"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative" ~ Oscar Wilde"I love trash...I love it because it's trash" ~ Oscar The Grouch
I'm taking a moment here for self evaluation. I'll fully admit that my writing has not been up to snuff and that I've been recycling bits from last year's blog. I'm not necessarily going to CHANGE anything, I just wanted to disclose this in the hope that this blog will be an enjoyable experience for everyone, and that I'll continue to improve all the time. Thank you kindly. Tidings be.
Only 3 weeks left until selection Sunday. We're dangerously close to the beginning of the conference tournaments so it's time for this blog to push things forward. To do this, I'm going to attempt something never done before in the history of writing: create fake, Oscar'esque categories through which I'll describe some component of college basketball that took place over the weekend. Brilliant!
Best upset of the weekend: Take your pick - North Carolina lost to Maryland in overtime, UCLA got bumped by Washington St. at home, Oklahoma got shocked by Texas after Blake Griffin took one in the head, Robert Morris embarrassingly got tripped up by Wagner, Jerry Lewis continues to defeat death, and I actually ended up at the 31st Street Pub for a rock show.
Best performance picking Bracket Busters games: Not me. I went a passable 8-5 with my picks. I'm still not sure what the purpose was with those picks, except that I enjoy making picks. When in doubt (not the movie), go with the Missouri Valley Conference, they went 7-3 in their non-conference games this weekend. Phil does not win this category either as he went 0-1 with his picks, brashly choosing a shaken Davidson team over Butler.
Best team from Iowa this weekend: The Iowa Hawkeyes...narrowly beating out the Drake Bulldogs to win this category. Jake Kelly set career highs with 23 points and 9 rebounds (while playing all 45 minutes) in Iowa's overtime victory over Michigan on Saturday.
Best team in the Patriot League: American University. In a Patriot League battle for the ages, American U. defeated Holy Cross 56-50 on Saturday. The Crusaders had an opportunity to move into a first place tie in the conference with the Eagles, but it was not meant to be. Although these two squads split the season series...American U. is safely in first place and Holy Cross looks good to be the number two seed for the upcoming conference tournament.
Best props given from the stage during a performance: Bob, to me. Much thanks to you Bob for pimping my blog during the show this weekend. I'm not sure how many rock and roll kids are into the college basketball, but I don't care, it's the thought and props that count. I am truly humbled, though not yet famous. You definitely got the Toby Ziegler in you.
Best player in a "supporting" role: I know the Tar Heels lost this weekend, but after watching a couple of their games recently, I'm thinking that Ty Lawson is the real star of that team. Tyler Hansbrough receives most of the press and a lot of the fanfare...but Ty Lawson seems to be the leader of that squad. He's the player I'd want with the ball in his hands down 2 with under a minute remaining. Lawson has more skills and is more versatile than any of his teammates. He shouldn't be overshadowed by Hansbrough anymore. Am I wrong?
Best team to be ranked #1 in the nation tomorrow: Pitt! I'm giddy.
Best teams not bothering to recruit defensive players: Duke and Notre Dame. Both teams scored over 100 points in their wins this weekend. That's great and sexy and what-not, but come next month, those teams are going to play tough games in the tournament (NCAA or NIT) where that kind of shit ain't gonna fly. Athletic and physical teams win in march. Teams made up of twigs that have a knack for hitting three pointers don't go very far.
Best tirade by a coach: Jim Calhoun. The University of Connecticut head coach decides who is stupid and discusses the economic implications of athletic organizations while making me really want iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts. Enjoy!
0201
I forgot to ask...who changed their vote from North Carolina to Pitt? That just seems odd.
ReplyDeleteOkay here goes:
ReplyDelete-Jim Calhoun should have gotten mad at the idiot at the press conference. That guy tried to pull out the fact that Calhoun makes a whole lotta money from a state institution, but he is right in talking about the income his program brings in for the school, it is more then either the governor or any mayor of Connecticut brings in (taxes have nothing to do with those bums). The bigger crime is the Geno Auriemma contract, I mean, he coaches women...come on...how much is that really worth...$2-3...bucks.
-Best upset is by far UMD, Gary Williams is under a lot of fire in Maryland about underperforming, just the fact that he basically has no one on that team (Vazquez=no one) and he is at least close to being a bubble team is darn good, just look down the road at all the talent Georgetown has and they can't buy a win...even with the new Stimulus Package
-By the way, I am rooting for Holy Cross to make the tourney, I just need to read 1 or 2 great articles from Bill Simmons about how much it means to him that his boys finally made it back
(patiently waiting for women to kill matt)
ReplyDeletefirst of all, i may have been 0-1 on my weekend picks, but you were technically only 8-4 because one of your "picks" was not really a pick. this has nothing to do with standards of journalism but standards of picks (and dare i say it, standards of guarantees), of which i believe there still are some.
ReplyDeletesecondly, i believe ty lawson shot an airball in the remaining seconds of regulation against maryland, and then in the remaining seconds of overtime, he turned the ball over. i'm just saying, it was a strange moment for you to tout his clutchness.
finally, i think maya moore would kick matt's ass pretty handily.
First of all, I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't mention that this years blog was up until now. Second, you're really gonna swipe the Oscars bit that FSN used during the Pitt game over the weekend?!? It's only Febuary 22nd and you've already run out of ideas?
ReplyDeleteYes Maya Moore could probably beat me up, but I think we would get along pretty well seeing that we both have interest in the female persuasion...okay so that was a lower blow then my Geno hit...but let's face it, women basketball players these days have more resemblence to members of the East German Swim Team. Wow...I am really setting myself to be hated.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, while all are hating me, I did want to pose one question, what were the odds going into this blog that Jerry Lewis would have a label associated with him? If I were a Vegas man, I would have set it at no less then 500 to 1, I would have lost a lot of money with that line, but really who saw that coming.
ReplyDeleteTasch...right, FSN was the first to use the Oscar bit. I will keep saying...good writers steal material...great writers blatantly rip things off.
ReplyDeleteMatt...if one could get 500-1 odds on a Jerry Lewis label, imagine the odds one could have gotten on a parlay involving Jerry Lewis, Oscar Wilde, and Dunkin' Donuts in the same column?
I never addressed this:
ReplyDeletePhil...if you take that Butler vs. Davidson pick away from me, my winning percentage actually goes UP! So do as you wish.
The Lawson thing is thus...I've wanted to work the Lawson vs. Hansbrough thing into a column for a few days and couldn't find a way. My impressions on him were based on his previous three games against N.C. State, Miami, and Duke. Maybe my timing was a little off...but I still stand by my thoughts.
yeah, I noticed that your winning percentage would go up. and that's something i'm willing to live with.
ReplyDeleteby the way, i have a solid (perhaps insurmountable) lead in the label race.
What were the odds that Phil is legitimately interested in having the most labels? I say it's easily 1 to 5.
ReplyDeleteWas it 4:36 am in China when you posted that comment? Do you really get up that early for work?
ReplyDeleteWhat were the odds or what are the odds? I'd say it's more like -750...meaning you'd have to bet $750 to win $100, and I still wouldn't make that bet.
Yes I was up that early, I had a conference call at 5am my time. I wasn't sure how familiar people reading this were with betting, 1 to 5 is essentially 500 (bet 500 to win 100), I thought I was being mean, way to up the digs DH.
ReplyDeleteI apologize to everyone, I had not yet checked espn.com before my last comment. Big propos to the Fearless Friar Tucks in their win over the Panthers. Wish there was a blog diary for that one (or at least I wish I could read the thoughts when Providence was closing in on the win). Are we 100% sure Pitt will have a No. 1 seed for the tourney?
ReplyDelete