What I Learned Last Night...

Ayinde Ubaka probably has a very satisfied girlfriend...


Even in a Double Overtime Conference Tournament Quarterfinal involving a "bubble team", the words Inappropriate Sexual Relationship will get my attention...

Very rarely does a commentator broadcasting a game say any team involved in said game does NOT belong in the tournament (West Virginia) or deserve a #1 seed (UCLA)...

Two people do NOT want to see Syracuse in the tournament:

ESPN Announcer Doug Gottlieb and Paul Amin

Before West Virginia's loss to Louisville both said that they wouldn't be surprised if Syracuse was out of the NCAA Tournament.

Even though both had Syracuse in the tournament either if it beat Connecticut (in Gottlieb's case) or regardless.

While Paul's agenda is simply being a provocative contrarian, something he's great at. Gottlieb has another agenda...

In 1995 Gottlieb was a prized recruit out of California. He played for Notre Dame and started at Point Guard. However during the 1995-96 season he was booted from the team for stealing his roommate's credit card and charged over $900 fraudulently. He later transferred to Oklahoma State.

As an announcer for ESPN, Gottlieb cited Syracuse's weak pre-conference schedule. Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim rebutted by
bringing up the scandal.

This spawned a feud that is not resolved and both sides refuse to discuss publicly.

Take anything Doug Gottlieb says about Syracuse with a grain of salt.

SU-Notre Dame Chit-Chat Transcript

(This is the e-mail banter during Syracuse's Quarterfinal matchup with Notre Dame transcribed. Unlike yesterday's transcript, read this from top to bottom)

DG: We ready boys???

DL: Are we set for a 2:35pm tipoff? Does Billy like/dislike the orange uniforms?

SI: Terrence Roberts still sucks I'm wearing orange at work

DG: Im not....you are all gay

SI: Tim Higgins is YOUR ruferee

DL: Worst ref in all of college basketball, yet gets invited to do every tournament. Put him up there with Joe West, Dick Bavetta, and those clowns that reffed the Steelers-Seahawks Super Bowl

MF: He is playing on a bad knee.

SI: Coach, stop pulling a Pete Mason. If his knee is hurt, sit him down!

DG: Not sure the 2-3 zone is gonna be good versus ND's good shooters...

DL: Birthdays of the Month at 3pm in my office. You gotta be shitting me!

DG: We're watching ESPN360 at work. We signed out the projector and we watching the game in my office....hahahha. So productive today



BP: I just took a bite of a pretzel.It was crunchy.Now I'm typing and chewing.
My butt itches. I wonder if Dan or Scott can scratch it. I bet Mike borrowed Stacey's orange shoes.Why is the sky blue?

DG: Look out! Look out! The ceiling is falling....

SI: I hate how Digger's tie always matches his highlighter That is gay

BB: SU 22 - ND 16, Harris just plowed over a defender and got called for a charge....

DG: Can anyone else picture derek sitting in a conference room eating cake while wearing a paper birthday hat?

SI: Derek, there is a Buffalo Wild Wings in Milford CT
2 hours and fifteen minutes from my house 26-16 Rautins to Roberts... he makes it the second time... ass clown

DG: Harris is having a decent first half Watkins always looks goofy to me.
Roberts is definitely in pain while he's playing. How's that pretzel Billy?

PA: the orange unis do not look good...but that has to do with the color...too bright
Jay Bilas made a Ron Burgundy reference Raf told him to stay classy im going back downstairs those of you watching should keep scores coming for those who aren't
Haskins if they aren't servicing you, just text me

SI: Great, let them take the lead why don't you 29-28 DAME

BB: MAKE A LAYUP EMINEMDORF!!

DG: Does Roberts have a tattoo on his arm for every free throw he misses?

SI: Big Nickel is MONEY

BB: Is this the same team that put up over 100 on us?? Halftime, SU 34 - ND 32

JH: Roberts just made two sick Magic-esque passes to Watkins and he blew the dunk. Big doofus looking guy.

JH: Ass-whooping has begun. Notre Dame is raining threes like Dan likes it when its raining men - All over the place. ND up 49-42.

BB: Nichols 3!!! ND 51 SU 45... Devendorf 3!!! ND 51 SU 48 13:21 to go..

DL: Went from 34-32 to 51-48 in three e-mails. Crazy!

JH: Notre Dame is chucking it up like Anton in the backyard of 920. Grab a damn rebound. 59-53 ND 11:35 to go

JH: Well, its worse now. Good thing we are staying in the zone. 65-57 ND. 8:57 left

JH: Good thing Roberts keeps posting up and getting fouled since he's money from the line. Notre Dame still up by six.

DL: When Josh says "Good Thing", he means bad thing.

JH: We took a huge smelly crap in our pants today boys.

BP: 76-70 2:38 left

JH: I like that Devendorf is at least looking to hit people since the Orange CAN'T HIT A DAMN FOUL SHOT! 11-24. That's crap.

SI: I have to work for an hour and this is what happens. FUCK YOU DEVENDORF!

BP: we're down 8, Nichols got fouled on a 3 with 1:05 left

BP: Down 4 with 46 sec left. ND ball. Time out.

BP: down 4 36.0 left

SI: We lost 89-83

BP: 89-83 bad guys

DL: The dynasty is over. Now hopefully SU (my pants are clean, no smelly crap taken here), can rest their legs and get out of the First Round of the NCAA's.

PA: played well: devendorf, Harris, Roberts
played poorly: Watkins, Nichols, Rautins

go back and look at Rautins game log in the past 10 games or so hes feast or famine
when he plays well they win, plays poorly they lose

mark my words
if WVa beats Louisville that knocks SU into the NIT

SU-UConn Chat Transcript

(Below is everyone's e-mails watching yesterday's Syracuse win over Connecticut in the First Round of the Big East Tournament. The e-mails have been transcribed to look like a chat session, which is pretty much what they were. Read from the bottom up.)

PA: I thought Beers was making millions off freesuri.com

SI: Beers, better buy up collegesportsbitchfest.com

PA: great second half by the Orange
they stopped turning it over which ended the fast breaking
the refs stopped calling fouls...no it was tim riggins...it was jim burr
tough game against ND...if they are on shooting our zone will get killed
I think our players ordered a size up in the new jerseys because they didnt look that tight
didnt look like wife beaters, more like sleeveless Ts
Derek is so upset that no one except me reads his blog
there is a Buffalo Wild Wings in a subway station in Brooklyn
SU is still on the bubble but looking pretty good

BB: By the way... This has spawned off a fantastic web site idea in my head... If only I could follow through on these things :(

DL: This was fun…let's do it again tomorrow!

DG: Btw, I cant wait to see the first fat kid in one of those new uniforms.
Baggy shorts and wife beaters is very futuristic...

JH: How is Rautins a horrible free throw shooter? He's white! Our foul shooting is awful. So awful.

SI: We'll take it. Bring on Digger's Dykes.

DG: horrible line for rautins 4 fouls 7 points 3 rebounds 0 assists.

DL: He's playing with four fouls. How does a scrawny little white kid get called for four fouls?

DG: Rautins cant hit a layup...horrible

DL: I believe tomorrow is 2pm tipoff also?

SI: Big Nickel with the trey! 75-60 cuse 3:08 left

JH: 4 minuets left, up by 16

SI: Where are the obligatory Leo Rautins crowd shots

DG: thanks josh. didnt know aboutthat

JH: I'm watching on Espn 360 off espn.com. 61-48 SU

DG: Jesus christ. I wish I had a tv at work

DG: There's still 10 minutes left and SU hasnt going into there prevent offense yet.

SI: Is that tomorrow? For shizzle

BB: glad to be wrong with my pick here.. Orange day wouldn't be the same tomorrow if they were already on a bus back to South Campus.

EW: Syracuse pulling away up 11

JH: Nichols with a 3. Up by 11.

SI: More importantly, instead of the Big Check... should we order a
championship ring for Josh?

SI: Look at that homo dressed up like a Husky. What a douche.

DG: Josh is gay....email of the year

SI: I'm surprised there haven't been any Beat Thabeet jokes.

BP: Rautins made and 3 and Jay Bilas just said, "Wow, it doesn't take long for him to squeeze on off does it?"

JH: Wow. You guys are tiring. I think "I love wings...." could be nominated
for the email of the year. 45-43 SU up

DG: I love wings....

DL: http://thepizzaparlor.blogspot.com/2007/01/ohio-state-weekend-blog-b-dubs.html

DL: Does anyone even read my blog anymore?

EW: I have seen those places in Buffalo !!!

SI: Where can I find one of these Buffalo Wild Wings places? Looks like
the kind of place Derek and I could go nuts in.

BP: 45-40 SU on top

DG: We are going to get josh anal beads instead of a championship ring.

MF: Is Bill watching AMC?

JH: Devendorf is down. 53-45 SU

BB: Syracuse looks asleep...............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..................Here is why I am worried about our Big East draw:Team Rebounds Rankings:1) UConn
2) Syracuse 3) Notre Dame Gulp....

SI: OK, I'm watching now. I assume we've played down to the level of our competition for a half, gotten some bad calls, and Devendorf has 20 turnovers. That about right?

BP: 38-36 UConn at the half

MF: So many fouls.I think they may ask me to start the second half.

BP: 32-31 UConn w/ 3:40 left

PA: it's a miracle we're only down four at this point
they are playing very poorly
Raftery just said theyre gonna give Harris a blow
EZ chuckled
im going downstairs to watch the rest
enough of the rest of you are watching to keep haskins informed

BP: One Gerry McNamara reference down in the BE Tourny... 2,465,367 to go. STILL OVERRATED!

EW: Currently in montage of G-mac last year.

MF:We are in major foul trouble.Did Harris hit a jumper this year?I think I have a better shot than him.
PA: foul trouble Roberts has 2 Watkins has 2 Devendorf has 2 Matt Gorman is playing the middle of the zone we're about to enter a stretch where every UConn possession is missed shot, missed tip, good follow the great Boeheim plays only 6 guys all year
SU has no bench can't wait to hear him bitching about the selection committee on Sunday

DL: Mike likes them and thinks Terrance Roberts looks sexy in his.


PA: Jay Bilas called Andy Rautins a savvy defender
Bill loves court savvy

EW: The uni’s are GAY!!!!! When was silver a team color?

PA: Bill is wrong the new uniforms do look nice much better than the picture SU hates guarding jump shooters rautins chucked up a horrible 3 and fell on his ass UConn leads 8-5

MF: Rautins missed two threes by a mile. Watkins may be the difference maker if he can control the boards.

EW: We are currently in a commercial break – allstate insurance

BP: I'm changing my mind, they don't look good. They're too tight compared to the bagggy shorts. Looks like they're wearing wife beaters. UConn up 3-0

BP: Uniformed don't look bad, they're cool actually. They're not the underarmour tight shirts they were made out to be

MF: Nova wins 75 - 67.

BP: Exactly!

DL: In the tradition of Myron Cope, Tom Heinson, and John Sterling. Mike is our lovable homer.

EW: That’s what I like to see

MF: SU runs the table.

Big East Tournament

The Big East Tournament starts at Noon today. I was all set to call this tournament the "Carrier Classic", naming it after the December cupcake tournament Syracuse held every year in the Carrier Dome. Syracuse won this tournament every year Earl Boykins didn't play in it.

Two years in a row Syracuse has won this tournament winning four games in four days. Two years in a row Syracuse has had no legs left for its NCAA First Round game and lost.

By calling the tournament the "Carrier Classic", I was hoping to jinx Syracuse and reverse this trend.

The problem is, Syracuse must win at least today to ensure a birth in the NCAA's in case more Wright States happen across the country.

A loss to Connecticut this afternoon would probably put Syracuse on either CBS or ESPN's broadcast watching nervously.

Sad thing is I picked UConn to make a little noise in this tournament. So my picks in the Big East Tournament are:

Villanova over DePaul (Augustinians shoot much better than Vincentians)
Connecticut over Syracuse (Again with the reverse jinxing)
Marquette over St. John's (St. John's will be without their best player)
West Virginia over Providence (Guards over Forwards)

Villanova over Georgetown (ensuring a birth)
Connecticut over Notre Dame (Don't think Notre Dame's done anything in this tournament yet)
Pittsburgh over Marquette (payback)
Louisville over West Virginia (in 2 OTs hopefully, rematch of Mike's engagement party)

Villanova over Connecticut
Louisville over Pittsburgh

Louisville over Villanova

This Time Last Year...

Boeheim Melted Down...

If there's anyway Coors Light could turn this into a commercial with those guys at the Press Conferences, I'd be forever amused...

Does this Make me Look Gay?

Reportedly Syracuse will unveil new basketball uniforms at the Big East Tournament. Syracuse along with The Ohio State, Florida, and Arizona will wear the new aerodynamic look during the 2007 postseason. Just picturing Eric Devendorf and Chase Budinger in these is making me crack up.

The Jerome: Phase II

Here are my picks for the Conference Tournaments that start and end this week...

ACC: Maryland (over North Carolina)
Atlantic 10: Xavier (over UMass)
Big East: Louisville (over Marquette)
Big Ten: The Ohio State (over Wisconsin)
Big XII: Texas ATM (over Kansas)
Big West: Long Beach State (over Cal Poly)
Conference USA: Memphis (over UCF)
Mid-American: Kent State (over Akron)
Mid-Eastern: Delaware State (over Florida ATM)
Mountain West: UNLV (over BYU)
Pac Ten: UCLA (over Washington State)
Southeastern: Florida (over Tennessee)
Southland: Texas ATM-Corpus Christi (over Sam Houston State)
SWAC: Jackson State (over Mississippi Valley)
Western Athletic: Nevada (over Fresno State)

With only six bids handed out this weekend, it is still too early to tell how I'm doing in The Jerome. Here are some of the results of my picks from Phase I.

America East: Vermont (over Albany)- This one looks to be happening

Atlantic Sun: East Tennessee State (over Belmont)- Belmont couldn't miss from three to beat Host ETSU in the Final

Big Sky: Northern Arizona (over Weber State)- Still in the Semis here.

Big South: Winthrop (over High Point)- VMI upset High Point and gave EVERYONE'S trendy pick a scare.

Colonial: Old Dominion (over Drexel)- Odie failed me against this year's George Mason which may be...George Mason.

Horizon: Butler (over Wright State)- Both teams will meet in the Final on Tuesday.

MAAC: Siena (over Loyola, Md.)- My reach pick Siena came through against #1 seed Marist but will have to beat a hot Niagara team in the Final.

Mid-Continent: Oral Roberts (over Valparaiso)

Missouri Valley: Missouri State (over Bradley)- Lost both semis, so did the conference it'll only send two to the Big Dance, probably.

Northeast: Central Connecticut State (over Sacred Heart)- This is the final.

Ohio Valley: Murray State (over Eastern Kentucky)- Murray lost in the Quarters my first defeat.

Patriot: Holy Cross (over Bucknell)- Close call by Holy Cross surviving American.

SoCon: Davidson (over Appalachian State)- Got this one, but Davidson beat Bobby Cremins' College of Charleston.

Sun Belt: Western Kentucky (over South Alabama)- Too early to tell, but as I'm writing this the Hilltoppers have their hands full with Florida Atlantic

West Coast: Gonzaga (over Santa Clara)- Everyone in the pool has one of these two teams winning the WCC