Say it Ain't So Jim Delany!

In an interview on Wednesday with USA Today, Big Ten Conference Commissioner Jim Delany told the newspaper that he thought expansion of the NCAA Tournament to 96 teams was "probable."   An expanded bracket would mean 31 additional tournament games and lots and lots of money for the NCAA and the broadcast network(s) that secures the rights to broadcast the larger tournament.

Is expansion good?  Me, I'm pretty indifferent.  I like the tournament the way it is now, but at the same time, I wouldn't mind more action, excitement, and heartache.  I do worry, however, that rather than allowing more "Mid-Majors" to battle with the big boys, expansion will just give mediocre teams in power conferences more of an opportunity to blow-up our brackets.  (Also, I would kinda miss the NIT... GO MSG!)

What if?

For some reason, I've already started thinking about players available next year. I know it's early. But, I think it's high time the media began thinking about the crop of free agents available this summer. They've been slacking.

"What if?" is the main question on nearly every fan's mind at the end of a season. It's the sports season version of "after the day I've had, I need a drink." It's both tonic and palliative. It ain't gonna cure ya, but you'll feel much better.

Here's mine today: Chris Bosh in Denver next year. I know, it's not an original pipe dream. I don't know if the Nuggets could afford Bosh given that they have Billups and Carmelo Anthony and a big payment (with Early Termination Option) to Kenyon Martin. The idea, however, of that offense is truly scary. Ty Lawson would come off the bench again. A less troubled guard than J.R. Smith could be found for cheaper. And, if George Karl battles back, wow. There'd be the question of who brings the nastiness, and without Kenyon Martin, that's valid, but who cares. It's more fun to ask "what if?"

Rock the Redskins

This video is from tonight's Caps game against the Ottawa Senators. Instead of giving a depressing game recap, I will opt to just show this video of Redskins on tricycles instead.

The box score to end all box scores

Last week I blogged in amazement at a minor league hockey box score revealing 158 minutes worth of penalties in a single game. Ladies and gentlemen, the Southern Professional Hockey League has outdone themselves. You have to see it to believe it.

Once again it involves the Knoxville IceBears, but this time their opponent was the Fayetteville FireAntz. (Yes, the team name is actually FireAntz.) As you scroll through the penalties, you will see that the majority of minutes were racked up at the end of the second period. Hit Ctrl+f and search the page for the words "game misconduct" and you will find that phrase 23 times. Twenty-three times!!! One of those game misconducts belongs to Fayetteville's head coach, Tommy Stewart for Inciting an Opponent. Also at the 20:00 mark of the second period, the starting goalies from both teams each received a game misconduct. Are you wondering how they had enough players left to continue the game? Scroll down to the last line of the box score for an answer to that question:

Game was forfeited at 10:45 3rd period due to 2 skaters remaining for Fayetteville

That was an interesting way to end the season for both teams. The first round of the SPHL playoffs begins this week. The Knoxville IceBears play the Fayetteville FireAntz in the first round.

She is a Beast!

Brittney Griner -- Baylor Center

Dunks in games?-- check
6'8"? -- check
Size 17 shoes? -- check
35 blocks in the first 4 rounds of the NCAA Tournament (14 against G-town in one game!)? -- check

Nasty right hook? -- check

BEAST -- Definitely!

Oh, New Jersey... thanks for the broken dreams

box score

New Jersey wins. San Antonio loses. History is not made.

Does Domination of A Sport Help or Hurt Popularity?

The L.A. Times profiled the UConn Huskies Women's Basketball team, the overall top seeded team in the women's Final Four and three games away from their 6th national championship in 15 years. They are also 13 games away from tying the all-time winning streak record, established by John Wooden's UCLA Men's Basketball team.

The story poses and interesting question: does too much winning hurt a sport's popularity?

Are the Huskies good enough to be considered America's most dominant team? "They're making a case for consideration," Burke said.

But their success raises another question: Are all those blowout victories hurting a women's game that must fight for respect and attention?

Even [TV sports analyst Billy] Packer, who admires their style, concedes: "To be quite honest with you, because so many of the teams they play have no opportunity to be competitive, I don't watch many of their games."

[UConn Coach Geno] Auriemma offers a different perspective. He talks about Microsoft's dominance of the computer software market.

"Eventually, other people have to catch up," he says. "You either compete or get out, so everyone will compete."

It's hard to think of teams that have been as dominant in recent history, but I'd tend to think that assigning low-popularity to over-dominance is a pretty flawed claim. It's not like people stopped watching the NBA during the Bull's two Jordan-led three-peats from 1990-93 and 1995-98. And the dominance of Tiger Woods clearly single-handedly exploded the popularity of golf-as-spectator-sport.

Another Wizards Loss

Here's a secret: I have gone to more Wizards game this year than I have gone to in the past 10 years, combined. This isn't because I'm not a Wizards fan. As a lifelong Washingtonian, I am, even in this era of liberated fandom. I just can't afford season tickets nor do I find the product put on the floor to be worthy of the exorbitant prices the Wizards charge. I've been to more games in this, their second worst season, than many others because of the economy. Thanks too to eBay and Craigslist, I've hit a ton of games.

I scored two tickets for $6 total to the game on March 24 against Michael Jordan's Bobcats. Given Andray Blatche's effort, I overpaid. However, the Wizards played hard without Blatche.

Here are some photos from the evening.

Here's Mike Miller taking a contested long 2 with 11 left on the shot clock. This was before Blatche decided to quit on the team.



Nick Young, open at the arc, flexes his lats in disappointment. If a bad shot is to be taken, he'll gladly take it. If an open shot is to be taken, he'll gladly take it.



And, it's hard to tell what's going on here, but Nick Young went for the foul and the pirouette while James Singleton went for the goaltending.




Greivis Vasquez was there.


Oh, Javale McGee. When you go up for this sort of thing, please keep your eyes open. Otherwise, the ever evil Tyson Chandler (of the bum ankle, toes, among other woes) will get the ball to Raymond Felton.

Madness Baby!

Butler and West Virginia are in.  Kentucky and K-State are out.  Madness baby!

Which two teams will join them in the Final Four?  I don't know, but I can't wait to see!

When you see "team makes history" in the headline, your bracket is screwed

Only one game into the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championships and a #1 seed is already out. University of Denver was the top ranked team in their conference and ranked #2 overall. They have won seven hockey championships (only one school has won more championships than Denver but I'm not going to tell you who it is; as a Hawkeye I am obligated to hate them.) Denver's hockey program has a long history of excellence. A number of Denver alumni have gone on to play in the NHL, including Paul Stastny, who plays for the Colorado Avalanche and helped Team USA win a silver medal at the Olympic Games this year. Matt Carle, another Denver alum, won the Hobey Baker award in 2006 and currently plays for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Rochester Institute of Technology is a Division III school in every sport except for Men's Ice Hockey. They became Division I for hockey in 2006.

Hockey Baby!

While I'm not the usual hockey blogger on J.B. Sports Chat, I found this intersting article listing the most memorable 50 goal seasons in NHL history.

Enjoy!

Gilbert Gets Probation

Gilbert Arenas's sentence, for having four guns in the locker room and causing the incident:
2 years probation. 30 days in a halfway house. 400 hours of community service.

Javaris Crittenton's sentence, for responding to Gilbert Arenas's threat:
1 year of probation. $1250 in fines. Community service.


Fair?

Gilbert Arenas, Jailbird?

In less than an hour, Gilbert's sentencing hearing will begin. Having read some of the prosecution's briefs, Agent Zero's cover-up, deceit, and sporadic understanding and regret should lead to a jail sentence. Arenas has lost a lot of money due to his suspension from the team and has severely hurt his ability to make significant basketball money in the future, but he clearly doesn't get it.

Henry Abbott brilliantly explains the initial incident between Arenas and Crittenton through Joe Pesci's "do I amuse you?" bit from Goodfellas. Gilbert threatened Javaris. He did it under the guise of humor, but the threat was there. From the perspective of Javaris Crittenton, it must have seemed highly dangerous. There are many what-ifs resulting from the confrontation, but the biggest is "what if Javaris drew his own loaded gun in retaliation?"

Gilbert Arenas needs to go to jail. His open letter in the Washington Post reeks of his inability to understand the gravity of the situation. Gilbert's public mea culpa is disingenuous at best. He is very sorry, for the children. For. The. Children.

But if I help steer even just one young person away from violence and trouble, then I'll once again feel that I'm living up to Abe Pollin's legacy and to the responsibility I owe the kids of the District.

Clearly, Gilbert doesn't get it. Gilbert shouldn't speak to youth about gun violence. He's not qualified. This incident isn't about gun violence; it's about intimidation and deceit. Gilbert acted as a bully and pretended that he wasn't a bully, and claimed he made a mistake in the process of keeping his family safe.

Unfortunately, there's a chance Gilbert will receive a suspended sentence and be ordered to do community service. If Gilbert's going to do community service, it should be community service where he interacts with adults, not children. Any community service he does should not be publicized later. He shouldn't be able to use it to show how much he cares about the community. Required community service isn't a publicity stunt, which might not be something Gilbert Arenas understands.

As for the children? Gilbert Arenas is not a role model and, now, he never will be. And he has no one to thank for that but himself.

Redeem yourself with a whole new tournament!

Were you certain that Georgetown would make it to to the Final Four? Did you pick Kansas to go all the way? Do you wish you never heard the words "Northern Iowa"? Now is the time to redeem yourself! The NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship starts this afternoon. The first and second rounds are this weekend. The Frozen Four is April 8-10 at Ford Field in Detroit.

A more legible version of the bracket can be found here. Anyone brave enough to go in on a bracket contest?

Go Butler!

Butler 63 -'Cuse 59

but I still hate Sidney Crosby

This was a beautiful moment in last night's game against the Penguins. Alexander Semin tied it up in the third with this sweet short-handed goal. It was credited as an unassisted goal, but now that I see it again, it was a pretty nice pass from the Crozz.

Thank you, Sidney Crosby! (p.s. you're still a douche.)
Love,
Kathleen

Look Mom, I'm on Yahoo! Sports

Getty Images

Was that really the best picture they could get?  It is like Yahoo is trying to say, "Hey Gordon, you might be a highly skilled college player with a great NBA future, but don't forget that you're really just an unathletic white kid."

The Hope Begins Now

Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals, has reached an agreement for the price of the Washington Wizards. Leonsis held the right of first refusal should Abe Pollin have wished to sell. Unfortunately, Pollin, a pillar of the DC community, died last year.

Leonsis turned the Caps around. The thought is that he can turn the Wizards around, too. The Wizards, as some may have noticed, have just tied their franchise worst losing streak. The team is in disarray. Its best player faces sentencing tomorrow (and seems to deserve a lengthy sentence if the prosecution's filings are correct). Its best active player refused to listen to his coach during a completely winnable game against the Bobcats. Its best (currently) scandal-free player was acquired in a trade with Dallas and is out for the season. The team starts Shaun Livingston at point guard. Ted Leonsis can only take this team upwards.

The Death of Sudden Death

This is huge news from yesterday, NFL Moves Toward College-Style OT; Playoffs Today, Regular Season Tomorrow:

The N.F.L. approved a new overtime rule for the playoffs Tuesday that will give each team at least one possession in the extra period unless the team that wins the overtime coin toss scores a touchdown on its first possession.

After years of debate, the sentiment in favor of overtime reform was so strong — it passed by a surprisingly large margin, 28-4 — that it is possible owners will approve the rule for regular-season games in the 2010 season.

[...]

The crux of the rule is to make overtime outcomes less dependent on the coin flip. If the team that has possession of the ball first scores a touchdown, the game is over. But if it kicks a field goal, the other team would get a possession and would win with a touchdown. If nobody scores on the first drives, or if both teams kick field goals, the game will revert to sudden death.

The change is expected to alter traditional overtime strategy. Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis said that the team with the first possession would have to consider going for a first down on fourth-and-short rather than attempting a lengthy field goal. And the team with the second possession — knowing what it needs to win, or at least to keep the game going — would be aware of when a field goal would be enough. That, McKay said, would offset the disadvantage of losing the coin toss.

Come on NJ, Lose Them For Us!

Good readers, it looks like we might be denied the chance to witness history by those "pesky" New Jersey Nets! By beating the Kings last night 93-79, the Nets ended an 8 game losing streak and are now 8-63.

Now this win makes me angry.  Do I care about the Kings? No.  Do I have a grudge against the Nets that makes me want to see them lose? No!  I am angry because the Nets are trying to make my trek with Beau to the Izod center meaningless.

We went not for a love of the Nets or for good basketball (the little kids playing at half time were better than the Wizards and the Nets), but rather to be part of history.  We went so that  one day we could tell our kids that we saw the worst team ever in the NBA!

So readers, if you are a true sports fan, a true lover of records and tradition, join hands with me, yell at your TV's and will the Nets to lose!

Why Didn't Flip Flip?

Well good readers, another day and another story about the Wizards.  And they say that the Clippers are a terrible organization?

From an article by  Adrian Wojnarowski, on Yahoosports:

Yes, the coach should’ve suspended Blatche, sent him home and played the rest of the week without him. Management told the coach it was his call, league sources say. They would’ve gone with a suspension, a benching, whatever Saunders wanted.
The coach backed down, again.
Story of his career.
Story of this franchise.

Kentucky's Center: Basketball is "not a spelling bee"

On the mismatch that is 1-seed Kentucky vs. 12-seed Cornell.

DeMarcus Cousins, the star Wildcat freshman big man, said the game would not be determined by “who can read the fastest.”

Cousins added: “We’re here to play basketball. It’s not a spelling bee.”

It's funny because Cornell is an Ivy-League school, and as we also all know, the Ivy League has dominated NCAA Division I Spelling Bee and Men's Speed Reading for the last several seasons.

Women's Spelling Bee has notably been dominated by Pac-10 schools since the 1995-96 season.

Baseball Fever

Well gang, baseball season is just two weeks away and I am excited.  The records are even and unless you are a fan of the Royals or Pirates, you are probably talking yourself into why your team can make an incredible run to the playoffs.  Even better, the realization that there are 161 more games to play after opening day has not sunk in and you are just stoked.  All you can think of is evenings at the ballpark, peanuts in the shell, ice cold beers, and dogs.

And then something strange happens around April 22nd.  You just stop caring.  For me, it is usually after a busy week of work when I don't have a chance to follow the box scores or keep track of my favorite players.  When I do look again, I realize that nothing has really changed.  Nothing. Then I start to get angry that players are paid $25 million per year to fail 2/3rds of the time. After getting over this anger and realizing that I am just jealous that I am not 27 years old with an 8 year $184 million contract (preferably in a state with no property taxes) I tend to give up on the game.

Now that doesn't mean that I stop pulling for the Mets or don't check out the scores when I can.  It just means that the enthusiasm is gone.  I don't really get up or down when my team wins or loses because I understand that baseball is about 10 game, not 10 minute stretches.

I think this apathy that the length of the baseball season can generate is a blessing and a curse for the game.  On one hand, it is nice that the baseball season (and games themselves) are so long.  I can go away for vacation and not feel like I have missed much.  When I am at a game I can leave to go get a beer and I am okay with that because going to the game is about the experience of the ballpark and sitting outside, not the action.  On the other hand, because of the slow pace of the season and games, it is so easy to lose interest.  Do I really need to watch a player take 35 seconds between pitches?  Seriously, Nomar's routine was hilarious after the first pitch, but a 10 pitch at-bat could take forever ( David Wright is a distant second).  That, J.B. Sports Chat readers, is way to long.

But hey, it's only 2 weeks until baseball and my excitement level is still super high!  My Mets are definitely going to win the Pennant...right....????

And 1!

What ever happened to that "And 1' show on Espn?  The one where they went around the country and tried to find new players for the mix tapes.  That show was fun. 

Anyway, check out some cool And 1 mix tapes.

Never enough Blatche Pictures

5 months ago: Washington Wizards' Andray Blatche poses for a photo during NBA basketball media day, Monday, Sept. 28, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

Andray....

Those Crazy Wizards!

Andray, Andray, Andray......Andray

From the Washington Post's Gene Wang:

To make matters worse, Wizards Coach Flip Saunders benched starting forward Andray Blatche after he played just 7 minutes 31 seconds. Saunders said he pulled Blatche initially to discuss the player not getting back on defense but that Blatche refused to listen to the coaching staff. Saunders said his assistants attempted to talk to Blatche about the situation multiple times but that Blatche's response was "he just didn't want to play."

"I'm disappointed. I'm the most disappointed I've ever been in 15 years with a player," Saunders said. "Most disappointed."

I am no longer afraid of getting old

The future suddenly has so much more promise. I have been a hockey fan for many years, but it was not until today that I learned about a little team called the Gerihatricks. Who knew we had so many options for local sports around here!? From their website:

The Gerihatricks are a loosely knit group of senior hockey players, 60 plus and 70 plus years of age, that play primarily at the Gardens Ice House in Laurel, MD.

Yeah, that's right. Things are gonna get real interesting in my golden years and I'm gonna start the smacktalk now. You hear that, Quincy Bald Eagles? I'm talking to you too, Central Mass Rusty Blades! Don't be fooled by the fact that I've never played hockey, and never even been on ice skates before. I'm going to spend the next few decades training and molding myself into a sleek, fast, and fit hockey machine that does not look a day over 50 even when she's 85! When I'm eligible to be in this league, you better take your teeth out before you hit the ice. Cuz I play to win, grandpa!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go hit the gym.

Prosecutors Recommend 3 Months in Jail for Agent Zero

According to the Washington Post, prosecutors are recommending Gilbert "Gunplay" Arenas serve 3 months in jail for his locker room incident.

The basics:

Prosecutors recommended on Tuesday that Wizards star guard Gilbert Arenas spend three months in jail for bringing guns into the Verizon Center locker room.

Prosecutors also proposed that Arenas serve three years probation and perform 300 hours of community service.

The recommendations came in a sentencing memo to the court that is required in most criminal cases.

Arenas's formal sentencing is Friday.

Gilbert played the fool and, despite his ridiculous open letter regarding his idiocy, still doesn't seem to grasp what was so wrong about bringing guns to the locker room.

ECHL Honors Kolzig. Are You Listening, Capitals?

The East Coast Hockey League has formally inducted former Caps goalie, Olaf Kolzig into the ECHL Hall of Fame. Kolzig played two seasons in the ECHL with the Hampton Roads Admirals between 1990-1992, with season records of 11-9-1 and 11-3-0.

It may seem strange that they should induct a player who logged so little time in the league. It all comes down to classification. He was inducted in the "Developmental Player" category. According to ECHL Hall of Fame guidelines,

Development Players must have begun their career in the ECHL and went on to a distinguished career in the NHL, playing a minimum of 260 regular season games in the NHL, AHL and ECHL.

That would definitely describe the former NHL All-Star, Vezina Trophy winner, and all-around fan favorite Kolzig. He deserves recognition. Enough so that we should all overlook the fact that Kolzig played more games for the AHL Baltimore Skipjacks during those same seasons that the ECHL is taking credit for developing his talents.

I think it's a safe assumption that Kolzig will someday have a banner hanging from the rafters of the Verizon Center next to Dale Hunter, Mike Gartner, Yvone Labre and Rod Langway. Olie the Goalie belongs in the Capitals Hall of Fame. I just hope we get to see those honors bestowed sometime before Ovechkin reaches retirement age.

Warriors for Sale

According to an AP Report, the Warriors have announced that the team is for sale.

Likely buyer? Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison. It must be nice to have crazy, I made it through the bubble burst, tech money!

No Free Taco on Los Lakers' 'Noche Latina'

Yesterday's 99-92 victory by the best-in-the-west L.A. Lakers (52-18) over the fourth-worst-overall Washington Wizards (21-47) took place on the NBA's fourth annual Noche Latina, a night recognizing the fact that 15% of the league's fan base is of Latino heritage, as are 18 of its players.

But the lackluster win by one of the league's best over one of the league's worse is not a good sign for the reigning Champs as playoff season approaches, and as they prepare for their final road-tour of the year. Sure, the Lakers made the second half look like a competition between the Globetrotters and Generals, but the Lakers did lead by 28 points earlier in the half, giving up 21 points in a blink of the eye.

And more importantly, on Noche Latina, there were no free tacos.

As watchers of the Lakers well know, the fourth quarter of winning games brings chants of "We Want Tacos," derived from the Taco Bell Staples Center promotion of giving vouchers for free tacos if the Lakers score over 100 points while holding their opponents to under 100 points. The chant has spread even beyond home games; recently, the chant was heard by infiltrating Lakers fans at L.A.'s 106-99 defeat of the Sacramento Kings at Arco Arena. But last night, Los Lakers walked it out in the waning minutes of the game. With 98 points on the board, they played like they were already half asleep, and missed two of their final three free throws.

A repeat is a rare thing in today's NBA, much rarer than free tacos, so the failure to even win the latter for the fans does not bode well for the former.

The Game I Wish I Saw: Minor League Hockey Edition

Beau blogged about a box score from the Spurs/Warriors game on Friday, and I think this should be a regular feature: writing about sporting events you never watched, but wished you had.

This is a box score you need to see.

I have yet to speak with any of the 889 people in attendance at this SPHL game last month. (Southern Professional Hockey League. Yes, it's a real league.) And I doubt that many readers of J.B. Sports Chat are familiar with the Knoxville Ice Bears or the Louisiana IceGators, but the important thing here is that you can interpret a hockey box score. Actually... I take that back. The important thing is that you understand math and can identify disparity in numbers for the two teams. Here are a few highlights:

Power Plays: Knoxville was 4 for 13, Louisiana was 0 for 2.
Penalty Totals: Knoxville had 4 minutes on 2 infractions, Louisiana had 158 minutes on 25 infractions.

Yes, 158 penalty minutes were collected by one team in a 60-minute game. The third period penalties were all on Louisiana. Fighting Majors, Game Misconducts for Abuse of an Official, Gamers for Inciting an Opponent, and all sorts of fun stuff. But my very, very favorite is the last two penalties listed: Dave MacIsaac and Frank Jury, 10 minute game misconducts each for Verbal Abuse of Officials. Scroll through the active roster and you will not find those names. MacIsaac is the Head Coach and Jury is the Equipment Manager.

What the hell happened?!? Most of the penalty minutes were from the third period, but they didn't even occur all at once. The first major penalty in the third was at 10:21 and the last was the equipment guy with just over a minute left in the game. At 17:18 in the third, three players got misconducts for slashing, charging, and fighting (third man in.) Who were they fighting?!? Each other? Officials? Fans? No one from Knoxville had any fighting penalties.

That is one of the most perplexing box scores I have ever seen. I wish I had been at Blackham Coliseum that night to see what happened. I would have been happy to boost their attendance to a solid 890.

Bracket Busters.....Do they really indicate parity? Update

So #12 Cornell just finished "upsetting" #4 Wisconsin.   This win comes on the heals of #9 Northern Iowa beating #1 (and #1 overall) Kansas, #10 Saint Mary's over #2 Nova, #11 Washington over #3 New Mexico, and #5 Mich St. over #4 Maryland.

As my bracket is already busted (as are many others...thanks Big East), and I went to Cornell (GO BIG RED),  I am all for the "upset." 

Here is my question.  Does this year point to incredible parity in college basketball, or is it that the Committee did a terrible job?  I have to lean towards a bad job by the Committee.  It is crazy that this year there were probably 5-10 teams who were favored (or almost even money) to win in the first two rounds as the lower seed.  I understand that (1) the Committee sees less of the "mid-majors" and (2) the Committee has to finalize these brackets in only a few hours, and they do the best that they can. This year, however, not such a great job.

And why do they have so little time to finish the bracket? Why doesn't the NCAA make all conference tournaments end on the Saturday before selection Sunday.  That would give the Committee almost 24 hours to put these brackets together (and hopefully watch more tape of mid-majors).

But hey, maybe the NCAA would rather have it this way.  Bad brackets means more upsets. Upsets mean interest and gambling.  Interest and gambling = money. And as we all know, that is the only thing the NCAA really cares about.

Thoughts?

What is a Sports Blog Without a Tiger Video?

White Chocolate

NYC Gets A Real Soccer Stadium; City Now Perfect

Big Apple, meet Red Bull Stadium. It's rail-accessible, making it a true N.Y. sports stadium. The Meadowlands and related traffic/tolls/pain-in-the-ass can go to hell.

From today's N.Y. Times:

The new Red Bull Arena glitters in an industrial wasteland just east of Newark, not far from Manhattan. I was thinking about trains I have taken to other matches — Inchon, outside Seoul, South Korea; Saitama, outside Tokyo; West Ham and Arsenal and Chelsea in London; the cute little trolley curving through Milan to San Siro.

On a gorgeous afternoon, I could walk from my house on Long Island to a train, to another train, then walk to a soccer stadium. No bridges. No tunnels. No tolls. No traffic. A new age.

Soccer is the pulsing heart of world sport; now it is finally connected to the center of the universe. The only slight flaw has been removed. New York is finally perfect.

Now if only the Red Bulls weren't quite so awful. They finished dead last in the entire MLS last season, with a 5-19-6 record, a far cry from their impressive run to the MLS Cup in 2008.

Neither the Red Bulls nor their previous incarnation, the MetroStars, has ever won an MLS Cup or a U.S. Open Cup, despite being a founding club of MLS in 1996.

KANSAS V. NO IOWA

This could be one hell of a bracket buster Saturday!

Which has me thinking. It seems that the whole "talent" vs. "experience" argument really doesn't get discussed enough.  While having lots of talented NBA level talent is wonderful, losses by teams like Nova and G-Town have to say something for having tourney seasoned seniors on your team.

The Game I Wish I Saw: Spurs/Warriors

Take a look at this the box score.

This game... wow. Look at that box score. 22 bench points from the crippled Warriors. 72 bench points from the Spurs. 50 point bench scoring differential. Wow. Tim Duncan shot a perfect 8 for 8 from the field and finished with 17 points in almost 14 minutes. Ian Mahinmi (who?) managed 12 points and 6 boards in 13 minutes. That sort of speed and efficiency from big men spells bad news for the opposition. Matt Bonner even got in on the action, shooting 100% everywhere.

It looks like it was an amazing game to watch - with the old team running the young team out of the gym.

Brandon Jennings outshines Tyreke Evans

The Bucks/Kings game just entered its second overtime. Ty Evans was smacked in the face and out of the game (for now). Brandon Jennings has 8 threes. 8!!! Insanity. Salmons has pitched in 25 points so far and Bogut is holding things down with another fantastic game. Bogut's renaissance this year must be due to a combination of playing with the always flashy Jennings and Scott Skiles. I'm sure someone knows what the reasoning is, but Bogut has been a beast. Throw Salmons into the mix and this team has been very very hot since the trade deadline.

The Kings? Well, they're the Kings. Rather than continue to waste Kevin Martin's remarkable talents, the Kings will now waste what Tyreke Evans brings to the table. Aside from Evans, there is no one on this team who would start on a championship caliber team.

Wizards/Blazers

Somewhere along the line, this game got ugly. Both teams are shooting below 40%. Portland should be steam-rolling the Wiz right now. Instead, Washington is up 74-72 with a minute to go.

Blazers notes:
- Brandon Roy can't shoot 20% and expect his team to win.
- Camby is a rebounding machine, but Portland needs him to be aggressive offensively if they're going to make noise in the playoffs.


Wiz notes:
- James Singleton is a beast on the boards tonight. 5 offensive rebounds so far!
- Blatche is making smart hustle plays. Was Antawn's presence holding him back?
- Nick Young is a non-factor with Flip Saunders.

Maryland v. Houston

The Terps really turned it on in the second half tonight. It looked like they needed to shake some rust off from 11 days off. 5 early turnovers in the first half kept Houston in the game. Maryland was able to pull away a bit due to Houston's terrible free throw shooting. Both teams played sloppy, up-tempo ball.

Jordan Williams is a beast. NBA ready? Not yet. After next year? Maybe, look at his hands!

Kobe: Top-Seeding Doesn't Matter

From yesterday's L.A. Times, Kobe dismisses any discussion of the fact that the Lakers are, for the second year, the Best in the West but second overall to the Cavs:

Because the Lakers were tested in the West playoffs last season, Kobe Bryant was asked if it's a big deal for them to have the top seeding in their conference.

"It doesn't matter," Bryant said. "You got to win games on the road too. You're not going to win every home game. You are eventually going to relinquish home court at some point. You wish that was not the case, but it happens."

The Lakers are 20-13 on the road this season, not quite up to last season's 29-12 mark.

Still, Bryant said he remains confident in his team's ability to perform on the road.

"I am, but it doesn't mean it's not trouble," Bryant said. "That Denver series last season scared … all of us — Houston too."

The Nuggets won Game 2 of the conference finals at Staples Center before losing in six games to the Lakers.

The Rockets were the only team in the playoffs that pushed the Lakers to a seven-game series.

"So, I am extremely confident," Bryant said. "But at the same time, I know how dangerous that is."

Doesn't actually sound that confident; he'd probably be happier if his bench showed up. O Jordan Farmar, where art thou?

Nets' Futility

The Nets have only won 7 games. They have 14 remaining. They have to win 3 more to not tie the worst NBA record of all time (9-73).

You know what? I hope they don't get 3 wins. If you're going to be terrible, be really terrible. Make history. Don't dance around being the second worst team of all time, shoot the moon instead.

The fact that I saw these Nets lose very near the buzzer to the (bad, but not abysmally so) Washington Wizards in NJ in their last season at the Izod Center in no way influences my desire for the Nets' season to end in unmitigated disaster. Okay, it does... just a little bit.

WOFFORD V WISCONSIN

Note to self.....Don't put your hopes on on a team that doesn't know how to dribble!

WOFFORD V WISCONSIN

It's getting to the point where this one could be exciting! 46-45 Wofford with 5:25 left.  So who do I root for?  On the one hand, I need Wisconsin to win for the bracket. On the other, a Wofford win is probably good for the Big Red.

No money on the bracket this year..........go WOFFORD!

CLEMSON V MISSOURI

Have to pull for Clemson though...Missouri's uniforms look kind like a mixture between diarrhea and vomit after a dozen wings and a pitche.

SIENA V PURDUE

So I was totally rooting for Siena, but then I saw their cheerleaders.  I think I am blind and am seriously considering becoming a eunuch.

http://www.sienasaints.com/trads/sien-trads-cheerleaders.html

GO BIG RED!

Never would have thought that Cornell would advance and G-town wouldn't. I'm okay with that though!

Chauncey Billups - Best Floor General

Billups might be the best floor general in the league over the past few seasons, which I'd argue is the same as being the best point guard. Deron Williams does better statistically (except in wins) but does he command the game the same way? No. As for Paul, there are arguments that he makes his team worse as he uses up most possessions. Billups is content making the pass that leads to the pass that leads to the basket. Is Chris Paul content doing that? Does he put his teammate's in the position to do that?

Chauncey Billups has been the only consistent presence in Conference Finals for the past 7 seasons. He might very well make it 8 this year, barring a severe injury or two to Denver's big men (oh, hi Kenyon). This year, is he the best floor general in the league? I'm not so sure. I don't think Rondo is, but Rondo makes a good case for himself given the battered state of the Big Three. LBJ makes a solid run at it, as well, given how Mike Brown's "offense" runs through him constantly.

And then there's Jason Kidd...

Next Year's Brackets

Now that my brackets are sufficiently destroyed, I'll look to next year.

Next year, I'll base my brackets on where people I know went to school. Therefore, if most of my friends went to Georgetown, Georgetown will be picked to win it all. Off hand, I think my 1 seeds are Georgetown, Maryland (assuming Maryland makes the tourney), Florida, Virginia Tech or Duke.

NBA One-and-Done

Why doesn't the NBA use an MLB type draft format? It would be super easy, you can get drafted out of high school and still keep your eligibility.  If you decide to go to college, you are stuck with your initial draft spot (and team for 2 years). Also, have a lower rookie scale for kids drafted outside the top 7 who come straight out.

Hoya Suxa?

How do you have three future NBA players on your roster and lose to Ohio? Not Ohio State, but Ohio! And not at the buzzer but by 14. Gross!