Monday, February 23, 2009

Kris and Dan Answer NBA Questions

Question: Who is your least favorite player in the NBA?

Kris:

My least favorite NBA player? Hummm…that is a good question, the Knicks don’t really have a nemesis like back in the day when it was easy to root against the flat face retard Scottie Pippen. I am not sure if I just clearly don’t like anyone in the league ... Oh wait a minute, yes I do, Larry Hughes.

Now this hatred stems way back before he became a New York Knick. It comes from his overall terribleness.

A few years ago he literally dribbled Cavalier playoff games off of his foot. It was truly painful to watch him just ruin a complete season of NBA title chances for LeBron as he continually made a mockery of the game.

Muhammed Ali once said “I’m so bad I make medicine sick.” Well Larry Hughes is similar just not in the funny or ironic sense. Cancer wakes up everyday and prays that it doesn’t have Larry Hughes. Diabetes has yearly checkups to make sure it hasn’t contacted Larry Hughes…is that enough…one more, okay. Heart Disease has to get its prostate checked twice a year to make sure it doesn’t have Larry Hughes.


Dan:

Larry Hughes is a good choice, sure.

But my least favorite player in the NBA is my least favorite for no reason I can put my finger on.

I hate Earl Watson.

There is just something about Earl Watson - no, wait, there is just everything about Earl Watson - that makes me not just disgusted and annoyed but actually angry.

Maybe it's the look on his face. Maybe it's that really crappy thin mustache he has. Maybe it's that he played for UCLA, and I have a residual dislike for everything UCLA. Maybe it's his game, which is simply not very good, with the added fact of him carrying himself like a player who is good, which he isn't. He takes bad shots. He doesn't make enough of them. He doesn't pass as well as he should. He doesn't really play particularly good defense. When he does something positive, it strikes me as wrong, anwyay.

I don't really understand it completely, to be honest. But every time I watch him play, I start cursing uncontrollably.

In fact, in December 2007 I had the opportunity to attend a game in Seattle, while the Sonics were still there and Earl Watson was on that team. I wanted to go to the game for three reasons:

1 - To see a Sonics game before they left Seattle
2 - To see Kevin Durant in person (that was awesome, I saw him dunk on Rasho Nesterovic)
3 - To boo Earl Watson. Which I did, from when he was introduced to any time he did anything good or bad on the court. Loudly.

And I enjoyed it. I really felt good, booing Earl Watson.

My friend Greg, who was at the game with me, didn't understand it. Like I said, I don't really understand it. But there it is.

I hate Earl Watson.

I wish he would go away from the NBA forever, and not ruin my league with his craptitude and his mustache and his awfulness.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Knicks Trade Deadline Aftermath

The NBA Trade Deadline has passed, and Your New York Knickerbockers were active.

First, they traded Tim Thomas, Jerome James, and Anthony Roberson to the Bulls for Larry Hughes.

Then, they traded Malik Rose and Cash Considerations (imagine if someone named their kid Cash Considerations, would that make the NBA more awkward?) to Oklahoma City for Chris Wilcox.

Net result for the Knicks:

- Chris Wilcox, 26 years old, and serviceable. Also, he only has a contract for this year.

- Larry Hughes. He's terrible, but he's equally as terrible as Tim Thomas, and at least he plays the 2, where the Knicks need a guy. His contract is the same length as Thomas'.

- Two open roster spots. They can fill these with D-League guys (Ewing Jr? Richard Hendrix? Rod Benson - bring the Boom Tho Movement to New York!)

- No more Malik Rose, Jerome James, and Anthony Roberson wasting space.

- David Lee and Nate Robinson are still on the team.

It's not going to do much for them this year, most likely. They'll still be competitive, more or less, and maybe will get the last seed in the playoffs, or a lottery pick and a good feeling for next year.

However, it gives them more roster space, doesn't mess up the 2010 plan, and doesn't give up anything worth worrying about.

All told, as a Knicks fan, you have to be pretty happy about today. Despite being forced to actually root for Larry Hughes for the next year or two.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Kris and Dan answer NBA Questions

Cleveland, the Lakers and Celtics are clearly the class of the league, but who is on that second tier and can any oft hem win the championship?

DAN SAYS:

Here are the teams I'd call "second tier" in each conference, and whether or not they have a chance to win the title:

EASTOrlando: if Jameer Nelson hadn't got hurt, I would have said maybe. It'll be hard to beat Boston or Cleveland, but Orlando has three top-level players in Howard, Turkgolu, and Lewis, and a fantastic coach. The role players are good, too, in Michael Pietrus, Courtney Lee, Anthony Johnson. But it was Nelson playing at a top level this year (I never thought he could, but he was) that made this team elite. With him playing at that level, they could have upset Boston or Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals. With Anthony Johnson and Tyronne Lue as their PGs, no, they can't win.

There are no other second tier teams in the East. Detroit fell off, Atlanta isn't quite there yet, and you can't count Philly or Miami as second tier, third tier at best.

WEST

San Antonio: They still have Duncan, Parker, and Ginobli, and are coached by Popp. So, yes, of course they can win the title.

New Orleans: They haven't been as good this year as they were last year, but they have Chris Paul. Chris Paul is that good that he could carry a team to the finals, and he has a good enough supporting cast in David West, Peja, and Chandler that they could win it. The odds are against it, I'd say, but they've got enough talent and the player that I think is 1d best player in the league (1a Kobe 1b Lebron 1c Duncan 1d Paul).

Denver: Only if the Lakers lose to someone else. They can't beat the Lakers. Other teams? Maybe. Billups, Anthony, Nene, Kenyon Martin, JR Smith, Kleiza. They've been playing incredibly well for most of this year. They have enough talent to do it. Probably not, but again, if the Lakers get upset by Houston in the first round (not impossible) Denver could beat anyone else in the West.

Part of me wants to say Houston, Utah, and Portland, but I can't quite put them at Tier 2 yet. Tier 2.5, with the potential to get there if they get healthy (Houston and Utah) or make another big trade (Portland.)The Suns fell off. Dallas is better then people think, but can't win a title with old Jason Kidd (he can't stop Billups or Paul or Parker.)

KRIS SAYS:

I hate when I let Dan go first and he steals my answers.

EAST:

Yes in the East I think Orlando with a healthy Jameer Nelson could have truly competed with Cleveland and Boston for Eastern Conference supremacy. The on reason I still think they can is they guard your butt in the half court. And as we know in NBA playoff basketball if you can get stops in the half court you always have a chance (see, San Antonio Spurs).


I would put the Hawks up there just because I think they are cool. They did play a great series last year against the Celtics and I don’t think that was a fluke. They have so much athleticism all over the court. A healthy Al Horford will be key going down the stretch. Defensively they aren’t great in the half court but Josh Smith can make up for those mistakes as a glass cleaner

The rest of the East I think is defiantly on a lower level.

WEST:

Obviously the Spurs always have a chance. It is crazy to watch Popp coach in the regular season like a few weeks ago when he just didn’t play Duncan, Parker, Manu or Finley and they were all dressed. That just shows you that that team cares only about one thing. This is an odd year too, which they seem to play better in.


I always have to put Houston in this category because of their three starters, McGrady, Yao and Artest. I know, anyone can point out that McGrady has never been out of the first round, and that is just a silly statistic for someone who is so good. I do think that having Artest is a big key, because in the past McGrady had to guard the other teams best player and be the star on offense, with Artest he can take that defensive role in a playoff series guarding a Brandon Roy, Manu Ginobili, or Carmelo Anthony.


I do think Portland is still a year or two away and I always don’t believe in Denver because of my half court defense theory.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Yes, Yes, A Thousand Times Yes

Let's hope this is really, truly the end of it:

Favre retires

Remember, I didn't want him in the first place. And save for three or four games this year, he played like the washed up quarterback he was. Especially in December, when it mattered most.

New coach, new era, new quarterback.

At least he spared us the interminable drama of "will he, won't he." That's the second-most boring story in sports today, behind steroids.

So, goodbye, Favre. I never want to think about you in a Jets uniform again.

Monday, February 9, 2009

A Day of Hoops Diary (A SUPER-BLOG)

Today is Saturday February 6, now that football is over college basketball gets to take center stage in the sports world as we get ready for March Madness. So I have decided to sacrifice my entire Saturday and watch as much college basketball as I possibly can. My eyes may fall out of their socket by about 9 tonight, but I am willing to do that for the reader. We will evaluate teams and players, make some witty observations, but mainly just show you what a day in my pathetic life is like.

The slate of games:
12pm
Syracuse vs. Villanova
Cincinnati vs. Georgetown
Towson vs. Hofstra
1 pm
Tennessee vs. Auburn
Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt
Miami vs. Duke
2pm
Colorado vs. Oklahoma
Texas vs. Nebraska
South Alabama vs. Western Kentucky
Pittsburgh vs. DePaul
George Mason vs. James Madison
3pm
Arkansas vs. Mississippi State
4pm
Indiana vs. Michigan State
Southern Illinois vs. Missouri State
Virginia vs. North Carolina
Utah vs. Wyoming
Providence vs. West Virginia
Kansas State vs. Texas A&M
App State vs. Elon
5pm
Georgia vs. South Carolina
6pm
Michigan vs. Connecticut
College of Charleston vs. Davidson
7pm
Florida State vs. Clemson
Xavier vs. Duquesne
8pm
New Mexico State vs. Nevada
Minnesota vs. Ohio State
UNLV vs. New Mexico
Baylor vs. Texas Tech
9pm
Memphis vs. Gonzaga

12:03- I hate the Villanova plays in the Sixers big antiseptic no atmosphere arena, takes away from a great matchup today.

12:08- This is my first time watching Nova, they are off to a quick start, as usual under Jay Wright they have great guard play and aren’t a big team.

12:13- Georgetown looks lethargic. Their recent lack of success may hurt this young team, JTIII has to get them to believe they still can be a big part of this Big East race.

12:18- Jim Boheim is one of the all time great whiners, now he has even more ammo as one official has hurt his Achilles and will be out for the game, so now there are only 2 refs left to do the balance of the game. Boheim is going to wear these two guys out

12:22- The big joke now in college basketball is how many suites are on each bench. Teams obviously have their coaching staff up front (some staffs vary from 3-6 people) and then on the end of the bench will be managers, graduate assistants, trainers, strength coach’s, team chaplains, fathers of the head coach (Bill Donovan Sr.), team doctor etc. Some teams have one or two people, some teams have 6 or 7. The rule is usually the bigger the school the more extemporaneous personnel they have. However, Hofstra has a total of 12 suites on the bench (4 up front & 8 on the end), simply miraculous.

12:31- Nova is up 28-11 with over 10 minutes left in the first half, the Cuse is on the verge of getting blown out

12:37- Georgetown has turned up the “D”, the Bearcats haven’t scored in almost 5 minutes.

12:41- Towson has a white kid that looks like he couldn’t make the team at Teaneck.

12:50- Georgetown closed the half nicely and takes a 7 point lead into the locker room

1:00- The Cuse finishes the half with only 3 players having made a field goal, what a bad first half.

1:05- The second slate of games gets ready to start, I will be paying close attention to Ole Miss/Vandy, mainly because Raff is on the call

1:11- The SEC has become a home team league. Auburn doesn’t have half the talent that Tennessee has yet they are out to a 15-6 lead, in Knoxville they would be down 17-0. Vanderbilt wins over 80% of their games in Memorial Gym.

1:43- All tied up in the nations capital between the Hoyas and Bearcats with 5 minutes to go.

1:47- The Dukies look to rebound from an embarrassing loss the other night to Clemson. You know they will play hard today. They are 140-4 since 1997 against unranked teams at home, so that doesn’t bode well for Miami

1:49- Auburn leads by two, 43-41, at the half and Vandy takes a 11 point lead, 31-19, into the locker room.

1:56- Hofstra an Towson tied with 3:45 to go, and Georgetown leads by 5 with 2:03 to go, a critical possession for the Bearcats.

1:57- See this is why I don’t like Georgetown. Cincinnati got a two and then Town had a huge possession to seal the game, but where do they go? They run around confused and then turn the ball over. The Bearcats come down and hot a 3 to tie the game going under a minute to go. Again, where do they go? Ballscreen and roll in the corner and Freshman Greg Monroe travels. Where does Town go in a big spot? OT in the nations capital

2:06- The Cuse again has the lead down to 11 with 4 to go. My favorite player in the country (sans Dominique Archie, my Gamecock guy) is Johnny Flynn from Syracuse. He hasn’t done much today for me to brag about, but maybe he will take over down the stretch.

2:11- Well maybe not, Nova keeps scoring at will, with 102 points and still 90 seconds to play.

2:12- This is the suckiest overtime ever. Nobody has a field goal in 3 minutes worth of play, just a bunch of FT’s.

2:19- Again Hoyas down 2, 13 seconds to go, who gets the ball? I don’t know, I guess it starts in Wrights hands and you look for Summers? Help me Martin.

2:22- The Hoyas take a wild looking three and get the loss at home. At the same time the Dukies struggle in the first half to stop Miami and go into the half down 13 and having given up 32 points at home, not good.

2:28- Tennessee and Auburn are in a battle. Ole Miss is trying to hang in there against Vandy, but It looks like Vandy is ready to pull away as they are up 12 with about 10 minutes to go.

2:30- The Sooners take a 5 point lead into the half, but Coach Jeff Capel looks frazzled; jacket off, sleeves slightly rolled up, and tie undone John Chaney-esque.

2:33- First time we check in on Pitt/DePaul and the Blue Demons lead by 3 with 7 minutes to go in the first half. Pitt will soon get the lead and pull away in this one, they have too much talent.

2:37- The road proves to be difficult early, Nebraksa leads Texas by 3 with about 5 to go in the first half. Also JMU leads George Mason late in the first half.

2:39- One of the best rivalries the past few years in college basketball has been South Alabama vs. Western Kentucky for Sun Belt supremacy. They are in a 1 point game late in the first half, meanwhile the Volunteers have a 4 point lead with 5 to go against Auburn and Vandy is pulling away as I suspected, up 18.

2:44- Stat of the Day. DeJaun Blair has his 5th offensive rebound of the day, it is still the first half and he averages 6 per game, that is gross, 6 O-boards per game? Oh yeah, Pitt leads by nine at the half. This one is over.

2:50- Auburn leading by one with a minute to go over the Vols. This is where it is Tyler Smith time. He is the most valuable all around player in the SEC, I have a feeling he will prove it down the stretch here.

2:52- Tyler Smith reverse layup to take a one point lead with 36 seconds to go. Tyler Smith will get a steal or defensive rebound here

2:55- Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson are leading a run at Duke, they now have the game tied with 12 minutes to go. I have a huge man crush on Singler

2:59- Off of a scramble play Korvotney Barber laid the ball in to beat Tennessee. Even though it was on the road, that is a crushing loss for the Vols. They are squarely on the bubble now.

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED THROUGH 3 HOURS

-Syracuse is still extremely inconsistent. I do like them when they are going well

- Villanova may be a team to be reckoned with, they have kept up a progression of steady improvement throughout the season

- I still don’t believe in Georgetown. I know Martin will be upset with this analysis but I just don’t like their makeup. As I stated, and proved correct today, who is their go to guy?

- The SEC is a home team league, as I suspected early on today. Vandy took care of business versus Ole Miss and Auburn upset Tennessee.

- Duke has responded well to their loss at Clemson. I am sure it wasn’t a pleasant few days of practice for the Blue Devils and they are finally playing like it.


3:14- Oklahoma and Pittsburgh continue to widen their leads in the second half. Both are final four contenders who always take care of business against inferior opponents

3:20- My mother is calling me, I have to answer

3:34- Oh crap, mom!! I have missed and awesome last 6 minutes of the Duke Miami game. Miami tied it on a miracle three and now we head to overtime, I see Duke winning this by 4.

3:44- What a surprise, Blake Griffin got his 20th double double of the year. He is a fucking machine, and undoubtedly the player of the year in my opinion and little will be done to change that.

3:46- Arkansas is the most enigmatic team in the history of basketball. They have wins over Texas and Oklahoma, then lost their first 5 SEC games and now on the road against a good Mississippi State team they have scored 51 points in the first half and lead on the road by 14.

3:52- Wow, Nebraska never went away and are actually up 2 with under 5 to go.

3:56- The Dukies win uneventfully, by 3, damn them for making me wrong!!!

3:57- The 4 o’clock hour has a full slate of games, so before this starts I need to take a bathroom break.

4:09- The ecstasy of college hoops is the best, in the last minute Nebraska upset Texas and JMU upset George Mason, both courts stormed by the student body, there is nothing like storming the court.

4:14- Even in the same game you don’t know what Arkansas team is going to show up. Mississippi State has opened the half on a 10-2 run and Arkansas has 3 turnovers.

4:15- I love teams that have a certain M.O. That is why certain coach’s and their programs are consistent. Uconn has lead the country in blocked shots the last 7 seasons, Duke is always among the national leaders in 3 pointers, and Michigan State again leads the country in rebounding, something they are always in the running for. It just shows the toughness the exude under Tom Izzo.

4:25- Yikes, just turned on the Utah vs. Wyoming game and had some bad flashbacks. We played out in Wyoming in 2002 and it was as awful as one would imagine Laramie to be. Honestly, it was the coldest place I have ever been (and I was in Minnesota in early January & Alaska in late November).

4:34- In 11 minutes of play Arkansas has given it all back. They have only 15 points in the second half and it is all tied up. John Pelphrey may kill himself.

4:41- Holy shit, Mississippi State is now leading by 7, they have made fifteen three pointers and there is 7 minutes to go.

PLAYERS YOU NEED TO SEE AND HAVEN’T

Jack McClinton, Miami
Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State
Alex Ruoff, West Virginia
AJ Ogilvy, Vanderbilt
David Huertas, Ole Miss
Luke Neville, Utah

4:46- North Carolina is struggling with Virginia at home. I am officially off the UNC bandwagon. They have struggled too mightily for me this year, with too many inferior teams. They are an upset special for me in the tourney.

4:58- Arkansas blew it, they freaking blew it. They are about to lose to Mississippi State. Absolutely unreal, to score 51 in the first half and be up 15 and blow it is a monumental collapse, the Razorbacks are now 1-6.

5:06- During the App State vs. Elon game the announcers discuss if Davidson can get an at larger bid if they don’t win their conference tournament. I say without a doubt they will get an at large, they have the most charismatic and dynamic player in the country in Stephen Curry, CBS and the NCAA will make sure this kid is on center stage again this March

5:14- The Providence Friars want to be taken seriously and believe they are a tournament caliber team, but trailing by fifteen on the road to West Virginia will not help their cause.

5:25- Just as I open my mouth the Tar Heels sprint out to an 18 point lead. I am still officially off the band wagon.

5:32- Georgia is the worst BCS conference team I have ever seen, ever, ever. The Gamecocks could win this game by 150 points if they really want too. This is dreadful.

5:36- Utah is the queerest team ever. Instead of having their names on the back of their jersey they have Utah written their, that deserves them a swift punch in the balls.

5:52- Just as things are getting boring, and my afternoon nap begins to set in, I check the end of the 4 o’clock games and whaddayaknow Texas A&M and K-State are in a nail biter. I just watched the most amazing possession ever, some big African for A&M blocked 4 shots in a single defensive stand.

5:55- Okay, so I was wrong, back to back 3’s for K-State and this nail biter is a 7 point game with 30 seconds to go, so congrats to the Wildcats on a nice road win.

5:57- UCLA blew the doors off of Notre Dame, basically knocking the Irish out of tournament contention, as predicted by yours truly as a pretender at the beginning of the year.

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED THROUGH 6 HOURS

- Blake Griffin is great, he will be the POTY and the #1 pick.

- Providence and Notre Dame are pretenders from the Big East

- North Carolina still has work to do on the defensive end

- Duke may need to think about moving Greg Paulus back into the starting lineup, he was a huge key for them down the stretch.

- Kansas State and Mississippi State are two teams who are coming on strong in conference play and could make some noise in their respective conference tournaments and in the NCAA’s.

- Arkansas sucks, and will always suck, god, they are the suckiest bunch of suckers who ever sucked, to quote Homer J. Simpson

6:14- Nothing like watching Steph Curry play, I am telling you, he is as good a passer as he is scorer.

6:20- This is a big game for Michigan. They are trying to put together a tournament resume and Uconn is by no means unbeatable, but even a good close loss wouldn’t be bad for John Beleins squad. Oh, FYI, Hasheem Thabeet has 3 block already, 7 minutes into the game.

6:31- Michigan is exploiting Uconns biggest weakness, outside shooting. Uconn stinks from the preimeter and the Wolverines are throwing a variety of zones at them, good coaching by Belein

6:37- Remember what I was saying about Blake Griffin being the POTY, umm Steph Curry makes me fall in love with him more everyday. He plays the game with such pace, ease, smoothness. He lets the game come to him which is so refreshing in this era of “ME.”

7:00- Curry has 19 at halftime, and brought his team back from down 9 to lead by 2 at the half

7:09- Florida State has their chance to prove they are for real tonight in Littlejohn Coliseum. I personally think Clemson is gonna blow their doors off.

7:15- Two Final Four potential teams are playing right now that nobody is talking about, Clemson and Xavier, yes Final Four potential.
7:41- 10 minutes to go Davidson up 10, does C of C have anything left to make a run? Michigan trails by 3 with ten to go.

PLAYERS YOU NEED TO SEE AND HAVEN’T

Devan Downey, South Carolina
Andrew Goudelock, College of Charleston
Terrence Oglesby, Clemson
Trevor Booker, Clemson
Manny Harris, Michigan
BJ Raymond, Xavier

7:49- Xavier is down big, 14 in the first half. They had it down to 4 and then Duquesne ripped off a 10-0 run in about 35 seconds

7:51- It is Steph Curry time baby, Davidson only up 3 with 7 minutes to go. It may be tough for Curry, he is being guarded by one of the best Frohawks in all of college hoops on Charleston’s Antwaine Wiggins.

8:03- Hasheem Thabeet is becoming a true game changer. Defensively he just swats everything. He goes after rebounds even at his size and scores effectively inside the paint. He was the difference in this game versus Michigan. The Wolverines would not go inside the last 5 minutes of the game and were one and done on the offensive end.

The 8pm slate of games is the resume hour. Nevada, Minnesota, Baylor and UNLV all trying to add good wins to their resume, the last three teams all looking for road wins

8:10- This just in, Steph Currry is in fact human. He has missed his last 9 shots in the game and his team trails by 2 with 22 seconds to go.

8:25- Clemson cruising against Florida State, what a shocker, Leonard Hamilton and FSU are a joke. Xavier has closed the gap to 6 against Duquesne.

8:29- A typical Tubby Smith team, recovering from a bad loss the other night, playing tough defense on the road only allowing 12 points through 10 minutes.

8:38- You know who can really coach, Lon Kruger. He is out at UNLV doing an outstanding job. I hope that he gets one more chance in a power conference, he was a guy who made the NBA mistake, he should still be at Illinois kicking butt.

8:45- All these 8 o’clock games are superb, tied or close going into the half. Like I stated earlier teams needs these games as resume builders.

8:51- I am the kiss of death, after I brag about Xavier they have been down, and down big all game. However, they have it down to 5 at the under 4 timeout, trying to make me look like a genius.

8:54- Speaking of kisses of death, Clemson is trying to blow this game. FSU has dwindled the lead down to 4 with under 3 minutes to go.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED AFTER 9 HOURS

- I am the kiss of death. After bragging on Xavier and Clemson they go out and lay eggs

- Florida State got a huge resume builder winning at Clemson

- Hasheem Thabeet has put himself among the nations elite, he is a first team All-American

- Clemson’s biggest weakness is a bonafide PG to help lead them to wins in close games like tonight’s.


9:07- I think Gonzaga has the best starting 5 in the country. Their backcourt with Jeremy Pargo and Matt Bouldin is so savvy.

9:20- Ummm….Texas Tech is awful. Time for the Pat Knight experiment to come to an abrupt end. Some people just don’t have it, and you have to cut the rope.

9:33- Minnesota has a white guy named Iverson, I love that. Oh yeah, they are down 10 too which isn’t good. A loss here would drop them out of the top 25 and put them on bubble watch

9:43- Some whitey from Minnesota has just ripped off 4 three’s in a row and has the lead down to 4

9:48- Told you the 8 pm games would be great. Minnesota/Ohio State and UNLV/New Mexico are tied at the under 4 timeout. New Mexico State leads Nevada by one at the under 4 and Baylor is up one on Texas Tech with 4:37 to go…..WOW

PLAYERS YOU NEED TO SEE AND HAVEN’T

Luke Babbitt, Nevada
Lawrence Westbrook, Minnesota
Tony Danridge, New Mexico
Curtis Jerrells, Baylor
Matt Bouldin, Gonzaga



10:03- Luke Babbitt missed a two at the buzzer to tie as Nevada went down to New Mexico State, as that happens Minnesota falls at Ohio State and seconds later Rutledge misses a two to win for UNLV as they and New Mexico go to overtime. And with 39 seconds to go Texas Tech somehow leads Baylor by 5.

10:11- Baylor losses by 7 to Texas Tech. Devastating loss to the tournament hopes. Still tied down in The Pit with a 1:53 to go in overtime.

10:15- Tony Danridge hit’s a runner with 5.6 seconds left to give New Mexico the game winning bucket.

10:22- I know it is hard to question Mark Few’s coaching, however the same thing plagues his teams over and over. Their inability to play man to man defense and get stops. In the past they may have lacked the same level of athlete as teams like Memphis but not anymore, and they have yielded 50 points and there are still 14 minutes left.

10:37- Well the Zags are giving no account of themselves, trailing by 24. So on that note we shall retire the super blog, but not before a few parting thoughts.


Teams whose resumes look good; New Mexico, Florida State, Kansas State, Mississippi State and Nebraska.

Work left to do; Nevada, Minnesota, UNLV, Michigan, South Carolina and Georgetown.

May be on the outside looking in; Notre Dame, Baylor, George Mason, Providence, and Tennessee.

29 games, 11 hours, 4lbs of cheese and 1 phone call, from my mother.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

This Was Not The Greatest Super Bowl Of All Time

The era of "everything I just saw was obviously the greatest thing that ever happened in history" has to stop.

Please.

The fourth quarter of this Pittsburgh-Arizona Super Bowl was extremely entertaining, and the Fitzgerald and Holmes TDs were amazing plays. But this wasn't a particularly well-played or well-coached game. The first half would have been 100% awful had it not been for James Harrison's 100-yard interception return.

This was not the greatest Super Bowl ever played.

Let me name Super Bowls in my lifetime that were better overall games than this one:

1) Pats-Giants
2) Giants-Bills
3) Rams-Titans
4) 49ers-Bengals (second one)
5) Pats-Panthers
6) Pats-Rams

I wouldn't rate this year's game above any of those six.

Also, in terms of entertaining quarters of football in a Super Bowl, this fourth quarter ranks high, but not necessarily higher than, say, the second quarter of the Redskins-Broncos game where the Redskins scored 35 points.

In terms of ends of games, this was up there, but not as good as the Rams-Titans end with the tackle one the one.

So, please, sports journalism and the internet, let's calm down and keep this game in perspective. A relatively bad game redeemed by an exciting fourth quarter.

Carry on.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

All the...Small Things

Okay, maybe these are a few small things, but here goes:

This is nothing against the political climate in our country or the election of Barback Omarx……I mean Obama, but can I go seven seconds without hearing the word hope in a sentence? Is that possible, please? It is not even people talking about politics, people just use the word all the time now, and personally I am fucking sick of it.


Now that that is out of the way, can we get rid of Tyler Perry? Is that possible? Those shows on TBS are dreadful, and so are most of the movies he has made. Give me “Do the Right Thing” any day over any Tyler Perry crap.


I no longer recognize the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio. Two words, CRIS CARTER!!!!!


Lastly, and this is the college hoops junkie in me, but all this weekend the Coachs Versus Cancer Organization had an initiative this weekend that they do every year called Suits and Sneakers. The idea is it brings awareness to the organization and raising money for the fight against cancer. The idea behind it is people to see the coach’s wearing a suite and sneakers and ask why? For some reasons 2/3 of the coach’s across the country use this as dress down day. That is not the point, the initiative is called Suits and Sneakers.

That’s all Folks!!!