Wrong again

I'm thinking this is starting to look like Not My Year! I can't pick a game to save my existence. I thought last night's game would come down to coaching, and it did. Nice work by Kansas' Bill Self, fouling and putting Memphis on the line. Way to make them earn it, or in this case, lose it.
All props to Kansas for winning last night. They won that game fair and square, I have no complaints on officiating (Other than Ed Hightower making sure he got some face time), it was a very good game. My observations on the game go like this:

Very nice to see KU keep pounding it inside. They had a size and more importantly depth than Memphis and kept going to it. Very good coaching on post position and how to hold the spot.

Did Jim Nantz really say, "Rock Chock Champioship"? Ugh. I'm starting to get to that point in my life where I can do without the announcers. Rarely are these guys bringing anything to the table that I'm not well aware of. Even the so-called 'casual fan' knows what's going on. And if they don't, email, IM or call me. Better yet, bring over a case of beer and watch me swear at the TV, that alone is usually worth the price of admission. Another note on the call of the championship game last night, could you guys talk about Memphis at the FT line a little more? Not sure if that horse is dead yet, but I think I just saw it twitch...hit it again!!

I absolutely loved the frenetic pace at certain points during the game, especially out of the gates in the 2nd half. Not a lot of points scored, but a lot of speed and pretty darn good transition defense.

Was Roy Williams wearing a KU sticker on his shirt????? Dude, what the hell? I thought he'd jinx it. Tell me you didn't either, and it's clear you're a liar. Stupid Huckleberry Hound needs to go away, he's never going to win the big one. I know, he won a title in 2005, but that was with someone else's recruits. This win belongs to Bill Self. Let him have it and enjoy it.

I stated earlier that this came down to coaching, and here's what I mean. Self kept his team calm and collected even when down 8 with a few minutes to go. It took Calipari until about 11 minutes to go in the game to finally notice something that Billy Packer was damn near screaming about the other 29 minutes of regulation...that being that when someone went to set a screen for PG Derrick Rose, he'd get doubled. How does it take a D-1 coach that long to see it? All you needed was 2-3 possessions to figure out what Kansas was going to do. Only after seeing it every time down the floor did Memphis stop setting screens and coincidentally that's when Rose started scoring.

Another coaching note, why did you allow Mario Chalmers even the chance to get off his tying shot in regulation? 10.8 seconds left coming off a made free throw, and up by 3. I've seen this scenario debated, and I've even argued about it with others, but this newer theory works a whole lot better than letting someone take a tying shot. Chalmers didn't get the ball until around 4 seconds to go....so why not foul the other guy dribbling the ball up the court and let him take 2 FT's? He'd have to hit the first, miss the second on purpose, then you'd have to have someone rebound and/or tip in the purposeful miss. That's a lot of things that have to go right for that scenario to happen.

And while quite a few pundits will state that the reason Kansas won and Memphis lost last night will be all about free throws, I'm going to go the way of shot selection. Some of the Tigers shots towards the end were a little confusing to me. Why shoot a 3 down by 5 with a minute to go? Eh, what do I know?

Who's going pro?-So far all that have announced are Jerrod Bayless of Arizona and Eric Gordon of IU, that I know of. Bayless will be a better pro, Gordon should look at his namesake, Ben Gordon, and realize that's as good as he's going to be in the pros right now. Why not stay another year under new coach Tom Crean? He coached Dwayne Wade, so he might know something about stud 2-guards. As for Bayless, I'm not really sure why he's leaving. He might be a top 12 pick, but with coach Lute Olson coming back, along with Chase Buddinger and the recruiting class U of A has coming in, those Wildcats would be looking pretty good going into next season.

As for Hansbrough, I think I've officially changed my position on him. I now kind of feel bad for the kid. He has swept the player of the year awards, and I think with good reason. He averaged a double-double and was on the #1 team in the nation when the regular season ended. When his PG went down, he stepped up. I really could care less if he's white, or if he'll ever do anything in the NBA. I get that a whole lot of kids will be better than him in the pros, but what about now? There are only 3 other players that should be in the discussion of player of the year with 'Psycho-T' (by the way, lamest nickname I've heard in forever), and those are Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose and Kevin Love....and they're all freshmen. Hansbrough didn't have a chance vs. Kansas, in case you missed it. It wasn't his fault, either. Kind of hard to do a whole bunch when you're double-teamed on both ends for the whole game. Credit Kansas for having the bodies to do it. Also, credit UNC coach Roy Williams for not having his team prepared, even remotely. It was 40-12 at one point in time in that game....this is the national semi-finals, here!

The Basketball Hall of Fame announced its nominees for induction yesterday, and I must say, I'm kind of surprised by one of the people that's going to go. Dick Vitale. Really? So, if I get on TV and rant and rave like a moron, kiss a couple of asses I could go in, too? I've never loved Dickie V, and now more than ever wish I had a different feed than his on ESPN telecasts. I think he's a horrible announcer, however, I will save him this; if he is to go in as a contributor to the game, I will have no issue with his induction whatsoever. I've seen him speak on TV, he's quite a motivator, he truly does care about the game.
As for some of the other inductees, Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing will go in together, and that seems about right, but I get this funny feeling that Ewing doesn't belong. Not sure why, maybe because I never saw him dominate, and in comparison to Olajuwon, it's not even close. Ewing doesn't have that one big moment, either. Not a definable play to his career, unless you count Jordan spinning baseline and dunking on him. In the case of Olajuwon, it was all about the abuse, at least as far as I'm concerned.
Congrats to Adrian Dantley for getting on the docket, he was one of the best undersized forwards we'll ever see. Not sure if he'd hold up in today's game, but who cares?

NFL rule changes-the hair issue got tabled. Thank God. No one cares. The best part was how many people screwed up the reason it got brought up. It was brought up by Carl Peterson, GM of the Kansas City Chiefs. Why? Because one of his players, Larry Johnson, got a personal foul called after tackling Pittsburgh Steeler S Troy Polamalu by his hair. What everyone keeps screwing up is that while the tackle was completely legal, the picking him up after the tackle by said mane isn't. The only rule change that I can seem to figure out is that from now on all facemask penalties will be 15 yards. There will be no more 5 yard incidental facemask penalty. Keep that in mind come September.

Sox Home Opener-Starts in a few minutes, and the rings are sweet..the bling's the thing!

Thuggets coaching and shot selection..it's a theme!! If anyone has watched the Denver Thuggets, you'll know how sorry they truly are. They couldn't stop a Special Olympic team from scoring. And yet, as I was reading my Sunday paper, some pundits think that Marcus Camby is a lock for Defensive Player of the Year. Did I miss something? Denver lost at home to Sacramento without Ron Artest or Brad Miller! Mikki Moore had like 30!!! And then the next night they lose to 17 win Seattle. Granted, Kevin Durant is a stud, but name 2 other players, quick! You can't. And yet, there coach George Karl stands there, arms folded over gut, smiling like an old guy with dementia at Chuck E. Cheese, just happy to be there. My complaint about shot selection isn't so much about the shot as it is who's taking the damn shot. Vs. Sacramento, Carmelo Anthony had 47 points, and was abusing people, so who took the last shot? JR Smith, who was shooting a whoppin' 1-8 from the field. Brilliant. Against Seattle, in a tie, who takes the potential winning shot? 'Melo or Iverson...nah, why would you want 2 guys in the top 10 in scoring the league to take that shot? Let Kenyon Martin take that 3, much better decision. I hope the Thuggets do make the playoffs, and then have to play the Lakers in the 1st round. It will be beyond comical to watch Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom tool on the Thugs. In case you're curious, I won't stop calling them that until both Smith and Martin are gone. They are nothing but cancers to the team and game of basketball.

I went to the Rockies home opener, but I've got a big complaint, and I'm not the only one out here in the Mile High City. Apparently, in order to bleed their new fans completely dry, the management of the Rockies decided this year that in order to buy opening day tickets, you'd also have to buy tickets to another game in the series over the weekend. What kind of jack is that? Not only did they pull that little stunt, they managed to spread out winning the 2007 NL Championship into a 3 day festival. Opening Day was player intros, Saturday was the unveiling of the NL Champ banner, God-Awful placement and all, and Sunday was the ring ceremony. Are you out of your minds? You know, people would've gone to watch baseball, you animals. Oh, and how come teams like the Red Sox can manage to do all of that, remember some members of the '04 Championship team and let Bill Buckner toss out the first pitch today???? Between the playoff ticket fiasco and this gem, no wonder people call you a second-rate organization.

Someone else thinks Barry Bonds needs to be playing baseball...like-now!

A quick shout out before I get to some news....I've recently found that Dunkin' Donuts coffee is being sold at Costco, and I have only one response after screaming out a glorious "Hell Yeah" -delicious. There is nothing better. Starbucks sucks donkey balls.

Now for some news:

A security guard in Wisconsin was fired from his job at Target after stopping a 16 year old girl from stealing Tequila. First, they sell booze at Target in Wisconsin?? Second, why did he get fired? Because he doesn't have the authority to stop someone from shoplifting. Uh, then what the hell is the point of having security there? Now I have yet another reason to not shop at the bullseye...dumbass corporate policy. Way to see the forest thru the trees, clowns.

In keeping up with politics, here's a group of people that deserve a slap. I could care less how much money oil and gas executives and companies make. What no one talks to these people about is profit margin.

Yet another story about a peaceful person that practices the religion of Islam. Yo, Cabbie...or not. I think I'd catch the next one, with the guy who has too many incense holders in his cab. You make the call, I'm all set.

And here's an unintended consequence to banning smoking. I love when the government tells us what we can and can't do. Just you wait until I get into office. A ton of restrictions on freedom of choice will be lifted, that I can assure you.

So, I've come across this story in various forms today, and it's all disturbing, to me at least. 8 teens are accused of attacking another girl. Now, I give credit where it is due. The girl who was attacked father has come out and said she wasn't perfect. Whatever the case, no one deserves this type of beating. What shocks me is she doesn't stand up for herself. I'm not sure if she's afraid of the group, but I don't think I'd take shot after shot, eventually I'd either leave or come out of the corner swinging. That's what I was taught. Have we made everyone soft in this country? This whole thing is a little disturbing, but no one deserves this, and I can only hope that the local DA throws all these clowns in jail. Of course, my favorite part is the parent of one of the supposed villians, "not my kid". Yes Bitch, your kid.

If I was this lady, I'd have a good mind to have a movie marathon every night over my apartment where all we ate was chili, baked beans and cheese. Of course, washing it down with cheap beer. Wasn't it Shakespeare that said, "first, kill all the lawyers"? I concur, William, I concur.

Hey Fatty, you're hurting the donkey!!! Okay, read this and don't laugh, I dare you.

That's all I've got today, enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!