You know I couldn't stay away. But I have to make this quick and bland (no media embeds) for the wife might start to wonder why I keep laughing at the computer screen instead of spending time with her familia...
Oregon loses 62-68 to OAKLAND!?!?
Damn, I hope the blogpoll punishes them for that.
And yeah, just like I thought, SDSU blows another critical RPI test. And Zona has another weapon.
Here is the official consensus top 25 blogpoll -
1) North Carolina
2) Memphis
3) Texas
4) Kansas
5) Duke
6) Washington St.
7) Georgetown
8) UCLA
9) Michigan St.
10) Marquette
11) Indiana
12) Texas A&M
13) Tennessee
14) Butler
15) Pittsburgh
16) Clemson
17) Vanderbilt
18) Miami (FL)
19) Arizona
20) Gonzaga
21) Rhode Island
22) Oregon
23) West Virginia
24) Xavier
25) BYU
Everyone's vote can be found here.
No comments this week outside of *sigh* BYU. Have a happy holiday season and I'll see you January 7th.
Yes, it is true. I will be out of the country until January 6th, so this blog will be dark. I owe you two more things though. Your Moment of Zen and the final Blogpoll for this week. For the next two weeks, the Blogpoll will be hosted by Vegas Watch for December 26th and then by Storming The Court for January 2nd. Thanks guys!
And here ya go...
Dickie V is out until February 2008!
Dick Vitale, the voice of college basketball for almost three decades, had vocal cord surgery Tuesday and is expected to be off the air until at least February.
Excuse me for a second...
(HT: EDSBS)
Aaaaahhhhh, ok. Woooooo... *dabs tear of joy from eye*
Next up, Arizona's interim coach Kevin O'Neill to succeed Lute Olson when he croaksretires.
"It's an unbelievable honor to follow Lute Olson," O'Neill said in a statement. "I'm thrilled to get the opportunity and will work to continue the superb tradition of Arizona basketball when Lute is done."
But wait, didn't Coach O'Neill say "This is not my team" last week?! Change of heart, coach?
Eh, whatever.
It is called "scheduling". The Rams made sure to make it count.
Believe that.
How many times can Tyler Hansbrough get hurt like this?!
Is he a target or does he just play hard? You decide.
Oregon and Xavier goes down to the likes of Nebraska and ASU.
Not as spectacular as if some top 5 teams went down, but unexpected.
Kentucky. What has happened to Kentucky? Losing 76 - 79 to UAB? A Sea Of Blue? Wildcats Thunder Blog? Anyone? Bueller?
Vaden was hot. Kentucky was clueless as to how to stop him. Hint: Bigger Defender, not that it would have mattered considering Kentucky played like lost sheep. Tubby Smith does better with less talent so had he been in Lexington ring a W up for UK. Kentucky fans you reaped this season and many more to come. Enjoy March without UK in the Big Dance.
- Mr.Midnight
But how can the Wildcats have that sharp of a dropoff with Tubby's recruits just one year into the new guy's tenure?
And Kentucky fans are starting to sound like this...
I've been drunk before. I've (thank goodness) blacked out in my car thinking I was OK to drive home from a club when in my 20s. Yeah, save your comments, I'm sure Karma has already sent me a bill that I paid in full.
But never EVER have I been this drunk. Not even when drowning my sorrows after yet another SDSU loss where they really had to win (reference Cal and St. Mary's this year).
And I'm assuming this person was drunk. You may have another explanation. I'd like to hear it.
(HT: EDSBS)
UPDATE: The vid title says that the driver was old and he lost his glasses. Don't buy it. If his actions only happened once, then maybe..
Two Georgetown Tigers players start fight club, arrested.
A former and a current Georgetown College basketball player are facing charges after being arrested outside a Lexington bar.
Police say officers were called to the bar early Thursday and found about 100 people outside with at least two men fighting.
Awwww..... How could such a nice campus with pretty people...
Devolve into this?
Rule number one...
Eh, they are only NAIA. Now if that was Georgetown University, then we would have something.
File this under "Well fuck you then!":
"This is not my team," (Arizona interim coach Kevin) O'Neill said Thursday.
"...That is the way I would look at Arizona basketball, either short term or long term."
How does that make players feel when they are giving their all and they look over to see Mr. "Not My Team"?
What-EVER. Just keep dribbling or something.
To be honest I know he was saying that Lute was still in change as the head coach, but I would have chosen my words better.
Reporter: Is this your team?
O'Neill: This is my team as well as Lute's. Lute is still the man in charge until he says otherwise, but as of right now I am just concentrating on leading these fine men on the court.
Reporter: Good job!
O'Neill: Thanks, you wanna get a drink later?
(the above was only for illustrative purposes)
Happy Friday.
So I was sitting here ready for a post update and all of a sudden...
Work hit me HARD. I couldn't get up, let alone breathe. Now here I am unable to get back those 9 hours of shit storm punishment.
Onwards...
Iowa Mr. Basketball 2007 decides he hates playing for a suck ass team and bails.
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State freshman forward Clayton Vette is leaving the Cyclones for personal reasons.
Coach Greg McDermott said Thursday he doesn't anticipate Vette returning to the program.
Don't forget they had another guy leave this year too. Being 4 - 4 kinda blows.
Please, don't leave me!
UPDATE: At least the ineligible German kid will stay.
Alabama pleased as punch that their players graduate.
Alabama coach Mark Gottfried takes great pride in his record -- of graduating players.
"It's easy for some people to forget that these guys are student-athletes," Gottfried said. "That's why they are here, to get their degrees."
Kinda sad when we're rejoicing that the kids finish school, ya know?
Judge feels that Kansas will win March Madness and postpones Brandon Rush's court date until after the tournament.
On Wednesday, a judge granted a postponement until April 11. The NCAA men's basketball championship is April 7 in San Antonio.
Lets tally this up, shall we?
1) Caught for driving on the wrong side of the road and having no proof of insurance.
2) Failed to appear in court.
3) License was subsequently suspended.
4) Caught speeding and driving with a suspended license.
5) Failed to appear in court again.
6) Warrant was issued for his arrest.
7) Was finally picked up, arrested, booked and release.
But no no, don't fuck with Kansas' chances by throwing their leading scorer in jail!
WWJJD?
Here is the official consensus top 25 blogpoll -
1) North Carolina
2) Memphis
3) Texas
4) Kansas
5) Duke
6) UCLA
7) Georgetown
8) Washington St.
9) Michigan St.
10) Marquette
11) Texas A&M
12) Indiana
13) Tennessee
14) Butler
15) Oregon
16) Xavier
17) Pittsburgh
18) Clemson
19) Vanderbilt
20) Louisville
21) Gonzaga
22) Miami (FL)
23) St. Mary's
24) Arizona
25) BYU
Everyone's vote can be found here.
Comments - Why oh why on God's green earth is BYU still there? No one right now in the MWC is worthy of a top 25 ranking. No one. Am I wrong? Please show me the error of my ways.
PWND!!!11!! Louisville gets one of these:
And now the Cardinals has no Caracter? Oh dear indeed.
If Duke keeps on winning like they are, I think they will make it to the top three now. They might even have a great shot at beating the Tar Heels. Am I willing to say they will go deep in the Madness? Not quite yet.
Arizona is maddening. They come out and play like circa 1992 Michigan, then the fucking very next game they come out and play like circa 2002 Michigan.
Georgetown is starting to scare me...
The beating will continue until play improves: I dropped Louisville from 10 to 16 because of that Spartan like ass-kicking from Dayton.
The were who we thought they were!: BYU is slipping back out of the polls, folks. And remember, I never had them ranked.
Yes, I am a self-loathing MWC grad.
And until Memphis, UNC, Texas or Kansas lose we will be trapped near the inner circle of thought.
I'm about ready to leapfrog Duke into this group too. The horror.
It's hard to support your school on the road. Especially when they get shellacked 70 to 51.
PWND!!!11!
A 69 to 77 loss to Cal.
A 64 to 69 loss to St. Mary's.
San Diego State can't seem to close the important games. I can't give us an Always Be Closing award because we've never lead by a great deal in these games. We just can't seem to stop making the ticky tack penalties that puts the other team at the free throw line!
From the North County Times -
The free throw prowess exhibited by the San Diego State men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon was hardly worthy of the Wizard of Westwood. And it sure was costly.
"You've just got to knock down shots when it counts," lamented junior wing Lorrenzo Wade.
In the end, San Diego State missed not only a chance to post a new best record in the program's Division I era through 10 games, but to earn a solid nonconference, neutral-site victory for their NCAA tournament resume.
Geez Louise that says it all. Fuckity.
Oh, and Steve Fisher? The season has officially started over now. We are 0-0 at this point, ranked 331st. Pick these kids up and start teaching fundamentals. FUNDAMENTALS! Or else Arizona will OWN us in two weeks!!!
May be slow posts for today/tomorrow because of work/blogpolling. The usual crap...
My preseason choices to make it to San Antonio... a deep and talented Louisville... It has size and experience in center David Padgett. And no one is more equipped to get a great year out of enigmatic Derrick Caracter than Pitino, a master motivator. Talk about Mr. Po (potential). Add point guard Edgar Sosa, and you can see why I am so high on the Louisville Cardinals.
- Dick Vitale in USA Today
Louisville just lost to Dayton, 65 to 70.
And Dayton, you get the This is Sparta!!! award for simply manhandling the Cardinals. We know that score is deceptively close.
A simple token of earth and water...
Arizona's Lute Olson says "Adios, motherfuckers!" to the Wildcats for all of 2007 - 2008...
"I plan to return to coach the University of Arizona next year," (Olson) said. "In the meantime, my heart will be with the team, the coaches and the staff."
No snarky comment, just wondering what the hell is going on?
UPDATE: Lute Olson took a freaking year off from coaching because he is getting a divorce?!?!?!
"There are personal issues within my family that need to be addressed and I must devote my full energy to that," Olson said in the statement.
What the hell is she doing, taking Lute for everything he's got?
In April 2003, Olson married Christine Jack Toretti - a prominent, politically active Pennsylvania businesswoman who is 22 years his junior.
Well, maybe so.... Nothing says love like HALF!!!
(Major HT: Storming The Floor)
Dickie V. can now see into the future...
My preseason choices to make it to San Antonio — site of the Final Four — are Roy Williams' North Carolina Tar Heels, high-flying Memphis, deep and talented Louisville and defensively tough UCLA.
Welp, you can now cross out all of those teams from making it to the Sweet 16. We should now start knocking them out of the blogpoll, just for spite. The real funny part is that he picks Louisville, then proceeds to bash the crap out of them.
...This guy (Derrick Caracter) is going to be a superstar or a bust... The only thing that could stop this team is injuries... Juan Palacios is out for four to six weeks.
Oh, he also picks UNC to win it all, so obviously they won't. Sorry Tar Heels fans.
You can file this under the gift that keeps on giving. Greg Oden may cause Ohio State to lose scholarships.
Oden was one of three Buckeyes to leave for the NBA after their freshman seasons, along with Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook, but only Oden withdrew from school after starting spring quarter.
...questions remain over his academic status when he left school.
Translation: He dropped out without completing a single quarter credit to get that big money. Further translation: He wasn't a full time student.
Thanks asshole.
Sincerely,
Thad Matta and tOSU Basketball Team
Finally, did you know that the NCAA has a mascot for men's basketball? Mr. J.J. Jumper.
Seriously!
Happy Friday everyone.
Emporia State coach David Moe hurls a water cooler like a mad man, protesting his ejection from Wednesday's game against Newman.
Coach Moe apologized later saying he was an "idiot," but the school didn't buy it and suspended him for one game.
Coach Moe's idol...
First coach's technical I have read so far.
First...
What... The... Fuck... Socks.
Matt Leinert is in the bastard making business. He's even knocking up chicks on the USC women's basketball team! Then promptly leaves to fuck someone else.
Cameron cried when she told her parents and again when she told Leinert ("We both cried," (Brynn Cameron) said)
Dickie V. more loquacious than usual...
During BYU's closer-than-the-final-score-looked 73-63 loss to No. 1 North Carolina a week ago in Las Vegas, ESPN's loud and loquacious color commentator, Dick Vitale, practically turned the broadcast into a two-hour Trent Plaisted infomercial...
Geez, I can just imagine how that went...
Dickie V.: "Ohhhhh, he's amazing! He's incredible! He's stupendous! BYU's Plaisted is soooo talented!"
Mike Patrick: "Yep, he can play."
Dickie V.: "He can play? He can better than play! He's a diaper dandy! A dipsy doer! Ohhhhhh, just look at him glide across that floor! Look at those eyes!"
Mike Patrick: "He does have determination in his eyes."
Dickie V.: "Huh? What? Determi... No, I mean look at those eyes! They're beautiful! And those strong legs! Perfect form, Mike!"
Mike Patrick: "Yes, ummmmm.... Turnover, North Carolina's ball."
Dickie V.: "And Trent Plaisted is turning ME over! He's amazing! He's incredible! He's stupendous!"
Mike Patrick: "Ummmm, you just said that."
Dickie V.: "Ohhhhh, that young man is so mesmerizing! I could suck his cock all day long while he drains threes, and then he can drain his snake on me!"
Mike Patrick: "What did you just say?!?!?!?"
Dickie V.: "What? I was saying what a diaper dandy Trent Plaisted was!"
Mike Patrick: "No you didn't! I... I... Ummm, ladies and gentlemen in our viewing audience I apologize for that outburst, it was unintended."
Studio Producer yelling into Patrick's earbud: "GO TO BREAK NOW! GO TO BREAK NOW!!!"
Detroit Mercy coach Perry Watson thinks Butler should be in the top 10, DAMNIT!
"I don't know of another team in the country that starts five seniors, and they got to the Sweet 16 last year," Watson said Wednesday.
Couldn't agree more...
I have some great posts coming, I promise. For now work is kicking my ass.
Ms. Campbell loves college hoops. Really.
Here is the official consensus top 25 blogpoll -
1) Memphis
2) North Carolina
3) Texas
4) Kansas
5) UCLA
6) Duke
7) Georgetown
8) Washington St.
9) Butler
10) Louisville
11) Texas A&M
12) Tennessee
13) Michigan St.
14) Indiana
15) Marquette
16) Oregon
17) Gonzaga
18) Clemson
19) Pittsburgh
20) Xavier
21) BYU
22) Miami (FL)
23) Vanderbilt
24) USC
25) Villanova
Everyone's vote can be found here.
Comments - The Bruins fall out of the top three, but what amazed me is that they received a first place vote!
St. Mary's gets no love. Like I said previously, I was only hoping St. Mary's would be ranked for selfish reasons (i.e. IF San Diego State beat a ranked team...).
Texas/Kansas controversy! Who is the true #3?
I'm loving this Butler team. I hope they keep on scrapping their way to the top 5.
We would have looked foolish had Memphis lost to USC last night, only because people have been saying the Tigers are weak.
Texas A&M just lost in a stunning collapse. Things don't seem right in the world. Your eyes are welling up. You have that knot in your throat. That pain that makes it hurt to swallow.
And all you have is an empty bucket of popcorn, fingers still moist from butter and saliva. And you just stare at it, sitting in the bleachers feeling so alone. Wondering what you can do to ease this pain you feel.
March To Madness is here to help, friend...
That's it. And again. As many times as it takes.
No way Mark Turgeon!
40 to 28 at the half, and your Aggies got outplayed nearly 2 to 1 in the second half to get beat 67 to 78 by the Wildcats?!
ALWAYS BE CLOSING!
Hey A&M, I'm on an errand of mercy.
So I think everyone who reads this blog knows that I am a huge college football fan also. And yesterday's BCS pile of crap they served up as "premier" games made me choke on my beer. The only game that will be interesting is Hawaii/Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. I'm not even watching the fucking BCS "National Championship" Bowl.
Why am I wasting space here on a college hoops blog. Only to say this makes me even more thankful for NCAA basketball and March Madness. Amen.
I'm not asking for a playoff, but...
Onward...
Texas 63, UCLA 61 caused some major fucking with my blogpoll ballot. I had to completely rearrange my top 10. Arizona 78, Texas A&M 67 caused sporadic damage to other portions of my ballot. Because of all this here are some quick hits of what I will be submitting -
* UCLA now ranked at #6
* Arizona back at #25
* Teams ranked #13 to #22 did not MOVE. At ALL! I couldn't do it while using rational thought.
* St. Mary's introduced at #24
Speaking of St. Mary's, they play SDSU on December 8th. Sweet Mary Jane I would like to liveblog this but even if I could find a TV that is showing it, I have prior commitments. Stupid holiday parties.
If SDSU wins? Well, if St. Mary's makes it on this week's final blogpoll then I would seriously think about ranking the Aztecs at #35 or something...
Someone gave me a question that rocked my very soul and rendered me into a quivering ball in the corner of my room for an hour.
Would I rather -
1) Watch a basketball game being called Bill Raftery AND Dickie V.?
UNC 86, Kentucky 77.
During the game Dickie V. just said 4 times in a row "I wanted to see Ashley, where is Ashley?"
Calm down fucking old man horn dog!
It was amazing how Kentucky was surging before the half and was so close at halftime only to...
Well, they just... You know, this video will explain what happened to the Wildcats better than I can...
Happy Saturday everyone.
