The Elite 8 is Right Around the Corner

I'm on a bus to NYC right now and typing this post on my Blackberry, so forgive any spelling or gramatical errors. I felt like I needed to post after last night's eventful games in college basketball.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the entire NCAA tournament so far, as it has given the fans some thrilling last minute winners (Gonzaga), Cinderella stories (Western Kentucky), overtime thrillers (Wisconsin vs. FSU), and total domination (UConn). I had the luxury of watching the first and part of the second rounds of the tourney from Las Vegas thanks to Kevin Parker's wonderful family letting us stay at their timeshare out there. Thus, I was able to legally bet on the games and not to brag, but I won all that I bet, even though it was only three games. I bet VCU (+8, lost by 1 to UCLA),#12 Wisconsin (+2.5, won by 2 in OT) to upset #5 FSU, and Texas (+7.5, lost by 5) to cover against the Dukies. It was a productive week at the least.So with the upset of #3 Mizzou over #2, and still pissed off for not getting a 1 seed, Memphis last night, I got to thinking...what is the Final Four picture going to look like and who, actually, should win in the beginning of April? First, I think Louisville will take a spot because 1) I think Rick Pinto is one of the best coaches in the league (even though he was no good for the Celtics) and 2) Terrance Williams has the potential to be the best player in the NCAA, as he's a threat from anywhere. However, with their recent play including the slow start against #16 Morehead State and just barely squeezing by #9 Siena by 5 points, I just don't see them matching up well with any other #1 seeds unless they intensly step it up.Next, you have to give it to UConn. After that 6 overtime loss in the Big East tournament, they have playing remarkably and if they continue, nobody will stop them from winning it all. #5 Purdue gave them the hardest time all tournament last night, and UConn still led for the entire game and won by 12, with Jeff Adrien turning in his worst performance so far (8 points, 6 rebounds). If Hasheem Thabeet keeps playing like he did last night (15 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks), UConn will be unstoppable.In the East Region, you have to love Pitt. They have been arguably the most dominant team this year with a star point guard in Levance Fields, an amazing powerhouse of a center in DeJuan Blair, and an exceptional supporting cast. Plus, this is their first regional final since 1974...think they're a little excited to be there right now?
And my last Final Four team is...
::drum roll::Oklahoma! "WHAT?!" you're saying. Not THE North Carolina Tarheels and the potential player of the year Tyler Hansborough?? Nope. Maybe it's my intense man-crush on Blake Griffin or just not wanting to see four #1 seeds like last year, but I think Oklahoma has the best chance to take down the Carolina powerhouse and Roy Williams (no offense, Roy. Still love ya). Blake Griffin has been my favorite player all year and a sensational individual both on and off the court. He has the drive and tenacity to take his team past one of the best, if not the, best and most popular organization in the NCAA. However, he's not the entire team. His brother, Taylor is also a force and Oklahoma's perimeter game with Willie Warren, Tony Crocker, and Austin Johnson, who all average at least 34 percent from 3-point land, isn't too shabby either. So there's your Final Four. Now who wins?
I have to go with my bracket and initial instinct here. The Pittsburgh Panthers are going to win it all. If they play with perfection in the last few rounds, there is no doubt in my mind that they can beat anyone in the league. But we'll see...that's what is so great about March Madness: you never know what you're going to get.

"This is a very special atmosphere in the Big East. The people are right on top of the floor. It's not like the pro atmosphere you have at places like Madison Square Garden and the Meadowlands. This is the essence of college basketball."

-Dick Vitale

A Preview of Real March Madness

Last night, my girlfriend and I randomly decided to stop for a bite to eat at the Cheesecake Factory in the Prudential Center. The night was about to become a little more eventful than a Navajo chicken sandwich (hold the avocado, please) and obviously, a Harpoon I.P.A. To my surprise, former UConn superstar Rudy Gay, along with his current Grizzlies teammate and former Syracuse University superstar Hakim Warrick, were eating two tables down from us (they're playing the Celts tonight). I walked by and said, "Ruuuuuuuudy," which got a response of "what up man?" Later, in the middle of my Navajo, I realized that the Big East Tournament was featuring both the Pittsburgh Panthers and the UConn Huskies later that night, with my main focus on tuning into Connecticut vs. Syracuse (Jimmy vs. Jimmy).

For a game that started around 9:30, I didn't expect to be up until 2 in the morning. I'm not sure what was worse, losing a few hours of sleep before a long say's work at the brewery, or the number of prayers that A.J. Price threw up with 7 seconds left in each overtime from wayyy beyond the NBA arc.

It was pretty evident that America was going to be in for an amazing showcase of collegiate basketball talent, especially with the history that these two teams have had, and made in the past. Well, with six-overtimes in 3 hours and 46 minutes, a total of 244 points scored, 8 players fouling out (6 being starters from each team), this was one of the best games that I have ever seen. A.J. Price (33 points, 10 assists) and Stanley Robinson (28 points-career high, 14 rebounds) led the way for the former #1 Huskies while PG Johnny Flynn (34 points, 11 assists) and Paul Harris (29 points, 22 rebounds-10 offensive) were just too much for Calhoun's club. However, along with the talents that were executed on the court, there was much controversy surrounding the game. So many no-calls, unreasonable plays at the end of each OT, and an amazing 3 by Eric Devendorf that was called off at the end of the first overtime. So from these controversies, I have some issues, mainly with UConn, as they were the obvious favorite to win this game, along with being ranked one of the top teams in the country.

1) Free throws: I know for a fact that Jim Calhoun preaches to his guys how important it is to make your free throws, whether you are Hasheem Thabeet or Scottie Haralson (benchwarmer). I also know that he enforces the importance by repetition at every practice, as one of his players was my high school head coach and followed his exact methods. So why, Jim, does your team shoot 57.1% (24-42) from the line? Maybe I'm missing something, but these kids are the elite performers of the sport and still cannot make a FREE throw, a shot that is completely uncontested.

2) Turnovers: Way too many, obviously. Although there were 6 OTs, UConn totaled 27 turnovers, 11 more than Syracuse. They're assist-to-turnovers ratio was even. You aren't going to win a game of UNO with that many turnovers...

3) Last second plays: A.J. Price shot up at least 3 prayers at the end of both regulation and overtimes. Note: the game was TIED. That means you only need to score 2 points to win the game. The thing that troubles me is that Calhoun let this occur more than once. With 7 seconds left in a tied game, the ball should always be driven inside to try to get an easy lay-up, dump it off to a big man, or draw a foul and go to the line for two. Villanova executed this perfectly in an earlier game, where they won on a last second lay-up. UConn definitely needed to take notes on that.

Overall, this game will go down in history as one of the most hard-fought, energetic games. Congratulations to Jimmy B. for the win.

"I was thinking, 'Lord, just get this game over with. Whoever wins the game, let's just get it over with.'"

-Jonny Flynn

T.O. is No Mo

For my few readers, I apologize for not posting in a while...it's been an extremely hectic week. Spring Break cannot come so soon. Anyways, I was not going to post tonight because I feel like death, but as the clock hit midnight, Stuart Scott delivered breaking news through my television: Terrell Owens, superstar wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, has been released.

Now obviously I have similar feelings towards the Cowboys that I do for the Patriots because of my personal preferences and have stated remarks about T.O. that I am sure nobody would repeat to their kids, but good for him. He has had his issues in the past with Donovan McNabb in Philly and this past year with boyfriends Tony Romo and Jason Witten. Some may blame him for his negative attitude and apparent inability to exhibit a teamwork ethic, but I disagree. T.O. is one of the most talented receivers that I have ever laid eyes on, and whoever picks him up (which shouldn't take too long) is obtaining a natural talent that is so rarely found today. Watching him this past year, although at times was heartbreaking, also excited me. Without all of the controversy surrounding the team, I believe that T.O. could have led the league in receiving yards.

So good for you, Terrell. Without you, Jerry Jones will cry himself to sleep at night in his gold laced bed-sheets. Then he'll probably go buy a country to replace the hole in his heart.

Just please don't go to the Pats.

"Like I always said, if I'm one of the top players in the game, pay me like I'm one of the top players in the game."

-Terrell Owens

G-Men make the right moves

Before anything, I would like to congratulate Stephon Marbury on his first game with the Boston Celtics last night.  In 16 minutes of play, Steph had 8 points on 4 of 6 shooting with 3 assists, a rebound, and a steal.  Promising start, we'll see how it plays out for the future.

Yes, I know, many of you are most likely thinking..."Wait, this kid lives in Boston, loves the Sox and the Celts, but is a GIANTS fan?  What gives?!"  Well, to defend my preference, my mother's side of the family is obsessed with the Red Sox and if I didn't follow, I think my 80 year old grandfather might try to assassinate me (and trust me, he is in good enough physical shape to probably accomplish that).  My father's side of the family is overly fanatics of the Giants, to the point where every Christmas and birthday I receive at LEAST 2 Giants items.  So I'm a mutt.

Anyways, this past week, the New York Giants sig

ned star running back and my personal favorite, Brandon Jacobs, to a 4 year contract through 2012.  This move secured one of the most dominant RBs in the entire league, considering you get a gazelle mixed with a rhino in one man.  Good move, G-Men.

As I was composing this blog and monitoring some headlines, BREAKING NEWS came up.  Matt Cassel, the New England Patriot's tremendous quarterback from last year, was JUST traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.  Although I am a chronic opposer of anything Pats, I definitely respect Cassel as a player and think he did one hell of a job stepping up and leading that team.  If they went with anyone else after Tom Shady went down, there is no way they would have even come close to the playoffs (although they still didn't make it).  It will be interesting to see what the Pats will do if Brady ends up re-injuring his knee or has some sort of complication throughout the season (I did call that he would go out the first game of last season).  However, putting it in New England's perspective, Matt Cassel has way too much talent to be sitting on the bench for 16 games, so dealing him to KC for their second round pick.  It was obvious, after this season, that Cassel would get picked up if the Patriots were to deal him, and I congratulate him for his success and wish him all the best with the Chiefs.  

Hopefully he'll come back and spank the Pats.

Jacobs literally running over Washington's LaRon Landry

"It is very easy to root for guys like Matt Cassel, who do everything the right way and flourish as a result. As much as we would have loved to continue working with Matt, we wish him nothing but the best as he takes this next step forward in his career."

-Bill "Spygate" Belichick

"Gar-bury" is on his way to Beantown....

I wasn't going to post tonight because I had a really loooong day.  However, as I was sitting here watching the 7 News at 11, I found that the nightmare that I have been waking up to in a cold sweat all week has finally come true.  Stephon Marbury, the deadliest, malignant cancer from the New York Knicks is coming to the Celtics.  It was confirmed tonight in a text message that he's on his way.  Okay, so I may be a little harsh on the guy, since he hasn't done anything to harm the Celtics yet besides have his name on the back of a C's jersey, but I can't see ANYTHING good coming out of this deal.  Now I know there is argument that he is a 2-time All-Star and over his 14 seasons, he has averaged 19.7 PPG with 7.8 APG.  But that doesn't make up for the fact that over the past two NBA seasons, he hasn't played more than 25 games total, let alone suit up for most of the games.  All I remember him for is sitting on the end of the bench slumped over with his hand on his cheek and bringing nothing but negativity to the Knicks.

Do we really want a guy that gets beat out at training camp by Chris Duhon and instead of accepting his role to come off the bench to play 35 minutes per game, he refuses to play?  Then, ultimately gets banned from practice and games because of his lack of cooperation and selfishness?

I played basketball for 13 years and no matter who I played for...rec ball in elementary school all the way to JV my junior year of high school (which ended abruptly with my glorious ACL tear), the ONE thing that my coach told us every single freaking game was that teamwork was the essential kryptonite to defeat any other team.  Stephon, I'm not sure if you've ever huddled up after a time out, but if you didn't know, the chant usually goes..."1, 2, 3, team."  The current Celtics team portrays this exact quality, which brought us our 17th banner.  Can you handle that Steph?

Any thoughts?

"The strength of the team is each individual member...the strength of each member is the team."

-Phil Jackson

The Tip-Off: Welcome!

For a while now, I have been saying to myself..."Mike, create a blog about something that you are REALLY passionate about."  I've been putting this off for three and a half years, and I think it's time to get off of my lazy ass and find time between classes, homework, and my internship to write about my first love: sports.  Like millions of you sports freaks out there, a lot of my time and energy revolves around this form of entertainment.  I follow basically every sport and have an overly problematic obsession with fantasy sports (which causes me a lot of pleasure, with a similar amount of pain).  Now I know that there are tons of blogs out there that discuss the daily sporting headlines but I would definitely like to get my 2 (maybe even 3) cents out in the overly saturated cyber world.  So this blog will cover anything and everything sports related.  From something as simple as a single basketball game to fantasy sports, all the way to poker, and everything in between, I'm going to write about what I feel like on that day.  So I encourage you readers (if I have any), please leave any comments that you may have and definitely feel free to debate or discuss anything that you agree/disagree with.  Have fun with it.

Lamar was pissed that I was a Celts fan

"You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them."

-Michael Jordan