Friday, April 04, 2003

JUMPIN' JETER

Pending a second opinion by world-renown orthopedist Dr. James Andrews, Derek Jeter will not need surgery on his dislocated left shoulder. Fantastic news for Yankee fans the world over!

FINAL FOUR FEVER

Dick Clark vs. Walter Cronkite. Bob Dole vs. Chris Farley. Confused? Check out this fact sheet for the Final Four teams for an explanation.

Thursday, April 03, 2003

"AMERICAN IDOL": THE VIDEO GAME

Coming this fall, PC and PlayStation 2 gamers will be able to create, train, and control characters to compete in the video game version of "American Idol". Players have to hit a combination of buttons to make the video performers dance and sing before they submit themselves to commentary and criticism from judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell, just like on the TV version of "American Idol". From the description, it sounds to me like a combination of The Sims and Dance Dance Revolution U.S.A.

ALL-AMERICAN

The Associated Press announced their AP All-America Team today. David West of Xavier was the leading vote-getter and the only one from the preseason All-America team to be named to the postseason team. Hollis Price was sixth in the voting, Carmelo Anthony was seventh. Only three underclassman out of the fifteen players on the three All-America teams. Each team in the Final Four is represented by at least one player, three on the First Team, one on the Second Team, one on the Third Team.

FIRST TEAM

David West, Xavier, senior
Nick Collison, Kansas, senior
Josh Howard, Wake Forest, senior
Dwayne Wade, Marquette, junior
T.J. Ford, Texas, sophomore

SECOND TEAM

Hollis Price, Oklahoma, senior
Kyle Korver, Creighton, senior
Troy Bell, Boston College, senior
Jason Gardner, Arizona, senior
Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse, freshman

THIRD TEAM

Brian Cook, Illinois, senior
Reece Gaines, Louisville, senior
Kirk Hinrich, Kansas, senior
Keith Bogans, Kentucky, senior
Ron Slay, Tennessee, senior

"AMERICAN LIFE"

Pop diva and Material Girl Madonna made the difficult decision to pull her new video "American Life" before it aired here in America. The video, scheduled to premiere tomorrow on VH1, had already aired in Germany, but on Monday, Madonna issued the following statement:

"I have decided not to release my new video. It was filmed before the war started and I do not believe it is appropriate to air it at this time. Due to the volatile state of the world and out of sensitivity and respect to the armed forces, who I support and pray for, I do not want to risk offending anyone who might misinterpret the meaning of this video."


My absolute favorite writer for Salon currently has a cover story on the subject entitled "The Madonna Video You Can't See." Read it.

You want to see the video?


Wednesday, April 02, 2003

B-BALL BUSINESS

Some mid-week hoops news. The Matt Doherty Era is over in Carolina. The Tarheels' head coach resigned after three seasons. Speculation on who will succeed him has unearthed a distinguished and accomplished list of potential candidates -- including Kansas coach Roy Williams, Stanford coach Mike Montgomery, Utah coach Rick Majerus, Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson, and Milwaukee Bucks coach George Karl. Dickie V weighs in. Meanwhile, it looks like a done deal here in LA. It is expected that Pittsburgh head coach Ben Howland will be introduced as the new coach of the UCLA Bruins as early as tomorrow. And finally... Dominique Wilkins, the Human Highlight Film himself, interviewed for the vacant head coaching job at Georgia.

It's an All-Big East final in the NIT with Georgetown and St. John's meeting in The Garden for the title.

Andy Katz on why the tournament is so special.

Tuesday, April 01, 2003

BLOGGIN' BASEBALL

The 2003 baseball season is officially underway and Peter Gammons believes that after seeing the Angles and the Twins battling it out in the ALCS and then the Angels winning the World Series over the Giants last year, most of the teams in the league can hold out some legitimate hope of reaching the postseason this year.



The Yankees won their opener yesterday 8-4 over the Blue Jays, but it was a costly win, as the Yanks lost superstar shortstop Derek Jeter to a dislocated shoulder on a freak play at third. They're optimistically saying he should be out six weeks. The Bronx Bombers took it out on the Blue Jays today, pounding them 10-1.



With their exorbitant payroll, the Yankees have to expect to get back to the playoffs. But, according to ESPN's expert predictions, the Oakland A's are the team to beat. Of their 27 experts, 11 think the A's will be champs, 4 think it'll be the Red Sox, 3 votes each for the Yankees and Diamondbacks, 2 votes each for the Giants and Cardinals, one guy picks the Astros, and one guy picks the Twins. So, out of all those experts, no one thinks the Angels will repeat?



Monday, March 31, 2003

AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR



Sunday, March 30, 2003

ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER

The Elite 8 has not been kind to #1 seeds thus far. Yesterday, the Marquette Golden Eagles continued their improbable and impressive run by soundly defeating tournament favorite Kentucky and booking their trip to New Orleans for the Final Four. Make no mistake, this was the biggest upset of the tournament, but what was more surprising was the manner in which they did it. The Golden Eagles never even let Kentucky get a whiff of a comeback in the second half, leading by as many as 22 points and winning by 14 in snapping Kentucky's 26-game win streak. Dwayne Wade turned in the best individual performance of the tourney, recording a triple-double (29 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) in addition to 4 blocks, 1 steal, and a bunch of monster dunks. Usually, when a team gets such an oustanding contribution from its star, the star tends to overshadow the team a bit, but this was unquestionably the best team effort in any game of this tournament. Marquette has made a believer out of me. I now think they can win it all.

And in the West Region, the news wasn't much better for #1 seed Arizona. In a game of streaks and spurts, the Kansas Jayhawks atoned for an embarrassing collapse against Arizona during the regular season and achieved their revenge by eliminating the Wildcats in the Elite 8 and cutting down the nets as the winner of the tough West bracket. Kirk Hinrich showed up and had a great game, scoring 28 points, playing inspired defense, and lending his team confidence and senior leadership. It was a fantastic game that I really didn't want to see end. I wanted Jason Gardner to knock down the clutch three as time was running out to send the game into OT, so we could see some more brilliant basketball. So, Roy Williams and Kansas go back to the Final Four for the second straight year and Williams gets yet another shot at his first national championship. But, now they have to deal with the mighty Golden Eagles...

To continue the trend, #3 seed Syracuse is up by ten over #1 seed Oklahoma at the half. The Orangemen are essentially playing in front of a home crowd and have stymied the Sooners so far with their tenacious zone D. Oklahoma is tough though. They went to the Final Four last year, they played in the most difficult conference in America, and they have a star who wants the ball at the end in Hollis Price. This one is going to get a lot closer, but I think 'Cuse will hold on for the upset.

But, the run of knocking out the #1 seed will end in the South, where the Texas Longhorns will beat the Michigan State Spartans in front of a whole bunch of Texans in San Antonio. Michigan State's lack of a true point guard led to a disastrous collapse against Maryland and almost cost them the game. But they survived another day to face Texas, which boasts the best point guard in America in T.J. Ford. And guard play will be the difference in this game as the Spartans attempt to lure the Longhorns into an ugly physical battle, with big guys banging inside and clogging the middle and guys crashing to the floor to scramble for loose balls. Look for T.J. to have a big game and the 'Horns to head for N'awlins.

Pick: Texas