If You Didn't Enjoy Last Night's NCAA Title Game...

...then you are not a sports fan.

Hats off to Duke and Butler on a terrific game and terrific seasons. Alas, if only Heyward had taken just a teeny bit off each of those last two shots.

Big 10 Beats ACC

Well for those following college basketball (yes I know its early) were treated to some great basketball the past two days in the form of the annual Big 10-ACC challenge. Previously the ACC had won all 10 of the challenges but this is supposed to be the year of the Big 10 in college basketball. Sure enough, the Big 10 edged out the ACC 6 games to 5 to win its first challenge. Of note was Illinois' incrediable comeback, Wisconsin's shocking win over the Dookies, and Evan Turner of Ohio State once again being a man child to defeat FSU. Congrats to the Big 10. Fortunately it won't be the last time you hear about them as 7-8 teams are expected to vie for tourney bids.....

Duke v. UNC

While OSU v. Michigan takes top billing in these parts for college football no college basketball match up rivals Duke v. UNC. Evil v. Good. Rich v. Poor. Private v. Public. Conservative v. Liberal. East Coast v. South. I of course was sucked into the rivalry when Dean Smith roamed the sidelines and Coach K wasn't an advertising slogan (just a foul mouthed jerk). Nonetheless tonight I recommend tuning into Duke v. UNC for some quality basketball and good quality hatred. As the appetizer is UConn (the number 1 team in the country) v. their arch-rival Syracuse. When you have potentially 3 1 seeds playing odd things happen (like basement horses)

Basketball Stock Report: Lakers Riding High

Now that football is over MMBSD closes and for the next few months I'm introducing the BSR (Basketball Stock Report). Since apparently the normal markets are broken beyond repair I figured I'd try to put one up on basketball

Riding High:
Lakers - Despite losing Bynum the Lakers beat Boston in Boston and Cleveland in Cleveland getting tie breakers over both. Simply put the Lakers have the most efficient offense in the league. They have more size, athleticism and more secret weapons then anyone else. They are #1 in the NBA at the moment.

UConn
The Current #1 ranked team actually defended its position by winning as the #1. Which hasn't happened in awhile

Unclear

Duke/UNC - Both the perennial beasts of the ACC don't quit seem to have their mojo at the moment. Winning the ACC gets a #1 seed and that road to the title leads through Chapel Hill and Hell (or wherever Duke is located). This week the teams face off...

Orlando
Waiting on word on their injured all-star PG. No PG no championship


Down
Mavs - They were struggling and that was before Jason Terry broke his hand

Steve Kerr- Shopping Shaq and Amare? After shipping out all the other stars? Is the object to try to make the worst team in the quickest amount of team? Well done sir. You have now solidified the golden rule never allow sports casters the ability to run franchises as they are idiots...

Irony or Hypocrisy? Both?

I'm divided on which this story falls in. The NCAA is considering shrinking the time window for underclassmen to declare the draft. In effect make the students' lives harder to make paid coaches life easier when it comes to recruiting as they would have more time to pick up players if someone leaves early. Nevermind that the biggest career decision of a players life has to be made at break neck speed what about those poor big time coaches and university. In particular this proposed change is being pushed by the ACC who submitted its own proposal to force students hands. As Seth Davis correctly put it

Perhaps the ultimate irony in all of this is that, when the NCAA's Division I Legislative Council was asked last week to vote yea or nay on this proposal , they elected to put off their decision for another two months so they could gather more information. That's understandable. After all, these folks have a big choice to make here. Who can blame them if they don't want to be rushed?

Hmm probably both...

MMBSD: Black Sunday

And so this Sunday or in Cleveland fandom Black Sunday as we'll probably be referring to it, came to pass. The two teams that I've grown to hate more than any other in the entire universe. The dreaded, hated and yes feared Yinzers. Awful scum of the Earth that have dirty hits and play Santana when an opposing any players is carted off the field. And they were hosting the Ratthugs. You know the team that idiolizes Stabby Mcstabber. The city that laughed when it stole the Brownies. Plus its fucking Baltimore. The city that even makes its murder rate boring. And so on January 18th, 2009 I sat and considered how did things come to this? Had the universe truly conspired against me? How could I change the alignment of things?

My first thought was to handle things old school...human sacrifice for the football gods

Mighty Mike on Saturday Afternoon

However apparantly Bush decided against executive order #2508 which would have made any Biblical or Ancient Sumerian Act legal. So I had to come up with a new plan. If I couldn't change the game maybe I could drug myself to make it bearable. What in the world could make me happy enough to stand the game?

Mighty's Workstation

Yeah that's good but I need something bigger.....

Ok that did it. Crisis averted on Black Sunday. Thanks Selma Hayek. Without you I couldn't have watched the game.



Jesus Makes Sure Warner Wins Stops Pass Interference Call
On the other end of the highly succesful extreme has been the Nomadic Cardinals. Cursed for reasons lost to history, the Cardinals were doomed to wander the Earth without home and without victories. At least until Warner, Wisenhunt and apparently Jesus set up shop. Maybe Jesus needed to work on his golf game. I dunno. I'm not a religious expert. But according to Warner he drew up some fancy trick plays, transformed Larry Fitzgerald into one part ballerina one part terminator, and stopped a pass interference call late in the fourth quarter. Or something like that. I'd have to be awfully cynical not to smile a little bit for Adrian Wilson who's stuck around the Cardinals for this moment.


Other Random Stuff

• For those following College Basketball an outstanding weekend. The depth this year in college basketball is truly amazing. The number of quality teams and quality games is certainly the highest level in years. At the top of the pyramid (at least according to me) is Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons boast right now my player of the year (Jeff Teague) at least 2 other true NBA prospects and are still undefeated after defeating previously unbeaten Clemson at Clemson
  
• The other big win was Duke over Georgetown. In an attempt to transfer over College Football a burning question is who is better ACC or Big East. Similiar to college football this matters for bids. Duke handling of Georgetown could play dividends for the non-Big East
• I realize I've been beating the Orlando drum for awhile now but after sweeping a West Coast trip including a win at the Forum Orlando is now looking like the best team in the NBA. My sense is that fact will be suddenly "discovered" after they beat Boston on Thursday and the Cavs struggle without West and Z.
  

Self-Interest

On Saturday, when Memphis beat UCLA and Kansas beat UNC, a friend asked me “So, who are you rooting for now?” My answer to that question was that, basically, I was rooting for a tornado to sweep through San Antonio. I couldn’t bring myself to root for either team in large part because both coaches have such greasy personalities.

12 hours after winning a national title with Kansas, Coach Bill Self was revealing his true colors:

“What I’d like to have is like everybody’d like to have,” Self said. “I’d like to have some security...When I say security, I mean years, so hopefully that’ll happen.”...The school gave Self a five-year contract extension last season, increasing his annual compensation to more than $1.3 million with a chance to make another $350,000 each year if he meets incentives.

I believe in free agency and I defend an individual’s right to get the best deal for him or herself. I also believe in the value of a contract. If Kansas gave Self a five year extension last year, wouldn’t that mean he has four years left? Does four years at $1.3M per season not represent security? Scumbag.

The best congratulations I can give KU is if they do the right thing and let Self walk to Oklahoma State – where the program is in shambles – for his payday. KU won’t have a hard time replacing their head coach. A top program like that will have the pick of the litter.