My Andy Rooney Moment

So, the blogging has taken a nose-dive.

The main reason is that things are changing in my life.

UConn lost on Friday, which caused me to lose my flair.

I started a new work schedule on Sunday. I now work 6 AM to 2 PM.

I get up at 4:15 AM, instead of 9:30 AM. Ok, I was actually getting up after 10:00 AM, 9:30 sounded more respectable.

This just sounds like a list of excuses, then again this is a list of excuses.

What my point is that I was more inspired to write before work, especially after I had my morning coffee.

You know, the morning cup of coffee after you slept for 8 hours without being awakened by an alarm clock.

The alarm clock noise is possibly the most hated sound in America.

Yes, this is supposed to be about sports and popular culture.

The Red Sox defeated the Oakland Athletics this morning. Yes, this morning.

The game was in Japan.

Major League Baseball in Japan, is almost as bad as baseball in March. Better yet, baseball in the morning, when you are getting ready to work and you are absolutely miserable. Miserable because you could use two more hours of sleep.

Today we had all three components. The game was over around 9:00 AM. It was played in Japan in the month of March.

Baseball in the morning should be relegated to highlights on ESPN and Yankee replays on the Yes Network.

I believe I am starting to sound like Andy Rooney. Except my eyebrows are not unkempt.
Please, take care of those Mr. Rooney.

All and all it was a pretty difficult weekend. My confidence waned, until I successfully utilized the word onus in a sentence and had to explain its meaning.

How to Read My Blog?

When I read my writing I often hear someone else's voice.

In my Mystic Pizza and Bracketology commentary I hear Will Ferrell or Norm Macdonald.

Just picture Norm Macdonald reading the last five lines as if he was reading the news on Saturday Night Live.

Trust me, it makes it more interesting, a bit funnier.

THE BIG LOSS

What a day! The UConn game tipped-off around 3:30pm, the boozing began around 2:45pm. By 7:00pm I was drunk and emotionless.

Feeling like a big loser, I ate dinner at the 99 Restaurant, knowing before hand what I was in for- mediocre food.

UConn lost for the first time in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament during the Jim Calhoun era.

The Huskies finished the season 8-8 outside of Gampel Pavilion and the XL Center. They were just 1-4 when playing on neutral courts.

A 24-9 season when it began 11-5 does not seem terrible on the surface. The fact of the matter is that the Huskies lost four out of their last seven games.

The Huskies peaked at the wrong during the season.

Since the big loss, I have been the big blob. I spent the last five hours watching Lost, Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations and Bizarre Foods on DVR.

The depression of UConn losing made it very difficult to watch another basketball game.

The Big East goes 7-1 in the NCAA Tournament. The lone loser, the UConn Huskies.

Isn't funny how boring this reads, it is because I have no emotion right now.

NCAA.com

I am going to give a free plug to NCAA.com. You can view all the tournament games from this site. The only problem is there is a delay of 45 to 60 seconds.

Not a bad option if you are at work and want to hear or see the games.

Bill Raftery is announcing the American/Tennessee game. This is a big plus.

Tennessee is not impressing me much. They are only up 5 points in the second half.

American has been sloppy with the ball throughout the game, but they are dominating Tennessee on the boards.

American head coach Jeff Jones should get serious consideration for another big time D-1 head coaching job. Jones had been one of the more successful coaches at Virginia.

He has spent his last eight years at American. Sorry, American you are not exactly a basketball power house. You could not swing it in the Colonial Athletic.

Another word on Jeff Jones, he was the point guard for Virginia along side the legendary Ralph Sampson, when the Cavaliers lost to Chaminade. It was the biggest upset in college basketball history.

American just hit back to back threes and they have tied the game at 40, with 11 minutes to go.

And Boom, goes the Dynamite! (Famous YouTube reference)

All locked up in a tight one. (Quigs from ESPN Dream Job).

Albany Redux

As I prepare for the NCAA Tournament games (my preparation includes drinking coffee and talking on the AIM), I am thinking back to the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

The Albany Great Danes. Yes, Albany the team that stayed close with UConn for the entire game during the First Round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The problem when you play one of these Cinderellas is when it is your team playing them.

I am sure Duke fans know what I am talking about. The entire crowd turns on your team. Suddenly you get a feeling throughout your body, this is called shock.

Today I am hoping the San Diego Toreros are not able to keep it close. Then again, I know it will be a game that is too close for comfort.

I am looking forward to watching my cousin's school and brother's alma matter, American University, take on Tennessee.

Mystic Pizza and Bracketology

Alas, home from work drinking a Corona with lime and heating up some Mystic Pizza. The funny part about Mystic Pizza is the frozen variety is much better than what is served at the restaurant made famous in the 1988 movie entitled, you guessed it, Mystic Pizza. You may recall the movie because Julie Roberts starred in it.

I never saw the movie but I sampled their pizza last year on a weekend trip with my girlfriend. It was nothing special.

If they ever make a movie about pizza place in Connecticut again, hopefully it will be called Pepe’s. Pepe’s is the infamous New Haven, Conn. pizza establishment.

If you ever go to Pepe’s I recommend their bacon pizza, just expect a very long line on a Friday or Saturday night.

Oh yeah, there were some college basketball games today.

Xavier helped my cause by coming back to defeat Georgia. Georgia was one tornado away of winning this one.

Michigan State ousted Temple. I pretty much guaranteed a Temple victory, so much for researching RPI’s and momentum. Temple had won seven straight, Michigan State was just 5-5 over their last 10 games. Yes, I am an idiot.

I would not call it an upset, but the 11^th seed Kansas State defeated 6^th seeded USC. Beasley out shined fellow phenomenon O.J. ‘hold the’ Mayo.

Hopefully O.J. Mayo will not follow the same path as fellow Trojan. O.J. ‘the double murder’ Simpson.

By the way, whatever happened to the story about O.J. Simpson committing the Las Vegas robbery?

The Belmont/Duke game was the obvious game of the day. Belmont should have won the game, sending millions of people and their brackets into purgatory.

Luke Harangody and the Fighting Irish defeated Mr. George Mason. After the game, Harangody and his teammates drank green beer, which they thought was Gatorade.

Bob Huggins’ West Virginia Mountaineers knocked off Kevin O’Neil’s Arizona Wildcats. After the game, everyone on Arizona declared for the NBA Draft. Bob Huggins also expressed his interest in the Arizona head coaching job, continuing his trend of one and done.

My Gardner Webb Rant

It is barely half time and I already want to tear apart my bracket and go hiding in a bomb shelter. The problem is I do not have access to a bomb shelter and the games are not even over.

I had Temple defeating Michigan State in my 12 vs. 5 upset. So far Michigan State is in control. I pretty much guaranteed a Temple win. I feel like a WAFL (short for What A Fucking Loser).

I did not think Georgia could ride their momentum against Xavier. So far I am wrong as Georgia is in control of this one. I still think the SEC is weak with the exception of Tennessee and Vanderbilt. How could Kentucky do so well in that conference after losing to Gardner Webb?

Remember Gardner-Webb the early season Cinderella which put a 84-68 thwacking on Kentucky at the Rupp arena in November? Remember Grayson Flitnner, the other guy on 2006 Indiana's All State Basketball Team with Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Luke Harangody and Eric Gordon? Sure you do?

Better yet, the 6-foot-4 Thomas Sanders won the Atlantic Sun Player of the Year? He averaged a double-double (points and rebounds). He is 6-foot-4! He is not tall enough to start at forward at my high school.

Gardner Webb proceeded to vanish into the winter, losing to USC Upstate and Florida Gulf Coast. Yeah, they lost to USC Upstate on the road, but they beat Kentucky at Rupp Arena.

Gardner Webb ended the year 16-16 overall and 9-7 in the Atlantic Sun.

Thoughts from the Quarterfinals

As, I write this I am watching Notre Dame vs. Marquette from like an arm’s reach away from the court. I hate braggers, when I am not doing the bragging.

I wonder how many times ESPN’s Bill Raftery said ‘onions,’ ‘send it in Jerome,’ and ‘man to man’ during the first two games of the Quarterfinals today? That is about the only thing I missed while sitting in the stands and press area in my first trip to basketball’s Mecca, The Madison Square Garden.

I got a media credential, but much to my surprise it was a technical, no seating pass. That met that I was restricted to the media work area. Well, I still watched the games. I sat in the stands for the Nova game, snuck into the press area for the UConn game. I did not watch the Louisville vs. Pitt game, as I was writing my article about the UConn/West Virginia foul fest. Of course the Louisville/Pitt game turned out to be the game of the day.

Rick Pitino and Jim Calhoun were obviously not too happy after losing. Pitino went after one reporter., questioning how much basketball he watches? The reporters question was not insulting. He asked, “Does it concern you that you have lost two straight games before NCAA TOURNEY?” Pitino went after him told him he should watch more basketball and that he will not be losing sleep thinking about it, but the reporter will probably lose sleep. Those were good teams Georgetown and Pittsburgh that Louisville lost too, he explained.

Trust me, I am sure Pitino is concerned his team lost two straight games. I am also sure that reporter that asked him the question will lose sleep, waking up intermittently from his Rick Pitino nightmare.

I also felt the wrath, but from Jim Calhoun. I asked Jim Calhoun about how is team is 6-7 away ( I didn’t include the non-conference wins vs. Central Florida and Indiana) and 1-3 at Neutral Courts. He said it was a myth, but I must know what I am talking about because I said it.

Sorry Jim, you are 8-7 away from Connecticut this year . . . 5-4 in Big East, 1-3 in Neutral Courts, 2-0 out of conference. Not an impressive resume.

I wish I could have clarified myself or even finished my sentence, but Jim Calhoun did not me a chance. Heck, Jim I am not even getting paid for this! I am like Mother Teresa of basketball writing. Well, my grammar would make you think, otherwise.

Chalk up another reporter, that received a verbal lashing from Jim Calhoun. For UConn reporters, it is like a coming of age.

The highlight of the press conference, though, was when Pitino started commenting on Pitt assistant coach Orlando Anitigua’s wardrobe during Pitt‘s Wednesday night game vs. Cincinnati. . Pitino’ seats were right behind the Pitt bench that game. He knows his fashion, so I am sure Antigua was a ‘sharp dressed man’ ‘(little ZZ Top reference).

Yuck, I am starting to feel a little metro-sexual right now talking about men‘s fashion, but then again this is New York City.

It could be worse, I could be like Luke Winn of Sports Illustrated and write about my Scrabble match with Hasheem Thabeet. Luke gets the last laugh because he got paid to write about that. I also could be writing about Billy Crystal’s Yankees debut, but I did not watch that.

McAlarney just a hit 3, like that is anything to write about it. He hits threes like a fellow, Mc . . .Namara (The Syracuse/Scranton legend). Yeah, I bet your girlfriend or wife thinks McAlarney is cute also?

Ok guys, I will talk about something more manly, the cheerleaders. Villanova has the worst cheerleaders of the Big East Quarterfinals. Nothing to write home about it. I will give the nod to best cheerleaders to UConn (I did not get to check out the Louisville or Pitt cheerleaders very closely).

It is funny how if you are a Villanova or Notre Dame male cheerleader a prerequisite must be to look like Seth from the movie Superbad. The students in the pep bands were in better condition. Sorry ladies, cheerleaders are for guys to look at.

I am not exactly a picky eater, but let me tell you about the $8 dinner I paid for in the media area. Turkey, stuffing, corn on the cob. . . .sounds good , right? Well, the stuffing tasted like cat food. Yeah, if you have to know I am the youngest of three brothers and I might have had a taste when I was eight-years old. Hopefully the stuffing was not Mike Dolan’s mother’s secret recipe. Then again her son has a good recipe for disaster, it is called the New York Knicks.

Why is Maurice Acker of Marquette putting away Notre Dame with daggers down the stretch? Watching Aker, McNeal and James run around with the other players on the court is like watching an episode of TLC’s Little People Big World: three little one’s and a lot of taller ones.

When will it finally be reported that Gary Busey is Luke Harangody’s biological father. I can not get over the resemblance. Could I at least get a side by side picture? Harangody is sporting a new crew cut for the game. I would like to see someone make the You Tube video, my new haircut, Luke Harangody edition.

Speaking of the current Big East Player of the Year, Luke Harangody, he was not the same player he was all season for Notre Dame against Marquette. He struggled, fouling out of the game with 1:14 to go. He had just 13 points and 4 rebounds.

Joe Alexander is my early candidate for Big East Player of the Year in 2009. Over the past five games the 6-foot-8 forward averaged nearly 30 points. He scored over 30 points four times during that stretch . He scored 66 points in two games vs. UConn.

It is hard for a seven-footer to get lost in a garden. Today playing in Madison Square Garden, Georgetown’s Roy Hibbert and UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet, looked lost. Hibbert scored zero points in 14 foul-plagued/uneventful minutes. Thabeet, also struggled with foul trouble finishing with just six points for UConn. There will be no Hibbert vs. Thabeet III tomorrow. I was looking forward to that match-up, as Thabeet is much improved even from their earlier face-off this season. Hibbert made Thabeet look silly in that one.

Maybe Thabeet should not have spent so much time before the Big East Tournament playing Scrabble with Luke Winn.

See you later Villanova ! You will be one of the last teams left out of the NCAA Tournament. Nova’ rallied against the Hoyas, but came up short losing 63-82.

Ranking the Big East Quarterfinal Coaches:

1) Rick Pitino 2) Jim Calhoun 3) Bob Huggins (No Personality) 4) John Thompson III 5) Tom Crean 6) Jay Wright 7) Jamie Dixon 8) Mike Brey

At least, former New York Governor, Elliot Spitzer, is not ninth in this order (HAHA- you were supposed to laugh at my Client number nine reference).

Picking that order, especially Wright, Dixon and Brey, is like trying to decide which Bubble team belongs in the NCAA Tournament and which does not. Coaches one through three can definitely back up their egos with their resumes. Four through eight are a lot friendlier to reporters, but harder to rank.

I think they should start serving alcohol to reporters. If I had six to eight beers in me, my beer muscles would have not tolerated Calhoun’s sarcastic tirade. Then again, maybe it is a good thing they do not serve beer to reporters.

My trip to basketball’s Mecca was cut short by UConn’s early exit. I was looking forward to the train and subway rides into MSG for at least another day. Thanks UConn, for ending my dream.

Looking at it from the glass is half full perspective, at I least will be able to hear all the ‘We got a little Nickle-Dimer here’ and other Raftery colloquialisms tomorrow while I watch the game on ESPN.

Ok, it is time for a beer!

Georgia Bulldogs

Something about the Georgia Bulldogs that does not intrigue me. Yes, they won their conference tournament. Yes, they won two games in one day of their conference tournament. Yes, they won two games in overtime. Guess what, I would rather see Central Arkansas State Baptist College playing in this game, not Georgia. The Bulldogs should be in Athens attending class.

I hope Xavier takes care of business here.

Magical Moment

The countdown has begun, it is less than an hour away from tip-off. Every March I look forward to the first day of the NCAA Tournament. In middle school and high school, I could not wait to get home from school to watch the games.

Hopefully, I do not miss one of those moments, a Bryce Drew game winning shot for Valpo.

I know I am corny, one of my favorite songs is the "March Madness Song."

One of the most exciting days I ever had was traveling to Worcester, Mass to see UConn and Syracuse in the opening round. My excitement soon turned to sadness when my Orange lost to Vermont.

Today, I have that same enthusiasm for March Madness. Except, I am working 2nd shift. That means I will be able to view the first set of games that start at 1230pm. I contemplated calling out sick, but I have decided to tough it out.

Hopefully, work will not be so dreadful. Then again, work is always dreadful when it is March Madness. I will be sitting in front of my computer refreshing the scores every chance I get.

I still think Temple has a chance to pull of the upset today. Drew Neitzel of Michigan State is a good player.

Can there be a magical moment or three today?

Jay Bilas

I believe Jay Bilas emailed me today. I will not give out his email address but he told me he thought my blog was hilarious (Study finds Chimps Beat Bracketologists).

I am glad Mr. Bilas has a good sense of humor, as I was pretty rough on him.

After writing the blog, I discovered that Bilas is a very intriguing person. He has been in a movie (Dark Angel) and television show (The White Shadow).

He co-starred in Dark Angel, also known as I Come in Peace, with Dolph Lundgren. The movie was corny, but I still remember Lundgren’s catchy line “I come in peace you go in pieces.”

Study Finds: Chimps Defeat Bracketologists

I found a study in the Bracketology Journal (Volume 2, Issue 7) entitled “Chimpanzees or Bracketologists?” Oddly, the same researchers that conducted this study also published a study that showed HGH does not increase athletic performance. Intrigued, I began to read the study.

The panel of college basketball experts were: Billy Packer (CBS), Bill Raftery (CBS/ESPN), Dick Vitale (ESPN Deportes), Andy Katz (ESPNU), Luke Winn (CNN/SI), Jay Bilas (ESPN ACC), Bob Knight (Coaches' Union), John Wooden (Elder Statesmen), Jim Boheim (Syracuse-Should-Be-In Society), and Joe Lunardi (Self-Proclaimed Bracketologist).

The chimpanzees looked completely over matched in this contest. Then again, the chimps seemed to have a chance.

Packer of course picked his ACC stalwarts to make the Final Four (Clemson, North Carolina, Duke, Miami).

Winn, riding his Scrabble victory over Hasheem Thabeet, felt so confident that he picked Mount Saint Mary’s over North Carolina. He had UConn making the Final Four over UCLA.

The chimps quickly found out that if they picked the higher seeded team over the lower seeded team, they would be rewarded with a banana.

Boheim tore up his bracket, still insisting Syracuse was snubbed. He proceeded to burn a picture of the Villanova mascot.

A hobbling Wooden, fresh out of the hospital picked UCLA to win it all. Wooden did not even bother to finish filling out the rest of his bracket.

Knight started an argument with Packer over whether the field should be expanded to include Texas Tech. Knight threw a chair at Packer, Packer screeched saying something about the ACC.

In the midst of the chaos, the chimps scratched their heads, ate their bananas and made their picks.

Katz, disgruntled about his gig with ESPNU decided to talk about how Syracuse has the best shot at winning the NIT Title. Katz was ignored by the rest of panel. His face turned completely red, as he clenched his fists looking at Bilas.

Speaking of Bilas, Bilas began talking about how great he is. He told Katz to check his Wikipedia page to see that he not only had a law degree from Duke University, but he was a four-year starter on the basketball team.

When Vitale learned that HGH does not increase athletic performance, he was outraged. He demanded another study, saying that he used HGH to repair his damaged vocal cords. Vitale then uttered, “Diaper-Dandy” as he saw a picture of Michael Beasley on the wall.

A shouting match ensued between Vitale and Raftery. Not one of them uttered a normal phrase. Raftery accused Vitale of “Nickle-Diming” him on their restaurant bill.

Lunardi, well, he quietly observed the behavior of the chimps and how they decided to pick their brackets. Lunardi would quickly look down at his calculator and punch in numbers, trying to figure out Mount Saint Mary’s RPI.

In the end, the panel was stumped when they found out that the chimps had defeated everyone on the panel, with the exception of Lunardi. Overwhelmingly, the chimps had defeated the panel of experts, much to their chagrin.

Angered by the result, the entire panel stormed upon Lunardi, who crumpled his bracket up and stuffed it in his mouth.

Filling out the Bracket

So I decided to get a pool going. It is hard to call it a pool when no one wins money, but it is still a pool in the technical sense.

Take the Zags +2, everyone is doubting them. Pargo is the WCC Player of the Year. Sorry Stephen Curry
American +19.5
Morgan State +17.5 NIT
Arizona +2 (Buddinger and Bayless over Alexander the Great). West Virginia wins by 1.
Temple +6.5

Temple will upset Michigan State

It is time to fill out a bracket. Filling-out a bracket becomes increasingly difficult with the more knowledge of college basketball you have. For example, a 12 seed typically knocks off a 5 seed. This year the 12 vs. 5 match-ups seem like toss-ups.

(12) Villanova vs. (5) Clemson
(12)George Mason vs. (5) Notre Dame
(12) Western Kentucky vs (5) Drake
(12) Temple vs. (5) Michigan State

Judging these match-ups based on pure instinct I would have to say that Temple is most likely to upset Michigan State. Temple plays in the Atlantic 10 Conference, they are no longer coached by John Chaney (that has nothing to do with it). Temple won their conference tournament in a fairly strong league. The Temple Owls have won seven straight games, while Michigan State is 5-5 over their last 10 games.

My next possible upset would be Villanova over Clemson. Clemson was runner ups in the 2007 NIT and they are the more experienced of the two teams.

Villanova, though, played in a tougher conference this year, the Big East. Nova is 7-8 vs. the RPI top 50 and 2-4 vs. the top 25. One statistic that jumps off the page is the fact that Nova is 4-1 when playing in Neutral Courts.

Clemson is 0-3 vs. the Top 25 and 2-5 vs. the RPI top 50. Clemson is 1-1 when playing in Neutral Courts.

Temple is 3-5 vs the RPI Top 50 and 1-3 vs. the RPI Top 25. Temple is ranked 47th in the RPI. Their opponent, Michigan State is 16th in the RPI. The Spartans are 4-5 vs. the RPI Top 50 and 4-4 vs. the RPI Top 25. Michigan State is 7-7 in games played on the road and on neutral courts. Temple is 8-8 overall in games played on the road and neutral courts.

Drake is the least likely of all five seeds to get upset. Drake has a high RPI, an undefeated record on neutral courts and a 6-1 recored vs. the RPI Top 50.

I have identified what I believe to be the most important factors for determining upset: road record, neutral record, record vs. RPI Top 50, record vs. RPI Top 25 and Strength of Schedule (SOS) and Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).

RPI SOS Top 25 Top 50 Road Neutral

TU 47 42 1-3 3-5 7-5 1-3

MS 16 50 4-4 4-5 4-6 3-1

GM 61 126 1-1 2-1 5-7 5-2

ND 26 83 2-4 6-5 5-4 2-2

Nova 51 52 2-4 7-8 4-7 4-1

Clem 19 34 0-3 2-5 7-5 1-1

Drake 10 64 1-0 6-1 10-3 4-0

WKU 39 142 0-2 1-4 10-3 4-1


WKU- Western Kentucky
Drake-Drake
Clem- Clemson
Nova- Villanova
MS- Michigan State
ND- Notre Dame
GM- George Mason
TU- Temple

Getting to Know the San Diego Toreros

Looking ahead to Friday when UConn plays San Diego Toreros (21-13 overall, 11-3 in WCC play) in Tampa, Florida. San Diego has an RPI ranking of 94th and a strength of schedule of 100th.

On paper San Diego does not appear to be a good three-point shooting team at 34 percent. They make an average of 4.9 three pointers per game on 14.5 attempts. The 4.9 threes per game ranked San Diego last in WCC conference play.

They average 65.6 points per game while giving up 63.4 (+2.2 point margin). San Diego ranked 5th in scoring offense and 4th in scoring defense. They average 33.7 rebounds, while opponents average 31.9 (+1.8 margin).

San Diego appears sloppy with the ball as they have more turnovers (510) then assists (452) for a (-58 margin). Opponents, though have committed 520 turnovers on the year or 15.29 per game.

Versus Other Tournament Teams (4 wins 7 losses)
55-66 loss to UNLV
71-77 loss at Boise State
50-60 loss to USC
55-77 loss to South Alabama
81-72 win at Kentucky
70-80 loss at Gonzaga
63-55 win over Saint Mary's
55-59 loss to Gonzaga
54-61 loss to Saint Mary's
75-69 win over Saint Mary's
69-62 win over Gonzaga

San Diego is peaking at the right time of the year, winning five-straight games. They are 7-6 on the road and 1-2 on neutral courts.

Top scorers for San Diego: Brandon Johnson 16.9 ppg (3rd in conference in scoring), Gyno Pomare 13.9ppg.
Pomare a 6-foot-8 forward is a two-time All WCC First Team Selection.
Johnson a 6-f00t guard was named to the First Team for the first time this year. Johnson led the league in steals at 2.24 per game. Johnson shoots 37.4 percent from beyond the arc and led the WCC with 2.24 makes per game.
Rob Jones a 6-foot-6 freshman was named to the All-Freshmen Team.

San Diego is 2-1 vs. the Top 25, 3-4 against the RPI 1-50, 13-2 vs. RPI 200+, they are 8-2 in games decided by less than 6 points.
Interesting Fact, San Diego's home attendance is 2,770 per game on the year at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
The University of San Diego campus is used for several scenes for the movie Almost Famous.
This is the first time the WCC is sending three teams to NCAA Tourney (Saint Mary's, Gonzaga)
A Torero is a bullfighter.
First NCAA berth since the 2003 season
Head Coach Bill Grier was an assistant coach at Gonzaga. This is his first year as head coach.
San Diego had lost 13 straight games to Gonzaga.

Notable Alumni:
Theo Epstein (GM of Red Sox)
Bill Bavasi (GM of Seattle Mariners)
Bernie Bickerstaff (Charlotte Bobcats GM)
Mike Brown- head coach of Cleveland Cavaliers
Eric Mussellman -former NBA head coach

Dream 1 Results: Cro Cop Wins

I am glad to see Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic is out of the octagon and back in the ring. Cro Cop fought Tatsuya Mizuno last night in DREAM 1 (DREAM Heiwa). Cro Cop knocked out Mizuno early in the fight.

It looked like the Cro Cop we were used to watching in Pride. He quickly pounced on Mizuno using an arsenal of leg kicks to Mizuno’s body, knees strikes to the head and a barrage of punches which ultimately led to Mizuno’s demise.

The fight can be seen on youtube.com, check it out you will see (I put the link on the bottom of the article.

From the information I gathered, Mizuno is a relatively new to mixed martial arts, previously fighting in Pancrase. He lost in Pancrase to Thiago Silva and Assuerio Silva.

The rest of the DREAM card featured a lightweight grand prix. I did not view the lightweight fights as I prefer fights in the middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight weight classes.

Cro Cop was originally supposed to fight Yoshihiro Nakao, but the opponent was changed to Mizuno, only days before the event took place.

Eventhough Mizuno is not the caliber of fighter Cro Cop is used to facing it was nice to see him just dominate his opponent. Cro Cop most likely gained confidence fighting in familiar territory, in front of a Japanese crowd.

Sherdog.com is reporting that HDNet is close to signing a deal with Fight Entertainment Group to air six of their events on HDNet. The DREAM 1 debut, which was held yesterday will be one of the reported events that is scheduled to broadcast on HDNet. The next DREAM which is purportedly may be broadcast on HDNet is scheduled for April 29^th.

Eddie Alvarez

American fighter, Eddie Alvarez continued his MMA dominance by defeating Andre Amade by TKO in the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix opening round. Alvarez is now 13-1 overall, with his only loss coming to Nick Thompson. Alvarez will fight Japanese fighter Tatsuya Kawajiri in the second round. The second round of the grandprix is rumored to take place May 11^th at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

DREAM 1 RESULTS

• Shinya Aoki vs Gesias Calvancante ruled a NO CONTEST due to an illegal elbow strike by Calvancante to the back of Aoki’s head
• Tatsuya Kawajiri defeats Kultar Gill via Unanimous Decision in round 2
• Mitsuhiro Ishida defeats Jung Bu-Kyung via Unanimous Decision
• Katsuhiko Nagata defeats Artur Oumakhanov via Unanimous Decision
• Luiz Firmino defeats Kazuyuki Miyata via Submission in round 1
• Joachim Hansen defeats Koutetsu Boku via Unanimous Decision
• Hayato Sakurai defeats Hidetaka Monmn via TKO in round 1 Ikuhisa Minowa defeats Lee Gwan via Submission in round 1

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=11815

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGoscyCqjFQ (CroCop Fight)

What is a Torero?

UConn received the 4th seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. They have a pretty tough opening round game, playing the 13th seeded University of San Diego.

Earlier this year, I saw UConn lose to Gonzaga at the TDBANKNORTH Boston Garden. Where am I going with this? The answer, somewhere. Gonzaga lost to San Diego in the West Coast Conference Championship game. The win over Gonzaga gave the San Diego Toreros an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Trust me, this is the only way the Toreros would get invited to the 'Big Dance.'

Also, if you feel stupid because you do not know what a Torero is, you are not alone. I also have no clue what a Torero is? Is it a newly discovered species that lives in the Amazon? Is it a car made by Isuzu?

All my assumptions are apparently wrong as I just looked Torero up and found that it is a bull fighter (bull handler). Apparently there are three types of Toreros: Matador, Picador and Banderillero.
-A matador, lit. killer, (from late Latin "matare," to subdue or kill) is considered to be both an artist and an athlete; possessing great agility, grace, and coordination (from wikipedia.org).
-A picador is a bullfighter who uses a lance while on horseback to test the bull's strength and to provide clues to the matador on which side the bull is favoring.
-The banderillero is a torero who sets the banderillas. These are colorful sticks with a barbed point which are placed in the top of the bull's shoulder.

The best movie ever made about Torero's, that would have to be Matador starring Greg Kinear and Pierce Brosnan. I am not being sarcastic when I say Matador is one of my favorite movies. I really enjoyed the humor and dynamic betweek Kinear's character and Brosnan's character.

Well, at the very least I learned something new today.

Pitt's Tournament Win from Another Perspective

The Seventh seeded Pitt Panthers won the Big East Tournament by defeating Georgetown 74-65 at the Madison Square Garden. Although I did not expect them to win, I am certainly not surprised. This is a Pitt team they defeated Duke at MSG back in December.

Pittsburgh then lost Mike Cook for the season and their point guard, Levance Field broke his foot. Fields is now back and the Panthers will be in the AP Top 25 this week. They will garner a four or a five seed in the NCAA TOURNAMENT.

Someone should show Pitt how to shoot free throws. It was painstaking watching Pitt miss 22 of them last night.

Pete Thamel of the New York Times compared the Panthers title run to the New York Giants unlikely Super Bowl win over the Patriots.

Desmond Conner of The Hartford Courant wanted to take Mike Brey's Big East Coach of the Year award and give it to Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon.

Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe fell in love with Levance Fields. I am not even joking.
Just read the excerpt from his story on Pitt:

"Fields is just returning to action after missing a bunch of games with a foot fracture, and after watching him play you wonder how he has managed to get this far in his career without breaking half the bones in his body, plus a few of his opponents'. He comes at you hard on every possession. You can feel his presence on the floor, even if you're sitting in the cheapest of the cheap seats".

For some reason I do not think Bob Ryan has ever sat in the cheap seats.

Luke Winn of Sports Illustrated now wants to challenge Sam Young to Scrabble. He defeated Hasheem Thabeet earlier this week. Then wrote a story about it. He included pictures in his story that looked like they came from a 1.5 mega pixel camera phone.

The roof nearly blew off the Georgia Dome Friday night, a crane fell off a roof in Manhattan yesterday.

The SEC closed the SEC Tournament to everybody except the pep bands, cheerleaders and journalists. The tournament was moved to Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Not exactly an ideal venue or situation.

I am sure the large contingent of Kentucky fans protested this news.

The Georgia Bulldogs did not seem to mind the new venue. They won an unlikely doubleheader yesterday. Doubleheaders are for baseball and AAU basketball.

It must have been pretty stressful having to move a tournament from one venue to another. I wonder who was in charge of the logistics?

Speaking of moving and logistics, the Pitt Panthers should seriously think of moving their home games to the Madison Square Garden. They were 5-0 at the Garden this year. They are 23-8 there since 2001.