So, What's Going On [3/6/6]

                                  

IT'S BUBBLE TIME!!!:  So, the NCAA season is over and conference tournaments [well, the major ones] get going this week.  The smaller conferences are wrapping theirs up creating those classic "we gotta win to get in" games.  Do you think Syracuse players will cry after they get bounced from the Big East tourny the way the guys at Coastal Carolina did??  No.  This was CC's only real shot....save going undefeated all season long...to get a bid.  Syracuse has a bit more leg room.  Anyhoo....go to my "HOOPS ASSASSIN" by The SPORTZ ASSASSIN for all the updated haps on the bubble situation.  In a nutshell, Michigan, Indiana, UAB, Texas A&M and Florida State just cannot choke or else they will be safely in.  Everyone else on the bubble probably needs a prayer. 

REDSKINS CUT ARRINGTON:  In a move that was inevitable, the Washington Redskins parted ways with LaVar Arrington...which makes me sad.  Arrington was one of my favorite players....but was in a situation that was working.  Definitely not for the money he was making.  With the Skins keeping defensive coordinator Gregg Williams [who benched Arrington], it was obvious from there that LaVar wouldn't be around for long.  The Skins were going around asking their high priced players to rework their deals to make them cap friendly, and Arrington was the lone one to refuse.  But, the Skins couldn't cut him cuz of his high cap number....so they agreed to a buyout.  Good luck #56.

LAKERS BEAT PISTONS:  A Laker friend of mine, Ktmdog, wrote this the morning before Detroit was set to play the LA Lakers.  "I think we'll beat Detroit tonight. We tend to play to the level of our competition, Kobe has had a couple of poor shooting nights and is due to have a really good one, Lamar disappeared last night and is due to re-appear, we need the game much more than they do and perhaps most importantly, they are paper thin. Last night for instance, all of their starters logged more than 37 minutes. I think we keep it close until the 4th and then pull away to win easily."  Um....good call K-dog.  Pretty much EXACTLY how the game went.  The Lakers made a nice third quarter comeback to hold a bucket lead heading into the 4th....they outscored Detroit by 9 in the final frame....Odom went off....and the Pistons looked a bit sluggish.  Call now for his free reading. 

NFL MOVES DATE BACK....AGAIN:  Normally, this would piss me off.  But, I understand a bit.  Just a bit.  If they pushed everything back two weeks...they'd screw around until that 2-week deadline loomed.  They've done it twice already.  I'm sure talks will "die" sometime in the next few days....and then suddenly reappear.  So...please all ESPNites....do not go Chicken Little again when the inevitable does happen.  These are millionaire lawyers and businessmen.  They make deals, not armageddon. 

MVP STAYS IN SEATTLE:  Despite the loom of gloom, Seattle and Shawn Alexander found time to agree on a new deal that keeps him in the Pacific Northwest.  A nice 8 year deal worth over $62M.  Again, what are these guys fighting about?

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC:  You are right....these WBC games are great.  I can't get enough of watching Korea play!  At least it's something on TV at 4am.  Here's to nobody caring once selection Sunday rolls around. 

FREAKIN' ESPN NEWS!!!:  As I was watching ESPNews all day, couped up in my Sportz Room [my wife had a bunch of friends over upstairs], I was mad to see that NC State was blowing out the Lady Tar Heels in the ACC Women's Tournament.  Turns out, ESPNews had it wrong.  It was UNC that was doing the blowing out.  The Lady Heels went on to win the ACC title....and will be the team to beat in the NCAA tournament.  Last time the Lady Heels won a title???  I camethe season after the men did.  And the men did last year. 

KANSAS CITY TO HOST SUPER BOWL:  If KC spruces up their stadium [read: a retractable roof put on Arrowhead Stadium] then they get the Super Bowl in 2015.  That would be, uh, Super Bowl 49....whatever that Roman numeral is.  IL???  Actually, I think it is XLIX.  Yep....X-LICKS. 

GET WELL KIRBY:  Hall of Famer, Kirby Puckett, suffered a stroke in Arizona.  Get well, Kirby. 

THREE 6 MAFIA WINS OSCAR:  Congrats to the Memphis group for winning an Oscar for their song "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp".   I've been a fan since the "Tear Da Club Up '97" and "Late Night Tip" days and couldn't be happier for their win.  On a tangent, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was a producer for "Good Night and Good Luck"....which had several Oscar nominations.

HUGGINS BACK IN CINCINNATI:  Former Cincy coach Bob Huggins was back at 5/3 Arena to "participate" in Senior Day.  The seniors asked him to be there....though he wasn't to participate.  But Eric Hicks came out for his bow....and came over to Huggins seat and gave him the framed picture the university gave to him.  A nice moment indeed. 

CHEERLEADERS ARE ATHLETES TOO:  Although I'm not a cheerleading fan....I do believe that cheerleaders are athletes too...and I've always said they should be part of the athletic department [some places they are].  Well, at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament....Southern Illinois cheerleader Kristi Yamaoka fell on her head during a routine.  The medical crew stablized her neck and head and got her on a gurney.  While on the gurney, she came too...and instead of the Mike Utley-esque "thumbs up", she did some of her cheers with her arms.  School spirit...indeed.

ROAD HEELS:  One thing that really clinches my selection for UNC's Roy Williams for Coach of the Year.  The fact that the Heels were 7-1 in the ACC....on the road.  Usually, young teams like this don't perform well away from their friendly confines. But these Heels won at Duke, at NC State and at Wake Forest.....easily the biggest rivals for UNC.  They also won at Florida State [Duke couldn't do it], at Virginia Tech, at Miami and at Maryland.   Their loneACC loss on the road was at, oddly, Virginia.  Their only non-conference road loss was at USC [the Heels did win at Kentucky].