Monday, March 27, 2006

Non-Tournament Fixin's

                                

R.I.P. PAUL DANA:  The life of a race car driver is edgy because a thing like this can occur to anyone [IndyCar's Dana dies after practice crash].  Drivers have to have a short memory, as they ran the race that Dana crashed practicing for later in the day.  Then in the NASCAR circuit, bumping and pushing was the story of the day at the Food City 500 in Bristol.  Tough life.  Prayers are out to Mr Dana's family. 

ACC FINAL FOUR:  While the ACC men are banished from the Final Four for just the 4th time in the last 17 years.....the women have a good chance at comprising 3 of their Final Four.  Tonight, Maryland takes on Utah...and the Terps should be big favorites in that game.  Tomorrow, both North Carolina and Duke are #1 seeds, but facing legendary #2 seeds - Tennessee and UConn.  If all three teams win, it would mark the first time that a conference has gotten three Final Four teams in women's tournament history.  In fact, the only time the men did that was in 1985, when three Big East teams got there. 

NO MORE PATRIOT GAMES:  Look, we are all buzzing about George Mason making the Final Four.  But, for God's sakes, can we please stop with throwing up "Patriot Games" as a headline????  I've seen it in newspapers, on websites, on TV....come up with something better.  We already had to hear Verne Lundqvist's horrible "BY GEORGE" line when the final buzzer sounded against UConn.  You'd figure all these "Patriot" lines would be exhausted after the New England Patriots recent run in the NFL.

GOTTA GIVE IT UP TO DALLAS:  They've made two huge splashes in free agency the past week.  Everyone's discussed the Terrell Owens signing, but they also netted the "idiot kicker" Mike Vanderjagt.  Vandy is only the most accurate kicker in the history of the NFL.  Sure, he missed his final kick of the year last season against the Steelers in the playoffs.  In a less dramatic move, they also netted LB Akin Ayodele.  This marks a good offseason for the NFC East.  Washington made a nice splash with getting WRs Antwan Randle-El and Brandon Lloyd, to go with S Adam Archuleta, LB Andre Carter and TE Christian Fauria.  The Giants got a whole new secondary, signing S Will Demps and CBs Sam Madison and RW McQuarters [my favorite NFL name behind Rock Cartwright].  The Eagles....eh.  They did get backup QB Jeff Garcia [I guess so he and McNabb can trade T.O. stories], but not much else. 

                                  

WHAT LANGUAGE DOES RICK MAJERUS SPEAK?:  I know he's from Wisconsin, but dude....what's with the accent??  Sorry, but it hurts my ears to listen to listen to him.  First off, he must have been hanging around in the NHL wing of ESPN as he calls it "O-fence".  Second, his stammering makes every part of the lower half of his face move. 

AND HOW MANY "EXPERTS" DOES ESPN HAVE??  Good God, every time I turn on ESPN...I am treated to another 5 "experts".  Whether it is that Gottleib guy....or Digger "Who" Phelps....or Dick "The Bottom Line" Vitale....or Majerus....or Steve Lavin....or Jay Bilas....or Joe "How Did He Get Famous" Lunardi....or Andy Katz....or Mike "Uncle Phil" Jarvis....or.....

WHY I LOVE NBADRAFT.NET:  I love NBA Draft.net.....I have for years.  What I love most is how their do their "NBA Comparison" section where they try to pair a guy up with a past or present NBA player.  Sure, it's unfair and guys want to be their own man....but it's fun to say that he's like "the next" or "another".  My faves this run around???  JJ Redick is the next Drazen Petrovic.  Rudy Gay is like Scottie Pippen.  Patrick O'Bryant is like Brad Daugherty.  Big Baby Davis is like Rodney Rogers.  Kevin Pittsnogle is like Sam Perkins.  Marco Killingsworth is like Anthony Mason.  Josh McRoberts is like Chris Webber. 

BOY WERE WE WRONG ABOUT CHARLIE VILLENUEVA:  When ol' Charlie was picked by Toronto with the #7 pick in the draft....every one pegged the Raptors as the dumbest franchise ever.  I did.  Not that he sucked....but there were supposedly better players to be had and the Raptors already had a guy that played that position.  Instead, Villenueva may be the best rookie not named Chris Paul.  Last night, he dumped in 48 points against the Bucks and looks as if he could be a big time scorer for years to come.  Remember, he was the #2 high school guy in 2003 behind LeBron James....so it's not as if he came outta nowhere. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I thnk the NFC East is the most competitive conference in the NFC. The East always has the most dramatic in-conference games.

I mean sure, Chicago and the Minnesota are always knock down drag outs...and Tampa Bay/Green Bay, but if you are the Redskins, Cowboys, Giants and Eagles....you can't take any of those teams for granted. I think back in the day there was an idea of sending the Cowboys to the western conference, but I think folks like Tex Schram prevaled and saw what a conference this is. Even then.

And you know, I bet ol Jack Kent Cook, Wellington Mara, Tex Schram et al,  loved every minute of those games together.