Kansas: The Wizard Of WOW!! (and Some Shining Moments)

jaredprebish — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:02:09 -0700

Well.. I missed most of the game tonight (damn work got in the way!). I listened to a chunk of the last 8 minutes in the car on the radio. I about gave up when Memphis was up 9 and seemed poised. And yet... Did the missed free throws contribute? Of course. What about the point taken away from Memphis? Probably will be talked about. You have to admire the guts of the Jayhawks. Was it a Memphis choke or a Kansas rally? Yes. Choke may be too strong a term for Memphis; they just didn't finish. Too bad. Bill Sullivan-I laughed, because I didn't think you'd have a snowball's chance in hell to win the Nacha pool. You were right and I salute you! Congratulations to Kansas. John Calapari- You deserve a championship. Hopefully you get yours soon. An awesome way to end a super year! Not to steal from CBS, I have some Shining Moments of my own this year: -As a lot of people already know, I witnessed my first NCAA tournament game in person last month. The Duke-Belmont game was a topper this year; the pure excitment of (almost) seeing history made paid for the entire bill. -Tonight's game was as exciting a Finals game as there can be. Still doesn't top the 1985 Villanova victory, but it goes in my top three or four in my lifetime. -Western Kentucky's miracle three pointer to advance into the second round. -Penn State beating Indiana in March; I should have been there! -Geroge Mason qualifying for the NCAA's. I'm always thrilled when mrrs. jp23's school gets in. -Davidson coming this close to Madness history. The 2007-08 season will be remembered for so many things. Four #1 seeds in the Final Four, so many freshmen captured our imagination, Kelvin Sampson's phone issues. Who would ever think a college game can generate so much excitement? It's the reason I keep coming back. I look forward to next year. Happy offseason!!!

Saturday's Final Four Recap

jaredprebish — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 09:01:15 -0700

Wow...Memphis. I had a bad feeling as early as about six or seven minutes in. UCLA seemed out of sync after a couple of minutes. Memphis set an NCAA record for wins in a season with their 38th today. I wonder if UCLA set a record with three consecutive Final Fours without a championship?

Check out this song; maybe this could be the theme song for Memphis: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S43IFW/ref=dm_dp_trk8

And wow...the Kansas-UNC game was this close to a comeback of epic proportions. I was practically crapping myself and throwing tons of stuff at the new TV (not good). I found myself truly amazed how great Kansas looked in the beginning and equally as amazed how UNC came back.

From a picks/conest standpoint, I lost my winner, but did pick Kansas in the final. Here's the weird thing thing: In one pool, I'm actually winning, but if Kansas wins, I finish in second. In another where I think I still have a chance, Kansas needs to win. Hmmmm...may have to sit that one out. Since I had Kansas this far,I'd say right now-go Kansas.

One other non Final Four note: -As a follow-up to an earlier post that I wrote concerning coach Jim Larranaga, here's something John Feinstein wrote in Friday's Washington Post that I think should be read:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/03/AR2008040303579_3.html This is one of the best things I have seen from one of the best writers. Please take the time to read this. Our area in DC is truly blessed to have writers like Feinstein. Coaches- if I can reach out to you, I would send you this article. This definitely reinforces my feeling about how happy I am Larranaga is staying at George Mason. Sadly, we only have one more day of college basketball season left. I'll do some of my shining moments on Monday, sans soundtrack (but you'll visualize it, right??)

Final Four Preview and Random Notes

jaredprebish — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:36:58 -0700

For college basketball junkies, this weekend is the final fling in what has been a very exciting basketball season. Not since the NCAA started seeding close to thirty years ago, and certainly not since there was the expansion to 64 teams nearly twenty-five years ago, have we seen four #1 seeded teams in the Final Four. Is this the best Final Four ever? That's very debateable and perhaps a better analysis could be done after the last game is played. I did hear something extremely interesting yesterday morning on Mike and Mike In The Morning. They felt that the first round losers in the NCAA tournament should be allowed to play in the NIT tournament, thusly expanding that tournament to 64 teams. Is that overkill? Yes. But the big point made was that teams with really no chance of winning that first round game could have a better chance of continuing their season in another tournament. It may not hurt to try this a time or two to see. I bet it would work better than most might think. Quick Final Four Preview: I won't pontificate on all things Final Four; by now, everyone has heard all they want to hear. Two teams I had been touted as merely Elite Eight teams up until the brackets were released were North Carolina and Memphis. I actually picked UNC to reach the Final Four when I did all of my bracket contests (with one exception). I correctly picked three of the four; the lone mistake: Memphis. I just wasn't sold on a lot of things, especially the free throw shooting. They really have been more impressive than I ever gave them credit for, especially lately. It's very clear they are on a mission this year and their coach has them very well prepared. I picked UCLA to win it all and I'm not feeling great about it now. UCLA is in their third Final Four in a row, and they seem destined to win. It's going to be tough for them, but I still have to stick to my guns with UCLA. Besides, defense wins championships..... I started getting really impressed with UNC after their win against Duke. That could have been more about what Duke wasn't (and I had to see that until my trip to DC), rather than what UNC was. Then UNC won the ACC impressively and basically every game after that. Their "Super Bowl"...errr...Roy Williams bowl... is the Kansas game. Kansas is off the hump for finally meeting expections and getting to this point. Kansas (and UCLA) has been on my radar basically all year and I think they pull off a huge one tonight. I feel UNC is more favored than the oddsmakers say and I think, like UCLA, they surprise everyone. In the end, UCLA wins it all, which I think will be an accomplishment, considering who's in the Final Four this year. Importantly, I think it would be neat to win for their old Coach John Wooden. Other Notes: -I wanted to expand on an earlier post about George Mason coach Jim Larranaga and other coaching vacancies. This week, Coach L was courted heavily by his alma mater Providence College of the Big East. For some connected, this was no surprise. I was actually surprised he decided to stay. I'm glad he did, because I think it makes a statement on two fronts. One- a coach living to his contractual committment. I think that's very important in this day, where coaches leave without regard to their contracts. They are contracts for a reason, right? Two- it says to the student athletes that promises to them mean something. I think it also says that Mason believes in making college basketball a quality program with a quality guy for years to come. For more on this, check this out: http://gomason.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/040208aaa.html Indiana filled its vacancy by hiring away Marquette's Tom Crean. I guess i'm wondering in all of this is: How does Marquette feel? What do they get from Indiana? Does a contract mean anything? I know it's the nature of sport today, but still?? Anyway, I won't ruin Final Four Weekend by ranting about freshman leaving; that will come at another time. Enjoy the games! I will update later tonight.

Finally, We Have Four

jaredprebish — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 16:53:01 -0700

After 2 weeks of Madness, we now have what teams have been shooting for all season long: a trip to the Final Four. Today, sadly Texas got demolished. My hopes increased somewhat when Texas made a run early in the second half, but Memphis proved too strong. Was picking Texas misguided on my part? Probably...but...I'm not sure I'd do it differently. Memphis vs. UCLA should be very interesting. Kansas? They had a tougher game than anyone would have expected, and hung on. Of course there was significant history made this weekend: Four #1 seeds made it into the Final Four for the first time. Kudos to those who picked it right, as easy and bland as it seemed, it was finally correct this year. How about my picks? 43-17, 3 teams in the Final Four. I still have my champion in UCLA alive. Not a bad tournament; I could never pick four #1 seeds-there's always an upset, right? If I could do one thing over, it would be picking UNC in the final instead of Kansas. UNC could win this whole damn thing, they have looked so good. I'll weigh in on this at week's end. Even those on the campaign trail are into (sort of) their brackets. Check this out: http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/brackets-on-the-campaign-trail/?scp=2-b&sq=from+the+quad+obama&st=nyt So Obama, I want to know: You're in Latrobe, Pa. You're drinking Yuengling? Okay, Rolling Rock was sold and is no longer a Pennsylvania beer (technically). I love Yuengling, but you couldn't drink Iron City??? I wonder if this will be an issue to the voters of Pennsylvania

Now..Did Anyone Really Pick Davidson???

jaredprebish — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:26:56 -0700

I sure as hell did not; I only picked them to win in the first round. They are one win away from being the most improbable Final Four team since George Mason. Which team is (was) more surprising: Mason or Davidson? I say it's Mason and it's not even close. Mason was not supposed to be in the tournament, let alone beating the last two National Champions AND the best team in the nation to many, on the way to the Final Four. Mason even had a player who was suspended for a nut shot in their conference tournament. Davidson, no question, has been a surprise. But, they've beaten Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin. Hardly a trifecta of greatness, compared to Mason beating UNC, Michigan State and UConn. Davidson's road should end against Kansas. For shits and giggles, read this link: http://www.jaredsportsriff.com/2008/02/are-you-mocking-me.html Yeah, yeah, it's super lameo of me to post my own link. However, this prooves I was thinking about Davidson before most people paid the fare for the bandwagon. So there. Texas looks really tough and I truly think they can upset Memphis on Sunday. My bracket even says so. The Regional finals are each shaping up to be awesome, and I continue to stand by my Final Four picks: UNC, Kansas, Texas and UCLA. Isn't Baseball season about to start??

Thursday's Sweet Recap and More

jaredprebish — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:03:09 -0700

Okay...maybe I don't have a gaudy record in the Madness picks, but I have to say so far, I'm money when it counts. 4-0 yesterday; 37-15 overall. 7 of my Elite Eight are still alive (having lost Georgetown on Sunday), with Kansas, Texas and Memphis giving me hope tonight. I rarely ever have a complete Final Four, so I'm hoping nothing strange happens (knocking on wood right now). My Final Four and beyond are also still intact. Interestingly, one of the pools I have money in, I picked Louisville for shits and giggles in the Final Four, but everything else I have UNC. We'll see what happens. Louisville looked awesome in ripping apart Tennessee; will they enough left for UNC? UCLA had to (surprisingly) hang on, but on to a great match-up with Xavier. On paper, Saturday's Regional Finals look great and I'm looking forward. Today's battles? Not as compelling on paper as last night, but the favorites can't rest easy, especially Memphis and Kansas. Michigan State has been weird to me all year and are certainly capable of an upset. Wisconsin is doing what championship teams do: play defense. The game of the day: Texas-Stanford. Could we see a regulation game in the 100's for both? Potentially, I think so. Non Madness stuff: -Can Seth Greenberg now stop his belly aching about not making the NCAA's? Losing to Mississippi in the NIT quarters not exactly a way to think, maybe he was right. 14 losses this year; not really a great year in my book. -It's still interesting to me seeing all the anti Duke stuff. Some people haven compared them to the Yankees. I think that's pushing it, but is all the bashing truly fair?. Why is Carolina treated more harshly? They have, to me, a much longer and deeper pedigree. Could it be public vs. private (school)? I've had a great degree of respect for Duke over the years, plus their basketball program has been clean (not saying UNC isn't) and their coach is the best. Maybe it's the perception of entitlement... -So now San Francisco wants to pretend Barry Bonds* didn't exist? Apparently, his images have been removed from San Francisco's ball park. So one puts in 15 years, and this is what he gets? I HATE Bonds, but is this right? I will post Friday's recap later on tonight. A Baseball preview will hopefully be coming very soon...

Generation X

jaredprebish — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:23:32 -0700

No...not the Billy Idol band from way back..and not...Xavier McDaniel...not Degeneration X. The Muskateers from Xavier gutted out a tough one tonight...finally eliminating the Couch Burners from the Dance. I missed most of the game due to work, but because of the beauty of CBS online, I got to glance at pieces of the end. Is it just me, or is the NCAA becoming a lot like the NBA? I mean, teams are blowing big time leads in their games (Xavier blew an 18 point lead, Georgetown a 17 point lead and others...). It goes to show, you better show up and play 40 minutes (and make your free throws). Jared's X Factor?? For regular readers of this blog, I've been mentioning Xavier as an Elite Eight candidate for weeks. Now that I'm actually right about something..... Could UNC make the Final Four?? They look so much better than I thought they would. Whoever they play Saturday...look out! Other musings: -As a lot of my peeps know, I HATE Shaq, the most over-rated piece of Crap in team sports today. Now him and Pat Riley are feuding. Maybe (I hate to say this) Kobe was right. -What to make of Jose Canseco? Should his book (due out April 1st) be taken seriously this time? Given what's happened in baseball.... -I hear ESPN Gameday will be present at Florida's spring football game. Who does Lee Corso put on his head: Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer? -Wow....UCLA is just killing Western Kentucky. I still stand by my prediction of UCLA winning it all. -Why are the Dallas Cowboys pursuing Pacman?? Is Michael Irvin going to counsel him?? Well...it's another day for a White Wedding.....

March Madness: Recap Of The First Two Rounds

jaredprebish — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 10:14:09 -0700

Well, after weeks of build-up, the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament are finally over. This year was certainly one of the more interesting years, especially if you were in Tampa. Tampa was the one Regional where not only all upsets occurred, but they were all double digit teams! Truly remarkable and these teams should be applauded. Before I give a recap, let's update the last set of games: -There might actually be something to this free throw thing. If Memphis makes free throws, we don't have a nail biter/potential overtime game. The name of the game is winning and Memphis did what they needed to. Me thinks they should be practicing free throws if they are part of this conversation next week. -UNC and Louisville win very easy games and move on. Their Sweet Sixteen matchup should be awesome! Jared's Second Round record: 10-6 for the round; 33-15 overal. First Two Round Recap: -For those down on picking any #12 seeds to move on, we have two: Villanova and Western Kentucky. We nearly saw a #15 beat a #2 (It's Belmont, for those who haven't heard of them); we saw two #13 seeds win their first games. We have a #10 in Davidson moving on, in addition to all of the #1 seeds. -Lower seeded teams were 3-13 today and 11-37 so far. -How about the teams that were questionable (in my mind) for even being in the tournament? Arizona: Lost in the first round to a very tough West Virginia team that I think is under-rated. Villanova: Proved doubters like me very wrong. Cinderella in seeding, but I don't feel they are in the strictest sense. This is a solid team and could make Kansas sweat. Kentucky: Probably didn't deserve to be in and their performance showed. St. Joseph's: Very iffy to be in and played Oklahoma tough. -Teams that impressed: Davidson: Came back from big deficits in both games and proved doubters that they could beat a non SoCo team. Georgia: Yes, they lost their first game, but they played hard and they played with passion. Impressive to me considering what they had to do to get in the Tournament. West Virginia: God I hate to say it, but they played good and tough. Their style could be very indictative of a style you might see from teams down the road. Michigan State: They are playing well at exactly the right time. I didn't expect this considering how inconsistent they were, but they they could give Memphis trouble. Wisconsin: I think a lot of people would have wanted to see somebody with a super frosh in this slot, but Wisconsin dispatched both USC and K-State rather easily. Their matchup with Davidson will be a great one. Butler: They played big, even in defeat. I think they are now becoming the next Gonzaga, where being ranked with the big boys will no longer be surprising. -Teams that Dissappointed: Vanderbilt: I don't think a lot of people were surprised they lost; it was the manner that they lost. They got destroyed. Duke: They really should have lost the first game, then got dominated in the second half on Saturday. They really should consider a style change. They will continue to lose like this if they don't. Georgetown: Something has seemed off most of the year and they could not close out Davidson. It's too bad, because they were capable of surprising Kansas if it got that far and I don't see them being this good next year. Indiana: They played liked they didn't belong or wanted to be here. Which is too bad, because there were schools snubbed that would have killed to be in the Dance. USC: I expected more, as did most people. Now the question is whether they get here next year without OJ Mayo I will finally take a break from college basketball for a few days and start on the the next thing I hold precious: Baseball. The season starts this week unbelievably and I will devote some posts to that. I will do a preview of the Sweet Sixteen later this week. One last thing: Andy Rooney is still alive???

Easter Basket Goodies-Sunday Madness Update

jaredprebish — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:31:19 -0700

This is one of those weird years where Easter is not only early this year, but it's during the first weekend of March Madness. I don't personally celebrate Easter, so that will allow me plenty of free time to comment on today's games. But first, check out the following: look at the photo; maybe one of the fallen teams could have used the inside presence. http://www.nytimes.com /2008/03/23/sports/basketball/23world.html I also found this comment interesting from the Washington Post's Sports Week Talkback section today: "Did you notice on the selection show and all subsequent interviews that committee chairman Tom O'Connor referred to the NCAAs as the "tournament" and not the "championship." Is he conceding that March Madness does not identify the best team in college basketball but merely the team who wins the season-ending tournament? Maybe the BCS actually does have it right. " Interesting point. Although I will argue until my death that the BCS is the worst thing ever and NCAA Division I Football needs a tournament. -Also from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/22/AR2008032202502.html Read the part reagarding speculation on George Mason coach Jim Larranaga, a Providence alum. I have already commented on this and will do so again. I think on the surface, Mason is the place for Larranaga to be and he seems one of those rare coaches whose word you actually believe. However, how many times have we heard coaches say how much they're not going anywhere, then BOOM!, they're gone. The cynic in me says George Mason fans should be nervous. Providence hasn't been a factor in the Big East for a while. But it is the Big East, it is Larranaga's alma mater and while I hope it doesn't happen, I will not be surprised if it does. Check out more comments on this topic @ http://www.caazone.com/. http://www.caazone.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=77736 Update#1: -This year's George Mason, as the cliche goes, is Davidson. Is it just me, or is that these NCAA games are becoming like the NBA? Georgetown blows a 17 point lead.... It happened in Friday's Western Kentucky game and it's happened in many others. -Tennessee also blew their game, but was able to pull an OT win over frisky Butler. -Texas nearly blew a 17 point lead, but held on. I'm getting too old for these nail biters. -Today's lucky number is: 12. Villanova and Western Kentucky both won their games and move on. The Georgetown game is definitely a bracket (ball??) buster. Georgetown is the first Elite Eight team that I've lost. The record for today: 2-3. I will do a complete wrap-up later on tonight.

Saturday's March Madness Recap and Sunday's Preview

jaredprebish — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:33:06 -0700

Is anybody worn out yet from the Madness? I'm getting there as the long days and the short nights of sleep are finally taking a toll. I will say the experience of watching the tournament in person is certainly something else and I hope the opportunity is there again. The atmosphere for the Duke-West Virginia game today was crazy-even louder than Thursday night's Duke-Belmont game. The WVU fans must have put away their moonshining as many fans came out of the woodwork (literally) for their big trip to the city. The basketball team didn't disappoint, beating a very ordinary Duke team and punching a ticket to the Sweet Sixteen. We missed the beginning in person, as the gridlock entering the Verizon Center was typical DC (it didn't help that we spent some extra time at Bar Louie nearby, which I strongly suggest as not only a pre- game destination, but an all occasion destination). The Xavier-Purdue game wasn't bad either, but the week had finally caught up and we departed early. The day was fairly entertaining and interesting. The thing about seeing the Madness in person is that you miss some of the day's events. Like the Stanford coach getting tossed; lucky for them, they won hard fought and (in)tense game with Marquette. The Lopez twins are really something else; they really could make Stanford a factor next week. There was no luck of the Irish today; they were manhandled by Washington State. Wisconsin also proved itself a team to look for in beating Kansas State, rendering frosh phenom Michael Beasley practically null and void (Lloyd Lloyd, null and void)-at least that's what the announcers were able to tell us on the way home from DC. Kansas did their thing in handling UNLV; a cinderella will await them. Never a trust a rival to do your dirty work (Pitt; Shit on Pitt was the rally call back in the good 'ole days of the Penn State-Pitt rivalry); Michigan State goes on to beat Pitt. As regular readers should know, Michigan State has been one of those teams I haven't been able to figure out. Should it be surprise that they're now in the Sweet Sixteen? No; I think they're Four Four good. But-I would not have been surprised to see them tank in the first round. Michigan State lost to Penn State this year. The night probably ended as it should have. My football adage goes: Offense puts fannies in the seats; Defense wins championships. UCLA uses their strong defense to pull out a tougher than expected win against Texas A&M. How many of you almost had a heart attack? This could have been a bracket busting disaster How did Jared fare today? Not great: I picked only 5 out of 8 correctly: UCLA, Xavier, Wisconsin, Kansas and Stanford. At least my Champ and Final Four are still intact. Overall record: 28-12. Some other observations: -I'm starting to wonder about the so-called invincability of the Duke legend. They looked ordinary as the season wrapped up and bad in the tournament. They were very lucky to escape Belmont and looked pathetic for almost all of the second half today. -Celebrity watches this week: We obviously saw a very involved Vince Gill with the Belmont bretheren on Thursday; I totally missed Baltimore Ravens exec Ozzie Newsome walk by us today and John Feinstein was doing his thing on the floor and in the press area. -Lower Seeded teams were 8-24 after the first round. Today, they were just 2-6. Sunday's preview: What will the Easter Bunny bring us? Maybe the appropriate theme should be: The day for the Underdog. We're assured of at least two #12 or #13 teams in the Sweet Sixteen. I think they will be Villanova and Western Kentucky. Hopefully, the theme does not get fully realized. Will teams like Arkansas, Oklahoma, Butler, Davidson, Mississippi State, and Miami have glass slippers in their baskets tomorrow? Hopefully teams like Tennessee will not Volunteer those slippers. Maybe my Hoya Paranoia will not be realized. In Texas everything is big; certainly a big basketful of points will be in store for the Longhorns tomorrow. Louisville will Sooner want to win than later laying an easter egg of defeat. I think UNC will "hog" their Easter basket instead of sharing it with Arkansas. Will Memphis be dogged by Mississippi State? If they make their free throws in the basket, they won't. Enough cheesy Easter references; I might be like the Stanford coach and receive two technicals and be ejected for the rest of the weekend Madness!! If I'm able to stay in the game, I will give live updates and commentary throughout the day tomorrow. Good Night!