Possible Tradition Men's BBall Powerhouses Out

UCLA Bruins, UConn Huskies, and Arizona Wildcats.  These school's Men's basketball programs have enough prestige that for each school Disney can adapt a story for any of them and make a movie out of them.  But this year all of them are "down" compared to other years.  Are the kids spreading out else where?  Prestige definitely still matters to kids coming out of high school because Coach K at Duke is still getting the cream of the crop high school recruits.  Is it the coaching this year?  Or maybe the schedules are tough with a lot of road games?  Whatever it is the schools we've been so accustomed to these schools winning and they aren't exactly doing all of that this year. 

UConn has been through a tough season with head coach Jim Calhoun missing 7 games for an illness, that, plus the 2nd hardest schedule in the country can lead to a tough season, but nonetheless, they're UConn, they're supposed to be battling for the Big East title year in and year out.  Although, out of these teams they have the best chance of getting into the NCAA tournament, I'm saying a 8 seed, this isn't your typical "UConn" year.  They have a good squad bringing back a good core from the year before, but loosing Thabeet may be the missing link because it was obvious he was a fixture in the middle of the floor.

It seemed as though the older Lute Olson got the worse the Wildcats of Arizona became.  This is what could have led him to retirement, or maybe the fact that he realized that having a tan as a senior citizen was actually detrimental to his health.  Either way, the Arizona Wildcats, as well as the entire Pac-10 conference (what a joke), are down and out to say the least.  16-14 is not what Arizona basketball is about, they're used to being a top 3 seed in any given region for the NCAA tournament.

As for UCLA, what's your excuse? Come on, this school is supposed to be one of the most storied college basketball programs wiping the floor with the competition when it comes to counting NCAA Championships (11).  This could just be a fluke year for the Bruins because they've been to the Final Four from 2006-2008, but haven't won a national championship since '95.  UCLA at one point had won 7, yes 7, consecutive NCAA championships.  That's the definition of a dynasty, now I'm wondering what happened? 

Now I know that UNC, I'm noting this because of the picture I put in, hasn't had the greatest year ever.  But something about Roy Williams gives me confidence in them to see them in the 64 team field.  Now remember we're looking at a team that graduated one of the best college basketball players ever.  He was comparable to Tim Tebow (imagine hanging out with both of them) with his intensity and winning ability.  Now I get back to the whole point of this topic, can anyone recall a time when UConn, UCLA, or Arizona weren't in the NCAA tournament?  Exactly.  I'm excited to see a new school like BYU, K-State, or Purdue start a new college basketball franchise.

An Ode to a DAMONic Man

First, I love America and watching the USA Hockey team beat Canada in their own country was nothing short of spectacular.

Johnny Damon signed with the Detroit Tigers for a 1year 8 million dollar contract.  I think I'm upset? Yea, I'm really upset to see Johnny go.  Even though he's getting old at 36 and the fact that we (the Yankees) traded for an amazing athlete in Curtis Granderson, Mr. Damon brought so much to the table for the Yankees.  After reading Joe Torre's "Yankee Years" and Damon's naked push-ups and pull-ups to loosen the mood the Yankees locker room what else can you honestly ask for in a player?  He was the definition of a team player, he put up good numbers, and was an absolute fan favorite even when he was injured.  I loved the way he played the game, even though his swing and throwing style was unorthodox to say the least.

Once Michael Kay designated the middle deck in right field "Damon's deck" I would always check to see if tickets were available there, but it always seemed to be sold out in that area so the 300 level seats or bleachers would work well regardless.  Now, Johnny Damon also changed the Yankee Stadium Bleach Creature "roll call" (for those who do not know what that is the fans in the bleachers chant every players name until they acknowledge them, usually with a raised hand) but Damon would turn and give a rockstar salute with with tongue out and the crowd would go wild for him.  He brought a fun, loose, relaxed demeanor into the somewhat serious and uptight Yankee team.

Now, for a lead-off man, so what he's a lefty at Yankee Stadium, he put up some serious numbers when he was in the line-up on a everyday basis.  In his four years with the Bronx Bombers he hit 77 homeruns, had a .285 batting average, and averaged over 100 runs each year with the Yankees, not bad at all for having missed time for injury.  He's a good old boy who just enjoyed being on the field and winning, and winning he did, as we all know he won a World Series this past year with the Yankees and the world was great to him.  But the guys in the head office decided to part ways with him this year mainly because he wanted a long term deal and for a 36 year old outfielder it doesn't seem possible cause the Yankees have made that mistake before.

I'm going to miss Johnny at the top of the line-up for the Yanks this year, as I'm sure many others will as well.  After we stole him from the Red Sox we cleaned him up and made him cute and cuddley, kinda like a stray dog.  Regardless of his "Judas" like acts he's going to be better known for his "Idiots" theme he implemented on Bo-Sox team.  But he was a good Yankee always playing hard not worrying about his body running into walls and coming up with big hits giving him a nice pie in the face.  So here's to you Mr. Damon, I'll miss you in Pinstripes, but I'm sure you'll do well in the AL Central then we can see you in the first round of play-offs at the House that Ruth Built.  Thank you Johnny.

New York Knicks

The last time I seriously cared about the Knicks was when then they decided to part ways with Patrick Ewing.  That was devastating to me, like seeing Paul O'Neil retire.  But the fact of the matter is that the Knicks haven't been any good since then, only now they're starting to put things together with next years unbelievably talent laced free agent market.  For starters, I just want everyone to know I never thought that Larry Brown was the answer in New York, he could never handle the pressure in New York.

David Lee has been a fixture in New York under the radar and under the rim for the Knickerbockers over the past few years.  He is a smart hard working player who busts his butt all day up and down those 94 feet.  He is complemented by, I think, a very good "classic" point guard in Chris Duhon.  Now, lets talk about the trades yesterday.  The Knicks put themselves in the playoff hunt by acquiring seven time all star Tracy McGrady and Sergio Rodriguez in a 3 way deal.  Part of this deal is that they have to pick up the rest of McGrady's contract for the rest of the season which isn't bad considering we're basically only using him to get into the play offs.  The Knicks trades Larry Hughes, Jared Jefferies, and Jordan Hill to get these two good professional players, not a bad deal Donnie Walsh, it's about time you started acting like your baseball counterpart the World Champion New York Yankees.

This trade is only the start of what is going to happen in the off-season, the Knicks are going to go wild to say the least.  With a fair amount of cap room to use they can go out and get the all-stars that New York fans desire.  I'm not saying Lebron is coming to the big apple, I can't see it happening to be truthful, he'd basically have to take part in the rebuilding process of a storied franchise.  Now, lets talk other possible options.  D-Wade and Chris Bosh.  BOOM!  They'd work very well together with Gallinardi and Lee giving them a stellar line-up full of players that can produce and work together.  Now I'm sure Bosh will be easier to persuade because honestly, who doesn't want to live in America or play in the big apple.  But trying to get D-Wade over might be harder because Miami is an awesome city with great weather and I'm sure he owns enough beach front property there to make anyone jealous.

 

Now, here's my projected opening day 2010-2011 New York Knickerbocker Line-up:
Dwyane Wade
Danilo Gallanardi
Al Harrington (Union County whats up!)
David Lee
Chris Bosh

Not bad lets hope the Knicks can manage to pull something like this off and hope none of these signing end up like Eddy Curry, yes I know he's a Knick but he's the biggest bust of all time, thanks Isiah Thomas.

The Big East Beast

As I'm watching the Villanova vs. UCONN game on ESPN for the "Big Monday" match-up I start to realize how unbelievable Big East basketball really is.  It's unreal.  It's ridiculous.  It's absurd.  Any of those words work.  As of right now there are five teams ranked in the country that are part of the Big East Conference and they are all in the top 20 as of right now.  Not bad.  But what really makes this conference special is that it could be the best college conference of any college sports and any team can be upset on any given day in this competitive conference.

Take yesterday (Sunday) for the best example of the year.  Louisville walks into the Carrier Dome and beats Syracuse by 6 in a great back and forth game.  Syracuse was ranked third at the time and first in the Big East, while Louisville was unranked in country and seventh in the Big East.  Yes, Rick Pitino is a great coach but his team is currently on a "down" year, even though most teams would kill to have a down year like that Syracuse is still a better overall team.  Now, the Hoyas of Georgetown come into Jersey to play the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers at the RAC and anyone who actually thought Rutgers had a chance to win was crazy.  They were 2 and something insane against teams ranked in the top 10 and lets be honest, Rutgers isn't exactly a dominating figure in the Big East sporting a 13-12 overall record and a 3-9 conference record putting them one spot above last place DePaul.  But somehow, someway Fred Hill Jr. and the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers pulled off possibly the biggest upset of the year thus far. 

Seriously, think about it.  What other conference, in any sports, is this competitive?  Maybe Big XII or SEC football?  But the bottom half of those conferences will never beat a Texas or a Florida/LSU.  One conference that matches up is NJAC Baseball.  Just playing I had to give it a plug once this year and I couldn't refuse comparing my college baseball teams conference to Big East basketball.  Now back to reality.  If a sub-par team who is second to last in the conference can upset the third place team in the conference who knows what else is possible.  I'm also excited for the tournament because I think about 3 years ago Syracuse needed to win the conference tournament to get into the NCAA tournament and ended up doing that being the 6 seed.  Really? The 6 seed winning any conference tournament?

As of right now the Nova-UCONN game seems to be another upset.  There's 1:26 left in the game and UCONN is up 7.  Let it be known that the game is being played at Villanova (well the Wachovia Center in Philly) and every game Syracuse has lost this year has been home to an unranked team.  This is where I'm going with this, it seems most "upset" games are lost with the home team being ranked and the visiting team being extremely underrated.  Maybe the students just figured it wasn't good enough to go to.  But regardless this conference is out of control, any team can win at any time regardless of conference standings. 

Winter Olympics Preview

Now is there really any question as to who we think is going to win the 2010 Winter Olympics? No, it's clear that we KNOW that the U.S.A is going to win.  But I'm going to tell you why.  We're the best!  As the great Kenny Powers put it, "Sure, I've been called a xenophobe, but the truth is I'm not. I honestly just feel that America is the best country and the other countries aren't as good. That used to be called patriotism."  Now on a serious note, the U.S. will walk away, yet again, with the highest number of medals thrusting us into the top spot and overall winner of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The U.S. has the most dominant athletes when it comes to the Olympics ever since the Russians and Germans stopped feeding their athletes anabolic steroids.  I present you Shaun White and yes he is an athlete.  So what he doesn't have a lot of muscle definition or size (or skin pigment) the tricks he performs require a good amount of athleticism.  Going twenty-some odd feet in the air and having the body control to start twisting and turning his body to make perfect moves and then having the control to land those wild moves is pretty gnarly.  Also, these athletes watch a good amount of film to analyze where they go wrong with their moves.  All that stuff involves being athletic and not only that they do it in the freezing cold.  Now, the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team was made popular by the 1980 Lake Placid team that won the gold and defeated the "unbeatable" Russians in the semi-final round then going on to beat the Germans in the final round to capture the gold.  For those who do not know this story, and if you are one of these people just leave the country, watch the Disney movie "Miracle" it's stellar to say the least.  But ever since that magical Olympics the U.S. has dominated in the hockey scene and I can't imagine them getting anything less than the gold yet again.  Apollo Anton Ohno may be the most popular speed skater of all time and he is good.  The name is legit to being with and the fact that this man goes around bends at high speeds with sharp blades on gives him a ton of respect.  Yes, he'll win the gold and if not definitely a medal at least.

I would go on and talk about skiers and other sports but the honest truth is the only other person I know is Bode Miller who is basically notorious for being a drunk.  Regardless I'll be rooting for American athletes no matter what the sport is.  This is our country and who couldn't be proud to be here.  So I'll leave you with one final thought on supporting our winter athletes in the 2010 Olympics, "If you don't love, leave it". 

NHL Has Caught My Eye

For whatever reason I wasn't a huge hockey fan growing up.  Yea of course I went to the D.A.R.E. sponsored events where they give out t-shirts, everyone gets a free hot dog, and we learn about drug and alcohol abuse (maybe Miguel Cabrera should have been there).  But being in elementary school and watching sports that aren't huge in the U.S., like hockey, I didn't grasp the game and how awesome it actually is.  And to be honest the only time I actually watched was when I was told, yes I had to be told, that the Devils were in the Stanley Cup Finals, pitiful I know. 

The honest truth is that I'm only starting to get into enjoying hockey now, at the age of 21.  This could possibly be because I'm finally realizing that these hockey players are unbelievable athletes, plus their lack of teeth and Mick Foley beards make them even cooler.  They have to be agile on the skates to change direction, powerful to hit a slap shot, and strong to check another man into the boards.  All of this for 60 minutes doesn't sound easy to me.  Another facet of the game that I like is their toughness.  We always hear on ESPN when a hockey player gets hurt that "he's a hockey player he'll return" and he always does.  These guys really are tough men.  They get into fights, sit out for about 2 minutes, then come right back in for revenge on the boards.  And thinking it about it now, you almost never hear about hockey players on the DL or IR unless it is a serious injury like a huge laceration from a stick.  These guys go out and play 82 games hardly missing one of them and perform a very hard game with incredible skill. 

Again, I can't get over how ridiculous these athletes are, honestly they're studs.  They're tough as nails, powerful, agile like ballerinas, and grow great playoffs beards.  The latter of this list has my most respect, playoffs beards are pretty American and that's kinda what I'm all about in case you haven't noticed.  When it comes to a favorite team I'm not too sure who I like the best.  Obviously the Devils will have my heart because they're from Jersey like me and don't play too far from me at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.  But I've watched Flyer games and like most Philly sports fan, they're out of control to say the least.  I enjoy teams that have great fans because I'm the greatest fan in the world, a Yankees fan.  Also, the Rangers are always on MSG and although the Knicks haven't been too brutal to watch, the Rangers are enjoyable as well.  I understand that I can not all 3 of these teams because they're all rivals but being a hockey fan first I can watch all of them regardless.  I hope many of you start to watch hockey because it truly is an awesome sport and if you realize the abilities of these men on the ice, it only gets better.  

Saints Ain't the "Aints" No More

Another year and another stellar Super Bowl game to watch on a cold night in Jersey when I wish I was in South Florida just for the fact that it's nice and warm in Miami.  With the Saints winning the Super Bowl it seems to give hopes to fans and people associated with other teams that don't have any prestige, like the Jets, Chiefs, and especially the Lions right now.  The Saints have always been a team that opponents have just rolled over.  Even though playing in the Super Dome is tough, the Saints haven't been remotely close to being as tough.

Signing Drew Brees was the best thing that ever happened to the Saints.  They brought in a guy that was injured at first, but he is the definition of a professional the way he goes about his business on the field.  Now that he is a Super Bowl winner and Super Bowl MVP he just put himself into the "elite" group of the NFL quarterbacks.  His performance last night was nothing short of amazing.  I'm not going to say he outplayed Peyton, but last night Drew Brees was the better quarterback which lead to him being the winning quarterback.  Mr. Brees deserves it, he just seems like a good dude with all the charities that him and his wife partake in and in his post game interview he was so overwhelmed that it was impossible to hear what he was saying through that enormous smile he had on.

The game itself was great.  There was a balanced amount of defense and offense to make the game enjoyable to watch and not only that, it was some what back and forth for a little, plus the Saints overcame a 10-0 deficit.  Now, the commercials absolutely blew.  I can't remember another year where I didn't laugh at all during the commercials.  Only the E*TRADE baby was good.  I mean come on Bud Light get your act together for the Super Bowl, you're paying an unreal amount of money the least they could do is step their game up for a great commercial, but they didn't.  Next, The Who looked like a bunch of skeletons on stage during the halftime show.  The last couple of years with Prince (or whatever he is now), Tom Petty, and Bruce Springsteen the half time shows have be great, especially when you compare them to Nelly.  This year just didn't do it for me.

On a final note, I'd consider selling a kidney if someone were to tell me they could get me a plane ticket to New Orleans and spend this week leading up to Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street.  I mean talk about perfect timing, the Saints make and win the first Super Bowl in franchise history and only about a week away is one of the biggest parties in the world, Fat Tuesday.  I can only imagine the bar scenes going on down there and the nonstop partying....maybe one day.

The No (Pro) Bowl

I tried, I honestly did, I swear, but I couldn't bring myself to watch and enjoy the Pro-Bowl yet again, not to mention I had plenty of important things to do like laundry, homework, and catching up on sleep.  But it just isn't appealing to see David Gerrard as an all-star.  David Gerrard being a Pro-Bowler is like Pedro Feliz being in the MLB All-Star game, it just doesn't work for me.

Another, thing about the Pro-Bowl I didn't like was the uniforms.  Could they have gotten uglier jerseys for these elite athletes?  Maybe they should take a page from the NBA All-Star game and have P. Diddy design their uniforms.  Or maybe just have the players where their team's uniforms like the do in baseball.  Either way the Pro-Bowl just doesn't seem appealing to me, and apparently a lot of other people as well.

I'm sure that actually going to the Pro-Bowl and being around the festivities would be legit, but I'd be upset this year considering it's usually in Hawai'i which can do a lot more for the whole tourists scene and player appeal.  For instance, most of these men already played in Miami at Landshark Stadium (Jimmy Buffet is the man) and for them I'm sure Hawai'i would be a lot better to go and experience a whole different level of football.  Now let's think about the MLB and NBA All-Star games, they have awesome day-before "shows" for the fans to watch.  The Home-Run Derby, especially with Josh Hamilton at Yankee Stadium, is something a fan of any sport can enjoy.  Watching these men destroy baseballs is exciting regardless of who you root for.  Next, the NBA has the 3-point contest (which I actually enjoy watching) and of course the Slam-Dunk contest.  Even though every contest seems weaker and weaker ever since Vince Carter stole the show for the rest of eternity, it something that is excellent. 

The Pro-Bowl doesn't have any of this, it is a joke.  They should try and institute something similar like the NBA and MLB offer.  Maybe a long ball contest where a quarterback will see how far they can throw the ball or a kick off between kickers to see who has the best foot, to be honest they just need anything.  Part of the reason I tried to even watch the Pro-Bowl was to see what Mr. Esteban "Child Please" Ochocinqo was doing. I really hope they can start and make this game slightly more interesting.