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Busted How are your brackets looking these days? That's what I thought. I still have three of my Final Four teams alive...(Syracuse, Kentucky and Baylor), but the rest of my brackets are a mess. My picks make Obama's look good...and that's tough to do. I have half of the Sweet 16 still playing, with potential regional final match-ups like Syracuse-Kansas State, Kentucky-West Virginia and Duke-Baylor. My bracket is not a pretty sight. You figured it was going to be a volatile tournament and it hasn't disappointed. There have been great plays, upsets and amazing game winners....the Madness is back. I wonder how long it will take for Jay Bilas to flip-flop on his opinion that he spewed on the Charlie Rose Show when he claimed that he didn't believe in parity when it comes to college basketball? Good one, Jay. Take a look at what's left at the Sweet 16 mark of the tournament:
11 different conferences/leagues are represented in the Sweet 16. How's that for parity, Jay? I was tweaking with some numbers from the last four NCAA Tournaments, and check this out: The ACC has only 5 "Sweet 16" teams in the last four years of the Big Dance. Of the 6 BCS leagues, the ACC is "DFL" in that category. The Big East has the most with 12...but they have zero hardware to show for their play. Speaking of the Big East: last year, they dominated the tournament with a 17-7 mark, but they didn't close the deal in winning the title. This year, they place 8 teams into the tournament (the most of any league), and they currently have only two teams remaining along with a very disappointing 6-6 record. Of the power BCS leagues, here are the records after the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament:
I can't wait to see what happens this week. I suspect more of the same and with the elimination of Kansas, the title is wide-open. Last week, Michael Jordan officially took over as the new boss of the Charlotte Bobcats. Introducing Jordan at the press conference was former owner Bob Johnson. I guess he wanted one last chance to be seen or heard. I was wrong....Johnson grabbed some attention this weekend by calling the Charlotte business community arrogant. While he was on a roll addressing the Urban Leadership Institute, he also claimed that the business community is incestuous and...drum roll, please....doesn't do enough for the minority-owned businesses in the Queen City. That is Bob Johnson's calling card. This coming from a guy that overpaid for a NBA product which consistently sucked. This coming from a guy that just assumed since he put up over 300 million, that the rest of the businesses of Charlotte should stop what they are doing and hand over any cash to big, bad Bob. This coming from a guy that was handed the keys to a brand new 275 million dollar arena that the city didn't want, but built it anyhow. Johnson and the NBA misread Charlotte. When George Shinn and the Hornets bolted to N'awlins, there wasn't a demand for the NBA in the Queen City. The only demand was David Stern looking for a new sucker, and he found it in Johnson. The former BET executive was dumb enough to fall for the bait, and he lost his ass in the investment....and now it's Charlotte's fault. At least it is according to Mr. Bobcat. I misread Johnson's ability to play it smart in Charlotte. I figured he did his homework and knew what he was walking into.....I was wrong. Johnson overpaid and wanted to get his investment back ASAP. It was a huge mistake....one of many during his six-year stint as owner. Now, Johnson has left the scene and is taking his cheap shots with him....somehow, it is fitting...."Johnson" and "cheap" seem to be a perfect combination. I sure hope Michael Jordan has a new approach.....it is critical for Jordan and the future of the NBA in Charlotte. I read where former Panther Julius Peppers has been chirping about Charlotte. Evidently, all the jet skiers in front of his lake house were a real nuisance. Peppers is thrilled to get out a small town that wouldn't allow Julius to be Julius. Thank goodness he's in a real city like Chicago, where he can blend in like everyone else without being noticed. Julius is also going to get a kick out of playing in a city where the local media won't kiss his ass when he decides to take off a few games. The Windy City will eat this guy for lunch if he decides to pull the "Carolina Bazooka Sunday". I suspect Peppers will continue to wow them from time-to-time, but the guy doesn't have a NFL motor to be great...he has amazing athletic ability that allows him to get by on a week-to-week basis. If he happens to mail it in, Julius won't believe how easy he had it in the Queen City. Jimmie Johnson is just playing with the rest of the field. Amazingly, Johnson had never won in Bristol during his fabulous career.....that is, until this past Sunday. The driver of the 48-car picked up his first win at Thunder Valley and his 50th career Cup victory. It was typical Johnson....hang around until the end, and then close the deal. He's brilliant and so is his crew chief, Chad Knaus. Horseshoe or no horseshoe, Jimmie Johnson is one bad dude. The victory also enabled Johnson to be the 12th driver in Cup history to grab 50 wins. Up next is Martinsville....and guess who has won 5 of the last 7 races at the "paper clip"? You guessed it....Jimmie Johnson. |
Packman
on Sports Commentary
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