From the east to the atlantic coast? Sounds the same. But it doesn’t act the same.

Get an updated logo please.

Okay, what’s going on here. Football teams that are supposed to be losing are winning and vice versa. Syracuse is moving to the ACC. Oh, where to start…. How about Indy, where if I was a Colts fan I’d be very, very worried. Kerry Collins is in no way, shape or form any reincarnation of Peyton Manning. I wish the Colts the best of luck on the season. Boy do they need it. A new QB probably wouldn’t hurt either. In other news, the Redskins are 2-0. Means nothing. Neither does 3-0. Get to 4-0, then we’re talking.

And now, to the biggest news of the day—Syracuse and Pitt to the ACC. Okay, let’s put Pitt aside for a second. Because no one cares about them. They’re clearly second-fiddle in these discussions. Why? Because by leaving the Big East, Syracuse, a founding member, is essentially allowing the conference to sink into a pile of nothingness. First off, we don’t know how long this process will take. Could be a couple years. But let’s look at both angles here. First, the easy part. The cons. And of course, with both of these conferences being basketball heavy (although probably not wanting to admit it), bball comes to my mind first. So Syracuse can say bye to conference games against Georgetown. Bye to the Garden and Big East tournament. Bye to a founding legacy!! Okay, enough drama. They’ll get over it all, and the ACC will probably weasel its way into the Garden somehow. Do I feel bad for the Big East? Sure. But not that bad. It was kind of annoying with half the schools being bball and half football. And Notre Dame just for bball. So now we get to the pros. SU can play UNC and Duke. And Maryland (for my sake). Football (which is most likely at the core of all of this transfer despite these being bball schools) won’t be an improvement as ‘Cuse will be leaving the worst big football conference for the second worst. But, the ACC is now very stable (although the Big East was before ‘Cuse and Pitt decided to leave). Regardless, there are mixed feelings here, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s still thinking about this move. Thoughts??

Unfinished business? Better get on that.

With Johnson and Rautins gone, the rest of the crew needs to step up their game.

Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim has already called this year’s team one of his most overrated. Can’t say I disagree. This team has not won any of its first four games easily like it should have. Let’s go back to last year. The team had lost its top 3 players, expectations were low. And what did ‘Cuse do? Reel off 13 straight wins en route to a number one ranking and No. 1 seed in an NCAA tournament they should have won. Last year’s team was special, and that became evident after they shocked Cal and UNC in an early-season tournament at MSG. Now let’s get back to this year. We lost out three best players again, but this team is less experienced than last year’s. So they won’t be as dominant. But I’m not gonna lie, this team has me worried. They play Michigan tonight, and Michigan is looking at this game as a measuring stick for their team, just as SU did with Cal, UNC and Florida last year. UCONN already looks like the SU of last year, going from unheralded to upsetting ranked teams. This SU team better get it together. They’re not special yet, but they can be. They just have to figure themselves out.

B[lu]e-deviled

Bite your tongue; title goes to Duke. Those devils!

Would I have predicted Duke to win the national championship at the beginning of the year? Nope. After they won the ACC championship? Nope. After they got their top seed? Nope? After they made the Final Four? Not even that. I only gave the Blue Devils a shot against Butler, and they proved me right. This year’s Final Four was not built on star power like in year’s past, and that was exemplified with Duke. Sure, they have stars like Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and John Scheyer, as well as big man Brian Zoubek. But this is not your older cousin’s Duke. This isn’t even your elementary school self’s Duke. But they did it. They proved to be the best out of the pool. They were the only team not to drown. It’s funny, because last year at this time I was sitting in a hotel room at Syracuse writing about how North Carolina was so dominant following their national championship win. And now, a year later, I’m sitting in my dorm room at Syracuse writing about how Duke finally made their way back to the top with this victory. Like the Yankees last year, this Duke team ended their drought. They won it all for the first time since 2001. That was a long nine years, filled with poor finishes and disappointments. But now this Duke team has a national championship. Good effort, Butler, but you guys couldn’t top Duke. They had their ups and downs this season, but they came through when it mattered most. Congrats. (And that is probably the only congrats from a non-Duke fan that you will get). Keep the haters comin’. I don’t like Duke, but they are the champions, and deserve credit for that. Wait, what am I saying? Screw ‘em!

P.S. No comments on how late I’m posting!

2005: March Madness

This was a year that I put into two categories. The first half, and the second half. Let’s start with the first half first, because that was mad (in terms of madness, as in march madness).

What I remember is the Elite 8. Every single one of those games was memorable except for UNC’s. Louisville played a classic game against West Virginia. This was where the term “Pittsnoogled” was created. The guy was off the charts from the three point line. But Louisville’s Francisco Garcia led the “Ville” to the Final Four along with….

Illinois, who came back from a lot down to beat Arizona. ‘Zona, led by Channing Frye, seemed like they had the win in the bag. But Illinois, led by Dee Brown, Deron Williams, Luther Head, Roger Powell and James Augustine stormed back and got the improbable win. And they deserved it, because they had the best record in all of college basketball last year.

And then there was the night game. March of 2008. Kentucky vs. Michigan State. It was tight for a while, and Michigan State seemed bound to win at the end of regulation. But Kentucky’s Patrick Sparks made a three pointer to tie the game and send it to OT. Or did he? Was his toe on the line? His shoe size may have helped him here. After the shot was analyzed for a full five minutes, it counted. Michigan State won in overtime, and joined UNC, Louisville, and Illinois in the Final Four. UNC, led by a great team of Sean May, (who I saw play a couple of years before), Raymond Felton, Jawad and Marvin Williams, Jackie Noel and Rashad McCants, beat Illinois for the title.

In June, new Net Vince Carter led the team to the playoffs in the last game of the season. They lost to eventual champion Heat in the first round, but VC had a shot in one of the games to force OT.

Now, the second half. Of the year. I went to my first and only NFL game. The Ravens played the Browns. It was pretty cool….and purple.

And then the year ended, and 2006 came…which is up next!

What now!!??

Watch out!

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a jump this high. No, I’m not talking about Wes Johnson’s vertical jump. I’m talking about Syracuse’s rise from unranked to number 10 in the AP Poll. Before destroying Cal and UNC, Syracuse was unranked in the AP Poll and ranked 25th in the USA Today/ESPN Poll. Now they’re number 10 in AP and 9 in USA/ESPN. So, attention to all you teams middling in the teens and 20s in the rankings. Want to move up? Then crush top 10 opponents. Oh wait, you can’t.

Whooped

OVERRATED

 

The Dunk Show- by Wes Johnson

How about them Orange? Cal? Pshh. UNC? UN Who? That’s right. Syracuse just took down the number “12″ and number “4″ teams in the nation. Now either those rankings wayy overrate Cal and UNC, or Cuse is for real. I would like to say both. Syracuse is completely balanced. UNC is too young and overrated, while Cal is just overrated. Too much hype. Cuse likes flying under the radar. But now they’re way on top of the radar, thanks to two straight dominating compete team performances.

 

COLLEGE basketball

Last year, I did a mini college basketball preview about the arcs and certain perennial powers. Here’s a quick recap:

(From Nov. 2008)- The college basketball season is here. The Tar Heels are the national favorites, followed by the likes of perennial powerhouses UCONN and UCLA. The season figures to be entertaining, thanks largely in part to a bunch of players who stayed in school.
But what really is the biggest story at the start of the college basketball season? The new arc? Can you believe it? A line is hogging the spotlight. Both Sports Illustrated and The Washington Post did feature stories on arcs. They were good, but what a shame that an arc is stealing the limelight from the likes of Tyler Hansbrough, Luke Harangody, and Blake Griffin.
It’s all great and good that there is a new arc. But it probably won’t make a difference. So lets focus on the players shooting from the arc, not the arc itself.

 

 

I would like to say that things are the same this year, but that would be far from true. Gone is the dominance of UNC and Hansbrough. In is a lack of dominance, in my opinion at least. The stars that stayed in school last year are gone. Only Harangody is back. The other stars are labeled that way because that is what they have to become to replace the departed players. Kansas is supposed to lead the pack, with All Americans Sherron Colllins and Cole Aldrich. Did you know that those two were bench players in the Jayhawk’s national title team from two years ago? UNC is supposed to remain strong with supposed lottery pick Ed Davis, who is being declared great based on potential,not real life results. However, he did shows glimpses of skill last year.

Lucky Kentucky. They not only get John Calipari, but John Wall and a bunch of other top recruits. All for the price of one! Just kidding. But Kentucky did make the leap from no NCAA to top five team.

The Big East will be down. They lost Hasheem Thabeet, Jonny Flynn, Terrence Williams, Marquette’s threesome, and a bunch of others. So who’s left? Greg Monroe of Georgetown, who showed great flashes as a freshman last year. Syracuse transfer Wesley Johnson is supposed to be good. We’ll see. Harangody, a proven star, is back. Pitt is down. Louisville and Connectiuct are down key players from last year but not depleted like Marquette and Pitt. Cincy is on the rise, as are Seton Hall and St. Johns. Villanova leads the pack with Scottie Reynolds, while WVU trails closely. I think it’ll be a tight race.

The ACC will be lead by (gasp!) UNC and Duke. But UMD has Greivis Vasquez and Georgia Tech has some good recruits. Wake lost Jeff Teague and James Johnson. UVA has Sylven Landesberg.

In the SEC, they’re still focused on football.

In the PAC 10, Cal leads the way with guards Randle and Christopher. Washington has Isaiah Thomas (different one).

The Big 12 has Texas and Damion James. Also, can Mizzou repeat last year’s magic?

And the Big Ten. I’m feeling the Big Ten. Purdue is loaded with JaJuan Johnson, Robbie Hummel, Chris Kramer and E’Twaun Moore. Michigan State just made the final Four. Michigan and Manny Harris should be good. Wisco is always solid. Illinois was good last year and Penn State should build off their NIT Championship.

It will be an interesting year for sure. Is it too original if I pick Kansas?

 

 

As long as their football team doesn’t get to them first.

Forde Minutes: A look back and a look forward – ESPN–Found this on ESPN. Interesting.

A whole ‘nother animal

Sweet Victory for Hansbrough and Co.

There is a reason I picked North Carolina to win it all 3 weeks ago. They are simply unstoppable, incomparable to any other team in the tournament. So they lost a few during the season. I’d have to say those were flukes. This team is dominant. Hansbrough, Lawson, Ellington (tourney MVP), Green, and so many others. They were dominant when they won it in ’05, but this year was different. Not one tourney team had a chance of stopping them. Michigan State? Puh-lease. They absolutely drowned them. Now it’s doubtful they’ll win it next year, with many guys graduating/moving on to the NBA, but they can bask in their glory and reflect upon their amazing season for a while now.

 

The Mets won their opening game yesterday, 2-1! Santana and Murphy had strong games. And shocker: so did the bullpen!

I can’t put all these topics in one title…so you will have to read

In the NBA, the roster that you begin the season with is usually similar to the roster you end the season with. Sure, there may be a few trades, signings, and releases here and there, but you can pretty much expect consistency within the line-up throughout the year. Baseball’s a different story. Since baseball has the minor leagues, there is continuous change. Rosters can look completely different in a time span of one month. Baseball players are also not as consistent as basketball players. I personally prefer the stagnant ways of the NBA, even if it is a little less exciting.

The final four is this Saturday. What a looong time to wait. Go UNC/whoever will fall prey to UNC in the title game.

The Nets beat the Pistons. That hasn’t happened in a while. Both are having down seasons though.

SI picked the Mets to win it all! Let’s hope that is true.

Will Memphis continue to be a major force now that John Calipari has left? We will see.

That is all, semi-excited for baseball season to start!