The Pain and Joy of Bid Day

Few days in sports have the emotions of Selection Sunday. Here is how Monday's papers covered the Selection Sunday drama. Sorry it has taken so long to post, I actually have a job.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: covers Wisconsin and Marquette

Las Vegas Review Journal covers Mountain West champion UNLV

Philadelphia Inquirer celebrates the Big Five getting three teams in

The Tennessean looks in on Belmont as they wait for their match up

Quick reviews all of the fun associated with the big dance

Waco Tribune-Herald tells the amazing story of Baylor trip to the big dance

Athens Banner-Herald reviews UGA improbable win in the SEC Tournament

The Des Moines Register follows the Drake Bulldogs around

Indianapolis Star loves that fact that four teams from the Hoosier state got in

Lexington Herald Leader talks about the Cats have another shot

Winston Salem Journal says it all ACC Champs

One Shining Moment through the decade

One of the things that makes the NCAA Tournament so much fund is the end, when CBS decides to run One Shining Moment. The song has been the unofficial ending of the college basketball season for almost 30 years. Lets hope this years is as good as all of the prior years.

2000

2001



2002

2003



2004

2005

2005: 25th anniversary of One Shining Moment was show right before the national semifinals

2006


2007



2008: ???????

Bracketology with Joe Wolf's Vertical Jump

With the brackets out here are a couple of quick thoughts about what the selection committee has done.

• A week ago, everyone in the Philly was talking about there would not be a Big Five team in the dance. Boy was everyone wrong cause half of the group are part of the field.
  
• Tim Floyd and USC knocked out Kevin Durant and Texas last year, this year he gets his shot at another Big12 freshman hot shot in Micheal Beasley and Kansas State, in the game of the first round.
• The selection show is cruel and the committee and CBS made Baylor wait to the last spot before announcing their name. Its good to see the Bears in the dance following all that they have had to gone through over the last decade.
• The committee did not do A-10 regular season champion Xavier favors as they hooked them up with SEC Tournament Champion Georgia.
• After three years of using the city of the regionals as the name of the regionals its good too see that they have gone back to the East, South, Midwest, and West.
  
• It's fair to say that Villanova was the last at large team in the dance.

Selection Sunday: Lets hope it ends like this

As the hours tick down to the selection show lets hope that it ends with ole Roy winning it all and crying, just like it did in 2005. ""There is a new dean of College Basketball, North Carolina takes the title,'' there were no sweeter words.

Professional Tailgating: A night at the A-10 semifinals

For Friday night of Championship Week, I spent the night at Boardwalk Hall for the A-10 semifinals. The building actually looked like a basketball arena. The only time that I have ever been there was for two different WWF events. St. Joe's battled Xavier and Temple battled Charlotte in the two games.

The building actually looked like a championship venue including bunting.

Move over Cameron Crazies, the St. Joe's students do not stop all game singing and dancing.

The Hawk never dies

The very underrated Charlotte 49er mascot

Nothing says a conference tournament like inflatable jerseys and student shooting contest.

Fun, Fun, Fun from all over

Friday night of Championship might be one of the best days on the sports calendar and this year was no different. There was action all over the country from buzzer beating upsets in the Big Ten to game being canceled in the SEC because of a storm that almost destroyed the Georgia Dome, to an all Philly Final in the A-10, to a team a team getting their first ever NCAA bid.

Here is how some of the news papers covered the fun from all over the country:

The Washington Post tells the story of how American University has qualified for their first ever NCAA Tournament. Somewhere Brian Prince is smiling.

The Atlantic City Press celebrates an All Big Five final in the A-10.

Athens Banner-Herald reviews the SEC mess that has developed.

Lexington Herald Leaders looks at what happened last night in the Georgia Dome.

The Charlotte Observer continues the ACC Tournament coverage.

The Winston Salem Journal covers all of the action from the bes conference tournament in all of the land: the ACC.

The Bloomington Herald Times covers Indiana shocking loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten Quarters.

Snoop Doggie Sven

Sven turns into Snoop Dog and David from Los Angeles talks about the how big Lake Michigan is. It's never dull on the Special Ones show.

I want to move to Bracketville

Eight years ago Nike introduced one of the best ad campaigns ever "Bracketville."

It was only around for one year and boy do I wish that they would bring it back. The Bracketville town was based on the teams that were in the NCAA tournament. The residents of the towns were all mascots and the mayor was a former NCAA champions. Nothing could be better then watching mascots do normal day stuff like cook and go shopping.

"Bracketville is a basketball-obsessed town, where a basketball net proudly swings from the town flagpole and college basketball brackets are painted on the streets,'' according to one advertising Web site.

The slogan for the town was "stay as long as you can" and that year North Carolina did not stay that long going out to Penn State in the second round of the South Regional. So as all of the mascots get ready for the dance can Nike please allow them to move back into Bracketville.

Could Torres be the Player of the Year in England?

I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest Liverpool fan, but one thing is becoming evident Ferrando Torres might be the best player in the EPL. Few people come into the league and dominate the way that he has this year after his 20 million pound move from Atletico Madrid in summer. Usually players take some time to settle in, but there has been no waiting around for Torres. So far this season he has scored 26 goals in all competitions, including the one which clinched a spot in the last eight for Liverpool in the Champions League today.

Ronaldo has been terrific but take a look what he has around him, Nani, Rooney, Tevez, Giggs, and Scholes. If you took Ronaldo away from United it would not be as bad as it would be if you took Torres from Liverpool.

Look at the support that Torres has up front, players like Dirk Kuyt and Voronin. Not exactly Nani and Rooney is it. So for those reason I can not help but think that Torres should be near the top of the EPL Player of the year race.

We all love Anderson

At the start of the year, it look like Anderson might take some time to settle in at Manchester United. But things have really changed over the last couple of months, as Anderson and Paul Scholes continue to battle for playing time.

With his performance over the last couple of months Anderson has become a favorite of Red Devil fans.

“Ander son son son, he’s better than Kleberson,
Ander son son son, he’s our midfield magician,
To the left, to the right, to the samba beat tonight,
With the brass he is class
And he shits on Fabregas”

Thanks to the United fan site Republic of Mancunia for this one.

Kentucky, Baylor, and Arizona are all rooting for Butler

While some people view the first four days of the NCAA Tournament as the best time of he college basketball season, but for me that is not the case. The best time in the season started Saturday when Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley conference crowned their champion and automatic bid to the tournament.

Championship Week, as ESPN dubbed it 15 years, makes strange bedfellows. How many times has the two time defending champion Florida Gators been concerned about what Butler did in the their conference or even Kentucky, home of so many legends, care what happens with the West Coast Conference Tournament. Fans all week will have sites like Basketball State and ESPN open at work trying to see what is going on with all of the conference tournaments.

Fans love seeing Brice Drew's Valpo beat Mississippi in Oklahoma City a bunch years ago in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but the real magic of the season starts during this week when someones dreams of representing Belmont or even a school like Rider in the NCAA could come true.

Dancing our way to the ACC Regular Season Title

ACC Regular Season Champs

Psycho T always destroys senior nights, right JJ, right DeMarcus, right Landlord.

Badger behaving Badly

Few Mascots have the rap sheet of Fulham FC Billy the Badgers. From break dancing and delaying the start of the second half at a game to annoying the Chelski manager, Billy is always there. But if Fulham do not play better on the field Billy will be in the Fizzy Pop League next year entertaining fans in such places as Barnsley, QPR, and Crystal Palace.

Some Fans Really Hate Mascots

This video shows how much people hate mascots of a team that beats them. That is why it has been selected as part of Only Time Will Tell's on going Mascot Madness series. My personal favorite is the kid dropping the Randy Savage like elbow.

Seperated at Birth

I do not know what it is, but every time I see Spurs assistant Gus Poyet (above) on TV, the only thing that I can think of is former WWE superstar Scott Hall (below). I have no idea why?

Maybe it's the accent maybe its the hair. For some reason, I almost think that they are the same person.

The Birdman is back!

The man that changes the dunk contest forever is back. The NBA has decided to reinstate former Hornets big man Chris Andersen from his drug suspension. Anderson left his mark on the NBA before being kicked out of the league in March 2006. He is the reason that the dunk contest now needs a time limit.

“Known as "Birdman" for his high-flying dunks, Andersen was a favorite of Hornets fans. He is best known for his performance in the NBA's dunk contest in 2005, when he needed eight tries to finish his first dunk,’’ according to espn.com.

It’s good to see the Birdman flying high again.

The Turks are really happy

With half of the last eight of the Champions League decided, there have been a few surprises like Arsenal winning at Milan and Fenerbache beating Sevilla in a penalty shootout. Barca also saw out Celtic, why United beat Lyon to move on.

Here is how the papers around Europe covered the day's events:

Olay (Turkey)

SABAH (Turkey)

The Daily Telegraph (England)

El Punt (Barcelona, Spain)

A Great Time Waster

Few people like the NBA anymore, but ESPN.com has created a great thing to waste a couple hours of your work day. For the last couple of years, the site has created an NBA Draft Lottery predictor, just keep hitting the "Play Lottery'' button and watch the time tick of the clock. I think that Isiah Thomas uses this and the trade creator to run the Knicks.

Hey you might even learn who Danilo Gallinari (above) and Anthony Randolph (below) are.

It's back

You know the business end of the season is here, when the white Nike ball comes back out of the closet. For the last couple of months EPL teams have been kicking around a ball that looks like a lemon. Now with the title race coming down to the wire, its good to the see the traditional white ball back.

Rafa is a Roll and gone by Easter

Wow where do you start with this one, Rafa as a roll, the Special One going gangsta, and Sven is late. This might be one of the best ones of the series .

More awards than points

Mr. Basketball of Michigan, Naismith Prep Player of the Year, Oscar Robertson Trophy, Naismith College Player of the Year, John R. Wooden Award, NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and ACC Athlete of the Year those are all of the awards that Shane Battier has collected during his time. With awards like that he should be a superstar, but instead he is averaging under 10 points a game. That is the reason that Battier has been selected as the next former Duke player in Only Time Will Tell's ongoing series on Duke Players that Stink in the NBA. At least he is a good person.

I do not care if you have a credit card deal, Mike

This sums up the spat between Coach K and Good Ole Roy over injuries. I'm glad that Coach K looks like a gay super hero. Thanks to AOL Fanzone for alerting everyone to this.

Leeds played a huge role in the Carling Cup Final.

Some where the Ellen Road faithful must have been sick on Sunday afternoon. A look at Tottenham's key players in the Carling Cup Final against Chelski shows one thing: the spine of the team was connected to last great period in Leeds United History.

Robbie Keane called the Ellen Road home from 2000 to 2003 and scored 13 goals for the club. Jonathan Woodgate played a104 games for Leeds scoring five goals. Woodgate scored the winning goal for Spurs in extra time giving him his first major honor.

Every time you turned around Aaron Lennon was creating trouble for the Chelski defenders. Just think he was sold to Leeds for a million pounds, when Leeds first started to need money.

Just think if Peter Ridsdale had not sold his soul for playing in the Champions League, that might haven been Leeds walking up the steps to the get the Carling Cup, hey they did have enough former players play a key roll in the game.

Europe's most popular

Zenit St. Petersburgh (above), ZSKA Moscow, and Spartak Moscow are all more popular in Europe then Spurs and Atheltico Madrid, well that is the story that is being told by a recent report released by SPORT+MARKT. It’s a story that I’m very surprised to read.

The report interviewed football fans from all over Europe and found the following clubs to be the most popular clubs:

Barcelona CF
Real Madrid
Manchester United
Arsenal London
AC Milan
FC Bayern Munich
Chelsea FC
Liverpool FC
Juventus Turin
Zenit St. Petersburgh
FC Spartak Moscow
Inter Milan
Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Marseille
ZSKA Moscow
Wisa Kraków
Ajax Amsterdam
Galatasaray Istanbul
AS Roma
Werder Bremen

A couple of things stand out to me in this report, the number of Eastern European teams that are on the list. As an American, its hard to realize the popularity of soccer teams in the ole Eastern Block and the amount of money that put into the game, which is growing each year. Two teams that I was surprised to see not included in the list was both Celtic and Rangers., I guess outside of Scotland no one cares about the Old Firm.

The Legend

Few mascots have had to deal with the issues that Youppi has had to deal with. Some think that he is gay, while for years he was left team less after his team bolted for another city. To make things worst, Youppi was also the butt of many jokes, few people respected him as one of the great baseball mascots.

After the Expos, left he started working for the Montreal Canadians, according to the some reports the deal between the Expos and Canadians was six figures. But something was not right, he should have made the trip to the Washington, it would have been great to see him in our nation’s capital.

When you talk about great mascots few people mention the big orange mess that was Youppi, which is why he was selected as next member of the Only Time Will Tell Mascot Madness group. Just remember he is one of three mascots in the Baseball Hall of Fame, which is more then can be said about Mr. Met.

Spurs Love their Carling Cup

This video show how much Spurs fans love their Carling Cup victory over Chelski, Sunday afternoon. Just check out the Spurs fans chanting at the Avie Grant as he walks back to the field, I'm sure that was the last name that he wanted to hear yesterday.

The new Number 1

For the first time in their history Tennessee will be the number 1 ranked team in college basketball. Last night the Vols defeated former number 1 Memphis to take their spot at the top of the game.

Here is how papers in the Volunteer state covered the so called "Game of the Year.''

The Tennessean (Nashville)

The Knoxville News Sentinel (Knoxville)

The Memphis Commercial Appeal

What a couple of days to be a Hoosier?

For years Indiana Basketball has been respected for doing things the right way, now that is all gone after the Kelvin Sampson situation. From a possible boycott to buyouts to NCAA violations it has been a difficult time to be a Hoosier. With Eric Gordon and DJ White the Hoosiers were a possible Final Four team and now that all seems to be lost.

Here is how the newspapers around the Bloomington handled the Sampson resignation on Saturday morning.

The Bloomington Herald Times

The Indianapolis Star

The Louisville Courier Journal

This is not going to last long

Wow the Special One and Sven are already having their issues. Could the Special One be hard to work with and could he be heading for another signing?

Baby Tevez and Eric the Great

Fresh off saving the day in the Champions League game against Lyon its good to see a younger Carlos Tevez hanging out with one of the greatest United players in this old Nike spot.

Gazza the Great

Few English players have ever had the technical ability of one Paul Gascoigne. But yesterday his life took a turn as he was held by police in England under the Mental Health Act. Gascoigne has a long history of drink problems and has received treatment for stress, depression and a drink problem.

When I started watching the soccer, Gazza was one of the players that I flocked to. He had an attitude that made the game fun and the ability to make any Brazilian blush. When MLS was talking about bringing him over to DC United, I was so excited, but the move never came through.

So please let’s remember Gazza for all of his ability and not his problems.

Some players are just overlooked

After watching the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie between Real Madrid and Roma, one thing became clear, Francesco Totti might be the most underrated player of this generation. His performance in the first leg against Real was something to behold, all he did was create all kinds of chances for other players on his team.

When people talk about the great players of this generation, Totti's name is almost never mentioned. Throughout his career he has known only one club AS Roma. He is one of the few players that have spent his career in one shirt.

Last year, Totti carried Roma to second place finish in Serie A and was not listed on the list of finalist for FIFA Player of the Year. Why is that, I have no idea. I think that he had a better full year then Kaka did.

Some people might not respect him because he has not won major trophies, but that is not the case:

• 2001 Serie A title
• 2001 and 2007 Italian Super Cup
• 2007 Copper Italia
• 2006 World Cup
• 1996 Under-21 European Championship
• Italian footballer of the year: 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007
• Serie A Young Footballer of the year: 1999
• Serie A top scorer: 2006-2007
• European Golden Boot winner: 2006-2007
• 2006 FIFA World Cup All Star Team
• EURO 2000 Team of the Tournament.

So lets all continue to enjoy the greatness of Totti before he rides off in the sun set.

So he likes to sleep

Chris Duhon, a former McDonald High School All American, has really been showing off those skills this year by averaging 6 points per game for the Chicago Bulls. For that reason he has been selected as this weeks Only Time Will Tell Duke Player that Stinks in the NBA.

Over the last couple of years Duhon has had his run ins with Bulls management. In Jan. 2007, Duhon was suspended one game by the Bulls for missing practice the day prior because he claimed he overslept. Then he over slept during for a film session and missed a game in the Bulls playoff series against the Pistons. Maybe Duhon just gets tired quickly.

It's never too early for BCS Predictions

After ten weeks off from College Football, it’s about to return with the start of spring practice. All of the underclassman that wanted to declare for the draft have and signing day has passed, it’s time for some early 2008-2009 BCS Bowl Projections.

Orange Bowl: Rutgers (Big East Champion) vs. Clemson (ACC Champion)
Rose Bowl: Ohio State (Big 10 Champion) vs. Arizona State (Pac10 at large)
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma (Big 12 Champion) vs. BYU (Mountain West Champion)
Sugar: Florida (SEC at large) vs. Missouri (Big 12 at large)
National Championship Game: Georgia (SEC Champion) vs. USC (Pac10 Champion)

It's never too earlier think about college football.

Nani The Seal

Nani turned into a seal in Manchester United 4-0 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup fifth round Saturday afternoon.

Check out these seal moves. Wow what a show of class from a Portuguese winger not named Ronaldo.

It's the Same old Song and Dance

The more things change, the more they stay the same in the FA Cup. Chelsea drew another lower division team, while Manchester United has drawn another Premier League club in the quarterfinals of the Cup. United have drawn Portsmouth, while Chelski have drawn giant slayers Barnsley.

United have been drawn against premier league teams for their last 10 FA Cup games. The last times the devils played a lower league team was in Jan. 2006, when they beat Wolves 3-0. Included in those games was Saturday's fifth round smashing of league leaders Arsenal (photo above) 4-0.

Here is the rest of the draw for the quarterfinals:

• Sheffield United or Middlesbrough v Cardiff City
• Manchester United v Portsmouth
• Bristol Rovers v West Brom
• Barnsley v Chelsea

Matches are set to be played the weekend of March 8 and 9.