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03.29.07
Posted in Music, Life, Television, Movies, Sports, The Diesel at 5:17 pm by Diesel The
The Madness, The Madness . . .
Vegas, Baby, Vegas. The excesses of Caligula right in our very own desert oasis. Speaking of dessert, I contend that the brownie sundae is the greatest dessert ever invented. Argue if you like, but I’ll tell you right now, you would be wrong.
So let me walk you through what I learned during my weekend in the debauchery capital of the world. As you can see from the ticket stubs below, the sports betting didn’t go so well. I learned that no matter how much you hate Florida (or any particular team); it’s not wise to bet against them solely for that reason. Oh, and by the way, I learned that a money line bet is far different from a straight bet. 10½ points different, as far as the Butler-Florida game was concerned. On the plus side, had Butler won, we would have made $115 bucks on our initial $20. On the minus side, Butler lost, but won with the points. Meaning, had we made a straight bet with the points, we would have won $20. Minus the vigorish, of course. Which is one of the coolest words ever, by the way. (An aside: That word reminds me of Catherine Zeta-Jones in The Mask of Zorro when she says. “very vigorous.” Sexy as hell. Remember how hot she was back then? Smokin.’ Now? Married to an old dude. Too bad.)
But I’m getting ahead of myself, gambling-wise. My very first bet of the trip was, as promised below, the Entourage-style $10 on red at the very first roulette wheel I came across. Black-24. Well, that was not a good sign, nor the last time I put my faith in red. Twice more I tried. The first, $15 at the Venetian. Okay, it was actually 5 ones, 1 five, and a $5 Match Play card. Seriously. I was standing next to a guy in a suit with hundreds of dollars in chips in front of him. The dealer treated at me like the low class schmuck that I am. What came up? Black-24. I should have taken odds and bet $20 bucks on that happening. The last time, Kansas had just blown our parlay, so I decided to drop another $10 on red at NY, NY. This time I won. Go figure. That was the extent of my roulette play, though I wish I had $100 or more to sit down and play for awhile. Yes, it’s a sucker bet, as Joe Cat says. But I would argue that everything in Vegas is a sucker bet, and I enjoy the spin.
Before I get back to the sports betting, I will let you all in on the best kept secret in Vegas: Paigow Poker is the poor man’s best friend. Find a $10 table. Sit down with $50 and, with a reasonable amount of luck, you can drink free all night. It breaks down like this: half the time you push, a quarter of the time you win, a quarter of the time you lose. So that’s almost 75% of the hands that you do not lose. Which, when you have no money and want to get drunk, are outstanding odds. (Those percentages are 100% unscientific. For entertainment purposes only.) Of course, the downside to getting drunk is that if you are lucky and do win a few hands in a row, you tend to play too long and give the money right back. So remember, free drinks in casinos are not really free.
By the way, I witnessed Joe Cat lose $20 in a $1 Wheel of Fortune slot machine in well under a minute. I looked at my phone as the 20 was going in: 2:59p. I looked at my phone when his credits were at zero: 2:59p. Wow.
So anyway, the Friday betting went like this: $20 money line Butler over Florida (loss), $10 straight bet Butler +10 over Florida (paid $19), $10 three leg parlay USC+8½, UNLV +2½, Georgetown -7½ (loss). So we bet $40 (Our friend John threw in $10 to get in on the Butler action. Dummy.) and got back $19. Could have been worse. We had about as good a showing as the token fat kid fighting for Cobra-Kai in the All-Valley Karate Tournament. We took a round house to the gut.
New plan for the Sat-Sun games: one $15 two team parlay each day (you can view the betting stubs below). On each one, one team came through for us while the other blew it. Luckily, the Buckeyes came through, which was more important to us than the money anyway. Unfortunately, UCLA stuck it hard to Kansas. On Sunday, Georgetown came through all too well against UNC, winning the game outright in OT. The game was meaningless to us, however, as Oregon +7 had to go and lose by 8. Proving that this was definitely not our weekend. I hate Florida. We even put our $10ish in winnings (hah, winnings!) from that Butler game on a money line bet that Oregon beats Florida straight up. Ouch.
Remember how I said I needed to win at least some of this money back in order to pay my bills this month? Hmmmmm . . . wonder how much I can get if I sell my plasma? (Blood, not TV).
By the way, big shout out to the Flamingo: nicest dealers, waitresses, and pit bosses on the strip. By far. I also recommend checking out the “Dealertainers” at the Imperial Palace, although the Gwen Stefani is a bit of a butter face. Just sayin’.
All in all, really fun weekend, which is the whole point. And the Buckeyes are in the Final Four. Happy days are here again.
Public Service Announcements:
How can you not root for this guy? GO BUCKS!
I came across these two articles about the current state of the music industry. Interesting stuff. I think the Counting Crows guy is right on, though I still don’t want to pay for music. Maybe I’ll write more on this topic at a later date. Check it out.
http://www.countingcrows.com/news/news.php?uid=2353
http://tech.msn.com/news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4558731>1=9233
Ben Folds is opening for John Mayer at the Hollywood Bowl in June. You have got to be kidding me. Ben Folds is the man. John Mayer is not.
Ships and Dip is Back! You can take a cruise with Barenaked Ladies and Guster. If you’re a fan of these bands, that’s got to be the coolest thing ever. Of course, if you’re not, it would probably not be so much fun. Great idea, though. Wish I had the cash.
Marching Band practice will be moved from the gymnasium to the commons area due to asbestos removal. Anyone coughing up blood should report to the school nurse.
That’s my 6th post. Look who’s in the lead now? Suck it, Big D.
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03.27.07
Posted in Life, Sports, The Diesel at 10:06 pm by Diesel The
I’m still exhausted, so I’ll keep this short: JD and I got our asses handed to us this weekend by the Flamingo Sports Book. I’ll post a more detailed recap in the near future, but in the meantime, laugh at our parlay betting stub above and enjoy the view of the Vegas Strip below. At least the Buckeyes won. Final Four, baby! GO BUCKS!
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03.21.07
Posted in Life, Sports, The Diesel at 11:57 pm by Diesel The
So after 4 days of utter madness, we’re down to the final 16 teams in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Okay, so really it was only one day of madness and three days of “eh.” But being that that one day of madness was also St. Patrick’s Day, I think all can be forgiven. As Billy Bob “Bad Santa” Thornton said to Thurman Murman upon getting an aspirin in his Advent calendar, “They can’t all be winners, kid.”
So now we arrive at the Sweet 16. I’m happy because my beloved Buckeyes made it through that one day of madness to find themselves in a rematch with Tennessee on Thursday. I’m even happier because I’ll be watching with Joe Cat and my brother, as well as some other friends in Vegas.
I was in Vegas once before during March Madness and I made a bundle by taking Xavier and the points. And by bundle, I mean $36.50. Now, the coach of that team, Thad Matta is roaming the sidelines for the Buckeyes. Coincidence? Well, yeah. That weekend I was also hanging with Joe Cat as well as with JD. Unfortunately, JD can’t make it this year, so, in order for him to join in on the fun, he deposited $35 in my bank account earlier today. And since you, dear readers, also can’t make it, we’re going to keep you up to date on all our gambling action, as it happens. Well, not really. But we’ll get back to you on Monday (ish).
And please, keep in mind that every dollar I’m betting needs to be back in my bank account by March 28 to cover some bills. So I could really use a win here.
Here’s the plan:
First, JD and I are putting $10 on red at the very first roulette table we come to, Entourage-style, to find out what kind of weekend it’s going to be.
Second, it’s game time. We each are putting in $30 to bet on the games. I’m not arriving until Thursday night (just in time to watch the Buckeyes, natch) so we’ve got three days of Madness to gamble on. There’s your 20 bucks a day. I’ve added the current lines from Caesar’s sports book below for Friday’s games.
Mar. 23 Vanderbilt +7½
4:25 p.m. at Georgetown 131o/u
Mar. 23 Southern Cal +8½
6:55 p.m. at N. Carolina 150½o/u
Mar. 23 UNLV +2½
6:40 p.m. at Oregon 139½o/u
Mar. 23 Butler +10½
4:10 p.m. at Florida 124o/u
JD and I are both novices at sports gambling, so we’re going to stay away from the over/unders and stick to picking winners. Plus, math is for nerds. The first thing we’re really concerned about is falling into the trap of betting from the heart and not the head. We each bring our own bias to the table with each team, which is what the casinos count on.
The general perception of each school helps set the point spreads. Butler and Vanderbilt are small schools that have never won before, whereas Florida just won the whole thing last year and Georgetown went to a ton of Final Fours back in the day. UNLV was ridiculously good back in the early 90s with Jerry Tarkanian as their coach. Of course, they also cheated like crazy and got caught, which is why they disappeared for nearly 20 years. Oregon and Southern Cal are both Pac 10 schools not named UCLA, so most people think they probably aren’t any good. And North Carolina is arguably the greatest program in the history of college basketball (with apologies to John Wooden).
So those are the general perceptions of these teams going in, putting aside completely the play of the current teams. So let’s talk about that. I think it’s best to pay little attention to the first round games as most of these teams were big favorites. Vanderbilt is an overachieving team that needed OT to get by #3 Washington St. Their season is already a success just by getting to the Sweet 16. (Side note: Vandy beat George Washington in the 1st round and Washington St. in the 2nd round. Now they’re playing Georgetown — located in Washington D.C. This is quite the coincidence. Apparently King George III is Vandy’s coach and Benedict Arnold is their sixth man.) Georgetown has been the trendy pick to win it all by everyone not picking Florida (bastards). They played well against a tough Boston College team and, so far, there is little reason to doubt them. And, by the way, Georgetown was named after it’s founders and not after George Washington, as is the popular misconception. Lucky for them, otherwise Vanderbilt would be a lock.
USC had a tough draw against #4 Texas and future NBA star Kevin Durant. Texas was another trendy pick to make the Final Four and SC made them their bitch. North Carolina has been a top 10 team all year and put away a scrappy Michigan State team in the 2nd round. Even better, future NBA stiff Tyler Hansbrough has been a man on a mission since taking off the mask protecting his broken nose.
UNLV is the lowest seed left and has beaten the highest seed so far in #2 Wisconsin. Many think they should have been seeded higher. Oregon nearly lost to Miami (Ohio) in the first round and, while they played better against Winthrop, still could have lost that game.
Butler was a trendy pick to be upset by Old Dominion in the first round, then they went on to knock off Maryland. Still, they shot under 50% and were out rebounded in both games. Not good signs. Florida, again, the most popular choice to win it all, really did not play well against Purdue. Plus, if you listen to JD, they had a ton of calls go their way. Just sayin.’
Which brings me to the last criteria – personal bias. Now this is where the irrational comes into play. By far, the biggest bias JD and I have for or against any team in this field (and I think I’m very safe to include JD in this) is our massive hatred of immigrants, er, Florida. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them. Nearly as much as I hated the Miami Vice movie (beyond horrendously gouge-my-eyes-out awful). Joakim Noah is hugely overrated. He’s the French Anderson Varajeo. Little skill, but an “energy guy.” Whoever picks him in the top 5 in the NBA draft is going to regret it. But, of course, it’s not the players or anyone specifically that I hate on the team or at the school, but the overall attitude and smugness. And, oh yeah, the complete lack of sportsmanship at the BCS National Championship Game by their fans. And yes, also, much of this bitterness comes from the Ohio State basketball loss to Florida in December as well as that football loss in January. I’m still not over it and I don’t want to talk about it.
As for the other teams, well, I kind of have a soft spot for Vanderbilt because a friend of mine went there and they just tend to be awful in everything. They’re like the retarded little brother of the SEC. And you know the SEC treats their retarded siblings about as well as Borat: “Why you call police? The retard escape?” So yeah, I feel bad for them and have been really happy to see them have some moderate football, and now, basketball success.
I actually almost went to Georgetown. I’m a big fan of the school and campus. However, I never did care much for their basketball teams. I guess I’m mostly indifferent.
I did end up going to USC for graduate school. Yet, I’m still a Buckeye fan. As a Big Ten guy, I do still carry a certain disdain for the Pac 10. I think I’m indifferent yet again. Wait, OJ went to USC. Ah, man.
North Carolina presents an interesting case. I tend to resent their continued success, but I liked Dean Smith and I tend to dislike Duke. So I guess I’m slightly pro UNC. I know JD is a big fan (2nd to the Buckeyes, of course).
I definitely have a bias against UNLV. I hated those Tarkanian, Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon teams of the 90s. I was only 10 and I knew they were cheaters. On the superstitious side, it may not be good to bet against Vegas in Vegas.
I have absolutely no feelings for or against Oregon. Maybe that Pac 10 thing, but that’s it. Aren’t they owned by Nike?
I never even knew Butler was in Indiana until about a week ago, yet I still have them in the Elite 8 in one of my brackets. I guess I like that they’re a small, underdog type school that is having a really great season. That said, if Florida was playing the Washington Generals, I’d have to think long and hard about who to bet on.
So after all that, the only thing we’re really sure of is that we must bet against Florida, even if it probably is a sucker bet. So Friday we’ll put $20 on Butler +10½ straight up. That’s just too many points and too much hatred to ignore. Next, we’ll throw $10 on a 3 team parlay. Can Vandy stay within 7½ of Georgetown? Can USC stay within 8½ of UNC? And can Oregon beat UNLV by more than 2½? In short, and after all that, I still don’t know. With point spreads, it’s all 50/50 anyway. That’s how the casinos make money. JD? Thoughts?
Best case scenario, we win about $20 on the Butler game, which basically pays 2-1 (with the casino taking their cut). A 3-team parlay pays 6-1, so we could add $60 onto that $10. So doing the math, carry the 1, we’d have made $130 on our $30 investment, plus $30 more we brought to play with.
So, after losing all our bets on Friday’s games, we’ll have $30 left to bet on the four Elite 8 games. We can try a couple of 2 team parlays (pays 13-5) or one 4 team parlay (pays 11-1). Or just say eff it and throw it all on 25 at the roulette table. Why 25? Mark Price? Hello?
So best case scenario, we put $30 at 11-1 and have everything go our way, we walk out with $330. Which gives us a grand total of $460. Subtract our $60 initial investment, and we’ve made $400 in 3 days of watching basketball.
It’s just that easy. Isn’t it?
Check back on Tuesday to see how we did.
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03.17.07
Posted in Life, Music, The Diesel at 10:26 am by Diesel The
And a gambler
And a long ways from home
And if you don’t like me
Well leave me alone
I’ll eat when I’m hungry
I’ll drink when I’m dry
And if the moonshine don’t kill me
I’ll live ‘til I die!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everybody!
I hope each of you is able to spend it with family and friends and a cold pint.
As a public service announcement, especially to those of you in the Cleveland area, I highly recommend checking out The New Barleycorn. GREAT Irish music.
I know it’s 70 degrees in Los Angeles right now and I’m about to head down to a Hermosa Beach pub crawl packed with a thousand scantily clad drunk girls, but I’d still rather be in Cleveland, with a Slyman’s corned beef sandwich, freezing my ass off at the parade. And, of course, polishing off the night with the last of many a Guinness and killer show by The New Barleycorn. Enjoy, Clevelanders, enjoy. I’m jealous.
GO BUCKS!
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03.15.07
Posted in Sports, The Diesel at 2:43 pm by Diesel The
The Sports Guy over at ESPN.com is keeping a running diary on today’s games. Check it out if you want to kill yourself.
In the Hindu reincarnation chart, I think he’s reached the step before Enlightenment. I want his life.
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Posted in Saved by the Bell, Music, Television, JD at 12:30 pm by jd
I actually was up in time to catch parts of all 4 Saved By the Bell episodes today. Now let’s see if I can remember what they all were. The one I saw the most of was the one where Slater has the gang baby-sit is pet Chameleon for the weekend and he ends up dying. Best part? Where Slater dresses up like Artie in Zack’s dream sequence and keeps repeatedly sticking his tongue as if to imitate the chameleon way. That acting is a delight!
The 8:30 episode was the one where Zack is Kelly’s date for her birthday party Saturday but then he gets blackmailed by Belding into taking out his niece Penny Belding on Friday night thanks to his 10th detention (ordinarily a week’s suspension). Then our hero finds out the party for Kelly was switched to Friday also (the Max was overbooked on Saturday). As memory serves, Penny is hot and Screech takes her out, dressed as Zack, then they get caught at the party and everyone figures out what is going on. Kelly gets mad when she hears Penny talking about how great Zack is, neither knowing that this Zack is, in fact, Screech. When Kelly finds out the truth, she is flattered by Zack’s efforts to make her happy on her birthday. Everybody lives happily ever after and I think Screech may have even gotten lucky with the Principal’s niece that night! Why didn’t he parade around and throw that in everyone’s face?!?!? What a conquest! This episode contained the great joke by Mr. Hudson (the overweight Science teacher): “There are 2 types of genes, dominant genes and recessive genes. Which are not to be confused with <pause for dramatic effect> blue jeans.” It’s great stuff.
What were the other 2 episodes? Oh, one was where the gang forgets about Screech’s birthday until Kevin (Screech’s Robot) reminds Zack. Screech is mad and looking for revenge and to compound the problem Mr. Dewey makes him hall monitor and he puts everyone in detention when they’re trying to throw a surprise party for him in Belding’s office to make up for forgetting his birthday. Eventually they all get to Belding’s office and have a party for him in 30 seconds. Lisa gives him “a compass, for when I tell you to get lost.”
Oh and I just remembered the first episode. It was the Bayside-Valley Prank War. I missed most of it, but the scenes between the two school principals are classic SBTB. “We’re the Bayside Tigers and we’re on the prowl…” Also the Stan and Dan Kleig episode. “Whoa, you guys stole Valley t-shirts!” “No, we stole Bayside Jackets!” There’s the whole “Interesting, Stan” “Very, Dan” exchange between the two. It’s good stuff. Of course Bayside wins the coveted golden megaphone at the cheerleading competition and everybody’s happy. One final thought about Saved by the Bell. Remember how we talked about how the pop culture references were great because they kind of transcended the years (in my first SBTB post, I believe)? Well think of this exchange between Lisa and Jessie from this morning’s episode (the Kelly’s party, Zack and Mr. Belding’s niece one):Lisa: Jessie, I have the perfect guy for you to take to Kelly’s party! He’s my next door neighbor!
Jessie: Oh my gosh, you live next door to Kevin Costner!?!?!?! Hmm, swing and a miss there if you ask me. He did have Robin Hood around that same time, but for the most part they missed his big career moments of Dances with Wolves and Field of Dreams. Even Bull Durham. They must have seen big things for him before his career pulled a Christian Slater and gleamed the cube. So I guess all their pop references aren’t great (they also referred to Alan Thicke in a later episode when Screech and Lisa were at a “Zombie Love Story” movie). Talk about growing pains. So there is a nice long SBTB update for you.
It was gorgeous here Tuesday. Wednesday it rained and then in the evening we had a massive thunderstorm complete with tornado, but it was still warm. Today I wake up to snow covering the ground and 20 degree weather. Plus I heard there was an earthquake in Twinsburg this week. So in four days we’ve had an earthquake followed by a perfectly clear 70 degree day, followed by a massive thunderstorm and tornado, followed by a snowstorm and in there we had a 50 plus degree temperature change. I’m waiting for the locusts or boils. I hate
Ohio during this time of year.
Hawthorne Heights “Ohio is For Lovers”
“Hey there, I know its hard to feel like I don’t’ care at all where you are and how you feel with these lights off as these wheels keep rolling on and on. Slow things down or speed them up, not enough or way too much, how are you when I’m gone? And I can’t make it on my own. Because my heart is in Ohio. So cut my wrist and black my eyes so I can fall asleep tonight, or die. Because you kill me. You know you do, you kill me well. You like it too and I can tell, you never stop until my final breath is gone. Spare me just three last words, I love you is all she heard. I’ll wait for you, but I can’t wait forever.”
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Posted in Sports, JD, The Diesel at 11:27 am by Diesel The
For the past week virtually all the talk between us bloggers on the site has revolved around March Madness. So now, moments before tip off of the first games of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, I thought I’d share with you, dear readers, the email conversations between myself, TD, and fellow blogger JD concerning all things college basketball. But mostly Ohio State (GO BUCKS!). We kick things off with an update from JD on the OSU-Michigan Big Ten Tournament game last Friday. Enjoy.
Oh, and the quote in the title? That was Tommy Boy, reflecting on the perils of filling out a tournament bracket. I love March.
Friday, March 09, 2007 1:48 PM
JD: Buckeyes won
Friday, March 09, 2007 4:53 PM
TD: I saw. Think they can rattle off another 8 straight?
Friday, March 09, 2007 1:59 PM
JD: No. we’re too young. We’ll struggle against tougher teams like the winner of tonight’s Wisconsin-MSU game (which in my estimation will be our opponent in the championship game). We might have trouble with Indiana too. And really, Purdue spanked Iowa, so you never know.
Monday, March 12, 2007 11:41 AM
TD: So Sunday I woke up with a start at 11:45. Or is it 12:45? Or 10:45? And what time is the Ohio State game? 2:30 eastern? 3:30? And what time is it here? 10:30? Am I missing the game? Wait? What? Who? Should I check online? Huh? Screw it, I’ll just turn the TV on. Long story, short (too late) I had missed 5 minutes or so of game time. [This was the day of the time change and TD is in the Pacific Time Zone]
Sunday was almost entirely devoted to college basketball, which was great. I still don’t understand why Florida was the #1 seed in the Midwest and OSU in the South — seems strange to me. Also, I’m a little shocked OSU wasn’t the #1 overall seed. I guess the early season losses to Florida and North Carolina (either without Oden entirely or when he only had one hand) did them in. But at the same time, Ohio State has beaten every team they were supposed to. And their games against Wisconsin show how far they’ve come: L at Wis by 3, W at OSU by 1, W on Neutral Court by 17!
Anyway, if they win the NCAA tournament, they’ll finish with a 23 game winning streak.
Monday, March 12, 2007 9:33 AM
JD: Nice reference to Clue in your recap.
I watched the end of the OSU-Wisconsin game. We annihilated them. How we aren’t the number one seed overall is a mystery. It’s ludicrous. Number one team in the Nation should be the number one seed in the tournament. And Florida got a cakewalk to the Final Four. March 18th I’m going to be the biggest Arizona Wildcat fan out there. But worst case scenario they play Maryland after that. Are you kidding? How does Maryland get a 4 seed and UCLA drops to a 7? [A 2 seed, but potentially #7 overall] I know they lost 2 games in a row at the end, but Florida lost 3 in a row before recovering to win their tourney. And another thing. Everyone said what a light schedule the Big Ten was this year and how tough the SEC and Big 12 were. Well the SEC, despite being a conference of like 875 teams, got 5 bids. And the Big 12 only got 4. So the Big Ten (or 11) has less teams and more teams in the tournament then the supposed “great” conferences of the SEC and Big 12. Makes sense. But, like in football, the SEC is overrated and is leading to Florida’s postseason status. Lame. Same could be said of the PAC 10 by the way, who also got 4 bids.
Several columnists have already picked the Midwest as the Easiest bracket (though a couple picked the South also).
Oh well. We have 2 of the 3 major factors for being a good tournament team. We have a good (near dominant) big man, we have outside shooting to hurt the other team if they double said big man but we don’t have experience. That’s the one thing we’re lacking. Plus we have an awesome coach. Should be entertaining
Monday, March 12, 2007 1:03 PM
TD: The other terrible thing about Florida being #1 overall? It makes Billy Packer right. Also on the subject of OSU not getting the #1 overall seed, some columnist on ESPN or Fox Sports said that OSU hasn’t had any big wins, not counting Wisconsin twice (which is like saying “Saving Private Ryan” didn’t have any good scenes except for the opening battle and the closing battle). But, okay, aside from Wisconsin, a 2 seed and a top 10 team all season (which OSU, again, beat by 17!? on a neutral court) the Big 10 was down a bit. However, if you look at ESPN’s bracketology and click on OSU, it shows their “quality” wins and they’ve beaten a ton of teams in the top 25 in RPI (Mich St (twice), Indiana, Tennessee) and a bunch more in the top 50. And, most telling of all, they have ZERO bad losses. In fact, I think all three losses are to teams in the top 10 of the RPI, not to mention the human polls. They lost to 2 of the other 3 #1 seeds and a #2 seed, all on the road. It’s ludicrous.
Florida is #1 overall due to last season, not this season.
And don’t forget the other supposed important part of a good tourney team – guard play. How about Mike Conley, Jr. and Jamar Butler? Those guys can run a team. And Conley might be the faster basketball player I’ve ever seen.
As for our bracket, Texas A&M scares me a bit, just cause I’ve heard so much about that Acie Law IV dude. And I hate that we may be playing Xavier so close to Cincinnati. Then again, I think OSU will travel pretty darn well. We’ve already beaten Tennessee and I hadn’t heard a single thing about Virginia all season. And who the heck knows if Memphis is any good? On the plus side, I think we cause mismatches against everyone we play and that’s the key to college sports.
Monday, March 12, 2007 12:41 PM
JD: Well Billy Packer changed his tune about the time we pushed the lead to 15 or 20 yesterday and said you know what I think Ohio State is the number one overall based on what I’m watching here. Then Nantz disagreed and pointed out his hypocrisy. It was about time that Jim Nantz stood up to Packer. It was ludicrous the way he just sat there when Henderson threw that elbow and didn’t say Billy, you’re wrong. I’m not getting back into that though. And you make a very good point, sometimes sports polls aren’t about quality of wins as much as not having “unquality” losses. Did you beat the teams you were supposed to beat? Or did you crap the bed against Florida State, Vanderbilt and LSU? All of which are teams that they should’ve beaten. As you said, all of our losses came to top seeds in the tourney, ok one came to a 2 seed, while half of theirs came to schools that didn’t even make it. Ok, no more talk about Florida, I hate them.
You’re right, last season is why they are number one. They pulled this same crap last year but the competition is much tougher and they have no guard play, as you said.
Acie Law is sick. I’ve seen him play a few times and he is just amazing. He’s Allen Iverson but left handed. Lightning quick and can hit from anywhere. He shoots a higher percentage than Iverson I’m sure. Don’t be worried about Xavier. They might not even get by BYU. I know I won’t be picking them. Tennessee has improved a lot toward the end of this year. And don’t sleep on Virginia. They shared the ACC regular season title with North Carolina. They are tough. And Memphis should have been a 1 seed over UNC. They’ve won 23 or so in a row. And they’ve beaten the teams they are supposed to. Not a lot of quality wins against solid clubs though. Conference USA is down, what can you say? They are really good, though. But you are right about the mismatches.
Monday, March 12, 2007 1:30 PM
TD: I didn’t notice Billy change his tune. Ah well. He’s an idiot. At least he and Nantz didn’t yell at the head of the committee this year. That was ridiculous – very unprofessional.
I think polls, especially basketball, are all about beating the teams you should beat and playing close the teams equal or stronger than you, especially on the road. I actually am hoping OSU gets a rematch with North Carolina and with Florida in the tournament. I think we win this time. Plus I just want another chance to stick it to Florida. I hate that school almost equal to Michigan.
So you’re with me in thinking that the scariest team in our bracket is Texas A&M?
I wasn’t saying anything bad about Virginia other than they’re a team nobody has talked about all season.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 9:16 AM
JD: I hate Florida as much as you do. I don’t even want them to get a chance to have any praises sung. Joakim Noah is the most overrated player in the history of basketball that didn’t or doesn’t go to Duke.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 9:38 AM
TD: My Florida/bracket dilemma: Do I stick with my usual plan of picking all Big 10 teams in the first round (worked out terribly for me last year) and have Purdue beat Arizona and then have them beat Florida (which I can’t see). Or do I have Arizona finally start playing to their potential, beat Purdue and then Florida. I think Arizona has the better talent than Purdue and probably has the better shot to knock out Florida, but even Lute Olson seemed to be down on his team. And, foolish or not, I don’t want to put Florida in the Sweet 16.
No disagreement on Joakim. I laughed when someone on ESPN was talking about him as a “high energy” guy. He’s friggin’ the French Anderson Varajeo! Should he have been a top 3 pick in the draft?
I love when the tourney falls on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s like Christmas and my birthday rolled into one.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:11 PM
JD: Thanks for the well wishes on basketball. [JD was hoping the weather held out so he could play ball outside after work. Instead, a tornado touched down a few blocks from his office.] It should be a good time. I showed flashes of my “old” self the other day, but overall it was nothing spectacular. My team only won once or twice, but I had one particular stretch where I took over the game for about 5 possessions. It started with going up strong for a defensive rebound and an outlet pass. Then I trailed the play, got the ball back around the top of the key, crossed over and made a tough left handed lay up. Then I got another rebound on D came back down and posted up my guy (3 inches taller than me) and used an up and under move to get to the hoop for a short hook shot/lay up. Next time down I think they scored and I went and posted up again. This time I faked to the baseline (where I’d gone the previous time) and shot a turn around fadeaway to my left which I dropped in. Then I got a defensive rebound came down and hoisted a “heat check” 3 and drilled it. It was a good stretch for me. Of course I got greedy the next time down and stepped back even farther and missed. But oh well. It was fun while it lasted.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 2:39 PM
TD: Real quick, because I have to submit my bracket in half an hour – how do you feel about Butler? They’ve actually been playing poorly of late, but they are a five seed. Currently, I have them in the elite 8, which I feel is too high. However, the other option is Arizona, whom I have beating Florida in the second round. I also have Maryland getting upset by Davidson, but I hate taking low seeds much farther than round 2. It just happens too rarely. But by knocking out both Florida and Maryland, Butler is the last choice for the elite 8. I can’t see Arizona or Purdue making it that far. Or Old Dominion, if I have them upset Butler (a popular choice, I’m sure). Then again, if I’m having Arizona beat Florida, maybe I should ride them a little further into the final 8. Hmmmm.
Thoughts? Comments?
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:04 PM
JD: The way you have it set up, I would absolutely have Arizona in the Elite 8 over Butler. I think Zona has more upside plus they have a veteran coach, plus they’ve been playing well lately which is probably because the Frosh have been jelling. Plus it’s probably one and done for most of the Frosh on Zona because they’ll go to the draft and thus want their stock as high as possible. I think if they squeak by Florida they’ll absolutely beat Butler. That’s my thought. I could see Davidson upsetting Maryland too and I could see ODU knocking off Butler, so I think in the interest of knocking Florida out, you should pick Arizona. that’s my thinking anyway. Then again, Maryland played in a really tough conference and won seven in a row at the end of the year. Maybe that’ll pay dividends in the tournament where Gary Williams has a pretty good record. I just can’t get myself to pick against him as a coach in the first round.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 3:07 PM
TD: Thanks. I needed that.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:09 PM
JD: Hope it help(s/ed)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 3:09 PM
TD: It did. Well, it prompted me to make to make a change I wanted to make anyway, but that I now feel more confident about. Of course, if Butler goes to the elite 8, I’m blaming you.
It’s funny because I have that Midwest bracket with all kinds of upsets and the other three are pretty tame.
Did you end up sticking with your 2 #1s and 2 #2s in the Final Four?
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:43 PM
JD: I have for the time being. But I’ll be going back through it tonight and editing I am sure. There is no way that will happen.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:54 PM
TD: Nope. Although the odds are probably better for getting 3 out of 4 or 2 out of 4 right. My guess is 3 teams that are 1 or 2 seeds and one team out of left field.
Back to the present:
So, dear readers, let’s hear some comments. Are JD and I full of shit? Should we have more to do with our lives? Who are your Final Four picks? What method do you use to fill out your bracket?
I also just want to remind everyone to enjoy the basketball responsibly, wear green on Saturday (with a little scarlet and grey), and if you’re a pretty girl – kiss me, I’m Irish.
And If you’re Julius Caesar, don’t forget to “Beware the Ides of March.” Which is today, March 15.
Until next time . . .
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03.14.07
Posted in Sports, Big D at 5:39 pm by Big D
So, while Big D excels at football picks, he doesn’t pay much attention to NCAA Basketball. Still, to pass up an opportunity to gamble would seem crazy. He needs a plan.
Instead of just picking at random, or going with all of the favorites, D will turn to a bracket generator! I found one that’s free online. Check out the probability-based Free NCAA Bracket Generator and put yer money down.
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03.13.07
Posted in Television, Big D at 10:05 pm by Big D
“Marthaaaaaa” is the new Rosebud.
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03.05.07
Posted in Television, Sports, JD at 3:26 pm by jd
A little bit of this, a little bit of that…
Who watched the Duke-UNC basketball game Sunday beside me? This game was a travesty unlike any Devils-Heels game before it. Are you kidding me? A double digit point differential that lasted most of the second half through the end of the game? This just doesn’t seem right. Having a Duke-UNC blowout is like having Britney Spears take care of her children, it just doesn’t happen. Now don’t worry, I don’t believe we’re in the midst of any paradox where the former Teen Diva actually starts to give a crap about her family, but we are in an interesting time nonetheless. UNC and Virginia split a share of the ACC title, there is another Notorious B.I.G. album coming out and a professional football team is shelling out money for a possession wide receiver that doesn’t make first down possessions (more on this in a minute). But none of this really matters, I don’t care about it. Yes, I’m glad UNC swept Duke, but the real issue here is…
Gerald Henderson. Did he or didn’t he deck Tyler Hansbrough in the face on purpose? Well let’s see, it’s a Duke game, which means the color commentary was being provided by Billy Packer. Anyone who reads Loosely Based Sports knows my feelings on that guy, basically that he is in love with Coach K and everything Duke. So naturally, this leads to an extremely awkward moment between he and Jim Nantz (the play-by-play man) where Packer is profusely stating “it’s not intentional, it’s not flagarant” like a woman who’s best friend just told her that her boyfriend is cheating on her but she’s sitting there screaming at the best friend, “I know Marcus, he’d never do it, he’d never do it!” when we are seeing clear replays to the contrary. Jim Nantz is sitting there, the best friend, just waiting for Packer to come to his senses and break down. Why is Packer an absolute idiot (or just in absolute denial) for saying it wasn’t intentional? Look at the play. Gerald Henderson goes up to block the shot and misses. But doesn’t come down with an ELBOW as was tossed around for so long. He came down with his FOREARM leading to the face, a move perfected by the Narcissist, Lex Luger of WWF fame in the year leading up to his body slam of Yokozuna, the ultimate heel to face turn in wrestling history (He went from being a “heel” or bad guy, to having the entire country on his side by slamming the man from Japan). Elbows fly around sometimes, sure. Forearms do not. Do I believe the blow was premeditated? No. But I do believe a young college athlete had his temper get the best of him, and while he was in the air, he saw an opportunity to extract some anger, and took it. So the reputation of Duke is bruised, black and blue; while the Tar Heels go into the ACC tournament red hot, the color of the blood on Hansbrough’s face. Let’s just hope he can play with his broken nose. Note to Billy Packer: Learn to be unbiased or get out of broadcasting. And CBS? Stop assigning him to big games until he can do so, he should be relegated to the Big South and Metro Atlantic until such a time. The bad thing is that he could be a decent color guy otherwise. He even gave a few Carolina players credit on accident during that game. It was hard not to, though. After all they mopped the floor on both sides of the ball. Don’t worry, Billy. Coach K will forgive you.
Other pressing matters… Scoop Jackson writes for Page 2 on ESPN.com and is a good writer. He also happens to be African American. He also happens to incorporate this into every article he writes. He is not a good journalist. He wrote a column about NBA All Star Weekend in Vegas claiming it was getting a bad “rap” so to speak because the media overplayed the negative events that occurred (You can see the column here). Why would the media do this? Well to paraphrase him, “As tough as it is to make this about race, it’s about race.” He actually said, “it is about nothing else.” but I think I’m just splitting hairs now. Ok, so let me get this straight. Journalists all week have ripped on Vegas and their issues with so few police officers, what the league didn’t do to keep accidents from happening and how Vegas was overbooked for the weekend and all Scoop gets out of this is, “Black people caused the problem.” Get a life, Scoop. Grow up and become a real sports journalist, you aren’t at XXL anymore and can’t just write things with no evidence to back them up. Reading Scoop’s articles are about the equivalent of arguing with your most immature ex-girlfriend (or boyfriend). You know, the one who just keeps saying, “Well you bring up my ex all the time and you don’t trust me.” Even though you’ve never once brought up any ex-boyfriend of theirs because you don’t care AND they’ve just sat there for the last 45 minutes going on and on about how your previous girlfriend gave her a dirty look at Express. And how you don’t even care! On the plus side, this is when it becomes apparent that your current girlfriend is a raging psychopath and that it’s time to run away, hide and change your phone number. Yeah, Scoop, hate to break it to you. That’s what it’s like.
Listen to me, Scoop. Not everything is about race. No one even brought up race as being part of the All Star Weekend problem until you did. Aren’t you bringing this on yourself? This issue isn’t black and white, it’s not even shades of gray. It’s not color related at all. Please, have yourself a Coke and a smile, and calm down. Do me a favor, write an article about a white athlete. Write about Tyler Hansbrough, but not about why everyone’s making a big deal about the forearm because Gerald Henderson is black and Hansbrough is white. You’ll say if it was the other way around there’d be no discussion. One of these days, Scoop, you’ll learn that the color of your skin doesn’t mean near as much as you want it to, for the good or bad. Maybe instead of writing about a white athlete you should just spend a week following around Mike Wilbon. He’s a black man and a great journalist. You know, I’ve never seen him play the race card. Funny how that works isn’t it?
Last order of business. For all you Cleveland Browns fans out there, say goodbye to the one and only Dennis Northcutt. I know it will be hard to get away from the 5 yard routes on 3rd and 6 or the 8 yard routes on 3rd and 13, or my personal favorite, the 15 yard route on 3rd and 10 where he gets a decent pass thrown his way and watches it fall to the ground. When I watched Dennis Northcutt, if I wasn’t wondering how much better I could do than him, I was thinking of all the people in my life who made me less angry on a consistent basis than he did. The list includes, but is not limited to: Scoop Jackson, Stan and Dan from “Valley High School,” K-Fed, Greg the Bunny, Melissa Rivers and Hillary Clinton. I feel truly sorry for Jacksonville, who now is on the hook for at least 4 years and 17 million dollars, with a 4.5 million dollar signing bonus. Read that again. 17 MILLION DOLLARS! For a guy who’s scored 7 touchdowns over the last 4 years combined! He hasn’t seen the endzone since 2005! What bad friend forgot to remind the Jags what happened when they took Kevin Johnson from the Browns? I’d feel betrayed if I was a Jaguars fan right now. Absolutely betrayed. As for Dennis Northcutt, I know you left only for the green, and as far as I’m concerned, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Maybe the Gods are finally starting to shine a bright gold on Cleveland. We sign the best O-lineman that was up for grabs, get rid of some dead weight and win the coin toss for the 3rd pick. Let’s not get our hopes up, we could still blow the pick on Brady Quinn.
Spring Training is here, people and if you are not yet excited, you may not have a pulse. I am rooting for Barry Bonds to have a huge year. Well, it doesn’t have to be huge, I just want him to break the record within 2 months or get hurt and have no shot. I don’t need to go 3 straight seasons of all Barry, all the time. And hey ESPN, maybe you can negotiate a deal with CBS to trade Pedro Gomes for Billy Packer. The guy has to be sick of hanging out in San Francisco. That or he’s become good “buddies” with Richard Simmons.
After all, the sun is shining today and I think I caught the glimpse of a rainbow…
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