles (20-11) vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders (21-12)
Louisville Cardinals (23-9) vs. Stanford Cardinal (18-12)


Stay tuned...

We are about to embark upon perhaps the greatest yet tiresome and ludicrous feat ever attempted by this humble, little blog of ours.

We will try (and succeed!) to live-blog the greatest day in sports for 12 straight hours. Beginning with the 12:20 PM games all the way until the 9:40 PM games.

In order to do this, a little bit of preparation is required...

From a semantics standpoint we purchased the March Madness package from Direct TV, which will actually allow us to view each and every game.

Now to the grind. We will only leave our chair to use the bathroom and pay the Chinese delivery man (beef and broccoli), Italian delivery man (pizza), and our roommate who will be making several grocery store runs for beer, chips, and perhaps some Chris Simms homemade spinach dip. Other than that we will spend the rest of our time live-blogging and most likely cringing as our brackets are prematurely dismantled on day 1.

So please join us and share your comments, brag about the upsets you predicted, and the cinderellas that screwed you over once again. It should be a fun time!

This offseason the AFC East teams have stocked up, well, except for the Bills.

Buffalo Bills: Unless a miracle occurs, the Bills will be last in the AFC East next year. They lost Nate Clements and London Fletcher-Baker to Free Agency and will miss them dearly. They also traded away their top Running Back, Willis McGahee, for two draft picks this year and one for next year. They have added some depth to their offensive line with the additions of Derrick Dockery, Langston Walker, and Jason Whittle. Hopefully for them they will have better protection for JP Losman if they want him to have any chance of succeeding, but their defense needs some help after losing their best corner.

Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins should have a healthy Daunte Culpepper next season and they may be second-place contenders in the East if Culpepper returns to form. They did lose Wes Welker who performed as their best receiver for much of last year and they have lost backup Running Back Sammy Morris, though neither should be a significant loss. With a healthy Ronnie Brown and healthy Culpepper their offense should be fine. On the other side of the ball, the Dolphins added Joey Porter and made their defense a bit scary. They already had the 4th best defense in the league last year and with the addition of Porter they are even better for next season. Porter may be on the downside of his career, but in Miami he will play alongside Zack Thomas and Jason Taylor. They also added K Jay Feely to replace Olindo Mare, TE David Martin, RB Cory Schlesinger, and S Cameron Worrell. Only Martin and Feely should be significant factors next year.

New York Jets: The Jets upgraded their featured Running Back in the trade for a 1200 yard back named Thomas Jones. If Chad Pennington stays healthy again, this team should improve on last year's 10 wins. They have also added RB Darian Barnes, DE Kenyon Coleman, DE Bobby Hamilton, and OT Wade Smith. Bottom line is that their new running back is WAY better than anything they got from Leon Washington and Kevan Barlow last season. This team will make the playoffs in 2007.

Of course, the Patriots will win the division, though it will be a tougher task this season. Scroll down for Patriots offseason news.

Editor's Note: I did this on my old site last year, and I had my best finish in a college pool yet, finishing just points out of first place. Since I've now moved over here and don't have the chance to talk college hoops, I have to do this here. This is how every game will shake out. Mark my words. -Pradamaster

St. Louis Bracket

FIRST ROUND
Florida 98, Jackson State 54
Purdue 62, Arizona 54
Old Dominion 70, Butler 55
Maryland 67, Davidson 66
Winthrop 66, Notre Dame 62
Oregon 69, Miami (OH) 61
UNLV 77, Georgia Tech 68
Wisconsin 66, Texas A&M Corpus Christi 56

Notes: Arizona has the talent, but has no fight left in them...Old Dominion's arguably a better team than Butler, so that won't be much of an upset at all...Drew Nicholas hits a running buzzer beater to give Maryland an improbable one-point victory over UNC-Wilmington. Oh, this isn't 2003? So replace Nicholas with DJ Strawberry, and UNC-Wilmington with Davidson...Winthrop will break through one of these years, and Notre Dame's the type of team who relies too much on the three to put them away...Georgia Tech has one true road win all season. Don't pick them for an upset.


SECOND ROUND

Florida 88, Purdue 69
Maryland 70, Old Dominion 65
Winthrop 75, Oregon 68
Wisconsin 58, UNLV 55

Notes: I'm not a fan of Oregon. They started off really well with wins over UCLA and Georgetown, but have been so-so recently. The Pac-10 title is deceiving, because they beat an awful Arizona team, California, and a so-so USC squad. Winthrop is also very, very good...Wisconsin barely gets by a really good UNLV team.

SWEET 16

Florida 85, Maryland 81
Wisconsin 57, Winthrop 50

ELITE 8

Wisconsin 59, Florida 55

I see a lot of similarities between Florida and that 1998 Arizona team in terms of the yearly journey. They both play different styles, but they also were defending champions who arrived a year early and then were the best team in the nation throughout the next year. Arizona was beat by Utah, a team that slowed their fast break and forced them to win in the halfcourt. I see Wisconsin befuddling Florida the same way Utah did so many years ago.

San Jose Bracket

Kansas 76, Niagara 58
Villanova 70, Kentucky 63
Virginia Tech 69, Illinois 54
Southern Illinois 58, Holy Cross 49
Duke 66, Virginia Commonwealth 63
Pittsburgh 58, Wright State 52
Gonzaga 70, Indiana 59
UCLA 75, Weber State 52

Notes: Illinois did not deserve to make it to the field over Drexel...Duke is very vulnerable, but they tend to lose to teams with more pure talent, not to mid-majors. VCU is good, but I think Duke barely gets by...Wright State is going to scare Pitt...I'm having trouble believing Indiana is a 7 seed, even if Gonzaga's the 10.

SECOND ROUND

Kansas 70, Villanova 57
Southern Illinois 56, Virginia Tech 54
Pittsburgh 59, Duke 55
UCLA 66, Gonzaga 65

Notes:Pitt has just enough to get by Duke...UCLA beats Gonzaga on a buzzer beating coast-to-coast layup by Darren Collison.

SWEET 16

Kansas 69, Southern Illinois 52
UCLA 72, Pittsburgh 58

ELITE 8

Kansas 79, UCLA 77 (2 OT)

Kansas and UCLA play the game of the tournament in the Elite 8, and the Jayhawks survive after Arron Afflalo misses a wide-open three pointer for the victory. Darrell Arthur and Julian Wright abuse the Bruins inside, but Afflalo lights up Kansas for 34 points before missing the game-winner.

East Rutherford Bracket

North Carolina 70, Eastern Kentucky 63
Michigan State 66, Marquette 60
USC 72, Arkansas 70
Texas 88, New Mexico State 74
Vanderbilt 75, George Washington 72
Washington State 66, Oral Roberts 55
Boston College 68, Texas Tech 64
Georgetown 60, Belmont 50

Notes: Eastern Kentucky, a team that made the tournament last year, keeps things close against a North Carolina team that plays too many guys and never gets into a rhythm...Sans Jerel McNeil, I'll take Michigan State and their lack of road wins...USC-Arkansas comes down to a really exciting finish...Boston College slips by Texas Tech in an interesting one.

SECOND ROUND

Michigan State 72, North Carolina 71
Texas 80, USC 68
Vanderbilt 70, Washington State 64
Boston College 64, Georgetown 62

Notes: Georgetown is officially this year's winner of the "2006 Ohio State Annual Trendy Title Team Award" for the squad that's overhyped too much because of a recent hot streak. We forget that the Big East is down, and Georgetown won a lot of those games against bad teams. I like BC, a team that's been there before, to pull off the upset...Michigan State wins on a buzzer-beating three from Drew Neitzel with 4.2 seconds left, and Ty Lawson proceeds to miss a potential game-winning three...Vanderbilt is better than Washington State.

SWEET 16

Texas 82, Michigan State 70
Boston College 68, Vanderbilt 66

ELITE 8

Texas 78, Boston College 70
The bracket opens up nicely for Kevin Durant and company, who have quietly been playing arguably the best in the country late in the season. They nearly beat Kansas after playing in 4 games in 4 nights, and they're finally starting to figure out how to use Durant.

San Antonio Bracket

Ohio State 66, Central Connecticut State 43
Xavier 70, BYU 61
Tennessee 65, Long Beach State 63
Albany 70, Virginia 69
Louisville 71, Stanford 66
Texas A&M 69, Penn 55
Creighton 74, Nevada 69
Memphis 97, North Texas 66

Notes: "It'sto Connelly to Wilson, for the win...GOOD! Jamar Wilson did it!!! Albany has won the game!! A miracle!! An absolute miracle!!"..."Lofton...for the win...OOOOHHH!!!!...






SECOND ROUND

Ohio State 62, Xavier 56
Albany 70, Tennessee 66
Texas A&M 68, Louisville 63
Creighton 72, Memphis 66

Notes: You have 10 seconds to explain why Tennessee isn't vulnerable. Go!...Memphis has exactly two wins against NCAA teams this year. One was against Jackson State, and the other was against Gonzaga post-shroomgate. And they're a two seed because?...

SWEET 16

Ohio State 70, Albany 59
Texas A&M 75, Creighton 66

ELITE 8

Ohio State 74, Texas A&M 71 (OT)

An Acie Law tying three pointer in overtime goes in, and somehow falls out.

FINAL FOUR

Kansas 78, Wisconsin 66

It's close for a while, but Kansas simply does what Wisconsin wants to do even better. Brandon Rush shuts down Alando Tucker, and the hot shooting of Kammron Taylor eventually wears off, allowing the Jayhawks to pull away late.

Texas 79, Ohio State 67

Kevin Durant scores 34 points, and DJ Augustine outduels Mike Conley, allowing Texas to overcome 25 and 15 from Greg Oden. On one play, Durant drives by Daequan Cook and slams it down over Oden with the left hand, prompting Bill Simmons to upload the video 500 times in his basketball blog. Two months later, the Celtics pass on Durant for Yi Jianlaun with the second pick, prompting Simmons to ditch the Celtics and root for the Milwaukee Bucks, who happily grab Durant.

TITLE GAME

Kansas 86, Texas 83

Absolute dandy of a championship game. Kansas builds a 15 point lead with 15 minutes to go, but Texas comes back to tie it with 2 minutes left. Mario Chalmers hits a three with 30 seconds left to give Kansas the lead, and Durant is forced to pass out to an open AJ Abrams. Abrams appears to have an open look, but Julian Wright comes out of nowhere to block the shot, sealing a Kansas victory.

The Jayhawks literally get the reverse scenario from the end of the 2003 title game, and finally win their first championship in a very long time.

NFL Off-Season: New England Patriots

The NFL Postseason is here and Free-Agent signings have begun. Let's start by taking a look at the Patriots.
The Patriots have surprised many people this offseason by being extremely aggressive at the very beginning of Free Agency. This is a bit different from the past.

Additions	Deletions
Adalius Thomas (LB)	Tully Banta-Cain (LB, UFA)
Donte Stallworth (WR)	Dan Graham (TE, UFA)
Kelley Washington (WR)	Corey Dillion (RB, Released)
Wes Welker (WR)
Sammy Morris (RB)
Kyle Brady (TE)

Adalius Thomas: Thomas is a 29-year-old linebacker who has played 93 games since 2001, that's 16 each season except for only 13 in 2003. He averages 3.5 tackles per game and last year had 11 sacks. Adalius Thomas is a big, athletic guy who adapts well to different rolls and varying defensive schemes. He is a good tackler inside the box and is very quick. A drawback on Thomas is that he isn't that good coverage, which is an area the Pats need to address. Nonetheless, Thomas sures up an already solid linebacking core in New England. He joins Tedy Bruschi, Rosevelt Colvin, and Mike Vrabel in New England. Bruschi is rated as the 8th best LB in the NFL. Opposing teams will have even more of a challenge against the Patriots now that they have Thomas.

Thomas' Contract Details:
Signing bonus: $12 million in 2007.
Option bonus: $8 million payable in 2008, applied for cap reasons in equal $2 million increments in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Salaries: $900,000 in '07, $900,000 in '08, $1.9 million in '09, $4.9 million in '10 and $5.9 million in '11. Workout bonuses: $107,000 annually if he participates in the Patriots' offseason workout program in Foxboro.
Cap numbers: In succession, beginning this year, $3.4 million, $5.4 million, $6.4 million, $9.4 million, $10.4 million.

Donte' Stallworth: Stallworth seems to be the Patriots' #1 WR at tis point. He is extremely quick off the line of scrimmage and runs routes very well, characteristics the Pats look for. Sometimes, however, his effort is questioned. Also, there are drug related issues with Stallworth. This signing by the Patriots is intriguing mostly because of the structure of his contract. ESPN.com reports Stallworth must receive a total of $8million in bonuses if the Patriots want him in New Engalnd in 2008. Additionally, there are other incentives he would earn if the deal were to extend into 2008. In total, the second year of the contract would cost the Patriots $11 million. It is very likely that he will only be a Patriot for the 2007 season.

Kelley Washington: Washington is a 27-year-old receiver who has spent his career in Cincinatti behind a great corps of receivers. In Cincy, he was primarily a backup with limited catches, mainly because he played behind Chad Johnson and Chris Henry. He has some quickness and can perform well as a 4th or 5th option for the Patriots.

Wes Welker: In short, Welker is the equivalent of Troy Brown about 10 years ago. Welker is a solid slot receiver and became Miami's most dependable wide-out last season. He gives Tom Brady, ESPN's top-rated player, a go-to guy on offense. With the other additions the Patriots have made at WR, Welker should not be defended by top corners, so he should perform well as a Patriot.

Sammy Morris: The Patriots signed Morris to backup Laurence Marony after releasing Corey Dillon. Morris was a backup in Miami, but had a big in Miami versus the Patriots last season. Morris is very similar to Dillon in that he's a power runner who has the ability to break tackles for extra yards. His value on special teams and as a blocker were probably key factors in Bill Bellechick's and Scott Pioli's decision to sign him.

Kyle Brady: Brady is a seasoned veteran who the Patriots believe can be a solid blocker for the Pats' running backs. The Patriots need him to act as an extra lineman and that is really it. They have Ben Watson to catch passes and David Thomas ready to make significant contributions to the Patriot offense.

So far this offseason, the Patriots have addressed their most pressing needs by signing the best available linebacker (Thomas) and the best available receiver (Stallworth). They have positioned themselves nicely for the upcoming NFL Draft. The Patriots have the 24th and 28th overall picks in the first round. Patriots also have single picks in the 3rd and 4th rounds as well as two 6th round picks in this year's draft. The late picks are usually where the Patriots shine.
Notable Late-Round Picks:
Tom Brady (6th Round, 199th Overall)
Matt Cassel (Brady's backup, 7th Round, 230th Overall)
Tully Banta-Cain (7th Round, 239th Overall)
Dan Koppen (5th Round, 164th Overall)
David Givens (7th Round, 253rd Overall)

(1993) Troy Brown (8th Round, 198th Overall)

We'll see what the Patriots are able to do with the two first round picks and two sixth round picks. For whatever reason, the Patriots get steals in the 6th and 7th Round. Perhaps they gave up their next stud by trading the 7th round pick (along with a 2nd round pick) for Wes Welker.

More often than not we should listen to self-made billionaire Mark Cuban. What part of self-made don't you understand? He is also largely responsible for taking the Dallas Mavericks to the elite of the NBA, the same franchise who were at one point the laughing stalk of the sports world.

About a month ago, shortly after John Amaechi came out of the closet, Cuban told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that a gay athlete would benefit greatly from a financial aspect if he were to reveal his true sexual identity...

"From a marketing perspective, if you're a player who happens to be gay and you want to be incredibly rich, then you should come out, because it would be the best thing that ever happened to you from a marketing and an endorsement perspective. You would be an absolute hero to more Americans than you can ever possibly be as an athlete, and that'll put money in your pocket."

Well it seems today Mark Cuban's words are suddenly validated.

Former NBA player John Amaechi became the first openly gay male athlete to sign an endorsement deal with a mainstream company.

HeadBlade Inc., creators of a popular head-shaving razor, announced Monday it had signed Amaechi to a multiyear deal. Financial terms were undisclosed.

"I think it's fantastic that HeadBlade has approached me to endorse the brand," said Amaechi in a statement.

"John Amaechi is the newest face of the brand because he embodies many of the qualities representative of a HeadBlader," HeadBlade chief executive Todd Greene said. "He is a man comfortable in his own skin and he's not afraid to go against the grain."

I am pretty sure if Amaechi had not come out than the former NBAer, who retired in 2004, would remain in obscurity. However because of his recent actions he now has one endorsement deal and I expect more to follow. Good for John, and as for Mark Cuban he was right on the money on this one.

As you may know by now, I went to Georgetown, and I tend to be pretty whiny when I write about it. I guess I consider it vaguely cool that I went there during the Era of Kevin Braswell - whose greatest professional relevance is likely that he hit a game-winning shot for the Miami Heat in an exhibition game - and now, now this.

It seems like most people's initial gut reaction to their first gaze at the bracket went something like "What? Wait where is Syracuse? They weren't even a bubble team." I think there certainly can be a case made to support allocating one of the final at-large bids to the Orangemen, but I think Drexel was robbed big-time.

Being in the Colonial Athletic Association, a conference that unfortunately sports the 13th best RPI, Drexel knew a tough, non-conference schedule would be required if they failed to win their conference...or at least that is what past NCAA committees have suggested when deciding on those remaining at-large bids. So Drexel went out and formulated a non-conference schedule which included 7 Top-100 RPI teams (Villanova, Creighton, Syracuse, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Toledo, and Saint Joseph's). And keep in mind that Big East teams don't like to go on the road against a dangerous team like Drexel, so Drexel was forced to play at Syracuse and Villanova. For any mid-major team those kind of games are "intimidating" road games to say the least. In fact, of those seven opponents, six were on the road, with Toledo being the exception. To reiterate what I stated earlier, usually the committee appreciates and rewards teams that take on and embrace that kind of scheduling.

So how did Drexel fair against the big bad Big East schools? They won at Villanova and followed that up ten days later with a victory at Syracuse. In fact they also beat Creighton, Vermont, Toledo, and Saint Joe's (and lost to Penn). Overall, Drexel finished their non-conference play with the 8th hardest strength of schedule in the country. And it wasn't like they rolled over and died against these teams, but they beat 6 out of the 7 hardest ones!

But Selection Sunday came and went without Drexel's name called.

Finishing with a 22-8 record and an RPI of 39, Drexel appears to have the makeup of one of the typical final few at-large bids. However it seems that the committee didn't look very fondly on Drexel's fourth place finish within the CAA. Drexel finished with a solid 14-4 conference record, yet somehow ended the year 4th, behind outstanding in-conference seasons by Hofstra, Old Dominion, and VCU. During the season Drexel was 1-4 against these teams, and this seems to be the reason why they were not included in the NCAA tournament.

Even though Drexel did struggle against the elite teams of the CAA, I still believe they should be participating in March Madness. However, it appears the NCAA committee this year had different priorities than the established ones set by preceding committees. This was so, as this year's placed a strong emphasis on conference tournaments, apparently more so than non-conference road scheduling. Perhaps if Drexel had advanced further than the second round (they lost to eventual champs VCU) of their conference tournament, they would be sitting where Arkansas is.

This is the problem with the seemingly perfect NCAA Tournament. If a mid-major doesn't win his respective conference the team is at an extreme disadvantage in trying to obtain one of the coveted final at-large bids. Drexel comprehended this fact and tried to hedge themselves by possessing the 8th hardest non-conference schedule in the country. But apparently that wasn't good enough, and now Drexel will have to spend their off-season playing in the NIT, then going back to the drawing board and figuring out how exactly to get back to playing in the greatest tournament in the land without having to necessarily win their conference tournament.

For those that haven't heard, ABC is giving the Geico Caveman their own television show...

"Cavemen" will revolve around three pre-historic men who must battle prejudice as they attempt to live as normal thirtysomethings in modern Atlanta.

The single-camera laffer pilot is based on the Geico ads that promote the insurance company's Web site as so user-friendly that even "a caveman could do it." The spots follow cavemen in modern settings, reacting with offense to the derogatory slogan. In one, a Geico spokesman apologizes and takes the Neanderthals out to dinner.

I don't think there is much of a chance that this show lasts longer than a single season. However, I will be rooting for the cavemen and here is a clip of one of the caveman playing a round of golf with former Giants QB Phil Simms. Apparently this aired just before Simms announced his All-Iron Team earlier this year.


My favorie line:
Caveman: So you doing that all-metal man club thing again this year?
Simms: You mean the all-iron team? Yeah. I'm doing it, along with Jim Nantz.
Caveman: Ha, Nantz.
Simms: You know Jim?
Caveman: No, never met him.

Hello, new friends. My name again is Ted, and I'm guest posting here on WBRS. I have a blog myself if you ever feel so inclined to visit it, and you can always e-mail me at tedbauer2003@yahoo.com. I'm bored a lot, so I'll write back. I promise. And for now, a little ditty about Thursday's major conference tournament action:

In the midst of NCAA conference tournaments, many sports fans still find themselves with scheduled fantasy baseball drafts that they must attend to. Therefore, throughout the day today I will post fantasy baseball previews for the National League, with the American League coming in a few days. The previews, written by WBRS' own Brian Rabb, include a small tidbit on nearly every player in the National League. And with that I give you the National League East Division...




Atlanta Braves

C Brian McCann – Was it a breakout year or a fluke? Either way, he’s a good option at a weak position.
1B Craig Wilson – Will have stiff competition. Avoid this battle until there is a clear winner.
2B Martin Prado – No guarantee he even makes the team, but the Braves are very thin in 2B.
3B Chipper Jones – Good numbers last year (.324-26-86), but at 34 he is likely to miss some games.
SS Edgar Renteria – Bounced back from Red Sox struggles, decent late-round option at shortstop.
LF Ryan Langerhans – Will compete for At-Bats with Matt Diaz and Kelly Johnson.
CF Andruw Jones – Great power numbers (42 HRs, 129 RBIs), low batting average (.262).
RF Jeff Francoeur – Tempting for his power, but struggle to get on base last season (.293 OBP).
SP John Smoltz – Despite his age (39) he’s thrown 200+ innings each year since rejoining the rotation.
SP Tim Hudson – Coming off his worst season (4.86 ERA), he should return to ’05 form.
SP Chuck James – Left-hander struggled against left-handed hitting…not a good thing in the NL East.
CL Bob Wickman – Pitched great down the stretch for Atlanta. Age and health are concerns.




Florida Marlins

C Miguel Olivo – Will continue to be unproductive. Not worth a pick.
1B Mike Jacobs – After hitting 20 HRs in his first full year in the majors, he could be a sold late pick.
2B Dan Uggla – He received strong ROY consideration, but struggled after the All-Star break.
3B Miguel Cabrera – One of the top fantasy options around, despite the lack of protection.
SS Hanley Ramirez – Rookie of the Year got better as the year went on and could improve in ’07.
LF Josh Willingham – He’s the lack of protection I was talking about. Good for another 25 HRs.
CF Alfredo Amezaga – Put up unimpressive numbers last year and is unlikely to improve at 29.
RF Jeremy Hermida – Highly-touted prospect was playing hurt for much of the year. Potential sleeper.
SP Dontrelle Willis – Finished with a measly 12 wins due to lack of run support.
SP Josh Johnson – Strong rookie season, but he’ll miss the first two months of this season due to injury.
SP Scott Olsen – Another strong rookie season, but may not be good for many wins because of the ‘pen.
CL Ricky Nolasco – This is just a guess as to who will be closing for Florida. They don’t know either.




New York Mets

C Paul Lo Duca – May hit for a high average again, but poor power numbers make him a late-rounder.
1B Carlos Delgado – Aging slugger is still good for HRs and RBIs, but his average dipped in ’06.
2B Jose Valentin – 37-year old is unlikely to repeat his surprising 2006 season.
3B David Wright – One of the best options at 3B, coming off .311-26-116 plus 20 steals.
SS Jose Reyes – Should be good for another 60+ steals and 100+ runs, especially if he walks more.
LF Moises Alou – Only played in 98 games last year and, at 40, is likely to miss significant time again.
CF Carlos Beltran – Might actually improve on MVP-caliber numbers if he can avoid nagging injuries.
RF Shawn Green – Unlikely to improve on last season’s numbers, but he’ll have plenty of RBI chances.
SP Tom Glavine – He’ll be under a lot of pressure to anchor the Mets’ staff. It’ll be tough at age 40.
SP Orlando Hernandez – Whatever is real age is, he’s over the hill.
SP John Maine – May not have as much success as last season, but good offense could mean Ws.
CL Billy Wagner – Should be good for another 35+ saves if Mets stay competitive.



Philadelphia Phillies


C Rod Barajas – Will split time with Carlos Ruiz and Chris Coste.
1B Ryan Howard – Reigning MVP may see drop in HRs, as pitchers give him the Bonds treatment.
2B Chase Utley – Best second baseman in baseball may even improve on last year’s numbers.
3B Wes Helms – Unlikely to duplicate last season’s success (.329 BA). HRs may go up in hitters’ park.
SS Jimmy Rollins – Good power numbers for the position and should get 30-40 stolen bases.
LF Pat Burrell – If he can stay in the lineup, he should hit about 30 HRs, but that’s a big “if.”
CF Aaron Rowand – Might be the best defensive CF in the game, but that won’t help your fantasy team.
RF Shane Victorino – Potential sleeper pick. Will look to increase his steals; he’s got the speed to do it.
SP Brett Myers – Solid numbers last year despite off-field troubles. Expect a 3.50 ERA and 13-15 Ws.
SP Freddy Garcia – Has at least 200 IP every year since 2000. Playing in Philly won’t help his ERA.
SP Cole Hamels – Has the ability to be the best pitcher on this staff and maybe in the division.
CL Tom Gordon – Inexperienced bullpen and age concerns make him a risky pick.



Washington Nationals

C Brian Schneider – Known mostly as a defensive catcher, so probably not worth drafting.
1B Nick Johnson – He stayed healthy in ’06, but may start this season on the DL.
2B Felipe Lopez – Eligible at 2B and SS, plus he should be good for about 40 steals again.
3B Ryan Zimmerman – Barely lost out to Ramirez in ROY race. He should only get better.
SS Christian Guzman – No guarantee he’s healthy enough to play. Even if he is, you don’t want him.
LF Ryan Church – May win the starting job by default with the Nationals lacking in outfielders.
CF Alex Escobar – Formerly highly-touted prospect would not start for many other teams.
RF Austin Kearns – Should finally get consistent playing-time now that he’s out of Cincinnati.
SP John Patterson – If he’s healthy and regains his ’05 form, he’ll post a good ERA, but not many Ws.
SP Mike O’Connor – Showed some promise last year, but probably won’t contribute to your team.
SP Billy Traber – Has a career ERA of 5.57 in 2 years in the majors.
CL Chad Cordero – Even if he returns to his ‘05 success, the Nats won’t get him many save chances.

Courtesy of the Dallas Morning News:

Texas freshman point guard D.J. Augustin said Monday that he's definitely returning for his sophomore season.

"I need to get better. I need to work on my game," Augustin said. "I need to work on my defense and get stronger and quicker."

Augustin is averaging 15 points and a Big 12-leading 6.8 assists per game.

Augustin also said that star freshman Kevin Durant has told his teammates that he's coming back.

"But Kevin's a humble guy, so he's probably going to say he's coming back whenever he's asked that question," Augustin said.

---------------------------

Is this breaking news? Well if you think Durant is telling the truth then yes. I believe Durant will most likely go pro, yet in all honesty I don't think Durant himself even knows for sure what he is going to do. I do think that however this Longhorn season ends will ultimately serve as Durant's main deciding factor in determining if he wants to return for a sophomore campaign.

If Texas wins it all I imagine he would go pro a la Carmelo Anthony. On the other spectrum, most people suspected Joakim Noah would turn pro after winning the National Championship last season, but he enjoyed Florida and his experience in the greatest sports event on this planet, aka March Madness, so much that he decided to return to Florida. Then again, Carmelo and Durant are on talent levels far exceeding Noah and I suspect Durant, like 'Melo, would feel he has nothing left to prove on the college level.

If Texas falls short in the tourney I think Durant is more likely to stay for another season, as opposed to if Texas does indeed win the championship. Especially if Texas advances far in the tourney I could see Durant soaking in the ambiance of March Madness and realize that with a maturing and immensely talented team, including freshman stud point guard D.J. Augustine and sharpshooter A.J. Abrams, the Horns would be one of the favorites to win the championship in 2008 and in the process Durant could leave a memorable legacy on the college level.

His candidness...

From the post-game interview after Phoenix's 99-94 victory over the Lakers, with ABC's Michele Tafoya. (We aren't making this up, this conversation really did occur.)


Tafoya: Steve Nash shot 2 of 11 in the first half. You said to me at halftime you were sloppy. Came out and shot about 7 of 10 in the second half. What changed?
Nash: I dunno. I just kind of got my rhythm going. I felt good in the first half. Maybe, uh, it's the diarrhea. I was in the bathroom most of warm ups.
Tafoya: Were you really?
Nash: Yeah. Maybe I shouldn't say that on TV. It's brunch in Hawaii, isn't it? Gotta keep that to myself.
Tafoya: No, we appreciate your candidness.

Hello friends. My name is Ted, and I'm not Mini-Me. In fact, I'm closer to 6-5, 300 than Mini-Me might ever hope to be, and I don't normally write down my thoughts, feelings, and innermost desires here. Rather, I write them here. If that link doesn't work for you for any reason, the direct is "priceabovebiproberts.blogspot.com," albeit without the quotes. I hope you knew that anyway.

Today, as the ertswhile amongst us know, is the true beginning of March Madness, leading to the inevitable: you have to find a way to call out sick from work a week from tomorrow, when there's wall-to-wall basketball, corner-to-corner announcers discussing the Big Sky Conference with the same reverence some lend only to religion, and hoop-to-hoop catch phrases and cliches flying around like so many gnats in the summertime.

But it's March Madness, baby. And it's glorious. And we say it begins today because as I type this, in my cold West Hartford, CT abode, warmed only a recent draught of Guinness, the Big East Tournament hath commenced. The Pac-10 will tonight. Major conference "Sadie Hawkins' " are underway (that's my lame way of comparing a conference tournament to a "Big Dance," although it really makes no sense, since do girls really invite anyone to dance in an all boys-tournament? I guess not).

Some would claim conference tournaments don't matter, ESPECIALLY major college tournaments. Here, though, is why they do:

I covered the Georgetown Hoyas for one of two student newspapers during part of my tenure as a student in the nation's capital. In the spring of 2002, I was up in New York (where my parents live, so it's not necessarily that far-fetched of a notion that I would be there) and had press credentials for the Big East Tournament. Some of my friends were also in town. Vainglorious, I thought.

Alas, in some ways it wasn't. If memory serves, we won on Wednesday - Providence? - but lost on Thursday that year. The issue for me was, while I got some cool access for a 21 year old punk (I saw Jim Calhoun feverishly down a tuna melt in the backstage area, for example), I wasn't near my friends. I had to sit all the way up, essentially in the nosebleeds, nowhere near the actual, vaunted "press row." Maybe twice during the course of both games, a young intern came by and handed us some stat packs, now long since outdated, without much conversation taking place.

Meanwhile, my friends were right behind one of the baskets, courtside.

I was jealous.

Now, you might say - many might, in fact - that I shouldn't have been jealous. After all, it's just a Conference Tournament. What does it really mean, anyway? Unless a team makes a 'Cuse last year-esque run and wins the entire shebang when they had previously been on the bubble, isn't the entire thing predetermined? You generally know how it goes: a few of the first-round games between teams usually unappealing to watch are basically "elimination games," or so say the bracketologists. Then, maybe 1 semifinal is dramatic, and in the end, the team that ran the table for the entire regular season probably wins; if they lose, it's probably to a team that was making the NCAA Tournament anyway.

That's conventional logic, and many times, it's true. But here's why you should care about Conference Tournaments; why I did, and still do: it's the definition of passion. Only one team is going to run the table in late March and win the six straight necessary to raise the trophy in Atlanta, or New Orleans, or Indy, or wherever the Final Four is. Chances are, unless you go to school in one of maybe four places, it's not going to be your school.

But a conference tournament features familiar foes, rivalries you implictly understand as a student of one of the schools, players you love to haze and love to love, a history richer than anything you can wrap your beer-saturated 20something brain around, the representation of a last chance at glory for many of the players, and a final frontier for you and your friends. I mean, regardless of the size of the conference - if you went to Oakland, or if you went to UCLA - a run through a Conference Tournament is something that can never be removed from you and your friends. For years, you'll discuss it with hushed awe: "Remember that three we buried in the Big 10 quarters back in '06?" And suddenly, everyone will add a moment: "That was insane!" or "Jeff was so drunk by the time that shot was launched, I don't think he even realized we were playing anymore!"

Now, sure, a NCAA Title run is something you can never have taken away from you either, but as noted, chances are that ain't happening to you. And even if it does, in some ways it might be even sweeter to run off four straight against teams you've come to hate for no other reason than their vague geographical positioning within our fair country.

And if, for some reason (you communist pig) you can't understand the above, consider this: a few years ago, at a conference tournament, a young girl from one of the schools was in town to see the action. She may or may not have defined "action" differently from everyone else in town, because she engaged in a few couplings with male members of other schools, specifically one school. When that school was eliminated from the conference tournament, and had to do their walk of shame from the hotel to the bus, flanked by students and alums of other schools chanting "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey" at them, they unfurled a banner: "We suck," it read, "but so does ----," with ---- being the name of the girl in question.

Now, if that isn't an anecdote that should make this week matter to you, I don't know what is.

I can always be reached at tedbauer2003@yahoo.com if you have concerns, criticisms, feedback, or are in need of bootleg copies of Jose Rijo's pitching performances from the 1990 World Series.

"Top of the Game" Remix by Tony Parker featuring Fabolous and Booba

First Desmond Mason, now this. All I can say is wow. Is this really happening? This is really mind-boggling. Is Tony Parker really raping? Is Tony Parker really in a music video? Shouldn't he be worried about the Mavs and Suns instead of doing this? This whole "NBA players are allowed to attempt to rap" ordeal is all Shaq's fault. Damn you, Big Diesel!

Highlight of the video: With 1:50 remaining Tim Duncan makes a two second cameo in a rap video. Wow, this is just out of character. It seems like only yesterday when David Robinson was reminding Duncan that "the Roses are out Timmy, not the daises!"

The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets are only a game back of the 8th and final Western Conference playoff seed. And in case you aren't familiar with the roster, Hornets forward Desmond Mason raps about it.

I think he has some talent, but he is no Mr. Dog Abuser. Think Mason is any good at rapping?

The 72-10 1996 Chicago Bulls. Talk about domination. In a league that possesses a reputation in which a great team must "bring it" in order to beat a crappy one each and every night, I never suspected a team could be in contention to achieve 72 victories again. Let's forget about the fact that if Dallas hadn't lost their first four games of the season, 72 games would be a certainty considering the way this team is playing at the moment.

Currently, the Mavs find themselves 50-9, on a 15-game winning streak. Thus, they would need to finish the season 22-1. In their final 23 games, the Mavs play only 7 teams currently holding a winning record. However, they do only have 9 home games left versus 14 road games. Can they get it down?

Let's take a look at exactly who they have on their remaining schedule.

New Jersey (28-32)
@ LA Lakers (33-27)
@ Golden State (26-35)
Phoenix (46-14)
Boston (17-42)
@ Detroit (37-20)
@ New York (28-33)
@ Cleveland (34-25)
@ Boston (17-42)
@ Atlanta (22-38)
@ NO/Oklahoma City (28-32)
Milwaukee (22-38)
New York (28-33)
@ Phoenix (46-14)
@ Sacramento (27-32)
@ Denver (28-29)
Portland (25-35)
LA Clippers (29-30)
@ Minnesota (26-33)
Utah (40-19)
San Antonio (41-18)
@ Golden State (26-35)
@ Seattle (24-35)

After looking at this schedule it certainly seems like 70 is a more realistic goal, and although nothing is impossible considering how well this Dallas team is playing, 72 seems a bit too difficult. It will be tough to lose only a single game considering they have Phoenix twice, San Ann and Utah once, as well as a six-game road trip. If this team can win between 70 and 73 games and go on to win the NBA Championship I certainly think we could make a case for inserting this team into the top 5 greatest in NBA history. And I am fairly certain if this team ends up with 70 or more wins, Mark Cuban will be the first to blog about why this team is so great.

Can the Mavs equal the 1996 Bulls team with 72 wins? I think they will fall just short, winning 71. How many wins do you think the Mavs will end up with this year?

I think I can figure out why Carl Pavano has been "injured" so frequently and his motivation to pitch is even in question. Why would you have any desire to leave the bedroom when you have as hot a fiance as Gia Allemand? Well now it appears Ms. Allemand is working really hard on her Anna Benson impersonation...

The Howard Beach bombshell has entered Maxim's 2007 Hometown Hotties contest and posted four sizzling snapshots on the magazine's Web site. The brown-haired beauty had been pursued by Penthouse and agreed to do a photo spread if she could cover her nipples with her long tresses, but the deal fell through when Penthouse told her it had a "no hair over the boobs" policy.

What an unfortunate policy for Allemand and guys everywhere. Allemand has made headlines before though, when she was a passenger in the infamous car accident that transpired in August of 2006 when Pavano broke two ribs but failed to inform the Yankees until two weeks later. That was of course the same day they informed him that they planned for him to come off the disabled list to pitch later that week.

Overall, I am rather curious to see how this new publicity received by Pavano's fiance will affect Carl on the mound, that is if he actually pitches again.

Gia Allemand's Hometown Hottie Page on Maxim
Unbridled Bride (New York Post)
More Pics of Gia Allemand

Championship Week has begun. Here is your viewing guide. [Just Call Me Juice]

Is the NFL Combine worth a damn? [Sports Agent Blog]

March Madness begins shortly. How about some Power Rankings to help us figure out the top seeds. [Complete Sports]

Bonnie Bernstein vs. Michelle Tafoya. Could this be the 5-12 upset? [The Big Picture]

Mike Jarvis needs a new job. [Signal to Noise]

Significant international sporting events to come this year. [Shot to Nothing]

Remember a while back when Derek Lowe left his wife, Trinka Lowe, with whom he had three kids, for Dodger reporter Carolyn Hughes? Certainly Trinka must have hated Carolyn Hughes guts with a passion. In fact we know she did, as she called it "the worst time of my life." But no matter how much it hurt her, Trinka doesn't mind inflicting that same pain on others...That's because Trinka is now the "other woman" in a passionate love triangle.

Trinka appears to be the third wheel in former German soccer play Stefan Effenberg's second marriage.

According to the German newspaper Bild, Claudia high-tailed it to Hamburg after friends told her that her hubby has been spotted with Trinka in Florida. Or, as the Berliner Kurier put it, the ex-German National Teamer is suffering from “Too Much Blonde.”

According to Bild, at Christmas Effenberg promised his wife of three years to end his relationship with Trinka. And in January they went on vacation in an attempt to save the marriage.

“The discussions were personally very important for me,” Effenberg told the German press. “This separation does more pain to me than from my first (wife).”

But last week, friends reportedly told Claudia that Steffan and Trinka were still spending time together, and the angry missus declared she wanted a divorce.

No matter what the press says, Trinka denies that the two have anything more than a friendship...

Meanwhile, Derek’s ex, who has been dubbed “Tricky Trinka” by the German press, has told pals that reports of an affair are greatly exaggerated. “He is just a neighbor,” said Someone Close To The Matter. “She and her kids and he and his kids do things together sometime.”

Right. Just friends. I think Billy Crystal put it best when in Harry Met Sally he said, "What I'm saying is - and this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form - is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way." That is clearly the case here. And it is kind of sad that she just received $18 million in alamony from Lowe over Christmas, and this is how she acts.