South Wins State

Bloomington High School South (my brother's former high school) has captured the Indiana State 4A Championship with a win over Fort Wayne Snider, 69-62. Going 26-0 made South the 12th Indiana team to complete a state championship as an undefeated team. Great play all-around on both teams, but I wanna give some special shout-outs. Everyone knows about Jordan Hulls (Indiana recruit), and Dee Davis won the MVP for South, but Erik Fromm might've had the biggest game before fouling out. And in the losing effort, the player who I thought was most impressive was Brad Sneary down low for Snider. He had somewhere around 30 points, including at least four or five dunks.

50%

There's something to be said for 50%... One out of two, one half, the flip of a coin... In baseball, batting .500 is amazing. In hoops, shooting 50% from deep is equally as impressive. But when you're picking Sweet 16 games, getting 50% correct isn't so great. So it's time to butter me up and call me toast.

Anyway, some quick thoughts on the Elite 8 games, though my opinion clearly isn't good for much in this year's tourney:

Lousville over Michigan State -- Despite another terrific coaching job by Tom Izzo, the Cardinals are too much for Morgan, Lucas, and co. to handle.
UCONN over Mizzou -- Missouri does everything it can, but another terrific performance from A.J. Price along with the sheer size and strength down low give UCONN the advantage here.
Pittsburgh over Villanova -- This was the hardest choice for me. Villanova has been very convincing, and if you go by how they look, they win this one easy. Pittsburgh's been in three close games, but have done enough to win each. Levance Fields has come up big in the clutch, while DeJuan Blair's strength inside is undefendable, and Sam Young is one of the best wing players in the country. Another close call for Pitt, but they manage yet again to do just enough.
UNC over Oklahoma -- A terrific battle between Griffin and Hansbrough down low, but Lawson leads the Tar Heels to the Final Four as the difference maker. Tourney MVP? If he continues to make the difference in leading the Heels to the Title, then I say a resounding yes.

So that's it. The year after the first ever all #1 seeds in the Final Four, it happens again. This tournament should be called LeBron 'cause it's all about chalk.

Sweet 16 Predictions Galore!

Hello chalk!

Midwest:
Lousiville will thoroughly defeat cinderella story Arizona, with Terrence Williams putting on another terrific display from that point-forward position.... Remember Edgar Sosa? He had an amazing tournament performance his Freshmen year, since then he's been on the bench playing mediocre ball. No idea what happened to him.

Kansas defeats Michigan State... Sherron Collins' senior leadership and Cole Aldrich's inside force outlast Kalin Lucas and Raymar Morgan, with Aldrich leading the game in scoring after demolishing Goran Suton.

West:
Purdue pulls off the upset of UCONN... Even though it hurts me to say Purdue will have any success, they are a team that is just clicking at the right time. Robbie Hummel provides the leadership for the young talents JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore, and Purdue slow the pace. Hasheem Thabeet continues to struggle offensively (had just 6 points against Texas A&M) and Jeff Adrien provides the high point for UCONN, he's just too strong down low.

Memphis dismantles Mizzou... The three-headed backcourt of Mack, Evans, and Anderson are too much for Missouri to handle, and Dozier provides a solid interior presence. DeMarre Carroll with another big game for Mizzou against smaller defenders, but it's not enough, as Memphis wins by about 15 in a high scoring game.

East:
Pittsburgh beats Xavier... Pittsburgh's been having trouble but they pull it together and beat Xavier easily, though it's not a blowout. Sam Young and DeJuan Blair continue their great play, and Pittsburgh is just too talented for Xavier who are stifled by the Pittsburgh physicality, and they can't shoot well.

Villanova continues its excellent play in beating Duke in a nail-biter. Cunningham and Reynolds end up in a shootout with Sheyer and Henderson, as Singler is ineffective. Reggie Redding plays well, and makes the difference for Nova.

South:
UNC throttles talented underdog Gonzaga. Lawson looks healthy in running up and down the court like a chicken with its head cutoff. Hansbrough and Ellington provide typical big games to go along with Lawson, who are too much for Heytvelt and Pargo to handle. This game is essentially over 5 minutes into the second half.

Syracuse defeats Oklahoma in thrilling fashion. This is the most exciting game of the round, as the Syracuse backcourt duo of Flynn and Devendorf go up against Willie Warren and Blake Griffin. Griffin has a big game, but Onauku does enough to keep him from taking over. Warren adds to his case as the best Freshmen in the country but it's not enough. Flynn and Devendorf each have huge games, Devendorf leading the Orange in scoring.

Hockey Update

I should have been exercising the past two weeks in preparation for Ultimate tryouts, but instead I have sat on my ass for the past two weeks, and here I am, doing the same thing, updating my blog. But, today I do plan on working out today and trying to get in shape...

Anyway, hockey news: I have decided to support two teams. My mom, returning from a business trip to Vancouver, brought me home some gifts. Not just a Canucks t-shirt, but a Canucks puck and a Canucks hat as well. This prompted me to do some research on the Canucks and the Sendin twins and Roberto Luongo have gained my fandom. However, I then talked to one of my hockey-playing friends who said I should reconsider the Caps, and by golly, I'll be damned if I don't root for an American team (fuck the Canadians and the Rooskies!), which means.... Alex Ovechkin and his Capitals are my new favorite hockey team!!!

However, since the Caps are in the East and the Canucks in the West, I'll be able to root for them both. Now, it's a little late in the season for me to try to get into and start covering hockey, and obviously, it is hard to keep track of because I don't have Versus at school. I'll do everything I can to keep up with NHL news, and I'll watch as much playoff hockey as I can. I'll probably have one or two playoff updates, but the majority of my hockey coverage probably won't begin until next season.



---Anyway, get ready for the LeBron vs. Kobe article and some more NCAA hoops coverage!

Sorry Again --- Worktime

I've had to apologize a lot recently for not doing much work here. Well, I'm back from spring break and am preparing for a flurry of articles in the next few weeks. I'm planning on doing a live blog diary (that's been a real popular concept recently) for the NCAA Basketball Championship if I can. I've got that Kobe-LeBron article. I'm going to do a hockey article as well. I just decided I am going to try to become a better all-around sports fan, especially in regards to hockey. I have yet to choose a team to root for (as being from Indiana makes it an open market), but the leaders right now are the Capitals and Bruins. So, I'm going to do a pretty general hockey article and talk a little about whichever team I end up choosing.

In the meantime, here are some things on my mind:

Chelsea drew Liverpool for the Champions League Quarterfinals. This was the draw everyone was hoping to avoid, but we all knew it was coming... Well, here's me tipping my spring break shot glass to Hiddink continuing his unbeaten streak as Chelsea manager.

My picks thus far, through two days of the tournament, have been what can be described as generally very average. I'm in the 60th percentile on ESPN. Thirteen of my Sweet Sixteen choices remain alive through the first round. FSU, VCU, and Wake were knocked out, while Louisville, Kansas, MSU, UCONN, Purdue, Marquette, Memphis, Oklahoma, Syracuse, Gonzaga, UNC, Duke, and Pittsburgh remain. I have Louisville, Memphis, Pitt, and UNC advancing to the Final Four with UNC defeating Louisville in the championship game.

March Madness

I'm leaving for Panama City tonight but before I go, I thought it fitting to leave you with some predictions:

The #1 seeds will be UNC (1 overall), Pittsburgh, Louisville, Memphis.

#2s: UCONN, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Duke


Thank you, now adieu!

Sorry - Kobe & LeBron

I have done very little work recently. I've been busy with Finals and have Spring Break in the next few days. But, I am definitely going to run a semi Kobe-LeBron article in the next few days. A friend of mine and I got into an argument about which is better. I said LeBron, but he said Kobe. He basically said that Kobe is a better defender and shooter. But, LeBron is a better team player/team leader, so that cancels Kobe's defense. Then, I went about trying to disprove Kobe's "superior shooting"... That's basically what it's going to be about. Maybe some other hoops stuff.

From Bill Simmons' latest article:
7:35: LeBron bricks a 3-pointer that leads to Thornton's fast-break dunk. Clips by 17, timeout Cavs. Let the record show that (A) LeBron is a 32.5 percent career 3-point shooter, (B) he went 0-for-6 in this particular game and (C) he should be fined every time he takes one.

Troy "The Destroyer" Murphy

Troy Murphy just posted a 22-18 in a Pacers win vs. the Nuggets. Wowzah!

-More to come in the next few days.