The Unemployment Blues

Since I have unfortunately become unemployed in the last month, I tend to look around and see what it is about me that makes me unemployable. I can't really figure it out. But as I am searching around, I see people in places, with jobs, and I have no idea how they are where they are. I have a couple of examples of this.

First is Hank Steinbrenner. And I know how he got to where he is now, his father George. But this guy has been the owner of the Yankees for about 2 months now, and he can't seem to keep his mouth shut. Apparently he feels it is necessary to open his trap and spew out whatever he feels no matter how ridiculous it sounds. "...I'm the owner of the Yankees by no work of my own, therefore I can say what I want and EVERYBODY must listen!!!" And his most recent effort, he makes the comment implying that the D-Rays should not try or feel emotion until they start contributing to the league financially. What???? How idiotic is this? If he were born to anybody other than George, where would he be now?

Next is Joe Lunardi. He does all of the bracketology columns on ESPN.com. He's on SportsCenter, probably on PTI and all of the other shows that ESPN has in the afternoon. What is the significance of this guys' job? If he's wrong, who cares?? If he's right, who cares?? He's not writing columns for a newspaper reporting on how teams do, he just says who is going to make the tourney and who is not. Does his opinion matter? No. Is he part of the selection committee? No. ESPN keeps reporting, on every timeout/commercial break/halftime show that Illinois State, OSU, and 2 other teams, I don't remember right now, are the first 4 that are going to miss the tourney. Does his opinion really matter? Absolutely not. About a week ago, he had UAB making the tourney. First of all, they don't have a chance at it, but it doesn't really matter, the selection committee takes no stock into what he says. Anybody can do his job, it doesn't matter if he's wrong or right. What a great gig. He gets to watch college basketball and put together a bracket every week that really doesn't matter diddly-squat. That's it. Wonder what he does for the other 7 months of the year.

The next one, and the biggest offender of this is Mel Kiper. This guy watches all the college football you can handle and reports on who is going to get drafted and what position they are going to get drafted. Do NFL teams really care about his opinion?? No. Do I really care what the 6th ranked LB in the draft is??? No. I love college football and NFL football. But I really could not care any less about this guy's opinion. He sits there with the rest of the ESPN crew on draft day and talks about the picks. Anybody can do this. And again, if he's wrong, nobody cares. And from recent history, he's usually wrong, but what does it really matter??? It doesn't. But the real crime here is that he sells 5 draft books each year. You can get all of them for somewhere around $70. I think there's a free agent book, draft book, his opinions book, and 2 other useless publications. All of his stuff on ESPN.com is on the Insider. And I've often in the weeks before the draft wondered, "...oh man, who's the Browns going to take in the 2nd round with the 47th pick?? I sure wish I had Insider so I could see who Kiper thinks the Browns needs??" But you know what remedied that thought??? Wait 2 f'n weeks and see who the Browns take with that pick. Why would anybody in their right mind pony up the cash to see what this guy thinks? It's a joke.

And I can't find a job??

I Don't Know Why I Got My Hopes up???

This blogsite is in operation for one reason, well, maybe more than one reason, but the main reason is that the teams that we cheer for, you know who they are, NEVER WIN ANYTHING WHEN SOMETHING IMPORTANT IS ON THE LINE. It doesn't matter how good of a regular season they had. It doesn't matter that the greatest QB in football history, Bernie Kosar, is engineering the O, that one of the best lineups in baseball history hit .300 in '95. These teams always lose when the big game comes around. That LeBron James was the best player in the league and made everybody, including Coach Mike, better. It doesn't matter that you have CC and Carmona and Westbrook pitching the final 3 when the Indians are up 3-1 against the Sox. These teams, somehow, figure out a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I'm not even going to talk about it. Just thinking about the last 5 mintues in regulation and the 5 OT minutes makes me want to get sick on the keyboard. 0-11 in OT?? The Freshmen finally played like freshmen. And Calasan needs to figure out the meaning of the word "shot selection". The worst defensive performance of the season. Painful.

Enough about that.

So the final game of the night IU lost in incredibly dramatic fashion against the Gophers. The last 10 seconds of that game were simply amazing. Ending on another Hoffarber shot. This is the same guy that hit that one from his butt to win a state title last year.

If you don't know the meaning of home cookin' all you have to do is watch the end of that game. I've never seen anything like it. With IU down 2, Eric Gordon gets fouled on a drive to the basket. And All-World, greatest player ever apparently has a tough time shooting free throws with his hands around his own neck. Misses both ends of the 2 shot foul to tie the game. The second rolls around the rim, just long enough for DJ White to shove every Minnesota player out of the way to get himself up in the air for a tip in and a foul. Where the foul was, I have absolutely no idea. Watch the replay, if you see it, let me know. So there was 3.6 on the clock and White on the line for the win. Of course he misses, long rebound, White runs after the ball, pulls his best Brian Cardinal flop, and somehow ends up flying backwards into the 3rd row. If there was a foul, the ref that made the call was the only person in the country that saw it. White back on the line with 1.6. Misses the first. Makes the 2nd. The rest is history. Or so I thought. That Hoffarber kid hit another game winning, amazing shot. I can't even put into words what happened... Just watch!!



A couple of other things, I was 3-1 against the spread in last night's Big 10 Games. If you're keeping score. Of course my Boilers screwed me. Again...

And I heard a story about the fact that the majority of the Selection Committe members has zero basketball history. They've never played, never coached, probably never watched. So I guess this is why the big names make the tourney when they should not. Since this is the case, teams like OSU and Florida, who have no business making the tourney, will probably be in. Now it's all making sense.

And lastly, Memphis won the C-USA tourney this morning. They beat the perennial powerhouse Tulsa Golden Hurricane by about 60. Memphis should be the only team that makes the tourney from that conference. How is a championship game decided by that many points??

Two out of Three Isn't Too Bad....

I suppose picking those games yesterday was not the toughest thing I have done, but 2 out of 3 isn't too bad. I should probably start picking games against the spread, that would probably make things more interesting...

Anyhow, huge day in the Big Ten Tourney. I think the biggest story is how IU is going to come out? Are their players over the fact that their scumbag coach is gone and play some decent basketball? Or are they going to keep crying about the sad outcome of a cheater and liar? They are playing a Minnesota that had to come back from down 16 to beat Northwestern, who again pissed down their leg in the face of a close game in the final seconds. They're terrible. And the fact that Spencer Tollackson didn't play in the 2nd half all the worse for the Wildcats.

The day starts out with Michigan and Wisconsin. Wisconsin shouldn't have much trouble with the Wolverines. Although they have been playing better, Wisconsin is just too good. They are the #1 seed for a reason.

Next is the Buckeyes and the Spartans. I still think OSU needs a good showing in the tourney to get into the NCAAs. They were playing much better at the end of the season, but their record in the weak Big 10 can't help their cause. They have to win against the Spartans, if they look good, I think they have a chance.

And at 5:30 CST it's the Boilers and Fighting Illini. Illinois won a close one yesterday, can they come back today and play another solid game. The only chance Illinois has to make the NCAAs is by winning the Big 10. Teams fighting for their life become scary in situations like this. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. But I dont' think they have enough to beat the Boilers this afternoon and their miserable season will come to an end.

So sit back and strap in for an exciting day of Big 10 basketball! Should be a good one!!!

Next week before the NCAAs start I plan on doing some spring training Indians coverage, it's finally starting to thaw out up here and I'm starting to be able to smell golf and baseball season right around the corner!! Giggidy!!!!

And for my predictions...

Wisconsin is just good, they're giving 13, they'll win by 20.

Michigan State is always good in tournaments. Tom Izzo is a fantastic coach in situations like this, I just don't see them losing. The Bucks are getting 4 points, I predict a close game, lots of fouls at the end, MSU makes their free throws. MSU.

Purdue is goign to be too much for Illinois, I'm surprised to see the Boilers only giving up 4.5. Illinois is coming off an emotional, close game last night. I dont' think they're going to have enough left in the tank to deal with the suffocating Purdue D. I'm taking Purdue giving 4.5.

And last but not least IU is giving 5.5. They're favored by more than Purdue? Interesting. Anyhow, I wouldn't be the least surprised to see Minnesota win this game. IU is really playing poorly right now. Even if they do win, I don't see them covering. I've got Minnesota.

We'll see how I do tomorrow! Happy Big 10 Tournament Friday!!!

Big 10 Tourney Starts Today!

If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that Purdue would be a #2 seed in the Big 10 tourney, I would have called you crazy. But here we are! After back to back losses at home to Wofford and Iowa State in December, I was ready to send Matt Painter packing. How wrong was I??? Now we're the #2 seed!

This group of Freshmen has really come together to play some very exciting basketball. I have to think the fact they played together in High School/AAU ball has something to do with this. The more chemistry a team has together, the better they are going to be. They are going to win games they should not, which would explain 2 wins against Wisconsin. The squabbles for PT is probably at a minimum. They probably get along better off the court than your usual group of 5 freshmen. And the adjustment to college is probably a little easier knowing that they have each other to lean on. I have to think that all of this has something to do with the success of these freshmen this season.

Anyhow, looking forward to the games today. It starts out at noon Eastern with Michigan and Iowa playing. And the winner facing Wisconsin tomorrow. I see Michigan winning this one. They seemed to be playing some better basketball ending the season, they put up a pretty good fight against the Boilers in the final game of the season.

Next on the plate is Penn State against Illinois at about 2:30. Penn State is coming off a big win against IU. Sure IU is in shambles right now, but a win is a win. I see Penn State coming together and pulling this one out. Illinois is just atrotious this season. Just make the misery end. Didn't these guys go to the Final Four a couple of years ago???

And the final game of the day is Minnesota against Northwestern. I don't see the Wildcats pulling this one out, they won 1 conference game this season, I don't see them making it 2 today.

The Boilers play tomorrow at 6:30 EST!

Big Ten Tourney, Honors, and the Future

The Big 10 honors came out this week and the Boilers were very well represented. Hummel was a first teamer, E'Twaun a second, Kramer a 3rd, and Keaton Honorable Mention. This is good stuff for the future of the Boilermaker program, not one of those guys is older than a sophomore! And unless they're smoking something, they will all be back for at least one more season, probably 2.

Matt Painter was voted Coach of the Year in the Big Ten and Kramer was also Defensive POY. How the defensive POY is a 3rd teamer is beyond me, but what do I know? Apparently not much.

So, Purdue's future is looking very bright. I wish I could say as much for the Big 10. If you take the Purdue guys out of the Big 10 teams you are left with 3 Freshmen, 2 sophs, and 2 juniors. One of the freshman is Eric Gordon, who is most definitely gone after his 1 season in Bloomington. There's another Hoosier who got honors, Armon Bassett, who would be crazy to go into the draft, but he's feelings on sticking it out at IU I would have to imagine are in doubt. So, that leaves you with 5 guys that aren't graduating/entering the draft/potentially transferring. In a year when the Big 10 is down, this really does not look good for the future of the conference.

Not to mention all of the IU recruits that are backing out of their letters of intent because of Scumbag Sampson. I hate IU, but what he did is just reprehensible. Makes me sick to think of what went on down there. What a jackass.

On a good note, Big 10 tourney starts on Thursday in Indy!! This is looking really great for the Boilers. They will start things off playing the UofI-Penn State game Friday night. Penn State is coming off a big win against IU, but I just dont' think the Claxton-less Lions will have the firepower to beat Illinois. Illinois really sucks this year, but I think they're going to have enough to win on Thursday. This tourney is going to be alot of fun for Boiermaker fans all around. With the solid D that they play, and the depth they have, it's going to be very tough for a team to beat them when playing 2 or 3 days in a row. Let's just hope the freshman can keep the pace up.

And the potential of a Purdue-IU rematch looms in the distance also. If IU can get it together for the Northwestern-Minnesota winner, the two teams will face each other on Saturday. Playing in Indy, I'm sure the Fieldhouse will be rocking for that one!!

College Basketball Saturday Roundup

Another fantastic Duke-UNC game last night. The only thing that could have made it better was for Dick Vitale and his sweat glands not announcing it. Did anybody see this guy?? You would think that he would know better than to wear a blue shirt when announcing a game like this. Isn't there somebody at ESPN that could have told him this?

Anyhow, great game. Back and forth. Duke came back in the 2nd half to make a game of it. The Cameron Crazies were crazy. And Carolina pulled it out in the end. Fun to watch. Very intense. #1 vs. #5. Lived up to all of the billing! There's nothing like a great college basketball game between 2 teams like Duke-UNC. Tyler Hansborough had 16-15, and earned every one of those buckets and rebounds, and Danny Green had 18-8 for Carolina.

Is it me or does Hansborough flop a little like Brian Cardinal once did for the Boilers?

ESPN showed speedo guy. Just a dude in a speedo dancing around like only somebody in a speedo could. Then they went to commercial. Dan Shulman had to issue an apology about the way he was dancing and the video that ESPN had just shown the country. It's sad that we, as a nation, has come to this. I dont' even know where to start on this so I'm not going to try. That's just sad. If there was anybody out there that was watching the game and was subsequently offended by a dude in a speedo, they need to have their head checked. Unreal

Memphis won again last night. The victory puts John Calipari right next to Adolph Rupp by being the only two coaches to win 30 games in 3 consecutive seasons. On the surface this makes Calipari look like one of the great coaches in history. But look a little deeper and see that he did it against the worst competition in D-1 and the picture isn't so rosy. When the next best competition in the league is the UAB Blazers, coached by none other than the worst coach in NCAA basketball, Mike Davis, not such a great feat. Although I'm not certain about it, I'm pretty sure that one of the requirements for Memphis basketball players is that that they're not allowed to go to class. I think I heard that somewhere?

No, I didn't actually hear that, I just made that up. But would anybody be surprised?

The Boilers wrap up their regular season this afternoon at Michigan. They need to take care of business and end the regular season on a high note. After the way they played at Ohio State earlier this week. They need some solid momentum going into the Big 10 Tourney.

Everybody keeps talking about how Kentucky is a shoe-in for the NCAA tourney. Am I the only one out here that remembers that they lost to Vandy by about 50 a couple of weeks ago? Sure, they're playing some better basketball right now, but just because they're Kentucky, doesn't give them a free pass to the tourney. I'd much rather see a George Mason type team make the tourney than a Kentucky. The Wildcats scored 11 in the first half of that game. I'm sorry, but no team that scores 11 in any half of any game does not deserve to make the tourney!!

Another example of this is Ohio State. They in no way deserve to make the tourney. I think they've beat 2 teams in the RPI top 100. They have a .500 record in the very weak Big 10, and they have 1 signature win, against my Boilers, and not much else. Just becaue they made the Championship game last year doens't mean they get a free pass.

Go Boilers!!

One Question???

So, I was watching the Big 10 network and was wondering, where do those guys watch the games when they're not on camera?? They can't possibly sit on the set all day. Do they have a lounge area with couches and lazy-boys? Is it a conference type room with a bunch of flat screens? Is it like the deal they have at places like Champps where it can be one big TV or split up? These are the things that keep me up at night. Couldn't you just see Gene lounging with his feet up and a bowl of popcorn sitting on his chest while the others there do all the work?