college-basketball
By Ryan McGowan
If, as T.S. Eliot once wrote in The Waste Land, “April is the cruelest month,” then March is the second cruelest, but only if you happen to hate basketball.
(Which, since basketball was invented in Springfield, Mass., makes you un-American and probably a Communist.)
This was my Monday night at Costco….
Meltable Cheddar Cheese……going to need some of that…….chili…..better grab three cans…..buffalo wings…..that’s a check……blue cheese dressing…..gotta go back and get some blue cheese dressing……hmmmmm….mozzarella sticks…welcome aboard…..jalapeno poppers….gotta get some sour cream…..tortilla chips….are we sure two bags are enough…..salsa…..a given…..guacamole…..that’s a check…..wow…….tough decision…….Yuengling……..Sierra Nevada Pale Ale……Yuengling…..Sierra Nevada…….Yuengling….Sierra Nevada……gotta go with the Yuengling…..better stop and apologize to the Sierra Nevada and promise them a trip to my refrigerator at the A’s impending World Series victory……..
By Trevor Freeman
With March Madness right around the corner….God Bless the NCAA Tournament, we decided to do a little preliminary analysis for those of you pining for the moment that the bracket is revealed. Over the past month, I have sat down and watched as much college basketball as humanly possible. I formulated the sixteen teams that I think look Sweet Sixteen worthy.
By: Maurice K Dixon
It’s nice to know when some pick your team, but it makes me a little uneasy when all pick my team as the next one to cut down the last arrangement of nets. Honestly, I don’t have an issue with the experts’ opinions. I have issues with the increasing expectations because they add to the pressure, which if mishandled could evolve into shortcoming.
The North Carolina Tar Heels (college basketball’s outright No. 1 at the start of the season) or “my boys” – the group of talented ball players I have repeatedly referred to in first person (we) over the years – are expected to win it all. The analysts have all said it. The columnists have all written it. The magazines have all printed it on the front pages.
There are numerous dates on which I could write this piece.
I could have written it on June 15th, the five year anniversary of Patrick Dennehy’s disappearance. Or on the 25th, when his Chevy Tahoe was found abandoned in Virginia Beach, Va, stripped of all its license plates. If I wanted to, and trust me when I say I never wanted to write this article, I could have waited until July 23 when Carlton Dotson was charged with murdering Dennehy, or July 25, when the mutilated and decomposed body of a young college student was discovered right outside of Waco, Texas, where both had gone to school. Finally, I could have waited until July 30, August 8, or August 16, all dates referring to Baylor men’s head basketball coach Dave Bliss.
A few years ago NBA Commissioner David Stern and NCAA President Myles Brand came together and established the one year rule, which states that an incoming NBA player must be out of high school for at least one year prior to the draft. The rule was stated as a move to lead high school players into college to help them mature and get an education. In reality it was a financially driven move by both sides. NBA owners could see these anointed high school prodigies for at least a year in college to help weed out the busts. Meanwhile big conference college programs could essentially rent these players out for at least a season and reap huge profits and program notoriety. It was a win-win situation and there has been talk of expanding the rule to two years out of college.
by Trevor Freeman
For the first time ever, all four top seeds made it to the Final Four. The only plus to this in my opinion is that it should shut up everybody who claims the current tournament system does not reward the best regular season teams. That is because the four teams remaining were without a doubt the best four teams during this year’s college basketball season. Outside of Kansas who had an epic tussle with Davidson in the Elite Eight, they all romped their way into this Final Four with convincing wins in the Regional Finals and Semifinals. We have four bluebloods attending this event as UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas and Memphis represent the college basketball elite. Without further ado, let’s breakdown the matchups.
by Trevor Freeman
Jalapeno Poppers. Glass Slippers. Yuengling. Bryce Drew. Chili Cheese Nachos. Harold Arcenaux. Chicken Wings. Rumeal Robinson. Budweiser. Bill Raftery. Mozzarella Sticks. Bracket Busters. Tequila. Jeff Fryar. Are you filling out your bracket right now? Is today the most unproductive Monday you have had in weeks? Don’t be concerned. It is that way for everybody. It was an excruciating wait between now and the end of the Super Bowl, but it is finally here. Ladies and Gentleman……….the Madness has arrived.
by Trevor Freeman
College basketball is heating up and thanks to the San Francisco 49ers I have had plenty of time to take in the action. In fact, due to Mike Nolan’s ineptitude and the fact that he coaches these games like an overmatched 17-year old college freshman worried about making a move on anything with a set of breasts…..I have been watching plenty of college basketball since late October. Instead of doing my usual preseason Top 25, I decided to hold it back until the preseason ended and conference play began. Our look starts in Southern California with a team that is long on talent but short on chemistry.
Over the past few years, the Southern Illinois Salukis have become a reoccurring member of March Madness. Not only do the Salukis take their gritty defensive game into the tournament year after year, but they usually hang around in March, and they drive opponents crazy.