More Madness This Weekend? Let’s Win Some Money Honey!

I will admit that in my hurried blog from Thursday, my greatest oversight was not going with what I knew.  That mistake wasn’t picking USC.  It wasn’t putting faith in basketball institutions like Kentucky and UConn.  It wasn’t even putting too much stock in Clemson’s ACC Tournament victory over Duke.  It was forgetting about Steph Curry.

Curry is a guard for Davidson.  He is the son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry (I once asked Dell what ‘Dell’ was short for.  ‘Vondell.’)  Anyway, before fans are allowed into NBA games, most players get in shooting drills for 20 minutes.  Then the NBAers go back to the locker room to prep for the introductions and game itself.  During that ‘down’ time on the court, not much is happening.  So, being the opportunist that he was, Steph Curry would put on a display – 8 years ago! Generally regarded as the second best sniper in the gym, Curry could lauch and connect on a regulation hoop at will when he was barely a dozen years old.  In a 19,000 seat arena.  Could his nickname be ‘Young Spice?’ So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that you’ll never catch him with a ‘Deer in Headlights’ expression on his face.  I forgot this, and thus Davidson, behind Curry’s efforts, torched me. 

On to this weekend’s predictions starting with Thursday’s games…

Xavier over WVU.  Cool name beats We Voluntarily Underachieve.

UNC beats Washington State.  I’m just trying to remember the last time ‘Washington’ and ‘wins’ were used together in a significant context.

Western Ketucky loses to UCLA.  I still hold a Hilltoppercentric grudge from when they beat the last remnants of Michigan’s Fab Five.  In a related story, I smile when I think that UCLA had a chance to eliminate said Fab Five, and didn’t.

Tennessee over Louisville.  I just don’t think that Rick Pitino can stop Candice Parker.

And on Friday’s menu we feature…

A delightful Davidson destruction of Wisconsin.  Somebody’s gotta be the team of destiny, right?

Texas over Stanford.  I flipped a coin.  It landed on the kitchen floor.  My cat and 1 year old son chased after it.  This sort of activity favours Texas.

Villanova will upset Kansas I hope.  This is the win that my wife needs.  She finished 2nd in a pool with 185 people last year.  She was a Georgetown free throw miss away from a thousand bucks.  This year, she looks REALLY good if Kansas goes down.  So c’mon Wildcats!

Michigan State trounces Memphis.  My dad went to MSU.  I worked with Greg Kelser last night.  Hey, all signs point to the Spartans.  Tom Izzo is a great tournament coach, by the way.

PS Honey, if you are reading this, I’m making Jake spaghetti for dinner.

Nuts and Bolts

I hope that NBA commentators don’t overblow the ‘Rasheed Wallace walked away from the timeout’ angle again.  Look, in the play-offs, tv timeouts go longer.  They sell commercials and THEN get in replays to explain why the TO was called in the first place.  What does Wallace need to hear? Flip Saunders, ‘They are doubling our guards.’  Wallace, ‘I saw that.’  Saunders, ‘We gotta move the ball.’ Wallace, ‘We do.’  Saunders, ‘Go team on 3. 1-2-3…’  Wallace is the tallest man on the court, has been an all-star, won a championship, and been in the league 1 season less than the recently retired Chris Webber.  What, under the sun, is new to him?  Shorten the time-outs!

This morning I found out the Major League Baseball is having its second annual ‘Civil Rights Game.’  Now, my issue is not with acknowledging that movement, but rather how many of these types of games that are popping up on the sports calendar.  NFL has the Hall of Fame preseason game.  Hockey has its outdoor classics.  You know where this is headed right? Once the NBA stages an outdoor game, we’ll see a Heart of the City Game, played outdoors, at night, in Harlem /Detroit /South Side, somewhere.  If we do see an explosion of these games, I hope that they are used to increase awareness about the respective sports’ history – its roots, players, and original rules/circumstances.  I guess I’m in favour of them.  Much like I am not in favour of watching games involving ‘Atlanta.’

Lidstrom wins the Hart trophy? McCain’s the next president? Chris Paul should be the MVP but won’t win. 

Did anyone see the highlights of Canada losing to Estonia in soccer 2-0? The game was played in snow and Canada lost! If that isn’t a sign that maybe soccer isn’t Canada’s thing, I don’t know what is.  I mean, isn’t that advantage like Egypt getting to play a country in a pyramid?

My friend, Sean Matthew Jones, is in China preparing for the Bejing Olympics.  He tells me that the lead story on Sportscentre is badminton.  They must interview Darcy Tucker second.

As always, please feel free to leave feedback.  I will answer any questions next week.  Enjoy the madness, Opening Day, and April Fool’s Day.