February Madness

Great news! I have purchased my new computer, finally subscribed to the internet, and best of all....my new computer came with a new keyboard which means I have the letter "m" at my disposal now unlike in the past. Two things will come of this. The first is that I will start writing more frequently which hopefully will spurn Dawson to write more as well. Second, my articles will be somewhat more coherent and slightly better grammatically. There will still be errors that you are going to have to deal with because I am quite lazy when it comes to proofreading. You are just going to have to deal with it.

The other great news is that I will start to diverge from football only articles. You understand though why we were writing about only football as we were in the middle of the playoffs and football is a kickass sport. So, I figured today would be the perfect day to diverge into something else as mine and Dawson's alma mater (although he may not readily admit it), Boston College is hosting the North Carolina tar heels tonight in Chestnut Hill. Along with that, the College Gameday crew is on location in the raucous Conte Forum. I was able to catch some of the broadcast and was mildly impressed with the energy of our crowd. After watching the embarrasing performance that the students put up at the Duke game on Wednesday, I was skeptical. The hosts were feeling it though, probably because Flutie Flakes himself showed up to steal the spotlight once again. I have to laugh because once Flutie knew he was retiring over a year ago, he began showing up to the gym to play pickup basketball with regular (although incredible) student basketball players like myself. He almost always ended up on the skins team too, I have to believe that this was not a coincidence as he was more worried about running up and down the court flexing his abdominals. Do I think Flutie is overrated? No, not really, he just needs to pull a Joe Montana and disappear from the public eye for awhile. I like his school spirit though, so I will tolerate it.

I don't want to make this purely a Boston College article or even about tonight's game, but I will start my college basketball introduction by discussing tonight's game. I honestly can't see us winning the game tonight. For whatever reason we swept UNC last year and handily at that. So we may match up well with the Heels. I just can't shake the Duke game though. Coach K was able to expose our flaws with his gameplan, flaws that are much exaggerated following the release from the team of big man Akida McClain and more importantly the best shot blocker in the country Sean Williams. The guy has ridiculous hops for a guy that is 6'11, something that leads me to believe he will still be drafted. At first glance on tonight's game, your immediate thought would be that BC matches up horribly with UNC. UNC is known for the fast-tempo pushing attack. Why is this not really a factor though? The reason is that Al Skinner is actually excellent at insuring that the tempo of a game is slowed to the pace he likes. Certainly Skinner's best quality as a coach, BC has won many of a game since I have been watching by making teams play at a pace that they don't want to. This could explain why the Eagles had success against North Carolina last year. That said, I think ol Roy is going to take a page from Coach K and make sure that the rest of the team outside of studly Jared Dudley beats them. While we are not bereft of other options, by taking Dudley out of the game, the Blue Devils forced guys like John Oates to decide that he was going to launch trey bombs the entire first half. Even more disgraceful then that shot selection, was John Oates's defense. Quite pathetic, I have not seen someone at the college level fail to show on a screen as poorly as he did the other day. I think the crowd will also tire by the end of the first half like they did Wednesday when most of their buzzes wore off. I hate to be giving the fans a hard time, but we are new to this good college basketball program thing and have a lot of learning to do. I mean most of these kids in the past had spent their Friday nights watching grown men slide around on ice skates and try and play soccer with a stick. It would be an understatement to say that that sort of thing fails to enthuse me. BC will make it close though, but I see North Carolina pulling this out with their superior athleticism. And no I am not talking about Tyler Hansborough.

So who do I like this year in college basketball? I don't know if it's me or just the quality right now, but this season and last I have failed to get really excited about a team. Two years ago I was in love with Illinois' guard play and decided in November that they were going to win the National Championship. While they didn't quite do it, they gave us one of the more memorable college hoops seasons in my lifetime and played an exciting brand of ball. That Illinois Arizona game in the tourney had to be one of the best college games in the past ten years. As for this year, I really like Wisconsin but can't really see them winning the whole thing. They have good size and Alando Tucker is a monster. They also have in my view one of the best coaches in the game. Any guy that takes that program to its current level should be viewed better than he is. People don't realize quite how good the Wisconsin program has been. I don't really feel like looking up specifics, but they have been at or near the top of the Big Ten the past 5-7 years. Florida certainnly has the talent to repeat, but I don't see that happening either. It's too difficult in this day in age to repeat largely because its a one and done format in the tournament. Anything can happen, anything will happen. That's why the best college basketball minds probably never win their office pools, but consistently finish near the top. I am a big fan of UCLA because of Ben Howland and not their players. I think they will go as far as he can coach them. Without Jordan Farmar at the helm too, they will be significantly weaker in the tournament. Point guard play is enormous in the tournament.

At this juncture I want to let you all in on a secret. It's called the Izzo theorem and ever since I dreamed it up it has been remarkably perfect. Again, I am too lazy to identify proof, so you are just going to have to take my word for it and get confirmation from Dawson that it works. I mean most of my friends didn't want to believe in it and have been burned. I think Dawson himself was the first to truly benefit from the Izzo theorem. The Izzo theorem states that a Michigan State team coached by Tom Izzo will perform differently in the tournament every other year. In Year A, the Izzo coached team will enter with high expectations and subsequently be bounced in the first round. Then the following year in year B, the team will come in with low expectations partially because of their choke job the prior year and make a run to at least the Elite 8. It has been gold for at least 4-5 years that I can remember now and was absolutely verified last year when the Michigan State Spartans were set to face George Mason in the first round. I declared that Michigan St would lose, yet I didn't even pick that for myself because of suspension to that guy that nut-tapped the player in their conference tournament. Dawson was a believer though after watching my theory develop. He was the only person in our pool to take George Mason, and he therefore made in my opinion the best pick of the tournament. So what happens this year? Well Michigan St has no expectations exactly as the Izzo Theorem states. You heard it here first, Spartans in the Elite 8. It sounds more ridiculous this year than ever, but thats just been how it is, more and more ridiculous every year.

So who do I really like in college. Honestly, I think its the Big 12's year to finally break through. As a big Missouri Tigers fan it pains me to say this but I think the Jayhawks of Kansas are really dangerous. I was watching rock chalk the other day and I think I witnessed the light turn on for Brandon Rush as to how he should be the best player on the court at all times. He can do a little bit of everything, big guy that can shoot, drive, post. He is going to be dangerous in the tournament. The Kansas supporting cast is also dynamite, Julian Wright is huge and Chalmers is an oustanding defender. All things that matter in the tourney. I am still not sold on Bill Self, but the Jayhawks have disappointed their fans the past few years and this could be the year for them, followed by the inevitable departure of all of their players to the league. If it's not going to be Kansas, then I am going to go with Texas. Rick Barnes has been pushing the envelope for the Big 12 and he finally has a star in Durant. He knows this is his one shot as Durant will amost certainly be declaring for the draft. His kind of dominance is what can carry a team.

In summary, I like Kansas to win the whole deal at this point. Until I see something that dictates otherwise thats what I am going to put on the record. As for Boston College, I honestly think we will make a run as we certainly will never be this good again for awhile losing Jared Dudley. I hope for my sanity that we make some sort of run because as you know my teams are miserable and disappointing. I'm not quite prepared to talk about Keith Foulke's retirement yet, so that will come in my Indians preview. If you want a major first round sleeper pick who will probably ending up being the trendy sleeper because of stupid ESPN's over-coverage, I am going to go with Winthrop and get it on the record before everyone else. After watching Winthrop dismantle one of my favorites in Missouri St. on the road last night, I liked what I saw. I can't remember the guy's name, but what I do remember is that he didn't miss a shot. Those are the guys that bury the heavy favorites come tourney time. Start checking back for more now that I have a serviceable (actually its amazing) computer.

Conference Championships

Like any one else, I have a couple thoughts about last weekend's games before I want to delve into the Conference Championships. Most of the talk has been about the Chargers/Pats game, and rightfully so: it was the most entertaining, had the most "what if?" moments, added proof to two legacies (Marty not able winning the big one, Brady and Belichick being spectacular when it matters), was the easiest to criticize (particularly LT's lack of involvement and Marty's questionable decisions)... the list goes on (although I'm still not sure why Philip Rivers hasn't been talked about more, especially for that horrendous pick he threw in Pats' territory on 2nd and 1). Anyway, I just have a few brief thoughts about the other games of the week:

• As an Eagles' fan, I was impressed at how well they stood up to the Saints and how close they made that game, but then I realized something: Jeff Garcia essentially cancelled out All-Pro Drew Brees, and Philly still lost. I wasn't expecting them to win, but if someone told me Garcia would have almost identical numbers as Brees, I would've assumed Philly would be playing for a trip to the Super Bowl. Anyway, they lost the game not because of Reid deciding to punt (any one who's ever played Madden knew that was a bad plan) but because of their run defense, and it's a shame because what has Philly invested in more than their d-line? In recent years they've spent 3 first round picks (McDougle, Bunkley, Patterson) and, despite their tendency not to spend money, 2 of their 3 biggest free agent signings were defensive linemen (Kearse and Howard). Whether it's injuries or underachievers, they never were able to put a solid group together all year, and it's a shame because that was supposed to be their strong point. They couldn't get any penetration to stop Deuce and they couldn't come near Brees. I don't mind Philly losing if their weaknesses (which they have plenty of) were exploited, but when your alleged strength holds you back, it's depressing, it's pathetic... it's Philadelphia
• Marty Schottenheimer has been the coach most under fire this week, but Brian Billick was equally awful. How do they only run 20 times against the Colts (only 13 going to their primary running back) in a game that was close throughout? Remember when this guy was an offensive genius? Neither do I. And wasn't Steve McNair brought in to win games exactly like this? Talk about your all time backfires.
• I didn't see most of the Seahawks/Bears game so I don't want to say anything stupid, but I do find it funny that people refuse to admit Matt Hasselbeck is a bad quarterback. Forget that he was in the Super Bowl last year. He's not accurate and makes some awful decisions. People will learn soon enough.

Now that I'm done with that, on to the Conference Championships. I just want to preface this by saying these games are very, very hard to pick.

Saints (+2.5) over Bears

Here, we have a dome team travelling to Chicago in January, something that's typically a red flag when it comes to making picks. On the other hand, every one and their mother seems to be picking the Saints, another red flag because typically when there's almost a universally accepted pick, it turns out to be wrong. Both seem to point to picking Chicago, but if I learned anything from the Chargers/Pats game, it reinforced the fact that this is a qb/coach league, so I'll just look at the game from an analytical, logical standpoint and ignore both rules. Anyway, I see the Bears as having an overrated defense, particularly against the pass (remember how they lost in the playoffs last year?). I think Brees can pick them apart all day. Plus, without Tommie Harris, they're gonna have a very, very hard time stuffing a powerful back like Deuce. I don't think Rex will be the downfall of the Bears (he should do ok), I just feel that defense isn't historically good like we all thought it was around week 8. In fact, it's pretty average and can't compensate for an "ok" qb, and that's not enough against the Saints.

Colts (-3) over Patriots

On one hand, we know the Colts have crushed the Pats the last two years in Foxboro. On the other hand, we know Peyton Manning struggles in January and Tom Brady is essentially untouchable (although an interesting stat on Sportscenter showed that Manning has slightly better, albeit still unimpressive, 4th quarter playoff numbers than Brady since 2001, so let's stop deifying Brady and condemning Manning for their big moment performances). On one hand, the Colts are undefeated at home this year. On the other hand, Brady has never lost in a dome. Since all that cancels out, I'm picking the Colts based on one thing: speed. The Patriots struggle against fast defenses. Why? A couple reasons. First off, the quick linebackers on those teams can defend tight ends, so there are no mismatches forced (either a slow linebacker who can't play pass coverage, or forcing opposing teams to play nickel and dime to defend the pass, leaving them vulnerable to Dillon and Maroney). Secondly, the Patriots have no playmakers at their skill positions to make big plays against quick teams, so poor Brady tries to do too much and ends up making some awful mistakes. Some of those picks he threw against the Colts this year were balls he never would have thrown if he had any receivers he could trust to turn a 8 yard slant into a 25 yard gain, but he knew they needed points because they couldn't stop the Colts and he took it upon himself. That's why Denver and Indy have had success against them over the last 2 years, and why the Chargers made Brady look pretty average last week. The Patriots also have one of the slowest defenses in the league, and that doesn't match up well against the Colts in a dome. Too many playmakers in my mind, so I'm going with Indy. And on a side note, how are people tired of Pats/Colts? I know it's overexposed, but isn't it a great story? Can Manning win the big one and go down as one of the greatest qbs of all time, or is he only a great statistical qb? How far can the Brady/Belichick legend go with a team that, in my mind, is actually in a rebuilding stage? How does that not interest football fans? I thought rivalries are what sports are built on. What's a better rivalry than this in the NFL?

Well, you have my picks. Use them wisely and enjoy the games.