The Greatest College Basketball Coach...EVER

No offense to Jimmy B, but this is "the dude." 3 national titles, 902 wins, countless NCAA and school administrators made queasy by his antics; these are the things that made Bob Knight great. He also was a great teacher of life (see: Landon Turner, a great player who was paralyzed in a car accident the summer after the '81 title, but to this day keeps a positive outlook even without basketball; also, Knight was known to punish players who missed class) and the game (he sold millions of his pamphlet that taught his basketball philosophy of unselfish ball movement and tough defense).

As well, Knight had his fair share of tirades

And my personal favorite:

Besides all this, there is also my favorite reality show of all time: Knight School. I'm actually friends with Arvin Zeinali, a runner-up on the show who Knight told, "You dribble the ball too damn much," on facebook, and I almost accepted an invitation to his birthday party, but was unable to go due to lack of transportation to Lubbock. The show gave some funny looks into Knight's personal life as his son hit him in the groin with a wiffle ball and he went to shoot some stuff. Knight also introduced his toughest player, a 6'5" center from his time at Army named Mike Gyovai, whose only available highlight showed him getting swatted on a lay-up and then getting beat back down the court for a lay-up on the other end. For all these pieces of unintentional comedy, the program managed to show Knight's appreciation for hard work as well as a basketball genius that is often forgotten when he reportedly assaults a Texas Tech official at a salad bar or chokes a player. Knight's life is basketball, and he lived and died with every bit of it he had. I'm sure he will continue to go to Tech games to watch his son Pat coach, as well as to keep track of his grandchild that he brought to a press conference (how hilarious it would be if that was just some random toddler he found in a hallway that he brought to distract the press). He'll probably start missing it all and go find another job.

Wrap-Up Part Deux: EXCEPT in 1972

I just realized: the Patriots choked, and I think it's the biggest choke-job ever. They were RIGHT on the edge of history and they fucked up. Sure, the Yankees took a week to die in 2004, but the Patriots died in front of an international television audience. Even the English are probably substituting Beckham and Rooney World Cup red cards with empty Tom Brady to Moss hail marys as the preferred sports analogy for failure, and being slower than Seau and Bruschi's 40 times as a sports analogy for inability to read. Even Dolphins fans can mock them next year, with history on their side, and I mean 35 years ago, not this recent 1-15 job. Mercury Morris sure is starting to:

If I had control of some of Mercury and the Dolphins' champagne, I'd be sending some Eli's way, but Morris won't because of his superiority  complex towards defeated teams. Somewhere in Anaheim, Torii Hunter is wondering if he can somehow go undefeated so he can send champagne to someone who defeats a team that tries to go undefeated in that same discipline.

Super Bowl Wrap-Up

First off, some girl was in my apartment yesterday and said the following: "I want the Giants to win because I like their colors." This girl must be colorblind, because, if I'm not mistaken, the Patriots and the Giants both wear red, white, and blue, the Patriots with more silver. Is silver really that important of a factor in that jersey? Bitches.
Anyways, the point of this blog is this: will Eli be better than his brother? And I don't mean Cooper with the narrow spinal cord and 4.58 40 speed. I mean Peyton, who just reeks of endorsements now, and also of looking like a giraffe looking out for predators as its young bend down to drink water as he watched his brother play. Let's harken back to last year: Peyton finally beat New England in the playoffs and then finally won a Super Bowl and got the MVP award. Fast forward to the playoffs this year, and no one there for the RCA Dome's end knew the Heimlich and as they did two years before, Peyton and the Colts bowed out after having a bye. This year, Eli played the underdog role and won the best Super Bowl I've seen since the Pats beat the Panthers in Houston along with the MVP. Before that, Eli couldn't throw a touchdown pass and but could throw 4 picks in 2 losses.
This might seem a little rash, but I'm going to put it into bold to emphasize it: ELI IS GOING TO BE BETTER THAN PEYTON. Look, he's going to do way less commercials than Peyton, and for that reason, has more time to focus on football. Because he is lower on the face time, he has time to focus on football. He also didn't fuck up like Peyton did in the Super Bowl. Eli's pick was a dropped pass by Steve Smith How stupid does Tiki Barber look? He doubted Eli, questioning his leadership skills, which probably motivated Eli this year. He did pretty damn well with no timeouts left in getting them the lead with 35 seconds left. Good for Eli for starting to step up in the playoffs after Tiki retired. It completely discredits the basis of his announcing career.

As an Eagles fan, I hate to do this, but it's a bigger commitment to Syracuse: Tom Coughlin, an alum, with the W; David Tyree stepping up for the first time since 2003 when he had 5 receptions for 106 yards against the Eagles.

E*Trade had dope commercials with the baby, and the cheese party Bud Light was dope.

Funniest Super Bowl related link of the day: David Tyree: Funniest Black Man in America. That was Google's third result for "david tyree."

Tom Brady has RED: Romo erectile dysfunction. Why are all the quarterbacks unable to perform in front of their fucking hot girlfriends? The NFL needs to get some quarterbacks with balls, not all these pussies.

And, of course, Mercury Morris and my boy  Larry Csonka can open up their champagne bottle.

'Cuse finishes off Jesuit trip 3-2

It helped to play Providence and then DePaul before seeking revenge against Villanova, but the Wildcats just lied down and let the citric acid slowly burn their eyes to extend their double-digit losing streak to 4 (Rutgers among the lucky ones, and Greg Schiano wasn't coaching!). Nova started out 10-12 from the field to get a 24-13 lead, and they had assists on 8 of 10 field goals, but Flynn, Greene, and especially Harris just went off and 'Cuse went on a 21-3 run and took a 44-39 halftime lead (almost was 42-39 until Rick Jackson got his second buzzer-beater putback of the year). The second half was all Syracuse all the time. Nova seemed to threaten, but could never take a lead, and Johnny Flynn hit a floater with 1:41 left to give the Orange an 80-68 advantage, with some harm provided by Reggie Redding. After landing, Flynn turned his goose head follow through into a wave to the Nova fans who made the 20 mile journey to what turned out to be a Syracuse home game for the last 3 minutes. Paul Harris, a year after "the dunk," provided a career-high 28 points with ONLY 7 boards, Donte was 5-11 (3-7 on 3) for 17 and grabbed 7 rebounds, and Johnny Flynn, despite a 3:6 assist to turnover ratio, managed to score a ridiculous 24 (8-11 from the field, 7-9 from the line), many of which came in the first half as he kept Syracuse in the game by answering every Nova bucket with a coast-to-coast lay-up each time. And I believe I saw Johnny block a jumper by Corey Fisher, Nova's only bright spot.
Arinze had his worst game of the year, as smaller Nova players were able to bully him, driving him to a technical foul and only 3 points and 4 fouls. Scottie Reynolds looked nothing like the player I remember, as he hit all of his 3s with the game already in Syracuse's hands.
How about Kristof's parents (Kristof played pretty damn well with 12 points, including a 3 to beat an expiring shot clock in the 2nd half, and 5 rebounds) paying $600 for a cab to the Dome to see their son play after missing their connection from NYC to Syracuse after a flight from Belgium. That's dedication, Holmes. I wish they could have seen their son play his best game of the year in Philly. And Scoop, welcome back! Len Elmore didn't go into what you actually did, but it helps that Nova fans aren't into the whole taunting chants thing (Jesuits!).
The zone was awesome. My friend Steve always references the Oklahoma Elite Eight game in 2003 as the game that made him believe in the zone. If he ever needed reassurance of its power, today was that game. Weak sides were cut off, Donte and Kristof used their length to discourage skip passes, and collapsed well to prevent weak side passes on penetration. Nova managed only 22 rebounds, only 7 of those on offense. Although Nova plays a damn small lineup, they couldn't penetrate and kick successfully, and their big men were not ready to handle the high post, meaning they were just winging it every time down the floor. Nova has already lost 2 at the Wachovia Center this year, a venue that was essential to their #1 seed and Elite Eight berth in 2006 (their first and second round NCAA games were played there). When they can't hold it down you know they are having a tough time, especially since 2 of those losses have come in their last 3 games.
Doug Gottlieb said the craziest thing I've ever heard. As Ben still refers to him as the resident Syracuse hater at ESPN, I could not believe my ears when he said, and I kid you not, "Syracuse is in the tournament right now." I'm pretty sure he meant NCAA, but he could have meant the Big East? Anyways he continued on about how they needed to win today to not have a Nova sweep tarnish their resume. Wow. Supportive words for Syracuse from Doug Gottlieb, the first I've heard from him since after Syracuse won it all, and that lasted about 5 minutes.
Anyways, Super Bowl is tomorrow, so I have to get some work done, but chew on this, Kimbo Slice: Syracuse is tied for 3rd in the Big East right now, SUCKA! UConn on Wednesday in the Dome (rivalry week) and then the Wednesday after a trip to Tampa to take on South Florida.
Almost forgot: Penn is 1-0 in the Ivy League with a 73-69 victory over Tommy Amaker's Harvard squad. Fuck you, Bianca! I guess Tyler Bernadini is all go-to guy and shit like that. Cem Dinc, Amaker's Turkish whirling dervish, played one minute and missed a shot. Only 6 more wins until .500, can you handle it, Glen? Or will FireGlenMiller.com become a sad reality? Funny note: my Sports Industry Professor said close to no one used godaddy to buy a domain name after seeing the commercial, they just went to see some boob (that was paraphrased). I guess I am in the demographic "close to no one."

A Few Thoughts For the First TV Timeout as 'Cuse plays its Fifth Straight Game Against a Jesuit School

1.) For some reason, Jay Wright wasn't satisfied with winning by only 10 at the Dome, so he's subbing guys in like he's coaching the Flyers.
2.) John Saunders called the 2-3 zone a matchup zone, which is completely incorrect.
3.) Is Scoop playing? Will he admit to getting the munchies to order hundreds of dollars of food with his cousin and two girls? We shall see, he is wearing a jersey.
4.) Jay Wright doesn't want to get sweat on his suit as he tries to fuck up cancer in his sneakers. Boeheim looks classier.
5.) Syracuse just looks tired as hell. Johnny Flynn hasn't missed a minute since...the last time Syracuse played Villanova.

What 'Cuse Needs a Lot of Tomorrow

I just remembered this dunk. Paulie got the fuck up. I was sure he could put a sticker on the top line of the backboard square, and remember, he is definitely overlisted at 6'4".

Great, snakes on crack!

I missed the DePaul game, but I am damn happy with the result, and I might go tomorrow to the Wachovia Center to see 'Cuse take on Nova. However, I might not, because people are still saying that Donte Green will be a top 5 pick (nbadraft.net, I'm talking to you). Once he declares his intentions to be a sophomore at Syracuse University will I go to another game.
As anyone who reads this blog would know, I made some shitty playoff picks as the New Year rolled around. Here is my shitty Super Bowl lock of the week/year/month: Patriots cover, 28-14. And as an added benefit of taking The Sports Industry this semester, I present you with Super Bowl counter-programming:
ABC

“America’s Funniest Home Videos” rerun and “Meet The Fockers”

8:00-11:00pm

CBS
“60 Minutes” and “Shark” and “Cold Case” reruns

7:30-11:00pm

NBC

“Biggest Loser” marathon

7:00-11:00pm

Animal Planet

“Puppy Bowl IV”

3:00pm-3:00am

Bravo

“Law & Order: Criminal Intent” marathon

6:00pm-2:00am

ESPN

ISU European Championships

9:00-10:00pm

ESPN2

“World’s Strongest Man Competition” marathon

6:00pm-5:00am

Food Network

“Food Network Challenge”

3:00-9:00pm

Hallmark Channel

“Murder She Wrote” marathon

8:00-3:00am

Lifetime

“Football-Free Movie Extravaganza”

11:00-2:00am

Oxygen

“Deion and Pilar: Primetime Love”


Spike TV

“MLE Chowdown Championship: Ham N’ Egg”


Speed TV

“Lucas Oil on the Edge,” “Monster Jams” and “PINKS: All Out” episodes

2:00pm-4:00am

TBS

“What Women Want” movie marathon

Noon-midnight

TLC

“Miss America Pageant” re-air

6:00pm-2:00am

TNT

“The Closer” marathon

Noon-midnight

Travel Channel

“Tribal Odyssey” marathon

7:00pm-3:00am

USA Network

“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”

6:00pm-3:00am

WE

“Rich Bride, Poor Bride,” “My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding” and “Platinum Wedding” marathon

4:00pm-5:00am

My pick is definitely Spike TV, due to my love for breakfast food, and my intentions to drop out of school and join the competitive eating circuit. As Eater X mimics Ultimate Warrior with the face paint, I will wear a leather mask to mimic Mankind. Some more analysis: women! TBS is trying to steal as many women who hate football as humanly possible with the Mel Gibson chick flick from hell with bleeding Jesus and a dude getting his face eaten off by Helen Hunt, but I digress. Oxygen, the women's network, with the Deion Sanders reality show pilot? Seriously? I have no response, but I can say with confidence that Noel Devine made the right decision in abandoning Deion's adoptive efforts.
Final thing before I go back to sleep for 10 more hours: the Lakers will NOT win the title this year. Pau Gasol is great and all, but he is still pretty soft. But keeping Bynum and Odom and GETTING RID OF KWAME BROWN (the capital letters show you how happy it makes me for Kobe) will definitely help the Lakers get at least 2 rounds farther in the playoffs this year.
To build on McKeever's post before mine, must-see movie is Coal Miner's Daughter. Sissy Spacek is nasty as Loretta Lynn (she won a damn Oscar), but my highlight was seeing some great acting work from Levon Helm as the Coal Miner. Levon basically got to play himself for a little while, and then play a dead guy, but while his character was alive, he really contributed some great work to this movie.

Jesuits beat Nonsectarian Private School not to a Pulp, But to Hopelessness

The season looks bleak for SU basketball right now. NIT is the three letters no one wants to hear, but Saturday's loss to Nova and tonight's loss to Georgetown really put that abbreviation into perspective. Three things were particularly effective in bringing me to this:
1.) Johnny Flynn getting into it with Jeremiah Rivers
So, you were beating them up, and you had a lead, but you need to finish the game, Johnny, and not worry about one-on-one games. It's 5 on 5, and as Johnny became score-first for 2 or 3 possessions, Georgetown slowly pushed their way back into the game. And he kept the hogging going in overtime. Terrible choices that will hopefully be out of his system after practice tomorrow.
2.) Scoop Jardine
Not an offensive threat in any way. Bricked the first shot of overtime. Played real sloppy, as did Paul Harris
3.) Donte Greene
This one goes out to nbadraft.net, who currently have Donte predicted to go 5th to the Knicks: HE IS NOT THAT GOOD! If he knows best, he'll stay at Syracuse for at least another year and get to work. Here's a checklist to start on:
-Inconsistency: TERRIBLE against Nova, 1-11 in the first half against Georgetown. As I have pointed out before on numerous occasions when comparing him to Carmelo Anthony: If Melo fucked up one game, he took it out on the opponent the next, something Donte has yet to discover. It is also known as "killer instinct," and if you don't have it, you should not be considering going pro at all. Not even in the back of you mind.
-Robotic offensive game: Really, you need to not shoot two threes and then drive, shoot two threes, then drive, etc. Donte needs to get the basket and try to get to the line against smaller guys, like every person that guarded him tonight besides Hibbert.
-DEFENSE: I talked to a few people about this tonight, and we all agree: Donte just doesn't play defense at all. He is the least active person I have ever seen in the zone. Ever. Think of other people who have played 2-3 zone at Syracuse: Billy Celuck, Craig Forth, Elvir Ovcina, all big, goofy, white guys, all better defenders than Donte Greene. Donte likes to block one shot and then relax for the rest of the night. That is definitely not helping the zone.
Conclusion: Donte should go undrafted if he declares this year. He has a ways to go.
In other news, Arinze put up a great fight on Hibbert, putting in 12 and grabbing 13 boards. his free throw shooting along with Donte's in OT really ended the game. But Arinze also set a career-high with 5 assists. And we're talking about passing out of a double down for an open 3 as well as finding cutters down the lane. Really impressive stuff.
And congratulations to Johnny Flynn on his first dunk of the year! Took him a while to learn how hard it is to do in traffic, as he scored lots of 2s tonight on a floater instead of attacking the rim (ridiculous bounce on one over Hibbert).
And the officiating? Well, according to a source of mine, Jim Burr and John Cahill are golf buddies with Boeheim, and that's why they give him such terrible calls all the time. I really don't know about that, but they really let it be a physical game. Especially under the basket, where Georgetown could be watching out for some lawsuits involving priests. A lot of stuff should have been called, but it's in the books, and no one can change that. Except the Miami Heat.
Also, congratulations to the Memphis Tigers for finally getting that #1 ranking. Barring an uprising from the "untouchables" who make up the rest of C-USA, the caste system should remain and Memphis should roll to the overall #1. Well, watch out for Bruce Pearl sweating.

Till next time...

Pats-Jags final analysis

The Patriots may never lose again in their history after Brett Favre storybook ends his career in XLII. But the game with the Jags game was the closest any team will get to New England. They just put too much on the table for Jacksonville to deal with. Watch Randy Moss with double coverage, but leave open Stallworth and Welker for short passes that have lots of YAC. Garrard attacked the Pats defense well except for his fumble and the pick. Otherwise, he was the model of how to play the Pats...in the 1st half. Belicheck obviously was prepared to make a half-time adjustment that made Garrard ineffective in the 2nd half. And the running game never got going, leading the Jags to rely heavily on Garrard's arm.
The Jaguars should be looking forward to next year. Their D is good enough to definitely increase their wins next year, but for now, it's the Patriots' time. And Tom Brady is still a choke in my heart.

All Praises to the PlayStation!

Back at school after a nice visit to Los Angeles. Favorite part to share with my nearly-nonexistent loyal readers: watching the writers strike. My brother put it best when he said, "they don't really have that hard-hat, lunch-pail image that gets to the public." Boy do they not. First, there is a gigantic lunch buffet next to the picket line outside CBS's Los Angeles studios, which takes away the necessity of the lunch-pail. Second, they don't put much time into it. Most started showing up at around noon (when traffic is definitely not as high), and they also only picket for about 4 hours tops per person. Of course, they probably have some witty remark to shoot back at me, but we all know they work for 10 hours a day, of which 7 hours is somehow taking a break.
I really don't think I could live in LA with the way ESPN fits into daily life. Basketball games at 4PM? I need to get home from work, silly Digger! And PTI at 2:30? No wonder kids from LA here at Penn have some unfamiliarity with what I consider ESPN's #2 program, even in front of MNF, NFL Countdown, and College Gameday.
Anyways, all hope is lost for Syracuse basketball. WVU fucked them up on Sunday, and never has any team been slowed by the mixture of slime from Bob Huggins' hair and sweat from his suit (http://thesportshernia.typepad.com/blog/2008/01/bob-huggins-lau.html). So where to go from here? Hell, I'm still going to watch every game and be just as much of a fan, but I think tournament is going to be a hard path to get on for this team. Donte was like Bob Dylan on Sunday: not there. 3-12 from the field and only 10 points? I don't think he is going to be thinking about going pro if he has another performance like that. Carmelo could afford it because he was always able to bounce back, never putting up less than 20 points in consecutive games (besides the beginning of the tournament). And Scoop, isn't it really easy to score 18 when no one is guarding you? Well, now people are guarding you, so you better get that jumper going. Rutgers comes to the Dome tonight, and god damn am I worried.
Playoffs! I was 1-4 on Conference Championship participants. My bad. I thought Indy learned their lesson last year on how to win in the playoffs, but I was wrong. They learned how to win as an underdog, not as an overrated team. And Phillip Rivers? DBOTY mean douche bag of the year, and I think you'll win it for 2008.
Oh, man! TO! I almost forgot, but you really can't. He actually supported his quarterback after a terrible performance! I thought the apocalypse was coming. TO? Supportive of a teammate? Only talking to a Mexican reporter about his injury who probably can't understand him (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN8MtNEpy9U)? Wow. But seriously. After bashing Jeff Garcia and Donovan McNabb, TO puts his support behind Romo, who definitely made a terrible decision in going to Cabo with Jessica Simpson and the rest of her family of idiots. And Jason Witten. Romo cried like a baby to the refs, yelled at his offensive line, and was basically ineffective in the second half. Eli outperformed him...yes, Eli Manning, and it was definitely the 40 second touchdown drive that tied the game with 7 seconds left in the first half that turned the tide.
But back to TO. He always gets the embarrassing defeat from Garcia and McNabb. TO's criticism of McNabb was completely hypocritical in blaming Don for the Super Bowl loss. How about thanking him for getting you to the Super Bowl? You certainly didn't help in the NFC playoffs, even if you did have a towel and stood on top of a bench waving it. You didn't play football. TO can't take over a playoff game, and unless he has a good quarterback (Tony Romo is NOT that guy), maybe he could win some games. Imagine if he did play the whole playoffs for the Eagles that year. They could have been even better together in the Super Bowl with some familiarity, and we'd be talking about an Eagles title. And the past two years, McNabb and Garcia, as Eagles quarterbacks, have terrorized Owens in games at Dallas. McNabb helped start the slide that led to Dallas' playoff exit this year with the 10-6 win in Week 15. And Garcia quarterbacked the blowout that made Tony Romo look like he needed more Pepsi Max last year. In conclusion, TO is not going to win a Super Bowl in Dallas unless Tony Romo is told to sit on a bonfire.
Everyone wants to write a movie about Brett Favre's season this year, so look for a script from Tony Kornheiser, Joe Buck, Mark Schlereth, and Sean Salisbury. Let's have the guys who directed Remember the Titans, Glory Road, We Are Marshall, and Radio direct it. It will be the biggest blockbuster in the history of sports movies. It will make Rocky look like he raped babies AND aborted fetuses. Look out for 2010's first hit movie, The Untitled Brett Favre Project, which will win 30 Oscars and get Jake Gyllenhaal his first Oscar and probably make people not think so much about Brokeback Mountain, but probably still think about Brokeback Mountain. Because JP Losman once said of Brett Favre, ""He invited me into the house for a little bit. There he was with his tight little shorts, no shirt and his little red hat. He was doing some farming or something. He was covered in dirt. It was awesome."

On that note, 'till tomorrow...do something else? But come back tomorrow...PLEASE.

PS:

in Good Hands™

It's the night before the Allstate BCS Championship Game, and you know something? Despite all the doomsday predictions, and despite the fact that the Buckeyes are going up against a loaded LSU team with scary parallels to last year's Gators (playing basically a home game), I still feel confident as an OSU fan. To answer the question frequently posed by Allstate: yes. Ohio State is in good hands with Jim Tressel.

Don't get me wrong, I watched the same game you did last year. I watched the Dream die, swimming in jungle juice, as Ohio State get curb-stomped by a faster, meaner, hungrier Florida team. It still hurts to think about: the pre-game buildup during that now-infamous 51-day layoff between V-UM Day and D-Day, the preemptive congratulatory phone calls after Ted Ginn's opening kickoff return, the first round of drinks to celebrate our good fortune. We were on top, we were golden, and Florida could start the buses. We chanted it to them, just to let them know.

And then, the undertow: Teddy goes down with the foot injury. Florida scores. Florida scores again. Nobody can tackle Megatron, Tim Tebow; meanwhile, Ohio State's front five look like matadors against Jarvis Moss and Florida's front four. Troy gets sacked, Troy fumbles, Troy gets picked. The all-too poignant halftime show, with the Ohio State marching band recreating the sinking of the Titanic- that invincible, perfect, glittering vessel that folded impossibly in the night.

In the high times leading up to that Monday night, there wasn't a soul on campus who would have even imagined the kind of spanking Florida would give us. Judging by the team's performance that night in Glendale, we fans weren't the only ones that bought into the relentless media hype. A paunchy Troy Smith clearly bought it, as did a lethargic Buckeye secondary (seriously, how do you get picked apart by Chris "Allen Strange" Leak?) It seemed, to our horror, that even the infallible Jim Tressel had bought into the hype, and as they say: Buy the ticket, take the ride.
http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/1004/36787.JPG
http://www.donandmurph.com/thejourneyofalenstrange.JPEG

My point is this: this year, Jim Tressel isn't buying it. This year, the media is selling the Buckeyes as no-names, as underdogs, as just happy to be there. It's true that this year's team lacks the star power of last year's. The important thing to realize is that after last year's shellacking, that's a good thing. This is a team built in Tressel's own image, a team that exudes quiet confidence in the face of a challenge, plays conservative, fundamental football, demands accountability for blown assignments, and stays humble. Last year's team relied on big names to make big plays in big situations. No one player has been asked to shoulder the load this year, and as a result, Tressel has been able to forge a squad that plays the truest form of team ball. In Jim Tressel's world, Faceless is good. Depth is good. Interchangeable is good. Flexibile is good. Etcetera. Ohio State lost 9 of its 11 defensive starters from last season, including the NFL-bound Quinn Pitcock. The result? A No. 1 ranked defense that has improved by nearly 50 yards per game while allowing only two rush TDs all season.

While this year's Tigers bear a striking resemblance to last year's Gators [a throwing quarterback (Flynn/Leak) and a running quarterback (Perilloux/Tebow) platooning in the backfield, a speedy wideout corps, a dynamic, often overlooked speed back (Holliday/Harvin), and a monster defensive lineman (Dorsey/Moss)], the overlooked truth is that this year's Buckeyes, although lacking the big-name offensive fireworks of last year's team (Smith/Ginn/Gonzalez/Pittman), is not only a more tightly-knit unit, but a better team altogether. (Insert "Creampuff Schedule" dissension here.)(Insert "seven, count 'em, seven, 20+ point blowouts, with the only loss to Rose Bowl-bound Illinois team" counterpoint here.)

There's no getting past the importance of team chemistry, which appears to be the reason that the '07 Bucks have excelled in the absence of NFL-caliber talent. (Ivan "I-Formation" Maisel wrote an article on this for the Worldwide Leader: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls07/columns/story?columnist=maisel_ivan&id=3183084&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos2). Last season, Tressel had to balance his responsibilities to the team's success (maintaining an undefeated season) with his responsibilities to the athletes he promised to take to the next level (making sure Smith, Ginn, etc. got enough attention/touches/pro-style game situations). This season, he has a locker room full of emerging leaders- maturing, team-first guys (Laurinitis, Beanie, Boeckman, Boone, Barton, and possibly Craig Biggio) who haven't hesitated to rise to the occasion, Boeckman's last two weeks notwithstanding.

We're one year removed from "41-14." It's easy to predict another speed-over-power SEC romp, especially in front of a Louisiana crowd. It takes no stretch of the imagination to picture a stoic Jim Tressel shaking hands with a fiery Les Miles after another Ohio State heartbreak. Which is exactly why I don't think anyone in the OSU locker room, least of all Jim Tressel, will let it happen.

Ever scalp a ticket from an old white woman? I didn't think so...

What a crappy Syracuse win. St. John's showed what you need to do to beat this team: foul trouble. With Donte out, 'Cuse couldn't ever get 3 points on a possession because Johnny Flynn, the only guy on the team who could make a 3 refused to shoot one after Donte got his 4th foul; and whenever Arinze got fouled making a shot, he immediately bricked the free throw. The reason Syracuse managed to win was that Arinze could score at will. 11-15 from the field is some terribly good numbers. When they have to rely on him in the Big East, they could run into trouble as he goes up against bigger centers like Hibbert and Caracter. In that case, Johnny is going to have to switch to being score-first. He is quick enough and can pull up on a dime, but he always passes unless the shot clock is running down. If he isn't aggressive the rest of the year, don't look for any Syracuse tourney talk.
And Anthony Mason, Jr. is just his dad's face with a completely different game. Really skilled and big enough at 6'7", but he has to put up bigger numbers if he is going to get to the NBA.
I also have to say I'm quite opposed to the ticket prices I encountered at the Dome. $28 for St. John's? We almost couldn't go, but luckily a woman (title character of this entry) approached us asking, "Looking for tickets?" Not how one imagines a scalper after having gone to many Philadelphia sporting events in the past two years, but she did actually show me the tickets, one thing scalpers don't usually do, and she even promised to sell them for face value, which was only $25. We ended up sitting in the corner near the Syracuse bench in the first row, right near where the players enter from the locker room. Probably the best job I've done scalping in my life.
On to the Quakers. FireGlenMiller.com will be up by the end of the month. I would have given him two extra weeks with a victory at Miami, with the Hurricanes out of the Top 25 and pissed after losing its first of the year to Winthrop (yeah, that Winthrop with Taj McCullough that won a tourney game last year). What better whooping post than Penn, who fell to 4-9 with the loss? None. FireGlenMiller.com countdown is now at 28 days.
Last night, after I got back from the game, my buddy Steve came over and we opened up what turned out to be a gem from days past: a little VHS called Boeheim on Basketball. We weren't sure of its power, but it sure was powerful: Boeheim hitting 30 straight free throws and trash talking Sherman Douglas and Herman Harried. The best quote: "When our big guys get fouled, I should come in and shoot for them." It also includes some stereotypes of instructional films from that era (think Baseball World's Defensive Drills by Tom Emanski), including: MC Hammer instrumentals, Harried sporting a blonde horn at the front of his head, ridiculous freeze frames, Boeheim fighting wind in the intro so as to have the Dome in the background, and some ridiculous film technique by the camera operator, who we guessed was Bernie Fine. During the aforementioned intro, Boeheim said the video would teach fundamentals, as Sherman Douglas through a full court pass as if he were a long-snapper and dished out behind-the-back passes. There was also a section dedicated to the alley-oop. Who else would narrate but Doug Logan.
West Virginia was downright nasty in the Fiesta Bowl. Oklahoma should never go back to Tempe if they can. They fell victim to a Cinderella story one year, and then they give a guy his job this year. Congrats to Bill Stewart for earning his job and making Rich Rodriguez look like a punk. I bet West Virginians are hoping that Stewart retains Rodriguez's staff that he hasn't hired yet at Michigan. The Mountaineers definitely look like title contenders next year, and I don't think their coach will throw the Backyard Brawl next year to get another job and betray his alma ma...oh, he went to Fairmont State. The Pat White endorsement after the game was also a good signal for the future. Stewart has worked with White the past four years, and I expect him to not make the jump (Slaton too) after the athletic department granted his request.

A Few Things Before '07 Becomes '08

I do have a few things to get off my chest (that is what she said). First, the blog will be nasty starting next year, it's one of my few resolutions for the New Year. Second, this list:
1.) http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=273630526
I hope no one bought the website FireGlenMiller.com yet, because I'm about to. A year ago this was a preseason opponent transitioning to D-1 that you almost put up 100 on, and this year you can't even put up 10 in the first 20 minutes against this team? 3 straight losses to start the year out against Drexel, Loyola MD, and Howard, falling to 4-7 before this game, and then losing it. Miller has a lot of making up to do, even with Tommy McMahon and Darren Smith out all year and Brian Grandieri playing on a torn meniscus, this game should have been a gimme. Here's my ultimatum: I'll take down the website (hopefully soon-to-be-made) if Penn puts up an undefeated Ivy season, but keep it available to be put back up if he can't win a tournament game. He came to Penn to win a tourney game, and instead this team regresses to losing to Florida Gulf Coast, whose white guys all look like they were members of Creed. The most telling stat of the game: Penn had a points-to-turnover ratio of 30 to 34. When you get more turnovers than points, that is what you call a disaster game, something that Fran Dunphy didn't have and I'm pretty sure Chuck Daly didn't either.
2.) Syracuse basketball can do whatever the hell it wants the rest of the season. I don't expect them to have a very easy time playing Georgetown and Villanova twice, plus making trips to West Virginia, Louisville, and Notre Dame, plus welcoming Pitt and Marquette to the Dome. Andy Rautins and Eric Devendorf being out was pretty much the worst possible thing that could happen to this team. Donte and Johnny will be able to take over the scoring load, but not having both of these shooters will have its effects late in games. Plus, Devo and Rautins being gone leave SU with no scholarship guards on the bench, and while walk-on Justin Thomas will be stepping in a little more, it still means NO BACKCOURT DEPTH. The one good thing that comes out of this is that Scoop Jardine is going to get a lot of experience and who knows, maybe next year Boeheim will be able to 4-guard it with Rautins, Devo, Scoop, and Johnny like Jay Wright did with...scratch that, let's just pray Donte is ( and he should be) back for next year.
3.) http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=271216017
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS, TOM BRADY? DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THAT THIS WAS THE FANTASY SEMIS? I LOOK LIKE A GOD DAMN IDIOT BECAUSE OF YOU. I'VE GOT A CHANCE TO WIN A TITLE, AND WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU PUT UP THE BIGGEST FANTASY CHOKE JOB IN THE HISTORY OF THE GAME! NO ONE HAS EVER CHOKED AS HARD IN THE FANTASY PLAYOFFS AS YOU. YOU WERE GREAT THE REST OF THE FUCKING SEASON, AND NOW? I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHAT YOU DID THE REST OF THE SEASON! NOW I GET NO FUCKING GLORY. SO, TO ROUND THINGS UP, FUCK YOU TOM BRADY!
4.) The Mitchell Report was dope, lol.
5.) NBA Finals 2008: Nuggets in 6 over the Pistons.
6.) NFL Playoffs:
NFC Wild Card:
'Skins over Seattle. I believe in the spirit of 21...
Bucs over Giants. Good D is always good in the playoffs, and so is consistent Jeff Garcia offense against the Giants D (See: http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270107021)
NFC Divisional:
Packers over 'Skins. ...falling short in power to the spirit of the Fav-ruh
Cowboys over Bucs. Romo and his lack of performance for the ladies (may I suggest some Cialis? Levitra?) will not be an issue because Jerry Jones, looking to harvest another skin to wear over his own, threw Jessica Simpson to the bottom of a well his house is built over. If the lotion is Proactiv, I expect Jessica to not ever get the hose but continue to talk about how good it is and how bad her skin used to break out, leading to Jones shooting himself in the head, but not until after the Cowboys win. Also, to keep up appearances, Jones had someone wear his "regular skin" to the game and had that person patrol the sidelines.
NFC Championship:
Packers over Cowboys. Romo is shown to be a fake spirit of the Fav-ruh by the real Fav-ruh, leading to his disintegration a la Nazis seeing the inside of the Lost Ark. Only TO is able to look away, but he is immediately shot by Garret Reid.
AFC Wild Card:
Chargers over Titans. Just a bit too easy for the Bolts, like Keith Bulluck said, the Titans are "The NFL's Team of the Future," so give them a little bit. And yes, I am doubting Vince Young's resourcefulness. Defenses are playing him to deplete his resources a la the aliens in Independence Day and he hasn't ran for 100 yards in a game this year. The Chargers were especially good against him, forcing him to throw 2 picks and run for only 2 yards on 2 attempts.
Jaguars over Steelers. Jags are for real. Killer D, killer run game, and a quarterback who makes mistakes as often as the Pope gets laid: rarely.
AFC Divisional:
Colts over Chargers. Starvin' Marvin wasn't really back, but what if this extra week off was just what he needed? Reggie Wayne is at the top of his game, Other Tony Gonzalez is starting to hit his groove, and now you can't even pay me enough to play in a secondary against the Colts. Even without Harrison, the lightning bolt blood will flow, and so would the blood of a certain group of deities if they got to this game.
Jags over Pats. I'm probably underestimating the Pats in this game, but I still want Brady to get his head ripped off on a sack and only have a 5 yard facemask called. And I also think the Jags look like money.
AFC Championship:
Colts over Jags. BARELY. Both teams are about to be on a roll coming into this game, and it will be a pretty damn good Sunday if America receives the two championship games I have stupidly foreseen. Vinatieri as time expires.
Super Bowl: Colts over Packers. Spirit of the Fav-ruh meets the Manning machine, and science beats religion in a battle for the ages. Yes, an entertaining game to go with entertaining commercials.
7.) If I'm a GM for the next 5 years in the NFL, I'm doing two things:
1) Bringing Pacman back to play safety
2) Bringing Vick back to be a holder. But during practice, a pack of wild dogs will be brought in to try to block field goals.
8.) Men's College Midseason Awards:
Player of the Half-Season: Tyler Hansbrough, UNC
Well, he's just been too damn good and so has his team.
Freshman of the Half-Season: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma
Besides the anomaly that was a lost to "Stone Cold" Stephen F. Austin University, Blake has been pretty good. He was limited to 8 and 4 points respectively in losses to Memphis and USC earlier in the year, but he started having some solid games, including 15 points and 14 boards in a win over Gonzaga and 18 and 16 in a win over West Virginia. A pretty good roll to be on with the Big 12 coming around.
Coach of the Half-Season: Brian Gregory, Dayton
He should thank Brian Roberts for putting up 29.5 PPG in two wins over ranked Big East teams Louisville and Pittsburgh, but still, who would have thought?

Happy New Year to all from the Buzzer
EEEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Jerry Rice Now Thinks He's Babe Ruth

And I can see his point, but this?

"The only thing that bothers me a little bit is that I did it during the strike year," Rice said. "It was 12 games for me. If he had done it in 12 games, I wouldn't have a problem with it at all. But I'm still going to congratulate him and do all of that.
"But I'm surprised the league is taking it upon themselves to give him 16 games to do it."

It's great that you did that with Steve Young AND Joe Montana and whatnot. But I didn't see Babe Ruth jump out of his grave calling Roger Maris a bitch. You're a great receiver, but there are sometimes when you shouldn't be an asshole. Also, you had FIFTEEN games, but you sat out two, Jerry. You should have played those 3 so you could have had 30 touchdowns and then we wouldn't have this problem. And for good measure, I give you just the good ol' boys that never mean no harm but one of them has been arrested multiple times, and he ran tha traffic cop over by accident...MAGWA!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJruSDnAVrg

Tony Siragusa is NOT Smarter Than a 5th Grader

Well, if Mike Ditka's group of retired players is looking for evidence supporting their claim that the NFL Players' Union needs to take care of retired players, it was Tony Siragusa after a promo for "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" during Eagles-Giants. Here are his words:

"I got a daughter in 5th grade, and sometimes, she brings in questions, and I just have no idea."

Brain damage in retired NFL players is a serious thing. Gene Upshaw needs to take this occurence seriously, because who knows how dumb the next generation of retired giant defensive lineman who can't fit in a broadcasting booth and stand next to the field and interrupt the regular play-by-play and color guy at strange times will be.

No Silver Lining for Orange and other stuff

Well, big win at Virginia where Sean Singletary had the strangest set of symptoms. Could have lost to the Hoos, but everyone made shots when they had to late to get the win. Today was another story, and all I can say is that I can't watch the game because it was regional (I will find a bar to watch those games at.). But TWO A-10 teams, Rhode Island and UMass? Not the best resume features looking for an at-large bid. A need for some return to Big East dominance is surely needed.
I think the record for number of sets of brothers playing in a game was set today when Indiana welcomed Kentucky to Assembly Hall. Mike and DJ both suited up for Indiana, while Joe and Jordan Crawford had their parents mismatching apparel from both schools for the Wildcats and the Hoosiers, respectively. Jordan, the younger of the two, doubled his brother point total with 20, and the Hoosiers ran away with it, 70-51. DJ White was a little underfed in the post going against a pretty terrible Kentucky frontline (Patrick Patterson needs some time before he can dominate players with DJ's experience.), and he only had six shots after 25 minutes? Him getting fed regularly in the post and high post is definitely going to be essential to any Indiana success.
And Kentucky fans? Please don't be discouraged by the loss to Gardner-Webb and this slow start. Think about what Tubby Smith did in his first year with Rick Pitino's talent. This is what Gillispie is doing with Tubby's talent, so give him a few years to get his pieces in place.
I think McFadden should have been given the Heisman, but I also don't get a vote. Tebow did have a record-setting season, but McFadden beat the #1 team in the country, and now its the #2. Because of this voting result, the Cotton Bowl is going to be damn good. McFadden and Chase Daniel are both going to be pretty pissed about not winning the Heisman so they'll each try to have big games, McFadden probably more so since he had a better year this year than last, when he also finished second. And the win over LSU definitely seemed like icing on the cake.
I'm out like J-Kidd with a migraine.

Paul Harris needs some protection

If one player is victimized by refs for being physically imnposing, it has to be Paul. He might need to play some Nintendo DS to improve his basketball IQ, but Paul doesn't get any breaks from the refs. Last year it was the out-of-the-blue technical fouls that were commonplace, but he hasn't been called for one yet. But officials still treat him differently. Two instances in today's 'Cuse victory over the Washington Huskies made me know this is some truth:
1.) Watching Quincy Pondexter proceed to push Paul Harris out of bounds to get a defensive rebound. Not box out, literally turn and push.
2.) A phantom offensive foul call where Harris jump-stopped into a banked jumper and a flop by Justin Dentmon were enough to warrant the call.
So Tim Higgins, Ted Valentine, and whoever else officiates in the Big East, give Paul a chance. He isn't the Juggernaut running through walls and sending people hundreds of feet when he runs into them because mutants don't exist. He just happens to be a little stronger than the guys he's going up against, but he isn't going to kill anyone.

Great News for Penn Basketball

As UPenn moves eastward, Penn Basketball, already oh-so fan friendly, adds the element that could make the Palestra turn into one of the best venues ever (and maybe even add some decibels at Penn football games): tailgating
(http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/10/19/News/Looking.Ahead.An.Overview.Of.The.Upcoming.University.Expansion-3044163.shtml). The proposed Franklin Field Pavilion and Palestra Green would give fans a place to gather for barbecues and booze before watching their beloved Quakers go out of character to fight an opponent. It's an essential element of schools like Maryland and Texas, so why not give us a chance to not have a chance to walk it off on our way to the game? The crowds will be rowdier, and it will definitely make the atmosphere much more intimidating for visitors. So kudos to you, Penn architect David Hollenberg, for making this possible.


(Sorry about the links, I'm writing this on my Mac and for some reason I'm not allowed to blog nice like I do on a PC. What a bitch.)

Syracuse Survives, and So Do the Bones in my Hand

Well, after falling into a 10-0 hole, Jonny Flynn completed my redemption from my promise to punch a hole into a wall with a 3 with 5.3 seconds left to give 'Cuse a 72-69 double-you. Flynn was not rattled when he had the chance to win on a very deep 3, and I have never been more excited about a team because of that. Flynn was able to forget about his 0-5 night from the field (he still had some great assists, including one behind some dude's back to Donte).
That St. Joe's team was poised for an upset (funny note: I watched the game with a St. Joe's fan and a UConn fan, which was one Georgetown fan away from the triumvirate that makes Syracuse basketball get pissed off (if they were playing UConn, a UConn fan would replace the St. Joe's fan)), and Pat Calathes had a great game going for 22 and 8. However, Ahmad Nivins was somehow completely baffled by the collapsing double team that came his way whenever he got the ball in the post, causing him to have more turnovers (4) than points (3).
And when Jimmy B called Paul Harris a son of a bitch as he went to shake Phil Martelli's hand, he had reason to ignore his 18 points and 14 rebounds. Harris basically ruined the beginning of the game with two terrible travels, one as he caught a pass at the 3-point line and got into the triple threat, and the other as he went to elevate. And then to end the game, he basically let Calathes catch that ball for the possible tying basket. Harris has looked pretty careless this year, and if SU wants to move up the polls, he needs to get his game under control and cut down turnovers and bad shots.
Otherwise, Donte looked pretty good, and Arinze was a monster everywhere but three very important places: the free-throw line, defensive rebounding, and shot blocking. Mookie is playing for the Kings right now because he could be active in one of those categories every night, but I'm not sure Arinze can do much with the shot-blocking, so he needs to get defensive rebounds, especially in the zone. Also, there was next to no bench production tonight, which needs to start existing if this team wants to win in the Big East. Ongenaet, Jackson, and Jardine need to start contributing against Ohio State next Wednesday, and they will have time to get ready for that when Fordham comes to the Dome on Friday.
And, kudos to Jonny Flynn for the new title holder of "best sentence uttered in a post-game interview as he said to Syracuse's Gene Waldron, "I kept turning the corner off screens and finding my...niggas."

As Sunday comes so does the Buzzer Dubs Weekly College Basketball Report Card Summary of News, including the Dubs Top 25.

Jewish Jordan Spreads his False Righteousness

On Saturday morning I attended Orthodox services at Penn Hillel to celebrate my brother's aufruf (pronounced "oof-roof") the day before his wedding, and a former media darling happened to be in attendance by the name of Tamir Goodman. You may remember him as the Orthodox Jew who could light it up, averaging 35 points a game as a junior at Talmudical Academy in Baltimore. Gary Williams offered him a scholarship as he continued to tear up Jewish and non-Jewish competition alike. He had to give back the scholarship because Williams could not make accommodations for Goodman to not play on Saturdays, which lead to a spot on the Towson Tigers, a low-major program. After a year of what some considered completely missing expectations, Tamir claimed he jumped at the contract offer he received from Maccabi Tel-Aviv, fulfilling his dream to play in Israel. However, the conditions that the team had taken in Goodman were hurting the team as Goodman played terribly. Coach Mike Hunt was a little ridiculous in throwing a chair at Goodman, but he had his reasons. If Goodman had played as well as he did in high school, I think Hunt would have kept up the agreement, or just let them schedule games he couldn't play in on Saturday. And I almost neglected to mention that Goodman's time in Israel had been even more underwhelming, as he found no playing time, even when he was playing for second division teams over there. I don't want to sound like an anti-Semite, especially because I am Jewish, but Tamir just was never that good. But now some professional team has signed him in the US (he wouldn't disclose it, but it is definitely not an NBA team, and he told me it isn't an ABA team, which are known for promotions like naming a team the Atlanta Krunk), and the team has agreed to not play games Friday night or Saturday. Hopefully he can redeem himself, give us Jews some street cred, and not get a chair thrown at him.