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I will not recant. I still think the Big East is overrated, but I must offer congratulations to UConn.
UConn cleaned house in this tournament and clearly deserved to be the 2011 Champions. I still think the Big East is completely overrated. 1 stellar team does not a dominant conference make (e.g., Butler in Horizon League or John Calipari’s Memphis teams in Conference USA). I will still argue till I’m blue in the face that the ACC is the best conference, but this year the championship belongs to the Big East.
On another note, Butler’s coach Brad Stevens has become one of my favorite coaches in sports over the past two years. He is a classy guy that doesn’t act like a fool in games. He coaches well, and he has done a lot with a school no one had heard of two years ago. Props to him. I hope he gets a wicked recruiting class this year.
With coaches like Brad Stevens and John Pastner around, I have hope that the post-Krzyzewski and post-Roy Williams era will be a classy one. That is not to say that Krzyewski and Williams are not classy, they are (Pitino and Calipari, not so much).
Until later friends…
I wrote yesterday about Opening Day and how stinkin’ excited about it I am. I am even more excited today, because it is the Cubs’ Opening Day. My beloved Cubbies are taking on the cellar-dwelling Pittsburgh Pirates today. Ryan Dempster will be taking the hill instead of the volatile erratic spirited Carlos Zambrano. Dempster is a class act, and I’m glad he is getting the start.
This weekend also will play host to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four: VCU vs. Butler and Kentucky vs. UConn. Those games are sure to be exciting. I am pulling for Butler, because I am morally opposed to John Calipari/UK and the Big East (i.e., UConn).
(Here is an advance photo of John Calipari begging for forgiveness after he has his third Final Four appearance stripped for an entire lack of scruples)
And if the sports world wasn’t exciting enough, Monday April 4th marks the beginning of the Masters week. I am not a huge golf fan, but any self-respecting sports fan loves the Masters. My dad has gone several times and it is one of his favorite things to do, and I like my dad, so I like the Masters. And, the Masters green jacket is one of the coolest prizes in the sports world.
So, the poll for this Friday is…
Until later friends…
Last week I blogged about the glorious nectar found in slushy machines. This week I have only written sports blogs, and for the weekly Friday poll, I really don’t feel like straying from the sports theme. So, today we will have another March Madness Poll!
This tournament (like every other NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament before it) has not gone as expected. Butler is going on another magical run even though their actual Bulldog is not allowed to go to the games, which is a bad idea NCAA. Trust me, I’m a Cubs fan. Ever heard of the Billy Goat Curse?
The Big East has looked pretty awful (aside from UConn). BYU made a good run on the shoulders of the Danny Ainge-ish Jimmer Fredette, but thankfully they lost to Florida and my bracket remains alive.
Duke is gone…finished…out. There were no Christian Laettner heroics. In fact, they didn’t even get close enough for Laettner to help them. So, props to you Arizona.
After last night, half the Elite Eight is set: Arizona, UConn, Butler, and Florida.
The last four to join the Elite Eight will come from: Ohio State, Kentucky, Marquette, UNC, Kansas, Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth, and Florida State.
So, the poll for today is in honor of the Elite Eight. Now that pretty much everyone’s brackets is dead, who are you cheering to win?
Until later friends…
(To all you non-sports fans, I apologize for this post)
This weekend was great. I loved being with my family for the entire weekend. I got to spend a lot of time with my wife, parents, sister, and nephew, and that makes for a great weekend. I really enjoyed watching March Madness with my family. Our team – Austin Peay – didn’t even make the tournament this year, but we still enjoy watching all the games cheering for underdogs and old favorites, and jeering the Big East.
March Madness
This weekend was absolutely crazy! I will summarize my thoughts concerning March Madness in bullet-point format:
- The Big East is Overrated
- The Mountain West Conference has as many teams in the Sweet 16 as the Big East
- The ACC has more
- The Butler vs Pitt game was one of the best NCAA Tourney games I’ve ever seen (and I love seeing Pitt lose)
- Although the ‘stache was pretty sweet last year, I think Matt Howard is even better without it.
- Glad UNC and Duke survived this weekend (partially because they helped support my post from a while back, and partially because they preserved my bracket)
- Texas. You let me down.
- My Final Four picks were: UNC, Texas (fail), Kansas, and Florida
- My Championship pick is: UNC vs Kansas with Kansas winning 67-64.
Barry Bonds
In other sports news, Barry Bonds‘ perjury trial begins today. That’s right, Barry Bonds is being tried for lying about his alleged steroid use. I hate to use the word alleged, because anyone with functioning eyeballs and half a brain is well aware of the fact that Barry Bonds took enough steroids to turn Mugsy Bogues into Larry Johnson.
Just look at the difference in girth between Barry Bonds from 1987-2007. There is a slight resemblance, but the 2007 Barry Bonds reminds me more of the guy from Men in Black that was inhabited by a giant alien cockroach. Word is Bonds’ massive growth in shoe, neck, and head size will be used as evidence.
I hope Barry Bonds is found guilty. I also hope he is stripped of his artificial home run record, and that it is returned to the noble Hank Aaron. I learned as a child that cheaters never win, and I still believe it.
US Soccer
I found out this weekend that the US Men’s Soccer team is playing the team from Paraguay in Nashville next Tuesday (3/22). If it were on a weekend, I would make that trip in a heartbeat, but the prospect of trying to drive 3.5 hours after a soccer game (or the next morning) to make it to work is not that appealing. I have been a fan of the US Men’s Soccer team since I was a kid and Alexi Lalas replied to a letter I sent him with an autogrpahed 5″x7.” Thanks Alexi for solidifying my soccer fandom!
That’s all my sports ramblings for the day. Until later friends…
It is March 11th, and March Madness is quickly approaching. I think a large part of the madness exhibited this time of year is the constant talk about the Big East Conference. Yeah, the Big East has a lot of stellar teams, but people cannot proclaim unequivocally that they are the best conference in NCAA basketball.
One of the common things you hear these Big East fanatics say is “the Big East is to basketball what the SEC is to football.” Sounds good, but it simply is not true. Lets look at the facts:
BCS Champions (2001-2010)
- SEC – 6
- Big 12 – 1
- Big Ten – 1
- Big East – 1
- Pac-10 – 1
So, SEC dominance in football is well-established. Now lets look at NCAA Basketball:
NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Champions (2001-2010)
- ACC – 5
- SEC – 2
- Big East – 2
- Big 12 – 1
As you grow in life you learn things, like quality is more important than quantity. So, it may be that the Big East will get 32 teams in the NCAA tournament this year, but if the Big East does not produce a champion, it cannot be considered the best. Over the past decade, the ACC has shown time and time again that they own NCAA basketball. I am not an ACC fan, but I do think credit needs to be given where credit is due.
Until the Big East establishes March Madness dominance, they will remain to me like the Buffalo Bills from 1990-1994 (the only team to reach the Super Bowl four times in a row without ever winning it).
That’s my thoughts, but what do you think?
Until later friends…
2011 pricebook
