Live from the Park

Tuesday Oct 18

2011-10-19T00:50:00.000-04:00

I bought a case of Dogfish Head Punkin Ale the other day. No matter how many cases I buy per season, it's never enough. I'm drinking one right now and watching the original Footloose. Spoiler Alert: it's not making the movie any better. I mean what dude gets mad and then speeds off to an abandoned factory to dance? Honestly the plot for Transformers 3 seems more realistic.

So it just came out that Charlie Davies is suing somebody for his bad judgement. I've been tired of CD9 since about May. He needs to go rehab somewhere else.

Wait I just realized something. I think Kevin Bacon's character is a gymnast who got cut. Of course he is.

Speaking of seasonal treats, I went grocery shopping today and I didn't see any Pumpkin Delights at Giant. PDs have been scarce this year and I'm worried that Little Debbie might put an end to my favorite snack of all time. I don't care if some of my friends think that it tastes like tree bark. They are just jealous.

If you aren't watching Workaholics, you don't like yourself.

Peace brah

Virginia Tech Hokies Preview 2011

2011-08-26T18:35:00.006-04:00

Coach: Frank Beamer - at Virginia Tech; 198-95-2 in 24 years
Overall: 240-118-4 in 30 years
Last Season: 11-3 (8-0 ACC, Champions)
Last Bowl Game: 2011 Orange Bowl (12-40 L vs Stanford)
Returning Starters: 11; 6 offense, 5 defense
Preseason Ranking: 13th AP, 13th Coaches

Virginia Tech had one of the strangest seasons in all of college football last year as they experienced some of the lowest lows and highest highs possible in a five month span.

After opening up with a tough 33-30 loss to Boise State at FedEx Field in Landover, MD, the Hokies seemed to hit rock bottom with a loss to James Madison the following weekend. Virginia Tech promptly responded by rolling off eleven straight victories, including a 44-33 ACC Championship Game win over Florida State, in the process of securing yet another spot in the BCS. Just another average year in Blacksburg right?

Coach Frank Beamer enters his 25th year at his alma mater with a well oiled machine primed to make another run at the ACC Championship. In the six years since the ACC began holding Conference Title games, Virginia Tech has played in four, while winning three of them. In other words, they own the conference.

Offense: Gone is Tyrod Taylor who captured two ACC MVP awards in leading the Hokies to two ACC Titles. That's the bad news. The good news is that his replacement, sophomore Logan Thomas, grabbed great Spring Game reviews from Beamer. Even better is the news that Thomas will have some of the most explosive play makers in the league at his disposal.

Junior David Wilson racked up 619 yards as the No.3 back on the depth chart last season so his transition to the starting spot should be seamless. He's also considered to be one of the fastest players in college football.

Returning senior starters Jarrett Boykin and Danny Coale will provide Thomas with excellent options through the air thanks to Boykin's size and Coale's reliability.

While not always glamorous, one of the most important parts of any successful team is the play off their offensive line. The Hokies return four starters from last year's Orange Bowl. Guard Jaymes Brooks and tackle Blake DeChristopher find themselves on just about every publication's All-ACC preseason teams.

Defense: Over the years Virginia Tech has been defined by takeways, special teams, and the lunch pail that defensive coordinator Bud Foster awards to the team's best defensive players each week. After having an entire off-season to remind his players of their lopsided defeat to Stanford in the Orange Bowl, in which the Cardinal ran all over the Hokies, it's a good bet that they will respond.

The secondary might just be one of the best in the nation. Junior cornerback Jayron Hosley was a consensus All-American last year after picking off nine passes. Sophomore Kyle Fuller will probably have more than enough opportunities at making big plays as most teams will likely throw away from Hosley. Senior free safety Eddie Whitley is also one of the best in the ACC at making plays. Sophomore rover Antone Exum, one of the team's best hitters, rounds out the group.

The linebacker corps is another position of strength led by junior Bruce Taylor and junior Jeron Gouveia-Winslow. Barquell Rivers, the team's leading tackler from 2009 before missing last season with an injury, is currently on the outside looking in.

The biggest question mark on defense is the front four. Defending the run was a problem all season but was never more evident than in the Orange Bowl loss. Antoine Hopkins is the lone returning starter at tackle and looks to be joined by his brother Derrick. The Hokies will be young at the end positions with sophomores James Gayle and J.R. Collins as well as red-shirt freshman Zack McCray getting a shot to play.

Biggest conference game: October 1 vs Clemson

Clemson comes to Blacksburg for the first ACC game of the year for Virginia Tech. It will also be the first chance for Thomas to really see a fast defense after playing lesser competition in the first four weeks of the season. The Tigers are being tabbed by most to be neck-and-neck with Florida State in the Atlantic Division. Clemson brings back 15 starters from last year's disappointing 6-7 campaign. Virginia Tech will need to slow down junior running back Andre Ellington who was easily one of the top backs last season before going out with a toe injury. Working in the Hokies favor for this one will be the fact that it's a home game and that Clemson will be coming off of their biggest conference game of the season against Florida State the previous week.

Biggest non-conference game: September 3 vs Appalachian State

Nobody will confuse Virgnia Tech's non-conference schedule with murderer's row this season as it includes three non-BCS schools (at East Carolina, Arkansas State, at Marshall) and one team from the lower subdivision of FCS (Appalachian State). After opening up with a Top Ten opponent in Boise State last season, the Hokies have taken a serious step back in the scheduling department. Believe it or not, the biggest non-conference test for Virginia Tech in 2011 could be with FCS perennial power Appalachian State. The Mountaineers begin the season as the #2 ranked team in the FCS Coaches Poll and will undoubtedly use Virginia Tech's loss to fellow FCS'er James Madison last season as inspiration. For a program that has come away with a win in Michigan's Big House, being intimidated at Lane Stadium shouldn't be an issue.

Best Case Scenario: Sophomore quarterback Logan Thomas picks up right where Tyrod Taylor left off and the Hokies high scoring offense doesn't miss a beat with the first year signal caller. Bud Foster works his magic along the defensive line and forces other teams to try and pass against his stellar secondary. With a weak non-conference schedule it's not out of the question that the Hokies could find themselves with a chance to play for National Championship if other results work in their favor.

Worst Case Scenario: The Hokies stub their toe against a weak non-conference opponent and immediately eliminate themselves from any National Championship Game discussions before even getting into their ACC Schedule. The only realistic chance a team from the ACC has of playing for the National Championship is to remain undefeated.

Prediction: It's really hard to imagine anybody catching Virginia Tech in the Coastal Division after both Miami and North Carolina have seemingly taken themselves out of the race with off the field issues. The Hokies should find themselves in Charlotte at the end of the season for the ACC Championship Game, most likely against Florida State. A win against the Seminoles would once again put the Hokies in the BCS, something their fans have grown quite accustomed to over the years.

Echoes in April

2011-04-16T18:41:00.000-04:00

Versus must be part of the NBC family. I had never really thought about it before but after watching the Notre Dame Blue-Gold Spring game with all of the NBC graphics and announcers, it is readily apparent that they are related. It makes even more sense when you think about how they both carry hockey. Of course I try not to think about hockey that much.

Former Tulane and Tampa Bay Buccanneer quarterback Shaun King is doing some sideline stuff today. I hope he's the back-up plan for the 2011 season.

OMG they just played an instrumental of Like a G6 going into the last commercial break. Wow. They are really looking to skew young today. I didn't know Versus got down like that. Now I'm feeling so fly like a G6.

Color Blind: So it's called the Blue-Gold game right? Well that doesn't make any sense. Both teams are wearing gold pants and gold helmets. One team is wearing blue jerseys. The other is wearing white jerseys. In fact both teams have guys wearing green (offensive lineman) and red (quarterbacks and others who aren't supposed to get hit). Blue-Gold game my ass.

What to look for: How do the early entry freshman look? Who changed positions? Who left? Does Crist look healthy?

Everett Golson is manning up for the Irish today. He's the only quarterback not wearing red. He is "live" fellas. The freshman from Myrtle Beach is not messing around. I didn't know people were actually from Myrtle Beach.

Yeah it's 6-3 midway through the 2nd quarter. Offense sucks so far. Defense doesn't suck as much. Or do they?

Look I can't keep watching this. It was cool for about about 10 minutes.

Biggest difference that I saw? Collinsworth was switched from WR to SS. I wonder if he will still be doing kickoffs. Quite the question to ponder. Until next time.

Peace brah

FSU vs ND - In game thread - 2nd Half

2011-03-21T00:05:00.000-04:00

Hansbrough is really getting after it on defense. It doesn't seem to matter right now though as the 'Noles have already scored 9 points in the first 4 minutes.

FSU scored 57 against A&M on Friday. They already have 43 with 15:50 remaining.

The guys from the WarChant.com are telling me that FSU never shoots like this. I believe them. 50% from three is a pretty good number. The lower seeded team has done very well from that distance this weekend.

Abromaitis is noticeably frustrated. We are well on our way for both of the "home" schools to lose tonight.

ND is down 19 at 47 - 28 and for the first time tonight, I think they are going to lose. They need Hansbrough to take over because he's the only one not playing tentative out there right now.

Notre Dame has 6 losses this year. Five are by double digits.

It's 52-29 at the under 12 minute TV timeout. FSU is shooting better than 50% from the field and from deep. ND is stuck at 28% and 13% respectively. OUCH.

Brey is really working the sidelines. He's going to be exhausted after tonight. He's like a 6th defender as ND has none gone to a press.

Hansbrough just hit a three and Snaer picked up a technical.

It's an 11-0 run for the Irish and the pro-Irish crowd has come to life.

There are some pretty witty FSU fans behind me. Sounds like they enjoyed themselves well before coming into this dry arena.

It's 54-40 at the under 8 minute TV Timeout. That's 11-2 since the last one. ND needs a similar type run to really give themeslves a chance to win.

Abromaitis is 0-5 from deep and a couple of them have been wide open. He's killing them.

FSU should go right after Hansbrough. He's got 4 fouls and this game would be put to bed if he fouled out

It's 62-47 at the under 4 minute TV Timetout. This one is over. I'm gonna ask Mike Brey about the Big East. I asked Thompson the other day what he thought.

ND is 4 for 25 from three. Georgetown had the same problem. I wouldn't say that either are flawed. Given their roster's, what strategy would have been better. Neither have good big man. You can blame the coach for recruiting and that's valid. But that's how both of these teams had to play to win.

Hansbrough just fouled out and the crowd is killing him. He's taking it pretty well. The house stat channel has the name ~~HANSBROUGH~~ written in just like that.

FSU barely got by A&M the other day. I figured they had a better chance at beating ND. I was right.

Abromaitis has hit a couple of meaningless 3's. His box score won't look as bad now. They had no impact on the game.

Final FSU 71 ND 57

United Center Observations 3/20 - Third Round

There is a steady drip from the ceiling a few rows behind me. Some ND fans are complaining about it. I'd love to know what the usher is supposed to do about it. I bet they wish it was raining 3's.

Well this is now the only game on TV right now. They delay is about 7 seconds. I like it.

The FSU dance team is ridiculous. I mean that in a good way.

The FSU radio play-by-play guy reminds me of Jim Ross.

ND fans left way too early. I'll never understand that move. It's not just their fans. It's fans of every team in every sport. They spend a lot of time/effort/money to get to games and then they leave early.

The drum that starts the Tomahawk Chop is insane. It puts the ones at DC United games to shame. Sorry fellas.

FSU vs ND - In game thread

2011-03-20T23:00:00.000-04:00

Florida State is up early but it's Fool's Gold so far. ND is off to a horrible shooting start (4-15) but FSU has already has 8 turnovers and is only up 5. The Irish will at some point start hitting shots. Won't they?

So I just found out Syracuse lost. That's awesome.

Notre Dame guard Scott Martin is really laboring around the court. I'm not sure what's wrong with him but something is definitely not right.

Hansbrough is having a hard time getting to the hoop. Micahel Snaer is doing a great job of staying all over him without fouling.

Florida State's length is really bothering ND. That's the bad news. FSU struggles to score at times and goes through long droughts. That's the good news.

Halftime FSU 34 ND 23

That is a low half for the Irish. 1-10 from deep isn't going to get it done for them. They are about to pull a Georgetown if they don't watch out. I think they will get back in this. Abromaitis won't stay cold all night.

ND is actually outscoring FSU in the paint while FSU holds the advantage from long distance. It's the exact opposite of what you would expect. Up is down and black is white here in Chicago.

Getting back to Abromaitis - he has thrown up a couple of bricks. Not like him at all. Dude can't flat out shoot.

United Center Observations 3/20 - Third Round

27 minutes sounds like a long time. It's not. It's impossible to catch both press conferences of the previous teams and hit the locker rooms without missing a considerable amount of the next game. I missed about 8 minutes of game time.

There's more FSU fans here than you would think. Well at least more than I would think.

The FSU radio guys do the tomahawk chop with the rest of the crowd. I like it. I'm sure I would hate it if this were a football game though.

Just got the notes from the Purdue and VCU press conferences. I did not know that Purdue was the Old Gold and Black. So who's the Young Gold and Black?

VCU vs Purdue - In Game Thread 2nd Half

2011-03-20T21:19:00.000-04:00

Up 11 on Friday against the Hoyas, the Rams came out and put the game away early. Purdue has already show more life shooting the ball than Georgetown ever did on Friday so I expect them to make VCU earn it a bit more.

Purdue needs to go down low more and they have on both of their opening possessions to start the half. And now they hit a three and it feels like the entire arena is rooting for the Boilers.

VCU has withstood the first attempt by Purdue to cut into the lead and has actually increased it to 15 with 14:15 remaining.

After watching VCU torch Georgetown from behind the arc, Purdue is really up on the shooters. This is leading to some nice penetration and assists for VCU. You can't guard both. VCU is doing a good job of making one have to guard 2.

I really think Purdue is panicking. They aren't using their inside advantage at all. They have already hoisted up 19 shots from deep, making only 6.

We are halfway through the 2nd half and its VCU 65 Purdue 48. I'm calling this one right now.

Purdue had given up 70 or more four times in 33 games this season. VCU has 82 with 3:30 left.

I hope the AD at VCU has a list of coaching candidates for men's basketball because Shaka Smart won't be in Richmond much longer. I dare Oklahoma to hire him. I wonder if Jeff Capel is watching

Final VCU 94 Purdue 76

Ok I need to go get some quotes for a real story.

United Center Observations 3/20 - Third Round

Does anybody not know the words to Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer?

Their is a VCU cheerleader that walks up and back the length of the court on her hands. I wasn't in the mood to appreciate it on Friday. Tonight I am.

VCU vs Purdue - In Game Thread

2011-03-20T20:17:00.000-04:00

If VCU beats Purdue tonight they will become the second team from the Richmond area to end up in the San Antonio regional later this week joining the Spiders of Richmond. That's crazy if you think about it.

VCU has been able to make this an up tempo game so far. Their 3 point shots haven't been falling and as a result the lead has gone back and forth. They are pressing on their makes and it's causing some trouble for Purdue.

Uh oh Boilermaker fans, the Rams are on a 13-0 run. The 3's are starting to drop and the lead is up to 12.

Rodriguez has been making good decisions for the most part. The few bad passes he has thrown have been on breaks and his teammates have bailed him out by saving the would-be turnover.

Halftime VCU 42 Purdue 32

The Rams were up 11 on Georgetown. It's a little bit more of a high scoring game at this point. VCU has made 18 field goals at the break. By comparison they made 18 field goals against Georgetown in the entire game. They just haven't hit as many 3's or free throws (yet).

United Center Observations 3/20 - Third Round

I hope the Florida State radio guy is getting paid a lot because he has been working his tail off to get his operation ready for the next game.

I love how they announce scores that have been a final for hours inside to the public as if it's the 1960's and everybody is lost without a paper the next morning in their driveway.

The VCU band is tremendous. They have been the musical class of the Chicago site and it's not even close.

Well John Thompson Jr. is still here. Unfortunately that's about the only familiar face today.

The guys from something called WarChant.com are sitting next to me.

It's almost halftime and the FSU radio guy is still trying to connect all of the cables and wires that he needs to get on the air. It's exhuasting to watch.

It's really hard to turn the channel on the TV down here. TNT HD is on ch 61.6 and it takes forever to get there. I went with SD for awhile. So, yeah, that's how hard it is.

Just got my one minute "conversation" out of the way with JT2. If he didn't favor one of his legs and he could walk faster, they would be more 15 second "conversations".

Peace brah

Purdue 65 - St. Peter's 42 - Final

2011-03-18T21:47:00.000-04:00

Nothing like a nice little 7-0 to start the half for the Boilermakers to push their lead to 40-17. The St. Peter's fans behind me are really into their team. I'm glad somebody is.

I've never heard fans cheer so hard for a team getting totally destroyed. It's nice. I think.

St. Peter's is starting to get some stuff from their press and has cut the lead to 16 at 50-34.

In other news the Georgetown section is starting to fill up. I know that the Hoyas had to request more than their original allotment of 550 tickets. But as expected ND and Purdue fans are the big fan bases at this event.

St. Peter's is constantly looking for the back door cut. They aren't getting it and have thrown a couple of bad passes trying to open it.

One more media timeout and this baby is over. 53-36 in favor of Purdue.

This one looks over. I'm going to really miss the Peacock mascot. That's one good looking bird. I'm seriously considering getting a picture with him after this one is over.

St. Peter's did not give up but they just didn't have it. I figured this would be the worst game of the day and it has been, so far.

Now it's time for the big time.

Game 3: Purdue (3) vs Saint Peter's (14)

2011-03-18T20:35:00.000-04:00

Purdue (25-7)

Starters
E'Twaun Moore G
Lewis Jackson G
Ryne Smith G
JaJuan Johnson F
D.J. Byrd F

Saint Peter's (20-13)

Starters
Nick Leon G
Wesley Jenkins G
Steven Samuels G
Darius Conley F
Ryan Bacon F

I think this will be the one blowout of the day here in Chicago. St. Peter's just doesn't have the height and they only decent team that beat this season was Alabama. Purdue has two pros on their roster. It's gonna take a lot from the Peakcocks tonight.

The arena is filling up better than I thought. Everybody I talked with said the Purdue fan base wasn't rather apathetic toward their basketball team even thought it's been more successful than their football team.

It's 24-13 with under 5 minutes left in the first half. I guess you could say that St. Peter's is hanging around. I think it's more of Purdue just screwing around.

There are mismatches at all 5 positions on the court. I'm sure it's been a great season for St. Peter's but it's about to end and end badly.

Halftime

Purdue 33
St. Peter's 17

It feels like 133 to 17.

There's not much to say about this one. So I won't.

In between the doubleheaders 3-18

2011-03-18T19:36:00.000-04:00

There was not much time in between the doubleheaders tonight.

I went back and caught the last half of the Texas A&M press conference. I can't imagine anything worse than having to interview the losing team - especially the seniors that know they aren't playing at the next level.

I was wondering what the Big Ten was going to do with the buffet today because of the whole "no meat on Friday's" thing during Lent. They played it safe and went with grilled cheese and soup. It was alright. I've had worse.

The good thing about an A&M loss is that I think FSU can beat Notre Dame. The bad thing is that the A&M media guys were very friendly and informative. They are going home. The second good thing is that a lot of space just opened up to my right. I've not got total control of the HDTV at the end of my row. It's about 30 seconds faster than the internet version of the game.

The guys from Richmond covering VCU are all wearing WRIC shirts. I kinda want one.

It's starting to get real around these parts. The Georgetown assistant coaches are sitting a few seats to my left. I'm starting to see a few Hoya fans I recognize.

I think today is a good day to start a winning streak.

Peace brah

Florida State 57 - Texas A&M 50 - Final

2011-03-18T18:37:00.001-04:00

All that's between me and the buffet is 12:43 of ugly basketball. This game has turned into a real rock fight. Jay Bilas says that a lot and I've never been quite sure what it meant until just now. Now I know.

Florida State has switched to a zone and it has slowed A&M down to a glacial pace.

A&M scored the first 5 points of this half. FSU has responded well by scoring the last 11. Only 16 points in the first 8 minutes. Riveting.

FSU has dominated points in the paint (16 to 4) and block shots (6 to 1). A&M has been kept alive by three point shooting (6 for 14).

The guy from the 12th Man Magazine says today's performance is very much indicative of the way they play. I'm starting to really wonder if either of these teams can impose their will on the Irish on Sunday. I think ND fans can start booking their tickets for the River Walk in San Antonio. Neither of these teams will be able to score enough to beat ND.

The fans of both of these teams are hard to distinguish. They both wear a maroon type color. A&M actually wears maroon while I believe FSU wears garnet. It's hard to tell which team the fans in the upper deck are rooting for during this game.

Speaking of fans, the A&M faithful are intense. They are right across from me and pretty boisterous. They obviously don't want to go back to College Station tonight.

Florida State is pulling away. Some of those three pointers are starting to drop as their lead increases.

I'm going to be really impressed if either team finds 60 points today.

FSU is up 8 with 2:28 to go. I'm calling it.

The FSU cheerleaders have changed outfits about 100 times during this game. It's exhausting to watch them come out in something new every 5 minutes.

And we have a final here in the second game of the day.

FSU 57

A&M 50

The Seminoles just dominated the paint at both ends. The Aggies came to Chicago and scored 50 points on 31% shooting. That just isn't going to get a win in March.

So we have one game set for Sunday. Notre Dame (2) will take on Florida State (10) for a trip to San Antonio. I think it will be a mistake for FSU to zone the Irish. A big mistake

I have that war chant stuck in my head. It's like I'm at a Braves game.

Ok I've got about an hour before the next game. Buffet time!

St Peters's vs Purdue is next.

Game 2: Texas A&M (7) vs Florida State (10)

2011-03-18T17:36:00.002-04:00

Texas A&M (24-8)

Starters
B.J. Holmes G
Dash Harris G
David Loubeau F
Nathan Walkup F
Khris Middleton F

Florida State (21-10)

Starters
Derwin Kitchen G
Michael Snaer G
Deividas Dulkys G
Bernard James F
Okaro White F

I'd like to see the winner of this game knock off the Irish on Sunday. I think Florida State has the better shot at doing just that. Just like Georgetown with Chris Wright, the big questions for FSU is whether or not F Chris Singleton will return.

You know what I've never seen? I've never seen a team go 7:15 without scoring a point to start a game. I had never seen it before Texas A&M did just that today. This is going to be the quickest game of the tournament.

So the bad news is that A&M is in a scoring drought. The good news is that so is FSU. I mean it's 7-2 Seminoles at the under 12 minute media timeout. That's insane.

A bunch of us were actually ignoring the game being played in front of us to watch the end of the Mason - Villanova game. Talk about your epic collapses. Jay Wright's boys lost 6 straight and 11 of their final 16 to end the season. DePaul took them to overtime. DEPAUL.

Ok back to the game in front of me.

We are at the under 8 minute TV timeout and its all knotted up at 12. A&M is on a 9-0 scoring run. FSU coach Leonard Hamilton has used 10 players so far but none of them wear a headband and by the name of Singleton.

And here comes Singleton right on cue. Nice ovation from the Seminole faithful behind me and to the left.

Singleton hasn't played in awhile and is making up for lost time on fouls. He picked up 3 in limited minutes. He doesn't have his sea legs yet.

Both teams are shooting under 30% from the field. FSU can't make a three pointer and A&M are struggling from the line. A lot of this is good defense but not all of it. Some of it is really bad offense.

We have mercifully reached the halfway point in this slug fest.

A&M 26
FSU 23

That's not a bad output from the Aggies considering they did all of their scoring in a little less than 13 minutes.

Live from Chicago

2011-03-18T17:11:00.000-04:00

Ok well I'm here on press row for Hoyareport.com. Georgetown doesn't play until the late game so I've got to get through 3 games before the Main Event. I'm planning on blogging during other games while my Georgetown write ups will be on the rivals.com site.

It's nice to finally see some basketball after all of the interviews and practices yesterday.

The media sit in the two rows around the court. M1 is reserved for tv and radio types. M2 is for the writers/bloggers/whatever. That's where I am. As far as my location on M2, I think I got lucky. I'm facing the benches near mid-court. John Thompson is to my left in M1.

The guys from HoyasHoops.com are sitting next to me but they haven't showed up yet which is great because we are really jammed in here. Georgetown Voice is not here yet but Georgetown play-by-play guy Rich Chvotkin is and we have been talking the entire time. He talks the same in person as he does on the air - FAST.

The guy to my right is from the 12th Man Magazine which is prefect because I don't know that much about A&M hoops other than the fact that Naji Hibbert plays there.

The halftimes (20 min) are longer than normal college basketball halftimes (15). College basketball games normally run about 2 hours. They have been averaging 2 and a half hours through the first day because of the longer commercial breaks. I think the sponsors would be happier if everybody just ran an informercial.

Being able to watch the other games on my laptop while the game in front of me is going on is a dream come true. The absolute worst thing about attending NCAA Tournament games is missing the other games around the country. I don't have that problem.

I can also get up and hit the hospitality snack bar or just go back into the media room where there are TVs everywhere. It's basically the best set-up a nerd like me could ask for during a game.

The internal stat feed is incredible. The Big Ten has a password protected website that provides instant stats. It's been great although I have some problems with the guy scoring blocks. It's hard to get credit for a block today.

As a fan, there are a few things I would change about NCAA Tournament games. Here is my list:

1. Game Highlights on the Big Screen. They don't show highlights of other games. Why?
2. Show games during the break. They don't show other games during the 27 minute break between games. Again, why?
3. I'll have a Stella thanks. They don't serve beer. All off campus venues allow beer during the regular season. Beer companies are a rather big sponsor of NCAA sports. Seems kind of silly not to offer up the adult sodas for the fans. Now I couldn't be drinking right now but in the past I have hated it.

Well that was my attempt to paint the picture of where I am and what I'm doing.

Peace brah

Notre Dame 69 - Akron 56 - Final

2011-03-18T16:02:00.000-04:00

I don't want to keep beating a dead horse but Zeke Marshall is just either having a bad day or isn't quite that good. He started the 2nd half just like he ended the first half - with a miss. He's now 1-10. That's criminal.

ND has pushed the lead to 9 and Akron wisely calls a timeout before the first media timeout. This game is about to get away from them and Coach Dambrot feels it.

The Irish fans are a late arriving bunch. The United Center know has the ND home game feeling that I expected. I wonder what they were all doing that might have made them miss most off the first half.

Well we are almost 7 minutes into the 2nd half and Akron has put up 3 points on one made field goal. ND might be lucky to get this kind of performance out of the way early because they are letting Akron get the shots they want. They just can't make them. It really is that simple.

We had a fast and furious couple of minutes where the refs were letting it go both ways. I thought Akron was unfortunate not to get a goal tending call after cutting the lead to 5. It's back up to 10 at the under 7 minute media timeout.

Zeke update: Good news is that he has mad 1 of his last 2 shots. Bad news is that he's 2-12 overall.

There's a new kid killing Akron. His name is Brett McKnight and he doesn't pass. He seems to be having a competition with Zeke as to who can miss more shots. He's 3 for 12 so it's close. Too early to call right now. The problem with McKnight is that he started 3 for 4 so he was "feeling it".

We have our first final of the day from Chicago.

ND 69
Akron 56

Missed Shots Final

Zeke 11
McKnight 9

Every time Akron made a run, they seemed to lose Abromaitis for three pointer. He was 3-3 from deep.

Final analysis: It was my first time seeing Akron play and they don't play very well as a team. They have their spurts but its not enough against a quality opponent like ND. They played like individuals for long stretches. Brett McKnight's play exemplified this point. He came off the bench, hit a few shots, and became a black hole for the remainder of the game. It's one thing to just miss good shots - that was Zeke's problem. It's another thing to just force stuff.

I'm pretty familiar with Notre Dame and they were a bit off today. You have to give some of the credit to Akron but some of it was them just missing open looks. They had 16 assists on their 21 makes which is a great ratio. They survived a scare today and that's what good teams do. They pile up wins even when they aren't at their best.

Game 1: Notre Dame (2) vs Akron (15)

2011-03-18T14:50:00.000-04:00

Akron has a tough job today with Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish do an incredible job of spacing the court with shooters at all 5 spots. Akron is going to need a lot of help from ND tonight in the form of missed shots.

The last 15 seed to beat a 2 was 10 years ago when Hampton knocked off Iowa State. I watched that game (Georgetown played the winner). I wouldn't mind seeing another one of those.

I really don't know what to expect from the Zips but if they shoot half as well as fell MAC member Ohio did in their first round game against Georgetown last year, they will give themselves a chance to win. Ok I just looked it up and Ohio beat up on Akron twice this season. That can't be good.

Akron is ice cold from the field. That's a problem. That's a big problem

Zeke Marshall is a 7 footer that is playing like you would expect a 7 footer from the MAC to play. That's another problem.

So the Akron fans are right behind me and they have been standing most of the time. I'm guessing that they are used to going to soccer games

We are at the half and Akron is only down 4 at 34-30.

Ok I'm really distracted. I'm trying to type while John Thompson is talking to one of the Florida State coaches two seats down from me. Maybe I should go ask him about that time he took a picture with me in 10th grade. That would be a good ice breaker.

2nd Half Adjustments for Akron: Their big man is 1-9 from the field. When he gets the ball down low he should be kicking it back out. Akron has looked their best when they really share the ball. I've count 5 horrible shots. They need to go away from driving to the hoop. That isn't working. Credit to their coach for already using 9 players. He's not going to leave anything on the court today.

Play of the Half: Hansbrough showed why he won't be playing in the NBA on two late possessions. He loves going to the hoop. He isn't quick enough or big enough to do that in the league. Zeke has sent his shot twice. It's almost as if Ben couldn't believe it so he tried it again. Same result.

Ok 2nd half tip is about to start. I'll be back

United Center Media Day

2011-03-17T14:44:00.000-04:00

Just a quick setting of my scene.

I'm sitting in the Media Room in the United Center. There are huge life-like pictures of Bulls greats on the walls everywhere - Jordan, Pippen, Sloan, Rodman. About 5 steps away is the interview room. I just sat in on Mike Brey's press conference. I've got the ODU - Butler came up on my screen from the Verizon Center. I just heard the ND Fight Song as the Irish took the court for their practice session. I'll probably get up in a few minutes to see if they are doing any real drills or just playing knock-out.

There's a lot going on and I could get used to this type of action.

Update: Georgetown and VCU press conferences don't start until 4:30 CT.

Selection Sunday

2011-03-13T16:35:00.000-04:00

Here are my predictions for the Sweet 16 Seeds:

1: Kansas, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Duke

2: Notre Dame, San Diego State, Connecticut, Texas

3: UNC, Louisville, Kentucky, BYU

4: Purdue, Syracuse, Florida, Wisconsin

I have the Hoyas as a 6 seed playing Gonzaga. Three other teams I could see them playing are Penn State, Butler, or Colorado.

The Big East will shatter the record for teams from one conference making the Tournament with 11. They are all deserving but I don't see any as a favorite to make it to Houston.

Off to St. Leo's.

Peace brah

Championship Saturday

2011-03-12T23:26:00.000-05:00

It's pretty important that Connecticut lose tonight.

A Huskies win will see them tie Georgetown for the most Big East Championships. It would also put the Emperor, I mean Calhoun, into first place all by himself, passing JT2.

Nobody with a soul wants to see that.

Jumping ahead to the end of the game because I didn't feel like blogging during it.

Connecticut wins a thriller. The Big East Tournament is special. It's a shame cheaters get to win. The slap on the wrist the Huskies received from the NCAA should make USC Football pretty upset.

The only good thing I can see coming from Kemba's week at MSG is that everybody will forget about Gerry McNamara's week from 2006. Everybody wins when the Orange lose.

Bracket party tomorrow at 5:30pm. Until then.

Peace brah

Friday Night in the Garden

2011-03-12T21:25:00.001-05:00

There's nothing like it. There's nothing like a Friday Night in the Garden.

I've been fairly fortunate lately. Over the past six seasons, Georgetown has played four times on Friday Night, winning three of those games.

This is not one of those years. Making matters worse is the first game tonight.

Syracuse is playing Connecticut in the first semi-final and for me, that's the worst possible match-up that the Big East Conference has to offer. I can usually find a reason to root for one team or the other. Not tonight. I have to dig deep. Calhoun is opposite the Orange sideline so it's really a no win.

But there is one real that trumps everything. And that rule is never, ever, no matter what, root for the slime in Orange. Never.

So because of the Boeheim rule, I'm stuck rooting for that cheating, rotting corpse Calhoun. Man I feel dirty. The bright side is that if they end up playing 5 games in 5 days I doubt they make it out of the first weekend of the tournament.

Making matters worse is that Orange Fan Boy Sean McDonough is doing play-by-play. He would be insufferable if not for the excellent work of Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery. Those guys are the best in the business.

I can't believe this game is going into OT. They played six OT's and ESPN won't let you forget about it.

Well there is a God. Syracuse lost.

Tonight is turning out to be a damn good night. ND blew a huge lead and is now 0-4 all time in the semi-finals. Mike Brey is such a great coach, pilling up COY award after COY award, yet he's only been past the first weekend of the tournament once in 11 years with zero regular season BE titles and zero BET titles.

I'm all in for Louisville in the Finals.

It's been a tough tournament for me as a fan but it has a chance to avoid total disaster.

Peace brah

Arsenal 3-8-11

2011-03-08T23:13:00.001-05:00

I didn't expect Arsenal to advance past Barcelona into the Champions League Quarterfinals. I figured they needed to win by at least 2 at The Emirates to give themselves a real good chance in the return leg. Well they didn't. They only won 2-1.

That being said, they way the lost today was absolutely ridiculous. Going down a man on a soft yellow card was comical. It's one thing to call the entire game by the letter of the law. It's another thing to just pick and choose when the rules are enforced.

There's a really good chance that Barcelona would have won or forced OT on their own but the second yellow that resulted in a red card for RVP was game, set, match, point. But that's the thing about soccer, you never know. Since the scoring is so few and far between, dominating a game doesn't necessarily equate to victory.

I wouldn't be making apologies as a Barcelona fan but I would blush a little. The only thing I can compare it to in my own little world of fandom is the Georgetown - Villanova game from Jan 2008. That game was tied and Jon Wallace was fouled with .7 left about 80 feet from the hoop. The Hoyas were in the one and one and they got the W. It was an extremely soft foul that should have never been called.

One last thing - I hope Dani Alves knows that there is a special place in Hell for fake ass players like him. His team is too good to be pulling that kind of nonsense.

Peace brah

Arsenal 3-5-11

2011-03-07T23:45:00.000-05:00

With Manchester United's loss at Chelsea during the week, Arsenal took the field against Sunderland today with the opportunity to cut the gap at the top of the EPL table to one point with a win.

A quick look at the calendar shows that it's March which, for Arsenal, means that most of their important offensive firepower would be out due to varying forms of injury.

It's not so much that Walcott, Fabregas, and Van Persie are out, it's their replacements. More specificially it's Denilson, Bendtner, and Rosicky. The last time Rosicky played well was in Germany against the US in the 2006 World Cup.

Bendtner is a legend in his own mind and Denilson is Denilson. He just isn't very good.

Is Wenger honestly surprised that his top guys miss so much time? Maybe he should be better prepared to win without them later in each season.

Arsenal were probably unlucky not to get either the penalty call on Arshavin or the the onside call on Arshavin but those things happen when your margin of error is so razor thin. I really think that to win any game you have to beat the other team and overcome the inevitable bad calls. Arsenal didn't really do either as they drew the Black Cats 0-0 to close the gap to 3.

Van Persie being hurt brings me to the Carling Cup.

I have long disrespected both the Carling Cup and, to some extent, the FA Cup. Maybe it's a cultural thing but as an American follower of Arsenal, I could care less about the CC and th FA Cup.

I know there is a lot of heat on Wenger because he hasn't won a trophy in awhile but would winning the Carling Cup really fix all of that? I don't think so. I think winning the CC is cool if you win other stuff as well. On it's own a CC trophy is cool for teams like Birmingham.

It's all about winning the league and doing well in the Champions League. For instance I think a season that saw Arsenal win the CC but not advance out of the Champions League Group Stage would be considered a disappointment.

So for Wenger to play any of his irreplaceable players in the CC is ridiculous.

For me those players are:

Cesc
RVP
Nasri
Walcott
Song
Any non-injured CB

I used to like the old AW strategy in the CC. Play the kids and take the results. It's not that important other than to develop players.

Peace brah

Thursday March 3

2011-03-03T23:44:00.002-05:00

Championship Week started tonight on the ESPN family of networks. I've always viewed a week as seven consecutive days but the people at ESPN obviously have a different understanding of the word. Their week goes from Thursday March 3rd to Sunday March 12th.

That's 10, count 'em, 10 days.

I watched parts of both semi-final games in the Big South but it just isn't that much fun when you don't know the players.

The Big South final is set. UNC-Asheville vs Coastal Carolina. Georgetown beat both of those schools this year. If you are going to schedule mid-majors, it's smart to make sure they are the good ones.

Ok back to the real games.

I can't believe Jordan Theodore is playing tonight for Seton Hall. News came out yesterday that Theodore is up on gun charges due to some incredible circumstances.

Here's a recap of his "situation" from earlier in the week: Theodore is facing gun charges.

A few weeks ago Seton Hall played Villanova in a home game. Before that game, Seton Hall guard Keon Lawrence was kicked off the team. Well at that Villanova game the boyfriend of Lawrence's mom found Theodore's mom in the stands and beat her up. Apparently Lawrence's family was upset at some of the comments that Theodore said when Keon was kicked off the team.

Theodore's mom ended up being taken away from that Villanova game by an ambulance. Later that night Theodore and two other guys wearing ski masks went to Lawrence's dorm room with guns. Nothing really happened until these recent gun charges.

Just another day at a Catholic Institute of higher learning in New Jersey.

Unbelievable. The mess that was Bobby Gonzalez (former coach) lives on.

This game is a little too close for St. John's liking. A loss means that they basically pass the double-bye to Syracuse.

And Lavin just got tossed. I've never seen a coach ejected and then be allowed to huddle up with his team for a few minutes. I've never seen that. This game is over and so is the double-bye for the Johnnies.

Wow the end of this game just keeps getting better. It's turned into something that resembles an AAU affair.

Kennedy just got flipped over by Auda near the baseline. Moments later Okoloji got crushed as he went streaking down the court for a meaningless lay-up with under 10 seconds to go. Burrell was the culprit and was promptly ejected. You could see that coming a mile away especially after what Auda did.

Old school Big East Basketball. I love it.

I'm going to watch the last half of the Wisconsin - Indiana game. I imagine that it might be one of the last times I'll ever have the honor of seeing Jeremiah Rivers play basketball. I wouldn't give the former Georgetown Hoya reserve guard so much grief if he hadn't had so many ridiculous comments to say on his way out the door.

In his three years with the Hoosiers, not only has he failed to improve, but he has regressed. Ironic for a kid who claimed that the Georgetown offense was holding him back. What a clown.

Well Championship week continues tomorrow. Until then.

Peace brah

Tuesday Feb 22

2011-02-22T23:45:00.000-05:00

Well there is only one Big East game tonight but it does involve a team that I want to lose as Louisville travels to Rutgers. I'm not going to hold my breath

Rutgers opened up with a very interesting strategy tonight. They started the game with four consecutive offensive possessions without taking a shot. They might want to re-think that one before their next conference game.

Louisville is shooting a frigid 18% midway through the 2nd half. It's been over seven minutes since they made a field goal.

I've been rooting for Rutgers for a little over an hour now and I'm ready to consider a life filled with crime and drugs. I can't imagine what it's like to do this over an entire season.

Tonight's game is a home game for Rutgers. Red is their main color. Most of their fans are wearing red. Most of the markings on the court are red. The only thing inside the RAC that isn't red is the Rutgers uniforms. They are white. But Louisville is wearing red. It's sort of confusing.

Well Louisville just made a shot. It had been over 9 minutes since they last made one but they are still up 15. That's on you Rutgers.

I wonder if Mike Rice wishes he was still at Robert Morris right now.

Ok we are at the under four minute TV timeout. I'm calling it.

I wonder how things are going for Michigan State up in Minnesota tonight. Let's find out.

The best part about the Big Ten Network is Gus Johnson. It's not even close.

The Spartans are down one with over 2 minutes remaining. I expect Minnesota to blow this one. The last time I saw Minnesota they beat UNC in Nov or Dec. They must be missing people tonight because they have zero guard play tonight.

Well from one raised court to another, what is happened to Vanderbilt? I think Tennessee has closed this game on a 10-1 run. Yikes. I really don't want to see the Vols anywhere near Georgetown's bracket next month. D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S.

Well I'm going to close out my sports day by watching some Concacaf Champions League. In a langauge that I can't really understand. Spanish.

Peace brah

Monday Feb 21

2011-02-21T21:33:00.002-05:00

We are down to the final two Big Monday's of the season. Tonight's game between Syracuse and Villanova is both good and bad. It's good because one of them is definitely getting a loss. It's bad because one of them is getting a win which means that there will only be one message board meltdown later on tonight.

Villanova is currently 1 for 17 from the field. It's been about 8 minutes since they made a shot yet they only find themselves down by 6. That's bad news for Syracuse and good news for the rest of humanity.

The refs are really letting them play tonight. I like it. I'm waiting for Jay Bilas proclaim this one a good old fashioned Big East Rock Fight.

There aren't many commercials that immediately make me crave their product but pizza does it every time. I recently ate dinner but one sight of a Papa John's pizza in HD and I'm ready to kill a large pizza. By myself.

There was a lot of unintentional comedy at the first half. It all started with a horrible pass by Jardine. Naturally he made matters worse by immediately picking up his 3rd foul and giving 'Nova an and-one opportunity. Villanova missed the FT but Pena got the rebound. Pena missed but there was a Syracuse lane violation. He missed again but there was another lane violation - both on Keita. But it didn't stop there because Keita picked up a Technical. Did I mention that Boeheim complained during the entire sequence? Well he did.

There's a player on the end of the Syracuse bench that stands up and goes crazy after every play. It's really annoying even by Orange standards.

When will teams figure out that you need to make Syracuse work on offense instead of letting them get easy buckets in transition? They aren't super talented in the half court.

I don't think Villanova can continue to call themselves Guard U if they are going to shoot like a Girl's JV squad. It doesn't seem appropriate anymore.

Well we are at the under 4 minute TV timeout and Villanova is down 5. I don't think they can score enough points to win this one. It's gonna take around 68.

Denny's and IHOP have a lot of ads tonight. The Syracuse fan base is mainly obese so it's good to know your market.

Corey Fisher is 0 for 9 from deep. That is disgusting.

Villanova has a chance down 3 with 34 seconds left. Stokes better be the one that takes this.

And Armwood is going to the line. Brick City right here boy.

Syracuse is going to win this one. Villanova has a lot to fix before the Big East Tournament starts. They looked dreadful tonight. They are going to finish this game shooting less than 30% from the field. That is pitiful.

So Kansas is the 2nd part of Big Monday. Big surprise.

Big XII Basketball is pretty generic.

Aside from Kansas, I get the impression that the other schools don't even care all that much. I also get the feeling that Kansas fans are just fans of Kansas. What I mean is that I don't think Jayhawk Nation is living and dying with Big XII basketball like Big East and ACC fans do. I just can't see many Kansas fans getting excited for the Baylor - Iowa State game. I just can't.

I really like listening to Bobby Knight but he's always doing some horrible game such as Oklahoma State at Kansas.

Seriously how does Kansas recruit east coast kids? I don't get it.

I love when Brent Musburger tries to talk about non-basketball related topics, such as Robinson's recent loss of family, only to have Knight completely ignore the comment and transition right into the footwork of a post player. It's equally awkward and entertaining at the same time.

Ok I'm out for awhile.

Peace brah

Saturday Feb 19

2011-02-19T15:05:00.001-05:00

College Gameday really needs to be more flexible with their traveling road show. Illinois v Michigan State might have seemed like a killer idea when the schedules came out over the summer but it's a complete dud right now.

We have two Big East games at Noon today. Well more like one and a half since DePaul in involved.

Obviously the game between Pitt and St. John's at MSG will be getting almost all of my attention. I'm tired of Lavin in the white sneakers. He looks like a dope. I'm sort of conflicted in this game because I want Georgetown to finish with the double bye but I really hate all things Pitt.

Just as I was complaining that it was hard for coaches to pick up technical fouls, both Dixon and Lavin have been T'd up in the first half.

Gibbs is looking good so far after his MCL induced hiatus.

St. John's is really tough to beat when they are able to drive. Georgetown learned that the hard way and was able to stay in front of their man and force jumpers in the rematch. Hardy was the main problem in that first encounter. He got to the cup and lived at the line. Not so much in round two.

It seems like in every Big East game involves a crazy scoreless streak. Pitt just went 4 minutes without a bucket.

What in the world is going on in the Villanova - DePaul game? Blue Demons up 1 with 5 minutes left.

Look a lot of schools name the court after a former great coach. I get that. However at DePaul they have named the court after both Ray AND Marge Meyer. That's weird.

I love the fans chanting Brittney Griner after McGhee. That's awesome. I think the fans also did it at Villanova.

So DePaul and Villanova are tied with 1:12 left. I guess I'll watch it now.

Nova down 1 with 20 seconds left. Get excited. I love how DePaul took two 3's on their last possession. Overtime is for losers. Don't you dare foul.

And Fisher forces overtime in Chicago. I think we all know who is going to win this game.

Back to MSG and Pitt just let Hardy get to the line late in the game. There is no need to get up on him. I really think that defenders should give him the jumper.

Johnnies up 2 with 27.6 to go.

You know I was cool with it when Doris Burke first started doing color on men's games awhile ago. Now the problem is that it seems as if she does every freaking Big East game possible. Her fake excited voice/laugh is like fingernails on a blackboard.

Pitt up 1 with 11.3 left. I'd make Hardy shoot a jumper.

And Hardy drove and won it on a layup. I guess St. John's should be an early favorite at the BET taking their home form into account. I'd love for them to be the 4 seed that plays Pitt in the semis.

The Big East Standings are getting awfully crowded at the top. The race for a double bye is getting kind of crazy. Hoyas, Redmen, Wildcats, and Cardinals all at 9-5.

Well by the time I got to the WVU - ND game, it was basically over. I'm not sure how it got to be a WVU victory, but it did. I did, however, tune in just in time to see both Huggins and Brey get T'd up. Good. I'm glad. It's about time these high priced complainers get put in their places a little bit.

There is one assistant coach on the ND bench that I want to knock out. I don't know who he is but he just looks like somebody you want to punch in the face.

Hoyas at USF at 7pm

Peace brah

That's the Uconn I know...

2011-02-19T14:55:00.001-05:00

I wish it had happened a few nights earlier but I did get to see Calhoun act like the classless tool that he is this week as the Huskies got run by Louisville on Friday night. Somebody needs to put him out of his misery. I'm sure that his players tune him out because his sideline blowups are so frequent.

I watch a lot of college basketball and I have a major problem with the way technical fouls are called. There are some coaches, Calhoun, that bitch all game at officials yet they rarely get hit with the T. Conversely, some players can get a T for screaming after a dunk or even looking at somebody the wrong way. It's horrible and I hate it. The games should be more about the players than the coaches.

What went wrong in Hartford on Wednesday:

1. Getting to the rim. Connecticut shot better than 60% from 2 in both halves because they got a large number of layups, put-backs, dunks, etc.

2. Walker's Friends. This is kind of an extension of #1 but once Walker made some shots he got 2 and 3 defenders collapsing on him. I wasn't worried about Kemba getting his 30 plus. I was worried about him getting others involved. He had 9 assists to go with his points. That was a disaster.

3. Freeman. Austin had a bad shooting night. He's actually in what you might consider a 3 point shooting slump.

For as poorly as Georgetown executed on both ends, they had a chance to win the game late. Instead of getting blown out they actually came back and took the lead with under 4 minutes remaining. From that point they didn't make another shot.

The game reminded me a lot of the loss at St. John's. Both the Huskies and the Redmen got too many good looks around the rim and Freeman struggled in both contests. In the St. John's game Freeman missed a late, wide-open 3 that would have pushed the lead to 4. In the Connecticut game his shot would have put the Hoyas up 2. You can't survive with that kind of late game performance from your ace on the road. You just can't when the margins are so tight.

But all is good in the world tonight knowing that Calhoun is upset.

Peach brah

Super Tuesday Feb 15

2011-02-15T23:15:00.000-05:00

Lots of interesting games tonight.

I love how valuable basketball time isn't ruined by hockey on any the ESPN channels. Growing up there was something called "National Hockey Night" on either ESPN or ESPN2. It was the worst.

I was looking forward to getting a look at George Mason tonight in their big CAA game against VCU but apparently HD cameras are illegal in Richmond. I tuned in for awhile because I have the feeling that the Patriots could be a possible 2nd round opponent for the Hoyas should either school get that far.

On VCU's second possession, they missed 5 shots. It never got better from there. Mason in a rout.

I started to believe that Kentucky was a quality team about 3 weeks ago. Since then they have let me down to the tune of 3-4. Included in those 4 losses are some very questionable losses like Alabama and Ole Miss. Their numbers on offense and defense are still pretty good on KemPom.com but I'm not a believer.

Tonight they have Mississippi State at home and they are probably going to hang on for the W. Right before the half I saw one of the worst examples of home cooking in a long time.

With about a second left before halftime, Kentucky guard Brandin Knight looked to be making a pass to a teammate. The refs decided to really insert their control over the game by not only calling a foul, but calling a shooting foul. MSU coach Rick Stansbury went berserk, and deservedly so. If it hadn't been called a shooting foul there wouldn't had been any free throws at all since UK wasn't in the bonus. So Knight hit 4 out of 5 shots as the Wildcats were completely gifted 4 points "just because".

Greg Monroe picking up a Technical Foul while he was on the bench and didn't say anything at Cameron is still the worst call I have seen in my entire life. Apparently the ref heard somebody behind the bench say something.

It wouldn't be so hard to watch SEC games if the players were better and Jimmy Dykes didn't exist. He's like the Hillbilly version of Dick Vitale.

VA Tech had a great start on Maryland. I stopped watching for awhile and somehow the Terps are up at the half. A loss tonight for Gary would go a long way towards securing a bid in the NIT.

Corey Stokes is out again for Villanova as they take on Seton Hall. I'm going to watch more of that game in the 2nd half but the lack of HD cameras makes it tough. Hazell should set the record for most 3 pointers made in conference games tonight.

St. John's and Marquette just tipped off. With apologizes to Newborn, I'm going all in on Marquette tonight. I'd like to see the Redmen pick up their 6th conference loss tonight.

Villanova - SHU and Maryland - VT are both coming down to the wire. My thumb is really starting to hurt.

A private number just called me. There isn't a chance in the world that I would answer that. I dare them to leave a message.

I wonder how many people are tuning into my20 right now only to find themselves upset that Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader isn't on yet? Sorry Folks. Tech needed a few extra minutes to dispose of the Terps.

Hazell just took an awful shot. I wonder if that's what they talked about in the last timeout. I doubt Pena makes both of these FT's. Rattled in the first one. Missed the 2nd one. Hazell with another miss although this time it was a good shot.

Villanova eeks out a win by not allowing back-to-back four point plays in New Jersey.

Every time I find myself feeling bad for Seton Hall I remember their fans chanting N-I-T at the end of the Georgetown game in the 1993 Big East Tournament. Child Please.

Back to the Marquette game. It's on ESPNU so you get the scores of ridiculous sports on the bottom scroll such as Men's Lacrosse.

Most teams have their coaches wear shoes to promote Coaches vs Cancer one game per season. St. John's has been doing it for a few weeks now. If I had to guess it's because they beat Duke with Lavin and Keady sporting Nike's. They figured it was lucky and are continuing to roll with it through the end of the season.

There is still some time left but I'm calling it in favor of St. John's. Buzz Williams and Co. lost this game on the free throw line and the offensive glass.

Peace brah

Rankings: Week of 2-7-11

2011-02-09T19:01:00.000-05:00

Another week and another eight Big East schools in the AP Top 25. That has become very common. What stuck out to me was how five of them were all bunched up together. I've never seen that before this week.

Pitt is still the highest ranked team at #4. Louisville shows up at #16 while WVU is hanging tough at #25. And then we have the back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back bff's from the Big East.

8. ND

9. Villanova

10. Connecticut

11. Georgetown

12. Syracuse

There should be some shuffling of this Big East deck in next week's poll since a few of those schools play each other this week.

Peace brah

Monday Feb 7

2011-02-08T00:48:00.000-05:00

Well the Christmas Tree is down. (I'm not counting the mini one at WTR's)

I have an idea for this year. I'm going to put it up on Halloween and take it down in early February again. If I do that I will have it up during parts of 5 months - Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, & Feb. I just can't think of a "normal" way to make it touch 6 months. That's a problem for a different year I suppose.

I sent my mom flowers awhile ago. I got them from Pro Flowers. That was a really big mistake. They email me like 8 times a day. Unsubscribing doesn't work. I probably have to enter the witness protection program or get a new email address. I'm not sure which one is easier.

I used to watch How I Met Your Mother. My dvr still records it but I usually just delete it. I gave it another chance tonight. I'm still bored with it. The narration makes me want to fight Bob Saget.

Last night I eavesdropped on a couple arguing about which dvd to purchase at 7-11. Hey it's not my fault that the movies are in the candy aisle.

I don't know what her side of the argument was but his big selling point was that while they already owned a copy of the movie, the particular version at 7-11 had special features. Normally I wouldn't advocate buying a movie at 7-11 that you already own but who can argue with special features? I suspect that the female lost that debate. Weird.

Speaking of movies I'm trying to watch Jennifer's Body right now. It's not going that well. I don't get why she is trying to eat people all of a sudden after getting in the van with the band after that fire. Rocky is doing a really good job of snoring while Meghan Fox is killing high school kids. Amazing really.

Peace brah

Rivalry Week...ESPN said so

2011-02-07T23:37:00.002-05:00

Jay Bilas just referred to the Pitt - WVU game as an old fashioned Big East rock right. I don't even know what that means but I really like it. I like it a lot.

Seriously how lucky is WVU? They get to face Pitt without Ashton Gibbs - one of the few players currently in the running for player of the year in the conference.

The refs have completely lost control of this game. Dante Taylor just bumped into Tim Higgins (official) and Truck Bryant was just hammered (no call) on a fast break lay-up attempt.

A bunch of students at WVU are wearing cheese heads and Packer jerseys. Normally I would find that odd but I'm guessing they are doing it to get under the skin of Steelers fans. I fully endorse such a move.

I have a hard time watching Kansas. Ok that's not entirely fair. I have a hard time watching B12 basketball in general. Luckily Bobby Knight is doing the color so it's bearable tonight.

Hey maybe playing all "crazy" isn't the best move for Missouri. Saw a fan with a Mizzerable sign in the crowd. Not bad.

Tigers just gave up triple digits on the road. Pitt managed to survive without Gibbs. I was rooting for Pitt because I have come to grips with them winning the BE Regular Season title. It bothers me that ND fans think they can still win it. Oh how I want to see them in MSG next month.

Hey do you know who Maryland plays during Rivalry Week? Hint: they are from Virginia and currently ranked 333 in the RPI. Give up? It's Longwood. Apparently Gary is in the let's-get-as-many-wins-as-possible camp come Selection Sunday.

Peace brah

Wednesday Feb 3 - Hoya version

2011-02-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I took the Casual Hoya bus trip up to Philadelphia for the Villanova game. The Hoyas led for most of the game but had to hold on for dear life during the final 2 minutes. I have now seen Georgetown win at Villanova 4 times by some of the smallest margins possible. Unfortunately I did see them lose last year but let's not talk about it. Here are the results:

2011 - Hoyas 69 - Villanova 66
2009 - Hoyas 56 - Villanova 54
2007 - Hoyas 58 - Villanova 55
2005 - Hoyas 66 - Villanova 64

I will never, ever get tired of seeing Georgetown win in Philadelphia against Villanova. I promise. Now that I look at the list above, maybe I should only go during the odd numbered years.

What do Utah State and Coastal Carolina have in common? Well they both lost to Georgetown early in the season and neither has lost a game since then.

Utah State is riding a 16 game winning streak since visiting the Verizon Center on Dec 4th. They Aggies are currently ranked in both the AP and Coaches Polls.

Since losing to the Hoyas on Nov 18th, Coastal Carolina has won 18 straight including their first win at a BCS school when they defeated LSU in Baton Rouge.

Now I'm not saying that Coastal Carolina and Utah State are world beaters but if you are going to play mid majors, play the good ones.

I'm going to have a mid-season look at the race to MSG and the BE POY competition tomorrow.

Peace brah

Tuesday Feb 1

2011-02-02T01:55:00.003-05:00

Our Christmas Tree is still up. It's February.

I really gave a lot of thought to taking it down a few weeks ago but then I saw an opportunity for seasonal immortality. I mean anybody can keep their tree up for a few extra weeks in January but it takes a special kind of effort to have your bubble lights still bubbling during the month of Cupid's birthday. That's what Valentine's Day is right?

I'm giving a show on National Geographic about life in prisons a chance. It's called Hard Time. I had a hard time getting through my first episode. I'll be here all week. One of the worst parts is that all of the inmates are dressed up like Syracuse fans. No wonder they are so upset and pissed off.

Arsenal had a nice comeback win against Everton this afternoon to save their season for at least another weekend. Arshavin and Diaby made a difference upon entering the game. I hate looking at Fellaini. I wish Howard was on Arsenal. Van Persie had one of the best corner kicks I've ever seen. I think I could have scored on it. That's about all I have for that game.

There aren't any Big East games on tonight so I've been slumming it.

Kentucky at Ole Miss was fairly entertaining. I know most of the players on Kentucky but only 2 players on Ole Miss so that adds some serious unknown for me. The game went back and forth a little bit with Ole Miss winning at the end on a ridiculous shot. I was already bitching about the lack of quality on the last play coming out of a timeout but then it went in. Kentucky got a decent look 2 seconds later but missed.

Kansas at Texas Tech was a train wreck. I think it's time to say goodbye to Pat Knight in Lubbock.

UNC at BC was pretty awful as well. BC had two walk-ons in the game at one point. That's not so great for them or the viewer. You know how you know you are watching an ACC game? You see Food Lion commercials for the first time in forever.

Vanderbilt at Florida was decided by a horrible non-call on a three point attempt. I don't think Vernon Macklin has made much progress since leaving Georgetown. Bummer because they could have really used him the last two seasons. At least he hasn't regressed like his PIC (partner in crime) - Jeremiah Rivers.

Rumors are swirling about a point shaving scandal at Syracuse. I'd love for it to be true but I doubt it. I think the rumor got started by some Orange fans that are having a hard time dealing with the current 4 game losing streak. As if that's the most logical explanation as to why they are struggling.

The Wizards lost on the road again. I think that's 25 in a row. That's impressive.

Ok I'm out.

Peace brah

Saturday Jan 22

2011-01-22T22:43:00.002-05:00

Cold without snow is like the movies without popcorn. What's the point? As I type this my phone says its 16 degrees outside. Yikes.

Every time I see one of these commercials with a "message" from the Foundation for a Better Life, I swear it's going to be fake. I keep waiting for it to be a spoof for some terrible beer like Miller Lite, but it seems to be a real foundation. Maybe it's just a really elaborate setup, with the punch line coming during the Super Bowl. *fingers crossed*

So tonight's US National Game is on a Telefutra (spanish), in standard definition, and features lesser known (upstarts if you will) players. Wow. What's not to love?

Around 30,000 morons dressed up in orange had their weekends ruined today by about 2pm today. That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I mean at least when Georgetown loses a home game you can walk outside the arena and, you know, do stuff. And by "do stuff" I mean go from bar to bar arguing about the Princeton Offense and Vee Sanford's lack of playing time. Look I've been to games in the Carrier Dome and that's not the case. You have to wait in a Kings Dominion type line to board a shuttle bus back to where your car is parked. Then you have to drive for awhile before you see a person as opposed to a polar bear.

There was a basketball game from JMU on one of the ESPN channels today for the first time since Lefty was the coach. They lost but it was kind of cool to flip to it and see the Electric Zoo on TV. Of course it would have been a lot cooler if it were in HD. I wonder if one day I will complain that stuff isn't always in 3D? I doubt it.

Ok there is a graphic in the bottom right corner with the Telefutra logo and the letters "HD" next to it. I'm not sure what else that could be trying to say other than High Definition. The problem is that it's not in High Definition.

Look it's always a big deal to be in HD but even more so when all of the players are new to most of us. I mean I'm familiar with their names but not with their faces. It's almost as if US Soccer doesn't want me as a fan. It's hard to think of a worse way to present your product than on a Saturday night in SD on a Spanish channel.

When does Roddick come on anyway? I'm out.

Peace brah

Tuesday Jan 18

2011-01-19T18:44:00.002-05:00

I joked about the Christmas Tree still being up today. Twice actually.

Look who's kidding who here? Is anybody really dying for the room to go back to the way it uses to be pre-tree? I don't think so. It's not as if the couch lights up. The only plus is that Rocky can actually sleep on the couch. Not so much sleeping on the tree. At least I don't think he sleeps on the tree.

I made some tacos but I bought the wrong seasoning and they were terrible. If I wanted bad tacos I could have gone to Carlos O'Kelley's. They looked so good yet tasted like bad. What a cruel dining experience.

I've been up to my neck in the tennis over these first three days of the 2011 Australian Open and I love it. Nobody does sports like DirecTV. NOBODY.

I'm pretty jealous of Chris Fowler. He goes from covering college football to Grand Slam Tennis.

You know I bet I've watched more tennis in the last three days then I will watch of baseball and hockey for the rest of the year. COMBINED. And it won't even be close.

My NHL and MLB knowledge is really stuck in the 80's and 90's. I was questioning my hockey knowledge earlier tonight and, as I suspected, it has really slipped. So I tried to name as many players in the NHL as possible. I got 9 Capitals and 12 guys on other teams. That's it.

By comparison I was able to rattle off 40 high school seniors before I got tired of doing it. The pathetic part is that it that doesn't include juniors or sophomores. Hey high school basketball recruiting is kind of important to the future of the Hoyas program. Why wouldn't I be up to date on it?

Australian Open Day 3

Roddick: He got into the 3rd round without any real problems. Straight sets. He aced out the last game to kill it off. That was pretty fun to watch.

Venus: She was up 4-1 in the first and blew it to go down a set. Even worse is that on the last point during the tiebreaker she looked to have torn her groin. I really can't believe that she came back out to play, let a lone win the last 2 sets. Well she did both. She was in obvious pain but played smart and just got it done. I can't imagine she gets past the 4th round.

Future: Oh where oh where have the young American tennis players gone? Venus, Serena, and Andy are all on their last legs. Are we just waiting for the offspring of Agassi and Graf to grow up? I guess that's not the worst plan I've ever heard. It just seems kind of lazy.

Peace brah

Doing the Talking and the Walking

2011-01-18T03:26:00.001-05:00

There seems to be a lot of complaining going on about the Jets. Most of it is centered around the fact the some of their players and their coach engage in the fine art of talking trash.

So what?

They won the game. They went on the road and beat a team that had beaten them like a drum a month earlier to the tune of 45-3. Had they lost again after running their mouths they would have been a joke. But they didn't. They won. End of discussion.

What's the saying? Don't talk the talk unless you can walk the walk right?

I think Rex Ryan does a good job of deflecting a lot of the attention away from his team and on to him. It would have been very easy to lose that locker room after that 45-3 drubbing to a division rival. It could have killed their season but it didn't. Instead of fielding questions all week about having their lunch money stolen the last time they were in town, most of the buzz was about Ryan vs Belichick.

So far Ryan is 4-1 in the playoffs with back to back wins over Manning and Brady. That's not bad. And don't look now but Belichick has lost 3 straight playoff games including back to back at home. I don't think they have won a post season game since the 2007 AFC Championship game. Of course that's kind of deceiving because they had byes the last two seasons and the season before they were totally screwed by not making it at 11-5. But find me a stat that isn't deceiving right?

I also think that trash talk is great for the NFL. It's especially great in the playoffs because most of the fans watching the games have already seen their teams eliminated. The fact that I think that two teams genuinely hate each other makes me really want to watch the game. I mean these guys aren't out there curing cancer or breaking atoms. They are playing a game of "controlled" violence. I don't know how classy they have to be really. They are paid huge sums of money to knock the snot out of each other. I want my guys a little insane in the membrane.

I mean for example the last thing in the world I want to see immediately after a Redskins loss, and there are far too many of those unfortunately, is for Chris Cooley to be smiling and hugging Eli Manning like they are best friends forever. At that exact moment I'm probably pretty upset so I would appreciate it if the players acted like they cared. At least until they take off their pads. That's all I ask for really.

I read something today where Deion Branch was upset at the way some of the Jets celebrated after their win. Is this guy for real? I know a way to make sure that somebody's celebration doesn't make you sad. It's called winning the game.

You know New England was winning 31-3 in the 4th quarter the last time they played the Jets. They kept in their starters and they scored two more touchdowns to push the final tally to 45-3. One of those touchdowns was through the air. Some people might say that that was an example of being classless and running up the score. I wouldn't. I don't believe that there is such a thing as running up the score, especially in professional sports. If you don't like somebody scoring on you, stop them. Just like the celebration thing. It really is that simple.

I do know some Pats fans out there so please don't take offense to this entry if you somehow miraculously find yourself reading my blog. I just don't think the Jets should be getting criticized after backing up their talk. If they had lost they would be getting killed in the media.

And I really don't care who wins the Super Bowl. I just care who doesn't.

Peace brah

Rankings Monday January 17

2011-01-18T02:24:00.000-05:00

Well the new polls came out and the Hoyas still find themselves in both of them. To be perfectly honest, I find that pretty shocking. I thought there was a slight chance that they might cling to the bottom of the Coaches Poll but that they would definitely be in the "others receiving votes" part of the AP Poll. I was way off as they comfortably made both. They are #23 in the AP and Coaches Polls.

Are they playing like one of the top 25 teams in the country right now? No. Do they have still have one of the best resumes in the country? Yes.

I think that their current ranking is more about the rest of the teams around them also struggling than it is about them standing out due to their own good play. In other words, the other teams around them didn't do enough to leap frog the Hoyas. They could have probably stopped this week's poll at 15 and it would have been very appropriate as the teams at the bottom just didn't seem to want it.

Whenever anybody says something like Team X shouldn't be in the tournament or shouldn't be in the Top whatever, I always ask them who should take their spot. You don't always get an answer.

So when the Polls come out I do three things.

1. Find the Hoyas
2. Find the rest of the Big East
3. Look at the bottom of the "others receiving votes" section and try and guess which schools were on Feinstein's ballot

We already have our answer to #1 above.

There are 7 Big East teams in the Coaches Poll and 9 in the AP. I think there is a real chance of 10 BE teams making the NCAA Tournament. That's sick.

Feinstein was very, very predictable this week. It wasn't even a challenge. I saw James Madison and Coastal Carolina at the bottom of the AP Poll and they had Junior written all over them. What's funny is that he wasn't the only one with JMU on their ballot. Even funnier is that JMU has more votes than UNC this week.

I know I give Feinstein crap for having such a crazy ballot but at least he isn't a mindless voter. For example, I hate it when a team ranked 17th loses a close game to a team and the Top 5 and then subsequently falls in the rankings just because they lost. If they are going to move at all after that loss, they should probably move up a little but the Polls don't work that way.

Luckily there is a tournament at the end of the College Basketball season so these Polls are really just something to talk about amongst nerds.

Peace brah

Monday January 17

2011-01-18T01:18:00.001-05:00

I thought about taking the Christmas Tree down today. I'm going to consider that a step in the right direction.

The Australian Open started Sunday at 7pm eastern time and I must say it was a pleasant surprise. DirecTV has the hookup for the first week of all of the Grand Slams with their mix channel and the ability to watch any of those 6 matches on it's own channel. All in HD.

I'm not going to lie when I say that the most interesting sporting event I saw yesterday was Monfils battling back from being down 2 sets to none and 5 to 2 in the 3rd to eventually win in 5 sets. It would have been a major bummer had he lost that early. He's pretty much the only non American I follow.

Speaking of Americans, I need Serena to get back in the mix by the next Slam. I don't just miss her singles, but she ruins the sister doubles as well. You know it's actually pretty embarrassing that her and Venus are the only good American women. They can't play forever.

I've watched a lot of college basketball in my life and I've never seen a game start the way that the Syracuse - Pittsburgh game did tonight.

Playing at home, the Panthers jumped out to a 19-0 lead. Syracuse then promptly responded with a 17-0 run of their own to cut the Pitt lead to 19-17. I've never seen that. I've never seen two teams take turns trading those types of blows to start a game. Never.

Besides the fact that both Pitt and Syracuse couldn't lose tonight, there was something else bothering me during the telecast. No it wasn't that I kept flipping the channel to see what was going on in the Australian Open. It was Dick Vitale. Dick doesn't the Big East game on Monday but since today was Gigantic Monday with games being played all day, I had he misfortune of listening to him run his mouth about evertying but the actual game going on right in front of him.

Example of Dick being Dick - late in the game with Syracuse trying to mount a comeback, he just keeps going on and on about how San Diego State has a chance to go undefeated before the NCAA Tournament starts.

I've been saying for awhile now that you can't win a Big East game scoring less than 60 points. Georgetown has failed to score 60 in all of their conference losses so far. Well earlier in the day both Connecticut and Villanova seemed really determined to prove me wrong. Connecticut went on to uphold my theory by just barely clearing the bare minimum hurdle in their 61-59 victory.

You know I love Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery doing games. I absolutely love them but I was pretty disappointed in them at the end of the UCONN game. Villanova got the ball with 2.5 seconds after Walker scored and had to go the length of the court. Jay and Bill went on about how surprised they were that Villanova didn't call a timeout. Well it wasn't all that surprising given the fact that they didn't have any. How was there not somebody in their ear telling them that?

And with that I'm calling a timeout. I have one left.

Peace brah

smoke 'em if you got 'em

2011-01-12T15:52:00.000-05:00

Almost all teams, even the good ones, have their weak spots or their problem areas. Hopefully as the season goes on you will improve on those areas and take advantage of your strengths on your way to a successful season.

Georgetown is doing the opposite of that right now. They entered the season with two major weak spots:

1. Rebounding
2. Defense

Both of those problem areas seem to be a function of their 3 guard lineup.

So instead of improving on those weak areas, they have pretty much stayed the same while, at the same time, they have picked up other problem areas:

3. Outside Shooting
4. Turnovers

They are making it nearly impossible to win these close games. By not rebounding very well they are giving the opposition more chances to score. By turning it over they are giving themselves less chances to score. (Also remember that turnovers generally lead to easier scores for the other team.) Right now they are getting the negatives of playing small without the positives.

You can't win like that. And they aren't.

In their most recent loss their was a sequence where Vaughn and Benimon turned the ball over in the backcourt attempting to hand it off to a guard. The result? Back to back lay-ups for WVU. They just gave them 4 points. It was pure torture to watch. Not to be left out of the party Sims had a similar turnover later in the game.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the Hoyas, down by 3 late in the game, turned the ball over on their last 4 possessions.

FOUR.

It was so bad that I half expected them to drag out my dog after the final buzzer had sounded and have all of the players kick him while I was forced to watch. I wouldn't have been surprised.

Remember that whole not hitting jump shots thing? Well that was a large part of a 5 minute scoring draught in the first half. If you don't count free throws it was almost 7 minutes. 7 minutes is an eternity in a 40 minute games.

So even though I'm a little disappointed that the defense hasn't gotten better, I think they can survive so long as they start scoring more and giving it away less. It sounds simple but it's not.

Well it's almost time to see if they learned anything in practice since Saturday.

Peace brah

Monday January 10

2011-01-11T00:42:00.000-05:00

So tonight was the big night. The night of the "National Championship" game. Besides Rocky, I wasn't really sure who I was going to watch the game with tonight. But then the answer became very clear. Since football is so heavily tied to strategy and field position, I came to the conclusion that I should roll with somebody from the military. So I went with the General. I feel like I'm pregnant now. Thanks for nothing Gen. Tso.

I was on Oregon early as my number one in the KPI this past fall but I've been digging Auburn since the Cam Newton investigations started and then that comeback win over Alabama in the Iron Bowl.

If Valentine's Day were to be moved up from Feb 14 to Jan 14, CVS would have no problem accommodating anybody's needs for cards, candy, and over sized teddy bears. The CVS near my house is busting at the seams with red junk here, there, and everywhere.

And it's over in Glendale. Auburn wins on a kick. That's cool. I'm down with War Eagle. There is a pretty entertaining commercial out there right now with everybody saying "Roll Tide" after various types of everyday situations. I imagine that ad is pure torture for Auburn fans. I bet this moment more than makes up for it.

I guess I have to take down the Christmas stuff tomorrow. I feel like most people do that type of thing on New Year's Day and I get that. But I have a new policy half born out of laziness and half born out of a passive aggressive protest to Bowl Games. Basically I feel like as long as it's Bowl Season, it's still Christmas Season at my house.

All of the above being said, I feel like it might stay Christmas down at WTR's all year long. I mean it's an absolute given that the lights are staying up. The only real question is when, if ever, does the mini-tree come down. I kinda like where it is. Unless another TV replaces it, I think it stays.

Ho. Ho. Ho.

War Eagle brah

Game 16: Georgetown v West Virginia

2011-01-07T23:28:00.000-05:00

Nothing like a big home game at 11am with next to no students. Bring it.

Well if you can't win on the road, you better make damn sure that you win at home. The Hoyas are coming to Verizon for a nice two game homestand that they better take full advantage of if they want to make their lives a little easier come March.

The last time these two schools squared off it was for the conference championship at MSG last March. Now they both find themselves at 1-2 and desperate not to fall any further behind the pack.

It seems like every opponent in the league has guys that you swear must have used up their eligibility yet somehow still find their way on the roster every season. On WVU it's Flowers, Mazzulla, and Thoroughman that I'm talking about. I really can't believe Flowers is still playing.

My keys to the game:

**I believe that their shots will start falling at a higher percentage sooner rather than later. That being said, they have been making themselves too easy to defend. Clark, Freeman, and Wright are too good to just simply fade away with missed shots. They can all get to the rim or set up each other with better looks off the dribble.

**Vaughn needs to stay out of foul trouble and give a solid 25 minutes down low. He's all they have in terms of a low post scoring threat.

**More assists than turnovers. It's hard to score when you keep giving the other team the ball.

**Run, run, run. If you are going to be smaller, and quicker than other teams then you need to make the pay the price to go bigger than you.

**Who is going to guard Jones? He should be able to get his shot off over Austin. Is Hollis up to the task? Will Vee can more run than usual?

Ok less than 12 hours away. I'm out.

Peace brah

Not a great start in the Big East

2011-01-07T22:29:00.001-05:00

It's hard to win games in the Big East. It's even harder to win games on the road in the Big East. It's next to impossible to win games on the road in the Big East when you score less than 60. Failing to hit the 60 point barrier has the Hoyas sitting at 0-2 on the road in the league. I hope the home rims are kind over the next couple of days. They need it. Bad.

Look it's pretty simple. This team isn't going to grind out results in a slow half court setting. They don't have the defensive presence to consistently win like that. Roy Hibbert isn't sitting behind the guards to block and alter shots anymore. They need to be efficient on offense, take and make high percentage shots, get some break points, limit turnovers, and play well enough on defense. They aren't doing those things. Wait that's not entirely true. They are actually playing well enough on defense to win games if they would stop turning it over and bricking shots all over the place.

Teams in the Big East are daring them to make perimeter shots and sagging back on defense to take away the close buckets that come off the backdoor cuts. I can't recall one fast break bucket in the St. John's loss. Unfortunately I can remember some turnovers on the break.

Even though Georgetown doesn't give up a lot of points, they seem to give up scores at the worst times. The last possession at MSG is a perfect example. Why in the world weren't they in a zone for that possession? Or better yet, why wasn't Vee in the game on the ball? He seems like he really gets after it on defense.

Things have to change or it's going to be a really bumpy ride for here on out.

Peace brah

Friday Dec 31

2010-12-31T14:49:00.001-05:00

Well it's the last day of the year. I hope everybody made it. Speaking of making it, my beard will not be making it much longer.

In a few hours I will be running in my first ever race. It's only 4 miles which is good because I don't think I can run much further without needing a banana creme pie blizzard. You know I still play a decent amount of team sports and I go into every game thinking that my team can find a way to win. So it's kinda demoralizing going into something like this run knowing that I will get smoked by pretty much everybody. My goal is 30 minutes.

Georgetown plays tomorrow at 1pm. So that means that they play on 1/1/11 @ 1pm. That's a lot of 1's. I hope Austin can start hitting a lot of 3's on the 1's tomorrow.

The Sun Bowl has long fascinated me due to the fact that it's been the only bowl game carried by CBS for a few years now. It doesn't seem really worth it to me but whatever. Well this year the Sun Bowl is not only on my Birthday but it includes the team that I follow in college football - ND - against an old, heated rival from my childhood - Miami.

Given how far these programs have fallen since they last met on the gridiron, I wouldn't be mad if they just aired the game from 1988.

I seriously love ND being on CBS. I love that they haven't changed the theme music in over 20 years. Sometimes when you get something right you should just stick with it. Changing to change is very often a mistake. I also love Lundquist doing the game. Hell I'd probably get those Twilight or Harry Potter books on tape if he were reading them.

Well it only took a couple of plays but the Irish have quickly reminded me how much better my life has been since their regular season concluded at Southern Cal about a month ago.

Things are getting better. Floyd with the TD catch. I really hope he catches a bunch of TD's next season. That would of course mean that he doesn't leave early. Don't leave early Michael.

And now Brian Kelly in his infinite wisdom and going wildcat heavy.

Damn dude. Floyd has another one. I really hope this isn't his bon voyage party. 14-0 Irish in the 1st.

Can I just say that I gave Rocky a bath this morning and he smells great over there on the other end of the couch? I should really give him a bath more often. It's not so much that he usually smells bad, its that he actually smells great right now.

Ok well this is probably it from me for 2010 unless I feel like boasting about my score from the Fairfax City 4 Miler later. Unlikely.

Peace brah

Unlucky 13 in South Bend

2010-12-30T14:28:00.001-05:00

John Thompson III was undefeated in Big East Conference openers before last night. When he woke up this morning he found himself at 6-1 with a bullet.

My Thoughts the morning after:

ND came out with a plan and Georgetown cooperated very nicely. What I mean is that the Irish played a sagging defense to take away cuts, specifically of the backdoor variety. So by doing that they gave up three pointers. Georgetown, one of the best three point shooting teams in the country promptly went 3-15 from deep in the first half. I rewatched the game this morning and of those 15 shots, I only counted 3 "bad" shots. They just weren't going in

Julian Vaughn is the team's most important player. Please don't confuse that with being the team's best player. He's not. He is however the one player that can command double team's down low and score on post moves right now. Sims plays the high post well and is a much better passer than Vaughn. So when Julian went out after less than 2 minutes with 2 fouls, trouble was a brewing in the form of a perfect storm of no outside shots or inside shots.

Remember how I said that most of the misses in the first half were good shots? Well midway through the 2nd half, frustration took over and we started to see bad shots. It's one of those things where when things aren't going that well everything sorta snowballs into a nightmare.

I don't like JT3's unwillingness to come out with the lineup that is the best. I really thought Vee should have started the 2nd half. The 4 guard lineup with Sims was the best lineup available at that time. Vee should have taken either Hollis or Clark's minutes last night. I know that Wright was the one that couldn't make a shot but he's really the only point guard on the team and it shows when he is out.

The Hoyas shot 60% from 2 and 18% from 3. They didn't adjust well enough. Clark, Freeman, and Thompson should have been getting better shots closer in near the elbow. Actually now that I say that, Freeman did get a lot of good shots and shot well. We can take him off that list. In fact Clark was 2-8 from 3 and 1-1 from 2. And the 2 that he took was great. It came off of a Sims high post pass. Ok I'm getting bitter again.

The worst part about the night was that the Hoyas played good enough defense to win this game on the road. Yes there were a bunch of timely 2nd or 3rd chance points by the Irish but Georgetown held them to well below their average, especially if you factor out the free throws at the end when they were intentionally foulling, and to a low FG%.

They did lose Abromaitis on a few screens, especially on that one inbounds play. Damn I hate that dude.

They got absolutely killed from the line. ND was 22 for 27 while GU was 5-9. Throw in the 4-22 from behind the line and that is tough to recover from for any team.

There are a lot of "sky is falling" type Hoya fans this morning and that's a bit ridiculous. If you are going to get up and down on this team every 40 minutes at a time, you are going to have one rough ride my man.

The St. John's game on Jan 3rd just got really interesting. I'd call it a must win but that's silly because if they lose, their season isn't over. I'll just call it a really, really important game.

I hope they play ND again in March at MSG. This won't happen again.

Peace brah

Game 13: Georgetown at Notre Dame

2010-12-29T18:26:00.000-05:00

Once again it's on. I always feel a little weird about these Big East openers before Jan 1st, but it has become a way of life. You can't win the title tonight but you can go a long way towards losing it.

I think tonight is one of the biggest games of the season. Notre Dame is a unique team that provides different problems than other teams. They start 5 seniors. They also start a big team. They can shoot the lights out and being big for once, their zone might be effective against the Hoyas.

Last year Notre Dame came into the Verizon Center and left with an unexpected win in the "Diabetes" game. That was the game where we first found out that there was something wrong with Austin.

I hope that Georgetown applies some decent pressure on the Irish. They don't go very deep. I suspect that ND will go zone so it will be important for Chris to penetrate into that zone to get the other guys good looks.

Even last year with without Freeman, the Hoyas shot 51% in a double digit loss. It's the defense stupid. I'm worried about the 2nd chance points.

Offensively everything will be fine without a high number of turnovers. The Hoya Saxa Offensive Machine is a thing of beauty. Turnovers are the only problem. When they don't turn it over, they score at a ridiculously high rate.

JT3 is 1-2 in games played in South Bend. It would be really nice to see him even up that record tonight.

Prediction: Hoyas 71 Irish 66- Clark has a big game

You want the Big East? Come and take the Big East.

Peace brah

Big East - Monday & Tuesday Wk 1

2010-12-28T23:29:00.000-05:00

It wasn't exactly a true Big Monday - Bilas and Raftery weren't on the call together - but it was still pretty sick to get the Big East season officially underway. There was only one game on opening night - Connecticut at Pittsburgh.

Conn v Pitt: I know it's wrong to take too much from any one game, especially the first one, but Connecticut was who I thought they were. They are a middle of the pack team in the Big East yet they find themselves ranked 4th in the Polls.

The Huskies took 60 shots and Kemba Walker had 27 of them. He only made 10. Pittsburgh assisted on 19 of 25 made field goals. Connecticut had just 6 on 19 made buckets. Pitt really beat them up with experience and team basketball.

The Petersen Events Center has been open since 2002. Pitt has a record of 142-11 in that building including 47 of their last 48. Here's a fun fact: JT3 has a record of 2-2. Oh and his Hoyas gave them their only loss in the last 48 at home. Oakland Zoo my ass.

Tuesday's games:

Providence v Syracuse: I can't believe the Big East league office gave Syracuse their first two conference games at home. Syracuse has only left the state of NY one time this season - and that one time was a trip to Atlantic City. Simply put: their schedule is embarrassing.

Ok now that we got that out of the way I can get to the game. Providence gave the Orange a decent game tonight but just couldn't quite connect all of the dots. The Friars don't exactly play great team basketball. Marshon Brooks takes a lion's share of the shots but doesn't get any of his teammates easy looks. Somebody should tell Keno Davis that taking 30 three pointers against that Syracuse zone is a recipe for disaster.

DePaul v Cincinnati: It's hard to judge the Bearcats against DePaul because the Blue Demons are bad. Like real bad. I think they would really struggle to win any conference in the country. Maybe the SWAC. Cincinnati stayed undefeated wthout really breaking a sweat tonight. I didn't watch that much because the result was never in doubt.

South Florida v Seton Hall: The good news for the Bull is that Gus Gilchrist showed up. The bad news is that it still wasn't enough for the win. Gilchrist left the team a week or so ago but I guess he's back. I'm sure it was nice for the Pirates to get a win after their best player was shot on Christmas. Hazell is apparently "fine" after being shot. Seriously who shoots somebody on Dec 25th? I flipped to this game only during TV timeouts in Syracuse but the one thing I took away from it was that South Florida loves to turn the ball over. I mean they really love it.

It's not a conference game but Rutgers - UNC is on and I have just one question. Why are they playing? I think this might be at least the 3rd time they have played recently. All of the games have been uncompetitive. It's awful to watch. Ok here's another question: Who made that phone call? The only thing I can think of is that Roy Williams wants a game in the NY/NJ area for recruiting purposes.

Tuesday Dec 28

2010-12-28T21:14:00.000-05:00

So there's NFL on right now. Tonight is Tuesday. That's weird. If a natural disaster hits somewhere in the US next week, my money is on Detroit. Why? The Vikings.

The Vikings have been getting absolutely worked by Mother Nature for weeks now. Their Dome was destroyed two weeks ago which caused them to move the venues of their last two home games. Then they go on the road to Philadelphia and their game gets moved to a Tuesday Night.

Basically anybody who is going to be in Detoit next weekend is really rolling the dice with their lives. Good Luck. Of course being in Detroit at anytime could be a gamble I guess.

So this Tuesday Night NFL game means that I've seen NFL on every night but Wednesday. I think they should just schedule a game on a Wednesday next year just "because". There's no need for hump day to feel left out in the cold.

The newest addition to Welcome to Rick's is a dartboard. It makes letting Rocky out to go take care of his business not as annoying. I can just stand there and wait for him to come back in while I'm trying to hit the bulls eye. Of course when Rocky gets back in he wants to "fetch" the darts. The darts stick to the board so there's nothing to fetch. That makes him bark. We need to work on that a little bit.

I think most people take down their Christmas Trees and lights after New Year's Eve. I take it a step further. I keep them up until the last bowl game is over. You see the bowl games should all conclude on Jan 1st but they don't anymore. It's ridiculous and I'm keeping my house on Christmas time until the final kneel down of the college season.

Al Michaels is hyping up the Rams - Seahawks game as the last game of the regular season. Either he has the ear of Mother Nature or he is making a really big assumption that the Vikings game is going to be played on time at the proper venue next week. I think we all know what happens when you assume.

Ok I'm rolling.

Peace brah

Rankings Monday Dec 27

2010-12-27T18:15:00.004-05:00

Not much movement today. There is only one slight change in the top 10 in either poll but it does involve the Hoyas. Georgetown is now #9 in both the AP and Coaches Polls. That's only fair since they beat Missouri in Missouri earlier this season. Missouri was #9 but now they are #10 in the AP.

There are currently 7 Big East teams ranked in both polls - Connecticut, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Georgetown, Notre Dame, and Louisville. Cincinnati remains as one of the 8 unbeatens in the nation but they still find themselves in the "others receiving votes" part of the polls because they haven't really beaten anybody yet.

Of course that all changes starting this week with conference play. It's time to play all of your best friends in the country until mid-March. It all starts with Connecticut at Pittsburgh tonight. I'm not sure who I hate more - Calhoun or Dixon. If I have to pick a school to win tonight, I'm picking Pitt. Forgive me Father for I have sinned.

I think it's cute how the media is really all in on San Diego State. I feel like Central Florida, Old Dominion, and Cleveland State are just as worthy from the ranks of the mid-majors. In fact I think all of those schools are better than Memphis. It's criminal that the Tigers are still ranked.

Right now Georgetown is in a two horse race with Kansas in the RPI rankings. The Hoyas are sitting in the 2 hole right now but it moves back and forth daily.

A quick scan of how the media voted Georgetown in the AP poll shows that all of their votes were between 5 and 12. One of the guys who wasn't even voting for the Hoyas 2 weeks ago now has them at 12. It's nice to see that he finally bought himself a TV.

OK I need to give the Independence Bowl more of my attention.

Peace brah

Hoyas 86 Tigers 69 - JV from the Elbow

2010-12-24T02:30:00.000-05:00

Big win tonight before the Big East grind starts on the 29th. I honestly don't know why the Temple game didn't go like this one. Maybe they needed that wake up call. Who knows.

Julian Vaughn. My man JuJu hadn't played like that since the tournament in Charleston. His minutes haven't actually been getting cut the last few games with the emergence of Hank and Nate.

Julian got his Christmas celebration started early this year by being the missing piece of a Final 4 run. He's the guy. He's the one big that makes the offense basically unstoppable. Sims is a good passer, probably the best for a big, but he doesn't have the low post moves to match it.

When Julian is on his game you can put 4 shooters out there with him and it's basically impossible to guard them if they space it right. At one point tonight it looked like they were just running drills on the Tigers.

Julian played so well I didn't even let the 3 that he attempted bother me. The difference to me was that he seemed more confident and made moves quicker than the last few games. He was also a presence on the defense by blocking 4 shots.

I wanted to see Freeman have a good night and he obliged by going 9 for 12 from all over the court. Sims lead the team with 5 dimes. Sanford continued to just come in off the bench and scortch the nets. He's 9 for 12 from downtown with limited minutes. Instant offense. Benimon was nice on the boards and finished around the hoop.

I mean it was so good they hit for 86 and Clark only had 8 on 5 attempts. Serious? Hollis went to the hoop and Wright was strong after finding himself on the Cousy Award list earlier today.

Anybody notice that either Freeman or Wright are on the court at all times? They were both out at the same time at Temple. That was a mistake that I doubt we see again this season in meaningful minutes.

I don't know how Pastner recruits so well. They don't really run any stuff. They just throw a ball out there and hope that all of the HS All Americans they have can get something done.

Thompson did a great job after half time of switching defenses. It seemed to confuse the hell out of the Tigers.

Hollis was dunked on pretty bad tonight. His teammates are absolutely killing him on Twitter about it. The best line is from Vaughn saying that Hollis was baptized. Even Jessie Sapp is giving him the business.

Tonight was weird in that I didn't watch the game live. I was out for a little Holiday type thing and then a movie. I am happy to say that I was successfully able to avoid the result until I got back to WTR and watched it on DVR. I noticed that I don't yell at my TV as much when it's not live.

Rocky had no interest in watching tonight. He went up to my room before the first TV Timeout. He just didn't have it. Maybe somebody told him the score. Ok that's it for me.

Peace brah

Game 12: Hoyas @ Memphis

2010-12-23T16:05:00.001-05:00

I feel bad about this game because I feel good about it. Does that make sense? I hope the Hoyas push the pace of this game and run the Tigers out of the gym. They can. Will they?

Winning in the Pyramid is pretty tough but I really think the experience at the guard spot will give slant this game in the direction of the mighty Hoya Saxa. I'm ready to watch Austin go to work from deep tonight. It's been a few games.

Rocky just turned the lights on the Christmas Tree off. Sweet. He's been killing the tree way more than normal this Holiday Season.

I'm already waiting for Hank and Nate to enter the game. Where has the Hollis that drives to the hoop gone? I hope he shows up in the South tonight.

Like always, this game goes much of the way that Chris Wright goes. If they can protect the ball they will win. Temple had far too many easy buckets as a result of bad shots by the Hoyas or off of turnovers.

I don't need much, if anything, for Christmas. I'll take a win on Christmas Eve Eve along with some good food and drink and call it a Holiday.

Hoyas 75
Tigers 64

Peace brah

Just because I had more...

2010-12-23T00:22:00.000-05:00

Half of the lights on my Christmas Tree in the basement went out today. I wish I could blame it on Rocky but I can't. He was upstairs with me when they went out. Shaking the lights didn't work. Hard to believe huh?

I had some of that Eggnog that I was talking about the other day. Yeah I don't like it. Brendan claims that it's great with Whiskey. I'll have to take his word for it. I have no plans to test it out.

It looks like they have been exchanging autographs for tattoos in Columbus, Ohio. That's pretty funny. I honestly don't have a problem with it but I won't cry when they miss a bunch of starters in the meaningless Sugar Bowl against the Razorbacks.

The Georgetown women have been ranked for awhile now but it still throws me off when I catch that name on the bottom scroll when I'm only half paying attention.

Gonzaga and Xavier are facing each other right now in a match-up of two schools that hate Butler even more than I do. All of a sudden the Zags have taken a back seat in race as the ultimate mid-major. That must be hard for them. Bummer. The only good thing about Butler making the Championship Game last season is that there are probably a bunch of Mason fans really bent about their success. I'll take that.

What is going on in East Lansing? The Spartans aren't winning any of these so-called big games on their non-conference schedule. I'm more interested in how this makes Connecticut look. I can't believe that they jumped from unranked to #7 after beating Michigan State and Kentucky in Maui about a month ago. It looks like those wins aren't nearly as impressive as everybody first suspected. Other than those two wins, Uconn has beaten exactly NOBODY.

I watched some of Northwestern - St. John's last night. Northwestern runs the same stuff that Georgetown does offensively. They just do it with way worse players. I'd like to see them finally make the NCAA Tournament this year but I don't think they have enough inside to get to .500 in the Big Ten. A win last night would have really helped them.

Well speak of the devil, Butler is on ESPNU. I think RTD and I might have to take this upstairs.

Peace brah

Wednesday Dec 22

2010-12-22T23:25:00.001-05:00

I'm disappointed in myself for watching more of this Las Vegas Bowl than the Missouri - Illiniois basketball game. The bowl game tonight means nothing. Actually every bowl game except for the last one means nothing. It's funny how much I will let the announcers influence what I watch. Musberger really adds a certain level of legitimacy to every game he is calling. Throw in the Boise State factor and it has lead me to more time on ESPN than ESPN2 tonight

Seriously why is the #10 team in the country (BSU) playing their bowl game on Dec 22 while an unranked Connecticut is in a BCS Bowl? Oh right. The bowl system is logically flawed from a competitive standpoint. I might do a little research later on but I'm pretty confident that the BCS system has given us some of our worst bowl match-ups ever.

I know for a fact that the ACC Champion used to go the Citrus Bowl. The Citrus Bowl is now the Capital One Bowl just in case you didn't know that. Now that the ACC is worse than ever they pretty much get an Orange Bowl bid. Yeah that makes sense Here is something I know: Louisville would have never squared off against Wake Forest in an Orange Bowl under the old system.

So the Busch Bragging Rights game just ended like I've never seen a game end before. Missouri was up 4 with about 50 seconds left. Illinois got a steal and hit a 3 to cut it to 1. Then Missouri pushed the ball to get a bucket to go up by 3. There was a foul that was called intentional so it became a 6 point possession and the game was over. Then Illinois head coach Bruce Weber had to tell the refs what he thought about it. Mizzou got 8 points in about 8 seconds in what was a tight game.

I had my own game tonight against General Tso. I got off to a fast start and thought I was going to finally defeat my nemesis. My biggest mistake was to tell Brendan that I was getting after it. That was the kiss of death. I have still yet to eat an entire takeout order. I'm just not good enough yet and quite honestly, I'm afraid that I never will be.

Oh look Boise State is crushing Utah. Of course they are crushing the Utes. I mean Notre Dame beat up on these guys. It's a real shame that the Broncos aren't playing on New Year's Day. Ok that's it for me.

Peace brah

A look at St. John's

2010-12-21T00:06:00.001-05:00

In an effort to get a feel for each team in the Big East before they play the Hoyas, I got my first extended look at St. John's tonight. The Johnnies are one of the 3 schools that Georgetown plays both home and away. So this is what I just saw:

**Played a lot of zone but they would switch to man-to-man after timeouts and other dead ball situations.

**Gave up a lot of 3's in the corners.

**They get a lot of offensive rebounds which is important for them because they don't particually shoot very well.

**It's weird to see Gene Keady on the bench next to Lavin.

**They like to press after made buckets.

**I still hate Davidson. A lot. I will never like the song Sweet Caroline thanks to their band on Easter Sunday '08.

Quote of the Night - Brought to you by my man Bucky Waters calling the St. John's - Davidson game at the MSG Holiday Festival - "They got really touchy about blood a few years ago with AIDS and all of that."

What does the "and all of that" part mean? I feel like he could have phrased that better.

St. John's held on for the win tonight to advance and play Northwestern tomorrow. Davidson's McKillop had a shot to force OT go in an out. The coach's son just didn't have enough to pull out the win.

I knew I shouldn't have watched Davidson. I just checked out the box score from the 2008 Second Round Nightmare in Raleigh. I can't believe a team shot 63% from the field and over 50% from three and lost. The free throws and soft fouls on Hibbert were the difference. Maybe one day I'll get over it but I doubt it.

Peace brah

Monday Dec 20

2010-12-20T20:38:00.000-05:00

Most of my recent entries have been sports (read: Georgetown) centric so I'll try and change that up a little bit right here.

**The last movie I saw with Jeff Bridges was Crazy Heart. His character's name in that flick was Bad Blake. I really want to see True Grit soon. In that movie his name is Rooster Cogburn. I wonder if he only does movies where his name is completely bad-ass.

**Did I mention that I bought Egg Nog the other night just because? Well I did. I really don't think that I've had it before. I'm hopefully that it's legit but I have some doubts.

**So I watched way too much of Sweet Home Alabama recently. And by way too much I mean basically the whole thing. I'm not going to lie - the part where Melanie Smooter visits the grave of her old dog, Bear, is pretty tough stuff.

**Every now and then I grow a beard. It is usually born out of laziness and lives right on through the hope that it doesn't look as bad as it feels.

**I hope it snows again soon. Sure the snow from the other day has stuck around but it won't stay forever. We basically had snow on the ground all of last winter. I kinda liked that.

**I bet I never watch an episode of Damages but the commercials are pretty good.

**We had a plumber come in the other day that reminded me of the guy from those credit card commercials. You know the one's I'm talking about. It's a Russian dude that says his name is Peggy.

**Ok it's time for some MNF with #4 behind center.

Peace brah

Rankings Monday Dec 20

2010-12-20T17:24:00.000-05:00

It's good to see the Hoyas back in the Top Ten after a week on the outside looking in. I know it doesn't mean very much right now but it looks nice. They are also still holding down the top spot in the RPI.

Here is a look at both polls: (BE Schools in bold)

Coaches

1. Duke
2. Ohio State
3. Kansas
4. CONNECTICUT
5. SYRACUSE
6. PITT
7. San Diego State
8. VILLANOVA
9. GEORGETOWN
10. Missouri

The AP Top 10 is nearly identical to the Coaches Poll. The lone difference is the reversal of Missouri and Georgetown at #9 and #10.

My Thoughts: The one team that I haven't seen play is San Diego State. I'm sure that I'm not the only one with that problem.

So we have 5 Big East schools in the Top 10. I really think Connecticut and Pitt are a bit over valued right now. I guess time will tell. Actually I think that about the entire Big East in the Top 10 but in order to call out those teams, I would have to figure out who should replace them. I'm struggling to do that right now.

Tennessee lost twice last week but they are a squad that I think is one of the 10 best right now.

Florida got back into the rankings today only to lose a rare Monday afternoon game. At home. To Jacksonville. I don't think Artis Gilmore played so I'm really not sure what happened down in Gainesville. I guess weird things happen when the students are out of town.

Michigan State is a sleeping dog right now. Emphasis on both "sleeping" and "dog".

I'm not real high on Memphis right now but that could all change on Christmas Eve Eve.

Peace brah

Game 11: Hoyas v Greyhounds

2010-12-18T00:41:00.001-05:00

There haven't been very many lay-ups on this season's schedule so far, and the Loyola game is the last one. After this game, it's all very real. The rest of 2010 sees the Hoyas with one more tough non-conference road game at Memphis on the 23rd before beginning the brutal Big East campaign in South Bend against Notre Dame on the 29th.

What do I know about Loyola? Not that much other than their head coach, former Gary Williams assistant Jimmy Patsos, is kind of crazy. A few years ago he so was determined to stop Davidson's Stephen Curry from scoring that he went with a triangle and two. The double team on Curry worked. The triangle on the rest of the team didn't as they got crushed.

Look this game is all about Georgetown shaking off their exam break rust. They need to get all of the cobwebs out before traveling for the Holidays.

What I want to see:

I think it's important for them to attack the Loyola press and get as many possessions as possible with the first team players in the game. Unlike in year's past, this Hoyas team is at their best when they speed the game up.

Austin Freeman has been in a bit of a slump from the behind the arc over the last few games. I'd like for him to see the ball go in the net from deep a few times before getting down to Memphis.

Moses needs some run with the first team guards. He had a spectacular 2 minutes last Sunday in his debut. He needs to get into the game in the 1st half this time

Valuing the ball would be nice. The game at Temple was lost with the lost possessions. Lots of things went wrong in Philly that night but the most correctable thing would be to hold on to the damn ball.

Obama: Like I mentioned earlier, Barack is scheduled to attend the Heat - Wizards game later in the day which is of course causing problems for the noon Hoyas tip-off. I better be going to bed so I can get down to Verizon bright and early.

Peace brah

Never a dull moment in Ashburn

2010-12-17T19:55:00.002-05:00

So McNabb is out and Grossman is in huh? Ok.

I don't like it but I'm not surprised. Why would I be?

I didn't like Mike Shanahan when he was the coach in Denver. I didn't like him being hired by the Washington Redskins. I didn't like him bringing his kid along for the ride. I thought the handling of the Albert Haynesworth situation over the summer was ridiculous with the 300's. I thought benching McNabb for the last series in Detroit was crazy.

I could see benching McNabb for a young kid but neither Grossman or even Beck fit that description. When next season starts, if next season starts, Rex Grossman will be 31 and John Beck will be 30. That's not young by NFL standards. (McNabb will be 34 on opening day 2011.)

Is McNabb having a great year? Probably not. Do the Redskins have a good line in front him? I don't think so. Do the Redskins have good backs and receivers? Nope.

It's too simple to blame this team's problems on one guy. He's not the one that insisted on playing a 3-4 when the team obviously doesn't have the personnel to play such a scheme.

For what it's worth, McNabb, had he played in the final 3 games, was on pace to set the Redskins record for passing yards in a single season. (Jay Schroeder 4,109 - 1986.) He also would have been just the third QB in franchise history to throw for at least 4,000 yards in a single season, and the first since 1999. (Brad Johnson.)

So why are we only seeing a backup at QB this week? Why don't we just play the backups all over the field in a true effort to evaluate everybody before mini-camp starts? I think the reason is because McNabb hasn't exactly hit it off with Kyle Shanahan from day one. I guess Kyle didn't watch too much film on Donovan's footwork before they made that trade.

Somebody asked Shanahan during today's press conference if Rex gave the Redskins the best chance to win against the Cowboys. He didn't really answer it properly. He said that he had a lot of confidence in Rex. He said that Rex was a sprained ankle away from playing. He didn't say that Rex gave them the best chance to win. He just didn't want to say it so he gave a generic answer.

I don't like the idea that the final 3 games are more about experimenting with line-ups than about winning football games. I think it's really important to finish strong especially when 2 of the final 3 games are within the division. There's a big difference between being 5-11 and 8-8. If they finish 5-11 after being 4-3, that will be a disaster even though they will have improved by one game from last season.

The Redskins have a lot of holes to fill on their roster. I thought McNabb had another 2 to 3 years in him for with this franchise. I think he's gone now. That's another hole to fill. I guess the good news is that they love to do most of their heavy lifting during the offseason.

Peace brah

Just got the "Obama" email again...

2010-12-17T17:59:00.000-05:00

I just got an email from Georgetown that is pretty much identical to the one that they sent out last season before Obama showed up at the Duke - Georgetown game. I have a hard time believing that Barack is going to roll up to Verizon for the Hoyas not-so-big clash with Loyola tomorrow at noon. So what could it be???

I'm pretty sure that it means he will be at the Heat - Wizards game later in the day. Of course it's not as if that game will be competitive either. I'm sure he wishes Wade and James signed with the Bulls. Oh well.

So back to the email. It covers a lot of the normal big crowd type stuff - take metro, park away from Verizon, no garage parking below Verizon, get inside early, enhanced security checkpoints, no backpacks, blah, blah, blah.

There is one change from last year's email with today's email. There is a separate bullet point that says - NO WEAPONS PERMITTED.

So are weapons usually permitted for Georgetown games? I had no idea. I'd like to be able to bring a taser for some of the away fans during conference play. And by some I mean the fans wearing Orange, fans rooting for WVU, and fans that think Calhoun is a super nice guy.

I'd like to invite Obama to the Syracuse game. I think that game will decide the Big East Regular Season Champion. Oh and it's Senior Day.

Peace brah

Back to the Future

2010-12-15T21:01:00.001-05:00

MASN is showing an old Georgetown game tonight and I keep flipping to it.

Georgetown vs Virginia from December 11, 1982.

Even though I know that the Hoyas lose this game against the #1 ranked Cavaliers, I am absolutely mesmerized by so many different aspects of what my eyes are seeing.

The Capital Centre logo reminds me of being a little kid. I can remember going to games and getting stuck at the Wilson Bridge when it was up on the way home. It happened more often that you think.

Ewing is running around like a gazelle. I bet you he weighs more than 100 lbs right now than he did during this game.

The production graphics are incredible. Incredibly bad.

The announcers sound like they are from the deep, deep South. And since the game is on Turner Sports, I imagine that they most likely are good ol' boys

The UVA fans look as annoying as ever with their bow ties.

The Georgetown cheerleaders are as bad as ever.

I think Bob Wade is behind the Hoyas bench. Speaking of the bench, Craig Esherick looks hilarious.

The Hoyas don't really run any offense. They press like hell and just toss the ball around the perimeter until somebody either gets the ball down low or just takes a shot.

The most impressive part of the entire game is the fact that Public Address Announcer is the same guy that still does it today - Father McFadden. I was actually thinking during the last home game about how weird it will be when he isn't the one on the microphone calling out substitutions, fouls, and made baskets. I'm going to just pretend that that day will never come.

Another Hoyas related thing going on right now- Wake Forest v UNC- Greensboro. Nikita Mescheriakov is playing for the Demon Deacons. He's having a decent game but he's still a fouling machine. Wake isn't very good but at least he's playing. I guess.

Peace Brah

Wednesday Dec 15

2010-12-15T19:23:00.002-05:00

So I just checked the mail and I'm kinda freaking out.

Why?

Well Brendan got what looks to be a Xmas Card from Michael Myers. Yeah. Michael effing Myers. I don't know how he got our address but I think we should probably move before Halloween 2011. I've seen enough movies from that series to know that staying here through that Holiday would be a huge gamble.

I'm thinking of changing the page layout of this blog. I have some stuff I want to add. Look out for a change coming soon.

You know when I get a call from a number that isn't in my phone there is a ZERO % chance that I answer it. When that number doesn't leave me a message I feel even better about my strict policy.

Somebody keeps eating our candy canes. I think it's me. And since it's 2010 we don't buy the traditional candy canes. It's all about the LifeSavers, Spree, and Now and Later flavored canes.

I was thinking of ranking my favorite episodes of The Office. I haven't gotten too far but this is my current list:

1. The first Xmas Episode where they do Yankee Swap
2. The Dinner Party at Michael and Jan's condo

Georgetown is back up to #1 in the RPI thanks to Oakland's upset at Tennessee last night. Louisville also fell from the ranks of the unbeaten last night. Strange things happen during Finals week. Strange things indeed.

I grew up a Knicks fan. They have basically sucked since Van Gundy walked out after 19 games into the 2001-2002 season. They've only made the playoffs one time since then. I keep them in the back of my mind but I've been able to keep up with the NBA during that time by following former Hoyas.

Well the NYK might be back. And by "back" I mean that they might be in the mix for one of the last playoff spots in the East. They have their biggest regular season game in years tonight against the Celtics. Of course saying that an NBA regular season game is big sounds kinda silly. But if games could be big in December, tonight's game is just that.

Ok time for a little basketball with RTD. (Rocky Tha Dogg)

Peace brah

Tuesday Dec 14

2010-12-14T18:44:00.002-05:00

I think I've gotten used to the cold and the wind already. I can't really complain about it when Rocky is dying to go for a walk. I mean the guy is basically naked out there. That is one tough dude.

I'm sad to say that I've fallen victim to the game Angry Birds. It's one of those things where you see somebody else, in this case Brendan, all about something and you tell yourself that it's probably not that great. But then I downloaded it and I'm hooked. Of course it really drains my battery. What else is new right?

I'd rather watch the Baylor women play tonight with their giant center Brittney Griner than hear about how the Phillies signed Cliff Lee. It's baseball. Not many people care about that sport anymore during the actual season. It's the off-season. I don't want to hear old timers try and romanticize about the "hot stove" league.

Baseball would more interesting if they contracted the league to a handful of teams. I mean most of the people who still admit to liking baseball root for the same few teams - NYY, Red Sox, Phillies, Dodgers, Cubs, maybe throw the Cardinals in as well.

I've really got to question a grocery store when they don't carry Sour Skittles in the candy aisle. It's almost as if they are trying to fail as a business.

I still look for Pumpkin Delights even though I know that they won't be there. Old habits die hard apparently.

Tonight was Taco Night here in Kings Park. I make a better taco than Carlos O'Kelly's. I just wanted to put that out there.

I love Celebration Ale but I just noticed something really alarming. The last few times I've had a couple of them, I haven't had much to celebrate. That is a trend that needs reversing ASAP.

The mascot type thing for hhgregg gives me the creeps. He's basically a yellow smiley face with a Santa hat on top and a rolled up newspaper for a body. I seriously doubt that I ever frequent that store.

I think that everybody should boycott any store or any product if the commercial isn't in HD. If I have to watch a commericial from time to time, I'd appreciate it being in High Definition. It let's me know that they really want me money.

Peace brah

Monday Dec 13

2010-12-14T14:00:00.004-05:00

You know what I think should be illegal? The printing and distribution of telephone books. We got one dropped off at the house yesterday and I put it right in the recycling bin. I'm not sure if you can recycle it, but I don't know of any other uses really. You see I have this thing called the internet on both my phone and my laptop. Maybe tomorrow somebody will drop off a bunch of cassette tapes in my driveway. They would be just as useful as the Yellow Pages.

Man United - Arsenal: If the two teams had instead been named Wigan and West Ham, most people would have stopped watching after 30 minutes. I have a witness that can verify my concern about Park. Nobody on United worries me more than him. He plays out of his mind against Arsenal. Yesterday was no exception. Good for him but I absolutely hate the guy.

The only part of the game yesterday that made me smile was Rooney missing that PK. I was so upset that he was going to get his name on the score sheet after not really doing much. Well he sent the shot from the spot way over the bar. It's as if he is living out that Nike commercial from the World Cup this past summer.

The roof, the roof, the roof wasn't on fire: I could seriously watch footage of the Metrodome caving in for hours. Can you imagine being the guy on the cart that is racing against time to get out of there? That would have been insane.

Does any team benefit more from natural disasters than the NY Giants? A few years ago they got a 9th home game because of Katrina and then last night they got a neutral game because of a collapsing dome situation. The only good part about last night's game is that Tom Coughlin must have been driven near madness with all of the schedule changes.

Favre: A lot of people seem tired of Brett and happy that his streak and, most likely, career are over. I don't get it. There aren't that many story lines in the NFL. There aren't that many characters to follow. Most people couldn't even pick out some of their favorite players without their jerseys on. It is a league of unrecognizable figures. A large percent of most fan's interest in the league is based upon fantasy football match-ups and point spreads.

I know that the whole retiring and not retiring thing got on people's nerves but I think it was pretty awesome to watch one of the game's all time greatest players have a sick season at 40 years old. A player that was always able to bounce back from injuries at an insane age. I mean I felt like crap after playing soccer last weekend. I'm 31. I didn't get sacked by an 300 lbs lineman that can also run faster than anybody you know. I think people underestimate and marginalize what a lot of these guys go through.

Looking at what Jackson did last night I doubt Favre would have done much worse. I mean they came away with exactly 3 points off of 2 early turnovers. It's not just #4 that is having a sub par season, the Vikings suck.

Peace brah

Rankings Monday Dec 13

2010-12-13T13:30:00.005-05:00

The rankings are out and the "damage" is worse than I thought in the AP Poll. The Coaches Poll is about right. And by about right, I mean that I figured they would be 12 or 13. I happen to think they are better than that but there's a chance that I'm biased. Of course in my defense I have seen pretty much all of the "good" teams play at least once already this season.

The Coaches Poll has the Hoyas checking in at #13 today. They were #10 last week.

The AP has the Hoyas at #15 . They were #9 last week.

I just did a quick check of how the voters in the AP voted this week and I must say that I think it's ridiculous that 2 voters didn't include the Hoyas on their ballots. That's a bit harsh. They have quality road wins, the sixth best strength of schedule, and their lone loss is on the road to a quality team. Whatever.

Oh and they are #2 in the RPI. Of course that changes on a nightly basis.

Rest of the Big East: There are 7 BE schools ranked in both the AP and Coaches Polls this week.

AP: Conn #4, Syracuse #5, Pitt #8, Nova #10, HOYAS #15, Louisville #20, ND, #24

Coaches: Conn #4, Syracuse #5, Pitt #8, Nova #11, HOYAS #13, Louisville #21, ND, #23

The only thing that stands out to me is that Connecticut is too high. It's as if voters have failed to see how those Kentucky and Michigan State wins aren't nearly as impressive anymore.

I'm ready for the Big East season long grind to start.

Ok I just did more research on the two voters who failed to rank the Hoyas.

Scott Reid of the Orange County Register had them 15 last week and Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News also had them at 15. So they lost a road game at Temple that came down to the last possession and it was worth a drop of more than 10 spots? Sure.

Ok I'm out.

Peace brah

Sunday Dec 12

2010-12-12T22:43:00.002-05:00

So I never got a chance to post anything on here yesterday. I want to send my sincerest apologies to the dozen or so people that are actually aware that this blog exists.

Most of my day was spent in DC yesterday between a soccer tournament and the post game "celebration". We didn't win the tournament but we definitely came away victorious at Duffy's. Our chances of advancing out of the group pretty much went out the window when we lost Stratton to what looked like a serious knee injury early in the 2nd game with a lead. We started the day with one guy sub and ended it by playing a man down.

We didn't have much to play for in the 3rd game but I thought it was the best of our 3 games. I thought I played alright but obviously I didn't do enough to help us advance. What I can't do is play 3 games in one day without a sub. Walking to the bar after it was all over was way more challenging than it should have been. Maybe I need to start taking yoga again. My back is jacked up.

Ok so how about the Redskins?

I've been on the "get rid of Gano" bandwagon for a long time now. Today was a perfect example of why I think the guy is garbage. I just don't get why he has had so many chances.

In 1998 the Redskins had David Akers for one game. He missed two long field goals and they cut him. The next year the Eagles picked him up and he's been there ever since. He's probably been one of the best kickers in the last decade. Cut Gano. The sample size is large enough to make a determination that he sucks.

Speaking of the Eagles, they beat the 'Skins 59-28 a month ago. Washington has failed to score 59 points in the next 4 games. Combined.

When the Redskins got rid of Marty Schotttenheimer a lot fans were ok it with because he "hadn't won a lot of playoff games". You know what? That's true. But you know what else Marty doesn't do? He never sucked for 10 years either. 2 losing seasons in 21 years.

Hell Norv freakin' Turner has won 3 playoff games since Snyder fired him. The 'Skins have one playoff win to their credit during that time.

I really want to have something positive to say about the Redskins but I don't right now. When Snyder got control of the Redskins he wanted to have the trade for Brad Johnson reversed. I thought that was insane and have never liked the guy. I really don't think they will ever sustain winning as long as he is involved. It's a bummer because he's going to be involved for decades to come.

This game was designed to hurt. I'm out.

Peace brah

Friday Dec 10

2010-12-11T00:13:00.005-05:00

Well its been 24 hours and the sky didn't fall. After 9 games the Hoyas probably deserve to have one loss. They had no business beating ODU and they did everything possible to give away the Missouri game. The bummer about losing a close game is that at some point a game or two will get away from you. It makes those close loses that much more painful to swallow. When you get hammered, you just take it as a loss. When you can look back to one or two plays that went wrong, it sucks even more if that makes sense.

3 treated the first half like an open tryout with some of the weirdest lineups I've seen all season. That's cool for later in the season but it sucked yesterday. They never really got in sync but it still took some crazy circumstances to beat them. At the end of the day they had the ball with a chance to take the lead on the last possession. That's all you can really ask for - a chance.

I bet if they are in the same situation again, 3 will call a timeout. I understand that if you call timeout you give the defense a chance to set up but I think it's obvious that they need to talk about how they can get the ball to either Austin or Jason. Hollis isn't the guy that needs to be shooting that last shot. Ok I'm over it

So my neighbor across the street keeps making me pumpkin bread. I think these are advance payments for me shoveling her out in a few weeks when the blizzards start again.

I played two games tonight and I'm not really in good enough shape to do that. The men's league game was pretty fun. I don't play men's league that often - usually it's co-ed. I'd like to get in a full time men's league. It would make me better.

I had a to play a bunch of goalie in the co-ed game tonight. I thought I played well in the first half. The 2nd half - not so much. I probably don't do as well as I should in cutting down angles on shots. Oh well. The good news is that my shoulder doesn't really restrict me from making saves anymore. I can notice a difference from a few months ago. So there's that.

So there's a tournament tomorrow at Cardazo High School in DC. I should probaby go to bed soon. The first game isn't until 1030 but I bet that comes quicker than you think. I really hope it's a little bit warmer tomorrow than it has been recently. The older I get the more the cold gets to me. I'd really like to avoid playing keeper tomorrow but I will play here and there if I have to. I just won't be super excited about it.

OMG is it Sunday yet? I need to get that bad taste out of my mouth. I want to see what Moses can add to the squad.

Peace brah

Well that's what losing taste like...

2010-12-09T23:00:00.004-05:00

So when the game is in the balance you can't give Hollis Thompson the ball. He took a horrible 3 against Missouri and then there was that drive tonight. He has proven to be a complete liability at the end of games.

I was screaming for 3 to call a timeout. Hollis drives it to the hoop, OK that's fine. The problem is that he is never looking to pass. Vaughn was wide open. Freeman was wide open. It's very bad basketball for Freeman to not get a touch on that possession.

What else sucked?

Freeman's missed free throw towards the end of the game was pretty big. So were all of Vaughn's misses around the rim. Not to mention his turnovers. How about the time he let a guy on the ground strip the ball?

How about letting Moore go off for a career high. Why was Benimon defending him for awhile? Why wasn't it Sanford? What does Sanford have to get more time?

What about the dude on Temple that shoots 31% from the line going 5 for 6 tonight? Reminds me of Mazzulla at the BET Final last year.

How about the ridiculous lineups in the first half? It's like they were holding a tryout.

Good Vibes

The good news is that they didn't play very well against a good team on the road and it came down to the final possession. I'll end this on a good note. That's all I got.

Look they were never going to go undefeated. A loss was coming. Hopefully there is something to be learned from tonight.

I'm also really glad that I'm not walking to my truck and about to drive home from Philly right now. That would suck and I've had more than my fair share of bad drives home.

See you on Sunday

Peace brah

Game 9: Hoyas v Owls

2010-12-09T10:48:00.004-05:00

Georgetown is at Temple tonight in a game that I hope turns into a street fight. The Hoyas have passed every test so far this season as their record stands at 8-0. Tonight will be different. Tonight will be the exact opposite of the Missouri game. It will be just as difficult, just a different kind of difficult. I can't wait to see how this group reacts to a a low scoring slug fest against a quality team with some decent size on the road.

My Advice: Press. Press. Press. Push. Push. Push. Defensively I love when the Hoyas apply pressure. I know they like to pick their spots but I'd like to see them pick more spots. Offensively they need to try and get good shots in transition. Temple is pretty stingy in the half court so any points you can get when they aren't set will be important.

Hedge: I will hedge a little bit about the press. Temple doesn't have a great offense so if they are getting good looks by virtue of beating the press, scrap it. JT3 can coach so I know he will adjust.

KenPom: I love the stuff available at KenPom. I can make 2 hours seems like 5 minutes on that site. Looking at the tempo-free stats, Temple will be the best defense the Hoyas have played so far. Conversely Georgetown will be by far the best offense that the Owls have faced. Nice little match-up there.

Keys: As always it will be very important to limit the Owls to just one shot per possession. It would be nice if Vaughn would stay out of foul trouble. Same goes with Henry. Offensively it's very simple. Take good shots. It doesn't matter if they are 3's or 2's. A good shot is a good shot, especially with this team of shooters.

The Numbers: Well we are about a 1/4 of the way through the season, depending on how many post season games you play, and we can finally make a little sense of some of the statistical numbers. The early season schedule has paid off so far as the Hoyas find themselves with the #1 RPI and #1 SOS.

Top Ten: The Hoyas moved into the Top Ten in both polls this week. It doesn't really matter but it does. I really like seeing them on the bottom scroll when the new poll comes out. I bet recruits like seeing that as well.

Flashback: Last year these two teams got together on opening night for ESPN's 24 hours of College Basketball and played one of the worst games of the season. Monroe hit a late shot to push the combined total just north of 90. The Hoyas won 46-45 in a most forgettable contest.

Moses: The Temple game is the last game until the Hoya Saxa Death Star is complete. Moses Ayegba was ruled ineligible for the first 9 games of the season by the NCAA. The NCAA ruled that his airline ticket was paid for by somebody outside of his immediate family.

I think it's fitting that Moses will be able to play his first game on a Sunday. They haven't really missed him so far but it will be nice to have his big body and 5 fouls available from now on.

Celebration Ale: Tonight's game will again be sponsored by Celebration Ale at Welcome to Rick's. We like to celebrate just how fun it is to watch this year's team, especially the guards. Austin Freeman is ridiculous, Chris Wright is letting the game come to him, and Jason Clark is a freak.

Don't forget to Hollar for Hollis.

Peace brah

College Basketball 12-8

2010-12-08T22:41:00.005-05:00

**Illinois beat Oakland tonight. That's not that big of a deal. They used a women's ball for the first 7 minutes because nobody noticed. That is a big deal.

**Missouri is playing Vanderbilt in a match-up of schools with the exact same color scheme. This game is kind of crazy but I get the feeling that you could say that about any game that Mizzou is involved in. The Tigers aren't the best team in the country but they are somebody you want to avoid because you never know what might happen. LB Grad Hubert Davis is doing the color commentary and he's pretty solid. Go Bruins.

**Jimmy Dykes is doing color for the ND - UK game. He always comes up with some arbitrary ranking system. Tonight he is ranking different spots on the floor for shooters. Last time he had some 5 point scale to determine if a guy would play in the pros.

**It looks as if some of the oldest women in the planet are sitting behind the Vanderbilt bench. God Bless them.

**Mizzou forced OT but they don't deserve to win. They take the worst shots of all time. They just keep up this insane pace that forces the other team into mistakes.

**I used to root for other Big East schools when they played out of conference. Yeah I don't do that anymore. That is something that you do when the team that you root for is middle of the pack or in the bottom. You don't need to do that when your team is legit. To hell with everybody else. Unless they playing Maryland of course.

**Speaking of the Big East, I think they should start kicking out schools. I think it's time that DePaul goes away. They got blown out by the Sycamores of Indiana State tonight. Last time I checked Larry Bird doesn't play for them anymore.

**Notre Dame gets more rebounds than you would think. That's something to worry about for JT3. If JT3 is worried about, I'm worried about it.

**Jones for UK is a stud. That being said, I don't think the strategy of throwing a bunch of 1-and-done freshmen on the team every year will win a national championship.

**It's good for Georgetown's RPI, SOS, and all that numbers junk, but I really don't think that Mizzou "deserved" that win tonight. But, hey, that's what good teams have to do. They have to get wins when they don't play all that well. Anybody can win when you play well.

Peace brah

Wednesday Dec 8

2010-12-08T22:29:00.003-05:00

For some reason I keep hoping against hope that the temperature gets around the 50 degree mark. Everyday Mother Nature lets me down. I'm going to have to switch to the treadmill soon.

So I was buying some stuff (read: candy) at CVS and I accidentally hit the "Donate to St. Jude's Hospital" button on the screen that you touch when you are paying with a credit card. I really didn't plan on making that donation but I felt it was in really poor taste to tell the 17 year old working behind the counter that I wanted to take my donation back to what I'm sure is a worthy cause. Especially during the Holidays. Charity 1 - Bob 0.

How mad is Jenn Sterger that the Vikings suck this year? She wants so much attention and most people have forgotten about her.

You know how there are a bunch of movies that, if they are on, you just have to watch? Well Road House is definitely on that list. I came home and I could hear it playing in the basement. Dalton and Wade Garrett are so bad ass. I'd love to go to the Double Deuce one day.

Rocky had this new way of laying on the couch where his front legs are almost completely off the couch. It looks uncomfortable but he keeps doing it. I don't know what to say really.

Since ESPNU is such a low budget channel they have a slew of low budget commercials. The kinds of commercials that look as if I could have produced them. Well one of them is for the Hair Club for Men. This one guy keeps saying how 80% of feeling good is looking good. I want to know where he got those numbers and why I should believe them. I have a sneaking suspicion that he made that number up.

So I need some frames for some stuff I want to put up at WTR's but unfortunately everything I have comes in an awkward size. Which of course means that the generic frames don't fit. Damn you AC Moore. You too Michael's.

Arsenal won today and I got a post card from The Emirates. I don't think that's a coincidence. Now I just need somebody to send me a postcard before every game. I nominate Emmanuel Eboue. I hope he's up for the job.

Urban Meyer is quitting again. I called this after watching some of their early season wins. This guy has tasted the spotlight and he can't get enough of it. Look for him to take a year off and end up coaching the Cowboys in the 2012 Season. It will be a mistake but he will get paid.

Peace brah

Tuesday Dec 7

2010-12-08T00:03:00.002-05:00

Droid: Well my new Droid seems to be working way better than the old one but that's really not saying much since the last one was basically hot trash. I'm pretty hesitant to download all of the Apps that I used to have in fear that it will kill my phone again. I mean I never used mobile Skype anyway. Why do I need it? I don't.

Happy Birthday: My old optometrist really wants me back. I mean my birthday isn't until the end of month but they already sent me a card instructing me to have a good time on my bday. Hell that might be the only birthday card I get in the mail. Who knows? If they send me a bag of Skittles for Valentine's Day I might make the switch back. I think I only went there once in 2005 but I obviously made one helluva impression.

Season's Greetings: WTR is really getting into the Holiday Season. Between the lights, the tree, and the endless supply of Celebration Ale, we have it covered. If only Rocky's reindeer costume still fit. That would be sick. Unfortunately it only fit for his first Xmas when he like 6 months old.

Ice Age: I can't believe how cold it is this early into December. I mean it's not even Winter yet. I think I saw some Penguins when I was running around Lake Accotink earlier today. Apparently I'm playing soccer outside this weekend. That's an interesting decision on my part.

Christmas Eve, Eve: I'd really like to be in Memphis on Dec 23rd but it just doesn't seem to make sense from a cost or driving point of view. It's basically 28 hours of driving for a 2 hour game. That's insane. Maybe if I tell myself that a few more times I won't do it. It's not like I have any other travel plans coming up though. There's gotta be a better trip out there. I just hope it presents itself soon.

Peace brah

Jimmy V Classic

2010-12-07T21:44:00.003-05:00

Ok well it's time for me to get my first look at Satan's Army, I mean Syracuse, this season. It's a match-up of top ten teams as they take on Michigan State. I've seen State a few times and they aren't exactly clicking just yet but I'm sure that will fix itself as the season rolls on. Hopefully tonight.

Here are my thoughts:

**I didn't know Fab Melo was a starter. I should have seen him at the Capital Classic at AU in April but he was a no-show.

**Boeheim is about to kill Jardine for not sliding over in the zone. I wish the cameras hadn't had left him. Jimmy called a timeout and was using some of the most colorful words available right in Scoop's grill.

**State is making a bunch of typical mistakes against this zone - sloppy passes around the perimeter, bad 3's, not getting it to the foul line.

**We made it almost an entire 7 minutes into this game before Vitale had to start talking about Duke. He shouldn't still have this job. It's embarrassing.

**MSU should consider fouling Jackson near the hoop. He's pretty good at dunking and not so good at shooting free throws.

**I"m officially bored with this game. I know what is going to happen and I hate it.

**7-0 run for the Spartans and it's down to 4.

**Cuse up 9 at the half. A lot of their scores are coming off of bad shots by State. I'll see this game through but I'm not exactly thrilled about where I think it's headed.

**It's down to 3 at the under 12 minute TV timeout. MSU is doing a much better job of forcing Cuse to take jumpers. Free throws and turnovers are still killing Sparty though.

**Fab Melo sucks. The kid from Senegal is much more of a handful right now.

**You know I watched MSU in the Maui Invitational and I thought they played poorly. They almost lost to Chaminade in the first round - a D2 school. Well maybe they just aren't that great. They are getting a lot of love from last year's Final Four run but that was just 5 games. There's a reason they were a 5 seed in the tournament.

**Nice to see Derrick Coleman all dressed up with a front row seat. I'm pretty sure he filed for bankruptcy within the last year. What a great spokesman for the University.

**Syracuse has some of the fattest fans in College Basketball. I'm guessing it's a direct result of having absolutely nothing to do in Syracuse besides eating large quantities of high fructose corn syrup.

**Syracuse doesn't leave the state of NY until Jan 17, 2011. Pathetic.

**I just want to thank MSU for beating Maryland in last year's 2nd Round. A win by the Terps in that game and it could have been disastrous. I mean Northern Iowa and Tennessee were the path to the Final Four. Talk about a scary situation.

Peace brah

Monday Dec 6

2010-12-06T20:11:00.005-05:00

Lexus: So just like everybody else on the planet, I want a Lexus with a big red bow on it for Christmas. Well now there is a new twist - putting the gift in the house. This latest ad implies that you should have a house big enough to drive that baby in it. I love it.

The General: I had a craving for General Tso chicken tonight. Even after carefully considering the potential pitfalls with that choice I still had to have it. What problems you say? Well the first problem is that I always feel like I have a brick in my stomach after eating it. The second problem is that Hunan West gives you so much and its horrible to eat the next day. Rocky is totally down to finish off what seems to be like 2 more servings but I think that's probably a poor decision.

Redbox: I'm the kind of customer that Redbox loves. I rent movies on a fairly consistent basis but even better is that I return movies late on that same consistent basis. I've had Get Him to the Greek or whatever it's called for a few days now. Oh and I haven't even watched it yet. And it's a Blu-Ray. Your welcome Redbox.

MNF: Well since the team that I root for kinda sucks I have to rely on other games to get me going. I've been an admirer of the Colts forever but they also sorts suck this year. Not Redskins incompetence but not exactly what you would expect from the Colts.

So that leads me to tonight's Jets - Patriots clash. I was ready for this game to burn down my house. Well it's been a complete due through 3 quarters. Damn you MNF!

I hope Gruden takes a job in football again. Not because I think he's a great coach but because I think he's an awful announcer.

I like how the Patriots are continuing to score. Running up the score doesn't exist in pro sports. If you want somebody to quit scoring, stop them. It's that simple.

Peace brah

I think that's a wrap on the 2010 season

2010-12-05T17:25:00.005-05:00

For whatever reason, I was feeling good about the Redskins today. Unfounded optimism is not one of my known specialties, but I had a big dose of it this morning. Of course if I had known that Haynesworth was out, I wouldn't have been feeling it so much.

The 'Skins were doomed early on with some of the worst tackling I've seen since their last game. I've been hating on the 3-4 scheme Haslett is going with but it is putting players in a position to make tackles. The problem is that the first guy to the ball hardly ever makes the play.

Offensively this team is just a nightmare. Penalties, drops, sacks, turnovers - they do it all. They don't look as if they practice in between games. Maybe Allen Iverson is consulting them from Turkey.

So they are 5-7 and I don't think 9-7 will get them in to the postseason. Of course the chances of going 9-7 are pretty slim.

28: In each of their past two divisional games on the road, the Redskins have been down 28-0 at one point. That's not bad. It's awful.

Capture the flag: It looked like Mike Shannahan was about to challenge a clear fumble by McNabb until his son, Kyle, dove on the red flag. I've never seen that.

Ga-won't: I know it didn't really matter today but I never have ANY confidence that Gano will make a field goal when he trots on the field. He went 0-1 today at a windy Giants Stadium.

Road Trip: As recently as 2 weeks ago I gave serious thought to going to this game. I like to travel for road games and I love to check out new stadiums. I'm really glad that I'm not driving home right now. Really glad.

Sellers: He had a pretty huge drop when the game wasn't completely out of reach. I guess you can't get too upset when your fullback drops a pass. Mike did his best to make up for that drop by coming through with his patented move of hurdling over a defender that is trying to take out his legs. It never results in a lot of additional yardage but it looks pretty sick. Small victories in times like these.

Favre: Brett came to FedEx last weekend and didn't commit any horrible turnovers. He only played 3 snaps today and threw an interception. All I needed was one of those last Sunday to see a victory from some pretty good seats. Figures.

2026?

2010-12-02T13:35:00.007-05:00

So America didn't get the 2022 World Cup. It would have been nice but I can deal with it. Qatar getting the World Cup is heavy stuff. I think it would have been cooler, literally, if it had gone to Australia.

To me the craziest thing to think about is your age in 2022. How old will you be in the summer of 2022? I will be one old dude. I get the feeling that if I don't get to the 2014 WC in Brazil, I'll probably never make a foreign based World Cup. That's what happens when you fake on Germany and South Africa.

I'm probably one of the only people on the planet that decorated their Christmas Tree with Ice Cube's The Predator blasting in the background.

I'm down to one final box of Pumpkin Delights for the 2010 Holiday Season. Somehow I haven't had any actual pumpkin pie yet.

I could eat Thanksgiving dinner every night and never get sick of it. I'm sure of it.

Aside from a Lexus with a big red bow on it, I don't think I need anything else for Christmas. Maybe a case of Celebration Ale before it goes out of stock. But still that's only a "maybe". Man it only takes a couple of those CA's before I start feeling the buzz.

Game 8: Don't sleep on USU

2010-12-02T02:00:00.000-05:00

Next Up: Utah State. It just so happens that the Aggies scheduled a game against a school that plays the Princeton offense just a few days before showing up in the Nations Capital. What a coincidence. Well I'm watching a little bit of this USU - Denver game because we all know how important it is that I have a decent scouting report prior to Saturday. (Rocky is in his usual spot. Snoring. He couldn't even be bothered by last night's thriller. He said something about waking him up in March when the games really count.)

What stands out to me the most: Utah State is playing a zone. They are also showing a little bit of a press. I used to cringe when teams played zone against the Hoyas but those days seem to be in the rear view mirror. In fact Denver is doing exactly what I hated against the zone - needless passing without any penetration into the middle of that zone. You can't win that way. Chris Wright has been able to get Austin and Jason good shots against the zone recently. They also have been doing a good job of over loading one side.

Denver is breaking the press much the same way a Sapp-Wallace-Rivers backcourt would have broken it. I think it would be a major league brick to show this press against the Hoyas unless they are looking at getting into a track meet with RUN DMV. (That's the nickname I like the best for the 3 local guards.)

Denver is painful to watch. They can't get anything around the basket. So when they aren't taking bad shots they are committing offensive fouls and getting called for steps. I will say this, they have a better arena then I would have figured. And it looks like it's off campus because fans are drinking brews.

I can already tell that I'm going to hate it if #23 on USU hits any long distance shots on Saturday. I wan

I can't believe I'm watching this game. Even worse is that I'm admitting it to the handful of people that even know this blog exists.

Game 7: Mizzou

2010-12-02T00:56:00.003-05:00

First things first, I had the Hoyas winning by about 10. They won by 9 so I guess I nailed it. Well I'm not sure that accurately describes what went down last night. I did not have them winning 111-102 in OT. I did not have them up by 18 less than halfway through the first half.

The bad thing about being up 18 on the road early in the game is that you know the other team is going to make a comeback. Georgetown wasn't going to beat a good Missouri team by 70 points. Ok?

I loved how once Missouri finally got the lead back, Vee came in after being on the bench for about 20 minutes and just drilled a 3.

With the score 85-80 Missouri, I politely suggested to my TV that they let Freeman get them back into the game. JT3 heard me and it was 85-85 seconds later thanks to AF15.

The Hoyas are 2-0 when I give up on them. I gave up on them in Norfolk and I gave up on them last night with the score 93-89. There was only about 20 seconds left and the Tigers were headed to the line. I went upstairs to prepare for my walk around KP. As I walked back downstairs to see what was going on, I could hear that they missed the first free throw. I started to shuffle through my iPod and he missed the 2nd. Then it got better as they fouled Wright for some reason. Wright made both and it was down to 2 again.

Hoyas quickly foul but it's over if he makes both. Mizzou then missed 1 out of their next 2 FT's to give the Hoyas one last chance to tie the game. Hollis Thompson took a horrible 3 that, for some reason, Mizzou saved. It was a great save. It was just really, really stupid basketball. Wright hits a 3 and then Clark hits three 3's in OT and the Hoyas left the Show Me State with a huge non-conference victory.

Perfection: The Hoyas went 18-18 from the line. You don't see that everyday. In fact it was a Georgetown record.

Worst line of the night: The play-by-play guy said that at one point Freeman had 16 points - all coming on 3's. I'm still trying figure out what times 3 is 16.

Gottlieb: I don't like Doug. I love to joke about how he stole credit cards in college and subsequently was asked to leave Notre Dame. I think he's awful in the studio. I was prepared to hate him as the color guy. I loved him last night. He was outstanding.

ESPNU: Speaking of being awful in the studio, Miles Simon and Adrian Branch provide absolutely nothing in terms of knowledge at the half. Miles Simon actually said something about how Missouri would keep giving Austin Freeman open 3 pointers because he would eventually start missing. What?

Players Notes:

Freeman: I feel like he's the best player in the nation that nobody really talks about. His shooting %'s are insane. It's getting to the point where you are surprised when he misses. Under JT3 a player has gone over 30 in a game 5 times. Freeman has 3 of them and has now done it in back to back games.

Wright: Just another 10 assist game for this guy. Oh and there was that last second 3 to put the game into OT. I have no idea why you would press Georgetown with Wright pulling the strings.

Clark: He had way too many turnovers in the first half against the pressure but some of that had to do with Julian's hands of stone problem. Great decision to pass it out to Chris for the game tying 3. I would have probably broken my TV if he had just laid it up. It was nice of him light the nets on fire in the extra period.

Hollis: I think foul trouble had him out of sync. He played ok but didn't have a huge role in the win.

Vaughn: 9 minutes? JT3 had a good feel for what was going on and Julian was just off last night.

Sims: My man Henry. 31 minutes on the road in a crazy environment and Mr. Sims was doing a lot of positive things out there. 10 points and 7 boards is great from this guy.

Sanford: 8 points in 3 minutes. This kid is making shots even though he's not getting that much burn. I wish there were more minutes for him but there really isn't when Wright is playing the entire game.

Lubick: Guess who had the 2nd most assists last night? Nate with 4 would be the correct answer. Nate and Henry played the entire OT period.

Starks: Just not that many minutes available last night. It was nice to see him stick those 2 free throws. He also handled the press well.

Benimon: The box score has him with only 1 rebound. It seemed like more than that.

Dec 1 This & That

2010-12-01T22:01:00.004-05:00

**I almost never preheat the oven. I preheated the oven today and burnt my pizza. Lesson learned.

**Vitale is doing the Duke - MSU game which makes the game impossible to listen to. I'll have to just jam out on iTunes while I watch some of this contest. I've been digging Ice Cube - The Predator recently.

**I've almost fixed the third bedroom upstairs. I got some junk last week about it. I pride myself on being organized. Welcome to Rick's is another story at the moment.

**I've had the tree up for awhile now but that's it. I just found the lights. I was worried for a second that somebody broke into the house and took them. It was the only logical explanation for days.

**Jeremiah Rivers made a really poor decision in transferring to Indiana. They are terrible and his game hasn't evolved.

**Memphis is OT with Arkansas St right now. What?

**Is Modern Family going to be new tonight? Man I hope so.

**In the Air Tonight is an awesome song but the video sucks.

**I feel like college might have been a waste of time. It seems that you can learn almost all of what you need in life from Bob Seger and Kenny Rogers songs.

**Tennessee touches part of Virginia yet my house finds itself about 14 hours from Memphis. That's a haul.

3-1 on the weekend

2010-11-30T14:22:00.003-05:00

I follow a few teams in this great sporting world of ours and it's a rare bird for them to all find themselves victorious on the same weekend. Georgetown and Arsenal pulled out nice wins early on Saturday. That left me with two teams left to play - ND and the Redskins.

ND vs USC has been one of the worst days on my sporting calendar for nearly a decade. It's usually a complete domination. USC had 8 straight W's in the series, with 6 being complete humiliations. But something funny happened Saturday night. The Irish, after trying their best to give this bad USC team a win, decided enough was enough and grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat.

I knew the 'Skins were in trouble on Sunday after the ND game ended. And I knew I was in trouble because I was going to make it to FedEx. I feel like I should apologize to everybody. Their loss to the Vikings was kinda my fault. Well that and the fact that they just can't score points. I guess both of those things went into the loss.

Back at FedEx: I haven't been going that much the past 3 seasons but every time I get back there (I have to go at least once a season to keep my streak alive) I remember how much I just love being there. It's not even the wins or the losses really, it's live sporting events. They are the best.

I didn't see anybody at Orange A54 but that used to be the spot. I was at a pretty good spot in the Green Lot. Lots of new friends, ran into an old friend and more importantly I found an old love inside the stadium. I would have never thought to buy the cotton candy myself, but it was incredible. It put me in the mood for a funnel cake.

The 'Skins: They just don't score enough points. It's really that simple. Their inability to score basically requires them to play mistake free football to get wins. When you score a decent amount of points, you can overcome dropped balls, turnovers, bad calls, whatever. They don't do that.

I can't believe Favre came in here and didn't do something stupid on the field. I watch the Vikings every week and he's always good for AT LEAST one huge, horrible mistake per half, let alone an entire game. Unbelievable.

Random: I see a lot of bad cornhole sets out there but I did see some nice ones on Sunday. I need to make another one before the next DC United season. And by me I men I'll help Terry make it. I love Celebreation Ale. I better go and buy a bunch of it before it goes the way of Dogfish Pumkin Ale . Some old guy cut in front of me leaving the stadium and I nicked his SUV. It was nothing worse than a kiss on the cheek. Of course 4 golden oldies had to get out and inspect the non-incident. I would have pretended to only speak German if they wanted to exchange information.

Game 6: Finally back at Home

2010-11-30T13:44:00.002-05:00

Well it had been awhile but the Hoyas finally made their way back to Verizon. I didn't know much about UNC-Asheville besides the fact that they had given UNC a good game. Who knows what that really means.

So the game was 7-7 about 4 or 5 minutes in when Austin Freeman decided he wanted a break. He drained three 3's in about a minute and it was 30-7 before I could finish my nachos.

The rout was on and it enabled JT3 to play with a bunch of different lineups. I really like the press they are using at times this season. It seems to get everybody's energy level up. It really raises the intensity of the defense. I'd use it anytime I felt the guys were slacking in their half court defense.

Random: I'm still not used to the new look in the Acela Club. You can't see the court from the bar. That's bad news now matter how you try and rationalize it.

**The new parking situation isn't as cool as it used to be but I finally figured out the best route to get to where I need to be.

**There were way more people at the game than I would have guessed. The student turnout was pathetic but I guess I can't really throw stones. I wasted a ticket. I need to do a better job of advertising.

**It's amazing what adults will do for a free burrito. People go out of their mind trying to get free food.

**They don't do the dress like a Hoya competition anymore. For me the highlight of that TV timeout contest was seeing which old jerseys they would use.

Here are some of my quick thoughts on the players:

Freeman: Dirty. 7-9 from three is ridiculous.

Wright: Playing like he wants to be in the NBA. He was able to get Freeman lots of good looks. He also had a few more turnovers than you would like but that falls on some of his teammates not being ready for the pass.

Clark: Not much to write home about. It was a weird game with all of the different lineups being thrown out there.

Vaughn: Another solid game in the middle. I can't believe the rate at which he is blocking shots.

Hollis: Didn't go to the basket like last game. Seems to have found his stroke and notched a double double. That has to be his first.

Sims: They weren't running the offense through him as much as the State game but he was alright. I thought the refs were kind of harsh on some of his fouls. He looks like he belongs.

Sanford: Everybody has their favorite player off the bench that they think should get more time. Sanford is mine.

Benimon: Had some nice passes for easy buckets. Good to see him get in the scoring column.

Starks: I want to look up some of Wright's stats from his frosh season to see how they compare.

Bowen: Man he was good in the summer :)

Lubick: Sims is getting some of his minutes. I get the feeling that Nate is frustrated a bit that it's not coming easier to him. 7 points has to be his career high.

My advice? Learn to live with it

2010-11-30T12:38:00.002-05:00

Ok this is the last time that I complain about my shoulder. I promise. Look I'm 14 months from the cut date and it's not exactly where I want it to be. Where I need it to be. C'mon man!

So I was feeling like I needed to do something Sunday night. I decided working out was a good idea. Strike One.

I tweaked my shoulder and then I couldn't fall asleep for hours. Strike Two.

Well we all know that you can't strike out unless you come up with a third dumbass idea in a short amount of time. Taking some old pain medicine? Yeah that did the trick. Strike Three my man.

Was the medicine too old and expired? Was my body not ready for it? Was there alcohol in my system? Did I have an empty stomach? Ah what's the difference really? Either way it completely crushed my Monday and put me right into today.

So my shoulder is what it is. I'm just going to grit my teeth and take it from now on. Talking about your problems is a waste of time. If I can paraphrase from Lou Holtz - 80% of the people don't care and the other 20% are glad that you have them.

The one thing that keeps me thinking that it's going to turn out alright? Before surgery, if I did something to cause it pain, it would hurt for weeks. Now? Just days. So there's that.

Sometimes the small victories add up.

Surfs up brah

2010-11-22T19:16:00.004-05:00

I've watched a bit of the Maui Invitational today and all I can do, besides root against UCONN, is think about how I'll be there next year. I don't know who is coming with me, but I'm going. I mean I can't think of one legitimate reason to miss the 2011 Maui Invitational. A school is only eligible to go every 4 years yet the last time Georgetown went over there was in 1999. I'd rather not wait another 12 years for the next one. Thanks.

Here is your field for 2011: Duke, Georgetown, Kansas, UCLA, Michigan, Memphis, Tennessee, and the host school - Division 2 Chaminade. Sick.

I've already got the whole thing planned out. Get there on a Saturday. Chill, do whatever. Same thing on Sunday. Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday go to Georgetown wins at some point and kick it on the beach when they aren't playing. The gym is only 1,000 yards from the Pacific Ocean. Thursday eat turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie on the beach. Friday do whatever. Saturday do whatever. Sunday either go home or send for our stuff and never leave. I'll make sure to have Rocky's bags packed so he's able to get there ASAP should we find suitable housing.

So the new rankings came out today. The Hoyas are #16 in both the AP and the Coaches Polls. I think they should be closer to 10 than 20 but it's early. I think it's a joke that UNC is #25 in both. I also think it's insane that Feinstein has VMI as #25 on his ballot. He's easily the worst voter with no peers in sight.

You know what always makes me laugh? When you are out and somebody has a really annoying song as their ring tone. It's not enough that the song is annoying, it's that that person decided to make it their ring tone and keep it at an insane volume level in public. Somebody at Target had Poker Face set at an obscene level. The offender of course had to struggle to find her cell phone in her purse. I wouldn't have expected anything less.

If you had told me before that season started that the Redskins would be 5-5 after 10 games I would have taken it. If you had told me that 2 of their 5 losses would be to Detroit and St. Louis I would have wanted to fight you.

I was kinda worried that Bret Favre might have retired after yesterday's embarrassment. I'd like to see him in person one last time before he permanently trades football pants for Wrangler jeans.

Random Maui Notes: It wasn't so long ago that Oklahoma was really good at basketball. They really suck now. Jeff Capel, their head coach, can't even find a good Hawaiian shirt to rock on the sidelines.

UCONN escaped with a close win over the Shockers today. I'd like to think that the Hoyas will be able to figure out how to contain Kemba Walker. I'm thinking Jason Clark and Vee Sanford will do the trick.

Kentucky fans seem really annoying on TV. I hope they lose at least once while they are out in paradise.

Game 5: Charleston Championship Day

2010-11-22T18:46:00.002-05:00

I have to believe that the brackets were set up in hopes of a Georgetown - NC State final. Well the organizers of the Charleston Classic got their wish as the two teams from the power conferences advanced to the championship game. I was mildly surprised that George Mason didn't give NC State a better game.

In what is becoming typical fashion, Georgetown wore down NC State in the second half to capture what is hopefully the first of many titles this season. The Hoyas turned a halftime tie into a 82-67 victory that might be forever known as the Henry Sims coming out party.

Sims, a highly regarded freshmen 2 years ago, has yet to consistently contribute on the collegiate level. I hope that is all changing as he looked the most comfortable I have ever seen him yesterday, especially as the Hoyas ran their offense through him during the game's most critical stretch. In just 15 minutes Sims was able to contribute 5 assists and 9 rebounds. He also had 4 points but that wasn't the important part. The important part was his vision and feel for the game in the high post of the Princeton offense. I can't say enough about his play so I'll just stop and pray that it continues.

I've been waiting for Hollis Thompson to have a game like yesterday all season (5 games). Not only did Hollis lead the team in scoring but he hit shots and went to the hoop. Oh and he had 9 rebounds. It's funny how those three pointers become easier to hit once you start going to the basket a few times.

Lubick seems to be going through some growing pains as a freshmen right now. He's got a great motor but it's not clicking for him right now. I hope he turns his frustration into hard work and pushes through this. You can tell he will be a player.

The only disappointment for me was the lack of meaningful time for Sanford. I know there is a log jam at the guard position but he has to get minutes. I'm hoping that yesterday's lack of time was due to the fact that State is a rather tall team. There are going to be a lot of available minutes next season and Sanford is going to get a lot of them.

Chris Wright really has picked up where he left off from last season. He had 24 assists in the three games to earn MVP of the tournament. Clark was also named to the All-Tournament team. I'm still scratching my head as to who Julian didn't find himself on that team. 13 blocks in 3 games is pretty sick the last time I checked. Especially when you weren't even supposed to play after being ill.

Random: I know it's early to look at RPI and SOS but Georgetown's three opponents in this tournament went 2-1. That's the best possible scenario. Basically you want to beat all of your non-conference opponents and then root for them the rest of the way to make you look good. So far that has been happening for the Hoyas.

That was the last time I watch a game with sound when Jason Williams is doing the color. He's beyond awful. I'd rather list to Vitale. There. I said it.

Game 4: Charleston Day 2

2010-11-19T16:53:00.004-05:00

All I really knew about Wofford was that they gave Wisconsin a real scare in the first round of last season's NCAA Tournament. After witnessing some of the most ridiculous upsets over the last few seasons in person, I'll never take an opponent for granted. I hope the guys actually playing in the games have the same attitude since that probably matters just a little bit more than what I think.

Let's fast forward to midway through the 2nd half when Wofford cut the Hoyas lead to 50-45. Now at the time I didn't think it was so great but looking back, and objectively at the time, it was perfect. All you can ask for in these early season games is to be put in uncomfortable spots away from home and see what happens. Having veteran leadership at the guard spot is really going to give this team an excellent chance at going deep into March.

So Wright took over and the Hoyas won easily, 74-59. Vaughn has a double-double with 4 blocks on the side. Benimon played great defense on their best big guy. Sims had one of his best games as a Hoya. Hollis didn't just settle for 3's. In fact he didn't even attempt one. 24 hours after taking 30 three pointers, they only attempted 8. Basically there was a lot of good to come out of this game against a team picked to win their conference.

Favorite quote: Julian Vaughn after notching his first ever double-double: “We didn’t come here just to play well,” he said. “We want to win it all.”

Second favorite quote: Wofford coach Mike Young: “They’re a little bit better than I thought they were.”

Random: The game was delayed on ESPNU because the WVU - Vanderbilt game went longer than the time slot. That was kind of a bummer since I was watching it on DVR. Jason Williams is a horrible announcer. It's almost as if he's being bad on purpose just to see how much he can get away with on the air.

Daily Wrap Up

2010-11-18T23:38:00.006-05:00

I've seen a lot of college basketball today and most of it has been below average. UNC looked good but I suspect that it had more to do with Hofstra being hot trash than the Tar Heels being money.

Pitt is not the #4 team in the country. They will be lucky to finish 4th in the Big East. You can take that to the bank.

Robert Montgomery Knight is so much better at providing color commentary than Dick Vitale. What separates Bob from Dick is that Bob actually spends time talking about the game that we are all actually watching. Dick is more interested in talking about Austin Rivers - a high school senior that is going to Duke. Weird.

Hey remember when I said that all of the games were bad? Well that's not entirely true. Illinois - Texas is pretty good. It's got the feel of a 4-5 game in the Sweet 16.

Dining Out - I haven't been to Carlos O'Kelly's in awhile and I probably won't be going back anytime soon - unless of course I'm looking to butcher some of my favorite songs on Karaoke some random Thursday night. The tacos take forever to "make" and they aren't that great once you get them. I think everybody involved was in the mood for soup, but Pho in Fairfax closes earlier than you think. Most likely 9pm. Lesson learned.

Dining In - Brendan picked up a new addition for our kitchen in an odd place - The Bass Pro Shop. On the appliance it says that it is part of the "Sportsmen Kitchen". So this new edition makes Beef Jerky and is in absolutely no rush to do so. 14 hours is what the instructions claim as the cooking time. I think it's fair to call that "taking your sweet ass time". I'm not really into beef jerky but I'll have to at least try it. If you turn the TV down at WTR, you can hear it "working" in the kitchen. Rocky is dying to try the final product. I think he might sleep down there tonight.

OMG Vitale is talking about Duke again.

The more I watch of Texas, the less I think that Rick Barnes knows how to coach. It's obvious that he knows how to recruit, but coaching, I'm not convinced. There isn't enough evidence to support such a claim.

We are headed to overtime at the Garden. I love Madison Square Garden. I wish Georgetown played there more often. When you see a game at MSG, either in person or on TV, you know that it's big time. The only problem with MSG right now is the gigantic Reese's Peanut Butter Cup signage right near the foul line. Talk about an eye sore. Is nothing sacred???

You know a lot of people are talking about Georgetown both taking and making 3 pointers at an alarming rate through 3 games. Well my rebuttal to that is that they are seeing a lot of zone and they are taking GOOD 3 pointers. They are open shots and they have good shooters. I suspect Wofford to play more man to man defense tomorrow which will result in more back door cuts for the Hoyas. I doubt we see more than 18 attempted 3's tomorrow from the mighty Hoya Saxa.

I'm not sure how scientific this is, but I'm willing to say that headaches are contagious. I wonder if a bag of skittles would solve mine. Well either way I'm going to go watch the rest of this game from my room.

Until next time....

Home Opener - Green Wave

2010-11-18T15:55:00.002-05:00

Well this was was a series for New Orleans native Greg Monroe. So while Tulane is still on the schedule, Monroe is long gone.

Most of the teams from the power conference like to play schools like Tulane in their opener because it's an opportunity to play some of the younger guys and fool around with lineups before the conference season starts. Well the Hoyas didn't really get that chance at ODU as they held on for dear life for a W.

The big question mark all season will be who can play alongside Julian Vaughn down low. After about 2 minutes inside the Acela Club before the game the new question became who can play in place of Julian Vaughn. Yeah that's not a question that I ever want to answer again this season. Apparently Vaughn was out with an illness so it was up to Henry Sims to hold down the fort.

Ironically enough the Hoya Hoop Club had placed magnets with the schedule on everybody's seat. Unfortunately that magnet would be the only place to see Julian's smiling face against Tulane.

After ending the ODU game by hitting 7 of their last 10 three pointers, the Hoyas continued their torrid shooting to start their home opener. They went through a little bit of a dry spell late in the first half as they tried different lineups but had no real problems in getting the 69-53 win.

Freeman and Clark did what they need to do all season long - hit shots. Wright's scoring dipped a little bit but his assists were up. Sanford was the one player off the bench to really look good. He didn't play at ODU because of an illness. He was stroking it from deep just like he did all summer.

Look one of the big guys needs to be more assertive offensively. Lubick is playing alright but hardly ever looks to score. Same with Benimon and Sims. I'm not advocating the taking of bad shots. Instead I'm looking for them to have a little confidence in a low post move or two. This team really needs Julian.

Charleston Day 1

2010-11-18T14:29:00.003-05:00

I gave a decent amount of consideration to going down to the Charleston Classic but determined that it was just too early in the season to make that sort of trip. The lineup of teams wasn't exactly forcing my hand either.

Well the big news last night was that starting center Julian Vaughn made the trip after initially being ruled out for the weekend. Whatever it was that was ailing him, he got over it and was cleared to play.

So the Hoyas took on Coastal Carolina this afternoon in the first of four games at Carolina First Arena, home of the College of Charleston Cougars.

I wasn't sure if Vaughn would start, but he did. He also started the game with a nice dunk. It was great to see him do that after he struggled with his inside game at ODU.

I've been waiting for a few things to start clicking. I got to see one of them today. Chris Wright was passing the ball around like last season's Big East Tournament. The other thing I'm looking for still hasn't happened yet. Hollis Thompson still can't find his outside shot. I have him at 6-22 for the season. Not so good.

The Hoyas won 80-61 thanks in large part to the 3 pointer. At one point they had 20 points and only one 2 point bucket - a dunk. They finished 14-30 from deep.

For the 2nd game in a row they had a stretch late in the first where they couldn't score. Some of that has to do with JT3 tinkering with lineups. Some of it had to do with horrible turnovers that made me want to break my TV.

Play of the Game: After spending what seemed like forever trying to get his contact lenses back on his eye, Chris Wright came down the court and found Austin Freeman for a nice reverse lay-up. I bet the trainer for Coastal Carolina wishes he didn't help him out.

My favorite Stat: The first thing I look at during the game and immediately after the game is the assist to made field goal ratio. Today it was 26 to 32. That's sick.

My least favorite Stat: Turnovers. 16 of them is atrocious. Lubick and Vaughn combined for half of them. Nate couldn't get anything done out on the wing against the zone. I think that was a really bad spot for him.

Player run-down:

Freeman - Picked up some early fouls but was really impressive. He was a model of offensive efficiency as he was able to score from deep, on drives, and on some cuts.

Wright - 12 assists was easily his career high. He has 20 assists in his last 2 games. That will do.

Clark - he is shooting out of his mind since the 2nd half at ODU. People wondered how Freeman would get good looks with Monroe gone. Well if Clark is also torching the nets, that will do the job.

Vaughn - besides the turnovers, he looked good after missing a game with an undisclosed illness. He had some nice post moves and came up with 5 blocks.

Thompson - Wright said his in post game interview that he can't wait for Hollis to start hitting his shots. Me neither.

Lubick - Looked like a freshmen. That's not a compliment.

Sims - I can't remember ever thinking that Henry should have gotten more minutes but he should have today. He looked good out there today. He made some nice passes and didn't force anything. He also had a block and a steal (that he immediately gave back).

Sanford - Back to back nice games by Vee. He hit a 3, had some boards, and some dimes during his 11 minutes. Oh and a block. He is taking minutes that I thought would go to Starks.

Benimon - I'm not sure how he played 10 minutes without a rebound but he did. He got in the score book for he 10-11 season this afternoon. He gets in good spots but doesn't look to make moves. That needs to change.

Starks - I'm guessing that he is still recovering from being sick. Had 2 nice assists.

Bowen - Probably deserved more time but Thompson kept Freeman out there too long late in the game. He's had chances to score his first points from the line but just hasn't found the nylon. Doesn't seem strong enough yet.

It looks like tomorrow's game should be at 230pm against Wofford. The Terriers are playing something called USC-Upstate and it's ugly. I can't believe I'm watching it. Oh wait. I can.

Something I've missed...

2010-11-17T18:00:00.004-05:00

I've missed the sweet, sweet sound of the Vuvuzela. I doubt that's a widely held opinion but whatever, it's mine. It just reminds of watching the World Cup and the weather being warm. I think most reasonable people would agree that those two things are pretty good.

I'm watching South Africa - USA delayed right now. I spent too much time outside today in the yard to catch it live. 8617 had to say good bye to the mums in the front of the house this afternoon. I think that's the first time I've had to do that. I should have just had Rocky dig them up if he wasn't so focused on making sure that the couch doesn't fly away. He's doing a really good job by always laying on it. Now way that thing floats on his watch.

I also got rid of the remaining stump in my neighbors yard that was getting on my nerves. I just couldn't stand looking at it anymore. It was a "gots to go" situation.

Yesterday I missed the FedEx guy with my new phone. Today I did not. Now I need to figure out how to backup my contacts. There's no chance I re enter everybody's number into my new phone. Of course I'm no expert but I think my phone's problem is the battery and not the actual phone. I smell another trip to the Verizon store in my future. I need it start working like a real phone, ie one that holds a charge longer than 3 hours at a time. I also need to be the Mayor of my basement before eRic.

Let's see what else? Oh right I cleaned out the back of my truck and decided that some of my baseball hats were kind of dirty. And by dirty I, of course, mean gross. My USA Soccer hat and DC United hat turned out great. A similar fate was not waiting for my, at least 10 years old, Georgetown hat. I guess 2 out of 3 ain't that bad but I'm not that thrilled with how it looks. Maybe I'll just bury it in the backyard or something.

So I decided to run around Accotink this afternoon in a race against the Sun going down. Everything was going well until I got to the bottom of the dam. I could have used a row boat to get across the path at that point. Next time I'm going to just run back the way I came instead of through the water. Running with soaked shoes and socks isn't as rad as it sounds.

So during meditation today, raking leaves (in the wind no less), I realized something that most people have probably known for a long time - I need full time job ASAP. The amount of free time I have is causing me to go crazy and it's going to start ruining stuff if I'm not careful.

A recap of what's going on with the Hoyas will be out later tonight for the dozens of people that care :)

It Takes a Thief - GU @ ODU wrap up

2010-11-13T12:08:00.002-05:00

When you don't protect something well enough, you might just have it taken away. That's what happened yesterday to ODU in front of a sell-out crowd on opening night. The Monarchs couldn't protect a late 8 point lead as the subsequently lost not only the game, but their 23 game home winning streak, the 4th longest current streak in the country.

Better luck with your scheduling next time guys.

Last night's game was never going to win a beauty contest. Georgetown games almost never do this early in the season. Last season's opening game ended up at something like 46-45 Georgetown over Temple. So 62-59 was an old fashioned shoot out.

I wasn't surprised with the starting line-up. I also wasn't surprised that ODU attacked Hollis and got him in foul trouble immediately. That is going to happen every game. I expect Lubick to eventually start at the 4 spot.

I hate to admit it but I threw in the towel when Wright got his 4th foul at 49-41 with about 5 minutes left. They couldn't get a rebound, couldn't get a loose ball, couldn't hit a close look, Freeman was off, it was horrible.

Austin decided he didn't want to lose in Norfolk as he hit back to back 3's in less than a minute. Did I mention one of them was a 4 point play? Well it was. Chris decided to follow his lead and that was all she wrote.

With three really good guards, they can't all be off at the same time. Jason was the only one who looked interested in the first half. In fact at one point early in the 2nd half the Hoyas had 21 points with Clark responsible for 11 of them.

Wright tried to take the game over early in the 2nd which resulted in some poor decisions as he was trying to get the game back all in one play. JT3 recognized this and sat him for a few minutes. It worked. Nobody wants to win more than Chris but there is a right and wrong way to go about it. His 3 point heave with less than 1 on the shot clock was as big as they get.

Vaughn played about as poorly offensively as I have seen him play. I've seen conflicting box scores but it seems as if he was about 2-10. At least 7 of those misses were right around the rim. Hollis had similar problems. I don't expect their horrible shooting to be the norm. They will make shots. Especially the good looks they got.

Lubick can play. I liked what I saw but he needs to be a threat on offense to shoot the ball. He took a 3 early and that was it. But what I liked was how he was involved on both sides. He is a little small to guard true centers but that's ok.

We didn't get to see too much of Bennimon or Starks. I have heard that they were a little under the weather. Sims was alright but the game seems to move a little too fast for him. I want to see more of Bennimon.

Just like the Temple win last season, this win will look really good by the end of the season.

Random: I'm now 2-0 in games at the TED.

The ODU student section decided that they needed a bunch of signs with OHIO written on them. Did they think that we forgot about that one? I'm fairly confident that nobody has successfully erased that one from their memory banks just yet. Thanks though.

As I was leaving a fan kept talking to me from a suite. He wanted to make sure that I knew that "ODU still owned Georgetown." I didn't really know what else to say other than, "Congratulations. You must be so proud. Can I buy you another beer?"

I don't have too many solo road trips left in me where I got up and back in the same day. My days are numbered. Especially when nobody is looking to talk on the phone late night.

Austin doesn't show much emotion which is why it was so bad ass when he turned to the visiting fans after his 4 point play and went nuts.

I saw my fat ass on the Jumbotron late in the game. I'm a great dancer once I've got an audience.

Game 1 - Blink and it's going to be March 2011

2010-11-11T23:59:00.005-05:00

Last season is over.

It was over before I got to my truck outside the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, RI. It was basically over by halftime of the Ohio game but I can't help but think about all of the nonsense that was the 2009-2010 Georgetown Hoyas.

What happened? What was real? What was a joke? Did I really drive to DC in a blizzard for a behind the woodshed type beating of Villanova? Did they really blow the doors off the eventual National Champs AND lose to Rutgers?

The last time I think about any of that will be tomorrow on the drive down to Norfolk. Looking backwards never gets you anywhere in life. Especially since the faces and names are always changing.

What I do know is that life goes on and it goes on without Greg Monroe. That's OK because the pieces are there to do something special. Every hand is a winner and every hand is a loser. I can't wait to see how this hand wins. It doesn't have to be tomorrow, but it would be a lot cooler if it was tomorrow down in the 757.

I don't know how everybody is going to get minutes on this team with the logjam of depth and experience at the 1 - 3 spots. How do Vee, Aaron, and Markel get enough time?

Will they ever go big? And by big I mean having Hollis at the 3 and not the 4.

What will Bennimon's improvement be like? Will Lubick or Sims be able to provide enough off the bench? Will they start. I think Henry could really benefit from starting. I think it would put him in the right frame of mind to accomplish a lot over the next two years.

Can Clark be the Kris Joseph of the 10-11 Hoyas? I think he could and it would be sick.

The smart money is on a lineup of Wright, Clark, Freeman, Thompson, Vaughn.

I'm cool with whatever. All I ask from the coaches of the teams that I follow is that they don't fall in love with a system at the expense of personnel. Do what's best for the team to win games and not what's best for your system to work.

See you tomorrow.

11/8/2010 KPI Rankings

2010-11-09T15:36:00.002-05:00

Well the college football season is winding down and I couldn't be happier. Notre Dame is yet again a complete disaster thanks in large part due to the continued practice of hiring piss poor coaches that simply aren't ready for the big stage.

Ok so it's been awhile but here is the latest edition of the KPI Top 5

KPI Top 5 - 11/8/2010

1. Oregon - (1 Last Week) I don't want to toot my own horn or anything but the KPI was well ahead of the curve with putting the Ducks at the top spot.

2. TCU - (4) The Horned Frogs made a pretty big leap thanks to their annihilation of previously undefeated Utah in Salt Lake City.

3. Auburn - (3) No matter how hard Urban Meyer tries to ruin Cam Newton's season, it just won't work.

4. Boise State - (2) The Broncos have to be loving the fact that Alabama lost again. Now they can root for the Crimson Tide again Auburn.

5. LSU - (NR) Making their 2nd appearance of the season in the KPI, the Tigers hope to last longer than a week this time. Playing Louisiana-Monroe is a good start.

KPI Rankings

2010-10-17T20:09:00.005-04:00

10/11/2010

1. Oregon

2. Nebraska

3. Boise State

4. Ohio State

5. TCU

10/18/2010 KPI

1. Oregon

2. Boise State

3. TCU

4. Oklahoma

5. LSU

Sat Oct 2 2010 part 4

2010-10-02T21:55:00.002-04:00

Penn State is a pretty good example of why rankings are ridiculous before games are played. So far they have 3-1 with wins over Youngstown State, Kent State, and Temple. Their loss was a humiliation against Alabama.

Right now they look lifeless in Iowa City. They are not the 22nd ranked team in the country. I don't care what the little number next to their name says.

I can't believe how bad Georgia Tech is this season. I really want Paul Johnson to succeed at a BCS school with his style of offense. 17 - 17 late in the 4th with Wake driving.

31 - 31 in Eugene.

USC back up 28-23. Let's hope that funky score comes back to bit them in the you know what.

31-6 in Tuscaloosa. Does everybody see how bad Florida is right now? Keep in mind that they will be in the SEC title game. What does that say about the SEC???

Georgia Tech absolutely had to have that game tonight. And the got it. 24-20 in Winston Salem.

Wow Locker just made that linebacker look silly. Still down 5 going into the 4th.

It's still 17-3 Iowa but it might as well be 77 - 3. This game is so over.

And just like that Washington's backup qb from Compton threw a TD pass on his first play from scrimmage tonight. 29-28 U-Dub.

DC United beat Colorado. I wish their season was over. I mean officially over. It's basically been over for months now.

Stanford just can't keep up with the Ducks at home. 45 - 31.

Washington looks like they will have one last chance to provide me with the upset I so desperately seek.

The Huskies just picked up a 4th in 10 on their own side of the field. That's the kind of crazy stuff it's going to take to win this game.

Kiffin looks funny in his oversized polos. It's like he went into Monte's closet and stole some clothes.

Suck it Lane. Washington 32-31 FINAL. It took all day but I finally got that upset I needed.

It was 21-10 Stanford. Now it's 52-31 Oregon. Quack-quack.

I could watch the end of the Tenn - LSU game on a loop for hours.

Well that's it. The General Ackbar commercial is on. I've seen it all.

ND - BC

2010-10-02T20:26:00.003-04:00

Great opening drive by the Irish. They really have to open up the playbook with Crist. I know he's been prone to injuries but if he doesn't have the option to run, the offense is limiting itself.

BC frosh QB Chase Rettig will probably be a household name tomorrow morning.

So it's 21 - 7 ND in the 1st. I have nothing to say really.

24-13 Irish in the 2nd. Crist isn't a great qb.

Why did Matt Millen say that his favorite Hole is the 19th but he doesnt drink? He shouldn't admit that he's always sober. If I were him I would have used being drunk as an excuse for all of those horrible draft picks with the Lions.

It's painful sitting here with ND up 24-13 knowing that they will be plagued with horrible mistakes and miscues. Coaching snafu's sprinkled in with poor player instincts.

And it looks as if it starts with the opening kickoff of the half. Straight out of bounds. Unbelievable if it weren't so predictable.

There's the first flag of the game to give BC a first down. You can see the train coming. Next stop: Loserville. I'll be waiting for them when they get there.

ND and BC just exchanged 3 and outs without running the ball. ND wins because their 3 and out started on their own 1. Brian Kelly won't even run from his own 1.

31 - 13 ND. Nice 74 yard drive capped off by an Allen 2 yard TD run.

Blanton with an athletic play for the interception. Those are the kinds of plays you have to make to win games. It won't matter much tonight but it's a play good teams make in tight ball games.

Crist has tried to throw a pick all night. With under 7 minutes remaining in the 4th he finally delivered a pass to an Eagle receiver.

ND wins 31-13. Hard to believe considering the way they normally make mistakes.

I'm still not liking Kelly's play calling. In fact I hate it.

Sat Oct 2 2010 part 3

2010-10-02T19:32:00.004-04:00

What happened to Georgia? You see this is why I find the SEC a bit overrated because there isn't a true challenger to the Gators in the East. With both the Bulldogs and Volunteers being horrible, it's a cake walk to the conference title game.

We have a little bit of a down period before the barrage of 8pm tilts. I guess that's fair considering how the 330 games ended. WOW!

Wake Forest needs more trainers. The Demon Deacons are dropping like flies. Right now they are going with Randy Cross's son at QB. He's the 3rd string freshmen QB. You generally don't want your 3rd string or freshmen QB in the game. You DEFINITELY don't want both of those attributes behind center.

Duke and Maryland, those bitter rivals (in the minds of Terps Nation at least), are separated by 2 points at the half. You can throw out the records when those two schools meet on the gridiron.

This is about the longest I have gone on a Saturday without rooting for a team that I follow. I kinda like it. My heart hasn't been broken yet. Sure I've been rooting against some teams that have won already but that's different. With Arsenal not until tomorrow and United and ND playing later tonight, I've gone unscathed for well over 12 hours on a Saturday. Impressive.

And now WF is on their 4th string signal caller. In the 2nd quarter. And he has a girl's name. Good Luck Skylar.

Jeff Garcia's UFL team is on HdNet right now. So that's awesome.

I love how I get the Washington - USC game in HD but a matchup between two Top 10 teams finds itself in SD on an ESPN alternate station. Makes sense.

The crowd at Iowa looks incredible. I hope they crush Penn State.

Gators with a great stand to hold 'Bama to 3. Now they are inside the 5 and going with #8 at QB.

Looks like Florida fumbled or something in the red zone. Oh well.

Alabama is up 24-0. I'm guessing Urban will take a leave of absence pretty soon. This is why Florida hasn't found itself in the KPI To 5 this season. They suck and I knew it.

Urban is coaching the game like he has Tebow on his team. He doesn't. Nice play calling.

Washington would make me one happy camper if they beat USC. 21-20 Trojans. Fight On Lane.

"Fuck these Refs" just came on really loud during Stanford - Oregon. Nice.

31 - 24 Stanford at the half. It takes something special for me to watch so much SD television.

no way that just happened - LSU edition

2010-10-02T19:00:00.003-04:00

You can watch college football for the next 50 years and not see a game end the way Tenn - LSU just wrapped up.

I'm not sure how many coaches of Top 10 teams (coaches poll) have been fired mid-season after a home conference win but Les Miles should be added to that list or perhaps be a trend setter.

Les Miles was so unorganized that it actually worked in his favor on that last play. LSU should have had 2 or 3 shots at a TD but they ran personnel in and out and had one last play end in a bad snap.

But hold up. In an effort to match the weird substitutions, Tennessee ran in a bunch of junk and got caught with 13 men on the field. One last untimed down resulted in a TD run for the Tigers.

After the bad snap that looked to have ended the game #53 on LSU took off his helmet and threw it. Dooley was being carried off the field and I was wondering WTF the referee was doing with his headset on to the guys upstairs.

EPIC.

At least Simms lost.

So in between SEC games on CBS they are running an infomercial for the Magic Bullet and an episode of the McLaughlin Group. Programming fail. I'm sure the Magic Bullet will get a bunch of people to stick around in between games.

Did I mention that Michigan won at the end of regulation and that State blew the lead against VA Tech? IU played about as well as they could. They are the only team Rich Rod has beaten in the Big 11 the last two seasons.

State kicked too many FG's (3) and had too many picks (3) to beat the Hokies.

Sat Oct 2 2010 part 2

2010-10-02T16:01:00.003-04:00

Here is the KPI Top 5

1. Alabama (1 last week)

2. Oregon (2)

3. Nebraska (4)

4. Boise State (5)

5. Stanford (NR)

Simms is still starting for the Volunteers. Tennessee's only chance is the moron coaching on the sidelines for LSU. Yes I know he has a National Title to his credit but he has done less with more than most.

Anytime a FG doesn't make it to the 10 yard line it is a complete fail.

TheACC.com has to be the worst website address for a conference out there. I would never think to put the word "the" before ACC. Nice work Swofford.

YES! NC State is up 14-0 early on VA Tech. I used to root for them. If ND is my wife VA Tech used to be my girlfriend. But their miserable fans have made me a better husband. Tech does still get a lot of NOVA recruits but it's not enough for me anymore.

Tennesse is on the board. I have no idea how that drive went but I'll take it. 7-7.

I found Versus. It's DirecTV 603. Air Force might have the worst helmets in the country. I didn't realize red was part of their uniforms (helmets).

The Hoosiers just knotted the score at 14 thanks to a fumble by the September Heisman Winner Velcro Robinson. 95 yard drive by Indiana.

The Red River Shootout is going on at the State Fair but I can't see any of it. I'd like to flip to it but I don't care enough to find it online or to pay the one day fee of $24 for Game Plan.

Hoosiers just threw a pick in the endzone. Plays like that aren't going to get it done if they are serious about getting this upset.

Va Tech is on the board. I'd like for this game to become more interesting because I know most of the players names.

Kurt Warner is on Dancing with the Stars? I guess he's better than Matt Leinart at everything. Leinart took a dance class at USC one semester.

And Rutgers loses at home to Tulane. Bill Stewart should be let go if WVU doesn't win the Big East this year. Eh he should probably be let go regardless.

As we head into halftime in Bloomington we are all tied up at 21.

Sooners are up 21-7 over Texas. I think we found out all we needed to know about the 'Horns last weekend. As time goes on we will learn that it was more of Texas being bad than UCLA being good.

Russell Wilson with the pick of the day so far. That's two picks in the endzone in this 3:30 games. Both for the teams I'm rooting for. Weird.

Why do football announcers feel that the words hat and helmet are interchangeable? You never hear any of your friends talk about the helmet they just bought when they mean hat.

For the 2nd time of the day, it's NOT a quick kick if you punt it on 4th down.

The Wildcat formation really goes a long way toward showing you the intelligence level of a coach/coordinator. Any formation, the Wildcat included, is great when you have the personnel to run it. When a team is throwing all game with success and then just mixes in a negative play out of the Wildcat "just because", we have what you call over coaching in the name of being cute.

VA Tech misses a PAT. Beamer Ball. 17-13 State.

NC State is back on the board. 24 - 13.

Michigan now leads IU 35-28 in the 3rd. The Hoosiers aren't going to outscore Michigan today. IU was the only BIG 11 team that Michigan beat last season. I think it was 36-33.

With the win, Air Force might get the Commander-in-Chief trophy back. It's been awhile. 7 years I think. Looking at Navy's schedule, they should probably find a way to get bowl eligible.

When Indiana gives Chappel enough time, he has one helluva arm. Slight Problem. He plays for IU and is often scrambling for his life.

I don't care about the little numbers next to the names of Wisconsin and MSU, I just can't watch that game. And I can watch a lot of marginal teams/games.

One of the teams in Baton Rouge has hit double digits. 10-7 LSU.

I knew that UCLA win over Texas was more about Texas being overrated than UCLA being good. Bruins losing to Washington freakin' State at the Rose Bowl in the 3rd - 28 -20.

What the hell is going on in Raleigh? 24-21 State.

And that's why they are IU. On 4th and 16 their QB scrambles for a gain of 5.

So Simms just ran for a TD to give his team the 14-10 lead. Losing this game would be grounds for relieving Les Miles of his duties.

State just knocked home a FG. Those points won't matter when they lose later today.

I love how Michigan - Indiana is the All State game of the Week on ESPNU. Yeah because being on ESPNU, having Pam Ward as the play-by-play commentator, and Danny Kannel as the color guy just screams GAME OF THE WEEK to me.

IU is staying in the game with their defense. Who would have thought?

Not much geaux'ing on for the Tigers. Still trail 14-10 to Simms.

What a run by Tyrod. I told you State fans. That FG was meaningless. Tech up 28-27.

Big 4th down conversion for Indiana. I hope they go for 2 after they score.

Sat Oct 2 2010

2010-10-02T12:51:00.003-04:00

I'm still not used to Minnesota's outdoor stadium. I am however used to them sucking.

Temple lines up in swinging gate formation after their 2nd TD in West Point, NY. Why do teams insist on doing that?

I am Illinois biggest fan in the country right now. Nothing would make me happier today than an Ohio State loss. Nothing. 7-7 in the 2nd up in Champaign.

Redshirt Freshmen QB Nathan Scheelhasse is pretty fun to watch for the Fightin' Illini. I'm just worried he will eventually show everybody that he is a freshmen if you know what I mean.

Turning an INT into 3 points is a good way to lose a close game guys. 10-7 ILL.

OSU is averaging less than 30 yards net per punt. Uh that's horrible.

How is Miami - Clemson on ESPN2 and NW - Minnesota on ESPN?

That's how you convert an INT. The U just turned the pick into 7 as the 'Canes now lead 21-14 at Death Valley. Scratch that. PAT was blocked.

White Out in Charlottesville. Kinda weird since the Seminoles are the ones wearing white. Still a bit of a learning curve for Mike London's men both on and off the field. 24 zippy in favor of FSU.

14-10 OSU. I guess we should all excuse the lackluster performance by the Buckeyes. They haven't played a game away from the Horseshoe since they played in Pasadena on New Year's Day. Today is October 2nd.

Vanderbilt - Connecticut is one of the better games right now that probably nobody is watching. Same with Temple - Army. Both games are 28-21 to the home team in the 3rd.

Delaware just hit a 47 yard field goal in Harrisonburg to draw even with JMU. This game isn't in HD. It's hard to watch for a few reasons but that's the biggest one.

Three missed PAT's before 2pm. Impressively bad.

OSU up 17 - 10 in the 4th. I knew they sucked.

Clemson with a punt on 4th down, even if it's by the QB, is NOT a quick kick. Nice try announcers.

Illinois playing just well enough to lose a close ball game. I saw this coming when they had to settle for two FG's (only one made) in the first half.

Is Zook trying to cover the spread? Kicking a field goal with 4 minutes left. 17-13.

You know how you know it's FCS football? When you can't see the time remaining on your screen.

Unless something crazy happens, JMU is about to lose. At least there is a playoff in FCS so their season isn't over.

No guts by Ron Zook. Going for that last FG was settling for a loss. Maybe he's just happy that his team covered.

I think the problem with the White Out at UVA is that you can't see everybody's tie. That really puts them at a competitive disadvantage.

Speaking of ties, Temple has come back to tie the Black Knights. Army really needs a win here to get to a bowl game. 28-28 in the 4th.

Navy - Air Force is on Versus. I need to figure out what channel that is pretty soon.

Army was outscored 21-7 in the 4th as they fall to Temple. Can Army win 3 more games? It's gonna be close.

Miami wins at Death Valley.

These early games have been not so great. Time to move on.

Sat Sept 25 2010

2010-09-26T01:19:00.002-04:00

Well today was a bit of a bumpy ride. If I didn't know better I would say that God is trying to tell me to stop watching sports. He's also telling me to get a new phone because mine dies every few hours. It's dead now. Weird.

Out of the three games of interest to me, only one result, Arsenal of course, was a surprise. ND and DCU didn't let me down as much as they just reinforced what I already figured to be true. They suck.

I didn't endorse the Brian Kelly hiring. I saw it as a lateral move from Charlie Weis. What's the point of making a lateral move? Everybody on TV was clamoring for the BK hiring. Maybe it will work out. I doubt it but I guess you never really know. You just have to be sure that when you get rid of a guy you are going to get a better guy to fill that spot. Making changes just to make changes isn't a great long term strategy.

It's not the losses, its how they are losing. Questionable decisions in both losses to the Michigan schools followed up by the complete ass kicking by the Cardinal. At least Tyronne and Charlie had decency to start out hot. BK is pulling a Bob Davie. In case you didn't know, that's not a compliment.

So what else happened:

Alabama survived a scare. Same with Oklahoma. Mack Brown had his lunch money taken by UCLA. Boise State kept the dream alive. WVU failed at defending the honor of the Big East in Baton Rouge. Norm Chow finally figured out how to win with Prince at QB. The Big Ten as a whole had one of the most dispicable days in the history of conference scheduling. Check out who their teams played and the scores. Embarrassing.

JMU held on to beat Liberty. Liberty held the Dukes to 10 points. Maybe Bud Foster should give one of the kids on Liberty that stupid lunch pail this week. Hopefully JMU keeps getting their AP Top 25 votes so long as they stay undefeated.

The Hoyas are 3-1 and 2-0 in the Patriot League. Today's win against Holy Cross, first in 11 years, could have been program changing. Hoya Saxa even on the Gridiron.

Right now might be one of the best part's of the day. I've got a crazy Pac 10 game to watch with 3 of my best friends. Rocky, Mike & Ike. There really is nothing like a good old fashioned shootout out west that goes well past 2am.

Just inside of the 4th quarter and Oregon leads at Arizona State 42-31. The Ducks returned a lateral for a TD in the 3rd. I feel like Dennis Erickson isn't cheating enough in Tempe. It normally doesn't take him this long to make a team really good. He should go to a Calipari seminar on ethics.

Hey so who gets the fun job of painting the practice field back to green in Corvallis? I doubt the Oregon State players are going to want to look at the blue turf when they get home.

It's hard to believe College Football has been with us for a month now. Next week the games are pretty good. Probably the first of 2 match-ups between Florida and Alabama unless South Carolina or Auburn can step up strong to the mic.

ND travels to Chestnut Hill for a evening kickoff. It will be nice to have all day to dread their taking of the field. Arsenal doesn't get a chance to kill my Saturday next week as they won't lay until Sunday. Thank you Gunnersaurus.

Sat Sept 25 2010

2010-09-25T12:25:00.003-04:00

Another smashing start to this Saturday as far as my rooting interests are concerned. Before I get into that here is a look at the latest Kings Park Index.

1- Alabama (1 last week) - I can't believe they really played at Duke last week. It went exactly the way you might figure. What I don't want is for Nick Saban to gloss over the opponent at the end of the year by boasting that his Crimson Tide went on the road and got a win against at BCS school. While technically true it won't really paint an accurate picture.

2 - Oregon (2) - These high flying Ducks love to score. I hope they can win the Pac -10 but I'm not holding my breath. A few years ago I was all about them and then Dixon got hurt.

3 - Ohio State (4) - I guess they are good. Buckeyes look to stay perfect in the MAC this weekend.

4 - Nebraska (NR) - Are the Black Shirts back? They really took the Huskies behind the woodshed last week. They held Jake Locker to 4-20 passing with 2 picks. So much for that Heisman. I worry that the 'Huskers won't get the benefit of many calls once their final lap through the BIG XI begins.

5 - Boise State (5) - Big game tonight against the Beavers. The Oregon schools just can't keep away from playing the Broncos. My dream scenario involves Boise State playing in the BCS against a non- SEC school. No sweater vests either.

Well Arsenal just laid an absolute boulder sized egg. The teams I root for have been snake bitten since that stoppage time goal last week. ND then lost on a fake field goal in overtime that was so dramatic the heart of Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio attacked him following the win. Then United let Landon Donovan beat them all by himself. The next day the 'Skins blew a 17 point lead at home to lose to the Texans in OT.

I was hoping this weekend would be better. So much for hope. Arsenal was my only real chance at relief in today's slate of games. I'm sitting on my couch just dreading my trip of doom to RFK.

ND is in the batter's box of my personal sports torture show that is currently being played on a rather large loop. I'm not holding my breath. United is on deck. I'd consider scoring more than 1 goal, whatever the result, to count as a win.

Jim Harbaugh this. Jim Harbaugh that. Does anybody know what his record is at Stanford? Yeah he is 20-20. To put that reocrd in perspective it's pretty much the same record that Tyronne Willingham had through 40 games. Yeah in all likelihood he will be a tick above .500 after today but let's get off this guy's proverbial jock for a minute.

Ok well it's almost time to get out of here. NC State is up on GA Tech early. I have a soft spot in my heart for the way Paul Johnson wants to control the ball with the option. C'mon Yellow Jackets.

VA Tech is up on BC. I'm tired of seeing that stupid Lunch Pail thing. Almost as annoying as the trophy case without the National Championship Trophy. Puh-leese.

I hope Arkansas can give 'Bama a game today. I need 'Bama to get a loss but to beat Florida so they both have at least one loss before the SEC Title Game. Even though he's not super dependable, I'm counting on Bobby Petrino today.

hhgregg might be a cool score but their name is retarded so I will never go there. They are having a private sale this weekend. What's odd about this private sale is that they keep showing commercials about it. I wouldn't advise anybody telling their private information to hhgregg. It will most likely end up on a broadcast during college football games.

Can Maryland lose to FIU? That would be a nice little consolation prize for today. Let me check the score. 14-7 Terps. I think the Golden Panthers can do the job.

Let's check in on the Big Ten network. Here are the games right now:

Ball State v Iowa
Austin Peay v Wisconsin
Northern Colorado v Michigan State

I'm serious. Those are the games from the network that was ALMOST the catalyst for conference Armageddon this past off-season. Every week it just looks more and more lucrative.

BC driving in right before the half in what has to be the most boring game on right now. BC being in the ACC is just ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous was the play to end the half for BC. Wait why do the Eagles get to kick a field goal with 0:00 on the clock? HAHA. Nevermind. Half over losers.

Alright that's it for me. See everybody on the Blue Turf.

ND - Michigan State

2010-09-18T20:30:00.002-04:00

This game already has the feel of last year's Purdue game on ABC. Another average Big "Ten" team that is treating this night game like their freaking Super Bowl.

ND Senior DB Gary Gray has a pretty cool name now that I think about it. Neither name is cool on it's own but together it's a cool combination. Two names. Both with the identical letters but not the same. Just to put it in perspective, it would suck if his name were Gary Grey.

Rudolph is a man among boys out there. I'm going to go ahead and assume that he isn't around for his 4th season next year.

Michael Floyd just opened up his scoring account for the 2010 season. ND leads 7-0.

Finally an interception after having their chance at 3 last week.

Uh oh. Floyd looks to have fumbled and they are reviewing it.

So Michael Floyd just opened up his fumbling account of the 2010 season. ND still leads 7-0.

Crist is lucky that there isn't a viable option behind him. That was a horrible interception. What did he see?

Great TD pass by Cousins. MSU really capitalized on that turnover to the tune of a 94 yard TD drive. talk about taking advantage of an opportunity.

ND is just out of sync. They have plenty of good players offensively but Crist isn't good enough to consistently utilize them.

ND will be lucky to go in tied 7-7 at the half. 2 minutes remain in the 2nd.

After momentairly going down 14-7, Crist with an impressive drive to knot the score back up. Most noteworthy was his recognizing a mismatch with Rudolph and calling the audible. They are going to need some more of that to get out of East Lansing with a win tonight.

Michigan State is just running the ball down ND's throat right now. Stanford is going to beat that ass next week. I'm definitely not going to be renting a generator. Of course it would probably just be more fun to stay home and watch games anyway. MSU 21 - 14.

I don't know what Crist did at halftime but it worked. Totally didfferent player. He is keeping the Irish in the game. It's time to do something on defense. More tackling and less hitting. I'm looking at you Te'o. 21 - 21.

Well I think we have a 3 and out on our hands here as the 3rd quarter expires.

Michael Floyd now has more TDs than fumbles. I hope it's never even again this season. 28 - 21 Irish.

MSU with the answer. Whichever team can force the other into a field goal will probably win. Kinda like last week. 28 - 28.

If I took a shot every time Brad Nessler reminded everybody that tonight's game is only the 9th Night Game in MSU history I would be dead.

Brian Kelly. Charlie Weis. I can't tell the difference yet. Same dumbass play calling. Same pathetic ass defense.

Penalties are killing MSU tonight. Even with that horrific 4th down decision, MSU is trying everything possible to lose right now. Can ND make them eat it?

ND felt bad so they made sure to throw an illegal block on the punt return. This has OT written all over it now.

OT is about to start. Even if they pull it out somehow, this program is years away. They aren't doing the little things better that would lead you to believe that it's going in the right direction. It's the same old same old from the Irish.

So both Weis and Kelly take their first MSU game into overtime. I hate all of their similarities so far.

Here goes ND for the field goal. This is where the game will be lost. It's up and good. 31 - 28. I'll be stunned if ND holds MSU to a field goal or worse.

Secondary has been playing well the last few series. Cousins has done a good job not forcing and scambling for a few yards.

SACK ND! I can't believe it. The FG just got a little bit longer.

46 yards on the kick.

Fake FG. Game over. MSU wins.

I said it earlier in the 4th. First team to force the other into a FG wins. MSU did it.

I want to wipe that fucking smile off of Brian Kelly's face.

night games - Sat Sept 18

2010-09-18T19:23:00.002-04:00

Jerry Glanville isn't coaching at Portland State anymore. That was the only reason to even consider flipping to the Oregon game. The Ducks are on the board early and often. I don't expect that to change. Good Luck Vikings.

I have a hard time believing that South Carolina is #13. Change that 1 to a 2 and I'm all about it.

What is going on in Oxford? Ole Miss is awful. They are 1-2 with home losses to Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt. Yikes. I guess it's karma for picking up Masoli at the last second. Maybe they should hire Sandra Bullock to roam the streets looking for down on their luck kids who want a truck for their birthday.

Old Dominion resurrected their football program last year. They have a homer on TV right now against William & Mary. Their stadium needs a lot of work. A lot. My first recommendation is to build the stands taller so that you can't see random houses in the background. The one house that I just saw looked like the frat house from Old School. I wonder if they know a good sand guy.

The Ducks are up 48-0 just inside of the 3rd quarter. Quack quack.

When is there going to be an option where you can customize the bottom scroll during a sports broadcast? I could really do without baseball scores. It's even worse during college basketball season with all of the women's scores.

If it were a fight, the referee would have stopped this Oregon game a long time ago. 69-0 Ducks.

I feel kind of bad for Wyoming. Boise State is on a mission to prove that even though Va Tech might suck, they don't. Hey how about those Wyoming uniforms? Pretty slick huh?

If you took Portland State +68.5, you lost money tonight.

I'm not watching much of the "other" night games right now. It doesn't seem as if I'm missing much. I hope Clemson wins. I have a theory that the SEC is hyped up this year. I'm more than willing to be proven wrong especially if it involves South Carolina beating Florida.

Special teams play in college football is so unpredictable. Clemson's kicker just missed a chip shot to send the game in 2OT. Game Auburn. War Eagle I guess.

I still there is a ton of dead weight in the SEC - particularly in the East.

The crowd at Arizona looks awesome. Iowa is being taken behind the woodshed.

I suppose the United game is on. I've got it on DVR. I doubt I'm missing much.

Texas beat Tech tonight. I have a sneaking suspicion that Tubberville won't find much success in Lubbock. Leach was crazy and that worked. You need a pirate type to get things done there. Everybody can blame Adam James for being a douchebag.

Still scoreless at the Home Depot Center. Weird.

What a crap day. First Arsenal loses on the last kick of the game and ND basically does the same thing. United winning wouldn't fix it either.