I just had some random thoughts about the tourney to this point. With 12 teams remaining I have been liking what I am seeing, for the most part.

*Now that we’ve moved past the team with a bunch of goofy white kids flopping, it’s good to see the quality of games we’re getting later in these rounds. I don’t know if the referees are taking some some flak about the UCLA calls earlier in the month, but it seems that the zebras are calling the games much better than they had been. I see a steady flow in the early portions of the game, not being interrupted by silly whistles and stoppages. I think I am seeing basketball for the 1st time this season, the way it was meant to be played. Continue reading this post…

Well, my bracket is taking a beating, but I’m still hanging in there with 7 out of 8 Elite Eight teams still in it. (Thanks Georgetown). After the 1st day of the tourney, there was not as much general excitement because of the lack of upsets, but Friday picked up the pace as we watched Western Kentucky beat Drake on a deep three at the buzzer, San Diego upset Connecticut very late in the game and Duke barely beat 15 seed Belmont before puttering out against West Virginia in the next round. I’m 50% in the East Bracket, 50% in the Midwest, 75% in the South, and 75% in the West as far as Sweet Sixteen picks. Five Sweet Sixteen games I am really looking forward to the most are: Continue reading this post…

Well, the regular season and conference tournaments are in the books and Selection Sunday again proved why it is easily my favorite day of the year. Already, many great stories are playing out, none more “Cinderella-like” than Georgia’s improbable 4 day stretch-run to win the SEC Tournament and sneak into the NCAA with a 17-16 record. The Bulldogs were a horrifying 4-12 in the conference and on the verge of firing their head coach, Dennis Felton. Not a tornado, nor 2 games in one day were enough to stop the upset-minded team from Athens as they put the icing on the cake in beating an above average Arkansas team in the finals. Good luck to them as they take on Xavier in the 1st round in Washington DC. They’re going to need to fight to keep hold of that glass slipper.

My thoughts on the bracket itself are still a mix. I usually have a good handle on what I think will happen, but when these matchups came out, I had a very hard time picking any but the guaranteed games. I think the Midwest is the toughest bracket with Kansas, Georgetown, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, and Clemson. Now that I look over the rest of the tournament, I really don’t see an “easy” region for any of the top seeds. I guess it would be the East with North Carolina as the top seed, but that’s what was supposed to happen as the Tar Heels garnered the overall #1. They could see Indiana, Notre Dame, and Louisville if they want to get to the Final 4. As is the case about every year, whoever earns the #1 seed between Duke and UNC will not have to travel very far to make it to the big show. UNC gets their first two games in Raleigh and their second two in Charlotte.

Here is what I have going on in my Continue reading this post…

I was looking over the standing for a few different conferences when I noticed something quite surprising. Kentucky is in 2nd place in the SEC at 8-3. Actually, 8-3 is the record of the 1st place SEC West team, Mississippi State. Overall, Kentucky is 14-10, not bad after a terrible start under 1st year coach, Billy Gillispie. The Wildcats must be getting comfortable with him and his system because they’ve reeled off 7 of 8, including a home win against current #2, Tennessee. The only loss in this stretch was a horrible 41 point beatdown at the hands of #19 Vanderbilt. I thought Gillispie pretty much hit the nail on the head when he said Continue reading this post…

There is still about a month and a half left, but I’m going to go ahead and make an All-American list as of now. It may not change much at the end of the season, but we can compare it after the postseason tournaments.

1st Team No Confinement All American
Luke Harangody (Notre Dame)
*Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina)
Michael Beasley (Kansas State)
Kevin Love (UCLA)
Chris Douglas-Roberts (Memphis) Continue reading this post…

During the 14th week of the season, Matt Painter and his young Purdue Boilermaker squad made a big statement towards claiming the Big 10 crown this season as opposed to 2-3 years down the line like they were supposed to.  Purdue’s roster is so young, maybe they don’t know they’ve crashed a party they weren’t supposed to come to just yet.  Seven freshmen, two sophomores, four juniors and only one senior (Terrance Crump, who only averages 4 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist per game) make up this talented squad. Continue reading this post…

Sports Illustrated writer, Seth Davis, writes an occasional column associating teams with stock trading.  He uses terms, “Buy, Sell, and Hold” to convey his interpretations of the present and future outlook of select teams.  Kevin Lewis is the main character in the book, Bringing Down The House.  The book is a true story about 6 MIT students who comprised a plan to count cards and play Blackjack in Las Vegas, where eventually, they won millions of dollars before being spotted as card counters by casino personnel. Kevin Lewis’ real name is Jeff Ma.  Jeff graduated from MIT in ‘94 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and has since started a fantasy sports company called PROTRADE, a stock market simulation program that deals with a lot of the principles Seth Davis is trying to get at. Continue reading this post…

We’ve taken a look at coaches and their stunt doubles, let’s do the same for the athletes.

Kevin Love=Likes the Chinstrap Beard.
AJ Soprano=He’s Down With It.
That’s all I have for now. Send me some more.
Here’s a good one from Dan in Austin:


Esmir Rizvic=Did what Bob Knight told him.
John Turturro=Did what George Clooney told him.