March Madness

Stephen A. Smith wrote an article that I read online for this month’s ESPN the magazine about Carmelo Anthony that I found of interest. Yes, like most I find Stephen A to be an immoderate ranter of a commentator when on television, especially when you consider the majority commentators are there nearly by job description ,not to commentate, but rant.

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Lost in last night's overtime fest in the final games of the first round was Cleveland State's dismantling of Wake Forest. It was such a blowout that CBS didn't even switch to it so we could watch Cleveland State celebrate. While the Vikings remain the highest seed left in the tournament, two other teams who garnered upset victories last were the ones taking the biggest deep breaths.

Continue reading "In a Wild Friday, Teams Showed They Belonged"

Before I get to the 16 things we all need to know before the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 this weekend I would like to congratulate myself on some of my correct predictions.  I said the games would be much closer than last year and I must say, these games last week were unbelievable.  The scheduling by CBS sucked though because it seemed every good game happened at the same time as another good game and then there would be slots where all four games were blowouts.  This is something CBS needs to look at next year, I don’t want a time slot with two #1’s playing 16’s, a 2 playing a 15 and a 3 playing a 14.  I also said that last weekend would be the best sports weekend of the year and outside of my Giants winning the Super Bowl it definitely was (the Super Bowl has to be put on another level though and doesn’t count).  I also said many people would be throwing their brackets away on Monday morning and assuming many of you had Duke going further then round 2 and didn’t have Davidson or Western Kentucky in your Sweet 16 I feel confident that I was correct.  My final four is also still alive.  I feel very good about my predictions and even better about this tournament being an absolute classic.  All we need is a few great Sweet 16 games and a couple good ones over the weekend, followed by a powerhouse Final Four and we have a tournament to remember, as I predicted.

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I will eat way too much food too. The Mega March Madness package through DirecTV for 60 dollars is the best deal around. I am counting down the hours until tip on Thursday at 12:20. Indiana will beat Arkansas and take UNC to the brink in Round 2. The ACC was highly overrated this year. Bobby Knight has been great on ESPN so far. Pitt is the hottest team entering the tourney. It doesn’t matter, they won’t beat Memphis is the Sweet 16. The Selection Committee has an insane job and we need to leave them alone every year. With that said, the NCAA needs to expand the field. UNLV will beat Kent St. and will play with Kansas in the second round. Michael Beasley is the best player in the tourney but won’t win a game. There will not be four #1’s in the Final Four. Hasheem Thabeet is better then Roy Hibbert and this is his coming out party. Cornell vs. Stanford might be the smartest game in tournament history. I will take Mississippi St. to beat Oregon. The first round will have more close games then last year and even a few games will be decided by buzzer beaters. Hansbrough vs. Harangody will be an undersized classic, granted they both get to the Sweet 16. BYU will beat Texas A+M. Many people are picking chalk across the board.  That means someone will definitely bust brackets wide open. That someone could be USC. Or Maybe UCONN. The play-in game does matter. My brother has a great idea.  Seed everyone in Division 1 in November and make the tourney last all year long. This is because the regular season has gotten boring in recent years. Michael Beastly is going for 30 and 15 (at least). Butler will beat South Alabama. Because they are much better then their 7 seed. My Final Four is Tenn., Memphis, Kansas and UCLA. UNC will not win it all.  They are not the countries best team. That’s because their schedule was very soft this year. A 16 seed will never beat a #1. Davidson will beat the Zags. Bill Simmons will finally beat his wife with predictions. Duke will again loose to a lower seeded team.  This year it will be Xavier. I will once again win my family pool.  For the 3rd straight year. If I don’t my brother Justin or my Mom will win. St. Mary’s will upset Miami in round one. Dick Vitale needs to chill with his love for UNC, it gets annoying, BABY!!!! Kansas and UCLA will meet in the Championship game. Georgia is exhausted and will loose in the first round. I didn’t pick one but a 13 will beat a 4. It might be Siena, they’re good. UNC has an unfair advantage with where they are playing their games. So does Texas, if they reach the Sweet 16 and Elite 8. Arizona will beat West Virginia.  Joe Alexander is for real though. DJ Augustine will have the highest scoring game in the tourney. The 5-12 upset is Temple over Michigan St. UCLA is going to beat Kansas and finally get over the top. The score will be 82-79 in a classic. Kevin Love will not win the tournament MVP but he will be back next year. Darren Collison will be the tourney MVP. The Final Four is always overrated, but not this year. The Championship game starts way too late. My Mom will allow me to hang out and enjoy the first two days, which is great. But she won’t allow me to enjoy the weekend, not with Easter this Sunday and the family party happening at our house. The All-Tourney will be: Kevin Love at Center, Tyler Hansbrough at PF, Brandon Rush at SF, Chris Lofton at SG and Darren Collison at PG. On Monday morning you will be throwing away your bracket but counting down the days until basketball starts again on Thursday afternoon. This will be a tournament to remember. They all are.

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I have been waiting for a few weeks now and I still have a few more weeks to wait.  It can't come soon enough, I am counting down the days.  Memphis-Tennessee was a nice game to help hold me over but I am starting to get ancy.  The regular season gets a little boring at times but once March comes, all is forgiven.  We are now less then 3 weeks away until Selection Sunday and only 15 days away from the beginning of the major conference tournaments kicking off.  It is almost that time again and you have no idea how excited I am.

Continue reading "Playing the Waiting Game"

Pretty soon, March Madness will be upon us and then the start of the MLB season! While these are awesome events that I definitely look forward to, I can’t help but feel sad and lon

Continue reading "It’s almost over!!!!"