Jay Cutler story needs to die rather quickly because I am sick of it. Its getting to the point where its out of control and we seemingly hear about it every five days.
If you didnt hear yesterday, the Broncos decided to trade last year's Pro Bowler Jay Cutler after Josh McDaniels-Cutler relationship never got off to a good start and now the new coach has put his ass on the line before his first game as a head coach. In addition, they have a whole new slew of problems to deal with as well.
The first problem that McDaniels has to deal with is.. whose going to be the quarterback next year? Chris Simms is their backup right now which probably will not work out for Denver. Bill Williamson of ESPN.com had some ideas which I like a couple of them... Jeff Gracia would not be a bad idea for one or two year guy until someone else comes along. I also like the idea of getting Matt Sanchez if they can trade up to do it. Another plan being thrown out there is getting one of the Cleveland quarterbacks Brady Quinn or Derek Anderson.
It seems like Washington wants Cutler bad which I could see for the sole fact, they spent the most money in the offseason and they want immediate results. Jason Campbell is a good player but he isnt Cutler. I would assume that Campbell gets traded to Denver if the deal is done. Also I dont understand why Detroit isnt actively perusing this deal. I would be offering the word to Denver to try to bring a franchise guy who would get the fans legitimately excited about the Lions. The Jets are another team would I believe will throw their name in the hat.
When the chips are down, this a "Brett Favre" situation to a much lesser degree but if it blows up in Denver's faces that will could very well create problems with McDaniels and the fans of the Broncos. They better hope they get a quarterback who can make sure Denver doesnt miss a beat.
-Charlie.
The New Logo
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Calipari Headin' to the Blugrass State
A lot like Tom "The Snake" Crean, coach John Calipari had to take the job. Kentucky basketball is like the New York Yankees, Notre Dame Football, Boston Celtics, Dallas Cowboys and there are a few basketball schools that would be included (Indiana, North Carolina, UCLA, and Kentucky).
He told the R.C. Johnson, the Athletic Director of Memphis that "he couldnt offer anymore money because its Kentucky." Sounds fimilar if you are a Marquette fan. The money that was offered was monumental... 8 years 31 million dollars with incentives laced into the contract.
Now a great coach like Calipari gets a basketball team that returns Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson which could easily make it back to the Sweet 16 if not further. I think that was one reason why Calipari took the job because he knew right away that he would get a cushion which a lot like Roy Williams when he took the North Carolina job, he wont need.
This is also a great fit for Calipari because he knows exactly how to handle the media better than anyone else they could of brought in. Memphis also had a big time fan base not to Kentucky standards but Calipari knows how to handle the boosters as well.
The great thing about this hire is there are three very interesting subplots to the Calapari hire. Number one is what are they going to do with the huge Memphis recruiting class? The Tigers were supposed to bring in Xavier Henry (#1 in 2009), DeMarcus Cousins (#4 in 09), and rumored to be getting John Wall (#6 in 09) plus include Lance Stephenson as well whose in the top 20 who was favoring Memphis. Kentucky only has one scholarship left and who knows if any of those guys would be willing to accept a lesser role.
Another big subplot is the Rick Pitno Factor. I had no idea that Pitno has been Calipari's mentor for years and years. This also makes it clear that they are in some sort of Italian mob together. Now they are in the same state and Calipari essentialy is trying to do the same thing Pitno did at Kentucky. The Louisville-Kentucky battle next year will be in the top five games to watch and could be for a long time to come.
The final one involves coaching again and this one is the rivalry Calipari has with Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl. They HATE each other and the Memphis-Tennessee rivalry grew because of this. I would assume that the Kentucky-Tennessee matchups both in Knoxville and Lexington have now become more amplified. Also this has to be an ego shot to Pearl now knowing he is the third best in the SEC East when it comes to coaches.
The College Basketball "Offseason" already off to a fast start.
He told the R.C. Johnson, the Athletic Director of Memphis that "he couldnt offer anymore money because its Kentucky." Sounds fimilar if you are a Marquette fan. The money that was offered was monumental... 8 years 31 million dollars with incentives laced into the contract.
Now a great coach like Calipari gets a basketball team that returns Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson which could easily make it back to the Sweet 16 if not further. I think that was one reason why Calipari took the job because he knew right away that he would get a cushion which a lot like Roy Williams when he took the North Carolina job, he wont need.
This is also a great fit for Calipari because he knows exactly how to handle the media better than anyone else they could of brought in. Memphis also had a big time fan base not to Kentucky standards but Calipari knows how to handle the boosters as well.
The great thing about this hire is there are three very interesting subplots to the Calapari hire. Number one is what are they going to do with the huge Memphis recruiting class? The Tigers were supposed to bring in Xavier Henry (#1 in 2009), DeMarcus Cousins (#4 in 09), and rumored to be getting John Wall (#6 in 09) plus include Lance Stephenson as well whose in the top 20 who was favoring Memphis. Kentucky only has one scholarship left and who knows if any of those guys would be willing to accept a lesser role.
Another big subplot is the Rick Pitno Factor. I had no idea that Pitno has been Calipari's mentor for years and years. This also makes it clear that they are in some sort of Italian mob together. Now they are in the same state and Calipari essentialy is trying to do the same thing Pitno did at Kentucky. The Louisville-Kentucky battle next year will be in the top five games to watch and could be for a long time to come.
The final one involves coaching again and this one is the rivalry Calipari has with Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl. They HATE each other and the Memphis-Tennessee rivalry grew because of this. I would assume that the Kentucky-Tennessee matchups both in Knoxville and Lexington have now become more amplified. Also this has to be an ego shot to Pearl now knowing he is the third best in the SEC East when it comes to coaches.
The College Basketball "Offseason" already off to a fast start.
NCAA Coaching Updates
There is one big one and ESPN is being told a decision will be made this afternoon on whether John Calipari takes the Kentucky basketball job although there have been a couple others that I would like to give my opinion on.
Anthony Grant to Alabama- Anthony Grant head coach of Virgina Commonwealth took the Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coaching job which seems to be the step up that Grant wanted to take after leading VCU to consecutive NCAA appearances including last year's big win against Duke. It seems like Grant is a likable guy who can recruit getting guys like Eric Maynor and Larry Sanders to VCU and in addition knows the SEC being an assistant to Billy Donovan making it likely that he will be successful.
Tony Bennett to Virgina- This one was very surprising for me because this was a step up for Bennett to go from Washington State to Virgina but will his system work in the ACC? My answer is maybe. He needs to recruit athletic players to keep up with the likes of Duke, North Carolina, and Wake Forest etc. In addition, Virgina is a nice place to recruit with the DC area not to far away plus the Carolinas. He will need to tweak his offense style a bit but I think its a good fit for him. Also dont be surprised if he bolts if a Big Ten job opens up in a couple years.
Mike Anderson to Georgia?- I have no idea that the Bulldogs or the SEC for that matter was a "step up" from the Big 12. I would like to think that its not personally and I wouldnt be surprised if he does take it though. Why you ask? Well first off $$$$$, the SEC does have alot of that for its athletics, especially Georgia and second off, strong ties to the conference could bring him back. He also tied to the Memphis job if Calipari leaves but why downgrade to C-USA?
-Charlie.
Anthony Grant to Alabama- Anthony Grant head coach of Virgina Commonwealth took the Alabama Crimson Tide Head Coaching job which seems to be the step up that Grant wanted to take after leading VCU to consecutive NCAA appearances including last year's big win against Duke. It seems like Grant is a likable guy who can recruit getting guys like Eric Maynor and Larry Sanders to VCU and in addition knows the SEC being an assistant to Billy Donovan making it likely that he will be successful.
Tony Bennett to Virgina- This one was very surprising for me because this was a step up for Bennett to go from Washington State to Virgina but will his system work in the ACC? My answer is maybe. He needs to recruit athletic players to keep up with the likes of Duke, North Carolina, and Wake Forest etc. In addition, Virgina is a nice place to recruit with the DC area not to far away plus the Carolinas. He will need to tweak his offense style a bit but I think its a good fit for him. Also dont be surprised if he bolts if a Big Ten job opens up in a couple years.
Mike Anderson to Georgia?- I have no idea that the Bulldogs or the SEC for that matter was a "step up" from the Big 12. I would like to think that its not personally and I wouldnt be surprised if he does take it though. Why you ask? Well first off $$$$$, the SEC does have alot of that for its athletics, especially Georgia and second off, strong ties to the conference could bring him back. He also tied to the Memphis job if Calipari leaves but why downgrade to C-USA?
-Charlie.
Monday, March 30, 2009
C Villi Ready to Become Closer?
Well things are starting to get interesting with the Milwaukee Brewers (upcoming preview in the next couple of days). Trevor Hoffman has went on the disabled list with an oblique injury and would make his return on April 11th at best although we know that the disabled list isnt always reliable.
Am I concerned about Hoffman a little bit? Yes, I would say that because I would like to see my 41 year old closer get off to a fresh start instead of beginning the year on the disabled list. On the other hand, I am not in one way shocked that a forty-one year old player would need to go on the disabled list. My overall hope is that this isnt a reoccurring thing that consistently bothers Hoffman during the season.
Now on to the other concern I guess you could call it is if Carlos (C Villi) Villanueva is ready to become a closer even if its just for a week. I have to be honest that I have my reserves because Villanueva has been great when there is no pressure on him but when he does get into some trouble, he can self-implode very quickly. I would like to hope that he has a strong first week propelling his confidence for the rest of the season.
-Charlie.
Am I concerned about Hoffman a little bit? Yes, I would say that because I would like to see my 41 year old closer get off to a fresh start instead of beginning the year on the disabled list. On the other hand, I am not in one way shocked that a forty-one year old player would need to go on the disabled list. My overall hope is that this isnt a reoccurring thing that consistently bothers Hoffman during the season.
Now on to the other concern I guess you could call it is if Carlos (C Villi) Villanueva is ready to become a closer even if its just for a week. I have to be honest that I have my reserves because Villanueva has been great when there is no pressure on him but when he does get into some trouble, he can self-implode very quickly. I would like to hope that he has a strong first week propelling his confidence for the rest of the season.
-Charlie.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Little Brother Wants More
Stephen Curry did big things at mid-major by getting his team in the Elite Eight last year but his younger brother Seth wanted more. About a week ago, he announced that he would transferring from Liberty because I think he believed that Liberty couldnt amount to what Davidson did for Steph.
Today, he chose Duke which will make a huge impact for the Blue Devils in 2010-11 and I wonder if he will become a hated player like most people do when they play at Duke. Coach K broke it down today explaining that Curry would be very valuable on that team with Nolan Smith at that time being a senior and Elliot Williams will be a junior. So you would likely see Curry come off the bench in his sophomore year which will be lethal to have his three point shooting.
On the other hand, you will not see Curry averaging 20 a game right out the gate for Duke. He will be controlled by Coach K but I honestly can see him having a "JJ Redick" impact on the Blue Devils with his three point shooting ability. Redick was able to single-handily be a difference maker just because of his three-point shooting and the most consistent player from the line. Curry is a good player and I am not saying that he will end up being a NCAA National Player of the Year although does he have the ability? You bet your ass he does and being at the main stage with Duke, he will have that opportunity.
In my opinion, this was a great decision by the Blue Devils to get a player whose already proven in the NCAA.
-Charlie.
Today, he chose Duke which will make a huge impact for the Blue Devils in 2010-11 and I wonder if he will become a hated player like most people do when they play at Duke. Coach K broke it down today explaining that Curry would be very valuable on that team with Nolan Smith at that time being a senior and Elliot Williams will be a junior. So you would likely see Curry come off the bench in his sophomore year which will be lethal to have his three point shooting.
On the other hand, you will not see Curry averaging 20 a game right out the gate for Duke. He will be controlled by Coach K but I honestly can see him having a "JJ Redick" impact on the Blue Devils with his three point shooting ability. Redick was able to single-handily be a difference maker just because of his three-point shooting and the most consistent player from the line. Curry is a good player and I am not saying that he will end up being a NCAA National Player of the Year although does he have the ability? You bet your ass he does and being at the main stage with Duke, he will have that opportunity.
In my opinion, this was a great decision by the Blue Devils to get a player whose already proven in the NCAA.
-Charlie.
Guess Whose Back?!
And boom goes the dynamite. Tiger Woods is back and ready to take over the golf world once again.
I had not thrown myself back into the golf world until this weekend when I was at the gym hoping to see the Elite Eight game but the CBS feed wasnt working so I watched the golf tournament. It looked like it was Sean O'Hair tournament to lose because he was dominating the field up by four-plus strokes during Saturday and then ended up being up five strokes on Woods. Also the only reason Woods was in the final pairing was because he chipped in a bogey shot after hitting the water on 18.
O'Hair and Woods played a couple rounds together although it had been all Woods so far. Woods had been lying in the weeds all round long and then O'Hair started to get nervous by bogeying a couple holes with Tiger staying -4. Then he hits a birdie while O'Hair bogeys the hole being them all even. Uncharacteristically, Tiger bogeys 17th with a lead after going for the pin and landing directly in the bunker. They were all-squared going into the 18th with Dan Hicks reminding us of this every two to four minutes which became very annoying and how Tiger had buried people before on 18th at Bay Hill.
Well Dan Hicks didnt have the announcer's jinx because Tiger hit on on the fairway then stuck in 10ft on the pin, and birdied the hole with a giant fist pump. I think this proves once again that every golfer in the PGA is afraid to be in the final group with Tiger especially when Tiger is trailing. O'Hair finished +3 with a 73 and that usually is the score of the guy playing with Tiger
He hasnt lost a step and there isnt a reason to think he is not the favorite for the Masters in two weeks.
-Charlie.
I had not thrown myself back into the golf world until this weekend when I was at the gym hoping to see the Elite Eight game but the CBS feed wasnt working so I watched the golf tournament. It looked like it was Sean O'Hair tournament to lose because he was dominating the field up by four-plus strokes during Saturday and then ended up being up five strokes on Woods. Also the only reason Woods was in the final pairing was because he chipped in a bogey shot after hitting the water on 18.
O'Hair and Woods played a couple rounds together although it had been all Woods so far. Woods had been lying in the weeds all round long and then O'Hair started to get nervous by bogeying a couple holes with Tiger staying -4. Then he hits a birdie while O'Hair bogeys the hole being them all even. Uncharacteristically, Tiger bogeys 17th with a lead after going for the pin and landing directly in the bunker. They were all-squared going into the 18th with Dan Hicks reminding us of this every two to four minutes which became very annoying and how Tiger had buried people before on 18th at Bay Hill.
Well Dan Hicks didnt have the announcer's jinx because Tiger hit on on the fairway then stuck in 10ft on the pin, and birdied the hole with a giant fist pump. I think this proves once again that every golfer in the PGA is afraid to be in the final group with Tiger especially when Tiger is trailing. O'Hair finished +3 with a 73 and that usually is the score of the guy playing with Tiger
He hasnt lost a step and there isnt a reason to think he is not the favorite for the Masters in two weeks.
-Charlie.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Elite Eight Wrap Up
Once again, I am sorry for not getting predictions out the last two days because my computer decided to die on me Saturday afternoon but I watched all of the games for the most part so I will dissect them.
UConn 82 Missouri 75- This game was back and forth all game long although the Huskies should their teeth by defeating the Tigers. UConn struggled with the press defense of Missouri who frustrated them the entire game and the Tigers virtually shut down A.J. Price. But this game was a coming-out party for the former McDonald All-American Kemba Walker who dropped 17 and could prove to be very big for the Huskies on Saturday night. Hasheem Thabeet once again had huge blocks but really nothing impressive on the offensive end. Dont get me wrong I like Blake Griffin but people go nuts for a simple dunk by Griffin; I feel they do the same way when Thabeet gets a block.
Villanova 78 Pittsburgh 76- This was an awful decision made by Eric and I last night. Both of us had already ate but the Chinese Buffet named Jade Garden was calling our name. But as the basketball Gods held out for us to see the final shot only to have Brett lock us out before it, I was just livid. From what I heard on the radio, Dwayne Anderson for Nova was the difference maker and Levance Fields was once-again clutch for the Panthers. Good for coach Jay Wright whose had some really good teams in the past and this wasnt his best squad although its the only one on the Final Four.
Michigan State 64 Louisville 52- I am shocked and stunned my good friend Dozer who hates the Big East and loves the Big Ten, I didnt get a text message about how the Big Ten's best beat the Big East's best today handily. Terrence Williams proved why he isnt a top-tier player as the Spartans put a big body on him. The Cardinals havent had a bad game since Notre Dame thirty point beating and today was their next one. Goran Suton 17 points in the first half plus three from behind the arc was demoralizing as anything for the Cardinals. Durrell Summers' three point shooting also had alot to do with the win today.
North Carolina 72 Oklahoma 60- This was the matchup I was excited for all season long and it sucked worse than the second Dumb and Dumber. North Carolina goes wire-to-wire after starting off the game 7-0. Blake Griffin was allowed to have a typical game with 23 points and 16 rebounds but no one else on his team stepped up. Austin Johnson, Tony Crocker, and Willie Warren (minus four minutes) didnt step up the whole game. In addition, once again no one had a guard to keep up with Ty Lawson. I think I said it before the Gonzaga game that the reason North Carolina wins is because their bench is so deep. Danny Green was also the reason they had an eleven point lead going into the half with 14 points in the first half.
I will cover the Final Four probably Thursday with a wrap-up Sunday and an overall season wrap-up Tuesday/Wednesday.
-Charlie.
UConn 82 Missouri 75- This game was back and forth all game long although the Huskies should their teeth by defeating the Tigers. UConn struggled with the press defense of Missouri who frustrated them the entire game and the Tigers virtually shut down A.J. Price. But this game was a coming-out party for the former McDonald All-American Kemba Walker who dropped 17 and could prove to be very big for the Huskies on Saturday night. Hasheem Thabeet once again had huge blocks but really nothing impressive on the offensive end. Dont get me wrong I like Blake Griffin but people go nuts for a simple dunk by Griffin; I feel they do the same way when Thabeet gets a block.
Villanova 78 Pittsburgh 76- This was an awful decision made by Eric and I last night. Both of us had already ate but the Chinese Buffet named Jade Garden was calling our name. But as the basketball Gods held out for us to see the final shot only to have Brett lock us out before it, I was just livid. From what I heard on the radio, Dwayne Anderson for Nova was the difference maker and Levance Fields was once-again clutch for the Panthers. Good for coach Jay Wright whose had some really good teams in the past and this wasnt his best squad although its the only one on the Final Four.
Michigan State 64 Louisville 52- I am shocked and stunned my good friend Dozer who hates the Big East and loves the Big Ten, I didnt get a text message about how the Big Ten's best beat the Big East's best today handily. Terrence Williams proved why he isnt a top-tier player as the Spartans put a big body on him. The Cardinals havent had a bad game since Notre Dame thirty point beating and today was their next one. Goran Suton 17 points in the first half plus three from behind the arc was demoralizing as anything for the Cardinals. Durrell Summers' three point shooting also had alot to do with the win today.
North Carolina 72 Oklahoma 60- This was the matchup I was excited for all season long and it sucked worse than the second Dumb and Dumber. North Carolina goes wire-to-wire after starting off the game 7-0. Blake Griffin was allowed to have a typical game with 23 points and 16 rebounds but no one else on his team stepped up. Austin Johnson, Tony Crocker, and Willie Warren (minus four minutes) didnt step up the whole game. In addition, once again no one had a guard to keep up with Ty Lawson. I think I said it before the Gonzaga game that the reason North Carolina wins is because their bench is so deep. Danny Green was also the reason they had an eleven point lead going into the half with 14 points in the first half.
I will cover the Final Four probably Thursday with a wrap-up Sunday and an overall season wrap-up Tuesday/Wednesday.
-Charlie.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Kentucky is Just Nuts
Well see ya later! As Lloyd Christmas said in Dumb and Dumber. That name suits Kentucky Basketball very well with firing Coach Billy Gillispie.
They have now become a joke. Billy Gillispie gets his walking papers for no real reason after two years because the "fit wasnt right" according to the Athletic Director. I dont understand where this team gets off on just firing coaches left and right just for the sole fact, they arent winning like the Kentucky way.
Whoever takes the job is going to get a hell of a team because their whole team is coming back. According to Dick Vitale, Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson are both returning for another year. So now the new coach that will come in will be ready to go with a loaded squad and have a very good year. Then what happens when he struggles in the next year? The Wildcats need to wake up and realize its not the 70's anymore, Kentucky Basketball can have down years, its okay.
I think the favorite has to be Travis Ford from Oklahoma State who was a former player at Kentucky. Ford has barely got started for the Cowboys and they do pay well down there so I could see him staying. People are suggesting Jay Wright which would make sense too seeing as many are leaving plus he's the flashy type of coach you want at Kentucky.
-Charlie.
They have now become a joke. Billy Gillispie gets his walking papers for no real reason after two years because the "fit wasnt right" according to the Athletic Director. I dont understand where this team gets off on just firing coaches left and right just for the sole fact, they arent winning like the Kentucky way.
Whoever takes the job is going to get a hell of a team because their whole team is coming back. According to Dick Vitale, Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson are both returning for another year. So now the new coach that will come in will be ready to go with a loaded squad and have a very good year. Then what happens when he struggles in the next year? The Wildcats need to wake up and realize its not the 70's anymore, Kentucky Basketball can have down years, its okay.
I think the favorite has to be Travis Ford from Oklahoma State who was a former player at Kentucky. Ford has barely got started for the Cowboys and they do pay well down there so I could see him staying. People are suggesting Jay Wright which would make sense too seeing as many are leaving plus he's the flashy type of coach you want at Kentucky.
-Charlie.
Friday Picks
Well I am making it a goal to actually make it through the games tonight and not pass out early like last night. I was surprised to see how Missouri played last night and the three Big East schools won flexing their muscle.
MIDWEST:
(1) Louisville vs. (12) Arizona- I think this game is going to be a lot better than people expect it to be. Arizona was a team that underachieved all year and have picked the right time to find their step. I like how they matchup with the Cardinals tonight and the big factor will be if Chase Bundiger can stop Terrence Williams. I am not a huge fan of Williams but I guess I have to give him credit for his play in the recent weeks, it seems like no one can stop him. Jordan Hill vs. Samardo Samuels will be another key match up in the game. Edgar Sosa always seems to come up clutch in big games so look out for him. I think the run for Arizona ends tonight because I think Louisville is too tough for them to keep up with. LOUIS 79-75
(2) Michigan State vs. (3) Kansas- This game is a rematch from earlier on this season where in the previous matchup, the Spartans got the best of the Jayhawks in Breslin. This is a new Kansas team though with the improved play of Cole Aldrich. I watched Michigan State on Sunday and I never realized how smooth their offense runs plus Kalin Lucus is an absolute stud for them. I think a key factor will be if the Jayhawks can find a third scorer because if not, it could be a long night. I think the Spartans are too much for Kansas tonight with good play from Lucus, Goran Suton, and Travis Walton. MSU 69-63
SOUTH
(1) North Carolina vs. (4) Gonzaga- This game has interested me more in the past couple of days because I feel like the Zags have the formula to beat North Carolina if they put their best effort. Jeremy Pargo can keep up with Ty Lawson and Josh Heytvelt can neutralize Tyler Hansbrough. Although when it comes down to it, the bench of North Carolina is the reason they are going to win this game with the improved play of Ed Davis and others. It will be close but the Tar Heels pull it out. UNC 84-78
(2) Oklahoma vs. (3) Syracuse- The best game of the night by far. Both teams matchup so well with each other, it will be hard to pick a winner. The question of the night will be if Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson will be able to neutralize Blake Griffin. On the outside, I think Johnny Flynn can contain Willie Warren but I would watch out for Austin Johnson when he is on, its lights out for other teams. The same could be said about Andy Rautins. Look for a close battle with the Orange coming out victoriously. CUSE 86-83
-Charlie.
MIDWEST:
(1) Louisville vs. (12) Arizona- I think this game is going to be a lot better than people expect it to be. Arizona was a team that underachieved all year and have picked the right time to find their step. I like how they matchup with the Cardinals tonight and the big factor will be if Chase Bundiger can stop Terrence Williams. I am not a huge fan of Williams but I guess I have to give him credit for his play in the recent weeks, it seems like no one can stop him. Jordan Hill vs. Samardo Samuels will be another key match up in the game. Edgar Sosa always seems to come up clutch in big games so look out for him. I think the run for Arizona ends tonight because I think Louisville is too tough for them to keep up with. LOUIS 79-75
(2) Michigan State vs. (3) Kansas- This game is a rematch from earlier on this season where in the previous matchup, the Spartans got the best of the Jayhawks in Breslin. This is a new Kansas team though with the improved play of Cole Aldrich. I watched Michigan State on Sunday and I never realized how smooth their offense runs plus Kalin Lucus is an absolute stud for them. I think a key factor will be if the Jayhawks can find a third scorer because if not, it could be a long night. I think the Spartans are too much for Kansas tonight with good play from Lucus, Goran Suton, and Travis Walton. MSU 69-63
SOUTH
(1) North Carolina vs. (4) Gonzaga- This game has interested me more in the past couple of days because I feel like the Zags have the formula to beat North Carolina if they put their best effort. Jeremy Pargo can keep up with Ty Lawson and Josh Heytvelt can neutralize Tyler Hansbrough. Although when it comes down to it, the bench of North Carolina is the reason they are going to win this game with the improved play of Ed Davis and others. It will be close but the Tar Heels pull it out. UNC 84-78
(2) Oklahoma vs. (3) Syracuse- The best game of the night by far. Both teams matchup so well with each other, it will be hard to pick a winner. The question of the night will be if Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson will be able to neutralize Blake Griffin. On the outside, I think Johnny Flynn can contain Willie Warren but I would watch out for Austin Johnson when he is on, its lights out for other teams. The same could be said about Andy Rautins. Look for a close battle with the Orange coming out victoriously. CUSE 86-83
-Charlie.
An Ode to Gus Johnson
I am a huge fan of Gus Johnson aka the Godfather of March Madness. Johnson is the best announcer for college basketball by head and shoulders. I figure if you have a brain you would know this but if you dont, I will give some videos of the great Gus.
"He hit that from the parking lot"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBFFJb9KSdc
"We're going to overtime in Lexington!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE0c-TzO7d4
Ricky Paulding throw down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kElH5KPUPrs&feature=related
"The Runner"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdXeWvucvH8&feature=related
Gus and Bill Raftery= Magic, ONIONS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmY-BXzMc5g&feature=related
"Bastisa with the catch!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt0VUSyVIr4&feature=related
"Bynum to the bucket!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLUAAoxe9ts&feature=PlayList&p=56F66A66191E8E18&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=3
Finally a montage of his greatest moments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkiM3tBJVhk
Gus is calling the Midwest region tonight, lets hope for more Gus magic.
-Charlie.
"He hit that from the parking lot"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBFFJb9KSdc
"We're going to overtime in Lexington!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE0c-TzO7d4
Ricky Paulding throw down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kElH5KPUPrs&feature=related
"The Runner"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdXeWvucvH8&feature=related
Gus and Bill Raftery= Magic, ONIONS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmY-BXzMc5g&feature=related
"Bastisa with the catch!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt0VUSyVIr4&feature=related
"Bynum to the bucket!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLUAAoxe9ts&feature=PlayList&p=56F66A66191E8E18&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=3
Finally a montage of his greatest moments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkiM3tBJVhk
Gus is calling the Midwest region tonight, lets hope for more Gus magic.
-Charlie.
Rut-Roh UConn
I know I am a couple days late on this story but like always, it has been a busy week for me. You already know that I am not that fond of UConn so the Nate Miles story did put a smirk on my face.
If you didnt hear about this then you live under a rock but I will break it down for you via the Hartford Courant... •The relationship between Nate Miles, former student manager-turned-agent Josh Nochimson and UConn. The key is what UConn knew of the Miles-Nochimson relationship. As a alum and former manager, the NCAA considers Nochimson a representative of UConn's athletic interests and can have no involvement in recruiting. Five UConn coaches traded at least 1,565 calls and text messages with Nochimson, including 16 from Jim Calhoun.
Also there have been new reports that Nochimson was present when current UConn Alter Majak was getting recruited at a Kentucky tournament by another UConn assistant. In addition, a surgery Miles had in 2007 claims that Nochimson paid for the surgery. This all means that UConn is in a pile of shit
I dont see how UConn gets out of this one. They violated many recruiting rules and they should be on probation for at least five years plus possibly some tournament implications with money being exchanged like that. Even though Miles was a great player out of high school was a head case with five high schools four different states.
If I am Jim Calhoun, I get out now. You have 800 wins but if all this turns out true, he is just as worse as Jerry Tarkanian. During the BS Report, they were called "UNLV East" so I am right. You just have to step down at this point but knowing the arrogance of Calhoun, he will keep going unless UConn decided to let Calhoun go because thats the right thing to do. Ask him to retire or give him boot. He violated the same rules Kelvin Sampson did so I see no reason to not do the same thing bar him from coaching.
I really hope the Huskies dont win the National Championship because that will be probably the most bittersweet moment in the NCAA.
-Charlie.
If you didnt hear about this then you live under a rock but I will break it down for you via the Hartford Courant... •The relationship between Nate Miles, former student manager-turned-agent Josh Nochimson and UConn. The key is what UConn knew of the Miles-Nochimson relationship. As a alum and former manager, the NCAA considers Nochimson a representative of UConn's athletic interests and can have no involvement in recruiting. Five UConn coaches traded at least 1,565 calls and text messages with Nochimson, including 16 from Jim Calhoun.
Also there have been new reports that Nochimson was present when current UConn Alter Majak was getting recruited at a Kentucky tournament by another UConn assistant. In addition, a surgery Miles had in 2007 claims that Nochimson paid for the surgery. This all means that UConn is in a pile of shit
I dont see how UConn gets out of this one. They violated many recruiting rules and they should be on probation for at least five years plus possibly some tournament implications with money being exchanged like that. Even though Miles was a great player out of high school was a head case with five high schools four different states.
If I am Jim Calhoun, I get out now. You have 800 wins but if all this turns out true, he is just as worse as Jerry Tarkanian. During the BS Report, they were called "UNLV East" so I am right. You just have to step down at this point but knowing the arrogance of Calhoun, he will keep going unless UConn decided to let Calhoun go because thats the right thing to do. Ask him to retire or give him boot. He violated the same rules Kelvin Sampson did so I see no reason to not do the same thing bar him from coaching.
I really hope the Huskies dont win the National Championship because that will be probably the most bittersweet moment in the NCAA.
-Charlie.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Picks for Thursday
I decided that a wrap-up really wasnt necessary because I watched one full game (USC-Michigan State) throughout the four day span from being excommunicated from college basketball. I will say this my bracket fell vitcim to the sexy upset (VCU), faith in Illinois (so sorry Big Red), way too much faith in Jon Brockman and Wisconsin/Cleveland State destroying brackets one by one. So I just decided to give you the Thursday Night Picks.
EAST:
(1) Pittsburgh vs. (4) Xavier- This game to me is the least exciting game of the next two days. According to the experts, the Panthers were not very impressive in their first two games. I still like Pitt's chances to get to the Final Four but the Musketeers have to know if they can get DeJuan Blair in foul trouble, they could pull off the upset. Jason Love for Xavier is their only real big man threat but he isnt known to go off for anything special. Also if the Musketeers hit their threes, they could prove to be lethal. When it all boils down to it, Sam Young really cannot be stopped and Xavier doesnt have enough for Blair. PITT 78-71
(2) Duke vs. (3) Villanova- One of my favorite games for the Sweet 16 games because both teams match up so well with each other due to they both have no inside game. The matchup between Kyle Singler and Dante Cunningham. I am convinced whoever wins this battle, will win the game in general. Although Nova is one of those teams that if they cool off, the Wildcats are in big time trouble and that tends to happened to them. I dont see Scottie Reynolds being a factor with the defense of Elliot Williams. Another huge aspect could be which three-point assassin (Corey Fisher, Jon Scheyer) is on target. I will take the Cats to keep the Big East going but it will be very close. NOVA 83-81
WEST
(1) UCONN vs. (5) Purdue- Well there is more to come about UConn in the next article which will probably be tomorrow so they now have a heap of distractions to deal with it. Doz is trying to convinced me that the Boilermarkers can keep up with any team in the nation and I can see it with JaJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel seems to be fine with his back problems. People are riding the Huskies harder than most secretaries on their CEOs right now because the world got introduced to Stanley Robinson, the screaming extraordinaire. He is a game breaker and if A.J. Price is on fire, it could be a long night for Purdue. I think this will be one of those games where it will be close until the Huskies pull away late. UCONN 84-72
(2) Memphis vs. (3) Missouri- The Tiger battle in Arizona. The Memphis side has looked very good so far by the improved play of Tyreke Evans and the consistency of Antonio Anderson/Shawn Taggert. They are my West Final Four team and I am a bit concerned about this game. The Missouri side has such a strong defense unit which their full court press. In addition, J.T. Tiller has been a man so far in this tournament. I dont think Memphis has seen a defense like this in a long time but in general, this will be up/down game which the scores coming close to the hundreds. Evans hits a shot late for the win. MEMP 97-95
-Charlie.
EAST:
(1) Pittsburgh vs. (4) Xavier- This game to me is the least exciting game of the next two days. According to the experts, the Panthers were not very impressive in their first two games. I still like Pitt's chances to get to the Final Four but the Musketeers have to know if they can get DeJuan Blair in foul trouble, they could pull off the upset. Jason Love for Xavier is their only real big man threat but he isnt known to go off for anything special. Also if the Musketeers hit their threes, they could prove to be lethal. When it all boils down to it, Sam Young really cannot be stopped and Xavier doesnt have enough for Blair. PITT 78-71
(2) Duke vs. (3) Villanova- One of my favorite games for the Sweet 16 games because both teams match up so well with each other due to they both have no inside game. The matchup between Kyle Singler and Dante Cunningham. I am convinced whoever wins this battle, will win the game in general. Although Nova is one of those teams that if they cool off, the Wildcats are in big time trouble and that tends to happened to them. I dont see Scottie Reynolds being a factor with the defense of Elliot Williams. Another huge aspect could be which three-point assassin (Corey Fisher, Jon Scheyer) is on target. I will take the Cats to keep the Big East going but it will be very close. NOVA 83-81
WEST
(1) UCONN vs. (5) Purdue- Well there is more to come about UConn in the next article which will probably be tomorrow so they now have a heap of distractions to deal with it. Doz is trying to convinced me that the Boilermarkers can keep up with any team in the nation and I can see it with JaJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel seems to be fine with his back problems. People are riding the Huskies harder than most secretaries on their CEOs right now because the world got introduced to Stanley Robinson, the screaming extraordinaire. He is a game breaker and if A.J. Price is on fire, it could be a long night for Purdue. I think this will be one of those games where it will be close until the Huskies pull away late. UCONN 84-72
(2) Memphis vs. (3) Missouri- The Tiger battle in Arizona. The Memphis side has looked very good so far by the improved play of Tyreke Evans and the consistency of Antonio Anderson/Shawn Taggert. They are my West Final Four team and I am a bit concerned about this game. The Missouri side has such a strong defense unit which their full court press. In addition, J.T. Tiller has been a man so far in this tournament. I dont think Memphis has seen a defense like this in a long time but in general, this will be up/down game which the scores coming close to the hundreds. Evans hits a shot late for the win. MEMP 97-95
-Charlie.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
One Misstep To End the Year
Picture this... You have been on vacation out of the United States and barely watch the games, just keeping yourself above water by looking at the bottom line. Find out Friday after a long day of getting owned by a Jeep Wrangler, your team won by one and theres a chance the basketball Gods could bless me by watching their game on Sunday when you travel back to Wisconsin.
This happened to me as I was able to watch the final two minutes as Marquette lose by four against the Missouri Tigers at the Miami Airport in a Chili.. I have been telling people all week that I am not sure if the basketball Gods hate me or they wanted to provide me closure as this was the last game we all get to see the Big Three together.
So there we have it another Marquette season ends in serious depression by Lazar Hayward stepping over the in-bounds line causing Marquette the game. Thats not to say that if MU gets the ball, they score to send into overtime or win it yet it is still an awful way to end the season.
Unfortunately for Hayward, this will be the highlight every televised Marquette game shows. The announcers and fans both will bring up this event all next year which will get tiring. In some aspects, I am glad its a guy who has a year left of school therefore he can redeem himself next year.
But finally, I would like to say thank you to the Big Three. I felt like Marquette was an NBA team with Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, and Wesley Matthews being there for all four years. Its mind-blowing to me that, the Big Three never got to the Sweet 16 which to me is just heartbreaking for all of them. I wish them all the best in the NBA and hope they all get drafted. All playoff teams should realize that Jerel McNeal would be a great addition for their team.
-Charlie.
This happened to me as I was able to watch the final two minutes as Marquette lose by four against the Missouri Tigers at the Miami Airport in a Chili.. I have been telling people all week that I am not sure if the basketball Gods hate me or they wanted to provide me closure as this was the last game we all get to see the Big Three together.
So there we have it another Marquette season ends in serious depression by Lazar Hayward stepping over the in-bounds line causing Marquette the game. Thats not to say that if MU gets the ball, they score to send into overtime or win it yet it is still an awful way to end the season.
Unfortunately for Hayward, this will be the highlight every televised Marquette game shows. The announcers and fans both will bring up this event all next year which will get tiring. In some aspects, I am glad its a guy who has a year left of school therefore he can redeem himself next year.
But finally, I would like to say thank you to the Big Three. I felt like Marquette was an NBA team with Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, and Wesley Matthews being there for all four years. Its mind-blowing to me that, the Big Three never got to the Sweet 16 which to me is just heartbreaking for all of them. I wish them all the best in the NBA and hope they all get drafted. All playoff teams should realize that Jerel McNeal would be a great addition for their team.
-Charlie.
Monday, March 23, 2009
What I Learned in the DR; My Defense of the Top Ten
It was an overall relaxing journey to the Dominican Republic. It was a great time and recommend going to any sort of all inclusive around the Caribbean Sea or the Gulf of Mexico, its like a cruise on land. Anyways what I learned....
1. Never go hungover on a boat- I cannot begin to tell you how bad that experience was for me. I had went out the night before going on an all day snorkeling excursion and everything was going fine until I hit the water. I was short of breath and the saltwater was way overwhelming for me. The driver Ronaldo tells me "The rum is better than the salt." Proceeds to make me a drink when I come back and first sip felt like death in a cup. I nearly puked then took a nap, then got lunch which was the revival I needed.
2. Everyone loves the Boston Red Sox- Its a good thing that I am not a Yankee fan or have a general disdain for the Sawks because all the natives could do is talk about David Ortiz. They could care less about Albert Pujols and Manny was a topic of a discussion although no one compared to Big Papi. I was interested to hear that no one brought up Hanley Ramirez at all which is a crime to humanity.
3. Stay away from Rhinos at all costs. I cant really explain the story on here but I just want to thank some small bushes on my back home.
4. Despite what you read earlier this week, Mach didnt communicate me at all but there were alot of topless women on the beach. The European women loved to let it all hang out whether they were skinny, fat, old, or young. It didnt matter, they loved to be topless.
5. Nothing is better than pissing off French people. I really cannot say more but basically we as a family owned the French like Phelps in the summer. It was a fresh memory for them.
Now I would like to thank Mach for doing the blog this past weekend and he really did of a hell of a job. I would also like to defend my top 10 moments which will be frequently updated for all our readers.
-That picture is from Halloween my sophomore year. If anyone is in a gang and I put up a bad gang sign. My apologies, I am dumb white suburban kid.
-Yes I did see the Fray by myself, no bullshit. My friend Matt didnt believe it. I thought it would be an alright experience and this plus OAR were the two acts I wanted to see. So I just went by myself and actually met college girls, lied about my age only to lose them by the beginning of the show. It wasnt my night to say the least although it was a great show.
-Nothing more to say about the Ice Cream Story only that it was a Blue Moon.
-I dont remember falling asleep after my rib experience nor did we eat 60-70. It was close to 40-50 but yes I would like to explain how great my meals were to everyone because they were that good. My parents are to thank for that.
-Minnesota was a great trip but wasnt included was the fact after Doz made into the bars, he made it back only to puke louder than two hippos having sex. I remember this because I woke up from my Gin & Tonic coma. Also the next night, our host passed out on a chair, pissed it, and also had a BBQ chicken pizza slice in his hand too.
-I lost a ton of money on those shirts still looking for it but whenever its worn to a party, its deserving of a high-five.
-I am embarrassed by both videos but I am a dumb suburban white kid like I said before.
-The other two stories hold truth for the most of it. I will say this me and mach put down a DQ Blizzard after the eating experience.
All for now, NCAA Wrap-up will come tomorrow sometime.
-Charlie.
1. Never go hungover on a boat- I cannot begin to tell you how bad that experience was for me. I had went out the night before going on an all day snorkeling excursion and everything was going fine until I hit the water. I was short of breath and the saltwater was way overwhelming for me. The driver Ronaldo tells me "The rum is better than the salt." Proceeds to make me a drink when I come back and first sip felt like death in a cup. I nearly puked then took a nap, then got lunch which was the revival I needed.
2. Everyone loves the Boston Red Sox- Its a good thing that I am not a Yankee fan or have a general disdain for the Sawks because all the natives could do is talk about David Ortiz. They could care less about Albert Pujols and Manny was a topic of a discussion although no one compared to Big Papi. I was interested to hear that no one brought up Hanley Ramirez at all which is a crime to humanity.
3. Stay away from Rhinos at all costs. I cant really explain the story on here but I just want to thank some small bushes on my back home.
4. Despite what you read earlier this week, Mach didnt communicate me at all but there were alot of topless women on the beach. The European women loved to let it all hang out whether they were skinny, fat, old, or young. It didnt matter, they loved to be topless.
5. Nothing is better than pissing off French people. I really cannot say more but basically we as a family owned the French like Phelps in the summer. It was a fresh memory for them.
Now I would like to thank Mach for doing the blog this past weekend and he really did of a hell of a job. I would also like to defend my top 10 moments which will be frequently updated for all our readers.
-That picture is from Halloween my sophomore year. If anyone is in a gang and I put up a bad gang sign. My apologies, I am dumb white suburban kid.
-Yes I did see the Fray by myself, no bullshit. My friend Matt didnt believe it. I thought it would be an alright experience and this plus OAR were the two acts I wanted to see. So I just went by myself and actually met college girls, lied about my age only to lose them by the beginning of the show. It wasnt my night to say the least although it was a great show.
-Nothing more to say about the Ice Cream Story only that it was a Blue Moon.
-I dont remember falling asleep after my rib experience nor did we eat 60-70. It was close to 40-50 but yes I would like to explain how great my meals were to everyone because they were that good. My parents are to thank for that.
-Minnesota was a great trip but wasnt included was the fact after Doz made into the bars, he made it back only to puke louder than two hippos having sex. I remember this because I woke up from my Gin & Tonic coma. Also the next night, our host passed out on a chair, pissed it, and also had a BBQ chicken pizza slice in his hand too.
-I lost a ton of money on those shirts still looking for it but whenever its worn to a party, its deserving of a high-five.
-I am embarrassed by both videos but I am a dumb suburban white kid like I said before.
-The other two stories hold truth for the most of it. I will say this me and mach put down a DQ Blizzard after the eating experience.
All for now, NCAA Wrap-up will come tomorrow sometime.
-Charlie.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
What a weekend thus far...
Before we get to the upsets, Chuck sent me a text yesterday saying that he saw his first set of Ta-Ta's while taking a morning jog passed a nude beach, but he got caught staring. One tip Chuck, boobs are like the sun, you take a quick look, but then you have to look away, otherwise you get burned.
I love the NCAA tournament so much, these are the major upsets from the first and round thus far
First Round: (I don't count 9 seed vs 8 seed victories upsets)
- Arizona over Utah: this one not too many people saw, and I think that Arizona could prove that they belong if they go to the Elite 8, otherwise I still think they didnt deserve to get in
*-* Cleveland St. over Wake Forest: This is the biggest upset thus far in the tournament, many people had Wake going to the Final Four in their brackets, I did not, so I wasnt too torn
-Dayton over West Virginia: Dayton just was too athletic for West Virginia, they showed that the Mountaineers are nothing when Ruoff gets in trouble
- Maryland over California: Maryland has been playing well of late, and they showed that they are able to hang with anyone at any time
- Wisconsin over Florida St.: This is the one I saw coming a mile away. Although I hate the Badgers with every fiber of my being, I knew that they were good enough to control the pace of the game and play solid defense
- Western Kentucky over Illinois: This was another 12 seed over 5 seed upset, just a great game in general, thats all I want to say about it
- Michigan over Clemson: I found this game surprising because Michigan really struggled during the conference season, but I think the thing that won them this game was being able to play well against good opponents such as Duke and UCLA
-An upset that isnt basketball related is that Doz declared that this is the worst NCAA Tournament ever, granted this was during the Wisconsin game while they were losing and his mother was wrapping a present very loudly, thus making him more angry. He quickly retracted the bold statement after the Badgers won the game.
Chuck will be back soon, I cannot wait for his arrival. Have fun watching the games...
Giddyup
I love the NCAA tournament so much, these are the major upsets from the first and round thus far
First Round: (I don't count 9 seed vs 8 seed victories upsets)
- Arizona over Utah: this one not too many people saw, and I think that Arizona could prove that they belong if they go to the Elite 8, otherwise I still think they didnt deserve to get in
*-* Cleveland St. over Wake Forest: This is the biggest upset thus far in the tournament, many people had Wake going to the Final Four in their brackets, I did not, so I wasnt too torn
-Dayton over West Virginia: Dayton just was too athletic for West Virginia, they showed that the Mountaineers are nothing when Ruoff gets in trouble
- Maryland over California: Maryland has been playing well of late, and they showed that they are able to hang with anyone at any time
- Wisconsin over Florida St.: This is the one I saw coming a mile away. Although I hate the Badgers with every fiber of my being, I knew that they were good enough to control the pace of the game and play solid defense
- Western Kentucky over Illinois: This was another 12 seed over 5 seed upset, just a great game in general, thats all I want to say about it
- Michigan over Clemson: I found this game surprising because Michigan really struggled during the conference season, but I think the thing that won them this game was being able to play well against good opponents such as Duke and UCLA
-An upset that isnt basketball related is that Doz declared that this is the worst NCAA Tournament ever, granted this was during the Wisconsin game while they were losing and his mother was wrapping a present very loudly, thus making him more angry. He quickly retracted the bold statement after the Badgers won the game.
Chuck will be back soon, I cannot wait for his arrival. Have fun watching the games...
Giddyup
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Chuck is the Man
At the request of both the readers of this glorious blog, my buddy Dozer and I have thought of a Top 10 Greatest Chuck Moments..
1.)Chuck going to the Fray concert by himself is a good #1. Chuck has quite the unique taste in music that is more fitting for an emo 13 year old than Chuck. Whether it be the Fray, Fall Out Boy, or Panic! At the Disco, Chuck loves them all. While we know to expect the unexpected from Chucky, he would never go to this concert filled with screaming girls would he? Of course he would. I just wish someone could have been there taping him hitting on chicks and singing "How to Save a Life" full bore by himself.
2.)Chuck’s first ice cream cone:
Though I wasn’t there to witness it for myself, a close friend of Chuck’s- Mike Schactner was there. In this eventful trip to McDonalds, Chuck was treated to the first ice cream cone of his life… at age 7 nonetheless. After looking over this anomaly known as a cone, Chuck takes his first bite from the very bottom of the cone. Does it really surprise you though?
3.) Chuck 's Kitchen:
During the summer, and winter breaks, Chuck had some epic meals. He would come over to Doz's house to hang out with Doz and I, and he would proceed to summarize in astonishing detail what he had to eat that night. One of the best summaries included him and his father having barbecue baby back ribs. He described the cooking process in detail, how the ribs were slow cooked, the sauce added to the ribs about half way through, and how after they were done cooking they were falling off of the bone. Next thing we know he is describing how his father and him ate about 60-70 ribs total, and how he is the most full he has ever felt. He compared this pleasurable feeling of being full to sex, the ribs were just that good. Next thing Doz and I know, he is falling asleep on the couch, going into a food coma, I just thank God he didnt fall asleep at the wheel.
4.) Chuck taking a drunken stumble on his face on a trip to Minnesota to watch the Brewers: -Many times has Chuck biffed it in public, but this one takes the cake. It’s about two in the morning… we are walking back from Jimmy John’s when a group of Twins fans from across the street start a little friendly trash talk. Well Chuck doesn’t take too kindly to this and while we are continuing to walk, Chuck biffs it while talking trash to this group of Twins fans.
5.)Minnesota Bar Experience
The night before Chuck’s infamous biff, we did a little bar hoping on the Minnesota campus. With no fake ID to use, Chuck uses my brothers friend- Joe St. Peters ID. Here’s a quick comparison between the two…
Joe
Height- 5’5
Weight- 140
Hair- Curly
Charlie
Height- 6’4
Weight- 290
Hair- Buzz
With an ID that expired about 4 years ago, I get into the bar. Chuck follows shortly, only to be extremely disappointed when the bouncer takes the ID. He drank that incident off.
6.) Chucklemania:
During the summer of our junior year, Chuck got pretty aggressive in the weight room. After finishing a lift one day, Chuck proceeded to rip off his shirt and throw the weights on the floor. This act of manliness would eventually lead to the event known as Chucklemania. The events purpose.. well that’s up in the air, but we did get some pretty sweet shirts out of the whole deal.
7.) Chuck auditioning for American Idol, Say It Ain't Sooooooo
8.) Chuck showing off his amazing dance skills
9.) Driving with Chuck a few days after getting his license and spinning out in the middle of an intersection, Doz and I screaming for our lives. Chuck said the streets were "icy".
10.) There was a time during the summer where there was a fish a fish fry at the Mine Shaft restaurant. It was about $6 for all you can eat fish, fries, and cole slaw, it was a wonderful deal, and needless to say, we were going to get our moneys worth. It was supposed to be a contest between Doz, his two brothers, and Chuck and I. The pace in the beginning was fast and furious, Chuck was keeping up, but after his first plate of fish, he was down for the count. Doz's brother, who was 170lbs, ate at least triple the amount that Chuck did. But I will give it to Chucky, he actually enjoyed his fish, while the rest of us were just shoveling it in.
Honorable Mention:
- Chuck thinking he is Dominic James and a good shot blocker
- Chuck getting upset at a infamous Tosa West parent who has kids who are terrible at sports, and threatening bodily harm on him after the parent had walked away on the track. The TW parent had questioned the validity of Tosa West making the playoffs in 2006, which would rightly upset Chuck, as well and myself. This parent was an absolute idiot, so Chuck had good reason to want to punch this guy in the face and say that his kids should stick to theatre.
- During winter break of this school year, we decided to hold a mock interview for a head coaching job. Chuck was the person being interviewed by Doz, Doz's brother and I. Chuck took the interview very seriously and was getting easily upset after every question we were asking. We were questioning his logic and reasoning as a coach, and whether he would be upset if one of his players would date his younger sister. Needless to say it ended in Chuck telling us this interview was bullshit, and that we can suck his balls, giving us the silent treatment soon after that.
TO WHOEVER READS THIS, IF YOU CAN THINK OF ANY OTHER AMAZING CHUCK MOMENTS, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT maciej55@uwosh.edu, I would happily add it to the list if it is worthy
Giddyup
1.)Chuck going to the Fray concert by himself is a good #1. Chuck has quite the unique taste in music that is more fitting for an emo 13 year old than Chuck. Whether it be the Fray, Fall Out Boy, or Panic! At the Disco, Chuck loves them all. While we know to expect the unexpected from Chucky, he would never go to this concert filled with screaming girls would he? Of course he would. I just wish someone could have been there taping him hitting on chicks and singing "How to Save a Life" full bore by himself.
2.)Chuck’s first ice cream cone:
Though I wasn’t there to witness it for myself, a close friend of Chuck’s- Mike Schactner was there. In this eventful trip to McDonalds, Chuck was treated to the first ice cream cone of his life… at age 7 nonetheless. After looking over this anomaly known as a cone, Chuck takes his first bite from the very bottom of the cone. Does it really surprise you though?
3.) Chuck 's Kitchen:
During the summer, and winter breaks, Chuck had some epic meals. He would come over to Doz's house to hang out with Doz and I, and he would proceed to summarize in astonishing detail what he had to eat that night. One of the best summaries included him and his father having barbecue baby back ribs. He described the cooking process in detail, how the ribs were slow cooked, the sauce added to the ribs about half way through, and how after they were done cooking they were falling off of the bone. Next thing we know he is describing how his father and him ate about 60-70 ribs total, and how he is the most full he has ever felt. He compared this pleasurable feeling of being full to sex, the ribs were just that good. Next thing Doz and I know, he is falling asleep on the couch, going into a food coma, I just thank God he didnt fall asleep at the wheel.
4.) Chuck taking a drunken stumble on his face on a trip to Minnesota to watch the Brewers: -Many times has Chuck biffed it in public, but this one takes the cake. It’s about two in the morning… we are walking back from Jimmy John’s when a group of Twins fans from across the street start a little friendly trash talk. Well Chuck doesn’t take too kindly to this and while we are continuing to walk, Chuck biffs it while talking trash to this group of Twins fans.
5.)Minnesota Bar Experience
The night before Chuck’s infamous biff, we did a little bar hoping on the Minnesota campus. With no fake ID to use, Chuck uses my brothers friend- Joe St. Peters ID. Here’s a quick comparison between the two…
Joe
Height- 5’5
Weight- 140
Hair- Curly
Charlie
Height- 6’4
Weight- 290
Hair- Buzz
With an ID that expired about 4 years ago, I get into the bar. Chuck follows shortly, only to be extremely disappointed when the bouncer takes the ID. He drank that incident off.
6.) Chucklemania:
During the summer of our junior year, Chuck got pretty aggressive in the weight room. After finishing a lift one day, Chuck proceeded to rip off his shirt and throw the weights on the floor. This act of manliness would eventually lead to the event known as Chucklemania. The events purpose.. well that’s up in the air, but we did get some pretty sweet shirts out of the whole deal.
7.) Chuck auditioning for American Idol, Say It Ain't Sooooooo
8.) Chuck showing off his amazing dance skills
9.) Driving with Chuck a few days after getting his license and spinning out in the middle of an intersection, Doz and I screaming for our lives. Chuck said the streets were "icy".
10.) There was a time during the summer where there was a fish a fish fry at the Mine Shaft restaurant. It was about $6 for all you can eat fish, fries, and cole slaw, it was a wonderful deal, and needless to say, we were going to get our moneys worth. It was supposed to be a contest between Doz, his two brothers, and Chuck and I. The pace in the beginning was fast and furious, Chuck was keeping up, but after his first plate of fish, he was down for the count. Doz's brother, who was 170lbs, ate at least triple the amount that Chuck did. But I will give it to Chucky, he actually enjoyed his fish, while the rest of us were just shoveling it in.
Honorable Mention:
- Chuck thinking he is Dominic James and a good shot blocker
- Chuck getting upset at a infamous Tosa West parent who has kids who are terrible at sports, and threatening bodily harm on him after the parent had walked away on the track. The TW parent had questioned the validity of Tosa West making the playoffs in 2006, which would rightly upset Chuck, as well and myself. This parent was an absolute idiot, so Chuck had good reason to want to punch this guy in the face and say that his kids should stick to theatre.
- During winter break of this school year, we decided to hold a mock interview for a head coaching job. Chuck was the person being interviewed by Doz, Doz's brother and I. Chuck took the interview very seriously and was getting easily upset after every question we were asking. We were questioning his logic and reasoning as a coach, and whether he would be upset if one of his players would date his younger sister. Needless to say it ended in Chuck telling us this interview was bullshit, and that we can suck his balls, giving us the silent treatment soon after that.
TO WHOEVER READS THIS, IF YOU CAN THINK OF ANY OTHER AMAZING CHUCK MOMENTS, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT maciej55@uwosh.edu, I would happily add it to the list if it is worthy
Giddyup
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Morehead St. vs. Alabama St. Recap/Rant
A little update before the recap, Chuck said he found some Irish chicks to party with on St. Patties Day in the DR, and that they drank him under the table. Maybe next time Chucky...
Man oh man was this game ugly. Almost as ugly as Jessica Simpson without makeup, YIKES. In my opinion this looked about as good as any other Big Ten regular season game. With neither team scoring over 60 points, and just God-awful offensive play. Lets put it this way, both leading scorers only had 14 points for their respective teams.
But in all seriousness, Congrats to Morehead St., who has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1984, and is usually looked over in the state of Kentucky by powerhouses Louisville and the University of Kentucky. They played tough both halves of the game, and were just great on the boards, which they had to be because Alabama State only shot 18-58 (31%) from the field. I guess you could say that it was stifling defense from Morehead St., but lets be honest, it is Alabama St. we are talking about here. Morehead St. wasnt really scorching the nets during the game either, shooting a mediocre 18-50 (36%) from the field, but had an incredibly rebounding advantage of 47-26. That was the difference in the game right there. Alabama State was only in the game when it was tied 2-2 at the 18:24 point in the first half, after that they did not lead or even tie.
Beast of the night award goes to Kenneth Faried, whos 14 pts and astonishing 21 rebounds help Morehead St. control this one from the beginning.
But one thing that does bother me about these play in games is that even if they do win, they are not ever going to beat the #1 overall seed in the tournament. Lets be honest, yeah Kenneth Faried is a monster, but you put Terrence Williams or Earl Clark from Louisville on his butt, and he is not going to get a shot off. Don't get me wrong, it is a tremendous accomplishment to make it into the NCAA Tournament as a mid major, especially when such well known teams like Kentucky and Notre Dame make it to the NIT, but Morehead St. should not just be happy with getting in, they should give their 100% effort to try and at least make their tournament game against Louisville competitive.
Im done with this one, I need to finish a 6 page Comm. paper
Enjoy watching tournament games tomorrow, if I have any time, I will recap some of the major upsets
Giddyup
Man oh man was this game ugly. Almost as ugly as Jessica Simpson without makeup, YIKES. In my opinion this looked about as good as any other Big Ten regular season game. With neither team scoring over 60 points, and just God-awful offensive play. Lets put it this way, both leading scorers only had 14 points for their respective teams.
But in all seriousness, Congrats to Morehead St., who has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1984, and is usually looked over in the state of Kentucky by powerhouses Louisville and the University of Kentucky. They played tough both halves of the game, and were just great on the boards, which they had to be because Alabama State only shot 18-58 (31%) from the field. I guess you could say that it was stifling defense from Morehead St., but lets be honest, it is Alabama St. we are talking about here. Morehead St. wasnt really scorching the nets during the game either, shooting a mediocre 18-50 (36%) from the field, but had an incredibly rebounding advantage of 47-26. That was the difference in the game right there. Alabama State was only in the game when it was tied 2-2 at the 18:24 point in the first half, after that they did not lead or even tie.
Beast of the night award goes to Kenneth Faried, whos 14 pts and astonishing 21 rebounds help Morehead St. control this one from the beginning.
But one thing that does bother me about these play in games is that even if they do win, they are not ever going to beat the #1 overall seed in the tournament. Lets be honest, yeah Kenneth Faried is a monster, but you put Terrence Williams or Earl Clark from Louisville on his butt, and he is not going to get a shot off. Don't get me wrong, it is a tremendous accomplishment to make it into the NCAA Tournament as a mid major, especially when such well known teams like Kentucky and Notre Dame make it to the NIT, but Morehead St. should not just be happy with getting in, they should give their 100% effort to try and at least make their tournament game against Louisville competitive.
Im done with this one, I need to finish a 6 page Comm. paper
Enjoy watching tournament games tomorrow, if I have any time, I will recap some of the major upsets
Giddyup
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
#6 Marquette vs. #11 Utah State
Hey guys, Chuck updated me this week, saying that he has seen some grade A chica's in the DR, so all the power to him. Here is my preview for Thursdays game. Lets start it off with a few stats...
#6 Marquette Golden Eagles- 24-9 overall, 12-6 in the Big East
Leading Scorers for MU...
Pos. PPG, RPG, APG
#11 Utah State Aggies- 30-4 overall, 14-2 in the WAC
Leading Scorers for Utah State...
Pos., PPG, RPG, APG
In my opinion, this is one of the toughest #6-#11 matchups that the Golden Eagles could have gotten. They would be able to beat VCU, Dayton, and Temple.
Keys for Marquette- If Marquette expects to win this game, they are going to need to get on the break and in a hurry. No more of this take twenty five seconds in the shot clock just so Jerel Mcneal can jack up a misguided three. I love the kid to death, but he is trying way too damn hard, PASS THE BALL JEREL. The thing is though, Marquette doesnt even need to have an amazing shooting night in order to win. Just like in the Louisville, Syracuse and Villinova games, all we need to do is play shut down defense and rebound rebound rebound. We need Jimmy Butler to keep doing what he has been doing, as well as Dwight Burke. Burke just needs to get physical on Gary Wilkinson, who is a 6-9 245lb MONSTER down low. He is their leading scorer and rebounder, so focus should be on him, while still contesting every single three point attempt.
Keys for the Aggies- If you want to win this game, have a guy hounding Jerel the whole game. When Jerel has a good defender on him, he tends to want to show the defender up and jacks threes and tries to force shots. You also need to keep an eye on Jimmy Butler on the boards, this kid has been a workhorse on the glass the past 6 games. One last thing, do not let Marquette run on you, otherwise you will lose by 30.
That is all I have for now, it is a busy week for me, but I will have recaps of the major upsets this week, as well as a recap of the Play-in Game tonight which puts Morehead St. vs Alabama St., both teams that have not been to the tourney in a while, and in desperate need of a Tourney Berth.
Giddyup
#6 Marquette Golden Eagles- 24-9 overall, 12-6 in the Big East
Leading Scorers for MU...
Pos. PPG, RPG, APG
| Jerel McNeal | G | 19.7 | 4.6 | 4.0 |
| Wesley Matthews | G | 18.4 | 5.6 | 2.6 |
| Lazar Hayward | F | 16.1 | 8.6 | 1.2 |
| Dominic James | G | 11.4 | 3.5 | 5.1 |
| Jimmy Butler | G-F | 5.7 | 4.0 | 0.7 |
#11 Utah State Aggies- 30-4 overall, 14-2 in the WAC
Leading Scorers for Utah State...
Pos., PPG, RPG, APG
| Gary Wilkinson | F | 17.1 | 6.9 | 1.3 |
| Jared Quayle | G | 12.9 | 5.9 | 3.7 |
| Tai Wesley | F | 11.9 | 6.1 | 2.7 |
| Tyler Newbold | G-F | 9.1 | 4.2 | 3.2 |
| Stavon Williams | G | 6.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
In my opinion, this is one of the toughest #6-#11 matchups that the Golden Eagles could have gotten. They would be able to beat VCU, Dayton, and Temple.
Keys for Marquette- If Marquette expects to win this game, they are going to need to get on the break and in a hurry. No more of this take twenty five seconds in the shot clock just so Jerel Mcneal can jack up a misguided three. I love the kid to death, but he is trying way too damn hard, PASS THE BALL JEREL. The thing is though, Marquette doesnt even need to have an amazing shooting night in order to win. Just like in the Louisville, Syracuse and Villinova games, all we need to do is play shut down defense and rebound rebound rebound. We need Jimmy Butler to keep doing what he has been doing, as well as Dwight Burke. Burke just needs to get physical on Gary Wilkinson, who is a 6-9 245lb MONSTER down low. He is their leading scorer and rebounder, so focus should be on him, while still contesting every single three point attempt.
Keys for the Aggies- If you want to win this game, have a guy hounding Jerel the whole game. When Jerel has a good defender on him, he tends to want to show the defender up and jacks threes and tries to force shots. You also need to keep an eye on Jimmy Butler on the boards, this kid has been a workhorse on the glass the past 6 games. One last thing, do not let Marquette run on you, otherwise you will lose by 30.
That is all I have for now, it is a busy week for me, but I will have recaps of the major upsets this week, as well as a recap of the Play-in Game tonight which puts Morehead St. vs Alabama St., both teams that have not been to the tourney in a while, and in desperate need of a Tourney Berth.
Giddyup
Sunday, March 15, 2009
LET THE MADNESS BEGIN
Hey everybody, this is Joe Mach and I am guest writing for Chuck this week while he is in the Dominican Republic drinking and hitting on chicks at the bar. Now that the dust has settled, and the selection committee is done picking all the teams that are in the tournament and their seeds, its time to talk about it.
The Bubble Teams- I think that the selection committee did a great job in sifting through which teams would actually be competitive in the tournament. But there was one that bothered me quite a bit, and that was the fact that Arizona got in over St. Marys. Lets look at some stats...
Arizona- 19-13 overall 9-9 in the Pac-10, RPI of 58 and SOS of 34.
St. Marys- 26-6 overall 10-4 in the West Coast Conference, RPI of 47, but a SOS rank of 149
The one thing that absolutely killed the Gaels was the fact that Patty Mills got hurt. If he doesn't get hurt, I think the Gaels have a good chance of running the WCC table. They were ranked for a while because they had an insane winning streak. Arizona has been playing mediocre basketball for most of the season. It is just a shame the selection committee take into effect that Patty Mills got hurt.. They are a three-heavy team that will be absolutely dominated by Utah in the first round.
The Bubble Teams- I think that the selection committee did a great job in sifting through which teams would actually be competitive in the tournament. But there was one that bothered me quite a bit, and that was the fact that Arizona got in over St. Marys. Lets look at some stats...
Arizona- 19-13 overall 9-9 in the Pac-10, RPI of 58 and SOS of 34.
St. Marys- 26-6 overall 10-4 in the West Coast Conference, RPI of 47, but a SOS rank of 149
The one thing that absolutely killed the Gaels was the fact that Patty Mills got hurt. If he doesn't get hurt, I think the Gaels have a good chance of running the WCC table. They were ranked for a while because they had an insane winning streak. Arizona has been playing mediocre basketball for most of the season. It is just a shame the selection committee take into effect that Patty Mills got hurt.. They are a three-heavy team that will be absolutely dominated by Utah in the first round.
My Sleepers
My Sleepers- To be honest with you, I think I have learned my lesson from last year. Last year all of the #1 seeds made the final four, and there is a good possibility that it might happen again. I am usually the one idiot in the bracket pool that likes to pick all these amazing upsets, but maybe 1 out 8 actually happen. The two notable sleeper teams that I have on my bracket are Tennessee and Mississippi State.
I think that the raw athleticism of Mississippi State could very well shoot them into a sweet sixteen matchup against UCONN. Miss. St. could very well beat Washington behind the big Jarvis Varnado, who is a beast on the block. Miss St. also has 5 players shooting at least 35% from three point, so that makes them incredibly dangerous. After beating Washington, I think they will be able to run on Purdue, and wear them down on the boards.
Tennessee is my second sleeper. I know what you might be thinking, this isnt the Tennessee that it used to be, but I think this young deep team has the potential to make a run to the sweet sixteen. The notable upset that I think is possible is Pittsburgh. Tennessee's defense has been struggling a little bit this season, but when they are defensively sound and are making the majority of their free throws, they are as a good as any team in the country. I think that Chism would and will be able to shut down Blair, as well as any of the long players on Tennessee. When Blair gets taken out of the game, it puts a lot of pressure on Sam Young and that Garden Gnome we call Levance Feilds, and they have proven that it is too much pressure for them to handle.
Other than those two upsets, there is the occasional 9 seed beating an 8, and maybe a 5 seed beating a 4 in the second round, but other than that basically all top 4 seeds in every section of the bracket are just about in the sweet sixteen with the exception of Tenessee, Miss. St., West Virginia, and UCLA.
I think that the raw athleticism of Mississippi State could very well shoot them into a sweet sixteen matchup against UCONN. Miss. St. could very well beat Washington behind the big Jarvis Varnado, who is a beast on the block. Miss St. also has 5 players shooting at least 35% from three point, so that makes them incredibly dangerous. After beating Washington, I think they will be able to run on Purdue, and wear them down on the boards.
Tennessee is my second sleeper. I know what you might be thinking, this isnt the Tennessee that it used to be, but I think this young deep team has the potential to make a run to the sweet sixteen. The notable upset that I think is possible is Pittsburgh. Tennessee's defense has been struggling a little bit this season, but when they are defensively sound and are making the majority of their free throws, they are as a good as any team in the country. I think that Chism would and will be able to shut down Blair, as well as any of the long players on Tennessee. When Blair gets taken out of the game, it puts a lot of pressure on Sam Young and that Garden Gnome we call Levance Feilds, and they have proven that it is too much pressure for them to handle.
Other than those two upsets, there is the occasional 9 seed beating an 8, and maybe a 5 seed beating a 4 in the second round, but other than that basically all top 4 seeds in every section of the bracket are just about in the sweet sixteen with the exception of Tenessee, Miss. St., West Virginia, and UCLA.
My Final Four and Champion
My Final Four- My picks for the final four are as follows, Lousville playing UCONN, and Duke playing Oklahoma. All of these teams have been hot. Ever since Duke put Scheyer at the point they have been nearly unstoppable. Louisville is just dominating every one in its path with a combo of sheer strength inside with Samuels and Clark, as well as the outside shooting of McGee and Tosa's own Jerry Smith. Terrence Williams has done everything for that team, and has been carrying them on his back the whole way. With an experienced coach like Calhoun at the helm, I think UCONN will be prepared to handle anyone that is in their way. Lastly Oklahoma, with a healthy Blake Griffin, they have returned to their early season form, which is dominant.
My Champion- I think that the championship will be between Louisville and the Dukies. It could just be my Duke bias, but I think that Oklahoma relies too heavily on Blake sometimes, leaving the door open for Duke to take advantage in that matchup. Louisville has already played UCONN before, so they know how to handle Thabeet and company.
In the end, I feel that Louisville just has way too much strength for Duke to handle. If Duke doesnt have an insane shooting night, they will not even be close to win. And unfortunately for Duke, Louisville has been playing some of the best shut-down defense in the NCAA. So in the end it will be more of a defensive battle, with Louisville winning 74-63, only winning by 11 becuase of making freethrows down the stretch.
Whew, that was a long first post and I am absolutely beat. Now it is off to do a Comm. paper, I will give my Marquette preview most likely Tuesday because I have a busy day Monday.
Enjoy, and Happy Fricken March Madness to all
My Champion- I think that the championship will be between Louisville and the Dukies. It could just be my Duke bias, but I think that Oklahoma relies too heavily on Blake sometimes, leaving the door open for Duke to take advantage in that matchup. Louisville has already played UCONN before, so they know how to handle Thabeet and company.
In the end, I feel that Louisville just has way too much strength for Duke to handle. If Duke doesnt have an insane shooting night, they will not even be close to win. And unfortunately for Duke, Louisville has been playing some of the best shut-down defense in the NCAA. So in the end it will be more of a defensive battle, with Louisville winning 74-63, only winning by 11 becuase of making freethrows down the stretch.
Whew, that was a long first post and I am absolutely beat. Now it is off to do a Comm. paper, I will give my Marquette preview most likely Tuesday because I have a busy day Monday.
Enjoy, and Happy Fricken March Madness to all
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Gone for Awhile
I will be in the Dominican Republic for the next week where I have limited access to the computer so I will not be blogging at all this week. My good buddy Mach will be taking over in this time because with March Madness upcoming, its a must this blog stays running.
Take it easy on Mach seeing as this is his first time blogging and I will give a full first weekend wrap-up on Monday. In addition if Marquette is ousted from the tournament, I will probably start handing out grades some time this week with a small outlook on next year.
Take care everyone, and stay safe over Spring Break.
-Charlie.
Take it easy on Mach seeing as this is his first time blogging and I will give a full first weekend wrap-up on Monday. In addition if Marquette is ousted from the tournament, I will probably start handing out grades some time this week with a small outlook on next year.
Take care everyone, and stay safe over Spring Break.
-Charlie.
A Crazy March Ahead of Us?
The big talk this week as Championship week is coming to a close, who will be the number one seeds? The reason why is because everyone is falling faster than Rhianna's credibility.
In my personal opinion, this could be a year where you see a 6-8 seed being in the Elite Eight or the Final Four for that matter because no one seems to have a hold on how to win night in, night out. This also means that it will be one of the hardest years to pick bracket pool winner this year.
I do think that North Carolina look good but if Ty Lawson isnt healthy, this team will not win the National Championship. They need Lawson to be a great team so that concerns me. UConn doesnt impressed me because I feel like Hasheem Thabeet isnt as dominating as the media says he is. Yes on defense he is a force but he likes to disappear on offense. Pitt is another team who could be a National Championship team but they have been known to just fall apart once in the Sweet 16 starts although this year they have had some time off with losing to West Virgina in the quarterfinal.
I did say from the beginning that Louisville would be one of the best teams in the nation and I think they do deserve the number one seed overall because they have won the Big East regular season and tournament champion. Therefore I dont see a reason why they will not be the overall number one. Also lets remember though this is the same team who lost to Western Kentucky and UNLV earlier on in the year.
My one seeds at this point are...
-Louisville
-North Carolina
-Pitt
-Memphis/Duke- If they were to win tomorrow against Florida State, there is a very good chance that the NCAA could sneak them in as a number one.
Happy March Madness.
-Charlie.
In my personal opinion, this could be a year where you see a 6-8 seed being in the Elite Eight or the Final Four for that matter because no one seems to have a hold on how to win night in, night out. This also means that it will be one of the hardest years to pick bracket pool winner this year.
I do think that North Carolina look good but if Ty Lawson isnt healthy, this team will not win the National Championship. They need Lawson to be a great team so that concerns me. UConn doesnt impressed me because I feel like Hasheem Thabeet isnt as dominating as the media says he is. Yes on defense he is a force but he likes to disappear on offense. Pitt is another team who could be a National Championship team but they have been known to just fall apart once in the Sweet 16 starts although this year they have had some time off with losing to West Virgina in the quarterfinal.
I did say from the beginning that Louisville would be one of the best teams in the nation and I think they do deserve the number one seed overall because they have won the Big East regular season and tournament champion. Therefore I dont see a reason why they will not be the overall number one. Also lets remember though this is the same team who lost to Western Kentucky and UNLV earlier on in the year.
My one seeds at this point are...
-Louisville
-North Carolina
-Pitt
-Memphis/Duke- If they were to win tomorrow against Florida State, there is a very good chance that the NCAA could sneak them in as a number one.
Happy March Madness.
-Charlie.
Dwayne Wade Cannot be Stopped
The NBA is probably the most political league in the four major sports so this probably means that Dwyane Wade will not be MVP at the end of the year. It will be LeBron and if you follow this blog, you know I hate on LBJ too much probably although I respected that he was playing the best in the league for awhile. Now its pretty obvious that D-Wade is the MVP.
Lets take a look at his numbers.... 29.7 Points a game 7.7 assists a game 5.1 rebounds a game. Miami is a five seed with a couple games back of the Atlanta Hawks. There is no way that the Heat would be even sniffing the top 8, I mean just take a look at last season 15 wins. I mean yes you can same thing about LeBron but he has Mo Williams, it can be argued that Williams can become a "Scottie Pippin" type player for the Cavs. Where is Dwayne Wade's Mo Williams? Answer, he doesnt have one. Jermaine O'Neal is the closest you can get to that but Williams is so much better than O'Neal its not even funny.
In addition, Wade is playing with two rookies, Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley who both play good minutes for the team. He has put this team on his back and made them a playoff team by the way he has been playing all year. He has forty points plus in nine games this year which is the league-high. Not to mentioned, he is helping his teammates become that much better. Chalmers and Beasley will not be the same players without Wade.
Now for the Brett Boyers of the World who I know when we get back to Eau Claire this probably turns an argument. Yes I know Lebron has led the Cavs to the top spot in the NBA Eastern Conference and has improved his defense (take a look at last nights game against the Kings) plus his three point shooting is getting better. If its not D-Wade, its Lebron. Not Kobe, but as I stated above, Williams is a difference maker for the Cavs which is something the Heat do not have.
-Charlie.
Lets take a look at his numbers.... 29.7 Points a game 7.7 assists a game 5.1 rebounds a game. Miami is a five seed with a couple games back of the Atlanta Hawks. There is no way that the Heat would be even sniffing the top 8, I mean just take a look at last season 15 wins. I mean yes you can same thing about LeBron but he has Mo Williams, it can be argued that Williams can become a "Scottie Pippin" type player for the Cavs. Where is Dwayne Wade's Mo Williams? Answer, he doesnt have one. Jermaine O'Neal is the closest you can get to that but Williams is so much better than O'Neal its not even funny.
In addition, Wade is playing with two rookies, Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley who both play good minutes for the team. He has put this team on his back and made them a playoff team by the way he has been playing all year. He has forty points plus in nine games this year which is the league-high. Not to mentioned, he is helping his teammates become that much better. Chalmers and Beasley will not be the same players without Wade.
Now for the Brett Boyers of the World who I know when we get back to Eau Claire this probably turns an argument. Yes I know Lebron has led the Cavs to the top spot in the NBA Eastern Conference and has improved his defense (take a look at last nights game against the Kings) plus his three point shooting is getting better. If its not D-Wade, its Lebron. Not Kobe, but as I stated above, Williams is a difference maker for the Cavs which is something the Heat do not have.
-Charlie.
Papelbon Isnt a Fan of 'Manny Being Manny'
Once again, I am sorry for being slow with my articles but my school work has been unbearable so now that I am on Spring Break now I have time to write some articles.
One of the bigger stories that came out in the past couple of days were the comments of Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon on former teammate Manny Ramirez. The quotes of the Boston Riverdancer....
"It takes 25 guys on a team to win, not 24, and that was blatantly obvious," Papelbon said after the Red Sox' workout at City of Palms Park. "It doesn't matter who you are - you could be Babe Ruth - if you're not in that same cubbyhole with the rest of the guys going to war with you, you're all going to die. That almost happened." Wait there is more so it can make my article longer...
"Once we saw that, we weren't afraid to get rid of him. It's like cancer. That's what he was. Cancer."
Ouch. Strong words from Papelbon for ManRam and of course in classic Manny fashion said that none of this really bothered him and he will move on to focus on baseball. I like both of these players but was it really that bad?
We all had heard that Manny was slowly infecting the Boston locker room and he wanted nothing to do with the Red Sox last season. Its puzzling to me because he seems like a happy go-lucky guy who seems to just go with the flow not be a problem. Maybe I have my head buried in the sand because I like Manny and want to see him do well. Bill Simmons of ESPN and my friend wrote a big article about how Manny completely changed when Scott Boras became his agent so thats the reason why he became this 'cancer'. But according to Papelbon, he isnt the type of guy you want around your clubhouse comparable to a Terrell Owens.
I think we all want to see Boston/New York against Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series this year. I know it is the media frenzy that would be pounded in our head more than any other World Series in the past couple years. Just think about, the hated Manny/the hated Torre vs. the Red Sox or the newly hated Torre/Yankee-hater Manny vs. Yankees. Either would be fantastic.
-Charlie.
One of the bigger stories that came out in the past couple of days were the comments of Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon on former teammate Manny Ramirez. The quotes of the Boston Riverdancer....
"It takes 25 guys on a team to win, not 24, and that was blatantly obvious," Papelbon said after the Red Sox' workout at City of Palms Park. "It doesn't matter who you are - you could be Babe Ruth - if you're not in that same cubbyhole with the rest of the guys going to war with you, you're all going to die. That almost happened." Wait there is more so it can make my article longer...
"Once we saw that, we weren't afraid to get rid of him. It's like cancer. That's what he was. Cancer."
Ouch. Strong words from Papelbon for ManRam and of course in classic Manny fashion said that none of this really bothered him and he will move on to focus on baseball. I like both of these players but was it really that bad?
We all had heard that Manny was slowly infecting the Boston locker room and he wanted nothing to do with the Red Sox last season. Its puzzling to me because he seems like a happy go-lucky guy who seems to just go with the flow not be a problem. Maybe I have my head buried in the sand because I like Manny and want to see him do well. Bill Simmons of ESPN and my friend wrote a big article about how Manny completely changed when Scott Boras became his agent so thats the reason why he became this 'cancer'. But according to Papelbon, he isnt the type of guy you want around your clubhouse comparable to a Terrell Owens.
I think we all want to see Boston/New York against Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series this year. I know it is the media frenzy that would be pounded in our head more than any other World Series in the past couple years. Just think about, the hated Manny/the hated Torre vs. the Red Sox or the newly hated Torre/Yankee-hater Manny vs. Yankees. Either would be fantastic.
-Charlie.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Jay Cutler Likes To Cry
"This culminates in an awkward stage comparable to waking up with a three when you thought she was an eight." My original post about the new NFL Crybaby himself Jay Cutler. Well when Pat Bowlen, owner of the Denver Broncos and Josh McDainels, new head coach of Denver had a conference call with Cutler this week.
Jay Cutler you need to shut the hell up right now. This isnt helping your image and its not making you look tough for standing up to the Broncos. He is hurt yes, but there is no reason why he needs to display to the public. As I have said before, it makes him look S-O-F-T. You cannot keep crying like this and expect a team to stand behind this joker.
The thing Cutler needs to realize that the NFL business and they were just feeling out the market to see what was available for him. Whats wrong with that? He is not an established quarterback just yet, Cutler doesnt have a landmark victory or even made the playoffs. Just because he has all this hype by no means that he doesnt get a crown to tell the Broncos what they can, and cannot do.
I myself was never a big Cutler guy but I really now am not a Cutler fan. I hope he has an awful year.
-Charlie.
Jay Cutler you need to shut the hell up right now. This isnt helping your image and its not making you look tough for standing up to the Broncos. He is hurt yes, but there is no reason why he needs to display to the public. As I have said before, it makes him look S-O-F-T. You cannot keep crying like this and expect a team to stand behind this joker.
The thing Cutler needs to realize that the NFL business and they were just feeling out the market to see what was available for him. Whats wrong with that? He is not an established quarterback just yet, Cutler doesnt have a landmark victory or even made the playoffs. Just because he has all this hype by no means that he doesnt get a crown to tell the Broncos what they can, and cannot do.
I myself was never a big Cutler guy but I really now am not a Cutler fan. I hope he has an awful year.
-Charlie.
Note to Self: Dont Bring Up Baseball Next Week
If you didnt hear in the sports news world today, the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic was eliminated yesterday by the Netherlands, yes the Netherlands. Their players are mostly from island lands that are owned by Holland, their best player right now is Randall Simon, yes that Randell Simon famous for hitting an Italian Sausage.
They simply shocked the baseball world by beating the Dominican Republic not once but twice in as many days. They only trailed for four outs and they held the powerful Dominican lineup at bay. These team only features two major league baseball players while the DR has so many greats like David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Jose Reyes, and Hanley Rameriez.
The ESPN poll question was a good one which is surprising but what would be more shocking? Dominican Republic losing in baseball or Brazil in soccer? I think Brazil would be because everyone expects them in the final 16 at least and its a shock when they dont get there. If they were to lose in the first 32, people in the soccer world would be shocked. The other thing you have to take into consider ation that Japan is right there with Dominican Republic when it comes to international baseball, same goes with Cuba. The thing the DR has is the superstars a lot like Brazil.
Dominican's manager Felipe Alou said "I think this proves that we need our best players down here." While its true that Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez would help the cause but still doesnt account for the runs given up. The last one in case your wondering was by a Cub, boom roasted.
-Charlie.
They simply shocked the baseball world by beating the Dominican Republic not once but twice in as many days. They only trailed for four outs and they held the powerful Dominican lineup at bay. These team only features two major league baseball players while the DR has so many greats like David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Jose Reyes, and Hanley Rameriez.
The ESPN poll question was a good one which is surprising but what would be more shocking? Dominican Republic losing in baseball or Brazil in soccer? I think Brazil would be because everyone expects them in the final 16 at least and its a shock when they dont get there. If they were to lose in the first 32, people in the soccer world would be shocked. The other thing you have to take into consider ation that Japan is right there with Dominican Republic when it comes to international baseball, same goes with Cuba. The thing the DR has is the superstars a lot like Brazil.
Dominican's manager Felipe Alou said "I think this proves that we need our best players down here." While its true that Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez would help the cause but still doesnt account for the runs given up. The last one in case your wondering was by a Cub, boom roasted.
-Charlie.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Championship Week Preview
So its Championship Week, one of my favorite weeks of the year and I will give you will "Probably win" "Could win" "Sleeper" A sleeper consists of some team who is lower than a four seed.
ACC:
Probably win- North Carolina Tar Heels- They will be your new number one on Monday and its fitting seeing as they were the favorites going into the season now are playing the best basketball in the country. They better be careful of Miami or Virigina Tech in the second round.
Could win- Duke Blue Devils- I like the Dukies better than Wake Forest at this point of the season and I thought they could have won the game today against the Tar Heels. Kyle Singler needs to be consistent if they want a chance.
Sleeper- Clemson Tigers- Travis Booker is a monster who can dominate any big man in the ACC and their defense is sweltering with the full court press. They will get past Florida State but getting by North Carolina will be another story.
Big 12:
Probably win: Oklahoma Sooners- They are the best team in the Big 12 and the only reason they arent the one seed is because Blake Griffin got hurt for a couple games. I hope they meet Kansas in the final game.
Could win: Kansas Jayhawks- I cannot believe Bill Self took Kansas to a Big 12 title again. I love Sheron Collins and what he does for the Jayhawks. Cole Aldrich starting to look like the second coming of Nic Collison right now.
Sleeper: Texas Longhorns- I like Texas chances because they have one of the best players in the nation in A.J. Abrams and any team that can shoot threes like the Longhorns is always a threat. Look out for Texas A&M too.
Big East
Probably win: Pitt Panthers- They have owned the Big East tourney in the past eight years and should win this year. I like the make-up of their team and not many teams can keep up with Sam Young.
Could win: Connecticut Huskies- I like them better than Louisville because the Huskies make their free throws. Also you cannot discount Hasheem Thabeet and I believe they will be hungry if they met Pitt again on Friday.
Sleeper-Syracuse Orange- The inside-out play of the Orange is fantastic and Jim Boeheim always has his guys ready for the tournament. None of us should forget Gerry McNamara performance in 2006. Awful music choice though.
Big Ten
Probably win: Michigan State- Some feel that if the Spartans can win the Big 10 tourney, they might sneak into a one seed in the NCAA Tournament. I think they are the best Big Ten team and they are healthy for the first time.
Could win: Illnois Fighting Illini- I take the Illini over the Boilermakers because they are healthy as well plus they play great defense for Bruce Weber.
Sleeper: Michigan Wolverines- Lets all remember that Michigan took out Duke and UCLA earlier this year. I believe Manny Harris is the best player in the Big Ten and really hope he is around another year. Also their 1-3-1 can prove to be very tough.
Pac-10
Probably win: UCLA Bruins- I am not convinced that the Washington Huskies are for real and I think Ben Howland is one of the best coaches in America when it comes to tournament time. I would like to see Jrue Holiday break out.
Could win: Washington Huskies- They are the second best Pac-10 team for sure and Jon Brockman is a great big man out west that doesnt get enough credit. He deserves to be in the conversation when mentions of Harangoody, Hansbrough, Griffin.
Sleeper-Arizona Wildcats- Dont doubt the Cats, they have a great combination of Jordan Hill and Chase Bundiger. I think they deserve a spot in the tourney if they start shocking a few teams.
SEC:
Probably win: LSU Tigers- This really is the "ugly girl at the dance" BCS tournament. No one really cares about this but I will say the Tigers poise the biggest threat.
Could win: Tennessee Volunteers- I would never doubt a Bruce Pearl team. His press is one of the toughest I have ever seen plus they can run better than most teams not named Marquette.
Sleeper-Alabama Crimson Tide- I think the Tide after that buzzer-beater against the Vols on the road is the right kind of momentum you want going into the tournament.
-Charlie.
ACC:
Probably win- North Carolina Tar Heels- They will be your new number one on Monday and its fitting seeing as they were the favorites going into the season now are playing the best basketball in the country. They better be careful of Miami or Virigina Tech in the second round.
Could win- Duke Blue Devils- I like the Dukies better than Wake Forest at this point of the season and I thought they could have won the game today against the Tar Heels. Kyle Singler needs to be consistent if they want a chance.
Sleeper- Clemson Tigers- Travis Booker is a monster who can dominate any big man in the ACC and their defense is sweltering with the full court press. They will get past Florida State but getting by North Carolina will be another story.
Big 12:
Probably win: Oklahoma Sooners- They are the best team in the Big 12 and the only reason they arent the one seed is because Blake Griffin got hurt for a couple games. I hope they meet Kansas in the final game.
Could win: Kansas Jayhawks- I cannot believe Bill Self took Kansas to a Big 12 title again. I love Sheron Collins and what he does for the Jayhawks. Cole Aldrich starting to look like the second coming of Nic Collison right now.
Sleeper: Texas Longhorns- I like Texas chances because they have one of the best players in the nation in A.J. Abrams and any team that can shoot threes like the Longhorns is always a threat. Look out for Texas A&M too.
Big East
Probably win: Pitt Panthers- They have owned the Big East tourney in the past eight years and should win this year. I like the make-up of their team and not many teams can keep up with Sam Young.
Could win: Connecticut Huskies- I like them better than Louisville because the Huskies make their free throws. Also you cannot discount Hasheem Thabeet and I believe they will be hungry if they met Pitt again on Friday.
Sleeper-Syracuse Orange- The inside-out play of the Orange is fantastic and Jim Boeheim always has his guys ready for the tournament. None of us should forget Gerry McNamara performance in 2006. Awful music choice though.
Big Ten
Probably win: Michigan State- Some feel that if the Spartans can win the Big 10 tourney, they might sneak into a one seed in the NCAA Tournament. I think they are the best Big Ten team and they are healthy for the first time.
Could win: Illnois Fighting Illini- I take the Illini over the Boilermakers because they are healthy as well plus they play great defense for Bruce Weber.
Sleeper: Michigan Wolverines- Lets all remember that Michigan took out Duke and UCLA earlier this year. I believe Manny Harris is the best player in the Big Ten and really hope he is around another year. Also their 1-3-1 can prove to be very tough.
Pac-10
Probably win: UCLA Bruins- I am not convinced that the Washington Huskies are for real and I think Ben Howland is one of the best coaches in America when it comes to tournament time. I would like to see Jrue Holiday break out.
Could win: Washington Huskies- They are the second best Pac-10 team for sure and Jon Brockman is a great big man out west that doesnt get enough credit. He deserves to be in the conversation when mentions of Harangoody, Hansbrough, Griffin.
Sleeper-Arizona Wildcats- Dont doubt the Cats, they have a great combination of Jordan Hill and Chase Bundiger. I think they deserve a spot in the tourney if they start shocking a few teams.
SEC:
Probably win: LSU Tigers- This really is the "ugly girl at the dance" BCS tournament. No one really cares about this but I will say the Tigers poise the biggest threat.
Could win: Tennessee Volunteers- I would never doubt a Bruce Pearl team. His press is one of the toughest I have ever seen plus they can run better than most teams not named Marquette.
Sleeper-Alabama Crimson Tide- I think the Tide after that buzzer-beater against the Vols on the road is the right kind of momentum you want going into the tournament.
-Charlie.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
I Hope T.O. Loves Buffalo Wings
It didnt take long for Mr. Terrell Owens to find a job again. He is now heading to Buffalo to play with the Bills for a 1 year 6.5 million dollars deal. I think this is a great deal for the Bills.
The reason why its a great deal for Buffalo...
1. They needed to make a splash somehow with the struggling economy and they were losing money according to Chris Mortenson. Now they will be the focus of many prime time games and much attention for this year. Not to mention, the jersey sales they will get for TO.
2. Its a one year deal. Its not like the Bills have to hold on to Owens for two or three years. If he creates problems during this upcoming year, they can simply cut him loose to another team. I doubt in that one year though that Owens will be a problem. He is going to want the ball because its his contract year essentially but I highly doubt it will be a problem.
3. Dick Jauron needs to get the playoffs. They have went 7-9 in the last three years and Ralph Wilson wants to get to the playoffs. They now have a formidable offensive lineup with Trent Edwards, Marshawn Lynch, Lee Evans, and TO. The AFC East will be a very tough division this year.
-Charlie.
The reason why its a great deal for Buffalo...
1. They needed to make a splash somehow with the struggling economy and they were losing money according to Chris Mortenson. Now they will be the focus of many prime time games and much attention for this year. Not to mention, the jersey sales they will get for TO.
2. Its a one year deal. Its not like the Bills have to hold on to Owens for two or three years. If he creates problems during this upcoming year, they can simply cut him loose to another team. I doubt in that one year though that Owens will be a problem. He is going to want the ball because its his contract year essentially but I highly doubt it will be a problem.
3. Dick Jauron needs to get the playoffs. They have went 7-9 in the last three years and Ralph Wilson wants to get to the playoffs. They now have a formidable offensive lineup with Trent Edwards, Marshawn Lynch, Lee Evans, and TO. The AFC East will be a very tough division this year.
-Charlie.
My Computer Sucks
Some reason my computer decided to be an asshole and not post up my pics for the weekend so therefore I will give you guys a wrap up of the day that was both Saturday and Sunday....
-Pitt took down UConn in pretty dominating fashion today 70-60 where Sam Young had 31 points. I think the Panthers are one of the toughest teams in the nation and they are not a team I would want to see in the tournament. The Panthers are looking to get to another Big East Championship game now.
-I think its about time that everyone realizes that the LSU and Missouri Tigers are both very overrated. They are not a top 15 teams. They are not in the 1-4 range in the brackets right now. Both of them got their asses handed to them today by Texas A&M and Auburn.
-I am not going to do another wrap-up for Marquette because it sucks writing about when they lose. It was a hard fought game but they cannot let teams get to the basket that easy. Rick Jackson and Andy Rautins both had the games of their lives. I still love the toughness, Marquette is showing right now in this losing streak.
-Blake Griffin went off for 33 and 14. He is the best player in the NCAA right now, no doubt about it.
-Charlie.
-Pitt took down UConn in pretty dominating fashion today 70-60 where Sam Young had 31 points. I think the Panthers are one of the toughest teams in the nation and they are not a team I would want to see in the tournament. The Panthers are looking to get to another Big East Championship game now.
-I think its about time that everyone realizes that the LSU and Missouri Tigers are both very overrated. They are not a top 15 teams. They are not in the 1-4 range in the brackets right now. Both of them got their asses handed to them today by Texas A&M and Auburn.
-I am not going to do another wrap-up for Marquette because it sucks writing about when they lose. It was a hard fought game but they cannot let teams get to the basket that easy. Rick Jackson and Andy Rautins both had the games of their lives. I still love the toughness, Marquette is showing right now in this losing streak.
-Blake Griffin went off for 33 and 14. He is the best player in the NCAA right now, no doubt about it.
-Charlie.
A-Roid has the Worst Year Ever
I think that I am having a bad year just struggling in school but no one is having a worst year than Alex Rodriguez as he learned that he is out for the first 10 weeks of the season with a hip injury.
A-Rod has been through just a complete whirlwind in the year of 2009 at first being accused of steroid use then admitting to taking PEDs and now being out for the first month and half. Life is just not going A-Roid way these days. I am sure that Rodriguez wanted to make a statement proving to everyone tht he doesnt need steroids to hit 30+ home runs but now that all goes to shit with him being out for a couple months.
Not only A-Rod has a problem with trying to rebuild his image but the Yankees are now wondering if they can make it through the pain of not having one of the best hitters in the game. My answer is no, they will struggle in the first couple of months and build themselves a hole in the American League East. But I do believe once A-Roid comes back, they will come back with a vengeance unless there are more Yankees that make their way to the DL.
There have been talks about the Yanks interested in Bill Hall who I really want to see in a Brewer uniform this year because he got Lasik eye surgery this offseason so I think he will have a big year. Although if they offer Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy for the Hall, I probably do that in a heartbeat.
-Charlie.
A-Rod has been through just a complete whirlwind in the year of 2009 at first being accused of steroid use then admitting to taking PEDs and now being out for the first month and half. Life is just not going A-Roid way these days. I am sure that Rodriguez wanted to make a statement proving to everyone tht he doesnt need steroids to hit 30+ home runs but now that all goes to shit with him being out for a couple months.
Not only A-Rod has a problem with trying to rebuild his image but the Yankees are now wondering if they can make it through the pain of not having one of the best hitters in the game. My answer is no, they will struggle in the first couple of months and build themselves a hole in the American League East. But I do believe once A-Roid comes back, they will come back with a vengeance unless there are more Yankees that make their way to the DL.
There have been talks about the Yanks interested in Bill Hall who I really want to see in a Brewer uniform this year because he got Lasik eye surgery this offseason so I think he will have a big year. Although if they offer Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy for the Hall, I probably do that in a heartbeat.
-Charlie.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Getcha Bags Packed, T.O.
One of our favorite headcases' on Chuck's Corner is Terrell Owens. TO has provided us with much entertainment throughout the three years that my blog has been around for. TO yesterday was handed his walking papers.
I didnt see First Take today but I am sure Skip Bayless probably had the biggest wet dream last night told everybody about it today at ESPN. Bayless who I most of the times think is an idiot but he has the greatest nickname for TO which is "Team Obliterater". And lets be honest, Mr. Bayless was right about TO, once again he infected another team and was granted his release.
It was a good move by the Cowboys because they already have a couple good players that can take of business at the wide receiver and they will be able to draft someone in the second round like Hakeem Nicks of North Carolina would be a great pick for the Cowboys. They will be fine without TO being a wideout of the Dallas Cowboys.
ESPN is reporting that only the Niners and the Raiders are interested in TO which I think is absolute bullshit. They are the only team with balls to admit that they are interested in TO. I think that the Tennessee and Miami are very intrigued with the idea of being TO into their tem and believed they have the coaching to contain the man known as TO.
-Charlie.
I didnt see First Take today but I am sure Skip Bayless probably had the biggest wet dream last night told everybody about it today at ESPN. Bayless who I most of the times think is an idiot but he has the greatest nickname for TO which is "Team Obliterater". And lets be honest, Mr. Bayless was right about TO, once again he infected another team and was granted his release.
It was a good move by the Cowboys because they already have a couple good players that can take of business at the wide receiver and they will be able to draft someone in the second round like Hakeem Nicks of North Carolina would be a great pick for the Cowboys. They will be fine without TO being a wideout of the Dallas Cowboys.
ESPN is reporting that only the Niners and the Raiders are interested in TO which I think is absolute bullshit. They are the only team with balls to admit that they are interested in TO. I think that the Tennessee and Miami are very intrigued with the idea of being TO into their tem and believed they have the coaching to contain the man known as TO.
-Charlie.
Hous Heads West, Warner/Lewis Stay
I realize I am behind on things and have two more pending articles to get done for today or tomorrow. I am just busy with school so in between studying and such I will devote my time to blogging. We are going to combine a couple big free agent signings because they arent worth their own article really.
HOUSHMANDZADEH TO SEATTLE- The Seahawks who are in desperate need of receivers inked T.J. Hous "your mamma?" to a five year 40 million dollar deal. Granted the Seahawks could use the help at receiver this is not a good move in my opinion. You are giving a thirty-two year old receiver that much money for that long of time seems ridiculous to me. I would rather pick up a couple nice receivers who would work well with a guy like Michael Crabtree. I am willing to bet Hous had about three years left in him. Also I think the guy is a bit of a headcase, he doesnt really like when he isnt getting the ball and he also shitted on the city of Cincinnati basically saying "Screw you, I am going elsewhere." That being said, I still think he will help the Seahawks next year and I am glad he isnt on Minnesota.
WARNER STAYS IN ARIZONA- Kurt Warner who led the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl has decided to stay as he inked a 2 year 23 million dollar deal with most of that money in the first year, a very smart move by Warner. Now the question is will Edgerrin James or Anquan Boldin be around with him? I think James will be long gone but the Cards should try to patch things up with Boldin, the guy is a legit number one receiver on any other team. Therefore he should get the money he deserves even at 1a.
LEWIS STAYING PUT IN BALTIMORE- This signing I was probably the happiest by because I couldnt see Ray Lewis put on another jersey or led another team. He is a Baltimore Raven for life and its good to see that Lewis will end his career a Raven instead of playing for the New York Jets or the Dallas Cowboys. I think Lewis will live up to his three year deal because there is still much more left in the tank and if he has Terrell Suggs back, they can be just as good as last year.
-Charlie.
HOUSHMANDZADEH TO SEATTLE- The Seahawks who are in desperate need of receivers inked T.J. Hous "your mamma?" to a five year 40 million dollar deal. Granted the Seahawks could use the help at receiver this is not a good move in my opinion. You are giving a thirty-two year old receiver that much money for that long of time seems ridiculous to me. I would rather pick up a couple nice receivers who would work well with a guy like Michael Crabtree. I am willing to bet Hous had about three years left in him. Also I think the guy is a bit of a headcase, he doesnt really like when he isnt getting the ball and he also shitted on the city of Cincinnati basically saying "Screw you, I am going elsewhere." That being said, I still think he will help the Seahawks next year and I am glad he isnt on Minnesota.
WARNER STAYS IN ARIZONA- Kurt Warner who led the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl has decided to stay as he inked a 2 year 23 million dollar deal with most of that money in the first year, a very smart move by Warner. Now the question is will Edgerrin James or Anquan Boldin be around with him? I think James will be long gone but the Cards should try to patch things up with Boldin, the guy is a legit number one receiver on any other team. Therefore he should get the money he deserves even at 1a.
LEWIS STAYING PUT IN BALTIMORE- This signing I was probably the happiest by because I couldnt see Ray Lewis put on another jersey or led another team. He is a Baltimore Raven for life and its good to see that Lewis will end his career a Raven instead of playing for the New York Jets or the Dallas Cowboys. I think Lewis will live up to his three year deal because there is still much more left in the tank and if he has Terrell Suggs back, they can be just as good as last year.
-Charlie.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Manny Loves L.A.
Finally when the dust settled, Manny Ramirez finally got his deal that he always wanted from the beginning of the free agent season. Two years, 45 million dollar deal.
The Dodgers definitely caved in because they had to but thats to say that they wanted to. The reason they had to do it was because if the Dodgers didnt have Ramirez, they would be a possible National League West Division winner and maybe a long shot at the Wild Card. Now they are the contenders in the NL West because Manny is a guy who will give you 35+ home runs and over 100 RBIs every year. Then you combine the power Manny brings with the coaching of Joe Torre, you have got yourself a contender right there.
Now I dont really condone what happened with Manny throughout this free agent season. I think it was bullshit that he held out this long to get his contract but in the end, the shark that is Scott Boras made sure his guy on his money. Boras basically gave the middle finger to the baseball once again with making sure Manny was going to get his contract that he always desired no matter what. This just means that Boras is going to keep pulling this shit before someone stops him. The only thing is when people need his clients, they will do whatever means necessary to get his client.
Now I think the baseball media world is looking forward to a chance at a New York-Los Angeles World Series clash which first off all would pit the two biggest cities in the United States and second off, you get a matchup of all the new Yankees facing off against Joe Torre and Manny Ramirez, one of the most hated non-Yankees in the past five years.
-Charlie.
The Dodgers definitely caved in because they had to but thats to say that they wanted to. The reason they had to do it was because if the Dodgers didnt have Ramirez, they would be a possible National League West Division winner and maybe a long shot at the Wild Card. Now they are the contenders in the NL West because Manny is a guy who will give you 35+ home runs and over 100 RBIs every year. Then you combine the power Manny brings with the coaching of Joe Torre, you have got yourself a contender right there.
Now I dont really condone what happened with Manny throughout this free agent season. I think it was bullshit that he held out this long to get his contract but in the end, the shark that is Scott Boras made sure his guy on his money. Boras basically gave the middle finger to the baseball once again with making sure Manny was going to get his contract that he always desired no matter what. This just means that Boras is going to keep pulling this shit before someone stops him. The only thing is when people need his clients, they will do whatever means necessary to get his client.
Now I think the baseball media world is looking forward to a chance at a New York-Los Angeles World Series clash which first off all would pit the two biggest cities in the United States and second off, you get a matchup of all the new Yankees facing off against Joe Torre and Manny Ramirez, one of the most hated non-Yankees in the past five years.
-Charlie.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Late College Basketball Weekly Preview
Once again, I am sorry that I am late with the previews. Homework and Jack Bauer get in the way of blogging from time to time.
Monday:
16. Villanova 77 Notre Dame 60- I cannot believe the Irish laid such an egg in a game of such importance. I realize they were only down one with 10 minutes to go but Notre Dame only scored 10 points in the final ten minutes. They now need a strong performance in the Big East tournament to make to the Big Dance.
Tuesday:
24. Florida State at 7. Duke- The Noles finally got a big win this weekend by beating Clemson and now head to Cameron Indoor to face the Blue Devils who beat them into submission in Tallahassee in January. I am becoming more impressed with Duke every time I watch them and all they have to do is contain Toney Douglas which they can do. DUKE 78-65
10. Wake Forest at Maryland- By the way, this blog post will have an ACC feel to it. I think this could be the Terrapins last chance to get their name on the bubble. They kept it close with Duke for awhile but they proved to be too much. I think Wake is way too tough inside. WAKE 83-73
Wednesday:
2. North Carolina at Virgina Tech- The Hokies were a bad start away from knocking off Duke on Saturday and now find themselves directly on the bubble in need of one more big win. Blacksburg is a tough place to play and with the Dukies on their mind, I expect this one to go down to the wire with the Tar Heels experience prevailing in this one. UNC 78-75
15. Marquette at 4. Pittsburgh- The Golden Eagles are in desperate need of win with Nova now a half game back of them in the standings. For the last couple of years, Marquette has had Pitt's number for some reason and I really like the matchups even with DeJuan Blair inside. Marquette wins this one in a tight ball game MARQ 73-69
5. Oklahoma at 12. Missouri- I think everybody saw the real Missouri on Sunday when they got rocked by the Jayhawks and now they get to face big bad Blake Griffin. Granted, they are fortunate that its a home game but still they cannot matchup with Griffin who will take over this one. OKLA 84-75
Thats all for the week.
-Charlie.
Monday:
16. Villanova 77 Notre Dame 60- I cannot believe the Irish laid such an egg in a game of such importance. I realize they were only down one with 10 minutes to go but Notre Dame only scored 10 points in the final ten minutes. They now need a strong performance in the Big East tournament to make to the Big Dance.
Tuesday:
24. Florida State at 7. Duke- The Noles finally got a big win this weekend by beating Clemson and now head to Cameron Indoor to face the Blue Devils who beat them into submission in Tallahassee in January. I am becoming more impressed with Duke every time I watch them and all they have to do is contain Toney Douglas which they can do. DUKE 78-65
10. Wake Forest at Maryland- By the way, this blog post will have an ACC feel to it. I think this could be the Terrapins last chance to get their name on the bubble. They kept it close with Duke for awhile but they proved to be too much. I think Wake is way too tough inside. WAKE 83-73
Wednesday:
2. North Carolina at Virgina Tech- The Hokies were a bad start away from knocking off Duke on Saturday and now find themselves directly on the bubble in need of one more big win. Blacksburg is a tough place to play and with the Dukies on their mind, I expect this one to go down to the wire with the Tar Heels experience prevailing in this one. UNC 78-75
15. Marquette at 4. Pittsburgh- The Golden Eagles are in desperate need of win with Nova now a half game back of them in the standings. For the last couple of years, Marquette has had Pitt's number for some reason and I really like the matchups even with DeJuan Blair inside. Marquette wins this one in a tight ball game MARQ 73-69
5. Oklahoma at 12. Missouri- I think everybody saw the real Missouri on Sunday when they got rocked by the Jayhawks and now they get to face big bad Blake Griffin. Granted, they are fortunate that its a home game but still they cannot matchup with Griffin who will take over this one. OKLA 84-75
Thats all for the week.
-Charlie.
Denver and Cutler Need to Hug It Out
Denver and Jay Cutler are not happy with each other right now. This all stems from the Broncos new regime deciding to shop Jay Cutler in the last weekend.
There are two things that I will draw out of this, the first one is that Jay Cutler is acting like a baby right now. He is going "aw shucks, I am hurt by all of this talk about Denver not wanting me to play for their team anymore." Heres the deal Cutler you looked soft when Phillip Rivers punked your ass two years ago, granted it made Rivers look like a tool to most of us but still he had the confidence you want in a quarterback. I like Cutler's skill set as a quarterback and does some really nice things out on the field. But I really question his leadership ability and needs to be more assertive if he wants to succeed.
That leads to my next point which is Josh McDaniels was trying to make a big statement by saying well Cutler hasnt got it done for us in the past couple of years so we are going to listen to offers to see if anyone is interested. Which there was some interest in Tampa where there were rumors of a 1st and 3rd rounder offered for Cutler but according to Mike Lombardi of Pro Football Post via the BS Report the trigger wasnt pulled fast enough. This culminates in an awkward stage comparable to waking up with a three when you thought she was an eight.
Washington has been to me the most confusing team so far in the free agent season but Denver is a close second. I dont get the Brian Dawkins deal which I stated earlier and picking up guys like Jabar Gaffney/JJ Arrington really wont do much for their team with Oakland and Kansas City both making themselves better.
-Charlie.
There are two things that I will draw out of this, the first one is that Jay Cutler is acting like a baby right now. He is going "aw shucks, I am hurt by all of this talk about Denver not wanting me to play for their team anymore." Heres the deal Cutler you looked soft when Phillip Rivers punked your ass two years ago, granted it made Rivers look like a tool to most of us but still he had the confidence you want in a quarterback. I like Cutler's skill set as a quarterback and does some really nice things out on the field. But I really question his leadership ability and needs to be more assertive if he wants to succeed.
That leads to my next point which is Josh McDaniels was trying to make a big statement by saying well Cutler hasnt got it done for us in the past couple of years so we are going to listen to offers to see if anyone is interested. Which there was some interest in Tampa where there were rumors of a 1st and 3rd rounder offered for Cutler but according to Mike Lombardi of Pro Football Post via the BS Report the trigger wasnt pulled fast enough. This culminates in an awkward stage comparable to waking up with a three when you thought she was an eight.
Washington has been to me the most confusing team so far in the free agent season but Denver is a close second. I dont get the Brian Dawkins deal which I stated earlier and picking up guys like Jabar Gaffney/JJ Arrington really wont do much for their team with Oakland and Kansas City both making themselves better.
-Charlie.
Free Agency Weekend Wrap-up
I think this will be easiest way because I know they are a lot of deals that went down and I dont think they all deserve their own separate post. So here we go....
WINSLOW TO THE BUCS- On Friday, the first big deal went down with Kellen Winslow going to the Buccaneers. I like this deal for the Browns because they get rid of a guy who I dont believe wanted to be in Cleveland and I truly believe you can find a reliable tight end pretty easily. It also helps the Buccaneers because they havent had much offense production especially at the tight end posistion but then again, you have to deal with a guy who proclaim himself as a solider.
DAWKINS TO THE BRONCOS- More articles on the Broncos to come in the upcoming days but they signed a thirty-five year old Brian Dawkins to a five year deal worth around 19 million. Granted, Dawkins is a beast and one of the best safeties in the league although I would be upset if my team gave a five year deal to a guy whose 35. Doesnt make sense to be at all and trust me, the Broncos are the most confusing so far in the Free Agency season.
BROOKING TO THE COWBOYS- Keith Brooking an 11 year starter and three time Pro-Bowl will now be a Cowboy. He inked a deal for three years and I am assuming he will be filling the role that Zach Thomas left when he retired after this season. Not a bad deal for the Cowboys, he had 100+ tackles last year and helped Atlanta get to the playoffs. He also is a good influence in the locker room.
CANTY TO THE GIANTS- Chris Canty got a huge deal from the Giants who are in need of third defensive lineman and with Osi Umenyiora probably going to retire soon, the deal made sense. He was rumored to go to the Packers so I am sort of sad we missed out on Canty whose a huge defensive end at 6'7
SCOTT TO THE JETS- Bart Scott followed his former defensive coordinator Rex Ryan to the New York Jets signing a six year 48 million dollar deal. It always seems the Jets do all the right things in the offseason and this is a great decision by them. Scott knows how Ryan's defense works and he is a good leader in the locker room.
TAYLOR TO THE PATS- Fred Taylor is know the newest member of "Running Backs ending their career in Boston." It seems every year the Pats bring in a new 30+ year old running back and usually he has great success. I hope Taylor does too, I have always been a fan of his and wish him the best of luck.
Thats all for now, the big deals will get their own articles but we will probably do this once every two weeks to keep everyone updated.
-Charlie.
WINSLOW TO THE BUCS- On Friday, the first big deal went down with Kellen Winslow going to the Buccaneers. I like this deal for the Browns because they get rid of a guy who I dont believe wanted to be in Cleveland and I truly believe you can find a reliable tight end pretty easily. It also helps the Buccaneers because they havent had much offense production especially at the tight end posistion but then again, you have to deal with a guy who proclaim himself as a solider.
DAWKINS TO THE BRONCOS- More articles on the Broncos to come in the upcoming days but they signed a thirty-five year old Brian Dawkins to a five year deal worth around 19 million. Granted, Dawkins is a beast and one of the best safeties in the league although I would be upset if my team gave a five year deal to a guy whose 35. Doesnt make sense to be at all and trust me, the Broncos are the most confusing so far in the Free Agency season.
BROOKING TO THE COWBOYS- Keith Brooking an 11 year starter and three time Pro-Bowl will now be a Cowboy. He inked a deal for three years and I am assuming he will be filling the role that Zach Thomas left when he retired after this season. Not a bad deal for the Cowboys, he had 100+ tackles last year and helped Atlanta get to the playoffs. He also is a good influence in the locker room.
CANTY TO THE GIANTS- Chris Canty got a huge deal from the Giants who are in need of third defensive lineman and with Osi Umenyiora probably going to retire soon, the deal made sense. He was rumored to go to the Packers so I am sort of sad we missed out on Canty whose a huge defensive end at 6'7
SCOTT TO THE JETS- Bart Scott followed his former defensive coordinator Rex Ryan to the New York Jets signing a six year 48 million dollar deal. It always seems the Jets do all the right things in the offseason and this is a great decision by them. Scott knows how Ryan's defense works and he is a good leader in the locker room.
TAYLOR TO THE PATS- Fred Taylor is know the newest member of "Running Backs ending their career in Boston." It seems every year the Pats bring in a new 30+ year old running back and usually he has great success. I hope Taylor does too, I have always been a fan of his and wish him the best of luck.
Thats all for now, the big deals will get their own articles but we will probably do this once every two weeks to keep everyone updated.
-Charlie.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Starbury Back in Action
Stephon Marbury was waived by the Knicks on Tuesday and on Friday was in a Celtic uniform where he had six points in limited time. Well once again I made a prediction but this time I seem to be wrong so far although its only the first couple of days so we will see. I do believe its a better idea that previously believed.
The reason I think now this is a better idea in the last couple of weeks because the Celtics have proved that their bench is weaker than McLovin in the weight room. I mean Tony Allen is an awful option to have off the bench. He ruins the flow of the game and doesnt seem to have a clue what he is doing out there. The other guy who is horrendous for the C's is Glenn "Big Baby" Davis. I mean Davis believes he is some sort of mid-range jump shooter instead of just trying to muscle his way into the lane for some points. Davis single-handily cost the Celts the game against the Lakers. For all these reasons, this is why Boston went out and got Mikki Moore from the Kings who is a perfect addition to their bench.
In my opinion, I think Marbury will stay under control because he just wants to play basketball again. Marbury could care less about himself I believe right now and just the simple fact, he is playing basketball again is all that matters. I would be very surprised if he has any sort of outburst this year about playing time or anything closely related to that situation. Although I must say if something were to happened, wouldnt surprised in the slightest.
-Charlie.
The reason I think now this is a better idea in the last couple of weeks because the Celtics have proved that their bench is weaker than McLovin in the weight room. I mean Tony Allen is an awful option to have off the bench. He ruins the flow of the game and doesnt seem to have a clue what he is doing out there. The other guy who is horrendous for the C's is Glenn "Big Baby" Davis. I mean Davis believes he is some sort of mid-range jump shooter instead of just trying to muscle his way into the lane for some points. Davis single-handily cost the Celts the game against the Lakers. For all these reasons, this is why Boston went out and got Mikki Moore from the Kings who is a perfect addition to their bench.
In my opinion, I think Marbury will stay under control because he just wants to play basketball again. Marbury could care less about himself I believe right now and just the simple fact, he is playing basketball again is all that matters. I would be very surprised if he has any sort of outburst this year about playing time or anything closely related to that situation. Although I must say if something were to happened, wouldnt surprised in the slightest.
-Charlie.
I Called Matt Cassel to the Chiefs
I just wanted to say that before I got started... In this former post, I said the smartest move by the Chiefs would be to deal Gonzalez for Cassel plus some draft picks. Well the Tony Gonzalez part didnt happen but other than that, I look like the frickin man right now.
Cassel will do big things for Kansas City this year because they already have a pretty strong base of players with Dwayne Bowe, Larry Johnson, and Tony Gonzalez although I have expressed my feelings on the last two guys in prior posts I have done. In addition, now they feel no pressure in drafting Matthew Strafford/Mark Sanchez therefore they will go for defense.
Now I wonder if they are going to try swing a deal for Tyler Thigpen because he is probably an NFL starter I believe. They could probably get a fourth or fifth round pick to a team who could use a quarterback with some experience such as Detroit.
The Chiefs I believe you have to put them at the top of the AFC West right now with San Diego, and Denver kind of falling out of the picture. They have all the tools to shoot to the top of the AFC West and I really believe that Todd Haley was the perfect choice for the head coaching job too.
-Charlie.
Cassel will do big things for Kansas City this year because they already have a pretty strong base of players with Dwayne Bowe, Larry Johnson, and Tony Gonzalez although I have expressed my feelings on the last two guys in prior posts I have done. In addition, now they feel no pressure in drafting Matthew Strafford/Mark Sanchez therefore they will go for defense.
Now I wonder if they are going to try swing a deal for Tyler Thigpen because he is probably an NFL starter I believe. They could probably get a fourth or fifth round pick to a team who could use a quarterback with some experience such as Detroit.
The Chiefs I believe you have to put them at the top of the AFC West right now with San Diego, and Denver kind of falling out of the picture. They have all the tools to shoot to the top of the AFC West and I really believe that Todd Haley was the perfect choice for the head coaching job too.
-Charlie.
Your White Suit Sucks
As you know whenever you dont get the typical wrap-up title that means that Marquette lost which they did 62-58 and there were one big reason Marquette went down today... Jerel McNeal and also a few words about the officials that worked the game.
I hate to put a game on one player but really it would of been better if Jerel McNeal sat on the bench for a couple minutes at least. His state line today was.. 10 pts. 3/19 shooting 2/10 from three. Good lord that was probably my stat line on Friday afternoon when I got embarrassed on the courts. My statisician Mach calculated that Marquette would have shot 10% better if McNeal didnt shoot in this game and also suggested Buzz should have settled him down. He was trying to make up for James' absence today.
Before we get to our favorite thing the officials, Jimmy Butler is proving to the world why he is going to be a great player for Marquette. He grabbed 10 boards today and five of them were offensive. He is such a team player and does all the little things for Marquette.
Alright, I understand that complaining about the refs are the worst thing to do as a fan but this guys just sucked. The illegal screen called on Lazar Hayward in late in the game was one of the worst calls I have seen lately and then how did Wes Matthews not get fouled at the end of the game. He should have been going to the line for three shots but whatever.
On to Wednesday at Pittsburgh.
-Charlie.
I hate to put a game on one player but really it would of been better if Jerel McNeal sat on the bench for a couple minutes at least. His state line today was.. 10 pts. 3/19 shooting 2/10 from three. Good lord that was probably my stat line on Friday afternoon when I got embarrassed on the courts. My statisician Mach calculated that Marquette would have shot 10% better if McNeal didnt shoot in this game and also suggested Buzz should have settled him down. He was trying to make up for James' absence today.
Before we get to our favorite thing the officials, Jimmy Butler is proving to the world why he is going to be a great player for Marquette. He grabbed 10 boards today and five of them were offensive. He is such a team player and does all the little things for Marquette.
Alright, I understand that complaining about the refs are the worst thing to do as a fan but this guys just sucked. The illegal screen called on Lazar Hayward in late in the game was one of the worst calls I have seen lately and then how did Wes Matthews not get fouled at the end of the game. He should have been going to the line for three shots but whatever.
On to Wednesday at Pittsburgh.
-Charlie.
My 300th
Its not really like baseball but if I were a pitcher, this would be a momentous occasion. We have hit the 300 blog post to lead off the month of March. I am taking a vacation from the 15th-22nd during the NCAA first and second round so either I will write or one of my colleagues will do some of the writing for me during that time. I promise I will knock out a mock draft sometime this month and just keep reading, tell everyone you know this is the greatest blog not named Club Trillion.
My only plug right now is for Club Trillion. Read it and it will change your life. Also vote for "The Whitest Guy on Ohio State's Basketball team." I myself went with Mark "the Shark" Titus.
Keep reading...
-Charlie.
My only plug right now is for Club Trillion. Read it and it will change your life. Also vote for "The Whitest Guy on Ohio State's Basketball team." I myself went with Mark "the Shark" Titus.
Keep reading...
-Charlie.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)