Gimme Five

For the beloved Heels, the 2009 NCAA Tournament was a business trip. Get to Detroit and get the job done. That is what they did a dominating performance against Nova and then beating Michigan State in their own back yard for the title.

Here is how some of the papers on Tobacco Road cover the crowning of the new kings of college basketball.

The Charlotte Observer

News and Record

The News and Observer

Winston Salem Journal

The Sanford Herald

Sven is looking for a job

Fresh off getting the sack from Mexico, It is looking for a new job.

Hello Cal!!!

Moving on is hard on everyone and yesterday Memphis fans and Kentucky fans felt both sides as Kentucky hired coach Cal from Memphis to lead the Kentucky Nation. Here is how area newspapers covered the events.

The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)

The Courier-Journal (Louisville)

The Lexington Herald Leader (Lexington)

Only the Nats

Usually when a team gets a #1 overall draft pick, its hope for the future, but leave it to the Nationals to almost take all of that hope away. Last year was tough on Nationals fan, a team the lacked the talent to win at the Triple A level, could not compete at the major league level.

This year #1 overall player is San Diego State Pitcher Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg has been billed as the best pitchers to come out of college in a long time. Check out Strasburg striking out 23 batters vs. Utah. The fastball is amazing and he has a hammer to die for.

Ok so this should be a done deal, the Nats draft him, sign him and then wait for about 18 months and he will ready to pitch at the major league level. But this is the Nationals and its already starting to look like the Nats will never call Strasburg name during the draft later this year.

Reports have come out that Strasburg wants a $50 million contract when he is drafted. Yes that is right $50 million. How are the Nationals going to pay that much for a pitcher, hey last years pick Aaron Crow, a pitcher from Mizzou, never signed with the Nats because of an issue with his signing bonus. So I guess I better not go out and order a Strasburg National Jersey. So instead of having a once in a lifetime pitching prospect, we will draft Grant Green, a shortstop. Wow this is something to look forward to.

Divers are Wankers.

Divers are Wankers and that sums it up.

Bye Bye Billy

Two years ago Billy G was hired to lead Kentucky back to the top of college basketball, two years later it has all fallen apart. Billy G was fired as leader of the Wildcat nation, leading to one of the nations best programs looking for another head coach. Billy G was doomed after the cats did not make the tournament this year and was also doomed by his relationship with boosters and fans. So the rumor mill in the commonwealth is running wild. Here is how the Lexington's home town newspaper covered the events of yesterday.

Lexington Herald Leader

People are going to talk about different names for the jobs, but I'm going to go with Travis Ford. Ford, who is currently the head coach at Oklahoma State was part of the Unforgettables that lost to Duke in the Regional final almost 15 years ago.

The Kop's Favorite Conservative.

For the last year or so, people around Washington D.C. have been making MSNBC's Morning Joe they show they turn to in the morning. Former Congressman Joe Scarborough and Mika have been filling the country in on what is going on in the nation's capital, but something has changed over the last couple of months.

Scarborough has started to show his true colors, that he is a red. I know what people are thinking, we know that he is a conservative, so that is really not that big a deal. But Joe is a true Red, as in a supporter of Liverpool. Go back a couple of weeks after Liverpool defeated Real Madrid and Manchester United, the former Congressman from Florida started talking to Geoff Cutmore about the European markets opening and then starts talking about how Liverpool might have had the best week in English soccer history, but that was only the start.

Just take a look at Joe's Twitter page and the updates that came through last week, when Liverpool cut United's lead to one point:

• Talk soon. Go Liverpool.10:13 AM Mar 22nd from web
• Off to the village with Susan to see Liverpool take down Aston Villa and move within a point of Man U. Go Reds!!!10:03 AM Mar 22nd from web
• Liverpool takes on Aston Villa at noon, as the Reds continue their run against a sinking Man U club. Torres set to break LFC scoring record.7:13 AM Mar 22nd from web
• The dream lives! Man U is humbled by Fulham, while Chelsea's title hopes go up in flames at home against Tottenham. Go Reds!1:33 PM Mar 21st from web

As a United fan its hard for me to sit there every morning and watch this, but its good to see the game getting this type of support over here. Just remember Joe, even though we are on the same of the fence politically, I hope this season ends the way the last 19 have for Liverpool with no league title, besides that I will keep watching Morning Joe.

Champions League Predictions

I know the draw came out almost a week ago, but things have been busy around the OTWT home offices. Here are my predictions for the quarterfinals of the Champions League, which should be tasty. The ties will be played April 7/8 and the second legs will be played 14/15.

• Villarreal - Arsenal: Arsenal, they seem to be moving forward and could be a team that shocks the world in Rome.
• Manchester United - Porto: About five years ago this was the tie that introduced England to the Special One and changed English football forever, I think United will have an easy time with this one going through 3-0 on agg.
• Liverpool - Chelsea: Here we go again, I have this feeling that this year the games will be very different then they have been. I go with Liverpool on Pens.
• Barcelona - Bayern: The tie of the round, this has goals written all over it. I have this feeling that its going to be a United Barca final in Rome, so that would have to mean that Barca go through in an exciting tie.
  

Another year, another Prospects Handbook

Every early March, I head out to the book store in search of one item, the Baseball American Prospects Handbook. The book gives player development fans a little of the next great thing that is coming through the farm system. Sometimes they are correct and other they are not.

2002:Josh Beckett

2003:Mark Teixeria

2004: Joe Mauer

2005: Delmon Young
2006:Jeremy Hermida

2007: Phil Hughes

2008: Jay Bruce

2009:Matt Wieters

Reliving the Tournament Jordan Brand Style

Some NCAA Tournaments moments are great for some and painful for others, Nike's Jordan Brand show great moments from the painful side and boy are some of them funny.

Birthday


Discrimination


Unforgiven


Family

Jose on Springer

Sir Alex might be going nuts, but Jose and Sven appear on an American talk show and the sparks start flying.

The Cover Story: NCAA Tournament

For the last couple of year, Sports Illustrated has created a collage of teams that are involved in the NCAA Tournament. This year they decided to release four different covers for different regions.

Midwest

West

Southwest/Big 12 Country

Big East

Professional Tailgating: March Madness

During the last couple of years the OTWT crew has made the trip over to Atlantic City for the A-10 semifinals and this year was no different.

The old ladies looks like she needs some help

The Dayton mascot gets the crowd worked up and it really did not work.Temple Mascot, Hooter, gets ready to coach his team.
Blimbs in doors, not a fan
A free throw shooter during half time of one of the games, he did not make a shot.

In the News: March Madness

Yesterday all around the country students gathered to see if their team would make it. Some schools were happy, while other were not so much. Here is some how of the papers around the country covered the events.

The Clarion Ledger
The Forum

Tulsa World

Tallahassee Democrat

The Wichita Eagle

The Albany Times Union

Idaho Statesman

The Post Standard

The Memphis Commercial Appeal

The Seattle Times

Thoughts on the Big Dance

The NCAA Selection Committee has spoken and some teams are happy and others are not going to be happy for some time. Here are OTWT first thoughts on the just released brackets.

• For a team that might have been the last at large in Arizona has a game that no one is going to be scared of Utah.
• I would not be surprised to see Utah State beat a fast sliding Marquette.
  
• For all of the talk of Maryland being on the edge of the bubble, it looks like they were safely in the tournament as a 10 seed.
  
• Wisconsin is the type of team that is going to give Florida State some issues.
  
• Portland State vs. the X-Men. Don't sleep on Portland State. They are the have beaten some good teams this year, including a win at Gonzaga.
  
• This year Western Kentucky beat the number one overall seed Louisville, so playing Illinois will not be that intimidating.
  
• I understand how the Big East has been the greatest conference in the history of the world, but how could three teams be number one seeds. I just don't understand how the third best team in a conferences warrants being a number one seed. Two teams from one conference is hard to take. I think that you should at least win your conference to be considered for a number one seed. I would have love to seen Memphis as the final number one.
• Final Four at first glance: North Carolina, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Louisville.
  
• I do know this. The tournament is always fun and will be again this year.
  

No Jose

The Special fails to show up and take his beating after Inter is smashed out of the Champions League. Its Wayne and Sven that take you through the program.

Instant Classic

So Syracuse and UConn played the night away last night, yes six overtimes. The game did not end to approximately 1:22 a.m., which made it impossible to get the result in both of schools local newspapers, but have no fear the New York Daily is here to safe the day.

The Daily News sums it up best

UConn vs. North Carolina in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament?

With Selection Sunday only a couple of days aways and last weekend being the quarterfinals of the FA Cup, it got me to thinking. How fun would the NCAA Tournament be if it was held in a blind draw like the FA Cup.

For almost a decade, the selection show has been a national institution everyone goes around talking about the last four teams in and the last four teams out, now we could extend that process for a couple of hours.

The format is easy for the draw is easy, each team is given a number that is then put on the ping pong ball and put in a pot, a presenter then picks the ball out of pot and reads the number and then you find out the team.

"The draw for each round, performed by drawing numbered balls from a bag, is a source of great interest to clubs and their supporters, and is broadcast live on television. Sometimes two top clubs may be drawn against each other in the early rounds, removing the possibility of them meeting in the final. Lower-ranked clubs with reputations as 'giant-killers' look forward to meeting a top team at home, although in some cases the expense of providing policing for a game can outweigh any financial windfall from larger crowds. Mid-ranked teams hope for a draw against a peer to improve their chances of reaching future rounds. Top-ranked teams look for easy opposition, but have to be on their guard against a lower team with ambitions. The draw was once broadcast from a television studio, and was done by officials of the Football Association. By 2007 it had become a public event.,'' according to Wikipedia.

So say North Carolina has ball number one and UConn has number two, they could be draw in the first round, second round, or even the regional semi-finals. After each round of completed games the ping pong ball draw would then be completed.

I know what people are saying wow that is not fair, but lets go back to last year's FA Cup when Arsenal were drawn against Manchester United in the fourth round of the Cup. Sure sometimes it could be bad deal and give you a Cardiff vs. Portsmouth final, but the drama of the draw might be something to behold. I'm not saying that would should change anything about the tournament but with all of the talking heads talking about how to change the dance let's just make it a little more interesting.

Where have you gone Real Madrid?

For year, Los Merengues dominated the European Cup, but lately the all whites have showed that they are closer to being a second tear side in Europe's Premier Club Tournamen. This was best show with their 4-0 beating at the hands of Liverpool Tuesday afternoon.

A couple of things are clear in their performance at Anfield, they lack a central midfielder that has the ability to control play, similar to Michael Carrick at Manchester United. During the game, Gago and Lassa were unable to control anything and made Real nothing more then a one trick pony. The answer to that part of the question might have been wearing red during the game, Xabi Alonso. Alonso, who has been in Rafa doghouse at times, would allow the great Real wingers to the get the ball in the good positions instead of having to do all of the work themselves.

The second thing that Real's board must do is get a manager that will be there for sometimes. It's becoming clearer and clearer that changing managers every year is not the way to be success full, just look at the Manchester United. Maybe the board should go look at Arsenal and back up a truck filled to the top with the money to get the Wenger to Spain.

Until they change these couple of aspects of the team, Real will continue to go out in the Round of 16 and not be considered one of the elite teams in Europe.

The Real March Madness

Every year basketball people talk about drama and the greatness of March Madness and the NCAA Tournament but one of the best part of the March Madness is Arch Madness, yes the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Like clockwork every year teams gather in St. Louis to produce one of the more exciting conference tournaments around. Every year, some guard throws in a wild shot to win a game and have his team advance.

Bradley's Deon Jackson's famous three against Southwest Missouri State.


Illinois State Shawn Jeppson's three against Drake in the 2002 tournament.


Creighton's Booker Woodfox wins the game against Wichita State in the 2009 version of the tournament.


The best thing about the conference is that the drama for the league doesn't stop at the conference tournament level, MVC teams over the years have made it hard for the big boys, every year they are out there knocking off some of the better teams in America. So as the big boys wind down their regular season, lets not forget the greatness of Arch Madness.

It's all about the Benjamins

On Friday NFL free agency started and teams all over the league started throwing money around like it was confetti. Players who you associated with teams forever changed teams, one in particular really shook me to the core. Brian Dawkins signing with the Broncos. It was not supposed to that way, Weapon X was supposed to be a bird for life and have his number retired at the Link. He has given his heart and soul to the team, from the bone crushing hits to the great leadership, but something changed.

After the NFC Title Game Dawkins stood in front of the media and apologized for the loss and another loss chance at Super Bowl glory. So what happened between late January and Saturday afternoon. One thing, well actually 9 million things. For all of the love that Weapon X showed for the fans of Philly, he proved that he is just like every player in the league out there for the money. I'm not saying that Dawkins did not deserve the money and in the future to have his number hanging above the Link, but lets get over this notion that he is such a special player that wanted to spend his career with the Birds. He got a better deal and quicker then you can say salary cap he was on his way to Denver for $9 million guaranteed on a five year deal.

For all of the people that wanted to kill the birds for not giving him the money, lets be honest with ourselves a five year deal for a 35 year old, you can not do it good faith. Lets go back to the start of the season when Dawkins looked like he could not play anymore, sure he was super over the last five games, but his body of work was not the best this year and we was not even the player in his own defensive backfield.

The Bird made the right move and for all of the people talking about what a bad decision this is, just remember Brett Farve retired as a jet, Joe Montana retired as chief, and many other have the same story to tell. We will never forget B'Dawk and when is done we will all welcome him back with open arms and celebrate his great career, but later this year when he comes in with the Broncos, I don't want to see any tears out of him, maybe he can use one of the $9 million he has to wipe them.

A couple of more to go

It's not even the FA Cup but United claimed another trophy the Carling Cup yesterday in a PK Shootout. So the drive for five continues, if you count the World Club Cup. Lets see this continue.

Highlights below

Going Global and Wayne comes on late

The Special One is moving across Europe and Wayne comes on late and fails to make an impact.

A UEFA Cup Knockout Round game or a Spring Training Game?

Baseball Spring Training means a couple of things, residents of the North can look at sunny Florida and Arizona and be jealous and crazy numbers. Like pitchers and batters wearing numbers in the 50s and 60s.

During yesterdays UEFA Cup round of 32 game between Tottenham Hotspur and Shakhtar Donetsk, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp decided to pay homage to Spring Training and play a squad of players with numbers that soccer players never wear.

The squad

1 Heurelho Gomes
16 Chris Gunter
21 Pascal Chimbonda
6 Tom Huddlestone
11 Gilberto
17 Giovani Dos Santos
12 Wilson Palacios
24 Jamie O'Hara
3 Gareth Bale
18 Fraizer Campbell
80 Jonathan Obika

Substitutes

30 Oscar Jansson, 51 John Bostock, 52 Dean Parrett, 59 Calum Butcher, 67 Adam Smith, 77 Ryan Mason,81 Andros Townsend

Wow there is a 77, 80 (in the starting lineup), 51, 67, and an 81. I don't know if Harry thought he was managing a game in a little warmer climate or just did not care about the UEFA, we all know what the true answer is.

Its almost time to start shopping

While the Eagles made the NFC Championship game this year, people are still seeking improvements to the team and with the start of free agency on Friday fans of the eagles are all developing their wish list and I will be no different. The thing about developing a list is that its easy to just put all of the top ranked players on it, sure would I love to see Boldin wearing #81 in an Eagles, yes but lets be serious that is not going to happen. This list also assumes that Tra Thomas and B'Dawk will both be back with the birds.

So here is the Only Time Will Tell Eagles wish list

1. T. J. Houshmandzadeh, WR, Cincy: Would be perfect fit for the Eagles offense. Could open the field up more Jackson.
2. Reggie Williams, WR, Jacksonville: Another big receiver, has not been great with the Jags but has enough natural talent to warrant a look.
   
3. Leonard Weaver, FB, Seattle: Besides receiver the positions that the Eagles have never addressed is full back. I know its not a sexy signing, but it fills a hole and just think what Route 36 could do with a good lead blocker.
4. Maurice Morris, RB, Seattle: It seems like Buck is heading down the road and Morris would be the perfect one to give Route 36 a rest.

The wild card in this list is Julius Peppers. He has said there are only a couple of teams that he would like to play for is one of those teams the birds, I think that it might be. Remember a couple of years ago on the start of free agency the birds signed The Freak, could this be a similar situation, where the Eagles are doing all of their work behind the curtain. I really don't know, but you never know with this group.

Is he worth it?

For the last eight months Miami fans have thought that their offense next season would feature uber recruit Bryce Brown, but that appears to all changing over the last couple of weeks. First Brown decides not to sign with the 'Canes on National Signing Day, fine some people don't like signing on NSD, but then the fun starts.

First his advisor, Brian Butler, says that Brown is going to visit a ton of schools and Miami remained quiet at that time, but now it appears that the Brown's are getting mad that Canes are not showing him the proper the love.

I know that our struggling offense could use a jump start and Brown would be the perfect person to that, but at what cost. Is Brown going to continue to drag this out so no one knows what their offense is going to look like next season. Today, the Browns said that they are not going to visit Miami instead head to LSU.

This situation has gotten so out of control that most Canes fans could really care less what happens to the supremely talented running back. Remember what they say if you play with fire you could get burn and if Oregon, LSU, and Tennessee are going to continue to recruit him, they might not like how the story ends.

No more pimping of the Pompey

After getting beaten by the United State in a World Cup Qualifier, Sven is looking for a new job. Tom Cruise is trying to keep David from Milan in the United States.