NBA West: Jockeying for Position

Photo courtesy the NBA.

The NBA season is winding down and teams are scrambling for playoff position. The Western Conference is wide open while the Eastern Conference bottom half is up for grabs. And with less than 10 games remaining, teams are running out of time to make their playoff push. Today is the Western Conference teams' turn, tomorrow the East.

You'd think the sky is falling in Lakerland with all the worried fans calling the local radio stations. Many are saying they wouldn't be surprised if the Lakers get knocked out in the first round. They're in the midst of a tough road trip that's been marked by inconsistency. Wins against San Antonio and Houston have been shadowed by ugly losses to Oklahoma City and New Orleans. But despite this trip, the Lakers are still the number one seed in the West and would have home-court throughout the western playoffs. Is there cause for concern? Maybe. Time to hit the panic button? Nope.

Photo courtesy the Bleacher Report.

With the Lakers all but assured the top spot in the West, it's a frenzy for the last seven spots. The Dallas Mavericks, propelled by a 13-game winning streak earlier this month, are in the 2 spot, but have consistency issues of their own. They got blown out by the lowly NY Knicks in Dallas plus recent road losses to playoff contenders leaves lots of questions for the Mavs. The other problem for the Mavericks is that there are three teams right behind them. The Utah Jazz (still the weirdest team name, even after knowing the team originally came from New Orleans) are playing well and have the makings of a team capable of a deep playoff run. The Jazz are, prior to tonight's games, in the 3 spot.

The Phoenix Suns are playing like their city's namesake. After nearly trading superstar Amare Stoudemire and being a dysfunctional unit in February, they're on fire with 8 straight wins, including victories over rival Utah and playoff contender Portland. The Suns aren't at full strength and can have trouble playing defense, but the run-and gun offense still has plenty of firepower and the Suns are still one of, if not the most entertaining teams to watch in the NBA. Another chink in the Sun's armor has been their difficulties playing the Lakers (LA won the season series 3-1), and until further notice, the road to the title runs through the City of Angels.

The Denver Nuggets, the team Lakers fans once feared most, has fallen from the 2 seed to the 5, largely because of the absence of coach George Karl, who has had to undergo throat and neck cancer treatments this month. Denver has the weapons to jump back to the 2 spot, largely on the backs of Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups, but it will be a struggle with both Utah and Phoenix ahead of them.

Photo courtesy the USA Today.

There's also a fight for the 6th, 7th, and 8th seeds. The Oklahoma City Thunder, led by young superstar Kevin Durant, is hanging onto the 6 spot by a thread, with the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs in 7th and 8th, respectively. The Spurs have the veteran experience to make some noise in the playoffs and could scare the Lakers, should they play each other in the first round, which would happen if the playoffs started today.

McNabb Heading West?

Photo courtesy of the Lehigh Valley Express-Times / Associated Press.

There's a lot of speculation in the NFL that longtime Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb will be traded to the Oakland Raiders for at least a second-round pick in this year's draft. It would be the end of an era in Philly as McNabb has been with the Eagles since 1999.

McNabb has certainly had a rocky time in Philly. First, his selection in the 1999 NFL Draft (1st round, 2nd selection overall) was booed by Philly fans because they wanted running back Ricky Williams, who later turned out to be a bust in New Orleans. Talk about a warm welcome. McNabb has made the Pro Bowl six times, led the Eagles to the NFC Championship Game five times and one Super Bowl where they lost to the New England Patriots on a field goal. Initially, McNabb had sub-par receivers to work with, but when the Eagles traded for hothead Terrell Owens for the 2004 season, the duo lit up the scoreboard. Finally, acceptance by the Philly fans, right? Nope, because they lost the Super Bowl that year. Then, in 2005, Owens publicly ripped McNabb over his Super Bowl performance and subsequent play. In 2006 and 2007, there were rumblings the Eagles would replace McNabb, who had had injury issues in those seasons. In 2008, the criticism continued with Eagles fans caling him a "choker" after losing in the NFC Championship Game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Photo courtesy the New Jersey Star-Ledger / US Presswire.

And to top it off, the Eagles are considering trading him to the Oakland Raiders, a team who hasn't had a winning season since 2002 and is known more for its crazy owner, Al Davis, and its bizarre fans in the Black Hole. Classy move, Philly. Is McNabb the best quarterback of his era? Certainly not, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have had better runs. But after those two, McNabb can be considered a top performer and maybe even a potential Hall of Famer, though winning a Super Bowl would greatly increase those odds. For Philly to treat McNabb the way it has for ten years then to ship him off to the wasteland that is the Oakland Raiders, #5 deserves better. Whether it be back in Philly or not, at least somewhere other than Oakland.

Elite Eight Roundup: The Wild Ride Continues

Photo courtesy the Bradenton Herald/Associated Press.

The Elite Eight continued this past weekend, and it didn't disappoint. Another 1 seed fell, two legendary coaches return to the final four, and an underdog returns home playing for the national championship. On Saturday, it was upset central with two major surprises: 5-seed Butler defeated heavily-favored 2-seed Kansas State 63-56 and West Virginia, a 2-seed defeated 1-seed Kentucky, considered by many to be a national title contender, 73-66. On Sunday, it was Michigan State over Tennessee and Duke defeating Baylor, 78-71.

The Butler Bulldogs have had an impressive run in the tourney. First, many considered them ripe for a first-round exit against 12-seed UTEP, but Butler smashed the Miners 77-59. Next, they survived Murray State then pulled off the double upset against the Syracuse Orange and K-State Wildcats. Syracuse was a banged-up 1-seed, so one can make the argument that it was inevitable the Orange would lose, but the K-State win was more of a surprise given the Wildcats' guard tandem of Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. The duo only shot 11 for 30 combined against the Bulldogs after lighting up Xavier for 53 combined points. Now, the Bulldogs head home to Indianapolis and are set to play powerhouse Michigan State in the Final Four. Butler, led by sophomore stud Gordon Hayward, isn't a surprise to anyone anymore and could give the depleted Spartans of MSU a run for their money. Then again, Tom Izzo isn't a Final Four novice, and he knows hot to motivate his team, even when their best player is injured on the bench. This is Butler's first-ever trip to the Final Four, quite the achievement to have your first be the one on your home court. Here is the recap from the West Regional Final (courtesy CBS):



On a side note, CBS commentator Gus Johnson is a favorite's worst nightmare. He called most of the West Regional for CBS this year, which had a multitude of upsets (Xavier beat Pitt, Butler's upsets). He's called tons of other upsets and his signature calls of "Bam!" and "Oh my goodness!" have earned him some notoriety amongst fans. The website Gus Johnson Gets Buckets provides a fun soundboard of some of Gus' famous calls.

The team that Butler plays in the Final Four, Michigan State, had a thrilling game against the Tennessee Volunteers on Sunday that came down to the last shot. Both the Spartans and the Vols have fought through lots of adversity during the season to reach this point, so kudos to both teams, but they don't call it the Final Four for nothing. Here was the recap of the Midwest Regional Final, courtesy of the Eye Network:



The Kentucky-West Virginia game was intense from start to finish. West Virginia couldn't get a 2-point basket to save its life for most of the first half. 3-point shooting is what saved the Mountaineers, and what killed the Wildcats, as WVU was 10-23 while UK was only 4-32 from behind the arc. West Virginia's Joe Mazzulla and Da'Sean Butler led the team with crucial shots when it counted and the Mountaineers overall had a balanced effort while Kentucky's John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins were the only real offensive options for UK. WVU had four starters with 12 points or more, while UK only had two. This is West Virginia's first Final Four trip since '59, back when they had a player named Jerry West. Here are the highlights, courtesy CBS:



The Duke Blue Devils never seem to have a down season, especially with Coach K at the helm. In recent years, they've been tourney busts, but this year, they're in the Final Four. Baylor gave Duke a hard time for most of the game, but with three minutes to go, the Blue Devils pulled ahead for good. Despite not being in the Final Four, Baylor has had a year of tremendous accomplishment under coach Scott Drew, considering how broken the Baylor basketball program was just a few years ago. The game itself was simply a matter of who would outlast whom and Baylor's shots didn't fall when it counted. Here are the highlights, once again courtesy CBS:



So the Final Four looks like this:

5 Butler vs. 5 Michigan State, Saturday April 3, 6:07pm ET on CBS
1 Duke vs. 2 West Virginia, Saturday April 3, 8:47 ET on CBS

Arenas Gets 30 Days in Halfway House / New Blog Look

Just to wrap up an ongoing story here on FTRS, Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas was sentenced to 30 days in a halfway house, 2 years probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $5,000 donation to the "violent crimes fund" by a DC judge on Friday. While I think jail time would have been appropriate given the crime (DC has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation), ESPN and former LA Times columnist J.A. Adande makes the case for no jail time.

Also, Blogger has released some new templates that I'm trying out on the site, so check it out and send me some feedback.

Sanity Makes a Comeback...Unless You're Ohio

The Big Dance known as March Madness rolled on Friday night, but the clock has struck midnight for several Cinderellas. 10-seed St. Mary's, the little school that surprised Villanova, was steamrolled by 3-seed Baylor, 72-49. It wasn't even close at halftime when the Gaels only scored 17 to the Bears' 46 points. St. Mary's has completed its deepest run in the modern tournament era while Baylor is going to its first Elite Eight. Baylor is a compelling story in this tournament and one of the few underdogs remaining. Seven years ago, the Baylor basketball program was a shambles after Carlton Dotson murdered teammate Patrick Dennehy and the coach at the time was caught in a scandal of his own. Quite the mess for a university that is backed by the Baptist church. The current coach, Scott Drew, has led this team to the regional final when they were the preseason pick for 10th place in their conference. Instead, they'll be one of two teams representing the Big 12 Conference (the other is Kansas State) in the Elite Eight.

The other Cinderella sent packing was Northern Iowa. After having beaten the top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks, Northern Iowa gave perennial power Michigan State a run for its money, but in the end, the banged-up Spartans prevailed, 59-52. The difference-makers were point guard Korie Lucious and head coach Tom Izzo. Lucious hit a key turnaround jumper with 91 seconds left and Izzo proved why he's one of the game's best coaches. Working with a depleted lineup, Izzo is making his seventh Elite Eight appearance, fifth most amongst active coaches. Northern Iowa's Ali Farokhmanesh, whose clutch 3-pointers were key in UNI's tournament wins over UNLV and Kansas, shot 1 for 6 from 3 point range. He also missed some key free throws at the end of the game, but his Panthers will be remembered for stunning Kansas. Here are the highlights (courtesy CBS):



While Izzo's team was battling Northern Iowa in St. Louis, college basketball coaching icon Mike Krzyzewski led his Duke Blue Devils over the injured Purdue Boilermakers, 70-57 in Houston. Purdue kept the game close at halftime, but Duke pulled away in the second half. One can say it wasn't a fair fight as Purdue was without star Robbie Hummel, who tore his ACL in February. Duke's trio of Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, and Nolan Smith was too hot to handle in the second half. Highlights below (courtesy CBS):



But the game of the night was in St. Louis, as the sixth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers upset the second-seed Ohio State Buckeyes. The game was close to the very end, but Bruce Pearl and the Volunteers will finally go to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history and got payback after OSU knocked Tennessee out of the tournament in 2007. Ohio State stud Evan Turner scored 31 points, which was as many points as OSU put up in the entire second half. For the Buckeyes to have won, it needed somebody other than Turner to step up. Tennessee had four players with 10+ points compared to Ohio State's two. Tennessee has had a rocky season, rife with academic and legal issues, but as ESPN analyst Steve Lavin put it, "Bruce Pearl is a crisis-management expert". Tennessee has been a "giant killer" of sorts this season, beating Kansas and Kentucky during the regular season, then Ohio State last night. Highlights a plenty below (courtesy CBS):

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Today's games should be excellent. First, the Butler Bulldogs try to make the Final Four a homecoming but they have to beat a very good Kansas State Wildcats team (4:30 ET, CBS). This game is the West Regional Final in Salt Lake City, so crowd advantage is slightly favoring K-State. Then, what may be the game of the tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats take on the West Virginia Mountaineers in the East Regional Final in Syracuse (7:05 ET, CBS). The Mountaineers were viewed by many as 1-seeds, even though they were slotted as a 2-seed while Kentucky has dominated during its tournament run while other 1-seeds have fallen.

Syracuse Shocked Amidst Tourney Course Correction

Photo courtesy of OregonLive.com/AP.

The NCAA Tournament resumed last night and for the most part, was pretty predictable, amid a few surprises. The twelfth-seeded Cornell Big Red sprang burst onto the scene with big upset wins over Temple and Wisconsin, winning in convincing style. Their average margin of victory in the first and second round was 15.5 points. Unfortunately for them, they faced the steamroller known as the Kentucky Wildcats and lost 62-45 to the top-seeded favorites from the Bluegrass State. Despite the lop-sided defeat, Cornell's squad has just finished the best season in school history. As for Kentucky, the pre-season expectations were a national title, and they're one step closer.

Photo courtesy the Idaho Statesman/AP.

Eleventh-seed Washington Huskies have been dogged by the national media this tournament in regards to the current state of West Coast basketball. They surprised Big East stalwart Marquette and defeated third-seed New Mexico, but couldn't defeat the West Virginia Mountaineers, who won 69-56. The Huskies lead by two at halftime, but the Mountaineers exploded for 42 points in the second half. West Virginia will move on to face Kentucky Saturday night in a battle of top-seeds in the East region. The winner moves on to Indianapolis and the Final Four.

Despite being a small school, Xavier has been a known college basketball destination for years. The Musketeers took on the Wildcats of Kansas State in a thriller that went to double-overtime. The highlights speak for themselves (video courtesy CBS):



While Xavier fans will no doubt take a while to forget this loss, fans of the Kansas Jayhawks must be fuming. To have your team, the number one overall seed, lose to a little-known school in the second round, then have your biggest rival head to at least the Elite Eight and possibly a national title, that's gotta be embarrassing.

But the biggest surprise of the night was the West region's top seed, Syracuse, falling to unheralded five-seed Butler. Butler has been a factor in several past tournaments, but this year was favored to be knocked out in the first round by the prognosticators, mainly because of their designation as a five-seed. (Seems like every March Madness, a 12 seed knocks out a 5, so this year, people had Butler pegged as a first-round loss. This year, only one 5 seed lost in the opening round, Temple lost to Cornell). Here are the highlights (courtesy CBS):



Butler, a liberal arts school in Indianapolis with a student population of about 4500, will face Kansas State in the West Regional Final Saturday night in Salt Lake City. The winner goes on to the Final Four, which happens to be in Indianapolis this year. As for Syracuse, this game cannot be labeled a disappointment, since they were without center Arinze Onuaku, the team's glue. Had Onuaku been on the floor, the game would have likely been very different.

Tonight's games include Tennessee vs. Ohio State, Duke vs. Purdue, Northern Iowa vs. Michigan State, and Baylor vs. St. Mary's. Some great storylines continue tonight as UNI and St. Mary's try to continue their improbable runs, Purdue tries to get to a home-state Final Four, and one of the top players of the country, Ohio State's Evan Turner, laces up against Bruce Pearl's talented Vols.

Arenas Recommendation: 3 Months

Just a quick blurb for today, since I will be at an all day function. The Washington Wizards' Gilbert Arenas was given a recommended sentence of 3 months in jail by the prosecution Tuesday. This is down from the reported 6 month sentence the prosecution was allegedly seeking initially. For reaction from ESPN legal analyst Roger Cossack, go here. For previous Arenas coverage here on FTRS, you can go here and here.

Woods Talks to Rinaldi

Photo courtesy of BusinessPundit.com.

In the midst of March Madness, there's other news that surfaced over the weekend. Golfer Tiger Woods was interviewed by ESPN's Tom Rinaldi Sunday night in a tightly controlled, 5-minute interview available here, with post-interview commentary by Rinaldi here and ESPN Golf's Bob Harig's take here.

I don't doubt Tiger's remorse and I respect that there are matters he wants to remain private, however this interview did not cast any further positive light on his situation. The interview's controls were evident, and as a result, there is a sense of distrust, especially when a man who had previously lied to millions by portraying someone he wasn't use phrases like, "to tell you the truth" and "honestly,..." Tiger, those phrases are unnecessary and only reassert the notion that you lied previously. The second key flaw with the interview was that he kept using repeater phrases over and over again, making it feel more like a press conference than an interview. We saw the press conference at PGA Tour headquarters, and this interview felt similar. Perhaps he should have waited longer to be able to give a more candid interview than the guarded one he gave to Rinaldi Sunday night.

Second Round Closes

Photo courtesy the NY Daily News.

The second round of March Madness ended Sunday with several thrillers in what has easily been one of the best NCAA tournaments in recent memory. The remaining number 1 seeds cruised (Duke past Cal, 68-53, and Syracuse knocked out Gonzaga, 87-65) and 2 seed Ohio State defeated 10 seed Georgia Tech 75-66 after having a sluggish first half. Fellow 2 seed West Virginia defeated 10 seed Missouri, 68-59 in a game that was competitive until the Mountaineers' Da'Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks made timely baskets for the victory.

If there's been a theme during this second round, it's beware the small schools. Northern Iowa stunned Kansas, St. Mary's shocked Villanova, and Butler barely squeaked by Murray State on Saturday. On Sunday, it was Cornell and Xavier's turn. Cornell, a 12 seed, surprised 4 seed Wisconsin, 87-69. Cornell, better known for its Ivy League education rather than its basketball, beat a Wisconsin team that's one of the best defensive clubs in the country. Cornell will be making the trip to nearby Syracuse for the East Regional part of the tournament. Xavier, a small Jesuit school in Cincinnati, beat Pitt 71-68, the team that knocked Xavier out of the tournament last year. While the final score was close, Xavier was up by as much as 15 before the Panthers started a furious rally that ultimately fell short.

Spokane, Washington hosted the two best games on Sunday. The first one was Michigan State vs. Maryland, a matchup of powerhouse schools and legendary coaches. This was how it ended (video courtesy CBS):



In the second game, a nail-biter between Texas A&M and Purdue that was sent into overtime, Purdue barely surives (video courtesy CBS):



And so ends the second round of March Madness. And if next weekend's games are anything like this weekend's, then "hang on to them hats and glasses", it'll be a wild finish. As far as the brackets go, there's no way a perfect bracket is left, unless you're Nostradamus or picked based on team name/colors. (Even if that were the case, Cornell should have been out of it in the first round. Big Red what?) That being said, one of my brackets has a 93% rating on ESPN.com, and I'm within the top 350,000 with that bracket (tied with President Obama).

Here are highights from the weekend (video courtesy CBS):


EDIT (3/23/10): Replaced one of the videos with another due to CBS copyright claim.

Small School Stunner Saturday

Video courtesy the Associated Press.

Shocking news out of the NCAA Tournament today. The Kansas Jayhawks, the #1 overall seed and heavy favorite to win the tournament, lost to the Northern Iowa Panthers 69-67 in the second round of March Madness. To give you an idea of just how big of an upset this was, consider that of the near 4.8 million people that made brackets on ESPN.com, only 42,500 (0.9%) had UNI advancing to the Sweet 16 and only 1,546 (0.003%) had them winning the national championship. Compare that to 98% having Kansas advance to the Sweet 16 and 42% winning the national title. President Obama's bracket took an absolute beating this weekend, with three of his Elite Eight teams gone.

The University of Northern Iowa has a current student population of about 15,000, 92% of which are Iowa residents. UNI is in the town of Cedar Falls, Iowa, population 39,145. Prior to tonight's stunner, UNI was most well-known for being the college NFL quarterback Kurt Warner attended. This was Northern Iowa's first trip into the second round since 1990 and first-ever trip to the Sweet 16. The game itself was the classic case of Northern Iowa having nothing to lose and everything to gain. The Panthers were on top for most of the game then the Jayhawks slowly came back into the picture but not before UNI's Ali Farokhmanesh buried a timely 3-pointer with seconds to go.

But Kansas wasn't the only major team upended by a small school. The 2-seed Villanova Wildcats lost to the 10-seed St. Mary's Gaels 75-68. Villanova is yet another Big East team that's going home earlier than expected, leaving Syracuse, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh as the only Big East representatives left in the tournament. But Villanova was playing with fire, having nearly been beaten by Robert Morris on Thursday. And when you play with fire, you get burned. Scottie Reynolds had a terrible tournament while St. Mary's Omar Samhan had a career game, scoring 32 against the Wildcats.

St. Mary's is located in Moraga, California, about 10 miles east of Oakland, and has a school population of less than 5,000. So what is a Gael? According to Answers.com, a Gael is "A Gaelic-speaking Celt of Scotland, Ireland, or the Isle of Man. A Scottish Highlander." While Villanova isn't a big school either, with a student population of just under 10,000, it is in the Philadelphia metro area, so there's naturally more attention paid to it, especially given its basketball history. This game went similar to the Kansas-Northern Iowa game in that St. Mary's took an early lead, then the game tightened up in the second half.

Other tournament scores were:
6 Tennessee def. 14 Ohio, 83-68
5 Butler def. 13 Murray State, 54-52 (Butler was nearly upset, but held on)
11 Washington def. 3 New Mexico, 82-64
3 Baylor def. 11 Old Dominion, 76-68
2 Kansas State def. 7 BYU, 84-72
1 Kentucky def. 9 Wake Forest 90-60

First-Round Order Restored

UCSB's Justin Joyner and Ohio State's Evan Turner. Photo courtesy the NY Daily News.

I generally don't post on the weekends, but March Madness is in full swing. With the first round complete, Friday's games went about as expected. If Thursday was a day of chaos, Friday was mostly a snoozer. Top seeds Syracuse and Duke were on cruise control and Ohio State and West Virginia dominated in their second halves to beat UCSB and Morgan State, respectively. The expected upset of Cornell over Temple happened, while the popular picks of Siena over Purdue and Utah State over Texas A&M didn't. As for the Big East/ACC clash, the Big East went 1-1 (West Virginia won, Louisville lost) while the ACC went 3-2 Friday.

Here were the highlight games of the day:

Xavier's Dante Jackson. Photo courtesy the NY Daily News.

6 Xavier def. 11 Minnesota, 65-54
After a first half tie at 26, Xavier's Jordan Crawford took over, scoring 17 of his 28 points in the second half to lead the Musketeers to victory.

10 Missouri def. 7 Clemson, 86-78
This was a popular upset pick, so not terribly unexpected. The teams were tied at 39 at the half, but Mizzou went on a 47-point surge in the second, which proved to be the difference. Simply put, the Missouri Tigers had a balanced offense (four players with 10 or more points) and an aggressive defense, forcing 20 turnovers.

Gonzaga's Robert Sacre blocks Florida State's Derwin Kitchen. Photo courtesy the Merced Sun-Star / Associated Press.

8 Gonzaga def. 9 Florida State, 67-60
At halftime, this game looked like a Bulldogs blowout, but the FSU Seminoles came storming back, scoring 41 second-half points, mostly on the back of Deividas Dulkys, who was money from beyond the arc. However, the Gonzaga trio of Robert Sacre, Steven Gray, and Matt Bouldin proved too much for Florida State.

8 California def. 9 Louisville, 77-62
The Pac-10's second team to beat a Big East team in as many days (Washington surprised Marquette Friday), and Cal dominated for the bulk of the game. Louisville, known for being above average defensively, was down early 22-4. Not a good day to be Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who earned himself a technical that helped kill any chance of a Louisville comeback late in the second half.

Maryland's Greivis Vasquez blocks Houston's Aubrey Coleman. Photo courtesy the Annapolis Capital Gazette / Associated Press.

4 Maryland def. 13 Houston, 89-77
Probably the most entertaining game of the night with two up-tempo offenses going at it and CBS' Tim Brando making ridiculous calls (After a 3-pointer by Houston star Aubrey Coleman: "The bank is open late!") Maryland's Greivis Vasquez had a great second half, but it was Maryland's freshman forward Jordan Williams who had the career game. The Terrapins simply wore down Houston in the second half and made enough defensive stops to win.

10 Georgia Tech def. 7 Oklahoma State, 64-59
This was a predicted upset, but it was a tight game the whole way through. The Yellow Jackets were down 36-31 at the half, but held OK State's James Anderson, the nation's third-leading scorer, to only 11 points. Considering the seesaw season Georgia Tech had in the ACC, the win could be considered a mild surprise.

From left to right, Michigan State's Kalin Lucas, Chris Allen, and Delvon Roe. Photo courtesy ESPN.

5 Michigan State def. 12 New Mexico State, 70-67
The game of the night. New Mexico State was down big at halftime, but rallied back in the second until two controversial calls effectively decided the game. The first was a lane violation that was called correctly, according to NCAA officials postgame. That led to a 70-67 score, in favor of the MSU Spartans. The second call was atrociously bad, and where New Mexico State fans have a legitimate beef. The ball went out of bounds at 0.9 seconds, but it didn't register with the officials until 0.3 seconds, shaving off precious time and forcing a desperation three-point shot that didn't go in for NMSU. The officials should have been keeping an eye on the clock when the ball went out of bounds. Michigan State got out of a close one.

Big East Blues

The Big East Conference holds many of college basketball's powerhouse teams. Syracuse, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Louisville, Marquette, and West Virginia were all selected to this year's NCAA tournament. Literally, half of the conference is in the tournament, and that's without traditional power UConn. There's been debate the last few years on whether or not the Big East or the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) is the better conference. After day one of March Madness, the ACC is looking good while three Big East teams made an early exit, and a fourth nearly joined them.

Georgetown's Chris Wright. Photo courtesy the Washington Post.

The biggest surprise of the day was third-seeded Georgetown losing to fourteenth-seeded Ohio, 97-83. The pundits who like to call upsets never saw this one coming. For Georgetown to lose to a team that had a losing conference record and by 14 points is the very definition of March Madness. Ohio led by as much as 19 and face sixth-seeded Tennessee Saturday afternoon.

In college basketball the last few years, there's been an inherent East Coast bias, partially because there weren't as many teams out West that had the "quality" of the Eastern clubs. So it was a pleasant surprise to see the Washington Huskies beat the Marquette Golden Eagles narrowly on a Quincy Pondexter jumper. Few basketball pundits were calling for the upset here. Not bad for the 11th-seeded Pac-10 tournament champs. They'll face the third-seeded New Mexico Lobos Saturday evening.

Photo courtesy of The State (S.C.).

Villanova was a Final Four candidate for some going into the tournament. No one gave 15th-seeded Robert Morris a chance. While Villanova did go on to win 73-70, it was in overtime. Robert Morris players played the game of their lives to bring a tournament power to the brink of elimination. As for 'Nova, it was a close call in part due to the disciplining of Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher and this narrow win could serve as a catalyst for a deep run in the tournament.

The third Big East team to fall was Notre Dame to Old Dominion, 51-50. The fact that the Irish lost wasn't the surprise, many pundits had this game pegged for an upset, but rather that Notre Dame's star senior forward Luke Harangody only scored four points in 23 minutes. Certainly not the way Harangody wanted his last game in an Irish uniform to go. Old Dominion next takes on Baylor Saturday evening in a game that could be even more of an uphill battle for Dominion, since Baylor is a three-seed.

As for the ACC, their turn to dance is today. Wake Forest won their matchup yesterday against Texas in an overtime upset but fellow ACC teams Duke, Maryland, Florida State, Clemson, and Georgia Tech play their first-round games today.

Other notable scores on Day 1 of March Madness:

6 Tennessee def. 11 San Diego State, 62-59
5 Butler def. 12 UTEP, 77-59 (many had this game pegged for an upset)
13 Murray St. def. 4 Vanderbilt, 66-65 (buzzer-beater upset special)
10 St. Mary's def. 7 Richmond, 80-71
7 BYU def. 10 Florida, 99-92 (Billy Donovan shown the door)

March Madness Jumbo Post

The notorious Cameron Crazies at Duke University basketball games. Photo courtesy the LA Times / Getty Images.

March Madness (aka the NCAA Tournament) begins tomorrow and it seems like everyone's got a bracket. President Obama filled his out today. Last year, he correctly predicted the North Carolina Tar Heels to win, but then again, so did most people, myself included. This year, most people are picking the Kansas Jayhawks, and with good reason. The Jayhawks' guard tandem of Sherron Collins and Xavier Henry is one of the best in the country. Add in center Cole Aldrich as the defensive stopper in the middle plus the tournament's number 1 overall seed, and Kansas has the makings of a championship run.

So who else could take the title, if not Kansas? Kentucky is the runner-up in most people's brackets. The Wildcats, led by freshmen sensations John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, have been near the top of the polls all season, but will the lack of tournament experience hurt Wall, Cousins, and Co.? Of the other number 1 seeds, Syracuse, and Duke, I'd give the edge to Duke, due to the experience of guard duo Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith.

Here are the teams I'm watching for in this year's tournament:

The Mountaineers' DaSean Butler holding the Big East trophy. Photo courtesy of NY Daily News.

West Virginia (No. 2 East seed): WV probably should have been the number 1 seed in place of Syracuse, but they're the 2 seed instead. The Mountaineers won their first Big East title this season and are riding the clutch shooting of Da'Sean Butler. Second, West Virginia is not a traditional power like Duke, Syracuse, Kansas, and Kentucky are, so it'd be nice to see a team win the national title for the first time, and WV has the tools to do it. For more on WV, here's a good article by ESPN's Dana O'Neil.

Florida (No. 10 West seed): Gators coach Billy Donovan returns to the tournament after a 2-year absence. Donovan was previously covered here on FTRS. While I doubt the Gators will get by BYU in the first round, it's interesting to see Donovan return to March Madness.

Tennessee senior Wayne Chism. Photo courtesy of "The House that Bandy Built" blog.

Tennessee (No. 6 Midwest seed): Coach Bruce Pearl is one of the best in the country, but the Volunteers haven't been able to put together a deep run. Full disclosure: a good friend of mine is from Tennessee.

San Diego State (No. 11 Midwest seed): The Aztecs are looking for their first-ever tournament win. SDSU is one of the few bright spots in what was an atrocious year for West Coast basketball. They'll play Tennessee in the first round. It doesn't hurt that a few friends have or are currently attending SDSU.

To see my bracket, click here. My Final Four are: Kansas, West Virginia, Baylor, and Kansas State.

Roethlisberger and the Law Meeting Again?

Photo courtesy of SportsIllustrated.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is flirting with trouble again. In 2008, a woman accused him of rape in a Lake Tahoe hotel. Roethlisberger was never charged for the incident, but the alleged victim is suing him in court. Now, Roethlisberger is again accused of a sexual crime. This time, a 21-year-old college student named Amber Hanley accuses the Steelers quarterback of sexual assault at a nightclub in Milledgeville, Georgia, about two hours southeast of Atlanta. While the police are still conducting their investigation, Roethlisberger hasn't been charged.

Courtesy CBS News / Deadspin.com

The fact that this is the second time in two years "Big Ben" is being accused of a sexual crime is a disappointment, considering Roethlisberger's on-field success. You'd think after the first accusation, Ben might reconsider hanging out with single women in a bar or casino. The above photo, taken in 2006, doesn't help the Steelers quarterback's image problems either. In the court of public opinion, Roethlisberger is on very shaky ground. As a 28-year-old QB of a successful team, he needs maturity off the field to complement the leadership he's learned on it.

For more on the ongoing case, visit CBS News' Crimesider or ESPN.

The NFL and Los Angeles Dance Continues

Photo courtesy of LA.Streetsblog.org.

There's been rumors and talk of an NFL team returning to Los Angeles ever since the Raiders and Rams left after the 1994 season. Proposals for stadiums in Anaheim, Carson, and a modified LA Coliseum have fallen by the wayside over the years and the latest plan is to build a stadium in Industry.

Where's Industry, you ask? It's in the San Gabriel Valley, due north of Anaheim and due east of downtown Los Angeles off the 60 and 57 freeways. The cost of the development is pegged at $800 million and includes training facilities, a sports hospital, and an entertainment and theater complex. The cost is significantly lower than most football stadiums built today, partially because it's being built into a hillside. By comparison, new free-standing stadiums in Dallas and New York cost $1.3 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively.

A good location plus a reasonable budget to finally bring a football team back to Los Angeles, what's not to like? First, the neighboring city of Walnut has been a vocal opposition to the project, citing traffic concerns. Traffic is a way of life in Southern California (just ask anyone who's ever had the misfortune of commuting on the local freeways), and there are tons of residential pockets throughout the region. When former Los Angeles mayor James Hahn announced plans to redesign LAX Airport in 2004, the most vocal opponents were residents of the Westchester and El Segundo neighborhoods north and south of LAX. As a result, LAX remains the same traffic-clogged mess of an airport it's been for years and it affects a whole region. In short, there's always a group of residents opposing a development in the LA metro area, which leads to a mentality of wanting the benefits without the cost. Sports fans in LA love football and want an NFL team to come to town, but they're not willing to have the stadium be in their backyard, just someone else's. Second, environmental groups are crying foul over exemptions in environmental review law that were made for the stadium. Very rarely does a development in Southern California not come under an environmental review, so for a sports stadium to bypass them does raise questions.

But the biggest hurdle facing the return of NFL football to Los Angeles is finding a team willing to relocate. There are 7 teams the stadium developer has identified as being as possible stadium tenants: Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, and the St. Louis Rams.

The Bills are a franchise with history (mostly dubious) and currently stuck in an old stadium in Buffalo. While the Bills have been rumored to move for years, I think Toronto is a more likely destination for the Bills rather than sunny SoCal. Besides, the Los Angeles Bills could have some unflattering jokes associated with it.

The Jaguars have a hard time selling tickets to their games, have no stadium corporate sponsor, and seem on the brink of moving. The team has been a mediocre performer, at best, in its history. Most NFL insiders hve this team being one of the finalists to move west. I could get use to hearing "LA Jaguars."

The Vikings won't leave Minny. Way too much history and a passionate fan base to let the Vikes go.

The Raiders have lots of fans here in the LA area, but I doubt Al Davis will move his team again after only 15 years in Oakland. Besides, do we really want to see the Black Hole crazies every Sunday during football season go nuts over a team that has been a cellar-dweller for nearly ten years? If the Raiders move in, expect the surrounding communities to be even more up-in-arms.

The Chargers also have lots of fans here in LA. Many Orange County and Inland Empire residents travel down to San Diego for games and their games air locally on both TV and radio. In a sense, the Chargers have adopted LA as their second home (they trained in Carson awhile back and the team advertises for season tickets on local TV). Negotiations over a new stadium between San Diego city officials and the Chargers have been going on for years. If the Jaguars don't move, I suspect the stadium developers to be making many trips down south to SD.

The 49ers won't leave San Fran, despite the fact that they play in a nearly 50-year old stadium. Same scenario as Minnesota (rich history, loyal fan base).

The Rams won't leave St. Louis. The businessman in talks to become majority owner has publicly said he wants to keep the team in St. Louis.

Blind Side Accolades & Update

Image of Michael Oher courtesy of Bleacher Report.



At the Academy Awards last night, Sandra Bullock won Best Actress for her role in "The Blind Side", capping an awards season where she also won a Golden Globe for playing the Southern mom that takes Michael Oher under her wing and helps him achieve a life outside of the Memphis slums where he grew up. The film, made on a $30 million budget, tiny by Hollywood standards, has gone on to gross more than $250 million. Previously, I had reviewed the outstanding book here on FTRS and the movie version didn't disappoint. Most of the movie was straight from the book (some chapters regarding the technicalities of the left tackle position didn't make it onto the screen), and the omissions that were done made sense for a general audience. If you missed out on seeing it in theaters, "The Blind Side" will be out on DVD March 23.



But what about the real Michael Oher? Where is he now and how is he doing? Oher was drafted in the 1st round, 23rd pick overall of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens. Weighing in at 309 lbs. and measuring 6'5", Oher made a strong impression on the Ravens coaches early to the point where he became the team's starting right tackle. Over the course of the season, he started all 16 games (11 at right tackle, 5 at left tackle, the position he played during his "Blind Side" days), and was runner-up in the Offensive Rookie of the Year polling. Oher has played well enough that there is some speculation in Baltimore that within the next season or two, Oher will switch to left tackle full time, a hard task considering the premiere pass-rushers in the NFL attack from the left side, hence the blind side.



I've embedded three YouTube clips into this post. The first is NFL Network's coverage of the draft when Michael Oher was selected. The second is an interview of Michael Oher by NBC's Bob Costas from last November, midway through Oher's rookie season in Baltimore. The third is an interview with the Tuohy family and Fox News' Mike Huckabee.

Weekend Roundup

Courtesy of Reuters.

This weekend was busy on the NFL and NBA fronts. Here were the major headlines:

The Los Angeles Lakers went 0-3 on their recent road trip to Miami, Charlotte, and Orlando. All three teams are playoff contenders in the Eastern Conference and the worry in LA has intensified, especially after the 96-94 loss to Orlando. To make matters worse, they seemed more concerned about opposing players' style of play than their own, according to the LA Times. Also, Laker forward Ron Artest debuted a ridiculous hairstyle that has Dennis Rodman laughing somewhere. Think bleach blonde hair with purple letters spelling defense in multiple languages carved into the hair and you get the general idea. Needless to say, the Lakers haven't playing to their level, leaving fans wondering when they'll flick the switch and dominate like last year.


In the NFL, free agency began on Friday. Here were some of the marquee moves:

Courtesy of SportsIllustrated.

The Chicago Bears went on a shopping spree. They signed defensive end Julius Peppers, shown above right, (formerly of the Carolina Panthers), to a 6-year, $91.5 million deal and added running back Chester Taylor (previously of the rival Minnesota Vikings), and tight end Brandon Manumaleuna, who was with the San Diego Chargers last year. Unfortunately for Bears fans, these signings do not help with one of Chicago's glaring weaknesses: wide receiver.

In an attempt to not be outdone by their division rival, the Detroit Lions also went on a spending spree. The Lions put their checkbook to work, signing defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, Nate Burleson, and trading for defensive tackle Corey Williams. Despite these moves, Detroit will likely be in the NFC North cellar again, given their division rivals (Minnesota, Chicago, and Green Bay).

Courtesy of the Daily Mail.

Karlos Dansby, pictured above right, signed a 5-year, $43 million deal with the Miami Dolphins. Dansby was previously with the Arizona Cardinals. Speaking of the Cardinals, they traded Anquan Boldin to the Baltimore Ravens for a 3rd and 4th round draft pick. The Cards also released safety Antrel Rolle (who signed with the NY Giants) and traded for NY Jets safety Kerry Rhodes. Coupled with the retirement of Kurt Warner, the Arizona Cardinals' recent run of success may very well have ended this weekend.

The New England Patriots resigned defensive tackle Vince Wilfork to a 5-year, $40 million deal, after a tumultuous couple of seasons between Wilfork and the Patriots over his contract. Wilfork had had the franchise label, effectively banning him from free agency, the past two years, which Wilfork publicly made known his displeasure about. Apparently, it's all water under the bridge now though, as Wilfork will continue to suit up for New England.

Courtesy of Vikings fan blog VikingsGab.com

And finally, longtime Green Bay Packer defensive end Aaron Kampman, shown above left, moved from Green Bay to Jacksonville. Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but many sources say Kampman left Green Bay because he was a poor fit in the new defensive coordinator's schemes. Personally, I think playing in the warm Florida sun in January sounds better than being on the frozen Wisconsin tundra, but that's just me.

For an extended look at the NFL Free Agency, go here. For the complete Free Agent Tracker, monitoring all player movement, go here.