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March Madness officially begins on Thursday! No, this will not be a post filled with who should have gotten in, who shouldn’t have gotten in, comparing RPIs, etc. etc. No, this is about highlighting first round games to watch.
USC vs K-State OJ Mayo vs. Michael Beasley. Righty vs. Lefty. Quicksilver vs. blunt force object. Why else watch this game? Two top-10 NBA draft picks go head up in Omaha, Nebraska. The only excitement that Omaha gets around this time of year is the start of spring ball for the Cornhuskers, so this game will be a pretty big deal. Effectively this is a home game for the Manhattan, Kansas-based Wildcats. Expect the camera to show Pat Riley and some Knicks officials more than a few times during this game. Pat, if you’re smart, take Beasley!
That’s the only must-see game, but of course keep an eye on all the 8 vs 9, 5 vs 12, and 7 vs 10. That’s where an upset is most likely to occur.
Since Stank-0 lives in the not-so Chocolate City District, he will try to finagle some tickets to boo at watch Arizona and Duke play.
Duke basketball has not been as strong of late. Back-to-back losses to Wake Forest and Miami! Duke is a favorite target because they are successful, but there has been a noticeable talent drop off recently.
That talent drain has converged nicely with the Snyder-ization. For those unfamiliar with the Big XII, the effect is the namesake of former Kansas State football head coach whom had a habit of loading up on lesser competition in non-conference play. K-State routinely had more cupcakes than Little Debbie. K-State rose to prominence but peaked in 1998, losing a shot at the national title by falling to Texas A&M in the Big XII title game. It has since become SOP, standard operating procedure, for many football programs nationwide.
Duke seems to be following the Snyder SOP to the T. A sugary diet of cupcakes in non-conference games, leaving them brutally unprepared for an unforgiving ACC conference slate. Since their last ’ship, 2001, Duke has flamed out to Indiana in 2002 (Sweet 16), Kansas in 2003 (Sweet 16), UConn in 2004 (Final Four), Mich St in 2005 (Sweet 16), LSU in 2006 (Sweet 16), and VCU in 2007 (1st round). Now most coaches would make a deal with Mephistopheles for that kind of run, but again this is Duke.
Expectations are sky-highevery season, why else would Dicky V’s mouth be surgically attached to Coach K’s derriere? Stank-0 isn’t sure that Duke has hit bottom yet, either. *Smile* Life is good!The Patriots lost in the Super Bowl and Duke is coming back down to Earth! Long live the underdog!
Sportaphile hasn’t updated the Criminal Fantasy League standings since mid-december. As a result, tons and tons of things have piled up. At this point it would take forever to deliver my Pulitzer Prize winning commentary to accompany each story. So we’ll cover them in rapid fire succession.
Did we miss any stories? If so, don’t be afraid to send an email or reply in the comments! The full updated standings can be found at the bottom of this post.
Sportaphile is gaining tons of new visitors each month, so if you have no idea what the CFL is, CLICK HERE to get the lowdown & rules.
Football
New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss has been accused of battering a longtime friend and preventing her from seeking medical attention. Although he hasn’t been arrested yet, we DO give points for “alleged” crimes in a reduced capacity. If he is eventually charged, we will update this point total to the appropriate amount. For now we can chalk up 25 points for Randy and the football squad.
Tennessee dumbass Pacman Jones allegedly punched a divorce lawyer in the face earlier this month. Like Randy Moss, he has not been arrested and will receive a reduced allegation penalty. 25 points for dumb dumb.
Former guard for the Chicago Bears, Todd Burger, was arrested for his part in an alleged internet gambling ring. 100 points for he footballers. Read the rest of this entry »
finally fell off? Last season they lost more games in ACC play than they have in years. The talent was not what we have come to expect from Duke. Instead of Grant Hill, Elton Brand, and Carlos Boozer we had to stomach Josh McRoberts (who under the influence of friends, on that Canadian green, decided to declare for the draft). That didn’t stop Dick Vitale from jockin though, never that. S.O. thinks that Vitale is contractually bound to hang on Duke’s nuts, but that’s another entry.
Now we have Duke losing to Pitt (64-65) in triple overtime. Maybe Coach K might want to let go of the Team USA joint. It seems like it’s splittin his attention. If you notice Team USA has been playin great but Duke has been dookie? Really think on that. Coach K got Kobe to forego his numbers to play lights out D in a tourney that America could sleepwalk through! Yet he couldn’t get McRoberts to stay for another year, which young’n sorely needed. Is McRoberts even in the league?
