Backed-Up Thoughts

"The consequences that I've rendered
I've stretched myself beyond my means"
--It's Been Awhile, Staind

With apologies to Aaron Lewis and Staind, it has indeed "been awhile", and for that, I apologize. Every so often, I'll have a thought that I'll start to write, and then I end up with way too much to do, so it falls by the wayside. It's been that way for a little over a month now, and despite the workload facing me today, I'm going to do my best to power through and actually write something. Far too much has been going on in the sporting world and in my traveling world to ignore, so here goes, in no particular order.

NCAA Tournament: I just heard on SportsCenter that out of more than three million brackets filled out online, not a single one had all of the Sweet 16 correctly picked, and only 12 even had 15 of them. That means the tournament has been exactly what it should be--full of Cinderellas--and with all four No. 1 seeds still in, the big boys are in the mix as well. In what amounted to pretty much perfect timing, we started our new three-days-a-week schedule last week (shooting two shows each on Tuesday and Wednesday), meaning that we were all free to sit around the office and watch games all day Thursday and Friday, several at a time of course, and cheer on our respective squads. I only filled out one bracket, did it in about five minutes the morning the sheets were due, and I'm 19th out of a few hundred, so I can't complain, and my Bruins (Final Four selection) are still very much alive. Have I mentioned how much I love Ben Howland? He goes to my church, and my buddy T.J. (the music leader guy) got tix from Big Ben for last weekend (San Diego) and this weekend (Oakland). Coach Calipari (Memphis) is supposed to come through for tickets for us (though I will obviously be rooting against his Tigers should we meet in the Regional Final), so I might also be heading up--would be pretty sweet. A few tourney observations thus far:
- Best Team: Besides UCLA, it's gotta be Florida (also one of my Final Four picks). Joakim Noah has been sick, their guards are sweet, and they pressure the heck out of you. Billy Donovan is fun to watch on the sideline too, especially with that slick-backed hair that won't quite make it to Pat Riley status, but you know he really wants it to.
- Worst Team: Syracuse. If G-Mac were healthy, this would be different (and by the way, I've made DVD copies of their Big East Tournament run for posterity), but they looked so terrible against A&M, and they didn't have anybody else who could score once he went down. It's a tough way to end his career, but he'll always have '03.
- Best Player: Other than Noah, I've gotta say that Marcus Williams has impressed me the most. There's no doubt that UConn loses either or both of those games without him (and there are those who will contend that stealing laptops should mean that they should be playing without him); he's pretty much the best point guard in the country, and he can score when they need him to.
- Worst Player: This is just among guys that are supposed to be good, 'cause I'm sure there's a walk-on at Murray State who's worse, and I'm leaving G-Mac and his two points off the list because of the injury. I'm going with Derek Raivio, who came in averaging over 11 points and three assists for the Zags, but who ended up with two terrible shooting games, minimal assist contributions (hard to avoid assists when Adam Morrison is on your team, I would think) and ceding critical minutes to Jannero Pargo, Junior. Maybe I'm just hating on the Zags 'cause I want them to play terribly on Thursday, but I really wasn't impressed with the little guy--I thought he was better last year, to be honest.
- Most Annoying Cliche: "They're not freshmen anymore". Unfortunately, the phrase that gained popularity with the Fab Five's run to the '92 final game (where they fell to G-Hill, Chest-Stomp Laettner and Dook) regains some momentum around tourney time, when freshmen apparently become sophomores somehow. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Marcus Williams (the Arizona version) and Brandon Rush (the youngest and hopefully best member of the heretofore talent-wasting Rush family) all received mention on this front, which is meant to show that these guys have now gained a lot of experience by this late stage of the season, but here's the thing: they're still freshmen, and this is still their first NCAA tournament. If they weren't freshmen anymore, they'd have post-season experience--which they don't--and their junior teammates would have become seniors--which they haven't. If Ben Howland hadn't been among those proliferating this awful cliche, I'd be even more hateful of it, but I can't really hate anything that guy says or does, so I'm done.
- My Favorite Player (that doesn't wear a UCLA jersey): Glen "Big Baby" Davis. Dude is hilarious to look at--think Tractor Traylor, but even a little rounder--and he can really play. My boss sent me this e-mail this morning, so I'll pass on a couple of notes about this kid: "A few of Glen Davis' freshman-year feasts became legendary at LSU: The time he downed a bag of 25 Chips Ahoy cookies -- about 2,200 calories worth -- in 20 minutes; the study hall session when he poured two bags of M&M's into his mouth at once; the late-night snack when he ordered a family-sized bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and ate every piece himself." This kid is awesome.

Chargers: Drew Brees was in studio yesterday, which would normally be an exciting moment for me, but due to recent developments on the NFL free agent front, I was faced with mixed emotions at the arrival of this cool Brees. For those in the dark, my quarterback was signed by the New Orleans Saints and the Chargers, having failed to apply the franchise or transition tag to their two-time Pro Bowler, are now left with Philip Rivers at the helm. For the record, I hate this. Rivers may indeed turn out to be as good as Brees, but it certainly won't be this year, and it probably won't be next year either. A.J. Smith can spin it any way he wants, but it's definitely a step backward for the organization. Very frustrating. I don't want to talk about it anymore. I think I'll turn to TV now...

Sopranos: I've heard mixed reactions to this past Sunday's Sopranos episode, but I absolutely loved it. Complaints about a lack of action are valid, but there was so much else going on, I didn't miss the violence at all. Deep, dark, thought-provoking, everything. The fact that it generated so much office conversation (at least here) was a testament to its ingenuity. And you know it just sets up and episode where at least one or two people are going down next Sunday.

England: I need to be brief, 'cause I don't have time, but it was an absolutely amazing trip. Watching Fulham vs. Arsenal, visiting Sky Sports News, spending two days in Norway, watching Reading vs. Watford from the sidelines, watching Newcastle United vs. Manchester United with B--words wouldn't do it justice. For those who have never been to Europe, please do yourself a favor and go. I have no doubt that I'll be back sometime next year (during soccer season, of course), and many more times beyond that.

Quick Sweet 16 predictions: all the favorites win today (Duke, Memphis, Texas, UCLA) and then BC, Mason, Florida and UConn tomorrow. My Final Four still looks good: Duke beats Texas, UCLA over Memphis, Florida beats BC and UConn (such an easy region) cruises past Mase.