No,this is not a time for me to rant and rave about Chingy performing at my 16th birthday party or how pissed I'm going to be if Mickey shows up in the same shirt I'm wearing and ruins an awesome event that includes a ferrari cake to be unveiled exactly at midnight... The Sweet 16 I'm referring to is the NCAA tournament...
This is my breakdown of the 8 March Madness games this week, four of which are starting tonight... although I must say it would be far better to come up with an April saying instead... I really don't have the passion at the beginning of the tournament when it begins in March, my madness takes over in April when the final four hits... but the words April Madness just don't have any zing to them, it's not "flowing like wine" as Lloyd Christmas would say...
East: Washington State vs. UNC – I don’t see how this would even be that close – they don’t have an answer for Hansborough and the guy who will be guarding him is their starting center – he’s slow, 6’10 and averages a half block per game – WSU has Derek Lowe and Kyle Weaver, but their guards are second tier compared to UNC – I have to go with Carolina on this one.
Louisville vs. Tennessee – I honestly don’t know who I’m going to pick in this one – on one hand you have the Vols...they run, score in bunches, and play a great defense – and then you have Louisville – they have a deep bench and they rebound well...I’m going to go with the opposite of whoever Jeremy picks - so Louisville it is.
South Bracket: Michigan State vs. Memphis – Memphis obviously has the much deeper team, however Michigan State plays in a conference that prides itself on defense...and in turn, boredom. Neitzel can be shut down, he’s streaky and if you get him off his game it could be a poor outing...I’m actually more concerned with Raymar Morgan- he’s 6 foot 7, quick, and is capable of going for 30 points...Dorsey and their big man is a push, they both play physical. Joey just had a very physical big man on his back against Miss. State – so this will be up to the guard play...Michigan State shoots 73% from free throw land but I’m going with Memphis.
Stanford vs. Texas...in Texas – the Lopez Brothers are both very good, however, Robin Lopez is just that to Brook – he’s the Robin to Batman – the guards are mediocre for Stanford...they are as good as any guard from Stanford should be – I could have 16 assists in the second round game if I was throwing to Brook Lopez the second half...he went off for 28...for Texas – Damian James is no sluch, Conor Atchley is good enough to keep Lopez under 30 points...their guard play is that of a Texas Guard – with this being in Houston, Texas I have to go with the Longhorns for this one.
Midwest Bracket: Kansas and Villanova...no contest – Kansas depth will run them off the floor...expect a mass exodus of talent if the Jayhawks make it to the final 4 this year...Nova has exceeded expectations and it’s now time to bow out. All they have is Scottie Reynolds...after that, they’re screwed.
Davidson and Wisconsin – Davidson has now won 24 in a row, and let’s not forget that this team took UNC to the wire at the beginning of the season - Stefon Curry...not to be confused with Stefon Ur-kel has blown up for 70 points in 2 games, he’s hard to contain and just played himself into the 1st round of the NBA Draft – Wisconsin looks tough, this will be the most fundamental basketball game you’ll ever see – Davidson’s had a good run, but Wisconsin will find a way to hold Curry under 30 and will prevail in the end.
West Bracket: UCLA vs. Western Kentucky – as if their road didn’t get any easier – this game isn’t even worth talking about...I’m mad at the committee for giving UCLA the Duke treatment – the only way I will be vindicated is if UCLA does not make the Final 4 and Memphis beats Texas...in Texas. (As a side note – Kevin Love looks awesome so far, but then again it’s real easy to look awesome when you play rec teams...that’s like me going back now and playing little league – I’d be the MVP)
Xavier vs. West Virginia – I can’t figure out Xavier...they are playing far better than I expected them to at this point. Everybody I know is reveling in their quote, unquote "genius" for picking West Virginia to beat Duke – newsflash everyone...whether it was Arizona or West Virginia – the majority of America had Duke losing in the 2nd round...you’re not that smart. Xavier has 6 guys that average at least 10 ppg – they all average a decent amount of rebounds and all crash the boards the way you want to see a team crash the boards...West Virginia has a couple really good players with Joe Alexander and Alex Ruoff...they have Bob Huggins who can flat out coach, and they play fundamentally really well – It’s going to be a close game but I have to go with Xavier out of the sheer fact that it would be great to see the Big East lose another team in...barring a Villanova defeat.
There you have it - The Jamie-Lynn Spears super Sweet Sixteen basketball preview... most girls bitch on MTV about getting the wrong car, she trumped you all by having a baby. Beat that you spoiled brats.
The way I see it is if you are one of the people at the top of your bracket challenge than you are either one lucky bastard or have an IQ of 375... that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.
I'm an idiot - everything that I said would and could be a potential upset I blew. It was opposite day on March 17th when I predicted those on The City of DC... I guess none of you got the memo.
I've analyzed every Sweet 16 game and the only one that now stumps me is the Louisville/Tennessee game - that's a tough call. My in depth analysis of each game will be posted separately... it's just too much for any man to read in one sitting.
As for everything else...
For those of you who caught this weeks show i'd like to once again thank you - If you were too occupied to catch my show this is what you missed:
Baseball opening day has started, although no team will be playing for another week.. Here are my preseason Picks: NL Champ – NY Mets… they are loaded this season... AL Champ – Detroit Tigers with a late Red Sox push…also loaded Kenny Rogers will make the come back this year Rich Harden will be the other come back story... Cy Young winners – Johan Santana – that offense will put 4-5 runs up through 6 innings and Santana will cruise to at least 20 victories… Justin Verlander… same reason MVP’s – A-Rod… how can you not go with that guy? Jose Reyes, starting his 3rd season – coming off a year that included 78 stolen bases and 119 runs scores… Rookie of the Year - Ellsbury for the Red Sox… I know that he played in the World Series but he didn’t play enough games last season in the “bigs” to still not be considered a rookie… Andy La Roche for the Dodgers… he’s on the verge of breaking out.
Terrelle Pryor to go to Ohio State? This doesn’t make any sense... An athlete who set all these running and passing records and he chose to go to the most boring conference in football? I don’t care who you are, it’s boring. "I mean, we just want to work hard and do whatever we can to help Coach Tress get over that little hump he got -- that little championship losing two years in a row," Pryor said. But doesn’t every player who gets recruited by Ohio State have that same agenda? It just doesn’t take one player to get you a national championship, it takes a lot of players. So why go there? I understand that it’s called The Ohio State University – but the only thing their best at is blowing it in the big game against THE SEC. The only way they’ll get over the hump is if they get Hot Hands Heenan, Rad Tad and Becky “Icebox” O’Shea to run the annexation of Puerto Rico.
Although he's a great coach I still think Phil Jackson is over rated... I can win with the best player ever on my team.
Former Houston Rocket Calvin Murphy is the current champion in the race for the most kids among athletes by having fourteen by nine different women... no that is not a typo.
I have a theory that there’s a clique within college basketball in which coaches like Calipari, Billy Donovan, Ben Howland… etc… hangout – If there is such a thing, than Coach K would be the nerd – he’d be the guy they all laugh at.
I hate Matt Ryan and will discuss that in a post when it's closer to the Draft.
Whats worse? Bricking an awesome wide open dunk or airballing a free throw?
This video is one of my favorite songs of all time... inspired by the song-off Byron and I had one day -
I now have to keep this blog updated on a more regular basis since my time in radio has officially begun...
For all seven of you who regularly read this, I thank you.
For the rest of you who are new to reading this, I welcome you... into my world.
If you missed the airing of my show Jeremy and I talked about many different things... most of them being my thoughts on something followed up by a classic Jeremy one-liner.
The big story is obviously the NCAA Tournament... UCLA is the new Duke and the Memphis Tigers have gotten a pretty tough break for the third straight year... a potential matchup against Texas in their hometown?! That's about as fair as Britney Spears chances of not doing drugs... (not fair)
Here are my predictions: Arizona will make a run... they have 2 lottery picks and can run on Duke. USC will go deep, OJ Mayo is playing for his lottery spot... that kid's all about the money. Every #1 team could make it this year. Memphis will beat Texas. North Carolina could win it all, they are THAT good.
Final Four: North Carolina USC Memphis UCLA
If you missed the rest of the show we covered the following topics:
Michael Beasley has 4 cell phones... not even Jesus has that many.
The two most overrated things: 1. Bruce Springsteen - when has he ever had a #1 hit. 2. Phil Jackson - I can win a title with Jordan/Pippen and Shaq/Kobe
MLB opening day around the corner...best pitching duo: Erik Beddard and Feliz Hernandez (they will be the dark horse)
We went over the Top Ten fantasy baseball team names: #1 - Barry Juice and Clemenade
The Grizzlies have hit the 50 mark... 50 losses.
If you want to pick a few upsets for the tourney go with the following: Winthrop over Washington State South Alabama over Butler Kentucky over Marquette western Kentucky over Drake Arizona to get past Duke...
Happy Birthday to Stanley Hall, Congratulations to Justin and Jasmin, and I had an awesome time at the Stock the Bar Party on Saturday... thanks Melissa and Jacob.
Larry Flynt will be calling in for an interview next week... should be interesting.
The video I have posted for you is a favorite of mine, Thanks to Andrew Watson for the suggestion:
Let me extend my deepest of apologies for the delay in posting, however, my occupied time was totally worth it and if I had to do it all over again, I would... so back off!!! (imagine Billy Madison saying that)
Brett Favre has officially announced his retirement... before I give my thoughts let me go on record by saying that he is an icon, a man's man, and I'm pretty sure he had more man-crushes on him than anyone in the history of man-crushes.
Now the prediction -
Favre will say something in an upcoming interview along the lines of, "It's not always over", this will then lead to speculation and weeks of unnecessary coverage of the Green Bay Packers. Aaron Rogers will then underperform leading up to a big "will he or won't he come back?" type of story. For the sake of your legacy Brett don't come back, take a job as an analyst, and live the good life. I feel sorry for the rest of the team, they have some good players and they have a solid young quarterback... I only hope that Favre will stay out of the spotlight so they can actually do some damage...
Nevertheless, Favre is an all time legend and I wish the best of luck and happy retirement.
Best quote about Favre I could find:
“I’m hoping he comes back and I get more opportunities (for interceptions).” - Minnesota defensive back Darren Sharper.
In other news...Nolan Richardson is interested in coaching Arkansas State... it's a little odd I know. But this will eventually lead to a series in basketball in which we get to see Richardson come back to Memphis... He's been a part of some great games. Does anyone remember the game at Arkansas in which Penny dropped the three at the buzzer?
What I find most baffling about Nolan Richardson is that this is the guy who plays the race card any time he gets scrutinized or gets an "unfair" call, and of all places in the world he's interested in staying in Arkansas... So the question I have for Richardson is this: Why would you go back to a place that you know is about 30 years behind the rest of the country when it comes to things such as politics, religion, and especially race? Prediction - he will stay there for 2-3 seasons and then file a lawsuit against the university.
Ben Roethlisberger is a genius.
He just signed a $100 million dollar contract for a team that will be 8-8 next season. This means that no matter how bad the Steelers play, (it's going to get ugly) , that some team who has Super Bowl hopes in about 4 years will unload their roster for him... and he still gets the benjamin's.
Dear Joey Dorsey -
You're 25 years old, please quit acting like a high school thug.
Signed - Memphis fan
PS - Buckwheat called, he wants his hair back.
The Tiger football team added Nichols State to their schedule as game number 12... they'll go 7-5 and then head back to New Orleans for the bowl game. Is anyone else tired of only hoping to go to New Orleans for the "Big" bowl game?
Deep Thoughts: The Lady Tigers basketball coach has decided to quit coaching...yawn. Her astounding four year record is only 30-87. Good call in not firing her R.C.
Derrick Rose is a finalist for the Bob Cousy award... go vote for him here
Jason Kidd hasn't finalized his divorce yet but already has another baby on the way... Travis Henry is reportedly very proud. When asked about being threatened Henry had this to say: "I got nine kids by nine different women, he ain't no threat until he has 6."
My picks record is now at 58-28 - that's 67.4%... lets get to 70.
This week take the following:
Ohio State over Purdue... take the points. Texas way over Nebraska. Florida over Tennessee.. take the points. Notre Dame way over St. John's - Harangody for mayor. And the Grizz to not cover against the Bulls tonight.
I have a Napolean Complex and think that everyone except my friends is either drunk, on drugs, or just a raving idiot. When I meet someone that I'm not sure about, I try to picture them in a short sleeve shirt with a tie; and then if I don't want to punch them they can be my friend.
