Don't Let the Door Hit You

The tournament was rolling along in a predictable fashion yesterday. There were no upsets, everything was going according to plan and then Duke hit a bump in the road. Despite racing out to a big first half lead and having a double digit lead with 11 minutes remaining in the second half, they lost to VCU on a jumper by Eric Maynor with 1.8 seconds to go in the game. I'm not sure at this point if I'm happier when UNC wins or when Duke loses. Thankfully I had the best of both worlds yesterday. Unfortunately I missed the press conference where I'm sure a tearful Coach K told the world what a wonderful group of kids he has and that he doesn't really care about winning and that it's all about teaching the kids. What a bunch of bullshit! Even though the selection committee had once again given Duke as easy a road to sweet sixteen as they could, Duke couldn't hold up their end of the bargain.

So I bid a fond farewell to the Blue Devils for another season. Let's hope that next season brings more of the same. And congratulations to Louise for picking the upset.

The Kiss of Death

Run for the hills! I'm about to make my NCAA picks. I am about to doom your favorite team to ignominious defeat. Before I start I have to say that I have seen about 5 college basketball games this year and UNC played in all of them. I'm not really in any position to talk about who is going to win this tournament. So that being said I will now proceed along the path of tears.

Let's talk about the #1 seeds first and what I think their problems are. Ohio St. is great defensive team with Oden patrolling the lane, but I'm not sure that they have the firepower to stay with a team that gets hot from 3 point land. They prefer a game played in the 60-70 range and I think they might be a victim of a team that dictates tempo to them. Kansas, plays in the Midwest and they've let me down on so many occasions in the past that I can't really pick them to win (thanks Jaque Vaughn). Florida won last year and the odds against a team repeating are very high. Duke managed it 15 years ago but it took a miracle shot from Christian Laetner (I hate even mentioning his name) against Kentucky to make that happen. So that leaves UNC. I'm not really able to be impartial about UNC. I pick them to win every year and they've only accommodated me twice in the past 15 years. They are facing a few problems this year. Their best player has a broken nose and has not adapted well to playing with a face mask. They rely on freshman to provide most of their offense and Roy Williams has too many players in his rotation. It's great to have depth, but rotating 12 players is more disruptive than it is helpful. They are playing the first two games close to home, but that will just allow for more distractions. If I were a betting man, I would guess that they will probably be a second round casualty at the hands of Marquette.

So now that I've dragged the #1's through the mud, who's left? The #2's of course. Memphis dominated a weak conference this year and I don't think that they are serious threat to win it all. Wisconsin suffers from the same problem as Ohio St., great defense, not enough offense. That leaves us with Georgetown and UCLA. These are the first teams that I think are serious title contenders. Georgetown is on a tear and they absolutely dominated the Big East Tournament. UCLA lost in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament, but I think they can be forgiven for having an off day. Georgetown and UCLA are my first entrants for the final four.

Texas A&M and Oregon are the best of the #3 seeds. I can certainly see Texas A&M getting to the final four and while Oregon can light it up with the best of them, I can't see their 3 point offense showing up for four games in a row. I'm thinking that their run comes to end against Florida.

So there you have it, the final four will be UCLA, Georgetown, Texas A&M and Florida. The final will be UCLA against Texas A&M with the Aggies cutting down the nets for the first time in their history. So there you have it. I hope that if any of you were considering having any of these teams win that you will now change your brackets. Sorry to all the Bruins, Hoyas, Gators and Aggies fans out there, but I had to pick somebody.

By the way, I picked UNC to win it all in my pool. Some people never learn.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

The circus that is the NCAA Men's Basketball championship kicked off yesterday with the selection show. We now know the identities of the 65 teams that will vie for the coveted and non-mythical (as opposed to football) championship. So it's once again time, boys and girls, for you to fill out your brackets. I'm just here to offer some sage advice and a few tips that will help you excel.

First of all, no #16 seed has ever beaten a #1. I know it's going to happen at some point, but banking on this being the year that happens is not a good bet. The #15 seed has beaten a #2, but it's only happened a couple of times. Once again, this is a good way to start your bracket off on a down note. I know it's sexy to pick the spectacular upset, but stay away from picking upsets in these games and you'll have an easy 8 points (unless of course your alma mater happens to be the underdog in one of those games, then by all means feel free to pick them).

Now that we've gotten you and easy 8 points, let's move on to the harder picks. The first pick that usually sees consistent upsets is the #12 vs. #5 game. I'm not sure why this is, but it's just a fact that at least one #5 will go down in the first round and as many as three have lost in the first two days of the tournament. Picking the upset in this game may hold the key to winning a region. Get it right and your one up on the rest of the pool, get it wrong and you're looking up from the bottom. Here are the key things to look for; look for a team playing close to home, look for a team on a long winning streak (at least 8 or more games), If the #5 went on a miracle streak in their tournament then pick against them, If the #5 has suffered a significant injury to one of their key players, bet against them.

That's about all I have to offer as far as picking goes. The rest of the tournament is pretty much a crapshoot. I've been filling out a bracket for almost 20 years now and I've never won a damn thing. I'm pretty sure that there are six year old girls who are better at this than I am. There was one year that I picked 31 out of the 32 opening day games, but the game I lost happened to be the team that I had picked to win it all (damn you Jason Kidd!). I've picked longshots, I've picked favorites, but in the end, I'm never even close to winning. You'd probably do better picking out of a hat than I will. So good luck with the office pools and may the best woman win (they always do).

Knight and Day

Bobby Knight's Texas Tech team lost last night to UNLV in what was Knight's first attempt at breaking the all time coaching wins record for NCAA Men's Basketball. The record is currently held jointly by Knight and the former coach of the UNC Tar Heels, Dean Smith. Smith established the record during his last NCAA tournament appearance and then retired from coaching.

Knight has had a stellar career, highlighted by three NCAA championships, including the last team to finish a season without a loss. However his career as a coach has been defined by controversy. His near arrest during the Pan Am games in the 70's caused quite a stir and certainly his chair throwing incident has been replayed incessantly. The most famous or infamous incident that Knight was associated with was his choking of one of his own players. Knight insisted that it never happened until a videotape showed up on TV. Knight wasn't fired because of that particular incident, but it certainly set the sequence of events in motion that led to his eventual firing at Indiana.

Bobby has always prided himself on the high percentage of his players that graduate. The fact that he only produced one player who went to be an NBA all-star (Isiah Thomas), is a testament to his ability at coaching the college game. While Indiana was never hurting for high school stars, they clearly did not get the best athletes in the country and the lack of success of most of the Indiana players at the next level is indicative of that point. Knight was successful in getting the most out of his players. It always seemed that Knight had more of a football coaches mentality. He liked to yell at his players and get physical with them. He berated his own son on the bench during a nationally televised game. Knight always felt that intimidation was the way to get the most out of his players and he was successful using those tactics for a long time. The problem was that once the NCAA tournament wins stopped coming, his aggression seemed to be taken to a new level and that included grabbing a player by the throat.

For all intents and purposes, Knight is a teacher at a university. He teaches basketball. And a teacher should never be allowed to touch his students in the way that Knight does. I'm not sure that there would be enough money in any universities bank account to cover the lawsuits that would roll in if a Philosophy teacher treated his students the way that Knight treated his. Knight eventually lost his job at Indiana after a run in with a student on campus. Knight apparently thought he was being disrespected because a student didn't refer to him as "coach" or "Mr. Knight". He went after the student and was dismissed shortly after that. The Indiana job is one of the most prestigious jobs in all of college basketball. The Texas Tech job is not. Yet that is where Bobby Knight finds himself as he sit on the verge of history. Bobby has no one to blame but himself for the fact that he is not at the University of Indiana.

Bobby will get the record soon and he will stick around for a few more years and add to that record. It probably won't be his for long though because Coack K at Duke isn't that far behind and as long as he doesn't retire suddenly, the record should eventually be his. I think that it's probably best that the record belong to someone who didn't have to leave his job in shame. It should belong to someone who stands for what's best in the game and someone that did a service to the sport. This isn't as bad as Barry Bonds passing Hank Aaron, but there are definitely parallels that can be drawn. I was happy that Dean Smith took the record away from an avowed racist like Adolph Rupp. I can't say that I'll be as thrilled when Bobby Knight ascends to the top of the coaching list.

The Great White Hope, Part Deux

J.J. Redick shot 3 for 18 and scored 11 points in the Duke loss to LSU and then cried as he left the court. I really don't have much to say except, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

No, really, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha...

I'm sure Gregg Doyel at CBS Sportsline will be happy to console you (see "I don't know how to quit you" 3/2), J.J., ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Greatest college player ever, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

I have to apologize for being a five year old. I just can't help myself sometimes.

For Love or Money?

Usually we ask this question of our athletes to find out why they won't play hurt (see John Abraham) or why they bolt their team every other spring (see Johnny Damon), but over the course of this week I have been asking that question of myself. I'm in a sticky situation...my favorite college team for the past 26 yrs (and for the remaining 47), the UCLA Bruins is taking on the Gonzaga Bulldogs in a battle for western supremacy and a trip to the Elite 8. My problem is that in my bracket I picked the Zags to win.

Now you might say this is an easy call, my heart is in Westwood, but my wallet is in Spokane so any real sports fan would go with their heart and you're right to a certain extent, but there is another reason for me to hope that Adam "Stache" Morrison lights it up in Oakland. You got it, I'm talking about the prognostication factor, the yearning in every sport fan's heart to correctly predict the outcome of a major sporting event. To say "I knew this was going to happen" and finally have the facts to back that statement up. When you think about it both sides have one major theme in common...superiority. When your teams wins it all you get to tell everyone else to "suck it" or even worse "better luck next year". The same holds true during March Madness. Predicting the outcome of The Tourney can not only make you cash, but can cement your position as the guy who knew exactly what was going to happen...at least until next year when your bracket goes to hell before the weekend is out.

How Sweet is it?

We go through this every year and every year it seems to get better. No, I'm not talking about being drunk before noon on St Patty's day (although it applies there too), I'm talking about the first two rounds of The Big Dance. The games were absolutely amazing and though it pains me to do so I must give credit to CBS for their almost seemless transition from game to game, with the exception of the Gonzaga/Indiana to UCLA/Alabama fiasco where you could get motion sickness from the amount of switches in a two minute window (which by the way was a tournament record). And the best part about the tournament...watching the games with friends. There is nothing like ridiculous arguments tinged with misquoted tournament history to get me going. I just want to relay this little story about my Sunday spent watching games in the hopes that someone will take my side...although it will never happen.

So we gathered the usual suspects in my friend's apartment on the upper west side. You know how it is, 7 guys who want to watch and one guy who thinks that means an automatic poker game. So about an hour later we're sitting around playing hold 'em when Bradley starts making their move. The effect on the room is immediate as we all stop focusing on the table action and turn our attention to the TV. It's like that until it becomes obvious that Pitt doesn't have enough firepower to muster a comeback and we start dealing the cards. That's when I start thinking...what makes a tournament game exciting? Is it the David vs. Goliath feel or the fact that we can watch basketball players who are actually passionate about the game they're playing? Is it the one and done format or the chance to say "I knew George Mason would make it to the Sweet 16"? For me it's all of it and I love every second.

All this leads us to the main argument of the day which was caused by this idiotic comment (I guess you can tell what side I'm on) "Wouldn't it be great if George Mason made it to the final four?" The majority of the room decided that it would be better if every game was an upset, if every favorite got knocked down a peg or two. When I asked if they were more excited for the Gonzaga/UCLA game or the George Mason/Wichita St contest they said of course UCLA/Gonzaga, but they'd rather have the Braves cutting down the nets on Championship Monday. Am I the only one left who wants to see the best teams advance so that they can face off in instant classics rather than watching Duke or Texas walk into the championship game by beating Bradley and their lanky 7-foot center. Feel good stories are great for rounds 1 & 2, but making it to the final 8 is only for the elite.

I'll Just Throw My Money In the Street

I just filled out my NCAA bracket. I'm not really sure why I feel compelled to do this every year. I know that I have absolutely no shot of winning. I've tried all different types of strategies to try and win this thing. I've done the favorites strategy (but of course all four #1's never make it to the final four). I've tried picking the upsets (I always end up picking the wrong 12 - 5 game). I've tried relying on senior leadership (don't even talk to me about Jacque Vaughn). I've tried going with the best point guard (Jason Kidd losing in the first round after I picked Cal to win the championship is one of my favorite memories). I've tried picking the long shot (Thanks Boston College, I should have known better than to pick a team from Boston). I've tried picking the teams based on their mascots (Stanford has a Tree for a mascot??!? Does that beat a friendly bear? And what the hell is a Zag by the way???). Nothing has worked and I'm fairly confident that my half-assed strategy for this year won't work either. But what the hell, I've got nothing better to do with my time than wonder if UNC-Wilmington can beat George Washington (I think they will, but what the hell do I know).

So I say good luck to all you office handicappers out there. I'm sure you all have the winning strategy. And good luck to all the teams in the NCAA's. I wish you all well. Except for Duke, of course. They can burn in hell!

John, We Hardly Knew Ye

John Chaney retired as Temple coach yesterday. He leaves behind a stellar legacy as a coach, 5 trips to the elite eight, 17 NCAA appearances, 7 A10 titles, and 516 wins. He's a Hall Of Famer who has helped many kids get an education and has been a tireless proponent of education over athletics.

If that were all there was, John Chaney could ride off into the sunset with all his deserved accolades with him. However, there is just a little bit more. John Chaney once walked into the press conference of an opposing coach and threatened to kill him. He had to be physically restrained from attacking him. Obviously coaches get a little heated after loses, but to threaten to kill someone? That seems a little above and beyond the call of duty, don't you think?

And of course if that were the only incident, then we could chalk it up to a one-time lapse in judgment. I mean who hasn't lost their temper at an inappropriate time before. Well then there was the incident last year when during another losing effort, he inserted an enforcer to intentionally foul the opposing players. That enforcer ended up breaking the arm of one the players from the other team. Enforcer isn't a position in Basketball. This isn't Hockey. This isn't Football. This isn't Boxing. The goal of the game is not to injure your opponent. He should have been fired. Can you imagine, Roy Williams or Mike Krzyzweski or even Bobby Knight pulling a maneuver like that? Great coaches don't resort to being thugs. Woody Hayes snapped at the end of his career and ended up punching a player from an opposing team. He retired the next day, but the incident has stained his legacy. For some reason the press just seems to want to look the other way when it comes to Chaney's Indiscretions and I have no idea why.

Chaney has been cut a lot of slack over the years because of his "good" deeds, but it is clear that his time has past. He probably should have retired after last year's incident, but he got off with a short suspension. Will Temple be better off without him? I don't know. His match up zone has caused problems for opponents for years. He managed to get various under manned teams into the NCAA's and brought the Temple basketball program to prominence. The bottom line however is that he's a bully. And at the end of the day, I think the school, the team, and college basketball are better off today without him.

March Madness

It's that time of year again. That's right, March Madness which is the time of year when I have a birthday party every weekend. And also it's time for the NCAA basketball tournament. Last year the tournament was won by UNC (I did go to school there, but I'm not gloating). This year it really does seem like anyone can win, but as usual the winner will probably come from a Number #1 or #2 seed. I'm just going to give a brief rundown of the teams that I think actually have a shot to win this thing. I will make a pick at the end of this article, which of course is the kiss of death for that team.

The Number #1's are all flawed. Duke is not deep and if you can shut down either Williams or Redick, then you have a good chance to beat them. They can be out muscled down low and I can't see them advancing beyond the sweet sixteen. Connecticut and Villanova are good teams, but they seem to give inconsistent efforts. One night they can be dominant and the next night they look like the teenagers that they are. Unfortunately, to win the tournament, you have to on for 6 games in a row. I'm not sure either one of these teams is capable. Memphis just hasn't played anybody. The Big East raided conference USA and in the process created the monster that is Memphis. They had practically no competition in their own league and therefore ended up with over 25 wins and a #1 seed. They are actually my pick for the first #1 seed to be eliminated. I think the second round could be the end of the road for them.

By the way, how did Tennessee get a #2 seed? I don't think anyone would have pegged them as one of the top 8 teams in the country. Anyway, I could go into further analysis of the teams, but there will be enough of that on ESPN. My pick to win it all is... (Drum roll, please) The Ohio State University Buckeyes! Why you ask. Why not! They won both the regular season and tournament championships in a tough Big Ten conference. They are playing very well right now. They are battle tested. They have a good inside, outside game and they have a "The" at the beginning of their name. What more do you need?

If you're looking for a dark horse, I'll give you three. UNC, LSU, Boston College, two out of the ACC and one out of the SEC and all three are very capable of making it to the final four. Well there you have it, I've doomed at least four teams to ignominious failure. Of course if any of them actually do win the tournament, I'll be here to proclaim my brilliance.

See, What Had Happened Was...

J.J. Redick tonight versus UNC: 5 for 21. 1 for 19 after the first five minutes. Well I guess it's pretty clear that he's the greatest player/shooter in the history of college basketball. Just like all the greats he really produced in the big game. Somewhere Gregg Doyel is crying.

I Don't Know How to Quit You

We have the latest example of the unabashed man love that takes place in the press over J.J. Redick. Gregg Doyel of CBS Sportsline has these fine words to share with us:

"I like J.J. Redick. Actually, that's not strong enough. Not nearly so. I don't just like J.J. Redick. I like dolphins. I like $12 appetizers. I'm in love with J.J. Redick...Redick, is my favorite player in nine years as a college basketball writer. I'm allowed to have a favorite, you know."

Okay, so he's got some sort of major man crush on Redick, but that shouldn't cloud his judgment as an objective writer, right? Wrong, wrong! Here's what he said later:

"He's good, J.J. Redick. He's better than anyone you've ever seen in college basketball. Probably better than anyone you will see in the future."

Wow, Gregg not only decided that Redick is the not only the greatest player that we've ever seen, he's the greatest that we'll ever see. Don't you think this greatest player of all time could at least lead the nation in scoring. I mean since shooting is all that he does? As far as I know, he's second to Adam Morrison. Don't you think the greatest player of all time should be able to do more than score? What about rebounding or passing or defense? I guess to Gregg these are minor points of the game. Sorry Oscar, Jerry, Larry, Magic, Michael, you guys were wasting your time with that other stuff. Love is apparently blind and stupid.

Here's his closing line:

"One day I'll tell my kids I saw the greatest shooter in college basketball history"

I think I'm going to cry. Well, cry or go and beat the shit out of Gregg Doyel. He could tell his kids that he saw the greatest shooter in history and he could also tell them that pigs fly out of his ass every half an hour, but neither of those statements would be true (actually I don't know about the pigs, but I'm not going to do any follow up on that one). I don't have to go that far back in history to find Ray Allen, Glen Rice, Chris Jackson, Chris Mullin or Dennis Scott, any of whom I would take over Redick. He bases this "greatest shooter" label on the fact that Reddick has more 3 pointers than anyone else in the history of College Basketball. That is true, but what he doesn't tell you is that the greatest shooters from the past didn't have a 3 point line to shoot from. Pete Maravich averaged 44 points a game for his career without the benefit of a 3 point line. How many 3 pointers do you think he would have had? Jerry West, Larry Bird, Bill Bradley? The number would have been well beyond Redick's reach.

It's this kind of shortsighted analysis that gives sports writers a bad name. I guess if he wasn't this asinine, I wouldn't have had anything to write about today, so I should be grateful. Thanks Gregg Doyel. You really deserve my first annual "I don't think Brokeback Mountain went far enough" award. Congratulations!

There's a poll attached to the is article that asks if Redick is the greatest player of all time. The saddest part of this whole fiasco is not that this idiotic poll was included, but that 31% of the respondents said yes. I'm really worried about the future of this country.

By the way, if you care to see this trash, here's the link: http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/9274126

The Great White Hope

A few words about the latest "GWH" at Duke. The latest incarnation is J.J Redick. He follows a string of GWH's at Duke. They all have the same things in common, their skin color, their supposed work ethic and their lack of success in the NBA. The funny thing is the 2 best players at Duke of the past 15 years (Grant Hill, Elton Brand) were never given the adulation that GWH's were. Starting with Danny Ferry then Christian Latener, then Bobby Hurley (I will admit that Bobby Hurley had NBA skills. His near fatal car accident was the biggest reason that his NBA career never panned out), then amazingly Steve Wojciehowski, then Mike Dunleavy to Redick, the press has fallen over themselves to praise these players. It's almost easy to figure out which player on Duke the press will fall in love with. My money is on their new point guard, Greg Paulus (he's short, he's white and I'm sure he's the "hardest worker in the ACC"). God knows that David Stern would shit himself if he could just find a white superstar player (Adam Morrison are you there?), but great players can't be created. They either have the skills or they don't. Being slow and unable to create your own shot does not usually lead to great success in the NBA (Steve Kerr notwithstanding).


Seriously though, do you really think that Magic Johnson spent less time in the gym working on his game than Larry Bird did? Do you really think that Bird had any less natural talent than Johnson did? Why is it that only white players get to be gritty, scrappy hard workers? If you listened to the press then that is exactly what they would have you believe. And apparently 99% of those kids go to Duke. So we get back to Redick. Sure he can shoot, there's no question about that. And who knows, at the next level he may turn into Steve Kerr (spot up 3 point shooter), which wouldn't be a bad thing. He's not going to be the second coming of Larry Bird (sorry David) and neither is Adam Morrison (sorry again David). It would be nice if there was just some perspective about these GWH's (I thought that Keith Van Horn was the next Larry Bird). Great white players have shown up before and it will happen again, but it won't be because the press builds him up (By the way, Larry's career numbers in college, 30ppg - 13 rebounds - 5 assists, we may never see his like again either white or black).

Let's all hope that the next great white player shows up soon. Not because he'll be David Stern's wet dream, but because it's always fun to see a great player perform.