2.29.08

Happy Birthday!

To Michael Pollack, the kid who grew up down the street from me. He turns 7 today.

Awww...a little Social Retard...

I'm not much for sentimental, but a cute kid talking about Star Wars gets to me.

I'm Torn...

I thought that Talledega Nights was going to be awful and it was fantastic...so there is hope for this one, despite a horrendous trailer.

I heard Will Ferrell on "The Dan Patrick Show" the other day talking about how he thinks that the Lakers should do "Stray Cat and Dog Night" as a promotion. At halftime, they let out 1000 strays at halftime.

No cleanup.

Coaches, players and fans just have to adjust accordingly.

Brilliant.

Okay...now I'm LOST. (Get it? It's punny.)

If you are the uncommitted, DVRing type, stop reading and skip to the next section---AND STICK TO SOMETHING FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE!

Alright. What the fart was that?

They follow the worst episode ever with the most-confusing episode ever. Suddenly, LOST has gone Quantum Leap on us, and we're left to try to figure out what the s is going on, despite being non-Science Fiction types.

HOWEVER...

Because it was based on Desmond I liked it.

Because it had MULTIPLE scenes with Penelope, so I LOVED it. Answer me this: after looking at her and hearing her voice, how could ANY male not be in love with Penelope? The show has had 78 episodes...she's been in FIVE of them. And if the show ever were to go into a slump, the chance of her coming on screen would be enough to pull me through. I haven't had a television crush like this since Stephanie Tanner and Winnie Cooper.

But back to Earth.

I hope that they get rid of this Science Fiction garbage and let us just enjoy the show. It is getting close to becoming too far-fetched.

Hmm...

Yesterday I asked for topics to write about...to no surprise, I received one subject suggestion.

From Skaw.

And to no surprise, it far too controversial to write about. Thus you're reading crap again.

Probably About Time

I haven't written much about college basketball this year...basically because Washington is awful. AW. FUL.

But this is about the time of year when people start paying attention. Why?

Because today is the last day of February. If they watch that big Lehigh game tonight, you can say, "I hate people that only watch in March."

So as a service for those of you who are just checking in, I thought I'd give you a run-down of the top teams in the country, so you do waste your time bandwagoning with the wrong ones.

I'll use ESPN's Bubble Watch as my barometer...anyone who is listed by Andy Glockner as "Should be in" will get a comment.

I'm going to go simple---I'll just give you each team's top-end finish in the NCAA tournament. This isn't necessarily where I think that they'll finish (that has too much to do with draw) but where I think that they can go...as there are good teams, and then there are teams that can win six games in a row against top-flight competition.

So here we go...by conference.

ACC

Locks:
Duke: Final Four
North Carolina: Final Game

Should be in:
Clemson: Regional Final

Big East

Locks:
UConn: Regional Final
Georgetown: National Championship
Notre Dame: Final Four
Louisville: Final Game
Marquette: Sweet Sixteen

Should be in:
Pitt: Sweet Sixteen

Big Ten

Locks:
Indiana: Regional Final
Michigan State: Sweet Sixteen
Wisconsin: Final Four
Purdue: Sweet Sixteen

Big Twelve:

Locks:
Texas: National Championship
Kansas: Final Four

(There were no "Should be ins"...but a couple of other teams I wanted to comment on)

Kansas State: Final Four
Texas A&M: Regional Final


Pac-10

Locks:
UCLA: National Championship
Stanford: National Championship

Should be in:
WSU: Second Round (Seriously...they have been VERY inconsistent against good teams.)
Arizona: Regional Final

Also:
USC: Final Four
Arizona State: Second Round
Oregon: Second Round
California: One and done.

SEC:

Locks:
Tennessee: National Championship
Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt

Should be in:
Mississippi State: Sweet Sixteen

Atlantic Ten

Xavier: Second Round (And they're a #2 seed in this week's Bracketology!)

Others:

Locks:
Memphis: National Championship
Butler: Sweet Sixteen
Dayton: Second Round

Should be in:
BYU: Second Round (Their second round game will be on a Sunday, so they'll forfeit.)
Kent State: (I'll skip the massacre joke) One and done.
Saint Mary's: Second Round (Most overrated team in the country.)
Gonzaga: Second Round (Forgive me...St. Mary's is the SECOND most overrated team in the country.)

So based on those ratings...the teams that I said could go all the way are:

Georgetown
Texas
UCLA
Stanford
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Memphis

Pretty short list. My quick thoughts on each:

Georgetown: Not as good a team as last year---but when you have size (and their's doesn't stop at Hibbert) you have a chance in the NCAA Tournament. Figure out how to make some shots outside and you have a GREAT chance.

Texas: Hottest team in the country. And there have been MANY National Championship teams who are led by one small, slashing guard. (Mateen Cleeves, Khalid el-Ahmin, Tony Delk to name a few in the last dozen or so years.) (Of course based on those names, DJ Augustine may want to bow out in the Sweet Sixteen to ensure a successful NBA Career...)

UCLA: My pick at the beginning of the season and my pick now. Darren Collisen is getting back into shape, Russel Westbrook may quietly be the most NBA-ready guard in the country, and Kevin Love is absolutely unstoppable. If they can avoid a shooting slump, they're the best team, with the bast game-coach, and should go all the way.

Stanford: Nobody matches their size with the Lopez twins, but Mitch Johnson and Anthony Goods are the two that make the team go. They'd need somewhat of a perfect-storm...maybe an easy road to the Regional Final to build momentum. But if confident, they're SCARY.

Tennessee: I've never liked teams that rely heavily on one guy to make threes---and Chris Lofton is creeping up on being the all-time leader in that department. They proved that they could win on a huge stage on the road against Memphis...and promptly dumped one against Vandy. That said though---they rebound VERY well and (as of this morning) had six different guys averaging better than a steal a game (and another at .9). As with any team, it depends on draw, but if they can run and gun for 4 of their 6 games, they've got a shot.

Vanderbilt: No seriously. They were in the Sweet Sixteen a year ago. They have two studs in Foster and Ogilvy and they're in the SEC. Look at the NCAA Tournament over the past ten years---the team that wins the SEC Tournament has NOT fared poorly.

Memphis: They're a bit deflated after the Tennessee lost, but when you have that many good backcourt players and a solid rebounder (Joey Dorsey) you've got a fighting chance. I don't love them...but they're too talented not to mention.

If I had to rank them in likelihood, I'd say:
1. UCLA
2. Texas
3. Memphis
4. Georgetown
5. Tennessee
6. Vanderbilt
7. Stanford


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